Sedonia Guillone

This is a post from Cynthia Eden’s blog on this event:
The romance community is banding together to support one of our own–author Jo Leigh lost her husband to cancer earlier this year and is being swamped with medical bills (writers are generally self-employed and often do not have medical insurance). In an effort to help Jo Leigh pay off some of these bills, an online auction is being held. And this auction…well, it’s got some terrific gifts. Critiques from editors, authors, and agents. Books–lots of books.

So many gifts–especially if you’ve got writers on your Christmas list. (These gifts would be perfect for ‘em!)

Update: If you want to place a bid on an item, follow this e-bay link. Thanks! More items will be added on this ebay link very soon.

I (Sedonia) will be contributing a copy of Secrets, vol. 25 and there are plenty of other offerings from many authors, from bundles of romance books, to mentoring opportunities, to manuscript critiques. So come have a look!

I thought it was today, the 28th but it was actually yesterday. Born November 27, 1940, Bruce Lee was not only a dragon in the Chinese zodiac but he was also a Sagittarian in our zodiac. That makes him a double fire sign!
Here’s a little bit about his life followed with a link to learn more: In a lifetime comprising a mere 32 years, Bruce Lee revolutionized the world of martial arts through his profound teachings and philosophy, and created a legacy through his work in motion pictures, that has evolved into a Legend. Thought by many to be the ‘Greatest martial artist of the 20th Century’, Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco on November 27th 1940, between 6:00am and 8:00am, at the Jackson Street Hospital, under the birth name of ‘Lee Jun Fan’. Courtesy of his thespian father, young Bruce made his stage debut at the tender age of three months, playing the role of a female baby. His father Lee Hoi Chuen, a prestigious member of ‘The Cantonese Opera Company’, would carry his young son on stage each night, during his performance of “Golden Gate Girl”.
In 1941, when Bruce was only 1 year old, he returned with his parents to the family home in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The modest second-storey apartment, at 218 Nathan Road, would be Bruce’s home for most of his formative years.

By age six, Bruce had already begun to develop the charisma and confidence that would later make him a star, and he appeared in his first major childhood movie, “The Beginning of a Boy” in 1946. Later in the same year, Bruce performed in “The Birth of Mankind” and “My Son, Ah Cheun” and went on to make over 20 movies, before commencing his studies at “La Salle College” in 1952.

1953 was a pivotal year in the life of Bruce Lee. After losing a street fight with a local gang, Bruce began to train in the art of Wing Chun under famed Sifu, Yip Man. His natural speed and timing, and acute mental focus, guaranteed that Bruce would excel in this complex and exacting art. In fact his precocious talent developed so quickly, that despite numerous other encounters with street gangs, Bruce would never again lose a fight. As well as indulging his passion for the martial arts, Bruce also began taking Cha Cha lessions in 1954, at age fourteen. The dance was popular amongst local teenagers at the time, and Bruce not only went on to win the ‘Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship’ in 1958, but also broke the hearts of many local girls. As well as his achievements on the dance-floor, ‘58 is also notable as the year when Bruce defeated reigning three year champion, Gary Elms, in the Hong Kong Boxing Championships, putting to practical use the combat theory he had devised with Sifu Yip Man. Like many Hong Kong teenagers of the time, Bruce became caught up in the ‘turf wars’ which surrounded the illicit activities of the local street-gangs. Participating in numerous street-fighting incidents, Bruce soon came to the attention of the police. Terrified that their son would forever become embroiled in a life of crime, Bruce’s mother and father, decided that he should visit San Francisco, the place of his birth, to claim his American Citizenship and finish his education.

With only fifteen dollars from his father and one hundred dollars from his mother, Bruce arrives in the United States in 1959, and stays, by prior arrangement, with an old friend of his father. By carrying out odd jobs around the Chinese Communities in the San Francisco Bay area, Bruce earns just enough money to secure his independence within a few months, and relocates to Seattle (Washington) to begin work as a waiter in Ruby Chow’s famous Chinatown restaurant. Mindful of the promise he made to his parents, Bruce enrols at the ‘Edison Technical School’ and through diligent study and application earns his high school diploma, while supplementing his income from the restaurant by teaching martial arts to local residents in backyards and city parks.

To me he was a dynamic, fascinating human being. To learn more about him, visit this site.

There is little that’s more frightening than having loved ones travelling in a country where terrorist attacks suddenly occur. Especially when loved ones are in the same areas and are in the group being targeted. I.e. the attacks in India that are targeting Americans and British while my step-daughter and best friend are travelling.

We found out about the attacks last night and called immediately. Thank God they were fine and are now staying in a tiny B and B until their planes leave on Monday. The thanks will be greater once they’ve touched down safely here at home but the fact they are safe and well and getting ready to come home is all that matters. Aside from the fact I’ve really missed them and are glad they’ll be back, I would not recover if something had happened to them.

