Today I welcome Jaime Samms to my blog!

Today I'm welcoming Jaime Samms to my blog so.. take it away Jaime!

As an author, what scares me the most?

What if this is the last great idea?

I believe every writer thinks it. Not very many of us will ask it out loud, though. That just makes the possibility too real.

You always hear writers talking about their craft as something as fundamental to life as breathing, more important than eating or sleeping. (Not more important than caffeine, though. Don’t get me wrong. We do have our priorities.)  But we speak of our stories–our creations–as we speak of our children. With pride, excitement, frustration, but ultimately, with love.

We love what we do. We have pride in our creations. Writing is a part of our fibre, DNA, spirit, soul.

When we can’t do it, we go a little bit nuts. Someone once told me; for them, not writing was the spiritual equivalent to a bad asthma attack. As though their soul was fighting to take the next breath, to let go of the trapped, stale air, but was, instead, suffocating under an invisible weight.

The weight was the weight of nothing: no words. No ideas.

And in that moment of wondering if you’ll ever fill up again, who would dare to tempt fate and ask, out loud: “What if? What if the last story was the last great idea I ever have?” No one dares. Not even me, because I didn’t decide to write this blog until I was once again (thankfully) in the spiritual free-fall of a new idea.

For me, the binding comes soon after I finish something. For a day or two, my mind rests. I’m free of the guilty feeling of not putting words onto the page and I revel in the pride of a job well done. I let myself feel good about not writing. I enjoy the contentment of having completed a project.

Then it begins. I start to feel the emptiness of “what next?” It isn’t that I don’t want to think about what I will write next. I literally can’t. My mind shunts away from looking for new ideas, like a trickster engineer in my brain, continually switching my mental train to a new track for his own enjoyment. It isn’t even that I want to hang onto the previous characters. They have told me their story. I’ve written it down, and they are gone. Moved on. It is me who is trapped on the endless loop of no ideas. The longer and more intense the finished project was, the longer this stage lasts, but every time, it lasts just long enough for panic to set in and I begin to think…”What if…”

You would think by now, I should be able to recognize the pattern, and sometimes, I catch on. Sometimes, it isn’t until I am finally well into the next project that I can appreciate the break for what it was. A necessary part of the process. Down time of the soul. Regeneration.

But holy hell, is it scary when you’re in it.

So if you love a writer, and one day, they look at you, their eyes half-wild and a bit staring, their lips slack, just hug them and whisper in their ear “It isn’t the last one. Don’t worry. You’ll have more stories to write. You’ll be okay.”

Trust me on this. You’ll be their hero for recognizing their distress. You can’t fix it, but you can help them not go off the deep end.

All about Jaime:

Jaime has been writing for various publishers since the fall of 2008, although she's been writing for herself far longer. Often asked why men; what’s so fascinating about writing stories about men falling in love, she's never come up with a clear answer.  Just that these are the stories that she loves to read, so it seemed to make sense if she was going to write, they should also be the stories she wrote.  

These days, you can find plenty of free reading on her website. She also writes for Freya’s Bower, Loveyoudivine Alterotica, Pink Petal Books, Dreamspinner Press and Total E-Bound. 

Spare time, when it can be found rolled into a ball at the back of the dryer or cavorting with the dust bunnies in the corners, she's probably spending reading, drawing, gardening (weather permitting, of course, since she is Canadian!) or watching movies. Well. She has a day job or two, as well, and two kids, but thankfully, also a wonderful husband who shoulders more than his fair share of household and child care responsibilities. 

She graduated some time ago from college with a Fine Arts diploma, with a major in textile arts, which basically qualifies her to draw pictures and create things with string and fabric. One always needs an official slip of paper to fall back on after all....

Website | Facebook | Livejournal | Deviantart | Twitter | Amazon Author page

Jaime and Wild Child Publishing will be awarding a $10 Wild Child Publishing GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

Please follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better are your chances of winning. Jaime's tour dates can be found here:  ttp://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/09/virtual-book-tour-as-advertised-by.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Advertised

by Jamie Samms

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Tyler’s life perked up when he met Jake. So what if long-time friend Marty can’t stand him and his landlady has no use for his new beau. Tyler’s determined not to see the dark side of his lover. It’s his own fault for believing people don’t go around keeping secrets and lying.

Tyler should know better.  He’s an ad executive.  He knows the packaging is what sells, and Jake is quite a package.  His lover is no slouch when it comes to false advertising, either, and when Tyler finds out the truth, it hurts.  Weathering Jake’s lies and secrets gets easier with the help of new friends, Libby and Steven. In fact, Tyler figures that maybe a lot of things would get easier with Steven.

Tyler should have known better.  Not even someone as seemingly perfect as Steven Jessop is completely as advertised.

This time, though, Tyler has to make a decision. After all, sometimes, even if what you see is not what you get, what Tyler’s uncovered in Steven might just be what he’s always wanted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks to Jaime for stopping by!

The last leg of my journey... or also known as the THIRD LEG!

Day 9: Our last full day in Southport...

Yeah, I wish.

I've given up on sex and writing. So souvenir shopping can take the place of that, right?

NO.

How about instead some really fucking amazing Italian food? We go to a place called Prezzos and we have a wonderful lunch. Highly recommended.

It's our last day in Southport and the whole time, other than seeing hubby's Grandparents, we haven't been into the City Centre. I can't tell you how mad I am about this but damn, it's a big reason I came to England.

I'm sorta pissed but there's nothing I can do now. We rush about getting last minute souvenirs and then head to hubby's mum's house for a delish dinner and down the hatch go my methotrexate pills.

I'm out of coffee creamers too so it's time to head for home.

Meep. :(

Day 10: Now it's time to say goodbye... October 4

You're not leaving, right?

Yeah. It's time to start our journey back home. We're all packed. I'm going to miss my lovely MIL but I'm not coming back until we can have a door. Minimum requirement. :)

Anyway, we drag our bags back to the Rail and low and behold, our train breaks down. (Or at least that's what they said because that bitch booked out of there when we vacated the train)

So stuck on a platform with all the rest of our train goers, we wait for the next train with our load of bags. Now, once we board the train, a woman with a pram (stroller) grabs the area reserved for priority seating for those who have mobility needs.

