My day job has seen me go off to Germany for a week. It was my first time in the country, but I can tell you it won’t be my last! I had an amazing time. The people were friendly and the weather was the hottest it had been all summer. I nearly died LOL!

I got to visit the cathedral in Aachen – we just don’t have places like this in Canada. The beauty of the church can’t be captured in this picture.

I was also able to see (from the outside because I had to catch a train) the cathedral in Koln. I would have killed for an hour to go exploring here.

I even got to stand on the highest point of the Netherlands! The Vaalserberg (“Mount Vaals”) is a hill 322.7 metres (1059 ft) in height.

It’s also where Germany, Netherlands and Belgium meet.

I have officially finished the sequel to No Quarter. Not only that, my wonderful, charming editor at Ellora’s Cave has already bought it! Letter of Marque will now officially be known as No Remedy! Contracts have been sent off and edits will start soon. This is Mace’s story and I love how her character has grown from book one. Book three is in the planning stage, and I’ll get to work on that in the fall.

While I was flying, I wasn’t able to sleep on the plane. This was a blessing and a curse, as it gave me lots of time to write. I was able to get a new novella started, which I finished yesterday. This will be part of a new multi-author series from Ellora’s Cave. I don’t want to give too much away at this point (we will have blogs and fun things to come), but my novella is done and ready to go off to my editor. Fingers crossed she likes it.

What’s on the burner for me now? Well, I have a submission ready to go off to Samhain in the next week. This is the beginning of a new paranormal romance series, and I’m crossing all appendages my new editor will like/want it. Any extra good luck anyone wants to send my way would be awesome. I’m also working on a quickie for EC’s Merry Kinkmas theme. I’ll be getting this one out the door in a week or two.

I’ll also be attending EC’s Romanticon in October. Not only will I be there for the fun and book signing, but I’m going to be presenting two workshops – one on GMC and the other on characterization. Hopefully, there will be more than just me in the room.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer so far. I’m still active on Twitter if you want to keep up with my daily musings. I will check back in for August, and then get back to a more frequent blogging schedule come fall.

*does a snoopy dance*

What do I obsess over now?

How much reading material do I have on my Kobo? Will there be enough for the flight there and back? Do I have the most recent version of my WIP on my USB stick?

Underwear be damned!

Yes, this writer is off to beautiful British Columbia for a “day job” trip. I have to say I’m super excited about it. It will officially be the furthest west I’ve ever been in my life. Being from the Canadian east coast, getting to visit the west coast is just plain awesome!

I also love the whole travel part. Not the early morning rides to the airport, but I do love people watching. You get to see individuals at their best and worst at an airport. It’s fascinating. I always seem to come out of a trip with some good writing under my belt. I’m hoping this won’t be any different.

This is also my first real run of the Kobo for prolonged reading. I’ll let you know how I make out with it. There will be pictures and tweets, so I’ll keep you all posted.

This shouldn’t be a problem.

I haven’t been able to write anything since this mess started. Understandably, my creativity has been sapped a bit. But what it has done, is given me time to think. Its helped me focus on what I want my year to be like going forward.

First off, I’m going to start taking care of myself better. That means listening to my body and not ignoring things when they’re not right. Yes, women tend to do this a lot, but I won’t anymore. I’ve also learned that bad things can happen to me. It’s funny, I never considered before that something could. I know that sounds naive, but really, who does. I’m not old, I thought I was healthy, why would I think bad things were about to happen. I now know that I’m not invincible and need to put myself first so I can be there for my family.

On the writing front, I’ve learned that if I want things to move forward, I need to make them happen. No more sitting around thinking I can’t get an agent, or a bigger contract, or write the book I always wanted, just because it’s hard. Of course its hard, and I might even fail. But one thing I know for certain, it will never happen if I don’t try.

So, I’ve decided to start 2010 over. I go back to my day job on Monday after having been on sick leave for a month. I’m also going to start writing again and get those queries out to agents. No, I won’t giver up after getting five rejections and think I’m a sucky writer.

Positive side of life. It’s a nice place to be.

When I asked her what she wanted to be when she old older, she told me she plans on being a kindergarten teacher. “But if that doesn’t work out, I’ll be a writer, mummy.” I was so proud!

Happy birthday baby!

Speaking of proud…I opened my inbox this morning to the most amazing review from Two Lips Reviews. The ever fantastic Merrylee gave The Bond That Saves Us five Lips!! It was an incredibly flattering review.

Sadly, The Bond That Saves Us is the final book in this exceptionally good series. I’ve read all four books, and I can truthfully say that they are not to be missed. Christine D’Abo not only writes with a knowledgeable flare for futuristic sci-fi, her characters are powerfully human – even if they aren’t. The pages of her books read fluidly, with absolutely no drag anywhere. Her world building and plot lines are extraordinarily well drawn and captivating. Beyond that, no other author I’ve read reaches quite the depth of sensuality and emotion in their sex scenes as does Ms. D’Abo. In fact, her sex scenes can be more aptly described as love scenes, as they grab hold of the reader’s heartstrings and hang on tight. You can’t read a D’Abo novel without sinking heart and soul into the lives of her characters, who seem so real it’s hard to believe they do not truly exist.

