And if we’re going to fail in the end, well, what’s the point, right?

So it’s no surprise when I hear the running joke, “Where’s the Easy button?” Or when I see commercials for diet plans or workout tapes with claims of how little I need to try in order to succeed with this or that product. “Only ten minutes a day to a new shape!” or “No need to count calories or think about nutrition—these meals have just what you need!”

Our electronics now feature apps to make everything instant and simple. Thank heavens I don’t have to know how to configure anything to make them work. Just click a button and apps download and install on their own. Now I don’t need a map or have to remember anyone’s telephone number or go outside to check the temperature. Easy.

Which makes facing up and doing the hard stuff that much harder. Much easier to avoid it. Avoid it long enough and maybe it will just go away. Ignore it and just run with the status quo. I have to fight that natural tendency in myself. And one weapon I use in that battle is books.

The heroes and heroines in books rarely do things the easy way. They don’t settle for the status quo. They resolve to do something and despite any adversity, they get the job done. So to help me stay on track with my resolution to get more exercise, I’m going to delve into my To Be Read pile and start reading. I’ve got a collection of Truman Capote short stories that’ll be great—on the exercycle.  Oh yeah…

When facing a problem, do you find you long for an easy solution? Or are you one who confronts and does the hard things? Who was the last character who moved you to cheers or tears when s/he conquered something that was hard?

This past Christmas the little darlin’ told hubby how much I loved George.  His response was “Are you kidding?  Eighty bucks for something that’s going to hang on the wall and gather dust?”

Well … yes.  Why?  Because he made me smile.  Life can be pretty grim ‘pon occasion.  It’s one of the reasons we read.  To escape reality.  To take that few hours out of the day to find a little bit of fantasy.  It’s also the reason I surround myself with little whimsical things.  At the day job, if I find a cartoon in the newspaper that makes me smile, I clip it and post it on the wall over my computer.  I have little aliens loitering under my screen.  I have a pink stuffed elephant sitting on one of my speakers.  There are amusing quotes scattered around my desk.  I’ll often take a moment out of my busy day to read a few and it lightens my heart a little bit.

Reading does the same for me.  Doesn’t matter if the book is a dark urban fantasy, or a light hearted paranormal.  I can lose myself for awhile.  Same thing with movies.  Like a book, but with technicolor visuals.  It gives us a moment … a breather before we tackle the next decision or crisis.

As you can see, George now lives with me.  He isn’t hanging on my office wall yet … but he will be.  And each time I glance over at him, I’m going to smile.  How ‘bout you?  Do you have something that inevitably makes you smile.  No matter how often you look at it?

I mean, I LOVE Stephanie Plum. I love Joe. I love Grandma Mazur, Lula, and the whole gang. I even love Ranger (although being Cuban myself, I am convinced that Ranger is NOT Cuban, but that is a post for another day.) Ten years ago I would have cast Sandra Bullock as Stephanie, but let’s face it, Sandy is just too old to play Stephanie. I know of die hard Evanovich fans who were not so thrilled when it was announced that Katherine Heigl would play the role of Evanovich’s infamous bounty hunter. They were leery of the whole venture. Afraid that Hollywood would muck it up. I know the movie is getting bad reviews everywhere. But I’m here to tell you that having seen the film twice now I can say that this Stephanie Plum fan is satisfied with the results.

Is Katherine Heigl my perfect vision of Stephanie? No. Is Jason O’Mara who I would have cast as Joe Morelli? Probably not. But it works. I loved the chemistry these two had on screen. And although Daniel Sunjata is not Hispanic, I thought he pulled off the role of Ranger pretty well. And I LOVED, yes, loved, Debbie Reynolds as Grandma Mazur. I just wish we would have had more screen time with her, but I understand why the director chose to play it the way she did. To give Grandma more screen time would have seriously stolen the movie from the main characters and detracted from the main plot, but I would have loved just one teensy tiny funeral parlor scene. Just one.Oh, and Sherri Shepherd as Lula was perfect. Again, not who I ever pictured in the role (can you say Queen Latifah?) but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by her.

