And 2011 hasn’t started the way we planned.

But that’s life, right? It’s all about the journey, the ups and downs and roller coaster spins that leave you a bit lightheaded and euphoric and topsy-turvy.

So what have we spent the last year doing? Unfortunately, we haven’t been writing as much as we’d hoped to. It’s that life thing again. It’s not that we don’t want to be writing. It’s that other responsibilities have to take precedence. See, one year ago my husband lost his job. The ever-changing economy struck his career field and across the state of California more than 10,000 jobs in his position were cut. It was scary, but we’d taken some precautions as the economy slipped and we saw other people in the same position losing their jobs. So in the year before his layoff we got our cars paid off, our credit card paid off and a bit of a cushion in savings. So while learning he really would be unemployed was something we hoped wouldn’t happen, when it came to fruition we were more prepared than we would’ve been. I took on extra work (hoorah for being a contract employee!), and although I now work 14-16 hours a day, 7 days a week, one year later we’re doing okay. We’re doing better than okay, actually. And we’ve learned to take things one day at a time.

Lisa’s been busy this last year too. When she’s not working on her very successful jewelry business, Twilight’s Fancy, she’s been employed in the Hollywood costuming industry working on such cool movies as Spider-Man. Yes, my girl worked on the spider himself. This is the major motion picture in the series that is rebooting next year. Pretty cool, huh? And when she’s not working on both of those things, she’s been schiiting with Schiit Audio. If you’re an audiophile, or you just want to see Lisa in solder/builder mode, check out the link and scroll down to see a photo of her at work.

When we weren’t working (and as you can tell we’ve both been working on average 14-16 hours a day, 7 days a week for the last year), we’ve gotten some writing done. Our goal for 2011 is to finish the next Hollywood Heat story and the long, long, looooong-awaited third book in our Talisman Bay series. We’ve got a good chunk of both books written, and we’re darn proud of them. So send us positive vibes that we can find the time to finish these stories, because we really want to share them with you.

In the meantime, we’re actually getting out and about again. This weekend, Lisa and I are attending ConDor in San Diego. We’ll be in the vendor room at the Twilight’s Fancy booth, where we’ll be selling Lisa’s jewelry and autographed copies of our paperbacks. If you’re in the Southern California area, we hope you’ll stop by and say hi. We’ll be there Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Then April 6-10, I’ll be attending the RT Booklovers Convention in Los Angeles. Lisa won’t be joining me this time. She’s heading to England to celebrate her tenth anniversary with her hubby. I guess I can forgive her…and I’ll pretend I’m not incredibly jealous. I’ll be signing copies of Lover’s Talisman, Forsaken Talisman and Driven to Distraction at the bookfair on Saturday, April 9. If you’re attending RT, stop by and say hello.

So that’s where 2010 and the first couple months of 2011 have disappeared to. But now we’re hoping to stop disappearing from the writing world for years on end. Thanks to everyone who continues to read our books, to send us fan letters, and to let us know we haven’t been forgotten. We love all of you!

Here’s to a productive and happy 2011!

My husband started an audio company and it took off like crazy, stealing a lot of my time because I’m the lucky devil who gets to solder all the circuit boards. The company name is Schiit. Yep, that makes my husband the SchiitHead. And he doesn’t even get mad when I call him that. So. Much. Fun!

If you’re an audiophile or know someone who is, you should check out this Schiit!

As you can see from the picture, I’ve got a new choker necklace…a vampire bite choker necklace…available in my ArtFire shop or from vampirebitechoker.com.

When Jen and I met in 1988, it was shortly after the Lost Boys was released. Y’know… ‘Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It’s fun to be a vampire.’ Anyway, I had a VHS copy that I swear we wore out because we watched it so much. Jen had to see it at my place because her mom wouldn’t let her watch R-rated movies yet. Eventually her mom made an exception for the Lost Boys because she saw how much we really liked the movie. I recall bringing the tape over to Jen’s so that her mom could watch it with us once.

Okay, why am I suddenly feeling old? That was only 22 years ago…

Ummmm…okay, so it’s been awhile since I first saw that movie and just had to, had to, had to have a jacket like the one Alex Winter wore as Marko. I dunno if it was the patches or the chains or what, but his jacket rocked my world. I still want one just like it.

But instead of tracking that one down and paying an outrageous sum for it (if it even still exists!), I have the one I made all those years ago. Well, I had the jacket already. I just went to town adding chains and rhinestones and all sorts of broken jewelry and stuff to it. The darn thing weighs 10 pounds now!

I worked on it all the way through high school. When Jen was into peace signs, I put one on a pocket. I was into infinity signs so naturally there’s a bunch of those on there. Our best bud Wendy was into ankhs so, that’s on a pocket. Carrie was exciting, so there’s an exclamation point on a sleeve. And Jen’s sister Laura…well…she inspired the question mark on the other sleeve. You’d have to’ve known us girls back then to really understand that jacket. But I still love it after all these years.

