Crystal Jordan :: Blog

Okay, drama queen. Settle down.

My new cp liked the scenes that I sent her. Yeay! And her stuff was awesome, too. This might work out really well. Her comments totally gave me an inspiration for smoothing out the rest of that chapter.

Oh, no!

While I was typing the above I got word that my grandma’s in the hospital again. “Acute renal failure,” the doctor says. I think this means she’ll have to go on dialysis, but I think (hope, hope, hope) she’ll be okay. She says she feels fine and the doctors are doing more tests. We’ll see how it goes.

Holy cow!

I start teaching my first class today. I’m a bit nervous (and incredibly grateful that none of my students know about my blog) I told my director that all my students might be getting A’s this semester just for putting up with my first try. She was considerably less amused than I was. Captain Grouchy-pants, that one. I hope that I do well. And I don’t throw up a little…in my mouth. What if I’m the boring professor who drones on? What if I’m the psychotic “don’t take that chick’s class” professor? What if I’m a great professor and everyone wants to take my class next semester and then I have to grade all those extra papers and assignments? I just can’t win. I think I need a paper bag to breathe in.

So, I found someone interested in being my critique partner. We’re test driving each other and seeing how it goes. I hope it goes well, she seems pretty nice. And she had a former life as an English teacher. Hallelujah! Maybe now I can get some grammar and punctuation help. So not my forte. (Out, out, weak verbs!)

Wish me (and especially her) luck!

Today’s fun quiz is (drumroll please!): What Will Your Last Words Be?

So, my famous last words are: “Hey, watch this!” (And BTW, I have never said this before doing something stupid enought to die. Outside of that, I plead the 5th.)

What will be your last word(s) before you die?
brought to you by Quizilla

I just reviewed a new book for Romance Divas by Elizabeth Delisi. Fatal Fortune is the first in a new series called the Lottie Baldwin Mystery series. Well, there’s actually a prequel novella called “Mistletoe Medium.”

Fatal Fortune is actually a paranormal mystery with a romantic subplot. I really liked it. I’ve read another one of Delisi’s books and, let me tell you, this lady has one heck of an imagination. And she translates it into writing very well.

Review of Fatal Fortune by Elizabeth Delisi

I have been writing Every Witch Way for about 3 months now(hey, I work full-time. We can’t all be Gena Showalter, the writing equivalent of the Energizer Bunny) . I realized that while I’ve read individual scenes, I haven’t actually read the whole manuscript the whole way through. That’s my goal for the weekend. Read it all and see where I want the book to go. I think I can wrap it up by February. Then it’s on to The (Mis)Adventures of Supersize Girl.

Say that 10 times fast.

I’m kinda stumped right now. I’m getting a bit bored with Every Witch Way and I really, really want to move onto The (Mis)Adventures of Supersize Girl. There’s waaaaay more to write in Every Witch Way, but I’m not sure what direction I should take it. Nothing good is coming out right now. It could be just job stress, but I think what I need is a critique partner or group. Someone to boot me in the butt and say “You’re not done yet! Don’t even think of stopping now!”

Unfortunately, I live in the backa$$ end of nowheresville. Not a lot going on on the romance writer scene here. I can always go with the online critique partner — they have a forum for that at Romance Divas. But, really, who would I get as a critique partner? Every Witch Way is a contemporary, fantasy, action-adventure, with a whole lotta chick-lit thrown in for good measure. How many other people are writing in that genre? And how much does genre really matter if you work well together?

Just not sure where to go from here. Huh.

Mean, mean Jill!
I can’t think of seven things. I can only think of three. Or ten. You get what I give you. So, there. So, there! This is like word counts or due dates. Blech!

Seven Things to Do Before I Die:
1. Become one of those really obscenely content people
2. Get in shape and stay that way (or grow five more inches) (I stole this one from Jill– ain’t it the truth?)
3. Get one of my manuscripts published
4. Make it to my Top Ten travel destinations (and fly first class getting there)
5. Make the NY Times best-seller list
6. Get married (happily, with no divorcing — Brad Pitt will do nicely)

Seven Things I Cannot Do:
1. I won’t have children, no matter how much my mom wants grandbabies
2. Stop speaking my mind (boy, has that gotten me into trouble before)
3. Stop writing
4. Enjoy domestic activities (besides baking, I like that)
5. Not be Mad Madam M’s bestest bud (don’t even think it!)

Seven Things that Attract Me to my Spouse/Significant Other
I don’t really have one. Here are some of my qualifications for a man:
We have a tie for first!
1. A sense of humor (a sense of the ridiculous) AND Intelligence (smart guys turn me on)
2. Honesty/Integrity
3. A nice butt
4. Confidence/comfort in his own skin
5. A really nice butt (and the ability to work those muscles in bed)
6. Hygienic (skeazy men need not apply)
7. General niceness (so many guys lack this one. Very sad)

Seven Things I Say (or Write) Most Often:
1. Look (it’s in my manuscript everywhere)
2. Slide (ditto. And it’s not all in the sex scenes either! Gutter minds!)
3. Like
4. Quite
5. Fabulous
6. All cuss words (you know them; I don’t need to repeat them)
7. I need a snack

Seven Books (or Series) I Love:
1. Everything Linda Howard has ever written (esp. All The Queen’s Men)
2. Ditto Suzanne Brockmann
3. Heart Series by Robin D. Owens
4. Goddess Series by PC Cast
5. Heris Serrano Series by Elizabeth Moon
6. Pern Series by Anne McCaffrey
7. Everything Dara Joy has ever written (duh!)

Seven Movies I Would Watch Over and Over:
1. Office Space
2. Underworld
3. Shawshank Redemption
4. Pride and Prejudice (the Colin Firth version)
5. The Sound of Music/ Singin’ in the Rain (looove those musicals)
6. Dangerous Beauty
7. All the James Bond flicks (I even watch the really bad ones)

Seven People I Wish Would Join In… (TAG!)
Ummm…I don’t know that many people. I have no idea who’s done this or not, soooo…..
1. Mad Madam M
2. Bill
3. Glo-bug

I start work up today only to find that my computer has had a mental breakdown while I was away. Of course, I had files that weren’t backed up. Of course, they are all documents that are due this week. This will teach me won’t it? Hopefully, the folks down in Information Services at my university can at least retrieve my documents. This computer is old and can be scrapped for all I care. But, I need my work back. Nice way to kick off the new year. Good luck to me!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! WELCOME 2006!

Hope it starts out well for everyone!

Forgot to add this one the other day. Here’s another of my fave pics by my stepmom (raven207b) called “Celtic Lady.” The colors are pretty awesome. Isn’t she freakin’ talented? (Shh. Don’t tell her I said so though.)