The Dynamic Trio - Blog

Yes, guurgeous is a word…I just made it up and it’s the perfect way to describe my new cover for Egyptian Voyage. I just got it the other day for my August 29th release and I’m just wiggling and jiggling my butt all over the place (it’s called dancing, I promise) ;D Take a look!

CONTEST AND WEBSITE STUFF
I’m having a website redesign done so my site at www.tjmichaels.com will be down for a few days. My webchicky says it’ll be back up on Sunday, so if you’re participating in the huge Arcane August contest you’ll still be able to get the answers you need from my site with plenty of time to spare.

Okay, now on to some other non-writing related stuff. And after you read this, give me your honest opinion.

Now I don’t know about you, but this girl needs her batteries. With all the electronic gadgets we use around my house we are forever shoving one, two, or four into the recharger every darned day. But now there’s something new to take care of our battery needs…and I’m not sure if I like it or not. Check it.

“If you crack the back off of an iPhone or any other modern portable electronic device, you’ll find a big honking battery that takes up a huge amount of space and contributes to a large part of the device’s weight. Fuel cells and solar power have both been floated as promising solutions to the battery weight/capacity problem, but new research suggests that carbon nanotubes may eventually provide the best hope of implementing the flexible batteries and supercapacitors needed to shrink our gadgets even more.”

Yes, it’s a paper thin battery that can use electrolytes from the body to charge it. I can see the applications of this and certainly would appreciate a lighter eBook reader (it’s about the size of a paperback book, but could certainly weigh less), but I’m not sure I’d want an itty bitty battery that can be used inside my body. Hmmm. What do you think?

Here’s the link to the full article: Itty Bitty Battery Article

TJ
www.tjmichaels.com

I’m moderately embarassed to admit I’ve been listening to Evanescence a lot lately. I know. I can totally own my deep love of Justin Timberlake but this sort of Emo isn’t my normal fare, I tend toward harder stuff like Static X and Ministry for my emo needs (nobody does emo better than a junkie, just sayin). I swear Evanescence is like pringles, I can’t stop myself from listening to Fallen over and over. Although I am listening to JT right now, Lovestoned is such a great song to write to. If only I was able to write instead of having to break up fights in the living room and the petite monster didn’t come in here every two minutes to tell me how unhappy she is that she’s not wearing her pink dress today and how much she hates the apple dress (which is actually cherries but all that matters is her discontent dontcha know)

I am however, relieved because apparently “dozens of horny girls in (my town)” want to be my friend. Gosh, isn’t that nice of them? I’m sure my husband would be pleased by that. So friendly they even send me dozens of emails every day about it offering to send me pictures for some low introductory price. If I use that along with the offers to make my penis very large and virile, I’m so money! (well, if only I had a penis)

I have several new pairs of shoes that make me squee every time I see them. I’ve never had strappy stilettos before and these are so ridiculous! I love them in all their totally ridiculous, can only wear them with a few things glory. Also? A pair of bright red patent leather slingback open toed pumps. With, white polka dots on the heel and platform. Totally works with the vintage dress I picked up last month.

Okay, I’m officially rambling and I need to post excerpts up at my messageboard because it is, after all, Titilating Tuesday - actually I’ve already done that part. Sneaky peeks of Reading Between the Lines and Fire and Rain are up and ready to be read.

Oh and because many of the magazines we subscribe to have been all about my sekrit celebrity boyfriend Clive Owen, I thought I’d give him a little love here too…

Do you remember when you were a child and how much you’d look forward to school holidays or a family holiday to the beach?

Our cruise tickets arrived a couple of days ago, along with goodies such as hats and daypacks. We’ve spent several hours looking up available excursions, have read the Lonely Planet guide and discussed our options. I’m feeling distinct childhood excitement about our upcoming holiday. Admittedly, it’s an extra special holiday because we’re also celebrating twenty-five years of marriage (goodness knows where the time has gone!) but hubby is just as excited as I am. The suitcase is out and we’re thinking about the things we need to take even though it’s another two weeks before we leave for Hawaii and our cruise.

Meantime I’m trying to write. I’m actually doing really well and have stuck to my target word count of a minimum of 2000 words per day. I’ve been writing for 13 days and my total stands at 30200 words. The last four days have been plain hard slog because I keep thinking the holidays are coming. The holidays are coming. It’s like school all over again. I’m going on holiday with my best friend and I just can’t wait!

First off, I’m chatting over at the Ellora’s Cave Reader’s Yahoo group today. Come by for some fun and juicy excerpts, of course.

Hey, I saw Lauren’s new cover and it’s absolutely fabu! And I have a new cover, too! Egyptian Voyage will be here in just a few short weeks and I finally got the cover - check it out!

We’ve got all kinds of stuff going on here at the Dynamic Trio. There’ve been loads of entries into the Arcane August contest, so keep ‘em coming for a chance to win books from Shelley, Lauren, Denise Agnew, two from myself, as well as all the Night Whispers Authors! Lauren’s also got an awesome Books of Summer contest going on, so be sure to get in on it.

Yesterday I got 2700 words done on Hatsept Heat and some more outlining on a new sci-fi I’m working on. I have no idea what I’m going to call it. This one is my typical kiss a$$ female, but she’s a bit more gruff than I usually write ‘em. But she’s a soldier and her edges are a bit rougher than my usual ladies. But I’m really liking her. I think I can deal with most heroines as long as she’s not a total be-yotch or a whining ninny.

What do ya’ll like about your heroines?

Enjoy your Sunday, ya’ll!

