Last night was the premiere of Dancing With The Stars and I enjoyed every second of it. I was fearful my teenage fav Ralph Macchio wouldn’t be able to dance but he could! Or that Kirstie Alley wouldn’t have the moves needed to look good on the dance floor but she delivered as well.

It was so much fun to see the new season start and to get to know the new cast members. I’m not sure if I’ve blogged about my addiction to the show or the fact that TAMING THE VIP PLAYBOY was inspired by that obsession! But it was a lot of fun to see the show back.

I always imagine that I can do those dances, I know reality is a bit different but I still think I could deliver. I think that is part of the appeal of this show for me. The fact that I’m watching someone attempt something that I kind of dream of doing.

Are you watching Dancing with the Stars? Or maybe American Idol? Do you ever dream that you are on that stage?

Happy reading!
Kathy

First off I’m not a fashionista.  In the day job I wear scrubs, and while there are changes in styles, it’s rarely anything major.   Around the house I’m a jeans and t-shirt gal. 

In my role as author, I want to make a good appearence.  (Read, not look outdated.)  While I’m never close to the cutting edge of fashion (unless it’s by sheer accident), I try to hold a middle road where clothes are either classic styles that stay in fashion, or are something new that I think may have a chance of staying in vogue for more than a season. 

So out of curiosity, I went to Redbook online to see what the top hot trends are for 2011. 

1.  Goodbye smoky eyes and hello pale, barely there eyeshadow.  The pinkish or peachy lid is supposed to make those long sweeping eyelashes look longer and more dramatic.

2.  For jewelry, big, shiny and geometric are in.  Figures since I’ve bought a lot of colored beads and chains lately.  Not chucking them either, so excuse my fashion faux pas. 

3.  Lavender is the “in” color.  All I have in lavender is a beautiful pashmina that was a Christmas gift.  I do love it.  (See, this is one of those instances were I actually have something that’s in right now.)

4.  Crooked center parts in hairstyles are in.  Again.  I can achieve this look without much trouble, as my hair naturally has a zigzag part sorta in the middle.    Mine also tends to frizz, which I never liked even when it was in style to have frizzy, curly hair. 

5.  Loafers have taken new heights in shoes, being the new thing in high heels.  I’m torn whether to like this trend or not, as I kinda remember it from before being a flash in the pan.

6.  Trouser jeans.  I can get into this style, as well as the slight rise in the waistline again.  Can this mean the muffin tops are on their way out???  I just hope this doesn’t signal a return of the high waist trousers and jeans.  Ugh. 

7.  Glossy lips are out.  Matte lipstick is in.   From what I’ve seen in books, I’m not  thrilled by this look. 

8.  Dresses are sleeker and simpler, and the prints are wildly graphic.  The other print trend is big roses, in everything from dresses to skirts to blouses to sweaters.  I found this out when I went shopping for dresses this spring.  

9.  The 70s A-line skirt is back.  So are fuller, longer skirts.  These styles are supposed to flatter the majority of shapes out there.  Hmm, we’ll see.

10. Forget colored fingernails.  Gray is in.  Use a top coat so your nails maintain that wet look.   Gotta say this is a step up from black.  Still, I like color on my toes, and French tips for my nails. 

11. Big off-the-shoulder sweaters have made another comeback.  I can tell you they don’t flatter every figure.   

So these are Redbook’s top trends for this year.  What do you like?  What makes you roll your eyes?  What are you glad to see make an appearance or a comeback?  Will you jump on the fashion bandwagon, or stick to the styles you either have on hand or simply love?

I’m liking the sun shining later in the day but hating how tired I feel.

Daylight Saving Time was first advocated by Benjamin Franklin in 1784 when he noticed that people slept past dawn in the summer, wasting early morning sunlight. The official time change was introduced during World War I as a part of an effort in the United States and other countries to conserve fuel.

As we all know, the transition of daylight saving time can disturb sleeping patterns and make a person (me) more restless at night because the body is not in tune with its personal circadian rhythm.

Due to the sleep deprivation, researchers have found that the number of traffic accidents in the U.S. increases dramatically on the Monday after Daylight Saving Time. Different studies have shown the increase to be anywhere from 8 to 11%.

