Is It 2012 Yet?

Hello Bloggers, I am back!

Had a wonderful Christmas with my son Jesse and his wife Tina.  We spent Christmas in Santa Rosa and there was snow all around.  I had planned to take pictures, but with a brain like a sieve, I forgot the camera was in the bottom of my suitcase.  So no pictures, Sorry.

From the day I arrived to the day I left I was offered fantastic food and of course I over ate.  Oh Lord, did I over eat!  But it was so good!

I loved when they would tell me it was such a nice day outside and it was in the twenties.  This Az. lizard looked at them as if they were crazy.  But I have to admit it was very pretty with the sun making the snow sparkle as if it had glitter on it.  I don't think I have ever noticed that before, of course I haven't seen that much snow to really notice what it looked like with the sun shining on it.

Seeing the glittery snow reminded me of the "White Christmas" performance on stage I had seen with my son John.  They had glittery snow falling on the stage and I thought they had done it that way so the audience could see the snow.  Now I know snow glitters when the sun shines on it.

Jesse, Tina and I also saw a movie while we were together.  We watched Mission Impossible 4.  I loved that movie.  It had a lot of action and yet it had humor also.  My emotions swung from joy to sadness in this movie.  It was a fantastic movie. 

My daughter in law Tina made fun of me afterwards because I really get involve in the movies I am watching.  Murmuring  "Oh, Nos" and moving around in my seat as I tried to help the actors with my own actions.  Jumping when something scared me.  What can I say, I enjoy movies totally.

I have been thinking about my New Year's resolution and I haven't settled on any yet. 

What are your New Year resolution?

I'm kicking around about writing a certain amount of words each day.

Exercising for thirty minutes every day.

Calling my kids.  The problem is, I am not a phone person.

Which is really weird, since I had a job for three years using the phone.  This worked because there wasn't any personal connection.  It was all business.

When I'm talking on the phone to my family, my brain goes dead and there is a lot of silence.  Now let me write a letter and it turns into a lot of pages. 

Then there is the not wanting to bother the kids.   What time of day is the best time to call?  What day is best?  Should I drop by to visit with you in person and when should I do this?

This feeling probably came from my parents who did not like to be bothered with calls from me or unexpected visits.  So as a result I very rarely call or just drop by to visit with them.  When they wanted to hear what was going on, they called me, but not very often.

 My kids are always on my mind, as I wonder how they are doing, and what they are doing.  But I just never think of calling to find out. 

My daughter in law Tina says I need to start calling my kids.  She says they don't think they are loved, because I don't call them.

Strange, I just took it for granted they knew I loved them with all my heart.  I think maybe we need to work on our communication.

My daughter calls me when she needs to hear my voice and my son Jesse calls me also.  Neither of these two have ever said they wished I would make the calls.  (Communication problem again?) It is very very rare when I call them.  I mean they have busy lives and I don't want to interfere. 

Do you call your kids and parents?  How often do you call them, once a week, once a month?

So some of my kids think I am terrible because I only call when I am in desperate need of their help.  Hmmm, maybe I need to make it a very strong resolution to call them daily, weekly or monthly.  I will have to think about it some more.  I really don't want to be a bother.

I really need a book with rules and guidelines on how to communicate with my boys and their wives.  I feel like a fish floundering in a basket waiting to be eaten.

I need a sign saying "Give Me A Break, I Was Raised By Crazy, Strange People!"  Learning how to talk, communicate and socialize with people was not included in the lessons they taught.  It's a wonder I am as sane as I am.  I wonder do crazy people know they are crazy? 

I can definitely thank my parents for the reason why I like to write stories.

 I can fill my world with people who can not judge me and find me wanting.

Do you ever get the feeling life is filled with more questions than answers?

 Now all I need to do is to find some readers out there to buy my ebooks and read them.  Even though I haven't made enough with two ebooks to cover the cost of the copywrites, I plan to up load more ebooks in 2012 in hopes of finding my audience.

Sooo, how is it going for you?  Drop a line and let me know.

See you around the block.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to Every One!

Will Christmas is almost here. 

My daughter in law Tina called me yesterday to tell me to bring warm clothing. 

She said it was very cold and snow was every where.  They were hit by that big blizzard in the plains.

 I laughed and said I would bring what warm clothes I had, but I have a feeling they wouldn't be considered warm clothes in her area.

 I live in Phoenix and what we think is warm clothing is not when you are in a really cold place.

I remember I was out there for Easter one year and it snowed.  I was asked why I didn't wear my winter clothes.

I grabbed hold of the front of my sweat shirt, "This is my winter clothes!"

They laughed, shook their heads.  I think they think I am crazy.  Maybeeeeee.

This will be my last blog until after Christmas.  I have a problem of not remembering my own URLs, passwords and etc.  So since my lap top is on the fritz, I doubt I will be able to use any one elses computer. 

See you around the block.


Maggie Barbieri  has a wonderful Christmas tale on her blog.  Check it out!  You will come away with a smile on your face.

Joan Reeves had Dyanne Davis over for a cup of coffee.  Dyanne talked about having critique done on your work.  It was interesting and brought up some good points.

Lynn Viehl had me biting my fingernails this morning.  She was having horrible eye pain.  Check out her blog and find out what happened.

Nancy Martin has the funniest post up today.  I laughed my head off at the beer cooler.  You have to read this.

Second Chance  at Amazon.

Fainting Damsel  at Amazon.

Second Chance at Smashwords.

Fainting Damsel  At Smashwords.

Both books can be found at Barnes & Noble

Also at Apple, but I haven't figured out the URL yet.

Happy Holidays

Okay I tried to leave some comments on some blogs today and my comments disappeared.  My silly computer would take me to the blogspot sign in page.  I gave up after a while.

I was reading some of my favorite blogs and found out one will be ending Jan 1st.  I will miss this blog, it was entertaining and made me laugh.   Margie and Nancy Martin wrote about the ending coming soon.  This was the one a few days ago it was hilarious, Elaine Viets wrote "My Shot at Chic" to do with tasting vinegar.  I laughed so hard at this one I cried.

Also, while I am thinking of it.  I will not be putting up a new blog on Fri., Dec. 23rd or Monday, Dec., 26th.  I will be visiting with my son and his wife.  I am not taking my lap top with me, because it is crazy.  The last time I used it I wanted to throw it across the room and stomp it when it landed.  Soooo,
no laptop. 

