Food For Thought...

"If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of persistence."

Richard DeVos
Co-Founder of Amway


Have a fantastic day!!

Peace and love,
Alannah

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Have a wonderful, safe and happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Peace and love,
Alannah

Food For Thought...

"The most wonderful gift one human being can give to another, is in some way, to make that person's life a little bit better to live."

John Assaraf
Author and Speaker

I loved this!! And I hope, in some small way, I make each of your lives a little better. You certainly make mine better!!!!

Thank you!
Peace and love,
Alannah

What I'm Reading...

I'm not reading anything right now, I'm too busy writing!! LOL I'm saving up, and plan to do a ton of reading over Thanksgiving.

What about you? What are you reading?

I hope it's a fantastic weekend for everyone!!!
Peace and love,
Alannah

Shrimp and Grits

Thursdays seem to be "whatever" for me here, today I'm going to go back to something I used to do and post a recipe. I had a craving for shrimp and grits last night, and I happen to have a simple recipe. Since I don't especially enjoy cooking, I enlisted "G"'s help and realized something - it's a whole lot more fun to cook when you have someone to do it with you. :)

This recipe is so easy, but it tastes sooooo good!!!

3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Frank's Red Hot or Texas Pete
1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined large shrimp
Spicy hot sausage (I used 3 large pieces)
3 strips of bacon
1/2 cup bell pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 Cup chicken broth
1 bunch green onions
1 Tablespoon jalapeno slices

1 1/2 Cup quick cooking grits
butter and salt to season

Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1. Combine lemon juice, hot sauce and shrimp - set aside.

2. Cook sausage and bacon in skillet. Once cooked, add bell pepper and garlic to skillet, cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in shrimp mixture, broth, and half the green onions and jalapenos. Cook until shrimp is thoroughly cooked.

3. Cook grits according to directions.

Pour shrimp mixture over grits, sprinkle with grits and remaining green onions and EAT UP!!!

Hope you enjoy and have a fantastic Thursday!!!

Peace and love,
Alannah

Hump Day Giggle...

"WHERE is my SUNDAY paper?!" The irate customer calling the newspaper office, loudly demanded to know where her Sunday edition was.

"Madam", said the newspaper employee, "today is Saturday. The Sunday paper is not delivered until tomorrow, on SUNDAY".

There was quite a long pause on the other end of the phone, followed by a ray of recognition as she was heard to mutter,

"Well, shit, that explains why no one was at church today."


Have a happy hump day!!!
Peace and love,
Alannah

Food For Thought...

"I must have decided wrongly because I am not at peace, but I can choose again." ~ A Course in Miracles

This showed up in my e-mail in box last night and it was so appropriate to where I am right now, I had to share it with everyone.

Hope it's a great Tuesday for everyone!!

Sending you much peace and love!
Alannah

What I'm About to Read

Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter Series

I've been avoiding this, because the last thing I need is to get hooked on another series. But, Tricia "Pickyme" Schmitt has gotten me hooked with her character portraits (and I haven't even read the first book!). I'm finally caving in and going to start with this series.

Have you read it? Which is the first book? The website was a little confusing when I went to the reading order (there were boxed sets and related books, and I just want to make sure I start with the first one).

Have a fantastic weekend!!!
Peace and love,
Alannah

Round 2 of Writing With the Stars Competition

In case you haven't heard, I have some really great news!! I've made it on to the 2nd round of the Writing With the Stars Competition!!!!

Our second challenge was to write a character description for our hero and heroine, no more than 150 words! :0 Do you know how hard that is? LOL

Here's my description, as well as my mentor's comments, and the comments of the 2nd round judge:

HERO: Gavin McLeod has spent the past 12 years climbing the corporate ladder of Holden Enterprises, positioning himself to become the next CEO. While the climb has netted him financial wealth, allowing him to provide for the grandfather who raised him, Gavin realizes it's also left him on the brink of ethical bankruptcy. He's torn between family obligations, a boss he views as a father-figure, salvaging his self-respect and the woman who's starting to mean everything.

HEROINE: Sunny Black is a hard-working woman whose inner light and capacity to love touches everyone. She was forced to adopt a never-give-up attitude at 10 when her mother took off and Sunny took on the care-taking of her 1-year-old brother. Once again, she's forced to dig deep and find that inner strength as she fights to save her business and falls in love with a man she's not sure she can trust.

Mentor HelenKay Dimon: She worked really hard revising these descriptions to emphasize the characters' internal and external struggles and focus on who they are rather than just the plot points. She wanted them to be multifaceted and did a good job of portraying that. Fitting the important information in such few words was a challenge, but she kept editing until she got it!

Miriam's comments: These descriptions are very clear and I like the way they are put into a natural state of conflict. The only thing we could get a little bit more of is what actually attracts them to each other, but it's a minor quibble, this is a very solid description.


The judge's comments were kind and encouraging and I wish I could take all the credit. But that would be ridiculous!!! HelenKay Dimon is an incredible mentor and I am soooo blessed to have been paired up with her.

If you haven't already, please drop by RTBookReviews.com and exercise your right to vote. :)

I also want to send a special salute to all the veterans. This includes Silver and Paula!! Special hugs to both of you!

Have a great day!!
Peace and love,
Alannah

Your Duck is Dead

A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest.

After a moment or two, the vet shook his head and sadly said, "I'm sorry, your duck, Cuddles, has passed away."

The distressed woman wailed, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure. Your duck is dead," replied the vet..

"How can you be so sure?" she protested. "I mean you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something."

The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room. He returned a few minutes later with a black Labrador Retriever. As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head. The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room.

A few minutes later he returned with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also delicately sniffed the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of the room.

