Fresh Content Daily . . . Maybe

Charmed: A Sugar Maple short story

2011-11-12T06:27:00.000-08:00

Stay tuned for information on where to read Charmed: A Sugar Maple short story.

In the meantime, enjoy the video!

FIRE'S LADY Trailer

2011-10-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

Courtesy the wonderful people at ePW.

A Skillet, a Spatula, and a Dream

2011-08-13T13:51:00.001-07:00

Here's what I did on my summer vacation:

Currently 99 cents at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. Stories with recipes. Recipes with stories. All for under a buck. How can you go wrong??

Good night. Good morning. Whatever.

2011-06-02T00:59:00.001-07:00

It's almost 4 a.m. and I'm trying to unwind enough to go to bed. I'm in the last throes of deadline psychosis and I can't tell night from day. So goes the life of the working writer.

About three weeks ago I took away my knitting needles and I refuse to give them back to myself until I finish the book. It's very good incentive but it makes me exceedingly sad to be without.

So here's a sweater I knitted earlier this winter for one of our family's new babies.

This is the Seamless Baby Sweater designed by Emily Watts and I found it (where else?) on Ravelry.

I used Noro Silk Garden #8 which was probably a ridiculous choice for a baby but I love it. Totally love it. I think I used a 24 inch US6 circular but don't quote me.

It's an easy, satisfying knit that makes a great gift.

Midnight Lover now an eBook!

2011-05-27T12:58:00.001-07:00

So here I go, taking my first step into the world of digital books with Midnight Lover, my 1989 western historical romance originally published by Pocket.

I'd be much obliged if you'd set a spell and check it out.

Right now it's available only at Barnes and Noble but will be hitting the other major retailers within the next few weeks.

If you'd like to download a sample or (even better) buy yourself a copy, click this link and enjoy!

Jacqueline Kennedy Interviews from1964

2011-05-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

Apparently Jacqueline Kennedy taped hours of conversation with historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. not long after President Kennedy's assassination with the idea of having them released at some date far into the future.

Diane Sawyer will host a special in September where the tapes will be played for the listening public. The tapes will coincide with release of a book featuring text of the conversations.

I'm not a Kennedy groupie by any means but I always admired the former First Lady for keeping her own counsel all those decades. Except for one publishing-oriented interview she never spoke publicly about her personal life and times. Ever. She even burned all of her personal letters and journals a few days before her death. So there is definitely some historical significance to this release.

But here's my question: will anyone under 50 be interested?

Another new baby in the family

2011-05-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

Our next-to-newest member of the family, Kingston, was born earlier this year. (Isn't he adorable?) Now don't ask me why I made a New England winter hoodie for a Southern California baby but knitters sometimes think with their hearts, not their heads.

This is the Easy Baby Cardigan by Diane Soucy for Knitting Pure & Simple and it really is wonderfully easy.

2 skeins Sirdar Crofter DK 0049
US6 needles

You can use an I-cord tie or work buttonholes. Lots of places in this pattern to make your own choices. I ended up making it a pullover hoodie instead of a hooded cardigan. I also made matching socks and mitts with the leftover yarn.

Another highly recommended pattern.

Not that I'm partial or anything but that is one cute baby boy.

Patriotic Baby Stuff

2011-05-23T22:05:00.000-07:00

These were made for a U.S. Marine family's baby boy.

Yarn: Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka, #1776
Needles: US#1
Socks: my own top-down pattern
Hat: Lyric by Laurie Lee

Quick, easy knits.

Cabled Keyhole Scarf

2011-05-20T13:48:00.001-07:00

This is Anne Hanson's Cabled Keyhole Scarf. I celebrated New Year's Eve working on it and I must say a good time was had by all. The friend I made it for loves it and I'm delighted.

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed Aran, 1.01 skeins.
Needles: US6

I would probably knit an extra few inches next time I make it. As it is it's a little snug for larger necks.

This is a clearly written, easy to knit pattern with just enough going on to keep your interest. Definitely recommended.

Spenser books will continue

2011-05-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

I've been spending time talking with other Robert B. Parker fans on Facebook and found out that his estate has decided Spenser and Stone will continue without the master at the helm. Ace Atkins will be writing the Spenser series and Michael Brandman will write the Jesse Stones.

I honestly don't know how I feel about this. While I am not at all ready to say goodbye to Spenser and Hawk and even Susan, I'm not convinced another writer can do justice to Parker's series characters. They are so complex, so nuanced, so deeply a part of his writer's psyche and experience -- how can anyone match his skill?

I guess we'll find out very soon.

Kali the Food Goddess: another 5* review

2011-05-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

Kali Amanda Browne has been posting food essays and recipes on my website for years now, building a devoted readership and adding immeasurable fun to the proceedings. She's a witty, literate writer with a sharp eye for nuance and detail and those qualities shine through in every essay in Kali, The Food Goddess: A Compilation of Delightful Recipes and Memories of Food.

And the recipes? Wonderful multicultural offerings (should I say "fusion"?) that blend all that's best about Caribbean/American/Spanish/Chinese/Middle Eastern cuisines. She's a global culinary force to be reckoned with, one of those rare cooks who combine art and practicality in their creations. Do yourself a favor and give this cookbook a try, if only for the wonderful story about the Chinese influence in Puerto Rico and the recipe for stuffed peppers. Trust me. You won't be disappointed!

You can buy your own e-copy here.

JUSTIFIED: a 5* novel by Kali Amanda Browne

2011-05-16T18:17:00.000-07:00

In the interest of full disclosure, author Kali Amanda Browne is a good friend of mine (and yours: she's our beloved Food Goddess) but trust me, friendship doesn't mean much at all when it comes to novels. In fact, knowing the author often makes the reading experience an exercise in pain and anxiety. Trust me when I say, nothing is harder than reading a novel written by a friend. It's very difficult to separate the friend you know and love from the work of fiction in your hand. With JUSTIFIED, Kali Amanda Browne did the impossible: before the first chapter ended I was so deeply immersed in her fictional world that I forgot she had written it and settled in for a great read.

And JUSTIFIED is a great read. Murder, betrayal, sly humor, witty dialogue, laugh-out-loud moments interspersed with real emotion. The characters are real, the dialogue crackles, the ending surprises. What more can a reader ask for? Well, maybe one thing: a sequel featuring Carmen and Sean. Highly recommended.

Click here to check it out!

ET Dice Bag

2011-05-15T13:33:00.001-07:00

A friend and his wife were expecting their second daughter. I was busily working on some booties for her arrival when it occurred to me that her four year old big sister might be feeling a little left out. Enter the ET Dice Bag pattern by Elizabeth Thomas.

I used less than half a skein of Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Aran Tweed and size 5US needle. (The pattern calls for dpns but I substituted Magic Loop and two-circs depending on my mood of the moment.)

Fast. Easy. Totally adorable. Highly recommended!

Cherry Ames on Kindle!

2011-05-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

Brave new world: Cherry Ames has gone Kindle! Now if the Vicki Barr Airline Hostess series and Beany Malone books make the transition too, I will be one very happy, very nostalgic reader.

I Don't Do Hats

2011-05-14T13:21:00.001-07:00

I'm not a hat lover. I look a total idiot in hats. But I've got to tell you this winter was so cold and so snowy that even I, an avowed anti-hat kind of girl, gave in and yanked one on.

And boy did I pick a winner. Now there are those who might (unkindly) say that I am way too old to wear a Thorpe but when you're digging your way through a few feet of snow in sub-zero wind chill, trust me when I say Thorpe is your only choice!

