Dude, Where's My Muse?

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Thursday Thirteen - Christmas Songs Edition


Thirteen Favorite Christmas Songs

1. Merry Christmas, Baby - Elvis Presley
2. Baby, Its Cold Outside - Dean Martin
3. Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
4. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
5. I've Got My Love To Keep My Warm
6. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Doris Day
7. Let It Snow, Let It Snow - Michael Buble
8. Baby, It's Cold Outside - Jessica Simpson
9. The entire NKOTB Christmas CD
10. All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
11. The Boney M Christmas CD
12. Holly, Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
13.Christmas Without You - Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers


Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

(leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)




Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



Labels:

posted by Lis at 7:51 p.m. 2 comments

Time Waster :o)

Your home is a

Philanthropic Athlete's Mansion

Your kitchen is actually a GNC franchise, though all you really need are your Power Bars and Red Bulls. There's a Chocolatessen, which is rapidly becoming your favorite room of the house. Having one is also becoming a trend among your wealthy neighbors. Your master bedroom has an on-call masseuse and sports therapist. Your study has current issues of Sports News & Sports Illustrated, marked with a highlighter for better preparing your fantasy sports league. One of your garages houses your Hummer, and others contain your H2, and H3... with room for an H4, if they ever invent one.

Your home also includes a guest wing and private quarters for your servants. Your guests enjoy your home theater with 37 different sports channels. Outside is your hedge maze and gardens, meticulously tended by a team of world-class botanists.

Below is a snippet of the blueprints:


Build YOUR Dream Home!
posted by Lis at 2:13 p.m. 1 comments

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Blog Tour: Dyan Garris


How long have you been interested in cooking?

I've been interested in cooking for as long as I can remember. My most vivid memory of this interest was at age seven. I remember well because we had a babysitter one evening and I wanted to learn how to make an omelet. She told me I had to be eight years old to use the stove. I couldn't understand what difference a year would make and she had no good answer to that, so in the face of my persistence she let me do it. She hovered and fretted and clucked until I was done. It turned out OK and I think she was surprised. Also, my family's business was restaurants and I was just fascinated by it all and particularly how important the dining experience was to people. I learned everything I could learn about the business from a very young age. I'm Greek and it is true what the main character said in the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Our mission is truly to feed everyone until we die.

What made you want to write a cookbook?
A main reason I wrote it was because when my mother was dying she tried desperately to write all her recipes down and make them into a cookbook for her family. She mostly finished it, but I think it was not in the complete way that she really wanted to do it. What I wanted to with my own cookbook was to do it in a way that I know she would have done her own if she had had the time, energy, and opportunity to do so. I dedicated my book to her and that’s why. It’s a loving tribute to her.

Also, for years people have been asking me, “How do you make that?” So I just decided to make them a cookbook. It was really great fun and a good challenge. I don’t measure anything ever, even when I bake, so for purposes of the book, I knew I had to put some exact measurements in there. I made all the recipes and wrote it all down so people could have something to follow when making it themselves. Then I photographed all the food myself, which was a wonderfully creative and artistic process. Then I had a big party!

The other reason for writing this particular book is that it follows the theme of my main body of work, which is vibrational attunement of mind, body and spirit. In my work I tell people to “balance their triangle.” The book is part of learning to do that. It’s about opening the creative centers and listening to what your body wants to be fed and then feeding it, not mindlessly stuffing down some chemical laden product that passes for food these days. My work is about transformation. So with cooking, you can take the lower (raw ingredients) and transform it/them into the higher (the finished masterpiece) and feed yourself with that wholeness. Therefore you are feeding not only the body, but the mind and spirit as well.


How did you come up with the title?

“Voice of the Angels” is my main website where I have the music and meditation CD series for vibrational attunement. “Talk To Your Food” is just something I’ve always done. Whenever someone would ask me, “How do you make that?” I would answer, “You just talk to it.” I’ve been saying that for years because it’s what I really do. “Intuitive Cooking” is my way to describe what this is. If you follow along with the recipe and then you add in seasonings or other things that make it uniquely you, or you figure out a better way to do it, then you are intuitively cooking. Everyone probably does a bit of that innately anyway. Maybe they just never identified it as such. Plus, I added “Intuitively Speaking” paragraphs and twelve food related channeled messages, such as “The Sandwich,” “The Secret Recipe of Life, “ and “The Measure of Success.” I’m a spiritual teacher, so the messages actually teach something on a deeper level. I like to entertain…on other levels than just the surface level.

What is intuitive cooking?

