Author's Posts

 

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Kudos and high praise to the bloggers who keep coming up with great topics and ideas for their blogs. I have to admit at times I draw a blank. And, no, the next sentence of this post will not be “and today is one of those days”.

Instead I want to give a shout out to all bloggers, whether I follow you or not or just read you here and there. Some of you blog daily. High fives to you. Others are consistently clever or funny. I marvel at the ability. I strive for humor once in a great while and hope to succeed.

Then there’s the group who can turn words into poetry or find great quotes to back up their thoughts. I wish I had that talent. I fumble around when someone asks, “What’s your favorite song?” To be fair, I never liked that question. Hard to have just one, isn’t it? But to be able to pull quotes from the air or write like a song is quite a gift.

Another group of bloggers I enjoy are the ones who give advice I’m looking for. Now I know we don’t like people telling us what to do but when you go looking for it…that’s a completely different matter.

I look for writing help, editing ideas, promotions that work and other nuggets that will help me in my writing endeavors. I have a special folder created for all the ones I like and want to read again.

I researched “ideas for blogs” and read all the helpful hints. Stick to popular topics, add categories and tags, blog often. It’s a lot of work. I promised myself I would try to blog once a week when I started. Will I stick to that promise? I’ll try but decided to give myself a break. There’s no real handbook for bloggers.

One thing I can say, blogging keeps me on my toes. Sometimes a phrase catches my eye or I’ll read something in the newspaper or see something on-line and think, “I have to blog about that”. I’ve been introduced to some great blogs from people who follow me. I go to their site and read their posts. So many interesting points of view in our world.

Is blogging hard work? A little more difficult than I first imagined. Will I give up? No, I don’t think so. I see it as a challenge. I’ve met new people through it. I’ve read and learned things I never would have if I didn’t start.

So kudos to you, fellow bloggers. Keep up the good work. Keep writing. Someone might find your blog one day, read it and unknowingly you may help them in some way or make their day.

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book-67049_1280People are still reading. People are using the library. So many things are going out of style or out of date. Kids hardly watch television and find their shows on-line. They watch at their convenience. Newspapers are scaling back because sales are dipping. Only old people read it…or so I’ve been told. The younger generation gets everything on-line.

So I was very happy to see the library hasn’t turned into a dinosaur yet. I know they have computers and try to stay up-to-date but let’s admit it, it’s a place filled with books. Books! Not much else.

Don’t you love the feeling of stepping into a library? I always considered it a magical place. You go in with high hopes and come out with unknown treasures. If you don’t like one of the gems you picked, you can close it and move on to the next hoping to find the adventure of a lifetime. Nowhere else in the world can you go and get that same experience without spending a dime.

Let’s keep the younger generation reading…for fun. Not because they have to for a school assignment but because they want to. I know there are young readers out there because they blog about books. Young adult is a popular genre in reading.

Life’s at warp speed these days but I have faith in our younger generation. I think they’ll continue the tradition of reading books and supporting their libraries. Libraries may have to continue to change to keep up, adding more high tech advances inside their walls.

Maybe one day a person will scan the walls searching for the perfect book and just hold up their phone to download it. I know virtual libraries already exist and you don’t have to go to the actual place. I use one to check out books at times. But let’s admit it, there’s nothing like walking into the real thing, being greeted by the scent of a good book. Let’s hope it never goes the way of the dinosaur.

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I may be dating myself, but I remember back to the day when stores were closed on Sundays. You couldn’t shop, go to the grocery store or grab a bottle of wine. I barely recall those times because very slowly convenient stores began to appear with better hours for people who forgot that loaf of bread or needed milk late at night. Soon retail stores began to announce Sunday hours and more followed suit.

Sound familiar? Black Thursday, oh I mean Friday, has evolved into a two day event. I never liked the name. It sounds ominous to me. I know it stands for the day stores are finally out of the “red” and making a profit but I just don’t like it. It’s not a day I look forward to.

