Janice's Home (my main blog)

Happy Valentines day

2012-02-13T17:29:00.000-08:00

Every February 14, across the United States and in other places around the world, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine.

But who is this mysterious saint, and where did these traditions come from? Find out about the history of this centuries-old holiday, from ancient Roman rituals to the customs of Victorian England.

The Legend of St. ValentineThe history of Valentine's Day--and the story of its patron saint--is shrouded in mystery.

We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition.

But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Other stories suggest that

Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured.

According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl--possibly his jailor's daughter--who visited him during his confinement.

Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed "From your Valentine," an expression that is still in use today.

Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and--most importantly--romantic figure.

Fury Friday

2012-02-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

Thursday's Thirteen: Charles Dickens

2012-02-08T20:40:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday, Charles John Huffam Dickens

February 1812 – 9 June 1870 He was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic novels and characters.

Here are thirteen of his books. These are of coarse not all of his work.

The Adventures of Oliver Twist (Monthly serial in Bentley's Miscellany, February 1837 to April 1839)
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Monthly serial, April 1838 to October 1839)
The Old Curiosity Shop (Weekly serial in Master Humphrey's Clock, 25 April 1840, to 6 February 1841)
Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty (Weekly serial in Master Humphrey's Clock, 13 February 1841, to 27 November 1841)
The Christmas books:A Christmas Carol (1843)
The Chimes (1844)
The Cricket on the Hearth (1845)
The Battle of Life (1846)
The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (1848)
The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (Monthly serial, January 1843 to July 1844)
David Copperfield (Monthly serial, May 1849 to November 1850)
Bleak House (Monthly serial, March 1852 to September 1853)
A Tale of Two Cities (Weekly serial in All the Year Round, 30 April 1859, to 26 November 1859)

Which book of Dickens do have you enjoyed reading?

Caturday

2012-02-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

Furry Friday

2012-02-03T00:47:00.000-08:00

Weird Dream

2012-02-02T21:42:00.000-08:00

Last night, I had a really weird dream.

I fell into the river and came back as a tree, which was made into a hobby horse for a little girl.

Except she wasn't really a little girl.

She was the mother of the woman taking care of her and the little girl was aging backwards.

I finally turned back to myself . The woman bought the girl a new hobby horse and I played with the girl, but I was still in the hobby horse paint.

Then the woman took me to the river. I jumped in and the water took off the paint.

The river flowed upwards into the sky taking me with it and I climbed out on a rocky shore where my husband and daughter were looking for me.

I ran to them and hugged them. My daughter took out the ribbon in my hair that was from being a hobby horse.

Do you have weird dreams too? Can you tell us about one of them?

Inspirational Sunday: The Secret

2012-01-29T01:00:00.000-08:00

Last night I watched a show called the Secret.

The Secret helps you achieve your goals.

It's based on the law of attraction. If you keep in mind what you want, it'll come to you. If you keep in mind all the bad things you don't want happening to you--bad things will come to you.

SO stay positive.

First: ask for what you want but in a positive way.

Second: be grateful for what you do have.

Third: imagine already having what you asked for. Write it down like you already have it. I'm grateful for _____ Fill in the blank.

Fourth: when an opportunity presents itself, jump on it.

Caturday: Lions

2012-01-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

Thursday's Thirteen: Squid facts

2012-01-18T20:47:00.000-08:00

I’ve been watching shows about squids on Netflix so I decided to do--Thirteen facts about Squids.

1. Squid have gills just like fish. They are often mistaken for octopus. While they two are similar they are different types of creatures.

2. They also move through the water tail first instead of head first.

3. A squid is able to swim by sucking water into the mantle cavity. Then they remove it through the siphon. This process continues all day long, even when they are sleeping.

4. The Colossal Squid is the largest invertebrate in the world. The smallest is the sepiolid squid. It is less than one inch long and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce.

5. The only predators that giant squid have are sperm whales.

6. More than $100,000 was paid in 2005 by an aquarium in Australia for a block of ice that held the preserved body of a giant squid in it.

7. Squids have the biggest eyes of any creature in the water. About the size of a baseball.

8. The Humboldt squid is very aggressive and will even attack sharks in the water. A few years ago they attacked some fishermen that had fallen out of the boat on the sea of Cortez (Baja California) and killed them.

9. Most of the time squid are loners in the waters. However, there have been small groups of them identified. This can be due to many young being born in one location. When food sources are scarce or predators are a huge danger though they seem to group together in order to hunt easier and to stay alive. (Like the Humboldt which it the most dangerous of all squids.)

10. Every squid has three hearts and three gills that are positioned under their mantle.

11. Squids have a donut shaped brain.

12. The squids feeding tube goes right through the middle of the donut hole of the brain.

13. If they eat too big of a bite of food, they can suffer from brain damage. I thought this was so funny when I first heard it. “Now don’t eat so big a bite, dear. You don’t want to get brain damage.”

Inspirational Sunday: Be Tenacious

2012-01-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

Not only did he continue talking for 90 minutes, but the bullet remained

in his body for the rest of his life!

Friday the thirteenth

2012-01-13T15:30:00.000-08:00

Did you know it's Friday the thirteenth today?

I didn't realize it, until my friend Kelley mentioned it.

The fear of Friday the 13th is called Triskaidekaphobia (from Greek tris meaning "3", kai meaning "and", deka meaning "10" and phobia meaning "fear" or "morbid fear") is fear of the number 13; it is a superstition and related to a specific fear of Friday the 13th,

called paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia.

The term was first used by Isador Coriat in Abnormal Psychology.

The only time my husband was ever fired was on Friday the 13th. Ever since that day I won't mention Friday the 13th in his presence, he has such a fear of it.

How about you? Do you have a fear of Friday the thirteenth?

Scaly Friday

2012-01-13T14:45:00.000-08:00

Inspirational Sunday: Excellence

2012-01-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

Excellence, isn't a skill it is an attitude!

Caturday

2012-01-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

Inspirational Sunday: Girls in Movies

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Girls in movies usually get the bad rap. Screaming their heads off when a movie monster decides to lunch down on them. Running only to break an ankle. Then if they have the courage to fight back, the weapon is usually yanked out of their wimpy grip.

But here's the latest movie offering.

Who do we want our girls to immolate?

I say, you go Hermione, kick some dark wizard ass!!!

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T12:42:00.001-08:00

Good bye 2011

and hello 2012!

Thursday's thirteen: Those We Lost This Year

2011-12-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

This has been quite the year.

We've lost a few celebrates:

1. Apple founder Steve Jobs died at 56 on October 5 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. The tech guru leaves a vast legacy in his industry over the better part of four decades, listed as the inventor of household items such as iPod, iPhone and iPad, among others. He was also the driving force behind companies like Pixar and Atari.

2. Legendary newsman Andy Rooney diedNovember 4, just weeks after his 1097th and final weekly segment on the CBS stalwart 60 Minutes, capping off a 33-year run.

3.Russell Armstrong, the husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills beauty Taylor Armstrong, was found hanged August 15 in the bedroom of a friend’s home in Los Angeles. He was 47. Following his death, Taylor’s allegations of abuse against her late husband surfaced in interviews and on the Bravo reality show.

4. Emmy Award-winning actor Harry Morgan, who gained fame in the role of Colonel Potter on the iconic seriesM*A*S*H, died at 96 on December 7 of pneumonia at his Los Angeles home.

5. Comic Patrice O’Neal, who appeared on The Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen in September, suffered a stroke in October and passed away November 29. The funnyman was a regular on the New York comedy circuit and a frequent guest on the Opie & Anthony show.

6. Ken Russell, the Oscar-nominated British director whose credits include 1969's Women In Love, The Who's 1975 musical Tommy and 1980's Altered States died November 27 after suffering from multiple strokes. He was 84.

7. Cinematic legend Elizabeth Taylor died March 23 of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, after being hospitalized for six weeks. The two-time Academy Award-winner was 79.

8. Retro soul singer Amy Winehouse, who had a worldwide smash with her 2007 hit “Rehab,” was found dead of alcohol poisoning in her London apartment June 23. Her death at the young age of 27 spurred further speculation about the “27 club” a group of famous musicians (Jim Morrison, Janice Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix & others) who died at that age.

9. Betty Ford, the former First Lady who bravely went public with her own drug and alcohol addictions to help others with the famous clinic in her name, died July 8 at the age of 93. She was married to late President Gerald Fordfor 58 years.