Intuitive cooking is listening to your inner voice and hearing what your physical body wants to be fed. Intuitive cooking is communicating with your food in some way so that it can transform from raw ingredients to what truly nourishes you on every level. We all have the ability to open up to our unique creativity and create food that resonates with us in a healthy way. This doesn’t just mean lettuce, tofu, beans and rice. I wanted to teach people to take what their body says it wants and make it in a loving and delicious way. If it’s gluten free, fine. If it’s vegan, fine. But find a way to take the components of a gluten free diet or a vegan diet and transform them in a way that feeds your whole self. I’ve included a lot of very easy recipes and anyone on these types of diets can take my basic recipes and substitute where necessary and the result is the same. There isn’t anything here that will get ruined by a substitution.

How long did it take you to come up with all the recipes?
Many of the recipes are ones that I’ve personally created over the years and tweaked. We used to do a lot of entertaining. I’ve never been one to write these things down because even if it’s the same dish I’m always going to make it a bit differently than I did two weeks ago, because I’m doing it intuitively as I go along. I like to create and I don’t like to be bored or boring. I find great joy in cooking. I find it relaxing and have a real passion for it. If I made a particularly tasty meal or dessert at one time, I jotted down the basics of it over the years. So I was really working from a lot of just “notes.” Some are family favorites. Some are Greek recipes handed down through the generations. Of course I intuitively added my own brand of creativity to them. Yes, with all that talking to my food over the years it took me a long time to come up with all the recipes.

Favorite recipe in the cookbook?

I am really fond of the fish recipes because I love fish and they’re really easy. I’m particularly fond of the tuna melt with cheese sauce, which sounds as if it might be mundane, but it isn’t. It takes about five minutes. It’s made with Ahi tuna and you put the cheese inside and it melts….Oh! It is really tasty! However, my very favorite thing to make is the Chicken Cinnamon. It’s also a really simple dish, has a special kind of Greek cheese in it called Mizitrah and smells heavenly if you like cinnamon. I find it really lifts the spirits.

How does your cookbook differ from others?

I think I’ve used a different blend and family of seasonings than people are ordinarily used to. It has channeled messages that actually teach and entertain and make one think about things on a deeper level. I put over sixty color photographs in there because most people are visual and like to see a finished product. That connects the mind with the body. So you see, it’s mind, body, spirit. It’s different.

What do you hope people get out the cookbook?

I hope that people have fun and enjoy themselves while creating with the vibration of love for themselves and their loved ones. That’s the goal.


For many years, Dyan Garris has been counseling clients in order to help them positively move forward in their lives. She is clairvoyant, clairsentient, and clairaudient. In addition, Dyan is also what is known as a voice recognition psychic and trance channel. This means that she can help her clients via phone, which is how she conducted her readings throughout her career.

Growing up in Illinois, Dyan became aware of her clairvoyance, and other gifts, at a very young age. She spent years learning how to appropriately use these gifts for good and to help others.

In 2005 she created a CD series of music and meditation for self-healing, relaxation, chakra balancing, and vibrational attunement. Her interest in music began as a child. A blind piano teacher taught her to “feel” music and “see” through different eyes and influenced her at a young age. Dyan continued her music studies with the violin. Through the violin, she learned how easily music vibrates throughout the body and, hence, all of the chakras. This was her first lesson of how the power of music and sound could be used for healing.

In the early 1990s, Dyan launched a jewelry business custom designing and manufacturing Austrian crystal earrings and healing bolos. Even in this work, she continued to use her special gifts for her client’s benefits. The healing bolos were custom made with stones such as crystal, onyx, hematite, jade and rose quartz. Each came with a channeled poem specifically for the person who commissioned the item. The bolos were designed to be worn over the heart chakra as a form of healing, as well as protection.

She eventually re-focused her life on home, family, spiritual counseling, and teaching meditation and energy classes. Music was incorporated in her classes as a method of sound healing as well as an effective method for opening and balancing the chakras.

In 2005, while sitting at the piano, she heard specific songs and titles coming from her psychic connections. Writing them down as fast as she could, the result was A Healing Journey – The Voice of the Angels CD. This is the first in the series designed for self-healing and vibrational attunement of the mind, body and spirit. There are six CDs in the series. A new release, titled, “Release,” will be available September 24th and is available at www.voiceoftheangels.com/store/12/6 or http://www.cdbaby.com/dyangarris6.

She is the author and developer of Voice of the Angels – A Healing Journey Spiritual Cards. These are a 30 card deck of Angel Cards based upon scenes from A Healing Journey-Guided Fantasy, which is the guided meditation found on the last track of A Healing Journey-The Voice of the Angels CD. Each card has its own channeled message in verse from the Angels.

