About to have a 2nd mug of writer's tea: 3 teabags in a giant cup, no sugar, heaps of milk. Brain cells need plying this morning.

Jenyfer Matthews invited me to blog about writing & my latest release, Gray Beginnings, at: http://ping.fm/6dtju

Just had the nicest note on Facebook from an old friend.This woman read my very 1st book when it was still just paper, & kept me writing.

Today, I'd Like to Welcome Angela Cameron

Angela Cameron is a fellow Drollerie Press author. She has been kind enough to stop by today and tell us a bit about herself and her writing. We also have an interview with one of her characters, Torin.

Hi!

I’m so glad to be guest blogging today on N.D.’s blog as part of the Drollerie Press Blog Tour. This is so exciting for me because it’s my first guest blog.

Being my first attempt, I wracked my tiny brain for a while to try and come up with something quirky to write, and then a friend (another author) suggested that I interview one of the characters from my Drollerie Press book, Nocturne. I thought the idea was brilliant. So, I’m including the interview below, but consider this your official SPOILER warning!

I hope that you’ll take the time to stop by my blog at http://angelacameron.wordpress.com/ to check out my romance and paranormal works, read other interviews, and meet the guests on my blog. If you like free stuff, you might even want to register for one of my contests.

Hope to see you there!

Angela Cameron

***************************

Interview with Torin
Character in the novella Nocturne

I was a little nervous about interviewing Torin. I really hadn’t spent much time with him and something about the way he looked at me—or through me—when we had been together made me nervous. So, when he asked me to meet him on the playground of the elementary school just before midnight, I had this sudden notion to cancel the interview.

But I work through my fears and go to the playground, as he’d asked, on what happens to be the first full moon of the month. I sit on one of the swings, too scared to actually move the thing because the squeaking sound might allow him to sneak up on me.

“I’m surprised you came,” is the first thing I hear. The voice is right behind me. He’d snuck up on me anyway.

Angela: Why?

Torin: It isn’t exactly a brilliant move to meet me in a secluded place. Alone. In the middle of the night.

A: You’re not going to kill me.

T: How do you know?

A: You like me too much?

T: (He laughs and the sound is almost musical) You have your uses.
(Then he’s in front of me, dressed in a suit that must have cost a small fortune. His dark hair and goatee are neat as ever) Ask your questions. I have other business tonight.

A: Did you plan to turn Aly?

T: (He stares at me, then turns his face toward the moon.) An easier question didn’t seem like a good start?

A: I thought you were in a hurry.

T: Point taken.

A: So…

T: The thought crossed my mind the first time I saw her, but I didn’t decide to do it until there were no other options.

A: Are you glad that you did it?

T: I’m glad that she survived, but I regret the circumstances.

A: Don’t you think that Wil is going to have a hard time letting her go with you?

T: (His face is different. Harder.) The wolf has a hard time accepting everything. I don’t expect this to be any different.

A: Is she going to live with you?

T: I don’t have an answer to that question. That is her decision.

A: But you want her to.

T: While I have enjoyed this little chat, it’s time for me to go.

A: Why don’t you answer the question?

T: Because it doesn’t matter what I want.

A: (Torin points toward my car and I glance in that direction.) What?

I turn back, but he’s already gone.

Thank you so much for visiting, Angela! Hope to see you again soon.

Cheers and best wishes,

Norah/ND/Melody

A fellow author just sent me an email asking whether I was ready to send her my blog post. Blog post about what? No record of it. Cr*p!

Shigeyuki Kihara was also at the exhibit last night. She is the first Samoan to have an exhibit at the NY Met http://ping.fm/LLDZT

World's oldest axes (1.8 million years) unearthed in Malaysia http://ping.fm/IpdIP

This is wonderful news: transplanted progenitor stem cells can reverse paralysis! They've now done it in rats. http://ping.fm/mZcEy

Dumping of surplus/wastecrops in oceans will recycle, reduce carbonhttp://ping.fm/jBeOz What about land fertility, tho? Bad as erosion?

Early attempts to contact extraterrestrials were visual, first (light, parabolic mirrors), then radio http://ping.fm/fSyz5

I'd forgotten how artists can change society with their work-how there's a responsibility to be meaningful. Heck! I just like to paint elves

Went to amazing exhibition featuring Rebecca Swan http://ping.fm/WX6w5't know anything about the transgender art/experience. Awed

My 2008 in Book Excerpts

Hi! This month has been terribly hectic! Eleven book edits, with little else being accomplished, other than work and editing (oh, and the gym! I joined a gym and have actually been going, if only to get away from my computer).

These edits are brought on by a very lucky 2008. In Flames, Of Dragons, The Hollowing, GlassWorks, ErRatic, and Emerald City were all released last year.

The sequel to ~In Trysts~

REVIEWS

In Flames

1 - "Fast paced and edgy tension highlights this passionate thriller. In Flames is a roller coaster ride of secrets and ghosts and sizzling sensuality. The plot line is solid and kept this reader guessing to the dramatic end. Marco and Sophia are likable individuals that I felt an affinity with from the opening. Melody Knight is an author whose back list I look forward to reading."

