Celebration Time

Elvy Howard's New Year’s Resolution

I know, the holidays are over and everyone’s sick of them, but I’m doing a different sort of blog this time. At some point (recently) I realized I needed to celebrate more. To be specific, celebrate me more. 

You see, I’ve always been the kind of person who didn’t notice, or pay attention to my accomplishments. So, my New Year’s resolution is to correct this, ergo, my Hanukkah tablecloth. 

I made the tablecloth roughly fourteen or fifteen years ago. It’s six sided (for the six-sided Star of David) and has tacky, iron-on appliques originally designed for a do-it-yourself sweatshirt. That’s not the sort of thing I wear, so I used them for the tablecloth. 

Then my first grandchild, Lauren, was born and I had another idea.

And every year since, I have outlined her hand. Then her brother’s, Mason’s hand, when he came along. When my daughter’s twin boys’, Levi and Tyler, arrived almost two years ago, they got their hand prints put on the tablecloth, along-side their cousins’.

By now, we are beginning to run out of room for new handprints, but it won’t be a problem, we’ll just overlap them when we have to. My appliques are getting ragged, I had to color in a few candles that got lost in the wash, but it all adds to the charm of the thing. 

My one-of-a-kind Hanukkah tablecloth, shabby, falling apart, and loved, is one of my most prized possessions. It’s something between me, my grandkids, and our history as a family. 

I am inordinately proud of it. 

Here’s to whatever we are proud of, let’s all celebrate - - - US! 

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Watch for Elvy Howard's debut novel, Love on a Half Shell, coming winter 2013 from Edward Allen Publishing. Three parts love, two parts grit...the perfect recipe to save a family.

You, Too, Could Live Like an Erotica Writer

Just recently, I sold my first book, ILLICIT IMPULSE, to Ellora's Cave. My friends took me out to celebrate last weekend, and over drinks and dinner (in that order), I came to realize that they apparently think I lead some sort of glamorous life. Not like a celebrity – my friends have all seen what I drive – but I see the way their eyes light up when I mention research, and I hate to disappoint them by saying that I was reading about neurochemistry. There's no little gaggle of men following me around. I keep a hangover remedy in my refrigerator. I clean the litterboxes every morning. My life's pretty average, I thought.

Having said that, though, I did have this argument with myself between sips of champagne. That actually is kind of glamorous.

But we can all be glamorous like that. We just have to ask ourselves one question. We have to start doing it right now, while we are surrounded by people who are dedicating themselves to living more monastic lives this year.

We have to ask ourselves, "Why not?"

Let's take the champagne, for instance. I'm lucky to have such awesome friends to take me places where the champagne flows freely. Champagne is out there every day, though. It's not just for New Year's Eve or Sunday morning mimosas. Couldn't we be exchanging toasts on Thursday night?

Why not?

And what about dessert? I savor every bite of every dessert as if it's the last thing I'm ever going to taste. I've also been known to take myself out to restaurants just for dessert. That's not an everyday thing, but I do love taking up position at the bar for a cup of coffee and a warm slice of apple pie. It keeps my senses sharp, which is important for an erotica writer, but for the most part, it's just an indulgence.

Why not?

I should mention the research.

I almost hate to demystify what erotica research is for me, especially so soon after Santa Claus. But the ugly truth is that my research almost never requires physical contact with another human being. I mentioned the neuroscience earlier; I had to learn about oxytocin and pharmaceutical development to write ILLICIT IMPULSE. I thought it was fascinating, but it's not terribly glamorous. For the next book, research was reading the Safety Rules and Regulations sign at the batting cage to see whether it specifically prohibits having two people in there at once. Not fancy stuff.

Then there was the Discovery Flight.

I'm planning another story in which the hero and heroine were on a single-engine plane. At the time, I had never been on a single-engine plane, and it was important enough to the story that I needed to know what the experience was like. So I reached out to a flight school and explained my situation, hoping to see how big the plane was, how close my hero and heroine would be to each other, what they would be able to take with them. The flight instructor offered me a Discovery Flight. For a very reasonable fee, he said, I could go up in the plane with him. Then I'd really know what it was like.

Why not?

