Four Star Review for The Keeper's Promise!

Right now you can see only the four stars, but by the end of this month the full review should be there.

Go to:
The Keeper's Promise at Romantic Times BookReview Magazine

There is also a link to the book trailer video I made. However, that link will only be on the site this month.

I have an interesting interview at the Romance Junkies' Cocktail Hour page. It has photos, too.

You can see that at:

Cocktail Hour Interview

I have been spending most of my time writing book #10, which I have titled The Fiend of White Buck Hall. I've made considerable progress on it and it is coming together well. It's a historical paranormal.

Last weekend, I took a break from writing. Hubby, Daughter #1, and I went to visit Daughter #2 in Brooklyn. Daughter #2 took us on a long walk to a park by the East River. It was a beautiful day and I took a picture of my lovely daughters and hubby--and the Empire State Building.:^)

Itchy

I have poison ivy on my face. I do not know how I got it because I know what poison ivy looks like and I never go near it. I was pulling weeds this week and planting the flowers my sister gave me--but I did not see any poison ivy anywhere near me.

Whenever I do see poison ivy in our yard, I spray it with Ortho Max Poison Ivy Killer which claims to destroy even the root. So how I got poison ivy on my face is a mystery though it’s not too bad--three rather ugly, oozy, red patches. I just have to constantly put stuff on it to stop the itch.

My brother used to get poison ivy every time he went on a camping trip with the Boy Scouts. Once he had it so bad, his eyes were swollen shut.

My husband, who grew up in Brooklyn, does not know what poison ivy looks like. When we first moved into our current home, there was a bunch of poison ivy climbing up a tree and he pulled it off with his bare hands. I was totally hysterical. I ordered him to put his clothes in the washing machine and to take a shower immediately. He did, but he did not get any poison ivy. I did--probably from touching the door handle that he had touched or the washing machine cover or the faucets.

Anyhow, hubby has never, ever had poison ivy. I suspect he might be immune to it. But evidently, I’m rather susceptible.

So maybe someone smeared poison ivy on a shopping cart.

My mother is home and seems to be over her bout of diverticulitis. That’s what landed her in the hospital this last time. She was on a liquid diet for several days and IV antibiotics. But every time she goes into the hospital, she gets totally disoriented--probably more from lack of sleep than anything else. It can get very strange when she is lying in a hospital bed and believes she’s in her kitchen.

However, once she’s home, things go back to normal. Sort of.

Nevertheless, she is eating better now that her stomach doesn’t hurt.

Our Newport Vacation

Hubby and I went on vacation! We visited Newport, Rhode Island. I’ve always wanted to see the summer “cottages” of the rich and famous.

We drove up on Monday. We only stopped at one antique shop so we arrived in Newport around 4 p.m. After checking into our hotel and eating dinner, we decided to check out the Cliff Walk. We started at the Forty Steps and walked south. We saw surfers at the foot of the cliff. To get to the waves, they had to wend their way out by walking barefoot through the rocks. They wore wetsuits and it looked as if most of them used short boards.

Hurricane Bertha had kicked up some mighty big swells and the surfers appeared to be having a mighty good time. In fact, all that surfing made them mighty thirsty. The trash can at the top of the cliff was brimming with beer cans and water bottles.

Hubby and I watched them surf for a while. It made me nervous wondering if they were going to surf onto the rocks at the foot of the cliff. However, their path along the wave carried them at an oblique angle.

As one surfer walked by, I asked him if there had been accidents when surfers ran into the rocks. He showed me his knees. A few scratches--that’s all, he explained.

I guess they know exactly what they’re doing.

The next day, hubby and I toured four mansions, The Breakers, Marble House, Rosecliff, and Chateau Sur Mer. The first three reminded me of the palaces I had seen in Europe. Chateau Sur Mer was somewhat less ostentatious than the others, but there is carved wood all over the house and it is exquisite.

The daughters in the family who lived in Chateau Sur Mer never married. Of course, they had limited choices--they were only allowed to marry men from eight other families--at least that’s what the tour guide told me.

Stories like that are what intrigued me more than all the marble, gold leaf, and Louis the Fourteenth furniture.

I do believe that money cannot buy happiness and most of the people who lived in the grand mansions did not always get to enjoy their prosperity for they suffered tragedies. Divorce, premature death, and arranged loveless marriages are not my idea of a good time--no matter how extravagant the lifestyle.

After dinner, hubby and I drove along Ocean Drive. I took a picture of the Castle Hill lighthouse and then the Goat Island Lighthouse. Maybe someday, I might get a chance to do a painting of one of them.

On Wednesday, we checked out Hunter House--the oldest of the Newport mansions, built in 1748--so it was not a palace, but a center hall colonial--lots of those in NJ, too.

Above the fireplace was a painting by Gilbert Stuart--his first, a painting of dogs. The tour guide told me that the father of the Mr. Hunter who bought the house was a physician who cured Gilbert Stuart of an eye ailment. Gilbert was fourteen at the time and the doctor noticed the sketches the teenager had drawn. The doctor gave the young Gilbert paints and introduced him to the portrait artist who had painted the doctor’s portrait.

And thus, if it had not been for that one good doctor, Gilbert Stuart would not have finished the famous portrait of George Washington. I love hearing stories like that. It can easily be translated to a fictional story.

After Hunter House, hubby and I hopped on a ferry to Rose Island. I had originally thought of staying at Rose Island. I am glad I did not. I think I would have gone a little stir crazy.

The lighthouse is very nice, but guests can only walk along a small portion of the island. The rest of it is a bird sanctuary. In truth, the seagulls are the true owners of that island. Baby seagulls and their mothers were all over the place. The mother seagulls were not happy with any human who got anywhere near their offspring.

Hubby and I brought our lunch to the island. We ate at a picnic table in the shade of the lighthouse, I took some photos, picked up some shells, watched the baby seagulls annoy their mothers, and decided I’d had enough.

Back in Newport, we visited the Elms. The Elms was the home of Edward Berwind, the coal magnate. My grandfather, a coal miner, probably helped to contribute to Mr. Berwind’s lavish lifestyle. We actually had two tours of the Elms. One was the standard tour of the home, the other was a Rooftop and Behind the Scenes tour--which featured the places where the servants worked and lived.

