Sara and Staci Are Visiting

When Jean and I went to the RWA National Conference in Orlando a few years ago we met another writing duo.  It was so exciting to talk with someone else who understood the creative process of working together.

They have a new book out and  we are delighted to welcome them here to the blog.  Please, join us as we visit with Sara Daily and Staci Weber!

About Pack of Lies by Sara Dailey and Staci Weber:


Seventeen-year-old Allison Wright is becoming a werewolf; she just doesn’t know it. When her mood-swings, erratic behavior, and uncontrollable temper gets out of hand, her mother finally comes clean and admits her deep-dark secret. Allison’s mom is a werewolf, and it won’t be long before Allison and her brother Aiden will suffer the same fate. When Allison reaches her breaking point, the family packs up their life in Texas and moves to Red Ridge, New Mexico, back to the werewolf pack that Allison’s mother left behind almost 20 years ago. The last thing Allison ever expected when she arrived at the Estate was to come muzzle to muzzle with the wolf of her dreams.

Cade Walker is next in line to be the alpha of the Red Ridge pack. He’s been groomed to be a leader, and it won’t be long before he takes his father’s place. With his life carefully laid out, his mate already chosen, and his bright future awaiting him, what could possibly go wrong? But when a beautiful blonde he can’t resist joins the pack, his perfectly planned future gets turned up-side down.

Nothing will stand in the way of Kendall Stuart getting what she wants. She is already well on her way to becoming the next alpha’s mate, and finally, she will rule the pack by Cade’s side. But when her position in the pack is threatened, Kendall is willing to do anything to get her way, even if that means teaming up with a rogue werewolf with an agenda of his own. When these two join forces, all hell breaks loose, and no one in the pack is safe, especially not Cade and his true mate.

Here's a short excerpt:

“I picked up on a scent that stopped all thought, all movement, leaving me standing completely still, breathing in a smell that I would never forget. A mix of earth, and musk, and honeysuckle, and sandalwood filled my senses leaving me with a need, a need to find this thing that was suddenly making me salivate, suddenly making me ache with desperation.

Without hesitation, my nose hit the ground as I began to track the enticing smell. I didn’t look up. I didn’t stop moving. I didn’t stop to think about what I might find. None of it mattered. I needed to find the source of that wonderful scent.


In the near distance, I heard a rustling in the brush, which ceased the mission that had held me spellbound. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked around, spooked by what I might find, but what I saw was the last thing I expected.

Peering out from behind a tall oak, a wolf was watching me. We just stood still, staring at each other, neither of us moving a muscle. His amazing green eyes were in sharp contrast to his deep, dark fur. He was a much bigger wolf than me, strong and lean, and the glint in his eyes told me that he was no ordinary wolf.”

Our info:

http://saraandstaci.com

http://saraandstaci.blogspot.com

“Like” us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sara-Dailey-and-Staci-Weber/102330932229

Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/#!/srdailey80 and https://twitter.com/#!/WeberStaci

Publisher’s website - http://boroughspublishinggroup.com/

WE'VE MOVED!

Our Blog has moved. We needed a different spot because Cheryl and Kathy are joining us.

Please come and see all of us here:

Okay, Listen Here




Stephanie and Jean

Changing Times

Jean, aka Pantster, here. Stephanie, aka Plotter, and I have some great news. We have a new blog address and some exciting plans.

First, and most important, two fabulous friends of ours, Cheryl Crisona and Katherine Bone, are now a part of the Okay, Listen Here family. They are great writers and you will love what they have to say.

I will continue to start the week out with you on Mondays. You can look for Cheryl on Tuesdays, Katherine on Wednesdays, and Stephanie on Thursdays. This month, continue to check in on Fridays and tell us what your reading but beginning in August we have some Friday Fun
planned.

So bookmark our new address and stop buy and meet Cheryl tomorrow!


http://okaylistenhere.blogspot.com

Jean

WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Pantster here.

We are a little brain dead right now. As Plotter reported in yesterday, our online pitch went very well and we got a request for a submission. Technically, I am between books, but I am about to crawl in bed with:

The Prince's Royal Concubine by Lynn Raye Harris.

Plotter will chime in later and tell us what's she's reading. In our excitement, we forgot to talk about it today.

What are you reading?

