December 20th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! So the cookie exchange last night was a total bust. For the few folks who came, we divvied up the cookies, handed out the recipe cards, I sent them home with the grab bag gift they showed up with, and we never even bothered with the game. We just sat around the kitchen table for an hour and chatted.

They did get to sample the cookies, and I made a batch of homemade Irish cream. It was a bit of a heavy pour, so I’ll have to cut it when I make the next batch and combine the two. If anyone is interested in learning how to make your own homemade Irish cream, send me a message and I’ll send you the recipe.

Yesterday was a banner day. I hit my goal of 500 “likes” on my Facebook author’s page. Wooo Hooo! Then I surprised the 500^th person with a copy of A Second Chance. One of the other fans of my page made a real push with her friends to try to get me to my goal, and I sent her a book as well. I had every intention of doing this from the start, but I didn’t want to say anything just in case I couldn’t figure out who was number 500.

December 22^nd through the 24^th I am offering the Kindle version of Taking Chances for FREE. So if you need a last minute stocking stuffer, here’s your chance…you can’t beat the price…. Just go on Amazon.com to download.

 

Now that I have hit my goal on Facebook – THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH – I need to figure out how to do the same on Tumblr. I currently have 2 followers on Tumblr. So if you have a Tumblr account, please look me up.

Twitter, on the other hand, is a whole different beast. ¾ of the folks who follow me on Twitter do not follow me on Facebook, which is confusing to me. But then again, for some reason Twitter confuses me in general. I still haven’t figured out how to properly use a hash-tag. I wish one of you would give me Twitter 101. #ineedhelp – Was that right??

Today I am locking myself in the basement. I need to find those Monty books I purchased for my great niece and for my cousin’s daughter, and I need to start wrapping. UGH! My LEAST favorite part of this holiday. First I have to drive Dani Rose to school. She has a bunch of gifts for her friends, and there is no way she’d be able to navigate on the bus with them. Why do I have a strange feeling I’ll be getting a text around two asking if I would pick her up from school as well? Hmmmm…

I hope you have a great day and happy writing!

 

Your Last Challenge was:

In the heart of every human is their desire to leave their mark upon this world; a piece of them to be remembered once they are no longer here. What mark have you left or would you like to leave?

This prompt really made me think. Some of you might have thought my answer to this challenge would have been an obvious choice, but after much contemplation, it really wasn’t.

As an author, I could say my legacy is the books I write, but I don’t feel that way. Sure I write stories which give my readers a momentary escape and some enjoyment, but they are not really a measurable “mark” on the world, even though they will still exist long after I am gone.

The true mark I have left are my children and their ability to make the world a better place – by being the COO of a company; by being the one who helps to stop a serial killer; or the one who, with the aid of her canine partner, saves someone. Yes, my real “mark” upon this world was bringing three gifted, talented, amazing children into it.

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

You are sent back to earth as one of the seven deadly sins in human form. You can pick whichever sin you would like, but you must describe yourself without actually saying which sin you are – let us try and figure it out.

 

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 19th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! The blog is going to be short and sweet again today. Getting my Christmas cards out yesterday consumed much more of my time than anticipated. At one point I was about to take my printer and toss it in the dumpster, it was giving me such fits, but I finally got it to print. However, four hours of frustration was not in my budgeted time, so I really have a lot left to do to get ready for tonight’s cookie exchange. Typical me, rushing around like a chicken with her feathers on fire, the day of an event. Some things never change.

Okay, right to the challenges. Wishing you a joyful day and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

English is a funny language

I do not envy folks who need to learn our language. It is difficult even to people who were born speaking it. For every rule, we have an exception, and sometimes words are completely illogical. Here is an example, the simple and innocent looking word “of” There is no “v” in word, yet it is pronounced “ov” or I guess more correctly “uv” – why isn’t it pronounced ahf (to differentiate it from awff)?

Then there’s Arkansas (r – can – saw) and Kansas (can-sas), does this make any sense? If underneath can be a word, why can’t infront be one as well? Why can’t “alot” be a single word as well? Oh, and we cannot forget to, too and two – seriously we need three word, all pronounced exactly the same, which have three different meanings? Why do we pronounce “one” and “won” the same? And what about “tear” – hmm, did I ask about a word which meant you ripped something, or was I asking about a drop of water leaking from your eye? Did someone just get too lazy to give each meaning their own word?

There are also things like bare/bear, dear/deer, brake/break, there/their – awe heck, I could go on all day. Is it a wonder why English is such a pain to learn?

Your Next Challenge is:

In the heart of every human is their desire to leave their mark upon this world; a piece of them to be remembered once they are no longer here. What mark have you left or would you like to leave?

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 18th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Oh lordy, it’s turning into another shiny object day, and I really can’t afford two in a row!

Yesterday’s Merry Christmas greeting debate spawned a backlash of nastiness and name calling – on the part of the other guy. I refused to engage even after being called ignorant (he had the audacity to post a definition of ignorant - straight from the dictionary, phonetic spelling and all).

