Even though I’m deep in the last chapters of Immortal Defender (coming sometime in 2012, btw), I’m managing to get around a little.

First,  an “appearance” I just found out about that left me gobsmacked: Wordsmith.org, the “A Word a Day” people, quoted from Immortal Champion in their word of the day for 7/13/11.  Really. Go look for yourself:

— Medieval collier, woodcut. Unknown artist —

http://wordsmith.org/words/collier.html

As a person who’s been known to read the dictionary for fun, this left me smiling all day. Upwards of a million people get the Word a Day email everyday—it’s hard to get an accurate number because the found stopped keeping track at 550,000 in 2003. And every one of them saw my usage of collier in Immortal Champion.  <g> If you don’t subscribe to A Word a Day, you should. It’s the best daily email you’ll get. Just click here.

Second, a slightly more traditional appearance coming up quickly:

Thursday, July 14, I have an interview and live chat on sister sites Book Monster Reviews and Literal Addiction Paranormal Book Club. The interview will be posted to both sites by 10am EST. The Live Chat will take place on the Literal Addiction site from 8-10pm EDT ((7-9pm CDT/6-8pm MDT/5-7pm PDT). I’ll be giving away signed copies of Immortal Champion at both sites, so be sure to drop by and comment, then join the chat this evening. You’ll need to register for the Author’s Corner forum at Literal Addiction in order to comment on their site, but it’s easy, so be sure to do that so you’re eligible to win. (The forum is on the Author Corner page, where the second part of the interview appears.)

The chat itself will be in in the chatroom on the Contact Page of Literal Addicition. Sign in this evening and ask your best questions. I’ll answer anything! Remember, 8-10pm EDT/5-7pm PDT.

See you there,

On this, Towel Day, the 25th day of May, we celebrate the life and writings of Douglas Adams, whose sublime silliness has kept my family entertained on long car trips and brought us some of the most memorable—and occasionally annoying—catch phrases ever, including such treasures as:

So long and thanks for all the fish.

Ford, you’re turning into a penguin. Stop it.

If there’s anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

You should send that in to the Reader’s Digest. They’ve got a page for people like you.

There’s no point in acting surprised about it.

Apathetic bloody planet, I’ve no sympathy at all.

If you’re so clever, you tell us what colour it should be.

Funny how just when you think life can’t possibly get any worse it suddenly does.

The first nonabsolute number is the number of people for whom the table is reserved.

Stick it up your nose.

The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.

Life is like a grapefruit. (It’s sort of orangey-yellow and dimpled on the outside, wet and squidgy in the middle. It’s got pips inside, too. Oh, and some people have half a one for breakfast.)

Forty-two.

Once you know what the question actually is, you’ll know what the answer means.

And the most important advice ever given, in any book ever in the history of the Universe:

DON’T PANIC!

You may ask yourself, Why the 25 of May?

Why not?

You may also ask, Why Towel Day?

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say on the subject of towels.

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value — you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-tohand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you — daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

Hence a phrase which has passed into hitch hiking slang, as in “Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is.” (Sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with; hoopy: really together guy; frood: really amazingly together guy.)

~Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

 

Of course, Gunnar and the rest of my guys each carry a towel everywhere.

Today, you  should join them, in memory of Douglas Adams. Carry your towel proudly, and if anyone gives you an odd look, tell him to stick it up his nose.

A few years ago, as a friend and I were cruising yard sales, I saw a man with a group of duckling following him around, clearly imprinted on him. Over the next year or so, I saw him and his ducky friends several more times, but hadn’t seen them since.

Tunnel of Ducks by Johnny Jet, WikiCommons

This afternoon, as I drove past his house, I spotted him and a single big white duck out working on the yard together. He’d pull a weed, the duck would dive in for whatever bugs came with it. I couldn’t resist stopping.

He was very sweet about answering my nosy questions about the other ducks (mostly sold). The duck still with him was the father of all the others. When I asked him why ducks, he said they make great pets and told me his buddy never messes in the  house, and that they cuddle for two or three hours at a time, watching TV. He also says a happy duck purrs. (Who knew?)  Ducky wasn’t quite as friendly as his owner, but he happily and enthusiastically ate a Red Wiggler off my palm. He also devours slugs, snails, and all kinds of bugs, including spiders.

And speaking of spiders…as I drove away from this idyllic scene, I passed a man out walking his giant radio-controlled robotic spider.  And by giant, I mean at least a foot of venomous-looking creepiness. I can’t give you more exact measurements because…

I. Did. Not. Stop.

In fact, I may have exceeded the speed limit for a block or so.

What interesting things have you seen around your neighborhood recently?

Spring may have sprung, but my world is as hectic as ever. So we’ll start with a moment of zen…

That bit of loveliness comes from the yard across the street from us, which is a big patch of naturalized daffodils studded with hyacinths and cherry trees. As the daffodils fade over the next week or so, hundreds of tulips will break into bloom.  If you want to see the full yard, I just posted a shot over on my Facebook Page. Pop over for a look, and please hit the Like button to join the fun while you’re there.