Have a very Merry Christmas and don't eat too much.  Okay, you can eat as much as you want.  But remember, we will have to go on a diet after the holidays.

This also means I will have to catch up with you guys on your blogs when I get back. 

Alas, I found out the link I had been using for Amazon to connect my readers to my book was wrong.  I might sale more if I used the right link.  I find Amazon not as user friendly as I do Smashwords.  How about you, which one is easier for you to use and keep track of your book sales?

So here are the correct links to my books on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Second-Chance-ebook/dp/B005OTK84A/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

http://www.amazon.com/Fainting-Damsel-ebook/dp/B005RFGJD0/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

Smashwords I had right but I will put them again.  My books are at sale at Barnes & Noble and Apple.  I haven't figured yet how to find out how they are doing and their links, since Smashword placed them there.  I am not a computer guru, sad very sad.

http://smashwords.com/books/view/87120           Second Chance

http://smashwords.com/books/view/93185           Fainting Damsel

My book Charlie will soon be ready to upload as an e book.  I had so much fun working with these characters, especially Charlie who is a mouthy parrot.  I have started another book with some of the same characters, but I'm not sure if I could come up with a third story.  We will have to wait and see.

Jenny Hansen   Loved her blog about recipes that have been handed down.  I feel her pain, I have gone through some of the same things.  In the recipe my Aunt gave me for making Heath bars, she forgot to mention I needed to wait for the color of the candy to change when I was cooking it, otherwise you turn out this soft, crumbly Heath bar.  Then there is my mom who had this wonderful Eggplant Casserole.  I would ask her a number of times for the recipe and her answer was, "The recipe is on the cracker box."  Yah, probably twenty years ago.  Never did get that recipe and mom is gone now.

Lynn Viehl  Is at it again, adding more to the give away she has going.  Poor darling, it will cost a fortune to mail it.  I am not a shopper, but I enjoy reading about people who shop.  I think I was born without the shopping gene.  Oh well,  I will find something else to do.

Harley  Writes about mysteries things happening in her life.  Whew, some sound scarey and one, I wonder if she had been drinking.  White horses with pastel tails of different colors.  Hmm, I don't know about that.   Enjoyed the blog and wonder what will happen next.


 Susan McBride  Her blog is about memories of a Christmas when she was a child.  It brought back memories of when my kids were small.  We also had a tree covered in home made ornaments, store bought ones and lots of lights.  The kids also threw the tinsel on the tree and I thought it made the tree more interesting.  I have given the ornaments my kids made to them to put on their own trees and have a very small tree with ornaments I made for this tiny tree.

See you around the block.

Learning, Reading and Writing

Okay, I am running a little behind, but the dog ate my blog.  Just kidding, I had things I had to do and you know how life likes to throws monkeys at you?   I mean monkey wrenches in the works.

I love the Elf picture I found to share with you.  Don't worry it was free clip art, able to be used by anyone.

When I started this writing gig, I didn't realize what all I would have to do.  I mean I have to twitter, do face book and blog, plus read other authors blogs, plus just read and learn.  Of course I had to take time out to watch my favorite Christmas movies.  Holiday Inn, White Christmas and Miracle on 34th St. ( the old black and white, and also the newer version)  Then I had to watch the different Scooge movies they show on television.  This is tradition you know and I have to keep up my end.


I am learning more every day about social media. 

Now to get down to some business:

Kristen Lamb  her blog today was "Aspiring is for Pansies -Tough Love and Being a Writer"
She really covered the issues in being a writer.  All of the points she made hit home.  Especially don't expect family to gush about your writing.  I had to twist some arms to get some of my kids to read my books, while others rushed to do it, and some still have not read them.  There may have to be more pressure put on them.  Just kidding, well maybe a little pressure. 

Since becoming a writer, I have never been so busy reading, blogging, making comments on blogs, face book and twitter.    My readers are out there and they need to be able to find me.

I must admit my sister in law Connie has been the best cheerleader for my writing.  She is the one asking do I have something for her to read and in my Christmas card she told me  and I quote, "I know your writing will take off once your readers get a taste of your style!"   Yes, she did say that and I walked around on cloud 9 all day.

I also have found new blogs to read from twitter and face book.  It's like one yellow brick leads you down the road to another and some day I will make it to Oz.  My favorite color is green, so I should fit right in.

Writing is a job and I am here for the long haul and remember I am only human and sometimes my blog will go up a little late.  But they say better late than never.

Michael Hyatt   I signed up for the Buffer he talked about and now have things to be added automatically to face book and twitter.

Rachel Aaron   She tells you how she increased her 2000 words a day to 10,000 words a day.  A woman after my own heart.  I will be trying to implement some of her ideas.  I found this blog thanks to Molly Cox Bryan on face book.

Elaine Viets  This was sooo funny.  I laughed until I cried.  If you want a little knowledge about olive oil and Balsamic vinegar this is the spot.

This and That

Moving slow and thinking slow to day.  It's one of those days I am asking the walls what will I write about.  The walls never talk unfortunately.  They are no help at all.

So, since I couldn't come up with something I decided to blog hop and see what is going on.  I found some great blogs I thought I would share with you.

Kristine Kathry Rusch      This is a fantastic and interesting site.  Kristine Kathryn Rusch has a lot to offer.  She has featured section which is my favorite.  It consists of stories and very interesting stories.  Every Monday there is a new story and last Monday's story was "The Last Christmas Letter".  Fantastic, I can't come up with enough words to tell you how good this story was.  With a few key words she transport you to where the story is taking place.  I loved it, so if you need a break from writing or anything go to this site.  You never know what might catch your fancy.


SB Sarah    The title of this blog is "Virginity Cliches in Romance".  The woman is unhappy about reading it over and over again in a romance book that (1) the hero didn't know his lover was a virgin  (2) the hero saying he would have done it different.   I found this blog intertaining and I totally agree.  Some times we would like our stories more real life.  I mean really, did our hero ever tell us that after our first roll in the sack?  Let's get real here.

I was wondering what every one thought about the new offer from Amazon.  You know belonging to their lending library and you can't have your book for sale any where else.  Lord have mercy for a newbie this is terror filled zone.  We are having enough trouble finding enough places to push (advertise) our books without something like this.  I will be staying away from this elite club, but then again I was always a tad of a rebel.  What are you thoughts on this?   Leave a comment and let me know.

