Marcia Lynn McClure

So I’ve been working on redecorating one of our bedrooms.  Kevin has done all the manly work (the painting, etc.) and then I get to do all the fun stuff (choose the bedding, the furniture, the lighting and stuff to hang on the walls).

Well, one day while searching for just the right things to have framed for that room, I came across a vintage postcard of “The Kiss” by Harrison Fisher.  Naturally I fell in loved with it the moment I saw it!  (I’m sure you can see why, right?)  I purchased the postcard and it’s in the very capable and talented hands of the custom framing girls over at Michael’s.

I loved “The Kiss” so much, that I thought I might be able to find a couple more Harrison Fisher things to frame for that room (which I did).  However, imagine my excitement/surprise/frustration when I found that the postcard I’d purchased featured only part of Fishers painting!

Yep!  While searching around for other works by Harrison Fisher, I came across THIS image!  I LOVE the entire painting best, but it is TOTALLY out of print!  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  The only thing I found was a black and white copy of it in an 11×7 size that cost a mint!  Shucks!  (Heavy sigh.)

But, fear not…for I have accepted the fact that a large, full version of The Kiss by Harrison Fisher is out of my reach.  (BUT if you ever see one in good shape and at a decent price, snatch it up for me, okay?)  The one the girls at Michael’s are framing for me will just have to do…for now.

Meanwhile, I procured a couple other Harrison works for that room.  I managed to get hold of a copy of “Caught Napping” and “Behave”…so that gives me three images to display in that room.  (You know how I am…I have to work in odd numbers when placing knick knacks around…especially 3s!)  Still, I’m always on the look out for great Harrison Fisher images (postcard size or larger), so DO let me know if you find any, okay?  I LOVE those vintage, romantic images!

Has anyone noticed that a lot of my books are getting new covers?  (Har har!) OR that my newest book, Untethered, is way later in being released than initially anticipated?  (Har har triple-har!)

Well, I figured that, along with a new random contest for this week (1st week in April!  Hallelujah!), I’d do a little explaining.  And we’ll start with Untethered:

Here’s what happened…stress, pressure, more stress, the Winter Blahs, and me needing to reboot!  Those are some of the reasons that Untethered was delayed.  I had hoped to see Untethered finished and released last autumn, but it just wasn’t flowing out of my mushy brain the way I wanted it to.  I didn’t want to rush it, and I was. 

I really, really, really love this book!  It’s in the same genre and ‘feel’ in my soul as The Visions of Ransom Lake, Dusty Britches, Weathered Too Young, etc. and when I began to dread working on it, I knew I needed to let it go for a while.  So I set it aside and waited until I thought I was back in the swing.  But then I found I was still forcing it.  For some reason, I just couldn’t find my rhythm with this book!

To be honest, it freaked me out quite a bit!  I started thinking, “Oh no!  I’m lost it!  I’ve lost my groove!  What if I never recover it?  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!”  And obviously, those are not great thoughts to be having when one is writing!  So I stepped back again…waited a little while, and then tried to return to writing Untethered.  But, just like before, it wasn’t happening!

You see, I had the story in my mind…the whole thing!  But putting it on paper seemed such a daunting task, that I just couldn’t do it!  I couldn’t find my stride.  And I confess, this went on for several months…which of course caused me to begin panicking…which of course kept me from being able to write…which of course stressed me out…which of course made me unable to write…which of course kept me up at night…which of course caused me to be sleep-deprived…which of course stressed me out…which of course caused me to pack on the hard-fought 10 pounds I’d managed to lose…which of course stressed me out…which of course kept me from being able to find my stride…which of course….So you’re getting the idea, right?

Well, one night, my darling super-hero husband, was trying to talk me off the ledge, so to speak, and suggested we rearrange some things to ease up my time.  What he suggested, simple as it may have seemed to him, hit me like an epiphany!  I felt the stress begin to swirl down the drain and immediately began to feel free, inspired and motivated.  The 10 pounds was still back on, but I felt like I’d lost 50!

I went to bed that night feeling refreshed, hopeful and with some peace of mind I hadn’t had in forever!  And when I woke up the next morning, I sat down at my computer, pulled up my Untethered Master Doc and decided to start to read through the book starting at the very, very beginning.

I read the copyright page, then went on to the dedication.  That’s when I realized that, although I’d put in WHO I wanted to dedicate the book to, and some buzz words for what I wanted to say…I had never fully written out the dedication!  Hello?  You know how, that unless I have the title for a book chosen, then I can’t hit my stride?  Well, it hit me in the face that the same was true for Untethered where the dedication page was concerned!  I mean, does the word “Duh” mean anything to you?

