The more things change...

My husband and I are getting ready to celebrate ten years, which is amazing in itself considering that it's not unusual for me to say things like, "We've been to that restaurant/park/event before. Remember? When we were dating." So it doesn't seem that long ago. But time marches on.

To celebrate, Jim and I are planning a trip back to Chicago, where we spent a lot of time...err...when we were dating. And first married. Before kids, really. We live in St. Louis, and sometimes on Fridays I'd come home from work at the ad agency and want to go somewhere, do something. Head out of town. So we'd pack a quick bag and go.

We really should have checked the weather as well because one time, we were half-way to Chicago and it started snowing. Hard. We turned on the radio and learned they'd been predicting a foot of snow. Turns out they were right. Oops. We almost spent that weekend in an old Red Roof Inn in the middle of rural Illinois.

But it was fun and we always had such a great time on our impromptu road trips. Alas, they ended when we had kids. Now with writing and other things, I haven't really felt the need to dash out of town at the end of the day. Or maybe my husband and I just know we can't!

Still, for the 10th, we're doing it again. Only this time, we're planning. And frankly, it has us confused.

Like last night, we sat on our laptops and showed each other fun things to do in Chicago. New things. Things we'd never done before. But we couldn't decide on anything. We looked up hotels. But we ended up making a reservation at the same place we'd always just showed up at before. Then we realized our problem - these trips are not meant to be planned. They're meant to be savored. We'd gotten to be too parental. We were messing with the system.

So we ditched the planning and have decided we'll just show up. We'll revel in the "let's see" attitude that made the trips so much fun in the first place. We'll explore with abandon. Well, mostly. I did notice Jim has kept the reservation.

A Weekend Away...

By Robin "Red Hot" Kaye

My youngest daughter, Mini-me and I took a mini vacation to Colonial Williamsburg this weekend—just the two of us. It isn’t often we get away together. It seems as if for the last five years I’ve been on deadline as I am now. So why, you may ask, am I romping around Colonial Williamsburg when my book is due in 16 days? My only answer is: Because, maternal guilt is a very powerful motivator.

As usual, this is all my husband’s fault. He took our other two kids out backpacking for five days over Fourth of July weekend leaving Mini-me and me at home with the dogs. Not that there is anything wrong with the dogs. They’re cute, cuddly, and you know, loyal. But it’s not as if Mini-me and I got to do anything fun.

Now, between you, me, and the doorknob, Mini-me and I don’t think backpacking is much fun—after all it involves bugs, a hell of a lot of walking, poison ivy, going to the bathroom in the woods, and eating freeze-dried food, but that’s not the point. The point is that they got to do something they thought was fun and we didn’t.

When my husband and the kids came home, I told them that Mini-me and I were going away just the two of us to do something fun which would not involve woods (we’re allergic), too much walking, bad food (we’re food snobs), bugs (that darn allergy thing again) and questionable toilet facilities (just because we know how to shit in the woods, doesn’t mean we want to). I had no idea what we were going to do, but I had a strong feeling it would involve someplace with 24-hour room service.

Luckily I found a great deal through Travel Zoo, signed up, and even paid for it. Two nights in Colonial Williamsburg was ours any Sunday through Thursday, the only catch was that it had to be used by September 27th. No problem. After all we had the whole summer. September was months away.

Isn’t it amazing how time flies while you’re not having fun? Well, we had some fun. After all, if you’ve followed the blog you’ve read allabout my trip to Idaho.

Right after I killed myself to make my deadline for Back To You: Bad Boys of Red Hook, my editor asked if I could write a novella, Hometown Girl, to introduce the new series. I said, sure, no problem. I whipped that puppy out, had a fabulous time writing it, sent it in (a few days early in fact—a first for me) and went back to my contracts to see when my next book was due...Imagine my surprise when I realized it You're The One: Bad Boys of Red Hook was due October 1!

Now mind you, this was mid-August and I hadn’t even written the synopsis for You're The One. Any sane person would have gone into apoplectic shock. It’s a good thing I’m not sane. I just thought I’d hunker down and write like the wind. No problem.