Finished up my Christmas shopping yesterday and spent the evening wrapping presents.  While doing this I thought of what Christmas had been like when my children were small.  I miss those times even though the days were filled with a lot of work.  I miss baking cookies to give away and to eat until I didn't have any space left in the kitchen to put them.  Making homemade candy to be eaten and given away.  The pies scattered around the counters in all their glory.  Fingers large and small reaching out to taste and help.  Laughter and smiles shared.  Memories made to keep and to forget.  If I could I would love to go back and relive those times. 

In those long ago days, Sears use to send out their Christmas catalog.  Each year we looked forward to the day the catalog would arrive.  The kids arguing over who would get to look through it first.  The kids would scan the pages marking what they wanted which was about everything.  My husband and I would scan the pages dreaming of the presents we wanted too.  By the time Christmas came Sears Christmas catalog looked and had been well used.  Pages crinkled, corners turned down and pictures marked.  It looked as if it had been around for ages.   But it was such a part of Christmas, a tradition we needed to share each year.

It's strange I remember mainly the time leading up to Christmas with the shopping, baking, wrapping and the Christmas programs at school and at church.  There was one year it snowed on Christmas day a rare occurrence in southeastern Arizona.

Getting together with family and friends to share the goodies we baked and cooked.

The year my sister in laws and I crocheted Christmas tree skirts, ornaments, mittens, house shoes, scarfs and etc for Christmas.

 All of these preparations left us with the feeling of accomplishment. We were artists in our on rights with the glory of our creations to share. 

I miss these long ago Christmases.

 I don't do all that baking, candy making any more.  Today we are worried about the weight we put on and healthy eating.  Living alone, I definitely don't need the sweets around.  I have a sweet tooth that want stop. 

My kids have grown up and are making their own memories.  I share only a very small portion of their holidays memories now.  I guess this is what happens when you mainly have sons and they share all the memories with the wife's family.  Unfortunately my daughter and son in law live out of state near his parents and they are making memories with them. 

I can now understand what they mean about this being the loneliness time of the year.  Why there is a problem with depression.  We sometimes out live our usefulness and traditions are forgotten no matter how hard we tried to install them.

See you around the block.  

Life

Woke up to a rare rainy day in Phoenix.  Wow!  It's really neat.  We do like to experience different weather off and on.  I mean really sunshine and all that can get old.  So on a day like today, you will find our faces filled with excitement and amazement.  I know you think we are crazy.  Maybe we are, but we know how to appreciate bad weather.

I have been busy.  No unfortunately not with my writing, even though I did write a few new ideas and beginnings of stories down.  I have been busy with family.

Last week I went to the Gammage Theater with my oldest son and saw Irving Berlin's White Christmas.  I really enjoyed it, but I still love my copy of the movie with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye.

Then over the weekend I visited with my sons, Wayne, Jesse and Toney.  They put in a new radiator in my car.  I had been complaining it was losing water.  Which isn't water anymore, it is a mixture of anti-freeze and water.   More pricey to keep refilling.  Then we went out to eat at The Keg next to the Chandler Fashion Square Mall.  Fantastic steaks, let me tell you.

I don't remember how we got on the conversation of how their dad use to buy a second hand car, but it did come up and we had some great laughs over it.


My husband big John would buy a car by how it looked.  I was the one looking under the hood and making statements like:

Me:  "There isn't any water in the radiator.  I am sure that is a bad sign."

John: " Look at the lines of this car.  Wow, it is fantastic!"


Me:  "But John the motor doesn't sound that great.  There's a miss."


John:  "Don't you love this color of blue?"


Me:  "It looks like a pimp car!  Really, it does."


John:  "I'll take it!"


Me:  "But John, I am the one that will have to drive it."


John:  "I'll take it!"


I frown and look at the salesman who is grinning ear to ear.  He knows he has made a killer deal with a man who likes the looks of a car.


Drove the car home and next day it wouldn't start.  The dealer had to do a ring job on it for free.  When John gets mad people seem to do what he wants.

The car also had a little quirk when it rained and you drove through a puddle, you would lose your breaks.  We never could figure out why that happened.  Thank God we lived where it didn't rain that often.



Believe me, when that car finally died, I did a victory dance.  I bought myself a brand new Saturn and I have been driving it for eleven years.  Best car I ever had.  First thing I looked at was how fast would it go.  That was important to me after being stuck in a car, whose top speed was ninety. 


I always love visiting with my kids.  What parent doesn't, is the question?

Sunday evening found me at Westwood High School watching a granddaughter and a grandson perform in their Christmas program "Canticle in Carols".  Granddaughter had a solo and grandson sang with four other young men.  Loved the music, they did such a fantastic job.

Took me back when my children were in school and I attended all of their performances.

See you around the block.

Remember I also have books for sale:

Fainting Damsel on Sale at Smashwords for $.99

Second Chance on Sale at Smashwords for $.99

They are also on Sale at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple.

Need to do More Writing

I've been working on my third book to get it ready for uploading as an e book.  Then the book came to a halt when one of my readers told me, she knew who the murderer was by the third chapter.

I thought, "That's not good.  Some readers would stop reading at that point."  So I put the book aside while I thought about it.

My reader said, "she continued to read because she wanted to know how the murderer was caught."

I wondered how many readers out there would do that and I figured not many.

A few days passed I read through the story again.  It was like a light bulb turned on.

I could fix the story by letting the reader and Charlie know who the murderer was, but not let the main characters know who the murderer was.

I mean really who listens to a loud mouth parrot?  Not many people I am sure.

So now I am having to rewrite parts of it and add more to my story.  I think it will turn out to be better than the story I had orginally wrote or at least I hope so.

I am hoping with this book my readers will know and love my characters.  Care about what is happening in their lives and hungry to want to know more.

Piece by piece I am building the characters.  Letting the reader know how they are feeling, how they interpret certain things and know the hang ups my character has that sometimes derail us all in life. 

You know those speed bump kind of things.

Have you ever had this kind of thing happen to you?  Did you go back and fix the problem?

See you around the block.

Some blogs you may have missed:

Liana Brooks  has a funny blog today about getting locked out of her house.  She shows how women can be creative and use what they have to get help.

