I Need To Do A Book Video

But how do I compete with this?? Does anyone have a horse I can borrow?

Tasteful Nudes by Dave Hill: The Incredible Music Video - watch more funny videos

Cute Cat Video

This is very amusing even if you're not a cat lover. About 20 seconds is all you need to watch because nothing else happens, but check it out.

How to Pre-Order Your Copy of What More Could You Wish For

It's easy! You can order a print or Kindle copy online at Amazon.com or Barnes&Noble, or click on the IndieNext logo to find an independent book seller near you.
Simple, right?

Cookies to Die For. And Easy.

Okay, these are so delicious and the easiest damn cookies ever. But there's a catch. 

See that picture, how pretty they look? Well mine don't look like that and I should have taken a picture when they came out of the oven because it was like an asphalt road of lace cookies. Here's the thing…when you're putting them on the cookie sheets make them really tiny, even smaller than you think you should, and be sure to place them reeeeeaaaally far apart because they spread like a son-of-a-bitch.

So mine don't look beautiful but if you tried one you WOULD NOT CARE. They are heavenly.

Make them. Now.

Chocolate and Coconut Lace Cookies 

• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sweetened, flaked coconut
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 (4-ounce) bar bittersweet (62 percent cacao) chocolate, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, coconut, melted butter, flour, vanilla, and salt.

Using a 1/2-ounce cookie scoop or a tablespoon, scoop 6 balls of dough, 3 to 4 inches apart, on each baking sheet. Lightly flatten the tops of the dough. Cook until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the parchment paper, about 15 minutes.

Place the chocolate in a bowl and place over a pan of barely simmering water. (I melted the chocolate in the microwave - just be sure not to over-do it.) Stir until the chocolate has melted. Using a fork, (a spoon works better) drizzle the tops of the cookies with the melted chocolate. Freeze the cookies until the chocolate has set, about 5 minutes. Remove the cookies from the freezer and store in an airtight container at room temperature. Cook's Note: If the cookies have baked into one another use a knife or metal spatula to separate the cookies (this is a joke - make them tiny and avoid trying to separate them).  Then allow to cool.

A Mug of Chocolate Cake??

I haven't made this yet but I couldn't help sharing it because the picture is so beautiful and it looks so easy. It's for those days when you HAVE TO HAVE something sweet (most days, for me) and there's nothing in the house.
It's chocolate cake for one, done in a microwave, for pete's sake!
Try it. Let me know how it is. Or better yet, I'LL make it and let YOU know!
And check out the great blog: SomeKitchenStories where I found it.

Some favorite writing quotes

• The road to hell is paved with adverbs. --Stephen King
• Reading is a means of thinking with another person's mind; it forces you to stretch your own. -- Charles Scribner, Jr.
• Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. --Benjamin Franklin
• Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.--E. L. Doctorow
• There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. --Somerset Maugham

The Dream Keeps Getting Better

Remember the final scene of Bob Newhart's show where he woke up in bed with his wife from the original program (Suzanne Pleshette) and it's revealed that the whole show, 7 or 8 seasons, had been a dream?
Sometimes I feel like that's what's happening and I'm going to wake up from this dream. Jeez, I hope not.
My dream came true last year when St. Martin's Press bought my book, and it just keeps getting better. Yesterday my editor told me they sold the German rights - before the book's even published! It'll take a while for it to be translated into German but in about a year I'll see the German version of What More Could You Wish For (can anybody translate that?).
So that means I'll be an internationally published author. Oh my god. See what I mean about the dream?
I feel like a rock star.
Please don't wake me up.