Valentine's Day Approaches

Today is February 11.  This year, Valentine's Day is on Saturday.  It's all about romance--and as you know, I write romances as well as mysteries.   

Since my mysteries include my Superstition Mystery series, I had to look up superstitions surrounding Valentine's Day.  There are a lot of them, including how you can meet your future spouse.  Supposedly, the first name you read in the newspaper or hear on TV or the radio will be the same as that of the person you will marry.  I don't recall that happening when I met my husband, though. 

If you find a glove on the sidewalk on Valentine's Day, your true love will be carrying its mate.  Of course here in L.A., where I live, not too many people are wearing gloves, but I know that a lot of you living elsewhere in the country are happy to have gloves on in the cold and snow. 

Watch out for birds.  The kind you see could help to predict the sort of person you'll marry, or so people have believed.  For example, goldfinches mean money, sparrows mean poverty yet happiness, and doves lead to peaceful, happy marriages. 

Should you happen to see a squirrel on Valentine's Day, you'll unfortunately marry a cheapskate who'll not spend money on you.  Good thing I'm already married to a wonderful guy, since we frequently have squirrels appear in our backyard.  Oh, and by the way, Valentine's Day is actually the anniversary of the day we got engaged, quite a few years ago now. 

But if any of those superstitions, or others, have come true for you, I'd love for you to let me know! 

Tomorrow night I'm moderating a panel of romance writers at the Flintridge Bookstore in La Canada Flintridge, California.  It's at 7PM, so if you happen to be in the area be sure to drop in! 

So Happy Valentine's Day to all of you.  My fingers are crossed that you have, or will find, your true love in your life.

Valentine's Day

Advance notice: Saturday, Feb. 25, 2 pm, I will be at the Rum River Public Library in Anoka, MN, to give a talk and sell books.

I was planning on boasting in this entry about the marvelous, perhaps exotic, chocolates I had purchased at Truffle Hill in Excelsior to give away at the Valentine’s Day Party at Joanna Campbell Slan’s site this evening from 9 p.m. EST to Midnight EST. But, wanting the freshest candy, I was going to go out on Monday – and discovered the shop is closed on Mondays. So as soon as it opens at ten this morning I will be at their door. On their web site they offered as their Truffle of the Month one flavored with hot chili peppers. I may buy one of those for the little collection. What do you think?

My husband and I went out to dinner last Friday in an early Valentine’s Day celebration. The older I get, the less I feel I must celebrate a particular holiday exactly on the day. Still, I have a bar of Hershey’s Milk Chocolate with Almonds, my favorite, on hand to mark the Fourteenth.

I’m beginning to think of And Then You Dye as the novel that will not die. There’s a letter that a character needs to write to Betsy I have discovered, and I will create it today. My editor hasn’t read the manuscript yet, and so says I should go ahead and do it.

Meanwhile, I am already thinking about the next book. I wanted to take some time off – my sister in Florida has invited me down for a visit – but Watered Silk is nudging at me, and I’m getting intrigued at its possibilities. Maybe it’s the vitamin B-12 I’ve been taking.

On the other hand: Florida. Sunshine. Fresh local fruit and vegetables. Gathering seashells on the Gulf. Heaven! What’s your idea of an ideal winter getaway?

All You Need Is Love... And Creativity

I’m lucky--I get to post my blog entry for Valentine’s Day!

I’m the kind of writer who can’t help putting romance in most of my stories. That’s one reason I gravitated to the romance genre when I first started selling novel-length fiction. My first published novels were time-travel romances, and I’m now writing for Silhouette Nocturne in addition to my Berkley Prime Crime mysteries.

I’m also the kind of writer who can’t help putting suspense or mystery in all of my stories--even the romances. My Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries are far from romances, though--poor Kendra has a lot of issues in the relationship department, and true romances always have a happy ending, at least as far as the relationship goes. But it’s fun exploring Kendra’s many issues.

I love... love! I think it’s both enjoyable and a challenge not only to create interesting characters, but to see what makes them tick. What drives them into and out of relationships. And I was always told, when writing romance, that the hero and heroine need to have important conflicts to resolve--make each of them the other’s worst nightmare!

Not so in real life, of course. The fewer the conflicts, the better, even though “the course of true love never did run smooth.” Or it seldom does.

If you’re a writer, how do you develop the romantic conflicts between your protagonists? If you’re a reader, what kinds of conflicts do you find most intriguing?

And to everyone reading this: Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day, filled with mysterious, but exciting, romance.

--Linda

How to Start Scrapbooking, Part II

This is continued from my post last Monday...

We’re going to start by creating a page layout without the photo. This is the simplest way to learn how to create a page, sort of like a template approach. It will also give you some confidence with one of your most useful tools, the paper trimmer. Of course, you can also use scissors to make these cuts, but it’s tough to cut straight!

I suggest before you start, you practice with your paper trimmer. The cut line—that place where the blade meets the paper—is different on each trimmer, and the cut line is not always obvious. Use some crummy waste paper and practice. It’s worth the effort.

The proportions of 1/3 a page of one color or pattern and 2/3s of another always look great. You can fill an entire album with these and have a wonderful, consistent look to the project. You can also flip the page upside down, giving the layout a different look. And last, but not least, try this with a variety of patterned papers and solids. You’ll be surprised at how versatile it is, and how changing up the patterned paper and solid background changes the whole mood of the page.

1. Start by trimming your solid paper to a little less (about ¼ inch) than 8 ½ x 11 inches. (Keep that little strip of paper.) Here’s why I’m asking you to trim a piece of paper that probably seems the right size, little known fact: Plastic page protectors are usually a little smaller than they are advertised as being. If you don’t pre-trim your page, you’ll make a gorgeous page you can’t slip into the protector.

2. Trim your patterned paper. If it’s 12 x 12 inches, trim off 3 ½ inches from one side. Now cut the paper that’s left (8 ½ x 12 inches) into 3 equal pieces, 8 ½ x 4 inches.

3. Use your adhesive to attach the patterned strip which is 8 ½ inches by 4 inches to the top of your solid paper. There might be a little overhang, if so, use your scissors to trim the patterned paper to the size of the solid. You now have a page background.

You’ll notice I have a strip of solid paper between the top and bottom. That’s why it’s a good idea to keep any scraps you had when you trimmed down the 8 ½ x 11 inch piece of solid paper.

At the center of the thin strip, I adhered an embellishment which came in my paper package. You could do the same, but you don’t need to.

If your solid colored paper is the same color all the way through, back and front, you can repeat this procedure on the backside of your 8 ½ x 11 inch page, so that you’ll have TWO layouts.

Next week we’ll add embellishments and photos, but you can easy do a lot of these pages without much thought to get ready for breezing through this album.

By the way, you'll want to go to my scrapbooking website and sign up for my ezine. I have a new issue coming out this week with a cool Valentine's Day layout and embellishment.

Joanna

By the way, I didn't change the lock when my husband returned from Las Vegas. I forgave him. And he bought me a beautiful purse! So I was smart to let him in the house.