Blog Talk Radio and other goodies

Kim Smith, writer and wonderful Blog Talk Radio host, interviewed me on Tuesday and to say I had a blast is putting it mildly. If you'd like to listen, click here and follow instructions on the screen.

Did I tell you about the totally terrific Bonnie Blose at Accessible World who invited me to spend an hour with her and her wonderful readers, talking about writing and love and life? I'll be back again for another visit at the end of August but you can listen to last month's free-wheeling chat right here. This was pretty much a writer's dream visit. Bonnie hosts a romance novel book club and somehow they found Sentimental Journey, a twenty year old Harlequin American Romance of mine. Sentimental Journey is one of my all-time favorite writing experiences. It was part of the wonderful Century of American Romances, a truly spectacular group of books that deserved a far wider audience than they received. Sentimental Journey was about the World War II homefront here in the United States and its follow-up book, Stranger in Paradise, continued the story during the McCarthy Era 1950s. Can you imagine my excitement when out of the blue I received an email from Bonnie and discovered that my books had found new readers after all this time? I love the internet!

I'm embarking on a gigantic blog tour on Monday so be prepared for lots of links. You're going to know everything there is to know about me (even things you'd rather not know!) by the time this is over.

Willa, my wonderfully talented web designer and jewelry maker, will be doing a cosmetic overhaul of the blog the next few days so there won't be any new content until Sunday or Monday.

I'll be posting at our other blog Romancing the Yarn so please check there for updates.

Laced With Magic goes on-sale Tuesday August 4th and I'm entering the Crazed Author Zone. As anyone who knows me can attest, I'm not too great at letting go of a manuscript. Given my druthers, I'd still be making revisions in the back of the truck as the books leave the printer.

Did I tell you that Publishers Weekly gave Laced With Magic a coveted starred review? In case you missed it:

Laced with Magic Barbara Bretton. Berkley, $15 paper (352p) ISBN 978-0-425-22752-7

Half-sorceress Chloe Hobbs and policeman Luke MacKenzie, the only humans in the sleepy Vermont town of Sugar Maple, face worldly and unearthly challenges in this sweetly charming sequel to 2008's Casting Spells. When Luke's ex-wife, Karen, shows up in town claiming that their dead daughter is trying to ask them for help, Chloe must deal with smalltown gossip and fix her relationship with Luke while she battles her old Fae enemy, Isadora, over the child's spirit and the future of Sugar Maple. Bretton seamlessly blends a playful world of eccentric and meddling supernatural creatures living in the midst of New England with a warm, natural and romantic story and just a hint of mystery. Scenes in Chloe's yarn shop and helpful knitting tips hold extra appeal for yarn aficionados while never distracting from the plot.

And Penguin posted an interview with me on their new paranormal website. You can find it here.

Jeremy Bredeson posted a wonderful review of Laced With Magic on Facing North, a terrific and very magical website I think you'll enjoy.

Oh, and did I tell you that all of our tomatoes are dead or dying thanks to the same blight that destroyed Ireland's potato crop? We finally decide to try our hand again at growing and a blight strikes up and down the east coast. I mean, what are the odds??

More to come. Stay tuned!

Blog Talk Radio at 8:30 pm EDT

I just realized it's a call-in show! If you have time and the inclination, please drop by!

Follow this link.

Best Wedding Entrance of All Time

Now this is a wedding to remember! Why be like everyone else when you can be true to yourselves? (It reminds me of the Robert & Amy wedding episode on Everybody Loves Raymond. Their first dance was to a remix of Elvis's A Little Less Conversation (A Little More Action.)

Enjoy! If this doesn't make you smile, nothing will.

Harvest!

It ain't much but it's all ours! Our first Topsy Turvy tomato is on the left. Plum tomato (a second one has been harvested) is next (like you didn't know, right?) Three container plant tomatoes from two separate containers on our deck.

The (meager) haul almost makes up for the fact that a storm the other night blew all the baby cucumbers off the vine and into oblivion.

Let's just say it's a good thing I'm a writer, not a farmer . . .

It's a book!

My editor sent me a copy, hot off the press!

Garden Report - July

If you forget about the dirt, the bugs, and the blazing sun, gardening's a lot of fun. You've probably already guessed that I'm not exactly Nature Girl. I'm not crazy about dirt, am scared witless by bugs, and don't believe in sweat which doesn't make me a great candidate for Gardener of the Year.

Want to know the Topsy Turvy target customer? You're reading her right now. This whole container gardening thing is pure genius and so far it's going pretty well.

Because there's (gardening) life beyond Topsy Turvy, here's a brief report.

1. Orange and yellow marigolds for no other reason than they're beautiful.



2. Crookneck squash, taken a few days ago. It's awash in big yellow flowers today.


3. Globe basil running amok.


4. Green peppers!


5. A tiny salsa pepper


6. Plum tomatoes, taken a few days ago. The tomato is now a deep red and the one next to it is catching up fast. Even better, two new tomatoes popped up.


7. English cucumbers plus very busy ant


8. Three defectors in search of freedom. They leaped off one of the plants and tried to make a run for it but I was too fast for them.

9. Zucchini? I can't remember.


We now have an adorable Japanese eggplant forming and, to my amazement and delight, a few ripening Topsy Turvys.

Not Stephanie Plum's New Jersey

The truth is I live very close to Stephanie Plum's New Jersey. Trenton isn't all that far away and God knows I've spent more than my share of hours wandering through Quakerbridge Mall on Route 1.

But here's the New Jersey I love, right in my own backyard:

Topsy Turvy Update

Make of this what you will.

Evian Roller Babies

You really need to watch this. Trust me!