Lettetia Elasser

Affaire de Coeur July/August 2008

2 - "Her combustibility and the secrets of her past form the basis for this intriguing mystery." Literary Nymphs http://literarynymphsreviewsonly.blogspot.com/2008/07/in-flames.html

EXCERPTS

She’d gone down maybe a dozen stairs, following always that acrid smoke smell, her keen sense of smell guiding her. She wound through a maze of tunnels and intersections, Ys, in the dark, arms flailing, trusting to stink and instinct—and all the while dreading what she would find at the end of it.

She had been right to dread. The incinerate glow leached out into the darkness, staining the corridor red and orange. She knew, when she felt the heat emanating from within, that she’d reached Hell.

It was hot and holed and cavernous, and inhabited by maybe a dozen robed figures. The wall lengths were broken by alcoves; flattened bottoms with rounded arches above. A New World solution to Old World catacombs. The roof was a giant rock chute, and the smoke churned, eddied and swirled upwards and out.

The center was an inferno—a stone altar alternately orange, yellow, blue, red, black. Flames licked it, dancing like the wood-coal which fed it. Dying wood which glowed with that peculiar animacy of searing orange and bred in the efforts of sweating men in motion. Their robes flapped and their hoods slipped, as they fought to sustain illusion in the face of toil. Crackle, snap, branches flung and logs thudding against the base. The searing heat made the scene wobble in waves of molten air, and already heated tempers flared to incandescence at the pyre's demands for fuel.

Sophie stood there blankly, wobbling on her feet, blood leaking down her legs. She looked from the altar to the arched crevices around the walls. The dancing orange light picked up the dull dark brown of carbonized bone.

Carbonizing bone.

She was seen…of course. By Damian and not-Damian. They were both there, but only one was hers. The other one, she decided later in her nightmares, had been present only to show her there was more than one demon in Hell.

Damian and not-Damian had hit her, kicked her, pounded her, again and again.

Smoke, fire, flames, corpses.

And the demons danced on.

AND

Sophie lost him in the smoke and steam. She screamed, choked on soot and swallowed water—then it was all gagging, paddling, churning her way through the wash. The surge was relentless, all troughs and waves, floating wood and falling stone. She was slammed against the wall and felt her shoulder give. Sophie shrieked and fought for air. “Marco!”

He had her. Marco grabbed her, and clung. She held onto him weakly, and opened her eyes to find he was smiling.

A death’s head grin. It was Gerald Beaumont.

“Sophie!” he cried, clawing at her head, her shoulders, climbing her like a bobbing tree. She was going under, down, when Marco snatched her out of Gerald’s grasp and flung him aside.

But Marco’s hold on her was tenuous, and Beaumont’s frantic antics cost him. Scratch, tear, rip, fling, but in the wildly swirling muddle, of dirt and bone, ash and wood, filthy foam and churning backwash, Sophie was jarred loose from Marco’s grasp once more, out of his reach. He heard her choked off “Marc-!” as she vanished beneath the rising waters.

http://www.lindenbayromance.com/product-inflames-144-149.html

Of Dragons

It'll eat you alive...

Nominated for Best SF/Fantasy Book of 2008 by LRC

Nominated for the Sir Julius Vogel Award 2008

REVIEWS

1 - "The story is filled with adventure, danger, and conflict. Now that Ryon and his friend know about Glynt's world can they just ignore it or should they get involved? Is Ryon really human as he believes or something more as Glynt believes? If you are looking for an unusual tale of adventure, the strength of the human spirit, and love all rolled into a fantasy story about other dimensions, then you will enjoy Of Dragons.

Reviewed by: Stephanie B." http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/2008/April/StephanieB-OfDragons.htm

"Of Dragons is a story that tells of how worlds are connected to each other and how love can become a reality for those who want it. " Literary Nymphs http://literarynymphsreviewsonly.blogspot.com/2008/06/of-dragons.html

EXCERPT

She was nearly dressed when she heard them. The vibration rattled the shiny Christmas ornaments on her dressing table, making the glass ping harshly against the table top.

No!

Her fingers clasped the adamantine dragonfly encircling her neck, as terror quickened her heartbeat. Chills raced down her limbs in spiky little arrays. That sound—that horrifying, buzzing thunder—was one she recognized, deep inside. The fear of them—and their appetites—had been bred into her through a hundred generations.

Glynt ran. Panicked, she fled the bedroom with its flimsy-looking glass and raced for the balcony doors. They were thick fire doors—surely, they could resist the impact?

Ten thousand dragonfly wings…

The daylight went. The thickness of the horde—the sheer mass—was blotting out the sun. Desperate, near-petrified, she yanked the curtains closed.

The ramming slam of ten thousand exoskeletonned bodies splintered the glass, but it didn’t stop the beating—that horrific, mechanical swish of their wings. They were driving themselves at the doors, at the glass, frenzied. Day sounds were lost in the ceaseless roar of overlying wing beats.

In the bedroom, the glass imploded. Shatters of refracted light caught her eye, as they showered the door jamb.

As they blasted through, onto the carpet.

I didn’t close the door.

Her eyes widened in horror, and she raced for the exit. She was nearly to the front door when it began vibrating. They were in the hall, in hunting mode, and desperate to get to her.

