I have an article in this month’s Wet Noodle Posse e-zine, for which I’m also the editor. Check out the blurbs for this month’s article below, then go forth and read our latest fabulous issue.

May is a charming month, fresh with pouting petals and silky breezes. It seems a particularly feminine time of year, celebrating both Mother’s Day and a May Queen. Perhaps it’s because the month itself is named for Maia Maiestas, the Roman goddess of (what else?) fertility and women. Now is a good time to think of all the lovely and powerful aspects of being a woman, and feel like a queen for at least this month.

In honor of Mother’s Day, the Noodlers write about the SuperHeroines we know best – our moms. Question: Which Noodler has ten siblings? Now that’s a SuperMom. Bonus photo feature: Do we look like our mothers’ daughters?

Little girls’ fascination with fairies continues from generation to generation. Give your fairy fanatics a thrill by waving your magic scissors and creating Maureen Hardegree’s Invisible Pixie Dust Pouches. No, the pouches aren’t invisible, although that would certainly be an easy craft. It’s the dust you can’t see. We wish that were always the case.

Alice in Wonderland creator Lewis Carroll may have “believed six impossible things before breakfast,” but did he cook one Impossible Pie before lunch? We think not. This super-quick and easy vegetarian recipe is joined by seven others, including Fresh Couscous Salad and Crustless Asparagus Quiche. Yum!

Writing is a sedentary occupation, so the Noodlers are always looking for ways to get off our, um, computers. When asked, “;What’s your favorite way to exercise?” a lot of us mentioned walking, but some of us are more gung ho than that. How do you like to work up a sweat?

If the previous question prompted a litany of thoughts about how you hate exercise but you also hate the way you look, you might want to read Theresa Ragan’s article on how developing a positive attitude is changing her life. Which is more important – the facts of our experiences, or the way we perceive them?

Animals feel feisty in the spring, and those animals include your teenagers. Dr. Debra helps a mother deal with her daughter’s desire for more holes in her ears, and Dad’s disapproval of the idea. Hint: Compromise doesn’t mean all parties are completely happy.

Atlanta’s mild climate means that festivals, art events and concerts take place year-round. Atlanta resident Anna DeStefano has put together a tour of her favorites, including rafting and wine tasting in addition to art and music. Throw in some of the area’s stunning botanical gardens, and it’s a feast for all the senses!

Artists, kindergarten teachers, and political spin doctors all depend on their creativity. What do you do when the well dries up? You read Diane Perkins’ Ten Tips to Feed Your Muse. Take your muse on a date. Give her a good night’s sleep. Frankly, these tips work for a lot of things.

Norah Wilson is one of the Noodlers who makes our group an international one. This Canadian author is slyly funny and whip smart. Find out why she can’t stand to think about the first book she ever wrote, and whether she goes for guys who stutter.

When Noodler Trish Milburn got sick, she lay on the couch and watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Being ill sapped her drive to write, but when she got better and ran out of Buffy, she started on Angel, then Supernatural. The summer passed, and still she wasn’t writing. Until…she turned out a first draft in 17 days. Apparently the writer’s brain never truly rests, as Trish discovers in this month’s Writer’s Life.

WetNoodlePosse.com — Be good to yourself, or else.

 

I’m a member of another group blog now, the Romance Bandits. My first post is up today.

 

Not long ago, Mary blogged about how she found two favorite books from her youth by submitting limited information to Stump the Bookseller. This sounded like a great idea to me because there was a book I remember reading when I was younger, but all I could remember was something about a girl going back in time to Colonial Williamsburg. Based on only that tiny snippet of information, two respondents came back with the same answer — Barbara Michaels’ Patriot’s Dream. I just requested that book from my local library to see if it’s the book I remember. So if there’s an old favorite you want to read again, but you don’t remember the title or author, check out Stump the Bookseller. Chances are some smart bibliophile out there will we able to help you.

 

Summer movie season is almost upon us, the time of the big blockbusters. I’m so looking forward to the third installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie trilogy. Only 28 more days until Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End hits theaters!

Other movies I’m looking forward to this summer:

Spiderman 3
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Waitress
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Georgia Rule
Stardust
No Reservations

What are you looking forward to seeing this summer?

