Monday, December 29, 2008

Our favorite Books


Congratulations to Martha E, you are the winner of the women’s fiction duo by Elizabeth Flock and Karen White! I’ll be contacting you for your snail mail address (or you can email me on skully at skullybuzz dot com if you see this first) and mailing out your prize!

This week I’ve got a couple of historicals, A Lady’s Guide to Rakes by Kathryn Caskie and Lord of Seduction by Nicole Jordan. Historicals have always been my favorite, I still remember waiting with bated breath for Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss to come out and Laurie McBain’s Moonstruck Madness. So, post a comment, (you must type in your email address) and I’ll enter you in the drawing. I’ll also add you to my newsletter for updates on all the fun stuff and releases, too. I’ll announce the winner on the next blog! Good luck! As we discussed in last week’s blog, I’ve got lots of writing goals for 2009, and I’ve made a big decision that I hope you will all be okay with. In order to make my goals, I need to cut back on a few other things. So, I’d like to start doing the blog every other week. I hope you all approve. So for January, I’ll be up on the 12th and Jan 26th. Oh, and I’ll be doing the “tote blog” on Jan 8th. You’ll still have lots of chances to win and I hope you’ll understand my decision.

Talking about my favorite historicals made me think about many of the books that I loved when I was younger, the ones that stuck in my mind, my collectibles. Unfortunately, when I moved out on my own I decided I couldn’t take them all with me, and really where was I going to keep them in my dinky apartment. So, poor Kathlesn and Laurie went to the thrift store (I would NEVER just throw them out). Of course, I now regret that. I actually comb thrift stores for those old books I loved. I have Kathleen’s Woodiwiss’s The Wolf and The Dove and The Flame and the Flower. I found Laurie McBain’s Tears of Gold, and it was autographed! There was Leigh Nichols’ Key to Midnight. I read that in college and it was one of the best romantic suspense novels I’ve ever read. And I didn’t realize that was Dean Koontz’s pseudonym until much later. Oh, and my favorite time travel was The Mirror by Marlys Millhiser. I have to admit that I’m leery of reading them again. Sometimes you love something because of the person you were when you read it. I have another of Marlys Millhiser’s books, an amnesia story called Michael’s Wife. I remember loving that book, and when I found it again, I read it rabidly. And I didn’t get the “kick.” If you’re a rabid reader, you’ll know what I mean by that. So sometimes, it’s just nice to collect them, to have them, and to remember how I felt when I read them the first time.

I’d love to hear what your favorite books were. And if you still have them. If you still read them again and again.

Happy New Year!

Jasmine, Jennifer and JB!
http://www.skullybuzz.com/
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Monday, December 22, 2008

Goals for 2009

Congratulations to Rhonda, you are the winner of the Sci-Fi/Adventure duo by Liz Maverick and Susan Grant! Thanks for leaving your email, and I’ll be contacting you for your snail mail address.

This week I’ve got a women’s fiction duo, Sleepwalking in Daylight by Elizabeth Flock and The Memory of Water by Karen White. I’m into reading women’s fiction now because I want to write one, so these two books have seen a little bit of bathtub time, but they’re still in great shape. So, post a comment, (you must type in your email address) and I’ll enter you in the drawing. I’ll also add you to my newsletter for updates on all the fun stuff and releases, too. I’ll announce the winner next week! Good luck!

It’s almost Christmas, then my goodness, a new year! How can that be!? Time flies so fast. And I’ve been thinking about my goals for next year. Not resolutions (though I did write an anthology I really loved called Resolutions with Dee Knight, Leigh Wyndfield and Vanessa Hart) because resolutions always sound like something you’re going to break halfway through the new year. Or even in the first month. They always seem to be about kicking a bad habit, so most of them feel doomed from the start. So instead, I’m working on my 2009 goals. I just finished the first draft of Yours for the Night, my anthology about high-priced ladies of the night which will be out in Nov 2009. Yay! It’s due on Jan 31, so I have plenty of time for the rewrite and a read by my wonderful critique partners. I’ll have the proof of Fair Game to do, which arrive in stores June 2009. Then I’ve got the anthology story for the second corset book, Unbound, which I think will be out in Dec 2009. And finally, I’m going to write a women’s fiction! This will be under the Jennifer Skully name. I’ve missed writing as Jennifer. She needs to come out of the closet again, so to speak. The book is called Get What You Need, like the old Rolling Stones song. But in order to do all this, I’ve really got to cut back on the promotion time. There are days when I don’t get to my writing because I’ve got so much promotion stuff going on. Isn’t that sort of backwards, I’m a writer, not a promoter!

I’d love to hear what your goals are. We can all cheer each other on to accomplishing them!

