I can proudly say I'm a Joules Taylor fan-girl.
Joules let me read some more of her original fiction and before I was a third of the way through I realised I wanted to play in this universe too. Joules writes with a gorgeous sensuality that I find completely addictive; her characters - nice or nasty, damaged or whole - are immediately compelling to me, and her worlds, dark and dangerous as they can be, live and breath. They're alive and I want to be there!
I've learnt so much from working with Joules, including belief in myself, and occasionally now in my own writing I catch a flash of the sparkle that pervades her work. Yes!!
Got a ways to go yet before I could dare to call myself an equal, but hey, I've only been writing for a couple of years whereas Joules has been writing all her life! So for the time being I'll content myself with learning at her feet, making her nervous with my adoring gaze... heh heh heh.

The cubs and I used the chocolate cookie kit today. I managed to get 2 seahorse shapes done before being ordered to use my 'tiny teddy' cutter instead - the cubs thought it looked like a hamster. So the biscuits were cut, cooked, decorated and eaten (all of them except the four I managed to save for their father) within an hour. Needless to say, the cubs didn't want lunch...

Speaking of hamsters - the cubs and I watched the second episode of Hamtaro today. I think the the makers of Hamtaro have just taken the Smurfs and put them in fur coats, the difference being that so far (we haven't met everybody yet) there's 3
female characters - Bijou, Hashmeena and Penelope - rather than just 1. You see, we've got 'brainy' hamster - Dexter, 'clumsy' hamster - Oxnard, 'sleepy' hamster - Snoozer, 'bossy' hamster - Boss, and, um, 'yeehaw' hamster - Howdy. Hamtaro, being the star of the show doesn't fit in to the 'Smurf' mold, but then he's a lot like Pikachu.
Omigod! I know their names, I know their names!
Ack! It took me longer than this to get the main DBZ characters down!
I am not going to fall under the evil spell of the ham-hams!! *pant pant pant* I'm not!

'Lutra's lollies'.. Mmmm... sweet and suckable... *smirk*