Shopping for Men

Thanks to Bonnie for all her help with recipes! She won a copy of Midnight Magic by Shari Anton and some Dove chocolates. Congratulations!

Men are impossible to shop for. This is when I wish I were the Goddess of Tools and knew what to order from a Tool catalog. Both my father and my husband enjoy building things, and they are always happy with gifts involving power tools. I think it’s the element of danger. You have the ability to cause major bodily damage, and if you survive the task, you have something to show for it.

But since the majorly cool power tools involve some serious digits in the banking department, I’m left staring at clamps. Maybe a wrench or two. I actually bought my husband a flashlight for his birthday that came on a tripod. It’s sort of a tool, honey! Really. :loser:

So I have GOT to figure out something cooler than a pair of jeans. But what? I feel like I’ve used up my Christmas shopping mojo. If you have any ideas that have worked for your husband/significant other, please send them my way. I’m all ears.

Off topic: The writing has been going well lately. I’m slowly starting to figure out my process. Basically, if the writing comes to a screeching halt, it’s because I am doing something wrong. If I sketch out my rough ideas for the scene ahead of time, it gives me a starting point and often it will take off from there. I don’t outline. I can’t figure out what’s going to happen through the course of an entire book, so I tend to write down 4 or 5 major turning points. Then when I write, I look at whichever turning point I’m heading for and figure out rough scene ideas. Tonight, it was cooking. I love days like today. My goal is to finish a rough draft of this book by March. That gives me a little bit of time for revising. I’m a heavy reviser.

Okay, but back to my dilemma. What are you buying for the men in your life this year?

Figuring out what’s for dinner–contest!

Sometimes I wish I were a movie star with my own personal chef. I don’t mind the cooking–it’s the menu planning that drives me insane. If someone would just tell me what to make for dinner, I can execute the plan. But inevitably I come home and waffle about what sounds good to eat. Or we get stuck in a rut of the same-old, same-old dinners. :blahblah:

Now I could get creative and start rummaging through gourmet cookbooks. But more often than not, gourmet foods are downright strange. And, I hate to say it, but I don’t normally keep goat cheese and pine nuts in my cupboard. Macaroni and cheese, yep.

My husband is frightened when I begin looking for new recipes. My success rate hasn’t been that good. But I seem to be a glutton for punishment, and I keep trying.

So, I am going to host a quickie contest. You have 10 hours to figure out what I should cook for dinner tonight. You don’t have to post a recipe–you can just say: spaghetti. (Unfortunately, my family is sick to death of spaghetti, so that one’s out.)

What am I giving away? Holiday chocolates (probably Snickers Santas or something along those lines) and a free book of your choice.

Just post a comment, offering a suggestion. Enter as many times as you like! Bring a friend! (And yes, my secret hope is that you folks will help me plan dinner for the next month or so.) :hungry:

The holiday season is upon us…

I braved Black Friday with my sister-in-law for the second time in a row. There’s something absolutely CRAZY about venturing out at 6:00 in the morning to go shop. I love shopping for my children, but shopping for adults is really hard. I think you get to a point where you just don’t need anything. It’s more fun to buy things like tickets to see a musical or “event” types of gifts.

We started decorating our house for Christmas. :santa: I actually am one of the sick, demented people who really enjoys decorating. We have garlands strung along the banisters of the stairs with ribbon and lights. I have wreaths on the outdoor windows and my Christmas tree is up. :xmastree: I keep trying to convince my husband to hang icicle lights around the windows and on the roof of our house. For whatever reason, the man is reluctant to climb a twenty-foot ladder, dangling above certain death. :flying: Huh. Wonder why?

So I am resigned to stringing colored lights on the bushes and casting envious looks at the illuminated reindeer that my neighbors have put up. :rudolph: Some people go all out and have inflatable snow globes with real snow blowing inside. And there are the crazy neighbors who look like they need to charge admission to see the thousands of lights they’ve put up.

What kind of holiday decorations do you put up? And what are the tackiest decorations you’ve seen?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

And just for kicks, here’s a cartoon that’s kind of fun.