This is a fun knit. Easy and quick and it keeps your ears worn in a winter storm. What more can you ask for?

SPECS: One skein Noro Iro; size 9US needles

I made this one for my niece in Huntington Beach. When it comes to cold YMMV.

You can find the pattern for Thorpe right here.

Bloomin' Babies

2011-05-11T09:24:00.001-07:00

I don't know about your world but my world seems to be popping with babies. Every time I turn around another relative or friend is announcing another grandbaby on the horizon.

From January through April my needles were flying!

This was made for my old friend Pat's first grandson, Ryan, who arrived early this year. Pat and I lived a block and a half from each other back in Queens. We chased the Beatles together. She even caught the bouquet at my wedding! I can't express how sentimental knitting something for her first grandchild made me feel.

SNUG by Hinke can be found on Ravelry.

The mitts are Wee Baby Mitts by Christine Vogel. They also can be found on Ravelry. (Is there anything that can't?) The booties are Greemy Booties by Machelle Salmeen. The cap is Welcome to the World Newborn Cap by Nona.

The cap, booties, and mitts are all worked in leftover Schoeller + Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka Color #4008. The snug was Sirdar Highlander Chunky trimmed in the Fortissima.

I have to admit I started to understand why everyone loves knitting for babies. The FOs come fast and furious and there's something unbelievably satisfying about seeing a tiny person wearing the garment you knitted.

For awhile I couldn't stop making those Greemy booties. I think I was obsessed with them to be honest. Is there a baby item you just can't seem to stop knitting?

Knitterly Milestone

2011-05-10T18:50:00.001-07:00

I know I've been very quiet but that doesn't mean I haven't been knitting. (Or writing for that matter but that's for another post.)

Last month I had the absolute pleasure and honor of being one of Dusty Mills's test knitter. If you don't recognize her name, I'll bet you know her from The Knit Life. I volunteered to test knit CHIPPEWA, a stranded hat that I knew would definitely stretch my skills.

What a terrific pattern! (And I'm not just saying that because I'm part Chippewa.) Even better, a portion of the proceeds will go to Friends of Pine Ridge.

I have so many things to show you. I did a ton of knitting during our long, cold winter here in central NJ. Mostly baby items because it seems that suddenly everyone I know is expecting a grandbaby.

This may not be a long post but it's a start. Hope to see you again tomorrow.

Furniture Race 2006

2011-01-24T12:07:00.000-08:00

Finally a sport I can understand!

Beyond Her Blog

2011-01-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much to Barbara Vey and Tammy for the kind words about Spun by Sorcery! What a nice way to start the day.

Wait! What was that? You've never read Barbara Vey's wonderful blog? Then hie thee over to PW and check it out.

I'll make it easy for you. Click here and see what you've been missing.

BTW, I've been posting way too much over at Facebook. If you want to see what I've been up to, make sure to follow me.

Guest Column at Dear Reader

2010-09-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

I'm filling in today for the incomparable Suzanne Beecher at Dear Reader and invite you to stop by and read about my Grandmother, a thermos of gin, and the day I almost floated across the Atlantic.

(If you're not familiar with Dear Reader, take a moment to check it out. Suzanne offers a wonderful book sampling service ...and the best daily letters on the internet.)

(And if you haven't read her book MUFFINS AND MAYHEM: RECIPES FOR A HAPPY [IF DISORDERLY] LIFE, what are you waiting for?)

Somebody Stop Me

2010-08-08T19:34:00.001-07:00

I need an intervention. Seriously. I can't seem to stop knitting Baby Uggs.

They keep popping onto my needles when I'm not looking and a couple of hours later, there I am embroidering the white fluffy parts and wondering how I ended up with another pair of finished Uggs.

Believe me, they're cuter than the photo would lead you to believe. I should've stuffed the toes with cotton and done all the stuff a serious knitwear photographer would do but I'm a writer, Jim, not a photographer and sometimes the best I can do is point, shoot, and pray.

Speaking of socks, there's still something to be said for the thrill of knitting a very plain sock in a very fanciful yarn. That's Regia 4-fadig Square below and I can tell you it was a pure joy to knit with. Bright juicy colors, fun patterning, Regia quality. Square made plain old stockinette fun.

Did I mention my cowl obsession? It started late last year with Tudora and continues apace. That's the start of Thermis below. I'm about 80% finished now so a (bad) finished photo should be coming in the next day or two.

Don't say I didn't warn you!

GIVEAWAY WINNER: Kathy M won the evil baby yarn. (Say a prayer for her, okay?)

NEW GIVEAWAY: If you'd like to win two skeins of Regia Square in the colorway shown above, drop me a note here with Square in the subject. Winner will be announced Tuesday evening.

Tiny Tea Leaves Cardi from Hell

2010-08-05T19:02:00.000-07:00

Oh, I know it looks all innocent over there, wide-eyed and pink and oh-so-sweet but don't you believe it for a moment. That cardi is the devil's workshop.

The pattern was beautifully simple, clear, well-written, error-free. You couldn't ask for more. So why oh why did I struggle so much with the #*@*!@( thing?

I'll tell you why: the yarn. Plymouth Baby Boutique (also spelled Boutic on some ball bands) (See what I mean? If the yarn doesn't know its own name how can you trust it?) made me totally crazy. I swear it has a life of its own. It's not meant to be a stretchy yarn but some end-of-row stitches stretched out to three and four times their length. And let me tell you, that's one scary sight when you have almost 300 stitches on your needles and no desire to tink, frog, or jump off a high building.

It's a mystery, that's what it is. A knitting mystery. Stretchy yarn shouldn't stretch like that. And it shouldn't spring back into position as if it never happened. Shouldn't there be a calling card left behind? Some little hint that the knitter at the helm isn't crazy? That the whole now-you-see-it-now-you-don't thing wasn't a figment of her imagination?

Don't answer that.

In case you were wondering, I have been sucked into the Facebook universe and am struggling to return to the land of Blogger where thoughts can be expressed in more than three sentences. But oh how I've come to love Facebook and if you're over there too, please friend me. (I never thought I'd type that sentence. "Please friend me." Friend as a verb. Oy.)

SPUN BY SORCERY is set for release in November and my anxiety attacks are gearing up in preparation. I'm hard a work on Sugar Maple #4 and struggling to come up with a title that combines magic and knitting. And that's a whole lot harder than it sounds.

Because I've missed you (and have an inherently evil streak) drop me a note here with Baby in the subject header and you'll have a chance to win some of that possessed Baby Boutique yarn. But don't say I didn't warn you.

So what have you been up to?

In some towns, libraries serve as a haven for kids, day care for parents - chicagotribune.com

2010-07-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

In some towns, libraries serve as a haven for kids, day care for parents - chicagotribune.com

A loud shout-out to Debbi Olley Murphy and everyone at the Queens Public Library in New York City for making my life possible.

1776 The Musical - The Egg

2010-07-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day!

Transformer Owl

2010-06-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

One of the many reasons I love birds. Make sure you watch it all the way through.

Jersey Birds

2010-06-13T10:32:00.001-07:00

If we don't close the windows, bird song will wake us up around five a.m. I don't like waking up around five a.m. I'd rather go to bed around five a.m. But I love bird song just the same.

Watch this!

2010-06-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

This is so wonderful that I don't even know what to say about it except WATCH IT! I found it on Paperback Writer's blog and had to share. It was created by Robert Arnold who is clearly brilliant.

Harlequin writers, pay close attention. You just might see your own cover fly by. Enjoy!

Signing in the Waldenbooks by Parnell Hall

2010-05-22T19:46:00.000-07:00

I love you, Parnell Hall!

