We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.  ~Thornton Wilder

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how many blessed treasures I’m lucky to have in my life. How about you?

And the winner is:  Virginia C!  Virginia, if you’ll drop me an email with your shipping info, I’ll forward that to Trish
Thanks, everyone, for hanging out!!!

Woot!! Trish Milburn is here with us today! Trish is an amazing author and a fabulously fun gal who I’m thrilled to welcome to the blog! Not only does she write great stories for Harlequin American, she’s also writing incredible young adult stories as Tricia Mills.  I’ve known Trish for, well, halfway to forever.  Or so it seems, since every year I finaled in the Golden Heart contest, she was right there with me.  Trish also hosts the fun blog, Healthy Writer, where I hang out on Thursdays, and is another of the wild, fun and amazing Romance Bandits. And she still has time to write!! Amazing lady.  Please, join me in welcoming her – and be sure to answer her question posed below for a chance to win a copy of her first book, A FIREFIGHTER IN THE FAMILY, which is connected to her latest release, THE FAMILY MAN.  (and check out the GORGEOUS covers!!)

1. Plotter or Pantzer?
I’m somewhere in between. I do plot some ahead of time, but it’s not so extensive I already feel I’ve written half the book. A Plotser, perhaps.

2. Ball cap or Stetson?
Stetson. I’ve loved cowboy heroes since I was a kid watching westerns on TV on Saturdays, and that hasn’t changed.

3. Ocean or mountain?
I love both! When it’s cold here, I like to go to the beach in Florida. When it’s hot, I like to retreat to the cooler mountains.

4. Clean or cluttered?
Clean. When I’m on deadline and don’t have time to clean, it drives me batty. I just finished a couple of deadlines, so I’m getting ready to become a cleaning crazy woman this week.

5. Car or plane?
Car! I’m a terra firma girl.

6. Plain or peanut?
Plain. I hate peanuts and peanut butter. Can’t stand the smell.

My question to the readers:
Titanic or Avatar?

Trish Milburn writes heartwarming, small-town romances for Harlequin American under her own name and young adult novels for Razorbill under the name Tricia Mills. Her newest release is The Family Man, out this month from Harlequin American. Her next YA novel, Winter Longing, will be out in August. She loves reading (duh), watching TV and movies, hiking, and road trips and wishes she had more time for hobbies like cross-stitching and genealogy.

I’m over at the Healthy Writer today, talking about the similarity between the writing process and weight loss.  Stop by and share your thoughts, ‘kay?

The Mistress Always Spanks Twice… Leather, whips and caramel sauce. Gotta love the combination, right?

This was a fun episode.  Not a heavy crime plot, but an amusing one for sure.  I enjoyed the twists and laughed out loud more than once.  When I first read the preview of this episode I wondered how the writers would handle such a, well, hot and sticky topic.  The best way, it seems – with humor!  I loved watching the heat spark between Beckett and Castle, seeing how confused and intrigued he was by her and the idea of domination.  Sometimes he’s just so cocky and confident, and others he’s very much a little boy, isn’t he?  (well, granted other than with Alexis, he’s always emotionally a little boy. But  rarely do we seen him sexually unsure – he’s usually such a playboy player.  Except with Beckett)

So did you figure out who done it? Prolly, right? I told my husband as soon as the character was on screen that I figured that’s going to be the killer. We wavered when the obnoxious character was introduced, but then figured it was too obvious and went back to our original guess.  I didn’t figure out the why, though, until Beckett broke the suspect – so kudos for that!

Favorite scene:  When Beckett taunts and teases Castle about her favorite kink… yeah, that got hot!!!

Favorite prop: Those killer heels the dom-receptionist was wearing! Yowza!!!

Most Amusing moment:  Watching Esposito, then Ryan with the boot-laces. 

Favorite line: Don’t forget, my safe word is apples.
I was so glad they included that, since it was mentioned way back to the very first Castle episode!!

Fun Fact:  Ryan’s girlfriend Jenny?  She was played by his real life wife!  Really really. (yes, I realize this might prove that I’m a smidge too obsessive in my interest in this show – don’t get me started on Alice in Wonderland!!)

So did you watch the episode?  What’d you think? What was your favorite line, scene or moment?

You were much more muchier. You lost your muchness. – The Mad Hatter to Alice, Alice in Wonderland [2010].

Wooot!!! First off, I have to give a huge shout out for The Mad Hatter (oh man, he rocked). Did you see Alice in Wonderland this weekend? Wasn’t it freaking amazing??!!??

And now… how’s your muchness going? What can you do to be muchier?