November 26th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! Today’s blog is going to stray from my norm again, and I will probably lose a few followers because of it, but I think this needs to be discussed.

Now, obviously, I am a white, (barely) middle class, female, so I am in no way qualified to speak of the plight of the young black, lower class, man; but with all that is going on these past few days, I do have some questions.

1) If the young man was shot by a black officer, would all this be going on?

2) How does rioting and destroying the town YOU live in solve anything, and aren’t these actions perpetuating the ridiculous stereotype?

3) Don’t people realize that when you get a man like Al Sharpton involved, he is just there to stir the pot? The only thing that man cares about is being in the spotlight. When all is said and done, he goes back to his upper middle class/ wealthy surroundings, and the people he claims to be seeking justice for are left broken and bleeding.

I’m sorry, Martin Luther King Jr he is not. Now there was a man who warranted respect. There was a man who could have truly changed the world if he had been given the chance. Do you know why? Because he realized that in order to change the mindset of the country, you needed to change the perception of the masses. Prove the haters wrong; not by violence, but by peace, love, education, and most importantly, to lead by positive example. NEWS FLASH, burning down your local bakery is NOT a positive example.

Perhaps my biggest problem is I cannot understand the concept of treating someone different than the way I want to be treated. What difference does the color of someone’s skin or the amount of money they have in their pocket make? Now, I’m not saying I do not have initial reservations when I encounter someone I do not know, and they have an intimidating presence. (I’m 5’5” and female, it’s not too hard to intimidate me.)

Example, the other day I was at the store and there was this huge white man, covered in tattoos and had several piercings. At first glance, I’ll admit, he gave me pause. Then he broke out in the biggest smile, and was oober polite to the cashier, and to everyone around him. And why shouldn’t he be? Because he expresses himself with ink and hardware? Yet, I’m sure, I was not the only one who bought into the stereotype. Thankfully, at least for me, my initial reaction was immediately dispersed, which, for the most part, is what usually happens.

Another example was when I was in college. A few of my girlfriends and I went into the city. We were taking the subway somewhere when a group of guys started harassing us. Next thing we knew, we were surrounded by an impenetrable wall of black leather. Several members of the Hell's Angels took it upon themselves to see to our safe passage. Now let me tell you, these Hell's Angels looked a whole lot scarier than the guys harassing us. Again, first impressions were false. They stayed with us through several stops and then escorted us up to the street and an additional few blocks until THEY determined we were safe.

On the other hand, I can just about guarantee, if I ever encounter a KKK member or a white supremacist, I will be giving them a wide berth. I FULLY admit to being prejudiced against those two groups. Sorry, as far as I’m concerned, they’re psycho. (and here’s where I may lose a reader or two, but honestly, I won’t miss you. Have a nice life, and I pray someday you will realize the error of your ways.)

I attribute the country’s frame of mind to the “one bad apple” principle. Until we realize every Italian is not tied to the mafia, every Irishman is not a drunk, every Hispanic is not a drug dealer, every Muslim is not a terrorist, every Black man is not there to rob or murder you, and every white person is a not white collar criminal, things will never change. Yes, there are people out there who do fit the categories, but bad folks exist in ALL races, religions, political affiliation and social stature. You can have a white, drug-dealing, terrorist who wants to rob and murder you.

Here’s another news flash. Whenever I have encountered a police officer, it raised my anxiety level as well. Granted, I did not feel I was going to be shot, but there was one instance I did feel threatened. (My bad for unintentionally surprising a state trooper.) Think back to when you were a kid and got called down to the principal’s office. Remember that churning in your gut? This is a normal reaction when confronted by an authority figure. What determines the outcome of these encounters, is the way you handle yourself in the situation. If you are cooperative and respectful, chances are things will go just fine.

Again, I’m not blind to the fact that there are some rotten, abusive, power hungry cops in the world, but it’s that whole “bad apple” thing again. 99 times out of 100, you will be interacting with the good people in the world, even if they are tattooed, pierced, huge, of a different skin color, or wearing a badge.

