This year I’ve decided to get a little more structured with my blogging. Yes, half of January has gone, but it’s not entirely my fault. This post is a little delayed after the dreaded hacking episode.

Here’s my plan:

Monday – a travel related post, which will feature photos and other travel snippets from my past and present. Hubby and I have a couple of exciting holidays planned for this year, and I’m looking forward to sharing.

Tuesday – Teaser Tuesday where I share what I’m reading. My love of reading is what led me on the path to writing. Join in and leave a link to a teaser from your current read or share it in my comment section.

Wednesday – Early this month I started reading The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin. Inspired by Ms. Rubin, I’m doing my own happiness project for 2012 and will do a happiness related post each Wednesday. Here’s the link to Ms. Rubin’s website, The Happiness Project.

Thursday – I’ve always enjoyed writing lists and Thursday Thirteen is perfect for this. Look for my lists about random topics of interest.

Friday – Each Friday I’ll have a guest blogger. A large portion of these visitors will do a giveaway, so you’ll have a chance to win a book or gift certificate. This coming Friday I’m taking part in a blog hop and doing a giveaway of some of my books.

Weekends – I’m going to take a casual approach to the weekends. You might get a recipe or a review or you might not…

For bloggers out there – do you have a blogging plan? For non bloggers – do you like knowing what to expect or do you like a surprise?

Related posts:

1. Happiness & Review: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
2. A Blogging Carnival
3. Guest blogging at Cerridwen Press

I’d like to wish everyone a happy and safe Christmas. I hope you have a fun day and find a few books or maybe an ereader in your Christmas stocking. My best advice for the day – don’t overdo the Christmas pudding!

Hugs
Shelley

PS – I’ll be announcing the winners in my contests tomorrow.

Related posts:

1. Merry Christmas
2. Christmas Wishes
3. Grumpy Guide to Christmas

Our Christmas day will be spent with family. The kids will be overtired and hyperactive. Translation noisy and/or crying. We’ll all eat too much. My MIL will stress about the food and make my hubby cranky. We’ll have a nice day, but it will be good to return home and relax with a movie and a fruity glass of wine. And I’ll be thinking, thank goodness it’s 365 days to the next one…

Am I the only person who is more bah humbug than yay! about Christmas?

Related posts:

1. Merry Christmas
2. Christmas Wishes
3. Christmas at My Place

Here’s the recipe:

Half a cup of salt
Half a cup of water
One cup of flour
Olive oil
Rolling Pin
Old shirt or apron

Put the salt and flour in a bowl, then add the water slowly until the ingredients come together into a ball. Knead the dough for about ten minutes until it is a soft, pliant ball. Roll out and cut into shapes using cookie cutters.

Place cut-out shapes on a plate covered with a piece of baking paper. Place in the microwave for two – three minutes until the shapes harden. Let them cool and decorate with paint.

Shelley’s notes:
1. The above quantities make the perfect amount for each child.
2. If the dough is too wet add a little flour. If it’s too dry add a little more water.
3. The olive oil can be used during the rolling and cutting out stage if your dough dries out. I didn’t require any.
4. When I make these again next year, I’ll go for slightly bigger shapes and keep the dough a bit thicker.
5. We cut our letters and the tree freehand, using a knife.
6. If you want to hang the completed decorations on a tree, make a hole in the top. I’d make a bigger hole next time because it closed up a little in the microwave and also with painting.
7. You can also dry them in the sun for a few days or cook them in the oven on a low heat. Don’t burn!
8. Use any paint you have on hand. We had some old acrylic paint in the cupboard. Glitter would also be good, but we didn’t have any.
9. The finished result is rustic and fun.
10. Enjoy making your own decorations!

These are the ones we made:

Related posts:

1. Can’t Catch Me…I’m A Gingerbread Man!
2. Recipe: Easy Beer Bread
3. Stained Glass Cookies

Bella playing with a brown paper bag

Bella asking permission to jump up on a chair

Bella comfortable on the chair

Related posts:

1. Puppy Power!
2. Puppy Training With Bella
3. Adventures with Puppy, Bella

This year I’ve been in a bit of a writing funk. It’s true that my jaunts overseas didn’t help much, interupting my flow. This week it finally feels as if I’m back in my groove. I’m working on something new and added 2100 words today.

I have a release date for Christmas is Coming. Look for my new contemporary on 9 December from Ellora’s Cave.

Last week on the Marketing for Romance Writers Yahoo list we had a special guest telling us about author signatures and critiquing the signatures of a few brave volunteers. I volunteered my signature. This is the one I’ve been using recently:

Are you up to PAR?
Provocative, Adventurous Romance
http://www.shelleymunro.com

The teacher liked my signature but suggested I change it around a little and reverse the order.

Shelley Munro…Provocative, Adventurous Romance
http://www.shelleymunro.com
Are you up to PAR?

Some writers include details of their recent releases, their blog, Twitter and Facebook links in their signatures. My personal preference is to keep things brief. There’s nothing worse than scrolling through heaps of signature when I’m trying to read my email. I’d be interested to hear how you do your email signatures and what your preferences are – long or short?

One good suggestion was to use WiseStamp to do email signatures. I thought this looked promising, and I intend to explore it more this weekend. It’s on my to-do list!

How is your writing going? What is your preference for email signatures? Do you change your email signatures on a regular basis?

