I have been quiet for the past few weeks for very good reasons. So much has happened in the past few weeks that I don’t know where to begin. Maybe I should start at the beginning. After coming home from the writer’s retreat last month I get the news that my best friend, Carole, has been having big health problems. I’ve known her for over 8 years. We met at a writers group in town here. She was my critique partner for years became then my cheerleader when I opened my own PR firm and once more when I sold my first book to LBF Books. Five years after meeting her she hired me to do her PR for her new publishing company. Then 2 years ago she bought out LBF Books and became my publisher. Without her my book never would have been published.

After hearing her news she offered me something I had never dreamed of doing but loved the challenge none the less. She offered me a full partnership in Lachesis Publishing Inc. After weighing all the pros and cons I decided to take her up on her offer and became a full partner this past month.

Where does that leave my writing and my PR business? I still plan to run my business as I always have, that will never change. As for my writing that has been put on hold for now. For the past few weeks I have been getting organized to include my new duties at Lachesis Publishing without loosing too much sleep. Once I get my duties in line I will put writing back in my schedule. However does this mean that LBF Books will be publishing the next book in the series? To be honest I’m not sure right now. Carole still wants to publish it, but I’m not sure if I want to go the self-pubbing route at this point. So on that front I have a few more pros and cons list to make before I can make a finale decision if Lachesis Publishing will be publishing DEADLY DESIRE or will I start submitting it to other publishers at this point. Right now I’m putting that on hold.

With the exception of getting food poisoning and extending my drive back by 4 hours (2 hours into my drive I realized I left my computer at Hannah’s. I had to go back and get it. Better at 2 hours into it than at the end 7.5 hours) I had a blast at the writing retreat.

Hannah and I were asked by a few to keep them in mind when we did it again next year. Well we already started plotting next years retreat. We’d have one that is more structured with morning workshops to get everyone going and keep the evenings open for eating and gambling.

I’m already knee deep in washing my clothes and getting ready for work on Monday because tomorrow night I’m heading out with a friend to see the talented Jann Arden. I can’t wait.

I started work at SAIC Canada 9 years ago (or it will be on Jan 2). I didn’t start surfing their employee forum until earlier this year. That’s where I posted a little about myself, Deadly Secrets and the American Breast Cancer Foundation. Ok I did this at the urging of two co-workers (Thanks Trish and Caroline). I had a few people contact me and suggest I fill out Life@SAIC Profiles. I didn’t think anything would happen other than be filed away.

I was very happy when they featured my profile in an email that is sent to all 40,000+ employees around the world. The shock came when I was contacted by someone asking if they could use my profile when promoting the company to potential clients and then did an interview about me and my book. This means more people would know about the American Breast Cancer Foundation and my book of course.

Today I found out that close to 1,000 employees have filled out their profile and out of those I am 5^th most viewed profile and one of the top 10 employees to get to know in 2009. Now isn’t that cool! I certainly think it is.

So far so good. I have been able to meet my weekly goal of 2 pages set up as my publisher prefers (single page). However there have been a few weeks where it was a close call. You’d think that writing so little shouldn’t be so hard to meet, but working 2 jobs that are full time has a way to stealing time you didn’t know were gone.

That said I am close to ¼ of the way through my book. I am truly enjoying writing again. I feared that I wouldn’t. I am hoping to get some writing done over the holiday but I’m not sure how much.

I know I’ll get tons written during my writers retreat in Connecticut. I’m also going to keep up working on one of my 2 jobs, but for the most part I’m hoping to pass the halfway point in my book.  Then I’ll be on track to meet my deadline.

Well a year ago I was on cloud nine because my book, DEADLY SECRETS was officially released. It’s been a fabulous year. I have met some wonderful readers who have contacted me to let me know how much they enjoyed reading it.

What have I learned in the last year? That is was worth the 11 year wait to see my book come out in print. For someone who isn’t a patient person (& I’m not usually) this had been a long time coming.

I also sold my second book in the series. I’m still writing it. I’m hoping to have it done by Mach 2010. So tonight I’ll be picking up some special ice cream and toasting this fabulous year of publication. I never intend to take this experience for granted.

I can hardly believe it. I’m an EPIC FINALIST!  This is so cool!

It all started with an email from the contest coordinator with the following subject in her email “Congratulations” but the email is empty. I had to wait all day to see if this was for real, a mistake or spam.

I’m happy to say it was for real!!

