Misty Simon - Big Writer

Guest blogger and Free Book Giveaway! MEGAN HART is HERE!!!!

2011-12-11T18:24:00.000-05:00

OHHHHHH, now I know I haven't posted here lately but this is an especially cool thing to come back with. I have with me today MEGAN HART, who is a fabulous writer. She's written in damn near every genre and they're all good. If you haven't already read her a) why the heck not?!?!?! and b) here's your chance to win her new book...FREE and WONDERFUL, what more could you ask for? How about a little blog post about her and her book? Coming right up!

Let's begin with a blurb and then get into the extra good stuff:

In the midst of a chaotic midnight assembly, Sunshine is forced outside into the darkness. Holding a scrap of paper scrawled with a stranger's name and address, Sunny grasps the hands of her three small children and begins her escape.

Liesel Albright has dreamed of starting a family. She never bargained on inheriting one already in progress…or one so deeply damaged. When nineteen-year-old Sunshine appears on the Albrights' doorstep claiming Liesel's husband, Chris, is her father, all they can think to offer is temporary shelter. The next day, they're stunned by the news that the Family of Superior Bliss, led by a charismatic zealot, has committed mass suicide. Sunny and her children haven't just left the compound—they've been left behind.

Now, instead of a baby of her own, Liesel must play mother to the four survivors, while Chris retreats into guilt and denial. For Sunny, however, a lifetime of teachings is not easily unlearned. No matter how hard she tries to forget, an ominous catechism echoes in her mind, urging her to finish what the Family started.

Now that's some good stuff. Onto the questions...

1. What led you to write a book about a cult? I find them fascinating though scary.

I've always been fascinated by cults, though yes, they are scary. I mean, what makes people join a group that so obviously doesn't fit in with what we "normal" people think of as right? Cult leaders, by tradition, are charismatic and compelling, but who are the people who fall in line with them? I wanted to explore characters who didn't necessarily join a cult, but who were raised in one, so had no choice about it.

2. What part of Sunny was the most difficult to write? The easiest?

The most difficult was writing about the abuse she suffered. I didn't want it to be too graphic, but researching what happens in cults, especially to children, was really hard. The easiest, surprisingly, was writing Sunshine's struggle with dealing with how she was raised versus the life she has after moving in with her biological dad.

3. What significance does the title have?

All Fall Down is, of course, part of a nursery rhyme. I didn't have a good title for this book, and my editor actually came up with it. Once she suggested it, it absolutely fit the entire concept of everything falling down.

Now the fun part!

4. Boxers or briefs?

Boxer briefs

5. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

Mint Chocolate Chip

6. Give me a memory that still makes you giggle.

Oh. Gosh. Hmm. Well, how about the time we went to see Jason Manns play live in Philly, and you shouted out in the parking lot that we were "doing" Jason Manns? That makes me laugh.

7. Best Halloween costume you ever wore? I know what one I'd pick but I'd like to know what you think.

When I was in kindergarten, I was Darth Vader. I think that might be my all-time favorite.

8. What song do you like to rock out in the shower to?

Let it Snow. I don't know why. Also, Think of Me, from Phantom of the Opera.

A bio would be nice here! :)

Megan says: I was born and lived awhile and then I did some stuff. Now I mostly do things and whatnot. And I also write books. Learn more about me at: www.meganhart.com, www.readinbed.net, www.twitter.com/Megan_Hart and www.facebook.com/Megan.Hart

Also, I'll give away a copy of All Fall Down to a commenter!

BRING ON THE COMMENTS!!!! I'll choose a winner after Wednesday and then we firgure out the getting it to you thing.

Misty :)

NaNoWriMo here I come!

2011-11-01T18:58:00.000-05:00

OK, I'm going to do NaNoWriMo. I literally decided this afternoon to get this new book off and running. Who's joining me for some serious fun and work?

Under Construction and Out of Here

2011-10-20T07:52:00.001-05:00

Hello!

I will be taking the next few weeks and putting the website under construction. I hope to still post (more than I have before!) and have a new look coming soon, along with something truly inspiring or at least not so boring to say in these blog posts :)

And now I'm off to NJRW! So excited to go to a conference again. It's been a little while. I had to dust off my fancy shoes.

Misty

SLACKER!

2011-10-08T21:49:00.000-05:00

Honestly, I had no idea it has been four weeks, Ridunkulous! All I have to say is that I have been writing my poor little hands off. 18K in 6 days for an anthology I would dearly love to get picked up for. It's superheroes and I am having a blast being all dark and angsty and stuff and having a real honest to goodness bad guy! YAY!

In other news, I need to figureout something to write about in these things as I am boring myself and tend to post thoughts over at Facebook. But since this is supposed to be my website, that's not cutting it. Ideas are welcome!

Misty

RULEBREAKER

2011-09-10T08:55:00.000-05:00

So I almost never win anything. But I did win a very cool book called RULEBREAKER from the fabulous Natalie Damschroder's blog contest. Cathy Pegau is the author and she sent me the book immediately with a very nice thank you for entering. After downloading it to my NOOK, I opened that baby up and got SUCKED IN!!!! Holy cow and thank goodness I had nothing else to do :) The action was great, the mystery fabulous, the world magnificent and the romance was very well done. If you read the blurb you will see that the romance is between two women. At first I was not sure about this since I had never read one of those beofre, but she did such a great job and isn't love just love? So run out and buy this (or sit in your comfy pants and let your fingers do the clicking) Here are some links for you to get you started...
Facebook page
You can buy RULEBREAKER from any of the following links by clicking on the company - I'm easy like that! LOL!
Carina Press
Amazon
B&N

You won't be disappointed! And let her know I sent you when you're done :)

Misty

Music

2011-09-01T20:07:00.000-05:00

You know, music has been a part of my life since I was little - apparently I even went to an Aerosmith concert when I was still in utero. My mom says I had rhythm back then though you can't always believe her when she says I kicked her in the ribs to the time of Dream On. In talking with my mother on the phone right now, here is another piece of trivia - I went around singing Cocaine by Eric Clapton at the age of about 2 and Janie's Crying by Van Halen. I rock!

Anyway, I also used to take voice lessons and sang Italian Opera, doing it justice by making my ninth grade recital goers cry though they did not understand the words. And the list goes on... Topped by a very rare recording of me singing The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow to my grandfather and thinking that Islands in the Stream by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton was actually I Was In The Street, That Was Where I was. This is gold, people!

All that to say that my Brother who calls himself Shine - though my mom did not actually go that far off field with first names after coming up with Misty from a Led Zep song - has come out with two new songs and a redo of an older one. Take a listen and find him online to show your appreciation! Click here to get the link, kiddies!

Misty

A bit of a recap

2011-08-18T18:35:00.000-05:00

So, it's been over a week and so much has happened, I thought I would recap :)

Tuesday 8/9 - car accident, ugh! Not at fault thank you very much. Then much fun and love as I got to see JASON MANNS!!!!!! in NY with my roadtrip epic bitches. SO MUCH FUN! Love me some Jason, but also just the very experience of eight hours of car trip with nary a moment of silence :) Go Megan with her mad NY driving skills!
Wednesday 8/10 - got a rental Caddy - do they think I'm high maintenance? Drop my poor baby van at the autobody and hope I will see it again. Work in the evening when I don't normally work
Thursday 8/11 - worked when I never work
Friday 8/12 - worked again in the evening when I do not usually work (I'm sensing a pattern).
Saturday 8/13 - Get ready for the beach!!!!!
Sunday 8/14 - GO TO THE BEACH!!!!! We left at o'dark thirty since the child thinks that is great fun then got stuck in torrential rain. But it was a blast!
Through to today stayed at the beach and it was wonderful though I didn't get to do all the stuff I normally do since I am a hurting puppy (reference car accident on 8/9) but it's all good.
And now I am back home and happy for it. My child stayed at the beach for a little while longer and yours truly is going to take advantage of that time to get this revise and resubmit finished and back to the publlisher. I hope they LOVE it!

Also, one more thing, thank you to all the people who voted for Strings Attached as favorite sweetheart review over at The Romacne Studio! I won and now my book is on the front page of their website. YAY!

That's it for now. I hope I will have some good progress to report after this weekend and then on to a new project. I'm going to be mentored for the month of September to see if I can take my game to the next level. Here's sending positive thoughts out to the universe that it works :)

Requesting Votes...

2011-08-09T13:07:00.001-05:00

Following up on the great review I also have a chance to win the Favorite Review of the Week!

I've never done this before so be gentle with me :) Seriously, though, since I got a 5 heart review at The Romance Studio for STRINGS ATTACHED that apparently puts me up for the Favorite 5 Heart Review at their website. If I win I get put up on the main page with links and book cover. If you have time and would like to vote that would be stupendous! Here's the link

http://www.theromancestudio.com/5heart_form.php or you can just click here!

THANKS

Misty :)

Great new review

2011-08-03T19:59:00.000-05:00

Today I received a really great review for my latest book Strings attached and thought I would share it. I love The Romance Studio! A huge thank you to Camilla for her time and effort and then a big smooshy hug for liking it after reading :) You can read the 5 heart review here!

Needless to say (but I will say it anyway!) I am thrilled. I'm so happy she "got" my story. For as much as I call what I write broad fiction, I really like to think of it as people falling in love while life happens all around them. So thank you again, Camilla :)

In other news, I am nearly done with a rewrite that I was asked to revise and resubmit and will hopefully have news on other books coming out soon.

Stay tuned and stay cool!
Misty

I love writing

2011-07-21T12:27:00.000-05:00

One of the things that is very cool lately about ebook and ebook readers and the readers of ebooks (LOL!) is that I am getting more people picking up my earlier books. Recently I have received ten emails from people who just found the first Ivy now available from Kindle and are already fiending for more. POISON IVY was first published in 2005 and it remains one of my favorite books. And now I have new readers who are buying the series. How COOL is that? Especially when these are people that I do not know! YAY!

In other news for those who have read and loved Ivy, I might just have a surprise for you. When I have more details I will definitely share, but for right now, suffice it to say that perhaps FOR LOVE AND CHEESECAKE was not the end of Ivy's adventures..... :)

SO much fun!

2011-07-17T13:22:00.000-05:00

Noelle's cousins are here from France and though we do not always understand each other (two do not speak any English) we are having a flipping blast!!!! NERF gun battle today (22 guns strong), pool later, lots of good food and hysterical laughter. Things just do not get better than this!

Loving the start to July

2011-07-02T07:05:00.000-05:00

So many projects and so little time... I'm not complaining though. :) Happy fourth of July! Happy Independence! Happy Writing!

Misty

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T19:29:00.000-05:00

To all those fathers out there - Thank you. Thank you for listening, for showing girls what to look for in a man, for explaining things that for years were just "man things" and we shouldn't worry our pretty heads about. Thank you for threatening boys who aren't good for us, for crying at our weddings, for giving us away even though it breaks your heart to let go. Thank you for being there no matter what, even if it's just to look on while mom holds us sobbing. Thank you for being real men who have dreams and goals of their own who let us know that it is important to follow our own.

I love my dad, Bob Labs - Thank you for choosing me.

Misty

Fantastic Saturday!

2011-06-04T17:51:00.000-05:00

What's not to like about a day that starts out with super fantastic breakfast made with my three favorite ladies and two men? Mom, daughter and I at the stove stirring. Grandma finishing it up with the last egg stir. Dad and Husband helping out with the vittles.

Next up...CPRW meeting with my great chapter mates, excellent tips and discussion on editing techniques, lunch after with much talking.

