Last year I conducted a poll on multicultural fiction. I had a number of published authors (about 40) from diverse backgrounds offer their opinions on the state of mutlicultural fiction in publishing.

One of the topics on which I polled authors was Literary Segregation, namely, the practice of shelving books based on the author’s ethnicity or race or on the content of the book. This is something that happens in a number of book stores. I can’t speak as to whether it happens at many libraries as in general, I have not seen it done in my local libraries, but if you are aware of the practice at such locations, please chime in.

The vast majority of the writers were not in favor of this practice. Many felt that it reduced their sales and limited their opportunities for cultivating new readers who were not multicultural. During a recent discussion at the RWA National Conference, this issue arose once more and the consensus of the group that participated was again that this practice hurt diversity authors.

What do you think about this kind of segregation? Do you go to such sections in bookstores and/or libraries?

There seem to be many bookstores with African-American sections. Do you see similar sections for Latino books?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Many of you have been asking about the next book in THE CALLING vampire novels and I wish to thank all of you for writing and letting me know how much you love the series! It really makes it all worthwhile.

The news on THE CALLING is that the next book, FURY CALLS, will be out in March 2009 from Silhouette Nocturne! Remember that if you download the FURY CALLS countdown widget and put it on your website/social network page, you can get a free CALLING t-shirt!**

ARDOR CALLS, featuring Stacia, one of my favorite vampires, will be out in 2010 along with VENGEANCE CALLS. VENGEANCE introduces two new characters for you, including one who is a different kind of immortal.

To help you with the gap between FURY CALLS and the other books, there will be a Nocturne Bite e-novella titled HONOR CALLS which features FBI ADIC Jesus Hernandez who you have seen in a number of books. To also help you bridge the gap, I’ll be writing a series of free short stories for you to let you know what’s been happening with Diana and Ryder behind the scenes of all the books.

My editor and I have already spoken about another book for Diana and Ryder, so I’m really excited about that although it will likely be a long way off. In the meantime, here’s your first free short story read in THE CALLING:

This free read occurs in the months after the conclusion of DEVOTION CALLS.

**T-shirts while supplies last! I am in the process of sending out those to the first people who posted the widget, so look for them soon if you’ve already done that.

Diana Reyes stared at the pile of files precariously stacked on the side of her desk. Earlier that night she had just finished the last of the paperwork from the day before when an apologetic clerk had dropped this fresh load in her office.

Anger surged through her at the thought of another day at her desk, checking references and other information so that the subjects of the files would receive their proper security clearances. This wasn’t why she had joined the FBI, but then again, there had to be some kind of punishment for failing to prevent the deaths of so many agents during her last real assignment.

Those deaths and the nearly crippling injuries to her partner David Harris weighed heavily on her mind as did the personal aftermath from the night of the failed raid.

The santero’s words to her from months earlier still troubled her.

I can’t heal what you have.

What she had, Diana thought, laying her hands out before her and staring at them hard.

Human hands. Warm and filled with life. But within that life was something new. Different than before. And something that worried her still.

Deciding that she couldn’t linger a moment longer, she escaped the confines of her office, racing past David’s empty one and onto the elevator.

Out on the street before Federal Plaza, she stopped and breathed in the warm summer air. Thick and humid. The faint scent of garlic wafted from the Italian restaurant a few doors down. Her stomach growled with hunger.

She hadn’t eaten dinner that night, but she’d grab a bite later with Ryder.

Right now, she had something else to do. Something that called to her more than the physical demands of her body.

With a blast of inhuman speed, she surged to the nearby subway entrance. She stopped to catch a breath and still the wild beating of her heart. A wave of weakness ripped across her body, reminding her that all was not right.

The superhuman healing and powers that had taken over her body after her injuries during the raid were slowly leaving her. Worse, even her everyday tasks seemed to take more of her energy than before.

She worried that soon she might not have the strength left for even the every day things and after that . . .

Diana drove that thought away and headed for the subway for the trip up to Spanish Harlem.

Ricardo may have told her that he couldn’t heal what she had, but she had never asked him just what that was.

She intended to do so that night.