Hmm, seems like these little slumps come more frequently, periods in which I’m not able to write. I can’t help but think that it’s due in part to the fact I’ve been writing longer novels and digging deeper so that the energy required is greater, leaving me more drained. I mean, Sudden Heat is over 80k which is the equivalent of a 320-page novel. That definitely takes a great deal of energy! Plus, if I consider the releases I have coming up, it makes me realize that maybe I’ve just been working hard and that my muse demands a break now and then, lol.

This is what’s happening in my publishing world:

December 1 ‘08 “Enter the Hero” in Red Sage Secrets, vol 25
December 12 ‘08 A Werewolf for Christmas - Ellora’s Cave

January 5, ‘09 - Danny’s Dragon - Total-E-Bound
January 28, ‘08 Between Two Captains - Ellora’s Cave
March 31, ‘09 - Men of Tokyo: Sudden Heat - Total-E-Bound

April 4, ‘09 - Kiss of the Werewolves - Ellora’s Caveimg

In the meantime, my boyfriend has turned me onto an incredible writer, Howard Fast, perhaps best known for his novel Spartacus which was made into a film in 1960 with Kirk Douglas.

Okay, aside from the fact that Kirk Douglas looked damned good playing his role as the slave-turned gladiator-turned leader of a large-scale slave revolt in Rome, this novel is UNBELIEVABLE! It’s really a shame it never won any major literature awards because this man could really write! It’s the third novel I’m reading of his right now and all I can say is I’ve rarely read a writer who can so deeply capture the deepest essence of human beings with simple, beautiful language, evocative and riveting.

I don’t complain too often because I generally like my life very much. Just some things bothering me. I won’t go into the details but suffice it to say that one of the reasons my world of the White Tigers is so precious to me is because the characters there have learned the important lessons of life and friendship that I wish some of the people in my life would learn.

I am almost finished revising Men of Tokyo: Sudden Heat. I got the most wonderful seal of approval from Madelynne Ellis (Black Lace author. Must check out her wonderful sexy reads!) who loved the characters and the story very much and told me she got hooked on reading it early on. Thank you so much, Madelynne. Another 60 pages of revision and I’ll be able to turn it into my editor at Total-E-Bound. Always a feeling of accomplishment yet mixed because I’ve enjoyed spending time with Hiru and Quan Chan andit’s never quite the same after you finish writing the book.

However, my loving man gave me another great title (to be revealed once I’ve begun penning the story that goes along with it.) I don’t have much to reveal yet other than it’s going to be MMMF with MM materials. It’s been awhile since I wrote a story like this and finally, it feels like the right time.

As always, thanks for visiting my blog!

If you’ve been watching True Blood on HBO, then you’ve already seen Ryan Kwanten. He plays Jason Stackhouse, Sookie’s skirt-chasing, dumb yet not completely bad-hearted, ne’er do well brother. It’s been a while since I posted hunk pictures so I thought we were due, lol.

Late last night I finished editing Kiss of the Werewolves and sent it to my editor. It took me several days to finish because it’s so long, a super novel in length. It’s always a relief to finish edits and turn them in. Now, just to finish up revising Men of Tokyo: Sudden Heat, turn that in and then finish writing Barely Covered.

Other than that, the exciting news is that a friend of mine is travelling with my stepdaughter in India now and yesterday they went to see the Taj Mahal. Now THAT is something worth seeing! Maybe someday I’ll get to go see it myself. The only other places I’d like to travel to and see at this point are Thailand and Japan. Maybe some day…

No sooner had I finished writing Men of Tokyo: Sudden Heat than the edits for Kiss of the Werewolves came into my mailbox the very next morning! So, I’m in edit land for a few days. Nothing much I can say about that except for when I’m working on edits, I always feel pressed even though it’s not like I’m being put on a deadline.

After I turn that in, however, I do plan to work on Fantasy Thief. However, I’ll prbably end up getting more edits for Danny’s Dragon and then, I just want to work on the prequel to Barely Undercover that I started penning a couple of months ago, Barely Covered. .
First of all, I love Damien and Kaz and wanted to spend more time with them. They have a great rapport, sweet and humorous in addition to the fact that the events which brought them together are, in my humble opinion, worth another story. Basically, the premise is that Kaz first sees Damien up on stage, doing his strip tease and falls in love with the sight of him. Unfortunately for Damien, there’s a big drunk galoot in the audience who takes a shine to Damien and tries to get close to him in a very bad way. Kaz comes to the rescue and Damien, whose been afraid to get close to anyone because of hurts in his past, has found someone he feels safe enough to let go with and give a private performance to. The only problem is that Kaz is hard to pin down. He’s in love, but not so sure that a romance with a guy will fit with his up and coming career as a detective. Will he have to choose or can he have both? The choice is his alone and we can only hope he’ll do the right thing.

Whew - I just finished typing the last scene in Men of Tokyo: Sudden Heat. I think the whole novel is going to end up at 80k, which is over 300 pages in print. I’m quite happy with it. I really grew to love all the characters and felt for them in their struggles. That really made all the difference in the process of writing, as did the invaluable encouragement from my critique partner and from my beta-reader.

