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My daughter, who is eight, insisted for days that her dad go buy the card you see here for me. There’s nothing here for scale, but the card itself is about two feet tall. It’s a massive card. And, when I saw the envelope, I thought, “Oh, wow. Where am I going to stick that so it doesn’t hurt her feelings?” I know, I’m terrible. But, a mom. A mom who has to figure out what gets kept and where things go if they do. Still, her determination made it much more than a card. That I had to have this card meant something to her, so it meant something to me.

It wasn’t until I saw the inside that I teared up and decided (as I often do) that my kids are amazing.Read More →

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In: I'm kind of a big deal. Not really.
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I’m blogging over at Heart-Shaped Glasses today about the first book I read that made me want to write romance. It was a Jennifer Crusie book where the heroine can’t…um, finish up what she and the hero start. If you know what I mean. (I feel like I should be winking suggestively here.) Please go check it out and say hi! Storytelling to Take Your Breath AwayRead More →

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In: In my house, Rules I live by
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I can turn anything into a learning experience… C to P: You’re annoying. P: Mom! She called me a name. Me: No, she called you an adjective. It would’ve been more polite, and grammatically correct, if she had said, “You’re being annoying,” but– My Mom: Do you have to turn everything into a grammar lesson? Me: Yes. C and P: Yes. Background: C is my oldest daughter, P is my youngest. I’m one of those people. I don’t mean to be. I correct copy in news articles in my head. The typist at our office refuses to let me near reports, because I rip them apart, addingRead More →

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On May 1st, eleven other romance writers and I will be debuting our blog. The title of the blog – Heart-Shaped Glasses – is about the way women who live to write about happily-ever-afters see writing, stories, and the world. I’m honored to be in some extremely talented company writing at this blog. Heart-Shaped Glasses From suspense to sweet or sinfully erotic, or in the past, present or future…we write to entertain our readers. From aspiring to multi-published, we are romance authors, seeing life through our own heart-shaped glasses. Enjoy the view! My posts here will continue on the usual basis (every a lot of Mondays),Read More →

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In: I'm kind of a big deal. Not really.
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My daughter turned sixteen this month. She asked for a party. She has never asked for a party, much less an event party, such as sixteen would be. Sweet Sixteen.

And, because I can’t ever not overdo and micromanage and perfectionist the hell out of everything–it’s was a big deal.

She wanted a spa party theme sleepover for seven other girls. And so, you see that this would already be somewhat complicated. But, reference the above paragraph.Read More →

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In: I'm kind of a big deal. Not really.
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Being a writer is hard. First they expect you to learn spealling and grammer and shiz. Then, the whole charcter building and showing and point-of-view. Like, for real, can’t I just tell you what everyone is thinking and doing and feeling? Seems more efficient, if you axe me. So, that’s it. No. More. Writing. I’m out. :) Hope your April Fool’s is going swimmingly.Read More →

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In: storytelling & games
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You, valued reader, may call me Ayaka. Before I lose your interest, let me tell you our topic: video games. Yeah, I went there. They are my passion and my future career. I don’t really have a specific type, to be truthful. My game quest is simply to find a few good things: good storyline, great main objective, and an engrossing protagonist back story. Even… no, wait–especially an engrossing antagonist back story. (What? I like psychopaths… You don’t?) It makes up for any bad graphics or glitches. I have many games to discuss, recommend, or tell you to avoid. I’m going start with one fairly knownRead More →

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1. String two guys along. Not speaking of menage stories here. I’m saying a heroine does not spend the entire story unclear on whether she loves the hero enough to cut loose her backup guy. I don’t like women who do this in real life, I don’t respect them. I will not respect a heroine who pulls this trashy crap.

2. Run away. I know, I know this one happens all the time. I’ve read them. And enjoyed them. But… it’s not entirely satisfying.Read More →

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Last week, I added a parenthetical remark to my list of things a heroine should do. That aside sparked the idea for this post. I’m limiting myself to ten randomly chosen ideas (broken into two weeks–my words go on and on!), but there are probably a million more. Please add yours in the comments.Read More →

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When he screws up (and I don’t mean by being unfaithful), when his back is against the wall, when whole worlds wait in the balance–she doesn’t wait at home and hope he can put everything right again. She’ll be right by his side, standing up for him or wielding a gun and shooting it out with the bad guys. It’s not about him needing her help–though he does, we all need help when we reach our biggest crisis–it’s that she wouldn’t dream of letting him face it alone.Read More →