“The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper.”  Thomas Jefferson.

Need more TJ to start your morning?  He also said: “I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it.”

With all respect for President Jefferson–in most matters not relating to slavery, anyway–I must disagree, if not with the first statement, with the second. I love my newspaper. Not only is it great inspiration for characters and plots, as I’ve mentioned before, but I can measure myself against the people I read about. Sometimes for the better, sometimes much for the worse. I can also pick up fabulous tidbits to ponder.

It seemed fitting after the death Friday of Al Neuharth, founder of USA Today, to talk about newspapers.

When I moved to Florida I was worried I’d be faced with a paper so different from my beloved Washington Post that I would never pick it up.  To the contrary. I devour the Sarasota Herald-Tribune every morning, in truth much more consistently and thoroughly than I devoured the Post. Our new paper is smaller and more accessible, and if I ever feel the need for long articles that explore every facet of an international or national issue, I have the Post on the Internet. (more…)

Mercury isn’t even in retrograde. I just checked, because despite my skepticism about all things astrological, I want to blame my techie failures in the past twenty-four hours on the alignment of the stars. No such luck, though. Even astrology has failed me. I’m stuck with my own mistakes, me and the increasingly complicated life we all lead these days.

The problems began yesterday as I was driving our new car. The car is fabulous, the nicest one we’ve ever owned because these days we’ll be bisecting the US at least twice a year and probably more. We needed something more comfy than our old, reliable but noisy/bouncy RAV4. So we bought a more luxurious and larger version with more bells and whistles than New Years Eve.

So far so good. Then yesterday on my first solo drive, I decided to call home. That should be easy, right? After all if I could drive this car into my kitchen, it could probably whip up a souffle out of whatever I have in my refrigerator. Having synced it with my iPhone, I thought I was all set.

I told the car to call home. Instead it called my Virginia landscaper, a guy named Mo. No matter how many times I told it not to call him, it ignored me.

Mo, I’m sorry. That crazy phone call from Florida? That’s your former client over on 25th Rd. Say hi to your mom for me, okay? I miss your whole family. (more…)

NEED A DOSE OF SUNSHINE AND A LITTLE FLORIDA WILDLIFE?

He Went Thataway!

Our Backyard Gator Chillin’

Nighty-night at the Venice Bird Sanctuary

(Thanks to Michael McGee for the photos.)

Psst. . . Don’t forget there’s a giveaway in progress.  One commenter on any blog between last Tuesday and next Tuesday the 12th at midnight will be entered to win a two-book set of Iron Lace and Rising Tides.  Winner chosen by random.org.

The New Year is a time for resolutions. I bet you made some, right?  Mine were pretty simple. Spend more time exploring my new homes and less time staring at computer screens. Do you think that means less writing? Nah. It just means that I’m going to fill my personal well more frequently, which should result in more, not fewer, novels.

This year, though, I’ve also begun thinking of things I can’t do. Do you have a list like that? Not to be negative and take all the positive energy out of New Year’s resolutions, but maybe thinking about the things we can’t or refuse to do isn’t a bad idea either. After all, having boundaries is important.

So to get started, here are a few of mine. Share your own, if you feel so inclined.

1. I won’t jump to conclusions. I will continue reciting the following quote from Don Miguel Ruiz (posted on my Wisdom of the Goddesses board on Pinterest.)  ”There’s a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally.” I’ve been working on this for several months, and it’s surprisingly helpful. I’m finding that if I remind myself not to take things personally, interesting doors open. I look forward to memorizing more of the inspirational thoughts from the board.
2. I will not get involved in squabbles or negative gossip. I will not choose sides or add my two cents worth. While my husband is no longer an active minister, I won’t forget the lessons I’ve learned along the way about organizations. (more…)

And the winner is. . .

I’m delighted to begin 2013 by announcing a  contest winner.  Wanda, also known as commenter #14 on my Sunday Poetry blogs, just won an autographed copy of Horoscopes for the Dead by Billy Collins, an ongoing contest for the read-poetry-along-with-Emilie crowd.

Wanda’s comment: “Emilie I love this weeks poem. It says play! Have fun and do not take your self too seriously. I carry paper and pen everywhere, you never know what you may see of hear. I write down snipits of conversation and observations because they may end up in a story or a poem or may be the inspiration I need on another day.”

Great comment, Wanda.  As always random.org did the honors.  And in a side note, the poem Wanda commented on was a Billy Collins poem.  Poetic justice?

