Monday, December 20, 2010

The Last Three Weeks

Wow! I have had such a crazy last three weeks!

What I have done:

*Had a baby (:D)
*Put in about 50 hours finishing up the first round of revisions on Life After Theft and turned it in! (Not quite by my self-imposed deadline, but before my editor-imposed deadline, phew!)
*kissed the baby about a trillion times
*Made about 15 pounds of hand-dipped chocolates (Penuche in milk, truffles in milk, Strawberry-lime in white, orange creme in white) plus Velveeta fudge.
*Just sat and looked at my baby for about an hour a day. . . maybe more.
*Finished 100% of my Christmas shopping!
*Took about a hundred pictures of the baby.
*Selected and contacted ten winners from the Illusions cover contest and sent out prize packs. That included winners from Finland, Sweden, Australia, and Canada! (I get excited about foreign readers.:D)
*Tweeted about 50 of the said one hundred pictures.
*Finished practicing and then directed the choir Christmas performance at church yesterday.
*Spent hours trying to make the baby smile (which she does!)



*Did I mention kissing the baby?


What I did NOT do in the last three weeks:

*Blog


Ahem.

Okay, couple of items of business.

UK cover for book three!!!!



Wait, what? That doesn't look quite right, you say? I have known this for a while and keep forgetting to tell you guys! In the UK book three will be called Wild, which I absolutely love! . . . for reasons I can't tell you yet . . .:D But I'm really excited about the new title and this beautiful cover!

*Bonus content: One of the things we are doing as a lead up to Illusions is that I am writing some bonus content that will be posted in various places over the next few months. They will be short pieces that take place either between Spells and Illusions, or during Illusions but from a different person's point of view. I'll be writing them over the next month and they will be posted the first couple of months of 2011. I will let everyone know where they can find them as soon as they are up.

*I will also be posting some bits from Illusions as well as some fun cover copy as we lead up to the Illusions release. . . . Starting today! Special holiday gift, the following is the short scene Harper is putting on the back of the book jacket. However, two disclaimers:

1.) David fans, this scene is taken completely out of context.
2.) Tamani fans, this scene is taken completely out of context.

You have both been warned.:D

And with the standard ***SPOILER ALERT***, here you go:

"When you kissed me, I got all these . . . ideas. For potions I've never heard of." Laurel thought of the way the word poison had invaded her mind. "I think maybe they're forbidden."

"Why?" Tamani asked.

"It told me how to make potions from you." Laurel lost herself in thoughts of potions, powders, and poisons she somehow knew she was never supposed to learn.


***END OF SPOILERS***

Happy Holidays!

Ciao!

25 comments:

Georgia said...

First thing: Gwen is adorable.

Second thing: The chocolates sound delicious.

Third thing: The new cover is gorgeous.

Fourth thing: I really want to read Illusions NAOW!!!

Victoria said...

Gwen is so sweet. I remember those days with my boys just marveling at the fact that I made them. Thank you so much for sharing her with us.

Thanks for the excerpt too. The UK cover is really pretty.

Anonymous said...

Really like the cover for the UK!!!

Baby is Adorable thank you for sharing a picture with us!!!

Now I am really curious about the book,Thanks!

Patti said...

That's quite an impressive list for three weeks.

Amazingly cute baby. I love the UK cover as well.

Heather said...

Thank you for sharing the picture of your beautiful baby! Wow have you been busy. We can totally forgive you since you're bringing us such fantastic books. And yay for Life After Theft! I'm so excited to see that one hit the shelves.

barmybex said...

Wow, what a great 3 weeks. Your baby is sooo cute!
I love that cover and can't wait to read it.
I am taking part in a special month on my blog based on sequels and this week i am focusing on 'Spells'
If you have time Check my blog for reviews on 'Wings' and updates including my fantasy cast for 'Spells', something different every day this week.
here is a link http://beckysbarmybookblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/book-review-wings.html

Thanks

MARY IN SCOTLAND said...

OH. EMM. GEEE!!!!!!!! I GET THE WILD COVER!!!!!!! I live in Scotland!! YES!!!! I had been thinking since the cover release for Illusions how that didn't fit with the UK covers and wondered if it would be any different, and WOW! THEY MATCH PERFECTLY! I like the different title also. Very cool!!! I CAN NOT wait for book 3!!! Been following the series since release day of Book 1!!!

Baby Gwen is cute! I'm 8 months prego, and can't wait for my little guy to get here so I can give him all the kisses I've got stored up!

Kathi Oram Peterson said...

I don't know how you do it! What vitamins are you taking? Really.

Your sweet baby is so adorable.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Unknown said...

The US covers are gorgeous... but the UK cover for Wild/Illusions is cool! What do the other UK covers look like? Why the different covers?

Are you sure you're kissing that baby enough? Maybe you should take some more time for that? :) She's amazingly cute--I'm shocked you can spare any time at all from cuddling her!

Crystal Cook said...

Congratulations on your sweet baby girl!!! I'm all baby hungry now. :) And that is the. best. teaser. ever!

Kari Pike said...

I love the teaser...but I love baby Gwendolyn even more! You are amazing!

Anonymous said...

Gwen is adorable :) But I have NO CLUE how you found all the time to do that!! :D

Fantasy said...

Baby Gwendolyn is so precious! And reading that spoiler makes me even more impatient to get Illusions as soon as possible!! Well, have a very merry Christmas! You absolutely deserve it!

Lindsay said...

Aww. Gwen is so cute! I love her little smile.

Love the new UK cover. I'm excited to read it. :)

Gina Ciocca said...

Your baby is so stinkin' cute!!

Team David all the way. I have a weakness for dark-haired, blue-eyed boys. Especially ones who arrange picnics in the woods in the middle of a school day : )

Sierra said...

Well that excerpt was just... very confusing. :P

Sara said...

Holy criminy, how did you DO all of that right after having a baby?! You are superwoman. Have a Merry Christmas! and keep kissing that cute little girl of yours. :)

Carolyn said...

Gwen is so precious,what an adorable little baby!And I cannot wait for Illusions to come out. It looks absolutely fantastic! (Like Wings and Spells)

Jenilyn Collings said...

Ooh, I love the cover! And the adorable baby! Thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

Aww cute baby!

Tamani <3

I <3 the UK cover!

Happy Holidays!

Martha Ramirez said...

Aw Gwen is beautiful! Look at that smile:) And the cover is lovely. Congrats. Ur on a roll girly!!:)

Amelia said...

Wow, Congratulations on your beautiful baby girl! <3
Waiting, for the 3rd book of your Captivating Trilogy.....
Merry X-Mas to you and your family!!
x

Kayma said...

awesome. Your baby is about the cutest thing i have ever seen- and thats COUNTING the baby racoon. I am so glad your posting more stuff!

TKAstle said...

That is a crazy cute pic of your little one.

Kalyn said...

Tamani!!!!!<3
---
Just had to get that out of my system. Your daughter is so adorable! And I can't wait to see what you have coming for us next :)