Tracey Cramer-Kelly's Blog, page 19

A Parenting Story: “Mama Bear” Moment

Do you ever have a moment when a normally dormant side of you makes a sudden appearance? That happened to me last Friday.

I played hookey from work that afternoon and took my two kids to the beach. They built an elaborate castle with many ‘spires’ and a moat, etc. Then they decided to actually get in the water and swim.

A little way down the beach sat probably a half-dozen parents (more interested in visiting with each other than watching what their kids were up to) and twice that many kids.

Some of those kids started playing with mine – a boy (maybe 4 or 5) and two girls (maybe 6 and 8). Kids do that all the time, make instant friends, no big deal. So I went back to my book. But shortly thereafter I realized those kids were having an argument – and it seemed to be getting heated (though I couldn’t hear any actual words).

Now, my parenting style often calls for me to restrain myself and see what my kids will do. When they get into an altercation with their siblings, cousins, friends (or “stranger friends” they just met at the beach!), I figure that as long as fists aren’t flying, let ‘em learn to work it out amongst themselves.

I heard my son (who is 10 and the oldest of this group) say, “Okay, let’s stop now. It’s time to stop. Dial it down!” (Yes, those are words my kids hear at home.) I admit I had a Proud Mama moment (what do you know, he’s the voice of reason!).

But then someone was crying (and I knew it wasn’t one of mine). It was the 6yo girl. Honest to God, my first thought was that my daughter (who just turned 6) made another kid cry (my girl is a pretty tough cookie). OK, so maybe it was time to engage.

I called my kids in, asked my daughter what happened. Then I asked my son, because he is Honest Abe, and the story was the same. The other kids started the splashing games, then my kids splashed ‘em back… and the other girl started crying.

At this point I’m thinking two things: 1) This is kids’ stuff, nothing serious and 2) what a wuss that girl is! And I go back to my book.

A few minutes later, that little boy (whose name I actually know by now) and his sister deliberately destroy my kids’ castle and moat… about ten feet in front of me.

I keep my cool. This is a public beach, the fun was in the building… but by now I’m wondering if my ‘hands-off’ approach to this particular parenting challenge is the proper one (and ‘how am I supposed to react to this?!’)

I decide it’s time for me to go throw a ball around with my kids.

So I do (and I don’t mention the castle).

While we’re tossing, this boy and his sister come closer and closer until they’re inside our little triangle (and thus interfering with our tossing). Mind you, there’s no one else in the water. So I finally ask them (politely, I think) if there is some reason they need to be so close to us.

“We just want to tell her something.” They point to my daughter.

“By all means, go ahead.”

So this boy whispers in my daughter’s ear. Her eyes go wide and she looks toward the beach. “They knocked down our castles!”

I’m irritated, and I’m faced with another decision. What do I say to these kids (especially the ones who aren’t mine)?

I said: “You know, knocking down the castle was kind of uncool to begin with. But then to come out here and rub their faces in it by telling it to them is even more uncool.”

“It was an accident,” the boy says.

Now I’m getting pissed.

“Oh, come on. I saw you knock it down. You did it right in front of me, and you did it deliberately. So now what you’re doing is just out-and-out telling a lie.”

Well, they take off (as well they should!) and I manage to keep my kids’ minds off the castle until we are ready to head home. At that point, my daughter seems down about the castle, and I say, “well, that does happen at a public beach, sweetie, but the fun part really was building it, don’t you think?”

She seems okay with this explanation.

Out of the corner of my eye I see this other mother watching us as we pack up our things. I give her a glance, wondering what (if anything) her kids have told her. I don’t intend to confront her, but the more I sense her watching me the more the Mama Bear in me surfaces… until I’m almost wishing she would initiate something with ME. In my head I’m pumping out my chest and thinking: You want a piece of me? BRING IT ON, MAMA!

