Almost Paradise

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. Ever since we changed the locks on the lake house, I realized that the back doorknob and the front keypad had a tendency to lock themselves. For that reason I turn the deadbolt to an extended position before shutting the back door, just like my daughter taught me to do while going to get ice in a hotel. So far, so good, until today. During a brief visit to the lake with our project manager, Michael, and our two installers who were working in the area, Terry and Derrick, (who all loved the house and can't wait to go fishing) I followed them out the front door to see the trees and a nearby house. Click. We were all locked out.

And the dark clouds were rolling in from the south.

And my dog was locked inside the house.

With my purse and keys.

Lucky for me, Terry and Derrick had tools and Michael had an idea; remove the air conditioner/heater unit from the window of my porch and enter that way. Okay, better than breaking windows. They went to work while my dog, Chloe, looked at us through the door as if we were crazy. "Why not just open the door?" she seemed to be asking. My daughter offered to drive the hour and a half to Mineola to bring me a key. Not necessary, I bravely announced. It took the guys about fifteen minutes to shatter a board, unscrew everything, and open the window. And maybe the same amount of time to get everything back in place. I have one thing to say; thank goodness for men with tools!

Terry and Derrick left for Dallas, while I got Michael a beer and I finished off the last little sip of a bottle of wine, strictly for medicinal purposes. The afternoon got darker and the lake turned to cobalt blue. Birds frantically twittered from tree to tree. That should have been a warning. Michael and I locked up the house properly this time, and began the drive back to Dallas, knowing we'd get there right after rush hour traffic. Believe me, you do not want to get there during rush hour traffic. The rain started almost immediately after we got on Hwy. 69, and increased as we drove west. About halfway to Dallas, hail pelted us. And then bigger hail. I thought about trying to get under an overhang, but I could barely see. I kept driving. Fortunately, Chloe slept through the whole thing. We drove out of the hail after maybe ten minutes, then the rain stopped just east of Dallas. We got back just after rush hour to no rain and warm temperatures. When I turned on the television, I discovered there were tornado warnings for the county we'd just driven through.

That was my day. As for my work in progress, I wrote nine pages yesterday and none today. I was too busy locking myself out of the house and getting pelted by hail. As soon as I finish writing my blog, though, I'm going to get to work. Hopefully, my characters will have a good evening, although I may throw in a thunderstorm just for spite! As my hint for the month, always hide a key. And remember where you hid it. Have a great day!

Goals vs. Resolutions

My memories of the holidays are a bit hazy, thanks to working on a deadline for the next book set in Desperation, Oklahoma (#4!), but one thing I remember was that no New Year’s resolutions were made while sipping champagne. I learned a long time ago that they were too easy to break. Instead, I make goals.

Aren’t goals the same as resolutions? Not to me. The words aren’t the same, although they’re sometimes used synonymously. A resolution is something one tries to keep or not to break, while a goal is something one works toward to achieve. See the difference? It’s all in the way the two words are used. One is negative. The other is positive. It’s a mind game I play.

The especially nice thing about goals is that they can be achieved by doing them in steps of smaller goals and spread out over weeks, months, or the entire year. Even longer for a lifetime goal! Success is much easier to measure than failure, and easier when done in bite-sized pieces. Just remember that goals should only be something we can control.

So what are my goals for this year? To tell the truth, I’ve been too busy with my first goal—to reach that deadline—that I haven’t had a chance to think about what I need and want to do in specifics. My first goal is to do that, starting next week. But I do know my goals will include:

1. Taking more time to relax and enjoy myself
2. Getting more exercise
3. Cleaning my house (ugh!), especially my office

I’ve already been thinking about the steps I’ll need to reach those goals. Less time at the computer will give me more time to watch TV with my family, read, and take that treadmill I bought a year ago out of the box (see #3--cleaning house and office), and I can watch movies--my favorite form of relaxation--while I’m exercising on it.

It’s taken some time, but I finally discovered I’m a goals person, not a resolutions person. Which are you? And how will you make 2010 a personal success?

Health food or not?

Hi, and Happy New Year!

On New Year’s Day, I gave up chocolate. And except for a couple of health bars--which you know don’t contain the real thing, anyway, and sure don’t give you that sweet, smooth, chocolate-y taste you crave--I’ve stuck to my resolution. Oh, I’ve wavered some but have managed to hold back. And I’ve been faced with a lot of temptation.

