Pausing to Remember

By Trish Milburn

History is filled with life-altering events both big and small. Sometimes those events are so big that they change the lives of everyone, not just those directly affected. When those things happen, people tend to remember where they were when they heard the news. Members of the Greatest Generation remember the attack on Pearl Harbor. People my parents’ age remember where they were when President Kennedy was assassinated. I remember that I was at home from school for a snow day when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded.

But nothing holds the clarity of that morning ten years ago when we all suddenly realized that Sept. 11 would never be just another day on the calendar again.

I remember exactly where I was standing when I heard the news about the first plane hitting the World Trade Center’s North Tower. It was outside the office of a coworker at the magazine where I worked at the time. I hadn’t been at work long, less than an hour, and another coworker arrived at work and told us she’d just heard about the crash on the news in her car. We went to the TV thinking that this was a horrible accident. When the second plane hit the South Tower, the reality that this wasn’t an accident hit us. The day just got more horrible and surreal as the minutes passed. Flights were grounded nationwide, leaving an eerie silence in the skies. Less than an hour after the first plane crash, another hit the Pentagon. The shocking images of the towers actually collapsing. The crash of the fourth plane into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after the passengers revolted, and speculation it was heading toward Washington, D.C., perhaps the Capitol or the White House.

Throughout the day, we would wander back and forth between the conference room where the TV was located and our offices because we were on deadline for the magazine. After leaving for the day, I came home and watched TV for hours, in shock at the devastation and wondering what this would mean. Would there be more attacks? Were we going to go to war? Who was responsible? Was any place safe? Because we now live in a 24-hour TV news cycle, the coverage was endless. I watched the stories of rescues, of people looking for loved ones, of heroism and loss for days after Sept. 11. I can’t remember how many days later it was, but I finally had to turn off the TV. I couldn’t handle all the sadness anymore.

It’s been 10 years since that day, and it seems like maybe half that. Our way of life has been forever changed with increased security measures and what has been dubbed the War on Terror. I choose not to focus on those aspects overmuch though because they cause too much anxiety and sadness.

Instead, as the stories about the 10th anniversary have been written and broadcast, I find hope in the stories of how survivors changed their lives after 9/11. One man was a stock trader (or investment banker, I can’t remember) on 9/11, but in the aftermath he started taking tango classes. Here he met a woman and fell in love. Now they travel the world teaching the tango. Another man, who lost his wife and unborn child aboard one of the hijacked planes, worked hard to have a maternity wing built and named after his wife at the hospital where their child would have been born. While these stories were born of great sadness, they also speak to the tremendous resilience of the human spirit, our innate need to go on and to find something good amidst so much sorrow.

In the days after the attacks, there was a tremendous swell of people helping each other, even people they didn’t know. First responders from all over the country flocked to New York to help the FDNY, NYPD and Port Authority, who’d lost so many of their fellow firefighters and police officers. People on the streets aided each other any way they could. Blood banks across the country saw huge numbers of donors show up. Support for first responders, real heroes, skyrocketed. It was a national tragedy that brought out inspiring amounts of kindness. That’s the part I like to focus on. And I think that outpouring of kindness is part of what we shouldn’t forget and what we should try to emulate every day, whether it’s the anniversary of 9/11 or the most ordinary of days.

Walking in the steps of history

By Trish Milburn

One of my favorite school subjects has always been history, particularly American history. One of my minors in college was in History. So it's no surprise that I love visiting historic sites be they homes, battlefields, roads, whatever.

Growing up in the South, you can almost pitch a rock in any direction and hit something that has a tie to the Civil War. Historic re-enactments almost always pit the blue against the gray. But one of my favorite periods in American History is actually Colonial/Revolution. So this summer when I had the opportunity to visit New England for the first time, I was mucho excited. I was going to see places that really helped to shape our country before it even became the United States of America.

There have been times when I've visited a place of such historical significance that it was surreal. I felt that way the first time I visited Washington, D.C., in high school. All those monuments, the Smithsonian, the White House -- those were things that you just saw on the nightly news. Several years later, I took a driving trip out West and stopped at several points along the Oregon Trail in Nebraska and Wyoming. There are parts such as Windlass Hill in Western Nebraska where you can still see the ruts from the wagons that were headed west along the Oregon Trail. Fast forward to 2003 and my first trip to New York City. I had the same surreal feeling when I visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

This summer, I experienced it again when I stopped at Minute Man National Historic Park outside of Boston. Here I walked along the road (pictured here) that Paul Revere rode down to warn the countryside that the British were coming. The park and the Battle Road commemorate the famous Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the beginning of the American Revolution. I stood in the middle of the road and was hit with an overwhelming sense of history.

The big destination for my trip, however, was Salem, Massachusetts, set of the infamous witch trials in 1692. I have a YA paranormal trilogy coming out next year, and books 2 and 3 take place in Salem, so I wanted to see it firsthand. I walked all over town, and you can tell how steeped the town is in its witch history. Museums dedicated to the witch trials, businesses with names like the Witch's Brew Cafe, and visitors touring cemeteries. There's also a memorial comprised of 20 carved stone benches. Each one lists the name of one of the victims of the trials, when they died and how they died. 19 people were hanged and one pressed to death as a result of the hysteria that had no basis.

