BOOKISH TREASURES -- FEB. 24

For those of you who occasionally stop by my little "story corner," you may have noticed that I love rearranging my space.  Especially when I'm eager to spotlight my bookish collections.

Above you can see a portion of one of my bookshelves—a favorite, since it holds a lot of books and treasures—and now, next to it is my little drop leaf table.  Notice the books and photos spread out.  See the little angel atop my Web of Tyranny book?  I've always thought she looks like she's getting ready to do a happy dance.

Now here's another view of the table, showcasing other details.

I collect birdhouses, and especially enjoy the one on the right (think "There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe");  I've had that one for many years.

The Boyd's Bears in front of the other house are the "vegetable bears."  There's a whole family of them.

Okay, I know I'm meandering here.

Yesterday I worked for a couple hours and finished rereading/editing/tweaking Defining Moments.  At least this version.  Now I'm going to segue over to Interior Designs, to see if anything needs "fixing" there.


It's an endless process, I think.  Getting manuscripts ready to go out and meet the world.

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying some reads, too.  Like this one:

It will be on Blog Tour at Rainy Days and Mondays on April 4.  Check it out!  As I read it, I am enjoying the story of a woman's journey to find herself.

As I read, I always have my eye out for books that will fulfill the various challenges in which I'm participating this year.  Today I downloaded this one for Sparky, my Kindle.

Witch Woman, by Jeanette Baker, is an intriguing tale about two women living in different centuries, connected by a startling mutation they both share.

I'm enjoying expanding beyond my usual genre, and out of my comfort zone.  What are you willing to do for a challenge?

SUNDAY REFLECTIONS & CREATIONS -- FEB. 5

 

On Sundays, I like to engage in quiet routines, like reading the Sunday papers, visiting blogs, and catching up on my current reads or movie watching.  Today I veered slightly from my normal Sunday course and created a new blog header here.

Then I had to go over and do the same at Rainy Days and Mondays.

I started to take a nap, but then realized that I was too restless to do that, so I'm excerpting again from my WIP Defining Moments.

In this scene, Ernestine, an elderly woman who lives across the street from our MC Jillian McAvoy, begins reflecting on the past.

At home at last, Ernestine felt a little dizzy, so she ambled cautiously to the kitchen.  Turning on the stove, she collected the tea things while the water heated.  Carefully placing everything she needed on the tray, she waited.  Once the teakettle whistled, she slowly poured the water into the teapot.  Then, balancing the tray as if her life depended upon it, she moved very carefully toward her chair near the windows.  Her cordless phone sat on the table.  She thought about calling Bethany while she had her tea.  Yes, maybe that would make her daughter stop worrying.
    

But once she took her first sip of tea, her thoughts skidded backwards again, just as they had so many times before.  Maybe it was thinking about David and Jillian’s romance that took her there again.
    

Sometimes she thought that her life nowadays was all about being on the periphery of other people’s lives.  So her retreat into her memories felt almost more real than anything happening lately.
    

After the first time that she and Jack had been together, she’d told herself “never again!”  In fact, she’d felt so guilty and remorseful, that she avoided Betsy as well.  Not that Betsy knew about anything that had happened, but she was quite sure that her neighbor would be able to figure it out, just by looking at her.
    

She’d felt the blush suffusing her even as she thought about him.
    

So when he called her later that night, she was all prepared to turn him down.  But something seemed to take over, turning her normally moral self into someone else.  Someone quite different.
    

They met at their favorite bistro, where they shared a couple of drinks and a lovely meal.  As they left, they went to his place without even discussing it.  She had a moment when she thought that she was making a really big mistake…but then she pushed the feeling aside.  She loved the way he held her, kissed her, and then how she felt when they came together.  This time, just as before, it felt romantic and seductive…afterwards, he held her while they talked. 
    

She couldn’t help but compare these trysts with her brief marriage.  Winston had been so quick with his lovemaking, but was it fair to compare?  They had known that their time was short; that he would be setting off to the war soon.  And the distant memory of that short time together could not compare with the here and now.
    

But as she went home again later, she promised herself to refuse him next time.    

The ringing phone brought Ernestine back to the present, but she felt dizzy again as her thoughts collided between the past and the present. 

How do you think this story will play out?  Will Ernestine resolve the issues of her past?  What secrets will be revealed?

