Dennie's Thoughts
A blog of random musings and events for published author

Denise Belinda McDonald

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!
The contract's signed and in … so I can announce…

I sold another book to Samhain~ WOOHOO!

It will be out in “E” in early 2009 and in print in late 2009.


It is a Contemporary western-ish novel set in Wyoming. (Cowboys, horses and bad guys OH MY!)

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Monday, May 19, 2008
TRADING FACES (updated)


“Trading Faces” by Denise Belinda McDonald
ISBN: 1-60504-125-4
Length: Novel
Price: 5.50

Publication Date: August 5, 2008

Cover art by Angela Waters



There are worse things than winding up dead…

With her ex-husband’s death, Elyse Cabot thinks she’s permanently off the emotional roller coaster…until he turns up posing as his twin brother—the real victim of foul play—at his funeral. Before she can get any answers out of him, he’s gone, leaving her with more questions than closure.

And a fortune in loose diamonds.

To her relief, a face from the past agrees to help her uncover the truth behind her newly acquired rocks. Private investigator Jack Walling has come a long way from the awkward geek she brushed off in high school. Such a long way, she discovers an inconvenient truth: There are worse things than winding up dead. Like falling head over heels for the hunky P.I.

Seeing Elyse again brings back a lot of hot, sweaty teenage memories for Jack. Then she opens her mouth and out comes some cockamamie story about diamonds and double crossing. So much for rekindling an old flame. Still, he just can’t seem to resist the lure of this dame in distress.

He just hopes he can solve the case before he does something stupid—like fall in love.

Warning, this title contains the following: Twins, explicit sex, graphic language, some rock ’em sock ’em violence, and did we mention diamonds?
Thursday, May 15, 2008
New Book!

My new release is up on Samhain’s website . . . WOOHOO!!




TRADING FACES

comes out in e-format August 5th


STAY TUNED for more info
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Contest
It’s time for another contest . . . .

Check out my CONTEST page and you too could be the proud owner of one of 20+ prizes

WOOHOO!!!

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Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Blog suckage
No . . . not a hard word to spell. Only two little letters. But apparently to say no would be the end of the world. Ames has been trying in vain to get me to say no. But it hasn’t took yet.

Conferences, contests and commitments OH MY!

I will say, I have learned to turn deaf ears and prentend I don’t hear the voices around me talking about what’s going on. But as for the previous yeses, I am up to my ass in calling hotels, calling speakers, calling judges–not to mention the stuff the kiddos need done.

Don’t even ask if I am writing. grrrrrrrrrr

I should be blogging again. . . in June GAW!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The Spoiled Under 30 Crowd
Written by an over-30er
If you are 30 or older, you will think this is hilarious!!!! If not,your parents will!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tediousdiatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; whatwith walking twenty-five miles to school every morning …. Uphill BOTH ways ..

Yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in heck I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hardI had it and how easy they’ve got it!

But now that…
I’m over the ripe old age of thirty, I can’t help but look around andnotice the youth of today. You’ve got it so easy! I mean, compared to mychildhood, you live in a dang Utopia! And I hate to say it but youkids today you don’t know how good you’ve got it!

1. When I was a kid, we didn’t have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the dang library and look it up ourselves… In the card catalog!! (Do you even know what a card catalog is? Didn’t think so!)

2. There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter… With a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

3. There were no MP3’s or Napsters! If you wanted to steal music, youhad to hitchhike to the dang record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and mess it all up! (The author forgot that those of us in our 20s had a compromise: copying CDs to cassettes, which took all day long.)

4. We didn’t have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phoneand somebody else called they got a busy signal, that’s it!

5. And we didn’t have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang,you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss,your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn’t know!!!You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

6. We didn’t have any fancy Sony Playstation video games withhigh-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like“Space Invaders” and “asteroids” and the graphics were horrible! Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And therewere no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And youcould never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

7. When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadiumseating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some oldbroad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn’t see, you were justscrewed!

8. Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15channels and there was no onscreen menu! You had to use a little bookcalled a TV Guide to find out what was on! And there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I’m saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons!

9. And we didn’t have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up, wehad to use the stove or go build a fire … Imagine that! If we wantedpopcorn, we had to use that stupid JiffyPop thing or a pan with HOT oil and Real popcorn kernels and shake it all over the stove forever like an idiot. (The author’s parents couldn’t afford a hot-air popper, obviously –they’ve been around forever.)

