Early Christmas Card

I received my first Christmas card of the season today, November 15. It’s from the person who delivers the morning paper, and came tucked inside the paper. It’s a generic card, with an impersonal greeting, and not signed. He did however, include his name and address.

Rather than a sincere wish that I might have a happy holiday, his greeting is simply a reminder to tip him. Even so, I think it’s a bit early.

Stores around here started displaying Christmas items well before Halloween. Mid-October, most made room for Halloween merchandise, usually crowded into aisles. The emphasis remained on Christmas.

I know that Christmas is "make or break" for many merchants, especially small businesses. But I miss Thanksgiving.

Halloween provides a nice surge in retail sales, and of course Christmas is a major sales event. Thanksgiving passes unnoticed, at least in the retail end of things. I think that’s sad.
For so many, the focus of Christmas is on giving and receiving nice gifts. That’s okay, but it puts the emphasis on what we don’t have.

Thanksgiving means "giving thanks" for what we do have.

Among a multitude of other things, I’m thankful I can afford a daily paper, I’m thankful it’s delivered promptly each morning (even if he does sometimes miss the driveway :-), I'm thankful I have the ability to physically walk outside and pick up the paper, I'm thankful for a warm house to return to, I'm thankful I have the ability to read, and I’m thankful I’ll be able to give the delivery person his tip.

I’ll wait until December, however, to send it to him.

Download and Read My Books on Your Phone!

Exciting new way to read thousands of romance books!

Here's the October 8, 2009 Press Release from All Romance eBooks, distributors for my books, titled Jenny's Legacy, Acts of Love, and A Perfect Body.

All Romance eBooks (ARe) has partnered with Aldiko to make their eBook catalog available to Google's Android-powered mobile phones.

Readers will now be able to browse, search and seamlessly download more than 10,000 http://www.allromanceebooks.com [eBooks], including free reads, to their Android phones directly from ARe without a computer, cable or subscription using the Aldiko application.

With the Aldiko app readers can easily browse ARe's extensive online book catalog, read detailed descriptions and book reviews, and quickly find the books they are looking for, using a powerful search tool right on their Smartphone. They can organize their purchases by criteria such as title, author, or subject, edit detail information, tag, bookmark and search—all on a fully customizable display. New features include a full text search that allows readers to find words globally within the book, and a look up feature, which lets users search for a word in the dictionary, Wikipedia, or on Google.

"Readers love the convenience of being able to download ARe's eBooks anytime, anywhere," said Julie Cummings, ARe's manager of Publicity and Marketing. "Earlier this year we launched an iPhone compatible catalog and it's been hugely popular with our consumers who use ATT. We're really excited to now bring that same service to customers who use other cellular carriers," Cummings added.

"Our mission at Aldiko is to provide an open platform where users can discover, access, read and manage a wide variety of digital publications instantly and seamlessly" said Tiffany Wong, co-founder of Aldiko. "The partnership with ARe will help us offer the best and broadest selection of titles to our users."

Aldiko is available worldwide and is free on the Android Market as well as available as a paid premium app for Android open platform phones. To learn more visit Aldiko athttp://www.aldiko.com and Android at http://www.android.com.

All Romance eBooks, LLC was founded in 2006, is privately held in partnership, and headquartered in Palm Harbor, Florida. The company owns All Romance, which specializes in the sale of romance eBooks and OmniLit, which sells both fiction and non-fiction eBooks.

Aldiko Limited was founded in 2009. The company has developed an ebook reader application, "Aldiko Book Reader" for use on Android-powered devices. With Aldiko, users can build and organize their digital library, read on the go, and wirelessly browse and download from a broad range of digital publications right on their Android-powered devices.

Another Great Review for Perfect Body!

Cherokee, award-winning reviewer for Coffee Time Reviews has posted a great review of A Perfect Body, and rated it 4 cups.

http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/aperfectbody.html

She ends with this statement: "All the players are crafted in such a life-like form that this reader felt as if she was right in the middle of a real event going on in this delightful read. "

That definitely gives me the warm fuzzies!

Terrific Review of A Perfect Body

Fennel, of Long and Short Romance Reviews, has posted a terrific review of my third novel, A Perfect Body, and rated it as a "best book."

It's at http://longandshortreviews.blogspot.com/2009/08/perfect-body-by-cassandra-barnes.html

I worked long and hard writing A Perfect Body and it's very gratifying to receive reviews such as Fennel's.