Harlequin American Romance Pitch Contest

Pantster and I were chosen as one of the five winners in the Harlequin American Romance Pitch Contest. This means that tomorrow we will have the opportunity to pitch our manuscript online to Harlequin Senior Editor, Kathleen Scheibling. We entered a one page synopsis and a brief log line. We learned during this experience that a log line is sort of like an elevator pitch--just a couple of sentences.

I know that many of you are finding it hard to believe that we were able to contain ourselves to a brief one page synopsis. You may find it even more difficult to believe that our current work in progress, which is PERFECT for Harlequin's American Romance line is under 60,000 words. Yeah, I know it sounds so implausible that I am still grasping it too.

We'll let you know how it goes!

INS AND OUTS--I PICK IN

It's hot. This is not news or a surprise. I do, after all, live in the Deep South and it is July. The last few weeks, I've been pondering something. Why do people feel led to eat outside on the Fourth of July? I've examined this with anyone I can draw into the conversation, which to be honest is only Ms. Classy and Dr. Effervescent. Ms. Classy loves to wear a subject out as well as I do and Dr. Effervescent is an anthropologist. You know how they love to ponder. Everybody else looks at me like I'm crazy when I try to make them speculate about this behavior, which I consider to be unbalanced.

This is what we've come up with: It's not because of making ice cream. I admit making ice cream with the old salt and ice method makes a mess, but try eating it outside. Pretty soon you've got liquid ice cream, which is what you started with in the first place. I pointed out to Ms. Classy that, these days, most people have those ice cream makers with the cylinders that you freeze. No mess. Ms. Classy said that you can buy ice cream. She should know. She's got nineteen-year-old twin boys and they can eat. She buys a lot of ice cream.

Dr. Effervescent thinks it's because somewhere along the way some man wanted to have a party on Independence Day, and his wife said, "Fine! But you're cooking. I cooked Christmas, Thanksgiving and on everybody's birthday. I'm not doing it." So the man cranked up the grill. That explains the cooking outside but not the eating. Grilled food can be taken inside where there is air conditioning, I know. I've done it. Anyway, lots of people eat outside even if they cooked inside or bought barbecue.

I guess people think they are supposed to have a picnic because it's the Fourth of July like they are supposed to have a Christmas tree. This I blame on the media. People on television and in magazines have picnics to celebrate this country's liberation from England--complete with red, white, and blue bunting. Everybody's supposed to fall in line. Well. I can almost promise you those people with that patriotic bunting, live where it's cooler and they are grabbing one of their few opportunities to be in the great out of doors for a holiday.

This is what I think. Here in the Deep South, we need to keep ourselves and our food inside in July. If we are going eat outside on a holiday, it should be Thanksgiving when it's seventy degrees, the trees are turning, and the bugs are dead. Then we should go on television and in magazines and demonstrate to the rest of the world that turkey is to be eaten outside.

Did you have picnic on the Fourth of July? If so, why?

Out of Focus

I hope everyone had a good Independence Day weekend. I am always reminded of the joke, “Do they have the Fourth of July in England?” Of course, you know the answer is yes but it isn’t a holiday to them. You would be surprised at how many people say, “No.”

On to more important matters…. Over the weekend I lost a contact. For some, that might not be much of a problem but since I am practically blind without corrective lenses it was quite the problem for me. I was out of town and I had my glasses, but I hate them so much that I rarely wear them. In fact, my own nieces didn’t know that I owned glasses until a few weeks ago when I was “caught” wearing glasses early one morning while my mother was in the hospital. I feel so strongly about avoiding my glasses that I always carry a spare pair of contacts in my travel bag, and, indeed, I had containers for a spare pair. I hope you noted that carefully worded sentence--I had containers, but only one extra contact, the one I didn’t lose, and one extra contact CASE. That’s right. The contact that I needed was just an empty case. So at that point I began to experiment. Which was a better choice, one contact and nothing in the other eye or the left contact in both eyes? With two left contacts and no right I didn't have many options.

At the end of the experiments, I chose to wear a left lens in each eye. My focus was a bit bleary but better than the alternative. I spent the remainder of the weekend a little out of focus. On the way home yesterday, I thought about that. How did I stay focused, and how hard it is sometimes to stay focused on writing or writing related projects. We all have families, friends, and most of us have day jobs that pay the bills.

What do you do to stay focused on writing?