Then my husband went missing. (See above—it’s all my husband’s fault) Okay, so he wasn’t missing in a literal sense. If you read my last blog here at Killer Fiction you’d know that for the last few months he’s been working 16 – 20 hour days, seven days a week. Now that I think about it, the last weekend he had off was when he and the kids went hiking.

So instead of hunkering down and writing like the wind, I spent the majority of time not only in deadline hell, but in deadline hell without my domestic god to do laundry, cleaning, and at least the partial feeding of kids and dogs. Yeah, I was on my own, rediscovering how much I dislike housework, laundry, and taking care of teenagers on my own. Every time something came up, my work got put down and when school started and things got really crazy. It was then it occurred to me that I still had a promise to keep. I had to take Mini-me to Williamsburg and I had to do it on a holiday—Mini-me couldn’t afford to miss more than one day of school.

Thank God for Rosh Hashannah! So here I am, running all over Williamsburg with Mini-me and having a great time.

See... I got to put Mini-me in the stocks to show her what happened in the olden days when teenagers didn’t listen to their mothers.

We enjoyed looking at the dresses women wore, but Mini-me decided that if she had lived back in the colonial days, it would have been “way better to be a dude.”

We ate at the King’s Arms Tavern—twice. Yeah, it was really that good...

We shopped...

And did our share of flirting with the men in uniform.

There is really something to be said for men in tight breeches. 

I can't wait until we see what trouble we can get into tomorrow morning before we leave. I have a feeling it's going to involve a candy store and the world's longest Gummy Worm...

So? What have you done in the name of maternal guilt, or if that’s not a problem for you, what was the last time you went out and did something fun, even if it wasn’t at all convenient?

The Hardest Thing

Aside from "where do you get your ideas" and "I have an idea - how do I get a book published" the most common question I get seems to be "What's the hardest thing about writing?"

My answer may surprise a lot of people - typing.

No, it's not because I don't know how to type. I type very well. In fact, at my last test, I typed over 120 wpm. That's not tortoise speed, for sure. No, the reason is because I have an inoperable mid-back injury (referred to loosely as an "impact injury") and the typing position is one that aggravates my back the most. Essentially, what happens is that when my arms are lifted and extended out, it pulls on my middle back. The vertebrae there are weak from injury and they start to shift to one side, which makes the muscles flare and harden and pinch a nerve that runs up my spine through my neck and out to the end of each arm. Very painful when in the 7+ - 10 range of flare.

Many, many people have this type, or similar, back problems, and let's face it, age is NOT our friend. So I thought I'd talk about the things I do to keep my back pain to a minimum, while still managing to type 12-14 hours a day.

First off, I have an excellent therapist. I saw him twice a week for months to get my spine straight again, but once we got in back in line, I only have to see him for monthly maintenance or the occasional extra visit if I've overdone it and stressed my back too much. Make sure when choosing a chiropractor/therapist, you choose one that is highly reputable. Mine was recommended by a back surgeon, so I figured that's as good a recommendation as you can get.

Second, take frequent breaks. I am one of those people who gets working and forgets, so I set a timer on my computer to remind me to stand and stretch every 30 minutes.

Third, make sure you're working in the most ergonomic way possible for YOUR situation. No solution is one size fits all because all injuries are different. Make sure your equipment is working for you and not against.

Fourth, I went the extra step and bought an air desk. When working at home (I don't have one at the day job), I spend part of my day working while standing, which works a completely different set of muscles. And it's really good for your circulatory and respiratory system. Here's a pic of the air desk I have. It is adjustable height and can be used with my treadmill, although I use it most often with a wall-mounted 32" monitor, so that way, I'm not bending my neck down to see the screen.

Fifth, I have a tens unit (a small box that sends a steady flow of electricity into the muscle groups you've placed the pads on. It fits on my belt loop and can be worn all day with people rarely even noticing I have it on. I also have a spa tub and a spa outside that I use on a regular basis.

Sixth, my newest acquisition, which arrives tomorrow is a zero gravity massage chair. This will allow me to remove all weight from my back while also receiving either a relaxing massage or stretching massage. Here's a pic of the chair.

I've also made a ton of small adjustments - carry smaller purses with less weight. Carry a backpack when carrying more weight so that it's evenly distributed. I stopped doing any chores that stressed my back and hired those out to people with healthy backs. And a host of other things.

