You're Invited: Petticoats & Pistols, Romancing the West!

Petticoats & Pistols - Romancing the West!

I'm excited to announce the launch of the much-anticipated and exciting new website for lovers of romance and all things western! Ten sweet and sassy western romance authors are creatin' a ruckus in Wildflower Junction, USA. Mosey on over, stay a spell, and check out the Founding Fillies pages, read our fun and informative blog, then take part in a shoot-out in the saloon and don't forget to read all the latest news.

This is your convenient source for current and upcoming books in the western romance genre.
Writers of western romance may list their upcoming releases via our convenient submission form.
We'll be adding recipes and expanding the library, so bookmark the site and visit often.

Check us out: Petticoats & Pistols

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Elijah's delighted to be off to school!




Picture me on the sofa with a cup of coffee and my Alpha Smart, WRITING A BOOK! Whoo hoo!

A SEASON OF FORGIVENESS

A SEASON OF FORGIVENESS
by Brenda Coulter
Available in stores September 25.
Order now from Amazon.
Read most of the first chapter at BrendaCoulter.com

Gourd Progress

Most Annoying Poduct Mascots

I think that Caveman rates right up at the top. I don't get it. And I can't even tell you which product it's advertising. I only know it's stoopid and I wouldn't even put the freaky picture here.

Then the Burger King Plastic Head Guy. What's up with THAT? He'd send a kid screaming for his mother. The Geico gekko thing is okay. Jay always laughed at the Aflac duck, but where did he go? Then there's that little gnome guy. That's wierd, too.

Also find all the cell phone commercials irritating, except for IDK my BFF Jill, and I don't see that enough, but couldn't tell you the company.


Remember the parody I posted a while back with Captain Jack?

So which mascots irk the poo out of you?

Late-breaking News from Finland

Chocoholic squirrel steals treats from Finnish shop

HELSINKI (Reuters) - A Finnish squirrel with a sweet tooth heads to a Finnish grocery shop at least twice a day to steal "Kinder Surprise" chocolate-shelled eggs.

"I named it the Kinder-squirrel, after the treats. It always goes after them, other sweets do not seem to interest it as much," the manager of the store in Jyvaskyla, central Finland, told Reuters.

The confectionary, which is intended for children, has a toy inside.

"It removes the foil carefully, eats the chocolate and leaves the store with the toy," Irene Lindroos said.

Unfortunately, the bushy-tailed thief does not clean up after itself, but leaves the wrappers behind, she added.

Squirrels have a well deserved reputation for being clever and adaptable animals. Many a home owner has seen the small rodents raiding their supposedly "squirrel-proof" bird feeders.

Thanks to Minna for the lead. We love this kind of stuff.

Butterflies in my garden today

It's been a tough year for butterflies. I was excited to spot this lovely yelllow swallowtail this morning as I was deadheading my butterfly bushes, and saddened to see he has a tail missing and a tear in his right wing.

The other day I saw a blue and black swallowtail with a big portion of one wing missing. He batted his wings excessively and I coudn't get a clear picture. I guessed he had to do that to fly.


The monarch was on the zinnias this afternoon, along with a dozen bees. Monarchs are common, but their beauty is still admirable.

Write What You Know by Carla Cassidy

This article first appeared in the July issue of MARA MATTERS, the newsletter of Mid-America Romance Authors.

Write What You Know by Carla Cassidy

Write what you know, that's the advice writers often hear. For some this might be sound advice, but in my case, I think it's horrible.

If I write what I know, then I can write about being a housewife and a mother. I can fill paragraphs with descriptions of how to fold towels, how to iron a perfect crease in a shirt and how to entertain a six-year-old for an hour with a bag of chips, some construction paper and a glue stick. But this is not the stuff of good fiction!

One of the themes I write about often is how the lack of parental love and affection can affect a person. Yet I've been blessed to have parents who are emotionally available, tremendously supportive and loving. I write what I don't know, but I write what intrigues me.

ME SIGNING WITH CARLA AT DOG-EARED BOOKS IN INDEPENDENCE, MO --------->

This, I think is a secret of good writing, to write not necessarily what you know, but what you are passionate about, what interests you.

