Julia Barrett's World

My Cat is a Newt Addict

Did you know that newts are poisonous? They have glands on their skin that secrete a neuro-toxin. The toxin is similar to that of a pufferfish. Did you know that ingesting one rough skin newt can kill a large college student? In fact, the second most poisonous newt in the world is the California Newt.

The picture above is of an Arboreal Newt. My cat brings in three to four of these a night - all sizes. Apparently, now that our court is half-empty and has been for over a year - with neighbors turning their homes over to the bank, nature has returned with a vengeance and we are overrun with Arboreal Newts. I really don’t care…they’re kinda cute in a squishy sort of Martian-like yucky way, but they are poisonous and my cat carries his newt around as if it’s a delicate crystal figurine, gagging and wheezing and frothing at the mouth all the while. He drops it on my foot - if I happen to be awake, or on my neck, if I happen to be asleep.

As a consequence, I’ve stopped sleeping. I’m terrified he’ll drop a newt on my face and it will crawl into my mouth. This habit he’s developed is taking a toll on me. I go flying out of bed at the slightest movement, sound, imagined slow-motion newt wiggle.

I’m trying to decide what the fascination is - does my cat get this weird newt high from the toxin, you know…like toad licking? Or does he just want me to know newts are intruding upon his territory? Or does he want me to lick them and join in on his newt-induced acid trip? He doesn’t eat them - he would be very dead if he did, and he doesn’t kill them either. We release them in various areas and the next night, he finds more. My husband says the cat is probably building up an immunity to newt toxin much like the Dread Pirate Roberts did in The Princess Bride with iocaine poison.

The interesting thing about our lack of neighbors is the very notable increase in birds, frogs, hawks, owls, newts, snakes…we’ve always had raccoons and possums, skunks and squirrels, but now we’ve got a bobcat hunting in the court - he grabbed a raccoon off our roof recently. Those of us remaining on the court have noticed a dramatic increase in wildlife - we live just a road away from open space - in a single year of decreased human activity.

Tonight I’m locking the cats in.

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The following is an article I wrote for a woman’s magazine.

It was rejected. Pity.

Does the Perfect Pair of Jeans Exist?

Shopping for jeans is the very worst thing a woman can do next to trying on a bathing suit – which is THE VERY WORST thing a woman can do. Duh, no shit.

I recently went on line to purchase a pair of $200 “designer” low-rise, stretch jeans that guaranteed a womanly fit - not too low rise and no gapping in the back. Their stylish and very appealing ad promoted their supposed philosophy that jeans should be made for the real woman. I bought a pair online because they weren’t available at any store in my area. My jeans arrived today and within 30 minutes, mired in a pit of self-loathing, I’d repackaged them and sped to my neighborhood mailing center to return them.

Yes, they were sized correctly and they fit, but not as advertised. To describe these jeans as low rise was an understatement. They reminded me of my plumber when he’s repairing my dishwasher. The gap in back could best be described as, Grand Canyon-sized. I believe the average American woman is 5′4″ tall. I’m 5′6″ tall, but these jeans have apparently been designed for the women of the WNBA. I found myself stepping on at least six extra inches of leg and I don’t think I should have to pay $200 plus shipping and then fork over the cash to have them altered. In case you were wondering, the website didn’t offer a choice of lengths.

So I have to ask myself, what does the term womanly fit mean to a designer? As far as I can tell, the phrase means Twiggy in her hey-day will be wearing the jeans, not you, no matter what the claim.

Are we all built like prepubescent boys? Some of us have hips and butts. Oh, once I lost mine, when I was anorexic and starved myself into negative numbers. But, gee, silly me, I nearly died. So what’s a woman to do? Stop wearing jeans? They’ve been the staple of my baby boomer wardrobe for well over 35 years. I may not wear purple when I’m an old woman, but I plan to wear jeans until the day I die. My will states that I will be buried in my favorite pair of frayed and ripped blue jeans - the jeans I’ve worn since I was fourteen.

Instead of all my Levi’s and Lee’s, I’d like to buy one single pair of designer jeans. I find myself with a few extra bucks and I’m willing to part with them for the right denim. What is so difficult about producing well-fitting jeans for women sizes 8-12? Oh wait, I get it, they want designer jeans on the body of Kate Moss, because she’s a walking advertisement. I’m not. Do you know that there is a designer label that advertises and embraces the fact that they are not made to fit every woman? Their honesty, while pretty insulting, is also refreshing. At least I don’t have to waste my time and my money on their product.

