Come visit me on
Facebook!
Currently Reading
WaitingTo Read
MCRW writers retreat is coming up at the end of thismonth. This year we're having a Murder Mystery Party!
Guess who my character is going to be? That's right...the
infamous Sherlock Holmes! Maybe I better get myself to
the theater and watch the movie. I need more to go with
than just..."Elementary, Dear Watson!"
February 14, 2010
True love stories never have endings. ~Richard Bach
Good news for a romance author. :~)
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
January 27, 2010
Meet Sam, the latest addition to our household. He's a six
week golden mix and cute as a puppy can be. But don't let
that innocent face fool you. He's T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!
Loves to chew, doesn't matter what, even your leg if you
stand still long enough. But look at that sweet little puppy
face. How can you get mad and scold? He's going to get
away with soooooo much. That's bad, right?
December 27, 2009
This is the BEST movie I have seen a long time. It was hands down
the most entertaining 2.5 hours ever. The 3D effects were amazing.
The story line thought provoking and the scenery...out of this
world! If you haven't seen it yet, you need to drop everything and
run to the theater, get you some overpriced popcorn, and settle in
for some heart pumping adventure!!
December 15, 2009
A friend of mine, author Jody Wallace, and I wrote a Round Robin as an example of BAD writing for a contest judging
workshop. It was supposed to be am example of mistakes to
avoid, only the story turned out to be way too funny! So
while I catch my breath at the new job stroll over to Jody's
place and read:
DEADLY JEWEL OF TIME.
November 23, 2009
I quit. That's right, no more will I commute almost 2 hours a day for a paycheck. I wish that meant I'd hit the lottery and
could spend all day typing out new stories. Sadly, I'm not
that lucky. I still need the 40 hour a week job. But that's
okay because my NEW job is only 2.3 miles from home.
Translation: 5 minute drive! Wheee! Happy days!
November 11, 2009
Today is the day to step aside and say THANK YOU to all who
have served in our Nation's military. Three brothers = three
branches - Army, Marines, & National Guard.
You guys ROCK!
October 15, 2009
Look who I found in the Great Smokey Mountains! We
decided to hold up a few tourists, cause we needed
rum money. hahaha. Not. But it was fun hanging out
with Captain Jack!!
October 2, 2009
That's the view from our hotel room balcony in St.
Lucia! Awesome, isn't it? That island is so beautiful. It
has a central rainforest and miles of pristine coastline.
The water is near perfect, the snorkeling divine, and it
was soooo cool to be 'on location' for my book EMERALD
FIRE. It felt like being on the set for your favorite movie!
September 28, 2009
HOORAY! There's a new RWA chapter and I've joined! It's for Young Adult writers like me. YARWA is the latest and the
greatest for all things YA. I'm totally excited to be a member
from the launching pad too. Want to see what they are all
about?
Click the link here: YARWA
September 14, 2009
I'm in the home stretch on my YA book! First draft of JOURNEY AMAZON is near
complete. YAY!! Another 60 pages,
give or take, and I can start sending
out queries. I LOVE this part, where
the story has built to a peak and it's time to write the big bang finish! That's the fun part.
September 2, 2009
GOOD NEWS! I'm a great aunt! That's great as in Aunt 2.0. Though I'm probably great as in fabulous too, just depends
on who you ask. :~)
Newest family member: Kenadi Rae Moore
Born: 9/1/09 at 8:18pm
7.2 lbs / 19 inches long
WELCOME TO THE WORLD KENADI!!
August 25, 2009
Caribbean islands. Like Barbados, Dominican Republic, and
the lovely West Indies island of St. Lucia where we're
headed next month. What's up with that? They have
fashion police or something?
August 3, 2009
I've been sinning! That's right. I've got my copy of Annie Solomon's ONE DEADLY SIN and had a fun
night on the town with friends, having dinner and
waching FAME! the musical, all while tagging ODS
along for the ride. We did this because Annie has a
fun contest going on at her website, just to
discover how people are sinning this summer!
Ooooh...want to check it out?
Here's the link: ANNIE SOLOMON
July 17, 2009
Yay! I won a copy of HOT SHOT by M.J. Fredrick! I'm
excited to get that puppy in the mail and start reading it!
You can win prizes too - Elisabeth Naughton is running 30
days of freebies on her blog. All you have to do is post a
comment and you're in the running for FREE books!
Check it out and win: ELISABETH NAUGHTON'S 30 DAYS OF FREEBIES
Thanks Elisabeth and M.J.!!!!