A 2008 study showed tht the number of serious heart attacks increases 6 to 10% in the first three workdays after the start of Daylight Saving Time. The study found that the most plausible explanation was sleep disturbances.

Waking up while the sun is still down may also have a negative impact on seasonal affective disorder, sometimes called “winter depression”. Some research has shown that dark mornings are more of a trigger for SAD than short days.

I researched ways to prepare for the time change again this year. I went to bed and set my alarm 10 or 15 minutes earlier the week prior to the change. I avoided alcohol and caffeine around the time change. I even avoided taking a nap that Sunday afternoon not wanting to throw my body clock off balance.

I was determined to reset my body’s internal clock.

But here I am, many days later, still exhausted. I try to go to bed even though I’m not tired. Yet when my alarm goes off, all I want to do is sleep.

I really think my body’s circadian rhythm is tuned to standard time. I’ll adjust, of course I will…but I have the feeling by the time I’m completely adjusted, it’ll be time to change back.

What about you? How are you adjusting to the time change? if it was up to you–would you keep or scrap the change to daylight savings time?

When it comes to the movies, I’m a bit of a nut. I’ve loved going to the movies since I was a kid and before I had children, the Geek and I went nearly every weekend. The last few years, we’ve only made it out the theaters a couple of times. However this spring … well, this spring I’ve been sneaking out to the movies during the day while the kids are in school. While this may seem a little self-indulgent, I tell myself it’s almost like real work.  After all, I have been working on a couple of YA ideas and so many of the new movies are marketed to teens. So it’s sort of like research, right?

So … just because I can … I’m going to offer up my “reviews” of the movies I’ve seen recently. Hey, humor me. I don’t get to the movies often.

I Am Number Four

A clever concept, creepy bad guys, lots of cool special effects and a very pretty guy. What’s not to love? This movie was fun and fast-paced, but plotting and dialogue weren’t really it’s strong suite. Still, Alex Pettyfer is so pretty, isn’t he? And he seems to be in just about everything these days. And if you don’t like them young, Timothy Olyphant is in it, too. Oh, and a couple of blond chicks. Eye candy all around. Still, one can’t help wishing they’d spent just a little more time on the script.

Beastly

Remember when I said Alex Pettyfer was in everything? Well, he’s in this too. This retelling of Beauty and the Beast makes the most of it’s hot young star. Even after he’s turned into the titular beast, they have him roaming around shirtless all the time, even though it’s winter and New York city. Good thing is dad is supposed to be rich, right? ‘Cause those electricity bills would be killer. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about the rippling muscles. The movie was still romantic and charming and quite enjoyable.

However, I had read the book a couple of years ago and at the time, I’d found myself frustrated that the author didn’t dig a little deeper to bring something new to the story. A book that could have been great was instead merely good. The movie had that same problem.

When Disney released their version of Beauty and the Beast back in 1991, they genuinely brought something new to the table in the character of Gaston, the overly handsome brute who is the story’s true monster. The makers of Beastly played it safe. However they did a pretty good just doing so and the movie is still worth watching.

Red Riding Hood

Now, to be fair, I didn’t want to actually see this one, but I’d dragged a friend to Beastly and figured turn about was fair play. Plus, i don’t like Amanda Seyfried. She just bugs me. With those two caveats out of the way … I thought this movie was completely uninspired. Gary Oldman was the only highlight. Everyone else was wooden, either because the dialogue was so bad or because they just can’t act. It’s hard to tell. Either way this movie was proof that a pretty, young cast alone isn’t enough to carry a movie. Someone in front of the camera needs to actually be able to act.

If Beastly didn’t stretch far enough, this movie had the opposite problem. The story of Little Red Riding Hood has always had sexual overtones. This script tries to both stick to that and to be “surprising” about the identity of the werewolf. The results are … icky. And, as a side note: who knew they had so much hair product in medieval Europe.

The Adjustment Bureau

If Red Riding Hood made me question my faith in modern movie making (and, it did), then The Adjustment Bureau completely restored it. The on-screen chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt was sizzling. The dialogue was pitch perfect. Every second they were on screen together was pure movie magic. I know this looked like it might be an action movie, but it really wasn’t. It’s a romance. And the best one I’ve seen on screen in years. So if you haven’t seen it yet, get thee to the theater!

