Tis the Season!

My gift to you: How to make your winter skin incredibly soft!

Have you ever heard of a sugar scrub? Once you try one you will be a convert. Gives you baby-soft skin for days!  They can be pricey to buy but are in reality very cheap and easy to make. I have a 2-cup plastic container with an airtight lid so I can make enough for 2-3 applications at a time.

At its most basic, a sugar scrub is just sugar and oil, maybe some scent or essential oil or liquid glycerin soap (easy to get at health food stores or organic markets, so is jojoba oil mentioned below). If you do a Google search for sugar scrubs you'll find a ton of homemade recipes. There are also salt scrubs but I have not tried those yet.

The latest concoction I have to admit is the best-smelling so far. Improvisation is best, and what I ended up with was about a cup or so of raw sugar, couple tablespoons of brown sugar, a little bit of fresh squeezed lemon juice, walnut oil, jojoba oil, Neutrogena oil, lemon oil, couple spoonfuls of white sugar (because yours truly put too much oil in the mix and it was far too runny hehehe) and a tiny bit of liquid glycerin soap. 

When you mix up a sugar scrub, it should be like cookie dough: kinda clumpy, not runny, falls apart easily. Have to say, that latest experiment smelled great!

A major word of caution, though: watch your step in the shower! That oily sugary mess on the floor can be more slippery than, well... oily glass. Stand on an old terrycloth towel, it'll give you traction and save your noggin.

Couple weeks ago I did a white sugar, olive oil, jojoba oil, glycerin deal with some lavender oil that was very nice. And no, I didn't smell like a Greek salad, but that was one slippery floor. Olive oil is considerably slippery on the skin, also, so just watch your footing and handholds.

Plastic airtight containers are best and avoid glass containers around your tub/shower (just in case it drops and breaks!). Sugar scrubs make excellent gifts too. Package several different varieties in containers, label and tie a ribbon or two around them, add to a gift basket of assorted spa-type things, and you have a unique easy-to-make gift.

Happy Holidays everyone!

© SamMarie Ashe 2011 All Rights Reserved

Holiday!! Tweet tweet!!

Imagine me sitting here singing Madonna’s “Holiday” while writing this post… *grin*

Here’s a funny thing (other than the cats howling at my singing), for the most part I don’t read holiday-themed romances. So when pressed for a review of my favorite holiday-themed read, my heart sunk. I do not even write holiday-themed romances! Was I really that cloistered in the overall romance genre, to have never thought of writing a romantic holiday story? Perhaps. But before you say I’m a Scrooge and muttering “bah, humbug!” repeatedly here, I really do like the holidays.

So I got to work, looking through my books, and thinking about the various holiday-themed stories I’d read over the years, and realized the ones I have read are by either Linda Howard (my favorite author) or Jude Devereaux. Huh. I must buy them because I like the authors, not because I like holiday-themed romances. Both authors have penned several holiday-themed romances, all of which are excellent.

Anyhow… my favorite holiday-themed read is by Linda Howard, a novella titled "Bluebird Winter". There are many reasons I gravitate to this story, other than it being Ms. Howard: it is a novella around 100 pages (quick to read) that references characters from several earlier full-length books, the most notable being "Sarah’s Child" (provides excellent tidbit epilogues to those other books). We see a younger Derek in the earlier books and it was nice to finally see his story.

Here is the back cover blurb:

“Kathleen Fields had to reach the clinic, but a Christmas blizzard left her stranded without hope for her life – or her unborn baby’s. Then Derek Taliferro arrived with his doctor’s skill, his caring heart. Together they brought Kathleen’s child into the world and discovered love, the greatest gift of all.”

The story is sweet, gentle, and heart-warming. Even though it was published in 1987, this is still one of my all-time favorite reads, holiday or not. The only wish I have is that I wish the story were full-length. However, it does span about two months of time and has a very nice happily-ever-after ending. While some people may say it is too sweet, too trite, I do not. I enjoy a sweet story that warms my heart, and this one does.

