Posted by: Author | January 29, 2014
Wordless Wednesday
Posted in Wordless Wednesday
Posted by: Author | January 27, 2014
Tuesday Tales- January 28, 2014- Mirror
Today’s word prompt is mirror. I was concerned about fitting this one in since one of the first “rules” of writing I was told was that I should never, ever have my character look in a mirror and describe her long, flowing hair and crystal blue eyes. So, see if I succeeded in keeping the rule intact.
I’m still in the 1950s at Edwards Air Force base and writing about Rick and Vivian.
Click here for the other tales of the week. 
The local news channel’s reporter stood in the foreground of the shot. Behind him was a plume of smoke far out on the horizon. “As you can see, the wreckage is quite a few miles away. We still have no word on the condition of any survivors. We have a man on the way to the site who’ll bring us an update as soon as they arrive at the scene.”
“Come on. I’m locking up. I need to get out there and see what’s going on.” Mr. Jameson snapped off the television.
“I want to come with you.” Vivian stood and scrubbed her face with the heels of her hands.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Mr. Jameson said.
“Why not?”
“You seem quite upset and if there’s a fatality out there, it could affect you much more than it is here at headquarters.”
“Mr. Jameson, I think Vivian is more concerned about checking on Captain Logan than she is for herself.”
“I can understand that, Mary Lou but I think it would be better for you to take your sister home to wait for news there. As the head of the Republican party here, I’ll have to be talking with some of the military brass and seeing what we can do—”
“To what? To make the party look good in this terrible situation?” Mary Lou asked, the horror in her voice palpable.
“Of course not, young lady. What I was trying to convey is that the party will want to be a presence on the scene and brief the president along with the military brass. With President Eisenhower due to arrive in the next week, he’s going to want to be prepared to deal with the fallout of this and I need to be out there gathering information.” He turned to Vivian. “Come. Let’s lock up. I’ll call you when I know more information than the media is giving out.”
“Let me go wash my face first. You go ahead. I’ll lock up and put out the closed sign.” Vivian walked over to the sink. She heard the door close as she looked at her face in the mirror. She didn’t think she’d ever seen herself so pale and bug-eyed. If she wasn’t so upset about what was going on at the base and her stomach wasn’t so tied up in knots that it was cramping, she might have laughed at herself. The way her heart hurt, she wasn’t sure she’d ever laugh again.
“Are you going to be all right?” Mary Lou called over to Vivian.
“I think so. I’m a little nauseous but as soon as I wash my face, I’ll be ready to go.” Vivian turned on the water and splashed some on her cheeks. She patted them dry and turned off the water. “Let’s go.”
On her way out the door, Vivian grabbed her purse and dug out her lipstick to put some on in the car. She may be pale and scared but she always wore lipstick.
Posted in Tuesday's Tales | Tags: Edwards AFB, Eisenhower, Mirror, Tuesday tales
Posted by: Author | January 27, 2014
My Writing Process – J Rose Allister
I’m participating in the 2014 writing process blog hop at the invitation of my friend, J Rose Allister. This is a fun, informative group of posts. Mine will be up next week but this week, check out hers here.
I need three volunteers to play along the next week. Let me know if you’re interested. It’s a chance to share your process and what you’re working on.
Posted in Random thoughts | Tags: Blog hop, J Rose Allister, writing process
Posted by: Author | January 24, 2014
Friday Fact- January 24, 2014- Patronymic
A patronymic is a name derived from the name of a father or grandfather or other ancestor (it comes from Greek for father which is pater). It’s interesting to me that most every culture has these type of names. It is formed by adding with a prefix or suffix to a name. Here are some examples: Richardson is Richard + son, so initially, it was the son of Richard. Same suffix addition for Johnson, Smithson and Anderson. Cool, huh?
For Scottish names, add Mc or Mac- such as McDonald or MacArthur.
For some Hispanic names, add ez- Hernando’s son would be Hernandez.
Russians add ich or ovich for men and ovna or evna for women so the son of Pyotr (Peter) would be Petrovich and the daughter would be Petrovna- same kind of thing for Sergey- son= Sergeyevich and daughter= Sergeyevna.
The prefix Fitz in English started out as a surname for the illegitimate children of royalty- so if you know a Fitzpatrick or a Fitzwilliam, chances are, somewhere in their family line was a royal child born, as they say, on the wrong side of the blanket, to either Patrick or William.
My dad’s first name is Donald so back in earlier times, my name may have been Donaldson or had he been a cheating on his wife kind of king, perhaps Fitzdonald. LOL
What’s a patronymic you might have had?