This sweet young thing was
Delphine LaLaurie

Perhaps I am the ignorant one. Maybe I just don’t get it, and by all means, feel free to enlighten me (just keep it PG, some of my readers are younger). I don’t see how burning down Michael Brown’s church benefited anyone. I don’t see how repeating the past over and over will produce different results. Isn’t that, in essence, the definition of insanity?

How about we give this a whirl? Start treating everyone the way we would like to be treated, stop looking at the color (or colors) of the person’s skin and take the time to look inside to see who they really are, and be willing to abandon your preconceived notions of who a person is based on the way they look. Looks can be deceiving…

I hope you have a wonderful day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge:

I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

November 20th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! Today’s blog is going to be an eclectic jumble, just random points I want to pass on to you, with no interlocking theme, so please bear with me.

One – I know I mentioned, probably on more than one occasion, that even though my author’s photo was only taken a short time ago, the picture does not look like me, at all, anymore. If you don’t know the story, I’ll give you a quick recap. I have been blessed with the lovely condition of Psoriasis.  A little over a year ago, the psoriasis had spread to my scalp, making coloring my hair – hair that has been grey since I was 17 – a painful experience. I’m not talking painful for the time the gunk was on my head, I’m talking painful for several days afterwards. So, I stopped coloring my hair. Then, because I looked like an inverted Bozo, I chopped off all the hair that had color on it.

Since then, I have been saying I need to get a new author’s photo, because I didn’t think it was right to look completely different than advertised. The thing is, I am not very photogenic, and there are VERY few pictures of me I find acceptable. That changed on Saturday.

Susan Gulliford, a local photographer and journalist, came to the Hillsborough Public Library Authors’ Day to show her support. She was nice enough to snap several pictures and then email them to me so I could have a new profile photo. I think it came out pretty good. What do you think?

Two – One of the biggest things we have to deal with as authors is the marketing of our work. Time and again you have heard me bemoan this necessary evil, but it is a fact of this career. If you’re lucky, you can surround yourself with like minds, lean on them for support and they can lean on you. We discuss issues and share best practices, and whenever we can, we help out. Today I have the opportunity to help out one of my “support system”, and I hope you will at least check out what she has to offer.

Lilo Abernathy was selected for the Amazon Deal of the Day and has the opportunity to hit the best seller list with a little help. Her book, The Light Who Shines, is being offered today for only $1.99. Lilo was a sweetie and she wrote up the whole blurb to use on the blog post so all I had to do is cut and paste. Here’s what she provided:

The Light Who Shines
by Lilo Abernathy
Genre: Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance / Mystery
Amazon Rating: 4.7 Stars
Regular Price: $4.99
Sale Price: $1.99 (One day only)
Kindle Daily Deal Sale Date: Thursday, November 20th, 2014

Amazon Link

When Supernatural Investigation Bureau agent Bluebell Kildare (a.k.a. Blue) arrives at the scene of the crime, it's obvious the grotesquely damaged body of the deceased teenage boy was caused by far more than a simple hit and run; and she vows to catch the killer. Using her innate sixth sense, Blue uncovers a powerful magical artifact nearby. She soon discovers it acts as a key to an ancient Grimoire that was instrumental in the creation of the Vampire breed and still holds the power to unravel the boundaries between Earth and the Plane of Fire.

Blue and her clever wolf Varg follow a trail that starts at the Cock and Bull Tap and leads all through the town of Crimson Hollow. Between being sidelined by a stalker who sticks to the shadows and chasing a suspect who vanishes in thin air, the case is getting complicated. If that isn't enough, Dark Vampire activity hits a record high, and hate crimes are increasing. However, it's Blue’s growing feelings for Jack Tanner, her sexy Daylight Vampire boss, that just might undo her.

