It’s been a busy couple weeks of writing. Can I just point you around to some articles and things I’ve written elsewhere? I promise I’ll be recharged and back here again soon. …

On Monday, my article about Denise Austin published at Lifescript: 12 Minutes to a Better Body. She was very nice and a really fun interview. Of course, the whole time I was interviewing her I was looking at her picture on the cover of her book and saying to myself, My Lord, she’s 52 years old???? It made me feel really, really bad for looking so out of shape when I’m a full 10 years younger than her. I mean, it’s easy to ignore that kind of feeling when you’re interviewing a 20-something fit queen, because you think, “Well, sheesh, she’s 23! Of course she looks great!” But when the maven is 52, and manages to look like that, and is a mother of teens, and a working mother at that, well … Let’s just say I’m reading her 12-minute workout book cover to cover now!

Then Friday, my article about Eric S. Lee published at Lifescript: 5 Seductive Recipes for Couples. This one had a lot of great working titles, like “Steam in the Kitchen” and “Seduction in the Kitchen” — you get the idea! Eric was really fun to interview, and he’s got a great hook here. His hook is that women are totally turned on by a man who cooks. I believe every word of that. His book is hilarious. He talks about how one woman said she’d be “thrilled out of her pants” for a homecooked meal, so Eric knew he had a smart thing going! (I didn’t put that part in my article.) Anyway, this entire premise is, I think, going to be the hook for my next romance novel because — aside from being sexy — having a man in the kitchen is also very, very romantic. There’s a total caregiving aspect going on there that women really crave. …

Okay, then Friday also is my blogging day at Health Bistro, so I wrote more about men cooking and linked it to the Eric story, but I also told the whole tale of my son Ricky cooking for his girlfriend the first time. … I thought it was pretty cute.

Then Saturday, we needed a Valentine’s Day post for Health Bistro, so I wrote one of those, too, called “Not Who, but WHAT, Do You Love This Valentine’s Day”  and was inspired by the … well … let me just say bitter … response we got on our Fan Page about what people were doing for Val Day. Apparently, everyone hates it! And the single people seem to hate it even more! But I thought, gee, there are so many people and things we can show love for, not just “honeys,” so I wrote it feeling a little tongue-in-cheek. I asked if you could send cards to things like your Honda or your favorite blanket, what would you claim your undying love for? Mostly, I liked it because it made me think of gratitude, and I wanted people to recognize their gratitude even on a day they might otherwise feel some bitterness.

Then Monday, my post for President’s Day will go up! Whew! I wrote a whole quiz and everything about fun facts about the presidents for Health Bistro.

Plus, I launched my new web site! I did that Thursday night. (But I only have one post so far and want to play around with it.) I’ll give you the “sneak preview” link, but pleeeeeeease don’t pass the link along yet, and please excuse the dust. I obviously have a lot of fixin’ to do! It’s http://thingstodoorangecounty.net/ . I’m not at all crazy about that first picture, so fixing pictures is part of my plan. Also I need a pretty header, some stuff in the sidebar, etc., etc. … I’ll be stomping through some dust there there for awhile. Let’s keep it to ourselves until I’m ready to launch officially. We’ll have a launch party over here! 🙂

Now today (Saturday) I’m up early to start working on fiction. I’m critiquing Patti’s fun historical novel, and editing bits of my own here and there. …

Hope you enjoy some of the articles!