It’s a feeling I’m not accustomed to having, and I examine it as I drive us home. I’m still wondering at my attitude as my daughter is telling dad about the incident. I hear her say, “That boy lied… and moms will always find out.”

And suddenly I’m laughing. Because that’s another thing we say in our house. “Mom and Dad will always find out if you lie.” And all I can do is say, “Yeah, even when it’s someone else’s kid!”

America is Still Great … Especially When Seen From My Motorcycle

There are still people who believe in America.

Even though I write about wounded veterans…

Even though I spent five years as a medic in the Army National Guard…

Even though our family business (www.LeaderMotorcycle.com) goes to great lengths to manufacture products in the USA…

Sometimes it takes getting on my motorcycle to be reminded.

And I was recently reminded in spades during the annual Patriot Ride … and from the passenger seat, no less! (Those who know me will be shocked; indeed, I can’t remember the last time I rode bitch.)

The story goes like this: My husband’s battery was giving up the ghost on Friday. He stopped at a battery store and picked up a new one. The sales guy told him it was “ready to go” and didn’t need to be charged. I suggested he plug it in anyway, but after dinner out with friends, it must have slipped his mind.

You guessed it – the next morning he had no ride. It was either miss the Patriot Ride or go two-up. Now here’s another little-known secret: way (way) back, my husband was man enough to ride on the back of MY motorcycle (yeah, I was the biker when we met). He’d done his time; I figured it was only fair to let him drive.

Three thousand motorcycles is a lot of motorcycles. When I drive in a pack like that, I’m all about watching ahead of me and behind me. But being the passenger, I got to see America in action.

People lined the streets. They sat out front of their homes. They flew American flags. They waved and applauded as we went by (their hands must have been sore by the end – 3000 bikes!). In our hometown, we were greeted by an American flag taller than the people holding it up!

I didn’t realize how much I needed those people. I needed to be reminded that Americans still love their country, believe in their country, and will do what it takes to support their country and those representing it. I was humbled that they took time to appreciate us riders … as we supported America simply by doing what we love to do. How much more American can you get?

My favorite rider? A veteran with a prosthetic leg riding a Harley trike. HE was out there doing. Not letting his physical situation stop him. How can I let setbacks in my life stop me when I see that??

America is still The Great.

I will admit that riding on the back of a motorcycle is NOT my preference (my body told me that in no uncertain terms). But what I felt about Americans that day … it was worth it. Oh, and there are no pictures to prove I rode bitch.

Hollywood Director Heroine in “The Director’s Cut”

I needed a break from Take Two revisions, so what did I do? I picked up a book (The Director’s Cut) with a central character who is also a female Hollywood director!

Tia Morales comes off as always being in control, as being one tough cookie. That seems to have worked on the set, but off the set…not so much. There’s a vulnerable side to Tia that she’s terrified to let people see. And she’s driven – her self-esteem tied up with her success as a director. This was a character I could identify with in many ways (including the family drama)!

Then there’s Jason, the cameraman and Tia’s love interest. According to the content blurb, they’d been butting heads for a year. It’s not apparent why Jason changes the way he acts toward Tia, but from the start of this book he acts concerned about her. They do have one conversation about why he acted the way he did, and to be fair, the book is in Tia’s point of view. But he felt a little under-developed.

In this book, the Christian faith of the characters is never in doubt, never wobbly or uncertain. There’s no antagonist or anti-Christian character to play the part of devils advocate (pun intended), which I missed. Tia’s struggle isn’t so much whether to have faith, but in learning to let go of control. Again, a theme that resonates with me a LOT (consider the topic of True Surrender!).

In sum, a great “sweet romance” with Christian themes, if a bit skimpy on obstacles. My rating: 4.

Biker Fiction: A Female Biker in a Biker Gang

Sour Cherry (OK, I’ll confess right up front that I did not care for the title; it made me think of porn) is about a female biker who is in a biker gang. I’m always curious about how other writers develop biker characters, since I’ve been working on my own recently.

