New Year New Me and They Like Me They Really Like Me

Oh, I sincerely doubt that, let me get that out of the way right up front. I never really make New Year's resolutions simply because I know my own faults very well indeed. They are sloth, laziness, and procrastination. If you're thinking that those first two mean the same thing, oh well, who cares? My strengths are a large quantity of bitter rage, the will to spew it, and the gall to do it with a smile. Ok, I'm not that bad... most of the time. *grins*

However, I've made up my mind to be a little better at some of the things I can change. So, here's my list for 2007

1. Write more every single day. Before I hit the mail list, the loops, or even turn on my messenger. Write something. It doesn't have to be on the same thing, just write. I have a tendency to get side tracked easily, and before I know it, I'm sucked into Cyber Land.. which if you must know has CyberChocy and CyberCrack available for free. Both are addictive as hell.

2. Be kind remember to unwind. I've got this thing going on right now with my shoulder, neck and head that I think is stress related. Numbness and tingling.. Ack! Gotta get rid of it, or I'm gonna need some surgery. No.. eek, no cutting. NO!

3. Walk. That's right outside, in the open air. Blech. Me, the hermit, communing with nature. I despise the outdoors with a passion. But I'm going to start making myself walk starting the first pretty day in January. *gag me*

4. Be there for my family. My daughter will be gone before I know it. I am the kind that tends to distance myself, emotionally and physically, for reasons I don't even begin to go into here, but I'm stopping that. She's growing up, almost grown, heck she IS grown.. sighs. My hubby's a saint and I'm the sinner in the relationship, maybe it's time to sin a little more with him. *grins*

5. Promo more. That's right. I'm a writer. However, I've never been comfortable with tooting my own horn to advertise that fact. I'm the aw shucks yeah, I wrote this and all type of person. Maybe it's a southern thing, maybe it's a girl thing, maybe it's that I don't want to be bragging and push away potential friends, or a combination of all that, but I'm proud of what I do. I'm good at it or they wouldn't keep saying yes to my submissions, right? Right! Call me the promo princess! The selling slu.. er.. I'll stop right there and say I'll put myself out there more.

In the interests of getting an early start, I'll do a little bit of that tonight.

Braless in the Buick earned a CAPA nomination in from The Romance Studio!

I was so surprised to see my name in the Contemporary Romance section and yes, very pleased as well! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank them for the nomination and thanks to Linda for the wonderful review she gave me that made me feel so good when I first started out. Those make a difference, no matter when you get them but to a new author, they make a world of difference.

Oh and just to let you all know that Braless in the Buick is on sale now at

Champagne Books in print form

and

Fictionwise in ebook

Happy New Year!

Jenna

Crazy Days of Christmas

You can't actually see ME, which is a good thing as I look like crap in this picture. However, the sign gives you an idea of how my trip to town went, I would have LOVED to have either of those two items today.

We'd planned to go to the mall, however, when we got about a mile from there, and saw that the line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot was at least that long, my husband and myself decided that discretion was the better part of valor and our small stash of Christmas cash would be better spent on gifts instead of bail money. So, we turned around and scooted back the way we'd come, and I found out that the ULM Starbucks has some pretty spiffy coffee. Yeehaw, go Warhawks! *gag me on THAT* but that's a different blog.

Off we did trot to ze Hellmouth as fast as our caffeine enchanced tootsies allowed which, if you must know is pretty darned quick. Go Java! Once there, hubby immediately made me go with him to toys. I've hypothosized (read ranted) that everything in the Hellmouth is centered around the toy and/or the electronics department so that to reach what you need you must pass these two things and therefore, you have to listen to your child/man whine that he needs this or that toy. I know this to be true as I've spent the last 16 years of my life in the possession of these two things--a child or man.

My husband could absolutely LIVE in the toy and/or electronic department. If he's not in one, he's in the other. I can get lost in this store, disappear *snaps* like that. He, on the other hand, will always in one of these places, scoping out the kewl new action figures *coughs* dolls *coughs* or else digging in that Hell's Pit of retail, the Bargain Movie Bin.

That's right, ladies, if your hubby goes missing, just trip right over to that section of the Hellmouth and I bet you'll see his legs waving around in the air as he's diving for D-Class dreck disguised as watchable cinema. Priced to move, this stuff will make into your living room where you'll be subjected to the antics of Bill and Ted, Bob and Doug, Dumb and Dumber, and Me Myself and Irene, a threesome from Hell if ever there was one, then again this is Hellmouth we're talkin about. I'm not sayin that there aren't some diamonds in the rough there, like Better Off Dead (ooh John!) or Big Trouble in Little China, which are classic cult hits, but they're few and far between and not worth the me having to tow him out of that pit by his ankles time and again.

