Hi, it’s Christina –
Happy New Year! Yeah, it’s
been a dog’s age since I’ve written or posted anything. Sorry. It’s been a
little crazy around here since Thanksgiving. I planned on making this post
yesterday, but I got distracted…reading. I can’t remember the last time I was
able to sit down and read and entire book, and yesterday I had so spare time,
so I took advantage. Also, the circumstances of how I acquired the book were a
mystery, so my curiosity got the better of me.
On New Year’s Eve, I booted
up my Kindle to quickly look for something, and there, on my carousel, was a
book. It wasn’t there the night before. I didn’t down load it. Honestly, even
if it was one of the free books offered, it probably wouldn’t have even caught
my eye. I have no idea how it got there. I opened it up to skim the first page,
quite frankly to prove to myself the book was downloaded in error, and it
sucked me in, but I didn’t have time to read right then. I had guests coming
over for New Year’s Eve. So, like a good girl, I shut off the Kindle…reluctantly.
First thing yesterday
morning, after I let the dog out and got a cup of coffee, I began to read. By
two, I was finished with the book. Now, I would LOVE to say I would pick up the
next book in the series and start reading, but I would feel too guilty. I have
an entire book case in my bedroom of books I’m supposed to be reading for other
authors, so I can’t, in good conscious, start the next book in the series; but
believe me, as soon as I can, I will.
Quick summary: Leigh moves
in to help her seven month pregnant cousin Cara, who is showing signs of
pre-term labor, while Cara’s husband is working on a project in Tokoyo. The day
after Leigh arrives, she finds a dead body in the hammock on Cara’s patio. The
body has a note pinned to his chest, “Get
Out Of My House”. It is a mystery, so that’s all I will reveal, you’ll have
to read it for yourself. Now, I will admit, I did figure out who the culprit was
well before the reveal, however, the “why” behind it wasn’t clear until the
very end.
Now, as for some
highlights as to why I haven’t been on line lately. Right after Thanksgiving, I
drove Lys back to school in NC, and while we were there, we stopped by the
police department to officially file a complaint about the harassment, but
because they perpetrator did not cross the line into actual threats, the police
were unable to act. The school’s solution was for my daughter to stick her head
in the sand until the problem went away. After very little deliberation, we
decided this was not a situation she needed to be dealing with, college was
hard enough without all the extra drama. The week before Christmas, I drove
back down to NC and packed Lys up and brought her home. Her old college
welcomed her back with open arms, and full credit transfers, so in eight days
we are headed back to Vermont.
While all this drama was
going on with my oldest daughter, my youngest daughter was extremely sick.
Somehow, she contracted mono – the first case at the school, so we really don’t
know where it came from. She missed nearly the entire month of December (she
was there the 1st & the 2nd). She has never been so
sick in her entire life. After a trip to the hospital, and a heavy duty round
of steroids, we were able to get ahead of the beast; and by Christmas morning,
she was much like her old self. She still gets tired easily, that is to be
expected, but we got our baby back for Christmas – best present ever.
So, since 2014 has come to
a close, I thought it would be appropriate to recap some of the highlights of
the past year – I don’t know about you, but I feel like every time I blink,
another year flies by, and by recapping, at least I can say, oh yeah, I
remember that…
 |
| Russell Johnson |
2014 started with a bang.
On January 1st Colorado legalized recreational marijuana and the
affordable care act was passed. Makes me wonder if lawmakers weren’t in CO when
they came up with and passed that beauty – don’t get me started. January (and
again in April) also heralded a botched execution – sorry, my heart isn’t going
to bleed for a man who raped an infant, and it took 24 minutes for him to die –
again, don’t get me started. The Prez basically admitted the government was
spying on us, and long overdue investigations started on the inadequacies of
the VA. In January we lost, Phil Everly (Everly Brothers), Russell Johnson (The
Professor), and Pete Seeger (folk singer), to name only a few.
 |
| Richard Bull |
Philip Seymour Hoffman
(Capote), Richard Bull (Little House on the Prairie), Shirley Temple (no
explanation needed), Sid Caesar (ditto), John Henson (Jim’s son), Maria von Trapp
(ditto again), David Brenner (Comedian), and several of the “Wind Talkers” from
WWII, and a few from the cast of Gone With the Wind, left us in February and
March.
 |
| J.E. Freeman |
Warm months were tough for
the entertainment world with the passing of: Mickey Rooney, The Ultimate
Warrior (WWE Wrestler), Hal Cooper (Producer), Efrem Zimbalist Jr (Actor,
Producer), Bobby Gregg (Drummer), Maya Angelou (Author), James K. Randall
(Composer), Ann B. Davis (Alice), Marjorie Strapp (Dragnet), Casey Kasem
(American Top 40), Tommy Ramone (The Ramones), James Garner (The Rockford
Files), Michael Johns (American Idol Contestant), J. E. Freeman (Actor – you might
not recognize the name, but you sure will recognize the face – he was everyone’s
bad guy), Robin Williams (my heart still hurts over this one), Lauren Bacall
(Actress), Stephen Lee (Another actor whose name you might not recognize, but
his face you will), Don Pardo (You might not know his face, but you sure know
his voice), Joan Rivers (Comedian), Denny Miller (Tarzan), Richard Kiel (Jaws
from James Bond).
