Happy Halloween

Are you a Halloween fan? I'm not. At all. I like the trick-or-treating part and the jack-o-lanterns, but not the scary movies/scary costumes and creepy, twisted movies that come with this particular holiday. So far my kids love it though, so I always put out some decorations and try to get into it for their sake. (I'm trying, I really am!)

Tonight we've got a costume party to attend, and hubby and I are trying to get excited about dressing up. I've decided I'm going as a Stepford wife, all dolled up in my vintage tea dress with a strand of pearls around my neck. No idea what the man is going to do about a costume, and at this point he doesn't have a clue either. My little guys are dressing up as Bobba Fett (Star Wars) and BumblePrime, a hybrid of Bumblebee and Optimus Prime from Transformers.

Everyone stay safe out there tonight! I'm really looking forward to this upcoming weekend, because it's tradition in our house to haul out all the dozens of boxes of Christmas decorations the first weekend after Halloween. I can't wait! Deck the halls, baby. That's where it's at.

Ben's a Winner!

Yesterday I received word that No Turning Back won the romantic suspense category of the 2011 Aspen Gold Awards. Ben's psyched, of course, and now his ego is bigger than ever.

Right now I'm completing line edits on Darkest Caress, a paranormal romance coming out next April from Carina Press. Once those are done I'm going to hack away at this first draft of the second Bagram book, featuring Ryan and Ace. I've got everything plotted out now, so it's just a matter of getting the words down.

We're also in the middle of renovations on our master bathroom right now, and of course it's taking longer than expected. Trades not showing up when they're supposed to, which pushes the whole project back. What can you do, right? It's going to be purty when it's done, so I'm holding on to that thought.

Relentless Takes 3rd

Rhys and Neveah took 3rd place in the ACRWA Heart of Excellence Awards! I'm thrilled because I think Relentless and Absolution are the best books of the series, and yet they're the two books that haven't sold/placed as well as the others. Go figure.

At any rate, I'm happy to have an accolade to put next to Relentless :)

Turkey Day

Up here north of the 49th parallel, it's Thanksgiving Day! We hosted a dinner for hubby's side of the family last night, and tonight my mom's twin is hosting a dinner for that side of the family. My dad is in Azerbaijan on his way to Iran, so I guess he and my step mom are excused from hosting a dinner at their place this year. One can never have too many turkeys, you know?

But first, I'm going to see Moneyball with the man and a group of friends, including one who's a scout for the Milwaukee Brewers, currently playing in this year's NLCS. How cool is that? Can't wait to hear some stories from him after the movie.

After my last post, you're probably curious what the hubbster did for me on our anniversary. Well, he had a driver pick me up and take me downtown to Spa Utopia at the Pan Pacific Hotel. There I received a 75 minute aromatherapy massage, and when I came out my man was waiting there for me (the massage was great, but best of all it forced me to take a break from edits on my paranormal romance coming out from Carina Press next year). He'd booked us a room at the hotel, and whisked me up there to change, then took me to a fancy dinner overlooking Coal Harbor and Stanley Park while the sun set. Pretty romantic, I must say, and I appreciated the effort.

Happy Anniversary

Today is my wedding anniversary. My two boys are both in Catholic school, and this morning are actually attending mass at the very church we were married at 11 years ago today. Pretty cool, no?

My hubby is a wonderful, steady guy. Rock solid with lots of family values, which are my two favorite things about him. (Besides him being a sexy beast in his catcher's gear when he used to catch for me, that is.) He's the first to admit he's not the most demonstrative or romantic guy in the world, but every now and again he blows me away with something completely thoughtful and over-the-top. Today I found a card taped to my steering wheel, telling me that the kids are taken care of this afternoon and that I have to be ready to leave at 2:45 today. Oh, and I should shave. (Thanks for the tip, honey!) I hope that means he has plans to see me in a short dress, and not that he seriously thinks he has to remind me to shave, lol.

A year ago today we were in New Orleans to celebrate our 10th anniversary (another huge surprise from hubby, and he even arranged for my crit partner, Katie Reus, to meet me there as another surprise). We spend the day touring some plantations, such as Oak Alley...

 and a Creole plantation known simply as Laura.

 Fascinating place, run by powerful women, and the original slave quarters were still intact. They even had a copy of the Code Noir, or Black Code, stating the laws about owning slaves. They also had a manifest listing all the slaves owned by the plantation owners, their names, ages, trades, and what they were worth on the market.
O_o
Seriously hard to wrap your brain around that one. Seeing it written down in stark black and white was almost mind boggling. If a slave had any white blood in him at all, he was worth way more than a pure African slave fresh off the boat. Old slaves were worth practically nothing, and the more skills you had as a laborer, the better.

While the tour was somewhat disturbing, I'm glad they didn't try to sugar coat everything and sell the Gone With the Wind image to the tourists. We headed back to the French Quarter for dinner at Irene's, a famous Italian restaurant there (the dark chocolate mousse was to die for!),

 then took a paddle boat jazz cruise down the Mississippi.

Very romantic night! Hmm, I wonder what the man has in store for me today?