While Zilla (my husband) and I were dating he worked at a local zoological park.  That summer they had LOTS of babies – 1 lion, 1 tiger, 2 bears, 2 cougars and some lemurs.  Because the owners had their hands full, Zilla took over raising the cougars for several months. Zoya and Asia were adorable and sooo mischievious.  Zoya even managed to break her leg…which started our long relationship with a local vet.  When you walk in with a baby cougar people tend to remember you.

I have to admit that this experience was one of the coolest of my life.  Not many people get to say they’ve hand raised cougars, played tug-of-war with a tiger and rubbed their face in a baby lion’s fur.

Seven - named for the 7 deadly sins. As you can see, he liked attacking furniture.

Yes, there is a tiger trying to eat my pants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

George - a male lion cub. He was adorable, but man those little teeth are sharp!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zoya & Asia. Can't remember exactly how old they are, but not more than a few weeks. And their eyes reallly were that blue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me feeding one of the girls. This was before we had to start adding meat to their milk and things got MESSY. P.S. Yes, my hair was that long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nibbling on my toes.

 

The last week has been a bit of a blur for me.  In the midst of preparing for vacation I got some great news – Caught Off Guard and What Might Have Been are both finalists in the National Readers Choice Awards.  I couldn’t be more thrilled!

But I have to admit I had little time to indulge in celebrating because the girls and I left Friday after school for a week away.  Zilla couldn’t leave so we brought my mom with us for a girls week of fun.

This is the view outside our hotel room. The girls are so excited to have giraffes, zebras, flamingos and warthogs only a few feet away.  Last night we even got to watch the animals through night vision goggles as they grazed in the dark. That was amazing!

Sweet Pea was so excited to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  And while she loved every minute of it, her favorite thing so far has been the Hulk roller coaster.  There was a time in my life when I LOVED roller coasters.  The more loops, drops and adrenaline inducing the better.  I’m not quite sure when my outlook on coasters changed, but it has.

Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the rides, but the experience is completely different when I spend the entire time trying to make sure my daughter’s harness is tight enough.  And I absolutely refuse to ride anything that drops me straight for the ground.  I don’t think I’ve ever had motion sickness, but just the thought of those free fall rides makes me queasy.  Sweet Pea keeps eyeing that ride and then looking at me with a puppy dog expression.  So far I haven’t caved…anyone want to place bets on whether I make it through the week without giving in?

Are you a roller coaster aficionado?  Do you avoid them at all costs?  And has your perspective on them changed over the years?

Kira

Rub It In - April 2012

I have a new release this week.  Rub it In is the third book in my Island Nights series and brings back two characters we met earlier – resort owner Simon Reeves and his general manager Marcy McKinney.  These two were so much fun to write.  They’re both champions at hiding passion behind a facade of irritation and antagonism.  I enjoyed stripping them of those defenses, leaving them with nothing but each other.

But I’m going to admit that I’m almost as excited for another release this week – The Hunger Games movie. I came to the series late, ignoring several recommendations from friends I trusted because it just didn’t sound like a story I’d be interested in.  When I finally began reading I realized just how wrong I was and finished all three within a week.

Yes, despite knowing the movie will never be as good as the book, I’m looking forward to seeing the story come to life.  But what I’m most excited about is sharing the experience with my oldest daughter.  Sweet Pea is 10 and to my dismay she hasn’t been much of a reader.  At least not until this year.  I’m not exactly sure what changed, but she’s really embraced books recently.  When she asked about reading The Hunger Games I agreed and dangled a carrot – if she finished it before the movie released I’d take her to see it, just the two of us.

She actually finished the first two books and just started the last one.  I’m so proud of her, but more than that I’m thrilled she’s discovered the escape and joy that reading has always brought me.  As promised we’re going to see the movie first thing Saturday morning.  It’s all she’s talked about this week and I think I’m anticipating it just as much as she is.  We’re planning a day of it – movie, lunch, shoe shopping.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

Are you going to see The Hunger Games?  Are there any books you think would make great movies that haven’t made it to the big screen?  Do you avoid movies based on books that you loved or are you first in line to get your ticket?

