Category: My Books

Hulk Me Baby One More Time

Edward Norton as The Incredible Hulk

The fam-dam went to The Incredible Hulk late last week to celebrate Youngest Son writing his last ever final high school exam. I give The Incredible Hulk several thumbs up. I liked it better than Iron Man, even though the latter stars Robert Downey, Jr. and I do love me some RDJ. However, as a kid, my favorite comics were Batman, The Incredible Hulk, Sergeant Rock and Jonah Hex, in that order. I can’t recall ever reading an Iron Man comic, although I probably did. The Brother had quite an extensive comic collection, and I made full use of it (by the way, I could never figure out why Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t make a Sergeant Rock movie and why Clint Eastwood didn’t star in a movie version of Jonah Hex—both when they were a, um, tad younger. Because both actors would have perfect in those roles. If you’re familiar with the comics of which I speak, aren’t I right? Of course I am. Thank you.

Robert Downey, Jr.'s Iron Man

Anyway, while I enjoyed Iron Man (mainly because of RDJ; his acting and the quirky wit he instills into most of his characters always get me), The Incredible Hulk has my vote. If you’re an Iron Man/RDJ fan, though, Robert Downey, Jr. has a cameo in The Incredible Hulk. The cameo sets up all sorts of wonderful possibilities for a sequel to both Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. I can’t wait. As the only woman in a house full of men (until Allie McBeagle, even all our pets were male), I think I’ve seen nearly every super-hero movie out there, so I’ve developed quite an affinity for them.

(P.S. Yeah, I know, both those pictures are tiny. WordPress 2.5.1 has some glitches in the Upload Images thingie, and I can’t be bothered to figure it out).

A scene in The Incredible Hulk references Bella Coola, British Columbia. If you saw Sex and The City, The Movie and read about how people were flooding bookstores looking for the book Mr. Big reads from in the movie, but the book doesn’t exist, well, Bella Coola does exist. I ain’t got a clue if The Incredible Hulk was shot in B.C. or if the scenes that say they’re in Bella Coola really are in Bella Coola, however, if you’re interested in checking out some gorgeous scenery, check out this link.

By the way, have you ever read an Incredible Hulk reference in a romance novel? Don’t you think you should? If your answer is yes, have I got a story for you! Yes, indeedy, BORROWING ALEX features an Incredible Hulk reference. For those who already have the book, consider yourselves brainiacs for being so on top of popular culture! Then flip to page 45 for the reference. It was one of my favorite scenes to write.  

Those who haven’t yet bought a copy of BORROWING ALEX, if you beg real nice, I might excerpt the scene on the blog. Of course, I’d rather you buy a copy of the book so I can keep my family in Kraft Dinner, but if you need motivation (and don’t we all?), just ask in the comments section and I’ll provide the excerpt later in the week.

Last Chance!

Two of them, actually.

  1. The South Jersey MOM magazine Beach Read Giveaway contest ends May 31st. If you haven’t entered your name in the drawing to win a free trade paperback copy of BORROWING ALEX or a book from one of the other talented authors included in the contest, hop on over to South Jersey MOM now. Scroll down past the Giveaways on the top of the page until you see CHICK LIT’S BEACH READ GIVEAWAYS. Please remember that this contest is open to U.S. residents only.

  2. Brenda Novak’s On-Line Auction for Diabetes Research also ends May 31st. It’s not too late to check out the awesome items and put in your bids!

More than Magic

The good news I hinted at yesterday? BORROWING ALEX is a finalist in the Romantic Comedy category of the More than Magic writing contest! The finalist names aren’t announced on the More than Magic website yet, however I noticed that the Romantic Comedy winner from last year was none than other than Vicki Lewis Thompson. Am I thrilled that my book is even sharing “former finalist slot space” with a writer of Vicki’s caliber? You bet!

Of course the coordinator needed the 2 books for the final rounds delivered in two days—a difficult task when shipping from Canada unless you want to pay mega, mega-bucks. But the coordinator came up with the great idea for me to order my 2 copies off Amazon and have them shipped to her house. I hadn’t thought of this option, because neither BORROWING ALEX nor HEAD OVER HEELS are available on Canadian Amazon (although Canadians can order them from U.S. Amazon—hint, hint). What a wise and helpful contest coordinator, huh?

