Plot Monkeys

Well, since we Plotmonkeys are going to be in California plotting for the next several days, I figured it would be appropriate to offer a prize that will make you feel like you’re “right there” which, in this case, means you’ll EAT like the Plotmonkeys. (Or, at least Plotmonkey Julie.) So the winner will get a 1 lb box of Julie’s favorite–See’s Chocolate!

I’ll also throw in an autographed copy of two of my favorite Harlequin Temptation novels…the connected books:

TWO TO TANGLE

and

WICKED AND WILLING

Even though I’ve heard of this website, Craig’s List is a recent find for me. I was talking to a girlfriend about moving to Oregon, and we have some bigger pieces of furniture that we don’t want to take with us and we’d really like to sell (i.e. get rid of!) and she suggested that I list them on Craig’s List, which she explained to me was like a big, huge cyberspace of classified ads that you could narrow down to your state and city. So, of course I had to check the website out, and at first glance, I wasn’t impressed. It’s a very basic layout - - almost too simplistic, and there really is nothing eye-catching about the overall look of the website. But then again, it wasn’t going to cost me a penny to list the items I wanted to sell, so I thought, what the heck. I really didn’t have anything to lose.

So, a few days ago I posted an ad about our pool table, our formal dining table and hutch, and some really nice end tables that no longer fit our decor. Needless to say, I was suprised by the interest I’ve gotten on all the ads, and I’ve already sold the end tables! Unlike Ebay, this is a completely free service, and it didn’t cost me anything but time to post the ad.

So now I’m searching the ads in the “car” section for a nice, newer “used” vehicle for my daughter, and I’m amazed at how many postings there are a day! I have to be honest and say I’ve check out other sections of Craig’s List - - and decided that a few of them I won’t be revisting because of the topics posted. I do realize that just like any kind of open forum like Craig’s List, you’re going to find scammers and unsavory people, so I’m aware that I have to be very careful, as well. But overall, this is an amazing source when you’re looking for a specific item. It’s like a big, huge, yard sale all in one place.

So, how many of you out there have heard of, or visited, Craig’s List? And have you ever listed or bought anything on Craig’s List? If so, what was your experience like?

Yes, ladies and gentlemen…the time is nearly here. Three days and counting. At least here in Florida. On January 11, Girl Scout cookies officially go on sale.

I can almost taste the Samoas.

I used to be a Thin Mint girl. I still like them, but over time, I’ve become totally addicted to Samoas. Oh, the dark chocolate…the coconut…the caramel. What’s not to love?

And the best part? I’ll be on my way to California on that first selling day, which means the dh will be accompanying our little scout on her first round of the neighborhood.

Usually, I hate fundraisers. I don’t like imposing on people I know, asking them to buy crap they don’t need just so my daughter’s school isn’t properly funded through taxes and whatnot. I grew up in Catholic school, where fundraising was a 365 days a year endeavor. I’ll never forget all the car washes and bake sales my eighth grade class held so that we could go to Disney World for our class trip…only to have the pastor take our money for the new church fund and send us to Busch Gardens instead. (This may not sound bad in the end…but you have to remember that we all live in Tampa and BG was not a big deal. Disney was a big deal!)

Somehow, however, I don’t mind selling Girl Scout cookies. Not only because this will fund the troupe’s trip to the Kennedy Space Center, but because people WANT Girl Scout cookies. We are not imposing…we are bringing them something they long for, that they cannot get in stores or order off of eBay. Okay, maybe you can order them on eBay, but would you want to? I draw the line at food stuff.

Those of you who are beer drinkers who didn’t live east of the Rockies…do you remember the time when getting a case of Coors beer was a treasure? I distinctly remember my father packing cases upon cases of the stuff to bring home to his friends when we were on our skiing trips. Now that it’s available in stores, it’s no big deal.

I liken Girl Scout cookies to See’s chocolate…if you’re in Florida and not California where they seem to have stores on every street corner (and yes, I mapquested the locations of the nearest ones to our hotel for next week…Hi, my name is Julie and I’m a See’s Chocoholic.) Everyone wants them and they’ll gladly shell out $5 for a box!

So…what’s your favorite Girl Scout cookie? And will you be buying them from your neighborhood Scout? You really should!

My new little writing partner!!

Ta da! Meet Dulcinea Kelly. Dulcie for short. Anyone who’s been hanging around here for a while and knows a little something about me and my family will probably understand why we named her that…how about a backlist book to the first person who correctly guesses the reference!?!

