Sonja Foust, Romance Author

Goin’ to Jackson

2010-03-10T19:57:23Z

Actually, back from Jackson, but I wanted to give you a recap in picture form.

Moose. You can see 2 of them if you squint, but I think there are actually three. Maybe it’s a little moose family. Ahhn. They were just laying out in back of the visitors’ center, right on the edge of town.

We took a sleigh ride into the Elk Refuge. The big guy is Moses, the boss daddy of the elk. He’s missing half a rack because he got in a fight.

We went on a snowmobile ride through Yellowstone, which is the only way you can get into Yellowstone in the winter. (Yes, it’s as cold as it looks– probably colder.)

We got a little up close and personal with a buffalo herd in Yellowstone. We had to drive through the herd. One of the babies played chicken with me and tried to headbutt my leg. He missed, though.

The rest of the week was pretty much filled with skiing. I did some skiing and a lot of sight-seeing. Riding the tram up to the top of the mountain is great fun, even if you can’t ski down like me, because the views are amazing.

And, of course, a trip to Jackson Hole would not be complete without some pictures of the Teton Mountain range.

No related posts.

I Take It Back

2010-03-08T19:06:01Z

I did a post about a month ago about buying shoes from ShoeDazzle to fight heart disease.

I take it back.

Fight heart disease some other way. Just don’t join ShoeDazzle. Let me tell you why, in the format of a series of events:

Wednesday of last week: I wore my super adorable ShoeDazzle shoes to work– the ones I wore to the company holiday party that I got a million compliments on. I love these shoes. (However, I’d only worn them 3 or 4 times.)

Around lunchtime, I noticed that the upper part of the shoe was ripping completely out of the sole. There’s about a 2 inch rip in both shoes in the same spot.

No problem, I thought to myself. Most online companies are excellent about quality concerns and will gladly do what it takes to make their customers happy, no matter what their return policy is. I dashed off a quick email to ShoeDazzle client services to let them know about the problem.

Hours later (so good on them for at least being quick about it), I received the following email response:

Hi Sonja,
Thanks for you [sic] email. Unfortunately, we do have a 30 day return/exchange policy of any shoes unworn. My personal suggestion is maybe an insole?!

Thanks,
[name omitted]

Thursday of last week: I got a little peeved at this point, so I dashed off another email.

I’m really disappointed about this. I understand your return policy, but this is a shoe quality problem, not a problem of changing my mind or the shoes not fitting properly.

I can’t continue to buy shoes if there is no guarantee of the quality of the item I will receive. I love ShoeDazzle and I’m really happy with the shoes I’ve gotten, except for this pair.

Friday of last week: Apparently I spoke too soon. On Friday I wore my adorable yellow flats with the buckle from ShoeDazzle.

The sole came off. Not only did the sole come off of one shoe, it came off of both shoes. On the same day.

By this point, I was livid. Having received no return email from the one I’d sent before about how disappointed I was about them not replacing my previous pair of broken shoes, I sent another email.

I wore another pair of ShoeDazzle shoes today and they broke as well. I am very disappointed with the quality of shoe I have received from ShoeDazzle and the fact that you will not guarantee the quality of your items.

I am attaching a picture of the shoes I am wearing today, which I have only worn 5 or 6 times, and which are now broken.

Please cancel my account and refund my 2 remaining credits.

I got an email back that said I had to call their client services number to cancel my account.

Today: I finally got around to calling the client services number. Turns out they’re not open until noon my time, so I had to wait.

The first 5 or 6 times I tried to call, I got a busy signal. A busy signal. This is 2010, people. There is an entire generation of people out there who do not know what a busy signal sounds like. It was like being blasted back to 1994. A busy signal.

I finally got through and waited on hold for 10 minutes. When a rep picked up, I asked again about whether there was anything they could do about my broken shoes and was told that, no, there’s nothing they can do if I’ve had the shoes for more than 30 days and they’re not in Like New condition. Arg.

So I asked to cancel my account. The rep asked me if I was aware that I have 2 credits (for 2 pairs of shoes, worth $80) in my account. I said yes and that I would like those credits refunded.

Wait for it.

They can only refund one credit.

I did not yell at the rep. It’s not her fault.

But I am posting this on my blog to let you know that ShoeDazzle is not customer-friendly and that I don’t think you should buy anything from them, ever. As it stands now, my choice is to either buy another crappy pair of shoes that will break immediately, or eat the $40 that I can’t get refunded, on top of the $80 it cost me to buy the two pairs of shoes that I now cannot wear.

Spread the word. Kim Kardashian (founder of ShoeDazzle), if you’re listening, we’re not BFF’s anymore.

As an additional note, the Better Business Bureau has received several complaints aside from mine. ShoeDazzle has a two-star rating on their site.

