C.J. Redwine

I'm a visiting professor at Romance University today discussing the art of writing a synopsis without losing your mind. :)

Today's scheduled interview has been moved to next Friday for a variety of really good reasons:

1. My hubby injured his knee and couldn't move around the kitchen crafting a cupcake of awesomeness.

2. My scheduled author wants to debut her brand new cover on this blog and doesn't have the green light to make it public until next week.

3. Rabid zombie grasshoppers invaded the Northern Hemisphere, cutting off most internet connections and reducing all inhabitable structures to rubble.

4. You weren't aware of the zombie grasshopper invasion? Sheesh, people. Keep up.

1. As I'm sure you've noticed, I changed the look of this blog last night.

2. I've been wanting to for a long time, but every time I tried, something would go wrong with the layout, and because I'm so NOT a technical genius, I would have no idea how to fix it.

3. I have to give credit to my awesome friend Mandy for sending me a link and walking me through the process. I love that I have people in my life who ENJOY figuring out technical stuff.

4. Speaking of figuring out technical stuff, I have a new cell phone. We sort of hate each other at the moment. It wouldn't let me text correctly (I still can't make the Look Up Contact feature work), it wouldn't save my contacts in any semblance of order, and it defied my every (feeble) attempt to browse through it's options and figure out how to work it.

5. It likes to toy with me. Perhaps it thinks I want its shiny new features more than I want the comfort of a phone I can actually USE and thus refuses to take seri…

Thank you to all who entered the contest for a signed copy of Jeaniene Frost's FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON! As always, I used random.org to help me choose the winner and the winner is: Werecat1!

Congratulations!! Please get in touch with me so I can forward your info on to Jeaniene. Thanks for reading!

When people ask me to recommend a paranormal author for them to try, the first name out of my mouth is always Jeaniene Frost. Her writing is fast-paced, compelling, and fun. Her plots twist and turn, her characters are vivid, and I can't wait to gobble up everything she writes. If you're a vampire fan, this is the author you should be reading. Trust me.

Her latest book, FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON, is just as awesome as the others. I devoured it in one day. Here's a peek at the book:

The night is not safe for mortals.

Denise MacGregor knows all too well what lurks in the shadows – her best friend is half-vampire Cat Crawfield – and she has already lost more than the average human could bear. But her family’s dark past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness – and a demon shapeshifter has marked Denise as prey. Now her survival depends on an immortal who craves a taste of her.

He is Spade, a powerful, mysterious vampire who has walked the earth for centuries and is now duty-b…

I shamelessly stole this post idea from my friend Kerry Allen on the (perhaps erroneous) assumption she's too busy to hunt me down and make me pay for the theft.



1. Someone actually makes a product called Anti-Monkey Butt Powder. This is wrong on so many levels. First, who goes around complaining of monkey-butt? Second, even if you had a raging case of monkey-butt (Symptoms include scratching like a ball player and consuming sickening amounts of bananas), would you honestly be willing to publicly purchase the product pictured above? Also? If you're dating, this might be the deal breaker when your special someone goes through your medicine cabinet.

2. I channel Hannibal Lecter when given sedation. I imagine my picture now graces the walls of the local hospital with the slogan "If you see this girl, guard your internal organs lest they be turned into a delicious pie."

3. I truly do love pie.

4. I think my friend Kerry should bake me a pie. A thieving blogger pie. Includin…

Thank you to all who entered the Chelsea Campbell giveaway! I hope you'll head to your nearest bookstore and snag a copy of THE RISE OF RENEGADE X soon. It's so worth it! The winners of this contest are:

Winner of the signed, hardback copy of RenX: Mundie Moms KatieB!
Winner of a signed bookmark: Sherry (@ Flipping Pages), Lanae T, and Allison!

Ladies, please leave your email addy in the comments so I can get your mailing info and forward it on to Chelsea. Thanks for reading!

As always, I used random.org to generate the winners of the Kimberly Pauley contest. And the winners are:

1. Winner of the set of signed hardback SUCKS TO BE ME and STILL SUCKS TO BE ME: Angie!

2. Winner of the bookmarks and temporary tattoos: Sherry S.!

If you didn't already leave me your email, please do so in the comments and I'll be in touch w/you regarding your prizes. Congratulations and thanks for reading!

I'm going to let you in on a secret. Yesterday, THE RISE OF RENEGADE X hit the shelves, and you want this book. No, really. You do. I'll tell you why. When I set up this interview with Chelsea, I asked her to send me the first few chapters of RenX (since it wasn't yet available in stores) so I could knowledgeably talk about it today. She complied. I decided to open the file and just check to see that it arrived in one, readable piece. I wasn't planning to read it, yet. I didn't have time, nor was I wearing my reading glasses. Five minutes later, I was deeply immersed in chapter two and wondering why I had an eye strain headache.