You know, I often have no idea what to write until I open the window here and start typing. I know and here you all thought I was so organized (eye roll). But I often think of blogging as sort of a conversation with the people who read it. Many of them have blogs that I read too and comment on. It’s sort of a way of keeping in touch.

Which makes me think about the concept of community in general. For instance, as an author, I’m on a few author chat loops. It’s funny how each chat loop has its own personality but there are two of them that I absolutely love to participate on, I just click there I suppose. The authors are not constantly trying to one up each other and there’s real celebration for the successes that people earn as well as real sympathy and great advice when folks get rejections or suffer personal setbacks.

Without community, I’d shrivel up and die I think. Without my friends there to help me and give me advice and to say, “do your research before signing that” or “don’t submit there, they suck” or even “you rock” I’d live in isolation from the writing world.

And that’s so easy to do as a writer. Because I live in my head a lot. And my work is solitary quite often (except for “research” with my husband). So being able to reach out and be heard is important because it lets me know I’m not just talking to an empty room.

And so you see, I’m totally blathering and some days it’s obvious that the real meaning for “off the cuff” is “talking out of my ass” But here’s another blog entry down and now I have to give my kids a snack and clean my kitchen. Because writing is all about the glamour.

Before I go, I got my cover for my September EC release, Fire and Rain (a follow up to Ascension) and I’m quite happy with it!

Click the cover for a blurb and an excerpt!

I’m in a moderately good mood today so how about a contest? Check my main blog for details of my SUMMER OF BOOKS contest that ends August 30.

I reached the midway point of my current WIP today, managing to do 2060 words. My muse and I disagreed about halfway through the day, and she stalked off in a huff. Talk about a bitch. I mean, what kind of a muse leaves her writer high and dry in the middle of a writing session? I tried all the normal things I do to get my muse back to work. I went to the fridge, studied the contents and fed my muse. She whined because I didn’t have chocolate. Yeah, and that was because she ate all the chocolate last week. Feeding the muse did nothing. She just dug in her toes and decided she’d like to watch television.

“No,” I said. “We’ll go for a bike ride and get some lovely fresh air. That will help you get back into the groove.”

My muse agreed. It was a nice day, almost spring-like with the sun shining. We went for a bike ride. My legs, head and muse all whined about the hill I made them pedal up. Honestly. Talk about a conspiracy. Here, I’m trying to do the right thing and they complain. Incessantly. We arrived back at home and immediately needed more food. Coffee, at least, my muse demanded. I can’t think without coffee.

Finally, I got my muse back to work. But my muse hates the book, the characters. Everything. “We’re never going to finish this piece of crap,” my muse said.

“We’ll take Scotty for a walk,” I said. “Maybe we’ll have a brainwave.”

“Are there any hills?” my muse asked, highly suspicious.

“No hills,” I agreed.

Off we went. Surprisingly we worked well together and had a brainwave…until the dog decided she’d seen my husband. Off she raced.

“She’s going up the hill,” my muse screeched.

“Yep,” I said. “We’ll have to chase her because her hearing isn’t so good now she’s old.” We put on a sprint, raced up the hill and finally caught the wee dog.

“That’s it,” my muse said. “I’m not listening to you again.”

My muse and I still aren’t talking…

If you have any advice to force my stubborn muse back to work, I’d love to hear it!

Hey all,

I’m teaching a class at work and sneaking away to put up this post. Why? Because Lauren posted about Chaka Khan the other day and now the darned song is stuck in my head…and I’m wiggling around in my chair singing “Ain’t Nobody” in my head!

By the way, I got a peek at my cover for EGYPTIAN VOYAGE and… I absolutely LOVE IT! I think it’s the best Torrid Tarot cover so far! As soon as I get the official copy, I’ll put it here on the blog.

Gotta run…time for class ;D

TJ

So I’ve got books - lots of books. More books than I can store in my house so I thought I’d given them away instead! Here’s how it’s going to go:

Until August 30, I’m going to take entries at my email address (click the link and it’ll get you right to me) with SUMMER OF BOOKS in the subject line and I’ll choose at least three winners possibly four, for a package of books! Each winner will also receive one of mine in the package as well.

Easy! Good luck! Oh and don’t forget to enter TJ’s contest either!

I love Chaka Khan. Seriously. Her voice is amazing and even now she’s still got it. Right now, I just started on a new book and Ain’t Nobody is the song I’ve been listening to over and over (along with some fabulous jilted woman songs but that’s background)

Check these lyrics (written by David Wolinksy, by the way) and if you want to hear her sing it now, click this link and listen to her at youtube It won’t allow for embedding but I think she’s amazing live, it’s just as good as if she’d been in the studio.

About the most exciting thing that’s happened recently is the demise of Mr. Munro’s golf shoes (Yesterday he had to tape them up with masking tape so he could finish his round of golf) so I thought I’d give you some random thoughts to ponder. If you have an answer please tell all.

1. Why are so many countries around the world experiencing devastating floods this year? Including New Zealand.

2. Why do doubt demons strike just when a writer needs to buckle down and write hard and fast?
Shoo! I said. Shoo! Go away. Out of my office!

3. Why do traffic lights turn red the moment I start thinking about how I haven’t struck a single red light yet?

4. Why do drivers have to roar past in the outer lane only to just about cause an accident a few cars forward by trying to squeeze back into the stream of traffic?

Contests:
Have you entered the contest at my website yet?

I’m also giving away a signed copy of The Shadow over at The Romance Studio on 7 August in the book-a-day giveaway.

And don’t forget TJ’s current contest. Details available at TJ’s website in the July newsletter archives.

Good luck!