10. The embattled star of Taxi and Grease, Jeff Conaway died May 27 from multiple causes, some attributable to his well-documented battles with drugs. (I remember him on Babylon Five.)

11. A preeminent sex symbol of the 1940s, The Outlaw star Jane Russell died February 28, 2011 of a respiratory-related illness in California.

12. Legendary fitness guru Jack LaLanne died Sunday at 96 at his Morro Bay, California home from respiratory failure connected to pneumonia. LaLanne hosted a TV workout show for more than 30 years and opened his own chain of spas.

13. My own loss. Our sweet little pigeon, Pidgie has been murdered by a raccoon who pulled her right through the bars of her cage. (And she was in a sturdier cage than this one.)

Now I have to change my bio from: Janice Seagraves grew up in a small California town. Her home isa hundred year old haunted house (I’m not kidding), where she lives with herhusband and daughter, one overly affectionate cat, and a pet pigeon that is inlove with her husband (also not kidding).

To: Janice Seagraves grewup and still lives in the same small California town. Her home is a hundredyear old haunted house (I’m not kidding), where she lives with her husband and justgrown daughter, and four overly affectionate cats.

New posts

2011-12-28T16:46:00.000-08:00

I have an interview here: http://savannahchase.com/2011/12/27/watch-out-author-janice-seagraves/ where I talk about my haunted house.

And a post here on new years resolutions:http://romancebooksrus.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-years-resolutions-new-series.html

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T16:13:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone.

Breaking down the hook

2011-12-22T12:45:00.001-08:00

Here’s post I did on Savvy Author on breaking down the hook. I used my own book as an example:

http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/content.php?1739-Breaking-down-the-Hook-by-Janice-Seagraves

Thirty-second Anniversary

2011-12-21T19:54:00.000-08:00

It's my thirty-second anniversary.

Yup, yet another thing to remind me of how old I'm getting.

Here's my husband and I on our wedding day, December 21, 1979

And now, thirty-two years later, December 21, 2011

For our anniversary we went out to IHOP.

It wasn't a fancy meal at a nice restaurants, but it was nice.

Oh, you shouldn't have!

2011-12-13T17:17:00.000-08:00

You know you all got them. The unwanted Christmas present.

Maybe it was the ugly hand knitted Christmas sweater from Aunt Aida, or the teddy bear you were told to share with your sibling, or something too old/too young for you.

What was the unwanted gift and how did you handle it? Were you diplomatic or did you say something you couldn't take back?

When I was much younger, I received a paint by number set. A gift from an uncle and aunt because I wanted to be an artist.

My mom told me to thank them for the thoughtful gift. Although they couldn't have put much thought into it if they thought that a paint by number set is what an artist does. I would have preferred a drawing pad, or something related to art. I opened my mouth to say that, but got a warning look from my mom.

So I thank them with the sickly smile I only reserved for school photos.

And now I have the other problem--my husband is too way good to me--really too good.

He puts us into debt for some outrageous gift that'll take us years to pay off.

Yes, now that's the gift that keeps on giving.

Oh, you shouldn't have. No really. You shouldn't have.

I Believe

2011-12-11T14:14:00.001-08:00

How old were you when you realized that there was no Santa Clause?

I was probably eight or nine. The kids at school were telling each other that there were no Santa Clause. I wanted the gifts so I told my parents that I believed.

It kept going until I was twelve, that's when my dad abruptly said, "I think you kids know there's no Santa. It's your mom getting up in the middle of the night to fill your stocking. So we're going to do away with the Christmas stockings, starting this year."

It was a shock to hear him say that. Although I think he said that so he didn't have to pay for an extra gift for Santa to stuff into the stocking.

My daughter was younger. At age six she asked my husband if there was a Santa Clause, and he told her no.

I was so mad at him for killing the Christmas spirit.

It nice to think that there's a jolly fat man who wants to bring you a gift. And when a child can believe in things like Santa Claus it helps them believe in God.

Dyer died

2011-12-10T14:15:00.001-08:00

My dryer died and my hubby, with my daughter's help, is trying to fix the darn thing. This sort of thing always happens when its not covenant for us. I have a huge pile of clothes I was going to do. It right before Christmas, so all our money is spent. Daughter has registered for summer semester at college and they don't want to wait for their money, so we have to cough it up asap. And it too cold outside for me to hang out my clothes. If I did my clothes would smell like an old mop.

The dryer still spins and all the lights come on, but the heat element doesn't heat anymore. So we need a new heat element, which my hubby will have to run down to Fresno to get.

Wish us luck getting the darn thing fixed.

Persimmon Cookies

2011-12-08T20:29:00.001-08:00

I should have posted this earlier, but last weekend my daughter and I made persimmon cookies. It was a first for me, I had never made them before. Pitty I didn't get take a photo. This is one I found online, but it looked very close to what we made.

I found a recipe online. I pulped the persimmons. They have to be dead ripe and squishy for this portion of the recipe.

And I mean squishy.

Then my daughter measured and dumped everything into the bowl, while I stirred. She finally took a turn at stirring when my arm and hand were about to give out. Then she made the first batch and I make the next and the next. Well, the recipe was for three dozen cookies and we doubled it.

I was up till three in the morning baking cookies and my daughter had long since fallen asleep, lol.

The next morning, I got up and brought my hubby a whole plate of our cookies. His eyes got real big and a smile stretched across his face.

Oh, he was a happy hubby for sure.

Highest winds in California in years

2011-12-01T21:11:00.001-08:00

Some of the worst winds in years blasted through California overnight, sweeping through canyons, gusting up to 97 mph (156 kph), and toppling trees and trucks while knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people.

We're lucky we didn't lose power or any trees. Just some limbs fell out of the trees in our yard.

I Won!

2011-11-29T19:38:00.001-08:00

I did it.

I finished the 50K word count and I won the novel in a month challenge.

Janice~

My Fickle-Muse

2011-11-29T12:43:00.001-08:00

I did my day on Romance Books "R" Us and wrote about my muse getting drunk on eggnog.

http://romancebooksrus.blogspot.com/2011/11/anna-bella-fickle-muse-by-janice.html

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T20:41:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving

and eat lots of turkey!

Anne McCaffrey Dead at 85

2011-11-22T21:31:00.001-08:00

Anne Inez McCaffrey, author of sci-fi and fantasy, best known for her "Dragonriders of Pern" series, died Monday at her home in Ireland at the age of 85.

Publishers, Random House, announced that McCaffrey died shortly after suffering a stroke on Nov. 21 at her home.

McCaffrey published nearly 100 books mainly on fiction, including the Dragon Rider of Pern series. She was born on April 1, 1926, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

So sad, I really like her books too.

Nano word count widget

2011-11-20T19:25:00.001-08:00

I forgot to get one of these earlier.

Here you can see how well I'm doing with my word count.

Thursday's Thirteen: The Nanowrimo self-sabotages

2011-11-17T00:43:00.001-08:00

I'm doing the Nanowrimo and these are thirteen things that things that are sabotages my writing.

I'm hungry, I think that candy in the candy bowl is calling my name.
I'm thirsty, I think I have one soda left way in the back of the fridge.
I need to use the bathroom, even though it's the tenth time in the last hour.
I want to pet the cat she seem lonely; "Here kitty-kitty. Ow, don't bite me."
My daughter friend came over, I get to have girl talk which will waste another hour or two.
Is it lunch or dinner time yet?Did some one email me?
It has been two hours since the last time I checked.
Is that show I want to watch on? I better check.
I'm cold I better get a sweater on. Ooh, better yet I'll change into pajamas, even though its only seven o'clock in the afternoon.
Did I hear the UPS truck outside? I think my package I ordered from cafepress is due.
Time to update my word count for the third time in the last hour.
I better check what's going on in the nano forums.
Hey, I better do my Thursday's thirteen!

Are you doing the Nanowrimo? If you are how are you doing?

Happy Veterans Day!

2011-11-11T19:57:00.001-08:00

Let's take a moment to remember all the veterans who gave their lives so our country can remain free.

Inspirational Sunday

2011-11-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

It's time to be . . . .

Caturday: Hiding

2011-11-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

You can't see me, I'm hiding.

Our kitty Freya, hiding in the fall leaves.

Feathered Friday: Pidgie

2011-11-04T23:59:00.000-07:00

RIP Pidgie

Our pet pigeon was killed by some kind of animal that pulled her through the bars of her cage and ate her.

The only thing left was feathers.

And a bloody paw print.

