There are times that I’m in a serious mood. (Gasp!) Everyone online and off knows me for my zaniness, my rapier tongue (that often gets me in trouble), and lol, my chicken stories. I think most of my readers visit my blog for those poultry tales, but I’ve got to tell you, Z gets tired and runs out of things to write about just like anyone else.

I admire my fellow author M.E. Ellis for her ability to always have something funny and or unique to blog about, but my brain has slipped into neutral of late and I can’t seem to kick it into gear. No, I’m not suffering writer’s block, it’s just that the chickens aren’t always on the warpath and I’m not always kicking field goals with them either. So, I’ve been working on a couple new novels.

I’m looking forward to 2007. No, I’m not going to blog about my writing goals. And no, I don’t set resolutions, just goals. I do believe that positive thinking aids good energy to flowing the right way, so I’m focusing on blessings for the New Year. 2006—hell, 2005, ’03 and ’02 for that matter—were all rough years. One bright spot is that the husband and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary just before Christmas. (Our house full of boys and the new addition is a blended family.)

I’ve spoken with Faith and Marci about the FB Charity Anthology, Dreams and Desires, as well has chatting briefly through email with several of the authors in this collection. Marci has sent out many press release packages to TV and radio stations as well as newspapers. I’m very pleased to be a part of this anthology, and it’s for such a good cause too. Do you realize that people donate three times more money to animal shelters than they do to help their fellow man??? All time, editing, stories and promotions have been donated for this anthology and all monies earned go to help a battered women’s shelter in Florida. For more information on e-book, print or hardback copies, you can find it HERE.

There are going to be some changes for me over the next few months, so I’d like to invite you to my Z Group as well as Dreaming the Words, which is a group for writers and authors to find writerly support no matter what the issue. I’m very pleased with the group so far, plus we’ve had some amazing discussions.

Also, Conspiracy of Angels was released December 19th. I want to thank all the authors and readers who read and/or participated at my all day loop chat. I have a little contest that I’m going to run on my blogs and a few of the places I frequent. The prize is a nice collection of goodies. There will be a menagerie of things in it from books to writing supplies to greeting cards to jewelry to whatever else I decide to throw in. (***Overseas entries will receive an Amazon.com gift certificate for the approximate value of the goodies.***)

All you have to do is tell me what color the carnation is that the mysterious man (angel) gives to Elizabeth AND what does the carnation turn into. Yup, that’s it. Email your answer to zinnia_hope@sbcglobal.net. I’m not sure how long I’ll run this contest, but I’ll post the occasional reminder and notify everyone a couple days before I decide to draw the winning answer. You can find the novel HERE.

That said, the natives are restless, so I better get supper on the table before there’s a mutiny.