Thank you so much Merrylee for your kind words. You can read the review in its entirety over at Two Lips Reviews.

I have this tendency to drift off some days. I can be sitting there, working away on something, or doing the laundry and my mind drifts off. I’m choosing to believe there isn’t something wrong with me, but rather I’m getting into that spot where my characters start talking to me.

Wow, that really does make me sound a bit off my rocker LOL!

I really enjoy finding that writer’s head space. Sometimes its hard to get to if things around me are a bit insane, but most of the time it just happens. I think some of my best ideas have popped out when I’m drifting along. I’ve fixed plot issues when I’ve been doing the dishes thinking about nothing in particular.

It’s also interesting how I find myself working on new plots more in the fall than in the summer or spring. I’m not sure if it’s my way of dealing with the winter, or if I’m simply more introspective this time of year.

How about you? Do you find fall makes you more introspective? Do you read more, do more quite activities? Or are you one of those brilliant people who explode with energy and ideas this time of year?

Time for a rest.

The trip home was fantastic. The kids and the puppy survived the car drive with little to no issues. Hubby and myself enjoyed the break, though we’re both running around mad today trying to get things organized. Once I have a few minutes to sit, I’ll post some of the pictures we took while visiting beautiful New Brunswick Canada.

But first…laundry!!

*groan*

I hear you asking, “Why so long, Christine?” Excellent question!  You see we need all the prep time because we are driving from Ontario to New Brunswick. Now if you put this into Mapquest, it tells you that it will take 16 hours to complete this insanity. This (naturally) ignores the idea of traffic, or the fact I will have two kids and a dog in the car. Hubby and I are anticipating it will take us between 18-20 hours with stops and slow downs.

In the car.

With two kids AND a puppy.

Yes, yes, I hear your laughter now. But we are strong! We are prepared (or will by tomorrow night)! I have Gravol for the kids…and have figured out that we can give it to Jack too (he’s the dog, not my husband). We have the laptop and an adapter ready to go so the kids can watch Smallville (Superman saves the day AGAIN!), and I’ll have a good assortment of music to listen to while I drive.

And yes, I’ll do most of the driving. I’m a terrible passenger, so it’s less stressful on hubby if I just drive.

So, I won’t be on my blog for two weeks, but I will be bugging everyone on Twitter.

Wish me luck!

I really love being a writer–but it is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’ve never questioned my own ability to accomplish what I set out to do in my life. I wanted to write a book. I wanted to be published. I did and I am. Next on my list, I want to have an agent and be published with a NY house. I will…only a matter of time. But I’m impatient with myself. Honestly, it’s one of my greatest faults.

Why am I rambling on about all this? No, I’m not trying to toot my own horn, looking for sympathy, or prove I’m some sort of uber-awesome person. To be honest, I’m finding myself slipping. My writer self has been going through some soul searching recently. I’ve been asking myself some questions (what do I hope to accomplish? how am I going to get there?) and I’ve come to the realization that I’ve lost sight of why I wanted to be a writer in the first place.

I love telling stories. I like making shit up and getting a reaction out of people. If you’ve ever met me, you know I’m even worse in person. That drive to entertain is something very deeply ingrained in me.

Recently, I’ve lost sight of that.

I’ve been finding myself drifting. I’m more concerned with writing to the market. While that’s important, it can also be stifling. While I want to advance my career, I need to be true to myself. This is the reason I haven’t been able to do much recently. I’ve been feeling trapped as a writer–not quite good enough to go in one direction, but wanting a new challenge.

So, I’ve come over to my blog and am giving myself an opportunity to get all these thoughts out of my head and onto the virtual paper. I need to look at them and figure out what I need to do to move forward. I know a lot of you out there who read my blog are also writers. I’m asking for your advice as well. How do you keep yourself going and focused?

My motivation has slipped, but it’ not gone.

Thank god for critique partners! *hugs JK and Amy*

The good news, is that I’m almost done the edits I wanted for this submission to Spice Briefs. I think I need to add some more sex to it (because you can never go wrong with more sex), and then out the door it will go! This is my first time submitting to Spice, so I’m curious to see what will happen. This might not be the right story for them, but I’m excited to give it a go.

Once this one is done, I’ll be going back to my WIP for a while. It’s an urban paranormal, and very different from anything else I’ve ever written. If I actually sell this one, I might have to consider a different pen name. There’s no sex! Shocking, I know.

I really want to try and tie up loose ends over the next week and a bit before I go away on vacation. It’s been a while since we’ve been home, and I’m looking forward to spending time with my family.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far.

HUGS!