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Saturday, July 16, 2011

Everyday Heroes

Bad men of the world appear in newspapers and on radio and TV daily. Serial killers, rapists, thieves of monumental proportions (like Bernie Madoff). They share face time with huge heroes, like the pilot who landed the plane in the Hudson River or men who save people from drowning.

But no press is given to men who do small unselfish acts everyday. Today is your day guys as I dedicate this blog to the everyday heroes, men I know and don't know who have touched my life...you know who you are:


1) To the two gentlemen who stopped, briefly, to pick me up, one guy on each arm, when I slipped and fell at the bottom of the subway stairs on a rainy day.

2) To the man who stopped in the parking lot of Peck's grocery store in Narrowsburg. The second I put my hands under the hood of my car, he was there, asking me what was wrong and if I needed help. Then he proceeded to show me where to put in the wiper fluid, unscrewed the cap to the little tank and left before I even made eye contact!
3)  To all the men on the streets of New York who have stopped to pick up whatever I dropped before I even bent my knees. Klutz that I am, that number is huge.
4)  To my friend in the community who came down to the lake because I told him I was going there to swim by myself and he felt it was unsafe.
5)  To all the men on airplanes who, when seeing me with a large carry-on bag, stood up and put it in the overhead rack for me without even being asked.
6)  To the thousands upon thousands of men who have held doors open for me, allowing me to pass through first.
7)  To the two young men on line in the grocery store who offered their frequent buyer cards to me so I could get the discounts, too. 
8)  To the man who took the dead mouse out of my mousetrap and disposed of it for me. Yucky! 
9)  To all the young men in high school and college who politely took "no" for an answer and either still continued to date me or became my friend.
10) To all the men who got up to give me a seat on the bus or subway when I was pregnant.
11) To my male writer friends in NRW who encourage me every day and still flirt with me.
12) To the men I met on countless vacations who danced with me, bought me a drink at the bar and didn't hit on me.
13) To the man who came to the emergency room with me on a first date, waited forever and held my hand while I got a tetanus shot. 
14)  To my writing partner, Ben, who encourages me every day, never tells me my ideas are dumb or gives me a hard time about my typos or lack of punctuation and listens, patiently, to me rant about life.
15) To DH who sometimes fixes things before I ask.


To all you everyday heroes, thank you. Thank you for all you've done and continue to do quietly without fanfare...and for the shy smile you give me when I acknowledge your help.

Who are the everyday heroes in your life?


Get "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights" ebook still only $1.99 for a bit longer at:
Amazon
Nook
Astraea Press (all formats)Check out this review:

A little bit about the book:

Caroline “Sunny” Davis has it all, a rich husband, career as a well-known artist and a big, beautiful house, she has everything except happiness. Fleeing from a philandering husband, she returns to her family’s cabin in the woods. Looking to reconnect with happier times while she sorts out her life, Sunny is surprised to meet up with someone she hasn’t seen in twenty years.

Mike Foster, her friend, her protector from childhood is more handsome and devastating than ever. Tempted almost beyond endurance, can she resist him…if it’s for his own good? This story about rekindled friendship will warm your heart.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

TEN THINGS NOT TO SAY TO A ROMANCE WRITER...

...AND THE SNAPPY ANSWERS  YOU MIGHT GET.


1.     Did you model that character after me?
a.     No, you’re too boring to be a character in my book.
2.     Did you get your plot from a TV program?
a.     No, that’s called theft of intellectual property.
3.     Are you going to put what I just said in a book?
a.     Maybe, but you’ll never know, will you?
4.     Who did you fashion your characters after?
a.     No one, they are fiction, remember?
5.     Did that really happen?
a.     No, that’s called nonfiction.
6.     Where do you get your ideas from?
a.     I buy them at the corner store along with my crack, heroin and diet pills.
7.     Does your mother know you write this stuff?
a.     Yes, and she’s buying copies for all her friends for Christmas.
8.     Do people actually buy your books?
a.     Yes, I’ve got the royalty checks to prove it.
9.     I could write something like this…it isn’t hard.
a.     Go ahead…I dare you!
10.  This isn’t real literature, you know.
a.     Really? That’s what it’s classified as by the government (when you file a copyright.)

Answer to Trivia question is: Truman Capote!! 



Get "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights" ebook still only $1.99 for a bit longer at:
Amazon
Nook
Astraea Press (all formats)Check out this review:

A little bit about the book:

Caroline “Sunny” Davis has it all, a rich husband, career as a well-known artist and a big, beautiful house, she has everything except happiness. Fleeing from a philandering husband, she returns to her family’s cabin in the woods. Looking to reconnect with happier times while she sorts out her life, Sunny is surprised to meet up with someone she hasn’t seen in twenty years.