One of our favorite restaurants (you’ll recognize which as soon as I say this) gives foil-wrapped mint chocolates to their customers at the end of their meal. The last time we went there, I bravely told the waitress not to bring the mints along with the bill. Another restaurant prominently--and permanently--displays their dessert menu in a handy-dandy little booklet that remains on your table all through dinner. Are you noticing a dangerous trend here?

Maybe I should eat at home more often?

While she was carrying me, my mother’s cravings consisted of tangerines and chocolate candy bars, eaten together. A heck of a lot better than pickles and ice cream, don’t you think? Anyhow, though I say this jokingly, it’s true: I’ve been a chocoholic since before I was born!

And lately I’ve been reading that chocolate, especially the dark variety, actually is a health food. It has all those great antioxidants that your brain and body need. Unfortunately, it also has all those calories and fat...which wouldn’t be so bad if I could just quit eating after one serving. But who can stop when it comes to chocolate?

So what do you think? Good or bad? Health food or not?

Do I put chocolate back on my menu???


All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

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

Budget Busters

How many of you out there use a monthly budget? Or maybe I should ask--how many of you begin each month with a budget and then blow it before end of the month?

I'm one of those people who can’t figure out how come I'm down to a few measly dollars in the checkbook and yet there's still a week to go before next payday.

This year one of my resolutions is to monitor our family spending and try harder to stick to a budget. Everything was going just peachy this month until I hit a snag on January 2--son's retainer falls out of mouth at work (that's what he says) and it cracks. $70 for a replacement. My first challenge--an unexpected expense.

I used money from the entertainment and dining fund to pay for the retainer. That crossed off one family meal at Olive Garden. Not a problem. I substituted a take-out pizza from Costco for $10 bucks. Kids were still happy and the budget remained intact.

January 5 I hit pothole and lost a hubcap on van. Dealership wanted to charge $95 for a new hubcap, but hubby found a deal on EBay for $35. Great--I voted for EBay. Okay, so I dock the entertainment fund another $35. Grab another pizza from Costco and when my teenagers grumbled I gave the starving-children-in-Africa lecture and they shut up.

Everything happens in three's, right? January 11 I realize that I've lost my Social Security card--can’t find it in the file I usually keep it in at home and it's not in my purse. A replacement costs $19 if I request one online or free if I drive a billion miles from home and stand in line for three hours at the nearest social security office. I'm sorry, but the kids can eat another Costco pizza--I'm not wasting the gas my time.

See my dilemma? I've got two more weeks to go before the month is over and who knows what budget busters will happen next? Maybe I've got the wrong goal--instead of keeping to a budget, maybe I should build up an emergency fund I can dip into each month.

Anyone else in the same boat as me? Or am I out here sailing the budget-buster sea alone?

Marin
A Cowboy Christmas (Dec 09)
Dexter: Honorable Cowboy (July 10)
www.marinthomas.com

Sexy Heroes and Heroines

Earlier this week I was surfing channels and caught the end of a show counting down the sexiest actors of the big screen. Newman won. No argument there. Whew, those baby blues. Okay, so I admit that I sat there all googoo eyed, but it made me wonder. I'm an extremely visual person. Not only when I'm writing, but also when I'm reading, I cast my characters. For years if a hero was blond, I visualized Redford, then Pitt or McConaughey. If he had dark hair it might be Brosnan, Depp, or Keanu and there are many, many others. All builds, personality types, and ages. I cast the heroines also and even at times secondary characters. It makes the book come alive for me.

Am I the only crazy person who does this? When you pick up a new book, do you cast your characters?

Just for fun, who are the actors (male or female) who show up most often?

Crossed Eyeballs & Dog Naps

Daisy in the snow. This was one of the few times she didn't run off!!

My head hurts!!!! My eyes feel crossed and my cheeks swollen and achy. I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but this has been going on since Christmas, and the constant pain is getting old!!

When I first started writing, I attended every conference I could afford in order to soak up wisdom from pubs and editors. One thing that soon became clear was that in order to be a professional writer, one needs to write. Every day. No exceptions. Well, while that's a wonderfully noble idea I do my best to achieve, lately, I'm failing miserably!! My normal ten to twenty pages are down to three to five.

