It’s Day 13 of Avery Olive’s 13 Days of Christmas Giveaways! Stop by and check out my guest post on one of my favorite holiday stories, A Christmas Carol: http://averyolive.blogspot.com/2011/12/13-day-of-christmas-giveaways-day.html. Plus there is still a chance to win some great prizes, including a copy of Thief of Hope!
What are your favorite holiday books or movies? In addition to A Christmas Carol, I love all the old holiday specials, like Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, The Year Without a Santa Claus, Claymation Christmas. I have them all on videotape and one of these years I’m afraid the videos will no longer work or our old VCR is going to go. So far so good, though!
Come check out Avery Olive’s blog for 13 days of holiday fun! From December 8 to 20, she’ll be featuring authors, interviews, and guest blogs. Plus each day offers a great giveaway. And be sure to check out my guest post on Day 13, December 20.
Fall is one of my favorite times of year. Please welcome Jordan K. Rose and her views on the changing seasons!
Fall in Massachusetts, photo taken by Cindy's mom
I live in New England where we experience each one of the four seasons. Rainy spring weather rolls into glorious sunny summer. Autumn slides in with the last of the beautiful beach weather fading into October’s changing red, gold and brown leaves. Then winter hits. It literally slaps its way in. Temperatures drop. Snow falls. Doors and windows slam shut and the sun rises and sets so fast you’d think we lived in Alaska.
If you’re like me, you notice the changing of each season. Even the subtleties like the scent of spring showers washing away the last of the frozen mounds of snow or the combination wardrobe every woman pulls together as she grumbles her way from sleeveless tops into bulky sweaters as October tries to hold on to Indian Summer while November elbows its way in with temperatures hovering in the forties.
Over the years I’ve realized that I’m my most active at the changing of the seasons, when everything is in flux. The unsettled atmosphere makes it difficult for me to sit still. I have to get things done. I clean the house and plan for holidays or family events, even if they’re months away. Ideas for future books or current storylines pop into my head every time I turn a corner.
The atmospheric tumult, however smooth or disastrous affects me and everyone in my path. My husband and dog experience the upset with things getting turned upside down as the need to clean hits. Things get moved. New systems are developed and any complaining, or in the dog’s case, following me around, ears drooping and moping, are not tolerated. Change must happen.
Thankfully, the seasons turn fairly quickly. There’s only so much activity one woman and her household can tolerate. After that, it’s a quick trip to the psych ward for everyone, including the mopey dog.
Over the years I’ve realized that my life is seasonal. For example, although I love the summer months, they are the least productive for me because I bask in summer fun- the beach, cookouts, fairs.
Also in Massachusetts, photo by Cindy, a favorite walk in the woods
It’s the cold, dreary months when I’m most creative. The months when I can’t sit in a bathing suit and listen to the waves on the beach, when I can’t bear the thought of leaving the house because I don’t want to freeze my toes off. Late autumn through to mid spring is when I’m at my keyboard rapidly trying to get my characters’ stories onto the pages.
Oh, yes, I write all year, most everyday. But in the summer months with the windows open and the ocean calling me I don’t spend entire weekends writing. I don’t want to miss out on all the fun. So I write in the morning and at the end of the day each day. And enjoy the summer.
In the winter I write and write and write. So even though all the lovely warm weather is ending and we’re heading into blustery cold, dark months, I’m elated. It’s writing season and I have plenty of characters with lots and lots to share!
What about you? When are you most productive?
After trying her hand at many, many things – from crafting and art classes to cooking and sewing classes to running her own handbag business, Jordan finally figured out how to channel her creativity. With an active imagination and a little encouragement from her husband she sat down and began to write, each night clicking away at the keys with her black Labrador, Dino curled up under the desk. A few short years later she’s entered the publishing arena with no plans to ever turn back. Jordan’s a member of RWA National, and the New England (NEC), Connecticut, and Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal (FFnP) Chapters. Visit her website at www.jordankrose.com.
Jordan’s novel, Perpetual Light, will be released in winter 2012 by Crescent Moon Press. A reincarnated woman must trust the husband she condemned three hundred and fifty years ago to help her defeat a power-hungry vampire hell-bent on ruling the world. As a Pharo of Redemption Lucia DiComano must destroy Samuel, a master vampire who’ll stop at nothing to possess her powers. But centuries of avoiding this task have weakened her. Now, in order to save all of creation she must rely on Vittorio, the man who holds the key to her soul, the very same vampire who changed her destiny
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I’m pleased to welcome Kate Lutter as my first guest blogger! Hope you enjoy her description of a fun trip to Washington, DC–with Chuck.
