One Year Old!

This week was Baby T’s first birthday! It’s amazing that both he and I have survived one whole year. It feels like time has flown by… on the other hand, what is that old saying? Time flies when you don’t get any sleep… ;)

Anyway, to celebrate his first year on the planet, we took Baby to Disneyland. Our trip:

Day one – We pile into the car in the morning, pack a case of diapers (just in case), three bottles of sunscreen (because Orange County hit a record high of 113 degrees the day before – perfect weather for standing in line in the sun all day, no?), and ten DVDs to keep Baby happy in the backseat, then set off for the seven hour drive to Southern California. We pop in The Wiggles DVD that I got from Netflix for the ride into the player. Baby is elated. Unfortunately, the DVD is scratched, so it only plays the first half of the movie. We pop something else in the player. Baby cries. He only wants The Wiggles. So, we watch the first half of the DVD again. And again. I think we hit ten times by the time we finally arrived in Anaheim at the Disneyland Hotel. I kid you not, I can recite the whole thing word for word now.

So, we picked the Disneyland Hotel to stay in this trip, even though it’s a little pricier, because it has the monorail that runs from the hotel to Disneyland – no need to walk, no need to park the car at the theme park. Perfect for shuttling Baby back to the room for a nap mid-day. So, as soon as we check in, we go online and check out the park schedule for the next day. Guess what? The monorail is down for maintenance. I call the front desk and get into an argument with the clerk that ends with the phrase, “We’re going to have to agree to disagree, Ma’am.” If I wasn’t surround by pictures of Mickey’s Mouse, I’d be tempted to be upset.

Day Two – We get up early, lather with sunscreen, and walk the entirety of Downtown Disney to the theme park, praying that the tickets we bought off craigslist before coming actually work to get us in. Wonder of wonders, the guy was legit and they do. (yay!) We take Baby on It’s a Small World as his first intro to Disney rides. At first, he’s in awe, checking out all the dancing dolls. Then, he tries to reach up and touch them. Then he looks confused – “Um, are they ever going to stop singing, Mom?” By the end, he’s totally over it, trying to jump out of the boat. But the ride is 15 minutes of air conditioned bliss (Did I mention the record heat? Oy.), so we’re happy.

We get off the ride and get an ice cream. We do another couple rides, then stop for water. One more ride, lunch in the shade and more water. Seriously, it’s October. A heat wave? No fair. We spend a long, sticky, hot day trying to find the longest, most air conditioned rides we can. Then hit the pool that night.

Baby T on the King Arthur Carousel with Daddy

Day Three – The name of the game today is keep cool. We start off the day with water rides in the California Adventure Park. Baby plays for hours in the water fountains while Big Boy rides the Grizzly Rapids. When everyone is soaked, we hit the margarita stand for frosted cocktails. (Why on earth did we not do this yesterday?) We do a few more water rides at Disneyland, sit in the shade and eat ice cream, then have dinner in Downtown Disney where we do more margaritas. Back to the park after dark for a few more rides, then we hit the shops for souvenirs before retiring to our rooms.



Big Boy in the biggest balloon hat on the planet in Downtown Disney. (Really, he's having fun.  It's just that he's ten, and the Tween Code requires he wear a semi-sulking expression at all times.)  



Day Four – We planned to spend the morning swimming before packing up, but a freak thunderstorm derails those plans. (Bear in mind, this is L.A. It rains twice a year here. When I say “freak,” I totally mean it.) So, we pack up, load everyone into the car, and settle in for another seven hours of The Wiggles. (For those of you curious, yes, I did send the DVD back to Netflix the second we go home.)

Overall, great trip. Lots of fun. I highly recommend the margaritas.


Happy birthday, Baby T!


~Trigger Happy Halliday

Why I Write

Those fortunate enough not to have been bitten by the writing bug often wonder what compels us authors to sit down at our computers, day after day, word after word, sore back after sore back. After some soul searching, I recently discovered there are three primary reasons why I write.

Reason #1: I enjoy the sense of power writing gives me.
In my real world, I can’t get my son to change his underwear or eat a vegetable, but when I sit down to write, my characters do exactly what I tell them, right when I tell them to do it. I decide whether my character will wear her faded blue jeans and a sweatshirt or the trashy mini-skirt and satin halter. She has absolutely no say in the matter. If I don’t like what a character is saying, I can cut him off in mid-sentence. I can give my characters a wedgie should I so choose. If my characters piss me off, I can arrange to have their throats slit. Yes, writing is power.

