Kiss Her, You Fool!

Have you ever read a romance or watched a movie where a character wants to kiss or be kissed, but...they don't?

Didn't you want to shout, "Kiss her you fool."

I saw that very scene in a rerun of The Big Bang Theory recently when Amy's date said that to Sheldon. 

A KISS IS JUST A KISS

Yes, that's what Herman Hupfeld wrote, "A kiss is just a kiss," in the song, As Time Goes By, the love song from the movie Casablanca. But a kiss isn't just a kiss, is it? We learn early in life how to give kisses. When we're small children, we freely give kisses to mommy and daddy.

"Give me some sugar," Grandma says, and we delightfully kiss her cheek and hug her then squeal as she hugs us back.

When we get older, we learn there are different kinds of kisses. Kisses we give and take from our first puppy love crush. Then, a bit later, we learn another type of kiss—those drenched with passion and fueled by desire. Kisses like that are magical.

HUMAN INTIMACY

In 1971, Desmond Morris published Intimate Behavior: A Zoologist's Classic Study of Human Intimacy. In that book, he discusses the 12 steps of human intimacy. 

He designated The Kiss, or Mouth to Mouth Intimacy, as step 7. Morris doesn't describe that step in escalating intimacy as magical, but it is.

That's why so much attention is given to The Kiss in a romance novel. It's an important step in the growing relationship between the heroine and hero. 

By the first kiss, the couple in question are acting on their desire, and they're curious as to how that kiss will make them feel. Will it knock their socks off or put the damper on their growing desire?

Obviously, much depends on that kiss. If it increases their desire, which it should, then they face the problem of backing away from each other if there are circumstances that keep them apart. 

Of course, they may, for their own reasons, disavow the effects of the kiss. After all, a romance is all about overcoming obstacles to achieve a worthy goal – each other.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Do you have a favorite first kiss scene in a book or movie? Leave a comment and share.

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Saturday Share Recipe - Chocolate Cake in a Cup

Yesterday, I made a large chocolate birthday cake today for my son-in-law whose party was today. I love chocolate—especially chocolate cake.

Many of you love it too, but you don't make it because you may think it's difficult, time-consuming, or you don't want an entire cake hanging around and tempting you.

That's why I came up with Chocolate Cake in a Cup, a little recipe that makes 4 small cakes which are delightfully delicious, easy to make, and won't send your calorie count into the stratosphere.

I shared this recipe several years ago so I'm reprinting it for you today.

CHOCOLATE CAKE IN A CUP

Ingredients
4 tablespoons self-rising flour
3 tablespoons of white or brown sugar (Use an extra tablespoon if you really want a sugar bite.)
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil (canola, safflower, sunflower, or generic vegetable oil)
3 tablespoons chocolate chips

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons chopped pecans or other nuts, optional 

Directions

Into a small mixing bowl or measuring cup, place the egg, oil, sugar, and milk. Mix well. 

Add in the other ingredients except for vanilla and mix well. Add the vanilla extract and mix well.

Evenly distribute the batter into the 4 coffee cups. Microwaves vary in the way they cook. In my microwave, I cook these for 2 minutes at 1000 watts power. The cakes rise beautifully. 

Depending on your microwave, lightly touch the top of a cake when time is up. If it "springs" back when touched, it's done. If you think you need to cook longer, do it in 10 second increments. Don't overcook.

Remove from microwave and allow to cool a few minutes. You can serve it now as is or with a dollop of whipped cream or scoop of ice cream.

Even better, make a batch of my chocolate frosting. This makes 2 cups so save what's left in small freezer bags so you can defrost a small batch when needed. 

BEST CHOCOLATE FROSTING

Ingredients
1 stick) softened butter (I set 1 out a couple of hours before I make the cakes so it softens.)
2/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa Powder
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Cream butter. Lower speed and add milk. To that slurry mixture, slowly add the powdered sugar and cocoa. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth and creamy.

