Okay, call me old-fashioned ...

... but I still like those old-fashioned foods, the kind the cafeteria cooks prepared back in the dark ages of my elementary school years. Forget wraps and sliders; these ladies in their bibbed aprons and hairnets rolled out comfort foods day after day.
Among my favorites was creamed rice with a rich topping of brown sugar. My mother never made it; neither did either of my grandmothers, so I relied on the school to feed my addiction.
Another food I've loved since childhood is tapioca pudding. My children, who don't share my affection for it, call it fish eye pudding, because of the translucent tapioca.
Don't care; not gonna stop me.
When I'm sick or down in the dumps, it's at the top of foods I long for. I'm also quite partial to cream of wheat when I'm ill, another food my children regard as coming directly from the pantry of Satan.
The kid in me is quite happy to feast on fish sticks and tater tots when I'm home alone and lazy. Stick 'em in the oven, transfer them to a paper plate and I'm good to go. My tummy's full and there are no dishes to wash except one cookie sheet.
I know some people celebrate with champagne or fine chocolates, but I much prefer those Chessman cookies from Pepperidge Farms to do the trick. In fact, I ate a whole package of them a week or so ago.
Upon completing the manuscript for Blood Oath, the last of my Shadow Ancient vampire series, I ate half the package with a very cold mug of milk.
And when I got my first print copies of Out of the Shadows, the first of the Shadow Ancients series, I ate the rest of them, this time with a cup of coffee flavored with hazelnut creamer.
All this talk about food is making me hungry. So if you'll pardon me, I'm off to the store to find myself a box of fish sticks and a bucket of tapioca pudding.

 Coming soon: Blood Oath, book four in the Shadow Ancient series
from Resplendence Publishing

Maybe they're looking for me!

In the last week or so, there's been a flurry of UFO sightings in our little section of Kentucky, with folks weighing in pro and con. The local newspaper has fueled the fuss with a couple of stories and a photo from an iPad taken of a supposed UFO through a car window.
I'm one of those people who spent the appropriate period of mourning the demise of "The X-Files," and still long for another, perfect show like that to come along. (Yes, please feel free to comment with your personal favorite X-Files episode. I'd love to know!)
A few weeks ago, I sat down with a 16-year-old to watch the 25th-anniversary edition of one of my favorite films of all time, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Much to my relief, she liked it so well she told people what a great film it was.
I was raised by parents who had copies of Fate magazine on their bedside table, and I still remember the summer night at the drive-in theater (yes, I'm that old) when my sister and I were certain we saw a UFO hovering over our small town.
So it was that I was called to make a pilgrimage to Roswell, New Mexico, a few years ago while visiting a friend. And, of course, I came back with the usual tourist photos. Here's one:

And then here's my photographic proof that despite what the government tell us, Area 51 does exist. (Please keep in mind that this was the period in which the alien sensors in my head thought I'd look better as a blond. That device has now gone dormant and I'm back to my familiar long, dark hair.)

So you tell me. Do UFOs exist, or are we all being fooled by the government's weather balloons and secret experimental aircraft?


Cammie

P.S. I understand that the aliens grabbed up some Kindles while they were visiting here. Like them, you can also read my Shadow Ancient series from Resplendence Publishing on your e-reader. They especially enjoyed "Hell's Belle," available from Amazon, Fictionwise and other e-book retailers.
 

Where did the decade go?

My wise grandmother warned me once that the older you get, the faster time goes. I understand now, since it seems like only yesterday I was greeting 2010 and now here we are, in the second decade of the 21st century.
I suppose I ought to make some resolutions. But we all know, don't we, that I'll never keep them. I fear I'm too impulsive for long-term change.
I am not, however, without discipline. That's good, since I have two books to finish for publication this year. The first is Blood Oath, the fourth in my Shadow Ancient series. I love my vampires, I really do, but I'm moving in a different direction with Claimed.
That one, which will come out in the second half of 2011, includes our mysterious Guardian Protective Services, better known as the agency. But the heroine is half-Valkerie, on the run with a jaded free agent for Guardian who connects himself to her with an ancient Sumarian binding spell.
2010 was a great year for me as a writer, but it was also pretty good personally. Despite last year's lack of resolutions, I managed to lose a little weight, I've whittled down my debts and managed to clean out a good chunk of the basement.
All in all, a pretty good year ... and I'm waiting in anticipation to see what the new year begins.