If I sound angry, it’s because I am. My good old fashioned American Woman self-esteem hangs by a thread in the best of times. For nearly two generations, I’ve been bombarded by images of fabulous fashion icons who maintain their looks by spending a lot of money and time on personal chefs, trainers and shoppers, and have estheticians, dermatologists, plastic surgeons and those high-colonic guys on speed dial.

While the media worships them, at the same time we’re told that by that same media that we shouldn’t try to emulate them — that they are unreal women — talk about mixed messages! Fat people only make the cover of People if they’ve lost weight. How many times and on how many magazine covers at the check-out line do I have to look at the newest starlette’s disappearing body or read about her anorexia-related death? I guess until my eyes glaze over and I lose 50 IQ points.

The newest media darling, whoever she may be, is just as much a victim of our preoccupation with appearance as I am. Except she can probably find designer jeans to fit her concentration camp minus 8 butt a whole lot easier than I can find a regular size 8. Am I the only person who sees a problem here?

How hard could it be to market to me? And women like me? I don’t mean pretend marketing, like the maker of the jeans I just returned. There are a lot of us real women out here in the real world with real money to spend who don’t wear a size zero. I challenge some designer who’s managed to hang onto a few IQ points and common sense to rethink his/her world view. I’d like some jeans that fit, please.

*I wrote this article a year ago…here’s an update to the above post – boyfriend jeans fit me great! I have three pairs and I love them! Thank you makers of boyfriend jeans! And considering today’s economy, I’m glad I didn’t waste $200 on a pair of jeans!*

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I may be a very weird person

but I never, not once, allowed my children to watch a horror or slasher film. Gratuitous killing was and is not welcome in my house. Now…on the other hand, if there was a good film that included sex and/or adult language, that was a different story. By a certain age, after discussion, my kids were allowed to watch a movie that contained sex.

I have never understood the appeal of slasher/torture/horror films. Yes, I know…studies indicate that in the same way amusement park thrill rides appeal to us, we like scary movies. We like to be scared out of our wits. We love that adrenaline rush. But I have never understood how a society can accept and even glorify violence on the one hand and be so incredibly prudish about sex and nudity on the other. Not talking about porn here - not in any way shape or form. I will not even go there. Porn, in its various manifestations, is another subject altogether and I am not a fan.

I flat out don’t get it. Allowing small children to immerse themselves in violent movies, television shows and video games is okay, but a naked body is not?

My children are now adults. Young adults, but adults. I am pleased to say that none of them has any interest in slasher films. They read, they play computer games that do not involve murder, mayhem and violence against women and they watch great cinema. I’m not the perfect parent, but in this one thing, I did achieve my goal.

I repeat, I really don’t get it. Violence good. Sex bad? Don’t. Get. It.

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I’m the first to admit that I have a potty mouth. Some days, well, lately, it seems like every other word out of my mouth is the ‘ef’ word. It’s not my fault! It’s the way I was raised!

No, not really. I was raised to be quite lady-like, but that’s one thing I’m not - know how to be…can be if it’s really important…but these days the ‘ef’ word fits the bill. I need an appropriate and very descriptive expression of my inner frustration and outer hair pulling. And it’s use is probably good for my cardiovascular system.

My website seems to be on the mend after a three-week long ethersphere illness - not quite up to par but improving daily thanks to two hard-working professionals.

But you know, what really got to me was something so insignificant that it is ridiculous for me to even think about it. I entered a writing contest and received the critiques from four judges. Fortunately for me, I guess, the contest coordinators dropped the lowest score. I had three fab scores and one so low as to be an ‘ef’. If this was high school, I would have failed the class. I read the critique from the low scoring judge, figuring I might learn a thing or two. I learned, in reading this judge’s own words, that he or she was offended by my use of the ‘ef’ word, so offended, in fact, that she couldn’t read the story. Which makes me wonder why oh why did this person volunteer to read an erotic romance. Erotica is loaded with words, that in my opinion, are waaaaay worse than the ‘ef’ word.

Besides, the ‘ef’ word is a good, solid all-purpose Anglo-Saxon word with multiple levels of meaning and many appropriate uses. I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t resort to the ‘ef’ word under the appropriate circumstances!

