My book blog


				*Janelle Meraz Hooper* My book blog



	Home \| My book blog \| A 3-Turtle Summer, sample chapters \| As Brown As I Want, sample chapters \| Bears in the Hibiscus \| Boogie, Boots & Cherry Pie \| Custer and His Naked Ladies \| Free Pecan Pie & Other Chick Stories \| Reviews & Comments \| About the author/awards \| Tips for student writers \| Quotes

1-16-12- Lots of things are happening around here:

I'm going to be a guest blogger sometime this year for Lisa Vandiver (Lisa's Place http://www.lisavandiver.blogspot.com/?zx=85390390d262f07d ), The subject is myths and legends.

The illustrations are coming in for a children's project that is already written. These things take time. The artist, Sherri Bails is doing a wonderful job and I'm thrilled! I've posted one of them above this posting.

And I'm doing some work with a local radio station, KLAY1180 Talk Radio. Actually, they're doing all the work. I just turned in one of my books for them to work with.

Meanwhile, Geronimo is almost finished. I'm waiting on some research queries.

While I've been on sick leave I've redesigned the homepages of two of my websites and added and deleted some pages.

It's shaping up to be a great year. It'll be even better once I get my taxes for Washington State turned in. I hate paperwork!

12-28-11-I've had some questions about my Wanda the Witch stories. They've been taken off to make way for some web improvements. One Wanda the Witch story is still posted on my blog http://JanelleMerazHooper.blogspot.com. Look for Wanda the Witch Hits Wall Street. More of them are also in my Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories mixed genre book.

12-19-11- Merry Christmas, everyone! Hanukah begins tomorrow! I wish you all Happy Holidays. I know I missed Ramadan in August--somehow it slipped past me. I'll make up for it next year!

I have news on a new Amazon feature- those with an Amazon Prime account can now borrow some books for free. I have put three of my books into the lending program: A Three-Turtle Summer, As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries, and Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories. The first two of these books are award winners, so they're a good read, I promise! Well worth the price (:! My other books cannot be added right away due to contract issues.

I hope you're enjoying the holiday season. Our tree is the best one we've ever had (I say that every year). I have my bowl of tangerines on the coffee table and as soon as I make a huge bowl of popcorn, I'll be set. Well...the bowl of popcorn will most likely end up in my office. I eat a lot of it!

I do have one problem: I cannot find one of four sheep that follow my shepard across my bathroom windowsill every year. The set is handpainted by one of our aunts and I love it dearly. I have torn through every drawer in the house. Nothing. Wouldn't you know it would be the black sheep that's missing? No kidding.

11-22-11- My three newest novels are now avilable on Nook as well as Kindle. Tip for the Thanksgiving cook: put the biggest frozen turkey you can find into the oven. Do it now. That'll give you plenty of time to read all three books before you have to serve dinner!

I never got around to taking down the Thankgiving stories last year. They're still on the Archives page if you need a laugh.

11-11-11- I like to make little vignettes of books or stories in my house using whatever I find in the closets. This one is a reference to a Native American story about how the raven stole the earth...only I used a Quidditch ball for the earth (okay, it's really just a Quidditch Christmas ornament). Perhaps the funniest thing is that the family never comments! This little story has been up for over a week now...no one has noticed!

I miss my Aunt Norah. She was playful too. One time we had the key to a relative's house so we could feed her cats when she was away. We "broke in" and left a full-size cardboard cutout of Billy Ray Cyrus (Achy, Breaky Heart) in her kitchen. Along with balloons and a sexy note.

In my novels she's always out of town but I write about her a lot. I guess my Turtle Trilogy novels are really fictional autobiographies. Who knew? At the time, I was just trying to get the books written before I lost all of my favorite aunts and my mother. I didn't make it. Not one of them lived long enough to read my valentines to them.

11-08-11- There's been a lot of discussion among writers who are making their paperback and hardcover books available on electronic devices. What's the right price? What's a fair price? No one knows. In the end, independent writers will make their own decisions. I have made mine: I have lowered the prices of my Kindle and Nook books to $2.99 USD.

Not because there is anything wrong with them (an award winner is still an award winner even if the price changes). And it's not because some of them are old. If you haven't read a book yet, it's still new to you.

Mostly, it's about copyright. I happen to own my works, and there are no "middlemen" for me to pay.

I hope you'll check out my books. They're good reads. I promise.

Other news:

My Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories book of shorts and short stories and As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries are now a part of Amazon's WorldReader program. I'm delighted to participate in this program to bring books to needy children in underdeveloped countries. I'm hoping other authors will join this program. It's easy. Amazon does all the work!

In October, when I put my As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries book on sale (the sale is over now) for $.99 cents USD, I was just fooling around. I was sick. And bored. What fun! I got messages from relatives and friends who read the book and remembered some of the events. I never expected this to happen. Thank you all!

10-21-11- Another great week! Amazon's WorldReader has added two of my books (As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries and Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories) to their list! If you haven't heard about it, in this program, Amazon loads up Kindles with books and ships them to children who need them all over the world. Are you wondering how they use them in the middle of Africa? I was! I've learned that they have solar chargers over there for electronic gadgets. I'm delighted to be a part of this program because, when I was a kid, library books were very important to my mental health. Just thinking about a kid in Africa reading about my experiences at Comanche powwows makes me grin...I hope they write to me!

The reviews for Boogie, Boots, & Cherry Pie are beginning to come in. Look for them on this site, Amazon Kindle, and Nook.

I've been looking through piles of research for certain info about the Apaches in the Old West. I found nothing. Then, last Saturday, I stumbled across the needed info on a website!

Augh! I discovered this week that there was an obselete email address on my books' info in the UK Amazon site. It's fixed now. I was so dumb about technology when I first published. I thought I'd have my NWRain address forever, I loved it so! It could still be out there somewhere. For a response, send your emails to JanelleMHooper@comcast.net or if you just have a comment, you can leave it on my homepage.

