1. Wait! Wait, don't forget the pumpkin pie.
2. Characters are followed at once by plot.
3. The trouble is I just don't like it.
4. My family is many miles away.
5. With a faint pop the can finally came open.
6. The villains should be shadowy and ominous.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hockey, tomorrow my plans include more hockey and Sunday, I want to watch football!

Today is Thanksgiving here in the US (my Canadian writing partner had her Thanksgiving last month), and I'm taking a moment to remember all the things I'm thankful for. In no particular order:

* Decent healthcare. Tomorrow, I go in for my yearly physical and seasonal flu shot. Usually, that wouldn't be something to be thankful for (I'm not very good with doctors), but this year it just reminds me how grateful I am to have decent healthcare. This year, I've had a minor surgical procedure to remove a spot on my back, as well as an entire summer of physical therapy for my knees. Without good healthcare, I would never have been able to afford any of that.

* My partner. We've been together for twelve years now, and show no signs of stopping. Even when I least expected it, my partner is incredibly supportive of my writing. He's also supportive of my aspirations to learn how to do this whole cooking thing (he's much better at it than I am), and doesn't complain (at least, not any more than I do) about my crazy family. I'm very grateful for him and all he does.

* My job. I take care of two wonderful children, and their parents treat me not just as an employee but as a member of the family. I have been welcomed into their lives, and I appreciate that more than I can say.

* My writing. The satisfaction of getting words on the page, and seeing the story in my head come to life on the page are two things I'll never stop being grateful for. It's a kind of magic, and I love it. (I even have a new story coming out on Saturday!)

* My readers. This is totally separate from the writing itself. I'm thankful for my readers, the people who read my stories and enjoy them -- especially the ones who take the time to let me know what they think of my work. But even if you've never emailed me about my stories, know that I'm thankful for you.

* My writing partner. anahcrow is such a huge part of my life. I don't know what I'd do without her. She's a wonderful friend, a great critique partner, and a fantastic co-writer. We fit so well together; I can't imagine finding that kind of bond with anyone else. I'm thankful for her, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My partner and I will be on our own for Thanksgiving, as my in-laws are 11 hours away and my mother is spending the holiday with her husband's family (she's really taking this 'new family' thing and running with it). In the past, this has meant we don't do anything for Thanksgiving, but this year, I decided we should celebrate anyway.

But how to do Thanksgiving for just two people, when all the Thanksgiving recipes are designed for 6 or more?

Well, that was the tricky part, but I think I came up with a Thanksgiving menu that will work for us. It'll give us just a bit of leftovers for the following weekend without drowning us in food. Here's what I've got:

2 cornish game hens
cornbread muffins
sausage and cornbread stuffing
turkey gravy
duchess potatoes
roasted carrots
pumpkin pie
pecan pie
miniature apple pies

(Okay, I went a little overboard with the desserts. But they'll last longer than the meat and side dishes will. Also, I bought the pumpkin and pecan pies pre-made.)

All of the recipes are adapted from various Cook's Illustrated cookbooks and Cook's Country magazines, except the pie dough for the apple pies, which comes from Baking With Julia.

As a kid, I hated stuffing/dressing on holidays. This is the first stuffing recipe I've actually really liked, so I'm going to go ahead and share the pared-down-for-two version of the recipe:

Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing
6c. cornbread (break into 1" pieces)
1c. low-sodium chicken broth
.5c. half-and-half
1 egg (beaten lightly)
6oz. bulk pork sausage (broken into 1" pieces)
2 small onions (chopped fine)
1.5 ribs celery (chopped fine)
1tbsp. unsalted butter (plus extra for baking dish)
1tbsp. minced fresh thyme leaves
1tbsp. minced fresh sage leaves
2 small cloves garlic (minced)
3/4tsp. salt
1tsp. ground black pepper

Spread the cornbread pieces on a baking sheet and dry in a 250F oven for about 45 minutes. Place the dried bread in a large bowl.

Whisk together broth, half-and-half, and eggs in a medium bowl. Pour the stock mixture over the bread and toss very gently. (Don't break the bread.)

Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Cook sausage pieces, stirring occasionally, until it doesn't look raw anymore (about 5 minutes). Use a slotted spoon to move the sausage to a medium bowl, leaving the fat in the skillet. Add about half the onions and celery to the fat in the skillet and cook until softened (about 5 minutes), then transfer it to the bowl with the sausage.

Heat up the skillet again and add butter. Saute the rest of the onions and celery until softened (about 5 minutes), then add sage, thyme, and garlic. Cook until fragrant, then add salt and pepper.

