Making a change.

Happy Monday morning to you all.  It was a crazy weekend around here, but then again, when isn't it a crazy weekend around here?  LOL.

Before I start rambling and then have to delete it,  I'd like to announce that I've officially started the moving of this blog off of Blogger and over to the website.  I've already copied the last three entries over there, along with NetworkBlogs and Feedburner.  Therefore, this will be the last entry on this Blogger page and all the new stuff will be over at http://www.christiesilvers.com/apps/blog/

If you're following here on Blogger, feel free to delete this site from your following list and add the link above.  I've already tested it and know that it works.  :)

I look forward to seeing you there!

Saturday.

Happy Saturday morning to everyone.  What will you be up to this weekend?  I have laundry to tend to today, but other than that there won't be too much else on the agenda.  We'll be winging it.

It was suppose to rain yesterday, but ended up quite a lovely day.  There was some thunder after dark last night, yet not a drop of rain fell.  It didn't really matter much though, as I had so much to do yesterday that didn't involve relaxing outside.

I went with Tim and FIL to take care of all the will mess.  We had to hang out at probate court for a while.  After all was said and done, FIL surprised me by instructing me that I needed to start looking for a new van because...

He's going to buy my one!!  *Shock*  I assured him that he didn't have to do such a thing, but he insisted that yes, he will be doing it and I need to start looking.  LOL!  It won't be brand new--since I don't buy brand new no matter who's paying the bill--but it will be newer than my '97 Dodge Caravan.

Now to just find something I like well enough to put down someone else's money on.  ;-)  I'll start the search next week while the kids are in school.  Father-in-law is an absolute doll.  He always has been.  *Love*

In the meantime, I'm still looking for a buyer on the old van.  I put out a new ad and have already gotten some phone calls.  However, they came in during the time we were in court yesterday and now I've gotta listen to their voicemail messages again and call them back.  Maybe I can get the van sold before a new one arrives.  :-)

Well, now I'm off to start laundry.  I typed this while sitting out on the front porch.  The temperature is perfect right now, but here in Georgia that won't last long. By lunchtime it'll be too hot to stay out for long.  Therefore, I'm going to throw in a load of laundry and then come back out to make my phone calls.

I hope you all have a lovely day.  :-)

Writing outside.

Yay, it's Friday!  Unfortunately, it's suppose to be a rainy Friday.  Tim is on his way home right now, and after he gets a shower we have to go out with his dad.  Father-in-law has decided to update his will now that Mother-in-law is gone, and Tim needs to go with him to the lawyer's office to sign the papers to be beneficiary.  FIL knows that it'll be me taking care of all that mess when the time comes though.  LOL.

After all that is finished, I'll bring Tim back home to crash in bed for the day.  Poor guy is exhausted from his first week of night shift in over five years.  But, he'll get into the swing of things soon enough.

Since today is suppose to be rainy, I'm glad that I spent most of yesterday outside.  It was cool and comfy until well into the afternoon--when it became stiflingly hot--so I took the 5 year old and Rex the Super Pup outside.  They played while I sat in the shade and worked.  It was quite relaxing and productive all at the same time.

Sitting out in the brightness of a beautiful spring day made me think about the normality of night scenes in urban fantasy.  And in that, Ive decided that we need more battles in the daylight--unless a vampire is required for the scene, obviously.  Therefore, the last battle scene in Kill Me Next Week will be in the sunshine.  Yep, sunshine can be helpful when you need to kill an enemy, don't you think?

Obviously I'm not to the last battle scene in the story yet, but that's not to say I don't already know how it's going to play out.  As a matter of fact, I started writing A Midnight Infatuation knowing the ending and having to create a world where the characters could reach that ending.  Same goes for Time For Death.  The other two, well, not so much.  You never know how a story is going to play out until you begin it.

