...how hard it is to write a query when your child is in the other room yelling, "What is plus one and four."

I already played that stupid math game with him for TWO HOURS - and now I am trying to write!

I think I may have to bribe one of his brothers into playing with him when they get home from school so I can finish - I finally got a rhythm going then found myself writing equations into the synopsis - sheesh!

and.... here's another picture to keep you people mollified - who knew my pics were such a big hit - LOL!

Here's me at the grandparents in '90 after graduation - You think I look funny - you should see the part I cut off w/ my friend in a sombreo - LOL!

I am working on two queries... that's sorta writing right!?!?! Then I have to tweak the synopses to go with them and I will hit the Post Office!

So far behind, but I think I have gotten all the pic bugs out of my system - at least for a few days =)

I am in a photo mood – and I finally figured out how to use the scanner on my printer (yeah, so I am slow sometimes!)

I decided to give you some unaltered photos of me (If I even looked remotely the same, I probably wouldn't) – You asked for it – LOL! Oh and FYI - every pic is my REAL hair color, before I got hooked on the box, just so you know...

This was my sixth birthday '78 – ain’t I cute! (look at that bun – sheesh – thanks MOM!) oh and, any one who knows Mini-me face to face - there is a reason we call him that ...



This is me and my bro sitting in the weeds in our backyard in Longview, Texas circa ‘79 – he’s now 27 (good thing he doesn't read this... he'd kill me -LOL!)


Okay – high school, ugh what good can you say other than it’s OVER– this is my sophomore year (87-88), yearbook pic.




Junior year – I got braces, but only on the bottom teeth. My dear bro from the previous pic, 10 at this point, decided to take a pic of me pointing at my year book pic – don’t ask me… (and that's his bed room door w/ all the stickers - garbage pail kids - sheesh!)


Senior year ski trip – first run down – I hurt myself – yes, those are cruthes and a knee brace – call me grace!




Senior walk – the day you get to dress up BEFORE graduation. That’s me and the DH – what babies we were – got married two short years later….


Summer after graduation, I took my friend down to the grandparents house in Rotan, Texas. I set the camera on the dresser and took my own picture hmm… used to like to get my pic taken…



That's all folks!

I didn't have a pic w/o a hat so....

I know it is Spring – the dogs are shedding like crazy! – clumps of black and brown fur adhere to everything – but the dogs themselves – sheesh!

Went to lunch with some of the buds, Sunday – had a great time and me and SJ talked and talked and… well, any that know us know how we are (missed you Cece and Mik!).

I felt parental guilt for leaving the boys home alone w/ dad – what’s up with that? When I am with the kids, it’s just what I do, but when dad is with the kids it’s babysitting – this make no sense!!!!

And this is what happens when dad is alone with the kids –

Not to worry he is okay – it just looks REALLY bad! (He was mad I was taking his picture this morning - so he frowned like the dickens!) Spare was responsible for this - then this morning as he was getting in the bath, I saw a huge raspberry on his back and shoulder. Apparently Spare + 1 did that - sheesh - the poor little guy!

I made another pic w/ my short hair – I mentioned I cut it (but maybe only privately to a couple of folks so I didn’t want y’all to get the wrong impression of what I look like. )

HAHAHA!

This is what happens when your kids gets a hold of the camera and you don't know it (that would be Mini-me’s photographic genius! There was one of me he snapped when I walked back in the room - but I deleted it - LOL!).

Have a great week!

Okay – I have admitted to many a thing on here – tonight is no exception.

I partook in something that I hope won’t lose me the respect of many of my friends, but well… I couldn’t help myself and I will probably do it many more times (as many as I humanly can).

It’s a secret that I have not shared with many people. Only two in fact – the dh knows ‘cause you can’t hide something like this from your spouse and one of my best friends from high school who has shared in this with me in the past (but it has been years….).

Okay here goes – confession time – I … this is hard… You have to understand – this goes back to when I was eleven. That’s a long time to deal with something like this.

I bought, today, with heir along (I am corrupting the youth of America – sheesh!), MY very own copy of Grease 2. I LOVE THIS MOVIE – it is has been, and always will be, my FAVORITE movie in the entire world. Bar none my favorite of all time.

