Well ... crap!

I sent FWB off to Ellora's Cave way back in mid July and the month went past so I decided to ask for a confirmation of receipt. Nothing. So I sent another email, this one got through (a reply within 24hrs). Nothing. Nada, they'd received not a thing. *sob* A month wasted.

So I've tried resending via two different accounts. Sigh - nothing. Looks like bar that one, none of my emails are ever received. I mean, I don't mind them rejecting the work 'cause they don't like it, but being barred from the opportunity because their isp (server, whatever) seems to bounce mine ... that sucks ass, big hairy donkey ass.

So if anyone from EC happens to see this and feels like cutting an author a break and letting her know of an alternate email address to send a submission to, please, pretty please do!

Fists and walls

Authors everywhere are going to cringe at my next statement.

I buy books at the supermarket. Yes I do, they are handy, cheap, and I can hide my book purchases amongst the long list of grocery items and hubby is none the wiser - not that he would ever stop me from buying a book anyway.

I don't buy hardback - unless, its part of a series I have been waiting an extraordinarily long time for (years not months) and I'm unwilling to wait another 6 months or more for the paperback. Sorry all authors printed only in large size hardback, they belong in the library, not on my bookshelf. I can buy 3-4 paperbacks to one hardback, plus, I just don't have that much room.

That's why I love eBooks!

Anyhoo, that wasn't what I popped on to blog about. While I was at the supermarket last Friday, I picked up Alison Brennan's Speak no Evil and Hear no Evil, and in one of the books, the good guy slams his fist through the wall.

I also received my latest installment of Blaze - yes, it's shock and horror morning isn't it. I get a monthly series romance fix. I only subscribed when I found about about Blaze not long after it started (Otherwise I got my fix via eBay and HUGE-assed boxes of used 80's & 90's Harlequins). Low and behold, the good guy in this book slams his fist into a wall in a fit of pique.

And y'all know we are doing renovations at the moment...I am leading somewhere with this, so hold on for a few seconds more.

This got me to thinking: Why is it, in movies and books, when the guy gets huffy and lashes out to beat up that poor, defenseless, can't avoid it if it wanted to wall, they NEVER HIT THE STUD?

Every freaking single time they hit the sweet-spot, straight into a cavity with a nice puff of drywall as it crumbles around their manly fist. Not a single one manages to muff it and hit the framing, dropping to the floor with a girly scream as their now well broken hand wails out in extreme pain at being subject to such male stupidity as to think punching a wall makes it all better.

You know, I think I'm going to use that in a book. I can see it now. Hero gets all frustrated, turns and punches the wall, falls into a girly screaming heap. Meanwhile our Heroine is snickering behind his bad, eyebrow raised in a 'oh you so deserved that' manner, calmly pulls out the icepack and tells him "good freaking job, and make sure you make a damn good job of patching the hole, honey".

Feck feckity feck feck

Murphies Friggin law, 30 mins after I send out a huge bulk email about changing urls annedougls.com is back working again. WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT!

ARGGHHHHHH!!!!!

I give up! I HATE the internets!

So the long story short - both www.annedouglas.com is working again, but so will hotspicylove.com.

Ranty McRant!

So, I'm a Kiwi right - home of the corner diary (like a 7/11 for the USA folks) that is owned by Indians . Asians have the takeway shops, and us white folk (said with tongue in cheek here people) have McDonald franchises. So all in all, from all this, and years of being in customer service based roles, I shouldn't have a problem understanding thickly accented english...right?

EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WRONG. GO to the back of the line!

70, read'em, seventy fucking minutes waiting for a person to answer the phone. Then 10 mins of near silence while the guy tried to look at shit. Then 10 mins of me not understanding a word he said and STILL not knowing if my domain name will start working correctly and actually point to my website anytime soon.

He said something about forwarding (which I wasn't trying to do), then tech department, and an hour.

Now, I have nothing against the Indian dude at the call center. He's trying to do his job and is probably just as frustrated trying to deal with people who are ready to tear his face off after 70mins waiting on hold. FFS why, WHY are all call centers being shipped off overseas where they are hiring people, who are no doubt good at their jobs, but can't speak a clear freaking word of ENGLISH?

Main website still down...

But I have a query ticket in now! Heres hoping it gets sorted out fast.

In the mean time I am working on updating the site to a new template. Just got work on the graphics so they fit (when I do get it all back up and running again!).

I am also working on the new Authors of Erotic Romance site. Very much a work in progress, but hopefully we should have some interesting things up for new and old readers and authors alike! Give us a few weeks to get everything live.