When I was younger, I was more of a Renaissance woman, but my current responsibilities have really curtailed a lot of what I used to do.

I was an athlete for starters. Played field hockey, volleyball, softball and tennis. Even gave basketball a shot ’cause my 5 foot mom had once played for her team. Basketball was clearly not my sport, although I play a mean game of 21.

I used to play the bassoon in several orchestras. What’s a bassoon? It’s the long instrument that looks like a bazooka and sounds like a foghorn. My music teacher told me it was just like a clarinet when he convinced me to take it up (SO NOT like a clarinet as you can see!)

Used to sing, but my voice was so low they shoved me in with the boys in the choir. I’m still an alto, but can carry a tune usually in the shower.

I used to read a lot more, but sadly my TBR pile looks like Mount Everest now and last but not least, I used to draw. Pastels, charcoals, watercolors and pen and ink. Not great, but not so awful you couldn’t tell that it was supposed to be a house and not a toaster.

Of course, drawing/painting are demanding in so many ways that writing is not, namely, SUPPLIES. All you need to write are a pen, paper and imagination. For art, there’s a lot more necessary supply-wise, but I’ve found a solution for you this Fun Friday — the free artpad software at Artpad.com. Just click here to begin creating. You can even save your artwork for others to explore.

So this Fun Friday, take a minute to explore your inner Picasso or Van Gogh!

Hope you all have a great weekend.

For those of you in the Lancaster area, I’ll be signing books on Saturday from 1 to 3 at the Borders located at 828 Park City Center, Lancaster, PA 17601; (717)299-0905. The mall website is www.parkcitycenter.com and the Borders store is in the Sears wing.

I’ll be signing with my friend and fellow author Gwyn Cready who is celebrating the release of her first novel, Tumbling Through Time.

Today’s Thoughtful Thursday is about spam. No, not that canned spiced ham that Hawaiians seem to love so much (did you know that Junk Food News notes “Hawaii leads the way with 6.7 million cans sold annually, which amounts to 5.5 cans per year per Hawaiian.”)

I’m talking about those annoying e-mails that seem to slip past all our best efforts to catch them, flooding our e-mail boxes with dozens of messages about buying Viagra, getting bigger penises or receiving a check for 5555 bazillion dollars if we would only be so kind as to send them all our banking information.

Sex and money are clearly on the minds of these spammers and their intended targets.

I asked one of our techs, “Why do they do this?”

His answer was simple. Not only because they can, but because they send out so many millions of e-mails, even a low percentage of response is a good thing. According to CNET News “the Web site trustedsource.org, (reported that) there were a total of 154.3 billion mail messages sent around the world Sunday and 117.4 billion of them were spam.”

And the spam isn’t just limited to e-mail boxes. The blogs get hit as well with all kinds of fake comments that need to be caught and purged.

Recently there have been efforts made to establish laws to prosecute spammers. The U.S. Congress passed the CAN-SPAM Act in 2003. (Notice how much less spam you’ve been getting since then — NOT!)

The one thing that the CAN-SPAM Act has done is make it harder for legimate businesses to send bulk e-mails to willing participants. Or at least, that’s been my personal experience.

So what can we do about the spammers? Well, the Internet Service Providers and software companies continue to develop products to battle the spammers. You can download a spam blocker and try to keep it current. Try being the operative word because the spammers seem to find ways around the software almost as soon as it’s updated.

What else can you do? I don’t know about you, but maybe I need to explore whether any of my heroes needs that Viagra or a bigger penis . . . No wait . . . I think we like our heroes ready, willing and able.

So I guess I have no choice but to hit that delete button, again and again and again and again.

Copyright 2008 Caridad Pineiro Scordato www.caridad.com

Today’s Wicked Wednesday is about taking it slow — something that Sylvia and Carlos have a problem with in SOUTH BEACH CHICAS CATCH THEIR MAN.

The two have been hot for each other for several weeks since first meeting in SEX AND THE SOUTH BEACH CHICAS, but now they are pulling back from one another. Realizing that they need to deal with what they’re feeling for each other which goes way beyond the physical.

Here’s a little exchange between Sylvia and Carlos when the frustration of taking it slow and battling that attraction has created enough friction and tension to make tempers run short.

“Can’t sleep?”

Carlos stood in the hallway leading to her room, light limning the silhouette of his lean-hipped body.

There was no sense denying it, so she sat up on the couch, creating another loud cacophony as she did so. “Thinking
about . . . work and things. How about you?”

He walked toward her, the limp in his gait less noticeable than it had been a few days earlier when he had moved in. He had improved a lot in a short time even though she had noticed after their walk that morning that he had taxed himself. He had been tired and in pain when they had returned, although her attempts to ease his discomfort had turned into a rather nice interlude — until her mother had arrived for her surprise visit. But even then Carlos had toughed it out for her during the afternoon and the early dinner they had shared.

Despite this morning’s seeming setback, she could already notice not just his increased mobility, but that he seemed to have more strength. Even his color was better. Afternoons spent lazing in Lummus Park and the morning walks they were able to occasionally take had added a nice healthy glow to his skin and replaced the hospital pallor.

