When bare foot meets polished floor

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and as some of you know I sold my dining room table set. Yes, on Thanksgiving. Don't ask me what I was thinking. The person wanted to pick it up so they could have dessert with the family at their house. How could I refuse?

Later in the day when I sat down I stared at the empty dining room and the lone rug lying on the floor. I decided that the floor needed to be cleaned. First I vacuumed the rug then rolled it up and moved aside. Then I swept up the wood floor. No, that was not good enough. I got out the all natural floor cleaner and a microfiber cloth and yes, on hands and knees I cleaned my dining room floor.

That was still not good enough. With the room being empty I thought it the perfect opportunity to polish it. I pulled out my trusty all natural polish and another microfiber cloth and once again got on hands and knees. Using a lot of elbow grease I polished that floor to a wicked shine. It smell great because of the oil in it and when I walked across it in my sock feet the floor squeaked. Isn't that a great sound?

So here's the bad thing with me. Once I get started, I cannot stop. I did the exact same steps to the kitchen, pantry, half-bath, and the entry floors. I would have done the living room but by that time of night it was a little late.

As a reward to all that hard work I treated myself to another slice of my best ever pumpkin pie with Cool Whip on top.

This morning I get up and before I work out I always go down the stairs to feed the kitties. As bare foot hit freshly polished wood floor I realized my mistake. My foot skidded, pulled my legs into an amazing split, and then yes, I landed straight down and hard on my butt. OUCH!

I yelped, cats scurried away, and then all I could do was laugh. This is what I get for my obsessive nature and liking the fresh smell of my all natural polish. Or maybe it was all the sugar from the pie the previous night. Either way, my backside is a tad sore and no I did not even bother working out after that.

Food and family...two great things to be thankful for

I’m sitting here the morning before Thanksgiving and remembering the Thanksgivings from when I was a kid. Every year my parents, sisters (3 of them), and I would travel to my grandmother’s house in Iowa. We would drive for over three hours and the whole way someone would ask “how much further?” or “are we there yet?” When we would see the huge statue of Pocahontas we knew we were getting close.

When we arrived family members would come out of the woodwork. I’d see cousins that I would only see once or twice a year. Inside the house the place would be jammed with more relatives and the counters would be covered in fresh, homemade pies. I love homemade apple pie with cinnamon and sugar on top. My father is more of a banana cream pie guy. The one thing my family agrees on is we have to have pumpkin pie with Cool Whip on top, not whipped cream. Yes, there is a big difference.

Before we could eat pie though, we had to eat dinner. Dinner usually consisted of turkey and/or ham, baked beans, some disgusting 3-bean salad, this icky green salad that my family loves even to this day and I can’t stand. The icky salad is made with cottage cheese, lime Jell-o mix, and pineapple. I’m sorry, you will never convince me that is yummy. There would be rolls, mashed potatoes, and candied yams. My favorite part of the dinner is the candied yams. All that gooey marshmallow, butter, brown sugar melted on top of sweet potatoes. Delicious!

My favorite part of Thanksgiving when I was little was sitting around watching sports with my dad and uncles while waiting for dinner to be ready then getting through the meal just to get to the pies. It’s all about the pies!

Later, after much of the family departed we would all have that snack craving hit us. You got it, I went for the pie. So did dad.

Even now when I no longer live close enough to go to my grandmother’s house and watch sports with the men in the family, I still watch and yes, afterwards I eat pie. I make a deep dish pumpkin pie and absolutely top it off with Cool Whip.

What’s your favorite part of Thanksgiving?

It's Tuesday...writing prompt day

Today's writing prompt: Walking on the treadmill. . .

Remember it doesn't matter how much you write just that whatever you write captures your reader's attention. Hook them in!

Have fun and look forward to reading what you come up with.

The Internet and current events helped in the storyline for Connect the Dots come

This is one of those “On the way to the bank. . .something happened tales.”

