Arianna's Blog

Hey, I've moved

2007-02-13T03:30:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. I have a new website design. YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! It's fresh and fun and very cool. It also has my blog integrated into the site, which is why there's been no activity on this blog for so long.

While I haven't exactly been a regular blogger, I generally have a few people that check out my blog to see what I'm up to. Lately I've been talking to myself (not unusual) and it occurred to me THAT I NEVER TOLD ANYONE I WAS MOVING BLOGS!!!

*slaps forehead* D'oh!

So, if you're interested enough to change your links, my new blog is www.ariannahart.com/blog

Come visit me and keep me from babbling to myself. Misery loves company, hahahahaha

Ari

Day Two

2007-01-11T14:15:00.000-05:00

Okay, I went back to my story and read a little of what I've written. I found a bunch of mistakes, but overall, I really like it.

It's almost weird for me to just sit and write something that has no home. Usually I write stories for a particular publishing house in mind. I go into it with a mindset. This time I have no pre-conceived ideas or agendas. I'm just writing because it's fun.

It's been a long time since that's happened.
Not that I don't LOVE writing, I do. I love creating worlds and stories and getting to know my characters, but I always have a little voice in the back of my head sort of reigning me in. For example, for one of the houses I write for, I have to use specific words and have a greater number of sex scenes in my books. For another house I have to watch particular comma issues. For a potential third one, I really have to balance the romance and the suspense and be careful about swearing.

For this book I can do whatever the hell I want!!!! It's very freeing. I'm not worried about what I'll have to edit out because I don't have a home for it. As it stands, I've written 10,000 words and am actually getting drawn deeper into the story. Things I'd never planned on happening are happening and it might be a lot longer than I'd originally expected.

I kind of figure it'll end up going on my website as a free read at some point, but we'll see where it leads. Who knows what will happen to it as it takes on a life of its own?

All I know is, writing is fun again. If that's all I get from this story, it's enough.

I'll keep you posted on my word count as time goes on.

Release Day!

2007-01-10T07:57:00.000-05:00

Blogger was down yesterday so I couldn't blog about my story. Which probably isn't a bad thing, because yesterday was a release day and I did diddly squat on my story.

I did manage to do some promoting of my book, and I did a lot of laundry, but no writing. Which means I'm kind of cranky because I can only write on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I won't be able to work on my story until tomorrow.

On the plus side, I've got this awesome cover for my book TAKE YOUR MEDICINE. I have to tell you, Scott Carpenter is a freaking genius. He got exactly the right type of guy for this picture and even put a bandage on him. Yum, gotta love those pecs!

This is the sequel to SURPRISE and was kind of a surprise book in itself. The hero Jared, and heroine Macayla were secondary characters in SURPRISE. I had no intention of writing another book with them as the main characters. They had other ideas.

Of course, SURPRISE was the first book I ever wrote, and I kind of just did it because I was trapped at home with two children under 4 and pregnant. I needed something to do. The baby whom I was pregnant with at the time will be 5 next week. I'm amazed at how much my life has changed in the past 4 years.

Sorry, going off on a tangent there. Tomorrow I'll try to talk more about the story. Hopefully I'll have a chance to write and actually have a story.

Ari

The start of a story

2007-01-08T08:19:00.000-05:00

One of the questions I get asked a lot in interviews is "Where do your ideas for your stories come from?" My usual answer is, "Everywhere!"

I'm not trying to be cute or funny, but it's true. I get ideas for stories in the strangest of places. So, in the interest of actually conveying knowlege instead of just complaining about my kids, I'm going to trace a story for you as I'm writing it.

Starting with the birth of the idea. If I'm feeling really energetic, I might even keep track of word count for you too, although this is going to be a short story.

Are you ready? Here we go. . .

Yesterday afternoon, I was walking the dog and listening to my brand new ipod. (I love my husband!) One of the songs on my favorites play list is The Highwayman, sung by Loreena McKennitt. It's really a very sad song when you listen to the words, but it's very poignant. (I'm sure I'm spelling that wrong. Whatever.)

For the rest of the walk, all I could think about was that song and how I could make it have a happy ending--because I'm all about the happy endings. This crap where the hero and/or heroine die at the end of the story? Bulls*it. I don't care if critics love that stuff, I hate it. And if an author kills off the hero, I almost NEVER read another book by them.

So anyway, as I was walking home, the idea of how the landlord's daughter could have gotten away from the Red Coats kept spinning around in my head. What if she had a knife? What if one of the knots was loose?

I knew I had to write the story MY way so it would have a happy ending. I raced home, planning to dive onto the computer and write it up just for fun. This wouldn't be a story for a specific publisher. I have no market for this story, I just have to write it.

Well, the walk continued and my mind kept playing with the story line and I realized I didn't want it to be set in old England. I wanted to make it MY story all the way around. So I decided to set it in another world all together.

So now I'm on a different planet in a different galaxy, but I still want the hero to be a noble bad guy. He can't really be a highwayman though. Crap. I didn't want to think that far ahead, so I pushed that idea away to worry about later.

As soon as I got home, I threw a load of laundry in the washer, hopped into the shower, and plotted how my story would start. I wanted to keep it true to the concept of the song, but I really needed to make it my own.

My fingers itched to hit the computer, but I had to get the fixings for the pot roast started and the house needed to be picked up, and the dishes done. I got crankier with every delay. Didn't my family realize I had this great idea bubbling around in the back of my head????

Finally, finally I got started. Every five minutes someone interrupted me. Ready to rip someone's throat out, I finally put the kitchen timer on and told the children that they weren't to interrupt me until the timer went off unless they were vomiting, spurting blood or the house was on fire.

I went back to work, turning my music up louder so I couldn't hear them fight.
Ten minutes later, my in laws rang the doorbell. My husband had forgotten to tell me what time they were coming over.

I love my in laws, they're wonderful people and so very generous in both time and attention to my children. My mother in law takes care of my kids as often as she can. But right then, I didn't want to see them.

I tried to smile and be polite as they visited, but inside my newly born characters were screaming their heads off at me. As soon as they left, I jumped back on my computer and let the characters talk to me.

I found out my hero has amber eyes. I don't think I've ever had an amber eyed hero before. He also smells of synth leather and spice. He's the captain of his own space ship and loves my heroine more than life itself.

All in all, I managed to get 5000 words written in between interruptions, dinner, laundry, and the chaos that is my house. With any luck at all, I'll be able to get a few more pages in this afternoon after I get home and before I go to work tonight.

I'll keep you posted.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-04T16:10:00.000-05:00

Okay, I realize it's been almost a month since I blogged, but I've been busy! You've been busy too, don't lie.

I was given this poem recently, and I think you can all appreciate it. . .I know it rings far to truly with me. . .

Happy New Year!

T'was the month after Christmas. . .and all through the house
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I'd nibbled, the eggnog I did taste
At the holiday parties had gone to my waist.

When I got on the scales there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store (less a walk then a lumber),
I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared:
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared.

The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese
All the way I never said, "No thank you, please."
As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt--
I said to myself, as I only can,
"You can't spend all winter dressed like a man!"
So away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip.

Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
Till all the additional ounces have vanished.
I won't have a cookie-not even a lick;
I'll have to chew on a long celery stick.
I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie,
I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.
I'm hungry, I'm lonesome! And life is a bore--
But isn't that what January is for?

Unable to giggle, no longer a riot,
Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!

So tell me, how many of you are on the straight and narrow now?

What's up with the love triangles?

2006-12-18T14:46:00.000-05:00

Enough already with the love triangles!!!

It seems like the books I've been reading over the last 6 months or so all seem to have love triangles in them. It's annoying the heck out of me. I don't know about you, but in my life, I had a hard enough time trying to find ONE man worth dating, forget two.

Maybe it's because Janet Evanovich (whom I adore) has been successful with the whole triangle business. Or maybe it's just more exciting to think about two men after you. But honestly, how realistic is it to have two gorgeous, alpha men panting after you?

Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm not the type of woman to create a love triangle. I sure as hell know I'm not the type that necessarily enjoys reading about them. Fish or cut bait, but make a decision one way or the other on which man you want already!!!

If I don't get to post again before the holidays, I hope everyone has
A Happy Hanukkah
A Festive Winter Solstice
A Happy Kwanza
and a Merry Christmas

And if there are any other holidays I missed, may they be wonderful as well.
Ari

Facing reality

2006-12-15T15:22:00.000-05:00

I usually try to keep my blog entries up beat. Okay, I know I bitch and whine a lot, but for the most part, I try not to be a downer. There are more than enough ways to get depressed than by reading a blog of a struggling writer.

Unfortunately, I feel the need to share my feelings today and since I'm still "in the closet" about my writing life, you all get to hear it.

Lucky you.

hahahaha

See, I've had some painful realizitions lately and they're somewhat depressing to me.

I've had this fantasy that when my youngest goes off to first grade, when she's in all day school, I'll be able to stay home and write for a living. I've been pushing myself hard for the last few years to have a constant stream of releases so I could show my husband that writing is a viable means of employment for me.

Well, he's not buying it. Probably because no one else is buying me either, hahahaha.

Teamed with my part-time teaching income, my writing income qualifies me for food stamps. It hasn't been a big deal because I wouldn't be able to work full time until my youngest goes off to school anyway. But now, I have face reality and realize that if I want to send my children to college and help pay for their weddings (in twenty years) I'm going to have to go back to work full time.

BUT this does not mean my writing days are over. Oh no. No way. I don't think I could function if I didn't write. I have too many stories that need to be told, too many characters banging around in my brain. If I stop writing, I'll go insane.

Instead, I'm going to have to cut down the number of releases I have in a year and organize my writing time better. I'll also have to get up earlier in the morning, ugh, and write before I get the kids ready for school since I don't have the time or inclination afterwards.

The good part about all of this, besides having more money to go to conferences, is that I don't have to do this for another year and a half. So for the next 18+ months, I'm going to enjoy my writing time. I'm going to revel in working part time and writing full time. And I'll be one of the happiest writers you've ever seen!

Goo Goo Dolls revisited

2006-12-12T12:24:00.000-05:00

Yes!!!
My friend won tickets to see THE GOO GOO DOLLS and she's taking ME!!!
WOOT!!!

This will be the third time I've gotten to see them this year! I'm so excited!
There are going to be other bands there too and it looks to be an awesome night. My friend and I are going out to dinner first and making a night of it.

Merry Christmas to Me! Hahahaha.

Tomorrow I go shopping and try to get everything done in one day. It should be interesting to see if I actually manage it without going broke. . .

Oh! And a friend of mine, Summer Devin, has a release today
http://www.samhainpublishing.com

This book I read part of over a year ago and I just loved it. She does a fantastic job of world building and her characters are incredible. I'm so happy to see this one out! Yay!

I'll let you know how the shopping expidition goes. . .

Potential

2006-12-07T08:11:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine is taking my youngest daughter for several hours today. I'll have the house to myself for HOURS. I'm so excited I might just wet my pants.

There are so many things I could do. . .
I could clean the house and keep it clean for more than two minutes
I could get a jump on some of my Christmas shopping
I could get a good chunk of my next book written
I could exercise
I could take a shower ALL BY MYSELF without anyone opening the curtain and saying "Boo!"
I could read a book in peace and quiet and lounge on the couch
I could play on the computer all day and not have to share it so someone can play Playhouse Disney.

So many choices!!!
I think I'll do a combination of all of the above. Sort of.
I'm playing on the computer now
Next, I'll exercise
Then I'll take a shower
Then I'll clean up some of the house (the part I have to see, hahaha)
Then I'll work on my next book
Then I'll lounge on the couch for a little bit until the kids get home from school.

Isn't amazing how much more motivated I can get when I have some alone time? I could do many of these same things with my daughter home, but they'd take twice as long. Or maybe I'm just lazy normally? Hahahahaha

Well, I'm off to get moving so I can enjoy my alone time. Here's wishing you all some alone time for yourselves!

Insecurity

2006-12-05T08:14:00.000-05:00

I'm sure I've blogged about this topic before, but it's been on my mind a lot lately.

I was on the phone yesterday with a friend of mine who is also an author. We were talking about the ccraziness that is the writing industry. We're both at about the same place in our careers and have friends that are both higher and lower on the career food chain. It seems no matter how well we perceive someone as doing, they feel they are having problems.

That didn't make much sense. Let me see if I can give an example. . .

Hmmmm. . .

Okay, I'm a published author with almost 20 books out, but because they're all e-books and not available at Wal Mart, I feel like I'm low man on the totem pole.

A friend of mine has a three book contract with a New York Publisher, but because she's still in the mid-list and not getting huge print runs, she feels like she's low man on the totem pole.

Another friend of mine is struggling to get bought by an e-pub and looks up to a different friend who just got bought by the same e-pub who looks up to me because I've had 4 releases with them.

Do you see where this is going? All of us have accomplishments we should be proud of and yet, we're all still looking up to the next step, feeling like we're not as good as the person on the next rung of the ladder.

Not that I recommend boastfulness, but I sometimes wonder why we can't be happy at the spot we're in instead of feeling like we're not as good as someone else.

So for today, I'm going to push my thoughts of failure out of my head and dive into my edits, and be happy that I have edits to do. I'm not going to think about the fact that I'm not on the New York Times Bestsellers list, I'm going to enjoy the space I'm in and be happy in the present.

Sure, I want to strive to achieve bigger and better things, but along the way, I'm going to darn well appreciate the steps I've made.

At least for today.

The *&%$#@ holiday spirit

2006-12-04T12:49:00.000-05:00

I'm trying, I'm really trying to get into the holiday spirit. I went to a Christmas party, I've decorated the house, and I've sent out my Christmas cards. But I could still care less about the holiday season.

Christmas used to be my favorite time of year. I loved wrapping presents and listening to Christmas music and seeing all the lights up everywhere. This year I just can't get past everything I have to do to enjoy the season. I haven't even gotten my Christmas tree yet, and I don't know when we'll have time to do it.

I don't want to feel like Scrouge, but it's getting harder and harder to hide my inner bah humbug. Maybe when I've done all my shopping or knocked off the cookie baking or done any of the million other things I have to do I'll feel a little Christmas spirit.

But until then, someone else can have my eggnog. . .

Convince Me

2006-11-29T14:02:00.000-05:00

Does this cover rock or what??

I love this book! In fact, I love the world I've created in this book. I love the characters and the setting and the dialogue. I had so much fun writing this book, now I just hope other people like it as much as I did!

Release day for me is usually spent running around from group to group doing the happy butt wiggle dance and enjoying myself. Unfortunately, instead I'm running around the house and the town. I've had appointments, play dates, pre-school, errands and all sorts of other stuff that has kept me from my beloved computer. I still have to run children to dance class and home from the play date AND go to work, plus I'm meeting people after work.

Where's the author time I ask you?????

I think I'll print my cover and drool over it while I'm running all over the place. I may be annoyed, but I'll have eye candy to console me, hahahaha

Ari

Blurg

2006-11-28T13:53:00.000-05:00

You ever have one of those days when you don't want to do ANYTHING?
Today is a gray day, I'm bloated and crampy and I have zero motivation.

Less than zero.

I have negative motivation today. There are a million things I have to do, laundry, Christmas cards, housework, write a book, promote another book, you know, little things.

I'm doing things, grudgingly. The laundry is getting done, the house isn't quite the mess it was, and I managed to write 1000 words.

But none of it has been done with my usually energy level. Quite honestly, I'd really like to lay in bed with a hot water bottle and a good book. and chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate with a side of salt. But, I digress. . .

Writing and motherhood are like any other job, even when your enthusiasm is in the basement, you still have to go to work. Lunches aren't going to get made by someone else just because I feel yucky. And books need to get written even if I feel less than sexy at the moment.

Sure, I could take the day off and laze around in my jammies, but that wouldn't be very professional and honestly, I'd feel too guilty to enjoy it anyway.

