I thought it would be fun, since Thanksgiving is just next week (Ack!) to play the Either . . . Or game, holiday style!
Travel?
Either Home for the Holidays . . . Or . . . Traveling to visit Family or for Fun?
Turkey?
Either…..Roasted….Or….Fried?
Stuffing?
Either . . . . In the Bird . . . Or . . . In a casserole dish?
Dessert?
Either . . . .Traditional Pie . . . Or . . . Cake or something different?
After Dinner?
Either . . . Football . . . . Or . . . Movies?
What are your Thanksgiving traditions? I'll start us off with my answers.
Travel--For the past 10 years or so, we've stayed home for Thanksgiving. I cook dinner and my sister helps out with sides. I admit I'm ready to try something new. Family is too far for a short visit, but I'd love to go out one year or, like my neighbors do every year--plan a fun and adventurous vacation.
Turkey--I usually roast the turkey. We don't have a fryer…I've never even tried the fried kind. One year, though, we were in the midst of a home improvement project and I put a turkey breast in the crockpot. It turned out great--so tender!
Stuffing--None of my boys eat it, so I usually just make a small dish on the side for my sister and me. Of course, it has to be homemade and similar to my Grandma's recipe!
Dessert--Valiant Husband loves apple pie. Eldest loves pumpkin. Youngest doesn't eat either, so I sometimes end up making cookies or something for him too.
After Dinner--Neither of the above. Valiant Husband will watch a bit of football, but the rest of us usually sit around in a turkey coma, play games and start our Christmas lists.
Now, your turn!
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Fall Favorites
I love autumn. It's (usually) one of the best seasons in North Carolina, long and beautiful with gorgeous keep-your-windows open weather and amazing color. We've got the beauty this year, even if the weather is holding out on us and giving us overcast, cloudy days. But there are still plenty of reasons to love the fall--and here's a list of my (somewhat shallow but true) favorites:
1. Fall food.
I'm not talking fair food, although the State Fair is going on right now and judging by my FB feed, lots of my friends are indulging in fried oreos, giant turkey legs and barbecue sandwiches with Krispy Kreme buns. (Ugh) Nope, I'm talking good, homemade comfort food for when the nights start coming earlier and the temps dip down in the evening. We had pot roast tonight. And that is one meal that every one of my picky eaters love. Soups, chili, casseroles--and the baking! Fall puts me in the mood to bake. We've already been through a couple batches of chocolate chip pumpkin muffins this year and a big batch of cookies this week.
2. This is where the weather would usually go, but see above.
3. Fall TV!
Here's where the shallow comes in, but I love veggin' out with a good TV series, and the fall season is always fun after the summer drought. I'm digging Castle again, now that they are back in NYC. I just enjoyed the finale of Project Runway last week. I've recently discovered Face Off, which is fun. We love The Big Bang Theory and I'm enjoying trying out some new shows to see if they stick--still up in the air about Sleepy Hollow, but I'm hooked on Orange is the New Black.
4. Fall clothes.
Am I the only one who loves to dig out the long sleeves, the yoga pants and the soft cashmere sweaters after shorts weather? I love switching seasons in clothes..it's like a whole new beloved wardrobe every few months.
5. Costumes
We are a costume family and Halloween is the perfect excuse to go gangbusters! The kids and I have been working on our costumes and having a grand time.
So there you have my faves! Will you share yours? What's your favorite fall food? Do you love yoga pants? Costumes? The hot guy who plays Ichabod Crane? Spill, please!
Originally posted at Lady Scribes
Sunday, October 6, 2013
One of Those Days
I'm writing this at the end of a very long day--one of THOSE days.
I used to have those days all the time when the kids were little. The days when you never got a shower because one spilled bottle of hair spray somehow led to the next kid digging ashes out of the woodstove and spreading them across the carpet. (Yes, that really happened!)
Today I started out already behind, with more to do than I could possibly get done. I had a writing goal that I got mostly done. I did get briefly distracted by a Twitter discussion of the new Castle premier, but the real reason I didn't completely finish was because I had a lightbulb moment about one of my characters that I had to get down. A good distraction!
But then came the forgotten paper that must be emailed to school right away, the after-schoolI"m starving hours, the pages of college applications that must be discussed and dissected before they are entered, the missing work shirt, the discussion of how best to model a brain for school (I lost--one of the old bike helmets has been sacrificed in lieu of modeling clay) and the crap-I'm-missing-an-ingredient-in-the-middle-of-getting-dinner-ready moment.
Poor Valiant Husband got sent out to fetch vital ingredients and brain parts, I got to do the dishes, fold the laundry and figure out why new episodes of Adventure Time are not getting recorded as scheduled.
But it's all good. I love my kids and my career, even if they do butt heads most days. I'm NOT wishing my days or my kids away, so please no one lecture me. I don't have time to listen. I have to go post this blog and finish my words for the day. And then I'm going to take a shower.
And tonight, I might consider squeezing in a coconutty girlie drink before bed.
What about you? Do you have THOSE days? Do you have dueling parts of your life? What do you do to handle it?
*Originally posted on the Lady Scribes blog
I used to have those days all the time when the kids were little. The days when you never got a shower because one spilled bottle of hair spray somehow led to the next kid digging ashes out of the woodstove and spreading them across the carpet. (Yes, that really happened!)
