I cannot believe how fast these kids are growing up. Walking, talking, reading. I keep thinking the next time I blink they’ll be in junior high. The grandparents are on their way home now, but they got to see the baby who is now a toddler turn two. It was great to have them here, and great to take some time off to enjoy the company.

This is also my two-year anniversary in print; two years ago on my dad’s birthday, Ellora’s Cavemen Legendary Tails II released. Then I went into labor with the baby and didn’t see my first book in print on shelves in a bookstore for weeks. And two years later, the cover of my next print release is on the cover of Complete Woman. How freaking cool. And how far from anything I imagined two years ago. Here’s to birthdays and anniversaries and milestones. And most of all, here’s to cake and family to share it with!

Well, here I am. 40. What have I learned in 40 years on planet Earth? That so many things I thought were important once just don’t matter. That confusion over priorities really can be settled in most instances by asking, “In a hundred years, will it matter?” And that Bigfoot really does exist, even if I haven’t seen him yet. All those blurry photos can’t lie!

Today we’ll be visiting the Hoh rain forest in hopes of spotting the legendary Sasquatch. Although if we don’t have a sighting, a hundred years from now it won’t matter.

Today is Dad’s birthday. Happy birthday, Dad! Here he is with the toddler at Rialto Beach.

So my parents have arrived from the desert to visit the rain forest. We will be taking our usual walking time to visit some of the nifty spots around here that they didn’t see the last time they came up here. I’ve also been cranking through my to do list. The complete list of title suggestions for the book formerly known as FALLEN will go in this week, and I will see if anybody in the group who contributed ideas is close to the final chosen title. If not, I’ll just draw from everybody who posted and choose a winner for an ARC of Wild Wild West. Thank you all for helping.

Also, Miss Lonely Hearts has a release date! Oct. 30. I’ve updated the book’s page accordingly. Still not sure if the cover will change or not. I personally love the cartoon cover, it so looks like Cass and Jason in The Last Resort. But we shall see. I do understand that cartoon covers aren’t selling well and I’m willing to go with the flow, there. Whatever TPTB decide. Kind of like the new title for FALLEN.

Check out NJ’s blog! She put up the cover of the July/August issue of Complete Woman, featuring Wild Wild West!

I can’t believe she saw it before I did. I don’t even know what part of the book they used for an excerpt. But…SQUEEEE!

A fantastic 4.5 Blue Ribbon review from Romance Junkies by Reviewer Chrissy Dionne!

“Charlene Teglia is such a fun author, I’ve just loved each of her stories that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. ONLY HUMAN allows readers to imagine that their ‘special someone’ is out there just waiting for their paths to cross. Elaine is a character that many women will be able to relate to - it’s so much easier to bury yourself in work or some other vice to avoid dealing with painful issues. Damon is the perfect alpha male. There’s no doubt that he is dominant and is more than willing to provide everything Elaine needs, but he isn’t overwhelming and doesn’t try to control her.”

Last night I stayed up until midnight reading The Harlequin. I was only going to read a few chapters, hahahaha. Should’ve known I’d be up until I finished the last page! This is the Anita Blake book I’ve been waiting for. So many things I’ve been waiting to see resolved or furthered came together, and it’s always fun when Edward’s involved. I think this is my favorite Anita Blake adventure since Obsidian Butterfly, but it really showed how differently Anita handled the challenges, how much better she is at being a team player and how much stronger that’s made her. And did it ever make me want to get my hands on Jason’s book, which is in the works.

I loved this book. Many characters surprised me, and I really liked seeing how Peter is growing up and coping since the events of Obsidian Butterfly. Olaf didn’t seem quite as scary this time, and I’m not sure why. Maybe because The Harlequin was such a big bad, and The Mother of Darkness was even bigger and badder. Olaf just doesn’t measure up, I guess. The Harlequin was an amazing antagonist and the plot was full of twists and turns. This is Laurell K. Hamilton at her best, with the mix of worldbuilding, action, suspense, vivid characterization and deep emotion. Go! Buy! Read! You’ll be glad you did.

So, as I finalize my tweaks on Satisfaction Guaranteed, I realize that I am once again dealing with an issue of conflict in my contemporaries. This is never an issue for me in fantasy, futuristic or paranormal. Conflict flies off the pages. “My new boyfriend is an alien! And he reads minds! And this will either be a long-distance relationship, or the commute will be hell!” (Earth Girls Aren’t Easy) Or, “This is not a good time for me to find a mate because I need to be killing a rogue werewolf right now! True love is getting in the way of my revenge!” (Wolf In Cheap Clothing) You get the idea.

But each and every time with contemporary, I struggle with the conflict. Maybe I think that having to deal with reality is bad enough, so the poor characters have enough on their plates. No invading aliens or rogue werewolves or inconvenient moments of precognition.

Maybe I just plain relate to fantasy better. This is the root of my love for Presents, by the way. They’re not really contemporary. They’re fantasy. In fact, they’re kind of the book form of opera. Angst! Drama! Singing really loudly in dramatic costumes! Lots of clashing around, with everything suddenly resolved at the end! Presents, they rock.

Whatever the reason, when it comes to straight contemporary, I am always scrambling to fix the conflict, it seems. There’s always an obstacle to overcome, but without sufficient operatic banging and crashing. So I’m over here layering in the angst, upping the ante, putting the screws to my characters, because they need to squirm a little more before they get their happy ending.