Thursday, December 29

Big Bang Theory




















I was very excited on Christmas morning to receive in my stocking, season 4 of the best TV show in the world.... Big Bang Theory. I then spent the rest of the day, and some of the next watching it. It's one of those shows that the more you watch the funnier it becomes. And then when you go back to watch earlier episodes they make you laugh even more because you know the characters so well.

It's becoming, for me, like Friends. I can watch episodes over and over and never tire of them and always laugh. And, like Friends my favorite character changes all the time because each one of them has their quirks.

If you haven't ever watched it then I urge you to find the time. You won't regret it!

Here's a short description of the show:

Set in Pasadena, California, the show is centered on five characters: experimental physicist Leonard Hofstadter and theoretical physicist Sheldon Cooper, two roommate geniuses who work at the California Institute of Technology; Penny, a blonde waitress and aspiring actress who lives across the hall; and Leonard and Sheldon's equally geeky and socially awkward co-workers and friends Howard Wolowitz, an aerospace engineer and non-PhD from MIT, and Rajesh Koothrappali, an astrophysicist also working at Caltech. The geekiness and intellect of the four guys is contrasted for comic effect with Penny's social skills and common sense.

Friday, December 23

Good News Friday: New Cover!

Hi, guys.

I can finally reveal the cover for my May 22, 2012 release, Small Town Sinners Unbreak My Heart (Oops! I'm distracted, people!) Here it is. I'm smitten. Hope you like it!

Tuesday, December 6

A birthday surprise

When I was driving home after teaching a writing class this morning, I was listening to the radio and the host was making a big deal out of her friend's 35th birthday. "It's a big one, just like every birthday ending in an '0' or '5,'" she explained to her skeptical co-host. In my opinion, every birthday is a big deal and though I'm not having a "big one" for another 2 years, this discussion brought me down memory lane to my "big 3-oh."

I'm kind of a weirdo and since my birthday is 3-3-73 and I turned 30 in 2003, I thought that was pretty cool. What wasn't cool was getting sick on my birthday. Not just a cold, I mean stay-in-bed sick. I was so sick; it didn't even bother me that my husband hadn't planned a single thing. I just figured we'd go to a nice dinner once I felt better. So, anyway, my girlfriend called and said she realized I didn't feel well but if I go to her house she'll make sure my family and I get some dinner. I felt bad because she wanted to do something nice for my birthday and since it would just be our two families, I accepted. I put on a comfy pair of sweats and put my hair in a ponytail (probably with a scrunchie *cringe*) and we headed over to her house for some soup. Before we even got there, I knew it was a bad idea. I couldn't smile or act happy to see her when I felt that crappy. I was about to feel a whole heckova lot crappier when all my friends, dressed to the nines, jumped out and yelled "surprise!"

I still give my husband a hard time about that, wishing he would have at least recommended I put on a pair of jeans or brush my hair (or teeth?). But it was sweet of them to give me a party so I couldn't be too upset about it.

Have you ever had a "big birthday" that was a flop, whether no one remembered or you were sick or there was something that went wrong? Or are you one of the lucky ones whose birthdays truly are the most special days possible?

Monday, December 5

Favorite Books [Read] in 2011

We can sagely assume that all TFCer books are fabu so of the 154 books I've read so far this year, these are the other books I've read that I really loved:

YA

The Dark Devine, Bree Despain
The Miles Between, Mary E. Pearson
The Replacement, Brenna Yovanoff
The Unwritten Rule, Elizabeth Scott
Matched, Ally Condie
Across the Universe, Beth Revis
Brutal, Michael Harmon
Please Ignore Vera Dietz, A.S. King
Fat Kid Rules the World, K.L. Going
Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver
Some Girls Are, Courtney Summers
Will Grayson Will Grayson, John Green and David Levithan
The Chosen One, Carol Lynch Williams
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs
Okay for Now, Gary D. Schmidt
Cryer's Cross, Lisa McMahon
Divergent, Veronica Roth

ADULT

The Girl I Used to Be, David Cristofano
Still Alice, Lisa Genova
The Privileges, Jonathan Dee
The Old Romantic, Louise Dean
Gone, Mo Hayder
The Poison Tree, Erin Kelly
You Know When the Men Are Gone, Siobhan Fallon
The Complaints, Ian Rankin
Alice I Have Been, Melanie Benjamin
The Adults, Alison Espach
Voyeur, Daniel Judson
Rescue, Anita Shreve
The Weird Sisters, Eleanor Brown
Vaclav and Lena, Haley Tanner
Playdate, Thelma Adams
Cold Rain, Craig Smith
The Sisters Brothers, Patrick DeWitt
The Ninth Wife, Amy Stolls
The Tragedy of Arthur, Arthur Phillips
Stone Arabia, Dana Spiotta
The Kitchen Daughter, Jael McHenry
The Things that Kept Us Here, Carla Buckley
The Other Life, Ellen Meister
Names My Sisters Call Me, Megan Crane
Love in Translation, Wendy Nelson Tokunaga
When God Was a Rabbit, Sarah Winman
The End of Everything, Megan Abbott
Daughters of the Revolution, Carolyn Cooke
The Borrower, Rebecca Makkai
Headstone, Ken Bruen
The Cut, George Pelecanos
The End of the Wasp Season, Denise Mina
Hideout, Kathleen George
If Jack's In Love, Stephen Wetta
Sister, Rosamund Lupton
The Snowman, Jo Nesbo
The Winters in Bloom, Lisa Tucker

Wow! That's over 50 books - I'd say I just made your holiday sopping easier for you.

Now it's your turn: What have you really loved this year?

Be well. Don't forget to write.