Boycott Mardi Gras Publishing!

If you have any knowledge of the e-publishing industry, this summer has seen a record of company implosions online. I won't dredge up the history. This post is specific.

Mardi Gras Publishing.

Read DearAuthor.com. There's some of it there.

Basically the authors are asking that you DO NOT purchase any titles as MGP is going to declare Bankruptcy at the first of September. Any rights they have will be swallowed by the claim. No monies are being paid to anyone associated with MGP, and haven't been in months. Any titles purchased at any outlet will not benefit the author, the editor, or the artist for the work involved.

Here's an author's account. One mention of it is here as well as here.

I am sure there are more, but many are fearful of coming forward. Writers fear for their careers if they speak out against the "machine" of publishing, even when they are wronged.

Personally, I have no stake in this, except that I'm seeing several friends being hoisted over the spanking barrel for their belief in this publisher. Whether they were treated unfairly, unjustly, or unethically is not my place to say. I have my opinions, but rather than go on an uninformed, non-inclusive rant, I am, on their behalf, posting this boycott.









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http://www.DianaCastilleja.com
Romance that thrives in dark places

http://www.sweeterromanticnotions.com

Monday news

Well, I have good news.

The boy has started school, and the drop went well. He was a little nervous, a little shy, but cute as all hell. :) We took a couple pictures of him with his new backpack and his silly self. It has begun. He's growing up. *sigh*

The other good news. I received confirmation from Mills & Boon on my Harlequin submission, so it is officially on someone else's desk and their nightmare until I hear otherwise.

The BIG news?? LOL

I sold one of my stories over the weekend!  Yep! It is the first book of a twin duet, romantic contemporary with hints of fantasy. The second really takes off in the fantasy depeartment, so they are vastly different, but the characters stay true to themselves. I hope. :)  This one will be with The Dark Castle Lords, a really interesting publisher as they have a specific want for their stories. Castles! Isn't that cool?  Which really works out well, because DCL is where I was planning on sending the current fantasy I'm working on reaching the end on.

So that's the news. I'm back to working on keeping those submissions out, working on finishing new sshtuff and having fun where I can.

Have a great week!

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www.DianaCastilleja.com
Romance that thrives in dark places

http://www.sweeterromanticnotions.com

Well, Crap. Where the HELL have I been?

In a nutshell, nowhere. I've just been really busy working on submissions. I just sent in 6 today, and I'm working on dropping 7 in the next few days. Yep, me, the "I have nothing going nowhere for eternity" now has almost 7 submissions out in the wild blue yonder.

Check out my site for the details. I have all (I think) of my current victims listed. I might have to double check, because knowing me, someone's going to bust me out and call me a liar and it'll be totally unintentional.

Have I mentioned how absolutely crappy I've been feeling? No?? Well, let me fill you in. I. DO. As in stomach aches, can hardly eat and slept for nothing last night which has made me exceedingly crabby for today. Let's see how it pans out for tomorrow. All I know is I HATE feeling this way. The poor boy and I just are not good company in the same house when I'm like this. Let me put it this way. It's 81 degrees outside and AC is only set to 75 and I have the freaking foot heater on because I've got chills. Yeah, I feel that lousy. Temporary damnit. It better be temporary!

Speaking of the little guy... He starts school on Monday! Woot! For him AND for me. He's in another environment, socializing and blowing his teacher's mind over how much he already knows, and I'll be here, able to write for hours, everyday. Or nearly. *sigh* What bliss. Except for the God-Awful time of the morning I have to get up to see him to school. He's a drive-up, so that leaves me to do it. But he's so excited to go! How could I not be happy for him?

And did you see the front page? I have another signing coming up, and I've put it all over the place so if you're in Austin, come and see me. Seriously. Don't let me sit there surrounded by such wonderful talent and have no one to talk to.  (I won't be hard to miss. I'll be the only one out of EIGHT authors who won't have books for you. Working really hard to remedy that situation.)

I'll be back soon with more nonsense, and hopefully some good news. One of my writer pals managed to get one of my submissions knocked up (Ha! Not like that!) in prority. So... Yeah, Tums... I need more tums...

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~*~*~*~*~*~*~
www.DianaCastilleja.com
Romance that thrives in dark places

http://www.sweeterromanticnotions.com

Tuesday Release for GO BETWEEN!!

