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It’s that time of year again. The time where everyone makes over exaggerated promises to themselves under the guise of a fresh start. Convince themselves that this was the time of year they were waiting for. A new beginning. Yes, I’m talking about those dreaded New Year’s Resolutions. I’m a member of that guilty faction, and in order to hold myself somewhat accountable for them, I’m publicly announcing them. Maybe, just maybe I’ll hold to them…until February at least.


It’s no secret I like urban fantasy. I read urban fantasy. I write urban fantasy. I’m in this little corner of the literate world out there and I feel like I need to stretch a little further. New Year’s Resolution #1 is to read at least one book a month that is not of the fantasy persuasion. Last year I read a few. Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol for one…if there’s a second one, I can’t recall. First up for January is either The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or maybe Kelley Armstrong’s Nadia Stafford books. Or maybe even Stephen King’s On Writing. I’ve been meaning to read them, but they keep falling further down my TBR pile.

New Year’s Resolution #2 is to finally query my novel. Either of them. The adult or the YA. Of course that means completeing the first draft of the YA so my betas can have at it or finally finishing the rewrite of my adult urban fantasy that I’ve been “in the middle of” since summer. Of course, this then leads into New Year’s Resolution #3…

Write at least 500 new words a day. The key word here is “new.” Not editing, but actual words. 500 words is a piece of cake…when you actually site down a do it. 500 words a day is roughly 15,000 a month. That’s a lot of words, and by the way, I am giving myself a little leeway on this: if I scrap a scene during my revisions and completely rewrite it, I’m counting that as “new” and not “editing.” Don’t argue. You’ll lose.

New Year’s Resolution #4 is attend a con. There’s actually two that I’m eyeing up because they’re fairly small and relatively close: The Pennwriter’s Conference in Pittsburg in May and the Author’s After Dark conference in Philly in August. Now AAD is a romance conference, but I figure there’s so much to learn that (a) it doesn’t matter and (b) don’t most stories have romantic elements anyways? So it counts, and it’s on the table. Besides, some of the fantasy I read is romance. Though Backspace is having a one day Donald Maas workshop, but the price…*sigh*

I have other resolutions including getting my website up and running, blogging more, photographing more, losing weight...blah, blah, blah. But those four are my big ones, my goals. If I accomplish nothing else in 2011, I’ll be happy. Scratch that. Ecstatic. What about you? What are your New Year’s Resolutions? Suggestions for my non-urban fantasy reading list? Cons to attend on the East Coast?

The Silverman Family

Back before November swept me away, I traveled to New Jersey to visit my brother and his family.  I'd been wanting to shoot portraits of them for a while and I finally succeeded.  We headed to the ocean, just north of Seaside, and timed it right for great lighting, and beautiful clouds. 

Doesn't Sydney have the cutest smile?  But don't let it fool you.

Here's the happy family, and almost everyone is looking at the camera!  LOL.  I love the light in this one.

So calm.  So peaceful.  Such a lie.  >:-)

Reann and Collin

Digging in the sand because you can't go to the beach and not dig a hole.  I actually think that's a law.

My favorite picture.

He's just sizing up his escape and plans for world domination.  That's all.

Zee plane!  Zee plane!  No, Sydney.  That's a kite.

I love you guys, and yes, even you Jeff, though you constantly beat me up and I have to threaten abuse charges. 
But that's what family's for, right?

Recovery

There are certain times of the year that cause havoc for any number of reasons. Approaching the holiday season, such as now, is one of them for most. But not for me.

Because the moment December rolls around, I can breathe just a little easier. You see, my full time day job hits its busiest time of the year in November and then almost dies to nothing in December. Compound that with an extremely heavy October, and I’ve had eight weeks of insane work. At the one job.

I also picked up a part time job surrounding myself with books at a local bookstore. The benefits and enjoyment of being surrounded by something I love to spend my free doing (reading / writing) outweighed the meager earnings and loss of free time. I enjoy the job. And adding 15-20 more hours of work to my schedule.

And of course, there was NaNoWriMo. What’s that you may ask? It’s short for National Novel Writing Month, which is, naturally, November. You are challenged to write a 50,000 word novel in only 30 days. The breakneck speed and time limit forces you to turn off the web surfing, stop playing on facebook and twitter, put words to page and edit later. I attempted it last year and won, so naturally I had to try again this year. On top of my now 70 hour work week. Did I cross the finish line? Absolutely. But only just and there were more than a few times I didn’t think I’d make it.

