Now for the tell. For those of you who read my earlier blog about what to do about a lonely 11 year old cat? I made my decision. For Christmas, I got a new kitten. Her name is Ginger Snap and here’s a picture! A fluff ball with claws! Turns out, Ginger has two modes: psycho and dozing. Not asleep, just dozing. I just had to stop writing because she was going nuts trying to eat my feet. The older cat (named Tali) spent the first 2 weeks hissing at her, but I think last night they actually tried to play. Then again, it might have been that Ginger was playing, Tali was trying to kill. Hard to tell!

And now…the FREE BOOK! Yup, I’m offering the prequel novella to my new Bridal Favors series for free. ENJOY! Go to my website for all the information.  Here’s the back cover copy:

WILD CHILD – Lady Gwendolyn is playing with fire. She has a habit of wandering into illicit places with gentlemen just to see how well they kiss. It’s dangerous, but she can’t seem to stop herself and no one in her family is up to the task either.

THE QUIET ONE – Sir Edward Murray is the man who can tame her. He may be just a country baronet, in town for a spell then gone, but the vivacious Lady Gwen draws him as no other. So he devises a carefully plotted campaign to capture the lady as his own. But he never guesses the depth of the lady’s spirit or the power of her passion.

SECRETS! – Why is Lady Gwen risking herself and her reputation with her scandalous forays? When Edward uncovers the truth, he is caught in his own stratagems. She figures out his deceit and may never forgive him. Can Edward convince her that some things aren’t as wicked as they seem? And that love is the wildest ride of all?

During this week between Christmas and New Years, what is your favorite thing to do? Shopping is the fav of my kids. (Yes, I have girls. How did you guess?) Reading is my husband’s particular favorite next to watching sports. I love gabbing with my sisters and NOT getting assigned babysitting duties. (My sisters have LITTLE kids aged 9 month up to 6 years.) Much of my family loves games, games, and games. (Catan anyone?)

So…what’s your pick? One lucky commentor will get a copy of In Good Hands, by Kathy Lyons!

1. Turkey or ham?

2. Stuffing or dressing? (is there a difference?)

3. pumpkin or pecan?

4. early morning shopping or sleeping in?

5. Macy’s parade or Hallmark Christmas movies?

Everyone who does the quiz is entered to win a copy of In Good Hands!

For about 8 years, we’ve lived happily with two cats – a boy and a girl. Sadly, the boy is gone now. He went out one day (I have indoor/outdoor cats) and never came home. I’m pretty sure he’s never coming back. And yes, I have cried some big tears over that.

But now I’m left with a petite girl cat named Tali who may be small, but she’s quite the huntress. She’s 10 years old now (or is it 11?) And maybe she’s lonely without the other cat. She’s certainly been more loving and a whole lot more demanding. But I don’t know about introducing a new kitten into the house.

The primary problem is that I travel a LOT. So I can’t sit at home and make sure new kitty knows about litter boxes and the like. But on the other hand, Tali will probably be very lonely without us at home when we do travel. And of course, the worst case scenario is if the new kitty and the old one do NOT get along. OMG, that would be AWFUL!

So…give me advice, give me stories! Have you managed to introduce a new cat to an old one? Was it okay or a disaster? Tell me, tell me! I’m dreaming about new kittens almost every night. (Apparently, I want a new kitty). Anyway, one random commentor will get a copy of my newest blaze In Good Hands by Kathy Lyons.

Vote for your favorite cover in the comments below, telling me why you picked that cover. I’ll pick one of you to win a signed Blaze novel!

In any event, it was a fabulous vacation, but then a horrible thing happened: we came home. OMG, I’m supposed to start working again? Really? Why? And excuse me, what do you mean no one comes into my room during the day and magically cleans for me?

I tried all sorts of excuses to delay the inevitable pile of work. I had jet lag and needed to catch up on my tv shows or the DVR would explode. I had to do laundry, see some of my friends, drink coffee and maybe think about exercising again. (My first racquetball match coming back was DISMAL!) But in the end, I ran out of excuses. Then I ran out of easy busy work. Then I ran into–quite literally–my calendar. It was on my desk, and I tripped over a pile of books and…well, okay I FELL on it.

And on it, marked in bright red, were my book deadlines. OMG, time to get back to work. Instead, I’ve written this blog. So help me out! How do you force yourself back into work mode? I’m not talking about an email here, a blog there. I mean serious, 4000 words a day WORKING. Any secret tips for getting back into the right mind frame? Cause I haven’t got it. Not yet, at least. There was a time I worked six days a week because I was that disciplined. Right now? I’m thinking about getting a mani/pedi.

Help me! And the best suggestion will win a copy of my latest blaze: IN GOOD HANDS by Kathy Lyons

Or so I thought.

Here’s the problem: I work at home and set my own schedule. No, let me rephrase that. My children and my husband set my schedule and I just write according to the time allotted to me in their days. Except I’m empty nesting now (yeah!). And with my husband gone, I don’t have him waking me up in the morning as he bumps around getting his coffee, showering, etc. I don’t have him coming home and saying, what’s for dinner? Want to order pizza? (Answer: yes!) And even my cats don’t wake me up since we have an automatic feeder. (Yes, I’m THAT lazy).

