Happy Halloween! Here are some photos of my trick-or-treaters and a preview of their costumes tonight:
Have to say, I’d be worried if I ran into Batman and tried to take his candy! I’m thinking I may take the baby to a few houses to show his costume to the neighbors. My mother made this bear outfit. Personally, I could never sew something this detailed, but I think she did a great job! Anyway, since the baby can eat chocolate bars, I may let him do a small bit of trick-or-treating. Did you ever take your kids trick-or-treating as infants? I didn’t until they were old enough for table food, but at that point, I figured what the heck. People like seeing babies in their costumes.
Stop by the Greyhaus Literary Agency Blog today and post a comment or a question to win a free download of “The Viking’s Forbidden Love-Slave!”
Starting on Friday, I am teaming up with three other authors: Nicola Cornick, Amanda McCabe, and Bronwyn Scott, to launch our grand Blog Tour. We’re cruising through cyberspace to talk about our sexy historical short stories for the brand spankin’ new Harlequin Historical Undone! line that will go on sale THIS SATURDAY.
You know you want to win a copy of “The Viking’s Forbidden Love-Slave.” If you’ve read Her Warrior Slave (and it’s on sale now at Wal-Mart, Borders, and all local bookstores ), this is a connected story about Kieran’s sister Aisling. And um, it’s really a steamy one, too.
So, here’s your chance to get a free download. All you have to do is stop by and post a comment on any of the blogs on our tour.
Our first stop on the Blog Tour is this Friday at the Greyhaus Literary Agency Blog. We’ll be on hand to answer questions about the stories, and you’ll catch a glimpse about all four stories. Before you haul out the candy for trick-or-treaters or get your kids dressed up to hit up the neighbors for a sugar-induced coma, just stop by any time to say hello!
And believe me, after your kids have consumed their body weight in Snickers bars, you may want to be carried off by a hot Viking.
My husband shared this youtube video with me, and it’s pretty funny. It’s a spoof on Aha’s song “Take on Me,” and while it uses the original music video, the words are literal. Really, it’s a scream. Enjoy!
My sister-in-law Marie sent this joke to me, and both my husband and I groaned. It’s one that I vaguely remember seeing before, but it’s so bad, I just had to share it with you.
A man is walking home alone late one foggy Halloween night, when behind him he hears:
BUMP…
BUMP…
BUMP…
Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him.
BUMP…
BUMP…
BUMP…
Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him.
FASTER…
FASTER…
BUMP…
BUMP…
BUMP…
He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him. However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping.
Clappity-BUMP…
Clappity-BUMP…
Clappity-BUMP…on his heels, as the terrified man runs.
Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, he locks himself in. His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps. With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door, bumping and clapping toward him.
The man screams and reaches for something, anything, but all he can find is a bottle of cough syrup! Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket…
I got a belated birthday present yesterday that was just wonderful. I got an offer on Ewan’s book proposal from my editor, and a new book contract forthcoming. The details aren’t finalized yet, but I’m very excited to be able to write more books.
At the moment, I am wrapping up final revisions on Wedded to the Enemy. It looks like it will have a tentative release date of October 2009 in the UK, and the US release will hopefully be in early 2010. In the meantime, Ewan’s book will be a 2009 US release, as long as I can get it done ASAP. I’m about halfway finished, but the holidays are coming. Eek! I need to finish reading WTTE tonight and get it back to London so I can get my head into the new story once again. I tried to write two books at the same time, but I just can’t manage it. I’m a one-track kind of girl.
So anyway, I think we should all have a glass of wine, champagne, or beer to celebrate, don’t you?
We are contemplating buying a Wii game system for Christmas this year. Given that, those sorts of purchases often sell out beforehand, we’re probably going to buy it now and just store it somewhere until then. (If I can coax my husband to let it stay in the closet, that is.. )
The problem I’m now running into is the myriad of accessories. My brain hurts after comparing game systems. There’s even a website: wiitracker.com that tracks the prices. The thing is, I’m not really sure what we NEED versus, what we WANT.
I love the Links crossbow game that my in-laws have. Great stuff. But there are sensor strips, battery chargers, game bundles–ack! I don’t know what I’m doing here! And what I really want is the Wii Fit pack, that lets you exercise and win games.
So, I’m appealing for help. I know we need the console and at least two or three controllers. But for those of you who own a wii, what else are the “must have”s? What can you hold off on and just add on later? What are your favorite games?
