From the Heart: Answers!

Hello my Alliterati friends! Happy Valentine's Day!

Last week, I was lazy and asked you to ask me questions instead of writing a real blog post. Today, instead of writing a real blog post, I will answer your questions! Woo! Look at me!

Nicole MacDonald asks:

How many pets do you have?

Currently, I have the two little troublemakers (cats), a bunny, and a horse. So four at the moment. You'll notice I keep qualifying that statement. That's because I am always trying to convince the husband to let me get a dog or a chinchilla or another kitten or a bird . . . luckily, he has the good sense to tell me no. :)

Do you include them in your writing and if so is it as themselves or do they inspire characters?

Great question! I do include them in my books-- when there's an occasion to do so without forcing it. Typically, they inspire characters (who happen to be exactly like them) only because a character is easier to manipulate than my image of my actual pet, but there is one exception: in my second manuscript, I included my first horse, Gypsy, because I had recently lost her. Putting her in the novel, even though she really only makes a cameo, was important to me as a way of memorializing her.

In my first novel, a fantasy, I included my bunny-- but as inspiration for a bunny in the book. And I've modeled other animals after mine (a lion after one of my cats, for example), even though they're not precisely the same!

I don't put much from my real life into my books, but I do absolutely include my pets!



Adam Heine asks:

A few months in, how's married life?

Married life is AWESOME! It's also . . . pretty much the same. We (*gasp*) lived together already, in the house that we own, so there wasn't the difficult adjusting period that a lot of couples can go through (except for me losing my job, that took some adjusting!) But so far it's pretty much the same amazing-ness that just makes me glad he chose me. :)

Okay, I can't resist sharing. Here's what he made me for Valentine's Day!


I've been complaining about my reading light for months. So he BUILT me one. It's shaped like a birdhouse, but the walls and roof are frosted acrylic so the light will come through. And then, when you're done reading for the night, you can do this:



(Wave "hi" to Tim the Polar Bear, Jr.)

We usually celebrate Valentine's Day on the 13th for several reasons, so I got my new lamp last night-- and I teared up when I saw it! I can't believe he took the time to make it by hand for me.

He also gave me this:



A pretty green topaz necklace, because I "need more green." (Green is his favorite color).

So in a nutshell, married life is freaking awesome, even if it didn't change much :)


Favorite place in the world?

Oh man. This is a tough one. My answer *might* change if/ when I ever actually leave the North American continent (yes, it's true-- I have never been outside the U.S. proper, except barely into Canada and Mexico). Anyway, right now my answer is Monterey/ Big Sur, California. I would move there in a heartbeat. You know how there are some things that just instantaneously relax you to think about? For me, it's ocean waves lapping right up to a rambling Victorian, and tent camping nestled under the stretching arms of the redwoods.

Just so you can fully understand if you have never been there, here is the view from our hotel room in Monterey:



Man. Now I want to go back there!

And finally, should I put soy sauce or chili sauce on my eggs?

Bah. If I ate eggs I could give you a real answer! But breakfast is, alas, something that Other People Do for me-- never been able to stomach food before noon. However, based on my personal culinary tastes in other areas, I will say: chili sauce! Always chili sauce!