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was kind enough to answer some questions for me.

I love the site: http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books is amusing, irreverent, informative and it tops my daily must read blog list. When I emailed Sarah about an interview, I didn’t really expect a response. I figured…why would she bother? But sometimes you want to know a little about what’s behind the public persona. Here ya go!

I’ve read about you on your site, but I’d love to hear, in your own words, where you are coming from. I’d like a little background, nothing too personal, but…for instance, have you been reading since you were, say, three years old? Was reading valued in your family? What genres do you read? Only romance, or do you throw in some nonfiction, biographies, straight science fiction? Do you have a favorite all time book?

I learned to read late, and had a lot of trouble with it. I’m not sure if it’s because I didn’t want to read or because of my eyesight or what, but I was moved backwards in reading groups and got it into my head that I wasn’t intelligent. This is how I discovered romance: when I saw the class valedictorian in high school reading a huge thick paperback, I got all angsty but worked up the nerve to ask what she was reading. It was Catherine Coulter, and she dragged me over to the romance paperback rack to tell me all about the different books. I was hooked from there.

Reading was valued in my family, but my tendency to go completely deaf and become completely absorbed into the book was not terribly valued or popular!

I read romance, mysteries, nonfiction, and a LOT about cooking and the science thereof. I don’t have an all-time favorite book but I have some that never lose their power with me:

Lamb, by Christopher Moore
The Duke and I, by Julia Quinn
Bitten, by Kelley Armstrong
Cry Wolf, Patricia Briggs
Charms for the Easy Life, by Kaye Gibbons

Be honest, do you read romance for the sex? Or do you read romance for the story? Or are both a must? How do you feel if a book has great sex, but the story sucks, or if the sex is merely insert tab a into slot b, but the story rocks? I would like to know what you think about the fact that romance/erotica has become increasingly graphic - both scenes and language - in recent years.

I absolutely do not read romance merely for the sex. I read for the story, the emotional power of a writer who can truly communicate the risk and fulfillment of a happy ending, knowing that no matter how bad the circumstances may become, it will all work out in the end. Sex is optional. I dislike it intensely when sex is, pardon the visual, wedged into the story for whatever reason. Sex is a complication, a form of progress or regression in a relationship - and its role or absence in a romance is important, but not the only reason I read.

I think erotica is popular for the same reasons that paranormal stories are popular: there are a lot of people who want to read them, and if that’s what someone wants to read, more power to ‘em. I think people should be able to read whatever they want, without comment or judgment.

How do you feel about authors who jump on the bandwagon, say switch from historical to steampunk or YA simply because it sells? Do their voices sound inauthentic, or can a very special artist successfully pull it off? Among the authors you’ve read or follow, who is able to switch voices and genres in a very satisfying way?

It always depends on the author. I don’t think a writer needs to be limited to any one subgenre. Many have written across genre lines and done marvelously well with it. Some haven’t. It depends on many factors, most of which rest on the talent of the writer.

Are vampires dead? LOL! Is the genre dead or is there life within it yet? Has it been done to death? Do you miss the good old days of bad vampires or do you like the new and improved versions? What about the shift to were-animals? Interesting? Not? I’ve skimmed a couple stories in which the characters have sex while in animal form and I’m not a big fan.

I’m very tired of vampires, personally. I am way over tales of angsty courtship with maudlin immortals. I do love were stories, particularly those that explore violence, anger, and gender roles, but I haven’t encountered many that feature graphic depictions of sex in animal form.

I may be taking my life into my hands here, but are you a Twilight fangirl, or would you prefer to say, no comment, and sparkle on your hard as marble merry way? Oh, and I must ask, Eric or Bill?

I read Twilight and gave it a D, but was very fascinated by the power and draw Edward as a character had and continues to have over a large group of fans. If folks are into Edward, they can sparkle on, though I wish they wouldn’t do creepy things like mail actors pictures of the hey nanner nanners because Lord that’s unnecessary. Eric or Bill? Neither, thanks!

Are you a BSG-er? Or perhaps you prefer Lost? Or are you more of a Thirty Rock kind of gal?

I’m a big ol’ loser in that question! My favorite shows to date are Bones and NCIS, and a few cooking shows I cannot get enough of. Sorry!

