It was just snow.

Well...I have a few announcements to make. The first? The ink is dry on my contract for Trust Me If You Dare, Romano & Albright Book II. That's a very good thing and you'll have it in your hot little hands in December or November.

After letting that particular cat out of the box last night on Twitter, I went on a celebratory shoe shopping trip to West Hartford with littlegirl and BF. Yes. Shoes. So how I wound up in the Bare Escentuals shoppe is beyond me. Perhaps because more than shoes, some sparkly make-up is needed for the Gays of Our Lives event. Something a little more fun than my mom-a-day make-up. Something GOLD.

The result? No shoes on the horizon for LBea. I may have to stick my credit card in the freezer for a while. I...uh...exercised it. But good times, because I have sparkly crap to put on my eyelids and some spritzie water to 'wake me up' during the day. The things we buy, huh? Still. It was great fun. The girls had a blast. Until we left.

What I haven't mentioned all weekend, because I've been waiting for this to subside, is the shoulder. I know. Another drama, but I am in agony. Friday, after a particularly pissy event with a good friend, I recklessly took my frustrations out on the snow covered walk. Thick wet snow. Inches and inches deep. Packed by rain and more snow. G is currently in....somewhere in Asia. Shanghai? That sounds right. He's on another If This Is Tuesday We Must Be In Belgium business trip and he lost his phone. He's somewhere and he skypes me at night. It works for us. Anyway, he's not here to shovel--and I just felt like shoveling. It's NOT a big deal.

Uhm. After shoveling snow, I used my elliptical.

Fast forward to Friday night. Ow.

Saturday I drove kids and ate Motrin, yes? By Saturday night, after my dirt makeup binge, what had started as discomfort and niggling knots in my upper back/neck...rapidly turned into something else. I thought my arm was going to fall directly from my shoulder socket. My back. My neck. My pinky finger. What the heck--coughing hurt? I thought, Am I old? Can't I handle a damn snow shovel?

(The answer to that is a decided no.)

So I re-medicated and, after bitching at the girls (wah) and sucking the joy directly out of the car ride home-- I slept on the heating pad last night.

I swear, if it's not better tomorrow morning I'll see a health care professional.

::Takes credit card from freezer::

So friends, it's two days until March 2nd and I'm thrilled to see not one, but two positive reviews for Catch Me If You Can. Thanks to everyone spreading the word and generally being very...sweet. I'm going to chomp some pain pills and watch a little TV.

Big smoochin' xxx's

LB

Make It Stop.

3-6-Mafia.

Cat Fight

CJ and I are fighting over who gets to give away whose book.

Win a book at DIK. Or...win two.

Blogging Elsewhere

Come visit me. Day TWO here.

What is this fuckery, Uganda?

From the glittery love of Eskimo Kiss Project's blog post today, I learned about the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

Words fail me, but action does not. Sign the petitions, like this one.

Take a moment to check it out. I'm not a pusher of politics, but I am a believer in basic human rights for all people and this is...outrageous.

Writing

...and discouraged that RTL, the suits in charge of Alles Was Zahlt, continue to ignore my ongoing letter writing campaign, my emails and my international phone call blitz most secret wish: MOAR DeRo.

Hello! I just found them! And now? Nadda. Nothing. The occasional gimme of a quick bunny kiss, but, c'mon! I want some nfgBF (see photo) and his puppy-eyed young lover embroiled in some angst inducing drama. With sparkles.

New Favorite Gay Boy Friend

Roman Wild

Just in case you forgot.

FYI You can now buy an official EKP t-shirt here.

Still, my daily episodes in the original German continue. (I have no clue what those people are saying, but who cares? It's a hoot, particularly because Dr. Axel Schwartz has faked his own death, is sporting a beard, and is currently hiding in a crappy one star hotel in Argentina. Best of all? He looks like a certain regency/space star ship captain! YAY!)

Please feel free to copy and paste this letter to the RTL folks in Germany. (Just. Kidding.)

Dear RTL folks in Germany,

Please. More Gay Boyz With Issues.

