April 5th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good morning everyone, I hope you survived your TGIF. I read some of your status updates this morning while I was having my first cup of coffee, and some of you had interesting plans for last night. Hope you had a wonderful time!

Yesterday, I promised to explain the event I’m participating in tonight, our annual Progressive Dinner. It’s an event sponsored by our church, and it’s a lot of fun. Roughly forty “couples” participate, and there are four “station” which are visited. (I used a nice round number so this would be easier to explain.) Ten couples host appetizers, ten host salad, ten host soup, and the final ten host dessert. When you host a station, you have three couples come to your house and stay for forty-five minutes for the meal, then everyone leaves and drives to the next station. You won’t run into the same people again until the dessert station, because that stop brings all of us together at the church.

This year, my hubby and I have to start half an hour earlier then almost everyone else, because our first stop for appetizers is forty-five minutes away. Now, this is not the norm. For the most part, the houses you visit are all within the town limits. On occasion, there are church members who move outside the town limits, and like to participate in a course other than dessert. Keep in mind, if you live on one side of our town, and you have a stop on the other side of our town, it could easily take you twenty-five to thirty minutes to accomplish it, so a forty-five minute hike to Stockton is not that bad. Plus, it’s my friend’s house, which I haven’t had the opportunity to see yet, so I’m excited to go.

So we have appetizers out in Stockton. Then we drive back to town to have salad. Next it’s our turn to host the soup station. I’m making loaded potato soup, it has lots of cheese and bacon. I’m also making gumbalaya (my crazy mix of gumbo and jambalaya), its chicken and sausage and shrimp, rice, tomatoes and onions and garlic, and a whole array of Cajun spices. My tummy’s rumbling just thinking about it. Finally, we all head back to the church for dessert, and there’s usually music and a whole lot of silliness. It’s going to be a fun night.

On a completely different note, my friend Linda Rawlins posted this article from Writer's Write, and I thought it was great.

One recurring comment from me, to authors whose books I edit, is - you need to stop TELLING your readers, you need to start SHOWING them. Then I'll rearrange a few of their sentences, so they can have examples. Well, now I'll be able to send them a whole chart of examples, at least for body language "showing". (Now if I could just find a more articulate way to explain Continuity of Tense, my job would be a breeze.)

So, writers, save this article. Use it as a reference while you're writing. Print out the chart and add your own ideas to it. This is going to be a handy tool.

Although it’s only eight o’clock, I have cooking and cleaning to do, so I should get going. I hope y’all have a super day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was (random quote, chosen from a random page, from a random book on my shelf – closed my eyes, reached in, grabbed one, opened to a page, pointed, and opened my eyes – then found the closest dialogue):

Write your own story around the following – “Get out of your wet things and into those. Don’t worry, you’ll be decently covered.” (Kay Hooper, Enemy Mine)

Corina could not stop shivering. Her entire body literally shook from head to toe. Her hair and clothes were soaked, her lips were blue, and her teeth were chattering so violently, she was afraid she would chip one. With certainty she could say, she had never been this cold in all her life.

She cursed her boss for sending her out on this assignment. She cursed her car for not being able to handle the incline, and for sliding off the road. She even cursed Mother Nature for the unpredicted blizzard. If it hadn’t been for Caleb Makenzie, the man she was sent to interview, coming and checking, she probably would have died out there on the road.

Corina could hear the shower running, and a cloud of steam shrouded Caleb as he exited the bathroom.

Indicating a pile on the vanity, Caleb ordered, “Get out of your wet things and into those. Don’t worry, you’ll be decently covered.”

Meekly, Corina obeyed and padded into the bathroom and shut the door.

Your Next Challenge is:

Drip…drip…drip…

You have 10 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.

April 4th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Greeting on a rainy day, but hey, at least it’s Friday right?

