Angela James, YES... THE. ANGELA JAMES is coming

Angela James, editor extraordinaire, is coming to Romance Divas for a 3 day class on Epublishing! Come join us Jan 13-15 and ask her anything.

Everything You Ever Needed to Know About Epublishing (and some things you didn't know you should know)

Why doesn't epublishing offer advances? What are some of the pros and cons of publishing my manuscript via epublishing? How do I research publishers? Can I really make money in epublishing? What exactly is POD? Can you give me a snappy comeback for people who say that epublishing isn't real publishing? Epublishing has evolved and grown, especially in the last 5 years, but with growth comes pitfalls and problems, and trusting an epublisher with your baby might seem like a risky proposition. We'll cover the basics of epublishing, from choosing an epublisher and contract details to methods of ebook and print distribution to reasons why you might not want to epublish your manuscript.

Bio:In 2005, Angela James joined Samhain Publishing, Ltd, a small press company focusing on digital publishing, as its executive editor, where she has played an instrumental role in building the company from the ground up. In her executive position at Samhain, Angela is responsible for managing the publisher's editorial services division. Her responsibilities include the management of editorial staff, quality oversight, networking and marketing efforts at regional, national and international writing conferences to promote the electronic publishing industry as well as Samhain.

In addition to her administrative duties, Angela continues to edit more than 50 authors including national bestselling authors Lucy Monroe, Lilith Saintcrow and Deidre Knight.

I can only HOPE one day she'll edit one of my stories. Crossing fingers...

I heart this guy... whoever you are - I'm yours

I might have to get permission from my hubby for this kind of thing but this Craig's list ad is hilarious. I hope I'm not stepping on any permissions posting it here. And I have NO idea who this guy is but if you're him, email me. I could get you in touch with some copywriters that would love to know you:

NINJA HAULER: 2005 Nissan Xterra - $12900 (Ronan / Lake County )

OK, let me start off by saying this Xterra is only available for purchase by the manliest of men (or women). My friend, if it was possible for a vehicle to sprout chest hair and a five o'clock shadow, this Nissan would look like Tom Selleck. It is just that manly.

It was never intended to drive to the mall so you can pick up that adorable shirt at Abercrombie & Fitch that you had your eye on. It wasn't meant to transport you to yoga class or Linens & Things. No, that's what your Prius is for. If that's the kind of car you're looking for, then just do us all a favor and stop reading right now.

I mean it. Just stop.

This car was engineered by 3rd degree ninja super-warriors in the highest mountains of Japan to serve the needs of the man that cheats death on a daily basis. They didn't even consider superfluous nancy boy amenities like navigation systems (real men don't get lost), heated leather seats (a real man doesn't let anything warm his butt), or On Star (real men don't even know what the hell On Star is).

No, this brute comes with the things us testosterone-fueled super action junkies need. It has a 265 HP engine to outrun the cops. It's got special blood/gore resistant upholstery. It even has a first-aid kit in the back. You know what the first aid kit has in it? A pint of whiskey, a stitch-your-own-wound kit and a hunk of leather to bite down on when you're operating on yourself.

The Xterra also has an automatic transmission so if you're being chased by Libyan terrorists, you'll still be able to shoot your machine gun out the window and drive at the same time. It's saved my bacon more than once.

It has room for you and the four hotties you picked up on the way to the gym to blast your pecs and hammer your glutes. There's a tow hitch to pull your 50 caliber anti-Taliban, self cooling machine gun.

I also just put in a new windshield to replace the one that got shot out by The Man. My price on this bad boy is an incredibly low $12,900, but I'll entertain reasonable offers. And by reasonable, I mean don't walk up and tell me you'll give me $5,000 for it. That's liable to earn you a Burmese-roundhouse-sphincter-kick with a follow up three fingered eye-jab. Would it hurt? Hell yeah. Let's just say you won't be the prettiest guy at the Coldplay concert anymore.

There's only 69,000 miles on this four-wheeled hellcat from Planet Kickass. Trust me, it will outlive you and the offspring that will carry your name. It will live on as a monument to your machismo.

Now, go look in the mirror and tell me what you see. If it's a rugged, no holds barred, super brute he-man macho Chuck Norris stunt double, then contact me. I might be out hang-gliding or BASE jumping or just chilling with my ladies, but I'll get back to you. And when I do, we'll talk about a price over a nice glass of Schmidt while we listen to Johnny Cash.

To sweeten the deal a little, I'm throwing in this pair of MC Hammer pants for the man with rippling quads that can't fit into regular pants. Yeah, you heard me. FREE MC Hammer pants.

