Fried What?

This is the Fried Cherry Koolaid that I ate at the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Friday night. That is husband's hand holding it. We were like wet dogs right then because it was pouring rain and we were the only ones on the Carnival Midway at the Fried What? booth. But fried cherry koolaid? C'mon. You gotta try it. It's not that sweet and surprisingly yummy. Plus that's what you do at the rodeo - you eat ridiculous things that are not part of any actual food group. Fried or on a stick or both. Often in portions that would feed a small country, although the koolaid balls were a surprisingly modest size, dontcha think? (full disclosure, one is missing - I snarfed it while pulling my phone out of my pocket to take a pic)

After that it was the rodeo itself with bull riding and calf roping, and bucking broncs, and mutton busting (which is where they strap little kids to sheep and see how long they hang on. yes. we do this in Texas) and an opening parade with fireworks and a bareback rider and later Reba in concert and more fireworks and then we slogged through the rain to our car.

Plus many shopping booths with cowgirl bling.

Cause you know. It's Texas.

This is what we do, y'all.

Five for Friday

The HAUNTED Blog Tour heads to Mundie Moms today for an interview.

Tomorrow we'll be stopping by Girls in the Stacks for a review. Please stop by!

And don't forget the giveaway of two signed copies -- one HAUNTED and one DREAMING ANASTASIA over at Cari's Book Blog!

Thank you to everybody who has been part of this tour, to the Sourcebooks team that tweets and links, and to the wonderfulness of the authors, readers, bloggers who I talk to every day, whether in person or on line. My career has blossomed because of your generosity and support.

And now for the Friday Five!

1. Yes, I admit it. My world became a better place this week because Bethenny Ever After started up again. Yup. Bethenny, Jason, Brin, Julie, Cookie... my favorite not so guilty Bravo pleasure. B's honesty may be calculated, but I dig it.

2. Lyla the wonder dog is possibly learning to settle down. Possibly. Unless there's a squirrel. Or a cat. Or a garbage truck. Or the new washing machine. Or people.

3. It is almost time for the Houston Livestock and Rodeo. Each year we eat one really bad for you fried food that we purchase on the midway at a booth called Fried What? A few years ago, I consumed fried oreos, which I blogged about here. Last year it was fried ice-cream. This year I'm thinking twinkie, but I'll let you know.

4. I think I can let you see the cover of ANASTASIA FOREVER next week. I've actually started to see it here and there, but there may be a few tweaks still...

5. I have the best agent in the universe. Her name is Jen Rofe. And yesterday when I needed it, she made me watch this:

Fried Oreos and other stuff

So that's what a bag of fried oreos looks like. And let me say, they were one of the highlights of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. (Okay, Keith Urban was really the highlight. Plus this event called Mutton Busting, where 4-6 year olds- wearing protective vests and helmets - cling to the backs of sheep and try to ride them as far and fast as they can. Which, if you've never seen it is as odd but enjoyable as it sounds) But back to the oreos... the chocolate part gets all mushed and dense, the fried outside is as grease-ilicious as you'd ever want, and the powdered sugar just ties it all together. The guy hands the bag o' goodies to you warm from the fryer...

Beyond the rodeo, I've been finishing my copy edits for Dreaming Anastasia. Suzy Williams (author of the delightful and recently released Bull Rider) described the copy edit process as sort of Zen like. Basically, you have to go through everything your editor/ copy editor/production editors have marked and either ok it or fix it or comment on it. After the pull it apart and stitch it back together of revisions, this is definitely different. But very exciting because it's the last big step. And also because this cool team of people have read your book and helped make it as smooth as it can possibly be. (plus tell you things you ought to have known, like that lightning always comes before thunder, for which I am very very thankful)

Also got to see two very fine films with two very fine actors - Sean Penn's amazing performance in Milk and Anne Hathaway's oh so emotional starring role in Rachel Getting Married. Neither ends happily. But I was blown away. Even more than by the fried oreos.

Til next time...