January has been a tough month. My birthday passed smoothly enough, but I’ve apparently decided to do some post-birthday life evaluation. I haven’t figured out how to give that evaluation a positive result. No, that’s when I let Ms. Negativity out to play.

Plus, I’m grieving. Heath Ledger’s death hit me hard, even though I don’t think I’ve seen any of his movies. I think it’s horribly sad for anyone to die so young. From what I know, he was wonderfully talented. And he leaves behind a two-year-old daughter . . .

Another man I don’t actually know died over the weekend. He lived a long life, and I think he would say it was a good one. And, really, isn’t that all that anyone can hope for? His death wasn’t really unexpected, but I’m still affected by it.

Eventually I’ll get past it all. For now, though, I’ll let myself grieve. And be glad that tomorrow is a new month. I’m ready for it.

Every author in some way portrays himself in his works, even if it be against his will.
–Goethe

The more I write, the more I realize how true this quote is. There are little pieces of me in my characters. Chloe, for instance, loves caramel. It’s a candy addiction we share. Erin is tall, and the scene where she describes the way she looks next to her friend owes more than a little to my thoughts about the way I look next to one of my sisters.

But one of the coolest things about writing is the way in which my characters and I are different. Sabrina is far more stylish than I am, and Mélanie has an inherent confidence and ease with people I wish I had. Each character is unique, and the best thing I can do is keep out of the way and let them tell their stories. I get to know them as I write.

Remember my post about pets? Well, I’ve adopted one . . . from a distance.

Meet Clover. She’s a black-footed ferret from the Black-Footed Ferret Adoption Program. How I heard about her is a long story . . .

Cassie Edwards has been writing romance longer than I’ve been reading it. I’ve always seen her books in stores–I even read a few back when I first started reading romance. They weren’t to my taste, but every time I saw her books after that I felt a tug of nostalgia. Not for the books themselves, but because she’s a familiar name.

For that reason, it made me horribly sad to see that sections of her writing so closely matched passages in a variety of non-fiction and fiction. When you compare the passages, it seems like a clear case of plagiarism.

You wouldn’t expect a story like this to have a positive result, but something positive came out of it. Romance readers learned about the near extinction of the black-footed ferret. Nora Roberts even kicked off a fundraiser for the ferrets.

So that’s how I got involved–I adopted a ferret. Clover will be well taken care of by the people at Prairie Wildlife Research. And I got to contribute to an endangered species.

Now I want one of these . . .

It’s official. I’ve registered for this year’s RWA conference in San Francisco.

This will be my third RWA conference, and I enjoy attending. It’s wonderful to see people I usually know only from online, and I always get motivated again after attending. Plus, what’s not to like about free books?

I’m planning to do a little sightseeing after the conference as well. It should be terrific!

This week’s spam was pretty typical–offers to enhance or enlarge a body part I don’t have. Then I came across this subject line.

Herbal science comes to your rescue!

This one could be interesting, I thought. Would herbal science help me earn more money? Send me on an extended vacation? Bring me a millionaire?

Sadly, it was the same old, same old. Honestly, I’m ready for spammers to figure out that I’m not the target gender for this crap.

My, how they’ve grown. On Christmas Eve, they looked like this. Last week, they looked like this.

I brought them toy bones that say Bite Me on the outside.

Lia: Hi, Jeffrey.

Jeffrey: Hey.

Lia: I’ve been trying to come up with a name for your gallery. A coworker suggested one . . .

Jeffrey: I know. That’s not it.

Lia: Okay. What is it?

Silence.

Lia: Jeff?

Jeffrey: You’ll know when it’s the right one.

Lia: (Sighs.) All right. While I have you here, can I ask you something? What’s important to you?

Jeffrey: Why?

Lia: I’m trying to understand you better. You’ve been kind of elusive. I know Shay thinks so.

Jeffrey: She doesn’t get close to people.

Lia: That’s true. But in this case, I agree with her. You are elusive.

Jeffrey: (Pauses.) What you see is what you get.

Lia: (Files that for later consideration.) Uh huh. But what’s important to you?

Jeffrey: You already know.

Lia: Shay. The gallery.

Jeffrey: Right.

Lia: What else?

Jeffrey: {Editor’s note: Answer has been edited to avoid jinxing the name}

Lia: What do you mean by . . . hey. That would be an interesting name for a gallery. Cool. All right. Now, could you tell me a little more about yourself?

Silence.

Lia: Jeffrey? Where’d you go?

I don’t typically think of myself as a pet person. When I was very little, we had a dog, but I don’t remember it. Later we had a cat, and I discovered I was allergic to them. I liked cats–they are elegant, self-sufficient, and mysterious, but the allergy thing kept me from having one. But we never got another pet after that cat disappeared. Later, when I could have my own pet, I got a beta fish and was devastated when it died a couple of years later.

Having a dog never occurred to me. Dogs were the mean, barking creatures in the neighborhood that would pester me on my way home. And they weren’t elegant like cats. They would bark, drool, and jump. For a long time, I thought dogs were just . . . well, the complete opposite of appealing.

Now I see the appeal.

It helps to have a friend with a dog. This dog, Zoe, is definitely a jumper and a licker, but it’s actually kind of sweet.

Then there are the puppies. Lieutenant and Major are the supercute puppies my niece got for Christmas. They were so tiny on Christmas Eve, and they are growing up fast.

Lieutenant

Major

I did my best to resist Zoe, but I can’t resist the three of these adorable dogs. So I’m a convert . . . from a distance. I’m a little allergic to dogs, too, so I doubt I would get one. But I’ll enjoy these.

I write with the TV on. I also need quiet when I write. So I fulfill both needs by putting in one of my often-watched true-crime tapes or DVDs and hitting the mute button. I call this white noise, although I know that’s not the actual definition of the term. This gives me the quiet I need and it satisfies that part of me that wants to watch TV too. I know, it’s unusual. But I think it’s unusual when people tell me they write to music. I’ve tried to do the same on occasion, but I just can’t do it.

I prefer my white noise.

I’m excited about the fact that I got six new DVDs last week. I have new white noise, and when I finish writing, I can watch it with sound.

One of my favorite things about being a writer is getting a cover and a release date. I’m excited to announce I have both for my vampire story, Battle. It will be available as an e-book July 4. Here’s the cover, which I love.

This is the only case where the cover came before the story. In fact, the cover inspired part of the story. You’ll have to read it to find out how.

Here’s the blurb.

When hotel owner Mélanie Laurent receives a black rose from a would-be suitor, she can’t afford to ignore it. Her adversary doesn’t just want her–he wants L’Hôtel Roseraie and the rest of her holdings. To reach his goals, he’s willing to do anything, even involve humans in what should be vampire business. To win, Mélanie must defeat her rival at his own game.

Justin Garvey knows Mélanie isn’t what she seems. That belief is confirmed when he learns she is a vampire. When his assistant is murdered by Mélanie’s adversary, Justin vows to get revenge–a vow that brings him further into the vampire world. Justin and Mélanie discover that they make great partners . . . but to succeed, they must risk everything.

It’s part of Cobblestone Press’s Vampire Oracle series, which will eventually be available in print.