Friday, February 26, 2010

Friday Funny

A corporate executive decided to take a vacation. He booked himself on a Caribbean cruise and proceeded to have the time of his life... until the boat sank!

He found himself on an island with no other people, no supplies, nothing, only bananas and coconuts.

After about four months, he is lying on the beach one day, when the most gorgeous woman he has ever seen rows up to the shore. In disbelief, he asks her, "Where did you come from? How did you get here?"

She replies, "I rowed from the other side of the island. I landed here when my cruise ship sank."

"Amazing," he says. "You were really lucky to have a row boat wash up with you."

"Oh, this?" replies the woman. "I made the boat out of raw material I found on the island. The oars were whittled from gum tree branches. I wove the bottom from palm branch and the sides and stern came from a Eucalyptus tree."

"But, where did you get the tools?"

"Oh, that was no problem," replied the woman. "On the south side of the island, a very unusual stratum of alluvial rock is exposed. I found if I fired it to a certain temperature in my kiln, it melted into forgeable, ductile iron. I used that for tools and used the tools to make the hardware."

The guy is stunned.

"Let's row over to my place," she says. After a few hours of rowing, she docks the boat at a small wharf.

As the man looks to shore, he nearly falls out off the boat. Before him is a stone walk leading to an exquisite bungalow painted in blue and white. While the woman ties up the rowboat with an expertly woven hemp rope, the man can only stare ahead, dumb struck.

As they walk into the house, she says casually, "It's not much, but I call it home. Sit down, please. Would you like a drink?"

"No. No, thank you," he says, still dazed. "Can't take any more coconut juice."

"It's not coconut juice," the woman replies. "I have a still. How about a Pina Colada?"

Trying to hide his continued amazement, the man accepts, and they sit down
on her couch to talk.

After they have exchanged their stories, the woman announces, "I'm going to slip into something more comfortable. Would you like to take a shower and shave? There is a razor upstairs in the bathroom cabinet."

No longer questioning anything, the man goes into the bathroom. There, in the cabinet, is a razor made from a bone handle. Two shells honed to a hollow ground edge are fastened on to its end inside a swivel mechanism. "This woman is amazing," he muses. "What next?"

When he returns, she greets him wearing nothing but vines and flowers strategically positioned, and smelling of gardenias.

She beckons for him to sit down next to her! . "Tell me," she begins suggestively, slithering closer to him, "We've been out here for a really long time. You've been lonely. There's something I'm sure you really feel like doing right now, something you've been longing for all these months?" She stares into his eyes and takes his hand in hers...

He can't believe what he's hearing. He swallows excitedly, tears form in his eyes, and he says, "You mean... I can check my e-mail from here?"



LOL (I don't know what to comment on first--the fact that the woman is so spectacular or that this is so sadly true...)

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Reasons Manuscripts Get Rejected

Angela James, Executive Editor of the newly created Carina Press (Harlequin's electronic publishing imprint), posted a blog a couple of weeks ago about reasons why manuscripts are rejected. She later offered a post of what their editors would love to see. Both are helpful reading, IMO, to see what not to do and what kinds of things are "hot" right now.

Apparently, werewolves (go figure!) are still really popular, and steampunk is, ah, full steam ahead. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

TAMING THE MOON - Out Today!

Book 3 in my Moon series with Brava is out today!



Animal attraction is only half of the problem…

Olivia Felan has a wild side, all right. Even ignoring the fact that she turns furry and feral once a month, her natural style is take-no-prisoners, full-speed-ahead, come-what-may. But when it comes to her little girl, she doesn’t take chances. So when a big bad werewolf alpha steals her daughter, Olivia will do whatever it takes to get her baby back. And in this case, that means killing Rory Sullivan.

The trouble is, killing him would mean wasting one sexy beast. Sully is all man, all cop, and as of late, half wolf. When he meets Olivia, Sully’s a little glad he stuck his nose into his friends’ business and came out with animal senses—until he gets a whiff of the chaos following her around. Now he has to decide whether he can’t take his eyes off Olivia because she’s too beautiful—or because she’s too dangerous…


"Quinn packs plenty of sex and suspense into her third werewolf novel... (She) reliably spices the action with explicit scenes that will keep readers hot and happy." (Publishers Weekly)

5 Blue Ribbons from Romance Junkies: "With a tightly knit plot, smoldering hot love scenes and an exciting and action-packed climax, Taming the Moon is a more than satisfying conclusion to author Sherrill Quinn’s terrific werewolf trilogy."


