It's Snowing at the Classic and Cozy Corner!

Welcome to the world of Classic and Cozy writers...

Come on. Walk with me down Main Street! (We'll cut through the park.)

It's not far now. (Crunch, crunch, crunch.) This is it... Can you hear the music coming from inside?

As we step inside, we are greeted by the smell of cookies...

...the sound of a crackling fire...

...the sight and smell of a tree...

...and coming from the corner of the room, someone is reading from a Classic and Cozy Book.

My gift to one of you...

So sign up to follow my blog at https://sofiecouch.com/blog/ and I'll choose a couple of names and post the winner on my blog,

In celebration of the holiday, to launch an overhaul of SofieCouch.com, I’m giving away the Christmas Trifecta – one of each, IN THE ST. NICK OF TIME, IN THE ST. NICK OF TIME…AGAIN, and DRAGON RUN, a not so Christmassy collection of short stories. I’ll draw a name from our current followers here at ClassicAndCozyBooks.blogspot.com, and a name from new and old followers at SofieCouch.com and those folks will receive a copy of each of those short-shorts! Well, I think it’s exclamation worthy!!! Woot, woot!

And if you haven’t already, you can still order books in time for Christmas from the many amazing writers here at Classic and Cozy. They are books with heart that anyone would appreciate finding under their tree.

Tiara? Check.

Coffee? Check.

Notebook? Check.

Favorite ink pen? Check.

Computer all fired up? Check.

So no excuses.

 Oh! And did I forget to mention, it’s also November? That’s National Novel Writing Month for all of you out there who have been saying, “I’ve got this book idea floating around in my head…” Well, we’re half-way through NaNoWriMo (pronounced Nay-no-rye-moe with your thickest southern accent) so you’ve got some catching up to do.

The goal, after you create a free account at nanowrimo.org, is to create wordcount equivalent to a short novel… in one month. That’s 50,000 words to the noobs, and “all in a day’s work” to you seasoned writers.

So you can do the math, or have the nanowrimo.org site do the math for you. Thirty days in November, divided into 50,000 words, that’s… er… that’s 1,667 words per day, every day. Wait! You’re already a half month behind! That’s a little over 3,000 words per day. Pshhht. That’s only about 12 pages per day, 250 words per page. Easy peasy, lemony squeezey. Hey, if this humanities major can do that much math in one paragraph, you can whip out 12 pages per day for the next 15 days.

Computer. Pen. Notebook at your side. Coffee. Tiara. GO!

Pseudonyms!

Like the bard said,...unless you were expecting the smell of coffee and what you got was the smell of roses, then your coffee just smells like soap. I don't want soap in my coffee!

I just created a character who is hiding behind a pseudonym and there in is his dilemma. Will the people who mean the most to him still like him if they know he's this other person?

So what gives with writers and all the names? "Sofie Couch" is a nickname I acquired in middle school and various friends, mostly from my childhood, still use that name. It's also on some of my books, but not all of them, then I'm "Annette" to most of my family, some of my friends, (except for that one friend from elementary school who just thought "Sofie" and "Annette" were identical twins. LOL! I cannot believe he thought I was identical twins for all those years!!) Then "Annette" with different last names for different business ventures? It's so confusing... even for me!

I was part of a panel discussion last week, the topic--“The Business of Art: Writers on Writing” and there I goofed no less than three times in referring to one of the writers on the panel by her real name instead of one of her two writing names. It’s Madeline. Madeline, Madeline, Madeline… until we’re chatting over a cuppa coffee, then it’s… that other name that I won’t disclose for a fourth time.

So, as the moderator of this panel, I stuck in a surprise question: “what’s with the name game?” although I play the name game myself. I have reasons that I thought were the same for everyone else, but I don’t care if someone uses the other name. I answer to both readily. It turns out, there are some other very, very good, valid reasons a writer might use multiple different names and keep the different identities separate.

You see, Madeline’s in-laws don’t know she writes! (Even her photo in the flier is pseudonymous.)

