Go here.

Select a product. Ask to see the side effects.

Enjoy.

(And remember who sent you, okay?)

There are certain little things in life I just wouldn’t want to live without. I could, sure, but I wouldn’t want to.

And I’m not talking about things like my computer (I’d certainly die without that!), my cell, my car, etc. I’m talking about the little things that make life so much easier.

For example, an apple slicer. I must use it five or six times a day. We eat a lot of fruit in my house, and I use the slicer for apples and pears. Constantly. It never even gets in the dishwasher; I have to wash it by hand all the time.

My newest favorite makes-life-easier gadget is the Tide-to-Go Pen!

My aunt introduced me to this little baby when my five year old daughter splashed ketchup on my white pants. She whipped out this pen and showed me how to use it, and I was hooked.

If you haven’t used one, get thee to a store and buy a package of three. One for your purse, one for your diaper bag (if you still carry one), one for the kitchen, keep one at your desk, etc. They literally erase stains–as long as they are fresh–of pretty much any type. Even chocolate from my daughter’s white shirt! Great invention. Love it.

I also love duct tape and binder clips. You can do so much with just those two things–I swear you could probably fix a leaking roof (Holli!) or even a flat tire.

My other very favorite little gadget is something I never leave home without. I carry it in my purse–I’d even leave my planner home in order to make room for this nifty little item if necessary.

It’s my leather book weight. I love to read while I’m eating (at restaurants or when I’m eating at home alone), and this little gem is one of the best gifts I’ve ever received. And the comments I get! I can’t tell you how many times someone has come up to me in a restaurant–customer or waitstaff–to take a look at it. Love it. If you’re a bibliophile, or know one, this is a great inexpensive gift.

So…tell me about some of your favorite gadgets/gizmos. What little thing can’t you live without and why?

And don’t forget to watch Studio 60 tonight!

I’ve set my DVR to record Studio 60 on Monday nights (and HEROES t00) ever since the pilot a few weeks ago.

The first show was good, the second better…and then I went to watch the third show (which aired October 9th) earlier this week and noticed that the DVR hadn’t recorded the show which aired this past Monday the 17th (see, I thought I’d get a two-fer and watch them both at one time). No dice.

Something happened and it didn’t record. I think it’s my Music Man’s fault for turning off the cable box, but I’m not sure.

Anyway, long story short…the third episode was better than one and two, and then they showed the teaser for the episode which aired this week…and Sting was on it.

Sting. (The one guy I’d throw it all away for if he walked through the door.)

Plus the plot’s getting thicker and hotter and I’m loving it.

And so this is where the Net comes in. I just watched the fourth episode from the nbc.com page.

And I got to see Sting play the lute and sing Fields of Barley.

And I got to see Matt and Harry almost kiss.

And I got to see Jordyn McDeer kick some old-boy patootie.

And I got to see Danny start to fall for Ms McDeer.

If you aren’t watching this show, you should be.

It’s funny, smart, literate, and romantic. (I mean, on what other prime-time show do you get references to August Strindberg?) There are a couple great themes that are developing in a very interesting social commentary.

Go. Check it out.

As you know, my January release has been described as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Pride & Prejudice,” and on some level it’s true.

It’s about a girl, rather like Buffy in the sense that she finds out she’s a vampire hunter, but quite a bit unlike Buffy in other ways (ie, she doesn’t complain about it, she actually embraces the chance to be different…at least at first). And this girl happens to live during Regency-era England, which is roughly the time in which many of Austen’s books are set.

Anyway, using a high-concept phrase like “Buffy meets Jane Austen” is an easy way for me to give someone a quick preview of what the book is about, in the broadest sense…until a Brit with a delightfully dry sense of humor gets hold of the concept, and writes to me thus…

“I’m seeing Mr D’Arcy[sic] backing away, the camera zooms in onto his exposed, vulnerable throat…. Afternoon tea with the vampire. Won’t you walk with me in the moonlit garden?

“Later, Darcy is safely festooned with garlic, and has a high collar embroidered with silver crucifixes.

“At Northanger, the plague of zombies is most troublesome. Yesterday we lost a coachman to them, they ate his brains, and then chased a parlourmaid, who found refuge in the orangery. It is most inconvenient, as one can hardly take a stroll in the rose garden without zombies bursting through the privet hedges. Fortunately old Tom, the gardener, and two of his boys, can be employed to keep them at bay with their pitchforks.

“Emma is strangely pale, wears a velvet band around her throat. These days her behaviour is a little odd. She sends messages by her maidservant that she is ‘Indisposed’, and will remain in her room throughout the day- yet by evening time, she comes down to dinner, and is a lively, vivacious girl again. Poor girl, she has terrible insomnia, goes out in the night for long walks, returning just before dawn.

“The walks seem to be doing her a measure of good, for she returns lively, refreshed, and rosy-cheeked.”

Not exactly what I had in mind, but amusing nonetheless.

Thank you to Ersatz Soubriquet for his charming description of what came to mind when he heard the pitch-phrase about my book!

(You should know by now that I’d take any opportunity to post a pic of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy.)

Thirteen Random Books from my Towering, About-to-Fall-Over To-Be-Read (TBR) Pile….which one should I read next?

1. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

2. The Virgin’s Lover by Philippa Gregory

3. A Great & Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

4. Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen

5. Surviving Demon Island by Jaci Burton
(Advance Review Copy. Woohoo!)

6. Barbarian Prize by Deanna Ashford

7. Northern Lights by Nora Roberts

8. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

9. Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince by J K Rowling
(I haven’t read it yet because I’m waiting for Book 7…I want to be able to read them back to back. But I’m dying to read it.)

10. Broken Music by Sting

11. Naked in Baghdad by Anne Garrels

12. These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer

13. A Reputable Rake by Diane Gaston

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