About That Garden I Started...

Notice the one branch that got munched!

I wrote a while back about digging out a heart-shaped garden in a little corner of my back yard. I want to report that the garden is truly taking root, but in the process, something is eating the roots! At first we blamed our beloved German Shepherd-mix, Misha, for digging. Why not? He's a dog and dogs dig. But when two very deep, wide holes showed up in the middle of our lawn overnight (Misha sleeps in his bed inside, next to our bed), we knew we had a nocturnal visitor.

Something is digging up this rose!

I think it's the same truant who ate 9 of 9 Brussels sprout plants in one night. The night after I put some caladium in some of my treasures I collected when we lived in Italy--hand painted white pots with cherubs on the sides--something ate one of those branches, too. And left it in the middle of the lawn, approximately 50 meters away from the scene of their crime. Apparently, forest critters don't like caladium as much as veggies.

It's like writing a story--in the middle of a writing jaunt of an hour or so, all of a sudden a new character interjects themselves into my novel. BAM! Or even more challenging, I character I've already planned the arc for decides to take on a new defect or asset. Sometimes I find a major plot point needs work or to be changed altogether. The lessons from my garden spill over into my writing...I have to stay flexible. I have to plant foliage that rabbits, groundhogs and moles don't like. I need to plant higher, out of reach. Likewise I need to allow my characters room to grow up, out, and take on their own ideas of where their destiny is headed. 

Misha stands guard--well, kind of

It's not easy, but with the support of great writer friends and most importantly, enthusiastic readers like you, it's doable. Thanks to all of my friends for being here--you are my most precious blooms.

Ancient Acts

Ancient Acts

I live in ferryland. No, not that magical place where rainbows are a daily occurrence. Well, okay, it is kind of magical here and coincidently, we do get our share of rainbows. But I’m talking about ferries that transport your vehicle across the water.

The closest ferry is just two minutes down the road from my house and runs twenty-four hours a day. You want to get across the bay at 3 am, they’re there for you. It’s an amazing service, and it’s free! Another few kilometers down the road, a second ferry carries cars across the river. Upriver twenty, thirty kilometers from that one, is another one. Down river there are four, I think. Maybe more. The ferries are, for the most part, cable ferries. My husband once tried to explain exactly how they work, but I clicked off halfway through his explanation. I have my own theories what goes on underneath those ferries. But more about that later.

The point is these ferries are a daily part of my life. I’ve been using them consistently for almost a year. One day as I sat on the other side of the bay, waiting for the ferry, it suddenly struck me how ancient the tradition is of ferrying people across water. I don’t know the history of our ferries, but I do know people have been poling, pushing and pulling their way across rivers and bays for centuries. An ordinary, everyday act had morphed into a ritual that connected me to the ages.

Continuum. That ancient line of activity and memories we carry inside. It’s everywhere in our lives, even if we don’t acknowledge or recognize it. I attended a local concert the other week, where young girls, dressed in their kilts, performed highland dances. Again, I was struck by the thought that those dances had probably been performed thousands of times for hundreds of years.

And then there are the storytellers. That’s right. Us. Telling stories and recreating the world to fit our perceptions. Talk about an ancient act that connects us to the past as well as carrying us into the future.

So here comes the question. Aside from storytelling (too easy!) are there activities in your life tied to an ancient process that has carried over into the present? Since I’ve started thinking about all this, my list keeps growing. But maybe that’s more a reflection of my lifestyle than anything else. Hmm, come to think of it, I have been living in a basement the last few months, and basements do resemble caves.

Speaking of caves and such, my theory on how the ferries work shouldn’t come as a surprise. I have one word for you.

Trolls.

  

Bring Him Home winner

Congratulations to Toni who won a copy of Bring Him Home. Toni, email your address to karina@karinabliss.com and I'll post it. For those that missed out, there's a giveaway at Goodreads. Click this link. Happy reading, everyone!

Happy Day!

I promise this won't be a saccharine post about how perfect my 26-year-old  marriage--as of today!-- is. Because my marriage isn't always a Harlequin romance. Shocking, I know.  Yet despite the everyday pitfalls of any long-term relationship, the common threads woven through all of the romance genre and solid partnerships do remain: trust, commitment, willingness to change, passion. They just don't always show up together or even singularly, each day.

