Here come the reviews!

The first reviews for Vineyard Mambo are coming in! I am tickled!

From Review Your Book..."...Vineyard Mambo by Sarita Leone is a tongue- in- cheek murder mystery.Leone has a talent for mixing humor and murder... Fans of suspense will not want to miss Vineyard Mambo."

And from Simply Romance Reviews..."...Vineyard Mambo was a great "palate cleanser". Ms. Leone tells the heartwarming story of family, community, and the love between a man, woman, and a cat... I recommend this book for those days when you feel a little down and out because it will definitely surround you in a warm blanket of love and friendship."

Character without a story

Most of the time I begin a project with a plot in mind. Then, I add the characters. I hadn't realized that point until very recently when an interviewer asked the question, "Which comes first? Character or plot?"

Me, with my warped sense of humor, wanted to say, "The chicken. Of course!" I didn't say that. But I definitely thought it. Told you, warped.

But now that I've realized how most stories evolve for me, I'm faced with a dilemma. You see, on Wednesday I met someone who's just begging for a place in a story. Just. Begging. He doesn't know it, but he's one of the quirkiest people I've ever met -- and let me tell you, I've met a boatload of quirky in my time. This guy? He almost takes the cake.

Now I don't generally base characters on real people. That would be dull as dirt. Better to form them from thin air, and much more fun. Fun for me, I mean. I do, however, pull characteristics from real people into imagined characters. I'm sure everyone does. A twitch from the lady at the grocery counter. The rasping throat noise an insurance agent makes while he fills out a form. The cornflower blue eyes sparkling brightly in an elderly woman's face when she smiles at me. All little things, but they make a difference in the fullness of characters in a story.

Once in a while, I hit the jackpot and find someone who's so out there they could furnish a whole army of characters. This week, the bells and whistles went off the instant. I knew, as soon as I heard his voice, that I'd met the King of Quirk.

Trouble is, he's a character without a story.

Just when I'm nearly finished with the story I'm working on, this guy shows up. The King of Quirk, delivered with a red bow on his head. Great. What am I going to do with him? I ask you, what? What? What?

You know, don't you? This guy? He needs a story.

And I thought I was going to take a break. Go figure.

Death by Blogging?

I've thought of death by flogging. Slogging. Because of fogging. Even from bad clogging. But blogging?

Good grief, what a way to go!

I read this article and although I could understand it, given the hectic pace of news, life and the Internet, I was amazed. I think some of you might be, too. Who woulda thought?

What do you think?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a muse to tangle with.

Before we begin, I'll see if she's wearing any clogs. Or if she's got a photog hidden beneath her togs. Or maybe she'll come armed with a log. Or riding a hog...

Yeah, I'm toast. Don't mind me.

Midnight Hours

I'm possessed. There. I've said it. Out loud. In front of witnesses.

Possessed. Do you hear me?

Since I figured my way into telling the story, I can't get away. I fear I may be possessed, driven by the whip-weilding muse, until the final page is written. No complaints here. I'm loving the way this is going but I'm not getting much sleep.

Sleep can wait, can't it? I mean, I'm half done with the book. I'd been nearly finished with the "original"--more than once, actually, but that damn possessive muse... Forced me to delete big chunks, to move back to a salvageable point and rewrite, using the new slant.

She was right, you know. About the scrapping chunks? Completely on target.

The story is much stronger, now. More interesting, too. I think. I hope.

Oh, what if it's still rubbish?

Y'know, there's always one heckler in the crowd, isn't there? Escort that sucker right out the door! Get outta here, self-doubt! Hit the road!

There. Now back to life in the possessed lane.

Oh? A hint? Just a wee hint about the muse's takeover? All right, if you insist. I've got two words for you. Parallel stories. That's it; it says everything. Or so I'm told -- by some crazy, drill sargeant muse who refuses to shut up.

Have a nice day. I hear it's Wednesday, but who can ever really tell with those things? In my world it's page 153. :)

Look at the time!

Oh my gosh, look at the time! How can it be this late already? I've lost half the day...and I've been awake since 2 am. How did this happen? Um, you don't think I've stepped into some weird day-shifting, black hole time warp continuum thingy, do you? No, I didn't think so either but I just figured I should check with all of you. Because you know, you've obviously got a better grip on hours than I do.