Nanowrimo

2011-11-01T15:01:00.001-07:00

I just started National Novel Writer's Month or nanowrimo.

Which means I will be taking a break from my normal writing and promos to write a novel in a month.

Wish me luck!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T17:54:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about my earliest Halloween memories and realized I have a rather odd one.

My parents tried to keep Halloween a secret from my sister and I.Especially Trick-or-Treating.

How is that possible?

Well you have to realize that it was back in the mid 1960's and things were a little bit different than. There were only four channels on TV. Cable TV was still a distant dream and wouldn't make it to my small town until the 1980's. There was no home computers or cell phones.

At this time parents still put their kids to bed at 8 o'clock in the evening and expected us to stay there. (Yeah, and me with insomnia.)

I was in Kindergarten and didn't know what the other kids were talking about. My sister is a year and a half younger than me and wasn't in school yet.

We also didn't decorate the house for Halloween and didn't leave the light on during the evening event.

Just for the record--We are not Jehovah Witnesses.

Anytime another parent would asked my mom or dad if they were going to take us out Trick-or Treating, my dad or mom would hush them. Then say in a low voice, "We don't want the girls to know about it." The other parents would look at us with pity.

Then one Halloween we had company. A couple with two kids, a boy and a girl all decked out in costumes. The parents went to talk at the dining table, drinking coffee, which left us kids in the living room.

Me: "what they were wearing?"

Girl: : "Halloween costumes."

I glanced to my sister and she looked confused too. Me: "What for?"

Boy: "Trick-or Treating."

Me: "What's that?"

Both kids traded a glance with wide-eyes, then asked us: "Haven't you ever gone Trick-or-Treating?"

Sister and I both shook our heads.

The two children took pity on us and told us all about this thing called Trick-or-Treating and how fun it was. Their mom and dad were going to take them right after their visit with our parents.

All four of us kids looked at the parents, sitting around the table chatting. It didn't look like they were going to be done anytime soon. Then we looked at the front door.

Hmmm.

About an hour later, both sets of parents found us kids about a quarter mile away, and already we had a nice haul. Even though my sister and I didn't have costumes like the other children, we still got candy too.

After my mom got over her fright, giving us equal amounts of hugs and scoldings. She turned to my dad and told him, "Johnnie, we can't keep Halloween and Trick-or-Treating from the girls forever. We might as well let them do it."

Dad: "No! I don't want my kids begging for candy."

My sister started to cry.

Me: "But-but daddy it was fun."

My Dad's expression softened: "Not tonight. They already had enough Trick-or-Treating for your first time."

The next year we were allowed to decorate the house a little bit and go trick-or-treating in costumes.

Inspirational Sunday

2011-10-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Halloween Holiday Trivia

2011-10-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

(our cat Ninja)

Halloween Holiday Trivia

Orange and black are Halloween colors because orange is associated with the Fall harvest and black is associated with darkness and death.

Jack o’ Lanterns originated in Ireland where people placed candles in hollowed-out turnips to keep away spirits and ghosts on the Samhain holiday.

Pumpkins also come in white, blue and green. Great for unique monster carvings!

Halloween was brought to North America by immigrants from Europe who would celebrate the harvest around a bonfire, share ghost stories, sing, dance and tell fortunes.

Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America.

The ancient Celts thought that spirits and ghosts roamed the countryside on Halloween night. They began wearing masks and costumes to avoid being recognized as human.

Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the United States.

Chocolate candy bars top the list as the most popular candy for trick-or-treaters with Snickers #1.

Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday, with Christmas being the first.

Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from the roman harvest festival that honors Pamona, the goddess of fruit trees.

Black cats were once believed to be witch's familiars who protected their powers.

Two Thursday's thirteen

2011-10-27T23:06:00.001-07:00

I'm a glutton for punishment. I wrote not one but two Thursday's thirteen.
This one is a list of thirteen creepy sounds you don't want to ear when your alone: http://romancebooksrus.blogspot.com/2011/10/thursdays-thirteen-scary-sounds.html
This one is about our haunted house: http://ladyjanice.blogspot.com/2011/10/thursdays-thirteen-my-haunted-house.html

Thursday's Thirteen: My Haunted House

2011-10-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

Look closely for the orbs

As I written in my bio, I live in a hundred year old haunted house. I’ve had a lot of questions about our house and the hauntings. So here are thirteen creepy things that happened in my home.

1. I’ve heard a little girl crying when I washed my hands in the bathroom. Which in itself isn’t anything unusual, but we live two miles out of town in the middle of what was a grape vineyard but is now an almond orchard, and we have no close neighbors. I’ve lived here for twenty years and heard the same child sobbing. Reason would dictate that if this was a child, it would be grown up by now.

2. When my daughter was a baby and would sleep with us, I would feel the bed dip like someone was sitting on it. I’d open my eyes to see if my husband was there putting on his shoes, but the baby and I were alone.

3. I, my husband and my daughter have seen a little girl ghost at different times and places in the house. One time while my daughter was sleeping with me, she screamed in the middle of the night. I jerked awake and turned over, that’s when I saw the little girl ghost sitting on my bed on the far side of my daughter, staring at me. Then she faded away.

4. When my daughter was little about three or four, she had an invisible friend named Jenifer or Jenny, which I later realized was our ghost girl.

5. I’ve heard a scary voice saying my name.

6. I’ve been woken up by the sound of my bedroom door being opened and when I got up, it was closed.

7. We’ve seen orbs. Mostly green ones and blue ones. I saw one in the bathroom and followed it into my daughter’s room, where it landed on the foot of her bed and disappeared.

8. When my husband worked nights sometimes I would see something under the fitted sheet moving back and forth. I thought maybe a mouse got into the mattress. My husband and I flipped the mattress over and I couldn’t find any mouse holes, so I have no idea what that was.

9. I’ve been woken up by a child singing the song called the Lilac Tree.

10. I’ve been woken up by the smell of brownies and thought my daughter was baking. I got up to go into the kitchen and no one was cooking. Boy was I disappointed.

11. One time when I overslept, I heard someone walking around my bed and a voice saying, “Come on, honey, it’s time to get up.”

12. A couple of nights ago my daughter told me one of her friends that spend the night and heard the bathroom door creak open and the sound of whispering. The friend asked my daughter if her parents were up. My daughter said no, then went and checked the bathroom. No was there.

13. Last night when I just laid down to go to sleep, I felt someone tuck in the tag on my pajamas top. My bedroom door was closed and hubby was working the graveyard shift and my daughter was staying the night at a friend’s house. I was alone.

Or was I?

My hubby inhaled a ghost

Thursday's thirteen: Gothic Horror

2011-10-19T23:57:00.000-07:00

In honor of Halloween which is coming up, I'm posting thirteen granddaddies of Horror--Gothic Horror.

The fun is seeing which one you remember from books or movies and which ones are new to you.

1. The Horrors of Oakendale Abbey by Mrs Carver, written in 1797, and published, in one volume, by the sensationalist Minerva Press. It proved particularly popular with the new travelling libraries of the day. A gothic tale of horror, rather than suspense, it centres on the physical and grotesque, rather than on metaphysical terror. A US edition, printed in New York by John Harrisson, was published in 1799.

It tells the story of Laura, a foundling refugee from revolutionary France, her attempted seduction at the hands of Lord Oakendale and her explorations of the haunted Cumberland abbey of the title which lead her to stumble upon a den ofresurrection men and body snatchers. Unusually graphic in its depiction of death and decay, even by the standards of the day, in terms of its descriptions of the gruesome, it has recently been republished by Zittaw Press. The book owes something to Eliza Parsons' The Castle of Wolfenbach although it dispenses with the emotional subtleties of that work.

It was possibly written by Sir Anthony Carlisle, a well known surgeon. The name of Carver would thus be a play on the name of his occupaation.

2. Dracula by Bram Stoker. Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.

Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor Abraham van Helsing.

There is something to be said for a book that is well over a hundred years old and still has the power to haunt our imaginations.

3. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed artificial life experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first edition was published anonymously in London in 1818. Shelley's name appears on the second edition, published in France in 1823.

This one is even older than Dracula.

4. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson that was first published in 1886. The original pronunciation of Jekyll was "Jeekul" which was the pronunciation used in Stevenson's native Scotland. The work is commonly known today as The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or simply Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It is about a London lawyer named Gabriel John Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and the misanthropic Edward Hyde.

