Monster You’ve Made Me

Welcome back for another What’s Playing Wednesday!

The heroine of my current WIP has really consumed my mind lately. Last week I talked about her scars, the ones her past has left on her skin and played some good ol’ Papa Roach. This week I’m talking about the monster she’s become.

God, this song. It really kills me, but not as much as my heroine. Gyda, did I mention her name is Gyda? Gyda is perhaps my most damaged heroine. I’ve written a few with issues. We all have issues, by the way. Even growing up with a perfect childhood can leave its mark. In Gyda’s case…well, her issues have issues. And what’s been done to her causes a monster to emerge.

Think of it as her id taking over. The id only knows what it wants, what it needs and nothing else matters. Which is why today’s song really hits me when I think of her.

This is the second time Pop Evil has appeared on my blog in a very short amount of time. But then again, they have some kick ass music. If you get the chance, you should really check them out. Today’s song is “Monster You Made Me”. Sure, it most likely isn’t meant for a young girl who’s had a rough life, but it works for this story. Especially when there’s a line that goes “’cause who I am isn’t who I used to be”. Gah, right through the heart! Okay, check it out. I have to get back to Gyda’s story.

Same Old, Same Old

It’s so sad really. I have nothing new to report. Things have been going well, just not much has changed and I really hate to blog about nothing at all.

Okay, so a few things have happened. The surgery date is creeping closer and I feel a feverish need to have my next WIP written and submitted before that happens. Yeah, that’s not going to happen. Unless these characters shove me out of the driver’s seat and take over. Which they might do! I can hope they will at least. But I think I could probably be close to finished with the story in two weeks. If I can write 20k a week…yeah, we’ll see about that.

Next cool thing to happen is I learned a writer I look up to read Primal Song and “loved” it. I think my heart jumped in my throat because there is nothing more amazing than writers whose books you devour reading your working and saying “I really liked it” or something similar. It’s the ultimate compliment and one of the first I’ve had like that. I’m not going to say who she is, but just knowing she liked it is enough to buoy my confidence in the skillz of writing.

The other cool thing happened first thing this morning. My editor sent me an email saying she was accepting the third book in the Cajun Heat series, loosely titled Primal Flavor. Can we all say yay? Of course, part of me is thinking I need to keep my mouth shut. Oh those painful lessons learned when I was a wee writer have stuck with me. But for now, I’m going with optimistic. Yes, me. Optimistic. Amazing, isn’t it?

So yeah, I think that’s it. Really not that much to report. They’re all awesome things, well except for surgery, but that’s motivating me to get my butt in gear and handle up on this story which is a good thing. I have a plan…and enough books to last at least the next five years. Now if only I had won the powerball…

Scars

I might have mentioned before (okay, a million times) that i generally have a theme song when I’m writing. Not me, my characters do.

For the first time in…well, at least 2 years, I’m working on something dark and moody. Very angsty. And I’m liking it. My heroine has been so damaged. Oh, she breaks my heart every single time I think about what she’s been through. And she’s been in that place where you have no more hope. That’s where I picked up her story.

My plan is simple though. I’m going to give her hope and a happy ending. She’ll never be able to forget what was done to her, or how she got to this point, but sometimes forgetting isn’t the answer. Sometimes we have to look at the scars our bodies and psyches have accumulated and realize they’ve made us stronger.

And that’s why Papa Roach’s Scars is Gyda’s theme song. I can’t wait to write her happy ever after.

Hair of the Dog

I feel like such a bad blogger because I forgot to play a song last week for What’s Playing Wednesday. It doesn’t matter that I was at a convention. I need to plan ahead for these things!

Today is day 2 of life back in the “real” world. You know, the one where people don’t know me as Danica, where they wouldn’t understand if I suddenly lost track of conversations because the muse hits me upside the head with an idea and they have no idea what I mean when I say “I’ll electrocute your nipples”. Yeah, the real world. It sucks.

I really just wanted to go back to bed this morning. It doesn’t seem right to be jealous of pets, but I was. Both of those punks woke me up, made me feed them, let them do their thing and then they went back to sleep. What did I have to do? Get up and get ready for work because someone has to bring home the Kibbles n’ Bits. And that would be me. Of course, harkening back to the Ellora’s Cave party on Wednesday night, I have said on more than one occasion that “I will sell ass on the side of the road if I have to. Not my ass of course, but I have no problem selling yours. Or the cat’s or dog’s asses.” (I do, I just talk a good game.)

Anyway, today seemed like a perfect day to play Nazareth’s Hair of the Dog. I could use a little hair of the dog to get through the day, but that would require going back to Kansas City and I don’t think I want to do the security thing again. By the way, Jose from Da Hood (Cave Chaos radio) apparently has a thing about his nipples. Hence the “I’ll electrocute your nipples” thing.

