November 8th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! It is a gorgeous day. Beautiful bright sunshine, almost no clouds, no wind at all, but baby it’s cold outside. It is going to be another long day at Canterbury Tales. Last week it was the wind that made it brutal, so at least we won’t have to contend with that today.

These are my last two days doing book signings at Canterbury Tales Forever Bookstore in Peddler’s Village, Lahaska, PA until the spring. Unless, by some miracle, we have a mild weekend in December, January, February, or March, I won’t be back there until April or May. It’s just too dang cold to be standing outside all day. Then again, perhaps if I go, it will garner the pity purchase. LOL. Just kidding. I want people to buy my books because they want to read them, not because they feel bad for me.

I wish I could tell you who will be joining me at Canterbury Tales today, but I just don’t know. I can pretty much guarantee Samuel Knight with his Monty a Christmas Tale will be there, because ‘tis the season for his book; and I think Karen Scheuer with a Bug and a Wish may be there as well, but I really don’t know. Wayne is on vacation this weekend, and the girl covering the shop has not posted anything to their Facebook page.

So I ordered more copies of Taking Chances this morning. Sunday I noticed my inventory was getting really low, and darn it, I should have ordered them right when I got home, but I forgot. Now I’m kicking myself. I have that big author event at the Hillsborough Public Library next Saturday, and the books aren’t scheduled to get here until the following Monday. UGH. Historically speaking, the books usually get here way ahead of when they say they’ll get here, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Watch, this time, they will get here exactly when they say they will. It would be just my luck.

Well, we are still on Verizon. We went to the Sprint store first, and the guy pulled up our address and told us he wouldn’t feel comfortable selling us the service because reception at our house was only in the “fair” category. So then, we trekked up to the mall (yuck) and hit the T-Mobile store. They were all for switching us over, even though we showed up in the same “fair” zone with them. Hmmm…

We didn't even get the phones we
wanted because the 5C is being
phased out. We got the 5S instead

My mom wanted to go into Verizon – thankfully, they were also at the mall – just to see if it would be better for her just to get a plan on her own. With the amount she uses her cell phone, $30+ a month for her – which would have been her portion of the bill –was silly. They offered her a pre-paid $100 for the year deal, which makes much more sense, and we will be switching her over to that on Monday. They guy at the store crunched a bunch of numbers, and rearranged some things, and long story short, we are still on Verizon for the next two years, we have iPhones (Lys will be getting hers next week), and I saved about $25 a month from what I had before.

It’s not great, but it is the same price every other carrier was giving us. So basically, all those ads you are seeing on TV, are a load of hooey. No one is giving you unlimited anything with mega data to share for the low price. The price you see advertised is for just the data service. Then there is a phone charge, and a service charge, and in my case a $10 per line insurance charge, plus taxes, regulatory fees, and God only knows what else. Which all adds up to $70 per phone, per month. Whatever, it is what it is. They’ve got you by the nose, and they know it.

Enough, I am going to put it out of my mind because it is useless to get aggravated when I can’t change it. It’s time for me to go get ready for my book signing anyway, so I’ve got to boogie.

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

Your Next Challenge:

Tick…Tock, Tick…Tock…

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 10th

Hi it’s Christina –

Good Morning! Sorry there was no blog yesterday, but I am happy to report, my computer is working this morning, so the coffee did not cause any permanent damage. PHEW!! I will be researching different back-up options tomorrow – cloud, drop box, whatever. I‘m clueless, but I’ll figure it out. There has got to be something out there that’s idiot proof (aka: Me), I just need to do a little research.

Author's Row in front of
Canterbury Tales Forever

What a GLORIOUS day we had yesterday for the book signing at Peddler’s Village, although the tops of my feet got a tiny bit sunburned – I’ll have to put a little extra sun screen on them today. The Peach Festival drew a good sized crowd, which was a beautiful thing. Traffic through “Author’s Row”, as we dubbed it, was pretty constant the whole time we were there.

Sam & Monty

My old buddy, Samuel Knight, was there again yesterday. Remember, he’s the author of Monty, that wonderful Christmas book about a basset hound and the little girl who loved him that I keep raving about? Sam did amazing as usual. I think he sold five books to everyone Karen and I sold. He such a bundle of energy and good will, you can’t help but smile while you’re around him.