Today I started out already behind, with more to do than I could possibly get done. I had a writing goal that I got mostly done. I did get briefly distracted by a Twitter discussion of the new Castle premier, but the real reason I didn't completely finish was because I had a lightbulb moment about one of my characters that I had to get down. A good distraction!
But then came the forgotten paper that must be emailed to school right away, the after-schoolI"m starving hours, the pages of college applications that must be discussed and dissected before they are entered, the missing work shirt, the discussion of how best to model a brain for school (I lost--one of the old bike helmets has been sacrificed in lieu of modeling clay) and the crap-I'm-missing-an-ingredient-in-the-middle-of-getting-dinner-ready moment.
Poor Valiant Husband got sent out to fetch vital ingredients and brain parts, I got to do the dishes, fold the laundry and figure out why new episodes of Adventure Time are not getting recorded as scheduled.
But it's all good. I love my kids and my career, even if they do butt heads most days. I'm NOT wishing my days or my kids away, so please no one lecture me. I don't have time to listen. I have to go post this blog and finish my words for the day. And then I'm going to take a shower.
And tonight, I might consider squeezing in a coconutty girlie drink before bed.
What about you? Do you have THOSE days? Do you have dueling parts of your life? What do you do to handle it?
*Originally posted on the Lady Scribes blog
Monday, September 23, 2013
New Release!
I'm thrilled to bring you An Unexpected Encounter, the first novella in the Half Moon House series! This story was first published in the Encounter at the Museum anthology, but is now also available alone.
It has been altered a bit. An epilogue has been added.
Tall, practical girls might not be worth much in a man's world, but Miss Lisbeth Moreton knows she's worth more than the squire's prized heifer. To change her fate, she's run off to a date with destiny at the British Museum. Her would-be rescuer never shows, but an unexpected encounter with Lord Cotwell and his lonely ward might lead to altogether new prospects . . . and perhaps to love.
It has been altered a bit. An epilogue has been added.
Tall, practical girls might not be worth much in a man's world, but Miss Lisbeth Moreton knows she's worth more than the squire's prized heifer. To change her fate, she's run off to a date with destiny at the British Museum. Her would-be rescuer never shows, but an unexpected encounter with Lord Cotwell and his lonely ward might lead to altogether new prospects . . . and perhaps to love.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Take Me Off The Love List!
As an author of Regency Romance, I do a lot of research--and I love it. I have to be careful not to lose myself in the stories, bold characters and nitty gritty details of the past. Sometimes I find a nugget that I can't resist, though, and if it doesn't fit the story I'm working on, then I set it aside for a future idea.
The Harris List of Covent Garden Ladies is one of those details. It was a real publication, a witty description of the London's leading light skirts--yes, prostitutes. Men lined up to buy a new version of the List for nearly forty years. I always wanted to learn more about it and I often thought I would write a comedic take on it--a girl who ended up on the List that didn't belong there.
So when the time came, I started to do some research--and I realized that I couldn't write the story as a comedy. Yes, the List is full of whimsy and witty descriptions of the girls, their abodes and even, sometimes, their preferences. But I found it too sad to turn into a comedy. So I started to think about that girl who didn't belong on the List ... and The Love List was born.
Miss Brynne Wilmott ends up on the list when her vindictive former betrothed puts her there--in order to ruin her and those who helped her escape him. She desperately wants off--and to prevent the rebirth of the List. She wants it desperately enough to ask the reclusive Duke of Aldmere for his help. And although Aldmere is reluctant, he's found his brother is also entangled in the business. They agree to work together and as their search takes them through London's most dangerous haunts, it quickly becomes clear that her former intended's plans are more twisted and treasonous than anyone has suspected. Yet the danger and intrigue are as nothing compared to the effect Aldmere and Brynne have on each other . . .
Today I'm very excited to announce the audio version of The Love List! I got shivers listening to the very talented Stevie Zimmerman bring the characters and intrigue to life.
Click here to listen to a sample
If you are in the mood to lose yourself in the romance, passion and adventure of the past, I hope you'll give it a listen!
The Harris List of Covent Garden Ladies is one of those details. It was a real publication, a witty description of the London's leading light skirts--yes, prostitutes. Men lined up to buy a new version of the List for nearly forty years. I always wanted to learn more about it and I often thought I would write a comedic take on it--a girl who ended up on the List that didn't belong there.
So when the time came, I started to do some research--and I realized that I couldn't write the story as a comedy. Yes, the List is full of whimsy and witty descriptions of the girls, their abodes and even, sometimes, their preferences. But I found it too sad to turn into a comedy. So I started to think about that girl who didn't belong on the List ... and The Love List was born.
Miss Brynne Wilmott ends up on the list when her vindictive former betrothed puts her there--in order to ruin her and those who helped her escape him. She desperately wants off--and to prevent the rebirth of the List. She wants it desperately enough to ask the reclusive Duke of Aldmere for his help. And although Aldmere is reluctant, he's found his brother is also entangled in the business. They agree to work together and as their search takes them through London's most dangerous haunts, it quickly becomes clear that her former intended's plans are more twisted and treasonous than anyone has suspected. Yet the danger and intrigue are as nothing compared to the effect Aldmere and Brynne have on each other . . .
Today I'm very excited to announce the audio version of The Love List! I got shivers listening to the very talented Stevie Zimmerman bring the characters and intrigue to life.
Click here to listen to a sample
If you are in the mood to lose yourself in the romance, passion and adventure of the past, I hope you'll give it a listen!
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