May 18th Challenge

Hi it’s Christina –

Good Morning! It is another beautiful day in Central NJ, and I started mine with a quick trip to the grocery store so I could get that out of the way and have the rest of the day to do what I please. We finally got the grass cut, thanks to my father in law bringing over his mower, so I may just bring my laptop outside for a few hours and work on editing out there.

Right after I finished my blog yesterday, I got a text from Lys asking if I could pick her up at 12:30 instead of 12:00. I look at the clock, and it’s nearly 11:00. Then my phone beeps and I get the text she had sent the night before telling me where I need to pick her up. How does that happen? Anyway, I see she needs to be picked up in Franklin Lakes, which is an hour north of us, I still hadn’t showered, Tyler’s bike isn’t in the car yet (yeah, he forgot it), and I wanted to dig up a patch of Lily of the Valley for Tyler’s folks to plant, because his mom loved the bouquet Lys gave her, and asked if she could plant them. 


It’s funny, Tyler’s mom is the third person to ask if they could plant the cut Lily of the Valley I’ve given them –  nope, but I’ll give you some so you can.

“I should make it by one,” I told her and started racing around like a nut. I think I walked in the door at ten after, so I think I did well. I walk in the door, am greeted very nicely, then promptly offered a crudité and a glass of wine – no to the wine, but I took a cucumber chip topped with crab, mostly because I felt bad repeatedly refusing the servers. I go over to where Lys, Tyler, and business partner Bryan are standing, and Tyler promptly tells me I’m not allowed to leave until his dad comes back. Okay, I can stay and look at pretty things for a while if I must.

As heavy as it looks

Let me tell you, Tyler in a jewelry store, is a person in his element. He took me on a tour of their entire line, explained about the different designs, the different metals, the different gems – colors, cuts, countries of origin. He was so excited, so passionate, and so knowledgeable, you could tell he truly found his calling in life, which is phenomenal for someone so young. He had Lys modeling various pieces of jewelry – which I totally understand, but then he started snapping bracelets and sliding rings on me. I just chuckled and let him have his fun.

Soooo pretty!

I dang near died when I was looking at a very heavy, very beautiful, ring, and it slipped out of my fingers and hit the glass counter. No harm was done to either the ring or the counter, but I did request Tyler not hand me anything which was worth just shy of a million dollars, or at least not to tell me its worth until after I handed it back to him.

Now, just because I don’t wear jewelry (it would be a sin to leave it sitting in a box because I have nowhere to wear it), does not mean I cannot appreciate it. As I said before, pictures do not do Tyler’s dad’s jewelry justice. There was one piece I did fall in love with, but even if I could afford it, I don’t think I would spend $125k on any piece of jewelry…ever, no matter how gorgeous – and this necklace was gorgeous. It was platinum and white diamonds with rose gold and pink diamonds.

Amy in action

We got back home around 3:30, much to Dani’s chagrin because I was supposed to highlight her hair, but returned too late to do it and for her to be able to get to a 5:00 party. Later today I’ll be putting on my hairdresser’s cap.

2014 Championship Team

When I got home, I flipped on my computer and found a message from my friend Donna. Her daughter Amy has been out in St. George, Utah for the NJCAA Softball Championships, and made it to the final game of the series. Unfortunately they lost the last game to Angeline, TX; but Amy did AMAZING. She is the team’s catcher, homerun record holder for her team, and she tied the all-time championship homerun record for the series. She was also named to the “First Team All-Tournament”, which is a great honor.

Slutty Brownies

Around 5:30 last night, one of our neighbors knocked on our door and invited us to a picnic at his house. Other friends of ours told us about the picnic, but I thought it was next weekend – I forgot yesterday was the 17^th, I thought it was only the 10^th. Once a year, these neighbors throw a big party, and invite all the neighbors – probably because they have a live band and they don’t want anyone calling the cops because the music’s too loud or is still playing after midnight.

Mild Mishap

Lys quick whipped up a batch of slutty brownies, and we headed over around 7:00. As soon as we walk in, I see a woman sitting at one of the tables and I asked her, “Are you by any chance a Faulkner?” to which she gave a cautious “Yeah…” I told her I graduated high school with her older sister Michelle. After that, I bumped into several people I knew, and even some parents of people I knew. The whole “zero degrees of separation” was in full force last night.

Corn Hole

Ray and Laurie put out a big spread, and the food was yummy. I got to play corn hole for the first time. It was fun, and I actually held my own. I partnered up with a friend’s cousin who was visiting, and we lost our first game 21-19, but then we won our second game 23-20. I am going to pat myself on the back a little, because I was throwing against the party’s corn hole champ, Jimmy. He hit four in the hole, in one turn, and got to sign the board. I was able to negate a lot of his points, and I was even able to score a few points against him.

Okay, this has gone on long enough. I’ll wait until tomorrow morning to tell you about my garden. I hope you have a super-d-duper day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

You will never believe what I found in the back yard

Now, I have found some pretty strange things in my back yard over the years – arrowheads, a two headed snake, a rare coin, an orange frog; but this time, nobody’s going to believe what I stumbled upon. Heck, I still don’t believe it and I held it in my hand.

Since it was such a nice day, I decided to tackle weeding around the pond. Not one of my favorite chores, but it beat working inside on something as equally loathsome. I was almost halfway through when I spotted what I thought was a salamander. Much to my surprise, when I put my hand down next to it, it climbed right into my glove and rubbed his face against my finger, much like a cat does when she wants some attention.