A Harlequin Moment in Moscow 

How can it be 26 years already? 26 years since my husband and I committed to be together forever.  That "forever" sounds daunting. It was, and still can be. Time, age and reality have proved to me that my marriage and my investment in it starts anew each day. I can't take it for granted, ever.  Sometimes a long-term relationship doesn't work out, shouldn't work out.  I get it.  I'm not the Pollyanna of relationships. The pain is too real for too many of my friends who have suffered through acrimonious break-ups and divorces. Spouses stray after decades of what looked like the "ideal" couple. Again, I get it.
I can only speak to my current relationship, today.
The changes in myself in the past few decades have been amazing, albeit excruciatingly slow. Instead of thinking "that's it, I'm outta here!" at each altercation/disagreement, I'm usually laughing before I can even finish spewing off whatever great retort I thought I had. If I'm not so quick to see how silly I'm being, my husband points it out for me with one of his classic dry humor lines and again, I'm laughing.
Is marriage hard? Of course. Because life is hard and marriage to this great guy is how I've chosen to enjoy my life. How I choose to live it each day.  It's brought me the gifts of sacrifice, compassion, and just plain doing what I don't want to do when it's needed. Patience, did I mention patience?
As I write each new romance novel that shows up in my brain and then nests in my heart, I am aware that it's my job to show that this couple has and will have their challenges, too. They'll have their happily ever afters, as well. The strongest common thread through my life, my stories, your stories, the books we love to read and write, is love. The long-lasting, unconditional kind.
As long as he leaves the toilet seat down.

Wanted: New home for neglected middle child

I’ve got a new release next month, Bring Him Home. It’s the third in a series based around four Special Forces heroes which began with Here Comes The Groom and Stand-In Wife.
I’d love to tell you about it, but to do that I’d have to drag myself away from book four, which I’m currently writing. 
It’s not that I don’t treasure my new release, I do. I think it’s one of my best. Only this ‘new baby’ is keeping me up at nights and stealing all the attention away from its older sibling. 
Bring Him Home  will have to take its place in the world without ‘mommy’ hovering, telling it to stand up straight, look people in the eye and for God’s sake, try and create a good first impression.  Hopefully, I’ve invested enough love, sweat and tears for it to do that alone. 
If you’d like to read an excerpt, click here. Make a comment and go into a draw to adopt this poor, neglected child.
Meanwhile I’m rolling up my sleeves and getting back to rearing the wayward youngest.


Bring Him Home
Former soldier Nathan Wyatt had no choice but to leave his army buddy to die, a secret that's still tearing him apart.
  Two years on, he's in Hollywood prostituting his war medal for work as a bodyguard to the stars when his best friend's widow drags him home to fulfil his neglected responsibilities to her family trust.
  When he discovers Claire can't forgive her late husband for breaking a crucial promise, Nate sees his path to salvation. He'll be his buddy's advocate, secure Steve's place in his wife's memory.
  The last thing he intends is to find himself in a love triangle with his dead best friend.
  Will admitting the truth - all of it - set him free, or alienate the woman he's come to passionately love?

Here's to the Customer Service Reps

Last Thursday, I was invited to speak to customer service representatives at the Harlequin Distribution Centre in Depew, NY, at their annual customer service appreciation luncheon. It was a great privilege and honor for me. There are about forty men and women on the force who answer calls and emails from readers and deal with everything from book orders to complaints and compliments. This group of wonderful, dedicated workers—some of whom have served for more than ten years—are the face of the company, working on the front lines interacting with readers.

Having worked in retail for many years, I know it’s not always easy dealing with the public, which was why I was so happy to go and express my personal gratitude to these awesome folks. Being a proofreader by day and an author by night isolates me from the public, so I sometimes forget that people can be incredibly kind and incredibly cruel.

In my years public service, I’ve seen customers and patrons assault workers, verbally abuse them and generally treat them as less than human. Some people feel as if they deserve to be kowtowed to, as if the mantra “the customer is always right” actually means “I am better than you” and was written in the law somewhere.

Of course, I’ve received poor service, as well. I’ve been given dirty looks and I’ve been treated with less than respect in some establishments. The words “customer service” always seem to bring out the worst stories, as well as the best, especially when it comes to dealing with big companies. And opinions on customer service can do a full 180-degree turn with one experience.

Phones and email have separated us from dealing with people face-to-face, and the age of internet overshare has removed the filter that once kept us from saying things we’d regret. Customer service agents can’t give us everything, and their hands are tied by company policy. Some people take that personally, and that’s when the sparks fly. The customer says some poorly thought out things; the service rep is put in a bad mood, which can get passed on to the next customer... Poor behavior begets poor behavior, and in the end, no one is happy.

