Free Autographed Bookplate

Buying Chocolate Beach for someone special this Christmas? I'd like to send you a signed publisher's bookplate that you can include with your gift. (As William said to Anna Scott in Notting Hill: "Very useful for lighting fires, wrapping fish, that sort of thing.")

Anyway, just email me your snail address and the name of the recipient by mid-December, so I can get it to you in time! (If you live outside of the USA, delivery may take a bit longer.)

Here are some of the online (and discounted! :) outlets where you can buy Chocolate Beach:

CBD.com,
Amazon,
B&N.com
and Parable.com

updated: Silly me, I forgot to say that you can e-me through my website :*)

I'm Lucy!

One of my writing buddies just launched True Christmas cards. You can order cards and a portion of the proceeds will benefit your church or other non-profit (check with them on the details on that). Anyway, I just took a peek, and the cards are pr-et-tay!

***
So I was curled up on the couch last night watching A Charlie Brown Christmas when I had to hit the pause button and holler for hubby to come on out to the living room.

"Watch this," I said.

Lucy was whining to Charlie B. that all she ever gets for Christmas are dumb toys and clothes, and what she really wants is....REAL ESTATE!

LOL, that's just so me it's not even funny. Hubby just laughed, shook his head, and walked out. Poor guy. I think I'd better take another look at those Christmas cards and think about the true meaning of the holiday...

And besides, there's always my birthday, right hon? Hee-hee!

Deja who?

Sat around last night watching Samantha Who?, a series about a gal with amnesia, and felt like I'd fallen into a world of deja vu myself. Teen Daughter and I giggled nearly every time a new character walked into a scene because we knew them so well from other shows, like Gilmore Girls, Related (two characters from that one!), 7th Heaven, Designing Women (okay, TG's too young to remember that one, but still). The heroine of the show (that would be Samantha) grew up on a show I wasn't allowed to watch ;0, so we won't mention it here...

So anyway, I'm wondering if my pal Gilmore Girls Fanatic also feels a bit melancholy when seeing one of our beloved GG cast members in a new role...sigh. (Yeah, obsession runs deep.) First there's our Sookie playing a ditz on the aforementioned show, then afterward another show popped on and there was Kirk with a very odd haircut, and of course, our Lorelai playing Noah's wife...

Me thinks it's time to crack open a new book.

Gracias...

Spent Thanksgiving up in the Yosemite National Park this year. In case you're wondering, we rented a cabin...I'm just not a camping girl. Besides, it was c-o-l-d up there--brrr. Thankfully, I had my Dan there to keep me warm...

Anyway, there's something so poetic about 'making do' when you're out on the road, especially during a holiday. We spent our days there with some family friends who also have three kiddos in the same age range. Before dinner, our youngest girls collected fallen pine cones to make a centerpiece, then they decorated store-bought cookies with M&Ms and candy corn. When my friend Deb and I realized we'd forgotten to bring mixins for stuffing, we combined our resources and ended up with a version that was oh-so delicioso (the garlic essence lasted for days, but that's another story...:)

Even though we were far away from the conveniences of home, including a large market, like most Americans we ate way too much and had more than enough (hence the foil-wrapped leftovers we brought back with us to the beach), and for that I am truly grateful.

How about you? How was your Thanksgiving this year?

Bring on the ala mode

Big plans for Thanksgiving this year, so in honor of all the eating I'll be doing that I'm thankful for, I give you this quiz. Let me know how you fare, and have a HAPPY holiday! Quiz on:

You Are Apple Pie

You're the perfect combo of comforting and traditional. You prefer things the way you've always known them. You'll admit that you're old fashioned, and you don't see anything wrong with that. Your tastes and preferences are classic. And classic never goes out of style. Those who like you crave security. People can rely on you to be true to yourself - and true to them. You're loyal, trustworthy, and comfortable in your own skin. And because of these qualities, you've definitely earned a lot of respect.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

will write for ...

Went to a little Thanksgiving chapel at my daughters' school, and Elem. Girl's class gave a presentation set to music. During the song, each kiddo climbed up onto a box and held a large poster board over their head, proclaiming what they were thankful for. Elem. Girl hadn't told me what she'd written; she wanted me to be surprised, and yeah, I was when she held up a sign to much applause:

CHOCOLATE

We're not obsessed or anything...;0

Then on Saturday, we helped my mom put on a little baby shower for my sissie-in-law, and what was one of the highlights, you ask? Hint: it's over there on the left.

Don't you just wanna dip yourself in it? LOL I think the management would have frowned on that, so we 'settled' for dipping strawberries and rice krispy treats and melon and oh-my-goodness marshmallows in it.

I've got an inkling of where Elementary Girls gets her obsession...

