Swiped from the Mavens, (and CE Murphey), who swiped it from Melissa Marr . Sorry for being so lame but the deadline calls.

So, Cece, what books have you written?

Surely you jest.

No, I never jest. *blinkblink*

You want, like, all of them?

Sure, great. That’ll be fine.

OMG……. fine, but I”m skipping all those short stories okay?

2003 (could have been 2004 but it’s all running together…no it was definitely 2003 cuz I landed my first agent in 04): The Cowgirl Rides Away-this is the first Bluebonnet book. I love it, and I think underneath it all there’s a great story. It finaled in quite a few contests. I’ve ripped it apart once in 2005 but freaked out after a computer crash. I lost about 20 pages of edits and called it quits. I tried again last year and found not one, but TWO Great new openings. I’d really like to nail down a solid 100 pages and give this to my agent to shop this year.

2003-b: Cowboys Don’t Cry–went on to become Once in a Blue Moon. This one got LOTS of rejections. LOTS and either did very well in contests or very very badly (your heroine’s a slut…yeah yeah yeah and you can’t write in first AND third person….watch me ). Funny enough I NEVER got a rejection for writing in first and third person but contest judges reamed me for it. This is the second Bluebonnet book. I love Ty and Betti like a fat kid loves cake. I revised, contested with it some more, finaled quite a few times and racked up a lot of rejections. After a third revision, I sold it to LSB where it’s happily still selling (not many but it’s selling). It will need a minor overhaul to sell to New York, but I love love love this book–yes i’m repeating myself–but you see this was a) a gift book which is rare and b) the book I really nailed my voice in.

2003-2004: Dancehall Diaries: Lynette–I can’t even remember what the original title of this one was, but the basic premise I stole from one of my early short stories. I went four rounds with this one though–finally good friend Pam said chop the opening (can you say info-dump boys and girls? I knew you could). Eventually this one went on to LSB after not finaling in the Lori Foster Brava Contest.

2003-2004: Even Cowboys Get the Blue–This is the third Bluebonnet book. Not only did I write in first and third, I did it from three points of VIEW! WOOT! Contest judges…yeah they loved it *snort*. This one I didn’t query as widely. I have about 260 pages. I learned a hard lesson about contesting too early with a book on this one. Too much negative feedback really spoils the WIP.

2003-2004: Some Blaze wanna-be whose original name I can’t remember. This was another one that got a lot of “Your Heroine is a slut” comments from judges. Despite the fact I’d nailed my voice, this one just never quite came together. Honestly, I think it was Harlequin American meets Blaze

I’ve pulled it out a few times and worked on it–matter of fact just last week. I think I might turn it into a novella. But not sure if I’ll have time this year.
2003-2004: Redheaded Stranger — Bluebonnet #4. The oh-so-hated brother Zander’s book. I LOVE this book. There’s nothing like seeing an asshole get his and boy does he. Sadly I only have 100 pages if that. I’ve actually revised the opening a couple times.

2004: The Big Girl’s Guide to Buying Lingerie–Bluebonnet #5. I knew with this book I’d honed my skills and had something really solid that very well could sell. It was a chick-lit style romance with hot sex and just different enough being set in Texas….This one landed me an agent but never sold. It even made it as far as editorial committee where it died Six months later my agent and I parted ways. I’ve also tentatively plotted out the sequel and written the opening.

2004-2005: Colby’s book–this would be Jessa from book one’s brother. It’s the secret baby book to end all secret baby books. I love this one. I was even thinking about it last week. With the Bluebonnet books I’ve got at least 3 others besides these I could write…probably closer to four (and if you look real close there’s a BB tie-in in MUS ).

2005?: Nowhere Oklahoma–this one was another lesson learned about contesting to early. I ended up changing the story three or four times (maybe five). I also think, in hindsight, I didn’t have the chops to write it yet. Someday….anyway it’s a story about a biracial adoptee and very near and dear to my heart. It’s part of a planned three book series.

2005: Blue Collar Chicks –I came up with the idea in January of 05, right around the time the Blue Collar Comedy Tour was so big–yes I totally got my idea from Bill Engval and co. I outlined, and filed it away, wrote some on it in the summer (it was slow going and I was getting really close to maximum burnout), queried Audrey LaFehr with it. By the time she asked for the full in September, I had one novella done and the other two were close. I sold it to her in February of 06 (renamed Hands On).