Maxwell Caulfield, Michelle Pfeiffer, and the lot. I have seen the movie in upwards of 100 times – at least! Now, I love Star Wars and Pride and Prejudice, but not like I LOVE Grease 2.



I first saw this movie at eleven whilst (for Bonnie W) staying w/ my grandparents in west Texas. Maybe it is the whole ambiance of that that lends to this being the one movie I will never live without. Why, you ask, am I just now getting this movie if this is how I fell about it? Let me tell you, I have always been a little embarrassed. The movie is kinda cheesy. If you see it for the first times as an adult you will scratch your head and say WTF! But as this was a staple growing up, it is embedded in not just my mind but my person. Plus as the movie is so cheesy I always felt guilty when I considered purchasing it. But today – at Blockbuster – I paid $1.07 for it (I had a gift certificate- WOOHOO!)



So, okay, maybe I shouldn't wax movie philosophical at midnight as it makes me a tad loopy – but as I just finished watching it, I felt it needed to be said – I LOVE GREASE 2! There. Deal with it!

You Are The Fool

You are a fascinating person who is way beyond the concerns of this world. Young at heart, you are blissfully unaware of any dangers ahead. You are a true wanderer - it has be difficult finding your place in this world. Full of confidence, you are likely to take a leap of faith. Your fortune: You are about to embark on a new phase in your life.This may mean changing locations, jobs, friends, or love status. You are open about what the future will bring, and free of worry.You have made your peace with fate, and you're ready to start down your new path.

My boys have been filming (well, video taping) dating lessons. OMG! Spare has a major crush on Jamie Lynn Spears and Kelly Pickler (sp) from American Idol - he tells me, "I like blondes." Again OMG - he's not even in double digits yet. Heir wrote a note to a girl he wanted to ask to the Spring fling only to find out his friend, Arthur, likes her too, so what does the friend do? He asks to see the note then EATS it so Heir cannot give it to her - OMG.

But then it gets worse - apparently the girl - let's call her Trixie (mostly 'cause I cannot remember her name) tells heir and Arthur that she is turning them into the "tattle box" for some unknown crime they have committed. Heir decided he won't ask her as she seems to think disparaging things against him - his words - sheesh. To which the dh and I tell him that that is a good thing, she probably likes him and is doing that thing that kids have done for ages (i.e. pulling of pigtails, punching of the arm) but so far he's not buying it. The dance is not until May, so we shall see.

What I don't understand is for the last couple of months, all he has talked about is one particular girl, Billie. He had drawn pictures of her (the funniest one is the one where she is weaing an "I love Heir" t-shirt to which he also drew him wearing an "I love Billie" t-shirt). Fickle, fickle children. Were it not for chemically enhanced red hair.... I don't think I'd look good w/ silver hair.

When I was Spare's age, boys were not even on the radar - though I kissed my first boys at 6 - ran up smack him on the cheek and took off - he never spoke to me again after that. I could tell you his name but what if in some strange small world cosmic way someone might actually know him and tell him. I'd be devastated - not that he knew I did but.... what if he didn't even remember or worse, he hated it!

When I was Heir's age, we started ranking the boys as to who we liked best to worse and if a boy was particularly mean (like when they called me little orphan Annie thanks to my riot of curls and freckles) they went straight to the bottom of the list.

...but as usual, I digress, I am too young for my boys to be doing this - and the two older ones are sucking the little ones in on it. Mini-me went into great detail about his girlfirned that works up at Wal-mart (news to me - I may have to stop taking him with me when I go). Spare + 1 tells me a girl in his class acts all goofy when they are standing in line together, "It's 'cause she likes me," he says in his deep, deep voice (he's gonna be another Barry White or *gasp* Vin Diesel).

Next thing you know, they will want their own cell phone - oh wait, Spare does - OMG. When they start shaving .........

SJ had this on her blog - I so stole it - it is too funny not to.

