Online, there’s a fun blog called Six Sentence Sunday (http://sixsunday.com/) where authors can post any six sentences from their writings.  Slacker me hasn’t signed up for an official spot yet, but thought I’d share my own six sentences from Forbidden Fantasies anyway.

She picked up book after book, looking at the covers and reading the backs, but nothing caught her attention. She was kneeling on the floor, surrounded by possible choices, when she found it on the bottom shelf. The cover drew her attention first. It showcased a hazy photograph of a wrought iron four-poster bed with plush white bed linens, rumpled as if someone had just woken and stepped out of the room. A silky black scarf, tied in a knot like a blindfold, lay at the foot of the bed. Men’s ties were looped around each of the four posts.

And those are my six sentences for today. If you follow me on twitter (@Jodie_Griffin) you might find some other sentences from my Carina Press book coming out in November, Forbidden Desires, or the one I’m writing now, tentatively titled Forbidden Fire.  I’ve been sharing bits and pieces of them as I write/edit.

Excellent, exciting news this week for my friend and critique partner Ami Weaver who got THE CALL yesterday for her first book, The Nanny’s Secret.  It will be published by Harlequin Special Edition!  I’ve been lucky enough to read it as Ami worked on it, and it’s fabulous.  If you’re a Harlequin Community Member, please stop over to her sale party thread at http://community.harlequin.com/forums/write-stuff/first-sale-congratulations-ami-weaver and read her call story!

I have my very first guest poster today! Give a warm welcome to Jody Wallace, author of Pack and Coven from Carina Press, and owned by the one and only MeanKitty. Jody is well known in writer circles for “cattifying” covers and excerpts — taking what exists and putting, well, a CAT spin on it.   =^..^=   Since I’m owned by two kitties myself, it seemed only fitting…

Ready? Put down the tea and the coffee…Jody and Jodie aren’t responsible for spewed-on keyboards.

So here, without further delay….Feline Fantasies!

God, she hated conflict, especially the kind when Alex refused to worship her sufficiently. And really, if this whole hairball-causing, nerve-twitching situation was anyone’s fault, it was his. Stupid human. After all, he’d been the one to give her the stuffed kitty she’d used as a chew toy. And the second. And the third. Having to tear all three of them up had made her wish she had someone with whom to share the burden of destruction and rule.

Javanese Meyers hacked disgustedly as she tested the softness of the clean laundry pile. Yep, this was totally Alex’s doing. It was definitely not hers, but since Alex was a human with several traits that reminded her of dogs, she was going to have to find a way to fix it. Soon, before the confused frustration she saw in her person’s eyes turned into something irreparable. And she was getting plumb worn out. She wasn’t a kitten anymore.

It was late, but she needed to unwind. The small humans were sound asleep, and Alex, a Maryland State Trooper, was still at work. He probably would be all night, unless the MSP caught a break on the case that had been all over the nightly news. It was quiet for once, and maybe now she could figure out what the meow she was going to do to make things right again.

She knocked over some aromatherapy candles that smelled like inedible crap, disappeared some single socks, and shoved the TV remote way behind the couch cushions. Then she turned off the overhead light in that clever way that always freaked the humans out because they didn’t realize she could do it and climbed into the unfolded clothing, sighing as the soft material did its thing on her muscles. She turned around several times and scratched a bit before settling down. She breathed deeply, letting the soothing aroma of a household that contained no dogs seep into her nose. Her nictitating membranes drifted idly over her brilliant, blue eyes, and her tail tip flicked back and forth across the side of the basket.

Alex. She gave that human so much slack, even more than the day she’d said Take me to your house during their meet-cute-cat in the parking lot of the donut shop. They’d been through a lot together these past fifteen years, but never once had she been sorry she’d adopted Alex when she’d been only eight weeks old. She still wasn’t sorry. She couldn’t imagine ever being sorry. She had these humans totally whipped. And yet, as much as she loved bossing Alex and the small humans around and the way they waited on her paw and foot, she was restless and itchy, and it had all started with that stuffed kitty.

It had been another Friday night, and she’d been alone in the house. Girl human Kara had been sleeping at her unpleasantly screechy best friend’s house, and boy Ben had gone on a camping trip. Java had planned a much-needed snooze on Alex’s belly as he watched a TV program, but then Alex called the answering machine to say he’d caught a case and would be working late.

“Sorry, kitty kitty,” he said over the phone in a hushed voice. “Mew mew mew Daddy loves you!” She knew he was being quiet because he didn’t want his fellow cops to know he reported in to a cat, as they were very dumb, jealous humans who had dogs.

Java was frustrated, but she’d been a cop’s owner long enough to plan her revenge patiently and find ways to blame Alex for things out of his control. Rather than sit home alone, she escaped out the back door and hightailed it to the catnip patch in Frederick, looking for something new and fun and distracting to eat and then puke up.

