Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 188

Favorite Holiday Ornament or Decoration

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Wickeds do you have a favorite ornament or decoration? What makes it so special?

[image error]Edith: This might seem like an odd one, but we all get the most fun out of Scary Santa. It’s a decoration one of my sons made way, way back in early elementary school. I plant its popsicle stick around the house every year in December (moving him overnight for even more fun) and we make up stories about the loony, slightly menacing expression. Why is his face the same color as his hat? Who punched him in the nose? And so on… Scary Santa keeps the holiday light! (And yes, that is action-figure Barack behind, expressing his support, of course.)

 

 

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Suicide Santa in situ

Barb: We’re away for Christmas this year, so no tree and therefore, no photograph. I’ll answer by reprising the story of Suicide Santa, the small pewter ornament who burrows so deep into the tree he gets left there, even when we search hard for him. He gets carried out to the street with the tree every year. My husband thinks he’s trying to do away with himself. I think he is merely trying to escape us. But somehow, he always gets found, even though one year it wasn’t until April when the snow melted in the yard. You can read more about his adventures here.

Sherry: I love your Suicide Santa story, Barb! I have a collection of Santa Claus figurines. I didn’t set out to collect them, but one year as I was unpacking Christmas decorations, I realized I did. Since then I’ve added to them. Every year I look forward to unpacking them and remembering where they came from.

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It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I do love the Santa and Mrs. Claus salt and pepper shakers that I found at a church sale. I think part of the reason I like them is because they remind me of some figurines that were in our house growing up.

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Liz: I sort of purged all my Christmas stuff and now I’m creating new collections and getting new ornaments. I found this little guy for my tree and right now he’s my favorite. Owls have a special meaning for me and besides that, he’s too darn cute!

[image error]Julie: My Christmas tree is full of memories. Gifts from my family, ornaments passed down from my grandmother and grandfather, ornaments the nieces and nephews have made me over the years. I’ve also taken to buying ornaments when I travel, so there is a lot of my own history on the tree. So hard to pick a favorite, but I’ll choose this one. My sister Caroline is the youngest, but was the first one married. She had the big wedding of the family, for which I am always grateful. Aunts, uncles, friends who are no longer with us were all there, having a blast. Anyway, she saw this ornament at the Christmas Tree Shop and thought she’d get them as gifts to the attendants. Either my mother or I said “maybe they could be favors” and all of a sudden the three of us were fighting people off so we could get 160 of them. Then, my mother wrote Caroline and Glenn’s initials on the mainsail, and the date of the wedding on the jib. We packaged them in cellophane with table assignments as the tag. To this day, twenty years now, people write and mention putting the ornament on the tree.

Jessie: I have too many favorites to pick one! Every year when I was a child, and then even for many after I became an adult, my mother gave each of her children and then grandchildren an ornament on Christmas Eve. My tree is filled with them and they are all so lovely. Then there are the ornaments I made as a child and the ones my own children have made. There are three white origami birds my husband folded on the Christmas Day he asked me to marry him that we always tuck into the branches. Capping it all off is the delicate, glass staff for the top of the tree that belonged to my great-grandparents. Our tree is so filled with memories it sort of chokes me up just thinking about it as I add my bit to the post! I hope all of our dear readers have holiday traditions that bring them as much joy!

Readers: We hope you have a lovely day. Do you have a favorite holiday decoration?

Filed under: Group posts

Opening Lines

Write an opening line for the following photograph:

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Thanks once again to our hand model, Bill Carito. We do this once a year at Crime Bake and he’s always a good sport!

Jessie: Her mother had always said the germs in a public restroom could kill you.

Liz: Well, at least there won’t be a line for the bathroom.

Barb: And that was the last time he ever walked into the ladies room by mistake.

Edith:  See, I told him his skirt should be no longer than the little picture lady’s or he’d trip on it, but no, he had to wear his favorite floor-length number. Men!

Sherry: Hiding a body was way harder than I thought it would be.

Julie: I told him: no cutting in line. His own fault for underestimating a middle aged woman.

Readers: Add yours in the comments!

Filed under: Opening Lines Tagged: opening lines

Figuring Out the Ending

Edith north of Boston and nearly ready for Christmas! And I have a giveaway as a holiday gift to one commenter here today.

