Instead, I’m going to blog about dang ole’ weather. Yesterday had me quaking in my house slippers. Because you know, authors live in their pjs and slippers. BTW, I should be queen of that rule!  Checking the mail,  no really the postal kind that you have to go outside to get (should I mention in my pjs cause I’m lazy like that?). It had begun to sprinkle when I came in from my bit of exercise for the day I sat down ready to Challenge at Romance Divas. I knew it was going to rain, the clouds were heavy and gray, the smell was in the air and all that normal “it’s going to rain today” stuff. Anyhow, I’m happily moving along in the Challenges when only a few of us were left in the room. By now the weather had gone from a light sprinkle to “Oh my frigging gawds was that a cow!”

It was then I decided it’d be a good idea to check weather.com because lets be truthful, I’m in the south and we’re kinda known for twisters. Low and behold, we’re under a WATCH! Not a warning, where the chances of a tornado are like slim, oh no, a WATCH! Barely having typed this information into the chat and hitting enter I hear a loud BOOM. My world goes dark! Suddenly my heart picks up it’s lazy pace and goes for a marathon.

Would now be a good time to mention I have a huge fear of being home alone, stranded if you will, while the weather is bad? I mean, I can handle raining, high winds and stuff. But come on… there is like no where to hide in this house if a twister comes and we don’t have a storm cellar.

So, being a night owl and have mastered walking in the dark I know exactly where a lighter is and get two candles burning. Then I wander through the house and manage to find an old desk phone. Yeah, they still make the kinds that have to be plugged into the wall and have cords. I know, I was shocked too! Anyhow, I get it hooked up and call my hubby. Guess what he says? “Oh we’re under a tornado watch!” My thoughts: No, really? Grrr!!

A bit nervous, I ask where I should hide. Yeah know, just in case. He offers his recommendations, which totally goes against everything I didn’t pay attention to during those drills in school. I hang up and glance out the window. Golf ball size hail. Nice! The rain begins again only this time it’s doing a lovely circle pattern, whipping around in all sorts of directions. Care to guess what my fragile nerves are thinking?

Oddly enough, my cat Phoebe, who would rather be left alone unless she needs food, decides she wants to be all up in my lap. I hold her and she’s nuzzling against me as if it’s her dying wish to love of me. Now I’ve heard cats have a knack for predicting really bad weather. I tuck this thought away hoping it won’t freak me out more. That didn’t fly!

Some more pacing about my office, rethinking the advice my husband gave me, I decide to give up on being stressed out and lay down. After all, I’ve been really sick and had been thinking of taking a nap anyhow. Laying there, I can hear every little sound outside magnified by 100! Finally I manage to fall asleep.

Several hours later the sudden shock of blinding lights coming on wake me up. I squint to focus at the alarm clock, 5:46pm. Damn! The power went out long enough to annoy the crap out of me but not long enough where I didn’t have to actually cook dinner. I pull myself out of my comfy spot under the blankets and then try to reconnect my laptop to the internet so I might access the damage. *Smacks head* Duh, I unplugged the phone cord from the router so I could use a standard phone. Get it all hooked back up and my mother-in-law calls. I hear: “Blah blah blah, two tornadoes…” What? You mean there were two? Holy crackers!!

Searching the net and the news stations I’ve seen no proof or reports of these two tornadoes but hey, she did say a cop told her about it. Jury is still out on if I believe it.

And that was how I spent yesterday. Nice right?

Oh and for those interested, weather.com says it’s suppose to rain for several more days. Lovely!

I know I’m disgusted with my body, because of my illness and the fact that I’m fluffy. One I can control, which is why tomorrow I’m back to my diet. Of course, don’t get me wrong here, my diets aren’t anything that shocking to the system. I simply control what I eat, yeah know say no to the extra cookies and such, and work out. This means tomorrow I’ve got to make myself work out.

Knowing that working out will also help get me out of this funk I’m in as well. Yay for that.

I wouldn’t exactly say I’m depressed, but I can feel that if I don’t take charge now I’d be on a very well laid path in that direction. And frankly, I don’t have time for it.