Happy Friday, everyone! (:

10-15-11-This week, I turned in the first draft of my one-man show on Geronimo titled Friending Geronimo. It was approved! The project will take another year, at least. It's a long way from the other work I've done but someone once said: You've got to jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way down!

In other news, the men in my family are busy fishing for salmon--the rivers are full of them right now. They don't even need a boat--they're fishing from shore!

I'm tickled that readers are enjoying my latest light (very light!) romance, Boogie, Boots & Cherry Pie. It's even more exciting to see that people are still reading Custer and His Naked Ladies and Bears in the Hibiscus. Often, earlier books seem to get buried by the new. These three books are my romance books. The Turtle Trilogy is my literary collection. My next book, The Welfare Resort, is also a literary book. I'm not a formula writer so each book is different. If you don't like one, you might like the next. That's why I post sample chapters here on my website.

Maybe it's time for a second cup of coffee. Enjoy the weekend! Before you know it we'll be eating pumpkin pie!

10-06-11- I'm sick and I'm bored. Just for fun I've lowered the Kindle price of my As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries book to .99 cents USD. Happy Halloween! The cover on Amazon is black and brown but it's the same book as the paperback version.

10-02-11- Egad! I have pneumonia. Obviously, it's a light case or I wouldn't be in my office. This is a first for me--I think I've had almost everything else. I'm on one of those combination drugs that I've never heard of before. I write a lot about my life-experiences, but I think this is one event I'll leave out!

My favorite romance, Bears in the Hibiscus is out on Nook now. Most of the others will go up as soon as I feel better. This time, again, I left the technical production to Walt at Five Rainbows in Michigan. He's done all of my books and it's a relief to be able to turn a book over to him and not have to worry about it. Electronic books are very prone to mistakes and I've heard of books being transmitted with upside down pages! It's not surprising when you think of it--the book is traveling through cyberspace. It's an electronic miracle that it shows up in our devices at all!

Ths year I made up a Kindle basket to donate to Multicare's Bike-a-Thon. If you're in the Puyallup/Tacoma area, please buy a ticket to help the kids. Sue Wyder is handling the tickets--Facebook her!

Better get back to bed. I'm taking my research on Geronimo with me.

the show is about wrapped up but I can't seem to leave it alone. Tweaking is my real comfort zone.

9-18-11- I've gotten a few emails commenting on how "light" my new romance is when the other romances I've written have their steamy moments. The answer is I write each book separately and this latest story (Boogie, Boots & Cherry Pie) didn't require a lot of whoo-hoo! to tell the story.

All of my books are different (ain't no formula writing going on here!) so if you don't like one you might like the next. That's one of the reasons I post sample chapters--so my readers won't be disappointed in a book.

What's next? I have a book on senior citizens in the cooler...

?- (I deleted the date! I am such a techie--is that Microsoft I hear calling?) Have a great Labor Day weekend, everyone!

8-24-11- Oh, dear! Due to some website publishing errors on my part the new, lower prices on my Kindle versions of A Three-Turtle Summer and Custer and His Naked Ladies books didn't get posted in all places. I think it's fixed now. Just to clarify, a Kindle version of A Three-Turtle Summer is now $5.99 as is the Kindle version of Custer and His Naked Ladies. So sorry for the confusion. The books are still a good read. It's just that I have gained more control of my books (One of the perks of being around so long!).

8-10-11-Boogie, Boots & Cherry Pie is now available on Kindle, Nook, and others! That was fast! Maybe someone over there likes snakes! (; Thank you Amazon and Barnes & Noble!!

8-10-11-Finally! Boogie, Boots & Cherry Pie has been submitted to Kindle, Nook, and others. "Boogie" is a light romance unlike any of my other books. I might be fearless-who else would write a romance with a big snake in it? Read the first chapter on the "Boogie" page.

I'm tickled to be gaining some readers in the UK. Thank you all! I'm also pleased that you're reading my mixed genre book, Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories. It breaks my heart when I see some of the books and movies we export to the world. I think they make all Americans look greedy, affluent, and mean. It's not true. Most of us are nice people! Well, maybe not our politicians...but that's another story.

Geronimo-I've finished the first draft of my one-man show. It's rougher than an Indian trail in the Gila Mountains but I'll fix it.

I'll let you know on my homepage when Boogie goes live.

I hope you're all having a great summer!

7-26-11-I'm busy trying to figure out how I'm going to launch my new romance when I'm in the middle of other interviews, writing my one-man show and keeping up my websites. Help! If anyone has some space on their blog to mention my book, please let me know!

It all seems so silly when we are in the middle of such a terrible drought in the Midwest. I received this in my email this morning:

As evidenced by people living in Oklahoma, West Texas and South Texas, and ever-increasing areas in other parts of the country, the drought condition is reaching critical status; cattle are being auctioned off; crops have burned up; and drinking water is becoming a concern.

It's easy to forget people suffering from the lack of water when I live in a rain forest. We've only had one day this "summer' when we've had to water our yard.

If you believe in the power of prayer, please send a few toward Oklahoma and Texas.

Our prayer plate has been full lately. Norway, Mexico and other areas have brought into focus how fragile this planet is. Our National budget is threatening to change our way of life for the worst. Everywhere we look--in the US and the rest of the world--people are hurting each other.

when I was in my early thirties I felt so overwhelmed by the need everywhere and I felt so helpless to change anything. I finally backed off and adopted my rock on the water policy. You know, when you throw a pebble on the water and the circles spread around it? I decided to be one of those pebbles and start in my own community and work out from there. And I did, for many years.

Now things have changed. Someone in a small town hundreds of miles from D. C. can make a difference through the Internet and other ways. President Obama taught us that.

Well, I'd better get back to work. I doubt if it's going to rain in Oklahoma just because my keyboard is wet. Now is a good time to look out our window and help where we can.

I'm saddened by the severe temperatures that have made people suffer so much recently. As there were no communications where I was, I had no idea until this morning what was going on. Please allow me to retract my whining about my cannas this morning!

