The Reason for my absence

Sean and I are getting ready to PCS to Fort Stewart GA in two days. We have recently bought a new car, and I've been out driving. Seriously, I make up things to do so I can drive the car. I am proud to say I have finished Ivory's Addiction (the first draft) However, it will be a day or two before I can start my first round of edits. I've been busy, busy, busy with moving. I've been given the joy of travelling with all three cats in my car. Should be fun, but at least I am used to driving that way. Lol..I've done it many a time. I've joined a writing marathon where you try to complete a book in a month, and I've decided after the first couple days of the move, I will start on Axel's Obsession, trying to juggle that with moving, editing IA and sending out query letters, I'm boing to be a busy little bee. Oh well, it's what I love most about my life. It's never dull.

Doing what my fellow CP's call a happy dance

No...I haven't heard back from WRP yet, but last night I participated in their open chat on Tuesdays, and got some great feedback on waiting periods, the emails I should be receiving. I got to speak with editors, authors and even one of the owners. I can't tell you how amazing in words how great it was to be accepted by authors and editors, even though I am not published.

Onto other things. My husbands last big test in EOD school is today, which means, his 12 hour days are almost over. Well, until we get to GA and he starts training for the big deployment. Again.

I think I will go ahead with the related series I planned to do with Ivory's Addiction. Maybe I will explore Axel's character next. See what he tells me about himself, find out what kind of heroin he would like to have. This is significant for me, because I usually start with the heroins desire, but I quickly discovered writing about these type of men, I've got figure out their needs before writing in the heroin's personality, flaws and passions.

I'm hoping to query the wilder rose line by the end of this month about IA. Although, I will have to check on submissions to the same publishing company before doing so. It's a different line, but I'll have to figure out if I'm okay to submit anyway. Cross your fingers, pray I finish in my time line, and hope it's not a loser!

My cats are just as always, but here I will profile Pixie. When I got Pixie, she fit in the palm of my hand, and actually ran from me. Since I am the type of person who will pursue something that runs away from me, I caught her and decided she must go home with me. I named her pixie b/c her eyes are so big, and when she was that small, all you noticed were her eyes.

Well, as Pixie grew up, I learned quickly the cat has multiple personalities. She can be sweet, over active, mean, stubborn, mischevious, mocking and even petulant. I'm serious, if she's not happy about something, she will knock over a glass full of red fruit juice all over my beige carpet, and she stares at you while doing it just to see how you react. Unfortunately, my poor carpet has suffered over her little hissy fits.

But the sweetest thing about Pixie, and of course, I love her so much, is when you're not feeling well, she is the only of my three cats who will sit with me until I am feeling better despite her own need to eat and drink water. She lays on my stomach or by my head, and does not budge. Even to the ire of Sean.

Well, I've got to go so I can grocery shop, but I just wanted to give you a bit more of info on my WIPs and tell you in depth about my three cats and how they run my life!

Maybe I should back up a little...

So, I realized though I've told you about who I am today, I have not revealed how I have become who I am. This may take a while...

When I was twelve, my older step-sister's first boyfriend broke her heart. When she told me, I thought to myself, well, maybe I can create her an alternative ending and bring a smile to her face. So, I wrote my first story ever, giving my sister the ending she would have liked.

This is when my obsession began. In highschool, my creative writing teacher, who will be first and foremost the one person I will always remember for her nuturing and postive attitude toward my writing skills. She said to me, I believe someday I will see you in print. And the seed blossomed.

Why Romance?

Because, it is in, my opinion, the only thing worth writing about. When God created man, why did he create us? To love him. From the day of our conception, we are born of a mother's love. We are introduced to love from the very beginning. So why not write about it? Let me explain a little further. Why love?

Love is the essence of life. It is the one emotion in this world we cannot do without. I'm not a liberal, I don't believe love can solve problems, but I do believe love can introduce solutions. I know from personal experience, even the strongest man or woman can fall victim to love, and be better for it, stronger for it.

My husband and I spent our first year of marriage apart, he in Iraq and me in Kosovo.

Yes, I was military myself just a year ago.

A journalist, in fact.

However, this did not feed my soul. It is my passion for creating love stories, reading them and constructing characters deserving of it that grips me. I am a slave to my bleeding heart, or some might say, but in reality, if I can put my heart into one story, then I have done something right.

So, now that you know my short, but inspiring journey, I hope you understand where the emotion and love come from. I am simply a vessel for something to be said, through my written word. I absolutely love writing about love!