A day hadn’t gone by after seeing One For The Money, that I opened up a magazine while waiting to get my hair done, (you know, one of those Hollywood gossip magazines), and found, to my horror, that Tom Cruise has been selected to play Jack Reacher, from the Lee Child novels. I found an article on the Internet about it right here. He’s set to play Reacher in a film version of Child’s novel, One Shot.  For anyone not familiar with Lee Child’s novels (where have you been?) Jack Reacher is well, he’s sexy as hell. He’s also 6’5″ tall, has blond hair and blue eyes and is about 36 years old.  I have nothing against Tom, I really don’t, but what are they THINKING? I am both thrilled and apprehensive. So I guess it starts all over again. Argh!

What about you? Any favorite books that have been turned into  movies? What did you think about the casting?

Who else wants to move near Cynthia and walk on that beach with her?

UPDATE: The giveaway winner is Brenda Hyde. Brenda, random.org picked your name out of the hat, and I’ll be in touch to find out which book you want, and get your address details.

I am reading a book that is — off the wall. It jumps around, and doesn’t give the reader very much information about where the characters are, and then throws very bizarre things into the mix, which the characters seem to accept far too easily.

I keep wondering if this is the norm of the world I’m in, or whether I’ve stumbled into some kind of Monty Python-esque tableau.

Someone who takes the world and twists it, wrings it like a dishrag and then flicks it out, but in a way that you’re not simply scratching your head about it, is Erica Hayes. She really has a way of making the bizarre seem normal, so you never feel lost.

There are plenty of writers who do quirky well. When Tuesday Next of Jasper Fforde’s TUESDAY NEXT series goes for a walk in Hyde Park, you’re likely to see anything from hot air balloons to dinasors to woolly mammoths brought back from the ice age. And Alexia Tarabotti of Gail Carriger’s PARASOL PROTECTORATE is definitely no fainting violet. She’s just as likely to hit a vampire with her umbrella as she is to push a stake through his heart while holding onto his arm, thus rendering him helpless. Because Alexia is no ordinary Victorian miss. And then you have the strange, psychedelic underworld of fairies, trolls and banshees that Erica Hayes (mentioned above) has carved into the heart of an Australian city in her SHADOWFAE CHRONICLES.

With this current book, I’m so disconnected to the story, I’m wondering whether to continue. But at the same time, there’s enough quirkiness, and interesting plot, that I’ll probably keep going for a while. And maybe it will all fall into place. I’m hoping! I obviously have a high quirkiness threshold.

So, what is your quirky limit? And can you remember a quirky book you really loved?

I’m going to give away a book from one of these three series to one lucky commenter (winner’s choice as to which one):

TUESDAY NEXT series by Jasper Fforde
PARASOL PROTECTORATE series by Gail Carriger
SHADOWFAE CHRONICLES by Erica Hayes

This one or that one?

Apple or M&M’s? Red sweater or green dress? Save money for a trip to beach or blow it on new shoes?

 There are days when I stare at the clothes in my closet and can’t decide what to wear. Days I can’t decide what to make for dinner. Days when I can’t even decide whether to use a pen or a pencil to write a note.

No, I’m not depressed. I have what’s called “decision fatigue”. I didn’t know what was causing this seeming decision-making paralysis until I came across that term.  I looked it up and what do you know? It’s a common ailment in our society, affecting everyone.

What exactly is decision fatigue? According to an article in the New York Times:

“Decision fatigue is the newest discovery involving a phenomenon called ego depletion, a term coined by the social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister in homage to a Freudian hypothesis.”

Experiments done by Dr. Baumeister and others have shown that each of us has a finite well of willpower and mental energy for exercising self-control. That stored energy is usually used up early in the day by the decisions we make. The well is also affected by our glucose levels, sleep patterns and whether we believe we have infinite willpower instead of a limited amount.

Studies have shown that judges are more lenient with sentences they dole out in the morning. Dieters who resist temptation successful early in the day are more susceptible to giving in or binging in the late afternoon and evening. Shoppers who’ve made dozens of wise choices in the supermarket aisle suddenly break down in the checkout lane and impulse buy.

