Thursday Thunks and Miscellanea

Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted. ~John Lennon

I had planned on doing Booking it Through Thursday, but they are having an "on blog" discussion this week, so that doesn't really give me much fodder for HERE, lol. It's about eBooks and the digital era of publishing, so feel free to hop over and either read folks opinions or give one of your own.

In the meantime....



1. Have you ever felt alone, but yet there are people around you?

All the time, and especially when there are people around me. Sounds odd, I suppose, but I am not the kind of person who makes friends easily -- not REAL friends. I can talk to anyone, but I'm quite reserved and a bit shy (yes, really) -- two personality traits that got me called "stuck up" more than once in school.

2. Do you have any video game consoles? Which ones?

Nope. Nada. None. Wouldn't mind a Wii for the Wii Fit, but otherwise we really don't miss them.

3. Do you freak out at food warnings/outbreaks, such as the recent peanut butter salmonella scare?

"Freak out"? Nah. Why? I'll usually research it a bit, but I won't go crazy. If anything I have falls into the suspicious category, I'll consider giving it the heave-ho, but if not... there are plenty of things to freak out about. That isn't one of them. At least not for me.

4. What color/pattern is your beds' comforter/bedspread?

It's called "Naturewood" and it's pale green and cream. It now has a crocheted afghan over the top (and quite frequently, a dog as well):



5. How many windows do you have in your house?

Dear heavens... a LOT. Okay, let me count...

Nineteen.

I love sunlight. If I could, realistically, I would live in a glass house.

6. Name six things that are in your bathroom.

Hmmm... I have a pretty sparse bathroom, so it's the usual culprits: towel, shampoo, razor, toothbrush, vitamins, bath salts... OH... and a cross stitch picture that my mom did. See:



7. How big is your garage? Should it be bigger?

We have a large, three-car garage. We built it that big so the room over (which used to be my mom's apartment) would be large enough. Now... it's stuffed full of stuff, and we really could use more room. And, no, not boxes or junk (heaven forbid!) -- my DH's toys, mostly, or things we need for the property: the boat, the lawn tractor, the snowblower, the snowmobile and so on. We also park two of the vehicles inside. The poor commuter car gets stuck out in the driveway.

8. Got your taxes done yet?

Not yet. We have one place that doesn't have to report until the end of February, which really ticks me off, cuz I'M READY. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

9. Think of a mental disorder..... why did you think of that particular one?

OCD -- because I'm pretty sure my DH has it. LOL... just kidding, but he is an over-the-top neat freak.

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I redid my website. I like the new colors. I like the new set-up. I love the covers Judy made for my free reads. I think the bookshelf page is far neater. I'm tickled that all the stuff for each book is on one page. Oh, and I added a deleted scene for "One Love For Liv", if you're interested.

Go check it out and see what you think!

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YAY.... just got this from Reuters:

"Dawn Treader" lands at Fox 2000

Tentatively scheduled for a holiday 2010 release... .that's a long way away, but I guess it's better than "NEVER".

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We got a lot of snow yesterday. And sleet. And now, there is a thick crust of ice on top of the snow... poor Dd is having a horrible time going potty. She's just heavy enough to break through now and then. So, she'll be walking along on the crust...lalalalalala... and then WHAM!, she'll fall through.

Speaking of Dd, she goes in for her blood test today to ascertain whether she is missing a particular digestive enzyme and if that is what's causing all her tummy troubles.

Have a great day!

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Back To Normal

Accomplishing the impossible only means that the boss will add it to your regular duties. ~Doug Larson

Or as normal as I can be anyway...

Today is the day -- the big relaunch of The Long and the Short of It. Dear heavens. I am pooped. And, I am really tired of building webpages. But, aside from a few glitches that I will most assuredly stumble across, it is finished.

Phew.

NOW y'all can go look.

I started this morning EARLY... but with no internet connection. If you think I didn't panic (quietly), you'd be wrong. I rebooted the modem and wireless router, I rebooted my computer, I yelled to the coffee pot to brew faster and I crossed my fingers and toes.

Judy probably thinks I slept in. :-)

Finally at 4:27 a.m. the site went live.

I still have to build the redirect links into all the old pages, but that's easy-peasy.

And we're going to go back and build all this years reviews to host onsite, but there's no time crunch for that.