Lynn Viehl is keeping Barnes & Noble busy.  Wow!  Look at the books she bought.  A reader in hog heaven for sure.

The Bloggess is always a hoot to read.  So if you need a laugh read this blog.

Lucy Burdette blog is about the characters we remember in stories.  Our characters in our stories are important if we want the reader to remember the story.

Time With The Boys

I know I am late getting my blog up, but things happen you know.  I was really upset over it until I gave myself a good talking to.  I mean really, if a blogger has nothing new today on their blog I will check the blog out tomorrow to see if there is anything new.  I'm sure other blog readers do the same.  I would get this done and it could be read tomorrow.

Last night my oldest son John (named after his daddy) took me to ASU Gammge theater to watch the stage performance of Irving Berlin's White Christmas. 

This is one movie with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye I watch at this time of year.  So I was interested to see how they would do this on the stage.

They of course had to leave some stuff out and move some stuff to happen at different times then they had happen in the movie.

But I enjoyed the performance and found my self really interested in how they made it snow on the stage.

In the barn scene were they throw open the doors, because it is finally snowing.  The stage production had glittery snow falling.  It was gorgeous.  Then in another scene, the snow was coming out of these things hung in front of the stage and the air conditioning they had on blew the snow onto the stage.  I loved it.

Of course the music was fantastic and the singers good, but I adore the movie.  It is still the tops.

What made this night really special, is the time I spent with my son.  It was just the two of us sharing mom and son time.  I love those kind of times.  Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter in laws, but it is nice to have time with your own child.

Last week my youngest son Toney brought over the exterior floppy disk reader I needed.  I had about 25 stories on floppy disks and could not get to them.  My tower is newer and didn't have this capability.  He also took me out for lunch. 

Generally speaking my boys forget to make time for their mom and when they do I soak it up like a cat sitting in the sun shine in the middle of winter soaking up the warmth.

The older I get the more precious this time is and I don't get to have as many of these precious times as I would like.

Later on I will write more stories about the past as they come to me, but sometimes I would like you to know what is going on in the here and now.

Working on my Charlie book and almost have it ready to upload as an e book.  Making a few changes here and there.  Will have to consider what price to put on it since I read Elle Lothlorien's blog, I have a link below to it.

A lot of the blogs I follow are by fellow authors and they are always writing great advice.  I haven't learned enough yet to share it and hope some day to be able to do that.  Until then my blog is for entertainment only for the reader and me.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do writing it.

See you around the block.

Here is a site that makes fun of the ever popular Twilight movie.  A face book friend Erin Kern directed us to this site.
Twilight Movie


Ray Rhamey is offering authors the chance to have your book advertised on his blog.

Liana Brooks has a clip of music.  The video is sat up like Star Wars with two cello players.  I thought it was fantastic.

Elle Lothorien  has a blog on Joe Konrath site.  I have linked you to it with her name.  They are talking about pricing e books.  Really what it boils down to it is a crap shoot.  As a newbie e book author I figure we will have to take chances and see how they turn out.  Good luck to all of us.

H. L. Windmiller welcome back from NaNo.  I missed reading your blog.  Some great questions this week about what you would do to work with a publisher.  To me all the answers are yes, but I would have to feel it would make the story better.

It;s Raining

I woke up this weekend to a cloudy sky, temperature in the low fifties and rain.  Temperature in the low fifties means those of us who are desert lizards found it cold.  Don't laugh, if you were use to temps in the hundreds plus you would find it cold too.

Well, anyway back to what I was planning to write about.  The raining morning took me on a trip back into the past when my children were very young and we lived in Elfrida in a very small house.  Our house was old and the only heat in it came from a space heater in the living room and one in the bathroom.  This house was built way before air conditioning and central heating and cooling.

On rainy mornings on the weekend, I would get up and fix eggs with bacon or sausage and pancakes or biscuits for all of us.  All seven of us would sit around the kitchen table and eat.  When I was cooking the kitchen would be the warmest place in the house.  Did I mention the house was very drafty.  Yeah, it was.

Then I would wash the dishes by hand.  There was always a lot of dishes with seven people in the family.
I would start some yeast softening for bread and cinnamon rolls I planned to bake that day.  There was a theory to my madness.  If I baked all day the house not only smelt like heaven, but the old house would be cozy warm.

My family loved home made breads, cookies, pies, candies and etc.  I could throw a pie together in a blink of an eye.  My husband John and I would be sitting in front of the television and he would say a coconut cream pie would really hit the spot.  I was up and had a pie for him in less than an hour and this was without store bought fillings.  I always made my own fillings.

Cooking and baking always gave me a feeling of accomplishing something back than.  It was a creative outlet I guess.

So, back to my baking on a rainy Saturday.  We had five kids, four boys and one girl, yet I don't remember my house being filled with screaming, crying, and yelling.  We had taught our children well, that when they were inside we expected them to use inside voices and no one horse played in the house.

We would play board games together, cards or work on a jig saw puzzle.  John my husband had cut some plywood down for us to work the jig saw puzzles on and this way it could be moved out of the way, which meant we could do the big jig saw with a thousand pieces.

We also read a lot and watched television.  The kids would play quietly on the floor in the living room and they all drifted through the kitchen to nibble on something cooling from the oven.

Lord, I can see those plate full of cookies, fresh rolls cooling on a rack and a plate of cinnamon bread and sometimes a cake or a pie depending on what I had on hand.

Yup, I miss those days, especially on a rainy Saturday morning when I only have myself to cook for and of course I am always on a diet of some kind.  I need to find a diet that includes all my desserts and chocolate chips.  But once in a while I will give in and cook myself an old fashion breakfast.  Yummmm!

Does the weather bring back memories of another time to you?  I would love to hear about them.

See you around the block.

Some interesting blogs:

http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/  Lynn Viehl has a list of gifts to give a writer.

http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com/the_lipstick_chronicles/2011/12/just-on-the-tip-of-my-tongue.html#comments
Hank Phillippi Ryan wrote an entertaining blog about remembering names.  He has a hard time doing it.  I let him know I have a hard time remembering names too. 

http://kbowenmysteries.com/?p=165#more-165  K. B. Owen's blog is about Charlie Chan.  She also has a quiz dealing with detective characters. 

