The Day After

I have no idea what was going through my mind when I bought my husband's Christmas presents. I found him some Chinese Health Balls that you roll around in your hands. He has arthritis and it's supposed to help. Then at another store they had golf balls on sale so I bought him a couple of boxes. Next I came across a golf ball initializer and got it so he could initialize his balls. When he commented that he might have gotten a complex if I'd bought him a new putter, I told him his putter was just fine and still good for a few more rounds.

We had a great Christmas! I think any time you're surrounded by family then you're blessed. Presents are nice, but just having my children home, the grandkids here, that's all that matters. We had lots of good food and a home overflowing with love.

I'll leave the tree up until New Years Day, but I'm going to start writing down my New Year's resolutions today.

How about you? What's the one thing you want to accomplish in 2006? The most important thing on your list? Mine is the same thing every year: lose weight and get healthy. Someday I'll do it. I have no doubts. Want to know why? I'm published. And what's that got to with anything, you ask? Because that was a goal of mine for six years. Because I haven't smoked a cigarette in 6 yrs and 2 months. I remember because I quit on my birthday. That had been a goal for longer than I can remember.

That's the thing about goals. You can't give up on them. Where there's a will, there's a way.

So, what's top on your list?
Karen Kelley
Available Now! TEMPERATURE'S RISING/BRAVA
06/06 HELL ON WHEELS/BRAVA
09/06 Texas Bad Boys/Brava
www.authorkarenkelley.com

worse present???

Soooo, how’d the present scene go? Everyone get what they wanted or pleasantly surprised by something they got?? A good surprise or a bad one.

Tell us about it. Let’s throw a little contest. Who got the worse present???
Actually, I think I get the prize as my dh gave me a funnel!! I’m not kidding here, a bright yellow plastic funnel. Said he couldn’t find one in the kitchen the other day and thought this was a nice addition. A set of 3.

My kids laughed till they cried, I wore the big one like a hat...I looked like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz. I’m considering making the smaller ones into matching earrings.

So, if you think you can really beat out my yellow funnels let me know. The prize is a pink boa. Now that’s a really good present. I might even send you a funnel.

New Winner!

For a gift pack of my December releases, the winner is...Julia B! Julia...if you already have them, you can choose an alternate book from my backlist...or an advanced copy of WILLING. :)

Hugs,
Lucy

Hello ladies... and Chad and Mark!

Today is my blog day, and as I promised this morning... here it is... a bit late, but better late than never - right??

I had to do major grocery shopping this morning (A madhouse!!). And since dh is out of town, I had to lug it all in and put it all away myself. I'm such a whiner. :)

Our younger daughter, Anna, is coming home tomorrow along with her hubby, Chris. They celebrated their first wedding anniversary yesterday. They'll arrive in time for dinner and will stay until about 8PM on Thursday. Then they go to his parents' house until Saturday evening. They'll be at their own apartment Saturday night, and then we we'll see them again Sunday for lunch at my mom's in Chattanooga.

Our older daughter is 8 months pregnant and has flatly refused to do anything but stay home, which we all understand. We'll be opening presents with them sometime from the 25th to the 27th... still fine tuning that.

Anna and Chris have requested roast and mashed potatoes tomorrow night. Plus my grandmother's "flop-over" rolls. The rolls are labor intensive, but so wonderful. The house smells amazing when they are cooking.

I also have to make dough for "cut out" Christmas cookies. That is one of those Christmas traditions that no one wants to give up! We'll play Rook after dinner... Chris used to be a newbie, but he has played with us enough now that we are all pretty cut-throat. Ha!

All my shopping and wrapping has been done for awhile, but I have to go out tomorrow and pick up one last gift. We have a stained glass shop near where we live, and every time we go by, my hubby says, "I'd love to have one of those." Our house is old and has big windows, and in his office, he hangs all sorts of pretty colored glass. In mid-November, I went to the shop and talked to the guy. He is making a stained glass piece approximately 10 x 12 inches that will include mountains, sky, a waterfall, maybe a bird or two, etc. I hope it turns out well... this is the only surprise I have for Charlie... his other stuff is practical... either that or books which he asked for.

