December 8th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina – 

Happy Sunday all!

My husband, my daughter and I went to a Christmas party last night at a friend’s house. Even with Dani was being a typical teenager, bored out of her scull at a pretty much all adult party, we had a good time. I didn’t get much time to chat with the hostess, for obvious reasons, but I did get to catch up with another friend, Dorothy, who I haven’t seen in ages. I met Dorothy and her husband Bruce through cheerleading when both of our daughters were on the traveling competition team.

Since I had a decade of coaching under my belt, I would lead the fans-in-the-stands cheers, and Bruce was usually one of the first ones to get the folks sitting around him going. He even used to bring a conch shell to blow (like they do in Hawaii) because air horns and such were banned from competitions.

Competition season was grueling, but it was because of folks like Dorothy and Bruce, I found myself looking forward to the next season. Dani sustained a cheer ending injury three seasons ago, so she ended up missing her varsity years on the squad, and since she was no longer on the team, there was no reason for us to go to the competitions.

 

Although I don’t miss the travel, the cost and the drama, I do miss many of the parents. We were a pretty close knit group, and to go from seeing them multiple times a week, to not seeing them at all, was a shock to the system. I get it though, cheer sucks up every ounce of free time, so during the season, you have no other life except cheer; and now with practices starting earlier and competitions running longer into the year, the “season” is greatly extended. Anyway, it was nice seeing Dorothy and Bruce, and now I just need to work on getting the rest of “the crew” together.

The potato pancakes were a hit last night. Instead of making regular ones, I made a hundred two-bite ones. I thought they would make more sense at a party. Since they were so well received, I think I’ll make them for my church Christmas party next Saturday as well. They are no longer a trial to make since my mom lent me her food processor which has a grating blade. What used to take me HOURS to hand grate all the potatoes now takes only minutes, so I really don’t mind making them anymore. The frying them up still takes forever, and the house smells like potato pancakes for DAYS, but everyone seems to enjoy them, and since they are not the typical appetizer brought to a party, they are well received.

Today, after church and a quick run to the grocery store, I will be sitting down and writing our annual Christmas letter to be sent out with the Christmas cards. I’ve had the cards for months already. I figured since I had some good pictures of the kids, why not get the cards made early, avoid the holiday rush and maybe even mail them out early. Well two out of three isn’t bad. Here it is, December 8^th, and the cards still haven’t gone out.

I think I’ve procrastinated a little on them because this year’s card is the last time my son’s picture will be on our cards. We send photo cards every year, but at some point, when the kids are grown, they should no longer be a part of your Christmas card, because they send out their own cards. (PJ moved out earlier in the year. He’s twenty-three, and even though I miss seeing him every day, it was time for him to spread his wings.) So, next year’s card will only have the girls. In a few short years, Dani will be the only one on the card; and when she moves out, we’ll be sending plain old boxed Christmas cards, ‘cause no one needs to be seeing my mug on a Christmas card.

Okay, I’ve rambled enough for one day. I hope you have a great day, and happy writing!

 

Your Last Challenge was:

 

Write a story containing: an animal, a magical being, and snow

 

Tabatha spun and spun, arms outstretched, wings fluttering. She caught a snowflake in her hands, tossed it up and watched as the wind swirled it away.  After one final loop, she floated down to her favorite perch, behind Bunny’s ears, and snuggled into his soft warm fur.

“Oh Bunny, I just love the first snow of the season. There’s just something so magical about it.”

“Magical?” Bunny harrumphed, “This coming from a fairy? Snow is nothing more than condensed water vapors in the atmosphere that the cold air freezes and turns into ice. Nothing magical about that.”

“Quit being such a poop.” Tabatha ruffled the fur between his ears. “Look around you. Yesterday this whole area was grey and drab, lifeless, colorless, boring. Now look at it. Everything is white, and when the snow stops falling and the sun peaks through the clouds, it will all shimmer like a zillion diamonds.”

“Well you can keep your diamonds. To me the snow means I’ll be cold and wet, and I do so abhor being cold and wet.”