Here's a funny: Judy looked back in gmail chat to see when this whole LASR came to be, and she found this from me:

"Hey... I have an idea for a group blog -- doing simple reviews for some of the Wild Rose short stories and any other stories/books that tickle my fancy, but I'd love to have other folks participating... If I set things up, would you be interested in helping now and then? I thought I'd call it "The Long and the Short of it" or something"

And thus is a website born.

I'm still laughing over the "simple reviews" line... HAHAHA....almost as funny as the idea of Judy helping "now and then"... Ha....

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Today, I get to NOT work on the website. Much.

I am going to write... well, actually, I'm going to help Judy with something SHE wrote, while she (in turn) will be helping me with something I wrote. Wouldn't it be nice if we could effectively edit ourselves? But, ha. It just doesn't work that way.

I am going to get ant traps for our massive infestation of big, fat black ants. Ugh.

Speaking of which, I've discovered that Dakota has a bug (especially an ant) fetish. She will not suffer an ant to live! Ha. Actually, she tries to stare them down... I'll glance over and see her starting HARD at the ground, and nothing will get her attention... sure enough... an ant will be about 2 inches from her nose. She all but went through the screen door on Friday night because there was an ant on our deck. The nerve.

Yes, she's a strange dog. But she's cute. And we love her (most of the time...*G*).

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Dru asked if "One Love For Liv" will be available from BN.com -- it will be eventually. I don't think they upload preorders as early as Amazon.

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And, that's all I'm good for this morning... tomorrow, after my brain has rested, I may actually be able to write something interesting! LOL...

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You Should Try Ice Climbing

Cold, challenging, and downright scary And there's no way the snow is breaking your fall

What Extreme Sport Should You Try?

Um. No.

Butterflies and Books

Nerves and butterflies are fine - they're a physical sign that you're mentally ready and eager. You have to get the butterflies to fly in formation, that's the trick. ~Steve Bull

We have butterflies! Yesterday morning, I went to the basement to bring up ice for DH to put in the boat's ice chest and looked over at the box... and BUTTERFLIES!! They had hatched overnight (sadly only two of the three hatched), silly things. I shouldn't have been surprised. As I recall, they like to hatch at the worst possible time. It was still too wet outside to release them, so the were stuck fluttering around in their box for an hour our two, but they flew well when I let them out.

And, thus does the circle of life begin again.





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The other butterflies are in my stomach... the LASR launch is tomorrow. We've all been working really hard, but I'm terrified I've forgotten something or that there will be a glitch (like yesterday, when all of my webhosts sites were offline for nearly two hours).

Thankfully, Judy is the eternal optimist to my typical pessimist. We made a good team.

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And how cool is this... I stumbled across it the other day when I was looking to see if "One Love For Liv" was available on Kindle yet (it's not... how weird is that?).

You can alread PREORDER "One Love For Liv" in paperback from Amazon!!

Pretty nifty...

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Your Love Quote

Love is not a matter of counting the years --it's making the years count.

What Love Quote Suits You?

Saturday Sunshine

No price is set on the lavish summer;
June may be had by the poorest comer.
~James Russell Lowell, The Vision of Sir Launfal, 1848

Re: Yesterday's post -- a few of you mentioned heading over to look at the new LASR, but it's not there yet. Monday morning it will be launched (actually I have my suspicions about my ability to sleep Sunday night, so it may be up earlier than any of us suspect, LOL).

Judy worked like a dog (not MY dog... but, yanno) yesterday working on an HTML template I built her for reviews. It gave me hope that we might just make this in time. When we started this, just over a week ago, I fluctuated between, "This will be a breeze!" (that was the first day), to "We'll never make it." (sounding like Glum in the old cartoon, Gulliver's Travels... remember him?). But, by golly, we might just make it... down to the wire, but still.

Phew.

Then I'm going to sleep for a week.

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Dakota has progressed to the sneezing phase of whatever germ she caught. Last night, she snored with a rattly sound from congestion in her nose. It was actually sort of cute, though probably not for her. Hopefully, she'll be herself again soon.

Poor puppy.

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Hot today. Humid. Sunny. It's rained for three days. Despite not being thrilled about the "humid" part, I'm really ready for some sun. Of course, I'll mostly be inside working on the site, looking out at the sun, but I imagine I'll find time to enjoy it at least a little bit.

