1. I entered the Golden Heart yesterday. (Woot!) Right now, that means I submitted my entry form along with the fee. I have yet to send the submissions to the mothership (a.k.a. RWA National offices in Texas), but since I just queried BROKEN this fall, I’m confident that it’s ready to go.

2. People are still finding my blog by searching ‘WTF’– I mean they’re doing this a lot. Guess my theory of random words (Michael Jackson, Phillies, Halloween costumes for cheap) doesn’t really work as well as abbreviated swears.

3. Montana and I are attending a wedding tomorrow (yes, that’s Halloween) where the bride and groom asked people to dress up. I mean they printed “Costumes are encouraged” on the invitation  between “at 5:00 in the evening” and “Reception to follow.” I think that is a bold bride. Of course, my first idea was to break out my wedding dress and my costume would be a bride, but remembering how stressed out I was before my wedding, I’m going to take mercy on this bride and just dress nicely. And, of course, I have the boots. (There is a bit of a western theme…)

4. NaNoWriMo starts Sunday. I’m building this into my writing plans, but more for support than word count. Writing challenges make me twitchy, but I love the camaraderie.

5. And, since this is the Nutsy Fun edition, I’m going to end by saying have a Happy and Safe Halloween! Enjoy these amazing (and sometimes twisted) jack-0-lanterns as my treat to you!

And, just so you know it’s still me…

Hi, all! Just wanted to pop on to say thank you, thank you, thank you for all the wonderful cheering and support last week! I appreciated every last comment and happy thought and send such lovely writing thoughts back. You are all…

Had a fantastic weekend with all kinds of writing thoughts, and even though the cost was a small cold, I’m still doing great. My goal for this week is to really hit a stride so I can attack November (and my version of NaNoWriMo) head on. And, judging by all of the writing drums I hear in the jungle, you’re with me!

And, speaking of fabulous writing, don’t forget to pick up Anna Campbell’s Captive of Sin, out today! How’s that for no tricks, all treats?

Now, back to the writing, but before I go, a little smile for you. (And a big fat congrats for L.A.’s recent FastDraft success–here’s your reward, L.A.!)

So I’m sitting and thinking yesterday, and for the love of mergatron, I cannot how remember how I stumbled on this path, but I did.

I had an idea for a story.

Now, this isn’t new to me. I get these quite frequently and duly write them down on little scraps of paper, slip them in my “Ideas” file, and let those little suckers germinate until they sprout up and grow. But this idea I had yesterday started rolling downhill like a boulder pushed from Mount St. Helens and it gathered momentum, tumbling down until it crashed at the bottom into an explosion of rocks and gravel and crazy wild-idea shrapnel.

I quickly wrote down the jist of it, just so I could tell Montana about this fun idea I had, and those few paragraphs just flowed. Like lava. (Guess I’m going with the volcano metaphor.) I called Montana and read it to him, and as soon as I finished and heard it out loud for the first time, I got chills.

So, cutting out the parts about how brilliant I am and making this long story short, I’m skipping to the end of Montana telling me to start writing this story NOW and me getting the first 1000 words written last night.

Now, I’m not telling you this to milk you for applause or polite appreciation of the enormity of my Corpus Callosum, but to tell you I’m temporarily abandoning you. I want to give this book a try, and my goal is to have it done by Christmas, so in a NaNoWriMo like run, I’m going to be focused on this fun, fun book for the next 2 months. I’ll still come by and post updates and things, but they might not be quite what I’ve had before, nor will I be blog-hopping as much. I will be posting on Facebook and Twitter so please come say hi, but for now I’ll simply say…

I had an odd dream the other night.

I was in my living room with a few people. It was a quiet afternoon—no big whoop, right? Wrong. My cell phone rang—Alyson Hannigan was calling me.

Now, I’m sure this had something to do with the How I Met Your Mother marathon Montana and I had recently (one of my top 5 all time shows), but let me continue with Le Grande Freaky Dream.

Alyson starts asking me about my books and I’m trying to remember my elevator pitch for either my romantic comedy/paranormal lite (you remember the rom-com-para-lite) or my more recent dark historical. But I can’t remember my pitches!

And I’m frantically trying to remember something—anything!—but can’t, and to make matters worse, people keep streaming into our house, and not only people, noisy people! Kids, those raucous friends from your partying days—there are even jets flying overhead and nobody can shut the freaking door!