Elinor??

2010-05-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

Take the Quiz here!

You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.

I'm not sure I agree.

2010-05-19T18:56:00.001-07:00

<== Sonny Fox, host of Wonderama on WNEW out of NYC.

Once upon a time there lived in the Borough of Queens in the City of New York a frizzy/curly-haired kid named Barbara who had a wonderful talent: she was a very good speller. Words like encyclopaedia (and encyclopedia), antidisestablishmentarianism, all sorts of crazy words. She could spell all of them.

But that wasn't what set her apart from the crowd of other frizzy/curly-haired kids who were great spellers: our heroine could spell them backwards. Now no one quite knew where that ability came from. She learned to read and write at a precociously early age (reading at three; writing at four) and seemed normal in all respects until the backwards stuff kicked in and life got interesting.

# # #

Okay, okay. I'll drop the third person nonsense. We all know who our frizzball is, right? And you're probably wondering how spelling backwards ties in with Sonny Fox and Wonderama and knitting so here goes.

Spelling backwards came as easily to me as spelling the normal way. My parents used to create both word and number games for me to play on Saturday morning while they slept in and I guess I took them one step beyond where they were supposed to go and started flipping them. (I see patterns in numbers everywhere I look. Show me a phone number and I'll be linking those digits to other numbers in the blink of an eye.)

I was an only child and only children are endlessly fascinating to their families so my backwards abilities garnered a lot of attention and laughter. My spelling abilities had already landed me in any number of city-wide spelling bees (they hadn't become quite the pressure-cookers they are today) and I'd done pretty well every time.

But what I wanted more than anything was to take part in the Wonderama Spelling Bee.

I wanted to meet Sonny Fox, the sleekly dark and handsome host. I wanted to dazzle everyone with my spelling abilities. And I wanted to win dinner at the Luau 400, a little touch of Hawaii in midtown Manhattan.

Now it wasn't easy to get on Wonderama. Every kid in the early 1960s wanted tickets. And, trust me, a lot of those kids could spell just as well as I did. But could they spell backwards? No! So in the summer of 1961, my mother took me and my friend Dorothy Cullen into Manhattan where we were part of the audience and entrants in the spelling bee.

I'm not going to keep you in suspense. I won! Yes, it was a dream come true. Not only was I on live television, but I won dinner for my parents and me at Luau 400 by winning a spelling bee by spelling backwards. I still smile ear-to-ear thinking about it! So what does all of this have to do with knitting? Up until a few months ago I would have said, "Nothing at all," but it's actually the key to my problems with charts and sewing cuffs on sleeves and the dreaded pattern instructions Reverse Shaping.

A friend and I took dancing lessons once. I absolutely couldn't follow the instructor. I kept reversing everything. I sewed cuffs on a shirt in some crazy upside down way that even I couldn't explain. My husband had to show me how to do it correctly. I can't watch someone demonstrate how to use a spindle and then recreate her actions without great trial, error, and sweat-inducing concentration. And then my mind and muscles forget what I learned within five minutes and I have to struggle all over again.

And then I realized: the same little glitch in my brain that makes it easy for me to see words frontways and backways and sideways makes it very difficult for me to interpret patterns, architectural drawings, or how in the name of all that's holy they managed to stick a new road near the bridge and still keep the same landmarks. What's up with that anyway?

Spatially dyslexic is what I'm calling myself until I come up with a better term and it goes a long way toward explaining so much of the way I relate to the physical world.

Knitting charts? Don't get me started. They were the bane of my existence. They made this grown woman weep with frustration for most of the years of my knitting life. Or at least they did until last year when something in my brain clicked and I grabbed onto them like Velcro and wouldn't let go. (Okay, so maybe I have to keep a ruler underneath the working row but still . . . ) I don't know why or how it happened but it's opened up my knitting to a whole new dimension of possibilities and I'm delighted.

And yes I can still spell backwards! Life is good.

Salem

2010-05-18T21:23:00.001-07:00

We took a quick drive up to Salem last month so I could check some research points. I'd expected to fall in love with the town but instead I felt vaguely unsettled and eager to get home again.

Nothing I can put my finger on. No, I didn't see any ghosts even though I wish I had. (I wanted to stay in a legitimate haunted B&B but The Husband said, "Nothing doing." I'm still pondering that one.)

This photo was taken at the Salem Common. Two pathways diverge. No big deal, right? I can't explain it but a chill runs up my spine every time I look at it. I blamed it on the cold breezes when I was there but there are no cold breezes in my office right now as I type this and that chill is working its way up my back just the same.

What do you think?

Full Moon on the Jersey Turnpike

2010-04-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong on our 18-hour round trip research jaunt to Salem, Massachusetts this week. I swear to you, every single piece of electronics I touched went haywire. Cameras with new batteries had no juice. The Magellan that had served us honorably and well sent us to the Jersey Turnpike. The Flip camera refused to shut down. And yes, I was involved in each of the above mishaps.

Welcome to April: month of dead electronics chez Bretton.

Hope this makes you laugh!

2010-04-29T21:03:00.001-07:00

Some old Hollywood glamour to brighten your day.

'Robin Hood' Trailer 2 HD

2010-04-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

I'm not what you'd call a movie person. Sure, I like them well enough but it takes a lot to motivate me into the multiplex. So far it looks like I'll be lining up for popcorn and soda twice next month: for SEX AND THE CITY 2 and ROBIN HOOD.

Kevin Costner's take on ROBIN HOOD almost killed the legend for me but the trailer for the Ridley Scott/Russell Crowe version looks dangerously good.

See for yourself:

Get Well Soon, Willa!

2010-03-09T23:34:00.001-08:00

FEEL BETTER, WILLA!!

XOXO FROM BARBARA

How To Knit A Love Song

2010-03-01T17:28:00.001-08:00

I'm so excited! Our own Rachael Herron's first novel, HOW TO KNIT A LOVE SONG, hits the stands tomorrow and you really, truly owe it to yourself to pick up a copy ASAP.

Am I biased? Yes. Definitely! I'm a shameless fan of Rachael's blog and was thrilled beyond measure when I had the privilege of reading a review copy of HOW TO KNIT A LOVE SONG last year.

I loved it. Honestly loved it. I loved it so much that it was my favorite fiction read of 2009. It's the one I can't quite get out of my mind. And trust me, knitters, you are going to love it too.

Rachael doesn't know I'm posting this. I may even embarrass her. But there's only one first novel and there's only one Rachael Herron and I couldn't let the moment slip by without shouting from the rooftops: "You've gotta buy this book!"

Mazel tov, Rachael. Enjoy every second of the excitement.

And please write fast, okay?

xoxo from BB

More Knitterly Humor

2010-02-25T12:48:00.001-08:00

Knitterly Humor

2010-02-20T12:43:00.001-08:00

A must-read book!

2010-01-28T19:51:00.000-08:00

"When Henrietta Lacks [the descendant of freed slaves] was diagnosed with cancer in 1951, doctors took her cells and grew them in test tubes. Those cells led to breakthroughs
in everything from Parkinson's to polio. But today, Henrietta is all but forgotten. In an excerpt from her book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot tells her story."

Click here to read the excerpt.

I know you're busy. We're all busy. But please take the time to check out this incredible true account of life and death and science. I'm a 30 year cancer survivor and I owe a debt of gratitude to Henrietta and the scientists whose hard work make my life (and maybe yours as well) possible.

The book hits the stores on February 2nd. I can't wait.

Why I Love Marie

2010-01-02T10:45:00.000-08:00

(I'm devastated. Blogger blew away the original post.)

As I was saying . . .

