Where I will be on September 21st

On my couch. With yummy takeout (cuisine TBD). For the TWO HOUR premiere of HOUSE, MD. You can't stop me, Internet. Neither Twitter, nor Facebook, nor the latest in viral video will keep me from the TWO HOUR premiere of HOUSE, MD. I'm not even going to wait the normal buffer period that is required in our home to be able to fast forward through commercials. I'm watching every ad during the TWO HOUR premiere of HOUSE, MD. Every. Single. One.

Oh, and did I mention it's TWO HOURS LONG?

Squee.

Websites I can't write without...

I'm working on a new project right now...a second book in the NINE RULES series...and today is probably the first day that I've felt like I'm really doing good work on this book.

Let me explain: starting a book is like meeting a new friend. You're excited. You think you just might enjoy the company of this interesting new person. They seem funny and cool. They seem like the type of person you'd like to invite into your house for a rousing game of Rock Band. But you don't *really* know them and, frankly, you're not entirely sure that they won't ultimately go crazy sauce on you when you mention that you don't really like Pat Benatar.

And yet you take the risk and you invite them over.

For the last few weeks, I've been hanging out with my new book. We've played videogames, eaten pizza, watched a few episodes of House...it has agreed that, yes, empirically, Hugh Laurie does have the most beautiful eyes in the whole world. And then, this morning, we realized that OMG we both went through a (somewhat unbearable for those around us) Right Said Fred phase and yes...we both secretly loved Mamma Mia. It's very exciting.

But for me, this new friend comes with all sorts of other stuff. Historical stuff. All sorts of research that I have to nail down before I can really be comfortable with this new friendship and say, have a sleepover. And so, I give you the websites I can't write without.

1. Online Etymology Dictionary - I've talked about this one before, but it bears repeating. It's an awesome free resource for etymological questions: when was a phrase first recorded; what did a word mean in 1823 that, perhaps, means the opposite now (see snob); did a word even exist in 1823 (don't get me started on neckline)?

2. This Awesome Calendar Site - It doesn't have a name. I don't know who made it. But if you want to know what day a holiday fell on...or if you, like me, are simply neurotic and have to know what day the newspaper that arrived in Yorkshire from London might have been published...it's Awesome. With a capital A.

3. The Ancestry.com British Maps Database - Towns in my books are real. Distances matter. If you're going to set a book at a country house 200 miles from London, you'd better know how your characters got there--and how long it took to do it.

4. The Regency Realm - This one isn't free...but it's an incredible annotated bibliography of over 900 historical resources that might come in handy for a Regency author. If you're a member of the Regency chapter of RWA (Beaumonde), it's free with membership. If not, you can purchase it on disk for a fee.

5. The Times of London Archive - Another one that's not free (at least not from the comfort of your own home)...but is worth every single penny. The Times has a searchable digital archive from 1785 to today. Pay for a day pass ($4.95) and spend some time reading the paper from 1820. If that doesn't get the ideas flowing, check your pulse (If you're in NYC, you can do this for free at the 42nd St. branch of the New York Public Library--another reason to hug your nearest librarian).

6. Pandora - This one isn't about writing or research, really. But I've got my Strauss radio station (for waltzing inspiration) and my Ani DiFranco station (for strong, fun heroines) and my Jack Johnson station (for steady, handsome heroes who are just asking to be shaken up)...and sometimes you just need some great music to get the juices flowing. If you're on Pandora, come on over and be my friend.

Ok. I'm getting antsy. I'm going back to hanging out with my new friend. Later, gators.

Send a letter today...by post.

Via the amazing Ze Frank, here's something that will put a smile on your face. Two artists handwrote 467 letters and postcards to the residents of a tiny village in Ireland. They're awesome.

I guarantee this story will a) reaffirm your faith in humanity and 2) make you want to send a letter.

Those three little words..."Time for Copyedits"

As many of you know, I'm in the midst of copyedits on my first Avon Romance, NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE.

Now, those of you who were with me during copyedits on THE SEASON remember that I don't much like copyedits. Actually, I kind of loathe them. I know there are authors who love every second of CEs, lovingly removing commas or adding hyphens or calmly steting things that they think should be steted. I simply do not understand these authors.

Because I obsess. I have a whole process of obsession, a 12-step program of copyediting neurosis that one day, when I am less of a paranoid author, I will share, and we'll all have a good laugh over the whole thing. But, right now, the wound is too raw, so let's just drop it, shall we?

Now, I should say, my current copyeditor seems lovely. I say this because she has left me darling little notes in the margins that indicate that she does not hate me for using discrete when i mean discreet. Or, at least, if hatred did flare when she saw that, it waned once she read the scene in the modiste's shop. (I like to think she secretly didn't care a whit about discretion and just wanted the hero and heroine to make out, already.)

But she's in a tough spot. Because, lovely as she is, she's the smarty-pants who casually mentions that words and phrases to which I am quite wedded didn't actually exist in the English language in 1823. Which is no fun at all. In fact, it's rather maddening.

Here are three words that I really REALLY wish existed in 1823. Really.

