June Contest Winner!

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We are on vacation! Of course our first morning in Sunriver started much too early due to a dog show, but we're back out the house we're renting and kicking back!

I realized it's the first of the month and need to announce the winner of my monthly contest. And because I'm on vacation, I won't be sending the winner their prize until I'm home so you'll have to be a little patient.

The winner of my monthly $10 Amazon/BN.com gift card is...

Brandy! She won with a comment on Monday Blues. Brandy please use the contact button on the menu bar above to send me your email and let me know if you want an Amazon or BN gift card! Thanks! You have seven days to contact me or I'll select another winner. Thanks!

A new contest starts today. It's easy to enter. Each comment on the blog gets you and entry. Prize is a $10 gift card to Amazon or BN. Check back on August 1st to see if you won.

Hope you enjoy your Sunday!

Tutu Kitty

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Too cute! I don't know what it is about dressing cats in clothing. It seems rather silly from a logical standpoint and they hate it. But they end up looking so adorable.

I wish I had some cool links for you or something, but I've been easing into vacation mode a few days early. Still doing chores and writing, but also having a lot of fun.

Yesterday I took my two girls to get manicures and pedicures. Rose had never sat in one of those massage chairs during a pedicure. She enjoyed herself so much. Now we're all sporting lovely fingernails and toenails! The girls each had a friend over last night so after a pizza dinner, my hubby and son made a fire in the pit and they all cooked s'mores! I would have loved one but it's not part of Whole 30.

While the girls had their fun, my son and I watched the Olympic Swim Trials. After making the fire and s'mores, my son surprised me by returning inside to watch the gymnastics trials with me. He has a friend he met when he started 5th grade (he'll be going into 7th) who does gymnastics. She's really good. The kids used to joke that they could go to the Olympics together. So sweet! I was impressed by how much he knew about the sport and the attention he paid. It was a fun night for us!

Have a great Saturday!

Chill

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People never cease to amaze me when it comes to their behavior. (I'm talking real life.) It can be very disappointing, especially when it happens with two different people in one day. But the good thing is it gives me lots of fodder for secondary characters!

Keeping a journal and/or venting to friends on Facebook keeps a nice written record of things if I ever need to go back for a story someday! A few months ago, I was going through one of my journals when I was in my twenties and dating to see how my heroine might be feeling. Swooning, angst, swooning, angst. I know it wasn't funny to me then, but I can laugh now.

Today I'm taking this pup's advice and going to chill. Well, chill while I write, clean and pack for our vacation. What's on your agenda?

Car Rides

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The above pic is why we don't take our cats anywhere except the vet. Mine, at least, think the carrier is some sort of torture the device. A ride in the car is even more horrific. Yoda, who never makes a sound, will meow and cry and carry on like I've never heard. He only goes in the car once a year for his annual visit.

Of course, our dog Chaos can't wait to get in the car. I bought her a doggy seat belt. but I'd read stories of dog's who managed to get out of cars after accidents that I didn't want that happening to her should something happen while we were out. I still have to figure out how to install it, though I may just have hubby do it since he's in town this week!

I've been checking stuff off my To Do list and it feels great. Today I have to mail a bunch of packages I've been meaning to send. I'm so bad about sending you'd almost think I was like the LOLcat about when it comes to the Post Office!

Have a great day!

Random Wednesday

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I adjusted a cushion on our couch last night. I didn't find Narnia like the LOLcat above, but I was amazed by the number of pens and pencils. That's were they'd all gone!

Not much to report here. I've been catching up on things and we've been watching the US Olympic Swimming Trials. My son is loving every minute of it!

We've also been following the fires in Colorado. So sad and terrifying. A writer friend has her car packed and is waiting to hear if she has to evacuate. Another author I know is staying in a hotel. I can't help but think of all the animals, both pets and wild ones.

I'm on Day 14 of Whole 30. It's definitely getting easier. The kids had a pizza I'd picked up at Costco for lunch, and I wasn't tempted at all. Our dinners have definitely improved. No more fast food when it's late and we're on the way home from one practice or another. We just eat a little later after we got home. Last night was grilled salmon, asparagus and salad.

Part of this plan is you're not supposed to step on the scale for the thirty days. I feel better. Hubby says I've lost weight. I'm curious to see what the end result is after 30 days, and also what happens as I reintroduce foods.

This is on my To Buy list, Star Wars Family car decals from Think Geek! So cool!

Anything random, you want to share!

Can't vs. Can

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The LOLcat above made me smile. I know when I'm told I can't do something it makes me work that much harder.

