Friday is writing day

I love Fridays. I set aside most everything else and write. It makes me happy. Today I am working on a sequel to a book that comes out Aug 3.

The one coming out in Aug is Keeping Score: One Up. It's a demon hunter story about two manly men, Rhys and Noah. Yummy. They know hunters should stay single. Too bad they can't manage to keep their hands off each other.

Book two is a WIP featuring Janus, a character I introed in book one. He's lean. He's mean, he has an eyepatch. He also has a problem. He's been assigned to protect his ex.

Yum.

I'll post an excerpt as soon as I can, but it's a little dirty in the manuscript area right now.

Hugs you all

XXOO

Julia

Sunday Seven

Seven things I did this week to the house--

7) bought a new chair and took the old one to Goodwill

6) bought a gravy boat

5)rearranged the front room to accommodate said new chair

4) swept up a whole dog's worth of hair

3) put away all my clothes

2) cooked and ate low carb fried cheese with my girl (what? sustenance is important to housework)

1) tried and failed to clean the office, which I will try again now

What are y'all up to?

Round up

hey y'all!

Sadly, I don't mean cowboys.

Still, I do have a bunch of stuff to share with y'all.

First of all, I'm an interview! The lovely Mamakitty did an interview for me at her blog for an Authors After Dark spotlight.

I have a new book called Keeping Score: One Up coming out at Changeling Press on August 1. I'm really proud of this one. It's hot and not too long, but not too short. It's about demon-hunter Rhys and how he finds another hunter to compete with. And have hot sex with. Noah is impulsive, and smoking' hot, and he wants Rhys in the worst way. Can they manage to stay alive, and stay together? Keep an eye out here!

Finally, I'll be at Authors After Dark in NOLA August 8-12, 2012. Just over a month away! I'll be at the book signing on Saturday, which is open to the public, and I'll also be doing panels and parties if you're going to the con!

Now, if I can just find me some cowboys...

XXOO

Julia

I have been tagged- lucky 7 meme

http://sommermarsden.blogspot.com/2012/06/meme-lucky-seven.html?zx=166eb2cd02d79d61

Here are the rules: The ‘rules’ are: Go to page 7 or 77 of your latest work. Read down to the seventh line and then post online the next seven lines or sentences. Then head off and tag seven more writers.

Here we go. This is from my upcoming release at Changeling Press, which I just got the green light on and am waiting for edits.

Fucking Noah. Clueless, oh-bite-me-now, beautiful, fucking hot Noah.

There was no way he was losing his kill to Noah. Again. Asshole. The man was a wonder in the sack, but he was such a pain in the ass.

A major pain.

---

And I tag Chris Owen http://www.chrisowen.net/, Tory Temple http://www.torytemple.com/, Dakota Cassidy http://www.dakotacassidy.com/, Renae Jones http://www.renaejones.net/, Missouri Dalton http://missouridalton.blogspot.com/, Neena Jaydon http://koemoe.net/index.html, and Meredith Shayne http://meredithshayne.com/

dragging butt

I'm tired.

Fighting with the HOA makes me tired.

Sigh

I don't like confrontation, but you know, I put hours of work in my yard. Being told it looks like a junkyard makes me peeved

There's no broken down cars. No furniture on the porch. There are 8 potted plants and 5 pieces of expensive metal yard art, y'all

In a perfect world, petty tyrants wouldn't be allowed to threaten you in your own home

In better news, I am writing and I think in my story I will spray the HOA president with the hose. Hard. Maybe a fire hose.

HUgs

Julia

Tim and Kenny

As an early birthday present, BA Tortuga took me to Dallas this past weekend to see Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney in their Brothers of the Sun tour...

Uhn, y'all.

I admit, I was there for Tim. I love Kenny Chesney. I know all his songs. Tim is the one I adore, though. He makes me silly. Makes me literally flail.

There's just something about that big redneck that does it for me.

So, I went and watched, and watched BA watch Tim, which also makes me happy. She gets all blinky and happy. *g*

I'm trying to remember if I had a point. Thinking on Tim's hotness derails me.

Oh, I got my newsletter up! You can sign up for it here! I'm giving away a 25.00 amazon gift card!

I think I need more coffee. Later, y'all

XXOO

Julia

www.juliatalbot.com

Once upon a time

Why is it that cliches are cliches? Why is it we love them?

Oh, I know a lot of folks hate them, and that publishers go out of their way to eradicate them from titles and from stories.

I love the idea of collective memory, though. I love the idea that I can say, "He's madder than a wet hen" and everyone knows what I'm saying. You hear someone say, "Once Upon a Time" and you start to expect a fairy tale, or at least an ironic lead in.

What are my other favorites? Oh, gosh. Whether its sayings like, "She looked at him like a goat looking at a new fence," or even just the cliche of the plain girl who suddenly gets the interest of the too-hot guy, I love them all.

You'll never catch me being the girl who says, "You can't use that, it's too cliche."

What all are y'all's favs?