While Blue searches for clues to nail the perpetrator, it seems someone else is conducting a search of their own. Who will find whom first?

Danger lurks in every corner, and Blue needs all her focus in this increasingly dangerous game or she risks ending up the next victim.

PRIMARY CHARACTER PROFILES

Bluebell Kildare: Blue is a Supernatural Homicide Detective and a gifted empath who has a pure spirit and a will of steel. She was orphaned at a young age and has had a tough life so far. Yet, she continually picks herself up by the boot straps and fights to do what is right, regardless of the cost. Just how high will the cost be?

Jack Tanner: He's Blue's sexy boss, the head of the Supernatural Homicide Unit in Crimson Hollow. Jack is very old and powerful Daylight Vampire with many layers. He is driven a little crazy by his desire to protect Blue in the face of her independence. Can he keep his cool when Blue needs him most?

Varg: He is a great grey wolf who comes out of nowhere and decides to be Blue's companion. He seems to have some mysterious magical abilities and uses them to guard Blue's life. Can he keep her safe?

Maud: She is Blue's dear friend and mother figure. Maud used to visit Blue in the orphanage and read to her as a child. She can't cook but she makes awesome Southern beverages. What color is her hair today? Is it blue, fuchsia, scarlet, or peach sherbet?

Alexis: She is Blue's comrade and neighbor, as well as the sassy owner of a store called Herbal Enchantments. She is gifted in earth magic and if she isn't busy feeding her friends, she's telling them what to do. Does she have her hands on her hips right now, or is she waving her finger at Blue?

The Villain: Can he get any more evil? No. He is about as evil as they come . . .

AUTHOR BIO

Lilo Abernathy is a somewhat eccentric, deep-thinking, warm-hearted young woman of at least 43 years. She started out as a restaurant chain hostess and worked her way up to the exciting world of global mergers and acquisitions. She has enjoyed an on again/off again relationship with formal education and has been affectionately referred to as information hound. In the evenings, she fills her writing breaks by scanning the internet for answers to provocative questions, such as: "What causes diamonds to be formed in different colors?"

One thing that never changes is Lilo's ongoing love affair with books. A born bibliophile, by age ten she finished all the children's books in the house and started devouring the adult section. By age 15, she was working her way through grocery store book aisles and libraries. Just as Picasso had his blue period, Lilo had her own periods of readership--urban fantasy, paranormal romance, Gothic novels, etc. Now she's planning on creating a bookshelf for you to enjoy.

SOCIAL NETWORKS:

Facebook Page
Twitter
Goodreads
Pinterest

SITE AND BLOG:

Website
Blog

I keep raving to everyone how great my readers are, so if supernatural mystery happens to be your cup of tea, please show Lilo some love. Wouldn’t it be great if we could push her all the way to #1? I’ll give you an update as to how she did in a future blog.

Three – I have made a decision to affiliate myself with a publisher, but not the publisher in NYC I have mentioned in the past. Although he was a really nice man, and I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with him, there was something holding me back from signing my life over to a publisher - the whole “once burned” thing. Now I just have to get up the courage to tell him so. He truly is very sweet, and I hate to disappoint him, but I have to stiffen my spine. This is a business decision, nothing personal.

I do not have the same reservations with this publisher, because she does things a little differently. Oh who am I kidding? A whole lot differently. Once we hammer out, more like tap out, the details, I will reveal who this amazing publisher is, and the name of her company.

Let’s just say, after numerous emails and a nearly two hour long phone call last night, I’m really excited and honored to be included in her community. I will give you a tiny hint (and hope she doesn’t shoot me for it), but it’s the same publisher who is publishing the short story I wrote for the spooky anthology due out next Halloween.

And finally, four – This is the last – honestly this time – weekend I will be at CanterburyTales Forever in Peddler’s Village, Lahaska, PA for the season. Yes, it would be nice to sell more books for the holidays, but it’s just getting too dang cold out there. The high for Saturday is only supposed to be 38°, and standing outside from 10 until 4 is going to be miserable. So, if you were planning on giving a signed copy of one of my books as a gift, get to Peddler’s Village this weekend.