Speaking of characters, I guess I better get going.  Tim is about to pull up in the driveway and a very busy Friday is about to begin.  I hope you have a nice one.  :-)




*Photo: A beautiful blue, spring sky as viewed from my front porch yesterday.*

Aliens, Vampires & Conferences

Morning, morning.  This has been an interesting week for me.  There's the new schedule of Tim working nights to start with.  However, more than that, I've been on an "old" tv show kick.

Tuesday night I discovered that Netflix has all three seasons of Farscape in Instant Play.  Woohoo!  I love Farscape!  I used that opportunity to share my favorite aliens with the teenager.  She has such similar taste in tv, movies, and music with me that I knew she'd enjoy it.  And I was right!

Then, Wednesday I found all the Buffy the Vampire Slayer shows in Instant Play too!  Yay!  I had to share those with the teenager too.  She was ecstatic when I showed them to her.  So much so that she was begging to stay up half an hour past her bedtime to watch another episode.  I, of course, agreed.  ;-)

Now that we've covered the aliens and vampires...

This week I'm attending a publishing conference.  Luckily, it's an online conference and I don't have to worry about the cash or time away from the family for it.  One of these days I will find the time and money to go to one of the big New York conferences.  Maybe after the kids are grown...

Oh, have you noticed the new banner over there? ---->

If you're a writer and would like to join in, click on the banner and it'll take you where you need to go to lean all about it and to sign up for yourself.  We should all be proud of our writing no matter what your skill level and chosen topic.  :-)

Here at home this morning I'm ready for a few hours of writing.  There is no laundry to wash, the kitchen is already clean, the living room has been vacuumed, and the 5 year old is being quite cooperative.  Here's hoping I can knock out a few hundred words in Kill Me Next Week before she tires of being cooperative and starts wanting to play cards.  If the day is sunny I may just take the laptop outside and work while she plays with the puppies.

Well, I'm off.  Tim is about to arrive home from work and he may need to be tucked into bed after his shower.  ;-)

Survival!

Yep, I'm here.  I survived my first night alone.  It took a while to get to sleep, but I didn't wake up too much more than I usually do.  I did have a bout of tears from the 5 year old when her bedtime rolled around because she didn't get to kiss her daddy good-night.  Poor little one.

Tim came home pretty exhausted this morning, but we turned the bedroom into a cave by blocking all sunlight.  He should sleep pretty well today.  It'll take some time, but he'll get use to the night shift again.

Last night the winner of my Time For Death giveaway shared that she'd received the goodies.  Here's what she had to say about it.   Yay, I won – Thank you Christie!  From Karlyn

I enjoy giving goodies to deserving fans.  I'm always thinking about new ways to accomplish just that.  However, due to time constraints and family responsibilities, I can only do it a few times a year.  I don't know when the next one will be, but there WILL be a next one.  :-)

Today I'm working on laundry.  It's not pleasant, but it has to be done.  The kids have a tendency to let their hamper get over full before they bring it to me.  When that happens it takes a lot longer to finish it all.

While all the laundry is doing its thing, I'm going to work on a couple of articles to get the writing juices flowing and then I'll jump into Kill Me Next week.  Only two more weeks until school ends and I'll be able to do my best writing in the dark of night.  Darkness is much more conducive to writing about supernatural beings.  Oh, and sex scenes flow faster in the night.  ;-)

Until then, I'll be working on small daylight scenes and editing. Every little bit helps to move the process forward, even if only at a snail's pace.

Okay, I'm off.  Have a great Hump Day!

Sparkles & Fur

Happy Tuesday morning.  It's a cloudy, windy day here.

I've already had a busy day and it's not even 9 a.m. yet.  Most of my work has been online, but then again, that is where my work world lives.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.  I quite enjoy the online world and all the wonderful people I've met over the years.

Some of those people have been over on the Facebook Fan Page entertaining me with their ideas on sparkling vampires and hairy werewolves. 