In the opening scene, Cherry has just had a mind-blowing one-night-stand when she’s confronted by a crazy lady who punches her in the nose AND gives her a thousand-dollar downpayment to kill someone.

How could you not like that opening? It pulled me in right away!

But apparently things went bad earlier, and she has to go on the run from her own gang members. Where does she run? To the one-night-stand guy … who happens to also be involved in a biker gang (naturally).

I liked this story right away. The heroine was feisty (which I tend to like), and the hero (Cooper) comes across as an interesting mix of standoffish but with a sense of humor. What we find out about him as the story progresses makes him even more interesting.

Some of the events were a stretch, even for fiction (like, why would she return to her own apartment when that’s the first place her gang would be looking?). And the ex-military “bad guy” that shows up in the climax… he had a connection to Cooper, but apparently also to the gang and Cherry’s father. It wasn’t clear, which unfortunately made the climax less powerful than it could have been.

I also didn’t understand some of the ending events (which I don’t want to spoil by specifying). BUT, it was a happy ending and because the action was constant and there some surprising twists to the story, I still rate it a 4.

P.T.S.D (the book): Writing Concept vs. Execution

Since I write about military characters with PTSD and other injuries, I was naturally attracted to P.T.S.D. (nothing like putting the theme of the book right out there in the title!)

It had the potential to be very good. And I really tried to get into it. I especially liked the character of Gerry; I felt the author did a good job developing his voice and the “slippery slope” he found himself on psychologically. The premise was brilliant (a veteran confessing to crimes he can’t remember committing) and the end twist was good (although it felt rushed). I would have liked to see the secondary characters more developed.

The problem was, it jumped all over the place. It changed point-of-view in the middle of a scene, switched from first-person to third-person with no warning, and was generally hard to follow. There were entire chapters of backstory, or what I suppose could be called flashbacks (although I usually think of flashbacks as being shorter). Some of this I found compelling, and I think the author’s intention was to try to show us how Gerry got to where he is. But there was so much of that, it got confusing to connect it with what was going on in “present day” chapters.

Flashbacks are difficult to do well, and should be used sparingly; otherwise they take the reader out of the story too much. I remember struggling with the same thing when writing Last Chance Rescue; if memory serves, I cut about eight chapters near the front of the book to start the story where it really started!

The story idea was such a great one, but the book felt like the author’s first book, with typical first-time editorial issues. Unfortunately, those issues cut into my enjoyment of this book. It needed a good editor!

Taiko Honto: My First Script Features a Taiko Drumming Club

In late 2011, I decided to write a taiko drumming composition. I’d been studying taiko for about three years, and I asked my friend Brett to help out. Within two months, I had the first “movement” of the composition, which featured a male and female “lead” player … and I was stuck.

I’ve always been a musicals junkie – starting with Grease back in the early 80s, and more recently Moulin Rouge…Abba…even High School Musical. I’m also a HUGE fan of high-drama musical/theater productions (think Phantom of the Opera).

What do these two things have to do with a script? Hang on, I’m getting there…

This happened to be around the holidays, and after the rush of Christmas, I had a very nice lull in which these two “lead” taiko players told me very distinctly that they had a story to tell.

I resisted. After all, I just wanted to compose a taiko piece (just to see if I could do it!). I didn’t want to write an entire story (I already had so many in process)! But I’m a storyteller at heart, and combined with my recent experience producing videos that tell a story, I couldn’t get these two characters out of my head. Shortly after the New Year, I called Brett and said, “Would you still be interested in this project if it’s much bigger?”

Taiko Honto

I had no idea where this project would go; I just knew I had to follow my heart and write the story. Taiko Honto is actually two stories centered around members of a taiko club who are struggling for meaning, respect and love – and the chance to overcome the demons in their tragic pasts.