You Are Root Beer

Ultra sweet and innocent, you have a subtle complexity behind your sugary front. Children love you, but so do high end snobs... when you're brewed right. Your best soda compatibility match: Dr. Pepper Stay away from: Diet Coke

In a house full of men, being the only woman does have many drawbacks. Discussion of sports would be one of those. (Let me preface this saying, maybe being a female, I just don’t get it.)

… I was expressing my displeasure at the acquisition of the infamous 81 to the Boys. “Why?” the dh asks.

“Because is it okay to hire someone with his reputation JUST because he is good at his position.

To which he replied, “Yep.” A means to an end. The goal at the end of the season. The big fat ring.

But what about morality clauses? What about keeping toxicity out of the locker room? Basically he said, “Who cares as long as they get the win.”

That chaps my hide. I realize this is sports, the way it has been, and will always be – not that I don’t think it needs change. But it a job. You get the guy to net the best results. Who cares if he(not TO on these examples - a plethora of other players) has been arrested four times though not convicted or an alleged rapist released on a minor technicality. Who cares if the player strangles his coach in front of the rest of the team, beats his wife, is arrested for drug charges, prostitution charges, stabs someone, DUIs out the wazoo.... If he can win you the game, he’s as good as gold.

I know there are just as many people like this in the corporate world and regular-life kinda folks world. Their profiles just aren't in the media's every-waking-moment eye.

What chaps my hide most of all is that I even have an opinion on the matter! Before the kids were born, I didn’t care who was on what team – couldn’t tell you a tight end from a half back. (well, okay – I can’t really do that now either, but I can hold a halfway knowledgeable conversation when it comes to most sports – though curling stymies me!)

I guess I am in a quasi-rant mode this week...

My boy – tall child extraordinaire – Heir to the McThrone – has a smart mouth – shocker of all shocks, I know!

He has been ragging on his younger brothers with a reckless abandon as of late. On the one hand, I want to smack the boy. These are your brothers, you should love them and protect them from people like you! On the other hand, he is a chip off the maternal and paternal block. He comes by his smart-assed-self honestly. He didn’t have a hope for NOT being as such.

My biggest quandary: should a parent be delighted that their child can use appropriately, and appreciate it when it thrown back at them, sarcasm? He is a quick whit. And I enjoy the hell out of mental sparring rounds with him – and he is young yet – he shall far surpass my meager musings and mockery.

On more than one occasion, I fell to laughter than the appropriate castigations due.


(oh and did I mention - it finally happed - at least w/ sneakers on - he has reached my height - the dh cannot understand why this brings me near tears! And don't get me started on the talk of the dance at his intermediate school - I am too young for this!)

Have you ever found yourself leaning over a baby carriage and cooing and smooching at a butt-ugly baby (ala Seinfeld) yet you comment, “Oh, how adorable?” I haven’t. Rarely, even if the baby rivals one of my own precious angels, would I ever openly, willingly bestow momma and child w/ wild praises. I hate that.

I don’t comment on people’s clothing (unless I truly like it to the point I am considering knocking them on their perky ass to get it from them) or hair or whatever vanity they need stroked. I never have and probably never will. I just don’t do it.

Now, we can traipses through the colorful garden of Dennie’s issues here and have a field day of why this is – but for the sake of the piece let’s assume I am a normal, rational person and read this for what it is not why it is – thank you – this has been a brief message from the Dennie Broadcasting Company… (okay – see – Spring Break is FINALLY over and I was about over the edge, but now relief, though the tic in my eye … so I apologize for wacky sense of humor!) … back to regular programming already in progress.

There are so many people – none that I am specifically linked with at present so you can all stop wondering, “Is she talking about me?” these are observations I have made and folks I used to know – that will compliment for the sake of hearing themselves speak or because they feel, for whatever misguided reason, the need to comment on you to you.

So that leaves the genuine praise, kudos and general felicitations lost in the sea of hot air and bum smoke.

When I make a comment, I mean it. I don’t give praise or other emotional accolades lightly. However, having said that, I do have my own biases. If you are my friend, I don’t mind heaping on the congrats. If I enjoy your writing I will slather you with my fondest and greatest endorsements and regard. But sometimes I feel the authenticity of my applaud is undermined by the smoke blowers.

