Recently a member of our local RWA chapter forwarded a link to a web site, urging us to go to it and vote. Usually I don’t follow up on that stuff but this one caught my attention. www2.firstbook.org is holding a contest of sorts, and the winning state will receive a donation of 50,000 books for kids in need. (Voting closes Sept. 15.) Getting kids started on reading is a subject near to my heart and yours too, I’m guessing, since you’re reading this blog.

Of course I voted for my state but I won’t be offended if you vote for yours. As you cast your vote, they ask which book first got you hooked on reading. Several celebrities have posted their fave and why. Interesting reading.

This got me pondering which book got me hooked on reading. Shall we all take a stroll down Memory Lane?

My first thought was The Pirate of Hitchfield Manor – I still have a very dog-eared copy of this tale of a modern day guy who switches places with his ancestor from ten generations ago, a sailor. But I discovered that one in 7th grade, so let’s go back farther.

In late grade school I took a brief break from mass market titles by the likes of Mario Puzo, Alistair MacLean and Stephen King (after my mom took away Jaws, I often hid my books from her) to wander in more age-appropriate Judy Blume territory, such as Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. I’d already devoured the school’s Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew collections.

From early grade school I have fond memories of the Encyclopedia Brown series and books like The Shaggy D.A. as well as a beloved hardcover collection of Brer Rabbit stories. (“Do anything you want with me, but please don’t throw me in that briar patch!” Snort.) For our class’s weekly trip to the library, I remember most classmates struggling to find even one book they wanted to read, while I juggled an armload because there were so many stories to read, so many fictional places to go. At each school invariably I would reach the stage of going alphabetically, book by book, through the entire fiction collection to make sure I hadn’t missed any.

Some of the earliest books I can remember devouring on my own featured Eddie and his friends. Eddie’s Pay Dirt by Carolyn Haywood, anyone? How about the time Eddie was determined to win a watermelon eating contest by cheating, but saved the wrong color of watermelon seeds? I still think of that now and then when we eat watermelon, and it’s been a few years ::cough, cough:: since I read it. Beverly Cleary and Carolyn Haywood’s creations kept me company for many, many happy hours. It’s very cool to now live in the town where Cleary set her stories and recognize the street names.

But apparently even that early on I was already hooked, because these tales were just part of a succession of them. Was there one book, one tale that so captured my fancy I was forevermore hooked? I told my husband I was trying to remember if there was one book in particular that got me hooked on reading, and he replied “You were born that way.”

So, were you born that way, too? Do you recall which books made you a reader?

I read an article recently that talked about the Seven Habits guaranteed to turn a man off. The interesting thing was I think these habits in a man would turn any woman off too.

The article took the examples from a book by Marie Forleo called Make Every Man Want You.

Neediness is not attractive. When I was dating it was a big turn off when a guy would tell me over and over “I miss you so much.” Okay, so it didn’t happen all that often…but once was more than enough. Keep in mind when you render yourself powerless, that’s anything but irresistible. In fact, it’s downright annoying.

Neediness is out. So is:

1. Incessant Insecurity

“Do I look fat?” “Is she prettier than me?” These type of questions are practically guaranteed to drive a guy crazy. And do you really believe him when he says “no” anyway? So, don’t ask. And keep in mind if you don’t think you’re irrisitible, he’s not going to either.

2. Clueless Communicator

C’mon, admit it. Most of the time you’re not really listening to him when he rattles on about his new running shoes, his favorite sports team, his …most of the time you’re thinking of what you plan to say next. Or if you’re married and he bought something, your thoughts are probably wondering how much those new running shoes are going to set you back. For fun, consider sitting back and listening. When you truly listen, you become instantly attractive.

3. Sloppy and Unkempt Appearance

Sure you want a man to love you for your inner qualities, but we all like to be proud of who we’re seen with… and don’t you feel better when you look in the mirror and like what you see? You don’t have to spend hours in front of the mirror…but pay attention to your appearance and chances are he’ll pay more attention to you.

4. Hardened and Bitter Attitude

This is not appealing in either sex. Can you picture this type of person? I can. Thin lips. Stony faced. Squinty eyes. Wow, what a turn on. Deal with whatever anger you’ve got stored up inside so you can lighten up and enjoy life.

5. Catty and Critical

It’s a mark of insecurity to criticize another woman’s clothing, shoes, hair, etc. It doesn’t make them look bad….it makes you look insecure and jealous.

6. Boring in Bed

What would an article about men and women be without some mention of sex?

7. Break “The Rules”

Dating rules have their place but they can come across as manipulative. You can break every rule in the book when you’re in touch with your own irresistibility.

Okay, now that we’ve established what you shouldn’t do, let’s look at some helpful suggestions:

1. Dump your Perfect Man checklist

C’mon, you know you have one. Set it aside for awhile and open your heart and mind. What if someone beyond your wildest dreams is just around the corner waiting for you if you are open enough to see him?

