I’ve known Lillian Francis for a while now. We met in the land of fan fic and have gone on from there. When I heard she sold her first book to Ellora’s Cave, I did a real life snoopy dance. Not only is this Lillian’s first book, but it’s EC’s Blush line’s very first m/m. Double exciting!! Now, I’ve been super lucky to have been one of her beta readers for this. The story is wonderful, romantic and plain hot.

Blurb

Tired of having been constantly on the move, Drew is determined to make Cardiff his home.  When Drew starts his new job as teacher in Cardiff, he strikes up an immediate friendship with Nathan Morgan, a young History teacher.

Nathan is instantly attracted to Drew, but doesn’t want to risk their fledgling friendship by declaring the extent of his desire. Completely oblivious to Nathan’s quandary, Drew doesn’t realize the true nature of his own feelings for Nathan until accusations from a student force both men’s hands

But Drew has spent his life running away.  Running away from his mistakes, his desires and a secret-filled past. Drew is forced to choose between running away once more and a possible future with Nathan.

If you are looking for a great, romantic m/m story, check out Lessons Learned. You can buy it from Ellora’s Cave today!

But Christine, isn’t the Superbowl this weekend and isn’t your team rematching against the team that knocked them out of the Superbowl the last time they played?? Why yes…and I have a backup plan so I get to watch it.

Still, a trip to Amsterdam isn’t one to pass up! I’m going to have at least a day and a half to get some sight seeing in, and I’m hoping I’ll have an evening or two that I can sneak out as well. But I don’t know where to go first! The sex museum is on the list, and so is the Van Gogh  museum. However, there is so much there and so little time. As a result I need your help!

If you could only go to a few things in the wonderful city of Amsterdam, where would you go??

For a Christmas present, I signed her up for a cake decorating class. She loves all of the contest baking shows, Cupcake Wars, etc., and I thought this would be a good introduction for her.

Last night she did her cupcakes. And they turned out pretty well! Keep in mind, peeps, she’s 12.

Taken with my BlackBerry, so forgive the quality.

Her little flower turned out pretty well.

I think these two were my favourite.

We get to eat them tonight (except the one she made for her new boyfriend ). I can’t wait!

Of course, this brings up the question of what to talk about. I’m not overly political. I won’t beat the drum about something (even though I might feel passionately about it). I’m not controversial. I’m not particularly witty and my humor doesn’t always translate to the page. Soooooo….maybe I’ll just ramble and show pictures of hot guys.

No? Oh. Maybe?

How about I just talk about Zombieland.

Yeah, I think I was one of the last people in the world to see this movie. My husband hauled it up on Netflix Friday night and informed me we needed to watch this. I didn’t find it LOL hilarious (okay, except for Bill Fucking Murray), but I LOVED how it was basically a first person narrative. The rules that Columbus has and repeats through the movie have stayed with me far longer than some of the other elements. As a result, the movie endeared itself to me.

Plus Woody was hot in the hat.

Zombies are fun. They can be scary. More than that, zombie movies tend to make the humans in the scary. We’d be forced to do things that are so outside of who we would be in the normal world, it’s terrifying. Would I kill someone/thing to save my family. Hell yeah.

That’s the only movie I’ve watched recently. I’m still desperate to see Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Sherlock Holmes. Maybe I’ll sneak out this week and check them out.

I’ve been doing a lot of writing recently. I’ve submitted two stories to my editors (one for Carina Press, one for EC) and I’m working on a novella for a Christmas anthology call. I really love this one so far, so let’s hope it stays groovy. I’m also finalizing my Steampunk workshop that I’ll be doing over at Passionate Ink next moth. If you’re interested, make sure you register.

On the far reaches of the Eurus colony, the extraordinary is happening. Moira is seeing ghosts. The spirit appears silent and alone. When she finally sees the face of her ghost, Moira knows her world is spiraling into madness. Because it can’t be her friend Connor, since he’s still very much alive.

But Connor has been acting strange. By day, he’s growing more distant, dismissive, not the charismatic man he normally is. By night, his spirit ignites Moria’s body as they come together in passionate embraces they’d never shared before. Confused, Moira questions if their growing bond is real, or if she is slowly losing her mind.

While the outpost is under attack, Moira must find a way to reunite Connor’s body and spirit to stop the invasion, or risk his soul forever.

You can buy it today from Ellora’s Cave. You can also check out the other stories in the Eternal Bonds universe here.

Blurb

On the far reaches of the Eurus colony, the extraordinary is happening. Moira Rahn is seeing ghosts.

The spirit appears where he shouldn’t, silent and alone where only Moira can see him. When she finally sees the face of her ghost, Moira knows her world is spiraling into madness. Because it can’t be her friend Connor, since he’s still very much alive.

But Connor has been acting strange. By day, he’s growing more distant, dismissive, not the charismatic man he normally is. By night, his spirit ignites Moria’s body as they come together in passionate embraces they’d never shared before. Confused, Moira questions if their growing bond is real, or if she is slowly losing her mind.

While the outpost is under attack, Moira must find a way to reunite Connor’s body and spirit to stop the invasion, or risk his soul forever.

Spectral Bond will be available from Ellora’s Cave on Wednesday, January 18th!

I’m thrilled to be able to announce that my first release for 2012 is coming fast and furious! So fast, that I only found out about the release date LAST NIGHT!

Spectral Bond will be hitting the virtual stands on January 18th, which, yes is next Wednesday. I don’t have a cover yet, but will share it with you as soon as it hits my Inbox.

What is fun about this story is that I’ve decided to revisit the world of Eurus. I haven’t played in that universe since I wrapped up my Eternal Bond series. I’d loved all of the characters, but had wanted a change. But after many conversations with people who were looking forward to more stories, I decided I had one or two left in me.

