I’m having (gulp) laser eye surgery tomorrow. I’m excited yet also nervous. I’m having SBK, which combines the faster recovery time of LASIK with the benefits of traditional PRK surgery.

Eldest Son had PRK last year, around this same time. SBK wasn’t in our area then, or he would have likely been a candidate. I remember him lying on the couch with frozen peas over his eyes, and he was quite light-sensitive. PRK has a more uncomfortable, longer recovery period than LASIK and now SBK. But in traditional LASIK, the “flap” is created with a surgical instrument. In SBK, it’s created with a laser. Which sounds safer and less intrusive to me.

Evidently, my downtime will run 24-48 hours. The whites of my eyes will be red for a week (and my irises are green–Merry Christmas!). But I have no clue how sensitive I’ll be to the computer screen. So I really have no clue when I’ll be back on-line.

Wish me luck! I’m celebrating the release of WHERE SHE BELONGS by practicing my imitation of Malcolm McDowell.

So pretty! So shiny! Hard covers! With dust jackets!

Yesterday, I received a very welcome surprise—a box of my WHERE SHE BELONGS author copies! We never get mail delivery on Sundays, so that was a surprise in itself (well, it was actually a courier). When I took the box from the delivery guy, I thought it was the custom door hinges we’d ordered (long story). Then I saw that the box was torn open, and, wow, not one single author copy was destroyed.

My husband signed off for the delivery while I carted the box to the kitchen table and carefully finished opening it. My Five Star contract calls for ten author copies. I received 19—as many as would fit into the box. Wow, thank you, Tekno and Five Star!

I was very excited to receive the author copies, because I hadn’t expected them to arrive until January. But they arrived before the release date (this Friday). Never mind that this is the first time I’ve received more than two author copies of a book for either my name or Penny’s name, but I wasn’t quite prepared for the reality of seeing my book in hard cover. The ARCs (Advanced Reading Copies) were in trade paperback, and all my Cindy and Penny books have been published in trade paperback up to this point, so trades have become second nature to me. But this is my first (and for all I know, only) book in hard cover. Everything was as I expected—strong, bright white internal pages with readable font, durable library-edition binding with the cover image embedded, like a trade paperback. But I did not expect the book to feel thicker and heavier in hard cover (although it makes sense that it would), and I dimly had no clue that the books would come with dust jackets.

My first dust jacket!!

Months ago, when I was filling out the publisher’s information sheet for “front and back flaps,” I somehow thought it was just another way to say “back cover.” However, instead of the story blurb being on the back, it’s on the inside dust jacket “flap.” And my author picture and bio are on the back cover “flap.” (I look kinda cute, too). The quote from Publishers Weeky and an author quote from award-winning author Mary J. Forbes is on the back cover. And reviews for previous books and mention of this book’s Golden Heart finalist status are also on the back.

Receiving author copies is always exciting. I tell you, it never gets old. But receiving these author copies in particular has made the publishing process very real for me. Living outside of an urban center in Canada, I’ve never had a chance to see one of my books in a bookstore or a library. The only experience I’ve had seeing one of my books “on the brick and mortar shelves” was when I placed copies of HEAD OVER HEELS on consignment with a now-defunct local bookstore.

So, hard cover, dust jacket, internal author photo and book blurb—this book looks like a smaller version of hard covers I have on my personal bookshelves. I am totally thrilled with the quality.

There’s something about seeing one’s name on a book cover…and I haven’t had a new Cindy release in several years. My publishing efforts have been focused on Penny. And that’s great. I love seeing Penny’s name on book covers. But this is MY name. And this MY book.

I tell you, it never gets old.

December is always a crazy month for me. I never seem to expect the busy-ness that the holidays bring around. I’m ahead of the game this year, thanks to Cyber Monday, but the next few weeks will be hectic regardless. I usually shut down the blog in December, but this year I have a mid-December release, so it wouldn’t make sense to take a blogiday. If you’ve been reading my posts at all lately, you’ll know that WHERE SHE BELONGS, my 2007 Golden Heart finalist manuscript for Long Contemporary, is releasing December 16th from Five Star/Cengage.

Okay, December 16th isn’t really the release date, in that the book won’t be in libraries and stores ON December 16th. That’s actually the shipping date, when pre-orders from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Canadian Amazon will likely go out, and when my publisher will mail my RITA copies. The RITA contest deadline has been moved up to December 30th, because January 1st falls on a weekend. So cross your fingers that my copies arrive in time! My publisher is working with me to get them out of the warehouse STAT on December 16th. It’ll be nail-biting time around here after Christmas, until I know the copies have been received at the RWA offices.

