Greg and me in our Craw-Daddy & Craw-Momma hats. :)

Lots of good times and laughter. That is Greg's dad on the far left and his sister on the right. As you can see, she's a non-crawfish eater. For those, we grill hamburgers and hotdogs.

This is my dad (left) and Greg's dad (right). They (we) used to be neighbors. Yep. I married the boy next door. :)

My daughter-in-law's mom brought this cake. Everything on it is edible. Is that the most amazing thing ever!!

Here's a close-up of the cake. As you can see, the crawfish have had a little too much beer (note the bloodshot eyes). LOL!

My nephew (left), our son's childhood friend (middle), and our son (right) tote a cooler of live crawfish to the cook. Make special note that our nephew is toting his side one-handed and flexing with his other. LOL.

We set up tents and tables in the backyard and serve the crawfish in aluminum tubs. At the table, from left to right: Our youngest son (with his back to us), my brother-in-law's girlfriend, my nephew and Greg's dad. Sitting at the picnic table in the distance are our cousins.

Here's the crawfish before they are cooked. Included in the mixture are corn, potatoes, lemon, butter and spices.

This is the cook's set up. This year the next generation showed an interest in learning how to cook the crawfish. By the end of the day, our oldest son and nephew (on the right) were doing all the cooking. This allowed Greg to do much more visiting and relaxing. It was so nice!! :)

Our nephew brought Greg and I special hats this year. He labeled them "Craw-Daddy" and "Craw-Momma." LOL!

Greg teaching the boys the ropes. Our nephew is on the left side of the pic. He's wearing mitts so he can scoop the live crawfish into the cook pot. Our oldest son (in the middle) is helping Greg with the cooler. That thing is heavy with all those crawdads in it!

If you have read MAID TO MATCH, you might have noticed I dedicated it to six people who prayed for me daily while I was on deadline. Two of them were Larry & Donna Drake. This is them! They are Greg's aunt and uncle and so, so dear to us.

The little ones stayed in the pool the whole day long. :)

A crawdaddy up close. :)

I went as Valentine Barbie. All the authors had to walk the catwalk in their costumes while telling a secret about themselves. I confessed that I used to make-up romances between my Barbie and Ken dolls. They were long draw out sagas where they met, they courted and they wed! :)

These readers were 50s Barbies.

This precious girl was 80s Barbie.

This is Marsha from California. She was Cheerleader Barbie.

These gals were Pajama Barbies.

These were Triplet Barbies. Check out those ADORABLE shoes!

This girl is from Virginia. She was hilarious. I really enjoyed her. She dressed as Homeless Barbie. :)

This boxed, mint-condition Barbie was from Alfred Hitchcock's movie, The Birds. Now, check out the next photo ...

This is Kathy Patrick dressed as The Birds' Barbie. Is that just the greatest! She's the patriarch of the Pulpwood Queen Bookclubs (who was hosting the entire event).

This is Vacation Barbie and she won the prize for Best Costume!

Cocoa is a Chocolate Labrador Retriever and belongs to Ashlee D. of Alabama. In the novel, she belongs to one of our heroine's clients (the Bosticks) and first appears in Chapter 12.

Here is the anecdote that Ashlee submitted with Cocoa's photo: "Cocoa will be eight years old this December, but she thinks she is still a puppy. She also believes that she is a male and she likes to think she's the boss. I'm in college, so I really miss both her and our golden Retriever, Emma.

This is the latest story my mom has told me about Cocoa: Cocoa loves to swim, so every morning my mom takes both of our dogs and goes over to our friend's house. Our friend has a large pond with a pier in her back yard, as well as three other golden Retrievers and a black Lab. Mom throws balls into the water for the other dogs, but Cocoa is particular and she prefers to run headlong down the pier, jump, and fetch a rubber mallard that Mom throws for her. Cocoa would swim all day if you would allow her.

Recently my family went out of town for the weekend and Cocoa and Emma stayed at that friend's house while my mom, dad, and sister were away. There are catfish in the pond, which Cocoa had evidently not realized until she saw the friend dropping fish food in the water for them. Of course, the huge catfish in the pong swim right up to the surface to get the food and Cocoa goes right into the water on top of them. She swam around and around in circles trying to catch one for herself.

