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Blogtoberfest – Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

In another life, I was an elementary school teacher, which meant nearly every holiday was a par-tay.  Valentine’s Day parties were the most stressful, because, as a teacher, you really had to sit on the “who likes whom” bit and keep it all nice and friendly.  Christmas was nice, but the overabundance of cookies was a little much.  The party that hit the perfect spot (besides the end of school party) was Halloween. Between the Halloween-themed worksheets, coloring sheets, Halloween parade and Charlie Brown, the whole day was a whirlwind of costumes and candy.  The best part for me, and I hope the class, was when I read from Scary Stories to Read in the Dark.  First of all, take a look at this cover.  It’s the stuff of nightmares, sorry.  I’d keep the book face down on the desk if I had a softcover, and remove the dustjacket if… Continued

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5 Fandom Friday: Five Songs that Changed my Life

Hey, it’s Fandom Friday again!  Let me to a shout out to fellow geek bloggers Super Space Chick and The Nerdy Girle for organizing this, as always.  It certainly helps me stay on the blogging bandwagon.     Any posts that have something to do with music, I’m there.   Let’s get to it, shall we? Five songs that changed my life.   1.  Roxanne – The Police Where can I start with this?  The spare, stripped musical arrangement?  The high, plaintive tenor of Sting?  Or the fact that this was a love song to “a lady of the night”.  I never knew what “red light district” meant before this song. i have every Police album.  Love them! 2.  In Your Eyes – Peter Gabriel I had never heard of Peter Gabriel until his album “So”.  What remarkable album!  From the soulful Superstition-esque Sledgehammer to the slow, dreamy melodies of Mercy

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Country Music Classics

“Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.” – Hunter S. Thompson All kinds of music are all right with me – I decided to take today to share with you some of my favorite country songs.  Please, feel free to list yours in the comments! Friends in Low Places – Garth Brooks Funny story – I was never a Garth Brooks fan until I went to one of those “lookalike shows”.  The fake Garth Brooks sang this song, and I had to look it up when I got home.

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Music Monday: Favorite Frank Sinatra Song Quotes

I’m not sure if I’ve done this before, but I was going through some old playlist and got to remembering.  Yes, I love Fuel, The Police, Imagine Dragons, Hozier and some new/old stuff, but some of the time I switch to the old 1940-1960s song book of The Chairman of the Board, Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Mr. Francis Sinatra.  I am from New Jersey, so, yeah, natch, right? As a romance writer, it helps me get in the mood to write love scenes and the interaction  of people becoming lovers when I listen to some of the great lyricists of the American Songbook.  Those writers had a way of turning a phrase and of creating metaphors and similies that evoke the feeling of love, falling in love and being in love.  I wanted to share a few of my faves with you and who better to demonstrate than Sinatra himself?

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5 Fandom Friday: My Favorite Things about Winter

Hey, it’s Fandom Friday again!  Let me to a shout out to fellow geek bloggers Super Space Chick and The Nerdy Girle for organizing this, as always.  It certainly helps me stay on the blogging bandwagon.   It is January! Where did all the time go?  A couple of years ago, we’d all be complaining that we’re still putting 2014 on our checks….but who writes checks anymore?     Let’s get to it, shall we?  Five things I absolutely love about Winter.   1.  Getting snowed in. As a stay at home mom, sometimes my only reason to get up early and to leave the house is to take the kiddies to school.  I am as eager as they are waiting for the phone call that will tell me that I don’t have to drive through unplowed streets, squeezing the wheel in my hands because other folks don’t know how

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5 Fandom Friday: My Favorite Holiday Songs to Spread Cheer

Hey, it’s Fandom Friday again!  Let me to a shout out to fellow geek bloggers Super Space Chick and The Nerdy Girle for organizing this, as always.  It certainly helps me stay on the blogging bandwagon.   It’s December!  It’s the holiday season.  Did you miss my post over at the Luscious Literaries about Five Things I Love about Winter?  If so, take a peek over there to see what I’m talking about. But now it’s time to dust off the old Christmas playing list and get in the mood for snow, Santa and Christmas!   Coming from a totally musical family, I was both a band geek and a chorus nerd.  Let me put it perspective – I have a clarinet in the basement somewhere and my own personal copy of Handel’s Messiah.  I guess you could say that I’m all about the Christmas music, in several keys and

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