What's Katie up to today, you ask?

Oh, come on, someone ask it. Thank you. Well, I'll tell you...no, wait, I'll show you:

That, dear hearts, is a butt-ton of paperwork that I spent the morning filing into the appropriate folders, everything from royalty statements to contracts, bestseller lists, and subsidiary rights info. This was mid-way through the process, when my entire computer desk was covered with stacks of papers waiting to be tucked away.

My editor Laura e-mailed me to ask when I could deliver a short steampunk novella, to accompany Steamed, which meant I had to load up the Spreadsheet o' Hell, AKA my deadline calendar. I took one look at it, ran screaming from the room, wandered around the house for a bit, started to tidy up the kitchen (but quickly became bored because it was housework, and thus made of pure evil), ate some leftover pizza (giving most of it to the dogs because pizza is not really meant for a diet), drank a caffeine free Diet Coke (out of Fresca! Oh noes!), and eventually toddled back into the computer room to consult again the Spreadsheet o' Hell.

After agreeing to the date Editor Laura suggested, reading e-mail from my charming, but very pregnant, darling agent Michelle, talking Sims with my buddy Manny, viewing a really appalling sort of lip gloss, and uploading pictures of the new book plates I had made (see below), the actual dates on the Spreadsheet o' Hell sank into what passes for my brain these days, and I realized that dammit, I don't get to take the whole month off as I thought. I have to Do Things. I am considering pouting over this, but until I decide whether or not I wish to go there, I will get cracking on the stuff I should be doing rather than writing up lengthy blog posts that really say nothing.

Pictures? Yes, here they are. I don't have them added into the Freebies Order Form yet, but if you really want one before I get around to that, you can always send in the Order Form with a note that you want one of the bookplates pictured below.

Someone e-mailed me the following video. I'm sure many of you have seen it, but if you haven't, it's worth sitting back and watching, even if it is past the 4th.



And be sure to post your good news for the week. The dogs and I could use some.

If you're on Goodreads, you might be interested in a new discussion group I just created: Q&A With Katie. It's a month of questions and answers...well, as many answers as I can give without ruining upcoming books.

I'm just going to get the bad news out of the way first--I've decided that rather than write the Ben and Fran book in the next month, well before it is due to be written, I will let it go back to its original due date, and take the next month off to recuperate from the past two weeks. I know how disappointed some of you will be that the B&F book will come out in November 2010 rather than May 2010, but given the recent happenings, I just don't have the heart to write it at this time.

Given that the stress related to my furry girl's illness sent me to the ER last Saturday night/Sunday morning with a severe ulcer attack, I am confident that people will understand, even though they're disappointed. I'm disappointed, too. I really want to get this book written, but not at the expense of making another early-morning visit to the folks at the local hospital. They were certainly nice enough, and introduced me to morphine, which I have to say is a wonderous, wonderous drug, but meh. I'd rather not do that again.

So Love in the Time of Dragons, the new dragon sept book, will be out in May 2010, and the Ben and Fran book, as yet unwritten, will be out in November 2010. Smooshed in that schedule are also Steamed (February), a paranormal novella for the animal shelter anthology, which I believe is scheduled for July 2010, and my Jim short story in the Charlaine Harris/Toni Kelper antho Death's Mysterious Vacation (out in August 2010, if I'm recalling the date correctly).

This gives me a couple of weeks off to edit the dragon book, and cope with the loss of my furry girl. I plan on reading like crazy during this time--I've already started--including some of the old classics that I mentioned via yesterday's BookGlutton post.This free time should also let me catch up on all the reader request letters, reader e-mails, and to spruce up my websites, as well as clean Rancho Doghair from top to bottom (it's amazing how much crap you can accumulate during the year!). OK, that last one is pretty low on my priority list, I admit, although it would be nice to have a belated Spring Cleaning and replace some old furniture with new pieces.

In the mean time, thank you all for hanging in here with me. I'm sorry that my plans to whip off the B&F book fell victim to life's sorrows, but since I have yet to be made Supreme Ruler of the Universe (and dammit, I don't see why I haven't!), that's just going to be the way things are.

