Elizabeth Lynn Casey's Blog, page 109

If You Had To Pick

Sorry I was AWOL yesterday. I kind of unplugged over the weekend and forgot to get back into the groove when the weekend was over.

I really loved the answers to last week’s book questions so I want to pose another for today.

Buying books for another person is tough because it’s hard to really know another person’s taste. Yet, when someone is sick and in a hospital (or laid up at home), they can only get so many flowers, you know?

Books are the ultimate escape when you are stuck in bed, but how...

Field Trip!

Dear Daughter # 2 is on her way to an amusement park today with her school orchestra. They will compete in a string competition than get to enjoy the rest of their day riding rides with their friends. To say she was excited about the trip would be an understatement of epic proportions.

The second we pulled into the parking lot for the 6:30 a.m. departure, we saw the buses that have been hired for the trip. Instantly, I was transported back to the countless field trips I took as a kid over th...

Short of a Cattle Prod

I’m in the final two-and-a-half week stretch of my latest deadline and I’m starting to feel a wee bit (okay, more like a HUGE bit) stressed.

The words are coming along, but my brain seems to think I’m still in pace-myself mode…which I’m not.

So, I’m looking for some motivation techniques that might help. Anyone?

~Elizabeth

Hooked Anyway

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m not much of a TV watcher. In fact, other than Survivor (which is now over until September), an occasional Ellen (depending on whether I’m folding laundry at 4 p.m.), and a rare movie (which I almost always fall asleep while watching), I don’t even turn on the TV.

I think it’s because of the whole passive entertainment thing. After 30 minutes of sitting still, I’d rather be doing something else (even if that “something else” is sleeping).

So when I attend a...

Underneath It All

A few book questions for you today.

1) What’s the most disturbing (depressing, upsetting, unnerving–your pick) book you’ve ever read? Would you still recommend it to others?

2) What’s the most uplifting book you’ve ever read?

~Elizabeth

Six Months Out

Back in November, I shared (click hereto read that old post), mysadness about the destruction Superstorm Sandy left across my beloved Jersey Shore.

Yesterday, for Mother’s Day, I asked to goto the beach for the first time since last September. I knew the visit would be hard, but I’m also determined to never give up on a place that has meant so much to me.

So we went.

And was it ever different…

Everywhere we looked there was still so much damage. DD # 1 kept saying she didn’t understand why people...

The True Bits & Pieces

I have what I think is a fun bits & pieces so I hope you’ll all play along…

1) If you’re a parent, what’s some of your favorite mementos from your kids’ earlier years? Actual things you’ve kept that mean a lot?

2) What are a few mementos from your own life that you’ve saved?

3) If you were to bury a time capsule right now for a future generation of your family to unearth sixty years from now, what three things would you put inside to tell your story?

I love these.

~Elizabeth

Talking Titles

If you read cozy mysteries, or have even just seen them on the shelves at the bookstore, you know they almost always have pun-y titles based on a) murder/death/crime and b) the book’s overall theme.

To illustrate these pun-y titles, let’s look at the Sewing Circle titles to date: SEW DEADLY, DEATH THREADS, PINNED FOR MURDER, DEADLY NOTIONS, DANGEROUS ALTERATIONS, REAP WHAT YOU SEW, LET IT SEW (my Christmas book), and the upcoming REMNANTS OF MURDER (August 6th).

I came up with all of those exce...

On The Map

Every once in a while, I get a small brown box in the mail from the folks at Harlequin. I’ve come to recognize that the box means another foreign edition for one of my romance novels is now available and it’s really kind of fun.

Until I open that box, I have no idea which book it is and in which country it’s now available. So, needless to say, the opening process almost always entails a drum roll, or the best drum roll I can do without a drum set.

When DD # 2 came in from school yesterday, she...

Books, Books, and More Books

When you attend one of the big mystery conferences (ie, Malice and Bouchercon), you get a really cool tote bag that feels as if it is weighed down with bricks. However, a quick unzip of the bag, reveals books. Lots and lots of books–paperbacks andhard covers fromemerging authors, as well as some of thebig-shots, too.

If you drove to the conference, you can stuff the bag in your car and take the new stash home with you. If you flew, you’re left with the “how do I get these home?” question that’...