Good news! Daniel's paperwork is making its way through the Korean immigration system now. Barring any unexpected complications, we're looking at a probable arrival date of anywhere from 4 weeks to the end of December. The way things have been moving, we're hoping for somewhere around Thanksgiving!

Many people have asked so, since his impending arrival now seems like it's ACTUALLY GOING TO HAPPEN instead of the waiting waiting waiting, I broke down and did a gift registry at TARGET.com. I'm assuming it shows up at the actual brick and mortar stores too. I haven't registered at Amazon yet, though I will soon. Target and Amazon were the 2 places people suggested. It's been nearly 10 years since I had to scrounge up things for a baby, lol, back then baby registries were new and I never used one. At least I don't remember doing it, lol. Another thing that goes after 10 years...all the former baby gear one once possessed and whatever was left of your mind. The online registry ships automatically to our address.


Target Registry ID Registry ID: 014399700798550

Okay all of my crazed and fabulous readers! The paperback version of Shades of Blood and Shadow is now available on Amazon! It begins shipping very soon! Fabulous illustrations by the talented Tom Moran and 13 delicious tales of terror to tickle your fancy! JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN and Samhain!  Here's the backcover copy:

The palette of history and horror mingle in the hues of crimson blood and blackest death. The ghosts of the past mourn for lives unfinished, vengeance unfulfilled, and loves lost. The heart beats in a cacophony of anticipation and fear, echoing with the memory of those that once were, once danced, once believed.

Hues of fear, of woe and dying. Shades of death, of blood and shadow. Fallen women, queens, and angels. Angry men, ghosts, and devils. Life is woven in a tapestry of joy and sorrow; painted in the colors of pain, and triumph, and love. What artistry is found within the soul of every man -- some perfection, some wretched -- painted words and pictures of things glorious and of things unspeakable.   Angeline Hawkes writes with the fatalistic poetry of unstoppable history gone disturbingly wrong. -- John Everson, Bram Stoker Award winning author

Shades of Blood and Shadow represents only a taste of the hundreds of short stories penned by Bram Stoker Award nominated writer Angeline Hawkes. From ancient Mayans to the horrors at Chernobyl, she pulls you into the hearts and minds of fiendish creatures and tortured man. History offers up the wayward and the monstrous in this collection of ghoulish hues.

And some general blurbage:

Angeline Hawkes's … imagination seems to tend toward a Lovecraftian-meets-George Romero-in-a-dark-alley sensibility. -- Robert Butterfield, Necropsy: The Review of Horror Fiction

…Angeline Hawkes conducts an orchestra of creatures that are both bloody and sexy. You won’t forget this tour through historical horror; it’s a sumptuous smorgasbord for beasts craving variety. --Gregory Lamberson, author of Johnny Gruesome and Personal Demons

…every story is unique, and every story works. Angeline Hawke's writing is sharp, elegant and satisfying in the most deliciously dark way. -- Jonathan Maberry, Bram Stoker Award winning author of Zombie CSU and Patient Zero

Angeline Hawkes…conjures dark and dangerous experiences, satisfyingly horrorific stories seasoned with sly humor, historical epics slipstreaming into alternate realities… hellishly inspiring, fantastically inventive, a collection of dark fiction impossible to forget! -- C. Dean Andersson, Bram Stoker Award nominated author of I Am Dracula, Raw Pain Max, and the Bloodsong Saga

Here's a sample story and the table of contents and list of illustration.

Other News:

We received our I-600A approval from immigration. We're now waiting on the next necessary approval, our I-600. Also waiting on Emigration Permit aka EP from the Korean end of things. The wheels are moving, slowly, but moving! This week we were surprised with 2 new photos and a medical report. We really hadn't expected any additional photos as we received 3 new ones from his first birthday well child exam...so we were THRILLED to have new photos. Getting new photos is a mixed bag. On one hand, we're elated to have a new look at his little face...heart aching to have him home...on the other hand, we're struck with the poignant reminder of how fast he's growing up without us around! It makes us want the wheels to turn even faster so we can bring him home and start the bonding process.

I got a mold for Sugar Skulls for this Halloween. I also got a mold for the Easter Sugar Eggs...but the skulls are going to be cool. The mold company left out the back of the skull, so I'm waiting for the other half to arrive. Should be fun. Making the skulls and eggs is something I've always wanted to try!

Well, that's my scoop for now.

BIG Congratulations to Christopher aka Christopher Fulbright for his honorable mention in Ellen Datlow's Best Horror of the year 2008, for his story "Mechanix" which appeared in Bound for Evil, from Dead Letter Press.

This weekend is once again time for that most fabulous of all conventions, FENCON!! Here's my panel schedule: Friday  6:00 pm  Addison Lecture Hall Love me, love my neck! Description: What is behind the Renaissance of the Vampire? From Novels, to TV & the Movies. Some said it was a fad, but it's still going...

___________________________ Saturday  12:00 noon  Trinity 1/2 Meat And Blood Description: From Zombies and Vampires, people's fascination with the taboo diet in film and print. You might think twice before bringing your lunch with you to this one...