“Can’t sleep. Too much noise coming from in here.” He sat on the couch beside her and it creaked loudly. He met her guilty gaze. “There’s no reason that we both can’t get some sleep if you come to bed.”

“Come to bed? I was worried I might disturb your rest.” Feeling decidedly exposed, although the Victoria’s Secret cotton pajamas she wore were rather tame, she pulled up the comforter to just below her neck.

Carlos dragged a hand through his hair and sank back against the couch, prompting another squeak. “Sí. In bed. With me. This way I can finally rest because I won’t be awake listening to you toss and turn and maybe you’ll even be able to get some sleep.”

She hadn’t realized she was keeping him up. “I’m sorry. I thought you were comfortable.”

“I am. But I’d be better if you just stopped being . . .”

“Pigheaded?” she offered when he hesitated.

“Okay, if pigheaded is the way you’re feeling. And what does that mean anyway? Pigheaded? How stupid a way is that to describe your stubbornness.”

“Stubbornness? How about understanding that I’m trying to be considerate,” she shot back, anger flaring to life at his annoyance.

“Considerate? The bed’s big enough for an army. What’s so considerate about — “

“Leaving you alone to sleep? Do you think we would get much rest if I got into bed with you?” she said because she wanted him more than she cared to admit, but was smart enough to know that she also possibly wanted . . . more than something physical.

He sighed harshly and faced her. He wore a white muscle shirt and dark-colored sweats. The shirt did nothing to hide the immense breadth of his shoulders or his well-defined muscles. The sight of them reawakened the desire to feel those strong arms around her and just confirmed to her that getting in bed with him might lead to nothing but trouble.

“Do you think you’re that irresistible?” he said, surprising her.

“Huh? Me? You think this is about me?” she nearly yelled.

“Sí. Do you think I can’t resist you?”

Well, that was a big ouch in the ego column. “You’re right. You’re a big boy. No reason to think you can’t keep your hands off me,” she said as she regally rose from the couch and wrapped the comforter around herself.

“If that’s what you want, amorcito,” he said and even in the dark, she could see the twinkle in his blue-green eyes. She had been played.

“What I want? I don’t know what I want. Maybe that’s the reason I’ve tried to be sensible and grown up about this,” she finally admitted.

Carlos shook his head. “Sensible? Grown up?”

He stood slowly, a bit of a hitch in the action as his leg protested the rise from her low-slung sofa, but then he stood before her. Leaned impossibly close and in a low, sexy tone said, “I think I like you better when you’re less sensible. When you follow your heart.”

He didn’t wait for her reply and headed for her bedroom, leaving her to stand there and think about what her heart wanted. About her giving in to her itch and finally doing all those things she had only just thought about for months now. Thought about every minute for the five days he’d been in her home.

As she walked toward her bedroom, she reminded herself that scratching too hard wasn’t a good thing. That if she maybe waited a bit, the itch might just go away.

But as she saw him waiting for her, his gaze hot as he tracked her flight to the far edge of the bed, she realized just how hard it was going to be to resist him.

***

Want to read more? Just click here to get more excerpts from the book!

One of the things I’ve found during my last two weight loss campaigns is that it was easier to lose weight if I ate more times during the day, but watched what I was eating.

Why is that? Well, skipping meals may slow your metabolism as will crash diets (anything less than 1500 calories per day). Your body will sense that you aren’t providing it with enough fuel and slow down to retain the stored energy it has (in other words — the fat you want to lose).

The other problem with skipping meals and eating less is that when you do deplete the energy you’ve taken in, you will crash and experience major hunger. That may lead to poor food choices.

What’s the answer and this Tuesday’s Tip? Those ubiquitous 100 calorie packs that are now available everywhere. The problem is finding the ones that are actually satisfying since there’s nothing worse than opening one of those bags and finding that there’s not enough there to satisfy a craving.

Which ones have I tried and found to be fairly good? Here’s a list of some of the better ones I’ve tried:

Entenmann’s Little Bites Cookies and Cream
Sunshine® Cheez-it® Right Bites
Oreo Thin Crisps
Nabisco Cheese Nips
Oreo Candy Bites

Is there anything bad about the 100 calorie packs? Price for starters. You’re going to pay more for the convenience. Also, as you can tell from my list, the snacks on my list aren’t all that nutritious — they are for satisfying your sweet tooth.

That also means they are probably high in carbs and may only provide a temporary sugar rush.

The good part about them, besides the taste, is the portion control. You know exactly how many calories you’re taking in without having to count or measure.

What other 100 calorie (or less) things can you eat that are probably better for you? Well here’s some of the things I also munch down on:

Cabot’s Reduced Fat Cheddars (which also come in pre-packaged slices)
Polly-O Skim Mozzarella and String Cheese
Apple
Orange
Low Fat/Fat Free Sugar Free Yogurt
Strawberries (10 large)
Blueberries (1 cup)
Hard-boiled Egg
Jello Sugar-Free (one serving is only 10 calories!)

Not sure of the calories? Click here to use an easy Food Analyzer from Kraft. com.