Another writer friend’s co-workers and employer don’t know she writes. 

Sometimes, its for credibility reasons when what you write may not fit the brand of your full-time job, or the expectations of in-laws.

Then there was one friend’s pesky on-line stalker. Say it ain’t so!!! Or the car-full of strangers that pulled into a friend’s driveway wanting to get their books signed. Probably harmless, but you never know! Or those who just send you letters with return addresses like “Sing-Sing, Alcatraz, Folsom Prison… (Okay, I’m being funny with those references, but you get the picture. It happens, apparently. Not to me, but to other people I know.)

Those are all of the sensational reasons that I had never expected. The motive I did expect, and that which is more common, is brand.

The number one rule in this biz is to stay on brand. If you have readers who enjoy your cozy mysteries, they may be disappointed in your less cozy thrillers, or sweet romance vs. sci-fi paranormal schtuff.

How disappointing for the reader of sweet romance to pick up a book that is, er, not-so-sweet, but with the same author’s name? I’ve done that. I handed a book to my teenager from an author we knew and loved. She read the first ten pages, then handed it back to me, suggesting that it might not be thirteen year old appropriate. Yowza! It definitely was not thirteen-year-old appropriate.

And then there’s the whole problem with your friends calling you and you not recognizing your name, or your friends using the wrong name at the wrong time. (Soooo sorry, Le…., er, Madeline.) So please bear with me while I figure out this name thing. In the meantime, It’s “Sofie Couch” for sweet romance AND cozy mystery with a sweet romantic element and I'll print some form of disclosure on the new covers for anything that falls outside of that mix. I’m re-vamping my backlist, but there are still a few YA paranormal novels out there with the "Sofie Couch" brand. I'll fix that with the new covers. Whew. Wish I knew then what I’m figuring out now.

My next cozy mystery with sweet romantic elements, JAIL BYRD, (probably coming out in the next month and a half), is set in the recurrent small town of Poropotank, and features a missing manuscript, a secret baby, and a pseudonymous writer struggling with the name game. I hope you’ll read it to learn his motivation for hiding behind a pseudonym! In the meantime, you can follow me at my blog, “The Paperback Writer” at www.sofiecouch.com for regular updates and don’t forget to subscribe to this blog where this group of savvy women are always on brand - Classic and Cozy!

An (Empty) Place of One's Own

This year, my blogs have been all about “place”. Mom caves, son caves, writer caves, workspaces, etc.

This year, it seems I’ve had to tweak my work space a dozen times. I’ve worked from the dining room table, from my office, from bed, a café, and most recently, I’ve been struggling to carve out an office niche that works for me in our antique shop.

One thing this business of selling “stuff” has done for me is to instill an appreciation of stuff… and an almost greater appreciation for an absence of stuff.

Yes, sometimes I feel a little bit like a character in a Dickens novel, surrounded by the stuff of others, stuff that is transient, just visiting, stuff piled so high, if it toppled it might kill me, but stuff for which I am the temporary steward, the guardian of its history, the caretaker of “stuff” that someone else found to be interesting enough to collect and amass around them.

Don’t get me wrong. I can sure find pleasure in stuff. (More cow bell, anyone?) I have my own clutter, tchotchkes, bric-a-brac, but it sure makes me appreciate wide open spaces.

Owning an antique shop, nay, a 7,500 sq. ft. antique mini-mall, has forced me to confront my love of stuff. If something comes in, something else has to go out. A place for everything and everything in its place, and most recently, I have found the greatest pleasure in empty spaces.

(DH and I spent our 23rd anniversary on the Poropotank River where we saw dolphins! The best things aren't found in a shop... and can't be kept in a drawer.)

Sure, we need some of that stuff, but don’t be afraid to get rid of some of that stuff too. Don't overlook the sheer pleasure of opening a drawer and finding the pair of scissors that you used to have to root for. 

Sofie Couch writes sweet romantic comedy and her upcoming series will definitely feature an antique shop owner.

