Plot Monkeys

I think it’s pretty common knowledge that scent memory is very powerful. Research shows that while scents and odors don’t conjure memories more effectively than visual or auditory cues, odors tend to be more emotional.

I totally agree.

There are certain Italian restaurants that I love the minute I walk in the door because of the smell. If it smells like my Nana Carolina’s (pronounced Cahr-o-LEE-na) kitchen, that’s a very good thing. My favorite thing about making a big pot of spaghetti sauce on a Sunday is to leave the house and then come home an hour later because my whole house smells like garlic and tomato. Mmmm….

It’s not just food smells that are powerful. I know that for me, the smell of incense at church is powerful, too. I never did like that particular smell, but it certainly transports me back to grade school, where our church and school didn’t have air conditioning and any holiday that called for incense pretty much meant someone was going to pass out.

One of my favorite scenes in one of my favorite romantic comedies was in the Meg Ryan/Kevin Kline movie, FRENCH KISS, when he took her to his childhood bedroom and showed her the project he’d done as a kid about the smells of herbs and flowers in the wine his family produces at their vineyard. She amazed me at how she could take a sniff and identify the scent…but I really loved the sensuality of the scene as she drinks the wine and then tells him what she tastes. The currant! Love that scene. Very powerful and sweet and yet, really sexy. (If you haven’t seen this movie, rent it! It’s really awesome.)

I bring this up because I’m currently writing a heroine (Josie Vargas, who appeared in last year’s Blaze, STRIPPED, which btw, won Romantic Times Magazines Best Blaze of 2007 award) who works with scents. She’s not an aromatherapist (though I did write one of those back in PURE CHANCE) but she does know her herbs and will use them to her advantage. That means I’m doing lots of research as I write about scents and such and it’s hard for me to apply that knowledge sometimes because truth be known, I have a horrible sense of smell.

Back when we lived (briefly) in Georgia, we had a gas stove. I would get home early…around 4pm. My husband would get home at 6pm. He’d immediately walk in and smell the rotten eggs that alerted us to the fact that our pilot light went out…me? I didn’t smell a thing. That was very scary.

So a scent has to be really powerful to be familiar to me, but I love smells. I love my neighbor’s gardenias, which are in bloom right now and smell divine. I love certain perfumes and colognes, though I don’t wear them myself. My old favorite was Must de Cartier. It had a strong vanilla scent, which is irresistible to me. I loved Cinnabar and Opium, for obvious reasons! Spicy and exotic and powerful…not to be worn much in the summer here. These were winter scents.

So it really helps me to go out and buy oils or herbs that I can press my nose right up against in order to experience the smells I’m writing about. I’m heading to a spa-type, new age store tomorrow to do some stocking up. Exotic, erotic smells work best when writing a Blaze!

So, what scents do you love? Not just perfumes or colognes, but the every day smells that bring a smile to your face or a memory to your mind?

Okay, if you were around here this time last year, you probably heard all about how all of my girls are just like me…complete Broadway babies who love to perform.

Middle daughter’s play was this past weekend, and, of course, I have to let her shine in the spotlight again.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The girl can SING.

And what a very cute show! It was called Beehive and is all music from girl-groups and solists from the 60’s. From Leslie Gore (that’s who she’s playing) to the Supremes, the Chirelles, Patti Labelle & the Bluebells, Arethra Franklin, Cher, Tina Turner, etc. It was just such a fun time, I only wish there was more support for the arts in this area. The audiences were pretty good–probably the best I’ve seen in the shows that she’s done up here. But this was one show that I bet a lot of people who had no kids in that school would still have loved just because the music was so great, the costumes were so adorable, and it was so energetic. There were literally people dancing in the aisles–the cute little dancers went out into the audience and grabbed people to get up and join them in the Mashed Potato and the Twist. What a ball!

