So, about this social networking thing...

Okay, I admit it, I'm lousy at this journal and blog thing. Facebook is a black hole and well, I'm convinced that it and Twitter are the source of too much evil. But if you want to be an author these days and trying to pull in a following, social networking is sadly, part of the deal.

Sooo, in an effort to at least get something up on the above mentioned social media outlets, I'm going to start posting a fact every day about the Vietnam War and era. All facts will be chosen from dates ranging from January 1st, 1967 to December 31st, 1969- which was the height of the conflict. Since I write military romances, mostly based in this time period, I thought it might be interesting.

I'll also be adding these to my website as well. So, starting tomorrow, get your fact here, my Live Journal, Facebook page or Twitter account.

2011 New Jersey Romance Writers Convention

Last weekend I took a chance and decided to run with the big dogs as it were, so I went to the New Jersey Romance Writers convention. A big deal for me because here I am, a published author (ePublished, but published nonetheless) but I've really not been to anything remotely like this.

So yeah, I was nervous about all of it. I think the drive was a large part of it- I just wasn't looking forward to that. There was a time that never would have bothered me but gone are those days.

It turned out I didn't need to worry about anything and well, I had a certified awesome good time. I owe a lot of that to my friend, Lisa, who convinced me to come and invited me to stay with her so we could go together. From the moment I showed up on her doorstep, the two of us couldn't stop talking! We were up until midnight that first night, seriously, talking about writing and publishing and about our projects and even fandom and how it affected me and my writing.

So, about the conference. First day after registering and checking into our room I went to the following panels:

Networking: Sowing the Seeds of Success.
Creating Realistic Special Needs Characters.

The last panel both Lisa and I wanted to attend got cancelled and moved to Saturday- which was on POV. So we crashed at our room, changed for the cocktail party and went to that. That's where it got so interesting to me.

Suzanne Brockman was the keynote speaker for this year's event and those that know me, know she's my hero and has been for years. She proved you could mainstream a gay relationship in a traditional romance novel and that people would love it. It doesn't hurt that a large number of her heroes happen to be Navy SEALs. (She's been writing about them for years, way before it became cool to.) She's a rock star as far as I'm concerned.

Somehow, not sure how exactly how, we ended up sitting at her table with her husband and parents and a couple of other people. Much to my shock. Lisa, bless her as she doesn't have a shy bone in her body— introduced us right off, saying how much we both enjoyed her books and asked if Suzanne wouldn't mind having her picture taken with me. She was delighted, and just as Lisa got it, the fire alarms went off and we had to leave.

We ended up standing outside the hotel, freezing our backsides off but still talking to Suzanne. Lisa then tells her I'm to shy to say so, but that she's my hero because she mainstreamed a gay relationship. Suzanne thought it was wonderful and we talked about Jules. When back inside, I explained that I wrote military romances about gay lovers, mostly during the Vietnam War but that I was also working on a WWII one. She said her son hated that somehow one gay character was always feminized and I said I had no room to do that- being that my men were soldiers or Marines. That's when she shocked me and asked for my card and book titles- to give to her son.

Seriously? Suzanne Brockman- NY Times bestselling author is asking me for my card and book titles? Well wow.

And that was how my first day went at the convention!

Saturday and we went to breakfast where Suzanne was the speaker. Then I attended three more panels:

The State of the Romance Market- I really enjoyed this one.
Q&A with Suzanne Bockmann. Lisa joined me at this one.
Deep POV- which was the one cancelled from the day before.

I wrapped up with one more panel after lunch- No One Cares You had a Muffin- which gave me some great ideas that I can use to get myself started on Twitter and more of a presence on Facebook.

After dinner out, Lisa and I relaxed in our room, writing and chatting. In checking my email, I found I scored another five kiss review for VN2- with Two Lips Reviews. I had a blast and would love to do it again. Nothing can top meeting Suzanne and her asking for my card and book titles. It was just such a wonderful time and that much more so because I was there with my good friend. For a while, I actually felt like a real author. My only regret- apparently no Lyrical or Breathless people there. I would have loved to meet up with some of them.

Totally worth every dime I spent to attend.

The Navy SEAL Foundation

Another worthwhile cause that supports our military- The Navy SEAL Foundation supports the families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. I've added this to my links webpage under Who I Wave My Flag For.

Please take the time to LIKE them on their Facebook page.

Nominate a soldier

As you know, the military is near and dear to Gwenna's heart. My son is an Army medic who served a year in Iraq. (He's home safe and sound, btw.)

