For All the World to See

New Year, New Book, New Blog!

2007-01-31T08:46:00.000-05:00

My blog has moved over to Wordpress, and can now be found at

http://www.colleengleason.com/wordpress/

Come on over and check it out...and don't forget to update your link to my blog!

If you are not redirected in a few moments, use the link above.

Not for Women Only

2007-01-03T10:22:00.001-05:00

Carl V. of Stainless Steel Droppings speaks out on The Rest Falls Away.

Read the post at my new blog.

Official Release Day!

2007-01-02T08:43:00.000-05:00

This is it! The official release date for The Rest Falls Away. I can hardly believe it.

If you haven't seen it in stores yet, it should show up in bookstores all over North America (and beyond) today.

Let me know if you see it anywhere, particularly if it's in non-bookstore locations--like Walmart, CVS, Target, etc., because I'm not sure which, if any, of them will carry it. (Being a debut novel and all.)

And to help me celebrate the release this week, several bloggers are hosting contests, interviews, and other fun stuff...so if you get a chance, check them out!

Jana DeLeon's Musings of a Louisiana Liar
Zeus Excuse (the smartest blogger cat ever!)
The Risky Regencies (interview on Thursday)
Vampire Romance Books
The Idea Boutique
Author Caroline Linden has an interview and a unique prize (since the contest will be up all month).

...and more!

Thanks so much for sharing my excitement today!

(PS This is such an exciting day today for me, please don't ruin it by mentioning what happened in Pasadena yesterday.)

Retro Tuesday #15--1987 Movies

2007-01-02T07:20:00.000-05:00

I haven't done a Retro Tuesday in awhile, so I thought it would be fun to do one about movies that came out in 1987. Yes, twenty years ago! (Are we getting old or what?)

Here we go....

1) "Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die." Name the flick and the actor who is currently on a hit TV show.

2) The female villain in this movie was named one of the greatest movie villains of all time by the American Film Institute in its list "100 Years, 100 Villains and Heroes" list. Who was the actress, and what film was it?

3) In which movie was Star Wars' Millennium Falcon parked outside at a diner?

4) In this movie, which is known as one of the most quoted movies of all time, a well-known actress made her debut.

5) In Roxanne, Charlie Bales (Steve Martin) is challenged to tell 20 "nose" jokes. How many does he actually tell? ("Fashionable: you know, you could de-emphasize your nose if you wore something larger, like...Wyoming. Personal: well, here we are, just the three of us. Punctual: all right, Delbman, your nose was on time but YOU were fifteen minutes late!")

6) "Give me the keys. I'll go to the supermarket. What do you want?"
"Truth and justice."
"Anything else?"
"Donuts."
"Why not? We're cops."
One of the lead characters in this movie later came out of the closet. Name the film.

7) In this first film of a wildly successful franchise, a house is firebombed. That house was the original family home in The Partridge Family and also the Kravitz's house in Bewitched. What movie?

Have fun and happy 2007!

The January issue at Wet Noodle Posse.com

2007-01-01T11:20:00.000-05:00

Our first issue for the new year is up! Check it out (there's even an article by me about why it takes so gol-durned long for a book to be published after it's sold).

It's 2007, and why shouldn't this be the best year you've ever had? The past is disappearing like a filling station seen through the rear window of a car, and your life is the open road. Write your present like the greatest story you've ever read, where the heroine throws her head back and laughs at obstacles, then gets in her red convertible and saves the day. Live like you drive a red convertible.

As a child, Spaniard Eva Calvo visited her grandparents in a Red Cross hospital. The organization impressed her so much that she volunteered for the Spanish Red Cross when getting her master's degree. Now this young SuperHeroine works for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent. Eva has been part of relief efforts after earthquakes and hurricanes, but some of her most satisfying work is preparing at-risk communities for possible emergencies. Noodler Dani Collins tells her story.

Australia is a country of adventurers. Proof positive is Noodler Trish Morey, who takes her four girls on road and plane trips with courageous regularity. Her secret? Creative preparedness. One example: Use sibling rivalry to your advantage by offering a prize for the longest travel journal. Don't miss Trish's "10 Tips for Traveling with Kids."

Theresa Ragan is another courageous traveler – she recently went to China for the wedding of her nephew. The scenery was beautiful, the culture exotic, and the food overwhelming. (Hint: Stay away from the snake wine.) Don't miss the fascinating story and photos of Theresa's journey to Guilin.

Mmmmm… Smell that? It's the new year, and thanks to Maureen Hardegree's easy-to-make sachets, it smells good. Follow Maureen's easy instructions and scent your closets and dresser drawers with verbena or even Chanel No. 5. We bet you already have all the supplies, so what are you waiting for?

A man may think his home is his castle, but a woman knows it's like the outfit she wears every day – and if her hem is sagging and her cuffs are frayed, it bugs her. Stephanie Rowe has some great ways to take care of yourself by taking care of your home. With some new paint and less clutter, you may find you're already living in the house of your dreams.

During this time of year, many people focus on upcoming goals. But how do you focus on goals without feeling stressed by them? Dr. Debra explains how the "Just for Today" method from Alcoholics Anonymous can be used in all aspects of your life.

Maybe you're still giving parties, or maybe you are so done with entertaining that you've hurled all your silverware at the wall like a knife-thrower aiming for his lovely assistant's armpit. Either way, our dip and salsa recipes are easy, yummy, and don't require a fork. Make some for Super Bowl parties or scarf 'em up yourself.

2007's first Noodler in the Spotlight is Bridget Stuart. In addition to talent, Bridget has a winning trifecta of writerly traits: She's persistent, disciplined, and combats stress by working out every day. Find out why her dream vacation features hobbits and elves, and how a "magic book wand" should work.

You've written the book (or ten), signed your first contract, and put your congratulatory bouquets in vases. Now what happens? Colleen Gleason outlines the entire process in her wonderfully educational article, "The Birth of a Book." Get a peek inside the publishing biz and find out why it takes a full year to build a book from cover to cover.

Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate? The Noodlers extol the virtues of their favorite hot beverages, from oolong tea to caramel-apple cider. Interestingly, no one included booze. What good girls we are.

WetNoodlePosse.com -- Be good to yourself, or else.

Happy New Year & Contest Winner

2007-01-01T01:26:00.000-05:00

Happy 2007!

May this year be full of blessings and joy and good health for all of you!!!

My Music Man and I got home from a rousing party up the street....we were the third of three couples at a small get-together within a mile of our house...on our block, even, and we ended the night with Dom Perignon and lots of '80s music (Adam Ant, Naked Eye, AC/DC). Our kids thought we were nuts.

Anyway. I digress.

We got home and I said, "Music Man! You have to draw a winner for my big Immortalize Your Friend in a Book Contest!"

And he said, "Okay!"

So I tell him to pick the number (I have all of the entries numbered because they came in on email entries) and he picks #34.

And the WINNERS OF MY IMMORTALIZE YOUR FRIEND IN A BOOK CONTEST ARE (drum roll provided by none other than Music Man himself):

Stephanie Feagan, as nominated by Anne Mallory!
(so both are winners!)

Congratulations!!! I'll be in touch with you ASAP!

And in the meantime, Happy New Year!

Ever wanted to be in a book? (pinned post)

2006-12-31T23:30:00.000-05:00

Enter my Immortalize Your Friend in a Book contest, and you could be!

Contest ends December 31, 2006.
That's tonight!

I like that old-time rock and roll

2006-12-30T09:20:00.000-05:00

In Michigan, we're known for automobiles, the Great Lakes, fudge, Motown, cherries...and Bob Seger.

Bob's a born and bred Michigander, and a few weeks ago, he came out of retirement to do a tour to promote his first new album in, sheesh, at least a decade.

Now I'm not necessarily one for 60-year old rockers doing reunion/coming out of retirement tours, but...this is Bob Seger.

I've seen him in concert four times and tonight will be my fifth--and they were the best shows ever. It's good, old-fashioned rock-n-roll. Not heavy metal. Not '80s pop (which, don't get me wrong--you know I love it). Nothing with even a hint of rap in it. Just rock-n-roll.

Now, for my Music Man, it will be his first Seger concert.

Which is why I told him he had to take me. You just can't be a native Michigander who loves music who hasn't seen our rock and roller. I told him that's all I wanted for Christmas, and he came through (though we had to pay through the nose for the tickets, 'cause the five shows have been sold out for weeks).

It was, of course, Risky Business that propelled Seger to the mainstream. He was already playing to crowds of 76,000 people in Michigan in 1976--years before Cruise danced by in his tighty-whiteys.

And it was thanks to Bruce Springsteen that Bob Seger (hmmm...interesting that they both have the same initials, huh?) got this chance. The film-makers of Risky Business wanted a Bruce song, but he wasn't willing or able to release anything for the movie, so they took Seger's "Old Time Rock-n-Roll" for that famous scene.

And the rest is history.

So...I'm going to see a 61-year-old rocker try to bring down the house in his last Detroit concert tonight. I have no doubt he'll do it--the reviews have been great. He does a lot of his old songs--mostly old stuff.

Tunes like "Night Moves," "Still the Same," "Turn the Page," "Main Street," "We've Got Tonight," "Sunspot Baby," "Rock-n-Roll Never Forgets," and others.

What aging rocker/band would you pay too much money to see?

What's your favorite Seger song?

This PC girl's Mac conversion

2006-12-29T09:15:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned earlier this week, I've moved from the dark side (my Dell was dark gray) and have seen the light and bought an iMac. It's very pretty and sleek and white and quiet.

Love the quiet.

I'm learning my way through its intuitive system and really haven't had any problems in a major way....but I do have some questions for those Mac users who happen by this blog (some of whom encouraged my conversion!).

First...what's up with the END key? I lived by that key in my PC. I use (used?) it constantly, mainly because I am always editing while I'm writing, so I use the arrow keys to go up or down a line or two, and then hit END to go to the end of the row, instead of stopping to pick up the mouse.

Well...it doesn't work for me on my Mac except when I'm in Word. Which isn't helping. 'Cause I need it in all my applications. So, is there something, some setting, that I'm missing?

I need my END key!!!

Okay. Deep breath.

Second thing: keyboard issues. My Mac came with a lovely, business-like sounding white keyboard (non-ergonomic) with a really short cord.

My desk is set up such that I have a higher level for my monitor, then a regular desk-level surface for other stuff (ie, clutter), and then a pull-out drawer for my keyboard. Unfortunately, the keyboard cord isn't long enough to let me use the pull-out drawer unless I put the monitor/Mac on my regular desk-level. So what's the point of that?

Now I'm using the regular desk level to hold my keyboard, which, by the way, isn't the ergonomic one I'm used to, so that's another issue.

Therefore, I may have to use one of my PC ergonomic keyboards (preferably my wireless one, but I don't think it will work with my Mac). And that ugly Microsoft/Dell gray will really clash with my sleek white Mac, which really won't do at all.

Help!

And...hmm...oh, yeah. The control key.

I tend to use my keyboard and keystrokes more than my mouse, so getting used to those keys and the difference in the functions has been probably the hardest thing. However, I finally remembered what my friend Noah had told me about the control key on the Mac: It's not the one one that says "Control."

Gotcha.

We PC people are used to that CTRL key being the god of our keyboard, and it's in the same place on both a Mac and Microsoft keyboard...however, the Control key on the Mac doesn't do the same thing the CTRL key does on a PC. Therein lies the confusion.

But now that I've figured that out, I'm a lot happier.

And did I mention I love the way my keyboard sounds when I use it? So industrious, like I'm actually accomplishing something.

Anyway, I'd love some suggestions and feedback on my conversion issues. They're not that bad--after all, I've been using a PC for more than twenty years, and never a Mac--but that END key thing is really getting to me.

If someone can solve that problem for me, I think there's probably a free book in there for that person.

(Oh, and P.S.: As I'm writing this blog entry, I keep typing "Max" instead of "Mac." Wonder why that is.)

And Zee Winner Ees...

2006-12-29T00:07:00.000-05:00

Liz!

Email me (author at colleengleason dot com) to claim your autographed copy of Surviving Demon Island!

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who entered!

Oh, and a reminder!

2006-12-28T09:38:00.000-05:00

You only have four more days to enter my Immortalize Your Friend in a Book Contest! So get hopping over and enter the contest!

What are you waiting for?

Another Missed Thursday Thirteen...

2006-12-28T09:29:00.000-05:00

Argh. Forgot it was Thursday until I saw Jaci's post. But I have an excuse--I've been technologically hampered and a bit discombobulated. (See previous post about the Blue Screen.)

However, to make up for my deficit, I'm going to be giving away a prize today. Yes! A prize.

First, though, picture this: Survivor meets LOST.

Then add in some really titillating, hot sex.

And a guy to die for.

Oh, and a few demons!

And what do you get? The sizzling mass market debut of Jaci Burton...which is my prize to one person who comments today and tells me...which show do you prefer: LOST or Survivor?

Jaci's Surviving Demon Island is a fast-paced, sexy adventure with a great cast of characters. I was trying to read it (by "trying" I mean that I wanted to be reading it, but was supposed to be doing other things like writing my own book...and I kept using it as a carrot dangling on the end of a stick for myself if I got enough done!) in early December, and it took me far longer than I'd hoped or planned.