This is Chuck
Hi, my name is Kate and I blog about my exotic travel experiences with my hunky husband. The blog is called Hot Blogging with Chuck. But . . .
I haven’t been completely honest with you. Chuck isn’t my husband, he’s my cat.
Not many people take their cat with them when they travel. I know this. And Bob, my husband, does not jump with joy to know that Chuck is coming with us, stuffed in my carry-on, all the air deflated out of him, only to be pumped up upon arrival and raring to go.
But it is a reality born of necessity.
You see, Chuck was bored at home, and he was developing into a “over groomer.”
Feral and homeless, we adopted him, expecting some problems, but we did not expect that this cute and very adorable orange and white tabby would turn into an obsessively clean cat or that he would begin to groom the fur right off his body. In spots, of course.
The vet said Chuck was bored. He needed stimulation. Travel. Fun. That’s how it all began.
And when Chuck discovered that I had written a novel called Wild Point Island . . . well, that clinched it. Chuck wanted to go see the island, which was a bit difficult. So we began to take Chuck with us as we traveled around the U.S. and the world.
Our trip to Washington, D.C. is a perfect example of Chuck in action. We arrive by train from New Jersey, and Chuck immediately announces that he wants to go to the Smithsonian Institute to see the space capsule. You know, the one that landed on the moon. A secret wish he’s had ever since he’s been a kitten and saw some program on TV about the capsule.
Go figure!
So off we go on a beautiful February day, a Friday, to be exact, in the later afternoon, when luckily the tourist traffic is at a minimum. Because, frankly, cats are not allowed inside the Smithsonian Museum, and it will take quite a bit of fancy maneuvering to get Chuck out of my backpack without being seen so he can sniff around the capsule and get an eyeful to his heart’s content.
When we arrive at the Smithsonian, we make a beeline for the capsule which is on the first floor, but unfortunately, it is right in the middle of everything, in clear view of about four guides who man the front desk. We strategize. Bob volunteers to go to the desk and act as a distraction while I wander innocently over to the capsule. My plan is simple. I’ll stand on the back side of the capsule, wait until I am relatively alone, and then let Chuck sneak out and get a peak of the capsule.
Of course, complications arise immediately because Chuck announces that he doesn’t just want to see the capsule, he wants to climb inside of it and pretend he is an astronaut flying in space. The first cat astronaut, which would make Chuck a “castronaut.” New word, new concept.
More complications. Oh, yes, we get Chuck inside the capsule. Don’t ask me how many laws I break to do that, but . . . we discover almost immediately that Chuck is claustrophobic. That capsule is tiny inside. I mean really tiny. It is hard to imagine how a human man fit inside there. And Chuck, well, we call him Chucky Cheese behind his back.
He used to be a cute, adorable kitten. Now he’s a cute, adorable cat.
But, still, Chuck is tough. He insists on rolling around inside the capsule as if he is weightless.
Some imagination that cat has!
Then catastrophe strikes. I am standing there, my eyes glued to the interior of the capsule watching Chuck roll around when I hear, “Pss.” I whirl around in time to see Bob signaling towards a guide who is walking towards us. With a frown on his face. Trouble.
At the same time, I can hear Chuck “meowing” from inside, totally lost in the moment, enjoying his fantasy inside the capsule.
I knock furiously on the capsule window. “Niksay. Niksay.”
This is our code word for “Cease and Desist.”
Immediately the meowing stops.
And then it happens.
The guide is intercepted. By another guide. There is a problem with the lunar module display case.
I whisk around, open the capsule, pull out Chuck and shove the startled “castronaut” into my backpack.
Phew.
The next day we return to the Smithsonian Institute, but we’ve decided it is best that Chuck remain at the hotel. We ordered in breakfast. There is a balcony. It is a beautiful sunny day. Chuck is resting comfortably. Dreaming, no doubt, of becoming famous.
Chuck Glenn. Or Chuck Armstrong. Or Chuck Lovell . . .
I love to blog about my almost famous cat Chuck, but my real calling is writing paranormal romance novels. My first novel, Wild Point Island, is due to be released winter of 2012. Read more about it: www.katelutter.com
It’s Day 13 of Avery Olive’s 13 Days of Christmas Giveaways! Stop by and check out my guest post on one of my favorite holiday stories, A Christmas Carol: http://averyolive.blogspot.com/2011/12/13-day-of-christmas-giveaways-day.html. Plus there is still a chance to win some great prizes, including a copy of Thief of Hope!
Cindy Young-Turner 