Welcome to my daily blog. If this is your first time, I'm a romance writer and a misplaced city girl currently living in the wild Sierras. I tend to have a lot of I-Love-Lucy moments that I share here but sometimes we talk about books, TV, and our favorite cookies. Okay, my favorite cookies. In any case, please feel free to comment by clicking on the Comments at the bottom of any entry. If you're too shy, that's okay, just know I love having you.

March 19, 2010 | Filed under: Stuff

So we took the baby to the lake. He’d never seen a body of water before. And seeing how he’s a little afraid of his own shadow, he wasn’t exactly … ready. In fact, he said “Daddy, I don’t wanna.”

Then Middle tried. She said “Jake, don’t be a baby!” And he said “But I AM a baby!”

And then he said “Damn this water is COLD!”

But he got over himself because it tasted good. And then he went home and …

Did what he does best, which is look adorable … Well, that’s his second best talent. Because his number one talent is chewing. Everything.

March 18, 2010 | Filed under: Stuff

It’s going to be here in a week. On a bookstore shelf near you …

And so to further entice you to either pre-order from the bookstore of your choice, or remember to rush out and buy it, here’s another excerpt:

“Why are you here?” she asked. Not exactly a friendly a greeting as say Nolan would have received, but her reasons for being uncomfortable with TJ were as complicated as everything else in her life at the moment.

His eyes said he’d registered her tone and was thinking about smiling. “You going to invite me in?” he asked.

Ah, he speaks. But no. Hell, no. That would be like inviting in the big bad wolf. She shook her head and simultaneously swallowed another bite of ice cream, which naturally went down the wrong pipe, and as the cold ache exploded behind her eyeballs, she choked.

Stepping in close, way too close for comfort, TJ ran a hand up her back, patting her between the shoulder blades as she coughed and gasped.

“Brain freeze?” he murmured, his hands still on her, which was disconcerting enough, but added to that, he brushed against her with all those tough muscles, the ones that could make a nun ache to touch him, and in spite of her current and regrettable lack of a sexual life, she was certainly no nun. If she were, she’d be excommunicated for the thoughts she was having.

Yeah, she had brain freeze, and not just from the ice cream. “Back up,” she wheezed. “Give me space.”

He obligingly took a step clear of her, managing to get inside her apartment as he did, because after all, he was a slippery, wily-as-a-fox Wilder. Their ancestors had created the wild, wild west, emphasis on the wild, wild. In fact, it was rumored that the Wilders were responsible for the addition of the second ‘wild’. That tendency had carried down through the generations, each subsequent Wilder doing his best to live up to the name, most ending up in jail or six feet under. Somehow though, the current generation had escaped the worst of the bad genes, or at least outgrown them.

For the most part.

Didn’t mean he wasn’t up for taking advantage of a situation. “I didn’t invite you in, TJ.”

He just smiled.

Okay, ’nuff pimping. Tune in tomorrow for pictures of Jake the Wild Boy, aka our new puppy, aka the devil reincarnate. Assuming he hasn’t been shipped to a third world country after chewing up Alpha Man’s phone cord, favorite basketball shoes and a stack of unpaid bills.

I can laugh, since as of yet, nothing of MINE has been destroyed… I have to go knock on wood now.

March 17, 2010 | Filed under: Stuff

I was at the lake yesterday at sunset playing with my camera. Because I don’t have a book due or too many teenagers to keep track of or a NEW PUPPY destroying my house.

Except I do.

But the good news, when I’d finished amusing myself, I was no longer feeling like I might wrap my hands around the neck of the next person to look at me cross-eyed.

So what do you do when you’re on the edge looking down? I usually turn to cookies but my sweats are tight. You?

March 16, 2010 | Filed under: Stuff

I wanted to thank all of you for your comments and well wishes on our new addition. We chose a rescue dog for many reasons, not the least of which is we’ve always gained a member of the family by doing just that.

Jake will be no exception.

Not to say that it’s easy. You all know me better than that. NOTHING goes smoothly in this household. And today was no exception. In spite of everyone promising to take shifts, I somehow ended up alone with Jake The Wild Boy during the only shift where he was actually AWAKE.

It so happened I was trying to write at the time. I swear, I put my head into my scene for ONE SINGLE second and Wild Boy stole a toilet brush out of the bathroom, dragged it across my floor and brought it to his bed and chewed on it before I noticed.

BAD puppy mommy.

Then I said let’s go potty and he stood up and peed.

On my floor.

Then he smiled at me and wanted to get in my lap. With toilet brush breath and pee-pee on his feet.

I’ll tell you what. God knew what he was doing when he made puppies cute.

He did it for the same reason he made teenagers cute — so we don’t kill them…

March 14, 2010 | Filed under: Stuff

So we left the mountain …

And drove.

And drove …

We were headed to a woman who lives out in the middle of nowhere, and I mean NOWHERE, and she rescues animals.

Any animal in need is welcome.

Even really funny looking ones.

To be honest, we went because we’d heard through the grapevine that she’d rescued two yellow lab puppies. And she had. She’d rescued two puppies out of a horrible situation.

But the golden wasn’t who stole our hearts. Nope, it was her little baby brother. The runt of the litter.

He was filthy and living in a hovel. And the minute he saw us, he came alive. Wriggling, happy, loving. All you had to do was touch him and he writhed in joy and dropped to the floor for a belly rub.

And once he was picked up by the teenagers and loved up by them, he didn’t want to get down.

So we never put him down again. Meet Jake…

March 12, 2010 | Filed under: Stuff

It’s been a year since we lost Mountain Barbie.

She’ll always have a place in my heart, always. But slowly, over the past few weeks, the people in my house have been talking about yellow lab pups, and sending me texts. I suspect a coop …

From Oldest at a pet store: “Look who wants to come home …”

From Middle at a basketball game: “I found a new friend looking for a home…”

From Alpha Man: “Look what I found …”

Uh huh. They all managed to just happen upon yellow lab pups. They’re all big fancy liars is what they are.

But they’re wearing me down.

Do I really want to be up all night with a puppy? Deal with the chewing? The accidents? The general destruction a puppy brings to a house?

Sigh … I think I do.

So while I’m obviously going insane, tell me about your pets. Do you have dogs, cats, hamsters? Oh, wait. That’s us. Talk to me …