However, today, he promised me that he had a game plan, he even had on his game face. Ha! The face lasted until he got out of toys and into electronics. Ooh, says he.. movies. "NO!" I say. "We have enough movies." But but but.. as he stutters, I attempt to tow him away from the endless array of movies. Alas, I failed and we brought home two more. Blech. Therefore I left him and went in search of the that mythical unmentionable .. a bra that fits.. HAA AS IF! However, it does make him flip out when he can't find me because I'm in the ladies' fitting room cursing beneath my breath as I fight with lycra and spandex two materials which I know where invented in Hell and wasn't the bra invented by a man? I come out of the fitting room to see the clerk giving me the worried 'OMG you've got a stalker' eye and look to see him standing there scowling. I smile and hold myself back from running him over with my cart; (more than once) put back the other five bras and keep the one that sort of fits. Yay me (pah)

Then we go and get ________ (this part of the blog has been censored due to evil nosy teen girl who may read) after that it's a bit of grocery shopping, a flyby trip to the book store, and then off to eat and HOME!! Oh no.. wait.. the dollar store for some bags then HOME!! oh dear wait... he wants me to go to the hometown Hellmouth. *sigh* Sometimes, I think he's addicted or more accurately possessed. I am going to have to see someone about this fetish of his.

Then, finally after seeing that my daughter is safely at McHell, working the window like the little minion she is, we finally oh finally come HOME! I'm ready to kill him until.. he puts on an elf hat with a bell on the end, sneaks off and wraps a present for me and smiles as he asks me with the biggest, shiniest, most Christmas-y eyes I've ever seen on a grown man if I'd like to shake it.

Sighs.. I've gone and caught the Christmas Cooties from my hubby the luv bug and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Merry Christmas Yall

Jenna Leigh

Coffee Time Romance and Champagne Books

Invites you to join us for our 2nd annual Christmas Party

Tonight Starting at 9:00 PM Eastern/8:00 Central

Special prize to ALL who attend!
http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/chat_entry.html

Five Favorite Christmas Songs

Kate Davies hit me with a Christmas Tag. No, not the sort that come on presents, though, that reminds me, I need to wrap some packages before my nosy family starts snooping around.

But, that would mean I had to get up off my lazy butt, so instead, I'll tell you my five favorite Christmas songs of all time.

1. O Holy Night-Preferably sung by Aaron Neville, because that man can put a hurting on a high note like nobody's business. Plus, I know this one by heart from all my years in church choir, so I can sing along, loudly, to my family's everlasting delight.

2. Silent Night-Again, I can sing along, or all by myself. Hmm, are you sensing a theme here? My family does, ooh, around Thanksgiving when I start flipping the dial to search out that one station that's started to play Christmas carols.

3. Silver Bells-Not much to do with the religious aspect of the holiday, but more the memories of a time gone by when people were nicer, even when shopping. I like to listen to it and smile happily to myself and think 'yeah as if' right before I walk into the mall. Then, reality sets in with a vengence. Those stop lights may blink a bright red and green, but the cop's lights a bright blue, yall. I didn't sock that lady, honest, officer, she ran into my foot, all ten times. *grins*

4. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree-You can't listen to this and sit still and/or be quiet. I've loved this song since I was a little girl. I've known all the words since then too. Yeah, I sing it, and yeah, I do rock around the living room, shakin' my butt to the beat too. I'm sure Santa would approve.

5. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas- This song is sad, and yet somehow manages to be hopeful at the same time. I've always loved Judy Garland's version best, perhaps because she manages to be sad and hopeful at the same time too. This may not be the tradional sort of carol, but Christmas is about hope and peace and looking for good in spite of the bad, and this song sums it up for me.

Those are my five faves.. but I'll sing along to any others I know, and there are quite a few, let me tell you. While I can carry a tune pretty well, I'm no Judy, that's for sure. But, Christmas has a way of making singers of us all.

