Unofficial reviews for Ask Adam-Thank you!

I have just been on the My Bookstore and More website, and to my absolute delight, found another review for Ask Adam. It was a really nice surprise and it got me thinking. Whenever I receive a review I like to mail the person responsible and thank them for taking the time to not only read my work, but to comment on it as well. I haven’t done this at all with the readers who took the time to jump on Samhain’s website, and say such wonderful things.

So, to Linda Weaving, Pam Jones and TM Bigelow – THANK YOU! Your kind praise has made me incredibly happy.

Want to know what these lovely people said about Ask Adam? Read on:

“Loved it! You will need a tissue when you read this. This story had everything, and I am very happy that I found it.” (TM Bigelow. Rating: 5 of 5 Stars.)

“Wonderful story. It caught my attention from the beginning. Very heartfelt, I needed a tissue a time or two throughout the story. I read a lot of books and I do mean a lot and I have to say this is one of my very favorites.” (Pam Jones. Rating: 5 of 5 Stars.)

“Hot, sweet, gut-wrenching, emotional–best romance I’ve read in ages. Go! Buy!” (Linda Weaving. Rating: 5 of 5 Stars.)

Nice reviews, aren’t they?

Jess

Tagged-10 things you never knew about me

I’ve been loathe to write anything, in fear that anyone who reads my blog won’t catch sight of my gorgeous new cover for Photo Op. LOL. Best get past that or I will never blog again.

My writer friend, Sami Lee (bless her) sent me the chain blog yesterday, asking me to list 10 things about myself you never knew. Alas, I feel completing the task anew would be cheating, as I already received the mail about a year ago – and filled it in on the blog on my MySpace page. What I’ve decided to do is copy and paste my answers from that blog – which I never use anymore – to this one. (Sami – I hope that’s okay?)

Here you go, 10 things you never knew about me…(be warned, some are a little weird.)

1) I live in Sydney, but grew up in Johannesburg.
2) I once watched a cheetah hunt and kill a springbok in the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. What an awesome trip to the game park that was!!!
3) I had my first kiss when i was eleven. (It wasn’t so good.)
4) Watching horror movies scare the bejeepers out of me. (Can’t sleep for several nights afterwards.)
5) I once stumbled upon a couple having sex on the beach. (Fortunately they didn’t see me.)
6) One glass of wine is more than enough to make me pleasantly tipsy.
7) Okay, I admit, I still bite my nails sometimes.
8) I hate other people’s feet. (Told you. Weird).
9) I love a good back tickle.
10) Waking up early in the morning is tantamount to torture in my book.

With that, I believe I have fulfilled my tagged obligation. I fear I might be attacked if I forward this to anyone else. :O

Jess

Isn’t she lovely?

God bless Scott Carpenter…

I can’t sleep

It is after midnight here, and I cannot sleep. I’m pulling my hair out, knowing how little time I have left to get in a good few hours before I am woken up by well-rested 3 and 6 year olds. Doesn’t help. Sleep eludes me. (Exhaustion doesn’t, which might explain the obvious spelling and grammatical errors in this post.)

So, why can’t I sleep? Well it’s weird really. I was woken up by my mobile phone ringing about half an hour ago. It rang twice. Hubby managed to answer the second time round. Of course, there was no response, just the background noise of someone who has phoned by mistake, and doesn’t realize they have dialed someone and woken them up.

Why do I use the words of course? Because this isn’t the first time this has happened. On Sunday night the caller rang 17 times between midnight and 6 am. After the second call, we put the phone on silent and went to sleep. It was the 15 missed calls registered the next morning that concerned me a little. Not to mention the fact that my voice mail was full to the brim with 180 seconds in length blank messages.

And no – I can’t phone them back. The caller has conveniently switched off caller-id. The number registers as Withheld.

Think it’s odd? I do. I get calls virtually everyday. Yep, in the daytime too, although, as yet, never more than 2 or 3 a day. And before Sunday night it was a while since I’d been woken up in the middle of the night by Withheld. Oh, two or three weeks maybe.

Hubby thinks its someone who has me on speed dial, and keeps pressing their phone accidentally. Also thinks it may be an overseas caller, which would explain why I get so many midnight calls. Well, he did until tonight anyway. After being dredged from the depths of slumber, I don’t think he’s so convinced anymore. Which is why I am sitting here, at my computer unable to sleep at 12:56 in the morning.

