Recently a friend shared a “nightmare” homecoming date story that her daughter endured.  The boy didn’t bring her a corsage, though she was ready with a buttonaire.  He didn’t drive in the limo to the Pre-Party hosted at a parent’s house - to take pictures.  The girl had to take pics without her date. When he showed up at the dance, he wasn’t around for the professional photos taken there and as he danced with his date for two pathetic dances, he was texting another girl.  Then he informed her he wouldn’t be driving in their limo, since he was invited to a different party and he’d go in that limo. At lastly, the poor girl lost her shoes!  Someone had moved them while she was dancing - they were later found.  So she returned home, without her date and no shoes. As a parent I was appalled to hear this story. Don’t worry, the gal’s mother called the boy’s parents and gave them a piece of her mind.  The boy eventually called with an apology - too little, too late.

Since we love romance, we often fantastize about today’s man and how he behaves.  Which brought up the question about this generation of men and are women demanding less of men these days?

Here’s a list from AskMen.com that I came upon.

What Women Want from Men:

Return her messages

Many women gauge a man’s interest level by how long it takes him to respond when she contacts him. If his response time is poor, she might assume he’s just not that into her. Now, it’s no secret that women and men have differing opinions on what constitutes good communication, and we’re not saying you need to drop everything the minute she calls. She knows you’re a busy man; she’s busy too. What women want from men is a call back as soon as they’re able, as opposed to sometime the following day. This doesn’t mean you have to send an e-mail or a text of epic proportions if you don’t have time; a sentence or two will suffice to make her feel like you care — which is all she really wants to know.

Kiss her for no reason

As much as they love sex, women also enjoy a nice, deep kiss that doesn’t have any strings attached. This serves two purposes: It lets her indulge in kissing for the sheer pleasure of it, and it also tells her you want her, and not just sex. Yes, you’re charming and sexy and she loves being naughty for you, but sometimes she needs a different type of connection. To really do what women want from men, try a surprise kiss for no reason at all; she’ll love you for it. Combine this with a little hand-holding and she’ll be smiling for days.

Dance with her

Simply put, dancing with a woman makes her feel special. Unfortunately, most men are reluctant to put their dancing shoes on, especially in a public setting. Guess what? While she’d probably welcome the idea, you don’t need to visit a nightclub to dance with your woman. She’ll be just as thrilled if you slipped a little Marvin Gaye on and danced with her in the living room. This would actually be to your advantage, as you have total control over the music. You’re also conveniently located if the dancing starts to get dirty…

Dress up for her

Dressing up to take your woman out is an excellent way to impress her. It’s not about the clothes; it’s about the fact that you find her worth dressing up for. It lets her know that you think she’s worth that kind of effort. Besides, a nice shirt and dress pants can increase your sex appeal by leaps and bounds; you may feel overdressed, but your hotness factor will have magnified exponentially. It’s true what they say: Women really do love a sharp-dressed man.

Remember random milestones

As a rule, birthdays and anniversaries should always be remembered; forgetting something of this magnitude will send the message that you don’t find her terribly important. After all, she probably memorized yours early on in the relationship, so if hers goes unnoticed, she’ll be utterly heartbroken. Here’s how to do what women want from men: To truly impress her, aim to remember the insignificant dates, as well as the big ones. The first time you told her you loved her, the first time you kissed, the first place you vacationed together, what she was wearing the first time you met — any one of these will turn her to jelly and score you more bonus points than you can shake a stick at.

Take on an activity with her

What women want from men is to spend time with their man outside of the bedroom. They want to experience life with their man, and this is one of the best ways to develop a three-dimensional relationship.  Don’t worry; we’re not recommending you join her yoga class; rock-climbing, hiking, tennis or cycling are activities both of you can enjoy. If neither of you are the sporty type, try something else that you already excel at. Teach her how to swing a 9-iron or to shoot pool — she’ll love the personalized attention.

Propose a visit to her family

Women love it when a man gets along with her friends, but she simply adores it when he gets along with her family. Even if you’re not particularly fond of her busybody mother and father, suggesting a visit (even just a yearly one) can really make your woman’s day. It lets her know you recognize the importance of family. This is truly the kind of suggestion that leads to a warm and fuzzy feeling, so don’t be afraid to suggest it.

So, is this what women really want from men?  Do you agree with this list.  What’s on your list?  What would you add or change on this list?  

We’ll be making an announcement on Wednesday, so please check back, y’hear?

We’ve spent the past few months celebrating our fun here in Wildflower Junction, and we’re itchin’ to draw the lucky winner of our first HUGE contest! 

