First item of importance – my cover flats for STOLEN FURY arrived yesterday from my publisher. And, um, can I just say…I’m in TOTAL FRICKIN‘ LOVE with this cover!!!!! I know I saw it in .jpg form already, but the real deal is sweet! The title’s embossed, my name is embossed (and looks huge!) and the back and spine are just gorgeous. (I don’t know why the spine excites me so much…maybe because it just looks so…real!!!) I’ve already gushed to my agent, my editor and my CPs. I know they’re probably sick of hearing about this already but…oh well! I’m giddy all over again! Now I can’t wait to see the book with pages inside.

So…busy day here today…I’m having my author photos taken this afternoon. I hope we get at least one good – usable – shot. We’re also doing family pics afterwards with the same photographer (he’s awesome), so I’m busily doing laundry, making sure everyone has something clean that matches. Last night I was up until one AM doing research on poisoning deaths for the wip. I ordered a bunch of books from amazon on poisonings, which I hope arrive ASAP. I’m at a point in the wip where I need this info like, now. I’ve contacted several people with my research questions about how to make a poisoning death look natural, and the best response I got came from my beta reader’s brother (who is a PA in the local area). He said, “Um…does your husband know you’re looking for this information?” I did have to laugh. I suppose if you didn’t know I was a writer, it could raise all kinds of red flags.

Okay, off to heard gremlins. Will report back on the photo shoot later. And hopefully soon I’ll have author pics to share – I’ll probably need opinions on which one to go with.

I’ve posted this before. Elisabeth’s Manuscript Stages. Ironically, it’s still the same today as it was nearly two years ago. Right now I’m in the middle of state two – give or take a few chapters – where my hero is sooooo completely irritating, I’m considering dropping him and letting the heroine have her HEA with someone else. I realized I was in trouble last week when my hero and heroine were in a car that goes off into a slough in the Everglades. The heroine (bless her soul) swims toward shore, but something brushes past the hero’s leg. And when I stopped typing and seriously considered letting the hero be lunch for some innocent gator, I knew I had a problem.

I go through these stages with every book. Doesn’t matter how much I love the premise or the characters or the plot, eventually I hate the entire thing with every fiber of my being. But I’ve learned if I push through I’ll end up loving it again and all will be well. The plot problems will work themselves out, the heroine will stop being wishy-washy (thank God for edits), and if he’s lucky, the hero will find redemption (and save himself from being a tasty morsel). Sometimes I just wish the process would move along a little quicker.

In good news…today was baseball team day at my gym. (Meaning, the local minor league baseball team was at my gym working out). Hubba Hubba. Now that’s inspiring.

How do you keep your enthusiasm up for a project when it starts to dwindle or gets tough?

Whew! Finally two minutes of peace. Is anyone else ready to send their kids back to school?

I know I promised to blog about my vacation yesterday, but my editor sent my line edits for STOLEN FURY and I spent all day yesterday working through them. I’m happy to say they’re done and gone this morning, which is a nice thing to have off my plate. Either I’ve grown a thick skin, or I’ve learned to step back from my work and look at things objectively. Honestly, even six months ago I used to cringe when I’d open crits from CPs or an email from my agent regarding submissions. These days though, no sweat (well, hardly any anyway). I’m lucky in that I’ve surrounded myself with people – CPs, agent, editor – who know what they’re doing.

My line edits all-in-all weren’t too bad. And while I was deathly afraid of the horror stories I’d heard from some authors about editors rewriting their sentences and effectively changing their voice, that didn’t happen in my case. My editor has a great eye for what doesn’t need to be there or what lines can be moved around to different locations for maximum impact. And while I was a wee bit sad at a few areas we had to trim (mostly secondary character development) the manuscript was not impacted by those changes. It’s still the exact same book I wrote and fell in love with.

