10 Perfect Questions

Posted by Tawny Weber Apr 14 2012, 4:03 am in Tawny Weber

Next week is my and my husband’s anniversary.  And as sappy as it sounds, I love him more now than I did the day he almost put my ring on the wrong finger because I nervously corrected him at the altar when he tried to put it on the right one (which prompted the brilliantly insightful advice from my father later – as of this day forward, he told my husband, you’ll always be wrong.  Even when you’re right.  Just get used to it). I love the life we’ve created together and how much stronger we are now than we even imagined being then. 

As a rule, we don’t do anniversary gifts. Not usually. But every once in awhile we break the rule.  Life’s funner that way, isn’t it?!  This year, I am in a sentimental place and really wanted to make something romantic, but fun.  I’ve done a number of scrapbooky projects as gifts to give him.  I’m a fan of scrapbooks as gifts because photos are so great for evoking mood and memory, for chronicling life and events and just reminding us what we looked like 20 years ago before we had the first sign of wrinkles *g*

So what I wanted to create this year is a You and Me book.  Not just of photos, although I’ll include those.  But I’d seen a scrapbook done in such a clever way recently.  In it, the artist asked a question and both she and her husband wrote out their answers.  It became not just a book of visual memories, but of each person’s actual feelings and perceptions. 

I’m shooting for ten questions to have both my husband and I answer for this project.  Here is a sampling of the questions that were in that were in inspiration scrapbook:

• What’s your favorite memory of us?
• What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to tell me?
• If you could change anything about us, what would it be? (this question prompted my oldest daughter to comment that after answering it, i could scrapbook our next fight *g*) 
• What’s your favorite way to spend time together?
• How has our relationship changed you? 

These are great, and I’ll probably use a few of them.  But I’d like to come up with some different ones for our book… and that’s why I’m sharing this today! 

You’re all fans of romance, right? Can you think of any questions to include that would evoke memories, awww moments, and smiles as time goes by? Or giggles and blushing, I’m not particular  

Whether you have suggestions or not, I’d love to hear your idea of a romantic celebration.  What would it include? Where might it be?

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Spring is Springing

Posted by Tawny Weber Mar 14 2012, 2:59 am in pedicure, spring, Tawny Weber

The Spring Equinox is almost upon us, which brings so many wonderful things to mind.  Babies and blooming flowers, little lambs bouncing over a field of new green grass, beginnings and oh, so many new possibilities.  I really don’t have a favorite time of the year, because I can always find something awesome about whatever month is on the calendar, but spring always seems to have that extra spark of something special. It could be because my youngest daughter was a spring baby or that I was married in the spring. 

Or maybe it is all those flowers.  I love flowers year ’round, but seeing the bulbs pop up, grow and bloom always seems like a gentle chiming alarm, letting us know the earth is wakening and it’s time for a new growing season.  And, yeah, they are so pretty! 

I think to a lot of people, spring means baseball.  I’m totally clueless about it, but I do appreciate that there are suddenly so many guys in tight pants around to check out!

Spring, this year, means another go at the vegetable garden for us. Last year we had a good crop of tomatoes, a couple of pumpkins and enough fingerling potatoes for one meal.  The rest was very, very skimpy.  This year, we’ve amended the soil and know how the light will hit through the season a lot better, so fingers crossed I actually get a loaf of zucchini bread and a salad out of it this year, too

Spring’s all about fashion to me, too. After a winter of bundled up and layered (yes, even in sunny California.  I have thin blood *g*) I’m really looking forward to dresses and lighter fabrics.  Which, of course, leads to spring shoes.  Sandals, baby!!!!  I’m so ready for sandal season. 

Don’t get me wrong, I do adore boots.  If I could only own one single type of footwear, I’d have to go with boots, actually.  But sandals…  Oh sandals.  The heights, the materials, the studs or ribbons or jewels.  Whew, getting excited here! 

But even as much as I love fashion and shoes, my absolute favorite thing about spring is the beginning of pedicure season!!  Woot, happy toes, baby!  I love the pampered luxury of a salon pedicure, the fun of at-home pedicures and the wild design choices to play with. Single color, ombre, designs, flowers, jewels, so much to choose from. 

And thanks to the sandals, cute toes are easier to show off. 

So what about you?  What does spring mean to you?  What’s your favorite thing about this season?  And hey, are you a pedicure kind of gal?  If so, what’s your favorite style?  

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Is It Okay To Lie?

Posted by Tawny Weber Jan 14 2012, 3:45 am in Sex Lies and Midnight, Tawny Weber

Liar Liar, Pants on Fire! 

