Check it out. It’s just a draft right now. Gotta figure out why the print looks blurry and how to fix that. Once I get a cover, I’ll tweak the video a bit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTWBQvCfG9g I tried to embed it here, but I’m too challenged to figure that out. It kept telling me it was illegal to do it! AND I’m all about legal, ya know.
Here are the pics I bought for Peg and Liam – he was hard as men in 1920 garb are hard to find- so I got a naked one. LOL!
Posted in Books | Tags: book trailer, Redemption for the Devil, Youtube
Oculus is the Latin name for eye. Oculi is plural. An oculus today means a window. Usually round but they can be oval as well. The most famous of the oculi in the world would have to be the round skylight in the Pantheon in Rome. The Pantheon is a building erected many, many centuries ago as a building dedicated to all the gods and Gods. Pan means all and theo means religions.
I have been to the Pantheon and it is a magnificent building. It was not restored when I was there and according to my older son, it wasn’t much better when he went to Rome in 2004. It’s an interesting piece of architecture. It has the huge skylight that fills the place with sunshine on nice days. The oculus is open to the weather, so on rainy days, the rain pours in and rolls off the marble/granite floor. It has quite a few recessed areas where, in the long distant past, many statues of the various gods were placed. The front door on the place is massive. Really, really massive. Heck, the whole thing is massive, but the door is amazing! Interestingly, the building looks square from the outside but it very rounded on the inside. And the carving work on the walls and the dome is impressive.
If you get a chance to go, do it. You’ll always remember it. I like to imagine how it would have looked in its prime. If your kid has the game Assassin’s Creed, there is a scene in the Pantheon and it looks very nice- nothing like reality, but a neatly imagined re-creation.
Oculus- Pantheon
Pantheon - exterior
Posted in Friday Facts | Tags: Friday Facts, Oculus, Pantheon, Rome
Posted in Wordless Wednesday | Tags: wordless Wednesday
I’ve joined another blog as a once a month blogger. It’s called Over the Back Yard Fence and you can find it here: http://llblog2010.wordpress.com/ My regular day to post is the first Wednesday of each month, so I’ll be there tomorrow. So, if Wordless Wednesday leaves you bereft since I can’t say any words and you miss me, come on over for a visit over the Back Yard Fence. We’d love to have you.
Posted in Random thoughts | Tags: blog, Over the Back Yard Fence, wordless Wednesday
For the next few days, you can enter to win a copy of Solo Honeymoon as I’m a guest at Michelle Zurlo’s website and blog- The Steam Room. Pop by and say hi for a chance to win. Contest runs til the 5th of January!
http://www.michelezurlo.com:80/apps/blog/show/5708237-tsr-welcomes-jillian-chantal
http://www.michelezurlo.com:80/
Hope to “see” you over there. 
Posted in Books | Tags: Michelle Zurlo, Solo Honeymoon, Steam Room
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 5,400 times in 2010. That’s about 13 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 226 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 281 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 148mb. That’s about 5 pictures per week.
The busiest day of the year was November 11th with 104 views. The most popular post that day was How About Some Cover Love??.
The top referring sites in 2010 were merlotchic.blogspot.com, mail.yahoo.com, WordPress Dashboard, southernsizzleromance.wordpress.com, and Private networks.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for codpiece, bootlegger, mansard roof, jillian chantal, and bootleggers.
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
How About Some Cover Love?? November 2010
10 comments
Home September 2010
Friday Facts- July 2, 2010- Codpiece July 2010
2 comments
Friday Facts-July 16-Bootlegger’s Legacy July 2010
7 comments and 1 Like on WordPress.com,
Friday Facts- Mansard Roof June 2010
2 comments
Posted in Random thoughts | Tags: blog health, wordpress
I’m digging the symmetry of the date. How cool is it that it’s 1-1-11??
Happy New Year to everyone and here’s hoping we all have an amazing year! Wishing blessings on you all and for my writer friends, I wish you mega sales!! 
Posted in Random thoughts | Tags: 1-1-11, Happy New Year, writing
John Tyler was the tenth president of the United States of America. Here’s a fact I bet you didn’t know about him. When he left office in 1845, he wasn’t done with his political career. In 1861, he was elected to represent his state, Virginia, in the House of Representatives. AND no, not the House of the United States of America; rather the House of Representatives of the Confederate States of America. How’s that? YEP!! A former US President served in the government of the CSA. He’s the only US President to have this “honor”- to serve the rebel government.
Wonder how that went over? 
Posted in Friday Facts | Tags: Confederate States, Friday fact, John Tyler, President, United States
One of my favorite romance writers is Lauren Willig. I think she’s brilliant and an excellent writer as well. Heck, she wrote her first novel in her first year of law school. As a person that lived through law school myself, I bow down to her!! What an unbelieveable accomplishment.
I love Ms. Willig’s stories and this one, The Mischief of the Mistletoe is no disappointment. This one is the story of Turnip Fitzhugh, a character that I always enjoyed. I love the wit that flows through Lauren’s books and Turnip is a great character. He has had some recurring appearances in the Pink Carnation series and it was great to see him shine in his own book.
This story obviously takes place during the Christmas season and it is absolutely delightful. There seem to be a plethora of Christmas puddings in this story and the book could well have been named the Mischief of the Christmas Pudding.
I loved the spunkiness of the heroine, Arabella, and was glad to see her come out of her shell as the story went on. She and Turnip seemed perfect for each other. The appearance of Jane Austen in this book was also a fun side note.
I highly recommend this book- another success for Ms. Willig. I hope she has lots more in her head to share. I’ll be there on release day!
Posted in Books | Tags: Arabella, book review, Jane Austen, Lauren Willig, Mischief of the Mistletoe, Pink Carnation, Turnip
Posted in Wordless Wednesday
Jillian Chantal 