(I could write for hours about what the Discovery Flight is like, but you don't have that sort of time, so I'll leave you with a quote from the flight instructor. "Go ahead and take off. Try to keep it in the middle of the runway.")

Maybe this is glamorous. Champagne toasts, indulgent desserts, exciting research – it is a good life. But it's not reserved for erotica writers. Celebrate something (like a Wednesday) with champagne. Take yourself out for a luxuriant restaurant dessert because you like the way it tastes. Learn something outside your comfort zone. Now's the time – most people are going to be waiting in line for the machines at the gym.

Go for it. Why not?

**Alexa Day is hard at work on her second book, the follow-up to ILLICIT IMPULSE, but she's got space in her schedule for the occasional random dessert. You can catch her right here on the first Wednesday of the month (or the year!) for ways to make every day a little sexier. She also blogs every Thursday on her website, www.alexaday.net.

NEW YEARS EVE - countdown to 2013

As we get ready to ring in the new year, it's always a time of reflection for me. I like to look back on the year, the new friends I've made, the old friends I've reconnected with, the progress I've made with personal goals and all the fun along the way.

Here in our household we've always followed the tradition of fresh black-eyed peas on New Years Day for good luck. I start on Sunday soaking a good salty Virginia ham and on New Years Eve I'll be slow cooking that ham and the black-eyed peas together.

Now, it was news to me to learn today that you're supposed to eat collards for money. Who knew? Not me, and I have a garden full of fresh collards. I think I'll add them to the menu just for good measure, even if they don't sound too good together.

We stay home, the husband and I, on New Years Eve and we'll probably celebrate 2013 on the Greenland time zone. I can stay awake that long!

What will you be doing and what traditions do you follow?

About Nancy :: I am the author of the Adams Grove series and the co-author of the YA novel, inkBLOT. I write stories from the crossroad of small town and suspense.

Check out my website NancyNaigle.com and on facebook and twitter @NancyNaigle

Two more Adams Grove novels coming out in 2013. Wedding Cake and Big Mistakes will come out in July, followed by Pecan Pie and Deadly Lies around Labor Day.  Thanks so much for being a part of my journey.
Hugs and happy reading.

New year new me?

New Year, new me? Yeah, it sounds like a diet commercial,  but I'm the forever optimist. I believe in dreaming and hard work to accomplish the dream, but I am sane, and everyone has a different view of what those simple words could mean.

For me, part of my reality is striving me a better me - a better version of myself each year, professionally and personally. As we get older, we start to realize what is important - and let me just say, the things that I wanted in my twenties are not even on the list anymore. But, with a new year beginning, I have a real "chance" to start afresh.
If you never do more than think up an idea and do nothing to bring it to fruition then it remains just that - an idea.Maybe you just need a little push to reach deep down and trust yourself to create greatness. Confidence is the biggest tool needed for success. I think it is like a screwdriver. If you have a screwdriver you can repair almost anything.Here are my suggestions to push you forward to your destiny.

1. Surround yourself with positive people. The women here at W3 are an amazing bunch. They push me and encourage me to continue to try. There is beauty in trying. By having someone there, who can not only encourage, but listen and give timely advice, is precious. You too need to create a circle of like-minded people to surround yourself with (be it with one person, three or even twenty, having a confidant and someone who can continue to believe in you, when you doubt yourself, can make the difference between success and failure.)  

2. Write it down. To be a painter, you have to paint; to be a singer, you must sing; and to be a burlesque dancer, you have to know how to work with fans. Writing requires you to know craft but also just to put words down on the page. When you get words down you are closer to determining your writer's destiny.

3. The best tool to have though is a sense of humor - for you will need to have the ability to laugh at yourself (and the ability to connect with your readers). Life is too short not to appreciate the special moments, which will prove to be fodder for your creative pen.

So, on the first, after the clock strikes midnight, take your destiny by the hand and place your feet into those glass slippers. It is time for you to create your fairy tale. What are your plans to create a new you?

Here's to wishing you and yours a grand 2013 filled with joy, laughter and great writing!

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About Tina: I am the author of THOU SHALL NOT. I love creating three dimensional characters and am always looking for new people to kill…in my stories.

Check out my author's  blog at TinaGlasneck.com and my book is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You can also connect with me on Facebook and on Twitter.