“Go Between” by Dayna Hart

Coming August 14th from Samhain Publications

Between two races that hate each other, at the doorway between two worlds, can Claire find the strength to be the emissary they all need?

Book One of The Curtain Torn series.

Halfway through her twenties, her divorce, and a bottle of rye, Claire opens her birthday present—a “pressed fairy” book.

One of the fairies is neither pressed, nor a picture. He’s the sinfully sexy Dell, who’s been trapped inside the book for twenty years. The moment Claire frees him, goblins attack her house. Dell and Claire’s only option is to use a “Between”—a rift between their worlds—to escape into the land of Fae.

There, Claire discovers the elven queen, Eliane, has a mission for her—one that has her keeping secrets from Dell. And ousting the goblins from her home is only the start.

Read An Excerpt Online

Because I'm bored

Listening to: Buffalo Stance / Nenah Cherry

The man didn't sleep well, so neither did I. It's not his fault. He has allergies and stomach ailments.

So I thought to kill some time (instead of writing, or doing what I really want-a nap) I'd come here and give a brief update on what's been happening around here lately.

Last Saturday we had a yardsale. It went well. Got rid of a lot of my old Crafts business stock and left overs. Sold Lil J's bunk beds (after getting stood up in a parking lot for 30 minutes, of course.) and had his new-to-us furniture delivered. His room is now filled. He can't afford to be messy. LOL

I also have a few submissions out. It's been months since I had anything to report, and I'm waiting on pins and needles to hear back. I have two different stories in submission right now. I'm working on a Christmas story for an anthology, and book two of the Jahejn series. I'm really liking the title Shadowed Winds, or something with Danger in the title.

I also have book two of the vamps that's in spin cycle right now. So plenty to do. It just sucks when you don't sleep well and you can't operate after 1 pm. I feel like I could just fall over, and oh, stay there for an hour or so.

TexasARF has set up a myspace page. Check them out. They're a nice group of Texas authors and we could use some friends. http://www.myspace.com/texasarf. We're from all over the state, so who knows? Someone may be nearby you.

What else? Oh, SRN has relaunched. A definite must see. http://www.sweeterromanticnotions.com. New purty pages and author stuff. My brain is not cooperating with the pretty words, so just go look.

Well, I'm going to stop there. Oh, and a reminder. The August Newsletter will be going out in a few days. If you want to sign up, check out my website, http://www.dianacastilleja.com for instructions.

Have a good week!

New Release : Dayna Hart

“Go Between” by Dayna Hart

Coming August 14th from Samhain Publications

Between two races that hate each other, at the doorway between two worlds, can Claire find the strength to be the emissary they all need?

Book One of The Curtain Torn series.

Halfway through her twenties, her divorce, and a bottle of rye, Claire opens her birthday present—a “pressed fairy” book.

One of the fairies is neither pressed, nor a picture. He’s the sinfully sexy Dell, who’s been trapped inside the book for twenty years. The moment Claire frees him, goblins attack her house. Dell and Claire’s only option is to use a “Between”—a rift between their worlds—to escape into the land of Fae.

There, Claire discovers the elven queen, Eliane, has a mission for her—one that has her keeping secrets from Dell. And ousting the goblins from her home is only the start.

Read An Excerpt Online

Thirteen Myths about Texas Driving
A Driver's Rant




1. Blinkers are optional.
2. The slow lane is for access road speeds.
3. The fast lane is for those related to the Andretti family.
4. Stop signs are for decoration.
5. Yield signs are invisible.
6. Red lights are only another light at the top/side of the other two that mean go faster.
7. Passing is legal on the shoulder, or break down lane.
8. Passing over a double yellow line is okay, because the lines are decorational.
9. A 3 foot buffer between vehicles at 90 MPH is perfectly safe.
10. The law they passed to reduce speed when you see a cop on the side of the road, was a joke. It didn't really pass.
11. Swerving between vehicles at break neck speed is really training for the Olympic Slalom.
12. Coming to a dead stop on an entrance ramp is perfectly safe to merge with 70 MPH traffic
And lastly....
13. Another driver tailgating close enough to see the color of the eyes of the person behind you is being neighborly.

Sarcasm needs have been met for today. Thank you for reading!


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