Happy Tuesday Everyone! Near the end of this month is Memorial Day, and in honor of it The Author Encounter is having a May We Remember Blog/Website scavenger hunt. In talking with my business partner (we're Co-Founders/Co-Owners of The Author Encounter) I got to talking about my grandfather who served in World War II. He was my dad's father, and he was a tall man who went by the nickname "Mickey" (no, I didn't call him that, I just called him Grandpa). My dad doesn't even know why his nickname was Mickey, nothing in his name suggested it (does the name Owen sound like Mickey?) But that's what he was called (apparently, my Grandmother even called him that--but I didn't know her, she died a year before I was born). Anyway, he was an MP (among many other jobs while in the army) and he went all over the place, including Italy. I've often wanted to go to Italy (not during a war, obviously, but on a visit--who knows when or if that will ever happen, bu...

Happy Tuesday All, Yesterday I mentioned I had guest posted on Anna Kathryn Lanier's blog. In the blog post, I talked about ornaments that meant something special to me. I figured it was only fair I show you these ornaments and explain them. Before I do that, here's our Christmas tree all set up and decorated (yes, this year's version): The first ornament is in honor of my maternal grandfather. Grandpa died in 2004, 10 days before my birthday. He was a wonderful grandfather. Always full of stories (both true and made up), quick to give you a $2 bill ("Never spend this and you'll never be broke.") He also was quick with a joke, which was followed by a smile and his deep, comforting chuckle. Growing up, my family had a Thanksgiving tradition called "The Turkey Contest".  After Thanksgiving meal we'd all sit at the table, and there would be jokes told. The person with the best--or sometimes even the worst--joke won and was called ...

Happy Thursday All,   I've been rather remiss about posting (FYI--if y'all are hoping this is a post about my cover art...sorry, that's not finalized yet, but I've seen a draft and it's gorgeous, dahlings! But keep reading, this is a behind-the-scenes look)   Over the weekend I hurried up after discovering I wasn't quite as far along on the edits as I had originally thought. Fortunately, I did get the edits turned in, so hurray!   My best friend, Sarah, (the one who died in February) made this for me years ago. I'm posting it in this blog post since she played a role in my journey. RIP Sarah. Love you! Lately I've gotten a little nostalgic thinking about my journey from first starting All's Fair In Love & Lion , to where it is now...with a draft cover, edits turned in, a July release (not sure of actual release date, but still) and in general, on its way to being available to the public.   I never thought I'd get...

Happy Wednesday Everyone, Recently a friend of mine asked some help with a project. This friend is trying to come up with songs that talk about growing up and different stages of life. The project got me thinking about songs that define my childhood. Music that either makes me think of particular instances, or memories I cherish. There's the mental snapshots of my Dad strumming away at his guitar while singing songs from Peter, Paul & Mary , Paul Anka , and the Kingston Trio . Or times when one of my uncles would join in with his guitar and we'd sit around singing The Beach Boys' Sloop John B . Or the many family reunions at one of my other aunt and uncle's lake house, where another uncle brought out his collection of microphones, guitars, kazoos and whatever other musical instruments he happened to have with him and we'd have these amazing family singalongs. I recall singing Walking On A Wire by Lowen & Navarro  one year, while my younger brothe...

Happy Tuesday Everyone, As I type this I'm listening to The Cure's Friday I'm In Love . Before that (to wake up), I listened to Ramones' Rock N' Roll Radio (which is really good when you want to rock out, toss your hair around, and get dizzy from doing that LOL). I think I've talked about this before...but there's something interesting about music. It can affect your mood. Sometimes a song can make you really happy ( AH-HA's Take On Me ) or it can make you sad (the hymn, How Great Thou Art or The Old Rugged Cross both played at my Grandfather's Memorial Service), or it can remind  you of falling in love ( Toby Keith's Rock You Baby --first dance at my wedding reception). One of the novels I've written I listened to a lot of Chris De Burgh's music because it was very romantic (you can see it in the margin of this blog). It put me in the right mindset to create the "prince charming" for my heroine (he's not actually Pr...

Happy Wednesday Everyone, Sitting here listening to Toby Keith 's Rock You Baby takes me back to my wedding day. It was our first dance song. I remember I sang it to my husband as we danced. I thought about using Huckleberry but decided Rock You Baby sounded more like me and my husband. Funny how things bring up different memories. A scent, a photo, a movie, a quote, a song.  If someone starts quoting the opening speech by John Adams from the musical 1776 I'm transported back to when I was about 19 and listening to my brother quote the entire thing. Or if I smell Brute aftershave I wonder if my Dad's around. If I taste Chocolate Drop Cookies (my grandmother apparently used to make those, but I have no memory of her making them--but one of my sister makes them and every time I have one it makes me think of her). I don't know if there's a website that has the recipe written down. I used to have a copy, but I'm not sure where I put it. (They...

Happy Wednesday All, Recently I had Nerds (the candy) again. I haven't had those things in years. I can't eat too many of them now, but I remember now how good they are. Definitely a trip down memory lane. I remember walking into the CVS when I lived in New Jersey (this was many moons ago). We'd walk from our house downtown. The CVS had lime green carpet and bright fluorescent lights. I always felt like I had just woken up and someone turned on a light and shined it in my eyes when I walked into that store. What triggers memories for you? What candy takes you back to your childhood? Is the candy still available in stores? (For the record, you get Nerds at different stores--they were at my grocery store). Have A Whimsical Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday All, Do you remember some of your favorite childhood books? The ones that you read over and over and still could read again? There's a few that come to mind for me. One such series is the Betsy-Tacy Books by Maud Hart Lovelace . Maud based her characters on real life counterparts (and sometimes more than one) and the happenings on things that happened in her life and around her. I didn't know this until they reprinted them and added a history section in the back of the books. All I know is, growing up, I read them over and over and pored over a bunch of the pictures. I didn't get to read the last one, Betsy's Wedding until I was probably in high school because I couldn't find it. There's even a Betsy-Tacy Society , which is also something I didn't know until I was older. Another book which comes to mind is Cheaper By The Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Cary. There's been movies made based on this book and there...

Happy Monday All, Just 5 more days until Christmas. Can you believe it? If you're in denial about how close it is, I'd recommend not looking at the countdown in the margin of this blog. LOL This time of year, with New Year's the week after Christmas, it's been a "look back on the year" season for a lot of things--everything from the Internet to television.   For me, the previous year had it's bright spots, but it also had its rough spots.   Two of my uncles died, as well as two friends. One of the friends that died was someone I graduated high school with and I'm still in shock about it. It's hard to imagine such a thing happening.   On the bright side, I managed to finish editing (and start the query process on) a manuscript. As well as go into a pitch session for the first time, which is even more further along than I was a year ago. I like the idea of progressing forward--learning and growing and improving.   There was also a birth o...