Hubby keeps telling me to go to the doctor, which seems like a no brainer, but I know she's going to give me antibiotic which makes me throw up. I would rather have a broken leg than a stomachache, meaning here I sit, still whining.

On the upside, my dogs are thrilled with the extra naptime!!

Anyone have old school advice on how to tame unruly sinuses?

Brrr!

I just returned from a trip to San Antonio and it was not the sunny and sixty I was expecting. When we arrived on Wednesday it was typical of South Texas - warm and humid - but during the night a "blue Norther" (that's what we call a cold front that can drop the temp forty degrees in an hour) roared in. By Thursday morning the numbers on the thermometer had plummeted and the wind was howling. For two straight nights it bottomed out in the mid-teens. I grew up in South Texas and believe me I had never seen anything like it. It fact, it was an all-time record low. There's a fountain in the courthouse square that had morphed into a beautiful ice sculpture, and the reports of frozen pipes were legion. Oh yeah, San Antonio and its environs took a major hit.

My hubby is something of a weather fanatic so I was forewarned - thank goodness! I had my Buffalo coat (so named because I bought it in Buffalo, NY) so I was good to go. Not so for most of the natives. My sister who lives in Las Vegas was there and I thought she was going to shake herself to death. My daughter on the other hand came from Pittsburgh and she said it was like a nice spring day.

So, I didn't get to sit on the patio and sip Margaritas - although I did try to eat my way through South Texas - but I made it to El Mercado where I bought a Talvera hand painted sink. I thought the store owners were going to have a fiesta for us - we were the only people in the market. What's that saying about mad dogs, Englishmen and the noon day sun? Believe me, that works in reverse.

The good news is that San Antonio is back to normal, and even better the first day of spring is only a little over two months away.

Ann DeFee
Top Gun Dad, HAR, October 2009
Hill Country Hero, HAR, February 2010

BACK TO NORMAL...or close

All the decorations are down and stored away for another year. My life is back to normal and I’m happy. We had three family gatherings at our house over the holidays and I’m holidayed out. I’d planned to get some writing done in between shopping, decorating, cleaning and cooking, but it never happened. I was usually too tired to think.

We had an eventful Christmas. It snowed on Christmas Eve. In Texas! I don’t ever remember that happening before. We were at my brother’s for lunch and the kids started screaming, “It’s snowing. It’s snowing.” We thought they were joking, but as we looked out the window we could see beautiful white snowflakes falling. It was just gorgeous. It felt like Christmas. The temperature was 38 degrees so the snow didn’t stick, but it was such fun to watch. We live about thirty minutes from my brother and when we arrived home later that afternoon, tiny snowflakes were falling at our house. I took a photo from our patio but I don’t know if you can see them. West of Dallas received the big snowfall and it was difficult for travelers. We’re not used to this. It was a Christmas we won’t soon forget. Last year it was in the seventies on Christmas Day. What a difference.

Here’s my two-year-old great niece Addie wishing everyone a Happy New Year, except she says ear and leaves out new. Happy ear everyone.
.
Now it’s back to work. New Year. New Contract. New goals. It’s like the start of a new journey and I’m so ready to get started. All through the holidays the stories were running through my head and it’s nice to have peace and quiet to type my thoughts into my computer. And I love the quiet. I need quiet to write. But the crazy computer is acting up. I think it missed me.

Did you survive the holidays? January 4th most people went back to work. I can hear the groans across the miles. I like a schedule though, not that I stick to it. But, oh yeah, I like normal. How about you?


Linda
http://www.lindawarren.net/
Skylar’s Outlaw - Jan ‘10

Out With the Old by Megan

I bought my family a wonderful present early in December--a new writing sweater for me.

What? Yep, my sweater is really a present for them. Maybe I should explain.

I have an ancient sweater I love, Love, LOVE. The debate in my family is "just how old is that thing?" We all agree it predates the children. I'll admit to that.

My darling husband claims it came with me when we married, which I'm not too sure about. Unfortunately, I have no recollection of when I bought it. That's how old it is.

My dear daughter teases me about my wearing the poor, formerly-cream-colored sweater in high school. THAT one I can refute with surety. (I didn't have any money in high school for a luxury like my nice, thick cardigan.)