Yeah, like that’s the reason you would trek to Lahaska, PA. LOL. No, but what would be worth the trip is, this weekend begins their Festival of Lights – think Norman Rockwell or Thomas Kincaid Christmas. I realize it is BEFORE Thanksgiving, but I believe you seeing all the shoppes, decked out in their holiday regalia, will put you in the spirit of the holidays. Since it’s a festival, you are pretty much guaranteed there will be sales going on, and who doesn’t love a sale?

I’m not 100% sure, but I think this weekend also kicks off the gingerbread house competition. This ain’t your mamma’s gingerbread houses folks, some of the creations are true works of art. One year I remember seeing a gingerbread house shaped like the White House. It was spectacular.

Okay, time to bring this never ending blog post to an end. Sorry, it should have been split between Tuesday, Wednesday & today, but I have been busy the past few days, so I didn’t get time to post.

I hope you have a wonderful day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge:

I can’t feel my toes!

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

November 17th

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! Today's blog post is all about Saturday's Local Authors' Day at the Hillsborough Public Library. (Basically, it's all pictures and short blurbs.)

Robert

This is Robert Helmbrecht. He is a member of the Hillsborough Public Library staff, and was the event coordinator. He also runs a monthly writing group at the library. When he is not at his "day job", Robert is a publisher of horror novels.

Me

Robert busted his butt making the event happen, and considering this was the very first event, of this scale, for the library, he did a wonderful job. I know next year will be even better. Thanks Robert for all your hard work!

There were over thirty local authors in attendance at the event and we were separated into two different areas. There were seven of us in the main library section, and the remaining twenty five (or so) were in the program room.

Chris Redding

I had a great time chatting with the authors who were in my area, but I think we would all have liked to have been in the room with the others. 

Chris Redding was to my right. She has eight or nine books under her belt at this point. Chris and I met, what we figured out to be fifteen years ago, when I first started thinking about becoming a writer. She was nice enough to meet me for coffee and then to take me with her to an RWA meeting. We had lost touch over the years, but have now reconnected and I look forward to furthering our friendship. 

Mary Ellen Springsteen

Mary Ellen Springsteen was on my left with her medical mystery The Universal Donor. Mary Ellen and I met in April at the Princeton Authors' Day, and have since attended several author related events together.

Zana Etter

Next to Mary Ellen was Zana Etter with her new book Dark Orchids. Zana and I both attend the monthly writing group at the Hillsborough Public Library. Zana's husband accompanied her on Saturday, and I would have like to have had more time to chat with him. He seems like an interesting man.

H.E. Goodhue

To Chris' right was H.E. Goodhue who happens to be a teacher in one of our our local schools. He writes YA fiction, and, like Chris, has several books under his belt. Unfortunately, I had absolutely no interaction with him other than making him pose for this picture. Undoubtedly we will run into each other again, and I will not let the opportunity slip by me a second time.

K. Edwin Fritz

Next to H.E. was my buddy Keith, or as his public knows him, K. Edwin Fritz, author and host of Writers2Writers.  I talk about Keith all the time, so I won't talk about him or his five books this time.

Charles H. & Laine Sutton Johnson

Rounding out our little group was Charles H. Johnson and his wife Laine Sutton Johnson. Again, like with H.E., I didn't get as much time to chat with them as I would have liked. Charles is a Vietnam Vet and a poet. I could not find a link to him or his books on Amazon, so I have provided a link directly to his website.

Kathi Kurz

When time permitted, I snuck (I know that is incorrect, but I just can't bring myself to use "sneaked", sorry) into the program room to snap some pictures of the other authors, and when I ran out of time, I left my camera with my friend Kathi Kurz, and she filled in the pictures I missed. Kathi had her youngest son helping her out on Saturday. I'm not even sure if she knows he photo-bombed her. (He's such a cutie!)

