January 18, 2008 | News,Quirky notions

Hullo, friends!

I’m blogging today over at Brava Authors about how to find hot fun in the wintertime. Please stop by, if you want to hear some good suggestions!

Diane

January 14, 2008 | Quirky notions

Three authors’ prose made me purr with pleasure over the past week – Anna Campbell, Joanna Bourne, and Jet Mykles.

Anna Campbell’s Untouched rolled into my hand from the top of my TBR pile one night, as if it was eager to be discovered. I do most of my writing after work in the evening and often grab a novel to look at before I go to bed. This one kept me up late. Yes, I enjoyed the characters and the plot but the sheer, tumbling beauty of her prose brought their emotions to vivid life. I’m already looking forward to her next book.

I admit I was desperate to read Joanna Bourne’s The Spymaster’s Lady, since she’s a fellow member of The Beau Monde, RWA’s Regency special interest chapter. I preordered it from Amazon and ripped open the box as soon as it entered the house. Good Lord, how her dialogue’s crystalline perfection brings her characters into focus! Wow, just wow. I am in total awe and wondering how many times I’m going to read this book.

Jet Mykles is an autobuy for me. The minute she announces an ebook is available, I rush off and buy it. If it can be had in print, I’ll buy that, too. Nothing like a backup copy, right? Jet mostly writes m/m romances and I’m always fascinated by how incredibly well she can express those guys’ emotions. Dialogue, body language, introspection – you name, she can put it down on paper using language which sounds like men, not women with a Y-chromosome. Frankly, she does this better than any other female writer I know.

If you get a chance, you might want to check them out.

Diane

January 11, 2008 | Quirky notions

Andrew Olmsted, a major in the Army who blogged for the Rocky Mountain News, was killed this week in Iraq. Olmsted’s final post, written in case he was killed in action and titled “Final Post,” was posted by a friend.

“His voice was a voice of reason, and was a voice of logic,” Olmsted’s father, Wesley, told the Boston Globe. “He would discuss issues only to make people think.”

My deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends – and to the rest of us, for losing somebody like him.

Diane

December 30, 2007 | Me, myself,Quirky notions

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?

December 27, 2007 | Me, myself,News,Quirky notions,The stories

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

October 1, 2007 | Quirky notions,Serendipity

So why do I write historicals? I’ve been asked that a lot over the years and the answer basically comes down to one thing: the men make me go weak at the knees.

Here’s a video by a lady with exactly the same reaction.

Hurrah for sisterhood!

Diane