Rose Bowl Bound!

I have an early morning flight to California. I'll be meeting friends in San Jose and driving down to LA with them. On the 1st, we'll be at the Rose Bowl to cheer on Stanford. I can't wait.

I won't be updating the blog until I return on the 2nd. I've got a flight home from LAX while my friends will drive home to San Jose. I'm not taking my MacBook Pro with me. This is a short trip and all about having fun. No work allowed! I am bringing my Kindle Fire HD so I can read!

I hope you have a very Happy New Years!

Flash Hockey Fans Goodness

This clip came across my Facebook newsfeed last night from Buzzfeed who termed it The Best Marketing Stunt of 2012. But it's so much more than a Marketing Stunt. The expressions on these beer league hockey players says it all. See for yourself...



Here's the background on how this happened...



Pretty awesome, don't you think?

Boxing Day

I went out shopping this morning to stock up on wrapping paper, bows and gift tags. I also bought myself a cute little ornament. I love birds and this one was a bird in a next with two blue eggs. So cute.

I hope you had a Merry Christmas! We had a very nice day. Santa was good to everyone!I received a hard cover copy of my favorite author's newest book, The Panther by Nelson DeMille and a military nutcracker from Rose. I also got a wallet from Finn and an awesome red (fave color) North Face jacket from Mackenna!

What was your favorite present?

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Christmas Eve

Christmas To Do list almost complete! I can't wait until I can say Mission Accomplished but that won't happen until tomorrow.

At least the Grinch kitty can't keep Christmas from coming. I had my doubts with everything I needed to do, but it all worked out. Having the kids gone helped. Immensely.

I finished up the decorating around the house. All the groceries for Christmas day was purchased. As well as a couple of last minute presents. I also bought stockings for the newest four-footed members of the family!

I spent Saturday wrapping while watching Christmas movie after Christmas movie. I kept switching between the Hallmark Channel and USA. Needless to say there are finally gifts under the tree. That means the animals have to squeeze around the presents to nap.

This is Cato before presents. He sure likes it under there. If he's not there, you'll find Beauty and Yoda. I wish all three would nap together, but so far that hasn't happened. Maybe I need to touch of Hood Hamlet Christmas Magic for that to happen!

The kids returned from my parents house in time for Finn's soccer game. They won! He scored two goals. I was thankful it was indoors not outdoors in the cold and rain!

Last night we made our gingerbread house. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. But our tradition is to do 12 Days of Christmas so we really don't do much celebrating until now. And this helps me since I need all of Advent to get ready. I'm always behind due to writing and life!

The angel finally went on the top of the tree last night. We had to wait because it was Finn's turn (we rotate each year) and we weren't completely finished decorating the house. The angel is the last thing to go up. 

The tree doesn't have decorations on the bottom branches because of Cato. The puppy is having a grand old time with the garland which I strung too low this year. Oops! Lesson learned.

We kept the breakable ornaments off the tree once again. This is for Cato's sake on the lower branches but mainly for Beauty who likes to climb through the center of the tree and cause havoc. It doesn't look too bad. I miss seeing the other pretty, fragile ones I've collected over the years, but oh, well... I love my animals. I did hang two Radkos on the top shelf of our great room built in on ornament hangers!
 Well, I have to finish getting ready for our annual Christmas Eve brunch with my side of the family.  I got up early this morning to make chocolate covered strawberries! One of my nephews loves them and no matter how many I make they are the first thing gone each year!

Growing up I had dreams of these big family Christmas celebrations since there was always just my parents and sister every holiday. You know the kind you see on TV, not perfect but loud and full of laughter and food. But everyone has their own idea of how they want to spend Christmas day and evening as well as Christmas Eve, so a few years ago we decided a family brunch would be a good compromise. And it has been.

Do you have a big get together with friends and family to celebrate Christmas?

Almost Christmas!

Yesterday was a full day. I was running around town trying to get a lot of things checked off my Christmas Prep To Do list.

First up on my list was a trip to the mall to see Santa. My 14 yo did not want to go. But the two youngests were game. My 12 yo said he didn't want to see Santa, but he changed his mind after he walked around a bit and then joined us in line.

My 9 yo was so excited. She loves Santa, and couldn't wait to tell him what she wanted for Christmas—a Justin Bieber Cardboard Cutout. She'd already written him a letter telling him this, but she wanted to make sure he knew this was the number one item on her list!

My son debated on what he should tell Santa he wanted. Number one on his list this year is the LEGO Death Star set. But he decided that was too big to ask for so he told Santa he wanted the second item on his list instead—Call of Duty Black Ops, an XBOX game.

After Santa, I surprised Rose by having her ears pierced. She's been asking and asking. I figured this was a good time. Hubby wasn't so sure, but I reminded him that Mackenna was a couple months younger than Rose when she had hers done. I think that surprised him. We always think of our youngest as the baby. Needless to say Santa and ear piercing made her day!

We grabbed lunch at Burgerville. Egg nog shake, yum! Then had a few minutes home before we headed to Crossfit. While the kids worked out, I wrote letters. I had some packages I needed to send out later. Then it was back home.

The kids left for my parents (I have a kid free weekend to finish up Christmas stuff) and I headed to the Post Office, Bank and Outlet Mall, specifically Harry & David. I realized baking just wasn't going to happen (at least not beyond what my family will want for Christmas) so I bought our neighbors Moose Munch. Even hubby agreed this was the best way to go this year so that was a big relief.

I'm up early for a Saturday in order to get stuff done. Wrapping is first up on my list, and then I'll go from there. The only thing I'm not sure of are cards. I'm coming to the realization that picture Christmas cards are a pain in the butt for me to deal with. I've been asking for pics for three weeks (they aren't on my computer) and it's not happening. I still have my Happy New Year cards from last year with our annual Christmas letter all done because the family never sent them out for me (plan was I make card, they address and mail them because I was too busy with a book.) So I think I'm just going to do regular Christmas scene cards from now.

What are you doing today?

Scrooged

Pretty much every four-footed McClone has been trying to steal Christmas this year. We haven't even finished decorating, yet!

We've got unbreakable and kid made ornaments on the tree. Again. It's pretty, but I stare at the two ornament boxes with the other ornaments longingly. But both Beauty and Yoda are captivated by the tree and always around it. So far not up it again, but I have a feeling that's only a matter of time.

After seeing what Cato can do with a paper towel or the newspaper, I'm afraid to put the presents under the tree. Someone suggested we put the X-Pen around the tree to keep the puppy and the cats away. But I don't want to do that. I guess I'll just keep the water bottle handy. Though Cato seems to enjoy getting wet.

The kids believe the Nativity scene we put under the tree will be toast due to the puppy. It's not out yet. We just put the tree skirt under the tree. That's now become Cato's favorite napping spot.

Okay, I must get busy. More Christmas decorating to do, some writing and I'm heading to Church in a bit to try and organize our office for the Good Shepherd program I teach! My co-teacher and I were over there yesterday getting the movable shelves we use to make the Atrium environment. Now to get the fixed shelves in the office looking all neat and tidy! They've become our catch-all for the past few months and it's not good!

