Visiting Central City in Colorado

What do you do? When the doorbell rings and a woman, maybe in her late 20's is on your doorstep asking if she can use your phone. It is 20 degrees outside and she asks if she can come inside? Everything I've ever heard says do not let her in. But I wasn't able to close the door. She said her boyfriend, Mike had pushed her out of his car and that she didn't feel safe going to his house. I asked if he lived around here and she was evasive. I gave her our home phone so that she could call her uncle to come and get her. But from the side of the conversation that I could hear, he was not going to come. She said that she had changed and it wasn't going to be like that anymore. He hung up. I could smell alcohol on her breath, and when I was making a call on my cell phone, she asked if I was calling the cops. I told her no that I wasn't. She said that if I thought I needed to  -- to please tell her. She has had some run ins with the law and was not supposed to be drinking. She had two shots earlier. Just then my husband and son came home. She asked to use my computer to get her contacts so that she could call someone to come and get her. But then my husband asked what she was doing. She got nervous and then wrote a few of her contacts from her Google account in a book from one of her bags. He dropped her off at Subway. He thought she could stay at a public place to figure out what she should do. When she left I gave her a hug and told her not to stay with that boyfriend. A very strange story and a very strange end to a very strange day.

     On a better note, my husband and I went up to the mountains on Monday. We had lunch at a place called Dostal Alley, in Central City, a small little store front with gambling and a bar upstairs and small kitchen and dining area downstairs.  The pizza was good. The $5 we spent in gambling yielded .50. So altogether we gambled $5.50 away. A fun 30 seconds. Went to the cemetery in the freezing cold.  And on our way home we saw a herd of elk.

Family and Christmas 2015

Celebrating Christmas Eve with my family, Christmas Day with my husband's family, then Christmas afternoon with my little family were all wonderful. These events have to be the sweetest times of life.   Add to that my nephew getting married on Sunday, it has been a great finish to a year full of challenges.

Christmas Baking

Christmas time. I love it and dread it. But after work today, I have the next five days off. Gifts are all wrapped, except for three late arrivals. But will wrap tonight so . . .all is a go.  After baking 106 cinnamon rolls, 150 spritz cookies, 2 large pans of fudge, and 11 loaves of Christmas Bread, the baking is nearly done.  I just have to make a cheesecake tonight and a cherry dessert for Christmas Eve with my family. My husband is going to smoke a turkey breast and then we are ready to celebrate.

Looking forward to posting a chapter a week of one of my books at the start of 2016. Deadlines and all that . . . are kind of important. Without them I sometimes get lost in one chapter and do not surface for far too long.

So wishing each of you a very Merry Christmas and that the Son of God will find a home in your heart this year.

 

Winter

It's a snowy Colorado afternoon. I hope to stay inside all day long. Family members have been coming and going. Christmas shopping, going to work and running errands. But not me, no. I sit in front of the compter, writing away.  

Starting in January, I hope to post a chapter a week of a book I wrote some time ago. It is set in Colorado and I am hoping to get feedback from you, my reader to help me get it ready for publishing. 

A picture from the mountains of Colorado to remind me that summer will come again. Winter will not last forever. That even as the snow falls, flowers are hibernating beneath its chilly blanket. That bright colors will once again burst open and just the sight of such spendor will make me think . . . Winter wasn't all that long. 

Cave of the Wind

Just finishing up the last chapters of my book. (I know, I've written that before.) Getting ready to enter it into another contest. It's funny how things go. . . last year I was doing the same thing. I had such great hope that after working on this book for over ten years that it would do well in the contest. But it never made it to round two.  Now after spending yet another year on refining the plot and characters I am sending it out or actually will send it out in January. I'm not as hopeful, not because I don't think it is a good book. More because judging is very subjective. One day I read a book, and I love it. The next time I read it  -- I wonder why I thought it was so good. But I feel this book is at its absolute best. . .meaning that it is the best that I can do.

 Went to Cave of the Winds for my daughter's birthday. It was snowy and cold, but once inside the cave, it was much warmer. It was a neat experience. With stalactites and stalacmites in various caverns. A great tour even if it was a little cheesy. Naming formations and the tour guide speaking for a few minutes and then running to the next area. What could we do but follow.