So, my “shipping date” is what I’m celebrating as my “release date.” And I have laser eye surgery scheduled for that date. Yes, I am finally getting my eyes lasered! I go in for my consultation tomorrow, and during the consult I’ll find out which surgery my eyes qualify for, PRK, which my son had last year and has a 4-7 day downtime. or SBK, a fancier version of LASIK which uses a laser to create the flap instead of a cut, and which has a downtime of 24-48 hours. It’s more expensive, but that downtime is super appealing.

When I booked the surgery, it had completely escaped my mind that December 16th is my book’s release date. So I won’t be able to promote my book ON the release date, but what can you do? I’ve decided the best way around this is to pre-schedule posts to appear on my blog (and therefore on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and my Amazon Author page) on December 16th and thereafter. The plan is to post scene snippets on the blog, you know, to entice folks to buy my book!

That’s the plan. We’ll see how the execution goes. Because I’ve been super busy helping to execute two other major life events that have sucked away all my writing time, and I must wrap them up before the surgery, plus get out my Christmas cards, etc (I skipped last year, so I really want to do this year).

And then there’s the shopping! I still have a lot to do.

How’s your December shaping up?

Thank you to an old family friend who alerted me to the Beagle Freedom Project. The video says it all. Beagles are loving, social animals. My girl, Allie McBeagle, craves human contact. I simply can not imagine her living her life in a crate. Beagles love “Snoopy dancing.” You know, the Peanuts Snoopy? Except real beagles don’t do it on their hind legs. They rub their backs all over the grass, they wiggle and squiggle, just like they’re dancing, but on their backs.

The beagles in the video were recently rescued from an animal-testing laboratory. Many have already been adopted, but some still need homes. Contact info is at the end of the video or can be found at the Beagle Freedom Project website.

Like many of you, I’m busy surfing the web trying to find the perfect gifts for the nice (and naughty) people on my lists. And it occurred to me that the romance readers among you (or those who need to buy a gift for someone who loves romance novels) might want to do it up Cyber Monday Cindy-Style. How, you ask? By pre-ordering WHERE SHE BELONGS. If you’re looking for a contemporary romance to give as a gift and have been keeping WHERE SHE BELONGS in mind (my 2007 Golden Heart finalist book set in a fictional version of a tiny British Columbia logging town where I lived for five years), please note that the Five Star/Cengage/Gale warehouse doesn’t begin shipping the book until December 16th. Pre-orders placed on Amazon, Canadian Amazon, or Barnes and Noble are sometimes the first to get shipped. I have pre-ordered books on Amazon that have arrived the DAY of the release date.

Sounds pretty good, huh?

Cover and back cover blurb to entice you:

She never wants to go home again.

For Jess Morgan, Destiny Falls holds too many painful memories. Nine years ago, a logging accident near the remote timber town killed her dad and her high school sweetheart. Despite Jess’s broken heart, her mother immediately sought comfort with another man. That choice tore Jess apart and drove her to seek a life far away. But now fate steps in, and family obligations force her return home. Before long, she’s convinced that persuading her mom to live with her in Toronto will repair their bond and Jess’s own sense of belonging. However, she doesn’t count on a long-ago friend re-entering her life and challenging those same convictions.

Rugged forester Adam Wright believes in family, roots, and not running from heartache. Now, all he wants is to help Jess break down the walls of the lonely sanctuary she’s built for herself and heal her past hurts. But it’s not until she rejects his proposal that Adam realizes his dogged persistence has pushed her even further away—not at all what he intended. Has he lost his chance? Or can he convince Jess that where she truly belongs is with him…forever?

Reviews are starting to come in! For the first time ever, one of my books was reviewed in Publisher’s Weekly. PW says, “Procter-King gives her characters realistic conflicts.”

From Booklist: “The latest from Procter-King, a Golden Heart finalist and author of Borrowing Alex (2007), is a sentimental novel about love, grief, and coming home again. Jess is a sympathetic protagonist who learns the well-worn lesson that home is with the people you love.”

Perhaps my favorite so far, from Fresh Fiction: “WHERE SHE BELONGS is a very emotional and heartfelt story of  broken relationships and painful memories.  Finding where  she truly belongs is a heartwarming lesson for Jess in  revealing the true meaning of love and the ability to  forgive.  The story is very well written and the passion as  well as pain the characters feel is clearly felt by the  reader.  I thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful story of love  and finding oneself in the process.”

An excerpt can be read on the Fresh Fiction site or on my Books page.

Want those pre-order links again? I am nothing if not obliging.

Amazon

Amazon Canada

Barnes and Noble

Warm up your Winter with a contemporary romance from Cindy Procter-King! (Just thought that up. I think I like it).

Pre-Orders can be taken up until December 15th, but the earlier the ordered, the better the chance of receiving the books before December 25th.