Hope you have a great day!

Indiana Jones Mystery Solved

Last Friday, I blogged about the mysterious package received by the University of Chicago Admissions office. The mystery has been solved. Go here if you want the explanation of what happened.

Anybody else hoping there was more to it than that?

I know I was!

Hope you have a great day!!!!

Oh, Christmas Tree...

The saga of Beauty and our Christmas tree continues on. Big sigh...

For the past two weeks, our tree has been up. We didn't put any decorations on it to see what Beauty would do. Well, after her not doing anything but sleeping under the branches, I figured we were good to go.

Yesterday I hung the wood bead garland. The entire time Beauty sat on the window sill next to the tree watching. She likes to watch us do things so I didn't think much about it. I finished hanging the garland, stepped back to see how it looked and...

Whooosh.

She flew into the center of the tree like a bat.

I screamed.

She started to climb like a monkey.

I yelled for hubby.

And grabbed my iPhone.

The little devil decided to stop her forest expedition to pose for me and hubby, who grabbed his camera, too.

No glass ornaments on the tree this year. Again.

Of course, a few hours later, Cato pulled part of the garland off the tree.

Not a good day for the Christmas tree. But at this rate I'm going to have a pretty good collection of yearly shots of my little black cat in the tree!

Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday!

Proposal off!

I emailed my proposal to my agent around midnight. I love this story. I feel the same way about it as I did all the other Hood Hamlet ideas, but it's a touch bittersweet since this will wrap up the mountain rescue series. I always knew Paulson's story would be the last one.

Though even though this is the final book, it's not quite writing itself as I'd hoped! I had the wonderful idea yesterday to rewrite Chapter 3. Okay, not just rewrite, but start over. I didn't like what I'd had. Not the best idea given it needed to be sent later that night. Oh, well...

It's off.

Now I can work on the rest of the story and get the house ready for Christmas. The kids didn't want to do anything without me. Which is odd because they decorated for Halloween and Easter without me. Guess Christmas is different. Tonight, we're making a gingerbread house, too!

It's time for some puppy pics.

 Cato is really growing. He's getting better with the potty training, but still not quite there. We've moved him from the X-pen to crate training, too. Lots of barking and sleepless nights. This is the longest we've had a puppy. I'm waiting for it to get easier!

But Cato really is a cutie!

Rose dressed up the puppy in a costume. He didn't seem to mind too much unlike the cats who act like the end of the world has arrived and they will kill you. Yeah, dogs and cats are very different.

I love the picture to the left of grandma Chaos and her grandson Cato. The two don't always get along that well, but they're doing pretty good. Chaos will keep the pup in line and she's oh-so-patient with the nibbling and climbing all over her.

On my To Do list for today:

1) Post office visit
2) School with kids
3) Vet visit
4) Decorating house

What do you have going on?

There are no words...

This week I attended our parish's Advent Mission and the priest giving the talks, Father Wade Mendes, mentioned evil. Evil exists in the world. What happened earlier this week a few miles south of me at Clackamas Town Center and what happened yesterday in Newtown, Connecticut proves that.

I can't imagine what those parents and families are going through. I don't want to because losing a child is my worst nightmare. It's the same for every parent out there. All I can do is keep praying for the children, the staff and their families.

A Prayer To The Holy Innocents

Holy Innocents, you died before you were old enough to know what life means, pray for all children who die young that God may gather them into His loving arms.

Holy Innocents, you were killed because one man was filled with hatred, pray for those who hate that God may touch their hearts and fill them with love.

Holy Innocents, you experienced a violent death, pray for all who are affected by violence that they may find peace and love.

Holy Innocents, your parents grieved for you with deep and lasting sorrow, pray for all parents who have lost young children that God may wrap a warm blanket of comfort around them.

Holy Innocents, those around you certainly felt helpless to prevent your deaths, pray for all who feel helpless in their circumstances that they may cling to God for courage and hope.

Holy Innocents, you who are now in Heaven, pray for all of us that one day we may join you there to bask in God's love forever.

Amen.

I found this prayer via The Catholic Church Facebook page. No copyright infringement intended.

Indiana Jones Mystery

A link came across my Facebook newsfeed yesterday, and it's just too cool not to share. Click here to go to the University of Chicago's Admission blog and read the post. I really hope they figure out what's going on and do a follow up!

And just so you don't think the University isn't taking this seriously, here's what they say at the end of their blog:

We know this sounds like a joke/hoax… it’s not (at least, from our end).  Any hints, ideas, thoughts, or explanations are appreciated. We’ve been completely baffled as to why this was sent to us, in mostly a good way, but it’s clear this is a neat thing that either belongs somewhere else— or belongs in the halls of UChicago admissions history.
Internet: help us out. If you’re on Reddit (we’re not) or any other nerdly social media sites where we might get information about this, feel free to post far and wide and e-mail any answers, clues, ideas, thoughts, or musings to indianajonesjournal@uchicago.edu  (yes, we did set up an email account just to deal with this thing).

So feel free to pass this on so the mystery can be solved for all of us nerds and geeks!

Any ideas what you think might be going on with this?

Harlequin Holiday Open House

Join me and other Harlequin Romance authors at a Holiday Open House today at Harlequin.com. We're talking about our fave Christmas movies and other things. There are also giveaways throughout the day. Click here to join in the fun!

Wednesday Links

It's strange how you read about things happening elsewhere, like the shooting in the movie theater in Colorado Springs, and think to yourself how lucky you are to live somewhere safe where that will never happen. Well, it happened yesterday at the Clackamas Town Center.

This is the mall we go to. Most everyone I know goes there. Rose has celebrated her birthday at the Build-A-Bear. I was even thinking of going down there yesterday to finish my Christmas shopping. Something like this really shakes up your safe little world because you realize it CAN happen anywhere. I'm praying for all affected by this.

A few links for you today:

I have a guest blog up called Crazy Animals at the Harlequin Readers' Service Pet Corner blog. Click here.

I was interviewed at Jo's Sanctuary. You can read that here.

Terrible Minds has a humorous blog about 25 Gifts For Writers. A couple of them are spot on. You can read that here.

And I saved the best for last...

If you have a minute, go here to Soldiers' Angels and send a virtual Christmas card to our troops. It's free and a great way to support the men and women who serve. Thanks!

Have a great Wednesday!

Weekend Recap

It's been a dog-filled weekend (i.e. we attended a dog show on Saturday and Sunday.) Plus watching Cato, the puppy, is a full-time job if he isn't in the X-pen.

A good thing Cato's so cute. That little guy is living up to his name (named after the Career Tribute from District 2 in The Hunger Games.) He has no fear of anything, including the cats!

I feel sorry for them because the LOLcat to the left pretty much sums up the weekend the felines around here had! We had to be on guard all the time! But I must admit I'm impressed by the cats' patience with the puppy under the circumstances. I owe them all some special treats.