I don’t fault the people who love the day. Everyone has different likes and dislikes. That’s what makes the world go round. I understand the thrill of getting a good bargain. I like shopping and a good sale, too. Just not the day after Thanksgiving.

For some it’s a jump start for holiday shopping. For others, it’s a bonding experience. Families get together and plan their strategies before heading out into the early morning. Last year, some started shopping Thanksgiving night.

This year a few stores announced they’ll be open Thanksgiving Day, some beginning at 6 a.m. I’m sure more will get on board next year. Soon they’ll be offering Thanksgiving dinners in Styrofoam containers so you can eat while you shop!

The debate has begun whether to boycott or not. Everyone has the right to choose. If shopping on Thanksgiving makes you happy, then go ahead. If staying as far away from the stores as you can is your choice, then do that. People protest that retail workers won’t have time with their families. True, but let’s not forget those who work in jobs where there’s never a holiday or a day off. Nurses, firefighters, police officers, to name a few, go quietly off to their jobs on Thanksgiving and other holidays.

Not too many years ago, I remember commercials focusing more and more on Black Friday. One showed a cooked turkey jumping off the Thanksgiving table running out the door to shop. My son found a store’s website that had wake-up calls. A famous celebrity, Darth Vader or crying baby would call to wake you in time to not miss the bargains. He sat and played them for after dinner entertainment. Who would have thought that one day we’d look back at that and remember that as the good old days?

Since there’s probably not much we can do to change the current situation, maybe we can at least show our appreciation to all those who do work on that day. Give the gift of patience and show your thanks. That’s what the day’s all about. And don’t forget to create some memories. These are the good old days. Happy Thanksgiving.

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Fall-Winter Nov. 12 (9)

The trees are throwing up their branches in confusion. They’re saying, “What the?”  We’ve had early snows in Northeast Ohio but rarely a late fall. When the two collide, is it Flinter?

The autumn leaves stuck around late this year. In fact, the trees didn’t show signs of changing colors until mid October. By then, we’re usually raking up the bulk of them. Even as I look out the window today there are remnants on some branches.

Imagine the surprise of waking last week to Flinter! The sun was shining and it was a glorious morning. Snow glistened on the lawns and stuck to the branches of the trees. The odd thing about this picture was most trees still had their leaves. It was November twelfth!

Our part of the state was not the only place to get snow that day. The front dropped snow on Chicago and headed east to the Atlantic coast. We all were included in this wintry blast.

Using the seasons in a novel takes a little research, especially if you don’t live in that part of the country. Accuracy, I feel, is important. I always take into consideration that temperatures can be inconsistent year after year, but still want to be true to the climate. Authors have the right to change things up. Cold climates can have a balmy Christmas. It happened here one year. We still talk about the Christmas it was seventy degrees. Other times, Spring may not appear until the first of May. Sometimes we feel it may never stop snowing. Weather is a fickle friend. You can’t always count on it. But this year, was the strangest I’ve witnessed.

Maybe a few more seasons need to be invented. Then we won’t feel so disappointed when the snow falls on beautiful autumn trees. We can just say, “Hey, it’s finally Flinter!” We could enjoy that April snow shower just a little better if it had a name. “Oh, that happens a lot. It’s Snapril.” See? Don’t you feel better already?

Now that I’ve invented Flinter, feel free to use it whenever you like. I hope one day I pick up a book, start to read and the very first line say, “It was a dark and stormy Flinter.” That would make my day.

 

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Today I have a special guest blogger, author Charmaine Pauls. She wrote the romance novel, The Winemaker.  Since my sister loves wine and wineries I thought the book would make a perfect gift for her birthday. (See picture above) Charmaine lives a continent away so there was no way she could sign the book. Instead I asked her to recommend a bottle of wine which she was gracious enough to do. I also invited her to blog about wines and her book for today’s entry. Enjoy!

