Wednesday, February 22, 2006

I Am Woman

artist: April Martinez

Cover of the new book coming out with Loose Id in a matter of days/weeks/who knows? They'd sent me the cover in early January, but I didn't get it for whatever cyberspace reasons until now, and I'm really jazzed by this one. What do the rest of you think? ~ Stream of Time is a time travel erotic romance with a chick lit tone.


<~~~ "woman" as explained by engineers ~
Well, maybe. But I learned a lot about being a woman the past week that I've yet to find in a book, and the lessons were learned from a group of gay men who took me under their wings. ~
They pampered and spoiled me, made me lattes, took me out to brunches, lunches, and dinners, made me exercise, took me to a drag show, and told me that they'd love a few more books featuring happy endings for them. ~
We moisturized, sipped Manhattans and martinis, talked for hours, and bandied politics, religion, and all those 'taboo' subjects that often lead to trouble...all without trouble. ~
I walked so much and smoked so less that I came home feeling better than I have in years, even lost weight (had a doctor's appointment today and was shocked when I stepped on the scales). ~
I'd worked on edits for two publishers prior to leaving and had final edits from one of them to do this morning (God bless Nick Conrad's slave-driving lil heart - he's such a good editor with such wonderful ideas), so looks like we've put the Ellora's Cave novel on the desk of the final line editor come today or tomorrow. ~
Had some great inspiration for new books on my travels - I'm writing my first male/male book once I get a few more notes taken and develop a semi-sensible game plan. I was quite pleased on this trip (just got back yesterday) to pick my hosts' minds in order to get a better understanding of what makes a relationship work, no matter what type it is. Sex is almost a given if a man is involved - so what I went after was the romance, the little things that allure then bind one soul to another, and what I discovered was that love and friendship know no boundaries. Love is love is love, and doesn't matter if you wear lace or denim, shave or go au natural - if you have any compassion and empathy and understanding for others, you're a prime candidate to fall in love. ~
Things I did on this vacation, other than seeing the nation's Capitol: I had real East Coast seafood at the Capitol Yacht Club, received a bouquet of tulips from a man dear to my heart and long-stemmed roses from one I'd never met; I had deep conversations with a gay priest; and I met a sweet Korean restauranteur in his mid-80's who didn't look a day over 50. His wife sent me home with a huge beer glass that I intend to fill with M&M's and sit next to my computer.
I learned a bit about antiques, read literature I'd never have thought to pick up on my own, people-watched, and spent one afternoon with men who look better in make up and evening gowns than I do. I listened to "how we met" - and - "why we had to say goodbye" stories that were extraordinary tear-jerkers. And I heard over and over and over "I love you" and "Thank you for being in my life." ~
I picked up a new favorite word, too - Indulge. My favorite words have always been Abundance & Gratitude. Now I have a third, because I know that the meaning behind it means Accept. It means accept what I have to offer...accept that you are special and that's how I see you, how I wish to treat you. Indulge was written on a large plaque placed above the door of one man's entrance to his kitchen...and that kitchen was tricked out with all manner of wonderful things. I had the most amazing lattes and coffees, a homemade apple pie, and a delicious home cooked roast and vegetable dinner made in that kitchen. ~

I learned that being a woman AND a man is all about caring - for each other and for ourselves. It's difficult to give something we don't give ourselves, so I fully intend to pamper myself more now that I've witnessed what marvelous gifts come of the act. ~

After I recuperate from jet lag and catch up on laundry and chores at home, I'll hopefully have a blog post that offers some information for writers or at least a few ideas that may spark something worthy. Right now I'm about two brain farts short of dead and still need more sleep. Just thought I'd share a few of the things I experienced while I was away from blogging. ~

Till next time...here's to the woman & man in all of us...

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19 Comments:

At 12:06 PM, Blogger Rinda Elliott said...

First, I love that cover!

Wow,I want to meet these friends. Sounds like the best kind of vacation ever.

Sending a private email on some of the other topics. (grin)

 
At 12:09 PM, Blogger Bobbie (Sunny) Cole said...

