‘Tis the season for buying gifts, and books are among the best gifts out there! (So sayeth the book lover). If you go on Amazon (which got its start as an online bookseller back in 1994) and look for best-selling book suggestions, you’ll see something like this: But what did readers – and those…
Welcome to Watercooler Wednesday, where the water is above-average, the topics are bubbly, and the company is sparkling. Today’s topic: Writer Weirdness Writers and the writing process have been on my mind lately, with National Novel Writing month now upon us. Many of my writer friends are participating, challenging themselves to write 50K words (the…
Happy Halloween, everyone! In our neck of the woods, the trees are getting really pretty, there’s a nip in the air, and I’m scouring Pinterest for decor ideas and recipes to enhance the Halloween fun here at Casa Owen. Our cat Tora is starting to snuggle on my lap for longer stretches of time as…
Welcome to another installment of “Where my research takes me,” an eclectic mix of cool historical tidbits I’ve uncovered in the process of my book researches. Enjoy! 1. “From the Ballroom to Hell.” That’s one way to get a sermon written up in the newspaper: load it with fire and brimstone. *from The San…
Mother’s Day is coming! (Why do I see a few shocked faces out there? Better get cracking). In honor of the occasion, I’ve created a little infographic of Top Ten Things Moms Say (translations included). What favorite Mom-isms have you heard (or said)? I’d love to hear from you! By the way, here’s…
I was shopping for something on Amazon last week (I can’t remember what, but oh well, it will be a fun surprise when it arrives) and ran across the “Bic for Her” pen. I’d seen Ellen DeGeneres’s hilarious riff on the product and thought I’d check out the Amazon reviews, since it’s such a mock-worthy…
…or “Fasnacht” Day, an old Pennsylvania Dutch tradition. It’s celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday, on the same day as Fat Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras. A fasnacht is a pastry deep-fried in lard, similar to a donut, often dusted with sugar. The fasnacht tradition has merged with the Polish paczki (a donut filled with jelly that…
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Valentine’s Day is coming up. Yep, the holiday that keeps the greeting card, flower, and chocolate industries afloat until Mother’s Day. Usually the gifts are simple: chocolates, cards, flowers…maybe a diamond? But what about the special mystery lover in your life? The usual offerings just…