Add this and the sausage to the bread, and stir gently (don't break the bread).

Spray a disposable roasting pan with nonstick cooking spray. Trust me, use a disposable pan. You want to be able to throw the sucker out when you're done, because it takes FOREVER to clean the cooked cornbread stuffing off a real pan.

Spread the stuffing evenly in the roasting pan. Cover with foil and refrigerate. When you roast your turkey (or, in my case, cornish game hens), put turkey on a wire rack or a broiler-pan top, and put that on top of the roasting pan with the stuffing inside. The drippings from the turkey will fall into the stuffing and it will be delicious.

After you take out the turkey, put the stuffing back in (moving the oven rack to the upper middle position) for about 10 more minutes, so it turns golden brown (or as my partner likes to say, "GBD: golden brown and delicious").

Enjoy!

Tatterdemalion's blurb worksheet is off to the editor, and now I'm revising the synopsis we sent out with our query package, as a lot of things have already changed since then. (Namely, characters with new names and an entire chapter having been removed.)

Anah is hard at work on a scene for the Parallax revisions, and we're both looking forward to moving on to the next piece in that project. The worst part about growing as a writer is having to fix stuff you wrote BEFORE. *facepalm* But that story is really coming together now, and I feel like it's much, much stronger for our changes. (And I <3 it.)

I still have lots of work to do on Percussion, as well. I've written the big conflict scene, and I'm about halfway through the sequel-scene to that. From there, everything will be about tying up loose ends and bringing things back together. It's not looking like it will be novel-length, but stranger things have happened. I'll be happy to see it come together, whatever length it ends up being. This has been my pet project since November 2007, after I finished writing Ghost Notes! It's been totally rewritten twice. I'm hoping to not have to do that again. :)

So those are the things on my list to work on this week. It's Thanksgiving, but my partner and I aren't traveling to see family, so I should have plenty of free time. Yay for productivity!

...manic Monday. BUT! This Monday, I actually feel like a human being, unlike last Monday, when I was unknowingly struggling with the first stages of H1N1 recovering from H1N1.

It's a short week this week, because of Thanksgiving, but that's just fine by me. Two days of work, and five days off. I'll spend a chunk of Wednesday grocery shopping (again, because I forgot to get stuff for cornbread stuffing when I went out on Friday, and somehow we've run out of eggs again), and Thursday is the holiday, which I intend to spend cooking, planting bulbs, and writing. And then a doctor's appointment and three more days of laziness and leftovers.

The Writing To-Do
revise Parallax
finish blurb worksheet for Tatterdemalion
write Percussion
outline new sekrit projekt

Sunday Stealing: The Party Mummy Meme

1. Name someone with the same birthday as you. Wild Bill Hickok

2. Where was your first kiss? Outside the art classroom.

3. Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex? If yes, why? Yes, because he was picking on me.

4. Have you ever sung in front of a large number of people? When? Yes. I was a soloist in a church choir, and we went to regional competitions.

5. What's the first thing you notice about your preferred sex? Eyes, or a good smile.

6. What really turns you off? A bad sense of humor.

7. What is your biggest mistake? Sometimes, I think it was getting my M.A.

8. Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose? Not that I can think of.

9. Say something totally random about yourself. I wish I were more sure of myself.

10. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity? No, but there was another girl in high school who looked just like me.

11. Do you still watch kiddie movies or TV shows? Yes, definitely!

12. Are you comfortable with your height? Yes, but it took a long time to accept that I was never going to be tall like my mother.

13. What is the most romantic thing someone of the preferred sex has done for you? Writing love letters to me.

14. When do you know it's love? I'm not the best person to ask.

15. What's something that really annoys you? Wasting time. I feel like I do it a lot.

1. We need more sunshine.
2. I bought chestnuts and it made me smile.
3. If you want to write, put your ass in the chair.
4. I have a coldpack wrapped around my thigh because it's been hurting for two days.
5. Massachusetts has a proposed 5% sales tax on elective cosmetic surgery; I think I'm good with that.
6. Pumpkin pie makes for a happy holiday.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hockey, tomorrow my plans include watching football and Sunday, I want to watch more football!

All my productive intentions got kicked to the curb this past week by getting really, really sick. Temp of 102F, and I couldn't stay awake for more than an hour at a time (as Anah can probably attest, since there were impressive lag times in my responses to her when I was attempting to carry on a conversation while being sick). Coughing, sneezing, runny nose.

I hate being sick.

