Stressed and Overwhelmed

Just a little update from Amber, who has been in hiding. In preparation of edits for Claimed by Dragons I was attempting to get a book finished. I knew I’d be getting edits for Protecting Grant, behind Dragons. If I hadn’t mentioned this before I received a contract from Loose Id for a new M/M coming out sometime in November. Loose Id had a theme call out and I answered, thus leading to the contract. Turns out Protecting Grant won’t be released as part of the theme series. Not a big deal though. It gives me more flexibility. Oh, and Katalina is doing the edits for Dragons! I love her.

In the meantime I’m plugging away at my wip and Loose Id did it again. They put out another call. This was a holiday themed call out. Not just any holiday. It’s actually two holidays in one. I thought how much fun. I wrote a proposal and sent it off to my editor. I’ll be honest I wasn’t expecting a contract. Guess what? Yup, my editor loved my idea and sent a contract. Now I’m under tight deadline to write the book. I’m about 11k into the book, not bad considering I’ve only been writing it for a week. Looks like the second half of this year I’ll see three books released.

In September I’ll be getting out the last two of my former Aspen books and a few under my real name. To say I’ve been busy is an understatement. Oh and add in that I’m now doing three people’s jobs at my day job. My poor hubby is looking forward to our vacation next week.

Which leads me to my hiatus. The hubby, Lexi and I are off to Florida next Tuesday. The baby will be staying with the in-laws and our other daughter will be staying at our house to house sit and take care of the dogs. It’s only a 4 night stay, but I need the break. I can’t wait to enjoy Universal and Busch Gardens. Lexi is really looking forward to the trip. Her two friends had to back out of the trip. It’s sad because now she’ll have no one her age to hang with.

Here a link to a nice review of I Wanna Sext U Up - http://whippedcream2.blogspot.com/2012/08/i-wanna-sext-u-up-by-amber-skyze.html?zx=3f3b9dad4f918dd2

That’s it! I’ll likely not be posting until September unless I find time. I will have guests during my absence so please drop by and say hello.

Muse Still on Vacation

This is the way I've been feeling lately. I don't know what's going on with me. I just know I'm tired all the time. When I went on vacation I really went on vacation. I didn't do any writing...I just chilled and did day trips. I had fun.
Now I'm back to work and my mind is twirling with ideas, but when it comes to sitting down and writing, forget it. I have no desire. Apparently my muse is still on vacation. Not to worry. I'll be busy with edits for Claimed by Dragons and Protecting Grant.
Protecting Grant is a newly contracted book to Loose Id. This is a M/M. At first I wrote it for their Coming Out theme, but my editor and I decided it needed some changes and a few new scenes. This means it will not make the deadline for the theme and will come out as it's own book. That works for me. This is a suspense book about a serial killer. I've been dying (pun intended) to write a crime story.

I've been spending most of my spare time in the pool...That's my life in a nutshell right now.

Happy Tuesday.

New Contract

Monday I received a contract for a book I wrote last summer. I sent off the paperwork yesterday so hopefully I’ll be able to share the DEETS with you next week. Other than that the writing has been slow. I’m talking snail pace slow. It’s like pulling teeth to get this current wip written. Maybe it’s the characters, maybe it’s the plot or maybe it’s the dreaded dreary weather that won’t seem to lift. I know April showers bring May flowers, but I want some sunshine. We had a new landscaper here the other day to give us some quotes and I have pansies that bloomed again. He was totally surprised – so was I to be honest. He asked where I bought them and I told him either Home Depot or Lowes. He laughed and said super flowers. So currently my flower beds are half full. Not all of them came back to life. Once we get a break in weather I’ll plant some new flowers. I’m getting things ready to attend the NEC RWA conference at the end of the month. Time seemed to slip away from me and I’m just realizing I need to gather my promo stuff. Yikes! Less than three weeks away. You wouldn’t mind, but we’re traveling the weekend before to go see family in NY for Easter. Off to work the dreaded day job. Happy Wednesday!

