Fortune Favors The Brave

...or so they say. :) I can't say I'm a big believer in fortunetelling, but I've done lots of research on it, and I do find it interesting. I've only had my fortune told once, by a little Russian woman in the back of a NYC strip mall/flea market, where she kept a little room, open to passing shoppers. (It seemed cheesily appropriate at the time.) The first thing she said when she looked at my palm was, "You don't like anyone to tell you what to do."

Gee, is it that obvious? :)

It's amazing how many bizarre methods have been used throughout the centuries to pierce the veil between the known and the unknown. Everybody's heard of palm reading, crystal balls, Tarot cards and tea leaves, right? Well today, in honor of Friday the 13th, I thought I'd post 13 obscure, little-known ways used to tell fortunes. These are all true methods, none of them made up (as evidenced by the very official, deeply scientific addition of "mancy" to the end of each word.) :)

Ailuromancy: Observe how a cat jumps.

Keriomancy: Study the flickering flame of a candle.

Oomancy: Crack an egg into a glass of water and study the shapes the egg white forms in the water.

Bibliomancy: Open the Bible and read the first passge you see to learn your fortune. (In some Christian denominations, this is grounds for excommunication.)

Scarpomancy: Predict someone's future by studying their old shoes.

Scatomancy: Predict your future by studying your own..um..excrement. (Not to be confused with spatulamancy, the study of "skin, bones, AND excrement.")

Tiromancy: Study the shape, holes, mold, and other features on a piece of cheese to determine your future.

Alphitomancy: Feed a special cake to an alleged wrongdoer. an innocent person will be able to eat and digest the cake; a guilty person will gag on the cake or become ill. (Hey! Many people have eaten my cooking and gone on to live normal lives!)

Haruspication: Study the guts of an animal, preferably a sacred one.

Hepatoscopy: Study on the animal's liver; ignore the rest of the guts.

Dilitiriomancy: Feed African benge poison to a chicken. (You've got those laying around, right?)

Uromancy: Predict someone's future by studying their urine. (No thanks! But you know I had to include it, didn't you?)

There, now you're up to date on obscure methods of fortunetelling. Maybe it'll come in handy when you're stuck for small talk at your next party! :)

One Of Those Days...

Ever have one of those days when you just can't seem to focus?

The day started out great when the UPS man dropped off a big envelope full of cover flats for my upcoming book, Dead Girls Are Easy. I even got a copy of the HarperCollins Publishers September 2007 catalog (which is what the publisher uses to present upcoming books to booksellers like Borders and Barnes & Noble). That was kinda cool, because now I can see how I'm being "marketed" by my publisher. My first novel is being described as "hip and sexy", more specifically, "Medium meets Ghost Whisperer, with a dash of Grey's Anatomy". Can't beat that with a stick, as we say down South!

The cover flats are gorgeous and colorful, and I absolutely LOVE that both the title and my name are embossed (raised print). This cover is going to POP! on the shelves, and I'm happy about that. Now that I have the cover flats, it's time to start going and talking to my local bookstores. The idea makes me more nervous than you can possibly imagine - how incredibly ironic that writers (who are in general fairly solitary people) have to do a lot of face-to-face work to once they achieve the goal of being published. (Ah, now there's a blog for another day!)

At any rate, I have books to write, revisions to finish, and a marketing plan to work on, but I can't seem to focus on much of anything today for more than five minutes, and it's driving me nuts. Just like the kitty. :)

Only he's way cuter.

I'm Giving Away an ARC!

As hard as it is to pry it from my hand :), I'm giving away a signed Advance Reader Copy of
Dead Girls Are Easy. ARC's are limited edition, first run printings, which are sent to reviewers and booksellers before the actual novel is released. They contain a few typos (which is to be expected), as they've only been through one round of copy edits by the time they're printed. If you look real close at the bottom of the photograph, you can see how it's clearly marked "Advance Uncorrected Proof/ Not For Sale".