The work is commonly associated with the rare mental condition often spuriously called "split personality", wherein within the same person there are at least two distinct personalities. In this case, the two personalities in Dr Jekyll are apparently good and evil, with completely opposite levels of morality. The novella's impact is such that it has become a part of the language, with the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" coming to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next.

5.The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (French: Notre-Dame de Paris, "Our Lady of Paris") by Victor Hugo published in 1831. The French title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, around which the story is centered. Victor Hugo began writing The Hunchback of Notre-Dame in 1829. The agreement with his original publisher, Gosselin, was that the book would be finished that same year, but Hugo was constantly delayed due to the demands of other projects. By the summer of 1830, Gosselin demanded Victor Hugo to complete the book by February 1831. Beginning in September 1830, Hugo worked nonstop on the project thereafter. The book was finished six months later.

6. The Mummy's Foot (French: Le Pied de momie) is a gothic short story by the French writer Théophile Gautier, first published in 1840. It relates the fantastical tale of a contemporary man and the adventures which befall him when he ventures into a Parisian curiosity shop and buys the three thousand year old foot of Princess Hermonthis.

See I got a mummy story in there.

7. "The Monkey's Paw" is a horror short story by author W. W. Jacobs. It was published in England in 1902.

The story is based on the famous "setup" in which three wishes are granted. In the story, the paw of a dead monkey is a talisman that grants its possessor three wishes, but the wishes come with an enormous price for interfering with fate.

You might remember the Simpson's did a Halloween special with the Money's Paw in it.

7. The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in September 1839 in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. It was slightly revised in 1840 for the collectionTales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. It contains within it the poem "The Haunted Palace", which had earlier been published separately in the April 1839 issue of the Baltimore Museum magazine.

There's next ones aren't as old.

8. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson: Considered by many to be the finest haunting novel ever written, basis of two film versions and certain the archetype for the twisted-house (even in its architecture)-gone-mad horror, The Haunting of Hill House may be the only novel of its type to be re-issued so many times in so many editions - 1960,1984, 1985, and 1991, and still in paperback reprinting. "Certainly there are spots which inevitably attach to themselves an atmosphere of holiness and goodness; it might not then be too fanciful to say that some houses are born bad."

9. The Call of Cthulhu is a short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in the summer of 1926, it was first published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales, in February 1928. Cthulhu Mythos scholar Robert M. Price claims the irregular sonnet "The Kraken", written in 1830 by Alfred Tennyson is a major inspiration for H.P. Lovecraft's story: as both reference a huge aquatic creature sleeping for an eternity at the bottom of the ocean and destined to emerge from his slumber in an apocalyptic age.

10. Dragonwyck is a novel, written by the American author Anya Seton which was first published in 1944.

It is a fictional story of the life of Miranda Wells and her marriage to Nicholas Van Ryn, set against an historical background of the Patroon system, Anti-Rent Wars, the Astor Place Riots, andsteamboat racing on the Hudson River.

The book focuses on Miranda Wells: her longing for her rich cousin Nicholas Van Ryn; her eventual marriage to him; and ultimately her discovery of her husband's dark and twisted actions.

The novel was subsequently adapted into a film called Dragonwyck, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Gene Tierney, Walter Huston and Vincent Price.

11. The Gormenghast series is three novels, by Mervyn Peake, featuring Castle Gormenghast and the title character of the first book Titus Groan.The series consists of three novels, Titus Groan (1946), Gormenghast (1950), and Titus Alone (1959). A novella, Boy in Darkness (1956), tells the story of a brief adventure by the young Titus away from Gormenghast, although it does not explicitly name the castle.

12. Rosemary's Baby is a 1967 best-selling horror novel by Ira Levin, his second published book. Major elements of the story were inspired by the publicity surrounding the Church of Satan of Anton LaVey which had been founded in 1966.The book centers on Rosemary Woodhouse, a young woman who has just moved into the Bramford, an old Gothic style New York City apartment building with her husband, Guy, a struggling actor.

After receiving a warning from a friend, who also becomes mysteriously ill, Rosemary investigates and confirms that her neighbors are the leaders of a Satanic coven, and she suspects they are after her child to use it as a sacrifice to the Devil. However, she is unable to convince anyone else to believe or help her and soon becomes certain that there is no one actually on her side, not even her own husband. In the end, Rosemary discovers she is wrong about the coven's reason for wanting the baby, but the truth is even more horrific than she imagined, as it is revealed that her baby is the son of Satan.

13. Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the antagonist of the Victorian penny dreadful The String of Pearls (1846–1847). Claims that Sweeney Todd was a historical person^[1]^[2] are strongly disputed by scholars,^[3]^[4]^[5] although there are possible legendary prototypes, arguably making the story of Sweeney Todd an early example of an urban legend.^[6]In the original version of the tale, Todd is a barber who dispatches his victims by pulling a lever while they are in his barber chair, which makes them fall backward down a revolving trapdoor into the basement of his shop, generally causing them to break their necks or skulls. Just in case they are alive, he goes to the basement and "polishes them off" (slitting their throats with his straight razor). In some adaptations, the murdering process is reversed, with Todd slitting the throats of his customers before they are dispatched into the basement via the revolving trapdoor. After Todd has robbed his dead victims of their goods, Mrs. Lovett, his partner in crime (in some later versions, his friend and/or lover), assists him in disposing of the bodies by baking their flesh into meat pies, and selling them to the unsuspecting customers of her pie shop. Todd's barber shop is situated at 186 Fleet Street, London, next to St. Dunstan's church, and is connected to Mrs. Lovett's pie shop in nearby Bell Yard by means of an underground passage. In most versions of the story, he and Mrs. Lovett hire an unwitting orphan boy, Tobias Ragg, to serve the pies to customers.

How many how many of these Gothic stories of horror have you read?

Guest Blogged

2011-10-14T10:57:00.001-07:00

I guest blogged on Four Strong Women. Come read what outrageous thing my husband did when we went bra shopping.

http://fourstrongwomen.blogspot.com/2011/10/bra-shopping-with-men.html

Janice~

Thursday's thirteen: What they got wrong on the Mummy movies

2011-10-12T23:58:00.000-07:00

I love the Mummy movies. I really do. I thought Brendan Fraser was really yummy and his chemistry with Rachel Weisz was fantastic.

Unfortunately there’s a lot about the Mummy movies that was wrong: Thirteen ways the Mummy Movies got it wrong.

1. If the Egyptians were going to inflict the greatest punishment to a criminal, they wouldn't mummify him and thereby grant him eternal life. They would just kill him in a very painful manner and be done with it.

2. Scarab beetles don’t eat flesh. They’re dung beetles. They eat dung.

3. The books of the Egyptians are not like today. Egyptians had scrolls which don’t open with a key, they unrolled.

4. They didn’t use shiny mirrors for light. There wasn’t any way to polish brass to that bright a finish so enough sunlight reflected all the way inside of a pyramid or tomb. It’s been tried as an experiment. The light only goes so far then pitters out.

5. The Egyptians stored the mummy's internal organs in four canopic jars, not five.

6. Yes, Egyptian embalmers took the brain out through the nose, but not with a "red-hot" poker.

7. The Egyptians didn't take the heart out of the body of the dead.

8. Egyptian sarcophagi did not open with keys.

9. In the third movie, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Evy is played by Maria Bello who had no chemistry with Fraser. I really miss Rachel Weisz, but she was having a baby and couldn’t do the third movie. And Bello seemed like she was trying too hard.

10. There there’s Rick and Evy’s son Alex, who is a college drop out. Has anyone noticed that Rick (Brendan Fraser) and his son (Luke Ford) look the same age? They even have identical crow’s feet. I checked, Fraser is Ford’s senior by only thirteen years.

11. Maybe I’m remembering wrong but didn’t little Alex in the second movie have a cute English accent? Luke Ford in the third movie is an Australian so he could do the accent standing on his head, but no they have him with an American accent like dear old dad.

12. In the The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. There is a problem here. That it is not a mummy. The evil emperor and his army were turned into clay.

13. Near the end Yeoh (who was wonderful in the movie, though I was kind of confused was she a witch or sorceress?) sacrifices her and her daughter’s immortality to bring back her long-dead lover as a warrior zombie. And apparently the warriors under him as well. So lots of clay warriors and zombie warriors but no mummies at all.

What did you love, hate or notice about the mummy movies? Did something strike you as odd or did you love them?

Sick

2011-10-10T00:10:00.000-07:00

I've caught a nasty cold. I have a sore throat and my voice sounds funny when I talk.