It was a hard life for the servants, but the most startling fact was that the last inhabitant of the Elms, Julia Berwind, Edward’s sister, kept the house functioning in the same style with a full staff just as it had been back in 1901. When she died in 1961, there was still no electric washing machine. They used an agitator by hand to do the wash.

Crazy.

However, the house would have fallen to the wrecking ball had it not been for the Preservation Society of Newport County. Without them, there would be another shopping mall in place of the Elms.

The next day we started off the morning by visiting Kingscote, finished in 1841, a Gothic Revival home. We got there ten minutes before it opened and I looked through all the photographs I had taken while we waited for the tour to begin. I realized that I was not quite sure about the location of some of the pictures. Was that the Marble House, or Rosecliff, or the Elms?

So I bought a guidebook.

After Kingscote, we toured the Isaac Bell home, built in 1881. Isaac Bell was a cotton broker and brother-in-law of the publisher of the New York Herald.

After lunch, we headed to Chepstow, an Italianate villa, circa 1861.

At that point, we felt we had overdosed on mansions.

We drove to Green Animals, a topiary garden in Portsmouth. I am always cutting back the hedges in our yard--but ours are plain and boxy. It is amazing to see privet hedges and yews clipped into whimsical, fanciful shapes.

Not that I would do it. It is difficult simply keeping the hedge--and all the other bushes in our yard in check. Sometimes, I feel like a need a machete instead of hedgeclippers to hack away the jungle around the house.

We stopped at the Newport Winery and tasted quite a few wines. I liked their Gemini wine and the Great White. I enjoyed reading the descriptions of the wines. The ones that were most elegantly written were the ones I choose to taste. :^)

After dinner, we drove out to see Second Beach, Third Beach, and Purgatory Chasm. In Massachusetts, there is a Purgatory Chasm, too. It’s rather impressive. But Rhode Island’s Purgatory Chasm is different--and scary. It is a narrow cleft in a huge rock formation. The cleft is not wide, but it goes straight down to the water. From the top of the rock, there’s a wonderful view of Second Beach, Third Beach, and the wildlife refuge. Of course, I did not go anywhere near the edge of that huge rock.

We walked along Third Beach. The sand is light grey--unlike the sand in New Jersey.

On Friday, we left Newport and headed to Simsbury, Connecticut, to see my sister, her hubby, and their children. My sister is Curator of the Gardens for the grounds of the local historical society so she took us to the Phelps Tavern Museum--another old house!

However, it was not a palace and we learned something interesting. When fireplaces were being built people would place old shoes from family members in the fireplace. This was for good luck--or so it is thought.

My sister also took us to see the largest tree in Connecticut--The Gifford Pinchot Sycamore. With a girth of 27 feet it is very impressive.

Gifford Pinchot founded the US Forestry Service. Hubby and I visited Grey Towers a few years ago, which is the Pinchot mansion in Pennsylvania. But Pinchot was born in Simsbury--so they dedicated the largest tree they could find in honor of him. :^)

My sister gave me some of the plants from her garden--perennials that multiply. I hope they do well for me.

Amazing Contest Response

I set up a new contest for Labor Day at my website. I will be giving away two diskettes. One contains an HTML file of my very first book, Sea Of Hope, and one is an HTML file of another one of my books, Heaven's Blue. They are both EPPIE award-winning inspirational romances. Since they are on diskettes, you need to have a disk drive to use them. Some computers no longer have disk drives and diskettes are becoming obsolete.

But if you do have a disk drive, the contents of the diskettes will open up in your browser where you can read my e-books.

The response for the contest so far has been nothing short of mind-boggling. Evidently, my contest was listed at another site on the web frequented by those who love to enter contests. :^)

News travels fast on the web, but this means that the competition for those two diskettes is getting really fierce.

I'm going to need a really big container to put all the names in when it's time to draw out the winner.

My New AlphaSmart

Last Thursday, my AlphaSmart Neo arrived. It is a terrific technological advance for me. I am now untethered. :^) I can literally write anywhere. The machine is lightweight and the batteries last a long, long time. I do not have to keep recharging it. (However, there is a model with rechargeable batteries.) Click on the link to get all the details at the AlphaSmart website: AlphaSmart.com

Meanwhile, my mother went back into the hospital on Saturday. She had severe abdominal pain. After a CT scan, we found out she has diverticulitis. My sister, her husband, and boys drove here to see Mom in the hospital. So I spent most of my time feeding people--and after they left, there were extra towels and sheets to wash. Not much time to write--or even think. But I am glad they could be with Mom in the hospital.

I did show my new Alphasmart to my sister and her boys. My nephew said that when he was in middle school, the teachers gave AlphaSmarts to the kids with the really bad handwriting.

Hmmmm. An incentive to have poor penmanship?

E-Book Talk at the Sierra Club

On Monday, I presented my e-book talk to the local Sierra Club. After all, e-books save trees and prevent waste in landfills. My listeners were very attentive. They really were not familiar with e-books and asked a lot of questions. I passed around my eBookwise reader so everyone would understand exactly how simple it is to use.

They were a wonderful audience! However, I realized I should have had a handout for them with a page of URLs--places to go for e-books like www.fictionwise.com, www.ebookwise.com, or www.gutenberg.net or www.epicauthors.com.

Oh well. Next time.

Great Presentation by Jane Porter

On Saturday, I attended the New Jersey Romance Writers meeting. Jane Porter presented a talk on the Alpha Male and the Unforgettable Heroine. It was an entertaining and informative talk. She used video clips from a variety of well-known movies to illustrate her points.

She was a wonderful speaker! You can find Jane Porter at Jane Porter (She has a great website, too.)

I sat next to Shirley Hailstock and Mo Boylan at lunch. Each of them have an Alphasmart keyboard and they let me play with their gadgets. I want one of my own now. I had thought of getting one a while ago, but now that summer is here it seems an even better idea. I could write anywhere!

