Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentines Day!!

 He sure did it up big time this year.

 But I plan to as well.

 I was asked by my RWA Contemporary Romance Writer's Group to guest blog for the Valentine's Day holiday. Today's blog is being published here and also on our blog at

http://contemporaryromance.org/blog.


 I just loved working on this post.I hope you like it as well. The video clips will bring both tears and laughter!Please note all you have to do is copy and paste the video links to your website browser then sit back and enjoy!

       

This day is truly the best holiday for the romance writer!

I just read a fantastic article about the definition of the Romance genre by bestselling author Shannon Donnelly. It resonated with me (by golly maybe I’m getting it) and I’ll be touching upon it in this blog. There’s also a three-part series going on now in Writers of the Storm Called “What’s Love Got to do with it?” It’s got some helpful tips on the construction of a romance book. Check it out:

http://writersinthestorm.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/whats-love-got-to-do-with-it-part-1/

                                    The article mentions that the best romances are when the external and internal conflicts of the main character, usually the heroine, collide and resolve at the same time bringing the heroine and hero together. The central plot question in any romance novel is if the characters are going to make it as a couple. So, the entire story is concerned with why they aren’t together. Then they resolve those conflicts so they can be together.

So what’s that got to do with love? Our romance books are not about all the lovey-dovey mushy stuff you read in Valentine’s Day cards or love poems or love songs. However, we want that HEA or HFN ending in our books. Life doesn’t quite work out that way though because problems continue to crop up. A romantic relationship is sometimes challenged daily with numerous problems most notably finances, job change, children issues, aging parents, you name it. I don’t understand why after our H & H get together we can’t have sequel showing how they are managing with life’s challenges. What if, in the sequel, that love is at risk of loss and the new book concentrates on how they get it back. Hey, I might be on to something, huh? But … I digress.

Let’s examine the origin of Valentine’s Day.

The story of St. Valentine is rather sad because he was a martyr. A popular account says that he was thrown in prison for conducting marriages of soldiers who were forbidden to marry. I suppose the rulers of the time wanted them to be emotionless fighting machines. Obviously the plan didn’t work. According to legend, Valentine miraculously healed the daughter of his jailor and later fell in love with her. He penned the first Valentine message in his own blood. That was the length to he chose to let her know how he felt.

During the High Middle Ages (the period of European history c. 1001–1300), the theme of courtly love flourished. Then in 18^th Century, England exchanges between lovers of flowers, cards and confectionery became popular. In case you didn’t know, food items rich in sugar are referred to as a confection. By the way I was in line early at Kilwins in downtown Stuart to get my honey some!

The figure of Cupid arose. He was credited for bringing lovers together. At least that’s what I remember. When he’d arrive, he’d spear the hearts of the two lovers binding them forevermore. According to classic mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupido, means desire) is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus, and is known in Latin as Amor ("Love").In contemporary culture; Cupid is shown drawing his bow to inspire romantic love, often as an icon of Valentine's Day.

But enough of the history. Let’s discuss how the holiday can be tied in to your WIPs.

To what lengths will your hero or heroine go to make them come together as a couple? Hopefully it doesn’t involve drawing blood. Unless they’re vampires, of course. Number one we’re writing fiction, and to make it interesting the theme has to story-worthy. Typically, the character(s) must be intrinsically flawed. Once they resolve their issues, it’s hopefully not too late and that haven’t lost their chance with their potential partner. Now they can come to the realization that the hero or heroine is the one for them.

How can you tie-in a Valentine’s Day theme to your WIP? Might the holiday be the day when your hero finally realizes that his begotten ways, emotionally damaged past, and his second chance at love is indeed with the heroine thus deciding to pop the question? Okay so maybe that’s too cliché. Yet Valentine’s night could be the first time they make love. Or kiss. Or come to the mutual realization that they are in love with one another. That they are going to do whatever it takes to stay together as a couple despite whatever circumstances stand in their way.