Now for some of the other stuff:

Nachtkrieger: Unsterbliche Liebe has launched. That’s the German language edition of Immortal Warrior (the title translates as Nightwarrior: Immortal Love), and it’s doing very well on amazon.de.  My German publisher, Droemer Knaur has done a fabulous professional book video for the book. That’s also up on my Facebook Page. I’ll post it here tomorrow, along with a sneak peak at the cover of the second book in German.

RT Booklovers Convention ramps up this week and I’m heading down with a van-load of friends to join the fun. This will be my first time at RT, but I’ve been listening to people talk about it for years, and I know how intense it’s going to be. I mean, really, a hotel full of rabid romance fans and authors? Not a recipe for sleep.

Anyway, I’m going loaded with stuff to give away: Romance Trading Cards, giveaways from other writers, and even books. Every day, I’ll have a batch of swag in my giant brown bag, ready to hand out to lucky readers and bloggers, so be sure to say hi when you spot me. No telling what you’ll get.

And if you’re not attending RT, but you live in the Los Angeles area, be sure to drive into town for the Giant Book Fair, taking place Saturday, April 9, 2011, from 11am to 2pm. You’ll have the chance to meet 400 authors (including yours truly) and you can bring your favorite keeper books to get them signed, all for just $5.  This is one of the most popular events at RT, so I suggest you arrive at the Westin Bonaventure early to buy your tickets, so you can enjoy the entire bookfair.

So…That’s my week. I’m off to pack now. If you’re going to be at RT, either the whole con or the book fair, please give me a shout out below and I’ll keep an eye out for you.

I’m over at Nas Dean’s blog, chatting about life, the universe and romance writing. Nas and I decided to give away a book. But this time, just to switch things up, you need to comment both there AND here.

The best part? Since Nas is tucked away on a South Seas island on the far side of the International Dateline, this  contest is international. Yep, I’ll mail a book anywhere that mail can be delivered, from Burkina Faso or Bulgaria to Tuvalu or Tuva…or even Tucson. All you have to do is comment here then pop over to read my post at Nas’s blog and make a comment there. All dual commenters will be entered into a random drawing to win a signed copy of Immortal Champion.

To make this end of it fun, we’ll do this as an ASK ME ANYTHING. I’ll pop in regularly over the next few days and answer any question you throw at me. If your comment also includes a link to a review you’ve done of Immortal Champion or to a mention of it on your blog, you get 3 times the number of entries, for 3 times the chances to win.

Contest open until midnight, March 11 (US, Pacific Standard Time)

I’m over at Wicked L’il Pixie today,  explaining

WHY VIKINGS?

Click on the button or the Why Vikings text above to pop over there to  join the party, where you can comment for a chance to win a signed copy of Immortal Champion.  Remember, comment there.

Not here. There.

That’s the question I’m asking today over on the Borders True Romance blog. Pop on over there and leave your answer for a chance to win your choice of one of the Immortal Brotherhood books.

Lisa at Borders True Romance

I’m over at Author Sound Relations today, blogging about one of the founding tropes of romance, the naïve virgin heroine—and whether or not it’s accurate in historical settings.  Come join the fun and comment on your own favorite or least favorite romance trope to be eligible to win one of my backlist books and an official Immortal Brotherhood mug like the one to the left.

The Historical Romance Writer’s Virgin Hussy

I bombed down Interstate 5 today, making something around 700 miles before my butt gave out. Now I’m ensconced in a decent motel with a giant cup of tea, having done the now-obligatory bedbug check (my dad used to do bedbug and cleanliness checks, back in the day, so I was taught by a master). Tomorrow I’ll wend my way through the maze that is the LA freeway system, headed for Oceanside, where I have the first of several San Diego area signings Friday evening, 6-8pm, at the B&N Oceanside

Anyway, while I was contemplating life, the universe and everything in the car, I realized I should be blogging this little adventure, so here I am.

Images from the road:

Great Egret

Egrets, stately and milky white, standing by the side of the road with heads cocked, listening for their next meal to crawl by. Seemed to be one every two miles or so, all the way down.

Ominous looking banks of fog that turned out to be thin and light once I was inside them. (knock on wood they stay that way)

Oil refineries lit up like casinos southwest of Bakersfield. They may be dangerous and stinky, but they’re sure lovely off in the distance at night.

Straightest stretch of highway outside the North Dakota-Texas belt. Seriously, like a ruler.

First big traffic jam, on the Grapevine. Four lanes of cars and (mostly) trucks, backed up probably 15 miles. Not on my side of the road, thank Cthulhu.

All accompanied by an ever-changing stream of public radio stations, except in the Central Valley where for a time I couldn’t locate one and resorted to listening to Korean and Portuguese radio. (Apparently, there are 400,000 Portuguese in northern and central California. Who knew?) Of the two, the Portuguese station was by far the best: the announcer had a resonating bass voice, like Lt. Worf from Star Trek, and the music was lovely.

I decided to do a version of Twelve Days of Christmas for my Viking guys, but I need some crowd-source help. Come over to my Facebook Page to make your suggestion, and when we’re done, I’ll bring our efforts back over here and we’ll have some fun with it.