Clean Dolls

I teach a pre-k class when I'm not writing. The school year ended last week and, as usual, the teachers had to clean up the classrooms. The dolls in my room were really filthy--and probably full of germs and other nasty stuff. I put them in the washing machine with bleach and hot water. They all survived. The genuine Cabbage Patch dolls fared the best. One other type of doll needed its hair glued back on its head. Another needed a few stitches, but that was it. They are rather hardy.

I put them on the line outside to dry, which looked rather strange. But now they are all ready for September and another class. :^)

Autographed Copy

I love to go to used book sales at libraries. My stack of books to be read is formidable, but that doesn't stop me from looking for more books. Daughter #1 is an zealous reader, too. Actually, she's worse than I am. I swear she inhales books. The nice thing is that we know each other's taste in books. So when we go to a sale together, we help each other find exactly what we like.

When the library in the next town put tons of books out on the porch, we happily planned to spend our Saturday morning searching for more wonderful books. We were not there very long when Daughter #1 pointed out a book that had one of my stories in it. I was rather surprised to see the book there. I picked it up and opened up the cover. I had autographed the book.


I felt a bit sad that the person who had purchased the book no longer wanted it. Of course, I do the same thing all the time. I regularly donate books that other authors have autographed after I read them. I cannot keep every book. I simply do not have the room for them all.

However, I could not leave that book on the shelf. I only had two copies of that particular book at home. So I bought the copy at the library sale.

It brought back a lot of good memories. The book is full of recipes for interesting dates and many of the stories were written by my New Jersey Romance Writer friends. I think I'll have to re-read it. :^)

Reunion

There's me on the right with hubby and some of my former classmates. We attended my fortieth high school reunion on Friday night. Hubby wound up spending a lot of time snapping photos since he was not a member of the class. He stood patiently in one place with five cameras on his arm and took the same shot over and over.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed the evening. It was so nice to catch up with everyone! One of the memorable moments occurred as we were all posing for a group shot. Hubby was standing on a chair in the center of the room to get the best vantage point. Then someone started singing "In The Still of the Night" and everyone else joined in. :^)



I hope we all get together again soon.

The Big One

Hubby had a birthday. We celebrated with an outdoor feast on the patio. There were burgers cooked on the grill, potato salad, fruit salad, beans, pasta salad, and in addition to the ice cream cake, we had S'mores.

There was one funny incident. I left the back door open for a while when I was taking food back into the house. A few chipmunks were spotted heading toward the door, and one of them went inside. Daughters #2, #3 and her boyfriend went after the errant chipmunk. They managed to get him to run out the front door. They are such cute creatures, but I would hate to have one loose in the house.

It was such a beautiful day. We had our daughters and our friends with us. Plus my parents came, too. I was so glad they could join us.

Featured Author

Yesterday, I was the featured author at the monthly meeting of the New Jersey Romance Writers. I stood up to tell everyone about my book, but after developing laryngitis this week I sounded terrible and I did not want to talk for long. Nevertheless, I got a few chuckles when I explained that The Keeper's Promise is a book about murder and faith. And it is. Sort of. :^)

I had a wonderful time catching up with my writing friends. There's always something to laugh about at a romance writers' meeting.

At lunch, we commiserated about the difficulty of promoting books. Writing books is the easy part. Most of the published writers in NJRW have not quit their day jobs--yet. So for those of you who want to get rich quick, don't think you can do it by writing a book.

But if you have lots of stories to tell, go ahead and write. It is fun!

Mother's Day

Life has been very hectic lately, but sometimes when things get tough I like to look at my old photo albums. This is one of my favorite pictures from more than twenty years ago--me and our three daughters at the Enchanted Forest. And I thought life was hectic then. Ha!

This weekend was busy as most weekends seem to be in this household--except for yesterday morning. While Daughter #1 had brought her boyfriend with her, they went to a wedding yesterday morning. Daughter #3 was working yesterday morning. Daughter #2 had to wait for a cable guy to come and install a cable in her apartment. Hubby went out to check all the garage sales in the area. So yesterday morning I was all alone for several hours. I had lots of peace and quiet. :^)

Then everyone came back and my peace and quiet evaporated. Still, our daughters can gab for hours and I love to listen to what is going on in their lives. It is fun to have them altogether and, of course, they gave me wonderful gifts.

Today we all went to Mass together. However, after lunch Daughter #1 and her boyfriend had to leave. Daughter #2 went with hubby and I to visit my parents. Hubby fixed Dad's lawnmower and put the air conditioner in the living room window. Daughter #2 and I scrubbed the kitchen. I also planted a few geraniums outside as well as a hydrangea.

Then Daughter #2 had to leave.

Sigh. Life whizzes by so quickly. I'm glad I have my old photographs.

Five Roses!

The Keeper's Promise has received a wonderful review from Mary at A Romance Review. Mary gave the book the highest rating--five roses! She thoroughly enjoyed the book and highly recommends it.

You can read the entire review at:

http://www.aromancereview.com/reviews/index.php?app_state=show_event&bookid=13449

Ideas From A Walk In The Park

My NCP editor told me I should do another beast book since the readers seemed to like The Beast of Blackbirch Manor. So although I was having fun with my pirate book, I set it aside and started working on another book with another beast. I usually do not switch like that. I'm afraid I would never finish anything if I hopped around from one book to the next. However, the editor had a good point and I decided I ought to do my best to follow her suggestion.

Inspiration for the setting of the book was not hard to find. My daughters and I went for a walk in the park at dusk one night. It was nearly time for the park to close, but I had my camera with me and I wanted to take a shot of one little bridge near the water.

As we walked along the trail, the sky became darker. We heard the sound of a great horned owl high up in the treetops and when we looked up we could see the silhouette of the creature. The park that we enjoy so much in the daytime took on a rather creepy aspect. Our imaginations started to go wild and every little noise became frightening. Daughter #2 was sure she heard the stamp of heavy feet behind us--the kind a large deer would make.

Quickly, I took a photo of the bridge. Then we hurried back to the car. The park ranger was hovering near the car. I'm sure he was glad to see us leave.