I sent off my next book and a proposal for book #3 today! :shimmy: That’s always exciting.

Today I will be baking pumpkin pie, lemon meringue pie, and apple pie. If I’m feeling really ambitious, I might make a Death by Chocolate cake for Thanksgiving. We’ll see how it all goes. Tomorrow we’re having 10 guests, so it should be one big party at our household. :dancingfool: Hope everyone has a terrific Thanksgiving!

Juggling responsibilities

I haven’t been such a good blogger lately, have I? On Friday I received word that I needed to have my bio, author photo, Dear Reader letter, and/or any dedication/acknowledgements by today. Well, there went the Glamour Shots appointment. :rotfl: Man…and I had my poodle rented and my feather boa all set to go. Guess not. :hissyfit:

The author bio gave me a bit of trouble. The website bio is a bit long, not to mention that it’s a little on the goofy side. I think the toughest part about writing a bio is making yourself sound interesting when you aren’t a NYT bestselling author and when you haven’t won any awards yet. Here were some of the rejected bios:

Michelle Willingham is thrilled to finally have achieved her dream of becoming a published author. Being published requires great sacrifices. House cleaning was her first sacrifice. Exercise became the second.

Then there was this one:

Michelle lives in southeastern Virginia with her husband, kids, and suicidal guppies. The Tank of Death lives on!

And here’s what we ended up with: Michelle Willingham grew up living in places all over the world including Germany, England, and Thailand. When her parents hauled her to antique shows in manor houses and castles, Michelle entertained herself by making up stories and pondering whether she could afford a broadsword with her allowance.

She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in English and received her master’s degree in education from George Mason University. Currently, she teaches American History and English and is working on more medieval books set in Ireland. She lives in southeastern Virginia with her husband and children. She still doesn’t have her broadsword. Visit her website at: www.michellewillingham.com or e-mail her at michelle@michellewillingham.com.

So anyway, that’s done.

We spent the weekend in Philadelphia, meeting up with college friends for a mini-reunion. Tailgating in a hotel room, to be precise. It was great fun, and it took restraint not to make the children stand on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum with their fists raised in the air, Rocky-style. We were good parents and took the kids to see the Please Touch Museum, and let them run around. The day was topped off with a puppet show, which to my husband, is akin to bodily torture. His eyes were rolling back in his head when there were sock puppets involved. My children, of course, were mesmerized. :popcorn:

The crowning moment came when at the end, the performer asked, “What should we do next, kids?” and an older child beside me yelled, “Choke the puppet!” I thought my husband was going to die laughing. Thankfully the performance was short.

So what was the best/worst/strangest children’s performance you’ve ever seen?

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Me

I was tagged by Michelle Styles on this one, so here we go.

1. I speak German fairly fluently. I lived in Germany for 7 years and learned a bit while I was a child. In high school I learned the language formally and then during college I worked at Interconsult GmbH, a consulting firm. While immersed in the language, I bought romance novels written in German to help my fluency. It’s been about 6 years since I’ve spoken the language, but I can still read it.

2. I used to be a figure skater. I took an adult class a few years ago and had so much fun, I continued with it until I learned a sit spin and a lutz jump. Then I had my babies and I haven’t skated since then. I may go back at some point. :flying:

3. I have Prince Charles’ autograph. When he visited RAF Lakenheath in 1985, I begged him to sign my poster. I made the front page of the Bury Free Press (Bury St. Edmonds). It was also Friday, September 13th. :halloween:

4. I sang and toured with the Notre Dame Folk Choir. I also used to sing for weddings and cantor for my church. :blahblah:

5. I play the piano and used to play at the RWA Literacy Reception. I also play the guitar very badly.

I’m tagging Robyn and Missie and Beth on these next. :dance:

It’s really real!

I was going to blog more about the wedding, but I had a surprise show up at my house today. Page proofs from Harlequin! :shimmy:

I think it hit me for the first time today. I really sold a book. They really are going to publish it. I almost want to pet the manuscript like it’s a little puppy. I’ve been a bit superstitious and haven’t read the manuscript since I sent it off on September 1st. This is good because I’m truly looking at it with a fresh set of eyes.

