Author Christine d’Abo

I want to thank everyone who came out for the Sexy-Naughty chat yesterday. We had a ball sharing excerpts and jokes and I now have a whole new list of books to buy. I even bought a few yesterday, but I had to be careful. Not much room left on the old credit card.

I have to admit I’m at a bit of a loss for what to do with myself these days. I’m not writing anything new, but I find myself wanting to. Instead, I started to read through the first book I ever wrote, one I didn’t think would ever see the light of day to be honest. While it does need a lot of work, it’s not as bad as I thought it was. I might take some time over Christmas just to read through and make some notes, see if it’s work fixing it up. It’s a historical romance with a bit of a mystery mixed in. I think it needs more emotional depth, but we’ll have to see.

I also have a few ideas bouncing around in my head for what I’m going to work on after Christmas. First on my list is a follow up novella for Wizard’s Thief. I think I’m going to call it Wolf’s Bane and aim to have it for the August EC Jewel of the Nile series. I also want to work on my urban paranormal that I put on the back burner when I started to work on Taber’s story.

And then there’s book four in the Bond series…

I think my goal for the Christmas break is to come up with a bit of a writing schedule. Work out which books I’m going to write and give myself a few deadlines.

So enough of my ramblings. How was your weekend?? Did you get hit with a snow storm like I did??

Hello everyone! We got a pile of snow here last night, and its still coming down this morning. I’m not looking forward to having to shovel out from under all this later.

But for now I’m enjoying participating in our EC List Mom day over on the EC chat loop. Come joing the Six Degrees of Sexy writers, and our friends the Deliciously Naughty Writers for some hot fun!

I’m thrilled to say that Chasing Phoenix, my Ellora’s Cave Quickie is out today! This one seems like it’s been a long time coming for me, and I just love this story. I hope everyone has a chance to get to know Abbey and Michael today.

I had a Christmas party last night at my house. Everyone came over and we ate, played Dance Dance Reveloution and Wii games. We had a ball! I’m a bit behind on my email and blogs as a result, but I’ll be stopping by to say hi today.

I’m guest blogging over at Shelley Munro’s blog today. You get to find out all about the craziness I call, “Getting ready for Christmas”!

I’m giving away a copy of Chasing Phoenix to one lucky commentor, so come say hi!

Well I did it! Not only did I go last night to my first kickboxing class, I actually survived it! I have to say it was a lot of fun. I was a bit freaked out at first, but the instructor was excellent and really took the time to show me and a few others how to properly execute the moves. I also liked that he explained how these moves could be used for self defense as well. My practical mind really liked that…so Tempest, I very well might have a kickboxing heroine in my next story.

Oh actually, it would suit the heroine in book four of the Bond series…

Can’t write…until…January…

On another note, my girls are going to be singing Christmas carols at a nursing home tonight with the Girl Guides of Canada. Last week they baked cookies to take with them to give the seniors, so it should be really cute.

I still  haven’t found the cable I need to get the bloggers picture off my camera, but I’ve sent my husband on a mission to find it, so I hope to have it posted soon. *sigh* I’m such a slacker some days.

As I said in an earlier blog, I plan on taking it easy on the writing front for the month of December. There is always a lot going on, and I hate to be too distracte when I’m working on a manuscript. So this month I’m going to try some new things to see how I make out.

Like kickboxing.

I’m going to my first class tonight (yes even despite the fact I was home sick as a dog yesterday) and I’m anxious to see what it’s all about. I’ve been wanting to try kick boxing for a long time, so I’ll let you all know how I make out. No doubt I’ll be crawling around my house tomorrow LOL!

So has anyone tried it before? Things I should be aware of?

I’m thrilled to let everyone know that Taber’s story is officially done! I took yesterday to finish that final scene I’d been putting off, and then did a complete read through. I added some things, but I was surprised at how much I liked it. So now it’s gone off to my beta readers to take a look at and then off to my editor.

It’s been such a fun ride with this story that I actually can’t believe I’m done. Now I just hope Amy and Red don’t tell me it sucks LOL!

I had a fantastic meeting Saturday at the  TRW social. It was fantastic to finally get to meet some of the bloggers I’ve been talking to over the past year face to face. I have a fantastic picture that I’m going to put up once I find the cord for my digital camera. A task for later today.

I wish the rest of my weekend had gone as well. My whole family is sick with the stomach flu. Both my girls have had me running all night vomiting (eeewwww) and now it appears that my husband and myself aren’t immune. I’m not too terrible yet, so I hope I can hold out.

On the plus side, Chasing Phoenix comes out in four days! I’m doing a major snoopy dance for that one. How is your week looking?

I can’t believe it, but Chasing Phoenix will be out next Friday! I just love this Quickie and I can’t wait to share it with you all. A little hot fun for the chilly nights ahead.

This weekend I’ll be going to my TRW Christmas party. This is only the second meeting I’ve been able to attend this year, not bad considering I’ve lived in a different part of the country for most of the year. I’m looking forward to being able to see Amy, Wylie and the rest of the TRW crew. I’ll try and take some pictures.

This weekend I also have to finish my final edits for Chasing Phoenix and start my edits on Taber’s story so I can get it sent off to my editor.

What are your plans?

As I mentioned, I was at a conference on Monday and Tuesday this week. It was great to be able to spend time with other people in my field and learn more about training, leadership, and how to apply it to the real world. I was very fortunate to hear a speaker from NASA’s learning academy talk about how they use stories as a method of sharing learning. It’s an absolutely brilliant way for people to come together and share their experiences, both good and bad, and help others grow, not only professionally but as people. My hat is off to everyone who participates in the program - it’s an amazing thing to have been told about.

It made me realize just how much power storytelling has. Not only can stories teach us, but they can be used to help us explore a part of our being that we may be neglecting. Stories stick with us for years long after other experiences fade into the background. It also takes a piece of the storyteller and embeds that person into our souls.

Sorry…got a bit philosophical there.

On a totally unrelated note, I now have the release date for Wizard’s Thief! It will be coming out from Ellora’s Cave on February 27th, 2008 as part of the Jewel of the Nile series. I can’t wait to be a part of this series.

Now finally on to Thursday Thirteen!! Since I’ve been so busy with NaNo for the past month, I thought I’d share with you thirteen things I’m going to do now that I’ve recovered my life.

1. Sleep in. Oh yes, this is so sweet.

2. Diet. I’ve been eating a lot of crap during NaNo. I start Weight Watchers next week.

3. Watch TV. I’m getting caught up on Dexter and a few other shows I’ve put off.

4. Play Uno with my girls. We have so much fun with this.

5. Have sex…err…spend time with my husband.

6. Read. I’m so far behind, but right now I’m reading an ARC of Colleen Gleason’s The Bleeding Dusk. OMG This totally ROCKS!!

7. Enjoy my evening baths again. Enough said.

8. Yoga. I’ve gotten away from this over the past little while. I’m going to start up again.

9. Sit by the fireplace and chill. I need to relax more in life. This is a great way to start.

10. Blog and check up on blogs. I’m so far behind. Please forgive me everyone!

11. Talk to my family. I think they missed me.

12. Christmas shop. I’m so scared - I haven’t started yet!!

13. Recharge my batteries. I’m going to take it easy in the month of December. Then you all better look out in January!!

Hi folks! I’ve been away the last two days at a conference for my day job. I thought I was going to have Internet access, but they wanted to charge me $15 for it…I said bad words, but in the end couldn’t justify it.

I’ll touch base with you all tonight once I get home and let you know all about the cool things I learned and what else has been going on. I hope to be able to visit your sites tonight as well.

Until then…HUGS!!!