My busy day:

1. Our new couch set arrived, and it looks gorgeous.
2. Picked up one of my two new pairs of glasses. Am trying to get adjusted since they're only reading glasses and every time I look more than 18 inches away, the room warps around me and makes me dizzy. Think it might take awhile.
3. Wrote chapter on new JC story. We're at just under 30k, and it's shaping along very nicely.
4. Had heating guy around to fix the heating problems we had. Apparently, the wiring was switched so that what should have been happening upstairs was happening down, and vice versa.
5. Watched Star Trek with family, and got quality cuddle time.
6. Did far too much laundry and cleaning.

This weekend is going to be busy, too. Tomorrow, we do the bulk of our share of the Thanksgiving shopping. Our best friends are coming here for the holiday (instead of us going to their house like we've done the past 3 years), so we've split up duties. We're doing it smart, too. They're arriving Wednesday evening so we can get some of the baking done then, then spending Thursday evening here, too, so nobody has to worry about cutting the day short to drive home. So we've got cleaning to do in prep for that as well, not to mention Craig has managed to wear holes through the bottom of his shoes so there's shoe shopping on the agenda at some point.

I should probably get a good night's sleep, lol.

Got some great news today!

Pepper and I entered 7 titles into EPIC's annual e-book award. Last year, we had a number of finalists, and though we had fewer eligible entries this year, I still managed submit 4 Jamie Craig titles, and 3 of mine.

Tonight, we found out that the Jamie Craig story, "Trick of Silver," and my VD story, "Crave," are both finalists in the Paranormal Erotic Romance category!

Ours are the only two m/m titles in that category; the other 4 are het. And it figures we have them competing against each other, but still, we're chuffed about finaling again. The awards get announced at the convention next March in New Orleans, so now we have reasons to go, lol.

It was a great way to end a very long day. :)

It...was not a great day. It wasn't truly awful, but I'm having a hard time not dwelling on the bad stuff. So to help counter that, I'm going to list stuff that's made me smile/made me feel/made me happy in the past couple days:

1. Glee. I love this show so much. What specifically this week? Jane Lynch. And Kurt's father. And Puck. I know I shouldn't like him so much but I do. I want to gouge Quinn's eyes out, but what he did for her this week...maybe it's the bad boy thing I have.

2. I finished the last part of my 4-novella series about a pair of gay lawyers in San Francisco. It's nice to feel accomplished, even if I've been a sea of self-doubt lately.

3. Turning off the TV and computers, and sitting with my kids for a couple hours tonight to play board games.

4. Oddly enough, General Hospital. Having Jonathan Jackson back has been amazing, and showing the flashback scene today? Made me want to cry. Plus, Lulu and Dante are heating up, Carly's had some great material this week, Claudia is finally gone, and they actually found another baby with red hair. Alicia saw the commercial advertising James Franco's upcoming stint and flipped out. At first she was all, "He's just really good!" But she had this goofy grin and wouldn't meet my eyes, and I finally got her to admit she was partially excited because he's so cute, lol. My daughter has good taste. ;)

1. Christmas cards! I've already posted my call, but I'm going to repeat it because I know some people fall behind on checking LJ, overlook a post, etc. If you're interested in being on my Christmas card list, go to this post and sign up. I love this season. I'd like to be able to include you in my cheer!

2. Alicia is feeling better, but now Alex is sick. They're off school tomorrow because of Veteran's Day, and Craig is working from home, too, so I'm going to have a full house.

3. Pepper and I are trying something new in our collaborative process that is terrifying both of us, lol. I'm hoping the end result turns out great to make all this nail-biting worth it.

4. I'm in a bit of pain today. Last night, I realized after I'd gone to bed that I'd forgotten my phone downstairs. So I went down, without turning on any lights and very tired, and promptly missed the bottom two stairs. I fell down and landed on the hard tile at the bottom on my left shoulder, jamming my left wrist and twisting my right ankle. Oh, and skinning both of my knees and my left elbow. Fun, huh?

One of my stories has been listed as today's Daily Deal over at Amber Quill Press.