Through the 250 hours I put in on that thing, I taught myself how to attach all sorts of stuff to fabric…in several different ways, too. I tried all sorts of methods. Some worked far better than others.

Putting what I learned on that jacket to good use, I have made my vampire bite chokers reversible. Yeah. You can wear the bite on your left or on your right without having to unhook, unwind or untwist anything. Just flip the choker around and reclasp it around your neck. That’s it.

What I’m particularly enjoying is that while I’m making vampire bite chokers, I’m brainstorming about the next book in the Talisman Bay series. Without giving too much away, let’s just say that Jen and I are actively working on it and there’s more than one vampire…and a decent amount of biting going on.

Good golly, I’m getting excited just thinking about drafting the next scene. A big thing just happened after a couple smaller things which had an even bigger thing before them and right now, I gotta get everyone set for the beginning of the next big thing.

That wasn’t vague enough, was it?

I should quit teasing and go work on the scene so that the book can get finished sooner and ya’ll can read for yourself all the vampiry goodness…

In the mean time, check out my vampire bite choker at ArtFire and receive a Talisman Bay tote bag with your purchase, using coupon code TALISMANBAY during checkout.

I took this probably four years ago now. My husband and I went on a sort of California adventure vacation where we stayed at haunted hotels and went from LA, up the coast to Napa and then inland to gold country and all the way back down.

While we were at Santa Cruz, I snapped this gargoyle shot on the boardwalk–which was freakin’ creepy because it was deserted. We’d gotten to Santa Cruz mid-week, during the off-season. I tell ya, an empty boardwalk is surreal. I don’t think I’d been there since 1989 before the earthquake leveled the stage that was used in the filming of the Lost Boys.

My husband and I saw the carousel and then played miniature golf because it was pretty much the only place open. Each of us got a hole in one. Fun little trip I’d do again in a heartbeat even if the boardwalk is deserted.

Also here on my laptop, I found what’s kind of a rare thing… A picture of both Jen and I for the sake of taking a picture. Not because we were somewhere and goofing off, but we were together and our friend Donna was kind enough to snap a few shots. Jen’s so much taller than I am so she’s scrunching down. We didn’t plan on both wearing the same color though. I think this pic is about four years old as well!

Happy Friday everyone! I’m celebrating by wearing a floral polyester jumpsuit as I sit here sipping my tea and blogging. Find some fun in your Friday…and smile. I am!

Well, it finally happened the other day… I made a necklace for myself that I didn’t even know it was mine until I was completely done with it. The darn thing just ended up “right”.

I worked through the design while doing two other necklaces at the same time. I used beads that I liked, but didn’t work in the other necklaces…plus some that came into my collection a little over fifteen years ago while I had my second job, at a craft store.

Back when I first started beading (junior high), I used to make jewelry for me, me, me. No, I won’t give you my necklace or make one for you, no, no, no. (Not even Jen got one of my necklaces until what, 2003?) Somehow, over the years, though, they’ve become these pretty little butterflies that I want to fly away and be happy and flutter into other people’s lives. They’re not mine, they must fly away! I dunno exactly when that happened, but it did and that’s why I’ve officially started selling them online.

…And on Sunday, I’ll be at the World Famous Rose Bowl Flea Market selling for the first big time. The event Jen got me to do last week was very small. It was a great warm up, but Sunday is the big day. So, I’ve been building more inventory.

I’ve been wearing “My” necklace every day as inspiration. Good golly I’m nervous, but this week has gone very well. I mean, Jen and I are now officially working on Eternal Talisman. Yes. Book three in the Talisman Bay series. Yeah, that one…with the sexy men and kickass chicks. Uh-huh. And it feels sooooooo “right”…

Happy Friday!!!

At least I didn’t have any appointments today…

Yesterday, Jen and I got together because she twisted my arm and made me set up a table for a very small craft fair. Yes, she forced me to do it. Why? Because she’s awesome like that and because she knew I’d never get up the nerve to do it myself. We had a great time, I sold some stuff and I learned that yes, indeed, I can make a real go of doing craft fairs. Hooray!

There’s an old saying in the street race community…”Run what you brung.” While not linguistically correct, it serves the purpose. No whining, no complaining, make the best of what you have. That’s exactly what I did.

In fact, I didn’t buy anything for displays. I made the best of what I had laying around. I took a lot of notes on what could be done better, what I needed to change next time and what I should’ve brought. But I’m glad to report that I didn’t forget any key elements (such as my inventory!) which I had been terrified about earlier.

What you see on the table is also available online in my Twilight’s Fancy store. Happy Friday!

Although, I gotta admit the temporary hearing loss is kinda funny. As I write this, my desk is shaking because I had to turn my music up. Anyone wanna sneak up and scare the crap outta me? Now’s your chance!

