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My home page consists of posts mainly about my writing, excerpt, teasers, announcements, book cover reveals etc. I'd like to keep it that way. But I decided that for 2012 I'd like a place where I can blog about anything. My thoughts, rants, share favorite reads maybe even reviews. 

Blog post 7/22/12

A Few Minutes in my head! 

Warning: It gets a little hairy in there! 

Since I’m experiencing “pre-vacation excitement get-it-together but it’s already all got-together. STILL I can’t seem to think long enough to be creative” I decided to do something I don't do enough and blog instead.

What shall I blog about? What about the million things I have going on in my head all the time?  On top of the usual stuff normal people my age think about during the summer, vacations, back-to-school shopping for the teens, my aging parents needing a vacation also, the landscaping, bills, what to bbq tonight? etc etc. I also have my many many stories and characters begging to be written and other new stories and yes even entire series popping up in there.

So let me think aloud for a moment here but I’ll warn you first. You may walk away dizzy. And I really do talk to myself like this and even argue sometimes. But I’m not crazy. *shifty eyes*

First of all Fate is heating up and of course this happens just as I am scattering to get everything ready for my big summer trip to Maui in a few days. Too much on my mind to concentrate on writing such an explosive scene—yes the “shit hit the fan scene.” Last scene I wrote Vince’s dad was about to call Sal and it’s gonna blow! Okay so let me move on to work on a few of the tamer character building scenes in Hector, but wait what about that hot scene in Abel’s story that’s been in my head for months now. Let’s get that down now. Rowr! Oh oh oh! What about that idea you had the other night about the cop series? Cop series? I thought I’d decided it would be a standalone? Yeah but then there’s his hot partner and his hot headed roommate. But I really thought it’d be best as a standalone. Most of your stories read like standalones anyway. Oh yeah huh? And is it too late to get started on that Moreno Brothers Christmas anthology for this year or should I save that for next Christmas? Maybe by then I can also do a 5^th Street anthology. Hmmm then there’s Alex and Valerie’s bonus scene we are at 85 reviews now. It’s getting close. What about that next bonus you’ll be dangling in the reader’s noses soon after you post the Alex and Valerie scene—the Romero bonus scene. That is going to be so much fun to write! But is writing a scene they’ve already read only now it’ll be in Romero’s POV really be that exciting? That scene will be. Man I’d love to be in his head the moment he spots Izzy with Michael from across the room. Shhhh!! Don’t give it away! Which bonus scene should I write next after that? Maybe I should ask the readers. No there will be way too many suggestions and I’ll never decide. Oh and I gotta get going with my Maui vacation contest post—seven days seven winners. That has to go up before I leave. You’ll have your laptop in Maui you can post it when you get there. No I want it up before I leave. I’ll feel better. But the Romero scene. Don’t you wanna start on that? Hmm? No the contest post first. Alright damn it! OMG I just an idea for another story! A series? No. Well… maybe. But there’s this perfect guy you see and he’s had the perfect life popular, smart, hot as sin, he even got a full ride to the school of dream on a baseball scholarship and then… 

{{{BOOM!!!}}} 

I’m knocked clear out of my thoughts! With my heart in my throat I tip toe to my kitchen to see what the hell exploded. Confused, I see pieces of what look like gooey brains? Or something, all over the cupboards and stove and floor. It’s everywhere! What the—? Awe hell!! I put an egg to boil over an hour ago and forgot all about it. <--And this, my friends, is a true story. This really happened to me a couple of months ago. I can’t tell you how many meals I’ve burned, ruined, in this case exploded because I start them and then get so incredibly caught up in my thoughts and writing.

So there you go a few minutes in my head. And I purposely lumped it all in one giant paragraph because that's how it feels in my head! Are you dizzy yet? I’m sure y’all think I’m exaggerating but this is what it’s like all the time. As I shower, drive, have dinner with the family you name it. Only time I don’t have a million things going at once is when I’m focused on the one scene I’m writing. The egg exploding thing reminded me of something. What about that story idea you had the one about the guy who gets in that horrific accident and then…and here we go again! *sigh*        

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Blog post 7/4/2012

Are you on GoodReads? And do you like to Vote?

Taking a break from cooking up all my 4th of July pasta salads and casseroles I was over on GoodReads and for funsies I decided to check out some of the lists my guys have made it on. I had to laugh because of some the names of the lists. Anyway I thought I'd share here and if you agree they belong on these lists y'all can go vote for them too! Here are a few and keep in mind you can create your own lists! 