Publishers Weekly says, "Realistic dialogue, spicy bedroom scenes and a spitfire heroine make this one to pick up and savor."

And I couldn't agree more! So, now that I've finished and enjoyed this book, I want to give away a brand new copy, signed by Jaci.

So, tell me which show you prefer (or neither as the case may be) and I'll draw a name after midnight tonight for the winner!

P.S. In case you were wondering( and I know you were!), I'm typing this on my new iMac. I'm still getting used to it, but so far so good!

My holiday started with the dreaded Blue Screen

2006-12-26T15:36:00.000-05:00

If you have a PC and you've ever had the dreaded Blue Screen, you know what that means.

Bad, bad stuff. Bad stuff for the computer. Very bad.

So, yes, last Friday morning, I got up and came over to my computer to log in and do my daily blog entry, and I had the Blue Screen.

It's a pretty color blue, cobalt--don't get me wrong--but all that unexpected white gibberish-looking error messages told me my computer was very sick.

And it was. Is. Actually, it is. There's no cure for what ails it.

I managed to get my data off (thank goodness), for even though I have a backup system, something had gone wrong with that and it hadn't backed up since December 18. Eeek!

But, the happy news is, I have the data.

The bad news is: I either have to reformat my hard drive (which will be the second time in two years) or...get a new computer. Which is just as much of a pain as reformatting a hard drive (reinstalling everything, setting my preferences, bookmarks [for all the blogs I like to haunt] and other stuff).

But at least with a new computer, I get to have fun with it being new. It'll be faster and cleaner and sleeker.

And my husband, my computer geek brother, and my sister's cool martial-arts-expert S.O. all think I should get an iMac. So. I'm really considering it.

Anyway, that's why I haven't been blogging or surfing blogs since last Friday. Between the broken computer and the holidays, I just haven't had the chance.

But I'm back.

And in some places, my book is on the shelves at the bookstores!! Jaci Burton sent me a picture of my book on the new in paperbacks section at the Borders in Tulsa! Completely unexpected--after all, the release date isn't officially until next Tuesday. (You can see my covers next to Jaci's shoulder and her book, Surviving Demon Island, on the bottom row, second from the left--the orange ones.)

But I'm not complaining!

And sassymonkey tells me she got her copy, which she ordered from Chapters in Canada, last Saturday!

So it's out there. Already. Wow.

But if you're out and about at bookstores, look for Jaci's book. I have a copy to give away this week, signed by Jaci, and I'll be posting about it tomorrow. So stay tuned.

Now...off to check prices on iMacs.

It would be a tough transition. I've been a PC girl forever. I'm pretty computer savvy. But, man, that iMac is looking better and better all the time.

What do you have? iMac or PC? What would you have if you had your druthers?

Thursday Thirteen #15

2006-12-21T09:24:00.000-05:00

Thirteen Reasons there will be
no Thursday Thirteen today....

1. I have about fifty presents to wrap (or so it seems)

2. I am having a cookie-decorating party this afternoon with my children and their friends (Akk!) Ten children. Hundreds of cookies. Icing in all colors of the rainbow. Sprinkles of all shapes and sizes. (do you hear me screaming?)

3. I still have one more (no, two) (no, make that three) gifts to buy

4. I have to make something to eat to take to a party tonight

5. I have to send out Christmas cards

6. But before I do that, I have to buy them

7. And before I do that, I have to write the obligatory family newletter (obligatory this year because I have to remind people about my book coming out January 2)

8. I have to make breakfast for the kids (who are just now waking up, yay, which meant I got to sleep in today, yay!, which is why this post is late)

9. I have to go to the grocery store to buy whatever it is I decide to make for Christmas Eve dinner

10. I have to write a few checks that need to go in the mail before the end of the year

11. Going to the bank is a good idea today too

12. I have to make sauerbraten for Christmas, which means I have to make the marinade today so the meat can "sauer"

13. I actually have to figure out what we're going to eat on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (I will probably do this before I do #9...but not guaranteed.)

....so that is why there will be no Thursday Thirteen today!

Press Release: End of the Year Merger Announcement

2006-12-20T09:41:00.000-05:00

Paris, France (Agence France-Presse)--In what is thought to be the biggest merger of all time, Men and Women have agreed to join forces into one sex, to be called Humanicorp.

The details of the arrangement are still being hammered out, but early negotiations have Men taking breasts. Women have agreed in principle to watch ESPN, but have refused to give up self-respect. Sources close to both parties say that genitalia remain a sticking point. There are also serious anti-trust issues that will need to be resolved.

A spokesman for Men, Bob, said that Men have been trying for years to merge with Women and that this was the culmination of a long-held dream for Men.

Women were unavailable for comment.

(taken from Mirth of a Nation, "More Mergers" by Jay Jennings)

Cut, Pick off the Lot, or Assemble?

2006-12-19T08:32:00.000-05:00

What do you do for your Christmas tree? (If you have one.)

We're definitely a cut-the-tree family. We go to a great tree farm (if you aren't aware, Michigan is the second or third highest producer of Christmas trees in the US) and make it a big production, usually the weekend before Christmas--which was, of course, just this last weekend.

The things I've learned about a good tree-farm experience?

1. You must be able to walk to the tree selection. It's no fun to wait for a wagon or cart to bring you out and then bring you back. It takes forever, and if it's cold....brrr! One year, we had to wait 45 minutes because they kept forgetting us!

2. They have to have hot chocolate available, either before or after (preferably both). Donuts are a bonus.

3. They have to provide saws. Sharp saws. (One year we brought our own saw and left it way out in the tree farm. We never saw it again and my Music Man has never let me forget that!)

4. They have to have a bathroom. (Please! With three kids, two of which are girls...you know what I'm saying.)

5. They have to have a variety of trees--heights, widths, and style. We have to get a short, fat one and we always get a blue spruce...at least, we always did until this year. This year we got a blue something else. It has long, soft needles (much easier on the hands when decorating).

6. They have to shake it for you, wrap it for you, and, the most important thing: they have to help you get it on your car!
after--or both--for the tree cutters. Donuts are a bonus.

PS. I'm guest blogging at the Writing Playground today...talking about my Cover Epiphany and also giving away a copy of The Rest Falls Away.

You think fat is ugly?

2006-12-18T16:03:00.000-05:00

I'm glad to hear that Italy is now getting in line (behind Brazil) in cracking down on anorexic models.

A friend of mine sent me these pictures awhile ago, just before that young Brazilian (anorexic) model died. I used the images in a session for a middle school youth group I work with.

The scary thing about this is that at least 75% of the students in this youth group indicated that they knew at least one person who was anorexic or bulimic or both. Girls making themselves throw up in the bathrooms after lunch, etc.

My best friend in high school was anorexic. It was terrible. But at least it was never as terrible as this:

Here We Come A-wassailing

2006-12-18T08:29:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been caroling?

Some of my favorite winter memories revolve around those crispy cold nights with flashlights or candles, red noses and excited, chattering friends.

I've been officially caroling--and by this, I mean going from house to house at night--probably four or five times in my life. I think I've been a carollee once as well.

The first time I went, I was in eighth grade and I went with a bunch of friends from my class. We ended up at our teacher's house (she was expecting us), and she invited us in for an impromptu party.

Last year, I went with my daughter and her Girl Scout troop and froze my patootie off. But the girls had a blast.

One of the best times was when I went with my Music Man during our first Christmas together. We got together with a group of thespians we'd been doing a musical with, and, clutching our hot cider and hot chocolate (appropriately spiked, of course) we caroled through a neighborhood with beautiful, large old houses that must have been built in the early 1900s.

It was just cold enough that we didn't want to be out all night, and that the hot chocolate and schnapps-laced mulled cider felt great in our cold fingers, but not so cold that it was miserable.

It didn't snow, but it had snowed, so we had a white backdrop for our set. We thrashed through some bushes to get from where we parked into the lovely neighborhood with long, broad streets and front yards big enough to stand in without feeling crowded.

People were delighted to hear from us, and since many of the carolers in the group were musicians (we were doing a play, remember), we had some percussion and I think we might have even had a guitar in the mix.

I think caroling is a lost art. And based on that experience, with the obvious surprise and joy from the people we sang to, it's an art that should be resurrected. Such a simple pleasure, and so traditional!

Now our streets are lit up with a blaze of Christmas lights so we hardly would need candles or flashlights, which is a shame. But there's nothing like the sound of singing breaking in over the blaring TV or the family conversations, and a group of red-nosed, pink-cheeked singers wishing holiday cheer.

This week's winner is...

2006-12-16T09:40:00.000-05:00

ejslack!

Congratulations and thank you for signing up for my newsletter.

Watch for another chance to win The Rest Falls Away next week.

I just made a total elf of myself...

2006-12-15T15:51:00.000-05:00

Click here to see.

Oh, if only I could really dance like that!

(And thanks to Esri for the link. I'm sure I'll be hanging out here the rest of the weekend.)

The Dragon or the Pig?

2006-12-15T14:13:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are. Big kids movie opening weekend, and I've only got time to take my lovelies to one of them.

So which one will it be?

Eragon is being slammed by reviewers and readers of the book. They say it's nothing like the book, it's a joke, but that it's good for elementary-school age children. (Of which I have three.) My son cannot wait to see it, so he'll be vehemently lobbying for that choice. And since it's only rated PG, my five year old can see it without me worrying that she'll be frightened. My ten year old daughter would probably rather see Eragon too.

And then there's Charlotte's Web, which my five year old can't wait to see. We have the original version with Paul Lynde as Templeton (my favorite character), and we all love to see that. It's getting better reviews than Eragon (but what does that really mean anyway?)...but my son will be really disappointed if we don't see Eragon.

So what about you? What are you going to see this weekend? Or are you going to be shopping???

Last chance!

2006-12-14T23:21:00.000-05:00

Sign up for my newsletter (scroll down to email subscribe box on the right side of this page) and be entered in a drawing to win a copy of The Rest Falls Away!

I'll be drawing a name Friday at midnight, EST, from the newsletter list!

Thursday Thirteen #14

2006-12-14T09:23:00.000-05:00

Thirteen of the best parts of
Spamalot

My Music Man and I went to see Spamalot last night, and we loved it. So in honor of this Broadway musical version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, here's a Thursday Thirteen.

(and don't forget to sign up for my newsletter by tomorrow for a chance to win a pre-release copy of The Rest Falls Away!)

1. The description of Arthur's Knights of the Round Table:

The strangely flatulent Sir Bedevere
The dashingly-handsome Sir Galahad
The homicidally-brave Sir Launcelot
Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot, who slew the vicious Chicken of Bristol and who had personally wet himself at the Battle of Bradon Hill
...and the aptly named Sir Not-appearing-in-this-show

2. The Song That Goes Like This (Arthur & the Lady of the Lake)
"Once in every show/there comes a song like this/
It starts off low and slow/And ends up with a kiss..."

"I'll sing it in your face/while we both embrace/
And then we change the key!/
Now we're into E/That's awfully high for me/
But everyone can see/We should have stayed in D..."

3. "I'm...not quite dead yet."
(the old man who is nearly dead, but not quite dead yet)

4. Sir Galahad and his entrance with the Lady of the Lake after he's been "transformed" into a knight...they appear standing in a small boat, gliding downstage, with a chandelier that suddenly appears overhead....strangely reminiscent of scenes from The Phantom of the Opera...

5. "I fart in your general direction!" (French taunter to Arthur and his men)

6. "We burst our pimples at you!" (French taunter and companions to Arthur and his men)

7.
Arthur: I am your king.
Peasant: Well I didn't vote for you.
Arthur: You don't vote for kings.
Peasant: Well how'd you become king then?
Arthur: The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. THAT is why I am your king.
Dennis/Galahad: [interrupting] Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony....You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you.

8. The Tale of Sir Robin

(this is the ringtone I have playing when my Music Man calls me, and it cracks me up every time)
"Bravely Bold Sir Robin/rode forth from Camelot/
He was not afraid to die/O brave Sir Robin/
He was not at all afraid to be killed in nasty ways/
Brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Robin!
He was not in the least bit scared to be mashed into a pulp/
Or to have his eyes gouged out and his elbows broken/
To have his kneecaps split and his body burned away/
And his limbs all hacked and mangled, brave Sir Robin!
His head smashed in and his heart cut out/
And his liver removed and his bowels unplugged/
And his nostrils raped and his bottom burned off/
And his penis split and his--"

9. When poor Sir Lancelot comes out of the closet to dance with the disco-dancing guys
"You can all find him pumping at the gym/at the Camelot Y.M.C.A"

10. The playbill for the show was itself a a comedy. The first three pages described a Finnish show, complete with long Finnish-looking names with multiple consonants and vowels, and hilarious biographies for each of the actors in the supposed production

11. I could just kick myself--really hard--for not making the trip to see the show on Broadway. Tim Curry was playing King Arthur, David Hyde Pierce (whom you know I adore) was playing the not-so-brave Sir Robin, and Hank Azaria played Lancelot.

12. There were pokes at Andrew Lloyd Webber, Britney Spears, and even a segment where they burst into an extended segment of "Lady" by The Commodores (good grief, remember that one?)

13.