I should have seen this coming. It got cold and I like an idiot let myself get a chill.

I had been allergies for weeks. Stuffy nose, sneezing and coughing. After I took the chill I started to ache and have hot and cold flashes that's worse than my normal hot flashes.

So I finally admitted the truth.

I'm sick.

So pass the soup and tea, then get out of the way if I sneeze.

Inspirational Sunday

2011-10-09T13:17:00.000-07:00

Over thinking

Don't over think your situation.

Feathered Friday

2011-10-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

HEY!!! What's with this 'warm spot?'

Thursday's thirteen

2011-10-06T00:22:00.001-07:00

My Thursday's thirteen is on my website

http://janiceseagraves.org/2011/10/05/thursdays-thirteen-kritters-of-the-bahamas/

Janice~

Inspirational Sunday

2011-10-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

Don't got it?

Improvise!

Contest

2011-10-01T16:20:00.001-07:00

I have a contest on Coffee Time Romance and More:

http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/ContestPage.html

Janice~

Find your Answers on the Author's Website here

Contest Entry form here - Enter to Win!

Fury Friday--Leopard

2011-10-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

Come on, throw the ball, throw the ball, I'm ready, yeah throw it!

My turn to blog

2011-09-27T19:18:00.000-07:00

It's my turn to blog on Romance Books "R" Us blog.

http://romancebooksrus.blogspot.com/2011/09/daydreamers.html

Inspirations Sunday

2011-09-25T13:09:00.000-07:00

Some things aren't as heavy as we first think they are.

He's not heavy--he's my brother.

Fury Friday--Lions

2011-09-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

Just wait a couple'a years and try that again! YEAH!!

New Shop

2011-09-23T21:15:00.001-07:00

I got a new shop. A professional one so I can put all my artwork together in one place.

http://www.cafepress.com/jans_kritters

Janice~

Wolf-Ape?

2011-09-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

I was born here and I've never heard of this before.

According to this article we have in Madera and Fresno county, a weird creature that occasionally terrorize people.

They call it the wolf ape.

It sounds like a really ugly combo, if you ask me.

Is it another Big foot story?

Or are we talking about a werewolf?

Or is it just some guy in a suit?

As if we don't have enough problems with the Cubracobra.

Inspirational Sunday

2011-09-18T03:20:00.000-07:00

No one would remember the good Samaritan if he only had good intentions.

Fury Friday--Lions

2011-09-17T13:12:00.000-07:00

I won't do it again, Mommy.

9/11 Poem

2011-09-11T11:22:00.000-07:00

It's the ten anniversary of 9/11 and I thought I'd repost my 9/11 poem.

Janice~

911
In God's Name

Allah –they yelled!
ramming our planes into our towers.
lost to the flames the buildings fell,
with few survivors.

Oh my God! We cried;
as we watched horrified,
trying to save them
many brave people died.

Jesus, thank you! That they live!
As people walked with feet of lead,
dusty tracks of tears they shed,
for what they suffered and fled.

Christ almighty! We did swear.
When the smoke then did clear;
our stunned senses not prepare,
titans once stood-- nothing a nightmare.

God there's more?
We learned---four planes
went out with evil intentions.
The pentagon succumb to mutilation!

My God! What happened?
A field in Pennsylvania was reshaped;
the ruin of flight 93 over the landscape,
passengers and crew---no escape.

Allah —thank you!
Prayed He from a cave in a hill.
For helping me to hurt them
where they feel it still.

In God we entrust.
flight 93 loved ones informed;
heroes they were transformed,
together the cockpit they stormed.

Showing us courage in all of us inborn.
***

To all of you who have read my poem,God bless you.**

9/11

2011-09-11T03:32:00.000-07:00

Budweiser commercial that was shown only once after 9/11

And the winner is . . . .

2011-09-10T18:40:00.001-07:00

Shadow!

Shadow you are the winner of one of my hand decorated surfboards.

Congratulations~

Thursday's thirteen: Bahama islands

2011-09-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

In my book, Windswept Shores, I selected the islands of the Bahamas to strand my couple.

Pay attention there is a contest at the bottom of my post.

The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets (rocks). It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States (nearest to the state of Florida). Its total land area is 13,939 km2 (5,382 sq mi), with an estimated population of 330,000. Its capital is Nassau. Geographically, The Bahamas lie in the same island chain as Cuba, Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands; the designation of Bahamas refers normally to the Commonwealth and not the geographic chain.

As you can see since it's a large place its an easy place to get lost in.

Here are thirteen island of the Bahamas and some of the things they are known for.

1. Bimini Island: Is the closet island to American (Florida) and is know as the gateway to the Bahamas. It's famous vacation spot for Ernest Hemingway who was inspired to write "the old man and the Sea". Also reportedly the location of the Fountain of Youth. It has a pool called the healing pool. Under the water near the north island is what appears to be a road, could it be a road of Atlantis or some other older civilization that has since been submerged?

2. Grand Bahama: Is one of the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas, and the closest major island to the United States, lying 90 kilometres (56 mi) off the state of Florida. The Spanish named the island "Gran Bajamar" - great shallows - a term that eventually became the basis for The Islands of The Bahamas themselves.After they stole away its inhabitants, however, the Spanish seemed to have completely ignored Grand Bahama Island. Grand Bahama Island was viewed as a perilous landfall, due to the treacherous shallow reefs surrounding it. So many ships would collide with the reefs that "wrecking" became a major livelihood of what few inhabitants there were, most of whom lived at West End. In hard times it wasn't unheard of for the townspeople to actually try and lure ships onto the reef with a well-placed lantern at night.

Great Britain claimed the Islands of The Bahamas in 1670, after British colonists left Bermuda for the island of Eleuthera, where they sought religious independence. More followed, and other ports and colonies gradually developed, bringing in their wake an army of pirates and privateers. Grand Bahama was probably well known to famous pirates like Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, and Henry Morgan, as its reefs would have been perfect for running aground vessels, a common pirate tactic.

3. Eleuthera: Is an island in The Bahamas, lying 50 miles (80 km) east of Nassau. It is very long and thin—110 miles (180 km) long and in places little more than a mile wide.

The topography of the island varies from wide rolling pink sand beaches to large outcrops of ancient coral reefs. The eastern side of the island faces the Atlantic Ocean while the western side faces the Great Bahama Bank, one of the two Bahama Banks.The island is believed to have been unoccupied until the first European settlers—puritan pilgrims—arrived in 1648 from Bermuda. These settlers, known as the "Eleutherian Adventurers", gave the island its current name—eleutheria means "freedom" in Greek.

4. Andros: Is the longest island in the Bahamas. This island is an archipelago within the archipelago-nation of the Bahamas, the largest of the 26 inhabited Bahamian Islands. Geo-politically considered a single island, Andros has an area greater than all the other 700 Bahamian islands combined. The land area of Andros consists of hundreds of small islets and cays connected by mangrove estuaries and tidal swamp lands, together with three major islands—North Andros, Mangrove Cay, and South Andros. The three main islands are separated by “bights,” estuaries which trifurcate the island, connecting the island’s east and west coasts. It is 104 miles (167 km) long by at its widest 40 miles (64 km) wide.

Commercial fishing remains a mainstay of the island’s economy—conch, lobster, snapper and grouper are all commercially harvested for sale locally and in Nassau’s fish markets. Seasonal crabbing—catching crabs and fattening them in pens for sale in Nassau—provides a cash crop for locals to supplement their income.
Local handicrafts in the Black Seminole style—particularly wood carvings and woven baskets—are a cottage industry in the settlement of Red Bays. A sample of Red Bays baskets is in the Smithsonian Institution.

5.Castaway Cay: is a private island in the Bahamas which serves as an exclusive port for the Disney Cruise Line ships Disney Wonder, Disney Magic, Disney Dream, and Disney Fantasy. It is located near Great Abaco Island, and was formerly known as Gorda Cay. It is owned in full by The Walt Disney Company, giving them substantial control over the experience of visitors to the island. A post office on the island has special Bahamian postage specific to Disney Cruise Line, and a "Castaway Cay" postmark.

6. Conception Island: is an islet located in the Bahamas. It is 2,100 acres (8.5 km2) and uninhabited. It is an important rookery for nesting seabirds and hatching site for green turtles.
It is uninhabited and protected as a Bahamas National Land and Sea Park. It is sanctuary to an enormous variety of birds, fish, turtles and coral.

