Happy Feb. 29th!

Since it only happens once every four years, it feels like a day worth celebrating :) We get an extra 24 hours gifted to us so it seems a shame to waste it. Of course if you work at a job where you are paid by salary, you're working an extra day for nothing but, hey, you can't have everything.

I've never been big on celebrating birthdays, so being born on Feb. 29th probably would've been fine with me. Unfortunately, I heard that people born on the 29th can be referred to as 'leaplings' so I've decided a regular birthday is much better than being referred to by that moniker.

If you follow superstitions, people in Greece supposedly consider it to be bad luck to be married in a leap year. However, for all you single ladies out there February 29th is the day you can propose to your man. Or to any man. I'd love to see masses of women out there proposing to random men just to shake things up LOL. I remember being in highschool and having a Sadie Hawkins dance where the girls asked the boys to the dance. It was the most well attended event because so many girls were tired of waiting to be asked!

Anyone planning on celebrating in the Sadie Hawkins tradition or have any Leap memories?

Do You Tattoo?

My heroine in book three has come across someone with Chinese words tattooed on his shoulder and down his arm.

Now, I probably come across someone sporting tattoos on an almost daily basis and I'm betting probably a third of those tattoos are Chinese words. Then again, maybe I'm just noticing more of them because I've been thinking about writing this character for a while.

I don't have any tattoos and I doubt that'll ever change. That's just my personal choice. I know other people (lots of other people) who have decorated their body in this way and they are all (well, maybe not ALL but certainly ALMOST ALL) nice people. Even as I'm writing this scene with this character and thinking about his tattoos I haven't yet decided whether or not he should be a good guy, or a bad guy. Truthfully, I won't know who he is until I write him a bit more but it made me curious to how the other characters in the book will react to his tatts.

If you meet someone, an average looking someone, who has a lot of tattoos, what is your immediate reaction? Are you curious? Put off? Intrigued?

Keep, Toss or Share?

By the way, I'm almost finished Killing Fear and I just now noticed the little red star on the front of the book that says you can get a book free. Yay for free books!
I probably missed the words because I ordered the book online and the second I got it in my hot little hands I put it up by my computer. As a reward after writing, I'd allow myself to read a chapter :) Anyway, at the back of Killing Fear is a form you can fill in and send away for a free copy of The Prey. I think this is pure genius! Of course, I've already read The Prey but, hey, a free book is a free book and I'll gladly gift it or just keep it because it's always good to have a second copy of a book you like, right?

Can you tell I have a problem with getting rid of books? It's true. I have difficulty parting company with books. I have a LOT of books. Some of my friends joke about borrowing from my library. Truthfully, there are some books I probably could take off my shelves (ones that aren't my favorites). These are books that I've read but don't love enough to read again. Still, I just can't seem to bring myself to remove them.

That leads me to this question: What do you do with your books? Do you trade them in at used book stores? Do you pass them along to libraries, charities and/or lucky friends?

Congrats to Cindy Proctor-King

Yay, Cindy! You were chosen using my very complicated system of putting names in a pot and getting my children to draw a name without peaking. You've won a copy of Allison Brennan's Killing Fear and a signed copy of The Remains of the Dead!! Send your snail mail addy to wendy at wendyroberts dot com.

I need to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to my 'where to die' question. You gave me a couple of Seattle specific locations (the Arboretum & Parson's Gardens) which were great. The more general locations like, cemeteries, libraries, bathrooms, storage units, pools, stadiums, galleries, schools, etc. also did a LOT to fuel my imagination! Poor Sadie is gonna have sooo many messes to clean she isn't going to know whether she's coming or going he he.

I'm heading off this morning for a writing and brainstorming session with an author friend. How are you kicking off this week?

Where oh Where to Die?

