Photo Friday: Cookie time, part two!

December 12, 2014December 10, 20146 Comments

So, I’m sure you’re asking yourself how in the heck one manages to accidentally make somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 dozen cookies, right? I know I would be if I were you.

Look at all the cookies!

Mmm, cookies…om nom nom!

Bubbles and Miss Tadpole have a cookie walk tomorrow, and they are each responsible for providing ten dozen cookies. That’s 20 dozen cookies (aka a whole freakin’ lot). Last year they both helped with the baking and whatnot, but this year we’ve been so busy that it got left to the last minute. Bubbles is sick, so he wasn’t cooking anything for anybody, and Miss Tadpole was at school on Tuesday (aka, the only time I had to do any baking whatsoever before tomorrow), so it was on me…

Photo 365 #127

December 12, 2014December 10, 2014Leave a comment

Time to visit Ye Olde Archives again, because I’m still a bit groggy:

family

This is one of the first pictures of Seymour and me together with the kids. We were out getting into the Christmas spirit at Miracle on Main, and we were just over a month away from being engaged when this picture was taken. It was a magical time, and one I’ll always treasure.

And look how tiny the kids are! It’s hard to believe that next year, Cricket will be the same age as Bubbles and Miss Tadpole are in this picture. If anyone would like to donate some bricks to my “Keep the Kids Little Forever” campaign, please direct them to my email.

Cinder blocks are also welcome. 🙂

Photo 365 #126

December 11, 2014December 10, 20147 Comments

I’ve been digging through my archives. Today I’m having surgery, and ever since Cricket was born, I think of this picture when I have surgery:

fingerprints

I don’t do needles, you see. And the nurse I had when Cricket was born was less than gentle with the IV needle. This is Seymour’s hand five minutes after the nurse got done inserting the IV line in my left hand. That imprint there? That’s my right hand.

Seymour: When did you suddenly get strength in your hand?!

Me: About the time they stuck a needle in my other one!

I was telling the lab nurses this story last week at my pre-op appointment because I had to distract myself somehow. They were all very nice nurses, but it took three of them to find my veins and get the necessary blood samples, and now I have two lovely bruises on my forearms.

But now I’m going to go. I’ve got things to dream, see, so I’ll see you back here sometime over the weekend. Have a great Thursday!

Photo 365 #125

December 10, 20144 Comments

Christmas means cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. At least, it has the last couple of years.

Now, I like Christmas cookies as much as the next person, and I can’t remember ever not having Christmas cookies. But between my church’s cookie walk and the kids’ 4-H cookie walk, I’ve made more cookies the last two Decembers than I can ever remember baking. Ever.

Cookies are serious business. 🙂

And baking cookies is pretty much how I spent my day yesterday. It was the only day I had to get the cookies done for this weekend, so I took advantage of it – I found a recipe for some vanilla wafers that sounded promising, and I went to town.

Stop back on Friday and I’ll tell you all about how I accidentally made somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 dozen cookies.

Yes, you read that right. See you Friday!

Photo 365 #124

December 9, 2014December 10, 2014Leave a comment

It was a beautifully sunny day the other day, the kind that makes you feel glad to be alive. I couldn’t help taking a picture of it:

The snow is gone now, and so is the sun. It’s beginning to feel a lot like February, weather-wise, instead of nearly Christmas. I can do without the snow, but I dearly miss the sun.

Strange Portals now available!

December 8, 20144 Comments

Just in time for a much needed holiday break, twenty-two stories about fairies, vampires, werewolves, zombies, and everything in between. Visit a witch’s body swap victims (Samantha’s Day), find what happens when a girl is buried alive (Buried Alive), learn the origin story of Harper (from Night Touched Chronicles) and Verchiel (from the Amaranthine series), and much, much more. So kick up your feet, relax, and indulge in a short story by a new favorite author.

Includes stories by AK Stein, Adan Ramie, B.G. Hope, Barbara G. Tarn, Bonnie Mutchler, CG Copolla, DM Yates, JK Rosaline, Joleene Naylor, Kay Kauffman, Maegan Provan, Rami Ungar, Roger Lawrence, Roxanna Mathews, Russ Towne, Terry Compton and Tricia Drammeh.

What better way to celebrate the holidays than by picking up a free book? The Ink Slingers League is proud to present Strange Portals, a collection of twenty-two short stories to help you fend off the holiday crazies. Take a load off and escape into one of these holiday havens, or kick back for a couple of hours and visit them all. They’re our gift to you this holiday season, so enjoy!

Strange Portals is available for free on Smashwords and Amazon (where it will hopefully be free soon), so pick up your copy today!

Photo 365 #123

December 8, 20141 Comment

Cricket loves the green monster hat that Santa brought him last year. He loves it so much that he wore it out and Grandma had to fix it. Now that he’s got it back, he refuses to take it off:

monsterhat

He wants to eat with it on (but we have a no hats at the table rule), bathe with it on, and sleep with it on. It reminds me of the year his godmother bought him a UNI Panthers hat for Christmas; he literally wore it to pieces.

Here’s hoping the monster hat fares better. 🙂

December Christmas Traditions

Photo 365 #122

December 7, 2014December 8, 20142 Comments

I’m continuing the Christmas theme today with pictures from the annual Kauffman Christmas. Seymour’s family gets together every year to celebrate with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins, and it’s always a lot of fun. There’s enough food to feed a small army, great conversations on every topic under the sun, and even a visit from Santa Claus. It’s one of the highlights of the year for me because there’s nothing better than spending the holidays with the ones you love. 🙂

“Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus Lane…”

Cricket talked Santa’s ear off.

Thumper was much more excited about seeing Santa today than he was three weeks ago.

Baby Frank spent the afternoon snuggled up in his stocking.

How does your family do Christmas?

Why do I write what I write?

December 7, 2014December 6, 20142 Comments

Jenny at readsbyredriverbanks asked me to take part in the Writer’s Blog Tour last weekend, and I’ve finally taken a few minutes to sit down and type up a post. I did a post on the same topic back in May, when the ever-lovely Tricia Drammeh asked me to take part. That time I answered the questions with more of a focus on my fiction writing, but this time I decided to focus a bit more on my poetry.

Why do I write what I do?
I write poetry because it’s something I’ve always enjoyed reading. I remember as a kid I spent a whole afternoon in one of the trees out at my grandparents’ place writing poems about my summer vacation as a school project. I used to really like free verse, and sometimes I still write a bit of it, but I’ve found haiku to be an interesting challenge, and it’s really quite satisfying to be able to cram a world of emotion into 17 syllables.

What am I working on?
I’m still working on…

Holiday query blog hop!

December 6, 2014January 4, 201522 Comments

Vegin
Artwork by Hazel Butler

Once again, Michelle Hauck is hosting a blog hop to help authors get their stuff together. This time, though, instead of first page critiques, it’s a query critique! Like my first page, I’m sure that my query needs as much help as it can get, so here it is:

Dear Super Agent:

As the Crown Prince of Lokana, nineteen-year-old Vegin is expected to follow in his father’s corrupt footsteps by marrying a wealthy noblewoman and filling the royal coffers to the brim. But the prince has other ideas, and when he falls in love with a peasant named Lipei, his father threatens to deny him the crown and live forever. Though Vegin knows his father is serious, he insists that he will marry for love or not at all.

But there are bigger problems facing the kingdom than succession.