The Best Selling Toy Of The Season

I love my cover! Isn’t it so seasonal and cheerful? It’s appropriate too because the story begins at Christmas time, a time of magic, new beginnings, and…possibilities.

Let’s talk for a minute about my heroine. Her name is Nikki Lane, and she could easily be someone you know. She works at Super Mart, the local discount store. She lives in a single wide mobile home in a trailer park that doesn’t have a very good reputation.

She hasn’t been very lucky in love. As a teenager, she fell hard for her first love, Tim, but he abandoned her after she got pregnant the second time. Nikki doesn’t trust men-with the exception of her cousin Dan. If not for his help she’d have to move back in with her parents, and her Dad drinks.

You probably also know someone like my hero Tommy Price. He’s everything Nikki isn’t-wealthy, socially acceptable, and prominent in community affairs. That didn’t keep him from losing the woman he wanted to marry, though. Tommy’s looking for love, but he’s tired of cookie cutter women who’re more interested in his money and his family name than they are him.

So, how’d these two get together? Let me share an excerpt from The Best Selling Toy Of The Season.

In this excerpt Tommy Price, the best lawyer in Fairfield, has just been reminded by his secretary that he has to buy a gag gift to take to a party.

“Tommy, you told me to remind you that you have to buy a gag gift to take to the party tonight.”

Tommy sighed. “I don’t know what to get. What do you recommend?”

“Beats me. You know I don’t have a sense of humor.”

Tommy gave up. If Mattie didn’t want to help him, nothing would move her, and he knew he had made her angry when he refused to go out with her cousin, Tia. He wouldn’t say so to Mattie, but Tia was too stuck on herself for him to enjoy her company. “I’ll see you Monday, Mattie. Have a good weekend.”

“You too, Tommy. If you change your mind about my cousin, give me a call.”

Mattie went back to her desk, and Tommy donned his coat, and left for the day. It had started to snow harder now, and the weather report called for several inches accumulation. Maybe I could find a gag gift at Super Mart, he thought, and on impulse he wheeled his car into the discount store’s parking lot.

It took a few minutes to find a place to park, for Christmas arrived in a few days, and the last minute shoppers had clearly panicked when they took note of the date. Tommy hurried into Super Mart and immediately spied Bill English.

At one time he had hoped to be Bill’s son-in-law. He had fallen deeply in love with Bill’s daughter, Susan, but Susan hadn’t felt the same way about him. She had broken up with him and married another man shortly afterward.

Bill worked at Super Mart so he handed Tommy a sale paper. “Merry Christmas, Tommy.”

“Hi, Bill. Merry Christmas. How are Susan and Kurt?”

“Doing great. You need to think about getting married yourself, Tommy.”

Tommy decided to beat a hasty retreat. Why did everybody want him to get married? “I’d better run, Bill. I’ve got a party to go to.”

He waved to Bill and dashed away, grateful for a quick escape. He wandered down the center aisle of the store, but he didn’t see anything that he thought seemed funny. He spotted a woman wearing the orange coat that identified her as Super Mart staff; maybe she could help him. He tapped her on the shoulder. “Excuse me, ma’am. Could you help me?”

The clerk turned around and Tommy’s breath caught in his throat. He had stumbled across a princess. She had dark, smooth hair, creamy, porcelain skin, indigo blue eyes, full, red lips, and a shape that even the orange coat couldn’t hide. For a moment, he couldn’t remember what he wanted.

“Cat got your tongue?” the young woman cheerfully inquired. “You look familiar. Do I know you?”

“I… don’t know, I mean, I don’t think so,” Tommy floundered, mentally kicking himself for allowing a beautiful woman to reduce him to the level of a gauche freshman.

“Well, what do you want? I’m too busy to just stand here and talk. You aren’t trying to pick me up are you? You’re tall, dark and handsome as they say, but I’ve sworn off men. Every time I get involved with one it turns out bad. Your hair is as black as can be. You don’t dye it, do you?”

“Uh, no, I don’t dye it.”

“You won’t tell me what you want, so I’ll have to guess. You look like you might be an athlete, so I expect you want sporting goods. Follow this red line on the floor, and it’ll take you where you want to go.”

“No,” Tommy replied hastily. “That isn’t it. I want a gag gift.”

“Let me think.”

Tommy waited in silence for a moment or two. “I know just the thing,” she assured him. Follow me.”