Add the vanilla last and beat well. If the frosting is a little thick, add a tiny bit more milk, teaspoon by teaspoon, until consistency is perfect.  Makes about 2 cups of frosting that's so delicious you'll be tempted to eat it like candy.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

It's such an easy way to make a dessert that's delicious and fast. Let me know if you try this.

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Review - Solver Streaming Online

If you like movies built around solving puzzles, you'll like Solver now streaming online at multiple sources: Freevee, Tubi, YouTube. We watched it on Tubi. 

SIDE NOTE: Recently, I read that Tubi has picked up millions of users since other subscription video sources added ads. (I think the poor economy also may have viewers seeking less expensive streaming sources.)

Solver isn't a big budget film. In fact, it was a Kickstarter created by John Ruby and Jack Kelley for Empire Builder Productions.

If you'd like to know more about how this story turned into a movie, visit Solver's Kickstarter.

Solver is a fun mystery-adventure movie that the entire family can watch.

I enjoyed this story of a young man who, when notified of his grandfather's death, travels to upstate New York to settle Grandpa Ralph's  estate. At his grandfather's cabin, he finds a series of puzzles and clues that lead to startling secrets.

With the first puzzle solved, he's hooked and so is the young woman he knew from years past who still lives in a nearby small town. Like many conspiracy theory movies, the plot revolves around the CIA's Cold War mind-control project, MKUltra.

Starring John Ruby, Jack Kelley, Annie Ruby, and Ann Russo, the movie was filmed in upstate New York in 2016. I liked it enough that I'd be interested in other films from this small production company.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Pop some corn and watch it with your kids who will probably find the puzzle aspect intriguing.

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Hurricane Beryl Journal

The days following Hurricane Beryl have been challenging and a little wacky.

I'll start with Monday when we lost power at 6AM after Beryl made landfall.

Torrents of rain and wind that battered our neighbor's giant pine tree resulting in hundreds of pine cones and broken branches striking the east side of our roof in a 6-hour barragge.

(We have an appointment with an insurance adjuster next week.)

We started up the generator when the rain slacked. (We'll be converting to a whole house backup system because starting a generator in the midst of a hurricane is not fun. Also, propane bottles are now in short supply just as gasoline is.)

Tuesday, Day 2. Centerpoint finally sent a text saying they were aware of our power outage. Duh.

Daughter, her husband, and their dog had already left their no-power home on the other side of the outlying Houston area and went up to our house in the country. We had to wait because Darling Hubby was scheduled for Jury Duty Thursday.

Another Centerpoint text said they'd be letting us know when our power would be restored. Then Hubby was able to reschedule Jury Duty so we loaded up the most valuable food in the freezer and fridge and headed to our house in the country.

Daughter's house had power restored late Tuesday. They headed home that night but needed to stop for gas. 

Guess what? No gas anywhere along I-45. Even Buc-ees was out of gas!

They found a country store in old Huntsville where they were able to fill up with premium, the only grade of gasoline available.

TEXTS FROM CENTERPOINT

Wednesday, Day 3. We did nothing except try to recover our energy. Hot weather without air conditioning saps one's energy. An afternoon text from Centerpoint said they would let us know when they had an estimate of when they'd complete an assessment of the problems.

Yes, they'd switched from estimating the date of power restoration to estimating the date of the completion of an assessment of the problem.

ACTION NEEDED

We realized that power probably wasn't going to be restored any time soon. We decided to go home clean, unplug the refrigerator, and leave it open. We left at 2:30. Stopped for gas at a country store, did 2 propane bottle exchanges, and drove on.

Coming into the Houston area was surreal. It resembled one of those post-apocalyptic movies. Nothing was open—no restaurants, gas stations, etc. No cars filled parking lots. Traffic lights east and west of the freeway were dead.

We had to do the four-way stop thing at intersections where traffic lights were out, but we made it home. 

Temperature was over 100 inside the house. 