___________________________ Saturday  2:00 pm  Gallery 2:00 pm - Description: Autographs

___________________________ Saturday  6:00 pm  Trinity 3 Zombies. Vs. Werewolves Vs. Vampires:The Cycle of Fads Description: Interest in these paranormal characters seems to wax and wane - not unlike the cycles that seem to rule the habits of these paranormal creatures. What's hot now? What's cooling off, and what's the next hot trend?

___________________________ Sunday  2:00 pm  Pecan Discussion: Adopting an International or Special Needs Child Description: Angeline Hawkes and Christopher Fulbright host a Q&A on the process, the challenges, and rewards of adoption.

I should have copies of Symphony for the Forgotten. [Waiting for them to arrive via the mail] If not, I still have some Advanced Readers Copies that will be $5. We'll also have a few copies of the out of print, Blood Coven, by myself [Angeline Hawkes] and Christopher Fulbright. Our author table will also have copies of Spicy Slipstream Stories, Frontier Cthulhu and a few other books.

I won't have trade paperback copies of Shades of Blood and Shadow yet, but hope to have those next year for ConDFW in Feb.

In writing news: I've been busy querying agents and publishers for 2 novels. I have a 3rd ready to go out too, but I may wait awhile before sending that out as the other 2 are tying up all of the available parties that would also be interested in the 3rd. I'm also soon to be back at writing another novel that's about 1/4 of the way finished.

In adoption news: We're currently waiting on a September update on our kiddo. We're still hoping he'll be home in December. The cogs of the machine move very slowly and the wait is excruciating. Chris and I will have dvds, vhs, books, bunnies and lambs for sale at our author table as part of our fundraising this weekend too!

Some days all it seems like I do is wait...writing and adoption wise. lol.

In sewing news: I listed 2 holiday ensembles on ebay for Bleuette. And don't forget the adoption fundraisers of hearts, bunnies and lambs! I've got a Bambino gown set to list and am nearly finished with a dress from a 1930s McCalls pattern also for Bambino or 10 inch baby doll equivalent.

Yesterday I broke out the Halloween decor and decorated the inside of the house. Last year I was sick and we only really had decorations up for a couple of weeks, so since we got ripped in 08, I decided to start early in 09! lol. That and the end of this month is crazy busy with school and other commitments, so now was the best time!

Kiddo#3's bedroom is now mostly done. We have to do the closet rod/shelf, but for the most part the drawers are full, the toy box is getting filled up, the bookcase is getting stocked, and we can't wait to actually have the kiddo that the room is for!

So, that's my scoop. Come out and see us in Addison this weekend!

BLACK MERCY FALLS Coming in 2010 from Bloodletting Press

 

Christopher Fulbright and Angeline Hawkes are proud to announce that their new horror novella, BLACK MERCY FALLS, has sold to Bloodletting Press for publication under their Morning Star imprint in late 2010.

 

About the book…

 

The small Colorado town of Black Mercy Falls has a ghastly past. 

 

The folks who live there just call it Mercy Falls. And while the “black” part comes from the massive waterfall above the town whose waters run thick with black iron oxide, there are hushed suggestions that something diabolic is responsible. Tense whispers of the locals connect a list of missing children and teens with the old tale of Nehemiah Jacob, a mid-1800s pioneer who threw his deformed inbred children over the falls thinking that their deformities were caused by demonic possession, hoping the waters would cleanse their souls and release them to heaven. When he named the place Mercy Falls all those years ago, some say the waters were crystal clear. And when the darkness came, it came to stay. Is the waterfall haunted?  Possessed? Or is the town cursed with something that stalks its children by night?

 

Now the town’s namesake waterfall and the land that it’s on have been bequeathed to Lance Evans by his estranged uncle. But when Lance brings his pregnant wife and son to explore the inheritance, they scarcely have a chance to marvel at its beauty and settle in to the rustic cabin when good fortune is overshadowed by the dark legacy of Mercy Falls.  Pitting Lance against unknown forces, the truth is even more horrific than the rumors suggest as he fights for the lives of his wife and son, and mists of the past rise as tendrils from the shadow of tragedy that threatens to end it all, and take away once and for all the lives of those he loves. 

 

BLACK MERCY FALLS is the third horror novella by Christopher Fulbright and Angeline Hawkes, authors of BLOOD COVEN, which was released in 2007 from Dead Letter Press, and their 2006 debut novella THEN COMES THE CHILD, which was lauded by Gary Braunbeck, who said “if all extreme horror had this much grace, style, and intelligence, I’d read a hell of a lot more of it”; James Moore, who said it was “beautiful, dark, and disturbing as hell”; and John Everson, who pronounced it a “bloody good read.”  Please visit http://www.fulbrightandhawkes.com and the authors’ blogs for all the latest updates.

 

For more information about Bloodletting Press and all of their titles, please visit http://www.bloodletting-press.com.

 

SHADES OF BLOOD AND SHADOW, a collection of 13 stories by Angeline Hawkes, is shipping now!

Catch a review of the book at Pod of Horror

[if listening for review only, go to about 3/4 of the way through the broadcast]

Norman Rubenstein writes that the collection has "...relatable characters, interesting situations, plenty of conflict & drama...more than sufficient well-plotted & presented horror to keep readers sprouting goosebumps and running to turn on the lights no matter what time of night or day it is..."