That saying makes me shudder.  I’m really not a fan of lying.  Growing up, I was exposed to a lot of vices.  Of all of them, lying is the one that always seemed to bother me most.  Recently my daughters and I were with friends talking about our favorite Disney movies.  Someone mentioned Pinocchio and my girls shook their head and said, “Mom wouldn’t let us watch that.”  The looks I got!  What a mean mom, right?  But to me, the message of that movie was the payoffs of lying.  Yeah, yeah, I know there were other messages, but that was the one that always came to mind.  And it’s not like there aren’t a ton of other Disney movies to love and watch (interestingly, we loved Aladdin, so apparently stealing didn’t ring my freak-out bell *g*)  And I do love Jiminy Cricket.

But guess saying I’m not a fan of lying is putting it mildly.  Clearly I have an issue with lying.  So writing the Undercover Operatives series, especially SEX, LIES AND MIDNIGHT, was an interesting challenge.  Because people are lying in every book. And in MIDNIGHT, they are both lying –to each other, and to everyone else.  The entire premise of the story is built around a con artist father who wants his children home, and lies to make that happen.  Talk about an interesting writing journey – and proof that we writers explore our issues through our own stories.  (which, btw, is not an invitation to go read all my books and figure out what my issues are.  I mean, go ahead and read them all. But ignore the issue part ) 

I was able to justify, dance around, rationalize, excuse… you pick the word *g* Basically, to accept the lying theme my characters had to explore by understanding their motivations. Hey- the FBI was involved in all of the cases, someone was undercover in each one, and –this one’s the kicker– they were doing it for someone else’s good. 

Ahh, the lie for someone else’s good. 

Otherwise known as the Little White Lie. 

You know the ones…

• No, those pants don’t make you look fat.
• Mmm, this is delicious.  The best fried tofu casserole I’ve ever had.
• Oh my!  What a darling baby.
• New hairstyle?  Wow, super short looks great on you.
• Of course size doesn’t matter.
• I loved your latest book, um, the one with a romance in it.
• If you swallow those watermelon seeds, a fruit will grow in your belly.
• And then there’s the whole Santa/Easter Bunny/Tooth Fairy extravaganza 

They’re always said with the best intentions.  Usually in hopes of NOT hurting someone’s feelings.  Or of making them feel better when they are down on themselves.  Or, you know, to perpetuate a long-standing, well-loved, present bringing tradition.  In writing these books, I came to realize that my need to make people feel better- to not hurt their feelings -trumped my issues with lies.  And clearly my character’s were pretty comfy with the whole thing  

So what do you think?  Are white lies okay? Under any circumstances, under certain circumstances, or never ever ever?  Do you have a problem reading characters who are pretty much lying all over the place (ahem, including bed – or is that laying?) Is it okay if the reasons for the lies are strong, or it’s job related?  Or is it never, ever okay? 

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Midnight Booty

Posted by Tawny Weber Jan 12 2012, 11:30 pm in Bandita Booty, Sex Lies and Midnight, Tawny Weber

Thank you so much to everyone who came by to celebrate the release of SEX, LIES AND MIDNIGHT with me!  I called on the power of the handy dandy random number generator, which magically drew the name Sunnymay as the winner of an autographed copy of SEX, LIES AND MIDNIGHT.  If you’ll drop me an email with your shipping info, I’ll get that book right out to you! 

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Launching Some Midnight Fun

Posted by Tawny Weber Jan 7 2012, 12:17 am in Goals and Wishes, Launch Party, New Years, Sex Lies and Midnight, Tawny Weber

Woot!  It’s that time again here in the lair.  Party Time, that is.  Time to celebrate the release of my latest book, SEX, LIES AND MIDNIGHT.  I’m so excited to see this story out and can’t wait to see if readers are excited, too. While Sven and the boys are circulating with champagne and chocolate covered strawberries (we have a New Year’s theme going on, after all), I thought I’d share a New Years tradition I love.  New Year’s Kisses?  Mmmmm, yeah, that sweet meeting of the lips, a promise of delights to be had for the entire next year.  Yep, I do love that tradition. 

But as wonderful as Midnight Kisses are, I thought we’d talk instead about another New Year’s tradition my family enjoys.  Midnight Wishes.  It’s sort of like wishing on a star, but the wish is made as the clock chimes the New Year, and the wish is something you want to do before the year is out. Something special.  Like sell a book.  Or kiss Johnny Depp. Or wear a cute pair of size 7 jeans.  Or meet someone special.  Or… well, you see where I’m going here, right? The trick of the wish is that it’s a all about something you want to DO.  Not get, not have, not see.  It’s an active wish, so to speak.