The best anchorage is in the northwestern bay, just south of the coral reefs of West Cay. The bottom is sand and shoals gradually towards the beautiful, sparkling white, mile long beach. Anchor close in. The anchorage is safe and comfortable under normal conditions with the wind out of N through E to S. The snorkeling in the reefs that extend another 4 miles (6.4 km) to the north is superb. A walk along the NE coast up to the top of the cliffs will be rewarded with an outstanding view of the gorgeous colors of the ocean waters as well as of the shallows of the interior lagoon. The interior lagoon is accessible only by dinghy through an entrance 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the anchorage.

7. Egg Island: is an uninhabited island, officially an islet, comprising 800 m² [0.2 acres] in the Bahamas. It's so named because it is home to chickens owned by residents of other nearby islands who travel here to collect the eggs.

The island has a crescent shaped beach that is protected by a reef that protects the entire beach. The water behind the reef is generally less than 2 m [6 feet] deep making it a good place to swim or watch the sea life. Since the water is so shallow and well protected, it tends to be warmer than the surrounding sea.
Egg Island gained some fame in the 1980s when some suggested that this was the place where Columbus first landed in the New World.

Off of the island is the wreck of the Arimoroa.

8. Exuma: is a district of the Bahamas, consisting of over 360 islands (or cays). The largest of the cays is Great Exuma, which is 37 mi (60 km) in length and joined to another island, Little Exuma by a small bridge. The capital and largest city in the district is George Town (permanent population 1,000), founded 1793 and located on Great Exuma. The Tropic of Cancer runs across a beach close to the city. The entire island chain is 130 mi (209 km) long and 27 sq. mi (72 km²) in area.

Many of the unnamed beaches and coves of the islands, including extensive offshore reef areas, are included in the protected Exuma National Land and Sea Park of the Bahamas National Trust. Some of the islands on which there are permanent residents and resorts include Staniel Cay (home of the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, a fixture in the Exumas), Fowl Cay, Musha Cay and Iguana Cay. Thunderball Grotto, located just a few hundred yards off Staniel Cay, is one location where the James Bond film Thunderball was filmed. Sandy Cay, just a short boat ride from Little Exuma was the location used for filming the Pirates of the Caribbean beach scenes.

9. Great Harbour Cay: is the major island in the north Berry Islands. The Islands are a stirrup shaped chain of thirty large cays and numerous small cays of about thirty-two miles in length. The islands are located to the south of Great Abaco and about forty miles north-northwest of Nassau.

The natural beauty of the Berry Islands is extraordinary. It has seven miles (11 km) of ocean front beaches that include isolated enclaves, caverns, and open expanses. Haines Cay has 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of beaches. At the point of closest approach of Haines, Great Harbour, and Hawksnest, there are 10–15 acres (40,000–61,000 m2) of white sand shallows with starfish, sand dollars and other shallow water creatures.

Sugar Beach Hotel, a frequent haunt of the rich and famous, is now deserted.

10.Great Inagua: is the third largest island in The Bahamas at 596 sq mi (1544 km²) and lies about 55 miles (90 km) from the eastern tip of Cuba. The island is about 55 x 19 miles (90 x 30 km) in extent, the highest point being 108 ft (33 m) on East Hill. It encloses several lakes, most notably the 12-mile (19 km) long Lake Windsor (also called Lake Rosa) which occupies nearly 1/4 of the interior.

The original settler name Heneagua was derived from a Spanish expression meaning 'water is to be found there'

Local legend has it that former Haitian tyrant Henri Christophe, king of Haiti from 1811 to 1820, buried treasure at the Northeast Point of Great Inagua where he had a summer retreat.
Several documented treasure laden ships were destroyed on Inaguan reefs between the years of 1500 and 1825. The two most valuable wrecks lost off the Inaguas were treasure-laden Spanish galleons: the Santa Rose (1599) and the Infanta (1788). Other ships of considerable value were the British HMS Statira and HMS Lowestoffe in 1802, and the French Le Count De Paix in 1713.

11. Rum Cay: is an island and district of the Bahamas.
Rum Cay is 20 miles (32 km) southwest of San Salvador Island, has many rolling hills that rises to about 120 feet (37 m). Christopher Columbus called it Santa Maria de la Concepción. The island is believed to have acquired its modern name from a shipwrecked cargo of rum.

Remember the small cay that Jack Sparrow and Elisabeth Swan were marooned on? I think this is were they got the idea.

12: Long Island is an island in the Bahamas that is split by the Tropic of Cancer. Its capital is Clarence Town. Long Island is one of the Districts of the Bahamas and is known as the most scenic island in the Bahamas. The population is roughly 4,000 inhabitants.

13: Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.

Nassau's modern growth began just over 200 years ago with the influx of thousands of American Loyalists and enslaved Africans to the Bahamas following the American War of Independence. Many of them settled in Nassau (the then and still commerce capital of the Bahamas) and eventually came to outnumber the original inhabitants.

As the population of Nassau grew, so did the built-up areas. Today the city dominates the entire island and its satellite, Paradise Island.

History: By 1713, the sparsely settled Bahamas had become a pirate haven for pirate chieftains Thomas Barrow and Benjamin Hornigold proclaimed Nassau a pirate republic, establishing themselves as "governors", and were joined by Charles Vane, Calico Jack Rackham, and Edward Teach, the infamous "Blackbeard", along with women pirates such as Anne Bonny and Mary Read.

Today: Downtown is the hub for all activities in Nassau. Thousands of people visit daily, to shop, dine, sightsee and to enjoy the tropical climate of the city. While the busiest part of Downtown is the Bay Street thoroughfare and the Woodes Rogers Walk, located across the street from the port and parallel to Bay, the area actually extends for several blocks in each direction. It starts at West Bay, around the Junkanoo Beach area. A few hotels and restaurants are located on West Bay, most notably Compass Point, Holiday Inn, Quality Inn, and Chez Willie. The next landmark is the British Colonial Hotel, which marks the beginning of Bay Street proper. Pirates of Nassau Museum is just across from the British Colonial Hilton. The next few blocks of Bay Street are wall-to-wall boutiques, with a few restaurants and clubs interspersed throughout the retailers. Famous historical landmarks are also in the vicinity, including Vendue House and the Christ Church Cathedral. Although the tourist part of Downtown peters out after about seven blocks, smaller, more local stores are found all the way down Bay Street. At this point, Bay Street becomes East Bay.

In the movies:

Nassau has featured as an important location in several movies, including the James Bond film Thunderball, and the Beatles film Help, both released in the 1960s. Nassau was again the location for the 1983 Bond film Never Say Never Again, (a remake of Thunderball) also starring Sean Connery, and it is the setting for part of the action in the 2006 Bond film Casino Royale starring Daniel Craig.
In 1981, it was used as a location for the ocean scene (in the film portrayed as being in Greece) in For Your Eyes Only, where Kristatos (Julian Glover) attempted to eliminate Bond (Roger Moore) and Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet) by tying them to his boat and dragging them through coral and shark infested waters.

Here's a chance to win one of my hand decorated mini surfboards.

Guess the name of the Bahamian island that Megan in my book Windswept Shores was heading too, before she was marooned.

And please remember to put your email addy in with your comment or I won't be able to contact you about the win.

The winner will be announced Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011.

Windswept Shores by Janice Seagraves

2011-09-05T21:54:00.000-07:00

My book is now available at Barnes and Nobles:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/windswept-shores-janice-seagraves/1025707130?ean=2940011083914&itm=1&usri=windswept%2bshores

Labor Day

2011-09-04T13:41:00.000-07:00

The first big Labor Day in the United States was observed on September 5, 1882, by the Central Labor Union of New York. It became a federal holiday in 1894, when, following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland reconciled with the labor movement. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.

Labor day is the celebration of the American worker.

Feathered Friday

2011-09-02T23:25:00.001-07:00

I just signed up to be a platform-building compaigner

2011-08-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

http://rachaelharrie.blogspot.com/2011/08/third-writers-platform-building.html

And the winner is . . .

2011-08-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

The winner for my hand decorated mini surfboard is . . .

Mindy :)

Congratulations Mindy.

I'll contact you via email in just a few minutes.

Blog post

2011-08-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

Read how I got my first book published.

http://romancebooksrus.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html#1996423144045933413

Janice~

Thursday's thirteen: Australian Actors

2011-08-24T23:05:00.000-07:00

Since my first published book has a Aussie as the hero, I thought it would be fun if I posted a Thursday's thirteen on thirteen Australian Actors.

