Debut Book!

There's nothing like that first book, is there? It's such a fabulous feeling, to know that people are buying and reading something you wrote. I get giddy over every release, but there's something so special about that very first time.





Well, there's a new book available at Samhain today, and it's Anne Rainey's first! I "met" Anne on a reader/author loop a while back, and was thrilled when she sold to Samhain. Time definitely flies, because it's already release day for Haley's Cabin. Anyway, here's a blurb and cover -- doesn't it look yummy?



Every good girl longs for a chance to be a little naughty.

Raw from an ugly divorce and wrung out from her demanding job, Haley Thorne needs a break. When Haley's doctor urges her to take a vacation, she heads to her secret cabin in the woods.

The very first night, Haley dreams of an erotic threesome that leaves her panting and aroused. When sexy police detective Jeremy Pickett shows up at her door, she's shocked: He looks like the man in her midnight fantasy! Levelheaded Haley unleashes her inner seductress and has a little fun-handcuffs and all!

Warning: this title contains hot, explicit sex, graphic language and ménage a trois.

Congratulations, Anne! Enjoy your day!

And the Oscar Goes To...

Yes, I freely admit it. I am an Oscar fanatic.

It started back in junior high school, when I first started acting, and began paying more attention to the 'award-winning' movies and performers. I'd watch the Academy Awards, thankful that we lived on the West coast and I didn't have to plead to stay up past my bedtime on a school night. I barely knew most of the performers, had seen almost none of the movies, but I loved it just the same.

As time went on, I became much more knowledgeable about the nominated movies and actors, even making it a point to see all the best picture nominees so I could root for a winner based on something more than just a gut feeling.

Now I've got kids, so seeing the Oscar noms in advance is a pipe dream, but I do subscribe to Entertainment Weekly and follow the movie news, so I have at least some background on what's hot.

I know there are tons of awards shows out nowadays, but really, the Academy Awards are still a High Holy Day in my pop culture life.

This was the first year my oldest actually watched with me, even begging to stay up past her bedtime to finish out the show. Mean mommy that I am, I made her go to bed, and I was pretty glad I'd done so when it ran almost an hour past its purported finishing time. Still, it was fun discussing the winners and categories with her while she was awake.

A few thoughts:

*Ellen did a decent job. Funny, not too overdone, kind of reminded me of Johnny Carson in a strange sort of way.
*My jaw dropped when Happy Feet won the best animated feature award. It was one of the few films I'd actually seen, but for it to beat Cars was a shocker to me.
*Entertainment Weekly predicted winners in every category this year. They had an 80% success rate in the major categories, only missing on Best Supporting Actor, but the otehr awards were ALL OVER THE PLACE. I think they got maybe five right.
*I would so hate to be the "front-runner". Every time someone unexpected won, I'd think, "oh, that poor X. Everyone said they'd win, and they didn't."
*I can't believe anyone ever said Al Gore was boring and humorless. His schtick with Leo DiCaprio was great. I loved the "My fellow Americans, I'd like to officially announce..." drowned out by the "get off stage" music.
*Speaking of Al, woo-hoo on the Documentary feature award!
*About damn time Martin Scorsese won Best Director.

I could go on, but it's late, so I won't. Maybe next year I'll get my daughter to dress up with me and we'll watch the red carpet in style.

How about you? Do you watch the Oscars, or barely notice the hype? What are your thoughts on this year's show?

It's That Time of Year Again...

...the time for Best Book awards!

If you've read something fabulous this year, hop on over to Love Romances and More and nominate your favorites. They're accepting nominations for the Golden Rose until March 1.

Some of my writing pals are up for awards at LoveRomancesCafe, so if you're a member of that loop, don't forget to vote!

And if you know of other readers' choice contests going on, post them in the comments.

Have a great Friday!

Thirteen Reasons Heidi Should Have a Great Birthday!

I'm terribly late with my Thursday Thirteen, plus I've just found out they're discontinuing the meme (sob), so I'm just going to post my list without all the linkbacks and coding and such. Because it's Heidi's birthday and she needs to celebrate!

Without further ado, here are 13 reasons Heidi should have a great birthday:

1. Today's her birthday! (Obvious, I know, but what the heck.)
2. She's the first friend I made when we moved to this town.
3. She's the glue that's held together untold groups of friends.
4. She made administrative team get-togethers way more fun -- and appreciated my obnoxious musical Christmas toy white elephant gifts.
5. Her kids are each two months older than my two youngest -- so we've had the best play dates ever!
6. She's got a positive outlook for just about everything.
7. She really cares about her friends, and lets them know it.
8. She's the ultimate cheerleader when you're trying something new.
9. She's the kind of mom who will have a musical instrument-themed birthday party for her then-four-year-old -- no matter how loud it gets.
10. My three year old says, "it's fun to play at her house."
11. My five year old says, "because her child is my best friend forever." (Exact quote!)
12. My eight year old says, "because she's really nice and they have an awesome pool."
13. Even though she's moved across the state, I know she's still one of my best friends.

Happy birthday, girl!

Checking in with some good news...

Just some random good news before I hit the sack...

Challenging Carter is #6 on the Samhain bestseller's list! Thanks to everyone who's bought a copy. I really appreciate it -- and hope you like the book!

Carter is getting great reviews! Here are a few excerpts:

*Chrissy at Romance Junkies gives it five blue ribbons and says, "Ms. Davies brings these characters to life in a brilliant realistic setting that will have readers falling in love with Dani and Carter and anticipating each heated scene between them."

*Jenn posted a review on I Just Finished Reading, and said, "Like the other two books that precede this new release from Ms. Davies it is filled with a fun yet emotional story that is sweet and to the point. The premise of a woman in love with her friend may not be one that is unfamiliar to readers of romance but Ms. Davies manged to put a whole new spin on it."

