September 10th Challenge

Hi it’s Christina –

Good morning! Well,it wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be, nothing usually is. My "dentures" didn't slip, my tongue didn't get fat, and I believe I gave coherent replies, and it all got done in one take. This was an interview for a cable TV show about writers, and I was just one of MANY writers being interviewed. Basically they asked five questions, and you are allowed fifteen second responses to each. Not every answer will be aired.

The funny thing is, even though Princeton is only a few miles away, I won't be able to see the show when it airs because we don't get the cable station it's going to be on. I'll have to wait until they post it on YouTube. I'll give you folks the link when I get it.

Jamie Lee (not me, but the haircut
and color is really close).

Somehow I think the replies I’m going to get from you will have more to do with my hair than with the actual interview. I’m not sure if I told you this already or not – old tymers setting in – but I don’t look like the picture on my site anymore. That photo was taken a year ago April, so it’s NOT an old picture. However since the picture was taken, the psoriasis I have been dealing with since I was sixteen years old has spread to my scalp, and it has actually become painful to dye my hair; not just for the half hour they dye is on my head, but for a week or more after it has been colored.

So, I stopped coloring my hair, something I had been doing since I was seventeen when the grey started showing up. Not only is my hair no longer auburn, it is also short. I mean really short, still, even after is has been growing out for two months. Whatever, I don’t mind it short, it’s easier; and for some inexplicable reason, the grey hair makes me look a little thinner and younger. It makes no sense at all, but I’m okay with it.

After the interview, we had our normal writing group meeting. It was a lot of fun as usual – even with the camera following us around. I got up to the meeting while they were doing the first prompt, so I had less than ten minutes to finish it. I am going to give you guys the same prompt today, and I’m going to post my reply to the prompt, because this one hit me hard. I had to have someone else in the group read it for me, because I got too choked up to finish reading it out loud.

There were a couple of other damp eyes in the room as well. One of the guys in the group said, “You did that in less than ten minutes??”, and all I could do is shrug. I saw the prompt, the image and scene flashed in front of my eyes, and through the tears, I typed. This has happened several times while I have been writing my novels, but it has never happened during a writing prompt.

I wasn’t the only one who brought the group to tears last night either. My friend Sue got everyone choked up with her reply to a different prompt. The prompt was a line taken from a short story by Anton Chekhov – “The old house had to be pulled down, that a new one might be built in its place.” – and Sue’s response was from the viewpoint of a woman who is standing in the burnt out shell of her home. It was a powerful piece, and again, done in a ten minute time frame.

After “class” was over, I was able to convince only two to come splurge on ice cream with me. Well, technically only Sue and I got Ice Cream, Freida just sat with us. Sue only stayed for fifteen or twenty minutes, but Freida and I remained at the table chatting… and chatting…and chatting. Before we know it, two hours had gone by, and I felt so guilty because Freida lives over an hour away, so she wouldn’t be getting home until well after midnight. We were having such a good time, we lost track of the time.

Okay, even though Dani is not going to school today, I still have to go make Paulie his lunch so I should go. Oh my goodness, I just realized I didn’t update you on Dani. Real quick – she does have a concussion, she is out of school for the remainder of the week at least – she is on strict rest – she is not allowed to watch TV, read, do homework, text. It is going to be an interesting week around here.

Gotta boogie, so TTFN. I hope you have an awesome day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge is:

Spare some change please?

You have ten 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.

Here was my response:

Please Sir, can you spare some change? Please don’t look at me like that, you do not know how much it cost me to have to ask you. There are days when my pride stands in the way, and I simply go hungry. And if it was only me, I probably would go hungry for another day or two, but it’s not. Jax here has not been feeling too well lately, and I don’t want hunger to make him any weaker. I don’t know what I would do if he were to die. There’s been far too much death in my life, I couldn’t bear any more.

You see, Jax is a lot like me. We both have a big heart, but we’re both broken. Him from the rough start to life he got on the streets, and me from the war. It’s been five years now since we’ve been out here, me and my wingman Jax. I can talk to him, tell him the horrors I’ve seen, and he just listens, never judges. Often times, he licks the tears from my face, and lets me know that things will be alright. He doesn’t care when I stare off into space for hours on end, simply sits beside me. He doesn’t complain when I cry out in the night, just snuggles closer and makes me feel safe. There is never any anger, disappointment or recrimination in his eyes. He’s the only living creature on this earth who loves me unconditionally. So please Sir, can you spare any change?

