Thanks for your Feedback!

Thank you for your feedback last month, dear Readers. I truly appreciated the feedback. I’ve learned that you guys and gals like to see the same kind of things that I do, and luckily for me, the same kinds of things I like to write in my blog, even though that blog is sadly lacking since I haven’t written much fiction this year, let alone blog posts.

Let’s make that a new resolution.

While I’m still plugging away at the resolution I made back in June(to write more often) it is slow going without much new to share. However, this is an important topic I’ve been meaning to work into my schedule for several months now.

New resolution: blog twice monthly. Something interesting; something besides book reviews and buy links.

Stay tuned over at my regular blog (piaveleno.com) for a formal announcement with more details on the fun ideas I have brewing for this resolution. You’re all welcome to hold me to this too. Sometimes I do need to be nagged. You see, I write to-do lists, and then forget that I wrote them, so call me out if I fail to follow up on this one.

As for that June resolution, I did finish the Goodreads.com writing event story, and it is posted in that group for those of you who are members. I’ll eventually post it free on Smashwords and ARe too, but no promises on when just yet since I’m very slow and inept at creating cover art.

Maybe you wonderful Readers can help me out again. Do you know of an aspiring cover artist willing to work for free books? Send him or her my way with piathewriter@gmail.com

Happy August everyone!

Resolving Resolutions

Six months ago, I decided to bring back my monthly resolutions… and then promptly forgot about them. It’s been a hectic six months, and much of that is due to the first of the three resolutions. Not only did I get the story submitted, but it has also been accepted, edited, and released. Huzzah!

Now that Hounded By Love has hit the electronic shelves, I have the time to revisit some old and new goals. The other two resolutions from January revolved around being healthy. It took a couple of extra months, but I’m eating a lot healthier, and not only have I not given up on the treadmill, but I’ve embraced it.

The best part of finally coming back to those goals is that I finally lost the weight I’d gained after breaking my foot. I don’t miss the take-out nights, and I’m starting to crave the raw vegetables I’ve been snacking on, so the only torture is going to the grocery store twice as often.

So what’s kind of goals should I strive for over the next few months?

I’ve agreed to pick up a dropped prompt for the GoodReads M/M Romance group’s Love is Always Write event, so there’s goal one. With the exception of the LiAW freebie, I won’t let myself work on anything else until I get the untitled sequel to Man Whore finished. I’m estimating about another 20k words to reach the end. It shouldn’t be taking this long, and I really want this one off my plate so I can move on to the rest of the series.

Lastly, my health goal this month will be low-impact activities and strength training. I’ve been struggling with muscle pain, and in order to let things heal I need to back off on the running program for a short while. It’ll be difficult to combine finishing a book I’ve struggled with and backing off on running, but it’s something I must do, and so I will find a way to do it.

Who’s up for some change? What goals do you have for the next couple of months?

Now Available at:

Loose Id

Amazon

ARe

Don’t Tell Your Boyfriend Your New Year’s Resolutions (Part II)

I did this a few books back and now I have new characters who want to play.

No Souvenirs

Shane: Convince Jay to bottom just once.
Kim: Not going to happen. However, considering the autocracy of that…position, I supposed I could see where an agreement to get that need met elsewhere would be acceptable.
Shane: Gee. Way to take the fun out of it, Jay. Would you even give a shit?
Kim: I didn’t say I would want to hear the details.
Shane: Hmph.
Kim: Threeway?
Shane: Did I ever tell you how sexy your brain is?

Life, Over Easy

Simon and Tyler: Get K.A. off her ass and get her to write our damned book.
Mason and John: You? Get in line. She didn’t exactly leave us on solid ground.
K.A.: The four of you could actually give me more to work with.
Simon, Tyler, Mason and John: That’s your job, lady.

Not Knowing Jack

Tony: 1.Do laundry more than once a week.
2. Keep a straight face while telling Brandon about the dangers of drinking and drugs.
3. Do not buy every single thing that I think would look cute on Sarah.
4. Try to sell Bravo a Desperate Gay Househusbands: Amherst reality show.
Jack: What are you mumbling?
Tony: My New Year’s resolutions.
Jack: Most people write them down.
Tony: Can’t risk them falling into the wrong hands.
Jack: Because then you’d be accountable?
Tony: Bite me. What are yours?
Jack: Number one: give more head. Num--
Tony: Fuck writing it down. Engrave it in stone, lock the door and get the hell over here.

Hmmm. I think I can milk this for another post! I’ll do the bad Baltimore boys next time.