It appears that more people would prefer being lovers with a vampire than a werewolf, with the #1 reason being that werewolves are too hairy.  Oh, and dog allergies.  LOL!  Though some prefer werewolves due to their higher body temperature, and you know how us women always have frozen feet.  ;-)

Then I threw out the question of whether or not real vampires sparkle.  That one was funny!  According to the answers, the majority don't agree with sparkling vampires.  One friend made the point that it would be quite difficult to sneak up on someone for a feed if you sparkled.  A very good point indeed. 

It's a lot of fun hearing other people's thoughts on the subjects I love.

I suppose I must be going now.  Tim starts night work tonight & has gone back to bed for a few hours.  I have more work to get done before he wakes up, pick-up time gets here, the kids come home, and I have to make a quick dinner before dashing off to Science Night at the elementary school.  Eek!  Where do the days go?

Have a good one!

Errands never stop.

Monday, Monday, Monday.  Time to start another new week.  Are you awake yet?

Mother's Day was very nice.  My teenager was quite determined that I know how much she loves me.  After visiting FIL we came home and I was going to clean the kitchen.  She said, "No!" and she cleaned the kitchen herself.  Then when it came to dinnertime, Tim grilled steaks and the teenager made the baked potatoes.  While dinner was cooking, she then went to the little girls' room and made sure they cleaned it.  LOL!  She was very helpful and showing her sweet side.  Awww! 

You never know when the teenage attitude will sneak back in though.  You gotta take when you can get it.  ;-)

I have more errands to run today.  They never seem to end.  The school year is coming to an end and I go into crazy mode to get it all done before I have three kids tagging along. Once school is out, most of my daytime errands will involve fun things with the kids to keep them out of the house while Tim sleeps.

Today I have to go buy groceries.  That in itself will take up most of the morning.  This is my one big shopping trip for the month and it always takes a while.  The rest of the month will consist of small trips for staples.

I want to share the first Amazon review on Time For Death!  It was posted on May 1st, but I didn't see it until yesterday.  Stop by and check out what Sherie Anderson had to say in "Her best yet!"

It makes me happy when someone shares that they enjoy the books.  I'm guilty of this myself, but it's hard to get people to leave feedback for books on Amazon, so it's extra special when someone does.

Before I go, be sure to stop by the Facebook Fan Page.  We've been discussing werewolf movies, Supernatural, and romancing vampires and werewolves.  I love reading all the answers!  Some of them crack me up!

Okay, I'm off for today.  Time to head out and get things done.  Tim starts night shift this week and this will be the only day I'll have him awake in the daylight hours.  I better get as much out of him as I can.  LOL!

Have a great Monday.  :-)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful moms out there.  I hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable day, no matter what the day has in store for you.  :-)

My girls bought roses for me yesterday.  Three roses for each of my three kiddos.  Awww!

Yesterday we went with FIL to help him smooth out MIL's grave and check on the flowers.  We put some Mother's Day flowers on her grave too.  I do believe it will be a rough day for FIL, but hopefully our regular Sunday visit will help him. He loves to spend time with the girls. 

Tim and I had a great night out Friday.  We saw an early showing of Iron Man 2 and then went to Red Lobster for dinner.  It was quite nice & we both walked away stuffed.  I told you we'd get out of there cheap due to the free movie tickets and high dollar Red Lobster coupons, and we did!  After the coupons, I tossed a $20 on the table and that was that.  That included the tip too!

Talk about a cheap date.  Woohoo!  We even made it home in time for Tim to watch the Nascar race.  LOL.  Not bad at all.

Well, I better get off of here before all the kids wake up.  I have no idea what they have planned for the day, but hopefully it will include less arguing from them.  ;-)

Escaping...

Tim is home this morning.  Yesterday was his last day of day shift.  Starting next Tuesday he'll be working nights, and I'll have to learn to sleep alone for 3 days out of the week.  Luckily, once the kids are out of school I won't have to worry about going to bed at a decent hour in order to wake up at 6am.

