Dear Readers!

Busy Week!

2009-07-08T17:24:00.002-04:00

I'm a little late with this week's post...but for good reason. My niece is getting married this weekend. That requires a pedicure, a trip to the beautician, and the dentist. Toss in a mamogram and an MRI, and a book that's due August 1 and I've been a bit busy.

But on top of all of that is preparation for RWA Nationals. I leave the Tuesday after Carissa's wedding. This year the event is held in DC, which is close enough to drive so though I'm leaving the same day that I normally leave, Tuesday, I'm not leaving at 4:00 a.m. which is the time I typically have to leave for Nationals.

Plus, I can't go away for five days without some new clothes. Then I have to pack and create a schedule in Excel. Packing will be a frantic endeavor on Tuesday morning. Shopping is ongoing until the very second I leave...and even then I may stop at the mall. But the schedule...that's a work of art.

First are the emails. I email friends to see if they're going. I get emails from friend asking if I'm going. Lunches and dinners are planned. The London editors have a cockatail party for their authors...and a lunch. I've been invited to participate in a focus group. I'm signing books at the Harlequin "publisher" signing on Friday morning. Plus, I belong to a group which has both an Annual General Meeting dinner and a party called Death by Chocolate...Can't miss that!

Most of the publisher events come with a room assignment and a time. But for the breakfasts, lunches and dinners with friends, I'll need a cell phone number and a date and time.

You can see the need for a spreadsheet.

So you won't hear from me at all this week, but look for me July 20th, when I hope to have a condensed rundown of the fun I had!

susan
MAID IN MONTANA...Still available at eHarlequin and Amazon.com.

Dieting on Vacation

2009-06-29T12:08:00.000-04:00

My niece's wedding is two weeks away. So last week, when I had a whopping three weeks, I decided to go back on Weight Watchers Points. In a perfect world, I would lose all 25 of the pounds I gained because of a bum knee. In a semi-perfect world, I'd lose 10. In this weird world we live in I'm shooting for seven. Seven pounds, three weeks. It didn't sound so hard. In fact, Monday was a breeze.

Tuesday my husband took me to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Staring at the menu filled with things that made my mouth water I realized I had a choice, give in, eat like a fool and start again tomorrow. Or order something realistic. (Realistic being a sketchy word.)

Anyway, just as I was about to succumb to temptation, I remembered that we were going to Gettysburg the following weekend. Was I going to quit every time something special happened? If I was, I certainly wouldn't hit my goal of seven pounds. And if I continued to indulge myself every time we got in the car and drove anywhere that served food, I'd soon be buying my clothes from Omar the Tentmaker.

So...last Tuesday morning, I took the plunge. I said, "You're not going to be a wuss anymore. You are going to do this."

It was actually very easy to order an egg and a biscuit and drink black coffee while my husband ate gritts, several eggs, biscuits, bacon, ham, and baked apples. (When I say easy, I actually mean possible.)

But we soon found ourselves in the golf store (he needed new golf shoes) and breakfast was quickly forgotten. With this success under my belt, I raced home and plotted my strategy for the trip to Gettysburg. I looked up our usual restaurant haunts online and found meals on the menus that I could eat without breaking my WW points bank. Then I planned what I'd order in the small mom and pop restaurants that don't have websites and menus online.

I also made some rules or guides for myself for traveling while trying to lose weight...or even trying to stay the same.

1. Go online and review the menus for the restaurants you know you'll frequent while you are away. If you're going to a new destination (Ocean City this year instead of Virginia Beach) find a website for your destination, see what restaurants are available...see if they have online menus. If they do, you're in luck!

2. Choose a few meals and figure out the calories, Points, or carbs...diet dependent. Eventually, you'll find something you can order and if you can't...at least you'll know what you are getting into! If you figure the Points for a meal at 25 and your total allotment of points for the day is 25, you have a choice. Eat only that one meal...Or be smart and eat half.

3. If you have determined that certain meals work for your diet DON'T LOOK AT THE MENU. Stick to the meal choices you've already made. Don't tempt yourself!

4. Take salad, fruit, diet bread, reduced fat peanut butter. If you're staying at a beach house, you'll have a fridge. Already made salad is better for lunch than the burgers or pizza your family will buy. Don't worry about feeling deprived. Feel smart. Feel empowered! Think of your heart, your arteries, that new black dress you bought!

5. Take a container of low fat Coffeemate. Most restaurants have cream. Don't drink your calories in a few cups of coffee! Get the low fat Coffeemate (and a big purse). Or get a small purse-size container of Coffeemate.

6. Focus on your goal. Do you need to fit into a new dress for a wedding, as I do? Do you need to get back into your skinny jeans? Are you fearful that your next shopping trip will be to a tent maker? Scare yourself! Motivate yourself!

...

So...

How did I do on my weekend trip to Gettysburg. Good and bad. I stuck with all of my pre-choices. Unfortunately, I made a "whopper" of a mistake. I misread the Weight Watchers points guide and thought Whopper Juniors had only six points (which is the number of points in a "small" fast food hamburger in the guide). Turns out Whopper Juniors are in a class by themselves and have 10 points! So I went over my points by 4 on two days.

Now, this doesn't mean I gained weight. I simply didn't lose. But, after a mini-vacation, I'll settle for not gaining! LOL

Enjoy the week!

susan meier
MAID IN MONTANA, still available!

Multi-Tasking

2009-06-22T14:18:00.007-04:00

I do my best writing while also doing the laundry. I don't know. Maybe it's the sound of the washer? The hum of the dryer? The scent of fabric softener? Or maybe it's that women are built to multi-task.

If my husband is making a sandwich, even if he's finishing up, setting the top slice of bread into place, he can't talk. He's deliberately mute. Focused and on point with his bread and cold cuts. Talking and cooking don't work for him. But I can't make a sandwich without also washing the dishes or chatting with the kids, filling a glass with milk or talking on the phone. Because women are multi-taskers!

When I realized that, my writing life became a lot easier!

Many times when writers tell me they have writers block or they can't seem to come up with the next chapter or plot point or interesting scene, I ask them what 'else' they're doing as they write. Most think I'm being critical of their focus, accusing them of letting their minds wander. In truth, I'm trying to show them that sitting down, staring at a computer screen isn't what most of us were made to do and that's why we aren't very good at it!

Ask my husband how many times I've written a new scene on our church envelope and then had to take it home with me and sheepishly drive the money to the rectory the next morning!

How many times have you been at a movie, reading someone else's book, showering, driving, cooking, attending a child's ball game (or ballet recital), singing happy birthday, chatting with a neighbor, cleaning a toilet. . .and had the perfect idea come to you?

Probably lots! LOL

Because we're not made to sit and stare at a screen. We get our ideas from living life.

This actually takes me to my two points for this blog. First, never leave home without a pen and paper. Trust me. It's incredibly embarrassing to have to explain to your pastor that you are handing him cold hard cash without a church envelope because you scribbled all over it during his sermon. He will not be amused.