EXPLORING FAVORITE AUTHORS -- JAN. 17

On Sunday, I enjoyed a few hours curled up in my bedroom, with breakfast, some movies, and burrowing my nose in a book by a favorite author.

This book had been on my stacks for awhile...I actually couldn't believe how long.  Yes, the book is rather long, but reading it doesn't feel like a chore.  It is more of a journey with some intriguing characters in lovely settings, like the English countryside, London, etc.  

Almost a Crime, by Penny Vincenzi, is turning out to be one of those reads that I savor.  Do you have books you love to linger with, enjoying the descriptions, the dialogue, and the anticipation of what might come next?

Today I excerpted from it for Teaser Tuesdays.

After visiting blogs and adding MORE books to my staggering TBR stacks, I worked for awhile on one of my WIPs, rereading and tweaking some passages.  Editing is a tedious process, but I am pleasantly surprised that there are enjoyable parts to the exercise.  I am loving these characters I created, and even when I notice something that needs to change, it doesn't feel like a negative experience.  It feels as though I'm learning as I go along in the process.

Here's a section from Defining Moments, in which we see the MC, Jillian McAvoy, a retired English teacher turned writer slowly lose herself in her work and on the Internet. She is suddenly realizing how out of touch she is with the ordinary world:

I worked for a couple of hours before finally turning away from the computer.
  
Stretching a bit and moving slowly toward the living room, I glanced around and suddenly felt appalled by the condition of my house.  When was the last time I’d even bothered to straighten up?  I blushed, as I recalled that Ernestine had just been here and undoubtedly noticed the state of affairs.  I knew that I had stopped paying attention to my own clutter because of the pull of work, but that was no excuse.
  
First I collected all the stray clothes that dotted the surfaces, tossing them finally into the laundry room.  Then I studied the books and magazines that littered the tables and even the sofa.  Once I collected them and returned each item to its rightful place, I felt better.  Maybe it had been Ernestine mentioning David that had me so tuned in to my environment finally, but whatever the reason, I had to be more alert.  Who knew when someone might suddenly appear?  Megan might even decide to drop in, although that seemed unlikely since she lived in San Francisco.  Then I thought about my bedroom.  Lately, I hadn’t even bothered making the bed.
  
For years, that had been the first thing I’d done each morning, even before coffee or computer time.  Maybe because I would be going out the door to work.  Old habits seemed like an intrusion into my new work. 
  
So now I entered my bedroom reluctantly and studied the colossal mess.  Covers tossed and dragging on the floor; sheets looking definitely worse for wear; and on the adjacent bathroom floor, I saw wet towels!  Feeling myself blushing again, I quickly straightened up the area, and then changed the sheets.
  
Afterwards, I felt a little better.  I even straightened the books on my nightstand and put the movies back on the shelf.
  
When I finally returned downstairs, I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything since my lunch with Sheila and Marianne, and glancing at the clock, noticed, even before I observed that it was dusk outside, that the clock read six-thirty.  Where had the time gone?
  
Peering into the fridge, I tried to remember when I’d last gone to the market.  There were some take-out containers, one yogurt, a rather shriveled apple, and when I grabbed the milk, a rancid smell almost knocked me over.  I picked up the yogurt, reached for a spoon, and began eating eagerly.  Then I grabbed a memo from the magnetic pad on the fridge and began making a list.  I really must be more in tune with the real world!

A cautionary tale, perhaps, that I had once thought of calling Lost in the Blogosphere.... Does it strike a chord with anyone?

INTERIOR DESIGNS: EXPLORING CHARACTERS & EXCERPTING -- JAN. 3

For the past several months, I've been tweaking and polishing one of my WIPs called Interior Designs.  The MC was the woman scorned and abandoned in my novel Embrace the Whirlwind; now she is exploring her interior world, examining her motivations, trying to understand her behavior with the hopes of changing it.  Perhaps if she is successful, she can move on with her life.

Along the way, she turns to her best friend Maeve for validation and support.

Who is Maeve Kinkaid?

In my WIP Interior Designs, she is a best friend or sidekick of Martha (MC).  The two have been BFFs since early days in the Catholic School they attended.

Martha likes to think of Maeve as the feisty, courageous, and adventurous one of the two of them.  Where Martha is concerned about how she appears to others and doesn’t want to be ruffle any feathers, Maeve is just as happy to stir things up a bit.

Often the two of them ended up in the principal’s office in school, but for pranks that Maeve instigated.