This is one book that has remained on my bookshelf, and will continue to stay, for we can only wish that our lives have such an outcome, can’t we? And maybe, just maybe, I’ll write that holiday-themed romance this year.

Now back to that serenade…

© SamMarie Ashe 2011 All Rights Reserved

To blog, or not to blog...

Blogging is…

…fun

…educational

…wonderful

…enlightening

…surprising

…challenging

…terrible

Wait… what? Where did “terrible” come from? I started with fun and ended with terrible? What gives?

You may think I am complaining, but no, I am not. Blogging can be a terror. When I was new to the blog universe, I panicked every time I posted, as if I were walking the plank on a pirate ship. Now if Johnny Depp were there to rescue me, that’d be a whole other thing.

When I ventured into blogging several years ago, it was with the goal to amuse myself first, amuse others second. So the blog on “Ramblings From My Mind” was born. It’s just personal trivia, events that don’t mean a whole lot in the big scheme of things, but probably there are people out there that can relate: a spouse’s weird idea of a birthday present; an encounter with a pushy customer and a clueless store clerk; my cat hiding my makeup brushes.

As a result of finding topics that are fun for me, it became enjoyable to me, and it became enjoyable to others. Most of my fans react on social networking venues, or they email me directly so my blog’s comments are usually next to none. I don’t mind. I know they read. That’s what matters.

Much like acting classes and stepping out onto that stage the first time, it got easier.  The hardest parts were those first steps, putting myself out there on the stage of life. As authors we can generate an imaginary character to talk in our blogs, removing our personal fears and emotions, thereby making it easier all around. The Sam that exists in my blog is just a part of my online persona, a very limited edition of the real SamMarie Ashe.

Practice over and over, read them out loud. If your listening audience laughs or tears up, that’s the reaction we seek. And that… is what removes ‘terrifying’ from my blogging list today.

Enjoy blogging, it’s a lot of fun!

 © SamMarie Ashe 2011 All Rights Reserved

Pass Me My Osterizer!

SamMarie Ashe here... I love blended genres. I love to read blended genre romances. I love to write blended genre romances.

But what, exactly, is a blended genre?  Exactly what it sounds like.

Take a pinch of contemporary, a dash of paranormal, a healthy dose of romance, throw in a little suspense, turn on the Osterizer, and there you have a contemporary paranormal romantic suspense. What a mouthful. But by the right author, it is oh so delicious!

Here are several of my favorite genre-blending authors and some of their specific published series:

• Deborah Cooke – contemporary paranormal (Dragonfire series).

• Brenda Joyce – contemporary paranormal with elements of historical and time travel (Masters of Time series). She also writes many historical romances.
  
• Linda Howard – one of my top favorite authors, she is usually shelved in the romance section. But lately many of her books are labeled “a novel” and are closer to romantic suspense. She has written several contemporary paranormal romances as well as many regular romances (historical and contemporary).

• Katie McAlister – multiple genres within romance, from paranormal (vampires in The Dark Ones series to dragon shifters in the Aisling Grey series) to historical to contemporary. She’s quite prolific, crossing genres and blending two or three very well. The Aisling Grey series are more akin to urban fantasy blended with romantic suspense.

• Gena Showalter – Another prolific author like Katie, she writes contemporary paranormal (Atlantis series and the Lords of the Underworld series) to urban fantasy (Alien Huntress series) to regular contemporary romance. 

• Elizabeth Amber – Historical paranormal erotica (Lords of Satyr series). Definitely not for the timid reader.

My point is that any genre within romance can be blended with any other successfully. The key is balance, but write the story you want to write. Blend it the way you want. More and more authors are doing just that, and they are lumped into “paranormal” or “romance” or “historical” because the blended genre is an ever-evolving recipe with no limits.

