22 August 2011

Nightmare on Cat's Street


Welcome to my kingdom
It's about time I introduce our cat, our one and only owner, Ramona.
She's a two year-old calico who comes with her own set of tantrums, mood swings, and an abundance of moments of madness that lead to:
-          choking,
-          hiccuping, and
-          tripping
with laughter. Each and ever incident that involved our physical discomfort was triggered by fits of laughter at Ramona's shenanigans.
True story.
Last night, my son had an upset tummy. I filled a hot water bottle (that looks like a tiger) and stuffed it in his bed, right by his tummy. Unfortunately, that was the spot Ramona was interested in. After all, my son belongs to her and she is more that capable of annoying the hell out of him taking care of him. So, after few meows and struggles with the tiger, Ramona circled herself and settled by my son's feet. She was mightily annoyed, that pansy tiger wouldn't rise to her aggressive challenges and assaults.
Coward!
Today, I picked up the hot water bottle and went to empty it in the bathroom's sink. First, I snatched open the Velcro at the back, which issued a loud ripping noise. Ramona jumped two feet in the air and settled on her haunches watching me by the door.
Then I unscrewed the stopper and poured the water out. Mind you, this all happened while the hot water bottle was still in the tiger-cover.

WHAT?????
Ramona went berserk. Her eyes went wide. She swallowed a couple of times, and then licked her whiskers, leaving her tongue out for a while. Finally she murmured something (I always think she's cursing me in cat lingo) and dashed to hide in the living room.
I thought that was weird until I looked at the deflated tiger in my hand.
It sure looked like I killed the tiger, and was planning to get Ramona next. lol
I laughed so hard, I fell on the ground (Yes, lots of bruising in our house take place because of Ramona,) and finally went hunting for Ramona to reassure her that I'm neither Jason nor Freddy.
She's not buying it.
I'm on to you...
Smart cat!
Muwahahaha

18 August 2011

Getting to Know Ann - Love Delivery Tour

Today I'm hosting Ann, the main character in Love Delivery by Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz. However, before we meet Ann, I have a small announcement to make:


To one person who comments and leaves contact information, Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz will 
email a short romantic story, '"A Midsummer's Knight"  At the end of the tour, she will choose 
one grand prize winner, who will receive a copy of /Love Delivery/ in whichever eBook format 
works.
On to our guest now. Welcome, Ann!

Title: Love Delivery
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing
Author: Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Hi everyone, my name is Ann. I’m the main character in Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz’s contemporary romance, Love Delivery.

I’m the manager of a small independent donut shop, which is located not too far from my apartment.  I enjoy living in the city because I don’t need a car to get around.  I like being eco-friendly with the planet I live on. 

Besides taking the bus where I need to go, I have a bicycle, which I ride but only sometimes. I have to admit, though, that riding the bike on the busy city streets is kind of scary to me.  I would rather put my bike on the bus and go to one of our city parks where there are some really great bike paths.  That way, I don’t have to worry about cars pulling out in front of me.

I had a good friend a few years back who was riding his bike in the city.  He ended up in the hospital after a driver turned into him at a cross street.  I’m guessing the driver didn’t see him, but my friend got a broken leg and arm out of the incident.  He couldn’t ride his bike for a while.  But, he’s braver than I am because he eventually got back on the bike, and he still rides everywhere. 

I don’t eat meat for the same reason.  There is so much energy that goes into making red meat, I’d rather eat the grains. I feel good about eating lower down on the food chain, but I have to admit I still eat fish.  I can’t help myself.  I tried being a strict vegetarian, but when I’d go out to eat with friends, I’d smell these yummy dishes they ordered, and I would want to have something other than my vegetarian meals.  I do think, though, that restaurants have gotten better than they were, especially in the big cities. 

One of my favorite things to do is look in my fridge and see what I can create from leftovers.  I call it leftover soup.  It’s amazing how good leftover soup can be.  I usually add store-bought organic vegetable broth or a tomato-based vegetable juice to the leftovers.  I’ll put in my stir-fried vegetables and rice, or whole-wheat macaroni and cheese, whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce, or anything else I find.  I mix everything together with the broth or juice, heat it up, and it’s dinner with a side of greens and vegetable salad.  Sometimes, I’ll add some whole-grain crackers and cheese, too.

I want to tell you a secret. I’m really interested in getting to know the man who delivers supplies to the donut shop.  His name is Tom.  He’s asked me to go out to dinner with him.  I’m curious how he feels about my life-style. We’ve joked and talked a lot when he makes his deliveries, but we’ve never talked about personal things…like how he feels about eating meat or wasting energy.

My ex-husband was an alcoholic, so I don’t care much for drinking, either.  Some of the comments Tom has made make me think that he drinks wine and beer.  I guess as long as he’s responsible about it, that wouldn’t be something to make me not want to see him again.  I guess when we go out to dinner, I’ll find out for sure.