10. When we were on the phone with our friends and our parentswalked-in, we were stuck to the wall with a cord, a 7 foot cord that ran to the phone — not the phone base, the actual phone. We barely had enough length to sit on the floor and still be able to twirl the phone cord in our fingers. If you suddenly had to go to the bathroom, guess what we had to do….. Hang up and talk to them later.

That’s exactly what I’m talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You’re spoiled!! You guys wouldn’t have lasted five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,
The over 30 Crowd
Monday, December 31, 2007
Word to the wise . . .
. . . let your DH win against you in Wii Sports (Bowling) or you will hear, "You know we're gonna play again." Even when you keep winning and winning and winning . . .

but after a few rounds, he will finally make Heir play you (who whoops your ass--then whoops his father's . . . . bwwwwaaahhhhhhh)
me, a romance novelist . . . imagine that
I totally stole this from Lynn--thanks Lynn!







You Should Be a Romance Novelist



You see the world as it should be, and this goes double for all matters of the heart.You can find the romance in any situation, and you would make a talented romance story writer...And while you may be a traditional romantic, you're just as likely to be drawn to quirky or dark love stories.
As long as it deals with infatuation, heartbreak, and soulmates - you could write it.

What Type of Writer Should You Be?




Also, stay safe tonight. I hope you're count down is a great one ~






HAPPY 2008!

Friday, December 28, 2007
Thank . . . me . . . hehe
It's the 28th of December. Halfway between Christmas and New years and you know what?

I got all my THANK YOUs out today. Yep, this has got to be a first for me. On top of my game I am! 2008 looks bright . . . .

I hope you all Have a HAPPY 2008 ~ Cheers for the new year!



Friday, December 21, 2007
What will you be asking for?


I want . . . to sell to HQ.

I want . . . to final in contests.

I want . . . to write something from start to finish.

. . . and did I mention the cabana boy?
Monday, December 17, 2007
One week left
Have you entered the contest?

There is ONE WEEK LEFT until Christmas Eve when the contest ends. You too can win gads of gifts, a plethora of prizes, windfall of winnings, load of loot, a stockingful of . . . well, you get the idea.

Go enter ~

note: my fave song goes a little like this:


I can see me now on Christmas morning,

creeping down the stairs

Oh what joy and what surprise
when I open up my eyes

to see a hippo hero standing there

If you know what it is, you shoud enter the Carol contest. Don’t forget to enter.











Sunday, December 16, 2007
This morning . . .
I rear-ended a car, this morning, on my way to work. (relax . . . keep reading)

So there we were, standing alongside the road, steam roiling from my punctured radiator, and slowly the other driver got out of his car. And you know how sometimes you just get sooo-stressed-out that real-life stuff seems to get really funny?

Yeah, well, I could NOT believe it . . . The other driver was a DWARF, only about 3 feet tall! So, he storms over to my car, looks up at me, and loudly proclaims, “I AM NOT HAPPY!”

So, I looked down at him and said, “Okay, well, which one are you then?”

And THAT’S when the fight started . . .
Friday, December 14, 2007
One more day
Tomorrow . . . . tomorrow, I (well, not I alone, but I am just shy of FREAKING OUT anyway) will crest a milestone. My baby, my first born, heir to the McD throne will be . . . . {gasp} a teenager.


Can you believe it?


I was fairly young when he was born—22—totally gave my age away there, oh well—but I am feeling the pangs of having a teen. He is a joy to be around when his naturally inherited smart mouth isn't flipping a barb at his parents or brothers. And though he's been taller than me for well over a year, he's uber-sweet to hug on, when you can catch him.


Gosh I can't believe . . . a teenage in my house tomorrow.


Thursday, December 06, 2007
‘Tis a Writer’s Christmas
Wreck your halls with discarded edits –
Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
‘Tis the reason you bought the shred-it –
Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Drawn some characters who will sass you –
Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Throw it all away and start again brand new –
Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la


Tuesday, December 04, 2007
It's a Christmas Miracle
Okay not so much a miracle. . . but a REALLY good thing.

I sold another book.

WAHOO!!!!!!!!!

It’s another Romantic Suspense set in Fort Worth, TX, exploring deception, diamonds and deadly consequences. DOUBLY DAMNED will be published by Samhain Publishing. I have yet to find out the release date, but I am sure it will be some time in ‘09 ’cause I think they are rocking with books coming out!

I will update as I get more info on dates and whatnot!

Happy Christmas and Happy Writing

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