As for vacation, I’m still nursing a blister on my hand from playing golf two days in a row. But, boy, it was worth it. I haven’t golfed in probably five years, but apparently I have a natural swing (ROFL…or so my hubby and golf-obsessed friends told me). And I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The second day we took the kids golfing late in the afternoon and that was a hoot. My 3-yr old loved driving the golf cart (on my lap). Putting isn’t his specialty – he runs around and picks up everyone’s balls – but he was happy to have the job of holding my clubs. We swam everyday and I got way more sun than I should have (shhh…don’t tell my mother), and for my g’friend’s birthday the adults went to this beautiful restaurant on Suttle Lake housed in an old boat house. Very fun – and The Lodge at Suttle Lake is absolutely gorgeous. I definitely want to make plans to go back there.

Next trip on my plate is RWA in San Fran. Followed by Hawaii (sans kiddos) less than a week later. The hubby has told me since he’s not taking his laptop to Hawaii, I’m not taking mine (don’t worry, Leah…I can sneak my notebook in my bag if I’m behind), so I guess I’d better get back to the wip.

Do you have any trips planned this summer? If so, where?

I finished my first half-marathon this morning. The Helvetia Half Marathon is 13.1 miles through the beautiful countryside of Hillsboro, Oregon. Translation? Lots and lots of hills. I’d been training for flat, so the hills were killer, but I finished in 2hrs, 14-15 minutes (not sure on exact time as I didn’t look at the clock as I crossed the finish line, but that’s a pretty close estimate). I’m pretty happy, my goal was to finish at 2:20 – without knowing about the hills – and I beat that. I feel pretty good right now, but I’m sure the tiredness will catch up to me soon. Before today the most I’d ever ran was 10 miles in training. My running partner (who runs full marathons) is already trying to talk me into running the half of the Portland Marathon in October. Not entirely sure about that yet. I need a few days recovery from this one.

In other news…STOLEN SEDUCTION is really coming along. I’m totally in love with my hero. I’ve been waiting to write him since I wrote STOLEN FURY, so I’m enjoying the entire process. I think I may just be a little sad when this series is over. But excited about what I have planned next.

Next week the kids and I are off to central Oregon with a friend to stay at her vacation home. We’re taking my niece as babysitter because both of us have to work. I’m hoping to make some serious progress on SS while I’m there. I’ll have internet so I’ll try to post from the resort.

Are you a runner? If so, I’d love to hear about it. If not…what’s one thing you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t yet?

Whew.

I’ve come up for air. Sorry to be so slack, but I’ve been in major revision mode. The good news? I am DONE with the revisions on STOLEN FURY and STOLEN HEAT. And the even better news? Going back through both of these books, I have totally fallen in love with the hero and heroine for STOLEN SEDUCTION (they’re secondary characters in the first two books). Of course, I already liked them before (obviously), but now I can’t wait to get seriously cooking on this book instead of dallying while I work on the others.

In other news…lots of fun (very minor) news to share. I love my editor (have I said that before????). Seriously. I have never met a woman who is so on top of things. I have a question, she gets right back to me. I have a problem and email to ask a good time to call her, my phone rings two minutes later. She’s kept me involved in cover art and titles and cover copy and asks my opinion about things I thought I’d have no say in. I am just totally tickled with the staff at Dorchester. Can’t say enough good things about them. And I’m really looking forward to meeting my editor and others face-to-face in San Fran.

So the little things to gush about…I have an ISBN! I know, silly really. But for some reason that excited me. I also have a new “official” release date for STOLEN FURY – December 30, 2008. EGAD!!!! That seems so sooon!!! There’s so much to do promotion-wise between now and then. Thank God I have PR pro Lisa on my side to help me out. I also just got my PAN membership approved through RWA this morning, which is such a minor thing, really, but another mini-milestone that made me smile.

In other non-writing news…my half marathon (ack!!!) is scheduled for June 14th. Now THAT seems soon, doesn’t it? Last Friday my running partner and I ran 10 miles (my longest run to date) in sweltering heat. We were having a mini-bakefest going on here in Oregon last weekend. The high that day was 102. When we left on our run it was 76 degrees. When we got back it was 88. Stupid me got sunburned, but thankfully now I’m just tan. I won’t tell you our time though because it was awful…the heat really kicked my tushie. Interestingly enough, the past few days we haven’t even reached 60 degrees. Go figure. And today I only have a short run (3 miles). (Can you see me rolling my eyes???)