June 22, 2009
Research has it's drawbacks. Emerald Fire is set in St.
Lucia, a way down south Caribbean island that by all
accounts I've read is a spectacular tropical location. Just
ask the crew of Pirates of the Caribbean. The movie was
filmed on a neighboring island, St. Vincent.
Come this September, you can ask me. Cause all that island research I did got the travel bug all stirred up. Occupational hazard. I mean, how can I accurately describe the setting if I've not seen those beaches, relaxed under palm trees, and drank something fruity out of a coconut shell? Now you might wondering...
"Okay, where's the drawback?" Well, I'll tell you. It's the three month wait until we get to go!!
Next question is, will I be as willing to head for the Amazon River so I can gain the same level of authenticity for my YA novel? Head hunters, crocodiles, pirahna, quicksand, hmmm...
May 28, 2009
Check me out! I've now joined the Facebook revolution! I
feel very connected to the world now. It's weird. So I've
only got a few friends so far, but then, it's barely been 24
hours. I'm excited about getting to work on that!
What a great world we live in. I love the internet. :~)
May 21, 2009
Okay, I know my fav American Idol, ADAM LAMBERT, didn't win, but kudos to Kris Allen who did. Kris did a fine job and
he deserves credit. But I'm biased, I admit it. Adam did an
outstanding job and should've taken the crown!
I guess I'll take my cue from Adam and get over it. He had
the most awesome attitude about it all. In his post Idol
interview he said. . .
. . ."If there’s anything that can come from this experience I
hope that all the fans out there can pick up that even if you’re
really different there’s a way to get along with each other. We
did the Queen duet and we made it work because we found a common ground with each other."
Amazing. That's a great lesson for us all to learn. So he didn't win Idol. That doesn't mean he isn't a winner. Adam Lambert has an incredible career ahead of him and you can bet he'll be taking a huge Idol fan base with him. I'm one of them!
So congrats to both Adam and Kris. And thanks for an over-the-top Season 8!
May 13, 2009
May must be BOOK MONTH because my friends all have books on the shelves this month! Except Jody's...as she puts it...available in Electrons! That's an ebook from Samhain Publishers.
TRISH MILBURN TRICIA MILLS ANNIE SOLOMON
JODY WALLACE A BUNCH OF FOLKS!
Click on the books to visit the author's website. I can vouch for them all. And the TAILS OF LOVE book will warm the heart of critter lovers everywhere because part of the proceeds for this book are donated to the Animal Adoption Foundation, a no-kill shelter for pets. It's release date is really June 2nd, but it's close to May so I added it!
May 5, 2009
I've updated my website! I added pages so now you can read excerpts from all
my books, including my current work-in-
progress - a YA story set in the Amazon
Jungle. Check out links to the excerpts on
the BOOKS tab! Except the YA, that has
it's own tab.
Email me at: adventure @ monicamccabe.net and tell me what you think!
May 1, 2009
This is me trying to learn Facebook.
All my writer friends have a page,
my husband's family is connecting
this way. Which means it's time to
learn, whether I want to or not.
So stay tuned...if I can ever figure
it out, I'm joining the Facebook
revolution!
Photo credit: www.icanhazcheezeburger.com
Update: An intergallatic battle battle between Facebook and My Space is raging. Don't know who's going to win at this point. It can go either way.
April 22, 2009
Are you into all things GREEN yet? I've been on that bandwagon since I was a kid. Back then it wasn't cool to be an environmentalist. But then again, I was a Barry Manilow fan too and that wasn't cool either. So I'm used to being the weird one. All that's over now! I am free to like Barry Manilow and free to shout my GREEN sensibilities to all who will listen. It's liberating, truly.
In the immortal words of Kermit the Frog...It ain't easy being
green. It takes sacrifice and effort. But isn't our planet worth it?
April 8, 2009
True confession: I'm not a reality TV fan, but I'm hooked on American Idol. I watch it every year. And I just have to say - Season 8 has THE star of stars. ADAM LAMBERT. The man is beyond good, he's absolutely phenomenal. Last night's rendition of Donnie Darko's 'Mad World' had me giving him a standing ovation, along with Simon Cowell! I honestly can't wait to see what he's going to do next week. If you haven't seen him perform, click on American Idol logo and watch the videos. I promise you're in for a treat!!
March 19, 2009
I'm at it again! Guest blogging at the OTHERWORLD DINER! It's Whine & Cheese week so I'm blogging about complaining in general. Something I'm very good at. :~)
Click on the banner, scroll down a ways, and to check out the Wednesday 3/18 post. That's me. Adventure Girl!
