erotic romance

Save Everything, Everywhere

Ever get that feeling of cold fear in your heart when you’ve typed out the best chapter ever, putting the cap on 5k words, clicking save and having your computer crap out on you? Or worse, going to turn on the computer to start your morning work and seeing a black screen? As authors, we should do things to protect ourselves and our work. If we lose wordage, that sets us back, steals our time and our creativity. Yes, we can type it over, but we’ll never get those hours nor the the unique quality of our words again. That can drape a wet blanket over the next chapters that we try to write. I know we’ve seen the posts about the hard drive that failed, the thumb drive that failed, the CD that failed and I truly sympathize. It’s a terrible, terrible feeling. Never fear, there are cures for… Continued

Become a Cookie (making) Monster

Yes, it’s 90 degrees outside, or at least it will be by the time noon rolls around. However, by the time you start thinking about making cookies, holiday time will be staring you right in the face, telling you that you’re a terrible cookie maker. Avoid the shame. Do what I do. Make the dough now, keep it in the freezer. Then, become a cookie maker extraordinaire! One year, I made cookies for all three of my children’s classes – that’s 65 cookies AND hand painted them red and green….with sparkles. I must have been out of my mind. Sugar Cookies 2 cups of pure, snow white sugah 1 ½ cups of butter (softened) 4 large eggs 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. lemon extract (optional) 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp salt Frosting: Blend confectioner’s sugar and milk until it reaches the consistency you

Football Friday – The Season Begins

Broncos vs Ravens And football season is upon us with a vengeance. Super Bowl champs the Baltimore Ravens paid a visit to the Mile-High City for a rematch. If you remember last year, the Ravens bested the Broncos in overtime to move on to the Super Bowl. Mind you, the NFL Channel never let us forget it – I have seen enough replays of the end of that game to last me a lifetime. I would venture to say that Peyton Manning and the Broncos gave the Ravens a bit of “get-back” last night. Yes, the first half was slow. A thirty-minute rain delay coupled with the slow saunter of the Ravens onto the field didn’t bode well for the Broncos, especially when it started to rain. When the Ravens drew first blood with a touchdown, Broncos fans may have thought that the Super Bowl champs were back stronger than

Retro Saturdays – Crochet and Knit Patterns

My mother was an avid crocheter. There are bags and bags of yarn in the attic that can attest to this fact. She taught me to crochet, knit and do something called “broomstick lace” when I was a child and the yearning to create with yarn hits me on and off. I try to stay out of AC Moore and Michaels when they have the yarn sales, but sometimes the colors are too eye-catching to resist. Which brings me to crochet patterns. My mother was not an idle crocheter, no. Everything she crocheted had a purpose, whether it be a hat, scarf or, dare I say, funny looking sweater. She used to have a subscription to a magazine called Workbasket, and when I was at her house a few weeks ago, I found some old issues. Take a look at these totally retro crochet outfits. Crochet Wedding Dress…plus hat!

Football Fridays – Running Backs

Running backs, also known as halfback or fullbacks (this depends on the size of the player), is sometimes the most visible player on the field. Overall, they also may have the best physique (read: hot bods) in the NFL. Wide receivers are a close second. From the Free Online Dictionary: running back n. Football An offensive back, such as a fullback or halfback, who has the responsibility of advancing the ball by running with it on plays from the line of scrimmage. Whenever you see the quarterback hand off the football, it’s usually to a running back. If you polled a hundred football fans and asked which was the sexiest position on the team, excluding the quarterback, I reckon most would say the running back. Good running backs are hard to come by and they wear themselves out quickly on the field. The position is a taxing one because it

June is National Candy Month

June is National Candy Month. This is a mouth-watering topic if I’ve ever seen one. Yes, I am a grown adult, but there’s something about indulging in childhood candy that sends you back in time. So, grab your Walkman and if you want to go further back, get that Aqua Net hairspray to make those Farrah Fawcett angel wings. Here’s some candy to take you back. When I say candy, I don’t mean the chocolate grown-up chocolate stuff. I’m talking about the brightly-colored, artificially-flavored, red dye #20398 colored candies that left your tongue coated with color and your head buzzing with all the high fructose corn syrup. Lemonheads: Sweet, sour and oh so crunchy. Take these sweet, yellow balls into your mouth and roll them around on your tongue until they dissolve, or if you’re in a hurry, scrape the sour coating off to get to the sweet, hard center.