I find it really sad that, as I’ve watched my kids go through the public school system, the arts have gotten shoved further and further down the list of important things. I am an absolute believer that experiencing art through literature, music, dance, theater, is a mind broadening experience. It’s not a “useless” activity that takes up time that could be better spent learning one more algebraic equation. The arts sharpen the mind, enhance creativity, expand mental horizons, broaden world perspective, teach new ways of communication and encourage self-expression. To hear this week that once again my daughter’s school is taking a major hit (the cutting of the only high school music teacher to just half the year next year!) really breaks my heart.

I cannot help but hope that somebody will figure out a way to keep all kids advancing– which was the reasoning behind No Child Left Behind–that does NOT completely devalue and undermine every artistic element of public education.

Off my soapbox…

Anyway, here’s to you Beehive gang… Mrs. S., Mr. C., Scooter, Nora, Karen, Shayna, Sara, Jenna, Elaine, and everyone else. You were absolutely wonderful and I’ve loved getting to know all of you over the past two years. Thanks for a thoroughly entertaining weekend.

The Evolution of … Carly Phillips

No no, not from ape to man … I mean woman, but the evolution of the Carly Phillips brand. How did I start on the web? Where did I go to as I changed and grew? Where am I now? Where am I going? (Keep in mind this can also be an evolution of Carly’s hair but that goes without saying! )

I find this concept interesting and fun and luckily for geeks like me, there’s an Internet machine that lets you look back and see how things have changed. This isn’t always a good thing, for example, it’s the reason everything on the internet never ever goes away. So be careful what you post and say. For our purposes, let’s just have fun.

THE WAYBACK MACHINE

The first record of www.carlyphillips.com is August 16, 2000. Now 2000 wasn’t my first website, that was in 1999 so I’m not sure why we can’t find a record of that site. It may have been the same one there in 2000. I can’t recall!

August 16, 2000
So … what do we see? Writing for Harlequin Temptation – Seeking a Super Sexy Read? Was my slogan/brand. I still love those red satin sheets!

December 4, 2000
Same photo, new slogan and look:
On to For a Super-Sexy Read, catch the heat with red hot romances by Carly Phillips

October 21, 2001
A short time after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 – My name itself became its own brand within an oval. I kinda like that one!

Post Kelly Ripa, in 2002
it was decided that I should move away from pink and towards a more sedate New York Times bestselling author mass appeal blue. Not really my thing now that I look back, although I did love the site. Too bad the time capsule cuts a lot off. Those were the days of the Catch the last Chandler man slogan.

May 6, 2005
You knew it couldn’t last. Carly without pink? Naah! May 6, 2004 – another new website look! And with it came the slogan we know today: For sexy fun read Carly Phillips!

August 2006
Brand new website and the most current formation. But of course I get bored, so my hair has changed!

November 2006
New hair

TODAY

As you can see, I like change.
So … what were your thoughts looking at the changes? Fun, huh?

#54 Tammi Flora
#118 Anne

CONGRATULATIONS! Please contact me at janelledenison @ sbcglobal.net with your mailing address so I can mail out your WILD FOR HIM prize package!

SUNDAY FUNNY:

A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, “This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.”

The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, “Which do you want, son?”

The boy takes the quarters and leaves.

“What did I tell you?” said the barber. “That kid never learns!”

Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store. “Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?”

The boy licked his cone and replied, “Because the day I take the dollar, the game’s over!”

No guest blogger this week! I do have the fabulous Kathleen O’Reilly coming next week, so be sure to come back next Saturday.

However, I do have topic this week spawned by a conversation had recently by a group of Blaze authors.

If you’re unpublished, do you need to promote?

I got to be honest…my first reaction was, “Promote what?”

The key to good advertising is to be able to tell your potential customer exactly what you want them to do. In other words, your advertisement should imply or straight out say, “Buy my book!” because that’s what promotion/advertising is all about.

I have to say that I’m a little perplexed by the advice that an unpublished author NEEDS a website. Especially a professionally designed and maintained website because people, that costs money. And if you don’t have any money coming in, why on earth would you put any out if it isn’t going to directly result with some measurable return, aka book sales?