So I cleaned, and hauled laundry, and wrote because I WANT to be a professional writer, and the only way I'm going to accomplish that is to work hard at it.

Even if I am bloated and crabby, hahahaha

Humbled

2006-11-26T21:53:00.000-05:00

I just got done watching a movie with my girls. As most of my friends know, I'm not a big TV watcher, I really don't enjoy watching TV and have a hard time sitting still for an entire show. Tonight, I watched Molly: An American Girl on the Homefront.

For those of you who don't know about the money machine that is The American Girl phenom. these are dolls based on historical times and they are typical of young girls of their particular time period.

This movie was based on the doll Molly who was a child in 1944, during WWII and it goes through Molly's trials as her father goes off to war. Unlike many kid movies, it didn't sugarcoat the war, there were characters in the movie that died and Molly's mother had to go to work. As silly as it seems, there were several times I found myself crying while watching the movie.

My grandfather went overseas during WWII while my mother and aunt were very young. I couldn't help but put myself in the character's place and my heart about broke thinking of the worry they were going through.

That brought me to thoughts about the families who have loved ones overseas now. I talked to the girls about saying prayers for the families of our armed service members. I am absolutely humbled by what they go through day after day. The agony of not knowing has to be akin to Chinese water torture.

So once again, I ask all of you to say a prayer, light a candle or put good thoughts into the universe for those overseas and their families and loved ones. Let's hope they come home safely and soon.

And for all of the people who have lost loved ones, my God bless and keep you.

No ho ho ho

2006-11-21T11:52:00.000-05:00

I love Thanksgiving and Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I decorate my house from top to bottom, and we have so many Christmas lights my front yard looks like a landing strip.

All that being said, I SHOULD NOT BE HEARING CHRISTMAS MUSIC UNTIL AFTER THANKSGIVING!!!!

It annoyed me to see the Christmas ornaments out before Halloween, but hearing Christmas Carols before Thanksgiving IS JUST WRONG!!!!

What is worse, is that it's making me feel guilty for not being ready yet. I haven't started my Christmas cards or done one iota of shopping. I should not feel badly because I haven't started Christmas preparations BEFORE THANKSGIVING!!!!!

I'm going to enjoy Turkey day with my family and feel NO PRESSURE WHATSOEVER until the next day. Darn it.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!!!
Ari

Ridiculous!

2006-11-17T18:10:00.000-05:00

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I live in Connecticut. I just read today where someone was shot while waiting in line for the new Sony Playstation.

THAT'S JUST RIDICULOUS!!!

I can't even think of a piece of jewelry that I'd want that badly where I'd have to shoot someone while waiting in line for it. Now, just in case you think this was in a big city, I have to tell you, it was in a tiny, mill town in the armpit of Connecticut. No offense to anyone who lives there, but I was born there and have to travel through this particular town to visit my paternal relatives and I know how bad it is.

Has society gone insane? Are we such lunatics now that we have to kill each other for a TOY????
I vaguely remember people going nuts during the Cabbage Patch Kids craze, but I don't remember anyone getting shot over them.

How sad that this is only the start of the Christmas season?

SWEEEET!

2006-11-16T10:50:00.000-05:00

I am most excited!!!
I brought one of my author copies of DARK HEAT to my local library and donated it for circulation. I waited and waited to see if they'd even shelve it, and one day during my search for new books I found it filed in NEW FICTION.

I had to physically restrain myself from doing the happy dance right in the middle of the aisles. It was so cool to see my book on the same shelves as Heather Graham, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Robert Parker.

Okay, they were on the "Rapid Reader" shelf and mine was on the "New Fiction" shelf, but they were right across from each other!!!

When I went back to the library yesterday SOMEONE HAD TAKEN MY BOOK OUT!!!! Woot Woot Woot!!!

I mean, realistically, I know people have read my books, but someone picked this up at the library among all the other books and took a chance on me! Yippee!!!!

Of course, since I'm in the closet and no one in my town knows I write, I can't celebrate the way I want to and scream at the top of my lungs that someone picked up MY BOOK, but I can shout inside!

WA HOOO!!!

Celebrating Vicariously

2006-11-14T08:13:00.000-05:00

My friend Christyne just sold a book today. Not just any book. Her first book. A book I learned to critique on. Christyne and I were critique partners when we both first started writing romantic suspense together. And her book sold despite my input, hahahaha. I never said I was a good critique partner, hahaha.

I drifted towards erotic romance and romantic suspense, and she kept going with romantic suspense. I couldn't be more thrilled to see this book go to a great publisher.

As I danced around my living room in my Life is Good jammie pants, screaming and yelling and diving for the phone so I could call her, I realized I couldn't be happier if I sold a book of my own.

So today I'm celebrating vicariously through my friend and first ever critique partner. I'm going to be giddy and happy all day long. Even though it's rainy outside, my friend just gave me my own personal summer day.

SOLD has to be one of the best four letter words in the language!
Congrats CB!!!!

Hug a Vet

2006-11-12T20:48:00.000-05:00

As I've mentioned before, I come from a family with several members who have served in the armed forces. Basically, I can account for every branch of the armed forces with someone I'm related to. Thankfully, with only one exception, all of them have come home safely from their tours of duty.

Many families aren't so lucky.

I know I'm a day late with this, but I still wanted to share my thoughts. Whether you believe in war or are a card carrying pacifist, you should make sure you take the time to thank a vet. Whether you agree with their actions or not, they have put their lives on the line so that you can have the freedom to share those beliefs. Many of them have lost their families, friends, or even their livlihoods in order to serve their country.

Please show your support for the veterans of all wars and just say thank you.

And to my sister SFC in the First Army, THANK YOU for serving our country in a way I never could.
I love you.
Ari

Doing my duty

2006-11-07T20:52:00.000-05:00

I voted today. I feel like it's a right that many countries don't have and therefore it's something I should do. Even though dealing with politics and the toadies that accompany politics make me ill.
Seriously ill.

As I walked into the polls today I was accosted by toadies from both sides of the aisles. I didn't make eye contact with them other than to make sure I didn't vote for the candidate they were pushing. I felt like I was avoiding pan handlers.

I am so happy that today is election day. Thrilled even. I'm praying all these talking heads will finally SHUT UP. The mud slinging and whining and outright lying makes my head spin. At this point, I honestly don't care who wins, I just don't want to hear them any more!

I'll never understand politics nor will I enjoy the seemingly endless, pointless arguements politicos thrive upon. I'm just happy it's over.

I think I'll go back to my rose colored glasses now and enjoy seeing all the lawn signs and billboards come down.

Good, bad, and just plain ugly

2006-11-02T12:21:00.000-05:00

I've been reading a lot lately. I think as the weather gets colder I start to hunker down and prepare for hibernation. My favorite winter activity is sitting by the fire and reading. Preferably with a glass of wine in hand, but I digress.

Because of my rather limited budget, I've been raiding the library every week. This can be a frustrating experience. I've long since read out all my favorite authors and am trying to discover new ones. (I'm almost done reading everything Meg Cabot has written. LOVE HER!) When I do a lot of times the library only has one or two out of a trilogy or something like that. It's TERRIBLY frustrating as a reader.

While roaming through the library looking desperately for something new to read, I've realized what a big part the cover art plays in my book making decisions. If the cover doesn't capture my attention, I don't even stop to read the back of the book. And even if it does, if I read the book blurb and it doesn't suck me in, forget it, back on the shelf it goes.

It got me to thinking that our careers as authors are VERY dependant on the cover artists that bring our vision to life. If the cover isn't attractive, we're hosed.

And I have to tell you, there are A LOT of really bad covers out there. I will not name names as I don't want to open myself up to that, especially since I've had a few covers that have REALLY SUCKED. But sometimes I wonder if the powers that be have any idea what goes on in a book buyers mind. I mean, I've been looking at a lot of books that are from New York publishers and even if the book was fantastic, I wouldn't know becuase the cover put me off so much.

Very scary.

Sometimes I wonder if everyone had plain white covers with just the title printed on the front, how many books would get picked up?

I think I'll go thank my cover artist today. . .
Ari

If you give a mom a muffin

2006-10-31T08:09:00.000-05:00

I got this in an email yesterday and it was just too appropriate not to share!

If You Give a Mom a Muffin

If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.

She'll pour herself some.

Her 3-year old will spill the coffee.

She'll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks.

She'll remember she has to do the laundry.

When she puts the laundry in the washer,she'll trip over some boots and bump into the freezer.

Bumping into the freezer will remind her that she has to plan supper.

She will take out a pound of hamburger.

She'll look in her cookbook(101 Things to Make with a Pound of Hamburger).

The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.

She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.

She will look for her checkbook.

The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her 2-year old.

She'll smell something funny.

She'll change the 2-year old.

While she is changing the 2-year old, the phone will ring.

Her 5-year old will answer and hang up.

She'll remember that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee.

Thinking of coffee reminds her that she was going to have a cup.

She will pour herself some.

And chances are, if she has a cup of coffee,her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

THIS IS MY LIFE!!!! Except, thank GOD I no longer have a two-year old. I read this and laughed and laughed, and then almost cried. How sad is it that my life has become a comedy of errors?

Of course, my life has always been something out of an I Love Lucy episode, so I don't know why I should be surprised.

So, for all you moms out there, here's a cyber muffin and a cup of coffee--large to go with it. I hope you get five minutes to enjoy them in solitude.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
Ari

Sad

2006-10-26T21:07:00.000-04:00

I hate the news. Hate, hate, hate the news. It just depresses me so I try not to watch it when I can avoid it.

Unfortunately, my husband is a news hound. So I tend to hear things I don't want to. One of those things is the death of four firefighters in an arson set fire in California. That makes my blood run cold.

My husband is a firefighter. I was a firefighter. My father was a firefighter. My grandfather was a firefighter. The fact that hundreds of people are losing their homes, livelihoods and potentially lives because someone PURPOSELY SET A FIRE makes me ill.

I'm watching footage of California wild fires and my heart bleeds for all the people involved.
Regardless of your religous beliefs or lack thereof, I hope you'll join me in praying for the victims of that fire.

Scary

2006-10-24T08:05:00.000-04:00

It comes as no surprise to many of you that I bitch about my weight. Often and loudly. I guess if I spent more time working out instead of complaining I might have less to whine about, but that's not the point of today's blog.

A friend of mine, who tends to hear my whine about my dieting woes more than others, sent me a link to a promo for a documentary called Thin. This documentary follows a group of women at a treatment house for eating disorders. Some of these women weighed 85 pounds. All of them worried about gaining weight.

I've always had a love hate relationship with food. I love love love to eat. Some people eat to live, I live to eat. And then I feel guilty. And I make promises to myself about how I'll work out more and watch what I eat, blah blah blah. Is this a healthy attitude? Probably not. BUT it's no where near as bad as the little preview I saw.

I have to say, I was seriously disturbed and down right scared. How easy would it be to foist my bad attitude about food off on my girls? I hear so much about childhood obesity, but in a way this is much worse. I try to be careful about what I say so I don't make my girls neurotic, but now I'm going to be even more careful. Some of these girls started dieting at 11 or 12. My oldest is 9.

When are we as a society going to accept and even celebrate women of all shapes and sizes? When are we going to stop putting unrealistic body images only 2 % of the women in the world can meet on a pedestal as the beauty standard?

I was just whining about wanting to lose 25 pounds (again, sigh) and wanting liposuction. I think maybe I'm going to embrace my pot belly and celebrate the fact that I'm pretty darn healthy just as I am. That may not make me look good in a slinky dress, but honestly, it's better than the alternative.

Letting go

2006-10-17T15:44:00.000-04:00

Today was my oldest daughter's 9th birthday. Tomorrow night she's going to her first concert, the Cheetah Girls (with parental supervision, of course). This morning she walked to school unescorted for the first time. I watched her the entire way, my heart in my throat. I could watch her because the school is all of two yards away. I was still a tad nervous.

My husband insists I'm being ridiculous, but it made me nervous to let her walk out that door without me.

I think when we send our books out into the world, it's the same feeling. These are our babies who we've nurtured and wept over and now they're out there on their own, waiting for someone to either love them or hate them.

Have I mentioned I'm not real good at letting go?

Spitfire makes its print debut today. I love that book. LOVE that book. It's gotten great reviews and a lot of positive feedback, but now it's going into stores. Will it languish on the shelves, unloved and lonely while all it's little shelf mates go to good homes? Will someone buy it and hate it so much they throw it against a wall? Or will it go to a good home on someone's keeper shelf?

I guess once you're a mother, be it books or children, you can never stop worrying, you can only trust that you've done the best you can and hope for as little damage as possible.

And I thought labor was tough 9 years ago. . .

The blame game

2006-10-16T14:48:00.000-04:00

Oh yes, it's that time of the year again. What time do you ask? It's election time so the tossing and dodging of blame begins.

Or maybe just continues. Because I think it isn't just in politics that blame gets thrown about like a hot potato, but in life in general.

Pop Quiz! When was the last time you heard someone say, "It's my fault. I made poor choices and I accept responsibility for my actions." ?

Anyone?

If someone is caught cheating on their taxes, molesting a child, shooting a school full of kids, or whatnot, it's always some body's fault. Some body ELSE'S fault.

Granted, many people have been traumatized by their pasts, and many people don't have coping mechinisms in place, or have serious medical/psychological disorders that cause problems, BUT NOT EVERYONE DOES! Some people are just greedy, stupid, selfish, or plain evil. The decisions they make, they CHOOSE to make, regardless of who it hurts and by blaming it on the fact that they got cut from the baseball team in fifth grade is baloney.

I work with kids that have some SERIOUS issues. I mean, things have happened to these kids that you just can't imagine in your worst nightmares. Some of them put it behind them and move on, some use it as an excuse for why I should HAND them a diploma instead of earning one.

My response? Suck it up. There are plenty of people out there who are much worse off so get over it. When they whine (which they always do) I point out some of my English as a Second Language students who have come from war torn countries without a dime and no language skills at all who are plugging away trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. Most of them have lost more than one family member to war or poverty.

Sometimes it shuts them up, and sometimes they pout about how unfair I am. My response? If you want warm and fuzzy adopt a puppy.

I have made mistakes. Many of them. Legions of them. Some of them have been honest mistakes, and some have been poor choices on my part. There are many things I've done that I cringe about when I remember them. Many times I haven't made the right choice because I've been immature, greedy, or selfish. But I'd like to think that at my age I'm willing to accept responsibility for my actions.

It would be nice if some of the folks in the media would too.

Spammers suck

2006-10-11T13:10:00.000-04:00

Okay, I know I've been off line for a while when I go to check my email and there's a million messages for me. I accept that burden since I know what happens when I don't clean out my in box.

But, I think it's REALLY unfair when some spamming bastard sends out a million messages using @ariannahart.com as part of their evil mission and ALL THE REJECTED/OUT OF OFFICE MAIL COMES BACK TO ME!!!!

I can handle it when it's my own mail coming back to bite me in the behind, but when it's someone else--an annoying someone else sending it-- well that's just not fair!

Honestly, don't these people have anything better to do? And if they don't, why don't they come to my house and fold my laundry or clean my floors.

D'oh!

2006-10-09T14:04:00.000-04:00

What do you do when you've done something really stupid and have no way to make amends?
I'm not talking about with a friend, but with a perfect stranger?

Here's the situation:
I was driving on a four lane road, two lanes going north, two lanes going south. I was in the left lane preparing to make a left turn when a fire truck came up behind me, lights and sirens blaring. I didn't know what to do. I was in the left lane, was he going to come up on my right side or go around me on the left?

I froze in indecision, then at the last minute pulled over to the right.
I'm sure the firefighter driving the truck was cursing the idiot in the SUV who didn't get out of his way quickly enough. I felt like such a moron. And my husband is a firefighter! Heck, I was a firefighter years ago, and it made me nuts when people didn't get out of the way. I know better, darn it.

