March 9th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Greetings Earthlings. (Dang, where’s that from? It just popped into my head, so I used it.) Did you remember to move your clocks ahead or are you rushing around like a crazy person because you just realized you’re an hour behind schedule? I fixed my bedroom clock, so the time was right there, but I haven’t gotten around to fixing all of the others in the house yet.

I’m supposed to be picking up my mom in an hour and a half, she’s coming with me to bring Lys back to school, but I don’t think I’ll make it in time. Lys is still asleep, I haven’t packed yet, and I still need to shower. Guess I should give her a call.

I got a little sidetracked this morning. Several months ago I helped a friend with a children’s book she was writing, and she sent over the first look. Although it’s about 90% finished, there were still a few things which needed to be tweaked, so I sent over my suggestions; mostly just a few missing commas and some placement issues. I can’t seem to turn off my editor button. The book is about bullying, and Cherrye did a wonderful job. I am so excited for her! When the book is released, I’ll let all of you know about it.

Since I will be traveling today and tomorrow, I cannot guarantee there will be a writing challenge tomorrow. We are spending the night at a hotel in Vermont, so depending on if I wake up before my mom, will determine if I have time for a blog post or not. We won’t be in any big rush to get home tomorrow, and we don’t need to check out of the hotel until noon, but there’s one stop I want to make on our ride home.

My mom’s an amazing quilter, and every time I go back and forth to Lys’ college I pass by a quilt shop up there, and I want to stop in so my mom can have a look around. Maybe she’ll find some new or different material she can use. Shopping with my mom is an adventure, and I can guarantee this little pit stop will take at least an hour, but I think she’ll enjoy it. I’m not planning on saying anything before hand, just pulling into the parking lot. (Yeah, I know she just started following my blog, but I doubt she’ll be online this morning, so the “secret” should be safe.)

Okay, I guess I should get a move on or we won’t be leaving until noon. I hope y’all have an amazing day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

Write a story containing the following three words: Cactus, Coyote & Porcupine

When I decided to write a series of books, one taking place in every state, I was being a little selfish. I had always wanted to visit each state, so, because I was writing, I could justify traveling to all the states I had never visited previously. You can’t truly write about something you’ve never experienced, right?

It was on one of these “research” trips, when I had a very unusual experience. I had rented a little bungalow in Arizona, several weeks submersed in my surroundings to get to know the area, the people and the cultures. I walked everywhere, took in the sights, chatted with anyone and everyone, and listened to stories and legends. I even managed to get quite a number of ideas down on paper for my next novel; something that usually doesn’t happen until I’m back home in my writing cave.

It was during one of those times while I was typing away at my computer one evening when I heard a scratching and whimpering coming from the bungalow’s back door. I flipped on the light, and there was this puppy looking at me through the glass sliding door. He looked so sad, and he was obviously injured. I opened the door slowly, not wanting to scare him away. Much to my surprise, he let me come right up to him.

The poor thing. He had all these needles and thorns sticking out of his leg. You could tell he was in a lot of pain. Carefully, I scooped him up, laid him in the car and drove a few miles to the animal hospital. As luck would have it, the local vet, Claire, was one of the folks I had chatted with, and we had hit it off.

Out of time, and I never even got to one of the words in the challenge. I was planning on telling Claire it looked like the puppy had somehow gotten stabbed with some cactus needles and needed help. Then Claire was going to tell me they weren’t cactus needles, they were porcupine quills, and my puppy wasn’t a dog, it was a coyote. Oh well, better luck next time.

Your Next Challenge is:

That was the weirdest dream ever!

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.

March 8th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Sorry there was no blog yesterday. I got involved in my editing project and then, for the first time in forever, a scene from one of my own stories popped into my brain and I needed to get it down on paper. After, I took Lys to Kohl’s so she could spend her birthday money, made it home by five to straightened up the house because Dani had a bunch of friends sleeping over, got Dani over to Applebee’s to meet her friends, then rushed back home to get ready for a wake.

It’s sad to realize my friends and I are getting to the age where we are starting to bury our parents. I think I will be in the clear for a while because my folks were only twenty when they had me, so they are still young. Many of our friends though aren’t so luck; their folks are in their seventies and eighties. Now I don’t see my parents every day, my mom once or twice a week, and my dad once or twice a year (which will diminish to once every few years because he’s moving to Florida in a few weeks), but I couldn’t imagine what it would be like not being able to pick up the phone to call them whenever I wanted.

At one point last night, as the crowd was thinning, Mrs. L broke away and went over to her husband’s casket. I could see her, but I wasn’t close enough to hear her, which is probably a good thing or I would have completely lost it. She spoke quietly to Mr. L, stroked his hair, gave him a kiss on the forehead, and spoke some more. I turned away and tried to compose myself. As much as I cannot imagine my parents no longer being around, the thought of my husband not being there scares me to death. Yeah, I’m not going there.

Although I will not be attending the funeral today, my thoughts are with you Mrs. L, Lisa, Terri, Michael, David & Patti. Your husband/dad was a special man and I know he will be sorely missed.

I refuse to end on a sad note, so I shall ramble on just a little longer. After I finish this, I need to run to the store real quick because Lys used up all the eggs last night baking brownies, and I have over half a dozen sleeping teenagers strewn across my living room at the moment who will be waking up hungry and without eggs, I can’t make a dang thing for breakfast. Just what I wanted, a grocery store run at seven in the morning. UGH. I should be a witch and wake Lys up and make her go…but I won’t.

After I get all these kids fed and out of my house, I need to load up my van and do a run to our local scrap metal yard. With my husband’s job, he goes through A LOT of those big chunky square batteries. He has to replace them for clients all the time, and when he does, he takes the old ones and throws them in the back of his work truck. When the bumper of his truck scrapes the driveway when he comes home, we know it’s time to empty out the back of his truck. We usually end up with a few hundred pounds worth of batteries three or four times a year, which translates into around a hundred dollars from the scrap metal yard. Hey, a hundred bucks is a hundred bucks, right?

Okay, I guess I should get going. I hope y’all have a wonderful day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

Create a holiday (you can thank Lys for this one)

I thought long and hard over this challenge, because coming up with a new national holiday is a pretty big thing. First, when would this holiday take place? Since August is the only month where we do not have a major holiday, the choice was easy. Then came the timing in the month, should it be a set day or a floating day like Memorial Day or Labor Day? I think everyone enjoys having a three day weekend, so the holiday should fall on the first Friday in August, a break half way between the Fourth of July and Labor Day.

Now the hard part, what kind of holiday? I propose Samaritan’s Day, a day when you are required to be nice to your fellow man. An entire day when no one is allowed to bring any harm, and only good will abounds. This shouldn’t be difficult for a majority of the world to abide, for I truly feel, as a whole we are innately good. However, I know there are exceptions, and for those who fail to abide, there should be a stiff penalty, like a hefty fine and a minimum mandatory one year incarceration. Because, come on, how hard can it be to be nice for just one day?

Your Next Challenge is:

Write a story containing the following three words: Cactus, Coyote & Porcupine

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.