Want to give it a try?  Thanks to the wonder of Lair Magic, we can set the clocks back here in the Lair, making all day Midnight.  So wish away.  What wonderful thing do you want to do this year? 

Contrary to some rumors, I really am a mature adult.  But I do believe, with all my heart, in wishes.  And in wishes come true.  I think that’s one of the hardest things about growing up – losing that belief in magic.  For some, that growing up happens much later (me).  For others (Maya and Simon) it happens much much too soon. 

Here’s a tiny excerpt from SEX, LIES AND MIDNIGHT, my current release and the second book in the Undercover Operatives series.  It’s not a hot juicy excerpt, although there is definitely hot juice in the book *g*  I thought I’d share this bit about wishes that gives such a vivid insight into both Maya and Simon’s hearts.   

       Maya glanced at the window, the moonlight sparkling like glitter against the multi-paned glass.  There were stars out there.  A whole skyful.  She hadn’t been raised to believe in magic, but for once she felt the need to wish on one of those pretty stars.

     To wish for something special for her future.  Something worth believing in.

     Something like Simon. 

     Crazy.  Just because he made her laugh and feel safe, made her go wild with need at the same time he made her feel like the strongest woman in the world?  Was that enough to think they could last past this week? 

     Especially since this week was based on a lie.

     Suddenly so sad she could cry, Maya pulled her gaze from the window and its tempting lies of hope. 

     “Did you ever wish on a star,” she asked.  Her words were so quiet, they were almost a whisper.  Not for fear of waking him.  But out of nerves for sounding so fanciful. 

     “Sure.  When I was a kid,” he said, his words low against the top of her head.  His hand combed through her hair, curling the tresses around his fingers then letting the silky mass fall against her shoulder before lifting it again.  “For awhile, I wanted to believe in anything.  Stars and birthday candles.  Blowing on those dandelion things.  I was pretty big on hope.”

     Maya’s heart shivered at the sound of loss in those words.  She’d rarely lacked confidence, but hope?  That tended to rank right up there with Santa Claus.  So what made a child need that kind of promise?  “How old were you when you stopped wishing?”

     His fingers stilled for a second, then Simon dropped his hand around her waist, pulling her tighter against the tempting hardness of his body.

     “I guess I was about eight when I realized that no amount of wishing was going to work.  If I wanted changes, I’d have to make them myself.”

So there you have it… Wishes are wonderful. But maybe we should hedge our wishing bets and figure on doing a little work to help make them come true   What do you think?   Are you a wishing kind of person?  Do you wish at midnight?  Or on stars?  Or birthday candles?  Do your  wishes ever come true?

Share your wishing wonders with me today and I’ll draw one name to win an autographed copy of SEX, LIES AND MIDNIGHT of their very own (or if they have it, any book from my backlist). 

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Yummy Holiday Treats to Kick Off the 12 Days of Christmas

Posted by Tawny Weber Dec 14 2011, 1:46 am in 12 days of Christmas, Sex Lies and Mistletoe, Tawny Weber

I adore baking.  I delight in candy making.  Clearly, I’m a fan of the yumminess of the holidays.  So much so, that when I found that SEX, LIES AND MISTLETOE would be a December release, I decided that my heroine, Pandora, would use her experience as a baker to turn the family business around.  A gift for creating delicious yumminess combined with her grammy’s old *magic* recipe books give her the idea to open a café in Moonspun Dreams, the new age store she’s inherited.  But she won’t serve just any food in her café.  Thanks to those recipes, she’s stirring in a little something extra to each dish.  The town of Black Oak is thrilled, since that something extra has added a whole lot of heat to their libidos!    Talk about adding a little spice to the holidays!  Pretty soon, the sex lives of her customers are as great as her sales! 

This was such a fun thing for me to bring into the story, not only because, well, hey what’s not fun about turning up the heat on a whole lot of love lives?  But also because it let me combine two of my favorite things.  Baking, and writing (you thought I was gonna say sex, didn’t you?!)  Using the yummy aphrodisiac inspired food as a challenge between Pandora and the hottie badboy, Caleb, was even more fun.  He especially liked her chocolate cake.

Thankfully, since baking at the holidays is something I love to do, my family all loves to eat the goodies as well.  Many a’year, they will request food instead of gifts.  Well, the adults.  My kids want toys.  Lots of toys. 

