Ethan Day's Gay Day!!!!

Sunday, October 25^th is Gay Day at the Ethan Day Yahoo Group. Gay Day is the one day a month when the best authors in GLBT Romance stop by to post excerpts of their new and upcoming releases.

You’ll have a shot at winning one of the following e-books generously provided by the following authors this month!

Muse by Clare London

A Pint Light by Devon Rhodes available October 26th

A.J. Llewellyn’s newest release, Deeper Blue - available for purchase on Gay Day, October 25th

Jaime Samms will be giving away the winners choice of either Apron Strings or WindBlown

Amanda Young will be giving away an Autographed copy of Pyromancer

ePistols at Dawn by Z.A Maxfield

Timeless by Nix Winter

Love Me Dead – The newest release from Lex Valentine, an antho with William Maltese & AM Riley

Finding Love – Simone Anderson

Jambrea Jo Jones is giving winners choice of either Heart Song or Runaway Man

Dash & Dingo: In Search of the Tasmanian Tiger by Sean Kennedy

Pull by Bryl Tyne

In addition, these and many other amazing Authors will be popping in and out to post excerpts of their latest books and chat:

P.A. Brown – Memory of Darkness

AKM Miles – Take It EASY - Coming November 25th

S.J. Frost – Conquest

Lynn Lorenz – My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys – Coming November 15th

Bryl Tyne – Coin Operated Boy

Adrianne Brennan – Dawn of the Seraphs

Andrew Grey – Love Means…Courage

Barbara Sheridan – Such A Good Boy

The day will begin from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. CST in the Ethan Day Yahoo Group where we’ll be posting excerpts, running contests for free books, and chatting about all the new and upcoming releases from your favorite authors.

From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. CST we’ll be hosting another LIVE Chat which is pretty much a free for all, anything-goes-chat that’ll inevitably have you uttering the phrase, “What the f**k?” : ) (The link to the LIVE CHAT will be posted in the Yahoo Group.)

Stop by to catch up with your favorite authors and join in all the fun!

I Enjoy Walks On The Beaches and...

Whiskers on kittens, rain drops on roses, and blue satin sashes....

Over at Writer's Evolution this week we are talking about our favorite things and if they make it into our books. Mia and I have each taken a different approach on this topic, which is infinitely interesting because then you can say - OMG! I totally forgot about that! or Now, I see it!

Bug is getting ready to go to camp. Her school does an weeklong outdoor camp during the school year for her grade - it'll be her first camp - away or day - ever. Thankfully not her first time away from me, because then I'd be really nervous. Anyway, I'm wandering off topic - oh well.

So, in the spirit of my favorite things, let me share a few of mine...in no particular order - maybe

1. Hot men
2. Tattoos on hot men
3. Favorite mode of transportation - motorcycle or plane - sadly, I don't own either of them - yet
4. Favorite dessert - thick and rich homemade cheesecake (should maybe make it for an upcoming retreat)
5. Favorite food - my mom's homemade beef bbq (now to get her recipe)
6. Favorite music - Enya, Tori Amos, Elvendrums
7. Favorite Sci-Fi Movie - Dune with William Hurt
8. Favorite Movie - The Princess Bride
9. Favorite Book to Ground Me - The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott
10. Favorite Hobby - Sewing


So, there are a few of my favorite things, which are not actually on my post at Writers Evolution.

I promise to blog more often. However, now I'm heading back to my cave and work on the soundtrack for my newest book which while still being m/m takes me into the paranormal realm. THat should be a fun trip. Then to write it. I'd like to finish it by the second week of NaNoWriMo.

So, tell me, what are a few of your favorite things???

WINNERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a Saturday, the sun is finally shinning, and I'm meeting up with other writer's today. I finished the edits on Knight of Pleasure last night and it is off to a beta reader before I send it to my editor.

Oh, and there are winners. Yes, plural. Bug wanted to help with the drawing and she drew two names. She did turn the prettiest shade of red. So, we have two winners. Email me at simone@simoneanderson.com with your format choice.

CONGRATULATIONS TO:

Ali
Jeanne

THANK YOU for everyone who answered.

IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!

It's Friday!

That means school is out! I have tests to study for, but this week is done!

So what are everyone's plans for the weekend?

Me - there are two home Hockey games this weekend at school, so girls night out - is Hockey! There will be cookie and bread making. And Lots of studying - primarily in mythology and physiology. That'll be fun. Other than that, I think I'm going to work on a quilt and work on my newest book.

Inspiration From Pictures

Inspiration can come from anywhere - places I've been or from a photo I've seen. This can be one of my hero's retreats or maybe he is drawn here by an unknown force or maybe he is trapped here by magic or because his spirit can't leave the final resting spot of his body.









OR





Maybe this comes wrapped in that photo and our hero has to figure out why he was sent it and who is behind? Is it a past lover wanting to get back with him? To get back AT him? Is it a plea for help? Or was it delivered to him by mistake? Oh, better yet - is it some combination of both?











Remember tomorrow is the last day to enter to win a free copy of Finding Love!

Bread and Cookies

It's fall, so therefore is time to bake and cook, which I love to do. This week I made chocolate chip cookies and Zucchini Bread. Next week, it'll be apple butter, more cookies, and probably a sweet bread or two. I know I'm making Bannock for a retreat I'm going to in a couple of weeks.



The cookies I made were from the back of the Nestle's Toll House Chocolate Chips bag, and while they tasted good, they were a little crispy and way too flat. But there aren't any left, so they couldn't have been too bad.








The Zucchini Bread recipe was from Allrecipes.com - love that site - and it turned out really well. I made 3 loves and none of them lasted more than a couple of days.







Zucchini Bread

• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 2/3 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. In a large bowl, beat eggs well. Add oil, brown sugar, zucchini, and vanilla; stir well. Blend in flour, cinnamon, baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir in raisins and nuts. Pour batter into two greased and floured 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
2. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 1 hour. Cool.

If you don't use the 9 x 5 pans, it makes more. I didn't add the raisins or the nuts, and it tasted perfectly fine. The only hard part was grating the zucchini. I want to make it again, but they said the s-word on the news this morning - repeatedly - so, I don't know if it'll be around anymore. At least not for a reasonable price. Should've gotten more from the farmers market and frozen it after I grated it.

The Way We Write

When it comes to how a book is written, writer's generally fall into two camps - plotters or pantsers. Over at Writer's Evolution this week, we are tackling the issue of plotter vs. pantser and who is right.






Pantser: A writer who does little to no plotting and writes whatever flys into their head - writing by the seat of their pants.












Plotter: A writer who plots the entire story before writing down the first word. Can be either a simple out line or an extremely detailed, 100 page outline.

Enter to Win!

To celebrate the fact that I'm going to be a great aunt soon, I'm giving away a free copy of Finding Love in the format of your choice this week. Anyone who leaves a comment on my blog between now and Friday will be entered to win. I'll announce the winner on Saturday!

Finding Love Blurb:

When Nick Jackson finds out that Tristan McTavish, his submissive ex-boyfriend, is missing, he rushes back to Harbour Springs, Michigan to look for him and to find out who has been leaving the mysterious packages with threatening notes, bloodied shirts, and bondage equipment on his doorstep. Along the way they learn to deal with past issues, unrealistic expectations, and how to go through the future together. They find love and each other.