So over Christmas I received enough itunes gift cards to last me through the summer. Which is great because I love music. What kind of music you might ask…well that would mostly depend upon my mood. General radio station preferences tends to waver over time. I’ll stick with one genre until I keep hearing the same songs over and over and then I’ll change to another genre all together. When it comes to criteria for clicking the buy button on itunes, I tend to have three basic catagories a song will fall under: lyrics, the beat (usually upbeat), or it’s an artist I’ll buy no matter what they put out.
Just for fun, I thought I’d share my most recent purchases:
I’m Yours-Jason Mraz
Gotta Be Somebody-Nickelback
Crush-David Archuleta
She Wouldn’t Be Gone-Blake Shelton
Already Gone-Sugarland
Lookin for a Good Time-Lady Antebellum
More Like Her-Miranda Lambert
Just a Dream-Carrie Underwood
It Won’t Be Like This for Long-Darius Rucker

As you can see, country dominates my most recent purchases. But not always. I still have plenty of upbeat songs for running and other high energy activities. Next time around will surely snag more of those.
So did anyone else receive itunes gift cards for Christmas? Even if you didn’t, what singers or songs can you not get enough of? Who is about to wear out your ipod?

Writer’s Block. We’ve all heard it. It’s the dreaded state of being unable to write. Anything. It’s where that pesky inner critic says, “Jessica, what are you thinking? The problem is you’re not because your idea is crap. No one would be interested in reading this. You should just stop right now.” We’ve probably all experienced it, whether it occur along our road to publication in romance writing or stem from assigned research paper topics in school that held our interest in no form or fashion. Famous writer’s such as Leo Tolstoy, Ernest Hemingway, and Joseph Conrad all suffered from writer’s block at one point.
So I guess the question is: What do you do about it? How do you overcome it?

So the Christmas season is upon us once again. Is everyone else out there up to their eyeballs in Christmas parties, shopping, cooking, etc.??? I know. If it’s not one thing then it’s another. But the way I see it is that we have all of January to recover. Normally a cold month for most, it’s a great time to stay at home, relax, read a book, write a book, or just do whatever it is we want to do. There’s usually not a whole lot going on–at least for me–so I figure, as far as December goes, I’ll go. And recover later.

So after a fun Christmas party at the neighbor’s on Friday night, I participated in a Jingle Bell Run on Saturday.

Lots of my running friends from the local running group were there to run with, support one another, and eat with. We had a great time, all the while ignoring the long list of Christmas errands that continue to grow in urgency as we approach the twenty-fifth.
So how about you? How much shopping do you have left? Is there a barrage of engagements and commitments keeping you from marking through items on the list?

The Art of Sensuality is a book written by one of my cabin mates from last weekend’s retreat. Her name is Jax Cassidy and she’s a hoot. She’s also one of the co-founders for Romance Divas, a popular website for writers. Be sure to check out her latest release.

Title: ART OF SENSUALITY
Author: Jax Cassidy
Publisher: Parker Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-6004-3044-2
Page Count: 250 pgs / print
Release Date: November 17, 2008

Art was not only a passion of Machiko Barrett, but also a destiny…a way of life she has known since her talent was discovered at three years old. Caught in a turbulent storm of celebrity, scandal and corruption, she disappeared from the art world only to re-emerge fifteen years later as an au pair to the two young children of renowned Parisian gallery owners. Her sheltered existence is disrupted when she is lured back to her one true passion: painting.

While Machiko struggles to find her own identity through her art, she encounters Caleb Holden, a sexy, unpredictable and irresistible neighbor with a penchant for collecting art, and women. As he discovers the girl within the woman, the secrets of Machiko’s past return to haunt her, revealing scars she never knew existed. She must learn to conquer her fears and allow him into her heart or risk slipping back into a cold, lonely world that once held her spirit captive. Through Caleb’s determination to educate Machiko about trusting herself and her abilities, he opens her eyes to the art of sensuality, and awakens the woman buried deep inside the broken girl.

Author Bio:
Jax Cassidy is a multi-published author and has written under the pen name Cassidy Kent. She is Co-Founder of Romance Divas, an award winning romance writer’s website and discussion forum. In between skydiving for charity and campaigning against human trafficking, she enjoys the company of close friends and indulges her caffeine fix at the nearest cafe. An avid traveler and an adventurous spirit, Jax has drawn inspiration from her experiences and often blends the exotic mix of Eastern and Western lifestyles into her writing. When she isn’t locked up in her office penning her latest manuscript, Jax can be found creating abstract paintings for future art shows, or dividing her time between California, Texas, and Florida.

For more information on Jax, please visit her online at www.jaxcassidy.com or www.jaxadora.blogspot.com

Seventy Days of Sweat is a writing challenge sponsored by Diana Peterfreund, HelenKay Dimon, Jaci Burton, Lauren Dane, Portia Da Costa Shiloh Walker, Stephanie Tyler. The website is http://70daysofsweat.com/wordpress. Sven is our motivator. He reminds us constantly of our task at hand. But ultimately, the goal is to write. A lot. And also talk with other writers who are experiencing the same highs and lows that all writers face. The sponsors’ overall goal is for you to write between 60K and 100K words. The time frame to accomplish that goal is from November 10th to January 26. That actually totals 77 days, with 7 days built in for the holidays so your family doesn’t feel completely deserted. So the average daily work count is between 850-1500 words, depending upon your goal. Which is like climbing Mount Everest for me. Every day. But alas, I will suck it up and stick with it. No matter what, I know I’ll accomplish more having committed to the goal than not. So anyone else out there sweating with Sven?