I'll even put a cute little sticker on it that says, "Signed by the Author". :)

Anyway, visit my WEBSITE to enter the drawing, which will be held Saturday, May 19, 2007.

ASKED AND ANSWERED #2

Every other month I ask a question of the published authors at RWAOnline, and every month many of them are kind enough to answer. :) This month's question was: “WHAT WAS IT ABOUT THAT ‘WINNING’ MANUSCRIPT THAT TOOK YOU FROM SUBMISSION TO SALE?”

Cathy Clamp credits both her agent and good timing for her first sale to Tor. “The manuscript had already been rejected by Tor, but that was before my editor was hired, before the romance line was conceived, and before we had an agent. The manuscript itself didn’t change, but was resubmitted at a time when Tor was searching for paranormal romance with unique characters and an unusual POV.” In Cathy’s case, there’s no question that persistence paid off. Her third book, Captive Moon, is currently a finalist for the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for Best Werewolf Romance.

Harlequin Blaze author Tawny Weber believes that learning from her mistakes was key. “Because I’d spent quite a while targeting a specific editor and sending submissions to her, when I submitted this particular manuscript I made sure to use every bit of feedback I’d received from her. That’s one of the things she commented on later, that I never made the same mistake twice. Apparently, I learn well.” Tawny’s first novel, Double Dare, will be a March 2007 release.

Claire Delacroix feels she owes her long-term career to the ability to take constructive criticism. “The difference for me was a good rejection letter. The manuscript was rejected but the editor took the time not only to tell me what she thought was a problem, but to say that she’d love to read it again if I figured out a way to address that issue. It was a huge change and required that I essentially toss the second half of the book, but I saw her point, did what she suggested, and it worked.” Claire has since written and published twenty-three historical novels and several contemporaries under the name Claire Cross. “Many authors seem to believe that editors are just being nice when they say good things about a work that they don’t ultimately buy, but that’s not been my experience. It’s easy for an editor to write “This isn’t suitable for us at this time.” It’s much harder for an editor to pinpoint the reason she/he doesn’t think the work is marketable as it stands, and it shows an interest in the work when the editor takes the time to explain as much to the author. Instead of trying to figure out “the secret language of rejection letters”, I sometimes think that authors should just read the rejection letters that aren’t form letters and take them at face value.”

Author Holly LaPat, writing as Sierra Donovan believes it was a matter of finding the right publisher. “Silhouette Romance turned down my first book, Love On The Air, but added that another publisher might feel differently. I took that advice rather than trying to change what I had. I submitted to Avalon, and they said yes.”

Kate Duggan, writing as Kate Pearce gave herself permission to write naughty. “It began as an experiment to see how far I could push the envelope of my steamy sex scenes. After I finished it, I hid it at the bottom of my desk drawer for two years because I found it difficult to believe I’d actually written something so erotic. It took a lot of coaxing from my mentor, Julia Templeton, to get me to let her read it and ultimately send it out to Ellora’s Cave – who bought it!”

Silhouette author Gail Barrett feels that characterization was key. “What I think I did right with that first book was that I really nailed the hero. He was so real to me that I actually got depressed when I finished writing it – I didn’t want to leave his world! And I think that’s what made the difference. My characters took over instead of me pushing them around.”

As for me, Terri Garey, I would have to agree that characterization played a huge role in my first sale. The heroine in both my upcoming novels, Dead Girls Are Easy and Where The Ghouls Are, is a former Goth girl named Nicki Styx. Nicki just wants to run her business, live her life and immerse herself in fun and fashion, but her life is changed forever when she wakes from a near death experience with the ability to see and hear the dead. A cool chick like Nicki doesn’t like to take “no” for an answer, and when she sprang full-blown into my head, demanding to tell her story, I had no choice but to let her!

