I just read Kate’s 13 Resolutions. Kate Davies is a great writer. Plus a super nice person. I did my very first Samhain chat with her back in June. I’m not ambitious as Kate so my list of resolutions is shorter. Here goes:

1.Write the book that has been in my head for some time. Because of the content, I haven’t felt ready to tackle it, but feel 2007 is the right time to work on this book. I’ve been struggling with a few of the characters and the direction I need to go with the plot.

2.Try again to get an agent. Okay, I’m copying the agent resolution from Kate.

3.Lose weight. I want to be healthier this year and think losing weight will definitely help.

4.This goes along with the above resolution but decided to break it up in two. Resume my daily walk and fit other exercise in my schedule.

5.Have each room clean and organized in the whole house at the same time. Probably not going to happen unless I get enough money to hire a cleaning lady. But I’m going to attempt to be better organized in 2007.

6.Spend more time doing things with my husband, Tom.

Speaking of Tom, I’m putting another photo from our recent vacation on here and just sorry the beach doesn’t show up in the background. The person taking it forgot to put it on the beach setting.

What are your resolutions for 2007?

I saw my first review of A Fiery Secret today. I’m so pleased with the reviewer’s comments. A Fiery Secret is my 3rd romance I wrote and special to me. Here is the review:

Once Upon A Romance’s Review Of…
A Fiery Secret by Diane Craver
onceuponaromance.net
________________________________________
Reviewer: Janet Davies
Title: A Fiery Secret
Author: Diane Craver
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: November 2006
Genre/Sub-genre: Contemporary Romance
Year/Setting: Present Day - Park City
Overall Rating: 4.0
Sexual Content Rating: None
Language (Profanity) Rating: None
Violent Content Rating: None

Catherine Steel is a smart, confident investigative reporter. She knows what she wants in life and she isn’t about to settle for less. When Jake Michaels blows back into her life, Catherine is not immune to the man and his charms. However she is not about to fall at his feet. The man did stand her up for the Prom. That’s kind of hard for a woman to forget.

Jake Michaels is not silly. He knows why Catherine is subtly flirting with him. She wants to make him know what he missed out on when he left her forlorn at that Prom. He is well aware of his loss. He is not about to be a fool the second time around. And Jake doesn’t believe for a second there is a man in Catherine’s life even though she is determined to make him believe otherwise.

Despite the attractions of Jake, Catherine has other things on her mind. She is investigating the death of nice guy Max Hartman. Was he as loveable to all or was there a dark secret that someone killed him for? Catherine goes down a trail of jealousy, paternity, secrets and blackmail in her search for the truth about Max.

But there is also a Halloween party to attend, a choice between two brothers and a woman with a gun to deal with before any happy ending. Not to mention a fantasy to fulfill with the right man.

Catherine, as a character, is interesting. She is both worldly and innocent. She is a modern, independent woman who has a career and is capable of looking after herself. But then she has some ‘old fashioned’ values that make her not want to settle for second best. However, Catherine and the book do not come across as moralistic or preachy. It’s just that Catherine has standards and makes choices based on them. So, to me, it’s not the classic chick-lit book. It has more depth than that. As for Jake, what can I say? Any man who cooks for a woman is a keeper in my books.

I like the flirtatious start to A Fiery Secret. The whole relationship between Catherine and Jake is slow and sweet. When his brother Scott is thrown into the mix you wonder what is going on and who will Catherine choose out of the two brothers. I knew who I wanted her to choose.

The whole mystery of who killed Max did not dominate the story. I liked that the character of Catherine had more in her life than just investigating. That made her more realistic in my eyes as everyone has more than one thing going on in their lives.

I believe there are a lot of different types if secrets in A Fiery Secret. Some are evil, some are wrong and some are through choice. It is a sweet, modern romance where the normal everyday complications of life meet a mystery head on. But above all, this book has a nice feel good ending that makes you smile.