We did get the good news that Pandora Project: Runaway Star has finaled in its category for the EPIC Awards, which was pretty exciting. The other finalists are all really well-reviewed stories, so that's definitely an honor in and of itself, to be included with them.

(And, yes, it was probably H1N1, but they're not testing in my area anymore, because it's so prevalent that they figure if you've got flu symptoms, you've likely got H1N1. Funtimes.)

It's gone now, but I'm still completely wrung out. My boss was nice enough to shorten my workday today, which is helping a lot. And I'm hoping by the time Thursday rolls around, I'll be feeling well enough to get stuff done.

The Writing To-Do
Blurb worksheet for Tatterdemalion
Finish edits on the Blue Monday story
Marketing material for The Longest Night
Write Percussion
Revise Parallax
Outline the new sekrit projekt

Part One - Describe:
Your hair? Short.
Your mother? Tall.
Your father? Distant.
Your favorite food? Smooth and dark (chocolate).
Your dream last night? Forgotten.
Your favorite drink? Minty (mojito).
Your dream/goal? Closer every day.
The room are you in? Dim and filled with the sounds of football.
Your hobby? New, but satisfying (scrapbooking).
Your fear? Often crippling (heights, doctors).
Your TV? Used more often than the old one.
Your Pets? Sleepy and snuggly (cats).
Friends? Too far away.
Your life? Busier than it seems.
Your mood? Pretty good, considering.
If you're missing someone? Always.
Your best friend? Again, too far away.

Part Two - The Where's?
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Closer to my goals.
Where were you last night? At home, still getting over the flu.
Where did you grow up? Florida, land of sunshine and retirees.
One place that I go to over and over? A local coffee shop.
Your favorite place to eat out? A little sushi shop downtown.
Wish list items? A pretty apron, and a pair of winter boots that fit my orthotics.
Last time you laughed? Earlier today.
Last time you cried? A couple days ago, feeling so sick.

Part Three - The What's?
Something that you aren't? Tall.
Last thing you did? Coughed. Also, went to pick up antibiotics to fight off the secondary sinus/bronchial infections from the flu.
What are you wearing? Sweatpants and a T-shirt.
Something you're not wearing? A bra.
Your favorite store? Do the Levenger and King Arthur Flour catalogs count?

Anah and I just heard that Pandora Project: Runaway Star is an EPIC Awards finalist in the Science Fiction Erotic Romance category. Hooray!

1. The last band I saw live was James Hunter.
2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is pumpkin pie. (if you don't celebrate thanksgiving, insert your favorite holiday)
3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is just beginning.
4. Thoughts of sleep fill my head.
5. I wish I could wear pajamas all day.
6. Bagpipes are as hard to listen to as they are hard to play.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to sleep, tomorrow my plans include sleep, and hopefully feeling better and Sunday, I want to feel better!

Coffee Time Romance is having a 15%-off sale, and it includes some of my books!

If you've been looking for an excuse to pick up some books, this seems like a great time.

Renovations 1: Flipping Out
Renovations 2: Playing House
Renovations 3: Moving Day

The Lion's Share
Love Bites (with my story "Birds of a Feather")
Other Magical Creatures (with my novella "God of Wine")

Oh! And a couple of Anah Crow's wonderful books, too:

Mistress Dalibor
The Look of a King

Veterans: Thank you.


The meme (oh, look, I figured out where I got it from!):

26. What color is your watch? It's stainless steel, so silver.
27. What do you think of when you hear “Australia”? Priscilla.
28. Would you strip for money? No, I don't have the confidence in my body for something like that.
29. Do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? Drive-through, usually.
30. What is your favorite number? 2.
31. Who’s the last person you talked to on the phone? My partner. I'm the alarm clock.
32. Any plans today? Yes. 10 and a half hours of work, followed by making dinner. Hopefully it goes better than last night's meal.
33. In how many states have you lived? Two.
34. Biggest annoyance right now? A killer headache, and still 5 hours of work left in my day.
35. Last song listened to? "Disco Duck."
36. Can you say the alphabet backwards? Yes, but I have to stop and think about it as I go through it.
37. Do you have a maid service clean your house? No.
38. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? If you'd asked me six months ago, the answer would've been my Birkenstocks, but now it's my Nike Triad Structures, which fit my orthotics (that, in turn, help keep my knees from grinding themselves into oblivion).
39. Are you jealous of anyone? Yes, but I try not to let it affect how I behave.
40. Is anyone jealous of you? Not that I know of. I don't think there's a reason to be.
41. Do you love anyone? Yes. My partner, my family, my partner's family, my friends.
42. Do any of your friends have children? Yes, a few of them do.
43. What do you usually do during the day? On workdays, I work. On writing days, I write. And clean. And do the grocery shopping. And... Well, writing days are busy days.
44. Do you hate anyone that you know right now? I don't think so. More like intense frustration.
45. Do you use the word hello daily? I do, yes. I say 'hello' on the phone, and when speaking to BabyBug.
46. What color is your car? Blue.
47. What size wedding ring do you wear? I don't wear one.
48. Are you thinking about someone right now? Yes. Thinking about my partner, who mentioned not feeling well.
49. Have you ever been to Six Flags? No, there isn't one near me.
50. How did you get your worst scar? I slipped on a Sit-n-Spin and fell on a little green army man, which left me with a starburst on my forehead.

