I’m still thinking about dipping my toes into Twitter…so I thought I’d practice here.

Here are some brief thoughts that came to my mind. I’m drawing FIVE winners from all of you who post on one of these comments. You’ll win a copy of my book, The Christmas Proposition. If you already have it…I have a bunch more for you to choose from. Check back on Sunday night around 9 pm to see if you’re a winner.

Twitter kind-of-thoughts:

I’m looking for a slow cooker recipe online and find lots of choices. Makes me wonder if anyone buys cook books anymore.

I notice my heroes always have blue eyes. Is that because my husband has blue eyes? I wonder what color is most common.

Am I the only one who’s tired of hearing about Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohen’s addiction problems?

Loving the kinder, gentler American Idol this year and the willingness to consider different musical styles. Adore Steven Tyler and J-Lo.

I’d like to learn to quilt but I don’t even sew. Perhaps I should give up the dream.

Yoga interests me but I’m not sure I’m coordinated enough. Perhaps I should just stick with a stretching class.

My husband didn’t get me a Valentine’s card this year, but he did call me during the day and wish me a happy V-day. Does that count?

Love this quote: Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls, and looks like work. Thomas Edison.

This is a dangerous time of year for me, especially when I go grocery shopping.  I just know that when I pull up into the parking lot, I’m going to see the table covered by a colorful plastic cloth set up by the store’s automatic doors.  There are small, brightly-colored, rectangular boxes on the table.  Standing behind it is at least one mom, coaching at least one girl in uniform–but usually more–to ask people walking into the store if they’d like to make a purchase and support a very good cause. 

I know, as I switch off the engine of my car, that I’m doomed.  Those boxes are already calling to me.  They stir up memories.  I remember afternoons that I spent a few years ago standing behind a table, encouraging my shy daughter to approach potential buyers.  I remember back to my childhood, when my sister was a Girl Scout for one year and sold cookies to neighbors.  There were only two flavors offered back then: chocolate or vanilla.  This year, there are eight varieties.

The memories get sneakier and, I dare say, more personal.  Remember the way those chocolaty Thin Mints tasted right out of the freezer?   My reward after vacuuming the living room?  Mmm!  Sooo yummy!  I couldn’t eat just one.

What about the Samoas (R)?  Chewy and coconutty, they were perfect downed with morning coffee, or afternoon tea, or a mug of hot cocoa while watching movies with the family.

I sigh and grab my purse.  There’s no point resisting.  I’m not going to leave this parking lot without a few boxes of Girl Scout cookies.  I’m not going to feel one bit guilty about my indulgence either, because I’m always glad to support the Girl Scouts.  Especially if I can replenish my supply of Thin Mints.  

Want to find out where Girl Scout cookies are being sold in your area?  Visit http://www.girlscoutcookies.org/

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As you’ve probably guesssed, my favorite Girl Scout cookies are Samoas (R) and Thin Mints, closely followed by the Thanks-A-Lot (TM) cookies.  Are you planning to buy cookies this year?  What are your favorite varieties?

As most of you know The Professor and I have two furbabies, two cats to be exact. We have our sweet little calico, Sydney, who is very much a Daddy’s girl. Sometimes I won’t see her all day, but as soon as he walks into the house she comes out from wherever she’s been hiding and starts chattering up a storm. She loves to talk to him and to get attention. And then we have Baxter. He was my cat before we got married and until recently I would have thought he was a middle-aged cat. But in January he got sick, which meant a trip to the vet, and we found out that his age of 8 1/2 is considered old. That in and of itself was a bit of a shock, but not so much as his diagnosis. He’s got bad kidneys as it turns out and I spent much of January mourning this. No, he didn’t die, he’s still with us and for the most part seems fairly normal. Though he’s lost weight off his large frame and he’s beginning to look a bit like one of the hyenas from the Lion King.

Here’s the thing though, Bax is my special boy. I’m sure many of you have probably had the experience of that special pet. The one you just have an extra unique bond with. He’s smart and clever and so spoiled, it’s ridiculous. And he’s so expresive, loves to give head butts and likes his attention on his terms.

One of the things we’ve had to deal with with his kidney disease is the special food, which we spent a fortune on and of course, he won’t eat it. Syd eats it and has rounded out nicely with her rolly-polly self. But the vet said as long as he eats she doesn’t care what he’s eating. He’s been on three hunger strikes (so far) and hopefully we’re past that, but when it happens he needs a new and different food, one he’s never smelled before. I hear this is common for cats with kidney issues.

