“I’m late! I’m late! For a very important date! No time to say hello, goodbye! I’m late! I’m late! I’m late!” I think I could successfully masquerade as the White Rabbit this Halloween. The end of the month is upon us and I still haven’t finished editing my novel. National Novel Writing Month begins in a mere five days. “What?” you say. “Is your book that big a mess??” Well, yes and no. There is plenty of ‘mess’ to straighten, but I confess I have also fallen victim to avoidance. I’d rather scrub the toilet than edit. I’d rather clean […]
eBook Cover Delight
Joel Friedlander, a book designer, blogger and the author, hosts an eBook Cover Contest every month, and gives comments about the covers entered—which is a really great way to see how your cover stacks up. Kudos and a cool web sticker go to the winners of the fiction and non-fiction categories. I entered the cover my sister helped me design for In the Mirror, and although we didn’t win, we got some really nice feedback. One of the commenters, Zelah Meyer, even said that ours was one of her two favorites. Thank you, Zelah! MarshaLee and I are both tickled […]
2 Minutes to Chocolate Heaven with a Dollop of NaNoWriMo on the Side
Writers! Need chocolate in a hurry to fuel those writing sprints or to reward yourself for meeting a goal? This blissful cup of brownie goodness is sure to hit the spot. My experience with recipes for Brownies in a Mug has been largely unsuccessful—until now. They were either not chocolately enough (Remember, milk chocolate is a color, not a flavor!), too spongey (the result of using a whole egg, and if you only use part, what do you do with the rest?), or too dense and dry. Not any more! This recipe is a huuuuge hit at my house, and […]
Book Review: Fox’s Bride
Official AE Marling Website Get your copy of Fox’s Bride A desert fox. An enchantress. And a sacrificial marriage.Everyone in Oasis City worships the fennec fox as a sacred animal, except for the one woman forced to marry him. Enchantress Hiresha believes her fiancé is possessed by nothing more divine than fleas, and she also objects to the wedding venue: the afterlife. Priests will trap her in an airless sarcophagus with the fox. She has only four days of engagement left to live.Her escape attempt ends in disaster, leaving her at the mercy of the city’s vizier as well as […]
Distracted by Twitter
You may have heard that Twitter recently supplied users with a new way to dress up their profile pages with picture headers similar to Facebook’s. Ooh, shiny! Right? Yes, the moment I heard (courtesy of the awesome Indies Unlimited), I hurried off to rummage through photos taken by my hubby, searching for something appropriate that I could torture manipulate in Photoshop so the theme as well as the colors would match my current custom theme, which matches my blog (Didja notice?). Luckily for me, the obligatory white text goes very nicely with my choice, and I didn’t have to do any […]
So What IS the Speed of Dark?
“Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hopes, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert.” (laugh!) I probably shouldn’t share so many of the burning questions of the universe at once, but I started giggling and couldn’t stop. I do think I feel alert now, but if I don’t get busy editing my sadly neglected novel I might be grounded. From the internet! * * * * * * […]
Book Review: Brood of Bones
For just an indulgent second, let me take a moment to whine. The week did not go at all the way I’d planned. I was attacked by a ruthless, brain-sucking spider. Or maybe a virus. Same thing, right? Whichever it was, it clogged my sinuses, provoked horrendous headaches, had me sneezing constantly, plagued me with a low-grade fever, and generally robbed me of the will to do anything but slog about the house like a zombie. My husband said, “Really?? I felt the same way. Took me weeks to recover, but now I’m feeling fantastic!” He’s such a sweet, sharing […]
Hitching and Dragons
Can one get hitched without a hitch? Oh, there were a couple of (very tiny) hitches, but I’m very pleased to say my daughter’s wedding day went beautifully. Really beautifully. The reception center’s decor is Tuscan, and so lovely. My daughter’s colors were black and purple. We decorated with black-and-white damask cloth over black table cloths, purple and black ribbon, white roses, white and purple silk rose petals, white pillar candles with bow ties, and a crystal-hung wishing tree (which received disparaging remarks from Certain Family Members at home, but earned a boatload of compliments at the reception, so HA!). […]
Counting Down to the Wedding
Work on my novel has gone from “spotty” to nonexistent as we get ready to celebrate my daughter’s wedding. The invitation turned out awesome—and I’m not just saying that! The coolest part of designing the various stationery items is getting the printed work back and seeing how surprisingly good it looks. My photographer hubby took both the engagement photos and the bridal photos. I’m prejudiced, I know, but those bridal pictures are soooooo pretty! Going through those and doing (just a few!) touch-ups was time-consuming, but fun. We don’t have quite a million of them printed and framed to display at the […]
Book Review: The Sheepfarmer’s Daughter
I don’t often post book reviews here on my blog, but I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately, and thought I’d afflict the world with my opinion of the most recent. I picked up “The Sheepfarmer’s Daughter” by Elizabeth Moon(via Baen’s free book library) because I’d heard many good things about this epic, alleged fantasy. It begins very well, establishing the main character Paks’s independence, her dedication and enviable determination, her passion, her desire to do what is right and good. The story then devolves into a daily account of How to Become a Soldier and, once she’s received […]