Day: January 4, 2017

National Trivia Day

It’s National Trivia Day. Here are ten bits of useless information.

  • One of Adolf Hitler’s nephews came to the US, joined the navy, and fought his uncle’s army in WWII. His descendants live on Long Island.
  • Former President Bill Clinton once correctly answered three questions about My Little Pony on the NPR radio show Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me.
  • Taylor Swift won more awards at the 2010 Grammy’s than Elvis Presley did in his entire career.
  • The Germans have a word for emotionally based overeating: kummerspeck, which translates to “grief bacon.”
  • 666 isn’t only the Mark of the Beast–it’s also the sum of all the numbers on a roulette wheel.
  • Horses can’t vomit.
  • A pheromone in male mouse urine that stimulates sexual attraction in a female to that particular male was named Darcin—after Jane Austen’s Mr. Darcy.
  • 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
  • Obsession for Men, by Calvin Klein, is used by photographers in the wild to attract big cats into camera range.
  • Forty is the only number whose letters are in alphabetical order.

National Cookie Day

In honor of National Cookie Day, I’m going to tell you about the most erotic scene ever written in a book involving a cookie.

Seriously.

The book: Kill and Tell

The author: Linda Howard

The setting. New Orleans. A rainy summer night in the French Quarter. A balcony. Jazz in the background, enhancing the sultry tone. Bare feet. Red wine. Cookies.

Seduction.

Silly Decisions of the First World Kind

On the 4th of July, I decided to stop wearing make-up for the summer. I usually go all out for Day Job, but with the 80+ degree heat, putting foundation, powder, blush etc. on my face had the same effect as pouring the stuff down the drain.

I had no idea how freeing it would be.

I know. Silly, isn’t it? But that’s about 10 minutes in the morning  I get back. Ten minutes I can write.

That’s the ability to rub my eyes when I’m tired and not worry about the cosmetic outcome.

That’s me, re-emerging from the corporate me that ruled my life for so long.

So I have to make a decision about Tuesday morning, when my Day Job’s Summer Dress Code is no longer in effect. Putting on make-up isn’t the same things as the males having to put on ties again. Ties are part of the uniform. Make-up is for . . . enhancement, which is something about which I know longer care.

I’m a wash-and-go woman. I don’t fuss with my hair (gave that up years ago). I don’t even blow dry my hair. My stylist does a fabulous job with the cut and color. I just have to show up at her salon every 6 weeks or so.

I asked my friends, just for input. They don’t like the way they look without make-up, so they wear it. Which is fine.

I asked my husband what he thought. Non-issue for him. His opinion (besides my own) is the only one that matters to me.

There are a lot of things about getting older that suck. Reading glasses. Aches and pains. But being more comfortable and accepting of my body–which includes my face–isn’t one of them.

 

 

 

Date Your Mate Month

May is Date Your Mate Month.

MoonlightSerenade Final Cover with Quote

Tokarz de Lobo Garnier didn’t date Delilah Tenney before he claimed her as his mate.

(Moonlight Serenade, available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.)

JericoBurned_505x825

Stoker Smith delayed claiming Lucy Callahan, but not for long. Nor did they date in the interim.

(And Jericho Burned, available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.)

Omega Moon Rising

Their single date is what got Luke Omega and Abigail Grant into trouble.

(Omega Moon Rising available at Amazon)

I guess dating your mate doesn’t include werewolves.

Work-In-Progress Wednesday: Anne B. Cole

8 Comments

It’s Work-In-Progress Wednesday, and today I’d like to welcome Anne B. Cole!

ann cole author photo

MJ: November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Do you participate? If so, do you find it helpful? If not, why not?

ABC: I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time in 2014. I didn’t participate in the traditional way—writing an entire book. Instead I worked on my third book in the Souls Trilogy, Souls Endure, my current WIP.

NaNoWriMo is helpful because it gave me a passion to write everyday. I believe I wrote 22 thousand words that month—the most I’ve ever written in a single month. Now days, I aim for 500 words /day.

MJ: If you didn’t write, what would be your creative outlet?

ABC: Hmmm. I love to garden and run but neither is very creative. I love to cook and bake—that could be creative with the limited time I have to fix dinners some nights:)

MJ: Other than writing, what would be your dream job? Why?

ABC: I love the outdoors and I’m a teacher, so my dream job would be to be a ‘naturalist hiking guide’ at a national park.

MJ: Describe your ideal/dream writing space.

ABC: A screened in porch (with windows during the colder seasons) with a view of fields/woods and perhaps a pond. I love watching the birds and squirrel that visit my window where I write now. Here is a picture of a squirrel in my peach tree from my real writing window.

DSC_0225

MJ: What do you love most about your WIP hero?

ABC: I love Sam’s loyalty to Gretta. No matter what the circumstance, he strives to help and protect her.

MJ: What do you least like about your WIP heroine?

ABC: Gretta tends to need more self confidence, so I put her in situations where she is forced to adapt and become stronger emotionally and physically.

MJ: What genre is your current WIP?

ABC: Supernatural Suspense—with time travel into the past, so there is a bit of historical fiction along with the paranormal elements. Yep, I’m a genre bender! I tried to fit my books into a cozy single genre…it didn’t work:)

MJ: How did you come up with your hero and heroine’s names?

ABC: Great question! I’ve taught many, many kids through my teaching career so picking names is difficult for me.

I chose ‘Gretta’ because years ago one of my preschool students had a new baby sister named Gretta and I fell in love with the name. ‘Dobbs’ is a very old family name.

I chose ‘Sam’ because I love the book, Green Eggs and Ham. ‘Daggett’ is a road in my home town in Pennsylvania.

MJ: How did you choose the setting for your current WIP?

ABC: The primary setting for Souls Endure—Delos— is a sacred Greek Island. With Sam and Gretta faced with breaking the final curse on Gretta’s ring, I needed to place them in a setting where gods, curses, and mythology all could contribute to the plot.

The first book in the series, Souls Entwined, was set in Milos, a Greek island near Delos. The second book, Souls Estranged, was set in the United States. I missed the island setting and knew I had to return to it in the final book.

 

MJ: Can you share the opening lines of your current work in progress?

ABC: Yes. This is from Souls Endure:

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Raindrops speckled the sidewalk, yet disappeared within seconds in the heat of late August. The homeless man adjusted his grip on the dagger still concealed in the folds of his new jacket.

He knew what he had to do.

The man who gave him the jacket had relayed instructions without words. Despite the pain he would inflict, his actions were necessary for the protection of the young couple.

He would complete the task without question.

MJ: Your current release, Souls Estranged, is Book Two of The Souls Trilogy. Where can readers find it?

SoulsEstranged (2) (1)

ABC: It’s available at Amazon.

MJ: How can readers stay in touch with you?

ABC: I have a blog, and I’m on Twitter and Facebook.

MJ: Thanks again for stopping by. Good luck with your books!