Timing, persistence, great characters. “Pushing the envelope”, taking constructive criticism and learning from our mistakes—more golden gems of advice from the published authors of RWAOnline. Thanks so much to all the authors who participated in this month’s topic, and I hope everyone enjoyed the first-hand insight. The next Asked and Answered question will be: “WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE BEST METHOD OF PROMOTION?” Websites? Reviews? Word of mouth? Look for the answers in the next edition of ASKED AND ANSWERED.
_____________________
Terri Garey is the author of two upcoming paranormal tales, Dead Girls Are Easy and Where The Ghouls Are. Both novels are about ghosts, voodoo and an extremely unlikely psychic - a former Goth girl who becomes an unwilling ‘ghoulfriend’ to the dearly departed. Dead Girls Are Easy will be an Avon September 2007 release, followed by the sequel, Where The Ghouls Are, in May 2008. Visit Terri on the web, or stop by her favorite haunt .

Old Boyfriends Rock! Literally.

My first serious boyfriend (i.e., the first boy I kissed), was when I was in the eighth grade. Billy was the neighbor of a girlfriend of mine, and even though we didn't go to the same school, we saw each other regularly after school and on weekends. Billy was a guitar playing rocker, even in the eighth grade, with shaggy hair and an actual band (that I can't remember the name of). He called me every night, and though it took it a little while to work up the nerve to kiss me, he did it in most romantic way any girl could imagine - he took me for a moonlight boat ride on the lake, and while we were out in the middle, all alone, he leaned over and gave me a kiss. Talk about your romantic evening! It was a chaste kiss (as were all of them - we were only thirteen, after all) and I'm forever grateful to him for giving a memory like that to cherish.

But as so often happens in the teenage world, we both moved on to other people and other interests, luckily with no hard feelings. And then, last year (thanks to Classmates.com), I got an email from Billy. Not only was I thrilled to hear from him, I was thrilled to learn that he'd never given up his dream of becoming a rock star. :) He now goes by the name Billy Angel, and he's the lead singer in The Rockabilly Band (any Brian Setzer/Stray Cats fans out there? Then you'll know what I'm talking about), and is also a DJ on a local radio station. He has a beautiful wife, and he's living his dream - what more could I guy want?

I just wish I could see him play, one more time, but alas, he lives in Big Sky Country and I live in Gatorland. I think about him from time to time (and I hope he doesn't mind that I just told the world he was the first guy I ever kissed!), and wish him well. Rock on, Billy!

Raines

Have you seen the new TV show called "Raines"? It stars Jeff Goldblum as a detective who sees and hears the dead. (Gee, right up my alley, wouldn't you say?) I was so excited when I heard about this series because, quite simply, casting is everything, and casting the quirky yet charming Jeff Goldblum as a guy who talks to the dead was brilliant.

I know he isn't handsome in the traditional sense of the word, but I've had a crush on him for years. That wide-lipped, sensual mouth, those slumberous eyes, that playful sense of humor. Plus, he's tall, lean-hipped and looks fabulous in either a suit or jeans. Every time I see him I wonder if he's as good in bed as he is on the screen, and every time the mental answer comes back, "Oh, yeah." At the very least, I'm sure he's a fascinating conversationalist, and any time spent in his company would keep me on my toes.

Anyway, I've seen both episodes of this new series, and I absolutely LOVE it. The twist *SPOILER HERE* is that even though the people Raines sees are dead (crime victims), they're not actually ghosts, per se. They're hallucinations. Which means they can't help him solve the crimes that killed him, because they only know what he knows. They talk to him, but he's really talking to himself. Of course, in the end, all this talking and getting to know his victims helps him discover who killed them. It's witty and clever and... did I mention it stars Jeff Goldblum? :)

Watch it!

Golden Hearts and Playground Parts

The Writer's Playground is a group of 20 women who came together three years ago in the spirit of fun and encouragement. We were a motley crew of diverse styles and genres :), but we cheered each other on, encouraged, nagged, and inspired (the hunks were for entertainment purposes only. Really). Tawny's naughty and Tammy's sweet, Marlene is nurturing and Betty's bawdy, Sheila's a whipcracker and Kimmi's a firecracker... we all have our parts to play, and considering how far apart we are in locations and personalities, those parts add up to a pretty amazing whole. It's truly astounding how far we've come together, and, oh my... what fun we've had while doing it!

