I’m currently taking a writing class with Nancy Knight entitled Well Begun Is Half Done.  Maybe that’s the reason I dreamed about her last night.  (Can you imagine???)

In the dream, she was handing out an assignment, telling us to write about children or animals.  She said that we were to write the scene so that the child or the animal “stole” the scene from the hero and/or the heroine.

The dream seemed so real as my brain started churning and churning…trying to come up with a way that a child could accomplish this.  Well, in reality, I know it’s not all that hard.  Just make them cute, cuddly and irresistible.

In fact, the first book I sold, The Diplomatic Tutor, now available on Kindle e-books, Chelsea Gilmore (my editor at that time) told me she bought the book because of my precocious five-year old…and how I had the little darling hesitate for a moment, glance around to be sure no one was watching and then hike her leg over a banister and slide down to the bottom of the stairs.

Now, I realize Shelby wasn’t “stealing” a scene from the hero or heroine when she took her quick trip down to bump into the newel post, BUT that scene gives you an example of how the little girl faced life throughout the book.   In need of a suitcase for her Barbie doll clothes???  Simple to remedy….just dump all of Dad’s things on the floor and use his briefcase.  Problem solved!

Can you give me any suggestions from books you’ve read about a child or animal stealing the scene?  We’d love to hear about it since, if you’re like me, you love those books and tend to read them more than once.

AND THERE’S MORE !!!!        For one lucky commenter, I’ll be giving away a download of The Diplomatic Tutor, so be sure to comment!

By:  Sandra Elzie

Yesterday afternoon I dropped by to visit with Miss Maggie at her big ole’ house on the hill….and you know how that lady can bake and that she makes the best cup of fresh-brewed tea in ten counties…well, anyway, we were sitting in her kitchen and laughing so hard that the tears flowed.  All-in-all, I’d say we had a knee-slapping good time “telling tales out of school.”  For those of you who aren’t Southern…or just haven’t heard this idiom before, it simply means we were having a good laugh at the expense of our family and pets.  I’ve attached a picture to show you what makes two…slightly matured…ladies whoop & holler.   In fact, we had such a great time that I’ve just gotta  share it with you…but (shhhh)  don’t tell anyone I told you…’mums’ the word.

You know what?  I’ve got a better idea.  “They” say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so let’s give that a try.  A friend sent me this picture and I’ve just gotta share.

I think it’s humorously obvious that the guy in the convertible above is about ready to have a very bad day. But what about us “normal” folks?

When I saw this little picture and asked myself …What’s a bad day to me? … I immediately thought about the 40+ years that I got up at 4:00 to 5:00 a.m. to go to work.  Ah yes, retirement.  I’m now in my…(clears throat) 9^th year of this fabulous thing called “retirement”…but, that’s another post.

Then I thought about the period of time we lived on acreage in the northern half of California and had cows—cows that thought the grass was always greener on the other side of the fence.  Or how about that dreaded call from the school…”Good morning, Mrs. Elzie.  I’m calling to check up on your daughter.  We’ve really missed her the past nine school days and we’re wondering if her flu is any better.”   (WHAT?!!!!!!!)

Also, owning pets can assure us that there will be “those” days when they do something so appalling that we have to repeatedly remind ourselves that 1) He’s part of the family 2) He’s usually not this destructive and lastly, 3) He’s just so darned cute.   In my case, my little guy didn’t rip off wall paper….  just the better part of a roll of toilet paper. 

Now I don’t know if you’ll agree with me, but I think “Bad Days” can even be rated on a scale of One to Ten.    For instance…waking up with a bad head cold…and having to call in sick to work…would rate  “One” in my book since staying home offsets some of the feeling rotten negative points.  So what do I consider worthy of the grand prize—the ten-point trophy?

Hummmm, well, aside from some obviously horrible things that I won’t get in to since I want to keep this post a bit more lighthearted…I’d say the call I got from hubby saying that on the way to work he’d killed Bambi’s mother…(his words, not mine)…and in the process he’d totaled our pickup truck.  Yep, I think that day ranks near the top of my list of things that would give me a hint that the day wasn’t looking very good.

So what does it take to make your list?  (and don’t forget to tell us what point your experience rates on the Bad Dad Monitor!)

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Sandra Elzie is a published author living in the Atlanta area with her husband of many decades and their sometimes destructive, (but always cute) little feline, Jack.  She also writes e-books as Sandra McGregor and her books are available at:  http://www.amazon.com/Duty-Calls-Series-ebook/dp/B005LWVTY8/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357997317&sr=1-3&keywords=by+Sandra+McGregor

You can read more about her on her website:  http://www.SandraElzie.com  

DIPLOMATIC TUTOR

By:  Sandra Elzie

Okay, so I’m sure you’re all aware of how quickly things are changing in the world…and nothing is changing faster than the publishing industry.  That brings me to what I want to talk about today.  Back in 2008, I sold my first book to Avalon and it was well received …in hardback form…by libraries, my friends and family.  But once it was out of print, I started watching the ticking clock for when I could get my rights back.  A lot of authors today are happy to get the rights to their book back…some to eventually independently publish them on Amazon & Barnes and Noble in e-book form.