Home Again!

Wow! I feel like I’ve been out of touch with the real world for a week. Oh, I have. I returned late last night from Romanticon 2010. Ellora’s Cave puts on one helluva party. I drooled all over the cavemen. LOL
When Angelo walked in to the meet and greet, my DH said, “Oh I know him, he’s plastered all over the house.”
This is true. He’s on the cover of Dante’s Desire, which I think is one hot cover. I must say, Angelo is ten times hotter in person and his accent will melt you. I know a Latin lover will show up in a future book.
I also got to meet an amazing group of authors. I formed new friendships and bonded with many I’ve known online. My hubby was a great sport about being at a conference. A few women brought their husbands.
I came home to so much good news. First Adrift received a Top Pick 5 star review from Night Owl Reviews. If you’d like to see what they had to say, check it out here:
http://www.nightowlreviews.com/nor/Reviews/Ursshebear-reviews-Adrift-by-Amber-Skyze.aspx

Adrift was also the Fresh pick on October 9th over at Fresh Fiction. Talk about publicity. Do you know how many people they reach daily? I couldn’t ask for better promo. :0)
Lastly, I received a contract for my Christmas story – Naughty St. Nick. It will be released on December 10th from Aspen Mountain Press. They published my first Christmas story two years ago. YAY.
Today I have to spend the day getting caught up around the house and at work. I’m hoping to get some pics up from Romanticon and finish the quickie I was working on before I left.

So Much To Do!

I’ve been busy. I finished editing book three of the Freedom Fantasies series and sent it off to my editor. I had to get my chapter’s newsletter out and work, well, it drove me nuts.
This weekend the DH and I cleaned the sunroom from top to bottom, planted flowers got all the deck furniture out and cleaned off. What he doesn’t realize is he’s helping me prepare for his big birthday surprise party! LOL I’m evil.
Speaking of which, I’m I the process of planning TWO surprise parties. My mom has a milestone birthday THREE days before the DH’s. It’s getting confusing and hard to keep a secret. I’m an only child so there aren’t any brother’s or sister’s to help with the planning.
I meet with the cake lady this week. I’m getting him one of the real fancy specialty cakes. Something to do with the Red Sox. No worries he doesn’t read my blog.
I also started self-edits on a full length romantic comedy today. I finished Chapter one. I had to switch from 1st to 3rd person. I didn’t like the 1st person.
Today I’m getting back to my cougar story. I feel like I’m finally free to explore this more. Fellow cougar Dalton Diaz gave me a few suggestions after reading my synopsis and I want to go back and incorporate her idea.
In other news – I received a contract for Freedom Fantasies, Book Two – Spend The Night With Me. This is Brooke and Liam’s story. Let’s just say they have fun with a stripper pole and a swing!
Come back tomorrow when I have an interview with my good, good friend Katalina Leon!

And We're Off...

I’m happy to announce I signed another contract this week. My second M/M – Sliding Home has found a home at Aspen Mountain Press. It will be released on June 4th.

In a few short hours my friend will pick me up and we’re headed off to the NEC Conference. Hope everyone has a fun filled weekend. I know I plan to!

Exciting News

Yesterday I received an email from Dawn at Love Romances Café letting me know that Heat Waves had been nominated for Best Contemporary of 2009. Can you say WOW! I was shocked. It only got better. As I was reading the other nominees I noticed Spank Me Twice was up for Best Erotic Book of 2009. It floored me to be nominated for two awards.
I’m up against some awesome authors for the Contemporary award, but I swear just being nominated is exciting. :o)
The voting begins the 15th. Once I get the information I’ll post it, in case you’ve read Heat Waves and want to vote. LOL

In other news I participated in my first book signing with eleven other authors last night. It was interesting. During the author bio the announcer talked about my nominations. Well! The funniest part was at the end. I was packing up my things when this older couple...I'm talking late sixties . early seventies comes up to me and says, "What was the name of that book? Smack Me Twice, Hit Me Twice?"