When I was in 10th grade at CVHS, my English teacher told me I'd never get into Stanford. I was stunned even then that a teacher would tell a student that then. I'm horrified now as a mother. But instead of putting me in my place, it made me work harder so I did get into Stanford and graduate from there.

Of course, it was at that same school that Mrs. Penny Cooper, my AP English teacher in twelfth grade, introduced me to category romance novels by having us read a Harlequin Romance as an assignment studying genre fiction after we'd taken the AP test. She encouraged her students and made them believe they could do anything. Like write one themselves!

I guess both ways worked out in the end, but I much prefer the latter.

Have a great Tuesday!

RIP Nick Hall

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Poor LOLkitty! I'll have plenty of time to tickle my furbabies today! Revisions on my newest Hood Hamlet book are off. I emailed them to my editor last night. Yay!

Of course, I have another book to write. The proposal is due in July so I don't really get much of a break, but I won't have to work quite as intensely as I did on this one. At least I hope not.

With the trying to get the revisions finished, I never had a chance to mention what happened on Mount Rainier last week. If you've read any books in my Hood Hamlet series, you know mountain rescuers are near and dear to my heart. Well, tragedy struck on Mount Rainier this past Thursday.

Photo: National Park Service

Mount Rainier climbing ranger Nick Hall was killed during a rescue of four climbers, two who had fallen into a crevasse. This Seattle Times article has some details about what happened. They are still waiting for the weather to clear so they can recover his body.

Every mountain rescuer I've talked to since I started writing the Mount Hood books in 2007 has told me the same thing. Rescuer safety is the priority. And though it's rare something like this happens. It does. What mountain rescuers do to help climbers in need is risky. Dangerous. Brave. And Nick Hall paid the ultimate price while trying to help those four climbers.

He was a member of the climbing forum I belong to, but the only post I saw from him was four photographs in response to a request for pics. Another forum member who had been helped by Ranger Nick on Rainier when she was having some health issues during a climb and needed oxygen posted pics and wrote about him. He sounded like a really good guy who was a former Marine and loved the outdoors. He wasn't married and had no kids. Sounds a lot like the guys (Jake, Sean, Bill, Tim, Cullen, etc) I write about in my Hood Hamlet books. Very sad.

RIP Nick Hall. Thank you for your service, for all you did on Mount Rainier to save climbers and keep them safe and everything off the mountain, too. My condolences to his family and all who knew him.

Transported

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I have been transported to Hood Hamlet. It's a pretty cool place. I wish it existed outside my imagination.

I'm currently reading through my revised complete on paper. I can't tell you how good it feels to be at this point, only looking for typos and things that could be clearer. The light at the end of the tunnel is near!

Hope you enjoy your Sunday! I know I'm going to enjoy hanging out with some hottie mountain rescuers!

Multitasking

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This LOLcat might be a multi-tasker, but I'm relishing in the fact I have very little else to do today other than write! Hubby offered to take our oldest to a dog show today which means I don't have to be out in the pouring rain all day. Yay hubby!

I'm going to embrace the role of multi-delegater today. That means the two youngest kidlets will be multitasking today. They can take care of the cats and the dishes and whatever else pops up that doesn't involve fire or blood.

What will you be up to?

Oops!

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Just how tired have I been lately? Well, late Wednesday night, I emailed an update on my revisions to my editor Carly. At least I thought that's what I'd done. On Thursday, I found an email in my inbox from bestselling author Carly Phillips. I'd sent the email to her by mistake! Oops!

I think my editor must have taken pity on me because my revisions aren't due now until Monday. What did I do yesterday in addition to more writing? I slept! It felt really good. Now it's back to work! I want to polish this manuscript until it shines!

A friend posted this link to a story about a kitten named Mercedes on my Facebook page. Read about a Good Samaritan who ended up with a kitten. And you'll also find out how Mercedes got her name.

Enjoy your Friday!

Titanium

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I heard Titanium by David Guetta featuring Sia on the radio and fell in love with the song. I listened to it yesterday when I needed a boost while cutting all those words.

I checked out the video on YouTube and it's is pretty cool. A mini-movie! Have a look...



I managed to cut enough words from my book. I'm planning to do final read-thru later today and then I plan to email the manuscript to my editor. But first I need to sleep. I'm running on about 4.5 hours of sleep over the past two days. I need to be sharp to catch typos and what not.

Fingers crossed everything goes according to plan!

Ack!

