October 14, 2009
October 01, 2009
On A Release Day Celebration Contest!
Today’s the day I’ve been waiting for… Accidental Cinderella and An Angel in Provence hit the shelves! I can’t believe I have two books out in one month.
The best way to describe An Angel in Provence is to think Under the Tuscan Sun meets The Holiday – only set in Provence. For Accidental Cinderella, think Cinderella meets the Food Network. They’re fun reads that will take you on a mini vacation.
In celebration, I’ve decided this double release needs a special contest – so I thought I’d have a scavenger hunt. You’ll have to work a little, but the prize is worth it… a custom-made, gold-toned charm bracelet with gold Swarovski pearls. To commemorate the release of Accidental Cinderella and An Angel in Provence, I had two bracelets made; one for me and one to give away to a special reader.
- See my bookshelf over there on the right side of the page? Click on the first book - An Angel in Provence. It will take you to a page on Amazon.com that features this book. Scroll down and read the excerpt.
- After you’re finished, answer the following question: What time did Rita’s husband come into the bedroom?
- Go back to NancyRobardsThompson.com. Click on the second book on the bookshelf - Accidental Cinderella. Again, it will take you to a page on Amazon.com that features this book. Scroll down and read the excerpt.
- After you’re finished, answer the following question: What is the name of the man that Lindsay almost married?
- Hang in there. You’re almost done… the last thing you need to do is, e-mail the answers to the two questions. The e-mail address is NrobardsThompson@yahoo.com. Please include your complete mailing address – including zip code - so that I can send you the bracelet if you’re the lucky winner!
Then stay tuned… On November 1, I will notify the winner.
Thanks for joining in the fun. Cheers!
September 18, 2009
On The Romance Industry Booming Despite the Recession...
Time Magazine reports that the romance novel industry has been nearly recession proof. The magazine says that romance novels boasted nearly $1.4 billion in sales last year, and were “the largest share of the consumer book market. More than 1 out of 4 books sold is a romance.” Read the complete story here: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1921627,00.html?artId=1921627?contType=article?chn=bizTech
September 17, 2009
I'm blogging today at Sisterhood of the Jaunty Quills
Please stop by and learn more about my October releases and how you could win a custom-made bracelet.
September 07, 2009
Oh things that make me happy...
Maybe it's the insufferable Florida heat... Maybe it's because I've been washing my hands more than usual to keep from getting the ick that's being passed around, but all of a sudden, my hands and cuticles were a dry, painful mess. I tried a multitude of products and the one that seemed to work best was Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme. Just one little dab cured my hangnails and dry nail beds. Thanks, Burt!
August 31, 2009
On revisiting old formats...
When I first started blogging, I had a theme for each day of the week (Monday-Friday). Somehow, that got lost along the way. I've decided to try that again. So... Welcome to "Delicious Monday" !
The other night I felt ambitious and decided to make homemade pasta. Thanks to modern machinery, it was a lot easier than it sounds and the results were superb, if I do say so myself.
Pasta recipe:
2 cups of flour (I used 1 cup of all-purpose and 1 cup of semolina).
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. Olive oil
2 Eggs
Water
Put the two beaten eggs into a 1 cup measuring cup, add the olive oil and then fill the rest of the measuring cup with water. You can always add more water if the dough is too dry.
Next I put the flour and salt into the machine’s mixing container and set it to mix. Then, the trick was to add the egg/oil/water mixture very slowly, one-third at a time. That way the dough mixed evenly. This took about three or four minutes – and I did have to add just a bit of extra water to get it to the proper “crumble” consistency (where the mixture had clumps the size of peas that, when pressed together, formed a dough that wasn’t too wet or too crumbly).
Once it reached “crumble” consistency, I set the machine to extrude the pasta.
It was that easy.
We topped it with homemade pesto:
2 cups of basil, leaves only, washed and dried
3 medium cloves of garlic
¾ cup raw pine nuts
1 cup freshly grated, loosely packed Parmigiano-Reggiano 4 tablespoons of extra-virgin Olive oil (add more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Pulse garlic in a food processor until finely chopped, then add nuts, cheese, a large handful of basil, and pepper and process until chopped. Add remaining basil one handful at a time, pulsing after each addition, until finely chopped. With motor running, add oil and blend until incorporated.
August 28, 2009
On Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
This is reposed from The Writer's Almanac :
It's the birthday of the father of German literature, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe born in Frankfurt (1749), the author of the epic drama Faust.
He moved to Italy in 1786, and when he returned to Germany in 1788, he fell in love with a woman from Weimer, Christiane Vulpius, a 23-year-old who was 16 years his junior. That year, he wrote her an epithalamium, a specific type of poem written for a bride on the way to the marital chamber. But he didn't actually marry her; instead, the couple lived together for 18 years unwed.
They were still living together in 1806, unmarried and with children, when Napoleon's French soldiers came and broke into their home in Weimer one evening. The soldiers were drunk, and the esteemed Goethe was in his nightgown. He came downstairs and talked them into leaving. But later that night, the soldiers returned to the house and brandishing their bayonets, the soldiers marched into the bedroom of Goethe and his mistress. Goethe was terrified, but Christiane started shouting at the soldiers, fending them off in hand-to-hand combat, and protecting the bewildered man of the house. After a prolonged skirmish, she pushed them out of the house and barricaded the kitchen and the cellar so the soldiers couldn't try to steal any more of their food. Grateful to the brave and steadfast woman who'd saved his life and home, Goethe went down to a church the very next day and married her, his live-in girlfriend of 18 years.
August 27, 2009
On the power for FOUR...
This is something fun that sometimes makes its way around cyber space. I thought I’d give it a go…
Four jobs I’ve had:
1. News paper reporter
2. Public relations professional
3. Cosmetics counter girl
4. Stand-in on the New Mickey Mouse Club (the season right before Britney Spears; Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera; et al.)
Four movies I have watched more than once:
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. 13 Going on 30
3. Chocolat
4. The Sound of Music
Four places I have lived:
1. Elk City, OK
2. Orlando, FL
3. France
4. England
Four of my favorite foods:
1. Thai curry
2. Chocolate
3. Crab legs and lobster
4. Slow simmered spaghetti bolognaise
Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Paris
2. Lost in a good book
3. Hiking in North Carolina.
4. This is difficult because I really love where I am…
Four things I am looking forward to this year:
l. Finishing my work in progress
2. Starting new projects
3. The release of TWO new books in October (Accidental Cinderella and An Angel in Provence)
4. My quest to watch every episode in the 9 seasons of Seinfeld
Four TV shows that I love:
1. The Office
2. 30 Rock
3. Project Runway
4. Various cooking and travel shows
Now it’s your turn. Tell me about you!
August 26, 2009
August 25, 2009
Bookshelf
Nancy Robards Thompson: Accidental Cinderella (Silhouette Special Edition)
Nancy Robards Thompson: Accidental Princess (Silhouette Special Edition)
Nancy Thompson: True Confessions Of The Stratford Park PTA (Harlequin Next)
Nancy Robards Thompson: What Happens In Paris (Stays In Paris?)
Nancy Robards Thompson: Out With The Old, In With The New (Next Tall)