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Belmont Stakes today. Despite all the hullabaloo about Big Brown and steroids, I'd be happy to see him win. I remember very clearly watched the Triple Crown races for the last winner, Affirmed. Those were AWESOME races... bet there will never be races that are nose-and-nose like Affirmed and Alydar again. Amazing. Still, it's been quite a while, and we're due. Should be good.

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Your Punk Band Name Is...

The Tired Octagon

What's Your Punk Band Name?

Yeah... that's me.... the tired octagon. I feel a bit more like a square, though...

LASR News and Friday Ramblings

If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies. ~Author Unknown

Okay... I got lots of questions and comments on the LASR relaunch coming up on Monday (::fingers crossed::) -- So I thought I'd share the big news.

The reason for the relaunch is two-fold.

First, we wanted to host the reviews onsite. We really always have, but didn't have the hosting space available. Last month, our webhost increased the available space given automatically...and may actually have unlimited space. So -- now we can host all reviews onsite!! Yay!

However, this required that we have content, so we're going back and building April, May and June reviews onto the website -- that's approximately 150 pages (thankfully, I have some help, or it would never get done in time!!).

Second, we have had a HUGE outcrying from erotic romance authors to give them their own space. Neither Judy nor I have much of an interest in erotic romance, but we certainly understand an author's need for promotion. Thankfully, we have two HUGE helpers on the site who do read erotic romance -- and they threw their support behind this. So, we started slowly, originally by offering reviews on another blog, entitled Whipped Cream, and run by Michele and Chris (for the most part -- I was tech support). Next, we began a Yahoo group expressly for erotic romance authors. Most recently, we decided to begin hosting the reviews onsite, but in order to do so we needed to decide on a way to separate the non-erotic content from the erotic content. Though we realize most reviews sites put them all together, we have chosen not to, in an effort to keep The Long and the Short of It a reviews site for non-erotic romance.

So...

In a nutshell (are you sorry you asked?): beginning on Monday, we will have a new front door with links to what are essentially two different sites: LASR and WC. Each site will offer like content -- author interviews, contests, free short stories, reviews, and more. LASR will remain the place to go for non-erotic content, and WC will be exclusively erotic romance.

What this meant for me, though, was this... I had to recreate two entirely new websites. New folders. New links. New pages. New buttons. New headers. New everything. Your old bookmarked links will no longer work -- you'll have to start at the front door (which remains http://www.longandshortreviews.com/) and find the new pages.

Please feel free to take a look around. And, if you happen to find broken links (I'm certain there will be some... there was a lot of input in a short amount of time), please let me know.

Now... back to our regularly scheduled program.

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So, Dakota was really hacking yesterday, especially when she got excited (which was, well, constantly -- **sigh** Irish Setters **sigh**) -- so I took her to the vet in the afternoon.

Her tonsils and lymph nodes are swollen, which indicates some sort of infection. Is it bacterial or viral? Who knows... I do know, though, that when she coughs it sounds like a lung is coming up. So, she's on antibiotics -- dang horse pills! Sheesh. I cut them in half, but still... She's getting them ground up in soft food because I don't feel like trying to shove them down her little throat.

The other dog on the street who goes to daycare, Star, is also sick -- he had nasal discharge in a lovely shade of green. My suspicion is that they picked something up in doggy day care. Not an auspicious beginning to our day care experience.

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It's supposed to be in the mid-90s this weekend. My DH is thrilled and can't WAIT to get out on the boat. Same with DD. I will be home in a house without A/C with a sick dog working on the website. Whee.... lol.... seriously, though, I don't like boating.

And my garden is going to LOVE the heat.

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Your 1920's Name is:

Wilhelmina Queenie

What's Your 1920's Name?

Puppies, Panic and Playtime

The time just before dawn contains the most energy of all hours of the day. This has helped me become an early riser and an early doer.... When I wake to see that it's light out already, I feel like the world has started without me. ~ Adabella Radici

It's started. The following-me-everywhere-I-go thing. Bailey did that when she was young, but as she got older and stiffer, she'd wait to see if I settled down first before she got up, creaky and tired, to move to where ever I went. The puppy? No matter how much I try to sneak, she hears and follows. She's learned that she gets treats for good behavior (like sitting on command) and so will do so regularly. And look absolutely adorable when she does. Since she has "sit" down, we need to work on something else. Like "off" (which means Do Not Touch It). Off would be good. Really good. Although, I have to admit, she learned not to touch the Christmas tree in only a day or two -- that surprised the heck out of me.