Her new book, Voice of the Angels Cookbook – Talk to Your Food! – Intuitive Cooking is now available at the author’s website and http://www.amazon.com/. This is an adventure in opening the creative centers and communicating with your food so that it can transform from raw ingredients into what truly nourishes you on every level. The book includes twelve food-related channeled messages and several “Intuitively Speaking” paragraphs, which explain how to prepare the recipe using one’s own unique creativity.

For more information, please visit http://www.voiceoftheangels.com/ or http://www.newagecd.com/ .

VOICE OF THE ANGELS COOKBOOK Summary:

New Age recording artist and creator of a music and meditation CD series for vibrational attunement, Dyan Garris is the author of the innovative cookbook, Voice of the Angels Cookbook – Talk To Your Food! – Intuitive Cooking. This is not just an ordinary cookbook. The artist calls it an adventure in opening one's creative centers.

“Intuitive cooking is listening to your inner voice and hearing what your body wants to be fed,” explains Garris. “Communicate with your food so that it can transform from raw ingredients into what nourishes you on every level. We all have the ability to create that which resonates for us in a complete, healthy way. It’s vibrational attunement of mind, body and spirit using food, rather than sound frequency, as in my CD series. This does not necessarily translate into lettuce and tofu,” she continues. “You learn to make what your body wants in a loving and delicious way. My goal is to teach people to feed not only the body, but the mind and spirit, as well. Turn ordinary food into something special. Talk to it!”

The cookbook is available at the author’s website: http://www.voiceoftheangels.com/, where Garris posts an inspirational Daily Channeled Message. The cookbook includes twelve channeled messages, such as, "The Secret Recipe of Life," “Ode to Popcorn," and numerous "Intuitively Speaking" paragraphs .

The book comes with a warning: This is real food! A variety of original recipes are included, from sinfully rich “Love Bars," to "Healing Soup," easy fish recipes, and skillet suppers, incorporating enticing blends of colors and flavors. The author's Greek heritage shines through in such recipes as "Easy Baklava Roll-Ups."

Garris learned to cook from her grandmother. “She didn’t measure anything! I would ask, ‘How much?’ She replied, ‘Some.’ ” This fueled Garris’ curiosity about food preparation. Her family’s restaurateur background allowed Garris to further develop her culinary skills. “I’ve been talking to my food for as long as I can remember!”

Labels:

posted by Lis at 11:40 a.m. 9 comments

Monday, November 26, 2007

Still here

Not blogging as often as maybe I should be, but I'm still around. Busy doing some last and much needed rewrites before hitting send on a couple requests (aiming for Dec.1st). With any luck, I can take December off and just deal with Christmas and finishing off the review books that are taking up half a shelf of the overcrowded bookshelf -- which needs to be re-organized too one of these days.

Most of the cards are done and should be dropped into the mail tomorrow morning if all works out. Need to wrap one of the Xmas presents for one of my long distance friends and get it mailed this weekend. There's something I want to pick up if I can before it makes its way to California. The amazon.com purchase should be delivered today or tomorrow to my friends in Philly. Which leaves 2 friends after that. Best bud is all ready boughten for. Just need to wrap and wait for her to come and visit in a couple weeks. First time in 5 years we'll be giving each other our presents in person. *g*

Managed to find a couple of hard-to-find Christmas gifts for my parents this weekend. London Drugs had the 2 computer games I wanted to get mom and dad and Costco had the collector's edition of Die Hard which was totally not to be found anywhere else (and I didn't want to wait till I had enough for Free Shipping at amazon.ca) so yay! The list for what to get Dad is pretty well done and Mom's going to take some thought (and a day of shopping w/o her right beside me lol). Plus, I splurged and bought a little something for me :o)

Labels:

posted by Lis at 4:36 p.m. 2 comments

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Turkey Day

To my American buddies :o)

Today in Canuckland, I shall enjoy my homemade pepperoni pizza and listen to the Oilers game on the radio. Ah the joys. *g* For possibly the first time this year, my inbox is SILENT. Apparently everyone on my loops is fully dedicated to Thanksgiving this year!

I'm still busy editing my little heart out. Cut a bunch of things that didn't move the story forward and now I hit a gap that I'm not sure what will fill at the moment. Need to look at the last draft to see what I had before and if its usable or not. or at least spur the idea for something else to take its place.

Christmas prep continues. Got some cool new lights for my mini tree. Well, actually 2. One that looks like those candy jeweled rings I used to get as a kid, except when I brought them home it turns out they're not for use on metal trees. And my mini tree? Most likely has metal. But they're too cool to take back, so I'll find somewhere else to put them. So I grabbed a set of the LED changing christmas lights, they go from red to blue. Very pretty. But then looking online today, I saw some cute white stars that are LED and go from white to blue and you can make the colors chase each other. Why didn't I see those earlier? :o)

Cards are almost written, at least the ones going stateside. Still have the card I send to my one aunt to do and the one for my great aunt and uncle (that one gets a letter and pics with it, so its takes longer then the others).

