June 10th

Hi, It’s Christina –

Today’s blog is going to be completely different than any other blog I’ve done before. This morning, before I even took my second swallow of coffee, I was issued a challenge, a gauntlet was thrown and crazy me picked it up.

The challenge was issued by my friend Keith, better known in the writing world as K. Edwin Fritz, author of stories which will keep you up at night. He just published the second installment in his Man Hunt trilogy. Keith is an amazing writer, and even though I tend to avoid horror at all cost, he has such a way with words, I tolerate being terrified so I can read his work.

Well, here’s what my friend got me into:

Meet My Main Character Blog Tour

1) What is the name of your main character? Is he/ she fictional or a historic person?

The main characters in A Second Chance are Kathryn and Graydon. They are both fictional characters in a historical setting.

2) When and where is the story set?

The story is split between rural England and London in 1804.

3) What should we know about him/her?

Kathryn is a young widow with two grown sons. Graydon is a widower, and he also has a grown son. Oh, did I mention, Graydon is an operative for the Crown?

4) What is the main conflict? What messes up his/her life?

The main conflict in the story is Graydon’s niece is kidnapped. During his initial attempt to rescue her, he is shot. Kathryn’s quiet life is turned upside down when she finds him and nurses him back to health.

5) What is his/her personal goal?

Graydon’s goal is to get his niece back from a ruthless unknown assailant, hell bent on revenge; and Kathryn’s goal… well she didn’t really have one. She was quite content, living her boring existence, in her tranquil country estate with her smart-alecky butler.

6) Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?

Excerpts from all of my books can be found on my website: ChristinaPaul.webs.com

7) When can we expect the book(s) to be published?

A Second Chance, the first in my Bradford Series, was published in 2012. It, as well as the second book in the series, Taking Chances, published in 2013, are available on Amazon.com, in both hard copy and on Kindle. Simply By Chance, the third in the series, will hopefully be finished by the end of the year.

And now it's my turn to pass the challenge along!

It was difficult to choose, but the following are five fabulous books by five incredible authors I have met since I embarked on this insane profession of being an author. The links will take you to their books.

Dorothy May Mercer

Linda Rawlins

Julien Ayotte

Jan Raymond

Heidi Angell

Authors, friends, tag, your it (photo stolen from Keith, but I loved it).

Okay folks, tomorrow’s blog will be back to normal. Hopefully by then, my sister in law will send over pictures from this crazy weekend we just had, and I’ll be able to get you updated. Until then, I hope you have a wonderful day, and happy writing!

April 5th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good morning everyone, I hope you survived your TGIF. I read some of your status updates this morning while I was having my first cup of coffee, and some of you had interesting plans for last night. Hope you had a wonderful time!

Yesterday, I promised to explain the event I’m participating in tonight, our annual Progressive Dinner. It’s an event sponsored by our church, and it’s a lot of fun. Roughly forty “couples” participate, and there are four “station” which are visited. (I used a nice round number so this would be easier to explain.) Ten couples host appetizers, ten host salad, ten host soup, and the final ten host dessert. When you host a station, you have three couples come to your house and stay for forty-five minutes for the meal, then everyone leaves and drives to the next station. You won’t run into the same people again until the dessert station, because that stop brings all of us together at the church.

This year, my hubby and I have to start half an hour earlier then almost everyone else, because our first stop for appetizers is forty-five minutes away. Now, this is not the norm. For the most part, the houses you visit are all within the town limits. On occasion, there are church members who move outside the town limits, and like to participate in a course other than dessert. Keep in mind, if you live on one side of our town, and you have a stop on the other side of our town, it could easily take you twenty-five to thirty minutes to accomplish it, so a forty-five minute hike to Stockton is not that bad. Plus, it’s my friend’s house, which I haven’t had the opportunity to see yet, so I’m excited to go.