Merry Christmas

Jenna

Becka has Tagged me! Bah Humbug

Four jobs I’ve had:
convenience store clerk
short order cook
secretary
Author (grins)


Four Places I’ve lived:
Marion
Dean
Haile
Bastrop

Four favorite foods:
Pizza
Sushi
Lamb
Ettouffee

Four movies I could watch over and over:
Rush Hour
Wizard of Oz
National Treasure
Kung Fu Hustle

Four TV shows I enjoy:
Heroes
Good Eats
Paula Deen
Little Britain



Four places I’ve traveled:
New Orleans
Baton Rouge
Dallas
Jackson MS





Four places I’d like to visit:
Ireland
Scotland
Paris
Italy


Four websites I go to (almost) daily:
Google
Yahoo
My Space
Coffee Time


Four people I’m tagging to do this too:

Mary Martinez
Karen aka Glamazon
Mechele Armstrong
Corrine/FeyRhi

Rated Auurgh.. or Oh Johnny *sighs*

My husband can be counted on to buy just about any movie under the sun that has fights and/or a lot of special effects in it, so I was sure he'd get POC2 when it hit the shelves of our local Hellmouth. I was right of course. You don't live with someone for as long as I have without killing them without getting to know their neuroses ummm.. cute little quirks.

He's a total movie geek. I'm not jokin' yall. He LOVES movies, and when DVD's hit, he went insane replacing all his VHS copies with the new improved versions, making sure to have them all wide-screen.

When the Star Wars movies came out he almost lost his mind wondering which he should buy because as we know, Lucas aka the devil likes to change his movies as often as third grade boys like to change their undies... or as often as he himself likes to change his own. I'm just sayin! Maybe if he was busy doin other things, he wouldn't be switchin up those movies for my man to be wasting his money one when he could be spending it on more important things.. like me! Where was I before I started this I'm a Star Wars Widow and Lucas is the Widow Maker Rant anyways? *looks at picture* Oh yeah!

Pirates.. *dreamy sigh* Ok, I'm quite sure that most of the ladies and all of the teenaged girls and a erm.. few of the men out there think that Orlando is the dreamier of the two, however. Nobody makes my knees dip like the Depp. In the movies, he's so delightfully ditzy and naughty that you can't help but know that he had fun camping up his role as Captain Sparrow. I did point at the screen at one point and inform my husband that Johnny stole his run, this didn't go over well as you can imagine, if you've seen Cap'n Jack mince across the sands with his arms in the air. Hmm. Maybe the boys like Cap'n Jack too. My hubby, Orlando and Johnny's appeal aside and I know about it from eye witness knowledge about the first of those and secondhand from the countless sites dedicated to the latter two in photoshopped clenches. *wince* Moving on, and hopin hubby don't read my blog where I've just told he's been hit on.. and that there's no sites dedicated to him either.

Oh but ew, did Davey Jones have to have tentacles on his face?! All I could think was, well, if he get's hungry he can always hack one off and fry it up for calamari. Blech. But you won't be disappointed with the action in this movie, there's lots. It's also sort of darker, and more violent too. I know you go come on! There's buckles to be swashed, planks to be walked, but really this is a kid's movie, and there are bits that are scary, for little kids, not me.. um.. I'm not goin to revisit my humilating moment in the theater at the Harry Potter movie with the spiders.. I'm not and well, yall can't make me. Suffice to say, the f-bomb was dropped, repeatedly. GAH!

By now you've realized that this post was only an excuse for me to put up a picture of Johnny Depp.. ahhh Johnny.. I loved the movie but my eye was on the Sparrow the entire time. It's true, then there's the fact that if I say more, I'll spoil the whole thing for you. Can't do that, it goes against the code. Even rednecks have a code.

Land Ho,

Dread Pirate Jenna

Ho Ho Ho .. oh Just Shoot Me!

Just shoot me… Honestly, why in the world did I let my hubby talk me into going shopping today of all days? Of course, I did need to get those last minute Christmas gifts out of the way. *pauses* Ok, if the truth be known, I needed to get ALL my gifts.. Yeah yeah, I hear you, go ahead and boo at me. I'm no scrooge, I like to give, but I hate to shop. Factor in that I’m a princess of procrastination, a champion of puttin’ off today what I'll wait til the last minute to do next week and you have a retail disaster of epic proportions. And today, was no exception.

First of all, I'd told the darling teen queen of mean that she couldn't come with because..
One: She had to be to work at McHell by six and this would severely curtail my shopping time as I didn't get off work til 1: 30.
Two: We planned on buying the little darling some presents today. How the crap do you get the nosiest child on the planet, nay, in the known universe anything when she's right there asking Whazzat? Huh? Is it for me? Can I have it now? I don't need things under the tree? Please, come onnn!
Not that I actually have my tree up. *sighs* Yeah, I'm the grinch, sue me.

