Sick as a dog?

First of all my television interview went great! However, as soon as I left the set, the cold I had been so valiantly fighting really started to kick my ass. For the past two days, I've been "sick as a dog," which leads me to my question. Where do these expressions come from? Have you ever wondered exactly how sick a dog is?

What unusual expressions have always made you wonder or made you laugh? Share them here, and maybe someone will know the answer.

Latest news on my debut novel, Red

It's been a while since I've posted, but I've been busy:) For those of you in the Northwest Florida area, I'll be on Channel 7, WJHG, Panama City tomorrow morning. I'm being interviewed for their morning show from 6:00-6:30 a.m.

I'll also be showing up in a few local newspapers over the next couple of weeks, so look for me, and wish me luck.

Warm reception

I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who has emailed me or sent me a message on myspace. It really means a lot to me to know that people enjoy my work. Probably the best part about being a writer is when you get a note like this one:

"Okay- i'm on 133 and i would have gone further- but i had to put it down and go to bed so i could go to work this am(sign of great writer when u don't want to put it down) LOL will finish it tonite- Marco is yummy!!!!For any that read this comment- buy the book and read it you will not be disappointed-"

I was so excited when I got this message today. Thanks Kim:) This promises to be a stressful day, but the load is much lighter now. Knowing that people enjoy what I do makes every minute of my hectic schedule well worth it. Writing is where I escape from the world and become who I was always meant to be, a writer.

Red, it's not just the big bad wolf's nickname for Red Riding Hood any more. It's a new book from author Tracey H. Kitts.Check it out here and read the first chapter freehttp://www.newconceptspublishing.com/red.htm

Red is out!!!

Red, the first book in the Lilith Mercury: Werewolf Hunter Series was released this Saturday. You can find it here.

http://www.newconceptspublishing.com/red.htm

Happy reading!

There's No Place

Have you ever just had a craving? You know, for something different? Well, over the last few days, I've had a craving to write something different. For me, you can't get much different than a contemporary romance. I had an idea last Thursday that I wrote on a post-it note and put in my "idea" folder. Over the weekend, I started making notes on another story, but yesterday this one seemed to keep taking precedence.

On my way home from work, I was flooded with ideas. It was like a miracle. Once I got home, I thought I'd write down a few lines. That turned into three full pages of notes. What really got the ball rolling was when I accidentally found a picture of my main character. I did a search on photobucket for sexy cowboys and found this image. Wow. He's exactly what I had in mind. (For a lot of things, but we were talking about a story, remember?)

The only problem is, I'm supposed to be taking a break. I guess I don't know how. I love to write. It's my escape and my passion. So, I guess I'll just try to take notes for the next couple of months:) Once I get enough that the story is very much alive and no longer just notes on a page ... then I'll have to write it. My husband, who is supportive of me, thinks that taking a break means not working at all. Work is a dirty word to me, and writing is definitely not work. He tries, but I just don't think he gets it. I can't stop, not completely. It's who I am. But to his credit, he really liked the idea for this story even though he initially favored the vampire story better (which I'm still going to write I just might have to write this first).

The working title is There's No Place. Here's the tag line: "A woman with a jaded past returns home, only to find that the man she left behind might not be hers anymore."

What do you think?

Character Flaws

Lilith Mercury is always attracted to the wrong sort of man. Boy, does this sound familiar. Freud believed that every person in our dreams represented some aspect of ourselves. What is a good story, a fantasy, if not a dream of some sort? As I read over my books, proofing and such, I am often amazed at the resemblance. I don't just see myself in Lilith, but all of my characters. Yes, even, or perhaps it is especially, in the villains.

As for Lilith, I've often said she carries my scars in more than one sense of the word. But so does Marco and Alfred. I've been on all sides of the fence, and that comes through in their personalities. It's like getting to write about different sides of myself. Kat is another character I have a lot of fun with. She's based on a very good friend of mine who likes to joke that Kat is her wicked side.

Marco is such a combination. He looks like a man I cannot have, and has a combined personality of myself, the man he resembles, and the one who nicknamed me Red. You see, I was never afraid when I heard the story of Little Red Riding Hood. As Lilith says herself, "If The Big Bad Wolf wanted to eat me, I wasn't about to stop him." Marco is my Big Bad Wolf made flesh, and I agree with her sentiments wholeheartedly.

Alfred is more of the man who was ... what I thought I wanted. He has a past, and that intrigues me. He's older and therefore more experienced, and that just turns me on. He saved Lilith's life, so she echoes my opinion. He's also Italian, and that never hurts. I took the time to learn the language just to make him sexier. To me French is the language of sex, but Italian is the true language of love.

Even our villain, whom I've not spoken much about, Bade Garren, is a part of me. If I had to call him anything, I'd say he's my wicked side. He does all of the things I could never get away with. In a twisted way, he's wish fulfillment. He also wears a silver stud through his left nipple. You see, even though werewolves have an extreme allergy to silver ... he likes the pain.

Before I started writing, I also found myself drawn to stories with characters I could see a bit of myself in. Does this happen to you? Do you like something completely different, or something that reflects just a little bit of who you are or who you'd like to be? If you're a writer also, do your characters reflect you greatly, or just a bit? Or are they completely different?

Faith Hill/Grabbing Incident

Have you seen this yet? I was listening to the radio on my way to work this morning and heard the story. Apparently a fan grabbed Tim McGraw's crotch. As you may (or may not) know, he and his wife Faith Hill are on tour together right now. How tacky can you be? It's bad enough if he were single. It'd still be tacky. I can understand wanting to touch their hand as they walk by or something, but you don't grab people's balls. LOL (Which is pretty much what Faith tells her.) Someone happened to have a camera and caught her telling off the fan. Personally, I thought she was very nice about it. If someone had done this to my husband I'd have been thrown in jail. I feel it was handled well under the circumstances. Like I said, it was just tacky to me. It's bad enough to do this to someone who is single, but to grab a married man right in front of his wife?! Come on, get a life. Either way, it's kind of funny and here's a link to watch the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA6q1qEfW-k