I was quite please with the photo. I put it on my desktop. The picture helped me describe the heroine's walk through the woods when she first meets the white buck. He's the beast. :^)

E-Publishing Workshop

The maiden voyage for our PT Cruiser was a road trip to Charlotte, North Carolina. Hubby and I listened to some of our favorite CDs as the miles went by. It was much greener in North Carolina than in New Jersey--also much warmer.


It rained on Saturday, the day I presented my talk, but the Carolina Romance Writers greeted me warmly so the weather did not matter. :^) They have a wonderful meeting room and the food at the Hickory Tavern is terrific. However, I was not brave enough to try the shrimp and grits.


Hubby and I did some sightseeing on Sunday. There's an aviation museum in Charlotte with plenty of old fighter planes. We also checked out Lake Norman, and the Carolina Historical Museum where there was a wonderful exhibit with large toys.

We headed home to NJ on Monday. We were quite surprised when we pulled into a rest stop on Interstate 85 and saw three vanilla PT Cruisers pull in beside ours. A fifth one pulled in a few minutes later. It was an amazing coincidence.


I suppose it is a very popular car!

Newer Car

We now have a newer car--a vanilla 2006 PT Cruiser with 38,000 miles on it. Our old minivan had 175,000 miles on it and was 10 years old. Hubby thought it best to trade in the minivan before it needed a major repair. In addition, the PT Cruiser is a four cylinder car so it will get better gas mileage than the minivan.

The PT Cruiser is nice. Daughter #3 has one which is one of the reasons we thought we would get one, too.

However, I do miss the minivan. I spent a lot of time driving it--taking our daughters to college and back. We went on several family vacations with the car, too. It had a lot of good memories in it.

Sniff.

Five Heart Review for THE KEEPER'S PROMISE

I got a really great review from Gail at Night Owl Romance! She said, "Award winning author Penelope Marzec has done it again. The Keeper's Promise grabs the reader's attention from the very first and never lets go. This inspirational romantic suspense story has it all. Pick it up as soon as possible for one wonderful ride."

I am thrilled. :^)

You can read the entire review at:

http://www.nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.asp?ReviewId=1479

Now On Sale!

The Keeper's Promise is now on Awe-Struck E-Book's front page!!!! You can read an excerpt or even the first three chapters. There's a link to the book trailer video as well.

Irons In The Fire, my Romantic Times Reviewers Choice nominee for Best Small Press Paranormal, is being sold at a "Last Chance" sale at New Concepts Publishing. It is going for cheap--$2.80. I feel sad--even though it has been a NCP for six years. The book, which is actually the first one I wrote, is dedicated to my parents.

Physical Therapy

My mother is getting physical therapy at home. She hates it and complains about how much she is forced to do. However, much of what she is learning is very useful stuff. Yesterday she practiced getting in and out of bed. My father, who was watching the session, tells me there’s a trick to it. Of course, normally I don’t give much thought to how I get in and out of bed, but maybe someday the knowledge will be helpful--when I too am old and debilitated.

I find that when life gets tough, I revert to my fantasy mode. I read fantasy. I write fantasy. I go to see fantasy movies. Last night, hubby and I went to see the new movie Penelope. Of course, I was initially interested due to the title of the movie. Then I read a good review in the newspaper and I could not resist seeing the movie.

It was cute. Yes, there is a big moral there--one has to expect that with fairy tales. Still, hubby continues to laugh today thinking about the scenes of men jumping out the window. I liked the tender scenes better. :^)

And since I’m in a fantasy mood, in my few spare moments I’ve been writing a time travel pirate romance. Fun stuff. I don’t know how far I’ll go with this idea, but it’s a lot more interesting than thinking about the mechanics of how to get in and out of bed.

Wait a minute. Getting a lusty hero and heroine into the same bed is really a great idea. Of course, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a bed.

Adjustments

My mother was released from rehab on Saturday. However, before she could return home, it was decided that she would have to sleep in the bedroom next to the bathroom. That bedroom had been my parents' guest room, but it happens to be right next to the bathroom--and my mother cannot walk very far right now. That bedroom is also small--too small to hold their usual bed. Nevertheless, the bed currently in the room was far too tall for my mother. She could not get in or out of it. Chopping off the legs of the bed was not allowed because my mother says the bed is an antique. Since my parents have been married for sixty years, everything they own is either an antique or collectible--or just plain old junk.

To solve the bed problem, we removed the boxspring, put a piece of plywood down on the bed slats and then put the mattress on top of the plywood. The bed was not as springy, but we figured it would have to do.

On Saturday, I made supper at my parents' house. We sat around the kitchen table (another antique, I'm sure), shared the meal, chatted and had a very nice time feeling far more relaxed than we had been in four weeks.

On Sunday, we went to see how my parents were doing again. They said they had slept for ten hours straight on the bed with the plywood beneath the mattress.

Going Back In Time...

I've been converting all my old home videos into DVDs. I bought a small, portable DVD player and I've been taking it when I visit my mother so that she can view the good times we've had--the birthday parties, the graduations, the recitals. Some of the videos are truly funny. There's one of my nephew playing a trumpet while his dog howls in harmony. And the videos I took at the beach are delightful--it's almost as good as being there.

Mom is in rehab once more, but she is very depressed and having a much harder time than she had after her stroke. Watching the DVDs helps. I think. At least it gives us something to talk about that isn't related to medicines or her condition or how mean the physical therapist is. :^)

Fresh Air

Most days I try to take a walk outdoors with hubby. For the past two weeks, I have not gotten much fresh air because my mother is still in the hospital. Her stomach hurt and so she had to go through a bunch of tests for her tummy--ultrasound, CT scan, and an endoscopy--to make sure she did not have any bleeding in her stomach from the overdose of Coumadin. Fortunately, her stomach is fine except for a little inflammation, but she is still very weak because she has not been eating much.

After our hospital visit today, I asked hubby to stop at the park on the way home. It was such a beautiful day and now that it is staying light a little longer, I thought we could take a brief walk. So we did, and I felt much better for it. There's nothing like a walk in the woods to get rid of stress. And it was nice to get the hospital smell out of my nostrils.