As cool as these characters’ stories are, the project is too big for me now. The script is just a framework, and my dream is to bring others into the project and see what it is meant to be. I’ll be looking for an independent producer, for starters. If you or someone you know has the ability to pull people together and is looking for a very cool project (both theatrical and film), unlike anything done before, please contact me.

From Corporate CEO to Waitress (Romance Novel Review)

In the first chapter of The CEO Gets her Man, the heroine (Debra) comes across as a total bitch. She was so bitchy, I started thinking right away how much she’d have to change to make this story into something I’d be interested in, and with that much change, would it even be believable? I almost quit reading right there. Looking back, I think if the author had worked in a little more backstory right off the bat (difficult balance, I know) – WHY she is like that – it may have been a less rocky start.

Luckily her character was developed as the story went on, but WHY she was the way she was… it never felt like enough of a reason for that rough start. Nevertheless, if the point of the story was her transformation (besides the romance, of course) the author managed to make it believeable.

The concept of a CEO pretending to be a waitress is great. I would have liked more about her as a waitress – those scenes were so minimal it almost felt like a contrived reason for these two characters to interact – and more of the characters that befriended her as a waitress. Again, those felt placed there only to create a reflection in her, and they could have made the story so much more full and interesting.

Jase was a bit too good to be true. She deceives him (though not intentionally), then comes to him for help… and he decides he’s going to just plow through all her crap and… marry her? He still doesn’t really know her, so it’s a bit of a stretch. But I was willing to overlook that by this time, because there was enough heat between the characters, and a couple good scenes (one involving an accident and the one when he discovers who she really is). All in all, a satisfactory read.

“Take Two” Free Novel Excerpt: a Desperate Search…

Welcome to Installment #8 of my upcoming novel, Take Two: a Hollywood Romance with a Twist (see previous blog posts for excerpts 1-7). I am sharing Take Two for FREE every week, so click here for details on how to follow the story of Zac and Gina!

 

                Gina let herself into Zac’s hotel room and stood looking around in the dim light. It looked like a typical bachelor pad, with clothing randomly strewn about and papers littering the small desk. She reached for the light and hesitated; was it a good idea to turn on a light?

                Then she chided herself. What could she possibly hope to find if she couldn’t see? She flipped a switch and headed for the desk.

                It felt odd to be poking through Zac’s things, especially when she wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for. The papers on the desk were almost all shooting scripts. She checked the drawers of the desk; nothing but his computer and a jumble of napkins and wet wipes.

                What next? The drawers? It would really feel odd to go through his underwear…

                She needed more light. She went around the bed and reached for the bedside lamp switch. The halo lit up the area, and she gawked at what she saw. “It can’t be,” she whispered.

                There, on the nightstand, were the remains of what looked for all the world like…oatmeal raisin cookies.

                Gina jumped at a knock on the door. Moving swiftly, she looked through the peephole and then opened the door to Candy.

                “Did you find anything?” Candy said as she stepped inside.

                Gina shut the door firmly behind her. “I think I found the cookies you talked about.”

                Candy followed Gina’s gaze to the nightstand. Her eyes went wide. Gina went back to the desk. “There was a baggie in here somewhere,” she muttered. “Ah, yes, here it is.”

                She carried the bag to the nightstand. Carefully she brushed the cookie fragments into the bag, resisting the urge to sniff at them. When she turned to Candy, she found the young woman just staring at the bag.

                “I was right,” Candy said softly.

                “You were right about the cookies,” Gina said. “Let’s not jump to conclusions from there.”

                “I’m right,” Candy said. “I know it.”

                “Did you find Sasha?” Gina said.

                “Huh?” Candy said. “Oh. Yeah. She’s in the lounge. It sounds like she’s staying the night and heading out in the morning.”

                Another knock on the door caused Candy to let out a squeak.

                “That should be Dale.” Gina stepped to the door and let him in. “You got the pass card?”

                “That’s affirmative.” Dale looked from Gina to Candy, then to the bag Gina held in her hands. “But I’m getting a funny feeling about this.”

