...I'm gonna let it shine.

Okay, don't mind the singing--that's probably just the dayquil carrying a tune--but I do want to give my new cover art a chance to shine because I think it's scrumptious.

So ta-da! Here's the new cover art for my cowboy novella, Seeing You, done by the very talented Natalie Winters.




Seeing You will be out from Samhain Jan. 19, 2010!

 is that it can be...funny. And by that I mean strange, and also amusing because I tend to find the strange amusing.

Or at least the case opinions, written by judges, (which is pretty much all law students read) can be. Mostly it's when you come across a case where the judge was either a frustrated playwright or literary critic, and they add what I like to think of as flourishes to the opinion. Or you wonder how many more references to Dickens or Shakespeare they can make, because you're studying the law and they're quoting fiction. And every once and a while you come across a case where you read the opinion and think, "Ha! This judge was taking the mick, right?"

So I thought I'd share a little from what has become my top favorite case I've read in law school, because I do love the absurd. And ghosts. :)

Stambovsky v. Ackley, 572 N.Y.S.2d 672

So I won't bore you with all the legal issues and jargon, but basically this guy contracts to buy a house and then discovers it's haunted and wants the contract to be cancelled.

The opinion starts out, "Plaintiff, to his horror, discovered the house...was widely reputed to be possessed by poltergeists." The opinion is only a couple of pages and we have these phrasing gems throughout:

"plaintiff hasn't a ghost of a chance"

"spirit of equity"

"[basis for granting relief] elusive if not ephemeral"

"Pity me not but lend thy serious hearing to what I shall unfold." (Oh yeah, that's from Hamlet. Didn't I tell you they like to quote the Bard?)

"'Who you gonna' call?'" (Apparently they also like to quote Ghostbusters.)

"[transaction will] come back to haunt him"

"most unnatural bargain"

"[this notion is] a hobgoblin which should be exorcised from the body of legal precedent and laid quietly to rest"

Ha.

But the best line in the whole piece? "...as a matter of law, the house is haunted."

Ha. Ha.

 It looks like Governor Patterson is being true to his word, and he's not going to let the NY State Senate get away with another stall-fest on the marriage equality bill. It will hopefully be one of the first things on the agenda when the senate returns to albany (Nov. 10th-ish?)

So what can you do? If you live in New York you can--and should!--call your state senator to let them know they must vote on this issue now. No more waiting! And that they must vote in favor of marriage equality for all.

You can do this by using the nifty callback form thingy Empire State Pride Agenda set up. Or you can go to the NY State Senate website and use the box on the left that says, 'Find my Senator."

If you don't live in NY...you can spread the word to anyone you know who does live in NY, so that they can make sure to voice their opinion before the legislature heads back to Albany in the coming weeks.

 I just realized that my Torquere Press sip, First, A Dance, which I wrote for the charity sip blitz is no longer available for sale.

I'm trying to decide what to do with it, if anything, and wondered what my dear f'list thought. If you have an e-pubbed short story that's no longer available, what do you do with it?

Because I could do nothing with it, stick it in a file some place and forget about it. Or I could make it available on my website as a free story, or I could put it in my to-do list for stories to work on and rewrite and expand it when I get the chance.

And if I do put it on my website...what do you think about reading on the website vs. a downloadable pdf? I have two other shorts on my website that I just stuck in directly, but they're only 2k. First, A Dance is 7k-ish.

What do you think?

 I know I've been ignoring my LJ for a while, and I kept meaning to post an update on things and say hello to everyone after being MIA for a couple weeks. Okay, three weeks. No? Surely no longer than a month, right?

*gulp*

2 1/2 months? Seriously? Wow.

You all must have thought I'd fallen off the face of the earth. Maybe even the backside. 

So I apologize for my absence, but speaking of backsides...I recently started law school. *g*

Which explains why I haven't been around much, though I have continued to read my f'list so don't think your shenanigans have gone unnoticed, ;)

So it's been a time problem. It's been interesting adjusting and ironing out a schedule that works for me, but I've finally managed it--er, mostly--and I won't say I'll have more time in the future (b/c where in the world would I get that from?) but rather that I'll be using my time more efficiently and will be able to do things like say hello on here and share writing updates.

