Christmas.....already?

Christmas is here--this week! I hope you all find time for Bing Crosby, White Christmas, The Holiday with Jude Law, any music by Nat King Cole, peppermint bark and gingerbread cookies, eggnog and mulled wine, chaotic kitchens and strewn wrapping paper.

I wish you each a moment of contented reflection on how blessed we are to have friends and family near and far. I am thankful for each one of you!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Still Writing?

Are you fingers cramped up from constant keyboard contact? Are you wearing that pencil right down to the nub? (And, irritatingly, the eraser as well?)

Well, here, you poor dears. Have a nice cup of hot apple cider and relax. Let your characters wander aimlessly while you enjoy a bit of nosh. It will be good for both of you.

Isn't this cup gorgeous?

Happy middle-of-November....and middle of Nano. While I don't actively participate, I hear great stories each year of all the success it brings. So go forth for the next two weeks (and the next two months, and the next two years) and write!

But first, finish your drink. :)

Write!

So evidently November is National Novel Writing Month. But hey...you already knew that, didn't you?

And 50, 000 words...new words...are expected by the end of this month.

Yet here you are, when you should be out there writing...

Or maybe you're not here, because you're out there writing...

If a writer falls asleep over her keyboards,
does she make a sound? Or more to the point,
will her family pull her off the backspace key
before she's deleted all her words?

Good Luck in your writing and reading
endeavors this month!

Home, Home on the Plains...

Hubby went and stood in line with a few hundred women to buy me this book last night.

Did he have the time? Nope.
Did he do it anyway? Yup.

Just doing his part to keep the publishing business alive and well....and no, it's not a "traditional" romance...but I do love everything about her cooking and her blog.

Never Enough Sin

Speaking of supporting authors you love....

Go. Release day is TODAY. Buy a copy for yourself, your mom, your sister, your poor overworked hairdresser....

And enjoy. :)

Value the Work

Hi all! I have been, as I read in a Jennifer Cruise blog post once, "protecting the work." For me, that has meant a serious reduction in internet time.

However, I just had to throw in my two cents concerning the price slashing between Wal-Mart and Amazon...and whoever else has jumped into the fray....

I don't understand or care about the legal ramifications. I do care if authors and publishers aren't getting their fair share. So please join me in letting your favorite authors know how much you value and appreciate their work. Can you afford to buy the hardcover and not wait for the paperback? Can you stop by the store on a Tuesday and buy that new mass market release the day it's released, and not a month later? Can you skip a coffee or two and buy two books? Can you give books for presents this holiday season?

We spent money on Halloween costumes, candy, pumpkins, cotton candy at the fairs, two dollars for a pack of gum, almost six dollars now for a value meal at a fast food drive through.

Please. We can afford full price for someone's vision and talent brought to life in the pages of a book that we can share with friends or eventually pass down to our children.

Hope this finds you well, and reading. :)

Hiatus

Of course, my hiatus might not be as long as the other gaps I've had between posts, but at least this is intentional.

For your viewing pleasure, may I present Buckingham Gardens.

See you soon!

Mary, Mary , quite extraordinary......

Finally....our local Wal-Mart put First Comes Marriage, Mary Balogh's newest release, on the shelves. It's the Read of the Month for Wal-Mart, and Mary has included a bit of bonus material, a small section originally cut.

Hurray! We'll take all the Mary we can get.

Mary Balogh is more than an autobuy for me. She's a comfort read, the first and last name in romance done perfectly, the books that are in almost every room of my house. She's the first romance author who made me cry.

Isn't the cover exquisite? No doubt the story is as well. I'm off to curl up with a cup of coffee on this cold, blustery day and discover the magic between Viscount Lyngate and Vanessa Huxtable.

I highly suggest you do the same. :)

What author calls a halt to your day? Which author makes you cry, or laugh out loud? Aren't we lucky to have such a wealth of talent and genres to choose from?

Writing Rules....

My March 09 RWR came in the mail this afternoon. Some months are full of information, others only so-so. But this issue is loaded with interesting articles; the role of the publisher, power promotion, author's views on revisions, and my personal favorite so far, the scene and sequel. I think Patricia Kay did a wonderful job of illustrating how well the scene/sequel can work, and what they can and cannot do for your story.