In my romantic suspense novels for Signet Eclipse I write about people who are psychologically abnormal. I don't have any personal experience in that field (well, there is that distant cousin that everyone only whispers about) and yet I am fascinated by the human mind. That's where my passion lies and so that's what I write about.

Certainly if you have personal experience that enhances your writing, like Susan Grant who is a pilot, or Patricia Cornwell who worked for the Virginia Medical Examiner's office, then pull from that well of knowledge.

Unfortunately, my well of knowledge is limited and my world is one of everyday people and everyday things. The trick is to take that world and fill it with things I don't know but can learn to create a fictional world that readers will want to know.

With the easy access of the Internet, research has never been simpler. With a few strokes of the keys you can learn about almost anything.

Hmm, maybe that means you can write what you know because it's never been easier to learn. I may be a housewife from the Midwest, but I've researched everything from serial killers to ocean life.

Each and every book I write is a new adventure for me, an adventure that takes me away from folding clothes and thrusts me into a world of new knowledge.

Here's to finding adventure even if you're in the midst of folding towels or creasing that shirt sleeve with a hot iron.

Carla Cassidy's next release is Paint It Red, an August Signet Eclipse.
Two years ago, Vanessa Abott's husband Jim, an up-and-coming artist, drowned himself in the Missouri River. His body still hasn't been recovered. Now Vanessa has arranged for one last showing of her husband's brilliant, disturbing artwork. Critics are raving and pieces are selling. She even meets an interesting man.

Then the gallery owner is found dead with a splash of red paint across his body. Vanessa recognizes it as Jim's signature mark. And in her home, Jim's picture somehow finds its way back onto the dresser, and his jacket appears on a kitchen chair. Is she going crazy? Or has her husband come back...for her?

Banana Split Cake

Banana Split Cake


1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup sugar, divided
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple, drained
6 medium bananas, divided
2 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (4-serving size each) Jell-o vanilla instant pudding
2 cups thawed Cool Whip, divided
1 cup chopped pecans
marachino cherries

MIX crumbs, 1/4 cup of the sugar and the butter; press firmly onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Freeze 10 min.

BEAT cream cheese and remaining 3/4 cup sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Spread carefully over crust; top with pineapple. Slice 4 of the bananas; arrange over pineapple.

POUR milk into medium bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Gently stir in 1 cup of the whipped topping; spread over banana layer in pan. Top with remaining 1 cup Cool Whip; sprinkle with pecans.

Refrigerate 5 hours. Slice remaining 2 bananas just before serving;
arrange over dessert. Garnish with marachino cherries.
Store leftover dessert in refrigerator.

yield: 24 servings

Glazed Chocolate-Pumpkin Bundt Cake

IDK, my BFF CHOCOLATE!


Glazed Chocolate-Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup nonfat buttermilk
1 15-ounce can unsweetened pumpkin puree
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup packed confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon nonfat buttermilk
2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips
Cooking Instructions
1. To prepare cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray.

2. Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a medium bowl.

3. Blend 1 cup buttermilk, pumpkin puree and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed. Beat in whole egg and egg white. Stir in oil, corn syrup and vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

4. Bake the cake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool completely on the rack, about 2 hours.

5. To glaze & garnish cake: Combine confectioners' sugar and 1 tablespoon buttermilk in a small bowl, stirring until completely smooth. Place the cake on a serving plate and drizzle the glaze over the top; garnish with chocolate chips (or chopped nuts) while the glaze is still moist.

creative advertising

Winner of Autographed Copy A Reason to Believe!

Thanks all for welcoming Maureen and being your wonderful chatty selves. She enjoyed her visit. Remember TODAY IS THE ACTUAL RELEASE DATE for A Reason to Believe, so if you don't have your copy yet, head on out there and pick up one! You can always find Maureen at her website to tell her how much you enjoyed it.

And with no further ado, maureen's wonderful hubby, Al, drew the winning name from all the comments, and the winner is.....


CAROL!!!

Congratulations, Carol. I know you'll enjoy the story and treasure your autographed copy. I sent Maureen your address as soon as she notified me of the winner.

Thank you again, Maureen.

