ALEXFEST

Hey! Cheers Alex Cavanaugh and a special warm greeting to his amazing wife, who I am sure about now has ducked around a corner somewhere, even though she must be extremely proud of Alex, she is just as much of an enigma as her husband.Thanks Ms. Cav for sharing him with us! So…In case you peeps have not guessed by now this is the “Cheers to you Alex Cavanagh” a SUPER spaced out Blog party hosted by  Mark  Koopman,  Morgan Shamy, Stephen Tremp, and David Powers King! There are a lot of rules for winning prizes at this awesome party, so I will do my best to follow them, if you want to check them out for yourself then LOOK HERE. I am just here for the free food and drinks, however I do admire Alex the "Ninja" blogger…Why, you ask? Probably for the same reasons everyone does... he is a helpful and time giving blogger friend, blah blah, etc...etc...but seriously, he always knows the five "W's"and the one H so if I were to guess, Alex is much like our friend with a beard that has found a way to time travel.  Think about it, how does he get around to everyone? 

My guess is he looks just like Santa too…I would cast Santa as Alex in any future documentary but since he is always fully booked, I would have to go with John Petrucci.

  

Using no more than 100 words that must include Cavanaugh, Cosbolt, Ninja, IWSG, and Guitar; here is my Flash Fiction…

LET HIM EAT CAKE! (word count 97)

You could say I was surprised when Cavanaugh came into my café with his famous Cosbolt worn guitar slung over his shoulder and asked for a piece of my chocolate cake.

                

 He flashed me pearly whites from under his big beard and said, “A jug of milk to go would be nice.” Before I managed to get his autograph, he disappeared with the speed of a Ninja. The sound of his music hung in the air, and from the window I saw him fly away with “IWSG ON TOUR” written on the side of his magic sleigh.

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Merry Christmas Mr. and Mrs Claus! Have a great week everyone and don't forget to check out this great party by clicking the  link on my sidebar!

Jack in the box, scary blogfest.

This is a blogfest about our greatest childhood monster, in honor of Christine Rains book release, Fearless! Check out her book and blog by clicking on the pic above. Congrats, Christine! I decided to use part of my book to describe what fears me. Does this scare you as well? Do you have a childhood fear you want to share? Here is mine:

Over and over again, was the sound of a Jack in the box toy accompanied by a strange laughter that sent shivers down her spine.  She felt dizzy and choked on some vomit, dazed and confused it took a moment before she recognized her own bed. She wondered where her uncle was and why it was so hard to think.  The sound of rustling papers and the ticking sound of a toy being wound up came from inside the closet. Slowly her focus returned and the moonlight cut through the darkness casting a wicked looking shadow just inside the closet door. Not being able to breathe, a sudden numbness trapped her senses. In her head a familiar voice whispered, “Stay still, and don’t let it see that you’re awake.” This was a dream, it had to be a dream and as she approached the closet and slowly opened the door, a stench filled the room and panic set in raising every hair on her body. Through the darkness and inside the shadows lingered a half human shape of what must have been a man. Slowly with claw like fingers it cranked up one of her old toys, and his yellow eyes glowed with evil as he laughed again before singing along in an odd inhuman voice.

“Round and round the cobbler's bench

The monkey chased the weasel,

The monkey thought 'twas all in fun

Pop! Goes the weasel.”

Just then the music stopped, and a small clown jumped out of the jack in the box causing Liv to startle. Standing there like a puppet frozen in time, she watched as the toy master turned his glowing eyes towards her. Not a single inch of her body listened as she stood there begging to run. Out of the shadows and closer he came until he stood there in front of her. Pieces of long black hair clung to patches of skin that hung from his head and face. Towering over her he put his large claws on Livs shoulders and drew her near. His foul breath lapped at the air as he said, “So nice to finally meet you Princess.” He made a crooked bow and then continued to speak with a strange drawl as if half drunk, or as if the words felt strange on his tongue.

“My you are a pretty little thing, not what I expected at all.” He took one of his knifelike fingers and traced it slowly over Livs breast.

“I can feel your heart beating like a scared little rabbit underneath that pink skin of yours.” Tilting his head he leaned over and smelled the small of Livs neck, and she shivered as his long tongue swept over her skin tasting it like a piece of candy. 

“You can make this easy on yourself and just give me the box you found and a small drop of your blood.” He backed away and studied her closely, and then tilting his head to the side he said,

“You do not know what you are, do you?”

Check out other scary stories and let me know what you think of mine.

So I am getting the creepy crawlers!There are a lot of scary monters out there.

Crazy Cozy Mysteries-Cooking with Thieves

Today is the big book launch for two Cozy mysteries! In celebration they are hosting a Crazy Cozy Blogfest. One fun mystery tour which you can read about here. Make sure you take the whole trail and visit some of the other stories as well!  
These are the rules:

Come up with a wacky theme, a zany sleuth, a crazy setting for your OWN Crazy Cozy Mystery idea.