Most of my books made these lists:

Books with Hispanic/Latino characters 
Young Adult fiction with sex         (blushes)    
Keep you up all night Romance    (Awe!) 
Read it over and over again.          (again awe!) 

My Dream leading men  
Book boyfriends
Hispanic Characters and themes in YA 
YA romance that blows you away   (so flattered)

Not surprising Just a few list my guys made these lists:


Most possessive romantic men
Controlling sexy possessive men
Best bad boy
Fictional males that make you squirm in a good way.   < - Alex...Romero ya think? 
Possessive men 
Fifty Shades support group        <- really? Wow!  
Stalkerific Romance novel heroes   <- yeah Romero again. lol 

And Sweet Sofie made some sweet lists

When friends fall in love   
Romance between friends
Best siblings books


Anyway those are just a few of the lists that made me smile. I hadn't checked out the lists in a while but I was blown away by how many they are on but not surprised at all by the lists my possessive guys made. Though here is one I was surprised NOT to see my guys on

Hot Alpha males   


If any of you agree my guys belong on that one go on over and vote them on! Happy 4th of July everyone enjoy your day and be safe! =)

<3 <3 <3

Eli







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Valentine Blog Post 2/13/12  

 First Kiss!

I'm a romance writer. So in the spirit of Valentines day, I thought I should blog about something romantic this week. I saw fellow writers posting about first kisses with significant others so I thought, why not? Here it is, my first kiss with my Valentine for the past twenty years, Mark.

We met in the early nineties when “underground parties” were the thing to do on weekends in East LA. You’d drive around looking for some inconspicuous-looking guys (or girls) standing on a corner. You’d pull up, and they’d hand you a flyer with the location of the party that night. It was usually at an abandoned warehouse where the DJ broke in and set up lights and everything. A crew collected money at the door, and everyone would party until the cops caught wind of it and broke it up. Then we’d move on to the next party. (Ah, the nineties! I so have to write a scene like this one day.)

At the time, I was in an off-and-on relationship that I needed to walk away from. But I was stuck in a rut, meeting guy after guy who was just “meh,” so I kept getting sucked back into the old relationship. My best friend, Amber, convinced me to go out and start having fun without the guy, and one night we went to one of these underground parties. Because of the potential danger, Amber and I would always park outside and stake out the joint before going in. For one, we didn’t want to be the only girls there, but we also liked to sit and check out the guys going in while listening to music.

We hadn’t seen anyone interesting. Since I’m tall, I’ve always been partial to tall guys - the buffer the better, of course. I was keeping an eye out for the big guys. This car pulls up, parks in front of us, four guys get out. Among them, a guy much taller than the other three, wearing a long coat that made him look cool and sexy, like the guys on the cover poster of the movie Tombstone. Minus the hat and mustache of course. I watched as he walked out and around the car. Amber, knowing me all too well said exactly what I was thinking: “Well, hello!”

I couldn’t see any other details in the unlit parking lot, but I’d seen enough. My eyes followed him all the way into the warehouse. Amber and I followed them inside, and the search was on. The place was super dark except for the DJ lights, and after about an hour the party was broken up by the cops and we all had to leave.

Disappointed that I'd never found my mystery guy, I was happy to see their car was still there when we got to mine. So we sat and waited and then there he was again walking back to the car, looking even better now that I’d had my heart set on meeting him for over an hour!

At this point I’m thinking okay now what? I didn't know it yet, but Mark has never been a big flirt. He’d always been the quiet, unassuming type. But one of his friends was a huge flirt, and he came up to the passenger side to ask if we knew where the next party was. We did. Inside, someone had handed us another flyer. Amber, who always thought fast, said, “Yeah, here’s the flyer but we don’t know how to get there.” This prompted Mark's friend to say, “Oh I do. You guys can follow us.”

An hour later we were still driving in circles, and Amber and I needed to use the restroom bad. This was pre-cell phone days so we couldn't call or text to tell them we were pulling over. So having no choice we pulled over at the next fast food place we came to, and they kept driving. I was so disappointed. But just as we are getting back in our car, they pulled into the parking lot. They came back to look for us when they realized we were no longer following! After many cracks about us trying to ditch them, and them admitting they had no idea how to get to the party, we were on our way to a different party. I still didn't have Mark's name at this point!