She led Tommy to the lingerie department which didn’t please him at all. It embarrassed him to look at underwear with a beautiful woman.

She went down aisle five and selected a box from the shelf. “Here you go. This is a perfect gag gift unless you’re going to a church party. It might be a little over the top for church. Not that I think it’s bad myself, but ministers might. What do you think?”

“I don’t know what it is so it’s hard to have an opinion,” Tommy pointed out.

The girl handed him the box. “It’s a passion meter. You hold the round glass part in your hand, and your body heat causes the red liquid to rise in this little tube. You know; like mercury in a thermometer, but see on the side here? It tells you what kind of lover you are based on how far your body heat makes the liquid rise. Take it out of the box and try it.”

“I don’t need to do that.”

“Oh, you might as well. Don’t you want to know?”

Well…

The woman removed the device from the box and handed it to him. “Wrap your hand around the glass bulb.”

Tommy did as she instructed. Suddenly the liquid boiled and shot straight to the top of the glass tube.

“Look at you,” the woman laughed. “You measured red hot super stud.”

Tommy’s face turned a color very similar to the red liquid, and a fit of laughter so intense that she had to hold the shelf for support seized his lovely companion. “You’re awfully shy, aren’t you? I guess you weren’t trying to pick me up after all. Is there anything more that I can show you?”

“No, but thank you for helping me.” Why did she have to laugh at him? No man wanted a beautiful woman to make fun of him.

“Merry Christmas,” she said and bustled away.


Okay, they’re acquainted. Sort of. Now what? Check back next Friday for the next excerpt.

The Best Selling Toy Of The Season will be available at http://www.midnightshowcase.com beginning December 1.

The Tea Party

Tea first arrived in England somewhere between 1652 and 1654. The price of tea was high, but people loved it, and it soon became so popular it was seen as the unofficial national drink of England.

The tradition of afternoon tea was first introduced by Anna the Duchess of Bedford in the early 19th century. At that time, breakfast was served at nine or ten in the morning and dinner around three or four. Some people had a very light lunch, but two meals a day was the norm. By the time Anna came along, the dinner hour had gradually moved from three or four in the afternoon to seven or eight at night, so the duchess found she needed a little snack around four in the afternoon.

She had some tea and other refreshments sent to her room every day, a ritual she enjoyed so much that she invited her friends to join her, and the idea of the afternoon tea was born. Don’t be confused, though. There’s a difference between afternoon tea and high tea. Afternoon tea was a nice little snack consisting of bread and butter, cakes, cookies, English trifle, dainty tea sandwiches, and of course tea. Scones with Devonshire cream and preserves were popular too. High tea was eaten between five and six and was likely to be the main evening meal. Coffee and cocoa were also served at high tea although tea was still the most important drink. Earl Grey and Darjeeling were popular choices.

Earl Grey is a blend of Chinese and Indian teas and is scented with oil of Bergamont. Darjeeling is grown near the foothills of the Himalayas. It’s expensive and is often found in blends.

Good conversation became an important part of the tea ritual. Nothing unpleasant was ever discussed because everyone was supposed to relax and enjoy herself. The lady of the house would always sit at the head of the table and pour the tea. They used nice tablecloths and good china but seldom used flowers because their scent might compete with the scent of the food.

In the modern world tea parties are still popular. If you’d like to give a tea, here are a few suggestions.

1. Don’t be afraid to mix and match china if you don’t have a full set. It looks beautiful and is totally acceptable. Flea markets and thrift stores are good places to pick up china.

2. Use your nicest table linens. Layering makes a pretty table, maybe with a lace cloth on top.

3. Use your best silver and crystal. If you don’t have the real stuff, nice cut glass makes a good substitute for crystal, and today’s stainless flatware comes in many pretty patterns. You can also find plastic trays that look like cut glass. It looks nice to place a doily on the serving pieces before you put the food on them.

4. You can use edible flowers such as nasturtiums as garnishes.

5. A centerpiece is acceptable in the modern world, but not necessary as the tea pot, creamer, and sugar bowl will look beautiful in the place of honor. Lumps of sugar is preferred, but if you use them be sure to have a small pair of tongs for the guests to serve themselves.

6. Napkins folded into fancy shapes look nice. Always use fabric napkins.

7. It’s a neat touch to send elegant invitations to your guests.

8. Soft background music and candles create a nice ambiance, but the music shouldn’t be very loud.

9. In pretty weather it’s lovely to dine outside.

10. For each guest be sure you have a cup and saucer and a teaspoon, a dessert plate with a butter knife, and a fork and knife.