What do wine and romance have in common? In Etán Perez-Cruz’s opinion, everything. Well, of course he will think that. He is an award-winning winemaker to whom the pinnacle of expression is his creation. No wonder he compares the best cépage of his career, a Merlot, to the unrequited love of his life, Zenna.

To Etán, people are like wine. He is a genius when it comes to taste and smell. Blending is his exceptional gift. But when it comes to expressing himself, he sadly lacks communication skills. The ever-inventive Etán therefore finds a way of telling Zenna how he feels through his wine bouquets. When he first meets her, he is overwhelmed by the fragrance of the unique chemical make-up of her skin. She is an addiction, the seduction of his senses, and although he has locked his heart away in a very deep, cold cellar, the Chilean wine maestro is soon defenseless in the presence of the Englishwoman who considers herself utterly average.

After a tequila-infused kiss in a scene where Zenna tries to drown her sorrow when her fiancé dumps her, Etán brings Zenna a bottle of Sombra 1999 Red Blend. This is one of his earliest superstar wines, and he believes it describes her perfectly.

“Showcases sweet, dark, plummy fruit. Wrapped in a cedary cloak of earth, tobacco, and cassis. Smooth and supple, framed with soft tannins. There is no need to cellar it. It should last well.”

The way in which Etán looks at Zenna when he recites the label, and more specifically where his eyes linger, leaves no doubt in Zenna’s mind what the enigmatic vintner is referring to. The analogy between the wine and the woman is like the bouquet – intoxicating and alluring.

As their relationship develops, growing physically more intense, but emotionally more complicated, to Etán Zenna becomes a Tierra de Sol 2002, a classic Bordeaux style blend.

“Cassis, forest floor, chocolate, and cedar. Notes of lemon, sage, and olive. Palate intense and well-rounded. Balancing olive with cassis, plum with wood, leather with intense berry. Dusty, soft tannins. Impeccable structure. It will only get better over the next five years and drink beautifully over ten.”

Before the season is out, Etán’s feelings for Zenna deepen to the point of a Merlot 2010, his best creation ever. This is the ultimate compliment an oenologist can bestow on a woman.

“Color opaque. Nose is tight, meaty, and earthy. The mouth offers layers of bittersweet chocolate and powerful blackberries. A tad bit hedonistic and heavy, with all sorts of overflowing fruit, but isn’t it exactly what one wants in a modern red wine?”

For reasons that cannot be disclosed without giving away the plot, Etán can’t have what he desires most. At the height of his heart-rending turmoil, admitting that Zenna is beyond his reach, Etán compares her, for the first time ever, to a wine that is not from his cellar, to his rival’s cultivar, Uvas Organicas 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon.

“Nectarines. Floral notes. Like a Riesling. Drips rather than oozes with red cherry and plum. The finish is light, dusty, and elegant. Spearmint, light leafiness, forest fern. Elegant, unforced red fruit aromas.”

Throughout the story Zenna is taken on a metaphorical winetasting tour, discovering Etán’s world where senses are all-consuming, and learning the secret to reading the man of her dreams who can only reveal his sentiments through the wine he creates.

As Zenna masters Etán’s unique style of transporting meaning, she comprehends his personifications of wine. This is why, for example, Etán dedicated his Casa Sol 2004 Syrah, which won the first prize at the international Berlin Wine Tasting competition in 2004, to his hunky bad-boy brother, Luca.

“Perfectly open and huge, with deep plum and black fruit smothering both the bouquet and palate. Big berry flavors, and excellent balancing acids and tannins. A wine distinguished as a bruiser with charm. While it shows very little in common with Rhône-style Syrah, for a Chilean version it rocks.”

Join Zenna and Etán in Chilean wine country on a journey of sensory exploration that defines people like wine, wine like lovers, and the undeniable truth of love as a drop of wine on the tongue. After all, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, or in this case, in the drinking.

