The Relief of the Holidays

I thought I had the holidays under control, and it appears that I do. However, everything else in my life is sort of out of control.

By that I mean my job is crazy. Just a week before everyone's schedules get upset by the holiday furor, my boss announces she's leaving. Then my new boss announces that we have a major project we need to be working on, which leads me to doubt his sanity. What boss in his right mind would expect his staff, who is in the process of finalizing fifty other projects that are due at the end of the fiscal year, to just drop everything that's expected and start a new something or other that he hasn't really explained but wants completed by the first week in January?

The holidays are my relief from my job stress. All the madness that comes from cooking and cleaning and being the family diplomat when Uncle Fred eats the last deviled egg that Cousin Bertha had her eye on is a relief compared to the lunacy that is my occupation right now. At least my day occupation...the writing part of my life keeps me fairly sane, as does the reading part.

Things are hectic, but not so hectic that I've not been thinking about adventure. As in, participating in one. But I can't think of what to do. I want to plan something wild and memorable with my hubby and do it, enjoying every blissful non-working moment of it; however, I don't know what to do. As a writer, I can conceive of all kinds of things, but I really don't think my DH wants to save the world by recovering a stolen diamond from the Tower of London while dodging aliens. I need help on scaling back on what I think adventure is. In other words, I need something that realistically I can do without causing an international incident or an intergalactic war. Any ideas?

I hope your holiday shopping--wait, that's an adventure!--is going well. Mine is done, actually, so all I really need is that post holiday adventure to look forward to. Otherwise, I only get to look forward to my job, and that is, right now, a bummer. Maybe my next adventure should be dusting off my resume and scoping job sites. Hmmm...

Happy Reading!

Grateful for You

Posting on Thursdays has its advantages. Over the years here, I've frequently ended up scheduled to post on holidays that fall on Thursdays. Today is one of those special days, and in honor of Thanksgiving, I'd like to share what I'm grateful for...

You.

I don't think there are enough words that I can type that really, truly express how much I appreciate blogging here and how important it is for me to get to share this time with our readers. I love to read and write, and I love to be around people who share the same passions. It feels good to be here, and I can't say that about every place I go, either online or in life. Thank you so much for sharing your time with us by reading our posts and commenting. The conversations here have been fun, poignant, entertaining, and lovely, among other things.

I'm extremely grateful to the readers and other writers who make this blog a great place to post. I am so grateful for these last few years--jeez, how long have I been here? I can't remember!--and look forward to sharing another holiday season with you, as well as the coming year. I know it feels overwhelming right now for some because the holiday season sort of crept up while we were reading a good book, but I think the rest of the year and 2016 are going to be great.

For those of you who celebrate this holiday, I wish you and yours the most wonderful and best Thanksgiving ever, and I hope you have a safe, peaceful holiday filled with love and, of course, books. And if you aren't celebrating Thanksgiving today, I wish you the same. May every day be filled with countless blessings.

As ever, happy reading!

Happy Holidays!!

 From all of us here at Fierce Romance, Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas at Grove Park Inn

One of the things that I like to do around Christmas each year is to visit the Grove Park Inn, which is now the Omni Grove Park Inn. It is a beautiful place to visit any time, with its amazing views of the surrounding mountains, but especially beautiful during the holidays, when you can also see all of the wonderful gingerbread houses on display. Here are some of the photos I took during my visit a couple of weeks ago.

Sit beside the fire

Lobby

Here are a few of the gingerbread houses on display.

This soldier opening a package from home was also one of the entries.

I hope you enjoyed the photos! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Gwyn

Making The Best Of The Holiday Catalog Season

Man oh man, it’s that time of year again when our mailboxes start getting stuffed with catalogs. Are the holidays really around the corner already? Where did the year go??

Yesterday – don’t ask me why – I found myself flipping through one of those endless catalogs, and actually enjoying myself for a half-hour.

With full credit to the Catalog Favorites catalog, I quote a few of their T-shirt offerings to brighten your day:

“When I have nothing to do, I do it online.”  How true for all of us!

“You’ve gotta hand it to short people… we can’t reach it anyway.”  At 5"4" I can totally relate.

“If it’s true we learn from our mistakes, I will soon be a genius!”  I'm 99% there...

“I could be a morning person if morning happened at Noon.”  Friends call me Night Owl Jenna.

“Wine improves with age, and I improve with wine.”  Doesn't everyone, LOL??

But as an author, my two favorite T-shirt sayings have to be:

“Let’s eat grandma… Let’s eat, grandma.  Commas save lives!”  That's practically my mantra.

And (drum roll please)…my absolute favorite:

“Careful, or you’ll end up in my next novel.”  Okay, I actually *bought* this T-shirt!

I have to say that the trip to the mailbox, which started out as exasperation at all those catalogs, turned into a laugh, and all because of Catalog Favorites.

How about you? Love catalogs? Hate catalogs? Tell me!

Jenna

www.jennaives.com   

    

It's August!?!