7-22-11- Hi! I'm back from vacation. Did you miss me? We went over to Sun Cove Resort in Eastern Washington to do some trout fishing and check out the red painted turtles. I'll post some photos as soon as I get unpacked.

As you can see below, I hit the ground running when I got back (I love this expression. I know it's trite, but I'm in a wheelchair! It makes me laugh!):

Other news: I have lowered the price on the Kindle version of Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories because it has a lot of readers of all ages that are learning English as a second language. The short, humorous stories are popular with them. I have suffered trying to learn Spanish so they have my sympathy.

I have also lowered the price on my As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries because its chapters are being used in some schools as oral interpretation pieces for contests.

Walt from Five Rainbows is converting my new romance (Boogie, Boots & Cherry Pie) for Kindle, Nook and other reading devices. I'll let you know when it's ready. What a fun book.

He is also adapting my other Kindle books to be read on Nook and others.

I know. I know. He is obviously doing all of the "running", but the ideas were mine!

It has always made me sad when I open my Sunday paper and see the first back-to-school ads. How I hate for summer to end. It was so cool here all summer that my poor cannas that I planted to remember my Aunt Vera never got over a foot high. Normally, they are at least 3-4 feet. The roses outside my bedroom window scream during the night--they want one of my down comforters. My hydrangeas--all 4 of them--are without even one bud. There is no way I'l see any blooms this year. Even so, I'll miss summer when October rolls around. Do ya suppose we'll all have to buy plastic pumpkins this year? ):

6-29-11-I printed out my new book and weighed it on my kitchen scales. I was shocked to discover it was short one word. I'm rechecking the manuscript now to locate the missing space and will publish soon. I hope.

6-01-11-I've posted a photo of Rudy Ramos on my homepage. He's the actor that I'm working with on a project about Geronimo. He's family and we're both from Oklahoma, so is it any surprise we're working on a project about Apaches?! Ha!

5-30-11-Memorial Day is very special around here. I suspect it is for you too. It seems that more and more, it is considered another holiday to remember our fallen soldiers, but I also use it to remember all of the wonderful relatives my life was blessed with. Most of you know that the women in my Turtle Trilogy were based on them.

In case you didn't see it on my homepage, the cover for my new light romance is above. Ryan at Studio Reflections in Puyallup designed it for me. I love it so much I'm going to have a tee-shirt made with it on the front. The book itself is still in production. It'll be out soon on Kindle.

In other news, some of my books are now available in downtown Puyallup at A Novel Idea Bookstore. What a great place to shop for books. It's mainly a used bookstore, but they have a lot of new too. If you haven't been, go! Whenever I'm there, I seem to pick up a piece of pottery. They have that too. On Saturday, I got a gorgeous turquoise bowl that I'm going to use in a photograph when my husband finishes his new cyprus table. It'll be gorgeous!

I'm so glad that more of you are enjoying my Custer and His Naked Ladies novel. It got a slow start because it was thought of as a history book. I hope I never make that mistake with a title again!

5-11-11-Just for fun, I've just lowered the price on two of my Kindle books. Bears in the Hibiscus is now $3.99 USD. Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories is now $2.99 USD. Enjoy the savings!

5-05-11-Happy cinco de mayo! Hat dances in my office, 2:00 PM!

5-04-11- Hi, everyone! It's been an exciting week. I've been receiving emails from the artist who is doing the cover for my latest romance--Boogie, Boots, & Cherry Pie. I've decided to publish it on Kindle first to feed the Kindle beast that eats up everything I throw at it. It is now offering my books in the UK and Germany. More countries are on the way. What a kick to hear from readers so far away!

Cinco de mayo is tomorrow--don't forget to wear your sombrero!

I've just had a piece published on this site: http://www.chronic-illness.org/blog/my-systemic-lupus-and-arthritis-story-sickly-by-janelle-meraz-hooper that was written by request. It's a chronic illness site that seeks to offer support and comfort to those suffering from a chronic illness. It's short.

Most of my time is being spent on my Geronimo project. Books are arriving several times a week and I'm constantly being sucked back into that part of history that I've always found so fascinating. I got one yesterday on Apache folklore and have ordered an Apache dictionary that has been delayed but will be here soon.

4-26-11- On my author's page,I vaguely remember mentioning my little people I have on a shelf above my laptop to remind me about all of the wonderful people on this planet. As I was going through old photos this morning, I came across this shot of my little Russian and Japanese people. I have shots of my ponchos (sleeping Mexicans)throughout this site. There are many more. I'm way behind in my photography chores! (This shot has now been moved to my Publicity and Promos page.)

I'm busy on my Geronimo project. How I'm loving it! Better get back to work!

4-14-11- I wrapped up my Kindle book giveaway yesterday. Congratulations to Deb in Wisconsin. She asked for Bears in the Hibiscus and she had it in minutes after the contest ended. I had some fun meeting new readers and wasn't really surprised to see where a lot of the entries came from (Kindle's page on Facebook). I'll do it again later on!

I'm still working on my Geronimo project. What a fun project to research! I've given myself two years to complete it but it's going much faster than I'd planned.

My Boogie, Bears, and Cherry Pie romance is ready to go but I can't seem to turn it loose. The resort novella got such positive feedback from my readers that I'm holding onto it until it grows into a novel.

If you're curious about the limousine ad on my homepage, I'm using my friend Mark's services when I go far from home lately. Traffic is such a you-know-what and I choose not to deal with it anymore! The Social Rocketship ad is from a company I'm very enthused about.

I'd better get back to work. Take care, everyone, and remember what Jeff Bezos (Amazon) said, "It's always day one!"

4-03-11-Lately, all of my volunteer work has been done via my Visa card. I've donated to Amazon's fundraiser for Japan and Worldreader. Of course, I always support my local foodbank--that's an ongoing crisis. I wish I could do more, maybe at a later time. I hope you'll share what you can. I can remember when there was a big earthquake in the Northwest and the response from Japan was as big as our earthquake. Please help! The need is great.