However, finishing a novel is always a mixed bag. There’s a sense of relief that it’s finished and can be turned into the publisher for the next stage of production. I always look forward to getting the cover and to release day. But there’s also a let down. For months, I’ve been with these characters, getting to know them, love them, struggling with the process of expressing their experience the best way possible. And then, suddenly, it’s finished. I feel weird, like I’m drifting around without anything anchoring me. I do my best to put my attention onto the other things I have to do, preparing meals, cleaning the house, and, of course, getting to work on the next book, which, in this case, is probably going to be Fantasy Thief. Can Sedonia get into Harlequin Blaze? We’ll see.

Major bummer! After keeping after the manager of Books A Million, I followed up today and he told me that they’re not buying this book for signings. Strange, because they stock it on the shelves. Anyway, would have been nice if he’d called and told me. This after I already alerted two of my publishers to put the date in the next newsletters. I’ll just have to wait until…I don’t know when.

In the meantime, I have plenty of work to do. I’m writing the last couple of scenes for Men of Tokyo: Sudden Heat and the book is going to come in at 80k word lengthwise. For those of you who don’t know, this is about the equivalent of a bit over 300 pages in a trade paperback. Probably my longest yet with the exception of Kiss of the Werewolves which is actually two novels combined into one. Also, I’ve made some changes to Fantasy Thief. Thought it would be fun to make the hero a Scotsman from Glasgow. My plan is to get to work on that one and shoot for Harlequin’s Blaze line since it seems to fit the parameters of what they’re looking for.

I’m also still glowing from Madame Butterfly’s review of Sudden Bliss as well as the two Recommended Reads from Joyfully Reviewed. They all came to me in a cluster and DEFINITELY gave me a boost of enthusiasm. I’m also reading another Inspector Chen myster by Qiu Xiaolong. This one is entitled A Loyal Character Dancer. I can’t explain it, but Qiu’s style just really helps the flow of my writing and he is so amazing at weaving an intriguing mystery, unwrapping it at just the right pace and injecting poetic phrases here and there. Very amazing!

Well, I’ve finally managed to get a mostly firm date for my book signing. Yay! At this point, it’s December 6, 2008 at the Books a Million in Delray Beach, Florida. Time to be announced. I’ve had to keep after the managere there because, well, bookstore managers are incredibly busy. This is a good thing, in my opinion, but annoying when you are trying to get a book signing set up. The featured book will be Secrets, volume 25 although I’m hoping to have copies of my other books as well. So far, the reviews have been excellent for “Wicked Delights” including this one from RT: Each story is a light and quick, and all are filled with plenty of hot sex. Readers will have a good time since there’s something for everyone, from contemporary to paranormal.
— 4 Stars, Romantic Times BOOKreviews
Also, I received my author copy the other day. THAT was an amazing feeling!

Okay, I’m also totally bragging at this point, but the White Tigers books have gotten more kudos.

Both Men of Tokyo: Sudden Bliss and Men of Tokyo: Sudden Surrender received Recommended Read from Joyfully Reviewed!
“Sudden Surrender becomes a heart-warming and fiercely erotic love story. I enjoyed the mysticism and magic between Kiku and Yuzo, but be forewarned…e-book readers might need battery replacements, the love scenes are so hot! I was so immersed in the loves and lives of the men at the White Tiger, that I didn’t want Sudden Surrender to end. All the books in the White Tiger series can definitely be enjoyed as stand-alone reads, but I love the connection and the overall completeness of finding out the story of each man at the White Tiger hotel. Sudden Surrender is a Joyfully Recommended read!”
“The emotional journey Koji and Naoto take during Koji’s enforced one week vacation is full of sweet highlights, sexy and erotic explorations, and great m/m action.

I very much enjoyed Sudden Bliss, and the romance and seduction between Koji and Naoto was perfect and beautiful. Have you ever had a lover refer to your lips as “cherry blossom petals, only a million times better”? Sudden Bliss is the first book in the White Tiger series, and is definitely enjoyable on its own, but I am looking forward to reading more about the comings and goings of the men at the White Tiger!”

But Like I say each time, the reason these particular reviews are so happy for me is because I’ve poured my heart and soul into this series to a depth I’d not experienced before. Not that I don’t give everything I have to each story, it’s just different. I don’t know how to describe it. If you’ve ever read Mary Renaud’s books (Fire from Heaven and The Persian Boy among her other historicals about ancient Greece, Rome, Alexander the Great, etc.), you’ll see if you read her first romances when she first began and then these historicals after she’d travelled to Greece and found her writing voice, the inspiration levels are just so different. That’s the best I can find to describe this experience and I’m thrilled that it comes through to readers. Of course, I’m grateful as all get out that there are people out there who read my books and enjoy them.

And lastly, last night I had a Gackt dream. All kinds of weird things were going on as happens in dreams, but suddenly there was a television set and Gackt was on the TV acting in some kind of drama. He was speaking in Japanese with no English subtitles, but I couldn’t have cared less that I didn’t understand a word. I dropped everything I was doing and sat down exclaiming, “There’s Gackt!” and then I watched, rapt. Gee., wonder what that dream means! lol