Why have I not posted until now? Want to hear a horror, or rather almost-horror computer story?

My computer is an older one, built in 2000. When I purchased a USB hub for it, I discovered it didn’t have a hi-speed USB host controller. I took it to a computer store for them to install….and they “lost” the panel side of my computer! It got thrown out in the trash and compacted!

They had to then put it into a new case and so I didn’t get it back until now. A hassle but at least everything works okay. Can you hear a big sigh of relief coming to you all the way from Nebraska???

I’m sure your horror stories of problems with your computer or near misses you have can make mine look like a minor inconvenience….

Want to make me feel better and tell me YOUR story…..

As most of us enter this holiday weekend with plans for parties or family get-togethers to celebrate the ushering in of 2007, I hope that everyone here has a very safe and happy New Year. And don’t forget to take a minute or two to count all of the blessings of 2006. In the excitement of a brand new year, so many of us forget to reflect on those wonderful moments that we have been gifted with during the past 365 days. Even in the midst of hard times, there is usually something that we can look back on that makes us laugh or cry or fills us with determination to make the coming year a better one. Something that we learned from, overcame, or that made us stronger.

I know that I don’t always remember all of the little things that have occurred. But I usually try to do one small thing to acknowledge the shining moments of the year gone by. During my deadline crunch of a few months ago, I discovered that I am going to be an aunt again. It was a wonderful surprise, as it had been eight years since my sister gave birth to my niece and she had more or less resigned herself to having only the one child. At the time, I acknowledged the good news, but I was so buried in trying to get my manuscript done that I didn’t have a chance to give it the attention it deserved. So this evening, I purchased a baby department gift card from Toys R Us to give to my sister as a special gift on New Year’s Day in celebration of the new addition that we will be welcoming to the family sometime in March.

May you have your share of shiny moments to celebrate in the days ahead. And may all of your hopes and dreams for 2007 come true!

I know, I know – we’ve still got New Year’s to go. But there is so much food around here and everywhere I go – and I can’t resist all the great holiday treats. Well, obviously I do resist most of them, but it’s tough. And there’s even less time for exercise this week, too. So, with my sluggish metabolism, I’ve got to be really careful. New Year’s won’t be that difficult in terms of food. We’re going to the movies with another couple (Casino Royale!) and then out to dinner for fish – something elegant and low cal, so I’m safe there.

The week has been great in other respects. My husband had the time off from work so he was around a lot, and all my kids are home, so that’s been fun. We had a party on Wednesday night so we got to connect with a lot of friends that we only see once a year. I’ve been dabbling at writing – spending a lot of time mentally processing my next book instead of writing it, but when I start putting words on the pages, I’m hoping it’ll flow easily.

What have been your toughest challenges this week? And what’s your most important resolution for 2007?

Recently Ultimate Sportsfan and I were driving to a Christmas party and listening to the radio. In Houston, there’s a station that plays all Christmas songs from Thanksgiving until Christmas day. Every time a new song came on USF would say, “who sings this?” It became a game for us to guess the artist.

Amazingly, we were pretty accurate, especially considering that everyone from Gloria Estefan to Rod Stewart seem to have recorded Christmas songs. Of course, Rod Stewart, Gloria Estefan, Neil Diamond, and Carly Simon have very distinctive voices. They may not all have pretty voices, but you know ‘em when you hear ‘em.

I started thinking that successful singers and published authors have a lot in common. Let’s say you had three new releases by your favorite authors. If you didn’t know which was which, and you read just one page, I have a feeling you’d be 100% accurate at identifying each author.

I did this once in a workshop I gave. I had the class read an excerpt from Nora Roberts, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and Janet Evanovich. Almost everyone in the workshop accurately identified which passage was written by which author. Many of them hadn’t even read the book from which I’d taken the excerpt.

That’s why it’s so important, aspiring authors, to develop your own voice. It doesn’t have to be a pretty voice. Don’t expect everyone to like it. In fact, it’s probably good if a few people hate it. You want your voice to impact people—to cause a reaction. You don’t want a bland voice no one will remember.

How do you develop your own voice? Write. A lot. Have other people read your writing and tell you what you do well. Work on those aspects of your voice and fine tune them. Write until you are so comfortable in your voice that writing is easier than speaking.

So who has your favorite voice—author or singer? Why?

I’ve been a reader since I was a very little girl. It started with my mother and father reading me stories, but then it was I who would curl up with a book and lose myself in a make-believe world. Reading changes when you become an adult, it’s more difficult to suspend disbelief, it’s more challenging to completely tune out the world around you. But when I was a child, reading was nothing short of magical. I re-read books back then, haven’t done that much as an adult (with the exception of Harry Potter) and I can’t really explain why. There were a couple of books, though, that I read often. One of which was Judy Blume’s coming of age novel, “Are You There, God, It’s Me, Margaret,” I don’t even know how many times I read this book. My copy is worn and tattered and hopefully someday I’ll have a daughter (or two) who will also love that book. There was another one though that I read again and again, but somewhere along the way I lost my copy or loaned it to a friend because I no longer have it. It’s a Wildfire series book, a young adult romance, and it was my favorite for so many years. And I’ve pined the loss of that book. Last night my parents arrived after a rather lengthy drive and we had our Christmas with them. There in my stocking was a used, but still kept together, copy of Brian’s Girl by Diane Hoh. I don’t know that I’ll read it again, as I don’t want to mar my memories of it. Because I can close my eyes and still remember the feelings that book evoked within my adolescent mind. I’ve always credited Kathleen Woodiwiss’ “A Rose in Winter” as the book that made me want to write romance, but perhaps that desire goes a bit further back and Ms. Hoh deserves my gratitude.