I'm working on the third book in the Ghost Dusters series and I'm trying to come up with a place for a character to die. This is not a traumatic death. No knife or gunshot wounds. This is an unattended death. Someone died of natural causes and the body just wasn't discovered for a while. Oh yeah and the place has to be a public location of some kind.
I'm looking for suggestions and to sweeten the pot I'm offering a copy of Allison Brennan's Killing Fear and I'll also send you a signed copy of Remains of the Dead. Hey, if you've already read my book you can give it to a friend :)

So tell me where you think this character should die.

There have been so many great suggestions, I'm going to make the draw after the weekend. Keep 'em coming!

Signings and Wanderings

My research trip to Seattle and Bellevue was a somewhat success. Somewhat because we decided to make it a family trip and I've got to say that driving around aimlessly looking for places to kill people (in fiction)did not appeal nearly as much to my children as I'd hoped. For some strange reason they actually preferred either to shop *shudder* or to swim in the hotel pool. Oh well.

I did come up with some great ideas particularly while I was driving around the Wilburton area of Belleveue. At one point I came across a sign that said something like 'you are now entering historic...' and I have no idea the actual NAME of that historic area because I was relying on whoever was riding shotgun to take a darn picture of the sign but the picture didn't turn out *blech*

The signing at the University Book Store in Bellevue was great. I met marvelous Bloody Mary who runs Bloody Mary's Mystery Book Group. She really enjoyed Remains of the Dead which made her even more marvelous in my eyes. I got to the store early so I could, of course, shop for books. Mary suggested a couple of new-to-me authors and I look forward to reading those books.

I'm in the middle of Killing Fear, Allison Brennan's new book, that I brought to Seattle. I wish I could just sit down and read all day and night because I'm LOVING this book! So what are you reading these days?

Seattle Bound

I'm off to Seattle for a research trip.

If you're in the area, come and visit me. I'll be doing a reading and signing of Remains of the Dead on Tuesday, Feb. 19th at 7:00 pm at the University Book Store in Bellevue (990 102nd Ave NE).

While I'm in Seattle I plan to visit some popular locals like Pike Place Market and the Space Needle just to see what it would be like to have a character die there. I'll also drink lots of coffee because I need the names of a few more independent coffee locals for Ghost Duster book three.

What are you doing for fun this week?

How I made the new York times...

Some of you who’ve visited my blog regularly might remember this post where I rambled about body care products and various nice and not-so-nice scents.

Well, that blog lead curious reporter, Natasha Singer, to interview me for this article in today's New York Times. My comments are about two-thirds down the second page.

Fun, isn't it?! Yes, it would’ve been nice to have Remains of the Dead mentioned in the article. Or it would've been great if Natasha used my comments regarding the smell of body decomposition, but I’m well aware that we're talking the STYLE section of the NYT here. Body decomp definitely has a different time and place LOL!

Maybe next time my name is mentioned in The Times it’ll be in the book section but for now I’m not complaining. Reporter, Natasha Singer, was absolutely delightful to talk to and she gave me a nice morning smile on my Valentine’s Day.

Any smiles come your way this Valentine's Day?

Six Unimportant Things

In the interest of saving brain function for manuscript writing instead of blog writing, I'm following Diana Peterfreund's example and doing an un-meme listing six unimportant things about me.

Here are the un-meme un-Rules:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six and/or zero random people at the end of your blog entry.
5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.


Six Unimportant Things

1) I have 2 computers side-by-side and keep one open for research and/or emails while I type my manuscripts on the other.

2) My first job (besides babysitting)was as a newspaper telemarketer when I was 14 years old.

3) My favourite color is yellow.

4) I used to be able to painlessly dislocate my right shoulder at will.

5) I take approximately one-third of a teaspoon of sugar in a cup of coffee. Unless it's Starbucks, then I take zero.

6) I have a distant cousin (Dustin Penner) who plays in the NHL

Okay, so I'm not going to officially tag anyone but if you feel like sharing 6 unimportant things about you, go ahead and list them in the comments or post them on your own blog.

Do you voodoo?

I had a bad day yesterday. Nothing earth shattering. A migraine. A long boring meeting. My kids were fighting. My writing time was limited. Someone ticked me off.