Anyway, Dulcie (who, as you can tell in the above picture, really enjoys getting up close and personal with my writing) joined our family on Christmas Eve, when she was 9 weeks old. Remember my worries about what to get the girls? Well, let’s just say this was one Christmas present they’ll never forget!

Dulcie is a Shih-tzu/Poodle mix, just like our other dog. And to say she’s an adorable little minx would be an understatement.

She’s very good about finding nice, squishy, comfy places to hang out…

And once she’s there, she can just drift right off to sleep.

And she’s also doing a great job of keeping track of my slippers.

She’s a good sport about wearing the much-too-small frilly outfits foisted upon her by us dumb humans…

Even big sister Cassie got into the act with that one, and she wasn’t any happier about it than Dulcie!

Cassie…that’s the big issue, as we knew she would be when we decided to get a puppy. (Well, Bruce will tell you I decided to get a puppy…but despite the cleaning up of little messes, he’s completely charmed by her, too!)

Cassie, however, our 6 year old dog, was not charmed at first. Not at all. In fact, she pretty well hated her. I think she would have been happiest if she could have treated Dulcie like a new soft toy: tackle it, find the squeaky spot, and smash it between her teeth, squeaking it incessantly, until it breaks.

Don’t get me wrong, Cassie is an adorable little cuddle-bug. Smart and sweet and absolutely beloved by every one in our family.

But somewhere along the way, we forgot to tell her she’s a dog. So she doesn’t quite recognize those other canine creatures, and certainly doesn’t consider herself one of them. In her mind, she’s a person, and she has no patience whatsoever with other four-legged beings.

So, of course, I had to bring a puppy into the house. Sigh.

We were a little worried. And for the first several days, Cassie was just downright miserable. Mopey, wouldn’t eat, had this really sad look on her face that just begged us to get rid of the unwanted houseguest. She was also very snarly with the puppy so we never left them alone and introduced them to each other very slowly.

But finally, lo and behold, about a week in, we glanced over and saw Cassie carefully moving closer to Dulcie and giving her a good long sniff, then playfully nudging her. Then came some good-natured scruffing, and soon the two of them were tearing around the hardwood floors, slipping and sliding on their furry little feet! Wahoo!

It’s not all smooth sailing yet, Cassie is still a middle-aged dog and when she has had enough of the puppy antics, she puts Dulcie right in her place. Fortunately, the puppy eventually will back off: usually to take a nap!
And quite often Cassie joins her, even ignoring it when Dulcie starts casually nibbling on any tail or ear that happens to land near her mouth.

All in all, I’d have to say Dulcie is fitting right in. She’s already fabulous about going into her crate–even on her own. And potty training is, of course, not fun, but she’s doing better than Cassie did at this age. (Shh, don’t tell Cassie…she’d be offended!)

All in all, I think she’s a pretty terrific addition to our family.

After all, who could resist this face…

I’m in between books, which means I am in heaven because (drumroll, please) I have FREE TIME to read!
We blog about so many things, but often we lose sight of how we all came together: our love of books!
Well, it just so happens that the plotmonkeys are coming up on their annual retreat together - can anyone say PARTY?

Anyway, I started reading while on vacation in Florida. You all know I am a contemporary reader at heart and will go to any lengths to find what I love (short of reading my own work, LOL!). So while browsing the bookstore, I found an author that’s new to me that I really enjoyed:
Shirley Jump’s Really Something.
It was … really something. It had lightness and humor and incredible depth.

I also have this tendency to find an author and go back and read everything they ever wrote. That’s how I started reading romance. Over the years, I read so much, I began to read the authors I liked AS the books came out. But as my writing and kids took over my life, my schedule became very hectic and I read less. Just on vacations or between books. All this to say, there is an author who I’ve known for years, wrote for the same line as me, and yet I never read her books except early on. So when I’m on vacation, I tend to have what I call Lori Foster binges and read 2 or 3 in a row. I’m midst one of those binges now.

Yep, I’m having fun, people. Just pure reading. I’m going to read (teasing you now) Julie’s Phantom Pleasures because I can (and can’t wait until you all can too!). This way we can help Julie plot her next Phantom book next week.

So what I’d love from you all is this. Recommend some great contemporaries or DVD movies or TV shows I can buy to watch on the laptop to kill time on the flight, I’d really appreciate it!
***********
Oh! I’m blogging at Romance Vagabonds today, so please check it out!

Wow we had a great turnout on Friday for the giveaway!
Thank you all for showing up and please do stick around all week long.
And now …

The winner of the $50 Amazon Gift Certificate
(picked by my husband) is ….