I guess I have a huge sense of karma because when I do stupid things I always feel the need to fix it. There have been times when I've cut people off in traffic and felt terrible when I realized how close I'd come to causing an accident. I'm sure I've contributed to my share of road rage out there.

Perhaps the best way to make amends is to be more forgiving when other people make the same mistakes I've made. Maybe they didn't mean to do it either and are apologizing in their cars just like I do.

What do you think?

Happy Days are here again!

2006-09-29T20:36:00.000-04:00

Othello is over! Yay! Nothing against the Bard, but I'd much rather read his sonnets or his comedies than his tragedies.

Quite honestly, I'd much rather read ANYTHING than a tragedy. My husband always gets annoyed because I don't want to go to the movies or watch things on TV. Partly, that's because if I have two free hours I'd much rather spend them reading than watching someone else's interpretation of something. But even more than that, so much of what he wants to watch is just plain depressing.

I know I'm far too sensitive for my own good. I've always been that way, hence the reason I've never watched much TV. I mean, my mom had to stop me watching Captain Kangeroo because I got so upset I got nightmares after watching him get picked on. I seriously, seriously cannot stand bullying--emotionally or physically or even psychologically. When I see abuse of any sort it completely floors me for DAYS. I mean weeks and weeks I think about things and get upset.

Maybe that's why I became a writer in the first place. As a child I needed to create a world where I could control who got hurt and who didn't. The bad guys always lose and the good guy always gets the girl.

Reality is overrated. . .

Screw Othello

2006-09-28T13:49:00.000-04:00

I've been working days lately subbing for a co-worker whose wife had a baby last week. For the Shakespear class we're studying Othello. Once we finished the play we watched the movie (in time period with the original lyric screen play). And today we watched a modern adaptation called "O" It is extremely well done, very, very similar except it appeals to younger viewers.

That being said, I'm ready to binge on Disney movies!!!! Jumping Jiminy but I'm so bummed out by all this drama and tragedy I want to vomit!!!

Where's the happy ending? Where does the bad guy get what's coming to him and the good guy gets the girl??? I want to rewrite this so very badly! ACK!!!

I am so not cut out for tragedy. No wonder I write romance, at least in my books the bad guy always loses and the hero and heroine don't end up dead.

Screw Shakespear, I'm going to read a Susan Brockman book. . .

Procrastination. . .

2006-09-26T20:03:00.000-04:00

I have been a very bad blogger lately. Not only haven't I looked at anyone else's blogs, I haven't touched my own.

At first I was SERIOUSLY too busy. I'm still way too busy, but I've realized in the time it takes me to lose spider solitaire twice I could have at least let people know I was still alive.

Anyway, after I decided I did have time to blog, Blogger was down when I finally got onto the site. The opportunity to get on again didn't come until a few days later. . .

I haven't just been slacking in the blog department, I've been slacking in the house cleaning and promo departments too.

I have a release coming out in October (SURPRISE) a print book coming out in October (SPITFIRE) and another book coming out in November (CONVINCE ME) have I done SQUAT about them?
Nope.

I know I sometimes come across like I'm Super Woman, managing the kids, the house, writing, working, and running around like a lunatic but sometimes it just catches up to me and I want nothing more than to sit down and play endless losing games of spider solitaire.

I think I'm probably still in the middle of one of those times. It doesn't help that I've caught a cold to go along with my apathy. Coughing and hacking doesn't really motivate me to get on line and post perky messages.

And honestly, no one wants to hear me whine EVEN MORE THAN NORMAL!

Things will slow down soon. . .sort of. . .a little. . .maybe
Well, one can hope.
In the meantime, please don't desert me!!
Ari, the slacker

Learning something new every day

2006-09-14T10:17:00.000-04:00

Last week my friend Summer Devon and I started teaching an online workshop about adding heat to your manuscript. We came up with all sorts of ideas and assignments and even developed a syllabus and lesson plans.

While I was trying to make a coherent lesson I realized that I don't know HOW I do what I do, I just do it. It's like trying to explain walking. I really had to go in and look at my editors' comments and think about what I've done in the past to make my erotic romance manuscripts hotter. Doing this has really given me some insight as to what I'm doing and what more I can do to help my manuscripts be hotter, more emotional, and more descriptive.

By explaining things to others, I'm teaching myself too. It's been a fascinating lesson for me so far. I can see where I've made mistakes and where I could improve, not to mention what I can do in my next book.

I've been a teacher for 14 years, and I always knew you could learn a lot from your students, but now I'm actually applying that learning and it's fantastic.

Now, if someone could just ask me to teach a class about weight loss so I could apply that too. . .

Not meant for fashion

2006-09-13T09:27:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I spent all day long hiking up my jeans to keep from showing the world my underwear. It's not that I'm so skinny my jeans no longer fit me. Quite the contrary, actually. Remember how proud I was when I lost those 20 pounds? Pride goeth before the fall. . . I've put them all back on. Sigh. . .

Anyway, I digress. As I was hauling my jeans up I realized my body type just isn't cut out for today's fashions. Although I'm thrilled that cropped tops are no longer in style, the low waisted jeans haven't quite left yet.

This is my problem,
1. I'm tall
2. almost all my height is in my legs
3. I carry my weight in my stomach

Basically I'm built like an apple on top of two carrot sticks. Are you beginning to see my problem here? Low waisted pants need to sit on hips to stay up. I have a boy's hips and butt so my pants, which tend to slide below my rounded belly, have nothing to hang onto so they slide down all day long.
Picture trying to tie a ribbon around an apple as opposed to around a pear and you get my picture.

At least with the longer tops in style I can hid the fact that my underwear is sticking out. . .

Doing the right thing

2006-09-12T07:54:00.000-04:00

How come doing the right thing is always so much less fun than doing the wrong thing?

I mean, seriously, think about it.

Food that is unhealthy and will clog your arteries just by smelling it, always tastes better than food that's good for you.

Sitting on the couch or in front of the computer is much more fun than exercising.

Blog hopping and chatting on IM is much more fun than working.

And letting the kids watch TV when you should be doing crafts or making them go outside to play is SOOO much easier than fighting to drag them away from the boob tube.

If life was fair (yeah yeah, I know it isn't. Sue me, it's a blog) potato chips and bacon dip would lower cholesterol, IMing would count as aerobic exercise, and you wouldn't be tortured by the idea that being a lazy parent could bite you in the ass twenty years from now.

I mean come on, if you read all the parents' magazines and listen to the news it's enough to make you pull your hair out. I swear, it makes you feel like if you let your kids watch too much TV they'll either live with you until they're 40 or they'll end up on a water tower with an Uzi.

So, today after I fight with the girls to get their homework done, and give them a healthy snack, I'll go outside with them and play instead of iming with my buds. But inside, I'll be wishing we were eating Doritos and sour cream in front of the TV. . .

To Blog or not to Blog

2006-09-11T08:16:00.000-04:00

It's 9/11
My sister is in the army
I was a firefighter/EMT
My husband still is a firefighter
Several of my friends live in NYC and the surrounding areas.

Do I blog about 9/11/01?

I still have a hard time remembering that day without getting anxious or choked up. I deal with it by flying my American flag, wearing red, whit, and blue and telling my daughters that it's important to remember the brave emergency personnel and people who died that day. I try not to scare them but just tell them to remember the families of those who died in their prayers.

My husband watches all the news coverage non-stop.
I shut off all TV and radio today.

On 9/11/01 I was pregnant with my third child. My father was in Chicago and my husband was on his way to NYC for his new job. The weekend before, we went to our friends' house on Long Island, on the way we were stuck in traffic and pointed out the Twin Towers to the girls. We could see them from the bridge because they stood out on the sky line.

I remember being in the car on the way to my mother's when everything happened. My mom couldn't get in touch with my dad and I couldn't get in touch with my husband because all the cell service had been shut down.

Just remembering it makes my heart race and hands shake all over again.

I have no idea how people who lost loved ones in NY, PA, or D.C. handle this day.

As I stood outside and waited for the bus with my oldest two daughters, I looked up into the beautiful, cloudless, blue sky and thought about how it was a clear day that day too.

My heartfelt prayers go out to all of those touched by 9/11
I hope we never forget the sacrifices made that day.

But for me, I'm going to kiss my family and thank God I still have them, and try to forget. . .

Random Thoughts

2006-09-08T09:34:00.000-04:00

I seem to get all these great ideas for what to blog about when I'm no where near a computer. Usually I'm in the shower or in the car and a random thought will pop into my head and my first thought it "I have to blog about this!"

By the time I actually get to a computer, my mind is a total blank.

Today I was in line at Dunkin Donuts feeding my latest addiction and I thought about blogging about it. I mean, I'm not a coffee drinker, my caffeine of choice is Diet Coke which I drink by the gallon. But somehow I've gotten completely addicted to the Caramel Swirl Iced Lattes at DD. Totally addicted.

And apparently, I'm not the only one.

The line for the drive through was halfway out onto the street, and most of the cars in line were mini vans, SUVs and station wagons. As I watched the soccer mom parade going through the drive through, I thought DD should give discounts to moms. If you go through with one kid in the car you get X % off, if you go through with a carload of screaming children, you get Y% off, and if you have kids in the car and you're pregnant, your order is free!

There's probably a very good reason I don't work in retail. . .

Have a great weekend everyone, I'm off to do some MAJOR edits, oy!

The best laid plans. . .

2006-09-05T09:53:00.000-04:00

I had such plans for today.
Great plans.

My middle daughter had recovered from her fever and was headed back to school, my youngest daughter had a play date for 4 entire hours. I had ALONE TIME.

I was going to get up early, exercise, get the kids off to school, run to the store for supper making materials, and then drop my 4 year old off for four hours of writing bliss. . .

I did manage to exercise. And I did go to the store for supper materials. I even got supper started in the crock pot.

Then Miss 4 year old threw up all over my bed.

I now have to wash the comforter, sheets, pillows, and mattress pad.
I also had to cancel the play date.

Instead of immersing myself in my erotic quickie I'm running around taking care of a sick child.

Ah, the glamorous life of a writer. . .

He givith and he taketh away

2006-09-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

Sigh, the Lord givith and he taketh away. . .
School started on Wednesday. My two oldest darlings hopped on the bus and I managed to get a ton of things accomplished.

On Thursday I managed to write almost 4,000 words on a new book I'm working on for Ellora's Cave. And today I planned on brainstorming for the on line workshop Kate Rothwell and I are teaching next week.

Unfortunately, a little after midnight my middle daughter woke up with a 102. degree fever. She was up all night long, ergo, so was I.

Two days into school and I already have one home. I've already spent half the morning running for ibuprophen, ginger ale, toast, blankets, pillows, and the all important Brown Teddy.
Writing done?
Zilch
Exercising?
Nadda
Researching?
Zip

Someday I'll get some work done, really.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!

2006-08-30T21:54:00.000-04:00

Ahhh, the big yellow school bus rolled up to my driveway this morning and I almost sang with joy. I swear, there was a choir of angels in full chorus as that bus rumbled away with my little darlings.

It's amazing how very much you can get accomplished without two of your three children fighting and bickering and asking for food every ten seconds.

I MIGHT ACTUALLY GET TO WRITE THIS WEEK!!!!

Granted, it won't be much, but dear God it will feel good to accomplish something. My summer writing went something like this. . .

Ari--sits at computer and puts on headphones to drown out background noise
two seconds later
Child 1--Mommy, whatcha doin"
Ari--trying to get a little work done. Just give me half an hour.
Child 1--okay mommy, but first, can I call Emily.
Ari--sure, but don't make any playdates until this afternoon, I need to work.
Child 1--okay!
thirty seconds later
Child 1-- Mom!
Ari--Honey, I'm trying to work
Child 1--I know, but Emily wants to know if she can come over and go swimming now. I know you said this afternoon but she has to go to the dentist this afternoon so can she come over now? Can she?
Ari--no, honey, Mommy is working and I can't watch you in the pool from here. Maybe tomorrow.
Child--but mommeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (five minutes of whining crying and pleading)
Ari--What was my answer?
Child 1--Fine!
30 seconds later
child 2-- What's wrong with child 1? She's screaming in her room.
Ari--she's just upset. Mommy's working now, do you think you could watch a movie for a little while?
Child 2-- okay, can I have something to eat/drink?
Ari--yes, but eat it in the kitchen
Child 2-- can I eat it in my bedroom if I'm really careful?
Ari--No,
Child 2--the playroom?
Ari--No
Child 2--the living room?
Ari-the kitchen only or no snack.
Child 2--fine
2 minutes later
Child 3--mommy, child 1/2 is being mean to me.
Ari--why don't you play somewhere else so mommy can work for a little while. If you let mommy work, I'll take you to the park this afternoon.
Child 3--okay, but can I have a snack first? You let child2 have a snack and I want one too
Ari--of course, just eat it in the kitchen
Child 3--but child 2 is eating it in your room!

I could go on and on, but you get the picture. I swear it's a miracle I don't have to be locked in a padded cell by the end of the summer. . .

So oh yes, this is the most wonderful time of the year. Screw Christmas, the first day of school is hands down the winner!!

Ari

Talk about incentive

2006-08-28T16:59:00.000-04:00

My husband and I had a "discussion" the other day. In his mind, as soon as our 4 year old goes to school full time (1st grade, here in the land of half-day kindergarten) I should start pounding the pavement looking for a full time teaching job.

He thinks that if I'm teaching during the day, I'll still have time to write at night and then we'll have money to put away for the children's college, weddings, and our retirement.

To that I said...

Are you smoking crack?

To begin with, even if all three are in school full time, that doesn't mean there won't be sick days, teacher workshop days, half-days, and school holidays where they will be home and I will need to find child care for them. That doesn't include when they have plays and concerts and other things they want mommy to see during the day. As a teacher, it's VERY hard to get personal time other than sick days.

Not only would I miss out on many of the things my kids do during the day, I'd also have to make sure none of my meetings, inservices, teacher conferences etc. ran overtime because I'd have to rush home to get them to soccer, dance, CCD etc.

Then there is the planning, correcting, and reports I'd have to do at home, because a good 50% of a teacher's work is done out of school.

So, I'd have to get up, get three kids ready for school, and myself, work a full day, rush home to take the kids hither and yon, make dinner, help with homework, AND then do my take-home work. Somewhere in there I'd have to clean the house, do the laundry, go grocery shopping, help with school projects, buy birthday presents, plan birthday/soccer/school parties and take the kids, the dog and the cat to their various doctor/dentist appointments.

And then, at midnight, I could work on my writing.

Is it just me who thinks this is a little overwhelming?

I know there are mothers who do this, and I bow down to their amazing abilities. I mean, some of these women have seriously high power jobs such as lawyers and doctors. I fully admit, they are better women than I could ever hope to be. Just the thought of working full time and trying to still write gives me chest pains.

So, if I want to continue to pursue my writing career, I'm going to have to get my act in gear. Quite frankly, I'm now under a very tight deadline to actually make some money writing. I'm not talking millions, but I can no longer take loses every year. I'm not sure if this is going to spur me on to greater heights or just get me so uptight I explode.

I'm kind of betting on the latter actually. . .

Anyway, you've heard it here first. I have two years to "do something" (my husband's words) with my writing or it will be pushed to the bottom of the priority list.

I'll keep you posted. . .

I'd like to thank the academy. . .

2006-08-20T08:07:00.000-04:00

HOLY CRAP I WON AN AWARD!!!!

BEHIND THE ENCHANTED DOOR won an Ecataromance Reviewers' Choice Award.

I'm still in shock. I've never won an award for ANYTHING. Ever. I've always been the B student and the second or third place athlete. The closest thing to an award I've ever received has been a publishing contract, which trust me was also a huge shock and a joy.