What else to ramble about? Found something I really, really want on eBay, but of course its a little too pricey *sigh* What I wouldn't give to find a couple hundred spare dollars about now lol Cover christmas and my little indulgance.
posted by Lis at 1:03 a.m. 5 comments

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Blog Tour: Diana Holquist

You can visit Diana's website at http://www.dianaholquist.com/

Interview with Diana:

What inspired THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE?

I knew I wanted to write a story about a woman who was terrified around sexy men—pathologically shy. So it made sense to make the man not just anyone, but literally THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE. It made the conflict huge—which of course makes it more exciting.

Did you come up with the title yourself?

I had a title I loved. But when my editor came up with SEXIEST MAN ALIVE, I knew it was a winner. Sometimes, it just hits and you think, “Why didn’t I think of that?” But that’s why they’re the editors and we’re the writers.

Which character was the most fun to write?

Amy, the gypsy psychic who can tell you the name of your One True Love. She’s the villain. Very manipulative and self-absorbed. Characters like that are fun because they can be outrageous and say things that no one else will say. I was in big trouble when the book was done, though, as the next book, Hungry for More, is about Amy. I had to rehabilitate her so that readers would root for her. It wasn’t easy.

Describe the book in three words

Fun, funny, sexy.


If the SEXIEST MAN ALIVE was turned into a movie, who would the perfect cast be?

Gerard Butler as Josh Toby, the Sexiest Man Alive. (Yeah, I know Matt Damon won that honor today from People magazine, but I’m still going with Gerard.) Someone very funny as Jasmine. Maybe Jennifer Aniston? But she’s probably WAY too old now. I’m terrible with movie stars. I don’t watch TV or movies, so I’m way in the dark on this one.

How long have you been writing?

I started writing fiction in 2002, so five years.

What’s your favorite part of your writing process?

The easy part. Only, there is no easy part. I struggle the entire way. I’m terrified to get started; mortified as I go; horrified when I’m done. Oh, okay—I do like to edit. I edit like mad. I tear out whole sub-plots and characters. No sentence makes it through a draft intact.

What’s next for you?

I just turned in Hungry for More to my editor last week. It’s the last book in the One True Love series. I have one more book on my contract with Grand Central Publishing, and I’m really excited about it. It’ll be a straight contemporary romantic comedy. I think there’s a real lack of those out there, and I have an idea I hope will be really fun.



SEXIEST MAN ALIVE Synopsis:

Jasmine Burns has always wanted to know the name of her one true love. Her sister Amy is a psychic who can read the name of a person's true love, but she's always refused to tell Jasmine hers...until one day Amy needs Jasmine’s help bad. When Amy finally gives it the name, Jasmine can't believe it. How is it possible that her one true love is People Magazine's SEXIEST MAN ALIVE, one of the biggest box office movie stars around, and a fixture on the red carpet? Shy by nature, Jasmine envisioned warm nights spent cuddling in front of the tv with her beloved, not the frightening flash of a paparazzo's camera as he chases her down the street. This can't be true!

For once in his life, Josh Toby wants to be taken seriously as an actor. He's sick of playing either the boy toy or the action star—he wants parts he can sink his teeth into. So he's done the scariest thing he can imagine—he's accepted a part on Broadway in "Romeo and Juliet". The problem: no one can know it's him or it will turn into the second coming of the Beatles. The solution: an undercover disguise at the hands of budding fashion designer Jasmine Burns, the most charming, genuine, and delightfully eccentric woman he's ever met.

Before long, chemistry sizzles between the shy wallflower and the most recognizable movie star in the world. But can true love really blossom between two polar opposites?

SEXIEST MAN ALIVE Excerpt:

Chapter One

“Hi! I’m Jasmine Burns!”

The naked man stared up at Jasmine blankly.

Great. She sounded like a cruise ship director on crack. She cleared her throat and adjusted her black teddy. “It’s great to meet you!”

Ugh. This was definitely not working.

Jasmine met her eyes in the mirror on the far (okay, not-so-far) wall of her tiny Upper West Side studio. This only looks crazy, she silently assured her reflection.

She looked down at the tiny naked Ken doll perched on her couch.

Okay, it was crazy. Call-the-cops nuts, even.

She paced. Seven steps. Pivot. Seven steps. Pivot. Exercise #12, page 127 in her Goodbye Shy! workbook had made sense in theory: practice job interviews with a doll to focus on until the panic is gone. For best results, rehearse the interview with both parties naked to achieve optimal vulnerability. Jasmine just couldn’t get completely naked; she settled on a black lace teddy for herself. Ken wasn’t so shy. He went all the way without complaint.