I marked my calendar for when my first book’s rights would be available to me…and even began to look at pictures for a possible new book cover.  And then I’m notified that Avalon Publishing has been sold to Amazon…and I quickly realize what this could mean.  My hopes of getting the rights back on that book are squashed.  (sigh)

With Amazon now in control of my book, I have a couple choices…stomp & scream or just shrug and go with the flow of life.  I chose the later.  It’s much less stressful and besides, I happen to believe that God is in control, so if something good is to come out of a negative situation, then it’ll happen…sooner or later.  As it turns out, it’s a good thing I didn’t waste time stressing because in November I received a nice, early Christmas present…Amazon notified me that they would be issuing Diplomatic Tutor in digital form.   Well, I guess the next best thing to releasing it digitally myself is having it released by Amazon with their name behind it.  I haven’t received the first royalty check yet, but I’m hopeful that this side business with Amazon will turn out well for the both of us.

The Diplomatic Tutor is a contemporary romance about a young girl from West Virginia who applies to the United Nations to become a tutor for a delegate living in America.  When she’s chosen, she has no idea just how much her life will change.

If you like a bit of suspense with your romance, this just might be the book for you.  Or maybe you just want to see how this strong-willed young woman handles a very precocious child (who steals almost every scene she’s in) and how she interacts with a British diplomat, then, again, I’ll suggest that you might enjoy this book. Below is a short description of The Diplomatic Tutor. 

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When Natalie Holmes accepts a position to tutor Kelsey, the five-year-old daughter of a British diplomat, she never expected to be the one put to the test.  She never expected to fall in love with the child or her handsome father.  She fights the attraction since she knows he could never love a coal miner’s daughter from West Virginia.

Trenton Lancaster is a widower with strict mandates concerning the safety and education of his daughter. Natalie and Trenton immediately clash, but he can’t resist her homespun simplicity and intelligence, and she falls in love with his strength of character and devotion to Kelsey. When Natalie thoughtlessly breaks a rule, she thinks she’ll surely be fired. Only Trenton’s growing affection for Natalie and her obvious devotion to Kelsey convince him to retain her services. Each must change, but when the prize is living happily ever after, it’s worth any risk and sacrifice.

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Since Petit Fours & Hot Tamales is having a month-long Anniversary celebration, I’m offering a free Amazon download to not one, but TWO of our lucky commenters today.  Happy New Year!   So be sure to leave a comment to be in the drawing!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sandra Elzie was challenged by her husband in 2001 not to wait until retirement in 2005 to start writing the book he’d been hearing about almost since they had been married.  Picking up the gauntlet he’d thrown down, Sandra spent the next eight years honing her craft and finishing twelve manuscripts.  She now lives in southern Georgia with her husband and cat and enjoys reading, traveling and family gatherings.  The Diplomatic Tutor was  Sandra’s first published book.

Sandra loves to hear from her readers or if you just want to learn more about her, be sure to click on her name above and visit with her at her website.     She also writes and has independently published several other stories as  Sandra McGregor.  Check them out on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

I’ve come a long way from sitting in a chair with a legal pad and a pen and then having to beg time on my husband’s computer to type it up. He’s a computer geek…even built one 30 years ago with parts he purchased from Radio Shack…so you can imagine that I had to whine occasionally.

After many years writing the Barney Rubble way, I advanced into the twentieth century and got my own computer, but I was sharing space in a tight little office (10×11 bedroom conversion) with my desk facing one wall and hubby’s facing the opposite wall. (Back to back they faced each other….) And we still shared a printer.

Once I got into the Twenty-first century, I also got my own laptop and recently an Alpha Smart- Neo which means I can be creative ANYWHERE, but guess what? My favorite space is my office. I write faster and longer and just accomplish more at the desk. (although if the muse is slow I notice that I’m a little tempted to check e-mails more often than I should)

When we moved two years ago I was blessed with my own space. It’s an octagon shaped room with 3 windows.

As you can see from this picture, I have a resident cat who owns not one, but two cat shelves so he can have a choice of which of the 3 windows to sleep in front of. (After all, the sun moves!) It isn’t just grandchildren that grandmother’s spoil. (I love you, Master Jack)

I also have a chair for visitors , note the framed certificate from Break Into Fiction on the wall. Hubby likes to join me in the morning with a cup of coffee since I tend to get up earlier and start writing and he gets up around seven and makes the coffee and brings it in. (I won’t say that I’ve got him well trained…just in case he reads this. Shhhhhh, it’ll be our little secret.)