In nearby Marblehead, I visited the grave of Wilmot Redd, the only person from Marblehead to be executed for being a witch.

Another must-see in Salem is a literary landmark. The famed House of the Seven Gables (pictured), made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne, sits overlooking the harbor.

They have a very nice tour that takes you through the circa 1668 house and showcases its history and construction. I happened to visit on Hawthorne's birthday, so everyone was in a festive mood. Also on the property is Nathaniel Hawtorne's birthplace and a nice gift shop where I just might have purchased some witch-themed novels and a very pretty pair of earrings. :)

Now I'm curious -- do you enjoy visiting historical sites? If so, what kinds in particular? Have you ever visited a site where you really felt the history of the place? If so, where? And tell us about your favorite historic site.

Why We Love Real Reality Shows

By Trish Milburn

If you were standing in a field surrounded by all the shows on television, you could pretty much throw a rock in any direction and hit a reality show. They've boomed in popularity in recent years because they're easier and cheaper to make than scripted television comedies or dramas. And I'll admit I'm a fan of Survivor. It's my mind candy. But, to me, there's a difference between "reality" TV like The Real Housewives of Atlanta or Celebrity Apprentice and what I refer to as real reality TV, things like Deadliest Catch and Extreme Couponing.

While some "reality" TV is all about the manufactured drama, the drama on Deadliest Catch is all too real. Lives are at stake as the fleets of crab fishermen take to the Bering Sea in the most dangerous job in the world. There's nothing manufactured about giant waves coming over the sides of the boats or engine failures that could lead to the disaster of the boat capsizing.

Extreme Couponing is a show I've gotten into lately. I don't have the time or the dedication to go to the extremes these couponers do, but it has inspired me to coupon on a smaller level and save money I can use on other things. But I'm endlessly fascinated by how these couponers get hundreds of dollars of groceries and other products for next to nothing.

I decided to ask the other Banditas if they have any favorite real reality shows. Here's what they had to say.

Joan Kayse:

One show I like is Must Love Cats. It features a guy who fancies himself a minstrel and who…loves cats. He travels the country to highlight people involved in rescues, unusual kitty things, i.e. a woman in Dallas who invented “Kitty Wigs”. I kid you not, she fashioned different styled little wigs to put on cats and takes their pictures. Evidently, people have gone wild for it.

Another story involved a cat who woke up his owner and alerted him to their neighbor’s house being on fire. A woman who runs a sanctuary that holds 600 cats. Her motto is “They may not find a home, but they’ll have a life.”

It offers me reassurance that despite my propensity for buying my baby cats toys….I’m NOT at crazy cat lady level yet, LOL.

The other one is My Cat from Hell. This is interesting in that a cat behaviorist goes into psycho kitty households and tames the wild beasts…and their owners who are partly to blame. I discovered a slow blink of the eyes reassures your cat that you are not a threat. I tried it with Grayson the Monkey Cat who gave me a “what’s up with that look.” It’s also given me my new idea on how to train them off the counter. We’ll see.

My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding is the new one I started watching recently. Freaky deaky insights to Irish Travellers lifestyle. Kind of like Jersey Shore meets the Amish type of thing. TLC is a learning channel…but BOY…some of the things you learn!

Nancy Northcott:

I watch Border Wars on NatGeo. I started out watching it as research but then just got interested in the various problems Customs & Border Patrol staffers face. Some of the ways people hide things in vehicles are mind-blowing.

The dh likes American Pickers. I think he fantasizes that they will show up here, clean out our clutter, and finance the boy's college education. No harm in dreaming.

Christine Wells:

I love What Not to Wear, the British version, with Trinny and Susannah. It's not just a makeover show. They really dig into why a woman might let herself go or only dress in power suits at work, and it's a very cathartic process for the women who go on there. I often find myself in tears (yes, I'm a watering pot!) when I see the struggles these women go through. Another favourite is The House of Tiny Tearaways, which is sort of like the Nanny only it's a psychologist who brings three families to live in a house together for a week. All the families have difficult children, but it's often the parents who need to sort out their own issues and it's fascinating for a writer of romance to see the real emotional struggle there to make a relationship work. Plus, I pick up tips on dealing with my boys when they're troublesome! Oh, and of course, The Antiques Roadshow. Every item has a story and that's what I love about it, as well as seeing beautiful things my Regency characters might have owned.


Tawny Weber:

I would have sworn up and down that I didn’t watch reality shows, until I realized that those shows I love on the Food Network are, um, yeah...reality shows. I love the competitions. Cupcake Wars, Iron Chef and Chopped are total faves. Mostly because they are 1-episode competitions and I don’t have to worry that I forget the shows exist when I fall into deadline and miss them for a month or so. But I have gotten sucked in to The Next Food Network Star and The Next Iron Chef.

Suzanne Ferrell:

I have a few...my favorite is One Born Every Minute, which is the Lifetime show based in Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus. They've posted 47 cameras all throughout the L&D unit and it's what "really" happens. Cracks me up!

