When we moved into our house 14 years ago, the neighbor came over just before Halloween and broke it to us gently that most likely our house would be covered in TP during the night.  The neighborhood kids liked to “welcome” the newcomers with a little extra Halloween decorating.  I told her not to worry about us, I had a Halloween Insurance policy that would see us safely through the night, and she looked at me like I was nuts.

But what she didn’t know is that I went to the Rhody Burrows School of Halloween.  Rhody, bless his heart, … Read more »

. . . until you turned to highway robbery.

Now let me say flat out, I have always loved going to the movies. To me it is the biggest treat to watch a film on a huge screen, with a big bag of popcorn to munch on, and a soda. But I have to say that my trip to the cinema last week has cooled my love affair with going to the movies. No, let me rephrase that: we are over. Done. Finished. At least for the time being.

There is something about walking into the theater and shaking your … Read more »

I have for years loved entering contests.  And mostly because I tend to get lucky.  Oh, I don’t win everything I enter, but I think I have a pretty good rate at scoring some great prizes.  My best friend Kit will not enter a contest with me because she says that guarantees I’ll win.  Okay, so I won the wardrobe from the Bon, the TV set and the airline tickets  but to my defense, she had just as much chance of winning as I did.

Last year, we went to a Paula Bejoun lecture.  Paula is the Cosmetic Cop and … Read more »

I recently got a copy of Naughty Paris,  A Lady’s Guide to the Sexy City by Heather Stimmler-Hall, and had a great time, if only from the comfort of my couch, designing the perfect naughty visit to Paris.  Now this is not Rick Steves travel, or the kind of trip you’d book with your mother (unless your mother is really out there), but the sort of What-happens-in-Paris, Stays-in-Paris adventure guide for a girlfriends gone wild on an unforgettable long, long weekend.

Chapters reveal hints into why Frenchmen are better lovers, where to find your hotty Frenchman, and how not to … Read more »

Thanks to the internet, I’ve discovered that I get around. Well, not me exactly, which would be sort of fun for a 40-something stay-at-home mom with the social life of an earthworm in the Mojave, but my virtual me.  That Elizabeth Boyle entity, who in the last month or so was popping up all over the place, that impertinent little minx. I rather envied her prowess, her brilliance, the way she was beloved by all.  Okay, that is probably overstating the case–okay, way overstating the case, because some people were slightly miffed with my virtual self, but then again any … Read more »

So I had an interesting evening the other night. I went to the third annual (at least I think this is the third year) of the Librarian Meet & Greet which is in conjunction with the Emerald City Writer’s Conference. Don’t ask me how the conference was, as I didn’t go this year. But I did make it to the Librarian gathering as it is too much fun:  essentially our hostess with the mostess, Deborah Schneider of the King County Library System–seen here, and the esteemed Mary Buckham gather together librarians from western Washington, get them all in a … Read more »

I’ve been sitting on these covers for a few weeks, dying to show them off.  I got the cover of Confessions of a Little Black Gown first (Tally’s story – March 31st)  and couldn’t believe how gorgeous it turned out:

When I asked them for this title (yes, this is my title) there was concern about a black gown looking too much like a “funeral”, but I don’t think anyone will be thinking about her graveside manner–am I right?    The stepback inside is breathtaking, but you’ll just have to wait for that.  I am such a tease.

But not so … Read more »

So Laura (or LLG as she is to be known) is up to her eyeballs in a deadline, but I wanted to do an interview with her since she has a great new book out, Secret Desires of a Gentleman.  So instead of bugging her and risking a scud attack from Boise, I decided to just mine our emails that we send back and forth for dirt on the esteemed and talented Ms. LLG. And besides, I thought you might want to know what authors really talk about when no one else is reading . . . Here it … Read more »

from my September contest:

•  Dalene P. of Bremerton, Washington
• Cindy M. of Harleysville, Pennsylvania
•  Vicki K. of Thorndale, TX
• Wendy B. of Easley, SC
• Holly of Lake Cormorant, MS

Congratulations on winning autographed copies of Julia Quinn’s The Lost Duke of Wyndham
and Laura Lee Guhrke’s And Then He Kissed Her. Copies will be in mail soon–I have to meet up with the infamous Ms. Quinn and get her John Hancock on your winnings.

Don’t despair if you didn’t win, because a brand new Contest posted today. Enter quickly to win a Jane Porter Flirty with Forty fun pack.… Read more »