Morning or night, if you’ve made a lot of decisions in a short amount of time, especially about big stuff (for instance, buying an expensive flatscreen TV), you’re more likely to lose your self-control with smaller things (like purchasing an extended warranty for said flatscreen). If your glucose levels are low, you haven’t had a break from a task in hours, or you haven’t had enough sleep, flexing the willpower muscle may be too much for you.

In the Times article, this analysis was particularly thought-provoking when it comes to our world’s leaders, who are making hundreds of critical decisions every day:

“Any decision, whether it’s what pants to buy or whether to start a war, can be broken down into what psychologists call the Rubicon model of action phases, in honor of the river that separated Italy from the Roman province of Gaul. When Caesar reached it in 49 B.C., on his way home after conquering the Gauls, he knew that a general returning to Rome was forbidden to take his legions across the river with him, lest it be considered an invasion of Rome. Waiting on the Gaul side of the river, he was in the “predecisional phase” as he contemplated the risks and benefits of starting a civil war. Then he stopped calculating and crossed the Rubicon, reaching the “postdecisional phase,” which Caesar defined much more felicitously: ‘The die is cast.’”

Did Caesar suffer from decision fatigue? Who knows, but it’s a possibility. You can read the NY Times article here.

So how do we fight decision fatigue and ego depletion? Most of the sources I researched suggested there are simple ways to combat this type of psychological fatigue.

The first is by maintaining your glucose levels. Sugar, as we know, can perk us up and then drop us like a ten-ton wrecking ball. If your glucose level gets too low or takes a sudden dive, your mental health and decision making skills suffer like your body does.

Rest breaks are important. Get up from the computer and move around. Drink some water. Do a few stretches. Your physical body needs a break and the decision-making part of your brain does too.

Don’t make major decisions late in the day. You’re drained, have already made hundreds of choices and avoided temptation all day long. Have a healthy dinner, take a walk, pet your cat or play a game with your kids. Fun, along with diet and rest from decision making, goes a long way in relieving decision fatigue. Fun, like exercise, refills your well. You’ll make better decisions and have an easier time with them after you’ve had a break.

Flex your willpower. Whether your store of willpower is infinite or not, studies show the more you use your willpower muscle, the stronger it becomes. When a tough choice arises, tell yourself you have plenty of willpower. If you can’t put off making a decision until you’re reenergized, do your best to believe in your willpower and make the best decision you can.

Thank you for making the decision to read this blog post. I hope it helps you continue to make good decisions for the rest of the day!

Everything is unusual about this book, the premise (6 writers in an online critique group talk about life, sex and fictional murder…and then the murder becomes real) and the way it’s told in emails, instant messages, texts, etc. Our cover artist, Laura Morrigan, had a hell of a time creating a cover image. There’s nothing like it out there. Nor is it a book in a series. Plus, neither Karen nor I write other humorous mysteries. We don’t have a readership for this.

So why is this book selling well? I think part of it is that readers are looking for something different and fun. It’s only 99¢ right now (and worth much more!). But most of all, the book has gotten on 3 bestselling lists. Verso Advertising has posted a slideshow survey of book buyers with nifty, easy-to-read images with statistics and conclusions (click on one and it will be replaced by the next one). Here’s their Discoverability slide on how readers find new books:

You can see the two biggest percentages come from Personal recommendations and Bookstore staff recommendations. This is a survey for print books – Verso didn’t have anything similar for ebooks – but I think in ebooks, the reason writers sell more on Amazon than other etailers is because of their many bestselling lists, which is their version of staff recommended books. And right now YOU’VE GOT MURDER is showing up as ‘Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought’ for a lot of books. This is another substitute for Personal Recommendations. (Though I hope readers are recommending it to their friends.)

Because so many of my friends are great writers, I’ve been buying their books. Though I don’t check out books by category on Amazon now (mostly because I’m buying so many books by friends), I used to check out my favorite categories. I sometimes check out the ‘Customers Who Bought This Item…’ books. Last week, a friend emailed me about a book she thought I’d want – and I snatched it up. I recommended two books to friends last week. That’s something I do often. And if I read a review and it sounds like a book I’d like, I’ll buy it.

