Archive for December, 2007
Well, Christmas is past and my family’s now knee-deep into putting away presents. We all know which one is the most popular – our Keurig K-cup brewer. Thanks to it, everyone can drink their favorite hot beverage at the same time! Very smooth Columbian decaffeinated coffee, extra bold organic coffee from Indonesia, chamomile tea – anything! Just choose a K-cup containing the variety you want, pop it into the brewer, press a button, and voila! There’s also a nifty little adapter if you want it to brew something that doesn’t already come in a K-cup. (Yes, this family is all about choices, choices, choices.) We’ve used the little darling every night since it arrived – and no, I’m not being paid for this endorsement! LOL
In fact, we’re having so much fun that we’re actually finding excuses to hang out in the family room, close to the K-cup brewer for our second cup. I usually indulge myself in an orgy of movies and books when I finish a book but this year’s version is pretty spectacular. We’re actually making a list of which movies to see first – which means what is everyone else willing to see twice, since I saw almost none of this year’s new releases. (Hey, I wrote two books in ten months, including a first draft in 3 ½ months!)
So far we’ve managed LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD and TRANSFORMERS. THE ILLUSIONIST, THE HOLIDAY and STARDUST are on the list. Last night we saw SWEENEY TODD (Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter were wonderful but be prepared for a lot of blood) then came home and watched football! NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS is coming up soon (New Year’s Day, anyone?). Now we’re discussing whether ENCHANTED is best watched in the theatres (ooh, wide-screen and big speakers!) or on video (replay whenever you want). ALIENS VS PREDATOR: REQUIEM has been ruled out as a group activity. And I get to watch 300 as many times as I want. Whoopee!
We’re even reading books together. I’ve cracked a few research books for the next Devil romance, and even managed to read some romances, thus cutting down my To-Be-Read pile. Meanwhile, the rest of the family is comfortably sitting across the room with their book, and their cup of coffee, also enjoying life.
Harmony through different choices. Isn’t that a huge part of what makes for the good life?
5:42 pm |
Hullo, friends!
I’m blogging today over at Romance: B(u) the Book at Lifetime TV about BOND OF FIRE, historicals, romances, and the apparent rules in writing them.
You will need to register at LifetimeTV.com to be able to comment. This isn’t a sales tool, but is a way of allowing comments, and disallowing offensive commenters. 🙂
You can reach “Let’s Talk Romance” through the blue “Blog Box” in the lower left-hand corner of “Romance: B(u)y the Book” at LifetimeTV.com . Register in the blog comments area to take part in the discussion. (Tips: Leave no spaces in your UserName. Non-U.S. viewers, use CA/90210 as state/zip code).
Please stop by and join in!
Diane
7:00 am |
Hullo!
I’m blogging today over at Brava Authors about pre-New Year’s Eve fun.
Please stop by and let me know what you like to do!
Diane
8:00 am |
I just delivered BOND OF DARKNESS, the Texas vampires trilogy volume 3, to my editor! Wheehaw!!!
Next step: Christmas cards! We took photos at Disney World (duh!) and had a particularly holiday-ish one translated into a wonderfully festive card by Snapfish. Now I’ve just got to figure out how to print address labels from Outlook 2007, since all my addresses currently exist only on my Treo.
It’ll give me time to listen to some new music. My sister gave me Celine Dion‘s latest album, Taking Chances.
Or Ruderial…
Or Brad Paisley…
Fun, fun, fun. 🙂
Diane
7:40 pm |
I’m blogging over at Circle of Seven on motivating your characters – especially when an author wants to try something new. It really helped me write THE IRISH DEVIL.
Check it out!
Diane
3:25 pm |
Judy, a reader, emailed to ask what Sean and Beth have been up to since The Switch was over, asking for another contemporary novel. Hoping others might be interested in the answer, I’m blogging about it here.
Actually, I know a fair bit about what Sean and Beth have been up to since the end of The Switch. But it’s more like getting occasional phone calls from friends, than enough to fill out a book let alone a novella. Maybe a couple of short stories, though.
Beth is still very, very much a Treasury agent and Sean is right there by her side. Having finally found and claimed his lady, he’s not about to do anything, which would take him away from her. They were in Baghdad when Saddam Hussein was deposed and sent me a very scary vision of some things which happened to them.
Sean was rather melancholy when they took Mike to West Point but Beth successfully distracted him. (I had no idea you could have such fun with goodies snuck past airport security!)
They’ve had at least one baby. No, I don’t know the sex but I’m sure they’re both doting parents. (Told you it was like getting phone calls from a friend!) They’re currently based in Washington, DC but I’m not sure that’s where the Treasury Department has stationed Beth.
And no, I still don’t know what Mike is up to!
Diane
11:48 am |
Wow, did I have a great birthday! My foster sister hauled me off to Disney World last week so she wouldn’t have to do the dishes on Thanksgiving Day.
(I like the way she thinks, don’t you? I’m not sure the men in our extended family did, though. Frankly, we put out a great Thanksgiving spread and can usually count on a lot of folks showing up. But that does translate to a ton of dirty dishes, though.)
While we were there, my agent sent me Publishers Weekly’s review of Bond of Fire. They bestowed on it words like “audacious,” “compelling,” “impressive,” and “shockingly heady brew”! Wow!
I literally fell over in the restaurant when I read the message. I did manage to whoop and holler and celebrate large! Us Scorpios do know how to party when we’re given a good reason and this was a spectacular one, however totally unexpected.
May all your birthdays be just as glorious!
Diane
7:19 pm |