I’ve been working on Country Store Mystery number six, Strangled Eggs and Ham. Next year holds so many book deadlines for me that I’m really trying to write ahead. I’m happy to report that yesterday I finished the first draft of the book that isn’t due until April 1. Which is good, because it means I can actually relax over Christmas with family and friends and cats.

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But…last week progress had slowed to a crawl. I was getting close to the finish line but couldn’t seem to keep the story moving forward. How was I going to end it? Could I come up with new and fresh suspense to keep readers on the edge of their seats? Was I going to be able to convince my readers they really wanted to read just one more chapter rather than going to bed?

I’m not a plotter by nature, but I had set up four suspects with plausible reasons for wanting the victim dead (yes, by strangulation…to fit the title, which I adore). I’d decided early on which of the four did the deed.

With the excruciatingly slow progress, I began to suspect myself – that I had picked the wrong villain. Could it be possible? It had happened to me before, so yeah, I knew it was a thing. I took a couple of long walks and another look at what I had written so far. And magic happened – another suspect was revealed as the actual murderer, although the person I’d thought was the villain stayed as a serious aider and abetter.

And bingo – out flowed the words! My relief was so palpable it [image error]almost needed its own driver’s license.

To celebrate, I’d love to send one of you one of my last three ARCs of Biscuits and Slashed Browns. Because, as Barb says, we should never be left at release date with an advance review copy in our possession. And release date is January 30!

So, Dear Reader: Tell me about when you second-guessed yourself, or changed a plan at the last possible minute. Did it work out the way you hoped, or not? (Or maybe I don’t want to hear about the “or not” cases, LOL…)

Filed under: Craft, Edith's posts, Uncategorized Tagged: Biscuits and Slashed Browns, Country Store Mysteries, Kensington Publishing, Maddie Day, Strangled Eggs and Ham

Wicked Wednesday — A Gift of Laughter

As soap is to the body, so laughter is to the soul. — A Jewish Proverb

Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand. — Mark Twain

Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine. — Lord Byron

There’s nothing like a good laugh. Who has made you laugh when you really needed to?

Barb: It’s sappy, but I have to say my husband Bill Carito. Recently, with Bill’s brother’s help, we put up 84 pieces of art and photographs at our new home. As you might guess, there were some disagreements–about what went where, how high it should be, whether it was straight, etc. But we also laughed all day–and we got the job done. Which is pretty much all you can ask of a partnership, I think.

Edith: On Sunday Hugh and I spent the day with our favorite eleven- and eight-year olds. We played multiple rounds of a card game in the afternoon and laughed our heads off at everything – at how Mr. J has trouble sorting the cards in his hands, at Hugh having the same trouble, at Miss B making too many bluffs and having to take nearly the entire deck, and at me for all kinds of things, too. It was the kind of fun you can only have with children around and I loved it.

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Sherry: I grew up in a house with a lot of laughter. My dad loved to tell jokes and had a quick wit. It shaped my life in many ways. I’m attracted to friends who laugh, enjoy inserting humor into my books, and my lovely husband is good at dishing it out, but taking it too.

Liz: Once again, my good friend Glenn makes an appearance on the Wickeds. He’s the funeral director and also the guy I identified as my odd couple match. I think one of the reasons we’ve been friends for 20+ years is because when we’re together, we mostly laugh the entire time. Over stupid, nonsensical things, or old jokes from when we worked together (yes, 20 years ago). It’s one of the best things about our friendship.

Julie: My sisters make me laugh. We’ll be talking about something fairly serious, and one of us cracks a joke and before long I can’t breath because I’m laughing. The best gift of all.

Filed under: Wicked Wednesday Tagged: Bill Carito, Jewish proverbs, laughter, Lord Byron, Mark Twain

The Detective’s Daughter — The Ornaments of Christmas

[image error]Kim in Baltimore decking the halls…and every other room!

[image error]It has taken me nearly three weeks to decorate our tree. This project began the day after Thanksgiving and our tree is not that big. The problem is me. I need to reminisce over each ornament then find exactly the right place for it to hang. Maybe by Christmas Eve it will be finished.

Growing up in the house in South Baltimore, we had two Christmas trees. One was downstairs in my grandparents’ apartment and the other was upstairs in our apartment. Both were artificial and I was an adult before I realized people could have live trees other than in movies.

Nana had a beautiful silver tree that sat on a table she sometimes gift wrapped. The [image error]ornaments were all silver like the tree, but changed colors as the color wheel turned.