I decided then and there, that if I got nothing else written that day, I needed to get that dedication in my mind and heart.  So I sat there for a brief 3 minutes and wrote the simple, short dedication.  WHAM!!!!!  Whoomp there it was!  That was all I needed!  The last little piece of the puzzle to pull the trigger on the starting gun had been put in place…and as I began to reread Chapter One of Untethered, I began to find the rhythm of my stride once more!

Wow!  It was like magic!  As I reread the first chapter, the book as a whole began to come together again!  What had once been in pieces (part of a chapter here, and part of a chatper there) began to knit together perfectly!  I LOVED my book again!

Believe me…Untethered has been a hard book for me to write…for several reasons…but I LOVE it!  And I’m hoping you will, too!  And I’ll tell you this…the hero is one of my all-time favorites!  I’d put him neck-and-neck with Ransom Lake or Mason Carlisle!  THAT’S how much I love who he is and what he does!  He’s an awesome kisser, too!  (Just in case that helps you to favor him.)

Now, the other thing I wanted to talk to you about is the cover redesigns that have been taking place over the past few months.  Though 99% of the responses Distractions Ink (or myself) has received have been wonderfully positive, understanding and supportive, I have received one or two questions as to “WHY?” the covers are changing.

The answer is simple…sort of.  Way back in the olden days (2001, 2002, 2003), scenic covers were ‘in’ and I pulled a lot of weight where their concept was concerned.  I even chose the cover concepts for my first four published books.  However, once the “Love Notes” collection began to come out from another publisher that I’d agreed to work with, that was the end of my choices.  AND that’s when I began increasingly unhappy with my covers.

The other hurdle I had to leap (and you know that I haven’t run track meets in over 30 years) was that I couldn’t get hold of the cover artist I’d always dreamed of having, Sheri Brady.  I had known from day one that Sheri was who I wanted to do my covers.  But she was unavailable at the time, and so I limped along with covers that were either chosen for me, or that were not what I’d dreamed Sheri Brady could do.

Then, miracles of miracles, in 2009, Sheri’s schedule finally opened up and I was able to beg her to squeeze Marcia Lynn McClure covers into her business.  The timing was right, too, because I was beginning to regain control of all my titles…winning back the printing rights from another publisher, etc.

Sheri knows me VERY well, and she started off carefully easing me to a different direction with Weathered Too Young…the silhouetted cowboy image!  From there, she began to empower me with the realization that I was the author of these books…and that not many author’s can choose what they want for covers…but I could.

Since the day we met in 1995, Sheri has been one of the greatest forces for helping to buoy me up and encourage me to stretch and be strong!  (Kevin had been the only one who could do that up until I met her, and I’m sure he was glad to finally have an ally!)  And as I finally let go of the fear of redesigning covers and the reaction readers would have, I felt liberated!

I loved the covers of those early books…11 years ago, I loved them.  But times have changed, and with the advancement of e-books and the changes in reading culture, my books all needed a face-lift.  I’d wanted them to have that chance FOREVER, and even though I know some of us will always cling to those old covers, the new ones inspire me!

The McCall Trilogy is a perfect example of how those three stories FINALLY have a cover I can be proud of, smile over, and sigh with contentment!  I LOVE the new An Old-Fashioned Romance cover, too!  And did you just nearly faint when you saw what Sheri did with The Prairie Prince and a photo of Kevin?  Ahhhhhhhh! I LOVE IT!

The new cover of The Visions of Ransom Lake was probably the one that freaked me out the most while Sheri and I were working on it.  I mean…HANDSOME RANSOM LAKE!!!!  I wanted it to be perfectly what I envisioned!  And thanks to Sheri “The Miracle Worker”, graphics design QUEEN…it is!

And that brings me to the upcoming re-release of Shackles of Honor.  Yikes!  I’m not sure whether it will premier this week or next week…but YIKES!  The new cover is GORGEOUS, of course!  But my teeth are chattering all the same!  This is a nerve-wracking process, you know!  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  We’ll just have to wait and see what you think when it releases.

But…I suppose I’ve rambled for far too long…just judging from the length of this blog!  Yuck!  Sorry about that!

So let’s get down to brainless business, shall we?  This week’s contest!  Yippee!

So last week was the Michael’s Gift Card…and the winner is…Jessica Spafford!  E-mail your snail mail address to me at marcialmcclure@cs.com, Jessica and I will get your gift card in the mail to you!  (Psst…thanks to my Customer Framer Friend, Jaclyn for chiming in!  I feel so special!)

As for this weeks contest…hmmm.  How about…the DVD edition of Little Dorrit (starring Matthew Macfadyen!)?  Yep!  That’s it!  Leave a comment on why you like Matthew Macfadyen, period drama movies, or anything somehow related, and you’ll be entered to win!  Fun!  Do you need a little video clip to whet your whistle?  Ooo!  Then here’s one (below)!  Love it!