Reason #2: My life is pretty damn ordinary and writing allows me to experience things I never will in my “real” world.
Unless working part-time as a tax advisor, attending PTA meetings, and scrubbing toilets can be called fun, my life is pretty dull. But through my writing, I can sky dive into an active volcano and live to tell about it. I can scale Mount Everest wearing nothing but a bikini and a pair of flip flops. I can go on a European tour with an all-female punk rock band whose roadies are male underwear models. Yee-ha!

Reason #3: I’m a closet skank.
I’d never cheat on my husband, but after 19 years of marriage, our love life has become somewhat . . . um . . . er . . . predictable. Through my love scenes, however, I can vicariously sleep with dozens of sexy men and never risk contracting a disease or being served with divorce papers. If I’m in the mood for something exotic, Enrique comes to visit, rolling his R’s as we roll in the hay. Pierre is always good for a French kiss, and he makes French toast the morning after. For some down and dirty fun, a randy redneck in the bed of a pickup fits the bill. I can lose my virginity dozens of times, yet never lose my reputation. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Introducing Guest Blogger - Janice Hardy!

We All Need a Little Mystery

A good friend of mine writes cozy mysteries, and when she first started reading my fantasies (novels, not the other kind) she remarked that she’d never be able to make up an entire world like I did. I found it incredible that she could write in the “real world” and not have the luxury of making stuff up when she needed it. Two totally different writers approaching their stories from two totally different perspectives, but what we both agreed on, was that all stories need a sense of wonder. Without mystery, stories just weren’t any fun.

I’ll read just about any genre out there, but I’ve always been drawn to science fiction and fantasy when I write. I think it’s the wonder that draws me in. Not only do I get to follow the plot mystery (how will this turn out?), but I get to create a world with its own mysteries and complexities. Every time I turn a corner, something new and amazing has to be figured out.

How do these people make a living? How did this culture evolve? Where did this magic come from? When did these problems begin? Each world-building exercise is a mystery to be solved for me, and figuring out that mystery is as much fun as writing the actual story. But it doesn’t just end with what I write. These are also questions that fill my mind as I read or watch a story, regardless of what genre.

Any time a story can surprise me it’s a win. Surprising a writer is hard work, because we plot all the time and can usually spot a twist coming a mile away. But when it happens, it’s such a thrill, and I enjoy the story all the more because it took me someplace new and unexpected. It’s the little joys I remember.

Better still, is when you’re not sure how all the pieces fit together, but you start figuring the plot out and seeing the truth under the misdirection. You have to know what happens next because you need to know if you’re right. Were you smart enough to solve those puzzles? Were you really one step ahead or did they fool you, too? Figuring out the twist of a movie to TV show before my husband is a major victory at my house, and one I revel in when it happens.

It’s even better when it happens in my own work.

I outline my novels, but I never plan how my characters are going to achieve the goals I’ve set for them. It would spoil the mystery to know how they were going to solve this delicious puzzle I’ve concocted. I write myself into corners (not recommended unless you enjoy a challenge and a bit of hair ripping) and put my characters into situations that take me days to find a way out of. The moment when the solution comes to me is one of the best in world.

Because I’ve solved the mystery.

And with luck, my readers will wonder what on earth can happen next because that’s what I felt as I was writing it. If I had no clue how to get out of things, it should be just as unpredictable for my readers. Maintaining that sense of wonder keeps the wonder going. It keeps the mystery alive.

And who doesn’t love a good mystery?

Blue Fire Blurb
Part fugitive, part hero, fifteen-year-old Nya is barely staying ahead of the Duke of Baseer’s trackers. Wanted for a crime she didn’t mean to commit, she risks capture to protect every Taker she can find, determined to prevent the Duke from using them in his fiendish experiments. But resolve isn’t enough to protect any of them, and Nya soon realizes that the only way to keep them all out of the Duke’s clutches is to flee Geveg. Unfortunately, the Duke’s best tracker has other ideas.

Nya finds herself trapped in the last place she ever wanted to be, forced to trust the last people she ever thought she could. More is at stake than just the people of Geveg, and the closer she gets to uncovering the Duke’s plan, the more she discovers how critical she is to his victory. To save Geveg, she just might have to save Baseer—if she doesn’t destroy it first.

Janice Hardy Bio
A long-time fantasy reader, Janice Hardy always wondered about the darker side of healing. For her fantasy trilogy THE HEALING WARS, she tapped into her own dark side to create a world where healing was dangerous, and those with the best intentions often made the worst choices. Her books include THE SHIFTER, and BLUE FIRE from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. She lives in Georgia with her husband, three cats and one very nervous freshwater eel.