Rock on.

Winner's of the Winter Wonderland Contest Announced!!!!!

If you participated in the Winter Wonderland contest - Winner's have been announced. You can see where you placed here.

Thank you to all the authors who participated - it was so fantastic being involved in something so fun with all of you. And even more importantly - Thank you to all the participants. We had a great turn-out and I hope to see you around again.

Now for the sad news. I now have to take down the one and only cool graphic on my site. Thanks for Stella Price for creating it for the contest. She's awesome. If you ever need a graphic, she's the woman.

Well, ta ta for now.... Collin and Justine are calling.

Chance to WIN FREE STUFF!!!!!

The time is running out on the Winter Wonderland contest!!!! Click the above link and learn how you can enter - hint: look down toward the bottom of this page for a flying snowman and you're already on your way to entering.

DBSK rumblings...

I have a little, tiny obsession. On most days, no one would ever guess but today I have to share.

I LOVE DBSK.

This five-member group rocked my world in 2006 with "O" and needless to say there are few days I don't listen to them at work. For those uninitiated DBSKstands for Dong Bang Shin Ki or Tohoshinki (THSK) in Japan. I've got all their albums and if you do a search for Mirotic or DBSK Wrong Number on youtube.com you will be hooked.

Oh, and their accappella is to die for.

I don't indulge myself in fanfiction often but I'm always imagining who would be the perfect girls for these sexy, talented guys. Here's some of what I've written (Don't worry Justine and Collin are getting along fine... poor Collin's a bit distracted at the moment but no worries... She's got a surprise for him)

Yunho looked at the men surrounding him. As a team, they were strong, nearly impossible to beat down. Even if they had to walk the streets again, they would survive.

It hadn’t been easy – getting where they were now. A lot of tough work and struggle, time spent honing their unique skills and learning how to blend in and become who they had to be to survive.

They were one of the best teams in the world – on and off the stage. Most people just didn’t know how good. And he was set on keeping it that way.

Yeah, being caught and taken off the streets had been one of the best things to happen to them. Now, they traveled the world, played the biggest stages, and quietly between sets did their real work – keeping the world safe.

They were Dong Bang Shin Ki in Korean, Tohoshinki in Japanese, or in English “Gods Rising from the East.” It was a name they had picked themselves but it seemed more appropriate the higher their fame took them.

But tonight, it was just the five of them doing what they’d been trained for. Jaejoong hung back locked into the power grid and security system via his Metabox 740 – sweetest custom job he’d ever seen. Man, what he wouldn’t give for a few minutes with that. JJ wasn’t going to let anyone near it though. The man slept with it under his pillow. Said he didn’t want anyone messing with his equipment.

Changmin hung out at the bottom of the stairs appearing to jam to his ipod. He won that job by default… it was just too hard to look at him and imagine he could be up to trouble. And while he was the tallest, he looked so innocent and harmless. Yunho could see that changing soon – but for now he was their best bet for look out.

Besides, the boy could charm the pants off just about anyone if you gave him a chance.
Micky on the other hand was the quiet one. He could melt into the background or play the joker. He ran point and recon, keeping Yunho informed. He was a man with skills and his deep voice allowed him to keep up a line of information without hardly a peep escaping beyond the mic. It was amazing. Truly he was their hidden weapon.

Xiah stood beside him, hyped and ready to rock. He was their monkey. If you needed to get into something or get up to something, Xi could get there. He also was incredibly fast, able to get in and out of the trickiest situations without anyone the wiser.

As for himself, he was their leader. Somehow by default he’d ended up with that position, maybe it was because he was a quick thinker. Or maybe it was because no one else wanted the job. No matter. He’d taken the tasks before him and kept his boys together. That’s all he cared about.

Just then Micky’s deep voice registered through his ear piece. “It’s a go.”

Signaling to Xi, he moved into position next to room 333. Rolling his eyes, he contemplated harassing JJ on his choice of room numbers but JJ got to it before him.

“I know Yunho but seriously, this was the best room for entry into the ventilation shaft. I can’t help it if it’s my favorite number. ”

“Yeah, right.” Yunho mumbled into his earpiece and waited for Xi to pick the lock. A few seconds later they were in. A click on the mic told everyone they were a go. Visually in his mind he imagined Changmin moving to their hallway beginning surveillance there while Micky moved in closer to their target.

A few clicks later, Xi removed the air vent and wiggled into the air shaft. Yunho followed legs first, closing the vent behind him.

“Jaejoong?”

“Yeah…”

“Please tell me we don’t have to go back out this way.”

“I figured it would be tight. Hold on a sec. No, that’s it unless you can get out the window the door.”