King of Swamp Castle: Guards, make sure the prince doesn't leave this room until I come and get him.
Guard: Not to leave the room... even if you come and get him.
King: No, no. *Until* I come and get him.
Guard: Until you come and get him, we're not to enter the room.
King: No, no, no. You *stay* in the room, and make sure *he* doesn't leave.
Guard: And you'll come and get him.
King: Right.
Guard: We don't need to do anything, apart from just stop him entering the room.
King: No, no. *Leaving* the room.
Guard: Leaving the room, yes.
King: All right?
Guard: Right. Oh, if, if, if, uh, if, if, uh, if, if, if, we... oh, if... oh...
King: Look, it's quite simple. You just stay here, and make sure he doesn't leave the room. All right?
Guard: Oh, I remember, uh, can he leave the room with us?
King: No, no, no, no, you just keep him in here, and make sure...
Guard: Oh yeah, we'll keep him in here, obviously, but if he had to leave, and we were with him...
King: No, just keep him in here...
Guard: Until you, or anyone else...
King: No, not anyone else. Just me.
Guard: Just you.
King: Get back.
Guard: Get back.
King:All right?
Guard: Right, we'll stay here until you get back.
King: And make sure he doesn't leave.
Guard: What?
King:Make sure he doesn't leave.
Guard: The prince?
King: Yes, make sure he doesn't leave.
Guard: Oh, yes, of course.
[Points at Guard #2]
Guard: I thought you meant him. You know, it seemed a bit daft me I were to guard him when he's a guard.
King: Is that clear?
Guard: Oh, quite clear. No problems.
King: Right.
[King of Swamp Castle turns to leave the room, both guards follow him]
King: Where are you going?
Guard: We're coming with you.
King: No, no, no. I want you to stay here and make sure *he* doesn't leave.
Guard: Oh, I see. Right.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

I could have been a millionaire

2006-12-13T01:14:00.000-05:00

Remember the dot-com rush?

Well, I had a great idea for an online business, and if I'd gotten my act together, I could probably have gotten funding, an IPO, ads during the SuperBowl...heck, I might be a millionaire(ess?) by now!

I would have called it OneShoe.com. (gosh, guess I'd better check to see if there is such a place, come to think of it...)

You know how you always lose socks in the Land of No Return? (Actually, I think I lose them under my bed--it's a black hole under there--but you get the idea.) All those single socks?

Well, I've had the same problems with shoes. It's happened where one of a pair would get chewed up by a new puppy (or an older dog), or something would happen to the shoe itself and it would be unrepairable...or I'd simply lose one (not because I was dancing barefoot on tables or anything crazy like that).

So I thought it would be cool to start a website for people to find the missing half of their pair of shoes. Someone else out there would have had to have bought a size seven of my favorite Dansko sandals, right? At some point in time? And chances are, they either got tired of them or lost one or danced barefoot on tables at a bar and somehow misplaced one of them...or whatever.

So in my dreams of virtual business-ownership, I thought it would be interesting to start a site--a dating site, if you will, for single shoes.

I know I would have paid for the shoe, plus shipping and handling, to replace half of a pair of my favorite shoes.

What about you?

Places to go....

2006-12-12T13:35:00.000-05:00

Dance Chica, over at Insomnomania, has posted Part I of her interview with me!

And Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings also had a little chat with yours truly and posted the results.

If you go check them out, I can blow off writing a blog entry today. How does that sound?

Another chance to win my book before it's released

2006-12-12T10:45:00.000-05:00

This is easy-peasy.

Just sign up for my newsletter (there's a little box on the right column here on my blog...just scroll down).

If you're already signed up, you're already entered in the drawing! I'll be picking one name from my newsletter list on Friday.

And stay tuned for more...there's more, I promise!

Getting back to it, and a random question

2006-12-11T21:20:00.000-05:00

Missed blogging yesterday, but some days that can't be helped. Especially around the holidays.

It wasn't anything in particular that kept me away, just a little of everything.

Here's something that I've been pondering for awhile, as I'm going through my Christmas shopping list, and I'm interested in thoughts from the peanut gallery.

My son is eight, and he's currently reading Harry Potter #5. He can read at that level and he does enjoy it. But he also loves to listen to books on CD. He's listened to Eragon and the unabridged Chronicles of Narnia, along with Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's Peter & the Starcatchers (a fabulous prequel to Peter Pan).

He's listened to those books over and over and over. Instead of music in his room while he's playing with pirate ships and Star Wars figures, he listens to the books on CD.

I love the fact that he does this, and I've noticed a wonderful increase in his vocabulary. He probably (though I've never asked) could quote lengthy passages from The Silver Chair and Eragon (guess which movie he's counting down to go see...this weekend!).

So when I was thinking about what to get him for Christmas, I considered whether a CD version of Eldest (the sequel to Eragon) or the book version would be better.

And I couldn't decide.

I found merit in either option. I'm leaning toward the CD for several reasons, though: first, because he doesn't read as often as he listens to CDs (although he's plowing through The Order of the Phoenix pretty darn quickly for an eight year old), and second because he'd probably listen to it over and over and I doubt he would read it over and over.

But I begin to wonder: is there a much greater benefit to reading, literally reading, as opposed to listening? To the same story?

You'd still get the vocabulary. You'd still get the story (I only buy unabridged audiobooks).

But you wouldn't see the written word. But...you'd hear it, and hear the words pronounced correctly.

Yes, reading the written word is important--I'm not discounting that at all, of course; in fact, I believe it's imperative. But I guess what I'm asking is, does listening to the book fully replace the benefits of reading it? Or only partially? Or not at all?

What do you think?

And the winner is...

2006-12-09T08:38:00.000-05:00

Megan Frampton!

Megan, congratulations on winning a Venator Survival Kit. Drop me an email to claim your prize. (author at colleengleason dot com)

And a big thank you to everyone who participated wholeheartedly in the Pay it Forward contest. I wish I could have given each of you a prize, and I'm so glad to know that all of you have made at least a little difference in someone else's life. Congratulations to everyone.

Stay tuned for more chances to win a copy of The Rest Falls Away!

Wow...what a week

2006-12-08T07:15:00.000-05:00

I've been watching the entries in my Pay it Forward Contest add up over the last week, and I'm just blown away by the wonderful things you've been doing.

I wanted to share some of the stories people have told, and remind you that today is your last chance to enter the contest to win a Venator Survival Kit, which includes a pre-release copy of The Rest Falls Away.

Here are some (unfortunately, I can't share all) of the comments I've received about paying it forward:

"Today, I helped entertain and calm a crying baby at Walmart so her stressed mother could load her cart and pay for her items. She was thankful, but I think I got the better end of the deal. Her baby was a doll with a cute giggle."

"Let's see ~ I let a lady go in front of me at Walmart. This poor old woman had 2 things in her shopping cart ~ the lines were as per usual this time of year. I could not believe that anyone wouldn't let her go in front of them. So, friend and I had two carts full of things (we're getting ready for a big bake-off) so I actually went and got her and walked her back to our line so she could go in front of us. I mean ~ she had two items; we had two carts. It's really a no-brainer, isn't it?"

"The kind deed I did today was to carry a load of personnel files downstairs to HR for one of the directors at my work who is not in my area. I thought that she deserved a break (we're in the middle of a big audit), so I took this duty off her hands."

"[I] gave a jacket away to a boy selling something on the street. Actually did this with mom since we drove by and saw said boy and figured he needed a jacket."

"[I] gave money to a friend who barely had so she could pay her rent and buy some food. Also gave said friend tons of food. No, we are not rich, trust me on that, but man did she need it way more than we did. The woman had nothing to eat and wasn't getting paid for two whole weeks!"

"My good neighbour and friend recently lost her long time best friend. About a week after the funeral, while she was trying to cope with that loss, she received news that her Mother had gone missing. Soon after, she received news that her Mother killed herself. She told me yesterday, at the mail box....the two of us standing there, me comforting her as she sobbed.

"She needs some serious healing right now, and I know that material things won't do it, but I am going to bring her a poinsetta, and hope that somewhere in herself she can find a comforting place."

"Yesterday I was Christmas shopping with my 21 yo old daughter and we wear talking about some of her friends with kids. Now I'm an adopted grandma to a 3yo little boy whom I adore so kids are a weakness of mine. Well a couple of her friends don't make much and have babies and toddlers so I bought clothes for all of them. People in my life did it for me when I was broke so I can do the same for them."

"My first deed for the day. Driving to work in a sudden snow squall and the traffic was horrendous. I was sitting in a line of traffic thinking about Paul, dogs, work and blogging when I remembered the pay it forward. I decided to let a bunch of people out of the side street in front of me. They had been sitting there trying to get onto the road for a while. The traffic behind me didn't love me but those folks did."

"Today my son and I were at the grocey store and when we where leaving an ederly women we see there alot was having a problem pushing her cart so I offered to push it for her.

"My 3 yr old son got a 5 dollar tip so we went to Mcdonald's I bought him a small fry and bought the person behind us lunch. "

"Last night my colleague called and told me her husband had to go to a family members funeral, and asked me what the procedure was for missing out on exam day (we're teachers, so this is serious business). Even though I had the morning off because I wrote the exams, I told her not to worry, I would do her first exam and take care of getting everything covered for her with the office so she could go be with her husband."

"A neighbor with a new baby looked like her older child was working on her last nerve. So invited said child over to play with my kids and baked chocolate chip cookies with them. When the child left she took a plate of those back to the other mommy."

"I let the lady with one baby and three toddlers in tow in front of me at McDonald's on my lunch "minute" even though I knew her kids would take forever deciding nugget or burger."

"My daughter is in piano classes that she attends once a week. Her piano teacher is a lovely woman and my daughter just loves her. She's one of these people that talks so much she pretty much annoys any adults that happen to be around her though. The only thing that she does for income is teach piano. She doesn't have any type of contracts.

"The winter time is difficult (especially in the snow and cold) to make the weekly classes. We had considered pulling our daughter from class until the Spring. Before I could talk to the piano teacher - she called me. Just two weeks ago she discovered that she has a lump in her breast and they are fast tracking her into surgery. The piano teacher was positive but I knew she was upset. She was also worried about her family. The piano classes are all she has. She was afraid that parents might pull their students if they found out she was sick.

"I told her that I would continue to pay her every month - whether she was well enough to teach the class or whether or not our daughter made it to class because of the weather. The next day I sent her the pay to cover the next 5 weeks of classes."

"Took my money for a fancy cup of coffee, and instead put it into the charity donation box not far away from the cafe."

"I try to live my life by the "paying it forward" method. ( I stay with my grams during the week- do her housecleaning and grocery shopping, I always look for opportunities to put myself second, give a secret donation of money to people I think need it over the holiday season ... things like that)

"In fact I encourage my bf to do the same, (he wasn't raised to think like that as I was), and jus the other week he surprised me. He had this old truck he decided to get rid of. One night a man stopped by his house seeing the for sale sign. The man was from a slovic country, and had left his country to avoid being forced into the army once again- he was brutalized that last time he was forced to serve. (BF said his nose had obviously been broken and his some of his fingers were at odd angles.) Anyway, the man had very little money, and was about to leave after hearing bf's asking price. I guess bf has been listening to me- he sold the guy the truck for $60. (I'm so proud of him!) "

"I have me husband getting the act too.lol His Boy Scout troop went out in the cold last night and haned out Hot coco and cookies, with no planning for no reason. I'm a proud wife."

"There was a lady in front of me in the supermarket and she was short ten dollars so as she went to go put something back, i gave the cashier twenty bucks and told her not to tell the lady i had done it. The woman was very grateful and never found out it was me :)"

There are lots more, but I wanted to share as many as I could!

Thank you so much for participating and for making others' lives a little better! I wish I could give all of you prizes...but I suspect that you're not really doing this for the prize, are you?

Anyway, remember, you have until midnight EST to enter the official contest.

Have a great day!

Thursday Thirteen #13

2006-12-07T00:37:00.000-05:00

Thirteen Things You Can Do To

Pay It Forward
(and get a chance to win a copy of my book!)

Click the image above to read about my Pay it Forward Contest and how you can be eligible to win a copy of my January release...along with some other fun things!
(please don't post your contest entries on this post)
Contest ends Friday at midnight, EST

1. Drive past the really good parking place so the car behind you can have it.

2. Pay for the person's order in line behind you at the drive-thru window

3. Drop off two toys, instead of one, at Toys for Tots

4. Make a few extra batches of cookies and bring them to a local senior home

5. Find a family to adopt for the holidays

6. Buy an extra roll of stamps and give it to the person in line behind you at the post office

7. Offer to babysit (for free) for a mother of young children so she can go shopping or wrap gifts...or just take a breather!

8. Bring a box of your old books to a women's shelter

9. Give a 30% tip at a restaurant instead of 15-20%

10. Make a donation to your favorite charity before they even ask!

11. Buy a bag of groceries and take it to your local food bank
(they're really hurting this year!)

12. Donate blood

13. Let someone in line behind you go first at the checkout counter

(and check out the other comments on my Pay It Forward Contest post to see what others are doing to make the holidays easier!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

Because Diana tagged me: Christmas Meme

2006-12-06T09:07:00.000-05:00

I'm taking a break from encouraging everyone to Pay it Forward for a chance to w in a Venator Survival Kit (enter by midnight Friday!) to complete this meme that the amazingly-talented, witty, gorgeous and charming Diana Peterfreund tagged me to do.