"A Room of One's Own"

Hello. My name is Sofie, and I am a writer.

There’s a twelve step program for this, but I can come up with countless excuses to avoid doing anything about it. I am a writer. There. I admit it. That’s the first step.

The second step, is living like a writer.

I’ve got this desk here – that doesn’t really hold my computer set-up. It’s in the middle of the living room that everyone and their marching band tends to walk through in the course of a morning, disturbing the Mind Palace. Really, what I need are walls… and a roof… and a door that can be closed.

And that brings me to my new project. This project.

The She-She-Shed

This is what I’ve been referring to as my “She-She-Shed”. It was a tool shed until my sweet mother-in-law moved to a condo and gave us her tool shed, so now, all the tools can be consolidated in one place and I get to use the other for my very own, get-out-tha-house, office! Really? I could do that?

Well, this Christmas, I received the family’s blessing by way of the gift of sunlight. Rather, my husband and children gifted me a solar panel with accompanying hardware to run electricity out to my brand new office!!!! I LOVE these people!!!! See it? Up there on the right side of the roof? It looked a lot bigger under the tree. And now, the orange drop cord can go away - the one that's currently draped across the yard.

So over the next months, I’m going to share the progress of my she-she-shed/office. You’ll see it in all of its hideousness – as it sits right now.

The She-She-Shed in all its hideousness!

You’ll see me freezing my tushy off, because that little tiny solar panel might keep my laptop charged and a light bulb burning, but it sure won’t run a space heater. You’ll see me run out of it in the summer time by our formidable Virginia summers.

But hopefully, the she-she-shed will inspire someone else to carve out a corner in their home, to follow a dream. Virginia Woolf wrote an essay/lecture series called “A Room of One’s Own” which lauds the importance of a space in which to pursue one’s interests, but it is also about creative license and poetic freedom, financial independence and security, and the tendency of women to deny themselves. Check it out.

I would love if you would send me some of your own inspirational pictures of niches you’ve carved out for yourselves! I’d love to see and share them, if I may. You can send them to me at sofie@sofiecouch.com . And follow my progress here and on my Pinterest Board: https://www.pinterest.com/sofie321/cottage/ There, I’ve pinned some inspirational pictures and I’ll keep a record of the progress on the she-she-shed, as well as my writing progress.

This past month, I was able to eek out a short anthology of Christmas stories, In the St. Nick of Time. 

It's past its prime now - January - but I'm off on the next venture. I'm working on a series of sweet romances set in the fictional small town of Poropotank, Virginia. (That's pronounced poh-rope-oh-tank. It's a native term, meaning, "muddy creek", and the river really does exist.) Can't wait to work on my four book series out to the She-She-Shed! Wish me luck. I've got some work ahead of me!

I Am Not A Leg-Rubbing Hussy!

This month's topic, “how you met your spouse” would make for some pretty dry reading. I met him through his brother, with whom I worked. It was game night. A box of Trivial Pursuits. What can I say? It was the late 80s.

Instead, I wanted to tell you about the first “date”, which wasn’t so much a date as an arranged (by me) group purchase of tickets to Les Miserables, some tactical maneuvering (by me) to make sure I was sitting beside my future husband, followed by the twenty-three-year maligning of my character, (by him).

In recounting the story of our first not-quite-date-with-a-group-of-people-who-all-happened-to-purchase-a-block-of-tickets-to-Les-Mis, the love of my life maintains that I, “kept rubbing my leg against his” through the whole performance, making it impossible for him to be unaware of my blatant interest in him.

I protest!!! First, let me just say, I never, ever, EVER made the first move. But if I did decide to go outside my comfort zone and be the leg-rubbing-hussy that I’ve been accused of being, I would have been more creative than that. Sheesh! I write fiction, for cryin'-out-loud!