Mom’s tree was a traditional green wrapped in colored bubble lights and adorned with ornaments that she and I (and sometimes Daddy) had made. We would sit at the kitchen table and paint wooden gingerbread men, angels and houses. There was also a trio of angels made from feathers. They were my favorites.

As I decorate my own tree I remember all these stories and how each lovely ornament came into my possession. There are the ornaments I was given by my students when I taught Kindergarten, the little things my own children have made, and the ones we’ve collected on our travels. Still, after all these years, it’s the ornaments I have kept from my childhood that truly mean Christmas to me.

[image error][image error]I have recently found a beaded lady Nana made and have added that to my tree this year along with a snow-covered house my son bought for me last year. New items to hang beside old favorites. I still have one more box left of ornaments and though my family will say we have enough and the tree looks good, it isn’t finished until all the boxes are empty and the garland is draped over the branches.

I wish each of you a happy holiday season!

Dear readers: Do you have a favorite holiday ornament or tradition? Please share it with us.

Filed under: Kimberly Kurth Gray, The Detective's Daughter

Favorite Things

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Jessie: In New Hampshire where the ground is covered with snow and the birds flit merrily round the feeders throughout the day.

I am an inveterate list maker. I have lists of knitting projects, recipes to try, movies to watch, tasks to finish. I have a Ravelry account for my knitting, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video queues and a recipe box on Epicurious. Amazon’s Echo helps me to wrangle my grocery lists.  I pin all sorts of visual lists to my Pinterest boards.

But although I am always up for digital lists of all sorts I find myself scribbling lists on sticky notes and in whichever notebook I have to hand. Writing lists by hand allows me to indulge in my passion for fountain pens as well as for notebooks and papers and I always enjoy encountering lists I had made in the past. They serve as a diary of sorts, a kind of snapshot of a moment in time and often remind me of things I had forgotten.

Just this week I was planning a gathering for friends and needed to sort out a menu so naturally I reached for a pen and paper to start a list of menu ideas. I grabbed a notebook I keep in my nightstand drawer, a little A5 number with a cheerful Hello Kitty cover that my husband brought back for me from China a couple of years ago. As I thumbed through looking for a fresh page my glance fell on another sort of list entirely and one I cannot for the life of me remember writing, or even my reason for doing so.

It seems to be a list of favorite things. Just reading it over made me smile so I thought I would share it with you. Here are a few of the items listed:

Bento boxes
Fair Isle Socks
Vintage convertibles
Cardinals
Silk scarves
High ceilings and long windows
Fountain pens
Champagne
Brick sidewalks
Cashmere
The Atlantic
Fireplaces
Extravagant hats
Window boxes
Sparkling glassware
Louis Armstrong music
Plump goldfish

So what I am wondering dear readers is what would be on your list of favorite things? Do we have any shared loves? Writers, do you scribble down lists here, there and everywhere too? Does any of it ever make it into your writing?

Filed under: Jessie's posts, Uncategorized Tagged: Jessica Ellicott, Jessica Estevao, Jessie Crockett, lists, notebooks, to do lists

Welcome Guest Lynn McPherson!

I had the great luck to all to briefly meet Lynn McPherson at Bouchercon this year. Please join me in welcoming Lynn to the blog!

I have to start out by saying a big thank you to Sherry Harris for inviting me and including me in the Cozy Wicked Authors site. It is such a privilege to be here.

I am a Canadian who writes about New England. I thought it might be fun to explain the process of how and why I chose this specific location for my books. It was certainly no accident.

[image error]The setting where my stories take place is a small, wealthy, town located along the shores of Connecticut, not far from New York City. As the readers likely know, this description could only fit a few actual locations. However, I chose to create a fictional town based on a mishmash of where I’ve been, what I’ve seen, and things I’ve researched. The result is the beautiful, idyllic, and cozy town of Twin Oaks. I wanted to incorporate some of my favourite experiences of New England into my stories so I felt the best way to do this was to create a place where this could happen as opposed to trying to work a way around factual locations in already established communities.

As a lifelong lover of mysteries and storytelling, New England was a very natural place for me to base my own series. One of my earliest influences and inspirations was a TV show I watched weekly growing up. While most of the kids in my class loved Growing Pains or Who’s the Boss, I couldn’t wait for my hero, Jessica Fletcher, best-selling author and super sleuth, to grace the prime-time screen and solve whatever crime she was somehow tangled up in. Not long after Murder, She Wrote ended I discovered Steven King. Between Salem’s Lot and It, I became a lifelong fan. There could be no going back after that. I won’t even venture into my love of Gilmore Girls. Needless to say, New England was it for me.