Hide.

Where?! Frantic, she ran back to the curtained windows, in hopes of fooling Them. She was out of her element, and hidey holes were nowhere to be found. She cowered down, wrapped herself in curtain fabric, and scrunched into her smallest form. Already, she knew it wouldn’t help—couldn’t help. They were lured. Starving. Driven. Those multifaceted eyes would find her.

Ever hungry, they’d hunt her…on the wing.

http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/ind ex.php?manufacturers_id=83

The Hollowing

Nominated for the 2008 Sir Julius Vogel Award

REVIEW

1 - "This is an exceptionally, spine-tingling, gut wrenching thriller that takes you by the seat of your pants and have you gripping your chair while you turn each page. From ghosts to time-traveling you are always entertained by the adventure and excitement of this plot excellent dialogue and fabulous description gives you a great seat up front to all that is happening. This is a phenomenal read, and I recommend it highly. Wateena" http: //www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/Thehollowing.html

2 - "The Hollowing is a well-written novel involving the modern day conclusions drawn from a long history of paranormal events coupled with the age-old theories of time travel. Here is an old idea presented in a new and spell-binding story that will surely be of interest to fans of any genre." Reviewer: Lucille P Robinson http://tjb ook-list.blogspot.com/search/label/Authors%3A%20H

EXCERPT

Open the door.

But he couldn’t. His arm was rigid, his fingers clenched.

And he couldn’t make himself touch the knob.

Safe. Stay where you’re safe…

There was something waiting for him on the stairs. His impression of darkness—of The Hollowing—hadn’t been exaggerated. He stood there, shaking, and listened. Beyond the wooden partition the thick silence was giving way.

Breaking down the barriers.

Little whispers, small thuds, soft rustling cascades of movement.

Rats. Only rats.

Thuds and thunks. Rattles and clatters. And then a sound Shawn couldn’t attribute to anything else—the squeak and echo of a heavy tread on wood.

Someone was ascending the stairs.

Shawn was holding his breath so he could listen. He didn’t even realize it until his heart started throbbing in his ears. He stood there stiffly and listened to it coming.

The door’s unlocked. An invitation if ever there was one.

The knob was ice-cold beneath his fingers. The chill spread up his arm but he didn’t let it sway him. He squinted his eyes and yanked open the door.

The noise swept through him, carrying with it a rancid stink and a flurry of movement. He couldn’t see anything but darkness and there was noise all around him.

It was a fire. The crackling flames leapt up, roaring, popping, hissing. Screaming sizzles, mini explosions, whines of venting gas.

And then it was merely screams. Shouts that escalated to howls and shrieks. Terror. That’s what this was—terror. Old emotions, dredged up and waiting. The stink of must mingled with the rancid odor of burning hair. Shawn dropped to his knees, sick and sweating.

He fell down the stairs, hitting the landing with a gigantic crash. He couldn’t hear it though—couldn’t hear anything over the cacophony in his ears. In a half roll, half dive he splatted to the bottom floor and crawled, then pushed himself to his feet and staggered for the outer door.

It was closed. Locked. He yanked on the knob, fumbled with the lock but it wouldn’t give. He couldn’t get the hinges loose on the door. The pins were as tight as the lock. No way out.

He ran to the window and slammed the glass with a chair. Glass gave, bars didn’t. He rattled and shook and pounded.

Phone.

He yanked out his cell phone. It was dead.

Like me.

Around him the air seethed. It was transmitting itself to the furnishings. Chairs scraped, dust spiraled, papers flew.

Shawn barely noticed over the smoke pouring into his eyes.

There was only one way out. The upstairs room with its cool moonlight and empty spaces. Shawn flattened his hands over his ears, squinted his eyes and headed for the steps. His flesh was burning as he crawled, clambered and wriggled up the stairs.

At the top he slammed back the door and dove…

Onto a pyre of flame.

http://www.jasminejade.com/pm-4355-223-the-hollowing.aspx

Reflected Moments...Refracted Terror

REVIEW

"I have to say I've read this one and LOVED it. "

Debbie

Author of Infidelity (www.deborahgould.com )

EXCERPT

Cate picked up the slab of glass from its tilted resting spot. It had dropped nearly intact. Her fingers shook as the first tracings of shimmery silica began to move beneath the surface. All those crystalline lattices somehow rearranging themselves…

She froze, her breath frosting the glass from the sudden chill. Gooseflesh rose on her skin as the air around her grew cold.

It had never happened this way before.

The man was lying there, in the glass, his body sprawled with the indignity of all things dead and unburied. Cate's breath caught in her throat, the unspent fog almost choking her. Oh, God!

It wasn't here—hadn't happened here—but it was happening now.

There was an argument lingering, on the air. She couldn't see the moment of confrontation, or the altercation, but it had been about the mutilated body on the ground. About how to deal with it, to cast off blame with as much ease as they'd cast away his life.

Only, they didn't realize he could hear them still. Hear them and hate them.

Because it had always been about his looks. His looks, and justifying what he was. The grave they were giving him, the twisted notoriety they were planning, would leave him neither looks nor justice.

Cate's eyes focused on his face. What they'd done, what they were doing to the rest of him didn't bear watching.