Casey Jo and Stacey Wilk

Casey Jo, author of The Bunny Rabbit in the Flower Garden put us to shame. We all had candy out for folks who stopped by, she had carrots. Casey shared a section with Stacey Wilk, author of the Gabriel Hunter Series.

Ruth A. Casie, Lita Harris, Emma Kaye,
Nicole S. Patrick & Julie Rowe

Yes I realize there are only four women in the photo to the left, and I have listed five names, but because of limited time, I was not able to chat with these women for more than a minutes. The five of them wrote and anthology, Timeless Treasures, but only four of them were able to make the event on Saturday. Which member was unable to attend, I'm not sure, so I listed all of their names. Now, I did not purchase any of the books these ladies were offering, I didn't have to. My mom bought them all, so I know it's only a matter of time before they will trickle down to me.

Annabelle Bryant & L.G. O'Connor

I am really bummed I did not get to chat with Annabelle Bryant. We were the two Historical Romance writers of the group. Hopefully we will cross paths again in the not to distant future and we will be able to sit down and commiserate. Annabelle's neighbor was L.G. O'Connor. The two of them looked like they were having fun together. It was truly a case of not enough hours in the day. I'm going to propose a closed meet & greet for the authors to take place an hour or so before the Authors' Day next year. I think we would all enjoy actually meeting and talking to our counterparts.

Edith G. Tolchin

This lovely lady is Edith Tolchin. Edith also attends the monthly writer's group at HPL, and she's a stitch! I truly enjoy her company. Edith has authored several (for lack of better explanation) "how to" books. She is a wealth of information, and is very successful at what she does. However, she is now venturing into fiction writing, and I am absolutely in love with the concept she has for a book, and I am anxiously awaiting to read installments. I am not at liberty to say any more at this time, but mark my words, the second I am, you'll be hearing all about it.

Andy? Scott? I'm not sure.

Other than to say "hi", I didn't get a chance to talk with Andy Rane or was it Scott Mulraney. Andy is the author of the Trilogy of the Six, and currently books 1 & 2 are available. Scott is the author of YA Fiction books -  Danny Dirks series & the Liquid Blue series. Now I'm not 100% sure, but I think Andy & Scott may be the same person. If I'm wrong, I apologize profusely.

JC Vogard & Jeff Markowitz

I have just about given up on actually getting to talk to JC Vogard. We have been at a few events together, and we have never managed to actually chat. We've both tried. It's kinda funny at this point. JC writes mysteries, and she had Tiffany Blues with her on Saturday. Jeff Markowitz, also a mystery writer is next to her, but he was being camera shy and I didn't have time to coax him into a better photo.

Yvonne Ventresca

I have the same situation going on with Yvonne Ventresca as I do with JC. That is why Yvonne has such a big smile on her face in this photo - we were laughing. Basically I begged her to sit down for two seconds so I could snap her picture for my blog. We said we'd talk later, but as usual, it never happened. Yvonne had her YA Fiction book Pandemic with her.

Rachelle Burk

Children's author Rachelle Burk was there as well. I have not yet had the opportunity to speak with Rachelle, but my friend Kathi says she was a "good neighbor" to have at the event.

Jeannette Brown

Meet Ms. Jeannette Brown. She is a fascinating woman who I had the privileged of meeting at a HPL writers group event. She wrote African American Woman Chemists. The stories this woman has to tell are wonderful, amazing, and inspirational. 

One author at the event was a big surprise, David Pincus. Mr. Pincus - I just can't call him Dave - and I met back in the 70's when he was a teacher at my school. Eons later, he was my son's teacher, and Mr. Pincus, his wife and I chaperoned a class trip to Hershey Park. He has written The Courtship of John's Wife, and he has another book coming out soon. Unfortunately, I did not get his picture.