Second, get out and live life. Seriously. Silence may be golden and we may actually need silence to get the words on paper (or screen). . .but you're not going to find the answer to anything staring at the blue and white screen in Word.

You need to watch kids play. See the very old interact. Watch a new mom with her baby. Study the color of the sky. Observe a mailman on a familiar route. Scrutinize lovers. Watch a gaggle of teens. Oh, dear heaven, do watch teens! They virtually speak another language and they are so up on technology they will force you to either keep up or die! Star Trek has nothing on teens when it comes to boldly going where no one has gone before! If you want to get up to date on anything. . .just interact with a teen!

So watch people, but then listen. Eavesdrop on conversations. (Carefully and with discretion.) Listen to sales clerks in stores, parents disciplining kids, married couples making decisions or talking about their days. Listen. That's how you learn.

Many years ago, I attended my first conference with two authors who were already published. Sitting in the restaurant dinning room on Saturday night, the one author pointed around us at the tables, most of which were filled with multi-published authors. She said, "What do all these women have in common?" My friend said, "They're all published." I (being young at the time and very stupid about how short of a time span youth is) said, "They're all old!"

I can laugh now...at the time I was rewarded with a cross look and a scathing tone when my mentor said, "They're all over forty. They've got some life under their belts. They've learned some lessons. They have something to say. That's why they're writing the bestsellers."

Yeah. That about sums it up.

But you don't have to be over forty to have something to say. Simple life experiences of winning and losing will teach you lessons worthy of being shared. So will secondhand knowledge of someone else's pain, heartache or joy. (Watching a friend or loved one go through a life trauma. . .even something as simple as getting his or her insurance company to pay for damages in a fender-bender can teach you a great deal about life!)

More than that, life experience isn't merely about having good lessons for your heroes or heroines to learn in your books. The things you see and experience are also fodder for scenes, character, stories.

Mining your real life for sad, funny, infuriating situations is the best way to come up with scenes and chapters that resonate with real people!

That's not to say that you copy events. That could get you sued. It's the underlying core emotion of the experience that resonates. Names and details can be changed if the emotion rings true!

So today, instead of sitting at your computer angry with yourself because you can't pull something out of thin air, get up, go outside, peek at your neighbors (discreetly). . .Better yet, talk to your neighbors. See what's going on in the world around you. Look for emotions behind actions - - the stuff that connects your make-believe people to readers.

Your story will probably be richer for it!

susan

Good News!

2009-06-14T20:16:00.003-04:00

Just got "the" call from the More Than Magic Contest coordinator...

HER BABY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS

Tied for first place in the traditional category!

Sprinkle, anyone?

2009-06-14T08:05:00.003-04:00

Easter week for my family was our last peaceful week. After that, we hit the ground running with weddings, showers, graduations, ballet recitals, T-ball, Little League, birthdays (my own included), mother's day, father's day and prom. With eleven kids in my family and thirty-something nieces and nephews and ten or so great-nieces and nephews there's always something to do.

This year we added a little something special, though. My mom's been saving for years to remodel her bathrooms. Several thousand dollars later, she finally has two wonderful new bathrooms.

And no money for new accessories and towels! LOL

At my niece Carissa's bridal shower we got to thinking that it would be a good idea to throw my mother a sprinkle for her bathrooms. Not as big or elaborate as a full-fledged 'shower' a sprinkle would have just enough invitees to get the new towels, toothbrush holders, fuzzy rugs and wall art to complete her new bathrooms.

A few days later (at my niece Lea's graduation party) we counted out how many people we had to invite (sisters, sisters-in-law and nieces), and how few things a person really needs for a bathroom and we realized we had more people than gifts.

So we did what any red-blooded American family would. We decided to go to Bed, Bath and Beyond together on Tuesday night. . .Oh, wait, Laura works on Tuesday nights, let's make it Wednesday. . .and buy all the things my mom would need and then split the cost.

We chose Johnstown, and, at niece Madeline's ballet recital, realized that we had to make that Altoona because Mary and Jessica would be working that day and they could meet us after work if we went to Altoona.

In group email on Monday morning, we realized we couldn't shop on empty stomachs. So a visit to Chilli's was planned for before we hit the stores.

At the last minute on Wednesday, two of my sisters couldn't come along but two of my nieces joined us (probably for the margaritas).

While we ate, we discussed who would bring what food for the sprinkle. (Please. You are not getting eighteen adult women together to give gifts without serving pie. Or cake. My youngest sister Tammy makes cakes that will make you weep and thank your maker.)

I was assigned wine. I cannot cook. So I daily thank God that there is a need for drinks and plastic silverware at parties. Otherwise, I'd have to hang my head in shame.

After some jumbo margaritas we trooped into the first store. As usually happens with normal women, we spent the time in the first store negotiating our tastes.
Unfortunately, even though we had a clear picture of what we wanted, the second store didn't have it.

Store number three was actually a bridal shop. My niece, Carissa, who was with us, is getting married and none of us has a dress. Might as well kill two birds with one stone, right? Wrong. We flipped through racks, lamented weight gain, lamented being too old to wear some of the styles, tried on a few and left without any one of us having bought a dress.

Back on the trail for bathroom supplies, we hit two more stores before finally, finally finding some wonderful things that all seven us of agreed on without a hitch. (It really is possible to find things seven women will like. . .the items simply have to be absolutely gorgeous and well priced!)

In the parking lot we decided that the gifts should be wrapped. Oddly, the bathrooms that didn't need so many things actually needed an entire cart of things. Mirrors, extra toilet paper holders (not to be confused with the actual toilet paper roller by the commode), shower curtains, shower curtain hooks, fancy towels, every day towels, art work, fuzzy rugs, wicker baskets, towel racks, soap dishes, tooth brush holders, soap dispensers, waste baskets. . .and other things I'm sure I'm forgetting.

There was some definite wrapping to be done. So we decided to meet Saturday evening at my at my mother's after my sister Helen took Mom to church. We would drink wine (we certainly couldn't wrap gifts thirsty) and wrap the presents.

Saturday night, while my oldest sister Helen took our unsuspecting mom to church, Laura and Tammy straightened the kitchen while Kate and Carissa (two nieces) and I knelt on the living room floor and wrapped the gifts. Then niece Stephanie arrived with a friend and they joined the wrapping team. My sister Janette and her daughter Mandy arrived and they also wrapped. I looked up at one point and could have sworn I was in Santa's workshop.

The highlight of the wait for mom to return from church was when Tammy's S'mores cake caught on fire in the oven. After my brother Brian beat out the flames with a dishtowel, we pronounced it no worse for the wear, (who doesn't love a good charred marshmallow?) put it back in the oven to finish baking and later served it as if nothing had happened.

When my mother arrived home and saw all the cars in the driveway she thought someone had died and the whole family was there to support her. Imagine her surprise when she realized she was getting new toilet brushes and uber-fancy toilet paper holders.

