The end in sight

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I’m almost there. I can see it. I can almost feel the letter keys T H E E N D under my fingers as I pound out the last few scenes on my current WIP.

It’s a romantic suspense, titled Share and Share Alike…but I think that title will change. Heaven knows the book went and changed on me. Morphed into a creation of it’s own and man, it drives me nuts when that happens.

But now I see why. I see why this had to happen, and I see why that guy wasn’t who I’d originally thought. It all makes sense, a lot more sense than it did a month ago, or even a few weeks ago.

From Monday to Wednesday morning, I managed to write about 15k and now it’s up over 94k, more than 300 pages long and I’ll probably get another 50 pages or so done just in wrapping it up.

I love wrapping it up. I love that downhill slide, that momentum, heaving out that sigh of relief and knowing I met one more deadline.

If you’re doing the 70 Days of Sweat challenge, where are you at? Do you see the end in sight or are you already there? Still climbing the hill? Don’t worry. You can make it. There’s still nearly a month left to go. You can do it!

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The writer I am

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The writer I was 20 years ago thought that I could sell a book …note… a book, as in singular, and be made for life. But hey, I was 11. That’s understandable, right?

The writer I was 10 years was bored. Bored with writing, bored with trying to finish stories that didn’t want to be finished. Thank God I’m not her anymore.

The writer I was 5 years ago thought that if I could just get published, a couple of books, I could pay off some credit cards and maybe, just maybe, in a few years, like ten or so, I could afford to write full time and maybe work the day job part time. Fortunately, she was wrong.

The writer I am now knows that I’ll never be completely without debt, that even if the stories don’t want to be finished, they need to be, and even if I don’t make it rich with one book, I’m doing what I love, getting paid for it and while it’s not a perfect job, it’s the one I want.

Wonder what another 10 years will bring.

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My Favorite Things…Contest #3

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First things first…before I forget. Last week’s winner is Cathy M. who commented

My three sister’s are my best friends. They know everything about me and love me anyway. Plus we laugh, alot, about anything and everything, and love and laughter can get you through just about anything.

Cathy, I need you to email me @ shilohwalker@gmail.com so I can get in touch with you about your prizes.

And now on to Fave Things # 3. Remember, anybody can enter, so long as you haven’t won one of the previous Fave Things contests this year. Which means… ;-) Cathy and Ann, you can comment away…but you can’t enter.

One of my other fave things, as ashamed as I am to admit it, is girly stuff like lotion. Now I’m a diehard tomboy. I might enjoy shopping, but I’d prefer a good hike more. I may love a manicure, but I’d trade that manicure in for a good TKD sparring session any day. But I have my weaknesses. My big girly weakness is lotions.

I love lotions. I have more of them than I know what to do with, and I refuse to part with them just because one day, I know I’m going to want to wear that one kind that I get rid of…if I don’t get rid of it, problem solved.

Today’s contest is for some lotions I picked up for the contest at Bath and Body Works and a signed copy of Hunter’s Salvation. Now chances are, you won’t get these until after the holidays. I’m done shipping out Christmas pressies, and I’d only go to the post office this coming week if my life of my family’s life depended on it.

Anybody can enter, provided you haven’t won previously this year. Make sure you’re familiar with the disclaimer.

To enter…just drop your name in comments. If you want to share your weaknesses, go ahead. ;-)

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One of the Guys…released in ebook

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So this is a little late. ;-) Better late than never, right?

This is erotic romance, contemporary…some kinky sex along with one of those friends to lover themes.

Below is a short excerpt… if you’re interested in buying, you can do so here.

One of the Guys

“I can’t believe I’m going to this damn wedding without panties,” Jaynie swore, glaring at Brian’s reflection in the mirror.

He’d shown up at her door wearing a shirt that was only a few shades darker than her dress, a tie with an abstract print that had shades of jade and peach in it, and the jacket to one very nice suit thrown over his shoulder. He had left the jacket on the couch as he led her back into the bedroom and slid his hands under the skirt.

