Giving it a Shot

When I last checked in with you, I was getting ready to go off on a Girl Scout winter camp weekend. While this particular camp weekend was far different that ones I’ve experienced with Dear Daughter # 1 during my eight years as a leader with her troop, this experience certainly had its highlights.

The camp itself is truly a YMCA camp so the activities they offered were great (and the folks running them were outstanding). This is also the part where I tell you I’ve never been the mom to sit on the sidelines and watch. Not in Chuck E. Cheese when the girls were little, not at scout activities, etc. And this trip was no exception.

The girls went snow tubing at on Friday night, I went snow tubing (squealing all the way, I tell you). The girls tried archery, I tried archery, too. The girls went wall climbing, so did I.

My favorites? Archery was awesome. I’ve never used a bow like that before and I had a blast (I might actually be addicted now). Sure, I missed the target on occasion, but, for the most part, I hit it probably 90 percent of the time with one of those shots hitting bullseye dead center! Wow. That is something I will definately do again one day!

The snow tubing was super fun. Although, truth be told, it was more than a little unnerving the first run when you get pushed down this giant hill and you can’t see a thing. You don’t know how long the hill is, what’s in your path, etc.  But the second I reached the bottom, I was climbing back up the hill to do it all over again. Fun!!

The wall climbing was fun, too. Though, that was one activity where I was able to see some M.S. related weakness on my side. So my goal is now to strengthen that side of my body in whatever way I can and get back on a wall in six months. And I will do it.

So tell me, what’s an activity you’d never done before yet, once you tried, you were kinda hooked?

~Elizabeth

No Time For Air

 I’m in the final push of a deadline so I’ll be absent today, tomorrow and Wednesday. In the meantime, if you feel like saying hi in the comment section, that’s awesome! All cheerleading is both welcome and appreciated at this point.

And for those of you who follow my blog regularly…yes, I have a bag of Brach’s candy corn on standby.

~Elizabeth

Pssst…

I spent entirely too much time reading this weekend for which I feel very little guilt. However, because of said reading, I’ll now be doing a ton (and I mean a ton) of writing this week thanks to a looming deadline for my fourth romance (due out with Harlequin American in October).

But before I do that, I thought I’d let you all in on a little secret or two or three…

First, blankets with a pocket for your feet are amazing. Amazing, I tell you!

Second, Regina Patrick is the winner of my birthday contest!!! Yay!! As stated on my “latest news” page, Regina has won a mini battery-operated sewing machine, a signed copy of whichever currently available book in my Southern Sewing Circle series she so chooses, a bag of candy corn (my favorite deadline food), and possibly another little surprise to round it all out. So, Regina, email me which book in the series you’d like to have signed, and I’ll get that all out to you asap!

And third, I’ve decided to pull a second name for a signed copy of a book!! That person is Sandy W. Sandy, I’ll be contacting you to find out which book (from the Southern Sewing Circle series) you’d like me to send you!

Congratulations, Regina (and Sandy W, too)!

~Elizabeth

**Lynn D., if you’re reading this–I ADORE this blanket!!! Thank you, once again!

Yay!! … Boo…

So I jump on Facebook this morning and find an update from an old high school classmate that says, “Scalpers outside Fordham for Saturday’s game vs. Xavier. What a difference a year makes!”

So, since it was posted just 12 minutes before I saw it, I got all excited. A chance to see Xavier (I’m an alum) basketball here in New York??? I’m so in!!

And then I realize they already played…

Two days ago.

UGH.

As an alum, I should have known this.

As a mom who had her head focused on a surprise party for her daughter that same night, I didn’t.

Not that it would have mattered. The party would have won out over the game, anyway. But still…  To dream… 

Have you ever gotten all excited for something only to find out it passed?

~Elizabeth

A New Year’s Unveiling

While I got the green-light to show this to all of you last week, I decided to hold it until today. After all, it’s a new year, right? And a new year brings new stories…new characters…new plots…and, as is the case today, new covers!!

On June 5th, the first book in my brand new Amish Mystery Series will debut with Berkley Prime Crime under my regular name, Laura Bradford. HEARSE AND BUGGY will introduce readers to my main character, Claire Weatherly. Claire owns a gift shop in Heavenly, PA that specializes in Amish-made items. Although “English” herself, we see Claire slowly but surely creating a foothold in the Amish world thanks to her shop, her employee (Amish girl, Esther King), and her fascination with their simplistic lifestyle. So it’s no surprise, really, why she’s upset when Esther’s crush (a young Amish man by the name of Eli Miller) becomes the top suspect in Heavenly’s first murder in sixteen years.