Charming, ain’t it?

Jess

Coming Soon…

…The new cover for Photo Opportunity.

Oh, my God. I am so excited. Scott Carpenter, the absolute genius, designed the Samhain cover for Photo Op, and it it fantasmagorical.

I wish, wish, wish I could show it to you now, but we have to wait for final approval. You are in for a treat when you see it. It’s everything I want it to be, and (well to be blatantly honest) it puts the old Triskelion cover to shame.

To use Scott’s description, it’s subtly sensual, and oh, so naughty.

Cool. It’s just like the book.

Soon as I can, I’m going to post it here.

(ARGH. Now that I know what the cover looks like, the wait for the book’s release day on the 2cnd of May is going to be murder…)

Jess

Busy, busy, busy…

…on rewrites for Circle of Four-Steve’s Story.

The good news is, my editor liked the end! Phew. Thank God. The final chapters of that book nearly killed me. I never thought I’d get it done!

The not so good news is she wants LOADS of rewrites. And I mean loads!

Ah, but that’s okay. After reading her comments, I think she’s right. Rewrites will improve the book, oh about a hundred percent or so. So, I have buckled down and hit the keyboard in a big way. Steve’s Story is undergoing major renovations. (Just like my house.) Is it stressful? You bet it is, but hopefully, it will be worth it. It’s nice to be with Steve and Pen again. Katie’s having a hard time, but then so is Tyler. As for Steve and Pen, well, the path to true love is never easy, is it?

Can’t stop to chat now. Have to get back to work.

Jess

Update on Triskelion

Just realised I haven’t posted this yet.

The news about Triskelion is that ALL the contracts that were not sold have been officially abandoned. To quote the brilliant South African cartoon, Madam and Eve:

“Shout it from the rooftops. We are free at last.” (Or something like that.)

So what about Visiting Paradise? Well, the Boys Down Under authors have decided to resubmit it. We’ve been asked to do a quick rewrite, perhaps change some things, just tweak the book a little, make it a bit different. I added a little love scene. Yep. Short, not so sweet, to the point. And pretty hot. I like it. Hope you will too.

Wish us all luck. Hopefully, pretty soon, Boys Down Under will be available again.

Jess

It’s been a whole month!

WOW.

A whole month has passed since last I blogged. Cannot believe how out of touch I am. January has gone, and we are already well into the second month of the year.

Okay – so a quick catch up:

We’ve been away. We went to a gorgeous spot in New South Wales, called Jervis Bay. There are tons of beaches to visit there, each one more amazing than the next. If you’re looking for a somewhat rustic, VERY beautiful place to visit, Jervis gets a five star recommendation from me.

Alas, we returned to find our house had become a building site. Been doing renovations, and the builders took advantage of our absence to do all the necessary demolitions. Chaos, dust and mess. We left home again for a while. Couldn’t stay there. We’re back now. Wish I could say the renos are complete, but nope. House still looks like a bomb hit it, but at least we can live here. Access to the computer is limited – and thus so is work, but…at least we are no longer homeless.

Then there’s the wonderful news. Our family has grown in size by one member. Yep. We got a dog. And if I had the foggiest idea how to download pics from our new camera, and fill up the site with photos of Luigi, I would. Alas, I’m a techno dumbie, so let me tell you about him instead. He is beagle/cross pug, and looks like a boxer pup. ADORABLE! I am completely in love with him, although he has already destroyed several pairs of shoes, too many of the kids toys, and has now started in on the dining room chairs. He thinks he rules the house, and has chosen BOTH couches as his choice bed – over the ridiculously expensive basket we bought just for him.

This is a pic I found on Google of another puggle – not Luigi. Lu (pronounced Loo) is the most handsome puggle ever, without a doubt, but this little guy does resemble him quite closely:

The only problem with Lu is that he likes to bite. Hard. And, when he stands on his two back legs, he can rest his paws comfortably on my three year old’s chest, and take not so little bites of his ear. Suffice it to say, the three year old is not enamored of Lu just yet. Hopefully that will change. In the meantime, we are encouraging both of the boys to keep their undies on at all times. Circumcision for religious purposes is one thing. A second, unwanted circumcision is another issue altogether …

Jess