Thursday, September 28, 2006

Banned Books Week

(Lauren Dane has been posting on this all week at her blog.)

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm

I'm a little late posting on this, but it's something I very strongly believe in. My mom always let me read what I wanted to, and I was amazed at my first experience with banning a book. My high school library took "Salem's Lot" by Stephen King off the shelf when I was a junior (I think). I was stunned, I'd read it several years before.

So go find a banned book or author and read it today!


The top 10 Most Challenged Authors in the last decade:

1. Alvin Schwartz (Scary Stories)

2. Judy Blume (Blubber, Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, Deenie, Forever)

3. Robert Cormier (Whale Talk, The Sledding Hill)

4. J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter)

5. Michael Willhoite (Daddy’s Roomate)

6. Katherine Paterson (Bridge to Terabithia)

7. Stephen King (Cujo, It, The Stand, Salem’s Lot, The Dark Tower Series, The Green Mile)

8. Maya Angelou (I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, And Still I Rise)

9. R.L. Stine (Goosebumps)

10. John Steinbeck (The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men)


May the muses have books to read
Mechele

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Anyone remember the dance of joy?

Let's just say I've been doing that since Saturday.

It was a very good, "I'm author, hear me roar" day. I have tons of good news, some of which I've shared already with the reviews, some of which I will share very very soon.

Nathan and Henri's story has a name. Whoo hoooo. Blood Lines: Currents. I was starting to panic. Thanks to Flesa for suggesting it and to my editor for helping me pick it from several selections.

I sat down to write my website short read yesterday. Boy, did I go off on a tangent. LOL. I started a whole new series. Will come back to Keith and Tessa, but this had to come out of me.

The Christmas story finished up under word count. *wipes brow* I need to edit that and get it in ASAP.


Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
11,664 / 12,000
(97.2%)



The six curses of Christmas

May the muses have names
Mechele

Saturday, September 23, 2006

A surprise

And thankfully a NICE one.

I knew about JERR's review of Dinah's Dark Desire but found out about two other ones this morning.

A TCM reviewer, Jasmina Vallombrosa, said, "I really enjoyed this book as Mr. Armstrong more than proves her storytelling abilities. The plot was as intriguing as it was entertaining. The relationships between the characters were dynamic and fulfilling. The sexual tension stayed at a deliciously high level with true feelings and love lingering in the background. My favorite aspect was the self-realization of Dinah, who in her search for her true happiness finds within herself the courage to put those old voices to rest."
http://tcm-ca.com/reviews/1284.html

AND

Dinah's Dark Desire was selected as a Joyfully Recommended book! Jo said, "Ms. Armstrong has given us more than just a ménage story, although the sex is very, very hot; she has given us a satisfying and fulfilling story about three people who are good friends and how they came together as lovers. Dinah’s Dark Desire is a story I highly recommend for anyone who loves a good romance." http://www.joyfullyreviewed.com/reviews/dinahsdarkdesire.html

I'm so thrilled people are enjoying Dinah's journey.

And we won at soccer today, too!

May the muses have journeys
Mechele

Thursday, September 21, 2006

It's a jungle out there



or rather in here. *blinks* the temperature dipped into the 40's here last night, surprising me, and I worried my plants might not do so well as it is supposed to again tonight. So I brought them all in. I repotted a lot of them until I ran out of potting soil. Not what I'd intended to do this morning *ahem*.

I'm working on a Christmas short story. LOL yes, it won't be for this year because I already have a Christmas Fling being released in December by Loose Id. But I had the idea so am running with it. It's very short.


Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
5,863 / 12,000
(48.9%)



The 6 curses of Christmas
Wanna see something pretty for the other author ego?





LOL my DH says he likes Torc's Salvation's cover better. *shakes head*

May the muses have jungles

Mechele



Sunday, September 17, 2006

Review Time & catch up

I always love getting to the end of my stories but they take over me in some ways. I had to clean house today because I did very little around the house as I let the muse take me.

So several things have happened, that I *gasp* didn't post about yet.

The first is that the next installment of The Knight in A Cowboy Hat has been been posted on my website in the Goodies section. I've had so much fun with Keith and Tessa. One more and I think I'm bidding them adieu for a while at least.