Hate to say it, but sometimes I’m a little more forgetful than I used to be. We all experience those brain fog moments for many reasons. Age. Stress. Medical reasons. So to stay sharp, I’ve gone back to doing something I used to do all the time as a kid — playing word search games and doing crossword puzzles.

For a great article from LIFETIME on playing games to keep your brain sharp, you can click here! The article mentions a number of games/DVDs, but you can also do puzzles, Soduku and other activities. Also check out what the article says about chocolate and cocoa! Always a good thing when science reaffirms the magic of such tasty things.

Also, for all you Harlequin fans, they are running a Buy One Get One Free promotion from today, August 12 to August 14. You can click here for the BOGO Sale going on at Harlequin.

Not to mention a big WOO HOO as the first book in the Coltons series has hit the shelves. You can click here for Colton’s Secret Service by the wonderful Marie Ferrarella. My contribution to this series, SOLDIER’S SECRET CHILD, will be out in December 2008.

I was pondering who to share with you this morning and realized I hadn’t shared one of my favorites! So today’s Guilty Pleasure Monday is Pierce Brosnan. I first fell in love with him in a television movie series called The Manions (I believe). It was a story about the Irish and he was just so good looking.

Then one day I’m flipping through the channels and there he is again as Remington Steele! Heaven, I’m in heaven. I loved this show and the chemistry with him and Stephanie Zimbalist was wonderful. Hopeful romantic that I am, I kept on hoping they’d get together. I bought the first season on DVD and enjoyed watching it again.

When there was talk of needing a new Bond, it immediately occurred to me that Pierce would be the perfect Bond and so did the producers! Unfortunately, when Pierce was chosen as the new Bond, NBC decided to renew Remington Steele (which had been cancelled). This cost Pierce the role at that time. A shame since it would have been great to have more of him as James Bond.

Hope you enjoyed this Guilty Pleasure Monday! Also, don’t forget to check back on August 26th for a special blog by Lisa Jackson! I have autographed books, t-shirts and other goodies from Lisa to award to anyone who drops by that day and leaves a comment on the blog.

Last night we went to a Jonas Brothers concert at Jones Beach Theater. Although I grew up just minutes away, I’d never been to this venue and it’s gorgeous. The stage is set right at the water’s edge, so you see the wetlands and beach as you sit there and watch the show.

The concert was great. Lots of fun. Photos are still on my daughter’s camera, so I’ll share some photos from the last JoBro concert (yes, we are fans!). This concert was at the Meadowlands and was mobbed. Rumor has it that it sold out in about 2 minutes. This is a picture of Joe Jonas, the middle brother.

This is my daughter and me at the show. A friend of hers made T-shirts with lines from the JoBro songs and we wore them. The gold jacket is from one of their videos. My daughter bought it at American Apparel and everyone kept asking her where she had gotten it.

Had a great time as you can tell from the big smiles. I love spending time with my best bud.

This is the official video for one of their hits - SOS. It’s one of my favorite songs from the JoBros. The new one, BURNING UP, is really cute!

Reuters video of the opening fireworks over the Bird’s Nest Stadium on 08-08-08, a very lucky day apparently.

A wonderful friend of mine — Irene Peterson — forwarded this to me.

Please go to the end of this message and click on link. It’s hilarious, but I caution you, it will take a minute or so to load up, so be patient. As for who is behind this fun website — here’s what Irene’s e-mail said:

• HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam . Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands . HEMA also has stores in Belgium , Luxemburg, and Germany In June of this year, HEMA was sold to British investment company Lion Capital.

  Take a look at HEMA’s product page. You can’t order anything and it’s in Dutch but just wait a couple of seconds and watch what happens.

  Don’t click on any of the products pictured, just wait and see what happens. And be sure you have your sound turned up.

  This company has a sense of humor and a great computer programmer, ya?

So without further ado, here’s the link and for those of you old enough to remember — it reminds me of one of those Rube Goldberg devices, doesn’t it?

http://producten.hema.nl/

Speaking of Rube Goldberg, here’s an Office Rube Goldberg device! The people in this office clearly have too much free time (or a boss that’s on vacation!)