Since the release of the beautiful new edition of The Prairie Prince, (or should I say handsome new edition), I’ve been riddled with the question, “Did Kevin know he was going to be on the cover?”  Well, the answer to that burning question is, “Of course Kevin didn’t know!”  What?  Do you think I’m crazy?  He probably would’ve axed the idea before it was even all the way out of my mouth if I’d told him ahead of time.

Nope…poor Kevin didn’t find out that HE was the image of The Prairie Prince (as of course he always has been to me) until the moment I showed him the announcement on the website!  His reaction was a mixture of horror, surprise, being flattered, embarrassment, and incredible understanding and patience toward his wife (me)!

I asked him what he would’ve done if I had asked his permission first, and he confessed he would’ve moved heaven and earth to change my mind.  But now that it’s done…he understands that I love him sooooooooooooooo much and is flattered that I think of him as handsome even though he doesn’t see himself that way or as worthy to be on a book cover.  (That’s part of Kevin’s charm…the fact that he doesn’t see himself the way the rest of us girls do!)

And so…there you have it!  Nope…he didn’t know before hand!  And YES…I LOVE the new cover!  I have a ton of stories to share about all the new covers, but I’m kind of squished for time today…so I’ll save those for later!

Meanwhile…I’m soooooooo behind on my random contest stuff!  The winner of the FTD Spring Bouquet Arrangement is Sally Timmons!  E-mail me your address at marcialmcclure@cs.com, Sally…and I’ll get that ordered for you!

As for a new contest…hmmm…let me think.  Ooo!  How about this…a $25 Michael’s gift card (Michael’s the craft store, of course)!  Does that sound fun?  I have all my custom framing done there, and usually end up picking up a few other things!  So…pop in a comment below about your crafty projects for Spring (or for any other reason) and you’ll be entered to win!  My friend Jan sent me a Hobby Lobby gift card for Christmas and I used it just the other day to purchase some crafting supplies I need for a project!  (Thanks, Jan!)  Gift cards are so fun, right?

Well…the time has come, once again.  Throughout my life, I’ve found that there comes a time (several times, in truth) that I have to stop…or be stopped.  Yep.  Stop.  Last week I hit the wall.  I’m sure everyone knows what I mean:  You go along, run along, then trudge along…and one day you wake up and you’re feeling like you can’t trudge alone anymore, right?

When “the wall” jumps up in front of you and slams you in the face, the typical result (at least for me) is being knocked down and finding yourself sitting on your sitter staring up at “the wall” and thinking, “How am I going to tear this sucker down again?”  Right?  I know you know what I mean, so I won’t go into gory details.  Suffice it to say, I needed to reboot, refind, and refresh myself!

I tried several different things over the weekend to reboot:  put some things in the Goodwill box so I felt like maybe I was de-cluttering a bit, tried not to stress (and failed), tried not to obsess about weight-loss (and failed-which, I might add, resulted in a BBQ Pringles, Cinnamon Poptart and Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookie incident that we won’t go in to)…and being that I was suffering with allergies and insomnia, I decided to take a dose of NyQuil on Saturday night…BIG mistake!  I don’t know why I never remember how completely that stuff loops me out until it’s too late!

Anyway, nothing helped…even sniffing my Pumpkin Butter Wood Wick candle!  It seemed all I could do was dwell on negative stuff…you know?  And that is soooooooooooooo not me!  But it was this past weekend!  Until finally…my hero stepped in and carried me away!

Yesterday, Kevin finally just sat me down and pointed out that I haven’t been spending any time being ME!  He explained that he knows that I’m only happy when I’m flitting around sprinkling the world with sugar, enjoying entertaining conversation and/or being silly with one of my closest friends, etc.  He said he’d noticed that I’m never able to chill out anymore…that I put too much stress on my job…and when it came to that…that I needed to make sure I’m writing what my heart tells me to write (my friend Shannon confirmed the writing thing to me as well in a conversation she and I had yesterday) and not what I feel pressured to write.  Kevin told me I needed to pull back…to settle my mind and reboot myself to get back to myself.

Oh, I’m a great one for telling everyone else to do exactly what Kevin was telling me to do…and I always think it’s so weird that I can never figure that out for me!  And my hero was absolutely correct!   I have hit the wall (again) and need to reboot!

Thus…I’m on it!  I settled myself right down on the sofa and began by missing my friend Gina and wishing she was there to watch Hoarders with me!  Well, she wasn’t there…so I turned on the TV to flip channels…and VOILA!  Hoarders was on!  A brand new episode!

