I just saw an article about a romance author on trial for the murder of her husband. The article related that the judge in her case had ruled that her blog titled, “How to Murder Your Husband” could not introduced in the trial. (Link to the article here).

I swear, we just can’t make this stuff up. I mean if we write a story with a killer who wrote a blog about how to kill first — we’d get reviews saying no one is that stupid.

Real life can be weirder than fiction.

Now I don’t know if this author is truly guilty, but that headline sure grabbed my attention. And here’s why: We don’t see our own flaws and often can’t even recognize our own mistakes, like blogging about a murder then actually doing it. But we can sure see those mistakes in others! And we can often see them more clearly in fictional characters as they live out their lives on the pages. I could actually write a villain that’s so arrogant, he or she’d be sure they could convince the jury that they would never write a blog like that if they were going to kill their spouse, and therefore he or she had to be innocent. They’d be convincing too, and even the reader would wonder…was that true? Were the police and D.A. wrong?

Or was that person truly a killer that thought he was smarter than everyone else? The reader would hopefully begin to see how that killer is manipulating other’s emotions and influencing their thinking and ultimately their decision.

That’s what makes fiction so compelling; we can mirror both the good and the bad of mankind. We can show how rational people are swayed by con artists and killers, or how the day is saved by a smarter and more prepared prosecutor or maybe an average juror who rises to the challenge of sticking to the facts. We can show it all, and because it’s fiction, readers will follow along without the defensiveness and preconceived ideas that often comes into play in real people. Or in a romance, we can show the power of love even to the skeptic if the story is compelling enough.

I love fiction. I like nonfiction too. But the power of story can transcend our defenses to teach us so many things about ourselves and those around us.

Circling back to the original point of this article, if I ever had a criminal intent, I sure hope I’m smart enough not to write a blog about it first, LOL! But I might write a character who does…because fictional characters can be as fascinating and flawed as real people!

Yesterday I was grocery shopping when I remembered that Bailey Dog is supposed to be coming over this weekend. So I ended up on the pet food aisle where I chose two kinds of treats for Bailey. I tossed them in my basket and resumed shopping when it dawned on me: I’d bought treats for Bailey but not Wizard.

Oops.

So I doubled back and bought Wizard some ice cream and some cheesecake treats. (Neither of which I care for, but he loves.)

At dinner that night, I described my decision making process to Wizard.

He stared at me. “Let me see if I understand this correctly, you were compelled to buy me the same amount of treats that you bought a dog?”

“Yep.”

Wizard nodded. “Man I love that dog! I get Neapolitan ice cream and strawberry cheesecake dessert cups! Bailey rules.”

See? I’m NOT the only crazy one in this house.

Here’s our candidate for today:

What do you think, is he worthy?

I’m playing a life and death game of “Can This Book Be Saved?” It’s an awesome game if you:

1) Think stomach acid pain is exciting

2) Believe sleep is for losers when you can lie awake and get some quality worrying time in.

3) Don’t want to have a life. Any life.

4) Think it’s acceptable to go to the store to buy paper plates but come home with paper towels.
I mean they are on the same aisle, right? At least I got close.

All that said, I love this editor. She’s make me dig hard and find the emotional crux of the story, along with the cleanest way to tell the story. This is what an editor is supposed to do, and I’m extremely happy with her work.

Tomorrow we’re having the granite counters put in the kitchen. I’m still a little shocked we’re ding this after years of talking/saving/hoping. I’m not sure how I’ll work through that thought. I’ll probably have to do it on my laptop.  But all this means that today I have to empty out the cupboards and clean out under the sink. In my spare time. Hey! I know I should multi-task and do that while I’m not sleeping

I don’t have a good pictures, so I’ll throw this guy up today because I wish I could sleep like that!

So what do you think?

Today’s The Baby Bargain Blog Tour stop is Page Flippers. Stop by and enter for a chance to win a $50.00 gift card!

So, The Baby Bargain has been out about four weeks now.  When I originally singed with  Entangled Publisher I was cautious and a bit unsure. But now, after three solid weeks in their top ten (the first week out the sales were just building) , I am thrilled with the publisher. I’m very pleased with the editing process (I’m sure mistakes got through–digital is like that for many reasons) but their editing at all the stages including revision, copy edit and proofreading was as rigorous as any I’ve ever been through. My editor not only edits, but answers every question I have and cares as much as I do about the book. So far, I love this publisher  All they work me hard, that’s something I respect (when I’m not griping, LOL).

Then there’s my beloved THE PROPOSITION. It did pretty well for the first of three books in a series. I decided to take a risk and offer it to a reviewer known to be brutally honest.  She read it last night and contacted me today to let me know she really liked it. This, for me was a huge personal validation. The review will be up on her site next week, and I’ll link it then. But you guys have been with me through all this so I just wanted to share.

Now  for our Wednesday Hunk, I went to iStock to use up some credits I had leftover there. It’s a small picture, but what do you think?

Is he hunk worthy?

We’ve gotten two estimates on the two bathrooms.  Yeah…it’s going to be a process.

Then I got up yesterday to find out THE BABY BARGAIN is a B&N bestseller and my publisher, Entangled is doing a special promo. So cool! They are having a contest for a chance to win 5 free Indulgence books! Here is the link, go enter here! It’s really easy.

It’s all so much fun, but a really wild ride.  I’m pretty sure I haven’t processed it all yet except to be very grateful–so many people have helped me. And frankly, a lot of this is pure luck. And I’m also absolutely thrilled.

So onto our candidate! I couldn’t find any really good candidates at Bigstock. I think I’ve drained them So this is the guy for today:

So what do you think?

Is it hot in here?

So what do you think? Is he Wing Slayer Worthy?

Okay, someone needs to buy the Hostess/Wonder Bread Brand and immediately begin producing Home Pride Bread again.  Because Wizard is NOT HAPPY. I have gone through the entire selection of breads at the grocery store, and nothing is up to Wizard’s standards.

Which means *I* have to hear about his displeasure. Every Single Day.  Even his beloved helicopter isn’t distracting him anymore. I’m running out of ideas here

Okay, enough about our Bread Trauma. Lets move on…

I waited until too late last night to look for a candidate, sorry! I worked until eight last night doing one last read of THE PROPOSITION.  But here’s the guy I found on Bigstock, and it’s up to you to decide if he’s worthy!

So what do you think?