Okay, I’m finished with my pointless ramblings. I need more coffee. Enjoy this while I start up a coffee drip straight to my veins.

Oh! And because I’m feeling cranky, let me tell you about Robert Friggin’ Quill. What? You’ve never heard of him? Well he’s an artist. Kind of like the Dread Pirate Roberts, except he doesn’t have a ship. I think. I didn’t see a ship and he didn’t mention it. No, instead he charmed me into spending money on a drawing that’s going to be awesome when it’s complete. And then he got Lea Barrymire. And Cassandra Carr (I think). And Regina Cole. And I have no idea who else, but if you get a chance, you should really check out his work because he’s quite talented. And charming. Friggin’ Robert Quill. And because of his charming, talented bull-shitting self, I can’t get the character I commissioned him to do a sketch of out of my head. She’s stuck right there *points to head* and she won’t stop telling me to write and to do her justice because she’s totally going to kick my ass if I don’t write her in the style he’s going to sketch her. Gee, thanks Friggin’ Robert Quill. You’re the best.

And I mean that. He is awesome. Except when he stirs my muse to become Diva Bitch. *sigh*

A Hero

I think I’ve mentioned about a million times now that I finished Primal Flavor last week. Can I get a “Woot-woot!”? Because yeah, it’s that bloody exciting. I just have to wait now to see if my lovely editor accepts it. I hope she does! *Fingers crossed*

I have books planned to write now. I sat down and counted all the works I have with more than 5k words and as of right now, I have six books I could hop on and start writing, possibly even finish. But I have a problem. I have characters slapping me senseless with their personalities and the back and forth between them. Yup, I have characters demanding their story is told now. Not later. Now, dammit.

*sigh* To quote my stepdad, if this is the only problem I have, I’m doing well.

But that’s a problem I’ve decided I have to solve. Now. The story I was going to write for my buddies in the cabal is going to have to wait because Coltrane and Kanda are demanding they get their story. NOW. And to be honest, I can’t wait. OMG. Yes, I just said OMG because y’all…Coltrane is my kind of hero. *swoon* My heart is pounding just thinking of his story because it’s going to be that bad ass.

And thinking of bad ass heroes, the song that immediately pops into mind when I think of Coltrane is this song by Pop Evil called Hero. So that’s today’s song. I really like Pop Evil’s music. They have kick ass guitar riffs, compelling lyrics and Leigh Kakaty has the rough, rugged voice I adore in my rock music. I hope you enjoy the song. I’ll be over here writing my poor little fingers to the bones.

Hysteria

Le sigh, why must it be Monday already? It feels as though the weekend just flew by and left my head spinning.

Probably because if I wasn’t napping, I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Lovely imagery, but there ya go. Saturday should have been spent writing, but there was so much to do before our trivia night. I had headlight bulbs to get changed, groceries and food for my babies to buy and fingernail polish to conquer. Now before you say “Lord, she bought more fingernail polish?” I haven’t bought polish in at least two months. I think.

And I picked up some awesome colors! *skips* Yay!

Trivia night. Okay, in case you haven’t read about them before, teams of 6 get together to battle it out against other teams for first place. It’s sort of like Trivial Pursuit except a lot more fun. We always come out in the middle somewhere. I should probably start hanging out with people who listen to Country music because while we dominate the music category, I can only do so much *ducks* Oh. And I should probably also take my best friend’s advice when she says the most popular ice cream flavor is vanilla, not chocolate. Sorry Angie.

But we had fun. We weren’t drinking, yet we were still cutting up more than the other tables. Apparently I’m hysterical when I’m trying to get my mother to understand a question about silver being added to the penny. My sister nearly fell out of her chair laughing at me with my brother and best friend not far behind. Mais, I didn’t see what was so funny, but someone said something about me looking like a lion pouncing on a wounded gazelle. Poor Mom.

We came out in 8th place out of 17 teams. Not too good, not too bad, but we had a blast and plan to do it again next year. My cousin even suggested we have a family trivia night. Not just for fun, but also for practice because she wants to kick ass next time around.

Sunday was spent recovering from my misplaced belief that I was 20 again and could stay up until 4 am without a problem. *snort* I slept late, got up, saw my friend off for home then went back to bed. Oh, the sleep! Fat cat and doggie were happy to have Mommy in bed and not moving for several hours. They were so tired, you know. What does this mean? It means I didn’t write a single word all weekend long.

I tell myself that’s okay because while I didn’t write, I brainstormed. Yes, that’s what I told myself as I saw on the sofa and watched X-Men: The Last Stand, Pineapple Express, The Green Hornet, and Vikings. I was brainstorming! And I slept like absolute hell last night because my characters wouldn’t leave me alone.

So what did you do this weekend?

Interview with Caveman De Angelo

Happy, happy Friday y’all! Before I get to the good stuff, bwahaha, I’m over at the ARe Cafe today talking about writing for Ellora’s Cave. Stop by!

