Blog on Fire-Nicole Zoltack

It has been many a moon since I've handed out one of my own Blog on Fire Awards.

I was waiting for an extra special one, I reckon.

Where Fantasy and Love Take Flight is the blog of Nicole Zoltack author of one of my faves, Knights of Glory.

On her bio, Nicole says she writes, '...mostly fantasy romances, but also paranormal, YA, MG, PB, horror, contemporary, historical (medieval), and combinations thereof...'

Take the time to check out her blog and books.

Easily worth it.

Fifth Day After Christmas

I feel like the guy who loves the first snowfall of winter. Lovely white, shimmery stuff.

But when more snow falls and it turns into several feet of shoveling, snowplows, and power outages, the charm is lost.

Christmas is over and Lady Gaga is back.

Fourth Day After Christmas-Comments

No more tips.

Bing Crosby is out.

Bitch Came Back by Theory of a Deadman has taken his place.

Third Day After Christmas-Tip #3

Decisions, decisions. When to take the tree/decorations down?

I wait until after New Year's Eve.

This gives me a week to rest up from the excessive cookies, candy, family (yeah, I do get tired of my relatives after the first hug), and leftover turkey.

*shiver* Okay, the thought of turkey leaves me nauseous.

Second Day After Christmas-Tip #2

Two recipes.

I’ve learned the wonders of white whole-wheat flour. Chocolate chip cookies, banana cake, sugar cookies—all came out super. Even the hubby, Mr. What-Is-This-Sh**, couldn’t tell the difference.

And the hot rolls *sigh*. Try this recipe in your new breadmaker:

1 ¼ cups warm water

2 T butter

3 T brown sugar

1 ½ t salt

3 c white whole-wheat flour

3 t yeast

Set the machine on 'dough' cycle. When it is ready, form into approx 16 rolls in a greased 9 x 13 cake pan. Let rise 30 min. in a warm place. Bake at 400 for 19 minutes. I use stoneware so adjust accordingly.

Recipe #2:

I’ve learned the wonders of egg substitutes for homemade eggnog. Great.

Especially after I added the jigger of rum.

Oh, momma.

First Day After Christmas-Tip #1

Pets and tinsel.

If your tinsel disappears, don't fret. You will see it again.

But it won't be shiny.

I Choose Joy

I Choose Joy.

Some people find the Christmas season irritating.

The lights, the crowds, the commercialism.

I am not one of those people.

I Choose Joy.

I love the lights, the family gatherings, the smells of pine and sugar.

I love the songs especially the Bing Crosby tunes from my childhood.

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town

And Silver Bells.

Love Silver Bells.

Funniest song ever?

There’s Something Stuck Up In the Chimney.

To paraphrase a famous quote about choosing to be happy, I choose to love Christmas, the season of Joy.

Merry Christmas to All

How to Waste Time While Editing

My first draft waits. Editing is the objective today. Nine o’clock rolls around – designated for writing or my leave-me-the-hell-alone time.

I open the crit documents from two of my betas (Thanks Charity. Thanks L. Blankenship) alongside my draft and begin reading, editing, comparing, etc.

My Blackberry dings indicating I have mail.

Laura, a new follower on our crit group at UnicornBell, is responding to my comment on her blog.

How nice. I flit to her site and remember that I need to sign in to Blogger having signed out to check other accounts on Google. ( sidebar: I have three accounts and they drive me crazy)

I sign in and see something new. Google books.

I check it out. But it doesn't list one of my favorite books, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

I Google Patrick and find his website. I click on his blog. Cool blog. He mentioned the RP game, Skyrim.

I Google Skyrim.

I go to Amazon to read information on Oblivion, The Elder Scrolls, and Skyrim.

I check reviews on another site.

*coffee break and check our wood stove*

Back to computer.

I realize it is 11 pm and time to start dinner.

Wow. I got so much editing done today.

First Draft Completed

When does a manuscript come together?

If you answered, “While slicing potatoes for dinner”, then we have something in common.

First draft of Wishes is complete. Editing commences immediately.

Beginning word count November 1^st: 76 K

First draft completed December 5^th: 97 K.

I believe a double arm pump is in order.

Jokes for Friday

(Cuz I got nuthin' else)
Joke #1

I went to a psychiatrist hoping he would cure my problem.

“Doc, I’m going crazy. I think something is under my bed and I can’t sleep.”

“I can rid you of that delusion. See me three times a week and I’ll cure you.”

“How much do you charge?”

“Eighty dollars per visit,” the doctor said.

“Ouch,” I said. “Well, I'll sleep on it.”

Six months later the doctor met me on the street. “Why didn't you come see me about your delusion?”

“Well, eighty bucks a visit three times a week for a year is an awful lot of money,” I said. “A bartender cured me for $10.”

“Is that so,” the doc said. He sneered. “And how, may I ask, did a bartender cure you?”

“He told me to cut the legs off the bed. Ain't nobody under there now.”

*****

Joke #2

WARNING! Risqué.

 What is the difference between a lover, a hooker, and a housewife?

Lover says, “Harder, harder.”

Hooker says, “Faster, faster.”

Housewife says,

*pause for effect*

“…beige…..I think I’ll paint the ceiling beige.”