Or the heroine no longer uses her career as an escape from her unresolved emotional woes and realizes that her guy pal, the one who she’s sparred with throughout the book might just be the one for her. She decides to surprise her hero by throwing together a home cooked meal. Yet she burns the roast. The hero saves the day, or night, when arrives with an expensive bottle of French wine and basket of goodies. He’d already planned to lay a blanket by the lake in Central Park on this unusually spring-like day. He’d procured hard-to-get reservations on this special night for dinner at the Tavern on the Green. Hmmm … wish I could date him!

The possibilities are endless for a Valentine’s Day themed romance story.

And now for a little fun! Below you’ll find a couple of You Tube clips from a few of my favorite movies.

Of course, the first one is my ALL TIME VERY FAVORITE!!! 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va4gTqyLJeQ

.When my Having Fun with Mr. Wrong comes out you’ll KNOW why. Chic Lit is NOT dead!

And Attention girls, girls, girls ---I cry every time I see this. I’m XX years old and still dream of this moment. Well, uh, had it once, too bad the marriage only lasted two years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZcFB3wMyfk

My wedding reception would be held at my all-time most favorite place in the whole wide world: the South Florida Fairgrounds:

And finally, because we are indeed a modern bunch it would only fair to give exposure to all persuasions and BTW I cried at this one and I’m not even PMS’ing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTOEp7WQm40

So enough of SNC now for an old classic that I have to have to remember somehow!

I did, I did! :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJvgjH9Tvpo.

I shall close with another classic, not so mushy, but definitely holding promise for these two potential lovebirds. Hey, you might get a laugh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-bsf2x-aeE

OMG! I had as much fun writing this blog! Now let me throw out this pile of tissues I used.

I hope you spend your holiday with your special someone. And if you’re single (don’t worry…I’ve had numerous dry spells in my life) treat yourself to a great night out with your best friends! Regardless, enjoy, eat chocolate and drink wine, without guilt, and inhale the scent of some wonderful roses! Until we meet again, I am truly yours, 

Celia T. Rose (my romance pen name :). 

 

 Last years Valentine’s Day celebration by the St. Lucie River:

Daily Affirmations

Oftentimes a daily affirmation can help us to focus and stay on course. Now that we're in the New Year it'd probably be a good time to create some aspirations for yourself. Remember that in the New Age world  what you think about you bring about. In our instant gratification society, we are all too impatient expecting results when we want them rather than when they are ready to occur. If we can truly subscribe to the power of manifestation than we can relax, stop trying to control matters and let our dreams manifest.

So write down you favorite inspirational quotes or make up your own then recite them daily. I've put mine on index cards and carry them around with me everywhere. They are well worn cards, especially at the corners, but I won't part with them. I've been carrying some of them for ten years, left one career and started another, and literally whited out affirmations that applied to my former career --but kept the cards.

I tell you this. Everything I put on those cards came true, or nearly true and if they didn't I changed them. So for the naysayers you might retort, "Big deal. You can change them after you realize they won't come true." I truly believe that everything you want, deep in your heart, will come true. If it requires patience, work and self-belief then give those things to your goals. Are they worth it? Look at me. I'm a former hard core busineh6sswomen trying to be an artist. Ha! If that isn't a clear turnabout I don't know what is. But I love what I'm doing now. And if it leads me back to the corporate world out of sheer financial need so be it. Meanwhile I shan't give up my passion and neither should you!

Your affirmations can be as long or short as you want.

You can also adopt a few worded mantra and recite that repeatedly in your head.
In college my daily mantra was: strive, continue, succeed.
In a recent horoscope I found a new one: focus, achieve, conquer.

Which do you like and why? Cast your vote in a comment here.
Namaste.

Urban Fantasy Author Suzanne Johnson: Plotting and Lunching (and Last Day on a Good Deal...

Urban Fantasy Author Suzanne Johnson: Plotting and Lunching (and Last Day on a Good Deal...: If you are an aspiring author, an author planning or stalled on a new project, or just interested in the plotting process. I'm starting ...