What made the news about my final even more wonderful is that I logged on to one of my email loops yesterday morning to learn that my good friend, the talented Diana Cosby, is also a More than Magic finalist with her November historical romance, HIS CAPTIVE. I’ve read HIS CAPTIVE, and it’s a fantastic debut from Kensington. Congratulations, Diana, my friend.

Tell Me Tuesday-Good News Galore!

I’ve had two excellent pieces of news this week. On Friday, I learned that one of my WIPs, SEX, P.I.s & PACKING TAPE, is a finalist in The Lories Best Proposal by Published Author contest. This necessitated a mad afternoon of printing seven copies of the proposal for the final round and zipping them to the post office, so they’d make it to the contest coordinator in time for the deadline. There are no categories in the Best Proposal contest, so the six finalists are all lumped together (there were only supposed to be five finalists, but there was a tie). Seven industry judges are participating in the final round: two editors, two agents, a bookseller, a book reviewer, and a publisher reader (for non-writers, a “publisher reader” usually freelances, reading and giving her or his opinions on the suitability of a manuscript for a particular publishing house’s needs, and then the editor decides whether she (or he) reads the manu, dependant on the reader’s report.

My other piece of great news is that yesterday I received a phone call from RWA informing me that my name had been chosen in a draw as one of two recipients for the Rita Gallagher Memorial Conference Scholarship. I entered the draw through an ad in the Romance Writers’ Report a couple of months ago. As far as I know, one recipient is a PRO member, the second (moi!) an author with a sale in the past year newly qualifying her for PAN. (Note, if you’re not an RWA member, those designations won’t make sense, and they’re too complicated to go into now, but, rest assured, they make sense to me). When I saw the ad, I thought, “What the heck,” and now am I ever glad I entered the draw—because RWA is comping my San Francisco National Conference fee! This makes the conference a lot more affordable for an author on the…ahem…low end of the pay spectrum. I’m extremely grateful. Thank you, RWA!

Because of other commitments and recovery from the Devil of all Head Colds, I didn’t get as much writing done last week as I would have liked. The cold is still lingering, but I have my energy back, and I’m looking forward to diving into the WIP this week…and next week…and the week after that.

How about everyone else? Have good news to report? Experienced a bump on the road to publication and need a boost? Share your news, good or not-so-good. What are you working on?

And the Winner Is…

Tina from Rhode Island won my contest for an autographed copy of BORROWING ALEX! Yay, yay, cheer, cheer! Tina, your book will go in the mail this week…as soon as I am healthy again.

Yes, folks, I have a doozy of a head cold. Kept me in bed for two days. Not usual for me. And definitely not fun. And it’s still not over! At times like this, I feel like a wimp. How do people with serious illnesses manage?

I have another contest to announce – I’m not giving away a copy of BORROWING ALEX this time, but someone else is. Well, some other “entity,” I guess. Yes, an “entity” is giving away three copies of not only BORROWING ALEX, but several other romance novels. What entity, you ask? And how can you enter? Come back on Wednesday, and I’ll tell you. Yes, I’m drawing this out. Because I’m sick, that’s why. And I can’t count on myself to be witty and charming on the blog this week, so if I make you return on Wednesday to find out about the new contest, I won’t have to worry about writing another witty and charming blog post. Because, you know, I didn’t intend to blog every weekday when I began Muse Interrupted (that’s the name of the blog – yes, I’ll explain it someday – sheesh, tough audience). Yet somehow here I am, blogging every weekday. Of course, the blog is new. I’ll run out of steam soon. Until then, you’ll have to put up with my head-coldish meanderings.

And, no, I’m not on medication! Hmph.

Oh, little note. The new contest will not feature autographed copies of BORROWING ALEX. If you absolutely, positively MUST have an autographed copy of the book (and who wouldn’t?), I have a handy-dandy mail order form on my website.

Only 2 Days Left…

…to enter to win an autographed copy of BORROWING ALEX. I’ll pick a winner out of a hat at noon PST Friday, April 18th and contact the winner by email. You know what this means, don’t you? You have to enter by email. But only emails with a specific subject line qualify to enter the contest. If you haven’t already entered, it’s not hard. Just visit my home page. Details are there.

Good luck, everyone, and if you don’t win, please visit again on Monday. I’ll announce the winner on my blog then, plus…I have another giveaway to announce featuring not only my book, but several more. Tut-tut, no further details until Monday.