I must say I wasn’t totally surprised with the outcome, but wanted to share this fun quiz. See what your writing destiny is – even if you aren’t a writer.

You Should Be a Romance Novelist

You see the world as it should be, and this goes double for all matters of the heart. You can find the romance in any situation, and you would make a talented romance story writer... And while you may be a traditional romantic, you're just as likely to be drawn to quirky or dark love stories. As long as it deals with infatuation, heartbreak, and soulmates - you could write it.

And don’t forget to scroll down to see Shirley’s travel pics!

Last week I shared some of our adventures on our nine-day road trip to Mexico. I took a bunch more pictures than I posted last time, and some of them are just clamoring to be shared. I swear, they can be as obnoxious as characters wanting their story to be told.

My dad has always been a dog person, and tolerated the stray calico that adopted us when I was 12 only because we were living on four acres, which meant we had mice. Enter Cali, exit mice. Down in Mexico a couple years ago, he was cooking steaks on the gas grill when a stray cat, white with grey tabby markings, jumped up and snagged a sizzling steak right off the hot grill. He figured if she was hungry and brave enough to do that, she had moxie, and he’d feed her. She soon had kittens. All three cats are spayed or neutered, and still hang around though they’re far from tame. There’s also a solid black male that shows up from time to time, and our last morning there a solid grey cat was at the breakfast dish, too. Dad reports he has no mice or any other small vermin. Or small birds in the vicinity, either, but feels that’s a small price to pay.

This is Spot, the largest of the mama cat’s offspring. He shadowed my every move outside and occasionally let me pet him (the only one of Dad’s semi-wild cats who would let me pet them — I was highly affronted) in the hopes I might have food.

Leaving my dad’s place in San Felipe during daylight hours meant we actually got to gawk at the passing scenery. These are the hills to the west of the Sea of Cortez. The yellow road sign with wavy marks over the roadway means that’s where the road dips down to let rain water flow over the pavement on its way to the sea. Last year the region had about one quarter inch of rain.

About an hour north of San Felipe is the Army checkpoint. Going in Friday night, the guard and I had a brief conversation to ascertain that we knew someone in Mexico and didn’t plan to stay long, and he waved us on. Leaving Monday morning, this Army dude (the live one, next to the cute wooden one with the flag) made us stop and get out so he could search our vehicle. We must not have looked dangerous because it wasn’t a very thorough search in the least. He didn’t even look in the ice chest to see all the Coca-Cola Light we were smuggling out. (It’s diet Coke, bottled in Mexico, but tastes like regular Coke. Really.)

It took a full hour to get through the US border crossing (note to self: never try to leave another country on Monday morning) so we didn’t reach the Palm Desert area until well into the afternoon. Mike didn’t want to stop and let me dip my toes into the Salton Sea (“we’re making good time”) so I had to settle for testing my digital camera’s zoom and auto focus capabilities at 70 mph. In the background is the Chocolate Mountains. Yes, that’s really what they’re called. Says so on the atlas.

Traveling from Oregon to the desert and back in December, we packed for both summer and winter. Shovel, snow chains, gas can, water, wakeboarding bags to fill with water for extra weight and traction over the rear axle if needed; parkas, gloves and scarves; shorts, sandals and sunscreen; sleeping bags, air mattress and tent. We needed almost none of it. But we were prepared!

The closest we came to snow was Mt. Shasta near the Oregon/California border (again from 65 mph because we were making good time)…

…and this beautiful frosty morning as we entered Oregon.

Once home, we were greeted by our kittens, who did not snub us for being gone like our previous cats used to do. Maybe having two cat sitters stop by every day helped.

As much as I enjoyed our trip, it is nice to be back home in a normal routine, balanced, like yin and yang here:

And the two winners of the JQ cover flat prize packets are…Georgia Peach and Dorothy! Congrats to both of you! If you will e-mail me at kimberlylogan90 at aol.com (Insert @ where appropriate) we will mail out your prizes to you ASAP. Thanks to everyone for sharing their most memorable moments from romance novels.

And don’t forget to check out Cindy’s fond recollections of some of her beloved pets from days gone by below.