March 16, 2009
I'm being interviewed by MEANKITTY!
www.meankitty.com is a favorite website of mine. I love going there to check out the cats and all their stories! Meankitty also has a blog that she shares with her typing slave - Jody Wallace. They have a series of questions they've asked many different writers and it's a two-part series. One part is for me and the other is for my dog - Woggy Girl. :~) It's scary how fired up Woggy became when she learned she was to be a Blog Star!
Click on the banner and scroll down a ways to head to both interviews...
March 10, 2009
Wow! Is there ever a party going on at Publishers Weekly!
Our favorite romance blogger, Barbara Vey, is hosting her
second anniversary blog bash and the crowd is wild and
crazy! All week long each day has a theme. Monday was
paranormal and there were space ships clogging the parking
lot, werewolves in the sandbox, planetary royalty, and
werecats!
Today is suspense and ADVENTURE. There's a murder mystery going on and I heard a rumor vampire Mick St. John was lurking around. Okay, so I started it. It's a blog party and you can invite anybody you want!
Come on by and visit! Leave a post! Take your chances on some great author GIVE-AWAYS too. To unearth a centuries-old secret, an archaelologist The great thing about writers is that we can be desperately attempting to block images of, oh say, the Titanic during a cruise, and you can bet we’d find a way to use it in a story. Such is the case for me at the end of October. About this time every year we like to travel, it’s our way of celebrating our anniversary. This year we chose a short 4 day cruise to the Needless to say, when we hit open ocean it got pretty rough. And it grew worse as the night wore on. Not even the huge size of the cruise ship saved it from lurching through those waves. A couple hours of that and there were some pretty green looking passengers staggering around the decks. Fortunately hubby and I survived with our innards intact, but lots of folks weren’t so lucky. Here’s our secret – skip dinner and go to the spa for a relaxing massage. Worked like a charm! All in all, we had fun, I found inspiration, and I lived to write the tale. I’d say the trip was a smashing success! I’m discovering the world of YA and I’m so excited by the explosive growth of reading material for tweens and teens! I don't even have to mention Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, because they are just phenomenal. There is such a wonderful diversity of books available and it’s set my mind to thinking.
Summer is cruising by and so are my characters, Finnegan and Claire, in Emerald Fire. They have just braved a nest of modern day pirates and lived to tell the tale. Problem is, they're still hyped up on adrenaline and all alone on a yacht in middle of the Caribbean Sea. That sounds like a recipe for trouble if you ask me.
Here's the address: BARBARA VEY BLOG PARTY AT PUBLISHERS WEEKLY!
February 23, 2009
Natchez Trace State Park. Isn't it lovely? I'm spending the
weekend here for MCRW's annual writing retreat. A big group
of writing friends, creativity workshops, lots of food & chocolate,
it's an event I look soooo forward to attending every year. Not
only is it fun, it's motivating too. I'll come back home all fired up
to pound out my story, send out those queries, and if I'm lucky,
all that forward momentum will get me to organize my office.
Okay, who am I kidding? Like that's ever going to happen.
photo credit: jacksonsun.org
February 11, 2009
Okay, I confess to being a closet Jane Austen fan. I love the books, I love the movies, I love the romance of the historical era. So when good friend Beth Pattillo wrote this gem of a story, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. My day came Tuesday night at Davis-Kidd Booksellers where Beth hosted a reading, Q & A, then booksigning. I sat in the crowd like the total fan-girl I am! JANE AUSTEN RUINED MY LIFE is on the top of my to-be-read list as soon as I finish a romantic adventure called STOLEN FURY.
February 6, 2009
Last night I went to a hockey game. I know, it doesn't
really have anything to do with writing, except I went with
a writer buddy so it counts! The good news is that the
Preds won 4-2 and it was tons of fun! Fang fingers, the crowd yelling out 'you suck' to the opposing goalie, and the general mayhem on the ice, that arena hopped with excitment. Now I know what the draw is! Hockey is fangtastic fun...now I just need to find a way to include it in a book.
January 23, 2009
Glory Halluejah! The awesome
vampire drama 'MOONLIGHT'
is back on the airwaves! SciFi
channel is rerunning all episodes
starting tonight. Friday night's
at 8pm you know where I'll be.
Glued to the TV for another
round of my favorite vampire
show!
Thank you SciFi channel!!