Just as an “off-the-top-of-my-head” scenario, it would have gone something like this: After jockeying for the ticketed seat beside his, I would have done something clever, like drop my program, waited for him to bend to pick it up, then gone down a fraction of a second later and head butted him into unconsciousness. Then it would simply have been a matter of dragging all six-foot-five-inches of him down a couple of flights of stairs, (no elevator in that theater), propping him up in a shadowy alcove while I drove the car around from the parking garage, and shoving his unconscious bulk into the backseat. Voila.

Or what if I had let that other woman in our group have that ticketed seat beside his, and I just marched down the aisle with an “excuse me. Pardon me. Excuse me,” checked my ticket, and told her, “there seems to be some sort of mistake here. I believe you have inadvertently received the ticket beside my future husband. Sorry. We’ll have to trade seats.”

(Rubbed my leg against his through the whole show. Pffft.)

A couple of years ago, we gave my daughter tickets to see Wicked. It was in the same theater where my husband and I saw Les Miserables so many years ago. I got to be the parent who got the other ticket and drove our pre-licensed teenaged daughter to see the show while my husband stayed at home with the too-squirmy-to-sit-through-the-show younger sibling. It was fabulous! It was “WICKED”. It was… cramped! 

During intermission, everyone stood, if not to race to the line forming at the restroom, then at least to stretch. There was a lovely gentleman seated beside me – his family fanned out down the aisle on his opposite side. As we all stood, stretching, he shook out his leg, and flexed his toes, cursing a cramp in his calf. He turned to me and said, “I am so sorry. The seats in this theater are so cramped. I promise you, I’m not intentionally brushing your leg with mine.” He was about the same height and breadth as my husband.

I should have had him write it in a note. Then I’d have written proof that I am not a leg-rubbing hussy!

Epilogue: The next day (after the first not-quite-a-date-with-a-group-of-people-from-work), my husband called me at work to invite me out for lunch. It was lovely, giddy, and ended when he walked me back to my office and left me with a hug and a promise to get-together again soon. ;) The rest is twenty-three years of history.

Even MORE Shredding Books with Sofie Couch

BLOOMIN' BOOKS

by Sofie Couch

Bibliophile - a lover of books. That's me. Yeh, I have a tendency to mutilate, shred, and mulch books, but just the ones that have led full happy lives. And this month is no exception.

This month, I went to my pictorial friend, Pinterest. Don't ya just love Pinterest? What!? You've never heard of Pinterest? Get thee over to Pinterest and sign-up, then follow me. Sofie Couch. It's a whole great big community of visual/spatial people all pinning wonderful pictures of things that inspire them. (You might recognize a couple of the book crafts that I've featured on the C&C blog this year.) You can "pin" pictures of things that make your heart sing too, then other like-minded visual/spatial folks can follow you. Okay, that's me getting off my Pinterest soap box. Back to the craft at hand, Bloomin' Books.

I spent an hour of my life making this wonderful hydrangea head. (They call it a book ball on Pinterest, but I think it looks just like a dried hydrangea flower.) And here's how you can create the same book ball/ hydrangea flower head:

First, cut out these cute little medallion circle thingies. They kinda look like a "seal of approval" made out of the pages of a book. You're gonna want to invest in this little gizmo that cuts out those circles, found at your local craft store. (I got mine on sale for 40% off.) If you're not into fancy frilly edges, you can just stick to some little circles cut to a uniform size, but be forewarned, you're gonna need a LOT of those little circles.

Next, with a pencil, place the eraser in the center of a paper circle, then push the circle up around the pencil. Break out your hot glue gun for this next bit. Glue the eraser flattened bit of the circle to a styrofoam ball.

Rinse and repeat.

About a bazillion hours later...

Then a googolplex hours later...

Voila! A book ball is born. I thought, (back when I was young and naive - a googolplex hours ago), that these would make great ornaments for the Christmas tree this year. Then on second thought, my time might be better spent writing another book. :)

Meet Me Monday! Ten Classic and Cozy Questions for Sofie Couch

<<This is a new feature running the 3rd Monday of every month and will give you a chance to get to know our contributing authors on a more personal level.  Sofie Couch is the impetus behind the Classic and Cozy blog, so we put her on the hot seat first. >>

Okay, inquiring minds want to know why a writer? Certainly not for the fame and fortune or maybe it is?

