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Tagged by Eva

Wednesday, January 31, 2007
1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Open to page 123, look down to the 5th sentence.
3. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog.
4. Include the title and the author’s name.
5. Tag 3 people

Alice wasn't sure and for a moment or two she considered going after him to give him her thanks in person, but then, rethinking, she hesitated.

If Domenico had wanted her thanks, he would have stayed around to hear it. Instead he had deposited her case on the floor and gone. He would be back downstairs with her parents again now and he probably wouldn't want her to come rushing down and interrupting things. Besides, the tiredness that she had claimed as an excuse to go to her room had now become a reality.

The Italian's Forced Bride by Kate Walker.

BTW, it's ok that Alice is being indecisive here. Trust me, she's earned it by this point in the story!

Tagging people? I hate tagging people! So, if you want to do this meme, have at it!
1/31/2007 10:36:00 AM : : Sela Carsen : : 2 Comments



It's so pretty!

Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Excuse me while I dance around my beautifully revamped blog, touching things.

Did you see what Haven did? Look! She put the cover of THE VIRGIN COURTESAN in the sidebar! Isn't it neat?

Have you seen the whole website? It's so gorgeous!! I can't believe I didn't blog about it! I hit practically every mailing list I'm on and I didn't blog it! What a doofus. Anyway, here you go! (psst. There's a tiny glitch if you hit "Home." Hit another one of the links first, then navigate to the home page. We'll get it fixed today.)

And it's all thanks to my genius artistic, creative web designer, HAVEN RICH!! Let's give her a big hand, ladies and gentlemen!
1/30/2007 08:36:00 AM : : Sela Carsen : : 10 Comments



Slideshow

Saturday, January 27, 2007


Sela Carsen: The Virgin Courtesan (historical; sensual)
Stacy Dawn: Apple of His Eye (contemporary; mainstream)
Elisabeth Drake: Wasting the Dawn (dark paranormal; carnal)
CJ England: Angel Eyes and Demon Lies (paranormal; carnal)
Dayna Hart: Wings of Love (fantasy; mainstream)
Loribelle Hunt: Be Mine (contemporary; sensual)
Crystal Jordan: Twice in a Blue Moon (paranormal; carnal)
Jennifer Leeland: Naughty Notions (contemporary; carnal)
JT Schultz: Cupid's Target (paranormal; sensual)
Shelli Stevens: Cabin Fever (contemporary; carnal)

1/27/2007 03:15:00 AM : : Sela Carsen : : 9 Comments



The Virgin Courtesan

Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Isn't it gorgeous? The fabulous Dayna Hart did both the editing of the story and the cover design -- she's a multitalented woman!
Venice, 1528

Nerina Morinelo tried being a courtesan like her mother but failed at the first hurdle. Now she's gained an implacable enemy and she has no one to turn to except Domenico Venieri, scion of a wealthy and noble merchant family.

Bent on a vendetta, Domenico needs a woman to lure out the enemy that he and Nerina share, but he doesn't expect to lose his heart to a virgin courtesan.


Available Jan 29 from Forbidden Publications.
1/24/2007 11:26:00 AM : : Sela Carsen : : 8 Comments



New Resolution: To Be a Better Blogger

Tuesday, January 23, 2007
I seem to be apologizing a lot lately for not blogging. I think that spate of writing a couple of weeks ago put a kink in my brain because I haven’t been able to get myself together at all since then.

But you guys missed it! I had another moment of panic recently and I didn’t blog it! I know you’re all disappointed to have missed yet another one of my psychotic breaks from reality. That one was – again – how writing short can seriously suck, career-wise. I know, I know. I need to start finding new things to panic about. I’ll try next time.

Ollie is doing really well. Aside from the fact that he just hacked up half his breakfast on my carpet. My cream-colored carpet. Why do I always end up with cream-colored rugs and carpets? In the last two weeks it’s gone from, “Not bad. Could use a sweeping” to “Oh my god. Where did THAT come from?” And before you worry, he’s not sick. He just ate too fast.
1/23/2007 10:56:00 AM : : Sela Carsen : : 11 Comments



Oh Julie...

