I’m featured in the current issue of The Motivated Writer. My segment is “Creative Spaces with Paranormal Author Cynthia Eden.” I had a great time answering the interview questions–and, hey, if you’re curious about my workspace, The Motivated Writer has a picture of my domain. 🙂

I am actually feeling amazingly motivated right now–writing wise, anyway. I wrote 15 pages yesterday and 15 today, and I feel like I know exactly where I want this current story to go. I love it when I feel like I have good control of a story and the plot is all planned out and just waiting for me. Yay! Maybe I’ll finish the rough draft by Sunday.

So, since we’re on the topic of motivation, how do you stay motivated?

Larissa Ione (who has one awesome paranormal book coming out soon–I can’t wait to get my hands on Unleashing the Storm) has tagged me to reveal six uninteresting facts about myself. A few days ago, I revealed some other uninteresting facts in answer to a tag from chapter mate Amber Leigh Williams. Luckily, I am a woman who has many, many uninteresting facts to share! 🙂

The rules are:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your blog entry.
5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.

And here are my new facts:

1. I plan to watch Dexter tonight. I’ve heard so much hype about this show and I’m thrilled to get to see it on CBS.

2. It’s raining at my house right now, and, for most of the morning, I’ve been singing I love a rainy night….Even though I’m not sure that’s a real song–and it’s not night-time.

3. I love to drink chocolate milk shakes.

4. I hate waiting in long lines–drives me crazy.

5. I have over 2000 books in my personal library.

6. One of my favorite shows from the Fall 2007 season was America’s Psychic Challenge. And, yes, I do believe there are people in this world who have psychic abilities. I couldn’t watch the show and not be a believer.

Since this is my second round, I won’t tag anyone, but if you want to share some fun (or, um, uninteresting) facts, please post ’em in my comments section! Happy Sunday!

For a while (I am such a procrastinator!), I’ve been planning to create a paranormal quiz, based on the characters that will appear in my upcoming Kensington Brava releases. When I took the lovely Ann Aguirre‘s awesome Grimspace quiz, I became inspired and decided it was time for me to get my butt in gear.

The result? My new quiz:

Creature Feature:  Which paranormal character are you?

Check back tomorrow for a special post about this quiz–and how the quiz could possibly win you an ARC of WHEN HE WAS BAD.

Happy (early) Valentine’s Day!

Great news for writers! The folks at Harlequin/Silhouette have recently listed requirements for their new “Nocturne Bites” line.

Here’s a link to the complete guidelines.

And here’s a quick summary for Nocturne Bites:

1. Word count:  10,000 â€“ 15,000 words

2. What the editors are looking for:  “We’re looking for fast-paced novellas that hook the reader early by establishing a paranormal world and its conflicts. We are looking for stories of vampires, shape-shifters, werewolves, psychic powers, etc. set in contemporary times.”

3. Where to send your materials:   E-mail address:nocturnebites@harlequin.ca  (Note:  The site says only complete manuscripts submitted electronically will be accepted from unpublished authors.)

As a writer, I think my most important asset (or tool, depending on your perspective) is my imagination.

My mom has always said that I had a big imagination when I was a kid. I had an imaginary friend (Heggy)–we ate together, told secrets, and played for hours. I actually loved to play by myself when I was a kid. I could sit and imagine…well, just about anything. Even when I played with my best friend (the boy next door), imagination was key. Luckily, B. had a great imagination, too, and when I’d say things like, “Hey, let’s go dig for dinousaurs!”  Well, he was ready with a shovel. (True story:  To my mother’s horror, she did walk into the backyard one day and discover that B. and I had vanished. Closer inspection revealed that we had just dug a hole about twelve feet into the ground and were in the middle of discussing the merits of continuing to dig for dinosaur bones or changing our plans and using the new “hole” as a secret room. That was one unhappy mother…)

Anyway…back to present times…my son turned two in December, and, since then, I’ve noticed that his imagination has kicked into serious overdrive. The boy can pull a magic key out of his pocket any time, any place. He creates entire cities–complete with a library, Bruno’s (grocery store) and all of his friends’ houses–out of his wooden blocks. He builds castles, he phones his friends, he has dog parties. (Yep, I said dog parties–I blame Dr. Seuss for that one. )  I love watching his imagination develop–it’s a really beautiful thing. Each day, I wonder…what is he going to do next?

That wonder…that’s the feeling that I like to have when I read a book. I like to wonder–what is the author going to do next? Because when an author makes me wonder…well, I’m sure appreciating her/his imagination!

I must be off now–got a cake baking in the oven. (Can’t have a  dog party without a cake, now, can you?)