Dell computers is having an event- Nominate a Soldier to Win a Free PC, which I personally think is awesome. There is no purchase, it can be any soldier you want, any branch of the military. So take a moment and do this for someone who is serving our country selflessly. Don't have a name but want to- send me a personal message and I'll provide you with some names. This runs until Veterans Day- November 11th.

Dell has also donated $100,000 to the USO and Operation Serve. These are both wonderful organizations that help our military and their families. Please, take the time to spread this and to nominate someone.

Nominate a Soldier to win a PC

DADT- Done!

It's official- crickets! Don't Ask, Don't Tell is now gone and gays can now serve proudly and openly. It's about damn time.

5 Kiss review from Top2Bottom

Another excellent review!

Top2Bottom Reviews gives VN2 Five Kisses!

Another great review

Five Stars from Romance Writers Reviews

First Major Review for VN2

4.5 star Review from Night Owl Reviews

You guessed it, guest blogging again.

Trying to get my name out there. :) This time I've been invited to chat at author Cassandra Carr's place. I talk about what I tell people when they ask the question everytime they find out I write novels.

Some people have to ask...

I also was the guest interviewed over at You Gotta Read Guest blog. :) I've been a busy girl, what can I say?

guest blogging again

I'm guest blogging over at Whipped Cream Reviews today. Come on over and see what I've got to say. :)

And then there were 84

Charles Murray died today. You probably don't know who he is but we all should. He was awarded the Medal of Honor back in 1944. On Omaha Beach he single handedly launched an attack on an enemy position. He would go on to serve in Korea and Vietnam. His death leaves us with 84 remaining living recepients of the Medal of Honor.

A Marine- Corporal Dakota Meyers will be awarded next month for his actions in Afghanistan.

Talking about Controversial Characters at Black Raven Reviews

I did a blog post over at Black Raven Reviews about controversial characters. They splashed both VN2 AND Lost and Found up as well and the really good news is...You can win a free copy of BOTH books, but you have to comment on the blog to be entered. So please, go comment and win yourself free coipes!

New Interview

I'm being interviewed today over at Miz Love and Crew blog. Come on over and find out a little bit about me.

VN2 is now available!

VN2 released today! Woot! Get your copy at Breathless Press. It's also offered over at All Romance eBooks (ARe).

I'm also celebrating and guest blogging over at Cynthia Selwyn's blog- come read my article Writing about the Military and Vietnam.

Hoping everyone enjoys the new read! :)

Interviewed at Top2Bottom Reviews

The blog tour starts and here is the first one- an interview with Top2Bottom Reviews. (Sadly, the excerpt is messed up as they didn't carry the italics over.) Hope you stop by and check it out.

Self publishing and good wishes

My editor, who is one helluva and editor- has started her own business. Come check out Author Wise Editing Services. I speak from experience when I say she's a top notch editor who knows what she's doing. Self publishing is a growing market, thanks to eBooks and Amazon.com. And although it's not for everyone, it's something to consider with today's changing reader habits. Author Wise also offers beautiful book cover art as well.

My editor has moved on and won't be editing for the presses I've published with, which breaks my heart as finding a good editor that you can trust and work with is not easy. I got the luck of the draw with Lost and Found, and because of that relationship, was able to have VN2 acceped by a different press. I've been lucky and I want to wish her the best of luck with her new business and happiness in her life. I'll miss her dearly.

buy link

VN2 is now posted at Breathless Press for pre-order in both their Forthcoming and Adonis lines. I guess it's time to start ordering the swag.

VN2 available at Breathless Press

Guest blogging again

Today I'm over at Lindsay Below's blog, where she asked me for the inspiration behind VN2. Please come check it out.

Lindsay Below

Guest blogging

I'm the guest blogger at fellow author Rachel Brimble's place. Come on over and see what I've got to say about writing M/M military romances and VN2.

Rachel Brimbal Romance

Something to give you pause

My son was lucky, he came back whole and well. The same could not be said for all our men and women who serve in Iraq. Some sobering pictures and numbers here to think about.

A Tribute to Remember Those Fallen Soldiers.

It's about damn time

Alright! Finally! We here in NY can say we are progressive and it's about damn time! The Marriage Equality Act has passed meaning gays can finally, legally, be married here. About damn time is what I say to this! Times are changing, slowly, but surely, as more states see the light and grant what should be a simple right to any couple who wants to share their lives together.

Now showing at another blog...

Crickets- check it out- my editor is talking about me over on her blog!

