Julia Barrett's World

My husband took the morning off and we went hiking, pretty early, like at seven a.m. and we were talking about the problems with the Prius.  You see, he almost bought one recently after his car was totaled in a freeway collision.  I put the cabosh on the Prius.  Why?  Well…I’d driven one when they first came out and I thought it was okay, but these new cars are kind of scary high tech distracting and I knew my husband would get killed while trying to figure out what his dash board was saying to him.  So we went with a Honda Civic hybrid.  No, I’m not getting paid to say this…

So anyway, we were talking about the guy whose car ran away with him in SoCal and how frightened he must have been and I commented, well, at least he wouldn’t run out of gas.  My husband burst out laughing!  Yes, he said, What an ad campaign!  Buy a Prius!  You may be going a hundred and twenty miles an hour but you can drive for seven hundred miles on one tank of gas!

I’m one of those people who love Toyotas, but I did have a problem with my Highlander – that stinking carpet thingy under my gas pedal got stuck and I couldn’t brake when I needed to.  Nearly got me killed a few years ago.  I didn’t know there had been a recall so I just threw the thing out of my car.

Anyway, poor guy!  I’m glad he’s okay.  The car is so complicated that I’m not quite sure why you can’t just put the transmission in neutral or even if you can.  Yiii!

Mia Watts has some hunks on her blog – check them out!   Yum!  We both love Gerard Butler.  He’s such a guy!

http://miawatts.blogspot.com/

I made a big pot of Peace and Happiness Chili last night.  No matter how I change it up from time to time, there’s just something about that chili that makes you feel so happy and peaceful.  It’s weird.  Let me know if you want the general recipe and you all can personalize it.

In other news:  A poor wolverine is looking for love…we actually have a lone wolverine in California where wolverines haven’t been seen in 100 years.  He’s looking for a mate.  Hugh Jackson, where are you when your species needs help?

And from the University of Chicago and the NIH, this jewel – men and women don’t generally have sex after 70.  Waaaa!  Hubby came to me last night and said – Get it while you can because in thirty years or so…no more!  You’re cut off!  By the age of 55, men have an average sexual life expectancy of 15 years, women …oooh!….25.  Really?  Now that’s a Cougar!  Healthy men and women can extend that a bit – another reason to work out, baby!

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Yeah, some days it’s like that!

Rebecca at Dirty Sexy Books wrote a genius piece back on February 23 entitled -

The Ten Biggest Mistakes Authors Make On Their Websites.

You can check it out here:  (and I asked her permission to quote her, thanks Rebecca!)

http://www.dirtysexybooks.com/Dirty_Sexy_Books/Home/Entries/2010/2/23_The_Ten_Biggest_Mistakes_Authors_Make_on_Their_Websites.html

The first mistake she mentions is the lack of a website.  I have to agree.  In this internet age I’m shocked when I try to find information about an author and her books and google turns up bupkiss!

The second mistake?  No blog.  She’s right – every single day isn’t necessary but a once a week would be nice.  I do get frustrated when I hope to hear what other authors are up to and they have a site, but the last post was a year ago.  Where are you, my friend?

Uh-oh, the third mistake is to bury our stuff under a nest of links.  Guilty as charged?  I try to keep my links to the side but sometimes I wonder if I have too many – but I love those links!  Each one means something to me.  I’ll try to keep in mind, simplify and minimize!

Fourth – link bait for bloggers – Ladies, we need a hook so bloggers find us interesting, you know, like a freebie, a short story that ties into our upcoming release, a freebie for readers and fans.  Okay – workin’ on it!

Five – ignoring your website – that kind of ties in with Mistake Number Two.

Six?  A picture of myself?  Are you effin’ crazy?  I have deep and abiding personal reasons for NOT having a photo.  I do have an icon.  I know it’s not exactly me, but my icon is a smiling redhead, like me!  If you read Captured, you know what I look like and you know what kind of potty mouth I have.