Over the past three years our little group has seen some incredible successes: eight of us have gone on to become published, eleven have finaled in the prestigious Golden Heart contest (a total of nineteen times!). One Golden Heart winner, one American Title contest winner, and more smaller contest wins among us than I can possibly count! We must be doing something right, hm?

Plus, we have great fun at conferences! :)

But today I want to give a special shout-out and a huge HOORAY! to my friends Beth Burgoon, Kim Duffy, Carla Hughes, Sheila Mohs, and Anna Sugden for finaling in this year's Golden Heart contest! Anna and Beth will battle it out (once again) in the Long Contemporary category with MORTGAGED HEARTS and ALL OR NOTHING; Sheila finaled in Paranormal with her sexy pirate story, TIME TREASURE; Kim Duffy (writing as Lindsey Brookes) has broken through the GH barrier with her fun Young Adult, MY BEST FRIEND'S A REAL DOG; and Carla has finaled in the Inspirational category with her Roman historical, TO LOVE A GLADIATOR.

I'm so proud of them all, and can't wait to cheer them on at the RWA national conference in Dallas this coming July. You can bet we'll have a wild night, win or lose. These women are all winners in my book!

I Double Dare You Not To Smile!

Check out this picture of my dear, sweet friend, Tawny Weber! (Pay no attention to the "Captain's Wench" t-shirt - Tawny's Johnny Depp addiction is legendary). :) Tawny is holding her first (of many, I'm sure) books, a Harlequin Blaze entitled DOUBLE DARE. The publishers in NYC seem to be raining down manna from heaven and making dreams come true this week!

DOUBLE DARE is what you call a "HOT" read... which makes perfect sense considering who wrote it. Tawny's quite the hottie herself! (It's true - Johnny Depp doesn't know what he's missing). If you wanna read about a naughty lingerie designer out to prove what a bad girl she is, and a sexy undercover cop who can't wait to find out, this is the book for you!

Enjoy the thrill, Tawny, and I'm so glad I get to share it with you!

The Squeal Heard 'Round The World!

No, it wasn't a high-pitched sonic boom or your smoke alarm going off this morning, it was me squealing when a box of galleys for DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY was delivered to my door! I wasn't expecting them this early, and I was floored!


"Galleys", also known as ARC's (Advanced Reader Copies), are the bound, pre-proofed version of your book that is sent to reviewers and booksellers (a sneak preview, if you will).


Here's a closer view of what the cover actually looks like:

Isn't it cool? I guess this is the official "unveiling" of the cover! The first time I saw it, I thought, "Whoa," but within five seconds I was thinking, "Yeah!". I just love it. All Halloweeny and spooky and cool and funny. It fits the book perfectly, and look at my name on top! LOL

Even better, the back cover copy is not what I thought it was going to be - it's even better! I haven't been able to stop smiling all day!

Holding that actual book in your hand makes an incredible journey finally seem real.

Wow. It's a good day.

Paying It Forward Pays Off

A few months ago, I attended a writing conference. There were a lot of agents and editors in attendance, and after the conference was over I wrote an industry article entitled AGENT NEWS FROM NEW JERSEY. My theory was that there were a lot of people out there who were dying to know the details about specific literary agents (there's only so much you can learn from the Internet, after all), but weren't able to attend conferences or fly to New York and find out for themselves. :)

Anyway, I just got a very nice email from a woman named Esther Pemberton, who after reading my article, queried agent Mary Sue Seymour. In the true tradition of happy endings, Esther has now signed on as one of Mary Sue's clients!

Congratulations, Esther, and thanks for letting me know that my article helped somebody achieve something so wonderful! Best of luck in your writing career!