A Perfect Body is currently available in e-book form, including Kindle, but it's tentatively scheduled for release as a paperback in 2010.

My Dearest Wish

Recently, two women standing in line behind me at an ATM machine were discussing the fact that machines had shortchanged them in the past. After a long, involved story of what she had to do to obtain her money, one of them commented that the machines never overpaid her.

"That's my dearest wish," the second woman said. "I'd love to get extra money sometime."

"I wouldn't give it back if I did," the first woman said.

"Me either," the second woman agreed.

I finished my transaction and left them to their dreams of riches. But their conversation made me wonder what my dearest wish is. If I could have anything I wished for, what would I choose?

I do know that I wouldn't wish for a machine to spew twenty-dollar bills at me. I'd feel obligated to return the money, so that wish wouldn't do me much good. I don't think I'd wish for lots of money, in any form. What good would it do me to be rich, if I ended up like Howard Hughes?

While I'd rather be healthy than rich, I've no desire to live in poverty. I'd prefer to have more to think about than my day-to-day survival. And I certainly want the mental stability to enjoy what I have.

The trouble with wishes is that they all too often come true. And when they do, it's usually in a very literal way, with consequences we never imagined when we first wished. Wishes are like everything else--they are balanced. Yin and yang. Sunshine and shadows. A cost for every benefit. I need a comprehensive wish--one that covers health, wealth, and wisdom, with no disagreeable aftermath.

I unthinkingly wish for foolish things. I wish the person in line ahead of me would hurry up. I wish my internet connection was faster. I wish I didn't have to clean house. I wish the Sunday paper still carried my favorite comics. What if we only have so much "wish credit," and I've frittered mine away on insignificant wishes? I wish I knew.

There are few things I'd change in my life, given the opportunity to do so, and yet I'm not so foolish as to wish things would stay exactly as they are. My life isn't perfect, but it's good. Maybe that's why if a genie popped into my life right now and offered to grant my dearest wish, I wouldn't know what to wish for.

Sanchona's Review of Acts of Love

Acts of Love was my second published novel.

Australian author Sanchona (A Family of Strangers) wrote the following review:

"Ms Cassandra Barnes has published a new novel, Acts of Love which tells the story of Amanda Reed, who has made a new life for herself in a small town where she has cultivated a large group of close friends. Then two murders shake up the community. Amanda and her friends rally around to help the family of the victims. It is in this chaotic time that Michael, the son Amanda had regretfully abandoned for his own good years ago, shows up at her door. There is no great reunion. Michael resents his mother, but has only looked her up for the sake of his son, who has recently been diagnosed with cancer. Michael is hoping that Amanda, as the grandmother, might be that compatible bone marrow donor to save his child's life. Acts of Love deals with the question of hard decisions some people make based on love that call for personal sacrifice, then years later, they wonder if they had made the right decision. Cassandra Barnes is to be congratulated for skillfully weaving into this theme a budding romance in a murder mystery that is then complicated by a family conflict. This appealing novel makes easy reading. I look forward to her next novel."

Sometimes I Surprise Myself!

In my early 30s I became acquainted with a woman about twice my age who shared my love of reading. In talking with her, I learned that she primarily read non-fiction, and was avid about learning new things. With the arrogance of youth, I wondered why, since she was retired, and therefore "old," with no practical (meaning income-producing) way to apply that knowledge.

Now that I’m about her age, I’ve found that all I want to read is non-fiction, and that I just can’t seem to get my fill of learning something new. I now understand that people don’t have to "do" something with their knowledge, that there is great pleasure in simply discovering new information or expanding existing information.

I still enjoy fiction, although my tastes have changed dramatically over the years, but I’ll nearly always chose non-fiction first. Some of it is lightweight, and some of it forces me to really study what the author is saying. I’m very eclectic, reading from an extensive selection of authors, philosophies, and fields.

I suppose in a way that I’m looking for answers, although I’ve not formulated any serious questions. I think, though, that most of it is a matter of curiosity, of wanting to know as much as I can about everything. The older I get, the more I realize how little I really know, despite having lived a full life, with a variety of experiences.

From Trash To Treasure

I recently watched a squirrel attempting to carry something fairly large and bulky up a tree. I put peanuts out for them every morning, but his burden definitely wasn’t a peanut. It looked like an oversize coffee cup from a takeout place. The squirrel tried repeatedly to run up the tree, sometimes making it almost halfway up, but invariably dropping his treasure. He’d scramble down, grab the cup and try again.