Cato and Mackenna

But we made good progress in potty training thanks to implementing a bell. A couple of friends recommended that and you should have seen our excitement when he actually rang it yesterday. He also had a bath. Not sure what he's been getting into, but that sweet puppy smell was being overpowered by something none of us wanted to smell!

I've also been working hard on my new proposal. It's due in one week.

While the girls and I were at the dog show, hubby and our son got more lights up outside. It looks so nice, but our son thinks we need more. He wants to decorate everything so I guess they'll be at it again as soon as they have some free time.

The boxes of Christmas decorations made it into the house, but between the dogs and writing, I didn't touch one of them. It didn't help that lights on two of the branches went out. I think Cato may have had something to do with that!

In other news, I gave my first quote on a book. Kissing Kendall is being released today by Entangled Bliss. Jennifer Shirk who writes "sweet" romance like I do asked if I'd give her one. You can see what I said if you click on the cover pic.

This is book two of a series, but it's very much stand-alone. I'd never read book #1 and had no problem jumping right in. You can read an excerpt of Kissing Kendall at Amazon to get a taste of her voice. Just click on the Look Inside near the cover. If you like the kind of stories I write, check her out.

Well, the puppy is barking. Chaos is pacing. The cats are sleeping. The kids are out of the house today which means I'd better get writing!

Hope you have a nice Monday.

Christmas Romances!

I don't have a new Christmas book out this year, but I thought I'd tell you about my past Christmas stories in case you're new to my writing.

I have a series of Christmas books from Harlequin Romance that feature a group of mountain rescuers who live in fictional Hood Hamlet. The stories are set on Mount Hood, about an hour and a half from where I live and a place I love. Each book is standalone, but characters do reappear in the other stories.

The first book is called RESCUED BY THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS.

I never intended to write a series about mountain rescuers. This was more of a book of a heart. But after I got to know a couple member of Portland Mountain Rescue, who helped me with my research, and local climbers who got me climbing, I wanted to write another and another and...you get the picture!

Here's the back cover blurb for that first book:

Carly Bishop hasn't celebrated Christmas for six years—not since icy Mount Hood claimed her fiancé's life and left her a widow before she was a bride.

But this year, handsome Jake Porter is determined she'll enjoy herself. Jake is a mountain rescuer, big-hearted and courageous, but Carly is too scared of loving him in case she loses him. In a whirl of festive fun, sleigh rides and snowball fights, Christmas starts to weave its magic. Though it's Jake who is melting Carly's heart.

Then there's SNOW-KISSED REUNION, a free eight chapter on-line read at Harequin. It's not set at Christmas time, but pre-Thanksgiving. Here's the teaser for that story:

Cocoa Marsh had resigned herself to giving up her dreams. She might never be a competitive snowboarder again, but at least her job as a designer for Hughes Snowboards gave her the opportunity to ride whenever she wanted. And as for that pesky hope of a happily ever after…well, the love she'd felt five years ago for snowboarding superstar Rex Billings hadn't been real, anyway. He'd proven that when he'd left and never spoken to her again.

Until now, that is. Because Rex Billings was back, and looking more devastating than ever. Not that she was going to let herself fall for his charm and knee-weakening smile again. Even if he seemed more grounded, more committed, more…like a dream that might actually come true….

If you'd like to read the novella, click on the title above or here. This story reintroduces mountain rescue team leader and hero of the next book in the series, Sean Hughes.

That book, CHRISTMAS MAGIC IN THE MOUNTAINS, is also my Romance Writer's of America's 2011 RITA® finalist Book in the Contemporary Category Romance category. Here's the blurb:

When snowboard designer Sean Hughes sees Zoe Flynn hitchhiking at the bottom of Mount Hood he recognizes a free spirit—much like himself!

They hit it off, and Zoe ends up agreeing to pose as Sean's girlfriend at his family's Thanksgiving. But following an accident and a misunderstanding they're soon stuck with each other for the Christmas holidays!

Zoe's girl-next-door looks make Sean wish their charade was a romantic reality, but Zoe is hiding something…and he has until the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve to discover her secret!

FIREFIGHTER UNDER THE MISTLETOE came out last Christmas and features the lone woman on the rescue team. She also happens to be a firefighter paramedic. This is the blurb:

Christmas magic in Hood Hamlet...

For Leanne, infuriatingly charming firefighter Christian Welton is out of bounds. Not only is he too young for her, but his trail of broken hearts is legendary. Leanne's fought hard to be one of the boys, and won't let anyone see that Christian's smile makes her want to melt into his arms!

Christian wanted to discover the softer side of the tough-talking paramedic, but hasn't counted on how much the real Leanne affects him. He's vowed never to settle down, but under the mistletoe it's certainly the season to be tempted.…

I'm not finished with the series, either! In March a new Hood Hamlet story, WINNING BACK HIS WIFE, will be published, and I'm currently writing another Christmas book in the series!

What is your favorite Christmas themed novel?

Tree Again

I saw the above LOLcat on my Facebook Newsfeed. All I could think about was Beauty! Of course we have a new Christmas tree issue.

Cato, the new puppy, has been trying to eat it. Okay, he's probably teething and using it to chew on in spite of having toys for that. I'm wondering if the family would mind just having a natural looking tree with lights, wooden bead garland and maybe candy canes.

I have a feeling they're going to say no, which means I'll be saying no to the puppy and the cat until Epiphany!

Busy day since it's one of my crazy Wednesday. The good news is hubby is home this week. That really helps! Hope you have a good day!

Meet Cato

The lolcat about is a typical scene around here these. The cats aren't sure what to make of the puppy. That doesn't deter the pup in the slightest. He misses his brothers and wants to play. Surely these cats will play with him.

Insert bop puppy's head by cats here.

Cato - 10 weeks old

Yes, lots of head bopping going on around here. I must admit I'm surprised the cats are as patient as they are. Not as much hissing as they did with red puppy. No claws extended.

 Meet Cato. His registered name will be Janor's Tribute. His name comes from The Hunger Games. He was named after the career tribute from District #2. Mackenna picked the name.

He has a much different personality than red puppy. He's not afraid or timid (though he's not sure what to make of hubby at times.) He loves to be held, carried, cuddled. He'll even nap with the kidlets. We're working on the potty training.

Naptime

This morning the barking started at 5:40 am. Guess we don't have to worry about setting our alarms for awhile! It was my turn to get up so I took Cato outside. The temperature wasn't that cold, but everything was wet. I had my Croc slippers so my feet stayed dried, but after Cato took care of business he decided it was time to play...with me. I was in a nightgown (won't be wearing one again when it's my turn) and a fleece jacket. By the time we headed inside, the front of the nightgown was wet from his little paws.

I tried to go back to sleep, but then the alarm went off for real. I have a feeling a nap is in my future this afternoon!

Hope you have a great day!

Advent!

We are trying to avoid the above LOLcat. Our tree has been up sans decorations. We're waiting to see if Beauty decides to camp out in the branches.  Remember these pics from last year...

