May 2, 2008

Well, nearly upon us.

And, coincidentally, I just got this little gem in my inbox. Anyone have any experience with this? I'm going to try it. 

"I was at a deck party awhile back, and the bugs were having a ball biting everyone. A man at the party sprayed the lawn and deck floor with Listerine, and the little demons disappeared.
The next year I filled a 4-ounce spray bottle and used it around my seat whenever I saw mosquitoes. And voila! That worked as well. It worked at a picnic where we sprayed the area around the food table, the children's swing area, and the standing water nearby.
During the summer, I don't leave home without it…..Pass it on.
——————
OUR FRIEND'S COMMENTS:
I tried this on my deck and around all of my doors. It works - in fact, it killed them instantly. I bought my bottle from Target and it cost me $1.89. It really doesn't take much, and it is a big bottle, too; so it is not as expensive to use as the can of spray you buy that doesn't last 30 minutes."

Let me know if you've heard of this, if it works, etc. We hate those little buggers! We even have a bat house in hopes of attracting bats to gobble up those little bloodsuckers…but so far, I think the house is still looking for residents. 

May 1, 2008

Very exciting news here in Colleen Land.

A few months ago, my friend Janet Mullany (author of Rules of Gentility, a very smart, very witty, slightly dirty Regency-set chick-lit romance) invited me to join her and author Susan Krinard in putting together an anthology of novellas. We wanted to find a "headliner," so to speak, and Sue managed to convince the amazing Mary Balogh (!!) to join us.

Talk about a headliner!

Anyway, yesterday, a final deal with HQN (a line at Harlequin/Silhouette) was struck, and so I'm going to be in an anthology with the one and only Mary Balogh…along with the fabulous Sue and Janet. I looooove Mary's books (my favorite is No Man's Mistress), so this is just as exciting for me as being in an anthology with Roberta Gellis!

And here's the cool thing: the tentative title of the anthology is Bespelling Jane and the theme that will pull all four novellas together is…wait for it…paranormal twists on Jane Austen books.

Sweet, huh?

I'm going to do a historically-set novella about Northanger Abbey (what could be better than a gothic romance with a vampire slayer?). Ms. Balogh is doing Persuasion (also historical), Janet is doing Emma (contemporary), and Sue is also doing contemporary–Blood & Prejudice.

I'm delighted. I don't know anything about a release date yet, but I'll keep you posted. 

More news to come! Things are just hopping here in Colleen Land. 

April 30, 2008

Napping is coming back!

By coming back, I mean, back now that I'm an adult, but not a senior citizen, and no longer pregnant. (Those seem to be the only times napping is acceptable).

But not any more!  Check this out. (I'm too lazy and under too much of a deadline to summarize; you're going to have to click over and read. Sorry.)

I like my afternoon naps. Thirty to forty-five minutes in the mid-afternoon (right before the kiddies get home from school)…what a treat.

And now, I can legitimately call it "brain food."

Life is good. 

April 29, 2008

I watched Sleepless in Seattle with my daughter a few weeks ago, remembering it to be a funny '90s romantic comedy when Meg Ryan was still cute and and neurotic…and a flick without any objectionable content.

Well, I was sort of right. The only real objectionable content was the use of the term "ho" in relation to Tom Hanks's girlfriend, and the fact that a 9 year old boy supposedly flew from Seattle to NYC alone without a hitch (pre-911, of course. Don't they have rules about that now?).

But I only enjoyed one half of the movie: the part with Tom Hanks in it. The part with Meg was…annoying. (Thank goodness they didn't meet until the end!)

I used to love her and as many of you know, When Harry Met Sally… is one of my all-time favorite movies. She was cute in that. In Sleepless, she was trying to reprise that role and didn't do it very well, IMO. Too frenetic, too high-strung, and just not as funny. 

But Tom was great.

I'd forgotten how sad that movie is, too, though. I remembered it really only being sad at the beginning, but after seeing it again with my daughter, I see that it's pretty much a tear-jerker all the way through. 

Seeing the movie also reminded me of a bit of weirdness in my life that paralleled Annie's (Meg's character).

I had dated a guy seriously for years, and just around the time we were planning to get engaged, I ended the relationship.

He looked just like Bill Pullman (the guy to whom Meg Ryan's character is engaged to at the beginning of the movie)…and my Music Man, who I started dating right after breaking up with the Bill-Pullman Look Alike, at the time bore a striking resemblance to Tom Hanks (curly dark hair, strong features, dark eyes and brows). Enough that I noticed that Meg's Annie and I seemed to have parallel taste in men.

Weird huh? So I told my daughter this, and she heartily agreed that I had made the right choice.

Anyway, do you remember that movie? Have you seen it lately? Thoughts?

Did you know you can buy that houseboat that Tom Hanks's character lived in? Excuse me while I check my bank account for $2.2 million….

April 28, 2008

I guess it's not Monday morning anymore, is it? At least here in Michigan it's not, where, after a week  of mid-60 and 70-degree weather they were talking about snow today…. (That hasn't come to pass, thank goodness.)

This is just a quick note to say hi, and that I'm still in my cave, finishing up torturing my characters in the last Victoria Gardella book.

I hope next week to rear my ugly head back in the blogosphere and get back into the swing of things!

In the meanwhile, question for you: Summer moviedom is nearly upon us. What is your most anticipated flick being released this summer?

Me? Since Mr. Damon hasn't seen fit to make another Bourne movie for me, I am all over the hotness that is Prince Caspian. Sigh. I do have a weakness for men in chain mail.

You?