Monday, February 23, 2009

Can it be . . .

Release Day again?  

Yep, that "long" wait of a month is over and HIGHLAND OUTLAW, book #2 in the Campbell trilogy, is now in the stores.  

I know many of you have been eager for Lizzie's story, and this is it.  If you haven't had a chance to pick up HIGHLAND WARRIOR you can kill two birds with one trip and go for the "doubleshot" weekend, LOL. (Although each book does stand alone).

I think this is my favorite cover of the three.  I really wanted something with a bow and arrow and I LOVE what Ballantine came up with.  The Robin Hood allusion actually plays a part in the book, although if you've read HIGHLAND WARRIOR you'll know that it only goes so far.

So what is your favorite of my six covers (both the MacLeod and Campbell trilogies)?

Just a quick note...

I'm blogging over at Everybody Needs a Little Romance today and if you haven't had a chance to pick up a copy of HIGHLAND WARRIOR you'll want to make sure to stop by.  Keri is giving away TWO copies to commenters today.  

Monday, February 16, 2009

Household Projects

I'm just starting a new book and what that means in the McCarty household is that it's clean out time.  There's just something about starting a new book that gets me motivated to tackle the projects that have been staring at me in the face since my last book was over.  (And for purposes of full disclosure, some of them have been staring at me for a couple of books.)  Why in between or at the start of a new book?  I think it's because I don't have a deadline looming so I don't feel guilty spending my "free" time not writing.

Yesterday we did the closet purge.  With two GROWING (and I do mean growing) kids, they go through clothes like you wouldn't believe.  My son in particular.  It seems like half his closet was too small.    

My husband dreads this time because he knows it isn't going to be pleasant.  I go on a mini-rampage and drag him in for the ride.  In the past three weeks I've: organized the last two years worth of pictures, gone through all the kids art projects to figure out what to save, organized my books for storage, made a memory book with my daughter for a trip we took a year and a half ago, cleaned out the garage, got our tax info together and cleaned out the corresponding files, gone through my research files, and (here's the biggie) FINALLY got the earthquake preparedness kit we've been meaning to put together done.

I live in the San Francisco bay area very close to a major fault line that the experts say is due for "the big one."  Lovely.  We have an old house and although it's been retrofitted, if the big one hits it probably won't be pretty.  

So how can I have lived here for almost nine years and not have at least a basic earthquake kit?  Good question.  To some extent I think those of us who live in CA do the head in the sand thing.  The "maybe if I don't acknowledge it" it won't happen kind of thing.  But it's also a big undertaking to get something like this together.  You can buy pre-packaged kits, but they are at least a couple hundred dollars a person.  Putting one together is much cheaper, but takes time.   We have tons of water and some food, clothes, radios, lanterns, first aid kits, etc.  We also had to figure out when and how to store all this stuff.  

But it's done and I feel like an enormous weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  In general I feel so much better when all these projects are done.  It's amazing how freeing it feels not to see the box of pictures against the wall, or the bag of clothes for the earthquake kit in the corner, or the overstuffed file cabinet.  One of my cp's (Bella Andre) does a Feng Shui class for writers and I'm a full believer--de-cluttering your environment really relaxes me.  

So what about you?  Do you go through mini-rampages like I do?  Any big projects staring you in the face?  Do you hate clutter or does it really not bother you? 

P.S. I'm blogging over at Fresh Fiction today, so if you aren't gone for the holiday pop over and say "hi."


Monday, February 09, 2009

Economy Got you Down?


Head to Target where you can find WARRIOR at 25% off, LOL.  I swear I still get so excited when I see my book at grocery stores, airports, drugstores, etc.  So I hope you'll indulge my little "squee!"  Maybe one day I'll stop being such a dork. . . or maybe not.

Also, I'll be blogging over at Romance Novel TV on Tuesday.  Please stop by and say "hi," they have a great group over there!

Sunday, February 01, 2009

"Picture Book" Sneak Peek


Rothesay Castle, Isle of Bute

If you've had a chance to pick up HIGHLAND WARRIOR, you'll want to check out this sneak peek slideshow of Rothesay Castle--one of the places featured in the novel.  The dank hole is the "pit prison."  I don't get claustrophobic, but let's just say I was happy to get out of there.

If you're new to my novels or haven't had a chance to explore my website, in the Special Features section I do a "Picture Book" for each novel (kind of like an illustrated version with photos and references to the text).  

I'll be posting the Picture Book for WARRIOR at the end of the month, but until then, enjoy!  Sigh, it gets me misty-eyed just looking at the pictures.  What an amazing trip it was.  

P.S. I'm blogging over at Yankee Romance Writers today and Karin Tabke's blog tomorrow, if you get a chance to pop on over and say "hi."