I’ve seen these a few times on You Tube, but I thought I would post them because they’re just so darned funny. I wish I could cut movie trailers. You can literally, through music and cuts, make any movie into a different genre. The Shining as a romantic comedy? Mary Poppins into a horror? Top Gun as the next Brokeback? LOL You decide.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmkVWuP_sO0&rel=1">
~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com
In honor of MISTLETOE MAGIC, currently my only Christmas romance available, I’ve decided to “pimp” it here on my T-13. Here we go!
1.) As stated, this is currently my one and only Christmas romance available.
2.) It takes place in my stomping grounds, good ol’ Portland, Oregon, baby!
3.) My novella in this project, entitled UNDERNEATH THE MISTLETOE, was once nominated for “Best Novella in an Anthology 2005″ at the RIO Awards.
4.) Jeremy Kitteridge, the hero, is one of the most adorable men I’ve ever written.
5.) Jeremy’s last name is one of Becka’s real life family names from back in the day.
6.) Jeremy dresses up like Santa for the kids. Aww…
7.) This book is available in eBook AND print, and is even on Amazon.com! 
8.) It will get you in the mood for Christmas if you’re not feelin’ it this year.
9.) You’ve read all my other books, but never this one, because it wasn’t Christmas time. Well guess what? 
10.) If you’ve NEVER read any of my books, this is an excellent one to start with, since MY contribution is only a novella, and it’s in an anthology with two other authors you may or may not have heard of. Broaden your reading horizons!
11.) It’s a straight contemporary romance, with no shifters, vampires, magic (despite the title), menages, or manlove.
12.) Yes, I said manlove.
13.) Paul Walker.
Okay, so #13 was contrived. But it woke ya up, didnit? 
Happy T-13!
~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com
I’m old enough to still remember my mother wearing gloves and a hat to church. I even wore a pair to church when I was around 5. I think after that, the custom began to phase out except for special instances. My high school choir director made us wear long ones that reached our elbows for concerts.
| I was looking in my trunk of things I’d inherited from my grandmother and I ran across a box. Inside was a pair of really cheesy salt and pepper shakers with a note that said: the first Christmas gift our first granddaughter gave us. That would be me. *grin* Beside those was an odd apparatus that turned out to be a glove stretcher that my great-grandmother had used, circa 1880. | 
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This generated an idea for one of my first scenes. So, enjoy a brief unedited excerpt involving the glove stretcher:
A week later, Shauna attacked the set of silver like a banshee bent on scaring every guest in the castle. But then, the castle of her fantasies was little more than a two-story wooden frame house in Nyesville, Indiana. She picked up a fork that still had a coating of dry whiting and vinegar between the tines. After an hour soaking near the fire, the tarnish should come right off. The operative word being should. After scrubbing a stubborn spot, she dropped the fork and leaned her weight against the counter. Old enough to be on her own, she still worked like a slave with no future, living in a home that didn’t want her.
“Slacking again?”
She turned toward Madison’s shrill voice, determined not to let her nemesis nettle her today. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the Clayburg’s for morning brunch?”
Madison pulled on white gloves and patted her perfectly coiffured hair. “Well, of course, but Mother had a tirade over her tight gloves. Seems someone broke her glove stretcher. I guess you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
Of course not. In a voice of false importance, she replied, “Do forgive me. I couldn’t seem to get the top to my treasure chest open this morning. I needed the glove stretcher to pry the lid. They worked quite well, and I was able to count every gold coin paid for my services over the years.”
Madison narrowed her eyes. “I keep telling Mother we need to replace you with someone younger. Your sarcastic humor is unwelcome.”
Perhaps, she hoped to provoke the Clevingers into dismissing her, forcing her to find a different situation. Truth be told, the thought of being on her own proved intimidating. She’d been saving all her money with the idea of leaving, but she didn’t think the amount in her purse would be enough. Not yet. Not while the country suffered economic depression and jobs were scarce.
At that moment, Mrs. Cora Clevinger rounded the corner and entered the kitchen. “Madison, stop by Kupert’s on your way home and buy another glove stretcher.” She held up the broken tool. The scissor-like apparatus had one piece dangling from a spring.
“I haven’t time. Make Shauna do it.”
“Nonsense. You’ll already be out and about, and Shauna has other work that needs tending.”