Her red hair and green eyes, along with her Texas drawl, add up to a fun-loving prankster who would give an arm and a leg to support those she cares about.  As the mother of three, she has been married for several years to her high school sweetheart.  Nowadays, though, Maeve thinks ruefully of her husband Buzz as an overgrown “frat boy.”  His charms are wearing thin.

Here is an excerpt that further shows us a bit about Maeve:

At Maeve’s house, the girls ran up the stairs, leaving us standing in the kitchen for a few minutes, chatting about nothing except the daily minutiae of life.  “Want a drink?” 

Maeve’s offer sounded good, actually, because what was I going to do now?  Go home and obsess about the weekend lunch that would turn into nothing at all?  So I nodded.
  
We sat down in the family room, our wine in Maeve’s best crystal goblets.  She noticed me studying them and laughed.  “For awhile, I only brought them out for holidays, but then I reminded myself that I should enjoy them more.  So why not use them on a Friday night with my best friend?”
  
“I need to do more of that myself,” I agreed.  “When I’m alone, sometimes I eat from the pot or standing at the counter.  How rude is that?  It’s like I don’t value myself enough to celebrate my time alone.  From now on, I’m setting the table, bringing out the china and crystal, and telling myself that I deserve it!  Or at least I’ll fix up a fancy tray for the family room,” I added, realizing that my reality was more about eating in front of the TV.  But I could still celebrate. 
  
Maeve nodded her approval, but then leaned toward me, whispering:  “So are you all tied up in knots?”
  
“I am,” I sighed.  “What if it’s all a horrible mistake?  He could be a total toad, you know.  And judging from my recent explorations into the world of ‘relationships,’ that’s the most likely scenario.”
  
“Here’s my advice,” Maeve continued.  “Don’t expect much.  Just tell yourself you’re havin’ a lunch date with an old friend and approach it like somethin’ you’re doin’ just for fun.  Just to catch up.”
  
“So tell me about you and Brody,” I burst out, turning the conversation about Duane on its head.  “Is he turning into a wonderfully surprising treat?  He sounds absolutely marvelous, and so totally unexpected.”
  
“Well, I don’t want to jinx it, you know, but he is pretty amazin’.  I think I’ll just try to relax and savor it.”
  
After we finished the wine, I stood up reluctantly.  “Well, guess I should go home and straighten up my house a bit.  Just in case, even though we’re actually meeting at a restaurant.  He’s going to call when he’s on his way, and we’ll agree on a place.  Which one should I choose?”
  
“Probably not a place you’ve gone with Zach or anyone else, lately,” she mused.  “How about that new steak house near River Park?  Guys always seem to love their red meat.”  She chortled at this tidbit, and we both imagined men, red meat, and all those masculine proclivities.
  
We hugged good-bye, and I slowly drove toward my house, my thoughts turning toward actions I could take tonight that would successfully distract me from tomorrow.

SHARING STORIES

One of my other blogs is like an online journal.  Snow Chronicles, A Writer's Journey, is a place where I share excerpts from my published books and my works-in-progress.


Today's entry (linked above) is a continuation of one I wrote earlier...and it's a familiar scene in my WIP Interior Designs.  Two old friends that have been there for each other over the years are now sharing some secrets.

Secrets are the backbone of my stories and shine a spotlight on family dysfunction.  For more stories of this nature, check out any of my published novels, as well, beginning with Embrace the Whirlwind, where we can find the origins of the stories in Interior Designs. 

In the first novel, MC Amber Cushing has an obsessive relationship with Hal Cummings, married to Martha.  Since Martha was desperate to save her marriage, she did some things that now, in retrospect, she regrets.


Martha's story and how she begins an interior journey to understand and change her behavior is the thematic core of the sequel.

What kinds of secrets do you like to know more about?  Do you pick up a book about relationships in disarray and hope to discover what motivates the characters?

WINTERIZING THE BLOGS

It's that time of year again!

In October and November, the pumpkins paraded across my blogs; now it's time for Christmas trees, holly, and snowy things.

Today I've been adding Christmas backgrounds, a few Christmasy headers, and trying to deck the halls...like I did with my house a few days ago.

All of my decorations are the familiar ones I pull out every year.  But this year, I decided to go with "less is more," and I'm not bringing them all out.

It's just too hard to put them back afterwards!

