Today's the big day! The group blog I belong to - Romance Worth Killing For - is kicking off their new and improved blog. We have new bloggers, exciting contests, and lots of fun things to share. Be sure to stop by today and comment. We're giving away not one, but TWO autographed copies of Karin Tabke's Good Girl Gone Bad! Don't miss it!

Thirteen Things I Can't Live Without 1. My laptop 2. My ipod 3. Running shoes 4. Coffee 5. Slipper socks 6. The DVR 7. My keeper books - All of them 8. My CPs 9. My RWA chapter (you girls rock!) 10. Diet Coke 11. Sugar Free whip cream 12. Steamy hot bubble baths 13. My family Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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Don't you love that title? I do. One of the crime show dramas uses it as a tagline, and I think it's great (though I don't watch those shows so I have no idea which one actually uses it).

I'm not big on watching TV, but I do love to watch the news. Especially when I'm at the gym on the treadmill, beating feet and listening to my ipod. Best way to watch the news actually - no sound, great music, and you get to read the story via closed captioning.

Today as I was sweating and watching, I couldn't help but think how many fabulous plot ideas are right in front of our eyes.

Take for instance the Massachusetts man who's suing Continental Airlines because his ex-wife took their 3 yr old daughter into Mexico without a notarized letter from him stating it was okay. (BTW, I did that, took my 1 yr old to Canada with me a few years ago and didn't realize I needed a letter from her dad stating it was okay for her to leave the country. Canadian officials raised an eyebrow, but they let us through without much of a hassle).

How about the Sheriff in Florida who lost his father to a serial killer years ago and Tuesday night lost his wife to a home invader?

Or the mother in NY who accidentally smothered her baby while trying to fend off rats.

Or the mummified man found dead after six years

Not interested in headlines? Try Hollywood. What about the Tara Conner controversy or anything dealing with Brittany Spears or Madonna's adoption fiasco or....the list goes on and on.

Looking for plot ideas? Try watching the news.

Have any news stories stood out in your mind as great plot ideas? And have you ever written a story that developed from something you saw on the news?

I'm obsessed with American Idol. I blame this new obsession on Karin Tabke. (Thanks a lot, Karin.) My husband thinks I'm nuts, although he watched it with me last night. It's so hard not to cringe during this first round. I know I should stop watching, I just can't. It's like a train wreck. And as much as I hate Simon Cowell, I can't wait to see what horrendous words will spew out of his mouth or what ludicrous expressions he'll make next. I'm sick, I tell you.

Actually, I really am sick. Some flu-like thing. Maybe that's where the AI obsessession came from. Perhaps it will pass? One can hope. I'm feeling a lot better today, so hopefully I'm on the upswing.

Got news yesterday my brother and his wife (and their baby) are moving to upstate NY next summer. My SIL took a teaching position with a college there. I'm soooo thrilled for them! Although it's on the other side of the country and I'll miss them terribly. However, visiting should be fun...as long as it's not winter. The weather report said it's like -10 there right now. Brrrrr.

I started a 10-pg a day challenge at Romance Worth Killing For. If you missed it, go look. We have a couple of takers. I was doing really well until I got sick. Yesterday I did nothing - just laid around and vegged, but today I hope to dive right back to work. Wish me luck. If you want to join us, go on over and respond to the post.

Oh, and speaking of RWKF...we have some really exciting things happening over there in the month of February. Big changes. So be sure to come by. There will be prizes! And new bloggers! And fun, fun, fun, so don't miss it.

What have you been up to lately?

Completely, over the moon in love.

With a coffee house.

My DH has been out of town, and we've been house-bound because of the snow. As you can imagine, I've been going stir crazy locked in the house with my three Gremlins. So when my brother showed up today, out of the blue, and offered to watch my kids so I could escape for a few hours, there was no way I was saying no.

