Apparently, I am an introvert

Despite my sometimes vivacious and perky nature, those who know me know that there's an opposing side that often seems nothing less than curmudgeonly. Well, I found out a few days ago that I am not a curmudgeon -- I am an introvert. I confess to feeling some relief about this. The article is truly wonderful -- if you know anybody who hates parties and would rather be alone than making small talk with others, read this article. It will tell you all you need to know about people who prefer their own company. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200303/rauch

DO NOT USE Hotels.com

A word to the wise: Don't use hotels.com. We learned this weekend that they do not refund you if you need to check out of a hotel a day early.

How do businesses get away with this shit? If I ever took money from a client and gave them nothing, I'd be sued. Life sure is profitable when you are a faceless corporation...

That's it! I need to get rid of my face!

Come to class!

If you live in the greater Sacramento area, consider coming to one of the two classes that author M. Christian and I are teaching this weekend!

One is Writing for Your Sex Life: Enhance Your Sexuality Through Creative Writing and the other is Sex Sells: Writing and Selling Erotica. Both are being offered on March 18 at the Learning Exchange in Sacramento. Separately, each class is $49, but if you sign up for both, you pay only a total of $89! You can register online -- you'll find both classes listed in the "Writing and Publishing section. Hope to see you there!

Now out: AMAZONS

M. Christian and I are pleased to announce that AMAZONS: SEXY TALES OF STRONG WOMEN is officially available. You can buy it, appropriately enough, on Amazon.com by clicking on the subject line of this post.

This is a delightful group of stories about women who, for one reason or another, you might not wanna mess with. They are strong, sexy, and sure of themselves. And all of them use sex in an artful way to stay that way. Anthologies can be great fun because you see how every writer has a different take on any given theme. The "Amazon" theme was no exception -- we got some great tales, running the gamut from poignant to outrageous. This one is definitely worth a read, folks!

The information on Amazon.com for this book, however, is completely wrong and there seems to be nothing Thunder's Mouth can do to fix it. (Welcome to the glorious, glamorous world of publishing, where no detail is too small to get right -- NOT!) None of the contributors listed there are actually in the book. You might wonder how a mistake like that can happen. Well, join the club. We wonder the same thing. Anyway, here's who's actually in the book:
Amanda Hopkins, Bryn Colvin, B.J. Franklin, Hannah Strom-Martin, C.B. Potts, Madeline de Chambrey, Felix Baron, Kathleen Bradean, Susan St. Aubin, Jason Rubis, Catherine Lundoff, A.F. Waddell, Tenille Brown, Chris Bridges, Mike Resnick and B.D. Faw, Jerry Rosen, Kristina Wright, Paula Fleming, and Connie Lawrence. Of course, Sage Vivant and M. Christian are in it, too!

M. Christian and I hope you'll check it out. It's great fun!

Weekly podcast released on new day

Apparently, the majority of the podcasting world releases its podcast on Mondays, which clogs up the ol' RSS lines, so I'm going to start releasing my podcast, "Four Minutes, Once a Week," on Wednesdays, starting today. I've got new sound equipment, too, so it sounds better than ever! Tune in! RSS feed is http://sage.libsyn.com/rss

Stop AOL -- they are out of control

Well, greedy, corporate AOL is at it again, looking for ways to "protect" you while they rake in big bucks. This time they want to tax emails (all of them) so that only the ones that pay the tax get delivered. Does that sound like an egalitarian plan to you? It sure doesn't to most of us. Click on the graphic below to tell lawmakers you won't stand for it.