You see…Gina and I love watching Hoarders…but mostly together!  It’s one of our ‘things’, you know?  We sit there on her couch and watch episode after episode, feeling such deep empathy for the people who have the disorder, and with her constantly reassuring me that I’m not a hoarder (even though I do tend to hold on to things like my kids’s toys, all their little school papers, etc.)  Naturally, we both leave an episode feeling as if we need to go clean out our garages and stuff.  But anyway…the point is…I sat down, turned on the TV to find a new Hoarders episode was on, and instantly felt like Gina was just in the next room or something!  It was helpful to my rebooting!  (This morning, Gina texted me and told me that snow had mangled her primroses…which she was counting on to get her through gloomy old March…and suggested that perhaps we could watch Hoarders together while we’re on the phone!  What a great idea!  She lifts me up, that Gina!)

After Hoarders, I came upstairs and called my friend Sheri (who you know as both my close friend, AND the incredible graphics designer that does my covers now)!  She and I purged some discouragement, made some rebooting plans and giggled over a little secret surprise that we have going for YOU!  That helped me, too…just to hear Sheri’s voice and some of her incredible on-liners.

Yep…I’m rebooting, refinding and refreshing myself.  Though I’m not really sure I can lose 50 lbs. before the Ticket Holders Event next week…I CAN pull back, sniff my pumpkin candle, find some fun, random, and in-secret things to do for others (I did manage to hang a new hand-tuned wind chime on our neighbor’s empty wind chime hook a couple weeks ago…I left a little note with it that said, “Surprise!  Have a great day!”  But I haven’t done anything fun like that since.)…watch some Anne of Green Gables, start my Christmas list, and rewrite a couple of chapters in the book I’m working on to better fit my soul.  And that’s what I’m doing!

I have a note sitting here on my desk that Kevin had me write:  It says, “Chill Out, Be Yourself and Sprinkle Sugar”…that’s what he told me to do…and that’s what I’m going to do!

Every so often we all need to hit the wall…it’s necessary for our survival!  It’s what pulls us back, settles us down, and helps to re-prioritize and realize that we are who we are for a reason.  The things that make me the most happy are sprinkling sugar (i.e. thinking of others first and doing things for them to lighten their load), being myself, laughing with friends, just plain silliness, and writing to make the world a better place.  So that’s what I need to do.  That…and sniff my Pumpkin Butter Wood Wick candle more often through these late winter/early spring blahs I get!  Right!

And so…let’s do a contest!  Just for the sake of silliness!  I need a good silly thing today!

The winner of the Applebee’s Gift Certificate is…Christina Taylor!  E-mail me at marcialmcclure@cs.com, Christina, and I’ll get that gift certificate in the mail to you!  (LOVED Christina’s random thought!)

As for this week’s contest…hmmm…we need something silly…OR at least refreshing!  How about this!  YES!  That’s it!  A Spring Bouquet Arrangement from FTD!!!!  YES!  That’s it!  Leave a comment with the subject concerning what helps YOU to reboot, and you’ll be entered to win a Spring Bouquet Arrangement from FTD…delivered right to your door!  Yes!  I LOVE fresh flowers!
Meanwhile, I’m off on to take my ‘morning constitutional’…to breathe in some sunshine and fresh air!

Ever feel like your brain is just on vacation without you?!  I’m totally serious!

Well, whether or not you know the feeling, today is one of those days for me.  Therefore, this is what I’ve decided to jot down to go along with this week’s random contest: a list of totally random thoughts, written in order as they pop into my mind!  Weird, I know…but I sort of just want to see what happens.  So here goes!  I now present…random thoughts as they pop into my mind and in the order they pop into my mind (WARNING:  This blog may be more pathetically goofy than usual!):

1.  I LOVE peacock feathers!  And if they were so strongly associated with bad luck in Victorian times…then why did so many Victorians use as decor in their house?

2.  How could ANYONE ever have drunk the whiskey when they knew a dead body had been stored in side the barrel with it while that guy was sneaking dead bodies in to medical students back in the 1800s?

3.  I should put my new salad spoons away.  They’ve been sitting on my office floor ever since I bought them in October.

4.  My BFF Sandy’s birthday is two weeks from today.

5.  I need to remember to pick up some printer ink while I’m out today.

6.  I should mail that “Peppercorn Medley Grinders” I bought for a friend that’s still sitting on my desk after a month.

7.  The Carol Burnett Show was soooooo hysterical!

8.  Why did I always think the TV show “Big Bang Theory” was about a gay polygamist until Trent had me watch an episode with him the other night?  (I don’t mean to offend anyone…but that’s just what popped into my head…honest.)

9.  Why can’t Sue on the show “The Middle” ever catch a break?

10.  Ah ha ha ha ha!  I’m glad Sheri and I thought of a new meaning for the acronym ASAP yesterday!  “A Sudden Ape Poop” is soooooo less stressful then “As Soon as Possible” to think about when I’m working!

