Not sucky at all

Instead of the usual Monday gripedom:
Yesterday I got to take care of our a little friend (almost 14 months old) for a couple hours. And she's one of those mellow, easy-going kids...
Ahhhh.
She actually fell asleep while I held her, with the TV on, the family hanging out around us. Very sweet having a little one snuggled up against me. You know that dead-weight state they get in, let-it-all-hang-out kinda relaxed. Yeah, pretty sweet.
Brought back warm fuzzy memories.
Didn't suck at all.

Happy Monday to ya.

Piper Denna
Romance is sexy!

For all those weary shoppers

This one goes out especially to my friend Kate (a hard-core Johnny fan)...

It's Mariah's fun and sexy version of a well-known Christmas song. Featuring Johnny Depp! Hubba hubba.

All I Want for Christmas is You

Happy Black Friday, everybody. May you find great deals on all you seek.

Autumn Piper
Got romance?

Thanksgiving treat

I probably did this last year, but...
Can't resist. It's Adam Sandler's Thanksgiving Song, and somebody paired it with funny pics. Have to admit too, in some of the photos, Sandler looks kinda cute. I never thought of him as cute before...

Hey! Shouldn't you be checking something in the oven right now?

Happy Thanksgiving.

Autumn Piper
Got turkey?

More Good Things

Again, these are random:

• I'm thankful that, after 15 years of varying degrees of pain, my wisdom teeth no longer hurt.
• I'm thankful I will never, ever, have to get my wisdom teeth extracted again.
• I'm thankful for my two cool kitties.
• Yesterday I wrote an entire chapter, so I'm thankful my muse has not abandoned me like I'd feared. (and because I'm still scared of messing it up, that is ALL I'm gonna say)
• To all my wonderful friends, I am grateful. They say love makes the world go round, but I think it's more likely friendship. :)
• Every day the sun is out in full force, I am thankful. Love that sunshine!
• I'm thankful I don't get ear- and nose-hair growing rampant like, erm... guys. Yikes. Seriously, as the population ages, it might be good to buy stock in tweezers and some painless hair removal apparati...
• I am eternally thankful for uplifting bras, comfy shoes, and stretchy jeans. Thanks, fashion fairy!
• I soooo totally thankful big earrings are back. Love them.
• Tomorrow I'll be thankful Cornfuscius is cooking the turkey outside in a fryer while I've got the oven crammed full of other goodies.
• Last but not least, I'm thankful for the XM/Syrius music stations on our DirecTV - especially The Blend.

Have a wonderful day tomorrow, everybody! Happy, happy turkey day.

Autumn Piper

Got romance?

Tube Tuesday

This video combines 3 of my favorite things: the ocean, a nifty beat, and Jack Johnson's ultra-soothing voice. It's like a nice warm bath for my soul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7kzpZ2sBIw

Happy Tuesday.

Piper Denna
Soothing is sexy!

Good Things

Before I get all caught up in this week's holiday riff-raff, thought I'd take a few minutes to think about what I'm thankful for. So here they are, some silly, some... not:

• First, a biggie -- I'm thankful my husband and I both still have jobs.
• I'm thankful for a woodburning stove and the big pile of firewood we gathered this year.
• I'm thankful for over-the-counter hair color.
• Almost daily, I'm thankful I have two healthy, well-behaved kids. (will have to tell them later)
• SO thankful women's eyebrows don't become what mens' do when we age. :)
• Superduper thankful today, because my pal just alerted me that Garfield County Library NOW HAS EBOOKS!!!!
• I'm thankful for marvelous book covers from my publisher and cover artist extraordinaire, Renee Rocco.
• Most days I'm pretty thankful for our DVR. I do still roll my eyes a bit when I see 75 episodes of Wizards of Waverly Place or Zach & Cody, or the ongoing hundreds of episodes of Modern Marvels and This Old House saved there, but hey: I'm totally OK with my son saving 25 Jay Leno Shows... perspective is important here.
• I'm thankful for every new episode of Bones, House, and Glee.
• I'm extra thankful nobody in my family has food allergies.
• Today I'm thankful the RE-2 School District decided to take a full week off for Thanksgiving this year.