Brought to you with a toast from Chile,

The Winemaker, by Charmaine Pauls

Where to buy the book:

Buy from Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Winemaker-Charmaine-Pauls-ebook/dp/B00EPXFVH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384183491&sr=1-1&keywords=the+winemaker+by+charmaine+pauls

 

Buy from Mélange Books

http://www.melange-books.com/authors/charmainepauls/winemaker.html

 

Buy from Lulu.com

http://www.lulu.com/shop/charmaine-pauls/the-winemaker/paperback/product-21131433.html

About the author:

The South African born novelist is a gypsy at heart who loves to look at the world through the lens of her camera. Connect with Charmaine Pauls on:

Author website

www.charmainepauls.com

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Charmaine-Pauls/175738829145132

Twitter

https://twitter.com/CharmainePauls

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5161287.Charmaine_Pauls

 

Other books by Charmaine Pauls:

Between Yesterday & Tomorrow

How long will you wait for the man you love when he disappears from the face of the earth?

http://www.amazon.com/Between-Yesterday-Tomorrow-Charmaine-Pauls/dp/1456598465/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372368917&sr=1-3&keywords=between+yesterday+and+tomorrow

Between Fire & Ice

If you were the last fertile woman on earth, would you indulge a man forced to marry you to save the world?

http://www.amazon.com/Between-Fire-Ice-ebook/dp/B009WETS1W/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372368962&sr=1-4&keywords=between+fire+%26+ice

 

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If you’re a fan of Doctor Who you may recognize the title of my post today.  During the 10th Doctor’s reign one of the episodes was given this title. Donna Noble was his companion at the time. For those of you unfamiliar with the BBC series, the Doctor is a Time Lord, a time-travelling humanoid alien, and rarely travels through time and space alone. He always has a companion or two come along for his adventures.

In “Turn Left”, Donna is the star of the show. Everything focuses on her and the choices she makes.  She’s sitting at a stoplight and her mother’s in the passenger seat. They’re arguing over which way to turn. If Donna went left, she would take a job as a temp at a security firm. Right would take her to a job at a friend’s business.

Watching the episode, you already know that Donna’s job is a temp. That’s when she meets back up with the Doctor—who she met once before. They’re separately investigating a revolutionary diet pill at the firm she’s working at. She’s been looking into strange occurrences hoping to run into the Doctor again, and to her delight, she does.

As you watch her sit at the stoplight, you assume you know the answer. She will turn left. Not in this episode. Her mother wins out and Donna turns right.

The course of history is now altered because of that move. Donna never meets up with the Doctor. She doesn’t even know him.  She never convinces him to leave an area that’s flooding and he drowns. The Doctor is not around to save the world anymore. Her decision creates an alternate universe with major changes in history.

The changes aren’t pretty. A dsytopian society is created after the destruction of London. Things keep going from bad to worse all because of making the wrong turn…or choice.

Think of your own life. Do you ever wish you turned right instead of left? It could create a whole new timeline and wipe out the existing one. Your life as you know it wouldn’t even be a distant memory. Would you be glad you did? Or have regrets?

Fun and somewhat crazy to think about. Left? Right? Which will it be? Well, Donna knew. She made the ultimate sacrifice to make things right again.

As I watched the show, it got me to thinking…and comparing. This story was very much like part of the plot in my second book. I asked the same questions. What would Kate’s life be like if her parents never met? Or her father stayed in the past? What happens to everyone’s lives? Would she even be born?

Philosophical questions. No one has the answers. That’s what makes it fun. Pondering over the “what ifs” in life make it interesting. With a bit of luck, we all make the right choices in the end. If not, maybe you’ll be at that stoplight one day, debating which way to turn. When you make the final decision, there may be no going back, no second chance. You’ll be on a new path in life’s journey. And hopefully, while you sat at that light, you made the right decision and turned left.