I couldn't train my cats in one or two YEARS. (Allie - re: cats superiority... yes, they definitely ROCK in the potty training department, but once I'm through puppyhood, my plants, knick-knacks and counters are safe. Cats NEVER outgrow the need to destroy at will. Except mine. She's too lazy to do any of that typical cat stuff).

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What's the panic? I haven't built ANY of the pages I need to for the website next week. Nor have I updated the pages that need updating with the most current reviews. And my DD came up to me yesterday and asked if we could do something together today -- because she said, we spend all our time together but we don't DO stuff together (yanno, except school and chores and errands). So I said "yes" and will probably end up playing board games or doing crafts today, which will give me the shakes if I don't have the pages done, which is why I got up at 3 a.m. today...

So....

No more jibber jabber. I need to go work!

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What kind of House will you live in for the rest of your life? Your Result: Country Cottage   You will be lucky enough to live in a normal house complete with all the usual amenities like a door and windows. You have a sensible 2 car garage, beautiful flower gardens, and a full sized yard surrounded by a picket fence and guarded by a collie and a bunch of kittens.
Van Down By the River
Sweat Shop
Beach House
Billion Dollar Mansion Estate
Tent, Teepee, or Lean-To.
Ranch Home with Barn and Stables.
Trailer
What kind of House will you live in for the rest of your life? Create MySpace Quizzes

I was glad to see that Van By The River was a distant second, LOL... doesn't my life sound idyllic? NOT! *G*

you?

Monday, Monday....

Where there is no imagination there is no horror. ~Arthur Conan Doyle, Sr.

My DD discovered Sherlock Holmes this weekend. We went to the library book sale where I found several books, and she found three: two Redwall books she's been wanting (25 cents each!!) and a Sherlock Holmes anthology. She read that first and said to me, "Mommy, I think Sherlock Holmes was the best detective ever." I, of course, agreed.

We're going back to the library today, because NOW they'll put boxes of books outside that didn't sell, and we can help ourselves :-)

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I'm not sure if my personal website has ended up on some sweepstakes page or what, but I'm getting bombarded with emails for my contest. The thing is, few of them have bothered to see they have to do more than send me an email. They have to answer a question. So, into the trash they go. But, it's frustrating and time-consuming. And I want to know where I got listed. I tried Googling, but can't seem to locate it. Grrr....

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In other website news, I sneaked in a back door to post the website for LASR this morning. I still can't access my control panel, which isn't good. And I have to actually work the website live -- which means I'd better not mess up (eek!) and the pages I built early aren't really helping me. This makes for a lot more work on my end. BUT... At least I got it up (I have this vision of computer viagra, LOL).

We have all kinds of contests once again. We're giving away a free eBook from our spotlight author, and a free eBook from the lovely lady we're interviewing tomorrow. We are ALSO giving away a print novel over on the romance reviews blog. Go check it out, tell a friend and good luck!

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NaNo starts on Thursday!!! Yikes!! I've been so busy, I've given little thought to my story. I might want to give it some now.

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I (finally!) won a book over at Melissa's blog. Yay me! Now that my good luck is starting to pour in, I should go grab a powerball ticket.

The Rockies could have used some of my luck. UGH. I'm so sad the Red Sox won. More than I like the rockies, I DON'T like the Red Sox (sorry Ceri and Michele and any other Sox fans... but there it is).

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You Should Be a Mechanic

You are logical, calm, and detail oriented. You're rational when things are chaotic, and for you, reason always prevails. And while you are guided by logic, you aren't a slave to it. You're flexible when it counts. You are always open to being wrong. You do best when you: - Work with your hands - Can use tools, machines, or equipment You would also be a good architect or carpenter.

What Should You Be When You Grow Up?

Although the description of my personality is pretty close to spot on, the thought of me as a mechanic is frightening. I have no brain for that AT ALL. My DH was one, and still works on our cars and there are times he'll have a thousand parts spread all over the garage floor. I can't imagine knowing where they all go.

you?

Tow Trucks, Webhosts and Five Things

There are three kinds of death in this world. There's heart death, there's brain death, and there's being off the network. ~Guy Almes

To those of you who wonder just why the hero in "Kitchen Matches" (Micah) has the heroine (Cori) pinned to the side of her tow truck... well... you'll just have to wait. That's a secret between me, Judy (who will crit it for me) and my editor. Muh-ha-ha....