When I finally got to New England in person, it was phenomenal. I took a road trip with a friend who had gone to school there. We entered through Vermont and right away were introduced to a winter wonderland. The natural beauty of untouched snow on a brilliant, sunny day is easy to appreciate. From there we continued on down to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where I went tobogganing on a classic red wood sled. Another big highlight happened a few days later, when I was lucky enough to get a tour of a picturesque school named Kent, in Kent, Connecticut, since my friend was lucky enough to be an alma mater at the prestigious institution. Walking through the hallways I wondered if Robin Williams was going to walk around the corner at any given moment and convince me to run into a classroom to recite Walt Whitman or Shakespeare.

The rest of the trip was full of other fun activities such as learning how to make s’mores at a rustic inn, feeding carrots to horses on a farm, and watching the Patriots win a big game among a crowd of very enthusiastic fans at a small tavern. I went from having never watched an entire football game to becoming an expert, confident in instructing the players what they should be doing next, shouting excitedly along with my newfound friends at the large screen TV we were all glued to.

Every time I’ve gone to New England since, it has been a pleasure. I’ve yet to come across anything to complain about and I hope to keep it that way. While I know that I am experiencing a place from a rather fantastical point of view—never having to do chores or worry about getting to work on time, it has allowed me to keep the idyllic point of view that I incorporate into my stories.

The Girls Weekend Murder is the first book in The Izzy Walsh Mystery Series. The next one, The Girls Whispered Murder, will be out in the fall of 2018.

[image error]Lynn McPherson grew up in various parts of Canada, from the Canadian Rockies to the big city of Toronto. She is a debut author who has channelled her lifelong love of adventure and history into her writing, where she is free to go anywhere, anytime. Having a particular love of New England, possibly stemming from a snowy winter’s night spent at a cozy inn, Lynn knew this is where her mystery series must take place. She is a member of Crime Writers Of Canada, International Thriller Writers, and Sisters In Crime. Her cozy mystery, The Girls’ Weekend Murder, is the first book in The Izzy Walsh Mystery Series.

Readers: If you were going to create a fictional town based on a real one, what town would you choose?

 

 

 

 

Filed under: Guest posts Tagged: Lynn McPherson, The Girls Weekend murder, The Girls Whispered Murder, The Izzy Walsh Mystery Series

Welcome Guest Lynn McPerson!

I had the great luck to all to briefly meet Lynn McPherson at Bouchercon this year. Please join me in welcoming Lynn to the blog!

I have to start out by saying a big thank you to Sherry Harris for inviting me and including me in the Cozy Wicked Authors site. It is such a privilege to be here.

I am a Canadian who writes about New England. I thought it might be fun to explain the process of how and why I chose this specific location for my books. It was certainly no accident.

[image error]The setting where my stories take place is a small, wealthy, town located along the shores of Connecticut, not far from New York City. As the readers likely know, this description could only fit a few actual locations. However, I chose to create a fictional town based on a mishmash of where I’ve been, what I’ve seen, and things I’ve researched. The result is the beautiful, idyllic, and cozy town of Twin Oaks. I wanted to incorporate some of my favourite experiences of New England into my stories so I felt the best way to do this was to create a place where this could happen as opposed to trying to work a way around factual locations in already established communities.

As a lifelong lover of mysteries and storytelling, New England was a very natural place for me to base my own series. One of my earliest influences and inspirations was a TV show I watched weekly growing up. While most of the kids in my class loved Growing Pains or Who’s the Boss, I couldn’t wait for my hero, Jessica Fletcher, best-selling author and super sleuth, to grace the prime-time screen and solve whatever crime she was somehow tangled up in. Not long after Murder, She Wrote ended I discovered Steven King. Between Salem’s Lot and It, I became a lifelong fan. There could be no going back after that. I won’t even venture into my love of Gilmore Girls. Needless to say, New England was it for me.

When I finally got to New England in person, it was phenomenal. I took a road trip with a friend who had gone to school there. We entered through Vermont and right away were introduced to a winter wonderland. The natural beauty of untouched snow on a brilliant, sunny day is easy to appreciate. From there we continued on down to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where I went tobogganing on a classic red wood sled. Another big highlight happened a few days later, when I was lucky enough to get a tour of a picturesque school named Kent, in Kent, Connecticut, since my friend was lucky enough to be an alma mater at the prestigious institution. Walking through the hallways I wondered if Robin Williams was going to walk around the corner at any given moment and convince me to run into a classroom to recite Walt Whitman or Shakespeare.

