Okay, so there’s this tagging thing going around. I was tagged by Kathleen at Keeping a Pulse on Life and Romance http://kathleengrieve.blogspot.com/

Here are the rules:
The rules:

a. Link to the person who tagged you.
b. Post the rules on your blog.
c. Write six random things about yourself.
d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
e. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Six random things about *lizzie…

1. Even though chocolate is my life, I eat Fruity Pebbles when I’m depressed. But you know, they haven’t been tasting so good lately–that must mean something wonderful, huh?

2. Watching certain movies always makes me want to write. The original Star Wars (now number 4) started this for me–way back when. The latest addition to this list is the new Jackie Chan/Jet Li movie Forbidden Kingdom. (Photo of my friend Dean on the Great wall)

3. Each book I write has it’s own musical inspiration–except the one I’m writing now. Go figure. Anything from classical cello (Yoyo Ma)and cello rock (Apocalyptica)to Celtic to folks like Darren Hayes and Constantine. Makes for a huge CD collection.

4. I love the idea of connecting outrageous things in my writing–like cowboys and dragons 

5. My favorite cookie to make is a no bake chocolate (duh) oatmeal WITHOUT peanut butter.

6. Places I’d love to go before I die include Scotland and into space. I’d be thrilled to visit many of the sites vital to ancient civilizations.

You know, most of the blogs I visit are group blogs, and those who are individuals have already been tagged. What’s a person to do? I’ll think on folks and tag them when I do think on them.

Life is a patchwork of memories…

Writers are creative people…obviously. And many of us express that creativity in other ways as well as with our words.

I enjoy, among other crafty things–quilting.

Today is the grand opening of the International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln Nebraska. From the outside’s stunning architecture (Fun arcitecture is not well represented in Lincoln, I’m sad to say)

to the opening show in the lovely galleries, visiting there today was a stimulating experience. Very Inspiring. I got there about the time they were to open, to find out they opened half an hour early since there was already a line. And line there was…over an hour after I got in line, I’d made it up the stairs and to the galleries. I even had to wait just at the outside door for awhile since the occupancy of the building was maxed out. And since there’s a fire station right next door, we didn’t want to alert the fire marshall!

As we mounted the stairs that follow the glass curve of the building to the second floor, the line outside grew. And grew. Until it was well over a block long. And when I left, the line had only shortened by half. Those who braved the cool Nebraska wind and the long wait were well rewarded by the quilt display.

 Showing just a tiny bit of their 2,300 quilt permanent collection, visitors were able to see baltimore album quilts as old as from the 1700’s to modern interpretations of fingerprints. Interesting facts–the collection spans 4 centuries and 24 countries. The quilts are only allowed to be ’shown’ for nine months out of 10 years. The rest of the time they are cared for by the conservators.

If you can’t visit the Center itself–visit their website at www.quiltstudy.org

 ***If I stitch fast enough, does that count as aerobic exercise?

Hero: Person in a book who does things which he can’t and the girl marries him for it.

*Mark Twain

Okay, maybe I don’t need this kind of a hero. I’ve got too many of them in my brain hollering for attention the way it is. Do I get confused? Sometimes… I don’t suppose it helps that I tend to work on more than one project at a time.

When I first started writing heroes were easy. I pictured them in my mind and transfered them to paper. I wondered about folks who kept notebooks and folders of pictures of characters. Why bother? Seemed like an unneccessary collection of paper. Like I needed another one of those!

Then one day I caught myself looking at a picture thinking…hmmm he’d make a great hero. Uh oh, I was beginning to understand. Now, many books into my career, I’m finding it as important to have some sort of a visual representation of characters as it is to have a particular song or type of music to go with each book.

That said–I have to admit that I don’t have pictures of folks in my work in progress. This might possibly be because I’m reworking an old novella I wrote under the previous working theory.

I’ve been seeing a lot of a couple of these guys lately (and no, I don’t always visualize famous people), so, here’s a trio of others in my head and half finished on paper.

   Constantine has morphed into Jeffrey Nikkolas in Toccata and Fugue. He’s a cellist of world wide renown in both the classics and in cello rock. I’ve loved Constantine’s look ever since American Idol.

 Eric Stomer now is Rocc from Starway to Paradise. A futuristic hero,  who considers himself far from heroic, fights major battles with his own inner demons. Who can resist this carpenter’s shaggy blond hair and easy smile.

Finally this unnamed cutie is Gowthaman, Faerie librarian from Blue Keltic Moon. Hmm, he’s got demons, too.