I’ll give a signed copy of Rub It In to one commenter today.  Be sure to check the comments next week to see if you’ve won.

Kira

Take It Down - March 2012

One of my strongest childhood memories involves losing my Raggedy Ann doll in Kmart when I was three or four. I distinctly remember sobbing because my little heart was broken.  My mom and multiple helpful employees scoured the entire store.  Sitting in the cart in customer service, my mom explained to me that they just couldn’t find her.  I remember it was cold and smelled a little musty like all big box customer service departments seem to.  She offered to get me another doll, but it wasn’t the same.  She wouldn’t have been mine.  

I have to admit when I started writing Take It Down that memory wasn’t exactly in the forefront of my mind.  But at some point during that first draft the memory resurfaced, something I hadn’t thought about in a very long time.  Why?  Because Elle Monroe has lost something as well.  Something that certainly has more value than my doll, but that’s not why she wants it back.  For her, what’s lost is priceless, not because it can’t be replaced – although it can’t  - but because it holds memories.  Because it ties her to someone who was very important to her and is no longer with her.  It’s the sentimental value that drives her to take some drastic steps to recover what was lost.

We never found Raggedy Ann and I never got another one.  I replaced her with other stuffed animals instead.  Looking back, I can definitely say that I tend to hold onto things longer than I probably should.  Maybe that’s because I remember the sadness of letting her go and don’t want to experience it again.  I still have a box of my old stuffed animals and I have to admit I’m kinda happy about that. My oldest daughter now sleeps with one of my old teddy bears.  It’s a part of me she can hold onto at night – especially when I’m away.  So maybe losing Raggedy Ann wasn’t so bad after all.

Have you ever lost something?  Did you find it?  Comment for a chance to win a copy of Take It Down – out now.  Check back later in the week to see if you’ve won.

Kira

Bring It On - Feb 2012

The first book in my new Island Nights Trilogy, Bring It On, releases next week (although you can probably find it on the shelves starting this week).  The entire series is set at an exclusive adults-only resort on a private Caribbean Island.  Billed as the perfect tropical paradise, Escape is known for providing lush romantic settings not only for couples but also for successful singles looking for a little fun.

I had a blast writing this series because I got to escape right along with my characters.  Who doesn’t love the chance to cavort in warm tropical waters in the moonlight?  Or share a snorkeling trip with a sexy man and a rainbow of curious fish?  Or visit an ancient waterfall set deep into the undisturbed jungle?  I know I’m up for all three! Especially considering it’s freezing outside and my girls are currently arguing about who gets to play the Xbox first.  Yeah, sun, sand and running away sound pretty good right now.

And while I’ve been lucky enough to visit the Caribbean before, it’s been several years – way too long!  As much as I wanted another research trip while I was writing these books, I just wasn’t able to fit it into the schedule.  But I’ve made my husband promise me we’ll go soon…just the two of us.  Last time we went we had a headstrong 3 year old and I was 7 months pregnant with our youngest.  Somehow I missed the romantic opportunities that Lena, Colt, Elle, Zane, Simon and Marcy manage to find at Escape.  And I want what they have!

Do you have a dream vacation?  Someplace you’re dying to run away to?  Do you have a favorite romantic destination?

Kira

P.S. I’m giving away a signed copy of one of my backlist titles to one lucky commenter today.  Be sure to check the comment thread later this week when I announce the winner.

The girls and I have been watching a lot of classic Christmas specials in the last few weeks.  I’ve enjoyed cuddling up with them at night and sharing shows that were part of my own childhood.  Today we’re baking – cornflake cookies, peanut butter fudge and possibly buckeyes are on the agenda.  Along with baking I’m planning a movie afternoon for us to watch all of our Christmas favorites – A Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, the Polar Express, Prep & Landing.  I’ve added some new shows to the repertoire, but  I think that’s part of letting my girls make their own traditions that they can share with their kids when they grow up.

