sarahantz

Maureen has tagged me with the Holiday Get To Know You Questionnaire

So here goes.... 20 questions:

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? As I've never tasted egg nog it's definitely hot chocolate.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Are you telling me people put presents under the tree unwrapped?????? Nah...
3. Coloured lights on tree/house or white? Hmmmm, white if I'm trying to be sophisticated.... otherwise lots of gawdy colours.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No
5. When do you put your decorations up? Depends on when the kids nag me.
6. What is your favourite holiday dish? Only one????? Stuffing, mince pies, roast potatoes, xmas pudding... okay so that's four, sue me....
7. Favourite holiday memory as a child? Getting up at 4 in the morning and creeping into my brothers bedrooms to wake them up so we could open our pressies, which were at the bottom of our beds in pillow cases.
8. When did you learn the truth about Santa? What truth?????
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? One big glittery mess
11. Snow! Love it or dread it? Love it when I'm inside looking through a window. Dread driving in it.
12. Can you ice skate? No
13. Do you remember your favourite gift? A batmobile with an ejector seat!
14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Family getting together
15. What is your favourite holiday dessert? Chocolate biscuit cake, mince pies, apple crumble, xmas pudding..... ooops done it again, I just can't stick to one!
16. What is your favourite holiday tradition? Don't have one.
17. What tops your tree? Fairy.
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving.
19. What is your favourite Christmas song? And So This Is Christmas
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Like you need to ask..... yum, of course....

I tag: Amanda, Christina, Alyssa, Erica, Nell... you go girls....

Recently, fab bestselling NZ author Nalini Singh posted about planning blogs, after reading about it on Alison Kent's blog. And it got me thinking that maybe I ought to try it.

Planning certainly suits my anal nature.... as I've mentioned in the past I'm list obsessed. And if I knew, say, that Monday would be about writing, Wednesday about more personal stuff and Friday would be interviewing other authors then not only would I regularly have items to cross off my list, but also I wouldn't have to worry about what to write..... it's not that I don't do spontaneous, I just prefer my spontaneity planned, lol!

So, what do you reckon? Planning blogs.... good or bad thing.....

Btw, Nalini is having a blog party this week and I'm one the participants.... so head on over there. Lots of prizes up for grabs.

So they tell us on the adverts for the NZ lottery - which is now on twice a week.

But just suppose I actually won.... then what..... I must admit I think through this scenario with monotonous regularity.

What would I do with a few million dollars... well, it needs to be about ten million for me to buy the house I want, put some in trust for my children, travel, totally revamp my wardrobe, donate to various charities... you get the picture.

Then what..... I can't do nothing all day long, I'd go totally barking. And though I want to travel I'm also a home bod, so I can't travel all the time.... And then, of course, there's my writing.... with earning not being one of the motivating forces would I still be happy doing it (I think yes, but it's still something to consider).

See, there's a lot to think about. I'm not saying I don't want to win. I do. But it's bound to throw up as many issues as it resolves.

Your turn. What will you do when you win the lottery.....

Recently, I've been suffering from an ongoing tummy upset (sorry, TMI, but needs must) and I wondered if it was because of all the diet coke I drink. Not that I did anything about it, initially, other than wonder.

Anyway, yesterday I thought okay this has gone on too long I'll see what happens if I don't drink any. Well, by the time I went to bed I had a splitting headache, which sleep did nothing to relieve.

Ah ah.... withdrawal symptoms... I don't drink coffee, but dc I sometimes drink 3 or 4 600ml bottles of a day (for those of you not on metric, that's the next size up from the small bottle but not the large or the very large).

I've now decided that maybe dh was right and it's a virus - it does seem to be getting better, I'm just getting cramps now (oops... there I go again.... trouble is I do enjoy discussing this sort of thing, as my friends will attest).

So, it's now 10.30am and I've just started my second bottle and the headache has almost gone....

It looks like I've answered my question.... the DC stays!!!!