Posted in Friday Facts | Tags: family, Friday Facts, illegitimate, kings, names, patronymic
Posted by: Author | January 22, 2014
Wordless Wednesday- January 22, 2014
Posted in Wordless Wednesday | Tags: wordless Wednesday
Posted by: Author | January 20, 2014
Tuesday Tales- January 21, 2014- Hill
This week’s word is HILL. I’m still working on the 1950s set story. Since it is set in 1956, I asked my dad what his favorite song was when he was sixteen. He said it was Blueberry Hill by Fats Domino or I’m Walkin’ by Fats Domino. I love them both myself and researched their release dates and since I’m Walkin‘ was released in 1957, I used Blueberry Hill in the story. Imagine how cool it was when I saw that the prompt for this week was hill. Worked out great, didn’t it?
Anyway, to see the other entries from the other Tuesday Tales writers, click here. You’ll enjoy them.
**********************
Once the waitress left the table, Rick pulled a couple of napkins from the metal pop up dispenser on the table. “Do you have a pen?”
“Sure. Let me find it.” Vivian opened her purse and shuffled through the contents.
“While you’re looking, I’m going to play something on the jukebox. Any particular thing you want to hear?” He slid out of the booth.
“How about that one that’s kind of new by Fats Domino?”
“Blueberry Hill? You like that one?”
Vivian nodded.
“There might be hope for you yet then.” Rick strolled over to the jukebox and spent a few minutes reading the list of songs and feeding it money.
When he returned, he had to stand to one side while the waitress placed a tray with their plates and drink glasses on the tabletop. Rick helped unload the tray then sat.
“What did you mean when you said there may be hope for me?” Vivian figured she was walking into a trap as she asked the question but she couldn’t help herself.
“That song is all about finding a thrill and if you like it, maybe you aren’t as adverse to thrills as you’d like me to believe.”
The grin on his face really needed wiping off with a smart remark but she decided she wouldn’t say anything since she asked for it. Instead of talking, she bit into her sandwich and chewed.
Posted in Tuesday's Tales | Tags: 1950s, Blueberry Hill, Fats Domino, Hill, I'm walkin', Tuesday tales
Posted by: Author | January 17, 2014
Friday Facts- January 17, 2014- The Capitol Records Building
The Capital Records building in Los Angeles is a cool building and was the first circular office building. It was built in 1956. It has a number of recording studios in it and at one time was called “The House that Nat Built” as a tribute to Nat King Cole who contributed financially to it.
The blinking light on the top of the tower has spelled out “Hollywood” in Morse Code since the place opened. Interestingly, the daughter of Samuel Morse is the one who flipped the switch to turn it on. I like the significance of that. For a brief time in 1992, it flashed “Capitol 50” to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the label.
The Tower was in the movies Earthquake and The Day after Tomorrow. Did you remember that? The funny thing is, the building is actually earthquake resistant and was constructed to be so. I love that they showed it collapsing in the movie.
This is a really awesome looking building and you can’t miss it if you drive in Hollywood.
Posted in Friday Facts | Tags: building, Capitol Records, Friday fact, Hollywood, Morse Code, Nat King Cole, Samuel Morse
Posted by: Author | January 15, 2014
Awesome Guest- Sherry Gloag
Sherry Gloag is one of the other Tuesday Tales authors as well as a friend. She has an awesome book called Name the Day. I’ve read it and it was very enjoyable. The heroine is a strong-willed woman who meets her match with the hero who is alpha and pretty amazing. AND Italian, too boot. Y’all know how I love my Italian men. Swoon. Here’s the blurb and excerpt of the story. She’s also hosting me today on her blog if you want to check it out.
Blurb:
Renowned portrait artist, Samantha Brown is through with men. After dealing with an overbearing father and cheating ex-fiance, Samantha is not in the market for romance, of any kind. Give her a blank canvas, some paints and brushes and she’s in charge of her life. There was no room in her life for love, so why did she find herself giving in to Rafael Santini’s outrageous demand that she paint his portrait?
Satisfied with his upcoming marriage of convenience Rafael Santini isn’t in the market for love. So, how come he finds the pint-sized artist stirring up emotions he didn’t have time for?
An accident forces Rafael to re-evaluate his life and wonder whether he can teach Samantha the art of love.
Excerpt:
Why couldn’t the stubborn man get it? She wasn’t giving him any favours at the expense of her other clients. In his case, money would not talk. Almost all her clients were well-heeled, but most understood the time restraints. After all, as she told each person, including Rafael Santini, who contracted a commission they wouldn’t want her to rush their painting and offer them a sub-standard product, would they?
“Give me the names of your clients and I will arrange to exchange places in your queue.” His unequivocal belief pulsed across the airwaves. Did the stupid man expect her to break the confidences of her clients?
“Tell me, Mr. Santini,” she asked in her most dulcet tone, “if I asked for a list of your clients would you hand them over, simply because I wanted something?”
“Don’t be stupid woman. It’s not the same thing at all. I’m a businessman.”
Would someone please save me from stupid arrogant men, Samantha offered in silent plea to the ether without expecting any response.