  

Wedding Bouquets

I am behind. Behind in writing, behind in cleaning, behind in reading, way behind in cooking for Thanksgiving. I'm behind in so many more ways. But I press on. I think I'll be able to catch up this weekend. With Thanksgiving tomorrow and setting up the Christmas tree on Friday, I'll have Saturday to shop and then Sunday is my daughter's birthday and we are going to go to Cave of the Winds in Colorado Springs and then out to eat. So I'm not sure when I will do the catching up . . .

I did finish bouquets for my nephew's upcoming wedding.  The five bridesmaid' bouquet's are on the right, the maid of honor's is in the middle and the bride's on the far left. My daughter re-did the bride's bouquet. It looks 100 times better. She has such a good eye and then is able to create it.

So until next week.  Happy Thanksgiving.

France

I am saddened by the loss of life and freedom the French people are suffering through this week. To hear the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower and other famous places are closed makes me sad. May God bring peace to everyone who is living in or visiting France. May the God of hope fill them with all joy and peace as they trust in him so that they may be filled with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Here is a link to my favorite blog. http://historicalromanceuk.blogspot.com/  It is wonderful to have a wide variety of Regency Romance Writers blogging about historical places in England and of the writers, poets and people of the past. Some of my favorite writers are contributors to this blog. 

Both pictures in this post are different views as we were on the bus of St. Paul's Cathedral.

This week my editor and I finished the last chapter of reviewing my first novel. Now I will go through it and do clean up. In January, American Christian Fiction Writers have a contest. I will enter it as I did with the Romance Writers of America's Contest last year. Perhaps I will make it to the next level as I did not in the previous contest. 

Or perhaps I will finally come to the realization that writing for me is a hobby that I enjoy but do not excel at. I do enjoy writing. I enjoy having a concept and then continuing to wrestle with it until it takes a form all its own. Sometimes so far away from my original intention.  I have heard writers say that sometimes the writing takes over and they are just along for the ride. I've experienced that. I wonder if all art forms evolve seemingly as you work on them.  

Writing and Colorado

It snowed last week about two inches, but the weekend was nice enough to go for the last boat ride at the inner city lake. A light jacket with the heat of the sun felt just the right. My husband didn't catch any fish, but it was still just wonderful. There is something so peaceful about being on the water. From the boat I took these pictures of the mountains.

My writing is improving little by little. But because it is taking so much time, I have not been able to put to paper the beginning of my second novel.

I take that back. I've written pages and pages of first chapters and not one have I liked for more than a day. So I'm back to brainstorming until I can find the right way to continue the sequel to "A Series of Scandals" in the Agents to the Crown trilogy.

Remembering Uncle Dee

This weekend, I went with my sister and her husband to visit relatives in Brighton. They are my mom's cousins. A brother and sister who live together. The brother is blind and has been for many years. They were delightful. After lunch we went to the house that my Great Grandma lived in. I remember as a child coming to this house. It was so much larger then. I remember playing on the railings while my parents visited. My Great Uncle also lived there. Hardwood floors, and the only way to get to the bathroom was through a bedroom. On one side of the door was a bedroom and on the other the front room. Then the dining room that led into the kitchen. The second bedroom is behind the first. And that is the whole of the house.

Then we went to the hospital that my great uncle was instrumental in bringing to Brighton. I heard this weekend that my great grandma used to get upset when Uncle Dee would come home, eat dinner and then go out canvassing the neighborhoods to solicit donations to start a hospital.  The first one was no bigger than a house and my uncle thought his city needed something more for the people of the town. 

At Platte Valley Medical Center they remember him with a bench and a plaque. He would have been honored. 

Finally, we went to the church that he had been a part of for decades. We looked for the paver with his name on it. But we could not find it. They must not have put it in yet. 

At the end of summer we went to the spot in the park where they also honored him, with a plaque on a stone telling of all the wonderful things he did for Brighton. There was a great ceremony with speeches and memories and refreshments. No cake, slightly disappointed. But not everyone loves cake the way I do.