Thanks to morebeefplease Jesse for this video!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

This is probably as controversial a topic as any we’ll discuss here. Not something I normally do, but the whole idea grabbed my interest and saddened me at the same time. What’s this topic about?

A New York City publisher cancelled the publication of a historical novel by Sherry Jones about one of the wives of Muhammad due to concerns that the book might be offensive to some and also “that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment.” For more information on how this book was pulled from the market, please click here to read an essay by Asra Nomani of the Wall Street Journal.

Ms. Nomani, who is no stranger to the Muslim community and has worked for change toward women in the Muslim world, notes in her article that these actions saddened her.

It saddens me as well for a number of reasons and I’m interested to hear what you have to say. As for the reasons it saddens me, here goes:

It saddens me as a proponent of free speech that someone’s work is apparently being censored.
It saddens me as a writer to see years of hard work and the dream of publication being ripped away at the last minute.
It saddens me as a romance writer to see something which is described by one as a “racy historical novel” being called “soft core pornography” by another.
It saddens me as an American that the threat of terror has silenced someone much like terrorists hoped to silence America by taking down the Towers.
It saddens me for all the Muslims who do not believe that violence is the answer since unfortunately, it is the radical elements of any society that seem to get the press.
It saddens me as a woman since part of the goal of this novel who wanted to give a voice to the women in the book.

How do you feel? What do you think about what has happened to this book?

For some other comments on this event, you can check out these links:

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/publishing/has_random_house_let_the_terrorists_win_90974.asp?c=rss
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/the-jewel-of-medina-is-now-on-sale-no-wait-nevermind/

Having to pack not only clothes but promo items made me think of all the things you can do to travel with a little less mess! With another month left to the summer, I hope some of you have plans to take a few days off and that some of these tips will help.

1. To reduce the weight of your bags, lose the wheels on your luggage if you can.

2. Go with soft-sided luggage which expands and is generally more lightweight.

3. Buy those travel size deodorants, shampoos, etc. Not only will it make it easier to go through the TSA lines if you’re carrying on the luggage, but it will also help lighten the weight of the luggage.

4. If you’ve got shampoo, mouthwash or some other liquid product, remove the cap and place some plastic wrap over the mouth of the bottle. Then slip the cap back on over the wrap. That will help reduce spills. Of course, to be doubly sure, place the liquid products in a zip/slide top plastic bag.

5. For sensitive paper documents/photos, use a zip/slide top plastic bag or get a wide mouth sports water bottle and roll/slip the papers within the bottle. Not only will the bottle keep them from getting wet, it’ll keep them from being torn or crushed.

6. To save space and keep your shoes from being crushed, slip your socks or other small unmentionables into your shoes.

7. Roll t-shirts and other soft fabric goods. The rolling will save more space and also avoid wrinkles.

8. Bring a large bag for your dirty clothes along with a scented dryer sheet. Slip the scented dryer sheet in with your dirty clothes to help keep your suitcase smelling fresh.

9. If you need to display some of the items you are carrying, look for collapsible storage bins to hold the items instead of baskets or other hard to pack items.

10. For those quick need something to drink in the hotel room, bring the individual dry mixes to add to tap water. They’re available now for most powdered drink mixes. Why tap water? Think about the carbon footprint for bottled water, namely, the packaging, transportation and recycling for something that most people can get right out of their faucets!

Hope all these tips help make your next trip a little easier! Bon Voyage.

RWA was great and asked me to blog from the conference! I’m reblogging the post here for all of you! So here goes:

I’m a wife, mom, attorney and President of my local RWA Chapter in New Jersey which always has people asking, “How do I manage to find the time to write or attend conferences?”

I confess it takes a lot of juggling, but after the last few days here at the conference I know that it’s worth every second of hard work to free up the time to make it here. Why? The amazing collection of women at every level who are here to learn, share, meet old friends and make new ones.

On Wednesday night there was the wonderful Literacy signing where over 500 authors came to sign books, meet fans and help raise money for literacy programs. It’s inspiring to be surrounded by so much talent and to know that you’re doing something for a positive cause.

At the workshops, authors, editors and agents shared information to help others build and bolster their writing careers. I always find myself coming back from the workshops with new insights into how to improve not only my writing, but the business aspects of the publishing business. And what do I do when I’m not at the workshops?

