Lipstick Jungle

It's a jungle out there. Just go into any drugstore or department store and head to the cosmetics counter. It's enough to give me hives just thinking about it. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of lipsticks, lip gloss, lip tints. What's a girl to do?

Is is just me? Somehow I've made it to the age of 44 without being able to pick out a decent lipstick color. They all just look...wrong.

Over the years, I've managed to find a shade or two that I liked, but they were usually discontinued. I'm not the type of woman to wear makeup often, but even I liked to occasionally don some lip color. But I haven't purchased a new lipstick in years. I mean, there are so many colors and types out there, who knows where to begin.

According to makeup and beauty expert, Bobbi Brown, "If I had to teach someone just one thing about lip color it would be this: Find a lipstick that looks good on your face when you are wearing absolutely no makeup."

That makes perfect sense. But how does one find that perfect color?

According to one article I found: "Lipstick and Lip Gloss--How to Select the Right Shade - - And How to Apply It" by Julyne Derrick, it's actually not as hard as it sounds.

"The most flattering lip tones will be one or two shades darker than your natural lip color, according to makeup artist Bobbi Brown. To test shades, apply lipstick or gloss to one lip. If that color is just a shade or two deeper than your bare lip, then you've found your shade. Yes, it's a simple as that. So what to do if you like to buy your lipsticks at a grocery store or department store like Wal-Mart, where you can't try the lipsticks out before you buy? You can trust the color printed on the box. Simply hold it up to your lips in the store and check it out in the mirror. Or better yet, check the color out in a window, where natural light shines through."

Check out this entire article for more great advice and tips at http://beauty.about.com/od/plasticsurgery/qt/lipcolor.htm.

Makes me think I might even brave the lipstick jungle this weekend in search of that perfect color. Even if I don't find it this weekend, I'll keep on looking now that I have a starting point.

Slacker Blogger

I know I haven't been very entertaining here lately. It's been tough finding interesting things to write about. I think it's just the winter blahs. But there is hope in sight! March is knocking and with that comes spring.

I promise to try to do better. :-)

Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Pancake Day

Whatever you call the day, if you celebrate it, you will be eating pancakes today.

This celebration is associated with eating foods such as pancakes, and sometimes donuts, orginally because these foods used up ingredients such as fat and eggs, before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent. I know of some cultures which put money or other items in their pancakes. Personally, I always thought that was extremely dangerous and don't recommend it.

My mom always made plain pancakes. She served them up with a yellow sauce made out of custard powder. I have no idea exactly how she made it, only that it was yummy. Add a few slices of bacon to your plate and it was a meal I always looked forward to as a kid.

Whether you observe this as a religious holiday or not doesn't matter. Enjoy some pancakes for supper tonight.

For more information check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrove_Tuesday

Tempting Tori--New Cover and Contest!

BLURB:

Standing in the barn, looking out over his ranch, J.T. Courage knows there is nowhere else on earth he’d rather be. He has his brothers, a successful horse business and a new home on the land that’s belonged to his family for generations. The only thing missing is someone to share it all with. And he has just the woman in mind.

Victoria Abrams is leaving the man she loves. She can no longer pretend he will one day see her as more than a friend or housekeeper. But J.T. is not about to let the sexy woman who has tempted him for months with her lush body and beautiful face slip away without a fight.

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I just love my cover for Tempting Tori. It's smokin' hot!

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To celebrate the upcoming release of Tempting Tori from Ellora's Cave, I'm giving away a download copy. Go to my website and click on the "contest" page for details.

Cover Featured

The cover for Beyond Shadows is one of three covers being featured this week on the Paranormal Monday MySpace Page. I absolutely love this cover and want to thank amazing Ellora's Cave cover goddess, Syneca, for the incredible job she did on it.

Check out the cover slideshow at http://www.myspace.com/Paranormal_Monday.

Pillow Talk Tuesday!

I'ts Pillow Talk Tuesday. I'm talking about books, writing, life and aliens.

Check out my interview over at Michelle Pillow's Blog! If you comment, you have a chance to win a download from my backlist.

Friday the 13th

It's that day again. One that brings terror to the hearts of many. It's Friday the 13th!

