Crystal Jordan :: Blog

The weekend away to Asheville, NC was lovely. Lovely. Lovely! I had such a good time and got to schooze with some wonderfully interesting people. The co-worker I went with is an accomplished road tripper; so, all went well on that front. Ate at a lovely psychodelic resturant called the “Yellow Mushroom.” Highly recommended to all you pizza lovers. I shopped at a cool bookstore called Malaprops and talked myself into a new Chick Lit book “She, Myself & I.” I must support independent non-McBookstores too! Amazon and B. Dalton’s get plenty of my cash.

Highlight of the trip: shopping at the “Chocolate Fetish.” A very aptly named store. I almost had an orgasm in public when I bit into their Key Lime Truffle. Oooooh, yummy!

I finally got some typing done on Sunday afternoon (in an effort to avoid cleaning my apartment for Thanksgiving) and my word and progress counters will get an update later today. Woo-hoo!

Also, and this is hilarious, slide on over to Gena Showalter’s blog. She’s auctioning off her brother-in-law Matt and he’s helping out by posting pictures of his best feature — his naked bum. They want to set up a forum for auctioning other males off for a date. Not sure how cross-country/intercontinental dating will work, but still! There’s a naked butt over there!

Here’s your weekly dose of quizzing! “How Machiavellian are You?”

Enjoy!

You Are Somewhat Machiavellian

You’re not going to mow over everyone to get ahead… But you’re also powerful enough to make things happen for yourself. You understand how the world works, even when it’s an ugly place. You just don’t get ugly yourself - unless you have to!

On Wednesday, and I forgot to mention this, I joined a local group of ladies who like to get together and review newly released or just plain interesting literature (if anyone has suggestions, I get to pick soon). This group has a few community members, lawyers and non-profit organization administrators, and some professors from my university. Sounded like fun, so I asked to join in. Then I found out my boss’s boss was also a member. Crap! This meant I’d have to rein in my Crystalness and behave. So much for loud bouncy socialization. Time to strap in a be all intellectual — hey, I went to grad school, I can sling the poo as well as anyone else.

Soooo….My first meeting was at a local restaurant on Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, when I got there, no one had showed up. I felt like I was in one of those nightmares in high school where I’d show up naked with no homework (or is it that I just got picked last for every team?) Anyway, I sat and ordered some hot chocolate (I don’t drink coffee — for which M has declared me officially mental) and about 20 minutes later one person turned up. We had a nice chat and I got an apology email from everyone this morning; so, maybe I’ll go next month.

I’m posting ahead this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday because I’ll be out of town on a business trip. It should be fun. Apparently, we get fun tours and the like to go with our daily doses of librarianship. The problem is, I’m traveling with a co-worker who has a rep in my library for being not-so-nice. She and I have always gotten along, but I’ve observed in my many years of road-tripping (and my family and I love road trips so I have lots of experience here) that there’s something about a road trip that brings out the deep dark ugly side of people. Road trips are where I expect to see 360 degree head spins and blue goo come flying out of people’s eyeballs. It’s an exorcism of sorts.

The bottom line is you have to go with people who know how to road trip properly or it’s best to go alone. We’ll see how my co-librarian does. Wish me luck (or at least survival of the blue-gooing)

I got some excellent writing done this week. I ended up inserting a new scene that I hadn’t planned to write, but it came to me and I was laughing so hard writing it I almost cried. My main character has been dumped by a pasty, undead, cheating vampire and decides to give up “the other white meat” for good. Anyway, I hope my critiquers enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The Mad Madam M heard that I’ve become obsessed with the soundtrack to “Wicked” and she understood (as only your best girlfriend can) that it was time to stop the madness. She sent me the soundtrack to “Elizabethtown” and her new ELFI mix. “ELFI” stands for something, but M can never remember what so I have no clue what it means.

Every month M puts together a CD mix of whatever she’s been listening to. And M has some seriously eclectic taste, which is cool because so do I. One never knows what might pop up on an ELFI mix. There’s usually a nod or two to U2 (M’s personal fave band) and then everything else is fair game. Let me give you an example, this month starts out with “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)” by Doris Day and ends with “Whorehoppin’ ” by Eagles of Death Metal. Only M would come up with this strange combo of classic and freakish. I mean, the chorus for Whorehoppin’ (if the title isn’t funny enough) is “sh*t, Godd*mn, I’m a man.” Hehe! Well, like most things with M, you’re not quite sure how it works, but it does.

So, for now, I’ve given up being wicked and moved onto whorehoppin’

It’s my two month-versary! Woo-hoo!

I’m not sure yet what I have to show for these two months, but I’ve only been writing romance for that long. Maybe it’s too soon to have anything for show-and-tell. ((shrug))

In other VERY exciting news, my first review got posted on Romance Divas! Yeay!!!

**Caution**

This is a steamy novel; so, while my review is strictly PG, if you don’t wanna know about it, don’t click on the link.

Also, I reviewed the book under a pen name Crystal Jemond (Jemond is a French name meaning “worldly.” Mad Madam M helped me come up with it.)

Without further ado–

Crystal Jemond’s review of “Fantasy Bar” by Trista Michaels

I like putting quizzes on my blog. I think they’re fun. I guarantee results with these quizzes — just not results you’ll like. The Mad Madam M was outraged/mortified two weeks ago when she found that the “American City” she ranked was Cleveland. So sorry, NOT my fault I got New York.

I got a couple new scenes in my book done this weekend. Not as much as I hoped, but the writing is good. I can’t complain too much about that, ya know? Also, I finished the book I’m reviewing for Romance Divas. It was much longer than I expected. Now all I have to do is start the review. Good luck to me.

I think from now on my Sundays will be for comics and fun quizzes. I love Sunday funnies in the newspaper; they’re in color. What’s not to love about pretty colorful stuff?

So, today’s quiz……

What’s your summer ride? Because I always love comparing men to cars. Must test drive to find the right…fit.

Your Summer Ride is a Beetle Convertible

Fun, funky, and a little bit euro. You love your summers to be full of style and sun!

write. I have to work on the Romance Divas review, but I want to get some serious writing done thins weekend. Last weekend did not work out, but this weekend shall hence forth be known as “Crystal, butt-in-chair.”

I have only a few more scenes left until my rough draft is ready for some serious critiquing. I can DO this. Maybe I need to hunt up my superglue for the chair because the movie listings look good for today.

I will resist temptation…I will resist temptation…I will resist temptation…