Chloe Holiday's Blog, page 7
June 12, 2022
Some Days Are Like This
Photo by Ave Calvar on Unsplash
So, you know how when it rains all the darned time, it makes it easy for those horrible long black Daywalker slugs, fat as leeches, to invade and eat your dahlias, and since you don’t have ducks anymore instead you have to patrol the perimeter with a plastic long-handled spatula from Goodwill so you can scoop them up and catapult them downhill again, and good luck to them? But instead of doing one at a time, sometimes it’s a three-fer, but one of them suddenly lets go just in time to fall down your cleavage, so the others barely fling into the air and patter down to stick in the dog’s fur, so then you have to use your hand to first dip the cold nasty thing out of your shirt, and then pulllll them from the dog’s ruff, and then spend the next forty minutes trying to scrub off the memory of that vile, tenacious slime?
No? Just me?
June 9, 2022
Upside Down and Creeping Along Slowly
Not my writing, thank heavens! I refer to “summer” here in the Pac NW.
We have our HEAT on. In June!!! We’ve had so many rainy days that my garden is a slugfest, rather than bursting with early tomatoes.
It’s not all bad, because crummy weather is good for writing. I had some obligatory down time after the release of Fly Boy, then did a bunch of beta reads for fellow authors, but I’m back in the trenches, with a new story to release this summer.
And I have some other fun news to share soon.
May the rest of you have a wonderful, warm summer full of sun and tomatoes.
June 3, 2022
Free This Weekend!
Get the e-book A Boy & his Dog free today thru Sunday! You can get the 5+ hour audiobook added for only $7.49 if you add it to the e-book, a sure way to make any weekend chores go faster!
You can also get the audiobook at multiple other places, including some that don’t require a membership, like Authors Direct and Chirp. Authors Direct is designed to support creatives instead of big companies.
Know what’s even cheaper? Ask for the audiobook from your local library! If they don’t have it already, they can get A Boy & his Dog, Fly Boy, and Finders, Keepers via Overdrive, Libby, or Bibliotheca.
May 27, 2022
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is always a much-needed three-day weekend, the portal into summer, with its barbecues, camping, and outdoor fun, but it’s always bittersweet: a reminder of my older brother and the other military members of all branches who died in service to our country.
Memorial Day has ancient origins: the Greeks and Romans held feasts and parades to celebrate their war dead. The famous general and orator, Pericles, gave a funeral address in 431 B.C. that has many similarities to the Gettysburg Address.
In the US, one of the first memorials was organized by newly-freed slaves in Charleston, who—after the surrender of the Confederacy—gathered to commemorate a new resting site for the Union POWs who’d previously been relegated to a mass grave. Decoration Day was observed in May across the war-torn country, but didn’t become the national holiday we have now until 1971.
Poppies became the symbol for memorializing the dead because of the poem, “In Flanders Field,” in which a Canadian Allied surgeon described the red poppies that covered the battlegrounds.
Blessings upon all those who’ve lost family members, and those who now proudly serve, and a happy and safe weekend to all!
May 13, 2022
Friday the 13th
I’m fascinated by superstitions, and it’s funny how pervasive they are, even to those who are not particularly superstitious, who still may “knock on wood” to indicate their hopes of avoiding bad luck. Of course, for a writer, bad luck is good for storytelling, and Travis and Tricia run into a bit of it, in Fly Boy.
What about Friday the 13th? It fits the bill as an uncommon event; each year has at least one, and sometimes up to three. If the month starts on a Sunday, it’ll have a Friday the 13th.
The association of 13 with bad luck dates back to a Norse myth in which a dozen gods were at dinner, but did not invite Loki. He showed up as the 13th guest anyway, and tricked the blind god, Höör, to shoot his brother Baldr with an arrow made of mistletoe. This killed Baldr, who’d been thought to be invincible, and the world grew dark with grief. The Last Supper contributed as well, with thirteen people at dinner, on the 13th day of the month.
The association of Friday as part of the bad luck is much newer. In Greek and Spanish-speaking countries, Tuesday was the unlucky day. In Italy, thirteen was a lucky number, and Friday the 17th was the one to worry about. However, in 1907, a poem titled “Friday, the Thirteenth” was published, about a broker who caused a Wall Street Panic, and that “stuck” in the West.
Superstitious or not, around 20 million people in the US are bothered enough by today that they alter their routines, and estimates are that as much as $900 million is lost by businesses nationwide because of absenteeism or delays. It does make the roads marginally safer, though, because of the people who stay home.
How about you? Would you alter your plans on Friday the 13th, or change your dinner guest count to an even dozen or fourteen?
Happy weekend, everyone!
