The 12 Days of Christmas (Cookies)

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the cookies. Yummy yummy cookies, and lots of them. But I always end up making like four batches in one day, and then I'm burnt out and covered in cookies.

The phrase "The 12 Days of Christmas" kept going through my head, and I didn't know if the song was stuck in my head or if there was something I wanted to do for the 12 days leading up to Christmas. Finally, the two desires coalesced and BINGO! We have the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies.

How it works is, starting on the 12th of December and going until Christmas Eve, I'm going to make a batch of cookies. I'm way excited! And just for kicks, I'll also post the recipe online a day ahead of time. In case anyone else wants to play! I'll get an ingredient list up also.

This way I get all my cookies, we have yummies every day, and I'm not doing too much in any one day!

Anyone want to join in the fun?

Wednesday's blog tour is here!

I Haven't Been Nominated

For the Whitney's, that is.

I don't know if I have a chance at winning. But if I'm not nominated, I'll never know. All I need is five nominations and I'm entered.

So if you've read my book, and you liked it at all, please nominate me. It's easy to do. Click this link and fill out the nomination form. Here's the info you'll need about my book:

Title: Perilous

Publisher: WiDo Publishing

Author: Tamara Hart Heiner

Nominations are only open through December. That doesn't give me a lot of time to campaign. So please! Nominate me!

And the blog tour and contest continues! Monday's post is here. And Tuesday's is here!

To the Brave Little Reviewer

Today's post is one you should take very seriously.

My hat goes off to Melanie J, who is up on my blog tour today. Reason: She didn't like my book.

I've known Melanie in the blogger world for more than a year. I imagine that it was very hard for her to email me and tell me that she didn't enjoy my book. Rather than make me look bad in front of the whole world, she requested that she be taken off my blog tour.

I declined her request, asking her instead to post the negative review.

The bottom line is, folks, some people aren't going to like my book. Some of you, even. So take a look at her review. And if you think you might not like my book, buy the ebook. It's a smaller investment. :)

Oh and then pop back over here and tell me what you think of the review. Because, to be honest, I'm not brave enough to go look at it.

The negative review is here.

Will the Real Theresa Milstein Please Come Forward?

Anyone know Theresa?

If you do, be sure and tell her that

SHE WON!

In case you wondered, there were 250 entries into the drawing for a copy of Perilous from Oct. 15 to Nov. 15. Random.org chose #35, which was Theresa. Theresa was entered in three times.

If you didn't win, don't despair! There will be another drawing for all comments made on the blog tour from Nov. 16 to Dec. 15. The blog tour is listed on the tab above, and it's not too late to make as many comments as you can so you can be entered!

Good luck! Thanks, Theresa! Send me an email with your address and I'll get a book in the mail to you (as soon as I get them myself, that is!)

And Wednesday's post is here! For Thursday: the one and only Karen Gowen!

The Truth Shall Set you Free-Or Not

Missouri law enforcement and I do not get along.

Background: I'm one of those "letter of the law" type of drivers. The annoying ones that don't go even one mile over the speed limit, turn the lights on when the windshield wipers go on, use my blinker, etc. etc.

I find it highly ironic that I'm the one who always gets pulled over while people going 15 mph faster than me are ignored.

Incident 1: Right outside of Springfield on I-44, a cop pulled me over for not getting out of his way. He said I was going too slow and needed to either speed up or move to the side of the road when he got up on my bumper. Setting: I was going 60 mph in a 60. It was night. I could only see the headlights of the vehicle behind me, which got up on my bumper. Solution: TURN ON YOUR COP LIGHTS!

At least he let me go without a ticket. Not so lucky with #2.

Incident 2: Right outside of Ft. Leonard Wood on I-44, a cop pulled me. Offense: Running a yellow light. Yes, you read that correctly. The cop, who was sitting at the light ACROSS from me in the intersection, thought I ran a red light. To his credit, by all means, he should've been right. His light turned green and my vehicle was making a left turn in the intersection. He assumed that I must've run a red light. The problem: I didn't. My light was yellow. The bigger problem: I could not prove this, as I had no camera in my car to tape the incident. Solution: CHECK THE TIMERS ON THE SIGNAL LIGHTS BECAUSE SOMETHING'S OUT OF SYNC! That's not what he did, of course. I always thought that if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear. Just TELL THE TRUTH. I'm very sorry to report, that is not the case.

So, one ticket later, I'm now the kind of driver that STOPS at an intersection as soon as the light turns yellow. Sorry, folks. That ticket cost me big bucks.

Tell me I'm not the only one this happens to. Have you ever been wrongly ticketed?

The blog tour is still going strong! Check out this awesome post by the Southern Princess! And Tuesday's post is none other than Tristi Pinkston, who is also holding her own very awesome blog contest!

Crockpot Cranberries

It's Thanksgiving! Well, almost. I'm in the middle of preparations, and I'll bet you are too. So let's keep this sweet and simple. Bitter-sweet, to be exact.

(This isn't my picture. But that's what they look like.)

With so many recipes, I'm always looking for ways to cut corners and avoid dirtying more pots and pans/turning on my oven. So this year, I've employed my crockpot. The first thing I made was these cranberries, and they are awesome! Here's the super-easy recipe:

12 oz. cranberries (if you use frozen, add 30 min. to cook time)
1 C sugar
1/2 C water
zest of 1 lime

Cook cranberries, sugar, and water in crockpot on high for 2 1/2 hours. Add lime zest and refrigerate up to 3 weeks!

Told you it was easy! This only makes 2 C. If you've got a crowd, you might want more. It's really yummy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's the last blog tour this week: Tara McClendon!!!

Down on One Knee

I'm begging you.

Please.

Reviews are overrated. I think we can all agree with that.

But on some places (:::cough:::Amazon.com), the reviews really mean something. That's great--if people are reviewing you. Problem is, people aren't.

So here's my plea. If you've read my book--please post a review. Only one person has. (And, um, it doesn't look like they were too impressed with my book.)

Oh, and apparently my book appreciates with time. The used copy is for sale for $19.95, while the new copy is only $14.95. So get it while you can! You'll be able to resale it for more!

I'm getting off my knee now.

The blog tour and the contest are not over yet! Click here for Monday's post! And for Tuesday, click here!