2012, Day One

It was just a random thing that I end up being on the schedule today, the first day of 2012. Despite it being a mere coincidence that the first Sunday of the month is also January first, I suppose I should write something about resolutions, or time, or past and current goals.

Yeah right. That's not me.

Those of you who followed me here from my personal blog already know the one New Year's resolution that I've been able to keep is to not attempt them anymore. A year is simply too long for me to plan.

Okay, not entirely true. I am, after all, married, and I intend to keep my darling around for a long time. I am also a home owner, and even if the market hadn't crapped out, crashing values, I'd already decided to keep this house for several years. See, years… yeah, I can do it.

However, when it comes to New Year's resolutions, I tend to start strong, and then veer off on a life tangent. As an example – I had planned to have the sequel to Man Whore finished in 2011. (It wasn't a resolution, just a hope, a vague goal… a pipe dream.) I might've added one chapter to that manuscript all year. The excuses aren't important. It simply didn't get done.

On the other hand, I did publish two novels, two short stories, 40ish chapters of an online series, and one novelette, so writing wasn’t a lost cause. I can't really complain about letting the Man Whore sequel languish when I've had an otherwise acceptable year. I say "acceptable" because I know I could've done more if not for the whole broken foot not running thing that I've already used to beat a dead horse.

So, 2012? What does it have in store for me?

I honestly have no idea.

Okay, okay, some theories…

I'd like to submit a story I've sketched out to Loose Id's "Coming Out" call. I'd like to finish two shorts for Silver Publishing's calls. I'd like to get my winter-lazy butt outside to snowshoe this winter . (Just waiting for the snow.  It was raining yesterday. I'm pretty sure I still live in New Hampshire, but the weather is making me doubt that.) I'd like to run a couple of 5k road races and, body willing, my first 10k this fall.

Those are my "general" goals, but as for resolutions, I plan to renew a game I played not so long ago. The Monthly Resolutions. In the past, I discovered that breaking down a bigger goal into shorter, more manageable bits – say, monthly -- was much more practical. And, in turn, I managed more success. It worked for a while… until I started slacking on actually making those monthly resolutions.

So help me out, dear Readers. Do you achieve your New Year's Resolutions? Do you need something a bit more viable? Try out a monthly resolution or two with me!

For January: I will submit my still untitled punk rocker story to my editor. I promise not to fiddle until the month has passed me by. Efficiency, damn it! Make better use of that precious free time! I will finish this round of revisions and kick it out before month's end. (Hopefully before mid-month, but let's not get crazy on the first month out of the gate!)

For January: I will stop complaining about how boring the treadmill is and be grateful that I'm running at all. (Okay, I'm already doing that, but now that I can jog a half to a full mile, that treadmill boredom is bound to hit at any moment. I refuse to allow it to take residence in the place of my motivation. I will keep running through the winter this year!)

For January: I promise to eat the fruit I bring to work, and stop using it as two-day paperweights first. This one, for some reason, will be the hardest resolution. I get busy and forget to eat. Or, I get busy, and a messy piece of fruit is a pain in the paperwork to eat.

What resolutions will you make for January? Share them with me, dear Readers, and we'll meet here on the first Sunday of February to celebrate our successes.

Wishing you a fun, happy, and productive 2012!

Ciao,
Pia Veleno

PS. As promised, Freedom's Souvenir is finally available as a free download from Smashwords. 

A lifetime in the closet is a hard habit to break, but so is a lifetime out of it.

The crystal blue ocean can't hold a candle to the hard abs and cocky smile of Nick Boden, but Tad Eglington has spent his entire adult life reinforcing the walls of his closet, while Nick has never put anything but clothes in his.

The ship is called Freedom, but will her message be heard on the open ocean?

Click HERE for more information, and to download.

PSS. Fallen is now available in audio format HERE.

We Are Hereby Resolved

Happy New Year, everyone!
I had a lot of fun making New Year's Resolutions for my characters last year. They're easier for me to keep and besides, my characters are so much more fun than I am. So here goes with some new ones.

Not Knowing Jack
Jack: *coughs* Honesty is the best policy.
Tony: Laundry. Swear. I'm going to get to it. Soon. Ish.

Bad Company (Coming June 7)
Nate: It's all right to sometimes be—be—wr—wr—
Kellan: The word is wrong, Nate.
Nate: I knew that.

WIP (Fragments 2)
Simon: What Nate said, kind of.
Tyler: *eye roll* Hey, who's that hottie over there?