On another topic, if you’ve been a huge fan of Romantic Inks, then go check out some of the changes I’ve made lately. I’ve decided to spruce the place up a bit and one way to do that is with new features. I’ll be adding more goodies and such to entice the readers. So keep an eye out..something might interest you over there.

As for this place, I’m still adjusting to the .net thing. I’m still catching myself typing .com instead. Very annoying but something I must live with.

So what is up with you? Anything good? Just for the record, I’m opting not to do my Thursday Thirteen today (chalk that up to the focus and want to thief).

Gabriel Wulf, the strong one, the sensible one–the, and the curse that plagued them, were his only priorities; there was little time for women and none for love. Now, he must protect an enticing beauty–and not just from the dangers that prowl the woods around them. Gabriel has secrets, dark ones he’s sure Amelia must never know and could never understand. But she has already awakened his heart…and the beast within. Will Amelia be the key to his salvation, or the architect of her own demise?

What reviewers are saying…

“Newest Wild Wulf of London book is intense, sexy and poignant.”
Lory Martin, Fresh Fiction on The Cursed One

“Vivid description, wonderful characters, and a story line that holds you tight destine The Cursed One for the keeper shelf. Bravo, Ms. Thompson, bravo.”
5 Kisses, Romance Divas, Kristen Painter

“Though I know I sound like a broken record, I make no excuse for it because the Wild Wulfs Of London are Hot! Hot! Hot!”
Shannon Johnson, Romance Reader At Heart on The Cursed One

“Chills will run up your spine as danger and passion rise, and Thompson works her magic. Succumb to the lure of the Wulf.”
Kathe Robin, Romantic Times Book Reviews
4 ½ stars Top Pick and K.I.S.S. award recipient from Romantic Times

“Ronda Thompson has written a story that will stay with me for a long time. She has put feelings and love into it and came out with a winner.”
Fallen Angels Reviews, Recommended Read

“The latest Wild Wulfs of London (see THE UNTAMED ONE and THE DARK ONE) is a superb werewolf Regency romantic suspense thriller that starts off as a five star howl and never slows down until the final confrontation between beauty and the beast.”
Five stars from Harriet Klausner on The Cursed One

“Author Ronda Thompson has given us a fantastic series about The Wild Wulfs of London and their legendary curse.”
A Romance Review (The Cursed One)

Ok most anyone who knows anything about me knows I’m sick. Have been sick for several years. And yet when I don’t feel good, its like they never knew. I do care for those that wish me well and become worried when I am sick but often times its those people that I pretend for. I become this little actress (btw I’m not a great actress) and pretend all is well with the world. That I’m not sick, that the doctors claim I’m terminally ill and that my life is just peaches. Fact, its nothing even close to that.

Half the time my husband doesn’t even know how bad I feel. Yes, I tell him I don’t feel good, but I never wake him up during the night when I can barely crawl out of the bathroom. I have actually fell asleep in there this past week. I know he hurts when I do and I just can’t handle causing him more pain. Same goes with my family.

I feel like *ss most days and find it troubling to even crawl out of bed. Yesterday, because I had to get a few things done, I had my desk trash can sitting beside me instead of tucked under my desk. Because not only was I so wrapped up in the things I needed to get done, I was so sick that had I not..I would have spent my day praying to the toilet gods. So, after tapping out the last bit of work that HAD to be done, I spread my blanket out, pulled a spare pillow down and wrapped up with my winnie the pooh blanket and fell asleep on my office floor (perhaps I should keep this clear that I work from home).

Now I know not many people read this blog, which is why I feel comfy in ranting here about this. I would never even dream of taking this post over to my Romantically Inclined blog…yikes. I’d scare everyone off. *sigh*

So here it is 6am my time, I haven’t been to bed yet, because guess what…when I laid down to rest, I suddenly got sick again. This seems to be happening alot lately. My fever has been spiking up and down for awhile now. I should have lost at least 20 pounds or so, but grr I haven’t. Shhh don’t tell my husband but I often wonder why I’m still here..but then I remind myself that I can’t go no where until 1) my book is published 2) my kids are grown, married, happy and 3) because I would miss my husband too much. Not in that exact order btw.