Editors and agents, the primary “audience” of an unpublished writer, don’t have a ton of free time to peruse websites of potential authors. If you have one, they might follow a link. But the decision to buy or represent your book is not going to be based on your website. It’s all about the book. Good book, good timing, good luck…those things make a book sale, not a website.

Now, one Blaze author mentioned that developing a website is good practice for when you are published. I won’t argue with that. If you are doing your website yourself and if you can make it look professional. But if you, like me, have no skill and will need to hire someone, then wait until you have an income. It’s a better expenditure of your time and money to devote yourself to writing more books rather than learning html. Trust me, writing more books will get you sold a lot quicker than html!

That said, you should probably already own your url. For your name and if you think you need one, a possible pseudonym or two. Doesn’t cost a lot of money, but it’s good to have now. I own JulieLeto.com and JulieElizabethLeto.com and a few others. Just in case!

Now, about blogging. Obviously, the Plotmonkeys agree that blogging is a great way to promote yourself and your books. We wouldn’t be spending the time and money that it takes for this investment unless we did. But here’s the trick…we don’t blog instead of write. We write. We have books to sell. We share the workload and we devote quite a bit of our promotional dollars to promote the blog site, as well as our books. It’s part of an overall plan. The fact that there is new content each and every day makes the blog attractive to readers…that’s what I look for in a blog that I visit regularly, anyway.

So, my opinion on blogging…blog if you love it. Do not delude yourself with thinking that blogging will lead you to a book sale or agent representation. Those things happen from writing a good book and sending it to a publisher/agent who is looking for that type of book.

Are their exceptions? Of course! But they are exceptions for a reason…they don’t happen often enough to make them a rule.

I know a lot of published authors who agonize over how much self-promotion or publicity to do. I decided a long time ago that I would do what I could, but I would never sacrifice my writing time for publicity. Never. The book is what is important, ultimately, to my readers, my editor and my agent. It’s the book that makes the money. Would I make more if I promoted more? Maybe, but maybe not. I’d say it’s a 50/50 proposition. Talk to authors who have been doing this a while and they’ll tell you the same.

So, my advice to unpublished writers…don’t worry about promoting yourself. Worry about writing. A lot.

What you can do is network…but that’s a whole different blog post!

I just found out that WILD FOR HIM will be a hardcover feature release with Rhapsody Bookclub! Whoo-hoo! Unfortunately, the hardcover version of WILD FOR HIM won’t be available until June, but to celebrate today I’m giving away TWO (2) sets of the following:

A hardcover version of TOO WILDE TO TAME and BORN TO BE WILDE, and an exclusive ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of WILD FOR HIM a month and a half before it hits bookstore shelves! Here’s your chance to read Ben’s story before anyone else!

Whether you’re a die-hard Wilde fan or new to my Wilde series, let me know! For a chance to win one of these prize packages, just post a comment below then check back on Sunday to see if your name was drawn.

Over the years, the way we listen to music has changed drastically. Growing up, I listened to LP’s (vinyl records) and 8-track tapes. Remember those? My husband and I still have quite a few LP’s from our youth that we’ve kept, and we still have a stereo system to play those records if we ever want to. Not that we have in the past 20+ years — but hey, you never know when that urge is going to strike! There’s something about those LP’s that makes us reminisce about simplier times and make it very difficult for us to part with any of them.

Then came 8-track tapes. (Some of our bloggers may not even know what those are!!!) Recently, while cleaning out the boxes we have stored in the rafters in our garage, I came across a big box of 8-track tapes with artists such as The Carpenters, Styx, Journey, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, Merle Haggard, Bee Gees, Bay City Rollers, and many others. We even had the 8-track player from way back when. Don and I laughed, we reminisced, and then packaged it all up for our upcoming yard sale. Hopefully, our “trash” will be come someone elses “treasure”.