XXOO

Julia

just a wee update

Hey y'all!
Let's see; what's new?
My dad starts chemo today. Y'all send some good will out to the universe for him. It kinda irks me, because they never have explained exactly how this is better for him than doing nothing, you know? They make it clear there is no actual cure, and he's not symptomatic yet, so what are they hoping to accomplish by killing his immune system. Sometimes doctors piss me off ;)

I have a new book coming out with Ellora's Cave! It's a m/m/f menage, and I have no idea when it will come out, but the title has been approved as Fever for Three and the contract is in! Yay! I'll keep y'all posted.

I have a new story ready to go into Changeling Press, too, but it's not approved yet, so I'll let y'all know when it is!

My coming soon at Torquere us a novella called Crazy in Love. It's about a werewolf in an asylum. How cool is that?

Grins

Also, I'll be updating my newsletter (finally) this week. You can sign up at the bottom of my webpage http://www.juliatalbot.com/

Okay, off to write more.

Hugs

XXOO

Julia

Things Julia does when she can't sleep

10- surfs DIY home improvement blogs

9- reads about basset hound rescue

8-Watches her own bassets sleep

7- tries not to wake up BA Tortuga

6- reads magazines on her Kindle

5- reads books about Mt Everest

4- tries to figure out where her archive went on her kindle fire

3- does squats

2- stares at the ceiling and counts back from 1000

1- writes

Guess which I am about to do now! I think door number 5, peeps

XXOO

Julia

Day 7, desperation sets in

Things are getting a little desperate at chez BA and Julia. The bassets have given into despair. They no longer believe their other mother is coming home, even though I told them first thing that she comes home tomorrow.

I found the screws to the keyboard tray. I got it installed. In the wrong place. I need to move it over 2 inches or so. Right now it's holding my calendar so I have access to the side of my desk. Bah. I will reposition it when BA is back and can help me hold it in place. I am turning into my mother, y'all. She never once installed something right the first time, but she was a stud, nonetheless. I miss her. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, and hug your mom's neck if you can.

Today I have to haul out the ladder and hang things, vacuum, laundry, and get more reports done. I might go get root beer. We'll see.

Also, I might head whap some people a la Gibbs on NCIS, just because it feels good!

Happy Sunday, y'all

XXOO

Julia

Day 6 on my own

Going a little stir crazy. Working like a fiend.

headed out to yard sales this am. Came back with a teacup. No saucer. It's pretty, though, and for a buck, I can make a bird feeder out of it.

got a good latte with almond milk from a local coffee shop I've been wanting to try, came home, let the hysterical dogs out and in and gave them snacks and now?

now I work and write and try to get all the stuff done that hasn't gotten done thanks to running dad all over central Texas for doctors visits.

On the good side, I saw a pair of cardinals this morning, right on the side of the road, like they were just there for my pleasure. I had yummy eggs, and Sonny cleaned my plate. We've had good rain. And! I have a bunch of movies lined up to keep mne company.

Now if I could just find the screws for my keyboard tray...

XXOO Julia

Movie review

Hey y'all!

Back in the early 2000s (how weird is it to say that?) I went on a gay movie binge. The Sum of Us? you know it. Priest? Heck yeah. Velvet Goldmine was never a fav, but I saw it for Ewan. I loved how the guy in Big Eden called his gramdpa Sam-pa. I even watched coming of age stuff like Beautiful Thing.

I have to admit, as I got older, coming of age, coming out and identity struggle was way less on my radar. As you get older and find out who you are, watching someone else wrangle with it is a lot less appealing, right?

So, I haven't looked at movies that much of late. I watch action adventure like the Raven (which I am waiting to see with BA)

With BA Tortuga out of town, though, I was looking for a movie to watch on my iPad in bed.

Boy Culture came out in 2006, so I may be late catching the train, but it's on .99 rental on iTunes, so it's worth a shot if you're looking for a great little movie. It's about a hustler, but he's high class, snarky, and onscreen he reads a lot like a BA Tortuga character (grins at her girl). X, as he calls himself, is in love with one of his roommates, but they're unable to get their timing right. His other roommate is in love with X, but that's never going to work. The story also centers on one of X's older clients, and how he influences the guys' lives. If you can get past the first 15 minutes of too much self-conscious gay snark, and settle in for the sarcastic yet emotional and yes, fun, ride that follows, it's well worth the watch. I really surprised myself with how much I got invested in the characters.

It doesn't hurt that the main character is total eye candy.

I'd give it 4 stars, but the beginning is a little slow to warm up, so 3 1/2 for me.