This must've happened to you at some point or other, hasn't it? Please say it has. Please?

Phew. I'm so glad to hear it has.

Just a fast explanation...I've been working to finish a novel. In bits and pieces, really, but it's been coming along. Nicely, even. It just hasn't been, well...exactly the way I want it to be. Things are good, but not quite as good as I think they should be. The plot? Solid. Characters? Doing what they should be doing. But overall, I just haven't been thrilled.

Then, at 2 am, my eyes flew open. I stared at the ceiling for long moments, listening to my thudding heart. I had it. Really. I had it. The extra bit that would turn the story from all right to just right.

Been working on it all day. The hours? Just flying by. The story? Almost writing itself. The sun? Shining...outside and in. Yes, it's a very good Tuesday!

Hope your day is going well, too. And keep an eye on those hours, you hear? They have a habit of slipping by waaay too quickly. ;-)

Perfect Day

We had the most perfect day yesterday. Chess after breakfast. A little reading time with a second cup of coffee. In the afternoon we worked in the new greenhouse which is an absolute delight in and of itself. We planted flats of veggies and flowers. Took a walk to the pond. As the sun fell low in the cloudless blue sky, we grilled dinner on the patio. Then we sat and talked for a while after we ate. We came inside when it grew chilly, and still managed to watch a couple of good movies before turning in.

What could be more wonderful?

Today -- ahh! All the stuff I neglected yesterday is waiting for me. The list is longer than my arm. But you know what? It was worth it. Today I'll scramble a bit but the warmth of yesterday's perfect day will linger, its fingerprint on my heart and soul. Yes, it was well worth it.

BTW, I'm a guest today at Fantasy Pages, Denysé Bridger's blog. I reveal some things about Anna, the heroine of Vineyard Mambo, that I've kept to myself before now. Too, I give a glimpse at the heroine in the new book I'm writing. She's a pip, to say the least! I hope you'll check the post out, and say "Hi!" while you're there.

Me? I'll be working on my longer-than-usual list today. With a smile on my face. :)

Happy Monday!

Just because I'm happy

...and I think you should be, too. Happy Sunday!

Slow Saturday

Despite the weatherman's promise of 60 degree temperatures, we're beginning the weekend with a sleet/rain mix that puts me in no big rush to begin the day.

About an hour ago I went downstairs and mixed up something that's filled the air with the scent of chocolate. Mmm...mouth-watering. My baking timer has only a couple of minutes left on it so I'm going to share the goodness with you and dash before I ruin the snowy morning surprise.

Just as a side note, my husband and I joke that my "cooking timer" is usually the squealing smoke alarm. It's not entirely true but not altogether false, either.

Today, though, I'm going to present the perfectly timed treat with a steaming pot of coffee. We'll eat beside a roaring fire and smile at the sleet bouncing off the French doors. Because really, when Mother Nature hands you ice balls, what can you do besides grin and bear it? :)

From my most recent cookbook, Tea Time, a recipe that I love. I hope you do, too.

Have a great weekend!

Chocolate Loaf

½ cup softened butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1½ cups flour

3 T. cocoa

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. vanilla

½ cup sour cream

½ cup chopped nuts, optional

½ cup chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour two loaf pans.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs.

Combine dry ingredients.

Add to butter mixture.

Add vanilla, sour cream, nuts

and chocolate morsels.

Pour batter into pans.
Bake for 60 minutes.
~

Reading?

Oh, I told you love was in the air this week! I tried to warn you that I'm as befuddled as the cooing doves and paired off robins. I can't help but sigh when I see daffodils and tulips poking up through soil in the garden beds. They make me think of bouquets, and bouquets make me smile because--you guessed it--they remind me of weddings. And really, what's more romantic than a spring wedding? Except maybe a summer wedding...or a winter wedding...or a wonderful, crisp autumn wedding. Yes, romance has swept over me as surely as the smell of decomposing leaves uncovered by melting snow... oh, right. Rotting, need-to-be-raked leaves aren't wildly romantic, are they? Hmmph. Well, just forget about the leaves. Believe me, romance overpowers leaves any day!

