I’m always enthralled by the thought of doing something daring, adventurous and dare I say naughty.  I’ve spent my entire life living by the rules.  I don’t speed in town, I scrupulous put my cell phone down in school zones and have always been honest even when it would have benefited me to keep my mouth shut.

But I long for adventure.   And wish I were brave enough to do something that I would consider on the boundaries of bad behavior.  I’m not talking about hurting anyone else, I’m just talking about doing something that would make me want it to stay where it happened.  For example Vegas.

I wrote a series of books a few years ago for Desire on this subject because of my fascination with Vegas.  As much as I want to be the party-girl who doesn’t have a care I don’t think I ever could be.  Even going to Vegas doesn’t make me forget the rules that I live my life by.  But for a lot of people it does.

I think it’s a bit like being punch-drunk.  You think that you can behave however you want and there won’t be any consequences because it’s Vegas, baby.  And what happens there stays there.

But how true is that?  How many quickie marriages have lasted beyond Vegas.  I’m not saying all Vegas marriages won’t last.  I know two happily married couples who tied the knot there.  One coulple eloped because of family pressure (and 18 years later are still going strong) the other couple planned a very romantic wedding in Vegas and they too are still happy.

How do you feel about taking a risk?  Are you the type of person who’d behave in a different way because of where you are and the fact that you will never see the people around you again?  Have you ever done something you thought wouldn’t have consequences and found out later that it did?

I have a copy of my Brava that is set in Vegas…Sex With A Stranger for one lucky blogger who comments today.
Kathy

Because I recently wrote a blog about irritating small things that can wreck a day, I’m trying to even out the bad karma I dumped into the universe (was chided — rightfully — by a blog reader and promised to make amends). And since I listed five things that ruin my day, here are six that do the opposite, listed in no particular order. How’s that, Solveig?

6. Flirty older men. I’m one of those women who has always been comfortable around older men, in no doubt due to the fact that I have seven uncles, an older brother and just generally like the opposite sex. There’s something very charming about a man over sixty who takes it upon himself to chat up a woman in her forties. Maybe there’s a little flirting going on… “A pretty girl like you has two kids? When did you have them, when you were ten?” Men my own age don’t say these things. To all the older men who’ve flirted with me…thank you!

5. The smell of bacon. I’m not a huge meat eater, but bacon…oh, bacon. It reminds me of Saturday mornings as a kid, when my mom would always whip up bacon and eggs for the five of us. My dad, who worked long hours, was usually home on Saturday mornings, and we’d be planning a day of yard work or housecleaning, and the smell of bacon just brings back those sunny family mornings.

4. Rainy school days. I love to be alone in my cozy little house on a rainy day. There is no sound so cozy, so soothing, so inspiring as rain pattering against a window.

3. Hugs from children. My own kids are very affectionate, with each other and with us. Each morning, they come downstairs, a bit bleary-eyed and groggy, and hug us. There is no better start to the day than that, is there? I also love hugs from other people’s kids, and get them with great frequency, something I’m quite proud of. It could be carved on my gravestone — She really loved kids.

2. Midnight snacks. When McIrish is at the firehouse at night, I like to stay up late and watch movies. Break out the Wheat Thins, maybe. To me, this somehow epitomizes being a grownup. Staying up late when everyone else is asleep, having a snack if you want. 

1. Spring. The brave little plants are poking up their heads, the air is sweet, the days are longer. Peepers sing in the pond, the little stream in our valley winks in the sunshine, and the birds wake me up at ten after five in the morning. It just makes me happy.

What are the little things in life that bring a smile to your day? 

Kathryn,
Congratulations! You’re the winner of Lyn’s book!

Email her at her website www.lyncote.net and she’ll get the book in the mail to you!

I have been DVR’ing this series which I only discovered a couple of months ago. It’s not so much about fashion as about studies of human nature.

And as an author, I am and have always been fascinated about how people react to different stimulus (to sound like a psych major which I WAS NOT).

If you haven’t seen this show, two New Yorkers, Stacy and Clinton ambush a woman (and once a man) who has been nominated by friends and family as a fashion disaster.

Stacy and Clinton offer her $5000 and a NYC shopping trip IF she will give up all the clothes in her closet that they think don’t do anything for her. And the woman must shop by their rules.
Well, how many of us would say “No” to that?

The funny part comes when Stacy and Clinton start throwing the woman’s clothing out. The woman all try in vain to stop Stacy and Clinton to save clothes. When thwarted, they sometimes have a tantrum or burst into tears over.