May 12, 2022
Night Flights
This Fly Boy photo of Travis’ innuendo-laden answer to Tricia is a good illustration of night flight. There’s more to see in the daylight but flying at night brings a special joy: all the lights below, the vast dark swaths of water or undeveloped land, the pulsing arteries of highways, and no sun in your eyes! It’s trickier to land and navigate, however, so it does require some special training. A Private Pilot License (PPL) in Alaska will prohibit night flight elsewhere without extra training, since some parts of Alaska have two and a half months without night.
What is “night,” anyway? According to the FAA, it’s the “time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight.” What’s “civil twilight”? It’s the time “between sunrise and when the center of the sun is 6 degrees above the horizon” in the morning, and evening civil twilight exists from the sunset until the center is 6 degrees below the horizon. This gives a good idea about the regulations, too, actually.
To get one’s Private Pilot License, one must have 3 hours of night flight, ten takeoffs and landings to a full stop (so no touch-and-goes), and one cross-country flight of greater than 100 nautical miles. To carry a passenger, a pilot must have “currency” with 3 takeoffs and landings in the same category and class of aircraft within 90 days.
Night means some hazards are near-invisible: an owl, a tower with lights out. Pre-flight planning helps ensure the pilot is familiar with cranes, towers, tall trees in the vicinity. Seeing other aircraft is easier, however, and the lights indicate position: the backwards-facing lights are all white, and the forward-facing wing lights are green on the right and red on the left. This way, you can tell if the aircraft is approaching or retreating.
What about airports? Some have a beacon, designated by a star on the charts. A civilian airport has a green and white beacon that flashes about once every two seconds. A military airport has 2 fast white flashes, then a green. Runway edge lights are white, and the taxiways and ramps are edges with blue—don’t land there! Some untowered airports have Pilot-Controlled Lighting (PCL lights), which means that an aircraft within 5 miles can activate the lighting and brightness by clicking their mic on the unicom frequency. The lights turn off after 15 minutes.
There are other specialized lights for approaches, like VASI (Visual Approach Slope Indicators) and PAPI (Precision Approach Path Indicators), which help a pilot ensure that they’re on the correct glide path, as well as REILs (Runway End Indicator Lights). Runways that have Instrument approaches have built-in runway lights to indicate the center line and distance to the end of the runway.
I love to fly at night because it’s magical—something Travis banks on when he takes Tricia up.
May 8, 2022
Mother’s Day
I love this picture of The Red Dog, with a new batch of baby chickens, particularly her Eastwood-esque squint. I can just imagine her saying, “Go ahead, make my day” to any who dared touch her charges. She’s the epitome of motherhood: tolerant, tender, AND ferocious—never mind that she’s not their biological mother.
I once read an interview with a famous Romance author, who said that her characters were all orphans, because she wanted them to be utterly alone except for each other. I can see that might have some appeal for drama, but though my own stories are Romances, they do have strong themes about family. The characters’ relationships are varied, however, from Nicole’s prim and proper mother in Helios, to Sapphira, Konstantinos’ housekeeper/mother stand-in. Sarah Ann’s mother is toxic in New Heights, and part of her arc is overcoming that. Theresa in Hard Truths has to come to terms with a difficult mother, as does Hope in A Boy & his Dog.
On the other hand, Carlos’ mother is wonderful, and in Submerged Hopes, Nick loves his as well, though she’s not entirely who he thinks she is. In the same story, Nerissa lives with her well-meaning but overbearing aunt.
In some of my novels, the mother figure is a grandmother, like Farrah’s in Finders, Keepers, or Tricia’s in Fly Boy, and though gone, they still have weight and impact, like Nerissa’s long-gone mother in Submerged Hopes. I still hear my mother’s words every day, and found myself using those same phrases to my own kids, like “You need to find another way to have fun” when they decided to throw sticks at a hornet’s nest.
I don’t like “cookie-cutter” Romance, nor “cookie-cutter” families. Real life is messy, with even the best mothers, and however heartwarming and rewarding it can be, childrearing is a huge, daunting responsibility, for which many aren’t emotionally or financially prepared, and some children are difficult, at least on occasion. Our age of interconnectedness on social media can be both blessing and curse, with all the advice, thinly-veiled judgment, and posts about others’ Perfect Children. It’s tough out there in the trenches!
Mother’s Day can be hard for some, for whom that chance never materialized. And some people didn’t get the mom they deserved, so my stories strive to show hope, healing, and reconciliation if possible, but also that sometimes, the hard truth is that some relationships cannot be salvaged. Yet found family can help fill the holes.
I had a fantastic mother, but am I a perfect one myself? Alas, no. I only hope my kids know that I have always done my best.
