Don’t forget to vote for STUD for Book of the Month on LASR!
http://whippedcream2.blogspot.com/

Enjoy your Sunday!

For some reason, every time I look at this picture, I hear Indiana Jones saying, “Snakes…why did it have to be snakes?”

And the winner for numerous chuckle-worthy comments yesterday is our own Queen Yah Yah, Nancy Bristow! Congratulations! A signed copy of Stud will soon be headed your way!

In other news, our good friend Helyce has posted her review of Stud on Smexy Books, and Eloisa James included Stud in her monthly review on Barnes & Noble Reviews!

After you’re finished untangling this fellow, come on over to Long and Short Reviews and vote for STUD for Book of the Month! http://whippedcream2.blogspot.com/

Last Friday was so much fun, I think we should do it again!
So WRITE YOUR OWN CAPTION!
Whoever makes me laugh the most wins a copy of STUD!!!!

Lucky Nancy! Your birthday falls on a Wednesday this year, so that means you get the birthday buns AND the whopping weasels!

It’s STUD’S release day, too! The blog tour kicks off today at Debbie’s Book Bag. Come on over for your chance to win a free copy of STUD!

There’s another party going on over at Casablanca Authors today. We’re celebrating STUD’s release and I’m giving away a book too!

Hope you have a wonderful day, Nancy!

We’ve got the STUD.

We’ve got a gift for you from Donna,

Now all we need is Queen Yah Yah to celebrate! 

 
I was very excited to get this recipe from our own Diva Donna. I was working the night of Medical floor’s Christmas party, and one of the aides brought in the best baked beans I’d ever tasted in my life. This recipe looks like it would be real close. Gotta try this one soon!

LAND YOUR MAN BEANS
 

 

2. Brown the ground chuck. Add Taco seasoning while browning beef. ***DO NOT add water***
3. Drain beef & set aside.
4. Combine beans, onions, peppers, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar & Texas Pete in a 16″X10″ casserole dish.
5. Add seasoned beef to the bean casserole.
6. Place bacon on top of beans.
7. Cover dish with aluminum foil, leaving a corner folded back for venting.
8. Bake for approx. 1 hour. Remove foil and continue baking approx. 30 minutes or until bacon is brown and excess liquid has been cooked out.
9. Set on table and watch out!!! ENJOY!!!!

Amid writing revisions and guest blogs and running across the occasional review, one of the most fun things about being an author is the mail I receive from readers. My friend Snow Ho from up in Wisconsin recently sent me some new pics from a bachelorette party. His letters never fail to make me smile.

I know I’d be smiling with him in my lap!

And to think, he once asked me to autograph those buns.
*sigh* Enjoy your Monday!

And he’s STILL not smiling…

Why do you suppose he looks so unhappy when he’s got a dick like that????

I know someone who’ll be happy today. There were a lot of great captions posted on yesterday’s blog. I was about to call it a tie between Suzy and Alicia, but you got me with that last one about the Miracle Grow, Betty.

Congratulations! You’re the winner of a copy of Stud!

The one that makes me laugh the hardest wins a copy of STUD!!!!

The only thought in my head is that I want to see more pics of yesterday’s adorable hunk.

What luck! I have one!

I’m in the process of giving Wildcat another read-through before I send the revised version back to my agent. It’s a very slow, nerve-racking process. You revise and revise and create discrepancies, find them, correct them. Write new scenes that mess up scenes that happen later on. Find those and fix them. Read though the new parts a million times. Then you start at the beginning and read through it thinking “THIS IS TOTAL CRAP!” and wondering at what point readers are going to throw the book against the wall.

But then I read it again in a totally different frame of mind and I realize it’s not crap. I laugh and cry in all the right places, and when my Zetithian boys bring on the heat, I can almost feel it. The sense of relief is astonishing.

Then I send it to my editor and have to do it all over again once I get her request for revisions. By the time a book hits the shelves, I’ve probably read it at least 50 times.

*sigh* Is it any wonder I need Wednesday’s weasels to get me over the hump?
Enjoy your Wednesday!

Now I know whose picture I should have added to the meatball soup recipe!

Something tells me he’s not asleep.

Let’s tickle him and find out!

I only wish I was having fun! Got Wildcat back from my agent yesterday with several suggestions for revisions, so I’ll be working on that for a while, plus, I still have guest blogs to write for Stud‘s release. How did I ever do this while working full time???

Maybe I need to take more Vitamin C to keep me going.

Just look at what it did for this guy!

This one, on the other hand, seems to have had his fair share of orange juice this morning!

Willy’s Back!

Apparently, he hasn’t seen the light of day since the INRWA Retreat back in November! I woke up with a spasm in my left hip on Tuesday morning and since I didn’t think I could get on a horse, much less ride one, I canceled my lesson.

I decided what my hip needed was a few stretches, but when I went to get the old quilt that I use as an exercise mat, the tote bag from retreat was sitting on top of it. On a whim, I checked the contents, and there he was!

This event illustrates several things. First of all, I obviously haven’t used the tote bag since I carried it home and added it to the pile of conference swag in the corner of my bedroom. Secondly, I haven’t done any floor exercises since before retreat. And third, if I hadn’t had a sore hip that morning, who knows when I would’ve found him again! Fate works in mysterious ways, doesn’t it?

To celebrate his return, I got him together with his new buddies, Aragorn and Legolas (The Pez dispensers Mikey gave me for Christmas) and the pen boys I got from Lisa Kuehne at the retreat, with whom he has been sharing a tote bag for the past two months.

I’m just glad I found him before the Gatlinburg trip the hospital gang and I have planned for mid-February. You know how Willy loves to travel!

And now for today’s hunk….

LOL! Looks like Willy isn’t the only one who’s been playing Hide and Seek!

I probably should’ve added this pic to yesterdays post. “Mamma Mia! That’sa somea spicy meata ball!”

If you remember that quote, you’re older than dirt, like me. ;)

Here’s another terrific recipe from our own Diva Donna! Looks like a good one for cold winter nights!
I’m blogging today on Casablanca Authors. When you’ve finished drooling, come on over!

Cheryl,
I made this and it really hit the spot.  And I know we all like meaty balls. I provided a pair. You can add your own to taste. LOL

 
Meat Ball Soup or Albondigas Soup (serves 6)

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pinch garlic salt
• 1 pinch onion powder
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 4 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 4 large carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 3 potatoes, cubed

Directions

1. Place the ground beef, 1/2 of the cilantro, 1/2 of the chopped onion, the garlic, garlic salt, and onion powder in a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper, and mix gently until combined. Form the meat mixture into golf ball-sized meatballs.
2. Spray a large skillet with nonstick spray, and brown the meatballs carefully over medium-high heat; remove the meatballs and set aside (the meatballs do not need to be fully cooked; they will finish cooking in the soup). Cook and stir the remaining onion in the same skillet over medium-low heat until translucent, about 10 minutes.
3. Pour the chicken broth into a large pot, and stir in the onion; add the carrots, celery, and potatoes. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are nearly tender, about 15 minutes. Add the meatballs and the remaining cilantro; simmer for 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
4.  OPTIONAL:Serve with a dollop of Mexican rice or  Rice a Roni spanish rice stirred in the soup  before serving.