Then there is the cooking competitions, Top Chef, Top Chef Masters, The Next Foodnetwork Star and Chopped! Uhm, Project Runway and The Next Design Star are pretty good.

And sadly when my insomnia starts in at 1 am, I have to confess I do like one Housewife show...NY. The rest drive me crazy, but I actually like Jill and hate Ramona. (Sigh, they do say confession is good for the soul!). But honestly, for me it's like watching a train wreck. I can't imagine agreeing to meet someone I can't stand for lunch, let alone go on a trip with them! Seriously, people, just walk away and don't have any further contact!

Donna MacMeans:

I’m not a big fan. I’d much rather watch a scripted show (and keep the writers employed). I do watch the auditions for American Idol – not so much the final shows, and I used to watch the auditions for So You Think You Can Dance. I often see parallels in the judges' comments and the responses to the sort of things we see in the writing world. But like I said, I don’t really watch the shows when it comes down to ranking up public votes. My favorites never win...maybe because I never vote (grin).

Jeanne Adams:

My faves are Top Chef, So You Think You Can Dance, The Voice, and Project Runway. I love that they call out the best in people and challenge them to play full out. The drama comes in when people try to worm out of being responsible for their decisions or their performances. :> Grins. Or when they make the wrong decision and try something that's a HUGE stretch and they don't commit fully and so it fails. Or succeeds brilliantly because they DO stretch.

~~~
Okay, dear readers, are you a fan of any of the shows mentioned? Or are there other "real" reality shows you enjoy? Let us know which ones and why.

Shows Gone Too Soon

Earlier this week, I watched the series finale to Stargate Universe. And while it was a really good episode, I was upset afterward. Why, you ask? Because SyFy had canceled the show, but the cancellation came too late for the show's writers to wrap up the story. It ended on a big cliffhanger! I want to know what happens to the crew of the Destiny, dang it! I hate when this happens, and I seem to have this talent for liking shows that end up in some sort of similar demise. So I thought today I'd talk about shows that I feel didn't get the chance they deserved and were canceled too soon.

1. Firefly -- This is my all-time favorite show. After all it combined two of my favorite genres (westerns and sci-fi), was created by Joss Whedon (who is awesome!), had that fantastic Whedon dialogue, and...what was the other thing? Oh, yeah, it starred Nathan Fillion. :) It lasted less than a season and I blame FOX for showing the episodes out of their intended order for part of the failure. Don't even get me started on how much I loathe the powers that be for canceling this show. But fans did get the movie Serenity after the cancellation. And if there's any doubt about how popular this show was with its fan base (known as Browncoats), you only have to go to Dragon*Con when any of the stars are there. I've waited in lines for 3 hours, lines that wrapped around the downtown Hyatt in Atlanta close to three times. The people in the back of the lines never got in because the number of people in line always exceeded the fire marshal's limit for the huge ballroom. And the lines for photographs and autographs with these stars are always very, very long. (Hey, look, it's me with Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk!)

2. Jericho -- This post-nuclear attack drama had so much more to explore. And it had Skeet Ulrich -- I love Skeet Ulrich. It was canceled after one season, but a highly publicized fan campaign in which fans sent the network tons of nuts gave it a second chance. But the network canceled it again only 7 seasons into the second season.

3. Roswell -- Three alien teens who landed at Roswell pass as human and fall for humans. My YA-loving heart loved this show. Katherine Heigl and Colin Hanks had two of their earliest roles on this show. It lasted three seasons, but I think it could have gone a couple more.

4. Veronica Mars -- Another wonderful show with snappy dialogue, great characters, and the best father-daughter relationship on TV played by Kristen Bell and Enrico Colantoni. It was a modern day Nancy Drew mixed with the sass of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And I loved the romance between Veronica and Logan.

5. Legend of the Seeker -- This fantasy series based on the Sword of Truth series of books by Terry Goodkind was a lot of fun and welcome in a TV landscape that doesn't have a lot of fantasy in it. I liked this show so much that I dressed as one of the main characters at Dragon*Con last year.

6. Moonlight -- Vampire show starring the oh-so-easy-to-look-at Alex O'Loughlin. It was canceled after one season.

7. Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles -- This was an interesting take on the Terminator stories starring Lena Headey, who is in Game of Thrones now. Sarah kicked ass. Cameron, the working-for-the-good-side Terminator kicked ass (and was played by Summer Glau, who also kicked ass in Serenity). In case you can't tell, I like strong female characters who kick butt.

8. New Amsterdam -- Only got 8 episodes before being canceled by FOX. It was about an immortal, 400-year-old NYPD officer who'd been in Manhattan as a Dutch soldier in 1642. Starred Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who is also in Game of Thrones.

9. Invasion -- This alien invasion show only got one season, though it was conceived as having a five-season arc. So, guess what. Yes, viewers were left with lots of questions.

10. Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe -- Atlantis got five seasons, but I still think it could have gone several more. And SGU got the plug pulled after two seasons even though it was getting better all the time. That's the problem now -- shows have to be a hit out of the gate with no room for a slow build, or they get the ax. I don't think shows like The X-Files would be able to make it in today's cut-throat TV world.

11. Men in Trees -- Quirky show set in Alaska. I love stuff set in Alaska with quirky characters (hello, Northern Exposure, I'm talking to you too). I think they killed this one because they resolved the love interest too soon.

So do you agree with any of these? Or are there other shows which you think were canceled too soon? Did they leave you with burning questions? And just how annoyed were you when you found out they'd been canceled?

Trish is having a Launch Party!!

First, thanks to Tawny for giving up her normal blogging day so I could have a launch party here in the Lair to celebrate the publication of my first women's fiction novel, Living in Color. This is a bit of a departure from my normal romance and young adult novels, but it's a story I really thought deserved to be out there in the world. That's why I decided to hop on the self-publishing wave and give it a whirl to see what happened.

It's a different type of experience being in charge of every aspect of the writing, editing, marketing and distribution of one's book. So far the only thing I've not done myself is design the cover. I knew I had no talent in that arena, so I enlisted the talented Kimberly Killion at Hot Damn Designs, and I think she did a lovely job. I firmly believe covers are important because they're the face of your book, the first impression. I have no doubt that there are really good books out there that don't get read as many times as they should because they've had the misfortune of having bad covers, though I've been very fortunate with all of my covers to date (thank you, Harlequin and Penguin!). I also believe that the book beyond the cover has to live up to good packaging. I hope readers believe Living in Color does that.

Living in Color is a mother-daughter road trip story, one that leads to healing and some unexpected discoveries. Here's the blurb:

After the death of her father, Sabrina Bishop feels a sense of relief that he's gone. No longer will he be able to abuse her mother mentally or physically, and just maybe her mother might grow to see what he'd done to her was wrong. But with the death of Jim Bishop, Sabrina is now responsible for her mother's well being since Ruby can't read or write and has lived a sheltered life. But Ruby has a very small comfort zone in rural West Tennessee, and that means she can't come live with Sabrina in Atlanta. Besides, Sabrina's job as an award-winning news photographer keeps her traveling around the globe most of the time. As she tries to make suitable plans for her mother's future, Sabrina offers to take Ruby on a road trip to expose her to a world she's never seen. As they travel to sites such as Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park and the Gulf Coast of Florida, the trip becomes a journey of unexpected healing and self-discovery not only for Ruby, but for Sabrina as well.
~~~
As someone who doesn't like to fly, I take a good amount of road trips. I actually enjoy driving long distances and being able to stop wherever I want whenever I want. So I thought I'd share my top five favorite road trip destinations I've been to.