So we have appetizers out in Stockton. Then we drive back to town to have salad. Next it’s our turn to host the soup station. I’m making loaded potato soup, it has lots of cheese and bacon. I’m also making gumbalaya (my crazy mix of gumbo and jambalaya), its chicken and sausage and shrimp, rice, tomatoes and onions and garlic, and a whole array of Cajun spices. My tummy’s rumbling just thinking about it. Finally, we all head back to the church for dessert, and there’s usually music and a whole lot of silliness. It’s going to be a fun night.

On a completely different note, my friend Linda Rawlins posted this article from Writer's Write, and I thought it was great.

One recurring comment from me, to authors whose books I edit, is - you need to stop TELLING your readers, you need to start SHOWING them. Then I'll rearrange a few of their sentences, so they can have examples. Well, now I'll be able to send them a whole chart of examples, at least for body language "showing". (Now if I could just find a more articulate way to explain Continuity of Tense, my job would be a breeze.)

So, writers, save this article. Use it as a reference while you're writing. Print out the chart and add your own ideas to it. This is going to be a handy tool.

Although it’s only eight o’clock, I have cooking and cleaning to do, so I should get going. I hope y’all have a super day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was (random quote, chosen from a random page, from a random book on my shelf – closed my eyes, reached in, grabbed one, opened to a page, pointed, and opened my eyes – then found the closest dialogue):

Write your own story around the following – “Get out of your wet things and into those. Don’t worry, you’ll be decently covered.” (Kay Hooper, Enemy Mine)

Corina could not stop shivering. Her entire body literally shook from head to toe. Her hair and clothes were soaked, her lips were blue, and her teeth were chattering so violently, she was afraid she would chip one. With certainty she could say, she had never been this cold in all her life.

She cursed her boss for sending her out on this assignment. She cursed her car for not being able to handle the incline, and for sliding off the road. She even cursed Mother Nature for the unpredicted blizzard. If it hadn’t been for Caleb Makenzie, the man she was sent to interview, coming and checking, she probably would have died out there on the road.

Corina could hear the shower running, and a cloud of steam shrouded Caleb as he exited the bathroom.

Indicating a pile on the vanity, Caleb ordered, “Get out of your wet things and into those. Don’t worry, you’ll be decently covered.”

Meekly, Corina obeyed and padded into the bathroom and shut the door.

Your Next Challenge is:

Drip…drip…drip…

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 12th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

For the first time since my daughter started going to college in Vermont, I’m a wee bit concerned. Okay, I’m a mom; I’m a whole lot concerned. Snow started up there early this morning and it’s not supposed to stop until six tomorrow night. Between four this afternoon and seven tonight, they are supposed to get a foot of snow. Yeah, do the math, that’s four inches an hour. When all is said and done, they may end up with around two feet of snow. Holy Moses!

I can’t remember, but I’m hoping she doesn’t have a late class on Wednesdays. They have already cancelled classes once this year because of the weather, so hopefully they will do the same today, and possibly tomorrow. True she only has a few hundred yards to get to just about anywhere on campus from her dorm, but in a blizzard, a few hundred yards might as well be a few hundred miles. I hope she calls today to let me know how she’s doing.

So, last night’s speaking engagement went well…I guess. It was a little strange speaking to a group when my mom, my mother-in-law and three other ladies who have known me since I was a teenager were in the audience. I talked for about twenty minutes or so and answered questions about writing and publishing, and how I was still learning all the ins and outs of this insane profession.

Based on listening to what the ladies were saying, I was able to determine a good many of them also enjoyed reading mystery novels as well as romance novels; so I was able to give my friend, Linda Rawlins’ books a plug too. I was happy to see them all right down the titles of her three books right along with my books. I know I have said it before, but if you like mysteries, you really should read The Bench, Fatal Breach, and the newest in the series Sacred Gold. I’m not saying this because Linda and I are friends, I’m saying this because they are truly amazing.