Hope this Tuesday tip was helpful!

Copyright 2008 Caridad Pineiro Scordato www.caridad.com

This Guilty Pleasure Monday came about from watching the 101 Top Celebrity Bodies show on E! Entertainment Television while I was exercising over the weekend.

I had been searching for visual inspiration for my new hero — Fisher Yates — who is an Army Captain, dark haired, green-eyed and wonderfully hard-bodied. Eduardo came on the screen and I knew I had my man and today’s Guilty Pleasure Monday.

Eduardo is a Mexican model, singer and actor who has appeared in a number of films including the romantic comedy Chasing Papi. Since then, he’s appeared in Bella, on Charmed and was voted one of People En Espanol’s 50 Most Beautiful People.

I think in any language, Eduardo is totally amazing and just the right inspiration!

Besides writing romantic suspense, in my other life I’m an attorney and also responsible for the technology at my office. Plus, I lean toward the nerdy if you haven’t gathered. So, while using Stumbleupon (a very addictive way to surf the net), I came across this great quiz at Malevole.com which kind of combines two of my biggest interests — suspense and computers!

Take the quiz to find out if you can identify the serial killer or the computer programmer. And remember that old adage, “Don’t judge a book by the cover” while you’re at it.

Here’s the link to the quiz: http://www.mattround.freeserve.co.uk/files/killerquiz.swf

Here’s hoping it at least gets a chuckle from you on this Fun Friday.

This Thoughtful Thursday may be a little rambling because I suspect it will be an emotional Thoughtful Thursday.

On Tuesday, I had quite a few e-mail and text messages forwarding the news that Castro had resigned. A number of people, especially the political pundits, see it as a sign of welcome change. For a lot of others, like me, it’s just another end run in the game that Castro has been successfully playing for the last 50 years.

Let’s face it. Castro turned over power to his younger brother, Raul, in July ‘06. Some say Raul is ready to make changes to better the Cuban economy and has made overtures to the United States since accepting power. With his older brother still alive, I find it hard to believe that the necessary changes will occur.

What kinds of changes? The right to free speech. The right to travel freely. The right to be able to earn a sound living and keep what you earn. The right to freely choose who will govern your country.

In other words, an end to dictatorship, whether it be Fidel, Raul or some other puppet. If that happened, I could finally say that Cuba was free, but not before that.

Many have asked me if I would go back if that happened and the answer needs little thought. I’d go back once Fidel was dead to see where I was born. To see the home my parents lost to the Revolution. The home were Fidel would send soldiers to harass my grandparents and two small children so that my parents, once supporters turned dissidents, would return and face their punishment.

I’d take my daughter with me to see it because she understands the wound in my heart that is Cuba. I remember the early years here in the U.S. and all the sadness in my family and with their friends. I remember being 5 or 6 and asking my mother when we’d go back. She said “Soon.”

I remember my daughter at 5 or 6 asking almost the same thing. “When can I go see Cuba?” I said, “Soon.”

Soon isn’t here yet. It may not be here for awhile. Not until there is true freedom in Cuba. That’s a vow I made to my grandparents and parents who never got to return.

But there’s one thing left to say when people ask me if I will go back. I will go back, but I will also return to what is now my home and my country — the United States. It’s the country that’s made me who I am and given me all that I hold dear, chief amongst that — LIBERTY!

I am proud of this country. Proud of how it treated me and so many others like me. One of the proudest days in my life was the one when I stood up and became a U.S. citizen.

Unlike some in politics today who can’t muster that pride in the United States, I have not doubts about my feelings for the United States and no doubts that freedom for Cuba may still be a long way off.

Copyright 2008 Caridad Pineiro Scordato, www.caridad.com

This Wicked Wednesday brings a little more of a story you’ve seen before — my urban fantasy involving a twist to the werewolf mythology, battles with vampires and a struggle for control in a werewolf pack. The tentative title is UNDEAD UPRISING and I hope you like this next free chapter that I’m offering you. Read the rest of this entry �

An Internet presence is one of the most important steps that an author can take, and it doesn’t require a big financial investment. The problem many authors face is deciding what kind of web presence they wish to have since there are so many types of websites and each has different benefits and burdens.

I hope this Tuesday Tip provides you with some basic information about establishing a presence on the worldwide web and the different ways you can accomplish that.

The most common way of getting a presence on the web is through a traditional website, such as the one that I have at www.caridad.com or THE CALLING site at www.thecallingvampirenovels.com. Websites such as these generally require the following:

1. Registration of the domain name (for example, www.caridad.com).
2. A server to host the site (in laymen’s terms, a computer which will hold
the computer files for the website).
3. An FTP (or file transfer protocol) program to copy/upload the files to the
server.
4. Coding of the website.
5. Maintenance of the website.

If you’re not tech literate, you may require someone who can do the above steps for you. Companies such as Stone Creek, Moonglade Designs, Crocos Designs, Noveltalk, Writerspace, Coffee Time Romance, Romance Designs, and others will provide packages that can do all or part of the above.