Friday, January 19, 2007
Snaffled from Sandra:




Your Life is Like



Grosse Pointe Blank

1/19/2007 09:36:00 PM : : Sela Carsen : : 6 Comments



Mistress of Messiness

Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Today, I'm blogging on Organization over at the Samhain blog.

As I said over at RD, yes, I realize that coming from me that's like a prostitute preaching Jesus, but go check it out anyway.

I really like the Samhain blog. For one thing, they have a huge stable of authors contributing -- I don't think they've repeated themselves yet -- and they only do promo on Tuesdays, so it's always a good discussion on new topics.

In other news, Ollie has kennel cough, so he's on antibiotics. And we're switching his food to something better because oh my gawd! He reeks. Boxers are prone to gassiness and this dog can clear a room. Unfortunately, the room in question is my office, so every once in a while, I have to get up just to gasp in some fresh air. Hopefully, the new food will reduce that.
1/17/2007 10:11:00 AM : : Sela Carsen : : 6 Comments



Folks, meet Oliver!

Sunday, January 14, 2007


Ollie, these are my blog buddies. I'm absolutely positive they will adore you and fawn over and give you plenty of cyber-scratches and as many virtual treats as you can possibly consume!

Ollie is from the Boxer Rescue and he moved in with us today! He's tall and thin, but he'll grow -- he's only a year old. But he's wonderfully, perfectly precious and I don't think we could be any happier.

No, I don't think it's possible to be any happier.
1/14/2007 08:02:00 PM : : Sela Carsen : : 25 Comments



The Alphabet Meme

Friday, January 12, 2007
The Letter A
Are you agnostic? Nope.
What is your age? 36
What annoys you? Do NOT get me started!!

The Letter B
Do you like bacon? Like? I LOVE bacon!
What is your birthday? May 27
Who is your best friend? Shriek. We were roommates in college and since then, no matter how long it’s been since we talked, it’s always like picking up where we left off.

The Letter C
What is your favorite candy? Skor bars – chocolate over English toffee.
Who is your crush? Kevin Sorbo and Dominic Purcell
When was the last time you cried? Every Sunday night when I watch Extreme Home Makeover

The Letter D
Do you daydream? Constantly
What is your favorite kind of dog? Boxer
What day of the week is it? Friday

The Letter E
How do you like your eggs? Scrambled on toast with ketchup
Have you ever been in the emergency room? Yep. Once with dd, once with dh and once for myself.
What’s the easiest thing to ever do? Tell my family I love them (I stole this from Angie cuz it’s true!)

The Letter F
Have you ever flown in a plane? Yes, I love to fly
Do you use fly swatters? Yes
Have you ever used a foghorn? Nope

The Letter G
Do you chew gum? Rarely
Are you a giver or taker? I can give useless advice til the cows come home! And I’m always grateful for gifts.

The Letter H
How are you? Pretty good, thanks.
What’s your height? 5′ 6″
What color is your hair? Brown

The Letter I
What is your favorite ice-cream? Cherry Garcia
Have you ever ice-skated? Yes and I’m really bad at it
Do you play an instrument? Not really. I played the clarinet in high school, fooled around with the oboe, and I can tap out a tune on a piano, but only in treble clef

The Letter J
What is your favorite jelly bean? Espresso and toasted marshmallow
Do you wear jewelry? Yes.Wedding ring, watch and the silver earrings dh gave me on our anniversary last year.
Have you heard a really hilarious joke? Not recently.

The Letter K
Who do you want to kill? No one, really. It sounds messy.
Do you want kids? The two I have are sufficient, thank you.
Where did you have kindergarten? I didn’t. I went to nursery school in LaPorte, TX, then we moved to Norway and I didn’t want to go, so my mom didn’t make me. Then I went to 1st grade in Cairo, Egypt.

The Letter L
Are you laid-back? Extremely.
Do you lie? Nope. Not a bit. No. Uh-uh.
Do you love anyone? YES!

The Letter M
What is your favorite movie? I have a rotating list of favorites.
Do you still watch Disney movies? Yeah, but we’re more into Pixar at the moment.
Do you like mangos? Love ‘em! Especially green with a little bit of salt, pepper and cumin.