Right after I sold it, I had to complete an Art Facts Sheet which involved assembling a one-page synopsis along with answering various questions from a visual standpoint.

The book was then sent to the copyeditor and when I opened the package, here’s what one of the pages looks like:

The lines were numbered, and one of the more unusual changes for me to see was replacing double quotation marks with single quotation marks. It’s a little strange on the eyes. I’m looking forward to seeing which of my American spellings were changed to British spellings.

Now, I’m sure published authors must look at page proofs and think–Oh boy. Here we go.

But these are my first ever page proofs. I did a little dance in my kitchen. :dancingfool: This is my first book! I’m looking forward to diving back into the story. I will try to refrain from changing the word colour color. :dance:

A wedding of a different sort

I’ve known my close friend Nagini since we were twelve years old. We’ve been through many milestones together–first dates, marriage, kids (okay, mine at least), and this fall I attended her wedding. What made this wedding special to me was that it was the first Hindu wedding I’ve ever attended. :shimmy:

One of the first aspects of the ceremony is the arrival of the groom. I’m told that in ancient times he would arrive on horseback. Nagini’s husband-to-be, Rooshin, arrived on the roof of a car. You can see that he wears a wreath of flowers. There were a lot of flowers at this wedding.

In front of the car, women were dancing and clapping. Traditional Indian music played from the car stereo, and all women were invited to join in. I joined them, but thankfully there were no pictures of that. Trust me–I did not inherit any rhythmic abilities.

There were also women carrying trays of fruit and nuts. Apples, nuts, and seasonal fruits of all kinds were brought in. The women led the procession with these offerings, and the priest met with the groom and the parents. Blessing were said, and then the procession slowed down. It looked like the priest was shaking a holy rattle of some kind, something to take away evil spirits.

I’ll post more pictures and descriptions throughout the week. In the meantime, have you ever attended a Hindu wedding? If not, what’s the most unusual wedding you’ve been to?

Autumn weather and comfort foods

In Virginia, our weather stays fairly warm until January. But this year, we’re actually getting some gorgeous fall colors. It’s hovering at about 50-55 degrees Fahrenheit (and I know that those folks who are accustomed to true winters, e.g. those who live in Chicago, are laughing at me because that’s considered summer weather there). The skies get darker and you just want to stay indoors.

For me, this is soup weather. Bring on the comfort foods, especially when it’s dark and rainy. We had baked potato soup yesterday, a family favorite. The recipe is below, if you want it.

Baked Potato Soup
1 medium onion, diced
1 stick of butter (1/2 c.)
1/3 c. flour
5 c.water
1/4 c. chicken bouillon granules
3/4 Tbsp. basil
1/2 Tbsp. tabasco sauce
1 c. instant mashed potato flakes
1 c. heavy cream
1 c. milk
6 large baked potatoes (I microwave mine and scoop out the insides)
grated cheddar cheese, bacon bits, and green onion to top it off.

Saute the onions in butter. While they’re cooking, combine in a large bowl the water, mashed potato flakes, bouillon, tabasco sauce, and basil. Set aside. Add the flour to the butter/onion mixture and stir frequently to combine it. When well-blended, add the water/bouillon mixture to the pot. Stir to prevent lumps from forming. Bring up to medium heat. Add milk and cream, then the baked potato chunks (no potato peel). I’ve found that the bouillon makes it salty enough so I don’t need to add any more. You can add white pepper if you wish. When it’s hot, serve in bowls with cheddar cheese, bacon bits, and chopped green onions on top. Sliced French bread makes a nice side dish.

What are your favorite comfort foods in winter?

Honoring our Veterans

If you’ve never seen this slide presentation, give it a go. It’s an emotional tribute to our armed forces.

The stories of veterans’ sacrifices and experiences throughout history are truly moving. And they deserve to be remembered.

God bless those who serve our country.