Nano Begins

So I had the bright idea that I would get up early and get started. Yeah, well that didn't happen. LOL. So I get to work and the internet isn't working, which means it's hard to do my job, so instead of picking up something new I'm fixing Evolution, to make it more YA like it was originally. 

I will get to starting with Mica today (meeka) and the apocalypse story.

Got to work this morning, hung my coat and a co-worker came up to talk to me and all of a sudden I notice this huge white spider crawling on my coat. AHHH! My thought was did I drive all the way to work with that spider in my coat or did it jump on from the hook I put it on. OMG. Yeah I should go back to bed.

Samhain Short

Check out that paradigms blog for the free samhain short with a sneak peak at Sei and the twins. :)

http://pparadigms.blogspot.com/

Have a Blessed Samhain all!

Introductions

So you guys know I'm good at rambling, but not so good at consistency. I've recently hired a wonderful lady by the name of Jenny to help me with some things, including posting on sites to keep people in the loop of what's going on. So I want to introduce her to you, and let you know that if you see her posting for me in the future, especially on my blog: http://lissakasey.blogspot.com/ 

She's legit. Her job is to help me get info out there so I can spend more time writing. I believe she's going to help me run a few contests for Ascendance, as well as get info to reviewers.

Tomorrow for Samhain, I will be posting a free short to my blog and to Paranormal Paradigms. Same short, just two different places to find it. Sorry I'm not going through the work to create a cover and make it different formats at this time. Maybe I'll be able to do that when Nano is not hanging over my head.

I recovered all three posters from GRL and will sign them and send them out, as signing the shirts did not work so well. Did you know it's very hard to sign material?

Live and learn right?

Coming Soon!

Seiran Rou knows life isn’t a romance novel, but he didn’t expect the honeymoon to end so soon. After a rough four months of people either trying to break up his relationship with vampire Gabe Santini or kill them both, now their own inability to communicate is getting in the way. Overwhelmed by his upcoming graduation from the magic studies program and jealous of Gabe’s mentorship of Sam, Sei wants to run away from it all. 

When he inherits his late father’s house in California, it’s the perfect opportunity to escape. But he soon discovers his father’s past holds many secrets. The more Sei learns about his family, the deeper he finds himself drawn into the bowels of Ascendance horrors. Even his bond with Gabe may not be able to keep the earth from taking him.

Pre order now!
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3332

New personas?

So for those of you who don't know how the writing business works, it's a bit complicated. When I first started writing ages ago I figured I'd use my real name and it would be no big deal. 

Well then I was writing m/m and there's some sexual context and just so people don't discriminate against me as a person for my writing (I know, lame right?) I had to use a pen name, Lissa Kasey.

So now as I am walking into the world of young adult fiction I'm encountering the same issue. There's so much fear in people that oh a kid might go look up my adult stuff and read sex (I was reading sex by the time I was twelve so I really have no qualms about it myself), and how libraries and events might not want me around if they know that I'm Lissa Kasey the romance writer.

Now I face picking a new name. It's really not like being a superhero and trying to pick a new identity. It's really more to hide, which I hate doing.

I really wish that we could live in a world where this wasn't an issue. That if you didn't want your kid to read about sex you'd pay attention to what they read, not bitch at the author for writing a story that might interest your kid. I wish that I could just be me and not have to put on a different name or personality to do my job. And I wish that people would just like me for just me being me instead of having to be loud and in your face like people expect me to be.

Truthfully, I'm more like Seiran Rou than I let on. Anxiety issues, shy, and introverted, but good at acting out the role when necessary. I guess I keep hoping that someday I'll get to stop acting. For now I have to find another persona to inhabit.

Updates!

So GRL is over. I'm home for a day and a half before I have to leave again this time for the day job. I wanted to update all you guys. I will be posting the free short on my website (not on GR) on Halloween.

I will be pretty much silent for the month of November simply because I'll be writing like crazy. I'll try to post about any upcoming contests or anything for winning copies of Ascendance.