I have not done much writing. It's very hard to concentrate on anything right now because I am worried about my mother. I got a rejection from Steeple Hill this past week but it didn't faze me. I have a collection of rejections from Steeple Hill! Perhaps I should frame them all. :^)

I'll just have to send my manuscript elsewhere. I'm sure someone else will be happy with it.

Acquiring Medical Knowledge

My mother is back in the hospital again. This time her Coumadin level was too high. In the emergency room she got a shot of Vitamin K and two bags of plasma. Nevertheless, she became delirious from a lack of sleep, dehydration, and a possible infection. Yesterday was the worst day. She had another CT scan to see whether there had been any hemorhaging in her brain. My mother looked horrible and had to be restrained so she would not hurt herself.

The CT scan showed that there was no bleeding in her brain.

Today, though weak, she was quite normal again. But she did get a chest x-ray to see if there was fluid in her lungs.

I guess we'll get the results tomorrow.

Baking

My mother got out of rehab on Saturday. She's happy to be home but she is still very weak. However, she can swallow ordinary liquids now. She lost ten pounds in the hospital--and my father looks a lot thinner, too. He spent all day with Ma at the hospital and in rehab. If nobody fed him, he didn't eat.

My parents need to be fattened up.

I stayed at home on New Year's Eve and baked. I made the Cape Cod Cranberry pie I usually make for Christmas. Last year, I was so upset because my mother was in the hospital that I forgot to put in the sugar. This year, the pie came out perfectly.


















I mixed up a sweet yeast dough on New Year's Eve, too. Yesterday morning, I kneaded the dough and made a massive poppyseed roll. My mother has always claimed that eating a poppyseed roll will bring good luck in the New Year. This poppyseed roll should bring us a ton of good luck.


















I made another roll, too. The house smelled so wonderful with all the baking.

Scary Stuff

Early on Tuesday morning, December 11th, my mother woke up unable to speak. She had a stroke. I've been running back and forth to the hospital since then. My father spends every day with Ma and she is doing somewhat better, but she will need rehab. She has regained her speech, but she's lost words. Also, her swallowing reflex is not good. She must drink thickened liquids which she does not like.

It's been scary.

My New Cover!

Here it is! The Keeper's Promise will be released in March--and I can hardly wait.

I did the painting of the lighthouse. Actually, I used the Sandy Hook lighthouse for my reference--but I changed the landscape. Due to shifting sands the Sandy Hook lighthouse isn't very close to water anymore.

Daughter #2 took a photo of my painting, flipped it around, added a blue edge and a bluer sky along with the words. It's nice to have such a talented daughter. :^)

Laughter

Sister #1 and her family visited us for Thanksgiving. Mom and Dad were with us, too. The meal turned out very nicely--no burnt casseroles or exploding casseroles as we have had in the past. :^)

On Friday night, after a supper of Thanksgiving leftovers, I pulled out some of our older video tapes of the kids when they were young--really young. We laughed hard as we watched those old videos. Little kids are funny--not that they intend to be, but they are. There were some episodes that my daughters felt too pained to watch--so we used the fast forward button in a few places, but mostly we all sat with our gazes riveted to the television screen watching the kids grow up all over again.

Time flies.

Me and My Osteopenia

After a recent bone scan my doctor informed me that I have osteopenia--something I had never heard of until now. Evidently, it's the level of the loss of bone density before osteoporosis sets in.

Risk factors include being white, thin (until I went through menopause I was thin), inactive (I sit when I write), and a diet low in calcium and vitamin D (I'm not fond of milk). There are other risk factors as well but those don't apply to me.

My doctor told me to up my calcium, vitamin D, do weight resistant exercises, and take Boniva.

Boniva made me sick. I wasted a weekend feeling like death.

I told the doctor I did not want to take that stuff again. So she told me that I should continue the calcium, D, exercises--and take magnesium. That intrigued me. Why hadn't she mentioned it before? I looked it up online and found that studies have indicated the importance of magnesium in bone density.

Not only is magnesium way less expensive than Boniva, I also discovered that magnesium has a salutary effect on high blood pressure as well.

Naturally, my doctor warned that if I don't make any progress on my current regimen, it's back to the Boniva. Ugh.

The Bog Trail

This is the bog trail in Shark River Park. I think it is awesome.

Halloweens Past

Few parents make costumes for their children anymore. Most of the costumes are purchased from the store. There are Power Rangers, Disney characters, and superheroes.

I used to create Halloween costumes for my daughters. It was fun--though challenging. Sometimes, they had rather unusual requests. Daughter #2 wanted to be a snowflake one year so I did my best to come up with a costume for her.


The following year, Daughter #3 wanted to be a butterfly. Fortunately, Daughter #1 was okay with being a Native American again--and Daughter #2 wore the Polish outfit that Babci had given her. I was able to throw all my energy into the butterfly.

But I'm getting lazy now. This year I decided to be a farmer. I wore my jeans, put on one of hubby's plaid shirts, tied a bandanna around my neck and stuck a straw hat on my head. Simple--and boring.

Sigh.

I'll have to come up with something more interesting next year.

Half Price for Apples

Daughter #2 visited this weekend. She wanted to go to a pumpkin patch--and I wanted some more fresh apples from the orchard. I was so happy when I found out that all the apples were half price, but that was because all the apples were on the ground. :^)

Nevertheless, there were plenty of good apples and we made baked apples when we got home. Yum.

A Taste of NJ Bureaucracy

On Wednesday, my hair looked good--and it wasn't humid so I could count on it remaining just how I wanted it. I decided it was the day to renew my driver's license because there was a better than average chance that the new photo on my driver's license would not resemble a mug shot. Yes, I want to look like a glamorous romance writer even on my driver's license. I had all my identification in order, so I went to Motor Vehicles.

However, I did not get past the first step. Unfortunately, I was born in Jersey City and the DVM no longer accepts birth certificates from Jersey City. This is evidently because a Hudson County clerk was issuing fraudulent birth certificates.

I had to get a new birth certificate. I decided the fastest way to do that would be to go to Trenton the next day.

I spent $20 on gasoline, $3 for parking, and $25 for the new birth certificate.

Somehow this does not seem fair. (The state has to be making a lot of money on this deal.)

I guess I'll try again next week to renew my driver's license.

