Julia Barrett's World

I suppose I could leave the Boundary Waters with parting words  like,

what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, or some such nonsense.

The truth is, the Boundary Waters are beautiful and I’d love to give them another go round under entirely different circumstances.

Instead of words of wisdom, Hubby wants me to leave you with a potty story.  It’s his fave.

So…Mr. and Mrs. Bob’s cabin is lovely.  Really.  And it’s perfect for two people.  As it happens, there were six people sharing the one bathroom, because Mrs. Bob’s daughter and son in law were staying in the guest shack in order to look after the cats while we were gone.  Oh, by the way, the cat kibble is counted out and the cats are super skinny – the female cat gets something like twelve pieces of kibble for breakfast.  I know because I got yelled at our last morning when she was crying and I dumped a handful of food into her dish.  Oh, back to the potty story!

As I was saying, there were a couple potty-related incidents that hubby, in particular, found quite disconcerting.  I simply decided that should a bathroom issue arise, I’d shit in the woods.

When  Mr. and Mrs. Bob added on to the cabin, adding a great room on one side of the A-frame and a bedroom and bathroom on the other, they made a mistake.  At least I consider it a mistake.  Their bedroom is only accessible through the bathroom.  In other words, you enter the bathroom through the living room – and if you are in the bathroom, you can slide a door shut between yourself and the living room.  But there is another doorway opening from the bathroom into the Bob’s bedroom.  The Bob’s insist that that door remain propped open with a brick AT ALL TIMES…whether or not they are in their bedroom.  So you could be, oh I don’t know, peeing or pooping or taking a shower, and who should walk by but Mr. and/or Mrs. Bob.  What do you say?  “Hi!  How ya doin’?  Nice day, eh?” (Canadian speak.)

Before I used the bathroom, I always took a quick head count.  Hubby didn’t understand the drill on the first go-round.  He assumed the Bobs had another entrance to their bedroom.  So he stayed up late reading our first night there, and then went to use the bathroom after the Bobs had gone to bed.  SURPRISE!

On the day of our return, he went to take a shower and Mrs. Bob opened the sliding door from the living room into the bathroom so her cats could get in to use their litter box – in the bathroom.  Poor hubby steps out of shower nekked as the day he was born and wonders who the hell opened that door – I was collapsed on the bed in the loft at the time since we still hadn’t eaten solid food since our return.  He was so delirious he thought he’d lost his marbles and left the door open.  Good times, man…good times.

Thank you all for your supportive, indignant, hilarious comments!  I love you guys!

BACK TO REAL LIFE!

I want to thank Teagan at Book Wenches and Steph at Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust for their lovely reviews of Anytime Darlin’ – my latest release.  This is my all-time best book!  I’m begging you – buy it and enjoy it.  Sigh…

You can read their comments here, plus Penelope over at Penny Romance is reading the book:

http://www.bookwenches.com/august10reviews.htm

http://fangswandsandfairydust.blogspot.com/

http://www.pennyromance.com/

Tomorrow – I got my new cover for my menage.  Yummolicious!

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It’s beautiful in Northern Minnesota.

The arboreal forest is so thick you cannot walk through it unless you come across a short game trail.  Once in the forest, mere yards from the shore, the water disappears, all sound is absorbed by the trees and the heavy undergrowth.  There are no landmarks to guide you, and there is not a single hint of civilization.  Without a compass and/or a very good sense of direction, you are lost.  There are black bears, moose, deer, wolves, bobcats, cougars, river otters, beavers, porcupines, bald eagles – and those are just the animals we saw or suspected came through our campsites.

It could have been a great trip.  And in some weird way, it was, but only because we survived.

Arrival – Our host and guide shall hereafter be known as Mr. Bob.  His wife shall be known as Mrs. Bob.

Mr. Bob meets us at a marina in the middle of nowhere and ferries us to his lakeside cabin.  There are no roads.  The cabin is both rustic and modern, the forest closes in on three sides while the front faces the lake in a view that is beyond compare.  Mr. and Mrs. Bob are very fortunate to live is such glorious surroundings, even if it is only during the months of May through September.

Red Flag number one:  On a tour of the spotless, spider-web free, boathouse, Mr. Bob shows us his neatly stacked, slick, pristine, high-tech, fiberglass canoes.  Two of them.  He lovingly caresses the canoe he and Mrs. Bob plan to launch the next day and exhibits their hand-carved wooden paddles.  He points out another set of hand-carved wooden paddles – older paddles.

Hubby, reaching for the second set – “So, are these our paddles?”