Karen is Karen Hluchan, a spirit medium and author of "How Have You Loved?" - an amazing book about getting the most out of your life while you are here, mediumship, and recognizing the signs from your love ones who have passed. We hit it off instantly. What a sweet and funny lady. She had a constant crowd around her table as well, partly because she was having a drawing for a free thirty minute reading, but mostly because she is such an engaging person. I lost track of how many hugs she gave out yesterday.

Karen Hluchan

Knowing both Karen and Sam are going to be there again today, I’m really looking forward to going – more so than usual. I love doing these book signings at Canterbury Tales Forever, but when I know I’m going to be there with other authors I work well with and are a joy to be around, it makes for an exciting day.

It so nice because we don’t compete with each other for sales, we actually guide folks to each other’s tables. If one of us has to step away for a moment, the others jump in and pitch each other’s books for them. It works the same way when I do these signings with Keith and Linda. It does fluster some authors at first though when they don’t expect to actually get support from the rest of us instead of us trying to steal their sale.

It’s sad everyone doesn’t realize that a) there are plenty of customers to go around because; b) everyone doesn’t have the same reading preferences; and c) if they (the customers) see us all getting along and supporting each other, it creates a nicer environment, they feel less pressured, and they are more likely to engage in conversation and ultimately purchase a book. Think about it, would you walk over to a bunch of crazy authors yelling “buy my book “no, buy my book it’s better” or would you avert your eyes, quickly walk past, and act like you didn’t hear them? As far as I’m concerned, it’s a no brainer, and not even from the sales point, from the common courtesy point.

Come and visit us. It will be a
fund day for the whole family.

Well, all three of us are going to be there again today from 11:00 – 3:00, so if you happen to be in the area, please stop by. By the way, if you already have copies of my books, and you want to have them signed, please bring them with you, and I will be happy to sign them.

Okay, I have a few things I need to get done before I have to get ready to go, so I should get a move on. I hope you have a blessed day, and happy writing!

July 20th Challenge

Hi it’s Christina –

Good Morning! First, Happy Birthday to one of my best friends, Rebecca! I hope you have a day as wonderful as you are, LUV YA!

So I survived yesterday’s book signing without melting or passing out. It wasn’t too, too hot, and there was an occasional breeze which helped immensely. However, it was a really slow day. There was not a large crowd, probably the smallest I’ve ever seen there. I think this is a huge vacation week.

Historically, I have done much better on Sundays, Saturdays have always been slow for me, but I keep going back because of the folks I meet. Yesterday was no exception. I had several wonderful conversations. I chatted with a family – mom, dad, and daughter, who had just gotten engaged. I’m talking minutes before. She was walking my way, carrying a beautiful bouquet, and I complimented her on the flowers. That’s when the dad told me, she had just gotten engaged. Then the three of them laughed and all started to explain at the same time, that the girl wasn’t engaged to the dad, that the fiancé was in the bathroom – it was funny.

This really looks like her ring

So, of course, I asked to see the ring, and I Oooed and Ahhhed over it. It was lovely. Then I gave her some unsolicited advice (I actually said, “here’s some unsolicited advice”). I told her not to sweat all the little things that are going to go wrong at the wedding, she’ll be the only one who notices them. Instead make sure she takes the time to enjoy the day, because it is over in the blink of an eye.

As nice as that meeting was, there were two others I met yesterday which were infinitely more meaningful to me. Fifteen year old Anna, and another girl, who was probably seven or eight, whose name I didn’t get. Both of these young ladies loved to write, and stopped by to ask me questions about writing and publishing. I absolutely LOVE hearing about young people who like to write. I told them both about NaNoWriMo, and gave them my card with my email address, and told them if they had any questions, they could email me any time.

Do you remember me telling you about my first book signing at Canterbury Tales Forever? There was another author there, Sam Knight, who wrote the children’s book, Monty a Christmas Story. I loved the book so much, I got autographed copies and gave them as gifts to my little cousin and my great niece for Christmas. Well anyway, Sam stopped by the bookstore yesterday morning to pick up his check – he had a signing last weekend. It was nice to see him again, and guess what? This time, he wanted a signed copy of my book. He was my first sale for the day.

Oh, since I’m posting photos, I should probably explain something. I have psoriasis, have had it since I was sixteen years old. It’s a nuisance, it itches, it’s not overly attractive, but I have not let it bother me. I have tried various treatments in the past. They work for a while, then they stop working. The side effects of the new psoriasis medications are far scarier than having the psoriasis, so I am not willing to take a chance on them.