While she opened her gifts, we ate pie and banana splits, drank wine and ate flambeed S'mores cake.

The next day at Gavin and Owen's birthday party at niece Jessica's house, we debriefed. Everything had been perfect. My mother loved the things we'd chosen. The apple pie was the best we'd had in a long time. White Zinfandel goes with anything.

That evening, I got home, finally put up my feet, seriously ready after the week we'd had to just get some rest, and my calendar fell off the coffee table. As I picked it up, I read. . .Helen's last day of school Monday -- set date for shopping for dress for Carissa's wedding, hair appointment on Tuesday with Laura, sister breakfast on Wednesday, surprise party for Dr. K on Saturday (bring a salad and a dessert).

Yep. It's summer. We've hit the ground running!

susan
(Don't forget MAID IN MONTANA in stores now!)

The Power of a Happy Ending

2009-06-04T10:32:00.004-04:00

MAID IN MONTANA is now available on Amazon and should be in bookstores over the next few days. Monday is the official release date, but some stores will get it earlier. This is my thirty-eighth or thirty-ninth book. . .I'd have to go to my book list and count to know for sure and . . . well, it's just too early in the day to do math.

The release of an author's first book is such a cause for celebration that actual money is spent on champagne and parties. (I just remembered, my fortieth will be released in November...so this must be 39!) But thirty-ninth books are sadly ignored.

But that would be a real shame in the case of MAID IN MONTANA.

Yeah, I know. I wrote the book, so I should feel that way. The truth is I put my whole heart and soul into every book I write. I want readers to come away uplifted and encouraged. Glad to be alive. Hopeful that there is good in the world. Willing to trust again.

That seems like a tall order for a story but that's why I write romance. Every day I see good in the world. I have three kids who aren't turning out too badly. Mikie has health issues, but we have two fabulous doctors - our family doctor and Mikie's neurologist - who keep him healthy.

My husband is...I genuinely believe...the best husband in the world!

I have six great sisters and four great brothers. My sisters-in-law are like friends. They've been the mothers of nieces and nephews I adore. My sisters are my friends. We shop, drink margaritas, plan parties, host parties. . .never thinking about the cost or the food because we all know that we'll chip in. Our goal is to see our children's graduations celebrated, weddings be picture perfect, birthdays acknowledged.

We have wonderful neighbors with three adorable little boys who will someday play football in our combined back yards.

My editors are knowledgeable, thoughtful women. If they didn't live "across the pond" I'd visit them. If they lived in my town, they'd probably be my friends.

You're probably thinking, "Oh, yeah, lady, you can say that because your life sounds easy." Go back up a few paragraphs. My son has had serious health issues his entire life. My mother had a major heart attack that precludes her from doing a lot of the things she loves. In my early years as a wife and mother, money was tight! So tight I once debated buying a $2 box of generic cookies.

And right now, I don't have a stairway. . .well, I have the stairs, just no banister! LOL My entire house needs to be remodeled because it's over twenty years old but with our recent recession woes, that's probably not going to happen.

But we have a roof over our heads, food to eat, and good company. . solid, trustworthy companionship.

And that's what I try to write about in my books. Life isn't about finding a rich hero (though that has its merit!). It's about seeing the people in your life for who they really are. Inside. When we take the time to really love the people around us, nine chances out of ten our vision of the world will change.

And maybe, just maybe, we'll become easier to love ourselves.

So read MAID IN MONTANA. See how a even a cranky rancher can become a better man when he stops long enough on life's trail to help a single mom.

susan
MAID IN MONTANA, 6/09

Pennwriters Conference

2009-05-24T16:30:00.003-04:00

This year's Pennwriters conference is now a memory, but what a great memory it was! Many kudos to Annette Dashofy, conference coordinator!

It was a wonderful weekend filled with time spent with my Pennwriter friends and also editor Esi Sogah from Avon, Lucienne Diver from the Knight Literary Agency, Colleen Lindsay of FinePrint Literary Agency, Paige Wheeler of Folio Literary Management, and Becca Stumpf from Prospect Agency.

Best-selling author, Lisa Scottoline was the keynote speaker. She had us rolling with laughter, as she inspired us!

I returned home to the online class I'm teaching and a June 1 deadline! So I'm clicking away at the keys! But I did pause yesterday for my niece Carissa's bridal shower. We had a great time! Jessica and the bridesmaids did an amazing job of decorating the hall, providing baskets for a raffle, and organizing a delicious lunch!

Today I'm back to writing!

Look for another installment of Home Cooking this week.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-11T10:51:00.002-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! It's always such a wonderful day! My husband took me and his mother (and his dad and our son) to dinner at Red Lobster and the shrimp was divine! My two sons got me flowers. My daughter...a true girl!...got me a gift certificate for a pedicure! Sandals, here I come!

Thursday, I'll be on my way to the Pennwriters Conference! That's always exciting. But this year it's especially exciting because we're still playing a breath-taking game of will the conference clothes fit! LOL One of the things no one warns you about when you say "I want to be a writer" is that you'll gain weight! I suppose that little oddity is to balance out all the writer perks, like working at home, working at your own pace, no boss, not having to drive in snow.

But had I known sooner that weight gain was a byproduct of working from home, I would have joined a gym!

I've got my handouts for the two workshops ready to take to Staples to be copied. My cat is already sleeping on my suitcase because she saw me packing non-essentials over the weekend. So we're close!

But whether or not I have to make a trip to JCPenney to buy a suit that fits (lol) I'm still excited. Esi from Avon will be there, along with Lucienne Diver of the Knight Agency. Esi is my friend Deb's editor. Lucienne is her agent. So I know them both and it's always a treat to get to spend time with them!

But before I can go, I have to get some work done on the book due June 1 and a proposal or two.

The countdown also begins for promotion on MAID IN MONTANA. So it's going to be a busy week.

Hope to see some of you at the conference!

susan

Saturday, May 2

2009-05-02T14:56:00.003-04:00

I left my birthday post up a little longer than usual because it was a fun birthday. LOL If you didn't read the birthday post...go back to the post before this and read it. Just to make me happy. LOL

I can't believe it's May. May is one of those happy months when Harlequin authors get their royalty checks. So that part's cool. It's also the month of the Pennwriters Conference. This year the conference is being held in Pittsburgh. The coordinator, Annette, has done a wonderful job of putting it all together, so I'm sure we'll have a great time.

And we're one month away from the release of MAID IN MONTANA...one of my personal favorite books. I noticed that I'm getting a lot of preorders on Amazon, quickly climbing up the top 100 on the Harlequin Romance chart! So thanks to my readers for that!

But, wow, the year sure is going quickly. What makes it even more obvious to me is that last October our porch died. (Long story. Don't ask) We tore it off, anticipating getting it back on in the spring becasue you really can't do that kind of construction in the winter in the mountains in PA. But, here we are jogging toward summer and still I have no porch. It's so odd that my daughter's friend, Mellanie, suggested someone should have gotten me a porch for my birthday! Anyway, Easter is gone. My birthday is a memory and even my tulips are on their dying breaths...and still no porch!

