Aaaack. Stomach flu

Need I say more?

Story 5 still coming soon -- I just have to feel good enough to do the final bit, and it'll be up and ready to read!

Story 5 ... so close to being done!

Story 5 is almost ready for prime time. I'm still deciding on a title, too, so hang tight for just a few more days, folks.

In the meantime, I saw another Oscar-nominated movie, Zero Dark Thirty. All I can say is, how could they take one of the most important manhunts of our time and turn it into a snoozefest? I usually like Jessica Chastain, but she was miscast and her character was severely underdeveloped.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Anyone else agree? Disagree?

Back to writing Story 5 of The Pandora Chronicles -- which, if I may say, are a lot more exciting that Zero Dark Thirty. :-)

What's your Oscar pick?

I realized today that I've seen only a handful of the movies up for Best Picture. I need to get out more!

Here's my list, with a couple of words about each one:

• Amour: Want to see it
• Argo: Saw it, was bored
• Beasts of the Souther Wild: Didn't see it, not interested
• Django Unchained: Want to see it
• Les Misérables: Saw it, liked it but wouldn't watch it a second time
• Life of Pi: Saw it, loved it, wanted to dream about it
• Lincoln: Didn't see it, will wait for the rental
• Silver Linings Playbook: Saw it, loved it, want to see it again (and again)
• Zero Dark Thirty: Nope, want to see it

And the Oscar goes to ...

Silver Linings Playbook as Best Picture -- of the movies I've seen so far.

What's your choice for Best Picture of 2012?

The chase is on. What's your favorite?

Chase scenes -- and escape and rescue scenes -- are a blast to write. More than almost anything else in my stories, I see these scenes as mini movies for the mind. They live in front of my eyes, with my characters running, jumping, crawling, climbing, holding on, you name it. A lot of that is happening as I work on story 5.

I swear, sometimes I'm burning calories along with my characters!

Since I started writing these types of scenes, I've paid much more attention to them in other books and also in movies.

Do you have a favorite chase scene, from a book or movie? If so, what is it? I'd love to hear from you.

To kill, or not to kill?

OK, folks. I'm having a debate with myself whether to kill someone off in story 5 ... or not.

The characters are at a point where things are serious. VERY serious. If you've read Blood Line Zero, then you know what I'm talking about.

So what should I do? Kill someone? Or not?

Of course, I can't reveal who I'm talking about because that would give too much away. If any of you read Harry Potter -- not that I'm J.K. Rowling -- then you know the author had no problem killing off some pretty major characters.

(SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVEN'T READ HP: Dumbledore?? And Hedwig?? Sheesh.)

Tell me what you think about authors killing off key characters in their books!

I ate the Justin's peanut butter cups

Yep. Gave in to the chocolate craving -- or should I say "addiction" -- that I talked about yesterday. So sue me.

Follow up: Did you already BREAK any New Year's resolutions?

One minor resolution I made related to nutrition was to eat less sugar.

In my case, "less" is a relative term. Maybe I should have said, "Don't eat sugar at every meal."

I'm a big fan of Justin's peanut butter cups,
preferably the dark chocolate variety.

My downfall, honestly, is chocolate. I absolutely love it. Can't live without it. If I could, I'd eat chocolate in some form several times a day.

When I was on vacation recently, I basically did just that. And wow, did I ever enjoy myself.

But now it's back to reality, so I'm trying -- trying -- to eat less of it so as not to put on the weight that would inevitably follow that kind of positively reckless chocolate eating.

So far today -- it's 10:15 am -- I haven't had any. And I don't have any nearby, either. Can I actually go a full day without having any chocolate? Maybe I should try it and see what happens.

I'll post again tomorrow and let you know if I succeeded or failed.

Did you make any New Year's resolutions?

I'm not big on making New Year's resolutions, mostly because I am more of a long-term goal setter. This year, however, I would like to increase my overall fitness and, of course, keep writing and publishing on Kindle.

My other goal is to make more time to have fun in 2013. Speaking candidly, the last few years of my life have been really tough, in virtually every area: personal life, work life, you name it. I need to find my inner child more often and let her enjoy life more fully.

What about you? Did you make any resolutions? What are your goals for 2013?

Happy New Year! Next episode coming soon

Happy New Year, everyone, and here's to a peaceful and prosperous 2013.

Story 5 in The Pandora Chronicles is coming soon. Now that I'm back from vacation, my computer is revved up and ready to roll with Hope and Jake's next adventure in the series.

I'll tell you one thing: my cat, Sophia, is verrrrry happy I'm home, She hasn't left my side for more than a minute since I walked in the door last night. Here's a photo I just snapped of her, gripping my shirt and making it very clear that she doesn't want me to go on vacation again for a long time. :-)