I’m curious. How do you usually find books that you love?

However I survived the early years of child rearing and am potentially facing some of my birds flying away this year. Regardless of the stage the kids were and are in, the good or the bad days, the children have always been inspiring. Maybe that’s why I write a lot of really creepy books

Just kidding. I’m blessed and I know it. I also know I would never have ventured into writing about this teenage mindset if it hadn’t been for my daughter and her voracious reading appetite and her discontent with the seemingly endless stream of the same story written in as many different ways as there were authors. This happened about a couple of years ago.

At the time, I said, “No way!”

Only to find my muse kicking up her heels and answering with, “Challenge accepted!”

Since then, there’s been what appeared to be an avalanche of YA ideas pouring from my brain. Oddly enough, the first one I wrote is not the first one I published. I released the second and the third YA books last year, and have just now released the first one.

Why did I hold back? The first two books are paranormal and urban fantasy books and they are the first in a series. This one is…different. It’s an emotional story that will make some readers tear up but they will finish the book with a smile on their face.

I’m not known for these types of stories, (maybe that’s why I released the others first as they are closer to what I write?) although the joy of being a writer in today’s world, means I have the freedom to write what I feel inspired to write. Including my Romantic Comedy with a canine sidekick – It’s a Dog’s Life!

In Cassie’s Corner - was and still is an inspirational story for me. It touches on difficult topics, like drunk driving, death, and recovery from a major loss. I’d like to think I handle the issues well, but I’m certainly aware that not everyone would agree! It is a story that would be hard to read and not be affected – one way or another.

Faith and loyalty are tested as a young girl learns what it is to believe – in herself, in her friends, and in life after death.

Cassie’s best friend, bad boy Todd, is gone. Gone as in dead. Gone as in ghost.

But she doesn’t realize that when he wakes her in her bedroom and begs her not to believe what they say about him. It’s not until the next day when her parents tell her about the accident that she learns the truth…

The police believe Todd was living up to the family name, drinking and driving and coming to a predictable end. It’s up to her to find out the truth and clear his name.

Todd is shocked at his sudden change in circumstances…and angry. He struggles with his new ghostly reality, realizing all he’s lost as he watches his brother build a relationship with Cassie as the two pair up to find out what really happened to him.

The truth isn’t always pretty, and Cassie has to be stronger than ever before. Especially when the whole world seems to be against her.

Oh and the cover?  That’s another collaborative effort with my son, Jason.

To celebrate this new YA, I’m giving away a one free copy (either Kindle or PDF) of In Cassie’s Corner to one person who comments on the best thing they remember about being a teenager!

Not to be confused with The Italian Crack Pot, as I had accidentally typed crack pot, but decided to proofread one more time before submitting this blog post. Although, I’ve met my share of crack pots during my life and yes, some of them may have been Italian, but it would totally change the theme of this post. 

The Crock Pot is a writer’s best friend. It’s like having a chef in the kitchen after you’ve instructed it what to do. 

I’m going to share an Italian crock pot recipe (below), but first wanted to chat how learning how to cook at a very young age from my mom is similar to my writing journey. When I say a young—young, as in by the time one can stand on her own without tumbling over, one must know how to make homemade pasta and tomato sauce. 

It was during these cooking sessions with my mom that she would tell me stories about her childhood and of course impart her wisdom about life. At the time, as most of us do, I didn’t appreciate the stories until I was much older. My mom was a natural storyteller, she was also extremely funny, but she didn’t know it. 

I love comedy and my family members (especially the females) are hilarious. It was during these cooking sessions with both my mom and sister where we would let loose, and enjoy our mom’s unique sense of humor. It’s no wonder the kitchen is my favorite room in the house, brings back a lot of fond and fun memories. 

Saturday morning cooking lessons were not like those home-economics classes. No note taking, no recipe books (goodness, Italian mamma’s pride themselves on cooking without instructions). 