One advantage of going with such a package is that you can choose for your website to be listed with other websites in the company’s “community.” Belonging to such communities may result in increased traffic to your site and added benefits, such as the ability to chat with readers who visit the community, or inclusion in a monthly newsletter. Most of these packages include maintenance as part of the services offered.

Another option is to register the domain name on your own and then have a programmer do the remaining steps or a combination of same. For example, I registered my own domain, engaged a hosting service (siteocity.com or bananahosting.com are ones I would recommend) and had the programmer do steps 3 and 4. I do maintenance and upgrades on my own.

This has the benefit of allowing me to control the website and do unlimited updates whenever I want. The down side to this is that I had to learn some HTML coding in order to update my site. A great site for information on HTML codes is HTML Code Tutorial at http://www.htmlcodetutorial.com/. The other down side is that doing the web coding will take time away from other things. However, if cost and control are factors, this is a nice mix.

If you’re not tech literate, you can reduce the need to learn a lot of code by going with a platform such as WordPress for your website. WordPress is a free program that has quite a number of additions (plugins) that make it relatively easy to maintain the site or even add features such as video trailers, flash, etc.

WordPress also has a number of free themes (themes are the look of the site). You can choose from a wide variety of themes or hire a programmer to create a unique theme for your site.

If you are not familiar with hosting, FTP, or coding, you will likely need a programmer if you are going to install the WordPress site on your own, but if cost is an issue, there is the alternative to create the website right at the main WordPress site at www.wordpress.org. This will avoid installation, hosting, and FTP issues.

One nice feature of WordPress is that it is basically a blogging program, so you can create a site that has traditional website features (pull-down menus, etc.) as well as a blog. There are a number of other free blogging programs, but I am going to save that discussion for a future article.

Once you’ve decided whether you are going to go with a hosted website in a community or a website you will manage in whole or in part on your own, what do you need to do next?

Research, research, research. You want your website to reflect your unique style, and the programmer (or you if you decide to do it on your own) will need to make basic decisions about the following:

1. Colors and fonts
2. Kinds of pages you want (For example biography, booklist, contest)
3. Menu Styles (Will you want them to drop down, or will they be links on the page? Will they be on the side or along the top?)
4. Flash or no-flash (Those animated intros that so many sites have)
5. Blog
6. Getting listed on the Search Engines
7. Joining a community

For the first four, take your time searching the web for sites that you like. Make a list of the sites and what you liked about each particular site. Check the site to see who designed it if you’ve decided to go with hiring an individual programmer rather than going with one of the packages. For fonts, one good site to visit is cooltext.com which lists a number of different fonts grouped by style—for example, horror or gothic fonts.

Whether you are going with the package, individual programmer, or on your own, make a list of all the things you wish to see immediately on the website. The price of the site is oftentimes linked to the number of pages you wish to have.

Then, make a wish list of those things you would eventually like to do, but can’t do right now. For example, those flash intro pages can be quite eye-catching, but sometimes slow to load when using dial-up lines. They can also be rather expensive, ranging anywhere from a couple of hundred dollars for a small header flash to thousands for larger and more complex flash elements. Let the programmers know what you would like to add eventually so that they can create the flexibility in what they are programming to allow for change.

Good programmers should show you a mock-up or two of a possible site based on the information you have provided them. This way you can fine tune the general look of the site before developing all the pages.

Some other things to remember:

1. Make sure your name or the name of the site is clear and prominent. The purpose of the site is to build your brand.
2. The site should reflect your writing style or theme. Again, this will help to build your brand visually.
3. If you are going to add a blog, Myspace, or other page, try to keep the above two items in mind and create a unified brand across all of your web presences.
4. Have key information on the main page and keep it current. There is nothing worse than visiting a site that has outdated information.
5. Give your visitors information about yourself, and give them some fun things to do while they are visiting. Fun things can include: video trailers, recipes, photo galleries, excerpts, contests.
6. Ask the programmer to include some kind of site meter so you can see how many hits you are getting and from where. Google has some wonderful site tracking software that is free for sites below a certain volume of hits.

If you do not have a web presence, I hope the above will help you in establishing one. If you do have a presence, maybe this information has provided you with some new ideas.

Copyright 2007 Caridad Pineiro Scordato www.caridad.com

Today’s Guilty Pleasure is barely legal Zac Efron who has been making hearts beat faster in the High School Musical franchise.

Some of us, however, first took notice of him in the shortlived Summerland on the WB. While the second season of Summerland went south, the first season the show was a great family drama with an amazing proportion of hotties! To name a few, Jesse McCartney, Shawn Christian and Ryan Kwanten.

But back to Zac! You can also catch him singing and dancing in Hairspray which also features the incredibly hot James Marsden (now of Enchanted fame).

I know that at 20 Zac is young, but he’s still a hottie.

Hope you enjoyed this Monday’s Guilty Pleasure.

I love both cats and dogs, but am most decidedly a cat person. Our cat’s name is Osiris and she’s a friendly, rather vocal cat. Slightly odd as well since she loves to fetch and will bark at birds and other animals she sees from the window. She also plays fetch with raw pasta! We saved her from a local shelter where the volunteer mentioned how hard it is to place black cats. It wasn’t hard for us since she was the friendliest cat we’d seen and my daughter immediately bonded with her.