1. Yellowstone National Park -- My sister worked at the park for a year, so I visited once while she was there and a couple more times since then. It's absolutely gorgeous, and I always want to spend more time there.

2. San Antonio and the Hill Country of Texas -- My good friend Mary lives in San Antonio, so I've driven there several times. Last month, we also took a trip up to Fredericksburg in the Hill Country so I could do some research for the trilogy I'm writing for Harlequin American. Some of my favorite stops on this trip are the missions along the Mission Trail in San Antonio -- the Alamo and four others (San Jose, Espada, San Juan and Concepcion).

3. Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, Florida (in the sunset photo) -- I love the Gulf Coast. It's so relaxing there. I love driving along the roads that follow the beach, listening to the waves.

4. Outer Banks, N.C. -- Home to Cape Hatteras and several other lighthouses, Cape Hatteras National Seashore (wonderful because it's undeveloped like so many stretches of beach), and Kitty Hawk, site of the Wright Brothers' famous flight.

5. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN and N.C. -- The roads that crisscross this park pass by waterfalls, beautiful mountain streams, lush green mountains, stunning wildflowers, historic structures of past mountain communities, and even the occasional black bear. It is one of the most richly bio-diverse places it the world and is thus designated an International Biosphere Reserve. And it has the benefit of only being about four hours from my house. :)

What I'd like to know from you all is:

a. Do you like road trips?

b. What are some of your favorite road trips and destinations?

c. Any fun (or horrible) road trip stories to share?

I'll pick a winner from today's comments to receive a road map of the United States and a $5 Starbucks gift card to get you started off right on your very own road trip.

If you'd like to read Living in Color (it's a great Mother's Day gift -- hint, hint), you can download it at:

Amazon.com for Kindle

Barnesandnoble.com for Nook

Smashwords.com for Sony e-reader, iPad and various other formats, including for your desktop computer

Okay, break out the freshly made cookies (I hope Joanie made them, and I'd like to request they be just like the ones she made for one of our Bandita get-togethers -- yum!), your favorite non-alcoholic beverage (we are driving, after all), and road map and hit the road!

Let's Go to the Movies!

Yesterday, while I was pondering what to post about today, I hurried out to the mailbox (hurried because it was COLD!) to see what my grumpy mailman had brought me. Yay, no bills! And, yay, the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly! And bonus, it's the 2011 Movie Preview issue.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge movie fan. So in honor of this, I decided to share which movies I'm looking forward to this year along with some trailers.