The other main thing we’ve had to do though is learn how to give him subcutaneous fluids at home so that we don’t have to go through the stress of taking him to the vet once a week (not to mention the expense). But going to the vet really freaks him out and it seems that was causing damage in and of itself. So we went and learned how to perform the task at home, bought our kit and now we’ve successfully done it three times. I’m sure at the vet’s office, they’re good with a team of 2, but so far we’ve needed 4 grown adults to pull off this task. My parents come and help hold him still. The Professor is the brave one and has to do the needle work and I get to squeeze the fluid bag to make sure we get enough in him. It’s horribly stressful and usually requires wine afterwards (for us, not Baxter) but so far he’s not even mad at us about it. I’m sure it helps that the fluids make him feel better.

We don’t know how long this will last or how much longer we have with him, but I’m thankful we’re able to do things to make his life full of love and comfort.

So what about y’all? Tell me about one of your special pets.

I’m not very good with sad.

All those tear-jerkers they release around holidays? Yeah, I can’t do those. Missing kids, dying mothers, kindly grandparents with Alzheimer’s. Nope. Not for me.

So here’s a list of movie scenes that I just hate. (And by “hate” I mean, make me cry like a baby and therefore I don’t like.)

• The Lion King – the bit where Simba nuzzles up next to Mufasa’s lifeless body. Just … can’t…
• Titanic – you can’t tell me there wasn’t room on that raft for both of them!
• Bambi – my kids think it ends with the fire in the forest, ’cause I just can’t watch the end. I just know that the Great Stag isn’t going to be the kind of loving and supportive father that Bambi needs
• The Notebook – yeah, I know they got to spend their lives together, but I still weep when the morning comes and they’ve dead in the night. Instead of the a Director’s Cut, why couldn’t they have released a Romantic’s Cut that doesn’t have the end in it? If he reads to her everyday, why not start the movie the day before, so it can end with them waking up and him reading to her again?
• Out of Africa – okay, so I cry when Robert Redford dies. And then it just goes downhill from there. By the time Meryl Streep goes to plead for her people, I’m a blubbering mess.
• Sophie’s Choice – are you kidding me? I’ve only seen it once. When I was about 13. I barely remember it. But I can start crying if I even think about it too long.
• WALL-E – I cry a lot in this one. At the beginning when he’s watching Hello Dolly all alone. When he follows Eve around. I’m so pathetic, I even cry when it looks like the cock roach dies.

So what movies make you cry? Or are you one of the sick puppies who loves sad movies?

I’ll pick one person to receive a book from my backlist.

Catslady – you won the drawing from my post yesterday. Thanks to all who signed up for my newsletter!

Jane Eyre has always been one of my favorite books. I love every bit of it from the very beginning, where Jane is the poor orphan who lives (and is abused) in her aunt’s house, to the end where she finally returns to Thornfield Hall to take her place as Edward’s wife.

You can’t help but love little Jane when she makes her her smart retort to the holier-than-thou headmaster who comes to take her away to the horrible school, Lowood. And when she befriends and loses Helen, you really feel for this child who is so alone. Of course you want everything to go well once she arrives at Thornfield Hall, the estate where she becomes governess to Mr. Rochester’s niece, and it’s painful to watch her compete for Edward’s affections with the awful Blanche. (I’m actually sort of mad at Charlotte Bronte for making Edward so unfeeling. He really rakes Jane over the coals before declaring his love).

I readily admit that Jane Eyre was the inspiration for my soon-to-be-released book, Seducing the Governess. I took a young woman who was all alone in the world, and put her in the position of having to make her own living. That’s where the similarities end. I didn’t add any of my heroine’s childhood in my Governess book, although I allude to it as she moves forward into her new position at Ashby Hall. She becomes governess to the new earl’s niece, and though as she grows attached to the man and the little girl, she realizes that he must marry a rich woman in order to restore the Ashby estate to some semblance of functionality. I hope I didn’t make my heroine’s situation as irritating as that of Blanche and Edward.