The picture at the top of this post is our sweet Anastasia! The coat is one of her Christmas presents from Nana and Granddaddy. We gave it to her early so she could begin wearing it. The photo is from last Sunday en route to church.

Well, I need to get back to the kitchen. Looks like there's no hope of a white Christmas for us. Supposed to be in the 50's Saturday and Sunday. Oh well, that will make travel easier.

I hope everyone is having a good week. More later...

Janice

Ooops...late with my blog...

I was supposed to blog on Saturday, but I took the weekend off. I didn't mean to take it off from blogging. I really didn't, but not going to the computer had that effect. I feel really silly now, but hope you all will forgive me and if my message gets bumped by another blogger...well that's okay too. :)

We had an awewome weekened anyway...wish you all could have been at some of the parties we went to. Friday night, my sister hosted a caroling party and a few dozen of us tramped her neighborhood serenading her neighbors with Christmas carols. Saturday was the annual family reunion on my dad's side...four generations of family show up to share our joy in Christmas together. We ate, we sang and little ones opened gifts. The family has been meeting every Saturday before Christmas for over 50 years and I've been going since my birth 37 years ago. It's an awesome heritage for my children. Yesterday we spent Christmas shopping and then having dinner with my mom (it's a weekly event for us as she's been ill for quite some time) and that was lovely, even though it meant driving both ways on sheets of ice.

Today, I'm catching up on email and then I'm going to supervise Christmas cards and gift wrapping. I say supervise because the teens do most of the work to save my wrist joints. :)

What are your last minute Christmas preparations?

Hugs to all,
Lucy

And we have a winner...

:o) nope, I didn't forget...

Jennifer~she posted in Karen's entry on tuesday 12/13. Name was chosen by my daughter.

I'll get in contact with Jennifer once she responds. ;)

Stretched too THIN!!!!

Oh man!

I love the Christmas season but for some reason, this year it's kicking my butt.

Well, it might have something to do with a sick preschooler, sick friends calling me to ask for help, working on THREE different books, and the fact that ... as always... I can't sleep.

Sadly, I'm not getting much accomplished on my book(s). So I think it's time for a plan. Less email, less shopping~Santa's already bought the kids everything in the known universe anyway!~ less play time and just focus on writing.

The good news is... I have finished one book, and a second is coming along really well, but the ideas for that one tie into the next two I plan on writing, and I'm going to go ahead and start them and hopefully they will all flow together.

Christmas is almost here and then things do slow down a little. Soooooo if I can just hold on a little long...and if I can just keep the kids healthy... and NOT ANSWER THE PHONE... I may get some work done.

Don't you all ever feel stretched out to the limit?

And I haven't forgotten... I'll be drawing a winner here in the next few days!

Contest is over ahhhhh

But the winners are:
Sheila---who wrote that her mother gets her brothers the same thing every year
Jenny---gryffindor
Cindy---Lil Bitchy
These were picked totally at random. You can choose a book from my website www.karenkelley.com Then e-mail me your snail mail address to kkelley@classicnet.net
Merry Christmas and A Happy Holiday! Now I'm going shopping!!!
Hugs,
Karen Kelley

Happy Holiday Contest

I love this time of the year! Merry Christmas! And if you have a different belief, then Happy Holidays!

There was a coupon in one of the circulars for $10 off! How neat is that? Then I read the fine print: excluding all jewelry items, all cosmetics, all on sale items, all clearance items, it listed all the brand names in clothes that I'm familiar with, all fragrances, all purses, all hats, all seasonal gifts...the list went on and on. Why didn't they just put, excluding everything in the store?

I've almost finished my Christmas shopping. I still need to buy my son's present. Guys are so hard to shop for. He's 33 and single.

And hubby, I want to get him something fun. Not an easy task. In fact, if you'll tell me what you're getting the men in your family for Christmas, I'll put your name in a drawing for your pick of any of my books, backlist or current release. Excluding (grin) Bachelor Party. This was my very first book---a Precious Gem and I only have a few copies that I'm keeping. But all the others are fair game. So go for it! Has the man in your life been naughty? (Did you chuckle?) Or nice?

The rules and hints:
The gift has to be less than $100 so you can't say a sports car.
Both my guys have a good sense of humor
They're also competitive
I'll pick three winners and announce it tomorrow morning so you have all day.