He goes on to say: "The bottom line is that the book is filled with deliciously fun and chillingly entertaining stories that will provide hours of worthwhile reading at a most agreeable price."

First review...AWESOME review...of Shades of Blood and Shadow is in...Pod of Horror #55, if listening for the review by Norman L. Rubenstein, click a little past the half way mark. Very happy camper!!

Shades of Blood and Shadow ships this week!

Wow! The last week and a half has been a blur of activity what with school getting ready to start back up in one more week, writing/editing, and the news of our impending arrival! We were matched with a 14 month old boy [will be 15 mos on Monday]. Daniel Harding Gyeong-bin Fulbright will be home in 3-6 mos. It really all depends on how fast all of the paperwork gets processed by all of the various agencies involved.

My good friend since the dark ages back in high school, Pam, is coming by tomorrow to notarize all of our documents for our agency so we can get all of our ducks in a row on this end. Then it's sit back and wait until this form or that can be sent into the pipeline. Tonight we begin construction on the nursery wall. As soon as it's built, then I can paint the last mural and move all of the furniture into place, hang the valance, put together the dresser, and start putting clothes and toys away as they arrive in the mail. All of the grandmas and grandpas are on alert and a shopping blitz has begun!

We can't wait to have Daniel home!

In the meantime, I'm staying busy with all of the forms, etc that have to be filled out for the big kiddos for school. All supplies and clothes are ready and waiting. New lunchboxes await on the fridge. They are ready to go back. Kiddo#2 has already planned her "arrival" ensemble in detail. She will be The Cuteness as is expected. We're also getting ready for her upcoming 9th birthday here in a couple of weeks. All of the gifts are bought, I just need to wrap them and come up with the clues for the Birthday Treasure Hunt.

In writing, I've been editing a completed novel to send out. Sent another one out to a publisher and to an agent. After I brush up the one I'm just about done brushing up, I'll run the other completed novel through the "look over" machine, and then send it out. Then it's back to the grindstone on the new novel, as well as edits that should be coming in for a novella Christopher and I sold. More on that to come.

Sooooo, I've been keeping busy. Am hoping my tomato plants and cucumbers are going to start delivering here soon too. The jalopenos have been a bust this year. Last year they were constant producers.

Chris and I got back from the Dallas Comicon a couple of hours ago. Was packed to the gills this year! I scored a couple of Cryptkeepr figures and a Wilton spiderman head cookie/cupcake pan. Chris got some comics from his list to fill some run holes. Also a few paperbacks. No Buck Rogers figures or toys that we were looking for, however. Seemed to be less dealers, and more people this year.

Well, I'm off to work on Daniel's baby book and life book until it's time to start on the wall frame. Be sure to get your order in for SHADES OF BLOOD AND SHADOW   It's selling fast. Also will keep you posted on Inferno: Tales of Hell and Horror, also coming from Dark Regions Press. I don't know who the artist is yet, but Robert Weinberg  has written an awesome introduction for my all new horror collection.

Just a got a copy of Shades of Blood and Shadow in today's mail. The artwork is really exquisite. The Deluxe and Limited editions ship this month. There are only 13 Deluxe versions...one of my favorite stories appears in the deluxe...wish it was in all of the versions! "Darling Clementine" is a twist on the old folk song with quite a different interpretation of the events that unfolded in those rocky mines. All of the versions have "The Woeful Tale of Fiona MacLean" -- a haunting tale of a rather sexy ghost. And, another favorite, "Incident Beside the Striped Tent: What the Fruit Seller Saw" -- a delicious little tale about a not so very nice demon. I'm absolutely thrilled by Tom Moran's spectacular illustrations. The cover art is from the story, "The Highwayman of Epping Forest"...creepy little ghoul, ain't he?

In other news, sent off my novel, Blood Alone, and am fine-tuning another, The Pestilence, to go out this week. After that, I'm getting Comes the Dark Horse into ship-shape condition and sending it out too. Then I start back at work on my latest horror novel which is a collaboration with a well-known author (not Christopher this time :) ) I've been very neglectful at sending the novels out to publishers...I like the writing part. lol. It's the submission part that I find exhausting! Christopher has our fantasy novel, The Priestesses of Banitu, it's about 10-15k words shy of being ready to be sent out as well. Got 5 other novels in various stages of completion waiting for me....busy worker bee.

In adoption news: we have a toddler we're interested in, but it's another committee deal, and there are other families interested in him.....so we have to go to the committee [or rather our file does...we wait for the phone call] and they decide which family is the correct one for the kiddo. It's a nail-biting, emotionally draining process. Naturally, we have our heart set on the little guy...but if we're not chosen we go back to waiting for a girl referral. This little one was very appealing to us, so we deviated away from our girl plan. We'll see how it goes. Keep us in our prayers. We should know something within a few weeks.

In the meantime, the summer is winding down. The kids are ready to go back to school. Clothes and supplies have been bought. New lunchboxes are waiting on top of the fridge. Christopher heads back too. And with the start of school, the new writing will begin for me. Christopher and I also have a new major publishing announcement that we're waiting to share with everyone too!

Well, that's my scoop! Off to edit.

