Swooshing Down the Mountain

I hope you all enjoyed the recipes this last week.  I pre-posted them because I didn't know if I would have Internet or not.  It turns out that I did, but I was on vacation and didn't really want to bother with the blog.  Sorry, but sometimes we need a break, right?

And where did I (and my family) go on vaca?

We went skiing in the Colorado Rockies at Keystone ski resort.  Over the last ten years, we would ski once or twice a winter at Keystone.  Pre-kiddo--we used to ski many other places, but now it's just easier to go to the place where you know all the ski runs and their normal skiing conditions.

Living in Tulsa, it takes us about 12 hours just to drive to Denver, add into that an early start of 4:45 AM.  Add another hour or so (depending on the mountain conditions) to drive to Keystone.  Okay, that's 13+ hours cooped up in the car with the hubster and kiddo. 

Let's just say that I'm over the family bonding and would like a little 'alone' time. 

The drive wasn't too hideous.  I took some pictures of the trip. 

A whole lot of nothing in Kansas

Eastern Colorado isn't much better

Yeah, there's a whole lot of nuthin' in Kansas and eastern Colorado. Very flat and very boring.  So I read.  And that will be the next blog topic!



on the left is the gondola, the specks on the right are people.



This is the view out our condo window.  I had to lean over the railing to get the picture of the gondola and the River Run slope, which is a blue slope (an intermediate run). At the end of the day, skiing down River Run is ugly!  It gets soft and mushy, and add crowded with newbies falling left and right and boarders riding down the slopes at 50 mph.



Breckenridge ski resort are the mountains behind us

 This is a picture of my kidlet and me at the top of Elk Run.  It's on the backside of Keystone's mountain.  She's got the helmet to protect her brainpan . . . and I'm too old to care about my decrepit old brain cells. And she isn't quite as tall as she looks in this picture . . . I was standing slightly downhill from her. 

Yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking with it!

The first day skiing we always put her in ski school.  Why?  Because she won't listen to what we tell her about skiing, so we have to pay someone to do it for us. But then the next three days, she skied with us.  She has no problem keeping up, in fact, she smoked us on a few runs. 

I refuse to ski moguls, but I'll ski anything that's been groomed--blue and black slopes. The steeper it is, the more fun it is to me. Here's a pic of Keystone's trail map. Sorry, it's blurry, but I got it from a huge pdf file. Here's the original--big enough to see.

Tuesday night, I rested my sore legs and weary feet while the hubster and kiddo did a bit of night skiing.  Yes, there are lights, but it's challenging since the terrain looks very flat.  Night skiing definitely teaches you to ski by feel. Kinda of like learning to take some jumps on horseback. Only a few green and blue runs are lit, so the choice of runs is limited.

Wednesday AM, there was a fresh couple of inches of snow. We skied until about 2:30 and then rested because that night we all went night skiing
 . . . and I remembered why I didn't like night skiing.

Keystone night skiing trail map

We skied away from the gondola and made a plan of attack.  And while we were talking a young lady skied up to us and asked about the easy way down.  We hated to tell her that she was on it, with 3 miles down to the base.  She had never skied before and her buddies decided that she needed to try night skiing.  I said, "you are either very gutsy or insane." She replied that it was probably a little of both. 

About halfway down Schoolmarm, I took a rest break.  The kidlet was uphill from me and the hubster was below when a lone ski, sans skier, zipped right into the kidlet's leg, bounced into the air and then sped down the hill and over the cliff.  Hubster--nice guy that he is--popped off his skis to get the errant ski, and nearly went waist deep in a drift.  Ski rescued, we waited for the dude to walk down the slope.  We couldn't see him since we were pretty far below the crest of the cliff. He was quite happy that he wouldn't have to pay the rental place for the pair of skies. Once we hit the bottom, I quit for the night while the hubster and kiddo skied another couple of runs. 

My knees and feet just can't do it any longer.  Of course, it had nothing to do with my being overweight and out-of-shape.

Thursday was another fun ski day as we tackled most of the mountain.  They shut down one of the gondolas due to the high wind.  And I will admit that it was miserable skiing down the backside of the mountain, the top layer of snow was blown away leaving an icy layer, so we ventured to the front face after lunch.

And on Friday, we drove home--let me clarify--the hubster drove home.  We hit blowing snow, in the dark since we left at 4:30 AM, from Keystone until Denver, then a dense fog bank (freaky scary!), but after that it was smooth driving the rest of the way home.

The fuzzy beasts missed us, but we had a dog sitter watching Maggie, Mr. Kato Kitty and Rocky the guinea pig, and she took care of them, i.e. no one died!  Yes, that is a worry since Mr. Kato Kitty turned 21 years old yesterday. 

Yeah, I've had him longer than I've known the hubster!

Well, that's enough blathering for now!

Later, Peeps!

Mom's Pancakes

And just in time for Saturday morning, my mom’s pancake recipe. Though this is my recipe, I think that I’ve made it only a handful of times in all the years that I’ve been married (since 1992). This recipe easily feeds three with a few leftovers.  Double ingredients, if needed.

Pancakes

1¼ cup flour

2 ½ tsp. baking powder

3 Tbls. sugar

¾ tsp. salt

1 egg

1 cup milk

3 Tbls. butter, melted

Heat griddle over medium-high heat, until a piece of white paper turns brown.  Sift dry ingredients together. Beat egg; add milk. Stir into dry ingredients. Add melted butter, mix.  Ladle pancakes onto griddle, making them about 3 inches in diameter. When pancakes bubble, flip them and cook on the other side. 

While cooking pancakes warm maple syrup.

I do make a blackberry sauce that's awesome, but I wing it, too.

Blackberries

Sugar

Cornstarch mixed with a little lemon juice

Cook blackberries and sugar with a little water until mushy, about 15 minutes.  Add small amount of cornstarch mixture to thicken.  Pour mixture through strainer, squishing the fruit against the sides to remove the seeds and skins. Pour into a squirt bottle and use it for pancakes, waffles, ice cream, etc. Store remainder in refrigerator.

Cook sausage or bacon to round out the meal.  It adds protein and fat, which stays with you longer than just the carbohydrates from the pancakes and syrup.

Lost Leprechaun Loot Freebie!

Now that St. Paddy's Day is here, I'm still giving away free copies of Lost Leprechaun Loot!