She acted like we weren't there (even though my husband was stumbling around with his cane) and when I asked her to move, she ignored me. I really lost my temper on her and my husband had to hold me back, which turned into a wrestling match with him when his bad knee gave way as the train took off. I almost left the train in a fit of rage at the next stop but waiting another fifteen minutes would only put a crimp in our travel plans.

Anyway, she left but had much difficulty getting off the train since our bags had magically boxed her in. *innocent whistle* When my husband sat down, his poor knee wouldn't bend. I almost had a screaming fit.

(Note: when I'm on my methotrexate day, because I'm not feeling well, I tend to get angry easier. I usually fairly easy going.)

Anyway, the rest of the train ride wasn't too bad but the Midland trains seemed to run late and break down every time we rode on them, even when I headed to meet up with RJ Scott.

AND OMG!! I met RJ! *spin*

It was lovely to meet her and her family, even though I was totally knackered from traveling. I wish I had pictures but my phone was lost in my bag and dude, I wasn't thinking straight on my methotrexate.

While I was hanging with RJ, hubby was hanging with his BFF. It was good to see Little Dave. :)

Day 11: Sorta boring but a welcome boring. October 5

After a yummy brekkie, I go back to bed for more sleep. I'm exhausted and thirsty. Hubby brings me back two massive bottles of Evian and I officially love him!!! :D

Who knew my love could be bought so cheaply?

So now that I know the value of a door, I will treasure them always. :) I took a big nap and then got ready for a dinner out with Hubby's dad and family.

It's been six years and my hubby's brother and sister are so big now! They're teenagers and... oh god, they all know about my writing. *hides under the table* I don't think I've ever turned that red. I guess hubby's dad asked for help in googling me.

No worries! We have a forward thinking family. I think. :D

Day 12: London bound. Oct 6

After waking up and having another nommie brekkie buffet (and sneaking a sausage sandwich back to the room for hubby) we head out to London for our last full day in England. We're alone in First Class on the train all the way to Euston and we chat about missing home all the way down.

I mention his man cave and he rattles on about it and I agree with him. Except that last part wasn't "Fortress of Divinity", instead he said "Fortress of Virginity" Anyway, I pointed out that wasn't true because it's been a long time since he was a virgin and he has a bad ass man cave.

Anyway, at London Euston, I nearly was run over by a crazy cabbie but I had three bags and a purse. Fucking bite me, okay? Don't mess with Texas.

So we go to the Intercontinental Park Lane. O.O Wow. I've stayed in some nice hotels but nothing like this. I kept thinking we were in the wrong hotel. But this hotel was WOW. Like Pretty Woman... except I'm not a hooker. Wait, I think I wrote a book like that.

The bar. We tend to see a lot of bars in our travels.

Anyway, I rest up for the fabulous dinner we have planned at Shogun's. So much has changed in my life since I was here last. I got married, wrote a book, lost my mom, my aunt and two grandparents, my sister, and a cousin. And this place doesn't look any different and the menu is still fabulous and I almost made myself sick again eating all that was on my plate.

Last time, we stayed in the hotel the restaurant is attached to. Tonight, we stayed in super luxury. And life will continue to change but it's good to know, some things will stay the same.

Day 13: Heading home! YAY!#!@! Oct 7

I haven't been this excited to see my home since... well my last vacation. Let's face it. We're homebodies. My idea of a vacation is shutting off my phone and checking my messages when I feel like it. So no more trips to... wait. I'm going to GRL.

I'M GOING TO GRL!?!?! I forgot about this. It's nine days away. 9 DAYS AWAY!?!

Oh God. Well it's 6am London time and I keep thinking it's 1am Orlando time. Fuck. Well anyway, we head to Gatwick and got on a broken train. *sigh* but we made it there. We go upstairs to the First Class check-in and we have our tickets.

I swear to goodness, traveling first class out of Gatwick is worth it for the special security checkpoint. We were the only ones in there and there was jazzy music playing. Snazz!

Anyway, we hit the first class lounge where I starting on my foraging for the day with Eggs Benedict. Yum! I also do a little bit of shopping for everyone, including Mary Calmes. :)

When I come back, I ask how much longer it will be until the Orlando flight boards, because it's nearly boarding time on our pass. The lady says not for another half hour. Well that's odd. I should have just gone at the point so we could have a leisurely stroll and board when we felt like it but I listened to her.

BIG MISTAKE! We almost missed our flight!

When we leave the lounge, it says the gate is closed. We thought "That can't be right" so hubby starts running with his cane but I can't keep up. I tell him to run ahead and let them know to hold the plane.

They were calling our names for us to check in or risk the plane leaving. Anyway, we are the last people to get scanned in but it took me a few minutes to catch my breath. I had no time to get situated before we took off. I was mad.

And then we are leaving and flying in the air! Bye London.

 

Why is Titanic on this map?

I know my boy is from Liverpool, but seriously...

Across from us, there was a couple and they reminded me of Hubby and I but twenty years from now. They were cutie!

Next to them was a gay couple that was adorable! I hearted them!

As nice as first class was, it's still nine hours in a tin can. No matter what you do, you're still trapped up there with not much to do.

Except maybe eat scones?

Fortunately, I took it out on my manuscript.

For eight hours, I pounded away at my computer and I'm so close to being done with Dangerous Submission. I'm loving these changes!

But I loved being home with my kitties even more! I missed them so much. OMG. Love them!

4362 miles since my last check-in? Holy shit!

Again, they knew right away it was me and Cheddar started meowing and Milly wouldn't come out until she knew it was me.

I'M NEVER LEAVING AGAIN!!

GRL! OMG. It's nearly here!

Good thing I have swag! :)

All in all, at the end of the day, it's good to be back home. There was so much to do and so much to see. I love seeing my MIL (I promise to be a good DIL) and Father-in-Law and Nan and Grandad and BFFs. It's good to go but it's so nice to come back home.

That's all folks! :D Tune in next time, which is hopefully a long time from now, when Lori goes on vacation and does whatever the fuck she wants to do! :D Sayonara! 