3-24-11- I was busy writing this week but left some time to go to downtown Puyallup for my Scrounge4Water project. I took some things to Jewell's Consignments, and stopped by A Novel Idea and dropped off some books. While I was there I got a dynamite piece of pottery from Dawn Mecklenburg for the kitchen. Then I swung around the corner and got an Indianhead penny from David at his coin shop. I'm going to wear the penny on a chain to celebrate my Indianhead book.

Back to my research. I hope you and yours are well and safe.

3-15-11-Publishing is changing so fast I'm confused most of the time. One thing that makes sense is Amazon's new feature allowing a customer to send a Kindle book for a gift. Look for the button near the buy button on the right.

My Scrounge4Water project is moving slowly. I'm holding back the funds from my book sales until I can send one check. I'm asking clothing donators to send their checks from their sales in directly. I'm not much for holding other people's money so I'll sleep better if we do it this way. I will try to keep a tally. The recycled clothing idea, with the profits going to Scrounge needs some tweaking. I'm going to ask women to take their donations directly to Nine Lives Vintage Wear in Tacoma. It is taking a lot of time and my house is really too small to handle a lot of extra clothing. Kristi's focus is vintage clothing, so if you have anything to donate, please contact her: ph: 253-267-0324.

The one-man show I'm working on is coming along nicely. It's a two-year project, so don't buy a ticket yet! More details later.

The picture of the herons is one of the few photos we've taken this spring. It's been wet and nasty here. I was so anxious to use my new camera on the day I got out, but we had to use Dick's camera and talent because the birds were too far away for the lens on my camera.

1-23-11- You may have noticed a message under my ad on my homepage mentioning my Scrounge4Water project. The project is so new that I don't have much to report about it yet.

But the idea came from a post I put on a politician's site responding to something he said about the world's poor. I posted something like, "Geez, Louise, if we can't at least get food and water to the people who need it--the very basics of life--what the hell can we do?!" Not surprisingly, I got no response. It's said that "polite women never make history". Maybe I'm just tiring of being polite.

So here's the deal: I'm old. I'm tired of waiting for the world governments to solve problems. World Vision has an ad in their Christmas Catalog that they can provide water to needy people. Along with the ad came a chart. I don't remember all of it, but for $100.00 donation, I can send bottled water. For $1000 I can have a whole well dug. How simple is that?

My plan is to scrounge around for evey nickel and quarter I can get my hands on in 2011, consign my old clothes (some are at Kristi's Nine Lives Vintage Wears Store in Tacoma) and give a portion of my book sales to the project. Possibly, I may even sell business ads on my site. I'm in a hurry, so I may even charge for my advice to writers. I give out a lot of it!

I'm hoping to involve others, but I haven't cleared it with World Vision yet. I don't think you'll blame me for not wanting to handle donated money. There has to be a way to do that. I'll look into it.

So if you'd like to buy an ad on my homepage, contact me. We'll work something out.

My other charitable donations will stay the same.

1-04-11- Above is the New Year's card that I'm still in the process of sending out via email. It's an old photo because I didn't get out much last year because I was so busy. I didn't feel too bad about it because the light was awful around here--at least for my photographic tastes. I'm sure experts would disagree with me. I'm just an amateur photographer, and I like bright sun. Even though the photo is old, the New Year's wish to all of my friends and readers is new. Happy New Year!

12-22-10 Grandmother's screen door has been posted. You can view it at this website address:

http://www.CollaborativeNation.com

click on the box that says: Home of Bicultural + Multicultural People Rule

Today, I’m at the top of the page. There are two more below me. More could be added at any time.

(My text box is stuck in "center", sorry!)

12-24-10- Merry Christmas! Thank you all for your nice emails over the past year. I hope the teachers whose students have used my stories for oral interpretation will keep in touch with me and let me know how the students did. Thank you so much for inviting me into your classrooms via the Internet.

I hope you all have a wonderul New Year! Don't you just love a nice, clean calendar? I love to write things in those neat little boxes!

12-13-10 I've just finished my part of a collaborative effort for a Multi-Cultured website titled Grandmother's screen door. I'll post the web address as soon as I have it.

Have you finished your Christmas shopping? I haven't even started because I've been working on three deadlines. One of them, a submission to the 2010 Oklahoma Book Awards, took the better part of a day because my computer mis-behaved. The multi-cultural project is complete, and the new novel is back from my editor. I have some work to do on that.

Among my friends on Facebook, I've started using a tag: I'm old. I know stuff. Almost everyone on my page is a lot younger than I am, so I try to share my aged knowledge. Especially about writing. What fun! Most of them are scrambling to get their works on Amazon's Kindle, and I know stuff they don't. Again, because I'm old. Been there. Done that. Does the fun ever end?

Merry Christmas to all of my friends who are just getting ready for Christmas. A belated Happy Hanukah to my Jewish friends (I'm behind because of the deadlines) and Happy Holidays to my other friends and their celebrations.

One of the things I do this time of year is look over my spreadsheets. Again, as I suspected, I have given away more than I've made. This is only possible because I have a husband with a real job. Thanks, Hon, from the bottom of my heart (I've been giving his money away to my favorite charities since 1962.) Sadly, all things must come to an end. If not a dead end, I at least have to adopt a more organized method of giving. Starting this year, I will have a budget and will try to keep my contributions focused on charities that deal with with children, the local foodbank, and clean water for developing nations. I regret having to narrow down my giving, but I am not married to Bill Gates, and someday, I will be old--and maybe hungry--Oh, I would have made such a good rich person, Ha! Because my contributions are so small, the charities left off my 2011 list will not even notice the absence my pitiful checks. When I dream at night, UNICEF, The Ship of Hope, and breast cancer research will be in my dreams. I'm sure those with more money than I have will carry those projects. They are so worthy!

12-03-10- Due to an unexpected opportunity to submit a multi-cultural commentary, I am delaying the publication of my newest romance, Boogie, Boots & Cherry Pie: Love on the Zoo's Third Floor... I expect it to be out after the first of the year.