The mind controls the body. Let the panic wash over, then continue. Repeated exposure to the object of fear will dull the emotion.

So why was her terror growing? Her interview was three days, seven hours and twenty-seven minutes away and she was getting more panicked by the second.

She flopped onto her bed and stared at the ceiling of her shoe-box shaped apartment. The heel end was crammed with her elaborate double iron bed, centered between the door to the hallway and the door to her tiny bathroom. The toe end was dominated by a lead-glass window that stretched four feet across and from the ceiling to within two feet of the floor.
And what a window. If she stood outside on the sidewalk and craned her neck to the fifth floor, it reigned proudly between two identical, grand windows. Once, they had let light in on one expansive room. Sometimes Jasmine would imagine she still heard the muted footsteps of the maids hurrying over the hardwood floors from the days before the brownstone was sliced into tiny studios. She’d smell the pipes of the long-gone men in dressing robes reading the New York Saturday Post.

Wonder what those guys would have made of Ken?

Despite her exhaustion, she forced herself off the bed and back to the “living room”—a flea-market, white-boned couch, one white over-stuffed chair, and a white coffee table rescued from a curb-side trash pile all arranged neatly at the foot of her bed. She flopped next to Ken on the couch and toyed with a scrap of black wool (worsted, Italian) that she had scored the day before from a sample table on 37th Street. Salsa music and car horns floated up from Amsterdam Avenue below, a melody of the city she barely noticed anymore.

This job was the chance of a lifetime. After all, her tailoring business she ran out of her apartment was an accident, not part of her plan. A hem here, a tuck there and within weeks she was in demand. She became known as a miracle worker who could make a cigarette hole in silk pajamas disappear, take in a suit better than anyone west of Hong Kong, rescue your mother’s mildewed wedding gown. It wasn’t a bad way to make a living. She rarely had to leave her apartment.
But now that her graduation (M.A. in costume design from N.Y.U.) was five months past, her ex-classmates were out hitting the pavement, interning and networking, sometimes in theaters, sometimes even getting paid (she let the wonderful possibility of one day being in their shoes spread through her).
And she was playing with dolls.

Naked dolls.

Maybe that was the problem. Naked Ken was too much. After all, if Ken were impersonating a famous costume designer, shouldn’t he have amazing clothes?
She carried Ken to the white-washed plywood door balanced on two white wooden saw horses next to her window. Her 1949 Singer nine-stitch sewing machine gleamed in welcome. She ran her hand down it, her steel and chrome kitty. She settled at the table next to it and began to sketch.

What would Arturo Mastriani, New York’s top costume designer, wear to interview her, Jasmine Burns, his next brilliant new assistant?

Labels:

posted by Lis at 1:01 a.m. 6 comments

Monday, November 19, 2007

Neglectful

Wow, I hadn't realized how long it's been since I posted a new blog. Sorry! Between comp issues and other stuff, I haven't been doing much online.

Busy trying to get some Xmas stuff accomplished. Which amounts to not much lol Bought a few things for my dad, one for my mom (hard to shop when she's right beside me). Just bought something for 2 of my bestest buds on amazon. Thanks to the $ going up, I can order from amazon.com and not have to worry about the exchange rate :o)

Anyway, look for a few more guest blog tours in the next few days and I'll try and post another blog or two before the month's out. December could be sporadic, because well its December lol. Still hoping to get to a hockey game next month; my best friend is coming to spend a couple days with me before Xmas and I want to take a few days off, computer free.
posted by Lis at 2:44 p.m. 0 comments

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Blog Tour: SEDUCING THE MERCENARY


(posting for Bailey)

by Loreth Anne White



The book was done, the last page read and yet I sat there holding it in my hands, unwilling to let it go. The sounds of the neighborhood slowly emerged from the jungle in my mind; I had been so engrossed that they had been shoved back into the shadows of Ubasi. Usually when I like a book, I jump up immediately and write the review; but not this time. I want to savor the feelings that still pour through me; its story holds me in its grip. What to say, how to articulate the sensations brought on by Emily/Emma and Jean’s story; the emotions that still hold me tight.

Ubasi, an African nation in the middle of turmoil, its tyrannical leader Souleyman ousted by Jean-Charles Laroque, Le Diable, son of the merciless Peter Laroque. Emily Carlin is a psychologist who works for the Force du Sable, a mercenary group that has been commissioned by the U.S. to help Souleyman regain power. She’s an expert in tyrannical pathology, alpha dogs as she calls them. Her job is to determine the best way to control Laroque, whose rise to power makes the U.S. uncomfortable because he can not be controlled as easily as Souleyman. The adage, better the devil you know than the one you don’t, comes easily to mind. Emily has to identify the dictator’s weaknesses in order to help the FDS devise their strategy; do they take him prisoner, or do they assassinate him? She has one week to find out.