For the other cat lovers on the blog, here’s a Fun Friday video all about Funny Cat moments.

But before you go chuckle over cat antics, please take a moment to vote for me at the following sites:

FANTASM Awards - Best Vampire Romance
BEST BLOG award at Isn’t It Romantic. (Way down at the bottom of the post)

Okay, so you all know by now that I’ve had my own personal battle of the bulge. Maybe that’s why I’ve gotten hooked on THE BIGGEST LOSER. I can so identify with these people since at one time or another, I probably weighed enough to be on the show.

I’ve totally been engaged not just by their personal stories, determination and of course, the diet and exercise tips, but about the societal values we see at work during the game play. Like what you may wonder?

The contestants originally completed a challenge in order to choose who would train them — Bob or Jillian.

If I had my druthers, I would so totally choose kick ass Jillian. I can definitely see her as the heroine in one of my novels!

The groups (consisting of couples this time) split off with those trainers, but a few weeks ago the trainers had a challenge and Bob won. Bob got to pick the people for his new blue team. No surprise to me who he picked. He picked mostly men. Big, heavy muscular men who are more likely to post big weight gain loss numbers compared to the smaller and less heavy men and women who were then sent to Jillian, including one couple who had chosen Bob as their original trainer and were the original blue team.

The sweet justice of all this is that since then, Jillian’s team has won 2 of the 3 weigh-offs! Love it!

What happened the first time that the mostly male blue team had to choose someone to eliminate? They voted off the only woman on the team.

Hmm. Are you seeing a pattern here that maybe reflects societal values? Big men good. Small woman bad.

Well, this small woman is going to keep on watching as the game play and weight loss continues. I’ll be rooting for Jillian and her mostly female black team.

Copyright 2008 Caridad Pineiro Scordato www.caridad.com

I think I cursed myself on Friday by saying we hadn’t had any snow. We got hit with a few inches last night that forced me to cancel out of a book signing down in Princeton since all the major roads were at a dead halt. Then came the freezing rain and this morning, it’s gloomy, cold and raining again. Everything is icy and slick, which has me dreaming of being in Miami.

Of course, that mean’s that today’s Wicked Wednesday treat is a trip to South Beach to chase away the winter that has finally arrived in NYC. Today you’re going to meet Sylvia’s mom who was so interesting when she appeared in SEX AND THE SOUTH BEACH CHICAS that I knew I had to write more about her in the second book.

Hope you all have a safe and warm day!

*****
What do you wear to meet a hero? Virginia Cooke considered as she flipped through one outfit after another as she contemplated her upcoming surprise visit to her daughter.

Sylvia apparently couldn’t make it to their usual Sunday gathering. Her daughter had been obtuse as to the reason why she couldn’t make it, but rumor had it that earlier in the week Carlos had come home with her from the hospital. Carlos, the man Virginia hadn’t heard anything about until her daughter’s tearful visit nearly a month earlier.

Even now the memory of that night still sent a chill through her. The late night buzz on the intercom and opening the door to find Sylvia there, her tear-stained face cut and bruised. The expensive designer gown she wore bloodstained and torn in spots.

She had opened her arms and taken her in, held her as Sylvia had cried for nearly an hour, explaining about what had happened and how she had nearly gotten a man killed. But not just any man, Virginia had known immediately. A man for whom Sylvia seemed to have some affection, not that her daughter would admit to such emotion.

Which was why Virginia now intended to surprise her daughter with this visit. Although she was glad that Sylvia might finally allow someone into her heart and stop being alone, she was perplexed. First that her daughter had suddenly decided to take him in — Sylvia had never been the nurturing type. And again there was the confusing bit about her daughter actually feeling something for this man other than distrust. For too much of her adult life, Sylvia had run away from any kind of emotional involvement with men. Not that Virginia would mind her daughter finally falling in love. She wanted what was best for Sylvia, which was yet another reason why she intended to visit.

She wanted to know for herself that this man was possibly the right one. The one who might finally make Sylvia happy.

Pulling out a dark blue suit, Virginia held it up against her body and examined herself in the full-length mirror along the back wall of the walk-in closet. So sorry for your loss, she thought since the suit was fine for either a business meeting or a funeral — which sometimes were not all that different.

Definitely not what to wear to meet Sylvia’s new man. She didn’t want her daughter thinking that she was regretting Carlos’s presence in her daughter’s home.

On the contrary, she was actually pleased about Sylvia’s surprising actions.

She slipped the suit back into the section of dark blues and blacks and moved to the next area. After scanning several more outfits, she pulled out a dress in a fire engine red and again perused herself in the mirror. Hello, good lookin’. I’m Sylvia’s hoochie mama.

