The Weekend's Here

Kick Back and Enjoy The Ride

Miss Redmond's Deception

Today is MISS REDMOND'S DECEPTION'S release day. So without further ado a bit of shameless self-promotion: 
Blurb: When Captain Richard Greyston encounters three figures in a graveyard, he takes them for a spectral visitation until he realizes it is two young ladies—in their nightgowns, no less—and their spinsterish companion. A spinster with slender limbs and an enchantingly velvety voice.

Pembra doesn’t care a whit for the captain’s opinion of her, even after circumstances force them into a sham betrothal. But when a gypsy warns her that his life hangs in the balance, she begins to realize that her heart is not so uninvolved as she might like to pretend.

Excerpt: “Where’s everyone going?”  Pembra muttered. Her curiosity aroused, she slipped out the door behind her sisters, keeping the spectral white nightgowns in sight as she stayed in the shadows. Her heart gave a hard ka-thump at the nearby screech of an owl. Ignoring it, she kept going. 

What are they up to? Pembra watched Sabrina follow Emma, who followed Betsy.

The maid turned off the path into the small graveyard located behind the rectory. She forgot to watch Betsy as she stared in astonishment at Emma sinking behind a large tombstone, like a specter sinking into the grave, while Sabrina crept up behind her.

Pembra tiptoed closer until she heard subdued voices. She braced her hands against the rough bark of an oak. Hidden, she leaned forward to hear.

 “Emma what are you doing here?” Sabrina demanded.

Emma clamped a hand over her own mouth, muffling her shriek. “What are you doing here?” she hissed back.

“Following you.”

“Gosh, you scared me.” Emma pulled Sabrina down beside her.

“At the risk of being repetitive, what are you doing here?”

“Following Betsy. You’ll never believe it, but she’s out there with Adolphus Webster.”

 “The rector’s son?” Sabrina gasped in shock. “Surely you’re mistaken. That platter-faced prig wouldn’t have the nerve to meet anyone.”

 “Oh, no? Well just take a look at that. Meeting is hardly the word for what’s going on.” Emma giggled.

“Oh my.” Sabrina clapped her hand over Emma’s eyes while peeking over the top of the tombstone.

“Hey, move your hand.” Emma wiggled trying to dislodge her disobliging sister’s fingers.

“You are much too young to witness such disreputable behavior,” her sibling scolded.

“Yes, and you are so much more worldly,” Emma grumbled, as she pried away Sabrina’s fingers.

 “Well, I’m worldly enough to know if Pembra finds out about this, its curtains for Betsy,” Sabrina replied, indignant.

The girls—so awake to the carnal pursuits under the maple tree—were paying not the least attention to their immediate surroundings.

Pembra stepped out from her hiding place. “If Pembra finds out about what?”

“Eeekk.” Both girls screeched and jumped up in fright.

~*~

It was unfortunate indeed that Captain the Honorable Richard Greyston, late of the Household Brigade,  grandson and only heir of the fifth Earl of Meade, had taken a wrong turn and was cantering by on his temperamental stallion, when the girls rose shrieking from behind the tombstone.

 “Bloody hell,” floated on the clear night air as Greyston fought to get his mount under control, not quite believing what he was seeing as three ghostly apparitions stared at him from behind an ancient funerary marker.

When his mount Doondiah was quieted down, Greyston unobtrusively drew a pistol from an inside pocket of his great coat.  Nudging the stallion with his knees, he approached cautiously. Though, damned if he knew what good a pistol would be against a ghost, much less three.

Greyston gave a snort of disgust as he drew nearer and saw that his ghostly apparitions were only girls, at least the two clutching each other were. The third was definitely an old maid wearing a ridiculous mobcap, pulled down nearly to her thick spectacles, and a night rail that had enough material in it to serve as an army tent.

 “You damn fool,” he told his horse succinctly.

“That will be enough of that language in front of innocent young females, sir,” the old maid snapped, stepping forward.

Spoken like a true spinster.  He sighed inwardly. But ye gods, the voice. Velvety as night. Low and smoky as sin. A nightingale sound that conjured up forbidden delights. If his mistress had a voice like that he’d never leave her side. A lot could be forgiven resonance like that even if it came from a dried up old spinster.

He moderated his cutting rejoinder to a mild, “Madam, what are you doing out here?”

Buy links:

http://www.ellorascave.com/miss-redmond-s-deception.html

http://www.amazon.com/Miss-Redmonds-Deception-Sandra-Cox-ebook/dp/B00GGMWAHC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1392686837&sr=8-3&keywords=sandra+cox

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/miss-redmonds-deception-sandra-cox/1117433056?ean=9781419948565

 

Rabbit Stampede...Seriously

Love this! Bunnies are alive and well on a small Japanese island called Okunoshima. Okunoshima was once known for its military base that produced deadly gas. Now, it's bunnies that are the tourist draw.

Piracy On the Internet

Listen up, boys and girls, this one's important. When I say piracy, I'm not referring to people downloading stories and music, and not paying for it. I'm talking about capturing all the data on your computer and demanding payment to get it back. Sounds pretty high seas, doesn't it?

Have you heard of cryptolocker malware? If so, feel free to tune out. If not, here's the scoop...the operators of the malware really do hold your files till you pay to get them back. The normal ransom price is $300. If you pay, you're given a decryption key. Then you are given back your files. If not, your files are gone. Pretty scary stuff, huh?

How do they infect your files to begin with?