Anyway, onto writing. I did write one chapter this week. So yay. Unfortunately, it was not the lead in to my 2nd book. I can't seem to find the right way to start the story. So I will work on other writing and see if the right setting will come to me.   

Writing and Colorado

Falling leaves, colder nights, chilly mornings fall is here to stay. How long will it be before winter shows its bleak and dreary head?

Surprisingly, I am still working on the first chapter of my second book and still editing my first book.

What have I been doing?  That is a very good question.

I guess  . . . bringing in my summer plants
to keep them alive until next spring, doing laundry (which I love), going to see my nieces and nephews that are seniors play volleyball and soccer. Getting care packages out to my nieces and nephews in college. Getting away for the weekend with my husband, going to see my dad (80 years old) perform in a musical show. Taking long walks with my husband on the weekends and shorter walks in the evenings. And then, of course, working during the days.  

Are those good excuses, no. .  . but again I resolve to find the time to work on that chapter. So by next post I will have great news. I will write I am working on Book 2 Chapter 2. . . . maybe

Writing the first chapter of my second book

I have written it, re-written it and then have tossed out what I have written, repeatedly. I have mapped out where I want to take the reader, but have not been able to establish the right route. So yesterday, I started with the dreaded outline. Working on it was not as hard as I had thought it would be, although it took all afternoon to complete. I only have the outline for two scenes and hope this week, I can actually write something that I can keep.

And as I work, I can't help remembering London and France where on display were all sorts of treats at various bakery shops. We did sample a few and found the cheaper ones to be beautiful but not tasty. The more expensive pastries were both wonderful to look at and to eat.

In the same way I would like the books I write to have substance, not just be a book. I've read so many books that were just . . . .fine. Very few were inspirational, and even fewer were exceptional. I suppose what I wish for is what all writer's aspire to. We all want to be amazing.

I'm sure each of the bakeries want their customers coming back to sample and buy their newest creations, also.

Which causes me to wonder why my absolute best is only okay, and another's first attempt can be exceptional.

.   

Writing and remembering trip to London

I keep looking at my blog and thinking, "You need to post something." But nothing earth shattering has come to mind. But, I've been thinking alot about this time last year. It was the beginning of preparing for my trip to London and Paris. I was contemplating getting a passport, thinking about what places my sister and I were going to see. I read about what articles to bring and then which of those items the airlines would allow. I wondered if my sister and I would get along and be like-minded travelers. And then in an instand it was all over. But the memories of traveling, of the long plane ride, of all the places we went and all the different foods we tasted are still vivid. The times we stayed up until 2:00a.m. telling each other to get to bed. Only needing a few hours of sleep and traveling all over the city.

Maybe I've already posted some of these pictures, but since I was in a reminiscent type mood, I wanted to see each of them again.  The bus was just like the one we rode on all through the streets of Westminster and London. The apartments were across the street from the Cavendish hotel. We were on the 9th floor so the picture was taken from our window.

These last couple of weeks, I have taken a writing course. I did learn new things, but what I could immediately start working on was the organization of any book. The instructor said it best when she said that in planning a trip to CA to see her son, she must map out her route. There are many different ways to get there in a car, but if she doesn't plan which route to take. She will never get there.So mapping out a story a writer must do the same thing."

Garden of the Gods

September seems unusually warm. Often I forget from year to year, it seems that September should have temperatures in the 70's and low 80's. Yesterday, we went hiking in the Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs. We hiked through the park on one of the many trails and it was close to 90. But there was alot of shade and the scenery was beautiful.

                                         As we

entered I expected to pay a fee but was quickly reminded by the above placard that Charles Elliott Perkins gave this park to the people in 1901on the condition that it would be free to the public. He bought 480 acres for $22 an acre. And he never set his eyes on it.

I was thinking as I hiked through these hills that some of the ground is rocky and you bake in the hot sun. But then a breeze comes by and you find a patch of shade and it takes on a new persona. You can't stay in the shade for long. But the shade is refreshing. In order to make it to the end, you must
 keep walking. Sometimes you look up and see amazing sights. Sometimes you are crowded by trees and bushes. But you make it through and are so glad you took the time to wander about on this earth.