Eerie Books & Collectibles is hosting a book signing today at noon in Wylie, Texas, for Steven E Wedel and Gabrielle Faust in the first of their signings in their new Vampires vs Werewolves campaign. There will be a charity fundraiser for bats and wolves among the events. Come on out and see the writers!

Christopher aka Teh Hotness and I went to Bagwell, TX yesterday to do some research on the area for our Robert E Howard United Press Association zine. We canvased the town taking photos of this and that. We spoke to several local residents and gleaned as much information as we could. We also came away with quite a few resources and contacts, so that was excellent. I had a bad run in with a pickled hot sausage...who pickles sausage? Let's just say, I don't say, "Stop the car, I need to spit!" very often!  OMG...I didn't see the pickled part on the package. Just thought it read Hot Link Sausage...it was bad. Very bad. lol. Anyway, more on that later after the info comes out in our REHupa zine. It was a perfect day for it and a lot of fun!

Updates:

I've been busy working on this and that. My hiatus officially comes to a close on the first day of August. I have to make myself do these things or I'll work myself into an early grave. lol. We still haven't built the nursery wall. That is a priority before my writing starts up again. I need to have it finished so it's there waiting and I can worry about writing while we wait for the baby to come home. We still don't have a referral. Naturally, you and everyone's dog will know about it just as soon as we receive the referral for our baby girl. lol. I'm not exactly shy.

It's been a hot summer but with an unusual amount of rain. The garden is doing great, though the cucumbers have flipped out this year and have taken over...now if they'll just start producing cucumbers! So far we've had tomatoes and jalepenos. The strawberry plants are doing well too. We also planted 2 pear trees. They're holding their own back there in the yard.

Been doing a lot of sewing. I saw these nifty stuffed hearts and assorted stuffed animals created from vintage embroidered fabrics and quilt blocks and quil portions at an antique store and have expanded on that idea. I've been busy sewing hearts, bunnies and lambs, and also newborn baby shoes and plan to unleash them all on ebay when finished in a fundraiser called Sewing for Seona Belle Adoption Fundraiser. I have to finish all the things first. So far, I love the bunnies best....and the little baby shoes too, though they're the most complicated.

So that's my scoop really. Just been doing mom things and poking around at a few submissions. I'm lining up assignments and projects to start in on in August.

Shades of Blood and Shadow  from Dark Regions Press starts shipping in August too! 

Today, Christopher and I spent the morning garage sale-ing. I was actually looking for baby stuff, gear, clothes, etc. You know normally when you pass a garage sale the place is loaded with baby stuff. Everything under the sun. BUT when you WANT to buy baby stuff, the whole baby stuff buying spree is a bust. It's just the general rule of the baby universe.

We did manage some good scores. One guy had closed a smoothie shop and I got a whole box of like 1000 condiment cups and lids [those little 1-2 oz ones] that I use for Chris's salad dressing in his lunch for $5. Awesome. I got a computer printer paper box full of nice doll & build a bear clothes to wash and use as chore prizes/payments for Kiddo#2. I got 2 dresses and a pair of jeans. One of the dress was new with tags for $2. Never pay retail!! I got a handful of clothes for the girl child and a couple of dresses for future Kiddo #3. 
Found a cute wood doll bed to be repainted for Kiddo #3's room. I found an entire baby nursery set in red/white check for $5. That really rocked because all of the nursery items I'm sewing are red and white. Awesome! And, got a few baby Fisher Price toys. Oh, and we got one of those thingys you roll your hose around inside, a rubbermaid box thing that goes outside...hose storage? lol. Chris found some awesome computer thingys, cords and drivers and man stuff.

Then we stopped off at Paperbacks Plus in Mesquite and used some of our store credit. I got 2 adoption books and Chris got some books off his Master List that lives in his wallet.

Overall, it was a good garage sale day.

No scrapbooking today because I'm waiting on the last of the photos to arrive in the mail. Totally done with up to the last week of May. I'm waiting on 6th grade graduation photos and then I'll be finished scrapbooking until NEXT summer. Yay! It's an arduous process that takes a good 3 weeks, and a big explosion of paper and gluesticks and scissors and scrap pile in the formal dining room...but it's good to get a full year's worth of photos scrapbooked until the next year.

As soon as that is all cleaned up, the next project on the list is painting the nursery. Sky blue with white clouds, and select re-created scenes from the Fairy Tale fabric I'm using for the quilts, etc etc. Then the nursery gets put together. I have to sew the curtains, etc.

So, for today, I'm piddling about doing housework while Chris edits his new book. I'm still on the writing hiatus. Once the nursery is completed, the writing will be back on track.

So, that's my big scoop. It was sunny and blue, but now is looking a bit like rain. Weird weather.

Updates of a sort...I'm on a writing hiatus...that's not to say the inner workings of the publishing industry aren't still turning in my brief absence, lol...turned in the manuscript for Inferno, so edits will be back on that sometime this summer. Decision is still out on whether or not there will be new stories in the reprinting of The Commandments. I will, of course, write whatever Dark Regions wants. I'm easy like that. You ask, I write. It's an easy job description, lol. Shades of Blood and Shadow is posted on the Dark Regions site, but not order-able yet from the looks of the page.