That's enough for now. We'll take a short YouTube break tomorrow, and maybe I'll have some more for Wednesday. Hopefully by then I'll be thankful for all the stuff I've crossed off my Too Done list, and still think my kids are well behaved...

Autumn Piper

Got romance?

Friday Funny - generation gap?

We had an appointment after school yesterday, and by the time we headed home, it was almost dinner time. The kiddos wanted to stop and eat, but Dad was waiting at home for dinner with us -- so I told them we were going straight home.

Darling daughter, in all her melodramatic outrage, gasps, "You have no idea what it's like to be growing!"

Yes, darling: when the mothership dropped me, I immediately obtained a full-grown body.

Is it okay for the older half of the generational chasm to roll her eyes?

Happy Friday!

Autumn Piper
Got romance?

The New Efficient - a Too Done List

I'm taking a radical new approach to "getting things done".

Instead of just making a to-do list with different priority levels (or time frames, or likelihood of gettting finished...) I will sketch out a to-do list in the morning, but thennnnnnn:

All those silly things we do throughout the course of the day, the tiny errands, the appointment making, the bringing in meat from the freezer to thaw, I'm going to add those under my list and CROSS THEM OFF as I do them. ha. So at the end of the day I've got this massive list off crossed-off items and only a few pristine undone ones. My To Do list has transformed to a Too Done list!

For example, today I started out with a list of editor-tasks to accomplish. But. I also got to write and mark off:

Washing the pots and pans (even those hiding in the oven)
a load of laundry
paying the cell bill
figuring out how to pay Cornfuscius' business liability insurance online (this was toughie - had to go to the website on the bill, register... everything. whew! But much more convenient for me, a pay-in-the-11th-hour kind of customer)

Course, I run into certain detours. For instance, while signing in my google ID so I could look up the scheduled release date for a new author I'm introducing myself to, I got stuck on my Blogger dashboard reading all the current (and old) Meg Cabot blog entries, which included watching highlights from and entire SNL episode, texting my friend about the blog entries... and now that editor task still glares at me from The List - unscribbled-off...

Which reminds me, I've got a meeting tonight and a scheduled chat and dinner to make... need to add those to The List also.

Now I'm stumped, though. Should I count making my own lunch as a job (well) done? And my nap? :)

Happy Thursday

Piper Denna
Romance is sexy!

Watcha Readin' Wednesday - a review

This week (the last 3 days, really) I read Tempt Me at Twilight, by Lisa Kleypas. It's 3rd in the Hathaway series, and I'm totally bummed the next installment is not out until next summer!

Kleypas weaves a convincing network of secondary characters and setting, and manages to create a vortex around her hero and heroine, which sucks me in every time. Outstanding tension. Though Kleypas gets away with changing character point of view more often than most publishers allow, it's always obvious whose thoughts we're getting. As historicals go, hers are the perfect blend for me - not too much time describing outfits and decor. One of my favorite couples-to-be got some time in the limelight, and involved a little mystery, including a cliffhanger the writers of Dallas should envy. Made me suck in my breath and wish I'd never started reading the series until it was all published!

I highly recommend this set of books - for me, they go in the Keeper category.

Autumn Piper
Got romance?

Tube Tuesday

This song totally inspires me. And is it my imagination, or is Bon Jovi's cleft getting better and better?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxtvHxQllzM&feature=related

Yum.

Piper Denna
Rock is sexy!

Things That Suck More Than Mondays

The old "Jesus" bait and switch.

Let me just say (lest I be struck down by lightning for the following diatribe), if you want to write a novel about characters being born again, the healing power of faith, or God in general, more power to ya.

But don't market it with a blurb to make it sound like mainstream fiction. Please. Not everyone wants or needs a good preaching-to during their pleasure reading. I think if the story is substantially faith-based, this should be included in a Content Warning.

Let me be a little more blunt. If I want to hear testimonials about Jesus Christ and how he changes lives and heals hearts, I can get that at church for free, off the 700 Club, or all over the internet (and in numerous un-asked-for emails). For free. I don't need to drop $5.50 of my hard-earned money on Fictionwise.

