In honor of today being Veteran’s Day, I’m giving away one paperback copy of the hot new anthology Seal of My Dreams. Eighteen top romance authors spin stories of the Navy SEALs, with all proceeds going to the Veterans Research Corporation, a nonprofit organization. Just leave a comment sharing one thing you appreciate about our military men and women then I will do a random drawing after midnight tonight to select the winner, which I will announce tomorrow.

If you can’t wait, the book is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bell Bridge.

One thing I always appreciate about the members of our armed forces is their willingness to go in harm’s way to protect and defend the rest of us. They do the hard things necessary to keep our country safe.  Here’s my squared away Marine, right after boot camp many years ago:

Best wishes to all active duty service members, the veterans and the families! Please feel free to leave a comment and enter the giveaway!

So here’s this week’s fun item – a salt & pepper set we found at Goodwill one day. We call her Cleocatra. Reminds me of the Sesame Street song  where they did “C is for Cookie” Ancient Egyptian Style!

I’ve been asked to explain about the Lego Diet. First of all, DO NOT EAT THEM! LOL. That would probably be a quick way to disaster, never mind dieting. But in our house there are three of us who diet off and on, and exercise religiously (except for when we don’t). We also love lego kits. So a few years ago we decided that we’d each get a nifty lego kit to assemble and then we get one lego a day for meeting our diet goal and one for doing our exercise. No cheating! If we’ve been really bad (too many Halloween candies maybe) we might even take a lego back off the structure – oh no! I’m currently doing a Prince of Persia set:

I know, not too exciting as yet. (Although I did just complete the tricky trap door.) I have it positioned on a shelf where I see it as I do my trusty exercycle and it’s just  a fun little inspiration. Here’s what the set WILL look like when I have triumphed for enough days:

And then I’ll move on to another set. I just got a Mars rover that I’m anxious to build. So there you have it in a nutshell – the Lego Diet!

From Warrior of the Nile, currently out on submission

(Khenet, a warrior of  ancient Egypt, is assigned by Pharaoh to journey down the Nile as bodyguard to Tiya, a noblewoman who has been selected by the goddess Nepthys to help her put a stop to black magic threatening all Egypt.  Tiya is to die in the attempt and Khenet will also perish.)  Nepthys is most displeased to find that Khenet has fallen in love with Tiya:

“You tread on dangerous ground in your desires, warrior.”

Khenet’s eyes watered and his chest tightened further. The image of Nepthys wavered and became Tiya, but the eyes fixed on his were the endless black onyx orbs of the Great One.

Reaching up with her free hand, Nepthys broke the chain of the tiny necklace adorning Tiya’s slender neck, throwing the adornment in his face. Reflexively, Khenet caught his humble gift before the beads could shatter on the deck. “Don’t forget your place,” the goddess admonished harshly.

Go to http://sixsunday.com/ to see all the other great excerpts!

Really love my latest pair of vintage 1980’s Banana Bob earrings – had to share – MERMAIDS!

People ask me where I write. Truth be told, I’m constantly plotting and thinking and jotting down notes on handy scraps of paper but when I write I’m here at my desk, pounding away on the laptop. And I do pound the poor keys – learned to type at age 7 on an old Royal typewriter with keys that actually rose up and struck the paper. (Bought for me second hand by my Dad, I’m not that  antiquated!)

The desk was my great grandmother’s. It’s over 100 years old, made of rosewood (I’ve been told – not an expert on woods), has a drop front and hidden pigeon hole cubbies. I still have the key!  We used to have a family photo of her posed at this very desk, writing a letter. I wish I still had that picture but alas, no one seems to have kept the right photo album. When I was given the desk by my grandfather, there were two old Civil War tintype photos tucked in the locked drawer. No one knows who the gentlemen are but I’ve kept them safe in the drawer because obviously they had great meaning to her. Probably a story there!

The desk was literally falling apart by the time I came to own it. My late mother-in-law’s best friend did furniture restoration and as a wedding present for me, she had the desk completely taken apart, refurbished and put back together to last another 100 years.

I’m pretty sure I’m a little more light hearted than my great grandmother was and I keep an ever changing assortment of knick knacks  on the desktop to keep me company, bring a smile, dillydally with when I should be writing. As you can see, I have quite the Egyptian theme going at the moment, topped by a framed copy of the fabulous Priestess of the Nile cover. (Which started out entitled Song of the Nile but that’s a long story…)

You have to love the Bunnykins Tuthankhamun and his Queen  Ankhesenamun! And my fierce  Papo crocodile warrior – I keep his twin on my desk at the day job for good luck. And the chariot…and the pharaoh…ok, I obviously never grew up all the way. And no, I don’t dust much.

I need an ergonomic chair though – great grandmother didn’t have that problem!

So where do you do your best writing?  Do you indulge in knickknacks with special significance or do you keep your writing space clear of distractions?

A friend is someone who can sing you the song of your heart when you’ve forgotten it.

-Anonymous