 “Oh Bunny, when did you get so old and cranky? When did you stop seeing the wonder and magic around you? You weren’t always like this.

  

Ten minutes came way too quick again.

Your Next Challenge is:

Never in a million years did I expect to see her/him …

 

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.

December 7th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina – 

First I want to take a moment to remember all those lives lost over seventy years ago today. Most of you are not old enough to remember Pearl Harbor, but you are, I’m pretty sure, old enough to remember 9-11. Remember the horror you felt when our country came under attack? Well, I’m sure, our country was feeling the same way back in 1941. Over 2,400 people lost their lives that infamous day in Hawaii, and they should be remembered.

So, yesterday was kind of exciting. I realized some of you are not on Facebook, so I will share what I posted there yesterday afternoon:

 

“So I just got off the phone with the publisher from NYC, and I am doing my happy dance. 

He told me he was "proud" to have presented Corporate Blues to his team this morning. He thought it was a published book already, because not only did I send him the fully formatted, ebook ready, manuscript, I sent him the artwork for the cover. He immediately wanted to know who did the cover and if those beautiful blues were mine, and I told him no, they were a friend of mine's daughter's and Riverbench Publishing made the cover. (He raved about the cover, so, Linda Rawlins, there very well may be a phone call in Matt's future as well.) 

I reminded him what I sent was an unedited first draft, and he told me to "Stop it! You should see some of the s**t that comes across my desk." He also said he was having his secretary print out a copy so he could take it home this weekend to read it, and his team would have an answer back to him by the end of next week, because he was "pushing hard for this one".

I know I shouldn't get my hopes up, and I know I shouldn't take a chance in jinxing it by telling you, but he was so excited on the phone, it was contagious. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!”

I also posted this on my personal Facebook page as well. I usually try to keep my personal and my professional identities separate, but I was really excited, so I wanted to share the news in both places. I don’t want to get my hopes up too high because of my last experience with a traditional publisher, but I will admit, it was a big ego boost to have a publisher truly excited about my work.

Now, all I have to do is wait a week to see if his team is just as excited as he was about the book. Piece of cake…NOT. I’m nervous about sending them an unedited version, but that’s what he asked for, so that’s what I sent. I’m also wondering if they will approve of how I ended the story or if they will want more. That is, if they even like what I sent to start with, or if Corporate Blues simply ends up in the circular file.

If it does, I’ll simply polish it myself and release it through CreateSpace as I did the others. I don’t need a mainstream publisher to pick me up, but it would sure be nice. If I did, that would mean someone else was dealing with the business end and I could concentrate on writing instead of having to split my time. Which at the moment is roughly 65% marketing and 35% writing, and that does not sit well with me.

I still have to finish Faerie Tale Queen and Simply by Chance, and I have two more stories rattling around in my brain that are getting impatient and want to be told. Plus, I think a publishing contract would validate my career choice in my husband’s eyes and I’d get a little more support on the home front. But again, I’m putting the horse before the cart. There are no guarantees, and until there are, I just have to sit patiently and wait.

I think I will take a break from writing today and start decorating my house for Christmas, because other than the tree being up, I really haven’t done anything yet. I also have to make a batch of potato pancakes (requested by the hostess) to bring to our first holiday party of the season.

So, I am off to start all of that. I hope you have a fabulous day, and happy writing!

 

Your Last Challenge was:

 

With Nelson Mandela’s passing yesterday, it made me think, what is it that makes someone great, makes someone stand out over the rest? Write about who you think should be remembered as “great” and why.

 

I honestly cannot think of one person to single out, because of what I consider “great”, can be achieved by anyone who truly wants it. You do not need to be Nelson Mandela or Mother Teresa, to be great. You do not need to have won the Nobel Prize or have found a cure for some horrible disease to be great. You do not need to be featured on the cover of Time to be great.

In my eyes, greatness is a gift within each and every one of us, for I believe if you have the ability to change just one person’s life for the better, then you are a great person. Let’s face it, the Nelson Mandela’s of the world are few and far between. Not many of us are called to fight for justice the way he was, and our small acts of kindness will probably never get worldwide acclaim, but notoriety shouldn’t be a driving factor anyway.