I love Marie Watley-Browne. Not only is she beautiful, witty, sophisticated, smart, and the mother of one of my other favorite women on the planet, Marie is also an extremely talented baker.

I mean, when it comes to baking (and everything else), Marie of Brookyn rocks.

Those of you who are lucky enough to be on her list know exactly what I'm talking about. Those of you who aren't? Oh, I feel sorry for you! You have no idea what you're missing.

I mean, Santa's only a seasonal player while Marie's cinnamon-and-chocolate workshop is open year-round for her to perform her magic. Christmas! Easter! Halloween! Valentine's Day! You never know when something delicious is going to land on your doorstep.

Here's a sample of the Christmas '09 goodies I was lucky enough to receive. (I'd show you more but I ate the rest. Just saved a couple for the camera!)

Happy Birthday, Marie, with much love from BB & R!

Happy 2010 and 2 Best Reads of 2009

2010-01-01T20:53:00.001-08:00

I can't say I wasn't warned.

Once you decide to make your blog your de facto home page, you owe it to your visitors to actually provide new content every so often. Daily is best. Every other day is acceptable. Once a week is borderline. Once a season? Not so much.

I don't make resolutions. At least not in the traditional New Year's sense. (They have a way of coming back to haunt you, don't they?) I mean, I've probably pledged blogging fidelity at least a half dozen times before. So I won't say it. But let's see what happens.

2009 was a reading year for me and there are two clear cut winners for top marks.

My Life in France - Julia Child and Alex Prud'Homme
I fell in love with Julia. Head-over-heels, as a matter of fact. Her joie de vivre is irresistible. Her story? Better than fiction.

and

How To Knit A Love Song - Rachael Herron
I was lucky enough to read an advance copy and I literally couldn't put it down until I reached the end. If you're familiar with Rachael's fab blog, then you're probably head-over-heels for Rachael already. Her warm, funny, engaging style translates seamlessly from blog to novel. Best of all, this is book #1 in a series!

To be continued . . .

A peek at Stephanie Plum's New Jersey

2009-09-06T12:46:00.000-07:00

At least a tiny piece of it.

2009-08-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

This is a short, fairly uneventful trip past the Princeton Battlefield and along Quaker Road toward Route 1 near Quakerbridge Mall aka Stephanie Plum territory.

Yes I'm 10 years old at heart

2009-08-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry. It's juvenile. I know it's juvenile. But I had to do it anyway.

Maybe dancing is the answer

2009-08-21T20:38:00.001-07:00

This made me cry. But in a good way. Let me know how if you feel more hopeful, too, after you watch it.

What's wrong with me?!?!

2009-08-17T19:55:00.001-07:00

I can't believe I forgot to mention there will be two more Sugar Maple books. What was I thinking? Was I thinking at all?

Oh yeah. I remember. I collapsed on the floor in a pile of sock yarn when I got the word. No writer ever knit so many socks while waiting for the go-ahead. I think I set a world record.

Now all I have to do is write the books!

Why We Should Wash Our Windshield

2009-08-17T15:07:00.001-07:00

The only thing missing is dead bug residue. This is the road we take to get to Princeton, which is about 10 miles or so from home. And yes, it's New Jersey but don't tell anyone. It's our secret.

August Blog Tour Schedule

2009-08-16T11:43:00.000-07:00

I've been remiss. Seriously remiss. Here's the complete August Blog Tour Schedule. I hope you'll put one or all of them on your list of must-visit sites. (One of the best parts of the blog tour has been discovering new sites and fabulous readers.)

Aug. 3 – Dear Author (guest post) www.dearauthor.com
Aug. 4 – Blogcritics (interview) www.blogcritics.org
Aug. 5 – Popin’s Lair (guest post) www.proudbookworm.blogspot.com
Aug. 6 – Popin’s Lair (book review) www.proudbookworm.blogspot.com
Aug. 7 – Undercover Book Lover (book review) www.undercoverbooklover.blogspot.com

Aug. 10 – Chick with Books (book review) www.chickwithbooks.blogspot.com

Home Sweet Home Writing Challenge (interview)

www.homesweethomewritingchallenge.wordpress.com
Aug. 11 – Bookin’ with Bingo (book review and book giveaway)
www.bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com
Aug. 12 – A Bookish Mom (guest post) www.abookishmom.blogspot.com

This Book for Free (guest post & book giveaway)

www.thisbookforfree.com
Aug. 13 – Patricia’s Vampire Notes (Interview & Book Giveaway)
www.patricias-vampire-notes.blogspot.com
Aug. 14 – The Writer’s Life (interview) www.thewriterslife.blogspot.com

Aug. 17 – The Writer’s Life (guest post) www.thewriterslife.blogspot.com
Aug. 18 – Café of Dreams (book review) www.cafeofdreams.blogspot.com
Aug. 19 – Must Read Faster (book review) www.mustreadfaster.blogspot.com
Aug. 20 – Patricia’s Vampire Notes (book review)
www.patricias-vampire-notes.blogspot.com
Aug. 21 – Falling Off the Shelf (book review)
www.fallingofftheshelf.blogspot.com

Aug. 24 – Chick Loves Lit (book review) www.chickloveslit.blogspot.com
Aug. 25 – So Many Books, So Little Time (book review) www.purplg8r-somanybooks.blogspot.com
Aug. 26 – I’m Booking It (book review) www.imbookingit.wordpress.com
Aug. 27 – Bibliophiles ‘R’ Us (guest post) www.nightdweller20.wordpress.com
Aug. 28 – A Journey of Books (book review) www.ajourneyofbooks.blogspot.com

A quick Bada Bing moment from Atlantic City

2009-08-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

To make you laugh:

The Romance Book Club

2009-08-04T20:04:00.000-07:00

You'll find a blog post here and another giveaway!

And another stop on the blog tour

2009-08-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

You'll find me today (actually yesterday; I goofed up) at Fang-Tastic Books. It's my second visit and I love them this time even more than I did last time. Stop by. You'll find out why I'm seriously considering the witness protection plan.

Blog Tour Begins

2009-08-03T07:34:00.001-07:00

We're off and running with the start of my very first Blog Tour.

Today you'll find me at:

1. BlogCritics with an interview

2. The Romance Club with a guest post

3. Dear Author with a "First Sale" guest post

Like I said last week, you'll know more about me when this tour ends than the DH does.

Blog Talk Radio and other goodies

2009-07-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-28T16:52:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-16T07:01:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

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

Garden Report - July

2009-07-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-08T19:40:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-08T11:28:00.000-07:00

Make of this what you will.

Evian Roller Babies

2009-07-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

You really need to watch this. Trust me!

Enchanted nursery

2009-06-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

Ambleside, central NJ. Okay, so maybe I don't get out enough but I felt like I was in an enchanted forest.

Seriously.

Laced With Magic - sneak peek

2009-06-10T20:11:00.000-07:00

Chapter 2 is up and waiting for you. Enjoy!

Our wildlife preserve

2009-06-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

See that little guy over there? We spotted him hanging out under the Topsy Turvy tomatoes in the far corner of the back yard. His mother put up a major fuss when we got within ten feet of her baby so we backed off and used the zoom to take the photo.

He's tinier than my thumb. Thank God R spotted him; I'm not sure I would have noticed him in the grass. Looks like there will be no lawn mowing until all the fledglings are established.

Two sparrow fledges popped up on the top step of the deck, all fluttery and open-mouthed as their mother (or maybe father; birds can be egalitarian) swooped down to feed them. I got all mushy inside as the baby birds filled their crops. It reminded me of when we hand-fed Grouch and Squirt years ago. (Insert big sigh here.) There's something about baby birds that's irresistible. Same with puppies and kittens and the little groundhog who trotted across the deck the other day, struggling to keep up with his mother.