By Diana Duncan

Whenever I start a new book, I always get jittery with anticipation. I’m about to embark on a new adventure. Meet new people. Explore new places, new worlds. I’ve been an avid book junkie since my librarian Grannie started taking me to work with her before I could even walk.

And, okay, yes, I’ll admit it—like any great addiction, tingles shiver up my spine when the first line (or first several lines) instantly grab me and won’t let go.

Opening lines can immediately establish characterization:

“Being dead didn’t make Jack Mercy less of a son of a bitch.” Montana Sky by Nora Roberts.

“Jules Cassidy was nervous. After years of working for the FBI, nervous didn’t happen to Jules very often anymore. At least not in a situation with nary a hostile gunman, armed terrorist, angry insurgent or crazed hostage-taker in sight.” All Through the Night: A Troubleshooter Christmas by Suzanne Brockmann.

“Meeting with a probation officer required a certain look. A jacket and tie. A body-hugging spandex superhero costume beneath his street clothes hadn’t been part of his plan.” As Good As His Word by Susan Gable.

Opening lines can also immediately invoke a mood with the setting:

“There was a storm in him, as black and vicious as that which bullied its way across the sea. It whipped inside his blood, outside in the air, battling within and without as he stood on the rain-slicked rock. The name of his storm was grief.” Morrigan’s Cross by Nora Roberts.

“It was the egret, flying out of the lemon grove, that started it. I won’t pretend I saw it straight away as the conventional herald of adventure, the white stag of the fairy tale. But when the big white bird flew suddenly up among the glossy leaves and the lemon flowers, and wheeled over the mountain; I followed it. What else is there to do when such a thing happens on a brilliant April noonday, at the foot of the white mountains of Crete?” The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart – (This book might be my favorite story of all. I’ve read it over and over, probably more than 50 times since I was about 14 years old).

Opening lines can also introduce you to characters who are immediately thrown into interesting, perilous, or funny circumstances:

“A late-night urge for an orange fizzy saved Nixie’s life.” Survivor in Death by J.D. Robb.

“‘Norman bastard!’ Quinn de Trefoid raised a brow at the Saxon knight’s arrogance but remained silent. Inwardly, he cursed his own stupidity for allowing them to capture him, for venturing so far from camp alone.” Knight of the Mist by Jennifer August.

“Once upon a time, Minerva Dubbs thought as she stood in the middle of a loud yuppie bar, the world was full of good men. She looked into the handsome face of the man she’d planned on taking to her sister’s wedding and thought, those days are gone.” Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie.

After I dug through my massive piles and shelves of favorite books to research this blog post, I looked at my own manuscripts. The books I’ve written seem to fall mostly into this last category.

“‘Hold it right there, Frat Boy!’ The pissed-off feminine contralto froze Rory Devlin bent over with his Levi-clad arse in the air. One bare foot planted on the lawn, one precariously balanced on the curb, he gripped the rolled newspaper as he cautiously turned his head. A slender brunette dressed in white capris and a tank top the color of lemon meringue pie stalked through dappled June sunshine from the house next door. Radiating the fury of an avenging faerie, dainty raven brows slanted in a glower and golden sparks fired in wide brown eyes.” Deal with the Devil by Diana Duncan.

“Delaney Morgan didn’t find an unconscious naked guy on the beach every afternoon. The wild Oregon Pacific had spilled out shells, driftwood, sand dollars…and at sunset last night, a Celtic pewter and garnet triadic knot pendant she’d hung on a chain as a good luck charm. But a nude man was a first.” Sword of the Raven by Diana Duncan.

What about you? Whether you’re a reader or a writer, or both, you have favorite first lines. What are they and what do they reveal to you about the story? Why do you like them? Please share! (And remember to tell us the book and author).

***

Leave a comment to enter for your chance to win an ebook of your choice of either DEAL WITH THE DEVIL or SWORD OF THE RAVEN by Diana Duncan. Please note that to be eligible for the draw, you must be capable of receiving an ebook gift from Diana from either B&N (Nook), Amazon Kindle, or Smashwords (which covers mostly all eformats).

If you’re reading this blog through a feed at Amazon, Facebook, Goodreads or another social network, please note that you need to leave your comment at www.museinterrupted.com to enter.

The back cover blurbs for DEAL WITH THE DEVIL and SWORD OF THE RAVEN, as well as Diana’s bio, can be found in yesterday’s post. Visit Diana’s website to learn more about her and her books.

Tomorrow I’ll welcome my first (and probably only) guest blogger for 2011, paranormal romance and romantic comedy author, Diana Duncan. Please join us to celebrate Diana’s transition from traditionally published to Indie author. Diana is blogging about Grab
Me, Hold Me, Make Me Read Good Books and will give away an ebook of the winner’s choice of either DEAL WITH THE DEVIL (romantic comedy) or her latest, the paranormal romance, SWORD OF THE RAVEN. Both books are the first in a planned series and both are currently available on Kindle, Nook and Smashwords.