If you haven’t already entered to win a gift box filled to the gills with our Wildflower Bouquet of books–signed by each one of the Founding Fillies–along with some yummy western goodies to boot, enter NOW!

Just go to our Primrose News Office page.

Or enter here!!

One entry per person please!

Contest ends on November 30th!

Note:  If you’d like to be added to our individual mailing lists, simply post a YES in the contest form when you enter.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Mine was twice as festive, as my mother’s birthday landed on Thanksgiving this year. We had a lovely day, and as usually happens on this day of festive family dining, by the time the stuffing has cooled and pies are cut, conversations tend to drift to holiday shopping, Day-After-Thanksgiving sales–and the onset of the Holiday Season has officially arrived.  Somehow, I always feel as though I’m starting out behind.  I have friends and relatives who begin their holiday planning and shopping way back in August, while I, at this point, have hardly thought past carving the turkey.  It does seem fitting that the holiday hustles begin with a day of rest and nourishment, especially for those who partake in the early-morning Day-After-Thanksgiving sales. I ventured out into that morning madness only once. Oh my goodness…I wasn’t sure wading through the masses of sleep-deprived holiday shoppers was worth any additional savings. In fact, I decided I’d rather stay home and put up a Christmas tree 

Growing up, it wasn’t uncommon in our house to set up the Christmas tree Thanksgiving night or the following day. My older brother having asthma, our tree was artificial so setting up the tree was always a fun family project of sorting limbs and sticking them in place. Last year, my hubby’s allergies put an end to our fresh-tree tradition, and I find I’m destined to follow my mom’s tradition, so my men and I will be brightening our living room today with tree and lights. As for the holiday shopping, over the past few years my hubby and I have narrowed the shopping part down to two days–our initial shopping trip sometime during the second week of December where we do our best to grab everything on our list and wrap it that night–and then a quick trip for everything we’ve realized we’d forgotten.  Whenever I try to do that early-buying, preplanning stuff, I tend to forget what I bought and find gifts at the back of my closet sometime in April…which leads to gloves and stocking hats in Easter baskets   

So, how are you faring on this first day of post Thanksgiving holiday preparations?  Any braving the After-Thanksgiving-Day crowds?

My holiday season has gotten off to an extra bright start–earlier this week, after turning in my fourth western historical, I accepted an offer to write four more westerns for Harlequin Historical–one of which will be a Spring Bride anthology in June ‘09.  I’m excited!  I’ve also launched a new look for my website–stop in and take a look around if you get a chance.

Because their belt buckles were on their shoes.

In the United States, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.  Until I was on email lists with Canadian and United Kingdom authors, I never gave much thought to the differences in the holidays we celebrate and the way we celebrate them.  In Canada, Thanksgiving has already come and gone, and it’s referred to there as Box Day.  It has to do with giving away food.  Maybe one of our readers can explain better. 

Did you know that besides America and Canada, six other nations also celebrate an official Thanksgiving Day? Those nations are Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Liberia, and Switzerland. Just today the young man who does my nails told me he would be eating at his brother’s home, and they would be cooking turkey Vietnamese style, cut up and served with vegetables. Traditions are a big part of the US Thanksgiving holiday, and the styles of celebration are as diverse and the families who make up our country. 

From the first Thanksgiving to today’s turkey burgers, turkeys are an American tradition dating back centuries. According to the National Turkey Federation, 95 percent of Americans eat turkey at Thanksgiving. Regional twists offer variations on the traditional roasted bird, including coffee rubbed turkey from Hawaii, salt encrusted turkey from New England, and deep-fried turkey from the South. 

Throughout the United States, football on Thanksgiving Day is as big a part of the celebration as turkey and pumpkin pie. Dating back to the first intercollegiate football championship held on Thanksgiving Day in 1876, traditional holiday football rivalries have become so popular that a reporter once called Thanksgiving “a holiday granted by the State and the Nation to see a game of football.” 

The first American Thanksgiving Day parade was held in 1920, organized by Gimbel’s Department Store in Philadelphia, not Macy’s as most people believe. The NYC Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade tradition actually began in 1924, and has grown into an annual event of balloons, bands, and floats, enjoyed by more than 46 million people each year in person and on TV. 

Does your family fight over the wishbone from the Thanksgiving turkey? Known as a “lucky break” the tradition of tugging on either end of a fowl’s bone to win the larger piece and its accompanying “wish” dates back to the Etruscans of 322 B.C. The Romans brought the tradition with them when they conquered England and the English colonists carried the tradition on to America.  

