Plot Monkeys

Yes, the book is done, done, done! Yeah! It’s always such an euphoric feeling to finish a book and send it off, yet I know when that happens I have about a week of stuff to do that was neglected while I was spending every spare moment writing. The laundry pile is HUGE, and there are probably enough dog and cat hairballs rolling around on the floor to make a pillow out of. I’m sure there are gross things growing in my refrigerator that needs to be cleaned out, and the dust has to be an inch thick on all my furniture. Oh, and I’m surprised that my electricity and phone haven’t been shut off, because somewhere I know there are a few unpaid utility bills just waiting to surprise me when I start cleaning and going through stuff.

I think the absolute worst thing is my office. (Yes, that picture is what I call “my office on deadline”. Pretty horrific, huh? I mean, my cat could be buried beneath all that and I’d never know!) Anyway, my office seems to be the “catch-all” during deadline, and everything gets dumped on my desk, credenza, floor – well, you get the picture. There are piles and piles of stuff all around my desk, and only my keyboard and monitor are visible. That’s all I need to write, so who cares about the rest of the space! But now I’m starting that cleaning process that for me, comes after finishing a book. In fact, I can’t start the next book until everything is clean and organized again, though I know over the course of weeks and months that I’m writing it’ll all pile up again. It’s a vicious cycle, but one I’ve grown used to. And, thank God, my husband has come to expect this, as well – and accepts it as part of the writing process.

Now, the good part is, while cleaning my office, I came across five ARC’s of BAD BOYS WITH RED ROSES, my May 2007 Brava anthology. For those of you who don’t know what an ARC is, it’s an “Advanced Reading Copy”, that is sent to booksellers and reviewers for advanced reading and reviewing. It’s a plain covered book, with uncorrected page proofs inside – meaning, any mistakes I might have made, or the editor might have made, haven’t been corrected yet. But, they do this months ahead of the book being released, before any changes can be made to the manuscript, to start a “buzz” about the book.

Anyway, like I said, I have FIVE of them, and I’d like to give them away here, to our loyal blog readers. The book won’t be in stores for another month, so this is your chance to get a sneak peek of my story before anyone else gets the chance to read it! The only thing is, like I said, the cover is plain, and the pages inside are uncorrected and there might be a few mistakes here and there. (In the picture, you will receive the book on the right – without a hunky cover) But hey, it’s a FREE book, so who cares? Well, if you do care, then you don’t have to enter this giveaway and you can wait for the actual book to hit the stores, LOL!

All you have to do to be eligible to win is post anything today and I will draw five winners late tonight. The winners will then be posted at the END of Julie’s blog tomorrow, so be sure to check back to see if you’ve won!