DOOR was a very special book to me. Besides having to do with fairies, which I love love love, it was a book that I fell in love with instantly. I agonized over every comment from my cp and editor. I cried when I got the cover and it wasn't what I had in mind. I fretted when it went out to reviewers. This was like my baby going to school for the first time and I was terrified people wouldn't like it as much as I did.

This award means that I wasn't completely insane (notice I say completely) and that it was a good book. Maybe I shouldn't need to have that sort of reassurance, but I do. I freely admit when it comes to my writing I'm hopelessly insecure.

My friends will tell you that's no lie. I drove them all CRAZY while writing this. Emailing them chapters with neurotic pleas for opinions. I was a mess.

So, in Grammy Awards fashion, I'd like to thank some people:

For talking me off the ledge without throwing me over it when I was a lunatic:
Lori Armstrong
Leigh Wyndfield
Jewell Mason
Kathy Love
Kate Rothwell
Kris Starr

Cheyenne McCray for giving me a book quote. By God I hope this sucker goes to print so I can use it!

Dorine Linnen and Angie Waters for promoting it and letting others know about it. Thanks for letting me avoid the ever hated promotion.

Briana St. James, editor to the neurotic

Titania Ladley,who critiqued the first part and let me know where I was going wrong without pushing me off the ledge

And as always, my family for giving me the space to write this book, eating fishsticks and tater tots for supper, and watching A LOT of Disney movies.

I'm sure there are more folks that I should thank, but my caffeine-deprived mind can't think of them all right now.

Thank you my friends and thank you ecataromance for giving me a most precious gift.

Feeling Sassy!

2006-08-19T14:33:00.000-04:00

Okay, this is seriously frustrating. I'm uploading pictures to blogger but they aren't showing up in my blog. This is rather annoying because I just got my hair cut. BIG TIME. I took ten inches off and will be mailing them into Locks of Love next week.

I got the idea from my sister who did it, and I decided as soon as the RWA conference was over I was going to do it. I now have hair above my shoulders for the first time in twenty years.

IT FEELS GREAT! I know part of it is because I had someone fussing over me for hours so I feel pampered and pretty, but part of it is also because I feel like I'm doing some good for someone else. My hair will grow back. And you know what? I might just cut it again when it gets long enough.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!
Ari

p.s. I tried to get the pictures to work again and they didn't show. If you really want to see them, I've uploaded them into the photos section of my yahoo group. Friendsofari

If you're not a member, you can join by sending a blank email to the link on my website
http://www.ariannahart.com You can join special notices so you won't have to hear me natter on and on when something cool happens, but by joining you get to hear all the good dirt first. . .
AH

SURPRISE

2006-08-17T15:00:00.000-04:00

I just got the cover for my next Samhain book SURPRISE. This is a re-release but it's going to be SO VERY DIFFERENT than the original.

Let me 'splain. . .

I started writing SURPRISE when I was pregnant with my youngest daughter. I was trapped at home with a 3 year old and a 2 year old. I'd run out of books that I hadn't read a million times and my head was going to explode, so I started writing.

Time passed, baby Shannon was born and I didn't do much with the story, like so many of my other books that I'd started, it just languished in my documents folder waiting to be finished. I'd sit down and write a little more when I got bored or when inspiration hit me, but it just kind of was there in the background. Until my husband challenged me to finish it.

So I did.
Then he dared me to do something with it.
So I queried Sillouette Intimate Moments, who actually requested it. Wow!

I cleaned it up (Ha!) and sent the whole manuscript in. Two months later they sent it back to me. Thanks but no thanks.

I was crushed. I decided my writing career was over. I sucked.
Several of my friends kicked my butt and the next thing I know, I'm writing erotica and submitting again.

Surprise sat in a corner, begging for another chance. Finally I sent it in to Triskelion who put it out in January of 2004, a little over a year from when it had been rejected.

Now that I have a little more writing under my belt, I've gone back into the book and could see EXACTLY why it got both rejected and accepted. It was rejected because there were so many first time writer mistakes in there it should have been in a "How not to write a book for publication" manual.

But I can see why it got accepted from a smaller company, because it has a tiny, tiny, kernal of hope in it. There is a good story mixed in with all the mistakes. Now that I've had some time to grow, I'm hoping I can take that tiny shred of good story and clear away the crap from it to make it an even better story.

My hope is that someone reading it for the second time will be pleasantly surprised, and someone reading it for the first time won't be disappointed.

I'm also hoping my editor won't attempt to strangle me when she sees it. . .

Home again

2006-08-16T20:26:00.000-04:00

The National conference is over, and now I'm back to blogging about my boring life. I guess I can't really call it boring because I'm constantly busy, but I seem to be constantly busy doing mommy things. I've had a lot of company, thrown some parties, entertained in-laws, taken children on day trips, and basically run all over the state of CT since I've been home from Atlanta.

Not exactly the same thing as dancing at the Ritz. . .

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for my waistline and liver, this is my life. I am a mommy first and formost. I imagine my kids will always come first for me, even when the Ari part of me is screaming to get out. I wonder if male writers have these same issues?

Do men worry about balancing their kids and their careers? Do they agonize over every trip, worrying that they're scarring their children for life?

Somehow, I just don't think so. I imagine there are men who do, but I think being neurotic about things lies largely in the female camp. Aren't we lucky????

What do you think? Do you know any male writers who freak about going to conferences? If you do, send them to my blog so I can hear what they have to say!!

Take 2

2006-08-15T17:31:00.000-04:00

Okay, by putting two pictures in I couldn't post anything, so I'll try again. The following pictures are of Kris Starr and I and Joanne Rock and I at the Rita Awards Ceremony. Unlike last year, this year's ceremony was lighthearted and very funny, and blessedly only two hours long. (Thank you Jesus!)

It was a great night for many of my friends, I was so excited when DIANA LOVE SNELL and STEPHANIE FAEGAN won Ritas I literally jumped out of my seat and screamed. Loud. Twice. I'm sure I annoyed everyone in my general area. I was absolutely thrilled to see two of my good friends win awards with their first books. It was especially exciting for me to see Steph win because when she finaled in the Ritas, someone had the very poor taste to say, on their blog, they couldn't believe her book had finaled.

HA! TAKE THAT!

Linnea Sinclair won a Rita as well, and that was fantastic too as she is an e-pubbed author and it gave me a slight bit of vindication in my petty little heart, hahaha.

After the awards we got a little silly, as is par for the course. By the end of the conference we're all suffering severe sleep deprivation and the bittersweet realization that it might be a year or more before we see each other again.

We had a lot of fun taking silly pictures of our friend Lisa Joy's butt (she had an awesome gown with a really cool back) and Kathy Love and Julie Cohen got silly too. (what a shock) By the time we said our good-byes and good nights, it was after midnight and Kris and I had to head out early the next morning for the airport. This year we didn't stay up all night like last year, which turned out to be a very good idea as 7:00 am came very early the next morning.

I'm hoping to get some more pictures and will hopefully get to post them before the turn of the century. . .

And the winner of the Rita is. . .

2006-08-15T17:27:00.000-04:00

Dancing at the Ritz

2006-08-09T12:37:00.000-04:00

Thursday was kind of quiet as I did a lot of running to workshops. I got a great deal of information for my next book, which was really exciting. I'm going to create a seriously bad-ass villain, so stay tuned. . .

Friday, on the other hand, was very busy. I went to some more workshops in the morning, then went to the Passionate Ink luncheon in the afternoon. It was held at the Atlanta Aquarium and was absolutely beautiful. The food was delicious, and the atmosphere was incredible. Our room had an enormous window that looked out onto the whale tank. It was just stunning.

After lunch we headed to the bar to hang with some friends then I was lucky enough to be a guest at the Harlequin Party at the Ritz Carlton.

Oh my God, but I want to live in the bathroom there! It's easily bigger than my first apartment, and definitely better decorated. It was hot as blazes, but I got to see a number of my friends and dance and dance and dance. I was a sweaty mess by the end of the night, but man alive, did I have fun. Any place that has a chocolate fountain and shots of Bailey's Irish Cream in chocolate cups is A #1 in my book. This year the DJ they hired was fantastic and played a great mix of songs that kept us dancing until 1 am.
I'm very glad I brought my ballet slippers to change into, I just can't handle dancing in heels all night long.

Needless to say, the next morning was very ugly. . .I'll just leave it at that.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have pictures from the Ritas for you!
Ari

We interrupt this RWA memoir to vent

2006-08-07T22:24:00.000-04:00

I saw an article today that seriously torqued me up. I'm employing great restraint by not placing the link in this blog entry in order to protect the innocent--or should I say ignorant?

First, the article was written by a man--a girly man--who is a reporter for a Florida newspaper. He was sent to cover the RT conference in Daytona. Now, instead of writing an article about the positive things that happened at the conference, like readers connecting with writers and other fans, or charity auctions for the children of Sri Lanka, or supporting the military spouses, the article focused on the racier aspects of the conference.

The writer--and I use that term loosely--went on and on about the sexually titilating panels and the cover model contests and didn't once mention any of the positive things RT did.

To make matters worse, he found a "Historical fiction author, not a romance author" and her mother who were at the conference and the three of them had a great time at the bar picking on the people who paid to attend the conference.

Since I didn't know who the author was, I looked her up on Amazon. She happened to have an RT REVIEW POSTED ON THE AMAZON PAGE!!!
So, she was too good to be considered a romance author, but she was more than willing to glom off the success of romance authors at their ROMANTIC TIMES BOOKLOVERS CONFERENCE.

If she is so much better than we are, why wasn't she going to a Historical writers conference?

Now I understand that my writing won't please everyone. Heck, I know my genre won't please half the people I know, but I don't look down upon fans of other genres. And I especially don't look down upon authors of other genres. It's very hard to write a book. It's even harder to get one published. Anyone who can do that deserves my respect, if not necessarily my hard earned cash. This author, whom I'm very carefully not naming, should be ashamed of herself.

Maybe her words got taken out of context, I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, hence my restraint in not flaming her in a public forum or in a private email. Regardless, she was at RT as an author, she sat down and spoke to a reporter and dissed the conference and the conference attendees, employees, and genre. Maybe she didn't mean to sound elitest but she should have been smart enough to be careful what she said around a member of the press.

Tomorrow morning I'll have forgotten not only the author's name, but most of the anger I had at the article. (I have a house full of company so it's not hard for me to forget everything) I'm not ashamed of what I write and I love, love, love the RT conference. I'm proud to be a part of it, and I welcome the opportunity to talk to a PROFESSIONAL journalist who is there to report on the conference, not vent his personal insecurities by lampooning an event that brought many people and dollars into his state.

By the way, I'm not just talking the talk, I'm walking the walk too. I wrote a letter to the editor and gave them permission to print it. We'll see what happens.

Signing with the awesome Kim Harrison

2006-08-07T14:21:00.000-04:00

Here I am at the booksigning, Wednesday July 26th. Next to me is the awesomely cool Kim Harrison. She wrote DEAD WITCH WALKING and many other rocking WITCH books. I sat next to her at RT and her line stretched out across our whole row. It was kind of nice because I had a chance to talk to her fans. Also, her husband comes along and he's a huge help getting water and keeping me company while Kim is busy with her legions of fans.

It's kind of intimidating for someone on the lower end of the author food chain to sit near someone who is selling out like gangbusters. I mean, you kind of end up feeling like the opening act at a Rolling Stones concert. Kim was very sweet to me at both signings, and was such a cutie I couldn't even work up a good head of jealousy. And considering she's talented, pretty, and petite, that's saying something about how nice she is.

It probably helps that I like her books too, so I completely understand why she has so many folks clammoring for her signature. What really impressed me was, she didn't seem to take it for granted. She spoke to each one of her fans and didn't try to push them along. Over all, a very cool lady.

I did fairly well at the signing. This time around I even sold books to people who aren't my friends, hahahaha. It was neat to see some people actually recognize my name(okay two people, but hey, it's a start!) without me badgering them to come over to my table.

I just need to keep things in perspective, someday I'll have a line of fans waiting to see me. . .I hope!
Ari

I put the "ass" in class

2006-08-04T16:35:00.000-04:00

Still waiting on pictures from my friends. I have got to get a better camera so I can take my own damn pictures. . .

Okay, so I'll talk about going from my sister's house to the conference. I don't need pictures for that. . .

On Monday, my gorgeous niece turned 18 and to celebrate, I took her shopping. And boy did we shop. Oh my, did we shop. I got some very cool clothes and had an excellent time bonding with my baby. *sniff*

Because of all that shopping though, my suitcase was PACKED. Now, I had picked my biggest suitcase and only filled it halfway plus I brought an extra carry on bag that was empty just so I'd have room to bring everything back without going over the 50 pound weight limit on the plane. Last year coming home from Reno I had to unload several books at the check in counter. Very embarrassing. After all my shopping I was out of extra space and looking to ship stuff home.

Instead, my sister and I switched suitcases and she gave me a large one to load all my things into. Now I have two full size suitcases to bring, yikes!
Also, I stopped by the local Publix and picked up a 24 pack of water and a 12 pack of diet coke. I also picked up a cooler to keep those things in instead of using one of the garbage cans this time around. Unfortunately, the cheapest cooler I could find had NASCAR emblazened across it on both sides.

After lunch with my sister at her job, she hired a town car and driver to take me to the hotel in downtown Atlanta. It was awesome! A nice comfy ride, Abaas the driver was wonderful, and we didn't hit any traffic. What could be better?

What could have been better would have been to not be carrying a NASCAR cooler, a 24 pack of water and a 12 pack of soda into the frigging Marriot Marquis! I must have looked like the biggest hick!

Luckily for me I have great friends who didn't care that I, as my friend Kris Star put it, "put the ass in class".

Go me! hahahahha

Hope to have pictures for you soon so I can tell you about signing next to the awesome Kim Harrison and her great husband later on. Have a great weekend!
Ari

Down South

2006-08-03T13:56:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry for not posting sooner, I had planned on regaling you with tales of my exploits at RWA, but I don't have any pictures yet, and I kind of want to put those up with my stories so the tell all blog will have to wait.

In the meantime, I can tell you about going down south for this northener. My sister lives about an hour outside of Atlanta so I went down a few days early to spend some time with her and her family first.

My niece turned 18 *sob* on that Monday, so it worked out perfectly. I couldn't wait to get there and see everyone for a few days.

Let me just tell you, there's a reason they call it Hotlanta.

HOLY FREAKING COW!!!!

I stepped out of the airport with my baggage to wait for my sister to pick me up and I felt like something big licked me. Now we've been having a heat wave in CT with temperatures in the upper 90's and high humidity, but it was nothing like this.

This was like trying to breathe water. Hot water. Thick, hot water. I broke into a sweat just standing there in the shade.

How do people live like that on a regular basis? I know everyone says that everything is air conditioned down there, but what if you have to walk the dog or do yard work? My niece actually went RUNNING in that weather. I got light headed walking around the house. and this was at 7:00!!!

What about the road construction crews? Or firefighters or cops? My eyeballs almost roasted inside my head and I was wearing shorts and a tank top the whole time!

It kind of makes winter look damn attractive. . .
Remind me of that when I'm whining about it being so freaking cold and snowy here in four months, hahahahaha

Okay, hopefully I'll have pictures for you tomorrow!
Ari

Simple Pleasures

2006-07-31T09:22:00.000-04:00

I'm back from Atlanta, safe and sound and very happy to be home.

The conference was incredible and somewhat overwhelming. There was a lot of information to be had, networking to be done, and people to talk to. Even though I was there a day early, it still felt like I didn't get a chance to talk to my good friends as much as I'd have liked to.

I will blog about my adventures, and provided my buds send me their pictures, I'll even have some photos to share. (Yes Dorine, I know I should have been taking pictures, but my camera sucks.) But before I regale you with tales about my trip I have a little reflection I want to share with you.

When I woke up this morning, it felt so good to be in my own bed, with a clock that I could read with my near-blind contact-less vision. I got up and got breakfast for my kids then went outside to empty the garbage. On the way back in, I weeded my flowerbeds a bit and noticed the changes that happened over the week I was gone.