And then daughter having a couple of friends over for a movie night, They're all in their PJs with their Build A Bears in PJs too. Pizza is on its way. Candy and snacks after. Everyone home at nine. And then I get to spend time with my husband who is finally - after three years - home on the weekends.

Super fantastic!

And my new story is going really well. Since next week is ballet recital week - aka Week from Hades in terms of out and about, doing fancy hair, applying makeup, remembering all clothes and which pair of tights go on first, where are your shoes? that is not supposed to fall off your costume is it? Where's your wonder under? LOL! But you know what? At the end, she is a beautiful dancer and shines up there. I know about having a passion to do something and her dance is her passion. How could I not support her in it?

But like I started that last paragraph... LOL!...Since next week is recital week, I know I'm not going to get much real writing done. So I'm still plotting and hoping that when it comes to the 12th, I will hit that starting gate so hard its head will spin :)

Misty

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T20:22:00.001-05:00

On my grandfather's headstone it says that he fought in three wars. Now I will say that most of his time in the field was actually in a ship. He was the head of the galley and fed thousands of men on that ship and also supplied other ships as they went by. He would make donuts for the higher ups on other ships and send poems along with them, silly poems (I come by my gift honestly it appears :)). And he kept those poems and the ones that sometimes the grateful higher ups would send back as a thank you. Someday I would love to publish that book if for no other reason than it deserves to be out there, to humanize and ground the soldiers who are out there giving of their time, their expertise and sometimes their very lives to make sure that you and I can live in this great country and have our freedom too.

Happy Memorial Day! If you see a soldier and can manage it, don't just say thank you, take their hand, the one that might have had to hold a gun and shake it with your heart in your eyes.

Misty

Fabulous Series by my friend Victoria Allen!

2011-05-27T16:38:00.000-05:00

Combine a magic sapphire, a witch and a stubborn hero and you get
double trouble.

As a healer, Selena welcomes all to her home. Then two strangers show
up on her doorstep, one badly injured, but it is the other who draws
her notice. Did her mother's last act of enchanting a beautiful
sapphire bring this handsome man of her desires to her?

Tristan had been against the journey with his godfather, Jacob, but a
promise is a promise. An attack by outlaws sealed his fate. Injured
and on the run, they come upon a secluded cabin and a beautiful woman.
When she displays powers unlike any he's ever seen, he is certain he’s
been bewitched. Yet for some reason, he doesn’t mind as much as he
thought he would.

When treachery uses Selena's compassionate nature against her, can the
two heartmates overcome vast odds to fulfill the future promised to
them by the Stone of Destiny?

Content Warning: Contains graphic scenes of m/f sexuality.

Sequel: The Chosen (Book Two in the Stone of Destiny series)

Buy it now and Buy it here!

Hello Central Penn College!

2011-05-17T16:11:00.000-05:00

Tonight I have the distinct privilege of talking to the students in Professor Ervin's class at the Central Penn College, Lancaster Campus. We are going to be talking about all kinds of fun stuff and have a blast. On tap are questions about the different genres I've written, others I'd like to try and then the hard questions like what's been wonderful about writing and what kind of surprises have I encountered. Oh, please don't let me embarrass myself while I'm here :) LOL! 'Cause if you've ever read my blog then you know I have an uncanny knack for making myself look like a weirdo. Either that or super brilliant. So let's go for super brilliant tonight and leave it at that. :)

In other news I had a rockin' retreat with a ton of work done and good times had by all - even with the fire. I'll talk more about that later. Now I have to get to class. I sure hope my mom remembered to pack me a lunch that doesn't include pickles!

Misty

Good times!

2011-05-02T13:19:00.001-05:00

I have figured out what I think I have known all along. I know that makes little sense, but follow along with me.

I do much much better with face to face interaction. I LOVE to plot in person and brainstorm when I can actually see the person. My friend VB is good at listening on the phone and has even taken to typing out my thoughts and sending them to me like dictation! LOL! and that is fantastic. But I was at her house a couple weeks ago and the energy is totally different for me when you are actually in the room with that person.

My other friend, Barrie Summy, was in the area last week and we had a writers' dinner and it was so very cool to sit with her for almost three hours (with a very patient waiter) and just talk about plot and story ideas and anything else that came up. I LOVED IT!

Color me embarrassed for taking so long to really understand what works for me :)

Thursday again!

2011-04-28T21:17:00.000-05:00

Thursday Thursday Thursday (said to the Marcia mantra)

But you know what, today rocked! Love my friend Barrie Summy! We went out to dinner and three hours later the waiter was still not trying to stick us with forks. We laughed, we talked, we kabitzed, we talked amongst ourselves. It was all things wonderful and covered in gobs of awesome sauce. And I get to see her again tomorrow :)

And I realized and solidified the fact that for myself, I really get jazzed on the charge of writers talking shop. There is something about the energy going around and through the conversation when it turns to plotting and discussing and it has me hyped to write write write. Of course I am at the edit edit edit stage but that's okay too :)

Misty

Not so hot

2011-04-21T20:49:00.001-05:00

This Thursday was not nearly so great, but that's okay too. I ended up finishing another book this week, coming in with a whopping 10,000 words in one day on Monday! Yeehaw! Now it's on to editing. I did a few pages today but there were complications in the house that I will not bore you with :)

Anyway! Three weeks until my retreat time and going strong. I think I might actually have a solid plan for the retreat. Woot! Stay tuned for how that goes.

And...One of my very good friends is coming out this way with her new book. My friend Barrie Summy, will be flying in and I couldn't be more excited if I were graced with an endless supply of Twinkies and a guarantee of no weight gain! She will be visiting area schools and making our little town one of her stops. YAY! If you have not read any of the I SO DON'T DO mystery series, please SO DO it. Sherry Holmes Baldwin is an absolute blast.

I love me some Thursdays

2011-04-14T21:21:00.000-05:00

There is a definite perk to my day job and that is that I have every Thursday off. Now sometimes I will have doctor appointments on those days, lunch with friends, make hair appts, whatever. But lately I have been making sure to be home for some of them because they are a rocking day for writing. I wrote 5000 new words today and edited 99 pages. I was going to try to find a word with 99 letters just to celebrate but I was afraid it would come across wrong in my current blog format :) Too long, you understand.

Anyway, so excited about today's writing progress and hope for more over the coming days.

Misty

Do you have room to write?

2011-04-10T18:58:00.003-05:00

This is a reprise of an article I wrote for the newsletter for my local chapter of RWA as the president. Sometimes I come up with some good stuff LOL! (always at the last minute! Thanks to Lisa for pinging me) and I thought I would share it with you. The 50/50 I'm talking about is the challenge we currently have going on with the chapter. 50 words a day for 50 days. You make the commitment and cannot miss more than two days in a row. I think it works because it shows you what it is like to write every day and 50 words is less than this paragraph I just wrote. :) In fact this paragraph is over twice that! So here it is:

We often talk about finding the time to write – how you have to carve time out of the day, sacrifice certain things to be able to write, taking those pockets of five minutes here and ten minutes there to at least touch your manuscript and keep yourself involved. The 50/50 is designed to show us how it can be done with little time. It helps us see that fifty words is not that hard to do every day if you commit yourself to opening the document and at least writing a paragraph or a quick dialogue between characters.

But do you also have the room to write? Do you have a space you call your own? Do you have a place where all your things are, where you are surrounded by the tools and energy you need to get things done? I thought I was. I had my corner of the library – as we loftily call it – with my writing books and my radio, my pens and notebooks. Yet, recently it hasn’t felt “right”. So I started writing on the couch, but that was uncomfortable. And I tried writing in the kitchen, but that didn’t work either. I was starting to feel like Goldilocks when I realized it doesn’t need to be the perfect place, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the perfect set up with everything at your fingertips and sunshine and rainbows coming in the window where a small bird trills happy songs for you to write to. It doesn’t have to be a great big office with leather chairs, a conversation pit and a view of the world at your feet. It does, however, have to be yours and it has to work for you. Whether that’s quiet or chaos, messy or pristine, airy or cramped – it just needs to fit you and encourage you to write. Some people do their best work in the basement under the stairs, in a café teeming with people, in a roomy closet because it has a door that can be shut. Whatever works is good as long as you’re writing.

Here’s to finding that space and using it!

Misty

Woohoo and a yeehaw!

2011-04-09T21:31:00.001-05:00

I finished writing a book today!!!!! I am super excited and ultra pleased with it and myself :)

My kid is camping so we had a Dr Who marathon at home and I also got to watch the Tudors. Lest you think I wasted my whole day and didn't get anything else done...I wrote 4000 words.

That is my kind of day! What's your kind of day?

Misty

Something else fun to do

2011-04-02T15:30:00.000-05:00

First off, how freaking cool is it that on Thursday I wrote 7002 words?!?!?! I feel like I got my Mojo back and now she's riding shot gun!

Second off, today was meeting day and the wonder Officer Greg Berry let me hold his handcuffs. Really, is there anything better?

Third, and this is the really fun part - My friend Natalie (I feel like her publicity whore, but whatever. LOL!) is up for book of the week at Long and Short reviews. Go to this link to vote for her and keep her on top of the pile!

That's it for today from blog land.
Misty

Indulge Yourself: And the Winner Is...

2011-04-02T15:25:00.000-05:00

Yeehaw!!! Check it out!

Indulge Yourself: And the Winner Is...: "First, thank you so much to everyone who came and voted and had fun with this. I had a great week and adore you all! Next, the runner up, l..."

Indulge Yourself: Championship Round

2011-04-01T19:05:00.000-05:00

Last chance to pull for your hero! Make the Dean choice....I mean the RIGHT choice. LOL!

Indulge Yourself: Championship Round: "I am totally blown away. MALCOLM REYNOLDS LOST!!!!!!!!!?????????? Never saw that one coming. AAAAAAAANNNNDDDD... Wait for it... You sit..."

Indulge Yourself: NOW it Gets Difficult

2011-03-31T10:48:00.000-05:00

All right, we're down to the last two sets of choices. Choose wisely, grasshopper!

Indulge Yourself: NOW it Gets Difficult: "Raylan pulled through by only ONE vote! Harry only won by three! Mal kicked ass, of course. But Dean and Seeley TIED. Therefore... Cre..."

Indulge Yourself: Hero Showdown Round 3, and Oh Noes!

2011-03-29T21:06:00.000-05:00

Keep it going and pass it around :) Like one of those notebooks we used to have in junior high with questions and everyone had a line but you didn't know who was who. I wonder if I could get something like that going again. Hmmm...

Indulge Yourself: Hero Showdown Round 3, and Oh Noes!: "Ohhhhhh, yes. It's Nathan Fillion against himself. Mal against Rick. New hotness against old...hotness. (You can decide which is which!). S..."

Indulge Yourself: Hero Showdown Round 2!

2011-03-28T21:33:00.001-05:00

Round Two is up and the choices get harder and harder. Oh, the pain! The agony! The fun of clicking buttons!

Indulge Yourself: Hero Showdown Round 2!: "This was TRICKY, y'all! Some very surprising results (at least to me). I'm so sad about the guys I lost, but it's very interesting how 5 of ..."

Indulge Yourself: The Month of the Hero Showdown, Day 1!

2011-03-27T14:32:00.001-05:00

I'm reblogging this for my friend Natalie. Go give it a spin. It's fun :)

And holy crap. I just blogged several times in two days! Is anyone marking this down?!?!!