So there's my Weekly Peeve. 80 pages in and I gave up on this novel. Liked the premise, found the characters' sudden emotional upheaval a bit old-school Harlequin, hated all the church talk. Not a recommended read for me, Full Time Wife, by Anna Dynowski.

Autumn Piper
Got romance?

Blogish

I blogged a little (okay, a lot) over at Lyrical Press today.

Talking about new language.

Check me out.

Autumn Piper
Got romance?

Has the applause stopped yet?

Watched the CMA awards last night, and was so happy to see Miss Taylor Swift win -- she probably needed to pull home a trailer behind her limo, to transport her awards. I love how CMA inserted a skit where an elderly gentleman interrupted one of the emcees to talk about how great her video was (note to MTV: this did NOT make you look cool or provide any positive publicity so you might consider that next time you decide to seat an "interrupter" in the front). Taylor also thanked everyone in the room for not running up on the stage, during one of her acceptance speeches. The thing I like about her is the way kids relate to her and her music - they don't only idolize her, but feel connected. And she so darn sweet!

Is there a Triple Crown at the CMA awards? I think Ms. Swift might have won it: Album of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year. Pretty big deal for a 19-year-old. And I started out watching on behalf of my daughter to give her a report this morning (well, that and to see George Strait, every glimpse is like gold, ya know), but totally teared up during her final speech.

In other gossip, Reba McEntire looks great for her age, Barbara Mandrell... well, she's aging but still looks good, and the Judds - a little clownish on the makeup, IMO. As for LeAnn Rimes, I don't know WTF? but my daughter said, "Um. Halloween is over." Looked like her makeup crew was going for the Uncle Fester look. Not good.

The Zac Brown Band performed probably the best rendition of Devil Went Down to Georgia, at least that I've ever seen. Very cool.

And last but not least, my own dear George Strait performed and was up for a few awards. Sadly, he didn't walk away with any huge glass trophies, (and even lost out to Taylor Swift for EOY, but hey, it's not like he hasn't got a pile of those awards at home!). Still, it's always great to see My George. *sigh*

Off to hang with a really sweet bunch of kiddos again today.

Happy Thursday!

Autumn Piper
Got romance?

Watcha Readin' Wednesday - a review

It finally happened. Fantasy Mountain got a less-than-stellar review, poste on romancebookreviews.org:

You'll have to scroll down to the Rebecca Bauman review - which has actually just been copied from Amazon. My first reaction, is... bummer. Somebody didn't "grow to love" my heroine? That's bad.

But then... meh. I mean, the reviewer thinks Brett is a cad for dropping his fiance Andrea - who tells him she's intent on sleeping with every man and woman at the resort. Hmm. I think he's... normal. He's carried this torch for Victoria for years and restrained himself, at great pain. Now he realizes this flame isn't going to die, and Andrea's not ready for marriage or monogamy. Cad?

So, could be perhaps she didn't really pay much attention to what she was reading, or could be evidence of the old adage, "Ya can't win 'em all."

Happy Humpday.

Piper Denna
Romance is sexy!

Tube Tuesday

OK, I'm almost over my MJ kick, but had to post this one. It was filmed in Denver at the old McNichols arena - and it's the one where Michael's hair caught fire from the pyrotechnics!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9HSotu5OIE&feature=channel

Have a great Tuesday.

Piper Denna
Romance is sexy!

Things That Suck More Than Mondays

What's got the suck-ometer redlining today?

Being pushed around. People who think they can do/say whatever to you, because you won't raise a stir about it, because you're too damn nice.

Well, I'm in a bit of a stirred up mood (the old saying is perfect: Mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore) so today, a few people will be hearing from me in a not so nice way. Sometimes it seems like it'd be easier to be "that woman" -- you know the one. When she enters her doctor's office, the front office staff cringes. When she walks into her kids' school, the secretary wonders whose head is going to roll. She complains (loudly) about poor service or screwed up paychecks or an error on her bill. You get the picture. Wouldn't it be nice to have other people walk on eggshells, making sure they didn't do you wrong?

Off to raise a ruckus.

Piper Denna
Romance is sexy!