Thank you all again for your words of sympathy. They mean a lot to my husband and me.

In a desperate attempt to distract myself, I created an account at a new online service called BookGlutton. BG allows you to read books online with others, leave comments about the book, and chat with others who are reading the same book in real time.

Accounts are free. The books contained there are limited, I believe, to those out of copyright, but I thought that BookGlutton could be used by those of us who need a little encouragement to try reading something new and different.

With that thought in mind, I set up a Katie Mac Reading Group for folks who want to join me in reading some of the classics. I really would love to go through Ann Radcliffe's books, but they don't have them included in their offerings (although I suppose I could upload a version from Gutenberg). I did suggest they get them in, so hopefully they'll do that. Until that time, I decided that I would read another old classic Gothic novel, Castle of Otranto, by Horace Walpole.

If you'd like to join BookGlutton and read the book with me, you can find me at http://www.bookglutton.com/glutton/KatieMac.html and the book group at http://www.bookglutton.com/bookgroup/show/id/156.

It should be a fun way to try something new/different.

Jazi

1997-2009

Since I'm not quite back to full steam after my night spent in the ER--although I do now have a much finer appreciation of just how lovely morphine is--I am offering instead the new short story I wrote for the Penguin site.

This short deals with Alec, so those of you who were wondering if/how he was going to ever find another Beloved, here's your answer. Just click on the Crouching Vamp cover to read the story.

Today's field trip is to an amusing post, and even more amusing comments. The subject is one that is of an adult nature, so the woman posting the item chose to use a creative euphemism for it: grilled cheese.

I now giggle every time my husband, who hasn't read this, asks me if I want a grilled cheese sandwich.

Allergic to grilled cheese

I've got a killer headache today that seems to be defeating everything Mr. Tylenol has to offer, so this is going to be short: what is the most creative thing you've done (and I'm not talking about producing children)?

Woot for good news Tuesdays! I don't actually have much good news other than I finished editing the couple of bonus chapters I wrote for Steamed, and it's off to my editor. And it's sunny out. That counts as good news. Now I just need to whip up a glossary for Steamed, and I can start...are you ready for it?...the Ben and Fran book!

Hoobah!

Spill with your good news. I'm looking forward to hearing it.

Forgot to mention that the first of my three posts for the Penguin blog is up! Feel free to leave me questions here or on the Penguin blog, and I'll answer them in later posts this week!

Bloggy Goodness

Blue eyes...check.

Manly stubble...check.

Looks good in jeans...oh, check.

Looks like we're good to go ahead with today's DGM (model's name is Oni, by the way).

Since some people (I'm looking at you, Steph) were questioning the wisdom of NAL placing a sticker on the lovely sparkly cover of Me and My Shadow, I figured I'd post a blown up shot of just what that is.

Me and My Shadow is going to be part of the Great Reads program, which is a very cool thing. Great Reads books are picked by the publisher to participate, with the benefit of receiving extra attention by booksellers, a different sort of promotion, etc. Hence the need to put the Great Reads brand on the book (it's not actually a sticker).

So while you may be unhappy that the Great Reads logo is on the cover, I'm thrilled to have the book included in the program.

And now, I'm off to do my daily writing. Have a good Thursday, everyone!

I am such a slacker...missing Good News Tuesday, and I bet everyone had all sorts of good news to share, too! Never fear, though...we'll just do it today.

My good news is above...I received a couple of cover flats for Me and My Shadow, and it's absolutely gorgeous. I took a picture of the cover flat at an angle so you can see the glittery silver on May's dress. It's hard to depict in a flat image, but it's just wonderful.

My other good news is that my editor Laura loved my dual-first person point of view in Steamed so much, she wants me to add in a smidgen more with the hero. I've already done one additional chapter in Jack's POV, and will try to get another one done today. I'm always happy when my little experiments turn out successful.

Feel free to share your good news for the week, even if it is Wednesday.

Today's Dishy Guy is Marius.

I was in the mood for someone with a bit of a shaggy look today, and Marius fits the bill.

We won't go into the fact that his jawline makes my toes curl.