*Sarah at The Romance Studio rated Carter four and a half hearts, saying "Challenging Carter has certainly cemented Kate Davies place as an author on the rise. This is a great contemporary romance with likable characters, love and spirit on every page."

And in a final bit of good news, I just found out that Taking the Cake is an eCataromance Reviewer's Choice Nominee!

Well, that's all for tonight. I'm off to bed. :)

Thirteen Items On My Desk Right Now

Because I'm too darn tired to come up with something clever, here's a list of thirteen things I can see on my desk at the moment. I guess it's a reminder that I need to clean it up!

1. Notebook, binder, and manila folder of materials for new job
2. Box of Tyvek envelopes
3. Ballpoint pen advertising political campaign (losing) for local commissioner race
4. Roll of masking tape
5. Three--count 'em, three--printers
6. May 2006 issue of Cooking Light
7. Phone book marked "use through December 2006"
8. Little black thingy that fell off my chair
9. Tangle of cords for connecting (a) digital camera, (b) Alphasmart, (c) another printer, and (d) mp3 player to the computer
10. Staples buying guide (which my youngest likes to play with -- smacking the photo of the "easy" button and reciting "that was easy" over and over and over and over and...
11. Lady and the Tramp mug of hot chocolate. Empty.
12. Bag of cinnamon red-hots, a futile attempt to avoid chocolate temptation over the Valentine's season.
13. A paper-edited manuscript, half-completed.

If you couldn't tell, I'm a bit of a packrat. How about you? Neat and tidy, or could they determine the time period of an item based on the layers of material surrounding it, like they do in geology? What's the most unusual item you can see right now?

CHALLENGING CARTER Available Now!

It's new book time at My Bookstore and More -- and Challenging Carter is available for purchase!

*tossing confetti*

Not that I'm excited or anything like that. :)

A side note -- the main Samhain website is currently down, due to popularity. (The site is using too much bandwidth, or something like that, so it's not available.) The Powers that Be are moving it to a bigger server this weekend, but until then, it's not accessible. So if you're trying to browse the Samhain site and get an error message, that's why.

That doesn't impact the bookstore, though, and either of the links above should work with no problems.

My First Five-Ribbon Review!

I got an e-mail today that totally made my day. Challenging Carter, which comes out Tuesday, has received a five-blue-ribbon review from Romance Junkies!

Here's a quote from the review: "Ms. Davies brings these characters to life in a brilliant realistic setting that will have readers falling in love with Dani and Carter and anticipating each heated scene between them." Pretty cool, huh? Big thanks to Chrissy for the great review. You can read the whole review at Romance Junkies.

Now, I'm off to finish some paper edits. Have a great week!

A Busy Saturday

Just a quick note to let you know I'll be guest blogging on the Samhain weblog today, chatting about Valentine's Day. Stop by and say hello!

Also, if you're a member of the Loves Romances Cafe Yahoo group, I'll be on from 11 am - 1 pm EST with Annmarie McKenna and Shelley Bradley, talking about our newest releases. There'll be some prizes involved, so jump on in!

Thirteen Books I Can't Wait To Read

So I'm recovering from the week from Hades, dealing with a sinus infection, and hoping against hope I have enough of a voice for the presentation I'm giving tonight. It's been a looooooong couple of weeks, and I'm way behind on my schedule.

Is there a point to this whine? Why yes, there is. I've got a stack of books (paper and e-) a mile high, and no time to read them. *sob* At least it inspired my Thursday Thirteen this week!

THIRTEEN BOOKS I CAN'T WAIT TO READ

1. Prince of Spies, Bianca D'Arc

2. Moon Awakening, Lucy Monroe

3. Master of Swords, Angela Knight

4. The Prince Kidnaps a Bride, Christina Dodd

5. Eye Candy, Sandy Lynn

6. No Safe Place, JoAnn Ross

7. Causing Havoc, Lori Foster

8. Bit the Jackpot, Erin McCarthy

9. The Dream Hunter, Sherrilyn Kenyon

10. See No Evil, Allison Brennan

11-13. Circle Trilogy, Nora Roberts

How about you? What books are on your "must read next" list?

Thirteen Reasons Why I Missed Thursday Thirteen...

...Oh, never mind.

My head's too congested to come up with thirteen excuses right now, anyway.

Suffice it to say our family of five has been contending with two double ear infections, three cases of pinkeye, five raging head colds, and one broken furnace.

Bleah.

Thursday morning, I returned from dropping the kids at school and noticed the house was cold. Well, it was below freezing outside, might as well pump the thermostat up a few degrees.

Except the thermostat, set to heat to 68 degrees, was only registering 64.

I clicked the "up" button. Nothing. Tried down, then up. Nada. Ran down to the basement and checked the furnace. Couldn't find a reset button (but did find a phone card I've been missing for the last year or so, thanks to a youngest child who thinks any mailslot-looking-opening deserves a "letter"), so called hubby for advice. His advice? Call heating company. They can't come until afternoon; meanwhile, temperature drops. Added another layer of clothing to me and youngest child.

Technician shows up mid-afternoon and finds some loose wiring. Fixes it, heat goes on, house is warm again.

Nine pm, hubby asks me to turn the heat up a little. Thermostat, set to 68, is only registering 64.

Many, many bad words.

By this morning, the house was 56 degrees inside. Outside, it was 20. Technician comes back, finds more loose wire, and fixes that. Checks the thermostat and discovers it isn't working, either.

Thermostat replaced. House warm. Wallet light.

Wishing you a warm and enjoyable weekend!