Are you reading any holiday books this season?  I think it would be a great time for a cozy mystery, but nothing comes to mind.  But Debbie Macomber often brings us something, like this one:

Or how about this one from another of my favorite authors?

What are your favorite holiday treats?  I love anything chocolate, and on one of my blogs that I've named Chocolate & Mimosas, I do feature a few chocolatey things...some of which are cozy mysteries.  Like this one, which is coming soon:

Now that you're thinking cozy thoughts, come on by and share your own seasonal favorites!

ANNIVERSARY THOUGHTS OF 11-22-63 -- NOV. 22

Forty-eight years ago, an event occurred that would change the world.

Speculation circled around for many years afterwards, with investigations, conspiracy theories, and wonder.

Now with Stephen King's new book, 11/22/63, out this month, we will continue to explore this event, but with a fictional twist.

Here's a brief synopsis that spotlights the story:

On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination—a thousand page tour de force.

Following his massively successful novel Under the Dome, King sweeps readers back in time to another moment—a real life moment—when everything went wrong: the JFK assassination. And he introduces readers to a character who has the power to change the course of history.

 Now that our thoughts our zeroing in on this event, we have other books that also reveal that time.  The time later dubbed as Camelot.

In my book Chasing Stardust, set in the sixties and seventies, the character Merrilee Hennessey is working in a small legal office in Modesto, CA, when the news blares out on the TV playing in the break room.

Gwendolyn stood staring into the fridge with the door open, investigating its contents.  As she pulled out a stash of leftovers, Jonathan entered and turned on the TV.  A soap opera character peered into the face of another, their intense conversation suggesting secrets and betrayals.  Laughing, Gwendolyn reached up to switch the channel when a newscaster broke in with an announcement.

All three of them stood in shock and horror while Walter Kronkite broke the news.  In Dallas, Texas, President Kennedy had been gunned down while traversing the streets in his motorcade.  And, in Parkland Memorial Hospital, just a short time later, he had been pronounced dead.

A fallen prince, Merrilee thought, feeling detached, as if her mind stood over her body.

And as if that thought led logically in another direction, a series of pictorial images flashed through her mind, like a TV camera playing them for an audience.  She and Julie standing before the TV at the library less than three years before, watching the inauguration; Jackie and Jack entering a church, with that trademark lace mantilla covering Jackie’s bouffant hairdo; newspaper and TV photos of little Caroline and John-John, playing in the White House.  Images of Camelot.  Broken into shards by one violent act.

Next she felt Gwendolyn’s arms enfolding her, and realized that her body shook with sobs.

They all listened and watched like robots as the news features brought bits and pieces of information, revealing over and over again the images of Jackie in her pink suit covered with blood.  As the day progressed, they saw and heard that someone named Lee Harvey Oswald had been apprehended. 

In the end, they closed the office for the day and just hung out, talking and watching TV.  But despite their camaraderie, a mournful feeling hung like a dark cloak around them.  They ate, drank coffee, and later, sipped the Scotch that Jonathan poured. 

Shaking herself back into another reality, Merrilee thought about Colin and her responsibilities at home.  And about Julie, who would be devastated.  Grabbing the phone, she dialed the familiar number.

“Oh, Merrilee!”  Julie’s voice sounded strangely surreal when she answered the phone.  “Isn’t it horrible?  I don’t think I can go on!”

Something about the words and tone chimed in her ears like a warning bell.  But choosing to credit it to the situation they were all facing, Merrilee responded in kind.  “I know, I simply can’t believe it!”  And then she was off, reminiscing about the Kennedys and all the media images that had surrounded the Prince and Princess of Camelot during their brief time in the White House.

“Anyway,” Merrilee concluded.  “I just wanted to tell you that I’m staying on here at the office for awhile, if that’s okay.  Is Esther able to keep Colin a little longer?”

“Oh, sure,” Julie replied, but her voice now sounded detached.  “Take your time.  It’s fine.”

Hanging up the phone, Merrilee poured another drink and tried to forget that sound in Julie’s voice.  Focusing instead on mourning their lost prince, she and Gwendolyn and Jonathan drank and smoked and talked late into the night.

***

During those eventful days and weeks, I, too, was living in Modesto, CA, ready to embark on my new life as a married woman.  I was starting my junior year in college.

Everything seemed to change afterwards, and the moments will not be forgotten.  Do you have memories from that time?  If the events happened before your time, what do you first recall learning about this day?