Yes, Virginia, There is Another Blogger Going on Christmas Break

IN THE NEWS: "Police picked up two naked men on a late night bike ride in a New Zealand town but let them off with a warning: put on helmets. " Read more HERE.

Monday's big Kissing Blogfest was super great! I enjoyed reading everyone's kiss scenes so much that my cheeks hurt from smiling so much!

What a great way to end the year, because now it's time to say good-bye.
Good-bye. :)
I'll be on Christmas break until January 4th.
(Boo-hoo, I know)

So now I'll leave you with a bit of randomness that's been going on in my world:

**thought my hubby was going to strangle me the other day when he opened up the dollhouse box that I asked him to put together for Christmas.
Honestly, who knew there would be so many little pieces?

**I bought $50 worth of salmon at the supermarket yesterday! Yes! $50! (For Christmas Eve dinner) The woman working behind the counter handed me the fish with a stunned expression and murmured "May God bless you". :)

**Our family lit the last Advent candle in church this Sunday to a whopping 40 people in church. (we had a foot and a half of snow the night before)

**My sister-in-law called me yesterday to ask me if I had any ideas for gifts for our in-laws. On December 22! I think I blurted, "Are you for real?"
She was.
Unfortunately, I had no ideas to give her.

**I'm all wrapped and ready for Christmas, but I think I might head out to shop anyway and take advantage of some of the great sales today.

Whew! That's all from me. So...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Luke 2:1-14
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."








Have a wonderful Christmas, happy holidays, and see you next year!

Kissing Day Blogfest!!

MOOD STATUS: "Happy". Christmas is a few days away and I am totally together and non stressed. :) It's a blessing in itself!

RECENT IPOD DOWNLOAD: "Party in the USA" by Myley Cyrus.
(Don't judge me)


It's Monday, December 21st and you know what that means! Yes , but besides it being four days away from Christmas, it's
the Official Kissing Day Blogfest!

Curious? Confused? Want to know more? Check out Sherrinda's blog for details.
_________________________________________________________

I confess, it took me forever to decide on a kissing scene, because quite frankly...I thought they all stunk. LOL! And I also realized my characters don't kiss much.

But this kissing scene is from my future Avalon romance Georgie on His Mind.
(Keep in mind this is unedited)

Here's the set-up: My heroine Georgie is finding living with her overprotective brother Brad a bit stifling. In this scene she is out at dinner with her brother's best friend Walt (also our hero) where she drops an unsettling "bomb" which eventually leads to a kiss. :)

Kissing Scene:
Georgie’s shoulders slumped as she thought about Walt’s statement. She knew she was lucky to have such a great brother. With her parents gone, she would always have someone looking out for her, caring about her. But weren’t there limits to how stifling love could be?

Walt let out a laugh. “You don’t look as though you feel very lucky.”

She blinked up at him. “Oh, no, I know I’m lucky. Really. It’s just that Mom and Dad always watched over me because I was the baby in the family, and, well, now Brad has been treating me as though I haven’t shed the infant clothes. I think I need a little break from all this love I’ve been given. A little breathing room.”

“Oh?” Walt picked up his coffee and casually took another sip. “What do you mean by breathing room?”

“Well, I want to be free to do what I want. See who I want to see. At this point in my life I’m not interested in marriage—or dating someone who’s ‘good for me’ as Brad would say. I just want to have a little fun. You know, maybe have a fling, or something.”

Walt’s expression suddenly sobered. “A fling? You want a fling?”

Walt’s tone stirred up her defensiveness. She already knew where this conversation was headed—he obviously didn’t approve. Maybe “fling” wasn’t the best noun choice, but just the thought of forming any serious attachment made her stomach muscles tense.

“Yeah. That’s right.” She thrust her chin up and looked him square in the eye. “A fling. What do you think about that?”

He didn’t answer right away. His jaw clenched as he took out his wallet and tossed a handful of twenties on the table. “I think we should go before I say something that’ll spoil this evening. That’s what I think.” He stood and without sparing her another glance, stormed toward the front door.

Georgie snatched up her purse and waved a good-bye across the restaurant to Kendall and Dee as she scurried after him. “Wait!” she called once she got outside, but he continued to stomp out into the parking lot, heading straight for his car. “Wait! I knew it. I knew you’d think like Brad. But you don’t understand.”

Walt finally stopped beside his black SUV and whipped around, the expression on his face looking stonier than Mount Rushmore. “Oh, I understand all right. I understand perfectly. You want a no strings attached relationship instead of trying to find a nice man to get married and have babies with. Well, let me tell you this: women like you aren’t supposed to want flings. It’s wrong. It’s not supposed to be in your nature. So just—” He looked up at the night sky and raked his hands through his spiky hair. “I can’t believe I’m even having a conversation like this with you! Just what kind of woman are you?”