Last week we also experienced one of our family's official rites of spring. It was prom week. Because our family is so big, we always have a niece or nephew (or several) going to prom. Last week it was Andi and Zak. Zak looked adorable in his tux and Andi could only be described as gorgeous!

We all gather in the front yard of the prom-goer, take pictures, get misty over how old the kids are getting, gossip a little and then go home. The whole ritual takes only about fifteen minutes. But it's one of those little things in life that can lift your spirits. If you don't take the time to be with your family for the little things, you miss so much. In fact, because our lives are made up of more little things than big things, if you miss too many little things, you may actually miss most of your life.

So maybe a good goal for this summer would be to spend some time enjoying little things with your family?

That's it for this week. If you're taking my online class on Journey Steps through writersclassesonline...I'll see you in cyberspace.

Or if your going to the Pennwriters conference on the 15th, 16th and 17th, I'll see you there!

susan

Today Is My Birthday

2009-04-22T17:29:00.004-04:00

Today's been an up and down day. Because it's my birthday, I got flowers, cards, emails, presents and lunch out...complete with margarita!

I also got a call from my editor. Normally, that would be cool, but she's leaving on Friday to have her first child next month. That's also pretty cool...LOL...except I'm really going to miss her.

A very important relationship exists between authors and editors. A good editor can keep an author firmly grounded. He or she can spot places in a book that can be made better. They spot themes that can be expanded. They also (thank the Lord) spot mistakes, problems, trouble spots. Suzy was really one of the best editors I'd worked with in my (too many to mentions) years with Harlequin!

I'm really going to miss her for the year she's out enjoying her first child. I wish her lots of luck and can't wait for her to come back! LOL

On a more fun note...I did notice that the pajamas my husband got me for my birthday look a lot like capris and tops. Almost like real clothes. I'm wondering if I've been scaring the mailman again.

We're only a few weeks away from the Pennwriters conference in Pittsburgh and about two months away from the release of MAID IN MONTANA.

Even closer is the May online workshop for Writes Online. I'm teaching Journey Steps Taking the Train To Somewhere. Odd title, good workshop. This class goes beyond the four or five major turning points of a story and talks about what to put "in between" those turning points!

http://www.writersonlineclasses.com/classes.html

That's the addy for more information.

I'm off now ... hopefully, for cake!

susan

A Bit of Today's Homecooking Post

2009-04-14T08:22:00.003-04:00

Today's Homecooking Post is a bit of a departure. Because of the Easter Holiday I went in search of something really special to bake to take to my mother's for our Easter celebration.

Here's a bit of what I wrote on the Homecooking Blog...

I'm not much of a cook. Most of my sisters are. At holidays, we do a smorgasboard. Everybody brings a dish or two. I typically take a salad and a dessert. But imagine...Here I am, sort of unable to cook and my food competes with women who are pros! My mother makes homemade rolls that melt in your mouth and bakes a ham (and sometimes a turkey) for sandwiches. My brother Brian typically makes a huge roast beef (that also melts in your mouth) to be served on my mother's rolls, with delicious gravy.

My sister Helen makes a pasta salad that would make you weep and thank your maker. Tammy is a cake and cookie baker who always comes up with something to die for. My sister Laura is the potato casserol expert. Now, add another six or eight women who all come with an extraordinary dish or two and you understand my dilemma.

Believe me, it's not easy. I've tried bringing Kentucky Fried Chicken and Dunkin Donuts (two of my personal favorite foods) and even they can't compete.

So, I'm always scouring for a recipe that will be good enough to serve alongside my sisters (and brothers!). When I found these cookie bars, I knew I had to try them. And they were a HUGE success. My niece Amy even thought sister Tammy had made them. That's about as good as a compliment gets when it comes to cookies at one of our holidays.

The cookie bars were easy to make and tasted wonderful. So I thank Gretchen Wanek for being so smart and for sharing her recipe and encourage you to go to Pillsbury.com. I've found several wonderful recipes there!

...

It's not easy being the only uncook in a family of really great cooks. But it keeps me on my toes. I not only search for great recipes; but also I'm not afraid to experiment for you. So for those of you who love new/simple recipes, don't miss the homecooking blog. I only started it a few weeks ago, so at this point we only have 3 recipes up. But imagine what this thing will be like in a few months!

Easter was great. Except that the bottoms of my dinner rolls were a tad doughy and so was my cherry pie. Sigh. I typically make holiday dinner for my husband and children and my husband's parents, all of whom are too polite to say, "Wow, what the heck happened to these soggy rolls!"

I also bought too much candy. I like to have enough on hand for company and for my kids who don't normally eat a lot of candy. We get them a solid chocolate bunny from Gardeners Candies (fabulous candy! This is also the factory I toured as research for my November release...THE MAGIC OF A FAMILY CHRISTMAS...which takes place at a candy factory). But I also have lots of other candy "on hand". Now it's Tuesday and all that candy is beginning to tempt me beyond reason. Is there a law that says you cannot toss perfectly good candy in the trash? If I freeze it, will it sabotage my diet?

I don't know. But I do know that I went mother-of-the-bride dress hunting with my sister yesterday and I got my eyes opened about how hard it is to find one of these dresses. Diana is lucky! She has a great figure and looked wonderful in everything she tried on. As it stands now, with my extra twenty pounds (er...thirty) I'd have about two choices and both of those wouldn't be pretty!

So maybe it was no coincidence that I went mother-of-the-bride dress shopping the same week I'd have a basket full of candy...Hum.

susan

Gardening!

2009-04-06T16:06:00.002-04:00

This weekend, my husband and I traveled to Gettysburg. His sister and her husband now live there. So a few times a year we visit. Mostly because we like to play golf. On Sunday it was a balmy sixty-five. Monday we returned home to cold rain and the possibility of snow.

Somehow that doesn't seem fair!

Aside from basking in the sun, we noticed all the blooming things on my sister-in-law's side of the state. I got very excited because this means it is time for me to buy my tomato plants.

Anyone who knows me knows I love all things tomato. I especially love fresh tomatoes. So a few years ago I began experimenting with growing my own. The first year I gave all my tomatoes names and then couldn't eat them when they finally ripened. Who could eat a Fred or George? Especially since they were sad looking tomatoes -- thin and lopsided -- who didn't deserve ... well, to be chopped up and put into a salad.

Last year, I put only one tomato plant in each pot. (These are huge pots I have on my back deck...they double as decorations.) Anyway, with only one tomato plant to a pot, my plants grew quickly. Tomatoes immediately sprouted. Unfortuntely, they weren't red. They were ... gold. I don't know why, but this particular tomato lover was not interested in a tomato the color of squash.

So this year, I have to be more careful. There will still be only one plant per pot, but this year I'll check the tomato type. I'm looking for big red tomatoes.