Reviews and reader reactions have started coming in for Dinah's Dark Desire.

Two Lips Reviews gave it 5 lips! Frost said this, "Dinah’s Dark Desire is just about as hot as a hungering reader could ask for. Mechele Armstrong practically turns the reader inside out from the first sentence, and leaves her begging for more. Do NOT miss out on this one, which has appeal for almost all readers. The characterization is deep, the plot line is intriguing, and the sensuality is volcanic. Run out and get this one-immediately! It’s a rereader for certain."

JERR gave it four stars! Suni Farrar said, "Dinah’s Dark Desire was a fast paced and exciting story. Dinah was not the usual type of heroine that I enjoy reading about, but I liked her all the same." She went on to say about Dinah, "As the novel progressed she grew stronger and stronger. I had to honor her growth." It's always nice when you have a character who develops over the story and someone sees it *grins*.


And Feyrhi made my day when she devoted a whole blog post to Dinah. *snoopy dances* she liked it! http://feyrhi.blogspot.com/2006/08/must-read.html


I also happened upon a blog by Lora Leigh that mentions Dinah. As a fan of Ms. Leigh, I'm just giddy that she liked Dinah's Dark Desire. *snoopy dances more*
http://loraleighmusings.blogspot.com/2006/08/i-needed-just-little-break.html

May the muses have good reader reactions
Mechele

Friday, September 15, 2006

Happiness is a finished story

Whooooo hoooooooooo! I love Nathan and Henri. *grins* and I know the end of this one is really just the beginning for them as this is a prequel.

It came out to be right around 35,582 words. I suspect it will grow to 36000 when I edit it.

It's done. I'm dancing and celebrating tonight.

May the muses have endings
Mechele

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Moving, grooving...

almost done. Uhhh, It's going to be more than 30K.


Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
30,021 / 35,000
(85.8%)

Nathan and Henri.


May the muses have movers
Mechele

Monday, September 11, 2006

Never Forget


I couldn't find a good picture of the Pentagon, but September 11th is a day that will live forever in my mind. I'll never forget its lessons. Never.

To all the heroes of that day, I salute you.

May the muses have real life heroes
Mechele

Friday, September 08, 2006

A quickie

I'm slowly adjusting to the school schedule. The cat seems to be having a hard time with it. The first day, she tried to climb up my leg and up the back of my chair. She looks very suspiciously at me like I've done something to the kidlets.

It's been a while since I did one of these and I'm quite happy.

*drum roll*


Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
20,012 / 30,000
(66.7%)



Nathan and Henri's story


*cough* It might be more than 3o K. Might be closer to 35, we'll see. I still have oodles of stuff to get through it feels like but I'm also going, "I need more story." LOL I always do that. And YES I know I need to title it *sigh*.


May the muses have word meters moving
Mechele

Thursday, September 07, 2006

The Crocodile Hunter



Like a lot of people I was shocked to find out about Steve Irwin. We watched him on occasion. I loved his enthusiasm for animals and life in general.

Such a freak sad thing. My heart goes out to his family.

And yet another reminder, live life to the fullest. Because you never know what's around the next bend. And you don't want to have a lot of "I should have's" instead of "I did's."

May the muses have crocodile heroes
Mechele

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Chatter chatter

I have a chat tonight! At Erotic Escapades with the Night Whispers Author's Group. They are always a lot of fun and usually lots of revelry ensues. Hope you can make it.

May the muses have chats
Mechele

Saturday, September 02, 2006

I can see clearly now the rain is gone...

This picture was from the remnants of Hurricane Gaston a couple of years ago. Thankfully, Shockoe Bottom in Downtown Richmond didn't flood yesterday.

Ernesto dumped about 2-5 inches of rain on central Virginia before moving on. We drove around to a couple of creeks, which, while very full and fast moving, only one seemed to make it over the road. Eastern Virginia got socked with rain and had a lot more flooding.

And we didn't lose power! It blinked a few times, but never went off completely.

We had open house yesterday at school. The rain made it a madhouse, but it was good. Both teachers seem nice. Tuesday is start school day here.

May the muses have rainy days
Mechele