February 2nd, 2015 Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning and Happy Ground Hog’s Day. Happy Birthday to my aunt, Mary, and to one of my best friend’s hubby, Lenny. Hope you have an amazing day!

Rumor has it that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, which means more winter is coming; but without the aid of artificial lighting, I’m not sure that’s possible. The Staten Island ground hog, Chuck II, – which the mayor managed NOT to kill this year, had a different opinion. But seriously folks, precognizant rodents, really? No matter what these little beasties see or don’t see, Spring is still 46 days away, and yes, I’m counting down the days.

Yuck. That is the only way to describe today’s weather - Y.U.C.K. Sleet and freezing rain – yeah, I’m NOT a fan. The kids have a two hour delayed opening because of it, and I’m hoping that will be enough. The freezing rain started after roughly two inches of snowfall. The road in front of my house looks good, but what about all the roads up on Zion Mountain? I doubt they will get them cleared before the 9:00 am bus pick up.

Honestly, my concern isn’t for the buses. Their drivers are seasoned. However, all the juniors and seniors who have recently received their driver’s licenses, now that’s a concern. This kind of weather condition is challenging for those of us who have been driving for years. It can be downright deadly for an inexperienced driver. So I am praying for either an upward spike in the temperature, or a phone call cancelling school for the day.

Me, I’m not going anywhere. Unless it’s something urgent, I don’t go out on days like this. I plan on finishing straightening up after yesterday’s party, spending a little more time marketing and at least two hours of writing. A load of laundry and a much needed nap are also in my future. A body can only survive so long without adequate sleep, and I am hitting my limit. Hopefully the dreary weather will aid in my endeavor.

Day 3 of my Tweet campaign was underway before 6:00 am. Today’s tweet said “The reviews are in, and it’s looking good!” with a screen shot of a review and a picture of the book’s cover. Also went through and read the 318 Tweets which happened while I was Tweeting. Sorry, but Twitter still makes my head spin.

Too fast and furious for this old brain to wrap around, but I’m giving it the old college try. I followed folks who retweeted me, retweeted a few interesting tweets, favorited a few tweets, and replied to a few tweets, but I’m sure I’m missing a whole lot. Can I at least get an “E” for effort?

I still haven’t heard back from the Kobo tech team. I’ll let you know when, or at this point if, we get the issues resolved.

Okay, the household is either off to work or off to school, so I am going to take full advantage to this blissfully quiet house. I hope you have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge is:

The ideal way to spend a cold rainy day…

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.

January 12th 2015

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! I’m SO happy I don’t have to go anywhere today. It’s cold, there’s a wintry mix falling from the sky and wreaking havoc on the ground, and I’m wiped from driving to Vermont and back (plus playing pack mule while I was there).

We made one pit stop on our way up to Burlington. We brought lunch to a 95 year old relative, “Uncle Rudy”. (I think he’s actually my husband’s third or fourth cousin, but I was not going to allow my kids to call him by his first name.) He is a fascinating and brilliant man, even still at 95, and a lot of fun to be around. Even though you don’t know “Uncle Rudy” personally, I can just about guarantee you own something he invented and probably use almost every day… your microwave. Pretty cool, huh? Unfortunately, like many inventors, he made his while working for a large company, who, in turn, took all the credit for his work. If you were in the military, you can also thank Rudy for his work with sonar and radar. See, I told you he was an amazing guy.

Lys was funny on Saturday. She was fairly quiet the entire way up Route 87. Then when we got off the exit which would lead us to the Essex/Burlington Ferry, she removed her head phones and sat up straight. By the time the first glimpse of Lake Champlain came into view, she was practically vibrating in her seat, with a huge grin on her face. I know she was chomping at the bit to get back on campus, and I’m sure it was disappointing to be so close, but have to wait until the morning.