Indulge Yourself: The Month of the Hero Showdown, Day 1!: "Okay, here we go! The first 10 questions (first survey) are the heroes MJ and I talked about in our postings all month. The last five quest..."

And now I bring you Vicky Burkholder

2011-03-27T10:33:00.001-05:00

Tada! It must be super release month in March because I have another friend with a book out in March! Let's all say hi to Vicky Burkholder. This is a re-release and it is fabulous! If I remember correctly it got 4 1/2 stars form RT the first time around and is even better in this version. So hop on over to www.captivapress.com and get yours. I stayed up way past my bed time to finish it.

Prime Time

Author: Vicky Burkholder

When it comes to righting wrongs, there's no time like Prime Time.

Deena is a Prime, born and raised to Porter parents in the Lunar habitats.
Life is hard, but with a rag-tag group of friends, she gets by.

Jake is a wealthy Techie, part of an elite security force searching out the
source of the deadly drug Utopia. He can't imagine the hardships Deena and
other Porters have endured and is determined to make a difference.

Deena reluctantly teams up with the hunky Techie. With the help of other
Primes, both realize that not only is the danger to them all far more deadly
than Jake and his team first imagined, but that love doesn't care about
class and status. Can they stop the seemingly untouchable Utopia suppliers
before time runs out for them all?

http://www.amazon.com/Prime-Time-Vicky-Burkholder/dp/1936356090/

NEW RELEASE!!!!

2011-03-26T17:21:00.000-05:00

So I promised to post about the new release. I have been keeping mum about this because I wasn't exactly sure when it would be available and all :) This is the longest book so far for me when you count time from first written to final publication but it's been worth it. Thank you NaNoWriMo 2009!

Without further ado -
STRINGS ATTACHED

Back at home after his latest tour, Chris Niles, resident jokester and lead guitarist for Lexical Diffusion, is at loose ends. His bandmates are being felled like trees by Cupid's arrow, which leaves him without a roommate or his regular buddies to hang out with. But when he meets the lovely and voluptuous Andrea one rainy afternoon, he thinks she could very well be the perfect diversion.

Andrea Wimer has recently moved back home to help her father. On her way to a house call for her father's business, she drives by Chris who is strolling along in a downpour as if he hasn't a care in the world. Her first impression is that he's crazy. When they end up running into each other later that same night, she adds sexy and fun to the original description. Smitten by his dimple-filled smile, she accepts his offer to show her his side of the town--a no strings attached kind of thing--before he leaves on tour again.

What starts out as a bit of fun becomes more than that with each passing day. As Chris finds himself opening up his heart and his past to a woman who seems content to let him go, he has to admit that his heart is involved for the first time in his life. How on earth is he going to convince Andrea that she wants more, too--the whole package, corny jokes and all--tied tight as a present with Strings Attached?

Interview and Rabid Gold Fish

2011-03-26T07:15:00.003-05:00

Head on over to Ava Quinn's blog if you want to read an interview with moi! I will be posting about my new realease later on today and then I have a friend with a new book out too so that will be coming up shortly.

My God, does this mean *gasp* that I might post more than once in a week!?!?!! LOL :)

Misty

My Brilliant Friend Natalie!

2011-03-01T18:44:00.007-05:00

So, some of you might remember the post a couple days back about my brilliant friend Natalie and her brilliance with bitch pages... And here she is again, being stupendous with her newest book Fight or Flight (if you haven't read her other books, run don't walk to get them). This book pulls you screaming through the experience. It has action, adventure, hotness, cleverness, and a lot of other -nesses that you will just have to find out on your own. So buy it today over at www.CarinaPress.com and I know you won't be disappointed. Here's a taste...

Eighteen years ago, a group of men killed Regan Miller's boyfriend and tried to kidnap her daughter, Kelsey. Since then they have lived in hiding, always vigilant and never getting close to anyone.

When Kelsey goes away to college, Regan finally begins to relax. She even starts to think she can have a real relationship, perhaps with her flirtatious neighbor, Tyler Sloane. Then Regan is attacked again.

Desperate to get to her daughter, Regan accepts Tyler's help—despite her suspicions about him. She knows nothing about Tyler but he knows a shocking amount about her past. Tyler can't tell her what he knows or who he works for, but he insists she can't face her enemies without him. Tired of living in fear, Regan is ready to take the offensive, with Tyler by her side. But is she relying too much on a man she can't trust—and falling for him, too?

Crustalogical

2011-02-24T21:03:00.002-05:00

I wrote crustalogical pages today! I have no idea what that means, but I do know it is a great number of letters which equals a great amount of pages :)

In other news, my child has a talent show tomorrow where she will be singing Jar of Hearts by Christina Perry, not to be confused with Katy Perry. Wish her luck in your thoughts if you get a moment and have a great night!

Misty

Birdy is the Wordy!

2011-02-23T22:11:00.002-05:00

That song always cracked me up. I was going to use it in its original form and say I wrote bird pages today, but then I hit on an idea, ran with it to the next page and no longer had bird pages, but birdy pages! YEEHAW! And that was only in the last hour since I spent the majority of the day on the couch being sick. UGH!

I'm off tomorrow so should have more than that to report. I love when I love a story. I'm just saying :)

Misty

Word of the day

2011-02-17T21:32:00.001-05:00

Today I wrote BEARDLESSNESSY pages and am extremely proud of myself. Now I only need to write BUTTERY more pages and I have met my personal goal for the week. Let's hear it for buttery pages!!!!

Misty :)

Still writing!

2011-02-13T10:57:00.005-05:00

And isn't that a lovely thing to be able to type without the NOT in between? I am really liking my story and that is half my battle, GI Joe.

Was running through some old emails , trying to clean out my inbox when I came across one that I had saved for a blogpost. It was an exchange between myself and my brilliant friend Natalie (I told her I would call her brilliant in the email, so I feel I must follow through!).

Anyway! The conversation went a little something like this (totally paraphrasing except where I'm not):

Me: I want to ass five pages to my manuscript today. Goal that needs done.

Natalie: Really? "Ass" five pages?

Me: LOL! Of course I suck at typing and really should have reread the email before I sent this. I meant ADD!

Natalie: No, you meant ass.

Me: ..... (kept getting three pages written when needed mucho more - at least to 5 a day)

Natalie - being even more brillianter than normal (actual email content!): You know, you keep getting three pages because you were going to ass five. I bet if you bitch five tomorrow, you'll actually write five instead of 3. (3 letters in ass vs. 5 letters in bitch)

Me (actual email content with some judicious editing): You are so very clever!!! I will bitch 5 pages tomorrow then I want to at least biotch 6 on Saturday! We could get truly creative with this. I might actually have to blog about it and tout your brilliance, Natalie!!!! I love it!

Natalie: LOL!

END SCENE

So there you have it! This was months ago, but I believe I will re-adopt the goal thing for pages instead of the words I've been basing things on. 4 pages (Jack pages!) sounds much better than 1000 words.

Off I go to write at least Fraggle pages today! Anybody else want to join in?

Misty

My Butt in My Chair

2011-01-24T21:42:00.002-05:00

You know, it is always so amazing to me. I have this incredible capacity to come up with reasons and excuses not to write. I can talk myself into or out of nearly anything. I have justifications and explanations out the wazoo. I'm creative like that.

And then one day, I tell myself, "Self," (and yes I do talk to myself out loud as if I was someone else!). Anyway, I say, "Self, you will get your butt in that chair for the next twenty minutes. You may not under any circumstances get up from that chair for twenty minutes even if your hair is on fire. The extinguisher is within reaching distance from the chair."

And I grumble and I buck but then I sit down in the chair and lo and behold, I write. I write and I write and then it's an hour later and I think why in the hell does this have to be such a struggle when these moments are golden?

Of course not all moments are golden and sometimes I sit there and stare off into space for twenty minutes, literally dancing in my seat waiting for the timer to go off like some kid in time-out. But today...well today was an I Heart Writing day. I hope tomorrow is too.

Misty

Great blog to check out!

2011-01-19T18:12:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone! My friend Alli is interviewing Jessica Anderson along with a slew of other award winning authors at her blog this week. Check it out at : http://noveladventurers.blogspot.com/

The Tooth of January

2011-01-02T18:51:00.003-05:00

My grandfather was very big on number and the funny things about them. Yesterday would have made him ecstatic. 1/1/11 was one of his favorites. We always watched the clock for it to turn to 11:11 because then you could make a wish. He had random facts stuffed in his noggin about various number and word things. I will be sharing some of them throughout the year. He has been gone for six years now and finally I'd liked to share some of him with the world. My unsung hero.

Number fact: There will not be another date on the calendar with all odd numbers until 1/1/3111. The last was 11/19/1999. I don't think I'll be around at that point :) Unless I let someone freeze dry my head and then reattach me to a very hot young bod years and years later!

Ta!
Misty

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T22:00:00.002-05:00

Hey there, party people! I hope everyone is recovered from hangovers and family-overloads and various other issues that jsut happen to coincide with the holidays in all their glory! :)

If you are on Facebook, I just wanted to let you know that I am now over there under Misty Simon. I think I might have posted once here about the FrontierVille addiction but I had not said how to find me :)

I was happy to usher out 2010 last night and welcome with open arms 2011. I hope this is a fabulous year for you and yours. I have plans to start a new path (or resume an old one, depending on how you look at it). We have several changes coming up this year and I look forward to them.

Bring it 2011!

Misty

I got nothing

2010-11-15T18:22:00.002-05:00

But I thought I should pop in since I had been doing a pretty good job of at least staying current. :) My streak of writing was interrupted with edits of a book I hope will be out soon. This is good, very good in fact, but it also was necessary to stop my new shiny and tackle the old tarnished that needs more shining :)

Had a great time this weekend at City Island. We went for a walk around the park thinking there was nothing going on. But lo and behold there was a freaking MARATHON going on! My paltry one hour walk with weights on my ankle was almost funny next to these people running 26.2 miles around and through Harrisburg - some of them in less than three hours! I told my mother we should sign up for next year and then we both almost fell over laughing. Not going to happen. But the walk felt good and movement is movement even if I'm not going to qualify for the Boston Marathon :)

Misty

Shiny New Broad Fiction

2010-10-25T18:35:00.002-05:00

I have a shiny new project and I am super excited for it. Wrote over 6000 words on it just yesterday. When it flows it flows, baby!

I am hereby calling this Broad Fiction and all other single title book ideas that I have will henceforth also be known as Broad Fiction, not women's fiction (though I assume I'll use that in a query letter - because Broad ficton might not be well known yet!), not Mainstream fiction with romantic elements, not a novel, or a literary journey. Oh no, not me.

So Broad fiction you say - Let me define it - Can be fiction that is broad in scope. But - I prefer:

FICTION FOR BROAD'S!!!!!!
Yeehaw!

Misty - very much a broad :)

Rejection

2010-10-18T18:04:00.003-05:00

Last week I got a rejection for a short story I had submitted. It was a fair rejection and I appreciated the time that the editor took to send me a personal message regarding why it didn't work for them. She also told me she sees potential in my work and would look forward to another submission. That is all fine and well and I do really mean that.

But sometimes you need to bolster yourself after a rejection. I know what you're saying, this is a business and she's not rejecting YOU. She's rejecting the manuscript. And maybe she had a bad day, or a fight with her significant other, or she had a rip in her panty hose, or she just got bitched out by her boss and THAT'S why she didn't see the brilliantness of my work.

