Posted by: Author | March 29, 2011

Happy Birthday to #2 Son

Today is birthday #17 for my youngest son. He’s like me in many ways but unlike me in many ways as well.  He’s much more laid back and casual than me. I’m very much a Type-A personality and he’s a musician type.  He’s very intelligent which I’m sure he gets from me.  LOL!  I’m very proud of him even though he sends me over the edge sometimes with the lackadaisical attitude.  He’s generous and outgoing. I despair of him sometimes as he will give his lunch money to someone that has none and do without food himself. I love that about him but as a mother, I worry about him for that same thing, too.

He loves his guitars and also loves history and politics.  He has an amazing, wicked smile that he only bestows on people once in a while. It lights up his face but he tries not to show it often.  I’ve never figured out why he’s reluctant to smile.  But I guess it means more since it’s not bestowed very often. He’s a doll and I’m blessed to be his mother.   Happy birthday, kiddo!

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Posted by: Author | March 28, 2011

New WIP

I started a new WIP last week with the setting as the Queen Mary. I’m pleased with how well it’s going. I’m on Chapter Five already. It’s moving along nicely. The murder is coming very soon. I’ve set it up where there are a plethora of choices as to who dun it. I almost feel like I’m writing a Murder She Wrote episode, a Columbo episode or a Matlock episode. You know how they all show at the beginning all the people the victim is mean to or antagonizes? Well, that’s about what I’ve done.  It’s going to be fun to try to solve this one. Maybe it’ll be like Murder on the Orient Express and everyone will get a lick in.  LOL!  Nope, they won’t- for a change, I already know who dun it and with what.  I usually find out when the whole thing is almost written but not this time!!  Yeah, I can hear you now. “That Jillian is so cocky, she just thinks she knows who the villain is. She’s only 11,000 words into the thing, what does she know?”

But anyway, I’m happy so far and having fun is what it’s all about, right?  I have two potential working titles. One is A Taste of Honey and the other is Barefootin’.  I haven’t decided on which is better.  They’re both relevant.

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Posted by: Author | March 26, 2011

Deadly Heat- Praise for a Rita Finalist Novel by Cynthia Eden

Yesterday was the day for calls for finalists in the Rita Awards which is like the Oscars for romance writers.  I got up with high hopes for my friend, Cynthia Eden, to get one of those calls.  AND she did. No surprise there as the book is awesome. I am going to be there on the night of the awards praying for her to win it. She’s an inspiration and her books rock!  

I read this second book in her Deadly series back in February and reviewed it here.  It’s called Deadly Heat. As usual, Ms. Eden did not disappoint. Her hero is ultra swoon-worthy and so sexy. Her heroine was just like I like my heroines- strong, sassy and a  match for any man. 

The story centers on a series of arsons where victims are trapped in the flames and don’t really have a chance to survive. The heroine is a firefighter and the hero is a member of an elite unit of the FBI. His unit is called in to help solve the crimes of this serial arsonist.

One of the reasons I love to read romantic suspense is to challenge myself to solve the mystery before the characters do. I thought I knew who-dun-it about half way through the book.  I was right but it was fun to read how Ms. Eden got the characters to solve the crimes and well as get  the hero and heroine to the resolution of their love story. 

The sex scenes are as hot and good as we’ve come to expect from this writer and I highly recommend this book.  Run, don’t walk, and grab this one. If you haven’t read Book One in this series, Deadly Fear, you need to grab it, too.  Book three came out March 1, 2011 and  it’s called Deadly Lies and it’s near the top of my to be read stack- I wish there were enough hours in the day to get to it as I know it’s gonna be great, too.

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Posted by: Author | March 25, 2011

Friday Facts- March 25, 2011- The Queen Mary

Did any of you have any doubt that this marvelous ship would be the subject of this Friday Fact?  As I prepare this post, last week at the same time, I was on this beauty. AND I’m not exaggerating the sheer beauty of her at all. Check her out if you ever get the chance.

Here are a few tidbits I learned while aboard:

(1) Cary Grant loved the ship so much that he tried to plan his trips to London to coincide with her schedule so he could travel on her. He even proposed to one of his wives onboard.

(2) It took five days for the ship to go from New York Harbor to Southampton.

(3) on a one-way trip, they would carry 25,000 lbs of fresh meat, 20,000 lbs of fresh vegetables, 5,000 lbs of butter/lard, and 50,000 (yes, 50,000) bottles of wine, liquor and mineral water.

(4) Her maiden voyage was May 27, 1936.

(5) She served as a troop ship in WWII and Churchill was aboard to plan the D-Day invasion. It was a big secret when he was aboard as there were death threats against him. When she was a troop ship, she was called the Grey Ghost as she was painted grey and could slip quickly past in the fog.