It occurred to me then how much I missed getting my hands dirty. I checked my email and I realized how much I missed having a computer at my disposal. I walked my older girls to camp and realized how much I missed being able to walk down the street comfortably with my hair a mess, no makeup, glasses on and no bra without worrying about running into an agent/editor/publisher that I wanted to speak to.

I love going to conferences. I'm a total extrovert and love, love, love hanging around with other writers and talking and laughing and drinking. I love learning about my craft and doing research and seeing friends I only get to see once or twice a year. I also love meeting new people and making new friends.

Usually, I have a period of let down once I come home. An emotional hangover, if you will. I miss my friends desperately and feel isolated in a world of non-writers who just don't get me. I'm sure that will come, probably as I'm catching up on all the laundry and housework that didn't get done the week I was away, but I'm so glad to be home.

Maybe I'm finally figuring out that I have everything I need to be happy, I just need to appreciate it more.

Ari

Early Celebration!

2006-07-20T15:59:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I'm celebrating a bit early, but I can't help it! I'm so excited!!! I'm leaving for Atlanta on Sunday so I probably won't have much time to blog before I go, therefore I'm blogging about SPITFIRE early.

See, my baby comes out on Tuesday the 25th and I'll be at RWA in Atlanta so I won't be able to scream and cheer and jump up and down about it on its release day.

This was such a fun story for me to write, during a not so fun time in my life. If you haven't guessed, I'm all about escapism, and this book really provided it for me. I was able to lose myself in car chases and gun fights and not think about all the craziness going on in my life.

I really hope when people read it, they can escape for a while too.

What do you do for escapism?

Spoiled!

2006-07-17T14:15:00.000-04:00

I think I've gotten spoiled. Not only that, I think I've spoiled my children as well.
What brought on this epiphany you ask? The air conditioning broke in my car on Friday.

We in the northeast are experiencing a heatwave right now. It is disgustingly hot and humid and riding in a black car with no air is miserable. I'm whining, the kids are whining, and we're all hot and sticky.

Now, I can remember when I was maybe 7 or 8 riding in the back of my parents' Toyota station wagaon, in the way back mind you, all the way from CT to Missouri with NO AIR CONDITIONING! The cars didn't even have it then. I was crammed into the car, with black vinal seats, along with my two sisters for a 20+ hour ride. There were no DVDs in the back or Game Boys or anything else, just the license plate game and poking at your sister until mom screamed for entertainment.

Have we gotten soft? Is the fact that I did as many errands as I could early this morning without the children a sign that I can't handle the same difficulties as my mother?

You betcha!

I made an appointment for the car to go in on Wednesday even though I don't get paid until Friday and I leave Sunday for Atlanta. If I could have gotten it done today I would have. . .

Stay cool!
Ari

Not a fashion trend!

2006-07-13T20:56:00.000-04:00

I feel the need to vent. A lot.
Maybe I'm just grouchy from the heat and humidity, or maybe I'm just a little annoyed because I'm running around like a lunatic, but something today seriously pissed me off.

I was loading my millions of dollars of groceries onto the little conveyer belt and I spotted a tabloid with the title (this isn't exact)
The Bump Watch.
Motherhood, the new Hollywood trend.

MOTHERHOOD IS NOT A FASHION TREND!!!!

I don't necessarily believe that you have to be married to have children, although I do think it helps, but creating a life is not something you do because it's fashionable!!!!

I have three daughters whom I love more than life itself. Even when they make me want to pull my hair out, I'd still walk through fire for them. Having children was something my husband and I talked about and thought about and considered at great length--and we still weren't prepared!

I hope the tabloid was just making a splashy headline and getting pregnant isn't the next "in" thing for the rich and famous. If it is, I hope to God there is someone there for those children when it's no longer fashionable. . .

Relaxation

2006-07-12T16:18:00.000-04:00

I am trying hard to find new ways to relax. My personality doesn't lend itself easily to relaxation. I tend to be in a state of constant motion unless I'm hanging out with friends or reading a book.

I do read a lot of books, but that's not my point, hahaha.

I've been somewhat stressed trying to juggle all my responsibilities and still be nice to my family. In order to sooth my whirling thoughts, I've surrounded myself with peaceful things. I have plants and fairy pictures and candles and a Zen garden around my work area. And I just bought some guppies.

I love my little guppies. My husband has a huge fish tank, and the girls each got small ones for their recital present, but no one wanted to buy guppies. So, I bought them myself. And the little guys really make me laugh. I love to watch them in their little tank , especially at feeding time.

I don't know if they're helping me slow down at all, but I'm enjoying them nonetheless.

What do you do to relax? Does it work?

Collective Mind?

2006-07-07T08:16:00.000-04:00

Do you ever wonder if humanity has a collective mind or subconscious? I know Karl Jung thought of it first, but sometimes I really think he was on to something. I read a lot of books. I mean, a LOT. I try not to read books in the same genre that I'm writing at the time because I don't want to take any chances that something I read might influence me even unconsciously.

When I'm done writing the book whether it's romantic suspense, science fiction, or fantasy, I usually devour books that I've been denying myself in that genre.

And the scary thing is, on more than one occasion I've noticed that a thought or theme or name or experience that I've just written about pops up in several different books that I've read. EEEKKK!!! I'm terrified one of these days that someone is going to think I ripped them off when I was just tapped into the same part of the collective brain.

Case in point. A few years ago I used to spend a lot of time on the eHarlequin message boards. There was a woman there who I became friendly with named Marley. I asked her if I could use her name for one of my characters. She said sure so I wrote A MAN FOR MARLEY. This was back in 2004. Now, there are Marleys everywhere you look! Craziness, I tell you!

So, if anyone who has read one of my books and thinks I stole from them, I swear I haven't, ahahahah

Okay, my computer is on the fritz and I can barely see the screen any more so I'm goint to end this now. Have a great weekend everyone!
Ari

How do they do it?

2006-07-05T17:06:00.000-04:00

I have gone back to work for the summer. I'm actually working more hours for summer school than I do at my regular job. And damn it, it's HARD!! I'm behind on EVERYTHING.

How do some women work full time ALL YEAR LONG, take care of families, and write? I just can't figure it out. They must go without sleep. I thought I did a lot working part-time, writing, and taking care of three kids, but going back to work showed me just how much I really do.

On another note, my flower gardens are coming along nicely, I really enjoy seeing the new blumes and colors. We're getting 4 yards of mulch on Saturday and I'll be moving most of it around the yard since I bullied my husband into buying it. If you don't hear from me for a while it's because I'm too sore to type, hahahaha.

Oh, and did I mention I have poison ivy again? ON MY FAECE THIS TIME!!! The RWA conference is in 2 1/2 weeks, I'm totally not prepared, and now I have poison ivy all over my chin and cheeks. Can someone sedate me for a week or two?

No, wait, I still have too much to do, nevermind.

Hope everyone had a nice July 4th and the summer weather is being kind to you!
Ari

The Glamorous Life of a Writer

2006-06-26T11:52:00.000-04:00

Ah yes, the life of a writer is glamorous indeed! What you are seeing here is what I do when I'm not writing(or editing or doing promo.) Because things were so busy before I took the kids on vacation, I got a little behind on the laundry. It took me several hours to get caught up.

I just looked upstairs and they've already started a new load, oy!

When I first started writing I had this vision that when an author sold their book, they'd get a contract in the millions. I fantacized about hiring a cleaning lady and getting a bigger house.

In all honesty, I'm still trying to pay off my Visa bill. No cleaning lady, that's for sure.

Now I imagine that Nora Roberts probably doesn't have the same issues, but the chances of me becoming the Nora Roberts of erotic romance are pretty slim. So I guess I'd better keep up with the laundry, hahahaha

I'm alive, barely

2006-06-22T22:31:00.000-04:00

Yes, I actually do still blog here. I have been MIA for the last few weeks it feels like. Here's what I've been up to. . .

End of school year ice cream social
Last soccer game X 2
Soccer party (60 people at my house, oy!)
Major landscaping project (half done)
Trip to New York City (yummy! Love Little Italy, sigh)
Kickboxing, kickboxing, kickboxing (still trying to lose those darn 5 pounds I gained at RT)
Father's Day (how much pampering does a guy need anyway?)
Finished the millionth draft of my Bombshell submission and sent it off, yay! Let the wait begin!
Finished second set of edits on SPITFIRE due out end of July
Wrote, submitted, revised, resubmitted, and did edits on CONVINCE ME a shape shifter story for EC, much fun
Read galley for DARK HEAT due in print soon, yay!
Wrote, re-wrote, re-re-wrote, revised, re-re-re-wrote prologue from hell
working on novella from hell
And now I'm on vacation at the Cape.

My house is a pit, I need to go grocery shopping in a bad way, and I'm pretty sure I'm behind on sending out my bills, but things are moving along.

My plan is to take the summer off from writing and "refill my well" of creativity. Actually, I'm teaching summer school, going to RWA in Georgia, throwing a party for my grandmother, and having my sister and her family at my house for a week so somehow I just don't think I'll have a whole lot of writing time. Instead of making myself crazy again this year, I'm going to focus on edits and promotion and just play around with the many ideas I have for stories. I figure I can just sort of let them simmer in my head and maybe by the time the kids go back to school I'll have the energy to bang some of these suckers out.

Right now I think I need a week long nap. . .yeah, right. . .

Old Friends

2006-06-13T14:38:00.000-04:00

Shortly before I left for RT my book DARK HEAT came out from Samhain Publishing. Of course, I was a lunatic so I didn't even mention it. Duh! I don't think I utilize my blog real well, but hey, I'm still learning what can I say?

Anyway, DARK HEAT was previously released and left to languish at another publisher. When I got the rights back I was thrilled when Samhain wanted to republish it. Little did I know what an overhaul this book would get!

I wrote DARK HEAT during a very difficult time in my life. My grandfather had died and my father had almost died. I was in an emotional sink hole. Writing DH kept me sane. It was my first "paranormal" book and I had a lot of fun writing it.

Three years later, when it came time to re-write and re-edit it I cringed at some of the mistakes I made. I guess it goes to show you that you really do grow and learn over time, even if you don't realize it. My editor Angie was great giving me suggestions on how to beef it up and improve the overall quality of the book.

What came out is essentially the same book, but better--in my humble opinion. It's longer, hotter, and makes a bit more sense in spots.

And better yet, IT'LL BE IN BORDERS IN AUGUST!!! WOOT!!!

I'm so excited that so many of my favorite titles that weren't going to hit print before will be out over the next year. It's kind of like holding your child for the first time. Exciting, scary, and a little bit like falling in love.

I'm so psyched to see this "baby" cleaned up and ready to go! yay!
Ari

Here comes the sun

2006-06-12T13:39:00.000-04:00

Yay! There's sunshine outside!!!
Here in the northeast we've had so much rain I was beginning to search for build-your-own-ark kits on the internet. It's great for all the flowers I recently planted, but not so wonderful for all the end of the school year picnics and soccer games.

This week I'm really hoping the rain will let up. On Friday my bestest buddy and I will be going to NY City for the day to walk around and shop WITHOUT CHILDREN, it may be the last chance we'll have to do that for a long time.

On Saturday I'm having a party for the soccer team I help to coach and my other daughter's soccer team. I'm expecting around 20 little girls and their families to descend upon my house. It had better not rain on Saturday!!!

Isn't it funny with all the advances in modern science we're still at the mercy of Mother Nature? I'm not talking about big things like hurricanes and snow storms, but the little things like planning parties and soccer games.

As much as I hate the idea of playing a game of chance with the weather, it's still nice to know that man can't control everything.

It's not nice to fool Mother Nature, hahahaha

Faery Foto

2006-06-04T20:17:00.000-04:00

Here's our group picture in our fairy finery. This was taken by Tara Kearney and she rocks! It wasn't easy getting all of is in there but she did.
Okay, if I can remember everyone
Top Row (L-R) Me, Mackenzie McKade, Brit Blaze
2nd row from top, Rowene Cherry, Jaci Burton, Isabella Clayton, Sahara Kelly, Cheyenne McCray
3rd row, Tina Gerow, Melissa Schroeder, Sylvia Day, Eden Robbins, Tyler Blackwood, Ann Jacobs
Sitting, Amanda McIntyre, Kathy Love, Denise Agnew

We were quite the group and had a lot of fun!!

If I can get more pictures to load, I'll try to bring them up tomorrow!
Ari

The Faery Ball

2006-06-04T19:53:00.000-04:00

Sorry I took so long between posts, I caught a summer cold and it really kicked my butt. Luckily, I'm getting over it now. Yesterday we had my middle daughter's 7th birthday party, and it poured! I had 12 little girls in my house for two hours. It actually went surprisingly well, but I don't want to do it again any time soon. . .

Okay, back to RT!!!

On Friday I had practice for the Faery Ball starting at 8:30, from there I had to go to my workshop at 11:00. I did a workshop with my good friend and fellow writer Lori Armstrong on writing realistic fight scenes. I think it went quite well all things considered. I didn't feel prepared for it as it was the first time I had done this particular subject. No one threw things at us so I'm considering it a success, hahaha.

After that we wanted to get changed and go to the awards luncheon. We waited forever to get in and once in, couldn't find a seat anywhere. When I saw they were serving tuna salad, which I HATE for lunch, I decided to bail. We met up with some friends at the Mexican restaurant and had a wonderful lunch. But, by the time lunch ended, Lori and I had hit the wall. We snuck back to the room for a nap before heading to Club RT for a half hour of meeting and greeting. No one really came over to see us, but we were there. I did manage to get two really cute fairy t-shirts from the woman who did a lot of the backgrounds for the faery ball. She ROCKED!

From club RT it was time to go back to the room and get ready for the Faery Ball. Kathy Love and I almost killed our friends with our wings as we moved about the room in anything but fairy-like grace. Light on my feet, I'm not.

After gathering for a group picture, which I'll eventually get on this computer, we walked through the staff areas of the hotel and crammed onto a tiny elevator, which tested the limits of my claustrophobia, until we reached the ballroom where we were to make our grand entrance.

Beth Ciotta sang BOOK OF DAYS by Enya, and it was beautiful. I mean, not just a little beautiful, bring tears to your eyes beautiful. She is the sweetest, most talented woman and I love her to death. We had to process in with our big ole gowns and do a little dance number around the May Pole. I was told by Mark, who held the May Pole, that we were the worst group to go, hahaha. I don't think anyone really noticed.

To be honest with you, this is the part that chapped my tukkus the most. Many people went to the Faery Ball. In fact there were so many people there, many of whom saved seats for others, that several people couldn't get seats for dinner. During Beth's song and while we were doing our thing, the majority of the people paid not one iota of attention. I found that terribly rude.

If you want to have a conversation while someone is singing, go outside. I realize that watching a bunch of women prance around a May pole might not be the highest form of entertainment, but we shelled out big bucks to have a dinner, the least people could do was be polite during the ten minutes or what not that we were doing our little number. I was more mad that no one was listening to Beth though.

She did a wonderful job and too many people were far too RUDE to pay attention to her. I'm all about having fun, but damn it, be polite.

The rest of the night felt very much like a wedding. We danced too little and laughed and talked too much. There were some truly fabulous costumes and I think everyone had a good time. After the ball a bunch of us stayed after to help. By this point I was almost delirious with fatigue, but so was everyone else.

I can't believe Connie Perry and her wonderful family/staff/slave laborors were still moving. I was downright pooped.

Oh, and I have to give major kudos here. One of the cover models Brooks, who is as sweet as can be, stayed into the wee hours of the morning to help out too. These guys have a grueling schedule at RT and are busy all the time. It was above and beyond the call of duty for him to help out. He really is gorgeous inside and out.

I probably had more to say, but quite honestly, I was so tired, I just didn't have a whole lot left in me and much of that night is a blur. By Friday of RT my reserves are running low and this time was no exception.