And now, in reference to Random Item #10…a quote from My e-mail to Sheri yesterday…

“AND…from personal experience…I can add that Ape Poop happens, too!  Especially at the old Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs when you’re a teenager and visiting the ape house with your Aunt and Cousin Dan…and your cousin Dan provokes the ape and the ape throws ape poop at your cousin but hits your aunt instead!!!  Ape poop DOES happen!  So considering that, let’s go with ASAP=A Sudden Ape Poop!”

Now…as for contest stuff…the winner of the Anne of Green Gables CD Audio Book is…Terri Bergman!  Just e-mail me at marcialmcclure@cs.com with your address, Terri and I’ll get your prize mailed off to you!

As for this week’s contest…how about a $25 gift certificate to Applebees!!??  I don’t know why…probably because I’m starving at the moment!  So to enter, just leave a random thought of your own as your comment!  Fun, huh?  Let’s see what’s going through everyone else’s ‘tired of winter’ brain today!

Meanwhile, maybe I need a nap!

In late winter and early spring, my thoughts always, always turn to “Anne.”  I’m serious!  It may be because the first time I ever watched the Kevin Sullivan production of Anne of Green Gables was during that time of year…at a time when I was feeling really low and out of touch with myself…and I can honestly tell you that “Anne” found me!

As I watched Anne of Green Gables that year, it was like a little light began going off in my brain…like a little voice was whispering, “Oh yeah!  That’s right!  That’s who I am!”  It was weird…the way a movie (and the the book) could put me back in touch with my core self.  And weird though it may have seemed, I was soooooooo grateful for the experience and to L.M. Montgomery for writing the “Anne” books!

And so, every year at this time, I find myself longing for a little escape into “Anne”…into her world…into Avonlea…not to mention the romance between Anne and Gil!  I mean, who doesn’t love Gil, right?  Seriously…what a guy!

I’m not going to ramble on today the way I usually do…because if you’re an Anne of Green Gables fan, then you understand my feelings.  And if you aren’t yet an Anne of Green Gables fan…rush out and become one!  AND this week’s contest is one way to do that!

But first…the winner of last week’s Zorro contest is…Brynette McKinney!  Brynette…e-mail your snail mail address to me at marcialmcclure@cs.com so I can pop your Zorro DVDs in the mail to you asap!

And for this week’s contest…whether you already love Anne and Gilbert or whether you still need to hop on the bandwagon how about this…the audio (CDs) version of Anne of Green Gables!!!  Yep…here’s your chance to listen to the book I love so very, very much!  Just leave a comment here concerning anything “Anne”-ish and you’re entered!

I could truly write a book on why I love Anne of Green Gables!  So whether or not you’ve ever read the book or seen the movies…this audio version will be a treasure!  I LOVE “Anne!”

Keturah H. e-mailed me the other day and asked me a couple of questions concerning my inspiration for Divine Deception, and I got to thinking…just what is it about masked heroes that we all love so much?  I mean, it’s the mystery and the dual identity thing, of course.  Don’t you think?  The wondering of who exactly might be hottie with the mad sword skills behind the mask?

In truth, I’m sure there are tons of psychological reasons that we girls like the Zorro/Highwayman of Tanglewood types…way, way too many to enumerate…we just love them!  I’ve loved Zorro since I was little, little, little…Guy Williams Zorro to be exact!  Guy Williams was sooooooooooo dreamy, cool and heroic…the perfect Zorro to me!  Dazzling white teeth, great hair!  Forget about Lost in Space Guy Williams and just focus on 1950s Zorro Guy Williams!  Not that he wasn’t great in Lost in Space mind you (is anybody else old enough to remember Lost in Space?)…I just preferred him as Zorro! (Heavy sigh)

Other Zorro-isms that draw me in…the Spanish accent!  (Thought let’s give Guy Williams a break on that one okay?)  A great accent on a masked man fits like a glove!  It’s always a plus…even with The Highwayman of Tanglewood.

AND, have you ever noticed that masked heroes are always good with not only a sword, but a horse?  They’re always great riders!  And they steal kisses…and who doesn’t love that?  You know, getting stopped in a meadow by a rider dressed head to toe in black and having him steal a kiss?  It’s great stuff!  So what’s not to favor!

In thinking about it all, I even decided that maybe I’ll bump up the writing of another ‘masked man’ story I’ve had popping around in my brain for years just because that theme is so delicious!  Seriously this story has been rattling around in my head for literally a decade, so maybe it’s time to take it to the mat.  What do you think?  There can never too many masked heroes.