Speaking of writing...

Well. I hate to report that spring and summer were very hit and miss for me in terms of writing. I was struggling with what was, at the time, a devastating illness in my family. In August, that prognosis changed, a miracle in a way, and things have been looking up since then. I started feeling the urge to write more and more, until it once again became a daily craving. 

Now it's just eking out time to write amidst the craziness, but I actually think I'm more productive now than I was when I had all day to write. Is that backwards, or what?

So while I have no official news right now, I'm cleaning up a few WiPs so I can finally--finally!--submit them. Um, after midterms of course. *g* And I'm hoping for good news on a current submission--but I'll keep you posted, I promise. :)

Oh, and I have an official release date for the ebook edition of Seeing You: 2/23/10 from Samhain Publishing.

(You can still pick up the print anthology of Studs & Spurs, which includes Seeing You, from MLR Press here or here.)

 I'm beyond late posting these reviews, but I was waiting for some news about Seeing You and I thought I'd do it all up in one post. :)

The lovely and discerning Kassa reviewed the Studs & Spurs anthology and she gave my contribution 4 stars and called it "a sweet and romantic story." You can read the rest of the review here at Kassa's LJ or here at reviewsbyjessewave. Thanks Kassa for the review!

The wonderful and prolific Elisa Rolle also reviewed the Studs & Spurs anthology. She also called it a "sweet romance" and said, "The mood is definitely less light, but the story is not less romantic." You can read the review here at Elisa'a LJ. Thanks Elisa for the review!

And in other related news, I recently signed a contract with Samhain to publish Seeing You as a standalone ebook. I'm so excited to be working with them, I really am. There's no set release date yet, but it looks like probably February 2010 for the ebook edition of Seeing You.

I have a new novella, Seeing You, out now from MLR Press as part of the Studs & Spurs print anthology! I'm lucky enough to be included with three supremely talented authors: JL Langley, Kiernan Kelly, and Angela Fiddler. Yee-haw!

Blurb for Studs & Spurs

Saddles, spurs, Stetsons . . . and love? Sexy cowboys grab hold of more than a saddle in these entrancing stories from four talented authors of the genre. Kiernan Kelly takes us on an adventurous cattle drive to the Oregon Territory with a greenhorn and an old hand. Angela Fiddler’s retired rodeo men accept each other and the black riders. Two men overcome grief, rebuild a ranch and find love in Dakota Flint’s story. And JL Langley offers a light-hearted tale of a city boy and a rancher filled with love, laughter and a marriage of convenience?

Blurb for Seeing You

Everything changed for Dylan the night his brother, Simon, was killed in an accident. Unable to face the pain–or Simon’s partner, Wade–Dylan leaves life on the Lazy G ranch behind. Over a year later, Dylan gets a call saying he’s needed at home and he returns to find both the Lazy G and Wade in bad shape. Will Dylan and Wade be able to deal with their grief and rebuild the ranch? And will Wade see that sometimes you can find happiness again?

You can buy Studs & Spurs online through IndieBound.org:

Shop Indie Bookstores

Or you can order through Barnes and Noble or Amazon.


( Read an excerpt. )

It's almost summer, folks. You know what that means: it's vacation time!

I'll be traveling quite a bit in the next couple weeks, and even though it's not for pleasure or fun, it has me thinking about the summer trips my family has planned that are supposed to be fun.

And we're driving, not flying, which is great for me because I LOVE road trips. That's a bit weird, eh?

But it's true. I like the driving part, I like the riding part. Packing the car for a long road trip feels so much more...momentous and adventurous, I guess, than running to the airport to catch a flight. And as a kid, I liked looking out the window as we moved through small towns and big cities, through farmland and forests and mountains. My imagination would run wild as I made up stories about people who lived there. Seems a bit odd to me now, how much I lived in my imagination, but if I'm being honest, I still do that in a way. Only now I'll see something and think, wouldn't that be interesting for my current project or wouldn't that make a cool story.

So what about you? Have any trips planned for this summer? Do you share my love for road tripping or do you feel a little more like this on long car trips:




(Heh.)