She really should give this one away to the Salvation Army, it occurred to her and tossed the too-revealing outfit from Frederick’s of Hollywood into a corner of the closet. She had bought the dress during a Valentine’s Day moment of vulnerability. She normally wasn’t one to get overly sentimental or worse — remotely depressed — over the state of her love life. But for some reason it had hit her stronger than ever a few years back that beside Sylvia, no one was special enough in her life to rate a valentine. There hadn’t been anyone since . . .

She drove that thought away because it had produced a horrendous fashion disaster, namely a dress sure to make the wrong kind of man — well, at least make certain parts of the wrong kind of man — sit up and take notice.

Which was the last thing she wanted today, when she was finally going to meet the man who had not only saved her daughter’s life, but had somehow also tamed Sylvia’s shrew. That made him a hero in her book not once, but twice.

She rushed to select an outfit and be on her way because Virginia couldn’t wait to meet the man who Sylvia thought of as “nice”. Coming from Sylvia, that adjective was a sure sign of . . .

Trouble, Virginia thought as she swept out the door of her condo to head to her daughter’s South Beach home.

Copyright 2007 Caridad Pineiro Scordato www.caridad.com

Shakespeare said “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Would Ryder be as wickedly sexy if he had been named . . . Ralph?
Would Diana be as strong if she had been named . . . Dweezil?

One of the hardest things to do as a writer is to find the right name for a character. Something that matches their personality or creates an immediate impression in a reader’s mind.

How do you go about hitting on the right name? Research sometimes. There’s lots of great sites with the meanings of names. Here’s just a few of them:

20,000 Names — site with origins and meanings
American Names from the 18th and 19th Century
Hispanic Names from About.com

Sometimes you just hear a name and know it’s right. I oftentimes use names from mythology, like Diana. Many people have read Greek and Roman mythology and therefore have an immediate impression connecting one of those names with a certain type of character.

There is a Random Name Generator that some friends pointed me to for inspiration. You can click here for this in case you want to try it out.

And in case you’re working on a paranormal and are totally at a loss, here’s a fun way to maybe figure out some vampire names!

Your Vampire Name Is…

Athene of the Devil’s Spawn

I remember People running a comparison of new stars to the stars of old. There was the obvious one between Brad Pitt and Robert Redford, but there was also one between Paul Newman and Matthew McConnaughey and Paul Newman. I hadn’t realized the resemblance, but there it was.

I’ve seen MM over the years in tons of movies and thought, “He’s a cutie.” But lately, MM is a certified hottie with that body as you can see!

So today’s Guilty Pleasure is Matthew McConnaughey. His latest release is FOOL’S GOLD which also stars Kate Hudson. It’s a romantic comedy set in the Caribbean and revolving around sunken treasure. A search for treasure always seems like it would be lots of fun!

The reviews have been mixed but with eye candy like MM, it is certainly worth the admission price or maybe the price of a rental.

You would probably enjoy MM as well in WE ARE MARSHALL, although it’s very serious and he plays a very different and almost quirky character. He did a great job though.

There’s contests going on in connection with the FOOL’s GOLD movie. You can click here for the Atlantis contest or click here for the FOOL’S GOLD Sweepstakes which has a number of prizes or just click here and then on CONTEST for the dozens of other contests in connection with the film!

Anyway, if you haven’t already seen the trailer, check it out and also check out the amazing bod on MM!

Growing up in the Northeast there was always one day that we all looked forward to — A SNOW DAY! As kids, that meant a day without school and hours outside either playing in the snow or sledding. I still remember the sled runs we used to do down through the woods in Bethpage State Park.

We haven’t really had much snow in New Jersey this year. Certainly not enough to even have been able to make a small snowball much less go sledding.

Of course, Snow Day has a different meaning when it lands on a weekday and only serves to make your commute to work that much more difficult.

But for today, imagine the wonders of those snowflakes and the joy they used to bring. And if you’re missing that, here’s a great site where you can go and make your own snowflake and leave it for one and all to see!

Visit Popular Front’s Snow Day site and leave your flakiness for all of us to see!

Have a great weekend and see you all on Monday!

Copyright 2008 Caridad Pineiro Scordato www.caridad.com

Today’s Thoughtful Thursday is a big SHAME ON YOU to the city council of Berkeley, California which in a 6-3 decision stated that a Marine recruiting station “is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” For more on this, you can click here or also click here.

There is no question that peaceful protest is protected by the First Amendment and the right to free speech. The City Council of Berkeley has the right to state its opposition to the war. But in doing so, they have trampled on the rights of the Marines to do something which is legal — to recruit new Marines. Worse yet, they have insulted the men and women who serve and die for this country so that we might have the gift of free speech.

Facing a storm of backlash, two of the City Council members have issued an open letter, which you can read by clicking here. Despite that open letter, the San Jose Mercury News provided the following quote from Capitelli:

“I would prefer they recruit somewhere else, but they have a constitutional and legal right to be here. . . . If they decide to be here, then there are actions (protesters) can take, and the Marines will have to decide whether that’s an acceptable price to pay to be in Berkeley. That’s their decision to make, but not the city council’s decision.”

The City Council seems to forget that free speech is a right that comes with a duty — to act responsibly. They also seem to forget that the right to free speech does not mean that they are free from the repercussions of that speech.

