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Showing posts from February, 2010

kashi golean snack bars

Okay. I'm making these a couple of times a week for school treats. I hope they're reasonably healthy. 3 or 4 cups Kashi Golean cereal 1 cup oats 1/2 dried cranberries 1/3 cup raisins 1 cup sliced almonds 3/4 cup brown rice syrup 1/4 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup peanut butter Put fruit and oats into a food processor--and the almonds if they're huge. heat the syrup and sugar until they are boiling. Turn off heat. Add peanut butter (and the original recipe has some vanilla) Stir to blend Add fruit and cereals. mix well. Usually I end up using my hands. Press with hands into 9x13 pan that's been sprayed with fat stuff. Put this in the fridge and then cut up and hide from the boys so they're for freaking SCHOOL snack.

only posting because it's been a day or so

This is when I'm glad I'm not an administrator or a teacher or anyone with power over kids--mother doesn't really count. Unless I do something fairly hideous, no one's going to whine about me. No one other than my kids and eh, I've heard all that before. I haven't checked this story with TPTB but my youngest said that two kids from his middle school were given a two day ISS (In school suspension) because they put up a facebook fan page called [teacher's name] is a Bitch. What's more a bunch of other kids joined (300 he said) I posted about it over at facebook and here's the thing: every person who commented struck me as basically right and there wasn't a lot of agreement. Yes, the little chickens should face consequences of their disrespect was the one thing that people agreed on. But what should the consequences be? And who should administer them? And what the heck is the point of ISS? What about first amendment rights? Where are the parents? W

More about Stephen.

I'm so spoiled. There haven't been any reviews for Seducing Stephen for more than twenty-four hours and I'm all, well? Where''s today's rave review? Somebody Wonderful got a lot of attention, but that was a Kate Rothwell book. This is the first time Summer's gotten so much attention. It must all be Bonnie. She's the reason. I mean, yeah, Summer's won awards and gotten fan letters now and again. But not nearly the attention Stephen is pulling in. I love it. Here are some of them (okay, most of the ones I could find): . . . .I was impressed by Seducing Stephen . It's being added to my short list of favorite m/m historicals. -- jmc (who was nice enough to hold a contest for the book so I wouldn't have to) "If you like historicals then I would highly recommend that you read Seducing Stephen , which gets a grade of 'Excellent' from me. You won't regret it." -- jenre (well read blogspot) “Seducing Stephen” turns the oft-us

ok NOW you can buy it

Protecting Miss Samuels is out today. I wish ARe listed the books in order of appearance instead of popularity. Of course if my book showed up on the first page or even the top of the third, I wouldn't be writing that. Redacted by order of someone smart who points out I should shut the HELL up about this sort of thing. But not erased because, jeez. I'm very popular. Very. And did you know Seducing Stephen is getting great reviews? Really nice words about our book. Next post will be all about those awesome reviews. In other news, Bonnie, our editor and I are renaming one of our stories that will be released soon. It's amazing how hard it is to come up with titles that don't sound overwrought or vague or silly. Just saying. My current favorite title (not for our book, mind you) is I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President That fits the ticket Jody Novins described. Catchy and tells you a lot about the book and its genre.

SBD I'm listening to a romance on a tape

We were almost at the end and yes! Yes! The black moment is here. Right on time, just like a well-run commuter train. Heroine! surprised while in a cave by evil bad guy. The Villain is laying out all his plans and his reasons for all his evvvvveeeeeeeel actions. Heroine asks questions to keep him talking! This must have gone on for pages and pages. (I must say that that the reader sounds like she's having fun.) But honestly, why is this guy telling the heroine everything? Except for our benefit, of course. ON and ON and ON. . . It was you! You killed your daughter! Any moment now... Good god, maybe the tide turn and drown these people. One can hope but one knows what comes next. Are we right? Oh! will he? When? will he? Where, oh, where is he? The hero? Will he be there any second. And YES! The hero is there. Both men are going down with a sickening horrifying thud. I will kill you the way I killed your brother! Oh, shut up, dude, we already know all about that. You babbled abou

Heads Up

Look! The first review of Seducing Stephen . Go on over to jmc' s place and enter a contest to win a e-copy of the e-book.

a release today! WHOOPS, In a week.