I love giving things away.  Just to let you know there are more giveaways on my schedule this year.  I’m working out details now, and will make that announcement soon.

If you haven’t liked my Facebook Page, where news is updated daily and your comments are much appreciated, why not visit and do so today?  Or if you aren’t on my mailing list, sign up for my quarterly newsletter (a New Year’s resolution) to have news occasionally delivered to your inbox.  The first is right over the horizon.

Another New Year’s resolution is to update my website.  I’ve already had a cover photo taken since one of 2012′s resolutions was to find out what color my hair really is by forgoing highlights and other salon tortures, and the second was to quit fighting the curl since I was moving to Florida and curl was inevitable.  So my new PR photo is the “new” me.   Curly and grayer than I expected.  But my hair is so much easier to deal with.

I’m gearing up for a great 2013.  Most of our moving is finished now and I can hunker down in my study.  I’ve even heard my desk will be delivered this week, which is great since I’m about to toss the little temporary desk out my window.  I’m excited about finishing a novella and launching into the third book in the Goddesses Anonymous series.  I’m also toying with a Shenandoah Album idea that I can do directly as an ebook.  I’ll let you know more about that when it’s closer to reality.

Do you have big plans for 2013?  I’d love to hear them.  A heartfelt Happy New Year one and all.

I’m embarrassed to say this, but in addition to being a cookbook hoarder I am also a Crockpot addict. That’s right. I can’t imagine a better use for the floor of my new pantry than for my bevy of slow cookers, right below the long, long row of cookbooks.

Have I told you about my frantic eBay shopping to find original Crockpots, not the new-fangled ones that cook at too high a temperature, but the originals, unused wedding gifts stored for years in somebody’s attic and ready now for a good home? I didn’t think so. I don’t often admit it. But I have four.

I’m very good at making excuses for my obsessive Crockpot behavior. When we moved to a two-house lifestyle a few years ago, I decided I must have had a premonition. Without breaking a sweat I had slow cookers for both houses. Big ones, small ones, a little one for heating chocolate, an oval one that overheats for presentation, a slow cooker wannabe with adjustable temperatures, a giant wannabe for cooking turkeys or jambalaya for a party. All I had to do was move some north and some south and I was all set.

Excuses are only helpful for a little while. Unfortunately recently I’ve realized that 90% of all slow cooker recipes require chicken. And while we still eat meat, it’s much less often. Fish has never been a big item for slow cookers, and vegetables? Well. . .  What was I going to do with all these Crockpots?

So now, instead of searching for slow cookers that do what they were meant to do, I’m looking for recipes. Vegetarian main dishes. Vegetarian side dishes. Recipes without meat or canned soups. Recipes with few ingredients and very little preparatory cooking. I haunt Pinterest.   I have several cookbooks on my Christmas wish list. I’m the Sherlock of Slow Cookery.

Last week I saw this recipe on Pinterest, and last night my patient husband assembled it in one of my oldies but goodies and let it cook all night. This morning we were thrilled with the results. Not only did this recipe make enough oatmeal for us both to enjoy this morning, it made enough for my favorite Oatmeal bread recipe, which followed quickly on its heels and is now baking in the oven.

Give this a try if you’re enthused about waking up to the smell and taste of delicious hot oatmeal some morning soon. You won’t be sorry.

Overnight Oatmeal in your Slow Cooker

• Slice two apples (preferably organic) and place in the bottom of a 3 quart slow cooker
• Add 1/4 to 1/3 cup brown sugar, amount depends on your tastes and how sweet your apples are
• Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Add pinch of salt (optional)
• Add two cups of old-fashioned oats
• Add four cups of water and DO NOT stir

Turn your slow cooker on low just before you go to bed.  Your oatmeal will be ready in 8-9 hours.

Variations: While we haven’t tried these, I’m looking forward to experimenting with using maple syrup or honey instead of brown sugar, adding raisins or dried cranberries, tossing in a little ground flax meal or any number of other yummy, healthy ingredients.  We just ate ours with milk this morning, but I’m thinking chopped walnuts and fresh fruit would be a great addition once it’s cooked.

As I said, I have OLD slow cookers which actually cook slowly.  If yours does not, use a timer to turn it on or off, or adjust in other ways.  Ours was perfect in this time frame.

Whatever you try, let us know how it turns out.