It’s funny though, just like every other bully, when others jumped in to defend me, all of a sudden, he had no more vicious comments to make…or any comments for that matter. I did however, post a photo which ironically popped up on another, totally unrelated to this conversation, friend’s page this morning. The timing was downright cosmic, so I could not help myself. (Sorry FB readers, because yesterday’s post was a photo challenge and I can only post one photo, that one takes precedence. If you want to see what I’m talking about, you’ll have to visit my blog.)

I will fully admit to being idealistic, but ignorant? Hardly. If someone wishes me a Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa or Blessed Ramadan, I take it as a heartfelt greeting, a sense of grace and inclusion, not as condescension or disdain. Am I wrong here folks? What do you think? I am posting this question to all my non-Christian readers – are you offended if I wish you a Merry Christmas or do you take it in the spirit it was intended?

I cannot speak for all Christians, but for me, this time of year is a time for love, compassion and acceptance for ALL my fellow man, not just those who happen to share my religious viewpoints. I do not think anything less of folks who do not believe what I believe, nor would I ever consider “converting” them over to my beliefs.

Your spirituality is for you alone, something no one else has a right to judge. Again, being the idealistic soul that I am, I strongly feel if more people would just treat folks with respect, no matter what their religious beliefs, social status, skin tone, sexual orientation, whatever, this would be a more harmonious place to live.

When it comes down to it, I guess I do have one belief I would love to be able to enforce on the world. Treat people the way you would like to be treated. It’s a simple concept which should have no issue spanning all of humanity, because it is the one thing we can do within ourselves to make the world a better place.

Enough preaching for one day; I’m off to do the million and three things still left on my list. I hope you have a blessed day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

“NASA, we are experiencing a light anomaly along the eastern seaboard. Please stand by.”

“Standing by Discovery.”

“Three minutes to visual contact.”

“Received.”

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

“Discovery?”

“Christmas lights.”

“Please repeat Discovery. Did you say Christmas lights?”

“Affirmative NASA. Christmas lights.”

“You noted the anomaly while over Europe, Discovery. Are you sure you have identified the source correctly?”

Commander McGarrett chuckled as he flipped the switch for command central to be able to view the video feed, “See for yourselves. Sure looks like Christmas lights to me.”

Your Next Challenge is:

 

English is a funny language

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 17th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina – 

What a surprise…it’s snowing…again. Maybe the old wife’s tale I told you on November 12^th won’t be so far off. We’ve had snow, in some form, twelve times already, measurable snow four times, and it’s not even winter yet!! I want to move to Florida, or Texas, or heck, anywhere south of the Mason Dixon Line!

Uht Oh… today is turning into a shiny object day, and that is not a good thing. I had to take a break from the blog because Dani turned on the TV while she was eating breakfast and I can’t write with the TV on, so I put down the computer and made lunches. Then I warmed up the car so she wasn’t waiting for the bus in the snow. When I came back in, I started searching for a photo for today’s challenge and got distracted by a video, which led to another video; and then a discussion over the merits of wishing someone a Merry Christmas as opposed to saying Happy Holidays.

Someone on a friend’s site said it was disrespectful to wish someone a Merry Christmas and he found it offensive because he celebrates “*no* holidays”. Really? I find that very sad. Here was my rebuttal to his comments:

 

“I have to respectfully disagree with you. I have friends from all races and religions and have celebrated many of their holidays with them. The words you chose have very little to do with a particular holiday and everything to do with the spirit behind the message. I will say Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa, Merry Christmas, Blessed Ramadan and even wish blessings during the Solstice. I think it shows respect to the various beliefs to use the appropriate greeting during the appropriate time of the year. 

“OBVIOUSLY I do not celebrate all of the holidays, but if someone who does greets me with one of the above or any other I did not mention, it makes me happy. It make me feel like they care enough about me to spread the joy they are feeling to include me in their belief, and it doesn't matter if I believe otherwise. Even though we all believe in something different, we can accept each other and respect each other.”

I don’t have to agree with him, but if that is the way he feels, I will respect his right to believe the way he does. It will not deter me from wishing everyone a Merry Christmas though – even after his nasty reply to my comment.

Okay, enough of that. It’s getting late and, I’m sure like all of you, I have a million things to do.

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

Your Last Challenge was:

Write a story containing the following three things: A Gingerbread Man, Candy Cane(s), the Police

 

“What have we got here Officer Dingle?” Police Chief Winters asked when he arrived at the scene.

“A standoff Sir.”

“A standoff?”

“Yes Sir. The Gingerbread Man has taken all the candy canes hostage and is refusing to release them until all his demands are met.”

“And what are his demands?”

“That’s the thing Sir, he hasn’t made any yet. He said he wouldn’t make any until the big guy himself was here to hear them.”

“Then this may turn into a sticky situation quickly. I’m not sure if I can get a hold of him, it being the week before Christmas and all.”

“But Sir, you have to. What would Christmas be without candy canes?”

 

Good grief, I didn’t get very far did I. I really didn’t think this prompt was going to be quite that difficult. The idea came quickly, but the words just wouldn’t flow. I’m going to chock it up to being over tired. Oh well, I hope you had an easier time with it.

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.