Work. More work. That’s what awaits me this morning.

1 – I wrote it. And you are fascinated by the words I write (or you wouldn’t be reading this, right?). So go on over to the Samhain Bookstore and click on Buy.

2 – It’s on the bestseller list! Moving up a bit every day. A bunch of other people must have liked it to get me on that list.

3 – Tate. He’s hot. And he’s a Native American. And he can get all furry and cuddly on demand. Literally – he’s a shapeshifter.

4 – To read the dedication. I’m told it rocks. And you can’t read it without buying the book. I even made my husband buy a copy if he wanted to read it.

5 – Cheveyo. He’s just as hot as Tate, plus he has that shamanistic, experienced, slightly older man vibe thing going for him. And he’s a shapeshifter too. The woman they love is a very happy woman.

6 – Oh yes, I did just say “woman they love”. Hunting the Huntress is a MFM ménage à trois. If you’re wondering why I threw the MFM part in there, it’s because there’s another whole subgenre of ménage books that is MMF. And another that is MFF. The M is for male and the F is for female, and you can tell by which letters are next to which letters who touches who during those intimate moments. So, my book has plenty of hot lovin’, but no male on male lovin’. Well, not this book anyway

7 – Nilana. This strong, independent woman had a real problem with the whole idea of finding herself tied to a man for the rest of her life.

8 – The cover.

Delicious, yes?

9 – The contest. This one actually doesn’t even require you buy it. For every comment here at Ember Case in January, you get a chance to win a gift certificate to My Bookstore And More. You can buy any book there – or maybe a few of them, depending on the price of the books! Winner to be announced Feb 3rd.

10 – It’s short. 15,000 words, give or take a few hundred plus the credits. So you can read it while you’re waiting for the pizza to be delivered. Or while you’re avoiding the laundry.

11 – eCataRomance said “Ember Case’s story is as passionate and sensual as it is emotional and intriguing. The characters are rich and diverse, they exude confidence and fears in equal measure. This is definitely an author to watch out for. Hunting the Huntress is a fabulous glimpse at this authors style and amazing storytelling ability.”

12 – Mrs Giggles gave it an 83. Yay!

13 – For the low price of $2.50, you can have a wild, passionate, exciting, out of the ordinary experience that can only be found in the pages of a work of fiction. And I absolutely, positively guarantee that Hunting the Huntress is 100% fiction.

Thirteen bits of randomness, all before 6am

1 – I woke up at 3:42 when Princess called me back to “cover me up mommy.” Because her five year old arms haven’t yet mastered the art of tucking a blanket around her slender chilled shoulders. That’s ok; at least she went back to sleep.

2 – Lay in bed listening to ads for movies for 15 minutes, and finally hit the button on the remote to see what channel hubby had fallen to sleep to. The TiVo Advertising channel. Figured out he hadn’t fallen asleep to it, TiVo had so helpfully switched itself to that channel in shameless self promotion.

3 – Flipped to ABC World News, which is somehow the closest thing to real news available on TV at 4am. What happened to CNN Headline News? They never actually seem to have news on anymore.

4 – Tried to read. Three pages in, put the book back down and picked up another one. Two pages in, put that one down and tried to go back to sleep.

5 – Started wondering if I won last nights lotto. Not worth getting up to check it at 4:20.

6 – Spent 10 minutes dreaming about “what if I won the lotto?” Much more fun than actually checking to see if I won.

7 – Started thinking about the roof that still needs to be replaced, and the bathrooms that still need to be rebuilt, and how much easier it would be to get the workmen out to the house if I’d actually won the lotto. Or, to buy a new house that didn’t need a new roof and new bathrooms. Or to rent a new place to live until I got the workmen to come out.

8 – Hoped I hadn’t woken hubby up with my wakefullness while he stumbled down the hall for a mid-night bathroom call.

9 – Listened to the same headline story for the third time (I’m very glad to know they found the family that got lost looking for a Christmas tree in California, and hope someone buys them a GPS gadget this holiday season), and realized I’d been laying awake for over an hour.

10 – Wondered why my stomach was making such odd noises, then noticed the sounds were actually coming from the dog, who had come to lay down on the floor by my bed. Decided he needed to go out.

11 – Checked my email while the dog was doing his thing. Blockbuster is raising their monthly fee again?? Get over yourselves. It is not your customers fault that you have driven yourselves into the red trying to put Netflix out of business. If your prices were so fiscally unsound that you’ve had to make two rate hikes in a matter of months, you need to find a better marketing plan. I’d recommend one that doesn’t piss off your customers. Good bye, Blockbuster.

12 – Let the dog back in, and decide as long as I’m up I could get some writing done. This needs coffee. Was headed to the kitchen when I…

13 – Watched the dog come stumbling towards me retching, and raced him to the door. He made it – poor pup. But I’m glad I don’t have to add a #14 to my list of things I did before 6am – clean up dog mess from the office carpet.

Note to self – next time the dog’s stomach makes those noises at 5am, remember he’s likely eating grass outside and leave him out for the rest of the night…

13 Things about Jody Wallace

Come check out her original answers to such questions as “Star Wars or Star Trek”?

While you’re there, download the free Halloween read – Dunvegas 2007!

And then my alarm went off 4 hours after I went to bed.

So come visit over at Beyond The Veil for the Thursday Thirteen fix, and find out 13 Things about Jenna Leigh!