We’d ask our mom, “How much salt and pepper do we put in this? Don’t we have a measuring spoon for the olive oil?” 

Mom: “Measure? How much? What you asking me these questions for? You reading those recipe books again? Like I told you, cook with your eyes, feel, taste, listen to your mamma and also to the sizzle in the pan.” She’d point a finger to her head and say, “Use your imagination. It’s not going to be perfect first time, but it will when you trust your instincts.” 

My mom’s creativity in the kitchen kept a family of seven well fed on a limited budget. 

As you can imagine most of our training dishes were akin to a science project, however, with all the trials and errors and really paying attention to her basic instructions about cooking with passion, love and using our senses, slowly but surely, my sister and I did turn out some great dishes. (To this day, I still think I make a better sauce and pizza than my sister. I’m sure if you ask her, she’ll say hers is better. Typical sisters, but I still say my way is better.)

My school lunches were packed with homemade bread, roasted red pepper, zucchini and eggplant sandwiches, with slices of fresh mozzarella cheese (which she also made at home) and homemade cookies. My school mates would look at my lunch and ask, “what the heck are you eating?” I did trade my lunch one day, for the more popular peanut-butter and jam sandwich and a couple of Oreo cookies. I liked them and the girl I traded my offerings with didn’t like my lunch; so she traded the Italian feast with the boy next to her. He loved it and asked if I could bring extra the next day. 

How is similar to my writing journey? That it’s okay not to follow a trend and to stick to my own individual style, some will question it, some may try it and like it, some may try it and not like it (maybe even pass it on to someone else) and that’s okay. 

What A Girl Wants by Selena Robins

The main thing my mom taught me while we baked and cooked together was to add a lot of love into cooking. She emphasized how important it was to cook with passion, to use all my senses, touch, taste, sight and smell (and hear too, for the fire alarm that is, when I had accidentally burned a pot or two in my learning process). 

This too can be applied to my writing journey, as I create characters, dialogue and plots that will give the reader not only a visual experience of what’s happening, but hopefully they can taste what the characters are tasting, smell the scents of the scenery, close their eyes and hear the voices (not the ones in our heads, that’s another story), but the tone of the characters, and most importantly, feel the passion I (and other writer’s) have put into creating a wonderful story to draw you into a comical, suspenseful, mysterious and romantic world. 

Here’s a recipe to warm your bones (if you live in a colder climate, still tasty if you live in the tropics as well). Let the Crock Pot do the cooking, while you’re writing, reading or just hanging out with family and friends. 

Crock Pot Italian Sausage Soup

 Ingredients

3 TBSP olive oil

2 pounds Italian sausage (sweet or mild, your choice)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium Vidalia (or any other sweet onion), chopped

2 (16 ounce) cans tomatoes

1 ½ cups dry red wine (not cooking wine, if it’s good enough to drink, then it’s what you cook with)

6 cups beef broth

3 TBSP fresh basil, chopped

3 TBSP fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1 yellow zucchini, thinly sliced

1 green zucchini, thinly sliced

1 sweet red pepper, chopped

1 package of frozen spinach (defrost and squeeze the liquid out)

salt & pepper to taste

Package of pasta (16 oz. your choice of pasta)

Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese 

Directions 

In a large pot, add olive oil and heat, add sausage and cook over medium heat until brown.

Remove from heat, pat with paper towel and cut into slices. 

Add garlic and onion until tender (about 2 – 3 minutes). 

Heat up your crock pot to low and add: sausages, onions, garlic and stir in the rest of all the ingredients. 

Cover, and cook on Low for 6 hours. 

When soup is done you’re ready to make the pasta to add to the soup. (Tip: soup tastes better when you make it a day ahead and warm it up on the stove, but it’s also delicious the same day as well).

Cook Pasta al dente (according to package directions). 

Drain water and add pasta to the soup, simmer for a few minutes. 

Season with salt and pepper. 

Ladle in bowls and add cheese if desired. 

Buon appetite!

