Cheryl Reavis's Blog, page 9

Writing (about) Life--Wait, what?

My son took this photo when he was riding past the Rowan County Fairgrounds yesterday. I guess the moral here is take down the old sign before you put up a new one. Unless they actually will have a"Child & Sheep Exhibit" in September.

Writing (About) Life: Found Moments

Do you know about found moments? They are the small incidents that occur in your daily life just for you to appreciate--or ponder. Like a big truck driver parked in the shade in the K-Mart parking lot, eating his lunch and feeding the birds out his window. Or the young boy busing the outside tables at Starbuck's, wearing his headphones and dancing up a storm like nobody was watching while he did it. Or the lone young man dressed in black, standing in the pouring rain in front of Chick-fil-A, holding up a wilted sheet of paper with rainbow stripes on it to the passing traffic--few of whom, I'm sure, had any idea what the rainbow meant.

You have to pay attention, though, or you'll miss these moments. With writers, it can go either way. Sometimes we're like walking sponges, and we soak up everything going on around us. Sometimes we're too far in the writing "zone" to notice anybody or anything.

But the other day I was paying attention, and here's what happened:

When I was in Dollar General, my home away from home (DH says if I didn't show up there every day, the DG people would call the house wanting to know what happened to me.) ANYWAY, there was a young guy in the store with a little girl who looked to be about six, and they were on a "merchandise tour." Sort of like "window shopping," as it were, only from the inside. They probably weren't buying much, but just looking at different things around the store--things the little girl wanted to show him and talk about, and vise versa. As far as I could tell, the little girl never asked if she could have this or that, but she was clearly enjoying herself, and I think he was, too. At one point, I was on the other side of the aisle of shelving where they were. I couldn't see what they were looking at and I didn't hear what the little girl said. But I heard him. He said, "Sure you can! Don't you ever let anybody tell you you can't do something because you're a girl." I rather liked that. 

Book Trailer for AN UNEXPECTED WIFE...

Link to amazon.com
Link to Barnes & Noble

A Love Inspired Historical, AN UNEXPECTED WIFE...

Click here to see the book trailer for AN UNEXPECTED WIFE

(The) Writing Life--Or...

...why writers shouldn't take reviews too seriously.



See these?


"...would recommend for light reading..."
"...it felt very heavy..."


"...I laughed out loud..."
"...if you want some humor...skip over this one."


"...I found myself smiling..."
"Too melodramatic..."


"Riveting Romance..."
"...decidedly subdued romance..."



"...predictable..."
"I could not wait to see what would happen next..."



"...I get the feeling that I was supposed to be happy..."
"...I really cared about the characters in this book..."


"...no real conflict..."
"...story too gripping for anything less than a five..."




"Made me want to cry..."
"...made me smile..."




"...somewhat realistic..."
"...a beautiful story of true to life struggles..."


"...angsty and...depressing..."
"Cute...."


So what's your point, Cheryl, you may be wondering? Well, it's this. These are all real comments--about The Same Book. 
And now you know why we writers are so dippy.

Writing (About) Life: Roses Rooted From Mamaw Rose's Roses and The "Butchie" Memorial Dog House.

Roses In The Rain All of these were rooted from Mamaw Rose's (DH's late Mom's) antique rose bushes. They are apparently very hardy because they look like this with no help from the likes of me.










In the background in this photo, is The "Butchie" Memorial Dog House.  I'm not allowed to get rid of it--which I don't mind. He was a sweet old dog--if somewhat goofy, and even though he crossed over the Rainbow Bridge decades ago, I still expect to see him out here--digging holes. He always worked very hard to get his front yard looking like a moonscape. He would bark "up" at snow and "down" only at trucks. Maybe I should call this corner of the yard The "Butchie" Memorial Rose Garden.

Writing (About) Life: Azaleas And Roses and Money Plants, Oh My! (And Irises)

Around the backyard Late April/Early May 2013

Two azaleas...


One azalea...




Several azaleas. The roofers trampled the ever-living daylights out of these bushes several years ago, and they've bloomed like crazy ever since. Not sure what this means...



Azalea, up close...



Grand #3's 3rd Grade Cabbage Plant Project we planted last year. I let it go to seed...




A pale blue iris and a purple iris from Mamaw Rose's (DH's late mom's) iris bed...





A money plant (penny plant?) from the DH's late Aunt Peg's flower bed. See the round seed pods? Hence the name, I guess...



A rose in bloom on one of Mamaw Rose's rooted antique roses. This is a big deal because I rooted it, and I know nothing about rooting roses...



This concludes this years backyard tour--unless something else blooms.

Writing (About) Life--Violets

I've been picking violets from the "violet patch" in the backyard. There are three kinds growing there: a yellow-white violet that apparently came in a bucket of peonies that were transplanted from the DH's late aunt's yard, the standard "violets are blue" violets--which are actually purple--and the ones in the photograph. 
This purple and white variety is my favorite because they remind me of the locket my dad gave my mom when they were courting. It was during the War (WW II, that would be). He was stationed at Fort Bragg, and I think he bought it at a jewelry store in Albemarle when he was thumbing his way from Fayetteville to Rockwell to see her. It was gold and mother-of-pearl, and on the mother-of-pearl was a three-dimensional enamel violet with an amethyst in the center. The violet looked like one of these--and almost as real. 
When I was a little girl, I used to beg her to let me see it, and she'd stop what she was doing and get the red velvet box just so I could admire it. I actually wore it once--when I was fourteen. I can't quite recall the occasion--something to do with school--but I remember the thrill of actually having the locket on.
Can you imagine what it looked like? It was truly a unique and beautiful piece of jewelry. In all these years, I've never seen another one like it.
The sad part is that the locket is now lost and gone forever, but every time these violets bloom, I remember...

Annette Funicello Has Died

I seriously wanted to be Annette way back in the olden golden Mousketeer Days, even though I couldn't do ANY of the stuff she did. (She danced on her TOES, people.) I loved the Mickey Mouse Club "dramas" she was in, like "Spin and Marty" and especially the one where she was an orphaned bumpkin who went to live with her well-off relatives in the city. I couldn't wait for the next episode.

RIP, Annette. When you and I were young, you made this little girl very happy.

RITA® Finalist Book Available At A Special Price

The Kindle version of PROMISE ME A RAINBOW is available on Amazon today (April 2, 2013) at a special price (1.99). It was an Romance Writers of America RITA® finalist, and it received a good review from Publishers Weekly.  It is, according to PW, "...eminently satisfying, delicately crafted romantic fiction..."  Above all, it is a love story.

Here is the Amazon link.

If you don't have a Kindle, you can still read the book by downloading a free Kindle app which will make the book available on your computer or your mobile device. The download link is on the right side of the PROMISE ME A RAINBOW page on Amazon.