And what about the bunny twins (no, not the Hefner kind) who camp out under the bird feeders, sprawled on their bellies, back legs extended, munching seed, talking trash, not a worry in the world.

I love it here. I really do.

Nostalgia

2009-06-07T21:17:00.000-07:00

Memory Lane can be a dangerous place to visit. I was going through old journals and photo albums today and pretty much feel like someone ripped my heart from my chest.

I found this photo of my dad and me, taken around the summer of 1951 "between the houses." That's what we called the little private alleyway that ran between the two-family house where we lived and the two-family house next door. It was maybe six or eight feet wide and sometimes we'd set up beach chairs and sit there. A ground level version of the city dweller's Tar Beach.

That's my dad. And that's me. But I'll bet you figured that out for yourself.

And yes I was a daddy's girl. How did you guess?

Mrs. Mike, my rite of passage

2009-06-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

Photo: Marko Metzinger/Studio D

That's pretty much how my first copy of Mrs. Mike looked when I married and moved to Omaha many years ago as a teenage newlywed. The badly worn blue cover, the line drawing of the young bride and her handsome Mountie, the pages all creased and bent, stained with hot cocoa and endless tears. Suddenly I was Mrs. Mike on my way to my own adventure far from home. My new husband wasn't a Mountie but he was a man in uniform and the trip from New York City to the plains of Nebraska seemed every bit as exciting.

Someone once told me that the books we read as children are the books that stay with us for a lifetime, the books that most influence the men and women we become, and I agree. Okay, so maybe Nancy Drew (girl sleuth), Cherry Ames (apple-cheeked nurse), and Vicki Barr (post-war stewardess) weren't exactly what she had in mine but there's no denying that inside this 58 year old writer lives all three of those characters.

And, of course, there's Mrs. Mike. I was ten years old the first time I read Benedict and Nancy Freedman's book. A day-dreaming, book-loving only child who liked nothing more than to disappear into a great story. Some kids dreamed of growing up and moving to NYC. I dreamed of getting out. (The truth? I would have kicked the Big Apple to the curb for the chance to live in suburbia.) And you couldn't get much farther away than the Great North. You can keep those sun-swept beaches; give me the Canadian wilderness in the dead of winter with a gorgeous Mountie to push back the blizzards and keep you warm at night.

I'll admit it. I fell head-over-heels in love with Mike Flannigan. The way I remembered the book, he was the perfect romantic hero. In my memory, Mrs. Mike was the love story to end all love stories, the one that swept me off my feet and kept me that way for over forty years. I write romance for a living and I read it for pleasure and nothing I'd encountered, no matter how wonderful the book, came close to the dazzling tale of Kathy and Mike.

And the best part? It was true!

Or at least I thought it was right up until an issue of O Magazine (12/07) hit my mailbox and I devoured Peggy Orenstein's wonderful article Mrs. Mike Changed My Life and discovered that not only was there no Santa Claus, my beloved Mrs. Mike was fiction.

Yes. FICTION. Like Orenstein, I'd paid no attention to that very telling word on the spine of my paperback. I'd swallowed the book whole and made it my own. I believed every word like it was the Bible handed down from the Mount. Mike and Kathy Flannigan were real. They lived and breathed and loved.

Except they weren't. Mrs. Mike was based on Kathy Flannigan's real story but it was still a novel. My heart was broken. Silly, isn't it, to be so invested for so long in a book and feel so betrayed to discover that the Freedmans had plied the novelist's trade in telling it.

So I did what you would probably have done too: I sat down and re-read Mrs. Mike. I expected to be swept up again into the romance of it all same as I had been as a child. I expected to empathize with Kathy, fall madly in love with Mike, make lots of happy friends in my frontier town.

Hey, wait a minute! What's going on? This isn't the sweet love story I remember. This story has hard edges. People get hurt in this story. Children die. Towns burn to the ground. Terrible illnesses sweep across the range. Marriages don't always work out quite the way you expect them to.

It all seemed new to me. Somehow over the years I'd air-brushed the book into a glossy (snowy) love story with the kind of perfect happy ending we all dream about. The kind the fictional Kathy and Mike really didn't get. (Neither did the real life Kathy and Mike, for that matter.)

My memory retained the sparks and the passion and discarded the rest. Yes, I still like the book but do you want to know the truth? Right now I wish I hadn't re-read it. I miss the Mrs. Mike of my dreams.

Squirrel-proof feeder meets feeder-proof squirrel

2009-06-05T05:23:00.000-07:00

Guess who wins?

NINC blog post up

2009-06-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

I have a new blog post up on the Novelists Inc blog. It's titled Fear Factor and it's about writing scared. I hope you'll stop by and check it out if you have a chance. Thanks!

Edith Layton

2009-06-03T07:08:00.000-07:00

Edith Layton and her beloved Georgie Girl

www.edithlayton.com

Superfreaky - a visual definition

2009-06-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

Introducing the Daniel Craig popsicle, a limited edition courtesy Del Monte in the U.K.

Talk amongst yourselves. I'm going out to have my retinas repaired.

You Say To-may-toh . . .

2009-06-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

. . . and I say WOW! Four -- yes, 4!! -- new tomatoes on one of the deck plants!

Is it possible to love produce a little too much?

Slacker

2009-05-31T20:26:00.000-07:00

I didn't do any gardening today. (This turned out to be a cooking day.) I did, however, spend an inordinate amount of time hovering over the tomato plants, whispering encouragement and issuing stern warnings to the strange iridescent winged creatures I saw darting about. I want to do this pesticide-free which is why I'm planting marigolds like a madwoman. (Back in my gardening days on Long Island, marigolds seemed to be the answer to a multitude of buggy problems.)

The basil is growing like crazy. This photo was taken last week and, trust me, the plant has easily doubled in size. I think there's a pesto in our immediate future.

Lost in Lowe's

2009-05-30T19:50:00.000-07:00

Lowe's and Home Depot and Ambleside and Central NJ Nursery, to be specific.

We spent yesterday afternoon going a little nuts in various garden centers. The original plan was to stop by for some chicken wire and a bag of topsoil. Unfortunately the original plan lasted until we climbed out of the truck and encountered a huge display of yellow and orange marigolds begging to be transplanted.

The marigolds were followed by some yellow daisies (I love daisies), Japanese eggplant, globe eggplant, Texas thyme, tarragon, mint, cucumbers, zucchini, and yellow squash. Our restrained, toe-in-the-water gardening plan for 2009 clearly went up in smoke.

"We went crazy," he said as we drove away in our plant/chicken wire/topsoil-laden truck.

Looks like our $45 tomato is going to have company.

My Topsy Turvy Life

2009-05-28T21:20:00.000-07:00

A confession: I'm a sucker for tacky Sold On TV ads. You know the ones I mean: miracle hair replacement regimens, Sham Wow (is that guy scary or what?), super choppers that put sous chefs to shame, and the Topsy Turvy.

I fell in love with Topsy Turvy last year. Unfortunately my love affair began near the end of the growing season so all I could do was pine over that goofy green plastic bag and those upside-down tomatoes spilling out of it. My repressed gardener's heart yearned for my own Topsy Turvy. I wanted it the way I used to want Paul McCartney when I was fourteen years old.

I thought about it all winter and pounced the second the snow melted. It took a little convincing to bring Himself on board but I prevailed and two weeks ago tomorrow we took our first leap into upside-down gardening.