I imagine that will be posted sooner than later. I have a Fourth of July book signing at Eerie Books and Collectibles in Wylie, Texas set for noon to close [ 6 pm]. Randy [the owner] has stocked copies of Symphony for the Forgotten, and anthologies - Beneath the Surface and Frontier Cthulhu. Should be a busy signing as all sorts of activities will be going on down on the Wylie square. Come in and see me!

So, new projects. As soon as the scrapbooks are finished [photo albums] and the nursery is painted, and sewn for, I'll be back to the grindstone. I really needed a hiatus. I've been writing non-stop since August of 2008. Almost every night. My brain needs a break. When the nursery is finished, I'll rest easier. I'm an avid nester. The nursery MUST be completed. For Kiddo #1 his nursery was finished 4 yrs before he was born...the cat was confused, she thought it was her room. lol.

So....Bad Moon Books has my entire Kabar series coming out in an awesome collection: Out of the Garden and Other Tales of the Barbarian Kabar of El Hazzar in 2011... Inferno: Tales of Hell and Horror will more than likely come out in 2010...so I'm covered. I have handful of anthology stories coming out as well in the meantime, and as soon as the hiatus is over, I'm sure I'll have a plethora of other story announcements. It's all silently churning....

In sewing: except for a few Bambino/Bleuette ensembles that I'm sewing while I wait in the soccer mom line at the school, the only other thing I've worked on is the first baby quilt for the nursery. Photos when finished of course.

Photo albums: .I'm up to mid-May in the photo albums now...I predict another week until finished. Then it's on to the nursery painting/mural...then the sewing...

AND I already have 3 tomatoes in the garden and 1 almost ripe jalopeno! Go garden go! The pear trees are doing fabulous as well! We had a minor front tree incident involving Teh Hotness and weed killer, but I think it will hang in there. He's been very diligent about rescuing it. He's rather the green thumb...this was a freak accident!

Adoption news:  We're waiting on copies of our home study from our social worker so we can send in our immigration form and start processing the petition to adopt a foreign orphan. Lots of waiting. I get sad from time to time. I check the baby webpage every morning when I log onto the net...always hoping to find "our baby girl"...we're on the direct call list now...so really, any time we could get a call. This is a lot more difficult than waiting while pregnant. At least then you have a focal point...this is nerve-racking. The not knowing. Once we get a referral it will be easier. We'll have something to focus on and then will just have to wait to bring her home. For now, we just have to wait and hope and pray. We know there's a baby girl out there waiting or perhaps waiting to be born...but she's ours and we pray every night for her birth parents and for her.

That's the scoop for now...school's out tomorrow!! School's out for the summer...air guitar! Woot! Mom Taxi is on vacation!!!

New Ebay auctions listed here.

New interview of me by Gabrielle Faust for the Austin Literary Examiner here.

Thank you to Gabrielle for the interview opportunity. :)

In writing news: Inferno: Tales of Hell and Horror is finished and sent to Joe at Dark Regions Press.  Robert Weinberg will be writing the foreword for the collection. I'm happy with the manuscript...here's hoping Joe is too!

In adoption news: We received word that our homestudy is finished and being sent on to our agency. We hope to be declared "Official" by the end of next week. We're now gearing up for the next big payment [hence the ebay auctions and more to come...Chris will be listing books, dvds and vhs soon] to the Immigrations services for our petition to adopt a foreign orphan.

In sewing news: finished several Bleuette or Bambino ensembles. Will get them up on ebay soonish.

In other news: Teh Hotness is finished with school for the semester. Yay! I get him for the whole summer! The kids are itching to be out of school too...they still have a few weeks however.

We purchased the boxed set of Full Moon Picture's SUBSPECIES series at Texas Frightmare Weekend a couple weekends past...and we had a full week of Subspecies! I LOVE this series. However, we're at odds with the director for his offing of Radu. The poor guy got the short end of the stick in every way imaginable. I mean...he was simply a product of his parents and environment...all he wanted was LOVE! I really think the director should bring him back in Subspecies V and get Michelle to fall in love with him.  Maybe his puddle of goo around his flaming body can grow him a new head...maybe a little younger looking...who knows what the shallow broad might need to make her see that Radu truly loves and adores her! Anyway....Radu would have had me at the awesome castle and the poufy black dresses and the jewels...but women these days! There's no pleasing them! Anyway, Ted! Contact me...I've got some great ideas for a spin-off Radu novel series!

I'm gearing up for my beginning of the summer, annual, scrapbooking/photo album marathon. I save all our photos from June to June and spend a couple of weeks doing the photo albums. I found it easier to do a marathon scrapbooking feat every year then hauling all the supplies out every so often throughout the year. And, it's fun to spend time with the year's photos!

This summer the plans are: photo albums, paint baby's room, sew baby's bedding/curtains, etc, sew a few dresses for the girl child, sew fundraising sachets and misc, sew quilts, and horror dresses projects...much sewing!

That's about it. Our anniversary is on Tuesday, May 19th, so we're going out to eat tonight to celebrate. Easier than doing it on Tuesday when we'd need a baby sitter. I feel like I've been in love with Teh Hotness all of my life...I fall in love with him all over again every day. God has blessed me so much with Christopher and his love. I can't imagine my life without him. I love you, bebe!