Seven is very important, IMO.  Mistake Seven – They don’t promote anyone but themselves.    This one is of such significance that I think I’ll quote it in its entirety:

Your website is one of your best marketing tools, and so this statement might seem counterproductive, but don’t always talk about yourself.  That’s right, talk about other books, places, and people too.  It’s uncomfortable to visit a site that sells itself too hard, so to avoid that trap, spend some time promoting your favorite authors.  I love to visit Charlaine Harris’s website because she blogs about what she’s reading every few weeks.  Maybe you’re wondering, what if I read something that stinks like a road-kill skunk?  Then preserve your reputation and don’t mention it (let an asshole like me stomp on it), but be sure to give props to the books that you DO like.

Mistake number Eight – We forget to mention and/or link to the reviewers who review our books.  Rebecca suggests a separate review page that contains links to all our book reviews.  Again – workin’ on it!

Number Nine – Author’s don’t interact with their fans.  Well, I do and most authors I know do.  My fans are precious to me.  If they take the time to comment or email me, I will reply.  I’ve been on the non-receiving end.  I’ve written to authors to tell them how much I enjoyed their books and I never hear, so…their books come to mean less to me.  On the other hand, when an author responds, his/her books come to mean a great deal more.

Last but not least – Number Ten – We don’t offer a high-resolution image of the cover.  Sorry, my website won’t always support a high res cover image and I suck at sizing.  Some authors are really savvy.  They know exactly how to fix these things and they are on my most admired list.

I am terrible when it comes to taking advice – stubborn, headstrong, impulsive, but Rebecca has made some excellent points.  I’m trying to learn how to learn when it comes to this blogging stuff.  Thanks!

In other news – Beauty and the Feast - waiting for your recipes and go visit with the delightfully irreverent Chris and her kitties at Stumbling Over Chaos to see how to win a copy.  http://www.stumblingoverchaos.com/

Brynn Paulin is hosting me over at Wednesday Wonder Writers:  http://brynnpaulin.blogspot.com/

Stop by!

Author Donna George Storey has a great little novella in The Cougar Book – Comfort Food.  I have a copy of the book to give away, signed by me cuz I have a story in there too – great minds think alike!  Speaking of websites, here’s hers -

http://www.donnageorgestorey.com/

Okay, done for the day!  Julia

P.S.  Just finished:  Game Change.  Just started:  The Lady in the Tower.

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Good God in heaven I’m tired!  I’ve spent the day finishing up Book Four of Daughters of Persephone - Tempus Fugit, Time Flees.  Bloody exhausting and exhilarating at the same time!  Of course, I only have the cover for Books One and Two, but it, the cover, that is, bears repeating.  Or perhaps bares repeating.  I do love that cover, so Dune-ish in a hot naked guy butt sort of way.

So…news…Chris at Stumbling Over Chaos is stumbling over Beauty and the Feast, my upcoming contemporary romance from Resplendence.

http://www.stumblingoverchaos.com/

Stop over there and check things out – I’ll be giving away a free copy of this delicious, smoking hot romance.

I’m still running my recipe contest here – I’ve tried Lil’s bacon-inspired croissant sandwiches, Jen’s black pepper parmesan biscotti and Dana’s Lemon Cheesecake and so far, we’re on a big hitting streak!  Leave your recipe and you might win a copy of Beauty and the Feast.  My contest runs until April 1.

In other news, Tessie Bradford’s fabulous book, Possessing Eleanor, comes out today with Resplendence as does The Devil to Pay, by Pamela Labud – buy link:

http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/

Okelie dokelie – ’nuff for tonight.

Oh gosh!  Over at Author Island in the Tiki Hut with my excerpt from Logical Lust’s The Cougar Book today.  I would love to have you drop in!  http://authorislandtikihut.blogspot.com/

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I got a great recipe for Lemon Cheesecake from Craftydana – check out her link on my interesting sites list.  Yummy cheesecake!  Remember, you can win a copy of my upcoming Contemporary, Beauty and the Feast, by submitting a sexy recipe – the contests will last until April 1.  Project Bacon, also on my links, suggested a great sandwich yesterday so we tried it with phacon instead of bacon, being the devoted lacto-ovo vegetarians that we are.  Honey, that sandwich was one of the high points of my culinary life.  It is hellaciously good!

Larissa gave me a wonderful review of Captured and she hasn’t read much science fiction – here’s the link:  lala’s book corner – http://www.larissaslife.com/

She says, “I loved the growth both characters go through and how much they teach each other and come to rely in one another. It’s a beautiful love story and both Ekkatt and Mari are great leading characters and sooooo hot together.”