If anybody has the name of a brand, I'd appreciate it!

I'd actually like to eat one of the tomatoes I grow.

Today is my son's birthday. I won't tell you his age; he'd kill me. He doesn't really like me talking about him too much online. LOL But suffice to say I'm happy to be getting dinner out tonight.

I'm thinking I'll get a big salad. Probably all that talk of tomatoes!

Only about eight weeks until MAID IN MONTANA is released. It's a great beach read!

susan

Book In A Month

2009-04-01T15:24:00.004-04:00

My editor doesn't often ask me to write quickly. She's been very good about giving me plenty of time to work on all my projects. But in order to accomplish all of our goals this year, I found myself needing to write a book in a month.

At first, I panicked. I was out of practice with writing quickly. But once I chilled out I set weekly page goals for both drafting and editing and suddenly I had a finished product in my hands.

I'd like to take credit for that. I'd LOVE to say being organized saved the day, but the truth was these two characters ran away with this story.

Liz and Cain had been married before. Three weeks after they eloped, Cain's brother had been killed when someone hit the car Cain was driving. He not only lost his brother; he had a boatload of guilt to deal with. Liz tried to hang in with him, but when she miscarried their baby she needed support he couldn't give.

Fast forward three years and Liz suddenly finds herself working as his MAID! In his grief, he threw himself into work and became incredibly successful. She's fairly successful herself. She owns the maid service his personal assistant hired for him, but Cain doesn't know that. Sparks fly when he admits he feels sorry for her! LOL

And I'm not just talking about angry sparks. These two had sexual chemistry like nothing I'd seen before.

It was an absolute joy to write the book. Which is one of the best things a writer gets to say!

susan

Back from Pasic!

2009-03-22T19:14:00.004-04:00

I just returned from the Pasic (published authors special interest chapter of RWA) which was held in New York City!

Who doesn't love a trip to New York City?

The Pasic conference itself was wonderful. There's nothing like spending three days with a room full of industry professionals. I loved sharing stories of both the good times and bad! I met some wonderful, wonderful authors, had some fabulous dinners and talked until all hours. Something I haven't done in ... well, about a decade! LOL

I came home to a sulking cat. My poor Sophia felt abandoned. My husband tried feeding her tuna this afternoon to lift her spirits as she awaited me, but nothing made her happy. I was home at least an hour, had distributed the T-shirts and purses I'd bought for my daughter and two sons, before she would even let me pet her. She seems fine now, but she'll be sleeping in my suitcase for the next few weeks. I think it's her way of saying...if you're going again, I'm going with you! LOL

My next trip is to the fabulous Pennwriters Conference in May. This conference is held in Pittsburgh at a hotel near the airport, which, of course, is just off a major highway, so it's very easy to find.

My workshops are STORY, THEME AND IDEA, a fun, hands-on workshop at which attendees will learn how to craft a simple one-paragraph pitch, and my most popular workshop CAN THIS MANUSCRIPT BE SAVED. CAN THIS MANUSCRIPT BE SAVED condenses everything I've learned in the past 20 or so years into a very concise one-hour workshop, complete with handouts and three "published author" tricks for editing without ruining the parts of your manuscript that are good as they are!

Look for another recipe this week on the HOME COOKING section of the site!

susan

Dear Readers

2009-03-08T18:58:00.007-04:00

My web designer and I are trying something new without my website. We've shifted the Dear Reader letter to my blog.

In all seriousness, forcing me to update the Dear Reader letter on my own is a way to force me to update my blog! LOL Plus, it's a way to keep the Dear Reader letter current and let you know what I'm up to.

This is going to be a great year for me. I have a fairly full schedule of online workshops until October or so (when I Christmas shop in earnest). In a few weeks I will attend my first ever Pasic conference. I'll be at the Pennwriters conference in May and, of course, my two favorite conferences, Nationals in July and New Jersey in October.

I'll be shopping for some new clothes which always thrills me. Not the shopping. The clothes. I'm not much of a shopper, but oh my sweet day I do love the look and feel of a brand new dress or suit. And don't even get me started on new shoes. One of my friends used to call me Conference Barbie. I'm not blonde. I'm not all that cute. And I'll never have a waistline so small it goes against some laws of physics. But you better believe my purse and shoes will match, my underwear will be color coordinated and my finger and toe nails will match my outfit!

But the really great news of the year is that I signed another contract with Harlequin Romance and I'm already working on the first of three books we have planned for 2010! I'm thrilled to be doing two connected books and, if all goes well in deadline world, a Christmas book.

I have a June release, MAID IN MONTANA, that I'm absolutely over the moon about. If you like stories about wounded heroes and genuine heroines determined to work their way out of trouble, this book will touch your heart and make you laugh out loud.

Also, be on the lookout for a new addition to this site called Home Cooking! Last year my family put together a cookbook containing the recipes of my mom and the seven sisters, three sisters-in-law, several nieces, and a few aunts of my immediately family. I'll be posting recipes from this cookbook.

You'll get recipes for such wonderful treats as peroghis, haluski, painted sugar cookies, sesame noodles, and even macaroni salad.

My mother has been praised as one of the best cooks in our region and some of my sisters are definitely following in her footsteps. I hope to have that page up within a few weeks, so get your measuring cups and spatuals ready!

And check back for regular Monday morning posts....

Until next week

susan meier

Back From California

2009-02-17T13:13:00.002-05:00

I'm back! And let me tell you I loved California. I didn't stay long enough to see everything but I did see the Pacific and a lot of the area. What a wonderful state!

I was also very impressed with the OCC chapter. They were warm and friendly to me, as a speaker, but I also saw a wonderful camaraderie among the members!

Today I received hardcover copies of my June release, MAID IN MONTANA! The cover is beautiful. Copies of the Portugese version of ONE MAN AND A BABY also arrived today.

So, it's been a busy day. And it's going to get even busier. I found another recipe on the Pillsbury website. Southwestern Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Roll-Ups. The recipe seems easy enough. I guess if it isn't, we'll be calling the local fire department!

susan

Getting Ready

2009-02-10T15:04:00.003-05:00

This Saturday I'll be speaking for the OCC...Orange County California...RWA chapter. It will be the farthest west I've ever been. Actually, it will be the farthest away from home I've ever been.

That in and of itself would make the trip exciting. But I'm also seeing my friend, Deb Mullins, a former New Jersey Girl who moved to California with her husband Jay. So that makes it doubly exciting.

Of course, I have nothing to wear! LOL And my suitcase needed to be replaced. And I ran out of toothpaste. Today is the day that I ran to Walmart to get all those little things and to the mall for the new suitcase.

I've had my travel arrangements for weeks, and I should check on them but I probably won't until the day before I travel. If anything is changed or wrong with my arrangements, I'll be ... well, in trouble. LOL

So I'm looking forward to meeting the people in the OCC chapter in California! It should be a fun weekend!

susan

Be Willing To Do The Work

2009-01-19T05:02:00.001-05:00

Years ago, I worked for a holding company for supermarket chains. Every summer the company hired interns. And every year, the interns were different. My two favorites were a woman who boldly bossed me around and told me that she intended to be a vice president before she was 28 and a woman who was so eager to learn that she took every project thrown her way and actually taught us a thing or two she'd learned in other internships.