11-23-10- Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We were threatened with a grocery workers' union strike this year so we got all of our shopping done early. For the last three days we've had a pretty good winter storm--temp. this morning was 17 degrees. We've lost our electricity twice. We're checking into recipes for cooking a 23-pound turkey on a grill. Things should settle down by Thursday, but I could regret not buying that box of instant mashed potatoes I saw in the store. We always cook real potatoes, but we use a stove. With a burner. And a gas flame. How spoiled are we in this country?

But I make no apologies. I've never claimed to be a pioneer woman. Whenever we watch a western on TV and I see women suffering while they haul water, walk behind a wagon train, or fight Indians, I point at the screen. "That's not me," I shout as I point to each woman. "Never! I never would have left New York." I always see a trace of sadness in my husband's eyes. He imagines himself as John Wayne's sidekick, herding the cattle through dust storms, rain, and cattle rustlers. How did he ever get saddled with such a city girl? About then he sees a piece of black lace peeking out of the top of my robe and he remembers. Oh. Yeah. That's why!

11-13-10- What a great time we had yesterday at our Northwest Authors Holiday Book Event! Freighthouse Square gave us a great big room and we filled it up with our readers. During quieter times, the authors took advantage of the time to visit with each other. It was a party! Down the hall, the food vendors kept the food and beverages coming. I never get a big lunch when I'm at home, so I really love going the the FHS for an event!

Thanks again to Kristi Coyne who worked so hard to make us comfortable. We love you, Kristi!

11-11-10 Happy Veteran's Day to all of the men and women in our armed services. Thank you for your service to our country. May we never send you needlessly to war.

11-09-10- I am still planning to attend the Holiday Book Event at Freighthouse Square on November, 13th, despite my accident. Come see me! I'll be autographing copies of my books and 8x10 glossies of my bruises...(I made that last part up!). More info on the poster above!

10-27-10-I'm just sitting down to reread my voters' pamphlet. This is a serious election. Here in Washington State there are a lot of bills and elections* that worry me. This is one of those years you need to vote. Even if your car has broken down in LA and you have to bum a ride to work each day. VOTE. Even if your tractor parts are late in Nebraska. VOTE. Even if the subways shut down in Manhattan.VOTE. Rock the vote, America!

* For instance, in Washington State, Why would you want to give up a 3-term senator’s power and voice for an incoming freshman senator who will be lucky if he gets to make a coffee run? I dunno...I'm just wondering...Patty Murray has done a good job for our state. That other guy is not ready for prime time.

10-22-10-This morning I posted some Halloween shorts. You can find them on the page titled WANDA. Feel free to copy and use them for any non-commercial purpose. Please, keep my name on them...some of these have been published other places. If you have a question, email me.

10-20-10-My Boogie, Boots, and Cherry Pie is finished. It'll be in the cooler for awhile and there is a chance it may not be ready for Christmas. I regret this, but I want the book to be at its best before I turn it loose. I blame its tardiness on Chile. C-C-C-Le-Le-Le! Chile! I couldn't walk away from this miraculous rescue. What a wonderful people! To be fair, I also had a dialect issue for two of the characters in my new book. It turns out, Jamaican Patois isn't anything like Spanish. Who knew?

Meanwhile, I'm working on the holiday book event at Freighthouse Square that I am organizing, working on other authors' web pages, lining up research materials for a possible book, trying to talk myself into a rush project that will exhaust me (so far, I'm resisting), and assembling a catalog of my Northwest Author friends. Somewhere in there, I'm going to rest.

10-03-10- The Bike-a-thon was a great success.They even had great weather--no rain! Thanks to the great people of Rainier Family Physical Therapy for doing the event. Sue Wyder did a great job of coordinating it! Thanks, Sue! All of the profits went to Multicare Bridge's charity for grieving children. When I saw the gorgeous baskets the merchants had donated, I had to buy some raffle tickets for myself! We tried for the Seahawk's basket, the Flying Tomato Italian Grill basket, a basket donated by a custom cake lady, and a huge wine basket. We didn't win any of them, but I'm sure they went to good homes.

The photo above is the poster for our Northwest Authors' Book Event on November 13th that I'm coordinating with Kristi Coyne of Vintage Wear and others. It'll be held on a Saturday at Freighthouse Square. Ya'll come say hello!

9-29-10- The Bike-a-thon is this weekend. Stop by Rainier Family Physical Therapy and buy a raffle ticket for my book basket--it's for the kids! The tents will be in front of their office at 18710 Meridian East in Puyallup.

9-19-10-Oh, my gosh! It says in the Sunday paper that Target is now selling Kindles! When I originally made my books available on the electronic reading device, it was experimental. Now that it's available at Target, it's definitely not experimental anymore!

9-15-10- This week I put together a basket of my books to be raffled off to help raise money for the Multicare Bridges program for traumatized children. I'll post a photo soon (it's on my home page now). I'm asked to do about one of these a year, and how I suffer! I can write the books, but I don't have a gift-basket gene! Afterwards, I always have nightmares that no one will buy a raffle ticket for the basket because it's so ugly! That's a feathered crow in the left front...I borrowed him from Poe. The little pumpkin on the right has metal pins of all of my book covers.

9-01-10- My calendar says it's the first of September, but I honestly don't know where the summer went. It was mostly wet and cool here, so it's going to make our winter seem realllly long. What to do? What to do? I guess I'll finish a couple of books I've been working on. My humorous romance, Boogie, Boots, and Cherry Pie is almost finished, and I'm getting closer to finishing the literary novel about senior citizens living one step to the left of homelessness. So far it has many titles, none of which I like.

In other news, we have a good row of blackberry bushes that has berries almost ready to pick. I'm not looking forward to being wet and cold, so I'm hoping for some sun. Our pears are much easier to harvest, and we have one apple tree that has the tiniest apples it has ever had, and they are as hard and green as that emerald that was found recently in North (?) Carolina. We could have a good crop of plums if I could keep the possums off the tree. Those little buggers are so brazen and they bare their teeth at me when I try to shoo them away. They scare the heck out of me! Most likely, they'll get most of them.