(She said I needed to find something to do other than to fondle my new book...)

So, without further ado:

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate! Definitely.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Wraps'em. All of'em. For weeks on end. Wraps and wraps and wraps. (Or so it seems.)

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White on house, colored on tree

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No...I don't need to. ;-)

5. When do you put your decorations up? The weekend before Christmas.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Nothing in particular...I like it all! I figure the holiday is an excuse to eat whatever I want, in amounts that I normally would not.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Going to Midnight Mass with big, fat snowflakes swirling down in from a moonlit sky.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't remember. It wasn't traumatic at all; I remember having a casual conversation with my mom about it.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? One gift--pajamas for the kids. It's a family tradition that started when my grandmother used to make us all pjs every year for Christmas, that way we were all wearing them when we woke up in the morning!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Ha ha! Well, since we have three kids, it's rather haphazard. I string the lights after Music Man trims up the tree and puts it in its stand, and then it's a free-for-all. Very random. But fun!

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I love it through Christmas, and all the time except when I have to drive in it.

12. Can you ice skate? Sort of. We live on a lake. Every year I get a chance to get a little better. I'm just learning how to skate backwards.

13. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? The Reason for the Season.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? I have too many to name! But cranberry cheesecake is probably up near the top.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Lazing around all day on Christmas after the whirlwind of getting ready for the holidays...we take our time opening gifts, often stopping to play a game or watch a movie or assemble a toy or eat. Often we don't finish until well after 4 pm on Christmas Day, even opening the gifts from Santa. And then we put in the LOTR trilogy to watch while the kids play with their new toys. It's just the five of us, and we know we have nothing to do and nowhere to go but enjoy the day and be together.

17. What tops your tree? An angel.

18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? Ummm...giving. Really. As I've gotten older, I've realized it really is true.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night, Sleigh Ride, and What're You Doing New Year's Eve are my favorites, but my all-time fave is William the Angel by Rob Mathes.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yuck.

This is not my idea of paying it forward....

2006-12-05T08:56:00.000-05:00

Heh heh heh.

Try something different, okay?

Retro Tuesday: '80s Lyrics Quiz #9

2006-12-05T06:47:00.000-05:00

Here's a short version this week, so you can spend your time paying it forward instead of flipping through that old '80s collection!

1. Just don't ask me how I am
2. Your lights are on but you're not home
3. Take your passion and make it happen
4. That little faggot he's a millionaire
5. I was wrong, now I find just one thing makes me forget
6. So if you're feeling low, turn up your radio
7. It's no better to be safe than sorry
8. Darlin' in my wildest dreams I never thought I'd go
9. The road is long, there are mountains in your way
10. The Salvation Army band played and the children drank lemonade

(notice I did resist the urge to post a pic of Sting again...I could have, too--quite legitimately!)

And don't forget to enter the Pay it Forward contest. You have until Friday at midnight!

Pay it forward...and Win a Venator Survival Kit!

2006-12-04T12:06:00.000-05:00

I was at the post office today, in line for the self-service automatic postal service machine, and I got to talking to the woman behind me.

She was holding a big box, and this was the second time she'd been at the crazy post office that morning, she told me, because the first time she came in with the box, they'd sent her back home to cover it up--it was a carton that had shipped beer (Bell's Oberon, in case you're interested), and she couldn't ship the box as it was. So she had to go home and repackage everything, and then come back.

Anyway, we got to talking and I had about seven things I had to mail, and there was a man in front of us who was holding a nine-month old baby under his arm, and with his other, he was processing probably 10 different packages one-handed (doing really, well, too). So I told the woman behind me that she could go ahead of me since I wasn't really in a hurry...and of course, she was very appreciative.

And that got me to thinking about the whole "Pay it Forward" movement. This is the perfect time of year to Pay it Forward--everyone is so stressed out, in such a hurry, and so focused while we try to get things done to make our holiday perfect, that sometimes we forget about little courtesies.

So I'm going to challenge you all--even you lurkers who don't post here (I know you're there) to do one kind, unexpected, unncessary thing for someone else this week. Pay it Forward.

And then, post here in the comments section (I'll keep this post open until Friday night at midnight EST) about your "good deed."

For every good deed you post in the comments section, you'll be entered in a drawing to win a Venator Survival Kit in honor of the countdown to the release of The Rest Falls Away!

What is a Venator Survival Kit? you ask.
It will include:

a stake
a vis bulla (every Venator must have one...that tiny silver cross you see in the picture)
a Born Venator t-shirt (your choice of size and style [eg, fitted/baby-doll, regular, or tank])
an autographed copy of The Rest Falls Away

If you post the Pay It Forward Contest icon on your blog and link to this post, I'll give you an extra entry in the drawing, too...because, the more people who Pay it Forward, the more good we'll generate in this world, right?

Right.

So, you have several chances to win:
1) Link to this post by putting the Pay it Forward icon on your blog with a link (and then add your link below)

2) Do a good deed and tell us about it in the comments section. (If you do two good deeds, write two comments. If you do three...)

So...have at it. I'll draw a winner on Saturday December 9th!

Way cool site...in time for holiday shopping

2006-12-02T10:01:00.000-05:00

I just found this site. Neato fa-teato! Great ideas for gifts.

Mighty Goods

(of course, I found bunches of things I want there for me, too.)

Of milestones and author quotes

2006-12-01T08:42:00.000-05:00

I reached two milestones in my career as a debut novelist this week.

The first one: I received the first copy of my book! My wonderful editor sent me her only copy so I could hold it in my hot little hands, breathe in the smell of newly-printed paper and binding glue, and show it off to all and sundry (including the bemused waitress at the bar last night).

The second: I was asked to give my first "author quote."

For those of you who aren't sure what that means (although you likely suspect correctly), an author quote is the endorsement or blurb that one author gives another author for marketing purposes.

I was fortunate enough to get a fabulous quote from J. R. Ward, arguably the hottest author in vampire romance these days, for The Rest Falls Away. Thank you again, JR! In a debut situation, these kinds of things really do help.

One of the reasons they help is because when the publisher's sales people take the book and its cover to their buyers at, for example, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books A Million, Chapters, Levy, etc., a good quote from a "named" author helps to show the buyer that, yes, the book is good--or great--or fabulous.

Partly, because the book is presented to the buyer long before any professional reviews are written for the book, so it gives the buyer something to work with. It helps to show support for this unknown author, and, despite what people may or may not think, author quotes do help sell books.

While there are a number of people who say they don't pay attention to author endorsements on the fronts (or insides) of books, good quotes do indeed work. They work at the corporate buying level, and they also work at the customer level.

I know I will pick up a book with a good author quote on it--especially if it's from an author I love, and especially if I haven't seen their name plastered all over a million other covers (except their own). It won't necessarily cause me to buy the book, but it will get me to pick it up. And that's the first step in getting me to buy.

Now, there are authors who will give quotes without reading the book. (gasp!) It's true. In fact, Jennifer Crusie admits to doing this....once. And then learned her lesson when, later, she picked up the book she'd given a quote for and realized she didn't like it. At all. Yikes.

There are some authors who give quotes very rarely (Nora Roberts, for one--but can you imagine how many requests she gets?), and won't even give them to friends unless they really do like the book. Nora has said in a public forum that she has had to decline giving a quote for a friend because the book just wasn't for her.

So, how does someone like me, an unknown author, get a great quote like the one I got from J. R. Ward?

Well, it can happen in several ways. First, if I happened to know Ms. Ward, I could have asked her to do so. (I didn't.)

Secondly, and this is what happened in my case, since Ms. Ward is published by the same house that I am, my editor asked her editor to ask her to read the book.

Ms. Ward could have declined--and that is perfectly acceptable. (Trying to find time to read is just as hard for novelists as it is for everyone else; although at least we can tell the IRS it was for research.)

Or, thirdly, my agent might possibly have had a client who would have been a good "quotee" whom she could have asked to read the book.

But, as I said, it happened through my publisher, for which I am eternally grateful.

(And by the way, I know for sure that Ms. Ward did read the book and liked it, because when I met her in July, she raved to me personally [and previously, to my editor] about it with enough detail that it was obvious she'd enjoyed it. Can I just say...WOOT!)

Another thing that can happen (hope springs eternal!) is that once the book comes out and is available for purchase, if a "named" author happens to read it, and likes it, they may very well contact the author and offer to give a quote.

So, for those of you who were wondering about those quotes on the front of books--now you have the whole scoop.

And of course I'm curious: what effect, if any, do author quotes have on you?

P.S. I forgot to mention that I was asked by my friend Janet Mullany, a very witty, smart writer, to give her a quote for her new erotic romance novel. I will gladly do so, because I've been reading her book and enjoying every sexy, naughty bit of it!

Thursday Thirteen #12

2006-11-30T00:34:00.000-05:00

Thirteen Opening Lines from Classic Novels

You Should Have Read by Now
(can you name the book?)

1. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man inpossession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."
Answer (highlight to see it): Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

2. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..."
Answer: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

3. Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy.
Answer: Homer's The Odyssey

4. "A throng of bearded men, in sad-coloured garments and greysteeple-crowned hats, inter-mixed with women, some wearinghoods, and others bareheaded, was assembled in front of a woodenedifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak, andstudded with iron spikes."
Answer: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (this is from chapter one, not the introduction)

5. "A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengeance and of hate."
Answer: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

6. "Tom!"
Answer: Come on! You didn't have to check this one, did you? Really?
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. You know who wrote it.

7. "There was no possibility of taking a walk that day."
Answer: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

8. "The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon."
Answer: The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

9. "It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen."
Answer: 1984 by George Orwell

10. "On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though
in hesitation, towards K. Bridge."
Answer: Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

11. "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since."
Answer: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

12. "This book is largely concerned with Hobbits, and from its pages a reader may discover much of their character and a little of their history."
Answer: The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

13. "The Salinas Valley is in Northern California."
Answer: East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

I can now add "Piano Mover" to my repertoire...

2006-11-29T08:40:00.002-05:00

I'm sure you're all delighted and astonished to know that, yes, I can now say I've moved pianos.

It's quite an art, really. Have you ever seen anyone move a grand piano? It's really very interesting, breathtaking, and yet frightening--especially when it's your dear husband under the big thing.

But let me back up.

When I first met my Music Man, he was trying to find himself after five years of working as an engineer. (If you know anything about my MM, you'd know that having him sit at a computer station all day, every day, on a certain schedule, in the midst of corporate politics, just isn't him. I shudder to think of it!)

Anyway, he was trying to "find" himself and one of the things he did when we first met was move pianos for almost a year. He worked with a big guy named Jimbo, and they were perfectly suited to work together: they read each other's minds, and that made moving those big instruments a piece of cake. Jimbo taught my guy everything he knew.

For awhile, my MM owned a grand piano (are you starting to see where the moniker comes from?) that he leased out to musicians when they visited Philadelphia (where we lived at the time)--for jazz fests, for example, or other traveling musicians (such as the late, great Warren Zevon).

Once, during their heyday, Wilson Phillips leased the piano and he had to bring it to a small little studio where they were rehearsing. We got to sit in on a very impromptu and extremely intimate session with the gals--my big brush with fame! Woohoo!

Anyway, this long story's getting really out of hand, but suffice to say that Music Man has lots of experience moving the big instruments. And one time, he moved our grand piano by himself.

When a grand is moved, in case you aren't aware, its legs are removed and it's tipped onto its side--the straight side opposite that curved one, so that the curved one is toward the ceiling. And it's put on the little piano dolley that they use to relocate the instrument.

For me, it was a combination of horror and total turn-on. I kept waiting for the darn thing to crash over to one side, yet I couldn't look away, 'cause there were a lot of bulging muscles and interesting grimacing going on.

And of course, I could do little but stand there and gape. He moved it out of the little house we lived in (fortunately, there weren't any stairs) and onto a big truck. All by himself.

So, here we are, more than fifteen years later, and while he doesn't move pianos very often, because he's a Music Man, sometimes he gets into a situation where a piano has to be moved...and, well, since he considers himself the best mover in the business (no confidence problems there!), he often manages the move.

Last night, a last-minute move came up and he called to see if I would help since he couldn't get ahold of his regular helper. I nearly fell off my chair, but, since I'd been procrastinating on my own work, I seized the opportunity.

My payment, he said, would be dinner out. I was delighted (you all know how much I love to eat out), yet more than a bit frightened.

What if the darn thing fell on me and broke my fingers so I couldn't type?

Anyway, it was a piece of cake. Couldn't have been an easier move (thank goodness). First of all, it wasn't a grand, and secondly, it was a smallish little upright.

I did very little but move wadded-up blankets around so they'd be in the right position when he lowered the piano to the ground/floor/sidewalk, etc. Although I did help to push it up a little ramp over the front steps of the house.

He snapped out orders to me (admitting later that he realized I wasn't Jimbo, but I was at least a lot prettier than he was~and I provided fringe benefits he never got from Jimbo), and I managed to get through the move with nary a scratch or broken nail.

And, the lady whose house we moved it to was delighted to hear I was an author (when I wasn't moving pianos), and she can't wait for my book to come out.

And then the Music Man took me to dinner. What more could a girl ask for?

Retro Tuesday: '80s Lyrics Quiz #8

2006-11-28T06:20:00.000-05:00

Name the band...