How could two diametrically opposed interns be my favorites? Well, you know the saying. You're either a wonderful example or a dire warning. These two interns embodied that. LOL

I don't even have to follow up on them to realize that the woman who was so happy learning, so interested in our company, so eager to work...is probably successful. Not that I believe she makes tons of money and is president of a company somewhere. This woman didn't need to be a company president to be happy. And what is real success other than being happy in your job, your marriage, your life?

Somehow or another over the decades the theory has wormed its way into our society that success is all about money and titles. But I'd be willing to bet that lots of us know a few unhappy wealthy people. And we probably know even more people with titles like manager, president, owner...even published author... who aren't happy. Lots of published authors don't earn out their advances. Lots of managers are people caught between management and employees. And just because a guy owns a company, that doesn't make him (or his company) successful. He could be a blooming failure!

On the flip side, even someone caught between management and employees could be happy (and therefore a success) if she loves negotiating. If being diplomatic is her forte, then solving the kinds of problems a manager must solve would make this woman's day. She would be happy in her work and, to me, a true success.

To me, finding what you're good at and matching yourself to a job that allows you to do that is the real secret to success. The girl who wanted to be a Vice President by the time she was twenty-eight had absolutely no idea what a vice president did. How could she? Different companies require different things from VPs.

She was after a title and, lured by that, she could have ended up in a job she hated. Worse, in a job she couldn't do. Unless she got lucky, I envision this woman as a failure. Not just because she wasn't clear about her abilities and what she wanted, but because she rarely worked and most often got others to do her work for her.

I titled this blog entry BE WILLING TO DO THE WORK for two reasons. First, before you can be willing to do something you have to know what it is! Before you set a goal to write a novel, start a company, seek a promotion, even raise a child, you should investigate what that job entails!

Second, work can be fun. I love to write. I love to analyze, which makes me a good plotter! (LOL) I also enjoyed being a secretary. I worked many years ago for a female attorney who was fresh out of law school. I had been a legal secretary for many years, so I quickly realized that I could help her become successful. I didn't get any more money. I got a great deal of satisfaction. That job more than any other taught me that if you love what you do, money doesn't matter.

If you choose your job well, it can be your motivation to get up in the morning.

I sometimes wonder if our current fixation with bigger and better houses and cars, boats, luxury vacations, designer labels in our suits, isn't a sign that we're dissatisfied with our job choices. With our daily lives.

I'm not just talking about our jobs. Marriage takes work, parenting takes work, yet the only time we think we should work is at our job. And then we have a negative connotation of the word work.

To me work can be fun, but I'd rather it were rewarding -- satisfying. The same is true with marriage and parenting. Giving up my choice of restaurant so my husband can have his isn't "fun" but it can be satisfying. Tolerating a child who is grounded and deliberately trying to get on my last nerve so I will lose patience and end his or her punishment isn't fun. (Ye Gawds! It certainly isn't fun.) But it can be satisfying...rewarding. Especially if the child learns his/her lesson!

Like the girl who wanted to be a VP (without a clue as to what a VP did) lots of us seek the happiness without understanding the concepts of sacrifice and service. Good parents don't merely keep their kids happy. They spend time with them, punish when necessary (and without flinching) and they teach them concepts...especially about respect and work. Happily married couples defer to each other, respect each other. They don't always demand.

In the end, those of us who do the work are happier. Our lives are fuller. And some of us even get the "rewards" of those who chase only money or status. In fact,I'd be willing to bet that in the end MORE of us who understand the concepts of service and sacrifice, who do the work, enjoy the both the financial rewards and the emotional rewards of a job well done!

susan

Women Rule the World. Installment 2: The story of Joseph.

2009-01-12T15:19:00.004-05:00

One of the ways to become a woman of substance is to survive adversity. Though this isn't intended to be a religious blog, I have to admit that every time something bad happens to me, or every time I face a challenge, I can't help thinking of the story of Joseph from the Bible.

Here's a kid who has a dream that more or less tells him he's going to be great. He's so excited that he tells his dad and his brothers about the dream. This in and of itself might not have been too bad, but he was his father's favorite. He's the guy who got the coat of many colors. After a few years of putting up with his bragging, his being spoiled by their dad, his being oblivious to real life, his brothers snapped and tossed him into a pit.

The original plan was to let him die. One of the brothers talked the others into simply selling him into slavery and telling their dad he died. He's sold into slavery, ends up in Egypt, and is bought by a rich guy who puts him in charge of everything in his house after he proves himself. But in the blink of an eye he's accused of a crime he didn't commit and goes to jail. Basically, he goes to jail twice. In jail, he learns the ways of Egyptians. He develops his skills in math and with people and when his big opportunity comes, he proves himself to the Pharaoh and becomes second in command of a country in which he's technically an alien.

Talk about making lemonade out of lemons. But there are a lot of lessons to be learned from this story. First, after being so horribly treated by his brothers, Joseph grew up quickly. He forgot the dream and no longer had a dad to spoil him, so he grew up. He also realized he didn't merely want to survive, he wanted to thrive. When another person might have been howling up a storm, he used his time to learn the ways of his new country.

The moral of the story to me is bad things happen to good people sometimes; life frequently isn't fair; and sometimes it's the people closest to us who cause our troubles. But if you don't whine, but try to make the best of your circumstances, you can persevere.

Nobody has to toss you into a pit for you to face struggles. Life transitions can throw us into circumstances where we find ourselves scrambling to keep up, scrambling to learn the lay of the new 'land', scrambling to grow into the person we need to be to navigate the new phase of our lives.

I remember struggling as a new wife, and being totally overwhelmed as a new mother. Raising teenagers is scary. Empty nest is lonely. Menopause is downright weird. No matter who you are and how you try to stave off transitions. . .Life comes at you fast. LOL

What normally happens in these transitions is that you shed some things that you considered important from your past and work your way into new roles with new goals. When you get married, for instance, you stop a lot of your girlish ways and begin making a home, learning to live with a partner -- as opposed to your family or a roommate. In a way, you reset your mind from expecting/wanting one group of things to going after the new set of things that fit your new life.

But once your new life is established you don’t stop working. There’ll always be work! But the chaotic situation that started your change will suddenly seem manageable.

Sadly, I've learned from a good many of my younger friends that this is a lesson that doesn't seem to get passed on anymore. Everybody wants to be happy and few of us equate happiness to change.

But it is. Especially if you're at a crossroads or in a new phase of your life.