The Topsy Turvys are in the far corner of the back yard, midway between the stand of pine trees and the shade trees Roy planted for my 38th birthday. We bought four shepherd's poles at Cost Cutters (which has since closed its doors; sob), tied them together for strength, et voila!

The planting itself was strange. Our tomatoes had grown a tad larger than optimum size for insertion and I said a few rude things as Roy pretty much shoved them through the opening with all the finesse of a sadistic proctologist. Turns out they're tough little plants and they survived the trauma. Within days they started vining upward in search of the sun.

I'm completely obsessed with these tomatoes. I tell you that freely. All I want to do is dash outside every hour on the hour and stare at the plants. I ran out first thing this rainy morning in PJs and clogs to see what was going on and my shriek probably echoed up and down the street.

We have a tomato! Okay, so it's the size of my thumb nail but it's a real live tomato-in-progress and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.

You can see it, right? Follow the stem upward from the bottom of the picture, look slightly to the right under a canopy of leaves. That little round green blob is A TOMATO!

A $45 tomato unless the rest of the plants kick in and start producing . . .

Le Wrath di Khan

2009-05-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

This will make you love opera. I promise!

Laced With Magic

2009-05-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

You're the first to see it! Enjoy.

Winners of Totebags 'n' Blogs book giveaway

2009-04-26T19:56:00.000-07:00

1. kimmyl
2. Pat Cochran
3. housemouse88

Hooray! You're the winners in my Totebags 'n' Blogs book giveaway. Please send me your mailing address and I'll ship your goodies ASAP. Congratulations!

Warmly,
Barbara

Fang-tastic Book giveaway winners

2009-04-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

Drum roll, please! The lucky winners are:

1. Melissa...Shh I'm Reading
2. Hockey Vampiress
3. carolsnotebook
4. luvdaylilies
5. Rita

Please drop me an email at barbarabretton@gmail.com with your mailing address and I'll ship off your book ASAP. Thanks so much for the wonderful comments. And thanks, Roxanne, for inviting me. I had a ball at Fang-tastic Books.

Contest! Blog post! Hello!

2009-04-22T19:30:00.000-07:00

Is that cool or what? It's the Knit Kit (you can read more about it here) and one lucky knitter will win one on Saturday when my new Human Random Number Generator plucks a number from the cosmos. (Translation: "Hey, Goldisox! Pick a number between 1 and 8372.") (Trust me, 8372 is a wildly inflated number. Your chances are much better.)

All you have to do is send me an email here with KNITKIT in the subject header and I'll do the rest.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks around here. First I finished the sequel to CASTING SPELLS then I sent it off. Then the copy-edited version came back to me. Then I sent that off. Now the page edits are screaming for my attention this weekend. Add to that a ton of promo stuff (script for video; Author Buzz info; answering mail that's been languishing longer than I care to admit) and new proposals and I feel like my head's going to pop off.

I've been longing to knit but it's been relegated to car time only which means not much is getting done. I hope to remedy that over the weekend and cast on some new, fun stuff. (Meaning: enough already with the Lion Brand spiral socks. This girl needs some spice in her knitting life.)

Now here comes the confessional part of the program: I've been cheating on you with other blogs. Honestly, it's not you, it's me. But the truth is out there and you can see for yourself.

Part 6 of my grandmother's story is here and available now at Totebags 'n' Blogs. (Book giveaway in progress.)

Where ideas come from -- CASTING SPELLS specifically -- will be up and running here at Fang-tastic Books tomorrow. (And another giveaway.)

I hope you'll stop by and say hi.

Don't laugh but I'm going to plant tomatoes next week. It'll probably go as well as my attempts to knit lace but the gardening urge is irresistible this year. Now if we can just keep the deer and rabbits away we might get somewhere . . .

More to come on that tomorrow.

Another contest at Romancing the Yarn

2009-03-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

We're holding another yarn giveaway at Romancing the Yarn: 4 skeins of Elann Pure Bamboo in a shade poetically called Devonshire Cream. Drop by and take a look. (And don't forget to enter.)

And I forgot to mention that GIRLS OF SUMMER will be re-published in July as a trade paperback. The cover is fabulous! (That's leading the witness, isn't it? You can see for yourself right here.) GIRLS was published originally back in November 2003 in mass market size and I'm delighted that Berkley decided to give it a new lease on life. It's a loose spinoff of A SOFT PLACE TO FALL which appeared back in October 2001. (You can read excerpts on my website. Just click Sneak Peek.)

GIRLS OF SUMMER was a bestseller in Germany. I think I'm up to eight or nine printings and delighted about each and every one, although I'd love to know what it was about Ellen and Hall that struck a chord with German readers.

GIRLS was one of those writing experiences you long for. I sank immediately into the characters and couldn't wait to hit the laptop each morning. (Okay, each afternoon. I'm a night person; I can't help it.) The material was so rich (religion; step-families; medicine; the arts; loss; class distinctions; 9/11) and the characters so real to me that what we laughingly refer to as reality ceased to exist for the time it took to write the book.

Which I guess is my way of saying if you didn't read GIRLS OF SUMMER when it first came out, I hope you'll give it a try in July.

New installment

2009-03-18T09:30:00.000-07:00

If you've been following my grandmother's amazing story, installment #5 is up today at Totebags 'n' Blogs. I hope you'll stop by and take a look.

Laced With Magic

2009-03-08T17:25:00.000-07:00

My editor emailed me my new cover on Friday and I'm ecstatic!

LACED WITH MAGIC is the sequel to last year's CASTING SPELLS, the second in the Sugar Maple series featuring Chloe the knitting sorceress and Luke the all-too-human cop.

Pub date is August 4, 2009.

If I manage to get myself organized, I'll post the first chapter on my website later this week.

Watch this space!

What I did during my Christmas vacation

2009-02-26T21:03:00.000-08:00

Nobody has ever asked me what I do for a living when I look like I might actually be gainfully employed. Usually they ask the question when I look like I just spent three weeks crawling on my belly through a dense jungle far from civilization and modern hair products.

Years ago, right around the time when my parents were both very sick, I was so overwhelmed with all the things that needed to be done that good grooming fell by the wayside. Who had time? Raggedy jeans, ratty sweatshirts, old clogs. No makeup. My natural I-am-the-love-child-of-Bernadette-Peters-and-Don-King hair. My priorities had shifted and everything else fell by the wayside. This one particular day I had to stop by the bank and deposit a check. No way was I going inside looking so hideous. (I still had at least a little pride.) I figured I'd use the drive-through and nobody'd know I looked like I dressed in a Dumpster.

So there I was, sitting behind the wheel, waiting for the teller to shoot back my deposit slip when I hear her voice through the intercom: "Barbara?"

Me: Yes?
Her: Barbara Bretton?
Me: Yes. (It's on the deposit slip, lady. . . )
Her: The Barbara Bretton who wrote the "balloon" books for Harlequin?"
Me: Okay, shoot me now.

No, I didn't really say that but I thought it. The poor woman peered at me through the wall of glass and clearly wondered how it was I'd fallen on such tough times. And me? I started babbling things like, "I usually brush my hair and wear makeup but my parents are sick and I'm an only child and --"

Yeah. Please. Shoot me. I couldn't shut up. I was like a verbal train wreck. And the poor teller probably never read another one of my books ever again. I was that pitiful.

Well, as it turned out, I managed to top that miserable experience on New Year's Eve.

