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Category: Blog Posts

Quirky Texas: Life Size Wax Sculpture Replica of the Last Supper

Quirky Surprise in Fort Worth When I tell people that Fort Worth is home to a life size wax sculpture replica of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” the response is usually, “Huh?” followed by a puzzled laugh. After all, that’s hardly what we expect from a city that bills itself as “Where the West begins,” right? In fact, when out of town guests visit, my husband and I generally take them to see the historic stockyards. Sure, some locals turn their nose up at this, just as Seattlites often scoff at the idea of visiting the Space Needle, but…

How The Lynching of the Santa Claus Bank Robber Inspired East Texas University! #texas #crime #history

Remember that magician I met through my books? If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may recall that I made friends with a reader last year who not only lives overseas, but gave my books their first reviews on Amazon UK. Here’s a post I wrote about how Owen Lean (aka The Bachelor of Magic) and I became pen pals through my books: How I Became a Fan of My Fan! Owen is a fascinating guy; which is why Teal Gray and I interviewed him on our radio show a few weeks ago (check out the replay…

How HARO Helps Writers Out!

What is HARO? For this month’s IWSG post, I wanted to pass along a helpful tip for writers. It’s called HARO, which stands for Help a Reporter Out. I found out about HARO while standing in the lunch buffet line at DFWcon, a wonderful annual writing conference here in Texas. There were two authors standing ahead of me, Nina Amir and Harry Hall, and their conversation was so interesting that I not only joined in, but I wound up taking notes as we shuffled along! Why should writers join HARO? One tip that Nina passed along was that Harry and I…

5 Quirky Facts about Santa Claus – from Terrorism Plots to Bank Robbery

Big Santa is watching… You’ve probably been aware of Santa Claus since you were a toddler. Simply knowing a big, bearded guy at the North Pole has the OCD super power ability to not only see your every move, but to determine whether your collective annual activities should be labeled “bad” or “good,” probably even influenced your behavior from time to time. For instance, once when my nephews were 3 and 5-years-old, I overheard them squabbling in their bedroom. I was just about to step in when the older one said, “We’d better quit fighting.” “Why?” “Because Santa is watching.” Needless…

Review: Black Swan B&B in Jefferson, Texas

Relaxing Getaway If you’re looking for a relaxing getaway in east Texas, consider booking a room at the Black Swan B&B. So many of Jefferson’s restaurants, museums, parks, and stores are within easy walking distance of this charming inn that you could simply park your car when you arrive and leave it in the same spot until you’re ready to drive home! Perfectly located in the heart of Jefferson, TX My husband, Larry, and I recently stayed at the Black Swan B&B in historic Jefferson, Texas. What a treat! We were in town so I could give my Historic Cemetery Symbols talk…

Overwhelm, Dirty Dishes & How Marie Forleo Does it All!

Trying to do it all… Am I the only creative person out there who routinely bites off more than they can chew, then needs the Heimlich Maneuver to keep from choking on their overly ambitious to-do list? It’s one of those life lessons I seem destined to learn over and over again! (Do you have any life lessons like that?) Overwhelm is like dirty dishes Overwhelm is a bit like dirty dishes. You can start off with a clean, gleaming kitchen, but then someone leaves a dirty spoon in the sink, and that hardly seems worth bothering with. But then…