So, while I dig through every pile of paper in the front room for any scrap of a query, I get cagey and start asking Alyson how she found out about me. I mean, I’ve recently queried my historical, but even in my freaky dream state I know I didn’t query her. Alyson tells me she’s looking for a movie to do, and even in my freaky dream state I realize that she would be Perfect for my rom-com-para-lite. (And holy cow, would she!)

At this point, I’m desperate, so I head into our bedroom for a little peace and quiet so I can talk to Aly (you know—it’s what her close and personal friends call her) and search every square inch of the back of the house for a query because I know I left a pile of them around somewhere! So I’m making small talk with Aly, flinging stuff right and left, but finding nothing. At this point, Montana comes in and I send him out for my laptop, because I know my queries are on there.

But before he can return with my trust Mac or before I find a scrap of a query (because, you know, it’s not like I keep every draft of every single permutation of every pitch or query I’ve ever done), I wake up.

Being no stranger to freaky-deaky dreams and not needing a psychology degree to figure this one out, I tell Montana about my torturous night and make myself a cuppa tea, heavy on the sugar and cream.

And reflect on the wonderful thoughts of Aly making a movie from my book.

Hello! So wow–how was that Marilyn Brant Week? Pretty amazing, I know. It was such a party that I’ve spent the last week recovering from it, that’s how amazing it was. I think it’ll go down in the books as legen….wait for it…dary.

So, in honor of Marilyn’s awesome book (According to Jane, available at Amazon and major bookstores everywhere) and Friday and everything else that’s good, it’s going to be a Feel Good Five on Friday around here, so kick back, get ready to smile, and enjoy.

Feel Good News: That same According to Jane is #2 on Amazon’s Contemporary Romance list. If that doesn’t get you smiling today, nothing will! Congratulations, Marilyn!!!

Feel Good Read II: “The Bear Went Over the Mountain” by William Kotzwinkle. You may know him as the author of the Walter the Farting Dog books, or even as the writer who novelized the movie E.T., but thanks solely to Montana, I’ve discovered this absolute gem of a book. Here’s a brief description as posted on Amazon: In Kotzwinkle’s merry send-up, the author of the hit novel “Desire and Destiny” is a bear, a real bear, who after finding the manuscript under a spruce tree and attaching his nom de plume, Hal Jam, becomes rich and famous overnight. Obtuse editors, star-hound agents, and a right-wing televangelist and Presidential candidate all warm to Hal’s warm, bearish honesty without bothering to read his book–or to notice that he’s an animal, for that matter.  I started this last night and almost didn’t put it down. It’s simply delightful, and possibly more so to those of us trying to write our own hit novels. Sadly, it’s out of print, but you’ll be doing yourself a huge favor if you find it online or at a local used bookstore.

Feel Good TV Show: Really, was it any wonder I was going to pick “Glee” for this? If you haven’t watched it yet, please get over to Fox.com or Hulu.com and watch it. Watch an episode, watch one of their awesome videos, watch anything with Jane Lynch. If it doesn’t get you laughing or singing, check your pulse.

Feel Good News Story: You’ve probably already heard about this–it was everywhere this week (including my post on Facebook), but I find it simply too delightful not to post again. Two drunken idiots in Wales were picking on people on the street when they decided to pick on some cross-dressers. Only they weren’t cross-dressers–they were cage fighters on a night out in “fancy dress.” They started to pick on these supposed trannies, and one of the fighters came up behind the idiots and dropped them with one punch each. It’s just karma in its rawest, most sparkly form, and it’s beautiful. Read the story and see the clip here.

Feel Good Movie Clip: I was introduced to Baz Luhrmann (writer of Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge, and Austrailia) many, many years ago when I saw Ballroom Dancing. Well, the talented Mr. Luhrmann was on Dancing with the Stars a few weeks ago as a guest judge, leading the amazing Barbara Ferrer to write about it on her blog. She also posted the end scene from Ballroom Dancing, and I’m posting it here as my final Feel Good of the day. You don’t need to know anything about it–just watch it, and if you don’t get choked up at the 4:00 minute mark (followed by more around 5:40) with all of the pulsing, optomistic, triumph over anything feel goodness, then I just don’t know.  

Have a great, feel good weekend, everybody.

Worth a thousand wonderful, exciting words.

“Now, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that a young woman in possession of an important date must be in want of a hot outfit.”

Lord, ain’t that the truth? If somebody would have told me Pride and Prejudice could have such far-reaching insight, I probably would have tried to read it long ago. (Or at least much longer ago than last November.)