The Blessing of the Animals

Today is the Feast of St. Francis. Our guinea pig, Speedy, was blessed today along with a few other guinea pigs, a hermit crab, a parakeet, and plenty of dogs. It was hot, noisy, a bit chaotic, and fun. :^)







Speedy looked terrified. However, she was a popular little animal--several children asked to pet her. She was extremely well-behaved as usual. She's such a sweet little thing.










Father Lang posed with us. He was very happy that nobody had any snakes for pets today. Evidently, he doesn't like them. :^)

My Grandmother

My grandmother was not a biker. In fact, she never drove. But she had a quirky sense of humor and enjoyed posing for the camera. That's how this picture came about.

Today would have been Grandma's 107th birthday. She was an amazing woman who raised seven children--one of them being my mother.

Grandma liked to tell stories. When we visited her, we would sit out on the back porch and simply listen. Time seemed to move slower at her house.

I miss that unhurried pace.

I miss Grandma, too. But I do remember her stories. :^)

Nine Authors in a Booth

A small contingent of nine authors from the New Jersey Romance Writers put in an appearance at the Red Bank Street Festival. That's me in the purple T-shirt with the NJRW logo on it.

Between us, we covered quite a few subgenres of romance--historical, inspirational, paranormal, contemporary, and chick-lit. Something for everyone's taste.

Each of us took turns standing outside the booth and trying to encourage the passersby to visit with us. Some people refused and said they did not read romance. (They don't know what they're missing.) Some went by and said they did not read!!!! And then there were those who walked right by, gazing straight ahead as if they did not see us.

Still, some took the suggestion and slipped into the shade of our little enclave. We handed them bookmarks, pens, and candy.

We sold books, too.

It would have been a perfect day if it wasn't so HOT! But we did have fun talking with each other.

Writers are very interesting people. :^)

THE BEAST OF BLACKBIRCH MANOR is at Fictionwise!

I am so delighted!

You can check it out at:

The Beast of Blackbirch Manor.

You can read the beginning, too. :^)

HEAVEN'S BLUE, Book Trailer

I've been playing with iMovie. Here's my book trailer for HEAVEN'S BLUE.

Guest Blogger: Karina Fabian

Today I have a guest blogger--Karina Fabian!!! She is a freelance writer and catechist at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Fredericksburg, VA. She has sold her fiction to Eternal Night, Samsara, Hereditas, and Asimov’s. Rob Fabian, her husband, is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force who is actively involved in the use of space, whose articles have been published in Journal of Space Policy. Her book INFINITE SPACE, INFINITE GOD won the EPPIE award this year for Best Science Fiction. The book is available from Twilight Times Books at www.twilighttimesbooks.com or more information go to: http://isigsf.tripod.com


* * * *

Penelope invited me to be a guest on her blog as part of my virtual book tour (link: karinafabian.tripod.com/id36) for INFINITE SPACE, INFINITE GOD and since she doesn't write or read a lot in science fiction, to talk about that genre. Thanks again, Penelope, for the opportunity.

I have always been a science fiction fan. In fact, when I received two romance novels for my 16th birthday (must have been a joke), I promptly returned them for the latest Star Trek novels. I'm sure at the time, a lot of it was having grown up watching Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, but there must have been something more. After all, we faithfully watched CHiPs, Emergency 51 and Dragnet, yet I never got into those like I did science fiction. There was something more to the genre that I couldn't articulate, but definitely responded to as a child and a teen.

Now, as an adult, I could probably intellectualize it by saying science fiction provides a venue to step back from society or a problem and look at it anew. Or I could say it provides the perfect means to ask "What if?" and to project a current trend or a new idea to an extreme that would not make sense in a genre that demands a level of realism or the known.

Yes, I could say that, and it'd be true to an extent, but the main reason I love sci fi is simply that it provides escapist fun. Exploring strange new worlds. Seeking out new life and new civilizations. Boldly going where no one has gone before. Gene Roddenberry had it right--there's excitement in the future, thrills in the unknown. The best part is, you can't escape "normal" romance or history or personal trauma. You just get to add tech toys, aliens and bizarre new experiences. You can even have fantastic accidents and vehicles going up in a pyrotechnic display--they just might be spaceships. You get it all, baby!

OK, calming down…

This explains why I like to read sci fi; my motivations for writing sci fi tends to veer more toward the "adult" reasons. I enjoy exploring new ideas and the possibilities of the future. I enjoy letting my imagination soar without having to worry about realism or historical facts. Aliens are fun to write about, too, though more often than not, my characters are human or humanoid. I also enjoy playing with space.

Let me give you an example with "Our Daily Bread," which I wrote with my husband Rob for Infinite Space, Infinite God. (BTW, writing is a romantic activity for us. Read more on Ann Lewis's Blog from August 18. (link http://www.annmargaretlewis.com/) It takes place on an asteroid mine with 50 people, most of whom are Catholic. The overall theme explores interpersonal relations and religious tension in a closed environment. (Or so your literature professor might tell you). The Catholic twist is that most of the asteroid station's supply of Communion Hosts, consecrated wafers believed by Catholics to be the Body of Christ, have been lost in an accident, but the remainder are miraculously multiplying just before Sunday. However, we also devote a lot of time to the details of living in microgravity, from how to sit (do we really want Velcro on the chairs? Imagine the sound!) to how to fight (Pulling your arm back to punch pulls you away from your foe.) to how to pray (If you're skilled and can stay still enough, you will settle to the floor in a kneeling position.) It’s the details like these that make the story fun for us, and we believe for our readers.

Regardless of the tech toys and bizarre aliens, most of science fiction involves problems that speak to humanity. It's not about the phasers; it's about the guy holding the phaser…
…but the phaser just makes it more fun.

Karina Fabian has focused the last few years on science fiction and fantasy that appeals to the mind, the soul and the funny bone. Learn more about her at www.fabianspace.com.

Infinite Space, Infinite God can be ordered directly from Baker & Taylor, Ingram, or the publisher, Twilight Times Books, PO Box 3340, Kingsport, TN 37664; or via the Internet at http://twilighttimesbooks.com.