Tell me about your toughest post? I mean, what did ya’ll put on your website that drew the most ire or caused the most controversy? Do you ever back off because of controversy or do you dig in your heels and stick to your guns?

Toughest post? I honestly don’t know if there’s one that was hardest to write. I know the post I wrote after Kate Duffy died was among the most painful to write, because I wanted to say so much about her, and was afraid I wouldn’t say nearly enough.

The posts that drew the most controversy and ire were those that revealed the rampant plagiarism of Cassie Edwards. I didn’t think the story would get that much attention but it grew over the course of a week until The New York Times covered it in the weekend edition. We didn’t back off, though, even though a lot of mud was slung our way for being the bearer of unpleasant tidings.

Favorite meal/wine/do you cook? What do you think about fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies and would you like my insanely good recipe?

Favorite meal: it’s cold out, so soup with barley, please. Wine: cabernet or malbec are my current faves. And yes! Cookies! Bring it on!

Favorite weekend away? If you could visit any place in the world, where would it be and why?

Favorite weekend away? Anywhere with a beach and a book. And visiting: I’m absolutely hopping to go to Australia and New Zealand. Someday I will.

Anything else you’d care to share with my readers and your fans? Books? Movies? Politics?

I think the best part of running my website is the fact that I’m always meeting new and enthusiastic romance fans. I love how many intelligent, savvy people read romance and love to discuss it.

Thanks for answering my questions, Sarah. I have to come clean…I am an NCIS addict. Got it bad!

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Check out Lesli Richardson, over at her blog: http://www.leslirichardson.com/

Here’s the link for the original post…and I love the title - You Are Not A Special Snowflake!

http://leslirichardson.blogspot.com/2010/01/writing-how-to-you-are-not-special.html

She put together a marvelous, informative, coherent manifesto on how to do what we do best…write. I felt her blog was so important that I contacted her and asked her to elaborate on a few of her answers. She graciously agreed and took the time to get into a little more detail.

Thanks for having me! I appreciate you asking me to be here.

I don’t think any new writers are served by getting a pat on the head and false reassurances they can do it if they put their mind to it. There’s a lot more to it. On the other hand, the fact that it IS doable if a person wants to work hard for it-just like any other career path-should actually comfort them. There is no magic formula, just a lot of hard work.

A. It’s a lot of frakking work! When you talk about work, are you talking about the mere craft of writing or are you talking about writing, editing, putting yourself out there, risking failure and rejection yet persisting? Are you talking about promotion and contacting individuals who might be interested in your book despite knowing that they may never respond? For instance - not only writing books, but blogging, commenting on other blogs, asking for interviews and reviews, really stretching your comfort zone…

As slow as traditional publishers have been to embrace e-publishing, some writers have been even slower. I don’t understand why. Maybe it’s they feel cheated that they worked hard all those years just to have someone else come up from the ranks and make money the “easy” way. (HA! It’s NOT easy, believe me!)

If your goal as a writer is to make money, then you HAVE to write smart. If your goal as a writer is to write and be an artist and you don’t care if you publish or not, then go the self-publishing route through Lulu.com or someone like that, you’ll make about the same amount of money that way and can claim you’re “published.”

But just like the Edsel didn’t survive, neither will traditional publishing if they don’t shift their business paradigms. Let’s face it-Harlequin started Carina, they see the money they’re losing by not embracing e-publishing. They’re not the only one seeing the light. Over the next few years, I see the big publishers struggling for money and more readily embracing e-publishing now that the little guys have proven it’s more than doable, it can be profitable if an author wants to work hard.

But traditional publishers, despite bleeding red ink from their coffers, didn’t want to take the risk until someone else proved it could make money. Just like erotica, now lots of traditional publishers put out erotica lines. Now it’s e-publishing. We’ve proven there is a viable and rapidly growing market for it, especially as more people get smart phones like iPhones and BlackBerries that can double as e-readers (I use my BB as an e-reader when out and about and stuck in a line).

I’m not saying traditional publishing is dead. The old-fashioned publishing MODEL is dying, however. It cannot sustain itself in the current environment. It will have to change to embrace new technology and reader desires. Look at the current backlash among Kindle readers over windowing e-book releases after hardcovers. Publishers will be forced to start listening to their readers, because they will start losing those customers-and authors-to those readers. I’m surprised more A-list writers haven’t actively started self-publishing. Once you have name recognition, you don’t need to fight a distribution stream battle, you are automatically in the door. I think (and I’m not the only one who’s said this) that you’ll start seeing more writers becoming publishers and cutting agents and traditonal publishers right out of the mix.