I suppose there may be times when you feel the need to don your hip waders and listen to my spiel but it is a true and honest rendering of my affection.

Yes, I keep moving this up - It is such a good oportunity that I want to keep reminding everyone ... the deadline in looming - cut-off date for having info turned in is March 31, 2006 - DON't LET THIS OPPORTUNITY PASS YOU BY!

---

Okay writers - who needs a place to advertise their new book and/or website?

My critique group, Trinity Writers' Workshop, is having their annual writers' conference and this year they have decided to carry ads in the back of the conference program. This a great, low-cost way to advertise to hundreds of other writers.


Exposure to Hundreds of Local
Writers, Illustrators, Journalists, and Students!

Prices: Business Card size—$20,
¼ page—$30, ½ page—$50,
Full page—$100
(Recommendations: Include your website, logo, phone/contact information, and coupons for best returns.)


Contact: Bev Vines-Haines ~ TWW Conference Director
bevvh@swbell.net

All the information about the ads space and conference are on the website events page. Be sure to check it out! Tell your other writer friends!

I know I will be putting my book info in!

And . . . Be sure to tell Bev, Dennie sent you!

I made an utter fool out of myself in front of one of my favorite authors (a NY times Best seller, 20 times over) not once but twice – YES TWICE. I felt like such a fool – both times.

When I met a local author at the national conference a couple of years ago, I knew I recognized the name but at that moment was drawing a blank then it came to me in a burst of mental orgasm and I blurted out, “I know you, {Finger waggling in her face, mind you} You wrote the one about the guy and the girl in the woods.” She ever so politely smiled and I could tell she was trying not to roll her eyes. (I could not have kept this a secret if I had wanted to as SJ and a couple of the Rosebuds were standing there at the time – sheesh!)

And take for instance the time Cece and I ran into CC – we (it weren’t just me on this one!) stood there like two mute idiots. I was so trying not to look at him so I was looking over my change to see if any of the quarters had states that I didn’t have for my quarter collection (Yeah, okay fine, I have a state quarter collection – if you think that’s bad – you should meet my aunt. She has ROLLS of the quarters and they HAVE to be minted at a specific place or she doesn’t want them – runs in the family – but again I digress). Cece was just as flummoxed as she couldn’t figure out where the water was on the soda machine. The big black letters on a white background with W-A-T-E-R seemed to stymie her too much. Then it got worse – how, you ask – we sat in the car, waited ‘til he came out to go back to his bus and I cranked up the music – his CD – and then ducked leaving poor Cece standing beside the car all by her lonesome. (I have told this story before but it so bears repeating – often!)

If I ever met some of my other crushes I think I might faint dead away.

I get like this w/ every person I perceive to have a celebrity higher than myself (which is just about everyone! Just hanging out with Cece is a thrill to me! Love you, hun!)

And on the phone is no better. I had to speak with a local celeb recently and had to psych myself up just to dial those ten little digits. (phone issues are a whole ‘nother topic though in and of itself =) know what I mean!) This was just Wednesday so I am still sorta reeling from the affects of nervousness overdose! It doesn’t help I had to leave a message and he hasn’t called back =)

BUT – what’s deal – I mean, they are just people. People that happen to be good at what they do, but people nonetheless.

I have been immersing my boys is 80’s pop culture. I got tired of having to explain what I meant when I said:

“Hello, McFly.”

“Bueller…, Bueller…”

“Neo maxi zoomed Dweebie.”

or when I stand on the sofa in the crane position. (yep, done that several times now.)

They loved, loved, LOVED Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. They watched it several times in fact. The dh wasn’t too please when, last Halloween, we viewed Friday the 13th and I explained to them, “When you see a bra, she’s gonna die.” (I mean we all know the chchchc, shashasha theme by heart, but sometimes you gotta use the clothing factor). Sure enough, they became pretty fluent in Jasonese! We haven’t repeated that particular experiment in pop culture as a few choice things that asked about afterwards – so the dh was right – once.

I went through that with my mother. Can’t tell you how many times I saw Move Over Darling, Please Don’t Eat the Daisies and Pillow Talk (and the likes) and, hello, Lou Christie was my favorite singer and I loved the Monkeys in the 6th grade – so what that it was 1983.

