Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Writing Prompt Wednesday

This morning's prompt is inspired by my current WIP and a particular scene I am working on.

Writing Prompt: The sight of her granny. . .


Remember, it's not how much you write, but the quality of the words. Have fun and feel free to share what you come up with.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Great way to end the week!

You ever have one of those weeks where you just don’t get to do the things you want to do because the job and life takes over? That has been my week or last two weeks.

On the other hand, this has been a week of great enjoyment for me as a writer. On Monday, I posted about the guy who yelled out his truck, blocking traffic, to tell me he liked my latest book, CONNECT THE DOTS.

Monday night I came home to find a message from Heather Bishop of WZID who said, “I’m not a cute guy, but I REALLY like Connect the Dots!”

One of the guys who work for me out of New Jersey sent me an email on Wednesday sent me an email telling me that he started reading Connect the Dots and is with him so he can read during lunch. Mike claims, “It is non-stop movement and action.”

Friday morning, I decided to get some breakfast and ran into Scott who works for the postal service and is reading Connect the Dots during his lunch break. According to Scott, “I’m really enjoying it and it makes me want to turn the page.”

The piece de resistance is after a very long week, I come home and at 1 AM I see a Google alert in my email. I click the Google alert and it takes me to Intense Whisper’s blog where I see she posted a review and book giveaway of CONNECT THE DOTS. Not just a review, but a wonderfully worded and high-praise review that immediately put a smile on my face and made me send the link to my family at one in the morning.

Thank you all and especially Robin for making me feel loved as an author. It's always nice to hear someone say they like your story and want to read the others. What a compliment!

Please click the link above and show Robin/Intense Whisper some love by leaving a comment and entering her book giveaway.

Intense Whisper AKA Robin K and I met on Twitter and send quick quips back and forth. She is hysterical, and a great follow on Twitter.

Now, would you say this was a great week to be a writer or what?

Time to go celebrate the 15th Anniversary of my favorite bagel shop, Big Easy Bagels, in Manchester, NH. Hope to see you there.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Do you have a favorite breakfast joint?

I do. Almost every Saturday I visit Big Easy Bagel in Manchester, NH for a great bagel, a soda (not a coffee drinker but they have it), and terrific company and atmosphere.

You remember that show Cheers and how "everyone knows your name"?

Big Easy Bagel is that kind of place. You go there the first time because you notice it on the way to the Manchester airport. You go a second time because you love a good bagel and the food is delicious. After that you find yourself returning again and again not just because of the food but because you feel like family.

Lori and David (the owners), along with Cathy and Deb, and sometimes Amanda make you feel like you're a part of their family so you find yourself visiting them every Saturday for a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel sandwich, and if you have a carb craving you order the spicy fries.

Help Lori and David and the gang down at Big Easy Bagel celebrate their 15 year anniversary this week. They have lots of wonderful food and good giveaways so stop by, grabbing a bagel and a cup of coffee, and see what's going on.

Date: April 15, 2010 to April 17, 2010
Time: 6:00am - 3:00pm
Location: Big Easy Bagels
Street: 2626 Brown Avenue
City/Town: Manchester, NH

Tell them Denise sent you.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

This is one way of hearing how someone likes your book

Remember a month or so back how I posted about a guy giving me his card and asking me to call him one morning while I was pumping gas at my local gas station?

This morning I had to fill-up and as I stood there freezing my tail off at the pump someone honked the horn. Figuring it was some car honking at another on the street, I didn't look up.

My mistake. The next thing I know, someone is yelling my name from the road. I look up and there is the same guy sitting in a big truck on the road. He blocked traffic to shout, "I read your book."

Cool! My response was, "Well?"

To which he replied, "I really liked it!"

"Excellent!" I hollered.

Then before he rolled away, he shouted for me to call him.

Good start to a day!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Thursday's writing prompt response

Last night as I relaxed, I sat down and came up with this little snippet to yesterday's writing prompt.

Prompt: She sat down at the counter and everything was fine until. . .

She sat down at the counter and everything was fine until the man with a moustache and the smell of her stalker sat down next to her. Then her nerves went haywire. Her stomach pitched, bile pushed at the back of her throat, and the fork slipped from her sweaty palm and dropping on the plate of scrambled eggs with a clatter.

“Are you okay?” Dawn, the waitress she’d seen once a week for almost three years asked.

“I, uh, yeah,” she lied and tossed a twenty onto the counter.

“I’ll get your change.”

“That’s okay. You keep it,” Jane said as she slid off the red vinyl stool.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll get your change.”

As soon as Dawn walked off with the uneaten plate of food, check, and the twenty dollar bill, Jane shoved her garden magazine in her bag and bolted for the door and safety. If not for the fact that people would be watching her go to her car, she would have run. Instead, she calmly, but briskly strode to her car with keys in hand. Aiming the key fob at her SUV, she unlocked the vehicle, and rushed to the door. She grasped the handle and tugged. The door opened an inch then slammed back in place. When she reached for the door handle, she gasped and jumped. Her back met the hard wall of a chest as two large hands splayed along the top of the door frame, pinning her in.