You’ll need to read Love Delivery so you can find out when I do, whether Tom and I have anything in common.  I hope so. Although he’s quite handsome, I’m what my mom always called “cute.”  Never “beautiful,” only “cute.”  Sigh…

Do remember to leave your name and email address when you comment.  Penny is giving away a short story to one person who comments.

Excerpt
****
Ann pushed open the door, and the bell jingled like an added alarm to wake her up. Sometimes she wondered how she could function this early in the morning, but a job was a job. At least waitressing in a donut shop was honest. Maybe someday she’d go back to finish college and do something rewarding with her life. Then again, maybe the man of her dreams would walk through the door this morning and sweep her off her feet. The closest thing to a dream man in her life was Tom, the delivery guy, looking like God’s gift to women. She sighed. It didn’t seem fair. He would never find her appealing with the figure she inherited from her mother. The only attractive thing she could find when she looked in a mirror was her startling green eyes.


Love Delivery Tour Dates & Stops:

July 29 --            Lin Holmes, http://linsownblog.blogspot.com/ 
August 12 –        Ginger Simpson, http://mizging.blogspot.com/ 
August 13 --       Elaine Cantrell, http://elainepcantrell.blogspot.com/
August 14 --       Janie Franz, http://janiefranz.wordpress.com/ 
                          Jami Bevans, http://ciaragold.blogspot.com/
August 15 --       Joanne Tropello, http://joannetroppello.weebly.com/blog.html
August 16 --       Long and Short Reviews, http://www.longandshortreviews.com
August 17 --       Nicola Sheridan, http://www.magicalgains.blogspot.com/  
                           Celia Yearly, http://www.celiayeary.blogspot.com  
                           Long and Short Reviews: http://www.longandshortreviews.com chatting on their forum
August 18 --        Su Halfwerk, http://www.suhalfwerk.blogspot.com   
August 19 --        Lin Holmes, http://linsownblog.blogspot.com/  
August 20 --        Janice Seagraves, http://ladyjanice.blogspot.com/  
August 21 --        Joylene Butler, http://cluculzwriter.blogspot.com/
August 22 --        Roseanne Dowell, http://roseannedowellauthor.blogspot.com/  
August 23 --        Tina Donahue, http://www.tinadonahue.com/blog/
August 24 --        Grace Elliott, http://graceelliot-author.blogspot.com/p/guest-blogger-spot.html
August 25 --        Marva Dasef, http://mgddasef.blogspot.com/
August 29 --        P.L. Parker, www.plparker.blogspot.com  

About the author
******
Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz has published hundreds of articles and short stories in print magazines and on-line. She writes for both adults and children. Her fiction has appeared in numerous genre and children’s publications and non‑fiction work has appeared in a variety of writing, parenting, and young adult print magazines and on line publications.  She edits for three small independent publishers.  Visit her web site at http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.yolasite.com  Her writing blog is located at http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.blogspot.com/



Love Delivery , Lady-in-Waiting, and Mirror, Mirror are coming in 2011 from MuseItUp Publishing. Her YA chapbook, Dragon Sight and her anthology A Past and A Future are available at Sam’s Dot Publishing.  Funny Dog, Boo’s Bad Day, and Many Colored Coats, all picture books, and Ghost for Lunch, a sequel, are schedule for publication with 4RV. Her MG novel, Ghost for Rent, is currently in transition from previous publisher to a new publisher.



A Past and A Future, a short story collection





Dragon Sight, a YA illustrated chapbook




Love Delivery, contemporary romance, August, 2011




Lady in Waiting, historical romance, coming November, 2011

Mirror, Mirror, time travel romance, coming December 2011




Funny Dog, picture book, coming May, 2012

Ghost for Lunch, MG novel, coming September, 2013

Many Colored Coats, picture book, coming October, 2014

Boo's Bad Day, picture book, coming June, 2015

15 August 2011

Golden Oldies


Last week I had the pleasure of watching two olden horror movies that I somehow missed during my quest to scare the daylights out of my…
They possessed this genuine feel of reality to them. Both movies were made in the 70's. In those days horror movies either focused on plot/story or boobs. Luckily both fit the former category. 
I was familiar with Tales from the Crypt as a TV show, but I haven't seen this movie released in 1972. 
TheVault of Horror was made in 1973 initially referred to as part two of Tales from the Crypt. The stories in The Vault of Horror stayed with me more. Perhaps because I connected very strongly with one of them!!!
Each movie tells the stories of 5 people, total strangers to each other, yet they had "guilt" in common. 
Discussing the stories without giving away part of the charm of these two is impossible, and I would hate to spoil them for you. Needless to say, they're worth watching if you don't mind the absence of computer generated special effects we are swarmed with nowadays.

Can you think of any other Golden Oldies in the horror genre that focused on plot more than gore or effects?