Part Deux of the Tolands GO TO ENGLAND (WOOOO!)

Onward and upward is what I always say!

The cattery called and Milly and Chester are fine. Picky eating (like at home) but just fine :)

Day 5: Next Verse, Same As The Last - Sept 29

This is a lovely way to wake-up and enjoy my coffee! Still have creamers left too!

Today we just messed about in Southport doing shopping. There's all sorts of charity shops (I swear they are all in Southport) and I love all the kitschy shops around town. But we nearly walk our legs off and this is all really cool because I feel better. Maybe the iron pills are working? :D YAY!

They are still not done with my damn iPhone unlocking. It will have to be picked up on Monday. $#%@ I'm about to lose my temper.

But we have a lovely dinner and then off to bed!

Day 6: Off to Grandmother's (and Grandfather's house) we go! - Sept 30

First off I have to say: don't plan shit on Sunday in England. It will ALL GO WRONG!!

It rained most of the day but we still had plans to head off after Hubby's grandad got back from church. I should have nixed it then but we gather our things at set off.

Still a lovely view with the rain!

We stop for a bite to eat before getting on the rail and I decide on a steak and kidney pie. I'm so excited because I love pies :D Oh yum! One place in the US does a lovely pie, which is George Washington's home. I could eat ten.

It gets there and something about the smell turns my stomach. Hubby added to my sadness by trying it out and telling me how delicious it was too. I wanted to cry. Something about the methotrexate just changed my tastebuds. Some foods taste great, some turn my stomach (including some green teas) I'm destroyed.

So now that I'm about to toss my cookies (translation: vomit), we headed into Liverpool and... wait. What the fuck do you mean the Wirral line is closed? Is it actually closed like it was when we arrived (it wasn't! it was just the station that we needed to change at) or was it completely not running?

Not running and buses are replacing train service. Well, considering Grandad's house is only a short cab ride outside of City Centre, we decide to take the train as far as we can and then grab a cab.

And it was lovely seeing them. Nan was sick so I couldn't chance hugging her but we had a lovely chat. After a while, we didn't want to wear them out so we took off and when Nan got up to see us off, Hubby handed her the cane he uses for his knee and it was almost as tall as her and I'm not exaggerating!

They are the most adorable couple ever. We say our good-byes and catch a taxi. And OMG, this is where we almost die!

Again, not exaggerating!

Going back to City Centre in the rain, we are almost run off the road by a crazy guy when going through a toll booth. Considering we had been waiting in line and he could have gone through the toll lane he was blocking, he had no reason to roll down his window and start shouting at our driver.

Are we supposed to pay extra for the LOLs?

Anyway, finally back home, safe and dry. Time for dinner and sleep!

Day 7: OMG NOOO! - Oct 1

Hubby is officially sickie.

Whoa. Back up here. How the hell did I not get sick with my depressed immune system but my hubby did? What the fuck? (Maybe Airborne works... I dunno)

I put him back to bed and he had better be all better by tomorrow (hopefully) but I share a taxi with my MIL into Southport and I'm off to walk around because I feel good. (I'm enjoying this while I can and oh it feels amazing!)

I eat at this lovely parlor (roast beef dinner) that has seriously the most delish lemon meringue pie ever.

Heaven on a plate? I think so! :)

So I walk until I'm almost silly in the head but I can't seem to find anywhere that is able to unlock my iPhone. So after some shopping, I head home, disappointed.

But Hubby is better so I'm happy :) and I'm also happy I'm not sickie either.

So off to bed, and night night ickle Rosie!

I'm going to eat your face off while you sleep. 

Because I'm a fat cat and I'm that hungry!

Day 8: No door! I'm going out of my mind! Oct 2

Oh! We have pictures of our babies in my e-mail this morning! Oh how I love them and miss them.

He loves the camera!

Mum is not here so I'm not getting out of bed!

We don't get to walk around much at home in Orlando so we're just wandering about town grabbing little items as souvenirs and food. Yum! We get candy for Kele's brood. 

And for fuck's sake, can you please make some more tea mugs that have something Liverpool on them? Residents don't want them but foreigners who need something to bring home to mad frothing family members who are brilliantly excited that you've gone to Liverpool want to hold a coffee mug from the illustrious city. 

That is all *puts away soapbox* you may carry on. 

Also the whole time we've been here, we've had a lovely bathroom to shower in but no door to our bedroom. I didn't mind we had Hubby's old double bed (sorta romantic actually.. *giggle*) but privacy would be lovely. 

By now, we're sort of on edge. Not even lupus or my husband's wonky knee has killed our sex life but no door is such a damn cock-blocker, I'm losing my mind! I can't even concentrate on my writing, even though the iron is helping.

Oh yeah, we did shit today but fuck me if I can remember it. I think we visited the ocean?

If we shack up here for the night, 

does it mean we're paying for sex?

In the next installment, will Lori lose her mind after being denied sex for over a week? ARGHHH! Stay tuned.

Back from the dead...My time in England and back to the US!

The good news: I made it back from England in one piece. The methotrexate my rheumatologist put me on has done wonders so far. My cats don't hate me for being gone so long!

The bad news: Arseing my way across England with five pieces of luggage was really hard. I couldn't get my old iPhone unlocked in England so I couldn't tweet/check-in/communicate with the outside world. I couldn't eat pie.

The ugly news: I had no door on the room at my MIL's house. I'm still not done with the rewrite on Dangerous Submission (OMFG %$#@). The trains system in England picked all the days we traveled to fuck up. (I CHECKED!!!!)

So allow me to explain.

Day 1: Take-off! (Sept 25th)

My husband has been flying to and from England in First Class on Virgin Atlantic since he immigrated to the US and I have been wondering what all the fuss is about.

Note: Fuss is pretty much deserved. First Class on Virgin is quite nice.

Heading to the airport is pretty cool since my BFF Kele Moon and her husbank took us to the airport so we didn't have to pay ridiculous parking fees. After agreeing to write lots of iMessages and e-mails to her, we went to check-in.