Anyhow, today I plan on calling my mom to see how her and my dad are doing, and chances are my sister will message me about something to do with her beautiful kids and you know what? I’ll chit-chat as if I’m Mary Sunshine and never let them know how bad I truly feel.

Current Read: The Vampire Who Loved Me by Teresa Medeiros

Word Of The Day: egoism ~ (noun) excessive concern with oneself; conceit.

I swear on all that is holy, I never plan on these words. I hope no one thinks I’m conceited.

Black Cat was inspired by my cat Shadow, one of seven owners. No that’s not a photo of my Shadow, as he is too bossy to sit still long enough for me to take a good photo of him. All my kids like being in the spotlight but none of them want to pose for pictures. They think its work, which is not what Royalty do.

Anyhow, speaking of my owners– we let the devils in the office tonight and Amie (head owner) decided to chew on everything. She started with a wicker basket that is beside my desk and then to the fabric that is inside of it until she did it. She saw the line of my headphones. As you can guess, she pulled it down and chewed threw the line before I could snatch it from her. Needless to say, all Royal members were swiftly returned to the room. They can consider themselves exiled. They should consider themselves lucky that we don’t hang the Royals around here lol.

Another issue I’ve been dealing with again is my health. Lately, I have hit more odd things than I’d care to remember. My poor body is black and blue. Word of warning, if your going to pass out…make sure you have fully pillows around you. A laundry basket hurts and so do doors. Sleeping on the bathroom floor isn’t so bad, as long as you have a fluffy floor mat and have decided you simply can’t move. I would not recommend the “pray to the bathroom gods” as a diet, but you can eat another slice of cheesecake and not feel guilty. And the perk to running fevers (mine tend to be really low, like 94.2 or so) during the summer, you save money on your electric bill. Because lets face it, your wrapped up in your blanket, your flannel nightgown and about 3 pairs of socks. So the a/c has no need to run. That means more money to buy romance books…woohooo!

Oh yeah, I’m still doing the Avon FanLit thing. I have actually voted on all the submissions that have been posted. Can we say WHEW! My eyes are blurred and I’ve had nightmares about Damien and his Countess. Ok not really but I’m more than ready for round one to be over with. Thank goodness it’s only a few more days before this round is over. Then we can move on to the next round which should be even more fun. Why you ask? Because this round we could only submit 2 chapters per person. In the next round and those that follow, we get 3 submissions. If you haven’t been over there, let me tell you…right now there are close to 500 entries. And they aren’t closing the submissions until later today. So there is a real good chance that it will be over 500…we’ll have to wait and see. So the next rounds will most likely have way more entries. Yikes!

Welp, I need to track down a bed and pillow for a few hours.

Reading: Candice Hern’s Just One Of Those Flings

Word of the Day: opulent ~ (adjective) possessing or exhibiting great wealth.

Anyhow, I’m not going to dwell on that person, if I dwelled on anyone, I’d never be a happy person. In any case, after reading their comment, I doubt checked what I had thought was a perfect submission by me..not that it’s perfect, just I felt it was perfect enough to submit. It turns out I messed up in a huge way. This of course can be explained with a few things but I’m totally blaming myself. I had been up for more than 36+, and wasn’t thinking clearly when I posted my submission.

So when I had made edits (which when I’m working on a chapter, I take it aside on a new page, in word works, and do edits. Well, while working last night I had both pages open. One I was doing edits on and the other the complete and total rough draft. Can you see where I’m going with this? Yeah, it doesn’t take any genius to know that I posted the wrong one. The one that is completely in the raw stages. Where I had made sentence switches, misplaced words, and umm, my worst habit adding and deleting commas where they should be.

So here’s the run down of what I KNOW is wrong: About 14 places where a comma should be added or deleted, 3 spots where a word is in the wrong spot or just doesn’t make sense at all. Anyhow, I needed to vent about my being stupid. Stupid about being so excited about something that I didn’t pay attention and at least show that I somewhat know what I’m doing.

Heaven help those that read my submission.

Reading: I don’t know..I’m trying to figure out what I want to read. Help me decided. Candice Hern’s Just One Of Those Flings, Shana Galen’s No Man’s Bride or Suzanne Enoch’s Something Sinful. What do you think I should read?

Word of the day: discrepancy ~ (noun) a difference or variance between two or more things.