She drew herself up straight. “I’m a perfectly normal modern woman. Welcome to the twenty-first century. A simple fling is all I’m looking for at this point in my life. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Oh, is that right?” Walt took a menacing step toward her, his face suddenly inches from hers. She felt her breath being sucked from her lungs as she looked up and saw his eyes lit with a frightening combination of anger and frustration and… desire.

He put his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. “Well, all right,” he said, low and husky, “if you’re looking for a fling, then maybe you should go and have yourself one.”

Before her mind could wrap around what was happening, his mouth came down on hers. And it was bliss. Her purse slipped through her hands and she went limp, allowing her body to melt into his. His chest was hard and warm, and felt so good against the contrast of the cool evening night surrounding them. She had wanted to kiss him like this, wanted to know what it would be like, but never in a million years had she thought kissing Walt Somers would be this good.

She smelled the piney scent of his cologne and felt the beating of his heart. She slid her arms around his neck and played with the ends of his fine hair as she explored more of his mouth, enjoying its unique taste and the softness of his lips. Then suddenly, Walt jerked his head back, holding her at arms length.
* * *

And that's all, folks. :)

Now pass the mistletoe!

Are you posting a scene, too?

Tagged, an Award-and an Opinion (Good Things come in 3's)

IN THE NEWS: Mom sniffs out son's alleged stink-bomb plot. Read more HERE

A DOUBLE thanks to Wendy over at All in a Day's Thought for giving me this "Super Comments" award and for tagging me with this question list that's been ALL OVER THE INTERNET. I know way too much about you people!

Kidding.

Okay, half kidding.

I'm cutting mine short, though, because I was tired last night and went to bed early. Sorry to be a party pooper. ( I'm sure you'll live.)

But here goes for what I have:

What's the last thing you wrote? What's the first thing you wrote that you still have?
The last: Sunny Days for Sam--the sweet romance I recently finished.
The first: A book report I did in fourth grade on The Secret of the Mansion by Julie Campbell. (I got an A, although my teacher said my writing was a bit sloppy)

Write poetry?
Never

Angsty poetry?
Zzzzzzzzzzzz

Favorite genre of writing?
Romance, women's fiction, chick-lit

Most annoying character you've ever created? "Georgie" from Georgie on His Mind which will be published next year. (Yeah, I know. I'm sure I'm really selling this) But she's very immature. So much so, that I almost thought about making this book a YA. (I'm glad I didn't)

Best Plot you've ever created?
Meh. I'm still working on one. Most of my books aren't cleverly plotted. They're more character driven.

Coolest Plot twist you've ever created?
It's not really COOL as much as CUTE. I ended up making a character (Georgie) enter her brother in a "win a date with a celebrity" contest, but she ended up winning the date herself. (It created a lot of problems for my hero) LOL

How often do you get writer's block?
Never. But I do suffer from periods of pure laziness. :)


Write fan fiction?
Nope.

Do you type or write by hand?
I usually type to write, but I plot on paper by hand and jot down ideas for scenes on TONS of sticky notes.

Do you save everything you write?
Yup. Even stuff I know I will never want to look at again. (Never say never, right?)

Do you ever go back to an idea after you've abandoned it?
Sometimes. If I really feel it can work.

What's your favorite thing you've ever written?
A book that was never good enough to be published! I guess it's just that one "book of my heart".


What's everyone else's favorite story that you've written?
The Role of a Lifetime. Even my friend who read the book that Avalon Books bought, said she still liked The Role of a Lifetime the best. Go figure.

And now for your opinion:

Have you seen this commercial yet?



Am I the only one who finds this commercial a bit creepy and...just wrong?

What do you think?
Does this commercial cross the line or is it harmless fun?

Christmas Progress #1

MOOD STATUS: "Excited". Getting a TV in the bedroom today!

Since I haven't been working on anything new for Work In Progress Wednesday **cough cough** I figured I'd post my Christmas In Progress. :)

Christmas cards sent Piece of cake

Four kinds of Christmas cookies made (2 more to go) I've been really good this year. I've only had two measly cookies so far. TWO! Such willpower...

3 and 1/2 people to still buy for But I know what I'm going to buy. That has to count for something.

All wrapped (for the presents I have) It's really not so bad when you do a little each day

Christmas Eve dinner semi planned. Another piece of cake. I've made Christmas Eve dinner so many time I can do it blindfolded. Uh, but please don't blindfold me.

Am I together or what?