But, apparently, she did. Bear watching, that is.

The corpse's eyes opened, to stare straight at her.

Cate flinched, twitched, recoiled, but she couldn't let go. Some part of her was screaming, but she was no longer sure whether it was her...or him.

She clung to the pane, trapped. When, a forever it seemed, later, she freed her fingers enough to fling it, she remained there rigid, staring, as the moonglow image shattered in a hundred spiky shards.

Some part of her was still recoiling, as if in reflex to a striking snake.

God help me!

In those instants of metaphysical contact, she felt as though one shriveled digit had touched her. Spanned the gap between life and death—

I'm not a medium!

She'd never been a medium—never even come close. It had been the one blessing, in an otherwise twisted gift, that however conversant she might have become with a dead person's past, she was never conversant with the dead!

Until now, it seemed. Cate backed away, panted white puffs coiling and twisting in the otherwise still air.

I'm not alone.

It should have been comforting, that there was a taxi driver waiting just outside, but somehow, it came out differently. That "I'm not alone" was filled with horror. The taxi driver might be outside, but something else moved within. In a dreadful moment, she knew she'd brought this on herself—that by coming here she'd been willing, demanding almost, a contact with his person—had wanted so badly to save him, that she'd drawn in a soul barely severed from its body.

Cate backed, tripped, twisted, and ran. She tore the length of the room as though the Devil were at her heels, and slammed open the end door with a loud squawking thunk. Using two hands, Cate wrenched the door closed again, locking evil within. She stumbled back, the small door pane fixing her into its framed panel.

He wasn't within. Behind her, his hatred ever so much more pronounced in proximity, was the mutilated visage of the recently deceased.

***

http://redrosepublishin g.com/booksto re/product_info.php?products_id=161Reviews

1- "I just finished reading ErRatic and must tell you I enjoyed it IMMENSELY!" Ruth

2 - " A thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining tale that offers as much thrill as it does amusement, ERRATIC is not to be missed. Kathy Samuels

Romance Reviews Today" http://www.romrevtoday.com/

EXCERPT

Emma glanced blearily at the clock. Three a.m., and Studley obviously needed to go out. He was whimpering, deep in his throat, and his cold nose kept nudging her arm.

Damn dog! She reached out and gave the silky coat a pat. Zombie-like, she stumbled across the room, to the front door, and unfastened the lock. “Out!” she commanded, punctuating it with a squeaky yawn.

When she opened her eyes again, the man was standing on the grass, just off the porch.

It was a very small porch.

She slammed the door and locked it, then raced through the house. She kept picturing Him running, trying to beat her to the back door.

It’s locked. It’s got to be locked.

It was, but she didn’t feel any better. No one had any business standing there, on her property, at three in the morning. He was up to no good.

She ran for the kitchen and picked up a knife in one hand and the phone in the other. The knife shook in her frozen fingers. Not a good thing. He’ll use it on me.

He damn well better not try. Her shadowy reflection in the window glass was that of a madwoman, brandishing a blade. Her staccato movements glinted across the toaster face, and she jumped, slashing the air.

Hysteria burbled up, like an unwanted belch, before sense clunked in with a nearly audible jolt. Window. Nightlight. He’ll see me. Frantic, she dropped onto the floor, and punched in a fumbling “911”.

If he saw me, I hope he saw the knife, too.

She shouted into the phone, “There was—!”, realized she was shouting, and quickly hissed, “There was a man!”

Why the hell hadn’t Studley barked?! The damned dog had practically dumped her in the killer’s lap!

The Police Operator was offering instructions now, and Emma listened to them blankly. She’d just recalled something very pertinent to her case.

“N-Never mind,” she said, replacing the receiver with shaking hands.

A dream. It had to be a dream.

But it wasn’t and she knew it. It was what she’d tell them, though, when they asked.

She sat there, huddled, too scared to challenge the near-dark. Her eyes were already scrunched closed, but now she drew up her knees and buried her face in her arms.

Shielded. Safer.

Not really.

She couldn’t afford to move now, even if it meant lighting the house. She was too afraid of what she might see.

She nestled her head deeper, to block her ears.

Too afraid of what she might hear.

She hummed a little whimper, deep in her throat the way Studley had. Just enough noise to challenge any other whimpers in the room.

When they came with the squad car to check out her call, she’d have to get up—but not till then. Then, it’d be okay—maybe even safe.

Why hadn’t Studley barked? That one was easy—now that she’d remembered.

About Studley.

He’d been dead—for almost a week.

http://www.amazon.com/ErRatic-Five-Science-Fiction-Fantasy/dp/1594146438 /ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197827650&sr=8-2

Loving, lustful...living?
Egypt...Archeology...Romance

The heat ate at her skin. The wretched sun was a beast which had also eaten her thermometer, so she couldn't even brag to friends back home how tough she was. Claudia lifted her head, but there was no breeze off the Red Sea. The sight of all that water held promise, though.

And she was no ancient Egyptian. If I'd lived here, I would have fought to go to sea. No conscription necessary.

Berenike was a dead city now—all ruins—but it had once been a thriving port. Hot and beaten down.