DH and I also have a Christmas movie tradition that started long before we had kids.  He (and my mom) LOVE A Christmas Story.  I absolutely hate that movie.  To DH’s delight it plays for 24 hours straight starting Christmas Eve.  He torments me with it all day. Anytime I walk out of the room he turns the channel.  If I don’t hide the remote he turns the channel.  Once he snagged an extra remote just so he could do it the moment I’d been lulled into a false sense of security.  I have to admit that my feelings toward the movie have increased in vehemence over the years in direct proportion to DH’s relentless need to drive me crazy.  (although I did buy him the Hallmark ornament last year…the one with Ralphie dressed in the bunny suit.  It talks. I’m such a good wife).  This year I’ve given up trying to avoid the inevitable.  We’ll see how long my resolve lasts.

Do you have any favorite Christmas movies or specials?  Are there any traditional shows that you don’t care for?  Any classics that you’ve never seen?

Merry Christmas!

Kira

Yes, I enjoy spending time with my family and eating great food on Thanksgiving.  It’s been a crazy fall and I’ve barely seen my husband and kids let alone my parents, sister, brothers, spouses, nieces and nephews.  I’m looking forward to spending hours with everyone without that ticking clock in the back of my head telling me I really need to be heading to somewhere else.

And I wouldn’t be a good Southern girl if I didn’t relish the thought of hours of football.  We take our rivalries seriously here in Bama and this year the outcome of the Auburn/Alabama game could mean more than just statewide bragging rights.

But I have to admit that my favorite part of Thanksgiving is shopping.  I live for Black Friday.  I’ve been scouring the leaked ads for days.  I bought an app.  It lists all the stores and includes scans of their ads so if I forget what I need I can remind myself.  I even have a list.  For those of you who don’t know me, this is a HUGE deal.  I don’t make lists for anything.  Ever.  After an incident several years ago when I forgot something I really needed, I no longer leave things to chance.  The stores are so absolutely crazy it’s too easy to get distracted.  Black Friday is my list exception.

This year the stores are opening early.  I know a lot of people who aren’t happy about this.  My brother works at Target so I know what his hours look like and I have to admit if I worked in retail I might not appreciate the earlier timeline.  But from a shopper standpoint I’m loving the idea.  I’m hopeful that I might actually make it to bed by 1 or 2 in the morning and be able to sleep late.  It’s so much easier for me to stay awake than it is to get up early. 

So, are you planning on braving the stores this Thanksgiving?  Are you looking for something special?  Or are you hoping to stay in your PJs and grab what you need online?

Kira

I know Oprah made that phrase – favorite things – famous, but I’m going to give it a new twist today.  Over the last couple months I’ve been doing line edits for three books (my Feb, March and April Blaze releases – Bring It on, Take It Down and Rub it In).  And I’ve discovered something.  I tend to grab onto favorite words and phrases and just beat them to death.

Thank goodness for my wonderful editor.  She catches them all and gives me the chance to change them.  But it always amazes me that I don’t pick up on these repeats until she points them out to me.  Sometimes it makes me feel pretty oblivious.  But I’ve given up wondering why I can’t see them on my own.  I just can’t.

What I find funny about the whole thing is that the words and phrases change.  It isn’t like I habitually use certain words.  In one book it was in fact.  In another the characters kept spinning on their heels.  I don’t use these phrases in my regular life.  And they’re not specific to the characters or setting.  But they obviously got stuck in my head somewhere along the way.  I think it’s probably always been that way, but I didn’t realize it until I started working on these line edits back-t0-back.

So my question is, do you have a favorite word or phrase?  Do you know someone who uses the same words over and over again?  And when you’re reading, do you notice if an author repeats words and phrases?

Kira

As some of you might know, I live in North Alabama, the area that was hit hard by tornadoes on April 27th. I was lucky in that none of my family, friends or even acquaintances were injured or lost property.  There were a lot in this area that weren’t so lucky.  My hometown missed most of the destruction, but we were still without power for four days.  There were pros – spending more time with my family – and cons – difficulty cooking and entertaining my kids – but it could have been so much worse so we didn’t complain.  We figured a few primitive days was nothing compared to the total destruction some people were dealing with.  And we were right.