That’s why I’m dedicating this blog post to all the customer service representatives out there, whether you work in retail or on the phones or online. Your job is hard, and is often thankless. I salute you. Thank you for everything you do, and for dealing with the public so I don’t have to.

Do you have good customer service stories to share? Comment below!

WINNER!

Congratulations, Ann Yost. You've won a copy of Mary Sullivan's NO ORDINARY SHERIFF from my May 8th Every Day Heroes blog. Contact me through my website: www.marysullivanbooks.com

Jeannie Watt Winner

Congratulations, Summer! Please email me at jeanniewrites @ gmail. com (without spaces) to claim your Amazon gift card.

Thanks for everyone who posted responses!

"Whipped Cream" Winner

And the winner is..... Laney 4!!!!

Laney4, for your choice of a book from my back list or a set of TossOn ™ bracelets, please email your choice and your shipping address to me at mary@marybrady.net.


See www.marybrady.net for book options.
See www.etsy.com/shop/julsandmaude for examples of bracelet sets.

Congrats, Laney.


Thanks to everyone who read my blog and a especial thanks to those who commented.


Mary Brady

A Little Help? (And a Give Away)

By Jeannie Watt

If any of you happened to catch my blog at The Pink Heart Society, you know that the more trouble I have with the story I’m writing, the more I want to sew. Some might call this escapism or perhaps procrastination.  I prefer to call is accessing another part of my brain and allowing the story-spinning part to recuperate.  Lately though, sewing has become almost as difficult as the problems I'm trying to work out in my plots.

Let me walk you through my latest project, the Crossing Nevada revision dress, and see if you can identify my problem.,

 I usually make a muslin if the pattern is new to me. No sense wasting fabric on a dress that doesn't fit--I've had that happen way too many times in the past.

 I lay out the pattern carefully, making certain to align the grain of the fabric properly.

I cut the contrast fabric at the same time, after prewashing it to make certain the dye doesn't bleed.

I do a lot of interfacing to give the finished garment body. I hate cutting and applying interfacing, but I do it.

After I have everything cut out, I make my tailoring marks and then remove the pattern.Then I arrange the pieces in the order I'll sew them together. I'm very organized, yet somehow stuff keeps getting mussed up and sometimes ends up in a heap on the floor.

Oddly, I have no problem when I actually sew. Perhaps something to do with the noise, however, I do have to drape all my working pieces over a chair. You can probably figure out why.

Here is a photo of the finished dress. Note that there is no "helper" in the photo. The cat is not allowed outside, otherwise I’m certain she’d be peeking out from under the skirt.

I'm celebrating handing in the revisions for Crossing Nevada by giving away a $15 Amazon gift card. Tell me about the biggest challenge you face when you're trying to complete a project, be it pursuing a hobby in too small of a space, or tackling a killer project at work.

Summertime, Summertime, S-S-Summertime!

(((Sorry this is posting late. I forgot to, um, hit post. LOL)))

It’s that time of year again. The time of year when attention spans are shorter than ever, energy levels are skyrocketing and not from an abundance of sugar, and teachers are counting down the days until the end of school as diligently as the kids are.

Me? I’m counting them down, too. Because in my house Kid 1 and Kid 2 do not get along and when summer vacation hits—it’s every Mom for herself.  LOL

My kids are older now and you’d think this would mean less fighting. Noooo, not in our house. It typically means more. The dh and I have informed Kid 1 that a summer job is a requirement. So far, no luck. Not that he’s tried that hard. 

As for Kid 2, summer will bring more help in the office and around the house—I hope. We’ve talked a good game and made big plans, declaring our “Summer Project” to be a full-house declutter-and-clean mission the likes of which our house has never seen. My energy is already lagging just from the thought. Any volunteers out there???

Regardless of what takes place this summer I’m sure there will be a lot of yelling, some tears, a few slammed doors, lots of laughter, too much mess, and not enough writing but we’ll all do our best. I can’t complain too much when my kids aren’t that far from college and all the noise and bickering will soon be gone for real. Just remind me of that when I'm pulling my hair out, okay?

Growing up, my older brother was the one getting a summer job to earn date money and to get out of the house. He drove an icee truck that also sold cotton candy. I loved his job. *sigh* LOL 

My summer jobs were boring, usually spent working as a legal receptionist and secretary. Great experience but not much fun. And there wasn’t any cotton candy to be had.

