November 4, 2007

Things That Make You Want to Hide

Today El Guapo and I returned home from the gym to find that someone had vandalized our fence. Graffiti all over our fence and a little on our actual house. The police came and a report was filed (since sometimes these things are gang-related). We’ve just spent the last hour trying to get the paint off the fence (we’re taking a break to let it dry before we start again). But these are the things that make you just want to move into a cave away from people.

So… what makes you want to hide? What brings you out of the cave?

And how do you recommend getting spray paint off of a wood fence?

October 31, 2007

Winner, Winner, Winner!

Thanks to everyone who came and commented on the Everything Forbidden blog yesterday! The winner of a choice from my backlist is….

LadyDawgFan!

LDF, if you email me at jenna@jennapetersen.com and let me know which Jess Michaels book you want as a prize, I’ll mail it out to you this week!

October 30, 2007

What’s Forbidden? Just About Everything.

It’s been a busy little month for me. And now it’s all culminating in my second release in 30 days. Today, EVERYTHING FORBIDDEN hits shelves.

There are a lot of things that excite me about this book. I really love my hero and heroine, Ethan Hamon and Miranda Albright. I liked creating an innocent heroine, who also had some kind of handle on her own desire. A woman who sacrifices something for her family, but refuses to be a martyr. And then there is Ethan. He’s one of the hottest heroes I’ve ever written, I think. I mean, he’s steamy. LOL He really likes sex, but when it comes to Miranda, he’s lost.

But I think the thing that excited me most about EF is that it’s my first full-length erotic romance. I’ve been writing erotic romance since 2003, when I wrote my first novella, “Ancient Pleasures”. But I’ve always felt like the shorter novellas and short stories fit my voice best. But when Avon asked for a couple of full-length books, I took the challenge.

Now I just hope you like it.

So have you ever wanted something that was forbidden? Did you get it? Someone who posts a comment today will win a book from my Jess Michaels backlist (SECRETS 11, SECRETS 12 or PARLOR GAMES, your choice).

And scroll down to see the winner of Shana’s contest.

October 22, 2007

Inappropriate Rock and Roll Hand Gestures

About a month ago, El Guapo and I headed over to Peoria, IL to attend a concert. What concert did we go see? Why, The Pink Floyd Experience.

Okay, let me explain something. El Guapo loves Pink Floyd. And over time, he got me to the point where I loved Pink Floyd, too. Hearing Pink Floyd reminds me of lazy days in college before I moved to Seattle to be with him. I would come visit and hang out in his dorm room and we’d listen to Pink Floyd. “Comfortably Numb” is my favorite. So we have a Pink Floyd history, is what I’m saying.

The Pink Floyd Experience is a cover band. Pink Floyd isn’t exactly touring anymore (I had “High Hopes” after LiveAid a couple of years ago, but nothing came of it), so this is as good as it gets. And to be fair, they sound a lot like Pink Floyd. They have a David Gilmore guy and a Roger Waters guy who each sound remarkably like their person. And the back up band is excellent. So from an aural standpoint, it was a terrific experience.

But then there was the visual.

You see, Gilmore guy… he liked to wave his hands around. And point. And accentuate words by acting them out with his hands. I actually held my hand up to keep from seeing him during “Comfortably Numb” so that he wouldn’t ruin it for me.

I’ve been to several concerts, plus we have this awesome high def concert channel on our cable, so we watch concerts on our big screen, as well. And over the years, I have determined that there are some appropriate rock and roll hand gestures. Here are a few examples:

The Jesus Arm Spread – Think that poser from the Pearl Jam wannabe group, Creed. In almost every video, he stands on a mountaintop or stage or whatever and sort of leans back with his… um… Arms Wide Open. Cheesy, but it’s a rock and roll staple.

The Two Handed Microphone Grasp — This one is done by a real singer. Bono. It’s sometimes modified by adding a lean. So the singer stands further back and tips the microsoft while singing earnestly. Axyl Rose also made this move great.

