Baking Satan

Yesterday I got to spend the day with a few of my favorite teens. Niether of them are mine or related to me in any legal or DNA-based sense, but they seem to like it at our house.  I've been teaching both of them to bake some of my favorite treats and we bake something every time they're here.

I was having the kids whip up a batch of Snickerdoodles, which are evil by themselves, in anticipation of the Dance Central Dance-off that they'd challenged Andrea Dickinson and myself to at the last GRRWG meeting.  I'd been promising to teach them what I've labelled Snickerdoodle muffins (a.k.a French Breakfast Puffs slightly modified) so I whipped up a quick batch before they started ont he cookies so I could show them how easy they are to put together.

The muffins came out of the oven just in time to put the Snickerdoodles in.  I quickly put the finishing touches on the batch and had one of the kids run a muffin down to my hubby.  Then they got to taste them for the first time.

They're so evilly delicious the first comment was "Oh my God, this is Satan!". Which had me laughing. A mother was called and told "I ate Satan today".  I can only imagine the look on her face. The reaction had me laughing, they are so yummy I can eat an entire batch by myself.

This morning I baked Satan again to feed the one kid that spent the night. I brought one to his mom when I returned him home. She likes them so much that now "he" has been requested as part of their Christmas breakfast.

I wonder if I can blame my weight on "Satan", seeing as how most of my excess is due to my own baked goods?

Inspiration for Self-Publishing

I attended a free webinar courtesy of Writer's Digest last week on editing. I was hoping for some tips, which I got plenty of, what I didn't expect was to have enough confidence to decide to go the self-published route.

Currently, I have my dear hubby researching formatting requirements and methods for Kindle and Nook formats. I am doing my last round of edits on the first Jess book before asking for some first readers. (If you're interested, shoot me an email to jc_hanks@yahoo.com). I will end up locating an editor willing to take on the job of final editing to make it marketable. While that is going, I'll tie up the loose ends and restructuring needs of the second book in the Jess series to have that ready to go to an editor and readers so I can get it out quickly.

My goal is to have them ready by the end of Q2/2013. Cover Art may end up being my biggest challenge. I have a definite idea of what I want and for that I need a real artists to do some vector drawings for me, because I can't draw worth a damn.

I can't believe I'm actually deciding to go this route, but things are changing so fast in publishing it may be the best route for me at this point. I'll still be sending out letters to agents to see if I can find one, but in the meantime, Jess Barker needs to get out into the bigger world outside of my head.

Older Women + Purple = Perfect Match

For whatever reason, I have found that older women and the color purple just seem to go together.
Perhaps it's because purple has long been associated with royalty and goddesses. Perhaps we're trying to reconnect with our inner goddess. Or perhaps it's because of the Red Hat Society and that now infamous poem of "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple With a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me..."

Whatever the reason, I find it comforting to know that women of all ages have a fondness for purple. I've loved purple since I was a kid. My favorite colors were blues and purples, perhaps some greens. Always the deep rich warm colors, not the pastelly-girly stuff, but the serious stronger colors.  It is only now, that I have reached a certain age point and comfort in my career, do I really reach for the purple in my clothes. I have always tried to dress for comfort, even when working under strict dress codes, but my current job allows for a bit more "laxness" in clothing choices, so my most favorite purple shoes ever surround my feet in cozy, sqooshy, warm comfort on a chilly day.

You see, today I have on my F-Ughs (Fake Ughs) that I bought yesterday; they are uber cool because they are purple. And a pretty purple I might add.  All the older women in my office noticed them right away and talked about the color, asked if they were comfy and where I got them. The guys all asked "are those slippers?". No boys, they are not slippers. They are acceptable footwear - if you stretch the dress code hard enough.

They make me smile, and right now that's a good thing.  My  test results came back fine, but unfortunately for my dear friend the news got worse, rather than staying stable or getting better. In a show of support - she is family to us after all - my dear hubby shaved his head and got his one-and-only tattoo. On the back of his head. Apparently one of the toughest spots to get one. The big guy now sports a bald head, a goatee, and a pretty pink ribbon tattoo with her initials on the back of his head and I couldn't be prouder of him. And no, I do not mind that he has another woman's initials on the back of his head; even though for totally unselfish reasons I wish they were mine instead of hers, so I could tackle the hardship of chemo on her behalf and have her be left healthy and whole.