:fourturkeys: # 27 TEAL :fourturkeys:

Congratulations!
Email me with your EMAIL addy at:
carlyphillips @ mac . com (no spaces)
and I’ll get the gift to you ASAP!

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And now for the Sunday Funny:

A woman is at home when she hears someone knock at the door. She goes to the door and opens the door to see a man standing there. He asks the lady ‘Do you have a vagina?’. She slams the door in disgust.The next morning she hears a knock at the door and it is the same man and he asks the same question of the woman… ‘Do you have a vagina’. She slams the door again.
Later that night when her husband gets home she tells him what has happened for the last two days. The husband tells the wife in a loving and
concerned voice ‘Honey I am taking tomorrow off to be home just in case this guy shows up again’. The next morning they hear a knock at the door and both run for the door. The husband says to the wife in a whispered voice…. ‘Honey, I’m going to hide behind the door and listen and if it is the same guy I want you to
answer yes to the question because I want to see where he is going with it’.
She nods yes to her husband and opens the door. Sure enough the same fellow is standing there and asks the same question. Do you have vagina’…….
‘Yes’ she says……
The man replies.. ‘Good! Would you mind telling your husband to leave my wife’s alone and start using yours’ …….

HAPPY SUNDAY!

Okay, there’s no guest blogger. I’m falling down on the job, I know. But with the holidays (including my daughter’s birthday), I just didn’t have time to line anyone up. So for today, I’m going to do a little mini lesson myself.

Last week, I was reading the most excellent book, BOY’S LIFE by Robert MacCammon. I wrote a review for the Dear Author website extoling the book’s many virtues, the strongest of which is its imagery.

Not to put on my former English teacher hat or anything (okay, maybe a visor) but I love imagery. The succint use of images created with words can evoke strong emotional responses in readers. Writing without imagery, which includes metaphors and similes, is like taking a photograph without paying attention to the lighting. With just the right light, a well-taken photo can explode with emotions. Without that light, it’s just a snapshot.

Metaphors and similes, for those of you who want a quick review, are comparisons. Similes oftentimes use the word “is” (or a form of it) and the word “like”. Imagine your hero has gray eyes. You might use a simile like this one:

His eyes were like storm clouds.

Okay, it’s a bit cliche, but there’s a comparison that evokes emotion. You wouldn’t–or at least, shouldn’t–use this simile when the character is having a great time, happy go lucky. The storm clouds are more than just about color. They are about the emotion behind the image. That’s what makes a simile so powerful.

A metaphor, to me, is a like simile, but better. A metaphor does not say that one thing is “like” the other, but that it actually is the thing it is being compared to.

His eyes were twin storm clouds.

or better:

The twin storm clouds that were his eyes swept her into a maelstrom of need.

Aha! My favorite kind of metaphor…the extended metaphor. It’s where you take the comparison and you run with it for a while. A few sentences.

The twin storm clouds that were his eyes swept her into a maelstrom of need. She flung her arms around his neck and the moment their lips met, lightning flashed behind her eyelids. Desire sucked her into a vortex that she knew she could not escape from–even if she wanted to.

Now, these are off the cuff, so I’m not putting them up as examples of anything fresh, but you get the idea.

Unfortunately, metaphors and similes do need to be fresh. So many have become cliche, because they’re good, but you can’t be lazy. There will be no “limpid pools” to describe a heroine’s eyes.

In fact, though I used my example with the hero’s eyes, I’ve found that staying away from metaphors in physical descriptions, particularly initial ones, is probably a good idea.

Another good idea is that the context of your simile or metaphor should spring from the character whose point of view you are in. I think the metaphor I used above might be even more evocative if the heroine is a hurricane chaser, don’t you? I mean, if she’s a lawyer, for instance, the metaphor doesn’t have the same power to not only give a strong description, but also to reveal character.

So, today’s short lesson amounts to this:

Use similes, metaphors and the occasional extended metaphor to add a layer of richness to your writing.

Use similies, metaphors and the occasional extended metaphor sparingly.

Be fresh and not cliche, or else, give the cliche a fresh twist.

Make sure your comparisons reflect on the point of view character so it can do double duty–evoking an image and revealing something about the character’s frame of reference.

Anyone have anything to add? To ask?

Hi, all. What a week! MAJOR computer crash. 4 hours with a techie here yesterday. I completely FORGOT it’s my Friday … so it’s up a little late. No photo either. FORGIVE ME!

As an apology - $50 AMAZON.COM GIFT CARD is today’s prize. You can buy all the monkey books you desire!

You know the drill. Comment to win!
I hope to be back to normal soon. It’s been insane here since I’ve been home.