*Note maximum burnout was achieved in January of 06 and did not end until January 2008

2006: Wrote KINK - in the Built anthology. Signed with new agent. Kink is probably the dirtiest, hottest things I’d ever written. It still makes me giggle.

2006 b-Wrote Nailed - I have to say I’ve been very lucky that, other than BCC, I’ve gotten to keep all my titles! Nailed was my first forray into sexy mysteries. I enjoyed it but decided I wasn’t up to doing it again (haaaaaaaaaaaa). I really love/d Wynn and Julie though I worried/still worry because it’s a far cry from Hands On as far as sexual content. Then again, it’s a single title, not 3 anthologies. This one comes out in June!

2006 c: Started, plotted and wrote half of first novella for the Wand Project with Raine. This was my first forrway into paranormal romance. We went five rounds with my agent before finally packing it up. I still love the characters and the basic storyline and would like to try and hammer out a solid proposal for it this year.

2007: Forbidden–funny story here. My CP Tanya threw an idea at me (I asked after freaking out because I had no erotic romance ideas and needed a proposal). So Tanya says, “What if your hero was a male prostitute…” and I said, I’m filing that away. A few weeks later I was sitting at basketball practice and this man started talking to me, so I wrote and wrote and wrote and vomited up 100 pages after a worldbuilding marathon with Raine. It was good. It was real good.

You know that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach that tells you THIS EFFING ROCKS? Yeah I had it. Unfortunately, my agent wanted more sex. I cried, I hemmed, I hawed, I sent it out to my CP’s to be read asking for their opinion, I talked to older, wiser writers.

Ultimately, I said no. Despite the fact that my hero was a prostitute, this wasn’t erotica…hell it might not even be erotic romance. My agent said, “Good luck.” That was in May. In August I signed with my third agent who totally got it and fell in love with it (talk about subjective!). It scares me to say it’s one of the best things I’ve ever written, but it’s got that feeling…yeah I know I said that. This’ll be a three book series.

2007b: MAKE U SWEAT–a single author anthology for Aphrodisia. It’s about three female movers (two sisters and a cousin who inherit the family business). Funny enough the original idea was supposed to be three guy movers! Heh….I had to start this one in the middle of being incredibly sick. If it wasn’t for a ton of important poeple (all of whom got thanked in the acknowledgments-Shellie, Karen, Feist, the SFC girls, Jackie, Rachelle, Emma…you get the picture), this one wouldn’t have seen the light of day. As it was, it was a month late. But I learned a valuable lesson from being sick and finally shed the last of that burnout by the time I was done. It’ll be on shelves September 08.

2008: SCREWED–yeah remember when I said I’d never write another sexy mystery? I LIED!!!!!!! But not deliberately.

I plotted this one shortly after finishing up Nailed and then filed it away deciding I just didn’t have the chops. Shellie gets HUGE props for this one because it was a conversation with her that gave me the last piece of my heroes character. My hitman is as lost when it comes to pussy as a …well to be honest I can’t think of a good analogy. That’s right. My hero is a hitman. I love him. And Hitmen Deserve Love Too. There’s one more book to come, but it’ll be a while. This one comes out 3/2009–yes 9.

3/2008: What’s in the Heart–yeah remember when I got sick? I spent a lot of time in my head (neither TV nor reading appealed to me) and discovered I was getting to know some new friends. I finally decided that maybe if I spent some time writing it all down, I MIGHT be able to get back to Screwed –I was right (one week, 46 pages and a rough plot). All I can say about this one is it’s a big fat women’s fiction book (ALL in third person! which, pardon me, is a first ).

Feel free to list your own. And tell me what you’ve learned from your writing journey. One thing I’ve noticed is that my voice is changing, yet again, with Forbidden (which is multi-1st person) and Screwed and WITH <–Look a Funny! I’ve learned how important it is to write stories you love, I’ve learned that sometimes a great idea needs to brew and sometimes a great idea needs to be set aside until you have the chops (see skills) to write it.

And most importantly of all, the more you write, the more you LEARN, the better your skills get. Continuously vomiting up the same books with the same mistakes does you no good. You’ve GOT to push yourself to improve your skills so you have the chops to write those meatier books. You should get BETTER with each book, not stay the same.

And hey before i Leave today, go by and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my uber-extraordinary CP, Raine Weaver.

*ETA: I actually have two more 20-25 page erotic romance proposals I left out *thunk*

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