Well, there’s the friends. Old ones from years back and the wonder of sharing those ongoing friendships, our successes, challenges and fun. Then there are the new friendships from reaching out to new people at the workshops, parties or while waiting on line at one of the various events. I always make a point of trying to meet new people at each and every conference as well as to maintain the relationships from past years. Here’s a photo of me with one of my long time NJ friends, Deb Mullins, a wonderful historical writer.

When I think about the experience I’m having at this year’s conference, it reminds me that it takes positive people and energy to make a group or event special. At this year’s RWA Conference, that’s exactly what I’ve found!

This is me, getting ready to board the plane.  I’m about to tell you a dirty little secret — I am terrified of flying.  HATE IT!  But I love to travel.

What a problem!  Kind of tough to travel anywhere distant without flying.

So how do I deal with the anxiety shy of popping a few Xanax?

1.  Take an antihistamine.  It makes me drowsy and sleeping away a good chunk of a flight is always good.  It also helps me with my ears because it helps decongest them.

2.  EARPLANES.  Great little gadget which helps you adjust to the pressure changes and also muffles the sounds on board.

3.  Good book/Good movie.  Getting totally involved in either reading/writing a good book or movie is a great way to get totally distracted.

4.  Crossword/Word Search puzzles.

5.  When all else fails, a glass of wine followed by a nap.

The above is usually good for a moderately long flight.  Then there are those 12 hour or more flights.  Argentina.  Chile.  Hawaii.  Not much you can do on flights like those except repeat the above a couple of times!   LOL!

So - do you like to fly?  Do you like to travel?  Tell me your funniest (NO SCARY stories since I still have to fly back to NJ!) travel/flight story and you could win a bag full of books that I’ll be rounding up at the conference!

Just leave your story on this blog post by midnight EST on Saturday, August 3 and I’ll pick a winner from everyone who posts.

I know you were all expecting a Guilty Pleasures Monday, but unfortunately I have a number of work and writing-related commitments calling to me and must take a short hiatus from the blog.

I hope to be back on Monday, July 28th with a rundown on preparations for the big National RWA conference as well as reports for you on all that’s happening in San Francisco that week. Look for me to be guest blogging from the conference on Thursday at 1:00 p.m.

As soon as I have the link for that blog, I’ll send it to you.

So sorry to have to take a break from you all. I love chatting with you and feel free to drop me a line!

Big hug to you all!

This Wicked Wednesday is devoted to two of my most favorite characters ever — Diana Reyes and Ryder Latimer from THE CALLING vampire novels. From the moment they came to life in DARKNESS CALLS and then came back in DEATH CALLS, they imprisoned my heart.

I just finished working on the proposal for their next book, so cross your fingers that my editor will want to see that one!

For now, this Wicked Wednesday excerpt is from DEATH CALLS, my December 2006 release which helped launch the Nocturne line. This book is now out-of-print, but you can buy the e-book at various locations or the complete THE CALLING Collection from eHarlequin.

Monday was their night usually. His club was closed on Mondays which meant that barring a case that was keeping Diana occupied, they’d have the leisure of a long dinner, time for talk or even possibly a movie. Mortal things. Things that people were dating regularly did.

Like making love. A maybe not so mortal thing with them.

Ryder grew hard as he recalled their last little bout of sex earlier in the week. His body heated and his fangs elongated at the memory of Diana moving beneath him. Of her plea for his possession. Her blood had been sweet, spicing his fangs and mouth as she cried out her completion. As she’d grown limp beneath him, he’d become nearly feral with feeding from her body in so many ways. The warmth of her surrounding him as he’d driven into her. And of course, her blood.

Her blood . . .

He growled and shook his head to chase away the demon. The animal that had almost not let up the other night. He’d come close to draining her. Had nearly made her like him.

Was that why she’d called tonight to tell him she didn’t want to see him?

She’d been that blunt. No, “I’m working late.” No other excuses. Diana wasn’t the kind of woman who made excuses.

And he wasn’t the kind of man to . . .