2. Forget the Battle of the Sexes

Dump the man-bashing jokes and the complaints. Guys are different from women and repeat after me -THAT IS A GOOD THING.

3. Drop Your Story

Don’t label yourself. “I’m ugly.” “I’m uneducated.” “I’m a pushover.” Instead simply be who you are right now.

4. Quit Complaining and Start Engaging

Complaining is a major man repellant and victimizes you. Get involved, feel good about yourself and you’ll make everyone around you feel good and what to spend time with you.

5. Get a Life and Keep It

Expand your world. Don’t shrink to his.

Okay, so you know my biggest peeve–needy behavior. What’s the biggest habit that turns you off or did when you were dating?

Harlequin is eliciting feedback from fans through the new site TellHarlequin.com.

This will be an online advisory panel designed to enhance Harlequin’s relationship with its readers through an ongoing dialogue whose insights will help guide the evolution of the publisher’s business and allow Harlequin to publish the best in women’s fiction. Participants on the Tell Harlequin panel can make their voices heard on topics such as cover designs, new miniseries ideas, new series concepts, new promotional ideas and more. The staff at Harlequin will then consider Tell Harlequin suggestions along with the publisher’s own plans as it develops editorial for the future.

Contributors to Tell Harlequin receive free Harlequin novels and sneak peeks at upcoming books, participate in entertaining online surveys and exchange opinions and ideas with other readers.

Go to: www.tellharlequin.com to sign up!

I love adventure and romance. My earliest introduction to romance was the movie Romancing the Stone and to an impressible 13 year old that was the lifestyle I wanted. Crafting exciting stories and then having my life unfold into an adventure sounded like the perfect life for me.

I’m lucky that I was able to find the right balance in my real life to enable me to write the kind of stories I love. I write for two publishers Silhouette Books for their Desire line where I get to explore my dreams of living a very glitzy jet-set lifestyle and for Kensington Books for their Brava imprint where I get to write about women who kick serious butt and the sexy guys who keep up with them.
As a little girl I longed for adventure. Don’t we all? My childhood was normal and borderline dull except for in my imagination where I often pretended to be the heroines of my day. Wonder Woman, one of Charlie’s Angels or even the Bionic Woman. My upcoming release BARE WITNESS is the second in a series of books I’m doing for Kensington that features a Charlie’s Angels type investigation firm.
In the story a young girl is kidnapped and my heroine Justine has been hired to get her back. Justine has to deal with some baggage from her own past as she tries to find the young girl before it is too late. She is accompanied on the mission by her partners and by the girl’s father whom she is attracted to.

So what about you? Have you ever had an daring adventures in real life? Or are you more the kind of person who likes to read about her adventures?

I will send a copy of BARE WITNESS to one lucky participant at this blog.

Happy reading!
Kathy

I love living in Houston. There’s lots of things I like about it—my friends, my job, my favorite stores and hangouts. But as much as I love Houston, there’s one thing I hate.

Hurricanes.

Every year from June 1-until sometime in October, I start stressing out. This is hurricane season, and I live in dread of getting a direct hit. The last direct hit for Houston was in 1983. Hurricane Alicia was a category 3, and even though I was young I recall the winds and the rain and the power being out for days.

The city was shut down and 21 people died. My family had just moved to Texas from Michigan, and that was not the welcome we had hoped for.

The last major tropical event to impact Houston was Tropical Storm Allison, which hit in 2001. We had a tropical storm a few weeks ago, Edouard, and it wasn’t a very big deal. But Allison stalled over Houston and dumped inches and inches of rain. Once again, the city was shut down. People drowned in their cars trying to get home. In the house where I live now, there was over 2 feet of water.

So you can understand why I’ve been watching the news a lot lately. Hurricane Gustav struck fear into the hearts of many Houstonians. We didn’t want it to hit Louisiana, but we didn’t want it to hit here either.

In fact, even after it was clear that Gustav would hit Louisiana, I had a conversation with Ultimate Sportsfan about the possibility of moving further inland. Austin and San Antonio are nice cities—and they’re not affected by hurricanes!

For now we’ll stay put, and our future plans include knocking our house down and building it up higher. We live in a flood plane, which doesn’t ease my worries. Until then I guess I’ll just have to keep my eye on the weather.

What about you? Does your weather make you want to move?

In Texas, the end of August, beginning of September is Hatch Chili season. Hatch Chilies are green chilies from Hatch, New Mexico. This time of year, they pop up all over town, in roasters outside of grocery stores, raw in huge sacks at farmers markets, and—my favorite—in restaurants all over town.

Hatch chilies are, essentially, the same chilies as the canned green chilies you buy in the grocery store. But fresh roasted they are just so much tastier. They have a nice mild heat. Nothing to be afraid of, but loaded with flavor.