Fifteen And Counting...

My husband and I celebrated our 15th anniversary the other day. Fifteen years of wedded bliss. :) (Really!) Unfortunately for us, our anniversary fell on a day that was filled with family drama and trauma, loaded with angst, and all around crappy. I'll spare you the details, but it was a pretty bad day. At the end of it, both Captain America and I wanted nothing more than to go to bed and pull the covers over our head (together, of course). But in the end, I looked at him and he looked at me, and we started talking about how blessed we were to have each other to help us through days like the one we'd just had. And how we'd had fifteen years of supporting each other, through good times and bad; and how we'd love to have fifteen more, then fifteen more after that.

So I picked up my purse, he grabbed the car keys, and we went out to dinner, even though we were both worn out. He gave me a sweet card and I gave him a funny one, but we gave each other a whole lot more than that - we gave each other smiles and laughs and good memories to wash away the strain of the day. When the sh*t hits the fan, it's really good to have someone you can depend on to tilt the fan in the other direction, at least for a little while.

And you know what else? You don't always have to be the one who needs the fan tilted. Tilting it for someone else makes you feel just as good. So the next time you've had a really bad day, pick up the phone and call someone who might be dealing with some crap of their own, and do a little cheering up. You'll cheer yourself up in the process.

Your Weight On Other Worlds

Ever wonder how much you'd weigh on the moon? I mean, c'mon - weightlessness must be cool! On the moon, you could eat all the chocolate you want and still float like Neil Armstrong, right?

Um, no. According to this INTERPLANETARY WEIGHT CALCULATOR, I'd weigh about 20 pounds on the moon (dag nabbit!), and so would you. I'd tip the scale at around 50 pounds on Mars, achieve my ideal weight on Venus. :)

It's a fun way to spend 2 minutes, and see some great graphics of the solar system. Go check it out!

Specters and Spirits and Ghosts... Oh, My!

I did a guest blog for a friend of mine the other day, Sandy Barkevich. (Thanks again for having me, Sandy!) :) Since I'm up to my neck in revisions and proofing, I thought I'd republish it here as today's blog entry. Here it is:

-------------
My name is Terri Garey, and I once lived in a haunted house.

Too dramatic? Okay, let me try again. (Even though it’s true.)

*ahem*

Hi, my name is Terri Garey. Why yes, my name does rhyme, doesn’t it? (Go ahead and giggle. Everyone does. ) I write paranormal romance for Avon HarperCollins. My first book, DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY will be released September 2007, followed by the sequel, WHERE THE GHOULS ARE, in March of 2008. Both novels are about ghosts, voodoo and an extremely unlikely psychic—a former Goth girl named Nicki Styx, who runs a vintage clothing store in Little Five Points, Georgia. Poor Nicki has a brush with death—as in she dies, in case you didn’t get that—and comes back to life as an unwilling ‘ghoulfriend’ to the dead. Nicki finds out that the sweet hereafter ain’t always so sweet, and the here-and-now can be just as tricky. Throw in the hunky doctor who saved her life, some great sex, and a healthy dose of chills and giggles—well, that pretty much sums it up.

There. Was that introduction better? Now you more about me than most of my neighbors do.

So why do I write ghost stories for a living? In large part, because I once lived in a haunted house (see introduction #1). Because I live in the South, where ghost stories and a belief in things that go bump in the night is common (the cockroaches alone will give you nightmares). Because my mother had a near-death experience, and claimed to see angels at her bedside the week before she died. Because my very first crush was on an actor who played a vampire on the classic Gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows. Because I never missed Creature Feature on Saturday afternoons. The Addams Family and Munsters reruns were the staples of my childhood, as were the campy old black and white movies like “Abbot and Costello Meet The Mummy”, but X-Files, Medium and Bones are the staples of my adulthood.