I Am Number Four (out Feb. 18) -- This movie is based on the young adult novel by Pittacus Lore (a pen name of James Frey -- yeah, that James Frey, but I'm trying not to think about that whole Million Little Pieces fiasco). It's about a teenage boy who has extraordinary powers, one of nine young people who came to this planet from a planet called Lorien. An enemy is hunting the nine, and Numbers One through Three have already been killed Number Four is next because they can only be killed in order. The screenplay is by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, creators of Smallville, and Marti Noxon, who worked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, as well as newer shows like Grey's Anatomy.



Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (out May 20) -- I have to admit I had mixed feelings for a long time about this movie because, being a big fan of the Elizabeth and Will storyline I didn't know if it'd feel right without them. But the trailer looks great, and let's face it, Johnny Depp is freaking awesome. Just ask Tawny. :) Plus, it's Jack Sparrow looking for the Fountain of Youth and Ian McShane as Blackbeard!



Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (July 15)-- I'm so looking forward to this movie, and not at the same time. I so want to see how the movie is done, can't wait to see Ron and Hermione finally have their kiss, but when the credits roll at the end it'll all be...over. I suspect I won't be the only person shedding tears at the theater.



Breaking Dawn, Part 1 (Nov. 18)-- Following in the footsteps of Harry Potter's last film, Stephanie Meyer's last book in her Twilight series will be split into two parts.

Cowboys & Aliens (July 29) -- Daniel Craig. Harrison Ford. And, I kid you not, cowboys fighting alien invaders. It sounds nutty, but I saw the trailer back when I saw Deathly Hallows, Part 1, and it sucked me in. Maybe because it was so unexpected.



Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22) -- What can I say? I loves me some superhero movies.

Thor (May 6) -- Remember what I just said about superhero movies? :)



Red Riding Hood (March 11) -- A much darker, much different telling of the classic tale. The trailer I saw at the theater looked great.



Green Lantern (June 17) -- Superhero movie!



Are you looking forward to any of these movies? What other ones are on your must-see list for 2011?

A Christmas Confession

By Trish Milburn

I was talking with a friend recently about the doll I'd bought my niece for Christmas, an adorable little Rapunzel doll from the new movie Tangled. I got it at the big Disney store in Times Square when I was in New York last month. We (me and the friend, not me and the doll) got to reminiscing about what kind of baby dolls we liked when we were kids. Here's the thing, I don't remember ever really liking baby dolls that much. Maybe when I was really little, but for the most part I was a tomboy. I liked Hot Wheels cars and Tonka trucks, bikes and Big Wheels, climbing trees and playing in the creek. But there was one exception.

Barbies.

Yes, I know Barbie has her detractors. True, she's somebody's idealized version of the female form, not realistic for a real person. But when you think about it, Barbie could also be seen as a positive role model in that she's had just about every career known to man. Who else do you know who has been...

a computer engineer


















a McDonald's worker















an airline stewardess



















a nurse












a news correspondent













and even President of the United States?

In fact, according to this list at Wikipedia, Barbie's had at least 65 different careers. She's one busy gal.

But if I have to be honest, it's not really about Barbie herself. It's about her clothes! I still like to walk down that overwhelmingly pink aisle at the store and look at all the new designs and collectible Barbies. And at this time of year, there's always a gorgeous holiday Barbie. More than once, I've wished I had some of Barbie's lush outfits.

2010 Holiday Barbie














I'm a fan of the Barbies of the World collection. Here's the Russian Barbie.














And I love the special edition collectibles, like...

Cleopatra
















Athena



















Marie Antoinette























And then there are the elaborate designs by fashion designer Bob Mackie. Here's his take on Lady Liberty.

Are you a Barbie fan? If so, do you have any favorite Barbies? Have any special Barbie memories?

Since it's the season of giving, one commenter from today will receive a surprise Barbie. You won't know which one until you open your package. :)

It's FINALLY here! The Romance Bandits 12 Days of Christmas Booty. Every day between now and Christmas, one lucky commenter per day will win a daily prize and on some days, additional goodies from that day's blogging Bandita or guest. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we'll give away more booty including autographed books, GR mugs and much more! Come join us! Tell your friends! Let's make the Season BRIGHT!

The (Almost) Lost Joy of Board Games

On a recent episode of The Vampire Diaries, I was somewhat surprised to see several of the characters playing Pictionary because you don't hear much about people playing board or similar type games anymore. When people get together now, they're more likely to play Guitar Hero than Monopoly or Scattergories. But I love board games and it's a bit sad I don't get to play them very often. So here's an ode to some of my favorites.

1. Monopoly -- This is the first board game I can remember playing, probably because of how much my family and I played it during the horrible winter of 1977-78. It snowed and snowed and snowed that winter. We were out of school almost the entire month of January. So we tried our best to stay warm and played a ton of Monopoly. My younger sister, who was only 3 at the time, would just play with the fake money. For a long time after that winter, I was sick to death of the game. But years later, I started playing again and even have my own National Parks Monopoly game.