11. Think about using some pretty place cards.


What should you serve? Sandwiches and scones are a must, but after that just about anything goes. It depends on your personal preferences. Here’s a couple of my favorite recipes.

Cream Cheese and Date Tea Sandwiches

3 oz. dried, pitted dates chopped
6 oz. softened cream cheese
8 slices of cinnamon and raisin sandwich bread
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
fresh sprigs of mint

1. Chop the dates fine. In a small bowl combine the dates and cream cheese. Mix well until combined.

2. Spread bread slices with the butter. Spread half of the bread slices with the cream cheese mixture. Press the other slices of bread on top to form a sandwich.

3. Trim off the crusts. Cut each sandwich into 3 fingers. (make 2 parallel cuts to form 3 sandwiches.) Place sandwiches onto a serving platter. Garnish each sandwich was a small sprig of mind. The tea sandwiches may be made up to 2 hours ahead, if they are covered tightly and refrigerated. (Recipe from Tea Time by Nancy Akmon.)


Chicken Salad Croissants

4 cups cubed, cooked chicken. (I use the rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.)
1 cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped green pepper
1 2ounce jar diced pimentos drained
½ cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sour cream
3 TBSP sliced green onions
2 TBSP minced fresh parsley
1 ½ tsp. lemon juice
1 ½ tsp. Cider vinegar
1 clove minced garlic
salt and pepper
¾ cup salted cashew nuts
Mix together the first four ingredients. Combine next 10 ingredients and mix well. Pour over chicken mixture. Mix and add cashews. Chill in refrigerator. (Recipe from Darlene Rucci.)

Chocolate Delight

1 cup flour
1 stick butter
1 cup chopped nuts

Soften the butter and mix all ingredients. Bake at 300 for 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool.


1 8 oz cream cheese softened
2 cups powdered sugar
8 oz. Cool Whip

Mix together and set aside.


2 small instant chocolate pudding mix
3 cups milk

Mix.


Crumble the baked crust and layer the ingredients in a trifle bowl.

The holidays are coming up, and I can’t think of a better time to entertain your friends. Trust me; they’ll be impressed.

That's My Story And I'm Sticking To It

Do you believe in ghosts? No, seriously, do you? I’d say I’ve always had an open mind on the subject but, I couldn’t say I believed because I’d never had a paranormal experience. (Didn’t want to either.)

Some of my friends did. One of them lives down the road from me in a well maintained two bedroom, brick ranch house built in the 1950’s. It certainly doesn’t look like a haunted house, yet she tells some odd stories about her kitchen. It seems that one Saturday morning her husband left to go hunting, and since she had the house to herself she decided to clean the kitchen. She mopped her floor and sat down in the family room which is visible from the kitchen to wait for the floor to dry. Fifteen minutes later she went back into the kitchen and found potato chips scattered on the floor.

That in itself wasn’t enough to convince her the house is haunted, but there are other things too. Frequently, she’ll go into the kitchen and find recipes lying on the stove. Her husband denies putting them there, and she knows she didn’t do it. They’ve decided the ghost of the former owner is still in the house, so they talk to the ghost and call it by name.

A few years ago I had a student who said that his house is haunted. It’s an old house that looks like I think a haunted house might look. It’s made of dark brick and sits in the middle of a grove of pine trees. It’s totally isolated from other houses, and frankly the shutters could use a coat of paint. According to John, a young child maybe around eight or nine is in the house. She has long blonde hair and wears a white gown. Sounds like a cliché to me, but he swears the entire family frequently encounters this little girl who stares at them before vanishing.

Okay, weird, but not enough to convince me. So, what’s my story? Here goes. Several years ago my cousin called me and told me she’s sure her house is haunted. She doesn’t think whatever is in there is friendly either. She said she was reading in her living room one evening. When she looked up, an old man with a bald head and gray suit was standing in her foyer. She jumped up, thinking someone had come into the house, and when she did he vanished into thin air.

Things started hopping after that. She was asleep one night and woke up when music started to play. She opened her eyes and saw a group of people clustered around the bed looking at her. The smell of flowers filled the room. She screamed and almost gave her husband a heart attack, but when he woke up the room was clear. After that she often heard music and the sounds of talking from downstairs. (Her bedroom is upstairs.)