My boys know AC/DC, Styx and Kiss thanks to the DH and EA Sports games. Have you ever heard a four-year-old sing Mr. Roboto? It cracks me up when we hear music on the radio and I sing along. “How do you know the words to that, mom?”

“Because it came out when I was a kid.” And sometimes I can hear my mother’s voice saying, “Now hold on. That came out when I was a teen.” It’s all cyclical. Case in point – Chris On American Idol sang Higher Ground. Dh and I sang along thanks to the Red Hot Chili Peppers version in the eighties and the kids were all shocked – but hey, Stevie Wonder did it BEFORE the Chili Peppers version the dh and I grew up with. (Okay I was actually one when it came out the first time and seventeen when CP did it, but you get the drift).

And some pop culture is everlasting, every generation thinks it is uniquely their own – like Narnia. It came out when my mom was a kid and has held up through the decades, but seems new and exciting again and again – and speaking of again, I shall take the boys to see it again at the dollar movie in a bit!

Can you name the movies?

"Chicks can't hold their smoke. That's what it is!"

"He doesn't even have his license Lisa."

"My brother paid a buck to see your underwear at the dance."

"I want my two dollars."

"Just for the record, my name is Ronald. Not Donald."

Gotta love the eighties.

Have a great weekend!

I take great pleasure in annoying my kids. I think it is a parental right-of-passage. This morning Spare-+-1 was in a piss-poor mood and when he finally decided to eat (an hour after the other three) he moaned and groaned. I told him he had to ask nicely with mega enthusiam and prompty sang an oatmeal song (I made it up on the spot, I am spontanious that way!)

Well... let me tell you, he was not amused.

But I wouldn't quit, told him he sounded like a mummy and kept it up while I made his breakfast. Ask him if he needed his bandages changed as I did my best Bela Lugosi-demented-voice. Which brought two of the other boys running into the kitchen to join it! He did fianlly smile and maybe even laughed, but with his back to me and shoulders shaking so, it was hard to tell.

I often get all the boys at once. Apparently my singing and dancing is not fit for human eyes - I have yet to do it in front of others... well, I did start singing a song from Peter Pan yesterday as Mini-me made us all follow him on our family field trip. "Te dum, te de, a tiddle de dum te day..." and did I mention the skipping? You've never seen three boys turn so red so fast... Mini-me thought it was funny!



I enjoy far to much making the boys scream, "Mom, please!"

"So, Miss McDonald, your book has been released. What do you do now?"

If I say my life's work has been completed and I can sit back and watch the word go by, I think I would hear ten or so chairs hitting the ground as the Rosebuds ran for their doors with their beating sticks and a dictionary. (and Chocolate)

I never thought I would accomplish this first goal - not that I don't have faith in my writing - but because it is a darn hard business to break into.

Anybody with money and a halfway decent will can buy into a franchise or any sorted businesses. But where the ability to get into those buy-your-way-in business differs from the grind, toil, sweat, slog (yes I do own a Thesaurus) craft/artistry/entertainment industry the next step is exactly the same. You have to keep at it, persevere if you want it to thrive and move to that next level.

Now I was lucky enough to have sold two books at the same time, so at least I won't be a one-book-wonder. But I will still have to kick my self in the arse to make sure I am not a two-book-wonder. It is a never ending process - if you want to continue to be published. One I will happily participate in until someone takes away my keyboard (pen, pencil, paper, sand - you can write in just about anything if you put your mind to it) and my ability to think coherently.

I have always said - and my friends can back me up on this - if you are a "writer" you can't not write. You may not always sit at a desk and chip away at the great American novel. You may not always send away your submissions and enter contests. But a true writer - I my humble, but still my own, opinion - cannot not write. When you vacuum, the characters will speak to you. When you are sitting in traffic and you glance over at the driver next to you, your brain will weave and bend a quick and fantastic tale as to what brought that person to that spot in the road. When you sit through another PTA meeting, you can imagine what would happen if the former president, that decided the cute shoes at Nordstroms were a better idea than the t-shirts for the field trip, came screaming into the cafeteria with nothing on but said shoes and proceeds to do the chicken dance on the table in front of the hunky Vice Principle.