Unfortunately, poor Cori is still there as I only wrote 138 words yesterday. I place the blame squarely on the hosting company for the reviews site. First I spent almost 20 minutes waiting for help in their live chat, only to be told to send an email to support. I did so, and rec'd a request back from them for my user ID, password and screenshot of the error screen. I sent it. Waited, waited -- for SIX hours, I waited. Nothing. So I emailed them again and asked if they had a status, and got a request for my user ID, password and screenshot.

Color me unhappy.

Unfortunately, this happened about two minutes before I had to leave for the field trip. So I shot them the info and asked them to confirm they had rec'd it.

I got back back four hours later. Checked. Nothing.

So I called. I got a fairly reasonable and literate human being on the phone, who spoke clearly (for a change). I told him my story, he apologized, looked in to it and actually came back with a reason and an ETA! Woot! The reason, one I had seen in an email: they are changing the control panel. Apparently all the bugs haven't been worked out and it crashed the server and database for my website (lucky me). ETA? 24 - 48 hours. Thank heavens it's the weekend.

So. 138 words.

I'm going for 1862 today. Wish me luck!

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BTW, if you like LASR -- our romance reviews site, then go to this blog and see the poll on their sidebar -- feel free to vote for us!

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Avery tagged me! So, yay, I don't have to think about what to blog. Of course, this meme requires a different kind of thinking. Which makes me think this: does blogging count toward words in 70 Days of Sweat??

What were you doing ten years ago?
1) Living out west (yay!).
2) Raising a puppy.
3) Commuting an hour one way.
4) Country Dancing regularly.
5) Trying to get pregnant.

What were you doing one year ago?
1) Celebrating the release of my first published story!
2) Writing like a fiend.
3) Being active in my writing group.
4) Teaching my DD third grade.
5) Watching "Heroes".

Five snacks you enjoy:
1) Fire Roasted Tomato Triscuits
2) with salsa *G*
3) Dry roasted peanuts
4) cheese and crackers
5) chips and guacamole

NOTE: Actually I'll eat almost anything with salsa and guacamole.

Five Songs you know the lyrics to:
1) "Renegade" by Styx
2) "Music of the Night" from Phantom
3) "God Blessed the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts
4) "Jesus Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood
5) "Purple People Eater" by Sheb Wooley

NOTE: Huh. I'm a little eclectic in my tastes.

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1) Laser all the hair off my legs, pits and *ahem* bikini area.
2) Pay off my house.
3) MOVE back out west.
4) Take a week at a ritzy health spa.
5) Get regular massages and chiropractic care.

**NOTE: Yes, it's all about ME! Now, if I was a billionaire? Because, yanno, a million doesn't go so far anymore...okay, truthfully, one of the thing I love to do is shop for gifts for other people and to give money to every single Salvation Army bell ringer I see. THAT would be a hoot with a million dollars!

Five bad habits:
1) Losing my temper.
2) Waiting 'til the last minute to plan dinner.
3) Eating too much and not exercising.
4) Getting impatient with my DD.
5) Needing to check my email constantly throughout the day.

Five things you like to do:
1) Write
2) Watch good movies
3) Sing
4) Talk with friends (usually via IM -- HI Judy & Michele!)
5) Laugh

Five things you will never wear again:
1) Gauchos
2) A bikini
3) Nylons (yay!)
4) Pumps with lacy, turn down socks.
5) Bell-bottoms (yes, I HATE the current trend)

NOTE: I admit, I copied some of Avery's. It would appear we are from the same general generation...

Five favorite toys:
1) My computer
2) My DVR
3) My digital camera
4) Balloons
5) My dog

NOTE: I do play with my dog. That counts, right?

Five things you hate to do:
1) Cook dinner
2) Shave my legs
3) Iron
4) Pooper scoop
5) File

NOTE: I haven't filed anything in an entire year. You should see the stack... but, tax time is coming. I'm going to have to break down and do it soon. It's all in a neat, chronological stack, but not filed.

Five people to tag:
1) You
2) And you, too.
3) And you, if you can find the time.
4) Maybe you?
5) and Judy.

*G*

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You're sweet (but not too sweet) and you fill other people's lives with tasty bits of awesomeness. You're no perfectionist – in fact, you're a bit disorganized – but your friends find your easygoing personality irresistible. You're so popular and loveable that even when you're having a bad day, people still like having you around.