Do y’all even read the intro to these interviews or just jump to the good stuff? I’m kind of curious about that so let me know in the comments if you read this or if I should just dive straight into the good-looking men. M’kay?

But in case you do read this…Hey! It’s Friday! Woot-woot! I’m sending off my latest manuscript to my editor today. *crosses her fingers* Hopefully I’ll have good news to share with y’all soon. Mais, I hope I do because it feels like I’ve given birth to this story. Yeah, it took that long. It’s a full term novel. If I get an acceptance, I might even buy myself some flowers saying “Here It Is!” *snickers*

And oh, if I can get today’s hunk on the cover of my book? That would just be…awesomesauce. Today I have another new Ellora’s Cave cover model, Caveman De Angelo. Oh yes, I’m shocked myself! But De Angelo is an amazing guy with a sexy Italian accent and a great personality. He’s also hubba, hubba hot. *fans herself* Um, so yeah, here’s the interview…’scuse me while I wipe up the drool from my keyboard.

Danica: What made you want to be a model?
De Angelo: I started modeling when I was younger. When I was about sixteen or seventeen I signed with an agency in my country. I had to stop fashion modeling because I started growing and my body didn’t fit in the clothing anymore. I like doing sports and my body was naturally muscular, I would have had to starve myself to get down to 160 pounds and fit into the clothes I would’ve had to model.
Danica: I’m definitely liking the physique he’s sporting now. Ladies?

Danica: What’s the one place in the world you’d love to visit and why?
De Angelo: Probably more than one place. I like to travel. I don’t think about vacations a lot since I work all the time.

Danica: What do you have going on right now? Do you have any upcoming appearances? If so, when, where and will there be video? Just joking about that last one. Sort of. Ahem.
De Angelo: I’ll be at RomantiCon in Ohio. I used to compete in body building competitions, but I didn’t want to keep getting bigger. Now I do personal training, I’m the dance manager at my club helping choreography with the other dancers and take acting classes with modeling on the side.
Danica:  A man of many talents. *cough* And oh yeah, we’ll be seeing you at RomantiCon! Right, Cabal? I know y’all are out there reading this…Danica: How was the photoshoot with EC?
De Angelo: It was a lot of fun. The photographer was great. People thought the face I gave Bill Giste the look.
Danica: I think that look solidified De Angelo as one of our favorite Cavemen. That look. Priceless! If you missed it, Ellora’s Cave was featured on CBS Sunday Morning and De Angelo was one of the models during the photoshoot.

Danica: What do you think is your best feature?
De Angelo: Personality, smile and eyes.

Danica: What’s it like being the focus of so much female attention?
De Angelo: I think it’s good, you meet a lot of people, get to know them, talk with them. I like it.
Danica: I’m glad because I know he’s going to cause a stir at RomantiCon!

Danica: What kind of woman are you most drawn to sexually?
De Angelo: Personality is very important, what’s inside a person counts.
Danica: And there was a collective sigh as millions (okay hundreds) of women fell in love with De Angelo. And now imagine him saying that in his Italian accent.

Danica: What’s your favorite kink? Yes, sexually.
De Angelo: I just go with the flow. I like it when it’s spontaneous, nothing planned.
Danica: My mind just blanked out. trying to imagine what going with the flow means exactly.

Danica: Are you a breast or a butt man?
De Angelo: It’s not really important to me, the only thing that really matters is the personality.

Danica: What’s your favorite position?
De Angelo: I like a little bit of everything.
Danica: Again, I have no words.

Danica: What’s your theme song?
De Angelo: I’m in the club a lot, so I like to chill in my free time.

Danica: How have you been in the U.S.? And is there any particular place you’d like to live?
De Angelo: Five years, and moved directly to Miami. The place I’d love to live would be Los Angeles. I don’t to go to NYC because of the weather.

Danica: What’s your favorite color?
De Angelo: Blue, I suppose, but I don’t really have a favorite color.

Danica: Favorite food?
De Angelo: Italian food, I know how to cook, so I make it for myself. Home cooking is best.
Danica: Authentic Italian food cooked by a sexy Italian man. That’s book fodder right there.

Danica: Do you prefer winter or summer?
De Angelo: Summer, hot weather

Danica: Do you prefer mountains or beaches?
De Angelo: Beaches

Danica: Pets? What kind?
De Angelo: Yes, I had two dogs. They’re called dogo argentinos which are like a mastiffs, big dogs. I had to leave them in Italy when I moved here.
Danica: Awww!

Danica: Boxers, briefs, commando?
De Angelo: Boxer-briefs, feel more relaxed.
Danica: Ahem…

Danica: Is there anything about yourself you feel enough people don’t know?
De Angelo: When people get to know me, they learn I’m a simple, easy-going guy and I like to help people.