How writers dine

So when I met up with Katie Cushman for lunch last week, I brought along all kinds of stuff. There were the books I wanted her to sign (I made her sign them right there at the table, giggling at the sidelong glances from various wait staff). And the magazine from my recent vacation that had an ad in it featuring one of the models from the cover of Katie's book--seriously, it was her, only this time, instead of looking downcast over the tragic events of her life, she was curling a bicep under the weight of a small barbell (yeah--it was a gym ad).

Then while Katie waited for her corn chowder to arrive, I flopped open the pages of another mag.

"Look at this," I said.

"Hm."

"I want to write a book about this," I continued, pointing at one small paragraph in an article I'd found in my favorite magazine. I waited as she read the nugget that had caught my attention.

"I like it!"

And just like that, an idea received a bit of nourishment as we talked about what kind of book this might one day become.

Brainstorming while eating is nothing new to me. Come to think of it, my mom and I have had storyboarding breakfasts for years. And hubby often listens to me drone carry on during dinner about some idea I've been cooking up. Hm. So while it's all about the food or the wine or the service for some, for writerly folks it's more about the story--pass the 'what ifs', por favor?

The Chocolate Series

So last summer I put out the call for good chick flicks that Teen Daughter and I could watch together (that's an all-time fave of mine over there on the left). Your responses coupled with the ones I received through a forum over at the ACFW supplied us with a list long enough to cause Teen Son and Hubby to run screaming out of the living room on several occasions. Even when the movies were duds, that in itself made them worth it ;')

We've gotten restless again, TD and I, and we're back to spending weekends mocking watching films again. Like the other night when we watched a perplexing and occasionally witty movie called Elizabethtown. I'm still not sure what that was all about, but we plowed our way through two plates of nachos in a quest to find out.

So anyway, last night we watched Hidden Places, a film based on the Christy award winning novel by Lynn Austin. And it's a Hallmark too. Sweet, charming, predictable, but it was a school night so we weren't looking for anything too taxing. I especially liked seeing Shirley Jones wearing a depression-era wig and spectacles, although I occasionally caught myself humming, "C'mon get happy!"

Which brings me to a new thought. Stay with me here. How about Chocolate Beach & Truffles by the Sea made into chick flicks. Better yet a mini-chick-flick-series. (And whatever happened to the mini series anyway?)

Seriously, can't you see it? It could be during February, a sort of week long Valentine's Day celebration. Just think. Girls and mamas everywhere bonding over chocolate-laced chick flicks, with faith in the mix. What's not to love?

It's in the air...

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program for a bit of swooning. Have y'all heard about the guy from NY who fell for a gal he saw on a subway train in NY...lost sight of her...then started a website to find her? He did. Find her that is, and to prove it, they went on GMA together (If I'd written their story, I probably would have given them a more romantic place to rendezvous, but that's just me.)

Anyway, wish I'd thought of it, but something tells me they'll write their own book. ..

http://www.nygirlofmydreams.com/

video of GMA interview of nygirlofmydreams guy & gal

Happy Veteran's Day everybody!

For you fiction readers, my pal Tricia Goyer has written several awesome novels set during WWII and other time periods that you might want to check out this weekend.

As for me, I'll be reading, relaxing, attending church and praying for our troops (you know, in between all the mothering stuff like providing taxi service and feeding three squares a day ;). I'll also be bundling up and doing some beachcombing with my Mr. So Perfect, and looky-looing into Open Houses we come across (right, honey?)

Whatever you do, have a beachy weekend...and remember to fly your flag!

KK & me

Decided to come out of hiding and actually intro myself to novelist Karen Kingsbury. So glad I did, because she was warm and helpful to this newbie writer. After I gushed a little, she patiently answered my probing questions and signed a fresh-off-the-press copy of Between Sundays. And before that, she entertained the crowd with stories about her writing life, her family, and the recent Hannah Montana concert she and her son, Tyler, attended. LOL, my maternal respect o'meter shot up at that point.

Before the event, my hub, Dan, Teen Daughter, Elementary Girl and I stopped by Casa Cushman for pizza and cookies, then followed Katie & her youngest over to Border's. I think I can safely say that Katie (as in Kathryn Cushman) gushed at least as much as I did, only she did it in an elegant sort-of way :)

Sssh...

Off to spy on see Karen Kingsbury tonight. Hoping some of her bestseller status will rub off on me. I'll be the one taking copious notes, and wearing dark shades with a cap pulled down low. Will report on what I uncover tomorrow...;)

workin' 9 to 5

The Galley is in! So to celebrate I've curled up with a novel and plan to stay this way all the livelong day. LOL--not. But, oh, how nice that would be (she said, wistfully).

Actually, the dryer broke, and I paid a repair guy 50 bucks to come out here and tell me it's dead. So today I'm on the hunt for a bargain. And I need to restock the empty fridge with food, and to clean dustbunnies that have multiplied throughout my neglected house, and to pay the bills. Sigh. My work is never done...;)

Can you relate or what?