Even Upper Class has its own check-in behind the lovely rope. No standing in line. It's straight to a small place with a bench for you to sit down and gather your thoughts...and realize you forgot your damn skin cream you only manufacture.

Fuck. But I'll be fine. I'm a big, tough girl and things will be fine.

So we head to the lounge and hang out. There are awesome little snackies, including these Biscoffs that I am addicted to. I snarfed down a few before getting a load of them and shoving them in my purse. (That's right, I'm pilfering from the 1st class lounge. :D how lovely)

We decide to leave early to hit the Duty Free shop but they've already closed my flight for liquor and I'm so pissed. I knew I should have bought it when I was down there the first time. *sad*

Anyway, we head for our flight, which was slightly delayed but after we boarded, we were able to settle in.

My little suite in the sky!

Yeah, that's champagne on the tray next to me. :)

So these are massive seats with little foot rests for you to stretch out on while flying. And a table pops out from by where the TV is. I watched Men In Black 3, which was great. I loved how they tied the series together at the end. 

This soup was lovely!

OMG, so was this steak :D

This was sooooooo yummy! OMG!

After dinner and a movie, I played a bit on my iPad and tried to get into another movie but it was difficult. So Time For Night Night!

Please lower the lighting and make my bed please... thank you!

That's the bar in between the seats. Yeah Baby! :)

Now all I need is a good book to read... hey!

So many good books to read. 

It says new if I haven't read it on this device. 

I think.

After a few minutes of reading, I was sleepy. For 8 hours, you are trapped on this tin can in the sky and you know what? Going there, it really helped to have a lay down bed! I slept and woke up refreshed.

My husband, poor baby, didn't sleep, but it was hot on the plane so I wasn't surprised. Anyway, after a full English brekkie...

Almost forgot to take a picture, it was so nommie.

...It's time to leave! And after a quick inspection at Border control (where I got confused because they asked if we were partners - I said no, hubby patted me on the head and said yes) and I'm in England. 

Day 2 (sorta): Onward Ho! Sept 26

After we've collected our bags and grabbed our first class train tickets, we're on our way to Liverpool! I love Liverpool. It's so gorgeous. 

Speedy train takes us away and after a quick snack and a nap on the train, we have arrived. 

Note to self: Don't let hubby try to figure out anything while operating on no sleep, especially not tube maps showing where NOT to get off. Also, don't listen to the train people, especially if you are rolling big huge massive bags. They mean well but they aren't rolling huge bags. 

We manage to get on the Northern Line and head for Southport. Hubby is nearly passing out by this time and after we manage to get dropped off at his mum's house, he crashes.

This is when we learn the room we'll be staying in at my MIL's house has no door right now as her partner is working on it. *facepalm* right now, we don't care. Sleep rules.

I let him sleep it off while hanging out with his mum. Tonight is my night for my methotrexate dose so we arrange for a kebab takeaway. While we are figuring this out, I get an emergency message from my BFF that my rheumatologist called with my blood tests and I'm officially anemic. 

*head desk* so that's the headaches and dizziness and flightiness. Well, I thought the flightiness was the blonde moments but I'm not usually like that. Anyway, before the takeaway and since hubby is up, we go foraging for iron pills. This is a lot harder than it looks because England and the US don't always match up as far as medicines are concerned. 

A lovely chemist at Boots was able to help us out and told me while she didn't have it, I needed Ferrograd C and then sent us on our way. After a nommie dinner and my pills down the hatch, I hit the sack!

Day 3: Bottoming is so much fun! Sept 27

My MIL's kitchen is soooo gorgeous!

So I wake up and the first thing I do is realize I need food while going through the lows (bottoming out) of methotrexate. 

My MIL is a great cook but I need specific snacks that I know I will like because these pills do weird things to me (will be fully explained later) So this gives me a chance to head to Tesco's. 

Good part: I'm at Tesco's! YAY! *run around*

Bad Part: I feel like utter shit! Boo. 

After getting hooked up by Tesco's pharmacy with my iron pills, I pick up snacky bits like yogurts and cheese and bread and juices and tons of water, because I drink that by the bucketload when I'm on my methotrexate day. And of course Tesco's Gateaux! (Please click on the link for NOMMIE goodness)

I head home and after cheese and bread, I crash out for the day while hubby goes out to wander around.

I woke up that evening to find out that the kitties are not eating. Cue me freaking out while trying to not alert my husband that they are not doing well as I calculate how the fuck we can get home RIGHT NOW!

I gave them some tips and said I would call tomorrow. I cross my fingers and try to calm down but I'm worried about my babies! OH NOES!

Day 4: They are going by so quickly! Sept 28

I wake up with way low blood sugar (that's what I get for sleeping on a empty stomach) and we head out into town for a stroll and nom! We stop at this lovely cafe in town and hubby has the English breakfast and I have the beef (gotta up my iron intake) and then stroll about town. 

Did I read this right?

Getting to visit with my Mother In Law is lovely! I hear about everything and see all sorts of old pictures, including my husband from primary school. OMG, he was such an adorable redheaded boy! (Still is ;))

Every day is relaxing and I'm just enjoying myself. But I realize I don't have enough coffee creamers. This could spell disaster for the Toland trip to England. 

Learn more in the next of installment of Tolands go to England! :)

Facing my fears... in many ways: Halloween Horror Nights 2012

So if you've seen me on Twitter, you'll know I've been wringing my hands about going to Halloween Horror Nights. And if you read my blog, you'll know I'm a huge gaming fan so when Silent Hill came to Universal for Halloween Horror Nights, I had a quandary. I'm deathly afraid of Zombies. Hence the reason I've never been to HHN.

OMG, what to do? Well, I had to face my fears. I've gone through a lot this year and I'm not about to live the rest of my life being scared of zombies. Let's face it, I don't really think zombies are going to walk the streets and take over.

But it wasn't just going to the scare houses and wandering about being scared out of my mind. It was being severely open to infection and getting a cold or flu from being around people. So it was time to don my Mario magic mushroom shirt and head the Universal for a RIP Tour. :D

So I went armed with my flu shot and a bottle of hand sanitizer to make this happen. In the pouring rain. &%$#. Okay, so I'm happy I brought my hat, my knit cap made by the very talented Amy Lane. This would protect me from zombies too.