Remember the last time I posted back in December? I mentioned something about Goldisox and I having bad colds. No big deal, I said. A cold is a cold is a cold. Which is true as long as the cold in question isn't actually some freakish flu that laughed in the face of the flu shots we got back in November. We were flat-on-our-backs sick before Christmas, during Christmas, and after Christmas. The sounds of merriment in our home were limited to growls of "pass me the Kleenex" and "what do you mean we're out of juice, bread, milk, eggs, and the will to live?"

Cut to New Year's Eve. My nose is bright red and chapped. My eyes are watery and bloodshot. My hair's a disaster. I feel like hell, But damn it it's New Year's Eve and we're going to at least give the holiday season a chance before it slips away. Late afternoon I hit the shower, hoping that hot water and steam will make me feel more human.

I still don't know how or why it happened but I sneezed and seconds later noticed that the water swirling around my feet was a weird shade of pink. A nosebleed!? I had a nosebleed!?!?!? WTH?

Again, no big deal. You pinch your nose shut for ten minutes and end of story. Except ten minutes turned to fifteen then twenty then an hour and the blood was flowing faster than I could stop it. I called for Goldisox to come upstairs. "There's a lot of blood," I warned him. "Don't be shocked."

He was shocked. I didn't blame him. It looked like a crime scene in the bathroom and I looked like the victim. (The writerly side of my brain was taking notes the whole time. Trust me when I say blood spatter goes everywhere. I can't even begin to imagine how a murderer would cover his or her tracks against modern forensics.)

Him: You're going to the ER.
Me: Like hell I am.
Him: I'm taking you right now.
Me: Over my dead body.

It wasn't exactly Masterpiece Theatre around here. He was scared and angry. I was scared and . . . well, scared. I mean, it was only a bloody nose but suddenly it was so totally out of control that even I knew I had to do the adult thing and get myself some help.

Except I couldn't do it. Twenty-nine years earlier, just about to the day, I'd miscarried and ended up in (you guessed it) the ER. Two days later they told me I had cancer. So spending the holidays with medical types stirred up a lot of emotion I'd rather not deal with.

We argued for hours. We ran out of towels to absorb the blood. (Sorry for being so graphic but that's the way it was.) Finally I agreed with him and off we went to the ER with me wrapped in sheets and plastic.

I must say I looked adorable. A full head of frizz. PJ bottoms. Clogs. And a maroon sweater (maroon? was I nuts??) with a Santa Claus on the pocket.

And I brought some knitting. I laugh now at my optimism. What the hell was I thinking? I couldn't unpinch my nose long enough to knit a single stitch. But I brought it with me just the same.

Fortunately the ER was empty and I had everyone's full attention. It was no big deal. They could fix me up in no time flat. I wasn't going to face the humiliation of seeing the words "Cause of Death: nosebleed" on my death certificate. Not that I'd see it, you understand, but I swear it would ruin eternity for me.

Goldisox filled out the endless insurance forms while I was poked and prodded by various medical types. Then he went off to see someone in billing or some such while I sat alone in a cubicle with my blood-soaked garments, the slasher movie towels, and a totally embarrassing metal spit tray held under my small but dangerous nose. I challenge you to find a more pathetic fifty-eight year old woman anywhere on the planet.

The clerk from the front desk popped up. "You're a writer?"

I nodded. Please, God, take me now before this gets any worse.

"Published?"

I nodded again.

"What kind of books?"

"Romance," I manage through the wads of cotton and anaesthetic and humiliation, "and women's fiction."

She looks at me as if she can't believe her eyes. "You mean like those steamy books Danielle Steel writes?"

This isn't the time to tell her that Danielle doesn't consider herself a romance writer. I nod again.

"Have I read anything of yours?"

Now really. How on earth would I possibly know her lifetime reading list? I shrugged and gave her what I hoped was a sophisticated smile. Assuming, of course, you could look past the clogs, the PJs, the Santa sweater, and the blood.

"Hey, Marilyn!" she bellowed across the emergency room. "The bloody nose in 3A writes those romance books you love."

Remember how you felt when you first learned there was no Santa Claus? That was pretty much how poor Marilyn looked when she met her first real live romance writer. I tried to make it up to her by sending on a few signed books but the damage had been done.

And that's the story of how Goldisox and I ended up toasting the New Year in cubicle 3A with Patti and Marilyn and four bottles of Poland Spring.

Things can only get better, right?

Right!

Grandma and the Prince - part 2

2008-12-24T06:27:00.000-08:00

The second installment in the saga of my grandmother and the Indian prince can be found here. I hope you'll stop by and take a look.

With our usual great timing, the Husband and I have managed to come down with something that's a cross between the Colds from Hell and a low-grade flu. I must say our red noses could give Rudolph a run for his money!

Wherever you are, whatever you celebrate I hope you have the merriest, happiest, most joyous ever!

I Was a One-Legged Swedish Coalminer

2008-12-16T15:03:00.000-08:00

Got your attention, didn't I? If you want to read about my adventures in past-life regression, visit me at Novel Talk's blog.

See you there!

And one more thing . . .

2008-12-12T10:19:00.000-08:00

Because when all is said and done, the gifts we remember are the handmade treasures and the books.

But Roy Blount, president of the Authors Guild, says it better than I can:

Holiday Message from Roy Blount Jr.: Buy Books From Your Local Bookstore, Now

December 11, 2008.

I've been talking to booksellers lately who report that times are hard. And local booksellers aren't known for vast reserves of capital, so a serious dip in sales can be devastating. Booksellers don't lose enough money, however, to receive congressional attention. A government bailout isn't in the cards.We don't want bookstores to die. Authors need them, and so do neighborhoods.

So let's mount a book-buying splurge. Get your friends together, go to your local bookstore and have a book-buying party. Buy the rest of your Christmas presents, but that's just for starters. Clear out the mysteries, wrap up the histories, beam up the science fiction! Round up the westerns, go crazy for self-help, say yes to the university press books! Get a load of those coffee-table books, fatten up on slim volumes of verse, and take a chance on romance!

There will be birthdays in the next twelve months; books keep well; they're easy to wrap: buy those books now. Buy replacements for any books looking raggedy on your shelves. Stockpile children's books as gifts for friends who look like they may eventually give birth. Hold off on the flat-screen TV and the GPS (they'll be cheaper after Christmas) and buy many, many books.

Then tell the grateful booksellers, who by this time will be hanging onto your legs begging you to stay and live with their cat in the stockroom: "Got to move on, folks. Got some books to write now. You see...we're the Authors Guild."

Enjoy the holidays.
Roy Blount Jr. President Authors Guild

Books Make Great Gifts!

2008-12-12T08:54:00.000-08:00

Better than chocolate! Better than a new pair of PJs! Better than just about anything!

Happy Thanksgiving . . . and a blog notice

2008-11-26T21:54:00.000-08:00

<==The secret to great stuffing!

A quick note to wish those of us who celebrate the holiday a very Happy Thanksgiving. I'm guest blogging today at Tote Bags & Blogs. It's the first in a series of true stories about my Grandma El. (The woman who taught me the importance of Bell's Seasoning.)

Fair warning: it's not a heartwarming holiday story complete with recipe. It's about the night before Thanksgiving in 1996 when I found photos of her in the arms of a man named Prince Mohindin and stumbled upon my family's Biggest Secret.

I hope you'll stop by and check it out if you have a moment.

Simply Irresistible

2008-11-21T19:29:00.000-08:00

I love Philip Scott Johnson's work! Enjoy his WOMEN IN FILM:

Writers Write - a NINC Blog

2008-11-21T08:03:00.000-08:00

I'm ranting (a bit) over at the Ninc Blog today. If you have a moment, please drop by and take a look.