It was funny to see how big and bulky those 8-track tapes were, and it’s easy to see why they didn’t last long in the music industry. However, that said, I do believe that the 8-track tape did pave the way for the more popular cassette tapes, which Don and I had a ton of, too! Cassette tapes were a huge success – they were small, compact, convenient, and how cool was the portable Sony Walkman that we could use to play those tapes and wear headphones? And remember boom boxes that played cassettes, too? I loved cassette tapes, and according to research, the audio cassette became the most widely used music format during the 70’s, 80’s, and part of the 90’s.

That is, until the compact disc (CD) took the music industry by storm. This disc format was the coolest way to play music – how amazing was it that all that music could fit on a shiny silver disc and sound so good? The cassette tapes looked so bulky in comparison, and it didn’t take long for them to become outdated and a thing of the past! I think CD’s is the music format that most people know the best, probably because it’s so current. My two daughters, born in 1990 and 1992, have only bought music on a CD. They’ve seen vinyl LP’s, the 8-track tapes, and the cassette tapes, but have never played any of them. To them, it’s ancient history. Over the years they’ve bought and collected dozens and dozens of CD’s, and most of the time they’d use their CD player to listen to the music.

A few years ago we bought them their first iPod, and it took them a while to “get into it”. MP3 players are truly amazing. I mean, here’s this little thing that fits in the palm of your hand that holds THOUSANDS of songs. Who would have ever thought that would be possible? Don and I have also gotten an iPod, and all those CD’s we bought over the past 20+ years we’ve converted into digital music and downloaded them to our iPods. Yes, it’s very cool to have every single CD we own on our iPods - - it truly boggles my mind!

But even now, with MP3 players and Ipods dominating the market and quickly becoming the main source of playing music, my girls still love CD’s. While most people are buying and downloading their music via the internet and iTunes, my girls still insist on buying the CD version of the album they want, then copying it to iTunes and downloading it to their iPods. When I recently told them that someday, possibly soon, that CD’s would be obsolete, they were both pretty upset. While they love their iPod, they also really enjoy the “physical” part of having a CD. But, chances are, within the next ten years or so CD’s — just like vinyl, 8-track, and cassettes — will become nothing more than a part of history. And that really does makes them sad.

Right now, it’s all about digital music. And I have to admit that it’s awesome and way cool, but it also makes me wonder how we’ll be listening to music another 10-20 years down the road. Each year, sales of CD’s are declining in lieu of MP3 players and downloadable music. And quite honestly, I’m going to really miss CD’s, too.

So, how many of you remember playing vinyl records and 8-track tapes? What is your main source of listening to music now - - CD’s or iPod/MP3? How do you feel about CD’s become obsolete in the future? Will you miss them or have you already moved on with your MP3 player?

Thanks again to Jill Monroe and Gena Showalter for exposing my crimes to the public at large. I am, admittedly, guilty of writing a crime-riddled book…lies, cheating, stealing…sexual positions that are likely outlawed in parts of the south…dogs and cats, sleeping together…mass hysteria.

S’rsly, these ladies are tre funny. I love them. In fact, I squee’d like a schoolgirl when I got my email stating that Gena’s newest book, THE DARKEST NIGHT, is winging its way to me as we speak. Hot men, Pandora’s Box (I love me some Greek mythology, people)…what’s not to love?

Speaking of crimes, yesterday, I was driving home from picking up my daughter at school when I turned out onto the main thoroughfare that leads to my subdivision. Although I don’t live directly on this main road, I consider this road my neighborhood. I also know that there are very often police officers stationed in front of the private school on this street, ticketing speeders. I’m very careful not to speed there for two reasons. One, it’s my neighborhood and there are kids around and two, I don’t want a ticket. Both good reasons, I think. Well, I pulled out with plenty of space, but lo and behold, ten seconds later, a little white car driven by a blond woman who might have been but a few years younger than me speeds up behind me.