Second Chance
On sale at Smashwords for $.99

Fainting Damsel
On sale at Smashwords for $.99

Second Chance at Amazon
On sale at Amazon for $.99

Fainting Damsel at Amazon
On sale at Amazon for $.99

Books are also available at Barnes & Noble , also at Apple.

Chocolate Chips

Okay, as you know I am new to the writing scene and I have found out the hard way, sitting at a computer a lot of the day can make you, (oh, dare I say it) b-i-g-g-e-r.  

Yes, you know what I am talking about.  My youngest son Toney says I need to exercise.  I went from a job on my feet all day moving around, to sitting on my bottom all day.  Go Figure!

I now have a timer next to my computer.  I set it for one hour, when it rings, I get up and walk for fifteen minutes.  That is if the muse is not talking to me.   I also have an pedometer in my pocket to count my steps.  Just about everyone says if you walk ten thousands steps a day you will lose weight.   

Believe it or not, I get in my ten thousand steps a day.   My question is WHEN DO I START LOSING WEIGHT?  I mean really people, I haven't lost a pound, but my calves are to die for. The rest of me, Blah.

Toney: " Give it time mom.  Muscle weights more than fat."

 Me:  "Duh."

Toney:: "It's like your writing, it will have benefits in the future."

Me:  "Sure it well."

Toney:  "Are you watching what you eat?  Are you following a diet?"

Me:  "My middle name is diet, of course I am following my diet to a T."

Toney stands there looking at me.  I look away.

Me: "You don't think it's the chocolate chips?"

Toney: "What chocolate chips?"

Me: "Weeelllll, you know how I love candy and cookies?  A tablespoon of dark chocolate chips are only seventy calories."

Toney:  Grining ear to ear.  "How many tablespoons do you eat?"

Me:  " Weeelll, I eat two tablespoons, and that is less calories than a candy bar and most cookies.  One tablespoon was just a tease."

Toney is laughing and having a hard time speaking

Toney:  "How many times a day do you have these two tablespoons?"

Me: "Weeelll about two times a day.  You know as the dessert after lunch and dinner."

Toney:  "What gave you the idea of eating chocolate chips in place of cookies and candy?"

Me:  "If you look at the diet I am following it says candy, cookies and etc. are not to be eaten.  It doesn't mention chocolate chips."

Toney:  "You don't think the chocolate chips is in the etc.?"

Me:  "I think if they didn't want me to eat chocolate chips they would print it in black and white."

Toney:   Hugs me and says, "Yeah, mom, but they didn't know you would be trying to follow their diet.  Cut out the chocolate chips and you might see a weight lost."

Me:  "Okay, I will. Of course I have to eat the chocolate chips I have on hand.  I don't want to be wasteful, you know."

Toney laughs all the way to his car.  Do you think he was laughing at me?   Hmmm, I seem to entertain my kids a lot.

See you around the block.

Me:  " Weeelll, I eat two tablespoons, and that is less calories than a candy bar and most cookies."

Lynn Viehl    Has been a very busy woman.  Where does she get all her energy.  Read her blog to find out what she has been up to.

Joshilyn Jackson

I found Joshilyn's blogg so funny.  It is about a mother allowing her daughter to get her ears pierced.  I know what she was feeling, let me tell you.  I only had one girl and she was the youngest of my children.  It was very hard to let her get her ears pierced.

Therese Fowler

Eat an elephant?  Therese wrote about taking control of your life.  You will enjoy her story and be helped by the advice she gives, or at least I think you well.

Heidi Windmiller

I am so glad Heidi is back with us from NaNo.  I missed reading her blog during November.

Tiffany Van Cleef Arpel

I loved this blog!  I couldn't stop laughing as I read it.  Pure entertainment.  Of course I expected it would be with this name connected to shopping.  I mean really doesn't it sound like a name someone rich would have?  Hope to hear more from Tiffany.

Sharla Rae

Sharla has a great article on non-verbal communication.  She has a list of them also.  So, should your character lift an eyebrow or crosses their arms over their body, you will know what they are really saying.  I probably need to use these clues in real life.  The question is, will I remember them?  

It Works and More Fluff!

Apparently my smoke alarm works!  Burning toast in the toaster sent a shrill noise through the house.  I never have to worry about checking the smoke alarm, I know somehow in the year I set the alarm off.

I have been working on my fourth WIP, it will be a sequel to Charlie, which I hope to upload as an e book in a few weeks.  Charlie is a parrot and a character.  I love this silly bird and Wendy the woman who took him in without blinking an eye is also my favorite.  Wendy is sweet, has some hang ups from high school, like the majority of people and she is a fighter.  Charlie and Wendy worked so well together with the two men in Wendy's life, I decided to do another murder mystery with them all involved in one way or another.

Enough of the present, I think we will step in to the past for a few minutes.

My daughter Carey was my fourth child and the only girl with four older brothers.  Carey unfortunately took after her mother and is an air head and since God has a sense of humor, he decided to give her blond hair.  Both my husband and I are dark headed.

Of course since she was the only blond in the family, my fourth son had her convinced for the longest time she was adopted.  John my husband and I finally convinced her by the time she was in first grade that she was not adopted.

Well as I mentioned Carey was an air head like me.   One weekend, we were in Sierra Vista shopping.  The kids love Long John Silver and we stopped there to eat.  Carey had a kids meal which included a chocolate chip cookie.  She is eating and talking and not really paying attention to what she eats.  Carey suddenly stops to look down into the box containing her meal.  Carey's lips curve down and she looks up at her dad and me with tear filled eyes.  

"Someone ate my cookie!"  She gives each of her four brothers a dirty look.

John and I are looking at her and laughing.  I could hardly get the words out.  "Carey, you ate your cookie.  I watched you do it."

Carey looks down into her meal box and shakes her head.  Looking up at me with pleading eyes, "Are you sure I ate my cookie?"

"Yes, sweetheart, you did eat your cookie."

John couldn't take the dejected look in her eyes and he bought her another cookie, telling her to make sure she paid attention when she ate it.

With five kids there were always moments that John and I found funny while the kid involved didn't think it was so great.

Toney the youngest son tried to dive through the window into the car and put a gash in his head.  I taped it together and he was back outside.

Jesse the third son was having an argument with his brother Wayne over their record players.  Jesse grabs a cord thinking it belongs to Wayne's record player and cuts off the plug with scissors.  Poor Jesse it turned out to be the cord to his record player.  John fixed it and both boys were happy.

