WE HAVE A WINNER!!! Congratulations Kim W!

Sometimes ideas will pop into my head and all the reality around them gets magically deleted in favor of the super-awesome random idea.


'Wouldn't it be neat if I used Basement Cat to choose the winner of the blog hop?'


Yeah, maybe. But like I said, there's some reality around that thought I ignored.


Reality like I have never made a video before.

Basement Cat has never done what I wanted in a timely fashion.

This camera is as nearly as complicated as the Space Shuttle's control panel.


BUT I DIDN'T LET IT STOP ME. After some sweary, sweary words, I made this.

Let this be a lesson to you. With profanity and determination anything can be accomplished.

Someday, I will evolve enough to add music and also make the camera not auto-focus at critical moments.

Because it's important to have goals.

And so we come to The End

Of the Winter's Risk blog hop! Not the end of everything. The pinnacle post is over at Grace Duncan's delightful corner of the interwebz.

I'm speculating about the proper meaning of perspective and the possibility of using Basement Cat as a random number generator to decide the winner of the book. Using a cat? To do something important? How could that possibly work?

Upon further reflection, my perspective in this matter was slightly skewed. The drawing has been delayed a few days, but no worries, the winner (barring more sudden attacks of the creeping crud or techno!fail on my part) should be announced tomorrow.

With a video.

Of a cat.

Using his catly wiles to choose the lucky winner.

If he refuses (although, with pepperoni as a bribe I don't think he will) then I'll draw the winner myself. Either way, there will be a winner announced.

It will be Catnificent.

Ink Splatters and Imagination Patterns

Like a Rorschach test, a blob of imagination smeared all over the page could be whatever you want it to be. Anything. Scientifically speaking, the quantum possibilities are endless.

Perhaps it's...Schrödinger's Imagination! 

A book with a bear paw on the cover could be suspense OR mystery...and you have to open it to find out. A book with an injured man in the wilderness could be a thriller, OR an action/adventure, and maybe even have a healthy dabble of romance swirled around on top. You might hope you know what's going on between those sexy covers, but you don't actually know until you peek for yourself.

The indomitable Anne Barwell graciously invited me over to her cozy corner of the web, Drops of Ink, to discuss Winter's Risk, the zombocalypse, and the magic of how someone who has always lived where it's roughly the same surface temperature as the sun can write about snowstorms.

Imagination is a fascinating thing.

What do you imagine when you see this cover?

What is the scientifically proven ideal number of men?

Obviously, it's more than one. Two Men Are Better Than One is the sixth law of Archimedes.

Or was it the ninth?

Hadrian sees what I did there.

Hadrian would approve. As a Roman emperor, he knew all about conflict. He was the original advocate for the 'Good Fences Make Good Neighbors' school of philosophy.

I blogged about a much smaller conflict-two guys with opposing world views-and illustrated the post with a picture of a micro-conflict I risked my life to take. Really, I did. You wouldn't believe how close I had to get before the camera would focus.

So rumble on over and get a little adrenaline rush yourself. There might even be a free ebook in your future if you comment on my appalling lack of personal safety skills. Or the book. Whatever floats your boat. Puts a little zip in your stinger. Adds a little buzz to your bee.

Did I mention I'm deathly allergic to hornets?

Love Bytes <--Plot twist! Not a Vampyre blog!

Sometimes things aren't what they seem. Love Bytes is a gigantic review site and I, because I am a lucky little writer-chick, was allowed to ramble on about the pros and cons of Inside versus Outside.

The Inside world has A/C, comfy sofas, wifi, hot and cold running water and also tea, indoor plumbing, television, solid walls which keep the creepy-crawlies out- why would anyone go outside? Really?

I have found many things in my house, but a centipede as long as my foot has never turned up.

So why does the Outside world even get a mention? Why do so many people (including myself) drag ourselves out into the hot, sunlight-infested, creature-ridden, not-paved, no-bars outside? For fun?

It's good for the soul to see farther than four walls once in a while. Maybe that's why.

Regular Guys AND Hot Romance?

Yes, please! How could anyone say no to that?

Charley Descoteaux invited me over to blather about my regular guys and their hot romance sparked off by trying not to die in the wilderness. Motivation, they haz it. Due to wifi not being a naturally occurring phenomena, this particular post is late, but wilderness survival tips and tricks never go out of style. Getting lost and getting found again is kind of a specialty of mine.

Know how to use sticks and rocks to find north? Would you like to? How about building a campfire without lighter fluid? It's easy, I'll teach you how.

If you ever venture out beyond the paved jungles of civilization to the creepy-crawlie infested Outside World, it's worth a look. Or two. Also I'm giving away a book! Basically, it's a good deal all the way around.

Not like what I discovered last weekend.

YES that is a BLACK WIDOW fighting with a RED HORNET three steps outside the front door. It was enough to make anyone swear off the scenic countryside.

I don't even have to go very far to find nature that can kill me. Yay me. Here, have a happy picture.

Mr. Buffalo would rather nap than gore me to death. Go buffalo!

A Group of Hats is Called a Party!

A group of crows is called a murder.

A group of vampires is called a kiss.

A group of ferrets is called a business.

Really, it makes perfect sense for a group of hats to be a party! Not any random party either, I'm referring to a very specific party hosted by the classy Raine O'Tierney!

We discussed my coping methods when favorite tv shows are cancelled, some of my ferret-like tendencies when writing, and the best smell in the world, books!

Speaking of books, I'm giving a book away. If you would like to enter, just read and comment on the interview. A potentially free book on your ereaders is better than...almost anything, really. So scoot on over and see what is going on at the Hat Party. :D

My neato, super-warm hat was acquired on a vacation to the Manitoba Cliff Dwellings, a short drive from Colorado Springs. If you're ever in the area, it's worth the trip.