My sweet boy turns eighteen on Friday and, because I am a sneaky mother, instead of planning a surprise party for Friday–which would be the obvious choice–I’m planning it for tomorrow because he’ll never see it coming. Muah haha! (And he’ll actually have birthday dinners on Thursday night and Friday night as well, but those are for family and this is for him and all his friends.) I’ve enlisted the help of a couple of his good friends and our youth director at church and can say with confidence that my boy genuinely has no idea this is going to go down. I’m making all of his favorite snacks–cornflake cookies, chocolate-oatmeal cookies, queso dip, sausage balls, etc…–and, with the help of my daughter, have put together a powerpoint slideshow with fifty-plus pictures (all captioned, of course) that ought to provide equal amounts of nostalgia and embarrassment. I can’t wait to see how he reacts.

What about you? Have you ever planned or been privy to a surprise party? Are you a fan of the surprise party or, like me, do you *have* to know what is going on? Will pick five commenters for my February Blaze, THE WILD CARD, and will post winners tonight. Hope everyone has a lovely lazy Sunday.

Actually, we worked on this for several months before Christmas vacation so it would be ready for my sweet three-year-old niece. Needless to say, she loved it. I did all of the painting–every piece had to be primed first–and there are literally hundreds of pieces. Each shingle went on one at a time and had to be cut in just like a real roof. The “wall paper” is actually scrapbooking paper, which is nice because it was to scale. I cut rugs out of upholstery fabric and bits of chenille and the curtains are bits of lace. My husband wired it, so all the of the lights work. And to make it more personal for my niece, I resized pictures of herself and her family into tiny frames and hung them on the wall. (And a poster of Taylor Swift, because my niece adores her. ) In order to make it all more cost effective, each family member took a room and furnished it. Will the furniture survive? Probably not. But the actual house will and that’s what I’m hoping she’ll want to pass on someday.
And there at the foot of the bed in the left-hand bedroom? That’s a cat. Because the house wasn’t complete without a pet.

Special thanks to Brenda and Tawny for all the work they’ve done putting together the Blaze Author’s Pet Project. My daughter volunteers at our local animal shelter every Friday and it’s so nice to hear how many people genuinely care and are willing to support our furry friends. If you haven’t already be sure and check out Furry Friends, the first shelter on our list.

Link to your own local shelter in the comments for a chance to win a free book. I’ll pick five.

During the busy holiday season we all have many places to go, many appetizers to make, many pounds to gain. :-O (Just keeping it real, lol) Anyway, every year when these events start rolling my way, I’m always asked the same question–”Are you bringing the cheese ball?” And almost always, I am, because I can pull it together in about five minutes and it’s really, really good. I look like a culinary genuis and have not spent hours in the kitchen. Win, win. Here’s the recipe.

2 blocks cream cheese
1 small can of smoked ham
1 packet of dry Ranch dressing
1 cup of chopped pecans

Mix first three ingredients well. (At least a minute with the hand mixer.) Form into a ball and roll in chopped pecans. Serve with crackers. Weep with satisfaction.

What about you? Any easy go-to recipes you’re always asked to make around this time of year? I’ll pull five books from my shelf for five lucky commenters!

So this little girl flew into my sliding glass doors and knocked herself stupid enough to let me pick her up and set her safely on the deck rail. I’d never seen this kind of bird in my backyard before and it took going through many books twice to finally figure out that she was a Common Yellowthroat, but there’s nothing common looking about her at all if you ask me. So pretty, so dainty, so scared out of her sweet little mind.

I’ve really started watching the birds in my backyard over the past several years and am constantly adding new feeders and different seeds to attract them. Chickadees are far and away my favorites. Such happy, melodious little birds and there’s something utterly adorable about them. Love the blue birds and finches, too, and the nuthatches and sparrows. I look forward to watching them fill the trees and scratch around in the feeders, watch the mourning doves waddle around on the ground.

What about you? Any birding fans out there? I’ll be out of town today, back in tomorrow, and will randomly select five lucky commenters to win a free book from my bookshelf.

My husband thought I was joking when I told him I was going to buy a flying pig to sit out on our deck.

I wasn’t.

How could I resist this?

Isn’t it adorable? And don’t you just love the message? Admittedly, it’s baffled the dogs, but they’re getting used to Greta–I had to name her, of course–and will eventually come to accept her as part of the family.

So what about you? Have you ever had something like my Greta strike your fancy? Inquiring minds, after all.

Because this is a long weekend and my husband is home and I’m keeping my sister’s girls while she and my brother-in-law are vacationing in Mexico, this post is simply going to be an I-hope-you-are-enjoying-the-holiday drive-by greeting.