It's an m/m vampire novella called Bridge Over Troubled Water:

Detective Brady Lindstrom deals in death, and not just because he’s a homicide cop with the slaughter of a century to solve. Ten years ago, vampires murdered his lover. Ever since, he’s looked over his shoulder, ready for vampires to strike again. Or maybe just the one he loved.

Exhausted and angry about the needless deaths he has to investigate, Brady worries that the killers he’s looking for aren’t even human. Those fears are compounded by an unexpected visitor, the battered and nearly broken Cole Singer, the lover he’d long ago given up for dead. When Cole offers to trade information on the killers in exchange for sanctuary, Brady realizes he doesn’t have a choice. He just can’t turn his back on the face of the only man he’s ever loved. Even if he’s a vampire...

There's an excerpt at the site above, and today only, it's only $1.50. But you have to buy it through this link, not the blurb/excerpt page since it's part of the Daily Deal program.

New month, fresh start. Life is slowly finding a new order, so I'm going to do my damnedest to get back into the swing of LJ.

It's been an odd month. We're still getting settled into the new house - which I love - but it's a slow process as a lot of projects, like hanging curtains, have to wait until Craig is home on the weekends. I took the month off from working on any Jamie Craig stuff, which gave pepperlandgirl4 massive amounts of time to write two long ST fics, and yesterday, we picked up on a project that we've been wanting to get back to for over a year. We were invited last June to submit to MLR, so this is the story for that.

But being eager to get back into writing with Pepper has been tempered by my frustrations with a sequel I promised that I just can't get into. ( Because this turned into a rant and I mention last night's ANTM which has a spoiler in it )

Sorry. I didn't mean to sound like such a whiny bitca. It's been a crappy morning already, and it's only 9am. I made homemade cranberry/orange scones this morning in an attempt to cheer myself up - and because the kids are home on fall break so I wanted something special for them. So far, it hasn't worked.

Well, I've been offline for the past couple days, and working my tail off - and am suitably sore to show for it - but last night, we spent our first night in the new house. Woo hoo!

That's the good news.

The bad news? The truck we hired to move our furniture yesterday was too small. We get to hire *another* truck to get the rest of it, including - but not limited to - our dining room table, Alex's dresser, an entertainment center, a TV stand, 3 bookcases...

*sigh*

We had to extend our lease by a week at the other place to cover the delay. And it's putting a crimp in getting things into order here. On the plus side, Craig and I spent the weekend moving 70 boxes worth of stuff, including 80% of the kitchen, and I unpacked all of the kitchen boxes before we did the furniture move yesterday. That makes it easier to get into a normal routine. Though there's nothing normal right now. I have to go down to the school tomorrow to finalize the kids' registration to start next week, as well as continue working.

Of course, in the midst of all that, I had edits to do. And I have a galley sitting on my hard drive as I type. And two more projects due by the end of the month.

I'm going to be very tired at the end of September, lol.

Another productive day. Finished one of my writing commitments - 39k novella for Amber Quill - and got a ton more packing done.

In the past couple weeks, I have finally gotten around to reading Patricia Brigg's Mercy Thompson series. The first book interested me enough to get the second, the second became compulsive reading, the third was finished even faster, and on Wednesday night, I ran out to B&N to buy the fourth in hard cover. I've almost finished it already in between all the other stuff I've been doing. I'm so addicted to this series, it's not even funny. I'm annoyed with myself that I have the others in this 'verse packed away already, and even more disappointed that I'm going to have to wait until February for book 5. I don't find myself engaging with werewolf stories nearly as much as I do vampires, but this one is really working for me. I adore Mercy.

Surprisingly productive day, though it could have been more so if Pepper and I had had a better idea about our climax before we started in on the scene leading up to it. Because we didn't, we ended up spending 2 hours debating what was to happen next in our current project. It was necessary, but it always makes me think I'm wasting time not writing.

Speaking of writing, it feels like all my releases are coming out at the same time. I had two releases in July - my cougar story in the LSB antho, and the first gay lawyers in love story at Amber Quill. Next Monday, my story "Chains of Jericho" is getting re-released by LSB (since LBR has been sold), edited and tightened down from its original. And then I don't have anything until the end of September, and then after that, November. I wish I could spread them out more, but I have zero control over that.