Nicole Zoltack, Yvonne
 & Charlotte Bennardo

The remaining authors I did not get a chance to talk to, but I wanted to give them a shout-out anyway. 

Scott M. Goriscak

There were actually several more authors, but neither Kathi or I were able to get pictures. For those few we missed, I apologize.

Mary SanGiovanni

Well, since this blog has taken me over five hours to create - links to everyone's author's page and their books took forever - I will not be posting a writing challenge today. 

Walter Choroszewski

I now have to shut my computer down, grab a quick lunch, and then start straightening up my house for Thanksgiving. Now you might be saying Thanksgiving is still a ways away, and I thought so too, until Paulie pointed out last night that next weekend is the last weekend between now and the holiday, and next weekend I will be at book signings both days and then a party on Saturday night. YIKES!

Frank Wander

I don't know if you remember me telling you or not, but one of our guests for Thanksgiving dinner is my uncle, and my uncle has horrible allergies. That translates to an above and beyond cleaning whenever he comes to visit. I'm talking we literally wash down all the walls. 

Okay, I had better get going. I hope you have an amazing day, and I hope you take some time to check out the authors I have featured in today's blog. Happy writing!

November 15th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! Sorry I haven’t written in a while, because honestly, there really hasn’t been much to talk about. Well I started today off with a bang, so that remedied the situation.

I got up, filled and flipped the coffee maker on so it would heat up, then took Colby outside to be emptied. So far so good, no different than any other morning. Since it was a little later than usual, I actual saw our newspaper delivery man, which again, although it doesn’t happen all the time, it was not that unusual.

Colby and I come back into the house, and I hear Mikey, Lys’ cat, making that funny, growly, clicking, noise he reserves for when he’s watching birds outside the window. I found that a little strange because he was sitting in the middle of my kitchen, not near a window. Now, please keep in mind, I have not had my fist cup of coffee yet, so I was still a little foggy. Mikey’s actions did not compute until, all of a sudden, I get drive-bombed by this little grey bird.

MOTHER OF GOD! Y’all know how terrified I am of birds. This little creature swoops from the kitchen into the family room, desperately trying to get out. He flutters around our little greenhouse window (which currently holds a TV, not any plants), then makes a bee-line toward the sliding glass doors, which he crashes into with a resounding thunk. He shakes it off, and goes back to the greenhouse window to perch on the TV.

At this point Mikey, a.k.a. Fat Cat, come flying from the kitchen and frog-hops over several surfaces, not stopping and barely touching anything as he goes, to get his not-so-svelte body up on to the TV. I am trying not to scream, Colby doesn’t know what to do with himself, and the bird is in a panic and flies off, Mikey in hot pursuit.

I tackle the cat and shove him down the basement, and throw open the sliding door so the bird will have an escape route. Colby runs out the door, still yapping and spazzing out, but I know he’s okay and not going anywhere. Me, I’m having heart palpitations, because I have no clue where the dang bird went. I try to listen for movement, but all I can hear is my own heartbeat, Colby whining, and the cat howling from behind the basement door.

I finally spot the bird. He’s fluttering around my closed kitchen window trying to get out. I take a deep breath and head into the kitchen in hopes I can shoo the bird toward the open door. Praise the Lord, it worked! He flew out, I dragged the dog back in and slammed the door. Not exactly the way I wanted to start my morning.

On Monday, I went back to the Verizon store, and picked up Lys’ phone. I was going to wait until she came home to switch her over, but her phone started wigging out, and I said forget it, we’ll just do it now, and I’ll mail it to her. I get a large box – much bigger than I had intended because Lys wanted me to mail her her little Christmas tree – and fill it up with various things Lys wanted since she wasn’t coming home for Thanksgiving. (Hat, gloves, ornaments for her tree, a Thanksgiving cupcake kit – I also threw in some stuffing, a can of cranberry sauce, and a few other tchotchkes which I won’t mention in case she reads this.)