Oh, and to answer questions from my Marilyn post below…snicker…yes, I did get my hair fixed, though it’s still a little more blond than normal. But definitely better. When I went into the shop, my hair dresser said, “Why would you want to change it? You look so good super blond!” Obviously, the woman is color-blind!!!!!

So what’s new with you? Share. I feel like I’ve been on Mars the past few weeks.

PS…I’m blogging today at the Mid-Willamette Valley Blog. No clue on what though. Better go figure that out…

Or Pamela. Or bleach-blond Playboy bunny (minus the really big boobs) straight out of Nickelback’s “Rockstar”. Because that’s me right now. Platinum blond. I’d post a picture but…yeah. Not gonna happen.

I went to get my hair done on Friday and my hairdresser and I had a communication breakdown. My normal hair color is an ash blond/light brown. (The pic at the left is pretty much me minus the highlights) Actually, I think it’s getting darker as I get older (I was golden blond up until my 20′s), but I’ve been highlighting it so long, who can tell? I went in for my normal touch-up – normally we do one blond and two different shades of brown so it’s all mixed together. Well, my color had faded and she said to me, “You don’t want to be this blond do you?” Now, when I look in the mirror I don’t see blond, I see brown and roots, so I said, “Do what you normally do. But I don’t mind being blond. It’s summer, after all.” Apparently, I wasn’t clear enough. Because I walked out of there looking like Marilyn Monroe. I think there are like three colors of blond in my hair and heck if I can see any brown at all. It’s hard to tell in the salon, so I waited until I got home, took a look in the mirror and went, Holy crap! Needless to say, I had a packed Friday so I couldn’t go back and have her fix it right away, and the earliest she can get me in is Tuesday. So until then…platinum blond I am. Which…I have to tell you…looks really hilarious because I have super dark eyebrows. (It’s those gypsy genes.) Even though my normal hair color is fairly light I’ve always had dark eyebrows, even as a kid.

It’s actually kind of fun to be a different color than normal, and I might enjoy being a “Pamela” for a while, except for the fact I need to get my author photos done this month, and I want to look normal for those. No bleach-blond bunnies on my books. LOL. So back to my normal light brown w/blond highlights I will go.

In other news, I finished my revisions on STOLEN FURY. God, I love this book. I’m so glad my editor does, too! I’m just giving it one more quick read through this weekend to make sure I covered all my revisions points. Then I’m moving on to the revisions for STOLEN HEAT this week.

Since it’s Mother’s Day (Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there!) let’s talk something non-writing. How about hair color? Ever done a dramatic “do”? And did you keep it or change it back? Several years back (loooong time ago in a galaxy far far away…) I decided to go red. Did it myself at home. Ummmmmmm. Yeah. Imagine me with flame-red hair. It didn’t turn out so well. The scalp was light (my normal color) and the ends soaked up all the red. It looked hilarious. Needless to say I had to have it fixed by the pros. It was the last time I did my hair myself. And I quickly learned red and my skin tone do not go well together.

In case you missed it Saturday when I guest blogged at The Bradford Bunch, I’m reposting the cover copy for STOLEN FURY which I received from my editor last week.

DANGEROUS LIAISONS

Oh, is he handsome. And charming. And sexy as all get out. Dr. Lisa Maxwell isn’t the type to go home with a guy she barely knows. But, hey, this is Italy and the red-blooded Rafe Sullivan seems much more enticing than cataloging a bunch of dusty artifacts.

After being fully seduced, Lisa wakes to an empty bed and, worse yet, an empty safe. She’s staked her career as an archaeologist on collecting the three Furies, a priceless set of ancient Greek reliefs. Now the one she had is gone. But Lisa won’t just get mad. She’ll get even.

She tracks Rafe to Florida, and finds the sparks between them blaze hotter than the Miami sun. He may still have her relic, but he’ll never find all three without her. And they’re not the only ones on the hunt. To beat the other treasure seekers, they’ll have to partner up—because suddenly Lisa and Rafe are in a race just to stay alive.

