Favorite Thanksgiving Food

Okay, so admittedly, dungeness crab probably isn't on the top of your traditional Thanksgiving meal list, but it is on mine. I live in the San Francisco bay area and the dungeness crab season just happens to hit full throttle right around Turkey day. Since I was little, there have been many Thanksgivings where my dad has gone across the bridge to Fisherman's warf and picked up fresh crab for us to enjoy at lunch on Thanksgiving. It's followed by a typical Thanksgiving dinner, but the crab has always been the best part for me. Only in California, right? LOL.

But seriously, when I was trying to come up with my favorite Thanksgiving food it was either crab or brussel sprouts. I'm a weirdo, I know. It drives my family (i.e. husband) crazy that I don't love Thanksgiving dinner. I could seriously do with just the crab and sourdough bread.

So what about you...

Do you have a favorite thing you cook/like to eat for Thanksgiving? (Traditional or untraditional?) What's your favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal?

Five Things You Didn't Know About Me

1. I was a Star Wars maniac. I've seen the original film over 100 times. I used to have a mad crush on Mark Hamill (including pictures of him in my school locker). Apparently I never outgrew this "trekkie" type of personality quirk because I did the same thing with Lord of the Rings (including midnight showings to all three movies).
2. I don't like casseroles. "Cream of [fill in the blank]" makes me want to . . . enough said. This amuses one of my CPs greatly. She's always threatening to invite me over to dinner for casserole night.
3. I played piano for almost 10 years and danced ballet for over 12 years. I was only passably talented at both.
4. I was a huge Elvis fan. I still remember the day my Dad came home and told me he'd died, I was crushed. I've seen every movie, read tons of books, own most of his music, and visited Graceland. Oh yea, I'm the same age as Lisa Marie, too. :)
5. I've lived in (at least) 8 different states and the District of Columbia: California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Massachusetts, and Minnesota.

Yes, I took this idea from a tabloid magazine.

What about you. . . want to tell me one thing I don't know about you?

Mini-Update

Can you believe the holiday season is almost upon us? We've been planning an island vacation over Thanksgiving for months, I can't believe it's almost here. I thought I'd do a little mini-update on some of my recent blogs.

1. Are you a Sparrow or an Apple? I forgot to mention the other recent trend towards crazy spellings. My husband and I have been watching the world series (shocking!) and I noticed the spelling of one of the guys: "Jayson." Now tell me, what is wrong with Jason? LOL.
   
   
2. I'm So Excited I Need to Share: If you didn't win a cover flat you can now read the back of the book blurb here.
   
   

1. When it Rains it Pours: You are not going to believe this. Last week our water heater went out! Turns out it needed a new heating element. I am not asking what else could go wrong, because I don't want to know!
   
   
2. Back to School . . . Only two more tailgates left. Sigh. I wish football season was longer. Although after 'SCs loss last weekend, I may need a break.
   
   
3. Looking for Something to Read: I re-read a few of Susan Elizabeth's books YET AGAIN. I never re-read books so this is something of a rarity for me. I was still struggling to find something to read and decided to go back to some of my old favorites. I picked up a Nelson Demille that I hadn't read and fell in love with him all over again. Such a great writer.
   
   
4. Monica's Scary Movie: I still haven't been back to a theater. Seriously. I may have developed a phobia.
   
   
5. The Freshman Twenty at Forty: Well it's taken me over three months, but I've lost almost 15 pounds! I must admit, I'm pretty proud of myself. It wasn't easy. I used a meal replacement service for the first three weeks that really helped. Let's hope I can keep it off!
   
   

So what have you been up to, lately? I'm plugging away on book #2, not looking forward to a January 1st deadline. Ugh.

Are you a Sparrow or an Apple?

Above is a clip from one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes called "The Seven," when George tells some friends that they should name their new baby "Soda" or "Seven" (after Mickey Mantle). I bet they never imagined that they tongue-in-cheek roasting of the trend toward "unusual" (for lack of a better word) baby names was only just beginning. I think I'd rather be named Seven than Sparrow, LOL.

Picking names isn't easy--even for characters. I get to cheat a little because most of the time my characters are based on "real" historical figures. But this also creates some challenges. In medieval/Stewart Scotland if you want to stay true to the period the choices are, shall we say, extremely limited. I've just about exhausted them all. Seriously. I've had: Rory, Alex, Lachlan, Jamie, Patrick, and Duncan for heroes, and numerous Callums, Colins, etc, for secondary characters. Women's names are just as difficult. I'm going to be repeating a couple in the next series (Lachlan and Alex).

What if you could pick your name, what would it be? I'm not a big Monica fan (especially after the Clinton thing). I'd probably choose something traditional like Katherine and go by Katie.

WINNERS!

The winners are:

Jane

Lexi

Diane W.

B.E.

Samantha

And what the heck, PJ and Natalie, you guys too. :)

Please send your snail mail addy to the email on my website!

I'm So Excited, I need to Share!

I just received my coverflats for THE CHIEF and they are amazing. Ballantine really outdid themselves--the cover is absolutely gorgeous. This is definitely my favorite yet. (Ing, if you are reading this, yes, I think it is even better than Rory's arm, LOL).

A coverflat is basically the front and back cover without the book inside. Unlike the JPEG above, it's got the fancy embossed metallic writing, the matte finish, a subtle plaid on the spine and back, and a book blurb (not yet posted, BTW).

So as a reward for the faithful, I want to give some of these babies away.

I will send ONE signed coverflat to each of the first FIVE eligible commenters who comment on this blog. To be eligible you must have commented on at least of of my three previous blogs (Oct. 3, Sept. 26 or Sept. 15). It would be helpful if you indicate which blog in your response (so I can check it faster). Once I post the winners, you will need to send your snail mail addy to the email on my website.

Can't wait for you guys to see these in the stores!

WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS

We lived in a condo for a number of years before our kids were born, and right now that is sounding really good. I've had a couple of bad homeowner weeks. We have a little family joke around here about how I sometimes wish I were married to Norm Abraham (above) or Bob Villa. My hubby might be able to hit a baseball out of the park, but let's just say (nicely) handyman he is not. His motto: if it can't be fixed with a hammer, it can't be fixed. Seriously. Isn't there some law out there that guys are supposed to be good at this stuff? In my book: A man who knows how to use tools = uber sexy.

Especially right now.

People always say bad things come in threes...not. Try five. The past couple of weeks we have had: an electrical wire burn in our attic causing one circuit to go out, a cracked pipe in the kitchen sink, a cracked sprinkler pipe, a broken sprinkler pipe (different one) that leaked into the basement, and a broken clothes dryer that needed to be replaced. I should have married a plumber.

What I've learned: I do not handle this kind of stress well. I just hope I get a break for a while.

So what about you...what's your worst housing nightmare? Are you lucky enough to have someone handy in your life? Can I have their number? :)

P.S. I'm in RT this month. If you don't subscribe you can see it here.

Also, author Kelly L Stone recently interviewed me for her second book for aspiring writers. The book is called Thinking Write: The Secret to Freeing Your Creative Mind, and it's about how to use the power of your subconscious mind to maximize your creative output and attain all of your writing aspirations. I'm looking forward to reading how my comments came out. :)