 

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I was never good at creating a costume. Those plastic masks and tie-on outfits were the go-to costume of the day. Boxes and boxes of them lined the store shelves, waiting to be chosen. I preferred those small masks that went across your eyes that were red or black or any solid color. The easiest costumes of the day were ghost and hobo. I don’t think I went as either. I can hardly remember what I dressed as and there are no pictures to remind me.

My son was very creative when it came to Halloween and still is to this day. He always knew what he wanted to be. We did a few store bought costumes like Darth Vader but he liked to make his own. Frankenstein and Dracula came to life with his own creative touches. Even as a small boy, he planned out his wardrobe. Doctor for Preschool, Fireman for trick-or-treating. I have trouble thinking of one idea and he had two!

There was one big difference between the Halloween I celebrated and his. Parents now had to be on high alert, taking some of the fun out of this once-a- year thrill. Safety first is definitely a must but I never checked my candy or feared someone would sabotage it when I was young. When the first stories of razor blades or drugs appeared, it was a sad day for Halloween.

But now back to the fun stuff. I have two stories from back in the day I’d like to share. One’s a scary memory and the other is funny.

One family, down the street, loved Halloween–the scary kind. I’m a PG rated Halloween girl, no thrills and chills so this is my scary memory. On that night, we could always hear screams coming from that house…some from the trick or treaters and the rest coming from inside the house. My sister and I would meet up with other neighborhood kids and stand on the sidewalk gazing at the house. Large trees dotted the front yard, making it harder to see what was going on. Kids would come running down the drive, laughing and yelling. I could never tell if they enjoyed what happened to them or not.

I never went to that house to trick-or-treat. I did find out what made everyone scream. As kids walked to the door, a large ghost dropped from a tree, landing right in front of them. Startling, I’m sure. I never wanted to find out how startling it was and never approached the house. It was scary enough standing in the dark listening to all the strange noises.

My favorite Halloween memory is trick-or-treating at an elderly woman’s home. We hardly saw her the rest of the year. She lived alone and kept to herself. On Halloween her light was always on. She’d come to the door with a giant bowl of candy corn with a large spoon sticking out from the center. She’d grab the handle, scooping up a heaping mound of the mouth-watering morsels and my eyes would light up. (Remember, this was back in the day when it was okay to hand out apples and loose candy.)

The old woman would then begin to shake the spoon. She’d shake and shake until there were two of those kernels left. Then she’d dump it into your bag. We never missed her house in all those years of trick or-treating. I guess we hoped one day we’d get that giant scoop thrown in our bags.

She reminded me of one of those fairytales villains that looked normal at first but as they did their wicked deed they’d turn into an old, weathered form of themselves, like a witch. That’s as scary as my Halloween got. .

I hope you have a few good memories tucked away that you can pull out this season and laugh and reminisce about. I think the real idea of Halloween is to be able to step away from your everyday life for just one brief night and face your fears, laugh till your sides hurt and eat some candy. I recommend starting with two candy corns. They’re the best.

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Pavarotti was talking about the advice he got from his father when he couldn’t decide between teaching and singing. His father told him, “Son, if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.”

I love that message. His father wasn’t rich or famous but gave great advice. Too often in this fast paced world, people want things handed to them or become an overnight sensation. The easier it is, the better.

When I first started writing my book, I kept telling myself I was crazy. I researched how many words a book should have and found 60,000 to 100,000 as the common answer. I decided if I made the commitment, I’d stick it out till the end, regardless the outcome.

I wrote, researched, and read each chapter over and over again. I had no idea how many words it was because I decided that wasn’t important. The essential thing was to get the words on the paper. Worry about the small stuff later.

I finally gave in and used the tool bar to click “word count”. Imagine my surprise when I had 55,000 words and wasn’t nearly done. I chose one chair and stuck to it. More stepping stones would come along after the book was written but I had met the challenge. As I continued on, each task needed to be handled with that same mindset. One chair at a time.