“I may not deal in electronics and communications systems, or equipment for the world of espionage, secret agents, and private investigators, Mr. Santini, but I do maintain a strict code of integrity and honour and customer confidentiality.”
“Why would you need confidentiality to daub a few colours on a piece of paper?”
Is this guy for real? Does he think insults and condemnation will get him what he wants?
“Let me get this straight. You want my agreement to let you queue jump the rest of my clients, who, incidentally have all signed contracts to be here on specified dates at specific times, and then you will be quite happy for me to go around publicising the fact you are not only having your portrait done, but that you bullied, harassed and threatened me into agreeing to your terms? I don’t think so. Not to mention that in many cases the commission is usually a gift for someone special and total secrecy is not only expected it is essential.”
The silence at the other end of the phone was almost deafening.
Bio:
Best-selling author, Sherry Gloag is a transplanted Scot now living in the beautiful coastal countryside of Norfolk, England. She considers the surrounding countryside as extension of her own garden, to which she escapes when she needs “thinking time” and solitude to work out the plots for her next novel. While out walking she enjoys talking to her characters, as long as there are no other walkers close by.
Apart from writing, Sherry enjoys gardening, walking, reading and cheerfully admits her books tend to take over most of the shelf and floor space in her workroom-cum-office. She also finds crystal craft work therapeutic.
Sherry loves to hear from her readers. sherrygloag@gmail.com
How to contact Sherry:
Website: http://authorsherrygloagtheheartofroman.weebly.com/
Blog: http://sherrygloagtheheartofromance.blogspot.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SherryGloagAuthor
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/SherryGloag
Amazon author page: http://tinyurl.com/buj6zj8
Goodreads: https://www.facebook.com/SherryGloagAuthor/app_2415071772
Waterston’s http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/simpleSearch.do?
Buy Links: Amazon
Amazon UK
Barnes and Noble
Astraea Press
Smashwords
Itunes
Kobo
Posted in guests | Tags: Astraea Press, friend, hero, heroine, Italian, men, Name the Day, Sherry Gloag, strong
Posted by: Author | January 15, 2014
Wordless Wednesday-
Posted in Wordless Wednesday | Tags: wordless Wednesday
Posted by: Author | January 13, 2014
Tuesday Tales – January 14, 2014- Satin
This week, we’re writing to the word prompt SATIN. This is a continuation of my 1950s romance I started sharing last week. Check out the other stories here.
The next morning Vivian found herself dressing with more care than usual. She stood in front of her closet and chose her favorite white blouse. It was made of acetate satin material and had a small jabot collar to match. She picked her best navy blue skirt and slid on her best pair of nylons. As she buckled her patent leather shoes, she realized that she was trying to be sure she looked her best since she was going to be seeing Rick Logan.
Angry with herself for subconsciously wanting the man to think she was attractive, she decided to change her appearance before she left her cottage. Instead of leaving her long, loose curls hanging around her shoulders as she usually did since it was her best asset, Vivian strode back into her bathroom and pulled her hair back in a severe bun. She stopped short of wiping off her lipstick—she’d never go that far—but she did remove a little of her eyeliner. It wouldn’t do for the arrogant man to think she was his for the taking.
Arriving at campaign headquarters a few moments early, Vivian unlocked the door and once inside, started the coffee. Her boss was the next to arrive and he staggered over to the coffee urn as if he were comatose. He gave her a wan smile.
“Late night, Mr. Jameson?” She handed him a cup of the strong coffee, black.
“You know, I’ve had a long career in running political campaign offices and this one should be easy since Ike has such a good rapport with the American public and since California is his vice-president’s home state but these late nights are getting to me. This may be my last hurrah. I’m getting too old for this.” He took a sip of the coffee. “Ahh. Divine.”
“I wanted to chat with you about the assignment to work with that captain from the base on the event they want to throw for the president.”
Mr. Jameson carried his cup and headed toward his office. He nodded to Vivian to follow him. “Come on in and we’ll talk. I need to find some aspirin, too.”
“I have some in my desk. I’ll bring them in.”
Vivian took the pain relievers to Mr. Jameson and watched as he downed three of them. He leaned his head on the back of his chair and closed his eyes. She stayed silent for a few moments while he sipped more of the coffee. Eventually, she opened her mouth to speak.
Before she could make a sound, without opening his eyes, Mr. Jameson said, “You can really help me out by being the campaign’s liaison with these people from the base. I have a lot going on with all the tasks being put on me by the party and this would be one less thing I would need to deal with.” He opened his eyes and leaned forward. “I’m not only burning the candle at both ends, the middle is melting too and when the commanding officer from Edwards called to ask for assistance with their event, I couldn’t very well say no and since you’ve been such a great full-time employee, I volunteered your services. I hope you don’t mind. I know you’ll do a wonderful job.”
Posted in Tuesday's Tales | Tags: 1950s, Eisenhower, romance, Satin, Tuesday tales
Jillian Chantal 