Relentless Takes 3rd
Rhys and Neveah took 3rd place in the ACRWA Heart of Excellence Awards! I’m thrilled because I think Relentless and Absolution are the best books of the series, and yet they’re the two books that haven’t sold/placed as well as the others. Go figure.
At any rate, I’m happy to have an accolade to put next to Relentless 🙂
Turkey Day
Up here north of the 49th parallel, it’s Thanksgiving Day! We hosted a dinner for hubby’s side of the family last night, and tonight my mom’s twin is hosting a dinner for that side of the family. My dad is in Azerbaijan on his way to Iran, so I guess he and my step mom are excused from hosting a dinner at their place this year. One can never have too many turkeys, you know?
But first, I’m going to see Moneyball with the man and a group of friends, including one who’s a scout for the Milwaukee Brewers, currently playing in this year’s NLCS. How cool is that? Can’t wait to hear some stories from him after the movie.
After my last post, you’re probably curious what the hubbster did for me on our anniversary. Well, he had a driver pick me up and take me downtown to Spa Utopia at the Pan Pacific Hotel. There I received a 75 minute aromatherapy massage, and when I came out my man was waiting there for me (the massage was great, but best of all it forced me to take a break from edits on my paranormal romance coming out from Carina Press next year). He’d booked us a room at the hotel, and whisked me up there to change, then took me to a fancy dinner overlooking Coal Harbor and Stanley Park while the sun set. Pretty romantic, I must say, and I appreciated the effort.
Happy Anniversary
Today is my wedding anniversary. My two boys are both in Catholic school, and this morning are actually attending mass at the very church we were married at 11 years ago today. Pretty cool, no?
My hubby is a wonderful, steady guy. Rock solid with lots of family values, which are my two favorite things about him. (Besides him being a sexy beast in his catcher’s gear when he used to catch for me, that is.) He’s the first to admit he’s not the most demonstrative or romantic guy in the world, but every now and again he blows me away with something completely thoughtful and over-the-top. Today I found a card taped to my steering wheel, telling me that the kids are taken care of this afternoon and that I have to be ready to leave at 2:45 today. Oh, and I should shave. (Thanks for the tip, honey!) I hope that means he has plans to see me in a short dress, and not that he seriously thinks he has to remind me to shave, lol.
A year ago today we were in New Orleans to celebrate our 10th anniversary (another huge surprise from hubby, and he even arranged for my crit partner, Katie Reus, to meet me there as another surprise). We spend the day touring some plantations, such as Oak Alley…
and a Creole plantation known simply as Laura.
Fascinating place, run by powerful women, and the original slave quarters were still intact. They even had a copy of the Code Noir, or Black Code, stating the laws about owning slaves. They also had a manifest listing all the slaves owned by the plantation owners, their names, ages, trades, and what they were worth on the market.
O_o
Seriously hard to wrap your brain around that one. Seeing it written down in stark black and white was almost mind boggling. If a slave had any white blood in him at all, he was worth way more than a pure African slave fresh off the boat. Old slaves were worth practically nothing, and the more skills you had as a laborer, the better.
While the tour was somewhat disturbing, I’m glad they didn’t try to sugar coat everything and sell the Gone With the Wind image to the tourists. We headed back to the French Quarter for dinner at Irene’s, a famous Italian restaurant there (the dark chocolate mousse was to die for!),
then took a paddle boat jazz cruise down the Mississippi.
Very romantic night! Hmm, I wonder what the man has in store for me today?
Luke is a Finalist!
Just received word yesterday that Absolution is a finalist in the 2012 EPIC Awards! I’m thrilled because Luke is my favorite character, and because I truly think it’s my best book. I suppose it doesn’t pack quite the emotional punch if a reader hasn’t read the previous four books, but I hope it still makes an impact. Not sure when the winners are announced, but it was nice to be nominated.
I have one last set of edits to do on another Callie Croix story, then I’m jumping back into Crash and Burn. It’s been tricky to figure out how/where I can have Ace and Ryan spend time together to form some sort of a relationship, because of their difference in rank, and because the book is set at Bagram. But I’m up for the challenge!