                Gina gave him a short explanation. “I think we need to talk to Sasha.”

                “Maybe we should check her room first,” Dale said. “That is why you had me get the pass card, isn’t it?”

©2013 Tracey Cramer-Kelly

Click here to be notified when the next FREE installment of Take Two is posted!

“Take Two” Free Novel Excerpt #7: A Clue

After a week off due to work-related craziness, I welcome you to Installment #7 of my upcoming novel, Take Two: a Hollywood Romance with a Twist (see previous blog posts for free novel excerpts 1-6). I am sharing Take Two for FREE every week, so click here for details on how to follow the story of Zac and Gina!

 

Gina had barely closed her hotel room door when there was a knock on it. She opened it to find one of the production crew.

                “Miss Devereaux.” The girl fidgeted, wringing her hands. “I’m sorry to bother you, but it’s really important.”

                Gina didn’t have time for this.

                “I have information about Zac and I…I don’t know who else to go to,” the girl said.

                Gina assessed the girl. She was average in every way: mousy brown hair, glasses, nondescript clothes, worn tennis shoes. She had a gut feeling about this girl. “It’s Candy, isn’t it?”

                “Yes.”

                In Gina’s experience, the quieter the crew member was, the more they knew everyone’s business. They didn’t talk much; they watched and listened. It was possible Candy had information on what Zac had done outside of work the past three days. “Come in, Candy.”

                Candy was obviously nervous. “Miss Devereaux…”

                “Call me Gina.”

                “Gina, I…” she said. “Zac is terribly sick, isn’t he?”

                “He is,” Gina said.

                Candy wrung her hands. “I should have told someone.”

                Gina took the girl’s hands and guided her to sit on the bed. “Well, I’m here now. What is it, Candy?”

                “I think Sasha poisoned Zac,” she blurted out.

                Gina was instantly alert. “What makes you think that?”

                “You know—or maybe you don’t know—that Zac and Sasha were a couple?” Candy said.

                Gina shook her head. She didn’t follow any of that these days.

                “They auditioned for this project at the same time,” Candy continued. “Right after that Zac broke up with her. She was livid.”

                “Ah,” Gina said. “I did pick up on some animosity between the two of them.” Truthfully, she hadn’t given it much thought, since they were not in any intensive scenes together.

                “She’s said some crummy things to him since we started shooting,” Candy said. “They even had a fight. Last Friday, before the weekend break. But then, three nights ago, Sasha was in his room.”

                “And you know this how?”

                Candy went beet red and she looked down at her hands in her lap. “I followed him.”

                Gina also knew this about the film industry: there were stalkers, and there were quietly obsessed fans… and now she knew where Candy fell on this scale. “Go on.”

                “She brought him something—cookies or brownies,” Candy said. “Like a peace offering. Only, I think the cookies were poisoned.”

                Gina sat back. “That’s pretty far-fetched, Candy.”

                “I know it sounds that way,” Candy said. “But think about it. That was Monday night. He started feeling badly on Tuesday. And why would she make nice to him? It’s not like she was going to get a better part in the film.”

                What should Gina make of this conversation? It was almost laughable—Sasha couldn’t be that vindictive, could she? Or that smart? On the other hand, Gina didn’t have any idea where to start, and the poison part did fit …

                “Did you hear any of their conversation?” Gina asked.

                “No,” Candy admitted. “But they didn’t fight, I know that much. And when she left, she didn’t have the cookies with her.”

                Gina was silent for a spell. “Candy, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to find out if Sasha’s left for the weekend.”

                “You believe me?”

                “I have no reason to doubt what you saw,” Gina said. “But it’s pretty tough to believe what you’re implying. I’ll do this much: I will check Zac’s room and see if I can find these cookies.”

                “You will?” Candy’s gratitude was almost too much. “You can do that?”