July 20th Challenge

Hi it’s Christina –

Good Morning! First, Happy Birthday to one of my best friends, Rebecca! I hope you have a day as wonderful as you are, LUV YA!

So I survived yesterday’s book signing without melting or passing out. It wasn’t too, too hot, and there was an occasional breeze which helped immensely. However, it was a really slow day. There was not a large crowd, probably the smallest I’ve ever seen there. I think this is a huge vacation week.

Historically, I have done much better on Sundays, Saturdays have always been slow for me, but I keep going back because of the folks I meet. Yesterday was no exception. I had several wonderful conversations. I chatted with a family – mom, dad, and daughter, who had just gotten engaged. I’m talking minutes before. She was walking my way, carrying a beautiful bouquet, and I complimented her on the flowers. That’s when the dad told me, she had just gotten engaged. Then the three of them laughed and all started to explain at the same time, that the girl wasn’t engaged to the dad, that the fiancé was in the bathroom – it was funny.

This really looks like her ring

So, of course, I asked to see the ring, and I Oooed and Ahhhed over it. It was lovely. Then I gave her some unsolicited advice (I actually said, “here’s some unsolicited advice”). I told her not to sweat all the little things that are going to go wrong at the wedding, she’ll be the only one who notices them. Instead make sure she takes the time to enjoy the day, because it is over in the blink of an eye.

As nice as that meeting was, there were two others I met yesterday which were infinitely more meaningful to me. Fifteen year old Anna, and another girl, who was probably seven or eight, whose name I didn’t get. Both of these young ladies loved to write, and stopped by to ask me questions about writing and publishing. I absolutely LOVE hearing about young people who like to write. I told them both about NaNoWriMo, and gave them my card with my email address, and told them if they had any questions, they could email me any time.

Do you remember me telling you about my first book signing at Canterbury Tales Forever? There was another author there, Sam Knight, who wrote the children’s book, Monty a Christmas Story. I loved the book so much, I got autographed copies and gave them as gifts to my little cousin and my great niece for Christmas. Well anyway, Sam stopped by the bookstore yesterday morning to pick up his check – he had a signing last weekend. It was nice to see him again, and guess what? This time, he wanted a signed copy of my book. He was my first sale for the day.

Oh, since I’m posting photos, I should probably explain something. I have psoriasis, have had it since I was sixteen years old. It’s a nuisance, it itches, it’s not overly attractive, but I have not let it bother me. I have tried various treatments in the past. They work for a while, then they stop working. The side effects of the new psoriasis medications are far scarier than having the psoriasis, so I am not willing to take a chance on them.

Several months ago, the psoriasis spread to my scalp. It’s not noticeable, it’s completely covered by my hair, but if I tried to color my hair, it would burn unbelievably, for several days. I have been grey since I was seventeen, and have been coloring my hair ever since. It’s a genetic thing. My grandfather was grey very early, and each of my children has grey hair. Dani, my youngest, was actually born with it. I noticed it on the other two by the time they were three.

After thirty plus years of coloring my hair, and now that it was a painful experience, I was DONE. I decided to just let it go grey, but then I had a speaking engagement in March. My hair was half grey and half still colored. I looked like Bozo. I went and got the color cut off. My normal hairdresser, Cheryl, was not available, so I went to one of those discount places. Let’s just say, with some mousse and gel, I was able to disguise the cut enough where it didn’t look too terrible at the speaking engagement.

A few weeks later, I went to Cheryl, and in order to fix what the other place did, she had to cut my hair – short. Okay, fine, no big deal. It was cute, easy, and I thought made my face look thinner, which is always a good thing. The short hair doesn’t thrill my hubby, but he doesn’t have to take care of my long hair, so for once, I am ignoring his preferences.

Well, with short hair, you need to frequent the hairdresser more often, and I had to go back two weeks ago. That’s when Cheryl told me she was moving to California, never to be seen again. I was crushed. I have known Cheryl for almost thirty years. She’s more than just a hairdresser, she has become a friend. My kids adore her.

To give you an example of how close we’ve gotten, PJ had an appointment with her. He called her up to say he was not going to make it, because he was just in an accident on the way to her shop. Cheryl quickly finished up the person she was working on (she was just about finished), shooed him out of the store, closed her shop, and ran – not drove, actually ran – from her shop to where PJ was up the road. Yeah, she’s that kind of lady.