Readers, do you have a favorite memory of cooking or reading with your mother? Comment and win a copy of Selena’s book WHAT A GIRL WANTS. 

About Selena Robins: Genre-defying, witty, humorous, suspenseful, romantic and sexy— words used to describe Selena’s novels. A self professed foodie and chocolate guru, she loves to dance with her dog, sing into her hairbrush and write in her PJ’s. In love with her family, friends, books, laughter, hockey, lively discussions and red wine (sometimes all at the same time). Selena is a dragon slayer who enjoys reading and writing sassy heroines and hot heroes (the ones your mamma warned you about, but secretly wished she’d dated a few in her life).

When I was a kid, my parents and I had a tradition.  One Friday night a month, we would go out to dinner at the Sizzlers, and I’d walk down along the strip mall to the Baskin Robbins for a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone.  And then my parents would take me to the House of Paperbacks.

Books were cheap back then.  My mother is a smart lady; she appealed to my materialistic nature, the desire to grab up as many books as I could. This is how she fostered my love of reading.

In Tucson, where I live, there’s a big used-book superstore called Bookman’s.  My husband and I like to go there on Saturdays and prowl around.  First, I go and see if they have any of my old paperback books.  (It’s humbling to see how many friends have sold books I’d signed to them years ago.  One of them was the best man at my wedding, and I’d blathered all over the page: “So-and-so, you are one of best friends I’ve ever had in my life!”) I love you, man.

After that, I look and see what the best writers in my genre have out new, because I like to keep up with them. I buy their latest hardcovers to study.

Then I go to the Childrens’ Section.  

Over the years, I’d lost tons of books from my childhood.  They’re not famous books, but I read them at a time when they meant something to me.  A lot of them where Scholastic Books.  I remember coming across a favorite I’d read as a kid and had somehow lost: HOBBY HORSE HILL, by Lavinia Davis.  Oh, how I loved that book!  My husband was out of town, and I found myself reading it again—I was up until three in the morning.  It was as good as I remembered it.

So now I look for the older books, for books that strike a chord. They don’t even have to be favorites like HOBBY HORSE HILL.  If they have the same cover, I buy them.  I have 4 versions of MY FRIEND FLICKA. There were two books that came out with the same cover of a boy and a horse against the Wyoming hills.  One had pink up top and bottom, and one had dark green. All these years later, I found the dark green one.

The one book I really wanted had the original cover of SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, by Ray Bradbury.  The cover brought me to that book, and distills its essence. It shows a dark sidewalk with leaves blowing up in a dust devil or scary words.  I wanted the cover as well as the book, even though I had the book with a newer cover.  But when I looked for it online, the darn thing cost $800.00.  Fuggedaboudit.

Then one day, I dropped by Bookmans. I always went to the Fantasy section to look for the book, even though I knew Bookmans would be too smart to let an $800.00 book go out the door for a couple of bucks.

But there it was, face out.  My cover!  Turns out, there was a book club version reprinted in the early nineties. The book was in perfect condition, and now I had the cover.  I think I paid eight dollars for it.

So I have a library of old faded books that came from my childhood and that I bring out and look at and hold—they are my talismans. 

Sometimes, these old books play into the novels I’m writing.  When I got the idea for THE DEVIL’S HOUR, the third thriller in my Laura Cardinal series, I kept thinking of the girls’ summer camp in DONNA PARKER: MYSTERY AT ARAWAK.  And so I put a girl’s summer camp up on Mt. Lemmon above Tucson, and as homage to the book, I came up with the name Camp Aratauk.  The camp only plays a bit part in THE DEVIL’S HOUR, although it is important to the story.

The books I read as a child formed me.  They went through a part of my life with me, whether it was a couple of days, or a week, or a month.  They will always be there, and I am glad to find them again and add them to the special shelf in my library.

Are there any books from your childhood that strike a chord with you?  

Before you go, checkout Jake’s site http://www.whokilledbriennecross.com and check out The Shop, a Thomas & Mercer, Amazon’s thriller! THE SHOP will be rereleased, on February 6, 2012.  Check it out!