You know that moment when your brain goes completely offline? I’m having that right now. Uh. Heh. Heh. Wow. De Angelo is a man of many faces, right? It’s amazing and hot and I’m going to shut up now.

I hope y’all have a great weekend…um, yeah. Talk to y’all later.

I Want That For You

As y’all know I love my music. I have to have it. Which means when I can’t get data through my phone and can’t listen to my satellite radio, I get pissy. The way it’s been doing all week.

Music feeds my soul, fires my imagination and relaxes me. Even when it’s stuff that’s fast-paced and hectic sounding, sometimes it calms me. Which is why I need it at the Evil Day Job, dammit! *seethes* Of course, even though I don’t have my satellite radio, I still have music. I carry an MP3 player with me everywhere I go and have music on my phone that isn’t connected to the internet. But I like having variety, like being able to say “I’m kind of tired of Slipknot. How about some Niel Diamond?” What? How can you not like Neil Diamond?

Mostly though, I like my satellite radio because it allows me to discover new bands that aren’t on the local radio stations yet and probably never will be.  Like today’s group. 3 Pill Morning. There are a lot of bands with the number Three (3) in the name, but these guys have a great song I’m sharing with y’all today. I Want That For You is a song I crank up whenever it comes on because it has catchy vocals and sounds passionate. I’ve been listening to it a lot while writing Primal Flavor.

What do y’all think?

The End

Normally when you’d hear or read those words, it’s not in a positive context.

To a writer though, The End are two of the sweetest words they can put to paper. Well, I’m sure “best” and “selling” top the list, but since that’s something you can’t control, my favorite words are “the” and “end”.

Why? Because it means I’ve completed another story. Oh sure, it may not seem so monumental to the reader. Hell, as a reader, I breeze through books like there’s no tomorrow and look for more. As a reader, I never want the story to end. But as a writer, it’s like a huge weight being lifted from my shoulders.

I’ve been working on this story on and off for several months. The characters were stubborn as all get out. They didn’t want to open to me. In fact, at the beginning, I started out with completely different characters, but once I figured out this story was about Zach and Colette, I went with it. Slowly. Painfully slow. Which is not my usual speed when it comes to writing. I thought the end would come a couple of weeks ago, but it turned out once I broke the shell my characters had around themselves, they had a lot to say. The 48k story turned into a 58k story turned into a 68k story and then ended at 79k.

Yowsa. But I can’t even begin to explain the sheer joy I felt when I wrote The End in bold letters. The. End. I threw my arms in the air and did a whole “whoo-hoo” thing, except that wasn’t enough. I needed to…jump to my feet and run around the house. My dog barked at me. I swear it’s because I startled her, not because I was singing. I picked up fat cat who was sleeping and sang to her as well. But throughout it all, this sense of elation, of complete happiness and relief drowned out any sense of goofiness. I wasn’t embarrassed by my actions. I didn’t care that I was acting like a kid on the last day of school.

I’d hit The End.

And what better way to celebrate than to sing this:

Ah, bliss. Le sigh.

Of course it isn’t really over. This story is starting its metamorphosis from a rough draft to a polished work. It has to go through the critique gauntlet and then revisions and then more revisions before I can send it to my editor. From there, it’s weeks until I know whether they’ll take it or not. *fingers crossed* But if things work out well, if the story is as good as I think it is, it should be brought to full life in early summer. I hope. Until then though, I’ll be working hard at the other stories that have been waiting their turn to be written. And there are a lot. Trust me.

So next time I’m griping because it takes so long to get my hands on a new book by one of my favorite authors…yeah, I’m going to read this blog post and kick my own ass. It takes time to birth a novel, y’all. Honest.

What stories are you impatiently waiting for? Or what stories do you have backing up your work load?

I Blur My Line

I had a completely different song planned for today. Then I remembered this song.

I know y’all probably get tired of me talking about how much music means to me. But no matter what’s happened in my life, what I want to happen, music has always been there. It’s my faithful friend, my rock and my shoulder to cry on. Music never cares about my mood, but it affects it. It can calm me, soothe my soul, feed my muse and lift me up. It can fire me up, fill me with determination and motivate me beyond what I believe my threshhold is.

Today’s song is one that does all of that and more. It inspires me. Maybe it’s the moody guitar riff at the beginning, so simple and unadorned. Or maybe it’s the actual lyrics, or the vocals that reaches into my chest and causes my heart to soar. Whatever it is, I adore this song. It makes me feel both heavy and light, captured and free. How melodramatic, huh? But that’s what music does for me. It’s the most important component in my writing arsenal. Without it, I’m lost and unorganized.

When Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour, Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters, Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana came together to celebrate Sound City Studios and performed this song together. From Can to Can’t is an amazing piece of awesomeness. At least I think so.

What do you think?