I took the laptop and went in search of someplace quiet to work. Starbucks was too busy (and I knew I'd run into too many friends there). The newly refurbished coffee house just down the block from Starbucks closed too early. Desperate for the quiet, I went off in search of someplace else, and, to my surprise, I found the most amazing little coffee house tucked away in the most unlikely place. This cafe is adorable - quiet, cozy, trendy and chic, sorta like Central Perk on Friends. They serve coffee in those great big mugs, and they have sugar free mochas! (beat that, Starbucks!). I sat in this big, plush purple chair right next to the fireplace and typed my little heart out. Wrote a whole chapter in two hours. I was completely inspired. No one asked me to make them a snack. No one tugged on my pants or whined in my ear. The coffee lady even left me alone to work! It was heaven. It also didn't hurt that there was no internet access so there was no temptation to log on to the web and waste time.

This is going to be my new favorite hangout. I can't wait to go back.

Where's your favorite place to escape and write (or read)?

I spent all afternoon brainstorming a new book with my uber-cool mentor who, surprisingly, doesn't think I'm nuts after she heard the twisted idea I'd come up with. (DH, on the other hand, cringes any time I bring it up.) I'm not going to tell you the idea - it is still in the brainstorming stage - but I have a question for you. What do you think of books with pregnant heroines? This is a single title RS, and while I've seen pregnant heroines in category books and ST contemporaries, I can't remember the last time I read a ST RS with a pregnant heroine. Her pregnancy is pretty central to the plot, however, I could possibly write it without her being pregnant. It just wouldn't be quite as "personal".

So...thoughts? How do you all feel about pregnant heroines? (And no, this isn't one of those - I'm pregnant, I need to find a man to be a stand-in father and take care of me and my baby books. My heroines are all self -sufficient.)

My one-year-old is obsessed with Cars. "Car! Car! Car!" I hear that about twenty times per day since Grandma gave us the movie for Christmas. Actually, all three of my Gremlins are obsessed. The four-year-old got a bunch of Cars merchandise from Grandma as well - a fuzzy blanket, three miniature hot wheel-type cars, and a larger wind-up Mater. He knows how to find Cars online (www.carsthemovie.com - in case you missed it), and all three of them walk around singing the music from the movie (they especially like the Sheryl Crow title track - Real Gone).

I've never been a racing fan. I've never had the urge to watch Nascar or Formula 1. And when the movie was first released, I didn't take the kids to see it - simply because it didn't interest me. But after watching the movie on DVD, I find myself totally interested. Everytime we watch it, I find something new to ask my DH about - like who was that famous voice? Why did Luigi recognize the Ferrari and not Lightning? And why do they all slow down when that yellow car drives out on the track? (Yes, I'm racing green). So you could say my kids (and DH) are educating me about racing - in the animated, kids version, anyway.

Of all the kids movies I've seen lately (and a lot of the adult ones, too), this is one of my favorite movies of 2006. A total surprise for me. Regardless of how you feel about the movies Disney pumps out, their animated ones are good. Pixar's in particular. I love Lightning's character arc in Cars. I love the budding romance (of course!) and the subplot with Doc. What I love most about it though is that it's a very simple plot at heart. No big fancy bells and whistles, and totally driven by character.

Did you see Cars? And what other movies of 2006 rank high on your list?

The Best of 2006

Happy New Year!

Here's wishing you all a memorable and prosperous new year! I'm sending out lots of good vibes to all my writer friends. :) I have a great feeling about the year to come.

I already blogged about my 2006 reflection at Romance Worth Killing For today, so I won't bore you with that again. Instead, I thought I'd list my top ten favorite books of 2006.

10. Most Wanted Woman - Maggie Price
9. Duplicate Daughter - Alice Sharpe
8. Valley of Silence - Nora Roberts
7. The Hunt - Allison Brennan
6. Killer Curves - Roxanne St. Claire
5. A Hunger Like No Other - Kresley Cole
4. To The Limit - Cindy Gerard
3. Lover Eternal - JR Ward
2. To The Brink - Cindy Gerard
1. Lover Awakened - JR Ward

Some of these were actually released in 2005, but I read them in 2006, so they go on my list. And I still have a huge TBR pile to get through - books by some of my local chapter mates, ones I picked up at Nationals, books by authors I have yet to read, and others written by my favorite authors. So I'm sure this list will grow and change in the months to come.

What were your favorite reads of 2006?