BOOK BLOG TOUR OCTOBER 1 - 22, 2011

There is an expression that goes:

When life gives you lemons . . . . . . . . . Make lemonade.

Squeeze a few lemons, add bright lime slices, the juice of one blood orange . . . and turn a less than advantageous situation into something good.


Well, life has given me not lemons but cherries, chocolate covered ones at that, so I am making . . . a jubilee.

A jubilee is an occasion of celebration, a commemoration, a festival; it can be a golden jubilee; a wine-and-cheese jubilee; or even a beer-and-brats jubilee.

Mine is a Cherries Jubilee, and it extends from October 1 to October 22: twenty-two days to celebrate my birthday, which falls on October 22 (no, it is not my golden birthday!) and twenty-two days to celebrate the publication of my first mystery novel, FOR EVERY ACTION There Are Consequences.

In conjunction with another celebration, Coral Russell recently interviewed me on her blog talk radio at Alchemy of Scrawl. Coral is also the author of The (almost) Complete DIY Guide to eBook Publishing and contributing author of Playing with Fire (Anthology of Horror) along with Chryse Wymer, Brian Fatah Steele, and many other great authors.

My interview with Coral runs 15 minutes and we do get a bit silly at times, but you are welcome to opt out at any point! So if you have a few minutes, please check it out at:

Gail M Baugniet’s interview by Coral Russell on Alchemy of Scrawl

PLEASE STOP BACK TOMORROW FOR DETAILS OF WHAT I HAVE
***************PLANNED FOR THE UPCOMING WEEK!***************

In Rememberance

In silent contemplation
And with love, I remember
The heroes of 9/11

My prayers today extend to all
Those who died for this country
And to those who survived

With pride, I pledge my allegiance
Secure in the knowledge that
We are AMERICA

Wisconsin Dairyland

This week I am making last minutes arrangements for a visit to my home state of Wisconsin. My last trip there was in March, 2010, to attend my mother's funeral. She had celebrated her 93rd birthday the previous June, still revelling in that eternal childhood pleasure of being "Queen For A Day."

A two-week trip to the mainland no longer involves the preparation it once required. With the prohibitive cost of checking luggage, I pack only the essentials and enough clothes to get me through to laundry day. My "essentials" consist mostly of electronics:

>cell phone,
>netbook, and
>Kindle e-reader.

Visiting with family and friends is the best part of a trip to my home state. The second best is the food.
To me, Wisconsin means:

-- Perch plates (fresh-caught lake perch ~ butterflied, breaded, then fried and served with German potato salad and cole slaw, foaming beer on the side.)
-- Cheese curds, those rubbery odd-shaped globs of dairy product that squeak against your teeth when you bite down.
-- Hard-packed ice cream from the town that invented the Ice Cream Sundae!

And I'll see lots of green and gold, the team colors of the NFL's Superbowl Champions, the Green Bay Packers. What more could I ask for?

My trip to Wisconsin is late this year, but that won't make it any less enjoyable. Where did you spend your most relaxing vacation?