I’m really getting excited about this release. As I’ve been going back through doing my editor revisions, I’ve fallen in love with the book and characters all over again. I can’t wait to see it in print.

In other news, I’ve been putting together my song list for STOLEN SEDUCTION. Because, hey, you know I can’t get very far without a “theme” song and soundtrack. I’ll post it soon. Speaking of which, have you ever really listened to the songs on the SHREK soundtracks? My daughter got one for Christmas and my new favorite song is It is You (I have loved) by Dana Glover. (Yeah, that one’s on my song list.)

And Kendra just told me there are less than three months until Nationals. Eek! I need to get crackin’.

My editor sent me the cover art for Stolen Fury. OMG. It’s GORGEOUS. Unfortunately, I can’t share yet – copyright laws and all that – but as soon as I get the go-ahead, I’ll be throwing it out for the world to see. My DH looked at it and said, “Whoa. That’s hot!” I think he was shocked even though I’d told him exactly what they were going to do with the cover. LOL

In other news…Paty tagged me (grumble, grumble). Paty, I’m only playing along because it’s you, dear.

Okay…six random things about me…

1. I’ve never been a “Beth”. I’ve gone by every other nickname you can come up with for Elisabeth – Eli, Lis, Lissie, Elisa, Lissiebeth…but never EVER Beth. Don’t know why. My HS choir teacher used to call me Beth all the time and I never responded. You’d think he would have figured it out. Never did. Interestingly, new people I meet don’t ever call me Beth. They always go for one of the other nicknames. Weird. But good. Because I am definitely not a Beth.

2. I love yoga. Well, centergy – a class at my gym which is a cross between yoga and pilates. They keep asking me to become an instructor. It’s tempting – free gym membership and all that – but I don’t want to sacrifice writing time to teach. Plus, though I’m strong, I’m not naturally flexible like those girls who can do the splits.

3. I am a pasta-holic. Seriously. I could eat pasta all day long, three times a day. Of course, my body can’t handle all those carbs anymore (sucks to get old). But I think I’m part Italian and my parents just don’t realize it.

4. I met my DH in a ballroom dancing class in college. I know…awwww, how romantic, huh? LOL. I took the class because it sounded fun. He took it to meet girls (worked!). Interestingly enough, I picked HIM up.

5. I was a cheerleader in HS. Basketball (played VB and ran track, too, but that’s not important). The hubby still teases me to no end about it because I am the FARTHEST from a typical cheerleader you will ever meet. Case in point – I was nearly kicked off the squad for being too “snarky“. (Now you know where my characters get it…)

And finally…

6. Unlike every other writer out there, I didn’t know I wanted to be a writer by the age of 3. Or 13. Or 23. Or…well…until I was 30, really. I always had stories playing in my head and used to make things up on my drive to work, but I never wrote them down and I didn’t realize that made me different. (My mother has since told me that makes me odd). I didn’t even consider writing until I quit my day job to stay home with my two kids. Then thought I’d go insane without something to do and started writing a book. Who would have known that near-insanity would be the start of something great?!

Okay…I have to tag six people. No idea if they’ll play or not but here goes:

Joan
Linda
Lexi
Edie
Lisa (This is an excuse to get back to blogging, missy.)
Marissa

Ciao for now. (See?! Maybe I really am Italian!!!!)

I just got confirmation that my books have definite titles!!! (I’m a little giddy!)

The titles are:

Stolen Fury – Release date: January 2009
Stolen Heat – Release date: Summer 2009
Stolen Seduction – Release date: TBD

Oh, my gosh. I couldn’t be happier! Stolen Fury was actually my suggestion (along with the whole stolen theme) but the staff at Dorchester came up with the others and I just absolutely LOVE them.

In addition to that, my editor told me she just saw the cover sketch for Stolen Fury and she said it’s beautiful. It has (as she put it) a “sexy as hell” scene on top and a spooky cave scene on the bottom. I cannot wait to see it myself. It’s exactly what I envisioned when I used to dream about my first cover.

I have ten thousand things to do today – it’s Gremlin #2′s 6th bday party – so I need to go get a few things done, but I just had to share.

Eek!!! It’s real!