Jean-Charles Laroque, a man with a mission, distrustful of everyone. Burdened with the legacy of his father’s cruelty, he must deal with enemies on all sides. Betrayal is dealt with quickly and ruthlessly. How will he handle the duplicity of the woman that he not only let into his castle, but into his heart.
Definitely 5 stars for this one.
eHarlequin
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
posted by Lis at 9:24 p.m. 2 comments

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Chat Time

Come and join author Deidre Knight for a pre-release "cocktail hour"celebration of PARALLEL DESIRE's publication!

Hosted by her e-loop, we’ll be chatting, doing giveaways and trivia from 4:30 to 6:00 pm EST on 11/9/07 at the TKA chat room!

Come one, come all and have a blast with us for a special TGIF!!

posted by Lis at 6:42 p.m. 0 comments

Blog Tour: Sheila Roberts


What sparked the idea for ON STRIKE FOR CHRISTMAS?

A naughty husband. He escaped getting a lump of coal in his stocking by letting me use him for the prototype of one of the characters in my book.


Why did you write a Christmas themed book?
I love Christmas. And I love a good Christmas story. I have almost every Christmas movie ever made. And who knows? Maybe someday someone will make my book into a Christmas movie!


Favorite scene to write?
Boy, there were a lot. Most of them involved a poor clueless husband named Glen Fredericks, who found himself on a steep learning curve. Probably my favorite scene is when he takes the kids to see Santa. Oh, boy. Deer ears, jammies, and poopy diapers. Poor Santa. And poor Glen. His journey is just beginning.

Describe your writing in three words.
Fun,fun, fun.


What's your favorite thing about writing?
Easy work wardrobe


What's your writing process like?
Type a while. Decide I need inspiration. Go to the fridge. Find something to eat. Sit down, think. Type a little more. Need... something. Go to the cupboard and raid chocolate. Sit down in front of the computer and type. Can't think. Need ... more chocolate. No, let's have some coffee. I have it! Let's have some coffee and some more chocolate. Weigh myself. Get depressed. Have some more chocolate to feel better. Decide to create a character with big hips and skinny fingers (from all that typing). Okay. Get out of the house. Let's go for a little walk. See neighbor. Talk. Come back and sit down at the typewriter and... need something. Start whole cycle again. This is why it takes writers so long to write a book. Now the secret is out.


What's next for you?
Funny you should ask. BIKINI SEASON, my next book with St. Martin's Press, comes out next May, and it's about ... dieting.


ON STRIKE FOR CHRISTMAS Synopsis:

Christmas is fast approaching and many of the women in the town of Holly are bracing themselves for stress, overwork, and little understanding or appreciation from the men in their lives. But then inspiration hits. Joy Robertson, Laura Fredericks, and their knitting buddies decide to “go on strike” and give the men an opportunity to see firsthand what it takes to make the holidays merry and bright. Soon other women are joining in and husbands all over town are getting a crash course in decorating, shopping, and what to wear to see Santa, and are searching frantically for an interpreter to translate the mysteries of holiday recipes. The men may just come to appreciate the holidays after walking a mall in their wives’ high heels. But maybe the women will learn something, too.

ON STRIKE FOR CHRISTMAS EXCERPT:

-1-

Glen Fredericks slapped the back of his last departing Thanksgiving dinner guest. "Good to see ya. Thanks for coming."

"Hey, man, great time," said the mooch. "Thanks for having me."

"No problem. We'll do it all again at Christmas," Glen promised.

Behind him, Glen's wife Laura suddenly envisioned herself going after her husband with the electric carving knife he'd used earlier on the turkey. "In your dreams," she growled. She stepped around Glen and shoved the front door shut. Having made contact with a hefty male hind end, it didn't shut easily, especially for a woman who was five feet two and a hundred and nineteen pounds, but she managed.

"Hey," Glen protested. "What was that all about?"

"You need to ask?" Laura gave her over-chewed gum an angry snap. He did this to her every year, and every year he promised that next year things would be different. But they never were.

"Mama, Tyler's in the 'frigerator," called five-year-old Amy.

Laura marched toward the kitchen, Glen trotting after her. "Today might have been your idea of fun, Mr. Invite the Whole Planet Over, but it sure wasn't mine."

