Look at this lady in the picture behind us–my daughter calls this photo bombing. This so unexpected and funny. I smile each time I see her in my picture. I don’t know who she is but she is making me laugh!

I am by nature someone who likes routine and things in their place so by rights this stranger in my picture should bother me but it doesn’t.  One of the mom’s I knew when my son was in second grade told me a story about how when she was new in town every day this crossing guard would smile and wave at her.  She said she expected that he did that to everyone but as she knew no one in town that little gesture just made her feel a little better about moving to some place unfamiliar.

Have you ever had something unexpected just make you smile?

While browsing in Waterstones (a UK book chain that’s similar to BN in the US) I found a book that looked intriguing…Parisian Chic. My husband and son were both still in search of a gift for moi so I grabbed it and handed it them before turning away so I could be surprised on Christmas morning!

And I was. I have read and re-read the book a number of times. The fashion advice from Ines de la Fressange is almost simple and as soon as I read a number of things I could easily see how even though I didn’t know these “rules” I had already been instinctively doing some of the things she suggests. I wish I did it as well as she does but then I’ve never been the face of Chanel so I think I might be excused.

To bring this blog into focus a bit, I will say that reading this book reminded me of writing. The first manuscript I ever wrote had mistakes and plot holes and was very contrived but the bones of the writing craft were there. This fashion book felt the same as writing does to me. It was like I knew the basics but not the right way to apply them. And for me the practice of writing every day honed what I knew and I still learn things from my own writing process and from reading the books of others.

My question today is a two-parter: Have you ever stumbled onto something that was new to you and found you knew more about it than you had suspected? And if so, what was it?

I’m giving away a copy of His Royal Prize to three lucky bloggers today!

Kathy

Every January I make a list of goals for the year and I feel refreshed and like anything is possible. A few years ago while I was in the midst of lots of troubling and challenging times, I made a list in August as my kids started back to school. I just couldn’t wait for January to get back on track–I needed it then.

And it worked.

I read some place that there is magic in writing things down and for me that’s always been so. Once something makes it onto my list, which I hang next to my computer monitor so I can see it everyday, I always accomplish it.

I don’t fill my list with impossible tasks or things I know I won’t do. I mean I’m never going to write “go to the gym everyday” on my list. I hate doing that and the thought of it makes me unhappy. But I will write “walk everyday”. I like doing that and it gets me up from desk and it doesn’t feel like exercise.

I also try to put things on the list that there never seems to be enough time for. Things like go on a date with my hubby, reconnect with old friends, talk to my sisters more often and listen to my kids. If you’re a parent you know how sometimes they are talking and your mind is going over what still has to be done. I’ve missed some important things by not paying attention.

Lastly, I’ll include writing goals for projects I want to start and new ideas I want to explore.

What about you? Do you like lists and set goals for yourself? If so what’s your number one goal for the New Year?

I’m also really missing Pillsbury break-and-bake cookies and I can’t find a single can of rolls over here to make some of my favorite easy-to-bake dishes. But I’m excited to try their Christmas pudding which I think is some kind of fruit cake that you pour brandy over and then when its served you light the brandy for a flambe affect. It sounds fun and I already know I’m going to give it a try. Its the one thing my fourteen year old is looking forward to helping me with since he thinks setting a cake on fire sounds like fun!

What are you most looking forward to in your Christmas meal? Have you ever spent a holiday away from home and if so what did you like most about it and miss most?

Dan does pick up a new hat, and he does get to the bottom of who killed his first one. Of course it was our heroine, Rosebud Donnelly, who a) wasn’t trying to hit him and b) thought Dan was someone else. One of the long-standing tensions between them is whether or not Rosebud will admit to pulling the trigger. Eventually, she offers to buy Dan a new hat. Ever the gentleman, he refuses.

As you can see, hats are important to cowboys. And I write about cowboys. You know what this means, don’t you?

Yes. I needed a hat. More specifically, I needed a cowboy hat.

There’s a slight problem with that, though. I live east of the Mississippi River, the traditional dividing line between the West and the East. As in, my little town in Illinois is not the cow capital of anything. As in, no one else here wears a hat. At least not inside city limits, anyway. I live in a neighborhood full of Victorian homes. Nary a horse in sight.

But I write cowboys. I needed a hat.

Now, I’m not proud of this next part. I was angling for a hat (and the boots to match) for Christmas, so I was telling my mom about my authorial-based wardrobe needs. My father was in his recliner. He piped up with, “I have a hat you can have.”

So I go into his closet and pull out the cowboy hat he bought on the family vacation to Las Vegas (which, it should be noted, is in The West) twenty years ago. The sad part? It fit.

Yes. My head is the same size as my father’s. I feel shame at this.

So, the hat:

Yes. That’s definitely my father’s hat. On my head.

Several people (gently) pointed out to me that perhaps this particular hat was not designed with the feminine sensibility in mind. (In other words, my sisters forbade me to ever leave the house with that hat on my head.)

Thus began the second quest for a hat. This time, I got lucky. I was in Branson, MO (well west of the Mississippi, it should be noted!) and a small store downtown was chock-full cowhide—and hats.