As for Keturah’s questions concerning Divine Deception…I decided to take a little time and think them over so I can answer them more thoroughly than my blogging time would allow.  So look for that coming up on the Q&A section of my site in a few days.  AND I’m so glad she asked about Divine Deception!  There IS an interesting story behind it all and I like sharing it!  Meanwhile, do me a favor and mull over that whole ‘masked man’ thing and let me know YOUR thoughts on the matter!

Now on to this week’s contest stuff. Carolyn Hansen…I just pulled your name out of my hat as the winner of the Chili’s gift certificate!  Chips and Salsa here you come!  Please e-mail your address to me at marcialmcclure@cs.com so I can get your gift certificate in the mail to you, okay?

As for this weeks Random Contest…Zorro!  Zorro!  Zorro!  Yes…those are the very words chanted by the patrons of Chihuahua’s Family Restaurant in Ferndale, Washington the night my own true hero, Kevin, dashed through the restaurant dressed as Zorro to wish me a happy birthday (AND inspire The Highwayman of Tanglewood!)!  And so, in honor of Kevin, Donavon Brandon, The Highwayman of Tanglewood and any other masked heroes I may write about in the future…welcome to two of my very favorite Zorro’s!

As I previously confessed, I absolutely LOVED Guy Williams as Zorro in Disney’s 1950′s TV series Zorro when I was a child and a teenager!  LOVED him as Zorro and still do!  He still reigns as my favorite Zorro (with the exception of Kevin, of course)!  However, I absolutely LOVED the movie The Mask of Zorro as well!  In fact, I cannot believe that movie is 14 years old!  Crazy!  But I love it as much today as I ever did! (Ooo!  And I admit that I loved the smooching in it as well!  Too impassioned?  I say unto thee, Nay!)

Thus, since we’re talking about masked heroes today, how about some Zorro DVDs up for grabs as this week’s contest, eh?  The Disney Season 1 Volume 4 of Zorro on DVD are getting a little hard to get a hold of these days, but I managed to snatch up Volume 4 of Season 1 starring Guy Williams!  I also grabbed a copy of The Mask of Zorro on DVD while I was at it!  SO…just leave a comment telling me your own feelings of Zorro and/or masked heroes and your name will be dropped in my hat!

Let’s add some bonus motivation to enter, shall we?  Youtubers of the opening credits for Disney’s Zorro AND part of the dance scene from The Mask of Zorro!  LOVE it!

So one day (a few years back), I was having lunch with a dear and cherished friend, and mentor (her name is Jean T.).  As we sat talking, she mentioned that she had been reading her grandfather’s journals and had come across an interesting little tidbit.

Jean explained that her grandfather and his little family had been living in Espanola, New Mexico…and that her grandfather didn’t like the way some of the young men there were ‘pursuing’ his daughters.  It worried him for various reasons, and so he moved his family to Albuquerque.

Jean told me that in his journal, her grandfather explained that he was able to rent a house for free down in Corrales in Albuquerque.  (Though, if one is renting a house for free…is it really renting?  Hmmm.)  Well, it turns out that the reason Jean’s grandfather was able to rent the house in Corrales without paying rent, was that it was haunted!  That’s right!  A real haunted house right there in Jean’s grandfather’s journal!  Naturally I was intrigued.

Well, as the story went, Jean’s grandfather quickly discovered that the house wasn’t really haunted at all (I was disappointed at the news myself)…but that there were actually just bats living in the attic and everyone heard the bats banging around up there and assumed the house was haunted.  A little bit of a let down for me perhaps…but a great story…and I was, of course, instantly inspired by Jean’s story of her grandfather’s not-so-haunted house and the bats in the attic.

“Ooo!” I breathed as the goose bumps of writing inspiration began to wash over me.  “Can I use that in a book, Jean?”

She laughed and told me that I could.

Well, Jean and I enjoyed the rest of our visit, and then I promptly went home, sat down at my computer, and began writing The Light of the Lovers’ Moon!  No kidding!  True story!  That one intriguing excerpt from Jean’s grandfather’s journal was the entire basis of my inspiration for my book The Light of the Lovers’ Moon!

However, here comes the funny part…months later, once the e-book was out and Jean had read it (it IS dedicated to her, after all…and deservedly so), Jean and I were again at lunch (this time with other friends).  Jean started grinning and explained to me that, once my book had become available and she’d read it, she went back to her grandfather’s journal to enjoy the haunted house story once more.

“I told you something wrong,” she said.

“What?” I asked.

“It wasn’t really bats in the attic that made people think the house was haunted.  It was rats!” she explained.

Naturally, we both began cracking up (and of course you would have to have been there for it to really be funny).  Here I’d written an entire book based around one story she’d told me…and in the end, it hadn’t even been bats in the attic.