Me? This is my theme song for the year. And hopefully all the years to come because life is fun.
And considering this conversation Josh Lanyon and I were having, I'm working on not saying to myself if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me why I don't try to write and sell mainstream romance or fiction (and five dollars for everyone who asks it a second, third and fourth time). I know they mean well (as in I don't get this gay romance thing and isn't it a little smutty?) but I am, to quote the esteemed Freddy Mercury as above, "Having such a good time, I'm having a ball."

Bring on 2011!

It's resolution time again and I've picked a new one. This year, I resolve not to travel to North Korea. (My old resolution of not buying Norway was getting old, and since I'll more than likely be in Norway later this year, not buying it--or at least small bits of it offered up for my touristy pleasure--seems unlikely.)

I had a reasonably good 2010. I know a lot of people who didn't, and I certainly wish them a better year in 2011. In fact, I wish everyone a better 2011 than 2010, which, if you had a good 2010, would hopefully make this year pretty darned awesome. :) I finished 2010 off well, IMO, by resubmitting a manuscript to a new-to-me publisher, and by hosting a New Year's Eve pajama party. January 1 was spent in the usual fashion: sleeping in; watching a marathon on telly (in this case, Wonderfalls on DVD); and making sure there were black-eyed peas with dinner. (I'm not from the south, but my granddad was, and who am I to argue with the tasty tradition of black-eyed peas on New Year's Day for good luck?) All in all, it was a great weekend.

I'm about to depart on another January tradition later this week. That of going to play in the snow for a few days. (Snowshoe badminton! Woo-hoo!) Another thing I try to do while there is finish whatever unfinished manuscript is on the top of my list. It's another NaNoWriMo novel again this year. I find the change of scenery and atmosphere most helpful in recharging my creative batteries.

Here's wishing everyone a productive, successful, and above all else, HAPPY New Year!

New Year's Resolutions

I don't make them. Or, if I do, they are unavoidably achievable. For instance, I have often on past January 1sts resolved not to purchase Norway. See? One cannot help but not purchase an entire Scandinavian country. I find New Year's resolutions just set one up for failure. I'm not particularly goal-oriented in the traditional sense. Deadline-oriented, yes, but that's not the same thing. I'm better than I used to be, but that's not saying much. I prefer, instead, to think of things I would really like to do and then, randomly throughout the year, try to do a few of them. Can you tell I'm not into high-pressure situations? Maybe that's because I get enough of those from exterior sources. Why would I want to do that to myself? So, in the vein of low-stress, low-pressure, here's a list of a few things I would really like to do this year.

I'd really like to get my two finished novels polished up and submitted.
I'd really like to finish the two unfinished novels currently residing on my hard drive.
And on a non-authorial note, I'd very much like to climb a 5.10a at the climbing gym, and to run a 5K.

That's as close to a set of New Year's resolutions as you'll get from me.

What do you think of New Year's resolutions? Do you make them? Do you keep them? Why or why not?

On another note, I've not heard from my contest winner. So, Mo, if you're out there, gimme a shout at maia (at) maiastrong (dot) com. Thanks!

Happy 2010!

Wow, it’s hard to believe that it’s already the fourth day of 2010 (and I remembered to do a post - Great start in my book). After the hustle and bustle of the recent holiday season, it feels good to calm down and get back into my regular routine - or at least as close as I can to one. It also has me thinking of goals and all I want to accomplish in this new year.

Resolutions. A sometimes dreaded word. Sometimes a word that brings confidence. It all depends on how one looks at it.

2009 wasn’t the best writing year for me. Looking back at my list of resolutions, I fell flat on my face. My muse took a year long vacation and it was a struggle to keep it around the short times it did make an appearance (and that’s when I really had to pull out the big guns to bribe it). 2010 is a different story. The muse and I have compromised and so far, all is going well. ^-^ (Though I am running low on chocolate. Donations always welcomed - lol)

So, my resolution is to keep my bottom in this chair and bring you all more stories.

What are your resolutions? Do you dread them and avoid them like the plague or relish in creating goals and trying hard to fulfill them?

2009 Resolutions

I don't usually do New Year's Resolutions. I find they're just a way to set myself up for failure. That's why, should I resolve anything in the new year, it's usually something I know I can accomplish like, "I resolve not to purchase Norway." You know? Pretty easy to achieve that goal. This year, I'm taking a leap and making a few resolutions.

1) I will finish the paranormal investiagors m/m novel I'm working on.
2) I will begin a second novel in same series.
3) I will sell another freakin' manuscript.

I think it'll help if i plaster pics of pretty men all over my desktop background. ::goes off to pic her faves::