Thanks, Lesli, for these words of wisdom!

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Today’s Post Script

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKGKB5bc9DU

When it comes on, I run screaming from the room.

My daughters close their eyes and switch the channel.

My son has nightmares.

My sister is ready to send me one of those for forwarding her the commercial.

I heard my manly husband shriek like a little girl last night.

I sent it to my dad, can’t wait for his reaction!

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to post.

Gotta go earn a living…oh yeah…my other living. Sorry WIP!

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Hubby read my new book

and he said something very interesting about Captured. He came to bed and woke me up…and ya’ll know what we do when he wakes me up…anywho - he told me that reading Captured was a weird experience because the heroine is me.

He said, “You know, there are pieces of you in every one of your heroines and I’m accustomed to that, but Mari is you. She’s just plain you. And it’s really weird to read about you having a relationship with this guy from another planet. It makes me feel real weird.”

I asked if he felt like I was cheating on him and he shook his head, no. He said it just felt weird, and then we went on to hm-hm.

The next day, I re-read the book and I realized he’s right. Mari is me. She’s just plain old me, potty mouth and all. Wow. I had no idea. Wonder what Freud would have to say about this?

If you want a picture of an author, I guess, read Captured.

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There is a fascinating

discussion going on now over at Dear Author regarding society’s double standard about male vs. female sexuality and how it may be reflected in romance novels. It’s worth it to read the original post and then follow the comments.

On a personal note, my heroines are not virgins. They’ve had sex with one or more men in their lifetimes. Perhaps if I wrote historical romance, they would be inexperienced, because that would be appropriate according to the mores of the time period.

One of the comments, i.e., mine, has to do with experience vs. promiscuity. I understand sexual experience. I also understand promiscuity - this is my take on the matter, feel free to disagree. I equate the term promiscuity with risky sexual behavior - frequent unprotected sex with multiple partners IRL, not just in books. Having sexual encounters with complete strangers, the use of drugs with sex with complete strangers…sexual behavior that can actually endanger your life. Sexual experience does not necessarily equal risky behavior.

I encourage you to head over to Dear Author and check out this animated discussion.

http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/ The second post down.

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Server issues - what a pain in the arse!

I have barely had internet service since Tuesday night - yeah, the night right before my new release from Siren, Captured, my first release of 2010 - after a year of unpleasant issues related to writing and publishing stuff. Internet glitches were the last thing I expected!

It was kind of like someone stuck a pin in a voodoo doll or sneaked a demon into the system!

*Note to self, title next book, Demon in the System…

Many thanks to the two Erics, both techs who helped me cope and to my web designer, Tracy of Bootstrap Marketing, who listened to my bitching - believe me - I can make a shitload of noise when I need to. It’s either that or tear my hair out.

It is with humble gratitude I thank all you readers who headed over to Siren and picked up a copy of Captured - you pushed me up to number nine on the bestselling list! Give yourselves a big hug from me!

Until tomorrow, if you need me, I’ll be at Starbucks, using their wifi. Tomorrow I get a new server. Come back and see me then because I’ll post my virtual tour schedule for the next two weeks and you can learn what kind of a geek I truly am. With love, julia

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It just flat out sucked.

I couldn’t get a fucking thing done because of the horrible miniature tragedy occurring in my backyard. I swear animals come to me - and always have - because they know I’ll help them if I can. I can’t bear to see an animal or a child or an elderly person suffer.

Let my dog out first thing in the morning and I heard him barking viciously at something…it was a black cat, a ripped to shreds black cat that looked like it had been run over by a lawn mower and it was really, really sick.

I ran out the back door, grabbed my dog and stared in horror at the poor thing, terrified that one of my own black kitties had been hit by a car and this was the result, but no…it was a feral cat and it had dragged itself into my yard somehow, and now it waited to die, but death apparently decided to take a bloody fucking holiday.

I locked my dog and my three cats in the house - closed off their cat doors - and called animal control. The officer showed up, twice, but both times when the cat saw him, it hauled itself under my deck where he couldn’t get at it. I begged him to shoot the poor thing but he said he’s not allowed to do that - if he couldn’t catch it, he just had to leave it here.