I agree. It could be any one of those things. Or maybe she just didn't like it and it didn't resonate with her enough to want to look at it over and over during the next several months trying to edit and line edit and typo edit and go through galleys. Maybe she just didn't WANT it enough. And I assure you I want someone who WANTS my work, because I'll have to go through all that too.

Th point of this blog though is, what do you tell yourself to get through? I got this quote a couple days ago and it spoke to me...

"I discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, 'To hell with you.'"

~~~Saul Bellow

Or how about Stuart Smalley from SNL - "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and doggone it people like me." Paraphrased :)

Or maybe:
"If you're going through hell, keep going" - Winston Churchill

Maybe you subscribe to the burning of the rejection letter with incense and wicked thoughts in your heart :)

I'd like to know. Tell me what works for you and what makes you move past the feeling of let down when you thought you held something so tight and it slid through like sand.

Misty

P.S. I'm going to start chronicling some of my diabetes exploits. Today sucked as far as food goes since I just started eating the right things in the right amounts. Come back for more "What the hell did I just eat!" soon.

My Friend Flo

2010-10-11T17:37:00.003-05:00

Did you ever have a friend who challenged you? Who made you better than you are? Who made you think twice and then think again about your path? I have and last week marked the first year since her passing. I don't like to call it an anniversary since there is really not a lot to celebrate. But then I thought and I thought again and I thought once more. And maybe there is.

Flo came into my life during a writing challenge like NaNoWriMo which starts next month. In fact it was Oct 15th of 2004 when a big bunch of people decided they wanted the NaNo experience and the interaction but not the restriction of starting something totally new. We had deadlines, real and imagined, we had published and pre-published. We had those who were almost done and those who were starting out and didn't want to wait until Nov. 1st. So i took the reins (shocking, huh?) and started a group called Month To Write on Yahoo. We set goals. I was a cheerleader and a drill sergeant and whatever else anyone needed to get the fricking work DONE! Some feared me :) We came up with phrases to get us going. Most noteworthy BDB but I'm not going to explain that here :)

And then we got writing. We sweated, we swore. We accomplished a ton of work. And when the month was done, some people started to drift off and on to other things. The month was up, we'd done what we set out to do and it was time. But for others, we hung around and kept writing. And then a few more found other paths and went their own direction. We ended up with a core group of seven of us.

Sometimes we would go months without really posting anything then someone would pop on to say hi and the back and forth was fast and furious. And then life would intrude. And the cycle would begin again. Things got steadier and we all started getting to really know each other as people not just writers. We shared pregnancies, births, miscarriages, moves, deaths of parents and set backs. We cheered when someone got a contract/agent/new release. We sighed and commiserated when rejection came or something we thought we held tight in our hands dissolved like sugar in a glass of warm water. Some of us left only to come back again. But we were cohesive and those who left always came back :)

And there was Flo Moyer who had written as Florence Moyer and Hayley Gardner and was starting her career for the third time as Florence Case. She gave me my first ever quote to be put on the front of Poison Ivy. She was a mentor, a friend, always there with some quirky piece of information or a quote or an anecdote. She sent me emails on writing and listened to me bitch. I read her work and critiqued for her, cried in joy when she got a contract with Love Inspired Suspense and the second time too. Was honored when she put me and the other girly whirlies in her dedication.

I loved her and love her still.

But she went to be with God last September and it was one of the bleakest days of my life, to know that that spirit, that generosity was now out of my reach. But was it? I think of her often. I can hear her say I can do this just get my butt in the chair. And the girly whirlies and I were talking about her the other day, about sending her family a card. And I thought about how much she was hurting before she passed on. And I thought about how we pass around a writing muse named Larry sometimes. And I wrote "... I miss her too and wish she were here but i bet she and Larry are having a grand old time where she no longer hurts except if she's been laughing too hard."

May you laugh long and hard, Flo, and never feel pain again. I'll see you up there and join right in the joke.

Misty

Renn Faire fun!

2010-10-10T08:35:00.002-05:00

If you have never been to the Renaissance Faire and you live in PA or the surrounding states, I highly recommend you go. Where else can you be insulted or cajoled by people sitting on top of walls? Have the queen acknowledge you and have peasants genuflect when you walk by in your costume? I didn't dress up this year but I have before. And it was fun.

This year though it was all about the jeans and the sneakers. Though I did wear a peasant blouse I bought from a Fairy Festival a few years ago and put on my Celtic knot necklace :)

Anyhoo! we watched a circus and a magic show and a joust, a human chess game, jugglers and a guy on really tall stilts that had old time white leather baby shoes on the bottom. I got to step over fake drunks sprawled in the middle of the road and warn people away from the frisky guy playing his ukulele on the wall by Ms. Cluckie's Hen House.

Really. Don't miss it :) It was a wonderful "gathering day"* for this author who is feeling a little unraveled right now. I have thought recently that my brain was in danger of leaking out of my ear. But then Saturday happened and the following seemed more possible - I'm signing up for NaNo and have a 50/50 starting up in my chapter. And my writing goal for this month is to finish this damn book. I needed a gthering day and it feels like it stoked my fire for getting back to the writing and shored up the leak in the brain. Which is always good :)

Have a good day!
Misty

*gathering day is a term courtesy of Jane Yolen and found in the book Take Joy: A Book For Writers - another thing I highly recommend to get your brain back where it belongs or at least keep in mostly intact!

New Blog worth checking out!

2010-10-06T14:20:00.002-05:00

Hi! I have the privilege of being friends with one of the women starting this great new blog and wanted to post the link for anyone interested. Here's their blurb :)

"Welcome to Novel Adventurers, the blog that celebrates the great cultural diversity of our planet. We are four suspense novelists whose books and stories are set in locations around the world, from Turkey, Iran, and South America to Russia, India, and New York. In the coming weeks and months, join us for lively discussions of the cross-cultural adventures and misadventures that inspire our books. We will showcase our favorite travel destinations and review international movies, books, and plays. And don't miss Fridays, when we invite guest bloggers to tell us about their own journeys off the beaten path."

And here is the link. I hope you'll go check out my friend Alli and her cohorts :)

http://noveladventurers.blogspot.com

Have fun and tell her I sent you!

Misty

Facebook is a funny thing

2010-09-22T18:01:00.002-05:00

I have to laugh about facebook. I actually have people who are asking to be my friends that I have not seen or heard from since Junior High and it is a blast! SO cool to see people all grown up, to see some of them have their JH pics on there pages and I can say, LOL I knew you when! And now I am also connecting with some of the people I had to leave behind when we moved here from CA. I haven't used it much to talk to everyone since I have been playing way too much FrontierVille, but it's cool to be able to see everyone or have a name pop up in my inbox that I haven't seen or heard in forever.

I also got to see my nieces and nephews and inlaws online and chat for the first time in a long time. All very cool! Now if I could just dedicate myself to my writing the way I dedicated myself to feeding the damn chickens and ox in my new town, I should be a go!

Misty

Baby, I'm LIVE!

2010-09-12T17:39:00.002-05:00

Okay, I've had a kid and so I know what it feels like to hold new life that came from you for the first time. And this isn't quite like that, but it's freaking close!!!!!

I just jumped over to bigfishgames.com where I buy games (all the time - don't tell my husband) and lo and behold THERE IS ROYAL TROUBLE!!!! OMG OMG OMG! So very exciting to see it on an official gaming site. With "hilarious characters" in the pitch and all :) I hope you'll go check it out. I am so very excited to have been a part of this and to see it all come together so awesomely! YEEHAW!

Horrorfind Recap

2010-09-07T19:43:00.004-05:00

So I went to Horrorfind weekend in Gettysburg this last weekend with my husband and while horror is not my usual thing, I will say that I had a great time. There were many things there that I just did not get (AT ALL! like the cross with the skeleton and barbed wire that gets hung on your wall, or the movie called Human Centipede!) but there were many more that I loved. I am SO going to write a horror novel. Seriously! It will be fantastic and gross and damaging :) Heehee!

One thing I totally got while there was talking with other authors at their tables where they were hawking their books. Spent some time with a guy named Stephen Anthony who is making a go of it through self-publishing. I was wearing my Rejection Builds Character t-shirt and he said, "Let me guess, you're a writer" LOL! Nothing like bonding :) Oh, and THEN we bonded over the fact that he has his book cover on his arm as a tattoo and I have mine on my back - pics are on the internet for those who haven't seen mine :)

His picture is below but first lets talk about the book I bought from him. It's dark, it's angsty, it scared the bejesus out of me with a few stories (yikes on the reindeer and Mr. Jolly!). But there were several that I absolutely loved and I highly recommend picking up your very own copy of COSM - a collection of 16 short stories. He was fun and funny (which you know I love) and we had a good time yakking about writing and various other stuff. And I even got him to do a cheesy smile pic with me. He was going to go for serious and scary but you know how persuasive I can be! Huge thanks to Stephen for his book which kept me up really late and then followed me into my nightmares. You should buy the book, people. You want to buy the book. You must buy the book...

Or Paulie might come and get you (have to read Cosm to figure out what I mean!)

Here we are! Like two freaks on dress down prom night. But where in the hell is my corsage?!?!?

ROYAL TROUBLE is coming!

2010-09-02T16:33:00.003-05:00

Okay so I said I would let you know if I heard about when things were popping for Royal Trouble and they're going off like popcorn in a tin kettle!

The game - a casual downloadable game with adventure, romance and hidden object qualities - will be released from the OrchidGames.com website on Saturday (yeeee!)! I highly recommend it even with my bias :)

Here is a link to the first preview/review that I've seen:
http://www.gamezebo.com/download-games/royal-trouble/preview

And here's the snippet from that site that applies to what I did! I wrote the dialogue (just as a refresher for you) after the story was given to me by one of the creators. They think I'm funny! Go figure :)

"...writing seems to be one of Royal Trouble's strong points as well. Even though we could only spend a limited amount of time with our preview demo, there were plenty of funny moments and light-hearted dialog that moved ahead at a good clip."

And once you play all the way through the game (after you buy it of course) then you will see my name under the Dialogue heading. This is so much fun!

Misty - who is happy dancing to her own tune

Booksigning Pics!

2010-09-02T06:11:00.009-05:00

Natalie, who is lovely, just reminded me that I never did post those pics of the book signing. So here you go!

This is the view of our table from the side.

Me and the lovely Natalie Damschroder.

The Byron Sandwich! Me, Byron and Vicki Smith.

Me, Heather (event planner extraordinaire!) and Vicki Smith.

Me and my Stormtrooper buddies from the 501st!

Me misbehaving! I know, it's just not possible, but they were misinformed. It wasn't me!

Okay, so what I did was actually worse :) And I got me some Stormtrooper action to top it all off!

And that's it! Thanks so much to Natalie for the pictures!

Misty

Back to School!

2010-08-30T17:48:00.002-05:00

I find myself completely amazed that today is the first day of school. Where oh where did the summer go? We went to the pool. we went to the beach for three days, we did little day trips and sleepovers, but it doesn't feel like a whole summer passed already. Weird. I wonder if this means that I going to be saying - Why is it Christmas already?!?! anytime soon!

So I have to laugh at myself because I haven't been submitting much material lately and now I have three submissions out. LOL! Feels good though! But the waiting...OY!

Since this is a catch up post, I must also make mention of the fact that the casual hidden object game, Royal Trouble, that I talked about in a previous post is now essentially DONE! Woo! I'm waiting to find out a release date for those who have expressed interest. I'll let you know as soon as I do.

