Petit Fours and Hot Tamales has recently been awarded two different blogging awards.
The first is the Premio Dardas Award and this one came from two of our blog friends. One is from Hooked on Romance http://hookedonromance.blogspot.com/ and the other is from Nikki Duncan at http://nikkiduncan.com/blog/.
This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his/her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary and personal values every day.
The rules to follow are:
1) Accept the award, then post it on your blog together with the name of the person that has granted the award and his or her blog link.
2) Pass the award [...]

Time really got by me this month. I did a lot of traveling, hosted a library event and announced a huge Anniversary Party for my Publishers Weekly blog, Beyond Her Book. So when Debbie emailed me Thursday to remind me of my promise to write a blog for your terrific group, I went into panic mode.
After I calmed myself down with a Subway sub and lots of diet Coke, I thought that this would be a perfect theme for the blog. What to blog about when there’s nothing to say. I hear this complaint a lot from authors.
Now I write [...]

Think back to the first time you stood naked in full light in front of the man you were going to make love to. At the risk of being indelicate, I wanted you to have a clear understanding of how writers, at least this one, feel when they have to share their work with the world. The emotions run the course from vulnerable, to nervous, to concern, to fear of not measuring up, to worry of being found lacking.
Some writers have little trouble sharing their work but ALL experience the feelings above in some form. Despite their fears writers still [...]

Some of the hunkiest hunks live in my house (and in yours, too). I’m starting to think that’s why people say oh and get that glazed look when I tell them I write romantic fantasy. I’ve tried the evasive tack, saying I’m just a writer, but they get excited and ask what I write. Romantic fantasy. Oh. Do you get that?

I’ve decided to stand proud, say what I do right off the bat, and get straight to the glazing. People look at me like I’ve asked if I may send their chihuahua into orbit. “I passed [...]

By Sandra Elzie
Have you ever submitted a sample of your writing as an entry to a contest, knowing that you were opening up your work for some faceless, unknown person to judge? You might reason that they don’t know your characters the way you do You know what? You’re right! They spend a short time with your characters where you’ve spent hours, days, months or maybe even years getting to know them.
Personally, I’ve entered several contests and when I got the submission back, I was surprised at how much red writing there was on my formerly nice, clean, white pages. [...]

By: Debbie Kaufman

I confess. I am an obsessive compulsive reader. I don’t know if that is actually an official diagnosis is the psychiatric community, but it probably should be – at least in my case! Because I read so obsessively and eclectically, I have consumed a lot of good books lately and it’s hard to choose just one to share with you. However, I decided that any book that kept me up half the night because I had to finish it deserved a nod.
Author Rachel Vincent, who describes herself as an urban fantasy and young adult author, has a real [...]

Carol Burnside is our blog sister from a tiny town in Maryland. Contemporary, historical and paranormal romance are highest among her writing interests in both short stories and series-length novels. The desire to be a writer did not burn a hole in her soul from birth, but she’s had characters living in her imagination ever since she can remember. Walking, talking, emotional characters who felt like old friends from their inception. Simply put, she says writing and creative endeavors keep her sane.
PFHT: Though you are a part of the PF&HT blogging family, this is your first feature on the blog, [...]