I, for one, will make it a point to never set foot in Berkeley again.

Sorry to have missed yesterday’s post, but it was a rough day for a variety of reasons and also, a busy day in NYC what with all the Giants fans running around for the parade and party.

I thought I’d give you a look at Blake and Stacia who will be the heroes in two of the upcoming THE CALLING novels later this year. Blake is the hero in FURY CALLS and Stacia will be the hero in ARDOR CALLS. They were such wonderful characters from the moment they showed up, that I knew I had to one day write their stories.

You may remember Blake was originally in TEMPTATION CALLS while Stacia made her first appearance in DEATH CALLS. I managed to get them together for some romance in DESIRE CALLS, which is available as a free novella (yes, I said FREE) at eharlequin.

Today’s Wicked Wednesday is an excerpt from DESIRE CALLS and you can read the rest of the story by clicking here. In case you have missed any of THE CALLING novels, you can get the complete collection at eharlequin.com by clicking here. This collection does not include HOLIDAY WITH A VAMPIRE, which is still available in print at various online locations.

He had never seen her in such a fine anger, Blake thought, while dangling nearly a foot above the ground. Trying to placate her, he said, “Stacia, please—”

With a flick of her hand, he flew across the alleyway and into the wall. His head connected with a loud crack and stars swam before his eyes. He struggled for a hold on the wall, but soon found himself sliding down to sit on the cold stone floor.

His vision wavered and he forced himself to focus on something as he tried to regain his senses. Her boots. Black. Shiny. Pointy. Coming toward him in a wicked, quick beat. Giving him no time, he thought, as she once again grabbed the front of his jacket and picked him up as if he didn’t weigh a thing. With him in her grasp, she entered the bar.

His head was still whirling and something wet ran down the back of it. She walked with him without laboring, her immense elder power giving her strength beyond his. As he shook his head to try to clear his senses, a lot of other things came to him about what the elders could do to him, creating a cold knot of fear in his stomach.

You can’t even begin to guess. Stacia’s thoughts entered his head as she obviously knew what he was thinking.

I didn’t want any problems for you. Things are different now, he offered in apology, but Stacia’s only response was to motion with him to the door before them.

Even in his dazed state he recognized the entrance to one of the back rooms in the Blood Bank. Foley kept them for his special visitors who would pay a fee for the use of the specially equipped rooms. Not that Foley would dare ask a fee from Stacia or, for that matter, stop her from doing what she would with Blake in that room.

“Stacia, please—”

“Don’t beg, beloved. It’s so unbecoming,” she said as she raised her hand and thrust open the door without even touching it. She strode in, shut the door with another flick of her hand and tossed him onto the metal cot along one wall.

He wouldn’t beg again, Blake thought, even as Stacia exerted her elder’s power to keep him immobile as she shackled him to the sturdy iron frame.

Blake watched as she walked to the far wall, which was equipped with an assortment of toys and other devices. As Stacia stood there considering what to choose, her mental hold on him relaxed, and he pulled against the leather cuffs that had him spread-eagled on the bed, but couldn’t free himself.

The cuffs and bed had clearly been chosen with a vampire in mind since they were thick and sturdy. He realized he could not get loose and bit back his concern as Stacia turned and displayed a rather large and nasty-looking dagger.

She sauntered over, the blade held upright in her hands, plainly visible as if to inflict some mental torture. “Do you know what you did, Blake?”

He wouldn’t show her he was worried. With what he hoped was a careless shrug—which was kind of difficult when one was lashed to bedposts—he calmly said, “I was only trying to help.”

Stacia laughed harshly. “Help? You helping me? That’s rich.”

“It’s the truth. Things are changing around here,” he said again, but Stacia would hear none of it.

She brought the blade down to his cheek. The metal was cold against his skin. Leaning close, she said, “Since when do we care whether we drain a human?”

“Since maybe some of us know that it’s wrong?” he shot back, remembering all too painfully what had happened with Meghan.

Stacia was too omnipotent not to pick up on what he was feeling. Bringing the knife to his wrist, she slipped it beneath the leather and said, “Intriguing. You actually feel…regret and love? You fancied yourself in love?”

He felt the prick of the knife lightly against his skin and then the cool air of the night as she sliced open one sleeve of his jacket, then reached over and quickly did the same to the other sleeve.

He met her gaze as she paused, the knife poised above his midsection and directly above a most delicate area. As she slid the blade beneath the hem of his T shirt, he shivered from the cold and from the anxiety he couldn’t contain. One little slice of the knife—

Not yet, beloved. I’ll have my satisfaction first.

“Well, that’s good, luv. I’d hate to pass without at least getting a look,” he said, determined to not let her be totally in control.

“What? A look? You want a look before I geld you?” she asked with an uneasy chuckle, and the knife wavered against his midsection.

“If that’s the price to be paid for a slight misunderstanding, the least you can do is let me see if what’s beneath all that sinful black leather is as beautiful as the rest of you,” he said, and surprisingly he meant it.