The message is clear. Stick to one thing and do it well. If you don’t love what you’re doing, try to see it through to the end. You never know what might happen and you could end up liking it. Can you change your mind and follow a different path? Absolutely. Just do it one chair at a time.

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chefs-hat-23436_640My father always cooked breakfast on weekends. He’d also fire up the grill for steaks or barbecue chicken and stand over them like he was the master chef.

My husband does the same thing. He makes breakfast on weekends–makes a mean pancake–and mans the grill for just about anything we cook. I didn’t think much of it at first. I grew up with a man who did the cooking and met another one who didn’t mind to cook. I realize now I’m a little spoiled.

Naturally, I had to have my main character’s father comfortable in the kitchen. He’s ready to lend a hand no matter what time of day it is. He’s into natural ingredients and will jump in the car to get a fresh piece of fish to cook for the family.

More and more men are into cooking these days. When I was younger, it was woman’s work. Julia Child was on the scene and women wanted to emulate her. Now there are TV shows galore showing men whipping up all kinds of dishes. I like that. Nothing wrong with men knowing how to cook.

My son has jumped on the cooking bandwagon. He’ll help out in the kitchen when the mood strikes him. When he was away at school, he bought himself a good knife and a cutting board. He swears by them. They usually come out front and center when he’s involved in a recipe.

The first time we cooked together was right after he came back from school. The recipe called for chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Since my husband and I aren’t fans, I would’ve made the meal minus the peppers. My son wouldn’t hear of it and insisted I buy them. He would cut them up.

After opening the can and dumping them on a plate, we couldn’t stop laughing. They reminded us of something that was not food and had more to do with a bodily function. He took pictures and posted them on Facebook having people guess what they were. No one could. The meal was finally prepared after all the antics. My husband came home from work and we shared our story.

My son dubbed that adventure, The Matt and Mom Cooking Show. We’ve had more that followed, some just as funny. My only regret is I wish we really had them on film. We have many videos of people blowing out candles for birthdays or ripping open packages on holidays. Nice to have but sometimes you feel you’re on repeat as you watch.

I wish I had pictures of my dad at the stove, whipping up the scrambled eggs. I’d put it with the one of my husband pulling the Thanksgiving turkey out of the oven. Then next to them, I’d place the picture of the chipotle peppers. It would be a great trip down memory lane.

Hopefully, one day my son will add to my fantasy picture album. His son would have to go a long way though to top his dad’s photo but if he’ll be anything like my son, he’ll make sure he does.

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Grand Canyon HikeMy books recently tagged along on a hiking adventure. They were excited to go and leave home the first time without me. It’s all they could talk about for weeks on end.

Actually they didn’t really have to do the walking; they hitchhiked along in my niece’s backpack. She was kind enough to take them when she and her father hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. As a favor to me, she took pictures of them along the trail. I’d love to hike it myself, but I don’t think I’d ever make it back out alive or with two good knees. It’s all uphill, I’m told.

On the trip she’d have to carry a backpack filled with 25 to 35 pounds of supplies which turned out to be more like 50. Two more pounds would be added because of the books, but she took them willingly.

Being a talented, creative girl I had no doubt she had big plans for the books. I decided they would provide entertainment for the travelers since there’d be others in the group. I was sure my niece would use any and all ideas…as long as one of them wasn’t to toss the books into the canyon. It turned out the couple that joined them on the trip were seasoned hikers and mountain bikers. They were very fit and forged ahead without the group at times. I’m sure they did want to throw the books into the canyon after all.

She chose a one-day down and two-day back up package. They camped overnight at the bottom of the canyon and then again halfway up Bright Angel Trail at Indian Gardens. It was a trip of a lifetime and one I’m she she’ll never forget.

I am going to end this post with a summary of her trip in her own words:

Holy crap, y’all. We made it. We freaking made it. This was hands down the hardest thing I have EVER done, ever. I literally sobbed when I got to the top.

If this is something you want to do, go for it- but do not underestimate the canyon or overestimate your ability. 

 

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