In short, because I’ve always been fascinated by the dark side, while clinging to the light with both hands. Which is kind of what happens to Nicki Styx in DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY. I mean, I love to hear about ghosts, but I wouldn’t wanna see one.

Which brings me back to the time I lived in a haunted house (c’mon… you didn’t think I’d drop a juicy tidbit like that and then leave ya hanging, did ya? What kind of “teller of ghost stories” would I be?). So here it is: When my husband and I were first married, we moved into a rental house in an older part of town. My teenage stepdaughter came to me one morning with a bizarre tale of how the bathroom door had opened all by itself, and the ghostly figure of a man had stuck his head around the door and “peeked” at her. Oddly enough, even though she was frightened, she hadn’t felt the need to shriek the house down (which is what I would’ve done), because she said the whole experience was more “eerie” than frightening. The man faded away while she stared, and then she went back to bed, trying to tell herself it was a bad dream.

I, on the other hand, was pretty freaked. So, I went next door to the neighbors, and asked what they knew about the history of our house. They were more than happy to share. It turns out that ten years earlier, the house had been the scene of a murder/suicide. The man who owned it had been quite a “player”, and one of his girlfriends had finally decided that if she couldn’t have him, no one would. So she came over one night, shot and killed him, then shot and killed herself. Creepy, huh? Even creepier was the fact that his body was found in the hallway, outside the bathroom door. I’ve got the actual newspaper article to prove it.

We moved out less than a month later. I just couldn’t take knowing two people had died there under such tragic circumstances, and I kept expecting somebody to pop up and shout, “Boo!” (or worse) any second. The house is still a rental property, which doesn’t surprise me one bit.

How about you? The French surrealist poet Paul Eluard once said, “There is another world, and it is in this one.” Anybody else out there with a ghostly experience you’d care to share?

Proof Pages and Tombstones

Aren't these tombstones cute? I just got the "proof pages" for DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY, and this graphic will be used at the start of every chapter! I just love it. The perfect little touch that really fits the book.

What are "proof pages", you may ask? They're the actual, typeset pages of the book, the very last step before the book is printed. I can now see that my first paperback will be 384 pages long (something I've always wondered - the page count of a manuscript is completely different from the page count in an actual paperback). I can see my copyright page, my dedication page, everything... just as it will look on the shelves.

It's mindblowing, actually. :) What's also mindblowing is that this THE FINAL TIME for going through and looking for typos (which I've already found, including one on the very first page), and correcting them with my trusty red pen. Wish me luck, and here's hoping I don't go blind in the process!

'Til Death Do Us Part Takes On New Meaning

Ok, time for today's "News Of The Weird". In case you haven't heard this story yet, there's a couple in Missouri who plans to have their wedding in a graveyard:

It's not the traditional "till death do us part," but Scott Amsler and Miranda Patterson believe getting hitched in a graveyard is just thinking outside the box.
Come September, the Illinois couple expects to pledge their undying love among the dearly departed in this St. Louis suburb's city cemetery, even though those who approved the request are dead set against seeing it become a trend.
The wedding wouldn't be out of character for Amsler, 27, a computer expert for a financial company by day and rehabber of old hearses by night.
The graveyard, he said, just has a certain tranquility and thriftiness for nuptials the young couple insists will be small, private and traditional - except for the bagpipes, Amsler's refurbished hearse and the throng of eternally silent witnesses.
"People are going to think how they want. I don't actively try to convince people that my interests are normal or logical," Amsler said. "I'm not a freak or Satan worshipper or cult member. It just goes with our theme."

I say "more power to 'em". Quiet, peaceful, a beautiful gazebo and an even more beautiful view, according to the bride.

The fact that the future groom gave the future bride a customized hearse named "Edgar" for a wedding gift far outshines the location of the nuptials for weirdness, if you ask me. :) What do you think? Is it disrespectful to get married in a graveyard, or not?