The next time you find yourself feeling like a calf at a new gate, think of Joseph. Sometimes change is necessary for you to grow.

susan

Woman of Substance

2009-01-05T05:14:00.002-05:00

When I told a few friends and members of my family that I was going to do a blog series "Women Rule the World" I was met with resounding chants of "Right! Women do rule the world!" (Obviously, I'd spoken mainly with women. LOL)

When we think of the word "rule" we think of a king, president or even a CEO or the head of the local VFW Post. And if you continue in that line of thinking, it's not a leap to realize we all "rule" our own kingdoms: our homes, the purview of our jobs, maybe our friend group. But there's more to it than that.

We also rule through example. We teach our children habits (good and bad) by the way we live our lives. We can bring calm to a stormy situation simply by remaining calm. We guide our children, our friends, our co-workers, and many others with advice. And we also guide them when we don't offer advice. Even more important, we guide through example. What others see when they look at us, watch us, wait and see how we handle a good or bad situation.

Most of us don't think of that. We don't pay enough attention to the ripple effect of our lives. As a result many of us go through life in a rather haphazard way. Before you think I'm being critical or judgmental, just let me say I came upon the material for this blog series because I got sick and had an opportunity to really look at my own life and I suddenly saw a lot of wasted space.

The funny part of this is I work hard. I work a lot. So when I say we live our lives haphazardly, I'm not accusing us of being lazy. I'm saying we focus so much on making a living that we don't make a life. Or better said, we focus so much on doing what needs to be done that we don't see that the people around us might not need clean dishes as much as they need a few minutes of our time.

But there's even more to it than that. I got into trouble physically because I had (I am convinced) the world's worst eating habits. I rarely exercised. If you're going to rule your world, and by example impact the lives/health of your children, then you have to start by ruling your own appetite.

If you want to rule your world, teach and mentor your children, impact the bigger world around you, you have to take a long hard look at yourself on several different fronts. So that the message you teach is the message you want to teach!

When I really boiled it all down, wrote and wrote and wrote about what was wrong in my life, then wrote out the opposite... what I wanted to replace what I had, I saw the real bottom line. In order to impact my world the way I wanted to impact it, I was going to have to become a woman of substance.

Wow. Chew on that for a minute. Actually chew on that for a few days. LOL Because that’s lesson 1...What is a woman of substance?

Woman of Substance

Because I write, lots of people assume that I loved to teach lessons in my stories - - or even in workshops like this one. They're right. I have a passion for imparting knowledge. I love to teach so much that at least once a year I teach for free through this blog or through posting a workshop on my website.

But does that make me a woman of substance? Maybe a little, but not completely.

To me, a woman of substance is a woman whose life means something, who's gone through adversity and even if she didn't "win" comes out on the other end stronger, smarter; a woman who supports others and/or out-and-out leads -- despite the cost. A woman who "uses" her life. . .she isn't a spectator. She's part of the solution, albeit only for her own small world of family and friends.

My older sister, Helen, is a woman of substance. She has a passion for people, especially her grandkids, all the nieces and nephews in our family, her brothers and sisters and her friends. She remembers birthdays, asks about college, asks about career choices, remembers the names of boyfriends...No easy feat in a family with nearly 30 nieces and nephews.

My mother is a woman of substance. Not only did she raise eleven kids, many times sacrificing her own needs for the needs of her kids, but also she is active in her church. She makes pizza crusts (and then pizza) for the youth group and helps cook for dinners after funerals. She has friends who have been with her since childhood, because, I believe, I true woman of substance works to keep the important relationships in her life. In spite of her limited income, she gives to charities and friends in need.

If you think about it, giving -- either to friends in need or charities -- is one of the easiest ways to be part of the solution to a lot of people's problems.

So today, I leave you some questions. Do you make a difference? Are you a woman of substance? Do you recognize that others are watching you, looking for an example? Do you realize that this means that sometimes even little things you do impact the world? The future?

Are you ready to take a look at your life, not questioning whether or not you're successful, but trying to ascertain the level of impact you have on those around you?

Can you name a woman of substance or two in your life?

susan

Women Rule the World~Intro

2009-01-01T18:07:00.003-05:00

Women have always ruled the world through the subtle process of example, as mothers, teachers, caring neighbors and just plain people who come into view every time we step outside our front doors. How we look, how we act, how we eat, how we dress, who we love, who we hate, how we express (or choose not to express) our love and/or hate affects the people around us. Teaches them. Impacts them.

We listen to official leaders -- presidents, governors, congressmen, mayors even policemen -- through laws. But we're constantly observing our friends, neighbors, coworkers, church mates, families, etc., looking for direction. And even though it appears our kids are only watching Britney Spears, Brad Pitt and Jon Stewart, the truth is when they actually settle into their adult lives, they mimic the lifestyle they've seen others around them live.

Or choose to live exactly the opposite lifestyle of what they've lived, which, in some cases, is a very good choice.

What's the saying? Your life is either a good example or a dire warning!
With such a great responsibility, you would think we'd all live a little more carefully. I believe we don't because days, hours, and minutes all seem so fleeting. Some of our decisions are made on the fly. We barely have time to think of how they impact our own lives, let alone how they'll impact the lives of those around us.

Lots of "self-help" pundits propound the theory that because life "comes at you fast" you need a plan. Not a picture perfect plan of how things "should" go, because we all know surprises and life don't work that way. But a background knowledge of sorts. Something that you can reach for to help you make decisions. A code, if you will.

For instance, this year I decided I MUST lose weight. I took two months and analyzed why I had gained so much weight, analyzing my eating patterns and eating traps but also looking for what would work for me. Now, I have a system in place that sort of protects me. It gives me boundaries for how to eat and how to get the maximum amount of exercise for my age, health and time limitations.

As I did this I realized we could analyze the dynamics of all the different roles women play and probably come up with some basic background codes that would hold us in good stead!

So I decided to take the months of January and February, look at the different facets/roles of women and just talk about them, examine them, kick them around to see if we can't take some of the mystery out of things.

And maybe come up with some of those "codes" we could all reach for when life comes at us fast!

susan

Catawriters Blog About Goals!

2008-12-30T06:39:00.002-05:00

Last month, I did a goal-setting workshop on the catawriters loop. We thought through our lives, considered what we really want and set some goals.

I set two writing goals and a goal to lose 20 pounds (I really need to lose 30) and each of us is posting our progress on our own blogs so we can keep up with each other.

My big news is that after weeks of getting myself accustomed to the treadmill, I finally added the diet portion of my goal!

So one day down...probably 89 more to go!

susan

Home for Christmas

2008-12-23T04:00:00.000-05:00

Anybody who's read my bio knows I'm one of eleven children and that there are 63 people in my "immediate" family. My mother's house is so crowded at Christmas that you cannot get a seat. There is literally wrapping paper a foot deep in the living room from all the presents. Food is served buffet style. No one serves anyone. LOL. If you want it, you get it.

You can't hear yourself think let alone hear the person next to you talking. There's always a poker game, but the seats are reserved and somebody has to get sick or go home early for a seat to open up. And there's always a baby. This year we had four kids turn one. Not exactly baby-babies, but still criers. They certain add to the noise level.

