Resolution # 1

Okay, here it is, my number one resolution for the coming year:

I will write more.

Which includes me becoming more entrepreneurial (don't ask me to say that word aloud!) with my work. I need to become more business oriented instead of focusing on the creative side. This resolution might prove painful, but I'm going to give it a try!

Wish me luck.

Oh, and Happy New Year, everyone!

Resolution # 2

This is a must-do. Absolutely HAVE to follow through.

Resolution # 2:

I will find the time or make the time to READ more. And I also want to keep track of the books I read this year. Oh, and widen my horizons. More classics. More nonfiction. More craft (writing) books.

---

PS: Lucy Valentine is blogging today at Killer Characters, and I'm blogging at The Naked Hero. Busy, busy!

Resolution # 3

This is a toughie because it's something I struggle with every single day yet I'm not sure why it's such a struggle. Maybe figuring that out should be part of the resolution?

Resolution # 3:

I will respond in a timely manner to emails. At least within 24 hours.

Anyone else struggle with this?

Resolution # 4

Okay, this one pains me just writing it, but it's been far too long, and I don't think I can put it off any longer:

Resolution # 4

Go to the dentist.

(Shudder)

Resolution # 5

It's resolution week for me. And I WILL stick to them this year. Stop laughing--I will.

Resolution #5

Exercise more regularly.

I might even dust off the treadmill. We'll see how far this craziness goes...

(PS: I did mention that these resolutions don't start until 1/1, right?)

Pictures of the Day

A Love Story

Once Upon a Time, there was a beautiful girl with fabulous Farrah Fawcett hair. She was sweet (so sweet) and had so much going for her (including a wonderfully stylish belt and amazingly long lashes), but sadly, she had no one with whom to share her life.

Once Upon a Time, there was a brawny boy with fabulous spiky blond hair, big muscles, and a hip cool belt who was living a sweet life. Except, one thing was missing... the perfect girl.

Then one Christmas Eve-eve, the two happened to find themselves sharing a table at the home of some fairly creative cookie decorators.

It was love at first sight.

And they lived happily ever after.

(We just won't tell them about Santa's penchant for iced cookies...)

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

What Would You Do?

I'm curious. What would you do if you find a voice mail where someone's going on and on about meeting up with you, or that they're waiting for your call--and it's the wrong number.

Yet you know they're waiting for this person to call them back.

Do you call them and say hey, I'm not Rhonda? Or text them? Or ignore the message?

What would you do?

How Cool Is This?

So happy that both Truly, Madly and Deeply, Desperately were on the list of Bookreporter.com's reviewer picks for best books of 2010. Thank you, Amy!

Full List

What Do You Think?

Are you one of those people who believes that everything happens for a reason? The good, the bad, the ugly?

I am. I'm not sure why--I think it's just an innate desire to feel that everything (good, bad, ugly) has a reason. That there may be pain (temporarily) but that the greater universe will sort everything out.

For example, I know writers who had series dropped (ugly, very ugly) then picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and wrote new books that made bestseller lists. So maybe that initial bad thing was a good thing in disguise?

Another example is a friend who lost her job (very, very ugly) only to find a new job she loves even more.

Then, sometimes, when something ugly happens a life lesson is learned. Once burned, twice shy and all that. So again, a life lesson is a good thing, right?

2010 has been a mix of good, bad, and ugly--for a lot of us. I know I'm looking forward to 2011 being all about the good (I can hope, right?). But even if it's not, I'm going to cling stubbornly to the notion that whatever is happening is happening for a reason...

~Heather

Did You Know?

That the e-book version of Truly, Madly is on sale? Right now it's only $2.99 for Kindle, Nook, and other versions of e-readers as well.

Spread the word, pass it on, and if you haven't read it yet, this may be the perfect time to give it a try.

Kindle: Buy here
Nook: Buy here

~Heather

Picture of the Day

Home Sweet Home

credit: Mr. Webber

Bits

* It's another snow day here, and I love it. Love having the kids home. Love being nestled, all snug and warm in the house while the snow falls outside. This is the second snow day this week, and the kids start their two week vacation on Monday. Lucky kids!


* I'm prepping the house for the company Christmas party tomorrow. By "company" I mean me and my critique partners. Hey, any excuse for us to get together and eat, laugh, and read is a good excuse in my book. Hopefully this snow will be cleared from the roads by morning. 


* Sometimes it's the little things in life that make me happiest. As you all know, I was cleaning the oven the other day, but couldn't get those racks clean for the life of me. Nothing like baked apple pie drippings and caked on melted cheese and various other greases to make me cranky. So I went online looking for tips and found one that said to put the racks in the bathtub (!!!!), cover with hot water and add dishwasher detergent. Let sit for an hour and with a little rubbing everything will come right off. Okay, it sounded way too easy to be true, but I was desperate. So I did it. And oh my gosh, it worked! My racks are sparkly clean. The bathtub was a mess, but hey, small price to pay.


* Vote for the Naked Hero! Details:

Every year, Writer's Digest magazine publishes a list of the "101 Best Websites for Writers."  We work very hard to make The Naked Hero both fun and informative.  If you enjoy our site, please vote for us!  

It's easy!

1. Send an email to writersdig@fwpubs.com with "101 Best Websites" in the subject line. 

2. In the body of the email, simply write our blog address:  http://thenakedhero.com.  

Feel free to add anything you'd like about why you love TNH!  

Sending tons of love from The Naked Hero for your continued support and love of archetypes. heroes, heroines, villains, and all things book!

*  I'm blogging today over at The Naked Hero about tree toppers. Oh, and it's day 4 of our scavenger hunt. The prize today is a sterling silver floating heart pendant and chain. Very pretty.