Please note that the winner must be capable of receiving an ebook gift from Diana from either Barnes and Noble (Nook), Amazon Kindle, or Smashwords, which covers several other eformats.

About SWORD OF THE RAVEN (Morrigan’s Legacy – Warriors of the Light, Book 1):

When destiny calls, you don’t hit ignore…

Delaney Morgan’s ho-hum life begins to fray around the edges when her cop brother is framed and imprisoned. Determined to exonerate him, she starts poking her nose where it doesn’t belong. Things go from extra-ordinary to extraordinary with her discovery of Mr. Tall, Dark, and Naked washed up on a deserted Oregon beach.

Rowan MacLachlan’s no ordinary man. He’s a semi-Immortal Highlander. A Water Mage, a Supernatural Enforcer…and since the slaughter of his entire family, Chieftain of his Clan. Recently escaped from the clutches of the Sorceress Cearde, he’s drawn to Delaney’s newly awakening Powers. She learns her brother possessed similar Powers, and his “situation” is entangled with the magical forces he tried to shield her from.

Pulled into an epic battle of light and dark…with a kick-ass pair of boots and a Bon Jovi inspired battle cry…Delaney vows to help Rowan avenge his family, and free her brother from the dark forces holding him captive. First, Rowan must teach her to control and wield her new Magic.

When passion flares between mentor and student, so do their Powers. With Delaney’s help, Rowan plans to vanquish the evil bitch who killed his family. Even if it means betraying the woman he’s come to love.

One of them may be required to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Can love really conquer all? Betrayal. Evil. Even death?

Delaney’s about to find out. Because she’s destined to be the Sword of the Raven.

About DEAL WITH THE DEVIL (Devilish Devlins – Book 1): 

When Irish eyes are smilin’…beware! Because trouble—and love—isn’t far behind!

Paradise for software designer Cynthia Wagner means uninterrupted solitude to invent a brilliant video game, and save her job. But renovations on her city apartment force her to seek refuge in a temporary rental in the ‘burbs.

The promised Paradise morphs into Purgatory when she meets her new neighbor, a deliciously tempting Irish rogue sporting a wicked grin and to-die-for body. Worse, the handsome bachelor has noisy, drooly, havoc-creating baggage on his hands for the summer… rambunctious five-year-old twin nephews, a baby niece, and the kids’ yappy dog. Rory Devlin is a dangerous distraction—and he’s hiding a naughty secret.

Jackhammers and contractors would have provided more peace and quiet.

Stuck in the Suburbs of the Damned with Mr. Uncle-Turned-Mom and his wild menagerie, Cynthia struggles to meet her deadline. But she struggles more with her undeniable attraction to her devlish-ous neighbor.

Could it be that what Cynthia has mistaken for hell is actually the heaven she’s been searching for?

About Diana:

When her dreams of becoming a ballerina were quashed by early-onset klutziness, Diana Duncan took up the safer vocation of writing. Her first thrilling masterpiece—written in orange crayon—was titled “Perky the Kitten,” and became an instant bestseller with her grandparents.

Her childhood growing up as a military brat gave her ability to leap into a conversation with anyone, anywhere, anytime…and she always discovers a new friend in the process. This gift of gab perfectly equipped her for a career that involves making stuff up.

Di is famous for using seven words when one will do. She wields smart-assery like a samurai sword, and will be the first to volunteer in a catastrophe. Of course, she was probably the one who caused the catastrophe. She’s fiercely loyal to her friends and family…but in the event of the upcoming zombie apocalypse, she won’t hesitate to use them as human shields.

She loves her job as an author, and claims writing is the most fun she’s ever had while wearing her sock monkey pajamas. She also enjoys gardening, cooking, and adopting abandoned curbside furniture to refurbish into treasures.

Diana published six award-winning books with a traditional print publisher before going rogue with Indie publishing.

To learn more about Diana and her books, please visit her website.

I haven’t hosted a guest blogger in nearly a year. That’s a long time, considering I was hosting every 1-4 weeks for a couple of years there. Those who are regular followers of my blog will note that I stopped hosting guests about the time I hurt my shoulder over-painting. That evolved into a rotator cuff injury in the summer of 2011 from which I am just starting to recover. So I thought I wouldn’t host a guest all throughout 2011. However, that changes this week. And probably only for this week, as I need to focus my keyboarding time on various writing projects for myself and Penny.

But a heads-up for this week, book lovers. I’m hosting romantic comedy and paranormal romance Indie author, Diana Duncan, on Tuesday, November 15th.

Be sure to drop by on Tuesday to enter for a chance a download of one of Diana’s two 2011 releases!