Check Yourself

As the end of October is upon us, I had a stark reminder of the fact that this is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Please check yourself, every month, and every year if you're off "that age" to get mammograms - this includes you men as well!

Last week I learned that my annual exam came back with unusual results.  I received a call from the testing center to call "ASAP" to discuss my results and then promptly refused to answer the phone when I called back. By the time I finally got them on the phone, I'd had calls from the two doctors I'd had the results sent to telling me to schedule a follow-up exam, but that I shouldn't panic just yet.

Then yesterday, I learned a dear friend has breast cancer on the same side as my abnormal results. In an odd way it's made my waiting for a final diagnosis a bit easier. I have game plans in place for the both of us, one direction if I do have it, another if I don't. Either way, I'll be there to hold her hand, along with my amazing dear hubby. After all, I have the best role models for this.

I haven't noticed anything off, but I'm a dense girl, so more difficult to test. But then, neither did my mom. However, my mom and I have an advantage: her mother. My grandmother had a double mastectomy and was a guinea pig for much of our protocols in use today. She handled it all with style, grace, and fight. My mom also handled hers well, and was fought for what was right for her. As a result, I've done a lot of research and had made all my decisions on treatments plans years ago. I did not want to have to make these decisions while in the throws of the diagnosis.

Either way, I'll have an answer this week.  It is not a death sentence. No matter what the results, I'll fight. In my own way, and on my terms. For myself, my dear, dear friend, and everyone else who may be affected by this.

My only request is this: Check yourself.  Now, and each month. If you don't know how, there are tons of resources online. Start with the Susan G. Komen site at a minimum.

Jess makes me laugh

Jess, from my Jess Barker series makes me laugh often.  Today at my writers group meeting she had me laughing in my head.

Trying to explain how she feels towards another character, here's the piece of dialog that had me laughing:

Jess:  "There are not enough words in the English language to describe how I feel about you. To call you a slimy disgusting insect is an insult to the even the most disgusting insects I can imagine.  At best, you are a malignant mole on Satan's ass."

Gave me a visual derived from the Adam Sandler movie "Little Nicky", which makes me giggle even hours later.

My characters, gotta love 'em!

Oh Stitching!!

Oh, I'm SOOOO excited!  I just found out about Nordic Needles "Tea n Friends" retreat next April!  I'm late to the game considering they need the registrations by mid-October, but how excited am I?

In case there's any other stitchers lurking out there here's the info.  It's in North Dakota (a state I've been wanting to visit), so it's a bit far to drive by myself meaning I'll have to fly in. That ups the price a bit, but I'm tempted.

For anyone else who may be tempted, here's the brochure link:

Tea 'n Friends Retreat

Intriquing Research

I've been working on The Scot story lately, trying to finish it up for a competition deadline in a few months. To do so means I need to do research, or in reality, I order my dear hubby to do some research for me. But he's been busy, so I've been doing some research on my own.

The research involves delving into a topic that I haven't gotten into deeply since high school. Mainly because I despise the research subject: Hitler. Hitler's inner circle is a key part of the storyline and has ties to many of The Scot's secrets. I haven't studied World War II in decades, although I did have a class in it in high school where we saw lots and lots of video of Hitler.

I must admit, Hitler was a great orator, like many of our politicians. It is amusing to see the similarities between our current President's rise to power and Hitler, not so much in who they are as people, but rather their constituent's reactions. How both were adored by the youth, how much faith was placed into the hands of one person to return the country to it's former glory, the willingness to follow blinding without question, and even more interesting: the push for the country to be healthier and get into shape. I find it all fascinating and have to wonder what this has to do with The Scot's storyline.

With all of the political campaigning going on, I'm fascinated with how the supporters are reacting. I don't remember such blind adoration when I first was able to vote. I remember seeing some of this when Clinton was running, but not so much with GW was running. It reminds me of a line from Back to the Future, after Doc knows Ronald Regan is the President and he's checking out Marty's camera: "No wonder your president has to be an actor. He's gotta look good on television."

I guess the "rock star" reaction is to be expected as we move to more and more readily available media and videos.  And I have to wonder: how would our Founding Fathers have done in a campaign if they were to run today.