* Today I'll be wrapping (I might be the world's worst wrapper), and I'll be getting a little crafty too, for one present in particular. I'm looking forward to that!

Happy Thursday!

Eleventh Day of Bookmas

Here's my clue:

Gracie, the neurotic chihuahua from Trouble in Spades could have used this book.


Here's the riddle:

When asked how long I’ll dedicate to selling a book, I always tell the story of the little book that could. The book that spent two years sitting on one editor’s desk, when suddenly the call with an offer came. I’ll be honest, I really felt I had run the course with this book and had sort of forgotten about it. I know the author did, too. Needless to say we were wonderfully surprised when that call came.

What is the title of the book and who is the author?

To answer, go to BookEnds Blog. Good luck!

It's Possessed

I'm in the process of cleaning the oven. It's a fairly easy process. Take out the racks, push a button, and voila, two hours later it's nice and clean.

Although it's an easy process, it's not painless. First there's the smell. The manual for the stove actually warns that the fumes can be dangerous for small birds and that they should be moved to a well-ventilated room. Not sure how this translates to humans, but if I had a baby in the house, I would not be using the self-cleaning oven.

Then there's all the noise. The oven fan, the ceiling fan...the smoke alarm. The kitchen's smoke alarm is a cranky-puss when it comes to the self-cleaning oven. It screams. Shrieks. It makes me want to run away.  So I do what any reasonably sane person would do. I unplugged the smoke detector (it's hooked into the electrical system) from the ceiling.

Ah, blessed silence.

Until the first second I turned my back on it. More shrieking.

For a second I thought it was possessed. Then I remembered the back up battery. I couldn't take that sucker out fast enough.

Ah, blessed silence. Well, except for the fans.

And now I'm thinking about moving to a well-ventilated area of the house...

~Heather

Snow Day!

It's official. The kids have the first snow day of the year today. For a while there it was in question-the school district issued a two hour delay last night. Is there anything worse for a kid as they head off to bed, visions of no school in their heads? Two hours is just a pain for everyone involved.

While other school districts canceled school left and right--neighboring districts--ours held firm. Two hours. We whined. We moaned. We wondered why, with four inches of snow (we know this isn't a lot, but it's a lot for Cincinnati) school wasn't canceled. Then this morning I learned that Ohio changed its calamity day rules from allowing five days to only allowing three. After that, the school year extends. I can see now why the district was being so stingy. And I have to think my kids would take the two hour day over a full day in June!

So today, we're going to enjoy the free day. It's actually too cold to play outside, so we'll be in drinking cocoa and enjoying some family time. Let it snow!

~Heather

Picture of the Day

Sunrise

credit: Mr. Webber

Ohio has some beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Heading into winter, though, we're going to be having lots and lots of gray days (boooo!).

Books of the Day

Two friends have books out this week:

Krista Davis' The Diva Cooks A Goose

and Sheila Connolly's A Killer Crop

I need to get to a book store and get my hands on these!

Currently, I'm reading on my Kindle:

Bootscootin' Blahniks by D.D. Scott

and in my hot little hands, the paperback (trade) I'm reading is:

Grace by (my very talented friend and critique partner) Shelley Shepard Gray.

What are you reading? 

Brrr!

I was surprised when I went out this morning to find a small dusting (a 1/2" if that) of snow on the ground. Not normally an issue, but it was when I was backing down the driveway that I noticed the snow. I definitely needed to shovel when I came back, especially since it's supposed to be a high of 21 degrees today.

This is the downfall of having a steep driveway. If the snow isn't removed, and there's no chance of melting, then it will be a sheet of ice within hours. Ice = no parking in the nice warm (relatively) garage = me in a panic to prevent ice from forming. Can you blame me? It's currently 16 degrees and there's a mighty cold wind chill = me freezing to death while I shoveled = me still defrosting under a blanket an hour later. There's not enough hot coffee in the world right now.

The snow is pretty, though, and my mission was accomplished = I made it up the driveway just fine. Next time I hope Mr. W is home when the snow falls!

No End in Sight

Earlier this month, we finally had son # 2 allergy tested. Out of the 40 scratches, he was allergic--severely allergic--to 24 of them (yikes!).

One of the (many) things he's allergic to is dust.

As it so happens, one of the household chores I like least is dusting. Why? Because as soon as you dust, five seconds later, it's back. There's no end in sight.Which means that the poor kid has practically lived in a dust bowl his whole life (you'd think this would boost his immunity, but nooooo).

Yeah, we won't get into my disqualification from the mom-of-the-year (cough, lifetime achievement) award.

Yesterday, I spent hours in his room dusting, vacuuming, wiping down every.single.mini-blind. We're still in the process of figuring out tips and tricks of living with severe dust allergies. Bedding stuff is on-order. Carpet stuff is coming. Knick-knacks, pennants, trophies, etc., probably aren't going anywhere so that means I'll be a dusting fool for the foreseeable future. At least until his allergy shots kick in (about a year!).

Until then, I suppose I don't have to worry about a mom-of-the-year award getting dusty...

~Heather

Picture of the Day

We call him Aflac

credit: Mr. Webber

Even though he's obviously the odd one out, all the other ducks don't seem to mind.

Venting

I find myself a tad bit irritated this morning, so I'll try not to take my mood out on all of you. But don't you just hate it when someone is completely selfish (work environment, not home) and doesn't even realize it? And I hate ruffling feathers so I'm not going to say something to rock the boat. Just silently seethe. And vent to all of you. :) And maybe kill this person off in a book...okay, maybe not kill because usually I enjoy this person but I've been pushed over the edge. So maybe maim. Hmm.

Anyone else need to vent? Today's the day! Vent away.

Me? I'm going to get some more coffee and start plotting...

~Heather

PS: I'm over at The Naked Hero today. :)