February 6th, 2015 Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

I’m a bad person. Well, maybe not bad, but definitely a bit ditzy at times. Since the girls were little, we’ve always held their “family party” on the Sunday between their birthdays – Dani Rose is the 4^th & AlyssaLynn’s is the 15^th of February. So, this Sunday is the day, but with Lys off at college, I guess it didn’t occur to me that some people would question if I was doing a family party just for Dani.

My SiL, MiL, mom and three of my friends just said “what do you need me to bring Sunday?”, and I’m such a scatterbrain, I didn’t realize everyone who is usually invited didn’t know we were having the party. Then my mom told me she mentioned it to her sister, and then I get a text from my other aunt asking “Did I miss something?” I felt so bad that I didn’t extend an official invitation. Then I had to wrack my brain to remember who I said something to, and who I had just assumed would know. See, I’m a bad person.

I am going to take the easy way out this year as far as food goes. I’m ordering several half-pans of Chinese food. I’ve done this a few times in the past, and the food was always a big hit, plus, the Chinese restaurant by us gives me a really good deal – lots of food, not too expensive. I’ll be able to feed 45 people for under $100. It’s a beautiful thing.

I spent four hours this morning on Twitter related stuff. I created an Excel spreadsheet for Tweets, Follows and Retweets. I wrote a couple of dozen Tweets for each books so I can have them at the ready, and then I tweeted, retweeted and thanked. I took a small break to be able to make the kids lunch, and when I got back, there were over 2K tweets in my queue. I’m trying, I really am, but I’m still finding Twitter exhausting. However, even though it is making my head spin and my eyes cross, my books have been climbing in the rankings since I started this Twitter marketing blitz, so I guess it will be worth it in the end.

I finally sent Corporate Blues off to the Indie Next Generation Book Awards. I have been signed up since September, but never managed to get around to mailing them the three copies they requested. Then, two days ago, I get an email saying there was only ten days left to get the books to them. SHOOT! By the grace of God, I still had three copies left in my inventory – and ONLY three copies.

Needless to say, I need to order more books, but I think I’ll wait a little bit. I won’t have another book signing until April, so there’s no sense in ordering them now and storing them in the basement until I need them. I haven’t completed my spreadsheets yet for my taxes, but if memory serves (which is sketchy at best lately, but I try), then I’ve sold – or raffled or donated – 250 copies of Corporate Blues since it was published in March 2014.

Combined with A Second Chance and Taking Chances, I went through close to 1,000 copies of books in 2014. That’s just hard copies and does not include sales on Kindle. Now folks like Nora Roberts and James Patterson probably do that in a day, but considering the competition out there, I’m not complaining. Would I like the numbers higher? Well, DUH, of course, but I’m thinking, for being relatively new to this profession, it’s not too shabby.

Well, I’ve got places to go, and things to do, so TTFN. I hope you have a Fabulous day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge is:

If I could return to any time in my life, knowing what I know now…

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.

August 17th

Hi, it’s Christina –

Well at least today is as yucky as yesterday was or I’d really be bummed. The rest of the family put the kibosh on my staying at the house and cleaning up while they went to the movies, so we all went to see Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters. It was ok, in my opinion not as good as the first, but still enjoyable. The movie starts off really well, but then it just starts to fizzle and in the end, the monster does die just a little too easily – No, that was not a spoiler. Obviously Percy perseveres; there are several books in the series. They do get bonus points for the tie-in to the next movie, it was well done, and I want a Hippocampus! Not that I would have anywhere to keep him mind you, but I still want one.

Since I know better than to attempt pizza down here, our usual Friday fare, we gambled and went to a Chinese buffet. Nothing extraordinary, but what do you expect for $8.95? They did have one thing (other than the fried dough rolled in sugar that I’m a sucker for) which was very tasty. It was a fried ravioli, for lack of a better description, stuffed with a crabmeat and cream cheese mixture. I had three! I even asked the owner what they were and she told me how to make them. Next church progressive dinner where I have the appetizer course, guess what’s going to be on the menu…

I get a text from my sister-in-law last night asking me which sister-in-law’s house I was having dinner at Sunday night, because she wasn’t going to be back from Dorney Park until around midnight. If you don’t know me personally, you probably did not find the last statement amusing in the least. However, for those of you who do know me and my family, you are probably chuckling because you know I only have one sister-in-law. This is what I get when I just listen to what my kids tell me and I don’t verify the information with an adult. I was wondering why my sister-in-law would come home from Dorney early so we could have dinner. Needless to say there was a bit of giggling last night while we exchanged texts. Well, at least I found out she actually reads my blog. J

The house next door to us is occupied by actual owners of the home, and this rental property shares a fence with them. Along the fence is one of the most unusual flowers I have ever seen and I asked the owner if I could take a clipping and see if I can get it to grow up by me. She told me to dig up one of the shoots instead; I would probably have better luck. So I did. I hope it will take at home. Here’s what the flowers look like. Isn’t it amazing?

 

Too bad the picture doesn’t do it justice, and since it was early in the morning, the flower wasn’t opened all the way. When it is bright and sunny, all those squiggly things make it look like the flower has a lace collar. It really is lovely.

OK, coffee’s finished and it is almost time to roust the troops, so I’d better wrap up. I’m going to have them load up the car while I sweep and vacuum, then we are out of here. This time it will be a final goodbye to the Outer Banks. Sorry, I know there are a ton of OBX fans out there, I’m just not one of them. Until tomorrow…

Hope you have a Great Day and Happy Writing!