The garland (wooden cranberry colored beads) will go up next, then we'll decide if we stick with the unbreakable ornaments this year again.

My glass/breakable ornaments have not been on the tree in a few years. I miss seeing them. But we weren't sure what Yoda would do with them. Then Beauty arrived. She was the first cat who climbed the tree. And, of course, she preferred the top half of the tree to rest!

She's been sitting under the tree and very curious about the branches. But so far no climbing.

Of course, this year we're adding in a new element. A puppy. Another Norwegian Elkhound puppy arrived yesterday to be socialized. I'll have more about him tomorrow! But I can only imagine what a puppy could do to ornaments hanging from the lower branches.

Yesterday was the first day of Advent. I was ahead of the game this year and had everything I needed. Surprising, isn't it?

But I can't take all the credit. Hubby was on the chocolate Advent Calendars this year. He didn't want a repeat of last year when we waited too long to buy them and they were sold out. We ended up with some not-as-good ones.

I also decided to do a little gift type calendar for each kidlet. I found this great fingernail polish Advent Calendar for Mackenna. Finn got a LEGO Star Wars one. Rose has the LEGO City one. All three are very pleased.

We lit a purple candle last night and read the First Day from a book called Jotham's Journey, a story for Advent. A very nice evening. Not to mention fun with the puppy running around!

How was your weekend?

November Giveaway Winner

Another full weekend ahead. The two youngest kidlets swim in the morning at a meet while our oldest swims in the afternoon. That means hubby and I will be two ships that pass in the night. Actually two cars who will pass on I-5!

Making progress on the proposal, but it's slow. I was deterred slightly by a rescue that happened on Mount Hood. The climbing forum I belong to was and has been discussing it.

The climber posted his situation on his Facebook page. Turns out he belongs to the climbing forum, too. Thankfully he's safe and made good choices while stuck up there. Kudos to the friend who told him to stay then drove from Bend to Timberline to be there when he got down and to the rescuers from PMR who got him down safely. The climber wrote a very detailed post about what happened and his decision making progress. Very interesting!

This month's winner of a $10 gift card to either Amazon or bn.com is Quilt Lady. She commented on my post "Happy Thanksgiving." Quilt Lady, please use the Contact button on the menu bar above to send me your email address and which gift card you want. You have seven days to contact me or I'll choose another winner. Thanks!

What do you have planned for this weekend?

Links for Friday

I've been packing up boxes to get into the mail. The international mailing deadline is looming, plus I realized I entered the RITA and never sent in the books. Best to get those off while I'm still thinking about it! Especially before the line at the post office gets way too long!

I have a couple links for you today.

The first is for cat lovers (okay, they are both for cat lovers, but what do you expect from me?), though the fifty photographs are so good even non-cat lovers might like them. Go to buzzfeed here. Be sure to listen to the optional soundtrack. It's not annoying music, but really adds to the viewing.

This on catser.comis going on my list of things to buy if I ever hit the NYT or win the lottery. Is that not a cool book case? Cats and books, what more could you want except maybe a Chris Hemsworth lookalike to be at your beck and call!

Before I forget, today is your last day to enter my $10 gift card giveaway. Winner's choice between Amazon and BN.com. All you have to do is post a comment to be entered!

I finally got Maria's prize, a box of goodies from the RWA National Conference, sent out and it arrived in two days! I'm almost caught up except for mailing a set of RTCs (Romance Trading Cards from Not-So-Perfect Princess) and a couple other books with autographs.

Where has the week gone?

Anyone else feel like time is speeding up? The week has flown by. Granted it's been busy with a big solar system project for Rose and proposal writing for me!

I also think I need to submit Chaos to that dog shaming site on Tumblr. Last night she outdid herself by getting into a box I've been preparing to send to a soldier we adopted. Early Christmas treats for her! She had herself quite a feast. Bad, bad doggy!

If you've wondered about adopting a soldier, there are lots of programs out there. I went with Soldiers' Angels because it has a lot of resources and support for newbies like me. They also have teams where you can just write letters or do a one-time care package so lots of ways to support our troops! Though I never thought it would be my dog causing me so much trouble. LOL!

Well, I need to get the kids up and to school.

Hope you have a great day!

Gangnam Style Christmas

My hubby sent me a link this morning to an article on The Daily Caller called "Gangnam Style" Christmas. It has videos of the top 10 houses decorated Gangnam Style! It's pretty cool. But if you don't have time to peruse all of them, here's house #1.



Hope you have a great Tuesday!

Red Puppy

Grandma Chaos and Grandson

 Norwegian Elkhound pups are just so cute. I guess puppies by definition are cute, but red puppy was adorable and so sweet!

Yesterday Rose and I drove red puppy back to the breeder. We were sad to see him go. His personality really came out after Thanksgiving. He liked to run, chase and play with anything he could sink his sharp little teeth into. We had to watch our hands and clothing and most especially, shoes.

When he arrived, he'd never used a leash. It didn't take Mackenna long to get him leashed trained. He had no issues with it at all. He also learned when we took him out to the grass, it was time for him to go potty. Oh, there were still some accidents in the house, but he was doing much better by the time he left.

Hide & Seek or Naptime?

He wasn't quite sure why no one wanted to play with him. Not humans, but Chaos and the cats. He tried everything to get them to play. But he usually got bopped on the head by a cat or earned a growl from Chaos. Still I have to give him credit for trying. At one point he bopped Beauty on the head. She bopped him back. This went on a few times until the puppy crouched ready to play. Beauty, however, turned and walked away. Poor red puppy.

We'll be getting one of his brothers sometime this week to socialize so will go through the entire routine again: leash training, potty training, socializing. A good thing since the house seems really quiet now. And this house is rarely quiet!

What did you do this weekend?

Holiday Weekend

I'm taking it easy over this holiday weekend. I've done a little shopping, some reading and writing, and lots of playing with the puppy.

Serious cuteness overload.

The cats aren't nearly as impressed as we are. The puppy loves Beauty, but the feeling is not mutual.

Last night we got into the Christmas spirit by watching one of my favorite holiday movies The Christmas Card. I enjoy that one so much I bought the DVD! It's usually shown on the Hallmark Channel if you want to check it out.

Do you have a favorite Christmas movie you like to watch?

Hope you have a great Saturday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Can you believe it's Thanksgiving? I can't. But I'll happily eat turkey and sweet potatoes and all that other yummy stuff this afternoon! Pumpkin pie is one of my faves, too.

A lot of people on Facebook have been doing daily gratitude posts. I missed the memo, but ever since doing a gratitude journal (ala an Oprah show featuring a book I'd read) I do this anyway.

This year I have much to be thankful for. I won't deny it hasn't been a hard year. But then again, life is hard. With good days and bad days.

The last couple of weeks have been really difficult because I've been missing my friend Elizabeth who died of breast cancer in June.  I realized one good thing about being so sick and having tight deadlines for so many months now is it didn't give me a lot of time to think.