The romantic befuddlement has extended this week to influence my reading choices. I usually read one or two romances each week but this week it's been all romance, all the time. And you know what? It's been fun!

First I read Good Husband Material by Kara Lennox. I loved this story, for a lot of reasons but mostly because it is well written. Too, the ages of the main characters was a refreshing change of pace. I also loved the idea that the couple met again at their high school reunion. I have a reunion coming up this year, so the whole topic makes me smile.

Then I read For Jessie's Sake by Kate Welsh. It is a heartwarming story with a focus on a sweet little girl who deserves the best the adults surrounding her can give her. I was completely captivated, pulled into the romance and reality in a heartbeat.

Now I'm set to dive into a book by Sally MacKenzie called The Naked Gentleman. I've never read anything by this author and have absolutely no idea what the book's about but this is sincerely a case of the cover selling the book. I saw it, smiled, and walked straight to the cash register. The cover is simple, featuring a top hat and two hearts, the title and author's name, but it just grabbed me. I hope it's as good as I want it to be. I'll let you know.

So there you have it, romance in the air, on the breeze and in the pages, too. Oh, and we are celebrating our wedding anniversary this weekend. Maybe that's part of why we're so immersed in romance these days.

What are you reading this week? Whatever it is, I hope you're enjoying yourself as much as I am. :)

Painting Frenzy

"I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else." - Pablo Picasso

I love to paint. Are you surprised? I know I haven't mentioned that about myself yet, that I really enjoy painting, but I do. A lot. So there, now that I've said it, you know. I love to paint.

Usually it's walls, or sheds, or garden structures I'm taking brush to. But in any event, I love to paint.

Pardon? Canvas? Um, no. I don't generally paint on canvas. Not unless you count that one pair of sneakers I tye-dyed in college... Yes, I do love painting, but my talents aren't particulary artistic. I just love the feel of bristles on something--anything. One of our barn's doors haven't weathered well this past winter so I'm planning to give them a fresh coat of cheery barn red paint this weekend. Truthfully, I'm already thrilled by the prospect.

Yeah, I know. It doesn't take much to please me, does it? I love the feeling of unaccountability that comes with painting. It gives me the chance to let my mind wander. Naturally, when I paint I "write" in my mind. I find some of the easiest plot smoothing and dialogue polishing comes during mindless tasks. So, I embrace the paintbrush!

But I've got to admit I do enjoy art. Real art, I mean. I can't do much more than draw a wavery stick figure but I love art. My tastes are eclectic in this area, as they are in so many other areas. I'm open to almost any style of expression, as long as it's not too gory or grisly.

Last summer we went to a Grandma Moses exhibit and I loved it. I actually went back twice, just because I wanted to experience the paintings again. I love her primitive style, and the attention to detail. Grandma Moses' scenes have so many things almost hidden in them. I could spend days "discovering" the layers in her paintings.

Recently I read through a bunch of quotes. I have a habit of filing a quote if it interests me, or makes me think, and I noticed a few came from Pablo Picasso. His mother reportedly said his first word was "pencil"--isn't that interesting? My mom says my first words were "ice cream"--no surprise there.

Although I don't particularly enjoy everything Picasso painted--and I definitely don't agree with how he lived or a great deal of what he said about women, life or much else not art-related-- I appreciate his sketches. The simplicity of the line drawings is lovely and encourages me to look beyond a first impression. I look deeper, see the curve in a smile or the tension in an elbow. I begin to feel the drawing. I recognize myself, or someone or something I know, in a line less wavery than any I'll ever draw. In that instant a connection is made, an appreciation felt. Yes, I love his drawings.

His words, the ones related to creativity, leave an impression on me. Do they touch you in any way? Or is there another artist who leaves a fingerprint on your heart?

"Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working." - Pablo Picasso

Love is in the air

Yes, it is. Really. I wouldn't pull your leg, now would I? Well...all right, I might attempt to pull a fast one--sometime--but not now. I'm serious, love is in the air, despite the flag-flapping wind that's threatening to blow branches from trees and birds from nests.

Love is in the air. I can smell it.

Don't laugh. I can hear you, scoffing at my olfactory senses.

Smell love? In the air? Why, the woman must be cracked!