Did you have a summer job in high school? Was it fun? Boring? Were your parents thrilled to get you out of the house and out of their hair, or did you stay home and wreak havoc on your mom’s nerves? ;)

I’ll choose a winner from those who post and you’ll win your choice of my books (If available). What were your summer vacations like?

Kay Stockham

www.kaystockham.com

North Star, MT series Sep 2011-Jan 2012

THE CRASH BEFORE CHRISTMAS, DEC 2011

RETURN TO EDEN, AVAILABLE NOW!

BLIND MAN'S BLUFF, FALL 2012

@KayStockham - Twitter

Kay Stockham Fan Page - Facebook

Whipped Cream Confessions

by Mary Brady

I was recently asked if there was anything whipped cream could be put on top of or added to that I didn’t like. (I am going to ignore all the innuendo popping up in my head and stick to the fluffy stuff that tickles my tongue and if piled high enough, perhaps even my nose.)

Quick answer, no. Real answer is longer.

The context of the question had to do with stewed dried plums. If you stew dried fruit—plums and apricots are my favorite, cool the fruit, fold sweetened whipped (real) cream into the fruit in a 3 to 1 ratio, you get a kind of fluffy, sweet concoction that I could eat every day—but don’t. My mother called the dried plum version prune whip. (Prune Whip The McCall Publishing Co.)

I started to wonder if there was anything I put whipped cream on/in that I didn’t like.

I’d have to say the quick answer is correct—but there are qualifications.

I’ve had whipped cream on/in things I didn’t like, but I didn’t put it there, someone else did. And because I was so (TIC) polite, I tasted the offering and, if the person stood and watched me, I ate it—all. Slight shudder. If they walked away or got distracted, I found various ways to dispatch it. Think “Friends” when Rachel Green crosses recipes and makes Beef Trifle. Everyone but Joey (of course) found ways not to eat it.

One “whipped cream” (called that by those serving it, not the manufacturer) has been lined up with a collection of things which contained at least one ingredient or one precursor ingredient also included in the whipped topping: margarine, suntan oil, detergent, antifreeze, and others, some even less savory.

To be fair, these ingredients:

Provide air-cell stability under cold to hot conditions,

Reduce syneresis,

Provide freeze-thaw stability,

Reduce processing time.

Sorry, I don’t know what syneresis is and I am not looking it up. (All right, the writer in me eventually will.) I’m just not eating whipped "topping" any more no matter who serves it to me.

For myself, when I refer to whipped cream, I mean handmade from heavy cream, dehydrated cane sugar juice and real vanilla. Add coffee if you want. Add chocolate. Add Cointreau, but please hold the polysorbate 60.

What do you like your whipped cream or whipped topping on most? Or tell your whipped cream story!

Comment for a chance to win a book from my back list or a set of TossOn™ bracelets. For examples of TossOn™ bracelets check out Juls and Maude.

Happy topping to all!

Winners from Ellen Hartman's Book Club Blog

Please get in touch so I can send you a copy of The Long Shot! (ellen@ellenhartman.com).

• BW
• Joye
• Kaelee
• Jill

Thanks to everyone who came by and shared their comments!

Book Clubs

Karina kindly posted on the News page that The Long Shot is the May pick for the Smart Bitches' Sizzling book club. The chat is happening on 5/30 and the book is on sale at All Romance until 5/15. This event has me thinking about book clubs. I haven't been in a book club in years and I miss it.

The last book club I was in was amazing and crazy all at the same time. (Are there any book clubs that aren't at least a little crazy?) Most of the women in the club had small children. We were lucky enough to be able to meet in a penthouse apartment in downtown Ithaca that belonged to the parents of a club member. This apartment was not only gorgeous, it was a kid-free oasis. Going to book club in that place at that time of my life felt like going to a spa.

Five Books We Read

1. Anna Karenina (A gorgeous edition. Loved this.)
2. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (Loved this. With two small children at home, the concept of order and science and solutions at home was super appealing.)
3. Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable (HATE. I think this was the book that drove me out of the book club. Go ahead and read the description. Would you have stayed in the club?)
4. Middlemarch (I loved this. I freely admit that I skimmed/skipped most of the descriptive passages which means I read about 1/3 of the book, but it's wonderful.)
5. Arcadia (I don't like reading plays. I loved reading this one.)