Mr. Bob, snatching the paddles from hubby’s hand – “No, these are your paddles.”  Hands hubby a set of worn, frayed plastic paddles.

Hubby, pointing to second high-tech canoe – “Is this our canoe?”

Mr. Bob, laughing – “No.  Your canoe is…” cue dramatic organ music, sudden gust of wind, followed by dark, ominous clouds, lightning and a crack of thunder…“over there…”

Scenes from Vertigo flit through my head.

Hubby and I walk over to the far end of the property to look at the Grumman, our canoe.  It lays all by its lonesome across two two by fours.

Hubby, in a whisper – “This thing hasn’t been paddled since the Civil War.  I think it’s Old Iron Sides.”

I look at the creature and think…I got a baaaaad feeling about this trip.

Flash of lightning…crash of thunder. Tippi Hedrin…The Birds…the Psycho falling down the stairs scene.

Red Flag number two:  Supper is delicious…but…it is served to us in perfectly apportioned plates, the portion sizes fitted precisely to the approximate height and weight of each guest.  It is made very clear that there will be no more and no less.  We are instructed to pay attention to the color of our cloth napkin because we will know where to sit for any and all future meals by the placement of our color-coded napkin.

Cold wind blows through me, causing me to shiver.  I swear I catch a glimpse of Alfred Hitchcock on the lower walkway.

Red Flag number three:  After the dishes are done, Mrs. Bob asks – “What do you eat for breakfast?”

Me – “Do you mean for the canoe trip?”

Mrs. Bob – “Yes.”

Me – “What are you packing?”

Mrs. Bob – “Strawberry instant oatmeal.”

Me, in seizure mode – “Huh?”

Mrs. Bob – “Strawberry instant oatmeal.”

Me – “I don’t eat instant oatmeal.  It makes me instantly hypoglycemic and then I get a migraine.  Can we bring some peanut butter?”

Mrs. Bob – “No.  The food is all packed.”

Me, hyperventilating – “But…but…”

Mrs. Bob walks away.  In her wake, rain lashes the windows, wind whips the trees, bending them double.  Lightning flashes directly above the skylight.  I’m flashing on The Hound of the Baskervilles or possibly Murder in the Rue Morgue.

Red Flag number four:  Mrs. Bob comes upstairs to our open sleeping loft.  She thrusts two towels into my hands.  “These are your towels for the duration of your visit.  Do not lose them.  Do not leave them lying around.  Hang them on these racks,” she points to the wall next to our bed, “and no other racks.  You may not use any other towels.”

OMG!  OMG!  OMG!  What if I forget my towel when I go downstairs to use the shower?  What color is my napkin?  Strawberry instant oatmeal???  Old Iron Sides weighs a ton and there’s a big dent in the keel.  My paddle is a ratty piece of black plastic.  I toss and turn all night, knowing that tomorrow I will die.

Tomorrow – Day One – No good deed goes unpunished.

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This is so exciting!

Anytime Darlin’, my cowboy romance, just became available for pre-sale!  Oh!  I am in love with this book!  It’s my firstborn!

http://www.bookstrand.com/anytime-darlin

What a nice present just before I leave for my canoe trip.  Thank you Siren!

Oh, also, Daughters of Persephone is on the What’s Hot List all All Romance Ebooks.  I have absolutely no idea what this means.

http://www.allromanceebooks.com/index.html#whatsHot

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Edits!

Edits!

Edits!

I have to finish these up today.  The edits for books three and four of Daughters of Persephone were due on Monday, but my editor’s computer crashed so I’m SOL.

We’re leaving Friday and I will not be able to do much of anything internet related for ten days.

Remember lovely ladies, Anytime Darlin’ will be released on August 26th.  I won’t be here until the 30th.  Take care of my baby!  I’ll miss my puppy too.  Jake had his first visit to the vet today.  It did not go well.  I could hear him screaming from the parking lot when they took him into the back to give him his shots.

Back to edits!

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WWII German superspy, the Needle, who gravitates towards murder using his trusty switchblade, discovers vital evidence about the Allies D-Day invasion. He makes for the Scotish coast to escape on a U-Boat when his small boat is shipwrecked before being picked up and the Needle is washed ashore. He is saved by a man destined to never enter the war and his wife and child. The Needle quickly falls in love with the woman and both must decide between their love or country.

Eye of the Needle is a 1981 film directed by Richard Marquand, based on the novel of the same title by Ken Follett, and starring Donald Sutherland. The Storm Island scenes were shot over eight weeks on the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides.