You can check my books out at www.authorkarenkelley.com

Best Wishes For A Happy Season!
Karen Kelley

And the winner is...

Christy Haynes won the "big" prize... and I decided to pick two more names for small consolation prizes... Nichole Lupardus and Nicole Hulst.

I'll let Christy tell you the contents of her "goody" box when it arrives.

Keep watching the blog/and or my website for new contests in 2006. I'll do one contest in early January to celebrate my new book. Then at the end of January/first of February, I'll have a "big" Valentine's Day giveaway.

And don't forget, other blog authors will be giving stuff away this month.

Happy Holidays!
Janice Maynard

You'd Better Watch Out!

I thought we'd start out philosophical this morning... maybe analyze a popular Christmas song like "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". I mean, really... what exactly are we watching out for??? And why can't we cry if we feel like it??? Pouting??? Surely that's a woman's prerogative - right?

And "he sees you when you're sleeping"... what kind of creepy red-suited guy IS Santa. Sheesh!

Ha! Enough of my silly mood... it's raining here in Northeast Tennessee this morning and in the thirties... snow all around us. We may get some tonight.

I'm having one of those days where I have a million things to get done, and I'm having a hard time prioritizing. I woke up with my brain scattered. Some people would say that's normal, but don't believe them :)

1) I'm finishing off the last of some promo mailings for my January book. 2) My vacuum cleaner is on the fritz and needs to go to the shop. 3) I need to look at my Christmas list and make a plan to finish shopping. 4) My dh is home sick and is disturbing my usual peace and quiet. 5) I have to start wrapping pretty soon, or I'll never get it all done. 6) Dh wants to go to a movie later today and keeps asking me to check the times online. 7) We have a small roof leak and are trying to decide if we have to re-roof the whole house (gulp). 8) And the list goes on...

Of course, I would much rather hang out online with you guys, and pretend that it's VERY important to get this blog done. :)

I'm drawing a name for my contest winner tomorrow. Since I didn't send this contest out to everyone on my website contact list, there are far fewer entries this time, so those of you who have put your name in the pot have pretty good odds. Anyone else who wants to enter needs to do so tomorrow before noon.

All in all, it's a Monday... what can I say? We all have to survive them, and hope Tuesday comes along soon!

Stay warm, and don't lose the holiday spirit. I have decided to smile at all the grumpy people I see this week. It can't hurt...

Talk to you later,
Janice

Janice's Contest

I'm giving away a box full of goodies! I've been saving up for this, and I have lots of fun presents to brighten someone's day. One item is for the Christmas season, so I'll be drawing for my prize on December 6.

To enter, send me an e-mail at JESM13@aol.com. Put "December Contest" in the subject line. In the body of the e-mail, list the names of the three novellas in Suite Fantasy. With each title, include the names of the hero and heroine. To do this, you will need to pop over to my website (www.janicemaynard.com) and read the three excerpts. (They aren't long.) I think the first one does not mention the heroine by name - so I'll give you a freebie. Her name is Katie. The other five names should all be there.

Make sure to include your name in the e-mail. Sometimes I can't tell from the e-mail address who it is. Other than that, just be aware that our December contests are to reward people who take the time to stop by our blog and comment. So post away... :)

And by the way, Suite Fantasy technically has a January 3 release date, but I'm guessing it may show up in some stores earlier, maybe Christmas week. My editor sent me a single copy to look at, so I am still waiting on author copies. What fun!

Janice Maynard

And Speaking of CONTESTS!!!!

:-)

The authors of Vamps and Scamps are having one. And it's ALLLLLLL for the readers of the blog.

We'll be giving away gifts, one from each of us... and to different winners. So that means like six or seven or eight chances to win.

Ways to win.... participate... And by participating, I mean more than just a little one line Hello~ Talk to us, comment on the topic of the day, etc.

We'll start drawing winners close to Christmas time, but the more you participate, the more likely you are to win.

Good luck!

Naughty or Nice.... CONTEST

Having a contest....a Christmas one.

Just how well do you know my books...or maybe I should say the way my mind works?