She nibbled on leaf after leaf, batting the stems and licking the flowers, but nothing caught her attention. She was crouched on the ground, surrounded by possible choices, when she found it under a bush.

The cover of the crinkly magazine drew her attention first. It showcased a hazy photograph of a series of cat beds with plush white bed linens, rumpled as if a kitty had just woken and stepped out of the room. A silky black scarf, shredded in several spots, lay at the foot of one bed. Catnip mice that had been demolished were scattered across the floor, and there were multicolored kitty hair tufts on the linens.

Her mouth went milk-bone dry, her mind whirling with images of how all those different hair clumps had gotten into all those beds. She flipped the magazine over to read the title: MUCH, Multiple Cat Household Magazine. Multiple…cats? There could be more than one cat in a household–and she could be in charge of both humans AND cats? Not to mention have feline companions with whom to complain about the humans’ disobedience and brainstorm ideas on how to keep them in line?

The exciting promise in those words flowed over her like tuna scent, and she turned to the first page. Exactly what she’d been looking for. She had a good scratch on the fabulously rustly paper, lay down on it awhile to absorb the words in that magical way only cats read, and headed home.

And if you’d like to see how Jody cattified the cover, click here!
http://blog.jodywallace.com/2012/03/cattification-feline-fantasies.html

Forbidden Desires, my second book, will be published by Carina Press in November 2012 (tentatively November 19th). Remember Marcus, who recommended the B&B called Bondage and Breakfast to Alex? Yep, his story. And Alex shows up for a brief visit, too. 🙂 I’m working on edits for Marcus and Bella now.

It’s a wonderful Monday, and for those of you who know me, Mondays aren’t exactly my favorite day of the week. This Monday, however, is different.  Today is the official release day for Forbidden Fantasies, published by Carina Press!  It’s a day I’ve worked toward for many years, and I can’t believe it’s actually here.  I’m more than a little excited today – even if it is a Monday!

I’ve already gotten some very nice feedback from reviewers who were given Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) of my story.  The general rule is “don’t read the reviews!” but really, who can keep themselves from looking? I couldn’t.

If you’ve bought a copy of Forbidden Fantasies, I’d like to say thank you!  I hope you enjoy it!

Happy reading!

Anyone else humming “Tiny Bubbles” along with me? No? Hmmmm.

Tiny houses seem to be all the rage these days. Small footprint, compact homes that are fully functional, from kitchens to baths and sleeping areas. If you’ve never seen one, here’s a blog to check out: Tiny House Blog. They’ve got a lot of info about these really cool homes.

I don’t think I could live in one full time, but I’d love to have a tiny office in my backyard, a writer’s retreat of sorts. A space that’s mine…all mine!

Do you think you could live in a tiny house?

I’m addicted to school supplies. Notebooks especially, but also pens, binders, folders, highlighters, and the like. And over the years, I’ve learned I’m not alone in this. It seems to be something that afflicts many, many writers. Maybe we need a support group.

Nah.

One of my favorite times of the year is when school supplies arrive at Target. I’m like a kid in a candy store. And when they go on clearance? Pure bliss. There’s something about shiny, clean new notebooks that makes me happy and has me itching to start something new.

I know, it’s weird. But there it is.

What strange-to-others addictions do you have?

These past several months have been absolutely surreal to me. Thrilling and what I’ve been working towards for years, but surreal.

After I submitted Forbidden Fantasies, I got an amazing email from editor Deborah Nemeth explaining that while Carina Press liked my story, it wasn’t quite ready for publication. My heart sank, but I kept reading…and then I got really, really excited. This wasn’t a NO. It was a “Revise and Resubmit” request, meaning I was being given the chance to work out some of the issues and try again. SCORE!

I thanked Deb for the offer and her terrific feedback and said I was definitely interested. I took my time, thought for a couple of weeks about what she’d suggested, turning the pieces of it over in my mind. Then I got back to work and started editing and re-writing. Finally, after many passes through my critique partners – and even more edits – I resubmitted the story, and waited. And then I got “the call.” Well, actually, I missed the call from Angela James, telling me Carina Press wanted to offer me a contract for Forbidden Fantasies. I got the voice mail – which I still have, odd as that may sound!

The editing process was fascinating. Okay, some of it was painful, but all of it was a learning experience. I discovered more about the way I write in those couple of months than I did in the entire time I’ve been writing. Deb was fantastic, providing invaluable insight and spot-on suggestions that only made my story stronger. After developmental edits came line edits, where we focused more on single word choices and grammar and punctuation, then copy edits, a final check.

The road to publication has been interesting, that’s for sure. I can’t rest easy on this, though, because if I want to be published again, I need to write, write, write. And now that I’ve had a taste of it? I want more!