I knew he’d never reach his goal, whatever high branch it was, so I went out to pick up the cup, mentally grumbling about whichever neighbor had left trash out for the squirrels.
When I got to the bottom of the tree, I discovered an empty peanut butter container. Not only that, I recognized it as stolen from my recycling box! I’d left the box lid loose enough that the furry thief had been able to loot the contents.

I’d washed out the jar before disposing of it, but it had a fluted bottom and I hadn’t been able to remove all traces of peanut butter. It was plastic, and the squirrel had chewed a two-inch hole in the side. Apparently other squirrels on the ground were trying to steal his trophy or perhaps he wanted to finish devouring it at his leisure in a tree. In either case, he considered me the thief and roundly scolded me.

I now have a new recycling container, with a tight-fitting lid that I’m careful about closing securely. I still hear little feet scrambling around occasionally, so I know my squirrel thief is waiting for its chance to grab another treasure.

A Perfect Body Accepted for Publication

I'm pleased to announce that my third novel, A Perfect Body, has been accepted for publication by Write Words, Inc. It's scheduled for release on June 1, 2009 as an e-book.

A Perfect Body is a contemporary sweet romance.

Description: A bundle of contradictions, Madeleine Andrews doesn't play well with others, yet is a devoted volunteer. Luke McFarland is a successful people-pleaser, burying his own desires beneath an ever-present smile. Theirs could be the love affair of the century, but first they have to learn to like each other. She thinks he's insincere and a phony. He thinks she's arrogant and difficult. And that's just the start of their problems.

Spring Is In The Air

The skies spit snow earlier this week, but there’s nothing but sunshine in the forecast now, and spring is springing.

I saw the first flowers last week - dandelions waving in the wind. I don’t recall seeing those bloom so early in the past, but there they were, as cheery as could be.

Monday a hummingbird checked out the bird feeder. This worried me a bit, as our nighttime temperatures are still well below freezing, and there’s nothing blooming that hummers can feed on. It’s much too early for them to be this far north. I made syrup and hung out the hummingbird feeder in case it returned, but I’ve not seen it again. I fear that the little thing either starved or froze. The syrup in the feeder has been frozen every morning.

Tuesday, a sunny yellow crocus poked its little head through the mulch. The subsequent snowfall didn’t keep it from being bright and perky.

Many of the winter birds are still coming to our feeders, but the spring and summer birds are making an appearance also. We’ve seen three goldfinches and a pair of Western bluebirds, two of our favorite species. There’s been several robins as well.

If this year is like past years, we’ll still have snowfall, but for now, we’re enjoying flowers blooming, birds signing, and sun shining.

Ouspensky on Knowledge, Part I

I’ve started Chapter One of "Tertium Organum: A Key to the Enigmas of the World," by P D. Ouspensky.** He begins with assertion that "The most difficult thing is to know what we do know, and what we do not know."

He says we can start with knowing two facts. The first is our inner life, which is the subjective fact of our existence. The second is the existence of the outer world, which is objective. He maintains that we cannot prove these two basic facts, that we must simply accept them as given. Everything else is an unknown.

His conclusion: we learn about what exists outside us by the sensations generated within our inner selves. The mistake we then make is in thinking our sensations are the cause of what we experience in the outer world.

For me, Ouspensky’s insights resonate with the idea that nothing is good or bad in and of itself. Our attitude, our thoughts, our experiences, our sensations combine to make something seem good or bad. We always have a choice as to how we regard any particular object or action, although it may not seem so in the heat of the moment.

Thoughts happen so quickly that it seems impossible to control them in any way, but I’ve learned from others that there is an instant, an infinitesimal space, before the thought forms. The trick is to become aware of that instant, that space, and in that manner gain awareness of our thoughts. Then we can start learning why we perceive the outer world the way we do.
But for starters, I think it’d be helpful if I’d just pause before I say "I know this or that" and wonder whether or not I truly know it. And if I know it, how?

**Refer to first Ouspensky post for more info on him and his book.

Winter Wonderland

We’ve received lots and lots of snow recently, with more on the way. Unless all the weather forecasts are wrong, I can expect to see big wet flakes falling again when I get up tomorrow morning.