Hey, Rinda - great to "see" you. I blogged about you plus put your most recent sale into my Kinky Kruisin' newsletter. Didn't think you'd mind. *grin*

 
At 12:25 PM, Blogger Nell Dixon said...

Wonderful cover!

 
At 3:06 PM, Blogger Bobbie (Sunny) Cole said...

Thanks, Nell!

 
At 4:05 PM, Blogger Rinda Elliott said...

You blogged about me? On the Belfry?

Thanks!!

 
At 6:16 PM, Blogger Kate said...

welcome back and LOVE that cover.

 
At 9:06 PM, Blogger Merry said...

Love the cover, love you being back, love that you got spoiled as you deserved. God bless the guys for treating you well!

 
At 10:08 PM, Blogger Shesawriter said...

That cover is it! Wow. Glad to see you back, Lyn. :-)

Tanya

 
At 10:37 PM, Blogger Bobbie (Sunny) Cole said...

Kate, Merry, Tanya - thank you sooo much!!! (as for spoiling me, Mer - they've phoned and written already - lol - they're planning my next visit it seems...we shall see - but I gotta tell you it was strange waking up and having to make my own coffee/lattes and it not being Starbucks and served out on the balcony)

 
At 8:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

So how did you get Clive Owen to do the cover, Lyn?

Chick lit time travel sounds like fun -- lots of potential for humor there!

 
At 10:03 PM, Blogger Bobbie (Sunny) Cole said...

Clive Owen (mega sigh). Don't I wish, Doug.

Thanks, Rae. I'm getting excited to see what our Samhain covers will be, aren't you? Yours and mine will hit about the same time, yours probably earlier.

The cartouche on Stream Of Time, by the way, spells out Lyn Cash. (can't hide my grin - that was my idea) - I swear, artist Scott Carpenter is da bomb...and he'll be doing our Samhain covers as well.

 
At 11:01 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bread pudding at my place, Lyn. Be there or be square.

 
At 4:10 AM, Blogger Sam said...

That cover ROCKS!
Wow!
And I think that a chick-lit time travel novel sounds like a lot of fun!

 
At 9:24 AM, Blogger Bobbie (Sunny) Cole said...

Thanks, Sam! Hard to compete with the photos you post on your blog, though - lol.

I've just spent an hour over on Doug's blog copying & pasting recipes - that bread pudding recipe looks wonderful! Thanks for posting it.

Doug needs to go in a book - he really does - but my next project is a male/male, so not sure how I'd work that. Hmm.

 
At 8:35 AM, Blogger Melany said...

Love Love Love the cover *g*.

Sounds like the trip was wonderful and you learned oodles.

And Nick Conrad is good *G*. He's our editor too.

Lany

 
At 9:49 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Great cover! Who did it?

Chicklit/time travel sounds like an intriguing combination!

 
At 9:56 AM, Blogger Bobbie (Sunny) Cole said...

Lany - I do keep forgetting Nick is also your editor. Isn't he a scream? I just love him.

Ann, Scott Carpenter did this cover for me (Stream of Time) - and I did enjoy doing a time travel chicklit. Loose Id is really good about letting their authors push the envelope, be innovative, that sort of thing. (My editor, Sherri Enoch, came up with the titles for the trilogy - this is the 1st one - all 3 deal with an Egyptian artifact and the ley lines.)

Scott has done all 3 of my covers for LI so far - and he's the sole artist at present for Samhain, so I get him again for the mainstream coming out in May. I think he's fantastic. All I pleaded for was the Lyn Cash cartouche - lol - and he came up with the rest from the 'art sheet' I turned in.

Thanks for stopping by.

 
At 7:01 PM, Blogger Bobbie (Sunny) Cole said...

My bad, my bad - seems my artist was April Martinez, NOT Scott Carpenter. The name didn't appear on the information I was sent, so I just assumed my usual artist did this one. But was told today that April will be handling The Promise series and Scott the Kinky Kruising series. So...my apologies.

And the release date on The Promise: Stream of Time isn't until the end of May, alas.

 
At 2:27 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Hi, that's a cool cover.

Your vacation sounds wonderful, just the right combination of relaxation and enjoyment.

Nick Conrad's wonderful. He's my editor as well and I've found his suggestions are always right on the point.

 

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