Raine's Secret Garden

Yesterday and Today
30
Jun 2006

For Today, even MORE thanks to ENCHANTED RAMBLINGS, which seems to have reviewed LET’S PRETEND a second time! :mrgreen:

For a contemporary romance, I doubt you could do much better than Raine Weaver’s novel, Let’s Pretend…The writing, the word-play, the suspense, and the developing relationship between Ronnie and Brant were all done so well, I found myself sneaking away to read it.

Thank you so much, Karli! :waving:

As for Yesterday…it’s a coupla days old, but pop in to the Smart Bitches site for a trip in their Wayback machine. I’m talking some FABULOUSLY bad old Harlequin covers, complete with commentary. :lmao:

(if you’ve never been there, this is NOT a slam on Harlequin—they diss EVERYBODY). :razz:

Category: Shameless Promotion — Raine @ 3:51 am ·   Comments (10)
MOOSE
28
Jun 2006

I didn’t plan to blog today, but upon hearing this I felt I had to.
I felt like I’d lost an old friend.

I was a HUGE fan of the television sitcom “FRASIER” during its long run.

And quite frankly, the best thing about that show, the best ACTOR on that show (and the best-looking, but we won’t go there!), was EDDIE THE DOG, a terrific little Jack Russell terrier whose real name was “MOOSE”.

Moose died at home today at the age of 16.

Saved from euthanasia at the last possible moment, Moose was adopted by a show-business animal trainer and went on to become a star who shone brilliantly.
He is survived by a son, Enzo, an actor in his own right.

R.I.P., Moose.
I will miss you.

Category: General Blah Blah —  Tags: Raine @ 3:53 am ·   Comments (7)
40 Days, 40 Nights…
27
Jun 2006

It’s been raining like CRAZY here! Don’t get me wrong—I have no problem with a nice bit of rain. Lovely for sleeping & dreaming. But we’re beginning to have serious flooding problems.

So I’m currently taking applications for seating in my ark.
To qualify, you must absolutely LOVE my writing, & be in a position to help my career. :mrgreen:
Or be a really hot guy, with an I.Q. at least above that of a head of iceberg lettuce, with an insatiable lust for me. :humping:
Or be a born leader for the New World Order, wise and just and fair and fearless… :yesyesyes:
Or have a really cool flat screen tv. :razz:

I’d also like to send sincere thanks to Gracie of Joyfully Reviewed for the generous thumbs-up on Let’s Pretend. THANK YOU!! :grin:

And congratulations to my old writing buddy, EXCELLENT author, and favorite Kiwi, Suzanne P., on the launch of her new website. Drop in if you get a chance. She’s posted some of her travel photos and excerpts from her work. The girl can write.

And as always—best of luck, hon! :waving:

Category: General Blah Blah —  Tags: Raine @ 3:21 am ·   Comments (3)
Not Good Enough
25
Jun 2006

Ever get in one of those “it’s not good enough!” moods?? :neutral:

Like, nothing you do seems to be striking a chord with you, so you either toss it or don’t bother to try doing anything at all?

I had several blog subjects lined up for today to choose from. Read each of them, one after another. They just didn’t click. Not a one. So I would up writing this instead.
(This really isn’t clicking either, lol, but I posted it anyway!) :roll:

Same with the writing.

The stuff you were VERY excited about two weeks ago just seems bleh to you right now? And the stuff you were looking forward to starting—well, you’re kinda meh about it, now that you’ve given it a second thought, so why bother to get involved with that?! :moon:

Anybody ever get this, and what do you do about it?

Category: General Blah Blah —  Tags: Raine @ 2:21 am ·   Comments (20)
Not Much News…
22
Jun 2006

Haven’t posted much on the blog lately about publishing news.
That’s because there IS none. :nonono:

Oh, I’ve got stuff out there, winging it’s way through the publishing world…
Well, actually, more likely buried or forgotten in some God-forsaken heap of papers. But it’s out there somewhere, dammit. :???:
Will post as soon as I hear anything.
And yes, OF COURSE I’m holding my breath. :roll:

HOWEVER~~~

In far more interesting news… :mrgreen:

Belle the Beagle won the VITA Wireless Samaritan Award for saving the life of her owner—by dialing 911. :grin:

And on the flip side of the coin, there’s Lewis the Cat, who was recently sentenced to lifetime house arrest for terrorizing his neighborhood. :grin:

Vive la difference.

Category: General Blah Blah —  Tags: Raine @ 3:25 am ·   Comments (12)
FIRST LINES
19
Jun 2006

Raine Weaver has done it again! Her stories are always a joy to read, packed full of wit, sparky characters, great dialogue, sizzling sex and an exploration of deeper issues that the average romance only skims over. Here it’s pretense, deceit and betrayal, the enemies of any relationship. Brant’s jaded cynicism contrasted well with Ronnie’s innocence, and Ronnie’s journey of self-discovery to become a highly sensual creature was immensely enjoyable. All the characters were incredibly realistic from their very first introduction, and I loved every page of this fantastic book.

Many thanks to the fantastic Autiotalo of Enchanted Ramblings for her wonderful review of LET’S PRETEND. :waving:

Also, in case anyone has missed it, Karin Tabke is sponsoring a great contest on her blog. Writers have been invited to post the first lines of their mss, one at a time. A published author eliminates five entries per week, and at the end of the contest the remaining five finalists will be permitted to send ten pages of their mss to Karin, who’ll submit them to Senior Pocket Editor Lauren McKenna to read and pick the winner. :grin:
She’s hoping for a sale, as are all the entrants. :yesyesyes:
And if nothing else, it certainly makes you more aware of the importance of first impressions!

That is SO generous of her! I’d love to be able to do something like that, help other people on the path. It can be a rough road. If possible, I’m determined to do so one day.

All I need to do is get there myself.
Easy. Yup.
No problem there… :roll:

Category: Writing —  Tags: Raine @ 12:28 am ·   Comments (12)
ANNIVERSARY
14
Jun 2006

Many thanks to Sheryl of Sensual Ecataromance for her thumbs-up review of Let’s Pretend. :mrgreen:

Like my partner in crime Amie, I’ve got a blog anniversary coming up. :mrgreen:
June 18th will be one year since I signed on. :shock:
I honestly didn’t think I’d make it this long, lol.

And in the interim between when I started and now, I’ve been told that there were things one should try to avoid on a romance writer’s blog.

Most of which I managed to do somewhere along the line anyway. :sad:

Don’t comment on each of your good reviews. It sounds like bragging. :oops:
Remain upbeat and positive. People don’t sign on to read about your problems and depressions. :dork:
Never knock a fellow author. :poof:
Speak in glowing terms about your editor/agent/publisher. If not, it may return to bite you in the ass. :moon:
Keep your causes and political beliefs to yourself. That’s not why people come here. :uzi:
Keep your website as profanity-free as possible. After all—the family that reads erotica together… :thumbsup:
If you can’t say something nice—take it out on your readers. :woot:

There’s lots more. And I’m pretty sure I’ve done just about everything wrong on this blog in the past year. :yesyesyes:
But I’m just REAL sure I’ll do a lot better in the year to come.
Uh-huh. :roll:

Thanks to y’all for joining me!! :waving:

Category: General Blah Blah —  Tags: Raine @ 12:43 am ·   Comments (8)
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