I'm back from my trip but too exhausted to post much of anything!  I got tons of ideas for a sort of urban fantasy idea that has been boiling around in my head for the last year or two, but who knows when I'll have time to actually put it together.

All I know for sure right now is that I'm pooped and will try to post more later this week!

Thanks!

Carla

I spent the weekend with the Ozark Romance Authors in Springfield, Missouri.  My time with them started out on Friday night when I had a booksigning at Borders.  It was a fun time and I was pleased by how many books I sold.  The best part was not one customer asked me how to get to the bathroom!

After the signing I went out with several of the members for dinner, then the next morning I spoke at their monthly meeting on writing suspense novels.

The group is comprised of wonderful, warm and talented ladies and I thoroughly enjoyed it and them!   It was my hubby's and mine anniversary and we both got to do what we loved, he played golf and I talked about writing.

On the way home we stopped at our favorites steak place and had a wonderful dinner.  All in all, a terrific weekend!

And this Friday we leave for a road trip to New Mexico.  I am researching the area and hope to sign some books along the way.  So, it will be a while before I'm back here.

Anyway, just wanted to check in and let you all know at least for last week and next week, I have a life!  Of course, I'm planning on getting a lot of work done on the road trip.

That's it from me for now.  Thanks for stopping!

Carla

It seems to me that I post a lot of my blogs on Mondays.  I don't know why, but maybe it has something to do with the beginning of a week and all the possibilities that week might contain. 

I'm an optimist on Mondays, before the week begins to wear and my butt gets numb from too many hours in front of the computer.  Actually, I'm an optimist at heart.  My hubby and I argue all the time because I think he's a pessimist and he declares that he's a realist.   

I've always thought it rather romantic to be brooding and dark, but I just can't sustain it.  Maybe I'm too superficial to be truly moody.  Invariably when I'm trying to be in a dark, foul mood something happens that makes me laugh or I realize that foul moods are boring!

I'm having lunch tomorrow at school with my six-year-old granddaughter.  Now that will make me smile.  There's nothing like a six-year-old to put life into prospective! 

Take care and I hope your week is filled with smiles!

Carla

Today I had to deal with far too much real life.  My daughter and her roommate had doctors appointments and since they can't drive, I played taxi.  I left the house at eight this morning and didn't get home until five.  To make matters worse it rained all day.  By the time we got to the first appointment my tennis shoes were soaked, as were my socks.  Yuck!

This is a busy week for me.  Tomorrow I have more errands to run.  Wednesday my daughter-in-law is giving a speech and I'm going with her for moral support.  Friday my Red Hat group meets for lunch.  I'd skip it but my mother is the grand goddess and I try to go whenever possible to support her. 

And, in order to meet my next deadline I have to write ten pages a day no matter what!  I've realized part of my addiction to the writing.  It's a control issue.  (jeez, imagine that)  When I'm sitting at my computer and working my characters around in the world I've created, I'm in total control.  When I venture out into real life, I'm so not in control!

So, I'm off to my world where I'm in control.  See ya later!

Carla

I'm having trouble getting up in the mornings and I think the culprit to blame is daylight savings time.  My body is on one clock and it's not the official one!

This morning I must have hit my snooze button a hundred times.  Did you know that if you hit it often enough eventually it just stops going off.  It's like it decides, okay lazy butt, you win...stay in bed.

I spent today re-working a synopsis and am pleased with the new story.  We'll see if my editor is pleased as well.    Tomorrow I have another synopsis to write, then I have a book to finish by the end of the month.

Yesterday as I wrote I watched a marathon of the reality show featuring Gene Simmons of Kiss.  I've never been a  Kiss fan and always thought he was kind of gross, but after watching about ten hours of his reality show, I think he's sexy as hell!   He's isn't very good looking but his sense of humor with his family is hysterical and I've always found a witty man sexy as hell.  Okay, that's my dirty secret for this week.

Thanks for stopping - back to work for me!

Carla

Ah, the bonding weekend with the daughter and her roomie is over and I'm still alive!  Saturday night I gave facials and back massages, fixed home-made bruschetta and chocolate fondue.  The evening passed quickly and then on Sunday we went to the Olive Garden for a late lunch and then checked into a hotel for the night.

I had taken work with me, figuring I could use the evening to hand-write and think about some of the books that are due way too soon, but we rented two movies and I zoned out in front of the big plasma television.

We rented The Mist, a movie based on a Stephen King short story and I Am Legend with Will Smith.  Actually they were both kind of downers, but definitely intriguing. 

