Things To Do During The Political Conventions When They Suck All The Oxygen From The Air

1. Savor the free time and begin a new novel. Better yet, finish the one you began four years ago.

2. Dig out all the old love letters you saved forever from an old boyfriend, read them, and have a good laugh. (I'm fairly confident you will find them humorous. You might even discover a plot for a novel.)

3. Buy a Bazaar magazine, sit down with a pad and pen, and make a list of items you would like to buy. When you have your finished list, kiss it goodbye and chunk it in the garbage.

4. Call three girlfriends, have them meet you at Palmer's...or the favorite bar and restaurant in your town...have margaritas and snacks and gossip your little hearts out.

5. If #4 doesn't fit your lifestyle, call three girlfriends, have them meet you at IHOP, have all the pancakes you can eat with all that whipped cream and gooey stuff on top, and gossip your little hearts out.

6. After you've completed either #4 or #5, go home, regret you did either, and then sleep off the hangover. (Sugar does the same thing to your body as all that alcohol.)

7. Go to the Outlet Mall, visit Coach, Chico's, Brighton, Ann Taylor, DKNY, Gucci, Jones of NY, Prada, and Victoria's Secret. Try on anything you want, but reject everything--unless you have a nice credit card. Go home, kick back in your lounge chair, and read a good novel.

8. At last resort, clean out closets. Trust me...you will feel better.

9. Whatever you do, don't do laundry or clean house or cook.

10. Order pizza and watch the acceptance speech so you can see those 100,000 baloons.
 

TODAY IN HISTORY-MY BIRTHDAY

MOTHER BAKED A CHOCOLATE
LAYER CAKE FOR EVERY
BIRTHDAY
(Please excuse the x-rated attire, but
it was August)

The year of my birthday on August 25:

1st night bombing (British) of Germany (Berlin)

1st parachute wedding

Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia incorporated into the Soviet Union


Quirky Event
The First Parachute Wedding

 

I share a birthday with:

 

Regis Philbin-talk show host

Tom Skeritt-actor

Sean Connery-actor

Billy Ray Cyrus-country western singer

Monty Hall-tv personality

Tim Burton-film maker

Blair Underwood-actor

Rachel Ray--cooking show host

Claudia Schiffer-model

 

Most Popular Movies

Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released together with Fantasia

The Great Dictator, starring Charlie Chaplin

Rebecca

City for Conquest

The Philadelphia Story

The Grapes of Wrath

Popular Music

 

Careless, by Glenn Miller

I'll Never Smile Again, by Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra

In the Mood, by Glenn Miller

Pennsylvania 6-5000, by Glenn Miller

Only Forever, by Bing Crosby

 

Best Selling Novels:

How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewelly

Kitty Foyle by Christopher Morley

Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

The Nazarene by Sholem Asch

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The Family by Nina Fedorova

 

ARE YOU EASILY BORED?

I'M BORED

This question on the on-line news page I read caught my attention. The topic really focused on careers, and which kinds of persons might be suited to something else, based upon their ability to entertain themselves...or not.

I've always said I could entertain myself. It's not easy for some people...I understand that. Our grandsons, in growing up, are not allowed to watch TV--no TV to watch, except one that has a DVD player, used only on weekends. Otherwise, these three boys must learn to "entertain themselves." This means playing outside most of the time, riding their bikes, skateboarding, in-line skating, reading, writing to some extent, building and inventing things, and restricted time on the computer. Not many children today are growing up in this manner. I don't mean to lecture, for I know each family is different.

Let's get back to us as adults. The article I read stated that those who bored easily might be best suited to jobs such as food critic, landscape architect, law enforcement, publicist, hotel concierge, bartender, or hair stylist.

So, whatever job or position you might have held, if you are an author, what drew you to this profession/hobby/job? I've not written anything most of my life, but if I had downtime from working (teaching), I read novels and magazines, collected recipes, did crewel embroidery and made pillows and framed pictures, sewed and made a few clothes, gardened some, did crafts...in other words, I was rarely bored.

Even when I retired, I have not become bored.

Even at an early age, when I lay down in the dark and closed my eyes, I almost always invented a little story in my head. Now I realize I was a writer--I just didn't write anything down. I made up characters and scenes until I went to sleep. No, I didn't remember them the next day, but still...the process kept me from being bored.

Now I cannot find time enough to really write. Bored? Never. I'm too involved with my women's Bible study group, my writer's group, my longtime ex-teachers group, and my husband. In addition, I am the world's great "piddler." (If you don't know the meaning of that term, then you're not one.)

So, I ask you.
Are you easily bored?
Or are you constantly trying to find more time to write in your busy life?
If you worked, did your job bore you?

Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas

ANGEL AND THE COWBOY

ADDIE AND THE GUNSLINGER

CHARLOTTE AND THE TENDERFOOT

KAT AND THE U.S. MARSHAL

99Cent Dime Novels

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WARNING! Do We Always Pay Attention?

During the spring months in Texas, sudden thunderstorms that produce flash floods happen on a regular basis. Since Central Texas has countless numbers of "Low Water Crossings," the areas instead become "High Water Crossings," which means--Do Not Attempt to Drive Through the Water. Because of so many deaths of people who tempt fate and try to drive through anyway, Texas uses the National Weather Service's slogan:

Turn Around! Don't Drown!

Law enforcement agencies and road crews are required by law to place temporary barricades.