We stayed at a different Marriott than we usually do. I decided to use my Marriott points to pay for the room, and for some strange reason, the more expensive ($$ wise) hotel was less points. It was nice and all, but I think we’ll be going back to our regular Marriott next time. The people were very nice, but it just didn’t feel the same.

We did meet a nice family while we were eating in the hotel. After driving for six hours, I just didn’t feel like getting behind the wheel again, and Lys wasn’t even hungry, so Paulie and I decided to eat at the hotel. We bellied up to the bar and that’s where we met Valerie, Dustin and their son Mason. Mason is a junior at UVM, the college across the street from Lys’ college. We chatted while we were eating and watching the playoff game. I thoroughly enjoy meeting nice people.

Yesterday, we got Lys moved into her new dorm…not without issues, of course. LOL. Her key card worked for her room, but not for the front door of the dorm. She was not the only kid this was happening to either. So, until the locksmith can get there today and fix it, she and the others will have to rely on the RA and other residents whose keys work. Her new room is TINY, and in the basement. The one saving grace for us was there was an elevator in the building, so we didn’t have to lug all her stuff up and down stairs; and for her is it looks like she will be the room’s only occupant. There’s still a second set of everything in there, bed, desk, dresser, but she’s making due.

Okay, I’m sorry. I tried, but I’m so tired right now, I can’t concentrate on writing anything more, let alone coming up with a writing challenge. I’ll babble at you later in the week.

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

December 8th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Class of '84
(obviously not all of us)

Good Morning! I have been seriously remiss in making blog posts lately, and I have a bunch to share with you now. It also didn’t help that I noticed I never posted the one from the 29^th. I’m not exactly sure what happened, but I posted it Sunday morning on the blog site if you’re interested.

So, the 30 year reunion was a blast. I got to see a bunch of people, but I really couldn’t catch up with many because the music was too loud to chat. The common consensus was, four hour was definitely NOT enough time. We all wanted more.

The Committee
Back Row: Vinnie, Karolyn, Rebecca,
Bob, Mike, Laura, Gary
Front Row: Amy & Me

I think, in 2016, we are going to hold a 50^th birthday party for the class. We had some money left in the kiddy after the reunion was over, and we are throwing around the idea that, for the people who were there, it will be free, and for the folks who couldn’t make the reunion, there would be a nominal fee of $25 to attend. Now the reunion committee has an excuse to get together in under five years. It’s going to be great!

Yup, in PARK on the
highway

At ten in the morning, following the reunion, I began my drive south to bring Lys and her friend Max back to school. We decided taking Route 81 back would be much better than attempting Route 95. The best laid plans… It turns out there was a major accident on 81 in Virginia early Sunday morning, and traffic never quite recovered. We passed a dozen accidents, and if it wasn’t for this app Max had, we would have been sitting in more traffic than we did. All in all, the trip took 13 ½ hours, which I guess isn’t too terrible considering at one point I had the car in park on the highway, and we took several breaks and a 45 minute dinner.

Bumper to bumper on
Route 81

I crashed at Lys’ that night, and before I left, we had one errand to run. You see, for the past month, Lys has been getting cyber bullied, so our errand was to the police station to file a report. We had thought they would be able to subpoena Yik Yak to have them trace the IP address of the person doing the harassing; but even though the anonymous posts are disturbing, they do not cross the line into threatening, so the police’s hands are tied. They can’t do anything. The same holds for the college itself.

Because of this, Lys has elected to part ways with High Point, and return to Champlain. She would rather deal with a cranky Mother Nature than a psycho in the human form, and I can’t say I blame her. This means, next Monday, I will be driving back down to North Carolina to pack her up and bring her home. Then, in January, I’ll be bringing her back to Vermont, and setting up her new room up there. Never a dull moment. To be honest, I’d rather have her safe and only six hours away, so I’m not heartbroken that things did not work out at High Point. It would have been better if my daughter wasn’t traumatized in the process, but, live and learn. She’s a strong woman, with a good head on her shoulders, she’ll be fine.