Well, I'd better go get my gear ready to watch the kids play soccer. I feel a little guilty about urging them on when the field is wet and cold while I'm wrapped up like some kind of Alaskan mummy in wool scarves, but that's the way I roll (as the kids say).

7-23-10- From an interview on:

http://www.eighteenquestions.com/index_files/18QJanelleMerazHooper.htm.

How do you inspire yourself? What are your sources of creativity?

My inspiration and creativity come naturally, as long as it’s early in the day. Nothing creative happens with me after ten PM. When I was young, I imagined myself being like Mickey Spillane on TV. I could see myself, smoking and drinking shots of whiskey in the wee hours while I sat, typing in a dark and dusty room. It doesn’t happen with me. I can’t write a grocery list after ten o’clock. And I don’t drink or smoke.

This was quite a while ago, but I just ran into it on the Internet. I'd forgotten all about it. Interviews are such fun!

It's Friday! Woo-hoo! when I woke up this morning, I remembered my elementary school days when the PTA would make popcorn and sell it on the playground for ten cents. Those were the days! There's just something about the smell of popcorn that makes a day special. (Where the heck is my popcorn machine?)

7-21-10- When I talked all winter about kicking back this summer, I forgot to factor in the weather. We've had one of the wettest and coolest spring and summers in history here in the Great Northwest. Not so good for the beach. Great weather for writing! As a result, I'm way behind on my sun-time and way ahead on my writing projects. Like they say, "Ride the horse the direction it's going!"

Everyday, it seems, I change the title on the novel I'm writing on impoverished seniors. Right now, it's Slum Resort, Seniors Living One Step to the Left of Homeless. But that will probably change. The second one, another humorous romance, is easier to name: Boogie, Boots, and Cherry Pie, Love on The Zoo's Third Floor.

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer!

7-05-10- Our neighborhood exploded with fireworks last night. It gets worse every year. I feel so sorry for the pets that suffer from the loud noises. I no longer have a dog, but I used to have a white sheppard who was so traumatized by the noise that he'd crawl into the fireplace. He was the best dog, I hated to see him suffer. In those days, it wasn't nearly as bad as it is now.

Anyway, a belated Happy Fourth to everyone! I figure there was enough cordite in the air from the fireworks last night to kill every mosquito for miles around. No fear of West Nile this year!

6-14-10- I hope you're having a wonderful summer! We had a sunny weekend in Washington State. Everyone was running around like an ant who has finally found its way out of an empty paper sack. All over the neighborhood, yards, flowerbeds, and plant containers were given a healthy dose of attention. Ours too. It was time. I've been fooled by The Weather Goddess before, so I don't set out plants just because the calendar says it's the first day of spring. All that really means around here is that it's safe to leave the garden hoses out over night--they probably won't freeze.

We also went to the first (for us) summer fair of the season. Maple Valley Days, set on Lake Wilderness in Maple Valley is a whopper of a spring fair. Two of my friends who design jewelry were there, so I came away with a gorgeous cobalt pendant to wear on a silver omega I have. I also got two small fabric turtle paperweights made entirely by hand. I'll have to give them away because ths house has been full of turtles since A Three-Turtle Summer came out. Even my tape dispenser is a turtle. I have very thoughtful readers!

The clouds are moving in now, and we won't have as much sun today as we had over the weekeknd, so it will be a good day to get some writing done!

What are you reading? Email me and let me know! (janellemhooper@comcast.net).

5-29-10- Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all of our men and women who have served or are serving in our armed forces. Thank you for your service to our country.

When I was a kid in Oklahoma, I used to help my grandmother make red crepe paper roses to take to the graveyards. No rain in Oklahoma to fade the flowers. We made an armload of them and I can remember going from grave to grave with her while she told me about men in our family who had died years before I was even born.

As my mother aged, she was no longer able to go to the cemetary as her mother had. Once, she went several days late and discovered flowers had been placed on all of the graves. Puzzled, she went home and wondered how they had gotten there as most of the family had moved on and hadn't followed the custom.Later on, she discovered my cousin, Trude, had visited the graveyard and fulfilled the family duties. My mom never stopped loving her for that. I haven't either.

5-17-10- I've lowered the price on my Kindle version of Bears in the Hibiscus to celebrate the release of the paperback version. What fun! A sale! Amazon gave me a little control and I went crazy. Try it. You'll like it, I promise! I don't mean you should try going crazy, just try the book...(I think I need another cup of coffee.).

My canna(s?) didn't freeze. They were just late coming up. I'm really glad because I haven't seen any in the nurseries around here.

Today, I'm working on my next silly romance, tentatively titled, "Boogie, Boots, and Cherry Pie". It's a good day to work because it's going to rain and I won't be tempted to go out on my sundeck.

Have a great week, everyone.

5-14-10- I've just noticed that my Bears in the Hibiscus book is now available on Barnes and Noble's online site. The others are there too, of course.

My book pins from Lithium Love are in. Rochelle did a great job. I'm attaching a photo above. I don't have a plan yet to give them away...maybe with book purchase at street fairs this summer...

5-9-10- Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers. For Mother's Day, my husband buys me hanging baskets for under the eaves. Sometimes, it's hard to wait but, this year, they would have frozen if we'd jumped the gun. From now on, they should be safe.

In my flowerbeds, my cannas froze. I planted them in memory of my Aunt Vera, so I will replant if I can find some. I put in three plants a few years ago (they're expensive) and hoped they'd spread. I guess not. This is not the climate for cannas or crepe myrtle, but I keep trying anyway. It IS the climate for hibiscus--because I keep my plant in the house, lol.

Better get back to the flowerbeds, it's supposed to rain tomorrow...

4-28-10- Well, the paperback version of Bears in the Hibiscus is finally on Amazon. When Boogie, Boots, and Cherry Pie comes out, I won't make that mistake again. Of course, it's not due until December 2010, so my memory may not be that long! The book will be available on most other online sites soon. These things take time.