I'm going through some weird stuff right now, so I apologize if I'm out of touch. Feel free to send me a message here or an email at my yahoo address. 

Thanks to all those who visited me at GRL. It's all your support that keeps me writing.

The Masks We Wear

The ingenuity and innocence of cats amazes me. Anyone who is a pet owner knows that these small furry creatures (or scaly or feathery) become our family. Mine are also my muses. I have three cats. The newest of which is just under a year old. My point in adopting her was simply to get my younger cat (who is six) to get up a play a bit and not beat on my older cat so much (she’s 13).

I went to a few shelters to look at cats, which always makes me feel bad because I want to take them all home. The problem of course is not all the cats want to go home with you. I saw a beautiful great stripped cat with playful tendencies, but she had no interest in me. The shelter had a lot of issues because it was a no kill shelter so they make you jump through all these hoops and interviews to get a cat. Probably better in the long run, I’m sure she found a good home.

At the humane society there were a lot of cats. Another that was cute, black and white but again had no interest in me. I petted a white cat for a while. She liked to play but was very skittish and again didn’t seem all that interested in me. While putting the white cat back and little black cat meowed at me and stuck her paw through the bars. So we took her into the room to play. Not only did she like to play she kept coming back to rub on my leg.

Now rejection even from a cat is hard and I’d had several that day already. But I took the risk and I brought her home. A few months later she’s really part of the family now and my baby Houdini. And she cuddles with me on occasion, but never makes me feel like I’m just an annoying person in the room.

Proud parents of cats probably know a lot of the personality of these creatures. They are smart, yet silly and sometimes dumb. Innovative, and mood, but funny as hell. My new kitty was a stray and I’ve discovered some fun facts about her that will likely come into play in later pieces as I write more about Sei in his lynx form and other shifters I have ideas for.

First off, she’s a mouser. Having had inside cats for most of my life I’d never encountered this before, but give her a fuzzy toy mouse and she’s got all the fur ripped off in a few seconds. I pity the poor mice. Thankfully there are no real ones in my home.

The second thing is that she’s a garbage cat. She used to live off garbage. She knows how to get in it. Knock it over, or even dig through whatever to get to whatever she may perceive as edible. This of course makes her very interesting to watch. She climbs on top of the cupboards to jump onto the covered trash and peel the cover off.

She can push open non-handled cabinet doors with her paws to get to food, rip open packages, push things off the tops of cupboards. And when I put her sister’s food bowl in the toaster oven to hide it from my always hungry kitten, she shoved the door open and slid the grate out to eat the food.

When they chase bugs around, or freak out when a squirrel is on the balcony, I love to watch their tail fluff or eyes widen, ears twitch, and back arch. They are very expressive creatures.
Unlike humans they aren’t taught to hide their feelings. They just go with it. Meow if they are bored. If they miss me the run through the house crying until I look at them and say hello, then they walk away content.

I suppose if I had children or lived with roommates I’d probably have more observations about people who aren’t hiding who they are. Since living with folks for a long time helps us let down our guard and forget about the mask we wear most days. Sometimes I just have to stop because I’m so tired emotionally, not because life is stressful or whatever, we all have that. But because the mask I wear is so heavy.

To my family I’m the independent strong daughter with no worries. To my friends I’m outspoken and helpful ready to listen when needed. To my co-workers I’m a hard worker who pushes hard to succeed. To myself, I’m a quite girl with a lot of anxiety issues who doesn’t like to stand out.
How many obstacles do we let stand in our way? Other’s view of us, our view of ourselves, our fears? Why can’t we climb on cupboards and tear up toy mice? Sure there are people who’d walk by use and make our tails bristle with rage. Sometimes the leap hurts, but who knows what good things can come of it.

I wonder if wearing the mask all the time hurts us more than letting go? Do we mold it, or has it shaped us? Can we ever reach that openness that we see in our furry friends? I think that’s why I like to mix up the real struggles with the cat. Seiran wears a heavy mask, but each month he’s forced to be the cat in form and mind. Those times are freeing to him. I envy him and will continue to put the mask down more often.