Alternative Uses

My in-laws have an alternative use for their clothes dryer which they never use because they are afraid it will cause a fire. They use their dryer to store their recyclable aluminum cans and plastic bottles. There they keep them out of sight until it is time for them to be picked up by the trash collectors.

Since they live in Florida, most of the time they do have plenty of sunshine which is equally efficient in drying clothes.

They have never embraced new technology but they do own some of it.

They have a microwave. I am sure it is never used except when we visit them. When I went to make myself a quick cup of tea by filling a cup with water and putting it in the microwave my father-in-law told me the microwave "no work."

I think he and my mother-in-law forgot how to use it. I plugged it in, touched the keypad and voila. Hot water.

Dziadzi then told me "it no have the right time."

I glanced at my watch, touched the keypad, and corrected the time.

For the rest of our stay, I used the microwave. I am sure that after I left, they unplugged it. It will lie dormant until our next visit.

That's the way it is. Some older folks just cannot adapt--or they find alternative uses that most of us would never consider. One of my mother's friends regularly used her dishwasher as a sorting facility for her mail and continued washing the dishes by hand.

My in-laws have a dishwasher, too. They turn it on when they have a lot of company--a rare event. Most of the time they wash the dishes by hand.

I suppose I should have looked inside the dishwasher to see if there was anything else inside there, but I didn't. Now it's really bothering me. I wonder what they store inside it.

The In-Laws

We just returned from another trip to Florida to visit my in-laws. Babci and Dziadzi are doing well--all things considered. Dziadzi--at the age of 90--is not steady on his feet. He stopped driving this past year. He does use his cane when he goes out but most often around the house and in his yard he takes his chances. He fell on his elbow one day and it is swollen. The doctor is going to drain it.

Dziadzi wanted to cut down a tree in his yard. He wanted us to drive him to Home Depot so he could borrow a chain saw and cut it down himself! Can you imagine! Fortunately, Babci called someone to cut the tree down for him. Oy.

Babci looks great for 86. She has not changed at all. She still tells the same stories over and over and over. She has always done that--ever since I met her, when she was in her fifties.

Babci's greatest joy is watching us eat lots of her food. It has always been a bit unnerving to me to look up and see her grinning at me in supreme contentment while we are eating.

But that's Babci.

Our Trip to Gettysburg

Do you see any ghosts in this photo? I don't. Hubby and I drove to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for a mini-vacation. Hubby had never been there. I was there once as a child, but things have changed. There were no ghost tours available when I last visited Gettysburg. Now there are ghost tours everywhere! I wasted several shots trying to capture an image of some spectral being. Still, I did enjoy our one ghost tour. In fact, I would have liked to try a few more since I did not get any spooky feelings on the ghost tour. However, I did experience a creepy sensation when we visited the basement of the Jennie Wade house.







This is a view from Little Round Top where one of the battles in Gettysburg took place. It is interesting to note that reenactors are not allowed to use the actual battlefields. Hubby and I learned a lot from the tour guides. We found the park's rangers to be very knowledgeable and interesting. But it is depressing to consider the massive loss of life that occurred in the three days of battles at Gettysburg. Some bodies were never identified.



I found several books written about women's experiences during the Civil War. I bought three of them--just in case I might want to write a romance using that time period as a setting. I'm always thinking about writing!

Ratatouille

Hubby and I went to the theater and saw Ratatouille. We both thought it was great! There was plenty of action for hubby and a little romance for me. Daughter #2 had recommended it to us.

When I got home I began to look for ratatouille recipes in my cookbooks--I have way too many cookbooks. I discovered that in each cookbook there was something slightly different. So I put together my own recipe.

I like my ratatouille. Give it a try and see if you like it too.

RATATOUILLE

Ingredients:
Enough flour to lightly coat the eggplant and zucchini
(HINT: The easiest way to do this is to put the flour in a plastic bag. Put the
sliced zucchini or eggplant in the bag. Then shake the vegetables.)
1 teaspoon black pepper added to the flour
1/3 cup olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic
2 green peppers, cut in small, short strips
1 eggplant, cubed and dusted with flour
3 small to medium zucchini, sliced and dusted with flour
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon parsley
2 cans diced tomatoes (no salt added is fine)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1. In 2 tablespoons of the oil, saute onions and garlic until they are golden. Remove from the pot.

2. In a large 8 quart heavy pot, combine the ingredients in layers--except for the Parmesan--that goes on top. (I had three layers.)

3. Simmer, covered, for 45 minutes. Uncover and continue to heat for 10 minutes longer to reduce the liquid.

Enjoy!

A Night Out With The Band

Last night the Happy Days String Band played an outdoor gig. Listening to music with the breeze blowing in from the bay in the summertime is such a treat. I took some photos. The one here makes me laugh. At one point in the program, the captain of the strutters demonstrated how to strut. Then the audience was asked to try it--and some people were brave enough to get up and dance around. The band sometimes ropes in new strutters with this technique.

And after all, who wouldn't want to dress up in feathers and sequins so you could look like this?

Leenda

Yesterday one of Daughter #3's guinea pigs, Leenda, appeared to have difficulty breathing. After rushing it to the vet, our daughter learned that the guinea pig's digestive system was paralyzed. Daughter #3 decided to have her pet put to sleep. Leenda was old--for a guinea pig.

Hubby got out the post hole digger and we had a brief, but sad funeral for Leenda. We bought some perennials and planted them over her little grave. Guinea pigs are such sweet pets. It's hard when they must leave us.

60th Wedding Anniversary

On Saturday, we celebrated my parents' 60th wedding anniversary. Daughter #3 was in charge of the decorations and she decided on a Hawaiian/Tiki/Luau wedding theme. We all wore flower leis. Everyone who arrived early was recruited to carry out Daughter #3's orders.

Though the guest list was small, we still had a few special moments planned.

There was a champagne toast.


















There was a garter for my father to slide up his bride's leg, and we all threw silk rose petals at my parents.



















All in all, it was a wonderful day and everyone had a good time--especially the Bubble Brigade! They were in charge of bubble attacks!

Chat with me!