I better gear up to write a sequel because that’s what everyone is asking for, including Larissa.  C’mon brain, dream!  Dream!

Ooh!  In other news, Captured received a Recommended Read from Dark Diva Reviews.  I am thrilled.  Thanks, Stacey!

Stacey’s Review: Julia Barrett created a unique, new world and plot with Captured. The characters were so well fleshed that I became a part of their lives and never wanted the book to end.

Mari is a strong female lead. Despite the tragedies of her past and being forcibly taken to a new planet as human meat, she remains upbeat and in control. I could relate to her: from her feelings after waking up naked in a cage, to wanting a seemingly impossible future with her alien lover. She’s a rough-around-the-edges woman that you have to root for!

Ekkatt is conservative and traditional with a heart of gold. His life progresses smoothly until he captures Mari. With her flaming red hair and large dragon tattoo, he is drawn to her. She questions everything happening to her on the voyage to his planet and forces him to acknowledge that humans are not mindless animals. He risks everything to help the little earthling and soon becomes enchanted by her feisty personality.

The sex is hot, and Ekkatt is certainly one alien to be desired! Nothing is rushed between the two, but progresses naturally and believably. I’m skeptical to even call this an erotic read because the book doesn’t use sex as a crutch at all. The plot is strong and stands alone. The dialogue is laugh-out-loud funny, at times, and always true to the characters.

Even after finishing the book, I had a smile on my face and kept imagining Mari and Ekkatt’s future together. Sigh. I was rooting for a HEA and was not disappointed. There is even the potential for a sequel.

My only complaint is the hours of lost sleep because I couldn’t stop reading! Bravo to Ms. Barrett. I will definitely be picking up her future novels and highly recommend, Captured.

Rated 5 Delightful Divas and a Recommended Read by Stacey!

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A quick note and I’ll stop by later!

Captured is up on Amazon and available for download on your Kindle.  Go for it!  My hubby did!

http://www.amazon.com/Captured-Siren-Publishing-Classic-ebook/dp/B00371V7WO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267807147&sr=8-1

Remember the contest – I want your sexiest recipes!  Oh…and I received my hard copies of The Cougar Book yesterday.  It’s fabulous!  Anyone want a signed copy?  Leave me a recipe and you could win one of those too!  This book is hot!  My story, of course, is hot and sweet, ‘cuz, you know, it’s kinda like me.

Releases:  Out of the Shadows, by Cammie Eicher, the first in the Shadow Ancient series,  Resplendence Publishing. This vampire romantic suspense creates a new mythology of vampires, and features a dark and sexy vampire hunter forced to protect the Ancients’ child of prophecy — and the woman who eventually must choose between her love for him and her promise to protect the newborn.

Buy Link: http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/

Check out Cindy Spencer Pape, she tagged me!  http://cindyspencerpape.blogspot.com/

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Beauty and the Feast

releases with Resplendence on March 16th.

The contemporary romance includes Eva’s recipes – you can find them at the end of the story.

To celebrate, I’m hosting a recipe contest.

Send me your sexiest, your most sensual recipe sometime over the next month, and I will choose three winners!  I’ll feature your recipes and your fake names (real names if you like) on my blog and send each of you a copy of Beauty and the Feast.

Feel free to leave your recipe as a comment here or email your recipe to me at Julia@JuliaRachelBarrett.net

I’ll announce the winner on April 1st, along with the winning recipes.

I’ll start!  Here’s one of Eva’s favorites!

Eva’s Wet Sauce

1 cup tomato sauce

1 small can tomato paste

½ cup dark balsamic vinegar

½ cup dark brown sugar

¼ cup molasses

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup soy sauce

1 tsp. granulated garlic

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1 tsp. smoked paprika

2 tsp. Tabasco

Whisk together and store in fridge.  Use as a marinade or dipping sauce.

Enjoy!

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Witch’s Butter

And it’s edible!

I guess in the old days if this was found growing on the threshold of a home, it was believed that the occupants had been targeted by a witch.

However, in Asia they use this stuff in many stir fry dishes to provide a pop!  It’s sort of a tree-ear-fungus.  Like my dad always says, “There’s a fungus amongus!”