The rest of the trip was full of other fun activities such as learning how to make s’mores at a rustic inn, feeding carrots to horses on a farm, and watching the Patriots win a big game among a crowd of very enthusiastic fans at a small tavern. I went from having never watched an entire football game to becoming an expert, confident in instructing the players what they should be doing next, shouting excitedly along with my newfound friends at the large screen TV we were all glued to.

Every time I’ve gone to New England since, it has been a pleasure. I’ve yet to come across anything to complain about and I hope to keep it that way. While I know that I am experiencing a place from a rather fantastical point of view—never having to do chores or worry about getting to work on time, it has allowed me to keep the idyllic point of view that I incorporate into my stories.

The Girls Weekend Murder is the first book in The Izzy Walsh Mystery Series. The next one, The Girls Whispered Murder, will be out in the fall of 2018.

[image error]Lynn McPherson grew up in various parts of Canada, from the Canadian Rockies to the big city of Toronto. She is a debut author who has channelled her lifelong love of adventure and history into her writing, where she is free to go anywhere, anytime. Having a particular love of New England, possibly stemming from a snowy winter’s night spent at a cozy inn, Lynn knew this is where her mystery series must take place. She is a member of Crime Writers Of Canada, International Thriller Writers, and Sisters In Crime. Her cozy mystery, The Girls’ Weekend Murder, is the first book in The Izzy Walsh Mystery Series.

Readers: If you were going to create a fictional town base on a real one, what town would you choose?

 

 

 

 

Filed under: Guest posts Tagged: Lynn McPherson, The Girls Weekend murder, The Girls Whispered Murder, The Izzy Walsh Mystery Series

A Christmas Carol by Any Other Name

by Julie, decking the halls in Somerville

In 2010 I spent the month of December discussing versions of A Christmas Carol every day. (You can see the posts here.) As you know, my book A Christmas Peril is about a theater company deep in the weeds of a production of A Christmas Carol. One of my nieces mentioned looking forward to A Christmas Carol binge watching over Christmas break. She then asked me which version was my favorite.

I couldn’t answer her. But I can, sort of, narrow it down a bit. Here is a list of my “will watch in the next ten days” list of Christmas Carols in no particular order:

[image error]Scrooge, 1970

I saw this movie on a field trip (maybe with the Girl Scouts), and the hell scene scared the heck out of me. As an adult, it is easily on my top five. It is a musical, Albert Finney is wonderful, and is fairly true to the story. It isn’t Christmas unless my family breaks into a “Thank You Very Much” chorus.

[image error]A Christmas Carol, 1984

George C. Scott was a sublime Scrooge. The scene where he jumps on the bed makes my heart burst. The story is dark, and sad, in many ways, and this version is that.

[image error]The Muppet Christmas Carol, 1992

This is SUCH a great version. Michael Caine is wonderful. Having Dickens tell the story is great. It stays true to the story, and keeps most of the important parts in the movie. Kermit is a perfect Bob Cratchit,  and Fozzie as Fezziwig? Could there be more perfect casting?

[image error]Scrooged, 1988

All right, part of the reason I love this version is that it is such a pop culture time capsule. The TV version of A Christmas Carol they are working on is chock full of 80’s stars that have to be explained to kids, but add another layer of humor to the show. It is also very faithful to the theme of the story, though it does take liberties. Also, Bill Murray chews the scenery, and is so much fun to watch.

[image error]Patrick Stewart’s Versions[image error]I love Patrick Stewart, and have been fortunate enough to see him do his one man version of A Christmas Carol twice. It is because of that experience that his filmed version falls a little short for me, though it is very good. The CD of him reading the book is much closer to his stage version, and I can’t recommend it enough.

[image error]A Diva’s Christmas Carol, 2000

Do you remember the “Behind the Music” shows on VH1? In this Christmas Carol, Vanessa Williams plays Ebony Scrooge, a singer who left her girl group in the dust, and is a nightmare to work for. A ton of fun.

[image error]Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol, 1962

This is not at all accurate (the ghosts are out of order), but it has a lot of charm. The songs are terrific–I’m surprised there hasn’t been a stage version of this using the songs. Or maybe there has been?

