Great Ways to Procrastinate

The Seven Deadly Sins…and Barbies

Kathryn — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:15:46 +0000

The Most Wicked of Sins (in stores now) is the title of the second book in my sexy and wickedly fun Seven Deadly Sins series. It’s about envy, which really is a wicked sin. I mean, come on. You could conceivably have a little fun committing the other six sin-but not envy. No way.

Is Envy the most wicked of sins?

Let me tell you a little more about each of the Seven Deadly Sins, and then you decide which is the most wicked of sins.

Now, the Seven Deadly Sins are: Greed, Envy, Sloth, Gluttony, Lust, Wrath and Pride. Okay, I can think of worse sins, but hey, a Pope came up with these as the top seven about a thousand years ago. ‘Nuf said, right?

Greed: Perfect example~ my teetering To Be Read pile(s). I have more books than I can possibly read, more books than anyone can possibly read, and yet I can’t leave the bookstore without half a dozen more. I have so many books that I am thinking of building a green house out of recycled romances. Think I can get a tax credit for that?

Envy:. I named the heroine Ivy in The Most Wicked of Sins after an Envy incident in my neighborhood years ago. A woman down the street had the most amazing garden, and yet I never saw her do any more than water it. One day, the flowers were strewn all over the front yard and my neighbor was busy raking up the mess. She guessed some kids had torn up the garden at night as a prank-but wished she could thank them for pulling up all of the poison ivy too. Now she could work in her garden again. A couple days later, I saw the woman who lived next door to her with a horrible red rash all over her arms and face. True story.

Sloth: It’s 8 a.m., kids are off to school. I am going write to ten pages -right after I check my email. Wow, is it noon already? Okay, eat lunch, then off to write ten pages…after I check out that one site. Crap. Dinner time? (Meant to buy some groceries.) Lazy slug.

Gluttony: There is only so much a human needs to eat, right? Beyond that, it’s excess and after a while, Lycra becomes a way of life. Believe me, I know. (Though, the woman who invented SPANX is up for sainthood. Yup, pretty sure it’s true.)

Lust: Oh, come on. How is this a sin?

Wrath: Okay, you race into a grocery store for some milk, but some guy is blocking the aisle with his cart while he taps on his Blackberry creating a shopper back up (the term for this is Blackberry Jam, I think). Excuse me, please. He doesn’t hear you. Tap, tap, tap. Would you mind if I just squeezed by? Tappity tap. Grr. You are about two seconds from yanking that thing out of his hand and chucking it and him in the lobster tank. That’s wrath.

Pride: Pride is supposed to be the worst sin. I don’t mean like taking pride in your work, or your school, or your kid’s team. We’re really talking arrogance, right? Pride as in Pride and Prejudice. Oh Mr. Darcy. You lovely sinner, you.

There you have it. The Seven Deadly Sins. What’s next? Siusan’s story, The Dukes Night of Sin. Her sin? Sloth.

Such fun!

Images courtesy of the Barbies that hang out in my office and sometimes star in my kids’ iPhone movies and school assignments.

(Kathryn’s blog previously posted on Romance Bandits)

New Contest!

Kathryn — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:14:11 +0000

Three sets of signed copies of To Sin With a Stranger and The Most Wicked of Sins (books 1 and 2 in my best-selling Seven Deadly Sins series) are up for grabs. Be sure to visit my contest page and enter today for your chance to win!

You win!

Kathryn — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:53:12 +0000

The three winners of Kathryn Caskie’s January book giveaway are: Kirstin K. from Woodbridge, VA, Cricket S. from Washington, NC, and Marie E. of Lathrop, CA. You each will receive a signed copy of the first book in the Seven Deadly Sins series, To Sin With a Stranger.

Stay tuned for Kathryn’s next contest and your chance to win twice as big~ three lucky entrants will each win a signed set of To Sin With a Stranger and The Most Wicked of Sins.

Win one of three signed copies of To Sin With a Stranger

Kathryn — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:16:17 +0000

Three signed copies of To Sin With a Stranger (book 1 in my Seven Deadly Sins series) will be given away on January 24th. Time’s a wastin’. Be sure to visit my contest page and enter today for your chance to win!

Crunchy Peppermint Bark

Kathryn — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:30:41 +0000

You asked for it, so here it is once again~ my crunchy peppermint bark. It’s quick to make. Start to finish, about 15 minutes.