Merry Christmas!

Jasmine, Jennifer and JB!
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Monday, December 15, 2008

Fun things to do at Christmas!

Congratulations to Zara, you are the winner of the Pam Rosenthal duo! Thanks for leaving your email, and I’ll be contacting you for your snail mail address.

This week I’ve got a Sci-Fi adventure romance duo, Crimson Rogue by Liz Maverick and The Scarlet Empress by Susan Grant. Two great writers! So, post a comment, (you must type in your email address) and I’ll enter you in the drawing. I’ll also add you to my newsletter for updates on all the fun stuff and releases, too. I’ll announce the winner next week! Good luck!

So, it’s my mom’s birthday today. Yesterday my sister and I took her to a tearoom for luncheon. This place is way back in the boonies of the Santa Cruz Mountains and it’s actually part of a nursery. We had to drive two miles down this little winding gravel road to get there. When we arrived, they’d decorated this lovely old farmhouse, and the tearoom was toasty warm. We toodled around the Christmas shop, then we all filed in for the luncheon. We had some delicious tea brew, the name of which I can’t remember, then a freshly baked roll, creamed vegetable soup, chicken Givenche (okay, don’t ask me to spell that) with Madera sauce, garlic mashed potatoes topped with yams. I was totally full then, but dessert was this to-die-for chocolate decadence. Wow. I brought half of it home for my hubby to eat. My mom was tickled pink (as the British say). She can’t wait to call her sisters in England and Norway to tell them every little detail. Then, to top it off, she made English pancakes for dinner when we got home! I know, it’s her birthday, but no one makes pancakes like my mom, not even me! The photo is from our trip to Newport this summer. I'll download yesterday's picture sometime and let you see one of those, too! 'Cause if Mom knew I was posting the photo of her in a bathing suit, she'd disown me. But doesn't she look cute! Like a little gnome. She's only about 4'10".

So what are some of the fun things you’ve found to do at Christmastime? My sister thought up this one, so you know I have to top her for Mom’s birthday next year! I need ideas!

My Unlaced Pals and I are doing some blogs this week, too, with giveaways. So be sure and stop by for chances to win autographed copies of Unlaced. Tomorrow, Tuesday, I’ll be with my wonderful agent Lucienne Diver and on Wednesday we’ll be at Bam’s Blog. And today, Monday, check us out on Book Binge where we're doing excerpts and another giveaway!

Jasmine, Jennifer and JB!
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Monday, December 8, 2008

And the winner is... (I updated since this morning, promise!)



Tiramisu392! That's Vic Wurgler. I'll be sending you an email, Vic! But if you read this first, you can email me on skully@skullybuzz.com. Congratulations! And thanks to everyone for stopping by all the blogs and sharing all your stories. It was such fun reading them all!





Okay, I'm so totally lazy that I'm going to write up my real Monday blog later in the day and post it. I had a couple of book signings this weekend in Capitola and Monterey, plus attended another author's signing, so lots of driving. And I've got so much to catch up and not enough hours to do it, plus I've got PT this morning and I've got to buy Superfeet at the Mall, and take some almond rocha to the bookstore girls at Borders in Capitola because I forgot to bring it with me on Saturday, then my husband wants his Tylonol PM... Whew, even writing that exhausts me, and don't you just love knowing every little nauseating detail of what I'm doing today!!!! LOL!!! So, after I get back from doing all that stuff, I'm going to write up the real blog. Promise!

And here's my afternoon addition to Monday's blog! I'm so lazy that I'm simply going to tell you about this weeks prize! I've got two books by the wonderful Pam Rosenthal. She's in my local RWA chapter and I've got The Slightest Provocation and one of her anthologies, Strangers in the Night. Please post and leave me your email, I'll add you to my newsletter so you know the latest happenings, and I'll choose the winner of these two wonderful books next Monday!

I got the Superfeet and really, they're super!

BTW, I saw my first copy of Unlaced at the book signings. It's gorgeous! I hadn't held the real book in my hand before. It was so cool!

Jasmine

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Meet the authors of UNLACED!


Unlaced is in stores! It’s really been an honor working with these ladies. In fact, we’re going to do it again with another anthology, too. And to celebrate, we’ve all gotten together to share a few secrets about ourselves. The theme is “firsts” since this is our first anthology together.

Here’s how it works. We’ve each answered four questions and we’ll each post the answers to one of those questions on our individual blogs. So you can trip around to all the blogs, , , and me, and learn fun things about us. Jaci Burton will tell you about our first kisses, I’ll reveal our first dates, learn about our first loves with Joey Hill and our first break-ups with Denise Rossetti.

