The look on Zorro’s face when Mr. Lyons pulls out the electric guitar.

A quick summary of where I’m at (so I can get back to it!). Since May 28 (the day I submitted my upcoming Christmas novella), I have worked on the second Bottoms Up story and nothing else. Beginning with Alyssa’s fabulous 46,000 word draft, I’ve been doing my part to bring Jonah and Suzy’s tumultuous relationship to a satisfying climax and close. (Double entendre intended. )

I’ve completed work on 83.3% of the manuscript, which means I’m nearing the finish line, and will be returning the story to Alyssa for her final input and tweaks in the coming weeks. Other than my Food Friday posts and a couple of heads-ups about the December 3rd Regency release, I’ll be hard at work and having loads of fun with my 6 foot four sexy cowboy. (So very wonderful… when you can give a man all of the qualities you want him to have, including a great big truck and unlimited gasoline. Hey, I figure it’s my fictionalized fantasy, I better make it good on all counts!)

So everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving in the States, and an enjoyable holiday season everywhere!

Larissa

My blog’s going on hiatus for just a few days…while we get the new website finalized and uploaded…but there’s news to share that will be coming out to all newsletter subscribers, so if you don’t receive Larissa’s Lair Newsletter, sign up!

Time for another new word. I’m doing my part to find fun ones I actually think are pronounceable and can potentially work themselves into conversation. One of these days, I’ll post a crazy one or two and we’ll have a challenge to see who can use it the best.

I love today’s word, possibly even more than cacatory [my dictation software wanted to spell that "attack a Tory"] which I’m happy to report Mr. Lyons and I are still using as the occasion presents itself.

Scathefire is our new adopted word and you’ll see the definition on your left. I love the font they used (the folks over at savethe words.org).

This word lends itself to all manner of great usage and ought to be easy to adopt into current lexicon.

For my sentence today, I’m going with: Tragically, the scathefire destroyed the great Library at Alexandria and with it much of our world’s history, possibly even the truth about Atlantis…

Thanks to Sarah who commented on our last Adopt-the-Word post, teaching us homerkin [which dictated as Homer can]. Hey–a new way of describing liquid measures of beer? How cool is that?! Interestingly, I didn’t find the amount of liquid anywhere online, but many, many references to good ole Homer Simpson in relationship to this obsolete word. Larissa

Keep enjoying your remaining days of summer!

So I’m skimming through the latest issue of Romantic Times magazine and I see a little section highlighting SaveTheWords.org, an association whose purpose is saving words from eternal obscurity. Evidently only 90% of written English communication is comprised of the most common 7000 words–not the least of which describe things of a cacatory nature…shit, poo, a dump, etc. [There are so many euphemisms for excrement I could go on and on, but I will persevere to stay on point...]

I did a bit of searching (I’m a bit of a word geek. “No! You, Larissa? A geek?” I can hear you exclaim in surprise.) and it appears there’s approximately 500,000 (plus or minus 100,000) solid words in the English language. If you add in technical and medical jargon, one source says that could double! If we base things on the 7000 and 500,000 numbers, that means we routinely use a measly 1.4% of the words available to us. Gasp!

In order to do my part to save worthy words from cacatory-like extinction, I will on occasion adopt words and attempt to educate and entertain. To that end, let’s begin today’s lesson…

I took this screen capture from the Save the Words site after deciding it would be the first one I adopt. I’ve now pledged to use it as frequently as possible, hehehe. First off, let’s face it…those of us with very…um, elevated?…senses of humor still find enjoyment in simply saying the word shit. (Ever since Tootsie’s “Macho shithead” line, I’ve been a fan.) But now, we have a fancy word to say it with. And we’re no longer talking about plain simple poop, of course not. We’re talking about the smelly, gassy, runny cacatory type of doo doo.

I looked this word up in several different dictionaries and had a difficult time finding it anywhere. One of the reasons I did so is that it’s described as an adjective, but about the only other place I found it shown online, this fellow had used it as a noun. Oh horrors! Good thing I’m not a grammar teacher.

Now how in the world did I choose this word, you might be wondering. I typed “cat” in the find field and this was the first one on the list. Quite appropriate, as Big Buddy Fluff, a.k.a. Klingon, has been having several cacatory bathroom experiences of late & now has an appointment with Mr. Friendly Vet.  He better be friendly, because Klingon’s regular doc is out of town. And his mommy — that’s me — is very tired of cleaning up cacatory messes throughout my home.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT – Either use cacatory in a conversation and educate as necessary OR pop over to SaveTheWords.org and pick out a word you want me to adopt next and leave it in comments. But make it a good one!

Nothing fancy today… just getting my feet wet.

But after debating for months I finally decided to start blogging, with the hope of keeping fans and readers more up-to-date on what I’m working on story-wise, as well as sharing my thoughts — goofy though they may be — on such far-reaching, mind-titillating topics as 007 (yes, James Bond…I’m a fan of both the books & the movies and over time will offer reviews of them all),  the writing life of a health-challenged author who strives to feel better every day and make sure every book is better than the last, and I’ll also be posting reviews of my “Keeper Shelf” — those books that have been in my possession ranging up to 20 years or more, that I considered top of the tops. There’s a ton of traditional Signet Regencies on that list, but also a large number of books in other genres. Lastly, I’m sure there will be the occasional recipe or chocolate fix, or better still — little tips on living well and being happy. Because as far as I’m concerned, there is so much crappola going on in the world around us I think it’s really important when our own corner of this wonderful world is as pleasant and peaceful and smile-engendering as we can make it. That’s what I strive for– in my life, and with my stories–pleasantness and peace and contentment. All good qualities I think may sometimes be overlooked.

For several years now, I’ve attempted to update my Lair every other month or so and share all my writing news and best kitty pictures all at once but sometimes I’m woefully late. I think trying a blogging format, where I can post smaller snippets more frequently, and organize them according to topic, will prove a more efficient way to share what’s going on.

For the next few days, as I wade in a little deeper — and because Alyssa and I have a fabulous release coming out next week — I’ll be posting frequently as I get into my groove, but eventually, I’m not sure how often I’ll add things. I thought about posting just whenever I feel like it, I’ve also thought about attempting to do it on the “5’s” (i.e., on the 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th and so on…). I also might try doing it once a week, say on Thursdays…

Haven’t made up my mind yet, but I do think every single day is more ambitious than I’m up for right now, but if you have an opinion I’d love to hear it. Are you someone that enjoys going to a blog every single day? Or is once a week or twice a month good enough?

Share your preference if you have it and have a wonderful day! Larissa