A couple of days ago I was relaxing, which I rarely get to do, and a strange but wonderful and terrifying thought entered my head:

The holidays are just around the corner.

Yikes! Yes, I know some people think it's too early to think about Halloween or Thanksgiving or Christmas, but I couldn't help it. The summer here has been so mild, and, quite frankly, it just feels like fall. It feels like the start of the pre-holiday season, and in some ways I'm glad. In others, not so much.

I guess if we'd had a normal summer I'd feel differently, but we haven't. It's been extremely mild. Great writing weather, but not like the summers we've had in the past. Does that mean winter is going to be colder? I think we're about to find out. I'm anxious to have more time to finish my latest WIP, but I miss the sun and the fun. I don't relish the cold and the snow. Will we be able hold them at bay this winter?

There's lots of speculation, but no one knows if our winter will be hard or mild. I plan to take it as it comes, but I still seriously can't believe we're going into August right now. Summer has flown by, and I don't want to let it go. Unfortunately, I must. Along with that I must let go of some of my reading time, which I covet.

What about you? Did August sneak up on you, too? Please do share. In the meantime, happy reading!

Decadent Chocolate Pizza

With the Holidays just around the corner, I thought I’d share a quick-and-easy treat that’s sure to please everyone with a sweet tooth. This super-simple (and totally decadent!) chocolate pizza recipe is featured in my erotic romance Snow White And Her Seven Lovers.

In my story, the chocolate pizza is a project worked on in the kitchen by the sweet baker Dopey – er, I mean Paul – and Snow White – er, I mean the heroine of the story, Blanche.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

-          one package brownie mix

-          one container cake frosting (chocolate)

-          one bag (bite-sized or regular) peanut butter cups (optional)

-          one bag chocolate chips (milk or dark chocolate)

-          one 8 oz. jar hot fudge sauce

Directions

-          Follow directions to make brownie mixture, then spread brownie mixture in round, flat pizza pan. Bake in oven until done (as per brownie directions). Let cool. (This acts as the pizza “crust.”)

 

-          When brownie is cool, spread chocolate frosting in thin layer over entire brownie pizza base (Frosting signifies the pizza “sauce.”)

-          Cut peanut butter cups into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle chocolate chips and/or peanut butter cup pieces generously over pizza. (These are your pizza “toppings.”)

-          Warm hot fudge sauce in microwave. Drizzle over pizza in cross-hatch design (or any design of your choice)

What do you think? Sound yummy? Who needs sex when a girl can have an oral orgasm like this, right? How about you? Have any super-simple yet to-die-for dessert recipes to recommend?

Jenna

New Year and a New Outlook

I hope everyone’s enjoying the holiday season and ready to make 2008 the best year possible. While I’m not one who usually makes New Year’s resolutions, this year I’ll make an exception. After a great deal of reflection recently, I’ve discovered many times when I’ve focused on the big picture and failed to fully embrace the smaller everyday elements that add harmony, bliss and excitement to my waking moments. I’ve also realized an amazing inner peace by relaxing the reins and letting life take me on journeys I might not have considered in the past. For 2008 I’m resolving to plan less and allow for more spontaneity in many aspects of my life.

What about you? What are you resolving as we approach the time when 2007 will surrender to 2008?

Season's greetings and steamy readings,

Shawna Moore http://www.grant-moore.com/

ROUGHRIDER -- Ellora's Cave

HELLE IN HEELS -- Ellora's Cave

Myspace -- http://www.myspace.com/shawnamooreauthor

Helle's Myspace -- http://www.myspace.com/hellehawthorn

In the Hot Seat Over the Holidays

While out and about recently, a shopper approached me carrying two blouses. One was a stunning leopard-print, the other a plainer, tailored style in petal pink. My first impression was that she was going to ask me which suited her better. Instead, she started chatting with me about various topics--including the shopping frenzy over the holidays. Eventually she mentioned the next place on her must-visit list—her favorite brick-and-mortar bookstore. She enjoys reading romance fiction and named several of her favorite authors. At this point I mentioned I write romance fiction—including erotic romances and erotica. We were standing in an area of the store where no one else browsed at the time, and she hung the blouses at the front of a nearby rack. After giving me an abbreviated history of her liberal days during the 1960s and 1970s, she posed a question: “Do you authors actually practice what you put in those books?” She glanced past me, then around the immediate vicinity. “Do you all personally research what the characters do?”

After a brief pause, I responded – “As with the stories I write, I’ll leave the answer to your imagination.” She laughed, smiled and said something to the effect her imagination worked overtime when reading sexually-explicit fiction. We chatted for a bit longer about reading romance novels, wished each other happy holidays, I gave her my business card and we parted company.

What about you? Have you ever been put on the spot? Care to share the “hot” topic and how you responded?

Season’s greetings and steamy readings,

Shawna Moore http://www.grant-moore.com
ROUGHRIDER – Ellora’s Cave
HELLE IN HEELS – Ellora’s Cave
Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/shawnamooreauthor
Helle’s Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/hellehawthorn