Two more guest blogs

Today I'm guest-blogging on Romance Reader at Heart about the swear words Cissy uses, and yesterday, I did my good-bye post on Whine Sisters. Enjoy!

And in case you haven't heard it yet: Squawk Radio is closing down. The last post will go online on Friday. Oh man, this is so sad; they were the ones who introduced me to blogging, and they built up a very special community. Besides, it was just fun to read their posts. The Squawkers (and Kitty Kuttlestone!) will be missed ...

More about the spring cleaning mess

Bunny moved back into a sparkly-clean shelf.

But -- the next shelf was already waiting, and once again,

the mess grew ...

... and grew ...

... and grew ...

... and grew ...

But eventually, the third shelf was all clean and sparkly, too!

See?

Unfortunately, by that time, it was already fast approaching midnight,

and elsewhere in the room, the general mess had increased,

instead of decreasing. I finally called it a day --

with only three shelves cleaned... *sigh*

Stranger than Fiction

I've just found a bookseller in New Jersey who sells CASTLE OF THE WOLF for $34,21. And a bookseller in Florida who sells THE LILY BRAND for $27,91. *scratching my head*

More on the horrible, horrible Spring Cleaning mess

Even when peering through a flower, things don't look good...

No, no, they don't ...

See?

But perhaps ...

... it's all a matter of the correct breathing technique?

Mind-Boggling Buncrobatics

Remember the bunny?

This bunny:

It's a Superbunny (or a Wonderbunny, perhaps, though definitely NOT a batbunny or spiderbunny) (urgh, who'd want a spiderbunny anyway????)

Look:

And now:

Good night, bunny!

Cleaning Update

Contents of third shelf litter my study. In fact, it looks as if the third shelf exploded in my study (without the shelf disintegrating, that is) (so, it's more a case of the third shelf being sick into my study ...). Am desperate. Need to do my taxes tomorrow. And write guest blog for Whine Sisters. Yet for the time being, desk is gone. Has disappeared under folders, papers, glue, screwdriver, bookmarks, scissors, dust-what-cha-call-it-brush(?)-thingie, watch, notebooks, a cup, an old teaser booklet for TLB, an I've-no-clue-what-that-one's-called-(either in German or English)-thingie, more folders, my phone. Am really desperate. It's going to be a loooong evening!

Office Spring Cleaning 2007

Close-up things don't lookt too bad ....

But if you take a step back to look at the whole ...

the horror, the horror, the HORROR!!!!

Therefore, the Office Spring Cleaning 2007 is well underway:

Last row standing:

But not any longer:

Coming tomorrow: Mind-boggling Bunny Acrobatics!

Adios, adieu, goodbye and auf Wiedersehen

This weekend I'll be at a conference one of my colleagues has organized. Title of conference: "Comics as Nexus of Culture." Title of Sandy's paper: "The Use Allusion in Apitz and Kunkel's KARL Comic Books."

Have a lovely weekend everybody! I've packed the ARC of JACOB, which I got at RWA National last year -- so as you can see, I hope there'll be some time to sit in the sun. :)

Hmmm ...

I've just found a 1/2 star review of Castle. Yes. Half a star. Not even one star. Half.

Soo, what is the normal procedure in such a situation? Should I e-mail her and thank her for reading and reviewing the book? Even though she certainly didn't say such nice things as Camille, who didn't like the book either, but still had some -- many, actually --nice things to say about it, and who loves my podcast. :-)

Suggestions?

(Of course, if I wrote the half-star reviewer an e-mail it would be terribly tempting to include some snarky comment like "I'm really glad your head didn't explode while reading my book." Which of course would not do and would fall into the category of bad author-behaviour. And before I'd knew it, my name would be all over the internet. -- Hmmm. Sometimes, bad author-behaviour sounds like awfully good promo ... *ggg*)

I'm a bad, bad blogger ...

And no, I still haven't been abducted by aliens. (Though I do wonder: if you continually feel as if something heavy had dropped onto your head, does that mean the green, slimy people from outer space conducted horrible experiments with you and you're suffering from the aftereffects?)

I've been busy writing guest blogs (this week I'm doing a whole series on Whine Sisters, the group blog of Kathleen Givens, Julia London and Sherry Ewing) as well as an At the Back Fence column for AAR, titled "Lascivious, Luscious Lusting". In addition, I had (actually still have, since I'm not yet finished) a paper on "Allusion in Apitz & Kunkel's Karl Comic Books" to prepare. I will give this at a comic conference one of my colleagues is hosting this weekend. It should be fun, and I'm sure I'll find some time to sit in the sun and enjoy a book or two. :) (Incidentally, the background story of the first Karl comic also provided a nice topic to blog about on Unusual Historicals -- it's all about Rotten Grapes!)

Speaking of books: I've finally overcome my reading slump, thanks to the wonderful Nora Roberts. (Of course. Who else could do it?) I read the German edition of one of her old Silhouette titles, UNFINISHED BUSINESS. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Nora's old Silhouettes? I totally adore them! (Given that THE MACGREGOR GROOMS was my first NR book, it's no wonder, I guess.)

Unfortunately, the books I bought on Saturday (during a shopping spree in the MTZ, the German version of a mall) turned out be less good. And I finally admitted to myself that most chick lit is simply not for me (what the heck is the appeal of pea-brained first-person-narrator heroines, who act as if they were 15-year-olds???). There are, of course, some notable exceptions. I really enjoyed the novels by Lani Diane Rich (though I've no clue whether these really count as chick lit) (probably not) (but who knows?)

More Guest Blogs: #2, #3, #4

And the round of guest blogs continues: on The Idea Boutique I'm talking about the inspiration for Castle; on Farrah Rochon's blog I'm answering a few questions about myself and my writing process; and on Jennifer Ashley's Jennifer on Writing (a blog aimed at aspiring writers) I'm talking about research. Enjoy!

BLC Pics

On Friday and Saturday I went to the BLC - the German Booklovers Conference - in Wiesbaden to meet new people and old friends in the romance world. Here are the pics.

Kris Alice Hohls, editor of the only German romance magazine

LoveLetter

Kris and Antje, one of her reviewers
(I first met Antje on the messageboards of the Ladies of Lallybroch)

Kris, Kathleen Givens and moi

And the rest ...

... is a blur.

Petra, Antje & Tina

Book Launch!

You can now listen to the reading I did for my book launch last Thursday. Enjoy!

Sandy's Podchatter #20

The Things I Would Have Missed

Just last weekend I was thinking, "Dash it, we haven't had a proper scandal in romancelandia for weeks! What's up with people??" And just a few days later we haven't got one, but two scandals! Oh man, the things I would have missed if I had continued writing in German! *g*

On to another, totally scandal-free topic: on the Idea Boutique my guest blog about the inspiration for CASTLE OF THE WOLF has gone online. Enjoy!