Now that I'm not under so much pressure a lot of what I tried to put off while revising my manuscript has been coming out. But I am thankful for the decades we shared together. I was a year old when I met her so when I say she was a part of my life for as long as I remember, I'm not kidding.

I'm thankful we'll all be together today. There was a chance hubby had to go overseas on Sunday and attend a meeting today. He'll still be at the meeting via conference call. So much better than in person. I realize how lucky we are to have that choice. So many men and women in our armed services won't be with their families today. I'm grateful they made the choice to serve our country and us.

Red collar puppy

It'll be an interesting Thanksgiving for us. We added a temporary addition to the family yesterday.

We picked up red (collar) puppy from our breeder Jan in Hillsboro. This Norwegian Elkhound puppy is eight weeks old. He is oh-so-cute. A real sweetie, who is a little scared being on his own, away from his two brothers. He's eight weeks old and our dog Chaos' grandson.

We're "socializing" him until Sunday. Sometime after that, we'll bring home another puppy and keep him for a few days. It's good to expose puppies to different situations which is why we did this with the breeder's last litter, too!

And who knows? One of them may end up with us more permanently. Time will tell.

I wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving. Is there anything you're especially thankful for today?

Whatcha Doin?

I'm interviewed at Manga Maniac Cafe. There isn't a giveaway, but if you post here that you've commented there, you'll get an extra entry in this month's blog giftcard giveaway. Click here.

I cannot believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I did do a little Christmas shopping yesterday, mainly because a couple things were going off sale today so I didn't want to miss out!

Today we pick up a Norwegian Elkhound puppy. We'll be socializing all three, one at a time. The kids are besides themselves with excitement. We'd hope to get him last night but schedules just didn't work out. I'll be getting out the X-pen and setting up an area for him in the great room so we have a safe place for him to go. And a way for us to get a break!

What are you doing today?

Call Me Maybe Redux

Don't forget to enter my Larkville Legacy Giveaway at Harlequin Junkie. Click here. The winner will be picked tonight. Say hi if you get the chance, too!

This came across my Facebook feed last night. It's one of the better Call Me Maybe takeoffs. The status message was "The Quiet Professionals." Special Forces guys? I have no idea but it's worth a watch. US Troops in Afghanistan remake the Miami Dolphin cheerleaders' version and you can see both versions at the same time!



It's a short three hour day at the alternative school for my two youngest so I'll be hanging out at a coffee shop and writing this morning. What are you up to?

Guest Blogging Oops

I knew exactly what I planned to blog about this morning because I thought I was guest blogging with a giveaway, but I must have written down the date wrong on my calendar.

Update: The date wasn't wrong. The server was down. But the interview is up now with details on the giveaway. So go here to Harlequin Junkie and enter!

So I'll leave you with this...

I'm getting into the Christmas spirit with my newest story. Love being back in Hood Hamlet on Mount Hood. Love finally getting to tell Bill Paulson's story. Love trying to figure out what's going to happen next.

A very busy, but good day ahead. Hubby is coming home tonight, too!

Hope you have a great Friday!

As You Wish

Total awesomeness from BuzzFeed. You've got to see the ESPN NFL Show with all the references to The Princess Bride. Football and fairytales? Inconceivable! You can watch it here.

Hope you have a great Thursday. A lot going on here with mine. Cannot wait for a little down time!

Just dance!

Life is crazy right now. Flying solo with the three kidlets while hubby's off doing whatever he does while he's away. Needless to say, laundry and dishes and the new manuscript are waiting for me.

But I saw this on Facebook and wanted to share. Very cute!



When all else fails, I must remember to just dance! It always makes me feel better! Especially when my kids are so embarrassed and begging me to stop.

Have a great day!

Monday, no, Tuesday

I don't know about you, but today feels like a Monday. Holiday weeks are always like that for me. It was hard to get motivated yesterday even though I had a huge list of To Do items. I actually got a couple checked off, but I should have had many more. I kept thinking "but it's a holiday."

This morning, I was out the door with my oldest to drive the high school carpool. When we arrived at our friends' house to pick up their son, they were already in their minivan ready to back out.

I got that look. The you-really-messed-up-again one my fourteen year old likes to give me whenever I do anything—right or wrong.

I told her it's Tuesday. My day to drive. She just rolled her eyes.

My friend took one look at me and realized what she'd done. She thought it was Monday. Her other kids were loaded up to head off to their school, too, so my daughter hopped in their car and I drove home.

Now to get to work.

What are you up to today?

Happy Veterans Day!

This morning I called my dad to wish him a Happy Veterans Day! Both he and hubby's late father were both veterans (AF, my dad and Navy/retired Naval Reserves, hubby's dad). One of hubby's brothers served in the Marine Corps during the Gulf War, too. My mom was a little girl with pigtails and still playing with dolls when my dad served so his being in the military never affected our lives except, I suppose, when he got a VA loan to buy their house, which I don't remember, either.

But today is the day to remember the service and sacrifice the men and women of the US military made and continue to make for all Americans. And to thank them!

Like the LOLcat above, our military has saved us and our way of life so many times. And many things they've done we will never know about. Some are most likely doing something right now in a place far, far from home. And like the little kitten above, we should watch over those warriors who've done so much for us. Not only today, Veterans Day, but every day.

A website I've mentioned on this blog is SOFREP. When you have a moment listen to their SOF Heroes Project. Members of the SOFREP community read the names of fallen Special Operators.

And this is a nice video to watch today...



Thank you to all the veterans and those who serve now! Happy Veterans Day!

Cooking

Hubby is in charge of cooking around here when he's home, but when he's gone or busy I do try to help out. I'll be honest, I haven't cooked anything in a while, a long while due to being sick then on deadline. I also hadn't used my ATM card in weeks since I didn't go shopping so forgot the password and can't for the life of me remember it. Not good.

I don't complain about what hubby cooks because, well, he's doing it and I'm not. If there's something I don't feel like eating, I'll say so when he asks what I want, but pretty much whatever hubby puts in front of me I eat.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday morning, I was starving. I couldn't believe how hungry I was so hubby offered to make me an omelet. TA couple eggs, some spinach and mushrooms. I skip the cheese after Whole 30. Easy-peasy, right?

I took a bite.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

What the... I spit it out.

Omelets shouldn't crunch when you chew. At least none I've had.

I studied what was on my plate. It looked like an omelet but it sure didn't taste like one.

I faced a big dilemma. Here I was with breakfast in bed that my wonderful hubby had cooked. Except I had no idea what those crunching granules were. My "no complaining" rule was mocking me.

I decided to try another bite.

Same thing.

At this point I'm dying to eat. The kids Halloween candy was looking like a healthy breakfast option. I told my youngest to ask dad if he put anything crunching into the omelet because this one tasted funny.

A minute later, hubby appeared bedside with a very contrite look on his face. He told me "some" of the egg shell "may have" fallen in to the omelet.

That explained the crunchies.

Writing & Cat Links

I took Monday off to relax and play with my new Kindle Fire. Tuesday I did some edits/critiques for an online writing class I'm in and caught up on the assignment I missed the first week due to revisions. Now I'm back to writing. Next up...

