…the fact Thanksgiving Vacation is over!

Oh, man. It’s been a crazy week here. The Gremlins were off school ALL last week due to conferences and the Thanksgiving Holiday. Couple that with the DH who is home recovering from surgery, and you can only imagine the chaos. So far (and there are still several hours left before the vacation is ‘officially’ over), I think we suffered 3 major catastrophes…a broken candlestick (which I loved), thanks to a Superman game the boys played that involved a blanket as a cape, running and (of course) screaming – paint all over the kitchen table because someone (Gremlin #1, no doubt) neglected to put papers under her ‘masterpiece’ – and a ball point pen, which was applied not-so-lovingly (by Gremlin #3) to the back of my red leather chair. Needless to say, I’m more than ready to send these Gremlins back to school. And I’m very concerned about the upcoming two week Christmas break. Ack!

Good News…DH is doing much better. He seems to have turned a major recovery corner and even managed to go to the Civil War game with me yesterday. Of course, it would have been even better if we hadn’t been spanked by the Ducks (oh, just saying that hurts), but at least the tailgating was fun. I don’t even want to talk about the game. I’m still in mourning.

Tomorrow is December! I can hardly believe it. 30 days until STOLEN FURY releases. EEEK! I’m finishing up the last bit of touches on my December contest, and it should go up on my website this week. Will post the details when they’re all ironed out. In the meantime, I got another fabulous review, this one from Night Owl Romance. You can read the entire review here, but here’s a highlight:

“Stolen Fury is a great debut novel in a trilogy. It’s fast-paced and intensely suspenseful. It definitely had me on the egde of my seat waiting to see what would happened next. The chemistry between Lisa and Rafe was scorching hot and I enjoyed their getting to know each other. They disliked yet were attracted to each other and it was fun to see them fight it. I thoroughly enjoyed Stolen Fury and look forward to reading the next in the trilogy, Stolen Heat, coming Summer 2009.”–Night Owl Romance, 4.75/5

So tell me…how was your Thanksgiving?

Hard to believe I haven’t blogged since the 6th! Things have been busy here. My hubby had back surgery last week. He came through fine, spend 3 days in the hospital and came home on Monday night. We’re in recovery mode now (me, too!) and taking it day by day. Though I have definitely decided I made the right choice NOT being a home health care professional. I love my hubby dearly but as he pointed out this morning, I have very little patience. (I think he called me Kathy Bates at one point which did NOT go over well. LOL)

In other news – completely overshadowed by the DH’s surgery last week – my agent sold my paranormal series! I don’t have release date details yet, but the PM blurb is below. I’m very excited about this new series, and the great part? I still get to keep writing RS, which I love. So a win-win all around.

11.14.2008
FICTION: WOMEN’S/ROMANCE
Elisabeth Naughton’s MARKED, to stave off a war with the demons of the underworld and protect his people from extinction, an argonaut hero must find the woman who unknowingly fulfills an ancient prophesy, only to fall for her even knowing she is marked for sacrifice, to Leah Hultenschmidt at Dorchester, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, by Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency.

My running partner sent this to me this morning. Since we ran in the rain today, it seems especially fitting. Those of you from the great PNW will nod your heads and say, “yep, oh yeah, absolutely.” Those of you not from the PNW will get a taste of what life is like here.

The Pacific Northwest According To Jeff Foxworthy

1. You know the state flower (Mildew).

2. You feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash.

3. You use the statement ’sun break’ and know what it means.

4. You know more than 10 ways to order coffee.

5. You know more people who own boats than air conditioners.

6. You feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant.

7. You stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the ‘WALK’ signal.

8. You consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it’s not a real mountain.

9. You can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle’s Best and Veneto’s.

10. You know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon.

11. You know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Oregon, Yakima and Willamette.

12. You consider swimming an indoor sport.

13 You can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food.

14. In winter, you go to work in the dark and come home in the dark while only working eight-hour days.

15. You never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho.

16. You are not fazed by ‘Today’s forecast: showers followed by rain,’ and ‘Tomorrow’s forecast: rain followed by showers.’

17 You have no concept of humidity with out precipitation.

18. You know that Boring is a town in Oregon and not just a state of mind.

19. You can point to at least two volcanoes, even if you cannot see through the cloud cover.

20. You notice, ‘The mountain is out’ when it is a pretty day and you can actually see it.

21. You put on your shorts when the temperature gets above 50, but still wear your hiking boots and parka.

22. You switch to your sandals when it gets about 60, but keep the socks on.

23. You have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain.

24. You think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists.

25. You buy new sunglasses every year, because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time. (This is so me…)

26. You measure distance in hours.

27. You often switch from ‘heat’ to ‘a/c’ in the same day.

28. You design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat.

29. You know all the important seasons: Almost Winter, winter, Still Raining (Spring), Road Construction (Summer), Deer & Elk season (Fall).

30. You actually understood these jokes.

This one from Romance Junkies:

“STOLEN FURY has a complex plot with more twists than a pretzel, a sassy, independent heroine and a lush Latin hero. Naughton moves seamlessly from scene to scene and viewpoint to viewpoint in this story, foreshadowing bits and pieces of a puzzle but leaving enough details for surprises you wonʼt expect. Well-drawn and realistic, her characters almost leap from the pages. The stubborn, smart and beautiful Lisa represents characteristics many women would envy, and Rafe has a bad-boy exterior we all secretly crave. And, there might just be a softer interior there like the gooey center of a truffle.

Naughton has clearly done her research on both mythology and archaeology and the details all ring true. Descriptions of the Furies will make you want to look up pictures, and you can almost feel the dampness surround you during the scenes in underwater caves. Naughton has included a strong lineup of secondary characters, some of whom we may well meet again in the second and third books in the series. STOLEN FURY is a must-read for all fans of romantic suspense.”

–Katherine, Romance Junkies – Blue Ribbon Rating: 5

(The entire review will go live Dec. 30th…release day!!)

Okay, not me, but my book.

I awoke this morning to emails from both my editor and the marketing department at Dorchester, sharing the good news.

Fiction Reviews
– Publishers Weekly, 11/3/2008

Stolen Fury, Elisabeth Naughton. Dorchester/Love Spell, $6.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-505-52793-6

In Naughton’s rock-solid debut, the first of a trilogy, a duo searching for three magnificent bas-reliefs of the Greek Furies find romance and danger as well. For 15 years, since the death of her lover, Dr. Lisa Maxwell has been obsessed with reuniting the sculptures of Alecto, Megaera and Tisiphone. She’s furious when art thief Rafe Sullivan drugs her, almost seduces her and steals Alecto from her hotel room safe. With the help of her twin brother, Chicago detective Shane Maxwell, Lisa locates Rafe in Key West, Fla., where he has a line on Megaera. They reluctantly join forces and race to find Tisiphone before another treasure hunter picks them off. Naughton’s intelligent adventure plot is intensified by the blazing heat that builds from Lisa and Rafe’s first erotic encounter. (Jan.)

As far as birthday presents go, I’d say that’s a pretty good one!