Ericka Scott
Frantic Friday Update….
Friday, November 5th, 2010
Filed under Uncategorized

Where oh where has the week gone? I lament this every single Friday. I’ve been busy writing, reading, and doing ‘authorly’ things. Like what? you ask. Well, I put together a little trailer of all my beautiful book covers, added music, and will be posting it hither, thither, and thon. What’s even cooler is that I’ll be adding more covers to the trailer very soon.

A Christmas Curse, appearing in ‘Twas A Dark and Delicious Christmas, will soon be getting cover art and being assigned a release date. Woot. I’ll be sure to let you know the details as soon as I do.

Until then…enjoy!

Oh, and if you want to find out more about my books, there’s tons more information on my books page.

I’ve got Drama Teen home sick today…she’s been having issues with pain from her scar. It’s healed and looks marvelous — hurts like heck, though, and she can barely comb her hair around it without crying. Phantom pains or real? We’ve got a call into the neurosurgeon to find out if it is “all in her head” (pun intended) or something we need to check into further. Hopefully, this is just a minor blip and she’ll be back to her drama-filled self next week.

Inertia boy lost his candy privilege the day after Halloween (no surprise, really). He’s spent the rest of the week dreaming up creative ways to pay us back for him making poor choices. Needless to say…he lost a few additional privileges along the way. It’s so sad that children affected by RAD don’t have a proper cause and affect association.

Scooter had been having some issues with his stomach and having to make urgent trips to the bathroom. Now, I’ll preface this with saying that our family is not made up of milk drinkers We’re lucky to go through a quart a week (now yogurt and cheese are another story!). That being said, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to identify the culprit as the bowl of cereal with milk he had taken a liking to eating in the morning. When we first brought him home from Guatemala, he also had horrible bowel issues. Switching him to a soy-based formula solved the problem. I’m happy to report that switching him to soy milk made the difference. We have a much happier little boy this week!

And in closing…I just have to say I’m looking forward to that extra hour of sleep on Sunday. Are you?

Ericka

Mix-it-up Mondays
Monday, November 1st, 2010
Filed under Uncategorized

I’ve decided to work a little change into my blogging…yeah, yeah, yeah. I know…I’m not all that fond of change but this is going to be good. I think, I hope…

On Mondays, I’m going to hunt up something to do with the writing/publishing industry to post here. Fridays will still have me giving you a wrap up of my usually frantic week, a frenzied family update, and some other fun things like flash fiction, book reviews, and glimpses of what I’ve been researching for my WIPs (and believe me, some of the research I do is vastly entertaining…from the size of animal reproductive organs to whether or not tone deafness is genetically determined).

So, this Monday’s focus is on Harlequin. I would love, love, love to write for them. Unfortunately, my muse sees things oh-so-very differently. I typically begin a story, thinking it might and hoping it will fit one of the category lines and then helplessly watch it spin off into a different direction. Sigh. However, that doesn’t stop me from lurking around their sites, seeing what they have to offer, and hoping to tempt my stubborn muse into writing within the box, not around it. That being said, I discovered:

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Harlequin — So, You think you can write? A week of insights on writing romance.

Editorial Week Nov 1-5, 2010

Does your imagination run wild with vivid characters? Have you ever dreamed of becoming a USA TODAY bestselling author? Well, our editors want to make those dreams come true. We are hungry to find talented new writers for Harlequin Books. Through podcasts, blogs, and discussions with our expert editors and current authors, we’re going to help you understand the appeal of the romance genre. And there’s a special daily challenge with feedback that will give some great insights into crafting the perfect story. So for the next week, come by to hone your skills and get started on the path to publication. So you think you can write? Here’s your chance to show us!

Featuring

* Meet 50+ editors who want to buy your book
* Join community discussions with savvy writers in the know
* Listen to podcasts with editors and authors
* Chat live with editors in the Harlequin Community
* Participate in a webinar with editors (Sign-up at this link)
* Follow us on Twitter
* Take part in the daily challenge to test your writing skills
* Submit your story to the Harlequin editors!

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FOLLOW THIS LINK to get to the Harlequin site and find out more information and a tentative schedule. Needless to say, I’ll be there all week. Will you?