Finally we got to the party. Once out of the car, I met Mark, and we very casually exchanged names. At closer range I decided he was even cuter than I thought! Dark, wavy hair, hazel eyes and a very shy-but-sweet smile that would morph into a playful smirk every now and then, making my insides liquid. But because one of his other friends - the talker of the group - was chatting my ear off, Mark thought I was into his friend (who is, mind you, about a foot shorter than me!). The talker and I, along with Amber and the flirt, are stuck hanging out and drinking beer in the parking lot while Mark and his other friend went inside to check out the party. Grrr!!!  

Right then, I decided that if he came back alone, I was going to pick up my game and talk to him. When he returned to the car without a girl in tow, I followed through. As quiet as he was, he laughed a lot. By the end of the evening, I’d succeeded in getting what i wanted: his full attention. We moved away from the crowd to talk alone, and I gave him my number. The night ended without a kiss, but he was sweet and very respectful.

Several dates and many deep phone conversations later, we’d gotten all the basics out of the way, but still no kiss. Through these conversations, I found out that the night we met, he wasn’t even supposed to be there. Fate. His friends showed up at his house, honked and said “Let's go!” He walked onto the porch and told them he wasn’t feeling it and they insisted he get his ass in the car. He wasn’t even dressed to go out—t-shirt and jeans, so he ran back in the house, threw on the coat and got in the car with them. I also found out he’d never been in a serious relationship. He found out about my off and on again relationship, but I told him I was done with that guy for good. And I finally was.

         We were on our fourth date at his friend’s backyard party. Mark walked me into the house so I could use the restroom, and when I got out, he took my hand and walked me the opposite direction, onto the front porch, where we were alone. He leaned against the porch railing and pulled me closer, then asked, “Are you sure you’re done with this guy you were seeing for good?” I nodded, and he kissed me, very soft and very sweet. Then he did it again, only longer and deeper, and I remember sighing because I’d been waiting to see what it would be like and it was perfect.

        Twenty years, two kids and many many adventures later, we are still together and in my heart of hearts I believe we will always be. =)   

 


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Blog Post 1/14/12 Wow more than a month since I last posted here! I HAVE to get better at this!

Goals for 2012- 

First of all you'll notice I did not post this on my Upcoming Projects page. That's because I am not listing these as for sure things to come this year. This is just for anyone wondering what writing projects I hope to accomplish this year. So here it is in a nutshell.

* 5th Street- As it stands this should be a 4 book series. However like with The Moreno Brothers that was originally supposed to be 3 books, one for each brother things can change. My muse is funny that way. 

*Moreno Brothers spinoffs--Brandon, Sydney, Vince and Rose, and I anticipate picking up a few new characters along the way. 

*Nothing has been set in stone but I may also have a few short story projects coming as well. As usual I will post announcements! =) 

     

      

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Blog post 12/31/11 What A Year!!!

I wanted to take this time to express my gratitude to my AWESOME readers! I would have never dreamed The Moreno Brothers would become such a hit! Okay maybe I did dream it but like all dreams I really didn't expect this kind of reaction to it. I owe it ALL to you guys. I know my promoting helps but a lot of my readers have mentioned that it was word of mouth and many of you telling me how you tell all your friends about the books. You have no idea how much this helps. It's probably the best source of promoting because its from the heart of a true fan. 

Words can't even express how much you all mean to me. Waking up every morning to new comments, messages, emails feels amazing. This is my life now and I love it. I look forward to another year of new characters, story lines, teasers and book release's. 

READY FOR YOUR FIRST TEASE OF 2012? I won't make you wait long. Tomorrow on the first day of the new year I will unveil the name of my new series AND the cover to the first book in the series. TUNE IN!!!             

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Instead of waiting for the new year I decided my first post would be an end of the year post and this will be:

Blog post 12/30/11

MY TOP 5 READS OF 2011! Drum roll!

#5 

 I know, I know this one has been out for way longer but I didn't get around to reading it until early this year. Loved it! 

#4 

 
    I'm sorry but no list of mine would be complete without an Lori Foster. Rowr! 

#3

   
OMG Beau! What an alpha! He had me at bloody knuckles! 


#2

 AMAZING!!! Fabulous read! Talk about being swept away in a book!

And #1 

 Of course I have to go with an alpha male for my #1 pick and who better than Travis!!


I'd just like to say only reason Tammara Webber's books weren't on my list is because by now everyone knows we are critique partners and I'm sure I'd be called biased but I HAVE to give a shout out to her AWESOME! Between The Lines Series!!!