You’ll be happy to hear, just because you won’t have to hear me complaining anymore, my taxes are finally finished. All that remains to be done is for my husband to sign our state return so I could mail it in. I did find it annoying that because my return required a Schedule C, I was not able to file it electronically unless I paid an e-service to file it. Hmm, a buck and a quarter for postage or fifteen bucks to send it electronically. I’m thinking that’s a no-brainer. I’m also thinking that since it was my business’ fault I couldn’t file for free, then postage to mail my taxes is a justified business expense. (Not that I think the IRS would disallow or even bother taking the time to look at $1.25 charge.)

With my taxes finished, I can now get back into my routine. Today I plan on finishing up the edits on Corporate Blues. Then, as one final set of eyes before it goes to print, I am going to send the file over to my mom to review. She has caught typos missed by my editors in the past, so this time I’m giving it to her BEFORE it goes to print. Hopefully the edits won’t take all day and I can also finish the dreaded blurb for the back of the book and get it and the ISBN# over to Matt so he can finish the cover. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to get everything finished and have printed copies in hand buy April 12^th so I can have my new book with me at the PPL Author’s Day. If I finish, then tomorrow and Friday I am going to completely devote to the other book I'm editing so I can give the author another installment this weekend for him to work on. (I ended in a preposition, shoot me.) :)

Alright, if I don’t get going, I’ll never get finished. I hope y’all have a fantastic day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

When will it ever end…

When will it ever end? I’m sure I’m not the only one asking this question this winter. We have now had six months of winter weather, and with the latest band of storms coming through, it doesn’t look like we’re quite finished yet. Oh sure, Mother Nature has teased us with a few mild days, but then she immediately slaps us back down with frigid temperatures and frozen precipitation.

This never-ending winter is starting to affect everyone. Have you noticed how short tempered folks are lately?

Yeah, that was really short. I just couldn’t think of anything more to write. See, this winter is affecting me too. When will it ever end?? LOL

Your Next Challenge is:

Scratch that, reverse it…

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 3rd Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina – 

Did you remember to turn your clocks back or did you internal clock wake you at your normal time? I guess if I go by my internal clock, I over slept by twenty minutes. Even though I am going to be exhausted later, I look at it as I have an extra half an hour to write today.

So what did you think of the blog yesterday? Did you see the comment from Heidi? I cracked up when I read she “double-dog-dared” folks to take my challenge.

Here’s a switch. I’m always telling folks who read my blog on Facebook and twitter they need to log onto my blog so they can see multiple photos or click on links. This time I am sending my blog readers to my Facebook page – http://www.facebook.com/christina.paul.author - if they would like to read excerpts from my NaNoWriMo Project Faerie Tale Queen.

Yesterday on Facebook I posted the entire prologue. Please keep in mind, what you’re getting is an UNEDITED first draft, so there will be mistakes in COT, there may be a lack of sentence variation, and it will be before I preform my thatectomy. I may even mess up a name, a place or a time, and I know I will have a few “he” where it should be “she” and visa versa.

The story is really different than the others I’ve written, plus I’m under the time constraints of NaNoWriMo so by posting a chapter every couple of days, I get instant feedback and it will keep me on track. I’m really not giving a book away for free here, for two reasons. One, the first draft usually varies dramatically from the final rewritten product; and two, there is no way this story will be finished by the end of NaNoWriMo, so if you want to know how the story ends…

Today I am headed back to Canterbury Tales Forever in Peddler’s Village. Unfortunately Linda Rawlins will not be joining me today. The mother of one of her employees passed away, and Linda needs to be with her. Keith Fritz will be there, and hopefully some of you will be as well. Although it is going to be rather chilly today, you should come out to experience the AppleFestival. It is a fun event for the whole family, and there is no admission fee.

Your biggest challenge will be the parking, which is why I’m getting there really early. So on that note, if I want to get anything done on Faerie Tale Queen, I had better get going.

