My Brain Is Popping - My Book Is Written! In Praise of Animated Gifs

I am a sucker for animated gifs! I love the movement and never stop to be amazed that things sparkle before my eyes that I put down flat on my blog!

This image is my brain today! It is on overdrive! I finished my romantic thriller "Danger In Her Words" this morning and it is being formatted for Amazon and Kindle by Gilbert Street Press.

Writing about my own life seems a simple task, writing fiction is daunting! This has been a joyful experience, however, as I've bonded with my characters and we've had a heck of a wild ride!

Look for my book launch in January. We didn't make it in time for Santa, but it will be a great way to welcome the new year!

 

Jewelry Give-A-Way - Read On

 Purchased from Etsy to be included in jewelry give-a-way!

Did I get your attention? I hope so, because I have fun news to share.  I'll be giving away jewelry on this blog in a few weeks. Read to the bottom and see how you can enter in a pre-publication drawing by commenting here now.

My romantic girly thriller will launch the end of the month. I'll be posting more information here and on Facebook about some fun give-a-ways to celebrate my first fiction book. So follow me if you'd like to join in.

The queen  (I've crowned myself queen since no one else has) of memoir writing is writing fiction. This has been such an interesting and fun time for me. I've read that many fiction characters hold traits of the author, and that may appear to be so in my romantic thriller. But baring my soul is nothing new to me.

If you read my memoir The Unfaithful Widow, or any of my blog posts on other sites, you know I don't hold back. I share everything. My favorite remark from a much older friend of mine after she finished my widow book..."I was just shocked at one thing."   I held my breath, ready to turn a bright red if she picked up on a few of my dates. "I can't believe you only own one bra!"

Yes, I confess, in 2009 I only had one. I've corrected that. It is terrible when you only have one bra, and one of your six dogs has made it his. I found my bra tucked in Bray's teeth and paws as I was trying to get dressed for work. That excuse for being late to work was quite embarrassing!

But writing fiction, it's a dream! I can twist and turn and have fantasies galore that hopefully will be fun for everyone.  I love my characters, they have become my friends as I sit late at night, my pack of dogs by my side, and plan their fates.

I don't always get the final say with them, however. Susan and Jamie have thoughts of their own, and are not shy in pulling me in a different direction. I let them. It is, after all, their story.
 
It is an amazing experience. So much different than non-fiction memoir, where I stick to the truth, the whole truth, so help me...well, almost always.

I am in the editing stages now. Soon... my book (title to be announced) will be available on Amazon and Kindle. And you might win a fabulous necklace for the holidays.

Have you been naughty or nice? I hope you'll share your story with me too! Leave a comment below and enter in a pre-publication drawing!

 Purchased from Etsy to be included in my jewelry give-a-way.

Just Who Is Getting Kissed In Safe Haven? And Who Is Getting Murdered? And Why?

Image from the web.

There's a lot of kissing going on in Safe Haven.

 

Killer kisses.

 

Wish I could say more, but I don't kiss and tell.

 

In time for the holidays... a romantic romp of a good time.

 

It is not a Christmas story, that's  just my deadline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Scene : A Farmhouse Kitchen The Crime? Girl Talk To Make You Blush

Glass front cabinets and cut flowers from the garden. Part of Susan's dreamy farmhouse kitchen.  Photo Pinterest.

 

 

  “This is just like old times!” Susan opened the bottle of wine and started to fill their glasses. The four of them huddled in the kitchen in their PJ’s drinking and laughing. . . .  And oh the stories they shared, but wait, you'll have to read the book ... coming Christmas 2013.
 

 

What inspired the kitchen in my upcoming naughty thriller? A cottage kitchen that would hold a killer farm table and let me act out my own farmhouse fantasy. That's the only fantasy I'll fess up too.  Or else I'd go from cottage white to blushing red!

 

A little bit of this and a lot of that pulled together to make the perfect kitchen space. Photos from Pinterest helped me design Susan's kitchen, the heart of her two story 1800's grey shingled cottage farmhouse in a small town close to Atlanta.  As an antique dealer, details are important to me.  Susan and I have the same taste, painted furniture, large cupboards and more paintings than wall space. Perhaps you'd like to join us for a glass of wine!

 

 

Susan's kitchen is large enough for a farm table to die for, surrounded by eight French style chairs. That little dog, why that could be Daisy, Susan's loveable, spirited, mixed ball of fluff! Pinterest

 

 

 

Who wouldn't love this wonderful farm table and chairs?   Pinterest   I dream of white at night and soft pastel colors during the day. Susan's cottage is a lovely mixture of both.


My cottage style farmhouse fantasy went from a blog where I tried to exorcize the notion I had to move out of my house, to the scene in my first stab at  fiction - a romantic, somewhat naughty, thriller!

As a non-fiction author, The Unfaithful Widow, a personal memoir, available on Amazon and Kindle , writing fiction is awesome! I am having fun with it - perhaps you will too.

I've a deadline to meet so I'd better whip myself in shape and get back to the job at hand!

 

If You Can't Buy A Farmhouse Make It The Setting For Your Book

Sunlight from a skylight above makes this kitchen sparkle!

 

 

I still dream of an 1800s farm house. Not a huge house, but an old cottage with farmhouse style.  I've done changes on my own sweet ranch to turn its head in the right direction - retro to rambling cottage style. Picket fence,  old shutters, you know, the ones with the moon cut outs, old fireplace mantels on walls where there are no fireplaces.  All the charm I could find landed in my house the last months. I started a blog, first to dream about old houses, and then to share my renovations. The Cottage In My Mind was to cure me of my fixation. In fact, the last post was titled My Faux Farm. It failed. Demons still poke at me, prodding me, telling me I need a farmhouse. Realtor.com has not seen the last of me!

 

I am not moving. I do love my house now, situated in a neighborhood that is full of activity, restaurants, art, all within walking distance. But I am still haunted. Every time I see photos of cottages, farmhouses, porches, rose arbors, I sigh and ask myself, What's a gal to do?

 

I decided to do what writers do. If I couldn't live in a farmhouse, I'd write a book where my character does. The cottage farm I dream about is the setting in my new book.

 

A leap of faith on my part, I am writing a fictional thriller with a whisper of erotica. As a non-fiction memoir writer, and one who loves to write about life with dogs, this is an interesting journey for me. I am having fun living out my fantasy life - which, sadly is more in tune with the farmhouse setting than a romantic lead. I am working on my male character and looking for inspiration there!

 

The house in my book is a mix of many old houses I've looked at over the last year. Houses I couldn't afford and houses I could afford, but didn't buy, because I have six dogs that are at home here. How could I move them? I can't even get them all in my van at the same time!

 

The kitchen photo above, with the sunlight sparkling on the old brick fireplace with it's new insert, makes me melt. I could get erotic in my description on how this photo makes me feel, but I'd hate for you to see how really crazy I am!

 

And crazy is the subject of the second book I am working on. A memoir of a crazy dog lady - moi! There I am on familiar turf.

 

Two books in the works that are my presents to myself for my sixty-fifth year. It is count-down to my BIG birthday next week. Sixty-five will be my turning point, not for old age, but to do the things I've been procrastinating on! My list is growing and my mind is sparkling with so many new ideas, it may burst. If you see a trail of glitter, that could just be the remains of my over excited brain.

 

Poof!  She was such a nice gal.