The Letter N
Do you have a nickname? No. I despise nicknames.
What is your favorite number? 82. WTF? I don’t have a favorite number.
Do you prefer night or day? I’m a day person, but I recently screwed up my internal clock so I’m having to readjust.

The Letter O
What is your one wish? That would be harsher punishment for parole violators…And world peace! (Name that film)
Are you an only child? Yes.
Do you wish this year was over? Nope! I love New Years!

The Letter P
What is one fear that you are most paranoid about? Lizards running across my feet. It was a real fear in SC! They were frickin’ everywhere!
What personality trait would you look for in someone you wanted to date? A sense of humor. It covers so many bases.

The Letter Q
Are you quick to judge people? Yes, but I’m also quick to forgive unless you’ve hurt my family or my friends. Then you’re on the shit list til you die.

The Letter R
Do you think you are always right? No
Do you watch reality T.V.? I guess. I like Top Chef, Project Runway and Extreme Home Makeover.
What is a good reason to cry? Babies, weddings, funerals, dog food commercials.

The Letter S
Do you prefer sun or rain? Rain, but I’m picky. I like warm rain. I also love fog.
Do you like snow? No. I hate the cold, I don’t ski, and I hate to drive in it.
What is your favorite season? Fall

The Letter T
What time is it? 9:00pm
What time did you wake up? 7:00am
When was the last time you slept in a tent? Last summer. The kids really wanted to, so we set it up in the back yard.

The Letter U
Are you wearing underwear? Yep. And it even matches my bra. Strictly utilitarian.

The Letter V
What is the worst veggie? Okra. Bar none.
Where do you want to go on vacation? Venice. England. Norway.
What was your last family vacation together? We went to visit family the weekend before Christmas. We all went to Atlanta for fun last summer. And we went to Myrtle Beach last spring. We travel well together.

The Letter W
What is your worst habit? Laziness.
Where do you live? Missouri

The Letter X
Have you ever had an X-ray? Yes
Have you ever seen the X-Games? No
Do you own a xylophone? No

The Letter Y
Do you like the color yellow? I won’t wear it, but I love yellow kitchens.
What year where you born in? 1970
What do you yearn for most? Right now? A dog.

The Letter Z
What is your Zodiac Sign? Gemini
Do you believe in the Zodiac? Not sure. I know that my sign describes me well, but then that would mean that all Geminis are ADD.
What is your favorite zoo animal? Otters

Not tagging anyone specific for this meme. It’s just that I finally realized Angie had tagged me and I figured I’d better take her up on it!
1/12/2007 10:07:00 PM : : Sela Carsen : : 6 Comments



Time for a break!

Wednesday, January 10, 2007
I turned it in.

12,740 words.

The End.

Now I need to get my house in order. It's been neglected for far too long.

I'm sorry I wasn't really around this week, but I wouldn't expect that to change much next week, either.

The only writing I'm planning on doing over the next week is getting that Spinetingler article ready. I'm aiming for 1200-1500 words and I've got a chunk of my research done already. Now it's a question of organizing the layout and getting the writing done.

But the house needs me right now.
1/10/2007 11:15:00 AM : : Sela Carsen : : 4 Comments



This is it

Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Today is the day. THE VIRGIN COURTESAN is due to Forbidden Publications today and I'm going to make it! Should be right around 10K words, although I may need to add a scene. I haven't decided.

I can't believe it. In fact, I won't believe it until I write The End. I wrote a 10K word story in 3 weeks.

I'm in shock.
1/09/2007 10:14:00 AM : : Sela Carsen : : 6 Comments



Decisions

Friday, January 05, 2007
Before I wrote, I acted. Some community theatre, a few musical revues. Nothing earth-shattering, but it kept me moving at a time in my life when that was really important. I even remember taking dd with me to rehearsals before she could crawl. I enjoy doing community theatre. It's the sort of thing that's relatively short term, has a clear goal and end, and then you're done.

When I was single, there was a time when I seriously entertained the thought of chucking it all and moving to Chicago or NY and becoming a professional. I think I'd have done well -- not stellar, but I could probably have made it through the crucible.

But that's long ago now. When we got here, I thought about taking up the mantle again. Today I got a notice about an upcoming audition.