My question that I asked everyone was about their first date. Here’s what we all had to say.

Jaci
I remember my first date all too clearly. I was in high school and it was a blind date that my friend set up for me. The guy was okay looking. Kind of quiet. We went to the movies. I remember his pants were partially unzipped. I so wanted to tell him but I was too embarrassed for him. Heh.
And he was a movie talker, which drove me crazy. All during the movie he made comments and these weird little sounds like mumbling escaped his lips. The guy was definitely...odd. And he really didn't talk 'to' me at all. Maybe he was shy, but he was definitely weird. Afterward my friends left and the guy drove me home. He walked me to my front door and waited expectantly...for a kiss I assume. I thanked him for the date and said goodnight. And told him his fly was open.

Jasmine
My first date was with David. I was 16 and that’s when my parents allowed me to date. Unfortunately, my first date with David was my last date with him. He was a nice guy, but you know girls want those bad boys (see my answer to the first kiss question on Jaci’s blog!). When my mother invited him in for a bit after the matinee movie (hm, can’t remember the movie now or maybe I don’t want to totally date myself), he wouldn’t leave. We had to invite him to dinner, then dessert, then to watch TV with the family, then the news. Embarrassingly, I finally had to ask him to go home. What did he think, that my mom was going to invite him to spend the night!?

Joey
My first date was with my first love (see my blog for description of him/circumstances under which we met). I remember certain portions of that first date so vividly. I’d finished helping my friend with all the moving and babysitting chores, had found something semi-decent to wear (since I’d only brought moving clothes to her house at the beach, that turned out to be a pair of the 80’s style gym shorts and a blousy white shirt tied at my waist – no kidding), and so I went down the steps of the beach stairs in the dark to wait for him, too nervous to wait inside. When he pulled up on a motorcycle (yeah, Jaci!), he didn’t see me at first, and when he did, he gave me this beautiful smile, and reached out to take my hand. On that first date, we probably got something to eat, but what I remember most is he took me on a motorcycle ride on a deserted long road where I could hold onto his waist and drop my head back and feel the ocean wind (and have the thrilling excuse of holding onto him at the same time). We also went for a walk on the beach where he picked me up and carried me through tidal pools (he was over 6 feet, and I was a little over 5 feet). At the end of the night, I’m sure he may have kissed me, but what I remember most about that night was the feeling – think Jasmine may have described it best – a giddy, ethereal, it-doesn’t-get-better-than-this feeling. I was shivery and happy and teary all at once.

Denise
My mother thought Gary the Hopeful was taking me to the pictures, but no, first he took me parking, where he taught me how to kiss.
I still find it hard to believe how stupid he was if he thought I'd fall for it, but then he took me back to his house--his parents were away--and plied me with red wine. I can still see his beady little eyes gleaming at me. Ah, hope springs eternal. These days, I could probably drink him under the table, but at sixteen, I didn't like any kind of wine, let alone a rough red. I sipped distastefully, feeling oh-so-bored.
On the other hand, I was so naïve, I had no idea I could have been in real trouble. Fortunately, he was a fundamentally decent boy and after a while his face fell, he heaved a sigh that came from his boots and drove me home. Where to add insult to injury, he fell over the empty milk bottles my mother had left out on the steps for the milkman, a clatter that echoed through the whole sleeping suburb. Poor guy.

So, anyone care to share one of their “firsts?”

Let’s add some fun by having some giveaways, too! For everyone who posts on my blog, you’ll be entered into a drawing for an autographed copy of my book Open Invitation. Please leave me your email so that I know how to contact you. I’ll also add you to my mailing list for updates on releases and contests. I’ll choose the winner next Monday, Dec 8th! And check out the new excerpt of Undone, my story in Unlaced!

The other girls will be giving away fun prizes, too, so be sure to check out their blogs and Q&A! Jaci is offering a copy of Holiday Seduction, Joey has Unlaced for you, and Denise is giving away a copy of her Avon anthology, A Red Hot New Year.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jasmine, Jennifer and JB!
http://www.skullybuzz.com/
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Monday, December 1, 2008

And the winner of last week's blog is...


Thanks everyone for stopping by last week. This is just a quickie to announce the blog winner. Congratulations to Karen Theisen, you have won Jami Alden and Karin Tabke's Italian Stallions. Thanks for leaving your email, and I’ll be contacting you for your snail mail address.

The week’s real blog (where I’m offering a prize!) will begin on Wednesday, Dec 3rd. My special guests will be the authors of Unlaced! So please stop by and leave your comments starting Wednesday.

Thanks! And Unlaced is out tomorrow!

Jasmine, Jennifer and JB!
http://www.skullybuzz.com/
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