Makes my heart want to sing...

just thinking about the Chris Tomlin concert I attended with hubby, Teen Son & TS' friend on Friday night. Here's a camera phone pic that doesn't do the night justice, but there you go.

The concert was held under a cool blanket of fog at the Santa Barbara Bowl, yet as Chris led us in worship under the heavens that fog blew out and we saw stars. Big, bright stars. If you've never had a chance to hang with 4,000 plus worshippers under a clear night sky, I passionately recommend it. I'm still glowing from the experience (can you tell?)

On the way in we ran into all kinds of friends old and new; lots of hugging going on. Funny trivia: my pal, Katie Cushman was there too, with hubby Lee and Teen Daughter--in the same row! What a coinky-dink, huh? And the couple seated next to us were from a town just east of here called Ojai. Turns out they knew friends of ours from church. It's a small world when believers get together :)

Special shout out to Becca Dowling, writing buddy, who graced me with the tickets. I needed this night and probably would not have pursued it on my own. So thanks, girlfriend. Also there that night was writer/speaker Lou Giglio who riveted us with stirring words of God's greatness. If you've never heard Giglio speak then You. Must. I just picked up Chris Tomlin's CD See the Morning and it has a bonus DVD with it which includes several music videos from the tour along with an appearance by Giglio. Woo-hoo. Hey, listen, if you can stop a concert mid way and take command of an audience with a 40 minute speech, then you have been gifted by God. All I'm sayin'.

And here's a bit of trivia that even I hadn't remembered until Friday night. When I began to write Truffles by the Sea I typed out the refrain from one of CT's songs called Indescribable. Know it? Anyway, I used the words to inspire me to write about a woman who in the midst of various disasters finds beauty all around her. She even mentions the song in one of the last chapters. When the book was complete, I'd erased the refrain from that first page, and sent it to my publisher.

I'd forgotten about that when at the concert CT launched into that song. And as he sang, I fought the tears so I wouldn't ruin another pair of contacts, lol. The galleys for this book are due in just a couple of days, and as I struggle at times to make sure that all the t's are crossed and i's are dotted, I'm assured that God's not perplexed. He inspired me at the beginning, and He will carry me all the way through.

writing wrap up

Becky Miller wrote in to ask if I'd blogged about teaching at the Santa Barbara Christian Writer's Conference. I hadn't, but I think that's because I'd just capped off a month-long time of busy family and writing events, beginning with the trek out to Dallas in September. In other words, I was pooped.

So rewinding just a bit, yes, I did teach article writing at the SBC conference on the beautiful Westmont College campus, the day after the Bell/Cushman/Carobini chat at Borders. See, although I've written and sold a couple of novels, it all began with articles for me. I wrote for my college newspaper, then Sunday School papers and my local paper a bit, then on to magazines both online and in print. So while Jim spoke on the writing life, and Katie mentored fiction students, I worked mainly with those interested in writing articles.

So anyhoo, I had a class of eager students all with very different ideas of what they wanted to write next. So cool. I taught the Train of Thought Method, which is not a new idea, of course, but one that's finally been put into book form by my friend, Kathi Macias. (You can use it to write fiction too!) This is how I learned to write readable magazine articles. (In other words, apologies all around to college students forced to read my stories before I'd learned much about writing. Hey, you gotta start somewhere.)

So there you have it. I taught, ate too much, and enjoyed the camaraderie of new and seasoned writers. For you locals, I'll be sure to post info for next year's conference when it becomes available.

On another note, there's romance in the air. Do you feel it? I'm off to finish reviewing the galleys for Truffles by the Sea, and in case you hadn't heard, it's heavier on the romance than my first book. Even when re-reading I find myself swooning...lol, I think I've found my calling :) Anyway, it'll be out in late January, just in time for Valentine's Day.

Have a Beachy weekend, friends!

Hungover today

No, not that kind. The kind from eating all of this!

Say what you want about October 31, but you gotta admit, there's at least one benefit...;]]

Things I've discovered...

Every day is an unopened clam waiting for its tightly-clenched shell to be pried open by life's razor-sharp peculiarities. Now there's a cheesy line if I ever wrote one! Seriously, though, I've had my ups and downs lately--and don't we all at times?--and I long to shake them off. Writing is one sure way to help me out of a funk. That and much prayer. How about you? What do you do to swat away the swirl of fleas that stinky times can produce?

Like when:
--you find out that your camera was stolen from your car
--you are criticized
--you lost something important
--your waistband's beginning to tighten ;)

Thankfully it's not all bad. My friend and fellow ACFW member, Becca, just sent me some tickets to a Chris Tomlin concert. Woo-hoo, good timing, Becca!