“Damn,” Yunho muttered under his breath trying to ignore the tight space surrounding him.

The seconds ticked by as he listened to his breathing and the noise of the air shaft. He shuffled himself toward the place where Xi silently waited. Noises filtered out from the vent Xi had stopped at. Crap, someone’s in there.

Signaling to Xi, he began to move back toward the other vent. But Xi could hear better and signaled him to stop. Seconds ticked by and the voices got farther away. Then he heard the faint sound of a door shutting.

Xi popped open the vent and slid into the room. A small squeak on the earphone told him all was clear. Sliding out into the open air, Yunho looked around briefly then focused on Xi.
One quick signal from Xi put him on the floor again as someone treaded down the hall toward them. Jeez was this grand central station or what. Ducking under the bed he was surprised to see

Micky lying there so quiet he wouldn’t have known he was there if he wasn’t seeing it with his own eyes. In seconds the man was gone again and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Another all clear and Yunho went into action. Xi and Micky would check the offices and drawers. But his job included the safe. Break in, take the photos and get out.

“It’s in the north wall.” JJ said in his ear. “I see an electronic signature there on the grid but it doesn’t match the visual I’m getting from you guys or the original schematics. I’ll localize the shut down. There, you’ve got two minutes.”

Sure enough, behind the padded wall there was a safe. Simple number combination. They must have been relying on the electronic backup alarm. Not very smart. Within seconds, the safe was open. Unfortunately there was nothing there but a small box.

Opening the box, he found a small scrap of paper.

“Got You!”

“Hey, guys, we’ve got trouble,” Changmin whispered. He could tell by Changmin’s breathing that he must be running.

Yeap, they were in trouble.“Everyone out now. Abort.” Yunho said through the mouth piece.

**********************************I have four chapters written and would love to finish - do you think SM will buy them off of me and sell to US, Europe, South America and Asia to get the fans hyped? Sigh, I could hope. **************************************

Seperation of Church and State at school... nope.

After the fiasco of my son having bullets on the bus on the ride home - email me if you want details... it was bad...

I feel my anger over a current assignment at my son's school is put into perspective.

Basically, my son's teacher is requiring that my son read a Christmas story and do a book report. All in all it sounds innocous enough. No problem.

But she sends home this form. Now, unlike most parents I can't just sign and return. No. I have to analyze it. Pick it apart... First off, what the heck??? Why do you have to have the only book report due this year so far be on Christmas? What if we didn't celebrate? What if we were Pagan or atheist? She offered no other options and they have to dress up. WTH.

Then she has this bogus form talking about making a commitment to do it, write it up, dress up, and give an oral presentation. It's a required assignment. Hello... there's no discussion... you don't NEED my child's commitment. You're requiring it - there's no discussion or debate. So don't act like this is a mutually agreeable decision and a commitment was made.

And don't even get me started on how the form also states that the writing is the most important part of this process when only 15 points go toward independent writing and over 25 points go toward the oral presentation and basically the rest are on following the directions on the form.

UGH. Is it just me? Is it just my dislike for the teacher? Did anyone else get weird reactions to this form?

Oh, why can't I be like other parents and just keep my mouth shut, smile, and nod.... Oh why?

What I'm Thankful for...

There are so many things to write about... I could talk about how sexy Scott, Justine's handler with the FBI is- I think I'm half in love with him - and the fact that he's playing havoc on my plot right now (Sorry, Collin... you might disappear) or I might make Justine a continuing herione in a series.

Or... I could write about how silly my kids are and how I think my daughter has seen through the ruse of the toothfairy (it's only the toothfairies second visit and my daughter is already saying, "Mom, you're the toothfairy? Aren't you?"

What do you say to that? I think I need a manual.

Instead, I thought I would list the 13 things I am most grateful for:

• A husband that loves and adores me, even when the house is a mess and I don't get to bed until one am.
• Two adorable, loving kids that wake up my every morning with warm little squirming bodies, giggles and hugs.
• A job I enjoy, making good money
• My love for writing and the ability to create emotions and a connection with my readers.
• A beautiful home that our family loves.
• My health
• My family's health
• My mom (What would I do without you? You always know just the right thing to do.)
• My dad (Miss you, Daddy)
• My Gran Dunne (You have no idea how many times a day I think about you, Gran)
• JK Rowling, JR Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Linda Howard, Mercedes Lackey, Marjorie M. Liu, and Stephanie Meyer
• Junsu, Yoochun, JaeJoong, Changmin, Yunho - You inspire me
• Romance Divas - You guys are the best!!!! What else can I say