1. I like the weekend.

2. People are tipsy.

Wait, three: I know, totally un-PC, but soft-core porn actor Evan Stone makes me laugh.

If you’ve got HBO, and there’s a late-night film with him it, give it a try (if you’re not skeeved out by porn; otherwise, skip it). What can I say? I like to watch him doing it.

The Alpha Dog and I have made a standing weekly writing date, so yesterday, I managed 1,000 words! And since I’m writing a novella, I’m only about 8 thousand words away from finishing. Where I’ll submit it, I have no idea, but I need to get this story out of my head. Two of my readers–the Delightful Phone Friend and the P-I-C–have both read what I had a few weeks ago, and said it was fantastic. The DPF did say it’s not erotica, so it can’t sell there, and it’s too short and sex-driven to survive as anything other than a novella in a like-minded group of stories, so we’ll see what happens.

And my agent said she’d be open to reading–and if she likes it, representing–my revised Mothering Heights. I want to revisit it and deepen the emotional depth to make it less fluffy (but no less funny, I hope). Not quite sure how to do that, but I bet if I can up the stakes for my heroine and make it less of a straight romance it will have a chance of selling.

This weekend my friend from high school–WHO HAS NO NICKNAME!–is coming to visit. We plan on drinking beer, eating steaks, and making fun of people’s outfits. Maybe see some art, too. And perhaps I will unearth her nickname.

I’ve known her since before I was a compulsive nicknamer; she sat in front of me in French class, and like me, she had long hair. Unlike me, she did something new to it every day (French braid, appropriately enough, side ponytails, twists, barrettes, etc.), so I hated her. Rational, not so much. But when I got to know her, she became one of my best friends, and remains so, even now.

So if you’ve come by recently, you might think I am just a vain so-and-so what loves to show off her gowns, her family, and her recent ink.

Not so, grasshopper.

So in the WRITING thing, let me just say my new agent is pitching That Subtle Knot to editors this week. And that I am HALFWAY DONE with the super-sexy novella, because I have discovered a new place to write that feels more creative than here in front of the iMac. And, thanks to the Faux Critique Partner, I have come up with a much more complex reason my hero in On Bold Adventure is on his particular mission.

Yay!

Yes, I am referencing Creedence Clearwater Revival in the title of this post. Sue me, my dad played them a lot when I was growing up.

But I’m back to writing some of the super-sexy Regency, and so had to find a good pic of my hero:

Mm. Fun.
And I did the Carolyn Jewel thing, and notebooked the plot for this, and for my other longer Regency-set historical. Kinda cool!

I am bound and determined not to just sit around and gripe about not having time to write. I am going to make time.

I started the Porn Project earlier this week, and it’s going pretty well–I’ve discovered that I absolutely must know my characters before I start writing, or their motivations and behavior will be unclear. No-one likes a murky character, Mrs. Frampton.

But one roadblock I’ve stumbled up against is the use of various euphemisms–as I told both the Delightful Phone Friend and the Pennsylvania Princess, if I type “quim*” in any seriousness at any point in this ms., I will bust out laughing, which will obviously translate into the ms. And lord help me if I accidentally mention my heroine’s “juicy slit” (the PP told me of reading a story where the couple is lying in a puddle of fluids. Sexy? God, no. And the errant housecleaner in me would wonder just who’s going to clean that up, Mister?)

So I think I’m writing a super-sexy novella, not erotica, because my sense of the absurd just can’t handle it. I know other authors have accomplished it, but I don’t think I can.

Megan
*The pic is of Portuguese footballer Joaoquim Quim

I’m doing some final edits to Road To Passion, but thinking ahead to the next project. And every project needs a hero, so here is mine:

And it is indeed set in the Regency. Fun!

So anyway, a writing friend (who as yet is anonymous, here at least–she and I know her name and all) had an idea for an erotica anthology, and I had a few more elements to add to the idea, so it’s totally cool and distinctive because WE ROCK. I’ve had this idea bouncing around my head so after I finish revising Road To Passion I am going to write 25,000 words of that. Think of it as a palate cleanser, before starting Road To Desire (the next book!).