With a contest!

Here's the contest: See if you can guess the Australian actor who inspiration my character, Seth, from Windswept Shores.

The winner gets one of my hand decorated surfboards.

If more than one person guesses the right actor, I will do a drawing.

And the winner will be announced on Saturday, Aug. 27th.

It might surprise you that these people are indeed Australian, they hide their accent well. All I can say is--what a shame. I love the Aussie accent.

1)

Cate Blanchett:
This ravishing Australian actress has many Oscar Awards to her credit. Cate Blanchett was born in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia on 14th May, 1969. Cate studied in Melbourne and then pursued higher education at the University of Melbourne. From thereon, Cate left Australia for a trip overseas. After her graduation from the National Institute of Dramatic Art, she began her career in theater. After she appeared in few stage roles, she made her international debut with a supporting role. However, the role as Elizabeth I from the movie, 'Elizabeth' bagged her an Academy award for her acting skills. From thereon, her roles in 'The Aviator' and 'Babel' earned her quite a fan following.

2)
Errol Flynn:
Born in Hobart, Tasmania, in Australia, Errol (20th June 1909 - 14th October 1959) was quite a sensation in the olden days! His parents were born in Australia. He attended school in New South Wales but he was expelled from many schools. Finally, when he turned 20, Errol tried his hand at a mining venture which did not yield success. He bagged a job in the acting field in the early 1930s. Soon after, he starred in an Australian film. It was only when he signed a contract with Warner Brothers, he finally went to America. Errol's role in movies such as 'The Adventures of Robin Hood', 'Captain Blood', 'The Sea Hawk' and 'Adventures of Don Juan' made him a sensation in Hollywood. Despite his success and fan following, his lifestyle was far from sophisticated. Alcoholism and womanizing were some of the things he was infamous for.

3)
Mel Gibson:
Suave and intensely attractive, Mel Gibson won the hearts of women all around the world, not only with his looks, but also with his sheer talent. Born in New York on January 3rd, 1956, not many fans know about his Australian background. His mother, Ann Gibson, was born in Australia. Although he was born in New York, Mel shifted with his family to New South Wales in Australia. He completed his high school years out here. When Mel began his acting career, he attracted attention from film critics. He studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art and from thereon, he moved on to many theater projects. In the 1990s, he went on to make a mark and even won an Oscar Award for his role in 'Braveheart' in 1995.

4)
Russell Crowe:
With three Oscar nominations and an Oscar award under his belt, this magnificent actor needs no introduction. Born on 7th April, 1964 in Wellington in New Zealand, he began his career as a child star. His family shifted with him to Australia when he was only 4 years old. By the time he turned 14, his family returned back to New Zealand. However, Russell Crowe returned to Australia to apply at the 'National Institute of Dramatic Art'. He appeared in many television serials and it was in 1992, the film, 'Romper Stomper' catapulted him to fame. After his success story in Australia, this actor moved on to make a mark in American films. His role in 'The Insider', 'Gladiator' and 'A Beautiful Mind' fetched him Oscar nominations.

5)
Bryan Brown:
Actor known for playing Aussie roles in big movies like "Cocktail" and "Gorillas in the Mist".

6)
Toni Collette:
Internationally famous movie actress and Academy award-nominated.

7)
Anthony LaPaglia:
Australian actor most famous for his role in the popular American televsion series "Without a Trace".

8)
Kate Ritchie:
Australian television actress known for her long running role as "Sally Fletcher" on "Home and Away".

9)
Nicole Kidman:
Elegant redhead Nicole Kidman, known as one of Hollywood's top Australian imports, was actually born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Australian parents Anthony (a biochemist and clinical psychologist) and Janelle (a nursing instructor) Kidman. The family moved almost immediately to Washington, DC, where Nicole's father pursued his research on breast cancer, and then, three years later, made the pilgrimage to Sydney.

10)
Dominic Purcell:
At the age of 2, Dominic and his family moved from England to Sydney's Bondi and later moved to the Western Suburbs. Purcell's mother is Irish and his father is Norwegian. He attended Blaxland East Public School in his elementary school years and went to St Dominic's College, Penrith and McCarthy Catholic College for high school. After becoming a landscape gardener, he soon tired of the profession and, whilst watching the war movie Platoon, decided to become an actor.He studied at the Australian Theatre for Young People and then later enrolled at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts where he met his future wife Rebecca and studied with Hugh Jackman. He went on to become a series regular on the TV show Prison Break.

11)
Hugh Jackman:
Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.
Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters. He is known for his role as Wolverine in the X-Men series, as well as for his leads in Kate & Leopold, Van Helsing, The Prestige, and Australia. Jackman is a singer, dancer, and actor in stage musicals, and won a Tony Award for his role in The Boy from Oz.

13)
Chris Hemsworth:
Chris Hemsworth (born 11 August 1983) is an Australian actor. He played the role of Kim Hyde in the Australian soap opera Home and Away and the titular character in the Marvel Studios film, Thor. Hemsworth will portray Thor again in the upcoming film The Avengers.

Still can't figure it out?

Look at the hair on the hero on my book cover. That's the clue to the mystery actor who inspiration my hero, Seth.

Leave your answer and email (write out (dot) so the spambots don't get it) in the comment section. I promise I will not trade, give away or sell any personal information.

Good luck!

I guest blogged

2011-08-22T18:02:00.001-07:00

I guest blogged on my friend Cassie's blog.

http://cassieexline.blogspot.com/2011/08/welcome-janice-seagraves.html

Janice~

Inspirational Sunday: Becoming Wise

2011-08-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves.

Francois De La Rochefoucauld

The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook.

William James

The wisdom of nations lies in their proverbs, which are brief and pithy.

William Penn

Caturday

2011-08-20T00:06:00.000-07:00

Scaly Friday

2011-08-19T02:05:00.000-07:00

This turtle seems to have grown his own wig.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1740079.ece

Caturday: my daughter and Ninja

2011-08-13T01:58:00.000-07:00

Nooooo! Don't rub my belly. It tickles.

What's this?

It smells funny.

Now this is just silly.

Get this thing off my head!

Ah, stop laughing at me!

Thursday's thirteen

2011-08-11T16:08:00.001-07:00

Why I don't have time to write a TT.

http://janiceseagraves.org/2011/08/10/thursdays-thirteen-why-i-dont-have-time-to-write-a-tt/

My computer is fixed!

2011-08-10T03:06:00.000-07:00

My hubby and I got the run around with the first repair guy we talk to at Gateway repair number. He thought my problem was software, even though Office Depot thought it was hardware.

Then he gave us the number of a second repair place. The second man told us it could be either one and gave us another phone number to call.

He also call the blue screen, I kept getting on my laptop, the blue screen of death.

Then hubby called the third number. That phone number wanted the number on our card. What card?

Hubby then called the first repair place again and got Shawn.

Shawn at least knew what he was talking about. He directed me to restart my computer and hold down the F10 and the alt key. This causes the computer to cough up a menu where you can choose to delete your hard drive. He told me to use the one that would erase everything and return the memory to factor specs.

It took a while but it back to working like brand new, with none of my stuff clogging up the works.

Woot!!! My computer is fixed. Yeah, baby. I can get back to writing!!!

But first--all I have to do is load everything back to where it was, just before I got the blue screen of death.

I wish they'd put a help button on these things.

Inspirational Sunday

2011-08-07T02:13:00.000-07:00

While you scream at your woman, there's a man wishing he could whisper in her ear.

While you humiliate, offend, and insult her, there's a man wanting to remind her how beautiful she is.

While you hurt her, there's a man wishing he could take her pain away.

While you make her cry, there's a man wanting to steal smiles from her.....

Re-post if you are against Domestic Violence & Mental Abuse

Ladies, you don't have to take abuse. There are battered women shelters in your area.

There a good man waiting out there just for you.

Caturday: Ninja and the brat . . . er new kitty

2011-08-06T13:46:00.000-07:00

Ah, she finally made the bed. Now I can have a proper nap, away from the brat.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ . . . . . .

The brat says, "Got your tail!"

DARN IT! She's even in my dreams!

Thursday's thirteen

2011-08-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

I'm at a different location this time with my TT and giving a lesson on how to talk like an Aussie.

http://coffeetimeromance.com/CoffeeThoughts/thursdays-thirteen-how-to-talk-like-an-aussie/

Janice~

My computer crashed

2011-08-03T14:14:00.000-07:00

My brand new computer crashed, so I'm on my daughter's computer.