Other work? That didn’t sound good. Shauna stared at the mound of silver and wondered what other chores Mrs. Clevinger planned to drop in her lap.
“I’m sure Shauna wouldn’t mind procrastinating for a chance to go into town.”
Shauna picked up a silver ladle, ignoring their conversation. The last thing she wanted to do was travel to town. Since her disastrous trip down the aisle, she’d avoided people. She’d even skipped church yesterday by offering to make a special desert for the noon meal.
“Shauna!”
“Ma’am?”
“If you rub any harder, I’ll lose the delicate engravings on that spoon.”
Yawza! Looks like we have lots of HOT heros in the works…and OT stories, too!
Here’s a little tidbit about Rebel’s heroine, Galen Stewart…
Galen is Scottish and longs to return to her grandmother in Scotland. The only person she feels ever really cared about her. Not to give too much away, she writes religiously in her journals per her grandmother’s encouragment, and her heart’s dream is to become a real author as she has a talent for spinning tales… *clears throat* …but she fears no one will want to read anything a woman of ill-repute would have to say. But then again, why should she care? If congressman Cady catches up with her, she’ll have a California-Collar (hangman’s noose) wrapped around her neck faster than a ravenous cobra having corned a field mouse!
…but enough of that…for now.
Let’s get back to out heros, shall we?! LOL
Love this pic of Josh…couldn’t resist sharing!
ONCE A REBEL, by Angela Ashton coming Jan., 2008
After reading so many current events in our news recently, I’ve come to realize that we in America sometimes take our rights and privileges for granted.
Freedom of speech, for instance, to name a teddy bear any damn name we want to.
Our right to meet with men in public who are not relatives, and if we do happen to get gang raped along the way, we’re not “blamed” for it — and then flogged and jailed.
Good Lord. What the heck is wrong with the world today?
Sure, America has it’s fair share of heinous and unforgivable crimes. But when it comes to our rights as citizens, we can take them for granted. Regardless of what you think of our president, the war in Iraq, or the state of things here at home, we Americans really do have it good. Our women don’t have to dress from head to toe in black robes. We’re not whipped or caned upon being punished by the court. Our women can VOTE and heck, campaign to become the leader of this country, or even be one of the richest women in the world. Our women can drive and talk to any stranger she likes. We’re allowed to worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster if we so desire.
Yessiree, I’m proud to be an American, and regardless of their questionable life practices, I would kiss the Founding Fathers if I could.
~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com
Here it is, week after Thanksgiving, and I’m just “thankful” it’s all over with. Is that horrid of me? You know, I do so love the holidays at the end of the year, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The holiday trifecta. However, there does come a time when the “fun” becomes too much and you just want your life to go back to normal. I reached that point yesterday. LOL
We had fun at my sister’s house on the big day, and on Black Friday, we went out and chopped down our Christmas tree. Pics can be seen on my hubby’s Flickr page:
Christmas tree farm/decoration pictures
As you can see, our tree is red and silver this year. It looks really great, even though our four children oversaw the entire decorating process. I hung a few small balls on the top while DH planted the angel on the tip. All the rest (aside from the lights) our children did. Our tree was 9 feet tall and had to be cut from a much taller Noble Fir. You see, DH and I love the Nobles, in part because they LAST the entire Christmas season, and also because their branches allow your ornaments room to dangle. A lot of other firs, the ornaments “rest” on the needles, and that’s no bueno. So the Nobles this year were EPIC in size, and the farmer told us to go ahead and lob them off wherever we wanted the height to be. So the part we cut off, (9 feet of tree) was about 4 feet up the trunk! In all, the tree we chose was probably about 13 feet from the ground to the top, as the crow flies. Yup, epic, I tell ya.
Did you know that something like 40% of the country’s Christmas trees come from Oregon? So the next time you’re buying a tree from your local tree stand… Perhaps it’s from the Pacific Northwest.
But there’s nothing quite like chopping down your own. The farm we go to does a few things for us. First, if you bought their tree stand from years past, they will give you a free bale for you (which ties up the tree in a thread of plastic twine), and before they bale it, they will shake it on a machine (to get all the dead needles off). That’s kinda funny to watch. lol Then, after the tree is baled, they mount it on their base, which has a spike that goes up into the trunk of the tree. This is extremely handy, because all you do is take your tree home, stand it where you want it to go, cut the baling twine, and voila, your tree is perfectly placed and standing straight up and down.