It has leprechauns, though they aren't the typical leprechaun that you think about when you think of St. Paddy's day. 

It has a dragon, and I have to admit that Zinzara is a little different than your typical dragon.

And it has pixies, lots and lots of pixies.  If y'all are familiar with Star Trek and the Borg, then you might have a little insight into my pixies.

Amazon won't let me give away freebies, so you have to go here, click BUY (pdf is best), and enter this code: XD43F

Later, Peeps!

I simply don’t understand why people buy spaghetti sauce in a jar.  Oh, I know it’s convenient and all that but do you know how simple it is to make your own?  AND you know exactly what you put in it. I will confess that I wing this recipe, which means you add as much or as little of the seasonings as you like. Sometimes I add the thyme, basil, oregano and rosemary, while other times I don’t.

My daughter loves this stuff.  Sometimes she’ll eat the pasta plain and cover her Italian bread with it like bruschetta.

I also use this sauce, with a little tomato paste added to the leftovers, as pizza sauce.

I’m still hunting for a wonderful pizza dough recipe if you have one to share.

Margaret’s Marinara

2 cans 14.5-oz. diced tomatoes (Hunts)

2 cans 15-oz tomato sauce (Hunts)

Dried minced onion

Italian seasoning (McCormick)

Thyme

Basil

Oregano

Rosemary, crushed

Garlic powder, or minced garlic if you have it (mine is usually sprouting leaves so I have a fallback)

Salt

Pepper

Toss everything into a pot, heat over medium until bubbling. Using a hand blender, chop the tomatoes up.  If using nonstick, be careful not to scratch your cooking pot. Angle lid to allow steam to escape and keep napalm tomato blurps contained. Cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. When it thickens or starts to stick, turn off heat and remove lid to allow steam to escape.  

Pay your spouse to clean up tomato mess that will inevitably happen to your stove.

Enjoy!

I think I'm going to have a hard time getting online this week, so I'm preparing some yummy food for you.

Bon Appetit!

MAG

This was originally from a Weight Watcher’s cookbook, so the recipe has already been leaned up.  If pork isn't in your diet, try this with pounded chicken breasts or veal--just remember to adjust the cooking time! 

Serve with wild rice and a fresh green salad.

Braised Pork Chops

1 tsp. vegetable oil or cooking spray (PAM)

4 5-oz lean pork loin chops--thinly cut no more than ½ inch thick

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 medium onion, minced

½ cup chicken broth

¼ cup dry sherry

¼ tsp. dried rosemary leaves, crumbled

¼ tsp. cracked black pepper

½ cup nonfat cream cheese, softened

¼ cup skim milk

1) In medium nonstick skillet, heat oil, and add pork chops.  Cook over medium-high heat, turning once, about 2 minutes per side or until brown on both sides. Remove pork chops from skillet; set aside.

2) In same skillet, add mushrooms and onions. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, about 8-10 minutes until vegetables are golden brown. Stir in broth, sherry, rosemary and pepper.  Bring to liquid to boil.  Add browned pork chops; baste with liquid in skillet.  Reduce heat to low; simmer, covered, basting occasionally with liquid in skillet, for 30 minutes or until pork chops are cooked through and very tender.

3) Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine cream cheese and milk and beat until smooth.

4) Stir cheese mixture into pork chop mixture; cook until just heated through (do not boil). Place pork chop on plates and top each portion with an equal amount of vegetable mixture.

FOODIE FRIDAY--Chicken Wellington

This recipe originally came from the cookbook, BEST OF THE BEST OF TEXAS. I love this recipe. It’s quick. It’s easy. And it looks spectacular when presented on a plate with a lovely green salad. My ten-year-old LOVES this recipe.

I’ll type the ‘official’ version, but will offer hints at the end to make it lighter in fat.

Chicken Wellington

I sheet puff pastry (Pepperidge Farm—freezer section) room temp

¼ cup butter

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (fat trimmed off)

½ (8 oz.) pkg cream cheese (Philadelphia Brand) room temp

Knorr Swiss Aromat seasoning for meat, to taste (sometimes hard to find—try a German food store if it isn’t in your normal grocery store)

Lemon Pepper, to taste

1. When puff pastry reaches room temperature, unfold it onto a floured surface, sprinkle top lightly with flour, and roll it out as flat as you can, but to where you can still handle the dough.  Cut dough into 4 equal-sized pieces. (works with three breasts, too)

2. Using medium heat, melt butter, add chicken breasts, and cook 5 minutes per side.

3. Place each breast in the center of a pastry square; put 2 tablespoons of cream cheese on top of each breast. (work quickly as the hot meat will soften pastry and cause it to rip)

4. Sprinkle to taste with Knorr seasoning for meat and lemon pepper. (I’m heavy handed with this step)

5. Pull the edges of the pastry square up and fold them over the breast to seal the breast inside the pastry, tuck edges under the pastry.

6. Brush top of pastry with melted butter, if desired.

7. Bake uncovered in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. May need to broil for a minute or so to brown the top.

To lighten the fat content:

Delete butter.  Use a non-stick pan and lightly spray with butter-flavored cooking spray (Pam). 

Use low-fat Philly cream cheese.  I used 1/3 reduced fat and couldn’t tell the difference.  Non-fat might work, too, since the seasonings would cover any weird graininess you might experience.

Lightly spray the top of the pastries with butter-flavored cooking spray prior to cooking.

Need your help!

Hey, All,
I know some you are closet voyeurs into my blog, but I need your help right now!
I'm trying to get a facebook page EXCLUSIVELY for updates on my books, freebies, releases, promo, etc.  I won't be posting any updates or playing games on this link. 
I'd appreciate it if you can LIKE my page.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/M-A-Golla/187944811242597
Thanks muchly!

Jury Duty--The TRUTH

Here's my smashwords page, Click on Lost Leprechaun Loot, enter the coupon code: XV73M  for a free copy!
Day One

I will tell you the unadulterated truth about the excitement of the beast known as ‘jury duty”.

Uhm—it isn’t . . . exciting, that is.

I left the house at 7:45, dealt with various traffic issues, but managed to make it to the assigned parking garage by 8:20.  Walking to the courthouse and passing through security took another 10 minutes.  I arrived at the jury room right on time at 8:30.