It sounds like a lot, and it is, BUT if my back is flared, I can't work except in horrible pain, so I take all these steps to ensure I can continue to work at the pace *I* want - not at the pace my body wants to dictate.

Deadly DeLeon

This Blog Could Save a Life

Okay, maybe this title is quite a bit of hyperbole. But then again, maybe not.

Most of you know me as the author of Codename: Dancer and Pointe of No Return. (Hey, look! I now have a two-book boxed set out...makes a great gift for teens!)

 

 

If you've been reading my series, you know that my main character Dani has a food allergy. She's anaphylactic to peanuts, and carries an emergency epinephrine injection, or EpiPen.

 

And yes, she's had to use it.

When I wrote the first draft of Codename, I'll admit that I knew nothing about food allergies, and it was merely a convenient plot device. Something that had been in the news a lot lately, and an interesting way to create a sense of danger for my heroine.

It wasn't until two months after Codename was first released that it became personal. My convenient plot device turns out not to be all that convenient. And I got a first-hand education into all things food allergy.

Turns out, I'm also a food allergy mom.

 

Meet Amber and Alex. Amber is anaphylactic to tree nuts and sesame, and reactant to egg and peanut. Alex has a rice intolerance. We're crossing our fingers that's all he has in the way of allergies or intolerances, but we really have no idea since we've been avoiding foods with Amber's allergens. (We suspect he may have at least an egg allergy, however, since he threw up the time I mistakenly fed him a jar of baby food that contained egg.)

 

Like Dani from my series, we carry an EpiPen for Amber. When she's older, she'll carry one for herself. We also keep a set of EpiPens at her preschool.

 

If Amber were to mistakenly ingest tree nuts or sesame, she could have a serious allergic reaction that can result in vomiting, asphyxiation, unconsciousness and death. Roughly six million children in the U.S. are food-allergic, with many of them at risk of developing anaphylaxis (a life threatening allergic reaction) when they ingest or simply come in contact with an allergen. The treatment of choice for anaphylaxis is epinephrine which must be administered immediately, often by auto-injector.

 

Studies have shown that as many as 25% of epinephrine injections administered at schools are given to children who have had no prior history of food allergy and as such do not have prescriptions for epinephrine. There are also situations where a child suffering an anaphylactic reaction requires a second dose of epinephrine but their school-held supply only provides for a single dose.

 

In January, 7-year-old Ammaria Johnson from Chesterfield, VA tragically died at her elementary school after an apparent allergic reaction to something she ate. A 911 call was placed at 2:26 pm, and by the time paramedics arrived at the school shortly afterwards, she was already in cardiac arrest. Her mother told the local CBS affiliate that Ammaria had a peanut allergy, but that the school had declined to accept an EpiPen on her behalf that fall.

 

 

Ammaria's tragic death may have been avoidable if the school had a stock of emergency epinephrine on hand. Legislation has been introduced in Congress that would provide states incentives to allow their schools to stock epinephrine and administer doses when necessary. 

 

Following Ammaria's tragic death, Virginia passed a law enabling schools to stock emergency doses of epinephrine and indemnifying trained individuals from liability when administering epinephrine in good faith. School has been in session for less than two weeks in much of the state, and yet the law may have already saved at least one life.

 

WTVR reports that a 15-year-old from Prince George County was riding the school bus last Friday when he began experiencing symptoms of anaphylaxis as the result of a bee sting. Prince George County Schools Health Services Coordinator Teresa Isom received a call that the student was in distress and realized the bus was in her vicinity. She grabbed a pack of EpiPens and raced to the bus.

 

Isom administered two doses of epinephrine before the ambulance arrived to take the student to the hospital. The second dose was administered as directed after the first failed to relieve his symptoms. The student appears to be severly allergic to bee stings, an allergy of which he was unaware, but  Isom’s training, quick response, and her access to epinephrine as a result of Virginia's law may have saved his life.

 

But because the student didn't have a valid epinephrine prescription or his own supply at the school, if this event had occured in some other state without a law enabling schools to stock emergency epinephrine, it may have had a different outcome. I encourage you to contact your congressional representatives in support of the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act.