2. Trivial Pursuit -- I'll admit it. I was a geeky kid in school. I loved learning, still do. And I've always loved trivia games. I was on my school's academic (quiz bowl) team, so this game is a classic for me. There have been many different versions, but I still have the original, complete with falling-apart box.

3. Clue -- Col Mustard in the library with the candlestick. I've always liked mysteries, so this game was fun. I loved trying to figure out the answers before everyone else.

4. Scattergories -- You have to think fast in this one, trying to match categories with words that start with the same letter.

5. Scrabble -- I'm not the best at this game, often losing to my husband when we play the occasional game, but I still like how it stretches my brain. I love word games.

6. Dominoes -- I never played Dominoes until I met my husband. His family played, and so I learned from them. Another funny memory I have regarding Dominoes is when my husband and I lived in married housing on our university campus while he was in grad school. Our upstairs neighbors were some guys from Barbados, where the game is evidently very popular. They would host some very loud, crazy games of Dominoes up there.

7. Pictionary -- An artist, I am not. But this drawing game has provided a lot of laughs through the years. One year, my RWA chapter even created a version with romance book titles and played it at our chapter retreat. Hilarity ensued.

8. Uno -- Haven't played this card game in years, but I remember liking it when I was young.

9. Yahtzee -- I haven't played this dice game in years either, but it was popular when I was a kid.

10. One of the more recent faves is Perquaky, a word game where you roll dice and try to make up as many words as you can with different amounts of letters in a short amount of time. My friend and fellow author Annie Solomon introduced me to this one, at another chapter retreat. I liked it so much I bought my own game and force my hubby to play it every once in awhile. :)

As the days get shorter and colder, it's a great time to drag out those old board games and rediscover the fun of playing them.

What about you -- are you a fan of board/classic games? If so, what are your favorites? Any special memories attached to certain games or playing board games in general?

Trish and Nancy Go Geeky

Over the Labor Day weekend, Nancy and I and and more than 40,000 of our geekiest friends converged on downtown Atlanta for Dragon*Con, a celebration of all things sci-fi, fantasy and general geekiness. Think ComicCon, just about a third of the size and not quite as many celebrities. Now, don't get me wrong, there are stars aplenty, along with panels, workshops, costumes both awesome and cringe-worthy, photo-taking opportunities, parties, concerts, and tons of other stuff to fill the four days to the brim. We thought we'd share some of our favorite highlights from this year's con.

Nancy: The costumes. They're always inspired and often amazing. The steampunk ones again seemed to be most elaborate and also the ones I'd least like to wear in Atlanta in late summer. I thought the various Lego people walking around were cute. As always, superheroes and stormtroopers wandered in great numbers. I didn't see as many Klingons or Rebel Alliance pilots this year as usual.

Trish: I think you could have a ton of fun at Dragon*Con just sitting in the lobby of one of the host hotels and watching all the costumes. Last year, I did a costume as Alice from Twilight, but it was basically real clothes so I didn't stand out much. This year, I had a costume made and went as Kahlen Amnell from Legend of the Seeker. That's me on the left sporting a long wig and without my glasses. Yes, I was the nearly blind Mother Confessor. :) A group of Legend of the Seeker fans got together on Friday night and did a group photo. Nancy mentioned how hot the steampunk costumes must be, but I've got to say the Mord Sith costumes (full-body leather) had to have been a million times worse. I only had on a leather bustier and I was sweating.

Nancy: The parade. It's such a gathering of enthusiastic people and so much fun. Every year, fantasy author and illustrator Janny Wurts leads off, marching down Peachtree Street and playing "Scotland the Brave" on her bagpipes. The boy was in the anime section but on the wrong side of the street, so I didn't get good photos of him. This year, a firetruck came down the street, slanted diagonally across the street but rolling forward (I have no idea how they do that) to clear it before the parade stepped off. Many cheers and loud applause greeted the fireman, who looked a bit bemused.

Kevin Sorbo rode in the parade. He comes to Dragon*Con almost every year, and I've never heard of his being less than gracious. A few years back, I looked ahead as I rode up the escalator and there, about ten feet in front of me, were Sorbo and Andromeda co-star Steve Bacic, just the two of them, no security, and nobody was bothering them.

Trish: I've yet to make it to the parade. I tend to always want to go to a panel or have my picture taken with someone more. This year at that time, I was having my photo taken with the lovely and very sweet Jewel Staite (Kaylee from Firefly/Serenity). I didn't do as many star photos this year, but I couldn't pass up ones with Jewel, Morena Baccarin (Inara from Firefly/Serenity and Anna on V), Sean Maher (Simon from Firefly/Serenity) -- yes, I'm a huge fan/Browncoat -- and Michael Shanks from Stargate SG-1.

It is fun and surreal to pass by stars in the hallways, on the escalators, and in the elevators. My roomie for the weekend, fellow author Tanya Michaels, and I were headed up some narrow back stairs to another level of the Hilton one of the days and met Sendhil Ramamurthy and Adrian Pasdar from Heroes going the other way. When we got to the next floor, I looked at Tanya and said, "Well, that doesn't happen every day."