I could do this. I could totally make this happen!

And I did! Last night I went to Halloween Horror Nights and used a whole bottle of hand sanitizer but I made it through while screaming. My throat is kinda sore today from screaming in the rain but I'm okay. I almost lost my cap in the middle of chainsaw people but they didn't really bother me, except for the gas smell and fog.

Did I mention I have asthma related fog? Luckily because of the rain, there wasn't much.

*Sigh* In book related news....

And now for my books! I got my paperback copies of The Long Con. Woo! So excited. Because these are so damn sexy, I now have to make sure the sequel Dangerous Submission is novel length so it goes to print. :D

And they will be at GRL too so pick up a copy and I'll sign it! :)

(Thanks to Man Oh Man Reviews for a lovely review and quote!)

Are you a zero?

Recently I blogged about the latest release in the Persona series, Persona 4 Arena, which is a cool combat game. I've been madly in love with this series since I picked up Persona 3, which was so awesome. I highly recommend all the games, put out by Atlas because they are so well thought out, game engine wise and story wise too.

They recently released the Persona 4 Animation series and of course the story line is condensed from the game but at the beginning they explain the basis of the whole story, which centers around the tarot deck.

Each character in the game as well as the anime has a "Persona" that fights on their behalf in battle and they represent one of the cards in the major arcana. From the Magician to the Star, they fight with their Personas alongside you.

But you are special. You are a Zero, the Fool Arcana. You see, the Major Arcana starts not at 1 but at zero, the Fool Arcana. It is full of possibilities, the beginning of a journey. It ends at the World, with every card along the way a part of the journey.

So far, the anime is awesome, almost as good as the game. But these games always make me think about my life and become introspective. I started writing again, needing an outlet after I played Persona 4. I started on a new journey.

People use "zero" as an insult but zero is void of limits, a blank slate and a new beginning. I'm proud to say I'm a zero. Are you?

Rediscovering my love of reading.

While I've been feeling not quite up-to-snuff, I've been lucky to have an old friend nearby.  That would be a book, anything I can get my hands on to read and enjoy and get my mind off feeling yuck. I started methotrexate and that has been making me feel terrible, but it looks like I'm on the mend.

Books have always been my escape. And I have been really lucky to find some awesome books recently! I just finished No Flowers Required by Cari Quinn, which I really enjoyed and reviewed it here. Also a hot romance is Kele Moon's StarCrossed, which I read as she wrote it.

For M/M fans, I read Ellis Carrington's Feeling Neighborly which came on a solid recommendation from Mary Calmes. I really enjoyed the story and of course I'll be reading Three Fates Anthology and Steamroller but only after I finish Dangerous Submission.

Re-reading books is like visiting old friends :)

Blurring the lines between genders... Persona 4 Arena review

If you've been watching my tweets, I've been playing Persona 4 Arena with my husband. Okay.. he's been playing the video game, I've been nursing a really bad cat scratch. (Only click those links if you are not squeamish) but part of the scratch got infected and now I'm wearing a cling wrap over a medicated pad. (ouch.)

Anyway, watching this game (which I highly recommend) has been a joy! I loved it, revisiting all the characters and even some new ones. In Persona 4, there was a beloved character named Naoto Shirogane, a pint-sized ace detective who carried on the family name by training for the police force.

Naoto blurred the line between genders and not just because she worked with the police. Born a girl with big shoes to fill as she carried on the family name in the detective business, she blurs the gender lines passing for a boy. And the town bad boy Kanji Tatsumi is attracted to Naoto, which confuses him and opens up his own deep-seated doubts about his personality and sexuality.

We don't get to see enough of them in Persona 4 and Persona 4 Arena is just another taste of these multifaceted characters. So anyway, this game is highly recommended by me! :)

Yay! You're a winner! :D

Thanks for helping us celebrate RJ's anniversary of publishing at Silver. What a great pub co :) Anyway, I gave away a choice of my backlist and I've been a little lax in getting started on that. So here are the results:


Vitajex! Woo hoo, congrats! :D


If you want to check the other contests, the links are here.

Thank you for all the lovely comments. You guys are awesome and I keep pushing on writing for y'all!

*hugs and lots of love!*

I'm sure I'll come up with something...

It's a big blog hop! :) Two years ago, Silver Publishing released RJ's first book with them. I remember reading "Oracle" and then "Moments" and cheering her on. I'm excited to see where she is today :)

Here is how I got my start:

Three years ago, I was polishing my manuscript "The Replacement Guitarist" for submission. I had started my next book, which is what all the NY Times best selling authors all told me to do. And in the winter of 2009, I got my first contract. Nine books later (and two more on the way) I don't feel like a veteran writer but apparently I am :) so here's some advice to the newbies getting started.

1. Never stop writing. All of us have received some sort of rejection at some point in our writing careers. Obviously, none of us let it stop us from moving on because now we are published. Don't let anything stop you!

 2. Listen to a revise and resubmit letter. If the editor took the time to write all the problems that exist in your manuscript, something either in your writing or in your manuscript hooked him/her. Otherwise, she would have just sent you a rejection letter. (I also said listen, not obey. If you know these suggestions just aren't going to work for you, move on. Don't try to argue.)

 3. Network with authors, find out what worked for them but please don't send us your complete manuscript. If I had time for that, I would set up an editing service.

 4. Don't take the writing world so seriously. Laugh a little. Have fun around here. Don't start a flame war with a fart torch, okay? I have rubbernecked at too many of these to count them all and the publishing world has the memory of an elephant. They never forget.

 5. Like in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure: "Be excellent to each other. But most of all...PARTY ON, DUDES!"

 Three years later, I hoped that my one time illness would turn into a distant memory but instead it flared again. What I thought would be a complete nuisance (which make no mistake, this disease cramps my style) has instead inspired others around me to push on and keep going. I was really surprised and touched. 

Expect the unexpected and dive in!

Now for the contest. (I guess I'm having a contest. No one told me I couldn't.)

Comment on this post to win your choice of any of my books. Leave your address in secret ninja style, like this: lori at loritoland dot com okay? :)

This contest is closed! Thanks for playing!