Today, aside from the midnight wake-up call from Baby, has been better. If I had remembered to give screaming, whining baby some Motrin before bed, he might not have woken me up, demanding pain medication. Duh. Mea culpa.
Anyway, today I have gone with the mantra that drugs are a Good Thing for teething. I also picked up some of the teething tablets recommended by Beth and also some Ambesol. Hopefully, that will make it all better. But for the love of Heaven, I want these teeth to break through soon.
I remind myself that this, too, shall pass.
This weekend I made Amish Friendship Bread for the first time. My neighbor gave me the starter mix and I had the fun of squishing a Zip-Loc bag for ten days, keeping the fermentation going. It’s an amazingly moist bread, and the smell of cinnamon and sugar is to die for. I like texture in my breads, so I added a generous cup of chopped pecans and a mixture of dried cherries, blueberries, and cranberries. Here’s a link to a starter if you don’t have one. I kept my starter in a gallon bag, and it worked fine for mixing. Here’s a recipe for the bread from Cooks.com:
Note: DO NOT USE METAL BOWL OR SPOON - DO NOT REFRIGERATE.
DAY 1 - Do nothing. DAY 2 - Stir with a wooden spoon. DAY 3 - Stir with a wooden spoon. DAY 4 - Stir with a wooden spoon. DAY 5 - Add: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk. DAY 6 - Stir with a wooden spoon. DAY 7 - Stir with a wooden spoon. DAY 8 - Stir with a wooden spoon. DAY 9 - Stir with a wooden spoon. DAY 10 - Add: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk. On DAY 10 - make the Amish Friendship Bread.
First pour off three 1 cup starters. Save one for yourself and give the other to 2 friends.
Pour remaining batter into a large bowl and add the following ingredients:
1 c. oil
2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
3 eggs
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. nuts, chopped
1 lg. box instant vanilla pudding
**Michelle’s addition–one 5 oz bag of dried blueberries, cherries, and cranberries.
Pour into 2 well greased and sugared loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes (longer if glass) before removing from pans. This does real well in the freezer. Makes a delicious sweet bread.
STARTER:
1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 c. milk
Start instructions with day 1.
My instructions said to bake at 325 for an hour, but that wasn’t long enough. I think you have to use your judgment. Anyway, since the holidays are coming up, you might want to try this!
My son is a few days shy of eleven months old and STILL doesn’t have a tooth. But they are close. I can actually see one of the two front teeth peeping from behind his swollen gums. For the past four days, I have been about ready to sell the child. He has been whiny, moaning, and in general the crankiest thing I’ve ever seen.
It’s pretty bad when the child grabs a plastic rattle, rubs it all over his gums, and then offers a slobbery, dripping rattle to you as if to say, “Want to share?”
At times like these, I’ve found that the teething rings and frozen popsicles don’t do much to help. Tylenol or Motrin, that’s the way to go. I can tell exactly when the pain medicine has worn off–it’s Jekyll and Hyde. I tried on Tuesday to let him go without any medication, but he fussed all day and was only able to take twenty minute naps. Not good at all.
I think he’s getting four teeth at once–the two top and two bottom ones, and that’s likely the reason for all the pain. If the darned things would just break through the gums, I think he’d be fine. Instead, he has those awfully swollen, red gums. Poor baby.
Do you have any tips you could offer? Was there anything that helped your child get through teething, aside from meds?
Last week I received one more round of tweaking revisions on Wedded to the Enemy, and I’ve read about 70 pages today. I’m trying to finish these up by next week, which is very doable. In the meantime, I’ve printed out what I’ve written on Ewan’s book and am trying to work on the pacing.
It’s funny how you can be 160 pages in and feel like you’re only just cracking the surface. I have a treasure hunt subplot, and it’s been tricky weaving that into the background of the romance. But it’s getting there.
In the meantime, tomorrow is my birthday. I always love how my kids are–they are SO excited for me. My son already made me a card saying that he loved me and hoped I had a happy birthday.
And you know, that’s really the best gift I could receive from the kids. That, and a two-hour nap from the baby.
Here are some photos of my trick-or-treaters and a preview of their costumes tonight:
If you’ve read Her Warrior Slave (and it’s on sale now at Wal-Mart, Borders, and all local bookstores 
), this is a connected story about Kieran’s sister Aisling. And um, it’s really a steamy one, too. 
)