And then there's the dark chocolate Altoids I just discovered at the checkout stand. Hey, sometimes it's the little things that help so much, you know? (Unfortunately my girls also discovered the curiously strong mints' medicinal qualities and now I have to go buy more. Not fair.)

Phew. I'm feeling better already. How about you?

And the winner is...

Stormi from Missouri has won a copy of Katie Cushman's "A Promise to Remember."
Congrats, Stormi!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by for Friday's chat.

Silly boys, trikes are for kids

There's still time to enter the drawing for A Promise to Remember by Katie Cushman. Just leave a comment on last Friday's post. I'll pop in sometime tonight with the name of the winner!

***

Spent Saturday afternoon over at the Ventura Harbor watching adults wearing weird costumes (these pics don't show much of that aspect so you'll have to trust me on this) drive strange contraptions through water, sand, mud, and of course, on asphalt. Ka-razy. It's a charitable fundraiser called the Kinetic Sculpture Race that drives engineers to do these things--and crowds, like us, to watch. Could give you a play by play but thought the pics might just say it all ;) Wish I'd remembered to whip out the camera earlier but was just too mesmerized by the spectacle. So anyway, for your Monday viewing pleasure:

Meet Katie, and win a book (maybe)

Kathryn (Katie) Cushman is no stranger to this blog. If you've been around you've heard about our recent trip to Dallas, our brave (yeah, right ;) participation in a public speaking class, and that cake that wowed us at the Borders' signing.

Katie's first book, A Promise to Remember, just released a few weeks ago--and I've got an extra copy to give away. Woo-hoo! Leave a comment at the end of this interview and I'll put your name into my lone winter hat. Elementary Girl will randomly choose a name sometime Monday afternoon, so be sure to check back. It could be you!

Okay, here's a peek at the back cover of A Promise to Remember:

Andie Phelps is the envy of Santa Barbara. A devoted mother with a loving son and a successful husband, her greatest joy comes from reaching out to others...

Melanie Johnston is the envy of no one. A single mom who works long hours to pay the bills, her greatest joys relate to her teen daughter and son.

Then the accident that changes everything. When opposite worlds collide, the impact reaches far beyond these mothers' personal losses.

Two wounded women...two families seeking hope...a community torn apart... How far will they go to fulfill: A Promise to Remember

* * *

Crystal Johnson, armchairinterviews.com says "...once you start reading there is no way you won't be affected in some way .... Kathryn Cushman is bestseller material!"

* * *

Since Katie writes serious, thought-provoking stories, I decided to ask her like-minded questions (not). Okay, here goes:


You used to be a pharmacist. How is a novelist different?
Ha! Fun question. It is different in almost every way.
Pharmacist-- feet ache from standing all day
Novelist-- backside aches from sitting all day

Pharmacist-- work long shifts, lucky to sneak in a bite of food occasionally
Novelist-- Spend the entire day eating cookies to "spark creativity" while working

Pharmacist-- might spend half an hour verifying an unclear order, or notifying a doctor's office about a serious drug interaction, then spend the next 10 minutes being berated by that patient for the long wait
Novelist-- spend half an hour writing a scene that treats a character abominably, then get an email from a reader saying how much it meant to them

LOL--I think you made a great career switch. Okay, next question, who and/or what inspires your writing choices? Most of my ideas have come from some little tidbit of real life-- something I've seen on the news or heard about somewhere. It usually involves a question I don't know how to answer, so I invent some characters who I hope will figure it out for me!

Think you'll ever delve into other genres? If yes, which one(s)?
When I first started writing, I wrote romantic suspense. In fact, I finished two romantic suspense manuscripts. But... when I started writing A Promise to Remember it was sort of that "Aha!" moment for me, when I finally realized I was writing exactly what I wanted to write. So, until I feel called in another direction, it's going to be rather serious women's fiction for me.

What's your favorite ice cream?
Baskin Robbins' German Chocolate Cake. My mouth waters just typing those words-- gee, I wish there was a Baskin Robbins near me!!!!!

That's okay since there's one near me. C'mon down, and I'll buy :) Here's another question, this one dear to my heart! If you were chocolate, which kind would you be? Why?
I'm milk chocolate-- a Hershey bar, actually. Nothing glitzy or glamorous like the imported or dark chocolates. Dependable, predictable-- but still lovable :-).


Yes, you are! One last thing, finish this: A good writing day is like ...
For me a good writing day is the day the dam bursts, and the ideas that have been blocked come pouring out so fast my fingers can't keep up. I love the tap, tap, tap of the keyboard moving at warp speed.

Me too, Katie! Thanks for stopping in--you're always welcome.

Thanks Jul!

If you'd like a copy of Katie's novel, please remember to comment--and to check back next week. Beachy weekend everyone!