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.