My first Review for A COWBOY'S DREAM

I've recieved my first review for A COWBOY'S DREAM, coming out on Wednesday, December 17th. Between the Lines posted the following:

Ms Lanier, has delivered a heartwarming, yet sexy story about how love can be so close and you may not even know it. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. A great Christmas read with fantastic lead characters.

Who wouldn’t love a cowboy in their life and one that plays baseball and reads romance novels is all the better.

Reviewed by Sandie Hudson
WRDF Review

http://blog.lyndacoker.net/2008/12/14/wrdf-review-of-a-cowboys-dream-by-anna-kathryn-lanier.aspx

~Anna Kathryn Lanier
www.aklanier.com

Contest on my Website - Win a $15 Gift Certificate

As usual, I'm holding a monthly contest on my website. Just go to my home page, scroll down to the bottom of the page for the link to my guestbook. (At this moment....either my computer, the net or Tripod is not cooperating and letting me change my Contest Page information...thus the November question is still up on my Contest Page...but I was able to change my guestbook page....go figure).



Anyway, sign in on my guestbook, and tell me the name of your favorite Christmas/holiday carol and you'll be eligible for the drawing for a $15 gift certificate from my publisher The Wild Rose Press. I'll draw for the prize on or about January 1st.



Anna Kathryn

http://www.aklanier.com/

Wednesday's Chow - Hot Buttered Rum & A Cowboy's Dream Contest

1 lb real sweet butter (unsalted)
1/2 box brown sugar
1 box powdered sugar
1 quart high quality soft vanilla ice cream
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Melt butter and mix w/ sugars, add spices, ice cream. Keep in freezer. Consistency should be soft.

To serve: Measure good quality Rum into a mug. Place 1 heaping Tbsp batter into mug. Add hot water to top. Sprinkle nutmeg on top. ENJOY!
Great for warming up during the holidays!




Check out A COWBOY'S DREAM - coming on December 17th through The Wild Rose Press. Leah hosts an annual Christmas Eve party....and though I think I have her serving cider in the story, Hot Butter Rum would be a good substitute for that recipe. Will pro baseball player Marcus go for the grand slam of his life and crash Leah's annual Christmas Eve party in hopes of convincing her she’s this Cowboy’s Dream? Or will he let his past pitch him a strike out instead?

http://www.thewildrosepress.com/

Leave a comment about your favorite holiday drink and you could win a 2009 TEXAS Calendar and a copy of A Cowboy's Dream when it comes out next week!

~Anna Kathryn
http://www.aklanier.com/

Michele Hart blogs: Hooray! Song of the Muses is out!

What an exciting time for the muse authors of Song of the Muses. All 3 novella anthology paperback books are out, and I’ve had a great time reading all the stories. The Wild Rose Press rocked and treated us wonderfully.

Fans of Greek Myth! Don't miss this anthology! Writing, Tragedy, Music! Astronomy, Erotic Love, Dance! History, Comedy, Glorious Praise! Read the stories of the muses who inspire you!
Follow the links in this blog entry.

Talkin' Shop
It’s been a pleasure being a part of this big anthology project. I've never written anything as short as a novella, so it was a challenge, indeed. I’ve become close friends with several of the muse writers, and we call one another “sis” after the 9 muse sisters of Greek myth for whom we write. That felt good and uniting. You’ll just love the stories that came from the collaboration. I wrote the story for Thalia, the Muse of Comedy, No Funny Stuff!, nestled in the middle of Book III along with Alisha Paige (A Love Beyond Time)and Valerie Everhart (The Victory of Lugh). I’m particularly lucky my story was placed between two great writers.

Writing, Writing, Writing. Blogs are always filled with advice for new writers and published authors, and that’s important. Take all the good advice. Instead of dishing out good advice, I’d rather share something that was passed onto me and I'm still learning. Here are two positive Nevers.

Parts of being an author just plain stink. Submissions, synopses, rejections, and book trailers. Just keeping up with promotions and e-mail fills my day much of the week. (Can I hear an amen from my published sisters?) Finely tune your perseverance, the power to go on writing, no matter what obstacles or opinions lay in the way. It's so easy to get stuck in the business of writing that you're taken away from writing. Never forget the pride of publishing overcomes all the difficulties.