The Turn Your Head and Cough — With this classic rock and roll move, the singer turns his head away from the mike and rocks out to the back up band. Usually there is head shaking.

The Get Real Close to the Guitar Player — The lead singer of the band pulls the mike off the stand and heads across the stage to stand near the guitarist and sing. A hair band staple.

The “Let’s Take It Down Now” — For ballads. Involves taking a seat on a high stool and maybe, just maybe, light caressing of the mike stand.

You see, all of these things are appropriate to a concert. They’re expected.

But the lead singer of The Pink Floyd Experience took it a bit too far. He pointed, people. Every time he said “you” (and with Pink FLoyd songs, there are lots of yous), he pointed at us in the audience. He pointed over his shoulder. He pantomimed actions in the songs. He… shudder… did this weird ‘flight attendent showing you the exits’ move.

It was very distracting.

Oh, by the way, I’m over at Dionne Galace’s blog today, as well, talking about the new HarperCollins author sites! Come by and give me your opinion for a chance to win prizes.

October 10, 2007

Lori Darling

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to my Mom on the phone and I got some news that wasn’t unexpected, but was sad. The little dog that I had picked out in 1990 had passed away, peacefully, after a stroke. She was nearly 20, bless her little heart, and had never realized she wasn’t a puppy anymore.

We named her Lorena, after the character from Larry McMurtry’s book LONESOME DOVE. The character was played by lovely Diane Lane. She was a whore who was looking for a way out of Texas. She hitched her star to undependable Jake Spoon before she was kidnapped by Indians and rescued by Gus McCray, the former Texas Ranger played with great aplume by Robert Duvall. The character was tough, but broken.

The dog was neither. Our older dog, Lady, always thought she was a left over puppy from the litter she had earlier that same summer and treated her that way. The two of them were great pals until Lady departed a few years ago. She was also great friends with my brother’s dog, Havok, who took turns knocking Lori over and tossing her a rubber ball, which they would pass back and forth with great gusto.

The cat just took out all her aggression on Lori. But Lori kept trying to be friends with the cat.

I remember her big, long-tongue kisses. Snake tongue. She could French kiss with the best of them. She would also occasionally let out a scream like a woman. Seriously. It was terrifying.

All in all, I remember her as a bouncy, sweet little dog who liked to lean on guests and never demanded much more than a few little pets on her soft, soft head. She lived a cushy little life there at my parents’ house and it was her time. Now that she is gone, there are no pets at all left over from my childhood. I suppose it’s just one way of life going on.

Did you have a favorite childhood pet?

September 25, 2007

Seduction Is Forever is Here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you ever visit my websites or my MySpace page, you might have noticed that for the past few months, I’ve had a countdown widget for Seduction Is Forever. Well, last night at midnight, it rolled down to the last minute and timed out. Because today, Seduction Is Forever is finally on the shelves!

What can I say about this book that all you regular visitors here and to my other sites don’t already know? I mean, you know it’s the third and final Lady Spy book. You know it’s about Emily, who is the most talented and wild member of my “Lady Spies” universe. If you read Desire Never Dies earlier this year, you probably also remember that Emily was shot in that book and nearly died.

What you might NOT know is that I was most excited about writing Emily from the moment I conceived the series. I knew her story had to be last, since her book is related to the uncovering of who the mysterious Lady M is and since I knew she would have to be seriously injured in the middle book to drive Ana into the field. As I wrote the first two book (From London With Love and Desire Never Dies) I became even more enamored with tough, street smart, incredibly talented Emily.

And then I started her book and she completely terrified me! Her character had been so built up in the earlier books that I worried the entire time I worked. I needed to keep her toughness, but give her some softness that maybe we hadn’t seen from her before. I needed to give her the perfect hero, one who could match with her strength, but not be run over by her. I needed to resolve all those pesky questions that had gone throughout the entire series, but I also needed to make sure that her story stood on its own.

Lots of pressure, most of it self-made.

In the end, I’m so excited for all of you to read this book. Emily was a joy to write, as was her hero, Grant Ashbury, who is honestly just as tough as she is. With just as much heart. I hope their story touches you. Go pick it up and let me know!