That sweater has needed replacing for years, but...did you read the part about me loving it? The buttons are long gone. The button replacements are long gone. The pocket has been darned--okay, I only had red yarn on hand at the time, but who would know except me? The cuffs are attached by one thin, frayed strand, and the hole in the sleeve was well-earned as I played with story ideas.

We have a history, that sweater and I. Several books written, two children, and lots of years of late night reading.

This year I found a replacement. It's brown, but it's warm, has all its buttons, the pockets are in one piece, and there are no holes. (Well, nobody's perfect.)

To be continued...many, many happy years from now.

Your turn to confess. Is there something you need to replace that just breaks your heart to part with? Do you have a deep attachment to some object? Is there something that's so "just-right" that nothing else measures up to it?

NOTE: my children begged me not to post pictures. Sorry.

Megan Kelly
megankellybooks.com

Recipe of the Month; Turkey Enchiladas

Yipes, it's the 4th of the month and I've started off the new year by forgetting to post a new recipe today! Sorry to be so late.

I want to share the recipe for turkey enchiladas that I made for my lake house in Mineola, TX, full of family on December 28th. We had a wonderful dinner of the enchiladas, a packaged rice mix (Taco Rice - I don't know what major brand it was,) chips, salsa and queso. Around my $150 antique (read: desperately needs refinishing) dining room table from Craigslist were my husband and me, my stepdaughter and her partner, our daughter, son-in-law, and their two daughters. Full house!

Pull about 2 cups or slightly more turkey from the remains of your holiday dinner. Cut into bite size pieces if the chunks are large. I used all turkey breast meat but you could use whatever you have, or get a roasted chicken in the market and use that.

Mix one can of cream of chicken soup, one cup of sour cream (I used reduced fat,) one cup of salsa, and about one tablespoon of chili powder together. Mix in the chunks of turkey (or chicken) and stir just until all is blended. Use 12 flour tortillas, as fresh as possible. Place about two heaping tablespoons of the mixture down the center of the tortilla, then roll it up and place it seam-side down in a pan at least 13 x 9. Don't put the mixture all the way to the edge or it will fall out of the tortilla. Repeat until you have an absolutely full pan. Bake at 400 degrees until heated and slightly brown, which takes about 15 to 20 minutes depending on your oven.

Serve with extra salsa and sour cream, diced tomatoes and shredded lettuce, and other favorites such as jalapenos or guacamole if you like. Some people liked the enchiladas just as they were from the oven, though.

These were absolutely great and everyone loved them, even my one and half year old granddaughter. She also loved the rice. I wish I'd taken a photo of her signing for "more." Enjoy, and have a great January.

Almost Over

Here at our house, Christmas break is almost over. Tomorrow, my daughter starts back to school. On Wednesday, my husband and I will drive our son to the airport so he can head back to college.

I don't know about y'all, but I'm thinking that we have all had just about enough of Christmas vacation. I thrive on schedules, and living almost a month with our vacationing college freshman and for two weeks with a sleeping-in high school junior pretty much means I get no sleep. For the last few weeks, ten o'clock doesn't mean bedtime for me. Oh, no...it means the night has just begun.

Unfortunately for me, the beagle never got that memo and insists on waking me up every morning at six. So, I've been a little sleepy.

This morning we all went to church together and then celebrated our last full day together by going out to brunch. That's a rare treat for us. Usually no one wants to stand and wait for thirty minutes for a table. But we used the time together to reflect on some of December's highlights. I thought I'd share a few of them with y'all.

* We hosted twelve people for Christmas. Amazingly, I was able to ask everyone invited to help cook every meal. So, everything turned out great.

* My family has now learned how to play Mad Gab and-Big Surprise-I'm the worst player. (I have no competitive spirit)We also played marathon games of Hearts. I lost all the time, too.

* We went to four movies, including Avatar in 3-D. How fun were those 3-D glasses?

* My sister-in-law made her amazing homemade truffles, the beagle ate them, and vomited all over the kitchen floor at midnight on Christmas Eve.

*We shopped and ate and shopped and ate some more-including my son, who for the first time in six years, was not watching his weight for wrestling.

*I read seven books over break-my husband Tom read even more than that on his new favorite toy...the Kindle.

* Somehow, through it all, I managed to write 70 pages.