 I'm doing this once again kind of quickly, sorry, but I am determined not to miss a day of positivity week.

I'm borrowing my positive thing for the day from my sister, J, b/c we're leaving to go to her college graduation which is this weekend. Yay! Go her!

And since I'm the sweetest little sister ever (*cough*) I won't be teasing her about graduating a year after I did. Slow and steady still wins the race! I'm so proud of her, truly.

Plus, I seem to have misplaced my voice and can only manage odd croaking sounds. It's really kind of creepy sounding, actually.

So yeah, no teasing. I'm sure she'll be disappointed. Heh.

Hey, TGIF and all that, what's good with you folks?

I think this is the first time I've posted regularly on my blog in months. Does that count as a positive? No?

I woke up sick today. So my positive thing is...I showed up?

Yeah, okay it's kind of lame, isn't it? I don't think it counts when you have what is likely just a cold.

But it made me think about other situations and I do want to say for the record that yes, I do think just showing up can be a positive thing. When things are tough and you think that's all you can manage, or you doubt you can even manage that but you do it anyways. You show up. Go you. Be proud.

Anywho, since it's just a cold and I don't think I really deserve points for showing up, I'm going with...chicken soup.

Yes, my positive thing for the day is the chicken soup I just had for lunch. Maybe it's just the comfort thing, but it always makes me feel better when I'm sick (if I can eat, of course).

And now I'm going to climb back into my bed and watch Anne of Green Gables, which also never fails to make me feel better.

But please carry on today's positivity, folks!

So for the second day of positivity week, I had a surprise visit from my sister, K, and my youngest nephew and niece.

Granted they only live 20 min away and I spend a huge amount of time at their house, but it's still a big deal. It's kind of like packing up the mountain to go see Mohammad. It's pretty shocking. K is totally preggers right now, and with 7 kids, soon to be 8, it's always been easier for the rest of the family to go to her and save her having to wrestle the kids into the car.

But today it was such a joy to see them pulling into my Mom's driveway. I can't think of many things better than a "hug tight" from a 3 year old. He smelled like clean laundry, sunshine and grass, and I'm pretty sure a rogue bit of maple syrup the washcloth missed after breakfast. And I love the sweet innocence of a smile from a one year old. Doesn't matter what else is going on, you smile at her and she smiles back. A simple exchange. Joy for joy.

Not to mention, I'm not biased or anything (yes I am) but these are two of the cutest kids ever. And oddly enough--or maybe not so, since I look the most like my oldest sister--my youngest niece looks exactly like  I did at that age. A total mini-me. As I said, cutest kid ever. *g*

And of course I was in their face with my camera...it's a habit I picked up last year.

( Click to see. )

So what's something positive you did/said/saw/thought/received today?

 
( The reason behind my positivy week--just a quick warning, it's quite personal. )


So I thought I'd host a "Positivity Week" on my blog. Each day I'll post something positive I've seen or done or thought, and invite everyone to comment with their own positive thing. It can be anything, doesn't have to be something big or grand...something you did for someone or that they did for you, something you saw, something you think, etc. :)

For my first contribution to positivity week, I did this at my Mom's today:


( click to see what I accomplished today )


So what are some good things going on with you?

I wanted to put up a sticky post (ignore the year) to let anyone know who visits my LJ that I will probably be updating this blog infrequently, if not at all, in the coming weeks. I'm dealing with a family crisis, waiting for a lot of questions to be answered. There are a lot of things I just don't know at this point.

 Well. So much for my promise to blog more. 

Not much happening here, except it seems I'm struggling with a teensy tiny, erm, focusing problem. Which totally sucks, since I was chugging away on my vacation novella (tentatively titled "Holding onto Summer") and about 3/4 through I just...boom. Focusing problem, which I'm not naming in fear that I'll have to face up to it being ThatWhichWillNotBeNamed.

I have the urge to look over my shoulder now.

*cough*

Anyways, so in lieu of me actually saying anything interesting I thought I'd ask what ya'll are reading these days. Or if you're an author, what you're working on, or better yet, if you have a new release out these days.