American Idol Commentary

2010-03-04T15:22:23Z

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Fight Heart Disease: Buy Shoes

2010-03-08T18:47:00Z

**UPDATED: Everything in this post is ok except for the part about, you know, buying shoes. DO NOT BUY SHOES FROM SHOEDAZZLE!**

Today is National Wear Red Day. I know, another stupid made-up holiday in February, but I’m ok with this one because you don’t have to support the greeting card industry to participate in it. National Wear Red Day is all about education. Heart disease is the #1 killer of women. Yes, everyone is affected by heart disease.

So today you can commit to being heart healthy: Eat healthy stuff, move around a lot, and stay tobacco-free.

You can also help fight heart disease by… buying shoes! One of my favorite sites, ShoeDazzle, has this sweet red pump available in February. 10% of the purchase goes to Women Heart to provide education and training for women so that we can take charge of our heart health.

Stay healthy, friends!

This post is in loving memory of my father-in-law, who passed away 2 years ago from a heart attack. We miss you, Charlie.

Did You Watch The Grammys?

2010-02-01T13:45:04Z

I did. You didn’t miss much. Here’s my Twitter stream from the night:

The Zac Brown Band just got a new fan. Their opening number was awesome, and I generally can’t stand too much for patriotic songs.

I did not know an acoustic guitar could make that sound. Awesome.

@becs1017 They need to autotune Taylor. Poor thing. #Grammys

@pinkpodster I think it’s more the pitch than the strength. Ugh. Pretty awful. #grammys

@ellenlynch I just said, “Oh, TAYLOR!” with a tone of disgust. (#grammys ) Should probably watch #Emma instead.

Why are they wearing 3D glasses in the audience? They are there. It’s ACTUALLY 3D. #grammys [Michael Jackson tribute was in 3D. I didn't have any 3D glasses so I just saw a blurry Celine Dion. Underwhelmed.]

Bon Jovi = sad and washed up. This is depressing. #grammys

So did Livin on a Prayer win because the kids know it from Rock Band? #grammys [There was a voting process whereby viewers got to pick between 3 songs for Bon Jovi to play. Livin on a Prayer won.]

@pinkpodster Rock Band is the only reason I know the words [to Livin on a Prayer]. #justsayin #grammys

Rihanna’s dress looks like a sleeveless bathrobe with a bustle. #grammys

I think Andrea Bocelli was trying to look down Mary’s dress. #grammys

Presenting the most over-rated band in the history of music except for U2: The Dave Matthews Band. #grammys

@veemoe By sheer numbers, I think the DMB could take U2. It’s a freaking orgy up there. #grammys

Man, I can take a pot shot at Andrea Bocelli, but make an opinionated comment about DMB or U2 and I get stones thrown! LOL.

Who the hell are these people and why am I still watching this? #grammys

Going to call Zac Brown Band the pleasant surprise of the night and go to bed, I think.

State of the Union Watch Party Recipes

Motivation: What It Is, and Why It’s So Freaking Hard to Write

2010-01-29T14:44:34Z

It’s the thing that holds a book together or causes it to fall apart. It’s the thing that writers will tell you is the essential piece to making your characters realistic. In my opinion, it’s one of the hardest things in the world to get right.

It’s motivation.

“Excuse me, excuse me. What’s MY motivation?” The characters in your books (not unlike those high-maintenance diva-like actors) need motivation in order to be true and convincing. We need to know what’s causing them to be happy, or seek revenge, or act petty, or have sex.

Some motivations are simple: I am hungry, therefore, I will eat my supper.

Some motivations are not simple, and those are the ones with which I am most concerned. Let me give you an example from real life.

Joanna and Sonja, twins of lore

I have a twin sister. People always ask me, “What is it like to have a twin?” and I always answer back, “That’s a hard question, because I don’t know what it’s like NOT to have a twin.” But I can tell you that twins growing up together are tied in a way that we probably don’t even understand ourselves.

My family moved from one end of the country to the other the summer before my sister and I started high school. What got me through most days was knowing that even if no one else in that entire giant school building knew or cared who I was, at least one person did, and was going through the exact same thing as me. We were facing this together, and because we were together, we were going to get through it.

My senior year of high school, though, we started fighting. Looking back, I will say that most of the blame was on me for that. I picked fights over stupid stuff. I was deliberately argumentative. I got annoyed over the slightest things. But at the time, I just thought that my sister had suddenly become obnoxious. I was actually glad that we were going our separate ways, to different schools for college, even though it was the first time we’d both go into a completely new situation without each other.