But I digress (some). A writer will always write in one form or another. It's when you choose to park your behind in the leather office chair with a slight rip and set your fingers to your wireless keyboard with the "N" worn almost completely off. And - most importantly - you open word (or whatever program you write in) click on an actual book/story/outline and crank that sucker out!

Today is the day! My first book release.


Her Passion
is now availble from
Samhain Publishing.

click on:

to order your copy.

This is a big week for birthdays in my family:

father-in law - the old fart - LOL!

my mom - you don't look a day over... (I am not stupid enough to put in a year here!)

the cuz-in-law - enjoy it, doll!

and my baby brother - you're only 15 and have 4 nephews!?!?!?

Happy Birthday Y'all - Love you!

Weekends are family time.... I have crested over the worst of my cold and am just regular snotty now (and that makes me different from the rest of the time how....LOL!)

However... Number three son is sick, has been since Friday but amazingly doing better since dad pulled down his racing track from the attic a little while ago. Boys! Sheesh!

Went to my Yellow Rose meeting yesterday. Nothing like being around your Buds to brighten your spirit and energize your writing!

The beginning of Spring tends to bring the doldrums, but then you get a sweet e-mail from a friend trying to cheer you up and all seems better - thanks, you're a doll (You know who you are!)

And then there are friends that need your hugs and support - Thinking of you E!

All the boys were gathered in our family room this morning, the dogs were wrestling and Mini-me giggled like all get-out! Tall child told me he could see over my head when I looked down - brat! Spare sat next to me on the sofa and we read through his SI for Kids and contemplated the 2006 baseball season. Spare + 1 is racing a red car around a track trying to keep Mini-me from knocking it off! Love the weekend!


update 1:50pm :
It's all happy happy joy joy until we all get in a vehicle then it's:

"Mom, he's touching me."

"Mom, make him stop making that noise."

"Not me."

"Yes."

"Nuh-uh."

Sheesh! gotta love 'em!

Your Personality Profile

You are nurturing, kind, and lucky. Like mother nature, you want to help everyone. You are good at keeping secrets and tend to be secretive. A seeker of harmony, you are a natural peacemaker. You are good natured and people enjoy your company. You put people at ease and make them feel at home with you.

I have been told I am a complex person - boy howdy, ain't that the truth.

I have "issues." Some (if not all) stem back to my childhood.

* I am afraid of ghosts - had personal experience with it at four and once later. I don't like 'em don't want to be around 'em - The dh got mad when we were buying our house and I asked the realtor about ghosts - you have to claim them in the disclosure, you know - rolled his eyes and asked me not to do that again - but sorry, when you have an issue...

*I freak out when I lose things - anything - the more trivial usually the wierder I am. This is due to two instances - when I was 3 or 4 I tossed one of my shoes out the window as we left a drive up movie (did I ever mention I have a remarkable memory?!?) it was my favorite shoe - I felt horrible for weeks but hello - I am 30something and still talking about it. And when I was 11 my mother had to make a costume for a school play - the night before the play - so I forgot to mention it, I was 11. Later I lent it to a friend and never got it back = my mother brings this up often!

I also have "things." A thing can be lesser than an issue - not as traumatic. But they have the potential to turn into issues.

*Don't like spiders - it's a thing - my brother used to tease me when I'd have to sleep in his room if I saw one - "it's crawling up the bed. It's gonna get you." Little brothers can be such pains.

*I am terrified of heights - this is both and thing and an issue depending on the circumstance. While driving in heavy traffic, if I have to sit on an overpass, I have to do mental relaxation techniques to keep from forcing all the cars in front of me to move - creeps me out more than I can say! In high school I was in Tech theater - you do the props and whatnot - during a show, I had to stand up in the rafters and drop fake snow - that took a lot of talking to to get me to do it - mostly I didn't want to look like a total freak so I did it then self medicated afterwards! And don't get me started about the tower at Six Flags - the boys know - Mom, can't go up there any more... the last time was almost an incident, especially when Mini-me ran around the corner and the wet, slippery flooring - can you see my eyes rolling up in my head now?!?!