Not only that, but they give you free hot apple cider and hot chocolate along with candy canes. If you want, they also sell wreaths made with real pine branches. So totally cool. It’s a little bit of a drive, but it’s tradition in the Goings family to go out day after Thanksgiving and start the Christmas season off right.
Besides, picking your tree from a “forest” and chopping it down is much more fun that picking it out of a parking lot line up. LOL Of course, I don’t do any of the work, so that could be why I like it so… hehehe
If any of you is wondering who that dog is in our pictures, no, she’s not our dog. Her name is Reba, and she’s the farm’s dog, allowed to roam wherever she may go. She was a sweetheart.
~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com
It always amazes me how and when things come to me concerning the characters I’m writing about, or the stories I’m working on.
As we all know the shopping season is in full swing, and I was one of those many brave (or stupid depending on how you look at it) souls battling the crowds on Black Friday. And while waiting in line to check out, the face of Ethan, Abby’s hero, became crystal clear. Up until then I had a loose idea of what Mr. Dreamy looked like, so this was like fine tuning a pair of binoculars.
So I thought I’d share with you what Ethan looks like in my mind. He has piercing blue eyes. His unruly chocolate waves brush his collar. Ethan’s square chin and strong nose have seen a fist a time or two, which ads to his already rugged stubble face. He has broad shoulders and stands several inches over six feet. And he’s very good at using his devilish smile to get himself out of scrapes.
Ethan is easy going and quick to laugh, but he can also strike as swift as a rattler when cornered or made mad.
Meet Ethan, although this photo is of Patrick Dempsey, Ethan could be his brother.
Until next time, happy reading.
Kim Leady
Incredible stories…Unforgettable characters
http://www.kimleady.com/
First of all, Happy Thanksgiving! It’s brrrr cold where I’m at, but we have so much to be thankful for, I don’t know where to begin. Besides being blessed with the best family and the greatest group of friends, I’m thankful that I’ve been given the opportunity to share my writing with readers.
So, for today, I’m going to give you a sneak preview into the inner workings of my mind and share my hero with you. Angela inspired me. LOL. I’ve only looked for an image or a model who resembles one of my characters for one book and actually for that book, I found the image first. It so inpired me, that I wrote Celestial Dragon based on that one image.
That said, I wondered what actor I would find to play Kane McKenna, my sexy, devilish, Irish rogue from Once Jilted. I first searched through the many photos of cover models and came up with a few that might do, but none that really fit my preconceived image of Kane.
By the way, I did a numerology search on his name, Kane Devin McKenna and here’s my character in a nutshell: Achievement is your motivating force and you will take on the biggest challenge in order to make the longest strides. You will often be chosen as the leader in groups and in functions where organization, strength and determination is needed. Psychology interests you because it enables you to understand the people that you are leading, as well as the competition. Inside, you have the need to excel.
There seems to be a golden glow of optimism and joy around you wherever you go. You are witty and playful, and your idealistic nature irresistibly draws the little child out of everyone you meet. Ever creative and interesting to talk to, you are never long without people to cluster around your radiance.
Here’s the physical traits I envisioned: Hair: Red, auburn
Skin: freckled and tan
Height: 5′ 11″
Birthday: Aug 30, 1849
Age: 25
Body shape: high hairline, squarely built.
So, the search began and I came away from the internet frustrated with my inability to find Kane. My habit in the morning is to watch about an hour of reruns before going to work. I just happened across a rerun of Angel and voila, I think I’ve found Kane. Is it any coincidence that his last name is Kane or perhaps, providence. You’ll remember him as the sexy but evil, Lindsay McDonald. While he played the bad guy on this show, I always remember thinking how provacative he seemed. There’s a hint of mystery about him that appealed to me and yes, I think he’d make a great Kane.
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Meet Christian Kane, actor and musician. Better yet, meet Kane McKenna, Bridge engineer from Once Jilted.
But aside from the “punny” movie quote, I’m blogging about food. More specifically, baking said food. You see, the fam and I are going to Salem on Thanksgiving, to my sister’s house. Because my sister hates me for some reason, DH and I have always had to bring our own pecan pie. Oh, pumpkin and apple make it to the table, but never the pecan. Favorite. Pie. Evar.