I have to make a decision. There are only so many hours in the day and they're currently all allotted to various necessary things. Family time, cooking, cleaning (should probably shift a few more hours that direction), and especially writing. If I went to this audition, chances are, I'd get a part. Maybe not a huge one, but something. Even though I'm no ingenue, I'm still a solid character actor.

But what can I sacrifice to do this? Not family time, not cooking, not cleaning (too much sacrificed there already). What's left? Writing.

Suddenly, two things I love are being weighed in the balance. And the scale is tipping toward...

Writing.

There will come a time in my life when the things I do are rearranged in such a manner that I can take the hours necessary to be away from home -- to invest in a production. Then, provided my face and ass haven't sagged appreciably, I'll make the time to act again. But for now, I'm a writer.
1/05/2007 02:22:00 PM : : Sela Carsen : : 11 Comments



It's discouraging

Wednesday, January 03, 2007
I happened to be surfing one of my forums and someone mentioned that they write 10,000 words a day, 4 days a week.

God, I could strangle her.

*sigh* Ok, not really. But it's extremely discouraging. I know, I know. I'm not supposed to compare, but sometimes it's hard. I think my best day, ever, I probably wrote 2,000 words. Maybe. I can't remember because it's been a while.

If I wrote 10,000 words in a day, I'd be done with this story instead of still slaving over it -- a week until deadline. I'd be knocking out stories right and left. Shoot. I'd be as prolific as Nora!

Sour grapes tempt me. I'll resist.

Guess I'd better go write my piddly little amount today. *sniff*
1/03/2007 09:38:00 AM : : Sela Carsen : : 17 Comments



Happy 2007!!!

Monday, January 01, 2007
Like just about everyone else in the blogosphere, I’m thinking about goals today. I’m bad at resolutions. Really bad. I checked out the goals I set this time last year and…yikes. It wasn’t pretty. I *did* keep the resolution to drink more coffee, though, so yay! One goal down, 800 more to go.

I think part of the problem is that I don’t usually look ahead very far. I’ve always wondered about people who set those 5-year, 10-year, lifetime goals. Life is about living. Every day, day to day. Constantly climbing, constantly reaching for something just throws out your back. Settle down. Look around. Do what you can, delegate what you can, deal with the rest.

Still, I see the value in improving yourself. That’s what goals are supposed to be, right? Things that you think will make you a better person. So, what will make me better?

1. Being on time for things. I used to have a friend who lied to me about meeting up times. She’d say the even started 20 minutes earlier than it actually did, that way, I’d have some hope of being only 5 minutes late.

2. Actually use a day planner system. Haven’t used one to good effect since I left college. I’d like to get back into the habit of writing things down.

3. Be a better volunteer mom. I completely slacked off last term. We moved in the middle of it and at least I knew enough not to overbook myself with that. But I’d like to be more involved in the school.

4. Write every day. I know, I know. That’s one I put on my list every year. But the last couple of weeks, with this upcoming deadline, I’ve actually been doing it. It’s exhilarating! And nerve-wracking, but we won’t go there.

5. Put myself out there for promotion. I don’t get how I can be so bad at this. I’ve been on stage. I’ve worked in advertising. Why can’t I get out there and sell ME? Anyway, I’m just going to do it. Talk to Marci about promo for Dreams & Desires and get out there and sell that book. And me. Talking to the bookstores about promo, interviews with local papers. I can do it.

6. Get a dog. Or two. You have to be a pet person to understand the hole that Yukon left in my heart. My house doesn’t feel right. I don’t feel right without a dog.

7. Get rid of this damn 10 lbs that’s been plaguing me for almost three years. This is ridiculous. I gain weight, then I lose it, but I can’t seem to break past this. Very frustrating.

8. Drink more coffee. Well, maybe not more – 4 cups a day is probably enough – but I like coffee! I’ve been sitting around in front of the TV all day and realized about 20 minutes ago it’s probably because I’ve had no coffee! Mimosas just don’t give you the same zip.

So. There you go. Check back this time next year to see how I did!
1/01/2007 04:38:00 PM : : Sela Carsen : : 6 Comments



 

 
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