I shall go look for pictures now because those dresses were too pretty for you not to see!
Ari

we interrupt the RT memoirs to bring you. . .

2006-05-29T20:00:00.000-04:00

some thoughts on Memorial Day. . .

I promise I'll go back to the "good stuff" tomorrow, but I just feel the need to express some thoughts I had today.

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. The unofficial start of the summer and a day full of parades, picnics, and fun. My husband marched in our local parade with the fire department, and I sat on the side lines with my kidos and watched everyone go by.

As the Veterans of Foreign Wars went by and the local Army unit marched in front of us with their color guard, I made my girls stand up. The man next to us looked at me like I was deranged when I forced my girls to stand and clap. I explained to them when they whined that they were showing respect not just to the men and women in front of us, but to all the men and women that had gone before them.

My grandfather was the second to last man drafted in World War II, two of my uncles came home from Viet Nam, and my husband's uncle did not. My father was in the Air Force, my father in law, and brother in law were in the Army, and my sister still is. My other brother in law was in the Navy, and I have several friends either former military, currant military, or military spouses. For me, showing respect for our armed forces is very personal.

I am not a political person. I hate political discussions, am not a registered anything, and for the most part vote according to whim. I almost always vote for the underdog (like the Green party) and avoid advocates from either side of the fence like they carried the plague. That being said, I will always support the troops. Whether or not I agree with the person or mission that sent them into danger, I will ALWAYS support the men and women who put their lives on the line so I don't have to. That includes police officers, fire fighters, and members of all the branches of the armed forces.

I am not the least bit embarrassed to have made my children stand to show respect for the flag, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Happy Memorial Day.

Pictures from the Vampire Ball

2006-05-26T14:54:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture of (from L-R) Ann Wesley Hardin, Lisa Stoddard (Ashley Raine) Lori Armstrong and me

My picture of Beth as Ariel isn't showing up, but if you go to her blog or Mary Stella's blog you can see them.

http://www.mary-stella.com
http://www.bethciotta.com

where is that brain cell?

2006-05-26T14:44:00.000-04:00

Thursday morning dawned bright and sunny, and really darn early. Kathy again had to be somewhere so she couldn't hang with Lori and I. Lori wanted to go for a walk on the beach before she went to one of the workshops, so we headed outside and attempted to find enough caffeine to sustain us.

Aparently it wasn't enough.

Idiot that I am, I totally missed the fact that it was THURSDAY and that I was SUPPOSED TO BE SOMEWHERE that morning. EC was gracious enough to throw us a brunch, one I missed last year because I had to leave early and was looking forward to. Unfortunately, I didn't even think about it until 5:00 that night when someone asked if I had seen an author because they weren't at the brunch.

"That was TODAY??? TODAY IS THURSDAY???"
Not my finest moment.
Honestly, I felt like a complete ass. I had everything written down so I wouldn't forget what to do when, but did I even look at the paper that morning? Nope.

I'm really an intelligent woman, honest. I blame it all on caffeine withdrawl.

Thursday afternoon and evening were spent helping Connie Perry get ready for the Vampires of the Caribbean ball that Heather Graham was throwing. Several of my friends were in the little skit that was going to be performed so I wanted to help out as much as possible.

I had a cute little vampire dress that was HOT as hell and I wore a bandana on my head. I decided to skip the eye patch. Kathy went as Jack Sparrow's abandoned (dead) bride. Complete with goth makeup and Victorian dress.

Then there was Lori. Lori was costumely challenged. We ended up creating an outfit for her on the fly and she looked darn cute. It took the rest of the box of tissues to push up her cleavage for the Wench outfit, but we did it.

The play was hysterical and Beth looked too cute as Ariel the mute mermaid. Mary Stella did a fabulous job as the Oracle, and as always Heather Graham did a great performance as Jack/Jill Sparrow. A great time was had by all. . .

EC party

2006-05-25T15:41:00.000-04:00

Here are Mary Stella, Beth Ciotta, Kathy Love, Julia Templeton, and me in the infamous nurse outfit at the EC party. . .

And so it begins. . .

2006-05-25T15:23:00.000-04:00

Wednesday morning came VERY early. Poor Kathy Love had to do a workshop type thing, but Lori and I got to go out on the beach. It was lovely to sit in the sun and (detox) relax. Time sort of got away from us, and before we realized it, it was time for lunch before my "photo shoot". I ended up running out of lunch because I hadn't showered yet and looked like death microwaved. On the way to my room I ran into several friends, a cover model or two, and author Evelyn Vaughn whom I just ADORE! I gushed all over her when I realized who I was with, poor woman she must have thought she was trapped in an elevator with a lunatic. A stinky one at that.

I ran through the shower at warp speed and slapped on some make up before trying to find my way to Tara Kearney's suit. I had to run through two towers before I figured it out but I got there on time. (Yay me!)

The photo shoot was much fun, Tara and her assistant Bethany were great to work with, and Susan Kearney (awesome author of THE CHALLENGE etc.) helped me pick two pictures for my official author look. I'll post them eventually, honest!

Then, things got interesting. From the photo shoot I went to help Connie Perry organize things. Ms. Connie had enough work for ten people and I did very little to really help her, but I can carry things, hahaha.

Then I was running late, once again, for the EC party. I busted my butt to get changed into my nurse's costume. Then the panic set in.

The costume, even with the shorts on underneath was so darn short I looked like I belonged in a porno movie. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't go out of the room.

My roommates gave me a drink.

I still couldn't do it.

I opened the door to where Lori was on the phone talking to her husband.
"I can't go through with it."
"You have too! You look so cute."
"It's too short. I can't do it."
"Bend over."

At this point her husband goes something to the effect of "It's a little disconcerting to hear your wife tell her female roommate to bend over."

I had another drink. I was now sufficiently sloshed enough to put on the stilletto heels and go to the party.

I hadn't figured on having to walk through the lobby though. I had my toy doctor kit that I was using as a purse and I wanted to hide behind it as I went through the hotel.

By the time they let us into the room for set up, my feet were killing me and my face was permanently blushed.

It got worse.

I then found out that we had to WALK ACROSS A STAGE and be introduced.
In a nurse's outfit.
In front of people.

Luckily Brooks, one of the sweetest people you will ever met was nearby.
With a bit of hysteria in my voice, I ordered/begged him to get me a glass of wine, which I chugged before crossing the stage.

After I was out of the public eye I switched into my ballet slippers and was careful not to bend over all night.

Lori went as a cowgirl, complete with spurs and she was so darn cute. Kathy went as Bianca, the hostess of Studio 54 and had sparkly heels and a disco-ball purse. It was a lot of fun and a good time was had by all.

But I'll never live down the Naughty Nurse costume. . .

Oh Yeah. . .

2006-05-24T14:06:00.000-04:00

Um, did I mention that I have a book released today? Thank you Kate Rothwell for reminding me to announce it. For the 6 readers of this blog who didn't know, SLOAN'S HEART the third book in THE FEDERATION CHRONICLES came out today at Ellora's Cave, WOOT!

I was most excited about this story coming out because it's the sequel to REBEL'S LUST and LUCY'S LOVER which were my two first releases at EC and hold a special place in my heart.

I also lust after the cover. . .A lot. . .

Yum yum!

Pictures from Tuesday

2006-05-24T09:15:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures of Lisa Stoddard (Ashleigh Raine/Rina Slater) Patrice, and Joy (in the bunny ears)

Tuesday. . .and the fun begins

2006-05-24T08:51:00.000-04:00

Tuesday morning Lori, Kathy and I were up relatively early (okay, so Kathy went back to sleep) the sky was overcast but I assured Lori it would burn off by noon. We decided to go for a walk on the beach to warm up our muscles before we practiced a bit of our workshop.

Lori and I were doing a workshop together on fight scenes and I would be kicking and punching at her so we wanted to make sure we knew what we were doing first. Her husband is in the firearms business and I REALLY didn't want to send her home with a black eye.

As we walked along the beautiful Daytona beach, it started to rain. I was not happy. It has rained for three weeks in CT and I wanted to escape the rain, not walk in it. We continued to walk anyway, darn it. I wasn't giving up that easily.

After about an hour or so, we headed inside to register for the conference. I hadn't showered yet, was barefoot and had my hair in a sloppy ponytail. Why do I do this to myself? As we walked in we saw a million people we knew and tackle hugs abounded. I'm sure there were people there going, "who is that street person hugging all the authors?"

Lori and I found a quiet place to practice (after a little searching) and then decided to shower before we ran into anyone else. Meanwhile my bestest bud Leigh Wyndfield arrived and we met up with her for lunch.

We went to Bubba Gumps Shrimp restaurant for lunch and it was FABULOUS!!! They had any number of really good drinks and the food was incredible. Our waiter carded us, which was wonderful too. I think we were there for over an hour. . .or three drinks whichever came first.

From there we got ready for the laou (? spelling, my brain isn't engaged yet) where we met up with lots of our buds. I got to see Joy from Joyfull Reviews. My very first fan and great friend. I also ran into Ann Wesley-Hardin, Jaci Burton, and a bunch of other EC authors. Bliss!

After the laou Kathy, Leigh and I went to the bar for a drink where we waited for at least half an hour to get served. From there Lori and I met up at the unofficial Medallion Authors Party thrown by the delightful Delores Wilson. I have to tell you, when I throw a "hotel" party it's chips and dip with beer in a garbage can full of ice.

Not Delores.

She had beautifully arranged hors d'oeuvres, table clothes, petit-fors, and a varied supply of alcohol. I was mightily impressed.

Much, much later in the evening Kathy Love and I went back to our room to get settled in "early" for a change. Okay, it was already midnight but we were trying. We'd gotten into our jammies and the lights were out and we decided we were hungry so we ordered a pizza.

Of course we ran into a bunch of people as we slipped into the lobby in our jammies and glasses. Yes, I'm the uber professional. . .

After our yummy supper (at 1:30 am) we lay back down and shut off the lights again.
My cell phone rings.
It's Lori. She misses us.
She's been drinking since we parted hours ago.
It was very funny actually. Kathy and I slipped down to the patio (still in our jammies) to rescue her before she had any more to drink. While there, we had an experience that would scar us for life, but common decency prevents me from telling it in a public forum. . .

More more tomorrow. . .

Let's start at the beginning

2006-05-23T12:48:00.000-04:00

I arrived Monday after some serious travel delays. I was overjoyed by the Daytona airport. It was quiet, clean, and the people there were wonderfully helpful. A very nice experience after spending the day in Newark.

I took a taxi to the hotel and settled in. I'm the type of person who needs to unpack everything and hang it up before I can relax. I even ironed all the things that needed ironing so that I wouldn't have to do it later when things got nuts. (This was very key because I would have had to use napping time to iron. Obviously, I would have appeared very wrinkled.)

Soon it was time to meet my friend Lori Armstrong at the airport. The wonderful Mary Stella and I went to pick her up, and low and behold my friend Lisa (half of Ashleigh Raine as well as Rina Slater) was on the same flight. We crammed their copious luggage into Mary's car and drove home. On the way we stopped at Walgreens and made something of a spectical of ourselves while picking up snacks. We hit a package store too, and were none too serious there either.

Well lubricated with soda, snacks and booze we headed back to the hotel for some serious partying and ended up at a neat little diner for dinner. It didn't take long for us to end up walking on the beach, laughing the whole way.

It's so great to meet up with people who "get" you. Conferences are insane, but they are one of the few places besides family gatherings where I laugh so hard my stomach hurts. No one, and I mean no one, gets me like my writing friends. I'm already going through the blues because I miss everyone so much.

April seems very far away. . .

I'm home from RT, oy

2006-05-22T12:50:00.000-04:00

I'm home and I'm alive. . .barely.

It took a while for me to get home yesterday. Storms in the Northeast held up my plane so I was in the Newark airport for 6 hours. This wouldn't have been too terribly bad except for two things. . .

1.) I had sat in the same airport for 6 hours on Monday and explored almost everything already.
and
2.) I'd had all of 4 hours of sleep the night before. (Thanks ever so much Kathy Love!)

We had quite a bit of turbulance on both of my flights which didn't leave me feeling bright-eyed and bushy tailed either. . .

I plan on documenting as much as I can remember, and haven't been bribed to forget, here on my blog as the week goes on. I'm afraid I didn't get many pictures of myself. In fact I didn't get many pictures period. I'm hoping folks who got pictures will send them to me as time goes on.

I do have to give my husband his props here though, when I FINALLY got home he had the house SPOTLESS and the laundry done. He didn't complain about me being gone and actually listened to me as I talked about the conference. It was a great homecoming.

Now I need to catch up on my own laundry and email hahaha. Welcome home, oy!
Ari

Faster than the speed of gossip. . .

2006-05-09T21:28:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading Junes's ROMANTIC TIMES BOOK REVIEWS magazine. I enjoy flipping through it every month, especially if I have a review coming in. This month I really enjoyed reading about how far the magazine has come in the last 25 years. There were a bunch of pictures from the early years and it was a blast to see some of the people I think of as icons in their younger and (maybe) wilder days.

As I was reading I started thinking about all the stories and tales I'd heard about the early years of writing romance. The lack of respect, money, and circulation, and the almost total isolation. It got me to thinking about how would I survive without my writer friends? I'm counting the days until I see my buddies at RT (5!) I don't know how I'd handle it if I didn't get to email them daily (sometimes hourly).

Writing is a lonely business. I don't belong to any local chapters (yes Kate, I'll join eventually) so except for the random (and I do mean random) lunch date, I don't get to see other authors except at conferences twice a year.

I'm very new to the writing gig. I only submitted my first novel 4 years ago. (It was rejected, by the way.) The thing I think we newer authors have that the veterans didn't that makes the most difference in our business isn't the money (I'm still waiting for that) the respect (it's getting there) or the circulation, it's the INTERNET.

Besides the growth and development of organizations like RWA and magazines such as RT, we newer authors (I don't dare say younger) can connect with hundreds of peers, fans, and business associates right from our own comfy chairs. We can bitch and moan, whine and complain to people we've only met in person a handful of times. We get support, sympathy and congratualtions from friends all over the world without having to get on a plane.

Back before the internet explosion, it seemed to me that authors were kept in the dark about the goings on of other authors and other publishing houses. Keep in mind, this is only from what I've heard from different veteran authors, but they all have similar stories. Now, if one author gets a three book deal with a fat advance, everyone knows about it before she can tell her spouse. Authors have more information at their fingertips than ever before. In fact, in one case I remember hearing about the closing of a line before authors and agents OF THAT LINE heard about it. How? On a message board.

The internet has changed this business in so many ways, from ebooks (thank you GOD!) to on line review sites, to writing groups and yahoo groups. When I was in college there were very few people who even knew what the internet was. That wasn't THAT long ago folks. I wonder what changes will come to the industry in the next 12-15 years?

This may be my last post until after RT, things are a little hectic here. I'm going to do my best to take pictures this year so I'll post them when I get home!!!

For all you moms out there HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!
Have a great week and I'll see you soon!
Ari

Practice what you preach

2006-05-05T16:00:00.000-04:00

I have three daughters. Three pretty smart daughters. Sometimes I wonder if it be a little easier on me if they weren't so darn smart.

As you know, I've been dieting since September to get rid of 30 pounds of stress weight. I managed to lose 23 and then stalled. In fact, after visiting my sister in Georgia and eating biscuits and gravy, I managed to put 3 pounds back on.

RT is a week away.
What are the chances I'll lose those 10 pounds in the next 10 days? Slim to none, I'd say. Anyway, my house has not had chips or ice cream or cookies in it for a while. While I was away my husband bought all of the above. I whined because I couldn't have any because of my diet.

Today my girls were watching a Disney sit com called THAT'S SO RAVEN and on it, the main character, Raven, who is a typical healthy girl, wasn't allowed to model the dress she created because she wasn't a size 1. She ended up storming the catwalk wearing her creation and declared that all sizes are beautiful.