Years ago when Tim was working nights, I discovered that my most favorite time of day to write was actually when he was at work and everyone in the house was fast asleep.  The silence of midnight is golden when you're trying to write a vampire sex scene.  I'd stay up and work until 2 a.m., knocking out 2-3 chapters a night, and then sleep until 9 a.m., when the kids would finally demand some sort of morning nourishment.  I loved those nights!

Unfortunately, my writing day yesterday wasn't as successful as I'd hoped it would be.  The 5yr old did not comprehend the part about me actually working.  What's funny is that most of her demands were for me to spell words for her.  When they're this age and interested in the spelling of words, well, you just gotta do it.

On the upside, I did manage to edit a few chapters, even if I couldn't find any quiet time to write a few chapters.  Editing sucks at times, but at other times it actually helps to keep you in the story.  Especially when you're not writing regularly and need to be reminded of what you wrote previously.

There are only three weeks of school left until I can get into late night writing.  THEN, the 5yr old will go to school with her sisters when September arrives.  YAY!  I love my time with them, but mommy needs her escapes on a regular basis.

Speaking of escapes...

Tonight is date night!  I'll be taking the girls over to my mom's as soon as they get out of school and then Tim and I are going out.  I have free movie tickets to go see Iron Man 2 and some high dollar discount coupon for dinner at Red Lobster afterwards.  We should be able to get away with spending less than $20 on dinner and a movie tonight.  Not bad in my book!

Before I go, I promised a picture of our freshly bathed puppies from last night before a couple of them headed off to new homes.  Unfortunately, the new owner of the white & brown puppy arrived hours before  was expecting.  I hadn't even thought about giving them baths yet when he showed up.  LOL.  Oh well, he simply got a head start on getting to know his new owner.

In the meantime, here are the other puppies after their bath.  The second couple did arrive and adopted the other boy pup.  Here's hoping both boys have long, happy lives.  :-)

Okay, I must be going now.  Time to get some housework done before the day gets away from me.  Have a great Friday and weekend ahead.  :-)

A day of freedom.

Thursdays are so close to the end of the week it's like a little bit of the weekend seeps in around the edges.  Today's Tim's last day of work for the week.  He's done well and is starting to settle into his new position.  I don't think it's a bad gig to be able to work three days a week and always have a four-day weekend.  Not bad at all.

I have absolutely no errands planned for today.  Not a single load of laundry needs to be washed either.  I have a full day of freedom to WRITE!  Some people make think I'm crazy considering that writing is my job.  What?  You don't like your job?  I love my job! 

Writing is freedom for me.  Freedom to do my own thing, create a new world, convince characters to do what I want them to do (though sometimes they have other plans).  Writing makes me happy, gleeful, creative, and at the end of a good writing day I'm relaxed and feeling like a new person.  So, today I'm looking forward to ending the day with a smile and feeling of accomplishment.

Now to make it happen!  :-)

Speaking of the end of the day...

I have some families coming this evening to take some lovely, cuddly puppies to their new forever homes.  Yay!  One gentleman is coming for the brown & white male, and the other couple wants the other male with the possibility of taking one of the females too.  If everything works out, 2-3 of our sweet babies will be going home with new owners.

After the kids are home from school we'll be giving all the pups a nice bath and brushing in preparation of meeting their new puppy parents.  It should be a fun moment for the kids and the pups.  I'll take a picture of all the clean, fluffy pups before anyone leaves and post it tomorrow.

That's it this morning. Time for me to go start my work day.  I have my Kill Me Next Week file open and waiting right behind this window.  I hear Liz telling me to get the f**k back to her story.  She's bored with waiting around.  ;-)

Have a great Thursday! Make it the best one you can.

Character Dictionary & Twitter Backgrounds.

Good morning everyone.  How has your week been?  I've had a good one.  Tim started his new job yesterday.  He's working days this week for training(even though it's a job he's done for 16yrs, lol) and then next week he'll be on night shift--which is what he was hired for.  So this week I'm enjoying not having to keep the 5yr old quiet while he's sleeping all day.