I hope you have a wonderful day and happy writing!

 

Your Last Challenge:

 

There is a knock at your door and you answer it to find a lawyer. He tells you your great uncle has passed away and has left everything to you. One of the things he has left you was and island. Yes, you now own your very own island…

 

Did that really just happen? I didn’t even know I had an uncle Octavio. Octavio. Who the heck names their kid Octavio? What was he the eighth child and they ran out of ideas? Quit staring at the envelope and open it. It’s not going to bite you, you ninny! I can’t do it. This is too bizarre, even for me. I’ll call Kim. She’ll know how to handle this.

  

Kim stared at Donna in total disbelief. “So these attorneys just showed up at your door?”

Donna nodded.

“And you’re sure you have never heard of Uncle Octavio?”

Donna shook her head.

“Then how can you be sure you are really the heir any you are not being punked?”

Donna handed Kim a smaller envelope, “The attorney’s gave me the genealogy. I may not know who Octavio was, but I do know who Katrina, his oldest sister was. She was my great grandmother. Thirty years separated the two. She was already married with children of her own and living in another state when her youngest sibling was born. It’s no wonder we had never heard of him, she died shortly after he was born. She may not even have known he existed.”

Kim studied the family tree, “So you’re telling me, as the youngest of eight, the only living relative he had in the world, was the great granddaughter of a sister he never met? How can that be? He had seven siblings. Didn’t they have children, and their children have children?”

“Here look,” Donna took the papers from Kim and spread them on the table. “Of the eight, only five made it to adulthood, and these two, Dominick and Antonio, just barely. From the dates of their deaths, I’d say they were soldiers during World War I. That left Octavio, who never had any children, Porsche, who had three and my great grandmother who had two.

 

Just like Heidi, I ran out of time with an entire story playing out in my brain. I never even got to the part about the Island, but what else is new.

 

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.

October 27th

Hi, it’s Christina – 

Not feeling well today, so I am not even going to attempt the writing challenges, sorry. I’m not even going to church today. My choir director is going to kill me. This means I’m going to be missing two weeks in a row. The wind and the cold yesterday took their toll on my voice and my stomach is also acting up, so it would be hard to sing with no voice and from the bathroom. I get glares in two weeks, but she’ll forgive me. 

In spite of the cold and lack of actual sales, we had a great time yesterday. Tons of people took our cards and paperwork, so we all will more than likely see a spike in our Kindle sales this week. The same thing happened last time as well.

The neat thing this time was two different people who stopped at my table told me they already had Taking Chances on their Kindle, and one of the people had read it already – and she wasn’t just saying that, she actually made relevant comments about the book, and when I asked, she agreed to post a review on Amazon for me. She also said after finishing Taking Chances, which she downloaded while I was doing one of the free promotions, she went and purchased A Second Chance because she wanted to see how the series all started. She also started bugging me about the release date for Simply By Chance.

That alone would have made yesterday worth freezing my butt off for five hours, but as I said, she was only one customer who I chatted with. She had two friends with her who took my business card and told me they would be downloading my books as well.

Keith, Linda and I worked so well as a team. Whenever someone stopped by any of us, we all talked about each other’s work, not just our own. It’s an easy thing to do when we are all fans of each other’s writing. And, even though our writing genres are different, we each have elements of the other’s in our own pieces. Other than hard core non-fiction readers, we had something to offer everyone who passed.

As I said before, I’m really not feeling well, so I am going to head back to be for a few hours. I hope you have a Super Sunday (this concludes the alliterations) and Happy Writing!

October 14th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina – 

Sorry this is late again today, I wasn’t feeling very well this morning. Feeling a little better now, so…

It’s official, I will be at Canterbury Tales again on October 26^th for a book signing and I will have two of my author friends with me, K. Edwin Fritz (aka Keith) a horror author, and Linda Rawlins a mystery author.