Wayne my second son and his friends loved to build ramps for their bikes.  They really weren't the greatest builders.  So none of us were surprised when Wayne comes home with his chin scraped deeply, bottom teeth in front are loose and he has broken of one of his front teeth.  I called the dentist who is fifty six miles away and he says he will meet us at his office.  We drive to Sierra Vista and the Dentist checks Wayne out.  He rebuilt Wayne's front tooth and cleaned Wayne's chin.  Poor Wayne had to live on Slim Fast until his bottom teeth tighten up.

Ah, the thrills of raising children.  I sometimes wonder how mine live through it.

I haven't any advice for writers, except to write and read.  I'm sure you are waiting for my blog to become more educational and  that is one of the reason I include links to other blogs.  I have found some blogs very educational, but I wonder sometimes if it is too much information.  So I think I will keep my blog more entertaining than educational.  I always like a little fluff in my day.  How about you, are you tired of learning and just want to be entertained for a few minutes?  Let me know.

I had a great time reading  Joan Reeves today.  She had Barbara Graham talking about imaginary friends.  I found this piece funny and also it helped me realize I wasn't crazy.  Thank you very much.  I keep telling my kids I'm not crazy and they want believe me.

Lynn Viehl  had a museum  site you could visit.  Lynn said if NaNo writers needed a short break.  I loved museums and had to visit the site.  Love it.

Elaine Isaakwas burned out on unnecessary magic in books.  I had to laugh through this.  I sometimes have thought that as I read a book with magic in it.

Jack Caldwell wrote a blog about turkeys and a little of their history.  It came about from his putting a turkey on the table in one of his books and one of his beta readers said turkeys did not exist in England at the time.  I enjoyed this and also learned something as I read.

K. B. Owen has an interesting blog today.  She compares writing to decorating a Christmas tree.  Go have a look and see what you think.

See you around the block.

Second Chance      At Amazon for $.99.  

Second Chance      At Smashwords for $.99

Fainting Damsel    At Amazon for $.99

Fainting Damsel     At Smashwords for $.99

                        

Holiday Cheer!

This Thanksgiving was busy and full of fun.  

My youngest son Toney made some yummy home made rolls.  I HAD to eat two.  

This was the first time Toney had cooked the turkey and of course he ran into the same problem as all new cooks when it comes to the turkey.  The first time he pulled it out of the oven it wasn't ready even though it had been in there the amount of time it was.  Seems his oven doesn't reach the right temp.  Ha!

Toney also made two, can you believe two different cranberries sauces?  One was a little tart and the other was sweeter.  Ambitious man!

He also had two types of mashed potatoes.  One with cream cheese and a normal mash potatoes.  Lord save us, the table groaned beneath all the food.

I didn't take the pumpkin or pecan pie over, because he asked me not too.  One of his friends had decided to bring pies.  Of course he wanted me to bring him a slice of each.  LOL

We ate until we thought we would burst.  There was a lot of laughter and sharing.  I enjoyed visiting with my son Toney, Jesse and Tina (Jesse's wife) and Toney's friends.. 

Tina and I left the men in front of the television to drive to the theater to see Jack & Jill.   It is a very cute movie and we both enjoyed it.  

Returning home we nibbled a little on left overs.

Next day, Friday I went over to my son Wayne and Claire's house to share a Thanksgiving meal with them.  Jesse and Tina were there and so was Mike and his wife.  Also my grown up granddaughter Kiersten was there with her friend Elisha.  Had fun watching Wayne's two small children Gracie and Grant.  Enjoyed more visiting, laughing and sharing.

How lucky can you get?  Two Thanksgiving meals.   Loosen the waist band!  LOL

On Saturday we all came together to share a Mexican fiesta.  I made my special Spanish Rice that contains hamburger.  Wayne loves it because it's spicy.  

This time I took my pies with me.  I knew if I didn't get them out of the house, I would not be able to wear my clothes comfortably. 

The pies and Spanish rice were eaten and I didn't have to bring home left overs.  Thank Goodness. 

After the meal, we decided to go see a movie.  Wayne, his two kids and I saw Arthur's Christmas.  It is an adorable movie.  Claire and Tina saw the Twilight movie.

We shared ice cream from Stone Cold Creamery after the movie.  

Another fantastic day!  With their busy schedules, I don't get to spend as much time with my grown up kids and I miss them.  So on the days I am with them I  enjoy every second and pray there will be more times like this.

The only things missing this year was my daughter and her husband.  Maybe another time?

My oldest son has always spent the holidays with his wife's family and we are use to it by now.

Nicole Storey

Poor thing has had a trying one and half months with her children.  They have been ill and there is a glimmer of light in the future.  Please stop by and cheer her up. 

http://elizabethlynncasey.com/blog/2011/11/28/these-shoes-were-made-for-walking/Elizabeth Lynn Casey

Elizabeth wrote about remembering when she had bought baby shoes for her daughter.  It was a heart warming piece and one we as mothers have gone through our selves or will go through later on.

Blaire Kensley

Don't forget Blaire has a contest on her blog.  It ends Dec. 14th.

Writer's Unboxed

Chuck Sambuchino gives us answers about royalties, advances and money.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/whenpigsflyblog

You can win cookies!!    Woot, Woot,  I love cookies.

See you around the block.

 

A Jar of Pickles

Hope had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We ate till we were stuffed and then went to the movies to see Jack & Jill.  It is a very funny movie.

Today we are all meeting over at my son Wayne's home for a second Thanksgiving.  His family had Thanksgiving with his wife's parents yesterday.

Anyway all this going back and forth and telling the neighbors to have a great day made me wonder how do you meet your neighbors.  Do you know them?

A jar of pickles is all it takes to meet a neighbor.  As you get older, your hands are not as strong as they used to be and it never fails, you are dying for a pickle and you can't get the dang jar to open.

I hadn't lived long in my town house when this problem came up.  I remember seeing one of the neighbors had an older son living with her.  I took my pickle jar over to the neighbors and rang the door bell.

"Hi, I'm Juanita and I live next door."

"It's nice to meet you.  My name is Deborah."  Now she is giving me a quizzical look.  She looks at the jar of pickles and looks at me.