Mike Foster, her friend, her protector from childhood is more handsome and devastating than ever. Tempted almost beyond endurance, can she resist him…if it’s for his own good? This story about rekindled friendship will warm your heart.

TOP TEN MOVIE HEROES FROM TOP 100 MOVIES

Having a fun day today. Here are my picks for the top ten movie heroes from the top 100 movies chosen by AFI (American Film Institute). Did I miss someone? Please leave me your choices in a comment. Don't miss movie trivia question at the end.
1. Rick in Casablanca (played by Humphrey Bogart) - movie rank #2 
2  Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind (played by Clark Gable ) - movie rank #3
3. Benjamin in The Graduate (played by Dustin Hoffman) - movie rank #7
4. George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life (played by James Stewart) - movie rank #11
5. Clyde Barrow in Bonnie & Clyde (played by Warren Beatty) - movie rank #27
     (I don't care if he killed people, he was damned sexy!)
6. The Marshall in High Noon (played by Gary Cooper) - movie rank #33
7.  Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (played by Gregory Peck) - movie rank #34

8.  Al Stephenson/Fred Derry (a tie) in The Best Years of Their Lives (played by Frederic March/Dana Andrews) - movie rank # 37
9.   Dr. Zivago in Dr. Zivago (played by Omar Sharif) - movie rank #39
10. Roger Thornhill in North by Northwest (played by Cary Grant) - movie reank #40
  Anyone you'd like to add?

Trivia Question
What famous person was the character of Gem in the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird" fashioned after by author Harper Lee? 
Put your guess in a comment. TRUMAN CAPOTE

 Get "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights" ebook still only $1.99 for a bit longer at:
Amazon
Nook
Astraea Press (all formats)Check out this review:

A little bit about the book:

Caroline “Sunny” Davis has it all, a rich husband, career as a well-known artist and a big, beautiful house, she has everything except happiness. Fleeing from a philandering husband, she returns to her family’s cabin in the woods. Looking to reconnect with happier times while she sorts out her life, Sunny is surprised to meet up with someone she hasn’t seen in twenty years.


Mike Foster, her friend, her protector from childhood is more handsome and devastating than ever. Tempted almost beyond endurance, can she resist him…if it’s for his own good? This story about rekindled friendship will warm your heart.

Monday, July 11, 2011

TUESDAY TALES - FREE READS!

Tuesday Tales continue today. Join me, J.F. Jenkins and Kay Springsteen,other Astraea Press authors, as we write short stories to a word prompt. The prompt this week is "cheese". To read the full stories, click on the author's name or scroll down for my story, "Mint Chip".



 
The last time I was there in the evening there was a couple making out in the back, and a man having a rather heated conversation with his coffee mug.

Kevin’s brain spun in circles. What was she doing to him? He was like a moth caught in the spider’s web. Only, unlike the moth that twisted and pulled trying to get away, Kevin just wanted to stay where he was for the rest of his life, no matter how short or long that turned out to be.