Oh! And I got another great review for the first lawyers story ("Wrangers: Discovery"). It's always such a relief to realize that my intent got across. In this case, I just wanted to write something short and sexy. Their relationship gets developed over the course of the 4-novella series.

I talked Craig into working from home today. He really didn't want to have to go into the office anyway. The stupid project is falling apart all over the place, because people are idiots and refusing to step up to the plate. He's frustrated, and I figured working from home would at least give him someplace to escape when he got *too* frustrated. It worked, to a degree. But he's about to go back to his desk and work some more. My poor guy.

It wasn't too bad a day for me otherwise. I got a fantastic review for my most recent release, I managed to get 6 more boxes packed, and so far today, have written 2500 words on my latest novella. Craig and I watched "Being Human," too. The guy who plays the vampire Mitchell? Ohmigod. So so pretty. I could eat him up with a spoon. And really makes me want to write something vampire-y. But he's by far my favorite character on the show, and not just because he's pretty and fangy, lol.

It is nine o'clock on a Saturday night, and I am currently sprawled on the floor in a conference room in Craig's office, while he and a co-worker hash out problems/testing with their latest project. We've been here since two, and we'll be here until midnight, at which point I made him promise to go home. It sounds a little weird, but when Craig explained to me last night that he had to come in today and work, and then proceeded to invite me in, too, I knew this was where I would be. I wasn't interested in sitting at home all day, working on stuff, without him around. Granted, he's buried in work, so it's not like we're sitting here chatting or anything, but it's infinitely better than being alone. At least, it is for me right now. I need the contact.

Somebody remind me of this at Christmas when I'm dying to get my house all to myself again, lol.

( Cut for rambling )

Jesus, I haven't posted yet this month? I am a bad, bad, LJer. I could promise to be better, but considering I've made that promise before and broken it, maybe I'll just leave well enough alone for now.

( So this is an update on my life this month )

*Sigh*

I fell behind again. I suck. But so much was going on, and then I was somewhere my internet connection wasn't great, and then there was sickness, and...I still suck. So here's yet another overview of what's going on in my life:

( Behind a cut because this got long )

And that's it. Lots of little stuff. Lots of time-consuming stuff. I'm alive, and I'm reading everybody, and I miss all of you.

I have been hugely lax about posting over the holidays but with the kids back in school and Craig back to work today, maybe I can get some routine again.

Our holiday was quiet and enjoyable. Thank you to everyone for all the well wishes, cards, and just for being wonderful. We're coping here at the House of Harris, though I learned I hadn't quite put the 10-week stay into perspective by actually *knowing* the date my inlaws leave for the UK. February 20, in case anybody is wondering. The MIL has been completely out of it for the past three days with some kind of stomach bug, only venturing out of bed last night and today. She still can't keep anything down, but hopefully this will pass soon.

Me, I'm just trying to keep my head above water. Pepper and I are about to start the final book in the Master series, I'm working on a younger man/older woman romance for an anthology, I have a prompt for a short I'm doing, an edit for a novella showed up in my inbox this weekend, and this morning saw the arrival of the galley of the novella that's coming out this coming Sunday. On top of that is website stuff, kid stuff, lessons today, more family stuff...well, the list goes on.

( CSI, in case you don't know what happened last season or this )

I'm also back to weekly WW meetings this week. With my meetings falling on holidays this year, I haven't been since my weigh-in on the 18th. I know I can go to other meetings, but this took some of the stress off me. I got on the scale this morning and I haven't gained anything, which is about the best I can ask for this time of year, lol.

OK, to make up for the purely sucktastic month this has been, pepperlandgirl4 and I just got some fantabulous news.

The EPPIEs are the largest e-publishing book award out there right now. Pepper and I submitted a number of our stories, the ones we thought were strongest and might actually stand a chance at finaling. We hoped for maybe 1 or 2, something to get our name out there because we were really proud of some of our work this past year. Well, they posted the finalists today.

Pepper and I have 9 different finalists in 5 categories. 6 Jamie Craig titles, 2 Vivien Dean titles, and 1 Pepper Espinoza title. Needless to say, it's an embarrassment of riches. The full list is here.

