New website is up!

My new website is up at www.angelasknights.com. I'm a terrible perfectionist, but I actually think this one doesn't suck. :>

I'm also hard at work writing my lessons for my class on writing erotic romance for Passionate Ink, the erotic romance chapter of Romance Writers of America. The class is free to those who join PI. (Which means that though the class is free, joining PI and RWA is not.) On the other hand, I plan to come out with a paperback version of the class, so that may be something you'll be interested in.

Passionate Ink is here, by the way: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/erw_org/

If you're interested in writing erotic romance, that's definitly the loop for you.

I'm also involved in renovating the house. This is proving to be, not surprisingly, a bigger PITA than I expected. The flooring guy is coming next Monday, Oct. 24 to install new floor, which means I have to get the walls painted before then. Which shouldn't be a problem, except I've got these flipping wallpaper borders up. I have a kit with wall paper paste removeal stuff and this claw thing and a scraper, and it's still just a huge hassle. If anyone has suggestions on how to do this without pulling my hair out by the roots, I'd love to hear it. :/

What I'm up to right now

Yes, I know my blog has been mostly a place to advertise other people's books lately. I've been racing to meet my deadline on my new Berkley book, MASTER OF WOLVES. It's finished -- with any luck, my Berkley editor is reading it this weekend. (Hope she doesn't think it sucks!) So now I can do things I've been wanting to do, like get caught up on this blog and finish the desperately needed site redesign on my www.angelasknights.com site. I've been doing some artwork I really like, by the way. Hopefully the new site will be up in three or four days.

If anybody is interested in the fiction writing process, I'm currently teaching an online class on writing the Erotic Romance for the month of October. Once the class is finished, I plan to get it published by either Loose Id or Changeling, if they'll take non-fiction. So you'll be able to buy it, maybe even in paperback form.

One of the things I'm doing in the class is telling people about how to avoid some of my more boneheaded mistakes, like the ones that made MASTER OF WOLVES such a bloody nightmare. I started that book in May. I should have had it finished two months ago, but the book kept going offtrack. For one thing, I didn't think out the logistics of it.

Ok, hero is a werewolf who goes undercover as a police K-9 to investigate the murder of his best friend. He falls in love with his beautiful handler, only she thinks he's a dog. Cute idea, right? So I plotted the thing and started writing. But as I'm writing this book, I realize I'm on page 80 and the hero is still a dog, and the heroine doesn't know he's a werewolf. Well, this is a romance. Duh -- if the hero's a dog, no romance is occurring. So I gut the book, replot it, and start over from scratch, including killing a first chapter that appeared in Master of the Moon as a teaser. This time I make it to page 180 beforeI notice I'm having the devil's own time just sitting down to write the book. Deadline is fast approaching, and I don't want to write. Now, when I get like that, it's cause there's a problem in the story.

I knew the story had a problem, but I was damned if I could figure out what it was. Went to the Romance Writer's of America conference still wrestling with it. I read it, and realized I outright hated the book. NOT good. Sent the 180 pages to my agent, and she said she was in the first 100 pages and loved it. Then she called and said, "This book goes off the rails on page 103."

Which was pretty well where I thought it went off. Something had happened to the heroine, and she wasn't handling it well. In fact, she was whining. So I had to gut out 80 pages of the book, and replot it AGAIN with a big change in the heroine's personality. Between August 1 when I got back from RWA and Oct. 1, I wrote 300 pages and did two rewrites on the book. It's now MUCH better, I think -- knock wood. It's one of those rollercoaster ride books I love to write. We'll see what my editor thinks.

Cindy also gave me the new cover. Isn't it pretty? That guy is hot, IMHO. :)

Anyway, now I'm planning my next book while taking care of stuff like painting the house and putting in new flooring. You can be sure I'm going to plotting the next one a LOT more carefully!

Big Bad Werewolves

I love werewolves -- I just finished a werewolf novel. Here's another cute story by an author in my ring. And the profits go to a good cause, too.

“Candy Cox and the Big Bad (Were) Wolf” featured in BEWITCHED, BOTHERED AND BEVAMPYRED by PC Cast
(Triskelion Press)

Welcome to Brokenoggin Falls, where the housewives are not only desperate, they’re Witches! (And one of them might be a Harpy) The spells cast by moonlight frequently go awry. And there are times when toads and Chihuahuas seem abundant as black flies in the summer, the dragons are a little touchy, the Forest Trolls are in danger of extinction from teeny-boppers, the Gryphons need help conceiving and...the scientist are crunchy and good with ketchup...

All proceeds from the sales of this book will go to the International Red Cross.

Godiva Tawdry casts a spell and shy, unassuming teacher Candy Cox finds the were-lover of her dreams; Janice’s cousin Romeo meets Joe, the veterinarian for unscheduled surgery.

Be on the lookout for MYSTERIA, an anthology expanding on the episode and characters PC created in BEWITCHED, BOTHERED AND BEVAMPYRED. MYSTERIA (Berkley) hits shelves in August 2006!

Cover:
http://www.triskelionpublishing.com/images/Bewitchedthm.jpg


ABOUT PC CAST
Award-winning author PC Cast is a dynamic, entertaining orator and an extraordinary teacher. Currently, her realm is in Oklahoma, where she resides with her daughter and spoiled cat.


WEBSITE http://www.pccast.net

KICKASS!!

My antho, KICKASS is out. Besides my own story, WARFEM, there's a cool novella from my best buddy MaryJanice.

“The Misadventures of Boo and the Boy Blunder” featured in KICKASS by MaryJanice Davidson
(Berkley, September 2005)

They're sexy. They're smart. And they aren't afraid of a little danger-not even when it comes to matters of the heart... Four of today's hottest authors present a quartet of stories about bold women who take no prisoners-either in a fight or in love. Whether it's in the bedroom, in the outer limits of the galaxy, or out on the mean streets, they kick heart-stopping action to the next level. These are women who can hold their own and aren't to be trifled with. The men in their lives know that-and they love it...



A tale of a woman who knows how to save the day - and enjoy the rewards at night.
“The Incredible Misadventures of Boo and the Boy Blunder” by MaryJanice Davidson. Former police officer Gregory wonders how life can be so unfair. Recently, he was turned into a vampire and to make matters worse, he has met his soulmate (that is, if he had a soul). The problem is his beloved wants to kill him as Boo is a bona fide vampire hunter.

Excerpt:
http://www.maryjanicedavidson.net/KickAss%20Chapter.htm

Cover:
http://a1204.g.akamai.net/7/1204/1401/05052316011/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/9700000/9702750.jpg



ABOUT MARYJANICE DAVIDSON
MaryJanice Davidson is the best-selling author of several romance novels, including UNDEAD AND UNWED and HELLO GORGEOUS. Her books have been on the USA Today best seller list, as well as the New York Times list. She lives in Minnesota with her husband, two children, and dog, and is secretly addicted to Peanut Buster Parfaits.


REVIEWS

These four women live up to the title so anyone who enjoys strong women kicking butt and hog tying their beloved will enjoy this fun often amusing but always exciting anthology -- Harriet Klausner

Website: http://www.maryjanicedavidson.net/