"Henry, What Are You DOING?"

Currently Reading: The Lord God Made Them All by James Herriott. I LOVE his humorous tales of his experiences as a country vet! The last two weeks, I've also indulged myself, reading nostalgic '1st Love' teenage books from the 1980's. And I had also found a copy of Beverly Cleary's The Luckiest Girl, which I devoured when I was 13! I also read Robin Cook's Andromeda Strain.

E-book: I'm up to chapter 4 on Brynn's Blood Bought:)


Did anyone else see this?

A lion in Las Vegas attacked his trainer at the MGM venue. And a Montana couple on their honeymoon captured it on video.

The first time I saw it, I was focused on the trainer and the male lion. But as I watched subsequent clips, I noticed the lioness, following her mate around the pen, and even 'grabbing' his hindquarters. And as the trainer moved to safety, the male walked around, the female right behind him, and my imagination went into overdrive.

"What are you DOING? You don't bite the leg of the man who feeds us! Where are you manners? And in front of everyone too."

"I'm the King of Beasts and I didn't like the way he looked at me."

"Settle down and take five. Do you need a time out?"

"Hey, there's a video camera! Maybe we'll make the news..."

"Remember the tiger...remember the tiger....next thing you know, PETA will want to ship you back to Africa, or some other place. Or worse, have you put down! You can't do this; I'll never see you again! You'd better be on your best behavior from now on."

Exciting News!
My daughter received an invitation to apply for the Indiana Academy, where only 300 students from around the state are selected each year. They focus on honor subjects in science, math, and humanities, with free tuition and laptops if chosen. The downside is, if she's chosen, she will spend her Junior and Senior years on the Ball State campus, and be three hours away from Mom and Dad. She went ahead and signed us up for Preview Day, where she'll also take her SAT's in the afternoon. Fortunately, I graduated from BSU, so I'm eager to see the campus again and do some reminiscing while we're there.

Last year's yearbooks arrived, and I've spotted K in a few photos other than just his Sr. Picture and two team photos. He'll have to wait until next month before he sees it.

Today is Picture Day for W; he insisted on wearing his blue and green 'Transformers' T-shirt. Since I pushed him to look nice last year, I guess I can tolerate letting him choose this year.

My dental appointment was bumped to yesterday, and I got two tiny cavities filled. The first one was painless, but I had to have him shoot some more Novacaine in me on the second one; I felt the drill. The rest went smoothly, and he promised to bring his kids out for the Grand Opening of the bookstore this weekend:)

And now a treat: One of my fellow XOXO authors has a new release due out soon. Please welcome Kristal McKerrington:)

The Highlander With The Ink

Blurb

'In a town that was small and full of hot headed Highlanders there is a nurse who has a tattoo that is about to change her life. Nancy was a nurse who had recently graduated from the Nursing Program who decides to take a year off for herself after her father dies leaving her very well off. What Nancy finds in Immortal Thor is going to turn her world upside down as he is looking for a wife and she just happens to be the perfect fit.'

Excerpt:

Even though she had never drunk in her life, she took a flute full of a liquid. Nancy saw a male come down the stairs who stole the breath right out of her chest. He was wearing tight black jeans that had bleached claw-like marks across the front pockets and they were so tight Nancy wondered how he could even stay in them. He was wearing a black silk shirt with an interesting symbol in gold embroidery where his heart would sit.

The symbol was of a hammer upside down and it had what looked to her like detailed tribal lines through it and around it. He had the same leather cowboy hat on that she did and he was wearing boots with silver shining metal that was wrapped all around the boot only leaving some black leather to show through.

Looking around, Nancy saw that everyone had stopped dead still and were staring up at him with huge, wide eyes. This stranger had black hair that reached down to his hips which he had tied up in a full length pelt tied off with a piece of black leather. That man was completely stunning in the way he moved down the stairs, and even the clinking of his feet against the wood made Nancy's heart feel as if it were up in her throat. The more she tried to tell herself she was being silly the more she got caught up in the image of this man.

“Thank you all for joining me here today and I think we will start the proceedings, now that Nancy is here; who is our dear friend’s only remaining daughter.” The male’s strong voice revealed very heavy and hard words for Nancy to swallow back as she raised her eyes to meet the cool black ones that had very cold blue centres.

Nancy felt herself shiver under the weight of his eyes as she made her way towards him, trying to force her lungs to breathe air in that, if she were honest, didn't seem to want to.

“We know this is a great deal for you to deal with Nancy, as you never knew your father. However, I can tell you that this is because he wished to protect you.” The male’s voice spoke softly, as if he were trying to charm her.

“Protect me from what?” Nancy blurted out, tightened her fingers around the rim of her bag, as she began to shake with a mixture of emotions that felt like it was going to topple her. This man was telling her that her absent father had been trying to protect her from something, yet she didn't understand what it was that he was meant to have protected her from. She had already lost all her family, and she was more alone than ever and her mind was unable to get control over itself.

(To be part of the Tattoo Anthology, coming soon from XOXO Publishing)