We're excited, to say the least. We're competing ourselves in 2 of those 5 categories, but you know, considering how many made it - only the top 10% final, so if there are 6 finalists, there were 60 entries in that category - we're just amazed to have done this well. :)

I was asked to talk a little about how fanfic writing helped me as a writer over at shared_wisdom. If you're curious or have questions you'd like to ask, just hop on over and take a look! :)

Well, I survived my day leading Girl Scouts. And actually got a ton of compliments on how well it went. So now I can get some decent sleep. No more dreams of being completely shunned at my high school reunion. Or getting mauled by a tiger. And all the cookies we made are going into work with Craig tomorrow...except for the two peppermint fudge dream cookies I ate. Oops.

However, I'm going to share that recipe soon. All the moms nicked at least 2 of those, so it wasn't just me. They're absolutely delish.

Can this month be over, please? It's just been awful. First, we lost the contest (and we're still in limbo about our stories). Then yesterday we got a rejection from Ellora's Cave...on a story they already rejected over a year ago. In fact, we already published it with Samhain. And yet someone over at EC dug it out of some slush pile and found it necessary to reject us a second time. And today, I got notification that the very first book I had ever e-published, "Chains of Jericho," is being released from the contract, and that the rights are getting reverted back to me. Which means it's now homeless.

So...yeah. I would like to be done with all this awful stuff now, please.

10 things that made me happy today:

1. Alicia made the school spelling bee. Third, fourth, and fifth graders test to see who will compete, and the top 5 scorers in each grade are then allowed to participate in the school bee. Alicia was the top scorer of her grade. :)
2. Because of Alicia's wonderful surprise, Craig took us all out for ice cream to celebrate. I was strong and didn't cheat on my diet.
3. This quote from Robert Downey, Jr. in my new issue of Entertainment Weekly about his darker side, or his "bad dog" as he calls it: "It's not about placating the bad dog - it's about feeding the good dog. You still have to feed the bad dog, but only enough so that the ASPCA doesn't bring you up on charges."
4. The fact that RDJ is the #1 entertainer of the year in this same issue...
5. ...and Tina Fey is #2.
6. The camisole I bought this summer that fit perfectly in August is now a tent on me.
7. This dog
8. Realizing Pepper and I are thisclose to finishing our novella.
9. Recognizing what one of my eating triggers is and figuring out what I need to do to fight it.
10. Actually taking half an hour to play Rock Band 2. I miss it.

Damn it, I was going to be so much better about posting, and now I've gone and missed 3 days in a row. But it's Thursday, which means Weight Watchers, so I have to post my progress.

I hit my 15 pound loss mark! Woo hoo! Right on the nose, actually. At least on their scales. My weight had dipped down Tuesday to below my gall bladder operation weight - which I was terribly pleased to see - but it was high again this morning on one of those weird weight fluctuation things my body does. I know my loss is probably a little bit more than the 15, but hey, that'll just show up next week most likely. I know it's going down, which is really all that matters. I'm in control of my eating, and feeling far more secure about maintaining it than I did when I started.

So all is good. I'm learning Christmas music on my new guitar for the holidays, I got Alex's birthday party booked this morning, and Pepper and I are nearly done with a het shifter novella we did as a respite from all the gay romance we've been writing. Life is moving along quite nicely. :)

Been an emotional roller coaster today. There was this writing contest that I was HUGELY excited about entering. It was to find the new anthology partner for one of the best m/m writers in the e-market right now, Josh Lanyon. I wanted this so badly, I convinced Pepper we should submit three stories - one we wrote together, and then ones we'd write on our own. Yesterday, Josh posted about how many entries they got and how good the four finalists he was reading, and how hard the decision was going to be, etc. Then this morning, he posted who the four finalists were. My solo story and the story Pepper and I wrote as Jamie Craig both made it to that shortlist of 4. I got all bouncy and excited for the next four hours. Then he posted the winner. One of the other two. My mood plummeted, lol. Damn. So close and yet so far.

On the plus side, we're supposed to get critiques from Josh if we finalled. That's going to be valuable. There's also the possibility that the publisher will still want the stories in another capacity. *And* the author that did win is actually very, very talented, so you know, losing to someone talented? Much easier to swallow than losing to someone you think sucks, lol.

But still. Disappointed. Pepper talked me down from self-medicating with ice cream, for which I am extremely grateful.