T-Rex

As I mentioned last week, my nephew's birthday is here again. The actual day was yesterday, but the party is today. I promised a picture of the cake I created, so here it is:

Nothing too elaborate, though my frosting technique could use some practice. It was fun, nevertheless. His gift was a little T-Rex toy that had a trigger to move its mouth open and shut, and two t-shirts that I painted myself. Here are the shirts:

The dinosaur resembles the cake! :) The other is a raven, because my nephew's name is Corvus, which is Latin for raven. Fun stuff!

My Super Fan membership has doubled since last week! Keep 'em coming! I'll soon be announcing the first exclusive club thingy. You don't want to miss out, right? Click here to join!

Want to Know Some Secrets?

A while back, I invited any and all to join my Super Fan club thingy and I think perhaps you forgot about it. I know I'm not a superstar (yet) but I thought at least some of my readers would be interested in joining.  So I'm issuing the invitation again. I've updated the entry method to make it easier. I look forward to sharing special, exclusive fun-stuff with my Super Fans!

**if you tried to join when I first started this, please fill out the new form as well. For some reason, my email has been selective about what emails it shows me, including in my spam. The new form should be more reliable. Thanks!

More Fun with Cake

Last year, I made a birthday cake for my nephew, who turned the ripe old age of 1. You can read about it and see a picture here. His birthday is once again upon us and my brother asked me to use my awesome cake skills for yet another adorable, delicious creation. This year's theme is dinosaurs. My nephew LOVES dinosaurs. At least for the time being. I'll be doing a T-Rex cake. The flavors will be a vanilla cake with a cookies and cream filling and a fudgy chocolate frosting. It will be spectacular. At least I hope so. The party is next Saturday, so I'll post pics afterward.

Also on the topic of food, I've been diligent in trying new recipes as per my New Year's Resolution. So far, I've made two cast iron skillet pizzas, black bean burgers, cheesy rolls, cabbage roll casserole, and a giant chocolate cookie (cast iron again). They've been great, especially the pizzas and rolls. Food is delicious.

Cover Pic Picking

As you may know, I've designed/created all the covers for my books. It's been a lot of fun and very cost effective (meaning free), though sometimes I wonder what people actually think of them. Perhaps they look just fine, or everyone can tell they were made by a non-professional. If it's the latter, does that directly affect sales? I'm sure it does in a way. We always hear that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but we do it anyway. Now that I'm working on Foretold, I'll soon be needing a book cover. I've contemplated a couple ideas, but haven't liked them so far. I kind of wish I could ask for some input from my readers, though I would then have to spill the book's secrets and I'm not about to do that :)
Have no fear. I'm positive I can think of something and, hopefully, make it look good enough to read.

If you've been following my webcomic, Scene Seven will be posted on the new website tomorrow!

More Art

It's been a while since I've asked for some help with this. I've entered another art contest, this time for an ad idea for iHeartRadio. If you have a moment, please click here and vote for my submission.

I'm thinking of starting my Quote Game again. Due to Facebook's lack of sharing my posts regularly, I'll need to think of a better way to get the word out. Maybe I'll do it here. I've kept the names of the winners so far and am still planning to do a giveaway for all those who win one or more rounds. The more rounds you win, the better your chances in the giveaway :)

A Little Breakthrough

If you're a regular, you've seen me mention that a sizable portion of Foretold is written. I thought getting through the rest would be a breeze. NOT SO! The already-written part was done years ago and now that I'm going over it again, I'm not super happy with it. Then an idea came. I'm taking a plot point that was going to appear in book four and putting it in book three. I think it's one of the best ideas I've had for one of my books. It was actually going to be the majority of book four, yet I had a feeling it wasn't really strong enough to carry the whole book. Now I think it will work perfectly. I already have a few ideas for book four to replace this one. If things continue to run smoothly (knock on wood) then I think I could be finished by mid February. I'm expecting more hours from work in the next couple of weeks, but hopefully that won't slow me down too much. Time to write!

If you didn't know, I created a new website for my webcomic, Samurai Penguin. You should go take a look at the fancy newness and catch up on any Scenes you've missed. Scene Seven will be up on Jan. 21.

Goals for the New Year

I know my posts have been sparse over the past few weeks. My brain hasn't really been coming up with ideas. And I've let other things take priority. Also, I've been sick. But now is the time to get going again. I usually try to think of some resolutions each year. Sometimes I stick with them and sometimes I don't. I don't get upset with myself if some of them fall by the wayside. Here are some goals I'm comtemplating for 2015:

* Try a new recipe at least once a month. This is very doable and I'm looking forward to it. Eating is one of my favorite activities.

* Finish and publish Foretold: The Vessel Book Three.

* Start writing my next stand-alone. Possibly publish.

* Learn some new crochet stitches. I know the basics and would love to throw a few fancy things in the mix.

* Learn a new skill/talent. Not sure what yet. Perhaps knitting.

* Play the piano more. I've been playing for about 24 years, yet since getting married five years ago, I've let my practice time slide.

* Get back to learning Japanese. I started this last year, but haven't kept at it very well.

* Exercise a few times each week. I'm not overweight, but I'm not in great shape. I need to take better care of myself.

What are some of your goals?

Giveaway Winner

The winner for my End of the Year giveaway is Aimee G. Thanks to all who participated! I'll be doing more giveaways soon, so stop on by!

Did anyone get any new books for Christmas? I always like hearing about great new reads.

2015

The new year is here. Feels a lot like 2014 so far. I've notified the winner of my giveaway and am waiting for a reply, so check your email if you entered. If I don't hear from the winner by Saturday, I will choose someone else.

Time to get serious about finishing Foretold.