Link to Blue Fire Online Retailers
http://www.harpercollins.com/book/pre-order.aspx?isbn13=9780061747410

Website
www.janicehardy.com

The Other Side of the Story Blog
http://storyflip.blogspot.com/

Music Moments

WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!! Bet you have won the copy of Shut Up and Kiss Me and the copy of the CD The Fancy Shapes. Please send me your snail mail address at christie (at) christie-craig (.) com

“Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul.” Plato

It’s happened more than once. I’ll be in my car, listening to the radio, and a song will play. I’ll get pulled into music or the lyrics.

Suddenly, wherever my mind was, I’m not there anymore. I’m in the song. If it’s a sad song, I probably have tears in my eyes and my mascara is running down my face. If it’s happy song, I’m smiling ear to ear and looking pretty goofy. If there’s a lot of rhythm, I’m probably doing a little dance, my butt bouncing on the car seat. If it’s a song I know and love the words to, I sing along, belt out the words as if I’m on a stage, as if I can sing and my “carry-a-tune” thingamajig doesn’t have a big hole in it. But it doesn’t matter. I’m in a moment and I forget.

I forget that the people stopped at the red light are staring at me, wondering what kind of fruitcake I am. Not that I really care, but when I do see them snickering and staring, I blush just a little bit. But then I tell myself that when they see me in a middle of a music moment, they’re thinking the same thing I’m thinking when I see someone else in one. I usually smile and if my radio isn’t on, I turn it on. Because, well, music is good for us. And getting lost in one of those music moments is heart-healthy.

Like the quote above states, music finds a place in our souls. Music is therapy. No, seriously, there is a thing called music therapy. In some states, Medicare will even pay for it. I’m not joking. Google it and you’ll see.

So why am I talking about music today? Well, I have a song. Okay… I don’t have a song. My book, Shut Up and Kiss Me, has a song. It wasn’t exactly written for my book, but you’ll never guess what the title is: Shut up and Kiss Me, and it mentions soul mates in the lyrics, and if you’ve read my book, you know it’s about soul mates. “Shut Up and Kiss Me” is by The Fancy Shapes, a New York based band that melds smart pop with Afro-tropical rhythms. (That’s what it says in this cool review at Barnes and Noble. All I know is I like the music.) Anyway, would you believe their new CD Fun City releases today? How’s that for another coincidence?

So I’m gonna call it my book’s song, and The Fancy Shapes are going to let me do it. In fact, if you pop over to my website you can even download a copy of the song for free. But better than that, I’m also going to post all the links here. And if you like it as much as I do, you can follow the link to B&N and order a copy of the CD.

Listen to Shut Up & Kiss Me

Download the song for free

Buy the CD



You know, I’m with music like I am with books. I sort of like different types. I love Country Western, love the stories the lyrics tell. I like rock & roll, the hypnotic fast rhythm that gets your soul popping. I love Irish music that seems to get into my blood and make my feet start tapping. Jazz music that pulls me into a certain mood. Folk and easy listening are right up there on my likes, as well. When I write I can’t listen to music with lyrics, so if I do listen to music it’s often classical.

I guess you could say, I’m not a music snob, or a music connoisseur. If it tickles my fancy then I fancy it. And my fancy gets tickled a lot. With music, of course. Hmm, I guess you could say I am with music sort of like I am with books. I read across genres.

So what about you guys? Do you have a song? What type of music do you like? Do you regularly get caught up in a music moment at red lights? Today, one lucky person will get a copy of my book and a copy of The Fancy Shapes’ Fun City. So make sure you post. And today I hope everyone will take a few minutes to slow down and listen to your favorite music—to get lost in the moment.

Lori Lethal Avocato!

Hi All,

Thanks for letting me join this stellar group of "killers!" LOL I love the moniker, Lori Lethal Avocato! I am working on the Lethal in Lace series for those who wonder where the title came from.

Great to be here!

Lori

Fall Shows

I am so excited that fall shows have started the rounds. HOUSE is back with some of the most brilliant writing and acting on television. Seriously, if you haven't watched this - try it. But rent the seasons in order or you will miss the backstory subtleties. HELL'S KITCHEN is back and I'm sorta worried on that one. This has to be the worst set of candidates I've ever seen. I'm starting to wonder if people are being selected for the show to produce ratings by being mental or awful, but for those of us who want to see a real competition, it's only annoying. Besides, didn't the HK producers learn from that whole American Idol "Sunjaya" fiasco? Anyway, I don't like anyone on there yet and quite frankly, would physically strangle a few of them if they were in my grasp.

