13 Items that COULD Show Up in a Swag Bag
Published August 31, 2011 | 
I am preparing the Swag Bags for my street team. Sadly, I somehow deleted all their mailing addies so I had to send a quick email to them requesting that they re-send their mailing info. If you haven’t updated your newsletter profile, you can do so now. I plan to mail tomorrow night and perhaps send a few stragglers on Tuesday, after the American Labor Day weekend holiday.
And, hey, I’m participating in a Blog Hop this weekend. It goes from Saturday through Monday. A free download of either Sleeping With the Wolf or Wolf’s Glory will be the prize offered for the hop, plus I will be offering a paperback copy of Sleeping With the Wolf to one commenter here on my blog. So feel free to stop back this weekend!
Now for the 13 things that may be included in a Swag Bag.
1 & 2. A 5.5 x 8.25 inch postcard of the cover art for Sleeping With the Wolf and Wolf’s Glory.
3 & 4. A compact mirror and small tub of lip glass. These represent Lisa Anton, heroine of Eddie’s Prize. She readily admits she’s vain.
5 & 6. A magnet of the cover art for Sleeping With the Wolf and Wolf’s Glory.
7. A set of thin bangle bracelets. These represent Ellie, the heroine of Saving Ellie. Quill buys them for her, saying they are almost as delicate and beautiful as she is.
8 & 9. A set of Romance Trading Cards for each Sleeping With the Wolf and Wolf’s Glory.
10. A ring with a butterfly on it. Stag gives Sherry a ring like this. To him she’s as elusive as a butterfly he tries to catch, flitting away from him every time he gets close.
11. A charm bracelet. When Sky goes to Omaha, he sends Rose a charm for her bracelet every year on her birthday. At least he does for the first several years. Then the presents stop with no word from Sky.
12 & 13. One lucky person will receive a paperback copy of Sleeping With the Wolf and Wolf’s’ Glory! This person will be notified by email on Thursday night, so if you are not the winner, you can certainly leave a comment on the Blog Hop blog post to have a chance to win.
Which of these things do you like best? Do you have suggestions for what should go into the April 2012 Swag Bags?
13 Nuts and Seeds
Published August 24, 2011 | I’m trying to eat healthier, here. Nuts can be a nutritious snack. Although many nuts are high in fat and calories, they also have protein, fiber and other important nutrients. Here are thirteen nuts to enjoy from this helpful website:
1. Almonds. 1 ounce (23 whole nuts) of raw almonds contains 6.02 grams protein, 163 calories and 3.5 grams of dietary fiber.
2. Brazil Nuts. 1 ounce (6 whole nuts) contains 4.06 grams of protein, 186 calories and 2.1 grams of fiber.
3. Cashews. One ounce of raw, unsalted cashew nuts contains 5.17 grams of protein, 157 calories and 0.94 grams of fiber.
4. Chestnuts. Never had these, only sung about them at Christmas. Ten (10) roasted kernels with no salt added contain 2.66 grams protein, 206 calories and 4.3 grams fiber. (Note: chestnuts must be boiled or roasted before eating due to the high levels of tannic acid.)
5. Coconut. Is this a nut? I guess it is, just really, really large. One cup of raw, shredded coconut contains 2.66 grams of protein, 283 calories and 7.2 grams of dietary fiber.
6. Hazelnuts. One ounce (21 whole kernels) of hazelnuts contains 4.24 grams of protein, 178 calories and 2.7 grams of dietary fiber.
7. Macadamia nuts. One once (10-12 kernels) of raw macadamia nuts contains 2.24 grams protein, 204 calories and 2.4 grams fiber.
8. Peanuts. One ounce of dry roasted peanuts contains 6.71 grams of protein, 166 calories and 2.3 grams of dietary fiber.
9. Pecans. One ounce (19 halves) of raw pecans contains 2.6 grams protein, 196 calories and 2.7 grams fiber.
10. Pine nuts. One ounce of pine nuts (167 kernels) contains 3.88 grams of protein, 191 calories and 1.0 grams of dietary fiber.
11. Pistachios. One ounce of dry roasted pistachio nuts (no salt) (49 kernels) contains 6.05 grams of protein, 162 calories and 2.9 grams of dietary fiber.
12. Sunflower Seeds. One ounce of sunflower seed kernels, dry-roasted without salt contains 5.48 grams of protein, 165 calories and 3.1 grams of dietary fiber.
13. Walnuts. 1 ounce (14 halves) English walnuts contains 4.32 mg protein, 185 calories and 1.9 mg fiber.
Which of these do you like to munch on?
T13 / 13 Facts About the After the Crash World
Published August 17, 2011 | My attention has been pretty well fixed on the world I’ve created for my After the Crash series for about 2 years now.I told myself that after I submitted Book 3, Tracking Tami, that I would take a two week break from writing. I submitted the manuscript on Saturday, August 13, and I haven’t actually written anything since then. But I can’t seem to let go entirely. I’ve been thinking about the man that Sky has become since he left the Pack to go work in Omaha. I’ve been considering Sherry’s fear of Stag, the wolf who has claimed her as his mate. I’ve wondered how Quill has coped with knowing that his mate is married to another man. Here are some facts about the world I’ve created.