Scary House Review--Part 2

The Haunted Houses at Fright Nights Scream Park

South Florida Fairgrounds. My best friend Barbie was in town from Philadelphia and let me tell you right now, haunted houses are NOT her thing. However, I cajoled her into coming with me. My fiancé was planning to come too but he was on a side job and by the time he fought traffic to get home, it was too late. Too bad because while we were waiting for him the lines grew longer and we only went through two of the three houses that the general admission paid for. There was a fourth house with the VIP ticket but we didn’t buy that. I’ve borrowed from the My Fright Nights website to review the other two for you. I’ve attended every year of the six that the fairgrounds has offered this and I must say each year it does get better! My ratings are from 1-5, 5 being the scariest.

The Smiths:

The Smiths traveled the dusty back roads of Middle America with their Carnival of Creeps and decided to settle down in a sleepy town. Quality time with the family and a celebration was the order of the day –for the murders and abductions they’d performed on their whirlwind tour. The Smiths have plotted how they will terrorize their new hometown, plucking off, torturing and usually dismembering their victims. Yuck! As we approached the front of the house we were guided to the “kissing booth” and evil clown gave us instructions for our stay.

We walked behind the scenes of this carnival scenes, including broken down Carnival houses and signs and evil clowns a plenty. It was a long house. I’d gotten creped out enough to want it to end. The scare actors in this park did an even better job than Universal in that they hung down from the ceilings and crawled on the floor to scare the next guest. Plenty of bloody body parts and partially eaten victims laid out in blood-splattered kitchens, living rooms and of course the bathrooms.  Overall, I give it a four.

A Grim’s Tale

If you haven’t seen Grim, “Thank God it’s Grim” on Friday nights you probably would have liked this one. I’m a fan of the show. I gave this house a solid five. Even the wait outside was entertaining as we viewed scary movies, a sideway view of the Jagermeister logo (love Jager but I dare not drink too much!) and then these cool live graphics in front of the house. They were old-fashioned portraits of a man, a woman in a gown and a weird looking child (you know how 19^th C. portraits of children look scary?). The normal faces were alive, looking at you and then quickly transforming into gaping sharp-toothed jawed smiles with 3-D effect hands reaching out to you and then they reverted to their normal pose. Cool. Inside we were greeted with strobbing lights (which my friend profusely complained about ad exhaustion afterwards) and various rooms filled with creatures and childhood fairytale figures gone bad popping from under the bed, lurking in the closet and all those rotten beasts that lived in the pages of those childhood books coming to life. The idea is that those fairy tales which were told to us as children were dulled down versions of the real beastly things. Tales of murder, betrayal, abduction and pure horror are what truly graced those bloodstained pages. And we learned that our childhood memories are wrong in this nightmare world where our senses were turned upside down and fear played sweetly in the background… a lullaby of death.

Sunnyville Orphanage

Borrowed from website: The lost, forgotten souls march in a line. Down the dank and smelly halls, they trudge to their lonely rooms. They know they are unwanted and this feeds a fire in their bellies that almost erases the gnawing hunger. A loneliness and madness echo through the building and darkness is the only true companion. They are beaten, tortured, and told they are worthless. Then, the solitude brings anger and hatred so harsh and real, there is only one-way to express it. To KILL. Everyone and everything must DIE! The children rise up into one collective monster, one powerful energy, that has only one thought…..MURDER.
Country Bill’s Meat Market
Borrowed from website:
Off the beaten path, in a small Louisiana town, lies Country Bill's Meat Market, where they sell the finest cuts of meat this side of the Mason-Dixon line.
Bill's secret recipe has been handed down through many o' generations and is handmade 'til this very day.
Don't venture too far off into the woods. You may not like what you find...
...or better yet, what might find you.

Authors comment: I’ve seen this in the past and am sorry I missed it this year. I heard it was even scarier.