Stacia was a remarkably stunning woman with her exotic almond shaped eyes, dark and filled with so much emotion. Right now, a slight furrow marred the space above her brows and that one golden earring. But then a glitter crept into her eyes and was followed by a wide smile across her full lips.

“You are ballsy.”

He chuckled, shot a look down at his naked parts and said, “Definitely.”

She laughed out loud at that, strode away from him and back to the wall with all the assorted gadgets and accessories. She placed the dagger back into its holder, paused for a second before turning to look at him. She tapped her lips with one finger. “You’ve been naughty, Blake. Very, very naughty.”

Blake sensed the change in her. The playfulness in her tone that said he had reached past her anger to something else. Something way more interesting, he thought, wondering about the complex creature that she was.

As she turned away from him and toward the wall, he realized she was working at something with her hands. A second later, she shrugged off the vest she had been wearing, exposing the long, slender line of her back. The perfect expanse of creamy skin that he suddenly itched to touch, wondering whether it would feel like smooth alabaster beneath his fingers.

He had been so drawn to that sight that he didn’t realize she had grabbed a cat o’ nine-tails from the wall until she stood before him, the weapon in her hand.

But even then his mind was not so much on the pain she might inflict as it was on the truly rewarding sight of her naked. Her breasts were full. Her nipples hard with her passion and the shade of golden honey, a surprise given her dark coloring. He wondered how they might taste and didn’t even realize he had asked the question until she said, “You wanted to see and now you want to taste?”

He salivated at the thought of it, but couldn’t voice anything else as she brought the cat-o’-nine-tails to rest on his thigh, which immediately grabbed his attention.

“You are…engaging,” she said as she slowly trailed the leather strips studded with small metal balls up his thigh until they rested against his erection. The contrast of the smooth leather snaking around him together with the cold of the hard metal balls was a shock.

“I could be much more engaging if you let me go,” he said, because all he could think about was having her even if there would be pain afterward. Hell, with women there was always pain afterward.

Do you fear nothing? she asked silently as she continued to fondle him with the cat o’ nine-tails, yanking a moan from him with the caresses.

Blake met her gaze and he thought he caught a reflection of something familiar. Something they might share. “I fear living the rest of my life without love.”

She stopped her strokes and a spark of anger came to life in her eyes. “What do you know about living without love? You’ve been undead but a second compared to me.”

“That’s right. But at least I’ve had a taste of it. Can you say the same?”

Copyright 2006 Caridad Pineiro Scordato www.caridad.com

First of all — GO GIANTS!! What an upset!! Way to go. I think Manning did an amazing job, but if I could, I’d give the entire Giants defense the MVP award as well.

Today’s Guilty Pleasure is an oldie but goodie — Kurt Russell.

I’ve loved Kurt for years and recently saw him in THE DREAMER a great horse movie based on a true story.

Also — he played coach Herb Brooks in the movie MIRACLE, about the 1980s men’s Olympic ice hockey team that defeated the undefeatable Russian team. I can’t believe I left this one off the list of sports movies the other day. My family and I have watched this one over and over!

Kurt has been in a number of movies, directed some and been nominated for a bunch of awards. Can we also say that he’s got great eyes, a wonderful body in his day and those to-die-for dimples?

Here’s some things I didn’t know about Kurt that I discovered at Wikipedia:

Kurt is the son of Bing Russell who played Deputy Clem Foster on Bonanza.

Kurt played baseball for the Angels Double-A Minor league affiliate, but an injury to his shoulder ended his career.

My hubby’s favorite Kurt Russell movie is BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, but I think I prefer MIRACLE, STARGATE or ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK.

I don’t know about you, but after all the excitement about finally having a new television episode — and of LOST no less — I found myself incredibly . . . lost. I guess my mind was distracted with other things and thankfully, I taped it so I could watch it at another time to try and figure out what was going on.

That brings me to today’s FUN FRIDAY which is, What to do until the Writer’s Strike is settled.

1. Exhaust all the movies and shows that I keep on setting the DVR to record and never got to watch.
2. Turn to the FOOD NETWORK and drool while Paula Dean cooks up yet another dish featuring butter or bacon or fried stuff
3. Imagine visiting the places that THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL and NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC keep on featuring.
4. Pray that the organizer gods smile down on me and send me one of those MISSION:ORGANIZATION/CLEAN SWEEPS people.
5. Dust off my BUFFY DVDs as well as all those keeper movies and go on a commercial free marathon.

For #5, you may want to check out the Best Movie Mistakes website and really make it a fun viewing. There are lots of mistakes that never make it to the bloopers reel. Here’s some of the ones I’ve either seen or heard about:

In STAR WARS, one of the storm troopers smashes his head as he’s passing through a doorway.

During the chariot battle in GLADIATOR, when one of the chariots overturns, you can see a cylinder and mechanism that launched the chariot into the air.

In MARIE ANTIONETTE, as Marie is looking through the shoes she might wear, there’s a pair of sneakers.

In CLEOPATRA, I believe it’s Richard Burton who is sporting a modern Timex Watch along all the period jewelry/accessories.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Copyright 2008 Caridad Pineiro Scordato www.caridad.com