Now, every morning when Mom takes her over to swim, she sits on the end of the pier and stares down into the water. Whenever she sees any kind of movement in the water, she catapults off the pier, swimming completely underwater trying to grab herself a big catfish. Of course, she doesn't catch one, so she swims around to shore, runs back down to the end of the pier, and sits there staring down into the water. I'm not sure what she would know what to do with a catfish if she caught one though... :)"

Tiffany is a German Shepherd/Lab and belonged to Deb B. from California. Tiffany does not make an actual appearance, but is referred to in Chapter 10 during a scene between our hero and a victim of a robbery. (The victim is allergic to dogs and Tiffany belongs to his ex-wife. Our victim has a bit of an attitude. So, you will be glad that "Tiffany" is no longer living in his house!)

Here is the anecdote that Deb submitted with Tiffany's picture: "Dee, this is my special dog Tiffany. I lost her two weeks ago after 18 years of enjoying her antics, so I though this would the perfect place to submit a story about her! Tiffany was half dog, half human. She would growl to you like she was talking and when she was hungry she would pull you out of your chair to get her some food. After she was 17, she would wobble around like she was in need of a cane and even stubbornly ignore you. It got to the point where we would call her Grandma. For Halloween 2007 we decided to dress her up as Wonder Woman, she was the coolest, baddest superhero dog/human out there!"

Sahsha is a Shih-Tzu mix and belongs to Aveina P. from Texas. Sahsha does not make an appearance in the book, but we "hear" her bark during Chapter 14 while our heroine is giving her a walk.

Here is the anecdote Aveina submitted with Sahsha's picture: "My little Sahsha has her very own blog and makes life so wonderful. Whenever I am sad or irritated with my daily doldrum, I just think of Sahsha and the goofy things she does and crack up! She doesn't like her paws touched so whenever you put your hand on her paw, she takes out her paw and puts it over your hand.. like she's saying, 'It's going to be okay Mummy..I'm here...'"

Shamrock is an Australian White's Dumpy Tree Frog belongs to Evelyn O. of California. He appears in Chapter 27 during a scene between our heroine and three young baseball players.

Here is the anecdote that Evelyn sent in with Shamrock's picture: "I got Shamrock as a St. Patrick's Day Present to myself, hence the name Shamrock. He is as big as the palm of my hand. One day I was holding him in the living room and talking to my mom about him. She was not happy and said that I better put him away before he jumps on her. I said he wouldn't jump on her.

No sooner had the words left my mouth, then Shamrock leaps off my hand, jumps over my mom and lands on the other side of the living room on a ottoman. My mom freaked out and screamed. I was laughing so hard that it was hard to get him. Once I had a hold of him I promptly took him back to his habitate in my room."

Steve Rogers (named after Captain America) is a mutt and belongs to my son in California. Since my son went to all the trouble to actually submit Stevie in the contest along with everyone else, how could I possibly not include my grand-puppy?? I'd have been in trouble for sure! Stevie appears in the epilogue of the book.

My son did not submit an anecdote about Stevie, so I will submit one for him: "Steve Rogers is really a girl, but our son had decided at some point during his youth that he was going to name his first dog after his comic book hero, Captain America. And that's just what he did. (In the book, Stevie is a boy, though. Otherwise, it would have been way too confusing!)

Stevie is one of the most active dogs I have ever known in my whole entire life. That dog can go-go-go like nobody's business. She is best friends with our two dogs (Cowboy and Tootsie), who were not included in the novel because none of our kids submitted them. And to be eligible, they would have had to be submitted through the website. :)"

Tippy is a Pomchi (a Pomeranian Chihauha mix). He belongs to Linda K. of Nebraska. Tippy first appears in Chapter Four when our hero interviews our heroine at a local coffee shop.

Here is the anecdote Linda submitted with her photo: "My Tippy wakes me up every morning better than an alarm clock. He sneaks under the covers and puts his cold little nose right into the crook of my knee. If that doesn't wake me up, he sneaks up and licks the back of my ear. Better than a high pitched alarm!"

Harley is a mutt who belongs to Patricia E. of Texas. Harley is renamed Romeo in the book because I had a rather prominent secondary character in my TROUBLE books whose name was Harley. Harley/Romeo makes his first appearance in Chapter 1. Also, Harley was a rescue dog and his story is featured in the Epilogue. 

Here's an anecdote Patricia submitted: "I pleaded and begged and finally told my husband I'd agree to let him get the Harley Davidson motorcycle I'd resisted for years, if he'd just let me have this dog.  He finally agreed. I decided to name the dog Harley so that my husband could get a Harley and I could, too.  "

Visiting with some readers at my book signing while wearing a replica of a 17th century wedding gown.

