About Me

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I'm a multi-published author of paranormal erotic romance with Siren Publishing, Evernight Publishing and Ellora's Cave. Hailing from south Louisiana, I like to think I bring a little Cajun spice to the Cabal of Hotness. You can't have heat with out it!

Monday, October 5, 2009

New Blog Home Reminder

Just a quick reminder that I'm moving my blog to http://www.danicaavet.wordpress.com

Happy Monday everyone...as if that's even possible.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

October Dreaming

Just a quick reminder that I'm moving my blog to http://danicaavet.wordpress.com/ I'll be cross-posting entries until I'm sure everyone's on board.

So I've noticed everyone is posting something about fall, October, or Halloween. I hate feeling left out.

I love this time of year. As many of you already know, we don't get the full 4 seasons in South Louisiana. We might have a month of cold, un-Cajunlike weather, but I can remember several years when we were wearing shorts at Christmas. This week has been an exception. We're talking barely any humidity and it's nice and cool out (if 80-something can be considered cool).

I'm not a big fan of Halloween. I mean, I have fun dressing up when I do dress up, but I don't get into it like other people do. We don't hand out candy, we don't live in that kind of neighborhood if you catch my meaning. Halloween night, we turn off all the lights and lock up the house. When I was a kid and lived in a different area, we'd cruise the street for hours finally ending up back at home for the bonfire. A bonfire which ended up being a parking space one year when one of the neighbors drove his Volkswagen Beetle right on top of it. Yeah, he had bad eyes apparently, lol.

So after reading several blogs about horror movies and Halloween, I came across a picture I thought was perfect for this time of year. No, it isn't a Fantasy Man. That isn't until tomorrow. This picture is horrifying and if you have a weak stomach, I wouldn't recommend looking at it. Just remember...terror can be found anywhere! Bwahahahahaha!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Just Grin and Bear It

This seems to be the week of rejections. I'm not going to go on about the latest such letter I received this morning. No, today I'm going to talk about perseverance.

I'm a very stubborn person. At least I call it stubbornness. Others call it oppositional defiance. I don't like being told what to do, or that I can't do something. Ask my mother. :) I think this is part of the reason why I'm not as beat up about the rejections as I suppose I should be. Though no one has said anything negative about my queries, they're still saying 'no, it doesn't interest us' which just gets me fired up even more.

Perseverance is that quality we see in the underdog that makes us root for them. It's what made me sit there and cry my eyes out for 300. I cry every single time I see all of those delicious men in their loincloths being beat down by the Persians. I cry and cry when King Leonidas is skewered by those arrows with the bodies of his loyal 300 Spartans littering the ground around him. They knew they weren't going to win, but it didn't matter. They gave Greece time to regroup, giving up their lives for the greater good.

So I think authors have to have more than a little of this same quality. We trudge on no matter the obstacles in our paths, no matter how many times we hear 'you have a strong writing voice, but it just doesn't suit me' or 'I just wasn't sufficiently interested in this enough to request more'. We wrap ourselves in the cloak of our words, arm ourselves with our pens, and straggle down the road to publication anyway. How does that phrase go? 'Return with your novel, or upon it.'

Do you have a special attribute you believe has helped you in your writing career? What's your recipe for rejection?

By the way, I've started up a new blog and website.

Check it out at http://www.danicaavet.wordpress.com/

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Feeding the Need to Read

It shouldn't be surprising to people that writers love to read. I'm no exception to this statement. I'm actually obsessed with reading except my banking account struggles to keep up with my addiction. It is an addiction, by the way. When I'm not writing or doing something I have to be doing, there is a book in front of my face.

Just so happens a ton of great books came out/are coming out this fall. How do I know they're great if I haven't read them? I'm psychic. Really. No, okay, so I'm not. However, these are books by some of my absolute favorite authors (who don't write fast enough to fulfill my appetite for their sexy heroes).

So what books am I looking forward to? Too many to name, really. But, let's see what we have on the list, shall we?

Covet by J.R. Ward - Ward has been one of my favorite authors since I picked up Dark Lover years ago. This shouldn't be surprising since she is THE WOMAN. I love her heroes, I love the Black Dagger Brotherhood and I have a feeling I'll love her angels. I mean, c'mon...Lassiter? Hello!

Deep Kiss of Winter by Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter - This book is a double header. I'm stoked about it. These are two of my favorite authors (okay so I have a lot of favorite authors). Gena's books ever since I read Heart of the Dragon. Her heroes are just so damn sexy! And her heroines are tough as nails. Gotta love that! I've been reading Kresley's books since I picked up A Hunger Like No Other and let me just say, I get every range of emotion from her novels. My heart aches for her characters and I seriously laugh out loud...mostly at Nix and Regin...gotta love those Valkyries.

Okay so those are two books I really can't wait to get my hands on. I don't want to turn this post into a five page summary of every author I love ;) But you get the idea!