I don't sleep well away from home so I tossed and turned all night and got home exhausted.  I spent the afternoon cleaning my office and re-arranging things.  Whenever I send one book off I always need to take a day or two to clean.  It moves my head from one project to the next.  I know, it's wierd! 

Anyway, my office is clean and I'm ready to dive into the next book starting tomorrow.  I'm also smoking my last cigarette tonight.  Yes, I talked about quitting months ago but just kept putting it off.  So, tonight I have my final one and there are no more in the house.  I'm not going out tomorrow to buy any!!!

And of course you all probably know by now that my latest Signet Eclipse book, Every Move You Make, releases tomorrow.  And now, it's off to bed for me...in my own bed, with my own pillows and blankets!

Take care and thanks for stopping!

Hmm, was working on the blog and a fingernail hit a button and poof - it posted!  So, anyway just wanted to thank everyone for dropping by and will try to post after the bonding weekend - if I survive.  If nobody hears from me by next week - send in the Marines!

Carla

Oh, and one more thing, on March 4th I'm a guest blogger at The Writing Playground so stop by and give me a hard time!

For the past week I feel like I've been in a cave.  Not only has the weather been gray and yucky, but I've been frantically finishing up a book and working on taxes - double yuck!

I finished the book this morning and got it into the mail and am taking today to look around my house (that needs cleaning) touch base with my hubby (has he always had that graying hair) before jumping into the next book first thing in the morning.

I'm so ticked off.  I had my taxes almost done, a huge job, and then decided to work on my son's taxes and somehow deleted mine.  I was sick.  All that work gone with a touch of the fingers.  Now I'm going to have to do it all over again and I don't have time!!

And speaking of time - it's almost time for Every Move You Make to come out.  March 4th is the day.  I'm looking forward to getting some reader reaction.  I love that book!

I'm having a bonding weekend with my daughter and her roommate.  My hubby is going out of town and so they're coming over here tomorrow night and we're going to do facials and watch movies and I'm going to cook their favorite snacks.  My daughter is 30, but she's mentally disabled with bi-polar and borderline personality disorder, so she requires a lot of time.  So, I've set up this time to pamper her and probably by the end of the weekend I'll need some kind of medication!

It was a usual day here at the Cassidy house.  Actually, it was a terrfic day.  I wrote a seventeen page synopsis for an Intrigue and when I started this morning I wasn't even sure what the story was going to be about.   It just fell into place and that's always wonderful.

Tomorrow I'm getting a haircut and I've decided I'm going to spend this summer trying to figure out the natural color of my hair.  Should be interesting.  I've been enhancing (okay, cheap color) it for years.  I'm a blonde at heart, a blonde in personality, but I'm not sure I'm a natural blonde anymore.  So, it's going to be an experiment.  I'm hoping that it's now a gorgeous silver, but life can be cruel and it might just be a crappy gray that makes me look old and sooo not blonde!  Time will tell!

That's the exciting news from me.  WAKE UP!

Oh, and just a reminder - fourteen more days until the release of EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE!

Thanks for stopping!

I meant to get here on Valentine's Day, but as usual life has been crazy.  So, a belated Happy Valentine's Day to lovers everywhere!

It's odd, as a romance author, I suppose I should do more to celebrate the holiday, but this year we did nothing special.  For the most part, my husband and I are fairly romantic with each other on most days and I'm too practical to want a dozen roses that will die or a stuffed animal that I'll eventually give to somebody else.  Candy would have been good (candy is always good) but we're both trying to lose a little weight.

I've been working on a number of projects.  I've been asked to do a serial read for eHarlequin and I've almost got it finished.  These are definitely challenging to write as you have to get a lot of story and a cliff-hanger in every short chapter.  The one I'm writing is to introduce my May release, With The Material Witness In The House, and to kick off the beginning of the continuity - six books with gothic elements and lots of creepy characters!

I've also gotten the go-ahead on my next idea for Signet Eclipse.  It's the most ambitious book I've tried to write so far and I'm terrified and excited to work on it.

Finally, I'm finishing up the second book in a three book series for Harlequin Intrigue - three ex-Navy Seals who have set up a company and repossess high end cars, planes and boats. 

So, that's been my life lately - work, work and more work.  And I love it!

And just a reminder to everyone, it's only 17 more days and Every Move You Make hits the stands!

Read a Carla Cassidy novel - and don't turn out the lights!

That's the end of this self-serving publicity announcement.  Now back to your regularly scheduled programs!

Thanks for stopping!

Carla