Last but not least, I hope to have a more productive year in the rest of 2010 than the first part of it. I'm busy writing my little heart out after several personal setbacks. Here's to the remainder of 2010 ROCKING THE CASBAH!!!!

Misty

Funny thing happened on the way to the store today...

2010-08-14T20:47:00.004-05:00

Okay, so today we had an awesome, fantastic book signing with 34 total authors at the Lebanon Valley Mall. I LURVE Heather who is the coordinator because she rocks and Borders is lucky to have her! So are we! Vicky B, Smith, Megan and Natalie and I were all next to each other naturally :) We talked, we laughed, everyone else took pictures because I forgot the camera my husband had packed for me in the car. Totally typical.

A rumor hit my little ears earlier this week that there were going to be Storm Troopers at the event. I was excited but nothing compared to my husband who immediately asked if they were part of the 501st. I'm with you, I said "HUH?!!?!" Then good nerd that my lovely husband is he pulled up a site about them and how they are the elite of the dress up crowd for Storm Troopers. Color me impressed. So of course today when the Storm Troopers showed up I couldn't resist asking if they were part of the 501st and the answer was a thumbs up! My husband was so jealous. LOL! Got my pic taken with them multiple times, once on my knees under arrest and another in handcuffs :) Apparently I was wanted on at least three planets! Waiting to share those since I am relying on Natalie to get them to me off her camera (remember mine was in the car - useless!). Will post as soon as I can.

Not so funny, but lovely and so incredibly brave, I met a man named Dashaun "Jiwe" Morris. Lord above I bought his book War of the Bloods in My Veins. I'm not going to get into too much history because this isn't the place, but I have experience from my growing up years that is going to make this doubly hard to read, but it has already captured me and I'm only 8 pages in. He writes slang so fluidly and so brutally honest. I know I'm going to cry but meeting him was an honor and a privilege.

And to top it all off on a fun and funny note, which is what we're all about here at Big Writer! I met Byron Morrison, who is a lovely lovely man and I swear (poor thing) my male counterpart. We were very naughty together and had a blast. Insta friend! You have to check out his stuff :) Very dark and yet he had me rolling on the floor (almost, though I did rub his head). I will link when I find one.

Also, one more and then....20% of the proceeds went to fund the library in the area and we made more than last year. Can't beat that with a stick! All in all a good day and reminds me why I became an author in the first place! I love talking to people about writing and encouraging them to read. And I have at least 8 new readers with my 11 books I sold today. WOOT!

Misty

Progress is gooooooood

2010-06-24T20:56:00.002-05:00

for the liver.

Seriously though, I managed to cut an entire chapter of the manuscript today and start somewhere completely new. I wrote two new pages which I haven't done in a while now with everything we've had going on. I won't say I'm back in the groove since that would be a lie for what my groove used to be. And yet I feel hopeful because I might be nearing the groove :) That's always a good thing.

Grooveless=bad
Nearly groovy=good

So good it is :)

Have a good night.

Misty

Writing, Playing and Figuring Stuff out

2010-06-22T18:35:00.003-05:00

So HELLO! How's everyone doing? Summer is finally upon us and I am feeling good. I have a book that needs to be seriously edited/rewritten/revised that hopefully will come out from Draumr Publishing in the next six or seven months called Strings Attached. It's part of a series that Rida Allen started with The Crooner. Good stuff that! My hero is a guitar player which is a career I've never written before. And I think my heroine has just become an electrician instead of a magazine writer. LOL!

I'm also working on writing the text/story for an online game. If you've never played a hidden object game I suggest you go at least play a free trial over at bigfishgames.com or Spin Top Games. Both great places with a lot of fantastic games. So back to my part. Orchid Games, who has put out several beautiful Solitaire games asked me to help them write a hidden object game that has really turned into an adventure game. The experience has been very cool! I never have had to depend on only dialogue to convey the story and let me tell you it is HARD to make a romance happen when you primarily have them talking to each other through letters and tubes! I can't wait for it to come out! We're almost done :)

I also have a submission out with a newer digital publisher that I am waiting for word on, though I don't expect to hear anything until August on that.

And finally, I am targeting Superromance with my next new project. This line at Harlequin has been my favorite for years! I flirted with submitting to them before and have received several very positive rejections from them over the years but I've never submitted consistently to them. I hope to do so with my current project. I love the stories they put out and would be proud to call myself one of their authors! There I said it, and now that it is in black and white I feel like I've solidified it for myself.

Phew! That was a long post after a long absence. :) If you've read this blog at all, you'll know that I hate to say I'm going to do this more often because I always end up disappointing myself. But I will say I'm going to try now that I have some really positive stuff going on and hoping to make more positives happen.

Take care,
Misty

New Book Out!

2010-03-10T21:13:00.002-05:00

No, not one of mine, though I hope to have something new soon :) But a friend of mine, Victoria Allen, has a new release today called Aces and Eights and I highly encourage you to run on over to Captiva Press and get one of your very own. It's a short, erotic romance tale and looks fascinating! So speed mouse, don't click through websites and get yourself a slice of Victoria Allen!

Since I have never mastered the whole embedding links thing so it has a cute little HERE that you can click, here's the whole link:
http://placidapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=18_20&products_id=8

Until later :)
Misty

Snow, snow and more SNOW!

2010-02-16T17:32:00.003-05:00

Well, I haven't been here though I have no excuse. Moving on...

I am totally addicted to hidden object games. I just had to put that out there. Something about finding all the hidden things and especially when they are mixed with adventure games. LOVE! And now I get to help write one!!!! Woot! It will hopefully be coming out through Orchid Games. I highly recommend going over to orchidgames.com and picking up one of their solitaire games. THEY ROCK! But be prepared to get sucked in and do nothing else. I'm just warning you...

On the writing front, there isn't much right now other than I am writing every day, even when I don't really want to. Which is good for me. Grows character!

Ta for now! Off to more writing where I wrangle my muse and hog tie him while I type out my five pages.

Misty

Back from the Be-ach!

2010-02-01T20:36:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I went to the beach in Delaware because one of my awesome friends bought a beach house and let us take a test run. I am in love and can't wait to go back. I do not have a cool time line break down of what I was doing there like Natalie. Nor do I have a rambling one like Vicki Smith (or Wiki Smit if you have listened to our impromptu ridiculousness on Megan's Twitter or Facebook about microwaves). I do not have a thorough one like Vicky Burkholder either. But that doesn't mean I didn't have a blast :)

It was wonderful and so very relaxing. Lots of writing done. Since I am trying something new I decided in my normal all or nothing fashion to try it completely new and took out my tablet and chisel. Just kidding, but I am writing this book long hand which on the one hand is like OMG it's going to take FOREVER and I can type much faster, and on the other hand it is very freeing and has forced me to think a little bit more before moving on to the next word or phrase. If I had a third hand, I would say it was fun (and I'd be a favorite at stag parties!).

I wrote about 55 hand written pages in a cool composition notebook like the ones I used to use in elementary school for english stuff - generously donated by Wiki Smit since it was the one fricking tool I did not bring. I had my laptop and AlphaSmart and yet still wrote it out long hand. But it's working. And honestly that's all that matters to me :)

I will say that it snowed between 7 and 10 inches while we were there. Seriously! Snowing on the beach. It was awesome. The whole thing was.

Misty

Week 2 and dreaming

2010-01-25T20:17:00.003-05:00

Actually - and surprisingly - I'm doing very well on my habitforge stuff. It's amazing what having to say no and start over again will do to my psyche :)

Have you ever had a dream that seems so real you wake up and have to take a moment to reorient yourself to the real world? I had one the other night and shot straight up in bed, absolutely convinced that my husband had divorced me and we had a second child that I could not for the life of me find. It was very disconcerting, not to mention that it started my whole day off poorly. I wonder why they seem so real and what they are all about. Needless to say, my husband is not planning on getting rid of me (not that I know of LOL! He doesn't even know our bank account number without asking me, I think he'd have a hard time functioning) and we are definitely not having any more children, but it was really strange. Have you ever dreamed of something so real it hurts to wake up?

I have a book that details what certain dreams mean but I've never been able to effectively use it. I either can't remember what exactly happened or nothing specific stands out to be interpreted. I don't think I've ever dreamed of falling, there are no specific animals in my dreams, or watches, or dark trees, or anything like that. But I do have recurring dreams of certains rooms or houses I've never been in. I always own them and they look either Victorian or Medieval to me :) I have no idea.

I took a class once and have read many books that suggest thinking about a problem in your story before you go to bed and you will often dream about the answer, your subconscious doing the work for you while you are asleep. Inevitably I have some freaky dream that involves chickens running around or being in high school again though I'm my current age while every one else is the age they were then.

So that doesn't exactly work :) Is there anything you do to control your dreams?

Just wondering :)

Misty

Making and Breaking Habits

2010-01-18T18:42:00.003-05:00

I am not one for making resolutions, especially since whenever I have in the past I've always broken them. But a new site HabitForge.com has come to my attention through my friend Natalie and it's too good to pass up. You set a goal, you have to do it for 21 days to make it a habit. Every day they email you to see if you've made your goal. If yes, you move on to the next day with a congrats. If not, you are back at square one, buddy, so soddy cho ta matty.

So I'm on there. I've done my goals every darn day and it rocks!!! Plus, the added embarrassment of having other people see that I have failed is enough to spark me :)

Try it out!

Misty

Back from winter vacation

2010-01-11T20:34:00.002-05:00

Here I am! Had a great set of holidays and my birthday in there somewhere. My father actually bought me a book. He has never that I know of bought my birthday present, that is for my mom to do or for me to just get moolah, but he bought me a book MONTHS AGO! I am muy impressed and can't wait to dig in. It's called The Haunting of America. Go DAD!

Just finished a fabulous book by Susan Gourley. Her first fantasy and I am completely and utterly hooked on the series already. Come on, Sue, hurry up with the next one!

I honestly do not know why I ever say I am kicking around any certain idea or the genre I want to write it in. Inevitably (and invariably, for that matter) the very next thing I do is change my mind and feel like an idiot. So I'm not saying this time. Suffice it say that I've changed my mind and am tinkering with something else.

Misty

I've got nothing

2009-12-14T21:19:00.002-05:00

I opened this page thinking I would come up with something brilliant to talk about since it is Monday and all things should be brilliant on Monday and it is blog day. But honestly, I have nothing. I feel weird having nothing and think I should post something interesting, but it's just not coming to me. But I don't want to not post (love those double negatives) because then I might get out of this lovely habit I am trying to instill in myself. Hmmm.

In other news, I am toying with some new book ideas. I have one book (the one I wrote for NaNo) that is being put aside right now because it essentially has to be rewritten from scratch and I'm too close to it right now to do it justice and still keep all my hair on my head. So in the meantime I am kicking around an idea that's part paranormal, part cozy, part romance kind of. It's something to do during the chaos of the holidays that will perhaps take my mind off of the other book.

It's my hope that in doing something completely different I will rejuice myself for later. We shall see!

Misty

Gearing up for Holiday stuff

2009-12-08T13:51:00.002-05:00