But he wasn’t a man anymore, he reminded himself as he perused the streets and nearby buildings from the balcony of his apartment. Across the East River, the large red Pepsi and Silvercup Studio signs glowed along with the erratic string of lights from the bridge and Roosevelt Island tramway. In the water there were a few scattered boats, but not many.

It was late, although in the city that never slept, there was always activity.

Ryder wondered where Diana was in all that activity? Holed up in her office working on a case? Asleep in her apartment? Or somewhere else?

The last possibility bothered him more than he cared to admit. He’d never considered himself a jealous man. But then again, he’d never met a woman as complex and independent and as dark as Diana. And because she called to him like nothing else in his undead life, he couldn’t just stand there. Wondering.

With a small jump, he was up and over the ledge of his balcony and down to the one on the floor below, where Sebastian and Melissa now lived. He caught but a glimpse of his keeper, her belly large with child, as she walked past the entry to the landing.

Without her noticing, he watched as she rubbed her hand across her extended abdomen. Was almost mesmerized at the beatific smile that crossed her face. A moment later, Sebastian walked into the room, a similar grin on his features as he approached his wife and laid his hand over hers.

Ryder couldn’t watch anymore. It was too painful a reminder of the life that had been taken from him so long ago. Of the kind of life he’d be stealing from Diana if he sired her.

He leaped down to the next floor and then the next until he was finally at ground level. Once there he hesitated, uncertain of where he would go. Unsure that it was wise to give into the beast.

For so long he’d battled that side of him. Controlled the vampire and striven for a human type of life. A regular life like the one taken from him during the Civil War.

A regular life that he’d thought impossible until Diana had stepped into his existence.

Even after nearly two years, he didn’t really quite understand how it had happened. How he’d come to love her. How his controlled life had become filled not only with her, but with an assortment of other people and vampires that suddenly demanded he acknowledge not only them, but what he was. What he could do.

Worse, he hadn’t expected to like it. To enjoy the power and passion and strength that releasing the vampire would bring. For so long, he’d kept the beast at bay, afraid of what it could do. He’d seen the aftermath of vampire violence against the soldiers he’d been trying to save. Against himself.

A physician before the strange turn of events that had made him a vampire, he’d devoted his life to healing. Saving others. He hated that the demon within was the total antithesis of what he’d been — a good man.

But lately, he’d discovered that he could use his vampire powers for good. To help others if he could control the more violent aspects of that nature.

Tonight, the demon within called for him to let it loose and reluctantly, he did. With a quick look to make sure no one was watching, he transformed. Long fangs erupted from his mouth and through his veins, blood surged, bringing the heat from his change. All around him, colors and noises became more vibrant. Sounds sharper. More alive.

He rushed forward, speed beyond that of a mortal driving him onward. Where, he didn’t quite know. He just reveled in the freedom of the night. The piercing glow of the moon and stars above lit his way. The chill of the night air flew against his heated skin. As he brushed past one human on a side street, their scent filled his nostrils. He heard the thunder of heartbeat and blood. Sweet, sweet blood.

He wanted a taste, but the mortal rose up, urged his vampire away and to a nearby rooftop where he paused for only a moment before he continued onward. Jumping and vaulting from one edifice to the next until he suddenly found himself near the club he owned, The Lair, and then after, reached Tribeca. An alley right before the Blood Bank.

Hunger suddenly gnawed at his stomach. Ryder stopped, stared down at the entrance to the club. He wasn’t one to normally frequent the place. He didn’t much care for Foley, the owner, or for the other vampires who so blithely indulged their baser animal instincts there. Without a care. Without a conscience.

And yet here he was, the pit of his stomach clenching with the thought of fresh blood. Shaking his head, he took a deep breath to quell the demon’s urges and smelled her.

Diana.

She had either been nearby recently or was still close. Inhaling sharply once more, he picked up her scent coming from below and threw himself over the ledge of the building.

He landed on his feet as quietly and gracefully as a cat. Her smell was stronger at ground level. Ryder followed it to the door of the club, flashed some fang to get past the bouncer and hurried within, eager even if all that he would get would be a glimpse. She’d made her feelings known after all and one night away from her . . .

Was like an eternity, he acknowledged, wishing that it wasn’t so.