“Get used to it,” he murmured, resting his chin on her shoulder and holding her gaze as he slid his hands over her hips. They continued to stare at each other as he lifted her skirt, gathering the loose material in his hands, lifting it higher and higher until he had bared the skimpy swath of silk held together at each hip by a skinny string.

“Hmmmm…pretty,” he whispered. He trailed his fingers down over the silk. Brian hooked his thumbs under the strings at her hips and tugged the panties down until they fell to her feet. Jaynie stepped out of them and Brian bent over, grabbed the underwear and straightened, holding her gaze as he tucked them inside his pocket.

She swallowed, her mouth almost painfully dry. “Uh, can I have my panties?”

Brian smoothed her skirt back down her hips and then offered her his arm. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I want them.”

She rolled her eyes and muttered, “Oh, well now, that’s a perfectly good reason why I can’t have my panties back.” She lagged along behind him, glancing back over her shoulder at her reflection. “You can’t tell, can you?”

He stopped to get his jacket and then he slid a hand over her butt. “Relax. Nobody is going to know that you aren’t wearing anything under that dress except a bra.” He kissed her shoulder and added, “Nobody except me.”

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I am Legend

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i_am_legend_2.jpgOkay, so I’ve decided I liked the movie. It took a little while to make my final decision, because while certain parts of the movie were awesome…Ie: the suspense, the special effects, those moments that were completely, 100% Will Smith classic humor, there were also parts I didn’t like.

Like the ending.

I can’t detail this without major spoilers, but if you’ve seen it, you know what I’m talking about. Maybe even the book and the earlier remakes are similar, I don’t know.

Plain and simple, that ending killed me. But after thinking it through, I decided the ending fit. More…it actually gave the main character what he needed.

So yep, I’d recommend this movie, but if you tear up easy like me…make sure you take some Kleenex.

Contest Reminders

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12 Presents

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Okay, I’m swiping Sybil & Co’s idea for a day, because I’m terribly tired, terribly lazy and I desperately need to get some work done but I don’t wanna neglect the blog, either.

So… 12 presents I’ve bought in the last few days (I’ve done some serious damage to my bank account the last few days)

  1. Spongebob Operation game. I’m not a Spongebob fan. The kids are and I swear, the longer that goofy show plays, the more my IQ drops. But this game isn’t for them… it’s for the bratlet’s best friend and her brothers/sisters. ;) Let her mama suffer the annoyance.
  2. A Cabbage Patch doll for the local “elf” tree…kind of like the Salvation Army angel trees… you adopt an ‘angel’ and buy them a few presents. A local shelter does an elf tree instead.
  3. A Dale Earnhart Jr sweatshirt. For another elf.
  4. A Cabbage Patch newborn doll for the baby bratlet. She loves baby dolls.
  5. iTunes gift card for the DH.
  6. Dick’s Sporting Good’s card for the DH from the kids.
  7. Stars Wars ‘laptop’ learning game… but this isn’t a Christmas present. There’s a b-day party for the monster’s best friend on Sunday. Oye.
  8. Books~ for the sitter and also for a friend of mine.
  9. Gift cards to Borders for my nieces and nephews. Man, the DH thinks that’s a goofy gift for kids. Sniff. *I* love gift cards to bookstores. Besides, two of them are seriously into readings, and the rest of them ought to be. Heh heh heh
  10. Bath and body set for my dad’s girlfriend.
  11. “Decorate your own jewelry box” craft thing for the bratlet’s best friend.
  12. Gift basket that I filled for my grandma…she is hard to buy for. Bought her a big stoneware bowl, one of those ‘gift’y looking mixes, this is for chicken noodle soup~she likes soups, and a framed picture of my kids.

Since I’ve still got some spare copies of Hunter’s Salvation, I’m going to do a contest. What’s the best present you’ve ever received? My best ever…man, I’ve had some really good ones. But I think pretty much one of my faves is this 2 foot tall faerie statue that my husband gave me for Christmas, I think it was last year…I love that faerie.

I’ll draw a winner from among the commenters here in the next few days and the winner’s name will be posted here on the blog. As always, you can comment as often as you like, but your name/IP addy only gets entered into the draw one time and you do need to check back to claim your prize.