Nancy: The art show. I love the art show. I always see many beautiful things I covet, especially paintings, but I have no room for any more, a result of many years of seeing beautiful pictures we coveted in a variety of settings. Still, I go and look. The work is so creative, not just paintings and drawings but sculptures, jewelry, chain mail, all kinds of things. I considered buying a small print we could surely squeeze in somewhere but ultimately resisted. I did get a Christmas gift, though.

Trish: I didn't make it to the art show this year. I started to one afternoon, but by the time I'd gotten through one of the dealer rooms, I had a splitting headache and went to my room instead. I did, however, stroll through the Walk of Fame where the stars meet fans and sign autographs. Tanya and I met James and Oliver Phelps, the Weasley twins from the Harry Potter movies, who were very nice, and talked with Mark Sheppard, who plays Crowley on Supernatural, about his character and the upcoming season. He's been in so many of our favorite shows (Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural, etc.)

Nancy: The dealers' rooms. Talk about coveting--there are some beautiful things down there, weapons, costumes, jewelry, art work. I mostly resisted, though. I haven't worn the beautiful glass dragon necklace I got last year. I'd love to have a broadsword but not keep in the closet. There's that space thing again. It's narrow but long, takes up a lot of room on the wall. I did get an HMS Fearless, CL-56 shirt, commemorating the Royal Manticoran Navy light cruiser (Honor Harrington series, for those who care).

Trish: I told myself I was going to be good this year, and I suppose compared to last year I was. I added a couple of Firefly shirts to my collection, three Firefly-inspired necklaces, and one book Cold Magic by Kate Elliott).

Nancy: The programs. I went to one on "The Physics of Magic" that included Lair guest Laura Anne Gilman that had plenty of food for thought. I enjoyed "An Hour With Elizabeth Moon" on the Anne McCaffrey track. I love Moon's Vatta's War series--in which there will not be anything new for a while, alas--and enjoyed her Paksenarrion series, which she is now expanding.

I closed out my weekend at the "Shooting Science Fiction in Canada" panel with Alaina Huffman of Smallville (Black Canary) and Stargate Universe, Michael Shanks of Stargate SG-1 and Smallville (Hawkman), and Mark Sheppard of BSG, Supernatural (where he plays a "sexually ambivalent crossroads demon"), and lots of other sff series. They were laid back and funny. I'm always grateful to stars who stick around on Monday, when the thinning crowd means I can go to their panels without standing in a long line for 90 minutes.

Trish: There are so many great things to choose from. I've been to writer's track programs before, but this year I went to all TV-related things. The first panel Tanya and I went to was on V, and it ended up being the Morena Baccarin show since Laura Vandervoort and Joel Gretsch canceled their appearances, but she did a great job. We stood in line for more than 2 hours to get into the Firefly panel with Morena, Jewel, Sean and Summer Glau (River) on Saturday. The line literally wrapped around the entire block twice, so long that the Dragon*Con officials had to start counting back the line and when they got to the fire marshal limit for the ballroom, they had to tell everyone behind that they couldn't get in. Yes, this for a show that was canceled before it aired an entire season. Grrr, Fox! Sunday morning, we got great seats at the Warehouse 13 panel. I think it was less attended than the ones held on the previous days because everyone thought Eddie McClintock (Pete) was going to be gone already. Well, turns out he was having such a good time that he stuck around to do this panel with Saul Rubinek (Artie), Tia Carrere (Katie), and Mark Sheppard (Valda). It was a great panel! And I started following Eddie's hilarious tweets on Twitter.

Nancy: Pervading it all, of course, is the energy and enthusiasm of people who've come to celebrate things they love in the company of other people celebrating what THEY love. It was a great weekend.

Trish: Ditto what Nancy said. :)

Okay, now we're curious. If you were to go to Dragon*Con and dress up, who would you dress up as?

It's Party Time!

I'm thrilled to host a launch party today for my newest young adult book, Winter Longing, written as Tricia Mills. I love this story, and I've been very, very happy to be getting good reviews for it from everyone from teen book bloggers to Publishers Weekly. Here's a bit about the story:

Winter Craig finally gets up the nerve and tells her long-time friend Spencer that she likes him as more than a friend. The best part? Spencer likes her as more than a friend too. With the perfect boy to love and be loved by, she begins her senior year at her small Alaska school and indulges in the dream of becoming a costume designer for the movie industry. Life is perfect — until tragedy strikes. Winter’s perfect life turns upside down as she deals with an unbearable loss, doubts about her future, a best friend whose home life is getting worse by the day, and unexpected feelings for an unexpected boy.

Typically, I write about places I've been, but an Alaska setting called to me for this story. I didn't have the moolah to plunk down for a trip to Alaska, so I did copious amounts of research. I picked the brain of a friend who once lived there. I read books, perused blogs of Alaska residents, utilized Google Earth and maps to get the lay of the land. I filled my TiVo with everything Alaska-related I could find -- everything from nature programs about the flora and fauna to Deadliest Catch, Discovery's show about crab fishermen on the Bering Sea. I tried to pepper in bits and pieces of this information to give the story an authentic feel.