Holy cow is my calendar full! And not always with the good fun stuff like parties where the food is great :) My daughter is in dance and has 2 performances on Sat so we have a very very busy week on the lead up to that. But I have to share really quick that I got to sit in on her tap class last night and GOD! do I love the sound of tapping!!! I don't know why but it resonates inside me somehow and now she is doing real tapping instead of the beginner stuff and it is awesome. I always get chills when the shows have tapping and all that stomping noise just runs through me. (So yes there is another weird fact about me. I should run over and put that on my website)

On the publishing front, I'm having a really strange series of ah-ha moments that have to do with going back to the basics. And it is wonderful though it is tinged with a certain "Don't I already know this? And why do I always forget it?"

Misty

Happy Holidays!

2009-11-30T21:00:00.002-05:00

So here we are, Thanksgiving is over (how did that happen?!?!) and all the rest of those special days are coming up. I can't believe it is whipping by so damn fast. I'm done Christmas shopping. I can't believe it myself, but it's true. And we are fully decorated as of today. How much do I love having a kid who is old enough to really help now? SOOOOOOOO Much! And I finished a book for the first time this year. Woo-hoo!!! I succeeded at NaNo, so I have that to be thankful for and friends and family that rock!

I hope you and yours had a great Thanksgiving if you celebrate and that you enjoy to the fullest of your heart the upcoming holidays, be they Hanukkah, the Solstice, Kwanzaa, Christmas or others I am not aware of.

Misty

Music Galore

2009-11-23T18:30:00.002-05:00

So I was talking to two friends Megan Hart and Victoria Smith (and yes I am name dropping!) about the music thing from the last post. Now Megan has some songs that are can show up on nearly every book she writes and frequently has the play lists available to individual books on her own blog. She has songs that she listens to depending on the mood and tone of the book or even the scene she is putting together. And Vicki pretty much said the same thing. She did mention also that she has a new song she loves by Dave Matthews and Kenny Chesney called "I'm Alive" that she has begun playing before she gets to work on projects because it is uplifting and can get her started.

Back with Megan, she said the music changes with the different books depending on the tone and even the time setting (don't quote me on that one as I wasn't taking notes). Vicki has certain songs that appear in each of her works. I believe they each use iPods but maybe you want to go to their blogs and ask them :)

I personally end up playing one CD at a time because I have a boom box in my office that only holds one CD. I've been too lazy to bring my iPod in here and I like being able to control what I'm listening to. But I do feel that certain songs can bring down the writing or the mood while writing. I currently have been listening to Jason Manns who is pretty upbeat. And then I put in Perfect Circle. Totally different keys and words and thoughts and I found myself not as bouncy while writing.

What do you listen to and how does it affect what you're doing?

Misty

PS. Can I please just say that no music station should be playing 24 hour Christmas music yet?!?!?! It's not even Thanksgiving people!

Working to music

2009-11-16T16:18:00.003-05:00

Now I know a lot of people do this and I find it interesting that these two forms of art go so well together. A while ago I had to have absolute quiet to write. If there was music on I started singing to it or more than once I would type the words I was hearing without thinking about it. Made for some interesting manuscripts with words just in there with no purpose. I scratched my head more than once in the revision process.

So all was quiet on the writing front. I would work without any sound. At some point though, I began writing with a movie on. I'd have Lord of the Rings going in the back or maybe King Arthur with Clive Owen (Holy hell can you say YUMMY!). And the movie would have absolutely nothing to do with my writing. Since I normally write funny stories of the fluffy variety, I wasn't looking for inspiration or battle tactics. But I liked dark movies and would purposely put one on that I had seen a million times so that I wouldn't get distracted.

Which then moved me to write with TV on in the background. Because I had seen LoR a trillion times at that point and even if it didn't distract me, it was starting to annoy me something fierce. With the TV I'd pop on the History Channel which I love and watch snippets between typing furiously. It worked for a while.

But then I went to my annual retreat. There are no TVs there and I'd have to watch a movie on my laptop which makes it pretty impossible to type. I guess I could have brought the mini-DVD player. But then my husband gave me his iPod.

I thought it was useless to upload all my songs because, my word!, did it take forever! And I have hundreds of CDs. I always loved music, grew up with it on ALL THE TIME, so I have pretty eclectic taste and a desire to have everything with me. Because really, what if I decide in the middle of a scene that I must hear The Legendary Pink Dots and I didn't put it on the iPod? But here came the husband again, pushing me out of the way and telling me he would upload everything.

I arrived at the retreat thinking I would listen a little then get to work. But lo and behold, I started typing and bopping out at the same time. I let the tracks run for the most part on auto shuffle (excpet that the hubby left some Burl Ives and Disney's Snow White music on there which were quickly skipped). I worked faster and harder with the music on.

All this to say that just because something doesn't work right now doesn't mean it won't later. Or that what works now might need to be revisited at a later time. It's all about trying stuff out and not closing your mind to the possibilities.

Misty

PS I had a much longer post on this but I'm going to wait til next Monday to explore what some people call soundtracks to their books. Tune in next week!

It's Monday, baby!

2009-11-09T18:39:00.002-05:00

So I said a long time ago that I was going to blog on Monday night, even wrote it in a friend's notebook to please kick me if I didn't and yet here I am never blogging on Monday. I'd say weird, but it obviously isn't :)

So it's Monday and I'm blogging. Blogging, blogging, blogging. Oh, you wanted me to actually say something witty or insightful? Something with meaning? Hmmm. What a concept :)

I'll try.

I'm just trying to get myself back in the game now in a lot of ways. I have not been writing as I used to now that I have a day job. I haven't been submitting the way I used to because I haven't been writing because I have a day job. I haven't been getting requests and sending additional material out because I haven't been submitting because...well, you get the idea.

To put an end to this THE HOUSE JACK BUILT scenario, I joined NaNoWriMo and have been consistently writing every night but Wednesday since I started. About 2K a day. Not too shabby. And maybe it will give me a book I can send out because I submitted because I wrote despite having to have a day job :)

Misty

I Heart Jason Manns

2009-10-22T19:46:00.003-05:00

Woo-hoo 3 months! Can you say slacker? Because I can.

But enough with the guilt. I come to you today with very exciting news! I got to see Jason Manns LIVE! For the second time! In Philly!

Why, you ask, is this worthy of so many !!! Well, go check him out and then tell me that you didn't squee. He is one of the most generous, giving, kind people I have ever met. He has a beautiful voice that is rich and pure. And though he said he never formally took guitar lessons, he can certainly accompany himself to the point where you wouldn't even guess. He sings of life and love and journeys and want and so many other true and heartfelt things. His lyrics have a poignant-ness to them that draws you right in. I got a chance to speak with him after the show and he was such a nice guy. Not to mention very tolerant of some of the nonsense that went on during the show.

And to top it all off I got to see him with Natalie, Megan and Vicki. We had a blast of a road trip, ate a wonderful dinner (that I of course was picky while ordering) and some much deserved play time. Can't beat that with a stick!

As part of the evening (because I can never have an outing without some form of ridiculousness) I got approached by two men seconds after getting out of the car. They wanted change. I can't resist. Gave them $0.57. Then 30 seconds after that got another request, filled that one too.

And to cherry the whole night was the guy standing outside talking on his cell about how he didn't read a contract and now he found out he wasn't old enough to do something and he had even bought a bright pink button-down shirt to match his drink. This of course intrigued me. So every time I got a chance to go outside (whenever I wouldn't be missing Jason playing), I went back out in hopes pink shirt would be there. And he was! From what I could piece together, it seems he had entered some kind of drink mixing contest. He had won the chance to mix at the bar, but then found out in the contract (that he had let his friend read who hadn't caught this fact) that he was not old enough to actually do this. He was f*ing pissed as he said into his phone a number of times while pacing the sidewalk out front and smoking a cigarette. He was especially pissed because he had bought a shirt that matched his drink. Jaysus! He even wanted to go so far as to tell another man inside the bar (who was old enough) that he should roll up his sleeves to mix his drink because it would make him more marketable! WTF? LOL! Anyway, drink boy didn't get to compete though he definitely felt he was the most marketable of the bunch, though I don't understand what makes you marketable while mixing some new fangled Cosmo or whatever. What exactly are you marketing and for what purpose?

Anyway, so I go away for three months and come pour all this out. Just had to share though. Talk to you soon. And go buy something by Jason Manns. You will not be disappointed. I promise.

And since I suck at linking and doing other savvy stuff, go to Nat, Megan or Vicki's page through the side bar and check out the video. Awesemo!

Misty

FOR LOVE AND CHEESECAKE!!!

2009-06-29T17:45:00.004-05:00

Is here!! Or is here on the virtual bookshelf and my copies will arive probably tomrorrow or Wednesday. OMG I am so excited I could run and dance and laugh and scream. Actually I've done that already :) Will do again as soon as the books arrive!

You can go to Draumr's purchase page for the book buy clicking the cover to the right. It is also available at retail stores like B&N or online at Amazon.

Here's the blurb:

On the menu tonight: Fricasseed Waiter

It’s a recipe for disaster... Take one incurable womanizer Mix in one pregnant mistress and one delusional fiancee Add a dash of a chef gone haywire Stir in one newly assertive shop assistant Toss with an amateur sleuth who doesn't want to get involved and the love of her life who is in up to the tips of his spiky hair And garnish with a couple of detectives who are not amused

Serves one crazy, homicidal maniac

So Ivy is back and she's stellar, except for trying to kick both a nagging cold and the bad habit of always being in the middle of every Martha's Point murder. Unfortunately, they're both kicking her as she is harangued by her favorite chef to find out who torched his restaurant and one of his waiters along with it.

Ivy knows what she should do, but when has that ever stopped her from wading in? Only this time she could very well sacrifice everything FOR LOVE AND CHEESECAKE.

**********

Go, buy, enjoy :) I hope that everyone has enjoyed this series and a hugely sincere thank you for those who have been with me from the beginning. I feel like my baby is moving out of the house.

Misty

Who Inspires You?

2009-06-08T18:53:00.002-05:00

All right so first I have to say that anyone who can pull themselves away from the edge and thrive inspires me. Anyone who can pick themselves up out of a crappy life and make a new, fulfilling one for themselves also inspires me.

But since this is primarily a writing blog, I want to know who inspires you to write? I am inspired by people like Debbie Macomber who fought hard and long through rejections and dyslexia and using her grocery money for stamps for submissions to get where she is now. I'm inspired by women who do NOT give up. I'm inspired by Stephen King who eventually had to use a railroad spike to pin all his rejections to the wall because there were so many.

But another kind of inspiration is the kind that gets you reading. Or gets you writing in the first place. For me it was DAVID EDDINGS, who passed away last week. The world has lost a fine fine fantasy writer. He was 77 when he died on June 2 and he will be greatly missed. I had never heard of him and ended up picking up the first in his Belgariad Series at a used book store in high school. At the time I had NO MONEY so I got the rest from the library. But as soon as I did have money :) I went and bought them all. All the series, all the books. I read the one series every single year without fail. And every year I marvel at the way he brought everything together from book one to book thirteen (a codex of world building). He had humor and love and peril in every book. He had characters you wanted to hate but couldn't and those you should hate but you felt sorry for them and the choices they made. Unlovable characters you rooted for and perfect characters that you wanted to squash with your heel. He and his wife Leigh, who passed in 2007, got this girl to read when it had gone by the wayside in high school. And I devoured those books, still do. I would recommend them for nearly any age. Some of the jokes or scenarios might be over some kids' heads, but the enjoyment is still there.