 Five Things I Loved About the Book Club

1. Theme food. One person brought food that somehow coordinated with the book's theme. You don't want to know what we had when we read The Red Tent. It was mostly delicious, though, and most importantly, it was grown up food!
2. The view. The penthouse view was breathtaking at night, especially when it was snowing.
3. The leader packets. One person led the discussion and usually came prepared with questions, background info, and other interesting tidbits. I learned a lot in this book club. 
4. The grown-up conversation about grown-up books. 
5. Being forced to read books I wouldn't have chosen. As weird as it sounds, I really did love that housekeeping manual (#2 above) and I never would have picked it up. Same with Arcadia. And Middlemarch. And a bunch of others. 

Five Things I Didn't Love So Much

1. The theme food. I'm cooking challenged on a good day. Having to prepare delicious, sophisticated food that somehow matched a book? Drove me nuts. (Luckily M&Ms are the new black.)
2. The night when my car broke down on the way to book club and then my husband called me three times to tell me about the bird that flew down our chimney and was nesting in the fireplace and then after hitching a ride home, having to chase that same bird through our house in an effort to make it GO BACK OUTSIDE TO NATURE.
3. People who didn't read the books. (I went to Catholic school. I do my homework.) 
4. Bickering about which books to pick next.
5. Bickering about everything.

So eventually the load of bickering grew too heavy and we read that alphabet book of experimental fiction and I'd had enough. The book club fractured and a splinter group formed a new club.

A gin club.

I'd like to say we were playing cards, but we were actually drinking gin. Correction: we were tasting gin. That makes it more respectable, right? We tasted some excellent gin. (Also some well-dressed gin.) But then the gin club experienced some issues with over-indulgence and it wasn't fun anymore so once again we splintered.

And that was when three of us formed up into a critique group. A writing group. We were still sipping gin and still discussing books, but now they were our own books! I miss being in a book club, but I love my critique group.

What about you? I already know you love reading, but are you in a book club? I love to hear your stories. Give me a top 5 list from your book club or other club. What's the best book you were ever forced to read? Have you read Ella Minnow Pea and did it make you rage? Ever make theme food to match a book or movie night?

I have a book out this month, so here is the obligatory tie-in with my book section of the blog post: I don't think it's a spoiler to reveal that Deacon Fallon, the hero of The Long Shot (May 2012), is illiterate. I never write about actual people I know, but I often write about themes or situations I'm working through. Because I have a son with a mild learning disability and I work in communication, I think about literacy and how it impacts inclusion and access to many aspects of life from basic services all the way up to the independent joy of reading for pleasure. That contemplation is where Deacon's issues came from.

WIN BOOKS: I'll choose 4 commenters to receive a copy of The Long Shot. Maybe you'll read it and join me for the book club chat on 5/30! 

Finally, It’s May (Garden Memories)

Last weekend, I won a gardening gift basket.  My writer’s group held a luncheon event where the person whose birthday is closest to the speaker’s gets to take home the centerpiece on the table.  (Yay!  Don’t you love when you win something?)

The gift basket was filled with annual seeds, gardening tools, gloves, even a cute garden gnome.

So this week, in the midst of revision-problems that have been giving me fits, I’ve been taking breaks to go outside and “play” in the dirt.  I’ve found it’s a great way to work out plot issues, and I’ve been enjoying the May flowers as an added bonus.


This is my crop of lilac bushes (the photo is from last year, but you get the point).  Lilacs remind me of my childhood; I think they’re very “New England.”  White lilacs were part of my wedding bouquet, and I remember that every time I looked at them that day, they made me happy. 

Blueberry bushes are another New England favorite.  My dad planted four for us in our miniscule back yard.  Right now, they are budded with flowers and dozens of bees are hovering over them, pollinating, but in June, Dad will stop by for a morning of helping me stretch nets over the plants so the birds won’t eat the ripening berries. 

Here’s a photo of last August’s crop.  The berries taste great in pancakes and smoothies.  I can’t wait!

Another favorite plant is of Lily of the Valley.  I do nothing special to take care of them, and yet they blossom every year, smelling great.  Lily of the Valley reminds me of my grandmother, who died when I was 17.  Her backyard was covered in them every spring.  When we sold her house, we transplanted some of her lilies, and the flowers in my yard are descended from hers. 

They remind me of her, and they make me smile, too.