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I am Legend

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i-am-legend.jpgThe DH and I are supposed to go see I am Legend tonight.

If he gets home in time.;-)

I’ll be posting my thoughts on it sometime if the movie moves me. Which means, if it’s really good… or really lousy.

So far, this is the only movie out for the Christmas season that I want to see. Usually there are a ton of interesting movies out there, but not this year. Oh, well. Hopefully this one will be good enough to make up for it.

While you’re here, make sure you to check out the current contest!

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Medical Kink?

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Oh man.

One of my blog hits was

medical kink stories

I’m afraid to think of what landed them on my blog, with that search term.

Okay, speaking as a nurse here… most people in the medical field would probably be hard up to find “KINK” within medicine.

I’m afraid to even think about it.

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Scratch one thing off the "finished book" to do list.

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Things to do with your book after you finish it.

  • Print it. Make sure you have enough ink, paper, postage, etc.
  • Go to the post office and make sure you take the editor’s addy with you.
  • Go back home. Worry.
  • Worry some more.
  • Email your agent and let them you know you’re suffering massive paranoias over the finished book.
  • Wonder if your editor has looked at it.
  • Worry some more.

After about 4-6 months of this… you hear from your editor. They like the book. They love the book. You can now stop worrying~about this book. Now start the process all over again for the next book you’re mailing off…hopefully this week… and start the “book is about to release” to do list…

  • Will readers like it?
  • Will readers hate it?
  • Will it flop?

And sigh… I’m getting ahead of myself.
;-)

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My Favorite Things….Contest #2

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Edited to add…***OOPS!  I forgot to post the winner’s name….  winner’s name was Ann. (blogs at Fractured Fiction)

Ann commented

Hi Shiloh, I’m tossing my name.

 Ann, you need to email me at shilohwalker@gmail.com to claim your prize.

Since I got published back in ’04 (I think), I’ve met a lot of people. A lot of people. Most have become casual friends, while some others are acquaintances. I’d say most fall into one of those two groups, or somewhere in between.

I have made a few really good friends, people like Jaci Burton, Dianne Castell, Patricia Sargeant, Rosemary Laurey, the friends that make you smile when they email you or when you bump into them out in blogging land. And FYI… *G* Don’t want to hurt any feelings~that list is by no means complete. ;-) There are others and they know who they are.

Then there are a couple of really close friends. You know the kind of friends that you can tell anything and they love you anyway? The kind of friend you’d call at 2 am if you had to bury a body were really upset and just needed to talk?

I’ve made three really close friends and today’s contest is in honor of them.

Lora, Renee and Anni.

Lora sort of adopted me back when I first got published with EC. She’s the woman I bounce ideas off of when a plot is sticking for me. She’s the woman who listens to me gripe when something just isn’t working right, or when I’m just really, really down and I need a shoulder.

Anni is a friend I met through the EC chat loop and the two of us were alike in so many ways, we either had to love each other or hate each other. ;-) Thank God we decided to love each other, cuz she’s one of my bestest friends ever.

Renee is a stalker another friend I met through the EC chat loop, and she was the first reader to email me about one of my books. We clicked, even aside from the writing, and she’s been another close friend the past few years.

Good friends are something I thank God for and they are definitely on my faves list. But since I can’t really give them away, even if I wanted to, I’ll give away books in their honor.

  • A signed print copy of Hunters: Ben and Shadoe. Some of you probably don’t know, but Lora Leigh’s nickname is Shadoe. Shadoe from that book is based off of Lora.
  • A download of Firewalkers: Sage since it isn’t in print yet. The heroine in that book is based off of Anni~*G* Easy to figure out, too… I named the heroine Anni.
  • A download of For the Love of Jazz. This book was written before I met Renee, but it’s one of her faves and since I haven’t written her angel’s story yet, I figure she’ll be pleased with this one.

There will be one winner drawn for this contest, and that one winner gets all three prizes. The rules are that you can’t win if you’ve already won the previous Faves contests, only one entry per household and make sure you check the contest disclaimer here.

The winner’s name will be posted next week with the next Faves contest and you do have to check back to claim your prize.

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