Read all about the convention here: http://www.texasfrightmareweekend.com

Christopher Fulbright and I will be there on Friday night from 5-10 pm. Saturday we'll be there from 10 am to 5 pm. Sunday - 10 am to 5 pm. There will be a horror writer panel Sunday at 3:30 pm  that we'll be on along with whoever is still there from our group. Last year the panel had a heavy attendance and went very well even though it was just me, Chris, and Steven E. Wedel. Audience participation was great!

I will have ARCs of Symphony for the Forgotten, copies of Frontier Cthulhu, Spicy Slipstream Stories, and Return of the Sword. Christopher will have copies of Blood Coven and Bound for Evil. We'll be a the HWA table along with the other HWA writers...

Horror writers in attendance will be:

[me] Angeline Hawkes http://www.angelinehawkes.com
Christopher Fulbright http://www.christopherfulbright.com
Charlee Jacob http://www.charleejacob.com     Saturday only
C. Dean Andersson http://www.cdeanandersson.com
Steven E. Wedel http://www.stevenewedel.com   Saturday only
Gabrielle Faust http://www.gabriellefaust.com
Joe Mckinney http://www.joemckinney.net
Kim Paffenroth  http://gotld.blogspot.com/
Brian Moreland  http://www.brianmoreland.com

Saturday is my birthday. I'll be 29. We'll be ducking out early as my bff is having a crawfish boil and it's yummy and an annual event.

On the writing front:

Got the cover art and interior illustrations for my Dark Regions Press collection, Shades of Blood and Shadow. Tom Moran did an awesome job! I'll post as soon as I get permission to do so.

I'm 1/4 of the way through editing/rewrites on my next Dark Regions Press collection, Inferno: Tales of Hell and Horror. It's been keeping me busy!

And there's plenty of sewing going on. Have cut out several baby quilts that will be getting sewn mostly this summer after I'm finished with all my deadlines. That's the scoop.  Y'all come out and see us at TEXAS FRIGHTMARE WEEKEND!!

Well, Ebay had a 15 cent list day yesterday so all the stuff [w/exception of 10 lots of 10x10 quilt blocks] got listed. This was the clean out of the sewing shelves which had to be moved from the baby room area. So, Quilt Blocks, Fat Quarters, pre-wound bobbins and the usual Bleuette ensembles listed on ebay now.

Yesterday we had our conference call which is part of the committee review that is happening on Thursday. Not sure how it went as we're not sure what they were looking for. Our home study social worker called a little while after the conference call to make sure we wanted this baby so she could give her okay on the baby to the adoption agency. She said she was calling them back when she finished with me. There are 4 families total trying for the baby. Which is better than the 11 we started out with, but still just as nail-biting as we don't know what kind of "competition" we're up against. In the end, we just want the best family for the baby. Of course, we hope it's OURS, but we know that if this little one isn't ours, there IS a baby waiting for us out there. We just have to have patience and in the meantime get everything ready for her coming.

I sold 2 Bleuette ensembles last week and with the money I bought a battery-operated, music and jungle sound playing baby swing off ebay. So far we have a crib [sans mattress], stroller, pack and play, toddler car seat [we have to wait to see how much she weighs upon arrival to determine if we need a smaller seat], and the swing on the way. My mother-in-law hit a great consignment sale and I've won 3 big lots of clothes off ebay, so I think we have clothes covered too. Waiting on shoes.

I laid out 2 crib quilts and plan to start quilting those this weekend. So, everything is coming together slowly, but surely!

In the meantime, I'm writing my little fingers off. Actually editing and rewriting still on Inferno: Tales of Hell and Horror.

Which, actually, is what I should be doing right now, so I better get back to work!

We spent the day putting in the garden, planting wildflowers and zinnias, and planting two 7-8 feet Barlett Pear trees. In the garden I put in strawberries, Jalopenos, Roma tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, and am going to start cucumbers inside before transferring them. Both Chris and I are afraid our bodies are going to freeze up at any moment! lol...

Been busy editing/rewriting on Inferno:Tales of Hell and  Horror. Coming along nicely. I should make my June deadline with no troubles. Knock on wood. Then it's on to new stories to add to the deluxe edition of my 2006 Bram Stoker nominated collection, The Commandments. So glad, TC is getting another run.

Been busy washing and folding baby clothes to put away upstairs. On the adoption front we got WONDERFUL news. We have a committee date set for Thursday, April 23. That means the committee that decides on the baby/family matches will be meeting and deciding if the baby girl we've fallen in love with becomes "ours" or one of the other 2 families [that we know about, there might be more in the hat]. If we're matched, our baby girl would most likely be home in December or January. If we aren't matched, then she goes to another family and we return to square one waiting for the right baby girl. It's going to be a very very long week. Please send prayers and good thoughts our way that this is our baby girl. We've tried very hard to stay distant and not get attached, but we've fallen in love with her little face and it will be so hard to hear we didn't get the match.

Okay...so I'm off to eat some chocolate cake and watch a movie. Here's a great old recipe orginally given to my grandmother by a very elderly Seventh Day Adventist woman in Loma Linda, Ca. This has been a family favorite for 4 generations and is simple and hearty.

