April 15th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

We’re having a slightly soggy Tuesday here in central NJ, but at least it’s warm. Then again, what better weather to have on tax day? That’s right folks, it’s the dreaded April 15^th. To all my non-US friends - April 15^th is the deadline to file your state and federal income tax returns, a day all Americans hate.

Today is the last day for the raffle that’s running on my blog, so I spent precious time trying to locate where I put the ad, so I could post a reminder in all the zillion social media places I seem to belong. I have to be at work early today, and then I have my critique group tonight, so for the first time since NaNoWriMo started, I’m concerned I won’t make my word count for the day.

Although yesterday was productive, I only finished one chapter, and I was hoping to finish two. Where I left off, things were heating up between Kieren and Logan, and Sebastian, the cat, was MIA; but you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about because I have been so bad at posting chapters this time around. I owe you several at this point, and I will remedy that situation tomorrow. (I don’t want to have three blog posts in one day.)

I know you have no way of knowing this, but I just had a momentary detour from this blog post. I needed to take a break to bring Dani out to the bus. I realize she’s fifteen years old, and it’s not like I walk her to the bus stop and wait with her, but I do go outside. We usually wait at the top of our driveway, then when we see the bus round our corner, she gives me a kiss goodbye, and walks to the end of the driveway to get on the bus.

Well, this morning, I noticed a can on the lawn, so I handed it to her and asked if she would toss it into the recycle bin at the end of the drive. Today is recycle pick up day. Then, because my stomach has been a little funky for the past two days, I had to run in to use the bathroom, so I left her outside alone. No big deal right? She’s fifteen. What could happen?

I’ll tell you what could happen. While she was waiting, a van pulled in front of our driveway, and stayed there until they saw my daughter pull out her phone and start to back away. Then they sped off. It was me she was calling, and I ran outside, but the van was gone by the time I got out there. I only got about five seconds of explanation before her bus pulled up, and she left for school.

I hemmed and hawed, then decided that since she was so rattled by what had happened, I called our local police. I told the dispatcher I didn’t have many details, but I wanted them to be aware of what had happened. She said she was sending an officer over. Oh joy. There I am, in my nightgown and robe, hair sticking up on end, and she was sending someone over to my house. I asked her to give me ten minutes. I hopped into the shower and got dressed.

As soon as I walked out of my bedroom, my doorbell rang, and of course, Colby started barking his head off. I cracked the front door and told the officer I’d meet him outside. The last thing that poor man needed was to be covered in Colby fur for the whole day, because Colby would have jumped all over him, and kissed him, and would have wanted him to play. Crazy mutt!

On a side note, not for nothing, but we have the nicest, and best looking, police force anywhere. All of our men and woman are exceptionally good looking, and any time I’ve had to deal with any of them, they were so incredibly sweet.

Anyway, back to my story. I go outside to speak to the officer, tell him the minute amount of information I know, then he says he needs to speak to Dani. Sure, not a problem. I run in and get my phone, call her, and tell her he needs to speak to her. She wigs out. She doesn’t want to talk to him. She has told me everything she knows. The officer must have heard the tone of her voice, because he said she didn’t have to talk to him directly, and that I could ask the questions.

The van was a purplish blue. It was smaller than our van. It was older than our van. It had a snubbed front end. The windows were blacked out, even the front ones (which is illegal in our state). There was a roof rack. The license plate was white, but she didn’t get a number. There was movement in the front seat, so she was able to determine there were at least two people in the van.

Guess she didn’t quite tell me everything, huh? I was glad, after she calmed down, she was able to give quite a few details. Even though it still wasn’t a heck of a lot to go on, it was better than just “a van”. The officer said he would tell the other patrol cars, just in case the same van stops at any other bus stop, but he was pretty confident we had nothing to worry about.

Dani is not a little kid, and could, at a distance, be mistaken for an adult. There is construction and a detour at the end of our street. The person could have been stopping to ask for direction, then pulled away when they realized they had scared Dani.

I’d like to think it was innocent enough, but honestly, Dani doesn’t spook too easily, and something put her guard up. That, and the illegal blacked out windows doesn’t sit well with me either. Needless to say, I will be diligently watching my daughter, every morning, until she steps onto her bus.

Okay, if I have any hope of getting any work done on Faerie Tale Queen today, I had best get going. I hope y’all have a fabulous (and safe) day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

Does this taste funny to you?

