Something To Blog About

After coming up with a semi-brilliant title and leaving it in the queue all week I've since discovered that blogs, much like manuscripts, DO NOT write themselves.  No matter how much money you leave under your pillow for the book & blog faeries it simply doesn't work that way.  Even the blood, sweat and tears left on the pillow don't count for much.

So here I am the night before my post, staring down a blank page, with nothing to blog about.

I still have that original topic to fall back on, but maybe the future of prosthetics isn't as interesting as the amputee heroes who continue to serve their country.

In my May release, Mitzi's Marine, Gunnery Sergeant Bruce Calhoun is such a hero.

"People commonly think of Heroes as strong or brave, but these qualities are secondary to sacrifice--the true mark of a Hero.  Sacrifice is the Hero's willingness to give up something of value, perhaps even [his] own life, on behalf of an ideal or a group."  ~ Christopher Vogler, The Writer's Journey.

Wounded warrior arch types are a weakness of mine (see Beth's post of yesterday ;).  And since I'm also a headline junkie it's easy to understand why such a premise would capture my attention.  But when the idea for Mitzi's Marine first came to me I set it aside to write The Marine's Baby.

I knew Bruce's story would be difficult write.

Mitzi's Marine is my first release in three years and two months (yeah!).  No, I didn't spend all that time writing it, or fighting it as the case may be <g>.  I worked on other projects.  And somehow I wound up with this new release and a deadline for my next book (another, yeah!) in the same month.

Which means I haven't had as much time for the promotion of Mitzi's Marine as I'd like.  Or to write the really FUN blog on Extreme Couponing I was planning as a back up to my too serious Merging Man and Machine blog that I let sit without progress in the queue all week.

I did, however, get as far as googling couponing.  Which reminded me that eharlequin has coupons for books.   Just the thing I needed to tie couponing and reading together, right?

So I clicked over to find...IT'S RAINING MEN!  SAVE $5.

You can't imagine my excitement when I saw Mitzi's Marine was part of this weekly promotion <g>.   Please forgive my self indulgence.  I promise I'll get around to writing both those blogs after deadline (maybe before, I think I have at least one blog date early next month :)

Meanwhile, please enjoy the excerpt of Mitzi's Marine below.  I'm giving away The Marine's Baby and Mitzi's Marine duo to two posters.

We can talk about it raining hot military men, hoorah!

Or (since I'm being self indulgent, here) what have you done recently to indulge yourself?

On the way into work this morning I thought of something funny to talk about.  These are The Guy Rules.  It's an old list, viral on the internet so I don't really know who to credit them to, but here they are, tell me what you think--Can you hear your man in any of them?

All #1 on purpose<g>.

THE GUY RULES

1. Learn to work the toilet seat.  You'er a big girl.  If it's up, put it down.
1. Sometimes, we are not thinking about you. Live with it.
1. Shopping is NOT a sport, and no, we are never going to think of it that way.
1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really.
1. Crying is blackmail.
1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one:

Subtle hints do not work
Strong hints do not work
Obvious hints do not work
Just say it!

1. We don't remember dates. Mark birthdays and anniversaries on a calendar. Remind us frequently beforehand.
1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.
1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.
1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.
1. Check your oil! Please.
1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.
1. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't expect us to act like soap opera guys.
1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.
1. Let us ogle. We are going to look anyway; it's genetic.
1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done, not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
1. The relationship is never going to be like it was the first two months we were going out. Get over it.
1. ALL men see in only 16 colours, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a colour. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.
1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.
1. We are not mind readers and we never will be. Our lack of mind-reading ability is not proof of how little we care about you.
1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," We will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.
1. I'm in shape. -ROUND is a shape.


MITZI'S MARINE
Harlequin Superromance
May 2011

This battle has only just begun!

It's bad enough that Gunnery Sergeant Bruce Calhoun, USMC, lost his best friend, Freddie, in Iraq. But getting stuck in his hometown recruiting office with Chief Petty Officer Mitzi Zahn? This is torture! Mitzi, his ex-fiancéeand Freddie’s little sister—hasn’t forgiven him for anything. She's making that fact abundantly clear.

How can Bruce apologize? He's a Marine. He still loves her, but he can’t have her. Not when he is hell-bent on recovering from his injury and rejoining the fight overseas. Not even if Mitzi’s love proves to be the most powerful force of all….  Read Excerpt