Heart Throb

1 pkg frozen or 1 can [14-16 oz] corn
1-2 lbs hamburger [or whatever you have, I've used as little as 1/2 lb before]
1 14-16 oz can tomato sauce
1 large chopped onion
1- 1 lb [16 oz] pkg egg noodes [can be used with elbow macaroni, but I prefer the egg noodles]
1 3/4 cup ketchup [Heinz is our preferred]

Boil water for noodles. In a large skillet, brown onion and hamburger. While hamburger/onion browns, boil noodles.Drain excess grease. Add corn, tomato sauce and ketchup. Stir well. Allow to simmer while finishing up noodles. Drain noodles and return to large pot. Add hamburger mixture to finished noodles and mix well.

I usually serve with 2 cans of french style green beans [mixed with dried minced onions and 1 tsp bacon grease, salt & pepper] and bread [home made is best!] and butter.

This is great because there's usually enough leftovers for another meal or lunches to go...it never lasts long though...everyone loves it!

Bleuette auctions closing soon.

Finished the first draft of Inferno: Tales of Hell and Horror  last night. Need to type up about 3k words tonight [I write out short stories and then type, but type novels directly into computer, go figure. Ain't gonna fix what's not broken]. Edits to begin Wed. night. Woot.

Been cutting out bunnies and lambs and baby slippers from vintage linens and vintage quilt blocks to sew and sell on ebay. Already cut out 70 antique quilt hearts to sew too. Plan to group those into sets of 5. Have various pearl/mother of pearl vintage buttons to sew onto them. Since I did so many Bleu ensembles over the holidays, my inventory is stocked well for a few months to let me sew other items and quilt on a couple baby quilts.

The boy child and his classmates had the 6th Grade Pig Heart Day. They also had some cow eyeballs thrown in for good measure. The boy informed us at dinner that his eyeball still had an eyelash attached, and apparently some eyelid. We all responded: "Awesome."  Oh, life of horror writers...dinner goodness. lol.




Vat of guts and various organs & entrails.

No new news on the adoption/baby. We still only know that 6 families are undecided, and that we're in the running with 2 other families. Hope to know something new next week sometime.

That's the scoop. Off to start dinner for my hungry natives.

Okay...I set up a website to chronicle our adoption process

I couldn't figure out how to start the rss feed for this journal to appear on that blog without the whole 4 or 5 pages of the site I created automatically deleting itself...their free site has some serious glitches. Whenever I tried to edit a page, it deleted every page...when I tried to change the buy it now paypal button to a donation paypal button...it deleted all the photos. lol. SOOOO finally I got it all rewritten, photos reloaded, buy it now button instead of the donation button rigged up...and I just provided the url to this journal...so unfortunately, the plan to blog solely about adoption/baby stuff there is now out the window until Chris finds time to build me a better site. My website making skills are extremely limited...as you can probably tell by the site made, lol.

The site was not easy to figure out...was very touchy on the editing stuff and not very flexible about changes to the template provided. Soooo anyhooo...I recapped the adoption stuff up until this week and then added the url for folks to come back here.

Here's the update:

On Monday, Holt posted a new photo of a baby girl. I was on the site when they posted it so I immediately requested the file. They got flooded with file requests and closed her file to new families after only about 2 hours on the site! Chris and I reviewed her file that night and took Tuesday to pray and discuss it. On Wednesday morning we informed Holt that we wanted to proceed with adopting her. They sent out a notification to the families reviewing her file...10 in all...that they had until March 27 to get questions to them...then they have 2 weeks to decline her or decide to throw their names into the hat and "compete" with us for her. PRAY that no one does that. We really want this baby girl. So, we won't know anything for approximately 2 weeks. After that we should hear about when our file goes to the committee that matches the babies with the families. If we aren't matched with her it will put us back at square one reviewing medical files again. The committee wants to make sure the baby receives the best match of a family for her...it's nothing personal against the family if they're rejected.

Anyway, so I notified our home study agency what was going on so they could get the ball rolling a little faster. And of course we're still scraping the money together from various sources, mostly credit cards. Which sucks. But, I'm applying for a couple more grants today and for one low-interest loan. Fingers crossed. Prayers said.

The kids are thrilled over the baby. I keep telling them not to get their hopes up yet...and even if we are matched with her...it will be at least 6 mos until she comes home to us. They can't wait to have a baby sister!

She does have some medical issues and had surgery at the beginning of this month, so the drs are monitoring her progress of course. We are praying that she'll continue to get well and that she'll get to be our baby.

In Writing News:

I'm almost finished with the first draft of Inferno: Tales of Hell and Horror. I write my short stories by hand then type them, so I've been typing for the last 2 days. As soon as I'm finished typing what I've got, I am going to write the last story and wrap-up and that will conclude the first draft. Then editing/rewrites begin. Still...very pleased and relieved I'm nearing the end.

In Sewing News:

Still working on a fireman baby quilt for my friend, and on one Bambino christening gown ensemble to sell on ebay. Then I'm turning my attention to making the baby's quilts and room decor. A very kind neighbor gave us a crib, so the crib is now unassembled and in the "baby's room". Yay.

That's the scoop for now. Back to typing!

Very productive weekend. Much writing. I am nearing the end of the first draft of Inferno: Tales of Hell and Horror, and the relief is abundant. I'm looking forward to the editing/rewriting process once I get finished with the last couple stories. I'm very pleased with how the first draft has turned out so far. Very pleased. It's been an ass-whup to write, but whenever I felt the weight, I backed away and came back renewed.