 

 

 

Keith’s book, Man Hunt, is a story about a matriarchal society who apprehends men who were not kind to women, bring them back to their island, and extract their own form of justice. Here’s the blurb from Amazon.com: “In the North Pacific Ocean there is an island that has been forgotten by mankind. Living there are men who have committed all manner of moral crimes. Deceived by an elaborate ruse, they wake deep within fortress walls where they are tortured, brainwashed, and then trained to physical perfection. When they are finally released to the island's hills and abandoned streets, they are told one simple rule: Survive long enough and you will be sent home. The island's only other inhabitants are women. In "Man Hunt", survival of the fittest means being literally hunted. It is "Lord of the Flies" meets hard-core feminism, because it tells both sides of the story.”

 

As far as I’m concerned, Keith is our own Stephen King; an incredibly gifted writer, but his stories would keep me up at night so I avoid them, although I do own Night Storms which is a collection of short stories. A spoonful of horror I can handle. Keith also has two other books available, Cover of Darkness – “a collection of 13 tales that promise to unsettle your brain and tease your imagination”; and Bombardier – a creepy short story, that even after reading the book teaser, I doubt I could describe it accurately.

 

You have heard me talk about Linda’s books before, but I’ll give you a quick recap. The Bench and Fatal Breach are Father Dowling meets Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. The stories are set in a picturesque town in Vermont near Burlington. The main characters are Dr. Amy, a transplant from a big Boston Hospital, and Father Michael, the local priest and therapist for other wayward priests. In the Bench they work together to solve a murder and in Fatal Breach they help unravel a cybercrime. If you want a more in depth background, you can either check out my full reviews on my website or you can go on Amazon. I was blown away by both of these books and I am chomping at the bit to get my hands number three, but it’s not out yet.

 

Anyway, all the books mentioned above are available on Amazon, and for my blog followers I have included the links. Sorry Facebook followers, I want this post to reach more than twenty-five people, so I am not including the links for you. I believe Keith will be bringing Man Hunt and Linda will be bringing Fatal Breach to the book signing, so if hard copies are what you prefer, please stop by, say “Hi” and pick up a signed copy.

 

Oh, in case you were wondering, I’ll be there too with both A Second Chance and TakingChances. Now all we need to do is keep our fingers crossed that the weather will be good.

OK, it’s now getting really late, so I should get this posted. Hope you have a wonderful day and happy writing!

 

Your Last Challenge was:

 

I’m sure many of you recognize this photo and some may even know the legend behind it of how a young man left his bike leaning against a small oak before he left for WWI. The soldier never did return from the war and over time the tree grew around the bike. What a sad yet heartwarming story, but total bologna.

In 1954 a kid, who received the bike as a charity gift after a house fire, road the bike into the woods to meet up with a bunch of friends. He was the only one who had road a bike, so when the boys were done playing, he walked off with his friends, completely forgetting he had ridden his bike. He never really cared for the bike, it was uncomfortable and too small for him, so when it was lost, he really wasn’t overly concerned. Fifty years later photos and the legend start circulating about the bike, the owner recognizes it, and sets the story straight. Well at least he tries to, but the rumors have proved far more compelling than the truth.

Granted, many rumors and legends are rooted with some truth; you just need to dig deep to weed out what is real and what is exaggeration, but then you find legends like this one that has absolutely not basis of truth whatsoever.

Another urban legend which had absolutely no basis in fact was the story of John Gilchrist, aka Mikey from the Life Cereal commercials, died from his stomach exploding after eating pop-rocks and drinking soda. You will be happy to know, John is now in his late forties, married with three children and is a tv ad exec living in New York. Obviously he is very much alive.

Which leads me to my questions, how did these rumors/legends get started? How, if they were completely false, did they take on a life of their own, so that literally people around the globe have heard them?

 

Your Next Challenge is:

 

“Star Light, Star Bright, First Start I See Tonight…”

 

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.