No woman in her right mind would volunteer to have her house turned into the city dump by the invasion of family, friends, and Thanksgiving freeloaders her husband had invited into their home. Before the invasion, this room had looked great, decorated with little gourds, cute ceramic pumpkins, and her two prettiest vases filled with mums. Now everywhere she looked she saw mess. CD's lay scattered on the floor in front of the entertainment center. Her new leather couch was littered with a plastic football, Glen's socks, magazines, and an open can of nuts (half-spilled). Glasses and bottles were strewn every which way across her coffee table. The little hand-painted, wooden Pilgrim couple that she'd set out on the sofa table now lay on their sides as if taking a nap, not that you could really see them anyway in the litter of napkins and appetizer plates and other party leftovers. And it was hard to ignore the towel on the carpet, evidence of an earlier wine spill mop-up.

People said you shouldn't have cream colored carpet when you had little kids. Well, people were wrong. She managed to keep the carpet clean just fine with two kids. It was Glen's moocher co-worker who was the problem. And of course Glen had been too busy yucking it up to tell her about the spill. She only discovered it when she stepped on it in her stocking feet.

"Come on, babe," he protested. "It's the holidays, and it only comes once a year."

"It's a good thing because it takes me a whole year to recover. In case you didn't notice, Glen, we've got two children, a big house that I clean, and I work thirty hours a week." Before Glen could reply they heard the distinctive crash of a dish breaking followed by a startled cry. "Oh, great. Now what?" Laura muttered, and picked up speed.

She found five-year-old Amy hovering near the doorway, a golden haired cherub. "I told him not to," Amy said, already the bossy older sister.

Behind her, by the fridge, stood two and a half-year-old Tyler - nickname, Tyler the Terrible - whimpering. At his feet lay a fluffy pile of whipped cream fruit salad, broken shards of ceramic bowl sticking up through it like mountain peaks through the clouds.

Laura walked over to where her son stood and surveyed the damage. "Mess, Mama," Tyler told her.

She had been going non-stop since six in the morning and it was now eight at night. She sat down on the floor behind her son and began to cry. That set Tyler off, and he started wailing. She pulled him to her and they both went at it.

"It's okay, baby," Glen said and knelt beside her. He was a big, kind-hearted teddy bear of a man. Most days. Today, he was just a big pain in the butt.

He reached out to put a beefy arm around her and she gave him a shove. "Bite me. Do you have any idea what this day has been like for me, Glen? Do you even have a clue?"

"You made a great dinner," he tried.

"Yes, Imade the dinner. No one brought anything except your mother, and all she brought was soggy pumpkin pies. I stuffed and baked the turkey, I made the fruit salad, the candied yams, the smelly rutabagas your lazy cousin loves, the green bean casserole, the mashed potatoes and gravy and the home made dinner rolls from your mother's recipe. Why can't she make her own damn rolls?"

From the other side of the kitchen, Amy gasped. "Mama said damn."

"Mamas can do that on Thanksgiving," Glen said, thinking fast.

Yeah, he had a comeback for a five-year-old, but he couldn't think of anything to say to his wife. What could he say, the big turkey? "I cleaned and decorated the house, set the table, and made the whole effing dinner. And, while you and your family and those freeloaders that you call friends all sat around afterward like beached whales and watched the football game, your mother and I got to clean up the big, effing mess you left. I don't care how much football you played in high school and college. You could miss fifteen minutes of one game to help."

He frowned. "Hey, I was watching the kids."

"Yeah, right. When, during the beer commercials? Tyler ate almost an entire candy bowl of M&M's. It's a wonder he hasn't thrown up yet. And if he does, guess who's dealing with it."

Glen held up a hand to cut her off. "I will, don't worry. But you know it's not entirely fair to say I did nothing. I helped."

She glared at him. "Oh, yeah, you put the extra leaf in the table and brought up the folding chairs. Real big of you." She got up and steamed out of the kitchen, calling over her shoulder. "I'm taking a bath. After that, I'm going to bed with my mystery novel. I don't want to see you or anyone for the rest of the evening."

Glen's voice followed her. "That's a good idea, babe. Take a break. You deserve it."

That was an understatement Laura decided, looking at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. The makeup that hadn't worn off was now smudged and runny from her crying jag, and her hair was a mess. She looked like blonde roadkill. She felt like it, too. The labors of Thanksgiving had almost crushed her.

And in just four weeks her husband expected her to do this all again. Four weeks? Who was she kidding? It would all start this weekend with cleaning up the mess Hurricane Glen had left in his wake. (Naturally, he'd help . . . for about two minutes until he got distracted horsing around with the kids or finding a football game to watch.) Then they'd start hauling out the Christmas decorations and begin the Christmas shopping. The day after Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day of the year - she couldn't face it. Maybe she'd just stay in the tub until she turned into the world's biggest prune. Or until Glen got a clue.