And please encourage your school system to participate in the EpiPens4Schools program, offered by Mylan, the distributor of EpiPen and EpiPen Jr. This unique program allows qualified schools to obtain four (4) epinephrine auto-injectors at no cost.

All children deserve to be safe at school.

 



A New Audiobook (And A Shameless Plea)!

As many of you know, Vanity, Vengeance & A Weekend In Vegas is available as an ebook and a paperback. But for months you've been asking me when it was going to be made into an audiobook. Well guess what? It's made and it's here! And it's been narrated by the fabulous Gabra Zackman, the narrator of all the Sophie Katz books.

What's different about this audiobook is that it was done independently. No publisher was involved.  Gabra and I produced this book with the support of Audible.com. Audible helped cover expenses, Gabra agreed to do this with absolutely no money upfront. Instead I'm giving her a cut of the royalties. She also helped me bring a New York studio on board where she could do the recording, and the owner of that studio also agreed to take less money upfront (the money he did get was provided by Audible.com in the form of a stipend) with the understanding that there might be more money for him on the backend.

Gabra, the studio and Audible have all contributed to this project for two reasons. 1) they believe in this book (this goes double for Gabra who is a huge Sophie fan) and 2) My previous audiobook sales have been spectacular.

Sex, Murder And A Double Latte continues to be within Audible.com's top 15 bestselling Chicklit books seven years after its first release. Lust, Loathing And A Little Lip Gloss is number 20. Obsession, Deceit And Really Dark Chocolate along with Passion, Betrayal And Killer Highlights are in the top 40 and all of my books are within the top 100. These would be good rankings at any time but they're particularly notable since I haven't released an audiobook since June 2010. People love Gabra's reading of Sophie. For them she is Sophie and she keeps them company by regaling them with tales of Sophie's adventures while they commute to work, take their road trips, clean the house, nurse the baby or just try to chill out. The very day  I announced I would be self-publishing the sixth Sophie book readers started emailing asking if Gabra would be reading the audiobook (and there would be an audiobook, right?!)

Well it's available now and I really hope that the next Sophie book I write will also be in audio. But let's keep in mind that everyone involved in this project is willingly taking a hit in hopes that their cut will make it all worth while. If I can't duplicate my previous success this will probably be a one shot deal. That means that more than ever before Sophie's fate is in your hands. If you like audiobooks or think you MIGHT like audiobooks give Sophie a shot. Feel free to start at the beginning with Sex, Murder And A Double Latte or jump right in with this latest book (the 6th in the series) I wrote it so that it would stand on it's own.

If you already love to listen to the Sophie books I'm obviously going to ask you to download this one. As of today you can get it on audible.com and in a few days it will also be available on iTunes and Amazon.com.

And if your a hardcore Sophie-audio fan I need you to help me promote it. When you download it click the Facebook like button to help spread the word. Tweet it and pin it on your Pinterest page. Blog about it, tell your friends, get all your audiobook lovers hooked on Sophie. I've asked you all to do these kinds of things before but at the time my interest was pretty selfish. Back then I was asking you to help me with promotion because I wanted my career on the right trajectory and because I wanted to continue to write Sophie books.

I still want those things. But I'm also asking because Gabra has worked so hard to help me make this happen and I really want her to be rewarded for her efforts. I'm asking because I want Audible.com to know that, yes, supporting independent writers is a good business move. I'm asking because I want the guy who leased out his studio to feel good about taking a chance on on an author.

So download and pimp this thing out big time. It was your letters and support that made this project possible. You literally gave Sophie her voice. Now all I'm asking is that you help me keep her talking.

Kyra "Fashionista Fatale" Davis

The Ninth Time Is The Charm...

Before we begin - a HUGE shout out to a long-time friend of Killer Fiction - Terri Osburn, who just made her FIRST SALE in a 3-BOOK DEAL to Montlake Publishing, Amazon.com!  Terri was a Golden Heart finalist this year and I was lucky enough to read the book before the Romance Writers of America conference - and it is a phenomenal book!  Yay Terri!!!

The 9th time is the charm.  I'm not sure that's really a thing...but this was the 9th Annual Labor Day Camping Trip with my Girl Scouts, and there are, for once, pictures of me.