I love story. I love storytelling. I love words as an artistic medium, which all sounds very fancy, but is really just an excuse to talk to people, whether through a book, (very one-sided), or in-person. I love wrapping myself up in words like a big ol' burrito and wallowing in the cheesey, beany, yumminess of it.

When did you first put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) to create the your classic and cozy characters?

1987. I was living in Scotland - far from home. And while I had a permit to work in Scotland, it turns out that if they have two applicants for the same job and one of them is Scottish, they have to employ the citizen first. (Understandably so.) And as it turned out, if it was a job that no Scottish citizen wanted, it was probably one that I didn't want either. So I decided to do what I loved instead. I love reading, so I thought I might love writing. And Wah-Lah, a writer was born. (And no, those first manuscripts that were created in Scotland and printed out on A-4 dot matrix printer paper will NEVER see the light of day.

Do you have a set writing schedule?

Sure! Make coffee. Walk the dog. Write. Get interrupted. Shower. Drink more coffee. Run an errand. Write. Cook. Clean a toilet, write... :) Basically every second that's not consumed with other life essentials.

Is there a certain routine, food/drink, or location that summons forth the muses for you?

The afore mentioned coffee is a must. And I need either absolute quiet or a lot of white noise. I prefer working in the room adjacent to where my son is working. We're a good team and interrupt one another infrequently, yet we can both come up for air, knowing there's someone we love right in the next room to fire ideas off of.

What do you do when not writing?

The family owns an antique mini-mall, so I've just converted my space into a used bookshop. (I LOVE it!) I also dabble in property. I love a good renovation project and have several on-going, but once they are renovated, I rent them out. Here's the little Writer's Retreat that I rent through Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/487795 . It's a short-term rental, so when it's not rented, I can use it for mini writing retreat vacations. (Especially convenient because it's in my back yard.)

I imagine you’ve been reading all of your life (all great writers have.)  What was your favorite book as a child?

SUMMER OF MY GERMAN SOLDIER. It has a rather bleak ending, but as you know, that's not really an issue for romance writers. We just change the endings in our heads, so, s'all good!

Do you re-read books?  If so, which one have you re-read the most?

Definitely. And I REALLY love to read the books before, after and during the movie re-makes. For example, all of the different productions of Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, (don't miss out on Bride and Prejudice - hilarious!), Bleak House, Harry Potter - all of them, Sherlock Holmes and the series, SHERLOCK, SWEETLAND and the short story it's based on, "Gravestone of Wheat" by Will Weaver... Check them out! They're fabulous!

But there is more to life than reading, writing (and most  definitely arithmetic) what is your most memorable adventure in your life? (Follow on  Q--is there a reality show pitch in that?  :) )

I suppose the thing I've done that I'll have to tell the grandchildren about, (the grandchildren that I don't have - yet), would have to be Bodyguard Training School. Yes, you read that right. My older brother and I packed our bags, drove from east coast to west coast to California and took a month-long course on bodyguard training. We shot weapons at targets from moving vehicles, learned to do a boot-leg turn in a car, (and nearly drove off of a cliff), participated in some real-life bodyguard practice, etc. I think we could safely say there is a reality show pitch in that.

If you were on American Idol, what song would you sing to WOW! the judges?

Funny you should ask. Okay, it's not American Idol, but I will be playing banjo and singing at one of the local Farmers' Markets in the next month. I don't know about "wowing" anyone, but hopefully no one will run away when we play/sing: CRAZY (by Willie Nelson), WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN, WILDWOOD FLOWER, among others. It'll be three hours of ... well, intense pain for some, but I'll be joyously oblivious and just having fun with my guitar pickin' buddy.

 

Last question--movie rights. Who will play your two main characters when Hollywood comes knocking on your door? 