VN2 updates

I now have all the edits back to complete from my editor. Thank god there is nothing major here, almost everything is line editing stuff. Click and accept. A couple of minor things I was asked to flesh out a bit with a paragraph or two. Nothing I can't do. I'll turn these around this week and get them back to her, hopefully by Friday- Saturday for sure.

Once those are done and sent back, I'll come back to Firebase October. Still looking for an end of summer completion on that one. We'll see.

Blogging over at Lyrical Press

I'm blogging today over at Lyrical Press. Please, don't all stampede over at once, really. (damn crickets.)

I was into Navy SEALs before it was cool

We've got cover art!

I have my cover art and I'm pretty happy with it too!

Update on VN2

My release date has been moved back from July 1st to July 29th. I'm perfectly cool with this so it's not a big deal or hardship.

What can I say, I'm easy like that! LOL.

Should hopefully see at least the prelim coverart this weekend as well. The artist contacted me with some questions and said she was working on it and should have something for me this weekend.

Work continues on Firebase October. I'm house sitting again next weekend and plan on really pushing on it there.

hanging out

I'm house sitting for a friend. Well, house AND cat sitting. I did this for her several months ago and it was perfect for me and I was able to get a great deal of work done on VN2 at the time. I loved the quiet and solitude. They are in NYC, taking in some shows and the sights.

Now I'm hoping I can get jump started again and break out of this writing slump. It's not for lack of material, I just haven't been able to get anywhere with any of the three manuscripts I've currently got in the works. It's really aggravating me but hopefully some time here, relaxing and clearing my head will do the trick.

I've signed up for the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge walk/run event. Here in Syracuse, it's June 21st and I'll be walking 3.5 miles. Normally, this isn't a big deal for me, most of the summer I walk an average of three miles a day, every day. But it's still very cold and at times and still snowing (we had snow two days ago- groan) so it's been hard for me to get out and start building back up to three miles. It's actually supposed to be nice this weekend, so I'll make an effort to get out.

I'll be adding some new organization links to my webpage soon, one being for autism. I have a nephew who is autistic. I'll make to post when those are up.

update on VN2

I found in my email this morning, the coverart worksheet. Very exciting for me! Shouldn't be much longer before I see first edits come back to me as well. July 1st will be here before I know it.

Helping out

I'd like to draw (what little attention I get here) to a fellow author's worthy attempts to raise money for Japan. Please, take the time to check out her story.

warning label

Over the last week or so, I've been getting hit with a lot of requests on my "LinkedIn" account from other authors and publishers and editors. All good, don't get me wrong and it's funny that it's the LinkedIn account that's getting all these hits, I just wish they were my LJ, blog and Facebook accounts instead. I am accepting these, after all, I got build a base somewhere, right?

But in doing so, I find myself replying with a note stating that I'm an author of military romances. About men.
I feel like I need to apologize for that. All. The. Time.

But I'm sensitive to the fact that this is, (sadly) a hot button issue.

I've been toying with the idea of going over to the nearby used bookstore with a stack of bookmarks and postcards with the cover of Lost and Found on them. I've got a really sexy cover for Lost and Found, bodice ripper worthy but for the fact it's two yummy guys instead. My concern is that if I ask, I'll get told to bug off because of, well, it's just that- two guys. I'm struggling for a presence- to get my name out there. If I could get some used bookshops to shove free bookmarks and/or postcards into their bags, it would be grand. But I don't want to offend anyone either.

Not sure if any of this makes sense, just wanted to ramble here since I've got nothing else to ramble about lately.

getting back on track

I was supposed to go to Japan next Saturday for a trip I had planned with a friend for almost three years. An earthquake and tsunami sort of put a wrench in those plans. Add to it an airline that is just being a real pain and well- what was to be a trip of a lifetime has turned into a lot of disappointment and headaches. Oh well.

While this back and forth has been going on this past week, I've been totally derailed on any writing. Yesterday, I pulled out Then and Now- the sequel to Lost and Found. I have two different beginnings to that one and so started to take parts from one and marry it to the other. Not a good idea when you have a nasty headache. Today we'll see if we can fix the mess and move forward. I'll put Firebase October up on the screen as well and see what I can do with that. I'm still aiming for a late summer, early fall deadline on one of these two.

I wasn't supposed to get my first edits on VN2 until after I got back from Japan in April. Not sure if this will change my editor's schedule but we'll see. I've got paperwork to Breathless I need to finish up including an updated author's bio.