David Eddings and his wife Leigh will always truly be my favorite authors. Their characters had depth and their sense of humor inspired me to use my own. Rest in peace David where you are probaby hanging out on Riva with Eriond.

Misty

The week is starting off right!

2009-06-01T21:05:00.003-05:00

Just found out that my files for my new Ivy, For Love and Cheesecake, went to the printer today! Woo-hoo! It's all moving along so fantastically.

There is an interview up on Megan Hart's Wordpress blog with us talking about writing and various other fun things :) Check it out if you have a little time. Of course I totally said the wrong title for the book in the interview. Jeez! That is typical of me, so those who know me won't be surprised :)

Have a great week!

Misty

First Misty Monday

2009-05-25T20:09:00.002-05:00

And that title is so blah as to be yech! LOL! Won't be using that again :)

Anyway, here it is Monday and here I am. First I want to take a second to thank all the men and women who have fought, continue to fight, and will fight for this country and for our freedom. I'm not going to get all preachy but I will say that there are very brave men and women out there who put their lives on the line and in the line of fire for us every day. We shouldn't have to have a day to remember and thank them (since every day that can be done) but since we do, please take a moment. My grandfather was in the service for many years and was in three wars. I will always honor his memory and those of other soldiers who have died in the ultimate sacrifice or were prepared to do that and were spared. Thank you.

I had a fun time this weekend, laughing and hanging with friends outside all day yesterday. Today went to see Night at the Museum Battle for the Smithsonian which was funny for the most part :) And now it is the part of the night where I am relaxing. I got through all the pages I had written at the retreat last weekend and now I am doing new writing. My goal for this month was to write 35K words. I have 11K to go before June 6th to hit it. Wish me luck.

Misty

Website back up and running

2009-05-23T10:24:00.002-05:00

It has been a long and arduous road, but finally my website is back up and running! Yeehaw! Check it out at www.mistysimon.com or you can click the link on the right hand side of this page.

In other news, the last Ivy is done, galleries in, art finished and gorgeous, other little details that Rida so lovingly puts into every book done! And now it's just a waiting game for the release date which I'm told should be in June.

I'm thrilled! I have also found several new and recent reviews for Ivy books. Thanks to any and all readers!!!

The plan is to post on Misty Mondays from here on out. Can I stick with it? Does horse poop stink?

That might not be the best question since it might depend on your preferences.

Anyway, that's the plan and soon I will have blurb info and cover art to share for the Ivy book. Lots to blog about, I hope :)

Misty

Ten Inch Hero

2009-03-29T10:43:00.002-05:00

Something worth blogging about!!! I love love LOVED this movie. Watched it with some friends last night and WOW! I laughed, I cried, I fell even more in love with Jensen Ackles. The man is hot in a kilt.

This is the exact kind of story I wish I could tell and sell. It had everything and so much more, twists, turns, happy endings and laughs. YAY! Huge thanks to Natalie for recommending it!!!

In writing news, I turned in Ivy, had to do edits, turned it in again and am now waiting for the final verdict :) I'm also almost halfway through writing my anthology story that will hopefully come out this year. Also toying with the idea of changing some of my manuscripts and starting again with those that went unsold.

That's all from here for right now. I'm not going to jinx myself by saying I will post on certain days or at certain times because that never works. But if you think of me, pop on over :) I'll also be working on my website so it no longer says coming soon but has arrived.

Misty

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year too!

2008-12-31T22:45:00.002-05:00

So much happiness! I hope you get your piece :) And your peace.

Having the child home during the vacation break has been trying but I love her so no real sweat off my nose. Plus, she pretty much occupies herself. Can't beat that.

Had my birthday this week and it was fun. The child put together a whole party for me which included pin the tail on the donkey, guess who drew this picture, and tell me what the letters of HAPPY BIRTHDAY stand for. Let's just say that the letters stood for nothing I would have thought of and the game involved the child's sleeping mask even though we all knew what letters were being used. :) It was a blast though and I really appreciated how she worked on it all day so I would have a "real" birthday party. She's the best :)

Best Christmas present this year - very cool fairy headphones for the iPod.

The year is winding down and I'm winding down with it for right now. Happy New Year to all in a little over an hour. May 2009 bring you everything you wish for. I'm simply hoping for a better year than the last :)

Misty

Thanksgiving a day early!

2008-11-26T08:35:00.002-05:00

I wanted to post this today because tomorrow will probably be insane and I don't want to forget it :)

Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you to all the readers, reviewers, writing buddies, critique partners and friends I have made through this business.

And in the writing vein I will add this additional thanks...I finished IVY!!! I typed THE END last night after four intense days where I accumulated 16,000 words to type the end. I have edits to do (boy howdy!) but it is at least all there!

So those are a few of my thanksgiving moments. Have any you want to share?

Enjoy your turkey day tomorrow :)

Misty

Great Review and good progress

2008-11-22T20:09:00.002-05:00

Hi again!

Just wanted to take a moment to say YAY! because I got a fantastic 5 heart review from the Romance Studio for my newest book A Mother's Heart. Yeehaw!!! You can read the review here:
http://theromancestudio.com/reviews/reviews/mothersheartsimon.htm
Thank you so much, Brenda Talley!

This was one of the very first books I ever wrote and it morphed so many times I couldn't even tell you what the original story was :) But I really wanted to tell a story of a woman who thought that the motherly instinct was genetic and that if her mother hadn't had it then surely she couldn't be trusted with kids. It's available in e-book right now from The Wild Rose Press and I'm ordering copies next week of the print book which is available publicly on Dec 6.

In other news I have made strides on the latest Ivy and have approximately 15K words left to write before I can start revisions/rewriting. YES! Seriously never thought I would get to this point some days.

I have to credit a great book for giving me the kick in the rear I really needed. This book is one I highly recommend no matter what stage of your writing career you are in. It's called No Plot? No Problem by Chris Baty, the man who started NaNoWriMo. For some reason I forget sometimes that the first draft is not the one that should be ready to send out as soon as you type THE END. I worry so much about making the first draft good that I don't let myself make mistakes. This book begs you to make them and it is an awesome tool to have around when you are feeling the slump.

I don't do NaNoWriMo simply because I'm almost always in the middle of a book come Nov and you have to start absolutely fresh. But next year I might just try to schedule myself so I can compete. What a rush!

Talk to you later,
Misty

Here I am again

2008-11-20T09:35:00.002-05:00

Wow, look at that, twice in one week. That might be a record of some sort :)

So, today I'm working on the rest of the last Ivy book. This is the fifth and final book because I don't want her and her escapades to get boring because I have too many books in the series. Have you ever read a series faithfully but at one point you wondered why you were still reading? Wondered when the books started being a little bit boring? Or too far out there?

I don't want to be that author. I don't want people to stop reading because I don't have any other way for the character to grow. But I do want people to still be excited when a new Ivy comes out and I'd like to go out high on that wave.

So I'm writing, struggling with it and hating it some days, but I'm writing it and I hope to be finished by the end of the month. Keep me honest :)

Misty

Return from the Dead

2008-11-18T08:25:00.002-05:00

LOL! I wasn't really dead, obviously. But it felt like it for a while. Honestly, I've just been struggling with quite a few things and haven't made time to get over here. I've had the time, I just haven't used it to blog. So no excuses. I will try to be more consistent and come up with some topics that aren't going to bore the snot out of anyone who is still reading :)

Misty

The books are in the building!

2008-07-09T07:35:00.003-05:00

And may I just say how totally thrilled I am!!!! I love the smell of them, the look of them, the air that brushes by my face when I fan the pages! Woo-hoooooo!!!! I hope I always feel this way about my new books. Then again this is book eight that I've received and the enthusiasm hasn't waned at all so I think it's a pretty safe bet that it's not going anywhere!

If you are interested in having a book signed, let me know :)

Misty

Super Cool Release Day!!!!

2008-07-07T19:36:00.002-05:00

Woo-hoo!!! Frame and Fortune, the next installment in the Ivy Morris Mysteries, is out today!!!! Run, don't walk to find out exactly what Ivy is up to these days. I can promise a lot of fun and mystery :)

Here's the blurb!

There's something in the freezer...and it's not Chunky Monkey ice cream.

Actually, the something is a someone. Ivy Morris' best friend, Bella Landry, is in serious trouble because of the surprise she finds in the unused walk-in freezer at her hair dressing shop. Calling amateur sleuth Ivy is a no-brainer for Bella, especially because it's Ivy or no one since she can't trust her policeman boyfriend (he's the one who cuffed her and booked her--and not in a sexy kinda way).

But Ivy might finally be in over her head this time, with Bella's ex, the Bastard, showing up in town wanting to help and only making things worse in the process. Who is he secretly calling? And does it have anything to do with the person who's running around town stealing picture frames but leaving the pictures?

Ivy's got a convoluted mess on her hands involving secret lives, secret agendas, and a lot of money she can't explain. To top it all off, the decidedly delicious Ben Fallon has turned gourmet cook and chief bottle washer in her house...all while slowly taking over a few of Ivy's drawers.

What's a girl to do? Well, when you're Ivy Morris, you wade on in and hope you stay alive long enough to taste that Chicken Parmesan Ben has cooking in the kitchen.

ENJOY!!! I'm having the time of my life!

Misty :)

I'm not even going to go there

2008-05-29T19:51:00.002-05:00

So here I am, yet again. I thought I'd pop on and tell a little bit about what has been going on lately. I went on retreat and finally finished my latest book named Looting the Librarian. I am in edits ode right now and this will be the most extensive set of editing without actually rewriting the thing that I have ever done. Wish me luck!

I went to see Eddie Izzard in Pittsburgh! Woo-hoo!!!! I adore him so very very much! I have a keychain with his beautimuss mug on it and am in love :) Don't tell my husband. LOL.

I've been busy getting together the info for my next release - A NEW IVY!!!! She will be out soon and this one is called FRAME AND FORTUNE. I will share cover art as soon as I get it since I absolutely adore the covers I get for these stories :)

And that's about it for right now other than the fact that school is almost out and I can't believe where the year has gone already. Whew!

Talk to you later!
Misty

Part 4: The Brotherhood of the Tear Away Pants

2008-04-09T09:11:00.002-05:00

Why am I always last?!?!?! It's because I procrastinate...I know this well. So, here we are days after the event but I still get a little high when I think about the night Megan, Natalie, Vicki and I went to an all make review with Megan's sister Whitney who was ultra awesome to have gotten us tickets! Weeeee!

I think the other ladies (okay ladies!) have done the ranting I would have done and have done, so I'm just going to talk about the silly. Can we say cheesy? Now I know that the ladies go there to have some fun and I had a blast but some of the stuff they did was more funny than sexy. And if I had to hear one more time about buying a t-shirt...Well, it wouldn't have been pretty. I kept yelling "PANTS OFF!" and yet they never really did take their pants off. Hmmm. Although, the cowboy dance was absolutely to die for. And the part where I got slid across the chests of several men to stand at the correct place in our group picture will forever stay with me. The bar guy Nat was talking about thought I wanted to squeeze his butt though really I was just freaking him behind his back. LOL :)

So that was my night out with the ladies (okay ladies!) and I got a squishy hug which you can see on my new slide show at myspace. Enjoy. I did.

Misty

Looking at my Reviews

2008-03-26T07:36:00.002-05:00

So this might sound egotistical or even just strange, but that is nothing new here :) I've had a lot of stuff going on personally and am finding that writing recently is like pulling teeth - love that phrase! I have the will, I have the story, but actually sitting down and writing it is just not happening. That's not the strange part. What I do about it might be considered odd. I go back over my positive reviews from previous books and boost myself. I know, I know, there's nothing wrong with that. But sometimes I feel like I'm being too sefl-indulgent. The thing is, though, it has helped. There are people out there who have read my work and not vomited!!! LOL!