Now, though, our break is just about over. Soon, the house will be dark by eleven, I'll be writing by 7:30, our son will call us when he needs money, and my husband will be traveling again. In short, things will return to normal.

It's time. But before January is gone, I know I'll miss the noise and the crazy schedules too. I'll miss the mess and the laughter and the chaos. No doubt, I'll wish we had just a few more days of it all.

Anyone have something they'll miss?

Happy New Year!

Shelley

DECEMBER WINNER!!

CONGRATULATIONS Estella! You’re the big winner for December. Please contact Marin Thomas, Ann DeFee, Laura Altom and Pam Stone through their Web sites to receive your autographed books. Hope you enjoy this Christmas gift.

To enter the contest simply leave a blog comment and your name will go into the drawing. Easy and painless. And FREE BOOKS.

So check back often and be sure to leave a comment. Good luck!

And HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Can this be 2010?

As we wake up to a New Year, can this really be 2010? Last thing I recall clearly, I was a 22-year-old college grad in 1971, heading off to Europe with nothing but a backpack, a notebook and a pen.

Now I’ve got two sons out of their teens, a husband of 31 years, and a box of Clairol Nice’n Easy natural dark brown in hand.

I also have shelves stacked with copies of the more than 80 books I’ve written, a bank account that doesn’t anywhere near match other people’s expectations (or mine), a computer with an operating system so old Microsoft doesn’t support it any more, and an amazing number of wonderful friends.

Arithmetic got it right, algebra got it wrong: there are pluses and minuses, and things add up, but what’s on one side of the equation doesn’t always equal what’s on the other side.

If that makes sense. You can tell I’m no mathematician.

Still, it’s wonderful to wake up in the age of miracles. At breakfast, we take pills to beef up our bones and lower our cholesterol. Our arms still tingle from shots to protect us against both regular and swine flu. After the holidays, I’ll go on-line and sign up to give blood that could save someone’s life.

My husband and I may be the king and queen of outdated technology, but even on our analog TV and our non-Blue-Ray DVD player, we can enjoy the latest Harry Potter movie and the entire zillion episodes of the BBC’s Upstairs, Downstairs, which I thought was lost to me forever after the 1970s.

My older son has a new Google phone with a program that lets you aim the camera eye at the night sky and see on screen what stars, planets and constellations you’re looking at. If you want to find Jupiter, just type in the name and an arrow will point you in the right direction as you move your phone.

Age of miracles. Who could have imagined we’d live to see all this?

I’ll tell you who: my mother. She turned 92 this year and she’s still creating her amazing sculptures (one of which you can see on the home page of my Web site, www.jacquelinediamond.com).

What will we be waking up to 30 years from now? I can’t imagine. But won’t it be great if we get a chance to find out!

Happy 2010!! With New Year's Eve tomorrow, I thought it might be fun to do a glitzy party decoration for this month's craft. Thanks to MarthaStewart.com for this pic that, for me anyway, inspires all sorts of centerpiece possibilities. Martha, being the fabulous Martha, she has glittered lemons with velvet leaves. Seeing how I'm still snowed in from Tulsa's Christmas Blizzard, I don't have lemons and I'm not brave enough to beg Hubby to brave our icy hill to get them, I did a quick survey of supplies on hand and was surprised by how many things could be used.

Apples either glittered or rolled in sugar. Colorful metal balls stolen from the Christmas tree. Oranges stacked with clippings from the evergreen bushes in the front yard. How about a pile of mini-gifts wrapped with sparkly tin foil? Wind any color ribbon through it and voila--your house is just as great as Martha's!! If your roads are clear enough to host a party, you could even stack up your snacks on a pretty cake plate or fancy bowl!!

Can you tell I love parties?! Anyway, hope you have fun!! And please send pics of your masterpieces!!

Happy New Year!!

One Last Package

The calendar may say it's December 29th, but there's still a great big package sitting under the tree with my name written in gold lettering across the tag. Only it's not a "real" present and it's not really "under the tree."

You see, my still-wrapped package is 2010--a year that will be filled (hopefully) with lots of wonderful surprises. And while I can't know everything that is in store for me in the coming year, I do know a few definites that are inside the box...