I’m still unpacking, and I also have yet another go round on my edits for Somewhere Between Luck and Trust.  This time I’m reading through the final copy, which is fun but time consuming.  I get to fix what I don’t like about the edits, and these days I can do it right online.  The whole process is like putting a puzzle–a very complex 3-D puzzle with many components–together.

So today I’ll leave you with the photo of yet another resident in our new backyard, or more specifically the waterway just beyond it.  Did you know that according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, alligators and dinosaurs evolved from a common ancestor, one they share with other reptiles? So, although alligators are classified as reptiles along with lizards, snakes, and turtles, they are actually more closely related to birds, whose direct ancestors were dinosaurs.

See a beak or wings on this guy?  Personally I think he’s pretty cute, but we’re keeping Nemo on a leash, in case you’re worried, and away from the water.

Thanks to Michael McGee for the wildlife photos.  These days he’s never very far from a camera.

For fun today, and because I’m busily unpacking with little worth saying except “hand me the box cutters,” I thought I’d share a few photos from our new home.

We now live on a SW Florida waterway, not quite a lake, nor exactly a pond, looking over a state park.  The bird life is extraordinary, and every morning since moving here we’ve gotten up before dawn to sit on our lanai and watch our new feathered friends arrive or depart for the day.  The birds change from day to day.  I’m sharing just a few of my husband’s recent photos, plus a video of Whistling Duckling escapades yesterday.

I hope you enjoy.

The female Anihinga on the left has adopted a patch of reeds just across from our house and can usually be found there. Even a curious Wood Stork doesn’t faze her.

The Great Blue Heron is a gorgeous bird, and not easy to ignore.  They can be 4 to 5 ft. tall, with a wing span of 5-6 feet. They very definitely catch our attention just by being there.

Another large bird standing 3 to 4 feet tall, Wood Storks seem to enjoy each other’s company. When we first arrived we saw Wood Stork parades each morning, sometimes as many as 7 lumbering along the waterfront together. But this photo of our neighbor’s roof at twilight is my favorite.

And finally a duckling bathing frenzy yesterday which my husband caught on video.  This family is adorable.  But there’s also an alligator who sometimes cruises past our yard.  We’re hoping the ducklings escape his notice.  They’re growing so fast, I’m hopeful.

My study window looks over the waterway.  Will that make me more or less creative?  I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

I have a cushy job, right? I set my own hours, spend a huge percentage of them living in a fantasy world, stare unblinking into space for days without anyone calling the little men with the butterfly nets. I’m a writer.

So with so many pluses, what do writers  worry about?  In the interests of education, I thought today I’d list a few of mine.  Clearly I have forgotten some of them, but I won’t worry about that. Not with so much better material to occupy me.

1. A quick perusal of Amazon today shows that while Sunset Bridge received 27 reviews, so far One Mountain Away has received only 17. Does this mean fewer people are buying  it? Does it mean they have read it, but they are too kind to review it poorly so they haven’t reviewed it at all? Does it mean they bought it, but it’s still sitting on a shelf because they haven’t yet forced themselves (for a variety of possible reasons) to open and read it?
2. How can I gently request that my readers review it without sounding like a relentless self-promoter?
3. While going through the first round of edits on Somewhere Between Luck and Trust I’ve been forced (!) to make some changes. Will the changes somehow contradict something else in the story that I’ve forgotten about? Will my readers toss the book across the room because my character eats pickles in one chapter and renounces them in another. (Full disclosure: There aren’t any real pickles in this story. I don’t think so, anyway. Darn, maybe I’d better check . . .)
4. My colleagues are busily putting books up on line. I’ve been busy moving. Will the big e-book tidal wave pass right over me as I unpack boxes of sheets and towels? Will my readers forget who I am if I don’t put backlist online by tomorrow?
5. I haven’t tweeted in days. Furthermore I have nothing relevant to tweet. (Not that I should be stopped by something that minor.)
6. I would like to send a Christmas email to my readers. Do I have anything worth saying? Can I say anything  in 300 words or less? It’s not likely.
7. I would like to send my editor and agent citrus fruit for the holiday. How many of their other writers are doing exactly the same thing? Dare I ask and spoil the surprise? Better than boxes of spoiling fruit?
8. When, exactly, will I have time to tackle the new books I want to put online? Perhaps another Shenandoah Album novel. Perhaps another Ministry is Murder mystery. Can I squeeze more writing time into my schedule when I’m now living in the land of perpetual sunshine and opportunity?

Today I’m flying back to Florida after a week in Ohio.  Meet you here, same time, same place for Sunday Poetry.