Friday, September 3, 2010

And now for something completely different...

Genies and magic and Mers, oh my!

Yes, amid all the wonderful women's fiction authors on this blog, you have moi - your resident whimsical paranormal author.

And stringing all those adjectives together makes for some very interesting descriptors.

For instance, am I a whimsical author? A whimsical person who just happens to be an author? Or, am I your resident? Or, what about, am I a paranormal being? A genie or mermaid, perhaps?

Interestingly, I am not your resident--but feel free to pay my mortgage it the mood strikes. I'm definitely NOT paranormal. Abnormal is arguable. Just ask my kids. You might have a leg to stand on with "abnormal," but definitely not "paranormal."

And as for whimsical, well, again, ask the kids. Especially Sunday nights when the weekend house party has finally ended and everyone's too tired to do anything, and the house looks like that television show, "Hoarders" but with no TV Host to come in and clean up, and school/work starts way too early Monday morning and I can't function in a house full of clothing strewn on the furniture, water bottles tossed about on the carpet (one of our cocker spaniels just LOVES opening bottles - click on picture to see YouTube video of her doing this), and plates and cups from assorted teenage gatherings are in many of the rooms: the living room, the family room, and, of course, the "man cave" in the basement that is so frightening I rarely venture down there... What was the question again?

Ah, yes, am I whimsical? I'd like to think that I am, but from the paragraph above, you can see that opinions will vary.

One thing I unequivocally am, however, and the kids (and pizza delivery guy) will attest to, is that I am an author. (Like my intro to the books?)

I write tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted paranormal romances. My first series is about Mers--men and women--and the humans they fall in love with. There's some lost treasure, a few bad guys, a couple of sea monsters, and a flock of (talking) seagulls. And talking fish. And talking sharks. And a lizard with a huge chip on his shoulder.

In Over Her Head, Wild Blue Under, and Catch of a Lifetime came out between June 2009 and February 2010. Recently, I was utterly flabbergasted and equally gobsmacked to learn that Wild Blue Under won a PRISM Award, which was just beyond thrilling for me.

The next series begins in January with I Dream of Genies, followed by Genie Knows Best and then Leave It To Genie, the last 2 of which I'm still working on. Le sigh... It's always so gratifying to hold the finished book in your hand, but putting it on the laptop? Bunches and bunches of long hours and hard work.

As you can probably guess, I'm a big fan of sixties' and seventies' sitcoms and could have a whole week's worth of blogs on the subject. (But I won't, never fear.)

As for what I've read this summer, I have to admit: not much. Deadline for a book was the end of June, and you know how crazy things get when deadlines are coming up (hence the homage to my pizza delivery guy), then came the RomCon Conference in Denver, upon which the familial unit piggy-backed an 11-day, fun-filled, but definitely not restful vacation driving through South Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado, taking in such sights as Mt. Rushmore, Mt. Crazy Horse, the Badlands, Devil's Tower, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and the Budweiser Factory near Ft. Collins, CO. (Hey, it was free beer and air conditioned; a no-lose situation!) Then, a week at home before heading off to RWA National Conference in Orlando, and I realized I spent less time at home in the month of July than I did travelling. Phew! Even writing about it now makes me tired.

And, of course, I ended up shipping two boxes of books home from National, not to mention the ones I got at RomCon, so now my TBR Bookcase (I've advanced beyond The Pile) is bursting at the seams with books that I have no time to read.

Just recently, I started a new job and am trying to get the kids ready for school. Very hectic.

One book I DID read and thoroughly enjoyed, was our own Jenny Gardiner's, Winging It. I've heard Graycie's stories before the book, so it was nice to have a collection of them at my fingertips. Just the right thing when I need a laugh.

Which, if you saw the state of the family room this morning, you'd be doing, too. It's Friday, which means, the house is in pretty good shape. But it's the beginning of the Weekend Chaos, and add in the fact that this is a looooooong holiday weekend, and, well, I just don't even want to imagine what this place is going to look like come Monday.

Maybe I will go grab one of those books and just park myself in a hammock for a few hours to escape.

Happy Labor Day Weekend, everyone!