Twelve Days in Hood Hamlet!

Okay, that's the working title, but I think it's cute and I hope they keep it. This is another one of my Mount Hood Mountain Rescue Christmas Magic stories and it features a fireman hero, Bill Paulson. He's the last of the original group (one was already married.) It's hard to believe I've gone through them all when I was only going to write the one story. And my next release in March features another mountain rescuer who was new to the group.

On the kitty front, Miss Mousie's stitches are out. She's doing well. There's an update here if you want to know more.

I also found two very funny cat links I have to share:

The first one came across my Facebook page yesterday. It's on enpundint and is called If Fonts Were Cats. Definitely worth a click. Here's the link.

The other I found through my Twitter friend Eliza Evans, who is a big Miss Mousie supporter. She'd tweeted about a cat who was his own uncle. Of course, crazy cat lady that I am, had to click on the link and came across Cat-Shaming on Tumblr. It's similar to the Dog-Shaming one and hilarious. Worth a visit, too! Here's the link.

Norwegian Elkhound Puppies and Surprises

Puppy pics showed up in the my inbox last night. What a nice surprise!

 I don't have any photos of Chaos when she was a puppy so have no idea if any of her three grandsons look like her. But no matter, they are still adorable! I just want to cuddle and hold them. Norwegian Elkhound puppies are the cutest!

The samples from my photographer friend, Jennifer, from the photo shoot came out great. I don't know if I can post them here, but she has a Facebook page. Here's the link if you want to see three of the pics. Since Camas Photography is a public page, you shouldn't need a Facebook account to see it.

I must admit it's been a week of surprises. I got my biggest on Monday. I'd gone to due a volunteer shift at the alternative school my youngest kids attend two days a week. My shift in my son's classroom falls on a holiday this month so needed to reschedule volunteering and consulting with the teacher.

I was so tired after doing revisions and sending them off Sunday night. All I wanted to do was sleep when I got home so I went straight upstairs. There was something on my pillow and it wasn't a cat!

My sweet hubby had purchased a Kindle Fire HD for me. A present to celebrate getting the book turned in. This was the book I wrote while sick. Pretty much I was sick most of the writing and revising process so to say it was a bear is putting it lightly.

He also got me a pretty red leather case for it. Red is my fave color. And a fast charger.

I was and still am so touched. We don't do presents around here. The kids get them, but it's rare we exchange more than a card. To get something like a Kindle and not have it be for anything special even... Well, I get a little misty eyed.

I've never had an eReader before because I prefer paper. But we have Amazon Prime and I love to watch movies when I have free time. Monday night I got to see Thor on my Kindle. Pretty cool! I did buy a couple of eBooks, too. So we'll see how that goes.

Have a great Wednesday. Mine won't be too crazy, but I do have a couple classes to teach at church!

Election Day

No matter what party you belong to, or if you belong to neither, please vote today. It's a privilege and one all Americans should be honored to have. Make the most of it and cast your vote today if you haven't already. I'll be dropping off my ballot once the two youngest kids wake up!

Have a great day!

Revisions off!

 I emailed my revisions last night! Huge sigh of relief.

It was a crazy weekend with being up in Olympia, Washington Friday and Saturday for my oldest's high school swim districts. Friday night I sat on a chair out in the hallway and worked until 2 am. My roommate, another swim mom, went to go to bed at 10 pm and I needed light since I was reading through the manuscript on paper. I had a comfy chair and it was a great place to sit to make sure no swimmers decided to go out.

The team did well. All three relay teams placed in the top 8. My daughter swam on two of them. She placed 13th in the 200 IM. The captain of the team is going to be swimming at state. She won the 100 Breast and placed 3rd in the 200 IM.

I spent yesterday reading through the manuscript one last time and typing in those revisions. I would have liked to do one more pass, but there wasn't time.

This morning, I'm heading to the school to volunteer. I missed my shift last month due to being sick and there's no school on my scheduled day due to a holiday. I'd much rather sleep in and have a lazy morning, but oh, well...

Hope you have a nice Monday!

Contest Winner and Norwegian Elkhounds

Chaos in her Halloween costume

The kidlets and Chaos had a very fun time Trick or Treating on Wednesday night. A friend of Finn's came over to join in the fun and spend the night.

Mackenna dressed up as a purple crayon. She headed over to a friend's house for the evening. That neighborhood has homes that give out King Size candy bars. She was happy with her candy haul.

Finn dressed up as Finn from Adventure Time. He got lots of comments about his costume. That show is more popular than I realize.

His friend Matthew was a lumberjack. He made an axe out of wood to carry. It was very cool.

Rose was a raccoon. She looked absolutely adorable with her little black mask and furry hood.

Of course, Chaos goes out, too. If not I wouldn't be able to answer the door to pass out candy. Can you tell what she is?

Last night we went to Camas Photography which is owned by my friend Jennifer. The Norwegian Elkhound breeder, Jan, from Hillsboro met us there for a photo shoot with three puppies. These three little guys are Chaos' grandsons!

We had so much fun! They are the sweetest little puppies. All over the place, but oh-so-cute all you want to do is cuddle them. I can't wait to see the pics. The one on the right I took with my iPhone so not the best quality!

It's time to announce the winner of the October contest. The winner is Jane who commented on my post Calling In Dead. Jane, please you the contact button to send my your email address and let me know whether you want a $10 amazon or bn.com gift certificate. You have 7 days to contact me or I'll pick another winner! Thanks to everyone who entered.

A new contest started yesterday. Each comment gets you an entry. Be sure to check back at the beginning of next month to see if you won!

Have a great Friday!

On the Shelves!

My latest book, HIS LARKVILLE CINDERELLA, is on sale in both paperback and digital. I realize my confusion over my release date for those who may have read my blog on Tuesday is that there are two different dates. One for the paperback (that was Tuesday) and one for the digital version today.

The book is #5 of Harlequin Romance's The Larkville Legacy continuity series, but my story is very much standalone.

The story is set in Hollywood, and I must admit I had a blast writing this one. The hero, Adam Noble, is an A-list actor (think someone like Chris Hemsworth) and the heroine, Megan Calhoun, is a costume design intern.

Here's the back cover copy:

Swapping the Texas dust...

The small-town girl with big dreams has finally reached Hollywood! For years, costume designer Megan Calhoun has longed to be seen for who she is, not who she isn't. But under the gaze of A-list hearthrob Adam Noble, this Cinderella begins to step out of the showdows.... 

For Hollywood glitter!

Adam hides from his painful past behind every role he plays. But something in Megan is threatening to smash apart this carefully construed facade. Will he finally take his biggest risk...throw away the script and open his heart?


Okay, sales pitch over with. That should appease hubby. Anyone got any cute pics of cats?

Happy Halloween!

Hope you have a better Halloween than Henri! My three two-legged kids will be trick or treating along with one four-legged one. The other furbabies will be wondering why the door keeps being open all evening long!