Each holiday season, my kids and I love to make Peppermint Bark to nibble and to pack in beribboned boxes to give as teacher or hostess gifts. And it never fails. Everyone who receives the treat bark MUST have the recipe. Now we just include a copy printed on a festive card. I just know you will want the recipe (my version takes only minutes from start to finish), so here you go!

(Note: White chocolate scorches easily. So, you can be “Martha” and use a double-boiler –or just check the chocolate’s progress in your handy-dandy microwave. Guess which I do?)
Yield: Makes just over 2 pounds or one cookie sheet full

Ingredients:

2 bags of Nestles white chocolate morsels (I’ve tried about every brand there is, and Nestles works best)
12 large candy canes
1/2 teaspoon peppermint oil (oil, not extract–you can find it at craft or baking stores with candy making supplies)
1 Ziplock freezer bag, gallon size

How to:

1. Line an 11-by-17-inch baking sheet with parchment and set aside. In a pinch, you can use aluminum foil (but you may have to peel off the bark instead of just lifting it off.)

2. Take the candy canes out of the wrappers and drop them into the Ziplock bag (Freezer bags are thicker–but you can double up on a regular zipper bags if you like.)

3. Hand the closed bag to the kids and let them bang it on the kitchen counter until the canes are smashed into 1/4 inch pieces. (No kids around? Roll a wine bottle over the bag a few times. I like to use a good bottle of red –more festive, you know. )

4. Empty the white chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and heat on high for 60 seconds. Microwave strength varies, so watch carefully. Take the bowl out and stir well. Heat it for another 30 seconds. Stir again. If the chocolate isn’t melted, continue at 10 second intervals to avoid scorching. (Note: the morsels hold form until you stir, so you can’t just look in the bowl to check if they’ve melted.)

4. Immediately stir the pieces of candy cane and the peppermint oil into the melted chocolate.

5. Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet; spread evenly to about thickness of 1/2 inch.

6. Refrigerate until firm, a minimum of 10 minutes, or pop it in the freezer for 5 minutes.� Both cooling methods work, it just depends how hungry or time-pressed you are.� Break into pieces and eat some to check crunchiness (okay, just because you want to). Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to one week.

The winners of the October drawing for $100 Amazon Gift Cards…

Kathryn — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:55:36 +0000

I so was busy finishing The Duke’s Night of Sin that I never posted the names of $100 Amazon gift cards. The answer to the contest question–the last word on page 100–was parlor. The two winners were Lynn R. of Miami, Florida and Kristina D. of Henderson, Nevada. And thank you to Pat for reminding me!

The Most Wicked of Sins ~ ON SALE TODAY!

Kathryn — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:23:41 +0000

The second in my Seven Deadly Sins series, The Most Wicked of Sins is in stores and libraries today! Grab your copy right away~ paying special attention to page 100~ because something on that page is the key to winning one of two $100 Amazon gift cards. The first drawing for this special contest is October 5th and the second is October 13th. Enter today! It would be a sin not to.

What I did this summer–got married in a castle in Scotland!

Kathryn — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 22:05:47 +0000

So, when a romance author (who absolutely adores Scottish heroes) gets married, where does she tie the knot? In Scotland, of course! On August 11th, I married my kilted hero in the chapel at Dalhousie Castle in Scotland. The rings were delivered by a little owl to my daughter who gave them to the minister to be blessed. Check out a few photos (more to come–including a few of “Ted” the owl.)

It’s Friday Giveaway Time!

Kathryn — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:38:40 +0000

It’s Friday and that means we have another winner. Ginger C. from Clifton Forge, Virginia wins a signed copy of To Sin With a Stranger! That makes three Friday winners so far. Katy M. from Grantsville, Utah and Barbara M. from Reynoldsburg, Ohio are the other lucky winners. What’s this? There are actually five fridays in September? That’s right! There are two more chances to win before my new book The Most Wicked of Sins hits the shelves on Tuesday, September 29th (and I’ve got an all new contest to celebrate the release!) So enter my contest today.

Signed copies of To Sin With a Stranger up for grabs every Friday in September!

Kathryn — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:19:50 +0000

To celebrate the September 29th release of The Most Wicked of Sins (book two in the Seven Deadly Sins series), Kathryn is giving away signed copies of the first in the series, To Sin With a Stranger, every Friday in September. Enter the contest today! While you are there, be sure to read the all new Prologue and Chapter One excerpt of The Most Wicked of Sins, available for pre-order now.