Sorry I was MIA yesterday, but after only fifteen minutes or so on the internet, my computer rebooted itself. After that, I couldn’t get back. First it was saying it couldn’t connect to the proxy server, which I have confirmed we do not have, then my husband got it switched back to LAN, but it still wouldn’t connect, and he had to leave for work. So there I was, stuck all day with no internet access. (Well, not really all day, because I worked from 11:30 – 4:30, so I didn’t need it then.) Hubby got it fixed last night, but I was too tired to deal with the computer by then.

Since I was unable to post my blog yesterday, I have included it at the bottom of this short post. I will not be posting a new writing challenge, since you haven’t had time to respond to yesterday’s challenge yet.

So lickety split, here are my updates: Dani’s still sick but getting better, love working for RV, have to get to the store at some point today to pick up supplies for the Progressive Dinner (I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow), have to straighten up the house because we are having company two days in a row.

Okay, this post is way too long, since it’s two days’ worth, so I should wrap it up. I hope you have a glorious day, and happy writing.

Hi, it’s Christina -

Happy Thursday! Is it just me, or is this week flying by?

Today marks day four of Dani being home from school. It appears she has contracted that norovirus which is plaguing the schools right now. A huge percentage of kids are out sick. So many, in fact, it warranted an instant alert message. The notice was very specific in telling us our children needed to be symptom free, for two days, before they would be allowed back into the school. This does however put me in a bit of a quandary. Usually, a week’s absence from school would require a doctor’s note, but honestly, I don’t feel, with this ailment, the doctor can do anything. It simply needs to run its course. Hopefully the powers that be realize this, and won’t hold the lack of a doctor’s note against her.

I feel so bad for Dani. She’s feeling absolutely miserable. I also feel guilty, because she needs comforting hugs from me, which I readily give; but when I’m done, I immediately go and wash my hands. The last thing I need right now is to get sick, and I certainly do not need to bring any bug over to RV! She has enough to contend with without being sick on top of it.

Okay, I’m not exactly sure when this will actually get posted because I’m having connectivity issues this morning. I keep getting an error message saying my proxy server is down. To the best of my knowledge, I don’t have a “proxy server”. I’m going to have my husband take a look when he wakes up.

In the interim, I will use the time wisely, and work on Faerie Tale Queen. I hope y’all have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

You’re stuck in an elevator…

Oh S#$T! Lights! Aren’t there supposed to be emergency lights? Emergency lights always come on when this happens on TV. Maybe it takes a few seconds. Oh God. Take a breath. Please start, please start, please start. S#$T!  S#$T!  S#$T! Damn TV, guess those are camera lights, not emergency generator lights.

People are starting to talk. Okay, who’s on the elevator with me. Crap, I was too busy checking my phone to notice. Close your eyes and think. What are you closing your eyes for? It’s pitch black in here. Knock it off and focus. Okay, okay, okay, I remember seeing Mabel. Mothers Always Bring Extra Love. OMG, will you focus? OK, Mabel, Mr. Harris’ secretary, but she’s tiny. Who else? Two starched suits from twelve, don’t know their names, but I’ve seen them around. They could be useful. There were two more. Think, think, think. Jim from Marketing. He’s pretty buff. Oh no! That creepy guy from the Print Pool is in here too. He was in the back corner. Let’s hope he stays there.

Alarm! Every elevator has an alarm. Where is it? Where is it? Need to stop my hands from shaking. Just don’t hit the wrong button genius. S#$T! that was loud. Loud is good, right? Should I hit it again?

OMG, it’s getting hard to breathe. What if we run out of oxygen before they can rescue us? Don’t be an ass, that won’t happen. Just breathe, slow measured breaths. Panic won’t solve anything. There, that’s better, in and out, nice and slow.

Could you tell, getting trapped in an elevator is one of my phobias?

Your Next Challenge is (random quote, chosen from a random page, from a random book on my shelf – closed my eyes, reached in, grabbed one, opened to a page, pointed, and opened my eyes – then found the closest dialogue):

Write your own story around the following – “Get out of your wet things and into those. Don’t worry, you’ll be decently covered.” (KayHooper, Enemy Mine)

You have 10 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.