Only to discover the line snaked around the lower level until it turned back upon itself.  Another thirty minutes and then I checked in.  By 9:20, a judge showed up and we took our juror’s pledge.  Add to this another 45 minutes of waiting in ANOTHER line to pick up our badge.  Finally, at 10:30, bailiffs arrived to call juror onto cases. 

The first four cases were civil and they called 24-30 jurors each. 

I was called on the fifth case—of course, it was criminal.  After they called 30 of us, they excused us for lunch—it was 11:15 and we didn’t have to be back until 1:30. 

Uhm, I don’t know about y’all, but I NEVER go downtown and I wouldn’t have a clue what to eat or do for two hours.  But I occupied myself with a super-secret something that I can’t divulge until after March 20^th.

After lunch, I walked back to the courtroom and I’m waiting until the judge calls us in and they pick the jury. 

Stay tuned!

25 out of 30 of us were called, questioned by the judge, the prosecutor, and the defense attorney.  They prosecutor didn’t like my comment that I thought many court cases were ‘frivolous’.  Yes, I said that and for the most part I meant it.  There are too many cases that waste everyone’s time and money when the real cases can be tried.

Anyhoo, after two hours we were dismissed on break while they chose the 12 jurors and 1 alternate.  I wasn’t one of them, so I went back into the jury pool.  Two more groups were called and then a final group was called for juvenile court. 

At 4:48, we were dismissed.

I hope you enjoyed a little peek into the American Judicial System.  Oh, and the way they chose jurors to summons—it’s by your driver’s license—at least, here in Oklahoma.  They summon 675 potential jurors, but only about half show up, many are over 70 years old or have moved out of the county.  We started with 268 people and about 25 were rescheduled or dismissed.  And the court has 33 judges that can call jurors.

Day Two

Leave the house at 7:45, arrive at the jury room at 8:25. 

And I waited.

Jurors already seated arrive at various intervals until 9:30.

And I waited.

Jurors for about 6 judges were called to their various courtrooms.

And I waited.

One judge kept his jury downstairs until 11:45 and they were called to the courtroom.

We were excused for lunch.  Walked with a new friend to the local Coney Islander and ate two Coneys’.  Arrived back in the jury room at 12:30.

And waited. 

Talked to another new friend who was on the jury called at 11:45—their case never made it to trial.  The defendant took one look at the pulled jurors and struck a plea bargain.  And they were recycled into the jury pool.

And we waited.

At 3:30 another 32 jurors were called.

And we waited.

At 3:32 we were thanked for our service and dismissed for the week.

HUH??  I HAVE NEVER BEEN DISMISSED ON TUESDAY!  LATE WEDNESDAY, YES, BUT NEVER TUESDAY.  So, I’m free for the week, well, except the contest entries I need to judge and my FAERIE edits, and . . .

Later, Peeps!

Jury Duty

This week, I've been called to Jury Duty (JD) . . . again. *sigh*

Most people get called once, twice, or sometimes not at all, but not me.  I think this is about the tenth time that I've been called since I was able to vote (yes, I'll say it, over 30 years).  One of my friends laughed and said, "No way" and thought I was exaggerating. 

Trust me, I'm not.

Along with the regular City/County turns that I've been 'privledged' to be on a month long call for Federal Jury Duty (FJD). 

Yep, been there, done that. Seriously.

FJD is fairly straight forward.  You get called for a month of duty.  On Fridays, you call a phone number and find out if you have to be in court on Monday.  I was called two out of four weeks.  At the time I worked night shift, 11-7, at a hospital, which meant I also worked weekends.  Try explaining that to your boss!  I vividly remember those two cases: 1) racial discrimination, and 2) oral contract.  But that doesn't tell you about the mind-numbing evidence I had to listed to BEFORE the jury decided each case.  Let's just say that I know more about how to make rebar than any normal person should!

It's been three years since I was on JD.  They tried to get me two years ago, but it was illegal to call a juror in back-to-back years.  And they always seem to call me in March, right around my kiddo's spring break. I've been called to sit on more cases than I can even remember, everything from contracts-to-insurance fraud-to murder. I've sat on them all.  And I don't expect this time to be any different.

All I can say is that $20 a day isn't good enough.  I'll blog on Wednesday what a day in the life of a juror is all about--BORING.  I'll have my phone, Kindle, paper books, and my netbook (though I have slim hopes of trying to write my leprechaun revenge story--as they never have enough electrical outlets)

Like I said before, I don't mind JD, but I think it's time to give another upstanding citizen the chance to sit and enjoy getting grilled by the prosecutor, defense lawyer, and judge--and don't think that they won't do that to a juror, they will.

Yeah--like I said before, been there, done that. 

Later, Peeps!

FOODIE FRIDAY--Coconut Macaroons

I'm over today (irritating cus-in-law pointed this out. Thanks, Marty!) at Murder She Writes today, courtesy of Karin Tabke. Please come over and keep me company!--well, maybe eventually. I believe she might have had some issues opening up my document.

I'll be the first to admit--I don't like coconut--but I'm such a wonderful wife and mother that I'll make these coconut macaroons. And yes, I changed the recipe to work for me. Enjoy!

Sorry, if you don't have American measurements, you'll have to do your own conversions.

Coconut Macaroons

1 14-oz. pkg sweetened flaked coconut (Baker’s)

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large egg whites

¼ tsp. salt

½ cup mini chocolate morsels (Nestles)

½ cup chopped nuts (pecans)

Preheat oven to 310 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine flaked coconut, chocolate morsels, nuts, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla in large bowl. Using electric mixer beat egg whites and salt in another bowl to medium-firm peaks. Fold 1/3 of egg whites into coconut mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining egg whites. Using a medium-sized cookie scoop (slightly less than ¼ cup), drop coconut mixture on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart, press down slightly. Bake until golden, about 20-25 minutes (might need to rotate mid-baking). Cool macaroons on parchment paper.  Slide metal spatula under macaroons to remove.  Store in single layer in airtight container.

Lost Leprechaun Loot is still available for FREE! 
Go to my main smashwords page, click on Lost Leprechaun Loot.  Yes, you will have to 'sign up'.  They simply use this buying info to 'suggest' other books you might like. Click the buy button on your preferred download (choose PDF as a default).  When you hit enter, it will ask for the coupon code.  Enter, XV73M. Save to your documents.  And you're finished!  Enjoy the story!

Later, Peeps!

Release Day for GNOME!!!