1. To have you with me I would
swim the seven seas
2. Crazy little woman in a one
man show
3. Went the distance, now I'm
back on my feet
4. Got in a little hometown jam,
so they put a rifle in my hand
5. There is freedom within,
there is freedom without
6. But whatever road you choose,
I'm right behind you win or lose
7. I need fifty dollars to make
you holler
8. So let's sink another drink `cause it'll give me time to think
9. Goddess on the mountain top
10. Couldn't see how much I missed you (now I do)
11. They even bother my poor father `cause he's down with me
12. Where can I find a woman like that
13. Paul, I think I told you I'm a lover not a fighter
14. Mine's an ordinary life, working when it's daylight and sleeping
when it's night
15. I had a whiskey on the rocks and change of a dollar for the jukebox

(and yayyy! I have an excuse to post a pic of my favorite singer!)

"Frankly my dear..."

2006-11-27T08:32:00.000-05:00

This is the time of year I always remember the first time I watched, and then, later, the first time I read, Gone With the Wind.

I don't remember how old I was when I first saw it--likely in middle school--but it was over Thanksgiving break, and I was immediately in love with Rhett, of course.

It wasn't until years later that I actually picked up the book to read--during my first week of college final exams (mid December), when I should have been studying. (Not the smartest move I've ever made.)

Fortunately, I passed all my classes (respectable As and Bs) and still managed to read the book in less than a week.

I'm thinking this might be the year I'll introduce my oldest daughter to the movie (she's ten) because she's fallen in love with Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice. (She's obviously her mother's daughter.)

I remember once when I was in college, a friend of mine watched the movie while it was on TV. She told me the next day that I reminded her of Scarlett. I'm still trying to figure out if that's a compliment or not....

Anyway, my favorite scenes are when Scarlett dresses up in the curtains and goes to visit Rhett in jail. He's just so suave and cool...and then it's a bit heart-breaking when he realizes Scarlett's not there because she cares about him, but because she wants something from him.

And I love the scene where he sweeps her up in his arms in that blood-red gown she's wearing, and carries her up the staircase. (And then the next morning where she looks like a cat that's been into the cream.)

Poor Rhett. Talk about the perfect reformed rake. The perfect character arc of selfishness and superficiality that culminates in "twu wuv," only to have it dashed away by the inimitable Scarlett.

So perfectly matched they were, yet Scarlett's character didn't grow along the same path as Rhett's. While he came to learn selflessness and deep, abiding love, she learned she could only rely on herself to get what she wanted.

One of the most romantic stories ever told, yet it doesn't have a happy ending. Or does it?

Do you think Scarlett ever got Rhett back?

Who's shopping today?

2006-11-24T09:41:00.000-05:00

...and who's recovering from eating too much, cooking too much, drinking too much, napping too much?

Me? I'm having lunch with my two best writing buddies while everyone else is pounding the pavement at the stores.

I'm much too impatient to wait in lines and push through crowds and organize my shopping. I'm more of a haphazard kind of girl.

So, lunch with the ladies. Hopefully, the new James Bond tonight with the Music Man.

Hope all who celebrated Thanksgiving had a great one!

Thursday Thirteen #11

2006-11-23T07:55:00.000-05:00

Thirteen Things I'm NOT
Thankful for on this
Thanksgiving Day

1. Gravity
(But only when a full package of eggs slips out of the grocery bag as I'm carrying it into the house. Otherwise, gravity's good.)

2. The person who took my parking place
at the grocery store yesterday
The only other empty spot was at the other end of the lot, way out in the boonies.
And I had lots to buy.

3. Lima beans
Truly. Do they have any taste? No. So why bother?

4. The person who cut me off in traffic and nearly caused an accident
However, I would forgive them if they had a medical emergency and was, perhaps, rushing a laboring woman to the hospital.
Then I'd wish them luck.

5. The man who killed those Amish girls at their school.
I'm still devastated about that.

6. The new Rocky Balboa movie

Give me a break. He's actually going to fight?

7. Paris Hilton
(I need say no more, do I?)

8. Pouring, blasting, windy thunderstorms
but only when I'm stuck without an umbrella and I'm cold...
otherwise, bring'em on!

9. The way the long strap on my purse accidentally gets caught on the edges of things all too often, causing me to jerk back suddenly, or, worse, bump into something when I'm jerked back suddenly

10. Radical fundamentalists
(is that redundant?)

11. Japanese Beetles
on my raspberries, on my roses, on everything all summer! Ugh!

12. People who don't have families, or who aren't close to them

13. Popcorn without real butter on it
(I mean, why bother?)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving to all of you celebrating it!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

Busy day?

2006-11-22T09:05:00.000-05:00

I know it's going to be for me.

Not only are we hosting the Big Dinner tomorrow (which of course means, not only cleaning, but washing napkins/tablecloths/plates/silver), but I'm way behind on other things. Such as actually buying the food to prepare for the dinner.

Oh, and figuring out the menu items.

Fortunately, we usually do a traditional meal, so I only have to decide on dessert (other than the requisite pumpkin pie which my MIL will bring) and what stuffing to make. So I'm not too stressed out about that.

But then I realized yesterday that I don't have a big enough roasting pan for my 20-pound turkey, and so I have to drive up to borrow one from my MIL, and we were just there on Sunday. Doh!

And then there's the fact that I'm in the middle of a scene in Gardella 3 that I really just want to finish, but may not have the time to do before all heck breaks loose here.

So, anyway, that's my day. How about yours?

(and tomorrow, even though it's Turkey Day, I'll be blogging for Thursday Thirteen: Thirteen Things I'm NOT Thankful For!)

Hilarious! (and on topic)

2006-11-21T18:37:00.000-05:00

The new Harry Potter trailer is out! Yay!!

And I just watched Pride & Prejudice the other night with Keira Knightley (as I mentioned).

So, without further ado:

(Thanks to Zeek for sharing this first!)

Way cool!

2006-11-21T15:24:00.000-05:00

Check out this cool list of reasons why Heather Harper would like to be a Venator*....

Thanks, Heather!

*A Venator is what the vampire slayers are called in my Gardella books.

Edited to add: Heather's posted her review of the book, and is giving away a free copy...What a cool gal, huh? So hop on over and give her some hits.

Retro Tuesday: '80s Female Musicians

2006-11-21T05:01:00.000-05:00

How about a quiz about female recording artists from the '80s, I thought to myself when I woke up at 4:00 this morning.

Since I couldn't go back to sleep, I thought I'd give it a shot. So here goes....

1. What famous indie artist was once the lead singer for 'Til Tuesday?
(earworm of the day: "hush, hush...keep it down now, voices carry....")

2. Which famous '80s recording artist began her career as an opera singer?

3. Which female artist sang the theme song for PeeWee's Playhouse?

4. Who was the lead singer for Missing Persons?

5. Who played an unknown dancer on the TV spin-off of Fame before she made it big as a musician?

6. Joan Jett was signed to her first recording contract under the name Joan Jett and _____? Bonus question: How old was she?

7. In Toni Basil's video for "Mickey," what school was represented by her cheerleading uniform?

8. In 1984, Van Halen released an album called...1984. (Clever, huh?) What other band fronted by a female released an album of the same name?

9. Prince wrote a song that was made famous by an all-female band. Name the song and the band. (Bonus: what other female singer had a smash hit in 1990 which was also written by Prince?)

10. What was the name of Madonna's first band?

Answers posted later today!

Solo at the Movies?

2006-11-20T15:04:00.000-05:00

(No, unfortunately, this post isn't going to be about Han Solo...although if you twist my arm, I could put up a pic of him just for fun...)

What I really wanted to write about is: do you go to the movies alone?

I never went to the movies alone until I was out of college. In fact, the first movie I ever went to see by myself was When Harry Met Sally...
It was right after the final break up with the guy I'd thought I was going to marry--we'd broken up, and then gotten back together, and when I finally realized it was really over; that we just weren't right for each other, I needed something fun to do.

I didn't think I wanted to see a romantic comedy--after all, I'd just broken up with my sort of fiance. But my dear friend Cheryl (waving, 'cause I know you're out there) told me I had to see it, and that it would give me hope and a few laughs.

So I went by myself, and I was so glad I did.

And that started something for me. I've found that I love to go to movies by myself. Usually, I prefer to go during the day, where 1) it's cheaper, 2) there's no one else there, and 3) I feel like I'm playing hookey.

Also, 4), because I don't have to share my popcorn and Twizzlers.

Plus, I don't have to wait for my Music Man to decide to go with me, and I can often get a jump on new movies by going the day they open, during the day.

I went and saw Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera the day it opened, all by myself, and absolutely gorged myself on popcorn, Twizzlers, and music...ah! the music.

I also saw The Devil Wears Prada the same way--in both cases because I couldn't wait to see it, and my Music Man wasn't interested in going. However, when the new Pride & Prejudice came out last year, with Keira Knightley, I waited to go with one of my good friends so we could discuss and compare it to the BBC version.

(The BBC version won out in my book, but I still loved the new version for different reasons.)

How about you? Do you go by yourself? Are there certain movies you see or prefer to see alone? Why?

I made the cover of PW!

2006-11-18T10:06:00.000-05:00

Okay, I just have to take a moment to squeal in shock and delight...so bear with me.

Publishers Weekly is the bible of the publishing biz...and I and nine other debut romance authors are on the cover of next week's issue! (small pic, I know, but you can see me, second from the bottom, on the left)

I knew we were going to be in an article about upcoming romance authors, but to also be on the cover! Wow! I just don't think I'll be able to sit down all day, I'm soooo snoopy-dancing.

You can read the article itself here (and you'll notice that it's mentioned that Victoria is a vampire...I think they meant to put vampire slayer).

(Now if Michigan beats Ohio State today, there'll be no living with me!)

The winner is....

2006-11-18T09:36:00.000-05:00

Devonna!

Congrats, D! Email me (author at colleengleason.com) with your addy and we'll get that copy of Thief in a Kilt right out to you!

Good-bye, Bo

2006-11-17T13:00:00.000-05:00

Legendary University of Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler died today.

He was still coaching when I attended Michigan, and he looks just like my grandfather, so I loved him even more for staying at Michigan for so long, even when other offers came in.

What a legend. We'll all be thinking of him tomorrow when Michigan meets up with OSU for the Big Game.

Watch over our guys, Bo!

Edited to add: This link to a wonderful, moving eulogy. If you don't know who Bo is, read it. Even if you do, read it.

Guest Blogger: Author Sandy Blair

2006-11-17T00:33:00.000-05:00

Please welcome guest blogger Sandy Blair, author of the In a Kilt series about hot men from medieval Scotland.

(Can anyone say...Gerard Butler? I know, I know...he's not medieval. But he's got that accent!)

Sandy is also a member of the Wet Noodle Posse, and she's signing a copy of her latest book, A Thief in a Kilt, for a lucky person who comments on my blog today! So ask away.

Now, without further ado, let's chat with Sandy.

So, Sandy, why are all your books set in Scotland?
I’ve spent time there and found the country beautiful—in places ethereal, the people charming and funny, and the history intriguing.

It might also have something to do with the fact that I’m married to a 6’ 5” Scot.

When you start a new book, what's your process?

I usually have one character fleshed out in my mind. I know his goals and motivation, what he fears most and can see his black moment. In the case of A Thief In A Kilt it was my randy hero, Ian MacKay. With the writing comes his perfect match and for the rest...It’s a great adventure.

I know you travel a lot. Tell us about the most beautiful place you've ever seen...and about the one place you wouldn't want to go back to.
Tough question. I adored Skibo Castle in Dornock, Scotland and Adare Manor in Kilkenny, Ireland.

As for where I’d just as soon not return, that would have to be Cairo. The pyramids and Sphinx were awesome as was the Citadel and the old city, but the modern parts of the city I found far too congested. I did, however, enjoy exploring the rest of Egypt.

What's the best thing about being a full-time writer? What's the worst?
The best part would be receiving fan letters. Hearing that my stories have touched someone or brought them a moment’s joy. (And my work hours aren’t bad either.)

As for the worst, it would have to be waiting to see how a current book is being received.

So...what do men wear under their kilts?
Depends on who you ask. You can find some of my heroes’ answers by clicking on the “What’s Under the Kilt?” page on my site: sandyblair.net

(Hmmm...When I was in Scotland, I met some people who'd worked on Rob Roy with Liam Neeson. Apparently, when he was asked, "What do you wear under your kilt?" he replied, "Lipstick.")

And what's this about you falling off a cruise ship??
Augh! There I was minding my own business, on a week-long cruise on a luxury liner going down the Nile, when our tour guide—intent on taking my dh and I on a side trip to Elephantine Island--brings me to a ship’s open portal and tells me to walk down this 2ft x 24 ft plank leading to a small skiff that’s floating in the river below, beside the ship.

Now, there are no handrails, no guide rope. Nothing besides this wooden plank. But others had successfully accomplished the feat so I grab hold of my courage and my big picture hat and take a step onto the plank.

The little skiff chose that moment to shift in the current and whooooooooops, the plank falls two stories...with me on it.

Yup. Down I go.

The plank wasn’t attached to the ship. Just leaning against it. Scared the beweejes out of yours truly, my hubby and our guide, not to mention the little Nubian boatman I was fly towards. Ugh. I was bruised and sore for days, then the Pharaoh’s revenge hit. Overall, I don’t recommend it.