She had trouble in her garage as well. After a particularly trying morning, she decided to go shopping to take her mind off ghosts. She got into her car and cranked it. The car came on, but so did the radio, the windshield wipers, and the horn. The garage door kept opening and shutting by itself. She tried to get out of the car, but the door wouldn’t open. Finally, she slammed her shoulder into the door, and it came open. She ran back into her house and avoided the car.

After this incident, she consulted a priest who came to the house and prayed and sprinkled it with holy water, but the hauntings continued with some being truly terrible, like the time she was going downstairs and felt someone push her from behind. She fell and broke her wrist. She said that even her cats saw the balls of light that floated in the air in the study. Their eyes followed the lights as they moved around the room.

Or did they? My cousin has a serious medical condition that causes her to take a lot of high powered pain medication. I began to wonder if maybe she was having hallucinations. Then, one evening she called me to talk. We were discussing her ghost problem when I heard someone say, “Who-oooo.” I’ve tried to phonetically reproduce the sound, but I can’t quite do it. I’ve heard my grandmother use the sound many times, though. It was definitely a noise meant to get your attention.

My cousin got really excited. “Did you hear that?” she exclaimed. I told her I had and asked her what it was. I expected her to say her husband had picked up the phone and was trying to get our attention. “It came from the filing cabinet not three feet away from me,” she said. I decided not to talk about ghosts anymore.

So, what do you think? I didn’t see any of the things she saw, but I heard that sound as plain as day. When I go to visit her, I think I’ll wear a cross. Maybe I should also take some garlic…no, that’s for vampires. She doesn’t have vampires. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. What’s yours?

Say hello to guest blogger Claire Sanders

My thanks to Elaine for inviting me to join her at this beautiful web site. I’ve just published my first romance novel, “Fresh Start”, available from The Wild Rose Press. I hope you’ll go to www.thewildrosepress.com to check it out. You can also read excerpts and see a book trailer at my web site: www.clairesandersbooks.com

For my first romance novel, I chose a cowboy as the hero. I don’t know about you, but the cowboy has always embodied the ideal man for me. Masculine, strong, well-mannered, sincere and hard-working. Of course, being raised in Texas, the cowboy ideal was drummed into me from an early age. There are two images that always make my heart flutter just a bit: a cowboy atop a fine horse and a man wearing a tool belt. (I’m sure the carpenter or contractor will show up in a future novel.)

When I finished college, I saw an advertisement for teachers needed in Montana. My adventurous soul wanted to go, but my ties to my family made such a move impractical. But for all these years, I’ve wondered how my life would have been different if I had been bold enough to pack my car and go. That’s where the idea for “Fresh Start” came from.

I learned a lot from the process of writing my first novel. Of course, it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I wrote two complete books and literally threw them in the trash because they were so bad. Then I wrote my first draft of “Fresh Start”. It took two more years to get that story to a point where it would be acceptable to an editor.

You can imagine my delight when the story was a finalist in the first contest I entered. The “Emily” award is sponsored by the West Houston Chapter of Romance Writers of America and my story garnered enough points to make the first cut. Confident of its merit, I happily sent it off to two agents who promptly rejected it.

All writers can tell horror stories about rejections so I took it in stride and kept sending it out. When The Wild Rose Press accepted it, I danced around my computer!

Currently, I’m putting the final touches on an Inspirational Romance titled “Shades of Grace”. The heroine, Judith, has made a successful life for herself as an illustrator, but she has a lot of hurdles to overcome. First, she’s notorious for her quick temper and stubborn disposition. Second, she’s haunted by her mother’s death. While being raised by her workaholic father, Judith tried to put her mother out of her mind, but her questions never ceased.

When she inherits four hundred acres of forested land from her mother’s father, Judith is astounded. Her father had told her that her grandparents were dead. Now she realizes that not only did her father lie to her, but she’d also missed the opportunity to know the last link to her mother. Despite her father’s misgivings, Judith packs her things and leaves the big city for rural east Texas.

But a few hours after her arrival, she’s asked to lend an abandoned church on her grandfather’s land to an African American congregation. Their church, along with several others, was the victim of arson. Judith knows that lending her grandfather’s church may lead to trouble, but she’s determined to do what she believes is right.