Thinking back I realize it may have seen strange for your neighbor to arrive at your door with a jar of pickles.

"I was wondering if your son could open this jar of pickles for me?"

Deborah grinned and reached out for the pickles.  In a few minutes she had the jar of pickles opened and handed it back to me.

"Wow, thanks, you are one strong woman."

"No, I'm sure you had already loosen it a little."

I took my jar of pickles home and had my snack.  Now we visit with each other and talk like crazy.

I have new neighbors on the other side.  I may need to have a jar of pickles opened.  What do you use to break the ice to meet your neighbors?

Today's blog will be short.  I need to get ready for my second Thanksgiving.  Hope you found lots of great buys today.  I didn't share in it.  I sleep late, real late. 

See you around the block.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!

I hope everyone has a very Happy and Festive Thanksgiving.

I am baking pies for my part of the Thanksgiving celebration.  I will be spending it over at my youngest son Toney's home and my third son Jesse and his wife Tina.  Jesse and Tina are driving in from Albuquerque, New Mexico.  They don't mind the drive, because these two enjoy each others company so much.  I am impatiently waiting to spend time with my children.  Life may be filled with time saving devices, but for some reason life is very busy and we don't get to visit with each other as much as we like.

On Friday, I will be making spanish rice and it is nothing like the recipes.  It is a recipe of my own.  I will take my spanish rice over to my second son Wayne's home.  To do a late celebration of Thanksgiving with his wife Claire and their two children.  Also Jesse and Tina will be there and Toney has promised to drop in for a few minutes.

I sit here thinking of Thanksgiving past when my husband and I were young and the kids were small.  We always had a big celebration that included John's brothers and their families.  I remember the laughter, the talking and all the smiles shared.  We ate until we thought we would pop.

The women would do the cleaning up, the kids are outside playing and the husbands are in front of the television arguing about a play that was call in the football game.

Kitchen clean the ladies would come in and sit down by their husbands or we would stay in the kitchen to catch up on the latest happenings in our lives and gossip.

After everyone had room for dessert, the pies would be cut topped with whip cream or ice cream and sometimes the grown ups would play cards while the kids played.

I miss those times.  But I am very thankful I have the memories of what it truly was like to have a houseful of family and the laughter we all shared.  John and his brother Jim are no longer with us and we are thankful for the time we had with both of these fantastic men.



Remember to take a lot of pictures of your times together.  They will help you to remember more of the happy times spent together.  Unfortunately we didn't take a lot of pictures of our times together and have only our memories to remind us about them.



Happy Thanksgiving!!


See you around the block.

A Little Tease

I have finished my third book and I will soon be releasing it as an e book.  I thought I would let you have a very small sneak peak at a little of it.  Let me know what you think of it.

Seeing a book sitting on the patio table with the pages fluttering in the light breeze, Charlie crossed the yard to take a quick peek at the brightly colored cover.  A book reader could mean the person had a quiet life without a lot of visitors.  Could also mean this person didn’t go out a lot to visit with other people.

Wandering toward the sliding glass door, he could hear music coming from the kitchen; the beat had his feet tapping and his head bobbing.  He loved music and this house was full of music.  Hmm, the type of music he enjoyed listening too.  Did this mean his type of person lived here?

Stepping through the door he watched her dance around the kitchen with unblinking dark eyes.  He could shake his booty with the best of them and the woman wasn’t too bad either.  Not bad at all and she was easy on the eyes.  It wasn’t long before he was getting down and boogieing around the room.  “Get it on baby,” he crooned, twirling and dipping to the beat of the music.

Hearing a voice behind her had Wendy stumbling to a stop and fingers of fear raced up her spine.  She didn’t have room mates and hadn’t been expecting anyone to stop by for a visit.

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE SHORT TEASER FROM MY BOOK  "CHARLIE"

Okay my computer has decided not to let me go back to the beginning edge.  Go figure!  I hate computers sometimes.  I just tried to look at the preview and it wouldn't let me go back to edit.  UGH!!!  Who is in control here I wonder?

It seems with computers and sites you learn one thing and another problem pops up.  Have you ever noticed you can out think and maneuver your computer and you have to stop to let it catch up?


I spent the weekend working on two books.  One is a sequel to the book Charlie which is a mystery and I also am working on a romance where the past and future meet.  So at this moment I am sitting in front of my computer a little, shall we say brain dead.  LOL


Writing that I could hear my kids smirking and saying you would need a brain to be brain dead.   Hmmmm


This Thanksgiving my youngest son Toney (he's single) is fixing Thanksgiving dinner.  I am making the pies, pumpkin and pecan.  He says he has a new recipe for the turkey.  Should be interesting, I am always willing to try something new.


I visited some blogs this morning and here is a peek.


Rachelle Gardner  
Make Your Holiday Writing Plan, she had thoughts on how to make it more realistic with some writing time slipped in there.

Liana Brooks 
Will be missing in action for Thanksgiving, but I enjoyed reading about their open door policy.  Thank of the story ideas that could come from this.


K. B. Owen
She write about "The Butler Did It?  Which I find very funny, because I used that "the butler did it" in my Charlie story.  She said we have all heard it, but was it really used?


Adam Heine
"On the Art of Socializing", I found this to be an entertaining and funny.  It gives us some ideas on how not to socialize.  Being me of course I see his last name and wonders if he is kin to Heine ketchup.  Hmmmm


Jenny
The Bloggess keeps me in stitches.   She is always interesting and funny.


Well this is it for today.   If you see any mistakes blame the computer who has a mind of it's own today.  I may need to shoot it.



See you around the block, well if I don't get lost again.

 

Dangerous Daughter!!!!

I was fretting about what to write this time on my blog.  I would decide on one thing and then change it to another idea.  What to write about?

Then my daughter calls me and tells me how horrible her day was.  I am not a good mother, I laughed through the whole telling.  Bad momma!

"Mom, I didn't realize following a routine could get you in trouble."

"What?"  Now I am thinking of her doing routine things at her work place.  "I thought routines were supposed to be followed."

"Well, you are wrong.  I take the same way to work every day.  I know how long it will take me to get from the on ramp on the freeway to the off ramp I need."

"That's good, your less likely to get lost."  I am totally lost in this conversation so far.  How did routine at work get us to the freeway?  "I always followed the same route to work and back."