I start early every day on clearing out my driveway, even before the snowfall stops, as it’s easier for me to shovel a few inches several times than it is to shovel the whole thing one time. I don’t mind - there’s a certain stillness in snow falling in the early morning that’s very peaceful, even magical.

I walk the dog mid-mornings, and am usually rewarded with incredible beauty. The snow had just stopped falling one morning just before we started our walk, and everything was pristine white. The sun peeked out for a few minutes, turning everything around us into sparkling crystals.

The crystalline beauty, the green trees, boughs laden with snow, and the blue sky - it was one of those special times. The sun appeared only briefly, but the beauty was all the more special for the briefness.

The sky soon turned leaden again, the magical silence was soon broken by the sounds of traffic, tire chains clanking, on the highway, and I knew I’d spend the afternoon shoveling more snow, if not from the driveway, then from the roof.

But for those few moments, I knew sheer joy in the beauty surrounding me, as my dog and I made footprints side-by-side in our own winter wonderland.

Meeting Ouspensky

My local library has used book sales twice a year. While it’s a good opportunity to buy sacks full of the mysteries my husband loves, I also take advantage of the fact that they often include old, out-of-print volumes and I’ve acquired my own bags of treasures.

One of my recent finds is “Tertium Organum: A Key to the Enigmas of the World,” by P. D. Ouspensky. It’s the second edition and copyrighted 1922, the year it was translated into English. I don’t see a reference as to when he originally wrote it, but it’s clearly been around for a long time.

Ouspensky was a Russian philosopher, mystic, and mathematician, and in this book “he explores religion, science, psychology, and the literature of mysticism in an effort to understand man and man’s place in creation.” I see chapter headings having to do with the “fourth dimension.” Sounds fascinating, doesn’t it?

I’ve only read the Introduction and Preface, so I’m not into the essence of Ouspensky’s philosophy yet. I’ll keep you posted on what I glean from his thoughts.

Barley Gruel

Gruel. It sounds like something awful. I’d only heard it used as being something fed to children in long ago orphanages, with the implication that the only thing worse than gruel was starvation. It sounded like cruel for good reason!


But I went through a very bad patch several years ago, and wasn’t able to function effectively, including eating. Someone told me barley gruel provided good nourishment in those kinds of situations, and I was desperate enough to try it.


I found a simple recipe, made up a batch, and much to my surprise, it was quite delicious. I’ve tried several other versions, in particular one made with mushrooms. It appears that barley is fairly adaptable, so you could probably combine it with whatever you desire, and season to taste.


My favorite remains the very first recipe I prepared. It’s from “The New Book of Whole Grains” by Marlene Anne Bumgarner. Bumgarner recommends searching for natural brown barley, but it’s very difficult to find. In the States, generally all that’s available is pearled barley, which has been hulled and processed. Pearled barley doesn’t have as much nutrients as the unprocessed grains.


Barley Gruel


1 cup coarsely cracked barley, soaked overnight
2 cups water
½ teaspoon salt


Bring water and salt to a boil. Add barley, cover, and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, or until moisture is absorbed. Serve with honey and milk, perhaps topped with fresh fruit.


According to Bumgarner, gruel is just another word for porridge. So I guess those little orphans weren’t so abused after all. And I might have tried it sooner if I’d known that’s all it was!

Catalog Dreaming

It’s January. The ground remains frozen and snow-covered. Although there’s lots of wintertime activities to keep me busy, I’m thinking about sunshine and springtime gardens. The seed catalogs arrived last week, and oh, the luscious contents!

Produce of every shape, color, and size, all bursting with color and flavor, promise bountiful harvests. My favorite catalog so far specializes in “seeds and plants for gourmet vegetables.” They offer delicacies like purple carrots, yellow raspberries, tomatoes and peppers in every hue, kitchen herbs, and edible flowers. Have you ever tasted a nasturtium? I did once in a fancy restaurant. They’re fuzzy.

I have very limited space available for gardening, but I’m hopeful of eventually increasing my “acreage” with tiered raised beds. That will give me more growing area, as well as make cultivation easier on my back and knees. With luck, a raised bed might even thwart the gophers!

At the least, this spring I’ll grow potted herbs on my window sills, and plant a couple of tomato bushes outside. Until then, I’ll sit here in front of my warm fire, leafing through the catalogs, remembering gardens of the past, and dreaming of future abundant harvests. I’m not too sure about purple carrots, but I’ll always make room somewhere for a nasturtium!