*My first-ever romance, Kayla's Daddy, will debut with Harlequin American in just a few short weeks! It earned a 4 1/2 star Top Pick from RT Magazine (and an early fan letter from a loyal HAR reader in my inbox this past week).

*My second romance, A Mom For Callie, will debut with Harlequin American in July.

*My third romance/first "holiday book" (title being tweaked) will debut with Harlequin American in November.


And that's just part of my 2010 package. The rest will bring new people, new places, new accomplishments, and new experiences.

I'll admit there's a part of me that wants to rip the paper off my package as fast as I can, but there's also a part--an older and wiser part--that wants to open the package slowly, to savor each and every moment as the gift it is.

Because it is a gift. All of it.

Happy New Year, everyone! May 2010 be your most magical year yet!

~Laura

Warm Wishes for a Merry Christmas

Most of you know I’m a Florida gal. Florida, where temps often hover in the 80’s, even in mid-winter. Most Christmas Days, my fervent hope is for things to cool down enough that I can light our once-a-year fire in the fireplace. The only boots I own are the ones I use wading in the river when I go fishing, and my scarves are light, frothy things designed to add a dash of color (not necessarily warmth!) to otherwise drab outfits.

Not so this winter. This year, I’ve had to expand my wardrobe for a visit to my daughter’s in Maryland over the holidays. Suddenly, curling up under the blankets beside a roaring fire doesn’t sound like such a strange thing to do. This picture, taken from her back porch, will tell you why.

Wherever you might be this Christmas, the authors of Harlequin American Romance wish you warmth and joy and the merriest of holidays!

Lee’ s Christmas Checklist

Dear Readers,

By the time you read this, I will be pretty well ready for the holiday.

Shopping done (as many 100-mile gifts as possible). Check.

Menu planning and grocery shopping for Christmas Eve buffet, Christmas morning brunch and Christmas dinner. Check.

Pick up the turkey (organic free-run) from the butcher. Check.

Gifts wrapped. Check.

House decorated. Check.

Get into the spirit of the season by watching my favorite holiday movies (While You Were Sleeping, Love Actually and White Christmas). Check.

Today . . . Christmas Eve . . . I only have two things left to do. Decorate the tree and wish you, our dear and cherished Harlequin American Romance readers, a holiday filled with joy, peace and love.

xoxo
Lee

PS: To celebrate the much anticipated (by me!) release of my July American Romance—FIREFIGHTER DADDY—I’m running a contest on my blog, The Writer Side of Life. The prize? An autographed firefighter calendar and other goodies. Every time you post a comment on one of this month’s posts, your name will be entered in the draw. To increase your chances, you’ll receive five bonus entries if you become a follower of my blog (click on the link in the sidebar) and ten bonus entries if you sign up for my Very Occasional Newsletter. To sign up for the newsletter, simply send an email to lee (at) lee mckenzie (dot) com. I know you know the drill—remove the spaces and insert the symbols.

A Writing Tip...Sort of

Well, I got out my trusty book, A Novel Idea, this morning, ready to once again share a writing tip, but after some thought, I thought of another tip that might be of better use this week.

Just write.

Right now, I'm in full vacation mode. My son is home, my daughter is finally on Christmas break, and my husband is due to stay in town for the next two weeks. I can think of a hundred reasons not to even look at my computer. And actually, from last Thursday to yesterday afternoon, I didn't even step in my office. I was tired of emails, Facebook, and deadlines. All I've been wanting to do is sit on the couch and watch Christmas movies.

Maybe some of you felt the same way?

But yesterday, when I was a little snippy with some people (okay, my husband), it occurred to me that maybe what I needed wasn't to make another batch of cookies, run to the mall, or organize the pantry. Maybe I needed to do the one thing that made me happy, no matter what....write.

So I wrote four pages.

It's not much. Most days I have four pages written by the time I eat breakfast. But it was enough to keep my mind on my current WIP. Enough to convince me to stop worrying about Christmas menus, relatives arriving, clothes not fitting and the frigid weather outside our door.

Immediately, I felt a lot better! Maybe some of you will feel the same way.

So, my writing tip for the month is to write. Even a little bit. Even if it's not very good. Write because you're a writer, and it's what we do.