Ericka

Frighteningly Fun Friday
Friday, October 29th, 2010
Filed under Uncategorized

The elementary school has their annual fall carnival today. Cake walks, bowling for prizes — in other words, lots of games for lots of candy. I’m sure the boys will come home buzzing with sugar highs and excitement.

I must say that Halloween is my favorite holiday as well (heck, who DOESN’T like dressing up in costumes and getting candy?) For our family, from the middle of October to the middle of November is one big push toward the ACM programming contest. What this really means is that going all out for Halloween just doesn’t get done. The first few years, I fought back the disappointment of not having the scariest house on the block. However, I’ve come to realize that we WILL get our pumpkins carved and go trick-or-treating and rent out a couple of scary movies to watch throughout the weekend. Fun will be had by all. Which is what is really important, right?

So, until Monday, I’ll leave you with this video. It’s got it all — romance with a healthy dose of terror. For a paranormal writer, there isn’t anything better. Happy Halloween!

Monday Madness
Monday, October 25th, 2010
Filed under Uncategorized

Just wanted to let you know that one of my publishers is giving away a KINDLE this Halloween! Click on the image here to go to the Total E-bound website. Sign up to receive the TEB newsletter and you are entered! Woot!

Feral Contest

Miffed on a Monday…
Monday, October 18th, 2010
Filed under Uncategorized

On Friday, we had an electrician come in to do some rewiring of our house (tired of blowing fuses when I used the oven and microwave simultaneously) — we also wanted a gas line relocated so that our new stove would sit flush with the wall. Anyhow, he cut a few small holes in the wall — 4×6 max. Very neat, very thorough. I was tickled with the work, cleaned up the kitchen and started putting it back together.

My husband neglected to tell me that on Saturday, a guy was to come in and fix those few small holes. So, I took the kitchen apart again. The evil drywall guy started on one at 9 am…at noon, he’s still hovering over the same spot on one the wall. Steam began to huff out of my ears when I found out that I’d have to miss my boys’ soccer game to babysit the man. He moved on to another hole and I had my hopes up that by the end of the day, he would be gone and I could put my kitchen back together. As he’s leaving at 4 pm (after fixing 4 very small holes!), he informs me that he has to come back on Sunday to give it a second coat, spackle, & texture, then will finish up on MONDAY to paint. We gave him until noon Sunday to get the spackle and texture done… if he could paint in that time, fine, if not, we’d do it ourselves.

Now, the guy charged us way less than the going rate….but I would have much rather paid him twice as much and had him move twice as fast. What a putz.

So, Saturday, I got my mad on and couldn’t write, luckily Sunday was an RWA meeting, so I didn’t have to even deal with the guy. He didn’t leave at noon…stretched it out until two and my hubby let him (wouldn’t have happened if I had been home)…so all the shopping and errands that needed to be done over the weekend, didn’t get done. I’m still struggling with my mad and have this HUGE black cloud floating over my head. However, I have edits to do for my short story, so I need to get over it.

Edits, you ask?

Yep, Cursed for Christmas was accepted by Evernight Publishing (SQUEEEEE!), but has been renamed to The Christmas Curse and I already have edits to review and incorporate.

I just wish I could throw off my mad so I could enjoy rolling up my sleeves and throwing myself back into the throes of the publishing world.

Blogging Like It’s A Monday
Tuesday, October 12th, 2010
Filed under A Writer's Life

Only, it’s not…sorry about that. I had this great idea to feature monsters every Monday in October (except I really missed the boat on that…sorry again). I’ll file the idea for next year…

Blogging regularly and writing full-time is tough to juggle — so tough that I’ve signed up to blog at Tabitha Blake’s Nocturnal Nights (like the ninny I am). I’ll be doing the NN publisher blog… No, I’m not a publisher, but there’s nothing more fun that finding calls for submissions and sharing the news. I’ll be doing that once or twice a week on Mondays starting in November. And on Wednesdays, I’m over at Written In Ink, blogging about writing. Which then led me to the realization that I need to update all of my links on my website to reflect that new data (if I have to say sorry again, I’m gonna slap myself silly).

In case you are wondering about all the alliterations, I’m taking a month-long on-line class of Compositional Flourishes, where I’m learning how to make my prose POP! I think I’ve mastered alliterations, now I need to figure out the PLOCE.

But I digress…

A writer’s life is never boring….in fact, I’ve had some really exciting stuff happen in the past few days —

I’ve been asked to be interviewed for a non-fiction book on writing (woot!)