But I did want Ashby Hall to be just as imposing as Mr. Rochester’s Thornfield Hall. The difference is that my mansion is rundown and it’s staffed by men who were under Lord Ashby’s command in the army – some on the peninsula, and some at Waterloo. They are mostly incompetent, and the earl knows things have to change. But he isn’t quite sure how to go about making the changes – unless he has the money a wealthy bride will bring.

A new movie version of Jane Eyre is coming out next month, and I am so looking forward to it. I’ve enjoyed most of the film versions – and it seems to me that each one manages to bring out something a little bit different about the characters. The sensuality of the last one, with Toby Stevens, surprised me. I’m wondering what new aspect we’ll glean from the characters in this newest one.

I’m not familiar with the actors who play the main roles in the new Jane Eyre, but they sure look right from their pictures. Edward is a bit older (but not too old to be believable),he’s somewhat jaded, and not exactly handsome. But he’s compelling in his own way. Jane is young and pure, and though she’s seen a lot of ugliness in life, has managed to keep a sense of balance about her. It’s her purity and balance that is so attractive to Edward, and the irony is that his love for her will destroy exactly what he loves about her.

I hope the movie lives up to the book… but you never know. Is there a book/movie combo that was particularly satisfying to you? Or one that you just hated? Tell me! And if you zip over to my website, and sign up for my newsletter, I’ll enter you into a drawing for one of my books!

I’ve had memorable Valentine’s Days, from the melt-your-heart gifts and sentiments and professions of love to those bleak V-days when your special guy turns into a troll and forgets the day, and you, entirely.  But the V-days that still make me smile are those cherished memories of first and second grade school.

Wow, our teachers really made a big deal of it, having our room decorated with hearts and cupids. We were told to bring an empty tissue or shoe box to school to decorate the day before. She’d supply the colored construction paper, paper lace dollies (do they still make that stuff?) and of course crayons and glue. It was always a messy fun project, and everyone had to write their name prominently on their mailbox.

Some kids were very artistic and neat at a young age. Some not so much. I sorta fell in between, which has in many ways been the way my life has gone. Good, not close to perfect.  Love-of-my-life — but not in this lifetime.  Back to school days…

Once the boxes were decorated, teacher would line them up on the windowsill. Then on Valentine’s Day, we brought cards from home to dole out to everyone. Note: that wasn’t always easy with some kids, especially some boys who were just mean to everyone.   But we did it anyway and wrote their name reeeal small on the card. 

Most students came prepared (my mom was great about that stuff — anal about that stuff) and some kids arrived with their cards still in the package. I really felt for them, because the jerks in class would make them feel like heels. The teacher would help them get their cards ready. Some back then were on perforated sheets, which took even more time for the teacher to separate neatly, and then wait while the late students addressed them.  Hope they put raspberries on the mean kid cards.  (Yep, I said it and meant it.)

What are your early memories of Valentine’s Day?  Anything that stands out to you?

Let me first make one thing perfectly clear. I’m not technically challenged, I’m time challenged.

I’d like to be more involved with Facebook. And, although I recently signed up for Twitter, I haven’t ever tweeted.

I’d really like to hear about your experiences with social media. I’d especially like some tips on how to most effectively use both Facebook and Twitter.

Everyone who posts will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of one of the romance books in my To-Be-Read pile….I’ve lots to choose from, so I’m confident we’ll find one you’ll like regardless of your sub-genre preference.

Seriously, I really need to make the best use of FB and Twitter…so even a URL for a good article would be appreciated.

I don’t even know what it means to “poke” someone on FB.

Soooooo, please help!!

catslady is the winner of my copy of this great book! catslady, email me with your address at shana@shanagalen.com

It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and I don’t know about you, but I’m in the mood for some romantic stories.

Fortunately, I have this awesome collection of non-fiction shorts by some of your favorite romance authors, including, Rachel Gibson, Eloisa James, Teresa Medeiros, Kat Martin, Heather Graham, Linda Lael Miller, Karen Robards, Julianne MacLean, Jane Porter, Nicola Cornick, Sabrina Jeffries, Elizabeth Hoyt, Ciji Ware, Christie Ridgway, and way, way more.

Oh! And one of the stories is by me! Check out “Sports are Stranger than Fiction” (page 132) for the story of how Ultimate Sportsfan and I met.

I’d love to give my copy away! Just tell me what you think is the key to long lasting love, and I’ll randomly pick a winner and post the name tomorrow.