But, the very astute of you may cry out, that quote is not from Pride and Prejudice! Yes, it certainly sounds like an homage to the first line of that venerable classic, but was certainly not uttered from Saint Jane herself.

Okay, I may be entering heresy here, but I say it was uttered by somebody better—Marilyn Brant. Yes, that same goddess of this past week here at Pam Writes Romance and author of today’s release, According to Jane. I say better because as much as I’ve wanted to love P&P and have tried repeatedly to read it, I never sat down with a copy of it at 6:00 p.m. on a Saturday night and have it finished by 11:00 p.m. the next day.

Like I did with According to Jane.

I’ve never read about a relationship that made me wince in sympathy (I’m trying not to do this with a spoiler, but the scene with Ellie and Andrei in the car on the way back from the wedding? Yeah, if you’ve read it you know what I’m talking about, and if you haven’t, you soon will.) and literally made me want to crawl through the book and hug Ellie because I know what she’s going through.

Like I did with According to Jane.

And I have never been so pleasantly, delightfully surprised by a relationship as I have with Ellie and Sam—from high school English class, to that first awkward and bittersweet post-college meeting, to the last chapter, and everything in between. I couldn’t count on all of my fingers and toes the number of times I raised my eyebrows in surprise or made that little Ooh! sound of surprised delight.

Yes, like I did with According to Jane. 

You don’t have to love Jane Austen to love this book—heck, I think I’ve proven that—nor do you have to worry about anything that’s ever made you hesitant when hearing the term ‘women’s fiction.’ This is a sweet, delightful story, at times an aching reminder of what it’s like to lay your heart on the line, but knowing the risk is worth it. The only thing you’ll have to worry about when picking up a copy of According to Jane is wanting to immediately read it again.

Like I did.

Welcome! More Marilyn Brant Week and I, for one, couldn’t be more thrilled. I was tickled to meet more of Marilyn’s friends popping over for Day 1, and I think we’ll see more here on Day 4, because Day 4 brings out the deepest, darkest secrets of Ms. Brant, and it involves her….well, let’s just say it’s too scandalous to even write down. (If you’re really, super curious, skip to question #13 and—let me warn you—cover your mouth with your hand because you are going to gasp in shock when you read it.)

How’s that for a hook? True, it’s no “Netherfield Park has been let at last” but that’s why I have Marilyn here. Not only does she class up the joint, she also knows how to tell a fabulous story, and that includes the one about herself. Enjoy!

1.  In the movie they make about your fabulous, successful life, who would play you?
LOL! I have absolutely no idea. I’d be more curious to know who’d *want* to play me and, really, who’d even *think* to make a movie about my life. Who are these people? What on earth convinces the production company I’d be a good film subject? Which one of them is going to write the screenplay and where, exactly, did they dig up drama-worthy material? Who’s been talking about me behind my back, huh?!  No, no, wait! Don’t move on to question #2. I’m interested in this! Where is the director? I wanna talk to the director, Pam… I’m serious…

2. What is your deep, dark, hidden, awful, guilty sin?
Marilyn Brant has no deep, dark sins. Nope. None. With the possible exception that she’s at least partially fictional. Or, perhaps, it’s more accurate to say that Marilyn Brant has no sins she’s willing to disclose outside of a confessional. (She was raised Catholic, after all.) So, she’d need to be bribed with substances of a Cadbury nature in order to reveal a few publicly. Then again, she could be lying about that. In which case, that would constitute a fairly significant sin.

3. What can you tell us about your next book?

I can tell you that IT STILL HAS NO TITLE!! (And not for my lack of trying…) Aside from that, I can also tell you it’s a modern fairytale about three suburban moms who meet weekly for coffee and, in the course of one of their conversations, a very interesting question is raised by one of the friends. The result is that all three women set out to reevaluate their lives and their marriages. (Editor’s note: I also know it’s available October 1^st, 2010 and after reading this tantalizing description, I cannot wait!)

4. What TV show would you most like to be on?
“Castle,” if only because I’d love to meet Nathan Fillion!!

5. In an alternative universe, what would you be doing?
I’d be traveling.  From the alternative universe’s equivalent of The Great Wall…to their version of the Pyramids…to the place where they make the best chocolate and/or ice cream on the planet. And I’d want to people-watch and blatantly eavesdrop–at cafés, historical sites, random shops, national parks, etc. It’s my way of proving that, the world over, people are all really the same.