Our first stop was the mawl. I purposefully use my regional pronunciation of this word to both entertain you and show what it can do to the unwary shopper. Yes, mawlllll. We say it like that down here in the deep south. But beware, you can be mauled if you go in there without being prepared to wait in line and/or deal with twits who have no clue as to their main purpose in life. This purpose, I'm sorry to tell ya, is to serve ME! That’s right, Jethro and Jethra, you ain’t there to file your nails, chew bubble gum and roll your eyes. You are to step up to the counter when I walk up to it, and ask me if you can help me. I got the money, you got the time, savvy?
So, I spent no money in the mawl except at the lovely wonderful Starbucks *big caffeine grins* as they know how to treat an addict, I mean customer. They even write my name on my cup with a big fat black marker and everything. Besides, I didn't find jack crap. Eh.

However, hubby successful in another unnamed store, albeit peeved about his experience. While I distracted evil child with food, he hoofed it down the midway and got er.. something. He told her, I’m buying this and need to hide it from someone that’s with me. She smiled widely and stuffed it in the bag with a conspiratorial wink and then proceeded to spritz it with the store perfume thereby giving what amounts to the BAT SIGNAL to all and sundry, especially my child what's in the bag. He grumbled about listening to the whole spiel without even getting a glimpse of the signature sexy women in the glittering bras and wings. He was most put out about the whole project. I bought him a muffin in Starbucks to make up for it and I only ate half of it. Ahh, I feel the Christmas Spirit welling up inside of me..

Then, we went to get his frickin comics. *waits for an eternity after he goes inside*
Dear God Mama, what's he doin in there?
Dunno..
Go get him
No
Lemme out I will
NO
Yes
NOOO
OMG, I'm gonna die... *whines, wails, gnashes teeth*
*ten minutes after hell freezes over he comes out* What are yall glarin' at me for?
Nuthin.. just get in the car, Daddy before we die of hypothermia. (she can get all uppity when peeved you know)

And then we're off.. to saints preserve us.. the Hellmouth. I go in and immediately start looking for presents. Hubby stays with me, daughter takes off to parts unknown. She has her cell and hubby has mine, why? I have no idea as he doesn't know how to use it. It's in his pocket, it rings and vibrates, but he won't answer it. I ask why, he just stares at me like a deer caught in the headlights. "Uh.. what?" Making me snatch it from him and snarl in the middle of the Hellmouth. Does he not know they will pull me into the fold thinking I am one of the devil's own? Sheehs! However, I get pressies.. so I am soothed for a moment.. til HE DISAPPEARS! I turn and he's vanished, then he gets all iffy saying we did it. Well, no, not even.

Then the freak insists I go into BAMM. I am too tired for a round with Book Nazi and Moth Man, however, I did get Broken by Kelly Armstrong.. Wahhooo! I reread Industrial Magic today and it was as good as I remembered. I'm going to read Haunted as I've never gotten around to it. Love those books. Where was I? Ooh yes! He stopped at the Raisin Canes (blech) Got his icky food that he makes me hold so he can eat while driving (double blech)

And the race to Strop City is on! We make it just in time for daughter's work.. she changed in the back seat. *sighs* She gets that from her grandmother, I swear. Then he takes me to the Hellmouth in our hometown. Two trips to Hellmouth in one night! I think I need an exorcist.
Or more likely a good divorce attorney.



My heart my grow three sizes
but it shrinks right back the day after Christmas


Jenna The Redneck Grinch

Champagne Christmas..

Happy Holidays from Jenna Leigh and Champagne Books!

Jake and Allie don't stand a chance against the Neighborhood Inquisition when they set their sights on getting them together. That's not a fiddler on the roof, it's the nosy neighbor with her night vision goggles in the gazebo, beside her is the lusty housewife with her sex-files, along with the mystical misfit and the diva ex sister in law all with the heroine's best interests at heart. Put them together and you have literary weapon guaranteed to split your sides with laughter. So, pick up a copy of Braless in the Buick today, you'll be glad you did especially right now because it's on sale at Champagne Books, just in time for the holidays!

Give the gift of love and laughter this season with a copy of Braless in the Buick and other select print titles on sale now at Champagne Books!

Champagne Books