I love writing paranormal romance where I have the freedom to make up another world, another culture, another creature. Paranormal does not mean vampires and werewolves. It only means it is something beyond normal explanation. As writers we create that explanation, and blend it with another genre to make our own distinct style. Just the nature of writing a paranormal romance is a blended genre of Sci-Fi (or Fantasy) and Romance, isn’t it?

Thanks for reading! Now to find some ice and berries for a blended smoothie…

© SamMarie Ashe 2011 All Rights Reserved

The Art of Writing (and Living)

As individual as people are, so are the ways that writing and living as a writer are different from author to author. What works for me may work for others, it may not. I like to think of this as my own personal recipe. It starts with a to-do list, as you can guess from the picture above.

I like to work at home with the television or music on low, it is less distraction than complete and utter silence. I also write well in a busy environment like a coffee shop or cafe, as long as no one is reading over my shoulder. (I have never liked anyone reading my extremely-rough drafts right out of my fingertips.) Outdoor in my backyard under the umbrella is a great place if the weather is cooperating, for I find I can and do write just about anywhere. Sometimes the wildlife brings with it inspiration, and that is priceless. And sometimes in complete and utter silence.

Thankfully there is only one writer in this household, but that does not necessarily make it any easier or harder. It just is. I do not have daily input in person from another writer vying for attention on their work-in-process, nor do I have an on-demand reader of my daily drafts. I work with writers elsewhere to critique, brainstorm, plot, or whatever tasks that need our combined attention. Writing communities are everywhere – online, user groups, conferences, group blogs (like this one!) and writing chapters. Balancing my time with these communities, giving of my time and efforts, seeing them blossom and grow, is one of the best things to experience. Along with the wildlife in my backyard. *grin*

The key is the balance in time. Spending a portion of time in a community, a portion doing routine daily life tasks, and a portion in the construction of my next story is a balance I try to achieve every day through the use of a daily to-do list. But not only a “to-do list”, but a “done list” as well. It is important to me to see progress, as items crossed off and accomplished bring with it the satisfaction that I am moving forward.

Whatever you do to make yourself grow, learn, contribute, and write, do it. Everyone is different – your personal recipe will be just that. Yours.

© SamMarie Ashe 2011 All Rights Reserved

Character Character Character

I often hear “Oh… you should use them for a character in your next book!” or “She’s so funny, she’d be perfect in your next story!”

The only problem is, that is impossible. To use one person intact wouldn't work, at least for me. I'm an observer and I love to people-watch. I collect data in little tidbits constantly, filing them away for later use. My characters are an amalgam of far more than one hundred people, and on any given day I hear tidbits of conversations or accents, observe quirks or mannerisms, or note someone’s unusual style of walk or clothing. These tidbits will end up as one amalgamated character and in that character is someone people can hopefully connect to and feel their emotions as the story evolves.

Many tidbits are used, many are not.

What is a contemporary paranormal romance writer?

You know you’re a contemporary paranormal romance writer when…

…several of your A.N.G.E.L.s follow you around the grocery store, advising you on the best things to purchase and you have to refrain from answering them out loud for fear you will be banned from Super Wal-Mart forever;

…you hear one of your A.N.G.E.L.s singing a soft lullaby for you at night and dream of them all night long, waking rested and loaded with tons of new story ideas;

…you talk aloud to your characters on a road trip because you know they are there in the car with you;

…and you hear them answer.

This is how it is with my characters. They live and breathe not only in my head, but by my side wherever I go.  My A.N.G.E.L.s are quite secular, so occasionally they cuss along with me when something goes wrong but I know they’re around so everything will be okay.

My A.N.G.E.L. stories could be classified as romantic suspense if it weren’t for the paranormal aspect.  I like to think of that aspect as an alternate world that exists alongside ours, a what-if that could happen, but we don’t really know for sure that it has not.

 © SamMarie Ashe 2011 All Rights Reserved