Related posts:

1. Writing Romance Is Like…Adopting a New Puppy
2. Writing, Scavenger Hunts and Body Butter
3. The Writing Plan

On the home front, hubby and I are talking holidays. Yes, I know we’ve just returned from jaunts to China and Australia, but if we’ve got to buckle down and work we need something to look forward to—an incentive. After much discussion and Internet research, we came across a cruise that we rather liked the sound of. It starts in Barcelona and goes around the Mediterranean visiting stops such as Rome, Venice, Mykonos, Istanbul, Casablanca and the Azores before finishing at Fort Lauderdale. Hubby and I took about two seconds to think before we both said, “Sign me up!” So, we’re booked, and we only have to wait about 11 months.

While hubby was at the travel agents, she showed him the specials that had arrived that day. Suddenly we were taking a short break at the beginning of December. This time we’re staying at home in New Zealand, but we’re flying to Wellington and catching a cruise ship back up to Auckland. It’s amazing how quickly one can get organized given the motivation.

On the writing front, I’m waiting for my first glimpse of the cover for Cat Burglar in Training. Cat Burglar is the revised version of The Shadow and is due out at Carina Press on Feb 20 2012.

I completed a super secret writing project and turned that in last week. My story will be out in February, and I’ll give you more details as soon as I’m given the go ahead.

This week, I’ve completed edits for my Ellora’s Cave release, Christmas is Coming. It will be out in December (exact date to be confirmed). This story takes place in the same small town where my Talking Dog series and Fancy Free take place. I bet you didn’t know the country town of Sloan was such a hot-bed of activity. If you’d like to get a head start and in the mood for Christmas is Coming you might like to check out the aforementioned books.

In the next few weeks I’ll be taking part in a couple of blog hops. Watch for details because there are some good prizes up for grabs. I’ll be giving away books—both e-format and print. I don’t know about you, but I can never have enough books on my to-read pile.

While I think about it, author Alice Audrey hosts Win a Book at her blog. It’s a chance to win a book, perhaps by a new-to-you author. If you’re an author hosting a book giveaway complete the form on Alice’s Win a Book page, and she’ll add your giveaway details.

And finally, if you’d like to win a copy of Peeping Tom, book two of my Middlemarch Mates series, today is the last day of my Goodreads give away. Don’t delay or you’ll miss out on the chance to enter.

I’ll leave you with a question: If you had 24 hours alone how would you spend it?

My answer: Right at this moment, I’d spend a good portion of that time sleeping. Life has been a bit of a whirlwind for the last few weeks. I’d also go for a long walk with Bella, catch up on some reading for pleasure and get stuck into some writing. It’s so good to work on something new for a change. There would also be a nice meal and a glass of wine in those hours somewhere. Probably a cup of coffee or two as well. What about you?

Related posts:

1. Starting the Write Way
2. Celebrate the Season Sale at All Romance eBooks!
3. Writing, Email Signatures & Puppy Antics

The other day I pulled up this carrot, much to my amusement.

The very next day, hubby was responsible for getting the carrots for dinner, and he pulled up this one.

Behold, a matching pair! Male and female carrots.

The facts about carrots:

Carrots are picky about the soil they grow in, preferring light sandy soil. They definitely don’t like heavy clay. If they hit a stone or a hard piece of dirt while they’re growing, the carrot root will go around the obstruction, which is why we’ve ended up with a few weirdly shaped carrots.

Wild carrots are indigenous to Europe and Asia, and it’s thought that carrots were first grown domestically in Afganistan.

Source: Carrot Museum, UK (who knew there was a museum dedicated to carrots!)

Do you like carrots? What is your favorite vegetable to eat?

Related posts:

1. A Potager Garden
2. Potager Garden
3. Enjoyable or Horrid?

And on Friday I’m off to Sydney, then on to Melbourne.

This has been a rough year for New Zealanders with a mining disaster, big earthquakes, an oil spill and on a personal level two friends died, both unexpectedly. If this year has taught me one thing, it is to grab opportunities as they arise and not to put off things until a later date. Hubby has always wanted to attend the Melbourne Cup, a huge horse race down this end of the world, and this year we’re going.

We’ll see race horses

And beautiful fashion.

We’ll even have a flutter or two on the horses. The problem is picking the winner. The main Melbourne Cup race has a huge field. My problem – I have zero knowledge of these horses.

Do I choose my favorite number?
Check out the horse’s form?
The horse’s color?
The color of the jockey’s eyes?
The color of the jockey’s silks?
Pick whatever name appeals to me?
Do a special dance?
Chant a children’s rhyme and eliminate horses one by one?

It’s certainly a dilemma, and I’ve been giving the matter much thought. Here’s what I think I’ll do: take a look at the horses before the race. Any horses that seem stressed will be crossed off my list. I’ll pay attention to my favorite number, and if neither of these methods help, I’ll pick a name that appeals to me. One of the horses is called Two for Tea, and since I have a book called Tea for Two this could be a sign!

What do you think? How would you pick a winner for the Melbourne cup?

CONTEST: I thought I’d do a contest today and give away a download of HOUSE OF THE CAT, which features a horse race of the alien kind. I’ll pick my favorite answer late tomorrow night my time (New Zealand) and post the name of the winner in the comments section.

Related posts:

1. And they’re off!!
2. The Melbourne Cup: Racing this Time!
3. The Big Red was a Winner

I’m hoping to report in now and then with a quick blog. We’ll see how I go. Meanwhile, have a great September. I’ll catch up with you on my return.

Related posts:

1. Travel Ready Packing
2. Back from China
3. Passports and Travel