This book sucks you in from the first word. It's captivating. Energetic. Intriguing. And just plain AWESOME. Here's a quick peek:

Damien Locke knows his destiny–attending the university for supervillains and becoming Golden City’s next professional evil genius. But when Damien discovers he’s the product of his supervillain mother’s o…

Kait Nolan, awesome cook and up and coming writer, guest blogs.

Note: For the purposes of this discussion, we’re going to talk about baking bread in the conventional way rather than using the revolutionary (and well worth it) method put forth by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois in Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day, which does away with time consuming steps like proofing yeast and kneading. If you love fresh baked bread, try their method. It will be the best bread you ever put into your mouth. End foodie fangirl plug.

On to the meat…or crumb of the post (did you know the soft part inside a loaf of bread is referred to as the crumb? There’s your foodie fact for the day).

Writing a book is like baking bread. At least that’s what I told CJ, and she thought it was a cool idea for a post. I’m not sure I had any idea exactly how writing a book is like baking bread that day. Mostly I was focused on the super awesome loaf of French bread I’d just pulled out of the oven and had bread …

I gobbled up Kimberly Pauley's SUCKS TO BE ME (Click that link for FUN info.)in one sitting. Her writing is witty, warm, and engaging and her characters become people I feel I know as well as I know my own circle of friends. When I heard STILL SUCKS TO BE ME was hitting the bookstore shelves, I couldn't wait to introduce my blog readers to the awesomeness that is Kimberly Pauley and her stories. Here's the premise of STILL SUCKS TO BE ME:

With vampire boyfriend George and best friend Serena by her side, Mina thought she had her whole life—or rather afterlife—ahead of her. But then Mina’s parents drop a bomb. They’re moving. To Louisiana. And not somewhere cool like New Orleans, but some teeny, tiny town where cheerleaders and jocks rule the school. Mina has to fake her death, change her name, and leave everything behind, including George and Serena. Not even the Vampire Council’s shape-shifting classes can cheer her up. Then Serena shows up on Mina’s doorstep with some new…

1. Agent of Awesomesauce Holly sent the above pic to four of her darling clients (Yes, I was one of them. No, this time I wasn't the ringleader.) who each threatened to send her a crappy first draft at the end of this month.

2. I believe she said something about retribution.

3. Sadly, while I'd LOVE to see what sort of retribution she had in mind, the past three and a half weeks of being sick and then recovering from surgery have derailed any possibility of getting even a crappy first draft done in time.

4. I leave it to my sisters in crime to get the dirty deed done instead.

5. Speaking of being sick, I am THANK GOD feeling better.

6. My stomach still protests a bit when I move, but I've pushed myself physically each day and am vastly improved.

7. I'm glad to be rid of my rebellious gall bladder.

8. My sister suggested I have the surgeon leave a "You're next" note on my spleen and my appendix in case either of them decided to stage a coup.

9. Unfortunately, I…

I'm shocked at the lack of national news coverage on the disaster Nashville suffered over the weekend. Entire neighborhoods are under water. Most of the historic downtown district is under water. The Grand Ole Opry and the Opryland Hotel are under water. Most of the people who lost everything don't have flood insurance because they weren't in a flood zone. Shelters are overflowing. Cities in the surrounding area are on day five of no power. Water supplies are compromised and everyone is rationing.

The awesome news is, our community is pulling together to help each other and YOU can be a part of it by bidding on some amazing books (and other goodies). All proceeds go to benefit Nashville flood victims. Please go here and check it out. We need your help.

Those of you who haven't been keeping up with the drama in my life on Twitter will be wondering why I seemed to have abandoned this blog for nearly a week. The truth is, I got very sick last week and, long story short, ended up in the E.R. Sunday, was admitted to the hospital, and had surgery Tuesday morning to remove my rebellious gall bladder. I'm home now, though I still feel high on pain killer and sedation.

Speaking of being high, on Sunday night my pain was so bad, the nurse had to give me the maximum dosage of Demerol to get me comfortable. I've never had the maximum dosage before. Apparently, the maximum dosage makes me talk. A lot. Fortunately for you, my hubby was there to record the moment. He texted a string of interesting comments of mine to Myra and now, for your enjoyment, I give you the following:

C.J. + Demerol = High As A Kite

Whoa. I'm floating. And I want some spaghetti.

Hey! There are two of you now!

I don't really want an iguana.

There is no cactus…

Did you know there's an easy, convenient way for you to help feed the hungry in your own community? Check this out.

Congratulations to donnas and jeanette8042!! You were selected by random.org as the winners for the Annette McCleave contest. Each of you has won a signed ARC of BOUND BY DARKNESS! Please leave your email address in the comments, and I'll forward the info on to Annette. Happy reading!