Here are the finalists in my category

Cast A Pale Shadow by Barbara Scott

A woman in need of rescuing. A man with a tortured past.The shadow who haunts them both. Rescued as she flees her abusive family by the mysterious Nicholas Brewer, Trissa Kirk is charmed by his kindness. But Nicholas has a dark past to hide and a fierce determination to retain full grasp of his present. Always the shadow of his other self, Cole threatens to overtake him. It is Cole who guards his most dreaded memories and Cole who has stolen great swatches of his time when Nicholas ceases to exist. Throughout his adult life Nicholas has sought the magic to ward off those blank times. When he thinks he has found such magic in Trissa, what desperate measures will he take to make it last? Together, in a boarding house filled with an eclectic group of people, Trissa and Nicholas patch together a substitute family they hope will buffer them from a world that has not been kind to either of them. Their progress toward this goal is threatened by a confrontation which ends in murder and the reemergence of Cole. Now Trissa must summon the strength to discover which of her two loves is man and which is shadow.

Chasing Secrets by Christy Tillery French

ATF agent Rowan Bronson is chasing the secrets of a renowned televangelist and his connections to organized crime. The only allies she has are her dog Zeus and Garrett Somersby, a detective who’s reluctant to believe her. Zeus is a sure thing, but can she trust Garrett enough to let him help her? When Rowan uncovers a Reverend’s ties to a crime boss, before she can turn over evidence of money laundering and firearm smuggling she is betrayed by one of her fellow agents. She’s nearly killed by the crime boss’ right hand man then goes on the run–stealing Detective Garrett Somersby’s SUV. Relentlessly pursued by Garrett and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Garrett is the first to locate her and the two team up in the hopes of retrieving her information and getting it to the proper person in the ATF. Now Garrett’s life is also jeopardized by the men pursuing Rowan, including a religious zealot, a crime boss, and a mole in the ATF–all with personal agendas concerning Rowan’s demise.

Deadly Secrets by Leeann Burke

PHILIPPE LAFRANCE is a well known reclusive writer whose life is suddenly thrown upside down. The grandfather he never knew existed dies. Throughout his own investigation, Philippe learns that his family has kept secrets from him, deep, ugly secrets. A killer is murdering the men in his family. First his father then his grandfather have succumbed at the hands of another. This murderer is trying his utmost to keep secrets buried. Bereft, Roxanne St-Clair is left to manage a restaurant when the only person who ever mattered to her, her foster parent and mentor, is murdered. She puts her life on hold to find his killer and bring him to justice. Thrown together by circumstance and a mutual goal, Philippe and Roxanne fight their attraction and team up to find the killer, bring him to justice and unearth the truth. To stay alive, they must keep one step ahead of the assassin in order to prevent him from killing his next target, Philippe. Will they succeed in bringing to justice this killer before Philippe becomes his next victim? Will they be able to deal with the truth behind all the secrets?

Free Falling by Sandy James

Workaholic Ross Kennedy never learned to enjoy life until he meets the woman of his dreams. If only Laurie Miller can convince him that’s exactly who she is. A psychologist with empathic abilities, Laurie rescues Ross, who has been stranded in the middle of a

I have to say meeting my writing goal last week wasn’t easy. I might not have to write a lot but I do work on average 80 hours a week. So writing has to be done when I’m not working or sleeping. Let’s just say that my keyboard has a few crumbs on it right now. LOL.

That said I am proud to say that I completed my challenge last week and wrote 2 pages, barely. The best part is that I have already written 1.5 pages and I’m just starting this week. I’ll be traveling later on this week to attend a conference where I’ll be speaking about being published with a small publisher. So I need to write my pages now to make the goal.

Here’s hoping I meet and beat my goal this week!

Well its official, I didn’t win the Golden Leaf for the Best First Book. The winner in my category was Linda Parisi with Noble Blood. Click here to pick up a copy of Noble Blood.

Am I disappointed? Not at all. The right writer won the award. I feel as though I won by just being nominated.

I am still a little stunned. I’m happy to announce that DEADLY SECRETS has finaled for a Golden Leaf in the “Best First Book’ category. This contest only has 3 finalists. I have never ever been in the top 3 of anything that didn’t involve sports, but that doesn’t count. Now I have to send them a headshot (yuck), excerpt (which I’m going to agonize over for the next few days) and cover.

My fellow finalists are IN OVER HER HEAD by Judi Fennell from Sourcebooks Inc  & NOBLE BLOOD by Linda Parisi from The Wild Rose Press. I’ll be picking up a copy of each book today. I may not have read both by the time the New Jersey Conference comes around and we find out which one of us wins.

I’m also happy to announce that my friend Hannah Howell has also finaled for a Golden leaf. She’s a finalist With HIGHLAND SINNER  in the “Best Historical” category. The running joke right now between us is who will be sitting at the end of the isle during the ceremonies.

I am happy to announce that my title is now available for purchase through BN.com in ebook format. Yep Deadly Secrets ebooks can now be bought at another location. I’m ecstatic to see my title in first place among the other Lachesis Publishing titles. Yeah!

Take a look