In celebration of releasing GNOME, I will give away a free copy of Lost Leprechaun Loot . . . just in time for St. Paddy's day!!!
Here's my smashwords page, Click on Lost Leprechaun Loot, enter the coupon code: XV73M



Feel free to forward this link and code to anyone and everyone.  LLL will be free until March 14th.
Oh, I'm planning to have Book 2, THE FAST AND THE FAERIEOUS out by May1!

Love and hugs for all your support!
Later, Peeps!

The Truths about Self-Publishing

For those of you who think self-publishing is simply slapping your manuscript up on an e-pub site, let me be the first to educate you.

Just because you wrote a story, it doesn't mean it's ready for the big time.  Just because you read your rough draft and fixed a few errors, it doesn't mean it's ready for the big time.  Just because you allowed your family and friends to read your story (and they gushed . . . unlike my family who simply ignores me), it doesn't mean it's ready for the big time.

Once you finish that first story, you heave a big sigh, you can't wipe that huge grin of your face, you set it aside for a week or six, and you tell those near and dear that you finished your novel . . . and then the real work starts.

The creative portion of your work is out of the way, now you have to get analytical.  Yes, you have to be logical and think about how to improve your story and make it more marketable.  You need to see what's selling in your genre. You need to read your target genre VORACIOUSLY.  You need to know what length of book is acceptable for your particular genre.  You need to know what is morally acceptable in your particular genre. Pushing the limit on certain topics might work for your story, but be simply be AWARE. You might have a book that talks about abuse, drugs, and sex, but if it's for a Young Adult novel you need to approach it with a delicate touch.  YA's don't want preachy, they want real and if you can educate them at the same time then good for you.

And now you need to rip your story apart--RUTHLESSLY.  Cut any crap that doesn't move the story forward.  Cut any chapter/paragraph/sentence that doesn't show growth in your character, expand the plot, or reveal information. Cut any sentence that you have to read twice--if they confuse you, they will certainly confuse the reader. You need to be analytical about your story's pacing, characterization, and dialogue, which should reflect the style of each character (age, dialect, syntax).

If you think your story is ready to publish--think again. Do this 3-4 times before you even let anyone look at your story. Now is the time to call in your trusted writer friends, your critique buddies, or beta readers.  Let them know what is expected from them.  Do you want big picture items? Pacing, characterization, plot.  Or do you want them to find the nit-picky stuff? Grammar, punctuation, word choice (this is HUGE, especially with characterization). It's a waste of EVERYONES time if you have a CP fix your grammar and punctuation problems, if you have to cut an entire chapter or two because your pacing is off. 

REMEMBER: Fix the big stuff first and then work down to the little stuff.

You need to come up with a decent title.  It's up to you to find a title that conveys what your story is all about. Put on your thinking cap, brainstorm with your group of CP's, or simply jot down every crappy title you can think of until the most obscure thought pops into your mind.

Once you have a viable story and title, you need to come up with a blurb, synopsis and logline. A blurb is what you would find on the back of a physical book. It identifies the main character(s) and their conflict.  A synopsis (long-5-10 pages and short-1 page) describes your story in detail (some e pub sites require both).  And a logline is a way to convey your story idea in less than 30 words. Think of the TV blurbs in the paper or TV Guide. If you can't develop an 'elevator pitch', then you aren't ready for the big time. The Smashwords site requires a short blurb of less than 400 characters, not words, characters including spaces.  How would you tweet your story concept?  Condensing your 90,000 word story into 30 words is HARD.  You have to think about the core story, and then choose the words carefully to convey what that story is about.

THIS IS THE POINT WHERE YOU WOULD QUERY AGENTS AND EDITORS WITH YOUR STORY.  YOU ARE ALSO READY TO PITCH TO AN AGENT/EDITOR, TOO.
Now you need to think about your cover concept.  What is the impression you want the reader to have when they first see your cover?  Is it dark? Romantic? Thriller? Fun? Fantasy?  If this story is the first in a series, you need to think about the series logo, idea, or concept.  This idea will carry through all the books in the series, so spend some time thinking about your 'look'.  And if you have zero artistic talent, take a crowbar to your wallet and spend some money. 

Why?

Think about it.  What is the first thing a prospective reader sees when looking for a book?  The cover.

And now you have to think about tags.  Those are the words that will be searched on by a prospective reader. (for GNOME, I used, gnome, goblin, witch, magic, fantasy, etc)

You've checked all of the above and you think you're ready.

Think again.

Now it's time to format your story.  Get rid of all those stupid extra spaces that snuck in when you weren't looking.  You know the ones.  They're insidious.  Some times they crop up at the beginning of a paragraph or they multiply in-between sentences, or they'll even show up at the end of a sentence. This includes those extra ENTER keystrokes, which translate into blank pages in an e-book. You might not think it matters, but it does when your manuscript converts to the computer formats used by various e-readers. This is a good time to slowly go through your story AGAIN.  One trick is to go through it backwards to keep yourself from getting caught up in the story and missing things.

Verify each chapter number--trust me on this. Been there, done that. I forgot that I cut a chapter, which made everything wonky. If you changed a character's name, or left ??? where you meant to check something or find a more appropriate noun or verb.  Or simply left a word out of a sentence (and it had been missed by you AND THREE OTHER PEOPLE!). 

Take a deep breath and realize that you are now ready.  Look beginnings of other e-books that are in your genre.  Did they have a cover page, write a disclaimer, add licensing notes?

Now, you're ready.  Go through the instructions.  If you don't have a cover image the correct size, then fix it BEFORE you upload the image.  If you need to add a teaser chapter for your next book be sure to add it to your copy before you upload the document.

Then you have to fill out the legal forms and "sign the contract".

And all you have to do is wait for the money to roll in, right?  Be real, remember your you're (and this was after I proofed it 3 TIMES!) already in the hole . . .

Uh, think again.  Now comes the marketing part of the equation.

I don't know about you, but I'm beat.

So this is all for today!

Later Peeps!

Herb Roasted Potatoes

I believe this recipe was originally written down at a Weight Watcher's meeting years ago, but when I searched through my book of Bon Appetite recipes, I found many recipes that were similar.  If you want to change the herbs to Herbs de Provance, or use Lemon Pepper, or whatever, go right ahead!  That is the beauty of these easy-peasy recipes. Enjoy!