"See," I told my girls, "everyone is beautiful in their own way. You don't have to be like the girls on magazines to be pretty."

"Then how come you're on a diet mommy?"

ZING! *whoop! whoop! hypocrite alert*

So, I had to come up with something on the spot. I couldn't say "Because mommy doesn't want to look like a cow when she's walking in front of 650 people at the Faery Ball." I'd just told them all sizes were beautiful.

My answer was, "Mommy wants to be healthy, so she had to lose some of the unhealthy pounds she'd gained."

But it got me to thinking. I am trying really hard to keep my girls from being as weight conscious as I am. I keep mostly healthy snacks in the house and my girls are very active so they get a lot of exercise. Hopefully, this will help them to remain at a healthy, age appropriate weight at least until they hit puberty.

But is my dieting undermining my efforts to make them self-confident? I've never been very confident about my looks, I don't know if that comes from pudging out in Middle School or if it's just the type of person I am. It's not like I had critical parents or a gorgeous sister that everyone compared me to.

I guess somewhere along the way I bought into the "if I don't look like a Victoria Secret model I'm not attractive."

THAT'S SO WRONG!!!

I'm proud of the weight I lost, it needed to go. With the prevelance of heart and vascular disease in my family, I can't afford to carry around 30 extra pounds. On the other hand, I'll never look like I belong on the pages of a magazine. I don't have that type of body and never will. But does that mean I'm not beautiful?
*cringe cringe*

No it does not. I'm a good mother, wife, daughter and friend and regardless of my looks that makes me beautiful.

There, I did it. Now I just have to try to do it without wanting to apologize for sounding braggy. Hey, I'm 36 years old, my self-perception isn't going to change overnight.

But I owe it to my daughters to practice what I preach. And if I want them to consider themselves beautiful, loving people deserving of respect and appreciation, then I have to do it too.

Now if only the fashion industry would figure that out. . .
Have a great weekend!
Ari

Plagerism

2006-05-04T14:03:00.000-04:00

I thought that might get your attention! In the writing world, using that word is like dropping the F-bomb in church. Accusitions of plagerism are serious things. I know it's something I'm always worried about as an author who reads so much in the same genre I write in.

What if I'm stealing someone's idea unconsciously?

What if I had the SAME idea as someone else, only I didn't know it and their book came out first?

What if someone THINKS I stole their idea when I've never even read their books?

Some of those things keep me up at night, seriously.
BUT that's not the kind of plagerism I'm talking about. I recently received a review--from a site that shall remain nameless so I don't get sued--for LEGENDARY TAILS III. My short story, TIGHT PLACES was in that anthology. When I scrolled down to look at the review, I couldn't believe what I read. Actually I could because it was MY BOOK BLURB FROM THE EC WEBSITE!!!

I mean, word for word, totally cut and pasted from the site. They didn't even bother to paraphrase! I immediately looked for a contact button on the website, but didn't find one. EC has a review coordinator who handles the sending out of reviews, so I shot her an email telling her about it.

I'm still mad. Not only did someone take my words and claim them as her own, they weren't even my best work! I write terrible blurbs! What yanks my chain is that someone got a rather expensive book for free, with the expectation that they'd read it and write a review. I have no idea if this person:

A.) Read the book and hated it so instead of panning the book they just copied the blurb.

B.) Didn't have a chance to read the book so they just copied the blurb.

or

C.) Read it but was just too damn lazy to write the review.

In any case, it's a betrayal of the trust given to a review site. It's also the first time that has happened to me and I find myself seriously annoyed by it. Even more annoying, I can't tell the site about it because they don't have a contact button!!!

I'm definitely going to be watching that site very carefully in the future. . .

Finally! Pictures

2006-04-26T08:37:00.000-04:00

Finally! I was able to get the pictures to load! As you can can see, I was seriously excited to be at the concert. I'm still excited and it's been over for weeks.

My friend said after the show, now everytime I hear them I'm going to think about being there, and she's so right. I love live music, there's just nothing better than the energy from a concert.

In my misspent youth I went to a lot of Grateful Dead shows. After every show I felt like the power of the crowd filled me to the brim and I was surrounded by all those good vibes. I can only imagine what it must be like for the performers to have thousands of people singing songs they wrote and having all those good vibes sent in their direction. It must be an incredible feeling.

As a writer I feel a certain kinship with singers. It's not because I can sing, that's for sure. I have no rhythm, am tone deaf, and couldn't find the right note with a compass and a roadmap. But, I do know what it's like to put your emotions into something that goes out for public consumption. I know the joy you feel when someone "gets" what you wrote, and I know the anxiety you feel when someone judges your work.

I also know the pain of promoting your work, and how hard it is to strike a balance between your craft and the necessisty of doing business.

I have no idea what it's like to have hordes of swarming groupies though, hahahaha.
Have a great day!
Ari

The Panic is setting in

2006-04-23T15:15:00.000-04:00

Okay, the panic is starting to set in.
RT is three weeks away. Besides the craziness incumbent with preparing for a week away from home, I also have a book being released on May 9th.

As soon as I get home from RT I have to:
Prepare for the girls dance recital
Prepare for my in-laws to spend a weekend at my house for said recital
Prepare for my middle daughter's birthday party
Prepare for my school's graduation
Prepare for an end of the season party at my house for my daughters' soccer teams

Did I mention that before I leave for RT I'm going away for a weekend? Or that mother's day is the day before I leave? Or that I have two chats to do before I leave?

See the reason for my panic?
Pardon me while I go to make my lists. . . it's either compulsive list making or curling up in the fetal position. . .

The power of silence. . .

2006-04-20T17:48:00.000-04:00

I never realized how much I enjoy silence until this week. As anyone who knows me knows I'm a social person and love to talk. I'm not exactly shy, and I can carry on a conversation with a house plant.

That being said, I would give my left arm to have an hour of silence this week.

My darling daughters are home from school vacation and I can get NADA done. I made a deal with them that if they just let me work a few hours in the morning I'd take them places and do things with them after lunch. Yes, I bribed them, but I figured it wouldn't kill them to amuse themselves for a few hours. I mean, the weather has been beautiful, we have a big back yard and a trampoline, they should be able to play for 4 hours, right?

OH SO VERY WRONG!!!

I can't even go to the bathroom without someone calling for me. Case in point, I had all three girls sitting in front of the TV with bowls of ice cream. One would think life would be good for a while right? WRONG! I managed to get one paragraph of this written before my oldest came in to talk to me.

And to think, I couldn't wait until they could walk and talk. Sigh, I miss the days when they were trapped in car seats and cribs. . .

Only three more days until they go back to school!
Ari. . .

Words can hurt

2006-04-19T20:55:00.000-04:00

Something I remember my mother saying to me, and something I say to my children has always been, "Remember, words can hurt."

It seems to me that some people have forgotten this lesson.
No, I didn't just get a bad review or a rejection. I bring this up because a good friend of mine just read on someone's blog that they were shocked that her book had finaled in the Ritas. (Or something to that effect)

Now, I didn't read the blog entry, so I don't know for certain what it said or who wrote it, but I don't think it was a literary critic or a reviewer.

Why would you ever say something like that in a public forum? I can be as bitchy and catty as the next person, but I manage to keep it private. I would never say something rude and potentially humiliating where everyone and her sister could read it.

What makes people think just because they have a blog it's okay to be mean? I don't care who you are, if your words are going to be seen by anyone with an internet connection, you have a responsibility to control your mouth. Unless you can back it up with some irrefutible facts, shut your big gob.

Words can hurt, so if you can't say anything nice, don't say it on the internet.

Pen names

2006-04-18T14:04:00.000-04:00

As you might guess, Arianna Hart is my pen name. My husband wouldn't let me name any of my daughters Arianna, so I took it for myself. It's kind of fun picking your own name.

The reasons I write under another name are many. I write erotic romance, which I think would make my children slightly uncomfortable if the world knew what they're mommy did while they were at school.

Also, I teach high school and I know I would be uncomfortable if my students knew what I did while my children were in school, hahahaha.

Another person I'm protecting is my husband. He's a volunteer fire fighter and he just knows he'd never live it down if they found out I write hot sex. I told him to tell them I used him for research, but he said, they'd probably say I was doing my own research while he was at the fire house.

My dad used to work for the Bishop, so I'm sure I don't need to explain who I'm protecting there. . .

Lastly, I think by using a pen name, I'm protecting myself. Writing is darn hard on your ego, you get rejected by publishers and trashed by reviewers. It's humiliating enough to see a bad review in a magazine that goes out to thousands of people, it would be even worse to know that all my friends and neighbors would read it too.

Eventually I'd like to get published under my real name, but I don't think I'll give up Ari any time soon. I like being Ari, she's a lot more fun than boring old me.

Do you ever want to be someone else? If so, who?

Goo Goo Pix

2006-04-15T13:17:00.000-04:00

Okay, Blogger is driving me nuts today and won't let me load any of the pictures I took(or I should say my friend took) last night. grrrrr

BUT if you go to the blog section of http://www.googoodolls.com there is a picture of the stage with the guys on it. I was perhaps four or five people behind the ones right up close to the stage. I didn't want to be a complete groupie and rush the stage, so I just admired from afar, hahaha. But not too far. . .

I really loved the set they did, their music is rocken, but it also has a sadness to it that touches me. I think that tortured bad boy vibe pushes all my buttons. . .

Anyway, as soon as I can get blogger to cooperate with me, I'll post my pix!!

Have a great weekend!
Ari

Heaven

2006-04-14T20:32:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'm in ever-loving heaven right now. You all know about my unholy fascination with the Goo Goo Dolls, right?

Tonight I got to go to see them in a bar with only about 50 other people. I was seriously about 10-15 feet away from Johnny Rzeznik. And let me tell you ladies, he is just as good looking in person as he is in pictures!

I've been to other concerts before, and when I've seen the band in person, quite often I was disappointed--not this time sister!
I can die a happy woman!

And in a move more bold than I've ever done before, I snuck up to one of the bouncers and handed him a CD copy of SABLE FIRE. I told him it was a book that had a dedication to the Goo Goo Dolls in it. I don't know if he threw it in the garbage or what, but hey I tried.

OH!!! And the icing on the cake? My friend and I went to a nearby bar and SAT AT THE SAME BAR AS THE DRUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hot damn, baby!

My friend managed to get some pictures and if she remembers to send them, I'll be sure to post them!!!

Oh my lord, I'm absolutely in heaven!!!
Ari

Unfit mother?

2006-04-13T12:03:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I wonder if I'm warping my children. My husband and I decided when I was pregnant with my first that I'd work part-time so the kids wouldn't be in day care. At the time he was traveling a lot for his job and it didn't seem right for them to be gone all day while I worked.

I sometimes wonder if it wouldn't have been better for them to not be around me so much, hahahaha.

I was on my way to nursery school today, my 4 year old in the back seat, and we were listening to Shrek. One of the songs came on that has a heavy punk/metal beat to it (this is the song where Donkey and Shrek are fighting the knights in the mock wrestling scene if you know the movie) and automatically my head starts banging. (As in "headbanger" not as in "headache"). My darling daughter shouts "Youder mommy youder!" (translation: Louder--she doesn't always have her L's.)

I look in the rearview mirror and she's headbanging in her car seat. So, the two of us are flying down the highway with the radio cranked doing matching head movements. I'm quite sure several cars on the highway were calling the Department of Children and Families to report the insane driver with the child in back. . .

The other thing that has me worried about my fitness to be a parent is my older two daughters' taste in clothes. I blame this on Barbie.

I had to buy a pair of stilletto heels to go with my costume for the EC party. Now, I haven't worn heels that high since I got out of college. For one thing, they hurt my big feet, and for the other thing, I'm tall enough as it is. And, well, I'm married, I don't have to go through that much pain to get a date anymore, hahahaha.

Anyway, I got the shoes in the mail (yes, I had to order slut shoes off the internet.) and immediately the girls are hovering over me as I open the box. Of course I had to try them on. I was wearing sweat pants at the time, but hey, I was in my own room.

Middle daughter says to me, "Mommy, you can't wear pants with those shoes. You need a dress."

Eldest daughter says to me, "Mommy walk. You need to go step, step, pose!" And she placed her hand on her out-thrust hip and looked over her shoulder.

My daughters are 8, 6, and 4!!! THEY SHOULD NOT KNOW THESE THINGS YET!!! I swear to you, they have no idea what I write, honest!

Good thing I write under a pen name or DCF would be on my doorstep for sure!!!

In other news, I'M GOING TO SEE THE GOO GOO DOLLS TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll tell you all about it after the holiday weekend! Have a great Easter/Passover or whatever else you may celebrate!
Ari

Kids at play

2006-04-11T12:57:00.000-04:00

This weekend I watched my daughters playing outside and just marveled that these little people were once tiny babies inside my womb. Several of our friends are pregnant now and it's got me thinking about how fast things change.

When I'm trying to get things done, it seems like my kids will NEVER grow up, that they'll always be hanging on me, calling for me, barging in on me when I'm trying to pee, and crawling into my bed in the middle of the night. But when I really think about it, they've changed so much in such a short period of time, it's mindboggling.

Think about it, in the last 4 years, how much have you changed? My youngest went from a drooling infant to learning to ride a bike and going to pre-school. My oldest went from pre-school to *proud mommy moment* being picked as the school's representive for the young author program. From just learning to tie her shoes and make letters, to writing short stories and riding a two wheeler.

Instead of feeling meloncholy the next time I think about how fast it's gone, and instead of getting frustrated when it doesn't seem like it's going fast enough, I think I'm going to make an effort to just enjoy them as they are RIGHT NOW.

And I think maybe I'll call my folks and say thanks for being pretty awesome parents when it can't have been easy.

I have an idea!

2006-04-06T13:18:00.000-04:00

I was talking with Crissy my publisher at Samhain and I was asking her about the "young" book category she has up on the site, that currently has no books in it. I read a lot of what is called "mid-grade" books to my daughters. We buy out entire series of books at Barnes and Noble.

Considering how much I read, it was only natural that I tried my hand at writing a story. Well, life being life, I haven't finished it yet. See, it's not really a priority for me because I need to focus on the books that I'm contracted for and will make me money. Sorry, I love what I do, but I've got bills to pay and three kids to put through college eventually.

Anyway, I have this series in mind that when I get the urge, I work on it. One of the problems is that for this genre you really need an agent to submit anything. I'm terrified of looking for an agent. Down right scared spitless. With that in mind, you can see how I'm not staying up nights to finish this book.

To get back to the point, I was talking with Crissy about children's books and we were discussing kids' ebooks and saying how right now there's no market. Which got me to thinking, kids are so much more comfortable with new technology. Most kids I know not only have cell phones, but even the tiny ones have game boys and leap pads, and a ton of other gizmos. Why wouldn't they use an ebook reader???

Which got me to thinking more, why hasn't someone developed an ebook reader for kids? It would just need a cool casing and the ability to play games and kids and parents would love it. Think about it, you could buy your kid's favorite book, download it and they could carry the reader with them in the car and everywhere else.

Parents would like it because it was educational and promoted reading. Kids would like it because it was a gadget and had cool options. Win win.

So now I have this great idea, but can't do squat about it. I don't know anyone in the ebook reader industry. I know nothing about marketing products so that stores like Toys R Us would buy them. Heck, I can barely get my own books bought and they're under 10 bucks!

But mark my words, someone in the know is going to come up with this idea, or already has, and you're going to see kids walking around with ebook readers in the next 3-5 years.

And when that happens, I hope I'll have a book they'll be able to read!

It's all my fault!

2006-04-05T07:33:00.000-04:00

It's snowing here today.
Snowing.
In April.

Yesterday my book SNOWY NIGHT SEDUCTION was released.
SNS had to do with a freak snowstorm. In April.
I've been worried about this happening ever since my publisher suggested an April storm.