Then you can go bake some more cookies. : )

Shelley Galloway

Bumps and Thumps in the Night

So, we're at the lake house ... again. I hope you don't mind me mentioning my new "toy." I'm a bit obsessed, trying to get the house ready for Christmas company. Here's a photo from this morning, facing west, about a half hour after sunrise.

The thing is, we've lived in the same house in Richardson, TX for 32 years. Now we've owned this place only five weeks and I've been here about seven times, some visits for the day only. I haven't gotten accustomed to it yet. There are different sounds to the blowing of the heating and air conditioning, the dull, slight roar of the hot tub, the steady hum of the heater on the porch. The mattresses are different and the furniture makes one pause when navigating in the middle of the night. The upstairs ceiling slopes and if you're not careful, you'll bang your head hard enough to see stars. And not those endless stars in the night sky outside, without the city lights.

These differences seemed minor at first, but this morning, I started to realize that they are shaking up my creativity. (At least, I think they are; we'll have to see when I write the next book.) I've started whole new "what if" scenarios in my head. My imagination runs amok when I hear noises in the night. While soundly sleeping I swear I felt the bed frame get bumped. Two night ago I thought I heard my car door open and close, but of course, no one was outside and the car was locked. Last night there was a mysterious low beeping noise coming from downstairs. I couldn't locate it or see any blinking lights, like a fire alarm battery going bad or some small appliance left on too long. When I finally turned on the overhead light, the beeping stopped. I still have no idea where that sound was coming from, but I'm fairly sure I'll hear it again.

Is my lake house haunted? I don't think so, but I can see where people come up with the idea that a house could contain mischievious or evil spirits. Since I've written paranormal romances before, I can certainly imagine all types of situations where my heroine (or hero) might feel irritated or in danger. I never felt that way in my own familiar home in the city, where the concrete slab doesn't shift and there are no footsteps overhead. (Just the occasional raccoon or cat running across the roof, taking a shortcut from one food dish to another.) In the city there are no pine cones falling from the huge tree outside, landing on the deck or roof, and there are no birds that sound like strange creatures wailing.

I went into the city of Mineola a few days ago, right around sunset. Many of the businesses were closing for the day. The darkening clear blue sky still held an orange glow. Christmas music played from speakers along the main street. Twinkling lights and decorated trees glowed warm in the flower shop nearby. All this atmosphere, and yet, I saw no other people around me for several minutes. I was only one street away from Broad, which is also US 80, but no car doors slammed or tires hummed on the pavement. I felt almost as if I were in a episode of "Twilight Zone," for those of us old enough to remember that series. I experienced a vivid reminder of how my heroine might feel when she arrives in Brody's Crossing, searching for her family.

So, I'm embracing these new experiences as much as I'm loving the lake and the trees. I think they will make me a better writer. At least, I hope they will. You'll have to let me know when the book finally comes out in 2011, tentatively titled Texan in Her Heart. I'll start writing it after Christmas. Have a very happy holiday. I hope you find joy in simple things and experience all the warmth of the season. I'll post a new recipe on January 4th, and when I do my next blog, I'll be well into the book and will probably have more updates from the lake. Best wishes for a wonderful new year!

Blessings

This month I thought I'd talk about blessings. I haven't been thinking about romance much these past few months as I've been working on nonfiction projects and dealing with my mother's illness.

Yet Laura Bradford asked on our HAR writers' loop about when she'd get her January author copies, and so I remembered to ask for my cover of my February release. I absolutely love it, and I'm not saying that because I'm supposed to either. So here it is for you to see:

I must admit that I am not a holiday person. The holidays have always been a time of great stress. My mother was born on Christmas Eve so we have her birthday. Then as a kid of divorced parents, it was always at least 5 places to be.

This year before the season gets crazy (my mom will be 72) I wanted to stop and count my blessings. I love my family. I have a great job. I've written 23 novels. My Idiot's guide is finished. I've been asked to write articles on teaching for VisualThesaurus.com. I have great kids and a fabulous teaching career. I have eight healthy cats who tell me they love me daily, probably because they're hungry, but still. It's the warm fuzzies that count.

And I have you, my readers, who have hung in there with me. I can't believe it's ten years. Christmas 1999 I was polishing up book #2 and trying to get my editor to buy it. Now I'm looking forward to 2010 and all the possibilities that are before me.

Have a joyous holiday and a wonderful New Year everyone.

Michele