This astounds me because except for a few sentimental pieces of clothing (like my wedding dress, etc), I go through my closet usually twice a year and dump out the stuff that I’m tired of or has gone out of style. Stacy and Clinton could come to my house and as long as I got my $5000 and free NYC trip, they could throw away anything! I would grin and wave bye-bye!

This is the part that grips me. I had no idea that:

1-some women use clothing as camouflage. I didn’t know clothing was to be hidden behind. Silly me I thought it was to keep us warm, covered decently and help us look attractive.

2-some women (even without anorexia) had distorted ideas of their body.

3-some women really had no clue what was flattering or unflattering to them.

4-some women had no idea how a dress or shirt or slacks was to meant to fit them-either they wore oversized or undersized clothing and thought that was a correct fit.

The tantrums and tears and #1 and #2 are the discoveries that really intrigue me.

Why would a woman as thin as an icicle believe that her cup size A breasts were always in the way?

Why would a woman wear clothing that repelled people?

Why would taking away a woman’s old ragged clothing and giving her new clothing reduce her to tears and almost a deconstruction of her whole self image?

What do you think? Is this common or just for reality TV?

Regardless I will continue to watch and marvel at us human beings.

(Note: Lyn will draw a winner from everyone who comments on her blog. That lucky person will win a copy of her latest book–The Desires Of Her Heart)

Lyn Cote

http://www.strongwomenbravestories.blogspot.com

Every woman has a story! Share yours.

The best thing about doing taxes…mailing them off! Well, I suppose getting a refund is the best thing, but the relief from getting them completed is quite sweet.

Who was an early-as-can-be Mabel and who was a wait-until-the-last-second Gertrude? We did ours on Monday, so we were leaning toward Gertrude, though we have nothing on you true tax Gertrudes out there!

Taxes weren’t too stressful though this year, thank goodness. There have been times in the past where I’ve felt like running down the street while clutching my hair screaming, so this is definitely an improvement. I’m starting to get my Schedule C tax prep down to a science, so that helps. I keep a spreadsheet with the different MISC categories listed. I stuff all my writing receipts into a folder throughout the year and then plug them into the spreadsheet under the appropriate category. Then it’s just a matter of entering the category totals into Turbo Tax (Turbo Tax…how I love thee…) — and the great thing about TT is that it has the totals from the previous year, so I can mostly just eyeball the lines that have amounts. Nice.

Anyone have a great trick you use for tax prep or entry? Or do you just like to wash your hands of it and send it all to your local professional?

Whatever way you prefer…happy after tax day!!!

My dearest Readers,
As promised, I give thee part 2! So do any of you remember that Marriage Act from the last post? The one that had been set into motion in 1754 that forbade couples under the age of 21 from marrying without the consent of their parents? And all those new strict laws regarding special licences which could only be obtained from the Bishop and a whole list of other things to help prevent Fleet marriages? Now you do. Grin.

That particular Marriage Act was only law in England and Wales and not in any other parts of the Isles, like Scotland, Isle of Mann and Guernsey. With dangerous weather and water way passages, Scotland became the go to for couples who wanted to get around English laws. And guess what was the first village just over the border of Scotland? Gretna Green, but of course! In no time it became THE place to wed. So much so, countless historical romances have written about the subject and tossed around Gretna Green as if there wasn’t a single other village IN Scotland. (Which there were). Usually, the couple heading to Scotland was usually followed by angry family members wanting to put a stop to it and it’s said that Scots would sit on the border and place bets as to how long before certain carriage were followed. There were many times parents brought the bride’s husband to trial accusing him for abducting their daughter. Couples got around this by having the daughter pay for some of the expenses. To show just how WILLING she really was. Though in my opinion is was a cheap way for the groom to go…

Now all those stories and legends about a blacksmith marrying couples is actually just that. Stories and legend. With no truth. The story of the blacksmith came about because there were usually scam artists waiting about dressed like priests to marry couples and were described as having the build of a blacksmith when he took off with the couples’ money. Hence the stories. It was said about 100 couples a year got scammed by such individuals. And many didn’t even know they WEREN’T married! One man, David Laing, in 1827, in court, admitted to marrying couples for 48 years and charging as much as 50 pounds a couple! In 1856 Gretna Green faded away into the mist when a law made it illegal for a couple to marry in Scotland unless either the groom or the bride had been a resident of Scotland. Though for only three weeks…