Then I spoke to a friend who was making a voodoo doll. Seriously. Someone had done her wrong at work, really messed her up in a malicious way, but it happened some time ago and she'd never been able to get over it. She thought a small puppet she could stab with pins would make her feel better. Strangely enough, I'd been thinking of voodoo just last week because I'd come across a site that sold cookie voodoo. My friend thought it would be wrong to eat the person who'd wronged you. I suggested she could burn him first. And then maybe throw the cookie out for the crows to peck at.

I remember having a bonfire party with girlfriends after bad breakups and we'd burn up pictures of the guy and maybe his love letters. I guess on some level it's the same thing. Cathartic.

Have you ever felt so wronged by someone that you wanted to stab them with pins and/or symbolically burn them in the oven?

Gung hay fat choy!

It's Chinese New Years. Well, yesterday was officially New Year's Day but it goes on for 15 days. It's the year of the rat which can gross me out if I think about it too hard LOL.

On the Chinese Zodiac I'm a Rabbit and this is what they say about us rabbits:

The Rabbits of the Chinese Zodiac tend to act more like bunnies, whether they like it or not. Timid and attractive, the Rabbit is the kind of fluffy ball you want to cuddle lovingly. As a result, they're extremely popular and have a wide circle of family and friends. Their compassionate nature also leads them to be very protective of those they love. Where romance is concerned, their sentimentality is the reason they idealise relationships, a quality that compels them to give more than they realistically should.

You can click HERE to find out your Chinese Zodiac sign. Are you a Rabbit too? Come back and let me know!

I'm going to Central City!

Actually, I'm not going to Central City, Colorado, but I wish I was. You see, Central City claims to be the Most Haunted Square Mile on Earth. What better place for a paranormal mystery writer to hang out?

I love that they say, "For people interested in ghost hunting, I would be hard pressed to think of a better place to visit."

Sigh. It makes my heart go pitter patter.

How about you? Have you ever stayed or lived somewhere that was haunted?

The winner...

of Colleen Gleason's The Bleeding Dusk is:

b.e. sanderson

Email me at wendy at wendyroberts dot com with your snail mail addy and congrats!

Super Tuesday

How are you spending Super Tuesday? I'll be spending it reading the next installment of Colleen Gleason's Gardella Vampire Chronicles. This series, about Victoria Gardella, a young vampire hunter in Regency England, just rocks! If you haven't read the other two books you don't know what you're missing but, yes, each book is stand alone.

If I was a vampire, I'd probably be tempted to get a little taste of Matthew McConaughey he he he. How about you? If you were a vampire, whose neck would you find appealing? Put your answer in the comments and you are entered to win a copy of Bleeding Dusk :)

Oh and, yes, I'm still discussing The Remains of the Dead over at The Cherry Forums Book Club until Feb. 10th so come on by and visit there too.

Title for book two!

After much brainstorming a title has finally been decided for the second book in the Ghost Dusters series:

Devil May Ride

The title is catchy and very appropriate considering the content of the story (bikers, satanists & drugs). Thanks to my agent, Miriam Kriss, for suggesting it! What do you think of the title?

I'm still discussing The Remains of the Dead over at The Cherry Forums Book Club until February 10th. Pop on by, if you get a chance.

Cherry Forums Book Club

Today I'll be discussing The Remains of the Dead on the Cherry Forums Book Club. If you aren't familiar with this fun site, it's hosted by the great Jenny Crusie and Jenny's moderators run the fun discussion of lots of books. I'll be discussing Remains from February 1 - 10th and I was absolutely thrilled to asked. You need to register at the site to join the discussions but it's well worth it! Come over and dish Remains with me :)

WARNING: There are definite spoilers in the discussion questions. So you probably don't want to go cruising Cruisie's forum unless you've already read the book! If you have already read Remains (if you haven't, what are you waiting for?!) click the link below to peruse the site and then come and discuss the book February 1st - 10th.

CHERRY FORUMS BOOK CLUB DISCUSSES REMAINS OF THE DEAD FEB. 1-10TH CLICK HERE