Read an excerpt or buy at Kensington, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Borders, IndieBound or Amazon.

Tipsy Tuesday

The Internet is your friend. Well, it can be your enemy when it's used as an evil tool of procrastination. LOL But for the writer trying to learn his/her craft, submitting to a publisher or agent, conducting research, or just staying connected with like-minded folks, it's a bounty of plenty.

There are several places that offer online writing classes on various topics: WriterUniv, MediaBistro, and of course Romance Writers of America's various chapters offer classes out the wazoo (and you don't usually have to be a member in order to take a class).

Since most publishers and agents now have a presence on the web, you can read their guidelines for submissions, find out what they're currently looking for, and with some you can even submit your work (or at least a query or partial) online.

You can find most of your favorite authors on the Web, sign up for their newsletters in order to keep up-to-date with what's going on, and chat with them on forums. For those who have a presence on social networking sites, you can "friend" them and stay in touch that way. You can also stay in touch with writing friends you make along the way through emails, online forums and social networking sites.

Search engines provide a convenient way to conduct research, and instead of hauling that huge dictionary off the bookshelf, you can go to Dictionary.com (or its counterpart Thesaurus.com if you need synonyms).

Needless to say, I love the Internet! I go through major withdrawal when I have connection/computer problems and have problems getting online. There's just so much I accomplish (and don't accomplish, if you know what I mean) when I'm on the Web.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Man Meat Monday

Friday, February 19, 2010

Friday Funny

A respectable lady went into the pharmacy, walked up to the pharmacist, looked straight into his eyes, and said, "I would like to buy some cyanide."

The pharmacist asked, "Why in the world do you need cyanide?"

The lady replied, "I need it to poison my husband."

The pharmacist's eyes got big and he exclaimed, "Lord have mercy! I can't give you cyanide to kill your husband. That's against the law! I'll lose my license! They'll throw both of us in jail! All kinds of bad things will happen. Absolutely not! You CANNOT have any cyanide!"

The lady reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of her husband in bed with the pharmacist's wife.

The pharmacist looked at the picture and replied, "Well now, that's different. You didn't tell me you had a prescription."

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Kate Duffy Memorial Fund

The Kate Duffy Memorial Fund honors the memory of Ms. Duffy, a longtime editor for Kensington Publishing, who passed away in September 2009. The Fund will award one or more scholarships for the payment of conference fees for RWA National. Applicants must be RWA members who are PAN eligible. Members apply by submitting a personal letter plus at least two supporting letters from RWA members stating the applicant's financial need, their serious pursuit of a romance writing career, and why they believe attendance at RWA National in the year of their application will benefit their romance writing career.

The Fund is overseen by Romance Writers of America. Applications should be directed to RWA, Attention: Kate Duffy Memorial Fund, 14615 Benfer Rd., Houston, Texas 77069, with Kate Duffy Memorial Fund application in the subject line. Applications must be received by March 31. Applications will be assessed by a committee of authors and kept in complete confidence.
Scholarship funds will be disbursed to the extent that member donations made to the Duffy Memorial Fund cover the disbursement.

To donate to the fund, mail a check to RWA, Attention: Kate Duffy Memorial Fund, at the address above. Please write "Kate Duffy Memorial Fund" in the check memo line. Or, you may donate online at www.rwanational.org. To donate online, log in to the RWA site, click on the
Store link, and add the Kate Duffy Memorial Fund to your cart. Then, change the quantity of the $1 cost to whatever amount you wish to donate. For example, to donate $10, simply put 10 in the quantity box.


Man, I miss her.The world's a much poorer place...

