We drove home from the Outer Banks yesterday - with the threat of power loss, I just couldn’t risk it with my kid.  Plus, the dog’s with us…and the thought of the four of us sitting in a hotel room somewhere or trying to evacuate just didn’t make me happy.

So we’re watching the Weather Channel and waiting.  If Hanna leaves our rental house unscathed, and Ike doesn’t look like it’ll come barreling up the coast, we’ll most likely head back down for our last week of vacation.

Because, hey, eight hours in the car is nothing for us.  And I mean that.

But the thing is, this loss of vacation time (and money) doesn’t bother me.  It wouldn’t anyway, but especially after finding out that my cousin is dying of breast cancer.  She’s forty-three and she’ll leave behind a nine year old, a seven year old and a nine month old.  As of now, she’s in the hospital, on a respirator.  The cancer has spread everywhere, something she and her husband have known for about nine months…and something they’ve kept to themselves for reasons I can truly understand.

So while we had to cut short our vacation - we’re together.  And healthy.  And hell, maybe Hannah knew something we didn’t - that it was time to push us home to where we were needed for a while.

For this week’s TGIF, I’m giving away a ten dollar Amazon gift certificate.  To be eligible, simply leave a comment, let me know how life is going for you, what you’re up to - I’ll pick the winner either Sunday night or Monday morning, depending on whether or not we stay home in New York or head back to Noth Carolina.

Congrats to:

Natasha — comment #2

and

TAMI blackroze37 — comment #23

Please contact me through my contact form with your mailing address, and I’ll forward your info on to Ann.  Or you can contact her directly here.

Congrats, ladies, and thanks again to Ann for joining us!

I actually had a rant planned for today, but I don’t feel like ranting.  Unusual, but there it is. *g*  It’s one of those things where, as an author, I should just keep my mouth shut and deal with it.  We’ll see how much the issue is still bugging me in a couple of weeks.  It probably will be, because I’ll see more examples of what’s bothering me, and it’ll build up intil I explode.

That’s always fun.  Just ask my husband.

So anyway, I’m not going to rant.  I’m going to talk about something much more exciting: luggage.

What?  That’s not exciting?

Okay, okay, mostly I’m just going to ask a question.

See, I am the world’s slowest unpacker (according to my husband.)  I still haven’t unpacked my suitcase from RWA.  It’s sitting on our bedroom floor so my husband trips over it every morning.  (You’d think he’d learn.)

And now I have a suitcase from the weekend when we went to Kitty Hawk with Stephanie and her family.  It’s sitting ON TOP of the suitcase from RWA.

Yes, I need to unpack.  Generally, I do it as I need stuff out of the suitcase.

What about you?  Are you one of those people like my husband, who unpacks the second he gets home (yet he PACKS at the very last minute,) or do you unpack slowly…like me?

(See how much more fun than a rant that was?)

Sorry I’m late!

The winner from Friday’s giveaway is Rebekah E, comment #28.  Rebekah, please send me your postal address through my website contact form and I’ll get your books out to you.  Congrats!

Thanks to everyone for entering and talking football for a day.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you have heard of Ann Aguirre and her spectacular romantic science fiction series about a tough heroine named Sirantha Jax and her very cool ability to jump through “grimspace.”  Which happens to be the title of the first book in the series. 

The second, Wanderlust, just released, and we’re lucky enough to have Ann here with us to chat and even give away a couple of copies. 

So let’s welcome Ann!

~ * ~

Thanks for having me here. This is my first post on Writeminded. If you don’t know me, my name is Ann Aguirre, and I have genre ADD.

Yes, you read that right. I love writing romance… and urban fantasy… and science fiction (with sexxoring). That seems to be a common element in my work, mind you. I never write novels without a romantic subplot. For me, the beauty of a book is in the relationships, how and why people come together.

For instance, in the Jax books, I explore the idea of whether second love can be as powerful as the first…when the first was happy and fulfilling. Have you ever noticed the way a heroine’s prior love interests are typically demonized in romance novels? Once she meets the hero, she’s supposed to forget she ever loved anyone else. She’s supposed to realize that the sex with the new man is better than anything she’s ever known before. The new man must be, in all ways, superior to the old.

But what if he’s not? Is the heroine allowed to miss the love she lost? Can that occur without destroying her current relationship? That’s the sort of thing I explore in the Jax series. It’s intense and heartbreaking sometimes, but nothing worth having ever comes easy, I think.
This week, Wanderlust, book two in my Jax series, came out. There’s some really yummy romantic conflict in there. I just love torturing my characters.

In the Corine Solomon books, I explore the idea of two people loving each other desperately, but apart from their shared history, they probably don’t belong together. What happens when you want something that’s not good for you? What happens when two people aren’t soul-mates, destined to be together? What happens when a relationship between them is difficult and raw and every inch gained is a struggle? Is it worth fighting for? Is it worth battling to make the pieces fit? Well, you’ll have to read the series to get my take.

What are some of your favorite unusual romances? Different heroes and quirky heroines? Share your thoughts and I’ll reward a couple of random commenters with signed copies of Wanderlust. Play on!

Winners will be announced on Thursday!

Even though the high temperature in Kansas was 99 yesterday, fall is coming.  Really, it is.  We felt hints of it in the cooler breeze (of course that was a week ago.)  I actually saw a bush that had started to turn colors.  But since Mother Nature is sometimes confused and confusing lately, the surest sign is that football season is starting.

Tomorrow night we’re going to the season opener, and it’s a relatively new feeling to be excited about the prospects of the Kansas Jayhawks this year!  Normally, I look forward to going to the games for the tailgating, socializing, Jayhawk mascot spottings by my kids and the general atmosphere of game day.  But this year we’ve got hope for a successful season as well!  Can’t beat that. :)

Today’s giveaway question:  Do you love, hate or feel indifferent to football season?  If you like it, who’s your team?  (College, high school, pro, other.) 