My Buds have constantly ribbed me about my "issues" and "things". But you have to be able to laugh at yourself - otherwise you have to kill them all for their barbed barbs and I don't look good in those little orange jumpsuits, er,ah, I mean I wouldn't look good - not that I know - at all - nuh-uh.

Oh how I could go on - but I won't.

and as I have a thing for CC ..... ah.......

You Are a Peacemaker Soul

You strive to please others and compromise anyway you can. War or conflict bothers you, and you would do anything to keep the peace. You are a good mediator and a true negotiator. Sometimes you do too much, trying so hard to make people happy. While you keep the peace, you tend to be secretly judgmental. You lose respect for people who don't like to both give and take.On the flip side, you've got a graet sense of humor and wit. You're always dimplomatic and able to give good advice. Souls you are most compatible with: Warrior Soul, Hunter Soul and Visionary Soul

To celebrate the March 14th release of Her Passion, I am having a savenger hunt. (thanks to Cece - who will receive a free copy of my book - yay Cece).

The winner, whose name will be drawn out of all the correct scavenger hunt answers and announced on Monday, March 13th, the day before the release, will win one free copy of Her Passion -did I mention it's released on March 14th?

NOTE: you must be 18 to enter the contest.


The hunt will take place amongst the Samhain authors. (You WILL have to be 18 to play – sorry kiddies - yes a repeat, but bears repeating.) Use the links below to find the answers, and while there, check out the other Samhain authors upcoming releases.

1) Which author has an online etiquette link?

2) Who has a series of four books coming out April – July?

3) Who has three books coming out from Samhain?

4) Which author has Banners you can download on your computer?

5) Which author’s character’s name is Shannon Miller?

6) Who’s book Giving Chase is a future release from Samhain?

7) Which author in her fun stuff link has her own comics?

8) Which author is giving away a Peace necklace to celebrate the release of her book?

9) Which author’s website is a Playgirl magazine certified site?

10) Who grew up near Salem Massachusetts?

11) Which author, in her favorite links, has 4 authors with Suzanne (varied spelling)?

BONUS QUESTION (for a free pen): What were the first two books that I ever wrote?

Alexis Fleming

Ally Blue

Beth Williamson

Bianca D’Arc

Brenda Williamson

Elisa Adams

Jessie Verino

Kate Davies

Lauren Dane

Leigh Ellwood

Vicki Gaia

* * * * * * * * * * *

please send you answers to my e-mail address.

thanks and have fun!

So inspired by Eve – I cleaned my desk/office area. Can you believe it Sandy? (And kicked the kids out to the family room – that way we can watch what website they are on too!) I should have taken a “before” picture, but forgot to – but if you scroll down to the pic of Mini-me at the computer you can kind of see what the desk looked like prior. Note: that pink sticker reads “ROMANCE WRITER” … Positive reinforcement!




I have everything set up, so there shouldn’t be anything keeping me from cranking out the next sold book. I’ve got the boys pics all over; my “I Love Lucy" calendar; Princess Leia, Bratz & Madame Alexander toys and let's not forget the Kim Possible naked mole rat; a cabbage patch doll and 42 notepads.

That bookcase is new. I am trying to be more organized (and not use all the tray tables in the house to hold my stuff).



You can see the progression around the room.



I have a lot of books (those postal tubs are full of books for the Yellow Rose contest).



What you can’t see are the seven or so boxes of books under my bed (I am not stupid enough to take a camera in there).



That’s my Momma – ain’t she cute?!?!



What? More books?!?!?




And yes, that is an Air Hockey table in my living room – thanks Grandma and Grandpa!
(That would be Spare + 1’s arm as he stands on my chair – sheesh! – boys!)



And that brings you around my desk/office ** formally known as the dining room (though, we always had the desk in there and never a table, so…)



I hear the kiddos bathroom is in need of cleaning {shudder}

It took me less time to clean than to get online and post the dern pictures (I ended up having to plug in the dial-up – sheesh!)