For me, having the entire family together is the best part of Thanksgiving.  My family has evolved however.  It used to be my parents and my brothers and all my kids getting together.  Now my brothers have their own families, my dad’s gone, and my mom takes turns between her children’s homes, so our family dinner involves my children and their spouses and all of their children, and sometimes friends or other relatives. 

For a good many years I hosted the event and cooked most of the food, but for the past few years we’ve gathered at my oldest daughters’.  I’m still required to bring sweet potatoes, cranberry relish and pies.  We start out early so we have the entire day together.  The females gather in the kitchen to peel potatoes and gab.  The cousins do what cousins do and enjoy each other’s company, while the guys check out the football games.  No matter how cold it is, there’s usually a live basketball or football game - I’m a great cheerleader and photographer. 

After dinner, there are the Friday sale ads to read (the Friday after Thanksgiving is the hugest US shopping day of the year) and we usually set up board games beside the pumpkin and pecan pies and peanut butter balls.

Last, but certainly not least, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for the people and blessings of the past year. From pre-meal prayers to providing holiday meals to the homeless, the holiday is truly a celebration of praise and thanksgiving. 

From all of us at Petticoats and Pistols, we want to thank you authors and readers for helping us launch our site and for being part of its success.  We appreciate you and your devotion to western romances and all aspects of these cowboys!  We’re thankful for your interest, comments, the links and referrals, and we’re grateful to be part of your lives. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Though the Pilgrims could never have envisioned it as such, Thanksgiving is the calm before the storm. A day set aside to reflect on our blessings and bounties before the craziness of the Christmas holidays hit.

I’m fortunate to have all our daughters living here in our city, and we get together every Sunday for a big family dinner, without fail, which my husband and I absolutely treasure. But as my family grows with grandbabies and sons-in-law, I’m feeling the need to establish some traditions apart from those we had with my own parents. A special day and meal to stand out from the 52 Sunday meals we already share.

Thanksgiving tradition comes in many varieties for many families, but it’s perhaps most meaningful of all to the children.

Here’s a few tradition ideas that I’ve found delightful:

**The week before, make a Thanksgiving Tree. Draw a large tree trunk and branches on poster board. You could even use a small *real* tree branch. Attach to a door or wall. Make construction paper leaves out of fall colors. On the days before Thanksgiving, have everyone in the family write something they’re thankful for. Attach to the tree each day. What a great display of all our blessings!

**If you’re like me, Thanksgiving is the day to lay out a beautiful table with china, tablecloth and lit candles. However, children can lend their touch with ‘Sugar Cone Cornucopias’ which will keep little hands busy while waiting for guests to arrive. These could even be used as name cards if you wish. Simply take sugar cones and decorate with fruit candies. Tie a ribbon around the opening of the cone and write guest names on using store-bought decorator icing. Place paper doilies over saucers, set the cone on top, and fill with candies such as candy corn, citrus slices or raspbelly jellies.

**Designate a special tablecloth to use during each Thanksgiving dinner. Provide fabric markers and have each guest write a message or something they’re thankful for. Be sure to date each message!

 **This one is an absolute must at our house.  Talk about what you’re thankful for!  Everyone gets a turn to say something, and when my daughters were younger, they’d groan about it, but invariably, by the time we’ve gone around the table, there’s nary a dry eye left.

**Instead of joining a gazillion shoppers the day after, have Family Friday. Stay home, play games, watch a movie together. Enjoy those you love most without the distractions of the outside world. Make Mexican or bring in pizza. Something different than turkey. Those leftovers will keep!

These are just a few tradition ideas that will help make Thanksgiving even more special. 

Do you have any you’d like to share?  I’d love to hear them!

Have a wonderful, blessed holiday tomorrow!

Sitting in my comfortable home with plenty of food just a few steps away, it’s hard for me to imagine the hardships of the early pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock November, 1620. The conditions must’ve been horrendous, both on the Mayflower and in carving out a settlement in the dead of winter.

One hundred and two passengers set sail from England in a cramped ship that had little room for breathing, much less eating and sleeping. One adult male died enroute.  But one child was born during the long voyage, a baby boy who was named Oceanus.   

An unmarried passenger, John Howland, fell overboard during the voyage and was miraculously rescued. Here’s an odd fact—if he had drowned, we wouldn’t have had President George Bush Sr., President George W. Bush, President Teddy Roosevelt’s first lady, or Humphrey Bogart. They directly descended from John Howland. How wild is that? I’ve always heard that only six degrees separates each of us. Must be true. Five years after arriving in Plymouth, John married Elizabeth Tilly who had lost both parents within a few months of landing. John and Elizabeth ended up siring ten children and 82 grandchildren before they died.   