There’s still so many things to touch on pertaining to traditions and rings and betrothals and superstitions, I could make this post go on and on and well…on. I suppose I should keep it simple and end this on the last note of practice that has been argued amongst British scholars left and right as to whether it truly did occur or not. Which of course, it did. And that was the selling of wives and wedding strangers THAT way. In 1886, Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge made the story of wife selling famous. But from the middle ages up until the late 1800′s, it actually wasn’t all that uncommon as people think. Candice Hern wrote a fabulous story on wife selling called THE BRIDE SALE. And…ehm. So did I. Only mine never made it to print. But it did final in the Golden Heart. Twice. And who knows…maybe one day… That said, how did wife selling come about? It’s obvious. Women were a form of property. Why would wife selling NOT be popular? The wife to be ‘sold’ would be led to the square by a head collar. She’d be put on display and her faults and imperfections would be called out to the crowd looking to buy. One particular case known on record was in Carlisle in 1832 when 50 shillings was asked for but the wife was sold for twenty shillings and a dog. Men. I suppose I can only repeat the mantra, I love what I write but I’m damn glad I don’t live in the era I write.
Cheers and much love,
Delilah Marvelle

We only have about three and a half months before the first book in my Legend Hunters series hits stores. This is hugely exciting for me. I mean all book releases are exciting, but this is the first book I’ll have had in stores since August 2007 – that’s two VERY long years. But not only that this book represents an idea I’ve been working on for a long time. In fact I blogged here about it when I first started working on brainstorming the series. That was August of 2006 and here we are in 2009. Talk about anticipation!

I even got my first review yesterday. “5 stars! This is one of the best historical romances I have read this year. I read the entire book in one night. The engaging plot and charming characters blend together for one intoxicating read.” – Huntress’ Book Reviews

Needless to say I’m very excited. So excited, in fact, that I want to share the book with people right now. I just can’t wait until July 28th. Which is why I’m giving readers two opportunities to snag advanced reading copies in the month of May. The first of which is a contest on my website. It’s such a simple contest, all you have to do is be a member of my newsletter, so if you’re not already getting the Robyn DeHart newsletter, then hop on over to my website and sign up. I promise I only send cool stuff and not that often so I don’t clutter your inbox.

Secondly, I’ve donated an ARC to Brenda Novak’s online auction that benefits diabetes research. The bidding doesn’t open until May 1st, but the site is up now and she’s got some awesome stuff this year, including that ARC of mine. Incidentally for those of you aspiring writers I’ve also donated a critique of an historical romance partial so be sure to look for that as well.

So there you go, two ways you can snag and early read of Seduce Me. And just to entice you a little further here’s a snippet of the excerpt you can find on my website.

From chapter eleven of Seduce Me…

“How does a woman go about seducing a man? Obviously, it can be somewhat complicated.” She flattened her hand on his stomach and she felt his muscles twitch beneath her palm.

to read more….

I got off from work a little early on Friday and my husband called and asked me to go to lunch with him. On the way home, I stopped at the store, drove home, and started putting things away in my kitchen. I must have been working in there for about four or five minutes before I glanced into the sink and saw something black. I stared at it, trying to remember what I would have possibly put in the sink that was black, and then an eye blinked at me!

There were two small black birds in my kitchen sink!

Okay, let me go back a step. We have a cover on our chimney, and a month or so ago it blew off in a heavy storm. My husband bought an extension ladder so he could get up there and put it back, but he hadn’t gotten around to doing so yet. Thursday I was lying on the couch, and I thought I heard birds in the chimney. I told my husband, but he said that the birds I was hearing were outside.

But Friday morning, my cats were sitting in front of the chimney when we heard loud chirping early in the morning. Those birds were not outside! My husband promised to put the chimney screen back on Saturday.

But I guess the birds decided to come inside rather than fly out on Friday! As soon as I saw that eye blink at me, I screamed and ran. I called my husband, who was back at work, and told him we had birds in the sink. He just laughed and said, “You always wanted a bird.”

I have never wanted a bird!

Then he tells me to open the back door and shoo the birds out. Our windows in that part of the house don’t open, though there are a lot. That’s probably what attracted the birds to that area in the first place. So I opened the door and tried to shoo the birds with the newspaper. They flapped their wings and hunkered down. They were not leaving. And as soon as they flapped their wings again, I was freaked out and had to call my husband.

Needless to say, he had to come home and free the birds. Sad to say, it took him two minutes. He got a towel, wrapped a bird in it, freed that one, then did the same with the other. They were happy to fly away. I ended up spending the afternoon cleaning bird pop up from around the house. Apparently, the birds had tried several windows before settling in the kitchen.

Oh, and what were my cats doing all of this time, you wonder? Sleeping on the bed! Birds are flying around my house, and my cats sleep through the whole thing!

Thanks to all of you for your posts this weekend. Joyce–you are the winner!

Please contact me from my website www.cindykirk.com and let me know where to send the book. I’ll get it in the mail right away!