                “Meet me at Zac’s room.” Gina stood. “But don’t let anyone see you there. And for God’s sake, don’t tell anyone about Zac being sick.”

                “That won’t be a problem,” Candy said. “Most of the cast doesn’t even notice I’m alive.”

 

©2013 Tracey Cramer-Kelly

Click here to be notified when the next FREE installment of Take Two is posted!

“Take Two” Free Novel Excerpt #6: Confrontation

Welcome to free novel excerpt #6 of my upcoming book, Take Two: a Hollywood Romance with a Twist – coming to you from Scottsdale, AZ, where I am attempting to sell motorcycle accessories for our family business, Leader Motorcycle.

I am sharing Take Two for FREE every week, so click here for details on how to follow the story of Zac and Gina!

 

Even though she was watching for him and mentally preparing for it, Gina was still startled when she heard Sylvester’s angry voice at the nurse’s station. “Where the hell is my actor?”

                She strode toward him. “Syl.”

                “What the hell, Gina?” He turned his piercing gaze on her. “You drag my actor off the set without alerting me?”

                “There was no time, Syl,” she said. “He’s very sick.”

                “He passed out,” Syl said. “What, too much partying last night? The kid’s got a lot of nerve…”

                “It’s not like that,” she said. “The doctor thinks he’s got food poisoning.”

                “I want him back on the set tomorrow.”               

                It was as if the man hadn’t even heard what she said! She’d worked with Sylvester a long time but…damn, this was just too much. “This is a human being we’re talking about, Syl,” Gina said sternly. “Not a robot or a part you can simply replace.”

                “I should replace him,” Sylvester said. “These actors get a big head, think the film is all about them.”

                Gina lost her grip on civility. “If you want to fire Zac, then you might as well fire me, too. Because I don’t want to work for someone who places more importance on a film than on a human being.”

                That shut him up, but only momentarily. “There’s a lot of money riding on this being pulled off on schedule.”

                “So you’re saying the money is also more important than Zac’s life.”

                “You’re getting dramatic,” he said. “The kid is sick, not dying. I’m just saying…”

                “I know what you’re saying,” she said disgustedly. “Who do you think slaved over the schedule? We’ve shot almost half the footage. If you fire him now, I’ll quit too. You’ll have to find a new director and a new leading man and re-shoot it all. Then your schedule truly will be screwed.”

                He opened his mouth in astonishment, but she cut him off. “But just as important, the work Zac’s done up to now has been damn good. And you know it.”

                She stared at him until he was forced to respond. “Yeah, the kid’s done some good stuff,” he muttered.

                “Send everyone home for the weekend,” she said. “By then we’ll have a better idea when Zac can come back. Hell, it might not even be long for all we know.”

                “It better not be,” Syl growled. But he was already backing up, looking about the hospital with obvious distaste. “Well, then…”

                “I’ll take care of the details here,” she said. “You put the word out at the set.”

                “Fine,” he said. “I’ll tell them as little as possible. Make sure this is kept quiet. The last thing we need is tabloid rumors.”

                Gina waited until he’d left, then let out her breath. Slowly, count to ten…

                She jumped when she heard the doctor’s voice behind her. “Miss Devereaux? I’m Mr. Davies’ specialist, Thomas Carrini. I’m a nephrologist, and I specialize in diseases related to the kidneys.”

                Gina took his hand. He was only an inch taller than her and probably the same age, but she noticed right away that his eyes were kind.

                “I need to talk to you about Zac,” he said.

                “Can it wait?” she said. “We should be able to reach his family soon.”

                “I don’t think so,” the doctor said. “Nothing turned up in Zac’s stomach contents. At least, nothing we could identify that would make him sick. We need to run blood tests to check his liver function.”

                “Is that serious?”

                “It depends on what we find,” he said.

 

©2013 Tracey Cramer-Kelly 

Click here to be notified when the next FREE installment of Take Two is posted!