Of course, bats in an attic are much, much, mucho more romantic than rats in the attic, so I explained to Jean that I was glad she’d unintentionally misrepresented her grandfather’s story because I might not have been inspired by rats the way I had been by bats.  In fact, I’m certain I wouldn’t have been inspired by rats.

It ain’t much to share today I suppose…just a little behind the scenes story that not too many people have heard.  (I love to say “ain’t” by the way…I feel so free and rebellious when I do!)

Jean is so funny!  She cracks me up all the time with little remarks like, “Oh I always, always wanted to be a florist and own my own flower shop,” she said one day.  Then she shrugged and sighed, “But I joined the Army instead.”

Then there was the one a few weeks ago…Jean and her husband Tom, were at the gun store and as Tom continued to peruse the firearms available, Jean began to get a little bored.  Well, she’d noticed that there was a massage place next to the gun store, and so she told Tom she was going to go over and have a foot massage.  Jean is 70, looks not a day over 45, and I couldn’t imagine she would ever need a foot massage…but I guess she did.

Anyway, Jean trotted on over to the massage place and went in.  She explained to one of the ladies there (who didn’t speak English very well) that she wanted a foot massage.  The lady kind of looked at her funny, and even had to go ask another lady where to get the foot massage stuff and how to do a foot massage.  Jean thought nothing about it really, and sat down to the worst foot massage she’d ever had in her life!

“But it only cost me ten bucks,” she explained, “so I figured, it wasn’t a total waste of money.”

Well, you’ve probably guessed it by now…but a couple of weeks later…that “massage place” where Jean received the worst foot massage she’d ever had in her life…yep!  Busted for prostitution!

Oh you should’ve heard the comments flying back and forth between Jean and me!  She said she was glad she hadn’t been in there when the place was busted, and we made jokes about what would the newspaper headlines would have said above her shocked and surprised front page photo!  She said, no wonder it was the worst foot massage she’d ever had in her life!  Oh we went on and on and on with the smart aleck remarks.  It was awesome!

Jean keeps me very, very, VERY entertained and has inspired several threads in several books since the “bats in the attic” story caused inspiration first hit me! (Including Elisaveta Tanner’s remark about the only kind of ring Maxim’s girlfriend would ever get from him would be the one in an antique toilet.  Long story…Jean and Tom…new toilets for Christmas…yadda yadda.)

I love Jean…she teaches me soooooooooooo much and has such a great sense-of-humor.  She’s totally one of my idols, inspirations and most treasured friends.  The stories I could tell!

Now, I don’t know why, but Jean did inspire me for this week’s contest, too (probably because we always “do” lunch).  But first…last week’s winner, right?

Carol L. (Lucky4750) you won the Australia DVD!  E-mail your snail mail address to me at marcialmcclure@cs.com and I’ll run over to the Post Office and get your DVD sent off to you!  Okay?

As for this week’s contest…hmmm.  Well, I’m hungry at this very moment (as usual), and I can’t stop thinking about Chili’s chips and salsa!  I LOVE their chips and salsa!  Those warm, thin, delicious tortilla chips and the FABULOUS salsa!  Mmmm!  So this week’s contest is for a $25 Chili’s gift certificate!  Just leave a comment and you’re entered to win!  (You know the drill, right?)  Mmmm!  Chips and salsa at Chili’s!  Perfect for today!

A few weeks ago, a reader wrote and asked me for a list of my books in “when written” Chronological Order.  She wanted to start from the beginning and read them from first written to most current.  My Mother-in-Law has always liked to read them in chrono order, too, and so I thought it might be kind of fun/challenging to see if I could come up with a pretty accurate list for the reader who had requested it, as well as myself, and anyone else who might want to read my books in that specific manner.

Well, believe it or not, when I sat down to type up the list going by the order in which I wrote then instead of publication date, I found it kind of hard to remember exactly which order I’d written them in!  I’m serious!  It was weird.  There are certain books I can easily remember which year they were written because of certain chaotic events that happened at the same time.

For instance, The Visions of Ransom Lake was written in 1997.  I began writing it in Albuquerque and finished it in Ferndale, Washington.  So that one was easy.  But most of them were kind of a swirl in my mind.

However, I did manage to come up with a pretty accurate chronological order.  There are some exceptions such as the fact that e-books such as Weathered Too Young, Saphyre Snow and The Highwayman of Tanglewood were eventually lengthened from novella length into novels when I was able to scrounge up some time.  So keep in mind that this list includes when the originals were written.  I did the best that I could without calling a million people and asking them what the original date was that I gifted them the manuscripts.  (Okay…maybe not a million people.)

Anyway, since I have recently received several requests for a chronological list, I thought I’d just slap one up on my blog for fun!  And as a side note, if you’re one of the less-than-a-million people I should’ve called first and you have dates that will help me out, just e-mail me at marcialmcclure@cs.com and I’ll fix anything I goofed up on this list!