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Replace "grabiteez" with "maximum word count" and I'm so there with this LOLcat! I compiled all my revised chapters into a complete manuscript last night around midnight. I just about died. Okay, cried.

I'm long. (i.e. over the maximum word count for my line)

Really, really long.

So long I stayed up until 2:35 am cutting. I was back up at 6:30 am this morning to begin again.

I hope you have a better day than I'm going to have!

Work

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I like how this LOLcat works. I'd like to work the same way! But unfortunately I must get up and write. Revisions are coming along. I rewrote 44 pages yesterday and polished 25.

I'm getting there! I have a couple new scenes to add in, the final four of the book's chapters to go through, a read-thru and I'm finished! My goal is to be done by tomorrow night though Thursday might be more realistic. Fingers crossed!

And then I'm going work like the kitteh above for a few days! Oh, and go see Snow White and the Huntsman!

What's going on with you?

Beauty's Fault

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This pic was Chaos last night! After Mackenna and I arrived home from the Cascade Hound Show, she put her grooming bag on the ledge of the cutout between our dining room and entry hallway. Beauty, our 10 month old kitten, was very intrigued by the bag and trying to reach it when we left with dog in tow. We were off to have dinner with my parents to celebrate Father's Day.

When we returned later that night, Chaos kept going into the dining room. I saw her put her paws on the table. Mackenna went to investigate.

Turns out little Beauty had pulled a bag of dog treats out of the grooming bag and put them on the dining room table. Not sure how she managed to do this given she's quite small for her age, but when it comes to food she seems to have super power ability. Thank goodness she didn't eat all the treats. That wouldn't have been good.

Chaos must have smelled something in the dining room and was attempting to reach them. Mackenna found the dog with the plastic treat bag in her mouth and an even bigger mess on the floor from the stuff she'd knocked off. I've been using the table as a catch all for things lately.

Bad doggie. Even though it started with a bad kitty!

Happy Father's Day!

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I hope all the dads out there have a great day!

It Starts With Food

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If my cats are still hungry, they let me know. I won't be able to get anything done at all if they need more food. Sometimes I know I've fed them the right amount (used a scale) but they just want more! Since I switched them to a canned/raw mix of food they've also lost weight. Last year, the vet thought Yoda was overweight and wanted me to watch what he ate. This year she thought his weight was perfect.

I wish I could say the same about my weight. It's far from perfect, but over the last three years all the accidents and health issues have really changed my eating habits and activity level. I need to change that.

If I go by numbers, I'm 15 pounds heavier than the day I had my skiing accident three years ago last month. I put on about five pounds after that. A couple more after my surgery in November of that year. And the rest after the car accident two plus years ago. But I feel much heavier than that. I look it too.

I decided against spinal surgery unless it gets to the point I can't function, but enough is enough. I might still hurt on some days, but I'm ready to get healthy and active again. I decided to look for a push to get me headed in that direction. The last thing I need is to hurt myself again. I decided food would be a good place to start.

Climbing Cutie pointed me to the book It Starts With Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig of Whole 9/Whole 30. I pre-ordered it from Amazon and it arrived on Wednesday. I read through the pertinent parts that night so I could get started right away. I had eggs and greens from our CSA so was good to go the next morning. I had fun hitting New Seasons to grocery shop on Thursday!

Today is Day 3 of 30 for me. It's an easy book to read. Very clear and approachable as they explain the science behind their program. The recipes in the book are easy to follow, too. Many are just ingredients that you can use to make things. It doesn't have to be exact which I like. (And yes, I'm actually cooking this stuff, not just hubby.) Last night I used one of the recipes to make a Mocha Steak Rub (I can't remember if that's the exact name), but it was yummy. The kids love the food I've made so far. Green Curry Chicken from two nights ago got a big thumbs up, too! Hubby, the main cook around here, was even impressed.

Whole 30 has it's roots in Paleo, but seems more grounded in real life and today (i.e. the present rather than the past.) For me, it's all about about changing habits and eating better foods so you are healthier. In a nut shell, you cut out grains, sugar, dairy, alcohol and legumes. You eat protein and veggies with a little fruit and some fat (the good kind. I bought clarified butter and coconut oil for the first time!) There's a lot more to it than that, but you can get the general idea from those things. But oh, how I'm going to miss Peanut Buster Parfaits from Dairy Queen over the next month!