XXOO

Julia

Life without BA day 4

Well, it's day 4 without BA at home. I have done laundry and dishes. I have run errands. I have dragged hysterical dogs to my dad's house next door while the exterminator was in. The yard guys picked this week to do extra work, so the fertilizer guy came, meaning I had even more hysterical dogs. I have dragged two fifty pound plus basset hounds on daily walks, when one of them flatly refuses to go unless I pull her along like a giant weight at a tractor pull. I need to put my keyboard tray under my desk, for lo, my shoulders are sore. I need to reseed the birdfeeders, which are a swampy mess. I need to do my work Instead I made yummy GF pancakes and bacon, and am writing this post *g* 4 more days after today And now to get dad to his appt and then take boy basset to the vet for his allergies XXOO Julia

life without BA- day one

yep BA went to Canada to visit Sean Michael. For those of you who continually wonder, no, we are not all the same person. We write together on occasion, we're critique partners, and we've all known each other since at least 1999. (See, they said SOME kind of apocalypse would happen that year) I have not been apart from BA for more than a few hours since 2010, when she went on a 3 day cruise without me. Very, very early this am, she left on the shuttle for the airport, and I went back to bed with two very despondent bassets. I was reawakened at 7:45 by the trash truck. Thus far today I have done a half hour of edits, done 2 hours of data entry, cleaned out a closet, hung a curtain rod and curtain, hung a shelf, made french toast, chatted with BA while she dealt with a cancelled flight in O'Hare, dealt with the pooper scooper and written most of a blog post. It might be time for a nap. The bassets certainly seem to think so. How's y'all? XXOO Julia

Lazy Sundays are not for meta

I was gearing up to a ranty mcrant pants about how the world "marginalize" is overused, and how saying a woman who writes m/m knows nothing about being in the glbt community and is not an advocate is, oh, marginalization to those of us who identify as bi or lesbian, but I decided it was too nice a day. I mean, really, I have better things to do than rant about people supporting charitable causes, for whatever reason they do it. Like, oh, support a charitable cause or two. Some of my favs? NOH8, Lambda Legal, and the House of Puddles Senior Basset rescue. Go look at that instead of kerfluffles. I also write occasionally. Sometimes I knit, crochet or cross stitch. I read, I do home improvement with my girl, and I work in my garden. I had a very well-read and passionately political lesbian I met at EAA con last year tell a well-known (straight male editing m/m) that his use of "gay lifestyle" was insulting, and that there were just lives, gay, straight or otherwise. I think I'll choose to live mine and not marginalize anyone, even folks who don't bother to get to know a who community before bitching about them. ;) XXOO Julia

Writing away

Most of you probably know my dad was just diagnosed with lung cancer. Between that, moving, and BA's uncle Bob passing away, we've had a rough month and a half. Writing has suffered some. I had a Changeling book that was meant to come out in May that will probably be June or July now. Cereus got put on hold while BA and I stopped co-writing for a couple of weeks. And my Diamond Birthstone for Torquere didn't make it in April. Still, I'm happy to report that like a turtle, I am slowly getting back into the swing. I got werewolves and weretigers aplenty, and Cereus is getting done inch by inch lalala hugs to all Have a good day! XXOO Julia

Just scrambling

Hey y'all! Nope, not scrambling eggs. Scrambling to get it all done. O.O Grins. Still, there are birds in the feeders for BA to watch, there are petunias in my dad's yard for him to enjoy, and we have a new pot of moss roses. We had a trip to the beach, and I get a week of the house to myself while BA hies off to visit Sean Michael in Canada. (I didn't get to go this time because our boarder for the dogs is going to the beach, lol) Still, I have to admit that when BA goes out of town I get to eat really bad food. Like wheaty pizza. I just have to eat it outside or at the restaurant. I generally treat myself to one pizza and one hamburger with a wheat bun. Then I bitch about my skin breaking out and my joints aching... Cackles. Today I get to play with chalkboard paint and curtain rods! Woot I'll look at updating y'all on the writing in the next couple of days hugs Julia

Trying to get back to normal

been a long month or two. Dad got diagnosed with lung cancer. My partner's uncle died, and we had to go to Boston as the jumping off point for the funeral. Let me tell you, folks, Boston during the marathon weekend is whoa. Very crowded, very expensive and a little scary, traffic-wise. Still, from a writer's POV, the whole setting up for the marathon infrastructure was neat, and now I know how and where to sign up for the Boston Marathon should I ever decide to write on it. I'm running on fumes, but pretty darned happy with the house and garden. BA and I have been working on it pretty hard, and it's looking great. I love getting my hands dirty and actually getting stuff accomplished. We've hung shelves and built herb tables. We've drilled and hammered and dug. It's awesome. Now I have gluten free Grissini and cheese and I'm about to settle in for some writing time have y'all seen my free read from Changeling? http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-changelingencountersomethingsweet-638223-180.html it's free!

check me out on TRS!

Hey y'all

I have a blog post about Po Boys over at the The Rainbow Studio blog

http://therainbowstudio.blogspot.com/

accidents, new stories, and trying to get back on track

I keep trying to update here and I'm having a rough time

Back in mid-February BA and I were rear-ended pretty hard, our car totaled, and both of us shaken up and bruised badly. It's taken ages to get back into life. I also had a lot of business deadlines to hit, which I was late on

So! Now I am catching up. Yay! \O/

I have a new Sip out called Doggie Style

This is no reprint, y'all. This is brand new! Hooray

Ray is a designer who does small dog fashion. He's also a closeted werewolf. When his adopted sister Allie brings him a giant rescue dog, he's less than thrilled. Then again, so is the dog. Can Ray learn to embrace a more doggie style of life?

Go here and get it!