Meat and Potatoes Award

The lovely novelist, Nancy J. Parra, awarded me the Meat & Potatoes award (though, seriously, I don't think I deserve it).

According to the quote on her blog, the award goes to a blog whose "content is more than fluff but offers some solid information." I'm honored and grateful for such recognition (though, still...don't deserve it).

And I'd like to pass it on to FIVE other Bloggers out there who have offered me some wonderful writing information when I've visited their blogs. So:

1. Jody Hedlund
2. Elena Johnson
3. Sherrinda K.
4. Jessica Nelson &
5. Cindy Wilson

Thank you, guys, for your great Meat & Potato Blogs.

Friday Forwards - #11

It's Friday Forwards time again (my sharing with you of funny emails I get forwarded to me). If anyone ever finds out where these forwards originate, let me know so I can credit the source. Also, if you have some great jokes you receive on your emails, please feel free to forward them to me at Linda(at)Linda Kage(dot)com and I'll make sure they get posted (but they have to be clean--public forum here, remember!!).

Memorable Quotes

Advice for the day: If you have a lot of tension and you get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle: "Take two tables" and "Keep away from Children." --Author Unknown.

"Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar." --Drew Carey.

"The problem with the designated driver program, it's not a desirable job. But if you ever get sucked into doing it, have fun with it. At the end of the night, drop them off at the wrong house." --Jeff Foxworthy.

"If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving a child's life, she will choose to save the infant without even considering if there's a man on base." --Dave Barry.

"Relationships are hard. It's like a full time job, and we should treat it like one. If your boyfriend or girlfriend wants to leave you, they should give you two weeks' notice. There should be severance pay. And the day before they leave you, they should have to find you a temp." --Bob Ettinger.

"Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant?? I'm halfway through my fish burger and I realize, OMG...I could be eating a slow learner." --Lynda Montgomery.

"Sometimes I think war is God's way of teaching us Geography." --Paul Rodriquez.

"A study in the Washington Post says women have better verbal skills than men. I just want to say to the authors of that: DUH." --Conan O'Brien.

When I die, I want to go like my grandfather--who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car. --Author Unknown.

Baby Bragging

My baby girl is a rolling machine. Last Friday she successfully rolled from her back to her tummy for the first time all by herself (she's gone from her stomach to her back a couple of times before that with Mom's help). Yesterday, she did it again...about a dozen times. I actually caught one instance on camera. So of course, being a new and proud momma, I must share it with EVERYONE I know! But first, here's a couple cute picture of how she's looking these days. Enjoy.















And now for the main event. It takes her a few seconds before she decides to roll. But once she does, the sound effect is provided by Dad!

Is it the twelfth...again?!

Yeah, it's the twelfth, which means...

Guest Blogging. Again

I have agreed to post a blog on both

Romance Books "R" Us

&

Climbing Roses of the Wild Rose Press

on the twelfth day of every month.

So today, once again, if you're in the mood to chat with me on a YA blog, head over to Climbing Roses. If you want something adult and on the steamier side, check out RBRU. Or...if you want to see me at both places, you most certainly can do that too! But no pressure.

Friday Forwards - #10

It's Friday Forwards time again. I found today's video on YouTube, though it had been forwarded to me previously by email. It was just too funny not to share.

Review - Ten Things I Love About You

Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn reminds me of that parable in the Bible of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding, or more to the point, it reminds me of the quote by a guest at that wedding.

"Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best 'till now." --John 2:10

Usually, the best part of a book is the beginning (best wine first) and the amazing start gets a reader drunk on the story, making them read all the way through so they don't even notice if the ending sags a bit. But not only did Quinn have a great beginning, keeping me hooked on the story throughout, she saved the best dialogue for the climatic ending...in my opinion anyway. It was so hilarious, I stayed up late to read in bed and kept laughing out loud; my husband started to get irritated with me.

But seriously...you gotta love that grandma.

I watched a video of Quinn talking about writing dialogue. What I liked best about what she had to say was she puts "an undercurrent of emotion" behind all the fun, snappy exchanges. Something serious makes all the witty conversations mean that much more. I think that's great advice; it's something I'm going to reach for in my own writing.

Anyway. Great book. Great author. If you like to read regency time historical romances, I definitely recommend you check out this story.

Where's all the Water?

At my day job on Wednesday, all the water was cut off in our building because the city was working on our water lines. So, no restrooms and no water...all day. When I got home from work, my husband said, "Oh, yeah, the water's turned off. The telephone company hit a water main when they were installing new phone lines." No water at work; no water at home from about 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 pm. Thank goodness I'm no longer pregnant and have to use the bathroom every half hour, huh.

In other Linda news, it's official. I am NOT writing for the money! I received my first royalty report yesterday. It was exciting to scan through, made me feel like a real author. But the amount certainly won't pay my bills--well, maybe one bill. Oh, well! I love to write, nothing's going to stop that. Ya gotta start somewhere, right?