Writing a little everyday is so much like hiking. Sometimes, I see amazing sights. A paragraph or a chapter comes alive. Other times, I'm just plodding through and see very little forward progress. But in time, I will finish it and then it is up to others to take the hike and then they get to decide if it was worth it.  

Writing and Reading

This week my son found  this Brief History of the Royal Family. It runs approsimately 9 minutes but it is wonderful and quirky. https://youtu.be/jNgP6d9HraI  It starts with William the Conqueror and ends with Baby George.

The poster below is one that I bought at Westminster Abbey of the British Monarchy. When my sister and I were in London, we studied it almost every evening. It was extremely helpful when we toured The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral. Who is this guy? When did he reign?

I finished reading two books this week, of course, Regency. They were new books that two of my favorite authors had just released. However I was vastly disappointed. The first one was predictable and the second one came to the conclusion who was the murderer based off of no clues other than they were the only other character introduced in the book. So naturally she had done it.

I wonder if both authors who have written over 50 books each have run out of plots. Run out of themes, run out of steam. The writing was wonderful. The story lines dull.

Sometimes I feel that way and I haven't even published one of the five books I've written. Getting closer and closer with my first one. I know I've been writing that now for almost two years, but I think by December I will be able to put it down and start on revising book 2.  

Colorado and Uncle Dee

Summer is almost over and fall is near. Winter looms around the corner. But ever since January, winter has set in. Of being frozen inside events and situations that I have no control over. I know that my writing has taken on a new hue also. I see things differently. I feel things that I've never felt before. 

I miss my great uncle. I miss his voice. I miss seeing him. I miss his interest in everything I did and of asking about everyone I know. I miss hearing about other relatives and I miss his smell. The other day I caught a whiff of that smell but it faded quickly. I know he is happier in heaven than he has ever been here, and still I can't stop missing him. 

The first two pictures are from Black Canyon of the Gunnison and the one on the right is in Glenwood Canyon. Colorado is a wonderful place to live. Full of so many beautiful sights. 

Today, my husband and I went for a boat ride. Cherry Creek Reservoir is a wonderful recreation spot right inside Denver. The sun was hot, the water cold. My husband fished and I read a book. Very relaxing.  

     

100th Post

This is my 100th post - YEAH. It's amazing that I've had something to say 100 different times. But as a reader who may have stumbled across this blog, you may not have a quarrel with the 100 posts figure but more with the dull content. I'm the one writing and often I find fault with the post too. So you see we are in agreement. 

What a great Labor Day Weekend. The much needed rest before heading into the fall and winter. Up to our favorite campsite near Cheesman Reservoir. It was so beautiful. It brings such a refreshment to my soul to see such beauty.  A little cold at times, but nothing a light jacket couldn't combat. 

Still working on A Series of Scandals. I think one part is great and then let a couple of weeks go by and when I re-read it there is still something off in the wording of a phrase or in the character's actions. But slowly I believe my editor and I are making headway. We are almost three quarters of the way through reading it once again. Each time we revise it it seems to get better.  

Colorado

In real life, unlike books, when faced with a major decision - it overtakes all your thoughts. 

In a book when the heroine faces the unknown, she comes up with plans. Usually faulty plans especially at the beginning of the book. By the end her plans come together much better after, of course, discovering something about herself and about a few other people within her close circle of friends.



The problem with life is that one doesn't know when one chapter is starting and the last chapter is finished. It is more of a liquid free-flowing thing than that displayed in the finite pages of the book. 



With the death of so many people that either I or my family are acquainted with, put together with friends that I've known for close to a decade have moving away -- puts me in the oddest mood. Not fearful, not anxious, sad or glad, just in a more reflective state of mind. For the most part, I am not able to change anything which helps. I react but even that seems unimportant. 

Summer is ebbing. Time waits for none of us. It moves on and we with it.  

The pictures above are from the Black Canyon of the Gunnison on a boat tour of the canyon. The one to the right is Eldorado Canyon outside of Boulder. I'm a Colorado native and have never been to either canyon before. If you want to see breathtaking sights  The plains, farmland, rivers and mountains, then Colorado is the place to be.