And, since you're on my blog, we have to know the answers to these questions:

Who's your favorite Disney villain?
The wicked lady in the 101 Dalmatians

What TV shows do you watch? Have given up on?
I’m addicted to Project Runway and Top Chef. I adored West Wing while it was on, have all the CDs and have yet to find a show to replace it.

And I gave up on talk shows a la Dr. Phil and Oprah ages ago.

And, finally, where do you stand on the hotness (or not) of Leo DiCaprio and Matt Damon?
Dare I admit “not hot?” (No problem, as long as you're talking about Leo...)

I’m into chiseled features, like those of Daniel Day Louise. (Imagining him in the Last of the Mohicans. Hmm,mmm,mmm. )

Anything else you'd like to add?

Thanks for asking.

As a thank you to readers and to celebrate the launch of A Thief In A Kilt, I’m gifting one reader with an expense paid trip to the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention in Houston this coming April.

The gift includes:

Round trip coach airfare from any major city in the contiguous US.
The registration fee ($435.00) and all meals, publisher parties, book signings, model parties and classes included in their registration fee.
A five night stay at the convention hotel
A special dinner with me...and a surprise author or two.

The application can be found on the Contest Prize page of my site: sandyblair.net

Those applicants who answer the 9 easy questions correctly will move on, will have their “Why I love romance” letters read. The winner will NOT be selected on perfect prose or punctuation but on “WHY they love Romances.”

I’m really looking forward to meeting the winner!

Wow! What a great prize. Thanks for joining us, Sandy!
Don't forget to make a comment or ask a question for a chance to win A Thief in a Kilt.

Thursday Thirteen #10

2006-11-16T00:13:00.000-05:00

Thirteen Reasons I Loved
Trixie Belden
More Than I Loved
Nancy Drew

1. Jim Frayne
the hottest redhead around, and talk about angst in a hero!
If I were ever going to write a fanfic, it would be about Trixie and Jim finally hooking up.

2. Trixie was closer in age to me
she was 14, and Nancy was 18 in most of the books
It was easier relating to a girl my age, with my problems, as opposed to one who had access to a car and could come and go as she pleased

3. Trixie had two brothers to deal with
And neither of them were very nice sometimes. I remember Marty in particular, who was realistically obnoxious, as all brothers are. Trixie actually got in fights with her brothers.

4. Trixie had a mother--who actually said "no" sometimes
Nancy had a push-over father who let her do whatever she wanted. Whenever she wanted.

5. Nancy didn't have to work hard for anything
She could pack up and go whenever she wanted--to Turkey, to Kenya, skiing, to France, to the Moonstone Castle...Trixie had to beg and plead to go anywhere, and was always sent with stipulations and rules. Oh, and her brothers.

6. Nancy and the cops were best friends
Because Nancy's dad was Carson Drew, attorney at law, she had it easy with the cops. They not only believed her when she told them something, they sometimes asked her for help. Not so Trixie and gang. They were just young kids who sometimes got in the way. More realistic.

7. Trixie and Jim actually kissed
Nancy and Ned maybe held hands or he got a peck on the cheek, but there was no chemistry between them. At all. I gave up hoping after a few books.
As for Trixie and Jim...I still remember the scene in one of the books where she was standing in a field of burning maurijuana and so her clothes smelled like pot, and later Jim smelled it and was so angry and disappointed in her. That disappointment showed the depth of his feelings for her.
Mr. Nickerson was a plastic Ken doll next to Jim.

8. Trixie actually had real friends
Not paper cutouts propping her up. I mean, really, George and Bess: how bookendish can you get? George, the athletic tomboy with dark hair, and Bess the "pleasingly plump" fraidy-cat blond. Sheesh. Trixie's friends, Honey and Diana, actually had real problems and the three of them actually had arguments and fights. Especially when Diana started to date Brian.

9. Although Nancy did go to exotic places....
That was one thing I really liked about the Nancy Drew books. She visited some great places and I learned a lot about them. Trixie went spelunking and to a ranch, but even with Jim there, it couldn't compare to Turkey and Peru and Scotland and Hawaii...

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

Da Winner Is...

2006-11-15T23:34:00.000-05:00

Katkat!

Please email me (author at colleengleason.com) with your addy and I'll have Anne sign your copy of The Earl of Her Dreams!

Congratulations, and thanks for coming by.

Guest Blogger: Anne Mallory

2006-11-15T07:26:00.000-05:00

Anne Mallory is a member of the (in)famous Wet Noodle Posse, and we’ve known each other for almost four years.

Her first book, Masquerading the Marquess (a romance set in Regency-era England and released in 2004), featured a female caricaturist who gets into hot water because of the not-so-nice comics she draws.

The cover of Anne’s first book could have been what gave me the idea to write a “Buffy in Jane Austen’s England” book, but fortunately, I already had started the book before I saw Anne’s cover…but I was holding my breath for months until my book sold, waiting to see if anyone else had seen the cover and had the same idea. (I don’t know if you can tell from this pic, but the girl on the front cover looks just like Sarah Michelle Gellar…)

Anyway, Anne’s here today and we’re giving away a signed copy of her latest release, The Earl of Her Dreams, which is a cozy English house-party murder mystery masquerading as a romance. (Or vice versa…).

Simply make a comment or ask Anne a question, and you’re entered to win!

Now…let’s get onto the interview….

Anne, it's sort of a long way from computer engineer (programmer?) to historical romance novelist. Tell us the story of how you went from there to here.

It worked out very synchronously for four years - I did both - computer programming during the day and writing at night. I think it helped both jobs to use different areas of the brain - it gave a nice break for each.

But for all that, the two do have similar qualities - creativity, problem solving, drafting, revisions, constant back ups! I love problem solving - whether it is debugging code or trying to figure out a character's motivation (or where to hide the body).

When you sit down to write a new book, what's your process? Do you have one?

At the start of a book proposal I have a germ of an idea, and usually a scene I work toward (usually the end or the black moment). I write out a proposal, fleshing the idea into a synopsis. Then I start at the beginning of the book and just try to motor my way through.

I've tried different ways to write and plot, but I think the loose outline fits me best at the moment. I have a spreadsheet with chapter listings down one column and I just fill in the cells to the right with ideas for future scenes and where I want them to fall (the initial bits come from the synopsis and I just plop the appropriate paragraphs into the outline).

The whole thing is very low key. Fragments. Ideas. Lines of dialogue. Whatever pops into my head I write in the cell to the right of the appropriate chapter heading.

Then when I get to that chapter I can look over the notes and have an idea right away of what I want to do. And when things change in the story, I just remove the outdated bits from the cells and put them in a "Deleted" file. The document is fluid.

I also find writing down cues for what comes next to be pretty essential. If I stop at the end of a chapter, I may write on a piece of scrap paper by my computer, or preferably in my loose outline - "Heroine needs to find the note. Hero needs to go to Parliament to discover X. Heroine should be torn between confronting Mr. Y and believing hero. Revisit her fear of Z." It just makes it easier to pick up the next day, or the next week, if something happens.

And for all this nice neat outline gibberish I'm spouting, I'm the queen of getting random ideas in random places. So I have paper and notebooks everywhere - by my bed, by my couch, in my car, in my purse... Makes for a bit of a paper nightmare.

Anything on my mind concerning the story goes down on paper, in a text document or in my outline. If it doesn't get cued and tied to something tangible, it slips into the ether of my brain or sieves out completely. :)

What do you think is the most interesting thing about being a novelist? The most boring? The most annoying?

Most interesting: Creating worlds every day. Giving two people a happy ending. Continually celebrating love.

Most boring: Staring at a blinking cursor.

Most annoying: Still staring at a blinking cursor two hours later.

What's this about you and sharks?

Heh. As a swimmer from the Jaws generation there is little scarier to me than open water. I decided to do the Sharkfest swim from Alcatraz across San Francisco Bay anyway. Very liberating! Didn't completely cure me though.

When I'm in a large body of water with my head above the surface and my limbs dangling below...well, let's just say that I turtle up and make sure that my digits are out of the water. You'll have to bite my rump, shark!

Since you're on my blog, we have to find out how you weigh in on certain things to see if we can let you stay....such as, name three or four fictional men with whom you'd throw it all away and run off with.

Jack from Romancing the Stone, Thomas Crowne (Pierce Brosnan) from The Thomas Crowne Affair, Wolverine (and when are they going to introduce Gambit?!) from X-Men, Dean from Supernatural, Christian Bale's Batman, Westley from Princess Bride.

Um, you said 6 or 7, right?
(as many as you could handle, Anne...we're not picky here!)

And...who's your favorite Disney villain?

Oooh, so many good ones. I'm going to go with Captain Hook. :) Your Maleficent pretty much rocks though.

What television shows do you watch? Have you given up on?

Every week I watch Supernatural, Survivor, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. I still watch SNL occasionally, but not like I used to.

And...who's your geeky crush?

Gary Oldman. I'm not sure if that's geeky though, or just out of the ordinary. LOL.

Anything else you'd like us to know?

Colleen wears socks on her head!
(How did you know that???)

Thanks for joining us, Anne!

Remember to make a comment to be entered to win a signed copy of Anne’s latest…The Earl of Her Dreams!

And you can find more info about Anne and her books at her website.

Retro Tuesday: '80s Movies Quiz #4

2006-11-14T08:31:00.000-05:00

1. What special talent did Molly Ringwald have in The Breakfast Club?

2. What was the very first James Bond movie that was shown in the 80's? What was the last?

3. Name the actress who played the pretty blond girl Elliot danced with in E.T.

4. How many Nightmare On Elm Street movies were made in the 80's?

5. In The Empire Strikes Back, what was chewing on the power cables of the Millenium Falcon while Han Solo and company were hiding inside the asteroid cave?

6. What was the license number on the Ghostbusters' car?

7. In Back To The Future, where did Doc Brown get the plutonium to power the time-travelling DeLorean?

8. In The Empire Strikes Back when the ghost of Obi Wan Kenobi said that Luke was their last hope against the Empire, who was Yoda refering to when he said: "No, there is another"?

9. What god were the Thugees worshipping in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom?

10. In the movie Porky's, why did they call Meat Tuperello 'Meat'?

11. In the movie Aliens, what was Newt's real name?

12. What does Ally Sheedy use to decorate her picture in The Breakfast Club?

13. In Dirty Dancing what was Baby's real name?

14. What were Mouth and Chunk's real names in The Goonies?

15. In The Breakfast Club, what did Brian try to kill himself with?

I know...these are simple. But I'm taking it easy this week.

Much Ado Going on This Week...

2006-11-14T07:48:00.000-05:00

1) Will get to Retro Tuesday shortly.

2) Guest blogger author Anne Mallory steps in the spotlight tomorrow, and is giving away a copy of her latest book (so get your comments and questions ready!)

When not writing books, Anne prefers to live life on the dangerous side and hangs out with real live sharks.

3) Wednesday night TV alert: my sister Kate Gleason will be seen on CBS's Criminal Minds (9 pm EST) as the FBI agent who's used as bait to track down a serial killer. (She's in a scene with Mandy Patinkin too, and in the previews as well! Woohoo!)

4) Guest blogger author Sandy Blair will be in the spotlight on Friday, making this a light blogging week for me (good thing too, as I'm still recovering from last weekend's girls' weeke--er, writers' retreat).

She'll tell us all about men and kilts and how she actually fell off a cruise ship. Oh, and she'll have a book to give away too, but I'm sure you're more interested in how she fell off the ship.

But, then again, maybe you're more interested in what men wear under their kilts. (Except Carl and Sparky, 'cause I figure they already know.)

5) And if you haven't entered the Immortalize Your Friend in a Book Contest...what are you waiting for?

Review: Stranger Than Fiction...and other stuff

2006-11-13T09:08:00.000-05:00

What would be a more appropriate movie for a group of writers to go see than Stranger Than Fiction?

I can't think of one, and, coincidentally, that's what we did on Saturday night of the girls'/writers' retreat weekend.

I really enjoyed the movie, although it wasn't what I expected. I didn't necessarily expect the crazy Will Ferrell that I saw in The Wedding Crashers and Old School, but I guess I did think it would be more of a light comedy.

It wasn't, but I really liked it. The movie took its time; it wasn't a fast, glitzy, laugh-till-your-sides-hurt show. It wasn't an on-the-edge-of-your-seat story. It was easy, funny, poignant, and thought-provoking.

For those of you who don't know, the story is about Will Ferrell, an auditor for the IRS, who somehow ends up being the main character in Emma Thompson's latest book. The problem is, she's known for killing off her protagonists just at the moment when their lives become wonderful!

Ferrell's character, Howard Crick, figures this out when he begins to hear the author, Kay Eiffel (Thompson)'s voice in his head, narrating his every move as if he were in a story. It's the phrase "little did he know..." that causes Crick to realize his death is imminent.

The acting was excellent; which directly relates to the fact that the cast was superb. I was impressed with Will Ferrell's acting ability (ie, showing emotion and playing the role without the usual blasting, boisterous persona most people expect from him), and as usual, I loved Emma Thompson (it's hard not to love her in anything she does).

Dustin Hoffman has become a great character actor, and shows off in this hilarious, understated role. And surprise, surprise...Tom Hulce makes an appearance, which none of us realized was him until the end!