I Am, Therefore They Spam

As much as I hate to do it, I've been forced to enable "Comment Verification" on my blog. In the last couple of weeks, I've noticed a major increase in the amount of "spam comments" being left by morons who want to sell viagra and vitamins, low-interest loans, weight loss supplements and auto insurance. I deleted and ignored, sighing in annoyance but figuring I could deal with it without having to put any readers who'd like to leave comments through an extra step.

Yesterday, however, I got one trying to direct traffic to a "Lolita" sex porn site. I certainly didn't visit it, but the links made it clear that this particular spammer was promoting child porn, or at least, pornography involving women made to look like children.

All together, now - can we say "EWWWWW?"

Until someone, somehow discovers a way to track these spammers down and shut them down permanently, my only option is to block them through comment verification. They seem to be like cockroaches, multiplying exponentially. Does anyone have any other suggestions on how to get rid of these spam vermin?

A New Look!

Ok, so you may have noticed that my blog looks a little different these days. :)

In anticipation of my upcoming releases, DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY and WHERE THE GHOULS ARE, I've given both my website and my blog a "makeover" to go with the cool new covers that Avon will be providing for the books. That little image at the upper right of this page (a woman's leg coming out of a crypt) came straight off the cover of DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY.

Yep, that's Nicki Styx's leg. You can just tell what a bad girl she is, can't you? :)

I have to be honest when I say that dayglo green and dayglo orange never entered my mind as colors that would one day be representative of my "brand" as a writer. But what I've learned is that the universe knows you better than you think it does... not only have I always been a total Halloween fiend, I now get to enjoy the colors and the images all year 'round!

So I decided to embrace my inner orange (and chartreuse), and go with the flow. And you know what? I love it! How about you?

An Eternal Embrace

I find this photo incredibly touching.

These two young lovers died and were buried together an estimated 5000 years ago, during the Neolithic period. They were just recently unearthed by archeologists:

ROME, Italy (AP) -- It could be humanity's oldest story of doomed love.

Archaeologists have unearthed two skeletons from the Neolithic period locked in a tender embrace and buried outside Mantua. The site is just 25 miles south of Verona, the romantic city where Shakespeare set the star-crossed tale of "Romeo and Juliet."

Buried between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, the prehistoric pair are believed to have been a man and a woman and are thought to have died young, as their teeth were found intact, said Elena Menotti, the archaeologist who led the dig.

Further analysis showed that the woman died from an arrow to the chest, while the man died from an arrow to the spine. I can't help but wonder what their story really was - did she die first and he lay down next to her, taking an arrow to the spine? Or was he dying, and she lay down to be with him, dying where she lay? Or did others who loved them both pose them carefully after death?

It's so obvious which was the man and which was the woman. So sad. So incredibly tender.

Valentine, Be Mine

I'm happy to report that my handsome husband, Captain America, will live to see another Valentine's Day! (That's the way he looks at it, not me, though it's kinda nice to be able to inspire that kind of fear in a man. *g*)

Anyway, he greeted me this morning with a sweetly romantic card, and a beautiful Murano glass necklace. The man knows I love cool jewelry. I'm wearing it right now, as a matter of fact.

And what did I get him, you ask? I got him a reading lamp to put by his favorite chair. Not the most romantic gift, I know, but one I knew he would like. (I sent him flowers at work once and was delicately told that most men appreciate TLC more than flowers.)

And hey, Valentine's Day isn't over yet. :)

I'm On Amazon!

Omigosh!! DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY is available for pre-order on Amazon.com!



Earlier today, just on impulse, I went to Amazon and 'searched' for myself. And there I was! The cover art isn't up there yet, but will be soon (I saw the cover last week and it is awesome... I can't wait for my editor to give me the go-ahead to use it on my website!)

Do you have any idea how bizarre it is to see my name and my book title up on Amazon.com? I mean, my husband and I have bought SO MANY books there through the years, read so many reviews (reviews! ack!), browsed and searched and bought to our heart's content.

And now I'm up there, with other authors. It kinda makes it real.

Omigosh!