(I don’t have a photo of the lilies, but here is Otis the Cat with a pot of spring herbs.)

I’d love your comments.  Do you have any garden memories?  If not gardening, what tasks do you do to think out knotty problems?

Everyday Heroes

Mary Sullivan

I’m sure this topic has been covered many times before, but I’d like to share a couple of things I’ve seen lately.

Across the street from my apartment building, there’s an elementary school that has a daycare attached to it. I happened to be outside one day and witnessed this scene. A police officer had parked across the street from the daycare and had been inside the school for a while, possibly to talk to a class or at an assembly. He came out of the school to get into his car to leave just as the children came out of their daycare to play outside. They all ran to the fence so they could wave to him, but then asked him what was wrong, because his flashing lights weren’t on.

This huge, muscular guy played right along, saying, “My lights aren’t on? I forgot to turn them on?”

He climbed into his patrol car and turned on his flashing lights and his siren and that ‘whoop whoop’ sound that emergency vehicles sometimes make. He pulled the car over so it was sitting right in front of the children and they all cheered. I LOVED watching this burly cop turn into a marshmallow for little kids.

On a completely unrelated topic, I learned recently that one of my daughter’s friends, who is in university working on his Ph.D., decided that he really wanted a place on campus where students could go to get super healthy food at cheap prices. He got together with two like-minded students and started a small café. All of their time is donated. This is completely a volunteer effort on their part.

My daughter’s friend bakes nine loaves of bread from scratch every week and makes incredibly healthy soups and salads. He works there three days a week and gets paid nothing for his labor. He finds joy in cooking for people.

So for $5, a student, rather than picking up junk or fast food, can go to the café and get a huge salad, a satisfying bowl of soup and a bunch of homemade bread.

I really admire these three young people who showed such initiative—who did more than just have a great idea, but actually saw it through to fruition—give of their time and labor so generously. It makes up for all of those in the news who aren’t doing so well, who are hurting those around them.

On the news tonight, there was coverage of an awards ceremony that honored pets who had saved their owners lives. They were gorgeous dogs and cats who had a strong bond with their owners, strong enough that they sensed when their owners were in distress, even while their owners slept through medical emergencies. Aren’t pets sometimes the most heroic creatures on earth?

There’s a cashier at my neighborhood grocery store who is unfailingly polite and cheerful, no matter what the customers are like. She wears glasses with bright red frames and lipstick to match and tells everyone to have a good day after she rings in their order. When I watch her I can SEE her make the choice to be pleasant. She consciously maintains her good humor.

A million years ago, I put myself through school by working as a cashier in a large grocery chain store. I know how hard it can be when you get tired, when you’re nearing the end of your day, to put up with customers who are tired and can become crabby on a dime. This woman makes everyone feel good.

These are the people (and pets) I admire, who make those around them feel good, feel cared for, who make us smile at their whimsy, their constant good will, or their generosity of spirit. Are there people in your life, or on the periphery of it, who make you feel good whenever you come into contact with them? 

I'm giving away a copy of my May release, NO ORDINARY SHERIFF, to someone who comments today. 

Breakfast Favorites

by Beth

The other day, my youngest and I were out running errands and saw a sign at a local restaurant advertising Mother's Day Brunch, to which I commented: I love brunch.

Which, in turn, caused my fifteen-year-old to ask: Are you trying to tell me you want us to take you out for brunch for Mother's day?

I assured her I wasn't, that I was just declaring my great and abiding love for that meal which-is-not-really-a-real-meal.

Although if they did want to take me out, I wouldn't complain :-)

Over the past year or so I’ve come to love brunch, or technically breakfast, with a passion that is sort of frightening. Every Sunday I spend half of the morning making scones or muffins or omelets or waffles for my family and  I had my mother throw me a birthday brunch instead of birthday dinner party. My husband even took me out for breakfast for Valentine’s Day instead of doing the romantic dinner for two thing *g*

To celebrate my adoration for all things breakfast, I thought we’d do a quick Breakfast Q&A!

1. Coffee, tea or juice?
2. Pancakes, waffles or French toast?
3. Eggs – scrambled, fried or poached?
4. Bagel, English muffin or toast?
5. Bacon, sausage or ham?
6. Donut, danish or fresh fruit?
7. Muffin, scone or coffee cake?
8. Cereal – cold or hot?
9. Omelet or quiche?
10. Favorite Breakfast indulgence?

Can’t wait to read everyone’s answers…after I’ve eaten, of course :-)

Another Winner!