At home, we toss them in with eggs and cheese for breakfast tacos so yummy they’re worth getting out of bed for. We layer them with ground beef and polenta for an easy casserole. Or just mix them with a cream sauce for pasta. Zuzu’s, my favorite Mexican restaurant, serves a great chicken hatch chili quesadilla. The Central Market Café has a hatch chili hamburger that is—literally—my favorite burger ever. Seriously, you’d stab your grandmother for this burger.

But my love of hatch chili season stems from more than just all the yummy tastiness. I love hatch chilies because to me, they are the beginning of Fall. Which is just my favorite season. Once the chilies play out, we’ve got Halloween, right around the corner. And then Thanksgiving and then Christmas. Hatch chilies are an appetizer for all the wonderful food to come.

To be honest, I have no idea if people go crazy for hatch chilies in other places the way we do here. (Well, presumably they’re pretty fond of them in Hatch, New Mexico.) So what about the rest of you? Do you eat hatch chilies wherever you’re from? If not, what seasonal, regional tasties do you have? 

Hello! I’m one of the new members of the Jaunty Quills and thrilled to be included in such a gang. I’m new still fairly new to writing, and I’m definitely new to blogging. My name, pen and otherwise, is Kristan Higgins, and I write romantic comedies set in small towns. Regular people with big love stories, as I like to think of them, and lots of laughs as well. This summer, my second book, Catch of the Day, won the Romance Writers of America RITA for best single title contemporary, which was definitely one of the happiest moments of my life, and my third book, Just One of the Guys, came out in August. I’m working on two more books right now, one due out this winter, and another next fall(ish).

I was thinking about what to write in my first post…want to make a good impression and all that. With only three books out, I’m pretty new in the writing world, so telling my own story or offering advice struck me as a bit, er, pompous. But of course, I wanted to be brilliant and charming, too. The other night, I had great plans to write just that…something brilliant and charming, but as soon as I sat down to write, I got a little sweaty with the pressure of being brilliant and charming. I turned on the TV instead, figuring if something brilliant and charming came to mind, I could always leap to my computer and jot it down.

My firefighter husband was working a triple shift. The kids were sound asleep, and I’d read everything in the house. I’d failed to return my Netflix rentals in a timely fashion, so I was at the mercy of our very mediocre cable plan. Luckily the gods were merciful, and one of my favorite movies was playing. Groundhog Day. Faced with the same day over and over again, a narcissistic weatherman has to learn how to become a better person. It doesn’t sound like much, but there’s something just fascinating about the character of Phil Connors trying to learn why he’s been condemned to relive his least favorite holiday.

It got me to thinking about the movies I can watch again and again — Titanic…well, the second half anyway, once the ship hits the iceberg. The image of Titanic sinking is so haunting…I can never sleep after seeing that movie, but I watch it again and again. While You Were Sleeping is another favorite… it’s just unfailingly delightful, and Sandra Bulloci is so believable. Then there’s The Natural (I love baseball). The Shawshank Redemption (or just about anything with Morgan Freeman in it; he’s so talented). Apollo 13 — my heart always pounds in the final moments of the flight, though by now I’m pretty sure how it will turn out.

For books, it’s Gone with the Wind for me (I’ve read it 14 times) and Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels. I read everything by Elizabeth Berg and Elizabeth Strout, and I read The Pursuit of Alice Thrift by Elinor Lipman at least once a year. Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin…oh, there are dozens. 

So what about you? Why do you love those tried and true favorites so much? Which books have you read again and again, which movies could you see a hundred times?

Nice meeting everyone!

Kristan

www.kristanhiggins.com

Now for some of you, you now have a certain song playing in your head. You can thank me later. But today I want to talk about a blast from my past and one I still enjoy every now and then.

That’s right, today is all about the 80′s hair band, otherwise known as the make-up wearing, big-haired, leather-pants strutting soft metal bands from my Jr. High and High School days. No one could write a power balled like these bands. They could get you moving your feet and make you almost – almost – want to bang your head, just a little. Come on, you remember. I can’t be the only one.

How pretty was Bret Michaels? It was kind of depressing to a then teenage girl. In any case, those of us who were metal fans knew that Van Halen was a much better band when Sammy Hagar was lead singer.

It’s just short of 10 minutes, but if you were a fan, you’ll enjoy the alphabetical (well, almost) walk down memory lane although admittedly there were a few bands in here that I didn’t recognize and sadly there are no Def Leopard or REO Speedwagon clips.

Yeah, despite the mullet, I certainly had a thing for Joe Elliot. Looking back, not so sure what I was thinking. We’re not talking high quality music here, but I will always have a fondness for the love ballads and rocker songs of my past. So how about you, were you a hair band fan? Or what kind of music from your past do you have a soft spot for?

*A side note – for anyone who is interested I’m starting a writing class today with Celtic Hearts. If you’re interested, shoot me an email and I’ll send you the info.