Do you have any books from your childhood that still stir great memories?

Christmas may be over, but I’m still receiving gifts! Yes, today is another Jaunty release day — MINE (Desire Never Dies)! But you probably already knew that if you’re a regular visitor here.

What you may not know just how much this means to me. Desire Never Dies is my third book written as Jenna Petersen for Avon since October 2005. And just a little more than two years ago, I was beginning to think this dream would never happen. But here I am, three books on the shelves and at least two more coming (as Jenna Petersen, we aren’t even talking about Jess Michaels).

If this is a real dream, don’t wake me.

I’m a big believer in dreams. Chasing them, working for them, listening to them and never giving up on them. In Desire Never Dies, I wrote a character, Anastasia Whittig, who had given up on her dreams. Her hopes. Her love. Even her life. I put her in a holding pattern, a place where she was comfortable, yet stagnant.

And then I blew up her world. I shook every foundation, broke all her rules and introduced her to a man, Lucas Tyler, who would expect everything from her that she was secretly capable of. In short, I gave her back her dreams.

In a few days, we’ll be embarking on a brand new year, a fresh start – a perfect time to take out some old dreams, dust them off and pursue them. Or find some new dreams and make them a reality. So, is there a dream you have that you’re pursuing? Or one you’d like to pursue again.

To quote from Pretty Woman, “What’s Your Dream?”

Jaunty P. Quills here to say Happy Holidays to all the Jaunty posters and readers out there! Here are a few well wishes from the gals. No sneaking around this time since it is Christmas. Hey, a sneaky porcupine has to be nice one day a year, yeah?

MARGO: Thanks so much to all of you for participating on Jaunty Quills. We’ve enjoyed all your comments this year and look forward to many more lively discussions in the future! Happy Holidays to you and may all your special wishes come true.

ANNE: Merry Christmas! I hope you are enjoying a wonderful holiday season with loved ones and friends!

SHIRLEY: Merry Christmas from Shirley! Wishing you happy and stress-free holidays, with none of that annoying post-holiday weight gain.

ROBYN: Merry, Merry Christmas from the whole DeHart family (Robyn, The Professor and the two feline brats). I hope you are surrounded by love, family, good food and great books.

JENNA: Happy Holidays from El Guapo, Quinny, Harley-Barley and me! I wish you all joy and happiness and whatever was on your fantasy holiday list! Thanks for welcoming me into the Jaunty family to both the readers and the Jaunties!

SHANA: Happy holidays and happy reading from Shana Galen and Ultimate Sportsfan. We wish everyone books under the tree, eggnog in hand, and the love of family and friends.

KIM: Season’s Greetings and best wishes for a warm and wonderful holiday from Kimberly Logan. May 2007 be a year filled with joy, love, and peace for us all.

CINDY: Warm holiday wishes from my home in Nebraska to yours!

That’s what I feel like!

We’re going to my brother’s house for Christmas Eve dinner, and I am bringing pies. I actually learned to make pie crust from my grandmother, and her crust is fabulous and completely reliable. So I made a couple of old stand-bys, pumpkin pie, and an apple pie, too. I changed up the standard apple pie a bit, though. I used a new recipe for the filling that called for orange marmalade but I used orange zest instead. I’ll let you know how it turns out .

My daughter made a torte recipe that she saw in a magazine. I’m not sure what’s in the crust besides butter, but the filling is made of unsweetened chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, and a bit of peppermint. Then she crushed a couple of candy canes and spread them over the top. Over that is whipped cream (like three cups of it!) with powdered sugar and peppermint beaten in. It’s sinfully rich. Hence the pies … I have a feeling her torte might be too heavy for some of the guests, so there are the old favorites to fall back on.

I hope your own Christmas Eve is as lovely as ours is going to be, with family and friends celebrating together. Merry Christmas!

Many radio stations start playing Christmas songs the day after Thanksgiving. As the month has progressed I’ve realized that there are certain songs that I love to hear. When they come on the radio I turn it up or I flip the stations hoping to hear one of my favorites.

The ones that get the radio turned up are: Mary, Did You Know?….All I Want for Christmas is You…Let There Be Peace on Earth…December Makes Me Feel This Way…Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)

And it wouldn’t feel like Christmas if I didn’t hear “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” and “The Twelve Pains of Christmas”

All of these put me in the Christmas spirit….about time since the big day is just around the corner.

What songs do you like to hear? Are there any ones that get you in the spirit?

Hey, and how about our $20 club from a couple weeks ago….who’s given out some Christmas cheer in the past week???

Whew! Well, I am a bit worse for wear after spending most of the morning tramping through the mall, but I finally managed to finish up the last of my Christmas shopping today and can breathe a sigh of relief. As I’ve mentioned before, I usually do most of my Christmas shopping online these days because I find the crowds at this time of year so hard to take, but I always seem to wind up putting off a few things and waiting until the very last minute to go out and get them. Actually, I’m rather proud of myself that I have finished it all up today. In the past, I’ve been known to still be buying gifts on Christmas Eve, so this is a definite improvement. Now all I have to do is find the energy to wrap them all. Or maybe that can wait until Sunday…

I hope that all of you have finished your shopping and are tucked up at home, prepared to enjoy the holiday weekend. But for all of those last minute procrastinators out there like me, I wish you the best of luck.