Don't get me wrong - I don't usually like to be photographed.  And because I am the one taking all the pictures, I only appear in the customary group shot we do.  But this year, the girls swiped my camera on occasion, and these are the pictures they took:

 

 This is me standing on the dock, watching the girls canoe around the lake.  It's my job, for safety purposes, to keep an eye on everything from the land.  Of course, this doesn't take into account that I'd have to jump in with these 20lb. hiking shoes to rescue them if I had to - but I would...I think...yes...I probably would.

  

 This is me, blowing on the fire.  We try to use only one match when starting the fire - so a little hot air goes along way to maintain my pride in this area.  The bucket of water (again for safety) is rather unfortunately placed...

 

This is part of me - after hooking my daughter (smiling) up to the zip line.  The girls have been zipping for 6 years, and still forget all the work that goes into setting it up, sending the girls and taking everything down.  But, it's the roller coaster of camp - and you can hardly expect them to miss out on the roller coaster of camp, can you?

Our late night hay rack ride that we do the second night of camp.  The camp ranger - Mahlon - does a terrific job of scaring the hell out of us by driving fast through the trails with the lights off, going airborne off a small cliff, etc.  It is also known as the roller coaster of camp.  And this year, he offered to take a picture of us before we left.  If he'd taken one when we got back, we'd look disheveled and happily startled.  Actually, now that I think about it - he's smart to do it that way.  You can't have a picture of 8 girls and their leader, all hovering two feet off the hay bales after a particularly large bump, now can you?

So we survived another long weekend at camp.  And this year, there's actual proof I was there.

The Assassin

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Winner!!!!!!!  Mariehahn13 is the winner of the $10 gift card.  Please email me at christie(at)christie(-)craig.com

Today, I’m reprinting my post that appeared over at:  http://www.guiltypleasuresbookreviews.com/   If you haven’t visited that blog, I recommend you do.  They have tons of stuff for readers. Also, I’d like to recommend another blog:  Love, Laugh, Read   Http://Christie-Craig.com/blog This is my new blog.  Don’t worry, I’m not leaving Killer Fiction.  I love it here, but I’ll be doing posts over there every Tuesday and hosting contests at least once a month.  And today, I’ve got it up and running, and I’m holding my very first contest.  This is a contest for my readers and fans who have already read Blame it on Texas.  I have some trivia questions and I’m giving away three different gift cards to three people who get the answers right. And they are easy questions.  So pop over and email me your answers to be entered in my contest.  And don’t forget to come back and check out my blog every Tuesday.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

In Blame it on Texas, Tyler Lopez has a smarter-than-her-years, six-year-old niece, Anna, who is always adding her two cents to conversations.  And those two cents sometimes make Tyler’s head spin.  Kids and those wonderful one liners just flat out make for some funny moments.  And anyone who has read my books knows that I love funny moments.  Below is just one example of kids being funny in Blame it on Texas.

“Leo’s full of…” Tyler caught himself just in time.

“Full of what?” Anna asked, a half smile pulling at her lips.

Tyler’s gaze shot to the piñata hanging above the tree. “Full of candy.”

Anna snickered. “Mama said he was full of shit.”

Tyler grinned. “Well, like you just said, your mama doesn’t lie. But…we all have…excrement in our insides.”

“Excrement?” He could see the child figuring out the word’s meaning and filing it away in her knowledge-hungry brain. “That’s gross.”

“I agree.” Tyler’s smile came easier.

“Almost as gross as how babies are made,” she said.

That little announcement came out of left field, and Tyler’s jaw fell open.

Ahh, but Tyler isn’t the only one dealing with kids who say inappropriate things in this book. Ellen, my secondary heroine has a daughter, Britney, and she’s always tossing out a few zingers.  Then there’s Ricky, Rick’s, my secondary hero’s, son.  Let’s face it, anyone who has had kids or been around one very long knows they can say the most embarrassing and sometimes even the most thought-provoking things. 

And I speak from experience.  Through the years, I’ve written up some of my own kids’ “funny things.”  Some of them I’ve actually sold to magazines, others I’ve written up to embarrass them later in life. Hey…paybacks can be hell! So just for fun, I thought I’d share some of my personal, kids-say-the-funniest-things pieces.