January 19, 2009
This weekend I spent a fun hour and a half at lunch with Barbara Vey of Publishers Weekly and the gang from Music City Romance Writers. We all had a blast and Barbara was hilarious with her tales from the press box! Here we all are...that's me waving in the photo. I'm not really that tall, I was standing on a chair. haha
Check out the story on Barbara's January 19th blog entry...BEYOND HER BOOK!
January 15, 2009
I can't wait to read this book. Elisabeth is a fellow romantic adventure author who has debuted on the scene with a bang! Her book, STOLEN FURY, is in the bookstores right now and let me tell you, reviews are glowing!
Here it is in a nutshell...
must team up with the rakish thief who's stolen both an
ancient relic and her heart...
Don't that sound awesome? I love these kind of stories and wish there were many more of them on store bookshelves. One thing is certain - I have no doubt that STOLEN FURY will be on my keeper shelf.
JANUARY 1, 2009
It's a brand new year and you know what that means. I make resolutions just like everybody else, but they are a little different in my household. January 1 is always a day of financial goal setting. We do wish lists, everything from a new curio cabinet, landscaping projects, or vacation destinations. Then we go over last year's list, carry over or delete remaining items, and determine when or how to go about accomplishing the things most important to us. It's really not as much work as it sounds like, plus it's a great way to grow together in a relationship. Common goals, his and hers wishes, it's a fun and productive way to gain material things and create dreams!
This year, in light of the current economic crisis, I think a financial road map is more needed than ever before. Believe me, despite a shaky market we still want to take that vacation to Australia's Great Barrier Reef come this September. The scuba diver in me has GBR on the list of must see places!
With a lot of luck and some heavy-duty planning, we're on the road to the southern hemisphere for some serious down-underwater adventure!
DECEMBER 2008
The holidays have slowed the writing time, but I'm still working away at my YA manuscript. I'm a third of the way through it and I still don't have a name for it. I should. I've always had a working title. This one stumps me though. Jenna Masters, a 16 year old born and bred explorer who is currently on her 5th trip up the Amazon River. It involves rare plants, snake-bite cures, and one cute Peace Corps volunteer who constantly needs babysitting. Lots of adventure, lots of action, and absolutely no name. Maybe I should start a contest. Name that book!
Jenna's Amazon Adventure
Jenna vs. the Wild
The Misadventures of Jenna
The Amazon Quest
See what I mean? I have no idea what to call it. Maybe I'm going to need to finish it before I figure out the title!
NOVEMBER 2008
By the time we hit 
So in the space of 4 days we survived a pirate attack, gale force winds, and a wild night of wave-surfing in a cruise ship. And the best part is – I took a ton of notes. Like how the ship felt rolling beneath our feet, what the furious waves looked like, and the varied reactions of fellow cruisers. Plus, the trip gave me a great idea for a book. I spent most of our wait time at the airport jotting down characters, plot details, and a long list of events to work with.
OCTOBER 2008
Congratulations are in order! I've just been elected President of my writing chapter, Music City Romance Writers. It's a 2 year term and I'm excited to begin! Only, I have no agenda, no plans, and no idea what I'm doing. So let's get started, right?
In the meantime, I've got more good news to share! Good friend Trish Milburn has her first book on the bookshelves right now! A Firefighter In The Family is great, I've already picked up my copy and can't wait to read it. Click on the book to see more!
SEPTEMBER 2008
AUGUST 2008
Speaking of characters, here's a story for you. Ever heard of author Sherrilyn Kenyon and her Dark-Hunter novels? Yeah, I thought so. You know they are fabulous and if you're like me, when you start one you can't put it down. Well, at long last she's written Acheron's story and it's set to release August 5th. The fun news? The start of her book launch tour is here in Nashville, at the Parthenon (a life-sized replica of the Greek ruins). Guess who's going? That's right, me. I'm so incredibly excited! I'll have to post an update after the event because it will no doubt be noteworthy!
MORE GOOD NEWS! Good friends Jody Wallace and Marie-Nicole Ryan have new Samhain book releases! Click on the book to see more!
DARK-HUNTER UPDATE! Oh my God. That book launch party at the Parthenon was amazing. There were Dark-Hunters, vampires, people in costume everywhere, and what a perfect place to launch Ascheron's story! He was there too, I saw him! So was Publishers Weekly blogger, Barbara Vey, and she has some great pictures and a write-up on her blog about it. Check it out - BEYOND HER BOOK. I had a great time just watching everyone and eating strawberries that I dipped into a chocolate fountain. Sherrilyn Keyon signed books at the base of a 40' statue of the Goddess Athena and there was a never-ending line of eager fans! It was a smashing success and I'm right proud to have been a tiny little part of it! Here's a picture of where it was held - Pretty cool, huh?