Hubby stored the propane bottles in the garage.

I washed out the refrigerator and freezer, pullled it out from the cabinet, and unplugged it. I took time to mop up water that had accumulated behind the fridge from melted ice.

Since there had been no mail delivery since Saturday, there was nothing to collect. We  watered the patio pot plants, roses, azaleas, and our little garden.

BACK TO THE COUNTRY

As we drove away, we recognized that everything will die if the power isn't restored soon so the sprinkler system can run. 

We arrived home only to discover that the WiFi was off. An hour later, we learned that a major fiber optic cable between 2 small towns near us had been severed. WiFi was to be restored Thursday morning. That didn't happen.

Saturday, Day 6. Finally, we have WiFi again. This past week has been uncomfortable, inconvenient, and costly, but otherwise, everything is okay. It could have been so much worse, and for many it has been. My prayers are with those who lost so much more.

 If you have some extra bucks, please donate to a verified fundraiser. You can donate to a specific family that has a verified GoFundMe account or to a verified non-profit organization by clicking GoFundMe Hurricane Beryl Help.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

I always look at hurricanes and other disasters like that this way—if you, or someone you love, aren't injured, or aren't injured badly, then everything else is okay and surviveable.

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Calm Before the Storm

Hurricane Beryl is headed our way. It should make landfall west of us around Matagorda Bay sometime after midnight.

Since I've lived most of my life in states subject to hurricane (and in Japan, subject to typhoons) it's not my first rodeo. 

Darling Hubby and I are as prepared as one can be when facing a storm. We had a band of rain yesterday, but today had been sunny until late morning.

When the clouds rolled in, we went outside and did the final hurriance-proofing—moving anything that could be blown about by 40 mph or higher wind into the garage.

As soon as we finished, the rain started. We'll be experiencing these bands of rain for the next 24 to 36 hours. The wind will start later tonight.

We have the generator, and we have water stockpiled in case the pumping station loses power. We'll manage and get through this.

We have plenty of books to read, and we may break out the playing cards and other games if this goes on for very long.

Still need a book to read. Try my 99¢ Ebook Sale offering.

JANE (I'm Still Single) JONES has lots of southern charm, a 10-yr old betrayal, and a man and a woman who should have ended up together.

Maybe they just need a second chance?

This spicy romantic comedy, set in a small town during a high school reunion, is available at Apple, Barnes & Noble, Everand, Kindle, Kobo, Smashwords, and other online ebook sellers.

“I loved this book.” 5 Stars —Netgalley.

Get your copy of JANE (I'm Still Single) JONES, one of my most popular romantic comedy novels, today. Sale ends July 12.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

If you're in the path of this storm, be smart. Take precautions, and be safe.

 Love to read? Sign up for my free Newsletter, I LOVE READING. Once a month, you'll receive exclusive content and news about giveaways, bargains, and new releases. 

Beach Books and Romance

If you've a reader, you know that summertime reading is usually hailed as beach book season. You also know romance novels are promoted as beach books.

It's as if the world thinks it's okay to read romance novels if you're on vacation. Of course, the subtext of that is that it's not okay to read romance the rest of the year.

SERIOUSLY? 

It's especially weird when you consider the romance genre is the biggest selling genre in  North America—in ebooks and print.

The romance genre is so huge that it gave birth to sub-genres of every possible variation.

It's not just a North American phenom. Romance is also popular in Europe, the UK, and Australia. Romance novels are published in more than 90 languages even though most of the authors are from the UK and the USA.

Yet, people—other than readers who love romance novels—feel free to denigrate those who read—and write—"that kind of book." That's literary snobbery, and I've never understood it. 

Critics—other people you will meet in life—will praise novels filled with explicit descriptions of serial nurders or depressing novels filled with emotional trauma, adultery, and characters who never seem to deal with their personal angst.

Yet, these same readers y turn their respective noses up at a  romance novel with the themes of desire and love that usually result in fidelity and commitment.