Include:
1)  Sleuth (age, occupation, maybe a little family info)
2)  Sidekick (either friend or foil, but someone who always seems to be around)
3)  Setting (town, city, or other sort of place)
4)  Theme (go nuts)
5)  Twist (be as creative as you like)

Write it up in 150-250 words (so short)--for the blogfest portion anyway—we want people to be able to read a bunch of these without too much burden. Keep the traditions in mind, but we are judging on entertainment value--which we enjoy most, not how realistic it is to make a best seller. We want people to laugh.

My Story idea is about a gang of thieves working as cooks on a cruise boat, hope you get a laugh.

Cooking with Thieves

As a retired police detective addicted to crossword puzzles, Kat was not the kind of gal to take things lightly. She was hard as nails, a penny pincher and not the least bit frivolous. So when she was given a Mexican cruise from her two children as a birthday present, she had half a mind to give it to her spinster sister instead.

“It will be good for you Mom. Dad died 5 years ago, and it is about time you had some fun. You might even meet someone.” They insisted until she gave in, unaware that she was about to sail off into a ship load of trouble. A stowaway cat with thieving paws and a nose for danger was not the kind of friend she expected to meet. When Kat finds herself in the middle of a mysterious death on board the M/S Fantasy and a crew full of suspicious characters, her only back up turns out to be a dirty yellow cat with a taste for gold. Together they uncover a smuggling ring that is run by a gang of vicious cooks, and in a game of cat and mouse they fight to stay alive.

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 Links:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Indie Bound
Confessions of a Watery TartLinks:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Indie Bound
Mystery Writing is Murder

Come back tomorrow to see what Eye Spy is up too!

First Loves

Today is my Story day and lucky for me it falls on the First loves Blogfest, another great party thrown by the master Ninja himself, Alex Cavanaugh. To check out other first loves for movies, books, music and people click on this link. Happy reading!

The Wizard of Oz made me fall in love with the magic of books, music and movies. At the time colored television had not been around for long, so I was very young. So young indeed that I cannot focus clearly on the memory, but it was sometime in the 1960's. The movie was based on the 1900 children's novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, and after seeing the movie, it was the first book I bought with my own money.  I also had the soundtrack from the movie and knew all the songs by heart. (I still remember some of them) I staged summer theater in my garage always staring as Dorothy. My brother and sisters were forever doomed to the roles of the "Scarecrow", "Tin man" and "Cowardly lion."  To this day, I dream of having a pair of ruby red slippers just like Dorothy's. I admit to having a thing for all that sparkles and glitters. Always looking up, I find the stars here on earth, and in the heavens worth admiring. The Wizard of Oz covers my first loves when it comes to films, music and books. Childish, yes…but we are talking first loves here.

By the time I was ready to put away these childish things, love meant only one thing. In the 70’s, love was riding a motorcycle and listening to “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin.  Pink Floyd posters replaced the family pictures on my walls, and I traded out my Ken and Barbie dolls with boys that were not made out of plastic. The first one that I  fell in love with got me pregnant and broke my heart when he left. After 35 years he is back in my life again, but now as a friend. To be honest with you, he actually gave me the first "true love" of my life… a son. My son is the only first love that grows stronger with time.

First loves usually never last but they are seldom forgotten. They find a corner in your heart all bundled up in sweet memories. Every once in a while one of your senses will unwrap a certain memory with a special song, a touching story, or a familiar face. That is when you know my friends, that first loves never truly die.

Eye Spy

You might have noticed some changes to my side bar, and you might even remember that I have promised some changes to my blog. I am going to try and commit to at least three days a week, each with a theme. Mondays will be story day. Sometimes my posts will be on Norse mythology, Norwegian culture, fairytales or just gibberish, whatever strikes my fancy. Wednesdays are Eye Spy...Something or someone out there is worth spying on so I will let you know each Wednesday what or who that is. Fridays are all about food and family, so back from popular demand; I will let you into my kitchen and answer my childrens favorite question, "What's for dinner Mom?" Don't let this question fool you, my family has a huge appetite and often there is much more on the table than food. Minnie will still be playing gibberish on the last Friday of every month, with her finished story on the following Monday. Now like I said, I am going to give this a try and see how it goes. Maybe having more structure in my blogging will allow me more time to work on my book.

A couple of months ago my blog had its one year anniversary and to celebrate I had a blogfest. The prize I was giving away if I had reached my goal was a troll and some Norwegian chocolate. The troll is still here, but I ate the chocolate. Maybe someday I will try another blogfest, but the few times I have tried have not been very successful. It isn’t much fun to throw a party when hardly anyone bothers to come. Oh well, more chocolate for me.

Today I am turning my spying eye to Hart Johnson who has been writing in her bathtub again to bring us her first ever “Cozy Mystery” book which is being released on June 5^th.  The name of her book is The Azalea Attack, and she is celebrating together with her friend and mentor Elizabeth Spann Craig. Elisabeth is also releasing on the same day, her first book in a new series called, Quilt or Innocence ... Both books are “Cozy Mysteries”... Check out their CrazyCozy Blogfest and join the fun!

If you know of anyone or something worth spying on, let me know so I can put on my spy gear and sneak around. I do so love being a sneaky spy. So what do you think about my new blogging schedule and themes? Do you think it will help me to focus more on my book? Do you like to sneak around too? It drives my husband crazy but keeps him on his toes.