In the stifling lifeless air in the club, Diana’s smell was stronger and he followed it to the bar, but stopped short as he saw her there. Sitting with Foley. Letting Foley lean toward her. Touch her.

He balled his fists and barely controlled his desire to go over and rip Foley’s finger off his hand.

He smiled as Diana did some damage of her own, but Foley, sick animal that he was, kind of liked it. And so do you, his inner voice rebuked.

Anger barely subdued, he stepped back into the shadows and tried to listen to what was going on, but the noise and music in the club was too loud. Even with his supersensitive hearing.

Minutes that seemed interminably long passed before Diana rose and left the other vampire. As she walked past, barely yards away, he let the animal savor her scent. Almost as if sensing he was near, she stopped and looked around. But then after, she immediately left.

Ryder hesitated for a moment, debating whether to go beat Foley into monster mash. First because he’d touched Diana. Second because he’d just never liked the vamp. Foley was everything Ryder hated and had never wanted to be. A hedonistic animal, devoid of any mortal sensibilities.

And for some reason, Diana had ditched him that night for the undead cad.

His human side urged him to curb his resentment. After all, she’d left the bar alone and rebuffed the sole advance that he’d seen Foley make. But the demon . . .

The demon damn well wanted an answer and some satisfaction. Satisfaction that just words wouldn’t provide.

Promo or Perish? It’s a topic I’ve talked about during several workshops and I’d like to share just some basic ideas for what you should do to get the word out about yourself if you’re either pre-published or published.

But first — my own bit of goods news! Some of you may know from reading the main site that I accepted a two-book offer from Grand Central Publishing (formerly Time Warner Books) for some new romantic suspense novels with a paranormal element. What kind of paranormal element? The heroine is a cancer victim who is developing superhuman traits as a result of a genetic engineering treatment. Worse yet, she has to battle to keep her humanity while being hunted down for a murder she did not commit! The first book will be out in 2010.

Some other good news! I’ll be doing a Silhouette Nocturne Bite as part of THE CALLING series. Silhouette Nocturne Bites are dark and sexy short stories and are available at eharlequin.com. Look for my Nocturne Bite sometime in late 2009!

Now back to today’s Tuesday Tip — Promo or Perish. If I had to list the top things an author can do to get the word out about themselves, here’s what they would be:

Internet Presence

Whether published or not, have a website, social network page or blog where people can meet you, learn about you and reach you. Make sure to keep it current with some recent news about what’s going on with you. There’s nothing worse than visiting a page and seeing that the last time it was updated was a year ago.

Press Releases

There are tons of sites on the web that allow you to do press releases either for free or for a nominal cost. If something really good happens, a contest win, new contract, etc., send out a press release. Also make sure to get the contact details for local papers, television and radio stations. Local papers love featuring a “local person done good” story and those kinds of grass roots stories are wonderful.

Articles

Are you an expert on something? Can you write an article about that subject? Did you recently travel somewhere interesting or do something different? Can you write an article to share your discoveries? Of course you can! We all have interesting things that we’ve done or information that we can share. Write an article and post it to one of the many sites that will publish it on the Net. Make sure that whatever site you use let’s you keep the copyright in the article.

Networking

You have a website/blog, I have a website/blog. Let’s get together somehow. Exchange links with friends, fellow authors or sites that would be of interest in connection with what you are doing. For example, I’m on a number of romance, paranormal, vampire and Latino sites. If you’ve got a blog, do a blog tour or guest blog at someone else’s blog. Invite people to blog at your place!

Hope this helps you with getting the word out!

Copyright 2008 Caridad Pineiro Scordato www.caridad.com

I first caught sight of this hunk on CLEAN SWEEP. I got hooked on that show and it really helped me get my house in order! Eric Stromer was the carpenter on the show and he was cute, funny, talented and wow — He’s just too sexy.

Eric now has a show on DYI — OVER YOUR HEAD — where he rescues homeowners who have tackled projects that were a little too much for them.

Hmm . . . I’m pretty good with a hammer and saw. I think it’s time to add that new wing to the house!

