What does "busy" look like?

Wow, am I glad that the Quills voted to make this as much a newsletter as anything else. It saves me from taxing my already strained brain this morning.

1st, no looking at typos, okay? If I scramble a word, let's just forgive me and move on. I wrote this blog once, the computer froze up, and only half of it was saved. I'm still fuzzed up about it!
2nd, sorry for the forthcoming stream of "see what I've been doing" notes. It's all I've got today!
3rd, thank you for reading this mumbo jumbo anyhoo!

So why am I so busy?

Well, I just finished SERVANT: The Acceptance, the 2nd book in my new L.L. Foster urban fantasy/horror series. I'm zoned! But also excited.
I finished the book, then stewed and stewed on the ending. It just didn't feel right to me, ya know?

So after a week, I gave up, deleted 20 pages, and rewrote them. Now I like it a whole lot more. Shew.

Here's some of the great praise I got for the 1st book, which really makes me want to keep readers happy with the 2nd book!

SERVANT: The Awakening.

“The first book in a new series, The Awakening features a unique heroine, a wonderful hero, and a likable sidekick…The gritty, atmospheric, inner-city setting, graphic violence, and raw language are perfect for a story that unfolds, scene by scene, like a graphic novel and cries out to be graphic-novelized en route to the movies. May this be just the first in a long series.”—Booklist (starred review)
“Entertaining paranormal romantic suspense that grips readers…Romantic fantasy readers and fans of Buffy and the movie They Live will want to read the first tale in the human war against demons.”—Midwest Book Review

“A new name and an enticing new series propels Lori Foster into an exciting new direction…Servant: The Awakening practically blew me away…[It’s] brash, darkly edgy and insightful. And all grown up. Kudos to Ms. Foster for this fascinating, utterly unique fantasy.”—Romance Reader at Heart (romancereaderatheart.com)

“Fascinating…a new twist on demon slaying.”—Fresh Fiction

“With Servant: The Awakening, L. L. Foster shows she has a true gift for writing dark urban fantasy…The Servant Series will be addictive.”—The Romance Readers Connection

“Brilliant…The tone, intensity, and sheer grittiness of this book is awesome. I think Ms. Foster was channeling early Anita Blake, Eve Dallas, and a dash of J.R. Ward…a great intro to a series that I will be following religiously!!”—Night Owl Romance (nightowlromance.com)

“Dark, gritty, raw…urban fantasy at its finest… As can be expected from the darker alter ego of Lori Foster, L.L. Foster delivers characters that are engaging yet in your face…This looks to be the beginning of a really great series. Get your copy today and get in on the ground floor.”—loveromancesandmore.com

Sweet, huh? I LOVED the great promo Berkley did for the book, especially those awesome banners that showed up in so many stores.

Now I have a Winston novella, Double The Pleasure, due Feb 15th, and then another single title (straight romance, titled My Man, Michael) May 15th.

Wasn't I cutting back? Well, yeah. Sort of.
The novella is written. It was one of those things that just came to me, so I had to get it on paper. All I really need to do now is go back and check it over, so that's not a big deal.
The Winston guy is a twin, so the brother's story will be out sometime later, and it's titled: Double The Fun.
Cute! Gotta love those Winstons!

I head to Florida next weekend for a 2-day conference, so that ought to help rejuvenate me. I'm taking hubby along, and we have a room overlooking the ocean.
The trip will put me a little further behind. But I'll catch up. I always do!

Now, and through the next few months, I'm also working hard on my and Dianne Castell's READER & AUTHOR GET TOGETHER event in June. Every day, more registration forms come in. I sort them readers from authors, log them in, and send them verification by way of an invitation to a yahoo "announcement-only" email loop. Right now we have about 70 authors registered. Whoo hoo!

The list of industry professionals is pretty darned impressive too! Major NY editors and agents, publishers, book buyers, publicists... I'm jazzed!

And of course, I have Hard to Handle, a new romance, out Feb 5th so there are a lot of booksignings and such lined up. So far, the reviews have been favorable for the most part. Not that I lose a lot of sleep over reviews. I've had more than my fair share of icky ones, and very nice ones. I've learned that it balances out.

Oh, and super fun! With my current series featuring MMA fighters ala the UFC, you already know what a big fan I am of the sport. Well, at the last event I got to meet a lot of fighters, (I think I already told you that) and I also did a phone interview with hunky fighter, color-commentator, Frank Trigg.

That's a photo of Frank with Mason, my youngest son who just turned 21. (There's a photo of me with Frank on the below-mentioned website.
The pictures were taken at the last live event we attended. We'll be going to another live event March 1st. Can't wait!
(To see a LOT of fighter photos, mostly with me hugging them, check out the photo shows on my myspace page - www.myspace.com/mostlymam )

You can read the interview on Frank now posted on TapOut magazine's website:
http://www.tapoutmagazine.com/index.cfm?ac=NewsDetail&CM_Content_ID=38

Just for fun, I created a Valentine's Day card for my readers! The inside says, "You're still my hero."
Whenever I get between books, I play around at my cafepress store for a few days to let my brain rest.
It's still creative work, but not writing, and that gives me time to churn on the next plot or two.
Readers who enjoy my heroes will often tell me they have their own real-live hero at home. So... ta da! There it is in a card.
So what have you all been busy with?
If you could sit down for an hour or two of quiet time with your favorite author, what would you say to her?
What author would you most like to sit down and visit with?
It's a real farfetched idea, I know, because I never talk to people who've just been lounging, relaxing their bones, for any length of time! We all stay so swamped.
But it's my life, and I love it.

I hope you're loving yours too!