The drive home was considerably better. It only took 11 hours, and that was with multiple stops, including a 45 minute one when it was pouring. The weather and traffic was terrible, and I was exhausted, so I pulled off at a rest stop, climbed into the back seat, and took a power nap. When I woke up, I felt refreshed, the rain had stopped, and the traffic had dissipated, so it was a beautiful thing.

I did not have my radio interview the Ron Shaw Show on ArtistFirst Radio Network on my drive home. I got the dates mixed up. My interview is actually tonight at 8pm. Ron told me my last interview had over 30K downloads, which completely shocked me, but he has the reports to prove it. Now that’s not the people who listen to it the night it aired, these are actually folks who clicked into the link after the fact, and listened to the hour long show. That’s mind boggling to me.

I have to make sure my phone is all charged and ready to go. I also have to figure out where I can do the interview. Last time I did it sitting in a chair in my driveway, because that’s where I got the best reception. That’s not exactly an option for a December in the Northeast interview, especially with a Nor’easter on its way. (There will be a special announcement on tonight's show, so, if you are available, please tune in.)

At least it’s a rain event, not a snow event. That’s all I would have needed. LATE Tuesday night, I am driving to Philly to pick up Dani’s boyfriend and his family from the airport. They have been down in Florida for the Cheerleading Nationals, and their flight comes in at 11:30. If this Nor’easter was going to be a snow event, I would have had them make other arrangements to get home. Then again, if it was snow, the flight would have more than likely been cancelled and I would have to pick them up on Wednesday.

Of course the lights on the
pre-lit tree wouldn't work, so
Paulie had to string more.

Saturday, we had our annual tree decorating party. It was over a week early this year. We usually do it as close to the first night of Hanukkah as we can, but Hanukkah is on the 17^th this year, and I wasn’t going to be home.

The 17 year old tradition started with one of my dearest friends, Rebecca, who happens to be Jewish. She loves decorating Christmas trees, but for obvious reasons, she did not get many opportunities to do so. I had invited her over to do ours with us. She would spend Christmas with us whenever she was in town, so why not have her help decorate the tree? By accident, not design, it was the first night of Hanukkah, the first year we did it. I had felt bad that on her holiday, she was helping us prepare for our holiday, so I made potato pancakes for dinner that night…and the tradition began.

3 dozen ornaments and
more lights out. The tree still
needs serious work!

Now, every year, I make a vat of potato pancakes (10lbs – roughly 200 - 250 pancakes), and a bunch of people come to my house and decorate my tree. With the exception of Rebecca’s son Noah, who placed more ornaments than everyone else combined, they did a sad job. I was too busy cooking to supervise, but I can just about guarantee, everyone else put exactly one ornament on the tree. I think next year, I am going to withhold the food until the tree is done. LOL.

Well, this had gone on long enough. I told you I had a bunch to tell you. The next blog entry will more than likely be next Sunday. There’s just too much to do this time of year, that I can’t find the time to blog as well. Sorry. I hope you have a fabulous day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge:

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

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 3rd Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! Holy mother of pearl it was cold out there yesterday! I didn’t make it there by ten even though I tried.

Canterbury Tales Forever

I got about two miles away when I remembered I forgot my table. Normally Wayne provides tables for us, but there was supposed to be five authors yesterday plus an extra event in the tent. He wouldn’t have had enough tables, so I offered to lend him mine. I turned around and got the table, but, provided everyone drove the speed limit, I would have still gotten there with about two minutes to spare. That’s late in my book, but I would have lived with it.

If I didn't know better, I would swear

this is an actual picture of what I saw

yesterday morning.

Well mother nature threw me a curve ball. There was one downed tree in the road near my house, but when there was a break in oncoming traffic, I was able to go around it. A few more miles up the road, I wasn’t so lucky. The tree was covering the entire road. The detour added an extra fifteen minutes on to my commute.