In the current Work-in-Progress? I'm going to go with Gerard Depardieux, and Andi McDowell.

Well, that was fun!  Thanks Sofie!

You can read more about Sofie Couch and her published works at www.sofiecouch.com 

A Not-So In-Depth Interview with Sofie Couch

Interviewed by Jayne Ormerod

As summer winds down I caught up with our founding blog-mother and cozy writer Sofie Couch.

Can you recommend a Beach Read?  

Does it have to be beach themed? If not, then pick up a copy of Pamela Morsi’s SIMPLE JESS. I picked up an older copy somewhere along the way to a writer’s conference and ended up skipping two whole workshops, because it totally sucked me in! (And I had paid good money for those workshops.) It’s an example of a well-written southern romance that will not disappoint.

What is your most cherished beach memory? 

Ahhh. We went to the beach every summer as a kid – until I was about 8 or 9 years old. Then my parents bought a little property on a tidal river and I can safely say, every weekend was an addition to a cherished memory. It was a place where a kid could be allowed out of her parents’ sight. By the time I was a pre-teen, I was allowed to take out the duck boat and paddle up and down the marshy inlets on my own. My older neighbor had a sailboat and he taught me how to sail on that river. So yeah, the beach vacations were all fine and well, but give me a good ol’ tidal estuary any weekend! (It’s also the setting of my books, MOONSHINE and ANGELS UNAWARES.) 

 With whom, (an author, living or dead), would you like to sip Mai Tais on Waikiki Beach?  

Well, if I have the power of resurrecting the dead, I’m not going to waste it on someone I don’t know.  I would bring back my neighbor at the river and we would sail to Yorktown and back and I would listen to his stories, because he was a great storyteller and I would hope for not a single puff of wind, so we’d just have to float back in on the tide – so it would take four and a half hours going out and four and a half hours coming back. (And I’d bring coffee and sandwiches, so we wouldn’t get sleepy.)

What was the worst non-writing job you ever had? 

So many to choose from. So little space. I guess the worst job I ever had would have to be working for a private postal pre-sorting company. It was in a basement room – no windows – and every morning you squared off against a teetering stack of boxes packed tight with envelopes – all of which had to be sorted by zip code. As incentive, for every three months that you worked, they gave a $.25/hour pay raise. (I didn’t last long enough to see my first raise.)

What’s your favorite quote or saying?  

“I wouldn’t wanna be a member of any club that would have someone like me as a member.” –Woody Allen quoting Groucho Marx in ANNIE HALL. I like to recall this quote whenever I’m faced with a rejection letter from an agent or editor.

Do you have a favorite song that you dance to (when no one is watching)?  

Heck. Go ahead and look! I have absolutely no shame, (much to the chagrin of my children). “If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it…” –Beyonce.

What are three of your favorite things?  

“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles….” I have to admit, I’m a sucker for show tunes!

Can you tell us two secret vices?  

Food? Chocolate? I'm not very secretive about those. At the moment, I’m sort of addicted to free on-line classes. I’m registered for about ten of them, I just completed one and I’m starting two more in the next week… and I’m learning HTML through wikiversity right now. The beauty of it all is, though, they’re free, so if I decide I don’t like the class or I don’t have time to finish it, no biggie. If I make it through just half of the class, I’ve learned something more than I knew before starting the class.

What is your pet peeve?  

Those people who start free on-line classes and don’t finish them. They make me CRAZY!;o)

Let’s leave off with a brief bio.  

Brevity is not a strong point of mine, but I’m happy to ramble on. You just cut me off when I get too long-winded. I was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, but spent my weekends on the Poropotank River in Gloucester County, Virginia. I had an idyllic childhood and a pretty karmic adulthood. (Jinx.) I homeschool/unschool my two teens. I have a fabulous husband, a dog with way too much fur, and a psychotic cat. I enjoy home renovations, antiquing, and hearing a good story. I try to tell a half-way decent one. I love hearing from brilliant people at sofie@sofiecouch.com.