I'm sooooooo excited because my editor told me they're bringing forward the publication date for The Second Virginity of Suzy Green. It's now going to be September 2007. So, watch this space for announcements about my cover.....

AND, this new publication date means I might even have some copies to take with me to the RWNZ conference next year. AND it means my fellow witch Amanda Ashby and I will be release buddies. Amanda's book You Had Me At Halo is due out in August. AND she'll be back in NZ by then.... so watch out world.... there's going to be one helluva party in the Northern Hemisphere...... and if a butterfly flapping it's wings can affect what's going on..... well...... I'll leave it to your imagination....

AND..... yes, lots of 'ands' in this post.... my publisher, Flux, is now RWA recognised which means I'll be able to enter the RITAs - which is exciting enough, but even more so because I'm planning to go to the RWA conference in San Fransisco in 2008 when they'll be announcing the winners.

My son has provided me with some fab ideas for incidents in my books..... Who knew the staple gun incident was true? Or crashing a friends quad-bike and having to find a way to pay for it? Or breaking his leg on a skiing trip? Or keeping up with school tradition and running naked around the perimeter at 2.30 in the morning? Or dressing up in a bikini for the town's 'round the river' race. Or dressing up in fishnets and a purple glittery tailcoat when performing from the Rocky Horror Show (looks totally fetching on a strapping boy of over 6 foot) .... Or.... Or..... As you can see the list is endless.

But now, school days are over. I went to my last prize giving at the weekend (no, he didn't win any - unlike his older sister, who's his total opposite!). And though in the class the teachers find him extremely difficult (I couldn't begin to tell you the trouble he's been in), outside the class they adore him. In the speeches during house dinner, they all mentioned him - usually with a funny story attached (in fact, staff and boys make things up about him just so they can get a laugh). Women teachers were coming up and hugging him, men teachers shaking his hand. And telling me that he'll have no trouble in the 'big wide world' because of his personality.... Hmmmm.... a few qualifications wouldn't hurt though.... And it got me thinking that if he hadn't been at boarding school they would have had such a different impression of him. And one that would have stayed with them forever.

So, my point is...... not sure I have one really..... except anyone got any funny stories I can use.....

I'm pretty tolerant when the phone goes and on the other end is some poor person trying to sell me something, or survey me about something. It's their job. And a pretty soul destroying one at that, I suspect. So, I always politely say no thank you and would never be rude, or slam the phone down.

BUT.... now... things have gone way too far. On both our business and private lines (they're not discerning) I've been getting calls asking me if I'm interested in a mortgage. Nothing wrong with that, you might be thinking. I agree, if the voice on the end of the phone belongs to a real live person. Oh no, the voice belongs to a recording. OMG has the world gone mad? I can't believe anyone would a) listen to the whole message, b) believe they're talking to a human being, or c) be interested in buying from a recording.

The only thing in it's favour, is that I can swear loud and long down the phone when I get the call - and I get them a couple of times a week - which is somewhat satisfying.

Anyone else been getting these calls? And your response?

There are few things more pleasurable to me than spending time in a book store. I can spend hours and hours roaming the shelves. And I have a built-in book store detector, enabling me to spot one from a hundred paces - much to my children's annoyance!

Anyway, when I'm wandering around I really want to be left alone. I hate it if the people working there come up and ask if I need any help. No thank you. And then if they don't take the hint and want to engage me in conversaation. NO. LEAVE ME ALONE I shout (in my head, hahaha, I never actually say anything, I'm so polite it's not funny).

And then if they insist on showing me books... like they know my taste.... I don't think so...... I leave - really disgruntled at my pleasurable experience being cut short.

I seriously believe there should be 'Leave The Customer Alone, Unless They Ask for Help' training for all book store workers (actually that would work for fashion stores too).

What about you? Do you want to be left alone when you're in a book store?

I bet you're all going to tell me that it's my problem......