Long way around, but here’s my point. The last time I was there, two weeks ago, she said since it may be my last haircut, she was going to give me my money’s worth. So now I am sporting a REALLY short grey hairdo, and I didn’t want you to say who is that in the picture? I haven’t found a photo yet which I like enough to change my profile picture. As soon as I do, I will update it.

Got to go. I hope you have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

(S)He looked so innocent…

Tommy had blond curly hair, big blue eyes, and the face of a cherub. He looked so sweet and innocent. Who would have thought, the moment his mother left, he would turn into the demon child from Hell?

I don’t care that he is only three, he knows exactly what he is doing. It’s the glint in his eyes and the half grin – half smirk which give him away. When I saw that expression, I should have known. I should have been more vigilant.

Tommy and my son Joey, were playing at the Lego table when the phone rang. I told them I would be right back. Joey said, “OK Mommy” and kept right on playing. Tommy on the other hand looked up at me with that demonic expression. The phone conversation lasted less than two minutes. It was the dentist’s office confirming my appointment for Thursday afternoon.

I walked back into the family room where the boys were quietly playing, and I looked at the couch. Each cushion had a diagonal slash through it, there was stuffing protruding from the tears, and there was a pair of scissors stabbed into the armrest.

***

Not enough time to expand on this, but it would have been a fun short story.

Your Next Challenge is:

Use the following: Sitting on the floor, A Knife, Newspaper

You have ten 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.

October 29th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina – 

Well, I definitely have more grey hair today than yesterday! My son, I love him to death, but he is such a KLUTZ! Like every other male on both sides of our family, he enjoys tinkering with cars. Last night, he was home alone and adjusting something or not on the used Jeep he purchased two weeks ago. I’m not exactly sure what happened, but somehow a screwdriver fell off of wherever he had it balanced and hit him right in the eye. (I will spare you the photo he sent.)

He drove himself to the emergency room, which was at least ten more grey hairs worth of information. Note to readers: PLEASE do not work on ANY projects – cars, roof, tree branches, etc. – when no one else is home with you. Then I found out he went to a hospital where I wouldn’t bring a stray dog to be saved. They are horrible, and as far as I’m concerned, responsible for killing BOTH of my grandmothers. I hope that after it all turns grey, falling out is not the next step!

Anyway, they did a CAT scan, and his eye is ok, it should heal just fine, but it looks horrible at the moment. They gave him some pain killers and some antibiotic eye drops, and a note that he should stay out of work through Thursday. Knowing my son, he may take a pain killer or two, he’ll do the drops for a few days (I will be riding him daily on this one so he actually completes the cycle of antibiotics this time), and he’ll be back at work tomorrow, if not today already. After being out for several weeks in August because of his back injury, he won’t want to miss any more time.

Yup, I’ll be hitting the Miss Clairol before my gig this weekend. Did your mom ever say, “I hope you get one just like you, then you’ll appreciate what I went through!”? Well, I apparently got three just like me, so my mom must have said it too many times. All of my kids are as accident prone as I was, and they’re not showing any signs yet of getting better. Perhaps it would have been wise of me to buy stock in one of the hair dye companies years ago…

I hope you have a wonderful day and happy writing!

 

Your Last Challenge was:

 

 

Rare for this time of year, but here it comes, and it’s going to be a doozy. The clouds started thickening and darkening about an hour ago, and then they took on an ominous peach glow. As the wind picked up, the sway of the branches dislodged the remaining autumn leaves and blew them into spiraling mini vortexes.

As the distant rumbles of thunder began, we scurried about the yard to ensure every possible projectile was secured. When the outside was as safe as we could make it, we moved indoors, and as we prepared for the worst, we continued to hope for the best. Flashlight batteries we checked, candles and matches were unearthed, the tub was filled with water, and a hasty dinner was prepared as the thunder grew progressively closer and it was joined by brachial flashes of lightening.

The deafening sound had us cover our ears and close our eyes. The house shook. The lights flickered …once…twice…then went out, plunging us into near total darkness. The storm was upon us. The wind howled and the distinctive ping on the windows announced hail had accompanied the now torrential downpour. With the threat this rogue autumn storm was more than predicted, we elected to ride it out in the basement, just in case.

 

Your Next Challenge is (this is the challenge I offered as homework while I was covering the class for Keith, but the group mutinied and would not do it):

Write you own obituary 

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.