If you start by just trying to make the immediate circle around you a better place, then before you know it, the circle will grow. You do not need to be rich or powerful to make someone else’s life better, something as simple as a friendly smile or a kind word could mean the world to someone.

 

The ten minutes are up, but I think you can figure out where I was going with this.

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

Write a story containing: an animal, a magical being, and snow

 

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.

November 30th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina – 

I DID IT!! Just before 10:30 yesterday morning, I hit the 50K mark for NaNoWriMo!! YEAH!!! The official number is 50,864. Yeah, I know I was over 68K last time, but last time I wasn’t driving back and forth to Vermont or having two major parties at my house two days apart. I’m happy I reached goal, and I rewarded myself with a piece of pumpkin pie and a long nap.

 

I had planned on pre-making the potato pancakes yesterday and then just throwing them in the oven to heat up today, but I just couldn’t force myself to cook two days in a row. The nap helped, but I was still exhausted from Thursday. So now, after I finish the blog, I will start making them – all ten pounds - and hopefully, by four o’clock, when people start showing up, the house won’t still smell like cooking oil. I doubt it though. I made a small batch last week for just the three of us and I could still smell the oil two days later.

I will also be making thirty individual pot pies, the ones you do in the muffin tin with a refrigerated biscuit for the crust. Plus I have cheese and crackers, chips and dip, and pie. Others who are coming are bringing, appetizers, desserts, and one person is bringing a third main dish. I think we’ll have enough food.

One of the fun things about my tree decorating parties is, I really never who is going to show up. Word just gets out there and friends start walking into my house, picking up and ornament or two, sticking them on the tree, then they start chowing down. Everyone brings some food with them to share, so there’s always enough, except for my potato pancakes. I swear I could make twenty ponds of them, and every single one would go, but I draw the line at ten pounds.

Okay, off to peel potatoes. I’m pretty sure I’d rather be “off to Ireland” like I have been for the past twenty-nine days. Oh, don’t forget, you’ll be getting your last installment, chapter 16, of Faerie Tale Queen later today on my Facebook page. So, until tomorrow, I hope you have a great day, and Happy Writing!

 

Your Last Challenge was:

Tell a little something about you and the holidays – what makes them special for you, a tradition you’re pretty sure is only done by your family, you’re little holiday secret, whatever you’d like to share.

 

I am going to let you in on a little secret – I am a total Christmas sap. The very second radio stations start playing Christmas songs, even before Thanksgiving, I have them tuned in, but I make sure to flip the station before anyone else gets in the car. Ooo and if I can sneak in a Christmas show on Lifetime when no one’s looking, woohoo!

I get excited when I see the first Christmas lights go on in our town, and I even drive home different ways, just so I can see more lights and decorations. Although everyone rolls their eyes over the silent decoration war between my one neighbor and another neighbor a few houses up the street, I anxiously await to see what’s new every year in their displays. Pretty soon both families are not going to be able to add anything new unless they swap out with an old, because they are seriously running out of lawn space.

The holiday also turns me into a bit of a water fountain. I can’t hear Christmas Shoes on the radio without crying. I get a touching card in the mail, I cry. Heaven knows most of the Christmas movies make me cry at some point, and I will admit, there are a few commercials that get me going as well. This year’s zinger was the Budweiser commercial where the snowmen offered their carrot noses to the team as a thank you for saving the mail truck and delivering the presents. Want to hear the really sad part? I only caught a glimpse of the commercial on Thanksgiving. My husband simply told me what had happened and I got choked up.

 

See, I told you, total Christmas sap. Today I was glad for the time limit because, believe it or not, there’s more, but I ran out of time…

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

You hear your mom’s (or your dad’s) words come out of your mouth for the first time.

 

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.