Queen Latifah is also in the movie, but her role was odd. She played it fine, but, as another reviewer wondered, I can't help but think that there might have been more to it that landed on the cutting room floor--because as it is, it just didn't seem to do her justice.

And Maggie Gyllenhaal was adorable and sweet and part of what surprised me about the movie. I didn't realize it was really a romance, and although there were lots of other things going on, I loved watching the characters grow into their relationship.

After the show, we writers talked about it. Two of the three of us who'd seen it thought it was great; but the third thought it was just okay. One of her thoughts was that it was a bit slow (which I agreed with, but I liked it for that reason...that it took its time).

Her other concern was that we never understood why or how it happened that Kay Eiffel's character--the one she thought she'd created from nothing--was actually a real person being narrated to his demise.

True, but it didn't bother me. It was what it was, and there is a moral in the story about free will and choices, and a message that people who live a certain way by making certain choices should be free to live.

Interestingly enough, when I got home, I watched another movie with a similar feel: The Lake House.

I really enjoyed that movie as well (although it was much more difficult to do so, with three exuberant-Mommy's home!-kids bouncing around, and a husband who'd had a few celebratory beers now that he was no longer In Charge)...but we all watched it, and all enjoyed it.

And the only question I had that lingered was why and how? Why and how were those two characters connected through time and space?

We never had the answer, but my Music Man put the theme into a clear, concise statement: some people are meant to be together, even if the timing is wrong.

So true.

My Music Man and I are the perfect example of that. Like Alex Wyler and Kate Forrester, and the hero and heroine in Nora Roberts's Blue Smoke, the MM and I met (or nearly met) several times over the course of five years before we actually "found" each other.

I'm fond of telling him that if we'd met any time before we did, then, no, no no no...we would not have been together. Neither of us were ready.

The same was true of Alex and Kate in The Lake House.

And the same was true of Harold Crick and Ana Pascal in Stranger than Fiction. It wasn't until he realized his life was going to end that Harold Crick shrugged (albeit slowly, and believably) out of his cocoon of numbers and rules and patterns and began to live life.

Which is what we all should do.

Congratulations!

2006-11-10T10:32:00.000-05:00

To my dear friend Wendy Roberts, the owner of a new three-book deal with Penguin!

Her series about a woman who runs a business cleaning up after the dead is a humorous mystery series that will launch in December 2007. The protagonist not only cleans up crime scenes (and other gruesome leftovers) but she also talks to the dead.

I've read the beginning of the book and it's fabulous! December can't come soon enough.

Retreating

2006-11-10T09:52:00.000-05:00

No, this is not a comment related to the political landscape here in the US in any way.

It's what I'm going to be doing this weekend: retreating with three of my best writing buddies. We four gals are getting together for a girls' weekend/writers' retreat.

We'll eat out, watch movies, talk plot and market, and usually we come up with at least one--if not more--plots involving any cute (male) waiter we might have during our time together.

(Side note: why don't they have a place like Hooters--but for women?)

We might even get some writing done. But even if we don't, we'll talk craft, we'll take a field trip to a bookstore and check out covers, placement, publishers, new releases, etc., to see what's out there--and where. What trends are happening in cover art, which new and up and coming authors are getting front-of-store or endcap placement.

We'll rehash our favorite books, our latest reads, and what's working and what's not. There might be a trip to the spa in there somewhere, purely to clear our minds and relax our thoughts so we can get more work done, of course.

We might even talk about who's hot in Hollywood nowadays (I heard that Gerard Butler is involved in a strip tease in his latest movie...I am so waiting for that one!), although some of us share differing opinions on Tom Cruise's sanity/heterosexuality and the legitimacy of Brangelina, so we might have to avoid some of those topics.

(Discussing these topics is almost as much of a minefield as talking politics nowadays!)

Anyway, that should be the weekend.

Oh, I forgot...we'll probably have a few margaritas (Holli & Kelly), martinis (peach, me), Corona (Tammy). Just a few.

Honest.

So, what would you do if you got to go away for the weekend with your best buddies?

Thursday Thirteen #9

2006-11-09T00:32:00.000-05:00

Thirteen of my
Favorite Broadway Musical Songs

1. Summer Nights
from Grease
Grease was one of my favorite movies growing up, and still is. My kids love it too, and we’ve been known to blast the soundtrack and with the entire family singing at the tops of our lungs, singing the male and female parts respectively.

2. The Stepsisters’ Lament
from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella
I love this musical partly because Cinderella is one of my favorite fairy tales, but also because I was involved in that production in high school. The Stepsisters’ Lament is always the highlight of the show. It’s hilarious, especially the line they sing (referring to Cindy): “She’s a frothy little bubble/With a flimsy kind of charm/With very little trouble/I could break her little arm!”

3. The Point of No Return
from The Phantom of the Opera
This song probably needs no explanation…it’s one of the most passionate, simmering, angsty songs out there. It just makes this musical, especially in the movie and when you can actually see Gerard Butler’s face. Loin quiveration. Big time.

And, in the did-you-know-category: this was the very first scene they filmed when doing the movie. Wow.

4. It’s A Fine Life
from Oliver!
My Music Man and I met more than sixteen years ago doing a community theater production of Oliver!
I always tell people that our relationship started off on the right foot—I was the Assistant Director and Stage Manager for the production, and he was merely a cast member. So he had to do everything I said.

And, yes, there might have been some hanky-panky going on in the wings (which is how I got some of my ideas for backstage scenes in my Phantom book), but all in all, it was a great production because that particular musical is so much fun to do!

5. All Good Gifts
from Godspell

6. There Are Worse Things I Could Do
from Grease

7. Music of the Night
from The Phantom of the Opera

8. I’d Do Anything
from Oliver!

9. Ten Minutes Ago
from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella

10. Patron Saints
from Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?
This was the second musical production my Music Man and I did together, immediately after we closed Oliver! It’s a hilarious, touching show about growing up, with the backdrop of attending a Catholic school (which I did).

The guy who directed it for our community theater group had been one of the main characters in the Broadway show, so he had choreography that was way beyond most community theater productions. It was a huge success. I wish it would be revived; I’d love to see it again.

11. I Don’t Know How to Love Him
from Jesus Christ, Superstar

12. How Far is Too Far?
from Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?

13. I Shall Scream!
from Oliver!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

Let's See You Make History, Nancy!

2006-11-08T13:48:00.000-05:00

I'm all for this:
"Democrats intend to lead the most honest, the most open and the most ethical Congress in history."
~ Nancy Pelosi, soon to be the first woman Speaker of the House.

Let's hope.

Britney Freed!

2006-11-07T19:37:00.000-05:00

At last! She is about to loose the shackles that bind her to the fungus known as K-Fed.

I've not ever been a Britney fan, but in the name of women mis-used by their leeching husbands everywhere, I rejoice that she at last had become resolved.

Unfortunately, it sort of ruins a blog topic I had in mind: namely, which one is worse--K-Fed or Paris Hilton.

Either one makes me want to puke.

What the hell happened

2006-11-07T15:35:00.000-05:00

to Matthew McConaughey??

He looks like a greasy monkey. Ever since he was hanging out with Lance Armstrong, he's gone downhill. Wayyyy downhill. (Sorry, Janice...but look at the pictures!) (You can click them for larger images to get all the gritty, greasy details!)

Did you?

2006-11-07T07:40:00.000-05:00

Retro Tuesday: '80s Music Quiz

2006-11-07T06:14:00.000-05:00

Okay, here we go, Tuesday players....Name the artist for each song.

1. All I Need

2. There Must be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)

3. Dancing in the Street

4. Don't You Forget About Me

5. Separate Lives

6. Smuggler's Blues

7. You Give Good Love

8. Goonies R Good Enough

9. I'm On Fire

10. Four in the Morning (I Can't Take Anymore)

11. Relax

12. Lovin' Every Minute Of It

13. Tough All Over

14. Turn Up The Radio

15. Somebody

Have fun!

My geeky crush

2006-11-06T09:55:00.000-05:00

I've been watching Frasier on DVD for the last few months, and am just blown away by how good the show is, especially those first four or five seasons. (It did, of course, jump the shark, but I'm not to that point yet and am still really enjoying it.)

For me, the highlight is Niles. I've got a major crush on him and it embarrasses the heck out of me, but there it is. He's just so cute in a wide-eyed, effeminate, fussy way.

His little hops and skips...his goggle-eyes at Daphne...his affected sneer...that cleft chin.

I'm crushing!

Before he and Daphne got together, their interactions were the highlight of the show. Maybe it's the nerdy geekiness that gets to me...that unending hope he has...

Remember these little gems...?

Niles: Oh dear. I've zipped my tie into your dress.
Frasier: Niles, there's something on your tie.
Daphne: I was just about to step right out of this dress and embarrass poor Dr Crane to death.
Niles: Well, we all have to die of something.

Niles: You're a very special person, and someday a man worthy of you will come along, just as soon as the gods create him.
Daphne: And you don't know who it will be. You could be standing next to a person month after month, and then the next thing you know you're tearing each other's clothes off. There's a word for it.
Niles (who stared at her through the whole speech): Hope.

Niles, (demonstrating word-association): Crescent. Moon. Daphne Moon. French maid. Brass Bed. Satin room.
Frasier: This is my dream.
Niles: I was just showing you the process.
Frasier: You were three words away from a cigarette.

I never saw the seasons where they actually got together, and I may not ever do so, for obvious reasons.

Anyway, there: I've confessed my geeky crush.

So, who's yours?

Saturday Non Sequitur

2006-11-04T15:24:00.000-05:00

Is anyone else getting ticked off that we still can't buy fresh spinach?

I'm quite annoyed.

Internet Addiction?

2006-11-03T14:44:00.000-05:00

Wondering if you're spending too much time online? Here's a test to measure whether you're addicted to the internet.

(Do you even want to know?)

Even though I consider a lot of my internet time part of my job, I was a little afraid to take the test. I scored 40, an average user, who knows how to control my time. Ha ha. Ask my kids if they agree!

Going strong or giving up?

2006-11-03T08:20:00.000-05:00

I've got a busy day planned, so this is a quick post about television.

I've mentioned before I'm hooked on Studio 60 (and it just keeps getting better and better!).

I heard that they ordered three more scripts, so they're not canceling it yet (yay!), and the show won a "Save an Endangered TV Show" poll on E!

I've sort of backed off on HEROES because the plot seems to be moving at the most turtle-like pace, although I'll probably go back and catch up because I do have all the shows taped, and I heard that Sean Bean will be joining the cast...that alone is reason to catch up.

So, back to my quick question: what TV shows are you still hooked on, and which ones do you think are fading fast, losing your interest, jumping the shark?

Thursday Thirteen #8

2006-11-02T00:33:00.000-05:00

Thirteen Things Cluttering My Desk
While I'm Trying to Write My Next Book

1. Five Empty bottles of Faygo Sparkling Water (grapefruit or orange)
Since I gave up Diet Coke a year ago, I've taken to drinking liter-sized
bottles of Faygo sparkling water.
No sugar, no calories, just water with a hint of citrus flavor.

2. A stack of scrapbook paper in fall patterns that I will probably never use,
but couldn't pass it up when it was
on clearance at Jo-Ann Etc.

3. A bottle of Vampire wine my friend Binger bought for me
(eek! see the clutter behind it?)

4. A small plastic container of binder clips in hot pink, aqua, tangerine, and white

5. My Gardella "Bible"
A binder that grows by the day, it seems, with all of my
ideas and research. Right now it's open to a page about
the Roman Colosseum in the 19th century.

6. A stake for hunting vampires

7. This absolutely adorable, beautiful wooden bat bead sent to me by my friend Anne Mallory in honor of my vampire books
(who, incidentally, has a brand new book out called
The Earl of My Dreams....better go check it out if you want
a hot romance in Regency England!)

8. The 1247-page The Count of Monte Cristo book, pages flagged with color-coded tabs for easy reference
(You might recall, I'm writing a follow up to my Phantom erotica by
twisting the Monte Cristo story in a similar fashion)

9. Pens, pens, and more pens

10. My Cell Phone

11. A printed out email from my agent telling me that The Rest Falls Away is going to be published in Italy!

12. My beautiful handmade, mahogany colored wooden pen given to me by my friends Wendy, Diana, and Jana on the occasion of my first book contract
(I use this pen to sign all of my contracts, and will also take it to booksignings)
13. A beautiful envelope opener, complete with lavender flowers in relief, also given to me by a friend in honor of my books
(Esri, the friend who bought it for me, said it reminded her of the vampire-slaying stakes that Victoria uses in The Rest Falls Away)

Don't I have the greatest friends?

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

My new favorite candy bar.

2006-11-01T15:13:00.000-05:00

The cool thing about having three kids (well, one of the cool things) around Halloween is that, as Mom, I get to dig through their loot and--er--claim certain items.

It used to be I got most of the Reese's peanut butter cups. Now I can take or leave them (unless they're in a DQ blizzard) and I prefer Almond Joys, when I can get them away from my oldest daughter.

But! Last night, I found a new favorite. I'd never heard or seen of it before, but let me tell you, it's on top of my list now.

It's Hershey's Take 5.

Pretzels, caramel, peanuts, peanut butter and chocolate! Holy crap--how can you go wrong??? It's a PMSer's dream!