You know, I still don't have a title for my mainstream fiction novel (still in progress) about senior citizens? This has never happened to me before. I usually have three or four possible titles for a book. It's not due for months, maybe I'll figure something out...if I don't, there's going to be a very cranky cover designer in my future, lol.

The photo of skunk cabbage was taken over the weekend in Newport, Oregon. We made a quick run to eat some fresh crab and soak in some sunshine. What a fun town! If you're looking for some great seafood, try Ocean Local and Sharks. YUM!

4-18-10- Well, DUH! I've been waiting for Amazon to post my book. They've been waiting for me to click the enable button. Now that they have shown me where it is, maybe the book will be up this week (hope, hope, hope).

My book-signing at the Freighthouse Square was a huge success. Elfi Hornby and I sold a lot of books, saw many old friends, ate some great food, and even talked to the politicians who stopped by. Elfi and I have been a team for years. We split a table at book shows so we can help each other during lunch and coffee breaks. We're already planning the next one.

3-30-10- Yesterday, my first shipment of the paperback version of Bears in the Hibiscus was delivered. I'll be mailing the reserved copies this week. Email me if you'd like an authographed copy, I have extra ones. The book will also be available on Amazon (and other places) in a few days.

It's going to be a busy week--I'm also converting my Kindle book so the cover will match the paperback. It takes days to get these changes made on websites, so I get a little stressed!

From what I hear, winter hasn't left a large part of our country yet. I'm aware that our people and people in other parts of our glorious planet are still suffering, not only from bad weather, but much, much more. This has been a terrible winter. Without going into details, let me just say my prayers and thoughts are with you.

I hope you have a pleasant and safe week. Hug your kids. Pet your dog. Life is good.

3-20-10- No, those are not my feet in the above photo! LOL! They belong to my husband. He works very hard and we spend a lot of weekends hiding out with a good movie and an early bedtime.

Last night was my hometown's annual dungeness crab feed sponsored by our local Rotary. The event, to raise scholarship money, is one of my favorites, and not just for the crab. I love to watch the couples dancing to the country/rock band in their faded jeans and freshly pressed cowboy shirts. A lot of them look as if they passed their 50th wedding anniversary years ago--they move so well together. This is a good place to live. A great place to raise kids. And a wonderful place to hide out from that big city just to the north of us. You know, the one with all of the traffic???

3-18-10- Hello to the students in Texas who are using my writing for oral interpretation pieces. Let me know how it goes!

3-15-10- I'm still waiting for Bears in the Hibiscus to be released. Mother Nature sure wrecked havoc on the east coast this year. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we got off easy. This is the first time in about four years that I didn't have heavy snow pictures of my deck to post on my blog (http://JanelleMerazHooper.blogspot.com ). Of course, winter isn't over yet, lol!

The new romance I'm working on, tentatively titled: Boogie, Boots, and Cherry Pie opens with a St. Patrick's Day Party. I thought about posting it just for fun, but it is not due to be released until December 2010. That's a long time away. I'll post it next March.

In the meantime, I wish you all a Happy St. Patrick's Day...watch out for that green beer!

2-20-10 Where does the time go? I'm still writing January on my checks. My Bears in the Hibiscus paperback isn't out yet. Soon, I hope. I'm guessing the terrible weather back east has a lot to do with it. I've extended the pre-order date a few days to compensate. See the pre-order page on this site for info on ordering.

Meanwhile, I'm moving along on the next humorous romance, tentatively titled: Boogie, Boots and Cherry Pie. I love these silly stories; I'm a firm believer in humor when it comes to relationships.

I'm also working on a literary novel about senior citizens living just to the left of homelessness. Its inspiration is a reaction to the problems senior citizens have growing old in this Land of Me society. So far, it has no title. Bette Davis wasn't kidding when she said, "Old age is no place for sissies!"

1-19-10 Late-breaking news! My latest humorous romance, Bears in the Hibiscus, will be out in paperback soon. Watch for it on Amazon.com!

12-15-09-Merry Christmas! I'm sitting around my office wondering if it's going to snow tonight so, while I'm waiting, I added the Christmas chapter (Chapter 17, Ray Gets Lucky) to the sample chapters on my Bears in the Hibiscus page. Check it out. It's a fun read!

11-24-09 Big news! You can now read Kindle books on your computer! Free download for the feature: www.Amazon.com/KindleforPC. This is an exciting because now you can read books for the same low price a Kindle user can. I'll be writing about this more as I become familiar with it.

Amazon has given me my own author's page. Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002BM23QO

10-17-09- If you're an author, check out the book pins on My friends page. They're made by Diaz Dezigns. The link is on the page.

The big news this week is the book war between Amazon and Wal-Mart. Some of my book prices may be lowered--scoop up the savings!

9-24-09- I was surprised to hear that yesterday was the first day of fall. Can that be true? Where did summer go? I don't know about you, but I'm definitely feeling like I got cheated out of a few hot dogs and watermelon slices. Of course, there's never enough watermelon, no matter what the season is.

I'm tickled to have so many new readers from a new source. A few months ago, I thought phones were just for ordering pizza. Now, readers are coming up to me and showing me my books on their phone. Who knew? If you have an iPhone or an iPod touch, give it a try.

The paperback version of Bears in the Hibiscus is being delayed, but I'm offering it on this site in eBook form for $3.00. Of course, it is available also on the electronic devices.

I'm moving along on my two new novels. The working titles are The Zoo (a humorous romance) and The Resort (a literary novel about seniors living on the edge of poverty). You won't see them by this Christmas. Around here, I'm known as Rebecca of Rewrite Farm. I'll keep you posted.

Guess I'd better check in at The Resort or Zoo and get some work done...enjoy the fall. It's not beach weather, but it does have its perks!