Fear of the number thirteen is called Triskaidekaphobia. It is also known as friggatriskaidekaphobia.

Studies have found that incidents of emergency room visits rise on this day.

According to Wikipedia:

In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve signs of the zodiac, twelve hours of the clock, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, twelve gods of Olympus, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.

Whether you believe in superstition or not, be a little extra careful out there today.

Have a wonderful Friday.

Featured Member at TRS for February!

I'm featured over at The Romance Studio this month, talking about the print release of The Seduction of Shamus O'Rourke.

Check it out at http://www.theromancestudio.com/who1.php

Quote of the Week!

"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia."

~E.L. Doctorow

At least that's what we tell ourselves when the voices in our heads won't leave us alone. :-)

Have a great Wednesday!

Samhellion Valentine Swag Hunt

Readers, can you help our authors?

Valentine's day is around the corner and the Samhellions have lost their swag! Their significant others will be very unhappy if our authors can't find their gifts and we all know what its like when our S.O. is cranky. :)

The mission is simple, go to the author websites below and search for the missing gifts. Each gift is an icon that will say, Samhellion Swag Hunt. Once you locate the gift, come back here and enter the item (jewelry, candy, etc) not the URL - for each author then click submit.

You're now entered into a drawing to win a free ebook! For each participating author, we will draw one prize so if you have nine authors on your list then you have nine chances to win! All winners will be announced on the Samhellion Blog.

I'm part of the final hunt on now from the 8th to the 12th! Check out The Samhellion website for details.

A Writer's Work is Never Done

And thank God for that.

As any writer knows, the more work you've got piled on your desk, the more books you have coming out. This week, I've been working on my current WIP. It's close and I should be able to submit it to my editor in another week or two. I have to wait for my reader to read it and hand it back with pages of red marks. Then I'll do the final rewrite before submission.

I'm also working on galley proofs for an upcoming print release--By the Book should be out in print from Samhain Publishing in September. And that's in-between all the regular emails, promotions, blogs, interviews, etc...

It can be hard to keep it all straight some days, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

TGIF!

A Taste of Summer

Early February and there is snow and ice and cold outside my window. I'm tired of winter. I decided what I needed was a taste of summer. Luck for me, my mother gave me a bunch of blueberries last summer that she picked in her garden. We ate some, but I froze several containers full.

Yesterday, I took some of the blueberries out of the freezer and made a blueberry cake. Taking that first bite for dessert was heavenly. And best of all, there is plenty of cake left for a few more days.

Treat yourself to a taste of summer. It will help drive back the winter blahs.

Books have gotten expensive

Author Charlottee Boyett-Compo certainly got a surprise this week. Amazon.com is selling her book BlackWind for a whopping $72,999.99. This book is worth it's weight in gold and then some.

Check out this book and all her other books at her website at http://www.windlegends.org/ .

February Newsletter is Now Available

If you’re not already receiving Awakening Desires—the Newsletter of Romance Author N.J. Walters—then you’re missing out on all the latest news, author interviews, excerpts and tons more! You’re also missing out on a chance to win every month!

The February 2009 issue is now available!

Check out the this month’s author interview with the talented Lynn LaFleur.

As well, each month, some lucky newsletter subscriber wins a prize. All you have to do to be eligible to win next month is to go to Awakening Desires Newsletter to join and read back issues.

Samhellion Valentine Swag Hunt

Readers, can you help our authors?

Valentine's day is around the corner and the Samhellions have lost their swag! Their significant others will be very unhappy if our authors can't find their gifts and we all know what its like when our S.O. is cranky. :)

The mission is simple, go to the author websites below and search for the missing gifts. Each gift is an icon that will say, Samhellion Swag Hunt. Once you locate the gift, come back here and enter the item (jewelry, candy, etc) not the URL - for each author then click submit.

You're now entered into a drawing to win a free ebook! For each participating author, we will draw one prize so if you have nine authors on your list then you have nine chances to win! All winners will be announced on the Samhellion Blog.

There will be 4 Hunts in total from now until February 12th. I'm up on the 8th! Check out The Samhellion website for details.