Uh, no.

Must as I'd like to be a chocolate chip cookie, I AM a perfectionist at heart (it may not reflect on this blog, since I tend to ramble...), I'm NOT disorganized (I live for organization), and I'm NOT easy-going. And me on a bad day? NOT fun to be around.

Oh well... You?

My New Website!

"Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know." - Daniel J. Boorstin

I really like that quote.

Hey!

I updated my website over the past week or so. There are a few pages still under construction (reviews, for instance -- because there are so many!), but I was so excited I had to share it. I hope you enjoy the new look. I am now under orders from my publicist (*ahem* Judy) to take a new "sassy" picture to put up. I'll work on it.

Let me know what you think!

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Hey... have a long list of author contests at LASR now. Go forth and enter!

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You are Betty Grable

The ultimate girl next door You're the perfect girl for most guys Pretty yet approachable. Beautiful yet real.

What Famous Pinup Are You?

I'll take it!

Sleeping Well and Pillar Place recap

It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop. ~ Vita Sackville-West

I was flat out exhausted last night -- I think not getting enough sleep lately finally caught up with me. I was in bed before my DD, head hit the pillow at 7:30 pm, woke up once when DH came to bed (it's always the kitty scramble...the cat usually sleeps on DH's side until he comes to bed, then runs across me and snuggles against my chest), crashed and didn't wake up until just before 4 a.m.! That was good.

I'm a new woman.

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I'm still hard at work on edits. I need to have Liv's story done by mid-Oct, and I want to have "A Change of Heart" done by the end so I can, yes, do NaNo!

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And now... finally... pictures of Pillar Place!

This is the first set of Monarchs we raised. I learned my lesson, though, and now they all get their own container so I don't have to worry about jostling new chrysalis's if someone needs food or is ready to hatch (like the black one in the back).



Here's one of the first batch, hanging out with the DD. She was a great encouragement for them to fly!


Here's a little of the scene from two days ago -- a flock of butterflies!



And ... amazingly, I managed to catch one just emerging from it's chrysalis AND the pictures came out pretty well:





I'm amazed at how crumpled and small their wings are when they first emerge -- but check out the big, fat behind on that critter! Apparently it's full of the fluid it needs to pump up its wings. After only a few moments, the rump is normal sized and the wings, although still soggy, are full-sized.



Although we still have two butterbabies to hatch... I'll probably not mention it. Consider this the season finale of Pillar Place. Tune in next May for the season premiere -- when the three over-wintering Swallowtail babies Jill, Rose and Martin, will hatch!

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Also, if you're into winning stuff, check out the new Author Contest page we added to the reviews site! Make sure you check back regularly, as I'm adding more contests nearly every day. And, good luck!

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What Kind of Butterfly Are You?

large glasswing
Take this quiz!








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My Dream Home?

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

That quote's from me to you, Judy! LOL...

So, because I didn't have enough to do and was beginning to get a little bit bored (HA!), I have decided to redo my personal website (no, it's not done yet). Look for an unveiling within the next week or so. I spent a good part of the day on it yesterday. So did Judy. Maybe it's a good thing we don't live closer together. The world would simply not be safe.

In other news, my good friend and writing compadre, Allie, won Ciar Cullen's Best E-Book of the Summer contest. Phew! It was a close race. Go forth and congratulate her!

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You may have already seen this, but Judy reminded me about it yesterday, and I had to share because it always makes me chuckle. I give you:

The Impotence of Proofreading --



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Stolen Borrowed from Tori:

Your home is a Daylight Magnate's Manor Your kitchen is someplace you never go, because you "have people for that." There's a Chocolatessen, which is rapidly becoming your favorite room of the house. Having one is also becoming a trend among your wealthy neighbors. Your master bedroom is the size of a small barn, with carpet thick enough to reach your ankles. Your study has hardback editions of every classic ever written, plus a special edition of Rich Dad, Poor Dad with the parts you ghost-authored highlighted. One of your garages holds your collection of ferraris, and is measured in acreage. Your home also includes a guest wing and private quarters for your servants. Your guests enjoy your home theater with 37 different sports channels. Outside is your hedge maze and gardens, meticulously tended by a team of world-class botanists. And, you have a pet -- a doberman pincer named "Warren". Below is a snippet of the blueprints:

Find YOUR Dream Home!

I don't know about the rest, but I'm totally digging that romance library!!