Blurb

On the far reaches of the Eurus colony, the extraordinary is happening. Moira Rahn is seeing ghosts.

The spirit appears where he shouldn’t, silent and alone where only Moira can see him. When she finally sees the face of her ghost, Moira knows her world is spiraling into madness. Because it can’t be her friend Connor, since he’s still very much alive.

But Connor has been acting strange. By day, he’s growing more distant, dismissive, not the charismatic man he normally is. By night, his spirit ignites Moria’s body as they come together in passionate embraces they’d never shared before. Confused, Moira questions if their growing bond is real, or if she is slowly losing her mind.

While the outpost is under attack, Moira must find a way to reunite Connor’s body and spirit to stop the invasion, or risk his soul forever.

I’m intending for this to be a bridge story to a connected series that I have in mind. I’m very excited about the idea I’ve come up with and hope to have one or two of them out this year. We’ll have to see how things go.

I hope that you’ll check out Spectral Bond and that you enjoy a return to Eurus.

It’s easy to forget how much progress has been made when you’re neck deep in writing new stories, doing up proposals for agents (getting rejected by agents), working on edits on top of everything else that is going on. It’s nice to sit back and take a look at what’s happened over the past year and see where I’m hoping to go in 2012. So that’s what I’m doing. If you haven’t given yourself the opportunity to take a moment and look back at the positives of the past year (even if they may be hard to see), you should.

Releases

This year saw the most releases I’ve ever had at one time. Not only did I have seven publications hit the stands, I got to work with three new publishers! It’s been a crazy, wild ride and one that I hope doesn’t come to an end anytime soon.

No Master – Ellora’s Cave

Girls Who Bite – Cleis Press

Steamlust: Steampunk Erotic Romance – Cleis Press

Double Shot – Carina Press

A Shot in the Dark – Carina Press

Pulled Long – Carina Press

Agony/Ecstasy - Berkley Heat

New Words

On top of the edits and promotions I did for the above books, I’d somehow also managed to get 230,700 new words written. That’s on five manuscripts, one that was published (No Master), two that are contracted and are coming in 2012 (Spectral Bond, Scorched Retribution), and three stories that I’m in the process of finishing/editing (an Exotica for EC, an erotic steampunk I hope to try and get an agent with, book 4 in the Long Shots series, and a partial for Blaze).

It’s a bit crazy…

Reading

I’ve also made a point of doing more reading in 2011. I took the Goodreads challenge and set a goal for myself of reading 50 books. I’m technically 3 books behind on the challenge, but I have actually read well over the 50. I won’t post any reviews of books I don’t like (I try to only say nice things online) and there were a few I read that didn’t float my boat. This was good for me and I found it helped keep me motivated with my writing. I plan to do this again next year.

Looking Forward

I’m already very excited about what is on the horizon for 2012. I have two releases ready to go. Spectral Bond, a new story in the Eternal Bond universe will be out early 2012. Scorched Retribution is a story I have in the new Cleis Press She-Shifters anthology coming out in July. I also hope to have Josh’s story (book 4 in the Long Shots world) out in 2012. I also will be finishing up the Blaze (even if I get a no on that one), work on a few call for submissions that have caught my eye, and I have plans for two new novella series.

In other words, I’ll be busy.

I hope you are all ready for 2012, and I hope it is as productive (and happy) for you as I hope it will be for me.

*does a snoopy dance*

We are sitting here at the ass-end of 2011 and getting ready to celebrate with our families and friends. This year has been a turbulent one, full of ups, downs and amazing surprises. On the writing front, 2011 has turned out to be probably the best of my career to date. I have each and every one of you to thank for that.

To my reader

Lord, I don’t even know where to start. The words Thank You can’t adequately express the depth of my appreciation for your support. The reviews (both positive and negative), the comments, emails, Twitter conversations…everything…it keeps me going. You are all wonderful and I hope that at least some of my musings have kept you entertained over the past year. I will have more for you in 2012 and I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

To my editors

Brianna, Deb, Jane, Delilah and Kristina. You took my words and helped me make them shine. Writing is a partnership and I wanted to say thank you for your guidance, words of wisdom and insight. I wish you all the best in 2012 and I hope to work with you all again very soon.

To my fellow writers

Wow, what a year, eh? There’s been so much craziness this past year, it’s hard to know where to stand most days. We need to be agile in the publishing world, dodging through the changes and praying we come out the other side with out goals met and dreams chugging forward. I have a feeling 2012 will be just as crazy. I also know that the support I see online on the loops, on Twitter and Facebook, the network of communication will continue to grow. Our goals are to tell stories and hopefully build a career. Well, that’s my goal. And knowing that I have all of you in my corner cheering me on makes the journey not only more fun, but saner. And I hope you know that I’m there for you too. *high-five*

To my critique partners

Oh JK, Wylie, Kimber, Amy and Del…I would be so lost without all of you. Not just as a writer, but as a person. I would say more, but I hope you all know by now. I love you all.

To my family

Hello. Let me introduce myself. I’m your wife/mother/daughter/sister/in-law. I’m that crazy person who sits at the desk in the hallway drinking coffee and muttering incoherently to herself. Yes, I know I work full time and sometimes abandon you to my muse. I’m sorry for that. But I also want to thank you for giving me the support to do that. It means so much to me to be able to pursue my dream, but not as much as knowing you all want me to succeed. I promise I won’t leave you alone quite so much in 2012.

And yes, I’ll make cinnamon rolls now.

Merry Christmas, happy hanukkah, happy Kwanza, merry festivis pole…best wishes to you and your family regardless of what you celebrate.