But there are invisible scars sometimes.  In fact, that’s why my blog is late this morning.  Last yesterday afternoon a storm rolled in and took out our cable, internet and phone service.  My parents, sister and brother all lost their power.  It wasn’t a bad storm.  Some wind, lightening and thunder.  In fact, all of our services went out before the rain even started.  But our system is so touchy that the slightest provocation has it dropping out.  In fact, the closest cities to me lost power last week during another storm and once again it took days to restore to all of the customers.  We weren’t even hit hard in April, but things are still a little shaky here.

And I didn’t realize just how anxious the entire thing had made me until the wind started howling yesterday.  My girls and my husband were down the street at the neighbor’s house and I could tell that it wasn’t going to be good.  I went outside and looked at the clouds and an unexpected wave of panic rolled through me.  I already knew that the storm wasn’t tornadic – I’d checked the weather before going outside – but I swear I looked up and saw swirling clouds right above our house the same way I did that day in April.  I called my husband and yelled at him to get home (I think I used a curse word or two.  I know, you’re all shocked :)). The first thing the girls asked me when they got home was whether they needed to get their bike helmets out and get into our shelter area.  The look of fear in their eyes helped to settle my own, I think.  At the first peal of thunder now, they start asking me if we’re going to have another tornado.  It sort of breaks my heart, the way they’ve lost that bone-deep sense of safety that’s supposed to come with childhood.

There are so many tragedies and disasters happening around the world right now that sometimes it’s hard to keep up.  The minute we seem to recover from one the news of another sweeps the rug out from under us yet again.  It’s difficult to know where to focus, how to help.  I thought everything would be better by now.  We’ve all moved on and our lives are back to normal.  My oldest had orientation at the middle school yesterday afternoon and the triumphant smile on her face as she figured out how to open her locker all by herself made me so proud.

You know, I think I needed this reminder, that despite everything the world keeps turning. Even if we have a blip here and there – that surge of panic brought on by old memories – that too will fade just like everything else.  The sun is bright this morning (and my cable and internet are back on which means my addiction to twitter can be fed once again) so things are definitely improving.  If only I didn’t have to go to work…

And because I don’t want to focus totally on the negative, tell me what things – big or small – make you smile. For me, it’s when my little girls laugh together.  My oldest is sort of reserved, but my youngest is infectious.  Her giggle could make anyone smile and my oldest is just powerless when she loses it.  She has to join in. and that shared moment between sisters always makes me happy.

Kira

Jingle Bell

Okay, I admit that we’ve had Jingle Bell since Christmas (hence the name that my girls picked out) so she isn’t quite new.  I thought I’d blogged about her here, but in looking back over my last few blogs I realized that I haven’t.  She is a sugar glider, a small marsupial, not to be confused with a flying squirrel which is what our local shelter sent us home with initially.  She does have the flaps of skin and she does glide like a flying squirrel…hence the need for her huge cage.  She is barely five inches long – including her tail – but her cage is five feet wide, three feet tall and two feet deep.  But she loves that cage!  She jumps and glides all over the place.  And don’t get me started on her little wheel.  See, the problem is she’s nocturnal.  As in doesn’t want to play until about 11 PM.  Luckily, we’ve put her cage in the living room but my youngest still swears she wakes up in the middle of the night when her wheel starts spinning.

The funniest thing about sugar gliders is that they seem to think they’re ten feet tall, at least when cornered.  They rear up on their hind legs and make this godawful racket.  Seriously, no matter how many times I hear it when she starts crabbing I automatically jump back.  I just can’t help the reflexes.  She also barks and several times I’ve  yelled at my Yorkie because I thought it was her in the middle of the night.  Poor Emma just looks at me like I’m crazy.

What I love about her is that she’s very loyal.  They’re troop animals so they bond very closely with their humans.  During the day I can carry her around in a pouch with me.  I give her a slice of apple and she just wakes up every once and awhile and gnaws on it before curling up and going back to sleep.  She’s been to work, to the park and even to my local RWA chapter meeting.  She’s definitely a conversation starter.  We’ve loved having Bell.  There are definitely issues with having an exotic pet though - like her diet.  Luckily I have a husband and daughter who love to feed her meal worms – her favorite treat.  Bleck!  At the moment we’re looking into finding her a friend.  Hoping to have her one by this summer. 

Have you ever wanted an exotic pet?  Had one as a kid and have fond memories? 

Kira