I get the phone (which means they had to shut off her old phone, so she would be incommunicado until the new phone arrived). I also go and pick up her glasses and contacts which were ready at the eye doctor. I also picked up a few other things to throw into the box, sealed everything up, and went to the post office.

The post office tells me the package should arrive on Wednesday. Wonderful! I couldn’t have asked for better considering Tuesday was Veteran’s Day so there was no mail service.  Wednesday morning I go online to check the status of the package. It arrived in Forest Park, IL at 11:57 pm on Tuesday. Illinois? What the heck is it doing in Illinois? Whatever, the post office must have a distribution center out there or something, right? The screen still shows Wednesday as the delivery date.

All day Wednesday I keep checking the status, it doesn’t change. Finally at 7:38 Thursday morning the status updates to say it has left Forest Park facility. All day Thursday and all day Friday, I keep checking the status. There’s no change. At four o’clock I call the customer service number. After ten minutes in automated hell, I get a living, breathing person, Claire. She is quite baffled as to why the package went to Illinois and starts the internal tracking process for me.

This morning, after the bird incident, I went online to see if anything had changed. At 1:36 this morning, the package arrived in Warrendale, PA which is right outside of Pittsburg, and then left that facility again at 2:05 this morning. Provided the package goes directly to High Point, NC from Warrendale, PA, it would mean it would have traveled almost 1,700 miles to get there. And the USPS wonders why it is losing money?? Good grief!

In the meantime, Lys has been without a phone, so our only form of communication has been via Facebook chat. Thank goodness we still had that, or I would have not known that she had found a ride home for Thanksgiving. YEAH!! Friends of hers are headed home to Mass, and said they had room in their car for her to hitch a ride. I’m so excited! I’ll admit, I’ve been a bit down lately because it was going to be the first time all of my kids wouldn’t be home for the holiday. I realize the day is coming, but I wasn’t quite ready for it to come this soon. All is right, in my little world, once again.

Remember I told you about a young lady I met at a book signing a while back named Jessica; and she and her sister Angel were attending a craft show to sell their jewelry? Anyway, the craft show is today. It will run from 9 – 3 at Bensalem High School, 4319 Hulmeville Rd, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020. So if you are in the area, and like craft fairs, stop by and visit Jessica and her sister Angel’s table and say “Hi”.

Also, today is the Authors’ Day at the Hillsborough Public Library. The fair runs from 1 – 4 (please note, the times changed), and I will be speaking right at 1:00 pm.

Here is the schedule of Authors who will be reading or speaking at the event:

Christina Paul  1-1:15pm

Chris Redding  1:15-1:30pm

Mary SanGiovanni  1:30-1:45pm

K. Edwin Fritz  1:45-2:00pm

H.E. Goodhue 2:00pm-2:15pm

Jeff Markowitz  2:15-2:30pm

Charles H and Laine Sutton Johnson  2:30-3:00pm

Anabelle Bryant  3:00-3:15pm

Nicole Zoltack  3:15-3:30pm

J.C. Vogard  3:30-3:45pm

Sreyashi Ghosh  3:45-4:00pm

There will be at least a dozen other authors there as well who will not be speaking. If you are in the area, please stop by and say “Hi”, check out all of our books, have them signed. A books, signed by the author, makes a lovely, and slightly unusual, gift for the holidays. (Btw – the books I ordered, which weren’t supposed to arrive until Monday, showed up on Wednesday, so I will have copies of Taking Chances at today’s Author’s Day.)

Okay, I have rambled on long enough today. I may or may not have a post again for you tomorrow. I thought I was done with my book signings after today, but Wayne at Canterbury Tales Forever in Peddler’s Village asked me to come back Sunday and then again next weekend. I told him it all depended on the weather, and it looks like tomorrow’s weather is going to be good, so I have no excuse not to go.

I hope you have a wonderful day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge:

You are looking through old family photos and this one person appears in almost all of them, but you have no idea who he or she is…

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.