Jen and I are doing some fine tuning to the website here. In fact, I’m supposed to be adding some links to all the Deleted Scenes from Forsaken Talisman right now, but I’m playing hooky for the moment… (Okay, so my head’s so full of goo, it’s impeding the recollection of where the heck I put that handy-dandy list of links so that all I’d have to do is copy/paste instead of geek them all out. I’ll find ‘em, though. I’ll find ‘em…hopefully before my head explodes!)

But it’s Friday. I like to celebrate Fridays. Just because I’m sick, that doesn’t mean life stops. I’m not wearing a full vintage outfit like I sometimes do, but my sweater is definitely, like, totally 80s. The tea I’m drinking is one of my ‘special’ ones… (Sometimes I really mean ‘special’ and sometimes, I just mean ‘too-expensive-to-drink-every-day’.) Today, I’m drinking the purely special ones because the expensive ones are too delicate to penetrate this little illness. Today’s a great day for jet fuel.

And since I’m also celebrating my big tortoise coming out of hibernation (it really is spring, I guess!), here’s a tortoise pic that Jason found…and added a twist.

We’re also planning on being much better at regularly posting here. We’ve been horribly slacking at it lately (um, lately being pretty much the entire last year), so it’s time to change things up.

Is there anything you’d like us to post about? Any questions you want to ask us? Anything in particular you want to know more about? Feel free to drop us an email or comment here and we’ll be happy to oblige. We’ve been thinking about doing an FAQ for awhile, so that’s on our agenda, as well as some posts about us as writers, best friends, hobbyists, fangirls, wives, mother, cooks, crafters, ghost hunters, actor, etc.

So keep an eye on the blog. Who knows what we’ll post from day to day.

Some of the highlights from my week:

–I won a Sony Ebook reader at Wednesday night’s ebook expo. You can see a photo of me (with friends Beth Williamson and Cindy Szolyga) and my new ereader over on the Beyond Her Book Publishers Weekly blog written by Barbara Vey (who is an absolute sweetheart and was a pleasure to see as she ran all over the convention, catching all the goings on). I’ve been eying the Sony Reader for awhile, and now I have one. I love my new toy! Not only did I get the Reader, it also came with a fun and funky purple and black skin and a Dooney & Bourke Reader cover and keychain. Click the link to see a photo of the one I got. Unfortunately, my keychain has gone missing. I’ve searched all my luggage and bags and it’s disappeared. I do have to dedicate this win to Marty Mathews, Samhain’s author liaison and all-around awesome person. Without her, I never would’ve won. She brought me the ticket when I was busy working and couldn’t get away to grab one myself. And she nudged me to pay attention when they called out the winning numbers. I even told her afterward that she should’ve won, rather than me, and she shrugged it off and told me I deserved it. Have I mentioned lately how much I adore Marty?

–Staying up until 3 am my first night at RT with my bud Heather Osborn, editor for TOR. Heather and I have been friends for-evah–forever being around 13 years–but I haven’t seen her in a few years. We spent half the night laughing our asses off. It was the perfect way to start my RT week.

–Going on a Pittsburgh adventure with Shiloh Walker and her hubby. Shiloh and I discovered we have something in common–wherever we go, whenever we travel, we collect books on local ghost stories. So on Friday we decided to get some fresh air and find a bookstore. We hit up Pittsburgh’s public transportation–the T–and with the help of some locals, we made our way to the mall, about 40 stops away on the opposite end of the line. We found a bunch of ghost story books, and then had lunch in a fun little cafe with to-die-for chocolate fondue for dessert, before racing back to the hotel so I could do my hour in Club RT.

–Throwing an impromptu party in my hotel room on Friday night. The hotel, as some sort of compensation for the awful, awful living conditions, gave everyone vouchers for food and alcohol. Shiloh, her hubby and I pooled our vouchers together, bought a bunch of appetizers, and invited pretty much whoever we ran across to join us up in the room. I was one of the lucky few with a fridge, stocked with alcohol thanks to my editor Angie. So the drinks flowed, the appetizers disappeared, and we laughed and gabbed for half the night. Plus I got to meet Smart Bitch Sarah–which is how she was introduced to me. She was a hoot! I think the most amusing part of that evening was watching JC Wilder roll around on the bed laughing, her head landing in the remnants of frosting from the cake Shiloh Walker provided. So if you kissed JC on top of the head later in the week and thought she tasted sweet, you got a taste of our party too!

–Meeting Laura Bradford, who is one hell of an awesome literary agent who represents some of my best writing buds, Lauren Dane and Anya Bast. I had a great time talking about the industry with her during one of the parties as we huddled in a corner because the room was so crowded. Ms. Bradford is one classy lady–now I know why her clients love her so much!

Honestly, it’s impossible to sum up the RT experience in just a single blog post. I’ve been home for almost two days, but I still feel like I could sleep for a week. But you know what? I’m already thinking about next year and what it might bring, who I might see, and the experiences I’ll have. I hope to see some of you next year in Orlando!