Chatty Aside #2

One of the fun things I got to research for How Sweetly the Whippoorwill Sings was how a wedding is planned, and what the different functions are. In general, I think, there's this wedding 'schedule'. (Not all cultures do their weddings the same, of course, I'm just talking about the basic romanticized US version, with the white dress, exchanging of vows, and the enormous tiered cake. There should *always* be cake.) That schedule (a quick search will give an overview of all the first this-then that options) can be very restricting! One of the challenges I had for writing was to include enough of the necessary wedding elements without getting bogged down in what can really be a very orchestrated event. All of the fun stuff that I wanted to write about -- how the best man and the bride's brother were interested in each other, and trying to catch intimate moments together, yet constantly frustrated by their duties -- were written around that scheduling. It was definitely an exercise in thinking about where are those stolen moments in our lives? Can this three minute span between Event A and Event B really be long enough for something momentous to happen? Or perhaps it doesn't have to be momentous...enough kindling builds a roaring fire, it just starts small and grows.

Chatty Asides #1

Some interesting thoughts about my recently released story: 1) The word "release" is starting to look really weird to me after looking at it too often (that can happen with just about any word, really) 2) I love the word whippoorwill, it's gorgeous with all those letters and the way it whistles off the tongue and past the lips and conjures a feeling of magic, but I always, always, always have to double check the spelling 3) I adore the bird on my cover. It's beautiful. 4) In the story itself, there is mention of a children's story where there is a female hero (protagonist) and she goes on adventures with a magical whippoorwill. I made that up for the story, and oh, don't I wish it was a real children's adventure story. Wouldn't it be wonderful? 5) Boutonnières. These need to become more popular for men. Honestly, men look gorgeous with these flowers on their lapels. And one of my favorite parts of this story is when Everett helps Jake with putting on the boutonnière. So tantalizingly close, concentrating...the dangerousness of a pin-prick, trembling, fumbling fingers. Guh! How is this not a thing? There should be stories everywhere devoted just to this intimate act!

Release day!

RELEASE DAY! Forgive the capslocks of shouting, but today is finally release day for my lovely wedding-themed story "How Sweetly the Whippoorwill Sings". It can be found here: How Sweetly the Whippoorwill Sings And I went to the main page today and it was there under New Releases, up on the main page *itself*. So cool! I was Working for the Man earlier, but I hope to have a few chatty posts up about my story later this evening. Off to nibble some noodles for dinner....

Available May 28th!!

Only a few more days until my story How Sweetly the Whippoorwill Sings is available for purchase! I'm quite excited!

My story blurb:

On the day of Molly and Irving’s wedding the usual hiccups and snags happen, but Irving’s best man, chemistry professor Everett Donnelly, is there to smooth them over, keep everyone organized, and make last minute adjustments based on the lists he keeps. If only he weren’t distracted and reeling from his strong attraction to Molly’s brother, police officer Jake Mountbatten, whom Everett first met at the rehearsal dinner.

In between boutonnière crises and wedding photos, the two men have ample opportunities to catch each other’s eye, but the obligations of the wedding interrupt them time and again. Finally, all the speeches and traditional activities are over, and Everett finds Jake to see if they can make a little romance of their own.

Of course, on that day, I'm at a seminar for regular work, so I'll be in a small, windowless room listening to many presenters, but my mind will be far away, wondering how things are going on the internet with my story finally revealed! So you can imagine, it might be tough to make it through!

Link for pre-order and for purchase (starting May 28th): How Sweetly the Whippoorwill Sings at Dreamspinner Press

when did it get reversed?

I'm visiting my parents this weekend. They just drove off in the warm sunshine on their Harley motorcycles to go to an evening party. I stayed home to babysit the dogs, and maybe to get some writing done.

and the car smelled like...

...curry. :) I bought some bulk spies yesterday: coriander, turmeric, and garlic. And I had to leave them in the car for a bit on a warm day. Even with my windows rolled down, by the time I got back, it smelled divinely of warm summer and simmering food. Which meant, of course, that I was having tamales for dinner. (It never fails!) ;)

an exotic evening at home

It's an evening of two new dishes, a long walk to a gorgeous woods, and replaying The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (a lovely movie). The first dish was a new stir fry with flavors that I'd never tried before. Fish sauce and maple syrup mixed together can be divine, which is not something to be thought at first. The second dish is currently baking in the oven, and filling the house with the delicate scent of zested orange and nut-brown butter. It's a new scone recipe I've never made before, with yogurt as the liquid, and butter browned and toasted to a brilliant aroma on the stove. And the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in playing while I cook, and while I type an entry here. I love the music in this movie, and the way it almost smells of delicious aromas of food, and spices, and that most of the main characters are these amazing older actors. It's got a young love story in it, but the bulk of the story is spent on the interesting lives of the characters and their troubles and triumphs. Ah, the heart of telling stories -- to visit a place and with people you didn't know yet, but come to adore.

submission sent in!

New submission just sent in! Now for the waiting part that involves nibbling of fingernails and woe-ing-is-me. On a side note: my team won a trivia night contest! I can't claim at all to have actually helped, but I got lucky enough to be on a clever team. It was fun. I bet it would be a blast to write a romance centered around some trivia contest. Except for, you know, all the massive amount of research to come up with interesting trivia things! (Feeling very lazy since I just spent 2 hours doing final edits on the submission....) (And...eep! I didn't forget this account, but I did forget my password for it. Until I got that figured out, I couldn't post for a bit. I'm all figured out now.)