Even though a couple of my guys have those internal fights ahead of them, I don’t consider myself an author of dark, angsty, alpha heroes. Most of my heroes tend to be beta/alpha men. Just watch out when that alpha male emerges!

a question for ya’ll…what type of hero is your favorite?

Whoever said you can’t buy happiness forgot little puppies.- Gene Hill

One of my yearly pleasures is watching the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. This year was no exception as I sat admiring the beautiful animals and picking my favorites. Unfortunately, I have way too many favorites!

Kudos to Best In Show winner Ch K-Run’s Park Me In First. Uno is the first Beagle to win best in show in the history of the competition!

  Uno was ‘on’ last night, projecting the aura of a champion! The crowd went wild each time he made a circle of the ring. We’ll be seeing a lot of Uno over the coming year.

Uno was actually my second choice for BiS. I was cheering for the winner of the Terrier group–Ch Hidalgo at Goodspice. Was a cutie–who I though was also projecting a great image. But, as with everything, there can only be one winner.

 **Tough or not, most dogs can lick the entire family**

 I’m a doxie lover so can’t resist adding a picture of the long-hair who was second in the hound group. Ch Solo’s Drag-Queen SL (love the name!) She’s quite the lady, huh?

It wasn’t that long ago it was rare to see a female winning best in group. This year five of the seven group winners were girls. Woo hoo!

The most difficult part of watching the dog show is the commercials. Pedigree brands are doing a wonderful job with their *Dogs Rule* campaign–aiding in adoption and providing food and necessities to shelters. Just choosing to buy Pedigree for your dog will increase the donations. Check it out at www.dogsrule.com. Anyway, those commercials…i want to bring home every one of those puppies! Yep, I’m the person you hear sobbing during the scene in Disney’s Lady and the Tramp when the pound dogs are singing about home. Sigh.

My household recently increased with the addition of two Shelties. Brother and sister, Sean and Constance are sweet. well-behaved dogs who love everybody. Even the cat, who does nothing but hiss at them. I’ll post pictures when I gst some uploadable! 

I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive. - Gilda Radner

“You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.” - Henry Ford     

 In one form or another branding has been used to show possession by all civilizations. Hieroglyphics from tombs in ancient Egypt show workers branding cattle in 2000 BCE. Throughout history brands have also been applied to humans, at times to prove possession, but more often as a sign to others of punishment, occupation or belief. Today, branding is used as a form of body art.     

   (thanks to thDevil’s Rope Museun for the brand collage)  

Not my style, and not what I want to talk about today.   As consumers we’re inundated with brands, both for products and the places we purchase those necessities from. Because of this type of branding we know what we’re getting when we shell out a buck—or more. Companies count on us remembering their brands, and coming back for more. 
 Branding in the writing world—why should authors be any different?
 Branding for authors–having a phrase or design that will allow readers to instantly know who you are or what type of book they’re holding in their hands–is a hot topic in the writing world.                                                                                                                               {symbol for my new series-                                                           Children of the Triad} 
 Some authors have a stylized design to represent them or a series they’ve written. Nora Roberts’ monogram instantly alerts readers to a newly published work. Authors struggle over creating a ‘tag line’, a short phrase that will represent their work to the reading public.  My own *romance with a sparkling twist*  took more thinking time than a whole chapter of a work in progress. Even the way my name is presented is my brand—using the *  and no capitals (yes, this is a nod to e. e. cummings) is memorable.

  For the most part, however, authors are their own brand–Nora Roberts, John Grisham, Steven King. Creating works of similar genre and reader satisfaction nurtures author identity that the readers recognize and comes back to.  Hopefully over and over again.
   This kind of author branding isn’t new. Fans of Dickens waited impatiently for the next installment of a tale. His name was enough to bring readers to the newspaper. Just as a play by Shakespeare brought patron to the theatre. Ah, even now, don’t cha just hate waiting for the next book from one of your favorite authors? 

What’s the best way to create your own author brand? That’s easy. No, you don’t need to fret over a string of words describing your work—though that can be a satisfying exercise and look great on your business cards. The key is—listen closely now—write the very best books you can. Telling folks I write romance with a twist doesn’t do anything for me—unless I have the sparkling fiction to back it up. 
 Okay, so writing a book isn’t easy. It’s work. Hard work. A long, winding road.
 But once you find your own sparkle, readers will be anxiously scanning the shelves for your next work! 
 Reader loyalty. That’s what it’s all about—isn’t it?