Thank you.

PS Also Axel must keep the beard, come out, and chase nfgBF around the ice rink while calling him 'boy'. Just sayin'.

Meanwhile, the world continues to turn, the days roll by, and Russell Crowe's a'comin'!

Now that's a man.

(Katie(babs) kneel and worship)

CJ uses this photo as her screensaver. NO LIE.

That's the news. I'll be lurking a little. If you don't see me on the internet, it means I'm sucked inside this new work. It's currently a jigsaw puzzle of scenes and chapters. For the first time, I writing out of sequence with the hope that I'll reconstruct the book later. But I'm digging these characters, this story, and the challenge.

I say that today. Ha.

Have a great day,

LB

PS~~-- Tracy is giving away a copy of Catch Me If You Can.

In A Perfect World...

OK it's a little long, but WHO CARES?




PS

I swiped this from Kiwi Sarah.

Thanks, and maybe a little depth

Totally Not In Order

Lisabea, Wendy, Lori, Nikki, Rosie, Renee, Rowena, Holly, KC and Kristin. Then authors: Danielle Yockman, KB Alan, Tessa Dare, Vivienne Westlake, Rachel Jameson, Helen Kay Dimon, Eden Bradley and Sabrina Darby.

Here we all are in the Costa Mesa Yard House on a rainy Saturday. Minus two, I think. Look at Rosie peeking around Lori's shoulder. And Wendy is equally as adorable. I am the only one with food.

It was a great time, lots of gossip and chatting about books, blogging, RWA, kids, husbands, travel, adventure, and sex. Yes. It was lunch with friends. Those So.Cal. bloggers are a special group.

We left the Yard House after a fantastic time gabbing and wandered down the block to New and Recycled Romance--of course Rosie and I lingered with the Smokinghotbook girls and got our tootsies soaked. I wore stupid shoes but they matched Rosie's shirt and...it was worth it.

Later, after Holly loaned me some dry socks, we enjoyed a book swap in the parking garage--yes, SuperWendy now has a few 'special' reads that G carted for me through security and across 3000 miles. Two hours we chattered in that freezing cold parking garage until this hardcore handful of So.Cal. bloggers were left in a tiny, happy circle. Tracy, Holly, Nikki, Rowena, Rosie, Me looking like a fool, and Renee. Lori took this photo. I wish she were in the picture, too.

The Heart of So. Cal.

For me, the most meaningful thing we touched on, while standing on cement for 2.5 hours absolutely reluctant to let it end, was the connection we'd found in our corner of the romance blogging community.

Sure there's bad stuff, but sometimes, there's real gold.

We talked about the rare moments, the real ones, when we find a book that strikes a chord and we're called to share that experience on our blogs. I'm not talking about the constant daily reviewing, I'm talking about the times we let down our guard and open our most private experience of reading to bloglandia. Sometimes, a book can strip us. A book can expose the very private kernel of who we are, and how difficult and brave a thing it is to let someone, or in our case an entire network of fellow readers, see that. But difficult as it is, those ARE the defining moments of our social circle. Because this is where the magic of reading centers--in the truth of who we are individually.

Holly and I were remembering a friend's review of Blue Eyed Devil. I've chosen not to link the review here because I'm not clear that our friend would appreciate the spotlight-- and I have great personal affection for this woman and would never want to hurt her. Anyway. She's a very private person. Fun. A good egg, and she never trades on her emotions, if you know what I mean. Suffice it to say, that her discussion was bare, bold, and painfully revealing. It was private and daring and it broke my heart. In that moment, I loved this person, you know? Because she was real. What she showed us--through her discussion of Lisa Kleypas' work--was herself. Such a courageous thing to do. Holly and I both had goose flesh on our arms talking about this.

3000 miles away, we were having the same experience about our same friend.

Those handful of posts, not the thousands of reviews and blatherings of silliness and nastiness that floods our Google readers, are the ones that matter. The puerile or the foolish (as fun as they may be) are our daily pass through. We can take 'em or leave 'em. Sure, they make our community fun--and we certainly (I mean hello, I live to goof off) build friendships. But the true sharing of emotion written from the heart, with no thought for ratings or popularity, that's the underlying grace within these unlikely Internet friendships.