Let's have a contest to find out. Throughout the month of December, I'm holding a contest. If you win, you will win one of two prizes, Christmas Stockings... one with pressies for Nice Girls... and one with pressies for Naughty Girls. And yes, you can try for both, although I won't give two prizes to the same person. But entering both ups your odds of winning. However, you CANNOT enter more than once. I'll be watching the entries and if you enter more than once, your entries are disqualified. Have to be fair.

you can visit my website to skim my titles~ http://www.shilohwalker.com


For the Nice Girl contest~

Who is the ultimate nice girl from the books I've written? Yes...I do have a particular person in mind. She's a heroine, not a secondary character. And I'll even give you one more hint... she is NOT from an EC book.

To enter your guess, send an email here.

For the Naughty Girl contest~

Who is the ultimate naughty girl from the books I've written? And again... you have to guess the right one. She's a heroine, not a secondary character. And this heroine IS from an EC book.

To enter your guess, send an email here.


**You MUST send separate emails for each guess. Please don't send one email with both guesses inside. **

In early January, I'll draw a winner from each one, a Naughty Girl and a Nice Girl. The prizes in the Naughty Girl stocking will be something fit for a naughty girl...not telling what! And the Nice Girl contest will be prizes fit for a Nice Girl.

Good luck and have a Merry Christmas!

Note:... I used the cover for Christmas Cara, but that isn't by any means a hint. Cara is probably too sweet to be the naughty girl and she can't be the nice girl either, since I already gave a hint that it wasn't an EC book.

Birthday Cards?

Last night we gave our granddaughter her birthday card with $10 inside. She took the money and left the card. Okay, she's only ten so that's perfectly understandable and we rarely spend much money on cards.

But that started me to thinking. What does everyone do with their cards after they get them? They're expensive! Birthday cards cost around $3-$5 for a decent one.

Most people spend a lot of time searching for the right card. When I get one, do I just read it, then toss it in the trash? But if I'd saved every birthday card I'd ever gotten my house would probably be a fire hazard--said with much sarcasm.

My husband gives me "ahhhh" cards. The kind that brings a tear to my eye. Especially when look at the back and see the price. He could've bought me one of those really small boxes of Godiva for what he'd spent on the card, then just written a note saying how much he loves me.

Cards from my daughter usually have a message that says how much she appreciates that I didn't kill her when she reached her teens. Terrible twos have nothing on a girl reaching puberty. She's 35 now, she can quit apologizing.

Our son actually remembered my birthday one year, but he was broke. He took a paper bag and cut out enough to make a card, tore the edges then burned them without catching himself on fire (I was so proud of him for that). He wrote a silly poem and drew a really bad picture. I still have that card.

One year I cut up a bunch of cards and made a collage, then I made place mats. They have clear plastic at the craft store that you can iron over the front. That works pretty good. You can fancy them up in a lot of different ways. The grandkids seem to like them.

I have one friend who gives me cards with sexy guys on the front. I love this friend! I made a collage of all these men and made myself a placemat. Sometimes doing crafts can be a good thing. Oh, yea!

So, what do you do with all those cards no matter what the occasion?
Karen Kelley
"...romance's rising funny girl."
Sharon Sala on Temperature's Rising
www.authorkarenkelley.com

What do YOU want for Christmas??

What do YOU want for Christmas??

...and how do you let others know THIS--and not the moose-head slippers--is what you want because you really hate those slippers?

Okay, you could tell people who give you gifts that you want such-and-such but that's like handing someone a shopping list. Besides, it's not that you want a specific thing but something in that category and that they pick out.

My husband's great but he's one of those guys who thinks a new Dutch oven is just the perfect gift (got that two years ago). Got the Kitchen Aid mixer last year along with three William Sonoma cookbooks to go along with the fifteen others he bought. Do we see a pattern here? Yep, the man likes to eat and thinks getting me stuff to feed him is his contribution to the situation.

I've tried leaving catalogues around and they wind up in the recycle bin. I drop hints and they go right over his head. I say let's plan a trip and he hands me a recipe.

I could go out and just buy what I want but it's more than what I usually spend but would make a terrific gift from my dh.

How do I get this great guy to buy me something besides a bread maker...I just know that's what he has up his sleeve this year.

Any ideas? Anyone else been down this road?