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My story for 28 Days of Heart is out today in a week. On the 18th. All the profit from the sale goes to the American Heart Association. He was supposed to guard her and ended up loving her. Kitty Samuels has to do more than hide from her father's workers. She has to accept the ugly truth about the mill he's run. Only with the help of a stranger will she be able to escape her past and face the future. He thought he'd been hired to protect a mindless chit but when Ned Wallace was forced into action, he had to admit to himself that Miss Samuels is more than a pretty face. Now he must keep her safe from an angry mob…and from himself. It's still listed as pre-order, but that should change any minute on the 18th. [oops] And the great thing about ARe is that the link will still work even after the story goes from pre-order to available.

You, pouting

You read another short story in second person and you think, "is this really the latest thing? Because it's annoying the hell out of me." More than that it's making the skin on your back feel all itchy. Go ahead, you can scratch. Good. You put down the book for a moment to think about why second person in the present tense bothering you. It's not the action so much--no, you don't mind the fact that you're told you're facing thrills-a-minute in these stories. What annoys you is when someone tells you what you're thinking and feeling. Sure, you know it's just a story. But you remember those marketing classes you took in college and how that professor talked about the power of putting " you " in a document. Use " you " sparingly. Because that word says that someone is looking at you, asking for you for a response. And now with all this fiction? More than looking at your actions, which was bad enough, now they're telling y

my boys are all odd now.

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he's freaking SEVENTEEN today.

SBD the opposite of the category romance

I read a couple of Florida books this weekend. They're melding together, just like all the category romances I read for The Big Contest** And they're the perfect antidote to sentimentality. Kind of acid to romance's base. My brain is now operating with Neutral Ph. The formula for these books must include drug dealers, drug users (usally mellow pot-heads), villains that gleefully pollute the wilderness, dour Cuban women, comical retirees and the clusterfuck that ends up with people killed in interesting or humorous ways. I just read Tricky Business, by Dave Barry. I don't know how I missed that one. I wrote a short review on one of those review sites: "Lots of riffs by the characters that read just like Barry's old column. I recently discovered that whole Florida Funky Characters and Crime genre, and it makes for some great (though bloody) escapist stuff. Yeah, Johnny and the Contusions fine name for a rock band ." The other thing I liked about this book?

And did I mention the sun was in my eyes?

"A good title indicates the genre, the setting and the theme of a story. It acts as a hook, too, drawing in the potential reader" --Wise Book Expert Person No wonder The Rat Catcher never flew off the e-shelves

open the door, hun, more cheesy whiffs of fame!

Gene Weingarten and I have a chat. 1. No, I didn't say most of that. I said versions of many of those words but they've been ...reshaped. It's not a real interview. It's a humor column--his humor column. (I wrote "his humor, his column" except I laughed, a lot, so I guess it's my humor too.) 2. yes, that picture really does look just like me in a red wig and Gene with a Fabio doo. 3. have I mentioned how much Mike loves that POS crap car? It's not great in the snow, but he still drives it, always and always.

new book today!

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It's a m/m twist on the world-weary rake and the virginal miss. Stephen is a good guy. I like him a lot. This was the second m/m historical we wrote. The first is coming out from Loose Id, too.

Happy Birthday Tom!

Not that you read my blog (thank goodness you don't) but can I just say that you are the cutest thing, ever? And that I love you? Here in public? Shouting it out! Our boy Tom is a good guy and that's such a relief. We're going 3 for 3 here and I know we're blessed. Today I'm ignoring the hubris worry** because Yay! Thomas has a birthday. ___________________ **never, ever state one's good fortune as if it was permanent fact. The gods are just looking for preeners like you. Even if you disguise your happiness as a prayer of thanks, they will hear you complacent joy and come down on you like a 1-ton concrete wall in Haiti. I used to think this automatic hubris worry was part of my half-Jewish blood and conditioning (we're all capable of racism) but now I think it's probably due to being 100% human.