Stolen from somewhere or other. I'm pretty sure it was a blog and not a LiveJournal, though, if that helps?

1. What is the color of your toothbrush? Purple. And maybe gray?
2. Name one person who made you smile today. BugDad, who folded and put away all the laundry, even though it's my job.
3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Herding everyone out the door for the drive to school.
4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago? Dropping LoveBug off at school.
5. What is your favorite candy bar? Snickers!
6. Have you ever been to a strip club? No, but I came very close when Nina Hartley came to town.
7. What is the last thing you said aloud? "It's uppy uppy time!"
8. What is your favorite ice cream? Cherry chocolate chip, from Edy's. Or Strawberry Shortcake from Coldstone Creamery.
9. What was the last thing you had to drink? Coffee, black.
10. Do you like your wallet? I love it. It's red, and it holds EVERYTHING.
11. What was the last thing you ate? A banana.
12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? No, but I should get some new gloves.
13. The last sporting event you watched? The first half of last night's Steelers game, before bedtime. I'm glad to hear they won the game.
14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn? Flavor? Um, just butter, thanks.
15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to? BugMom.
16. Ever go camping? I used to go with my mom and my aunt's family. I'm not really a camping sort of person, though.
17. Do you take vitamins daily? Yes. Chewable, and orange-flavored.
18. Do you go to church every Sunday? No. I'm atheist.
19. Do you have a tan? Very slight, and even with the tan, I'm still the palest person in the whole world. (That's only a little bit of an exaggeration.)
20. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza? Yes, though I seem to eat pizza more often.
21. Do you drink your soda with a straw? Only at restaurants.
22. What did your last text message say? "Ok. I'll set those out. Thanks!"
23. What are you doing tomorrow? Working another 10.5-hour day.
24. Favorite color? Depends on when you ask. Purple and blue, though.
25. Look to your left; what do you see? A photo of the Brooklyn Bridge.

It's just Monday morning and I'm ready for the weekend already. Is that bad?

I just feel like my weekend was extra short (it was, I had to work on Saturday, and for longer than I'd expected). But things are moving apace. I got a couple thousand words written on Percussion on my writing days, which always feels good.

The Writing To-Do
* Tatterdemalion's blurb worksheet
* Percussion
* outline the short story for Blue Monday
* get back to work on Parallax

1. Plans and schedules make me happy .

2. I'm happy when things go as planned .

3. The last thing I drank was coffee .

4. One of the most valuable things in my life is my relationships with those closest to me .

5. I like pepperoni on my pizza.

6. Dear November, please last longer than October did .

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hockey, tomorrow my plans include work, and more hockey and Sunday, I want to watch football!

It occurs to me that I don't think I've mentioned here my habit of, on Thursdays and Fridays when I'm writing and editing and revising, tweeting bits and pieces of the stories I'm working on.

So, if that would interest you, feel free to follow my twitter feed here: twitter.com/diannefox

New reviews for Becoming Us!

"Bryce and Zac come alive on the pages of the book, and while this is an emotional story, it also has some very entertaining and fun scenes. Overall this is a very well written story that touched my heart and has won a spot on my keeper shelf. I highly recommend it."
-Lily, Rainbow Reviews (read the review here.)

"Becoming Us is a deeply emotional story about a guy who was in a no win situation, and had to think long and hard about the choice he was about to make. There is no easy way out, and the consequences of picking either road were essentially untenable. I found myself deeply immersed in Bryce's struggle and, although I wasn't crying along with him, I certainly understood his frustration and need to vent."
-EmmyJag (read the review here.)

Becoming Us was also included on the Dear Author Recommended Reads for October 2009. (read the list here.)

The Writing To-Do
* write, edit, submit "The Longest Night"
* write Percussion (perhaps consider a new title?)
* revise Parallax
* fill in the blurb worksheet for Tatterdemalion