MINT CHIP
by 
Jean Joachim
Chapter Seven
        The sun peeked into Clint’s bedroom at six thirty. Nina stirred, rolling over. She was pleased to come up against Clint’s naked body in the bed next to her, his back facing her. He was sound asleep. Nina, accustomed to getting up at six, relished his presence, scooting up next to him. He rolled over and flipped his arm over her without fully waking up. She molded herself into spoon position with him behind her and eased his arm over her tighter so they were right up against each other. She closed her eyes and drifted in and out of sleep for half an hour.
By six forty-five, Nina knew she couldn’t sleep anymore. Her mind drifted back to their night of lovemaking, goosebumps appeared on her arm as she remembered his tender, passionate touch. After dinner she and Clint made love two more times, ending in the wee hours of the morning. Now she was satisfied but tired and a little sore from so much activity.  Still, she couldn’t stop grinning as she leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on his shoulder while he slept.
Nina swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up. She took a brief shower and found a man’s, short sleeve button-down shirt after rummaging around in his closet. Refreshed by the shower, she descended the stairs and put together the ingredients for breakfast: eggs, cheese, chives for omelets and that thick bread they enjoyed the night before for toast. She put up coffee, poured herself a cup and curled up in the rocker with the play open to her most recent speech.
**** 
It wasn’t the sun or the empty bed that woke Clint up but the smell of brewing coffee. He smiled feeling satisfied, remembering their escapades from the previous night, knowing his woman was downstairs making coffee. His woman? No one said she was his woman. She was his woman for the night…last night. But today was today. The smile turned to a frown as he turned on the shower in the bathroom and began adjusting the hot and cold water.
His mind searched for a way to make her his as he dried himself and put on shorts. No shirt. Her previous compliments about his chest brought his smile back and caused him to put the t-shirt back in the drawer. Spying her sundress on the chair, he wondered what she was wearing. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be much and that knowledge turned his smile into a big grin as he headed for the stairs.  
When he walked into the kitchen, he saw her wearing his shirt which fell about three inches below her behind and, obviously, nothing else and his heart lurched at the same time as desire shot through his body. A beautiful woman wearing nothing but his shirt melting butter and preparing an omelet made him hard. This was like a perfect romance scene from a perfect play he was too imperfect to write.
“Good morning,” she said, offering him a mug of coffee just the way he liked it, light, no sugar.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he replied, taking the mug and bending to kiss her neck.
“Cheese omelet?”
“Only if you come with it,” he said, nuzzling her neck between sips of coffee.
“Like a side of home fries?”
“Like a flawless piece of fruit, a peach, just soft enough to be ripe, smelling heavenly, peachy and delicious,” he said reaching for the buttons on the shirt.
“Uh, uh. Food first,” she laughed, side-stepping him.
“Right, right. You’re sweet enough to make this, the least I can do is eat it before I attack you.”
“After your dinner last night? This is nothing.”
“Not to me,” he said, pulling her to him to plant a kiss on her lips.
Nina scooped the omelets out and put them on plates next to the buttered toast. She handed the plates to Clint to take to the table while she poured juice in two glasses and brought those with her when she joined him.
“I’ve been going over this last scene. You might never hear another actress say her speech is too long, but I think this mine is. Can we break it up into two sections? Maybe put Annie’s response between?”
“You’re sitting there, practically naked and talking about the play? You’re kidding, right?”
She blushed and shook her head.
“The last thing on my mind with you here…dressed…undressed like that,” he motioned to her body with his hand, “is the play. But hold that thought, my muse.”
“Clint, I loved last night, but we have to get back to work. Your time here is running out and…”
“And? And maybe I went to spend more of it making love to you than writing.”
“But you’re here to work…to accomplish something…”
“You don’t think falling in love with you accomplishes anything? I disagree.”
“Falling in…”
“Love…yep. I don’t know what you’d want with a school teacher who thinks he’s playwright…I sure as hell don’t have money…but I can’t help myself. I’ve never met anyone like you before. I don’t think I can let you go.”
Clint looked down at his plate, silencing himself by taking a forkful of omelet and stuffing it in his mouth.
 The quiet was deafening. Color stole into Nina’s cheeks. She put down her fork.
“Who says you have to?” she asked, sliding her hand across the table to Clint who quickly covered it with his. 

Get "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights" ebook for only $1.99 for a bit longer at:
Amazon
Nook
Astraea Press (all formats)Check out this review:

A little bit about the book:


Caroline “Sunny” Davis has it all, a rich husband, career as a well-known artist and a big, beautiful house, she has everything except happiness. Fleeing from a philandering husband, she returns to her family’s cabin in the woods. Looking to reconnect with happier times while she sorts out her life, Sunny is surprised to meet up with someone she hasn’t seen in twenty years.

Mike Foster, her friend, her protector from childhood is more handsome and devastating than ever. Tempted almost beyond endurance, can she resist him…if it’s for his own good? This story about rekindled friendship will warm your heart.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Six Sentence Sunday, a taste of "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights"

 Here is a snippet from "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights" a sweet, contemporary romance, for Six Sentence Sunday:



Trying to get away but laughing too hard to be
fast enough, she ducked into her parent’s room...Mike was right
behind her taking a flying leap and grabbing her by the shoulders
landing them both on the bed, laughing.
****
He was on top of her and pushed himself up on his arms,
looking down at her, his knees on either side of her thighs, trapping
her. Dressed in her cheap white tee shirt, hair tousled and falling in
her face, her lips pink, and her eyes bright, she was completely irresistible. Mike leaned down and brushed his lips over
hers, then came back with a hard demanding kiss.
Sunny opened her lips, losing her hands in his thick, straight
hair, her body soft beneath him, stoking the flames of his desire for
her. When his head came up, his eyes searched hers, demanding an
honest response.


Get "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights" ebook for only $1.99 for Sunday only at:
Amazon
Nook
Astraea Press (all formats)
 

A little bit about the book: 
Caroline “Sunny” Davis has it all, a rich husband, career as a well-known artist and a big, beautiful house, she has everything except happiness. Fleeing from a philandering husband, she returns to her family’s cabin in the woods. Looking to reconnect with happier times while she sorts out her life, Sunny is surprised to meet up with someone she hasn’t seen in twenty years.


Mike Foster, her friend, her protector from childhood is more handsome and devastating than ever. Tempted almost beyond endurance, can she resist him…if it’s for his own good? This story about rekindled friendship will warm your heart. 

WINNER OF HEART/ARROW EARRINGS IS RUTH CASIE! CONGRATULATIONS, RUTH!!