To high school.

1) Did you get a class ring? Do you know where it is?

2) A school activity you were involved in (either athletic or otherwise)?

3) Class you despised the most and why?

4) Most beloved class?

5) A major history event that occured while you were in high school?

~Elizabeth

Anyone game?

Here’s what you do:  I give you three simple facts. You spit them out in an opening paragraph that can be a) funny, b) scary, c) deep.

Ready?

1) Tim

2) 16 years old

3) Due to a recent accident, Tim is unable to walk.

~Elizabeth

I suppose the reason for that is simple enough. A “thing” only has luster for a short time. Within a few days, it’s no longer new. Yet an experience is something you carry with you for years…giving you memories and, sometimes, shaping a little part of you forevermore.

Like the time my new blended family went to Branson together–fabulous bonding/fabulous memories.

Like the time I flew to California last year to accept my first ever writing award. Sure the award was a “thing,” but the part that I think of most was the room where the ceremony was held, and the screen that had my picture on it, standing in front of the podium and giving a quick little speech, and then sightseeing the rest of the time with my husband. Do I still look at the award? Once in a while (I would look at it more if my office was clean). But I travel back to that whole experience all the time.

There’s not a whole lot of moments in Dear Daughter # 1 and Dear Daughter # 2′s lives that I don’t revisit. Often. The smiles, the sweet expressions, the fun we had, and the things we did. Sometimes that fun was had around a particular toy, but most of the time it was just because we were together.

So tell me, what’s a special memory you’ve made in the past year? Something so tangible you can close your eyes and remember sights and smells and all those wonderful aspects that make a memory so wonderful?

~Elizabeth

What would you do for your child?  And if you had to choose between your child and your spouse, which one would you choose? Who do you love more?

In this thriller (LOVE YOU MORE), Lisa Gardner examines the lives of two women.  DD Warren – the detective who thinks she’s pregnant at forty with her first child and Tessa Leoni who finally found family and is now accused of killing her husband and child.

As the author, Ms. Gardner leads us through the evidence, all the while, the reader is hoping the evidence is wrong.  That the police are wrong.  Because we know who we like, and Tessa Leoni doesn’t feel like a murderer. Or does she?

While the main plot – finding a missing six year old and solving a murder is tightly written and a good mystery, the two female main characters ask a more personal question.  Can a woman be a great detective, great police officer, great anything in the career world and still be a great mom?  Or do we ultimately have to choose one world over the other?  Or worse, be mediocre at both?

Who do you love more?

This is the second DD Warren story I’ve read from Ms. Gardner and I really enjoy the character.  Especially now that I’ve seen a layer of vulnerability under the cloak of tough macho police detective.

I’m looking forward to the next book.

And I’m left wondering, can we be great at more than one thing?  Can a man serve more than one master?

 *               *               *

BIO – Growing up in the middle of cowboy country, Lynn Cahoon was destined to fall in love with a tall, cool glass of water.  Now, she enjoys writing about small town America, the cowboys who ride the range, and the women who love them. Contact her at her website – www.lynncahoon.wordpress.com

I remember my first Mother’s Day with Dear Daughter # 1 (she was just 4 months old) and then with Dear Daughter # 2 (she was 7 1/2 months) like it was yesterday. And bits and pieces of each and every Mother’s Day since then is tucked away in my heart. Sometimes, I pull those memories out when I’m feeling blue or facing a test at the doctor’s or whatever. When I do, they make me smile. For as much as I always wanted to be a writer, I’ve wanted to be a mom even longer.

The early Mother’s Day celebrations were sweet–filled with lots of wet kisses, squeezes, and happy squeals when it came time for me to open their presents. These days, the kisses aren’t as slobbery (miss those) and the squeals not as loud…but the smiles are just as precious. And now, they plan the whole day. You know, what I might like to do, what I might like to eat, etc. 

No matter what they plan, they’re always spot-on with what I’d like to do. Because if they’ve planned it with me in mind, I win right there.

Mom.

It’s a beautiful word, isn’t it?

~Elizabeth

1) When spring first arrives to wherever you live, what’s one of the first things you always want to do?

2) Favorite spring  flower?

3) Is there a food you equate with springtime?

4) Favorite bird?

~Elizabeth

Isn’t it gorgeous? Once again, my cover artist, the uber talented Mary Ann Lasher, has outdone herself in capturing so many clues (like the sketchbook–with the actual sketch referenced) from the story in her illustration. Love it!!!!

Ho, Ho, Ho…LET IT SEW will be out November 6th and is now available for pre-order!

~Elizabeth

I rode the train into the city and took the subway down to Penguin Publishing’s main office. The building, itself, houses more than just Penguin and has a very Devil Wears Prada (fancy) kind of feel. I checked in with the very efficient looking security guard behind the desk who, in turn, checked to see if I was on the admit list (I was!). Then, armed with the required badge, I boarded the elevator, rode up to the correct floor, stepped out of the elevator, and came face to face with the Penguin sign. Let me just stop here a moment and say, wow.

Wow.

My editor met me in the waiting area and brought me to a conference room where they had the huge carton of books (very early copies of HEARSE AND BUGGY–the first in my new Amish series written as Laura Bradford) they needed me to sign in advance of next month’s release date. So there I was, in Penguin’s offices, signing lots and lots of copies of my new book (which I held for the first time in my hand right there in that conference room. )

Surreal, I tell you.

Once the books were all signed, it was off to lunch with my fabulous editor where we caught up on all things book-related.

When our afternoon was over, I hopped back on the train and rode home with a big goofy grin on my face.  There is no doubt this day will stay with me for a very long time!

~Elizabeth 

So I’m hankering an opportunity to read something else. Fortunately for me, my good friend Lynn C. (who posts in the comments from time to time and has done a few guest blogs along the way) has her first romance coming out next month–Bull Riders Brother–and she’s asked me for a blurb. While I’m thrilled to do so, I’m equally thrilled to be able to read.

In the meantime, what was the most recent book you finished? What are you reading now?

~Elizabeth

Anyway, the day off made for a perfect friend sleepover night for Dear Daughter # 2 (complete with giggles galore). Right now, the two of them are decorating monkey cupcakes.  Aren’t they coming out adorable???

But the sleepover got me thinking about sleepovers I had as a kid. So, you guessed it, it’s a sleepover Bits & Pieces today…

1) Favorite sleepover game from your youth?

2) Ever go home early from a sleepover?

3) Least favorite sleepover game from your youth?

4) What’s the  most kids you ever had sleepover at one time?

~Elizabeth