Happy Halloween and stay safe!

Sandy

So if you saw this post earlier, I mentioned it was release day. I was prewriting a post for November 1 and published it instead of scheduling it. Oops. So you'll see that again. Sorry, I was very tired.

I hope all of you being affected by Sandy are okay. You've been in our thoughts and prayers.

I saw this on icanhascheezeburger. It's called Hurricane Sandy Perparedness for Cats. 


Please take care and check in when you can!

Manic Monday

Miss Mousie watching my every move!

If the rest of the week is like today, I'm in trouble. First off, I need to be in two places at once. Not sure how that happened, but I said yes to taking a volunteer shift at school since I missed mine when I was sick, then found out Miss Mousie needed to go back to the clinic this morning to have tubes removed.

Thankfully, hubby isn't away at the moment so he offered to help out with Miss Mousie this morning. (You can read about her post-surgery here.)  So I'm sitting at my new fave coffee shop about five minutes from the school until it's time for me to volunteer. I actually think I got the better end of the deal!

This weekend was full of rain, a dog show (both girls did great with Chaos!), soccer, caring for Miss Mousie and revisions. I wore myself out on Saturday so stayed in bed yesterday. I just realized we never got pumpkins. Oops. Add that to my list for later today.

Anyway, hope you have a nice Monday and that yours isn't manic!

Big Day for Miss Mousie!

Miss Mousie (14 years old)

 Today is Miss Mousie's TECA surgery. I'll admit I'm so very nervous.

So many people got us to this place and I wish I could hug each one. Of course, I know none of the names of the generous donators. And the authors who provided posts about their cats for Miss Mousie's blog live all over the globe. But the least I can do is say...

THANK YOU!

I can't believe we raised enough money to afford the surgery so a senior foster kitty can spend the rest of her years living pain free!

Hope you have a great day!

Back

Pumpkin Kitten - Yoda '09

 I'm still coughing, but made it out of the house yesterday. We were out of cat food and the kidlets needed Halloween costumes so that necessitated a drive to Portland to visit MEATS where I buy the cats food.

I thought a quick trip to the Halloween Spirit store would fix us right up for costumes, but it wasn't until five stores later that we had what we needed for the two younger kids. Then I needed a nap.

Rose is going to be a raccoon. Finn is going to be Finn from Adventure Time.

Oh, I almost forgot. We found a costume for Chaos. Last year she was a pumpkin. This year, she's going to be an astronaut!

If you want to see some cool cat pumpkins, check out this link. The website is called Mousebreath.

Also back yesterday were revisions on THE MAN BEHIND THE PINSTRIPES. That's the book I turned in on Thursday. I must admit I was very relieved. Considering how sick I've been for the past month, I was worried I'd have to rewrite the entire thing. But the revisions aren't bad at all. They are due back on the 5th of November, too, so I'll have time to do a nice polishing pass which I didn't do the first time around!

I will get Norwegian Elkhound puppy pictures up at some point. They are still on the camera. Until yesterday, I hadn't been doing anything except sleeping, reading and a little writing.

Anyway, I hope to be back to regular blogging and life now!

Thanks for all your get well wishes. I appreciate them!

Battling Back

I got my manuscript turned in on Thursday, in spite of being sick. Huge sigh of relief on my part. Now the waiting game begins for revisions. I'm expecting there to be significant revisions given what I was going through health-wise.

But hey, the book was there by the deadline. Gotta count for something, right?

I've been taking it easy the past 36 hours or so. Trying to get better (still fighting bronchitis.) Catching up on my sleep. Starting my new Hood Hamlet/mountain rescuer story. Reading No Easy Day.

I ordered the book written by Mark Owen, the psuedonym of a former Navy SEAL with DEVGRU/Seal Team 6 operator (I wonder if there isn't a new name for the group now given all the publicity) back in September. I was interested in reading it for a few reasons: research for the Special Forces ideas floating around in my head, wanting to know more about what happened in 2011 from someone who was actually there and curious about the controversy surrounding the book.

With a deadline looming, I kept the book in the kitchen so I wouldn't be tempted to read it until I finished my manuscript. I saved it for my "treat" after I finished my book. As soon as I emailed the manuscript to my editor, I moved the book from the kitchen to my nightstand.

No Easy Day was a treat. Very enjoyable. I already finished the book. I highly recommend it.

The goal was to tell the story of the Osama Bin Laden mission (Operation Neptune Spear), and the author and co-author succeeded. But more than once I thought, at what cost?

The government has pitched a fit of threats with cries of OPSEC and non-disclosure agreement violations. I had a security clearance so I get that, but given the leaks by the administration about this mission already... Pot. Kettle. Black.

What I'm talking about is the cost to the author.

I don't know much about the military beyond knowing a few people, including my father, who served and having spent a summer working at NUWES. But much has been written about the TEAMS. It's the stuff romance authors and readers love: men—real-life heroes—working together and risking themselves for a greater good and the brotherhood among them.

How has No Easy Day affected that bond/relationship?

Because that brotherhood is what I find myself drawn to and wanting to learn more about as I've been researching SOF. The friendship between a group of mountain rescuers is what drew me to continue writing the Mount Hood/Hood Hamlet books even though it was suppose to be one story, not a series. I imagine the bond to be a hundred times stronger for a team of SEALs given the stakes and the sacrifices.

Wanting to learn more, I came across this article, NO EASY DAY: FROM ONE WHO HAS BEEN THERE written by NYT bestselling author Dalton Fury. Besides his romance-hero worthy pseudonym, Dalton Fury is a former Delta Force officer turned author. He knows what Mark Owen is going through in a way few others can. The article answered my questions, and is a must read if this stuff even slightly interests you. Of course, now I'm going to have to add one of Fury's books to my TBR pile!

Hope you have a nice weekend. I'll be laying low and trying to get better! Plus doing a little writing on my next mountain rescuer story. How about you?

Calling in dead

I'm recycling the above LOLcat from 2010 because it just fits today. I'm beyond sick. I never really shook that head cold I got the last week in September, but something hit me last week that made me ask for an extension (book is now due on Thursday) and knocked me flat. Whatever it is has only gotten worse over the weekend so I will be heading to urgent care this morning.

Update: I have bronchitis and a sinus infection. A good thing I went in!

Upcoming this week on the blog as soon as I feel a little better... Norwegian Elkhound puppy pics. They are Chaos' grandsons and the cutest things! They just turned 3 weeks old.

Okay, this is about all the typing I can manage right now. Have a great day.

Guest blogging about Miss M

Miss Mousie's spot during deadline time!

I'm in total panic crunch time deadline mode. I also think that cold I had is turning into a sinus infection. So not what I needed with a sick hubby and a sick kidlet on my hands.

Needless to say, I've been scarce on-line and concentrating on writing.

But today I have a blog post at The True Book Addict. I was invited to write about Miss Mousie. You can find the post here! 

If you're a fan of cats, I'd appreciate it if you could post a comment thanking Michelle for giving us the opportunity to share Miss Mousie's story.