And then, never take it all too seriously. : - )
(Thalia gave me that last Never.)

Happy Holidays,
Michele Hart
~Walk Another World~
http://www.MicheleHart.com/
http://www.ILoveShapeShifters.com/
LOOKS ARE DECEIVING –Siren Publishing
NO FUNNY STUFF!-The Wild Rose Press
SONG OF THE MUSES BOOK III-The Wild Rose Press

Okay, here’s my commercial. You know it’s against the law not to do this.

-BEGINNING OF COMMERCIAL –

Links Galore! No Funny Stuff! hit The Wild Rose Press’s Bestsellers List and stayed there for 2 months.

For No Funny Stuff! -
Here’s a super review, 5 out of 5 tombstones, from Bitten By Books. Please stop by and give it a quick read.

http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=1210#comments

For a mere $3, you can buy my novella No Funny Stuff! and a lot of laughs in e-book right here:
Buy Link:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=925

For you passionate lovers of Greek mythology:
Song of the Muses Anthology in Paperbacks!

Book I: stories for The Muses of Writing, Tragedy, and Music:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=document_product_info&products_id=1047

Book II: tales of the Muses of Astronomy, Erotic Love, and Dance:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=document_product_info&products_id=1046

Book III: stories for the Muses of History, Comedy, and Glorious Praise:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=document_product_info&products_id=1077

- END OF COMMERCIAL –

Happy Day to All!

December 8th to the 14th -- Come one, Come all to a special Christmas Book giveaway event. Make sure to pop in everyday for a chance to win. There will be lots going on everyday--all day long.

White Christmas Book Jubilee
14 Authors ~ 14 Holiday Book Giveaways
December 8th to December 14th
Free Books, Holiday Recipes, and Excerpts to warm you to the tips of your toes
Don’t miss the celebration!
http://cindykgreen.blogspot.com/dykgreen.blogspot.com/


Schedule:
Monday, December 8th – Rose Ross Zediker & Jan Scarbrough
Tuesday, December 9th – Pamela Thibodeaux & Linda Swift
Wednesday, December 10th – Cindy K. Green & Sarita Leone
Thursday, December 11th – Kara Lynn Russell & Anna Kathryn Lanier
Friday, December 12th – Marianne Arkins & Stacey Joy Netzel
Saturday, December 13th – Nan Jacobs & Teri Wilson
Sunday, December 14th – Stacy Dawn & Carla Rossi

Christmas Carol Blog Train - 23+ Prizes

Here's your chance to win a $75 gift certificate, plus one of 25+ other prizes. Just follow the blog train each day to its new stop.....discover the song of the day and keep track of them. On December 24th, you'll learn where to send your song titles to so you'll be eligible to win the $75 The Wild Rose Press Gift certificate. In additional, posting a comment on the daily blog will make you eligible for daily prizes! Here's a list of where to start. They've already held their daily drawing, but checking out their blogs and discovering their song will get you in the running for the the $75 G.C. Good luck and have fun!

Nov 29 http://plparker.blogspot.com/
Nov 30 http://lynnreynolds.blogspot.com/
Dec 1 WRP at http://thewildrosepress.blogspot.com/ **
Dec 2 http://michelehart.blogspot.com/
Dec 3 2 today!-- http://www.freewebs.com/teriwilson/terisblog.htm http://www.elainepcantrell.blogspot.com/
Dec 4 Roni Adams at http://thewildrosepress.blogspot.com/ **


**There are TWO different posts at The Wild Rose Press, one on the Dec.1 and one on Dec. 4th. So be sure to look for both of them.

And for the record....I blog on the 18th of December!

Anna Kathryn
www.aklanier.com

The Friday Record - December 6th - The Feast of St. Nicholas*

*Also know as Little Christmas

I first learned of Little Christmas in 1978, when I was an exchange student in Finland. My host family celebrated it with a party and the exchange of small gifts. December 6th is the Feast Day of the Roman Catholic Saint Nicholas, a fourth century bishop of the city of Myra in what is now Turkey. He is one of those the legend of Santa Claus is based on.