I’ll send free books from my bookshelf–not necessarily mine –to commenters chosen at random at the end of the day, so be sure to check the comment tail.

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

Well, I’ve only been back from conference for a few days, but I am still floating on air. I got to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with Brenda Chin and friends. (That’s fellow Blazer Kira Sinclair with me and Brenda.) I rode the Forbidden Journey, got my wand–Lupin’s–had butterbeer (YUM!) went to Devish and Bangs, the Hog’s Head, The Three Broomsticks, Honeydukes and Zonko’s. I posted letters for my kids in Hogsmeade and basically made a giant nerd of myself. Ask me do I care?

<If that wasn't enough, I got my 25 book pin at the Harlequin party AND I won the National Readers' Choice Award in the Short Contemporary category for LETTTERS FROM HOME. Color me THRILLED. I was in excellent company with lots of friends and fellow Blaze babes and have no recollection of what I said when I went forward because I hadn't prepared anything. I was happy just to final, but have to admit that winning was especially nice.

AND I have a book out this month–THE RENEGADE–which I will happily send to five lucky commenters at the end of the day. Winners, look for the announcement in the comment tail. I'll use my wand.

So, what’s happening in your world?

…for remembering to blog today.

Last month I was supposed to post on the eve of our beach trip and I completely forgot. I remembered it about fifty miles south of Montgomery and gasped so loud I woke up my dozing daughter in the passenger seat.

So, sorry about that ya’ll. I have to say that we had a wonderful time at the beach. We go down to the Orange Beach/Gulf Shores area almost every year and, even though there was a possibility that the oil might come ashore while we were there in early June, we’d decided to go anyway. We’ve had too many wonderful beach vacations to simply change plans when we knew that the worst was yet to come. (And it has been.) Though we never saw any oil where we were–out near Fort Morgan–it did come ashore in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach on our last day there. So, so sad. But there are wonderful people fully committed to the clean up and the area will definitely rally.

Right now we don’t have any other vacations planned, though I imagine a trip to the mountains–Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge–will be in order in the fall. My dad and brother camp and my sister and I “cabin.” Good times.

So what about ya’ll? Where are your go to vacation destination spots? Is there a particular area that just soothes your soul?

Because I am currently on the very end of a book and need all my brain cells to make the last push, I’m going to leave you with a list today of things that make me happy and would invite you to do the same.

1.) Purple wave petunias
2.) The sound of my fountain bubbling on the deck
3.) A warm towel from the dryer
4.) Any meal I don’t have to fix
5.) Freshly mown grass
6.) Birdsong
7.) A good review
8.) Watching Pawn Stars with my family
9.) Books
10.) A friend’s laugh
11.) An unexpected kindness from a stranger
12.) Babies
13.) My dogs
14.) Mrs. Meyers Lemon Verbena Counter Top spray
15.) Burt’s Bees Lemon Bath Oil
16.) Having my hair brushed
17.) Kettle Corn
18.) My Roku
19.) Getting new nail polish
20.) Watching the number on the scale go down

What about you? Will pick five winners for my June release, THE RANGER, which got a 4.5 Top Pick review from Romantic Times. (Jumpy claps!)

…it’s because they are. Oh, my. My, my, my.

People, I am obsessed.

I thought that Henry was good-looking in THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. Adored him in TRISTAN AND ISOLDE and I CAPTURE THE CASTLE. But what really won me over was his role as the Duke of Suffolk in Showtime’s THE TUDORS. Let’s look at this photo first, shall we?

Well, it goes without saying that he’s gorgeous. We’ll talk about his face in the next photo, but in this one I want you to notice a couple of things. 1.) Chest hair!!! Real manly chest hair! Not enough to make him look like a gorilla, but enough to let a girl know that this guy doesn’t spend more on razors or wax than you do. That’s a plus in my book. I think some guys have taken the man-scaping a little too far. 2.) Leather pants. Not many men can pull this off, but on Henry? Humina, humina. I need a second. Okay. S’all good.

Now Exhibit B…

Mercy, just look at that face. Lovely, lovely bone structure. The fullish lips, the cleft in his chin, slightly hollow cheekbones. And that hair. Slightly curly, long enough to run your fingers through but not so long as you feel like it’s a competition. He’s effortlessly, AMAZINGLY sexy. And the best part of his appeal? He doesn’t seem to realize he has any. And that’s what makes him the total package in my book. (Or books, lol.)

Authors, do you ever get stuck on a particular guy who becomes the inspiration for your heroes? Readers, do you ever realize who the author is describing?

Inquiring minds…