New Cover

After spilling my soul all over the web the past few days (go to the archive to see my March 12 interview), I decided to keep this post short and simply debut my July cover.

As authors, we get input into the cover, but like giving birth, you never know what "your baby" is going to look like until it comes out. Here's the cover for Bachelor CEO. My first impression was Daniel Craig and James Bond.

Here's the backcover copy:

Business And Pleasure
Never Mix…
Chase McDaniel had it all planned out. He’d work his way up in the family
business and eventually become CEO. Except the heir to McDaniel Manufacturing
just got a rude awakening. His soon-to-retire grandfather is ordering him to take a year off
and find out what he really wants. Chase knows what he doesn’t want—gorgeous, talented Miranda Craig taking his job!
Or Do They?
Being handpicked to run a company is the dream of a lifetime. And Miranda has no intention of stepping aside…even if Chase is the sexiest man she’s ever met. But their strictly business
arrangement may be in danger of turning into something more. Especially if a certain matchmaking relative has his way…

In the Spring, my thoughts turn to … Bees???

Our once abundant (supposedly self-pollinating) peach tree hasn’t produced a single peach in a good seven years. Such a tragedy! Recently my husband visited the local nursery for tips. “Prune the tree,” the expert recommended. “And bring in some orchard mason bees.”

Orchard mason bees? We’d never heard of them.

Supposedly these industrious little insects are wonderful fruit tree pollinators and are used by orchards around the country. Pollination–that’s their raison d'etre. They don’t make honey and are non-aggressive, only stinging if roughly handled or trapped under clothing.

DH came home with what looks like a little plastic pill bottle. Inside are bee eggs. (The eggs are in an egg sac.) He also purchased a wooden hive to attach to the far eave of our house, where the bees will lay their eggs for next year. And the year after that. And so on. (Without the wooden hive, the critters burrow into nail holes or other cavities in wood siding.)

He put the bottle on a shelf in the refrigerator. On March 3, following the directions, he set the bottle outside and peeled open one end. But mother nature wasn’t ready to let go of cold weather, and the temperature dipped below freezing. After a call to the nursery, he took down the hive and returned the egg sac to the plastic bottle, which once again sits in our fridge. Yesterday, with the temperatures now above freezing, he tried again.

Should be interesting.

I’m curious. Has anyone ever used these bees? If so, what happened?


Thanks for letting me guest-blog today, and pollinatingly yours,

Ann
www.annroth.net
Ooh, Baby!
March RT Top Pick!

P.S. I just learned I'm a double finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence contest! The books that finaled are The Pilot’s Woman, the second book in the Halo Island series, and My Sisters, a women’s fiction novel released in November, 2008.

Has Spring Sprung?

It certainly seemed so here in middle America yesterday, with the temperature topping out at eighty degrees. The day promised to be a beautiful and fun one with plans to go to our outstanding county zoo. Until we arrived, that is, to find long lines in the middle of the afternoon. My #2 daughter, Lyndsay, her hubby and their three little ones were already inside, after waiting in line for over an hour to pay admission. My youngest daughter and I were waiting in the ticket line with my oldest daughter’s daughter, when Lyndsay and family came out. It seems they had problems seeing the animals and exhibits, and people were rude, pushing ahead in front of small children for a better view. We decided to call it a day before it even began and opted for some time in one of the parks near our home. The little ones enjoyed climbing on the play equipment, and I enjoyed being outside on such a lovely day. Once summer arrives, we’ll find a day to try again, probably with much better results. The moral? Don’t try going to the zoo on the best day of spring break week.

I’m really, really hoping Spring has sprung!

Top o’ the Morning to You!

Or whatever time of day you’re reading this, I hope you’re having a grand time!

Lucky me, to find my blog date coinciding with St. Patrick’s Day. And seeing as I’m a good part Irish--in fact, more Irish than anything else--I couldn’t have asked for a better day to send a shout-out to you all.

Since I’m on a diet at the moment, I imagine you’ll understand when I say food is all I can think about. And one of my favorite things about St. Paddy’s Day is the delicious dinner that’s such an essential part of the holiday.

Mmm.... Corned beef, cabbage, and carrots, of course. My mouth is watering at the thought of a plateful! Or maybe two....

