04/18/12
Last week, a friend and I were talking about body shapes—the pear, the apple, the banana—and diets. All that diet and calorie cutting chatter naturally led me to think about chocolate. Not a practical leap—maybe a little ADD—but it did get me thinking about the different types of chocolate.
Like the multitude of people in the world, chocolate comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors.
04/17/12
I’m not sure there’s anything new about the topic of comparing books to movies. I’m not sure there’s really any disagreement that, in general, movies rarely do justice to good books. But lately I’ve been obsessed with comparing the books-turned-films that I’ve seen, and I’m not sure my opinion quite fits the norm. Here’s why. Read the rest of this entry »
04/15/12
by Dale Mayer
UPDATE – Congratulations to Jeannie for winning the ecopy of Maddy’s Floor!
Did you ever have a project that just wouldn’t come to completion? A project that for all your best efforts – just won’t quit? Well, book 3 in my Psychic Vision Series, called MADDY’S FLOOR, was just that to me.
The esoteric levels in this book are higher than the first two books in the series, the concepts – a little more intangible, a little harder to clarify. I had cps, then an editor, revisions, editor, then a different editor.
What I had thought would be a December 2011 release, turned into a January, then March release and finally on Easter weekend, after more editing and revisions than I thought were possible – MADDY’S FLOOR was released. Read the rest of this entry »
04/13/12
Chase That Squirrel… an author’s guide to multitasking
It’s my pleasure to introduce a good friend and fellow Golden Heart® finalist, Amy Atwell, as our 
guest today. Amy defines multi-tasking, accomplishing more in a day than most people do in a week – and she’s always ready to share what she’s learned. In addition to her latest historic romance, Ambersley, Amy has spent countless hours on a website designed by an author, for authors. I’ll let her tell you all about it.
I want to start with a huge thank you to the muses here at Blame It On The Muse. What fun to visit!
The Zen of Multitasking
How many of you multitask? If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s the fine art of completing multiple tasks simultaneously. Phone calls, making notes, reviewing documents, commuting, writing, email, watching TV, having conversations—oh, the list goes on and on.
I multitask. In fact, I’m good at it. Damn good at it. I’m a multitask master. And do you know what?
It’s exhausting. Read the rest of this entry »
04/12/12
Happy birthday to me, I’m turning 40
I have lots of ways of describing myself: wife and mother of two, technical writer, aspiring romance novelist, driver of a minivan, breast cancer survivor, a Yankee living in the South, and a woman turning forty tomorrow.
(On a side note, did you ever wonder why it’s spelled forty and not fourty?)
04/11/12
Wacky Wednesday – Gardens Gone Wild
Grace Burrowes started us off this week with an ode to the beauty of a spring garden and the joy one might find toiling in the dirt. She talked of the enticing fragrances and the colorful blooms, the peaceful oasis and the pleasure given to those who viewed the fruits of her labor. But since it’s Wacky Wednesday, I decided to offer you a glimpse of the goofier side of gardening.
Not sure how they got the car in the tree, but it reminds me of the State Farm commercial. “Jerry, is that you?”
04/10/12
by Livia Quinn
Last Sunday Cadence and I took in Hunger Games at the movies. I felt guilty for leaving work and thought maybe I should skip the previews. I’m glad I didn’t.! There were two or three upcoming events that caught my attention but I was surprised and immensely pleased to see one movie – Dark Shadows – being remade with some hilarious quirky twists.
Like so many of my friends in high school, I raced home everyday I didn’t have an after school activity to see the ABC soap opera, Dark Shadows starring Jonathan Frid, as Barnabas Collins of Collinsport, Maine and virtual unknown, Alexandra Moltke, as Victoria Winters.
Here are some things you may not know – I didn’t until I did the research for this blog…
04/9/12
Grace Has An Orgy — by Grace Burrowes
Indulging myself is easy—a good book; a quarter pound of sprouted almonds covered in double dark German chocolate consumed one at a time; a sleep-in day in the middle of the week; a bouquet of flowers; a good dessert after a meal with a friend.
Pampering myself, however, is foreign to my nature in the typical sense. I don’t want anybody fussing with my hair, skin, fingernails or toenails. I have restless leg syndrome too severely to permit me to enjoy a massage. I do not enjoy shopping for anything except books and horses (and really good chocolate covered almonds). I do not own a DVD player so an Austen marathon is out (though Colin, I do miss you).
04/6/12
Regular followers of this blog have heard my stories about our on-going battle with the beavers over the height of the pond at our place in the mountains. Go here for that story. In honor of those persistent critters, I decided to dedicate this blog to …wait for it… wait for it… International Beaver Day.
Yes, those Canadians have been at it again. It seems the Canadian government was looking around for another excuse…err… fabulous reason to have a holiday and polled the population. For those of you who’ve forgotten, the beaver holds a special place in Canadian history because it’s one of the main reasons Canada was settled in the first place: the fur trade. Read the rest of this entry »
04/5/12
by DT Tarkus
Had a bit of a setback last week. Happily in the company of my sister’s mid-morning, my vision goes double. I’m no stranger to blurred vision, most of it self-induced when cocktail hour becomes dinner, but 10 AM? I turned to casually ask how much rum she put in the coffee cake, and her eyes goggled as if I’d called her something totally inappropriate (it’s not something you do to my sisters, not if you want to live to see the next sunrise anyway). Next I know, they’re carting me off to the ER.