I looked at her and asked, "Spank Me Twice?"

"Yes. Yes, that's the one." She turns to her husband. "We have to go home and look that book up!"

I was rolling. It's nice to see they're still interested in sex.

The day kept getting better because when I got home I checked email and there was a contract for Dante's Desire.

Now how am I going to top that? LOL

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Lots of News to Share

I’m back! Sorry for not posting much, but frankly the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010 was a whirlwind. I’m still trying to piece together all the things that happened in a ten day span.
BUT, through all the unhappiness there has been some good news in my life that I want to share with all my friends, fans and readers of my blog.
1. My editor at Noble Romance gave me an extension on the January 1st deadline for the Valentine’s Day submission. I’m happy to say that I finally submitted it yesterday. It’s an M/M short called Naughty Cupid.
2. I received my first contract of the New Year from Aspen Mountain Press, along with the edits!!! Wild Lickins is the first M/M I wrote about a year ago. It’s tentatively scheduled for a February 19th release.
3. I also received my first non-fiction assignment for 2010. An article on Car Surfing for a teen magazine I write for. She also hinted that a few of my other ideas might be assigned in the coming weeks.
4. Today I’m hoping to finish revising Research Required for my editor at Ellora’s Cave.
So, needless to say I’m keeping busy and thankful for the distractions. I have enough work to get me thru the month of January. Now if only I could do some actual writing! I have a ton of story ideas brewing, but can’t seem to get them on paper. I guess that’s for another day.

I Did It - Finally

I submitted Research Required to my editor. I feel like this story has been sitting on my desk forever. It has been months. The good news was my editor said she'd get back to me "very" soon, definitely before the normal "eight" weeks. I'm hoping for an answer before the end of the year. It would certainly be a nice way to end 2009.

Today the temperatures are frigid, so I'll spend the day doing Christmas cards, wrapping and finishing the decorating.

Tomorrow I'll start editing book one in the Shea Manor series and writing up the proposal. Not sure where this series will land, but I'm sure it will find a good home.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Queen of Avoidance

When it comes to editing a story I'll do just about anything ELSE. Like yesterday. I planned to edit a story that I should have completed in October. Instead, I wrapped Christmas gifts, cleaned, slept, you name it. What I didn't do was edit.
Today I set out to edit. Opened the folder with the story and immediately showered and went grocery shopping. Came home put everything away and my son woke up. Yay! I grabbed him and had him climb into the attic to get the Christmas decorations. Found everything I was looking for, except boxes to wrap clothes. This set me off in search of those boxes I just knew I had somewhere. I finally located them. Okay, time to edit.
I did sit down and edited all but the last chapter. Hopefully tonight after dinner I can finish and send it off to my editor. I'm still hoping for those last 2 contracts before the end of the year. But I have to submit "something" to get a contract. Funny how that works.
I'm also have to finish writing a short for a January 1st deadline. I'm about 3k away.

Tomorrow I have a new release from Aspen Mountain Press - Heat Waves! I'll post all the info tomorrow.
Time to cook dinner!

Progress is Sweet

I've been taking small steps to get back in the swing of things. I made a to-do list for each day this week. Nothing overly crazy to get me depressed if I didn't finish. As of today it's going good. I accomplished everything I've tasked myself and more. I even managed to open a wip and add four pages to it. I miss writing and everything that comes along with it, but there are times when I just couldn't do it.
This morning I realized that I have NOTHING new with any of my editors. It's a scary thought. I'm not waiting for any news of a new contract or a rejection. When did I let this fall by the wayside? I've had a manuscript in editors hands at all times for over a year and suddenly I don't. I need to fix this and fast. So, I have one story just about done that I'm determined to have submitted by the 1st. Let's hope I can accomplish this one!

Off to work on getting that manuscript polished.