This odd behavior had me raise my hand closer to my face, so I could get a better look at the creature. When I did, he made eye contact with me, and as strange as this sounds, appeared to smile. Then he proudly unfurled a pair of craped wings, blew tiny puffs of smoke through his flared nostrils, and then rubbed his head against my finger again. It took all I had not to drop the poor thing.

It was obvious he was affectionate and friendly, and for some reason he liked me; but all that kept going through my mind was, where the heck am I going to keep a dragon? My husband’s going to flip.

Your Next Challenge is:

They sat next to each other, but pretended to be strangers

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.

May 8th Challenge

Hi it’s Christina –

Good Morning! Chin up, it’s only two days until the weekend.

Since Dani was up, I didn’t even attempt to start this blog first thing this morning. Instead I poked around on the internet. One of my friends posted this photo, with the story behind it. Like most things posted on the internet, I was skeptical, so I looked into it further.

It turns out, this is a true story, but what people might not know, is the photo is almost twenty years old. Kyrie and Brielle Jackson were born on October 17^th, 1995 in Massachusetts, which means they are most likely either seniors in high school or freshmen in college now. It’s amazing, a photo and the story behind it, which took place almost two decades ago, is still circulating on the internet.

Lilacs
(in my front yard)

Lily of the Valley
(lining my walkway)

Well, I think the wait is finally over, Spring just may be here to stay. Yippy!!! Although my allergies are in overdrive, I am not going to complain one bit. I was happy to see, two of my favorite flowers, were blooming. In my mind, the combination of these two, is what Heaven smells like. I just LOVE both of them. I only wish they didn’t bloom at the same time of the year, that way I could thoroughly enjoy one, and then when it was finished, be able to enjoy the other.

I have a confession to make. I kept checking my email yesterday to see if another message came in from the folks at Indie, but sadly, it didn’t. Now I’m wracking my brain (or is it racking my brain – another word where you get vehement opposing views and I’m never sure which is right) as to what Taking Chances was missing.

It’s very frustrating. How am I supposed to learn and improve, if I can’t figure out what made A Second Chance a winner, and Taking Chances not even get an honorable mention in the romance category? Was there too much intrigue, action, and suspense for it to be labeled a true “romance” in their eyes? Is there something I should or shouldn’t do in Simply by Chance – the third in the series?

Although I am not claiming to be at the same level as Johanna Lindsey or as Stephanie Laurens, their Mallory and Cynster Series, respectively, are pretty much on the same lines as my Bradford Series; historical romance novels, with a high degree of action, adventure and mystery, with an interwoven cast of characters. Plus, like both of their novels, there are some steamy scenes, and, of course, the predictable yet required, happy ending.

I know, Taking Chances was better written than A Second Chance. The characters were deeper, the conflicts more intricate. I learned a lot from writing and then from the editing of A Second Chance, so I was able to implement the knowledge while writing Taking Chances. I learned even more from Taking Chances, and I tried to bring that knowledge into the books I’ve written or am currently writing.

However, this is making me wonder if I’m getting steered off course somehow; if my interpretation of the “knowledge” or my implementation of the “knowledge” has gone awry. I’m NOT saying I should have won, and if Taking Chances had become a finalist in the ROMANCE category, I would not even be questioning any of this right now.

Obviously the book has appeal, since it was a finalist in a category which encompasses multi genres, and I am THRILLED about that, but I’m still left scratching my head, and second guessing myself.

Many of you out there have read both A Second Chance and Taking Chances. Can you give me some feedback or insight? I DO NOT WANT A PAT ON THE BACK HERE. I want some honest, constructive, warts and all, feedback. My goal is to give readers what they want, and if I’m not doing that, I need to fix it, and fix it fast, or I might as well hang up my pen (keyboard).

Oh well, enough wallowing. I’m working again today, so I have to start getting ready. I hope you have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

Share a brief microhistory on any subject you know about, because you could hardly do research in the ten minute allotted time. Make it as interesting as possible so it does not read like an instruction manual.

While writing historical romance novels, you have to do a lot of research. In the course of that research, you come across many interesting facts, facts which never make it into your novels, but are interesting non-the-less. When I was writing Taking Chances, I had to do research on the Napoleonic War, French and Spanish ships, the Battle of Trafalgar, and Lord Nelson. Let me tell you, I could probably write a doctoral thesis on the subject at this point.

One of the interesting facts which never made it into my book was what had happened to Lord Nelson, after he was killed, during the Battle of Trafalgar. Remember, this battle occurred in the early 1800s. The voyage from Cadiz back to England took quite a bit of time, and the crew couldn’t give Lord Nelson a burial at sea as they would have any other fallen sailor, so they needed to figure out a way to preserve his body until it could be returned to England. Their solution, they placed his body in a barrel and used the salt they used to preserve meat during a voyage, to keep him “fresh”. In essence, they pickled him.

Innovative for sure, but that’s not even the worst part. Supposedly, when his body was returned, it laid in state for three days, as was customary for dignitaries at that time. Okay, I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure if I would want to view a body which has been dead for three weeks and pickled. EEEEwwwww!

Your Next Challenge is:

Write a FIRST person experience from the viewpoint of a dollar bill.

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.