On-Line Chat Tonight

2008-11-19T14:59:00.000-08:00

I'll be chatting on-line tonight at Mo's Book Buzz (Romance Reviews Today) with Harlequin Intrigue author Gail Barrett at 9 pm EST. Hope you can join us!

Just Leave Me At the Side of the Road

2008-11-16T18:37:00.000-08:00

I would rather be left to die at the side of the road in a blinding snowstorm than to ever ever be a patient at Seattle Grace. My chances of survival would be a hell of a lot better.

What in the name of Shonda Rhimes is going on with that show anyway? Have they taken leave of their senses? First they totally screw up the Callie/Erica storyline by turning it into a bad joke when they might have actually managed a real life, non-stereotypical love story. Then they take a legitimate conflict (Erica's fury over the stolen transplant heart and Seattle Grace's cavalier handling of the incident) and gloss over it in forty-five seconds of air time. Of course Erica Hahn left Seattle Grace. Wouldn't you? Would you want to be on staff with that group of crazies?

And now I'm watching Thursday's episode on line and a nut job intern stripped off her top and dragged a scalpel over her shoulder. If this is what goes on in med school I'd rather take my troubles to a vet. I'll bet the level of compassion and sanity would be higher.

Enough already with Dead Denny. If you're going to dump Izzy, do it and get it over with even if you are messing with the best chemistry in the show. (Izzy and Alex, of course.)

I like so few shows. I mean, what have I got on my list: Dancing With the Dopey Stars, Desperate Housewives, and Grey's Anatomy. Is it so much to ask that they keep from jumping the shark?

Writerspace Chat - tonight at 9 pm ET

2008-11-12T05:00:00.000-08:00

I'll be chatting (I hope not with myself!) at Writerspace tonight at 9 pm Eastern Time. If you have a minute, I hope you'll join me. I'll even give out candy bars . . .

TALK OF THE TOWN by Sherrill Bodine

2008-11-10T20:14:00.000-08:00

Sherrill Bodine's latest novel, TALK OF THE TOWN, will be hitting the bookstores soon and I wanted to give you a heads-up. I had the pleasure of reading TALK OF THE TOWN quite a few months ago when I was lucky enough to receive an advanced review copy. It came at a time when life was difficult and filled with sadness and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to let go of the real world and sink into Sherrill's fictional world the way I wanted to.

Well, I shouldn't have worried at all. Sherrill does a smashingly terrific job with TALK OF THE TOWN. I fell in love with her lead character, Rebecca, and happily followed where she led straight through to the very last page.

And there are fabulous recipes scattered throughout. I mean, what more can a reader ask?

This book is pure delight. If I were you I'd make sure I had a copy tucked away for the long Thanksgiving weekend. I can't imagine anything better. You'll love it!

From the back cover:

GOSSIP QUEEN DETHRONED!

Darlings, what a to-do at the Daily Mail today! After fifteen years as Chicago's gossip guru, Rebecca Covington has been demoted from divulger of secrets for the city's elite to headlining recipes in the Home and Food section. Apparently, a touchy senator is threatening legal action for Rebecca's latest extramarital scoop. But Windy City rumor has it that new CEO and dreamy Pierce Brosnan look-alike David Sumner downgraded Rebecca in favor of fresher, younger blood on the social beat.

Industry insiders expect Rebecca to fight her denouement, and inquiring minds have already seen the feisty maven trading quips and searing glances wtih her arresting new boss. Rebecca swears she'll reclaim her shining star status, but can the dishy diva even cook? And how can she ignore David's arousing effect on her sensibilities?

Don't miss a trick, darlings. Sparks are going to fly.

Now appearing at Barnes & Noble online

2008-11-10T06:59:00.000-08:00

I'm a guest-poster on the B&N bulletin board today, talking about writing, knitting, and my new book. If you have a moment, stop by and leave a question or comment. I'd love to see you. Here's the link.

See you there?

Hopeful

2008-11-09T09:16:00.000-08:00

It's been a week for hope, hasn't it? No matter how you voted, you have to be hopeful about the future. Despite the meltdown of our economy and all the other bad news, we managed to elect a new president by a healthy majority (no recount, no bitterness)and make history in the bargain. Nothing to complain about there! I know this is the honeymoon period but after the long election we need a few weeks to just feel good about the fact that at least this part of the system still works.

I try to avoid politics here because it's become such a viciously divisive issue in our country. The second you open your mouth you've alienated half of your friends and family without even trying. But I think we're in agreement that we wish Barack and Michelle Obama and their daughters all the very best this world has to offer.

I did a little digging around in our township's records and found out that over 80% of our registered voters consistently turn out during presidential years while over 50% turn out in non-election years. The 50% needs work but that 80+ is worth celebrating.

By the time we reached the last week of campaigning I had turned off our phones and barred the door. Don't even get me started on Frank (I'm 84 and I hate all of you) Lautenberg's run for re-election to the Senate. No more Leonard Lance's Trenton Dance! No more Linda Stender is a Spender nursery rhymes to the tune of Yankee Doodle Dandy! I was so deeply disgusted that I ended up voting for the Independent candidate, Greco, who was running on the Full Breakfast Party. And no, I'm not kidding. The man likes his ham and eggs. To paraphrase his website, "The only place pork belongs is on your breakfast plate."

Judge for yourself:

Anti-Leonard Lance

Anti-Linda Stender

Pro-Dean Greco

And people wonder why NJ politics has such a bad reputation.

One other thing before I close the politics vault for another four years: what's with these ridiculously long and expensive campaigns anyway? I started thinking about the absurdity of it and this thought hit me: let's say you work at McDonald's. You hear about a job that might be opening up at AT&T for lots more money and prestige. You go to your McDonald's manager and say, "I'm going to try for the job at AT&T so you won't be seeing me for awhile. It will probably take a year or two until I know whether or not I get it. So hold this job open for me, 'kay? And by the way, keep those paychecks coming."

Something is very wrong out there. Three senators on the presidential ballot and all three were absent from the Senate for most of the last two years while they pursued bigger and better. That's 's another change we need to think about somewhere down the road.

But for right now, three cheers for us! We did ourselves proud.

Blogging Today at Novel Talk - please visit!

2008-11-06T07:15:00.000-08:00

I'm guest-blogging today at Novel Talk.

Do you believe in ghosts? Come visit and tell me your ghost stories.

And I totally forgot to tell you about my NINC blog a few weeks ago about age and writers. Please stop by and add your two cents to the discussion.

Unexpected benefits

2008-11-05T19:16:00.000-08:00

One of the best parts of having a new book published is getting back in touch with friends. Today I heard from Catherine Anne Collins, a wonderful writer I had the pleasure of critiquing a few years back. Catherine made a bid at a charity auction and (poor woman!) won me. Well, my critique of her manuscript.

I'll tell you in three words what I told her in three pages: I loved it.

Today I found out it's going to be published. How cool is that?

Go ahead. Click on her link up there and take a look. It won't be too long before you'll be able to say you knew her when.

Factoid: WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT was filmed in Catherine's small Canadian town.

Michael Crichton is dead

2008-11-05T11:17:00.000-08:00

According to his website Michael Crichton died today after a battle with cancer. You already know my feelings about cancer so I won't bore you with them but damn it. We need to win more of the battles.

Cashmere Yarn Giveaway at RTY

2008-11-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

To celebrate tomorrow's release of CASTING SPELLS, I'm giving away 10 luscious skeins of Debbie Bliss 100% cashmere and a $50 gift certificate to the incomparable Elann plus some other goodies to one lucky winner to be drawn around 10 p.m. ET tomorrow.

Pop over to Romancing the Yarn and enter!