I have long been fascinated with Alaska. I'm not sure when it started, but it's possible it was during the years of Northern Exposure. Though the show was actually filmed in Washington state, its setting was rural Alaska. I loved the interesting characters, the gorgeous vistas, the sense of community that came from living in one of the harshest places on earth. It takes a certain type of person to live in Alaska, whether they're a native or someone who moves in from "Outside" (what Alaskans call the Lower 48).

My fascination grew as I began to read Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak mystery series. Her depictions of Alaska and its residents are so vivid that I'd swear I'd been there. I aspire to that as a writer. The series is currently in the works for a TV series, and I can't wait! Though I've always pictured Irene Bedard playing Kate (as I think Stabenow has too), I'm not sure how that will work out.

Men in Trees, starring Anne Heche, was another favorite. Again, it was full of quirky, fun characters, and a fish out of water story much like Northern Exposure. I hated that it got canceled when it did.

One of my current favorites is actually a reality show set in Alaska, Deadliest Catch. This show is full of interesting characters too, but they're real people doing the deadliest job in the world. When Captain Phil Harris died this year, it wasn't just a character viewers lost. It was a real man with a real family. This show illustrates the harshness of the seas off of America's last frontier. I've always been a fan of stories that pit man against the elements, so that's part of the appeal of this show and many other stories set in Alaska.

Is there a particular setting that calls to you as a reader or TV/movie viewer? If so, what is it and why does it appeal to you? One commenter today will win an autographed copy of Winter Longing.

Oh, Costume Dramas, How I Love Thee

Most little girls love to play dress-up at some point during their youth, but they eventually grow out of it or at least exchange princess attire for name-brand style. And then there are those of us who still love the idea of playing dress-up or immersing ourselves in the world of costumes -- clothing that takes us to a different place and time. If I had gone another career path and possessed the talent for it, I think I would have loved to be a costume designer for movies. That's what inspired me to give my heroine that goal in my August young adult novel, Winter Longing.

My two favorite types of costumes are science fiction/fantasy and historical. I'll leave the former for a later post Nancy and I will be doing post-Dragon*Con in September. Today, I want to explore my love affair with historical costume and costume dramas. I grew up in the '70s and '80s, when the TV mini-series was a big deal -- stories like The Thorn Birds, Shogun, North and South (the American Civil War version based on the John Jakes novel). One of the earliest such mini-series I remember being enthralled by was Marco Polo, which came out in 1982, when I was 11 or 12, depending on the month it aired. It had costumes but also started the trend of me watching a TV show or movie based on some historical event or person and then wanting to know much more about it. I remember being so interested in Marco Polo and his travels that I read books about him after watching the mini-series. I even wrote a paper for school about him. Believe it or not, I still have that paper.

The Thorn Birds began my fascination with Australia, Shogun brought feudal Japan into my rural Kentucky living room, and North and South was filled with glorious costumes from my own country's worst days. Later came the classic Gone With the Wind, and Scarlett O'Hara and her many gorgeous dresses. Who could forget the white and green picnic dress? The red gown? The green dress made from the curtains?

When I first saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, love of a different era and costuming was born -- that of ancient China. The Chinese films are simply gorgeous, full of eye-popping color. My favorite is House of Flying Daggers, which included some stunning costumes worn by Ziya Zhang, pictured here.

I know many of my fellow Banditas are great fans of Regency England. True, the dramas such as the newest Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightly and Matthew MacFadyen are filled with gorgeous costuming that can spawn many a story idea. But the era of English history that fascinates me most is that of the Tudors. Numerous dramas about the Tudors have been feasts for the eyes and have led me to read more about this period of history that I knew so little about before. Hey, I can now name Henry VIII's six wives in order and what happened to them. (BTW, seriously, how odd is it that he had six wives and three were named Catherine? Confusing, much?) While once I would have had to go to the library to gather more information, now I watch an episode of The Tudors and then hop on the Internet to figure out the truth about people like Sir Thomas More, the Duke of Suffolk Charles Brandon and Henry's various wives.

First, I saw the wonderful portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I by Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth. She is a fabulous actress and made this impressive queen come to life.



























Then there was The Other Boleyn Girl, first the movie starring Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn, and then the book by Philippa Gregory on which it was based. I enjoyed that book so much that I now have four more of Gregory's books on order. I plan to read The Constant Princess first, the story of Katherine of Aragon, Henry's first wife.



























In recent weeks, I've been watching Showtime's The Tudors on DVD and via streaming video on Netflix. While the series is full of historical inaccuracies, the costuming is wonderful. Scores of beautiful dresses such as this rich red number worn by Natalie Dormer, who played Anne Boleyn (hmm, does one have to be named Natalie to play that ill-fated queen?)...

























and this regal black ensemble worn by the wonderful actress Maria Doyle Kennedy, who played Katherine of Aragon...


























And I simply love this headdress worn by Joss Stone, who plays Anne of Cleaves, Henry's fourth wife.



































Are you a fan of costume dramas? If so, what are some of your favorites? If you were going to a costume party and could dress as any historical figure, who would it be?