For some reason, this week my thoughts drifted to the pets I’ve had over the years. There are special memories associated with each of them. The first dog I remember was a black and tan “mutt” named Tag. He had a bad habit of running after cars. One day when I got home from grade school he wasn’t there to greet me. My mother told me he’d run away. For days I’d sit and look out the living room window…waiting for him to come home. Years later my mother told him she’d accidently ran over him but didn’t know how to tell me.

Another dog I remember was Sugar, a black toy poodle. He was the first dog my husband and I owned together. He was by far the smartest dog I’ve ever owned. You could tell him “go to the bedroom and get your frog” and he’d do it. He loved football and flies. If a football game was on television, he’d watch the screen and when there would be a long run he’d walk across the room on his hind legs and bark at the screen. Flies? He loved to eat them, would watch and wait and then snap them out of the air. It was truly a sight to behold

My favorite dog was a Bichon Frise named Comet. From the moment I first saw him, he was “my” boy. There wasn’t really anything distinctive about Comet other than he loved me so much. He unexpectedly died when I was on vacation in Hawaii and I still regret that I wasn’t there with him.

I’m not sure what made me go down animal memory lane. Maybe it was because I was thinking of adding a dog to my next book or maybe it was just post holiday blues.

How about you….any special animal memories (past or current) you’d like to share? What do you think about animals in books– love ‘em, hate ‘em, don’t care either way?

This is from “Healthy Cooking For Two” by Frances Price (which is a great cookbook, I’m really enjoying the recipes:

Ingredients (for 8 slices):
Sifted all-purpose flour — 1 1/4 cups
Baking powder — 1/2 teaspoon
Baking soda — 1/4 teaspoon
Sugar — 1/3 cup
Eggs — 1
Butter or margarine (softened) — 2 tablespoons
Mashed ripe bananas — 1/2 cup
low-fat plain yogurt — 2 tablespoons
chopped pecans or walnuts — 1/4 cup

Preheat the oven to 350

Grease and flour a 9 x 5″ loaf pan

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

In another medium bowl, beat the sugar, eggs & butter until fluffy. Slowly beat in bananas and yogurt. Add the flour mix until blended. Do not overmix or the loaf will be tough. Stir in nuts (if using).

Spoon the batter into the loaf pan and bake on the middle shelf for 35 – 40 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean).

Cook the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then invert onto rack and let cool completely. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let stand overnight to mellow the flavors.

Except we just ate it. And it was good.

I just recently finished re-reading one of my all-time favorite historical romances, Julie Garwood’s Guardian Angel, and was reminded once again just why this book will always be a classic for me. By turns funny and emotional, peopled with wonderful characters, and brimming with entertaining dialogue, it is a Regency tale filled with Garwood’s trademark blend of romance and adventure. It also contains one of the most memorable scenes in a romance that I have ever read.

It occurs in the opening chapter, when the heroine, Jade, enters a tavern and approaches the hero, the Marquess of Cainewood. Caine is there looking for Pagan–the pirate who murdered his brother–and he isn’t at all pleased at being interrupted by this slip of a woman who seems more than a bit touched in the head and talks too much. But as she states her reasons for searching him out, he finds himself alternately charmed and bemused. Jade believes Caine is Pagan, and she wants to hire him to kill someone. When he inquires as to the identity of the person she wants done away with, she replies matter-of-factly, “Me.” The ensuing dialogue between this couple makes you laugh out loud and pulls you right into the story. You instantly want to know why Jade wants to die and what Caine’s reaction will be, and you are hooked.

Caine was trying to keep his temper controlled, but the urge to shout at her made his throat ache. “When would you like this…this…”

She looked as if she felt sorry for him now. “No, I’ve never killed a woman before,” he grated out. “But there’s always a first time for everything, now isn’t there?”

And the scene only gets funnier from there.

Years after I first read it back in the early 1990′s, I still remember that scene whenever I think about this book and laugh out loud. As authors, we aspire to write scenes like this. Scenes that touch readers and make such an impression that they will recall them years later, even when many another book is forgotten. They may make you laugh or cry or inspire you to righteous anger. But they stand out from the rest of the pack and still bring out those emotions in you every time you read them.