Do you all remember about a month and a half ago when I posted a blog post titled “Where in the World is Janelle”? And the answer to that was Beaverton, Oregon. My husband flew up to Oregon where he was interviewed for a job, and I joined him so we could check out the area and decide if we wanted to move from Southern California to Oregon. We really and truly fell in love with the area — it was beautiful, the people friendly, and just what we were looking for when and if we moved out of California. The interview went extremely well, and after a lot of discussion and angst and optimism, my husband accepted the job a few weeks ago . . . which means we’re moving to Oregon sometime in 2008.

I have to take a deep breath here because the thought of moving to Oregon is both an exciting and scarey prospect for my husband and I, and even for my daughters Danielle (17) and Kellie (15). It’s an exciting thought because for years we’ve talked about moving out of Southern California because of how crowded it is here, the traffic, the smog, the fires, the extreme summer weather, the outrageous cost of living, and so many other reasons. We also wanted to take our girls to a place that wasn’t such a hectic way of life, as California tends to be. We wanted to be somewhere more country than city, more laidback than frenzied. And with this new job offer comes a complete moving package, which makes the expense of moving much easier to bear.

Now comes the scarey part. Every so often when I think of moving and living in Oregon, I get those nervous butterflies in my stomach. Why? Because we’re moving away from everything that is familiar and dear to us (mainly all of our family and good friends), and we’re chartering into unknown territory – with absolutely no one we know that will be close by. Don has lived in Southern California since he was born, and his family lives close by us right now. I’ve lived in Southern California since I was twelve, and my family lives close by us right now. Everyone is HERE, and no one will be THERE. No more spontaneous dinners with the families, no girls day out with my girlfriends, and my daughters are leaving that all behind, as well. It will be just the four of us, alone and on our own. Yes, that’s a very scarey thing to think about, when our immediate family has been such an intrinsic part of our lives for so long.

Don is leaving us in a few weeks to start his new job while I stay behind and pack up the house and get it ready to put up for sale (and it’s a HORRIBLE market to be selling a house!). I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about this new adventure of mine in my weekly posts, but I thought I’d share my big news for 2008.

Here’s a question for you all. Have you ever moved out of state or far away from family and friends to start over all on your own in a place or state you’ve never been? And if so, how was the transition for you? Did you adapt okay, or wish you’d never moved so far away?

The party is over.

Everyone had a good time, or at least, I think they did. I never really get to spend much time at my daughter’s birthday party doing much interacting with anyone, which is the part I dislike most. I’m always running around, checking the food, watching the clock, organizing the events, etc. and I don’t get to visit with guests, sit back and watch the kids play, and generally do the things I’d love to do, but would cost a well-oiled party for 40-50 people that I’m famous for giving. I learned from a master–my mother–but she does manage to socialize more than I do. Cest le vie. It’s the way it goes.

One thing that I did get done tonight was to print out the thank you cards for my daughter to write. By print out, I mean, I designed my own invitations and cards this year because she picked a theme that was hard to find. SHE, however, being 10 now, (YIKES!) will be writing her own thank-you notes. She’s pretty excited about this. I’m ambivalent.

I’m not a big believer in thank-you notes–at least, not when everyone that sent you a gift is standing there when you open it and you say thank you on the spot. I grew up in a family that is very close-knit. Christmas and birthdays were peopled with all the people who bought you a present, so the thank-you happened on the spot. Hug, kiss, thanks. Usually before you moved on to the next present.

My daughter was very good about this today and I was really proud. She loved all her presents and made an appropriate big deal about each and every one, seeking out every giver whether child or adult (or combination of both) and ensuring that they knew how much she loved their gift.

But social graces dictate that she write a thank-you note.

And I’ll be honest, I’m letting her do it because I know it’s a good lesson to learn–but I really think it’s stupid.

Stupid is a harsh word. Overkill is more like it.

I could see her writing a note to her godfather, who lives out of state and sent her present in the mail…but even then, I prefer she pick up the phone and call him. He’s a great guy and I know the conversation will mean more to him than any note scribbled on paper. He’ll get to ask her details about the party itself, find out more about what she’s doing lately and more than likely pepper the conversation with information about his own children, who are both around my daughter’s age–one a few days older, one two years younger.

Isn’t that better?

Why does tradition dictate that notes are required? I’m not entirely sure, but I’d like to hear theories. And when you send a gift to someone and you aren’t there when they open it, would you prefer a call or a note? And if you’re there and they express thanks in person, do you require a written note?

Just curious…and exhausted. I may sleep until Thursday.