I’m going to preface this one by saying it is completely fiction. There isn’t an ounce of truth to it. It never happened, and if you know me, the chances of it ever happening are slim and none, and slim just left the building. Okay, here goes…

So, the other night, I went out with my girlfriends for a few drinks. Tammy had just landed her dream job, and we all got together to celebrate her good fortune. Now, I’m not much of a drinker. If it tastes like alcohol, I’m not drinking it. I have however, found a drink I enjoy. It’s a sea breeze, or bay breeze, or madras; I can never remember the right name, but it’s the one with pineapple, orange juice and cranberry juice.

We finish our first round of drinks amongst a lot of talking and laughing and carrying on, and then Tammy buys the six of us another round. I take my first sip of my second drink, and it tastes strange, but I figure it must be from the handful of bar snacks I had just chomped down. I take another sip. Nope, there’s something not quite right. I turn to Lisa, who’s sitting next to me, and ask her, “Does this taste funny to you?” She takes my drink and smells it, then asks if it has pineapple juice in it. When I tell her yes, she tells me she’s allergic to pineapple. So, I tell her not to worry about it. I take one last sip, then push the drink to the side. No sense in drinking it, if it doesn’t taste good.

After a few minutes, things started getting a little bizarre. The music and noise in the bar started to get really loud, and then muffled. The girls at my table became cartoonish, their mouths gaped as they laughed and their teeth became freakishly large. The last thing I remember is Tammy’s face melting off and a skeleton speaking to me, asking if I was alright.

The next thing I knew, it was the next day, and I was waking up in my own bed. I don’t remember anything else from that night, or how I got home. Oh, and did I mention the new Tweetie Bird tattoo on my butt?

Your Next Challenge is:

Write a story about a day in the park – but here’s the twist, you can only use dialogue…

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 25th

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good morning everyone. Yesterday was day two of not moving from my chair, and doing nothing but editing. I’m so close to being finished with the first one, but at 9:30 last night, I just couldn’t do any more. Other than bathroom breaks and food breaks, I worked for eleven hours straight.

Today, immediately after I finish this blog, I’m going to make Dani’s lunch, and then I’m going to start cleaning up the house. I only have until one, because I have to hop in the shower, and then clean up the bathroom afterwards. The folks doing the survey are supposed to be here from 2 – 3.

After that, I’m doing a run to the grocery store. Did you notice I only said Dani when I mentioned making lunches? The only reason she’s getting lunch is because a PB&J is a perfectly acceptable lunch for her. She even puts in special requests for it from time to time. Even though my hubby loves peanut butter, has a big spoonful nearly every night as his midnight snack, he wants a sandwich, with meat on it, for lunch. However, since I have not gone to the grocery store yet this week, there are no cold cuts in the house.

He’ll live. He’s a big boy. Heck, he’ll probably enjoy the prospect of a hot lunch as a change of pace, even though he is a bit out of practice. In an effort to save money, I’ve been packing his lunches for almost two years. On those weekdays when I wasn’t home, Dani would get up early and make him his lunch. I do have one concern; I hope his work schedule today puts him somewhere close to a food source.

If I have any energy left after the grocery store, I will finish up the edits, and get started on the next batch. Three more days of not moving from my chair, but I’m still hopeful I will complete at least two of the projects.

Oh, one last thing, don’t forget about the raffle on my blog. There are like ten prizes to give away, and only two entries so far, so your chances of winning are pretty dang good. As I said, lots to do today, so I should get going. I’ll have a new writing challenge for you tomorrow. Until then, I hope you have a wonderful day, and happy writing!

March 17th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Top o’ the morning to ya! Doubt you’d find any self-respecting  Irishman worth his salt who would ever say such a thing, but it’s St. Patty’s Day, so…

I want to start this blog off by wishing my wonderful Mother-In-Law a very happy 29th (hee hee) Birthday! Unlike your stereotypical mothers-in-law, I happen to have a wonderful one, and I wish her much joy and good health on this very special day.

After multiple uploading attempts, much grumbling, and a few choice words not fit for delicate ears, I was able to finalize the hard copy of Corporate Blues. Hopefully by tomorrow morning, I will receive the email saying everything has been loaded into the print system and I am able to get my sample copy. If, when the copy arrives, there are no updates that need to be done, I can place my final order for a case of paperbacks, and they should arrive in plenty of time for PPL Author’s Day. If changes need to be made, then I’ll be sweating it again, because I am quickly running out of time.