But probably the most entertaining of all the train wrecks on television is JERSEY SHORE. I know, I know. People may groan and shake their heads in dismay, but Lord help, that show is funny. I don't get all the whining by those from New Jersey who somehow think it reflects poorly on them. Do they really think the entire country is so stupid we think those kids are representative of an entire state? Not to mention that what they do represent is a specific subculture found in the New England regions - the guidos. They are not making this up - that's the way of life they've chosen, just like skaters or goths or whatever other subcultures exist.

Where else are you going to learn great expressions like the "smush room" (the only room in the shared household with a double bed - you get the idea) or here a girl referring to getting lucky as "getting it in?" They're young, they're having fun and they're making a ton of money partying. If I could have acted a fool for money when I was in my early twenties, then never had to worry about money again, I probably would have. New identities just aren't that hard to come by. LOL

Last week, there was a big fray in the writing community because one of the JS stars, Snooki, got a book deal for a romance book. Snooki has been unlucky in love so far on the show, but she did coin the "get it in" phrase and she has indeed "gotten it in" twice so far this season. (She wasn't so lucky in the first season) So some writers are outraged and downright angry. Again, I don't get it. Snooki did not take a romance slot from a legitimate work. Celebrity books are not slotted with the rest of our works. Publishing is a business. So the publisher hires a ghost writer, puts Snooki's name on the book, and makes a ton of money while the kid is somebody. Sound business decision. And the money made on a Snooki book can be used to market or acquire more works by real writers.

I guess I'm just infinitely practical, or perhaps it's because above all else, I still view publishing as a business first and foremost. But I'm not calling foul. What about you?

Deadly DeLeon

Guest Blogger Maria Grazia Swan

This week I am at Disneyland celebrating Baby T's first birthday. (OMG, can you believe it's been a year already? Time flies when you get no sleep...) So, to fill in for me is the fabulous Maria Grazia Swan. Take it away, Maria...

I’m convinced that the way you like your eggs may say a lot about the people you date

By the time we reach midlife and the much anticipated midlife crisis, most of us have a pretty good idea on how we like our eggs cooked: scrambled, poached, sunny side up. For me is scrambled because, coming from Italy, is either scrambled or hard boiled, and I really mean hard.

We order without even thinking. It’s good that we know what we like and don’t have to pop Prozac to calm our nerves before deciding. It’s bad that we unreflectively make that same choice again and again. With all the new trends, you’ll find almost infinite ways to cook eggs, omelet, huevos rancheros, eggs benedicts, frittatas. But, we tend to stick to our safe, familiar routine.

Sort of like we do with dating.

Before we go out on a date with someone, we ought to learn their likes and dislikes, so that instead of playing the old game; “What do you want to do?” “I dunno, what you want to do?” We should have a plan. A plan? For a date? Believe me, it can pay off.

Most people opt for a movie. That way, if you don’t like your date, at least you don’t have to talk. I say, forget the movie; go to a comedy club You still don’t have to talk and you do get entertained, and most important, you get to see how your date reacts to the jokes told by the stand-up comedians, regardless of how ‘politically correct’ they are-or aren’t-. That’s like 3-D for the soul, and it works both ways, so you may learn from your own reactions.

Afraid too much laughter will put wrinkles on your face? Go to an art show. Most are free, and they even serve refreshments. Here again, little talk, much expression of soul.

Personally I stay away from dinner for a first date. I don’t want to sit in judgment of, or be judged by the choice of restaurant or the price of the food ordered. Meet for happy hour, if the chemistry is there you can stay for dinner, if it’s not, drive home carefully.

Yes, dating has a lot in common with eggs: if you rush the cooking you may get sick, if you cook your eggs too long, they get rubbery and tasteless and please, treat each egg gently, they break easily. And we certainly all like our eggs fresh. Hey, some people even like them raw. If you are allergic to eggs…get egg substitutes. They may not taste the same, but they are good for you. And if you need something to talk about with your date, how about: ”What came first, the egg or the chicken?”


The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn.
Gloria Steinem

~ Maria Grazia Swan

Maria Grazia Swan is an author and motivational speaker who shares relationship advice and guidance for women re-entering the social/dating scene. Maria empowers and encourages single women to be bold, fearless, and sexy in their pursuit of life and love after age 45. An award recipient from the Women’s National Book Association, Swan is the author of Boomer Babes: True Tales of Love and Lust in the Later Years (Leisure Books). Visit  http://www.mariagrazia.tv