I get to WaWa to pick up my lunch – this time was padded into my commute, but the detour ate it up – and the place is completely packed. Fifteen minutes later, I’m back on the road. I pull up at 10:15, and there is no parking, so I had to unload in the middle of the parking lot. I yell down to Karen for her to ask Wayne to come grab the table for me, and she said he won’t be needing it.

When Wayne got there yesterday, he tried setting up the tent and the chairs for the readings (that’s where my table was going), but the wind was so strong, the tent collapsed and broke. I’m not 100% sure, but it looked like a few of the chairs broke as well. Then I found out one of the authors cancelled as well. Needless to say, Wayne wasn’t a happy camper yesterday, and I can’t say I blamed him.

Anyway, I drop all my junk off and go hunting for a parking spot, which I found out in East Jabib, trek back, and begin the task of setting up my table. Now there was a challenge. After I taped my banner, top and bottom, to the table, I had to tape the table cloth itself to the table. Normally all my stuff would hold it in place, but the wind was so strong, it was lifting the table cloth and dumping my stuff over. I didn’t even bother using book stands, I just laid the books right on the table. If I had used the stands, they would have become projectiles. I’d swear so of those gusts were in the 50mph range.

Bradly with no "e"

There was one author there yesterday whom I have not worked with yet. His name is Bradly Williams - yup “Bradly with no e”, as he says. He had several books with him, fiction (Charity – What’s in a name?), non-fiction (Love Redefined), and even a tiny coffee table book of artwork and poetry.

Iván Tirado

The concept was really unique. Bradly has a friend, Iván Tirado, 

who is an artist, and the two of them wanted to put together a book featuring Ivan’s art work. So, instead of little blurbs describing the pieces of art like most coffee table books do, Bradly wrote poems inspired by each of the pieces. How cool is that?

Riley with her book
 "Sorcerers"

There was another author, Riley Morton, there as well, but she was not participating in the event. She has never done a book signing, so she wanted to come and observe. She spent a little time chatting with each of us, and we were all extremely impressed with her. You see, Riley is only fourteen and in middle school. How marvelous is that? I love the cover for her book, Sorcerers, and the story looks interesting. We are all looking forward to having Riley join “Authors’ Row”.

These are the guys who sang for us.
I found their picture on the internet.

We did get one nice surprise yesterday. These four men in black pants, black leather jackets, red shirts, and matching red and black ties were walking through Authors’ Row, and I commented, “You’re either in a wedding party or in a band.” They stopped and said they were a quartet - The Buck's County Country Gentlemen, to which I said, “Then you must audition for us.” (I meant perform.) Much to our surprise, they were happy to oblige. They sang one traditional quartet song, and then they followed up with an Irish prayer. It was wonderful. I was so busy listening, I forgot to pull out my camera to snap a picture. Argh!

Hart's Tavern is part of
The Cock 'n Bull restaurant in
Peddler's Village 

Around four, between the wind and the cold, we had had enough, so packed up. Karen, her friend Sharon, and I went to Hart’s Tavern for dinner. Sam bailed on us, but we’ll forgive him. He has a sick dog at home, and he wanted to get back to her. The three of us had a lovely dinner, which was great, but then I had to drive home, in the dark which wasn’t fun. At one point, I had to slam on my brakes because there was a hug buck, a doe, and a fox, all standing in the middle of the road. That was very strange. Were they holding a caucus?

No, I didn't take a picture, I found this

one on the internet. Apparently this

is not as unique an occurrence as I

thought. Who knew? 

I made it home a little after six, and promptly went to bed. I have never been so thankful for my heated mattress pad as I was last night.

Today, amidst grocery shopping and laundry, I have to get some serious writing done. With Saturday’s gala, and being out all day yesterday, I am seriously behind on my NaNoWriMo word count. Day three and I’m already playing catch up – not a good sign.

Oh well, I should get going. I hope you have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge:

Baby it’s cold outside…

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.