On being an author

Today is the day, America. Go vote!

DH and I early voted. Saved time. Our polling place is a nursing home. Yup, a nursing home.

Good news: DEADLY TOUCH, my next Nocturne, has a release date of next fall! Woo hoo! This is Raphael's story, the Cajun, Harley-riding immortal werewolf. The title will change. I'll post the new title when I have it.

Recently I was talking with some friends about work. life and writing. It's not easy holding down a day job and being an author. It's not just the writing. There's promoting the book, keeping up with a website, dealing with copy edits, galleys, changes, proposals, etc.

I wouldn't trade it for anything.


For all the angst this crazy business can cause; from deadline stress to rejections to last minute changes and anxiety over worrying if a book will have good sales, there is one critical factor that always stands out.

When I walk into a bookstore and scan the romance aisle, and see my new release, it has my name on it.

My name. It's my book. It's something I created, sweated over, imagined, dreamed. For better or worse in the public's eyes, it's mine.

And no one can ever take that away.

That's why I get excited when I meet an author with a debut book. I know what it's like to obtain that dream, see the vision become reality.

There's nothing else like it. And maybe, never will be again.

For all of you who are newly published, enjoy every wonderful moment of the ride.

For those of you who are still aspiring, keep trying. This business is talent, skill, and style, but 80 percent of it is sheer luck.

The moment you see your name on that book cover for the first time is one you will never forget.

No one can ever take that away from you.

Where am I again?

I think I'm at the airport.

Again.

Getting ready to fly out.

Again.

Three trips in less than a month.

Nicaragua trip for work was very productive, interesting. We drove north through the mountains, visited families living in crumbling adobe shacks, saw some heartbreaking stuff. While there, I was monitoring Hurricane Ike, which at one point was headed toward my area as a Cat. 4.

I loathe hurricane season.

Because of Ike, I shifted this trip back by a week. Thankfully, Ike missed us and went south. Unfortunately, it didn't miss Texas.

Anyway, I'm here at the airport, getting ready to fly to TN for my week alone in a cabin doing nothing but writing. I'm getting there, almost there. The book due Oct. 1 has only 7500 words left, and then editing. My goal this week is to finish and start to edit.

The good thing about this past crazy month has been my ability to write in snatches, and chunks of scenes. I wrote in the SUV in Nicaragua while we were on good stretches of pavement (you would not believe the roads we were on. Think of driving down a flight of stairs. That would be a smooth ride compared to the mountain paths, and rivers! we navigated through). I wrote in snatches and then downloaded the Alpha Smart when I had a hotel with A/C current. Note to self: BUY adapter and REMEMBER to bring it on next trip to Central America.

This week away is something I promised myself when I conceived of the idea for Raphael's story. Raphael is a Cajun, immortal werewolf who looks like a fallen angel. He's very powerful and the executioner for his people. He has a few dark secrets as well.

I like giving my heroes dark secrets. DEADLY TOUCH has turned out to be an interesting story. I'm also curious to see the cover for BROKEN SOULS, the Nocturne Bite I have coming out in November, same month as ENEMY LOVER.

DEADLY TOUCH.
BROKEN SOULS.
ENEMY LOVER.

If I were to write my story, I'd title it WEARY AUTHOR.

I went from the Dorchester deadline and turning in the next Egyptian historical in August straight to BROKEN SOULS and revising that one final time to DEADLY TOUCH. It's been a treadmill and I need this time away to get back in touch with my muse, who is saying, "whahhhh?"

I told myself if I sold more Nocturnes, I'd go to TN and write, as a reward and inspiration for the story. It's a working vacation, more work than vacation, but a change of scenery that will hopefully enable me to bring the book together for a finale.

As long as no more hurricanes are spinning out there in the Atlantic.

If I can pull this together, it means I actually was able to write an entire book in two months. While working a demanding day job. While traveling to Nicaragua for a last minute work trip to replace a sick coworker. While hurricanes and tropical storms buzzsawed out there, a potential threat to my home and the crappy insurance we now have.

Small wonder I'm taking October off. I might just retire the computer for a full month and not write. It would be an interesting experience.

This isn't funny, but you have to laugh

I'm flying out tomorrow to Nicaragua for a last minute work trip, while keeping a wary eye on Hanna off our coast. Praying for people in Louisiana that Gustav doesn't wallop them, and that everyone stays safe.

Hoping I can return to the New Orleans I love, and things will be the same.

Anyway, the laugh comes from this... the sheer unpredictability of storms during this time of year. I'm wary of Hanna but I just saw the projected pathway.

Here's my schedule: Fly to Nicaragua tomorrow, fly home late Friday, have one day at home with DH, and then on Sunday, flying up to...

Where it looks like Hanna may end up. HA!

Maybe Hanna is giving me the gimlet eye. "Bonnie, you can fly all over the damn place, but I will find you!"

I'm leaving a week from today to have a mini writing retreat alone, so I can write the book due in October. Hurricanes and all, I still have a deadline.

Maybe I should retitle the book from DEADLY TOUCH to Ha Ha Hanna. LOL.

Stay safe everyone on the gulf coast, Louisiana and my beloved New Orleans. I'll keep you in my prayers. I"m going offline and not blogging for a while.

Until later, here's to TOURIST SEASON instead of HURRICANE SEASON!

New Orleans

No, this isn't Hurricane Gustav. It's Katrina, three years ago this week as it approached the coastline. Katrina, that killed thousands. It's on a similiar track as Gustav.

This is the blog post I wrote three years ago.

"Katrina is a cat. 5 and heading for the Gulf coast. 160 mph. Predictable, with the warm waters stirring it up. But absolutely freaking scary. I saw what happened to Dade county after Andrew. Flattened like a pancake. Nothing left, no trees, roofs ripped off. A bunch of us went down there to help out afterward and it was like someone dumped a bomb on the region. But this is worse. Katrina is a bigger storm and the rain it will dump... the flooding... people south of me are still bailing out from when Katrina hit us. And if it hits New Orleans... o.m.g. Those poor people. I hope and pray they can all get out... or at least can reach higher ground. I love New Orleans. What a city. Hot and mellow jazz, the smooth, cool slide of a hurricane down your throat, terrific food...Will all that just be memories?"

How terrible I am thinking the same now? Heather Graham's conference was this weekend in New Orleans. Heather always puts on a great conference. In fact, her first conference the year after Katrina, I got the idea for ENEMY LOVER. I was roaming through Bourbon Street with Kathy Love and Erin McCarthy, bar hopping, and got this flash of inspiration about a werewolf slow dancing with his destined mate, the woman who tried to kill them.

Maybe I saw a big, muscled and hairy guy that night slow dancing with a woman who looked like she wanted to kill him, lol. I don't remember. I do remember loving that time I spent there, and being so happy to be in New Orleans.

I love that city. I set ENEMY LOVER, my November Nocturne, in the French Quarter. I'm heartsick at the idea of another hurricane masticating through the Gulf Coast and flooding that city, and others.

All we can do is pray and wait, and hope everyone prepares for the worst, and hope for the best.

I'm sick today... had to go to the clinic to get last minute meds as I am leaving Monday. Hanna looks like it could end up being a problem to my area late next week, meaning I may NOT be able to fly back to the US. I don't know. I'll just keep monitoring the reports.

On a brighter note, I finished final edits for BROKEN SOULS, the BITE coming out the same month as ENEMY LOVER. And I have now 38,000 words on DEADLY TOUCH, Raphael's story.

I think I'll retire to bed and cough up a lung. No more watching The Weather Channel. It's too disheartening.