Rain is moving in with much wind. Sounds like a hurricane outside. Maybe the wind and rain will blow the damn spray painted graffiti that says FLATZ off of our moronic neighbors front walk...oh, yeah, and those punks also are some way connected to the HATE and FLATZ painted all over the neighborhood brick sign leading into our street too...since I'm not exactly Hoodlum, uh, er, 'hood urban ghetto rap savvy I had to go google the word FLATZ...means neighborhood...now WHY it's painted all over the moronic neighbors garage door, sidewalk, and front walk is a whole other question. I GET WHY the little assholes painted the word FLATZ on the NEIGHBORHOOD sign...but...whatever! We have all these nice, neat houses then it's "Welcome to our Ghetto"....sheesh...why don't the banks foreclose on the houses you WANT the people gone from? lol....Our stupid HOA will probably take another friggin' month to get the sign blasted too...don't even get me started on the $30+k from the HOA that goes to some dude sitting behind a desk...we're told we can't "afford" a playground...that's because all the money is going to some dude or dudette to do NOTHING but turn on their voice mail and delete the messages on a regular basis. I HATE HOAS. Scams.

End of rant. lol.

Okey dokey...I'm off to do the stuff I do.

Have had the kidlets home this week. I love springbreak. It translates into: Angie Does Not Have To Drive A Car For 9 Days!! I Hate hate hate hate, oh, and hate, DRIVING. So, it's been a glorious week of no driving the automobile...2 days left til Ma's Taxi Service resumes.

Last night was a very productive writing night. Tonight and Saturday are also scheduled writing nights. Yay. Feels great to churn out the words and grow closer to the first draft completion of Inferno.   Bring on the coffee, we'll be up all night writing about monsters and ghoulies and sin.

Been feeling very stressed today. Assorted reasons. Mostly surrounding the adoption fundraising. When our income tax return comes in, along with what we have, we'll have half of what we need. So, we'll need to come up with apprx $12,000 in the next year or so. The stressing thing is we never know when we'll get the call that they've matched us with a baby...so depending on how much $ we have when the call comes in we might have to decline the baby until we get enough funds. SIGH. But, in other good news, we really like our home study social worker. We need to get the fire extinguishers for the house yet though...that seems to be the only thing we were lacking. Used to have one for the kitchen, but it got old and I just failed to replace it. Anyway...okay...positive thoughts!

Been cutting out a lot of paperdolls with kiddo #2...glad to see that she enjoys them as much as I did as a child. She's been making her own too and I always encourage creativity. She put together her own little paperdoll kit in a backpack and has been creating clothes all day. The boy child has primarily played games on his computer and PS2 [which is on the blink, but since funds are tight, he may bring one of his game systems from his dad's house over here until we've reached our adoption fundraising goal].

Well, found a recipe for Cracker Barrel's Hashbrown Casserole done in a crockpot so going to go whip that up and hope for the best. lol. Sounds like a yummy dinner along with some scrambled eggs. Though we'll be meatless as we're out of bacon and it's springbreak and...

I'M NOT DRIVING THAT CAR! lol...

I'm tired...it always takes our family unit about a week to adjust to the daylight savings time change...I once read something when I was a kid, well, okay, I read LOTS of stuff when I was a kid, but this particular gem said something like this: Daylight savings time is like cutting the end off of a blanket and sewing it onto the other end of the blanket to make it longer. I always found that amusing.

Listed a ton of stuff on ebay today. For some reason it says 47, when there's actually 54 items listed...none of the jeans/pants have shown up yet. Weird. Anyway...the start of the sell everything that's not nailed down fund-raising efforts to fund the adoption. This is just the tip of the iceberg...there is yet another pile awaiting my descriptive talents and photographic genius under my formal dining room table...and then there will be an All-House Clean-out following the petering out of this latest round of auctions. We haven't even begun to write up descriptions for the book, magazine, dvd and vhs pile near Chris's Man Room yet....the nightmare makes me shudder.

Tonight is writing night...looking forward to it. I'm so near the end of Inferno: Tales of Hell and Horror that I can almost taste it. Want to wrap up the writing so I can move onto the editing and re-writing. I'm happy so far.

Managed to get quite a bit of sewing on Bleuette ensembles done during our Movie Madness Weekend. We watched quite a few movies, some really good, one real stinker [Zombie Honeymoon]. Of course, I listed them on ebay already...except one, need to take photo and write up description yet. It'll go in with the other pile waiting for me. Guess what I'm doing tomorrow? lol.

Well, it's bedtime for kiddo#2. I've prodded and declared it Jammie Time...I hear the water running while she brushes teeth and the refrain from "Never let the water run" from Barney is now singing in my head...Damn Barney...even 4 years after his popularity waned and faded into history in our household, the haunting refrains of his chilling voice still rings in my head! Out, out damned spot!

Okay...off to tuck in and read. Hey, help me save a baby....go buy a copy of Symphony for the Forgotten. It's like Save the Children...only you KNOW the money is actually going to the baby in this case....and I won't play any heart-wrenching videos that make you cry.