And dummy me, I'm still standing in the bloody sun! Her scalp was on fire, and the pounding of her heart echoed in her head. That's all I need, first day out—heat stroke.

Making a name for myself already…

She forced her boot-clad feet beyond trudge and popped behind a ruined wall, to squat on a pile of stone. It made a sandy scrape, rattle and crack, but she was beyond doing dainty. She reminded herself she was supposed to be revering these slabs—treating them with respect.

My butt will be perfectly respectful, thank you very much. Amazing how heat waves could generate sarcasm—or maybe that was her mind revolting against the lack of oxygen. Hell, the air was so hot she couldn't even breathe!

Ingrate. Well, that much was true, anyway. Claudia made herself close her eyes and suck a deep, hot…tolerant…breath.

She willed herself to relax, and lulled by warmth, dozed. Everyone else was smart enough to be napping, too. Nobody worked in the day's full heat. Only newbies like her went wandering, wanting to soak in atmosphere and ending up needing to soak up a couple of day's bed rest instead. She'd heard the stories. So now, she chased the shade as the sun moved, stretching out behind the wall and resting her head on a stone shaped very much like the headrests used by the ancients. Her conclusion-jumping fully in gear, she wanted to shout "artifact!"—to pick up the curved Y of rock and go running to the Prof. Intuition told her there might be something in it…

Until she recalled something else she'd heard. Newbies are always good for a laugh. So instead, she stretched out amidst the broken stones and rested her neck on the curve.

Queen of Egypt.

She spared a thought for scorpions in the rocks, then tossed it aside. Damn them if they could venture out in this blasted heat to do their hunting. Maybe they'd be as wary of her as she should have been of them, but at the moment, ignorance made a happy shield. What I don't know can't kill me.

She lay there, far from sound sleep, but definitely dozy. The dirt layer coating the floor was comfy in its way, and if she were to open her eyes to slits, she could almost imagine this as a complete building, even looking as it did, with no roof and a fourth wall missing. Rather like a studio set.

I could live here. Who needed walls in temperatures like this?

Somebody did. She peered at the almost haphazard piling of rock on rock, then realized it couldn't have been all that haphazard and have remained standing for twenty-five hundred years. She sat up then, running her fingers over the mismatched layers. Same stone, different sizes.

Precious. Quarried and carried here by hand, camel, boat. Each stone valued, utilized. There were no chinks in the layers that she could see, which meant they'd been well-fitted. Either that or they'd been filled over the centuries with sand.

Every hollow I possess now has a sprinkling of the stuff. She used her pinkie to pick sand out of her ear.

Her elbow was still up, her pose awkward, when the chill hit. It started in her shoulder blades, then shivered down her arms, the hair standing in salute. Her nape strands were already dancing, and her back crawled with what felt like a dozen scorpions. Icy scorpions, which sent shivers shunting down both legs…

Damn!

Was it worse to think profanity in the face of phantasms?

"Bloody hell!" she griped. "I thought for sure you couldn't follow me here. Or does the heat remind you of home?"

She glanced over to the corner of the ruin, and spotted a wave of movement that had nothing to do with rising heat. The distortion bent and disordered those orderly stacked stones, but to her heat-dried eyes it shimmered almost like a waterfall. For a moment she was tempted…

"I know it's you. You're unhealthy—that's what you are! I'm here to burn you out of my system!"

And with that, she booted aside old stone and precious block, stood, and tromped back to the camp.

Some men never learn.

Not even after they're dead.

http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/product_info.php?manufa cturers_id=83&prod ucts_id=243

>

Damn!

Was it worse to think profanity in the face of phantasms?

"Bloody hell!" she griped. "I thought for sure you couldn't follow me here. Or does the heat remind you of home?"

She glanced over to the corner of the ruin, and spotted a wave of movement that had nothing to do with rising heat. The distortion bent and disordered those orderly stacked stones, but to her heat-dried eyes it shimmered almost like a waterfall. For a moment she was tempted…

"I know it's you. You're unhealthy—that's what you are! I'm here to burn you out of my system!"

And with that, she booted aside old stone and precious block, stood, and tromped back to the camp.

Some men never learn.

Not even after they're dead.

http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/product_info.php?manu facturers_id=83&prod ucts_id=243

Been a bit of a nightmare morning, but then it always is on release day! Got up at 2:30 a.m. for a chat, and it's been full on every since

My 2008 in book excerpts http://ping.fm/1NacW

Gray Beginnings, a rather scary paranormal about a dowser with overwhelming talents, debuts today http://ping.fm/V87Sa

The face of antiquity: forensic medical expert uses modern techniques to reconstruct ancient faces. http://ping.fm/pnDDj

Final David Tennant Doctor Who shows look like they will include Martha Jones and Mickey Smith http://ping.fm/PGG5n

You have your basic hardback, paperback, and ebook. But now TP books? Cutting toilet paper use with ~poetry~ http://ping.fm/AWjAv

Did you know there are more venomous fish than venomous snakes? Nice pics at http://ping.fm/PFBkP

Lizards with longer legs and a shimmy in their gait, owing to close encounters with fire ants. http://ping.fm/W927b

Bad news for multiformats: PW reports Amazon will soon sell ONLY Mobipocket & Kindle eformats. No PDF or Microsoft Reader. Ouch!