18 comments:

  1. As a mom to three teenage daughters, I know of the chaos of which you speak. Our house is the one everyone wants to hang out at...one filled with too much sugar, board games, movie marathons and my husband's good food. One filled to the brim on Sunday nights for "True Blood" because other parents are probably better at this than I and won't allow their own children to watch it in their homes. (Not really, I think it's fang-tastic!) At times, the thought crosses my writer's mind that perhaps I will lock myself away in my study to avoid the madness, but I reconsider because I never know how many more of the wonderful nights I have left with my girls and their respectful, fun, great friends. And if nothing else, there is always fodder for some quirky new character I'm creating. Thanks for a funny start to Friday and good luck finding your rugs on Monday! :)

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  2. Your July sounds wonderful to me. I decided spending the month in Oklahoma - one of our two hottest months - will not be in the cards if I can help it next year. I'd love to take your nature route. I think my youngest is finally ready to behold the Grand Canyon and be a trooper about all the hiking.

    It's so good to have a paranormal author among us to keep the magic alive. If - no, I should say when - I sell my YA, I'll join you.

    Happy Labor day, gals!

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  3. You, too! And keep safe from the hurricane..that's my basic weeekend plan..

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  4. Love those Genie titles. Hope you can find time to relax this weekend.

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  5. Morning! Ah, Karin, what is this "relax" of which you speak? I'm writing all weekend. And going to parties. Which isn't too bad, I guess. But I am really looking forward to Tuesday when it's just me and the animals here for a few hours.

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  6. Have a great weekend, Judi! Raven is a DOLL.

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  7. Judi, your 11-day road trip sounds right up my husband's alley (including the trip to the brewery)! Every other day, he asks, "So, you want to rent a Winnebago and do the national parks?" Um, not right now, babe. I have a deadline in a couple months! Thanks for your fun post on this Friday morning! Hope you have a wonderful Labor Day. :-)

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  8. Jess, yes, she's a cutie. Very lovable. But highly alpha around the other one. sigh.

    Susan - we didn't rent a Winnebago; that was my one stipulation. I need a hotel and luckily, we had a ton of Marriott and Holiday Inn points, so rooms weren't that expensive. And I got my internet fix b/c there is basically zero AT&T service in Wyoming, so the iPhone was a glorified iPod. But I'm really glad we did the trip. The kids and hubs really enjoyed it. I did it with my parents when I was 14, so it wasn't new to me, but I enjoyed their awe at nature's and man's beauty.

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  9. Ah, Judi! I am so a hotel girl, so that makes perfect sense to me. I'll tell my hubby that I want to see the national parks "Judi's way" next time he asks. ;-)

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  10. Judi! You are so funny!!! Feels like it was just yesterday that we were chatting on Gather about your first novel and now you are on to a whole other series!! Time really does fly.

    Happy Labor Day!

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  11. Susan, I used to be the Winnebago type. Heck, that's what we did with my family in '79. But now? Not so much. In my world, "roughing it" means no room service or internet. LOL. Like the cabin we rented in Yellowstone (to the tune of $240/night - and no room service???? OMG!)

    Brenda - amazing how that happens, isn't it?

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  12. No room service? That IS roughing it in my book, Judi! LOL.

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  13. Sorry I'm so late checking in . . . it's been that kind of day. Your trip sounds great--2 years ago I drove a rented U-Haul from St. Louis to Seattle helping my son and his girlfriend move to their first post-college jobs . . . and I was amazed by South Dakota (seriously!), Montana, and Washington. Good luck digging out from the long weekend and here's hoping you have some time to dig into those TBR shelves.

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  14. Hi Judi,

    Your life sounds suspiciously like mine only exchange the pizza take out for Chinese ;)

    Wishing everyone a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!

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  15. Judi, that summer chaos is all too recognizable! I'm a fan of those old "I Dream of Genii" episodes and am looking forward to your new series ;). Wishing you and all Girlfriends and visitors here a fabulous weekend!

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  16. Oooh, Maria, I could do Chinese! Sadly, the kids aren't big fans, which just means more for me. :)

    Marilyn, me, too. I always wanted to be Jeannie (this was before I realized how unhealthy that relationship was... LOL)

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  17. And I thought my summer was busy. Oh right. It was. I need a vacation from my multiple vacations.

    I'm having pizza. right. now. I'm starting to think it's the only food group. Unfortunately we are out of delivery territory, so I had to go pick it up. Probably would have been faster to cook, but this way I get to forego creating dirty dishes.

    Great post, Judi! I can't wait to read all the genie books. The Mers were fun!

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  18. Judi, I decided to repaint the living room. Bad idea. This meant taking down blinds that have seen at least one world war, removing a floor to ceiling mantel installation that dwarfed the rest of the room, and patching. More patching, sanding (God do I hate joint compound dust), and painting. Lots of it.

    Presently, hubs and I are trying not to kill each other, but honestly, it's touch and go right now. What I wouldn't give for just an untidy room. *SIGH

    Enjoy the hammock.

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