Local forester Jacob Fraser also wants to help the African American congregation. But he advises Judith to step back from her righteous anger and to fight hate with love. This is a concept that Judith can’t get her mind around.
Answer acts of hate with acts of love? Turn the other cheek? Pray for her enemies?

I hope you’ll check my website often to see when this story will be released. (Yes, I am employing positive thinking!) And please send me an email (Claire@clairesandersbooks.com) to let me know if you liked “Fresh Start”. I’d love to correspond with you!

The Victorian Era

Today’s post is for all of you historical readers and authors. I’ve never written a historical novel, but I do teach history, so I thought from time to time I’d throw in a little history for those of you who like it. I thought we’d start with the Victorian Era.

The Victorian Era, which is named after England’s Queen Victoria, is remembered as a time when people were very proper. If you were a Victorian gentleman you’d:

1.let a lady walk or ride along the wall

2.never speak to a lady unless she spoke first

3.precede a lady walking upstairs and follow one walking downstairs

4.take the backward facing seat in a carriage and get out first to help the lady dismount

5.never smoke in a lady’s presence


If you were a proper Victorian lady you’d:

1.never walk alone or unchaperoned if you were unmarried and under thirty

2.never go alone to make a social call on a man

3.never wear pearls or diamonds in the morning

4.never dance more than three dances with the same partner

5.never uses a gentleman’s Christian name


I hope you enjoyed this look into the past. Be on the look out for my next historical post when I’ll tell you about the Victorian tea and share some original Victorian recipes with you.

Thanks for reading!
Elaine Cantrell
Hope. Dreams. Life… Love
http://www.elainecantrell.com

I've Been Tagged

RULES OF TAGGING:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know when he or she has been tagged.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Wow, six random things about me. Let me think… Okay, here goes.

1.My granddaughter and I always put up a theme tree at Christmas time. This year we’re doing a cowboy and Indian tree. In the past we’ve done polka dots and candy among other things. You should have seen the candy tree. It was totally beautiful! We may do something for my grandson this year too. I’m thinking a little tree with match box trucks tied to it. The little guy loves trucks.

2.One of my best friends has coached volleyball for the past seven years and has won 5 state championships. She’s also one of the people who encouraged me to write.

3.I have degenerative disc disease in my back. Not fun.

4.I love Arizona. My husband and I took a trip there a few years ago and had a wonderful time. We bought ourselves some turquoise jewelry and have worn it ever since.

5.My sister lives in a haunted house, and you ought to hear the stories she tells. Maybe she should write a letter to the ghost hunters on TV. I like watching that show.

6.I got up one morning and found that our two black labs had chewed a hole through the utility room door. A black, furry face with a huge grin was stuck through the hole.

Now, who can I tag… Here goes.

Billie Williams
Linda Ambrosia
Adelle Laudan
Diana Castilleja
Aasiyah Nolwynn
Lynda Coker
Be sure you also check out the one who tagged me at Ginger Simpson.

Thanks for reading!
Elaine Cantrell
Hope. Dreams. Life… Love
http://www.elainecantrell.com
http://www.myspace.com/elainecantrell

Premonitions, Boo Boos and Sales

Do you believe in premonitions? Have you ever just known something bad was about to happen and it did? That’s the way I felt when I saw an email in my box from By Grace Publishing. Something told me I wasn’t going to like what I’d find, and I didn’t. Unhappily, By Grace is shutting down which means my first inspirational novel, The Sentence, no longer has a publisher. So, it won’t be released in October after all.

On the bright side, working with By Grace was a nice experience. Everyone was very friendly and helpful and easy to work with. I’m sorry the company had to close, and I wish the very best for everyone connected to By Grace. Authors, good luck in your search for new publishers.

What do premonitions and boo boos have in common? In this case nothing. I just made a boo boo last week when I posted the blog. Billie Williams is a member of MurderX5, and I got her name wrong. I’ve corrected the error, but I want to apologize to Billie who besides being a good author is a very nice lady. I’m posting her cover and listing her web site again in hopes you’ll pay her a visit. If you do, check out her current contest. I totally love the prize. Her web site is http://www.billiewilliams.com.

Now what was that about a sale? Don’t you love that word? I just wanted to say that both Purple Heart and The Welcome Inn are on sale at http://www.fictionwise.com for 25% off. You can get both of them for under ten dollars.

Thanks for reading!
Elaine Cantrell
Hope. Dreams. Life… Love
http://www.elainecantrell.com
http://www.myspace.com/elainecantrell