A little over a year ago in about August maybe September I found myself intrigued by the Georgia-Russia War. Not because I am a ghoul but for the simple fact that a longtime friend was in the Republic of Georgia and I wanted to understand what was happening and how at risk he may be.

I, being the computer-savvy person that I am, decided to use the Internet to search and gain more knowledge. At the same time, I was getting ready to start my third novel. Ultimately, I decided to marry the two interests together.

The issue came down to what would the story be about and my ineptitude at Internet searches. The funny part is that while I may not find what I am always looking for I somehow manage to find something even more interesting. That is the case with the Georgia-Russia War and my novel Connect the Dots.

Somewhere in my search, I came across the words “black sites” in one of the article. The very words caught my attention, which sent me off in another direction and in a direction that grabbed a hold of my shirtfront and my mind and would not let go, not even after I finished writing the book.

So now, your question is or should be “What is a black site?”

I’m so glad you asked. According to Wikipedia “a black site is a location in which a black project is conducted.” Yes, Wikipedia was my first stop when I wanted to learn more. Wikipedia.

That’s a simple but not very detailed explanation, don’t you think? I did however, know what a black project was but just to confirm my suspicion I did look it up. According to Wikipedia “a black project is a classified military/defense project, unacknowledged publicly by the government, military personnel, and defense contractors. Yup, I was right.

I already knew this because I have a complete fascination with DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and many of their projects start out as classified. To find out more visit http://www.darpa.mil/.

From Wikipedia I was able to discern that black sites were secret prisons operated by the CIA outside of the US and currently used in the War on Terror.

Now if that does not take hold and squeeze your heart making it stop for at least a second or two I don’t know what will.

Are you intrigued yet? Want to learn more?


Stay tuned. As the days draw closer to the release of Connect the Dots, I will share more of what I learned.

Book-A-Week Challenge Interview with author Pauline B Jones

This week, we had the pleasure of reading The Last Enemy by Pauline B Jones. Pauline graciously agreed to do an interview with me to post on the blog and to respond to questions.

Even if you did not have a chance to read The Last Enemy, feel free to ask Pauline a question.

Now on with the interview:

1. What motivated you to write this book?

I started this book way back when the internet was just beginning to move into the mainstream. It fascinated me that I could “meet” people that I didn’t actually know. I had to take their word for who and what they were, how they looked, no way to know if they were really male or female. Then I saw The Fugitive and got interested in US Marshals Service and the story started to come to a boil. The theme of not really knowing people, virtual or real, threads through the story—though I didn’t know that until it was finished.

2. What are your current projects?

I just finished and turned in Girl Gone Nova, a follow up story to my Project Enterprise series set in the Garradian Universe. Then I started working on a short story for our next chapter anthology, except the story turned into a novella, so now I’m working on it as a standalone—and the next chapter in my Project Enterprise series. It’s also got some steampunk mixed in, which is making it a lot of fun to work on. It’s also a novella in search of a title. Usually titles aren’t that hard for me, but the title I wanted has been chosen by two books releasing next year. Sigh.

3. How do you come up with your story ideas and your characters?

I get story ideas in weird ways. Sometimes a character will come to me and I’ll have to write a story for him or her. Sometimes I get the idea first and then have to find people for the story. The Key is unique for me. I got hooked on Stargate Atlantis and got this story idea for an episode. It kept getting in the way of me writing a book, so I thought, I’ll just write it down and get it out of the way. Well, 100 pages later, I realized I had a character in need of a story. I had nothing but this woman with special abilities. And she required a science fiction world, something I’d never done before. I tried everywhere I could think of to situate her in the “real” world and she would have none of it. So I followed her lead and ended up with a huge science fiction romance novel.