Events for this weekend:

An article on the things I have learned over the last two years (and believe me I have learned more but I had to stop writing somewhere!)... this can be found here: http://rjscottauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/RJScott.html

Articles written by some of my wonderful author friends that are listed below in an anniversary Blog Hop...

Competitions on a lot of my fellow author's pages on the Blog Hop... Click here to visit all the blogs

A facebook page pulling together all of their advice to new (and existing) authors... https://www.facebook.com/GlbtqAuthorResource

A competition on RJ Scott's blog to win a $50 voucher

Apparently I read really fast :)

Source: Staples eReader Department

I've always been a fast reader but I think I broke the Staples eReader. It said I read faster than 555% of the country. :O

Musical Moggies...

This morning I woke up with the sounds of music floating my head. I love writing to music and often times I surf the Top 100 Billboard to hear new songs coming out. Sometimes a new song will trigger a feeling I'm looking to evoke when I'm writing and I'll have to write a new scene. Of course, then that song will go on my soundtrack for that book. When I'm about to release a new book, I add this soundtrack to my blog for your enjoyment :D

I'm building two new soundtracks right now and interestingly enough, both are sequels so they include songs from the previous books. First is: the sequel to Soul Seduction, tentatively named Soul Salvation. Yes, I'm writing a sequel. I thought that was obvious.

Second is: Chains of Gold, which is the sequel to the story I just turned into my editor which is the sequel to The Long Con. And yes again, I am writing a sequel. The egg just didn't get stolen. There is a hint in The Long Con's prologue that clues you in to who stole it.

Which will come first? I don't know. Right now, I'm furiously working on Soul Salvation. The pieces fell into place and I'm running with the inspiration :D

So back to work! Bye for now!

Fight hate with love...

So a couple days ago, I was forwarded an e-mail from one of my friends. It was the e-mail from the FRC apparently going around about Chick-Fil-A to all of their “supporters” about how they are being persecuted by the left wing agenda because they support the true biblical meaning of marriage. (And seriously? I know someone who subscribes to the FRC? I was shocked.)

I’m not blogging today about how wrong their president's statement is. Any person reading my blog knows this is what I think already. This hateful agenda will be proven wrong by history, eventually. It is my hope that this happens sooner rather than later. 


Instead, like normal, I'm blogging about love. Because I write romance and I believe in love, no matter the gender. I also believe in families, which is inclusive of all families. So I'll share my story about my family. 


My parents were married for over 35 years and I am their only child. My mother did give birth to a girl before she met my dad and she was also married and divorced previously before she and my dad said I do. After my mom passed away, he was lucky enough to fall in love again with a lovely woman who had a daughter from a previous marriage. So now, I have a sister! :) Who is coming with me to GRL, by the way (so excited ZOMG) so we are having a sister weekend!


So we may not have a traditional family, or at least not like the president of Chick-Fil-A, who is married to his first wife. I have so many problems with his statement he gave to The Baptist Press News and I'd like to think he realizes his mistake but probably not. 


But I'm focusing not on the hate in his statement but on love because I believe true love will find a way. :)

Submission feels good :)

Mom, are you done with that story yet?

Yes, Cheddar baby. I'm done! The sequel to The Long Con is in to my editor and I'm relieved. I really enjoyed the story but my mind was running ahead to a couple new projects I'm working on, including a Sci-Fi trilogy I can't wait to start. That should be lots of fun :D And of course the next book in the SOCA series, featuring two new to you characters that I think you all will love. 

So I'm back to work at my day job ordering supplies and making sure this place runs well. :D Yay! 

Stop by on the 21st for a special blog post from JP Barnaby on her tour for Little Boy Lost: Sacrifice. It is not to be missed. There are lots of pretttttttty pictures :O yeah baby!

I've been in hiding.

I usually don't go this long in between posts but during the summers, everyone takes off on vacation and they stick me with the order line for my business. I enjoy this time because I usually get a ton of writing done, due to being chained to a desk.

Two computers is the shiz. You should try it.

(Oh yeah, that flag is from my Hubby's Citizenship Ceremony)

So I haven't really been in hiding, just really busy with my day job, which had given me little time to dwell on being sick. So I work, write and sleep. Which is good because I finished my latest novel, which is the sequel to The Long Con, tentatively named Dangerous Submission. More details on that when I can give them out.

To answer a couple questions about Dangerous Submission: 1. This book doesn't center around Tony and Bradley (sad panda) but they are in it in all their glory :) It centers around a new dom Drake Steele, a hot Scottish dom and the fiery Robbie Covington. and 2. Amanda will get her own book. I promise.

In awesome news, my cat has a twitter account. He will be updating and approving all pictures before they go out so he can look fabulous :D He is CheddarChan on Twitter. Go look him up and give him some love.

And lastly, the color for lupus awareness is: PURPLE. How awesome is that? So when I wear purple (which is often because I look good in purple) I'm supporting not only my GLBT friends but lupus awareness as well.

So that's it for this update. Come back soon because JP Barnaby will be stopping by on her tour of awesomeness for her final book in the Little Boy Lost series. TTYL!

(I removed Disqus. It was deleting my comments back to people. Fail!)

I think I wrote a post like this once... Being diagnosed with lupus.

Well, it's finally official. For six years, I've been ill with some sort of auto-immune disease but my doctor could never pinpoint what exactly I had. In 2008, I felt so much better and I quit going to her because whatever it was had gone away and I was FREE!! Until December of 2011 and I fell off the cliff, figuratively speaking of course, LOL!

I went back to rheumatologist and saw the PA this week. I asked about my labs and she said that I still had active lupus.

STILL HAD LUPUS????? WTF??? WHEN HAD I BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH LUPUS?????? I was flabbergasted. I asked her what she meant and she told me that when I came back in December of 2011 that the blood tests showed positive for an indicator of lupus and combined with my other symptoms, they could definitively diagnose me with this.

So the last two visits with my doctor, nothing had been mentioned but I was so disbelieving, the PA showed me in the doctor's notes where it said I had been diagnosed with SLE, not RA as originally discussed nor scleroderma with CREST.