Ah, but just in case you haven't been as productive...here are some super cool websites you can use in a crunch: (courtesy of the Press of Atlantic City)

Youngexplorers.com ( a lot of award winning toys there)

Moma.org (cool and stylish gifts)

Pearlriver.com (tons of interesting stocking stuffers and gifts)

Giftgenius.com (tons of ideas for that hard-to-buy-for person)

Looking for the perfect book for your kiddo? Try Scholastic.com. The "parents" section has tons of advice and reading lists that are age appropriate.

Whew!

What's left to do on your Christmas list?

Good News/Bad News and a reminder to update your website!

IN THE NEWS: Authorities say angry driver crashed into DMV. Read more here.

Happy Monday! It's that time again for good news/bad news.

Here's the good: I had a literary agent e-mail me last week.

I shouldn't say a literary agent. Actually, she's a pretty prominent literary agent, so of course I thought it was a joke. (A mean joke at that) But it was no joke.

Did I query any agents? Well, no.

Am I looking for a literary agent now? Well, no.

But here's what happened: I sent in my info to the RWA so they could announce my second sale. That was back in August when I sent it in. The announcement went in the RWA enotes last week. (Actually, I thought they lost it, since technically by now it's not really "news" anymore.) But anyway, this is what it said:

Jennifer Shirk announces her second sale to editor Faith Black of Avalon Books. GEORGIE ON HIS MIND features a young woman who comes up with a way to keep her independence, but her brother’s best friend interferes with those plans and soon has her thinking that maybe being an independent woman isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Visit Shirk at www.jennifershirk.com

Big deal, right? Well, apparently I'm not the only one who reads those RWA enotes! Because the next day an agent e-mailed me to tell me congrats on my sale and that she thought my blurb sounded interesting, so she went to my website. She said my excerpt made her smile and that she was looking to expand her romance author list, yada yada yada.

I have to be honest, the first thing that went through my mind was "OH MY GOSH, I JUST UPDATED MY WEBSITE!!" Co-inky-dink that RWA was almost 4 months late in posting my announcement and just days before my website revamp was completed? Uh, I think not. God's hands were all over that one.

Now the bad news: After my hubby scraped me off the ceiling, I was able to think and respond clearly. I had to be upfront and tell the agent that at this point in my puny career, I don't need an agent. (I'm able to submit to Harlequin, Avalon, Samhain, etc.. without one) I really don't know what I plan on doing in the future. But she was so kind and gracious and told me to submit to her when I was ready. Which I definitely will now!

So remember to keep your website updated. You never know who's clicking on your link.

Well, that added a little extra excitement this Christmas. :)

I really felt very humbled by the whole experience. Especially since I've been praying for some direction in my writing. I'm not sure if this is my answer, but it's something I'm going to keep in mind and continue to pray about before the year is out.

What about you? Are you thinking about making any changes in your writing career for the new year?

Spotlight:Forgivable Flaws

MOOD STATUS: "Groggy". Woke up at 2AM, stayed up for over an hour and then went back to bed. Not feeling quite rested.

Well, today is the last day of the spotlight feature on me over at The Long and Short Reviews. (I bet you're glad!)

Today is also the last day to be entered in their drawing to win a copy of my romantic comedy: The Role of a Lifetime. So leave a comment on their blog and you'll be entered. Easy peasy. :)

Today I'm talking about "Forgivable Flaws" in your characters. Come on over HERE and tell me what you think is a no-no in romance characters.

Spotlight: Inspiration all Around

IN THE NEWS: Police near Cleveland say a man dressed as Santa Claus tried to kidnap a 12-year-old girl walking to school. Read more HERE.

I forgot how much work would be involved putting in all my favorite links in my new laptop. *sigh* It almost has that homey feel. I just need to break it in a bit more. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In other chit-chat...

And in case you're just joining us (only two days left of this, folks),

The Long and Short of It Reviews is holding a contest to win a free autographed copy of my sweet romantic comedy, The Role of a Lifetime. To be entered in the contest, leave a comment over at their blog.
They will draw a winner at the end of the week.

Today I'm talking about "Inspiration all Around" and how I first came up with the idea for The Role of a Lifetime and my upcoming book, Georgie on His Mind.

Stop by HERE and share how you write.
What comes first for you, scene or character or something else entirely?

Spotlight: What's so funny?

MOOD STATUS: "Psyched". I FINALLY have Internet connection on my laptop.

I'm coming to you live (well, not really live. I've posted this hours ago) from my HP Laptop, which finally has Internet connection. Yay!

I'm over at The Long and Short of It Reviews--again--doing what I do best:

chit-chatting. :)

Today I'm talking about "What's so funny?" in writing.
Come on over to their blog and share what makes you laugh when you're reading a book.