Seriously folks, apple? APPLE?? Who the heck eats apple pie on Thanksgiving? Sure, it’s an American pie on an American holiday yadda yadda. But traditional Thanksgiving fare has always been the double p’s – the P-Squared if you will. P/P? No, that’s just fricken’ wrong.
PUMPKIN and PECAN people, pumpkin and pecan. What do I gotta do to get some pecan action on my holiday? I’ve got to make it myself, that’s what I gotta do. So tomorrow, I am making a pecan pie from scratch with homemade flaky crust (yum).
Aside from the pecan pie snafu, my family never has any whipped cream on hand. NEVAR. What the heck? You have a bajillion APPLE pies on Thanksgiving, at least you can have some %$*@# Cool Whip! Therefore, I bought 6 extra tubs of the stuff (there will be a lot of people there who love pie with their Cool Whip). So, that’s covered.
But get this. There is one member of my sister’s extended family who loves to bring deviled eggs to any pot-luck gathering. Right on, right? Well, we ALWAYS run out. I don’t know what it is about my family, but a plateful of deviled eggs gets devoured within about 5 minutes from appearing, with the plate licked clean enough to be placed back within the cupboard.
Therefore, I’m making a “back-up” stash. I even asked my sister if her sister-in-law would be “offended” or “saddened” that I stepped on her toes, sorta speak, because SHE’S the one always bringing the eggs. I say girlfriend better buy another couple dozen eggs if she doesn’t want anyone encroaching on her territory. LOL “Deviled Eggs To Feed Them All…”
On top of all THAT, I’ve got to make rolls for 20 people. Well, 15 adults and 5 small kids. Assuming the small kids will only eat one roll, if I make enough for each adult to have at least two (better safe than sorry), we’re talking 35 rolls. That’s about three batches of rolls, homemade. My sister didn’t have this covered, if you can believe it. What kind of Thanksgiving FEAST is it without the rolls? I mean, even if you don’t eat them all during the dinner, or even if they don’t get passed around at all… Uhm… Leftovers? You know, those yummy little turkey/stuffing/cranberry sauce sammiches you make around 7pm?
So yeah, I decided if I was going to be responsible for bringing stuff, I’d at least homemake them. I could have bought rolls at the store or a pecan pie, even. But even with all the strange idiosyncrasies my family’s got, I still love ‘em, the big lugs. And let’s face it. It’s not like I can trade them in for upgrades.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Until we meet again after the holiday weekend!
(or during, because we’re going to get our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving *tradition in our family – we cut down our own from a tree farm* and I might have something cool to blog about our tree).
Dear Lord. The kids just went trick-or-treating and now we’re getting a CHRISTMAS TREE?!? One of these days, I’m going to wake up and be 80 years old and think to myself, “Life comes at you fast…”
Heheh
~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com
I thought I’d share an excerpt of my OT article.
(It will be included in the novel.)
It’s been said that the word orphan is perhaps the loneliest word in the English language.
In 1853, the United States sent various forms of advertisements to the rest of the world in hopes of enticing settlers to come to the “land of milk and honey”. It worked. According to the World Book Encyclopedia, the US has received the largest number of immigrants in the world. Soon the port cities were flooded. Jobs were lacking, labor was cheap and food was scarce. And without the extended family to turn to, families fell apart. Even the youngest of children were expected to work to help support the family. They’d shine shoes or sell matches or newspapers…often in their bare feet. Many men were killed on the job as safety wasn’t a priority, leaving many women and children to fend for themselves.
When overworked mothers died from diseases obtained in unsanitary living conditions, orphanages were erected to care for only those children they could accommodate. If there was no parent to pay for the child’s care, he/she became a ward of the court and was left to the disposal of the social worker.
Photo of Sunderland Orphanage…
Sunderland’s East End orphan asylum was founded in 1853, it was a purpose built building for the children of seafarers. With the help of the Bishop of Durham and the Freemen of Sunderland the orphanage was opened on Thursday 17th October 1861. The orphanage was equipped to take 40 boys at a time and despite the strict rules and regulations it was always full.
Until next week, happy reading!
Once A Rebel, by Angela Ashton, coming Jan. 2008