8-20-09- Another week almost gone. Time flies when you're writing two books at once. I'm lying, LOL. I haven't done much on either book--maybe three thousand words. Our summer house projects have taken up most of our energies. First, we painted the house. Then, next to the new house paint, the deck really looked shabby, so we replaced it. Sounds so simple on paper, but I could tell you stories...thank goodness the work is done (except for the construction clean-up) and even when I sneak out of bed at 3:00 AM to check, the solar lights on the deck posts are twinkling away. Back to my keyboard. I've really missed it.

8-15-09- Yesterday, I spent some time with a group that has become near and dear to my heart in the span of a few weeks. That's saying something because I don't just take up with anybody. Extreme Networking 101 is a group you'll be reading more about from me. In our little podunk town they are putting big sister Seattle to shame in public service. In one meeting alone, there were members having house parties, free haircuts, and car washes for a needy family. A Woman collecting winter coats for the street people in Tacoma (I guess we don't have any homeless here in little old Puyallup). And much more. I am flying fast and low, as usual, so I will keep you posted on their activities. Meanwhile, I will be packing up books for raffle prizes and writing checks for their fundraisers. Ya think ya got it bad? I could tell you stories. Look around. Help someone today. I have to put in a plug here for my favorite organization, our local foodbank. You have one too, wherever you are. Sit down, Sally, and write them a check. Momma don't want no hungry kids on this planet!

7-24-09- I'm flying fast and low today, but I want to tell you that I'll be attending Adventures in Literature on the 8th & 9th of August. There is more info near the bottom of my homepage. All details aren't ironed out yet. I'll let you know when I do!

7-05-09- Free Pecan Pie is now available on Kindle as well as paperback and eBook. Thank you all for your patience, I know I've taken up a lot of space whining about the project, lol! I just like to have things done right, and even though I have driven everyone around me crazy, I think it has been worth it.

Now, if I can just survive the Speed Spanish final, I can move on and spend the summer writing. I have two new books started, and am anxious to see where they go (sometimes, the outline gets over run by the muse).

In the meantime, grab one of my books and head for the beach. Time is fleeting. Saturday, I got a back-to-school email from Costco. Honest! How rude was that?! Augh!

7-03-09- As of this week, all of my books, except Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories, are available on Kindle. Of course, they are still available in paperback and eBook. Grab one and run to the beach! The old duplicate copies have been removed.

As soon as I take the final for my Speed Spanish course, I'll be back in my comfort zone, working on my new novels. I can't wait!

6-22-09- I now have four of my Kindle books reformatted. However, there is a glitch in the computer system, and Amazon is showing both books of each title--the old version and the new. I'm working to fix it. The fifth book, Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories, is in the works.

As of July 31, 2009, Tripod is using new software. I will leave this site in place until I get everything moved over to the new one. My initial impression is that their new software is high on tech, but lacking in design. I hope they read this.

6-16-09- A Kindle bit: Kindle is experimenting with voice. There is a voice option where you can have the book read to you--it's not the author's voice, and some of the words are mispronounced, but those kinks can be forgiven if you need an audio book.

I added the new, reformatted version of As Brown As I Want : The Indianhead Diaries to Kindle yesterday. Look for the black cover with the brown font--the older version is also still showing on the screen. I've added the link above the photo on this page--the software wouldn't let me add it here.

6-03-09- Today, I've been on the site enlarging fonts. It's a long, slow process, and it's only me here behind the curtain...those flying monkeys aren't worth a darn when anything needs to be done...

5-30-09- Amazon is redoing its authors' blogs. Soon, there will be an Author's Page with book info, bio, photo, and blog all in one place. So, again, I need an author photo. Augh! I've been using the one I took months ago for everything, people are sick of it.

5-26-09- I've had a query as to why my audio stories have been taken off my site. I deleted them because they stopped working, and I couldn't figure out how to repair them. someday, when I have a fresh pot of coffee, I'll try again.

5-18-09 A Three-Turtle Summer, the reformatted version is now available for Kindle. Find it here: http://www.amazon.com/A-Three-Turtle-Summer/dp/B0029LIB2M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242662433&sr=1-2

It now has the cover of the book on the first page, and the format by Five Rainbows Services is beautiful. My turtles are so much happier. You can download a free sample onto your Kindle. Try it, you'll like it, I promise!

Now, I'm moving onto As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries. I've done my part. On the production side, the photo has been worked on for the cover. I've posted it at the top of this page. It looks so much better.

I never thought this would take so much time! But it has been worth the effort, and I've learned a lot about Kindle production!

Three more books to go! Meanwhile, I'm working on three more books, two romances and a literary.

5-14-09 I just checked, and my first versions of my first four books are still on Amazon. They're okay, just not as well formatted as my new book, Bears in the Hibiscus. I have re-submitted A Three-Turtle Summer, and am waiting for Amazon to switch it on. The others are still in the formatting process. I'm tickled with the improved cover that Five Rainbows Services has done for As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries. The photo of my cousin and I looks like it was taken yesterday. The original photo was faded and blurry.

By the way, on the Three-Turtle Summer page, Amazon is still listing my Brown book with the title of Devil's Rope: The Indianhead Diaries. This was the original title, but it was changed before I published the book. Somehow, I forgot to change it, and I don't think I can now. It is the same book, just the wrong title.

Latest news: Dear Reader, I have temporarily removed my first four books (everything but Bears in the Hibiscus) from Kindle to have the format re-done. I think you'll be pleased with the new format that will match the Bears in the Hibiscus book. This change requires a lot of work from me before it is sent to be formatted--I'm working as fast as I can. A Three-Turtle Summer should be ready the first of June, and the rest soon after.

Also, I have eliminated the cd edition of Bears in the Hibiscus and am now offering it by email only (except for Kindle sales). This new price will make it more affordable for a wider range of readers. Enjoy!

Late news: Some of you may have noticed that my latest book has gone straight to eBook and Kindle. Although I love the traditional books, the world of publishing is changing. I may publish my new romance, Bears in the Hibiscus, as a paperback later on. I'll let you know! Janelle