The Eclipse Awards

Happy Hump Day! :)

I'm excited to announce that The Summer of '76 won 3rd place for Best Romance One-Shot in the Eclipse Awards! Someone Like You also won 3rd place for Best Angst One-Shot!

Thank you SO, SO, SO VERY MUCH to all those who nominated and voted for these! It means the world to me to know that people are even thinking about these, let alone spreading the word. If there was any way to pass out ridiculous amounts of hugs, kisses, and love via the computer, then I would do so. :)

Thank you again and CONGRATULATIONS to all the winners in the awards!

xoxo
- N.

Music from 'Home for the Holidays'

I'm not entirely sure why, but this song was pretty much playing in a loop in my head while I was writing this chapter.

Everybody talks ... And they certainly have been, especially the moms. And we know they'll continue talking.

Anyhoo, Neon Trees are awesome, give it a listen, and I hope you enjoy!

 

Visuals from 'Home for the Holidays'

I'm not sure how much I've discussed this topic before, but I pour a little bit of myself into the stories that I write. Sometimes I project myself into my characters, sometimes I put my characters in similar situations from my own life, and other times I go ahead and incorporate different pieces of my life into the stories.

That being said, it should come as no surprise that my paternal grandmother has been making snow pudding every year on Christmas for as long as I can remember. And, also no surprise, this is my single favorite food to eat every year. It certainly beats out the lutefisk that my aunts and uncles insist on having... ;)

This is just a picture of what snow pudding looks like. Below the picture, however, I've included my grandma's recipe:

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Snow Pudding

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups milk
3 egg whites
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 package frozen sweetened sliced strawberries, thawed

Mix gelatin, sugar, and water in microwave safe mixing bowl. Microwave mixture on high, stirring once, for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is boiling. Stir in the milk. Refrigerate until the mixture is just thicker than the unbeaten egg whites.

Beat the egg whites on high speed until they are foamy. Add the corn syrup to the egg whites gradually, beating until the mixture is thick enough to form mounds. Beat in the vanilla and the almond extract. Fold into the gelatin mixture. Pour the mixture into a jell-o ring mold or into a glass baking dish and cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours until the mixture is set.

Serve strawberries on the side, as some guests may not wish to put the fruit mixture on.

Edward mentions him and Bella's third date, in which she took him skating at the Rockefeller ice rink in Manhattan. A picture of the actual rink is below. Skating there is on my bucket list, unfortunately I have yet to visit the city when the ice is still frozen! Maybe this coming winter... :)

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Last, but not least -- East of Eden.

If you haven't read it yet, I recommend you do, because it's a stellar novel. I'm thinking the roles of Irish farmer and prostitute might make more sense after peeking at the pages. (If my recommendation isn't enough to push you into reading this, just remember this happens to be one of Rob's favorite books as well!) ;)

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Visuals from 'Surprise!'

As mentioned in the first chapter of Hot Commodity, Rosalie's family is what we call "old money." The wealth has been around for generations. When I was researching areas of CT where a family of this status might have a weekend home, Greenwich seemed like the natural choice. It's a rather affluent town, it's beautiful, and it's not far from the Big Apple. I came across photos of some homes in the area, and this is what I envision the Smith's Greenwich estate looking like:

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Edward's book release party took place at a trendy bar in the W hotel in Manhattan. Here's what the real-life Living Room bar looks like:

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Bella made the big announcement about Edward's upcoming book signing tour at the end of the chapter. As was mentioned, there will be a total of six cities visited on the tour itself, with the first one being Chicago. Below are photos of two more of the cities. I've provided these as a little teaser/sneak peek for everyone. I won't tell you which cities they are, you'll have to do a bit of guessing, but I'm confident everyone can figure it out... :)

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I'm still working on some fashion posts for both Mike & Laurent on Polyvore. I'll post a little heads up here and on Facebook when they're ready!


Until next time...


xoxo
- N.

Hot Commodity Chapter 14 Teaser

Here's a little taste of what's coming up in Chapter 14 of Hot Commodity...

I leaned down so my face was next to Bella’s. “Can I tell you a secret?”

She turned her head until our eyes met. “As long as you don’t expect me to keep it for very long.”

I wet my lips with my tongue and smirked. Her sass made my dick twitch. “There’s at least one member of the Swan Casualties Club present tonight as well.”

Her cheeks flushed a deep crimson color and she looked away. “I have no idea who you could be referring to.”

I slid my arm lower so it rested against her waist. I knew Irina and her gaggle were watching us, and I was almost positive we’d garnered the attention of at least a few other guests in the room, but their opinions didn’t matter to me.

“Want to get out of here?”

Her eyes met mine once more and she bit her lip. I reached up and tugged at it with my thumb, pulling it from the confines of her teeth and brushing my rough skin across it. Her breath skirted across my knuckles in an airy wisp as she said the one word I was hoping to hear.

"Yes."

- = - HC - = -

Look for the full update Wednesday! 

Hot Commodity Chapter 14 status

Hello loves! Happy Saturday! :)

I just wanted to give everyone a little update on the status of the next chapter of Hot Commodity. No, I haven't forgotten, and the chapter is about 3/4 finished. I'm leaving for a week long vacation to Tennessee on Tuesday, and because of this, I have to get my final paper for class completed and submitted before I leave.

That being said, I've had to put HC on the back burner a little bit this week. My goal is to get my final finished today and get HC finished tomorrow so darling Mel can beta it and then I can post on Monday.

In the meantime, Happy Easter to all who celebrate! I hope everyone has a beautiful holiday weekend!

xoxo
- N. 

Visuals from 'Flying Solo'

Have I mentioned that Mike Newton *might* be my favorite character in Hot Commodity? ;) I guess that means I can start with a little visual from his speech -- the dreaded f-word aka the flogger! I'm no BDSM expert, and I can't say I've ever personally used one of these, but I've seen plenty of them in adult stores. I don't know what Mike is so scared of - then again, we don't know what Caius tried to do with the flogger. Ha! Here it is:

 

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Bella brought a deliciously sweet dessert wine, Moscato, to Thanksgiving at the Whitlock house. I might have mentioned before that I'm always pumping random parts of myself into my stories, and this happens to be the traditional Thanksgiving beverage at my family celebration. For those of you who haven't heard of or tried this wine, here is my personal favorite brand:

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I've only visited Brooklyn once, and it was during one of those double decker bus tours that cheesy tourists like myself go on when we visit the city (well, at least before we've visited it enough to be seasoned). I believe all they did was take us across the Brooklyn Bridge, let us out to take pictures of the Manhattan skyline from that side of the harbor, and then we were right back on the bus again. This is quite clearly not a townhouse (at least not to my knowledge), but this is exactly how I pictured the Cullen and Whitlock residences - on top of one another. Cullens on the left, Whitlocks on the right, shared patio out back, and four stories of gloriousness with a rooftop terrace to boot:

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Some of Mike's fashion will be coming up on Polyvore with the next chapter update. :)

Until next time...

xoxo
- N.