Smart, But Not That Smart

 Nina, my three-year-old daughter, began learning her letters at a very remarkable age.  I must admit to feeling proud when we went to the county fair and stood in front of the soda booth and she started pointing to the Pepsi emblem and naming off the letters.  "That's remarkable," a lady replied.  "Do you know how to read, too?" 

 Nina's answer came quick, "Yes."   I was too filled with pride to rebuke her claim. 

"What does that say?" the lady asked, pointing back to the Pepsi emblem.

Nina smiled and answered with remarkable confidence, "It says, Coke."

So Smart it’s Embarrassing

My three-year-old daughter’s babysitter was pregnant.  And my too wise little girl became very curious.  When questions came about how the baby got into her babysitter’s tummy, I hit the bookstore to learn how best to explain.  The advice was simple and straight forward.  Tell them the truth in vague terms, and don’t use cutesy names, just use the real names.

So I sat her down and explained that mommies and daddies got really close.  Daddies had sperm and mommies had eggs and the two got together and created a baby.

She accepted the answer and I felt like a wise parent.  Unfortunately, my dad, my daughter’s grandfather didn’t agree.  You see, the next day he took Nina to a fast food place to meet about five of his other cronies.  While all crowded around a table enjoying coffee, my daughter piped up the question. “Grandpa, what color is sperm?  Is that how I got my brown hair?”   

All Grown Up…Almost

Much to my surprise, my six-year-old daughter came home from first grade talking about college.  "I can't wait.  It sounds so exciting.  I can choose the subjects I like.  So you know I'll make all A's.  I can make my own schedule.  Go to the bathroom anytime I want.  The teachers won’t treat me like a kid."

She sounded more seventeen than seven and I was quite proud of my grown-up little girl.  Then her young brow wrinkled in puzzlement.  She turned to me with real concern in her eyes, "But Mama, will we still get to go out and play at recess?"

Handles

One night at dinner, my four-year-old son dropped the last of his pizza on his plate and requested his dessert. 

"First you have to finish your dinner," I said.

He glanced down at his pizza crust and innocently replied, "I did.  I ate everything but the handle."

He got his dessert.

 Color Blindness

One day, my son had a friend, eight-year-old Andrew, over to play.  My husband and I were taking the boys out for hamburgers when Andrew announced that last weekend he and his family had taken a trip to New Orleans to attend his aunt’s wedding.  

Making casual conversation I turned to him and asked, “Was it your mother’s sister or your dad’s sister?”

Little Andrew’s brow crinkled together in thought and then a little embarrassed he admitted, “I’m not really sure.”

It took a few minutes for my husband and I to realize the significance of his ignorance.  You see, Andrew is a bi-racial child, his father African-American and his mother White.  Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we all could be so color blind?

All Boy

I was driving my six-year-old son to school when he popped out with an unusual question.  "Mom, are there more girls in the world than there are boys?"

I turned to glance at him.  "Well, as a matter of fact, there are more girls than boys.”

"Then that explains it!" he blurts out as if he'd just found an answer to a long-asked question.

"Explains what?" I queried.

"Why everywhere I go, I always notice the girls but I never notice the boys."

Too Much Boy

While having dinner with my husband’s boss and his wife, my three-year-old son didn’t want to eat. My husband told him that mashed potatoes would make him grow big.  He not only started eating his potatoes, but in his excited little-boy voice, he said, “My dad has a big Pee-Pee.  And when I grow up, I’m going to have a big one, too!”

My husband’s boss simply chuckled and said, “I think I’ll take some more potatoes, too.”

Way Too Much Boy

Once, while getting dressed to take my three-year-old son to Mother’s Day Out, my son came into the room.  When I turned around, he was staring at me.  “You know, Mom, I like looking at you naked.”

And that was the last time he saw me naked, too!

*  *  *

Okay…come on, do some sharing.  Let me hear some of your kids, grandkids or nieces and nephew’s funny/thought-provoking sayings.  And to one lucky commenter I’m giving away a $10 Amazon or B&N gift card.  So make sure you leave a comment. 

CC