JULY 2008
This month started off with a week long hiatus from the writing so I could vacation with my 9 yr old nephew & 11 yr old niece. Talk about an adventure! We went to the
During my time off I started reading J.R. Ward’s vampire series. A friend recommended the books to me and ooooohh, I’m totally hooked. I’m well into the second one and already feel the urge to get down to my local Barnes & Noble for the third in the series. Those books should come with a warning label – Danger! Hot Vampires and Steamy Love Scenes! ***thud***
Okay, fanning through the vampire induced hot-flash so I can get back to my mini-vacation story. It, and the fun reading, has served to freshen up my own writing and motivation. I’m slogging through the middle of Emerald Fire, braiding all those threads together and keeping the action moving. It’s such a lot of hard work, but for some crazy reason, I love it. There’s nothing like the feeling of accomplishment you get when you’ve penned a great sentence, paragraph, or chapter. And you actually like where the story is taking you! So I'm going to get back at it while the going is good!!
JUNE 2008
Good news, bad news. First the good. I'm attending a writers conference in Ohio this month and I'm very excited about it. Spending quality time with other authors, editors, agents, doing a book swap, and the luncheons! It's going to be great fun. Talk about motivation! I plan on soaking up every little drop.
Bad news. CBS did the unthinkable and cancelled my all time favorite TV program. I'm devastated. Moonlight is such a fabulous show with compelling characters, lots of action, and sizzling romance. I'm so overcome with angst that I want to scream at something. Mainly CBS. Instead, I've joined campaigns to help find another network home for our beloved show. SciFi? TNT? DirecTV? Anybody willing to take a chance on a program that comes with 8 million viewers, has the People's Choice Award for best new drama, and TV Guide's Sexiest Sci-Fi guy in Alex O'Loughlin?
And we're not above bribing either...just saying... :~)
MAY 2008
This past week I did some things that were long overdue, like spending quality time working in the yard. And wow. The aches and pains I felt afterward really brought home just how much time I've spent sitting at my computer over the winter. Writing can be so absorbing, I tend to forget I need to get up and move once in a while. :~)
Even though I've spent a lot of productive time at the keyboard, I've managed to do a few other things too. I almost became the newsletter editor for my writing chapter. I did become the secretary for my property owners association. And oh, I gave blood to save a vampire! It was a nationwide campaign to push CBS into announcing a second season for my favorite TV drama - Moonlight. Believe it or not, I actually want to write a piece of fan fiction for the show. I've never done that before. Still, I'm trying my best to resist, because I want to finish Emerald Fire first. But it's sooo tempting...
APRIL 2008
Spring has arrived and with it a new energy for writing. Things can move slow in this business. It takes a lot of time and energy to write your book, and there's nothing too quick about the submission process either! The upside is...there are days when you are really in sync with the words. These are the times you love being a writer. And lately, I've really loved it. These past few weeks I've been in the zone. And to my utter amazement, I'll proofread something a few days after writing it and think...Wow! Did I write that? To quote my favorite vampire on Moonlight..."it's a giant thrill ride that never ends!" Not only that, I'm also making online friends in the writing community, which is fabulous. Other people like me, that don't freak out when you ask a question like...If I had a yacht and wanted to commit insurance fraud, how does one go about finding a reliable pirate to do the job?
MARCH 2008
Check out my cool new banner! I wish I was talented enough to make something this fabulous, but I had to farm out that kind of creativity. Rae Monet stepped up and did a wonderful job.
She does more than banners though - check out her website... www.RaeMonetinc.com
So, in the spirit of research I went to see the movie Fool’s Gold. After all, romantic adventure is my genre, be it movies or books, so I was naturally curious. First thing I noticed was the hero, played by the dashing Matthew McConaughey, was named Finnegan. Which just so happens to be my story hero’s name in Emerald Fire. Well, this time, I don’t care. I had it first and I’m keeping it. Too bad I didn’t have that kind of moxie when Leonardo DiCaprio came out with the movie Blood Diamond. It’s because of him that my first book is now titled Diamond Legacy!
Both are good movies, however, and well worth seeing. And I fervently hope my books live up to their cinematic counterparts. Which, of course, they do and I don’t know why I even worry. Both Diamond Legacy and Emerald Fire positively scream blockbuster! It’s only a matter of time.
Copyright . Monica McCabe and Meankitty Web Design. All rights reserved.