I want to apologize to all of you for not providing you a Wicked Wednesday, but the last few days there’s been a lot going on, some of it good, some of it frustrating. Unfortunately, what’s frustrating seems to be pulling at me, as it does at so many people. In the next few days, I’ve got a lot of running around to do and so in light of that, I’m going to take a short break!

But I’ll be back on Monday to share some new Guilty Pleasures with you!

May you all have a blessed weekend.

My daughter has been watching THE DEADLIEST CATCH and since we’d never really tried King Crab Legs, I decided to pick up some at Costco. Since they had some great-looking mussels which we all love, I picked up a bag of those as well.

What’s the best way of cooking mussels, clams, crabs, lobster, etc.? Well, I’m a big fan of steaming since it keeps them moist, is quick and relatively easy. My favorite way to steam them is with beer and here’s the recipe for you to try out!

First of all, you’ll need a pot big enough to hold the steaming liquid and your shellfish. I end up needing one that’s at least 12 quarts or more. Before you steam, make sure everything is clean with a quick scrub with a plastic brush. If you’re doing clams, put them in salted ice water for about 15-20 minutes so they spit out any sand. Same with the mussels. A lot of mussels are farm-raised now, so they are relatively clean and beardless so there’s little to clean.

If there’s any clams/mussels that don’t close up after being in the iced salt water, toss them. They’re dead. Likewise, if they don’t open up after steaming, toss them. They’re dead!

Steaming Liquid:

1 or 2 beers
Handful of chopped fresh parsley
3 to 4 garlic cloves chopped
1 small onion chopped
Some pepper
1 or 2 bay leaves

If you want to add a little zing to the liquid, slice up a small lemon and put that in there as well.

Put the liquid in the bottom of your pan and place a steamer insert above it (one of those little collapsible ones you find in the dollar stores). Layer your shellfish with the bigger pieces at the bottom, like the crab legs, whole crabs or lobsters. Then put the mussels, clams, etc. If you want to do some corn and potatoes, put them right above the bigger pieces and below the mussels, etc.

Yep, we’re talking mini-clambake here. Well, almost. Cover the pot, crank up the heat on high and once it’s steaming, it shouldn’t take more than about 8 to 10 minutes to cook all your shellfish. If you’ve got big lobsters down on the bottom, you may need to do 15 minutes or more depending on the size of the lobster.

Anyhow, make sure you’re melting some butter while the shellfish is steaming!

Once you take the pot off the stove, place the shellfish in a big bowl and ladle just a bit of the steaming liquid over them. Also, put a little bit of steaming liquid in a small bowl or cup and also put some butter in a second small bowl or cup. This way you can dip your shellfish in the steaming liquid and then the butter.

Yum! Way tasty! Hope you check this out and enjoy a shellfish summer steam!

If the smoldering look on this handsome face doesn’t have you melting, I don’t know what to say.

His name is Michael Pare and the film is EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS. If you haven’t seen the movie, find it and buy it! The music is great as is the story, although the movie got mixed reviews and did not do well at the box office. Don’t know why, I watch it every time that it’s on and if I see the DVD anywhere, will definitely add it to my collection.

Michael is so absolutely hot as the tortured New Jersey rock star who wants to be understood. Totally totally hot. He’s been in a number of other B movies, but I haven’t seen much of him lately although he still looks good! Tom Berenger is also in the movie — another hottie and quite good in his role as the “poet” guy who puts the words to the music.

You can find out more about Michael by clicking here and visiting his official website!

more cat pictures

Don’t know if you’ve ever visited this site, but as a cat lover, I can tell you it’s hilarious! The site is http://icanhascheezburger.com and visit there to check out more fun stuff involving cats.

This one was sent to me by my good friend Irene Peterson! Thanks, Irene. You know how I love cats and vamps.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Why is it that summer colds are always worse than winter colds? Or does it only feel that way ’cause you’re stuck in bed when the weather outside is gorgeous?

I started feeling sick on Monday. By Tuesday my throat and ear were aching and by Wednesday — I could barely talk. A good thing some might say. I pampered myself as best as I could and rested.

Today I’m feeling a little better, but not 100%. Still, there’s work and deadlines and so I trudged in to the office to handle things.

How are you with summer colds? Get them often? Find they last longer or just feel that way?