Here’s to all who are bringing up the next generation, those who’ve struggled through despite no mother or a Mommy Dearest, and to all the great moms out there, past and present, whether biological or acquired!
May 5, 2022
Hooray! It’s Release Day—time to Strap In!
What do you do when you’ve been BURNED?
In Fly Boy, Tricia must choose:
Burn all her memories of Travis,
or give him another chance?
Maybe people really can change.
But … what if all the rumors are true?
Photographer Tricia Carlisle inherits her beloved grandmother’s orchard and leaves Chicago for her Texas roots, steeling herself to be immune to the charms of the small town—and those of Travis Walker, who stood her up on prom night seven years ago. Worse, she arrives only to find Nana’s place is in foreclosure. To have any hope of saving it, Tricia has no choice but to sell down assets—including her grandfather’s crop duster.
Travis Walker loses his last true friend when Nana Carlisle passes. Will his handshake deal to buy her crop duster survive now that Tricia is taking over? She’s cash-strapped and probably still hates his guts. He needs that plane—it’s his ticket out of this small town that sees him as a crook—but it’s on Tricia’s radar now.
Fly Boy is a steamy, stand-alone second-chance novella in the All-American Boy Series. It’s set in Deacon, Texas—home to sexy country boys and sassy, tough women. Warm, lazy afternoons in a hammock and swimming holes in a shady creek. Hot, heavenly Tex-Mex and even hotter kisses.
Come on down, y’all!
Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/Fly-Boy-All…/dp/B09Q52GY99/Universal Book Link https://tinyurl.com/ycy7nzreUniversal Audiobook link https://storyoriginapp.com/…/9d1583be-b792-11ec-9357…Readers are saying:
“…my favorite—so far… down home charm, sweetness, and steamy bits … What I love about Holiday’s books are her strong and feisty female characters … beautifully crisp and vivid … had me on the edge of my seat …”
“… two very real and engaging characters with high stakes … dynamic and engaging … I read this in just over a day… I just couldn’t stop.”“One reason I adore her work is because her characters are always resilient. There’s no shrinking violet waiting for a knight to save her in Holiday’s books…The chemistry is intense, obvious, and adorable … I found myself teary-eyed at least once and rooting for both Tricia and Travis…”“There’s something about a good old southern gentlemen that just gives me goosebumps.… filled with drama, comedy, adrenaline, and even enemies you love to hate.““I breezed right through this smoothly written story … a surprisingly dramatic ending ... I also liked the author’s humor... great for a quick afternoon read … an easy and enjoyable ride.”“… a rousing read that pulls you along to a very satisfying conclusion... her trademark heft to the plot and … complex main characters who are worthy of our time … a cast of secondary characters that are vivid and three-dimensional…”
May 4, 2022
Hot Water
I just love this scene from Fly Boy. There is nothing so fun as an embarrassing moment, that delicious mix of awkward cringing, while fighting a strong underlying attraction. Seeing characters squirm as they try to make the best of things, and it’s even better in enemies-to-lovers romance. And of course, things get hotter yet …
Fly boy lands tomorrow!!! Come on in—the water’s fine, and so is Travis!
May 3, 2022
“Darlin’, I can go all night”: Innuendos and Double Entendres
Anyone who’s read my work knows I love wordplay, and Fly Boy is no different, as illustrated by Travis’ innuendo above.
But what’s the difference between an innuendo, a double entendre, and a euphemism?
While they all have hidden meanings, the difference is in the intent. A euphemism is a way to sugarcoat something unpleasant or risqué, like death or sex, to make it socially acceptable.
A double entendre is a phrase that contains ambiguity, so can be interpreted in two ways. Its rarer cousin is the triple entendre. These often involve puns or homophones. Some make the distinction that a double entendre has to be funny, and these are sometimes inadvertent, like the headline “Kids make healthy snacks.” The earliest examples include Homer’s Iliad, when Odysseus tells the cyclops his name is ”No one.” Later, when the cylops is blinded, he tells his friends, when they hear his distress, that “No one is hurting me” and thus the wily Greek is able to escape.
An innuendo, on the other hand, is subversive and deliberate, and cloaks an insulting or smutty meaning within an innocent-sounding phrase, allowing the speaker plausible deniability. Shakespeare was the King of Innuendo, and they’re frequently used today to make kids’ movies more entertaining to adults. As a writer, I LOVE innuendo, not only for the fun of it, but because it’s good for characterization: a person’s social class and experience dictates whether one will “land” or not, so it can be a way for people to bond.
How many do I have in Fly Boy ? It lands in 2 days, and you can see for yourself!