Here’s the list:
write a poem
fix forms on 3 web pages
update RI calendar
finish upto chapter 3 edits
write at least 10 pages

Ok here’s what I’ve finished:
I’m lost on the scripts for the forms, so I turned them over to someone who knows more than I do. Hey I don’t have to do it so CHECK.
I’ve updated RI as much as I can at the moment, so CHECK.

I’m working on the page edits and new pages. That is until “our time” with my hubby. I figured I’d extend the break a little and post a blog, since I haven’t in a few days.

Anyhow, about that ball. I’m rolling along in my story, it seems the page edits has turned into more of writing all new stuff. Does this count as new pages?? Hehe, ok I suppose not. Oh well. I’m right in the middle of chapter 2 edits when my husband yells at me from his desk that “our time” starts in 2 minutes and if I wanted to do it tonight. Hmm the weight of the world suddenly hops on my shoulders. Do I want to skip the 30 minutes set aside for me to spend with my husband or do I want to not let my writing muse slip away? Glancing at my husband and then my writing in front of me…I opt for the time with my husband. What would you have done? Time with loved one or your writing?

BTW the reason he yelled, I have my headphones on with my favorite jams going. I can’t hear dittle lol.

So I broke my thoughts away from my writing and played a few games with my husband on messenger (we are addicted to word racer on yahoo) and then I decided to entertain those that stop by here and RI.

Now tell me, what would you do? I’m curious (aka nosey). What is “top” in your life? And why?

Oh and before I forget. Checkout Avon’s Fan Lit, it promises to be exciting. Plus I’m there! What? Isn’t that enough for you to visit? Ok, how about a bunch of wonderful *published* authors? Yeah, go visit already. here’s the link: http://avon.fanlit.com/index.htm

Reading: Jenna Petersen ~ From London With Love and trust me I’m loving it so far. Jenna, your a tease, I want to know his secrets already!!!

Quote: “A word to the wise ain’t necessary – it’s the stupid ones that need the advice.” ~Bill Cosby

Word of the day: malinger~ (verb) to pretend incapacity or illness to avoid a duty or work.
Ok I promise I didn’t plan this word…it’s the one that popped up in my email today. Swear!

This upcoming Sunday I’m turning 30. Yup the BIG 3-0!! So to celebrate my mom drove down as a surprise. We booked a few rooms at the Hilton and away we went.

We walked down the Riverwalk and saw some beautiful steamboats and some shops that happen to be closed on Sunday. Dang the luck.

So we decided to find some true New Orleans entertainment and began walking, past the casino down to Canal St. In true celebration form we hit every bar along the way. We even stopped in to the Coyote Ugly New Orleans bar to see if it was anything like the movie. BTW thats one of the rules, “no asking if it’s truly like the movie”.

So what do I do, I order water. Hey I was hot and the idea of a cool soak was sounding really good. Instead, she just shook her head and said they don’t serve water there. Oh well. My uncle sure took up with the bartender..he even got his picture taken with her. She was really nice. BTW if your in Boston she’ll be heading your way soon.

Along our bar walk..umm I mean tourist walk, we saw some interesting things. Like a man standing as a statue, only moving every once in-awhile. For those that weren’t paying attention as they walked by it was a real treat…almost a heart attack lol.

We also took a carriage ride which was very nice, since we were all so tired of walking. My poor feet are about ready to send in their two weeks notice. The guy that was giving the tour was really nice, so nice that he actually took us back to the hotel after our tour, instead of dropping us off at the place we hired him. Oh and part of the tour, they stop at a bar and a waitress comes out and takes your order. Four hurricanes to go hehe. BTW they were really good.

I promise that I have more photos to share, but they will have to wait until tomorrow.

Oh btw, this is my uncle showing off one of the many refreshments that we had. This one was called The Voodoo Brew. Not sure exactly what was in it but you didn’t want to take a sip from the top…there’s a reason they give you a straw.

I”m going to skip this blogs quote and reading…but I promise to do them on the next blog. Until then…cheers.

If you’ve seen many of the boards that I’m a member of, you already know about this lol. Not that I’m a proud aunt or anything.

Congrats sis and family and welcome Layton.