As the book’s release date nears, I’ll divulge more about the story, but for now, I’ll say this–I adored every moment I spent writing this book. I love the characters and the town and am eagerly looking forward to sitting down to write the second book in the series (which I’ll be doing in about three weeks).

For those with an artistic eye, I was thrilled to find out I’d be working with the same cover artist on the Amish series that I have for the sewing circle books. Frankly, I couldn’t ask for a better detail-oriented artist. Wow.

Can’t wait to get your hands on HEARSE AND BUGGY? Well then here’s some good news…HEARSE AND BUGGY is now available for pre-order!

Yay!

~Elizabeth

A Glimpse Back

Once again, another Christmas has come and gone, leaving in its wake a trail of special memories (a few of which I’ll share–via pictures–here).

 If you’ve been following my blog since I first started a year or so ago, you know that each Christmas Eve morning I present the members of my family with a new ornament that highlights something about each person’s year.

 This year’s presentation included (from the top, then left to right all the way down): a wedding cake for my husband (since we got married in April), a Mickey Christmas to represent the special weekend Dear Daughter #2 and I had to Disney a few weeks ago for the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, a driver’s license ornament for Dear Daughter #1′s accomplishment this year, a little girl with a violin for my step daughter, graduation cap and diploma for Step Son #1, a driver’s license and driver for Step Son #2, and a Minnie Christmas match of the first ornament for me!  

Cute, huh?

 This next picture I took a few hours later while making cookies. Since Dear Daughter #1 and #2 had flour on their noses, we decided Angus should have some, too!

 In addition to the many other cookies we made (in all sorts of shapes),  here is the extra special cookies that were made for Santa.

 The green one was a reindeer with eyes and a nose but the facial features didn’t quite make the picture…

And finally, the moment Dear Daughter #1 and 2 came down the hall and saw the tree (and gifts) the next morning. Always love this shot each year…the smiles are always priceless!

So what was your favorite part of your holiday this year?

~Elizabeth

Holidays And Me

I just took part in a really fun fireside interview (all things me and holidays).

So if you’re curious about my favorite childhood toy, my favorite childhood game, my preferred outdoor winter activities, and a bunch of other things, click here:  http://blogcritics.org/books/article/winter-holiday-fireside-moments-an-interview5/#ixzz1g4mG87HU

~Elizabeth

Day Off

Taking the day off today. But be sure to stop back tomorrow as I’m starting something new…

~Elizabeth

These Shoes Were Made For Walking

It was about sixteen years ago when I sat in the Stride Rite store at my local mall, watching Dear Daughter #1 get fitted for her very first pair of shoes. To this day, I can still remember the slight  hesitation on her little face when I stood her up so the sales lady could double check her feet in the sizer…and then again when that first adorable pair of shoes was finally laced onto her feet.

That image played itself through my head yesterday as I sat in a chair in the middle of Macy’s while that same not-so-little-anymore girl tried on very different shoes–the kind that will take her to her first winter formal later this month. This time she didn’t need the sizer. Or anyone to lace anything up. And instead of holding her hands while she walked around the store, I got to watch her wobble just a little as she navigated her way around in heels.

The experience left me a little nostalgic and maybe a wee bit teary-eyed (we won’t tell her that, though, okay?), but it also brought a smile to my face, too. Because although she’s almost seventeen now, I still saw that sweet baby in her face every time she looked across at me–that same hint of hesitation in her eyes.

It goes so fast. All of it. And while I couldn’t possibly have spent any more time with her than I already did when she was little, I can’t help but wish I could wiggle my nose and relive it all one more time…

~Elizabeth

Get Your Tickets…

Looking back at my childhood, I realize I was quite the little entrepreneur. I created puppet shows (and sold tickets), threw backyard carnivals (and sold tickets), hosted lemonade stands, and picked up trash at the local swimming pool for a dime a bucket every chance I got.

I worked, I saved, and, on occasion, I used my hard-earned money on something I couldn’t live without. 

The funny thing is, as much as I enjoyed being able to take my money and buy the doll I’d been eyeballing or the board game I’d been seeing advertised on TV, I was equally enamored by the process. I mean, really, coming up with all those games for my carnival and making all those puppets was fun. Really, really fun.

So tell me, what kind of things did you do to make money as a young kid?

 
~Elizabeth