Rebecca, of Dirty Sexy Books, recently ran a post about movies in which she asked – have you ever watched a movie that so intrigued you, it ignited an interest in reading the book it was based on?  I responded – no.  I lied!  I realized that I loved the suspenseful movie, Eye of the Needle, so much that I ran out and bought the book, read it cover to cover, enjoying both the movie and the book equally.  Donald Sutherland and Kate Nelligan were brilliant.  Sutherland plays the vicious WWII German spy, der Nadel, (self-explanatory if you read the book or watch the movie).  Kate Nelligan plays an intelligent, long-suffering married woman.  She’s lonely and isolated, desperate for affection and attention and quite frankly, she needs a compassionate, empathetic shoulder to lean on.  Sutherland wants to be that shoulder, among other body parts.  The passion and the tragedy in the movie and the book tore me up because…well…if you’ve got Netflix, rent the film or buy the book.  In addition, one of the most appealing things about the characters is that they are real – they do not have perfect bodies or use body doubles.

Okay, sexy guys!  I have new sexy guys on TV, and one girl crush.  Let’s leave True Blood out of this, I’m talking network TV and The Travel Channel.  Bear with me now!

Sexy guy number one:  Alex O’Laughlin, the Australian actor who played reluctant vampire Mick St. John in the short-lived series, Moonlight – which I loved and I was totally pissed off when the network pulled the show!  He’s in the new Hawaii Five-O and I cannot wait because he’s starring with my girl crush, my favorite Cylon, former BSG-er Grace Park, better known as the Sharons or the Eights.  Oh God, I adore the Sharons!

See?  Alex.  Yum.

Sexy guy number two – Anthony Bourdain, of No Reservations on the Travel Channel.   From the moment I saw him on Food Network – way back when -  his risque bad boy behavior pushed all my right buttons.  When The Food Network lost him, or canned him, I don’t know which, the channel lost their edge.  He’s got all the right stuff – great face, great voice, great body, great bad boy aura of danger, and food chops to boot.  Again…yummm.

Who’s on your list?

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http://www.pennyromance.com/

She is the nicest person, an author, a book blogger and reviewer.  She’s in the hospital.  I know we’re only friends online, but online friends are great friends.  I’m wishing her a speedy recovery.  Having spent time as a charge nurse in Coronary Care, I know she’s getting all kinds of TLC!

Chris, at Stumbling Over Chaos, posted this link and I found it very interesting.  Most readers said their pet peeve about books is a bad cover.  I’ve had more than my share of those – in the past – not now – it wasn’t my fault!  I didn’t ask for a sucky cover…I swear!  http://lesleywbooknook.blogspot.com/2010/08/book-prejudices.html It’s not as if I said – Gimme the worst POS cover ya got – on my cover request!  Whether we like it or not, we are a visual species.  A cover is the very first thing a reader sees and a cover can make or break a book.  Even though of all people, I should know better, I’ll skip over a book with a silly, stupid or just plain bad cover.

Literary agent, Nathan Bransford, no…he’s not my agent…I have no agent…but he writes a good, informative, participatory blog – oh, that’s what I was going to say…he writes a good, informative, participatory blog – here’s the link:  http://blog.nathanbransford.com/ I’m considering attending the writer’s conference – haven’t been to one in a number of years, not since I got hit on by the published author who was supposed to be mentoring me.  Blech.  He, Nathan, not the lecherous author, has a recent post for all you Lost fans.  My sister is Lost-obsessed.  She watches the DVDs over and over and over again.  I’ve never watched it and I never will.

If you’re reading this, happy Saturday!  My puppy is doing well.  I’m still too sleep-deprived to do much more than stare at my WIP.  My husband promises to sleep with the puppy this weekend so I can spend at least one night in my own heavenly bed.  Sigh…

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What can I say?  My puppy is named after my favorite male lead – Jake McKenna from Anytime Darlin’, my soon-to-be-released romance suspense with Siren.

Ah…Jake.

He’s so cute and furry!  And he chases his own tail…the puppy that is,

not Jake McKenna.

Jake McKenna is not a dog-shifter, he’s a rancher, among other things.  Anyway, I thought you’d enjoy looking at pictures of my little guy before you are forced to look at pictures of me.

Of course, the new mommy doesn’t get any sleep…or any work done for that matter.  I did finish one set of edits, waiting for three more and I’ve pulled up the work in progress – the post-apocalyptic novel.

That’s something, I guess, especially since I’m running on fumes, coffee and chocolate.

German shepherds always look so worried!

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Since my house is a mess and my puppy is a handful, you get eye candy.