I’ve been asked for a cover quote (thank you Amber Scott)

I’ll be at the Barnes and Noble in Encino, California, on Sunday, October 17th, signing copies of The Werewolf Whisperer and giving away a ton of swag (thank you Vistaprint!)

And I hope to be able to share good news with you soon, soon, soon, about my short story, Cursed for Christmas.

So stay tuned…

Ericka

Ghost Stories
Friday, October 8th, 2010
Filed under What I'm Reading

It’s October, and my thoughts have turned to the paranormal. It helps that the short story I finished featured a demon, although I have to admit, that of all things paranormal, ghosts are my favorites.

Now, I love to travel as much as I love books, especially books about ghosts. Whenever I go anywhere, I try to buy a book about local ghost stories. Some are much more enjoyable than others, but it sure is neat to read one, recognize the street, restaurant, or location and think “I’ve been there!”

Here’s a peek at a few of the tomes I have on my shelves —

~True Ghost Stories by Hans Holzer
~The Big Book of Illinois Ghost Stories by Troy Taylor (picked up on a recent trip “home” to Champaign-Urbana)
~Weird Hauntings compiled by Joanne Austin
~Washington’s Most Famous Ghost Stories by John Alexander
~Ghost in the Mirror by Leslie Rule (by far the spookiest of them all!)
~Baltimore’s Harbor Haunts by Melissa Rowell and Amy Lynwanke
~Haunted Wisconsin (revised) by Michael Norman and Beth Scott — what’s interesting is that I picked this book up just a few months ago in Green Bay, WI, and put it in my TBR pile. I began reading it the same day my hubby pointed out that NPR had featured the book. Now, he’s the NPR fan, not me, I’d have never seen or known about the feature. Coincidence (cue spooky music) or….?
~Don’t Kiss Them Good-bye, Allison DuBois (because I love, love, love the show Medium)

These are just a few picked at random.

Do you have any favorite compilations of Ghost Stories? Or even better, any ghost stories of your own to tell? I have one, which I’ll share with you all next Friday.

Until then, happy haunting!

Ericka

What do you mean it’s Tuesday already?
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
Filed under A Writer's Life

When I was a child I thought as a child. time moved at a snail’s pace, or slower. I never truly believed grownups who told me to enjoy it, because once grown, time would fly. Yeah, right.

Yeah, they were right. It’s been especially hectic as inertia boy, my little RADlet who never gets sick, is sick, has been sick since Friday morning. He’s been running a low-grade fever for days upon days. Yesterday, he got a cough. Now, I had some follow up blood work I had to get done or have my own Doctor have her nurse call me hourly…so….I listened to the poor little guy cough, cough, hack, hack, until I was able to convince The Husband to take inertia boy to Urgent Care (two trips to the Dr’s office was one too many for me).

Bronchitis is the doctor’s best guess. Antibiotics seem to be helping a bit. Sleep might be helping more.

Amazingly, with all the chaos, and adding in that I’m taking an online craft class, blogging at Written In Ink (join me for Write With Me Wednesdays) and working on a full-length novel, I’ve gotten an impressive number of words written this week. It helps that I’m working on something short, shiny, and erotic…A Christmas story I’ll be subbing for an anthology at Evernight Publishing (wish me luck) sometime next week after I’ve gotten it finished and polished and polished some more.

Oh, and don’t forget that I’m participating in the Night Owl Reviews Scavenger Hunt!

Good luck!

Ericka

Night Owl Romance’s Halloween Hunt
Tuesday, September 28th, 2010
Filed under Blurbs and Promos

Halloween Hunt Promo Graphic

Book Review – Shadow Lover by Lydia Parks
Friday, September 24th, 2010
Filed under What I'm Reading

Shadow Lover Cover

I’m working my way through those Nocturne Bites I purchased to snack on, doing research for the short story I’m writing with you on Wednesdays over at Written in Ink. I recently finished Shadow Lover by Lydia Parks. You can read the review over at the Written In Ink blog. Up next is: Racing the Moon by Michelle Hauf. I’m already a big fan of Michelle’s so I’ m looking forward to nibbling on this short.

Hope you get a chance to hop on over and read my reviews.

Until Monday, have a G-R-E-A-T weekend!

Ericka