Like many infections its spread opening infected email attachments. The malware is set up to look like it comes from a legitimate source, such as: using what you think is a tracking device for packages. It's difficult to catch because it changes regularly, making it difficult for your antivirus program to ward it off. It infects everything on your computer: emails, documents, pictures, etc.

What can you do to protect yourself?

Back up your files. And...when opening attachments error on the side of caution. If you're unsure whether its legit or not don't open it.

Really?....Nooo....Really?

So I was researching this weekend. Looking for something that could block signals from an implanted tracker. What I came up with was a rare earth mineral the Neodymium Magnet. Though why they're considered rare is beyond me. You can buy them almost anywhere. But I'm getting sidetracked. Here was where my research got seriously weird. It was the word implant that did it. Have you figured out where I'm going with this? That's right. Some folks implant these magnets under their skin. Why you ask? I did too. I was thinking conspiracy theory, etc. Come to find out it's just a sensory thing, to feel the magnetic fields around you. There's even directions on how to do the implants. Now keep in mind you're only supposed to do them on your finger, specifically the inside corner of your ring finger so it doesn't interfere with grasping objects.  It's done with a large syringe or an incision is made with a scalpel. There's a trailer on how to do it, but since I don't do well with the sight of blood, I'm not going to impose it on you. I write fiction, but I don't think I could have made this stuff up.

~*~

And on a completely different topic, to my baby girl who loves her birthday cake: Happy Birthday, darlin.

Picture from wikimedia.org

 

 

It's Almost The Weekend

Captain Phillips

Have you seen this? We rented it last weekend. I hadn't heard dazzling reviews, so I went into it with low to no expectations. The movies I expect nothing from often turn out to be the best. This was no exception. I found it riveting. As always, Hanks did an excellent job. The first few minutes, my mind wandered. But the moment Hanks, as Phillips, stepped onto the ship that changed. The movie grabbed me and didn't let go till the end.Barkhad Abdi was extremely believable, even likeable, as a Somali pirate. What did you think of it?

Why Mothers Yell So Much

Have a good one today. Stay out of trouble and off skateboards heading into the water.

Wounda's Journey.

You may have seen this trailer on Yahoo. If not even though its a little long it's worth a look see. It's about Jane Goodall and Wounda. Jane is a British anthropologist who is seventy-nine years young and still going strong. She is also a UN Peace Messenger and a conservationist.

~*~

Tomorrow: cataract surgery...again.

Snow, Snow and More Snow

This is what it looked like Wednesday when the snow started.

Thursday, it's still snowing.

And snowing....

Friday, it's starting to melt. This is snow/ice hanging from the back porch.

Saturday, we're on our way to recovery.

We ended up with over twelve inches of snow, which is the most we've had in the fourteen years we've lived here.We were  snowed in from Wednesday till Friday afternoon.  

What was the weather like in your area?

Happy Valentine's Day

To My Blogster Buds....

How Observant Are You?

Do you see the arrow between the E and the x?

The second and third T's are two people sharing a tortilla over a bowl of salsa

The arrow means Amazon has everything from A to Z

The gap between the K and the I is a sideways chocolate kiss.

See the 31 embedded in the B and R?

See the gorilla and lioness facing each other?

Milwaukee Brewers emblem. The glove forms a b and m.

There is a dancing bear above the BLE. Toblerone chocolate bars originated in Berne Switzerland whose symbol is the bear.

Contracts

The topic today, boys and girls is contracts and how they're written. I think we've all gotten contracts that aren't geared in the author's favor. Have you ever gotten one that you just couldn't bring yourself to sign? I was offered a contract by a  solid small press with a great reputation. I would have loved to have signed with them. I felt and still feel, it would have been a good fit.The editor would have been wonderful to work with and was very enthusiastic about the manuscript. But I couldn't get past their breach of contract clause. It was salty. The head of the agency I'm with summed it up in one word: draconian.Being the smart blogsters you are, you probably already know this word means cruel. I blush to admit I had to look it up. But now that I'm aware of it I plan to use it on a regular basis. grin. It's a great word. Anyhoo, back on topic--It was geared to protect them against authors taking the edits then self-publishing but it was ambiguously written and didn't spell that out. I honestly don't think it would have been an issue on my end or the publishers, but if it ever was, it would have cleaned out my piggy bank. So even though it was a publisher I would have liked to have aligned with I walked away. Also, I felt there was a moral dilemma. What if all the presses start adding that type of clause, where does that leave us as authors? Last but not least I prefer the carrot to the stick. What's your thoughts? Have you encountered this? What  did you decide to do? Sign or walk away? 

Werewolves and Chocolate

So what's your werewolf name? I'm Gray Howler....hmm, rather apropos if you look beneath the color job.

I'm Back, Just In Time For Monday

This pic is dedicated to the parents of twin babies everywhere. You have my utmost admiration.
Wow! Between edits and grandbabies its been a  wild and crazy two weeks.
Got my edits done...sorta. Visited with the Grands. The day before I was to come home, I came down with a cold and had to go into quarantine.
While I was gone, the HH had quite a week. I hadn't cleaned before I left because I was working on....that's right, the edits;) He had four showings, both his home and work computer went down and he got a cold. So we had colds together while apart. How romantic, huh. Yeah, I know. Ewww.
Both my bros are dealing with health issues right now. Like I said, wild and crazy:)
We're going to kick Murphy (IE Murphy's Law) out of the house. Lock your doors to make sure he doesn't come and visit you. And speaking of you, what's been going on the past two weeks? Catch me up. I've missed ya.