Surprise Drawing

I have another giveaway. This one is for a spankin' new copy of Anne Stuart's RITA nominated book, THE DEVIL'S WALTZ.

When you dance with the devil, you hold hands with temptation . . .
Christian Montcalm was a practical man, if a destitute scoundrel, but his plan to bed and wed the delectable Miss Hetty Chipple would take care of that sticky wicket. However, there was a most intriguing obstacle to his success.

Annelise Kempton desired nothing more than to come between this despicable rogue and the fortune (and virtue) of her young charge. Certainly, Annelise understood the desperation that comes from hard times, but Montcalm would fail -- she would personally see to it. All that stood in her way was a man whose rakish charm could tempt a saint to sin, or consign a confirmed spinster to sleepless nights of longing . . . to give the devil his due.

And the winner of this little gem is.....

GEORGIA!

Congratulations, Georgia. I don't have your address, so please email it to me at: SaintJohn@aol.com, and I'll mail your book out to you.

And now, just to tease you, here's notification that the week of August 20th I'll be hosting another wonderful western writer right here for your pleasure. She, too, will be offering some special giveaways. You are going to be so excited, because I have something wonderful planned for you!

Check back often and leave comments. All those comments count toward the drawings.

35W

CLICK TO ENLARGE

We've all seen hundreds of images from the bridge collapse in Minneapolis last week. Broken concrete and twisted metal, cars and schoolbuses in precarious situations, rescue workers and men in shorts and T-shirts pulling peole from the water. This one came to me in an email. I have no idea who took it, but this is one of those pictures that speaks a thousand words.

Gourd Progress

The vines are loaded with gorgeous yellow flowers, and there are already several fun-shaped gourds. Now I have to re-read abaout when to harvest. It's raining today, but later I'll snap a few pics of the actual gourds for you. This pic is early morning before they curl inward in the sun and heat.

One more day...

Tomorrow the winner for an autographed copy of A Reason to Believe will be selected. Each post to Maureen's blog is an entry, so if you haven't entered or want another chance, leave a comment now.

Christmas Gold and Karen W

Karen, your copy of Christmas Gold has been mailed. Will you let me know when you receive it, please?

Thanks.

Cranburger anyone?

My friend in the food business always sends me interesting food news. Here's today's:
Cranberries shown to prevent bacteria growth in hamburgers without affecting taste

By Ann Bagel Storck on 8/6/2007 for Meatingplace.com




Building a better burger usually involves ingredients like lettuce, tomato and cheese, but new research shows cranberries might be the most important addition of all.

Dr. Vivian Chi Hua Wu at the University of Maine led a study that found cranberries can help reduce the growth of bacteria such as salmonella and E. coli in beef patties without affecting how burgers taste. In a study presented last year at the Institute of Food Technologists show, researchers added cranberry concentrate to samples of raw ground beef tainted with several types of bacteria that frequently cause food-related illness. After observing the ground beef over several days, scientists discovered that the cranberry concentrate significantly reduced the growth of salmonella, E. coli and other dangerous bacteria in the beef. In the new study, Wu and her colleagues reproduced these results with a strain of pathogenic E. coli and tested the effect of different amounts of cranberry on the taste of burgers. "We focused on taste and found that it wasn't sacrificed," Wu said. "This is great news for consumers who are seeking natural alternatives to chemical additives in food."

Thanks for the article, Barb.

Soccer on Saturday

Alexis was recruited by a league. She's forward and goalie.

Winner(s) of Christmas Gold Announced!

I guess I had forgotten from last time how many of you still need copies of this anthology. Ladies, I am pulling a few strings to put a few more of these into your hands, so stay tuned, check back, and in a short time I think I can get a few more to you.

For now I DID manage to find one more online! So...I drew names just now and that copy will go to....

Karen W ! Karen, it's being mailed directly to you from the person I got it from, so watch for it in a week or two.

And this one in my hot little hands goes to....

Barb, for her Aunt Lola.

Barb, I need a snail mail address, please. I don't have you in my book.
Send to me at SaintJohn@aol.com

So, for now, those are the Christmas Gold winners, but don't give up...you know I LOVE MY BLOG BUDDIES!