Janet

I hope everyone had a great day yesterday. We certainly did and enjoyed being together for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We did the usual traditions with having holiday punch, lasagne on Christmas Eve and ham on Christmas Day, unwrapping a few gifts on Christmas Eve, and the rest on Christmas Day. We try to go to Christmas Mass together but this year a few couldn’t attend the one most of us did. Amanda, our youngest daughter, served at 5:00 Christmas Eve Mass. She did a great job as usual. Another tradition on Christmas Eve is watching a movie. My daughter, Christina, chose Surviving Christmas with Ben Affleck. We enjoyed this comedy.

We also did something different this year for our Christmas. Usually I do most of the shopping for our six children. My husband, Tom, suggested we all go to Florida and rent a condo so we could enjoy the beach for a week before Christmas. That’s what we did and our family vacation was our gift to our children this year. We went to Satellite Beach, which is about 6 miles from Cocoa Beach. I went on a lot of walks with Tom and children on the beach. The heated pool was a bit too warm the first few days and the last two days it wasn’t heated, but we still enjoyed swimming. One night while Tom, Christina, April, and Bart were enjoying playing euchre, Emily, Amanda, and I went out at night to swim. It was nice seeing the stars while we swam.

Here is a picture of the beach we went to:

I have another photo I want to put on my blog, but for some reason it isn’t importing to the site. I’ll try again later.

Did you start any new traditions this year for the holidays? Or what do you do for fun on New Year’s Eve since it’s fast approaching? Just leave a comment about an old or new tradition your family enjoys for the holiday season. I’ll draw a name out of the comments on Dec.31st at three o’clock p.m. Eastern time. The winner gets to choose a free download of my No Greater Loss ebook or my A Fiery Secret ebook.

Sela tagged me on her blog for this one.

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. junior high and high school teacher
2. state job at the Div. of Parks & Recreation
3. worked on campus at Ohio State University
4. carhop

Four Places I’ve lived:
1. Findlay, Ohio
2. Columbus, Ohio
3. Wabash, Indiana
4. Amherst, Virginia

Four favorite foods:
1. Lasagne
2. Garlic Beef Enchiladas
3. Shrimp
4. Dessert - ice cream, cheesecake, Blondie dessert at Applebee’s

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. Princess Bride
2. While You Were Sleeping
3. Back to the Future
4. The Mirror Has Two Faces

Four TV shows I enjoy:
1. Grey’s Anatomy
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Friday Night Lights
4. The Class

Four places I’ve traveled:
1. Bahamas
2. San Diego, California
3. Ocean City, Maryland
4. Canada

Four places I’d like to visit:
1. Hawaii
2. Italy
3. London
4. Australia

Four websites I go to (almost) daily:
1. Samhain
2. go to several blogs of various authors I like
3. romance sites for authors, readers, and industry professionals
4. yahoo news. I’m a news junkie.

Four people I’m tagging to do this too:
1. Ciar Cullen
2. Rebecca Goings
3. Liz Kreger
4. Stacia Wolf

I’m so thrilled right now because I received 4 cups from the Coffee Time Romance reviewer, Maura, for No Greater Loss. On their website they explain the rating system. Here is what it means when you receive 4 cups from them: “The book is a keeper. This is a very outstanding book you would like to keep to read again in the future.” Cool, huh.

Maura says, “This is a wonderful inspirational tale that manages to get the message across without getting too sentimental. There is a very good romance here with elements of suspense. The characters are very real and the reader will get to know them well as the book progresses. The two main characters are very sympathetic and very stubborn. Both have been badly hurt, but only Luke seems to be willing to change at first. I loved his determination to break down Jennifer’s barriers. The other characters are very well done and grow throughout the story. This one is definitely worth reading.

For the full review, go to Coffee Time Romance.

I think I will continue to write novels. There are days I have struggled with writing, editing, and promoting, but today it seems all worth it to know another person actually liked what I wrote.