With the trip cancelled, I may take a long weekend here and bury myself in one of the manuscripts. Maybe even treat myself to a hotel room so I can relax and not worry about anything but the writing. It's a thought.

Interview

Today fiind my interview with the vixens of Wickedly Sexy Writers. :) You might be surprised to find out somehting about me.

Wickedly Sexy Writers

I'm now the featured author this week at Wickedly Sexy Writers. :) As mentioned before, there will be excerpts from my current release- Lost and Found, a blog entry explaining how I find and manage my time to write and news about my new upcoming release- VN2. So please, come on over and check it out.

Featured author

I will be the featured author all week at Wickedly Sexy Writers starting on Monday! I'll post more about it but I can say that there is an interview, excerpts from Lost and Found, news about my new upcoming novel- VN2, and some other fun things. Hope everyone drops by to say hello.

Release date for VN2

We're going to be moving fast on VN2 with a release date of July 1st! That means a lot of work in a relatively short amount of time. I excited as I thought (and hoped) for maybe a fall release date. But this is, of course, much better if a bit daunting to get a 94K word count novel ready in such a short time span.

Also I'm going to be the featured author at Wickedly Sexy Writers next week.

Going Breathless

I received the official acceptance on VN2 and it will be published by Breathless Press. :) Very excited.

Decisions, decisions

While I wait on the final decision on VN2, I've been sorting out which of my three current unfinished projects to devote the bulk of my time to. Right now, it looks as if I'm going to run with Firebase October, which is my prequel to Lost and Found. This is Mark's story, before he lost Ryan, before he became angry and bitter and an alcoholic. And since I'm setting this in Vietnam, 1968, it's perfect for me. This is what I know.

Ideally, I'd love to have it done midsummer and over to my new editor at Lyrical, but we'll see.

Come on over to the dark side

I opened a Facebook account this weekend. God help us all. I'm so technically challenged it's not even funny. Not only that, but I view Facebook as this enormous black hole of doom that should be banned.

But sweet christ, I'm trying to get my name out there.

I'm still not touching Twitter under any circumstances. I refuse to have my life lojacked.

So look me up at Facebook. Not that I've posted anything- I haven't figured out how to do that yet. (sigh)

Moving it forward

Finally got VN2 up to submission grade thanks mostly to my friend who is always there to help me out. So I turned it into my editor who is delighted to finally have her hands on it We'll see if the delight holds out. Oy.

Up on my plate to work on now- Firebase October and Melody Blue. Firebase October will go to Lyrical Press when I get that one done. I've also got Then and Now to start banging on again.

Today, I'm taking a break from everything. I just want to catch my breath.

There was an article in USA Today (dated Feb 9th, 2011) that was really interesting, about self publishing and how it's taken off with the popularity of eReaders like Kindles and Nooks. It's a great article- Authors catch fire with self-published e-books.

Done

Sorry crickets, I know I haven't updated here in a while. I've been throwing all my energy into finishing VN2. And it's with delight I can say that the rough draft is now completed and I'm now starting clean up, tweaks and some minor over writes here and there. As it stands now, it came in at just under 95k word count. (My sweet friend, HCat will be doing the bullwork, admittedly, so I can actually look like I know how to write.)

Once cleaned up and out the door, I'll refocus to Firebase October and Melody Blue. Both I'm excited to be getting back to.

I can't help but feel accomplished- this manuscript has been hanging around my neck for a few years. I despaired of ever finishing it but no more!

New Review for Lost and Found

I picked up a new review for Lost and Found, which gets 4 1/2 hearts from The Romance Studio. It's been a few months with nothing so I have made an effort to get it back out there in people's minds.

This month the cover is on the Romance Junkies main page. Since this has a large readership, I can only hope it pays off. It's also one of the featured books today at Wickedly Sexy Writers. (It's the second one down.)

So not so bad today. :)

Wickedly Sexy Writers

Hey, I'm all for promoting someone and something that helps me out as well. A lovely new website to help us authors get some attention. What's even better? Their promotional services are for free, crickets.

Go check out Wickedly Sexy Writers. My author banner is already up on their Author's Alley. :)

What to expect this year from the Gwenna Project

You call it resolutions, I'll call it a To Do List. Why quibble if it all gets done in the end, my fellow crickets?

For January, I'm pushing hard to have VN2 wrapped and out for consideration. God help us all.

For February, a short piece written for a "men in uniform" call out.

For July, Firebase October wrapped and out for consideration.

By this time next year, Then and Now mostly if not totally completed and a healthy start on Melody Blue.

We'll see how this holds up over the year. Yikes.