On Monday, June 18, 2007, I will be chatting at Novel Talk with two other NJRW authors. The chat starts at 9 p.m. (Eastern time). I will be giving away a T-shirt with the cover from The Beast of Blackbirch Manor on it.

Join me at the chat! It should be lots of fun. :^)

Not Phlox!

Sister #1 has corrected me. She has a Masters in horticulture. She is also a Master Gardener. She knows a lot more about green things than I do. She told me the flowers in the photo I took are not phlox. She says they look a like wildflower called Dames Rocket, which is considered an invasive weed. She said phlox has five flower petals, not four, and phlox blooms much later in the summer.

However, she really likes the invasive weed variety and she has some in her home garden. She also said she'll give me some. :^) I shouldn't have any problem growing them.

Now, if I do write a scene with those flowers in them, I'll be able to give them the correct name.

A Memory

On Memorial Day, I always remember my brother. He was a year older than me, but he died in 1973. He was a navigator/bombardier on an F-111.

I like to look at old photos and remember all the good times--and there were lots of them. The photo above shows me, my brother, and sister #1 riding on the lake behind our house. We had christened our little dinghy, Scout, with a bottle of Seven-Up. We spent our summers in that boat.

Phlox

I went back yesterday with my camera to snap some photos of the beautiful and abundant phlox. Now I have the photo on my desktop. :^)

Enchanting Flowers

I love flowers and despite my lack of luck in growing things, I plant flowers every year. This year I am trying sunflowers from seeds. So far the seedlings are doing well. I also bought some dianthus and marigolds. I planted them this week. The weather was nearly perfect and it was nice to wield a trowel in the sunshine. Of course, it will be wonderful if I get lots and lots of flowers, but I'm a realist and I expect that some of the local critters will eat my flowers. Also, if we get a very dry summer and I don't water the flowers enough, the plants may not survive.

I am an optimist though, and occasionally I have enough flowers to cut and arrange in a vase. That makes all the work of cultivating seem worthwhile. So when I see a field of flowers that nobody planted, it seems like a miracle to me.

Today hubby and I went for a walk along one of my favorite trails which winds down into a wide ravine. At the bottom is a very swampy area. Most of the trees in the woods are tulip trees, which are incredibly tall and majestic.

Only a month ago, the trail was still gray and barren, though I could see signs of spring in the fiddleheads, the skunk cabbage, and the periwinkles. Today, I was greeted with the sight of lavender and white phlox. Not just a few phlox. A whole field of them! And I forgot to bring my camera along. :^(

It was an enchanting sight and brought to mind fables of fairies and other magical creatures. I think I will have to put it in a book somewhere.

Graduation!

Daughter #3 graduated on Sunday. Daughter #2 attended the ceremony as well as hubby and I. Daughter #1 was out at sea. :^(

The program was delightfully short--due in part to blessedly brief speeches but also because the college had two ceremonies, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Afterwards, we nibbled on cookies and cake at the reception. Then we headed home.

I'll miss that college. Daughter #1 started there in 1996 and then Daughter #3 decided to go there. too. The place holds a lot of memories. Whenever I smell the scent of pine trees, I'll remember it.

Still, we all agree that Daughter #2 had best graduation ceremony when she got her BFA at Mason Gross. Those people know how run a party. At the reception, they even served wine.:^)

A Grandnephew's First Communion

It was party time in Massachusetts this past weekend. Our grandnephew received his First Holy Communion. He looks a bit bored in the photo, but just a few hours before the big event we found him full of energy, swinging his baseball bat and launching a tennis ball across the street.


His parents ran a terrific party with plenty of food. Naturally, hubby brought along one of his accordions and provided hours of entertainment for everyone.



Some of the kids became inspired and joined in on other instruments. The percussion section of the band was a wee bit painful to the ear. :^)


Nevertheless, we had a great time. And who knows--one of those kids may actually take music lessons someday.

My New Toy

I bought a new ebook reader--the ebookwise. My old Rocket still works--sort of. However, it won't find text anymore, or make notes, or even go backwards. :^(

The new ebookwise has some nice features that the old Rocket did not have--I can make notes directly on the book I'm reading!

It came with several books already loaded into it, but I immediately bought a book I wanted to read and also loaded in my unedited version of The Beast of Blackbirch Manor--so I can check it for errors. I got the word from my editor that the book will be released in May--which isn't too far away. :^)

Water, Water Everywhere

There has been a lot of rain in NJ due to a nor'easter. We live near a dam and today there was a rather impressive amount of water flowing over the dam. There was also a rather impressive amount of water beneath the dam. I worry about the road washing away or about the dam breaking.That hasn't happened yet in all the years that we've lived here, but it is possible.



My writer's mind has an unfortunate tendency to consider worst case scenarios. After all, it would make an excellent setting for a scary disaster story. But fiction is one thing and reality is another. There are communities here in NJ that are being evacuated today due to flooding. It seems to be a perpetual problem along the shore and along the rivers--wherever there are low-lying areas.

Hopefully, the rain will stop, the sun will come out, and the dam will hold up despite the great quantity of water spilling over it.

KISS OF BLARNEY Reviewed at The Romance Studio

Better late than never, I suppose. Kiss of Blarney was released in February 2006. The review at The Romance Studio was posted April 10, 2007.

Among other thing the reviewer said, "Kiss of Blarney is a lusty adult fairy tale ...an adventure filled with magic and surprises." That's the good part.

You can read the rest of the review at http://www.theromancestudio/reviews/reviews/kissblarneymarec.htm--or not. I believe the reviewer did not understand that Kiss of Blarney is a novella. Yes, it is a quick light hearted diversion--because it contains approximately 29,000 words.

Sigh.


My favorite review of Kiss of Blarney remains the one Ciar Cullen gave me. You can read that at her blog at http://ciarcullen.blogspot.com/2006/05/review-kiss-of-blarney-by-penelope.html.

She's such a sweetie. :^)

I'm Unique

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

The Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny greeted everyone at church this morning. After Mass, Daughter #2 took this photo with her cellphone. It was really quite chilly this morning--there were a few snowflakes flying around here and there. Inside the church, there were lovely flowers all around the altar--so inside it felt like spring. But outside--brrrr.