I put this hat on my head, and voila! I looked like a western romance author!

 So in my neighborhood, I’m notable not for being the author, but for walking my dog in a cowboy hat. (Don’t tell my sisters—it doesn’t go with the tennis shoes at all, but I don’t care.) Like my hero, Dan, I feel a little underdressed without it.

What accessory do you feel underdressed without? I’m giving away a signed copy of A Man of His Word to one commenter below. All comments will be entered to win the Locket of Love Jewelry Grand Prize!

This post is brought to you as part of the A Man of His Word Blog Tour. U.S. residents only. For a complete tour schedule and rules, visit www.sarahmanderson.com. Comments on this blog will be entered to win a signed copy of A Man of His Word. All blog comments are added to the Jewelry Grand Prize list. Jewelry Grand Prize announced on January 1st, 2012 to one randomly drawn name on the list. Next tour stop is Limecello on December 15th.

A Man of His Word Blurb: Attorney Rosebud Donnelly has a case to win. And she never lets anyone see her sweat. But her first meeting with Dan Armstrong doesn’t go according to script. No one warned her that the COO of the company she’s fighting would be so…manly. From his storm-colored eyes to his well-worn boots, Dan is an honest-to-goodness cowboy. But is he honest? Her yearning for the Texas tycoon goes against reason, against family loyalty, against everything she thought she believed in. And yet, in Dan’s strong arms, Rosebud feels she might be ready to risk everything for one more kiss….

A Man of His Word is available! Visit your favorite bookseller, at Amazon, or for the Nook.

My thanksgiving goes a little Italian-American. We have a turkey, mashed potatoes, and regular side dishes you’d see at any American table, but we also have an antipasto that is purely Italian-American and the scent of garlic flavors all of our dishes.

When I was visited my cousins in New Jersey I realized how alike we are despite the fact that I grew up in Florida and she in New Jersey. Our grandmothers were sisters and our moms first-cousins. We visited each other a couple of times during our childhood but saw our great-aunts more frequently, so maybe that accounts for this. But we cook the same things for dinner each night, we put our kids first and make them tell us about their day and we honor the past.

I know this isn’t unique to my family but it is what I like the best about my traditions!

What about you?

My favorite Halloweens have been as a mom watching my kids search for the perfect costume and then getting all excited about the amount of candy they received when we got back home. My favorite Halloween memories are of a blustery Halloween in Chicago when my son was four and his Peter Pan hat kept blowing away and when my daughter was five and it was her brother’s first Halloween–she told each house we went to that he was just a baby and she’d probably have to eat his candy for him.

What’s you favorite Halloween memory? I have a treat for two blog participants today a copy of my latest release from Harlequin Desire THE REBEL TYCOON RETURNS.

Happy Halloween!
Kathy

Real fun guy vs girl stuff--both of them using every asset at their disposal to best the other one.  The dialogue is snappy, the characters are bold and just this side of too outrageous. It doesn't happen all the time when I'm writing but it has happened before. Its like I'm not even writing the book, the words are flowing as if they are already there. Its all finished in my head and I'm just doing time at the keyboard everyday, enjoying the ride and ready to get back there the next day.

I didn't realize it when I started writing this book (I'm calling it Indecent Proposal) that it would be as much fun as it is.  Basically its the second book in a series and it was the weakest idea of the three that I had.  Originally I wanted to do something very dark like Absence of Malice but that wasn't in line with the rest of the series and as I was tweaking I decided to write a couple of scenes with the characters and voila, magic.

I'm reminded of Amadeus and the way they portrayed him writing music. I'm even dreaming about the characters and hearing snippets of their conversation as I'm doing the school run or dashing into the grocery store to pick up dinner ingredients.   There is something about this story that reaffirms for me why I'm a writer.   A lot of times writing is really hard work and my parents would say that's because anything worth doing takes effort.  And I agree but when you get a book like this one--its just a gift and I couldn't resist sharing!   Its such a high to be doing something that I love as much as I love writing.  I guess today I just feel like I'm a genius!

Seriously though I love it when everything comes together and writing can just be fun! I hope that whatever you do, today is magic for you!

I’ve always had this vision of myself as a European women with dark sunglasses and a scarf around my neck driving around in a sporty little convertible listening to some arty music and as luck would have it La Vie En Rose came on my playlist as I was driving. It was for me a perfect moment. I didn’t have the scarf on, I still looked like me but I just had to laugh at the pure joy of a moment that would seem like nothing to someone else but to me was on my bucket list.

Another one for me is hearing my favorite songs back-to-back on the radio. My son will sometimes groan and say “oh no, all of mom’s favorite songs” as I sing loudly along with them. But there is a simple joy in those moments that somehow refill my well.

And I love it when a song comes on the radio that my kids and I all love and we sing it together. Sometimes we even just sing the wrong words or make them…who can understand all of the words that Billy Joe Armstrong sings?!

Do you have any moments like that? Things that are on your bucket list but don’t involve sky diving or seeing Machu Picchu.

Kathy