Except Glen was terminally clueless, so she'd never leave the tub again. If only his brain size matched the size of his heart. Maybe he needed glasses. He obviously couldn't see how much he dumped on her this time of year . . .

Labels:

posted by Lis at 11:47 a.m. 6 comments

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

A Drive-By Postie

So the subject pretty well says it all...

Highlights of the day --

~ request from agent I queried in September. Query had fallen into spam and she just found it. Partial all ready in her inbox :o)

~ 2 page email from long lost buddy who totally gets things and makes me think in ways I wasn't

~ fixed the Hallmark animated ornament we bought yesterday, thereby not having to go back and return it (since ours had the cutest dog on it anyways) turns out it just needed fresh batteries.

~ oh and NOW on sale, the Criss Angel 2008 Calendar. Guess what I want under the tree?? *g*
posted by Lis at 8:46 p.m. 0 comments

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Two Things

Two Men I'd Love to Date if I Were Single (and they were single):
1. Shawn Michaels
2. Nick :o)

I Am Wearing Right Now...
1. black capris
2. red fleece hoodie

Two Things I Would Want in a Relationship:
1. fun
2. honesty

Two of My Favorite Things to do:
1. read a book
2. watch hockey

Two Things I Want Very Badly At the Moment:
1. to finish my editing
2. food, I'm hungry lol

Two things I did recently:
1. window shopped on amazon
2. grabbed the last seeds off my flowers

Two things I ate today:
1. chicken
2. stuffing

Two people I most recently talked to:
1. mom
2. dad

Two things I'm doing tomorrow:
1. editing
2. writing

2 longest car rides:
1. from here to Regina
2. from here to Calgary

Two Favorite Holidays:
1. Christmas
2. My Birthday

Two Favorite Beverages:
1. Coke
2. Orange Juice

Two Things about me, things you may not have known:
1. I didn't swear till I was about 18
2. I was mistaken for my one of my fave hockey player's girlfriend a couple years ago at a hockey game lol

Two places I have lived:
1. here
2. regina

Two of my Favorite Foods:
1. pizza
2. dressing

Two Places I'd rather be right now:
1. Vegas baby, Vegas!
2. The Luxor, in Vegas! :o)

4 people I think will respond:
Not a single one!
posted by Lis at 6:07 p.m. 5 comments

Friday, November 02, 2007

Nano Day 2

So yesterday began NaNo, and I did my writing. Not sure what's down will make the second draft because today, while double checking something in the editing manuscript i found an article that completely supplied me with brand new spanking idea that will be taking over for NaNo. Call me excited. :o) it could even have that urban fantasy feel i was thinking about incorporating. So we'll see where that takes me. *rubs hands together excitedly*

In other news, its funny how what I listen to subconsciously becomes the soundtrack to my writing (or maybe my subcon picks it and I'm not swift enough to pick up on it right away) any way, I was listening to Britney's single, Gimme More and reading a hard copy of the next block of chapters when it felt like I was hit in the head. D'uh. Fits the story. So my CS soundtrack now looks something like this --

~ Gimme More - Britney
~ About Us - Brooke Hogan
~ Promiscous Girl - Nelly Furtado
~ Big Girls Don't Cry - Fergie
~ Helpless When She Smiles - Backstreet Boys

and a couple head banging Kid Rock songs just to keep me awake lol

Labels:

posted by Lis at 8:16 p.m. 1 comments

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Crazy...

Well I now have that Patsy Cline song in my head :o)

But November 1st means the start of that much beloved time of year for the writers among us. NaNoWriMo. Or as I called it to myself last year, Why Didn't I Just Say No?

This is my 3rd year doing NaNo. Year one I wrote most of Sabrina in a blinding flash. Year Two I did most of my work on Dangerous Games, all handwritten (a lot still needs to be typed up) and now, year three. I should be old hat at this, but its still like standing at the edge of a cliff and looking way way down knowing in 30 days you'll reach the bottom but till you get there, you have no idea how your going down. The pantster that I am, I tend to run backwards and then taking a running leap, freefalling for the next 30 days and hopefully next 60K words. Because as long as you have a finished draft at the end, you have something to work with.

So I'm doing YA this year. Sticking my 2007 trend. 05 and 06 were straight urban fantasy, and if the idea hits then I'll probably put a little U.F in here, but so far, mine seems to want to stay straight contemporary.

If the blog is silent a few days this month, you'll know why. I just can't type another word lol

Anyone else joining me in the insanity better known as NaNo?

Labels:

posted by Lis at 6:30 p.m. 0 comments