 

This past Saturday, my local RWA chapter celebrated its 10th anniversary. That’s 10 years in which I’ve been seriously writing and submitting. In that time, I’ve written 18 full manuscripts and partials for a couple others. Hopefully, my writing has improved over that time. Judging on my results from contests as well as editors, I think it has. Now just to get that elusive sale. The types of stories I’ve written have changed from that first story on paper. I began with a Western historical, moved into contemporary, then quickly into romantic suspense. In the past couple of years, I’ve added women’s fiction, paranormal and young adult stories.

My reading habits have changed over the years too. When I first started reading romance in high school, I read historicals all the time. At that time, American-set stories were popular, including those set during the Civil War. Now, the historicals being published are mainly set in England or Scotland, and you never see the American Civil War as a setting. I don’t particularly miss the Civil War books, though I read some good ones, but I do wish there were more American-set historicals being published, particularly Westerns. I was happy when Stacey Kayne sold several westerns within the past year. Maybe they’re on the upswing.

In addition to historicals, though, I’ve discovered I love to read paranormal romance, urban fantasy and young adult. There are a number of excellent contemporary romance authors too. Romance has evolved to the point where there is a sub-genre for everyone, no matter what kinds of stories you enjoy reading.

So what about you? Are there types of stories no longer being published that you miss? Have your reading tastes evolved over the years? If you’re a writer, have the types of stories you’re writing changed as well?

 

Has anyone been watching Deadliest Catch on The Discovery Channel? I’ve caught an episode here and there, and it’s always interesting. One minute the guys on the crab boats are playing a practical joke, the next they’re hauling in crab pots. They work tired, they work wet and cold, they work injured. And sometimes something truly scary happens like a man going overboard or getting a serious laceration that requires the boat to make waves toward the clinic in Dutch Harbor.

Deep sea fishing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, nothing I’d ever do in a million years unless my life depended on it. But just like tales of Mother Nature’s fury, I’m fascinated by these looks into that world. While I was saddened by the outcome, I enjoyed the movie The Perfect Storm. And while the movie itself wasn’t taping real life, it was based on a true story of loss at sea. I’m always curious about the people who go out time after time in what is a miserable and dangerous job most of the time.

Deadliest Catch, by contrast, is filming the actual people doing the actual jobs. And that makes it more real to the viewer even though we’re not really there. And from a writer’s perspective, it’s a great way to glean some male point of view.

 

Yahoo has an interesting article online about the best nine places to retire young. I always love these types of lists. Since the hubby and I have always wanted to retire young, this is of particular interest. Okay, so I’m a writer and my job is portable and I’ll probably never “retire”, but as soon as the hubby is free from life in Cubicle World, it’d be nice to check out other parts of the country. Of the cities on this list, I’ve only been to two — Couer d’Alene, Idaho, and Charlottesville, Virginia. Both are in lovely spots — Charlottesville in the Blue Ridge Mountains and Coeur d’Alene in the upper part of Idaho close to Spokane, Washington. It’s home to probably the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen.

What would be your ideal retirement spot?

 

It’s Earth Day, a day close to the hearts of us greenies and nature lovers. :) And it’s beautiful outside, so I think I must spend at least part of the day outdoors. Maybe I can coax the hubby into a picnic at the lake.

I challenge everyone to do something good for Mother Earth today. Turn off those lights you don’t need to have burning. Swap out incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescents. Put some empty boxes in your garage for recyclables. Show Mother Earth the love. :)

 

Sorry, this has nothing to do with Harry Potter. Rather, it’s about Harry Dresden, protagonist on SciFi’s The Dresden Files, based on Jim Butcher’s series of books. Dresden just finished its first season, and fans are mounting a letter-writing campaign to make sure SciFi doesn’t cancel this fun series too soon. I’ve talked before about networks canceling series before they even give them at chance — ahem, ABC nixing Invasion — grrrr. If networks had the same mentality a few years ago that they do now, The X-Files would have never built into the classic its become with loads of fans. So if you’re a Dresden fan, please check out this site for the best way to make SciFi execs know that you want more Harry next season!

And while you’re awaiting Dresden’s fate, why not spend the summer reading the Jim Butcher books. Check out the titles and reading order here.

 

Do you all ever dream about a TV show or movie you’ve just watched. Last night was CW night for me — Smallville then Supernatural. Hysterical episode of Supernatural with so many in jokes. I ended up having a Supernatural dream last night, but not a scary one. Typically, I have either scary dreams or ones that don’t make a lick of sense. But in this one, I won a visit to the set of the show and I got to hang out with the stars, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, for a week, and we had such a good time!