Herb Roasted Potatoes

Prep time: 5-15 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

Oven temp: 375 degrees F.

Russet potatoes, peeled, cubed into ½-in pieces (I used 5 small/medium potatoes-feel free to try red, blue, Yukon gold, or whatever you have available)

Olive oil

Italian seasoning

Garlic powder

Salt

Black pepper

Minced dried onions (fresh onions will burn in the oven)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place cubed potatoes into 9-in square Pyrex pan.  Drizzle with olive oil, shake seasonings over potatoes.  Toss with hands until coated (the potatoes, though your hands are coated, too!). Add more seasoning, if desired.

Place pan in center of oven for one hour.  Set timer for 30 minutes.  When 30 minutes are up, using metal spatula, flip potatoes over (they might stick to the pan). If they don't seem to be cooking, increase the oven's temp 25 degrees, if it is cooking too quickly, lower the temp 25 degrees Cook for 30 more minutes.

They should look golden brown, like this. This should also give you an idea of how much of the Italian herb seasoning I used.

Sorry, this is from my phone . . . deal with the picture quality.  I placed our plates in the oven to warm, they ended up too hot, so be careful.  A warm plate will keep the meal warmer for longer. Uh, I shouldn't have to say this, but I will DO NOT DO THIS WITH A PLASTIC PLATE!

Served with pan-fried ham steak (@ 1/3 inch thick slice of bone-in ham) and peas.  Heated plates in the oven to keep meal warm.  Excellent!

Enjoy!
Later, Peeps!

Drudgery of Formatting

Tuesday morning, my beta reader/grammar maven sent GNOME back with her comments and edits.  This is the final FINAL edit of this story.  It's slow going because I decided to verify my formatting at the same time. 

When you take the step to self-pub, you have to do it all yourself (or pay someone).  Now, don't let the thought of formatting your work overwhelm you.  There are a few tricks of the trade, BUT it is very slow and tedious to check all your sentences to make certain you don't double space, have your quotation marks going the wrong direction, and place only one space AFTER every period, plus I didn't want too many paragraph returns between chapters since this can leave blank pages on e-readers.

I must say when my beta reader returned GNOME, she sent me an email along with the manuscript.  The one sentence that stood out was, "I read half the book last night, and frankly, I didn't want to stop, but I was SO exhausted I knew I was starting to read for just pleasure and I wasn't catching edits, so I shut it down for the night."

THIS was why I decided to take the step to self-publish. 

THIS was why I started writing middle grade.

I want to share my stories. I want to write stories that pull readers from their reality and immerse them into my fantasy. Editors and agents aren't looking for my type of story.  That's my reality. It's too light and not dark end-of-the-world type of story.

Is self-pubbing for everyone?  My response is still NO. 

This year, I intend to publish ALL my finished Goblin's Apprentice stories.  So far, that's three novels in the series and three short stories.  I also intend to write three more short stories.  Think about it.  The stories are written, but need editing, blurbs and covers= time and $$$.

Which means none of them are ready to go up without some work!

At the end of GNOME, I will place a teaser of the next book in the series, The Fast and the FAERIEous, but that doesn't mean FAERIE is ready to publish.  It needs edits-slicing and dicing-beta reads to catch the stupid mistakes (missing words, wrong tense, confusing sentences, etc). 

*sigh* and the cycle begins again.

I do have one regret by self-publishing.

I don't have any books to sign.  I won't get the chance to meet my readers at a book signing, but I'll take that trade off if I get kids to read my quirky stories.  And readers are more than welcome to chat with me on Facebook, or email me a note.

Sorry, I went off on a tangent again.

--and now, I need to figure out how to market my stories . . .

No excuse, just tired. 

Later, Peeps!

Blog Stats

I glanced at my blog stats on Monday and had a huge shock.  Now, I don't usually have many page hits during a 24 hour period, 28-36 on a good day.  Imagine my jaw drop when I saw that I had 19 hits at 0300 on Sunday 2/20/11.  INCONCEIVABLE! (name the movie) 

Smart-a$$ husband wondered what crazy people were up at 3 AM.  I gently pointed out that would be a 'normal' hour for our friends in the European/Eastern countries.  My blog isn't so detailed that I knew which entry was being perused, so I decided it was because of the Tomato Soup recipe I posted on Friday.

Therefore, I have declared Friday's as Foodie Day.  I need to write my recipes down for my daughter and this is the perfect excuse to get started on this project.

Hope you enjoy!
Oh, the movie?  THE PRINCESS BRIDE, of course!
Later, Peeps!

GNOME cover!!

Last week, I chopped, diced and julienned GNOME, cutting the word count from 42,000 words to 32,000 words and tightening it until it was squeaky clean.  The story is out with two beta readers to catch my stupid mistakes. I hope to fix the little stuff this week, write a back cover copy, add a teaser for FAERIE (Book 2 in the series), and format it to have it up and running March 1.
And here's Rory Leafhopper:

Later, Peeps!

Herbed Tomato Soup

I should have taken a picture when I made this, but it disappeared quickly--Oops . . . 

While my kidlet was home due to the two freak snowstorms, I did a lot of cooking.  This recipe was originally a Weight Watcher's 0 point recipe.  Don't worry, we got rid of that pesky goose egg and added points.  I have no idea how many calories per serving, but I do know my 10-year-old had about three or four meals consisting of this soup.

Herbed Tomato Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
2-14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
1- 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 t. basil
1 t. salt
1/2 t. thyme
1/4 t. pepper
4 c. chicken broth
@ 1/2 c. heavy cream

Saute onions in pat of butter until translucent. Add rest of ingredients, EXCEPT cream.  Simmer about 15-20 minutes. Puree soup using hand blender (if you have non-stick pans be very careful not to scratch them). Adjust seasoning to taste.  Add cream until turns the color of cooked salmon.

Sorry, but eyeballing it is part of the deal.  My kidlet tasted the soup prior to the cream and remarked that it tasted too herby.  The cream adds a touch of richness that tamps down the herbs and brings out the tomato flavor.

I'm beat from editing GNOME.  I managed to cut another 20% of the story and tightened it to within an inch of it's life.  It is out with another beta reader

Shower Epiphany

I don't know how other writers get their epiphanies *lightbulb*, but there's something about being in the shower that gets my mind churning.