 |
| Stephen Lee |
As the weather cooled,
things slowed down a little. From October through the end of the year we lost:
Michael Goldberg (Screenwriter), Oscar de la Renta (Designer), Jan Hooks
(Actress-Comedian), Marcia Strassman (Actress – you’ll recognize her face too),
Brittany Maynard (Death with Dignity), Ernest Kinoy (Author - Roots), Bobby
Keys (Musician), Ken Weatherwax (Pugsley), Mary Ann Mobley (Actress), Norman
Bridwell (Author – Clifford the Big Red Dog), Christine Cavanaugh (You’d
recognize her voice), Joe Cocker (Musician) and Edward Herrmann (Actor).
 |
| Eileen Ford |
Several “American Royalty”
departed in 2014. William Ford Sr. (yeah, that Ford – think cars), Richard
Rockefeller (yeah, that Rockefeller), Eileen Ford (The other Fords – think models).
I should also mention James Brady (Ronald Regan’s Press Secretary who was also shot
by John Hinckley), and James Foley (Photojournalist) & Steven Sotloff
(Journalist) the two journalists who were beheaded by Isis.
This list was just a small
sampling (only American sampling) of all the folks who are no longer with us.
During my research, I came across scads of professional athletes who have also
departed, unfortunately several of them were current athletes. Car accidents
seem to be the biggest culprit. Strangely, I also came across almost a dozen
stuntmen and women who met with untimely demises. We lost “the oldest man” and “the
oldest woman” a few times over the course of the year as well (think about it,
the title passes to the next in line after someone dies, and at 115 years old,
the chances of dying greatly increase).
In 2014, we were faced
with an Ebola outbreak which actually managed to reach our shores, and
airplanes vanishing into thin air. We had several cases of civil unrest when
black men were killed by white cops, and then more upheaval when charges were
dismissed against the white cops. A firestorm erupted with the Taliban’s
release of Bowe Bergdahl – the verdict is still out on that one. The Supreme Court
ruled that companies could refuse insurance coverage of birth control if it was
for religious reasons (penny wise and dollar foolish if you ask me). TV icons
Bill Cosby & Stephen Collins fall from grace after sexual assault and rape
charges surface. The proverbial poop hit the fan in the Ukraine. Although we
were not hit with a major hurricane for the third year in a row, Mother Nature
was sure cranky. We still have not ended hunger, poverty, discord in the Middle
East, animal poaching, or drug trafficking.
On a more positive note, a
majority of states have adopted same sex marriages. Marine Sgt. Andrew
Tahmooressi was freed from a Mexican jail where he was held for seven months. The
world’s awareness of ALS has grown exponentially. The seriousness of domestic
violence has been thrust from the shadows with the Ray Rice case. (Although the
story itself is not positive, the call to arms definitely is.) The Humpback
Whales & the Western Grey Wolf may be coming off the endangered species
list. You can now have your very own personalized bottle of Coke (LOL).
Obviously I have not cover
every news story, every notable death, and I didn’t even hit on hot new
inventions of 2014 (the curved TV, internet ready appliances, and affordable unmanned
drones and 3D printers – let’s not go there), but I think I have prattled on
long enough. Making up for lost time right?
The next entry we will
start with challenges again, and I am adding something new this year as well.
Notable quotes from authors or about writing. There probably won’t be any rhyme
or reason as to what, how or when they will be posted, just that they happened
to have caught my eye on that particular day.
So, here’s the first one:
I hope you have an amazing
day, and happy writing!
Two days in a row, I know,
but don’t get used to it. I will try to post a little something often, but it
won’t be like before. I need to become greedy with my time if I plan on
finishing the two books I have started, and one more contemporary, plus at
least another short for Annie Acorn Publishing, before the end of the year. 
I have to submit my short
story for the 2016 edition of Spirited Tales (as soon as the 2015 edition of
Spirited Tales is available, I’ll let you know), plus a possible submission for
either the 2016 Valentine’s anthology or a 2016 Romance anthology – we’re still
tossing around possibilities. I have a story idea, but I don’t know if it will
end up being a short story, a novelette, a novella, or an actual novel. Annie
said to just write it, and we’ll worry about how to package it later. Love her!
She took that stressor and blew it out of the picture. Now I’ll just be able to
write the story until it’s finished, hand it over to her, and let her work her
brand of magic. I’ll be sure to keep you in the loop as things become more
concrete.
I will need to take at
least day away from writing in order to get all my financials together for
taxes. I do this all the time. I start the year off well, recording all my
income, expenses, mileage, etc., then I get busy and the “office work” gets
shoved to the back burner, and come January, I end up having to reconstruct ¾ of
a year’s worth of financials. Then I curse myself for not keeping up with it
because I can’t find all my receipts or the slip of paper where I wrote down my
miles for my trip out to Bumblesquatch; and then I swear next year will be
better, but I only seem to get better by a week or two. At the rate I’m going,
I’ll be in my nineties before I have a system down. Pathetic? Lazy?
Procrastination? Old timers setting in? Disorganization? Take your pick, any
explanation would fit.