The last couple of days have been a rollercoaster and I'm still dealing with it. I've been angry and weepy. It's really frightening. But really everything makes sense.

So this is my big announcement and a bit of an explanation. I love to be around people and hang out but this disease can take a lot out of me. The way I feel is often too complex to describe and it can change from day to day. But I've often used The Spoon Theory in explaining how I've felt and all too often, I've borrowed spoons from the next day.

So if I bow out of anything, I apologize in advance. I make plans and then have to break them because I'm so sick. Today, I'm running a fever and my joints ache. So ask me today and I don't feel like doing anything. But next week is different and I hope I feel better :)

Wow, I can't un-hear that! LOL! My trip to hell and back... Part 2

First four days can be found here

Day 5: Jamaica, my breakdown and my obsession with the ice show.

Well tomorrow, another early morning. I was so damn frustrated at this point, I was in tears. I called down and asked to speak to the guest services manager to see if maintenance could come up and look at the door. I was told they were busy.

Maintenance showed up at about 8am and I said everyone is asleep, please come back. I go down for breakfast after my husband's hot water for tea shows up. After all that, I try to come back and sleep but I'm unable to.

I let our stateroom attendant (who was just a total doll) know we are expecting maintenance. We go down for lunch and on the way, we managed to speak to the guest services manager, who manages the guests experience for the hotel rooms. I let her know my frustrations about the noise and how we can't seem to get a handle on it. It's horrible.

She manages to get us another room on the way other side of the ship. It's a smaller room, not the same category but it's the best she can do because the Tony Award tech guys just left the ship (sorry to hear that! I wanted to see them grinding on each other again ;))

Anyway, I take the room and after lunch we move. The room hasn't been cleaned but I take off for a bit and come back and the room is all made up. The stateroom attendant is kind of a noob but he cleans the room well enough. There's not enough room for my wheelchair either. I DON'T CARE!

Dinner that night was lovely. I couldn't tell you what it was. It was just delicious! :D

Steph has become a winning machine with the 21 table while Dad and I head off for this free machine that let's you play heads up Poker. I sit down for a tourney with my dad and I win! I consider this to be a honor because he's a long time poker player and he's won quite a few tournaments. He has a bunch of t-shirts from winning :)

I go to bed early and sleep for 13 hours. Thank god!

Day 6: Cruising.

Honestly, this day was all about watching the water go by and just chillaxing. I take a nap and write on and off all day, just enjoying myself. I also go for a seminar at the health spa about the benefits of chinese medicine for arthritis and auto-immune. I'm totally fascinated  by the benefits and decide to look into this when I get back from the cruise.

I have a great talk with my dad about business over lunch and where we are going with marketing and product development. I finally convince him to sign off on a couple ideas I have that I think will drive our business into the next level and I'm excited to implement them.

Dinner tonight is so totally awesome! Shrimp and lobster for the win! It's also the Captain's dinner so who is driving the boat? :D

At dinner, Steph and Helene start talking about the diving show they were watching while I was at the chinese medicine seminar. Helene said "Steph liked this one guy who had perfect gorgeous abs." And on this trip, I can definitely see my baby sister has grown up.

So Helene is trying to describe him to me and she says his thighs look like big hams to her.  I couldn't hold back my laughter and while us girls are all snickering, my dad pops up and says "Well, all those guys with perfect bodies have little dicks."

My mouth dropped open as did my little sister and my step-mother. My dad rarely swears and I just couldn't unhear that.

After dinner, we go to the Casino and I can't get over the fact that the James Bond theme plays on a loop as you walk in but we find my hubby there chatting with a fellow Scouser (from Liverpool) and I mentioned it was the captain's dinner so I asked who's driving the boat? The dealer said, "Don't know but we might hit an iceberg." Hubby said, "Too soon, mate." and they both laughed. Only Scousers could joke about that :P

So I play against my dad on the poker machine, because he can't believe I won. He wins this round with three kings against two pair. I let him crow about it for a while before we hit the craps table.

I stood by the table, explaining the bets to my hubby while the dice rolled. My dad showed up and he convinced us to play while he taught my husband. While I can explain the basics, my dad has been playing craps longer than I've been alive. When the guy next to me crapped out, the dice came to me and we bought some chips so I could roll.

And I hit a roll that would not stop. The cheering from the table when I hit points and elevens was heard throughout the casino. People bought in and played the come line as I hit number after number. For some reason though, I couldn't hit a hard eight, which was my mom's number. I tried though until I hit a seven finally and the dice moved on. You know it's a good roll when people cheer and shake your hand.

Then my dad crapped out pretty quickly and then on to my husband who hit some beginner's luck. And then he hit a hard eight. I took it as a sign my mom was watching over him, because she always loved my husband :)

We walked away from the table when our rolls were done and they shook Damian's hand. We had some good bank on that roll. We didn't play roulette because my husband said it was mental.

Anyway, I drag Steph off the machine and we head for the ice show. I snag a couple boss seats and I can't get that song out of my head. I tape the song so I can shazam it later and figure out what it is. I know I've heard it. I just can't name it.

I'm exhausted so I hit the bed early.

Day 7: Cozumel; my luck ran out and my computer world fully collapses. 


This morning, I'm up early and feeling great! I head up for breakfast and write a bunch, finally ending up on the Solarium deck and sitting in the sunshine while banging away at my keyboard. Some towel guy tried to tell me a joke but unless your name was Drake or Robbie, I wasn't listening.


I really feel lazy just laying around and eating whenever the buffet is open but honestly that ship was so big, after I lost the water bloat, I'm five pounds less than when I started the cruise. There was just so much walking. 


Anyway, I make a huge salad for myself, piled high with feta cheese. I take the first table I could find and go get a glass of water. I nom on my salad, which taste sooooo good. I get up to get another glass of water, trying to decide between plain water and enhanced water, which taste like crap. 


When I get back, there's a glass of soda next to my computer, which is weird but since I'm in the same cafe my waiter manages, I figured he just told someone to get me a soda but I don't feel like one. I finish my salad and start to work on my story and suddenly this old guy shows up and tells me I'm at his table. 