(Gingerbread house the kiddo made)

I'm using it as Christmas decoration in my kitchen!

Spotlight: Healthy Routines

IN THE NEWS: Tenn. man says cows licked $100 in damage to house. Read more HERE.

Hey, ya'll.

(Huh, I'm not even southern! But I have been watching a lot of Paula Deen. :)

Anyhew...come on over to The Long and Short of It Reviews. I'm talking about "Healthy Routines".

Do you have one? Come share yours and enter in the drawing to win my book!

PS. That's my tree. (Finally a picture) :)

Spotlight on...ME :) (and a cookie winner!)

MENTAL STATUS: "Groovy". Made a gingerbread house with the kiddo and her friend and even managed to wrap some gifts!

A BIG THANKS to everyone who participated in my cookie swap contest! I copied a lot of great cookie recipes as a result. :)

But the winner of the free one lb gift bag of Crazy Susan cookies is... Stephanie!
Congrats, girl!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In other news...

I was fortunate enough to win a special spotlight feature at the Long and Short of It Review site. Woo-hoo!

I will be posting there all this week at their blog.

The Long and Short of It Reviews are also holding a contest to win a free autographed copy of my sweet romantic comedy The Role of a Lifetime.

To be entered in the contest, leave a comment over at their blog. They will draw a winner at the end of the week.

Wow. Another giveaway. You'd think it was Christmas time or something.

Oh wait. It is! :)

Today I'm talking about "Unexpected Directions".

Come on over to their blog and share how you got started writing in your genre!

Keep the Cookies Coming!

Good news! You still have until midnight tonight to enter my cookie swap contest!

I know. You don't want to part with your old great aunt's cookie recipe, right? Well, I'm sorry, but it's time.

So if you DO decide to share the recipe, post HERE and let me know what kind of cookie.

Thanks to all who entered so far! They all sound so delicious!!

Good luck!

Christmas Cookie Swap Time!!

IN THE NEWS: Ariz. board sued over fish pedicure squabble. Read more HERE.

Since I was recently invited to a Christmas cookie swap, I thought it would be kind of fun to do a virtual cookie swap here in the blogosphere.
WITH A PRIZE!

Here are the rules: Between now and midnight Saturday, December 5, 2009, post your favorite Christmas cookie recipe on your blog. One you would make for a cookie swap. After you post your recipe on your blog, comment here in the comment section and let me know what cookie you're "making". Easy peasy.
I will draw a winner on Sunday December 6th from all the commenters/participators and I will send that lucky winner a one pound gift package of Crazy Susan's cookies. The winner will be announced on Monday December 7th.

What's Crazy Susan's and do I want a cookie from someone crazy?
In a word...YES.
Yes, you do.

In fact, their Crazy Turtle cookie was recently featured on the Rachel Ray Show as their "Snack of the Day". Trust me. These cookies are scratch your eyes out good!

ONE more Rule, though. Cookie swappers MUST live in the United States.
Sorry. Dem da rules.

Bonus: Anyone is invited to the cookie swap although you might not be eligible for the prize depending on where you live. (See above) :)
If you spread the word about my contest and let me know, I'll enter your name in again for the drawing. That's two entries for the price of one! Well, actually there's no price. It's a free contest. But you know what I mean...

Here's my cookie I'm bringing to the swap: I actually posted this recipe last year on my blog when I made it for a cookie swap, but it's so good, I actually had REQUESTS to make it again for this year.

Warning: This cookie is not for the lighthearted of bakers. It's a lot of work. But REALLY worth it.

CARAMEL PECAN COOKIES

For crust
Ingredients for basic butter cookies: HERE

For caramel pecan topping
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups pecans (1/2 lb), toasted , cooled, and coarsely chopped

Preparation Make crust:
Grease a 13- by 9-inch metal baking pan, then line with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on both ends, and grease foil.

Follow recipe for basic butter cookies to make dough (do not chill), then press dough evenly onto bottom of baking pan, using plastic wrap on top to prevent dough from sticking to your fingers, and chill until firm, about 20 minutes.

While crust chills, put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.

Bake crust until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 20 minutes. (Leave oven on.)

Make topping while crust cools:
Cook sugar in a 2 1/2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a fork, until sugar is melted to a deep golden caramel. Tilt pan and carefully pour in cream (caramel will harden and steam vigorously). Cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until caramel is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in butter, vanilla, salt, and pecans.

Immediately spread topping over cooled crust and bake until bubbling, about 20 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack, about 2 hours.

Run a heavy knife under hot water, then wipe dry and cut confection into 2-inch triangles, diamonds, or squares.

Cooks' note:
Cookies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.


Merry Christmas!

Now who's in the mood for a cookie?