Book edit for Crystal Dreams sitting on my desktop to be ignored. I am off to the gym to tone well-earned flab into an art form

Thin Lizzy on TV. Thin powder, fat lashes, Biggest Losers, plump lips. Kill me. Kill me now.

I was stupendous at work today - well, the "stupe" part's right, anyway. How does one become a blithering idiot just by getting out of bed?

Interesting take on the old "website vs blog" for authors. http://ping.fm/2fXfb

Author discovers full-sized dust bunnies bouncing through living room. Rearranged the rest of the furniture. Good God, it's alive...!

A bit of book research. 2008 update of events needs to be updated on all my blogs (before it's 2009) & hopefully,some writing later.

Raiding & pillaging by Vikings: settlement of Iceland was by Viking males + Scottish & Irish females http://ping.fm/kKBmE

Color me cow red... We've changed the natural colors of cows to rabbits through selective breeding...just for fun? http://ping.fm/tZtYi

One of my favorite sites. Each correct word in the game = 10 grains of rice given to those who need it. http://ping.fm/Ox8Er

Walked wee, smelly doggie. Blogged a bit on DZA http://ping.fm/jJs70 Almost Feb now, but still need to finish my 2008 wrap-up, LOL.

G'morning! Really stoked this morning. Getting congratulatory emails from around the world for my 40th book contract. Grinning madly...

Also, some not-so-interesting ones. Not even the reviewers could think of something positive to say, LOL

Just finishing up review edits for a quite a large review site. There are some interesting books coming out

Received a raise at work yesterday! Woohoo!

Took a short while to rewatch the final episode of Doctor Who on DVD. Nice...

Home now from the real world (AKA work), and heading down to tone my bod (snigger) at the gym. Then, it's read over my WIPs, so I can write!

Homo floresiensis unlikely to be scaled-down modern human, but separate species. Woohoo! http://ping.fm/8rLnd

It's only water? Watch out! Anti-androgens in the water are, in some cases, changing male fish to females. http://ping.fm/nwYEM

MySpace planning an email service? If all MySpace clients use it, it will be the "3rd largest in the world" http://ping.fm/VjlS0

How do you hide 600 elephants? Apparently, by hiding their dung. Don't even ask. http://ping.fm/NQgL1

Would you use your child as a test subject? MRIs of your children's brains? Cameras & microphones to observe them? http://ping.fm/udKb2

No time for anything this morning except loading my half-baked story onto my Netbook. Then, it's off to my real-world job...

Back home from work, and heading to the gym. Tomorrow, I'm bringing my Netbook to work for a quick re-read of Triassic Trio. 40K words to go

Just received a Sir Julius Vogel Award nomination for The Hollowing, as best SF-Fantasy book of the year. Woohoo!

I know edits are a necessary evil, but my brain is currently a dead zone.

Just finished 2 mugs of writer's tea: 3 teabags, lotsa water, lotsa milk. Almost awake. At p202 out of 300 on Neanderthal edits. Argh!

On p169 out of 300 on BoneSong edits. Neanderthals coming out my ears. Bleary eyed. Going to watch TV for a while instead.

Doing the rest of those BoneSong edits. Actually enjoying the re-read. Not too bad. Still, pretty tired of reading my stuff over & over, LOL

Burnt animal bones used as protective patina for walls in 14th century (medieval) Spain http://ping.fm/Hw5dT

Should underwater archeology be commercialized, i.e., should treasure hunters be allowed control over wrecks? http://ping.fm/HML8f

Just finished review edits for a site. Now on to "book research", otherwise known as playing on the net

I'm in the act of being murdered by my email overload. Dumped 70,000 at Christmas, and scrolling thru 2300 now.

Apparently, Hatchette has pulled its ebooks from US distributors. A start to territorial restrictions on ebooks? http://ping.fm/DybxZ

Heading to a business meeting with other AK authors. Hope to see friends Yvonne Walus & Jane Beckenham there. Good authors, great people.

Why do those wretched mosquitoes bite us more than once? We're talking the same mozzie in attack mode.Why, oh why? http://ping.fm/04Q79

Bright green Day-Glo mice. Don't even ask. http://ping.fm/6aRaT

Love those vampires? Great images of real blood-suckers, from bats to (believe it or not!) blood-sucking finches http://ping.fm/A25d3

Shock waves, gas leaks, firecrackers, candle heat and other localized disturbances made visible on film. http://ping.fm/ZK0I0

Fantastic underwater pics from National Geographic http://ping.fm/ykQT4

Hi, everyone! Back from work and the gym.

But first, a visit to the real world - my real-time job. Have a good day, all.

Sent off the contract for a SciFi romance today ("Burnt Amethyst"). Back to work editing my mainstream Neanderthal SciFi Fantasy later.