 My family has a list of favorites they request.  My favorite is my mom’s Pecan Caramels.  My dad and my FIL both love my Almond Toffee, and my mother’s favorite is my Cranberry Bread.  My husband loves it all, and my girls both want fudge.

My Mom’s Favorite Cranberry Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
2 tablespoons shortening
1 egg, well beaten
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup chopped nuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Grease 1 large loaf pan or 3 mini loaf pans.

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in orange juice, orange peel, shortening and egg. Mix until well blended. Stir in cranberries and nuts. Spread evenly in loaf pan.

Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on rack for 15 minutes before taking out of pan to cool completely. 

Mmmm, it’s so yummy.  I can’t wait to make my first batch this evening!  How about you?  What’s your favorite treat this time of year?  Does your family all have special requests that you bake for the holidays? And the big question… would you try a dessert purported to be an aphrodisiac?  

Ho! Ho! HO!  Happy ChrismaHannaKwanzaYulicah!  No matter how you celebrate the holidays in December, come join the Romance Bandits for the 12 Days of Christmas!  We have prizes and prezzies and recipes every day, along with bigger presents on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Commenters go in the drawing to win….so make sure you speak up!

In December of 2011 Tawny launched her Undercover Ops series with SEX, LIES AND MISTLETOE.  The second book in the series, SEX, LIES & MIDNIGHT is on shelves in January 2012, quickly followed in February by SEX, LIES & VALENTINES.  Be sure to follow her Holiday Survival Tour as she celebrates these three books with contests, giveaways and lots of fun.  You can read the first chapter of SEX, LIES & MISTLETOE on her website, all you have to do is join the Reader LoveFest!

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Happy Labor Day!

Posted by Tawny Weber Sep 5 2011, 4:21 am in labor day, Tawny Weber

by Tawny

It’s Labor Day here in the U.S.! Woot and happy celebrating to all who are, you know, celebrating.

Since I knew I would be chatting with you all today, and since I knew my brain would be a little fried from a super-busy weekend, over the last few days I asked everyone I talked to this question:

What’s the first thing that come to mind when you hear Labor Day?



And these were the answers I got:

The end of summer.

No wearing white (tough tootles if you’re getting married, eh?).

Barbeques.

Picnics.

Yard work.

Three-day weekend.

Having a baby, and taking all day to do it! (this was my daughter’s answer. Ack.)

Back to school.

All good answers! Well, except maybe the giving birth answer. And while I *knew* that Labor Day was a day to celebrate the working people everywhere, I realized I was clueless about what it’s actual purpose and origin were. According to the always-accurate (ahaha) Wikipedia, Labor Day became a national holiday in 1894 in response to an agreement between the government and the labor unions.

Huh, I had no clue. And now I know. But the first thing that comes to mind when I hear Labor Day? I think potato salad.

I always end up making my deliciously favorite potato salad for this holiday. Red potatoes and red onion, hard boiled egg and sweet pickles, Miracle Whip, mustard, celery seed and salt and pepper. It’s so simple and so amazingly wonderful.

So here’s my holiday question for you…

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear Labor Day?

And my second question is this…

Do you have a favorite potato salad recipe? Care to share?

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I Blame Mercury!

Posted by Tawny Weber Aug 14 2011, 5:12 am in Tawny Weber, technology

by Tawny

Ooooh, boy, this has been one stressful month! And it’s not even at the halfway point, yet – that scares me a little. There have been house stresses and kid stresses and writing stresses. You know, the usual life stuff. And I’m pretty good at (or immune to) rolling along with those stresses. But it’s the technology stresses that wipe me out!

I’m blaming Mercury. The planet, not the element. Mercury went into retrograde on August 3. Now, please don’t think me a fatalist who hands my world over to my horoscope, or someone who plans my life around the traveling of the stars. I don’t. Usually things like this barely make a bleep on my radar. But this month… oh boy!

First my daughter’s laptop went klaboom. It’d been on it’s last legs for awhile and I’d tried various repairs, but it was beyond help at this point. Because we use the laptop for homeschool (most of our curriculum is computer based) her having a computer is mandatory. And I don’t share mine, so it had to be either a new laptop, or giving her mine. I figured, hey, I use the iPad more than the laptop these days – mostly it’s become a glorified backup for documents and photos. So I wiped the harddrive, loaded her school software and handed it over.