Hope you liked my reviewed. More to come ….next year! J

Halloween Scary House Review- Part 1

Halloween Horror Nights - 23 - RESIDENT EVIL – Universal Studios, Orlando, FL

Walking zombies invaded the grounds. Everywhere you turn. I worried about the scare actors hurting their necks or backs from all the crooked walking. We went in the park to visit the walking dead after 11 PM and used our after 11 PM fast pass. The wait time reduced to about 1/4 the time of houses 1-3 or 22.5 minutes and then on houses #4-8 only a mere five minutes!

I’ve provided my ratings after the name of haunted house with #5 being the best and #1 the worst.

1.       AMC- the Walking Dead No Safe Haven (#4) pm it was 11:45 before I noted the time, I observed the globes filled with fire at the entrance. The zombie scare actors apparently were switching shifts walking out of their haunted house still in character down the side of cattle mazes you have to walk through. The zombie at the entrance was on a collared chain and kept staring into space and comically jerking at the chain. Inside we walked through a disaster zone of a Woodbury neighborhood street that looked like it'd been hit by a hurricane with clothes and debris everywhere. Find yourself in the middle of a combat zone as humans and police alike shoot zombies in your path. End up in a derelict prison where the zombie inmates chase you out.

2.       La LLorana (#3) - an urban fantasy/legend of a woman haunting the earth searching for her dead children. You walk through lots of caverns through a castle; lit candles, wine cellars and witness the weeping witch-looking woman drown her victims to exact her revenge. Cross over a river and see her dead children on the shallow end of the river, real rocks with running water run over their lifeless bodies. A person on the floor spews liquid from his drowning lungs. More tunnels and this wild-assed old ugly mother tangled in vines jumping out at you.

3.       Afterlife: Death's vengeance (#3) - Blade the serial killer of his fellow resident inmates faces his vengeance of the deal souls after he meets his own demise via the electric chair. Many scary scenes of his Blade's evil coming through from the other dimension wielding his knife. Three-d glasses are provided to enhance the effects.

4.       Evil dead (#5) - When you first walk through a log cabin in the middle of the woods you’ll empty beer bottles and magazines littering the fireplace warmed living room indicating a normal weekend getaway. A guy is off to the right reading a very large, old looking book. You know something is wrong when you walk through life-size pages of a book, a book with legends of beasts that suck the soul out of a being and snake headed men. Then the gruesome deadites come alive to possess your soul creaking through the floorboards in tangled vines. People become possessed and are eating other humans, turning into big lizard beasts. Gross. Exit the fiery cabin relieved to escape! Creepy dead girl with long tangled black hair and exorcist face crawls out of a basement trap door the in tangled vines trying to get you before you escape!

5.       An American Werewolf in London (#5)- If you're a fan of this John Landis movie classic this is a must-see. Witness an accurate depiction of all the major scenes in the original movie. Walk into the opening scene of The Slaughtered Lamb, listen to real movie sound bites from the movie track and relive the movie right in front of you. David is warned to stay away from the moors but in the next scene, you see him attacked by a werewolf and witness his best friend Jack in front of him. The next scene takes you to David’s hospital bed where he started to have bad dreams. Walk into his nightmare and see his family is attacked by aliens in his home. See David in his sexy nurse girlfriend’s apartment and witness the groundbreaking werewolf transmission that would be the standard by which all horror flicks follow with the advent of slow-moving detailed mechanical but real looking change from man to beast. Walk through the gruesome kill scene in the tube subway, then the ultimate killing of the werewolf beast in the corner of Picadilly circus.

6.       Cabin in the woods (#5)- Something goes wrong at a science center and human experiments turned into abominable nightmares as alien headed, no headed, creatures behind protected glass rooms but they escape and wreck havoc on the experimenters …YOU.

7.       Resident Evil : Escape from Raccoon City (short but I give it a #4) - walk into a town and see Tony's Pizza outdoor with the tables turned over, police on top police cars shooting at citizens and then walk through a Laundromat where lodge lickers, hunters and Nemesis escape through the pipes and under the ground to kill you. Survey this short maze and learn that in the end that you are indeed are dead.

