Join me over at ReadersRooms.com on Friday, June 12 where I’ll share my ideas on story ideas and how we get them.

I’m still enjoying the new NBC show, Kings, but it’s in trouble.  It’s been moved from Sunday nights to Saturday nights, the place shows go before they are cancelled.  I’m really disappointed that the show hasn’t garnered much of a following.  Some cool things are happening:

• Abner, the head of Silas’ army, has turned on him, but Silas doesn’t know it yet
• David is more committed to Silas than ever
• Silas’ son finally admitted the reason for his hatred of David
• Silas misses the girlfriend he gave up to save his son

I’d like to see where each of these storylines end. I hope I get the chance.

Like many of you, I’ve joined a great many of the online social networks — myspace, shelfari, librarything, gather, and shoutlife. I’ve joined all of them but I haven’t been active. I’ve also tried to be a regular blogger here, but without much success. You know why? It’s too much work.

Facebook is different. Facebook is easy. All I have to give Facebook is a status, which is by definition short. I don’t have to add a picture to it to make it look better. I don’t have to go to a special page to do. I can post to Facebook from my iTouch.

I’m leaning towards focusing my efforts on Facebook and this blog while phasing out my presence on those other sites. What do you think? Which service do you like best? Where are you most active?

If you’re a reader, you’ve got to join the readers at APOOO in the APOOO Second Quarter 2009 Reading Challenge. If my plate wasn’t on overload, I’d join. For now, all I can do is wish.  Why don’t you join them?  It sounds like a lot of fun.

Yahoo!  This time my eyes are open.  These poses aren’t as “alive” as the others, but I think I have some good ones from which to choose.  Which one do you think I should use for the book?  Now I could have biased the selection pool by the ones I chose to show you.  There were 23 pics in all.

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Me and George

Okay, I just threw me and George in there because I like the picture so much.

Okay, I just watched the third episode of Kings and I think I have the major characters figured out.

King Silas is Saul

David Shepherd is David

Reverend Samuels is Samuel

I have to tell you that this show has me going to back to 1 and 2 Samuel to brush up on the story. The show is a modernization of the story of David so it takes some leeway. For example, there are some characters that I don’t remember from the Bible. I’ll keep you updated as I figure out who’s who and you can do the same for me. Show liberties aside, you can’t fault a show that sends you back to your Bible, now can you?

Has anybody been watching Kings, the NBC show that’s the modern day story of the biblical David?  I recently caught the first two episodes and I’m hooked.  My favorite character is the Reverend.

If you’ve been watching it, tell me what you think?  If you haven’t seen it yet, you can catch up on the missed episodes at the NBC site here.

I saw two movies this week. I went to the theatre to see Tyler Perry’s  and I watched  on cable On Demand.

Madea Goes to Jail

You know, I enjoyed it.  I laughed out a loud a lot and I teared up a few times.  Still, I was peeved with Tyler. Sometimes I feel he needs a woman to read his scripts to add a woman’s perspective.  He has this perception of women, especially career woman, that I think is one-dimensional.  For example, I thought the female ADA in this movie had a legitimate beef with her fiance and the way he was acting.  Unfortunately, Tyler seemed to give short shrift to her concerns.  Doing so, in my opinion, made her a one-dimensional character.  I still enjoyed the movie but I was sorta letdown that he didn’t do better by the career woman.

NOTE: The link and image are to the DVD of the stage play, not the movie.  The movie is not out on DVD yet.

The Bucket List

I enjoyed this movie as well but when it ended I felt something was missing.  I have no idea what was missing, but I felt something was. Maybe I just wasn’t ready for it to end.  Anyway, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman had great chemistry and were a joy to watch.  They should do something else together.

I’m getting new publicity photos this year.  So far, it’s been a fun, but rocky road. 

My first attempt was an outdoor shoot with a local photographer.  We went to a local park that gave us some great backgrounds.  Unfortunately, it was a bit chilly (I was cold!) and windy (my hair wouldn’t stay in place).  The photographer did a good job though and we got some great shots.  

Unfortunately, my eyes were closed on many of them! I so hated that because I loved some of those shots.  The cost for the shoot was pretty inexpensive.  I paid $54, including tip, to get my makeup done at a local spa prior to the shoot and then the photographer only charged $50 for a CD of all the pictures, including the copyright release.  

My second attempt was a trip to the chain photographer in a local department store yesterday.  This shoot was inside and the photographer was great.  This time my fiance, George, went with me because we needed some shots together.  We had a great time!  

Having the “closed eye” experience behind me, we took particular care to make sure my eyes were open.  We were successful on some shots, but unsuccessful on others. Fortunately, we found the winning shot on sixth take.  I really love that picture!

Then it was time for George and me to take some shots.  We took a couple of shots using the top I wore for the publicity shots and then some in another top.  This time we came up with several winning shots and poses.

The cost for this shoot was also pretty inexpensive. I scheduled an appointment to get my make-up done at one of the make-up counters in the department store.  In exchange, I had to purchase two items.  I chose lipstick ($15) and concealer ($15).  The make-artist had used the concealer on my eyelids to give me eyes a more open look, which was a great trick that I’m going to try myself.  I ending up spending $61 in all because I just had to have the $30 brush that she used to apply the foundation.

The photo costs ended up at $100.90.  But look at what we got:

a 10X13 of me and George (one pose)

a 10X13 3-picture montage of me of George: one picture of us together, one of him, and then one of me. (three poses)

a framed set of George and me in different pictures, but similar poses (two poses)

a set of pictures of me: one 8X10, 2-5X7s, 4 wallet (one pose, the one I’m going to use for the publicity photo)

a set of pictures of George: one 8X10, 2-5X7s, 4 wallet (one pose)

a CD of all the poses with the copyright release

I know it sounds too good to be true because that’s how it sounded to me.  Fortunately for us, there was a 50% off sale going on.  The pictures should be back in two weeks, which seems a long time to me in the digital age but what can I do?

I’ve used some of the pictures from the first shoot in this post. I’ll post the new pictures when they’re available.

NOTE: I have a “lazy eye” that always causes me problems with pictures.  Couple that with a huge smile and my full cheeks and it’s “eyes are closed” time.

Francis Ray hit a double whammy this week.  Her newest release, , reached 144 on the USA Today Top 150 Books List for the week of March 12, 2009 for sales ending March 8.  If you don’t see her on the list, just put her name in the search box and her name will come up. If that wasn’t news enough, she also made the NY Times Extended List at #32 for the week of March 13, 2009 for sales through March 7.

As a someone who started writing around the same time Francis did and someone who has known her for quite a while, I celebrate this victory with her.  As I told her on the phone, while I am happy for her, I’m also encouraged for what her victory means to authors like me.  

I remember back in the day when we started writing, we would often dream of the day we’d make the Times list.  It was a dream we shared — not just me and Francis - but a bunch of us romance writers who started writing for Pinnacle Arabesque back in the mid-nineties.  It is refreshing and inspiring to see those dreams come true for Francis. It begs the question:  Who’s next?

It’s important to note that Francis is the second author of our generation to make the Times list. Brenda Jackson’s Irresistible Forces made the list in May 2008, reaching #34. Brenda also made the USA Today list with another book, Slow Burn, which reached #117 in November 2007.

So today is a great day for romance writers, especially those of my generation.  To those ladies, I ask, who’s next?