Thanks!

Justin Bieber Concert Fun!

Justin flying with wings

Last night was the Justin Bieber concert. I must say, the kid really puts on an entertaining show full of energy and fun. He never stops performing. Even during the slower times, he's out there working hard. And when he takes a break to talk to the audience... Well, this mom was impressed by what he had to say to his fans. Two words came to mind as he did this: inspiring and grateful.

The concert was very high-tech, a multi-media stage with lights, fireworks and confetti. Justin flew threw air with wings, rode through the air singing and playing the guitar on a mechanical crane-like device and was raised up on this platform.

My girls loved it! And him!

As I mentioned yesterday, this was my 9 year old's first concert. I had the most fun watching her all night. She didn't want a T-shirt since she'd just gotten a new on Sunday night, but she did want a lanyard and a light stick to wave. Of course my 14 year old had to have an official concert T-shirt. She changed into it before the concert started!

My daughter's poster

We were up high, but the seats were better than we expected. Rose was so proud of her poster. She held it many times, hoping Justin would see it. It was the cutest thing! I'll be honest, my favorite thing about the concert was watching her reactions!

I appreciated Mackenna making sure to include Rose in pictures, giving her hugs and just sharing the experience. So sweet to see them enjoying the time together!

As everyone warned me, the screaming was intense. I'd purchased two sets of ear plugs when we got into the Rose Garden.  Best $2 I've ever spent!  It made things much more enjoyable!

After Cody Simpson (a 15 year old Australian who the two 14 year old girls with me really enjoyed seeing!) played then Carly Rae Jepsen went, Rose asked me if she could wear the other set of ear plugs. Smart kid! You could hear the music and talking, but those shrieking decibels disappeared!

What will I remember most? The smiles on my girls' faces during and after the concert.

As Long As You Love Me

Tonight is the Justin Bieber concert. Carly Rae Jepsen is the opening act.

My girls have been looking forward to this for weeks. I missed getting tickets the first time around, but they released more so we decided to go. The seats aren't great, but the girls don't care. They just want to be there.

This will be Rose's first concert. Mackenna's first concert was The Cheetah Girls. The opening act was a then little known teenager named Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana.

Rose is all set with a poster she and her sister made and a brand new JB T-shirt that she convinced her dad to buy her last night! One more to add to her collection!

The CD Believe has been playing over and over again. At least I'll know the songs!

You know where I'll be this evening. What are you up to?

My Morning

The sound of a cat heaving woke me up at 5:45 am. I turned on the light and put on my glasses, just in time to see a hairball come flying out of Yoda's mouth.

What a way to start my day!

I cleaned up the mess then grabbed my MacBook Pro to write. I had a half-hour to work until it was time for my new editor to call from the UK. With the time difference, early mornings work best for phone calls.

The phone rang promptly at 6:30 am. She sounds very nice. We chatted about various things including my current manuscript. She told me the new title is THE MAN BEHIND THE PINSTRIPES. I told her I gave the hero a best friend who was in Special Forces. (See yesterday's blog if you want to know more about that.) She's also excited about Paulson's story, the next Hood Hamlet/Christmas Magic/Mt. Hood Mountain Rescuer story I'll write next.

The entire length of the phone call I was waiting for something to happen. Life here is chaotic. As soon as I place a phone by my ear, it gets worse which is why I expected a kid to barge into the room bleeding, wailing and in tears or two cats to start fighting beneath my bed where I was sitting.

Two kids did walk in, but promptly turned around when I gave them the look, the look that says not-now-unless-there-are-flames-or-blood. There wasn't. I also made a preemptive move, by chasing two feline fighters out of the room mid-conversation.

Now I've got one kidlet and a dog in bed with me while I try to write. Both should be asleep or downstairs eating breakfast. Both would rather be with me.

The not-so-glamorous morning of a romance writer!

I think it's time for my morning cup of tea sans milk and sugar! Hope you have a great Friday!

Special Forces

My new favorite website to visit is called SOFREP. It stands for Special Operations Forces Situation Report.  There, you can get various former SF operators' take on current events. As soon as I finish this current manuscript, I'm joining as a member. (Trying to be disciplined.)

Why do I like SOFREP so much?

Informing articles like this one about an organization that claims to be not for profit to benefit SEALs' families (Be careful who you donate money to!) as well as interesting analysis on what's happening in the world from a different point of view than I'm used to hearing.

I like that the comments are also intelligent. No one is trying to be "First" or telling me how their aunt makes some ridiculous amount of money each month using her computer. I've found very informative links to other articles and websites that add to the discussion at hand through comments. I have no idea who these people/avatars are, but if I were putting together my own Zombie Apocolypse Team, I'd want a few of them covering my back!

I also think the website is cool because it's Special Ops!

I still remember the summer before my senior year at Stanford. I was working at NUWES (Naval Undersea Warfare Engineering Station) in Keyport, Wa. I was a few weeks away from my 21st birthday and a bunch of engineers were going to play paintball. I thought that sounded fun so went down to the local army surplus store in Seattle and purchased camo gear so I'd be coordinated from head to toe. Some of our opponents that day were Army guys from Fort Lewis.

The very first game was Capture the Flag. My team sent me to get the flag (yeah, sacrifice the only female on the team), and I surprised everyone, including myself, when I stole the flag and made it back without a paint ball coming close to me. I even asked the person running the game if maybe the other team let me win and he said no. Those guys would not have let me win.  I was awarded a star that went on my collar, then placed on the Army guys' team for the next game. It was something like 7 of us vs. everyone else. One guy, who turned out to be a Ranger, told me to come with him and he'd tell me what to do. He did. He must have taken out half the other team on his own. I was in awe of his abilities, a little scared of him and definitely attracted. I had zero doubt I was in skilled hands. In spite of the lopsided numbers, our team won. Hands down.

A big part of my SOFREP infatuation is I would love to write a military hero. Let's face it, Special Forces guys are sexy, even if there isn't any sex in my books. The more I read, the more I learn about this intriguing Special Ops World, the better I can create a 3-D hero and realistic story.

Those who've read this blog for awhile know how I love to research. In spite of my fear of heights, I learned and fell in love with climbing while researching mountain rescuers for my Mount Hood series!

My current Special Ops obsession isn't all that surprising. The background for it was put into motion when I was writing Expecting Royal Twins. That story features a crown prince, also a soldier, whose Balkan country fought a devastating civil war.

To research that and him, I spoke with Roger Carstens, a friend I knew during my high school years who graduated from West Point and starred in NBC's The Wanted (that gig was just coming up for him when he spent hours on the phone answering my never ending list of questions!) Roger introduced me via Facebook to John Fenzel, an Army Colonel who also wrote a novel set in the Balkans called The Lazurus Covenent.

So right now, I'm in sponge mode, soaking up what info I can, and seeing what kind of story idea and hero emerges from the gray matter inside my head after percolating a bit. The first question will be Delta Force or SEAL hero? Which kind of hero would you prefer reading?