Quote from my manuscript that made me laugh

"That’s when the door of the school opened. We turned automatically to see who it was. Sure enough, it was wicked Mrs. Smith heading to the parking lot. She wore a bright red coat with a hat to match. Her usual stride was reduced to baby steps because snow, ice, and high heels apparently don’t mix well. However, being the fierce dragon lady she was, I was sure she could look my way, shoot fire from her mouth and burn the very hair off my head."


This is a quote from my manuscript Murder on Sprinkle Lake Mrs. Smith is a very mean teacher. She'd just chewed out my main character. After, he joined his friend outside the school and was in the middle of telling him all about it when the door of the school opened...

Biggles

I love cats, always have. The sweet kitty in the photograph is our housecat, Biggles (he's on My Space if you're curious). My husband is more of a cat hater and dog lover. He has a theory that all felines no matter their size, are waiting for their chance to eat their owners. When they sniff you, he jokes they are checking whether or not you're still alive. Not so long ago I had a chance to test his theory. I was standing at the end of the hallway facing Mr. Biggs who was casually standing in my daughter's bedroom doorway staring at me. We stared at each other for a few seconds, then he did something that surprised me. He licked his mouth like he was thinking yum. Without thinking I licked my lips right back at him to see what he would do. He reacted big time!  Apparently he thought I might be interested in eating him (and I'm bigger)! No kidding he spazzed out! His hair stood on end and he did his, panicky sideways run that he always does when he's scared to death. That made me wonder... what was he thinking when he licked his chops? Maybe Bruce is right. Maybe we do look like a meal...

Flowers

I'm not a Farmville farmer, but I'm occasionally reminded about flowers in the dead of winter because of those who do the Farmville thing. And then I think about one particular garden.

My great aunt had the most beautiful garden. There were hundreds of different colors, sizes,and varieties of flowers planted right in her back yard on a space the size of a tennis court (or so it seemed when I was seven). I used to walk the paths of her garden while my mother visited inside the house probably drinking coffee and eating small cookies. I had the better deal. Many of the plants were taller than me and there were a lot of butterflies and bumblebees.

A kid can pick up a few things about life while wandering around a beautiful garden. I shared some of things I noticed when I went on those pretty jungle walk aboutsto my children when they were young and feeling competitive with one another. No sense keeping all this garden wisdom to myself. It is my opinion that they, as siblings, should support one another and genuinely want to see each other succeed. Three flowers (I have three children) can be equally beautiful yet completely different from one another. In fact, the differences actually make their individual beauty stand out when side by side. One is not better than another. It would be silly for one flower to want to be like the other flower when each one has its own color and style.