Now, I've been there with my computer for fifteen minutes and my server is confused because she didn't seat him there. Anyway he tries to bully me into leaving but I'm done with my food anyway. I should have stayed there to screw with him but I was in a mood to write so I just left after telling him he was an asshole. 


So I hung out at a different table that my waiter found for me that looked out over the water. The buffet area is so huge it stretches from port to starboard and about 1/3 of the ship. As I'm eating, a Carnival ship docks near us and I took a picture of it. The Carnival ship is as long as our buffet area. We were parked in the opposite direction, aft (butt of the boat) in.

Our boat is bigger than yours. Neener. 

So you see my theme, which is much like when I'm at home. I escape to write. While on vacation, I would get up and while my family slept in, I wrote over breakfast. If they managed to find me, I put away my story but for the most part, I hid out. Our evening waiter on the cruise was the manager of the breakfast buffet and every morning, he created this little space where I wouldn't be disturbed by the other cruisers and I still had a great view. I was almost done with my story and started re-writing the beginning by this day.

Cozumel is really hot so instead of getting off the ship, I just head to my room and nap for three hours. After that I wake up and get ready for dinner.

Dinner that night isn't supposed to be anything special so Hubby and I go off in search of something awesome. We hit this place called the Seafood Shack on the Boardwalk and as we are eating, we set sail. I had two grilled lobster (frozen so I have no problem with the seafood allergy) and we leave but I'm thinking we're supposed to be in Ft Lauderdale the next day but we have one more day of cruising.

I'm ready to be home. I'm tired of cruising. Seven days is just wayyyyyyy too long. I'm tired of walking this ship. My back, thighs, knees and feet hurt like a bitch. So I head back to my cabin to look over what to do tomorrow and I decide one more day at sea won't be too bad.

After dinner, I get back and my computer is on the floor. I NEVER leave my computer on the floor. It's just too dangerous for it down there. But I decide to use hubby's computer because my wireless is just not working the last couple days. It's driving me nuts but apparently it's a ship wide problem, not just my computer. My hubby has a gaming laptop so it has a super strong wireless signal.


The whole cruise, I can't seem to get on the internet. I'm an avid dropbox user but because of the wonky internet on the ship, I couldn't seem to back-up like I thought and all I can do is pray my computer doesn't do anything strange because I can't back-up my story. 


Sure enough, my computer went nuts. When I took it downstairs to get some writing done, it kept shutting off every time I turned it on, like the battery was dead. I thought that was weird so I plugged it in and it still does the strange drama. So I do what any good CEO does when their $3K computer goes on the fritz.

I cry.

Hubby calmed me down and assured me that I would be able to fix it when we got home, even if we had to send it in to Sony. I'm freaking out because I didn't think the last back-up worked because of the wonky internet and I was using a new program called Scrivener and I wasn't sure of how to back it up. So I checked Dropbox via my hubby's computer and there is no sign of my back-up, in fact the last back-up was three weeks ago, not even my back-up from when I left for the cruise.

WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF??!?!? I have a total full-blown panic attack but my hubby manages to calm me down. I love him so much because he kept a cool head and calmed me like he does with cats who freak out. He was like the zen master.

Too tired to think about it, I popped a Xanax (It's not actually Xanax but in that same family) and I hit the sack.


Day 8: In mourning of my lost computer. 


Blissfully, I slept in until 10am. I'm too upset to eat breakfast but I managed to have lunch. I e-mailed my CP and cried on her shoulder (thanks Kele) 


Not even the ice show could cheer me up and dinner tasted like ash. I had full on depression. But I decided that if I couldn't get my story back, it was because it wouldn't work anyway and I just needed to toss it. The universe was trying to tell me something.

OMG! A towel monkey was in our room! ACK! 

Hubby had a Ron Stoppable moment. :D

I spent the evening indulging in my packing OCD to keep my mind off my computer. This apparently fascinates my husband because I made all our clothes fit into one suitcase when we brought three. I'm magical like that :)


So as we packed to go home, I handed my husband my computer and said "I don't care what you do. Move mountains or do some voodoo but make this thing work. Save my story! But if we have to, we'll send it into Sony." I didn't want to do the last because they would probably erase my hard drive.

While I packed, hubby bonded with my sister. They are so alike, it's hard to believe they aren't twins. I'm glad they got to hang out :)

While hubby has no trouble getting to sleep, I can't night because I'm so eager to get home. About 3am I fell asleep.

Day 9: I'm on solid ground but the earth is still moving.

I'm shot out when I wake-up at 5:30 but I have a very early brekkie with my husband and see him off for the early train back to Orlando. Again, from the beginning of the story, he hates traveling by car.

If you ever get a chance to cruise out of Ft Lauderdale, do it. Getting off the boat and going through customs is so organized and easy, with a snap of our fingers, we were done and getting in our car for our trip home.

The drive home was fraught with worry, I was sure I would give myself an ulcer. My hubby got home before I did and the house was hot but he sat down with a cup of tea and called Sony.

When I got home, he handed me the computer and told me it was fixed. And it was! Something inside had become dislodged and he fixed it so it's working perfectly with all files intact! YAAY! Hubby for the win! He's my knight in shining armor and my hero!!!!!!

So I hugged him and cried tears of joy. He makes my world turn because he calms me when I'm freaking out and carries me through the hardest times of my life. I'm lucky to have found him and I can never say that enough.

The final stop? I pick up my babies at the kennel and everyone there was sorry to see them go. What I love about Best Friend's Pet Care at Disney is when I walk into the separate cat area, the cats never seem stressed or meowing to get out. They are always calm and happy. Although my babies did hear my voice and come out from under their blankie :D

So we're are home. I just finished the last load of laundry. My hubby didn't take enough shirts on the cruise but that wasn't a big deal. In unrelated news, my hubby tried a new skin wash, which gave him a nearly 2nd degree burn on his face right before the cruise. So he was feeling like shit the whole time but still managed to keep a brave face for me.

So I'm glad to be home and resting. I finally understand the whole needing a vacation from my vacation. I've woken up both mornings with my cats around me, purring their heads off. It's good to be home :)

More pics to come later!