A few years ago there was this thing called “Six Sentence Sunday”, organized by a couple of authors who may not have realized at the onset they were creating a spectacular! It was fun and tons of folks participated. However, it ended officially January 27, 2013. I LOVED this weekly author share, and this morning when I started thinking about what I would post about, I decided to make today (sans alliteration) SIX SENTENCE TUESDAY:)! So, are you with me?!!!!

Here’s what you must do to play–pull six sentences from your current WIP (work in progress) and post in the comments below. That’s it. Only six sentences! I also am in the mood to giveaway some books because I’ve been to every conference, convention, retreat, in the continental US in the past year and have a ton of books. So, the lucky winner of the drawing can pick two of the following: J.R. Ward (CRAVE), Kendra Elliot (BURIED), Jenna Black (The Devil Inside), Laura Griffin (Twisted) and Kristan Higgins (Too Good to Be True).

To get the ball rolling, here are three of my Six Sentence Sunday snippets from October 2011, reposted today for your enjoyment!

From my paranormal romance Gideon about a vampire struggling to keep his promise to a witch:

An hour later, he held Rachel’s hand and recalled the day a hundred years before when a witch’s spell had stopped him from feeding on humans. Before that day, he hadn’t contemplated his destiny. Hadn’t worried about it. Killing was his art. He’d understood that with clarity since 1696—the last thing he’d ever wanted to be was necessary. Now he had no choice.

More from WIP Gideon:

Gideon made his way down the narrow hallway to an archway outside the kitchen and stopped. When he still killed, he never thought about how much the living hated dying. It took Rachel’s magic to remind him. Then the faces of the people he’d butchered crawled into his memories everyday, all day long. The terror in their eyes, as vivid as the night he’d held them by the throat, fangs embedded in their flesh, draining their lives into his belly. As he stepped into the kitchen, he saw this look in Alice Wilson’s eyes–although she was very much alive.

And the last Six Sentence Sunday blast from the past (and yes, Gideon – because I love vampires and this story, and vampires will be hot again soon, I swear!):

Standing, his legs unsteady, he gripped the bedpost and peered up at the painting of Rachel on the wall opposite his bed. He remembered the artist Matisse and the drink they’d shared in a small café near the Tower in Paris in 1890. The man was ill and hadn’t committed to painting yet, but he and Gideon discussed color, brushes and the effect of light on Rachel’s hair. He found her beautiful, too. Especially her brown, shiny hair that turned blood red when candlelight flickered nearby. That’s when Matisse told him, “Women with that color hair fuel life’s miseries more potently than most.” Gideon never understood what he’d meant until now.

Okay authors – it’s your turn! Give me Six Sentences NOW from your WIP!!!!!

And have a happy October – Halloween is only a few weeks away, you know!

And oh, one of the best TV vampires of all time – Angel from BTVS and ATS!

Okay, this blog post is going to break the rules. I’ve got three topics here and am giving each one it’s own spotlight. So let’s go!

I know a lot of folks, most of us, look at January 1 as the beginning of the new year and the perfect opportunity to make a fresh start. We have resolutions, new diets, we throw things out of the closet we don’t need or no longer want to indulge in, all of which makes sense. The beginning of a brand new year and getting started on the right foot is soothing and invigorating–and critical to the human condition. We aspire to change even if we don’t always succeed. But as much as I love the first day of a new year, I am a huge fan of September.

It is my favorite month (but the other 11 are  high up there on my list of good, too:), but September is the beginning of my ‘new year’. Of course, it stems from years of going back to school and raising a child and the excitement of a new school year. But I love the  gradual change in season. The visual stimuli of color and cooler breezes and the anticipation of change. It relaxes me and the pressure is off. I’m not competing with the rest of the world’s new year’s resolutions. It’s all about September to me:)!

So what do I have in mind for this fall?

The past nine months, I’ve been thinking, breathing, doing nothing but writing books, working on getting an agent, working on getting published, writing more books–you get the picture. The most important thing I’ve learned so far in my new full-time writing world (or almost full time:) is that writing requires physical energy. A back that doesn’t hurt, lungs that don’t split in half when you have a deep belly laugh (that’s a shout out to a friend who needs to take better care of herself), and having the patience and confidence to do what you know you can do. In other words, taking better care of me has moved up on the list of things that MUST get done. All of us know how easy it is to forget about ‘us’. Women forget routinely, men do too. So I declare September as the month for you to redo, re-commit, re-challenge yourself to do more for yourself! I know I am.

Guess what I learned this weekend at the Writers’ Police Academy?

I write romance. I love a good mystery, suspense or thriller, but I need the love:)! There was so much fantastic information at WPA14, I couldn’t begin to share half of it, which means if you write romantic suspense and give a damn about authenticity in your stories, you MUST sign up and support WPA. But I’m a romance writer. And there are only so many facts I will have on a page.  But later this week, I will be blogging at my website about WPA14 – so stay tuned.

Outlander on Starz…

There is no logical reason for me to write about Jamie Fraser here – except why the hell not? Obsession is a wicked, wicked, beast. But Jamie is a sexy beast of a man (on the page and on the screen)…that’s all folks!