So, to that end, I was in the shower this morning, thinking about my GNOME cover--my cover designer Laura is on the final tweaks--when the lighbulb moment hit me. In the series, a medallion plays a minor role and Laura designed a medallion for me.  It will be placed in the O of Goblin logo.  Anyhoo, Laura couldn't make it work as I had written it, so she moved the dragon image to the top of the medallion. No biggie, I'll just change it in the story.

This morning I was thinking about the medallion: a dragon with its wings spread on top, while underneath a unicorn and phoenix face each other.

Oh. My.  Gosh!  *lightbulb*  I can't tell you the entirety of my lightbulb moment, but I can tell you that there will be a book or two down the road that will be based on that one thought.  OMG! It ties everything together.  And no, I'm not telling, but if you read GNOME (Book One of THE GOBLIN'S APPRENTICE) you will probably get an inkling of what I intend to do.

I'm a seat-of-the-pants type of writer.  I get an idea and, as I'm writing, the characters reveal themselves to me.  Sometimes I'll put something into a story, but don't have the foggiest idea why, until much, much later when it's revealed to me.

That said, I wrote GNOME over two years ago.  The medallion emerged in the story and yes, has a place in Books 2 & 3, but I didn't realize the deeper meaning of it until today.

Wow . . . I love the way my mind works things out.

Gotta get to work.  I've already chopped roughly 20% of GNOME--yep, about 8000 words, which is a lot of words on a <50,000 word story.

Later, Peeps!

Shadow Circus

Here's my story from Writer's Digest's February prompt, which is the first sentence.  Out of 640 entries only five were chosen, alas, not mine. Tell me what you think of it . . .

It was on a bright, starry night that the traveling circus rolled into town.  They paraded down Main Street in grey silence, with neither the animals nor humans making a sound.  Spooky in the extreme, macabre even.

Sneaking out of the house every evening had become the norm, it was better than listening to Mom cry.  I knew I screwed up when I wrecked the car.  But, geez, give a guy a break. 

It was late, around ten o’clock, but like most small towns the sidewalks rolled-up around six and the one and only traffic light in town flashed yellow. I followed the silent entourage, not knowing exactly why, but something pulled me toward them.

Shoving my hands into my Levi’s, I stared at my feet as I walked along the cracked and weedy sidewalk. I didn’t expect to see anyone, which made it worse when I nearly plowed into the town’s certified nutjob.  I didn’t realize I hit her until I heard her gasp. I turned to steady her.  “I’m sorry, Miz Leticia, guess I should have been looking where I was headed.”

She turned, squinting through her glasses as she looked up at me.  “Is that you, Luke Mathews?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” I replied. “What brings you out this late?”

She nervously coughed and glanced at the circus walking down the street.  “Oh, I was working late and I heard the circus arrive.  I thought I’d watch.”

Miz Leticia Feral was considered the town kook because she ran a palm reading shop.  She made all sorts of psychic claims, but no one believed her.  Rumors had spread that sometimes she helped the big city cops when they were looking for a missing kid.  I never saw any cops consulting her, but that didn’t mean she didn’t help.  Most of the time, giggling girls frequented her establishment, because along with the palm reading she also made love potions.

“I wonder why no one else is out tonight.  You woulda thought the circus rolling through would be a sight to see.”

Miz Leticia looked up at me. Her eyes seemed glassy and sad as if she had tears ready to fall.  She laid her hand on my arm.  “Oh, Luke,” she said, her voice catching in her throat. “Let’s follow them.”

Town was only about two blocks long, so it didn’t take long before the circus had reached the old fairgrounds. As silently as they trod down Main Street, they pitched their tents.  Horses and elephants walked into the grassy paddocks and proceeded to eat the overgrown grass.

We stopped at the road turning into the fairgrounds.  I leaned against the broken gate. “Why do you think they’re here, Miz Leticia?  It don’t seem natural somehow.”

Leticia sniffed a little, pulled a tissue out from somewhere, and blew her nose. “Luke . . . honey, they’re here for you.”

I glanced at Miz Leticia, but she refused to look at me.  “Now, that’s just crazy talk, Miz Leticia.  I never wanted to join the circus. Why would they want me?”

“Luke, what do you remember about the accident?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Well, I know I dun wrong, Ma’am, but I survived.  I learned my lesson.  I’ll never text and drive again.” I thought for a minute, but my mind had grown foggy for some reason.  “The accident was real close to here, wasn’t it? I know my truck was totaled. It was messed up something awful.”

A breeze picked up, carrying the faint scent of fresh mown hay fields.  “Yes, Luke the accident was right where you’re standing.”

I looked at the broken gate, noticing for the first time the fresh streak of black paint along the whitewashed poles. On the ground, a white cross was planted in the dirt.  Dead flowers, candles and stuffed animals were piled around the cross.  “I-I don’t understand.”

“You didn’t make it, Luke,” said Leticia.  “You died.”

I frowned as I shook my head. “No . . . n-no—“

“I’m afraid so, Luke.  They’re waiting for you.  It’s time for you to go.”  Shadow figures walked out of the shadow tents and stood, waiting.

“But, Mom—“

“I’ll tell her you said good-bye.”

I felt a pull toward the shadow people.  Miz Leticia was right.  It was time for me to go. “Tell Momma that I love her.”

Again, not quite my normal style. :-)
Later, Peeps!

Snow Days Conundrum

I don't usually post on Tuesdays, but I thought I would post today because we all know I'll forget what I want to say if I waited another day!

Last night, most of the local school boards met to develop a plan to make up the missed school days due to the excessive amount of snow we received during the first two weeks of February.  I know many of my northern friends are laughing at this, but remember our towns are spread out and we simply don't have the equipment to deal with this type of weather.

So far the kids have missed eleven days when schools planned for five missed days.  No one wants to extend the school year or take away spring break as many parents have already paid for vacations.

In addition to the five already built in snow days at the end of the year, they took away two "parent/teacher conference" days--uhm, they NEVER were conference days, but they 'generified' them so they don't offend anyone.  There are still four days short.  It was decided that 30 minutes would be added to the end of each day from Feb. 28 until the end of the school year.

And you probably think that's my gripe.  It isn't.  I'm cool with the decision. My kid isn't, but who really cares what a 10-year-old thinks? Just kidding.  I don't think she's too upset with it.

