Marilyn Brant's Blog, page 27

It's really cold and snowy over here. In my attempt at adjusting to winter (#fail), I just can't seem to get over this very simple fact: I like warm temperatures. Not hot, humid and hair-frizzing temps, but warm. And today...wasn't that.

In other news, a winner was chosen on Christmas Day for the big Super Secret Santa Giveaway on the 007's Nobody Writes It Better blog (although my contest here still runs until the noon on the 31st!). I am, however, the blogger of the day with the 007 gang, so...

It's the Shortest Day of the Year and, in keeping with that, I'll try to make this my Shortest Post of 2009 (or at least shorter than usual :).

A few fun things:

On the blog I share with my fellow 2007 Golden Heart Finalists, we're having a 007 Super Secret Santa Giveaway--and there are a TON of prizes! You must enter by 12/24 (winner will be announced on Christmas Day), but you can win books, handmade jewelry, a Peruvian knapsack and more!

My December contest is still ongoing. Anyone who comme...

Happy Friday! And, for those of us with children, Welcome to Winter Break ;-). Here in Chicagoland, it's snowing. Again. However, the holiday season is upon us and, in an attempt to be annoyingly merry, I will not rant about my hatred of shoveling. (Right now.) I will, instead, recount the wonderful time I had with the lovely ladies of the JASNA-Wisconsin chapter last weekend in Menomonee Falls. Several dressed up in beautiful Regency costumes for the occasion--the celebration of Jane Austen'...

Some breaking contest news: The wonderful Ann Victor is hosting a contest on her blog--check it out here! You could win some very cool prizes from South Africa!!

I'm also hosting a December contest--see my two previous posts for details--so you can win, win, win just by leaving a comment on one of my posts this month.

And, today, in honor of Jane Austen's 234th birthday (!!), I'm guest blogging on two fabulous sites: I'll be at Single Titles, sharing some info about the ongoing celebration of o...

To brighten our Friday, here's a report based on the latest research on chocolate from the RealAge/YOU Docs (Drs. Oz and Rozen of Oprah fame). In case anyone was in doubt, dark chocolate is good for you. LOL! Good thing, 'cause I'm eating it regardless (along with its less healthy cousins: milk and white). However, it's heartening to know these findings:

Chocolate has all but been elevated to superfood status. And the good news keeps rolling in. So here are three more reasons why you may not ...

Because we've had blizzarding conditions across the Midwest over the past couple of days, I've had a chance to take a look at WAY more snow than I typically enjoy seeing. Of course, while I'm less than delighted by the notion of shoveling our driveway again (and again!), viewing a snowflake up close--isolated from its 127 million dearest friends in our front yard--is really a beautiful thing.

The picture on the left (micro-photographed by artgeek) is of a snowflake viewed through an optical m...

Because I'm freakishly devoted to punctuality, it made me laugh that it was actually a Thursday at Two when I found out (thanks to my very cool brother) that my 2nd women's fiction book, Fridays at Nine, had its own Amazon page. Better to be early than late, right? Last year, when I first saw the site on Amazon for According to Jane, I got overexcited and did embarrassing stuff like squeal and memorize the ISBN number. I'm SO much calmer and more professional now. (I only jumped around my off...

[L to R: Michelle, Kristi, Dina, Me, Evelyn, Brenda and Jeanne--who suggested my book to the club and sent me this picture, too--thanks! Gayle was also there but had to leave early.]

After having spent the month of November visiting five truly wonderful book clubs, I've concluded that it would be unbelievably hard for an author not to LOVE the experience. I mean, you go to it, and awaiting you are a bunch of people gathered together who have (A) read your book, (B) invited you to visit with th...

For the last GCC tour of 2009, I have the pleasure of hosting Wendy Nelson Tokunaga, whose latest book from St. Martin's, LOVE IN TRANSLATION, just came out last week. Wendy is also the author of MIDORI BY MOONLIGHT, which the San Francisco Chronicle called a "terrific first novel." Now she's back with her second book, again exploring the themes of Japan and Japanese culture and being a stranger in a strange land, which have played a major role in her life and writing.

Welcome, Wendy!

Can you t...

I was thrilled when the very kind Edie Ramer invited me to visit her and the gang at Magical Musings today!! What an AWESOME group of writers over there! Thanks so much, Edie, for the invitation, and thanks to Michelle Diener, Liz Kreger and LaDonna Paulette, too, for welcoming me. I'm blogging about my Cornucopia of Publishing Irritations/Blessings, aka, "Really Annoying Things about the Publishing Industry that I'm Oddly Thankful For..." Please stop by here, if you have a chance, and say he...