[image error]A Christmas Carol, 1951

This Alistair Sim version is a favorite of many, so I include it on the list. I like it, but am also fond of the 1938 Reginald Owen version.

There are dozens of other versions, with Scrooge being played by Cicely Tyson, Henry Winkler, Barbie, Fred Flintsone, Mickey Mouse, and others. I discussed those, and others, on my blog 8 years ago. I’m a little surprised I don’t have a more recent version to critique. The story resonates right now in so many ways.

Friends, what is your favorite version of A Christmas Carol?

Filed under: Julie's posts, Uncategorized Tagged: @jhauthors, A Christmas Carol, A Christmas Peril, J.A. Hennrikus

Wicked Wednesday — A Gift of Advice

lShe generally gave very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it). Lewis Carroll

Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that’s no reason not to give it. Agatha Christie

Advice gets a lot of bad press. What is the best gift of advice you’ve received? How old were you when you got it? Did you pass it on to anyone else?

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My grandfather, whom we called Poppa, about thirty years earlier in his late 30s. He looked exactly the same except for white hair!

Edith: When I was starting ninth grade, and young for my class (that is, still half teen, half kid), one day after school I’d been trying to fly a kite in front of our house. I was sitting on the curb with a hopelessly tangled ball of string. My father’s father, Allan Sr.,  was living with us at the time for about nine months (until he died suddenly) – and I loved having him with us. He was coming back from his constitutional, as he called his walk and saw my plight. I probably said I was just going to cut it all off and give up. He said, “If you start something, Edie, finish it.” I took it to heart, untangled the string, and have carried that lesson with me ever since. And yes, I tried to pass it on to my sons.

 

Jessie: Like most writers, there was a point on my road to being published when I was querying agents. Like most other writers, I discovered it was a pretty miserable experience. By the time I had received my seventh rejection letter in six days I was starting to feel a bit discouraged. My husband called me to ask how things were going and I confessed it was starting to be a pretty hard slog. He said something to me I remind myself every time I start to lose heart “Chin up, pen down”. If I ever get a tattoo that will probably be what I choose. There is even an app to try out a tattoo before you commit to anything permanent!

Barb: The day I turned thirty a group of women from work, including Nancy Fohl and Kathy Schiff, took me out to lunch. I have no idea what was going on in my life that day, but I do know as a young mother I often felt completely discombobulated. I’d just get a project at work under control and then my kid would get an ear infection. Or my kid would sleep through the night but then the car wouldn’t start. And so on. It was always something. Anyway, I told my lunchmates this, and said something like, “I just wish things would settle down for awhile.” Nancy Fohl said, “It’s never going to settle down. What you’re describing is life. Now that you’re thirty, it’s time for you to know the truth.” And then Kathy said, “It’s only because you’re a WASP that you ever believed things could be under control in the first place. You need to get over that now.” I admit there are still times when I crave routine, no surprises, everything under control, but now I remind myself life doesn’t work that way for anyone and it gives me what I need to keep going.

Liz: When I was a still pretty young, probably a teenager, someone (I don’t even remember who at this point) told me that you can never please everyone and you shouldn’t waste time trying. That the only person you really needed to make happy is yourself. At the time I thought that was ridiculous, because you know, as a teenager I wanted everyone to like me, be proud of me, etc. I wish I had listened back then. Instead I had to learn it the hard way over the past few years. I think this is probably the most important piece of advice ever.

[image error]Sherry: I was in 9th grade and getting ready to enter high school. My mom sat me down and told me if I really wanted to enjoy high school I should participate in a lot of activities. I took that advice to heart and did as much as I could. The two most valuable experiences were being involved in school plays and the yearbook. Plays gave me confidence and the yearbook taught me how to work with a group and how to be organized. I’ve carried that advice about being involved throughout my life and because of that have met many wonderful people. So here is my senior picture and the list of activities that went along with it.

[image error] I confess I’m pretty stunned to see intramurals in there because I was not athletic. Someone must have forced me to do something!

Julie: Best piece of advice I’ve gotten? One of them is from Hank Phillippi Ryan, when my first book was about to be published. “Enjoy every step of this. Enjoy every moment.” That’s good life advice too, as it turns out.

Filed under: Wicked Wednesday Tagged: activities, advice, get involved, good advice, high school, If you start something - finish it, tattoo app