Ain’t No Fan Like a Hawkeyes Fan

November 2, 2009 at 6:34 pm (Uncategorized)
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hawkeyesAs a fourth generation Iowan, all I can say is, Go Hawkeyes!  I was born to love that school and that football team and I was raised to hate Ohio State.

I know Pac Ten fans and SEC fans think their rivalries are the best, the meanest, the nastiest, the toughest, but I’ll tell you, there is no fan in this great country as rabid as a Big Ten fan.  One of my best college memories is taking my dad to the Parent’s Day Iowa vs. Penn State game, and Iowa creamed ‘em!  The sun shone, the air felt like warm down on our faces and we screamed until our voices were gone and we were stone deaf.

Hawkeyes – 9 and o.  Beat Ohio State!  (That one’s for you, Grayson!)

 

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Sometimes the best is the simplest.

October 29, 2009 at 9:17 pm (Uncategorized)
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cho dang tofu houseCho Dang Tofu House

My son and I learned that the Cho Dang Tofu House is around the corner from his new house.  We read about it in VIA magazine so yesterday we hightailed it over there for lunch and I’m already craving a second visit!

I got the Cold Spicy Noodle – which was a big silver bowl of sour, sweet, spicy, amazing buckwheat and arrowroot cold noodles with a piquant chili sauce and crispy shaved vegetables.  My son got Tofu Something-Something and I’m getting that next time – The bowl arrived at the table boiling, literally boiling.  The server instructed him to break the raw egg provided and stir it into the soup with his chopsticks, so he did while I watched with envy – I love breaking raw eggs into things!  God, his soup was good!  The server set a number of tiny plates between us – Kimchi, steamed cabbage with bean paste, sour bean sprouts, sweet bean sprouts, pickled turnips, sweet and sour potatoes, hard-boiled eggs…and she refilled whatever we wanted whenever we wanted.

The menu is mostly in Korean and the patrons, aside from us, were Korean – which says a lot as far as authentic Korean food.  The entire bill came to $20.00!  Wow!  I think I’ll have to go at least once a month regardless of the fact that it’s an hour and a half drive.  Yum!!!

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Jet Lagged…

October 27, 2009 at 6:37 pm (Uncategorized)
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grand canyonFlew a bit out of the way coming home from Baltimore, but I had the pleasure of viewing the Grand Canyon from five miles up and it was glorious!

I got word that the official results of the 4th Annual Dixie Kane Memorial Contest have been posted on the SOLA website:

http://www.solawriters.org/Content.aspx?topic=winners2009

And it’s pretty dang cool to place in two categories – Short Contemporary and Romance Suspense.  Although I am going back to Julia Barrett, no more Chana Alexander – too many readers insist and their opinion counts!

That’s it!  Off to the Nazi Esthetician!

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I fuckin’ love Baltimore!

October 22, 2009 at 9:36 pm (Uncategorized)
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lexington marketfaidleyThe crab cakes at Faidley’s at the Lexington Market – the oldest continuous indoor market in the nation – are to die for!

I can’t believe old vegetarian, whole foods me ate amazing fried chicken and white bread at nine in the morning and red velvet cake at nine-thirty and an out of this world crab cake at ten-o-one.

Then we hit the Pennsylvania Dutch Market so I could drool over the Amish in their perfect hats and aprons and beards.  We bought just-off-the farm eggs, milk, butter, yogurt, cheese, a hot apple caramel doughnut – damn I never allow myself to eat those – homemade pickles, a bottle of cold sun tea – which I love because it reminds me of Witness and a bunch of bulk spices.  We were going to buy fresh veggies but I think we’ll get those tomorrow – I have never seen such a gorgeous head of broccoli in my entire life!  And the chickens and turkeys were enormous, the beef all grass fed, I mean…I felt like I’d been transported to foodie heaven!!!

I can never eat another San Francisco Bay area crab cake – no matter how expensive and how enticing the description.  They pale in comparison to Faidley’s.  Every one I’ve tasted until now has been a faux crab cake.

So here’s what I like about Baltimore:  The Trees!  The train that goes downtown to the inner harbor and Camden Yards.  Lexington Market and Faidley’s.  The Pennsylvania Dutch Market.  Wegman’s.  And there are lots and lots of ladybugs.  Whoo hoo!

BWI

wegmans

dutch market

camden yards

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Baltimore! Gimme More!

October 21, 2009 at 2:48 am (Uncategorized)
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baltimoreFlying into BWI, the first thing I noticed was trees.  There are a whole lotta trees in Baltimore.  Really beautiful, impressive trees.  Can’t see the neighborhoods for the trees trees.

I’m helping my daughter start her first post college job here and man, are we working – moving – so many little things that have to be taken care of.  I guess I forgot what it’s like because I’ve somehow managed to stay in one place for nineteen years after moving every single year or two for the previous twenty…you know…since I was a kid.

So far, except for some bad lobster salad – too much tarragon, an herb I detest – I like Baltimore.  Everywhere you go, the air smells like Old Bay Seasoning.  It’s pretty cool!  Friendly people, manageable freeways, ended up with a dyslexic nav system in the rental car – seriously – says right when it means left and left when it means right – but otherwise it’s all good.  Stuff is way cheaper here than in Cali and that’s a big plus.

Speaking of cheap, looks like I’ll have an erotic freebie coming with Resplendence Publishing soon!  Keep you posted.