6. If you could walk into a time in history (other than Jane’s), what would it be?
1880s New York. Years ago I fell in love with Jack Finney’s novel Time and Again, and his main character’s visit to that city (in that particular period) has always intrigued me.

7.  Speed Round:

Coke or Pepsi
Coke–but I’m not exactly a soda connoisseur

Mac or PC
I have PCs, although I prefer Macs in theory

Dogs or Cats
Cats (I’m an Andrew Lloyd Webber fan)

Beatles or Elvis
Ack!!! How am I supposed to answer this one?! Can’t be done…

Diamonds or Pearls
Pearls

Muscle car or Mercedes Benz
Muscle Car–red–and I don’t care if it’s a cliché

Zombies or Vampires
Vampires, if only because sucking blood squicks me out slightly less than eating brains

Lasso of Truth or Wolverine’s claws
Lasso of Truth

8. What do you wish you could have written?
Mostly, I wish I could have written Mozart’s “Alla Turca.” In literature, aside from Pride and Prejudice, it’s a three-way toss-up between The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Katherine Neville’s The Eight and Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel.

9. Who was your greatest influence?
Well, Austen in literature—I’m sure that’s not surprising. My parents in life: Sometimes to faithfully follow their example; sometimes to diametrically oppose it. (Shh. Don’t tell.)

10. If you had to move out of the Midwest, what’s the one thing you’d miss?
The autumn. I love the changing of the leaves in fall, especially when they get all crunchy underfoot and the ones left on the branches glow bright orange, yellow and red against the blue of the sky. I’d also really miss the friends I have here. They are phenomenal and true. And while I’m convinced we’d still be close no matter how far apart we lived, I really like seeing them in person. Frequently.

11. Tell me about your writing routine/an average writing day.
I begin by checking email right after my son leaves to school in the morning. I then work on any publicity or website projects that need to get done, visit blogs of writing friends and/or make phone calls, drive to the post office, etc. All of those writing-related things. Then, I check email again and have a snack while procrastinating… Finally, usually by 10am or so, I try to get down to real writing. I’m a very slow writer, and I work chronologically through the book, so I don’t move onto the next page until the one I’m on seems to flow moderately well. I break for lunch or for anything important–calls from family members, close friends or writing colleagues–but, mostly, I stay focused on the book or writing-related activities until my son returns home from school. After that, it’s homework for him and afterschool sports or playdates, etc. Plus, fixing dinner and the occasional household chore. (I really avoid those whenever possible!) A few times per week I manage to slip in a visit to the gym for a workout, but I’m not nearly as consistent as I should be. When my husband returns from work, the three of us have dinner together and talk. Some nights we watch a TV show. After they both go to bed, I get back to work again.  Ultimately, it’s a lot of computer time and not very glamorous at all.

12. You get free cuts to Antiques Roadshow—what would you bring?
My husband has this wooden sculpture of the Eight Immortals (Chinese in origin). I’d be interested in learning more about the piece–particularly its history and, possibly, some information on the artist.

13.  5 minutes with Jane Austen, or have the next Bon Jovi #1 hit be about you?
Yeah, Pam. I resent you terribly for making me answer this. I had to think about my response for a rather long time, but here’s the reasoning behind my choice:  While I would personally benefit greatly from meeting Jane (and I’d find a way to question her about any mysterious relationships from her past–there’s so much I’d love to know!), I’d have to go with the Bon Jovi song. It’s no secret that I Heart Bon Jovi. But, were they to write a song about me, millions of people in addition to me would get to enjoy the music. After all, the band didn’t write “I’ll Be There for You” or “You Give Love a Bad Name” just for ME. I don’t personally know the women who inspired these songs… Although, between us, I’m pretty sure Jon *did* write “Born to Be My Baby” about me.  Even though he and I haven’t met.  He just KNEW.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Okay, everybody else totally in love with Marilyn, raise their hands. Yeah, I thought so. How can you not love somebody so nice, funny, talented, and just so darn fabulous? And just wait until you read According to Jane—then you’re going to want to just be BFF with her, sitting around with her eating chocolate and drinking tea, chatting about anything and everything. Because she’s just that wonderful.

If you’re like me and enjoy stalking…er, seeing what Marilyn’s up to, you can catch her at her blog, or at her group blog with the other wonderful 2007 Golden Heart finalists (delightfully titled The 007’s: Nobody Writes It Better.) She has a Facebook page, a Goodreads page, and a Yahoo newsletter sign-up.  She also has written one of the most amazing books in the whole wide world and it’s coming out September 29^th, so check out the According to Jane page on Amazon. Then come back here on Tuesday for the culmination of Marilyn Brant week and our grand release celebration.