You can learn more about the life and books of Sofie Couch at: www.sofiecouch.com

More Shredding Words with Sofie

By Sofie Couch

Yes, I’m defiling more books this month. But it’s okay, because it’s actually the same book that I defiled for another craft project, which is sort of like being a cannibal and justifying it with the phrase, “yes, but I already started eating him. It would be wrong of me to waste the tasty bits.”

So today, being the day of Independence et al, I thought I should stick with a theme – a book theme and a patriotic theme with something near and dear to every writer, a little tribute to free speech and freedom of the press.

First, you’ll need some little flags. (Easier said than done. I finally found them at the local box store for $2.50 for four of them, three of which I use in this project.) You’ll also need a wreath frame – straw, grapevine, whatever you have in the attic that’s looking a little worse for wear. And finally, a few pages from an old dictionary. I’ve chosen a dated and crumbling Spanish-English dictionary.

From the internet, you can do an advanced Google search for copyright free images. Here, I’ve chosen an American bald eagle. Print it out on one of the old dictionary pages. (You may want to / have to tape the page to an 8-1/2 X 11 inch piece of printer paper to avoid getting it jammed.) This may take several tries to get the image positioned correctly on your dictionary page. Once it’s printed, pull out your color pencils. (Oh yeah. Did I mention those as one of the necessary items? Yeah. You’ll need color pencils.) Color the image. It’s best if your copyright free image is an old engraving, so it has white space and transparency .

Curl the edges of your picture and hot glue it to the wreath. (Behind the scenes note. I’ve just moved, so couldn’t find my hot glue gun. I know it’s here somewhere. So instead, I placed all of the items and with the help of gravity and camera magic, they look as if they’re all glued in place. I’ll probably use a couple of straight pins to keep them in place and hang it on the door.) In my example wreath, I’ve used some of that straw stuff, (there’s a name for it - Raffia?), to create a bow. Well, actually, the bow was on the wreath that I liberated from the attic.

And “ta-da”! A patriotic Fourth of July wreath, perfect for celebrating freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and all things literary and fourth of July-y.

OH! Don’t forget to grab a favorite Classic and Cozy novel to take with you to your fourth of July celebration. You’ll need a good book to hold you over until the fireworks start. Only question is, will you be able to put it down?

Mark This Spot!

A "First Fridays" Artistic Interlude with Sofie Couch

It’s First Fridays, it’s February, and it’s my first official First Friday's post at Classic and Cozy!

So I thought I would lead you all in something pretty radical for a writer. Yes, today we dice and slice books. I mean, literally, we’re gonna dice-and-slice books. So get out your scissors, get out a couple of raggedy-taggedy books, and let’s get chopping and make some book marks.

First, remove the spines from a couple of old books. I promise, no books were harmed… well, actually, they were harmed. They were annihilated. But I didn’t pull anything off of the shelves of a rare books collection. In my hometown, we have an amazing recycle center and there is a special walk-in bin filled with books that local folks no longer want. They’re sad books. Books that are looking for a good home. Unfortunately, I got to them first.

Okay, so rip off those spines. If you’re a craft geek, like some of us, you have a laminator just laying around the crafting bench. Actually, book spines are a little thick for my baby laminator. They needed a little persuasion to squeeze through, so I took out the ol’ flat-iron – it doesn’t get out very often – and with a towel between laminate paper and iron, it works just fine! Don’t have laminate paper? No problem. Pull out a roll of packing tape (no heat).

With your trusty hole punch, put a little punch in the top of your book spine/ book mark.

Next, just add ribbon and voila! Now, you have only to grab a cup of tea and a good book, (might I suggest, KEEPING UP WITH MR. JONES?) and your trusty new book mark. Enjoy!

Sofie Couch (that's Sofie - with an "F"), has made a return to romantic comedy. If you were one of those readers who were looking for more books by that illusive writer, Annette Couch-Jareb, (CYBER BRIDE, 1999), she’s back… with a new writing name.