You see, originally, I had planned SNS to be a Christmas Eve story, but then life got in the way and I didn't get it written in time. I talked to my publisher and asked her if it would work for maybe Valentine's Day. She suggested a freak April snowstorm.

So here we are. April 5th and it's snowing. I was doing yard work on Sunday. My girls were learning to ride their two-wheelers without training wheels.

Welcome to New England!

In other news, I realize I haven't been a very consistent blogger lately, sorry! Again, that life business is getting in the way. Things have been INSANE here, and I'm not sure why. It's like the old saying,
"I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several of them gang up on me."

I forget who said that, but that's exactly how I feel.

Yesterday was my release day and I was really, really excited about my first Samhain release. I wanted to play on the loops all day and haunt the MY BOOKSTORE AND MORE site until I saw my book come up for sale.

Was I able to do that????
NOOOOO!

I barely had time to check my email, forget blog or play on the loops.
Poop.

Juggling life and writing is a tough act. Some days I lose my balance, and yesterday was one of them. Let's hope today I'm a little more skilled!

Have a great day everyone. I hope the sun is shining wherever you may be!
Ari

Four Days! ACKKK

2006-03-31T16:44:00.000-05:00

Oh my GOD!!! My release date has been moved up! I have a book coming out in four days!!! YIKES!

Have I done any promo for this book??? NOOOOO

Am I ready for the book to come out???? Maybe.

I'm really excited about having a new release. It's scary and thrilling all at the same time. I want people to read and enjoy my books, but at the same time, I'm worried they'll hate what I wrote.

So, I want my books released, but only to nice homes, hahahahaha. That's one of the problems with being a writer, the utter lack of control once your baby leaves the nest...err laptop.

You may find this hard to believe, but I have control issues. I know, surprising, isn't it??? hahahaha

I like knowing what's going to happen and when, and although I'm pretty good at making adjustments on the fly, it always throws me into a tail spin. I have to admit though, I'd much rather have unexpected GOOD news than unexpected chaos.

Now, if I can just get myself organized. . .

Have a great weekend everyone! I know what I'll be doing!!!
Ari

It must be fate

2006-03-30T16:06:00.000-05:00

Many of you know about my unholy fascination with Johnny Rzeznik from The Goo Goo Dolls. I guess I can never escape my penchant for bad boys, even if I didn't marry one. While writing SABLE FLAME, a story about a guitarist who falls in love with a female alpha werewolf, I listened to Live in Buffalo over and over again. Just hearing Johnny's voice really helped inspire me, especially for the band scenes.

Now, I wrote this book last spring. Due to circumstances beyond my control, this book has been on hold for a while. BUT I just heard yesterday it's being released April 12th!!

WO HOOOOO!

Now, it just so happens that The Goo Goo Dolls have an album (CD?) releasing in April as well. Coincidence?

I think not!

I think this is a sign from God that I should be with ever so sexy Johnny Rzeznik, don't you?

I've discussed the possibilities with my husband but he doesn't seem to see things my way. I wonder why??? Hahahahaha

Needless to say, I'm going to be waiting ever so impatiently for tour dates. I missed them the last two times they came around, I'm not missing them this time!

You can't ignore fate forever, hahahahha

High School

2006-03-29T09:02:00.000-05:00

How many of you can remember back to your high school years? How many of you remember them fondly? I loved high school, I changed so much in those four years. The stepping stones of my personality were laid during that time, to be built up and added to by heartache and life experience.

What sometimes amazes me when I work with my students is how they can't see past the immediacy of the NOW. I try to reason with them and explain this is just a tiny part of their lives.

"Your life expectancy is at least 75 years, probably more. High school is only 4 years of that time. A drop in the bucket."

"You don't understand, you're OLD."

The scary part is, I completely remember what it was like to feel like the world was ending because I got a bad grade, got dumped, couldn't get a date, etc. It doesn't take much for me to remember those heartbreaking emotions swamping me.

Damn, am I glad that shit is OVER! hahahahha

I love working with teenagers. It has taught me a lot about life, probably more than I have taught them. Now, when I get a rejection letter or a bad review or things don't turn out the way I'd like, I try to see this as just a drop in the bucket in the overall scheme of life. Sure, it hurts right now, but in a few weeks/months/years the pain will fade and I can look back on it as another building block.

I hope.

Spring Cleaning

2006-03-26T20:18:00.000-05:00

I don't know what got into me this weekend, but I cleaned the bejeezus out of my house. Actually, because of all the painting we've been doing, the house was pretty clean except for the children's rooms and the play room.

Those were in at least ten health code violations, if not more.

On Saturday I made the kids rake out everything under their beds, under their dressers, and whatever things had crawled up and died behind their bookshelves. I vacuumed up so much junk from behind one set of bunkbeds I considered getting my husband's shop vac to do the job.

On Sunday, I ditched the kids with my mom for a few hours so I could THROW OUT much of their playroom. In my car right now I have three bags of toys to go to the Even Start program where I work, and two bags of toys and a bag of clothes to go to Good Will. I threw out at least 5 garbage bags full of junk as well as boxes and God only knows what.

Furniture was moved, toys were organized, lists were made, and the vacuum got another workout. Life is good.

For the first time in a LONG time, I won't be embarrassed if someone decides to drop by my house unexpectedly. All the toys are in the playroom, all the movies are organized in my newly stained bookshelf (part of Saturday's project), and the kids' rooms actually have floor space. I want to take a picture of it because I know it won't last. . .

Next weekend I'm RELEAXING, even if it kills me, because after that I'm going to start working in the yard. Keeping up with the trimming and the weeding will take me all spring and summer.

But at least I can go outside knowing my housework is done.
Ahhhhhhh

Remember when. . .

2006-03-25T21:15:00.000-05:00

Remember when I was upset because one of my books got rejected by a New York publisher after 15 months? Well guess what?? IT'S COMING OUT MAY 9TH!!! I love this story so much and I'm just thrilled it has a home. The best part? It'll be in Borders IN AUGUST!!!

I no longer see rejections as a dismissal of me, I now see them as an opportunity to try another publisher, hahahaha.

Thank you so much Samhain for making this dream come true!

Darn that Mary Stella!

2006-03-25T20:55:00.000-05:00

Miss Mary tagged me, so being a good sport for once I'm actually answering it. I generally don't. Whenever I get the emails that say "send this to ten friends or you'll die a horrible death" I take my chances with the horrible death.

In this case, just because I LOVE Mary I'm going to answer and not whine too much. . .riiiight

Three things you wish for. . .

1. That my children will grow up happy and healthy (and that my being a stay at home mom doesn't send them to the therapist's couch.)

2. That my father will grow healthier and live to see his grandchildren's weddings.

3. That my husband and I will live to see our grandchildren's weddings

3 things you would do to/for yourself if there was no one to judge you (or if you had the guts to do it!)

1. Lyposuction--'nough said

2. Go for a hot air ballon ride

3. Dye my hair red

3 bad habits you have
(only 3?)

1. swearing/losing my temper too often

2. talking too much

3. judging people too quickly

3 insecurities you feel

1. I still feel like a chubby/geeky teen (gee, ya think?)

2. I can't spell to save my life and as an English teacher it's very embarrassing. I don't go far without a dictionary.

3. My writing. I always feel like a fake when I call myself an author

3 talents/skills you wish you had

1. Singing

2. Dancing/grace/rhythm

3. Any artistic talent whatsoever

3 things that you would do if you had more time

1. Read more for fun.

2. Go places with my kids just for fun

3. Get my Ph.D

3 things that bring you peace/relaxation

1. Exercising

2. Reading

3. spending time with my friends (especially with a glass of wine and sitting by the pool)

3 things that spark your creativity

1. Music

2. People watching

3. Daydreaming

I'm not sure if y'all wanted to hear this much about me, but there you go!! And because I'm a nice person I'm not tagging anyone else. . .but if you want to voluntarily get caught, Kris, Kate and Chey, that's fine.

Take care everyone!!!
Ari

Don't you just love pecs?

2006-03-24T14:39:00.000-05:00

I do. I love, love, love pectoral muscles. I think it's because I don't get to see many of the well-developed varity in my usual life. Let's be serious here, unless you work in an industry that caters to muscular men, sculpted pecs and abs aren't an every day sight.

I'm sorry to say, teaching and writing aren't occupations that lend themselves to regular sightings of muscular men. Unless you're going to RT, now that's another ball game.

Writing for EC gives me an opportunity to rub elbows with some very fit men at RT. And yes, I do me rubbing ELBOWS! As much of a flirt as I am, I would never, ever do anything to humilate another person or put myself in a situation where things could be misunderstood. I complain about my husband, but I love him to my toes.

That doesn't mean it isn't nice to look though!

I've seen all sorts of behaviors at RT that just amazed me. The men at the conference are there to do a job, and yes, maybe it is eye candy, but that doesn't mean they're pieces of meat. I like looking at hot guys as much as the next person, but because they're there as cover models doesn't give anyone the right to touch them inappropriately. At least, according to me.

Since my first RT in New York, I've become friendly with a few of the EC models, and I have to tell you, you'll never meet nicer guys. I have a great time visiting with them and have learned a lot about the "behind the scenes" goings on of the modeling business.

Let's just say, I'm pretty glad I won't ever have to worry about those things. It ain't easy to make a living on your looks!

That being said, I'll still enjoy looking to my heart's content, hahahah
Have a great weekend!
Ari

The struggle continues

2006-03-23T08:11:00.000-05:00

Some of you might remember in September I started going to Weight Watchers because I had reached the weight at which I'd been when I was about to deliver my middle child. Since I don't have a child growing inside me, that weight was unacceptable and I wanted to do something about it.

Well, it's seven months later, and after many ups and downs (more ups) I've finally hit the twenty pound mark. I'd still like to lose another ten pounds to get back to where I was before I got pregnant with my third daughter, but this is a big milestone.

And it hasn't been easy.

I love food. I love to eat and have cocktails, I love to entertain with food, celebrate with food, console myself with food, you name it I do it with food. Changing my lifestyle to be more in control of what I eat instead of throwing myself into the vicious cycle of gorging and starving is not fun. But it is necessary.

Heart and vascular disease run rampant in my family. I can't take the risk of leaving my girls alone because I have a heart attack at age 40. I don't smoke, I don't eat much red meat, I exercise, and I try to control my cholesterol intake.

But I still love to eat.

My goal is to lose five more pounds before RT in May. Now that I'm near my goal weight it's going to be even harder to lose the weight. I have to keep the picture of my tiny little costume for the EC party firmly in mind. I bought the darn thing, I'm going to wear it, I might as well look good in it.

Now if only my secret stash of chocolate would stop calling my name. . .

Alpha Men

2006-03-21T07:51:00.000-05:00

I love Alpha Men. Love love love them. Why? Because in reality, there are so few around.

I've just read a bunch of books with serious Alpha heroes. Yummy!! If you read Catherine Mann or Susan Brockman you know what I'm talking about. I like men who are M-E-N!

That being said, it's probably a very good thing I'm not married to one. Which may explain my fascination with the species. I know, in my rational mind, if I was married to someone who oozed testosterone and couldn't pick up his own socks I'd probably smother him in his sleep. My personality is, well let's be kind and say, forceful.

My husband rarely gets mad, and almost never argues, but he manages to get his own way most of the time. We strike a nice balance between wildly emotional me whose every feeling is seen and heard instantly and his Mr. Laid-back-better-check-me-for-a-pulse. For the sake of our children, it's a good balance to have.

But that doesn't mean I don't occasionally fantacize about a Navy SEAL sweeping me off my feet and overwhelming me with testosterone. . . sigh. . .

Speaking of Alphas. . .If I can get the picture to upload, I got my cover for SLOAN'S HEART, the sequel to REBEL'S LUST and LUCY'S LOVER and it's HOTTTT!

I just love men. . .

Good news anyone?

2006-03-15T08:13:00.000-05:00

As a romance writer I think I might have a slightly skewed version of the world. In Ari-land everyone has a special someone, all bad guys are caught by the end of the book, and everyone has a happy ending. In general, I think I try to look at the world that way too. Sort of. I always expect a happy ending, and I really do think there is justice in the world.

Which is why I don't read the newspaper any more. Well, I do read the sports section still, but I go right by the front page without looking. It drives my husband insane that I refuse to keep up with world events, but they just depress me.

I know the popular theory is "If it bleeds it leads" but good Lord, how can you start the day hearing about political misdeeds, murders, terrorist activities etc.? I like to start my day with happy news. While hubby is upstairs watching some political talking heads, I'm downstairs with the girls watching Clifford. I may not know what's going on in the world, but I'm happier, hahaha.

I think that's why sales of romance novels are on the rise. Every day we're battered with death and deceit from all angles. You can't walk through the grocery store check out line without hearing about this superstar cheating on his wife, and that one going on a drug binge, etc. If you turn on the TV you get blasted with the latest world strife and mass murder. Is it any wonder that people want to read books about falling in love where everyone lives happily ever after?

I think I'll stick to watching PBS and reading my romance novels and leave "Current Events" to my husband.

Anyone want a ticket to Ari-land?

Ups and Downs

2006-03-10T08:51:00.000-05:00

You ever have one of those days/weeks where it seems like just as you climb out of the mire of chaos that is your life something else knocks you back down? That's kind of where I am right now. All three of my girls are home sick today with some weird virus that has them coughing and hacking along with a fever. I'm spending most of my time getting water, rubbing backs, putting in movies, playing dolls, etc.

What I'm not doing is writing, which I desperately need to do.

On the other hand, I've had two very awesome things happen yesterday.

One, I got a KICK ASS review for BEHIND THE ENCHANTED DOOR which warmed the cockles of my heart. (What is a cockle anyway?) It was from Dawn at Loves Romances and if you want to check it out, here's the link. . . http://www.lovesromances.com

The other thing that was totally wicked was that my publisher from Samhain was contacted by Borders and Samhain books are going to be carried in all Borders and Walden's Book stores!!!

Can I get an OH YEAH?????

Not only will Borders carry my Samhain books, they'll be carrying them SOON. Samhain books are going to print THREE MONTHS after digital release. YE HAW!!!!! That means SPITFIRE will be in a Borders near you in August! How cool is that? DOOR should be out in print around the same time so I'll have two books on the shelves!!

I don't know if I can explain how much it means to an author to hold something they created in their hands like that. Other than having another child (which ain't gonna happen) there's no more visceral feeling.

So, as I run from runny nose to runny nose and get ginger ale and toast for whiny children, I'm going to try to keep the good news formost in my mind and not let the bad vibes win.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Ari

Vanity

2006-03-09T11:05:00.000-05:00

Do you think you're vain? Do you know anyone truly vain? What exactly is vanity? These are questions I ask myself as I look at other people who I think are so much prettier than I am. I'll admit, I like to look nice when I know I'm going out. I have a rule of thumb about dressing up and makeup. I only apply makeup and wear heels if there's going to be drinks involved. Generally speaking I spend most of my days in jeans, sweats, or long, cotton skirts. Trust me, I'm more worried about comfort than appearance.

BUTTTT on the days I do dress up and go through the effort to blow dry my hair, I think I look pretty good. At least until I catch a glimpse of my mommy belly in the mirror, or notice my hair flying all over my head, or the fact that my feet look like canoes. . . You get the picture.

I look at some of the people I'm friends with who I think are stunning, and I wonder if they notice things about themselves that no one else does. I mean, is anyone REALLY comfortable with their appearance, or am I the only neurotic, insecure one?

For the most part I don't think about my looks, it's not like I get dressed up to go to the grocery store (like the rest of my town does) and except for the few times I've run into ex-boyfriends when I've been in sweats, my glasses, and my hair in a sloppy bun, I really don't worry about it.
Does that mean I'm not vain? Hmmmm, things to think about.

Have a great day!