We're very blessed here, if we choose to be. We're lucky. I know there's a lot cruelty and a whole brand of tediously disingenuous blogging --it's actually pretty shallow. (I'm pretty shallow most of the time, so I guess I can own that.) I think what really makes this little blogging community unique is the depth of shared reading experience. What great fortune that we do this within the romance genre.

Anyway. I had a great time on Saturday, and I want to thank the So. Cal. ladies for inviting me. It was the one year anniversary of Gob's publication (speaking of depth). ::lifts coffee mug::

Thanks Ladies!

**NEWS FLASH**

I'm stuck in So. Cal. on a sunny Wednesday and lounging fat and happy in the lobby.

I'm "working".

However--two things you should know before I sign off and write all day.

ONE!

Catch Me If You Can has a shiny new release date--March 2nd! Be there, or be in trouble with LB GREGG! Or not. No pressure.

TWO!

Cover Me was nominated as best Mystery Suspense for 2009 over at Love Romance Cafe (thanks Dawn!). I'm right there, my lil name and my toaster lovin' book, on the list with JD Robb and JOSH LANYON. ::swoons::

Voting commences this Sunday I believe, but truly, it's an honor just to be nom--ok...who are we kidding? My name is on the list with JOSH LANYON. Srsly!!! ::swoons::

Uhm. I'll blog about my experiences in So. Cal. upon my triumphant return to the north pole East Coast. It's been grand here in Anaheim and Irvine and all those other places I visited that look surprisingly similar to Anaheim and Irvine.

And for those of you wondering who won the ARC of Catch Me--I posted the winner ~ CHRIS ~ in the Yahoo Group. And yes, I accepted any/all of these appropriate responses to my burning question: Who is my new favorite gay BF? 'That German guy from the soap opera'; Roman Wild; Dennis Grabosch; or I don't know his name but he's all over your blog.

~LB

ARC-CATCH ME GIVE AWAY

So. I'm giving away an ARC of Catch Me If You Can. Go here, leave a comment in my ARC CATCH ME IF YOU CAN thread in the Yahoo Group, and perhaps, YOU WILL BE THE FIRST to read Catch Me if You Can.

If you can't get into the Yahoo Group, someone please let me know.

LB

PS You have until Sunday 2/7, 7pm PST.

Lanyon and Gregg Chat

Today I'm chatting with Josh.

We were supposed to do this next week-- when I'm in California, right? So that we're same bat-time, same bat-channel. I have on my own calendar the 9th. (Which is wrong. Plain and simple.)

But some folks don't check their calendars very often, and indeed, don't even know what day it is, causing them to send panicked emails on the night of Feb 2nd and say confusing things like: Oh btw we're up tomorrow the 4th. Can you make it?

Perhaps the recipient of said email has been at a banker dinner in West Port with her fancy shoes and her patient husband, and maybe also she's taken advantage of an excellent Pinot Noir and a few too many lamb lollipops. She's befuddled by the message in her email (4th is THURSDAY right? no? Huh? Wait.) but, taking another tiny piece of lamb, she assumes that A) her phone has the wrong date B) too much lamb has gone to her head and/or C) there's something missing here with Josh but...mmmm...wine and lamb and G...so she'll think about it (fiddle dee dee) tomorrow. In other words: I'm GAME but...as stated...befuddled. (Befuddled enough to write this in a combo third/first person).

You can imagine, also, that in our tiny circle of two friends, confusion reigns. SERIOUSLY. We are not as together as one might think, but DAMN we're good looking.

::deep breath::

We arrived at our chat yesterday and welcomed each other...to the sound of crickets. Poor Dawn must have thought we were high.

I mean, it's not that big a deal, but it was amusing to me. I chuckled for a while.