I’m quite a good driver. Very aware of my surroundings (most of the time) and I saw her in my rearview. Not crazy about tailgaters, I took my foot off the gas. I didn’t brake…that would be dangerous, but I slowed down just a little bit, enough to get her to back off. Then I watched and proceeded to drive the block that it takes to get to my subdivision entrance.

She made a gesture that asked, “What are you doing?”

I kept driving. When I passed the speed limit sign, I very politely pointed (with my pointer finger, btw) at the sign. 35 miles per hour.

That’s what I’m doing, moron.

As I turned on my signal and made my turn, I ignored her. I’d made my point.

Then my daughter informed me that the teenage boy in the passenger seat had just put up his middle finger at me.

Nice parenting, lady.

Because of this idiot who doesn’t care about the school she was speeding past or the bus stops she wanted to tear by, I had to explain to my daughter what “no class” means. Not a bad lesson for her to learn of course.

A few weeks ago, there was a woman in an SUV (not dissing SUV’s here…I drive one, too) who was very impatient to get to school. She was coming from the same direction as me and not only did she ride over a curb in order to get into the turn lane, she made a left turn against a red arrow at another intersection. She was speeding, weaving in and out of rush hour traffic…all with her child in the car. A fifth grader, I know, because this child goes to my daughter’s school, though I don’t know the parent.

And guess what? Without breaking a single law, I beat her into the car line. Why?

I didn’t stop for coffee at the 7-11. She, however, did.

And we all sit here and wonder what’s wrong with kids today.

Don’t wonder, people. Just look in a mirror.

Want to vent about bad parenting? Bad driving? Here’s the place!

It’s mid-April and three things are on my mind.

First, foremost: the book. I know, I know, with writers there’s always a book. But I’m so tense about this one (my first dark romantic suspense from NAL) that I’m questioning myself the way I haven’t in a very long time. I have to turn it in next month, which is one reason you don’t see me a lot on here during the day. Being the complete internet-addict that I am, I simply cannot have the temptation during the work day. So it cuts out from 9-4, Monday through Friday. Amazing how much more productive my days are! I honestly would love to do a full week of cold turkey, no internet, no email, but I haven’t quite worked myself up to that.

The second thing on my mind: I’m on a diet. Again. Diet and I go way back. We’ve been friendly enemies since I hit puberty. I’ve blogged about this before, so I won’t go into it again. Suffice it to say, when I went to the dr last month, stood on the scale and saw a number I hadn’t seen since I was 9 months pregnant with my last child, I decided enough was enough.

One thing I have discovered: weight that used to fall off when I was in my twenties, is a whooooole lot more stubborn now that I’m in my forties. Seriously, I could go on Slim-Fast to lose a quick 5 pounds for an important event, and have it gone in a few days.
I’ve been on Weight Watchers for 3 weeks and have lost exactly 9 pounds.

I know, I know, slow and steady is the key, and that’s a really good start. But 7 of it came in week 1. The next two were ONE pound a week! With such a long way to go, I would have really liked to see things moving quicker. Fortunately, the whole family knows how hard I’m trying, and Bruce is actually trying to drop a few pounds himself so he’s cheering me on. Roxanne St. Claire gave me some great dieting advice, starting with watching The Biggest Loser, which I have found incredibly inspiring.

One way I’m making sure I lose weight is by moving more. And this past week, that involved moving in the garden (which I also blogged about.) So far, the experiment has been mixed. First, we tried to cultivate seeds in those little indoor greenhouse things.

They sprouted, they grew…they died. Everything except the green peppers. Seriously…EVERYTHING else died. And I have no idea why.

So, dead plants, empty garden, what to do? Well, Bruce and I went out and bought seedlings a couple of weeks ago, which we’ve been tenderly caring for until we were sure the weather would be okay. We have been busy preparing the ground for a couple of months, and finally this past Saturday, when it was in the 80’s, we put everything in. Considering we live in Mr. Slate’s quarry, and dug out cart after cart of rocks, that wasn’t as easy as it sounds. But eventually, we got it all done, put up fencing, carefully marked the rows, treated the seedlings like little babies, and smiled at the end of a long, weary day.