Friday Funny

Another lyric-done-wrong by the lovely young Fusci-etta.

From Bon Jovi:

"Shot through the heart, and you're too lame!"

Sung to her brother, no less.

Kids. Can't use 'em for slave labor, can't trade 'em off for a MiniCooper.

Happy Friday!

Piper Denna
Romance is sexy!

On ebooks and Nooks

You may (or may not) recall, when B&N stepped back into the ebook business, I blogged about it. Was so excited to have a big retailer giving so much spotlight time to ebooks. While the exposure is still a good thing, overall I'm disappointed with B&N.

Of course it was no surprise when they intro'd their new e-reader. They'd be silly not to sell one. I have to say, though, I'm not seeing its success. At least, not in the way they must be hoping it to succeed. (Note to B&N: You do not carry the retail muscle Amazon does. Readers aren't gonna "go for" another exclusive reading device.) If you buy a Nook, you're stuck buying ebooks for it from B&N. And sorry, but their selection just is NOT what Amazon's is. (Have I mentioned B&N's site is 2nd in slow-as-hellness only to DirecTV's??? It's like entering the net in 1994 going there.) Nooks have this fab "loaning" feature where you can send out ebooks you've purchased for a friend to borrow. Which would be bitchin', except that friend has to also own a Nook, a la Microsoft's Zune and its music share feature -- and just look at it's wild success compared to iPod, eh?

But my biggest gripe is NOT with the Nook. I've already got a reader, why do I care if B&N shoots itself in the profit-margin foot? What really grinds me is this: They've taken all the time to set up an ebook store, list these thousands of books, yet they are only selling in formats usable to the iPhone, Blackberry, and Nook. (oh yes, and of course you can read their books on a computer. Anybody notice how ebook sales have taken off since portable readers entered the market? Most ebook readers simply don't want to spend that much more facetime with their laptops.) It would've made much more retail sense for B&N to include formats the rest of us could use and buy, such as PDF, which almost all readers can utilize. Who knows, maybe since B&N owns Fictionwise, they figure they're already providing multi-formats.

Which brings me to another gripe (on a roll here): Fictionwise. I'm a card-carrying (well, a virtual card) member, yet I'm about to take my ebook $$ to Books on Board. Why? FW has so many great books - unavailable in PDF. WTF??? Every time I find a title I want, it's not available in PDF. It takes me ages to shop there, and then downloading the books and managing to open them (because of the DRMs on their Secure Adobe files) is always a new adventure.

Which reminds me, note to Sony: Your ebook library software sucks pond sludge. Yesterday it totally jacked my Secure Adobe downloads and pulled them into the Library but then wouldn't load them on my Reader. The Adobe Digital Editions software is nice, and free, although yesterday the update seemed to have made it function badly, turning a 10 minute coupon purchase into an hour-long loading ordeal...

All the hassles and time spent dealing with ebook conundrums (twice now I've bought books in formats which the sites told me I'd be able to use if I downloaded certain software, only to discover that hehhhll no, that file was NOT opening for me and what pissed me off even more than the money I was out, was the time I spent screwing with it)... well, it makes me feel like a techno-toddler. And lemme tell ya - I might not be a supergeek, but I do find my way around gadgets. Eventually. And often with the help of my tech-wiz bud, eA.

On the positive side, I've had excellent results with ebooks directly from both Lyrical Press (you get a zip file with all the formats inside. yippee!) and Harlequin. Simple, fast, and the files worked.

Just like it should be.

Happy Thursday.

Piper Denna
Romance is sexy!

Blog in motion

I've posted over on the LPI blog today.

Join me as I discuss relationship changes. :0

Piper Denna
Romance is sexy!

Tube Tuesday

And oldie but a goodie, and the outfits on the kids bring back fond memories:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po0jY4WvCIc&feature=related

I think it's safe to say the Pepsi Generation misses MJ.

Piper Denna
Romance is sexy!

She begs, she pleads

Lone Star Trouble is up for a book-of-the-month award so I'm out campaigning for votes.

Here's the polling place:

Dark Divas reviews

What will I get if I win? A nifty graphic for my website, and bragging rights.

Autumn Piper
Got romance?