TODAY, Thursday the fourth of February, from 11-4, you are all welcome to the festival of sparkling love that is JOSH LANYON (my hero) and LB Gregg (tis moi!!) chatting live and in person (sort of) and totally 100% FREE at Love Romance Cafe. (Thanks Dawn!)

If you have a second--stop in. We're giving books away.

Anywho. Packing for California. I hope it's warm. There will be 19 of us for the blogger luncheon on Saturday--HOLY SHIT. And Monday? I'm having coffee with my Samhain editor, Sasha, and I'm nervous! I'm also traveling 3000 miles with a bag of prony/dirty books for SuperWendy, because that's what real chicks do.

LB

Buried Treasure 2009

How nice to open my email and find this link from AAR.

"At AAR, the annual Buried Treasure column is our way to recognize those books that we think deserve way more buzz than they got during the past year. These may be books published by small presses or lesser known authors, or even lesser-known books by more popular authors. What they have in common is that they flew beneath the mainstream radar and we want to give them more attention."

So, thank you to reviewer Katie Mack at All About Romance. It was cool to see my little pea shooter on their list. I believe it's the only m/m selection and...well that's no small thing.

I'm watching Halloween today, in bits and spurts (because it's scary!) and working on the outline of...yes you guessed it: the halloween story for Double Feature. ::gulp:: I'm determined to outline all my projects for the year in an effort to gain control over my ginormous to-do list.

Yup. I'll keep you posted on how that works out for me.

Then it's off for hair do dye and a business dinner with my love, my sexy shoes, and a room full of bankers. I'm considering the wine list already.

Ta! Be good, have fun, and don't glom my DeRo boyfriend.

Face down

I spent the weekend in Vermont, skiing in the bitter cold, laughing a lot, and shooting my diet to shit. Good times. Today? I am one tired little ski bunny.

Saturday when we hit the mountain, it was still below zero and the wind was brutal--frost bite warning signs decorated every lift--and G for the first time, bought and wore a helmet. (FINALLY!!) Can you say cold? Our hand warmers froze into solid chunks. Any exposed skin turned white. Our turtles were beaded with ice--where our breath had frozen against our faces. Cool. We took lots of breaks because, I gotta tell you, the skiing was terrific. It was worth the cold, the cost, the wind burn, and the fatigue.

We skied all day. From nine until four. I was so wiped out on Saturday afternoon, that I collapsed face down on the bed at 5:00 and didn't move until it was time to go to dinner at 6:45. G poked and prodded me out the door for a grown up supper--I had to MAKE CONVERSATION--and I ate apricot/pecan encrusted chicken that was to die for. NOM NOM NOM. I finished the meal with a medicinal shot of whiskey in my decaf after supper and then, yes, I landed face down on the bunkbed and, poor unloved G, I slept for ten hours solid. Snore. zzzzzzzzz.

By 12:45 on Sunday, after three hours on the mountain, I told G: "I am officially done." My thighs were cramped in knots. Starved, I went back to the condo and this time, fell face down in a roast beef sandwich--which is NOT on the diet. However, nothing in my life tasted as good as that crappy sandwich slathered in mayo and heavy on cheese.

(I think I just drooled a little typing that)

I was smart enough to quit for the day. Actually, one more run and I'd have slid down the mountain on my ass.

G went out for another hour. He did his typical husband, "I'm in better shape than you." blah blah blah bit. And he wiped out (possibly face down) on the beginner slope and banged his knee. He's wobbling today. I am not.

Am I old? Out of shape? I don't know. I'd like to believe the combination of extreme cold and too many hours on the slopes wrecked me--and left me desperate for a calorie overload and a binge level nap.

BTW, LittleGirl and pal accompanied us on this adventure and...my God can my baby girl snowboard. Competent, confident, careful, and capable. She can handle any level--and she just breezes along, slumped in that boarder stance, and happy as a clam. Sometimes, life is just great.

So. This week I'm writing a little, packing for So Cal, and determined to get a handle on the wife/mom laundry list.

There will be time for Alles Was Zahlt, of course.

And Motrin.

Hope you all had a terrific weekend.

L