If Marius looks familiar, it's because he's the guy in the Hugo Boss ads. Click the picture above to see a video of the ad (complete with Marius emerging from a shower--NSFW if you don't want people to see you watching TV commercials with half-naked guys).

And lo, it's Friday again! My muse is enjoying a day off after the big push to finish the dragon book yesterday, although I'm not sure if "day off" is particularly appropriate since I'm working on book-related things. But at least I don't have to write today, which is a nice break.

Today's field trip is to a blog called Ugliest Products in the Universe. The items on there are...well...the ugliest things in the universe. Seriously.

View, for instance, the Vein Stockings, the artwork, and of course, the outfits from awkwardfamilyphotos (kinda NSFW). But ladies and gentlemen, the ugliest of all the uglies has to be Url. Words cannot possibly describe him--you simply have to look. And follow the link to the Etsy page to see more shots of Url, and his brothers in shame...

Yes, that's the Steamed cover over there on the left. It's been tweaked slightly, and it's just so pretty I am going to show it again.

A short while ago I finished writing Love in the Time of Dragons, and am relieved and thrilled and exhausted all at once. I need to get to work on some other things, but I think a little end-of-book celebration is in order, don't you? Chocolate-covered dishy guys (or girls, if you prefer the latter) for everyone!

A few weeks ago an editor at Dorchester sent my agent and me a note saying that they were reprinting my novella Bring Out Your Dead in a new anthology that will be published in January. I am worried about this for a couple of reasons: first, the original anthology, Just One Sip, is still in print. But more importantly, I am worried because the novella is being repackaged into a new anthology, with a new name, and different authors...and that means that readers who see it will assume that it's a new story by me.

Well, it's not. It's a reprinted story, and although I've asked Dorchester to do something to indicate on the cover that the novella by me is not new, I'm not sure they will. And all that means that I'm going to be facing some pretty pissed off readers who will pick up a book with my name on it, thinking it's something new.

I just saw a blog mention of this anthology, and the blogger made the assumption that my story was new, and that has renewed my worry that readers will be misled by the repackaging. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do other than warn people, so that's what I'm going to be doing--and you can help! If you see a mention of this new anthology anywhere, pass the word that my novella is a reprint, please. Hopefully that will deflect some of the anger that will be directed my way.

Greetings, my little squabs of delight. I am happy to report that after allowing my muse to romp yesterday (and this morning), she is prepared to sit down and start wrapping up the current dragon book.

She was heartened by the sight of the UK covers for both Playing With Fire and Up in Smoke, seen below. I'm tickled to death with these covers--the Playing With Fire one is gorgeous, isn't it?

I also received the cover to the audio version of Holy Smokes, but I will have to post that later. Until then, feel free to post your own good news. I shall escort the muse to her chair and let her work while you do so.

My apologies for the lateness of today's DGM. When I told my muse she could go ahead and have another day of romping and frolicking, I forgot to mention that she'd first have to pony up with a DGM. I finally tracked her down playing Sims3, a Klondike Bar clucked in her hand, and managed to wrestle her back to the matter at hand (her Sim, a writer named Katie, is apparently pregnant for the THIRD TIME via the guy she picked up outside of a bookstore...we won't go into what that says about my muse).

Today's DGM is Gianluca.

I heard those of you shouting, "Luuuuuuuca!" in the background. Don't think I didn't! This isn't him. This is someone different. And just as nice, IMHO.

Blue eyes, stubble, manly chest (ignoring the odd lumpy thing beneath one man-boob)...oh yes, he has it all. But wait! There's more! Because now, through the magic of some really crappy deleting via Photoshop, you, too can be snuggled up tight to Gianluca!

Below is the original picture.

I love how he's frowning. Now, the woman in this picture is very pretty. I am obscenely jealous of her hair (not to mention the fact that she's snuggled up against his BARE CHEST). But you know, sometimes you just want to put yourself in those lovely models' shoes, and because I live to serve you, my bestest readers ever, I have provided you with the Put Yourself In Gianluca's Arms piccy:

Because I care just that much. And now, I'm off to find a picture of myself in profile...