So with my husband gone, NO ONE sets my schedule. I get up when I feel like it (and I rarely feel like it). I work when the mood strikes–later and later every day. And I forget to stop when I get going. Lunch at 4pm? Okay. Is it midnight already? I think I’ll get a snack.

I’ve gotten a ton of work done this week. (Finished my next Blaze!) But I am so off schedule that I don’t know what time it is, what DAY it is, or even what I’m supposed to be doing when. There is NO schedule at all, and it’s throwing me. I never actually STOP working, and I fear that could build into a problem. Frankly, the whole thing is just weird. I’ve never before been completely on my own with no responsibilities beyond I have a book due in X number of months. It’s freaking me out!

So now it’s your turn. Any advice? Or is the advice: go ahead and enjoy the freedom. And if I’m working at 2 am, then at least I’m working. One lucky commenter will win a copy of my latest blaze, In Good Hands, by Kathy Lyons.

So why is it that all I seem to do at conferences is EAT?  There’s coffee at Starbucks, because God knows I can’t function without that.  And I’ll have coffee meetings because I’m certainly not the only one who needs the caffeine hit and so that’s usually the first meeting of the day.  Then I go from Starbucks to breakfast, supplied with our conference ticket.  That’s continental breakfast and when I sit down with perfect strangers to talk books.  Heaven!  But I also eat a muffin and another coffee while I’m sitting there.  You can’t chat without something in your hand.

Then there’s the 11:00 meeting with agent or editor or web designer.  Not to mention the video person or PR somebody or the other authors with whom you’re writing a continuity.  Gotta hang with them.  And you can bet someone brings a snack.  It’s always a great time for chocolate or nachos.  Don’t care which.

Then there’s conference lunch to meet more new people.  Afternoon party with hors d’oeuvres, then dinner with friends before evening parties with booze and dessert.  And that’s only the first day.  Can you imagine how huge I feel by the end of a four day conference?  Especially if conference is in a fabulous city like NYC.  I mean, could you possibly go to a Manhattan restaurant with your editor and NOT eat something awesome?  Even though you’ve just come from cookies and coffee with your best friends?

So I end up feeling like I’ve just eaten my way through the conference.  Yes, I have a stack of meeting notes and things I plan to do.  But I’ve also just eaten non-stop for 4 days.  OMG, I feel huge!

Anybody else have this problem?  And while you sit down to tell me all about it, I’ll grab another muffin. Do you eat through all of your travels? (The day this blog goes live, I’ll be traveling to New York and beginning my foodfest. So, please comment but I may be late with mine depending on when the plane lands.)

Yesterday, I had a phenomenal writing day. I wrote 17 pages. Why? Not because I was inspired. Heck no! It was because my cat decided to sit on my lap and stretch her chin across my forearm. I thought it was rather endearing and sweet, so I let her stay as I

continued to type. Until that moment when I would usually stop typing and get up to wander about the house, check email, or do something else for a bit. Oops. Can’t do that with a cat on my forearm. And, btw, she has claws, so if I shifted too much, she dug them in. Not deep. She knows better. It was simply an “I’m sleeping, don’t bother me” message.

So I had a choice. I could dislodge her completely or keep writing. I decided to keep writing. This went on for hours and by the end of the day, I had 17 pages. Woo hoo! Thank you cat!

On the not so helpful level, the same thing happened a few nights ago when I was watching tv. Again I was faced with the choice of dislodging her to go to bed or just hanging out and watching more tv. Result: I stayed up way too late watching tv that wasn’t worth my time.

So here is the inescapable conclusion: I am a slave to my cat. If she sleeps on me, I am frozen in place unable to switch gears. This is completely ridiculous, I know. And yet the situation persists. Anyone else out there a slave to your pet? Please tell me I’m not alone! And some lucky commentor will get a copy of my latest Blaze: In Good Hands by Kathy Lyons.

Stuff to do. Stuff to throw out. Stuff to finally take care of.

Who wants to do that? What am I really doing? Playing racquetball–my knee is so swollen it no longer fits comfortably inside my pants. Playing pogo.com – I’m up to 24 million tokens (and yeah, they’re relatively useless). And eating crap – do you know how absolutely YUMMY barbecue potato chips are????

Am I getting any cleaning done? Well, I just did the dishes because I ran out of clean bowls for my guacamole dip. Beyond that…no. Am I thinking of new story ideas? Well, always, but none of them in enough detail to do anything with. Am I even reading books? Um, yes. Some. But mostly, I’m just wasting time. Which is…well, a big fat waste.

So, anybody else struggle with life on slow? Because I seem to be at zero or 1000 mph. Life on slow translates to zero with the added minus that I’m not really enjoying myself. I mean, yeah, the potato chips taste great going in, but then I just feel sick. If I’m going to do NOTHING, then at least I ought to do NOTHING in ARUBA. *sigh*

Help me friends! Give me your strategies for getting off my increasingly large ass. One lucky commentor will win In Good Hands by Kathy Lyons!