The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck."

The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman. The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "$150!" she cried, "$150 just to tell me my duck is dead!"

The vet shrugged, "I'm sorry. If you had just taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now $150."

*snort*

Have a great hump day!!!
Peace and love,
Alannah

Food For Thought...

"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome."

Samuel Johnson
1709-1784, Essayist, Biographer and Poet

Peace and love,
Alannah

What I'm Reading...

Seeing as how I'm a HUGE Evanovich fan, I'm very proud of myself for holding off for almost 2 months before I got this book. LOL I've just started it, but so far, so good!

Here's the cover and deets from her website:


Seven Stones of Power. No one knows when they were created or by whom, each said to represent one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

For centuries, treasure hunters have been eager to possess the stones, undeterred by their corrupting nature. The list is long -- Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, to name a few. Now the Stones have found their way to Salem, Massachusetts, and so has Gerwulf Grimoire, adding himself to this rogues' gallery of power seekers. He's an uncommonly dangerous man, with a hunger for the forbidden, and a set of abilities that are way beyond ordinary. Abilities that he feels entitle him to possess anything he might desire.

That would include Elizabeth Tucker, the woman he needs to find the Stones. She's freshly transplanted from New York City to Boston's North Shore. With a new job as pastry chef at Dazzle's bakery and an old house inherited from her Aunt Ophelia, her life is pretty much on track …until it's suddenly derailed by a guy named Diesel, a rude monkey, and a ninja cat.

Lizzy can handle the monkey and the cat. She's not sure about Diesel. He's offering up his own set of unusual talents, promising to protect her from Grimoire. The kind of protection that Lizzy suspects might involve guarding her body day and night.

The Seven Deadly Sins are pride, greed, lust, envy wrath, sloth and gluttony. That pretty much covers everything that is wicked. Diesel thinks it also pretty much covers everything that's fun. And Lizzy thinks Diesel and the Seven Deadly Sins cover everything her mother warned her about.

I hope it's a fantastic weekend for everyone!! I'll be writing, making sure I keep up with my NaNo goals. If anyone wants to do timed writings, hit me up on FB or send me an e-mail and we'll figure out a way to get together and write.

Peace and love,
Alannah

Superman's Sidekick

Isn't it funny how one thing leads to another leads to another? Franny Armstrong was doing an October writing contest, in which the winner would receive "a package of goodies as well as a glossy, 8x10 image of Jimmy Thomas on the cover of Extrasensory Elements Series Book 1-Author's Demise autographed by Jimmy AND Franny!"

Well...being the Jimmy fan that I am, I had to enter this contest! LOL

Below is the story that I entered.

Superman’s Sidekick


“Seriously?” I grumbled, crawling into the passenger seat of my partner, Jimmy’s, red vet. “This is your idea of a comfortable ride? Seven hours of this, I’ll feel like I rode a jack-hammer to Tucson.”

Jimmy grinned and winked.

“I know,” I said, buckling up. “It’s all in how she’s handled.” We’d only been partners a few months, but I’d already learned there was nothing Jimmy couldn’t…handle.

I used to want to be Wonder Woman. Mostly, I’d wanted big boobs, a tiny waist and an invisible plane. But I’d also liked the idea of saving the world. Unfortunately, I hadn’t gotten Wonder Woman’s equipment, and I hadn’t saved the world.

At least not on my own.

Instead, I was Superman’s side-kick, working Security Expert Detail (SExD) for foreign dignitaries. I was pretty sure Jimmy wasn’t really Superman. I suspected some of his abilities had been overstated, and I’d never seen the cape and tights. But he still made a kick-ass partner who had, on occasion, saved the day.

His chocolate gaze turned soft and gooey, and he leaned toward me. “What’s on the plate?” He lifted the foil from my No-Pudge Fudge Brownies, and the fresh baked smell permeated the car’s small interior.

“Fuel,” I said, snatching the plate away. “My fuel. I know you can rock all night. But we mere mortals… sometimes…need an extra boost.”

Jimmy smiled and settled back into his seat. “They’ll be mine before we hit Riverside.”

Yeah, probably. He always got what he wanted.

All of the entries were sent to Franny, who then forwarded them on to Jimmy without names. Even though he didn't KNOW who wrote each story, when he read Superman's Sidekick, he told Franny it had to be mine.

Ahh...that elusive "voice" that I've struggled so hard to find with my current wip!

As a result of that contest, the fun that I had writing that story, and the positive feedback I received on it, I've scrapped the entire manuscript that I've struggld with for the past 18 months.

I'm now using NaNo to re-write my current story in the same first person voice I used on this short story.

Wish me luck! I think I'm gonna need it!! :)

Happy Thursday - only 1 more get-up this week!!
Peace and love,
Alannah

I was somewhere around Wytheville, VA yesterday when I realized I hadn't scheduled a blog post for Tuesday. Hopefully this hump day humor will make up for my slackness.


A 54 year old woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital.

While on the operating table she had a near death experience. Seeing God, she asked, "Is my time up?"

God said, "No, you have another 43 years, 2 months and 8 days to live."

Upon recovery, the woman decided to stay in the hospital and have a face-lift, liposuction, breast implants and a tummy tuck.

She even had someone come in and change her hair colour and brighten her teeth! Since she had so much more time to live, she figured she might as well make the most of it.

After her last operation, she was released from the hospital. While crossing the street on her way home, she was killed by an ambulance.

Arriving in front of God, she demanded, "I thought you said I had another 43 years? Why didn't you pull me from out of the path of the ambulance?"

(You'll love this)

God replied: "Hell! I didn't recognize you."

Happy Hump Day!!

Peace and love,
Alannah