Unfortunately, only one of my three darlings got one.

Fortunately, it was a large size.

Unfortunately...it's gone.

November at the Wet Noodle Posse

2006-10-31T22:09:00.000-05:00

Slide on over and check out this month's ezine...complete with an article by moi.

Novem is Latin for nine. Before Rome's King Pompilius created January and February, November was the ninth month. The Leonid meteor shower peaks in November, and chrysanthemums bloom despite the cold. Sometimes we treat November like just a lead-up to December, but it's full of signs and wonders: colored petals in the snow, flashes of light in the night, and the reorganization of time itself. Enjoy November.

Most of us thrill to the story of the Phantom of the Opera. But Colleen Gleason, who is writing a book using the character, actually went to Paris and toured the real-life Opera Garnier, in all its gilded, red-velvet splendor. Enjoy the pictures and learn what accident really happened with the infamous chandelier.

Valerie Parv is Australia's queen of romance writing. Sydney's major library has been collecting her personal papers since 1994, and the media turn to her when they need information on romance publishing. This is because she has sold 20 million books in 24 languages. That alone would make her a SuperHeroine in our eyes, but she also owns a coffee shop, volunteers at the Canberra Zoo, and is pursuing an advanced degree. Noodler Pam Payne tells about the amazing Valerie.

As the weather cools, meals change from grabbing a salad between the soccer game and filling the swamp cooler, to actual cooked things. The Noodlers give you six comfort-food recipes to make things easy until Thanksgiving. Chicken and Dumplings, Cube Steak, Pot Roast with Roasted Vegetables, Bread-Maker Raisin Bread, Dressed-Up Mac and Cheese, and the most decadent microwaved potato you will ever eat.

With the time you save making our easy recipes, you can whip up some of Maureen Hardegree's Thanksgiving napkin rings. In just eight simple steps, Maureen shows you how to dress up your table with wired ribbon and embroidered fall leaves, eliminating all need for hand turkeys.

Terrible things happen to good people, and if you're one of those people, you have some post-traumatic stress to work through. Dr. Debra advises a family who was forced off the road and attacked. The immediate hurt is over, but emotional healing takes time, and is helped by both mental and physical therapy.

Looking for an exercise that lessens stress and strengthens your heart? Something low-impact that tones muscles? Anne Mallory recommends swimming, and gives you the pros and cons to decide if this is the exercise for you, along with aquatic alternatives to plain old laps. Water yoga, anyone?

Awwww… Look at your new puppy! Look at the little puddle on the floor, and the little teeth marks on your hand, and the little chewed wad that used to be a leather purse. Would you look at that?! Luckily for you, Stephanie Rowe has ten wonderful tips for training your dog not to take food off counters and scramble over safety gates, along with other horrible things you never dreamed Pookums would do. Stephanie knows dogs.

Discussions among writers can grow heated when people ask a simple question: Do you plot your story out or write by the seat of your pants? In the process of giving a workshop with two other well-known authors, Dianna Love Snell discovered that plotters and pantsers are not two sides of a coin, but part of a continuous spectrum. Where do you fall?

Noodler Jenna Ness isn't sure how many books she's written — is it eight, or nine? If you're still struggling to find your process, you might want to read about hers, which is very streamlined. Jenna became a mother in 2005, but she still finds 90 minutes a day to write, and has landed the agent of her dreams.

Parlez-vous français? Sprechen sie Deutsch? The Noodlers' Faves this month are three languages we wish we spoke in addition to the pause-filled, incoherent English we stammer when we're talking to our kids and typing at the same time. Habla toddler?

WetNoodlePosse.com -- Be good to yourself, or else.

Retro Tuesday: '80s Lyrics Quiz #7

2006-10-31T01:02:00.000-05:00

Back to the lyrics this week...name the band and the song:

1. I can't help recalling how it felt
to kiss and hold you tight

2. Will you meet him on the main
line, or will you catch him on
the rebound?

3. Watching every motion in this
foolish lover's game


4. You make the sun shine
brighter than Doris Day

5. Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dream, red,
gold and green

6. They threw an American flag in our face

7. When I'm dancing close to her, I can smell the chemicals

8. She told me to come but I was already there

9. Streetlight people, living just to find emotion

10. It belongs to them, let’s give it back

11. Everything you do is quite angelicate

12. Rolling like thunder under the covers

13. I don't know what you expect staring into the TV set

14. My eyes dilate, my lips go green

15. I touch you once, I touch you twice

Have fun!

Of baking cupcakes for a class Halloween party, and other tales of school-baking on a Monday moanin'

2006-10-30T08:33:00.000-05:00

As I contemplate whether I want to actually bake the three dozen cupcakes my daughter volunteered me to bring to her Halloween party tomorrow--or to buy them and, while saving myself a good chunk of time would also expend a good chunk of cash--I am reminded of the story a friend of mine told me of a similar situation.

My dear friend was a busy, working, single mom with two kids, and her seven-year-old daughter asked her to make cookies (or she was otherwise volunteered to do so) for school one day. My friend--I'll call her Janet--didn't have the time or the desire to do so.

But what she did was, I thought, infinitely more creative than actually baking the cookies.

She bought a package of Oreos and laid them out on a cookie sheet in neat rows, spaced generously, and put it on top of the stove.

When her daughter came home, she saw the cookies on the cookie sheet and said, "Mom! Did you bake those Oreos?"

My dear, wise friend told her she had indeed, and so now Janet has gone down in history at her daughter's school as the only mom who knows how to make Oreos!

Clever, clever gal.

For those curious minds...

2006-10-29T09:51:00.000-05:00

Here's my Maleficent Halloween costume, handmade from the neck up.

My favorite day of the year.

2006-10-28T09:37:00.000-04:00

Today's my favorite day of the year.

Why? Because today I get the one thing I can't buy, beg, borrow, or steal. I get time. An extra hour.

One extra hour! It's Fall-Back Day!

I'll stay up late knowing I get to sleep an extra hour.

I'll watch a good movie, something fluffy, because, after all, how often do I get an extra hour?

Or, I'll indulge in reading a bit longer on a really good book (something I don't do so much nowadays), knowing I can sleep.

Or...I'll go to bed at my regular time, and get up an hour early, which is really my regular time, but it will give me a whole extra hour in the morning to read or laze in bed. Yay!

Or...I'll go to bed at my regular time, and I'll sleep that extra hour. Yes! Sleep! O, she beckons so prettily!

This is my favorite day of the year.

What about you?

(and don't forget to change the batteries in your smoke detectors)

Halloween for Sluts?

2006-10-27T00:26:00.000-04:00

So, my friend (the one who said iPods are making us anti-social, and also the one who hasn't seen The Princess Bride [she still hasn't seen it, even though she had a Princess Bride party at her house three weeks ago...because she fell asleep before Westley was asked to get down the pitcher for Buttercup]) has been ranting about Halloween costumes.

(I'm thinking she should start her own blog...but then where would I get all my ideas for posts?)

She can't find a costume that's not made for a slut, she says. Since when did Halloween become an event where it's all about sex? she asks.

My answer is: what in our society isn't all about sex anymore?

Erotic novels are selling like hotcakes. Movies are getting sexier and sexier, and those PG ratings are being pushed closer to R all the time. Television shows, even at 8pm, have too much implied sex for me to let my kids watch. Music, clothes, ads...everything is sex, sex, sex.

Why should Halloween be any different?

My question is: where do we go from here? Surely we can't get any more sex-focused as a society than we are now...or can we?

I hope not.

So will we come full circle and become a less promiscuous society over the next generation? A less sex-focused one? Ever? Or will we go further? (But, as I said, where else can we go from here?)

What do you think?

(And will someone please give my friend some non-slutty Halloween costume suggestions? She's an elementary school teacher for pity's sake...she can't be a French maid or a harem girl or a wicked fairy at the school party.)

Thursday Thirteen #8

2006-10-26T00:44:00.000-04:00

Thirteen Random Songs from my
"Jamming Music" Playlist

(aka, Songs you would find me dancing and air-guitaring or fake-drumming
around the house to
if you happened to come by while they were playing...)

1. You Shook Me All Night Long (AC/DC)

2. Pump it Up (Elvis Costello)

3. Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana)

4. It's the End of the World as We Know It (REM)

5. Roll With the Changes (REO Speedwagon)

6. Supernova (Liz Phair)

7. Song for the Dumped (Ben Folds Five)

8. Keep Your Hands to Yourself (The Georgia Satellites)

9. I Will Follow (U2)
10. I Melt With You (Modern English)

11. Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin)

12. Kiss (Prince)
13. Harder to Breathe (Maroon 5)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

My Favorite Villain

2006-10-25T02:37:00.000-04:00

Having been in a household with three children for the last ten years, I've seen my fair share of Disney movies. (Well, to be honest, I saw a lot of them before we had kids, but I've seen a lot more since then. Like, every one that's been made.)

Anyway, in honor of Halloween coming upon us, I wanted to devote a blog post to my very favorite Disney villain.

She's elegant.
She's beautiful, in a horrific sort of way.
She's smart.
She's powerful and can shapeshift.
She puts Prince Phillip in a dungeon! Woohoo!

She's the magnificent Maleficent.

I've always loved her. Sleeping Beauty was my favorite Disney movie when I was younger (and still is)--I adore the Middle Ages, which is basically the time period of the movie. I always thought Aurora was the most beautiful of the princesses (great hair!).

And Maleficent. Cool, calm, evil, and so very elegant.

About four years ago, we went to a Halloween party and I made my own Maleficent costume. (I wish I had a scanner so I could post a picture!) Even though it was home made, everyone knew who I was the minute I arrived. It was those horns that gave it away.

Oh, and the purple eyeshadow.

And I'm not ashamed to admit that when I was creating the villainess for my Gardella Vampire Chronicles series, I used what I liked about Maleficent to create the character for my own Lilith. (Yes, I know Nora Roberts's vampire queen's name is Lilith too.)

I wanted her to be frighteningly elegant and calm, and surprising too, in some ways.

My Lilith isn't dressed in flowing black robes, and she doesn't have purple eyeshadow up to her eyebrows. But in some ways, she's my tribute to Disney's fabulously evilly gorgeous Maleficent.

So...who's your favorite Disney villain? And why?

(PS, my other favorite Disney villain is from the absolutely hilarious Emperor's New Groove.

Her name is Yzma. She looks like she could be Maleficent's great-great-great-grandmother, doesn't she?)

Retro Tuesday: '80s Bands

2006-10-24T01:44:00.000-04:00

Name the artist:

1.

2.

3.
4.

5.

6.

7.

For my girlfriends.

2006-10-23T22:55:00.000-04:00

Go here.

Select a product. Ask to see the side effects.

Enjoy.

(And remember who sent you, okay?)

For All the World to See

New Year, New Book, New Blog!

Not for Women Only

Official Release Day!

Retro Tuesday #15--1987 Movies

The January issue at Wet Noodle Posse.com

Happy New Year & Contest Winner

Ever wanted to be in a book? (pinned post)

I like that old-time rock and roll

This PC girl's Mac conversion

And Zee Winner Ees...

Oh, and a reminder!

Another Missed Thursday Thirteen...

My holiday started with the dreaded Blue Screen

Thursday Thirteen #15

Press Release: End of the Year Merger Announcement

Cut, Pick off the Lot, or Assemble?

You think fat is ugly?

Here We Come A-wassailing

This week's winner is...

I just made a total elf of myself...

The Dragon or the Pig?

Last chance!

Thursday Thirteen #14

I could have been a millionaire

Places to go....

Another chance to win my book before it's released

Getting back to it, and a random question

And the winner is...

Wow...what a week

Thursday Thirteen #13

Because Diana tagged me: Christmas Meme

This is not my idea of paying it forward....

Retro Tuesday: '80s Lyrics Quiz #9

Pay it forward...and Win a Venator Survival Kit!

Way cool site...in time for holiday shopping

Of milestones and author quotes

Thursday Thirteen #12

I can now add "Piano Mover" to my repertoire...

Retro Tuesday: '80s Lyrics Quiz #8

"Frankly my dear..."

Who's shopping today?

Thursday Thirteen #11

Busy day?

Hilarious! (and on topic)

Way cool!

Retro Tuesday: '80s Female Musicians

Solo at the Movies?

I made the cover of PW!

The winner is....

Good-bye, Bo

Guest Blogger: Author Sandy Blair

Thursday Thirteen #10

Da Winner Is...

Guest Blogger: Anne Mallory

Retro Tuesday: '80s Movies Quiz #4

Much Ado Going on This Week...

Review: Stranger Than Fiction...and other stuff

Congratulations!

Retreating

Thursday Thirteen #9

Let's See You Make History, Nancy!

Britney Freed!

What the hell happened

Did you?

Retro Tuesday: '80s Music Quiz

My geeky crush

Saturday Non Sequitur

Internet Addiction?

Going strong or giving up?

Thursday Thirteen #8

My new favorite candy bar.

November at the Wet Noodle Posse

Retro Tuesday: '80s Lyrics Quiz #7

Of baking cupcakes for a class Halloween party, and other tales of school-baking on a Monday moanin'

For those curious minds...

My favorite day of the year.

Blogroll update.

Halloween for Sluts?

Thursday Thirteen #8