My next Harlequin American Romance (publication date and title to be determined) will be about an eccentric Irish family. Sure and you know they’ll be enjoying the traditional meal.

Will you?

If you’re Irish, or even if you’re not, is your mouth watering in anticipation of that delicious Irish dinner, too?

Of course, the Irish don’t have a monopoly on good food. I think every nationality has its own time-honored traditions when it comes to meals. Again, since I’m on that nasty diet and all I can do is think about food, naturally I’m a glutton for punishment. So, please tell me...

On special occasions, what does your family put on the table?

All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille
http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com

Literacy

I know. Literacy isn’t a very exciting blog topic. But it's an important one. Next week I'm speaking at the Janesville, Wisconsin Literacy Council monthly meeting. The council sponsors a community program designed to train volunteers to tutor adults and children, who lack proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking English.

I was asked to discuss how my publisher--Harlequin--promotes literacy. The first thing that came to mind was the http://www.eharlequin/ 10,000 book challenge. If you haven't heard of this pop over to http://www.eharlequin.com/ and check it out.

For every book read, Harlequin donates a book to the National Center for Family Literacy, whose mission is to promote family literacy. "When parents struggle with literacy and life skills, their children have fewer chances for success. Family literacy reverses that cycle by teaching the families of today in order to impact the generations of tomorrow."

I grew up two blocks from the library in Janesville. My family didn’t have money for summer vacations, so every year in June I'd lined up with other kids just like me--stuck in town--and register for the library's summer reading program. Books were my vacation. I traveled to exotic places--jungles, outer space, even back in time to the Civil War.

If not for a love of reading that my local library nurtured, I doubt I would have become a writer. We all know how important reading is to succeeding in school or landing a good job. But reading a book is so much more than an education--it's an escape, an adventure, a journey of self-discovery. Reading nurtures the imagination and frees the spirit.

As an author who depends on readers for her income--I just want to say "THANK YOU" to all the people in our communities who give their time to help others learn to read. The world's a better place because of you!

Marin

A Cowboy's Promise *Men Made in America* April 2009

Samantha's Cowboy August 2009

A Cowboy Christmas Dec 2009

http://www.marinthomas.com/

Ouch ouch ouch

A month or so ago, my husband and I gave blood. Last week, we did it again.

The first time, we went to a Red Cross bloodmobile in the post office parking lot, and, as thank-yous, received $5 coupons to Daphne’s Greek Café.

The second time, we showed up at our accountant’s office hauling records and receipts that we’d labored over for several weekends. We got a bill as a thank-you. (Actually, we like our accountant, whose name is Dave and who has a great sense of humor.)

Sometimes I wonder whether the federal and state officials who make these rules are actually human. Note to IRS: I am not attacking your auditors. They’re just doing their jobs. So please leave me alone.

These folks draw up rules that simply make life miserable for most of us at very little benefit to the government. Example: we learned that if our 19-year-old son receives more than $900 in unearned income on his college savings, he has to pay the same tax rate that we do. This means that he has to file a complicated return, at considerable expense – you think a 19-year-old can figure this stuff out himself? – rather than a simplified form. At most, his unearned income might exceed that amount by a few hundred dollars. We’ll pay more for extra accounting time than we will in extra taxes.

I’m sure many of you can supply equally outrageous examples. Actually, so could I, but I don’t want to belabor the point.

Most of us don’t mind paying our fair share. What we do mind are excessively tangled and often incomprehensible regulations that force us – and our accountants – to waste hours just to cross the t’s and dot the i’s.

While I’m ranting, don’t get me started on the idiots in the California Legislature who want to stick residents with huge increases in our already large car registration fees, sales taxes, and everything else they can think of. These same legislators get free cars that we pay for, maintain and fuel. Meanwhile senior citizens who’ve lost half their savings in the stock market will be selling or donating their RVs to charity because they can’t afford hundreds of additional dollars in fees.

I’m grateful for the local radio deejays whose protest rally against these increases drew 8,000 angry taxpayers. And that was just the beginning of their campaign.

How’re things where you live? Are legislators any more sensible in other states and countries?

Thank goodness love is still free and romance novels are still a bargain. I’ll go read one right now and improve my mood.