“But what if it has rabies?” I cried. “What if Old Yeller’s weaving his way down the street, foaming at the mouth? Can’t you shoot it then?”

“Uh, no,” he replied.

“Well, what the hell do you do?”

“Run.”

“This is not a solution,” I told him. “I can’t let my own animals out and I’m afraid to go into my own backyard and what if it crawls under the fence into the neighbor’s yard? They have three little kids! It could endanger them. Besides, it’s suffering terribly. Can’t you kill it? Please kill it.”

“No, ma’am, I can’t.”

I called a police officer who also happens to be a friend of mine and begged him to send someone to kill the poor thing and he confirmed that they cannot shoot an animal. Oh…the inhumanity…

I did try to coax the cat into a cage, but believe me, it was impossible and I put myself at risk in the attempt.

Thank God my kindhearted, pet owning, animal-loving, elk-hunting neighbor finally came home and put the poor thing out of its misery with one shot from a 22. What a relief. Watching the cat suffer right beneath my big picture window was horrible. It made me sick.

I come from a rural area. I’ve had to watch as my beloved horses were put down because of a serious injury or illness. Believe me, it’s a kindness. To relieve the suffering of our animal friends is the least we can do and in this case, it was a last resort.

Yeah, I know, there are so many people suffering in this world that the suffering of one little cat doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. Well…the fuck it doesn’t! Our lives revolve around our lives. There isn’t a whole lot we can change in the big picture - and that’s not cynicism, that’s experience. We can only change the view from our own window, and even then, it’s not always pretty.

The good news today? It’s National Bird Day! I love birds - have two myself! When I commute my twenty miles to work, I count raptors. This past Sunday I counted twenty-three!

Other good news? My daughter drove through her first blizzard, at night, on the Interstate, in the Midwest - yeah…you Midwesterners know what I’m talking about, and she survived. PTL!

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I see a tipping point on the horizon.

My husband is thrilled with the Kindle I gave him for Christmas. He holds it in his hand with reverence, not so much because he’s enthralled with a piece of technology, but rather because of what the technology can do. I’ve heard him say repeatedly - I can upload an entire library into this thing!

It occurs to me that once we all, the human race, that is, develop the ability to travel to other worlds, we’ll want to take our written word with us so of course we’ll download as much as we can into tiny devices. Not only will we take whatever we believe to be important at the time, we’ll take our written history with us.

Yes, I believe ebooks have reached a tipping point and their sales will continue to rise for several reasons. First, the technology is very cool. Second, printed books are expensive to produce and purchase and people have far less expendable income than they used to. And third, it makes more environmental sense to read a book on an electronic reader.

Does that mean I won’t miss books or that I think books will disappear altogether? I don’t believe books will disappear altogether, but if they did, I would miss them terribly. Aside from my family, books are the love of my life. Always have been. This five minute article from NPR is well worth listening to.

20091230_me_05

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if I could travel back in time

to the Court of Henry the VIII, I think I ‘d take one item…actually, one related cluster of items - my LCD TV and surround sound system and parts one, two and three of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings.

I’d play the movie for the King’s Court and I bet they’d just love it. Of course my husband says I could play them Gilligan’s Island and they’d love it…but no, it would have to be The Lord of the Rings because they’d understand it. Even if some of the words were foreign, the symbolism and the action would make sense and I know Good King Harry would cry. I just know it. Men were much more sentimental back then.

Of course I’d go back to the Court of the young King Henry, the golden boy of Christendom, to the time when he felt chivalrous and knightly and still possessed a sense of humor, before he became old and irascible and autocratic.

Ah well, French champagne and baked cheese and The Lord of the Rings on New Years Eve.

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and no, it ain’t mine!

katiebabs at Babbling About Books has posted the most marvelous, the most useful blog: http://kbgbabbles.blogspot.com/

Check out her post from 12/30/09. The sites she recommends are to die for!

In the meantime, I’m sweating over edits - in a good way! Just finished up final edits for Captured - yay January 6th! And I will now tackle the second edits for the re-release of My Everything with Cobblestone Press.

Then it’s on to my nonfiction - which shall remain nameless for the time being.

***The top emailed article on NPR for 12/30/09 talks about how ebooks will change reading and writing. Check it out!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122026529&sc=emaf

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