I down loaded what I thought was adobe reader 9.0, but I think it was a virus or a Trojan virus. One of those viruses that pretends to be a safe program to get onto your computer, so it can corrupt your memory.

Beware of adobe reader 9.2 MU

So I will be off and on the internet, just until my computer is fixed.

What's really hard is not writing until then and it looks like I will being missing a critique with my critique group, oy.

Belated Caturday: Look alikes

2011-07-31T00:57:00.000-07:00

Which one is the bunny?

Then there is our cat Ninja--who in this photo kind of reminds me of . . . .

I'm a Contributing Author

2011-07-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

My first post as a contributing author for Romance Books "R" Us.

http://romancebooksrus.blogspot.com/2011_07_01_archive.html#1913208322533410188

Furry Friday: Bears

2011-07-22T16:01:00.000-07:00

If there is a chip there is a way.

I am bear ninja. Hear my roar.

Thursday's Thirteen

2011-07-21T17:55:00.001-07:00

This weeks Thursday's thirteen is about sex, and you can find it here:

http://janiceseagraves.org/2011/07/20/thursdays-thirteen-sex/

Guest Blogged

2011-07-19T00:22:00.003-07:00

Shannon let me do two guest spots on the same blog.

Here: http://authorshannonleigh.blogspot.com/2011/07/interview-with-janice-seagraves.html?zx=9528389b66e91a5b

And here: http://authorshannonleigh.blogspot.com/2011/07/windswept-shores-by-janice-seagraves.html

Janice~

Contest

2011-07-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

I'm participation in a contest at Romance Junkies.

http://www.romancejunkies.com/summersplashcontest/postcard1.html

Hint: clink on the arm to find my contest.

Janice~

Furry Friday

2011-07-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

Guest Blogged

2011-07-15T22:10:00.000-07:00

I guest blogged at Amber Skyze.

http://amberskyze.blogspot.com/2011/07/guest-blogger-janice-seagraves.html

Thursday's Thirteen

2011-07-13T20:40:00.001-07:00

My Thursday's thirteen is on my website this week.

http://janiceseagraves.org/2011/07/13/thursdays-thirteen-conjunctions-other-than-and/

Alexander Graham Bell's Hydrofoil

2011-07-13T00:18:00.000-07:00

I posted this because a few people showed some interest in it when I posted about Bell's hydrofoil in my Thursday's thirteen.

Alexander Graham Bell considered the invention of the hydroplane as a very significant achievement. Based on information gained from that article he began to sketch concepts of what is now called a hydrofoil boat.

Bell and assistant Frederick W. "Casey" Baldwin began hydrofoil experimentation in the summer of 1908 as a possible aid to airplane takeoff from water. Baldwin studied the work of the Italian inventor Enrico Forlanini and began testing models. This led him and Bell to the development of practical hydrofoil watercraft.

During his world tour of 1910–11, Bell and Baldwin met with Forlanini in France. They had rides in the Forlanini hydrofoil boat over Lake Maggiore. Baldwin described it as being as smooth as flying.

On returning to Baddeck, a number of initial concepts were built as experimental models, including the Dhonnas Beag, the first self-propelled Bell-Baldwin hydrofoil.^[106] The experimental boats were essentially proof-of-concept prototypes that culminated in the more substantial HD-4, powered by Renault engines. A top speed of 54 miles per hour (87 km/h) was achieved, with the hydrofoil exhibiting rapid acceleration, good stability and steering along with the ability to take waves without difficulty.^[107] In 1913, Dr. Bell hired Walter Pinaud, a Sydney yacht designer and builder as well as the proprietor of Pinaud's Yacht Yard in Westmount, Nova Scotia to work on the pontoons of the HD-4. Pinaud soon took over the boatyard at Bell Laboratories on Beinn Bhreagh, Bell's estate near Baddeck, Nova Scotia.

Pinaud's experience in boat-building enabled him to make useful design changes to the HD-4. After the First World War, work began again on the HD-4. Bell's report to the U.S. Navy permitted him to obtain two 350 horsepower (260 kW) engines in July 1919. On September 9, 1919, the HD-4 set a world marine speed record of 70.86 miles per hour (114.04 km/h),^[108] a record which stood for ten years.

Thursday's thirteen: Fun Facts

2011-07-06T23:58:00.000-07:00

I've always had a head for trivia. I just love odd ball facts.

Here are thirteen fun facts.

1. One of the most well known ostrich facts is that an ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain! Also, the ostrich's eye measures almost two inches across, which makes it the largest eye of any land animal.

2. The longest cells in the human body are the motor neurons. They can be up to 4.5 feet (1.37 meters) long and run from the lower spinal cord to the big toe.

3. The human eye blinks an average of 4,200,000 times a year. (Unless you're on the computer. Blink people blink.)

4. The ears of a cricket are located on the front legs, just below the knee. (*Points knee in direction of husband* I'm listening.)

5. Scientists have discovered that copper pollution of the atmosphere occurred about 2500 years ago. This was discovered by analyzing ice cores from Greenland. The pollution was attributed to the Romans who used copper for military purposes and to produce coins. (Shame on those Romans.)

6. The only letter not appearing on the Periodic Table is the letter “J”. (I feel insulted, my first name starts with "J".)

7. Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt. (Makes you think about kissing in a whole new way.)

8. A car traveling at 80 km/h uses half its fuel to overcome wind resistance. (That's why you can't save gas going fast.)

9. According to an old English system of time units, a moment is one and a half minutes. (And here I thought it was a minute.)

10. By raising your legs slowly and laying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand. (I'll have to remember that if I'm ever stuck in quick sand.)

11. Sterling silver contains 7.5% copper. (Copper again?)

12. The temperature can be determined by counting the number of cricket chirps in fourteen seconds and adding 40. (I'm sure you really wanted to know that.)

13. Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, also set a world water-speed record of over seventy miles an hour at the age of seventy two. (So don't count out the senior citizens, they can surprise ya.)

God Bless the USA

2011-07-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

Artist: Lee Greenwood

Song: Proud To Be An American

If tomorrow all the things were gone,

I’d worked for all my life.

And I had to start again,

with just my children and my wife.

I’d thank my lucky stars,

to be livin here today.

‘ Cause the flag still stands for freedom,

and they can’t take that away.

And I’m proud to be an American,

where at least I know I’m free.

And I wont forget the men who died,

who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,

next to you and defend her still today.

‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,

God bless the USA.

From the lakes of Minnesota,

to the hills of Tennessee.

Across the plains of Texas,

From sea to shining sea.

From Detroit down to Houston,

and New York to L.A.

Well there's pride in every American heart,

and its time we stand and say.

That I’m proud to be an American,

where at least I know I’m free.

And I wont forget the men who died,

who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,

next to you and defend her still today.

‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,

God bless the USA.

And I’m proud to be and American,

where at least I know I’m free.

And I wont forget the men who died,

who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,

next to you and defend her still today.

‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,

God bless the USA.

Caturday: Proud American

2011-07-02T00:08:00.000-07:00

Fur-less Friday

2011-07-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

Even the crawdads are red, white and blue.

And yes, though unusual these are naturally occuring colors of crawfish.

read more

Thursday's thirteen: Fourth of July

2011-06-30T00:05:00.000-07:00

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of theDeclaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States.
Independence Day is the national day of the United States.
During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.
After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author.
Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail. "The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."
Adams's prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.
Historians have long disputed whether Congress actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day.
Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.
In a remarkable coincidence, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence later to serve as Presidents of the United States, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration.
Although not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, James Monroe, the Fifth President of the United States, died on July 4, 1831. Calvin Coolidge, the Thirtieth President, was born on July 4,1872, and thus was the only President to be born on Independence Day.
Independence Day is a national holiday marked by patriotic displays. Similar to other summer-themed events, Independence Day celebrations often take place outdoors. Independence Day is a federal holiday, so all non-essential federal institutions (like the postal service and federal courts) are closed on that day. Many politicians make it a point on this day to appear at a public event to praise the nation's heritage, laws, history, society, and people.
Families often celebrate Independence Day by hosting or attending a picnic or barbecue and take advantage of the day off and, in some years, long weekend to gather with relatives. Decorations (e.g., streamers, balloons, and clothing) are generally colored red, white, and blue, the colors of the American flag. Parades often are in the morning, while fireworks displays occur in the evening at such places as parks, fairgrounds, or town squares.

If your an American how do you celebrate the Fourth of July?