This picture is my first cover framed with the Book Signing sign from M&M (my first official book signing)

Lastly, there is a short bookcase for my TBR books and a tall bookcase that holds service awards and books on the craft of writing as well as buckets for things like spare batteries, boxes of staples, tape, extra pens & pencils, ink cartridges, envelopes, etc.

Bottom line is that it’s my haven, my place to relax and be creative. It tends to be messy on top of my desk, but it works for me. Oh, and the best thing is that my office has French doors that close to make me feel shut away and cozy in my space if there happens to be any noise in the house that I want to block out.

Happy New Year!

I told my husband before the blog posted that the first one to leave a message would be the winner, so, Linda, I hope you enjoy the book.

If you’ll e-mail me your snail-mail address, I’ll send it right along. http://www.SandraElzie.com

Thanks to everyone who dropped by and left a message.

Sandy Elzie

Sandra Elzie was challenged by her husband in 2001 to not wait until retirement in 2005 to start writing the books he had been hearing about for years. Picking up the gantlet he threw down, she spent the next 8 years honing her craft and finishing 12 manuscripts.

Blurb:

Trenton Lancaster is a widower, with strict rules concerning the safety and education of his daughter. When Natalie thoughtlessly breaks a rule, she expects to be fired. Only Trenton’s growing attraction for Natalie and her obvious devotion to Kelsey makes him retain her. She later proves her love and loyalty when terrorists attack and she risks her life to protect the child.

Natalie and Trenton immediately clash, but he can’t resist her homespun simplicity and intelligence and she falls in love with his strength of character and devotion to Kelsey.

Each must change, but when the prize is the ‘live happily ever after’ kind of love, its worth any risk and sacrifice.

Hello everyone!
I must start by thanking Petit Fours and Hot Tamales for all the support they give to a sister writer. It is my privilege to be a guest chef today and I can’t wait for each of you to have your day on the blog.

In keeping with this month’s theme about Halloween and scary things that go bump in the night, I thought I’d write a little about my journey to publication and the scary bumps along the way.

Like a lot of you, it started waaaaaay back when I was in grade school and my imagination ranged far and wide about how someday I’d write a book and be famous. I even practiced signing my name…although I write under my “real” married name, so all that practice was for nothing unless you count the good grade in penmanship.

Most of my beginning masterpieces have disappeared into a black hole (definitely the best place for them), but my mother actually kept one I did when I was about ten and I let it remind me of just how far I have come in learning to write. Notice I said “learning”. For me, writing is fun, but I had to study in order to improve enough to sell. I’m all for continuing education and that goes for writing skills as well as classes needed to stay at the top of the game in any other professional career.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that some writers seem to be born with the ability to put words on the page that describe people, places and things with an eloquence that is a pleasure to read. Others have the kind of brains that grasp sentence structure and parts of speech and can make even poor prose sounds good with just a few tweaks. My hat is off to these folks.

Sad to say, I was not gifted in either of these areas. I have a mind for ideas, the ability to write children well and to write strong arguments between my hero and heroine, but when it comes to spelling, I have to rely heavily on Spell Check and when it comes to grammar, I rely on my husband, critique partner or editor.

So, do you have to have a degree in English Literature, grammar or education in order to write a book? No. In order to sell one? Thankfully, no.

First of all, what you need is a good idea for a story and then the determination to get it down on paper. An unwritten or unfinished story can’t be edited and sold. When every excuse in the world rears up to gobble your time and keep you from your computer, train your mind to recognize the little devils and send them packing…without a Trick or Treat goodie. (Hey, I had to stay on theme, right?)

My road to publication was paved with ghouls and goblins, also known as rejection letters. In fact there were so many of them that I could have easily allowed the demons of “I’ll never be published” to convince me that getting yet another rejection letter meant that I had again failed and that I would never succeed; I’d never reach my dream of signing my name in a book that had my name on the cover. To quit might have been easier than fighting the demons, but the stories in my brain would have persisted and I would have been miserable.

Instead, I kept trying and eventually I sent The Diplomatic Tutor to Avalon Books and met with success. Am I through with rejection letters? Of course not! Just know that each rejection letter is a brick in the foundation of your writing career and keep building that foundation, one brick at a time, until the structure is complete and your name is printed on the front cover of your book.

Are rejection letters one of the things that go bump in the night for you? Or maybe it’s the synopsis or the query. (I can certainly empathize with that one).

If you’re not a writer and instead love to curl up with a good book on a stormy winter evening, tell us about your favorite scary story and you will be eligible to win a free copy of my first publication, The Diplomatic Tutor.
Please visit me at: http://www.SandraElzie.com/