Absolutely amazingly beautiful pics taken by the Hubble telescope http://ping.fm/yzQFh

Jurassic dinky dino had 4 tail feathers. http://ping.fm/Hyatg

Middle Bronze Age artifacts show interconnection 'tween Myceneans, Babylonians, & Egyptians. Small, but nice pics http://ping.fm/dfW8E

Oldest turtle fossil found in China(220 mill yrs old)tells about origin of shell (which is a bit of an odd thing!) http://ping.fm/DJGPv

Human predation has led to a world fauna that is smaller in stature & reproduces 25% younger http://tinyurl.com/7m6mmp

Just getting started this morning. Good morning, world! About to break out the latest book contract & take a look. First, a cuppa tea

Chinese artifacts on tour include ancient jam pastries, 1300-yrs+. http://ping.fm/QgkRq

The impact this painting has, even over an old computer monitor - Monet's Dans La Prairie http://ping.fm/FPgfx

Where's a tone deaf mosquito when you want one?http://ping.fm/nS3Fi A lot of humans try to attract each other with whining, too

How many planets in your solar system? 8? 9? 13? I'm confused. Pluto? Ceres? Eris? Haumea? Makemake? http://ping.fm/4REul Go figure...

It's the first time I've worked with this publisher, and they've been very professional and helpful all the way through. Really happy

Glanced over formatting and book changes, and gave approval. Looks beaut! Very pleased with the job the publisher has done, & love the cover

So much for editing BoneSong this morning! Just got the final for Artifact to glance through and approve. That's my tenth "edit" in a row.

Downloading 2 bookcovers, for BloodWorks & Gray Beginnings. Will at CP just sent them to me - again. Better not lose the files this time...

Going to BS (short for BoneSong, not bullshit) a bit more, then off to wake and walk the dog. Have a great day, world!

Also did an interview for Joyce Adair this morning, featuring Gray Beginnings, quite a scary horror|paranormal, to be released Jan 29th

Finished the 8th edit with a quick final on AKFL. Just the LEs to do now. Am working on BoneSong this morning, then off to my "real" job,LOL

I'm nominated for Best Fantasy/SF Book of 2008. Heading for a chat now with other nominated authors (exciting!).

Just finished my 7th set of book edits during the last 3 weeks! 7 down, 1 to go. Yippee!

It did get noisy in the niteclub district last night. By 2 am music was throbbing loudly through the apartment. Have to 'fess up: I like it.

Working on the edits for A Kiss for Luck now. Finished Artifact edits yesterday, and partway through BoneSong. Contracts to return. Aargh!

Finished the edits for Artifact! Phew! 6 edits down (in the last 3 weeks), 2 edits to go...

Creature from the Black Lagoon was just this side of pathetic. Wussy women, destructive & wimpy males, victimized creatures. Slooowww-moving

Watching that old classic, "Creature from the Black Lagoon"

Just signed up to host a radio show = "Novel Origins". Woohoo!

Well, have been surfing for "book research" avoiding edits long enough! Artifact needs final okay, BoneSong 50 more pg edited, AKFL 2nd edit

Nice pic of restoration of Incan ceremonial center in Peru http://ping.fm/vnCXu

I love this! A stone circle (think Stonehenge) has been found in Lake Michigan. 1 stone has mastodon carvings? http://ping.fm/ZMPnG

More on Queen Sesheshet's 4300-yr-old newly discovered Egyptian pyramid http://ping.fm/Hx3cv

More about antibiotic resistance genes, & how humans and animals can be reservoirs for these http://ping.fm/ulNAy

New light shed on how antibiotic resistance genes can spread from 1 bacterial pathogen to another. http://ping.fm/g5UOW

Makes me wonder what'd happen if all those mice-immune to botulism, cancer, chemicals-were to get free & recall the torture we put 'em thru

Into BioShock game? Potential for lengthy BioShock series under discussion http://ping.fm/pbi0R

BTW, When Worlds Collide, The Terminator, Robocop, Flash Gordon, & maybe even Ghostbusters may be movies soon, too http://ping.fm/IwUTQ

Kill me.Kill me now.Wii's Feb 27 release, Dead Rising(Chop Till You Drop)has vast mall & nonstop hordes of zombies http://ping.fm/H4F4e

It's always a little shocking to wake up to find 1 of your publishers is suing someone - in this case, Borders http://ping.fm/Y3M9U

Good morning, World!

American & European "rich collections" of costumes transferred from Brooklyn Museum to Metropolitan Museum of Art http://ping.fm/ZddMO

Romance Novel of the Year Award now to include shorter length books http://ping.fm/SdTNz

Romance Novel of the Year Award now to include shorter length books http://ping.fm/SdTNz

Macedonian treasure hunters, following local legends, scour country for reputed antiquities and pots of gold http://ping.fm/qA61H

Pebbles on both Earth & Mars move against the wind. As sand is shifts, pebbles fall forward in repetitive pattern http://ping.fm/1Hah8

Egyptian mummy, sarcophagus & "gold finger wrappings", believed to be those of Queen Seshestet, found (24th c. BC) http://ping.fm/Rpcyp

Flies not only smell with their antennae - the sense is highly developed http://ping.fm/xPPaj

Rocks with Earth-type andesite crust, formerly thought to be solely Earth-derived, now found in meteorites http://ping.fm/nkRLn

Working relentlessly on straightening out POV issues in BoneSong. 50 pages edited this morning; 250 to go. Urgh...

Now, the other book contract arrives! Yay!!!

Just finished an interview and emailed it off. One down, 2 interviews to go...