(6) After WWII, she brought nearly 15,000 war brides and children to the United States and Canada.

(7) She became a luxury liner again in July 1947.  She was sold in 1967 to the City of Long Beach, California as the Cunard/White Star line was losing money due to the  popularity of air travel.

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Posted by: Author | March 24, 2011

Can’t Seem to Get Past the Pollen and Time Change

I recommend never traveling the week of the time change to the spring time. I went to California which is two time zones behind mine and then had to set the clock back yet another hour.  Since I’ve been home, I feel like I’m in a fog. I have vowed each night to go to bed early but then I get home and get busy doing stuff and before I know it, it’s not early anymore.  To top it off, the pollen count both in California and here must be through the ceiling.  I’m really feeling the effects of it. My whole body is sore and I can’t take a deep breath.  My two lovely writer friends that I eat lunch with on Thursdays picked today to sit outside.  The table top was covered an inch thick in pollen. I had to come back to the office and practically take a bath to get the stuff off me.  Thanks guys!!

So, I’ve groused on and on now and you’re bored with all the whine, whine, whine- c’mon, you know you are.  So, to make up for it- here’s some pictures of the pollen fiends!

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Posted by: Author | March 23, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

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Posted by: Author | March 22, 2011

Orb Picture

As some of you know, my friend, Runere McLain, is a paranormal investigator as well as a writer. I sent her this picture I took on the Queen Mary. A little girl named Jackie drowned in the first class/third class pool in the late 1930s. (First class used the pool until tea time when the water was drained and the pool refilled for third class- and then when they were done, it was drained and refilled again).  When we were there, the room itself was not foggy or hazy but the lower part of the pool was full of this haze. Runere tells me that the circle at the end of the ladder is an orb.  An orb is a ball of energy. I’ve read lots of articles about what orbs really represent and it is a fascinating subject.  Some believe them just to be camera anomolies or dust. Others believe them to be manifestations of spiritual energy. What do you believe?

And for fun, here’s another shot (taken in the former engine room) with some orbs- Runere says the perfectly round ones are orbs but the ones with frayed edges are condensation from the metal most likely. Weird thing is, I took over 25 pictures on the pitch dark tour and these are the only ones with orbs. I can’t wait to see if my cousin/traveling companion got any on her shots.

By the way, I’m being interviewed here today: Pop in for a chance to win a digital copy of Surfer Bride http://nikkibrandyberry.wordpress.com/

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Posted by: Author | March 21, 2011

My Ghostly Encounter on the Queen Mary?

 

The ship is over 1000 feet long - this is hallway to our room

My cousin and I stayed on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California last week and went on both the haunted encounters and the behind the scenes tours.  It was very interesting and the boat itself is gorgeous. There are so many beautiful areas of the ship- the ship was built using a wonderful variety of woods. Just so exquisite. Most of the original features were kept. A lot of art deco.

 Our room was on level A and was near the back of the boat (heck, it was almost in the next county). One of the tour guides told us the back of the ship was the most haunted area.  We were in room A-180.  We had to call the desk because our room was so cold, we couldn’t stand it. We even had the thermostat set on 80 and were freezing. The electrician came in and, when I told him the problem, he looked around and said, “oh, yeah, I remember this room.” I asked what he meant and he said that the thermostat was backwards- if you want it cold, turn it to 80-90, if you want it warm, turn it to 60.  How wild is that?  They can’t seem to fix the problem.  But that wasn’t my ghost experience. That was just weird.

Later that night (or should I say, early the next morning- it was 3:40 am), I was sound asleep and then heard a loud, “psst” and then another “psst”  right in my ear.  Thinking it was my cousin, I flipped over to face her side of the room and what did I see? She was sound asleep in her bed with her back to me.  I knew it wasn’t her and it wasn’t me, but I also knew if I freaked out, she’d run out of the room and never come back. I leapt out of bed and went in the bathroom. I paced around and then said, “go away. Leave me alone. I’m going back to sleep.”

I went back to bed and tossed a while, put it out of my head and finally went back to sleep. I didn’t tell my cousin about it until we were in the airport on the way back to Houston.  LOL!

the wonky thermostat

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Posted by: Author | March 20, 2011

Sunset Over the Pacific – From Santa Monica Pier

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Posted by: Author | March 19, 2011

I’m BAAACK!

Just back today from Los Angeles, Long Beach and Catalina Island.  I have some cool stuff to share about the trip in the coming days (including a ghostly encounter) and I have some really awesome pics for Wordless Wednesdays to come. I was on Continental Airlines today and sure do wish I was on this plane instead (thanks for the picture, Romancemama).

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