One thing I do when I finish a book is to interview myself about writing that book. I call it my Behind the Book interviews. I have a little fun with them, but they also keep details fresh that I might otherwise forget. Here’s the link to my interview about The Last Enemy:
http://www.paulinebjones.com/LEBHB.htm

4. What genre are you most comfortable writing?

I get the most buzz from writing suspense and/or action-adventure. Not sure what that says about me. LOL! I’ve tried writing straight romance and can keep from killing anyone or blowing anything up if the story is short, but past about fifteen pages, stuff starts to happen. I also enjoy adding humor. For me, humor is the leavening of life, so it’s natural for me to filter it into my writing. While I’ve written what I’d call suspense from the beginning, my writing has been edging toward action/adventure for some time. When I look back and I can see it more and more, so that’s where I am right now. I call it action/adventure, but my books always have a romance element. I’m told that The Key is science fiction romance or space opera. For me, space is a setting, just as Denver was the setting for The Last Enemy. Both settings had to be, they are as essential to the plots as the characters, but through all my books there is peril, romance and action. (That’s where I got my website tag line: The Perils of Pauline—is the unifying theme of all my books.)

5. How did you come up with the title for your book(s)?

I got the title for The Last Enemy from a quote:

“Death is the last enemy: once we've got past that I think everything will be alright.”
Alice Thomas Ellis

It really suits the story, because my character has survivor guilt issues.

6. How much of the novel is realistic?

All of my books are completely realistic. Really. Okay, so maybe the time travel and the space travel aren’t exactly true yet, but they could be.

Seriously, I try to make my characters feel real. If readers believe in the people, then they will believe in the story. I once had this reader busting my chops about a small detail in Out of Time. I was like, dude, you’re fussing about where the guys go to the bathroom on a B-17, but have no trouble with travel through time? It’s fiction. So basically I made it all up.

7. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything?

I wouldn’t. I’ve enjoyed writing my books, have loved what I’ve learned from each one. Sometimes people ask me why I don’t publish with a larger publisher, like one in New York. The short answer is: they didn’t like what I like to write. That meant one of us had to change and we’re both determined not to budge.

I feel blessed to find a publisher who likes me and my writing as is (other than the edits of course). I have to spend so much time with a book that it’s just not possible for me to do anything but write what I want. While this is a business for me, I would not spend this much time doing something that didn’t bring me joy.

8. If your book was made into a movie who do you picture playing the part of the hero and heroine?
9.
Matt would be played by Tommy Lee Jones (well, a younger one) and Sandra Bulluck for Dani?

10. When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When I made my first sale: a short story to a children’s magazine. I didn’t start telling people I was a writer, though, until my first novel, Pig in a Park, was published.

11. Who is your favorite character in the book?

Well, Dani, I guess, though I loved writing Matt, too. I liked Dani a lot because she had courage and a sense of humor and she was real. She reacted to events the way a real woman would and didn’t use any extraordinary powers to overcome evil. She is like the women I’ve known through the years, woman who face hard things with a sense of humor and determination.

12. What is your favorite way to take a break from writing?

I like to put a movie into the dvd player, curl up with a bowl of popcorn, chilled Jr. Mints and a Diet Dr. Pepper and let the world go by. The movie can be a romantic comedy or an action –adventure. I also have this secret love of critter features or disasters flicks. I’m drawn to Tremors, Lake Placid and any movie that will mean an end to life on Earth as we know it. I have no explanation for it, though I suspect it is hereditary. I once caught my mom watching some earthquake flick, mini-series. Sorry to out you, Mom, but it is long standing tradition to blame our parents for stuff, and well, you were watching it.

Author website: http://www.paulinebjones.com

While you're there checkout Pauline's book The Key, An Independent Publisher Book Awards Bronze Medal Winner. http://www.paulinebjones.com/thekey.htm

The wine bottle crashed. . .writing prompt

This week's writing prompt was: The wine bottle crashed. . .

My response: The wine bottle crashed to the floor, shattering into tiny fragments of glass lying in a pool of deep red. Motionless, Susie stared at the mess, her eyes not seeing wine, but blood. A dark pool of blood spreading beneath her feet.

