News flash! Punxsutawney Phil just saw his shadow. Six more weeks of winter! I must confess, I don’t pay much attention to Phil. For one thing, since moving to southeastern Virginia, where the weather changes as frequently as what’s playing on the TV in my house (translation: at least six times an hour, if my…
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Chillin’ for the holidays
Every year I tend to go on a rant about “The Holidays” — the increasing commercialization of what, to me, is a sacred holiday, the crazed Black Friday shoppers who this year even resorted to tasing to get the best of fellow bargain hunters. (Really, people??) I need to stop there. I can feel my…
Lessons of a novice author panelist
A couple Sundays ago I had the privilege of participating in the Fall for the Book event in Fairfax, Virginia. I was wearing two hats for the day: the first as organizer for the two romance panels (historical and suspense), and second as a first-time panelist on the suspense panel (Ticking Clocks: How to create pressure-cooker…
Jersey Girl’s lifetime memories ‘down the shore’
When I was a kid, like most kids in America, I flew out of the schoolyard on that last day of school and looked forward to the next ten weeks of vacation–days of sleeping late, reading every day and night, games with the kids in the neighborhood, camping out in the backyard, and the beach….
The Grill Part II – or How NOT to surprise your husband on Father’s Day
If you read my blog last week, you’ll know of my trials and tribulations attempting to have a fully assembled grill delivered to my home as a Father’s Day gift for my husband. (To recap, you apparently cannot order a fully assembled grill online and have it delivered to your home. You can have it…
Dear Home Improvement Store Lady…
I had a truly graceless moment yesterday evening that took only seconds to erupt but several months in the making. It all started in April when I visited my sister and brother-in-law in Florida. They had one of those new-fangled infrared grills. I nodded and said, “Oh, that’s nice.” My husband, however, starting poking around its…
Can a Virginia tomato fill my Jersey tomato fetish?
Today I bought my first plant of the season…. Actually, to be honest, it will probably be my ONLY plant of the season, but I count baby steps. Anyway, I bought one of those potted/patio tomato plants, with the hope of some day, in the not-too-distant future, plucking off a ripe tomato for a snack. As…
I miss James Bond
Last night I sat down to watch the new James Bond movie, “Skyfall,” with my son and husband — a man who can (and will) not only name all the previous Bond movies, but tell you which of the various actors played our fearless hero in each, which version of “M” is in each (male, female,…
Christmas Kindle Freebies ~ Our Gift to You!
FREE KINDLE BOOKS OUR GIFT TO YOU! New Kindle for Christmas? Load it with FREE books! 12 Authors ~ 12 Free Books December 25 & 26 From romantic suspense, to contemporary, historical, erotica and even “kink”! Click on the title for the buy link and check them out. I know I will! (Can’t go…
The Caboose (last place) doesn’t mean "worst" place!
Earlier this month, my friend and fellow author Vicki Landis invited me to be part of “The Next Big Thing” blog hop. Vicki is one of those multi-talented authors who writes not just fiction (with two novels and a bunch of short stories under her belt), but also non-fiction (including a book called “The Easy…