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Seducing the Moon


Seducing the Moon has been nominated for Best Shape Shifter Book of 2009 at Love Romances Cafe! Click on the link for the list (you have to be a member of LRC), then send your choices in an email to the list owner, Dawn, at dawn_roberto@yahoo.com with "LRC's Best of 2009 Awards" in the subject line.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Monday Man Meat - More Joe Flanigan

Continuing the "Joe Flanigan as Rockford" campaign, check out this video:




Video courtesy of SGAFan.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Friday Funny

Check out this interview of me! Thanks so much, Amy! :)


And for today's funny... The funniest Super Bowl commercial evah!


Thursday, February 11, 2010

Joe Flanigan/Jim Rockford

There's some talk about NBC doing a remake of the Rockford Files. I've heard on one hand that they're looking to cast "young" (i.e., a 20-something), which strikes me as just wrong. Jim Rockford needs to have experience, needs to be a little worn down by life.

Yesterday the Twitter world was abuzz with this little tidbit--Joe Flanigan would be interested in playing Rockford. And, man, do all the Flan fans want him to! Joe as Rockford would be perfect casting.



So here's my vote. :) Joe Flanigan as Jim Rockford!

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Publishing In Flux

The publishing world seems to be constantly in flux, never more so than in 2009 with the downtrodden economy adding to the mix. The most recent news: Avon, the mass-market romance arm of News Corp.'s HarperCollins, has acquired select frontlist and backlist romance titles from Dorchester, by New York Times bestsellers Christine Feehan, Katie MacAllister, and Marjorie Liu to name a few. Avon says it's planning the Avon releases of these titles: an unusual move, even by publishing's topsy-turvy standards.

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or the death throes of Dorchester. I hope it's the former and not the latter. But, to me, a big sign of trouble is the loss (and my gain) of its editorial director, Alicia Condon, to Kensington. Alicia had been with Dorchester for 24 years, and her switch to become editorial director of romance imprint Brava is pretty much a lateral move as far as I can tell, especially since Kensington is also an independent publishing house with similar annual revenues.

As reported in today's Daily Finance: "'Given the difficult publishing climate, the shrinking mass-market paperback market, and Anderson News's demise, which tremendously undermined [Dorchester] through no fault of their own, it's a practical business decision,' says a literary agent who represents authors affected by Dorchester's sale. 'It's not an adversarial mandate. It's [Dorchester] saying, 'We've worked it out so that we can be back on sound footing.' What's not to like?'"

We'll have to wait and see.

Monday, February 08, 2010

Man Meat Monday


Growwwwwf!

Friday, February 05, 2010

Friday Funny

For all the cat lovers out there:



LOL

Thursday, February 04, 2010

New Review for TAMING THE MOON


From Cheryl at Romance Junkies: 5 Blue Ribbons! "With a tightly knit plot, smoldering hot love scenes and an exciting and action-packed climax, TAMING THE MOON is a more than satisfying conclusion to author Sherrill Quinn’s terrific werewolf trilogy... I loved this trilogy and I am eagerly looking forward to more sexy paranormals from this very talented author."

You can read the entire review here.

You can read an excerpt here, or pre-order at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-A-Million and Amazon.

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

DARING THE MOON mass market


The mass market version of Daring the Moon is available now!


It takes a lot to ruffle Taite Gibson. But the enormous, snarling werewolf that’s stalking her through the streets of Tucson? Yeah, that oughta do it. Those terrifying attacks convince Taite to seek out Ryder Merrick, a reclusive British horror writer reputed to know everything about werewolves, including how to kill them. Turns out he also knows how to leave her shaking with desire...

On his remote private island, Ryder can live safely with the beast inside him, unable to harm others or himself. Then Taite arrives, her lush, sweet scent and gorgeous curves tempting him to give in to every wicked hunger. And as a full moon rises, the only way to keep Taite safe from the evil that’s followed her here is to convince her to trust in an attraction that’s deeply dangerous, and wilder than she ever guessed...


Available at Barnes & Noble, Borders, IndieBound, Books-A-Million and Amazon. Read an excerpt or buy at Kensington.

Monday, February 01, 2010

Man Meat Monday


Where to start...?

~ * ~

Along with Denise Agnew, Georgina Devon and Kathleen Wells, I'll be speaking at a library panel this afternoon in Green Valley, AZ. We're covering a multitude of topics; mine is paranormal romance. If you're local, would love to see you!