This is the new cover for my cowboy erotic romance, Anytime Darlin’.  Here’s the teaser:

Devlin Barre lies near death, her family destroyed, her hopes for the future, dashed. Jake McKenna saves her life. Worried she’s becoming dependent on him, Devlin runs off without a word. Years later, Jake and Devlin meet again. Has their deep connection survived? What of the murderer who still hunts her?

This book is very close to my heart.  It’s the first romance I wrote. When it was first published, it sat buried on a virtual-world shelf somewhere in Never Never Land.  I can’t tell you how happy and grateful I am for the opportunity Siren has given me to re-write and re-release this tender love story.

The release date?  Coming soon – mid to late August.

Tomorrow – Science Fiction Erotic Romance….is it a contradiction in terms or just too weird to survive?

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http://erotromreader.blogspot.com/?zx=94c63e54148e7932

Janna, at Erotic Romance Reader featured a clip yesterday from Daughters of Persephone, Book One Exile.  Yikes!  I wrote that, eh?  Cool!

Here’s her main link in case you can’t get in the back door – http://erotromreader.blogspot.com/

All next week while Janna’s on vacation, you can read guest posts and win books – I’m giving away a copy of Daughters, Mia Watts and Bronwyn Green are also providing prizes.  Make sure to stop by Janna’s place for some goodies!

Wiping the sweat from my brow!  Whew!  Sixteen hours straight of revising Anytime Darlin’ - my cowboy rancher/farm girl romance with Siren.  I had to get it done…we may be getting a new puppy tomorrow.  This was a major re-write and it took me days as this honey-bunny is a full-length romance/suspense.

I just this minute got a review for my very popular romance/suspense, My Everything, from Happily Ever After Reviews:  http://hea-reviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/review-my-everything-by-julia-barrett.html Ben and Grace seem to be characters readers love.  They are lovers reunited after ten long, heart breaking years apart.  Five Tea Cups!

Drop by tomorrow as author, Anny Cook, gives us her take on fantasy.  She writes very hot, very fantastic books – we’re talking major world-building!

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Ack!  I had a fun, smutty, Scottish-related post planned for today but instead, not…just news.

1.  My Everything, my romance-suspense with Cobblestone, got a five-star review from The Romance Studio:  http://theromancestudio.com/reviews/reviews/myeverythingbarrett.htm

2.  Beauty and the Feast, my contemporary with Resplendence, received a five-teacup review from Happily Ever After:  http://hea-reviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/review-beauty-and-feast-by-julia.html

3.  The release of Daughters of Persephone will probably be delayed…ACK!  DOUBLE ACK!!!  I’ll be working on it all day today…@#$%^&*+=!

4.  Author Mia Watts, my not-so-secret online lover, arrives tomorrow!  Yay!  Pant…pant…pant.

5.  I tried a piece of bacon in Montana.  I liked it.  My daughter told me I can no longer officially call myself a vegetarian.  I’m a lapsed vegetarian.

6.  Siren sent me congrats yesterday on becoming a PAN-Eligible author, thanks to sales from Captured.  I’m in the news over there and if I had time, I’d do a happy dance!   http://www.sirenbookstrand.com/pan/

7.  We get to look at the puppies early next week!!!  The breeder says there may be three long-coated babies, which we want, and one is a really big male.  Give me those really big males any day!  I do love boys and I miss mine!

8.  After reading Read React Review‘s take on Passion, by Lisa Valdez, my husband wants to know – here’s the question of the day – and if you can answer, you might just receive a copy of one of my books…How does one measure a penis?  From root to tip?  Where do you start your measurement?  LOL!  Only hubby-mine could come up with a question like that!

love, a stressed-out julia

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Meeting new people.

Have you been watching the World Cup?  I have, along with Susi, The Geeky Bookworm, over in Berlin, Germany!  We’ve watched together, screamed, hooted and hollered, and cheered over google chat.  It’s been great!  Well…except for the United States losing, that is.  Susi and I agree that the vuvuzelas have to go.

Speaking of Germany, an author contacted me about my post on the true identity of Will Shakespeare entitled, The Dark Lady.  Lev Raphael left me this erudite comment regarding the article I quoted:

“It’s a lovely fantasy, but Reform Judaism’s editors should have been more thorough and done some fact checking.  Bassano Lanier was not a Jew, first  of all.  Her mother wasn’t, and there’s no proof whatsoever that her father was.  As for the rest of the story, it’s a lovely fantasy constructed out of half-facts and suppositions and starts from a false premise: Shakespeare couldn’t have written the plays.  This premise took root in the mid 1800s, more than two hundred years after Shakespeare died. That should give people pause.
Interested readers should check out James Shapiro’s “Contested Will,” Irvin Matus’s “Shakespeare in Fact,” and http://www.bibliobuffet.com/book-brunch-columns-322/1304-anyone-but-shakespeare-062010