September 23, 2007

Chapter 5 of “You Tell Me the Story” is Up!!

Just wanted to give a quick head’s up that the 5th chapter of “A Woman Scorned” is up (along with some other site updates). So come on by, read the chapter and vote for what you think should happen in Chapter 6! It’s the LAST chance to vote for this story, so if you’ve put it off, now is the time!

http://www.jennapetersen.com

And be sure to scroll down and see Margo’s post about Life Expectancy!

September 10, 2007

Bionic Eyes Update

In a few hours, I’ll be heading over to my very favorite eye doctor’s office for my one month check up. And I figured that since there was so much talk before my surgery about my Lasik and all that I’d give you an update.

It’s fabulous being able to see. The last time I went I was a solid 20-20, so I’m very interested to see what my exam says today. Here are some things I like and some things I’m having trouble getting used to about no longer wearing glasses:

Sunglasses — Sunglasses are so cool! How did I not realize this! It’s sunny out, there’s glare, I just don’t feel like letting the world see my tired eyes… SUNGLASSES! I have four pairs now. Here I am modeling three:

Night vision — I don’t mean being able to see in that weird greenish tint, I mean actually being able to see things at night! Like the clock. Or the lump on the floor that is the cat. This comes with disadvantages, though. I’m pretty sensitive to light when it comes to getting to sleep (always have been), so now that the clock and the hall light or the lights outside are clear rather than soft and blurry, I find that sometimes I have to turn the clock away to fall asleep. ‘Cause those crystal clear numbers are so freakin’ bright!!

Steam — The other day my friend and I were driving home from our retreat and we stopped to get something. I had been running the air conditioning in the car so it was cool. We stepped outside to find it hot and muggy. Her glasses immediately steamed up. It took everything in me not to do that Nelson (from the Simpsons) “Haha!”. It was so awesome NOT to have to wipe my glasses off!

Not having glasses — Seems weird to list not having glasses as a disadvantage to not having glasses, but it’s true. I’ve been so used to having glasses for so long (25 years) that I still try to take them off, push them up, search around for them on the nightstand… etc. El Guapo says I’ll get used to it and stop trying to push them up. I hope so. I’ve poked myself between the eyes several times. Old habits die hard.

September 5, 2007

A New Diet

As many of you know, I’ve been losing weight during the last few months. And it’s going well (less than 10 lbs to go to my goal!). But after this last weekend, my husband and I have entered into a whole new diet. It’s called:

The Fridge is Broken Diet

Yup. My fridge died on Saturday. Just up and completely died, taking all our our refridgerated food with it. And since it was a holiday weekend that means we won’t even see a fridge repairman until today. Yeah. 5 days, at least, with no fridge. Living out of coolers and from take out (and that’s if they have the part today and get it fixed). Fun, fun, fun.

But today I’m leaving for a two-day writing retreat with my friend and talented author Julie Kistler. Two days of plotting and brainstorming and all kinds of good things. And I’m told the fridge in the cabin works just fine!

So if you were going to retreat from the harsh reality of broken fridges and little annoyances that sometimes gather together and overwhelm, where would you go and what would you do? I won’t be around to answer comments today (we’re leaving right at noon and I have a swim class right before that), but I’m very interested to see your answers when I return on Friday afternoon!

September 4, 2007

But I don’t WANNA go to school

As you can see, we Jaunties are a tad slow coming back from our Labor Day Weekend, though I think Anne Mallory will be posting something later today (that I’m sure will be fabulous). So I’ll post a question for you this morning and let’s get chatty!

Now that summer is over, what was your favorite thing about this one? And what are you looking forward to for fall?

This summer MY favorite thing was getting my Lasik and being able to see. And Fall is my favorite season! I am looking forward to being able to wear jeans and sweatshirts again. I’m looking forward to changing leaves. And I’m looking forward to September 25. Oh and October 30.

Looking forward to your answers and come back later for Anne’s post!!