8.       Havoc2:Derailed (#2)- The dogs of war are genetically engineering super-soldiers bloodthirsty and bent on destruction but I found it just a lot of noisy fake machine guns and laser lights while walking through a fake pile of metal junk.

  Hope you like my review. Stay tuned for my review of Fright Fest.

Enjoy the Simplicity of Nature

Do you ever observe nature? The way the ducks paddle in the pond or the bird eats seeds from the feeder. Ever notice how the creatures of nature make the best of what they have to their avail?

Observe the miracles around you. In the attached photos, you will see my sunflowers. This year, in July, I got a single sunflower stalker that grew over seven foot high and yielded over forty-eight sunflowers. I dried out the sunflower seeds and replanted them; they are growing again but none nearly as tall. However, for a good time this past summer I enjoyed the magnificence of the flowers that single stalk brought.

As humans I think we take too much for granted and have a never-ending thirst for more instead of just simply appreciating the here, the now, and celebrating what we already have.
Think of how much peace and contentment you could achieve by simply being in the space between thoughts of yesterday and thoughts of tomorrow. Instead of thinking about where we are going think about, for just one second, where we are. I think the best way to achieve this is to sit in your Adirondack or lawn chair, a glider, or on a blanket and plop down somewhere in your backyard, in a park, on a preserve, and force yourself to simply watch what's going on.

Last week I saw a deer grazing on the side my house. This is a rare sighting here in suburban Florida. However, I saw it nevertheless. It took a few seconds for me to process what I was seeing and take in his full set of antlers and large size. This amazing moment was stopped by a noise I, which startled him, and then his little huffs took him away, into the preserves to a place where I might never see him again. The point is...I saw him.

Katherine Hepburn is quoted as saying, "I don't think about what I missed, I think about what I had.” And so why would we then miss what we had when we had it? Or, better, why not embrace every moment you can and fully relish in it?

I’m relishing in this post that I'm writing. I'm not thinking about what the critics will say, if anyone else would care to join my blog, if I made a grammatical error, if my writer friends will think it added little value....oh, but then I am thinking of those things because didn't I just write it?

Five seconds prior to these disconcerting thoughts, I was enjoying the sound of the new age playing in the background, the bright white bird of paradise blossom outside my window and the sound of a blue jay calling in the distance.

Please, join me, in the fascination of the peace and joy you have with you, right now, around you as simply expressed in the example of natures finest.

Namaste!

A Get-Away However Far or Near is the Cure

View of the Bay from the Cabins

The Cabins

If you ever feel down or futile I submit to you there are two sure fired solutions. One is to sleep it off. A good eight to twelve hours of sleep would do the trick. Listen to a bedtime motivation tape like the Universal Mind, my favorite. And if that doesn't work, get into a car, boat, plan, train, on a bike or any other mode of transportation and get out of town.

This past week we went to New Smyrna Beach. Actually we went to Mosquito Bay fishing camp. I was rather miserable my first day there. We went with my fiance's parents, with whom I truly love, but I was a little aggravated because I had received a series of five rejections in a row from requested writing conference sources and they were all form rejections with no real reason other than, you've heard it before, not for me, doesn't have a hook, etc. etc. And my multiple published writer friends, some of whom, like myself, have "retired" from the corporate, world affirm to me that even after having published many books this job continues to pull the blood, tears, sweat and every ounce of energy from them to get each word and scene right.

So some retirement huh?

Any way, I am NOT a fishing enthusiast and my fiance so I thought I'd be bored. And my poor fiance and his father didn't catch anything. But the views off our cottages were wonderful. And we took a short ride to downtown New Smyrna and Flagler Street which has adorable shops, eateries and a really cool beach where cars can drive on it at ten MPH. Food and drinks can be purchased right on the beach. The beach has thin, soft white sand and the ocean is always beautiful -- no matter where you view it. But the town has a northeast beach feel to it. I intend to come back.

All tolled, it was a nice get-away and I'm grateful to taken the trip. I hope you too will lift yourself out of your writing hole once in a while and take a trip to somewhere different.

Ciao for now!