Mr. Raphael is the author of My Germany.  He’ll be speaking in Berlin this fall.

http://www.levraphael.com
Watch an excerpt of the book at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFhrajH-6AE

Yes, I’d like to think that Shakespeare was a woman – it’s a very romantic notion, ah well…

Thanks to the blog hop, I’ve met some great new book bloggers, like Steph at Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust.  We’ve been discussing True Blood.  http://fangswandsandfairydust.blogspot.com/

And today I was thrilled to find a new-to-me site, (it’s a long story), Kelly and Five Agents and a Funeral – a name I find hilarious!  http://www.fiveagentsandafuneral.com/

News:  Little by little, I’m doing better.  I’m no longer crying all the time.  I can’t wait to see the puppies, but that won’t be until we get back from ten days in Montana – leaving on Friday.  Author Stacey Espino has had a great week with her new release, Saving Grace.  I think she’s like, um, numero uno over at Siren.  I’m sending many positive thoughts to my friends, authors Regina Carlysle and Paris Brandon who’ve faced some tough personal challenges lately.  All right, going to bed, night.

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This is what I call a tote!

Tote it to the beach – it’s big enough to hold a bathing suit, a beach towel, flip-flops, wallet, car keys, three or four bottles of water, sandwiches…or take it to the local super market and bring home a tote full of groceries.  Hey, use it as a carry-on bag -  I guarantee this tote will get you some looks!

Hey…I’m right there in the middle, see?  The cover for My Everything is right there, along with covers by many authors you know – on both sides!  The tote is from cover model, Jimmy Thomas.  He gave a few of these priceless gifts away at RT.  You know you want one.  Even my cat, Yoshi, is hot for this tote!

Here’s all you have to do…comment!  Even better, sign up for my newsletter!  Tell me about your favorite books, (no, they don’t have to be mine!), what genre you like and why, what authors you visit.  Do you like to read a quickie over lunch or do you like a book to cuddle up with at night?  I’d love to know.  I’ll announce the winner on Sunday so stay tuned because I’m going to need your email addy.

Ooh, Yoshi’s brother, Rico, got into the act!  He wants one too!

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To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

• Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
• Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
• Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
• Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
• If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love…and the followers
• If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!

Happy Weekend!

This is a Blog Hop! You’re next!

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Please feel free to take a look around and check out the site, read about my books, upcoming releases, reviews, sign up for my newsletter…Whatever you like.

Here’s an update on our boy.  He’s improved slightly with massive doses of steroids.  We don’t know if this will get him over the hump so he can fight what appears to be more of a viral infection or if the slight improvement is just the steroids talking.  Hubby was man enough to stay up all night with Louie.  I hit the wall yesterday evening and when he got home from work, I was huddled in a corner sobbing and incoherent.  I wish I could be stronger, I mean for Christ’s sake, I’m a hospice nurse, I work with dying people, and I’m really really good at what I do.  You’d think I’d be able to handle this situation.  I suck.  I just suck.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll have better news.  Much love, Julia

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According to the Urban Dictionary, the meaning of the above phrase is:  A person or group treated without the favor of birthright.  Sometimes, as my middle child, My Everything feels that way.  Ben and Grace told me themselves.  They made a very good point about getting the short end of the promo stick.  So here goes – Ben McCall and Grace Rafael, it’s your turn!

Security consultant Ben McCall is alone. His wife and unborn child are dead, victims of an assassination attempt meant for someone else. Grieving, he disappears. When his best friend is in danger Ben resurfaces, only to find his friend isn’t the target of a murderer, he is.

Grace Adams is one of the walking wounded. Her husband died two years ago. One night she is incapacitated. A man comes to her aid. He’s the man she fell in love with years before, Ben McCall. As the passion between them reignites, Grace too becomes a target of the madman who stalks Ben.

Yes, this is a romance/suspense, but it’s also a sweet story.  I fell so in love with Ben and Grace and had such compassion for their struggles that I did something I will probably never do again, I wrote them an epilogue – I wanted everything to come out right in the end.  Like Job, who got back what he’d lost, I wanted to give my characters back everything they’d lost in their lives.

Thanks to Cris Griffin, cover artist extraordinaire over at Cobblestone Press and Jimmy Thomas, a major hot cover model, I got the above gorgeous cover.  The book is available at Cobblestone and it’s just been listed on Fictionwise.

http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/myeverything.htm

http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/b110090/My-Everything/Julia-Barrett/?

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