1. The Clan is made up of descendants of Native Americans who left the reservation in South Dakota to live as their ancestors did before the reservation days. They left to isolate and protect themselves from the plagues decimating the population.
2. The Woman Killer Plague flares up again in the late spring of 2065.
3. Jelly’s full name is He Eats Jelly.
4. By the time Quill returns to the Pack after working in Omaha for a few years, Taye and Carla are the parents of two sons.
5. Glory gives birth to the Clan’s first girl baby in 30 years in January, 2066.
6. Shadow is delighted and terrified to be the father of a daughter. He wishes they would have had a few sons first so he’d have some help protecting the precious girl. But she’ll have plenty of male cousins to watch out for her.
7. Sherry Rowe is the illegitimate daughter of an African American soldier who was stationed Korea, and a Korean woman. Sherry lived with her mother in Korea until her mother died when Sherry was six. She was sent to live with her father in America, with the children he’d had by his legal American wife. Sherry never fit in with either family.
8. Unlike most of the unmarried or mated men in the Clan and Pack, Tracker is not a virgin.
9. Glory’s high school enemy Heather has become the high priestess of a cult that worships sex. I wonder if she regrets it?
10. Sky has been a naughty boy while living in Omaha, the new Sin City. It all started out innocently enough, but if Taye knew what his cousin has been up to he might not let Sky claim Rose as his mate.
11. By 2073, Omaha has some electricity as well as a municipal waterworks.
12. Shadow’s brother Jimmy White Elk dies in a bar room brawl and his widow leaves her three teenaged sons with the Clan when she remarries. She is much happier with her townie husband, but visits her sons several times a year, and they often stay for months in the winter.
13. Co-pilot Connie Mondale breaks her vow to never marry.
Paperback Copy of Sleeping With the Wolf
Published August 16, 2011 | I have had my first book, Sleeping With the Wolf, put into print through CreateSpace. It is available through Amazon, or I believe you could ask your local bookstore to order it for you. Book 2, Wolf’s Glory, should be available by August 29. You know, I really love the ease of digital books. But as an author I have to admit that it is fun to hold my book in my hands. Here is a picture of me, Tina Holland and Laura Ficek (two lovely ladies from my critique group) and I’m the short dark haired one holding the book 
I’m also offering two copies in a giveaway on GoodReads, so if you’re a member there, go enter the giveaway. If you’re not a member you might like to look into it. It’s a fun placefor book lovers.
Goodreads Book Giveaway
3rd Draft of Tracking Tami Done!
Published August 10, 2011 | Tracking Tami, third book in the After the Crash series, is just about ready to submit. After I received the manuscript back from the beta readers I knew I had some fixes in the timeline to make. That’s the hairy thing about writing a series where so many stories overlap. If Glory is at the Plane Women’s House in Book 2 on a particular day, she’d better be there in Book 3. And if she’s supposed to be in bed with Shadow at the den at the end of Book 2 she better not be in Kearney at the same time in Book 3. And if the hero in Book 3 is supposed to be off killing the bad guys at a distant location during a certain week, he better not show up at the Plane Womens’ House during that same week. Oy! I ended up adding a whole chapter and expending the story by about 5,000 words. But I think I have it all figured out now, and I can honestly say I think it’s a good book. I suppose authors always say that. But I have soft spot for Tracker. Of course, it’s possible that readers won’t like it. Then I worry that the publisher will reject it or ask for major changes. Maybe the book will bomb! Do all authors fret like this when they turn in a story? I hope so! I’d hate to be the only one.
I will be strong and confident. I will re-read the story one last time to verify things, then submit it by Saturday. And there will be great rejoicing.
yay for finishing!!!
And the Winner of Wolf’s Glory is …
Published August 7, 2011 | Etal!! Congrats! I’ll be emailing you in a minute.
Thanks for entering, everyone!
Win a free download of Wolf’s Glory!
Published August 7, 2011 | 
That’s right! Anyone who leaves a comment on any post on my blog before 7:00pm central time will be entered to win a free download of Wolf’s Glory. The winner will be announced here shortly after 7:00.
I don’t know what is up with my blog comments. There are there. You just have scroll your mouse over them to see them. They are in stealth mode
Good Luck!
I’m at Shelley Munro’s Blog Today! Win Wolf’s Glory!
Published August 5, 2011 | Hey, everyone, I’m over at Shelley Munro’s Blog today, showing how you can made a fascinator hat. Sheeley (as you probably already know) is the best selling author of the Middlemarch Mates series and the Talking Dog series. I’ve read several of the Middlemarch Mates books and I love her characters and her world. If you haven’t read them yet, start with Scarlet Woman. Shelley’s also running a contest to give away a couple of fantastic bundles of ebooks, including Sleeping With the Wolf. To learn more about the contest, click here.
I’ve decided to run a little contest of my own. Leave a comment on my blog between now and August 7 at 7:00pm, Central Time, for a chance to win a free download of Wolf’s Glory. While you’re at it, why not sign up for my newsletter? Newsletter recipients receive excerpts of upcoming stories before anyone else and are eligible for special contests for Advanced Reader Copies.
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