My freshman year of college was one of the hardest years of my life, and I must have had some inkling that it would be tough before I got there. I didn’t put it together until just a few weeks ago, though, that those fights my senior year of high school with my sister (who never really did anything that should have upset me that much) were a defense mechanism. Fighting with her was a way of distancing myself so that facing college without her wouldn’t seem so awful. (Yeah, sorry about that, sis.)

But, people, it took me 10 years to realize that. If motivations in real life are so complicated, how the heck are we supposed to get them into a 75,000-word book?

It’s not easy, and I continue to struggle with it. The good news is that as I learn more about relationships and people and the world, I also become a better writer, and that will never stop.

State of the Union Watch Party Recipes

2010-01-26T23:34:13Z

I’m not having a State of the Union watch party… Mostly because I don’t expect it to be much of a party atmosphere, heh. But if I were having a State of the Union watch party, here are the recipes I would be serving my politically-minded guests:

Split-Party Soup

Ok, it’s really split pea soup, but let’s split the peas and not the hairs, people.

EconoMeat

Take a can of meat chili and a block of Velveta and melt those suckers in a bowl in the microwave. Serve it with chips and call it delicious.

Super Majority Good-bye Kisses

59 Hershey kisses and 41 Hershey hugs in a big Senate-shaped bowl

Heath Care Reform

Mash up some Heath bars. Get some vanilla ice cream. Let your partiers go to town, but hopefully in a way that allows bipartisanship, huh?

What are you serving at your State of the Union watch party?

Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Try a Romance Novel

2010-01-20T21:11:55Z

I recently gave a romance novel to a friend who doesn’t really read romance novels. I told her that she didn’t read them because she’d never tried one, and once she did, she’d love them forever. Since she is a good and open-minded friend, she gave it a try.

Today we went on a trip to Barnes & Noble to buy her more romance novels. Victory.

So here are my top 5 reasons why you should try reading a romance novel:

There are lots of different kinds to try. Do you like suspense? Mystery? Historical? Contemporary? Comedy? Adventure? Sci-fi? Fantasy? You can find something in any of those sub-genres within the romance genre. (If you need a recommendation, leave me a comment and I’ll hook you up. Just tell me what you like to read.)
I guarantee you that you will not get a depressing book when you pick up a romance. It’s a promise: “This is a romance novel, and the ending will be happy.”
Romance novelists are awesome, if I do say so myself.
The covers are generally way more embarrassing than what’s inside them.
You might enjoy it! You’ll have a whole new genre available to you for all that reading you wish you could make yourself do– except that romance novels are SO MUCH FUN that it won’t feel like a chore to read anymore.

Why Girls Love Shoes

2010-01-14T21:42:02Z

: Image by Sonja_the_strange via Flickr

Ok, I know there are some of you out there that don’t love shoes… you mutants. By and large, though, most women I meet love shoes. Why? It’s just an article of clothing– it shouldn’t be any different than a coat or a bag or a skirt, right?

Here’s my theory:

Shoes are universal. There are the odd feet out, but most of the time, if you see a cute shoe, chances are it’s going to look cute on your foot. This shoe will not make your butt look fat. This shoe will not fit your hips but not your boobs. The color of this shoe will not make your face look sick or sad or tired. Cute shoes are just cute shoes.

So, what’s your theory? Are you a shoe person? A bag person? A coat person? Does some other article of clothing get you going? Tell me in the comments.

Replacing Christmas

2010-01-11T20:06:02Z

This weekend, we finally got around to putting away all the Christmas stuff (and me pretty much kicking and screaming). I never like to put away Christmas stuff, but this year was worse– It’s not just laziness, it’s the emotional impact of it. Christmas guarantees you time with friends and family, and a few days off to take care of things, and the hope of a brand new year. Once you put away the Christmas stuff, it feels like all that goes away, too.

So, to cheer myself up, I’m looking for decorating ideas. I have a big square shelf where the Christmas village was that I need something for. We used to have a fountain there (kind of like the one to the right, except way prettier, and pink quartz), which I loved, but it’s broken and probably won’t make a comeback anytime soon. Could do a plant, but that’s kind of boring, right? So shoot me some ideas. Stacks of pretty books? Piles of different-sized picture frames? Some kind of other fountain or statue or other big nifty conversation piece?

I’m also looking for ideas for my mantle. I was thinking maybe a bunch of different sized vases and lots of wild colors of flowers. Or maybe I’ll just make a trip to Home Goods and see what I see. (My other idea involves candles, and I know I would never light them, so I’m giving up while I’m ahead.)

I do like Design Mom’s ideas… And the pic to the left that she used on her blog post makes me want to raid my kitchen cabinets for pretty dishes to do interesting things with… like put a pile of gourds and flowers on them.

Help me out here. What do you replace your Christmas decor with when it’s back up in the attic? Doing anything new this year? Have any ideas for me?