My gripe is why the school system doesn't have a plan for teachers to 'teach' over the Internet. 
One snow day --Let kids have some fun.
Two snow days--give extra credit for stuff.
Three snow days--get serious about teaching via Internet.  Give the kids something to do instead of driving their parents bonkers.  Have them learn to use the Internet to find extra credit information. Or do math problems for EC.  Or have a reading challenge. Anything to keep their brain cells from becoming flaccid.

I know the argument will be that many parents don't have Internet or email or whatever and that would be penalizing those families who can't afford computers.  But I'll bet you my bottom dollar that those kids may not have Internet, but they sure as shooting have some sort of video game system . . . or two. 

So many businesses donate computers/money to schools. Give the kids who don't have computers a chance to check out a laptop at the beginning of the year. Work with the cable providers to donate Internet access to those families.  Setting up email accounts is free.  And if the computer isn't in good condition by the time it's turned in then fine the parent {get the pertinent info (SSN)}.

If homeschooling takes place all over this country, then I think public schools should take advantage of this method while kids are forced to remain at home due to inclement weather.

Something to think about.

Later, Peeps, I need to keep working on GNOME.

Random Drivel--Mules and Enticements

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

Have you ever wondered about mules?

No, not those poor smelly critters or the human/animal ones used to transport illegal drugs across borders.  I'm talking about the women's shoe mules. 

These shoes usually have a solid toe box area, but don't have any method of keeping the wearers heels in place.  Yesh, these mules.

Clogs are also a type of mule shoe, but without a nice defined heel.  Anyhoo, ever wonder why they're called mules? 

Actually, I haven't really given the question a rat's patootie until church this last Sunday.  A lady walked down the aisle and her mules provided the most amazing clip-clop sound.  So if you've never heard a horse walking on pavement, find a chick wearing these and ask her to prance a bit and then you'll understand.

My next piece of random drivel has to do with book covers.  Granted, I never gave them much thought other than, "Wow, what a cool cover!", or "Well, that one's not going to sell many books.", to "What were they thinking??"  But now, I'm all about book covers.  Since I'm e-publishing, there is very little a writer can do to attract a potential buyer, except have a really cool title and cover, well, that and good marketing, but that's a topic I'm not about to touch quite yet. 

The cover is the first thing a buyer will be looking at.  They don't care about what's inside the book . . . yet. 

--First, they have to be visually stimulated--have a freakin' awesome cover and title helps!
--Second, they have to be enticed by the blurb--basically, the back cover copy.  Not too much info, but enough to make the reader wonder what happens next.
--And third, the writer had better hook them on the first page--if you've interested the reader, then they will flip to the first page to see if your story is interesting.  Writing style plays a huge role here.  

A trifecta, of sorts, if I do say so myself. 

To that end, I've been working hard all week with my cover designer, Laura Morrigan, to find the uber-fantastic design.  The first problem we encountered was what to call my series.  After many puke-o-rama titles, I came up with THE GOBLIN'S APPRENTICE.  This will be my series logo, similar to Fablehaven or Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

So with that taken care of, Laura started designing the background and lettering for my logo.  This logo will appear on all of my Kyte Webber stories, including the one already out, Lost Leprechaun Loot.  Don't worry, the logo for my short stories/chapter books will be smaller and off to the side since they aren't a part of the series, per se, but more of a tangent to the main story series.

Even though there is a ton more work involved with getting a story e-published, I wouldn't trade this experience for the world.  Many, many writers NEVER have any input about their covers.  Sometimes, it's a 'too bad, so sad' this is how it is.  Or the condescending publisher pats said writer on the head and says, "You do your job, I'll do the selling."

Though for the most part, publishers know their reading clientele and do an excellent job of selecting cover art that entices the public to buy books, which is why you will see drastically different covers for various countries.

In other words, if my cover sucks--it's my own darn fault.

We've settled on the look I wanted, but a whole lot of our emails have concerned finding the right font.  Yep, FONT. There are a gazillion fonts out there, but which one will have the look I want to carry over to all my books throughout the years.  I don't want it too frilly, or fancy, or hard to read, or too modern, or too old-fashioned, or too generic, or too goofy, or too *fill in the blank* . . . 

Now, you get the picture?  Fonts were freaking driving me crazy . . . and then Laura found THE ONE. Yep, I'm pretty happy with it.  There's still a lot more to do with this cover before I unveil it, but then again, I still have to chop chapters one and two and rewrite it. 

No--I haven't worked on it.  I've been celebrating the sunshine this weekend. Today, the child will go to school and I'll go to work.

Later, Peeps!
Hmmm . . . .Peeps . . .  *drool forming at corners of mouth*

Another Round of Slicing and Dicing

*sigh* Ah, the life of a writer.  Inventing all sorts of cool worlds, plots and situations only to have to chop most of the extraneous stuff.

I finished my . . . oh, let's go with . . . 8th round of edits on GNOME and I sent it to my CP.  This is a person who had read Lost Leprechaun Loot, but hadn't read any of GNOME.  Fresh eyes, yanno.

A-and I get it back within 24 hours, which is a FANTASTIC turnaround time, if I do say so myself, BUT . . .

There's always a BUT. :-) The pacing in the first few chapters was off. 

By the time my CP reached a certain point--I don't want to give anything away, so deal with the ambiguity of this statement--she was totally engrossed and couldn't stop reading.  This is A GOOD THING.

So roughly the last 3/4 of story works, but not the first 1/4.  All she did was confirm what I already suspected.  So what to do? 

This is where the Ginsu knife comes in handy--it will slice and dice through a tin can!

I'm cutting chapter one and most of chapter two.  I'll wave my magic wand and *POOF* it will be fixed . . . yeah, I wish.  This is where you see a writer gazing out the window, staring at nothing.  Writers think A LOT, so I'm thinking about how I want to weave this new beginning into the story.  To have the fantasy element a little quicker off the mark and hopefully engage the reader sooner.

But it won't happen with me blogging about what I need to do.  So . . .

Later, Peeps!

Kindle Me This, Riddler!

Short and sweet today.  Sorry, it wasn't as short as I figured . . . I'm going nutso with being housebound.  Ain't that the truth!  This snow stuff will be the death of me. Oh, so very tired of it.

One of my Christmas presents was a Kindle and I'm enjoying it, BUT I have noticed how easy it is to turn it off and forget about the story I'm reading.