Neckline. 1904.

Fantasize. 1926.

Addictive. 1939.

These are good words. GOOD ONES. I want them back, dammit.

But no, I shall rise to the challenge and persevere, in honor of the good and patient woman who so painstakingly read and reread my dirty manuscript, and I shall find other words that wield similar power.

And I take this moment to publicly acknowledge the awesome that is the copyeditor--the all-too-often unsung heroine of the modern novel. And, to make up for any name-in-vain-taking I have done over the course of these copy edits, I'm going to sponsor a word in my copyeditor's honor in the Online Etymology Dictionary.

Do you think "stet" is too cheeky? Probably. I'm going with "rewrite."

Twists. And why we love them.

Last night, I had a fantastic dinner with the lovely and talented Lisa Ann Sandell. Lisa and I have been friends for ages and, whether it's the author in us or the reader in us, we always end up talking about books (and not always our own)!

After a long and winding discussion last night, we landed on the subject of twists in novels. We chatted for a while about them...and I marveled at the skill it takes for an author to really pull one off. I mean...really really pull one off. Like, gasping for breath, OMG, shock the pants off you kind of twists.

Here's the part where I confess a super-duper respect for mystery authors. There's nothing like a great red herring.

As part of this post, I was going to list the five best twists I've ever read or seen. I wasn't going to explain them...obviously, that would ruin the fun. But...now I'm realizing that maybe the best part of a twist is that there is a twist at all. The ones where you audibly gasp are always the ones you REALLY weren't expecting. Right?

Hmm...ok...so...here's my list... but Beware: TWISTS AHEAD! Highlight at your own risk!

1. Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card (First on the list for a reason)
2. Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
3. The Usual Suspects (film)
4. The Game (film)
5. The Others (film)

So...What did I miss?

Bourne or Bond?

In the realm of existential questions, there are a few to which I believe that everyone should have an answer. These challenging mental inquiries include: Who would win in a fight: Batman or Spiderman? Best Harrison Ford character: Indiana Jones or Han Solo? Most irritating Tom: Cruise or Hanks?

Well, I'm adding one to the list. After a girl's night in last week during which I watched Quantum of Solace, I wondered, who is better? Handsome, dapper, charming James Bond? Or extraordinarily skilled, physically remarkable, dark-historied Jason Bourne?

So, I did what people do in 2009 when they are in a conundrum. I put it to Twitter. and Facebook. Bourne? Or Bond?

NB: Ok. I used Daniel Craig above, but for the purposes of this existential question, please replace Mr. Craig with the Bond of your choosing.

Now, look. I know this appears, at first blush, to be a deceptively easy question. Bond is dapper, charming and just plain awesome. He has a steady job. He's a spy, but that doesn't seem to stop him from showing his face everywhere. If you were his chosen Bond Girl, you'd go to the Opera, you'd eat at all the fanciest restaurants, you'd gamble in Monte Carlo and you'd have sickeningly awesome clothes. Plus...there are SIX OF HIM. Soft spot for Connery or a longing to be Mrs. Remington Steele...Bond accommodates. And, for the men in the crowd...you'd be JAMES BOND for God's sake. He wins. Hands down.

But, wait. Let's look behind door number two. Specimen: Jason Bourne. This man gives dark and brooding a brand new look. I mean, seriously. He makes Heathcliff look like he could star in Hairspray, for goodness sake. Dead wife, dead kids, dead parents, totally reprogrammed by the CIA (or whatever organization he works for) and made into a Killing. Machine. Good looking? Sure! Handsome as they come! Skilled? My word. This guy does his job WELL. He can kill a Russian (or an American, for that matter) 16 different ways before breakfast. And, for the record, no one crashes through a window like Bourne. In a dark alley, you want Bourne on your side.

And, if you're a woman...well...if you've ever wanted to save a guy--THIS is the guy you want to save. I mean, if you can get him to settle down and have a catch with the kids--you are one heckuva woman.

And so here we are again, which one do we pick? Let's consider some of the scenarios in which one might need a Bourne. or a Bond.

* On the Lam -- Bourne. Bond might bring his gorgeous Tux and you might get to tool off in a cigarette boat, but when you're trying to hide--or run--you want a full-on professional by your side.

* Traveling -- Bond. He lives the high life. And the bill goes to Her Majesty. Yes. You can afford that D&G gown. Get two.

* On Date Night -- Bond. He's clever. He's fun. He knows his way around a Baccarat table. And if you get yourself in a bind, he's got the gadgets to get you home. (Well, maybe...maybe not. An alarming number of Bond Girls die. And not in pleasant, she-didn't-feel-a-thing kind of ways)

* At home on a Sunday afternoon -- Bourne. Bond may have all those fantastic toys...but my bet is on Bourne for the handy stuff. I mean, really. Can you see this guy at the Home Depot? (But consider, Dear Reader, what I've said before: Bourne is a wounded hawk. He needs years of therapy. The expensive kind. I'm not thinking he's going to star in a Kevin Costner movie any time soon.)

Hmmm. I'm still stuck.

What do you think?