Several months ago, the psoriasis spread to my scalp. It’s not noticeable, it’s completely covered by my hair, but if I tried to color my hair, it would burn unbelievably, for several days. I have been grey since I was seventeen, and have been coloring my hair ever since. It’s a genetic thing. My grandfather was grey very early, and each of my children has grey hair. Dani, my youngest, was actually born with it. I noticed it on the other two by the time they were three.

After thirty plus years of coloring my hair, and now that it was a painful experience, I was DONE. I decided to just let it go grey, but then I had a speaking engagement in March. My hair was half grey and half still colored. I looked like Bozo. I went and got the color cut off. My normal hairdresser, Cheryl, was not available, so I went to one of those discount places. Let’s just say, with some mousse and gel, I was able to disguise the cut enough where it didn’t look too terrible at the speaking engagement.

A few weeks later, I went to Cheryl, and in order to fix what the other place did, she had to cut my hair – short. Okay, fine, no big deal. It was cute, easy, and I thought made my face look thinner, which is always a good thing. The short hair doesn’t thrill my hubby, but he doesn’t have to take care of my long hair, so for once, I am ignoring his preferences.

Well, with short hair, you need to frequent the hairdresser more often, and I had to go back two weeks ago. That’s when Cheryl told me she was moving to California, never to be seen again. I was crushed. I have known Cheryl for almost thirty years. She’s more than just a hairdresser, she has become a friend. My kids adore her.

To give you an example of how close we’ve gotten, PJ had an appointment with her. He called her up to say he was not going to make it, because he was just in an accident on the way to her shop. Cheryl quickly finished up the person she was working on (she was just about finished), shooed him out of the store, closed her shop, and ran – not drove, actually ran – from her shop to where PJ was up the road. Yeah, she’s that kind of lady.

Long way around, but here’s my point. The last time I was there, two weeks ago, she said since it may be my last haircut, she was going to give me my money’s worth. So now I am sporting a REALLY short grey hairdo, and I didn’t want you to say who is that in the picture? I haven’t found a photo yet which I like enough to change my profile picture. As soon as I do, I will update it.

Got to go. I hope you have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

(S)He looked so innocent…

Tommy had blond curly hair, big blue eyes, and the face of a cherub. He looked so sweet and innocent. Who would have thought, the moment his mother left, he would turn into the demon child from Hell?

I don’t care that he is only three, he knows exactly what he is doing. It’s the glint in his eyes and the half grin – half smirk which give him away. When I saw that expression, I should have known. I should have been more vigilant.

Tommy and my son Joey, were playing at the Lego table when the phone rang. I told them I would be right back. Joey said, “OK Mommy” and kept right on playing. Tommy on the other hand looked up at me with that demonic expression. The phone conversation lasted less than two minutes. It was the dentist’s office confirming my appointment for Thursday afternoon.

I walked back into the family room where the boys were quietly playing, and I looked at the couch. Each cushion had a diagonal slash through it, there was stuffing protruding from the tears, and there was a pair of scissors stabbed into the armrest.

***

Not enough time to expand on this, but it would have been a fun short story.

Your Next Challenge is:

Use the following: Sitting on the floor, A Knife, Newspaper

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.

December 12th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina – 

Baby it’s cold outside! It’s only 20 at the moment, even with the sun up, but I’m not going to complain, because it’s 7 at my daughter’s college, and one of my readers posted it was -16 by her. Just think, it’s only 98 days until spring! J

I’m so proud of myself. I only have one Christmas present left to purchase, and I will be doing that before my writing group on Tuesday because the store is right around the corner from the Princeton Public Library. Now the trick is going to be finding the few gifts I “put somewhere safe”.

 

All I’m missing is a jar of preserves I picked up for my mom while I was in VT – we call her Grannie, and the label was from Grannie’s kitchen or something like that, so I got it; and the two signed Monty books I got for my great niece and my cousin’s daughter – those I’m most worried about, because that was their main gift. UGH! I hate when I do that, and the sad thing is, I do it every year. I’m pretty sure that would fall under the “definition of insanity”.

 

I have about an hour’s worth of cleaning to do today, no sweat, and I still have to get the door prizes done, but that can wait until Saturday if necessary. The one thing I did forget about, which absolutely has to be done today or they won’t set in time, is the Venetian layered cookies. These will be my contribution to the cookie exchange, because they are a favorite.

 

I still have no clue how many are coming. I sent the evite through Facebook, and I don’t think a bunch of people I invited got the message. I know when I went back over the list, there were six people I had sent invites to, but their names were not highlighted and I had to resend the invitation. A couple of people I talked to said they never saw it, and sure enough, their names weren’t highlighted either, so I had to resent those as well. I’m convinced FB hates me.

