Hello everyone and welcome to December, the month of huge lines in stores, kitchen disasters, and family drama. Now before you start thinking I hate busy stores, badly cooked food, and drama, let me remind you that many creative types thrive on chaos. In fact, we probably create that very chaos ourselves and secretly relish the drama that unfolds around it. Yes, we’re sick that way. If that is not you, then I salute you! For me…well, I do enjoy peace and quiet, but definitely embrace the excitement that is December.
So…because I’m creative, you get to guess the really exciting things that are happening for me this month. (You’ll have to read down to get to my unexpected surprise!)
- I discovered a chocolate that melts away fat. No kidding. By New Year, I’m going to be thirty pounds lighter!
- My father got married and has moved to a new home with his new wife. Therefore, instead of going to the family mansion for Christmas, everyone’s piling into my house. I’m going to have ten people here plus a cat and dog. Anybody got bunk beds for sale?
- I don’t cook. Seriously. I’m terrible at it. During the rest of the year, my husband and I supplement our pizza diet with hot dogs, microwaveable burgers, and salad out of a bag, none of which is cooking. But with family here I am forced to order in real food. Can’t make my nieces and nephews eat the crap I do, right? Therefore we get real restaurant food often. Woo hoo!
- Starbucks holiday drinks. Specifically the Caramel Brulee. YUM!!!!!
Answer: 2 – (And believe me, how I wish it were 1—discovering fat melting chocolate).
Yes, my father got married last month to a lovely woman and they are now happily ensconced in a little house by a lake. No room for everyone. Which means they’re coming to me. November was the month of cleaning out the downstairs and finding cheap guest bedding. I have ZERO idea what we’re going to do about the dog. We haven’t got a fenced yard and my cat will completely freak. Yippee—holiday drama if only between the four-footed family.
And yes, it’s true. I don’t cook. But my sister (sadly) said that her kids love hotdogs, microwaveable burgers, and pizza. They’re not that big on salad out of a bag, but then who is? So that means, our sad diet will continue. Though, yes, I do love the Starbucks holiday drinks, but there isn’t a store near me. But there is one at the mall, so I’m sure I’ll be enjoying them soon!
Now we get to my exciting surprise. I’ll give you a hint ahead of time. It’s not about the new book releases, but I had to put them in because they’re really exciting. They’re just not a surprise. So guess what the surprise is!
- Release of One Rogue at a Time by Jade Lee. Isn’t the cover beautiful? An RT Top Pick and Reviewer’s Choice Finalist, this regency romance is a fun take on a makeover book. The heroine goes from the wilds of northern England to high society with the help of a rogue hero who tries to teach her all the wrong things only to have it turn out completely right!
- Release of Seducing the Skeptic by Kathy Lyons. I wrote this book as a fun escape from reality. The heroine lands in a wacky fantasy world and has grand adventures with the prince. Truthfully, it’s a wild ride that gave me an excuse to make Star Wars, Star Trek, and Firefly jokes—plus create that happily ever after that I’d always planned for me and Luke/Spock/Capt. Tightpants!
- My cat Cinnamon has decided to be a sweet lap kitty and never ever bring in mice in an effort to expand our limited diet.
- I met a woman at RWA doing the Ideal Relationship Project She asked me about the ideal relationship, I answered, and gave her a picture of me and my husband of 31 years. Then I completely forgot about it. Then I got this in the mail today. OMG, do I love my husband. Check out her site. It’s amazing. You probably can’t read the text. It says: “The ideal relationship is one where each person listens and is always striving to do better.”(Kathy) “Ours.” (Dave)
I already told you the books weren’t the answer and, as for my cat, she has yet to learn that we don’t enjoy chasing half dead critters around the house. The only reason I like snow is because it makes it hard for her to catch rodents and bring them home as a gift.
So the answer is #4.
I do so many things that I simply do and forget. The Ideal Relationship project was one I supported then completely forgot about. To see this come in was a total surprise. That she contacted my husband and got his response was adorable. (Or maybe I gave it to her. I don’t remember!) Anyway, isn’t this adorable? It’s now my desktop background!
So there you go! That was my December surprise. And for you all, I’m going to surprise you with not one, but TWO giveaways! Yup, one lucky commenter will get an e-copy of One Rogue at a Time. Another will get an e-copy of Seducing the Skeptic. But to be entered in the contest, you have to tell me what surprised you recently. Hopefully it wasn’t a half dead critter from your cat!