Now. I wonder what’s playing next week….

Are there any new movies that you want to see?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! The Writer’s Almanac says it’s “the feast day of Patrick, a Christian missionary and one of the patron saints of Ireland. Patrick was born in Roman Britain around the year 387; he was captured by raiders and taken to Ireland when he was 16. Patrick worked as a herdsman for six years before escaping and making his way back to his family. He followed his father and grandfather into the church and at some point returned to Ireland as a missionary. St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland, but it is celebrated around the world. In the United States, countless cities have their own parades and festivities. Chicagoans dye their river green every March 17th, and New York City’s parade attracts more than 2 million spectators. St. Patrick’s Day is a Christian festival celebrated by the Catholic Church, and it always occurs during Lent. When St. Patrick’s Day is on a Friday, certain bishops grant a release from the traditional Lent Friday no-meat observance. This release is called the “corned-beef indult.”

I’ll be donning green and cooking up a big pot of corned-beef and cabbage. How do you celebrate St. Patty’s Day?

Well, it’s been in stores for a couple of weeks and hopefully those of you who’ve been looking for it have been able to get your hands on Treasure Me. So far it’s reviewed very well, which is always nice, and the blog tour went great, perhaps some of you followed and have had a chance to win some books. But as I always do here on the Jaunty Quills, I like to give our loyal readers the first behind the scenes look at my new release.

Treasure Me is the third and final installment of my Legend Hunters trilogy and I must admit leaving these men behind makes me a little sad. I’ve had such great fun weaving these stories, coming up with the danger and adventure and spinning my own version of myths we all love. In Treasure Me we head to Loch Ness in search of a few treasures, one of which hidden in the caves beneath Urquhart Castle and the other the famed biblical relic, the Stone of Destiny (which coincidentally can be seen in The King’s Speech). It pairs up Graeme whom readers met in Seduce Me, he’s the scottie-hottie and Vanessa, a scholar in her own right, she’s an amateur paleontologist. Oh and there’s another familiar face from Seduce Me, The Raven returns which I think readers will like, I certainly heard from plenty of you that you loved his nastiness.

So here are my inspirations for my characters. And some of the reviews that have come in…“4 ½ star TOP PICK! The Legend Hunters, those seekers of treasures and myths, return for their last enthralling adventure/romance … fast-paced, thrilling, roller-coaster tale … Not only does DeHart satisfy readers craving adventure, she adds three-dimensional characters and a passionate love story that will delight.” RT BookReviews

“We have a winner! A perfect 10. [DeHart] weaves a story like a fine tapestry – rich, colorful and compelling but so tightly bound there are never any holes… hooked me from page one and left me ravenous for more at the end.” The Season

“… a fabulous tale that grips the audience from start to finish as if Indiana Jones was working Victorian Scotland.” Harriet Klausner

“Robyn DeHart has become one of my favorite authors…where she shines is in creating character…continued her series with a book chock full of fun and adventure, not neglecting steamy, tender (and sometimes hilarious) love scenes. DeHart’s romances are tender and adventurous, and funny enough you may laugh your nethers off.” FreshFiction

“I was hooked on the first page and could not put this book down, I fell asleep with it in my hand lol. I rated this book a HIGH 5 out of 5. Fantastic read.” NightOwlReviews

“DeHart delivers plenty of adventure and suspense along with the romance: secret passages, ancient encoded texts, and a double helping of theft, blackmail, kidnapping, and murder.” Publishers Weekly

Okay so you can thank me now for the lovely picture of Gerard Butler cause yummy! Yes, I got to look at that while I was writing this book. How awesome is my job?! The best part is casting my hero because I have to look at tons of pictures of hot men, it’s all purely research, I just want to make you readers happy. But I digress, so back to Treasure Me. It’s in stores, it’s great and you can look at that picture of Gerard while you read it, you have my permission, tell your husbands, it’s part of your job as a reader to get the appropriate image in your mind of my character. Now go forth and buy.

And tell me what’s in your to-be-read pile right now?