 

Update on my quest to hit the 500 mark by Christmas – I only need 56 more. It has been a whirlwind 36 hours, because just like I do on Twitter, I try to do on Facebook – if you “like” or “follow me, I reciprocate. Speaking of Twitter, is there anyone out there who can give me Twitter 101? I am completely baffled. I went through about three weeks where I was getting several new followers every day – don’t know what I did to trigger that, but I wasn’t going to complain – and now I haven’t had a new follower in a week. Okay, not true, I have, but my number of followers hasn’t gone up so I guess a couple unfollowed me. Probably because I’m Twitter illiterate and inadvertently snubbed them somehow.

Okie-dokie, I had better get this show on the road. I hope you have a fabulous day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

 

Battling the storm with French toast…

 

Oh no, there’s a storm coming! Let’s all run out and buy up all the milk, eggs and bread they have at the store. Seriously folks? Really? Your idea for weathering a storm is by making tons of French Toast? How’s that going to help?

Perhaps fifty years ago, when modern conveniences weren’t as readily accessible, this approach would have made much more sense. Then, if a major storm hit, you could have gone without power for a couple of weeks, but now, unless you're getting hit with something the likes of Super Storm Sandy, chances are pretty good, you’ll be up and running again in a day or two.

Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t buy milk, eggs and bread before a storm if you happen to be out or running low, but is there really a need to purchase multiples? If, by some freak accident, you are out of power for over two weeks, the milk would be spoiled and the bread would be stale anyway.

Wouldn’t it make much more sense to stock up on non-perishables and things like bottled water, candles and matches? I’m just saying…

 Your Next Challenge is:

My life is a (Sit-com, Drama, Soap Opera, Broadway Play, Reality TV Show, Musical, whichever) and why.

 

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.

September 22nd

Hi, it’s Christina – 

Happy Autumnal Equinox! Today is the day when the sun is directly over the equator and where sunrise and sunset are exactly 12 hours apart… supposedly. Since the sky was already getting light at 6:04 this morning, and I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be dark by 6:04 tonight, I went and looked up what time sunset was going to be tonight. Sure enough, it is coming at 6:55 this evening. Hmmm, how can that be? All my life I was told there were two days a year when this happened, on the spring and fall equinoxes. So I went digging some more.

I don’t know about you, but I always thought sunrise began when the sky started to lighten and sunset was when the last rays of light were gone. I was wrong. If you only mark the time when the actual sun breaks above the horizon line, and when the sun sets below the horizon line, then it will be pretty close to being exactly 12 hours. Because our atmosphere (and I’m sure the mix of pollutants in the air also help) reflects the sun’s light, we can see light well before the sun gets here and well after it leaves. I never knew…

OK, science lesson is over for this morning. Yesterday went well, even though I didn’t sign a single book. I was there with three other authors (which was a surprise, but not a bad thing), Sam, Dave & Lenny. Lenny had an action adventure novel, Dave had a youth sci-fi, and Sam had a Children’s Christmas story, so none of us were in any kind of competition with each other for sales, because we appealed to different audiences.

But if it was a competition, Sam blew the rest of us out of the water. A) He had a Christmas book, and folks were starting their Christmas shopping; and B) the book was absolutely beautiful. So beautiful, I got autographed copies for my cousin’s daughter and my great niece for Christmas. If you have someone I’d say eight or under, they would love this story. I will tell you how to find it on Amazon in a second, but it is so you can read a little about the story and see the amazing pictures – NOT TO BUY IT. I don’t think it’s really on sale at Amazon. I know I did not pay anywhere near the price Amazon has the book listed for!! I will be in contact with Sam in the next few days, and I will find out how you can purchase his book. In the meantime, please check it out. For my Facebook followers, go on to Amazon.com, books, and type “Monty by Samuel Knight” in the search and it comes right up. For those following on my blog, here’s the link.

http://www.amazon.com/Monty-Christmas-Story-Samuel-Knight/dp/1449042570/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1379846530&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=Monty+by+Samuel+Knight

 

 

Well, the sun has officially risen and I need to start getting ready to head back out to Peddler’s village. Hopefully today I’ll have more luck. For the record, several folks were very excited my books were available on Kindle and they took my card so they could order – whether they do or not, I’ll never really know for sure.

I hope you have a wonderful day and happy writing!