Also John Alden, another on board, was a descendant of John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Vice President Dan Quayle. Seems these pilgrims contributed quite a lot to the presidential office!  

But back to their arrival in November, 1620, you can imagine how glad they must’ve been to have seen land. I know how squirmy I get in the car during a four hour trip. These people endured 66 days of nothing but water and pounding, gigantic waves. Most of the time, seawater soaked their bedding and clothing. It would’ve been extremely difficult to stay dry. Seeing that shoreline could only have renewed their hope. They just didn’t know what lay in store for them and how much strength and determination it would take.  

In four months over half of them died. By March only 47 colonists were left. By the time they saw November, only four adult women out of eighteen who started out had survived. It’s a proven fact that none of the colonists would have made it if it hadn’t been for the generosity and compassion of the Native Americans who provided food and taught them how to live off the land. Oh, the thanks the settlers must’ve given!  

In November of 1621, Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony declared a day of Thanksgiving and prayer to celebrate the pilgrim’s first harvest and that was our first Thanksgiving.

From written account, they had roasted venison, turkey that was probably boiled or stewed. And for vegetables, squashes, carrots, cabbages and onions. They had no potatoes at that time. Corn was probably in the form of meal and not on the cob and used to make bread. Pumpkin, if they had it, was cooked into a pudding and not made into a pie. Honey and maple syrup was the only sweetener available. They had no cranberry sauce either. It wasn’t the most scrumptious feast, but I’m sure they were grateful for each morsel.

It wasn’t until November 26, 1789 that George Washington proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving. But, the holiday wasn’t widely observed on the same day. States had wide latitude on which day they wanted to celebrate it. President Abraham Lincoln made it an annual holiday in 1863 and it was observed on the fifth Thursday in November. Then for three years, President Franklin Roosevelt moved it to the third Thursday. But after much uproar, Congress and the president anchored it officially on the fourth Thursday and that’s where it’s remained ever since.  

Now we get to celebrate it again this Thursday. I hope when we sit down to our heavily-laden table that we remember the pilgrims and their Native American friends—their sacrifices and the resiliency of the human spirit. It’s a time to give thanks for what we have and a time to remember our service men and women who are far from home.

I’m thankful for freedom to come and go as I wish, for the food I eat, and especially for the love of family and friends. What are you thankful for?

My love for the west comes naturally, though I have never lived there. My father’s family homesteaded in Arizona (he was two), and I grew up on his family tales and those of my uncles. The most cherished volume in my library is a history — written by my Uncle Morgan –of those homesteading days.

He was a superb salesman as well as a man of many other talents and though I believe his “history” is the only volume he wrote, it is a fascinating and wonderfully written glimpse of the west by a young boy, a teenager and a young adult.

Writing seems to be part of the Potter genes. My grandmother wrote poems and greeting card verses in the early part of the twentieth century, and her mother too was a writer. One uncle was a foreign correspondent, and the other wrote this very readable story of early days in and near Bisbee, Arizona.

But I digress. I picked up the “Potter” history the other day and did nothing for the next day but read again and relish. I thought I would share a few of the stories with you.

My favorite came as my grandfather was moving his family from a comfortable home in Minneapolis to Arizona where wealth and prosperity waited. It was the siren call to the male species that sent so many risking lives and fortunes to travel west.

In this case, they went by train, not covered wagon, but my grandmother’s reaction to the journey was the same as many of the accounts I’ve read of the woman’s view of the journey west.

“It was about noon when we reached the half way point where the future Potter ranch was to be located, and Will (my grandfather) wanted Minnie (my grandmother) to see the Paradise that he had promised her back in Minneapolis a month or two ago; so he had her come out and stand with him on the porch of the caboose so he could point out the landmark he had remembered; and just where he was going to build the most beautiful ranch house she could envision.

“As the train approached the white post designating Heckle (a whistlestop near his proposed ranch), Dad spied the mesa jutting out from the mountains on the right. He said, ‘Look, Minnie. That’s where we are going to live. We’ll . . .

“End of quote, as Mother, being pent up with trepidation during the last few days of gawking through dusty windows and without a bath in God knows how long, threw out her arms in dismay and wailed, ‘Oh, Will, not this! You mean you sold our beautiful home in Minneapolis with its beautiful parks and lakes to come out here to this desert with scarcely a tree?’ With that, her arms still outstretched, her purse strap broke, and all the family valuables, as she was our treasurer, went flying down the roadway, fading from sight as the train finally came to a step about a half mile down the track when the Conductor pulled the emergency signal, warning the engineer to stop.”
The train couldn’t wait, so they put my grandfather off the train, “with Mother in tears, whether in anger or sorrow at the calamity she had caused.”