Meanwhile, maybe you’ll find this a teeny bit interesting if you’ve ever wanted to read my books in the order in which they were written!  (Keep in mind that “order in which they were written” does not necessarily mean it was the “order in which the plot/story/characters etc. were conceived!)

The Anthology of Premiere Novellas Romantic Vignettes (This book has the first three novellas I ever completed.)
Desert Fire (The first Western Romance I completed by the way!)
Born for Thorton’s Sake
Divine Deception
Weathered Too Young (Originally written as a birthday gift!)
To Echo the Past (Also originally written as a birthday gift!)
Sudden Storms
The Heavenly Surrender
The Visions of Ransom Lake
Shackles of Honor
Dusty Britches
The Fragrance of her Name
The Rogue Knight
An Old-Fashioned Romance
Love Me
The Prairie Prince
The Windswept Flame
The Highwayman of Tanglewood
The Touch of Sage
Saphyre Snow
Daydreams
Kissing Cousins
The Whispered Kiss
Sweet Cherry Ray
The Time of Aspen Falls
A Crimson Frost
The Light of the Lovers’ Moon
Kiss in the Dark
Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine
The Tide of the Mermaid Tears
A Better Reason to Fall in Love
The Pirate Ruse
Take a Walk With Me
The Trove of the Passion Room
The Haunting of Autumn Lake
The Chimney Sweep Charm

So a couple of nights ago, as I was just lying there trying to relax and drift off to sleep, I started thinking about Sea Monkeys.  Do you remember Sea Monkeys?  I mean, you can still get Sea Monkeys and their habitat (little kits that come with Brine Shrimp eggs that you hatch in water and a little plastic aquarium thing), but you really don’t hear about them much anymore.  BUT when I was kid, I had some!

I used to read comic books when I was a youth…actually, I still do…but the ones I read then were like Hot Stuff the Little Red Devil (my favorite!), Casper, etc.  Somewhere in every comic book I ever read one would find an ad for Sea Monkeys and the ads always intrigued me!  I mean, Sea Monkeys were supposed to be like this little family of like alien aquatic life and they looked sooooooooooooo cute!  (Here’s an old ad I found!  See what I mean?)

Anyway, I became determined that I simply MUST have some Sea Monkeys!  I scrounged up a couple of bucks and ordered them.  (This was back when you could send cash in the mail.)  As I began impatiently waiting for my Sea Monkey family to arrive in our mailbox my anticipation was much like Ralphie’s in the movie A Christmas Story.  Every day I’d check the mailbox hoping for my Sea Monkeys kit to arrive.  And then one day, when I thought I couldn’t wait any longer, VOILA!!!!

Naturally, I was totally excited and went to work preparing the Sea Monkey habitat and sprinkling my Sea Monkey eggs into the waiting water.  I can’t remember how long it took them to hatch, but when they did, they looked NOTHING like the comic book ad.  I mean NOTHING like it.

BUT I’m usually one to find the silver lining in any situation, and as I watched my little brine shrimp swimming around in their cute little habitat (complete with little inlaid magnifying windows so that when the Sea Monkeys swam passed one you could really see them well) I delighted in the miracle of the whole thing.  To me it was amazing that you could order something in the mail, sift in some sandy looking stuff and have little creatures appear! Oh sure…they looked nothing like a little alien aquatic family, but I loved them anyway.

I used to set the little Sea Monkey habitat on my window sill so that the sun could shine through it, and watch my Sea Monkeys swimming around.  I’m guessing they lived about two weeks before they just disappeared somehow (I’m guess died)…but I enjoyed them to the fullest…even if they weren’t aliens.  After all, that’s what we should do in life, right?  If something isn’t perfect, just enjoy it as much as we can anyway!

So…did YOU ever have a Sea Monkey experience?  Whether or not you did, leaving your Sea Monkey comment will automatically enter you in my Random Contest this week!

Last week’s winner…the winner of the Calamity Jane DVD and some “Irresistibles” is Karen Foster!!!!  Snail Mail your mailing address to me Karen, and I’ll get your winnings in the mail!

As for today’s Random Contest…hmmm…how about this…Don’t you think that if anyone was ever going to make a movie about a MANLY merman…that Hugh Jackman would make a good merman?  Seriously!  Let’s run with that weird idea!  Up for grabs this week on my blog, is a DVD/movie starring Hugh Jackman (who WOULD make a good merman)!  And he would be an even better merman if they would let him speak with his natural Australian accent, right?  So this week…Australia is the contest prize!  Leave a comment about Hugh or Sea Monkeys and your entered to win!  I LOVED this movie and the little boy in it will entirely win your heart!  Not to mention that it proves Hugh would make a good merman!