Heads Up!

So, my online chats over at VZones were great. I read from JACK WITH A TWIST, answered lots of questions about getting a book published, and just generally had a good time.

The first night, my husband decided to come to the chat. So, he went online and created an avatar and got his two week free trial. All was going well until suddenly, he turns to me and says: "I lost my head." Now, I was in the middle of conducting my chat, so I tried to ask him what he meant while typing.....

Well, I looked over to his laptop and it seems that he managed to take his avatar's head off. Lifted it clear off, and his avatar was holding it's own head in its hands. Obviously, I started laughing hysterically. He literally lost his head! I tried to conduct my chat like a normal well adjustsed author, but I just couldn't stop laughing. How did he manage to take his own head off? Why is that even an option on VZones to take your own head off?

Funnier still, when he was coming into the Auditorium, one of the VZones welcome people found him and said: "I'll show you into the Auditorium. But first, you'll need to put your head in your pocket."

Just get a visual of that.

Anyhoo, it turns out, the reason why you can take your head off is so that you can wear different heads, if you so choose. In fact, one of the people at my chat had a duck's head on her avatar. (Again, why is it even an option to have a duck's head on your avatar? I'll never know.)

So, there you have it. My husband adores me so much that he literally loses his head over me. Even a virtual me. Am I a lucky girl or what?

Based on a true story

Wonder if Trip was invited to Brooke's wedding? Whether or not you've read JACK yet, the answer can be found in my new short story: BASED ON A TRUE STORY.

You can access it FREE (yes, FREE!!!!) on the eharlequin.com website! Just click here to start reading! A new chapter will be posted every Monday morning.

About BASED ON A TRUE STORY:

Gorgeous fiancé? Check. Totally in love? Check. Hair more-or-less frizz-free? Check. Ready to meet the ex-boyfriend and his new movie-star wife for dinner?

With this hair? God, no.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I need to prove something to Trip. Or to his twig—I mean, wife. It's just that I have my dignity to protect.

And the things I've done for my dignity…which may or may not include bringing a fake fiancé with a fake Scottish accent and a kilt to Trip's wedding. But Trip doesn't know any of that. Will never know that. I pulled off the charade and now my life is perfect.

What? He's making a movie? About a girl who goes to her ex-boyfriend's wedding? Starring his beautiful celebrity wife? And they need my help to make it accurate? Why would that be a problem? I've nothing to hide….

I'm totally screwed.

Even more FREE STUFF!

Am I starting to sound like that "free money from the government" guy you see on the informercials, or what?!?!

It's just that you all KNOW how much I love free stuff and how I try to send you free stuff all the time....

Well, turns out that my friend Jason Pinter feels the exact same way about free stuff. Because-- wait for it-- he's letting everyone read his first novel for FREE! That's right! You get to read a book for free!And not just any book. It's the first book in Jason's Henry Parker series, called THE MARK.

I read it, and I have to tell you, I couldn't put it down. For me, it was Jason Bourne meets Peter Parker-- a non stop thrill ride that entertains as it keeps you guessing. The film rights have already been optioned, so you've got to check it out before it hits theaters. And did I mention-- it's free?!?!?

Don't say I never gave you anything.

Pass me the hoodie

I HATE TECHNOLOGY! Yes, I know, I'm ready to be outfitted for my hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses, but if I go all Unabomber on you, I promise to wear a totally cute hoodie and super-hot sunglasses.

It all started back in June. In honor of JACK WITH A TWIST, I had a whole new website made. And it really is gorgeous. But from the second we made the switchover, there have been problems. First, my website was down for days at a time. I thought that was bad, but I then found out what bad truly was: My email then began shutting down for days at a time. Now, I'm not very web savvy, so I believed my website peeps when they assured me that all of my emails weren't getting lost—they were out there somewhere in cyberspace, just waiting to be delivered to me.

Well, those people lied.

Turns out, I lost emails. Lots of emails. Emails lost for weeks at a time. No way of recovering them. Which, as a lawyer, boggles my mind. How can emails actually be lost? You're telling me that if I was involved in a RICO investigation or some sort of child pornography operation they wouldn't be able to recover my old "lost" emails?! Exactly. But it turns out that authors don't really get the same attention as do law-breakers.

All of this is made even worse by the fact that in those weeks when the website was going down every other day and I had no access to email, I was doing promotions of countless websites and was offering free bookmarks to anyone who emailed me.

I think that the problems are more or less cleared up by now, but if you sent me an email and I didn't respond, please email me again! And if you asked for a free bookmark and you still haven't gotten it, by all means shoot me another email.

And do it quick, since I'll be shopping for an isolated cabin in the woods any minute now….

Happy Fourth of July!

Okay, so I know that this post comes crazy late, but what can you do?

I hope you all had a great holiday weekend. I, myself, am still recovering from the massive amount of hot dogs consumed over the weekend at various BBQs. Yes, it's Tuesday and I still have a tummy ache. But at least I didn't eat as much as these guys.

Other highlights of my weekend:

An awesome review of JACK WITH A TWIST from Modern Girl Style.

Going to see Hancock on the big screen. Critics hated it, I lurved it.

This video that I found on Bridalwave. I must admit-- I LOVE these shows. But, I love watching them get skewered even more!!!

The Nathan's Annual Hot Dog Eating Competition. Most. Exciting. Competition. Ever. Seriously, tho-- they went to sudden death! In your face, Kobiashi!!!

Yes, I know what you're thinking: I truly live on the edge. What were the highlights of your weekends?

So, you think you can dance?

Okay, so this blog isn't really about whether or not you can dance. In fact, it's not about dancing at all. It's just that I think that the title of that show is so hilarious. I mean, how confrontational can you be? I just imagine that wacky screaming lady (aka, Mary Murphy) using that line as she challenges people to dance offs. "SO, you think YOU can dance?!"

But, I digress. I'm writing today because eharlequin.com has posted a free article on writing! And since I wrote it, I thought I'd tell you all about it! It's called "Acting Up" and it's about how you can use three act structure to write your very own novel. So please go and check it out!

And if I've gotten you into the mood to dance, just check out the new song on my profile page (selected by the lovely and talented Brenda -- great name, huh?). If that fabulous jam doesn't get your feet moving, you're just dead inside....