Here’s a photo from my trip to Eden. A local gift shop was completely buried by snow.

And here’s the view from outside the shop door. I love the pattern made in the snow by the roof.

When I think about my favorite movie moments, I realize that many of them involve hands.

In Persuasion, Anne sees Captain Wentworth again for the first time in years. We see how this affects her by the way her hand grips the chair when she sees him.

In North & South, Margaret doesn’t say how much Thornton means to her, how sorry she is about everything. Instead, when he takes her hand, she rests her other hand softly, gently, on top of his.

Then there’s a scene in La Femme Nikita, where Michael takes Nikita’s hand and a muscle in her hand jerks.

It’s the ultimate in showing vs. telling. None of these characters say what they are feeling. They don’t need to—their hands say it for them.

Now, when I work on a story, I think about ways my characters can speak without saying a word. It requires focus on the craft, consideration of the options. What’s the best way for someone to express emotion? Each character is different, which results in unique answers. It’s always fun to explore.

And maybe someday, a reader will close one of my books and think, “I loved that scene with the hero’s hands . . .”

A friend of mine challenged me to an exercise duel. We haven’t established the stakes yet, but this will be good for me, since I fell off the exercise wagon treadmill a while ago. I have two new DVDs to try, but I’m planning to get back into things with the familiar ones first. Wish me luck.

I just wish I could figure out how to exercise and take a nap at the same time.

I’m back from Eden, and as with most vacations, returning has been kind of rough. I had a lovely and relaxing time, and I could have easily stayed another week and been happy. Instead, I’m back and besieged with laundry and other tasks. Well, the break was nice.

Now I need to get back to things. First up: finishing Sanctuary.

Here’s my latest out-of-office message, set to go out to work e-mails I receive beginning today.

Yes, folks, I’m not in the office today. I’m making a personal exit to Eden. Yes, Eden. Don’t know where it is? Neither do I, but the person driving does. I hope.

I’m planning to lose myself in the first garden I find there. If I find my way out again, I’ll respond to your e-mail when I’m back in the office on Monday. If not, well . . . come find me in the Garden of Eden.

I’m going to enjoy a much-needed vacation.

Today I received my first review of The Greatest Gift. It’s a nice review from Romance Junkies.

A wonderfully written story of love and passion that will warm the heart without doubt, regardless of the season and time this book is read. My only complaint is that the tale is too short. Lia Sebastian really does know her craft to spinning a romance that will cling to the mind.

You can read the review in its entirety here.

This week I realized I’ve hit a milestone—four months since I stopped drinking anything with caffeine. Yes, amazingly, after drinking two 20-ounce bottles a day, I decided to quit. I made the decision when I realized I had stomach issues when I drank it. I decided to see if things would improve if I stopped drinking caffeine completely.

As you might imagine, I had a rough week or two at the beginning. My coworkers noticed it as well, I’m sure. But I got through it. I didn’t weaken even on my birthday, because my stomach did feel better without the caffeine. Go figure.

Six months ago, I couldn’t imagine going more than a day without caffeine; now I’m off it. And I don’t miss it . . . much.

It’s been more than ten years since I first got online. Within a few months of getting on the internet, I was buying books and teaching myself how to create websites. No one who saw them would think they were professionally designed, but they were nice, they suited the purpose, and I felt a sense of accomplishment with them.

Today, I let a designer do my sites. (Have I mentioned how much I like her?) Anyway, I asked her to give me a bid on a couple of images. Instead of doing so, she pointed me to a free program that would do what I needed. I’m always a bit wary of new software until I get the hang of it. So I figured I would play around with the program for a while until I figured things out.

You can imagine how surprised I was when it took less than five minutes to do what I wanted with the picture.

Riding high on my success, I decided to look for software that would make screenshots from videos. That’s how I got this screenshot, which I posted last week.

So, I’ve got a couple of programs that will allow me to do a few things myself.

Now if I could just DIY with car repairs . . .

The day job has consumed my energy this week. And when I haven’t been at work, I’ve sought out mindless distraction in movies. My once- or twice-a-year movie marathon has turned into a daily one. We’ll see how long that lasts. I’m sure I’ll get back on a regular blogging schedule sometime.

In the meantime, I have a mini-vacation to look forward to next week. I hope I can make it that long . . .

Every now and then, I go on a movie-watching binge. Last week was one of them, and Proof is one of the movies I watched.

Character-driven drama with romance and intrigue. Just what I like. A fascinating exploration of what counts as proof. And I loved the chemistry between the characters played by Gwyneth Paltrow and Jake Gyllenhaal.

It even made me a little nostalgic for academia, even though math is definitely not my field. It’s been a while since I felt that. Anyway, it’s worth a watch if you like character-driven stories. Or Jake Gyllenhaal.