See? I told you I could hear you!

Hmm? You want proof that springtime love is being buffeted--ahem, I mean drifting through the hills and valleys? Proof? That's easy.

Just look outside your window. What do you see? Robins, flapping in two by two? Buds on lilac bushes? Love, definitely, in those buds. By the way, did you know lilacs are symbolic of first love and innocence? It's true. So really, there's no getting past the romance in those gangly branches bending in the breeze.

What else do you see? Do you have snowdrops poking up through a stubborn layer of the white stuff? Snowdrops symbolize hope, and what's more hopeful than, you guessed it, love? Are your tulips pushing up through the soil? Love. Daffodils? Joy and devotion. Are you somewhere warm, where rosebushes may already be blooming? Yeah, love's coming up all over, isn't it?

And what do you hear being wind-thrown through--um, wafting in through an open window? Cooing doves, pairing off and pecking gravel? Love. Swallowsong as they feather their nest? Uh huh. Feathering a nest together, now that's pretty romantic.

Do you remember the first time you feathered a nest with someone? *Sigh* I do. Saying it's romantic doesn't quite do the experience justice, does it?

Love is, without a doubt, in the air. All we have to do is brave the breeze and be open to seeing it. Soon the spring winds will die down and the world will calm, and love will take hold in a more prominent display. Until then, we've got to recognize love when we sense it.

Me? I sense it. I hope you do, too. By the way, that Morning Glory, with its heart-shaped leaves, stands for affection. This morning I planted a flat of Morning Glories in the greenhouse.

I can't wait to see them blooming in the yard. Soon. Then love will really be blooming all over!

Empire of the Sun

Recently we watched Empire of the Sun on DVD. Directed by Steven Spielberg, it was released in 1987 and nominated for six Oscars. We had seen it before, but not in a long while. Watching it again, it was just as powerful and gripping as it had been when we'd first seen it in the theater.

A heartwrenching coming-of-age story set in Shanghai in 1941, it tells the tale of Jamie Graham, a little boy who is separated from his parents when the Japanese invade. Young Jamie is forced to make his own way through a world that has suddenly turned upside down. No longer enjoying the privileged lifestyle he's known all his life, Jamie is swept along in the chaos. Of course he learns and grows along the way, and makes acquaintances he never would have made if the invasion hadn't taken place. Some friendships and experiences, despite Jamie's diminished circumstances, are good. Some are, as you can well guess, not as wonderful.

The story was written by J.G. Ballard, who had his first novel published in 1962. He was 32 at the time, and he has made his living writing professionally since that first publication. The first novel? It was called The Wind From Nowhere...now, isn't that an interesting title? His most recent endeavor is his autobiography, called Miracles of Life. He is, unfortunately, suffering from cancer. I wish that wasn't so, but it is. My thoughts and prayers are with him.

So you're probably wondering why I'm going on and on about a movie, right? Well, it's because this film is one that made a big impression on me when I saw it when it was first released. And I've got to say that every time I've seen it since, it's moved me. Greatly. It's left its impression on me. Made me think. Why? Because Empire of the Sun is a well-written, solid story. Regardless of whether or not it's a favorite genre, or filled with a cast of superstars, there's no denying it's stellar storytelling. The characters, dialogue and plot are fly-off-the-page/screen realistic. There are moments when I cringe. Others when my throat tightens. Despite the setting, there are even moments that call for laughter. Only superb storytelling could elicit such a range of emotions.

I've never read any of Mr. Ballard's novels besides Empire of the Sun but I fully intend to do so. Maybe I'll spend some long, lazy afternoons this summer and dive into his impressive body of work. Read his stories beneath the big maple tree in our yard. It's dark and dreary outside my window now, so this summer reading plan sounds like a good one. I'll let you know how it works out for me, all right? Give you updates on my discovery of a new-to-me author.

I already know I'm going to love his books, even though I've only read one so far. How do I know? The quote below convinces me. :)

"I've never suffered from writer's block. I have plenty of ideas, sometimes too many. I've always had a strong imagination. If it dries up I'll stop and look for another career. But I wouldn't recommend writing. You can be a successful writer and never meet another soul. I'm not sure that's a good thing." -- J.G. Ballard