A deep voice spoke into her ear. . .


What did you come up with?

See what author JD Webb wrote for Writing Prompt Thursday. See his website at www.jdwebb.com

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Writing prompt Thursday

This morning I decided to go have breakfast at this little place around the corner from me and everything was just fine until. . .

Today's writing prompt: She sat down at the counter and everything was fine until. . .


Have fun with this. Write as little or as much as you can and don't forget to share what you write.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Grandmas are the greatest

I had originally planned on posting a writing prompt this morning. . .until I checked my mailbox this morning.

Inside my large white mailbox I found a package from my grandma who is known affectionately to my father as 'Mad Max'. Her real name is Maxine and she's my mother's mother.

Okay, so you know what happens when you receive a surprise package? You cannot wait to rip it open and see what is inside!

Of course, you're in your car driving and can't rip open that gosh darn tape meant to keep a 500-pound gorilla out so what did I do? I went to the little breakfast place around the corner from me, drug the box inside, and immediately asked for a pair of scissors.

After finally getting the tape off and ripping through the paper, I found a set of kitchen towels. Now these aren't just any towels. These are hand-embroidered kitchen towels that my grandmother stitched herself. They have little doggies on them doing various things and each one has the day of the week spelled out on it.

How cool is that?

Grandmas are absolutely the greatest and I am all over anything that is made by hand.

Thank you Grandma! Hugs and kisses...and lots of love!

BTW - Can I have a set of towels with kitties on them? :-)

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

What scary movie do you remember?

What things that go bump in the night made you afraid of the dark when you were a kid?

When I was a kid I saw this movie where these creatures/monsters came out of the fireplace in a basement only at night because they didn't like light. They would steal people.

I used to think that the movie was called The People Under the Stairs, but today I finally figured out that the movie that made me never want to sleep in the same room with a firplace was a made-for-TV horror film titled Don't be Afraid of the Dark.

The plot surrounds Sally and her husband Alex who inherit a Victorian mansion from Sally's recently deceased grandmother. Sally, exploring the house discovers a sealed and locked fireplace in the locked basement, which she thinks would make a lovely addition to her home. Little does she know why it’s been sealed up.

Despite ominous warnings from the estate's handyman, Sally opens the sealed fireplace that holds a hideous family curse. The curse comes in the shape of three little creatures, who want Sally’s soul to join them down the furnace. After seeing the creatures several times, and witnessing just what they’re capable of, Sally decides she wants to get out of the house. Her only protection is when she finds out the monsters are terrified of the light.

What movie had a huge impact on you as a youngster?

As a writer, I strive to build the kind of tension that this old film and many others and to have the reader not want to turn out the light or have to continue reading until they know they heroine is safe. . .or not.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Shopping at hardware store

I had to share this experience because it made me laugh and shake my head.

I have been waiting to trim my apple tree until it was a tad warmer outside, dreading climbing the thing and snipping off every tall spiky limb with my loppers. Last year my arms hurt for three weeks afterward.

This year, a friend of mine recommended I go get a limb saw. I wasn't exactly hot on the idea for the pur fact that the last time I tried to use a saw it did nothing but frustrate me. But what the heck.

I stopped at Home Depot on the way home from breakfast to check out a limb saw. I, of course, walked into the store and went to completely the wrong section (TOOLS) then asked a Home Depot person for directions. He walked me down to the aisle, located the limb saws and pulled one out.

Then he turned to me and said, "Is this what he was looking for?"

He? He who? Was I not standing there asking for this tool?

I replied, "The saw is for me. I'll be the one using it and climbing up in the tree to saw some limbs."

The look on this poor man's face when he realized his mistake was one of slack jaw, wide eyes, and pink cheeks.

"I'm sorry. That really was a stupid thing to say," he offered.

I gave a small laugh and smiled. "No problem. Happens all the time."

The sad part is that it really does happen all the time. If you're buying a tool you must be buying it for a man to use. Now, you're talking to a woman who has framed a wall, put up sheet rock, hung cupboards, replaced light fixtures and switches, painted every wall in her house, gutted and re-planted her own garden, built her own walking trail with more than 400 pounds of flagstone.

You should see the horrified look on the guy at the stone yard's face when I stick the flagstone and rock in the trunk of my BMW. It's similar to the young guy's faces at the nursery when I shove dirty plants in the truck. I have to explain to them, "It's just a car." Then they stutter and I laugh.

Oops! Back to the story.

Anyway, why does the fact that a woman wants to buy a tool surprise so many male salespeople?

Honestly, my ex-husband who is wicked smart when it comes to computers couldn't put together a desk without assembling it backwards, nor could he change a light switch. His version of a tool is a wire crimper for CAT-5 cabling and a mini-screwdriver for all those tiny screws on the cases of computers.

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