Just leave your answer here to be entered in a drawing for a 2-book prize:

Overexposed by Leslie Kelly

His Son’s Teacher by Kay Stockham (special thanks to Kay for donating this book to the Writeminded cause for a giveaway!  Oh, and be sure to go check out Kay’s site…she has a brand new beautiful picture at the top.)

Winner will be randomly chosen and posted Sunday evening.  Good luck and happy reading!

I should not admit this in public. 

I normally don’t watch any TV shows “live” during the season (with the exception of American Idol because my kids can watch that with me) and usually pick things up on DVD when the full season comes out.  I try not to pay attention to the current shows and what new ones are coming out because I think if I started watching TV, I could become a total addict.  (I’m already like a junkie, needing to watch the next episode of whatever series we have on DVD each night before I go to bed.)

But the ads have gotten through to my head this year and while I’ve ignored most of them, there’s one I have to see, to my husband’s dread and chagrin.  Any guesses?  Think zip codes.  Yep, I’m ashamed to admit that I MUST see 90210.  (I have no doubt Maya is coming up with ways to disown me as a friend right now.)

I’m not sure what appeals more…the teenybopperness, which I’m a sucker for, or the nostalgia, but next Tuesday, I’m afraid I’ll make a point of being in front of the TV for the 2 hour premiere.  Part of me hopes it sucks rocks so that I don’t have to watch again.  And yet, the other part…

Am I alone?  Does anyone else dare to admit an interest in this show?  What other new shows are you looking forward to?  Are any of them on Tuesday nights?  Maybe you can sway me from my shameful path and interest me in something new. 

(Insert smiley with a sign that says SAVE ME!)

So our vacation week last month was fun, despite a hurricane and tropical storm changing our destination, and a week’s worth of rain making us cancel the trip and come home three days early. We ended up spending the majority of our vacation at home.

Which actually ended up fine. We had a great time and found lots of fun things to do. My favorite thing? We went to the gun range- one indoor and one outdoor (The outdoor range was my favorite).

I also got to experiment with some new guns, courtesy of my brother-in-law who owns quite a few. I fell in love with his 9mm Glock and decided I must have one of my very own. It’s on my Christmas list. Heh.

We already own a couple guns and rifles/shotguns. Hey, in the great State of Oklahoma, you’re allowed to have guns as personal protection, and are allowed to blow the living shit out of anyone who threatens you or your property. I love living here.

Which, now that a gun sits on the nightstand next to my husband’s side of the bed–because, let’s face it, he’s way more experienced with killing shit than I am–he grew up hunting and he did a stint in Vietnam–I always wonder what I would do if someone broke into my house with the intent of doing me or my family harm.

Easy - I’ll blow the bastard away without blinking.

You see, while normally I’m very much the pacifist, cringe at the thought of shooting Bambi (sorry Maya), nearly weep when a squirrel dashes underneath our car when we’re driving down the road and wouldn’t dream of hurting my fellow man, if at any time any member of my family is threatened, I will fight to the death to protect them. And that includes leveling a gun in their direction and blowing them away. And I take comfort in the knowledge that I wouldn’t hesitate for a second. So, um, if you plan on just dropping in to see me, call first.

What would you do if your family was threatened? I hear baseball bats make handy weapons too, so it’s not like you need to be a gun family.

Okay, first things first - in case you didn’t hear, Brett Michaels and Ambre from Rock of Love 2 broke up, leaving the stage wide open for Rock of Love 3!  It’s a little different this time around - it’s going to take place on the tour bus or something like that, but I’m sure it’s still going to be wonderful in all its trashy goodness.

The Denise Richards show was a disappointment and the Pam Anderson’s Girl on the Loose mess gives me a headache.  So Rock of Love should redeem my love affair with reality TV.

But today I want to talk about movies (big screen or made for TV as well) today - specifically, what makes you watch and rewatch movies?  For instance, if The Mummy comes on, I must watch it.  Even if it comes on, say, three days in a row, I will still watch it all three days.  Which does not endear me to my husband.  Of course, if it was an old war movie, then it would be okay. 

I’ll rewatch Road House.  My Big Fat Greek Wedding is another (it was just on the other night!)…

I’ve become obesessed with The Devil Wears Prada too, but for different reasons - mainly because I find myself analyzing it and getting angry at Andy’s friends in the movie.  It’s the way they get SO mad at her for working really long hours and yet, they’re fine to reap the benefits of her job, like the new Marc Jacob’s bag.  And yes, as Zoo will tell you, I talk about the friendships in this movie often enough that he wishes there was someone else in the house who would answer my questions about it besides him.

And then I try to figure out what draws me to the movies, because, the writer in me is curious.  I think The Mummy has such amazing relationship development between Rick and Evie - their first almost kiss…the way he does little things for her…all culminating in the big, lifesaving moments.  The movie has it all.  But a lot of movies do, and I don’t watch them over and over.

Oh, Gone in 60 Seconds is another and that’s saying something because Nicolas Cage really doesn’t make me happy in other movies. 

So what movies do you watch and rewatch?  Do you know why, or is it just a comfort thing, the way I can always pull out Mackenzie’s Mountain by Linda Howard if I need a lift?

We’ve had two members of the Writeminded Readers Group with most excellent news this past week! 

Nannette and Jambrea both made their first sales!!!  They’ll be in an anthology together.  How cool is that? 

So today we thought we’d give them a shout-out and say a very public CONGRATULATIONS, ladies!!  Here’s to many more contracts for both of you!  Feel free to tell everyone more in the comments.

(If you’d like to get in on the readers group, just click the button on the right side and join us!)