A wise woman and mother told me recently that I should try to keep in mind one thing I’m really good at, and focus on that when I have problems in other areas of my life.

I think at the time I was struggling to get Baby Galen to eat, or sleep, or sit still for two seconds so I could put on her shoes… I must have looked how I felt: I am no good at the motherhood thing. I feel like that daily, and I’m told this is normal.

But when the majority of your day is taken up with activities you feel you fail at, i.e. getting your child to eat something other than strawberries and Cheerios, stay away from the antique china cabinet (still haven’t figured out how to baby proof that thing), or not throw a fit at every diaper change, life can get depressing. No one wants to feel like a failure all the time. And yes, I realize intellectually that the baby is going to grow up just fine, but in the moment it’s hard to step away and philosophize.

So I’ve taken the wise mother’s advice to heart, and I’ve thought long and hard about what I’m really good at. At first, I was tempted to say I’m a good writer. But is that really going to work as my go-to picker-upper? No. Because there are many days when my manuscript isn’t going well or my career isn’t going well or both.

So I thought of some other things I do often and well. There’s a long list of things I do often but only a few of those I do well. In the end, I decided that the one thing I’m good at is setting goals and meeting them.

So the next time Baby Galen is screaming because I won’t let her run in the street or because I had the audacity to try and feed her a vegetable, I’ll think about all those goals I met. And just maybe that will get me through the next seventeen years…

What’s your one thing?

…is Melissa Pena, for sending her ex-honey packages while he was serving in the military. Her kids even drew pictures! Come on, how nice is that?

Send me your snail mail addy, Melissa…hope you like the book!

k.higgins@snet.net

I had four boyfriends before I met McIrish, hit him over the head and dragged him to the altar. I guess that’s not a lot…four kinda sorta serious boyfriends. Well…three. One was a case in which I thought we were serious. He didn’t get that memo, apparently. Whatever. (And hey. Just because I’m happily married doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven him).

They were all good guys (even the one who blew me off, though not as good as the other three). I’m sure they’re all still good guys. But in writing My One & Only—as well as Until There Was You (my November release)—I had to think about what it would be like to see them again, since both books deal with seeing someone who once meant a lot to you.

Obviously, you’d want to look fantastic. The overall statement would be Hello! My life turned out amazingly well, despite the fact that I once begged and sobbed for you not to dump me…having second thoughts, are you? Too bad. I’m with Gerard Butler now. You’d want to look much better than when you were with that guy, yet still recognizable. You are extremely successful. You have lovely children, perhaps, and they are clean and extremely well-behaved (not whining for the snow-cone they should know by now you’d never buy). Your clothes are unstained—stylish, even, without looking like you tried too hard. Gerard is giving you the look of love (that goes without saying).

Nice, huh? More common, I’m guessing is the following scenario. The kids are refusing to get in the car, little Billy’s snow-cone, bought in a moment of maternal weakness and desperation,  has just tumbled onto the pavement, it’s hot, you’re late, your husband was supposed to take the kids today, but of course he had to work, and Becky was up all night throwing up, and you’re not feeling so good either, now that you think of it, and dang it, you forgot to change out of that puke-stained sweatshirt that you meant to throw out, as well as the aging yoga pants that you’re wearing because even your fat jeans aren’t fitting these days, yes, of course you plan to lose that weight, as soon as the kids get into nursery school (which seems like an eternity from now), and a shower was nigh impossible this morning, but you had to go to the market for the Pepto-Bismol, and now both kids are crying, and so are you, and you yell like a harpy, “Get in that car or my head will explode and you’ll have to clean up Mommy’s brains!” and that’s when he says hello.

How dare you, ex-boyfriend! How dare you show up now!

I’ve never run into my ex-boyfriends. But if I did, I’m guessing it would be on one of those days.

Have you ever run into that guy? How’d it go? Deeply satisfying, or horribly mortifying, or somewhere in between? Leave a comment—and sign up for my mailing list at www.kristanhiggins.com—and I’ll give away a signed advance copy of MY ONE AND ONLY to a commenter. Can’t wait to hear your stories!

Kristan

Stacie DM is the winner of my drawing on Friday. Congrats, Stacie! Just contact me with your address and I’ll get your book out to you!