November. My birthday month. A family gathering is planned. Lot of years under the bridge, so to speak. A lot of good memories to warm my heart.

I came across a chocolate pound cake recipe in an old Southern Living magazine. I will be baking it for my birthday cake. If it tastes as good as it sounds on paper, I will share it here.

Hard to go wrong with chocolate anything.

Growing up in Michigan, most years my friends and I would be wearing sweaters and warm jackets this time of year. But in the area of North Carolina I now call home, long sleeves and long pant legs this time of year are usually enough to keep warm.

Today being an exception.

I'm working on a series of  Regency set novellas. I hope to have them ready to publish no later than June of 2014.

From the world of 1814 to the world of 2014. The nature of man remains the same.

Wishing you all a great fall.

Susan

Using Time Wisely

Which is something I fail to do. Even though I avoid Facebook and Twitter, I do keep up with the current political news--junkie if I may be candid--a lover of deconstructing word games played by our government officials.

I think the most useful phrase I've heard to describe their (we are so much smarter than the pesky citizens we govern) verbal gyrations, is "I was for it before I was against it."

On to more happy news. Montlake Romance, a imprint of Amazon Publishing, and my new publisher, has been a joy to be a part of. They converted my four hard cover Avalon books into e-books for Kindle and have made available a paperback version and have been generous in promoting my two historical books.

From my e-book to yours,

Susan Ralph

Crossing the Threshold of 2013

Odd number, thirteen. Considered unlucky. But I feel upbeat about 2013.

And am happy to say goodbye to 2012 which was a year filled with overwhelming tragedy for so many.

All of my books are available for Kindle and in paperback at a reasonable price which makes me happy. No new contracts signed, but I am writing and hope to send out one or two out for consideration before long.

Family filled up our holiday calender with one more celebration to go.

I even managed to sort through and toss out a lot of clutter. Not that there isn't plenty of unnecessary stuff still hanging around. Like cookbooks and recipe magazines but am reluctant to get rid of them. I seldom use them anymore except for recipes I've tried and liked and want to repeat.

The internet is so great for cooking. I love putting ingredient(s) I need to use up in the search box and seeing what recipes come up.

Have been reading a couple of new Georgette Heyer books. Her books are lengthy but she does not waste pages with things unimportant to the plot and she keeps her characters in character.

Wishing a bountiful new year to all.