See you then!

Hear ye, hear ye! To celebrate the opening of Marilyn Brant week, we offer you something most amazing. So gather round, ye friends of Marilyn’s, and come hear the tale that she’s been yearning to hear, the true story of how her friend Pam got to sit front row at a Bon Jovi concert. It all began like this…

nce upon a time, in a village far, far away and a time not so long ago, there was a fair maid named Pamela. The fair maid was a fan of the troubadours Bon Jovi. This caused some minor consternations from the fair maid’s lawful mate, as he was not so much devoted, but he knew well before he had handfasted with the fair maid that she had a measure of big-hair headbanger in her blood, so peace was known in the land.

It came to be that the troubadours were to be traveling the land to sing their newest tunes, and offer for trade garments with images of the troubadours on the front, with the days of the calendar and towns the troubadours had visited on the back. Fair maid Pamela knew such a visit would be as a dream, and contented herself to sing loudly of the troubadours songs while driving her cart to market.

But lo! What news is this? The local town criers who announced the morning events had passes to the troubadour’s event, and they would give them to the deserving person who could answer their question when posed seven days hence. Our fair maid listened intently to the town criers the next of Monedæi, Tiwesday, Wednesdei, and Dunresdæg and paid most particular attention to the special words the town criers offered, writing them down on a precious scrap of birch bark. When Frigedæg came, fair maid Pamela ruthlessly beat out all of the other townsfolk to repeat back the special words to the town criers (Bounce, Tico, Runaway, and Dorothea) and was awarded the privelage of listening to the troubadours from the very front row.  Our fair maid was so excited she ran in to tell her mate, screaming so loudly and shrilly that the fair maid’s lawful mate thought she was either in physical distress or some loathesome knave had stormed into their cottage and threatened to steal their goats.

Come the day the troubadours visited, much excitement was felt by fair maid Pamela. Even the fair maid’s lawful mate was feeling the joy of the day, as he had been catching some the spirit of the day, as well as swept along in our fair maid’s fervor. Fair maid Pamela and her lawful mate traveled to the local town square, a place large enough to hold those who enjoyed the troubadours music and mingled with other townsfolk out to listen to the troubadours. Our fair maid’s lawful mate traded several chickens for a garmet with the troubadours’ image on it and offered it to his lady as a token of his love, and she was very touched by the gift. Thusly coiffed, our fair maid and her lawful mate received their crimson cuffs indiciating them able to be seated on the wooden benches nearest the troubadours and they settled in to listen to Goo Goo Dolls, guests of the troubadours, performing charming songs to please the crowd.

But lo! What trouble is this? Before the troubadours could appear, a large-boned village wench who had received the bench behind our fair maid and her lawful mate became vexed. She was most upset that her view of the troubadours’ tight-trousered lead songster might be blocked by the unusual height of our fair maid’s lawful mate. The wench, a large and formadable foe herself, offered veiled consequences to our fair maid’s lawful mate should he place himself between herself and the tight-trousered songster. To keep peace in the village, and knowing his fair maid was rightly and properly situated at her place at the fence between the benches and the troubadours, our fair maid’s lawful mate was content to keep seated at the bench during the songs of the troubadours. He did, however, keep a close eye on the wench, fearing she might possibly garrote him with her apron tie and crawl over his twitching body to offer herself to the tight-trousered troubadour. He was most concerned that this would be his fate during the special version of the song of the troubadours so named ‘Just Older’ and the wench behind him suddenly cried out in an emotional and overwrought tone,  “And I’m pretty, too!”

During the last several songs of the troubadours, our fair maid and her lawful mate decided that they would risk the freakishly large wench’s wrath and decided to stand together at the fence, singing and dancing along with the troubadours and their merry songs. A fine time was had by all and the fair maid and her lawful mate went on to live happily ever after.

(Picture of the troubadours as sketched by the fair maid from where she was sitting. Yes, she was that close to the tight-trousered songster.)

To celebrate the release of According to Jane on September 29th, tomorrow starts the tremendous, stupendous, most excellently fabulous MARILYN BRANT WEEK!

And to kick off the week in high style, I have a very special post I’ve been saving for just such an occasion. It has thrills, chills, star sightings, and even a possible murder. Trust me, you won’t want to miss it!

See you tomorrow!