“No, not again.”



What did you come up with? Share it here.

Gotta love my parents

I love my parents and am thankful every single day for them. However, there are days when I am even more grateful.

My parents flew up from Florida just to help and attend/participate in the wine/mystery event I mentioned numerous times on my blog. Without asking, mom and dad folded, stuffed, shopped, carried, and sweated over the event in order to help make it the tremendous success it turned out to be. They endured the cold of the northeast to show their daughter how much they cared and loved me. That in itself is HUGE especially when the temperatures here were in the 30s to 50s while in Florida they had 80s.

Once the wine/mystery event was over, they turned their attention to me and my “do list”. We replaced the flusher thingies inside the toilets, lined one toilet that sweats during the summer, and changed the plastic seats the builders had put on the potties with ceramic ones that cannot be slammed shut. I swear I have the quietest toilets around – NOW.

Mom helped me take down cabinets installed in basement so I can install them in the garage. Sounds easy, but they are not light and mom is not exactly a body builder. We did it without breaking any cabinet or any injury.

My father raked the leaves in the front yard and mowed it for me. I still have the back yard to contend with but hey, that’s less than what I started with. He also made me bean and ham soup. Yes, I know there are many people that do not care for that soup but I love it especially how my dad makes it. The problem with the soup was not in the taste but in the heat. We decided to eat the soup out of paper bowls. No biggie. . .except when you sit said paper bowl with hot soup on dining room table and it leaves a water stain ring.

Talk about freak out. I flipped. I was so upset thinking my furniture was ruined. Mom comes along as moms do and she pulled out the mayonnaise from the refrigerator and tried the old household remedy. Unfortunately, it did not work, but it was nice that she tried. This morning we were all standing around talking about the stains and decided that there had to be an answer to my water-stained wood. I, my father’s daughter, got up on the Internet and did a quick search. I found several suggestions, one of which was the mayonnaise trick. The one I found and was easiest to try was the hot iron. Yes, this is a tried and true remedy. I immediately grabbed a clean cloth, my iron, plugged it in, set it on low, and tried it. Holy cow! It worked. Of course, both my parents chime in that they “know what I will be doing tonight.” Oh yeah, I will be ironing out the water stains in my dining room table.

Now we come to the biggie, the tile I wanted above the spare bath shower. Mom and I went out and shopped for the tile and all the necessary tools/supplies. The first tile I picked she wrinkled her nose at it so I set it aside and found another one, the perfect one. We took everything home including this new product that allows you to put up tile lickety-split. While mom and I did some other tasks, dad started on the tiling. When I went upstairs to help, I saw that he had the back wall fully tiled. My heart sank, my stomach did this quivery heebie-jeebie and I wanted to cry. It was ugly and so not the perfect tile.

Once again, yours truly spazes out and has to get it removed immediately or life will be ruined. Oh! I am not kidding. Dad and I yanked every last one of those 1-inch glass tiles off the wall. The sound of them clinking and clattering against the tub was music to my ears and relief to my eyes. Well, it was until I realized the tile mat thingy was not going to come off as easily. Damn! What do I do now?

Simple. I packed myself in car, ran down to other hardware store, searched for tiles and bought the ones I liked but mom wrinkled nose at. Before we ran out to meet friend for chicken wings, dad and I replaced the tiles we ripped down. AMAZING! Beautiful! I bow to my father for making my world right again.

After dinner, we returned to the spare bathroom where dad and I finished installing the tile and then he showed me how to grout it. Okay, bring on more tile work. I can do this. My bathroom is now gorgeous. I love it and I love my parents!

We celebrated by me baking a dozen fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and eating them while still warm. YUM!

See. . .these are just a few of the many reason why I just gotta love my parents.


Mom and Dad – if you read this I’m sending hugs and kisses your way.