"Today I got on the freeway and I landed behind a DPS vehicle.  I thought nothing of it and made sure I was doing the speed limit."

My daughter continued, "I begin to change lanes to work over to the lane I needed to be to be able to take the ramp I needed to take to work."

Once again I am totally lost.  All the ramps on and off the freeway in Arizona are generally on the right hand side of the freeway and then I remembered off ramps are place weirdly in other states.  "Okay", I say slowly, still not sure where we are headed.  I do know seeing a DPS vehicle makes me nervous.  I guess I have a guilty complex.

"Well, the DPS vehicle changes lanes at the same time I do.  So he stays in front of me and I am thinking I don't want to pass him.  I am already doing the speed limit, even though other cars are passing.  But I always keep a car length between me and the car in front of me."

"I would feel the same way," I know I definitely would not pass a DPS vehicle unless it was going under the speed limit or it was on the side of the road.  I know my daughter does keep a car length between her and the car in front of her.  I have ridden with her and find I am comfortable with her driving.  Unlike my sons, who have me pressing on a non existent brake on the side of my car and clasping my hands together till my knuckles are white.  I also bite my lip to keep from saying anything, because they are like their dad and if I complained their driving would become even scarier.


"Well, I move over into the lane I need to be able to get off on the ramp I need about three quarters of a mile away.  The DPS vehicle doesn't change lanes, but he stays right next to me.  The next thing I know another DPS vehicle comes up behind me and turns on his lights."

"Oh no," I whisper knowing how nervous this would make me and knowing my daughter has an emotional personality.  I can hear the tears in her voice, even though it has been a few hours since this has happened.


"The DPS vehicle that had been beside me pulls in front of my now stopped car.  He doesn't get out of the vehicle.  He is talking to someone on his radio.  Two more DPS vehicles arrive on the scene and pull behind the vehicle behind me."


"My God!  Did they think you were dangerous?  How many cops does it take to stop a lone young pretty woman in an old car?"  I'm sorry to say, I begin to chuckle here.  I am picturing it in my mind as a cartoon.
I know, I am a BAD MAMA!


"I roll down my window as the cop behind me leaves his vehicle and comes toward me.  The cop in front drives away.  They ask me for my driver licenses, insurance card and registration.  I hand over my license and insurance card.  But mom for the life of me, I can't remember what the registration looks like.  So I asked the cop to describe it."


Okay here, I totally lost it!!!   I'm sorry, but I can't help think daughter like mother.  I had that problem once before.  "I'm sorry sweetheart," I laugh, "but I can totally sympathize with you.  The registrations are kickers."


"There is a lady cop standing on the other side of the car and I hear her say, 'Maybe this isn't her car."  The cop who has my license and insurance cards says, 'No, it is her vehicle.'  He kindly explains what I should look for in my glove box and I began digging through it.  Mom, I was shaking so bad, I could hardly pick up anything."


I'm thinking he wants her to dig through her glove box.  Lord have mercy!  I know what is in her glove box, a lot of stuff.  Tampons, stomach medicine, kotex, Lactose pills, kleenix and a lot of paper.  I mean a girl needs to be prepared for anything.  Right?


"The cops exchange places and the male cop asks me to roll down the passenger side window.  It get stuck half way down.  I unlock the door so he can open it and he offers to find the registration for me.  I nod my head and barely get out my yes.  Mom, I am so scared and I don't know why they stopped me.  I asked why."


"Mom, they say I was following the other cop and I was tail gating.  The cop that had left had told them I was following him and that I was tailgating because he could only see the roof of my car."


"The cop was nervous because he thought you were following him?  Was he really good looking?" 


"Mommm, I don't even know what he looked like.  I never pay attention to people in their cars."

I'm sorry, I lost it again.  "Sweetheart do you look dangerous behind the wheel?  Do you make arm gestures and faces at other drivers?"  Then I was laughing so hard I couldn't ask any more questions.  I am thinking how a big, brawny policeman is afraid of a young little woman driving a very old Nissan Maxima.  I mean really !!!


"No, mom!  Anyway I told the cop I wasn't following the other cop.  I was heading to work and that I wasn't tailgating.  The cop that had been in front of me was driving one of those tall four wheel drive vehicles and of course he could only see my roof.  His car was so much taller than mine."


"Okay, yes I lost it again.  I am thinking, how many policeman does it take to pull my daughter over?  In my mind seeing this big wheel vehicle as the DPS and how it could run over my daughter's car without any effort.  Oh I am so bad!!!  I explain to my daughter what I am laughing at and she begins to chuckle also.


"Anyway they wrote me a ticket for three hundred dollars and if I want to fight it, I have a court date on Feb 6th, 2012.  What happen to speedy representation?"


"Sorry honey, that no longer exists.  To many bad woman like you are being given tickets."  I lost it again!!  Damn I need to control my imagination when talking to people.  It has gotten me into a lot of trouble let me tell you.


"So I am trying to get my passenger window to roll up and I am crying like a baby.  A very unhappy baby!  The male cop asks me if I would like some help and I could barely get out yes.  He helps me to get my passenger window back up."


"Oh, darling I am so sorry you had to go through that.  But I can't believe any of the reason they cited for the ticket.  Have they ever driven during rush hour on the freeways around Phoenix?  Lord, they would be writing tickets for every person on the freeway."

"I was a basket case by the time I got to work and I was thirty minutes late.  It took forever to calm down enough to do my job.  Next time I see a DPS vehicle on the freeway, I am getting off of it as quick as I can."


"Sweetheart, that could be dangerous.  You could become totally lost."  My daughter and I both have the problem of becoming lost.  That is why my sons had gray hair early, is from a trip my daughter and I took to Disneyland and San Diego by ourselves.  That's another story for later.


"I would rather be lost, then pulled over by the cops."


We talked a little longer and soon she was laughing over her adventure as she got into the funny side of it with the help of my imagination.  I am always there for my children, it is just I do see the funny side of things.

 Generally I keep an internal conversation going, making snarky remarks or what ever and not saying what I think out loud, but with my daughter I can let her know what I am thinking.   Of course, the people who are not privy to my internal conversation sees someone with a dumb look on their face with twitches as I try not to giggle, smile or whatever at the wrong time.



Well, another adventure down and I am sure there are more to come.  LOL!  Who knew being a sieve brain could be so much fun?


See you around the block.