My TBR list looks a little like this these days:




Heh. Just Kidding. Kind of. That's only my print TBR, and since I mostly read digital these days...my TBR folder has 171 files in it.

Srsly.

So I've been trying out this Twitter thing in the last week or so.

The verdict? Perfect if you want to waste time chat with people. I find I quite enjoy it, though I'm not quite sure how useful it is from a marketing standpoint.

But it's fun. Maybe not as fun as what my characters were doing this morning (*big cheesy wink*), but as a writer you take what you can get.

So if you want to see what I'm tweeting about, you can check it out here: http://twitter.com/DakotaFlint

I thought this was funny though:

I probably sound like a broken record, but...I know it's been a while since I've blogged regularly. I'm not quite sure what my deal is, other than I always seem to be so busy and LJ posts are the first thing to get postponed. Or maybe I've just lost my blogging enthusiasm? Or should I say (hopefully) temporarily misplaced it? Either way I'm hoping to get back into the habit of blogging more regularly now, so I hope you all will bear with me a little longer.

So what have I been up to lately? Writing, of course. Law school applications. (They were eating my life!) And basketball.

Yes, you read that correctly. I love college baskbetball and it's tourney time. The time for face paint and beer practically oozing from your pores, the time for school fight songs and screaming yourself hoarse, the time for bracket pools and game parties, the time for underdogs and incredible stories of triumph. Is March not one of the best months ever?

Take last night for example. My team, Syracuse (18), played UConn (3) in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tourney. Everyone thought UConn would win, but Syracuse won instead. After SIX overtimes. 

Yes, you read that right, too. SIX. It boggles the mind. By the 6th overtime, most of our starters had fouled out and the guys who hadn't were literally drooping, the exhaustion pouring off of them along with the sweat. But they just wouldn't quit (and neither will ESPN...they're replaying the "instant classic" again and again today). All those players, on both teams, left it all on the court, pushing themselves for more, and more, and then still more.

Is it any wonder why I'm such a fan? I mean, look at that heart. You just don't get that in your every day professional bball game.

And you know, it got me thinking. (Yeah, yeah, yeah...that's where the smoke smell is coming from, I know. Heh.) Thinking about writing in general and romance specifically (a natural progression from basketball and uber-fanness). And I realized that some of my favorite re-read romances are ones that maybe aren't what I consider technically perfect--they could use some tightening here or there, or this plot point is kind of weak. But in the end that doesn't seem to matter to me, because they have heart, that indefinable something that keeps me glued to every page--even the imperfect ones. And so I forgive the missteps and they go on my keeper shelf anyways. Imperfect joys.

So yeah...that's what I'm thinking about today. Romance and basketball. A flippin' winning combo if I ever heard one.

What about you? What's on your mind?

So last night I had the TV on in the background and I happened to glance up at the words, "California. Find yourself here."

Then they flashed the Governator and other celebs talking about how great CA is.

And...that was it.

Uh....

I'm guessing they want people to go visit (tourist $). But I can honestly say it was kind of weird. I've never seen a commercial like that on my TV for another state. Cities, yeah sometimes if they're promoting something--like Orlando and Disney World. 

But never another state just saying, "Hey you should be here."

And isn't CA kind of like...um...imploding or something? 

Hmmmm. Strange doings...

I'm not usually one to pimp another author's interview when the author isn't me and I didn't do the interview...

BUT I do like to pimp laughs and they're free, so if you have a moment you can hop on over to the interview of Ethan Day over at Stormy Glenn's blog...and tell me this guy doesn't make you laugh! His response to one of the questions made me choke with laughter and diet coke--and if you're thinking that's as unattractive as it sounds, you're right! I was coughing, laughing, gasping, diet coke was everywhere and tears were running down my face.

But it was the best choke I ever had! (Ha.)

What is it about men at work and the uniforms they wear? What makes them so sexy? So yummy? So hot? So drool-worthy? So...well, you get the picture.

I'm guest blogging about that very thing  over at Jeanne Barrack's The Sweet Flag today, talking about a few of my favorite men in uniform and why I think they're so attractive.

So feel free to stop over and tell me why you think uniforms are sexy (or not, if that's your cup of tea) and what uniform really gets your heart pounding. ;)