Totally cool.  One of these days, I’ll upload all the photos of mushrooms I’ve hunted on my hikes – I only eat the ones I’m one-hundred percent certain of.  Don’t go out and eat the mushrooms growing in your yard!

People die around here on occasion from eating the totally deadly amanitas and agarics.  I guess the Death Cap resembles a mushroom that is commonly used in Asian cooking.

Just got home from work and I have to head back there tomorrow.  Had a major creepy guy get all up in my face today in a nasty neighborhood when I visited a patient.  Ran into a killer guard dog entering a home.  Got puked on and bled on.  Sometimes I feel like I’m in the middle of a bad movie.  Ah well…

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Today has been the day from hell

and when I experience the day from hell, especially when I haven’t time to eat a single thing, I must have potato chips.  Fortunately hell days don’t come around all that often, but lately, work IRL has been the essence of HELL.  I’ve managed to avoid the potato chip trip until today.

I bought two bags because, you know, you gotta have two flavors – Balsamic Sweet Onion and Jalapeno – a handful from each bag and I feel so much better.  It’s like – eat two handfuls of potato chips and call me in the morning – ‘cuz tomorrow and Sunday are shaping up to be an instant replay.

Here’s the caveat:

Dirty Sexy Books reviewed Captured!  Yee-hah!  Thank you thank you thank you!

http://www.dirtysexybooks.com/Dirty_Sexy_Books/Reviews/Reviews.html

Here it is – made me weep!

“It’s not often that I agree to review romantic erotica, not because I don’t like it, but because I view it like dessert. It’s a rare treat, and I don’t like to overindulge. What persuaded me to try Captured is that it’s also a science fiction story, and it’s getting harder and harder for me to pass those up.
Captured was presented to me as an erotic romance, but I will respectfully disagree. I am more inclined to call it a science fiction romance novella because the romance was the focus of the story all the way. Don’t get me wrong, the sex scenes were good, but they were on par with a SFR novel. For an erotica they’d probably be considered mild.
The way the relationship between Mari and Ekkatt developed was surprisingly robust. So were the sci-fi world-building elements. Personally, I think this story would make a great addition to a SFR anthology.”

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Because I am a huge fan of Tres Leches Cake

You have got to check out the recipe for Tres Leches Cake with Caramelized Bacon and Bananas.  O.M.F.G.

I don’t eat bacon, but I’m gonna make the cake and caramelize something to put on top – bananas and phacon, blueberries, apples, something.  Damn, that cake looks good!

http://projectbacon.wordpress.com/

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I’ve been paying attention to the wider world – the non writing, non romance author world and guess what?  It’s really interesting!  I’ve decided to link to a couple new, earnest bloggers ~ both with a different hobby.

http://craftydana32.blogspot.com/

Craftydana is all about knitting, blogging, reading, life challenges…it doesn’t hurt that she read and is reading my books – but I just plain old like the site.  Besides, I know how hard it is to get anyone to look at your blog when you’re new.

Here’s another goody ~ http://projectbacon.wordpress.com/

Yummy photos and an interesting take on bacon, the new candy.

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Today is my interview day on the Logical Lust Blog

http://bit.ly/ZWnZq

Drop by, leave me a comment and you can win a signed hard copy of The Cougar Book!

This is one sizzling read, containing stories from twenty-three amazing authors.

My contribution is – You Might Just Get It.  Here’s an excerpt:

Excerpt from You Might Just Get It, by Julia Barrett, The Cougar Book, Logical Lust

Eric lifted his eyes and studied the woman seated across the small table from him.  Her damp curls surrounded her head like a halo.  The first time he’d seen her, in the window across the courtyard, her hair had been damp, just like this.  Sweet.  Very appealing.  He wondered if she had any idea her kitchen window looked directly into his.  Probably not.  She’d only moved in ten days ago.  Eric assumed she was still busy unpacking.  That was one of the reasons he’d invited her to dinner, one reason among many.  He wondered briefly how old Kate was.  It was hard to tell.  She could be anywhere from twenty-nine to forty-five.  But he wasn’t about to ask her and he didn’t care.  Her age didn’t matter to him.  Her laugh did.  Her big brown eyes did.  Her luscious lips.  Her wide white smile.