I was asked earlier what I would do with my hours all alone today.  I've already started filling them cooking, cleaning, errands, laundry, and book work.  Not only that, but I've found an acceptable home for one of the puppies, and another couple has shown interest in one of the others.  With them eating solids, we go through a 50lb bag of dog food VERY quickly.

Nonetheless, my days are always full whether Tim is home or not.  I'll just have less distractions while he's at work and be able to get more done in the hours I'm given.  :-)

Speaking of work, last week I put the finishing touches on the Character Dictionary update on the website.  You can now see all of the characters in Time For Death at one glance.  I started it as an interesting addition to the website and people liked it.  I plan to update it for each and every future book, as well.

Speaking of Time For Death,  was approached yesterday by a podcast host who wants to do a book review on Time For Death for his show.  Woohoo!  Well, actually he wanted to do A Birth at Dawn, but didn't realize it was part of a series.  Then I suggested he do Time For Death since it's the new book and needs the publicity.  He agreed and that was that. 

I'm excited as this will be the first time any of my stuff has been on a podcast, that I know of anyway.  LOL.  I'll be sure to post the podcast link when/if it goes live.  :-)  Fingers crossed that he likes it as much as others have.

Okay, one more thing before I go.  In my time on the 'net I've met lots of super great people.  I'm always talking to talented people who are the kindest, most interesting folks.  That's the fun on socializing online!

During last week's author chat and goodie bag giveaway I met another person.  She came to chat with me and then ended up being the winner of the goodie bag the next morning.  After that I roamed around her website and discovered her talent for creating Twitter backgrounds.  I'd been meaning to have someone make me one for a while now, but never got around to it.

So I ordered one from her!  And it turned out awesome!  Stop by my Twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/christiesilvers to check it out.  And if you want one of your own, stop by Karlyn's page at http://www.karlyns.com/ .  She does great work and is more affordable that I've seen anywhere for such quality.  Oh, and she does other things aside from the Twitter backgrounds too.  She's is very talented and such a nice lady.

All right, that's it from me this morning.  I have to go get to work before the hours slip away from me.  I gotta make the best use of the few hours I have before school is over.  The days seem to fly by lately.

Have a great Wednesday and Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Normality is subjective.

We woke up to wet and sogginess this morning.  It stormed all night, but has stopped at the moment.  Some may think that doesn't bode well for the new week ahead, but I'd rather have rain during the week than over the weekend.  And we did enjoy our dry weekend.  :-)

With no funerals, no book releases, no goodie giveaways, nothing special planned for this week, I'm hoping we'll be able to get back to normal around here.  However, as I tell people often, normality is subjective.  Everyone has their own "normal" and mine will have Tim going back to work tomorrow!

I have plans for this week that include a trip to the post office, lots of writing, and my regularly scheduled work-outs.  Throw in domestic chores, mommy duties, and errands, and well, my week is packed.  I enjoy a busy, productive week as long as it's within MY realm of normality.  The occasional surprise dinner invitation, trip, or gift are perfectly acceptable variations on my normal week though.

Sooo, I'm off to have some breakfast and get my day started.  Here's to everyone having their own normal week with only good surprises! 

And the winner is...

Last night's chat was a blast.  I had so much fun talking to everyone about all sorts of stuff.  It's fun talking to people in real-time that I know online.

I do believe this was my most successful release day and goodie giveaway.  Sales, both pre-orders and yesterday, were super nice and we had over 600 entries into the giveaway for last night. After all of that, I drew the name of one lucky winner first thing this morning.

Congratulations to Karlyn C.!  I hope you enjoy all the goodies.  :-)

I'm a happy author this morning and closing out a highly successful month.  April was a great one.  Here's to making May one, as well.

Now I'm off to mow the lawn before rain comes in.  It's petty dark and cloudy out there, but the yard needs it terribly.  Have a lovely weekend.