November 24th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina – 

Good Morning! So we made it home with only encountering a few flurries along the way. I actually saw more snow last night driving my youngest daughter to a birthday party then I did driving home from Vermont. I am glad we left when we did though. One of my daughter’s housemates sent her a snap chat of their dorm with a pretty good covering of snow, and another one of him with a pretty good covering of snow.

Sadly, I have come to the realization today I probably will not hit my goal for NaNoWriMo this time. I have only six days left and twelve thousand words to go, and I have no idea how I will be able to do them and prepare for Thanksgiving all at the same time. This does not mean I am giving up. Whatever spare minutes I can sneak, I will spend writing. When the girls are out shopping on Friday, I plan on chaining myself to the chair and writing. Unfortunately on Friday my husband is home as well, so I’m really not sure if I’ll be able to get much work done then either because I’m sure he’ll be pestering me to clean up for the party we’re having on Saturday.

We are having our annual tree trimming party on Saturday. Every year we shoot for the first Saturday of Chanukah to put up our tree, unless Chanukah happens to fall really late. It’s a tradition that started in our family quite by accident well over a decade ago. One of my dearest friends happens to be Jewish, but she loves decorating Christmas trees, so I invited her over for dinner and to decorate our tree. It was a Saturday and it was the second or third night of Chanukah, so since my girlfriend’s family wasn’t around, I thought I would surprise her by making potato pancakes for dinner. She was thrilled. We had a blast and made some good memories.

The following year, purely by chance and not design, the same thing happened. We were putting up our tree during Chanukah, my friend came over again, and I made potato pancakes because it was Chanukah. Now, I believe this is our seventeenth year, the tree trimming party has grown to include friends of various religions and family. I still make potato pancakes, although now it’s ten pounds of potatoes instead of five. We have a blast, and we make more good memories. Oh yeah, and my tree gets decorated.  

Maybe I’ll start setting my alarm for 4:00am for the next three days as well, instead of getting up at 5:00 am. This will give me an extra hour to write, an hour which my husband can’t complain I’m not cleaning. Sorry, for swinging back to this, but I’m still trying to figure out a way to get to my goal. If I say I’m going to do something, then dang it, I will do everything in my power to do it. I can’t stand falling short of a goal.

Don’t get me wrong, Faerie Tale Queen will get finished. I never had any delusion of actually completing the book in a month, because it will take far more than 50K words to finish the story. The question is, whether or not I will be able to hit the 50K goal by November 30^th.

Well, I have forty-five minutes before I need to start getting ready for church, so I had better use every second efficiently and get writing. I hope you have a wonderful day and happy writing!

 

Your Last Challenge was:

 

“See, I told you I wasn’t lying.” Camie whispered. “It’s right there, just like I said.”

Joey peaked around the bush, “Whoa.  Do you think anyone lives there?”

“I don’t know.” Camie repositioned herself to get a better look. “Do you want to go and find out?”

“What do you want to do? Just go up and knock on the door?”

“I don’t know. Maybe?”

“Are you crazy? What if an axe murderer or something lives in there?”

Camie rolled her eyes, “Like an axe murderer would be living there. Now who’s crazy?”

“Well I’m not going anywhere near the place, and neither should you.” Joey insisted. “Come on we should go.” Camie’s eyes widened and she began to rise, but Joey pulled her back down behind the bush, “What are you doing?”

“Look the door is opening and there’s an old woman coming out.” Camie whispered again.

“Who’s there? Timmy, is that you? Timmy, have you come home? Timmy?” The woman called.

“Oh Joey, she sounds so sad.”

Joey moved a branch so he could get a clearer view of the house. “What are you talking about? I don’t see anyone.”

“She’s right there,” Camie pointed, “and she’s calling for someone named Timmy.”

Camie rose, rounded the bush and walked into the clearing. The woman turned and smiled at her. As Camie began walking toward the woman, Joey grabbed her arm and spun her around. “What are you doing?” He hissed.

“I just want to go and talk to her.”

“Dammit Camie, there’s no one there. Let’s go.”

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

This year you are able to go home for Thanksgiving for the first time in many years. When you get there, things feel just a little off…

 

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.