Tammy Yenalavitch, you've won a copy of NO ORDINARY SHERIFF, from my April 24th blog. Please contact me with your mailing information through my website, www.marysullivanbooks.com

Congratulations, Tammy!

Mary

Winner

Congratulations Marybelle!

Your the winner of a $10 amazon.com gift card

"Another Sixty Dollar Tomato"

by Rogenna Brewer

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Happy Star Wars Day!

by Emmie Dark

Source

May the Fourth be with you!

Geddit?

Are you a Star Wars fan? If not, you're probably puzzling over that greeting. But, even if you're not a fan, Star Wars is such an pervasive cultural icon, it's almost impossible not to know at least the general gist of the story.

Just in case anyone reading hasn't seen the movie (IS there anyone who hasn't??) the fourth of May each year has been dubbed  "Star Wars Day" by fans because of its similarity to the line from the movie: "May the force be with you."

At the danger of dating myself terribly, I remember going to see Star Wars at the cinema back when it first came out. Mostly I remember my younger brother's saucer-like eyes after it finished. He became, from that day on, an avid sci fi geek. I happily rode on his coat tails, watching Dr Who with him from behind the couch (those tinfoil monsters were scary!) and even staying up late to watch randomly-scheduled Star Trek Next Generation episodes. (Anyone out there have a teen crush on Riker? *cough* *blush* No, me either.)

On the scale of sci fi geekdom, I'd describe myself as averagely geeky. Geeky enough to get references when they're peppered into pop culture. Geeky enough to be disappointed in the new Star Wars movies. Not geeky enough to collect figurines. However I did just recently buy myself this awesome t-shirt, and you'll have to decide for yourself just how geeky it makes me...

Because I like a little chic with ma geek...
(You can have one too! Buy it here.)

How cool is that? I love that true fans are going to "get it" right away. Yep, that's Princess Leia with Cloud City in the background. Others will (hopefully) just think, "Oh, that's a pretty art nouveau design".

Princess Leia is a pretty awesome heroine when you stop to think about it. She's the leader of the rebel alliance, risking everything to fight against the evil empire. She back chats Darth Vadar fearlessly and then faces torture at his hands with just the slightest quiver. She fights stormtroopers with men, Wookies and Ewoks by her side. Even when forced to wear that gold bikini (and thus inspiring the nighttime fantasies of millions of guys around the world) she manages to convey how very put out she is about the whole business, and then she strangles her captor with the chain he'd used to imprison her.

Go Leia!

When the sexy hero, Han Solo, falls for her, she plays it cool. In a movie full of pretty terrible dialogue, Leia arguably has the best line of anyone: when Han tells her he loves her, she simply replies with "I know."

So, happy Star Wars Day to you. Even if you're not a fan, I don't think there's anything wrong with us all getting our Princess Leia on today. Put your hair in braids (wrapping them into buns around your ears is entirely your decision). Fight for what you believe in. Back chat authority. You could even, if you want, get your gold bikini out of the closet. (It's a little too cold in Melbourne for that right now, though...)

How geeky do your rate yourself on the sci fi geek scale? Have you seen ALL the Star Wars movies?

Girlfriend's Weekend - Oh, Yeah!

Girlfriend’s Weekend – Oh, Yeah!

by Liz Talley

So here’s the deal – all around me throughout the years I’ve heard moms on the playground, the gals next to me in Sunday school and neighbors talk about this myth -  this venture out onto beaches, vacation houses and shopping meccas, with only girlfriends. For years I’ve longed for the same opportunity – to leave the laundry, the dishes in the sink (okay, I actually HAD to do those before leaving) and my whining children, barking dogs and grumpy husband all in search of wine, sales and talk of the cutest of shoes. Yep, I’ve been yearning for a girlfriend’s weekend.

And as my 4oth birthday approached (I know. I look 29, right?) I decided to cajole, bribe and beg my high school besties to drop what they were doing for just one weekend out of the year and join me on a little trip. Luckily, they all needed a break like I did J and we set the last weekend in April for our trip. We all live in Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma, so we decided the easiest place to triangulate and meet would be the Dallas area. One of the gals lives in Plano and suggested an area called Legacy which has great upscale outdoor restaurants and cute little boutiques. So off we went.

And it was wonderful!

Incredible!