We have a name change, so I wanted to repost the news about Toni's book with the new name:
Her Sanctuary

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Triskelion Publishing is taking their books to print - check out one of their April releases:

Her Sanctuary is a cowboy romance about the power of love and redemption. FBI Agent Elizabeth Ward is running for her life following an undercover operation that goes disastrously wrong. With a new identity, she escapes to Montana, to a remote ranch in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. She craves peace and solitude to lick her wounds, but instead finds handsome rancher NAT SULLIVAN.

Nat is trying to keep his ailing family together, while struggling to keep the ranch from bankruptcy. The last thing he needs is a beautiful stranger reminding him there is more to life than work. But he soon discovers Elizabeth isn't quite what she seems. And when a murderer and rapist track her down to his ranch, they find out all about the power of revenge...

Her Sanctuary by Toni Anderson.

April 2006, Triskelion Publishing (http://www.triskelionpublishing.com)
ebooks and print format (from Amazon.com)
blog... http://tonianderson.blogspot.com/
Website... http:/membersa/tonianderson/index.htm

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Watch for the contest news - I will post all the details Sunday night

until then......................

...when you write? When you get stuck in a particular scene, do you leave yourself a few notes or slog on through said scene even if it takes days or weeks to push foreward?

I have done both before. (Done both just this week.) Sometimes it’s best to slog through it, but there are times when you need to cheat, when you don’t want to slow your momentum and stare at the screen with a shrug and head scratch while the characters sit dormant. Atrophy of an H/H is not a pretty sight! Nor are they likely to cooperate from that point on.

When I cheat, I will leave a few thoughts or ideas highlighted so I can come back later and tweak before the first round of edits. Maybe something as vague as "add some here" to specific details of what I might be thinking, but is not making it to the screen in a readable, discernable fashion.

Of course you may want to peek back at it so you don’t forget what's going on. Or worse, by the time you type “The End” you may forget what your motivation was. But who knows, maybe if you forget all the crud that held you back at the time, you may have a stronger, better scene than before.

What do you do ... slog or cheat?

Which makes me think of Spellchecker.... is it cheating when you leave it up to your spellchecker? The other night, at my critique meeting, I was writing out my critique and looked all over the paper for the spell check as I have become so accustomed to just hitting the little check mark (okay so I was tired, it was hour three of the meeting and my brain was low on caffeine) and not putting forth an concerted effort to do it correctly the first time - which drives my ex-teaching-English-major-mother crazy. I do believe she critisized, er, ah, commented recently of my lazy writing (but that is a whole 'nother topic for a whole 'nother day!).

You Are Fozzie Bear

"Wocka! Wocka!" You're the life of the party, and you love making people crack up. If only your routine didn't always bomb! You may find more groans than laughs, but always keep the jokes coming.

This was originally posted on 4/17/05. I have not replayed posts before (okay excepts for the advertising one) but as I am finally getting my arse back in gear to actually sit down and write, I needed writerly motivation and pics of Mini-me sitting at my desk, while cute and make me saw, "AWWW," just ain't cutting it for me.

So please enjoy:

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4/17/05
I was at my romance writers meeting yesterday and the guest speaker waxed eloquent about "conflict" and it hit me - no not literally although it would have brought her point across much stronger - I need more conflict in my story. So they meet. Big deal... So they want to see each other again. Whoopee... I need action and adventure even in a sweet, comedic romance. (ie conflict!) I need...the heroine getting stuck in a doggie door. The hero gets stage freight in front of a group of six-year-olds, or worse yet, he's heckled by said children a week after his hottest bachelor cover for Stud-Muffin monthly hits the shelves. Something unexpected.

So I am trying to dig up their worst fears, the deep dark secret that keeps them awake at night and I shall blindside them with it in chapter six or maybe eight and then again in twelve. Does that make me evil? Well maybe, but it will definitely make the story juicier and the reader not want to put it down.

So thank you author of the guy and the girl in the woods... you have made me dig deeper for my story and inspiration.


* ... * ... * and if that is not enough to inspire - since I am repeating a post I thought to repeat a pic - and FYI I have this pic up next to the word file and I am listening to his CD's as he was the major inspiration for this book - Cagleheads - WOOHOO!