There are all sorts of technique books and websites out there. Swain's Techniques of a Selling Author, Ingermanson's Snowflake Method, and Stephanie Bonds Writer's How-To articles are good for me.

However, I think the methodology study works best after the first draft- Vivid, unique, heart-felt story telling comes fast and furious, when you are utterly in love with your h/h and all the mayhem before them. Then, once that first draft is over, the rules can help you smooth out your masterpiece. But to deliberately worry about the details before the bones of the story are laid out seems a bit stifling to me.

What about you? Any "have-to" rules you follow from the very beginning, or do you punt the rules and let your characters lead the way?

Life according to Fred....

It's generally understood around this house that if you make a reference to literature or social norms pre-WWII, I'm bound to follow most of the conversation. History, or bits of it, is my thing. It's my comfort zone, and allows me to ignore much of modern life, in the same way that I can bounce my head along to the rhythm of Soulja Boy, blissfully unaware of the lyrics.

So I've just recently joined Facebook, a huge leap for a recluse such as myself. My husband and daughters insisted it's another important modern social contact. (I'm not convinced yet, but I fought my cell phone acquisition as well. Convenience, I get. But with the convenience comes the time-suck. When do all these twelve-posts-a-day people read?)

And now, because all I watch around here (besides NCIS) is kid's TV, I understand (thank you, iCarly) who Fred is. So I trotted over to YouTube and found him...and found him...and found him. Does the boy go to school? Seriously, I'm not sure. Maybe he's home schooled. Where does he find the time to post all those videos? And who the heck are the millions of people watching them? And why is it entertaining?

He's cute. He's charismatic. He's obviously caught the eye of Disney, so I'd imagine the world is his for the taking, provided he's got a bit of level-headed adult guidance. But...he talks in a high pitched voice, and runs from cabbages.

I'm wondering if the reason I don't get Fred is the reason I don't get Monty Python, but think Taming of the Shrew is a scream. Somewhere along the line my modern gene was definitely skewed.

What's funny to you?

Valentine

Have you heard about those personalized romance novels? You can order them on line, pay anything from twenty to over one hundred dollars, depending on the cover and what's included. They offer a variety of settings and heat levels. Sweet.

And the author never has to worry about Amazon reviews. ;)

It's an interesting idea. I imagine the recipient either loves or hates it. They would certainly last longer than chocolate or flowers. However, the fill-in-the-blanks aspect of it leaves me a little cold. I'd rather have a remember when? note. Remember when I held your hand for the first time? Remember when it didn't matter if ice knocked out the electricity? Remember when the very best gift was time spent together?

Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love. ~Albert Einstein

Without love, what are we worth? Eighty-nine cents! Eighty-nine cents worth of chemicals walking around lonely. ~M*A*S*H, Hawkeye

Soul meets soul on lovers' lips. ~Percy Bysshe Shelley

Have a lovely Valentine's Day!

The Bliss List

I've been tagged by the brilliant Chiron, who just got her CALL--Yippee!!!!!!!!

Rules are simple; Link to the person who has tagged you. Write down six things that make you happy. Post the rules, tag six others and let them know you did it. Then tell the person when your entry is complete.

My List:

1) Spooning with my husband of twenty years. He still curls my toes and melts my heart.
2) Watching my girls grow, slowly but surely, into compassionate, independent young women.
3) Double stuff Oreos!
4) Holding my cats. Especially on these bitterly cold evenings.
5) Loosing all tract of time while reading....
6) A very strong cup of English breakfast tea, with a dash of sugar.

An ongoing inventory of thanks is a lovely way to start the year! Who's next?

Burrrrr.......

Isn't this beautiful? A timeless picture of nature's frozen splendor. But...enough already!

Where's the warmth? Where's the sun? And good grief, we don't even have snow! It's just bitterly cold and gray.

So....

What's your favorite hot drink, hot meal, hot vacation spot. . . and let's not forget, hot read and hot hero! What's warming up your winter nights?