Signing *A Bride Most Begrudging* for an aspiring writer.

"Princess Dee" receiving help with her inscription from "Princess Sydney." (The quill didn't have any ink on it, but Sydney didn't seem to mind.) Isn't she the most precious thing ever? I was very reluctant to give her up.

I had done a speaking event at a writer's organization this woman is a member of. She is a talented journalist and I had an opportunity to meet her husband and to catch up on our visiting.

A close-up look at my journalist friend, Janetta Messmer, whose credits include *Guideposts.*

hope she will visit our blog and become a part of our community. I really enjoyed her.

During the holidays, I was invited to speak at an annual Women's Dinner.

I was completely blown away by the table decorations.

Are these amazing, or what?

Even the chairs were decorated!

And one of the most lovely parts was that it was not a competition.

Each table was a labor of love ...

... or of a house divided? LOL

Mama and Daddy had a clear view of the yard from the roof of our outdoor kitchen. One would always stay by the nest while the other searched for food.

This was taken just after our dog had come back inside. Mama has flown by a time or two and now landed just in front of the ligustrum bush. She taking bouncing steps toward the nest and will fly into it any minute to check on her chicks.

The activity around the nest lasted all day long. Mama would hunt for food while Daddy stood guard, then they'd switch. But all day long, from morning to night, the mama and daddy brought the babies food. Is this just so sweet?

I'd never seen a baby bird being fed, but the mama and daddy both feed the chicks and they push their beaks waaaaaay down the babies' throats. I was so surprised. I couldn't get a good shot of that, though, because there was this leaf right in the way! :(

Naptime is over and this one is perched right on the edge. It looks big in the photo, but it's really very tiny.

Do you see the mama bird on the left? Look for her orange beak.

Is this just the sweetest thing you've ever seen? So precious!

A couple dozen authors headed to Round Top, Texas to get-away-from-it all. We went to work, to play, to see the programs, to reunite with old friends and to make new ones.

Carol Johnson was one of the speakers. She is revered as the Mother of Christian Fiction, for it was she who first acquired Janette Oke and introduced Christian Fiction to the world of Inspirational Publishing.

This is Main Street, Round Top, Texas. It was dark when Carol & I arrived and we were all the way through town before we realized we'd missed it!

The town had cozy cabins and historic homes sprinkled throughout.

Once we arrived, the first thing on the agenda? Find my critique partner, Meg Moseley. She & I have been critiquing since 2004, but hadn't seen each other in several years. (We do all our critiquing via the phone & internet.) She just signed a contract with Waterbrook! Woo-hoo! This was her first official function as a published author. :)

This was our first night as everyone was arriving. From left to right: Meg Moseley, Allison Pittman, Kathleen Y'Barbo, Tracie Peterson, Cara Putman & Vickie McDonough

Lena Nelson Dooley & me. :)

Maureen Lang & Meg Moseley

Elizabeth Ludwig, Janet Lee Barton & Vickie McDonough

Kathleen Y'Barbo & Janice Thompson

Marcia Gruver & Allison Pittman

Janet Lee Barton & me. (That's a camera she's holding, not a pack of cigarettes!) :)

The retreat center we stayed in was amazing. It had lots of little knicks and crannies to hide out in. Many of us snuggled up with blankets and laptops and went to work.

This was the fabulous room where our programs were held. One day we had snow--in Texas of all things. So, we lit the fire. It was great.

One of the presenters was "The Victorian Lady." Ohmigosh. We all fell in love with her. She came in costume. Here is a picture of her and one of her models in Victorian mourning costumes. The Victorian Lady (and speaker) is on the left. The model is in "deep" mourning. We can tell because of the veil.

Our model has come out of "deep" mourning. The veil has come off and now she's added a bit of color with a white lace collar.

This is a chatelaine. There are many different kinds. This one is for sewing. It has thread and a looking glass and either a watch or a locket, I'm not sure. It clips onto her waist and is just the coolest thing!

She brought all kinds of Victorian corsets and undergarments to show us.

Cathy Marie Hake had brought some modern-day corsets and strapped me into one. You can tell it's modern-day because it covers the breasts. The period ones only lifted, but did not cover. Looks nice with my flannel pjs, huh? :P

Cathy Marie Hake insists that corsets that fit correctly are great for back support. I can tell you this, they certainly do make for pretty posture--as you can see with our Victorian Lady!