With electronic publishing, there are no 'pages'.  There are increments, so you can figure out what % of the book you've read and how much is left.  Which is fine and dandy, except if you are like me and want to read to a chapter break (or cheat and read the ending).  There's no way to know where the chapters begin, since the font sizes can be changed, therefore the 'page' numbers would be changed.  So you read an ebook until you get bored or find a chapter break. 

I'm finding that it is easier to get bored and stop reading in the middle of a sentence.  It was evident when I forced myself to read all of TREASURE ISLAND, but I'm having a seriously difficult time working my way through ALICE IN WONDERLAND.  Ugh! I'll make it, but it will take longer than anticipated.

But I'm also finding it easy to stop reading Book 4 of the Ranger's Apprentice, a middle grade series that I'm reading.  One, the female protagonist is acting in a TSTL (To Stupid To Live) way.  Technically, children protagonists can act stupid because kids tend to react first instead of thinking, but this was more than I can stomach.  Yes, there is a bunch of eye rolling going on with this reader. Two, there is a lot of war planning in this story.  Guys might like this, but it's getting a little old.

So with my new knowledge, I edited GNOME and proceeded to beat my head against the keyboard.

Most stories have to have some slow parts, they can't all be action, action, action. And since this is the first book in a series, I have to show a little bit of the 'real world' before my character is 'called to action'. Of course,I managed to frustrate myself through the first three chapters.  After that, things pick up and I really enjoyed editing this story. I cut a lot of little stuff, but added other stuff.  Overall, the word count stayed at about the same place: 41,000 words. Roughly half of an adult novel.

But the story is in the hands of a CP (crit partner) and I expect her to find all sorts of errors, missing words, incomplete thoughts, etc.  And when she's through redlining it, I'll give it another round or two of edits before publishing.

All-in-all, reading on a Kindle has made me aware of my own ability to tell a story.  It's a good reality check. One I intend to remember with the consecutive stories.

Oh, and I gave my 89-year old mother a Kindle and she's getting used to it.  At least, she's reading LITTLE WOMEN and seems to enjoy it.

Time to work on my Writer's Digest prompt for February, judge a few contest entries, and then write my Easter bunny story.

Later, Peeps!

Snow, Gnomes and Pictures

Well, I don't know about y'all, but I'm already tired of the white stuff.  Not that I've driven in it--I haven't . . . much.  I don't drive in bad weather and being a homebody, I really don't mind staying at home.  Besides, we all know the hubster won't be taking his 'Vette out of the garage anytime soon, I'll be carless in the interim.

What I do mind, is being cooped up with both my children.  Yes, the 46-year old and the 10-year old do get on my nerves at times, though they have been playing Donkey Kong in relative peace. 

Ever since I found out last Monday that Jabberwocky didn't want my GNOME story, I've been editing it for about the 9th or 10th time.  Emails have been fast and furious between me and my cover designer, the wonderful Laura Morrigan. Plus we've been searching for a distinctive 'look' for my series, which I'm calling, THE GOBLIN'S APPRENTICE.  And since the goblin wasn't introduced until book two, I'm having to rewrite some of Book One, GNOME. 

--and I just found out they cancelled school, which means my kidlet will be home AGAIN.  So here are a few pictures I thought I'd share.

The front door before

After shoveling

Sledding by the school

Rachel and Maggie 'frolicing'

A little more frolicing

Fire and comfort surrounded by the snow fort

Where's the swimming pool??

Pre-toasted marshmallow

Who needs a blanket when you have a fuzzy dog?

Later, Peeps!

Snow-klahoma, Where the wind come sweeping down the plain!

5 trashbags are the red up front. 3 ft drift in front door

I'm totally snowbound to my house.  We have been for days now.  I know you northerners just laugh at us, but we are so NOT prepared for this quantity of snow.  Oh, we have about 30 sand/salt trucks and the city outfits plows on the regular city trucks, but this 14-21 inches of snow in one day is ridiculous!  At the most we'll get 5-6 inches and it's usually melted in two days. Not this time around.  This stuff will be here awhile due to the sub-freezing temperature, plus they are expecting a few more batches of the white stuff.

At our house we had about 14-15 inches of snow, while my bro who lives 20 minutes north had the 21+ inches.  Along with the snow we had serious winds, resulting in some amazing snow drifts--even some in my attic (the wind blew it UP into my attic).  In fact my kid was sledding down one of the drifts in the yard!  The kidlet and dog were frolicing (I usually say running around like idiots, but my dear hubster must constantly correct me and says it's FROLICING) in the yard--I'll post pictures after I download them.

Clothing-wise,we're more prepared than the average Oklahoman since we go skiing every year and we have the heavy coats, pants, long johns, snow boots and numerous pairs of gloves, etc. I've run the dryer so much over the last few days . . .

We have enough food to last a good long time.  Oh, we'll run out of the fresh stuff in a few days, but they can just deal with it.  I'm excited that we never lost electricity since we didn't get much ice with all the snow.  Ice is the death of powerlines, it's the weight of the ice that snaps them.

AND of course the hubster and kidlet are home.  Hubster has been sick with the flu most of the week, but did go to work yesterday.  Today, he's staying home to work on employee evaluations.  Kidlet is out of school, though we went to the school (it's behind our house) to sled (they have an okay hill) and they are out the rest of the week.  And unless we get some warmer weather to melt this stuff, she might be home on Monday, too.

And me?  Well, I'm working on my plan B.  I came up with a great series name (after many, many duds) for my Kyte Webber books, GOBLIN'S APPRENTICE.  I love the title, but this also entails some rewriting to get the goblin in book one.  I had one character that I didn't really like--I felt he was superfluous, so now I'm combining my goblin into that character and it gives him more meaning.

BTW: I HATE editing!  One chapter, edited twice, four hours!  And this was the 7th or 8th go around on this story! I hope the rest of the book will go smoother, but I don't know.  One perk--it's a short novel and the pain shouldn't last too long.
 
I'm consulting with my wonderful cover designer, Laura Morrigan, about the series and how to play the look out to the rest of the stories. There are a few things that are consistent throughout the stories and she's trying to figure out how to work it into the theme.

So there you have it for today.  With luck, I'll get chapter two whipped into shape and maybe chapter three--Here's hoping!

Later, Peeps!

Away for the Day

I'm playing in the Pink Fuzzy Slippers sandbox today!  Stop on by and say "Hi!"