Both N. D. Hansen-Hill & Melody Knight (both my writing names) have sold today! Woohoo!

And ANOTHER ONE! I went back to my Inbox after posting here, and there was a contract offer from a different publisher, for another book!

Just picked up a 36th? 38th? book contract! Woohoo! Will post when the deal is finalized.

No cost water donations, by playing a game (& 1 minute of your time)! Visit here http://ping.fm/Ah0jl and play.

Want to feed the world? With nothing more than your brain? Visit http://freerice.com/ More about this effort: http://ping.fm/yleZ7

FMBR Bye-bye glamor as book publishing industry suffers more slice & dice. An end to "cushy schmooze"! http://ping.fm/Ft1Bg

FMBR Love tap dancing? Interesting article on Jane Goldberg, & her contributions to the tapdance revival http://ping.fm/Rq9wC

FMBR Bees on cocaine? They even suffer withdrawal. Good grief! Who thought up this one?! http://ping.fm/LxAGj

FMBR Ripples and tiny craters photographed on Mars.http://ping.fm/4ZLnV and pics http://ping.fm/qBZcK

FMBR Milky Way now thought to be as large as Andromeda, based on the galloping speed of our sun (600,000 mph!) http://ping.fm/eo8PQ

FMBR: Nice, if small, pic of rare pink iguana (only discovered in 1986) here: http://ping.fm/1DCSv

FMBR (From My Book Research): okay, that sounds very elevating, but the truth is, I get side-tracked easily

Just received my 8th book edit in 3 weeks, + 3 interviews. Aargh! Pulling out hair madly! Each time I send off an edit, another comes in!

Getting my public self ready - well, for the public! Off to work soon

Jenyfer Matthews, author of Here to Stay, has just asked me to be a guest on her blog! Quite an honor.

A rare Degas sculpture (that's right - a SCULPTURE, not a painting) Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ansis now up for sale http://xrl.us/bebo7y

Mills & Boon plans to do for Rugby Union what Harlequin did for NASCAR
http://xrl.us/bebo4k

Say goodbye to the light bulb forever, and hello to fluorescents and LEDs http://xrl.us/bebo34

The wreck of the "historically significant" HMCS Mermaid has been found on the Great Barrier Reef http://xrl.us/bebo27

On getting a shark warning, 1 swimmer's "I was out of that water faster than a rat up a drainpipe". http://xrl.us/bebnnp

Toxic cones for swimmers in NZ (and we're not talking ice cream!) http://xrl.us/bebnnv

Pita bread Messiah visage, or Chuck Norris lookalike? Teen tries to cash in on baking boo-boo http://xrl.us/bebnn3

World's oldest spiderweb, encased in amber, prove spiders are as old as the dinosaurs http://xrl.us/bebnn5

Can you be tricked into accepting a body that is not your own? Research suggests "yes". Bizarre virtual reality. http://xrl.us/bebnnx

What am I doing? I just came back from the gym. I'm perspiring. Thank God only my sweat glands are exercising now.

Off to the gym now!

2 children, aged 6 & 7, try to "elope" to Africa to wed in warm weather, equipped with swimsuits & sunglasses. http://budurl.com/8eck

Braille system under threat. It may soon become redundant, but it is still needed for many blind readers. http://budurl.com/nr3h

Remember Wonka's Golden Ticket? A French baker has hidden real gold ingots in his almond-paste tarts. http://budurl.com/6bgx

Brain-scanning toy Mindflex (Mattel) will make it possible to move a ball with your mind. http://budurl.com/er9x

Shades of Jurassic Park - largest raptor with shortest arms - may be link between dinosaurs & birds http://budurl.com/v4pq

Off to work in the real world now! Bye, all...

India put its first person in space in 1984. They want to visit the moon by 2020. I think this is wonderful http://budurl.com/6z55

Good morning, World. It's a gorgeous day on this side of the planet. Just finished review edits for a site. Off to surf my favorite topics...

Heading out for work soon. Have a great day, world!

Lost city, covering 12 acres, discovered on edge of abyss in Peru, established by "Cloud People". Amazing! http://budurl.com/nwde

New Harry Potter book, NOT written by JK Rowling, to hit bookshelves shortly http://budurl.com/tmmx

11th Doctor Who, Matt Smith, officially named. http://budurl.com/gqr6 David Tennant, that creme de la creme Who, will be missed (by me!)

There is evidence now for polar dinosaurs who lived in intense cold & long dark periods, including some tyrannosaurs http://budurl.com/falt

Shower me with diamonds? Not this kind. Shades of Deep Impact http://budurl.com/58gp & http://budurl.com/8re3 Also http://budurl.com/3wvl & http://budurl.com/2pnu

Last chance to see the Dead Sea Scrolls in Raleigh, NC today: http://budurl.com/d6xv

Writing community rallies to help writer save home: http://budurl.com/xcj5

I had news today Of Dragons has been nominated for best SF/Fantasy Book of 2008! It has made this an absolutely fantastic day.

Happy New Year, everyone!
I've celebrating 2009 and editing BoneSong, A Kiss for Luck, Of Dragons, GlassWorks, Emerald City, Artifact! Phew!