First of all, congrats to Ginger C, who won the Margaret Mallory books. I have a new contest going on, this time for an amazing romantic suspense by Susan Crandall, so please go check out my bonus features page for more information.

Secondly, as many of you know, I have three children. I was in my daughter’s kindergarten class last week, doing my civic duty as a volunteer, and here’s how one of my conversations went:

Me: Okay, you’re going to write “This.” Uppercase t…
5-year-old: No.
Me: Would you like to write something else?
Him: I want to write, “This is my dog.”
Me: Okay, so you’ll start with “This,” then. Uppercase t…
Him: NO!
Me: Well, if you want to write “This is my dog,” you’ll start with “This” which starts with t.
Him: (Stares at me like I’m an idiot.)
Me: (encouragingly) Do you need help writing t?
Him: I’M NOT WRITING T!!!
Me: But…”This” starts with t, so you’re going to need a t. Right here.
Him: Nuh uh. “This” doesn’t start with t. You’re wrong.
Me: No, I’m sorry. “This” starts with T.
Him: No it doesn’t. It starts with V.
Me: No, it starts with T.
Him: (getting really worked up) NO, IT DOESN’T!!! IT STARTS WITH V, I SAID! (looks like he’s either going to punch me or cry)
Me: Okay, then you can write it however you think it’s spelled. Good job.

I have the greatest respect for kindergarten teachers! I think I’ll just stick with writing.

Hi Everyone!

This is my son’s first baseball tournament weekend. Game at 10:30 today, and if they win, championship game at 1:00! Busy, busy!

But even though I won’t be here much, I’m out and about on the web! Come check out my interview at Robin Bielman’s blog, and my guest blog at Lust in Time, where I’m talking about my personal love triangle experience!

PLUS, my publisher is giving away 5 (count ‘em-FIVE!) copies of A HINT OF WICKED on today’s blog tour stop: http://www.bookwormygirl.blogspot.com/. There’s a nice review up at that blog as well! I’m still a little bowled over when I hear someone has actually read the book! LOL!

Okay. Must have more coffee… Was up verrrry late last night writing about hot Highlanders…

Happy Memorial Day to all my fellow Americans!

My son picked the winner! It was Booklover1335! Congrats! Please email me sometime within the next week and Jackie and I will get your book out to you asap.

Thanks for all the book recommendations, everyone. I adored Passion by Lisa Valdez (loved it and it’s on my keeper shelf!), and I’ve read a few of the other authors mentioned (Pam Rosenthal and Jane Lockwood are great) and Laura Kinsale is my absolute idol. But I’m definitely going to check out some of those other authors! I can’t wait! I love me some spicy historicals…

For today’s dose of cuteness–
My 10-year-old son has just discovered email. Allowing him internet access is a little scary, but I know it’s a skill he needs, and he’s obsessed with building his own website. So…we’re working on the parental controls, lol. But anyway, he sent this to me yesterday. It’s so fun watching your kid develop a sense of humor…

P.S. Just showed him this entry and his response: “Mommmmmmm!! Why’d you have to put that on your blog??” Hehe.

An average day in Jennifer’s life:

6:30: Mr. Haymore wakes me up. I’m not very happy about this and I turn over and try to go back to sleep. He’s forced to yank the covers off me and drag me to the shower.
7:00: Get the kids dressed, breakfast made, lunches made. Make sure everyone’s backpack is ready to go.
8:00: Drive carpool. Me and six kids in my car. Fortunately, I’ve discovered that books on tape is one way to calm them down. We’re currently listening to Lemony Snicket’s The Grim Grotto. Poor Sunny!
8:30: Go to the post office, run to the store to buy a birthday card for the preschooler’s teacher.
9:00: Take the preschooler to school. We arrive late, as usual.
9:30: Get home, finally get a cup of coffee and open my emails. As always, there are bunches of time-consuming issues to deal with and responses to make.
10:30: Finally get to work. Today I’m finishing up edits on a manuscript. I’d like to finish before picking up the preschooler. I don’t.
12:30: Pick up preschooler.
1:00: Pick up the two boys early from school and hurry them home to brush their teeth for dentist appointment.
1:30: Dentist appointment. I have computer propped on my lap in hopes of finishing the edits (I don’t).
3:00: Leave dentist, expressing disappointment in the oldest’s toothbrushing capability. He has four cavities. FOUR!
3:15: Run around like a chicken without its head looking for the middle child’s gear for baseball. He needs about 20 different items for these games, and never can find about half of them. Nor can the oldest find his fencing gloves (which I told him to put in a safe place!).
3:45: Arrive at baseball game in the cold. Bundle up and set computer on my blanket-covered lap in hopes of finishing edits (I don’t). Supervise the oldest doing homework while the game starts. The preschooler finds a friend and is occupied.
5:30: Mr. Haymore arrives at game, which is going fairly well, despite my son having a tantrum because he hasn’t gotten a hit. I immediately leave to take oldest to fencing class.
6:00: Fencing starts. My computer battery dies and there are no plugs (hence I’m still not able to finish those blasted edits!), so I watch my son fence instead.
7:30: Arrive home from fencing. Make dinner, get everyone ready for bed.
8:00: Deal with broken vacuum cleaner. It’s a true family affair as we debug the problem.
9:00: Kids are in bed, I’m exhausted, and…

My writing day begins!!

I mostly write when the house is quiet and no one’s around to use as a distraction. Last night, though, I was sooo tired. Instead of writing 3000 words (my goal) and finishing the edits, I wrote about…oh, zero and got through only about 2/3 of the edits. By by nine, I just couldn’t face any more, so I took a respite and watched the Oscars (Mr. H. DVRed them for me while I was off somewhere writing). Unfortunately, they cut off just as they were about to announce the winner for best actress. I could have cried. Thank goodness for internet…but it still wasn’t the same as seeing it live (well, DVRed, but live to me, anyway!).

Maybe I’ll get that 3000 words written today… Sigh! I tell you, some days I think it’s a miracle I’ve managed to write anything at all…