Then my computer started glitching. It would freeze. It would lose information. I began writing with the thumbdrive in the usb slot, backing up every couple of paragraphs… just in case. Needless to say this didn’t do much for my writing production. My PC is 6 years old. Not aged by any means, but given the usage and the fact that I never turn it off (hey, it might not turn back on!) I figured I’d check with geeks smarter than I for advice. The advice? Start looking for a new computer.

That was another adventure. I finally decided on a laptop instead of a PC, but to get a docking station. This will, in theory, streamline my computing and make life easier and faster and better. We will see. Because the laptop is backordered and I won’t have it until the end of the month.

sigh.

Then my website crashed. Bigtime crashed. It was having minor issues anyway, and my host suggested upgrading. Sure-go for it. Except the upgrade resulted in 2 weeks of stress and lack of website love. It’s almost fixed. Or, at least, it’s loading again which is a major improvement (and a credit to my awesome webchick, not to me or Mercury).

Okay. So, again, I’m not blaming the planet’s retrograde for all my woes. Not really. But I am waiting to sign my new contract until after Mercury goes direct. No point in tempting fate, right?

So… whats your take on the sneaky influence of the planets? Do you check your horoscope? Is it ever right? And how about Mercury? Do you believe in the influence of a retrograde? And have you had any technological woes in the last 2 weeks??? It can’t be just me!

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Gardeny Goodness

Posted by Tawny Weber Jul 14 2011, 5:36 pm in fruit, gardens, jam, Tawny Weber, vegetables

by Tawny

It’s no secret that I like to make things. Books, crafts, trouble… (okay, really I don’t make trouble. I do tend to find it somehow, though). So I am so excited to have a garden this year. I’m making vegetables!! Or, at least, I am trying to make vegetables.

The first step was the wonderful raised garden bed my husband built for me. Isn’t it pretty? I planted lettuce and tomatoes and squash and peppers and herbs and strawberries and so so much more.

I had high hopes. I planned for big, crunchy salads and strawberry shortcake and hot salsa and jars and jars of tomato yumminess. But despite my hopes, my wonderful large garden had a slow start. The plants weren’t growing, the leaves were turning yellow. We had an abnormally rainy spring and very little warmth to make their little roots happy. Once my clever husband found the right fertilizer that made these little plants perk up, things started getting interesting. I’ve had two lovely salads, but that’s about the extent of my gardenly goodness so far. I have hopes, though!!

But while I wait for my garden to grow, I was thrilled to see my plum tree overflowing with delicious fruit. Last year, we missed the bulk of the plums because, well… we didn’t realize what we had LOL. And by the time we did, the dogs were snacking on fruit off the ground (and boy oh boy did they get tummy aches!) This year we were prepared, though. Some judicious pruning and a careful watch and we were there to harvest bags and bags of plummy goodness. I spent a few hours this week (okay, 4) making plum jam. I have plans to make another big batch, but have to get more jars. I’ve only done jam a couple times before, but have to say I love the the process!!

So even though I’m still waiting for my salsa and salad, I will be having yummy plum jam on my english muffin. And, better yet, I’ll have a dozen or so cute little jars all ready to go for the darling Christmas baskets I’m planning.

So how about you? Are you a gardener? Do you love homemade goodness? Any suggestions on what to do with my multitude of plums? And do you think it’s crazy to be planning Christmas gifts in July?

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Rewards

Posted by Tawny Weber Jun 13 2011, 9:33 pm in rewards, Tawny Weber

by Tawny

I love rewards. I’m a fan of using bribes to get myself to work hard. M&M’s are a regular staple on my desk, not just for tossing at my kids when I’m in the middle of a scene and can’t be interrupted, but for that end of a page celebration. When I finish an entire book, I reward myself with a massage – which is both indulgent and necessary since I’m usually tied in knots by the time I hit 65k words. I reward myself –and commemorate– each book contract with a new pair of shoes.

My kids love end of the school year rewards. It could be a trip to the beach, a day at the bookstore or just a cuddle on the couch movie day with popcorn, as long as we call it a reward. They love that acknowledgment of hard work (and believe me, my kids consider school lots of hard work worth acknowledging LOL) .

My husband considers the first day of the weekend his (as opposed to mine via a honey-do list) as a reward for working hard all week. He’s pretty easygoing about changing that day around if necessary, but he does like at least 4 hours to just chill and unwind.

So I started thinking about rewards. Are they indulgences? I just said to my daughter tonight ‘You can’t be rewarded for every thing you do. Doing a good job is supposed to be it’s own reward.” But then I think about denying myself my own rewards and get a little pouty

So what do you think? Are you a fan of rewards? Or do you think they are an overindulgence?

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