Today is going to be spent on initial marketing for Corporate Blues; linking the book on Amazon to my author’s page, setting up a promo through KDP, etc. I was quite surprised, when I logged on to my Amazon account yesterday, to find one copy of Corporate Blues had already been sold. It had only been live for a few hours! So, whoever you were, thank you, and know you have received the very first copy of this new book.

Speaking of marketing, I thought the new give-away raffle I’m running would have caused some buzz, but so far, there haven’t been any entries. Am I doing something wrong? I have never offered one of these before, so I really don’t know. There are a bunch of prizes, and all folks have to do to enter is like my Facebook page, and make a comment on my blog. They don’t even have to take up a challenge, just leave a quick comment. There are a few other things they can do to earn entries, but they are not required.

I don’t get it. I thought I made it easy enough for everyone to enter. Who knows, maybe the only folks who want to read my books already have their copies, so they don’t need to enter a raffle.

If any of you out there have done one of these raffles and can give me a little insight as to what I should expect, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, feel free to tell your friends about the raffle. I’d love to be able to get my books into the hands of folks who have never heard of me.

So, I’m off to do one of my least favorite aspects of being an author. However, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I would like to leave you with an Irish blessing.

May there always be work for your hands to do
May your purse always hold a coin or two; 
May the sun always shine on your windowpane; 
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain; 
May the hand of a friend always be near you; 
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

I hope y’all have a magical day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

Write a story containing the following: A House Plant, A Rug, Glass

Cameron tossed his keys on the table, shrugged out of his overcoat, and hung it on the rack by the front door. He had not bothered with the light. He didn’t need it. He knew where he was headed, straight to bed with no detours. He had been up for nearly forty hours straight, and he was bone tired.

He was making his way to the back of the apartment when unmistakable sound of broken glass beneath his boot made him stop abruptly. He lived alone, he had no pets, so it could only mean one thing. Someone had broken into his apartment. Questions were, when, and are they still here?

He drew his sidearm, and pressed his back against the wall. Slowly he crept along the perimeter of the room, cautiously making his way to the bedroom. As he inched his way, he kicked something with his toe. His eyes, now adjusted to the dimly moonlit room, were able to discern the outline of his one and only sad little house plant lying broken and abused on the rug. He rolled his eyes, anticipating his mother’s ire at him killing another plant.

Your Next Challenge is:

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 16th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

EEK! I wasn’t going to do a blog post again today, because I’ve been hopping and bopping since six this morning, and I still have a ton to do; but then I got an email notification stating my raffle contest has started. YIKES!! I haven’t even told you guys about it yet.

For the next month, I’m running a contest on my blog, and the winners will be chosen by Rafflecopter. Thank God this was easy to set up, because y’all know what a thechno ditz I am. Anyway, part of the contest is to comment on the blog, and it’s kinda hard to leave a comment, if I don’t make a blog post. You also get extra points if you actually answer the challenge. Each point gives you one entry into the drawing. The prizes range from all three copies of my books, signed, and two bookmarks to electronic book of choice by the winner.

Notice I said three books? Well Corporate Blues is now available on Kindle, and hopefully in the next ten days – two weeks, the paperbacks will be available as well.

Okay, I really have a ton to do today, so let’s get right to the challenge. I hope y’all have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

Scratch that, reverse it…

Did you recognize it? Do you know where it’s from? It’s a line from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. One I heard when I was a young child, and still use today whenever I get my words all cuffuggled. You know what I mean, right? The second after something comes out of your mouth and you say to yourself, “Wait a minute, that didn’t make any sense!”

What is truly alarming is the frequency lately I’ve been saying, “Scratch that, reverse it.” Whether it’s age or simply having a million balls up in the air at the same time, I don’t know, but it’s a bit disconcerting to say the least. Perhaps it’s just my body’s way of saying you need a break to recharge your batteries. So, if you hear me say something that doesn’t sound quite right, either ignore me or hand me a chocolate bar.

(A little silly, and rather lame, but my mind wasn’t really on the challenge today. Hopefully you had better luck.)

Your Next Challenge is:

Write a story containing the following: A House Plant, A Rug, Glass

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.