Dianne...who really is greatful but could use a little bling in her life

November 24

I didn't have to look hard to find a blog topic for this week. November 24, Thanksgiving Day, is one of those rites of passage in my life... I was born on Thanksgiving Day, and this year once again, my birthday falls on Turkey Day. My mom never lets me forget that my advent into the world made her miss out on the traditional dinner that year. :)

But 2005 is more momentous than most... this year is a milestone for me... more than forty, but less than sixty. Half a century... the same number of years as there are states in the union. Do you get my drift??? It's confession time here!! Seeing the number written down or spoken out loud sort of makes me cringe. How did this happen?? Inside I still feel like I just graduated from college. Ha!

Now don't get me wrong. I don't want to stop having birthdays. My two dearest friends died early, one of breast cancer in her thirties, and one of ovarian cancer in her forties. So I am fully aware of how very precious it is to have each hour, each day, each year. And I plan to be an outrageous 95 year old lady one day.

I do feel extremely blessed, and regardless of the "number" on this birthday, I am so very thankful for all the happy moments in my life. I have a sweetie-pie husband and a wonderful marriage, two lovely daughters who make me proud, and a second career that brings me lots of joy and satisfaction!!

And last but not least, I am grateful for the many new friends I have made in the last few years, friends who love and treasure books as much as I do. For all of you online buddies (and some of you I know in person!), I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving with good food, good friends, and family members who don't drive you completely crazy. :) :)

Love, Janice

Thanksgiving recipes...

You asked for it, so here it is...a chance to share our Thanksgiving recipes. I'll get the ball rolling by sharing one of mine. :) This one is a super favorite with my family and I get mega complaints if it isn't in the dessert spread after dinner. I found it in my husband's grandmother's recipe box and she'd clipped it from a magazine at least 20 years ago. It's just so simple, I love making it!

Eggnog Pie

1.5 cups real egg nog
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tspn sal
1 tspn vanilla
1/4 tspn almond extract
1 cup whipping cream (whipped)
1 - 9 inch crust - baked (shortbread or graham cracker crust can be used too)

Mix gelatin, sugar and salt. Gradually stir in eggnog. Warm over low heat until gelatin is dissolved. Watch carefully, stirring from time to time. Do not let milk get hot (no bubbles). Chill until mixture mounds when dropped from a spoon. Fold in flavorings and whipped cream. Chill about 5 to 10 minutes. Spoon into crust. Chill.

It's fabulous, it really is.

What are your favorite Thanksgiving recipes?

Hugs,
Lucy Monroe

Let's do a quiz....

I love quizzes...

I was going to look for a super goofy one tonight, like what kind of women's underwear are you...but it's been a long day and i'm TIRED....

So we'll do this one. I've been saving it anyway.

you are violet #EE82EE

Your dominant hues are red and blue. You're confident and like showing people new ideas. You play well with others and can be very influential if you want to be. Your saturation level is lower than average - You don't stress out over things and don't understand people who do. Finishing projects may sometimes be a challenge, but you schedule time as you see fit and the important things all happen in the end, even if not everyone sees your grand master plan. Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Violet, huh? I dunno about playing well with others. But yep, I'm confident~and the little things that stress a lot of people out tend to just amuse me. So it may be sort of right... ;)

What are you?

The coolest, neatest, best presents out there so far are...

I need help! I’ve got to shop for Christmas presents.

So far I’ve bought a down comforter for my husband who’s allergic to feathers. See, this is what writing does to my brain. I have none.

Sooo, I got this great idea.
I’m going to pooch your shopping lists out there and buy what you all are buying. Hey, I figure I write this blog every few weeks and share my very shallow thoughts and now’s the time for you all to pay me back with gift suggestions. What’s everyone buying?

For your kids? Mother in-laws? Aunts and Uncles?

Come on, give. I’m desperate here.

Is there an impossible gift to find this year? I remember driving for two hours and waiting in line two more for a tickle-me-Elmo. Then there was the run on those Cabbage Patch kids. I think they were scalping them for two-hundred bucks a piece. I had three and was really tempted to sell.
I can buy a lot of printer paper with that kind of money.

So, what are you all buying that I should be buying before it’s too late or is it too late already? What’s the tickle-me Elmo of 2005?