So which books are you eagerly anticipating? Is there a series you wish could've kept going on until you were old enough to forget you read the first and start all over again?

Monday, September 28, 2009

It's Rejection Day!

Me and my melodrama. It hasn't been a day of rejections, but I'm finally beginning to hear back from most of the agents I queried and the news hasn't been good. Oh, they're all very polite saying though my work sounds interesting, it just isn't what they're looking for. That's okay. To quote my mother, "One day, you're gonna remember this and you'll be sorry". Probably not. I know they have to find something they really believe in, which is why I'm not all that torn up about it.

Of course, that doesn't stop me from pouting about it. Then I get to thinking about what's wrong with it. Is there something wrong with it? Am I just sending it to the wrong people? Maybe I shouldn't have included the line 'you'll never read anything better than this' (I didn't do that, but its true!) ;) Just kidding.

So now I'm dealing with rejection. This is where I pull out the tissue and sob about how none of the agents ever loved me and didn't give me a chance. Uh-huh. No, this is really the part where I sit down with my current WIP and write the best story I can. That's all this industry is about, writing the best story you possibly can and making sure you get it to the right people at the right time.

In the past couple of weeks, I've commented on other author's pages about rejections and my fears and I have two comments I'm going to share here (they're not verbatim, but close enough):

I fear I'll get a note from an editor/agent saying 'This MS sucks so much, Hoover might be the only one interested in it.'

The other fear, is that the editors who have my full MS are going to send me an urn filled with the ashes of my manuscript. Attached will be a note that says:

Dear Ms. Avet,

We are sorry to inform you that your manuscript, Ruby: Uncut and on the Loose has passed away. It fought the good fight, but after numerous slashes with the red pen, died from a lack of wit and plot. To save you the despair of burying your manuscript yourself, we decided to cremate it in an intricate ceremony complete with champagne and a weenie roast. The service was attended by all the editors here at (insert publishing house) and a lovely time was had by all. We're sending copies of the pictures from the service and the after party.

Sincerely,
Editors

Melodramatic? Who, me? ;)

Current score in Ruby's struggle to publication: Agents/Editors 6, Danica and Ruby: 3

Saturday, September 26, 2009

A Blog Post on Saturday? Shocking!

And it really is shocking. I normally don't get to sit at my laptop on the weekends. Okay, so it's my own fault. Weekends are spent either shopping, cleaning house, reading (cough), reading, reading, or watching football.

However, I woke up at 4:30 this morning. Why? Well, it started with Cookie. I thought she fell in the toilet and got up to rescue her. Apparently, I dreamed it all. I got back in bed and tried to get back to sleep. I really, really tried. Except my brain wouldn't let me.

Earlier this week, I blogged about how I lost my muse. Well, apparently she needed a break from me because she's baaaaaack. She found me on Thursday and hasn't left me alone since. So I got out of bed, put a big pot of coffee on, and started writing. I think I probably logged about 6,000 words today in fits and starts. You know, little breaks where I cozy up with 'Lover Unbound' (for the 4th time since I got it). I just love Vishous. Yummy. Um, anyway, so I'm in a groove and letting it take me wherever it wants.

As a result, I'm about 70% finished with this WIP. Yay
me!!! I'm actually a bit surprised where it's going. Since I'm a pantster, I go where my characters take me and this one has brought me to a place I hadn't foreseen when I started writing. It's so cool!

Just cause I'm in such a good mood...This is what I picture Vishous looking like. Gr...rrrrrr. Why am I suddenly thinking about Eartha Kitt in 'Boomerang' when she says, 'Marcus, I'm not wearing any underwear.' hahaha


Friday, September 25, 2009

Fantasy Man Friday

Morning all, this morning started out just fine. I got to listen to Misfits and Slipknot on the way to the office, which put me in a marvelous mood. Best of all, I was already pondering what picture I was going to use this morning.

I've decided to use two pictures. Maybe it's because we've been having such gloomy, rainy weather that I was instantly drawn to two pictures featuring water...in the best of ways, mind you.

So here we are with today's Fantasy Men.

Vin Diesel...ooh, that torso! I remember watching him in Pitch Black. In one particular scene he was fighting with the female captain in the mud. He grabbed her and spun her around in that mud and I quivered. It wasn't a love scene, it wasn't even romantic, but boy was it hot! Come to think of it, I think it was raining in that scene as well...maybe I just like a wet Vin Diesel. Hubba, hubba!




Next on my two-fer Fantasy Men Friday, is the Cleveland Browns Quarterback, Brady Quinn. I'm not a Browns fan (go Saints!), but that doesn't mean I can't admire their good-looking QB. I came across this picture and went 'ooooh, he's precious!'. Considering he's only 8 years younger than me, he isn't jail bait which is what most of those young football players are nowadays (disgruntled mumble). So, here he is doing his own water pose: