Come and join me

I'm at Romantic Inks today, asking where your passion lies.

http://romanticinks.com/2008/02/29/because-my-heart-isnt-in-it/

--
Diana Castilleja
Best Selling Author
http://www.DianaCastilleja.com
Romance that thrives in dark places
http://www.sweeterromanticnotions.com

New Jennifer McKenzie Release!!

In the BDSM lifestyle, Catherine Lanyard is an extreme submissive with serious baggage. For years, she’s avoided her pain and hidden dark secrets. Now, an experienced Dom has broken through her barriers and forced her to face her fear. Sex was always a give and take for Justin Travers. He’d always kept his “lifestyle” practices separate from real life. But when Catherine blurs that boundary, he must decide what he really wants.

BUY IT HERE

P&E Asking for Help!

Taken directly from the P&E Site:

Help Defend P&E

Unfortunately, there are those who do not like P&E or its editor because we give out information that they would prefer remain hidden from writers. Usually, they slink away, but not this time. P&E is being sued and we are asking for donations to mount a legal defense in court. Please click on the link below and give if you can to help protect P&E so it can continue to defend writers as it has for the past eleven years.

Site link to donate: http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/penulist.htm


Help protect this vital service to every person in the writing industry!

Jenna's New Release!

She’s got the man—and the wedding—of her dreams. If only love were part of the fantasy.

Heather Tindall is temping as a personal assistant until her dream job as an event planner comes along. Worse, her new boss has a penchant of running off new assistants before lunch. Heather’s not about to let her spotless employment record be ruined by a real estate mogul with an attitude problem, no matter how well he fills out a suit.

At first Curtis can’t believe the nerve of the woman who refuses his order to leave. Six months into their working relationship, her dedication still manages to surprise him. But her best efforts to protect his personal life can’t keep the press from seeing him as anything more than a playboy. Then it dawns on him that the perfect solution is right under his appointment book—Heather.
Swept off her kitten heels, Heather can’t help but accept the proposal of the man with whom she’s fallen in love. She hopes that in time he’ll come to feel something for her.

Curtis is determined not to feel anything, for anyone, ever. He’ll do anything Heather wants—but he’s not going to fall in love with her.

Except that will never do for a girl with a Cinderella Complex…

Read An Excerpt Online

Buy it today from My Bookstore and More

breakthrough!

Yay!!

The last few days, I've been stuck. Not in the mud, but close. I needed a conflict, or something to cause a problem in the story, but it went too smoothly between a rather large epiphany to a freaking huge character development... I needed something, a roadbump if you will between those two points.

So with a little help from the most awesomest in the world crit partner, I've figured it out!

Yep! I was trying to put it the problem a little bit too early for one. And I didn't have a reason for the conflict to begin with. I do now! And it's a whopper (with cheese and bacon! LOL). No one is happy when they feel their greatest achievement is being threatened. Well, I guess I'll know for sure when it's time to let the betas read, but still, it's more than I had a few hours ago, and believe me, I've been baking on this for about three days now.

Battle cry! The Year of the Agent! :)


--
Diana Castilleja
Best Selling Author
http://www.DianaCastilleja.com
Romance that thrives in dark places
http://www.sweeterromanticnotions.com

Blogging at Romantic Inks today

Come and join me in my writing dilemma. :)

http://romanticinks.com/blog/

--
Diana Castilleja
Best Selling Author
http://www.DianaCastilleja.com
Romance that thrives in dark places
http://www.sweeterromanticnotions.com

Help America's Second Harvest!

Get this!  Mario Batali and several celebrities got together and created this really cool cookbook.  It's free to download from the pasta sponsor's site and for every download, $1 goes to America's Second Harvest.  No gimmicks, no promo craziness, just really good recipes with a great benefit.  You can also change that $1 donation so that it benefits a food bank in your local area.  I'm a pasta NUT so I couldn't keep my greedy paws off of it!  ROFL. 

 

Here's the info from the site:

 

In Italy, all of life's moments are celebrated and shared around the table.  Just the basics are needed -- great food, family and friends, good conversation and laughter.

This year, we've asked 5 of America's favorite celebrities, one of the world's leading Italian chefs and the most prominent party planner in the U.S. to help us celebrate the Italian Table -- 6 different ways.

Stanley Tucci, Marisa Tomei, Debra Messing, Natalie Portman and Chris Daughtry shared their favorite pasta dishes with us.  Mario Batali recreated these dishes and developed a special menu for each party while David Tutera developed creative and stunning table designs to make each experience special.

 As we celebrate all that is special about the Italian Table, we also want to share with those less fortunate.  Please join the cause and support America's Second Harvest, so that everyone can enjoy a seat at the Italian Table.

 

http://www.celebrityitaliantable.com/Pages/Index.aspx

--
Diana Castilleja
Best Selling Author
http://www.DianaCastilleja.com
Romance that thrives in dark places
http://www.sweeterromanticnotions.com

Chat with Adelle Laudan and friends!

Check it out!

Celebrating my next release!

And I'm giving a book away (or two or three) to do it!

Yep. The second McKenna book is coming soon and I'm holding a drawing for it. Since it's the second book to the twins' stories, FOR A TASTE OF CANDY, just email me the following for your name to be tossed in the hat. It's really easy!

Email to Diana.castilleja @ gmail.com (no spaces)

Date of purchase:

What book: A Stroll In The Park or Crowning A Warrior King (if you'd like to enter for both titles, just submit two entries, and you've twice the luck!)

Where you bought it? Website/Fictionwise/ARe:

Please put CONTEST in the subject line so the spam monster doesn't eat it. I'll be drawing the name at least a week before the release, so some lucky peoples are going to have a copy before it's released!

Good luck!

And here's a little teaser of the story. Enjoy!

Sean McKenna has been hiding in the U.S. now for almost two years, since his marriage exploded in front of his eyes. He stayed long enough to watch his own brother's life finally come together and then he had to escape from his homeland, Scotland, to get away from the memories of the deceit of his now ex-wife. After an unexpected attack from the most loving wolfhound he's ever had the courtesy of being licked by, he gets the first opportunity to heal his heart. But he's quickly called back home to oversee his family's domain when his twin brother is asked to speak on the teaching circuit over the summer.

Candy has a few loves in life. One of them is almost handed to her when she meets Sean, an honest to goodness Scotsman, who happens to know all about the castles of his homeland. Her other love is a lot harder to divulge but soon her secrets are Sean's, and without meaning to, she pulls Sean and his family into her world of magic, spells, and warlocks with a want for revenge.

--
Diana Castilleja
Best Selling Author
http://www.DianaCastilleja.com
Romance that thrives in dark places
http://www.sweeterromanticnotions.com

For Kicks isn't scheduled to be released until March 1st...but...you can snag it now on the publishers website in paperback or ebook! It won't be on the main sites (Amazon, Fictionwise) until the release date, but if you just can't wait...

Author: Jenna Bayley-Burke

ISBN: 978-0-9793252-7-4

$14.95 paperback

$6.00 Ebook (PDF)

He’s about to show her ...

On the management fast-track, Breeze Cohen has no time for family. No interest in love. No inclination toward romance, lust, dating—or anything that doesn’t include retail business strategy and cornerstone client Nitrous’ most important product launch ever. No way is she going to let a live-for-the-moment, life-is-only-about-fun guy like Logan Chandler tarnish her professional reputation and derail her career.

... his plan for her isn’t just for kicks.

Recovered from a near-fatal bus accident, Logan has successfully moved from professional athlete to key player for Nitrous Kicks athletic shoes. Only one woman is capable of managing his project the right way, but the proper kind of management will take time together. And that’s exactly what Logan Chandler is counting on to help him get close to her heart and stay close—if he can ever catch up with her.

Reviews:

"This story served as a helpful reminder to me to cherish the moments I have each day with family and friends, living with the knowledge that I might not have them with me in the next moment. The dialogue and writing are quick, short and snappy... It is a wonderful read."Long & Short Reviews

"I found For Kicks by Jenna Bayley-Burke to be a charming and lively read about two of the most interesting and engaging characters I've read about in a very long time."Kasey's View

"Jenna Bayley-Burke brings readers a hot and sensual romance full of the flavor of love – a little spicy, a little sweet, and very fulfilling." Romance Divas

Read an excerpt

An interesting post from PW

From Barabara Vey, with Diana Holquist, who I've met and is a sweet lady doing what we all do, and trying to do what we love. It's a shame that people don't respect laws, legal rights of ownership, or the reality that eventually,there just won't be a publisher willing to pay an author for their work, when the buying public would rather get it for free, ILLEGALLY.


http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/880000288/post/1950021795.html?nid=3383


--
Diana Castilleja
Best Selling Author
http://www.DianaCastilleja.com
Romance that thrives in dark places
http://www.sweeterromanticnotions.com

Valentine's Day Chat

Join us on Valentine's Day as we celebrate! We're launching our first ever Free Read Author Showcase! A definite not to miss party!