And felt so good to be with the girls who knew me so well. My son asked why I was so excited about this trip, and the only way I could put it is that when you grow up with people, there’s this automatic bond. You go through all these things together – first kiss, first period, bra shopping, break-ups, studying for finals and….growing up. All those strange and yet wonderful firsts forge something special, or at least that’s the way it was with us. Doesn’t matter how long it’s been, it’s as comfortable as that pair of Levi’s in the closet, as sweet as that bottle of vanilla vodka we mixed with our Cokes, and far more valuable than could ever be described. We talked, we laughed, we cried and it was PERFECT. I’m not kidding. PERFECT.

I posted a pic so you could see how happy we were to be together…we’ve all changed, but one thing has not, and that’s our need to be together, love each other, and not do any laundry. Oh, and I brought them all a copy of Waters Run Deep, my new book that came out Tuesday. In that book my heroine Annie doesn’t really have any of these girlfriend bonds (or any others for that matter), but she finds a home in Bayou Bridge…and a chance at love. In one way, I feel sorry for her that she grew up so unstable she never forged bonds with girlfriends. On the other, I’m a little jealous of Annie…well, she is a tough former FBI agent and ends up with a sexy Cajun detective. Hope my Housewives of Webster Parish enjoy reading one of my books. Should give us something to talk about at the next get together. Oh, yeah. It’s now an annual thing.

What about you? Have you ever gone on a girl’s trip? Where’d you go? And if not, what’s your idea of the perfect girlfriend getaway? Or maybe you’d rather be left alone to read a book?

Another Sixty Dollar Tomato?

The last time I attempted anything close to a garden It cost me $60 to harvest one tomato. Plant, planter, cage, topsoil, fertilizer, plant food...

It all adds at the register.  I remember thinking I would have been better off spending that money in the produce section of my grocery store.  

Eventually, I got tired of my two trips a day lugging gallons of water out to the patio.  Yes I know there is such a thing as a garden hose, but it involved an even longer walk around the house and unwinding the darn thing.

After that first fruit I gave up entirely.

The following year the home stores started selling potted tomato plants complete with cage.  A much better bargain for $14.99.  I pick one up every year, but that, and tossing wildflower seeds into my garden beds is the extent of my gardening.

So why on earth am I planting a vegetable garden this year?  Our back yard is on a slop, and except for the southwest corner there's really no place to put a garden.  For years I've been eyeing the spot, but my husband had dibs for a shed he never got around to building.

This year instead of ruminating about a garden, and having him veto my idea with his shed.  I asked if he was going to get around to building that shed this summer.  It must have sounded like a demand to get it done because he was quick to say it wasn't going to happen.

"Well, then I think I'm going to put in a garden."

"Okay."

Who knew it was that easy?

Easy, but not cheap.  The trip to the Home Depot cost me $77.12 for the cherry wood border, topsoil and fertilizer.  I spent another $55.47 at Walmart for plants and seeds and assorted accessories, like gardening gloves and a hose.

There's no way I'm going up and down that hill to water twice a day.  Our youngest broke his collarbone on a Slip & Slid down that hill.  Leave it to the oldest to find a way to make a dangerous water slide even more dangerous and then make his brother go first.  

Anyway, I can just see myself taking a tumble...

So I invested in a soaker that I can leave in the garden and all I have to do is turn it on and off by the back door.  Then my husband got into the act, he's talking about building steps to make it easier for me to get up and down and he bought me a duel hose head and a misting wand so I can water the garden and the patio planters without having to attach and detach hoses or haul water.

I don't know what all that cost him, but it cost me nothing so I didn't add it to my total of $168.12

Counting $13.88 at the Dollar Tree for decorations.  And a trip back to Walmart to the tune of $21.65 for mulch.

Am I crazy or what?  I'm never going to be a canner like my mother-in-law.  I don't have her time and patience or her green thumb.  Or a farmer-size garden.

I'll be surprised if I even recoup my money in produce.

I'm already having gardener's remorse and I haven't put in a single plant yet.  But when I'm sitting at the top of my hill, looking down on my little patch of earth none of that matters.  I have a garden.

72 various seedlings, 12 cabbage, 6 cucumber, 3 tomato,
1 sweet pepper & and marigolds to keep the bugs out.

Oh, and not enough room for them all!

How about you?  Have you been bitten by the gardening bug this year?  



I'm giving away a $10 Gift Card to amazon.com so you can sit back and relax with a book while admiring your own patch or earth.  Check back Saturday for a post announcing the winner.