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Comfort Food

October 13, 2009 at 4:24 pm (Uncategorized)
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mac and cheeseI love the clouds and the advent of the rainy season in California.  Today is perfect, gusty winds, heavy rains, a sky as dark as night…the ideal meal for a day like this?  Macaroni and cheese!  I love mine with a variety of cheeses, sharp cheddar, jack, mozzarella, fresh cream, a little butter.  I saute shallots, sweet onions, garlic, fresh basil and add a couple hot peppers and a can of Rotel, sprinkle extra cheese on top, dust with hot paprika and bake it up.  Yum.

This post may not be about romance, but there is something very romantic about sharing a bowl of hot mac and cheese and a nice sauvignon blanc.

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Official Results of the Dixie Kane Memorial Contest

October 10, 2009 at 11:16 pm (Uncategorized)
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SOLA:  Southern Louisiana Chapter of

The Romance Writers of America

The Southern Louisiana Chapter of the Romance Writers of America, Inc. congratulates the winners of its 4th Annual Dixie Kane Memorial Contest:

Inspirational:

First Place                     Defending Hope by Diane K BurnsSecond

Second Place                The Road to Love by Anne Wolfe

Third Place                   Murder on Ocean Drive by Gloria Ferguson

Honorable Mention      Light the Fire by Mary Manners

Short Contemporary:

First Place                     No Bull by Whisper Ellis

Second Place                The Perfect Holiday Mix by Wendy S. Marcus

Third Place                   Beauty and the Feast by Julia Barrett

Honorable Mention      A Thread of Shells by Lucy J. Dixon

Single Title Contemporary:

First Place                    Marryin’ the Librarian by Wendy Qualls

First Place (tie)            Murder, Curlers, and Canes by Arlene McFarland

Second Place                Chasing Miracles by Linda Chubbuck

Third Place                   Courting Disaster by Ellie Kirkland

Honorable Mention      Worth Fighting For by La-Tessa Montgomery

Novel With Romantic Elements:

First Place                    The Choice by Pamela Kopfler

Second Place                Tragic Choices—Far Off Places by Margot Pleasants

Third Place                   Odin’s End by Dawna Fichtner

Honorable Mention      Wild Rodeo Nights by Sandy Sullivan

Historical:

First Place                     A Mad Passion by Laura Hirnesen

Second Place                The True Confessions of a Lady Novelist by Emily Becher

Third Place                   A Frenchman’s Secrets by Rhoda Fort

Honorable Mention      Theft by Night by Connie Queen

Paranormal:

First Place                    Rocky Mountain Howl by Kinsey W. Holley

Second Place                Intergalactic Brides Series: The Triple Bride by Whisper Ellis

Third Place                   Demon Soul by Christine Ashworth

Honorable Mention      A Vision of Death by Gretchen Stull

Romantic Suspense:

First Place                    From Baghdad With Love by Gail Zerrade

Second Place                The Light of Truth by Shelley K. Masoc

Third Place                   Anytime Darlin’ by Julia Barrett

Honorable Mention      Saving Sarah by Robena Grant

Winner of the Highest Overall Score resulted in a tie:

No Bull by Whisper Ellis

From Baghdad With Love by Gail Zerra

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Nothing New Under the Sun?

October 6, 2009 at 7:55 pm (Uncategorized)

moonLots of upheaval in the family, many disparate points of view and emotions running hot and heavy.  Change is coming!

I have never feared change.  Change can help us grow and become more than we already are.  If you shrink from change, you shrink your heart and you close yourself off to possibility.  Never underestimate the power of possibility!

So I’m branching out into the realm of sci-fi and futuristic romance and I love it.  Perhaps all those hours and hours spend inhaling science fiction as a teenager are paying off.

By the way,  George R.R. Martin – where is my next installment of A Game of Thrones?  And it better not suck like the last one!

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Announcement!

October 2, 2009 at 1:55 am (Uncategorized)
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3rd placeI just learned that two of my books have placed in the 4th Annual Dixie Kane Memorial Contest!!!

Anytime Darlin’ took third in the romance suspense category.

Beauty and the Feast, coming with Resplendence Publishing in March, 2010, took third in the short contemporary category.

I’m sooooo excited!

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Too tired…must…sleep…

October 1, 2009 at 5:52 pm (Uncategorized)
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bedI can barely keep my eyes open.  My neighbors – who should be living in a high rise apartment somewhere since they are terrified of nature, have been trapping raccoons.  It’s breaking my heart.  We’ve had a family of raccoons living in our neighborhood since time immemorial.  Nobody else cares aside from them.  They leave cat food on their deck for their outdoor cat and then complain that the raccoons come right up on their deck!  Gee…imagine that…

For two years, we’ve all talked to them until we’re blue in the face, telling them to bring the damn cat food in at night, but no, they refuse to do that one simple thing so yeah, they have raccoons and then they trap them and give them to some guy who drowns them and since raccoons aren’t endangered, the county doesn’t care and won’t intervene.  So the past two nights they’ve caught a total of three raccoons and the poor things cry all night and it makes me steaming mad – for the pathetic raccoons and because nobody whose house borders theirs can get any sleep.

I’d rather the bobcat ate them, it would be kinder.  Believe me, I won’t tell these neighbors about the bobcat because they’ll shoot it.

Two nights without any sleep can make you think bad thoughts about people, let me tell you…

raccoon

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