As much as I’ve enjoyed a couple of weeks off, I know the time has come to refocus on writing. And this weekend jump started that commitment. Our local chapter hosted a writer’s retreat at a cabin setting on a small lake. Here is a view from our cabin:

It was an ideal environment to inspire ideas without any distractions. I say that because most of our cell phones did not work, we had no internet access and didn’t watch TV. Just writer’s focused on writing. Can’t get much better than that. IMO.
Our two presenters on Saturday afternoon were Candace Havens and Rosemary Clement-Moore.
They did a great job to get the creative juices flowing and to think about our work in progress from a different angle. And now that I’m home, I still feel encouraged and inspired to immerse myself in my current project.
So how about you? How was your weekend?

When I was over in Italy, I had to opportunity to tour a wine vineyard by the name of Frascati. It is a town located forty-five minutes south-east of Rome. Despite its notoriety for producing exceptional white wines, the red wines proved amazing as well.
The first part of the tour included a walk through the rows of vines, even pulling some grapes right off and eating them.
We watched as the grapes were poured into large siphons and deskinned. Then we headed down under ground to see where they stored the reds for eighteen months (or so) before placing them on the market. Here is our tour guide standing beside the barrels to show how large they are and also to explain how the barrels are only good for two years before too much of the oaky texture is absorbed into the wine.
And lastly, the fun part. The tasting. There were five wines we tasted, two white and three red. In the end, we bought two bottles each because that was the limit we could take on the plane.
But alas, we did not make it home with our wines. We drank three of the bottles with our American friends we met there and left the last bottle for the desk clerk at our hotel, knowing we could order more when we got home. But FYI, good wine in Italy is cheap. No wonder the average Italian drinks 26 gallons a year!

In case you didn’t read the title of this blog, I’ll give you a clue as to where I recently traveled.

Yep, you guessed it. Rome, Italy. (That’s the Colosseum). Ever since my husband traveled there for work, he’s wanted to take me. So two weeks ago, we headed to Chicago and flew nine hours across the Atlantic to Rome. A whole other world.
I’ve selected the Colosseum to talk about because I’m sure we’ve all seen the movie Gladiator (which Romans have said the simulation in that movie was probably dead on). Construction on the elliptical amphitheatre started around 70-72 AD under the emperor Vespasian and was completed during Titus’ reign in 80 AD.
Originally capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. Mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology are examples of such spectacles. The building ceased to be used for entertainment when Rome fell (around 400 AD).

As you can see, the floor is missing but exposes the areas slaves and animals were held before a fight. In the bottom right, the small portion of cement is there to better help the tourist visualize what it looked like back then.
Although in the 21st century the Colosseum is in a ruined condition due to damage caused by earthquakes and stone-robbers, it is one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering and remains one of Rome’s most popular tourist attractions.
I’ll show other pictures through out the week. Until then, Arrivederci!

Tempt Me With Darkness is a book I’m especially excited to talk about not just because the story is so amazing but because the author happens to be a friend of mine. And also a mentor in my journey of romance writing.

Shelley Bradley, aka Shayla Black, has tackled her most ambitious project yet with the Doomsday Bretheren series and I’m proud to say has served up a delicious tale of magic and suspense…all in the midst of a smokin hot romance. Everything a reader could want and more. The only disappointing news is that the next edition of this three part series won’t be out until fall of next year. But luckily, book three will follow a month later.

Here’s a Synopsis From Publishers Weekly
More Spamalot than Camelot, the debut of Black’s Doomsday Brotherhood series introduces Marrok of Cadbury, who was a brave warrior in King Arthur’s army until his unhappy lover, Morganna le Fay, cursed him with immortality and perpetual sexual frustration. Fifteen centuries later, Marrok is working as a sculptor in London and searching for a way to unlock Morganna’s nasty little book of spells, the Doomsday Diary, though he’s not sure he can break the curse without unleashing the book’s deadly magic. Marrok also has to hide the Diary from villainous wizard Mathias d’Arc (Cruel, clever, hedonistic, rapacious. Brilliantly evil.) and decide whether beautiful art gallery owner Olivia Gray, Morganna’s descendant, is his greatest nemesis or his sexual salvation. This orgasmic paranormal might make T.H. White turn over in his grave but will keep Black’s fans panting for the next installment.

For those of you in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Shelley will be signing books at the following locations:

October 4, 2008, 2:00 - 3:30pm - Barnes & Noble, North Richland Hills, TX

Octoberer 25, 2008, 2:00 - 3:30pm - Barnes & Noble, Southlake, TX

November 1, 2008 - 2:00 - 3:30 - Barnes & Noble, Lewisville, TX

I realize the Olympics officially ended Sunday evening here in the United States. But I just couldn’t resist posting these quotes I read on a yahoo groups. Let me know which one was your favorite or if you heard another one not listed.

Here are the top nine comments made by NBC sports commentators so far during
the Summer Olympics that they would like to take back:

1. Weightlifting commentator: This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria. I saw her
snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing.
2. Dressage commentator: This is really a lovely horse and I speak from
personal experience since I once mounted her mother.
3. Paul Hamm, Gymnast: I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and
father.
4. Boxing Analyst: Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths in
boxing, but none of them really that serious.
5. Softball announcer: If history repeats itself, I should think we can
expect the same thing again.
6. Basketball analyst: He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn’t like it.
In fact you can see it all over their faces.
7. At the rowing medal ceremony: Ah, isn’t that nice, the wife of the IOC
president is hugging the cox of the British crew.
8. Soccer commentator: Julian Dicks is everywhere. It’s like they’ve got
eleven Dicks on the field.
9. Tennis commentator: One of the reasons Andy is playing so well is that,
before the final round, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them… Oh
my God, what have I just said?