Still, human nature being what it is, people drive around the barriers anyway. An inch of water over the highway can float a car into the creek. A foot of water can sweep away a vehicle of almost any size, right down into the torrent, flip it over and over, and disappear down the creek or river. Bodies are located miles from the Low Water Crossing.

Teenagers. The elderly. Young mothers with tired children. A man who'd had too much beer on the way home. A middle-aged woman who had ice cream in her grocery sack and wanted to get home before it melted. Tragic stories, on and on.  

Me? I'm afraid of water anyway, so if there's a sliver of water over the road, I won't drive through it.
But does that mean I heed every warning I hear? No.

My mother was a master at issuing warnings:
"Don't stick your fingers between the rollers of the electric wringer or you'll get your arm torn off."
"Don't play close to the cesspool. You could fall in and drown." (as if I would play close to a cesspool)
"Take those Bobby Pins out of your hair so lightning won't strike you."
"If you try to learn to swim, you'll drown."

And remember Ralphie's mom?

I think early on I had a sense of what was physically dangerous or not. Maybe it's an inborn, innate self-protection we all have. It's just that sometimes we don't listen and forge ahead anyway. But most of us are not foolish enough to put our lives in danger.

This makes me wonder about other kinds of warnings we do not heed--those that won't harm us physically, but might cause some kind of mental anquish.

Some of you know by now I began writing later in life than most authors. Oh, yes, I heard warnings--some clanging around in my own head, but others were expressed by authors and publishers and articles.

"I'm not young enough to begin a new career?"

"Western Historical romances are dead? But that's my chosen genre! I already have three novel-length manuscripts in my files!"

"Only one author in 10,000 gets published? Really? No....."

I'm glad I ignored these warnings. Well, I didn't exactly ignore them, but I did think a great deal about the direction I might go.

Since I loved reading Western Historical Romances best, I stayed with that anyway. Why? Probably a little stubborn streak, maybe a little Pollyanna persona, and perhaps an urge to do something different and bold.

Just because.

Coming Soon: re-releases, new covers, now in print and e-book--

Western Historical Romance novels.

DO WE EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM OUR HEROES?

The Olympics have provided a great deal of excitement this week. Who will be the hero/heroine of each event? Which team can we applaud and laud with the term "heroes?" If a gymnast or a sprinter or a diver wins the gold, do we expect that same outcome each time? What makes an  athlete different from the rest of us in that he/she can perform in an outstanding manner that we could never attain?

Procter and Gamble runs a commercial through the Olympics. In their commercials, the question seems to be--who is your hero? In this case, it's "Thanks, Mom." Why does an athlete praise a parent, whether the father or the mother?

Once labeled a hero, do we expect this same kind of behavior and outcome every time? Are our heroes fallible in some way? Not as strong as they usually have been?
Maybe we expect too much.

COVER FOR THE SOON
TO BE RE-RELEASED
WESTERN HISTORICAL
ROMANCE

This caused me to think about the heroes in our novels. Those of us who write romance, or just read romance, have a concrete idea concerning his qualifications. I do, at least, but when I actually write the story I learn that my hero is not a perfect guy.
At times, he fails to say the right thing, or he fails to behave in an expected manner, or he even might do something completely against his position.
Dalton King is such a hero as this. After a horrendous near-death experience and long recovery alone in the West Texas mountains, he comes to grips with what he wants. Before he accomplishes his goals, he must re-establish his relationship with the woman he loves--and convince her he is truly the man she once loved, and will not disappoint her again.  



In reading and searching for attributes that define a hero, I made a list of Common Qualities:

Loyal

Determined

Sacrificial

Brave

Selfless

Dedicated

Gallant

Decisive

COVER FOR
SOON TO BE RE-RELEASED
WESTERN HISTORICAL
ROMANCE

In general, a hero is often an average man who cares about his fellow man.
Sam Deleon in Texas True is a man who has hidden and supressed his emotions his entire life. His father disinherited him and banished him from the South Texas ranch when Sam was 16. When he meets True Cameron, he learns the meaning of love and loyalty, and makes every effort to live up to her expectations. His reward is greater than he ever imagined.  

He understands how fragile life is.
He makes the right decision, but if he makes a poor one he can accept the consequences.
He is unselfish, always willing to help someone who needs it.
He stands up for the weak and the less fortunate.
He does not give up.
He is brave even in the face of adversity.
He always tried to do the right thing.

My personal opinion is that our heroes don't always live up to our expectations. How can they? The requirements are quite steep.

Most, if not all, of the heroes I've created are certainly not perfect. They make huge errors in judgment sometimes, and they disappoint someone who looked up to him or admired him.
So how does this type of hero regain his status?
I like the characteristic "he does not give up." Not one of my heroes gave up--not one. Now that I realize this, I'm pleased with Sam, Buck, Diego, Max, Will, Ricardo, Dalton, Jude, Rick, Matt, Cody, Jesse, and Alex.
Wow! I created thirteen heroes, and I love every one of them. In the end, each and every one came through and showed their true spirit--that of a worthy hero.

If you're an author, do you still love your heroes after all this time?
If you're a reader, what kind of hero disappoints you or "turns" you off?

NOTE: The two books above--

Texas Promise: The Cameron Sisters-Book 1

and

Texas True: The Cameron Sisters-Book 2

will be re-released close together approximately in September. These two books are now with Publishing by Rebecca J. Vickery and will be available this time in ebook and prints.

Thank you for reading--
Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas

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