According to the website Women For Faith and Family “Saint Nicholas was renowned for his great kindness and his generous aid to those in distress. Among the kind and miraculous acts attributed to him are saving three young girls from prostitution by secretly providing them with dowries, raising three murdered boys from the dead, and saving sailors caught in stormy seas. For these reasons, he is considered the patron saint of children, unmarried girls, and sailors, among others.”(1)

But it is wrong to assume that he is the legend of Santa Claus. He is one of many, including the pre-Christian Scandinavian legend of Odin, who rode throughout the world in winter on his eight-footed horse, Sleipnir, giving out gifts or punishments. (2) Other legends include Knecht Ruprecht, Sinterklass and Father Christmas.

The custom of hanging stockings also derives from these legends. Dutch children would put out their wooden shoes for Sinterklass to leave them goodies – apples, candies, cookies and sometimes money to represent the dowries of the three young girls whose dowries St. Nicholas paid. Of course, those who were bad received coal or switches instead.

All of this information is in no way to say that there is no Santa Claus. There is always truth in every myth Besides,the Feast of St. Nicholas a wonderful way to celebrate the coming holiday season, but I think we sometimes forget the reason behind the celebration. People get upset thinking Santa Claus has taken over the holiday, but the truth is, he is part of the holiday and we should embrace that. Just as The Sun says we should:

Dear Editor,
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says "If you see it in The Sun it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

—Virginia O'Hanlon, 115 West 95th Street

Virginia,
Your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.


~ Francis P. Church

Here's a great site about both letters and their writers:

http://www.barricksinsurance.com/virginia.html

And the sites I gleaned information from:

1. http://www.wf-f.org/st.nicholas.html
2. http://www.stjohns-online.org/nicholas.html

What is your fondest memory involving Santa Claus?

~Anna Kathryn
www.aklanier.com

Auction of Jo Leigh

For great critiques, mentoring opportunities, books, and other prizes, for a worthy cause:

http://www.alisonkent.com/forjoleigh.html

Anna Kathryn
www.aklanier.com

Wednesday's Chow - Shrimp and Oyster Gumbo

Here's a great winter recipe. This isn't my usual quick and easy recipe, but it's also not overly complicated or time consuming. And it is delicious!

Anna Kathryn
http://www.aklanier.com/


Shrimp and Oyster Gumbo

8 tbsp butter – divided
1 16-oz pkg frozen, sliced okra, defrosted
1 cup chopped onions
½ cup chopped green pepper
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
2 tbsp flour
2 15-oz cans chicken broth
3 cans Del Monte Cajun-styled stewed tomatoes
2 bay leafs (remove these before serving gumbo)
½ tsp dried thyme
2 tsp salt
black pepper
1 ½ to 2 lbs raw, shelled shrimp (30-50 per pound)
24 shucked oysters
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
½ tsp cayenne pepper (less if you don’t like it hot)
Freshly cooked rice

In a heavy 10-inch skillet melt 4 tbsp of butter over moderate heat. When foam subsides, add the okra. Stirring constantly, cook until okra stops ‘roping’ (I’ve never had it stop ‘roping’, so I cook it for 10-15 minutes. You’ll know what ‘roping’ means when you cook it). Remove skillet from heat and set aside.

Over moderate heat, melt remaining 4 tbsp of butter in heavy 4-qt soup pot. When foam subsides, add onions, green pepper and garlic. Cook 5 minutes or until vegetables are soft, but not brown. Add flour, cook 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly with a wire whisk.
Still whisking, add chicken broth in a slow, thin stream.

Then add okra, tomatoes, bay leafs, thyme, salt, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, partially cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

At this point, if you are making it the day ahead, you may cool the soup and keep refrigerated until 30 minutes before serving. Then reheat and continue:

Add shelled shrimp and simmer for 5 minutes. Add oysters, simmer 2-3 minutes, until they plump up and edges curl. Remove from heat. Discard bay leafs. Add lemon juice, Worcestershire Sauce, and cayenne. Stir to mix in seasonings. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Serves 10-12, with white rice.