When he’d arrived home and found her soaked to the skin and shivering on the stoop, he got to play the hero.  That was twice in two days.  There was no way he’d pass up an opportunity to spend time with her.  He’d hoped she’d accept his offer of dinner and he‘d been pleased when she did.  It was no big deal, one of his easy meals.  Oven toasted rustic bread with melted gruyere, roasted tomatoes, baby arugula and a soft fried egg.  Simple and sensuous.  The sandwich was messy and it required the use of all your fingers.  There was a lot of runny egg yolk and licking involved.  Eric hoped he could segue that licking into something else entirely.

God, there was a lot to like about her.  Not only was Kate easy on the eyes, she was intelligent, articulate, mature, and she appreciated his sense of humor.  Plus she blushed at the drop of a hat.  Eric found that adorable.  She wasn’t jaded or flighty, like so many women he’d met recently.  He’d bet the farm she hadn’t grown up in California.  Probably Iowa or Illinois.  Someplace rural.  An old-fashioned country girl.

“Where’d you come from?  I mean, where are you from originally?” he asked.

“Blair, Nebraska.  It’s a little town near the Missouri River.  I went to school there.  Dana College.  You?”

“Minneapolis.”

“You’re kidding?  You don’t have a Minnesota accent.”

“Yeah, well, I worked hard getting rid of that.  I can do it if you like.”

“You mean like…Minnesooooota, North Dakoooooota, ya think?  Like that?”

It was Eric’s turn to laugh.  “More or less.”  He looked at her plate.  “Finished?”

“Oh, yes, thank you.  The sandwich was great.  I can cook, but I guess it never occurred to me that such simple ingredients could taste so good together.”  Kate reached for his empty plate and set it on top of hers.  “Let me help clean up.  That’s the least I can do.”

He watched as Kate rose from her chair and stretched.  He enjoyed watching.  Her breasts were pert.  Not large, but pert with perky nipples.  Two handfuls.  That’s all he needed.

“You have a long day today?”

“Not too bad.  Really.  It would have been better if I hadn’t locked myself out.  But…what can you do?  I was sort of hoping to curl up in a hot bath with a good book, but I left my book in the car and then the key…well, you know the story.”  Kate carried the plates to the sink.

Eric followed with the empty glasses.  “You can still have a hot bath,” he said.

“Yeah, I guess,” she replied, rinsing off the plates.

Eric set the glasses down on the counter and ran a hand lightly through the chestnut locks that hugged the back of her neck.  He watched goose bumps rise as he trailed his fingers along her shoulders.  He heard Kate’s sharp intake of breath.  He waited momentarily to see if she’d move away, but she remained still.

“I mean, if you’re interested, you could have a hot bath…with me.”

***Today begins the Siren-Bookstrand Valentine promotion.  Win ebooks and Strandbucks.  Contests will run all week on

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SirenBookstrand/

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Really, Orson?

Weeell, as my romantic Scotsman says.  I’m drinking a wine that is older than me!

There I was, minding my own business, perusing the merchandise at an estate sale, when this guy pulled out a sealed crate of Chilean wine.  Hmmm….says I, how much will you sell that for?  Shhhh…Cuz you know, I’m thinking I really like that old wooden crate with that Chilean import stamp on it.

He looks at it, replies – I was just gonna put my feel on it.  Tell ya what, you buy something and I’ll throw it in for free.

So I buys me an original, fully intact, wooden Dragon Dominoes set,  and an original Scrabble set and he tosses in the case of wine.  Of course, prevaricator that I am, the case sits unopened in my garage for a year.  My daughter and her boyfriend pried the lid up last week and exclaimed, and I quote – Yuck!  1959!

Tonight my husband says, I’m opening a bottle.

Vinegar, I bet, says I, stirring the lasagna sauce.

Vintage 1959, Planella, Chilean Red Burgundy Reservado.

We took a whiff…smells like…wine!  Took a look…good clarity.  Took a tiny sip…totally not bad, as a matter of fact, it’s pretty damn good shit!  Drinking a wine older than me with my homemade lasagna.  OMFG!  And we have twenty-three more bottles!  Yee-hah!

If anyone knows anything about his wine or the winery, let me know – we pulled up a big blank when we tried to find information.  If you figure it out, pass the info on to me and maybe I’ll send you a bottle!

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