I enjoy bread, but gluten has never been a friend of mine so it's kind of a none issue. They don't even want you eating non-gluten grains, though I asked and communion hosts at Mass are okay. I haven't drank alcohol except for a couple sips in the past 1 1/2 years (as the weight starting coming on I decided that wasn't where I wanted to add more calories from.) But dairy is a big one for me. I love cheese and ice cream. We're talking full on stalker-crush of those two things. But the hardest part for me is definitely the no sugar (i.e. chocolate since I snack on M&M or Sixlets when I write.) I've had a headache since yesterday so guessing my body is very used to that!

One thing I really like about the program is no measuring or counting. I'll do that for my cats' meals, but I don't want to have to do that for me. The book gives handy ways of estimating amounts of food for meals. You also don't step on the scale for 30 days! Weight loss will be a by-product of this, not the end result. The goal is eating better to improve health.

This won't be easy for me. I have very bad food/eating habits and have been a slug for quit a while now (I look back on the Crossfit Challenges and workouts I was doing before this and feel very sad), but I'll give it my best shot. I ate similar when Rose had all her health issues with food and never looked or felt better, but fell off the wagon when I stopped nursing her. So I know it'll work if I stick with it.

There is a website and forum associated with this called Whole 9 (link is above), but I just don't have the time to go there with revisions due soon even though the support would be great. Maybe once life slows down I will, but that's one reason I waited for the book to arrive.

So how are you doing health-wise? I know one of you, Quilt Lady, has been having back issues and needs surgery. Is everyone else doing well?

Arguing

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The cats have been arguing. Well, hissing and spitting and scratching one another. The older two, especially. They don't seem to like anyone or anything much these days except their food and me (but only when I'm doing what they like.)

The kidlets have been arguing, too. It got so bad I cancelled our bowling outing yesterday. Instead of having fun with their friends at Big Al's, they got to wash dishes and clean the house. I've tried to be nice and understanding, but I've had enough. For the rest of the summer, there are no more warnings. If they act up or don't do what I ask, there are consequences.

I'm looking forward to the weekend! The sun is already out. Not that I get to enjoy it today due to revisions, but I'm ready for summer to arrive. How about you?

Google Alerts

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The pic above reminds me of Yoda and Beauty! Want to guess which one would be Yoda and which Beauty?

Sometimes I feel like that when google alerts arrive in my inbox. I set them up for my name and book titles, so I'd know if someone was talking about a book out there and I could pop over to their blog to thank them. After using alerts for a few years now, it hasn't quite worked out that way though which shows where I fall on the totem poll of romance authors.

Google alerts on my name fall into one of three categories (unless I'm on a blog tour then I'll get notices to those stops):

1) Links to my own blog
2) Links to a pirate sites
3) Links to reviews

The first are worthless. The second forces me to fill out take-down notices and alert my publisher when I have time. The third can be good or bad depending on what's said, and I tend not to click on them because I have and regretted it.

Google alerts on my books include all three of the categories with my name, but a lot more, too. I'm never sure what might show up in my inbox even though the string of words for the search is in quotes.

Whenever an alert for Memo: The Billionaire's Proposal arrives, I know it'll be totally random and maybe even a little weird. That book title never fails to bring alerts to economic and political articles and essays. I'm sure my hero from that book, billionaire Drake Llewelyn would laugh at some of them.

If the Ring Fits... brings alerts for a Harlequin Special Edition with the same title as well as many wedding blog posts. There's even a blog with that name.

This morning a fun one came across for my current release It Started with a Crush. The alert had nothing to do with my book, but it's a cute play on words. I'm a romance author and I love weddings so this brought a smile to my face! Check out this "It Started With A Crush!" on Wedding Photo USA with photos from D Coleman Photography.

Hope you have a nice Thursday!

Towel Warmer

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I want a towel warmer like this! It's so cute and very typical of cats. I used to have a wire drawer unit to hold clothes. Rocket and Spirit would each take a drawer to nap in. Spirit always took the top.

Not much to report. Writing, napping, driving kidlets around. I have a feeling it's going to be like that until next week and the revisions go back to my editor! What's your day look like?

Cute Kittens

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The cuteness factor of the LOLcat above was too strong to ignore. I wish I could just cuddle with those two! Especially right at this moment. Maybe I could go back to sleep then.

It's too early to be up. I haven't been sleeping all that well the past couple of weeks. This morning hubby had to catch a six o'clock flight which meant his alarm went off before four. He's off, the animals are all back asleep and I'm wide awake. Grrrr!

On the bright side of things, I do better writing in the mornings when he's away because I'm too tired to stay up late. So I'll take advantage of this time and work on revisions. What have you got going on?