Then Sunday, the flood came and Noah forgot to swing by with the Ark. Good grief, talk about a deluge! It rained for hours…and hours…and hours. Our front yard had about a 3” deep lake. And our pretty garden, which we had fully intended to mulch the very next day, was a mudpile. Our seedlings were bent over in sheer exhaustion from the battering of rain, and big channels were washed down between them. I have no idea if the few seeds we did plant stayed in my own yard…if my neighbor suddenly starts seeing sunflowers popping up in his grass, I guess we’ll have our answer.

ARGH.

I didn’t cry, though, and I certainly didn’t give up. It’s finally cleared up, I’m getting ready to go out and give the plants some TLC then protect the whole bed with lots of mulch. I keep telling myself it’ll be worth it when I have lovely fresh veggies all summer and won’t have to pay absolutely ridiculous prices for shriveled up stuff at the grocery store.

Of course, we’re leaving for Florida next Wednesday and will be gone for a week. I somehow suspect not a single drop of rain will fall and we’ll come home to a barren desert. But I could just be a little pessimistic.

Oh, wait, there’s another thing on my mind. Dulcie. She’s 6 months old now and has suddenly decided not to sleep through the night anymore. She’s been wonderful about being in her crate since probably the 2nd night we had her, now all of a sudden she’s going nuts, waking up at all hours, yapping and just being a major PITA. Anybody have any advice on that?

So that’s four. What about you? What 4 things are you dealing with?

Final Anniversary Thoughts …

From Afar
It’s Spring Break and we took the kids to the Bahamas. My youngest said she always wanted to swim with the dolphins and I’m so happy she’ll get that chance. I can’t believe it’s almost May. Where does the time go? I wish I knew.

One blog reader asked the other day what state we’re all from. I’m from New York. Her question made me realize there’s much we don’t know about each other. Last week was our second anniversary and the other monkeys spoke about what Plotmonkeys means to them. I was up first and I only thought about the excerpts and giveaway so I decided to donate one more day to this topic. I won’t be around to answer, but I’ll be reading your replies!

When we started this blog, it began as an idea for joint promotion. Cut and dry. We laid out the plan: One day per author Monday – Thursday. Fridays would be contest day, the first Friday of the month corresponding to the author who has Monday and so on. If there was a fifth Friday, we’d do a joint giveaway/prize. Sundays would be the joke of the week and announce the winner. Saturdays were always a work in progress until we settled into a craft routine courtesy of mostly Julie’s hard work. One main rule. NO CONTROVERSY. Other than that, subjects were free game. Nobody envisioned it would be easy.

We couldn’t have been more pleasantly surprised. We fell into a routine that was so easy (except for Leslie who had Mondays, something I admit to not understanding until I took over the day. It means thinking way ahead, but I’m OK with it. My weekends are simpler than hers) it was scary. I don’t know much about other blogs but we are a seamless group. That’s not to say we don’t have our disagreements on occasion, we wouldn’t be normal if we didn’t. But the blog almost feels like it runs itself. It became not a promotional tool but a labor of love.

The reason it became a labor of love is all of you. You come every day. So much so that we wonder what’s wrong if Stacy doesn’t post bright and early. Leslie asked us the other day if Jeannie was OK b/c we hadn’t heard from her on the blog in awhile. Not ONE day later, I received a postcard from sunny Florida with a half naked man on the front – from Jeannie! All was well! Paula posts often and turns up on Myspace and Facebook! We have gotten to know all of you. THANK YOU for making our community a welcome place to be!!!

So let’s answer some questions:
1. What state or country (if not the US) do you live in?
2. How long have you been visiting Plotmonkeys? (don’t be shy or embarrassed we’re happy to have you here no matter if this is your first visit!)
3. Are you a reader, writer, or a bit of both?