I’m off to find coffee… 

Thirteen words to add to your vocabulary
1 – Felch spoon – Don’t click this link if you don’t know what it is. Really. It sounds so much cuter than it really is. And felch spoon isn’t really anything, but Felch? That is. So if you DO click that link, don’t scroll down to number 5 because eww. Not that I’m judging anyone but just eww. You’ve been warned – I’m moving on.
2 – back door troubadour – there’s a lot of interest in all things anal at DYKYMWTM
3 – holy snapping arseholes – a bit classier than “Holy Shit!”
4 – wwe fan – the perfect insult if you know anyone that watches wrestling. (Un)fortunately I don’t, so I won’t get much of a chance to use it.
5 – fuckity buckets – I’m starting to feel like I’m back in middle school
6 – thunderpuppet – not yet defined. So use it for anything you want – “Come on you thunderpuppet, get your holy snapping arsehole out of my way!”
7 – numpty – I love this one. The car sales guy is quite a numpty, as is his manager.
8 – bollockybastard – not yet defined, but if you’re going to call someone a bastard, throw bollocky in front of it and maybe they won’t feel like punching you. If they’re from the south they probably won’t even know they’ve been insulted.
9 – Rump Ranger classier than most of the alternatives. And rangers are hot.
10 – darn – this cracked me up because it appeared as an option next to a truly vile phrase that didn’t even sound amusing
11 – ArseHat it sounds so much classier with that ‘r’ in there
12 – baps
13 – flangemastic – What do YOU think this one should mean?

Today we’re going to see just how well Google knows me – Here are

Thirteen Things Google Says Ember Loves :
Ember loves …

1 her catnip! “It makes my head go all fuzzy!” – I’m pleading the 5th on this one. Meow.
2 to read and research various topics, and she bakes yummy vegan cakes. – They had me till “vegan”.
3 nuns meditating silently as the dawn lightens the room – oooooommmmmmmmmmm
4 a lot of friends – and who wouldn’t? Especially with friends like these, these and these!
5 taking care of her – I’m not sure who “her” is, but I’m sure I was loving the care of her.
6 shabby chic – Shabby, oh how I love thee. Chic? Hmmm. Not a word that usually goes well with me, but maybe Kristen is starting to rub off on me.
7 to play with her numerous toys – Oh baby. Now we’re talking! Why wasn’t this number one?
8 the attention she’s been receiving! – attention? >ducks and hides<
9 the women folk – Snort. Don’t tell my husband. He’ll get all kinds of ideas.
10 cats – Meow!
11 Starbucks coffee – Not so much. Give me a nice dark Sumatra, or a bright Kona – hold the overroast.
12 her new warm Alpine Fleece coat while playing in the snow – If I’m going to be playing in the snow (brrr!), it would most definitely be nicer in a warm Aplihe Fleece coat
13 Rock N’ Roll – Put another dime in the jukebox baby!

Don’t they look delicious? They are were. And the way they go from hugenormous to normal sized – something for every sized mouth – I love my oversized muffin pan. I also love that these things are so easy to make that I don’t need half a pot of coffee before I can put them together in the mornings.

Here’s what goes in them.

Here we go -

1. Mash 3 large bananas and set aside.

2. Creme 1 cup packed brown sugar and 1/2 cup (1 stick) soft butter until fluffy

3. Add two eggs, beating after each

4. Mix together 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and stir in.

5. Add bananas – don’t beat, or you won’t get those nice juicy chunks of banana after they’re done.

6. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves to taste.

7. Grease pan (or use muffin cups)

8. Pour batter into pan and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

That’s it. Easy!

If you’d rather do bread than muffins, you can bake it in a loaf pan at 350 for 1 hour – this recipe started out as a bread recipe, but my family goes nuts for muffins. And speaking of nuts – if you want to, go on and add them. Just don’t tell me about it.

1. – Put chemicals in the pool. Hubby forgot That’s ok – I did this as soon as I woke up, so it’s all cleared up already.
2. – Bring the garbage cans around from the street. At least he did remember to take the garbage out this time while I was gone!
3. – Weed through the inbox. Took it from 175 to 43 emails, and it only took an hour.
4. – Return business calls. Several graphics customers didn’t get the message I was going to be working from the road this week. Had to calm a few ruffled feathers, but it’s all good now.
5. – Empty the rental car.
6. – Water the garden. Found 6 more tomatoes on the vines while I was doing it – there will be freshness at lunch! And dinner, and probably lunch tomorrow too.
That’s what I’ve gotten through so far. Here’s some of what’s left :
7. – Return the rental car. Hope someone there can bring me back home – because Enterprise will get you there!
8. – Make a bank deposit.
9. – Catch up laundry. Who gave the maid this decade off anyway?
10. – Grocery shopping. See above note, and wish for a maid as well.
11. – Check the numbers on the lotto ticket I bought in Georgia. $91 million! Wonder what day they pull numbers?
12. – Wish it were next week already. My baby turns 5 a week from today! Big sis and her 6 kids are coming into town for the July 4th / birthday party; can’t wait to see them.
13. – Write! I need at least 1000 words a day for the next week, since I know I won’t get much done with family here next week.

There’s a lot of actual work piled up on my desk as well that I’m going to have to get through, but that’s not even worth talking about. Writing about. Either or both.

What have you got to do today?