Romance Is in the Air

I don’t know what happened this month. Maybe Mercury was in retrograde or Pluto was eclipsing into Uranus, but I totally forgot to do one of my favorite things: check out my Susan Miller horoscope on the first of the month. 

So I just checked it out, and guess what I found out: tomorrow is one of my most romantic days of the month. Tomorrow! I have so little time to prepare. Where did I put that Courvoisier? Where are those Barry White albums?

Well, I am no astrologer, but I can predict a day that has romantic potential for all of you: Jan 11, 2014. 

On January 11 of next year, I will be giving a grammar workshop for the Orange County Chapter Romance Writers of America. One thing I will be discussing is why grammar is important to literary agents, literary agents’ grammar pet peeves, and the most common grammar errors they encounter. 

In preparation, I have been contacting agents and collecting data, and since many of you are writers, I thought one particular pet peeve might interest you. One agent said that it “drives her nuts” when writers use “as per your request.”

The correct form is “per your request.” You can also use “as you requested.”

Oh, and I read all of your horoscopes, and they all said you will be attending a romance grammar workshop on January 11, 2014.

See you then!

Ghosts, Not Grammar

Author and blog friend James Garcia Jr., whom many of you know from his Dance on Fire blog, has written a paranormal romance, Seeing Ghosts. It’s tentatively set for a June 5 release. 

So basically that means I have to wait almost a month to find out exactly what a paranormal romance is. The more I think about it, the more I like it. If such a thing actually exists and I can tap into it, I am pretty sure it means I could have a romance with the ghost of young Paul Newman or Marlon Brando. Does it count as cheating if it’s with a ghost? I don’t think so. 

And I could start a dating website called eHarMOANy.com. Get it? Because ghosts moan.Fine, I'll work on the name.

Based upon the cover art shown above, James' book seems pretty sexy.

And the blurb sounds intriguing too:

Paul Herrera finds himself bequeathed a mysterious old house near the California central coast by a deceased aunt he never knew. The woman who shows it to him is the spitting image of his wife, taken from him three years before in a senseless car accident which also took his unborn son. While he deals with the ghosts of a past he cannot let go, there are new ghosts Paul must deal with - alone for the week in the expansive two-storey house that he will soon discover holds many secrets. Eventually, he will see that he is surrounded by ghosts as he struggles to hold onto the only thing that he has left in this world - his sanity.

So no grammar lesson today, ladies and gentlemen. I just wanted to let you know about James’ newest book.

Oh, and who would you have your paranormal romance with?