Here are some of the other scenes that I have found most memorable through the years:

*The reunion between Sarah and Derek at the end of Lisa Kleypas’s Dreaming of You, when Derek believes Sarah to have been killed in a fire.

*The crippled heroine’s confrontation with a bear in the middle of the wilderness as she struggles to save her wounded hero in Catherine Anderson’s Phantom Waltz.

*The death of the hero and heroine’s child in Penelope Williamson’s Keeper of the Dream.

*The flashback scene to the massacre of the heroine’s family by Yankee soldiers in Rebecca Brandewyne’s Outlaw Hearts.

Do you have any scenes from any favorite novels that you have found memorable, that have stuck with you through the years? What are they, and why are they so memorable for you? And as a special bonus, I will be choosing two lucky winners to receive cover flat packets from among the comments today, and I will announce them tomorrow. So good luck! And don’t forget to scroll down and check out Margo’s post on the winter doldrums!

Finally, we actually got some winter around here! It was an ice storm that lasted two days (but wasn’t as bad as the one farther west). On top of that were a couple of inches of snow, and it’s cold, too, so nothing is melting.

So how do you get through the January/February Doldrums? Around here, it’s a good book or movie. I used to read The Lord of the Rings every February. It was great to sit by the fire and drink tea and immerse myself in the journey, but I think I’ve overdosed – I read it once too many times, and after the movies came out, well … Let’s just say I’ve had enough of Hobbit adventures for awhile. I loved Harry Potter, but I don’t think I could re-read those books (although I’m anxious to see how the series wraps up!)

There are some great movies to re-watch, too. Groundhog Day with Bill Murray is perfect for this time of year. Or Castaway if you’d rather dive into the tropics. Or how about those old romantic comedies with Rock Hudson and Doris Day, or Cary Grant in Monkey Business or To Catch a Thief, An Affair to Remember - Ahhhh…. How about You’ve Got Mail. The Star Wars movies are always fun for an escape, or the Alien movies – I’ve been rewatching those since they seem to be on cable every time I happen to sit down in front of the TV!

Besides walking my dogs, I find myself pretty much cocooned inside these days. What about you? What are you doing to get through the winter and keep the kids from going stir crazy?

1. Mailed yesterday’s prize winners
2. Cleaned off my desk
3. Listened to my “Triumphant” music mix that includes songs like “Hella Good” by No Doubt, Adrenaline by Gavin Rossdale, Fighter by Christina Aguilara, and “18 Wheeler” by Pink, along with many others.
4. Drove around. Just drove. Cause I had nowhere to be. Woohoo!
5. Watch(ing) Pride and Prejudice (the REAL version A&E)
6. Made a banana-pecan bread. FROM SCRATCH people.
7. Found out that I’ll be a ‘color model’ the next time I go to get my hair done so I won’t have to pay (yay!)

And, the best and worst one:

8. Started thinking about more books. ARRRRRG.

I posted about this last year around this time. It’s a recurring thought, since this is a recurring battle.

In the wake of New Year’s resolutions, whether they be physical, mental, professional, spiritual or dietary, the biggest block standing in the way of success is getting there. Showing up, whether by sitting at your computer and opening your word processing document, driving to the gym or walking through the door at a clinic, can seem easy, but in reality can constitute a well fought battle. You have not only decided to do something, you’ve showed up on the front line.

I think about this every time I get out of the car and walk to the pool. The walk is bitterly cold and I’m walking toward an outdoor pool. Good thoughts are not necessarily in the forefront of my mind… But I’ve started to consciously think, “This is the hard part. Once I get in the pool, I’ll be fine.” And I know once I get out of the pool I’ll feel great. I know this. But it’s so hard sometimes to do it.

Have you been keeping your resolutions? What has been the hardest part for you?

Thanks to everyone who indulged my strange William thing yesterday. The two winners of the Jaunty coverflat packs were Rainy and Helen Sibbritt! If you two could email me at jenna@jennapetersen.com with your name, address, etc, I’ll try to get them in the mail before I leave for Jamaica. Yes, I realize that is like a week and a half, but I’m barely managing to shower every day!!

Oh, and be sure to scroll down. Shana needs your help with something romantic!