***Pity party officially over***

The point of this is that it is not easy to write. Some days it flows right out of your head and onto the page like divine inspiration. Those are the awesome days. But I think the true strength of a writer is shown when it is like pulling teeth but you still get in there with your pliers and go to work.

Have a good day! I'm planning on it :)

Misty

Sufficiently Candied

2008-03-25T07:52:00.002-05:00

OY VEY!!!! I love me some peanut butter eggs but I am sugared and chocolated out! I didn't know it was possible but this year there was just too much candy!!!

In my news: I am almost done with my new book with The Wild Rose Press. I'm having a blast on Romance Book Junction (which I think I might have mixed up the words in a previous post. If you couldn't get there, try, try again). I'm also in the process of writing my next book-a funny paranormal. I'm about a third of the way through so I have to get back into gear.

Had a great easter and I hope everyone else did, too. For those who celebrate Passover or another holiday at this time that I'm not aware of, I hope you enjoyed that too. I'm so happy it is SPRING!!!!

Misty

Party all the time!

2008-03-15T06:44:00.002-05:00

That song used to abslutely kill me...My girl wants to party all the time, party all the time, party all the tii-iime. LOL. I won't sing anymore just in case I make that song loop in your mind all day :)

So today I will be partying most of the day. Lots of relatives are either already here or on their way. Oy, family! I don't plan on writing today but am firmly entrenched in the ms so shouldn't have any trouble getting back into it come Monday. I'm having a blast with this story and hope it is as amusing as *I* think it is ;)

I just joined a new site called Romance Junction Books through invitation from my friend Alayne Adams. It's a great social site for romance readers and writers. I recommend going over and checking it out at www.romancebookjunction.ning.com Some great authors over there and it looks like the creator Victoria Purling has many exciting things in store coming up. So hop on over, check out yours truly and see what's the haps. I don't think yuo'll be disappointed. :)

We'll chat more tomorrow!

Misty

Catch-up

2008-03-14T11:31:00.002-05:00

Lots of good things going on. My youngest brother just moved into the area and we've been having a good time hanging out. My daughter's birthday is coming up, so I'm getting ready for that. And this weekend is a huge family weekend. Whee!

I turned in the next Ivy book to Draumr and hear that I will have the same cover artist ehich is AWESOME!!! I love Patricia Storms. If you haven't seen her work other than my covers, you really should go check her out.

I'm working on my next manuscript. Did over 3000 words yesterday and think I have the flow going again - total relief. I hope to have it done about mid-April, then editing, then who knows? But I will be going on a writing retreat in May and want to write something new there, so that's my goal. Yippee!

Also, I JUST CONTRACTED ANOTHER BOOK!!! Woo-Hooo!!! It's called A Mother's Heart and you can see the art for it on the side bar. I think the artist did a fantastic job with the concept. Love the dog! I have to label it as Coming Soon because I don't know the exact release date yet, but I'll post when I do. It will be an ebook first so you can have the convenience of buying it at 3 in the morning if that's when your credit card calls to you :) Or your reading necessities. I'll post blurb and stuff later, but if you want to see more on it, you can go to The Wild Rose Press site at www.thewildrosepress.com

Have fun and we'll talk more later!

Misty

CHAT TONIGHT!!!!!

2008-02-26T18:00:00.002-05:00

I could have sworn I had posted this when it originally came up but now I can't find the post. I'm having some technical issues over here so I'm not sure what happened. I may have written it and not posted it but that would be weird!

Anyway! The authors of The Shape of Love - Victoria, Vicky and me (the Un-Vicky!) are having a chat tonight over at our publishers website forum area. Stop on by and be prepared for a fun time! You can find us at http://www.draumrpublishing.com/forums/index.php?&act=Reg&CODE=00 to register then head on into the forums! We'll be there from 8 to 10 EST so come over for some fun!

Misty

So Many Cool Things!

2008-02-13T20:26:00.002-05:00

Hello out there! I had to take a break for a family crisis and I apologize for that. Unfortunately this crisis will be somewhat of a longterm thing so I figured I'd better get back on the ball with my life in the meantime. So here I am. Happy to see you!

I had two book signings recently. Both went fantastical! The first was at The Paperback Exchange. I sold a ton of books and got to hang with two local authors Susan Kelley and Alayne Adams. Great time! Then I got my new anthology in the mail and spent some time with the two V's to sign before we had another book signing at a great store called One Good Woman. Phenomenal! Great coffee, great gifts, great atmosphere. Sold even more books and got to hang with Vicky, Victoria and Alayne again! YAY!!!! I'm going to put the cover up here as soon as I remember how the heck to do it :)

Then today was day two of no school because of weather but I did manage to get back into editing Ivy and it's flowing right along. So good times, good times! What have you all been up to?

Misty

Here I am!!!

2008-01-16T22:24:00.001-05:00

Did you think I forgot about you? No way!!! One of my goals this year is to be consistent with the whole blogging thing. So here I am. I had a good time in VA. I love hanging with my girls. We went to dinner and sang in the car and so many other fun things. I think I'm going to carve out time this summer to spend a week down there. My aunt lives in a house surrounded by a creek, a bay and a river. It is so peaceful and I even wrote down there! YAY!

And speaking of writing, here are some numbers for you if you are interested. :) Saturday - took the day off, first one since Jan 3rd. Sunday - 2007. Monday - 4075. Tuesday - 4112. And today - 2091! So yay! again because I have consistently (love it!) hit my goal every day. Woot!!!!

New news!!! I just got a peek at the cover for THE SHAPE OF LOVE and I cannot wait for it to come out. It is gorgeous and I will share as soon as I have permission!!!

Misty - should be smacked for excessive !!!!!!!! use ;)

Cya soon!

2008-01-11T22:33:00.000-05:00

I'm going to VA tomorrow morning and I won't be on the internet at all until Sunday night again. So farewell until then :) Have a good weekend and behave yourselves.

Before I go I want to just check in with the word count challenge. I hit 2007 words today so I have kept at a minimum of 2000 words a day since the 3rd. And I'm pretty excited about the story now. I'm taking my laptop with me this weekend so we'll see if I manage to get anything done.

Wish me luck!

Misty

On track

2008-01-10T21:51:00.000-05:00

YAY!!! I hit 3000 words today and the strange thing is that it was 3000 words exactly and I hadn't checked word count since 2273. How bizarre is that? But I have met or exceeded my goal for eight days now and am feeling good. I am over halfway done with the book and feeling good about that too. I love getting halfway at least because it feels more like downhill from there. I still have many plot twisties and nasties but I also have a firm idea of how it will all work out and come together nicely. YAY, again!!!

Tomorrow I will hit at least 2000. I have a social engagement during the day (I love the way that sounds LOL) and then I will write in the evening. Then Saturday I am going to be in Virginia, right where I set the fictional town on Martha's Point so I will do a little research and rejuvenate myself in the writing by taking in the scenery and putting it on the page. I plan on writing while I'm down there but we will see. I have two days of writing vacation coming to me, but I'd prefer not to use them.

Ta-ta for now!

Misty

Feeling Good

2008-01-09T22:14:00.000-05:00

So I'm keeping up with this goal of mine for the month of January. Every day since the third (which I know is not that long, but I'm still proud) I have hit at least 2000 words. I'm sticking to it and feeling happy. I think I explained before that it is possible to take 2 days off a week without penalties but I really don't plan on taking advantage of that. In fact tomorrow I plan on boosting myself to at least 3000 words for the day. We shall see!

Tonight is going to be a short one but at least I was here trying to stick to my consistent word :)

Have a good night!
Misty

Sunday, Sunday

2008-01-06T16:42:00.000-05:00

Had a quiet day with the dh and daughter. Went out to lunch and cleaned the house. Still deciding if I'm going to do any writing today. I'm allowed to take off two days a week during this month of writing and today might just be one of them :) We'll see.

So while the laundry is running and the other peeps in my house are playing video games, I'm doing contest judging. I'm pretty happy with this batch of entries. I've been judging contests for approximately six years now and let me tell you that some of them have been horrendous. I can take misspellings and a lack of commas, but I've had entries where the sentences make absolutely no sense at all and the thoughts are all jumbled. Or the POV switches every other sentence, sometimes in the middle of the sentence. I understand that for some people this is the first writing they've ever done and I try to judge accordingly, but it can be hard to slog through. But as I said, this batch is very pleasant and I am giving some really high marks. Good luck to the entrants :) THe last thing I will say on this right now is READ YOUR MANUSCRIPT OUT LOUD TO YOURSELF. Your brain will supply the words that you THINK should be there. You have less of a chance of making a rudimentary mistake if you read it out loud. If your tongue is tripping over the sentence perhaps you should rewrite it.

Misty

Meeting Day!

2008-01-05T17:40:00.000-05:00

I know I've said it before but I'll say it again - I love my local writer's group through RWA. We have such a blast when we are together and I love the energy. Today we had to sit in a very very very small room for all our members, but it was still fun :)

And then I came home and met my goal while my parents to my kid to the local Farm show. She loves to watch the baby ducks slide and apparently there were some huge bunnies there!

So I'm two for two days on over 2K a day and I have about 36K words to go, maybe more. Wish me luck!

Misty

YAY!!!

2008-01-04T20:23:00.000-05:00

I'm back up and running!!! My wonderful, wonderful, fantabulous husband fixed my laptop and I am back into the land of writing! I started with my goal today at my friend Alfie CWABy book in a month. The goal for me is 2K a day. You only have to hit the goal five days a week but I plan on doing all 7 to get the next Ivy done. I hit my goal at about 4 this afternoon then pulled together all the stuff I need for my writer's meeting tomorrow. I still have time though tonight and I might write again. We shall see :)

I'm really looking forward to getting this project done and moving on to the next thing. I adore writing Ivys but it can be nice to be done for the year before the next one ;) I have no idea what my next project will be. It will depend heavily on what's going on with my writing. But let's take it one step at a time LOL. I'm getting ahead of myself already!

On the new book front too, I heard from the publisher Rida today and hopefully we will have the book sometime after the beginning of Feb so keep your eyes peeled for future updates.

Have a great evening!

Misty

Squat

2008-01-03T16:34:00.000-05:00

As in I have done squat today :( My laptop is on the blink. I can type for a while but then if I close it to go do something like take a break, when I get back the whole screen is white. It whites out too while I'm typing and then I lose everything I've written. So now I'm scared to write any more words for fear I will lose it all. VERY FRUSTRATING!!! So I may end up doing my story on the Alpha Smart or my desktop though I am loathe to use either one. Sigh.

In better news I got my haircut and I really like it. I also signed up for a class with Lori Wilde whom I love. She's teaching high concept writing. I took her Romance Writing class through ed2go and ended up buying her high concept book and working through it myself. But now she is teaching a class to go through the book and I'd like to see if I got the lessons right.

I might also be participating in a write a book in a month challenge again this month. So lots going on and hopefully good news will follow behind all my hard work :)

Misty

Updated Website

2008-01-02T11:53:00.000-05:00

This year is all about goals. My first goal has been accomplished and I'm pleased as punch :) I updated my website at www.mistysimon.com. It still has a few bugs with a template issue, but I'm pleased. I realized when I was in there that I hadn't updated since July of 2006. Oops! That is way too long to go without any updates. I didn't even have info on Something Old, Something Dead on there or Reignited. Bad Misty!!! No biscuits again for me! LOL.

Today, I'm getting my hair cut and starting on rereading the Harry Potter books from 1 through 7. I've never done that before, read straight through so I'll be interested to see if I catch everything this time around.

And I'll be writing this afternoon. I started out with a good 1,000 words yesterday and am aiming for 3K a day going forward. Hopefully I can get back up to speed since it's been a while.

Wish me luck!

Misty