If you want great stories with plots that make sense and characters who learn lessons from their emotional baggage, consider a romance.

Most people just want to love and be loved. That's what romance novels are all about. The need to connect is a part of the human DNA. So read books that show people learning from their past mistakes and taking a chance on love.

So many people say that romance novels are fantasy because love doesn't last. They tout statistics that say 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. But that means that 50% of marriages succeed.   

Looking for a  good book? Look at a popular romance novel. You'll find a romance sub-genre with the kinds of stories that push your buttons: humor, mystery, suspense, family relationships, historicals, and so much more.

My writing friends and I all have books on sale this summer. Visit our Facebook group to see some of thebooks and meet some great authors: Romance Gems...Where Authors and Readers Meet.

MY CURRENT 99¢ EBOOK SALE

JANE (I'm Still Single) JONES has lots of southern charm, a 10-yr old betrayal, and a man and a woman who should have ended up together.

Maybe they just need a second chance?

This spicy romantic comedy, set in a small town during a high school reunion, is  available at Apple, Barnes & Noble, Everand, Kindle, Kobo, Smashwords, and other online ebook sellers.

“I loved this book.” 5 Stars —Netgalley.

Also available in Print and Audio. (Available in French as 

Jane-Cœur-à-prendre-Jones.) 

Get your copy of JANE (I'm Still Single) JONES, one of my most popular romantic comedy novels while offer lasts.

I'll be putting other books on a 99¢ sale throughout the summer so be sure you check my blog for the dates of each sale or subscribe to my newsletter, I LOVE READING.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

It's hot outside! Stay cool inside and read Romance, the Optimistic Genre.

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7 Reasons to Love July

Ready for the Heat?

That's what July brings, but there are some great reasons to love July despite the heat.

Just remember to drink lots of icy cold beverages, use sunsceen, and wear a hat. It's amazing how much cooler you can be simply by covering your head and shading your face.

7 Reasons to Love July

1. Picnics

Whether you're at the beach or beneath a shade tree at the park, have a picnic this month. There's something that's so much fun about spreading a blanket and eating traditional picnic food—especially watermelon! 

2. Watermelon

This is absolutely the best fruit that was ever grown so it deserves its own listing. I could eat it every day without growing tired of it. Even though you can buy them year round thanks to imported fruits, they're just never as good as the ones picked lcoally in the middle of summer.

3. Baseball games

Here in Houston, we have the Astros (Go, Stros!) as well as the Skeeters, a minor league team in a suburban city. Then there are the college teams and baseball on TV. 

I grew up listening to the baseball games with my grandfather who tuned it in on the radio. Ah, those were the best times.

4. Incredibly long days

I love that we can sit out in the evening, and it's really not dark until about nine-o'clock. More daylight seems to mean more time for work and play. 

The perfect way to end the day is with a tall glass of iced tea or lemonade and watching the sunset.

5. Snowcones/Shaved Ice

This hot weather treat is especially good in July when the sun seems intent on baking the earth to a golden brown. I'll take a cherry snowcone please. Eating one makes me feel like a kid again when I had my first snowcone from Dominic, the Snowcone Man. 

6. Homemade ice cream

If you've never had homemade ice cream, you've missed one of the best sweets in the world. Even though I now have an electric ice cream freezer, I only make ice cream in the summer.

I guess it's habit held over from the days when we had to sit outside and turn the crank on the ice cream freezer. The melted ice poured from the overflow spout near the top of the freezer. We all took turns when we were kids.

7. Fireworks

There are so many fireworks displays in the Houston area on July 4 that we can sit in folding chairs on the driveway and watch fireworks in just about every direction.

I like the fireworks display at our place in the country best. The fireworks are setup on a platform in one of the lakes. 

We sit on our back porch, put patriotic music on, and watch the show—and it's awesome.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

I know it's hot in July, but the more time one spends outside, the more one acclimates.

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