***Be sure and remove the bay leafs before serving. Bay leafs should not be eaten, as their pointed spines can cause perforations of the intestines and, thus, medical problems (I know, not a pretty thought, but just for those who don’t know and wonder why they should be removed).

Sweet Holiday Romance - Tempt Me Twice

Seven years ago, Meghan Shelton fell in love with Peter Bourne, Duke of Prestwick, only to learn his seduction was a means to win a bet. Ashamed and pregnant, Meghan flees England. On her return, she literally runs into Peter. This time she has more to protect than her heart, she has a daughter, too.

One look at Meghan and Peter knows he was foolish to think he could seduce her and not love her. Now he has to gain her forgiveness and work his way back into her heart. Will Meghan be tempted twice by the man she loves?



Tempt Me Twice unedited excerpt


“I hope I am not disturbing you, Meghan.”
Meghan jumped at the voice and whirled to face Prestwick. He stood in front of the closed door, blocking her exit.
“Your Grace.” She gave a curtsey.
“Your Grace,” he taunted. “I recall a time you called me Peter.”
“Yes, well, that was an age ago, was it not?”
His dark, steady gaze held hers. “A lifetime ago, Meghan.” He seemed to shake himself. “I owe you an apology for the way I treated you back then.”
If he’d kicked her, she wouldn’t have been more surprised. She realized the apology, so long in coming, made no difference. He’d not cared for her back then. It was merely his mature years forcing him to regret his past actions. Was she so pathetic that she would accept his hollow regret? She gave a humorless laugh.
“Oh, really, Your Grace, do not tell me you have dwelled on that all these years. I assure you, you did not take anything that wasn’t offered.”
“Winston believes differently.”
She arched a brow. “You men are such odd creatures. You think you must protect the women of your family from the very things you encourage women of other families to do. Winston keeps a mistress and yet he would tell you I suffered greatly because you chose to dally with me for a short time.” She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her dress when she noticed they trembled. “I assure you, Prestwick, my emotions are not so fragile as that. They never were.”
“You were too young to know—“
“But you were old enough to know my mind?” she interrupted. “How condescending, Your Grace. I begin to see why you men think you must control us. We are too foolish to make up our minds.”
She prayed he couldn’t detect the wild beating of her heart.
He stared at her. “I never meant to imply you do not know your own mind, Meghan. I only wished to tell you I regret the way I treated you.”
She blew out a breath. In what way, she wanted to ask. Instead she said, “And so you have done. I am meeting Lady Sarah for a game of cards, Your Grace. Please excuse me.” She tried to step around him.
“I think not. You are keeping a secret from me, are you not?”
Panic gripped her. She drew in a shallow breath, clinching a hand to her abdomen. “N-no, Your Grace, I am not.”
“No? Are you sure, Meghan? Did you think I would not realize the truth?”
Shear black fright swept through her. How had he found out about Marissa? Did he plan to take her daughter from her? She would die first.
“I know not what you speak of. I have no secret from you, Your Grace.”
He moved from the door with long, purposeful strides and stopped in front of her. “It has taken me a few days to work it out, but trust me, I have finally discovered the truth of the matter.”
Meghan’s lungs seized in her chest. “You cannot have her. Do you hear me? She is mine and you cannot have her. Have not you taken enough from me, Peter? Do you plan to also take my daughter? I would fight you to the ends of the earth first.”
He stared, complete surprise on his face. “What are you talking about? Why would I take your daughter, Meghan?”
Too late she realized her mistake. Already she could see the wheels of his mind working. Tears burned her eyes. A deep moan rose in her breast. “Nooooo.”
He gripped her painfully by the shoulders. “Dear God, Meghan, do not tell me she is mine.”

BUY TEMPT ME TWICE NOW from Coffee Time Romance:

http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookStore/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&cPath=53&products_id=1768


Anna Kathryn
www.aklanier.com