The next day the Victorian Lady came back and did a program on Victorian maternity costumes and motherhood. This is one of her models in a Victorian nursing gown. Do you see the buttons on either side of the bodice?

More than attending programs and more than working, more than anything, we ate like royalty. This is Merrill. She was our cook and oh ... my ... GOSH, can this woman cook! And on top of that, she stole our hearts. Such a sweet, precious gal. I sure do love her!

Tracie Peterson loves hats. As a thank you gesture and in Tracie's honor, we all brought a hat and wore it to dinner one night. I would show you pictures, but we were on a very strict no-pictures policy. One of the things we all wanted to do was grunge out in our jammies and not wear make up if we didn't want to. Thus the "no pictures" policy. So, here's me in my hat and jammies. You'll have to use your imagination for everyone else. :)

Here's the hat we presented to Tracie. It was decoupaged with some covers from Tracie's books. We each brought a charm to decorate it with. It's because she's such a lady of high regard and we all appreciated the time and effort she went to to make the event happen.

Sharlene Maclaren, Tracie Peterson and Cara Putnum

Cathy Marie Hake arrived a little late because she broke her wrist in the hotel the night before the retreat! So, I didn't get any pics of her. But she was there and loads of fun. The broken wrist didn't slow her down a bit!

During the day, I was on an author panel with Shellie Rushing Tomlinson (Suck In Your Tummy and Put Some Color On) and River Jordan (Saints in Limbo).

Here I am as Glinda the Good Witch of the North.

Each of the Book Clubs decorated their table for the party. They were all beautiful and so creative. This one is the Emerald City.

The Pulpwood Queen Book Club from Tyler, Texas dressed up as Glinda also! Aren't they gorgeous!

The Pulpwood Queens from Kansas each dressed like a character from the book, but they did it in formal dresses. I just loved how creative they all were!

This is Vicki Lee from the Jefferson, Texas book club. I wish you could see her hat. It was amazing! And she had on green-and-black striped tights. Doesn't she look great?!

Author Karen Harrington (Janeology) dressed as Dorothy.

Here we are--Glinda (me), Dorothy (author Karen Harrington) and the Witch (reader Vicki Lee)!

These girls were from the book club in Katy, Texas (where my son just moved to!). Aren't they cute in all pink!

Author Ad Hudler (Man of the House) dressed as Oz--the one that answered the door and said "Go away and come back tomorrow!" His daughter helped him make the "door." Isn't that so clever!

This is Heidi. She's one of the Kansas group. You should hear this woman sing. Oh ... my ... GOSH! Amazing!! Doesn't she look cute?!

Here's another lion. He's the husband of one of the Jefferson, Texas book club members. :)

This sweet girl is from Katy, Texas. She dressed up as one of the Lollipop kids. So adorable! I love her smile, don't you? :)

Kathy Patrick--the woman of the hour--dressed as a tornado, of all things! She is such a cut-up. I just love her!

This "munchkin" was the husband of another Jefferson, Texas girl. What great sports those guys were!

This couple came as the Yellow Brick Road! Ha!

Now before you can appreciate the next couple of pictures, you need to meet Mary Yetta (arrow on the left) and her daughter, Andrea (arrow on the right). These two girls just won my heart over. I'd met them last year at a Books Alive event and then again at last year's Girlfriend Weekend. They are regulars in our online community and I really got a chance to hang out with them this year. Those gals you see with them are Mary Yetta's sisters. The girl with the pigtails is author Shelley Rushing Tomlinson. The two girls to the right of me are an author-sister duo who write under the name Deva Gantt.

Check this out. It's Mary Yetta and Andrea! (From the previous picture.) They dressed as munchkins. Don't they look fabulous?! They were such a hoot! I wish you could have seen them dancing to "Brick House." Ohmygosh, those girls have got the moves!

Mary Yetta and Andrea won Best Costume! And the crowd went wild, chanting, "Munch-kin! Munch-kin! Munch-kin!" It was so great. The entire weekend was. If you are interested in being in a Pulpwood Queen Book Club, go to BeautyAndTheBook.com and click on "Pulpwood Queens." You'll be glad you did!

Our 17-year-old daughter would like to be an actress when she grows up. Until then, she is doing some modeling in order to get some experience under her belt.

When she gets her braces off, we'll have to do another photo shoot to update her portfolio.