A few things were sacrificed for time. My blog for one has not been updated (until now). Content for my new site launching soon has been temporarily placed on hold. I haven’t read a new book since before October. I reread Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series gearing up for Last Sacrifice’s release next week and did not read anything during November. Fixed that already, having just finished JR Ward’s Crave. My house…yeah. Let’s not go there and just say that my vacation time I’m using during this month is not only for my writing.




My siser-in-law and nephew



November was intense. Fast paced. Stress-filled. It almost got to me. So while everyone is gearing up for Christmas and the stress of shopping, I’m in my recovery zone. Cleaning up from November’s mess, using the rest of my vacation, slowing the breakneck speed on my NaNo piece so I can finish the draft satisfactorily, and reading. Lots of reading planned.

And post more photos like this one because the new site is coming soon and I can’t wait to share it with you all. So how do you all de-stress?

Release Day!

Today is a celebration!  Fem-Fangs (An Anthology) is now available for sale on Pill Hill Press's site as well as Amazon.com.

From Pill Hill's website:

Though people have been exploring the legend of the vampire for hundreds of years, the female vampire has been largely overlooked...until now.

Pill Hill Press proudly presents FEM-FANGS, a collection of short stories focused on fanged girls of the night with a taste for human blood and a penchant for power, seduction and terror.

Find your favorite turtleneck and sink your teeth into this monster of a collection. You're in store for some long, dark nights filled with beautiful, hungry creatures. Don't cry when you find yourself with two perfectly round puncture wounds on your neck...because you've been warned.

This anthology contains my short story High Stakes. 

Asking for help is hard enough; asking your enemy is unthinkable. But Rachel Davis sees no other way to save her sister Amanda from the fangs of Gloria Delaney, Mistress of the city. Adam Sabol is a hunter, spending his nights keeping the streets of Philadelphia clear of monsters and demons. And vampires like Rachel.

Well, not exactly like Rachel. There’s something different about her. Something that makes Adam want to believe her and help. Of course, the money she’s willing to front doesn’t hurt either. Hunting doesn’t exactly pay the bills.

Allied by a shaky trust, they plot against the untouchable Gloria, sure that one of them won’t make it through the night. If they fail, it won’t be just their lives, but those of the entire city.


To celebrate, I'm doing my first give-a-way.  When I get to 100 twitter followers, I will give one lucky person the choice of either Fem-Fangs (An Anthology) or Silver Moon, Bloody Bullets: An Anthology of Werewolf Tails, both from Pill Hill Press and both featuring a short story by yours truely.  To win, just simply become a follower on Twitter.  Re-tweeting won't help your chances, but it will help me get to 100 followers faster!

Happy Friday!

Cory and Mike - September 5th

The beautiful weather of Labor Day weekend continued on Sunday, September 5th for Cory and Mike's beautiful wedding

at Pheasant Run Farm Bed and Breakfast . 

The old farm had this amazing charming and rustic feel to it that complimented the simple black and white color scheme.  Here is a look into that beautiful day.  Some portraits before the ceremony.

Some details.

 

The ceremony.

The bridal party

The happy couple.

Cory and Mike, thank you for having me there on your day. 

I loved meeting you and your family and I wish you all the happiness you deserve. 

I'll leave you with a few photos that showed off the beautiful lighting in the grove where the ceremony took place.

Chrissy and Ron - September 4th

Labor Day weekend couldn't have given us better weather for a wedding.  Blue skies, a cool breeze and a gorgeous backyard garden provided a scenic setting for Ron and Chrissy's wedding.  Two ponds with two streams gave a large playground to the kids as well as some other amphibian friends. 

I know they say you have to kiss a few frogs before you find your prince.  Guess this little guy's still looking for his princess.  But his happily ever after will have to come later.  Today was about Chrissy and Ron.  Here's a little glimpse into the magic of that day.

The dress.

Some details.

 The flowers.

The rings.

The bride.

The groom.

Ellie, Chrissy and Ron's daughter, the flower girl.

Brennan, Chrissy and Ron's son, the ring bearer

The ceremony.

They literally tied the knot in a hand fastening ceremony.

First kiss as husband and wife.

Congrats and tears all around.

Ellie and Paris, Ron's daughter and bridesmaid.

The girls.

The guys.

The bridal party.

First Dance.

Everyone loves a beautiful wedding cake, and this one was no exception, plus it was tiramisu!

Of course it is the tradition for the bride and groom to lovingly feed each other a slice from the cake as a show of love, affection and trust for each other.  Or in this case...

The windup.

The pitch.

The retailiation.

He never saw it coming.  =)

Ron and Chrissy, thank you so much for coming into my life.  I'm so glad I got to share in your amazing day.  You have an amazing family, and I wish you both the best.  Here are some last portraits of the bride and groom, and the love that they share with each other.