New boyfriends are intimidated. The noise alone is enough to scare away many a nervous suitor. We all dress in layers, knowing we'll need to take off at least one shirt when the body heat causes the temperature to rise. And many a person has lost his or her shoes in the pile by the door.

Yet, every year it's standing room only. Nobody says I'm not going to that crazy house this Christmas! Nope. We're all there. Some of us with bells on.

Why? Because my mother bakes homemade rolls so delicious that some people eat them ithout ham. But I'm a ham girl myself. If my butt's going to be big, I'm going to enjoy the road to Weight Watchers. Everybody brings a salad or dessert. And some of my sisters and nieces can really cook. There's a dart game for the men in the garage. We exchange gifts, and rather than wait the seventy-two hours it would take for everybody to open his or her gift individually, we have the most hilarious free-for-all and everybody opens his or her gift at the same time.

We make punch, talk about the year that's passed, talk about the gifts we got, catch up with the college bound nieces and nephews, and those who have jobs.

But most of all we just enjoy the fact that we're family. We know that not everybody has family. I have a friend who literally has nowhere to go on holidays. If she lived closer I'd make her an honorary member of our family, just because I genuinely believe nobody would notice her until 2013.

I love being in touch with the younger generation through relatives who will be painfully honest with me. I love being involved with babies and little kids in T-ball and Little League. I love hearing about mean teachers and crazy parents at soccer. To me this is life at its purest.

But most of all, I love being home, where I don't have to put on airs or worry if my crazy hair refused to behave that day. Where I can eat to my heart's delight, serve brownies from a box (since I wasn't one of the ones born with the cooking gene) and still get praise from a little kid who doesn't know a boxed brownie from scratch.

That's family. That's home. The crazy combination of comfort and joy.

May your days be merry and bright and may your home be the place of joy and laughter for those you love.

Merry Christmas

susan meier

The Real Meaning of Christmas

2008-12-22T00:00:00.001-05:00

There are 11 children in my family. Seven girls. Four boys. All of my sisters are married, three of my brothers are married, and several of my nieces and nephews are married and have children. There are 63 people in my "immediate" family.

We have a Christmas tradition in our family of a cookie exchange. The deal is that you state your intention to be part of the exchange then Tammy (my youngest sister) sends us an email letting us know how many people are participating. This year there are 12. That means each of us will pick a type of cookie and make 12 dozen of that one kind. (I'm the peanut butter blossom girl.) Then December 20, we bring all our cookies to my mom's and 'exchange' them for one dozen of everybody else's.

Everybody involved ends up with 12 dozen different kinds of cookies for company but everybody also only has to bake one kind.

It's probably my favorite family tradition. And we've got some whoppers.

With 63 people in the immediate family, we have enough people (especially kids) to have our own personal Easter egg hunt. We have a sort of unofficial competition to see who can get my mother the best gift for her birthday. Every Wednesday morning in the summer, one of us hosts "breakfast" for the family members lucky enough not to have a real job -- or who have summers off because of working for a school district. My sister Laura is usually the winner for favorite breakfast. She makes waffles with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

In October the kids dress up and take part in a Halloween parade. This year they were the Flintstones, complete with PVC pipe Flintmobile. In a way, they were their own little float.

Every Friday after Thanksgiving, rather than battle shoppers, my mother hosts the cookie painting party for her grandkids. She bakes sugar cookies and makes colorful icing and the kids paint the cookies with the icing. They go on a Christmas tree in the family room with bubble gum and candy canes.

There are enough of us that if every 'family' within the family chips in $50 we can buy my mother a major appliance for Christmas.

In a lot of ways we sound like a small town, but really we're just family. We like to be entertained -- maybe too much -- and we enjoy each other's company. We were taught to share, to be generous, to include everybody in every baseball game, football game and/or card game we played and those lessons carried over into adulthood.

I sometimes look at my family and our traditions and wonder. . . Are we a tad crazy? A little too in love with entertainment and stimulation. . .Or is this what life's really all about? Sharing your toys, including everybody in the game, and baking enough cookies that everybody gets a dozen.

Merry Christmas. This year, share your toys, include everybody in the game and bake an extra dozen cookie to give to someone in your town, your church, or at your office, who might not get a cookie this year.

Susan meier

susan meier
HER BABY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS, Harlequin Romance, 12/08 AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON
MAID IN MONTANA, Harlequin Romance, 6/08
THE SWEETEST CHRISTMAS WISH, Harlequin Romance 12/08

12 Days of Christmas (Originally Posted at Donna Alward's Blog)

2008-12-17T00:01:00.004-05:00

When Donna put out a call for authors to join her in celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas, I answered quickly. I love Christmas! Not because of the presents. . .well, maybe a little. . .LOL. . .but because I love the spirit of the season.

For me "Christmas" began a little before Thanksgiving. I was tired. I'd worked since early morning, while my son slept in. It was, after all, his day off. I've noticed that writers don't get days off. . .but that's a blog for another day.

Anyway, Michael has a seizure disorder and doesn't drive. When he awakened, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to go to the bank, do a little shopping and buy lunch, let's just say I wasn't in as festive of a mood as he was.

A dutiful mom, I put on boots and a coat and drove him to the bank and a sandwich shop and then to the discount department store to get his prescription and a few things. I sat in the car and watched him jog inside, waving to friends, yelling greetings and laughing.

I'm not really Scrooge, but I did look at him and think, it must be nice to have all that energy. Then I remembered he was going into the store to buy medication that stops his seizures but makes him tired. He fights it. He has a job that pays him a decent wage, but he still has to live with his parents. (That can't be easy.) But he rarely complains. He makes the best of what he has.

In a few minutes, he ran out again and by this time the Salvation Army bell ringer was in place. Without hesitation, Mikie dug into his pockets and pulled out a few bills which he tossed into the pot. The bell ringer thanked him. He shrugged off the thanks and ran to the car, ready to go home and eat lunch.

In that moment I wasn't sure if I was more proud of him or more in need of the V-8 head-thump myself. Sometimes we get so bogged down in what we perceive to be the necessities of life that we forget life's biggest joy is giving. Not merely money, but smiles, waves, little acts of kindness.

Mikie knows how to appreciate the holiday because he doesn't see what he's lacking; he appreciates what he has and he turns his appreciation into action. He starts early, gives generously, loves mightily.

On that day in November, I decided to take a page from his book. I started early. I'm giving. Not just money, but time and conversation.

And I'm loving mightily. I'm looking around, seeing who needs to be loved. Who needs a smile. Who needs a prayer. Who needs someone to show him or her a simple kindness. And I'm doing those things. Even if it means going out of my way, giving up my place in the checkout line to someone who looks more tired than I am, being patient in traffic.

Celebrate the season by giving yourself the best gift of all. . .the gift of giving. Watch the smiles of your week double, the sincere thanks warm your heart and the love you give come back in wonderful, unexpected ways.