Blogging at Romantic Inks today

http://romanticinks.com/2008/02/08/the-characters-we-are/

Come and see what I do with characters. It's not torture, although some days..... :)

--
Diana Castilleja
Best Selling Author
http://www.DianaCastilleja.com
Romance that thrives in dark places
http://www.sweeterromanticnotions.com

eHarlequin has a reading challenge

And totally borrowing from Dear Author again to save time and coherency is the post to find out more.

This is a challenge to complete 100,000 books this year, and as such Harlequin will donate some $700,000 to the Reading is Fundamental programs.

See? I told you they'd explain it better. Go read the post.

Where I'll be in the morning

NSFW (mature):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4b_UC0sOn_M&feature=related

But damn funny!
--
Diana Castilleja
Best Selling Author
http://www.DianaCastilleja.com
Romance that thrives in dark places
http://www.sweeterromanticnotions.com

I will never complain again!

I swear!

I complain about writing that scene and Whammmmo! I broke a tooth. Can I cry?

It doesn't hurt right now, but I'm sure THAT'S about to change. *sigh*

And I really wanted to write today.

Mornings are NOT my forte

As Mel pointed out this morning, some people can adapt to mornings.

I AM NOT ONE OF THEM.

*clears throat*

I have never been a morning person. I have an autopilot that gets me through to about ten in the morning, but before then it's just not safe. Take this morning for example.

I am working on the Agent Book. First thing this morning, I have a hot kissing scene to write. I am not up to this. I don't even converse in the mornings, but here I am, having to write a friggin' make out scene with panache and at least a bit of sense.

Don't get me wrong. No one suffers. I get the boy dressed and mobile for school. The man... He's old enough. He's on his own. :D But on the weekends, don't expect breakfast until my brain has had sufficient time to come to speed.

And now I have to make a kiss sound good, sexy, and hot, all at the same time.

Another driving rant

Sorry, but I just have to. :(

1) Crossing the double yellow line from oncoming traffice to "freak me out" and hitting my fender is still your fault. (He didn't hit me, I moved over, but it only took looking at his car to know he didn't have insurance anyway. :( ... )

2) Stop signs are NOT conditional. You DO have to stop. Period. Slowing down enough to see if I'm going to stop and then cruising on through is not safe driving.

3) Passing on the shoulder or break down lane is not legal.
3.a) ACCELERATING to pass on the right shoulder break down lane because it's a no-passing zone or the vehicle in front of you isn't breaking the sound barrier in speed limits is heinous. You should be ashamed if you practice this.

4) Pretending you're the only driver on earth to enter a two lane highway and all but broadsiding a vehicle because you can't be bothered with obeying traffic movement is NOT my problem. Don't make me wish you to Hades for being an asinine driver, mkay??

5) Yawning while running right through a red light is not good driving.

6) When kids are on a sidewalk less than a foot from a main street on an unprotected sidewalk, for dog's sake, SLOW DOWN. (The irony: they have a metal guard on the opposite side to protect the cars from going into the drain, which fronts the church property. How nice. )

7) Just because it isn't a school zone doesn't mean you can do whatever speed you want. When the kids are there, SLOW DOWN. (We have a main street one block from the main elementary school. Only one school zone, on the state recognized street, three blocks over, not the main artery city street one block away where all the parents are coming and going. *sigh*)

8) Obey the speed limits in residential zones!! For all that is holy, kids play there!!

Okay, for the moment, that's all that I can think of this week that's happened. Yes, this is one week of watchful, bad driving all over. I'm not saying I'm a saint, I'm not. But I don't go out of my way (see #3) to break the law either. The driving in this state (and probably nationwide, wouldn't know for sure) is getting absolutely ridiculous.

There's more people here now, so of course you're going to see more bad driving, but I don't see that as a valid excuse at all.

I bet the drivers I saw doing #3 also kick puppies.



--
Diana Castilleja
Best Selling Author
http://www.DianaCastilleja.com
Romance that thrives in dark places
http://www.sweeterromanticnotions.com

Blogging at Romantic Inks today

http://romanticinks.com/blog/

Come and say hi!

--
Diana Castilleja
Best Selling Author
http://www.DianaCastilleja.com
Romance that thrives in dark places
http://www.sweeterromanticnotions.com