The story had a happy ending, in that my grandfather found the purse, and also spied a tent a mile off the railroad. A family of homesteaders lived there and drove Dad to the nearest town.

There are so many other stories recounted in the family history. My uncle recounted his first glimpse at what was going to be his father’s “empire,” traveling with him for miles on an overloaded wagon over land with no roads to the ‘homestead.’ A beautiful place, according to my uncle. “We gazed over the beauty of the desert in bloom with spring flowers, cacti, mesquite, grey-green bunch grass, flowing with the slight breeze that stirred up occasional ‘devil’s chariots’ as Dad called the small whirlwinds of dust.”

Then they discovered a slight problem. No water.

On a neighbor’s advice, they finally found water by going to a steep, dry river bed and digging a hole about a foot or two deep. They had to wait a few minute for the hole to fill with water before they could bail it out.

Undaunted, they filled up barrels and returned to the homesite. It was a journey often made in the next months. But the two of them started to build their home while Minnie remained in town with two younger sons. At the end of the first week, my uncle – then eleven – reported being tired but happy. “A few unexpected callouses on our hands, backaches from sleeping on the hard ground, a few burns from handling hot pans, and sunburns turning to healthy tans were the only casualties. We had killed a few rattlesnakes, scorpions and one Gila monster. We were learning the facts of life in the west. As we lay on our blankets at night, the sun setting in a fiery blaze, being quenched as it sunk behind the buttes, we couldn’t fail to fall in love – I did, not with a gal, but with the west.”

It didn’t go exactly as planned. A home was built by my grandfather and eleven-year-old uncle, but my grandfather’s dream of an empire never materialized. The land was too dry for farming or ranching. An attempt to find gold failed. Eventually my grandfather had to find a job in a town named Safford. Temporarily defeated, they moved back to Minneapolis but eventually returned to Bisbee, Arizona where my grandfather worked for the mining company and built houses. The Arizona bug had bitten hard.

They never returned to their little house in the desert, but the stories while there are many and colorful. And my grandmother who was so horrified at seeing the desert that was to become her home wrote this poem on leaving it:

“I sit in my humble doorway,
But I’m richer far than most,
For my doorway reaches to the skies,
Which is more than others boast.

And my air is undiluted
By dust and soot and smoke,
And my sun spilled down unhampered
When the golden morning broke.

Ah, men have cluttered the city
But God leaves the desert free,
Free for the healing of body and soul,
With only Himself and me.”

Many thanks for the kind comments about Maxi. 

Here’s a picture I’d love to share with everyone!

I’m sorry for getting this out late, but on November 15, 2007 I had to put my beloved Labrador retriever, Maxine, to sleep. She’d been in our family for twelve years. The cancer she had returned with a vengeance over six months, and the past week had been too much of a strain on the poor girl. On the advice of her vet, we decided to end her suffering.Maxi had been my loyal friend, an inspiration for my writing, and a constant companion when I sat down to write. She reminded me to take time out to play, to take walks, and to dream.

When I wrote my first book, Angels Among Us, a paranormal romance, I based my heroine’s canine companion Baxter, a yellow Labrador retriever, on Maxi. Her loyalty, protectiveness, and zaniness provided material for Baxter’s personality. He added a touch of humor to the suspense created for the heroine, Kay Lassiter, and her guardian angel, Eviance Angelique, who helped her solve the mystery of her parents’ deaths as well as the threats presented by a former murderer. Baxter also helped Eviance to rekindle the romance between Kay and her brother’s best friend, Jake O’Malley, the proverbial “boy next door”.

Wildflowers, a western historical romance published in June 2007, animals are part of the cast of characters.  Ryan Majors, the book’s reluctant hero, a mountain man turned trail guide, has a close friendship with his faithful horse, Daisy. His half Native American background provided him with the skills and talents useful for leading a wagon party to the Oregon

My interest in the pioneer era, the Native Americans, a love of horses (I’ve ridden out West –Oklahoma and the Canadian Rockies and here in the East), added to the plot and the characters of the book. Having Maxi in the family made me realize the special role of pets in our lives. Consciously or unconsciously I’ve included animals in some way in all my books. They provide a touch of humor, add to the suspense, or show us how to be better characters ourselves. You can read more about Angels Among Us or Wildflowers at the publisher’s web site, www.wings-press.com or at my web site www.cag06angel.com