Monday, April 30, 2012

Monday Evening Star: Something For Everybody

The Letter D...

So last week a post by the always cool Shay Fabbro was "brought to us by the letter P". She listed ten things she loved that began with P and said if you left her a comment, she'd give you a letter of your own. She was true to her word, and my letter is D.
Coming up with ten things that start with D was harder than you'd think. Seriously. Here goes:

1. Dunn (because it's my maiden name)
2. Mr. Darcy (well duh)
3. Dogs (a picture's worth 1000 words)
4. Dysfunctional (because that's how I live)
5. Daydreams (because that's how I survive #4)
6. Delicious (because it refers to food, and I'ma lova mah grub)
7. Daredevil (because if it doesn't scare you a little, it's probably not worth doing)
8. Dancing (because you're never too old...right Tami?)
9. Daughter (because everyone needs a daughter to keep them honest...right Sara?)
10. Daybreak (because it means you get another chance)

Now leave me a comment and I'll assign YOU a letter. Good luck!

Lucy 7

Speaking of luck, my friend and fellow Black Opal Books author Jami Gray tagged me with the Lucky 7 meme. The rules are pretty simple...


  • go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript
  • go to line 7
  • post on your blog the next 7 lines, or sentences, as they are
  • tag 7 other people to do the same

My current WIP doesn't have 77 pages (yet), but here are 7 lines (or maybe 8, I lost count) from  page  7 of a piece I'm calling Hell...The Story. Ophelia Rand and her friends Sally Serpent and Jimmy the Ghost are sitting in the lobby of the Hell Hotel, wondering why one of Hell's Escorts tried to bring a live one through. And, I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this, either.     ;)

I came around in front of my desk, leaning back to rest my butt cheeks on the edge of the marble top. Under our feet, the tile floor showed a naked couple in a garden, circled by the feathers of a giant peacock. My feet were right by the peacock’s eye. “Makes me wonder what Leon’s up to.”
            “Losing it,” Jimmy said.
            “Yeah, dude must be like a thousand years old.” Sally shifted again so she could lean back against the arm of the couch and drape her legs over Jimmy’s lap. He put a hand on her thigh, letting it slide up to the hem of her skirt, which was way too high. Around me, the billowy silks started shifting to darker colors, deep ruby and gold and forest green.
Now the rules say I'm supposed to tag seven other bloggers, but that seems so dictatorial, right? So, if you want to play, consider yourself tagged.  ;)  Grab the Lucky 7 graphic and post your seven lines. Just make sure to ping me so I know to take a look, okay?

 We Have A Winner

Last Wednesday, Diana Brandmeyer was my guest with a fun & informative post about living a gluten-free life. Check here if you missed it. At the end of her post, she said that she'd give a copy of one of her books to a lucky commenter. The winner was Tam Linsey, and while I'll hook the two of them up via email, I wanted to announce it here, too. Congratulations Tam! You'll be able to choose either Diana's nonfiction book, We're Not Blended, We're Pureed or her romance, A Bride's Dilemma.


Final Thought

Let me set the scene...
I was driving my 14 year old daughter to her choir practice this afternoon. We were stuck in traffic on I5 and the radio wasn't playing something she could sing to.
R: Mom, can I ask you something?
Me: Um, okay.
(quickly thinking, I HATE that question. Can I trade you in for a 2-year-old, because they're just EASIER)
R: How come I look Asian?
(Now, for reals, if we lived in Hawaii, most people would assume she was hapa - her eyes have heavy lids and she has high cheekbones and she could be part Japanese or something. She's not. We're French, Irish, German, etc... I have NO idea why her eyes look sort of Asian.)
Me: Why? (thinking. your father really is your father, child; also thinking, this is important why?)
R: Two kids asked me what race I was at school today.
Me: (thinking something articulate like, Goddam kids) Well, supposedly your Grandfather's family has some Native American mixed in somewhere. Just tell them you're part Native American.
R: (sitting up a little straighter) Cool.
And that, friends, is the beauty of Middle School. On the one hand, one stupid question can ruin your day. On the other, Mom can still fix it with a few words. If she's lucky.
Peace,
Liv





16 comments:

  1. Okay, I'll play. May I have a letter, please? I don't have a blog, but I can leave my answer in your comments if you like.

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  2. Hey Liv, but I do love what you've done with the letter D. Made it so interesting and important looking :-D

    I don't always have such success with those dreaded "Can I ask you a question" moments, so it was cool being reminded that they can actually be so successful. (Now that my girls are older it's more of "Mom, can you do me a favor ..." ACK!!!

    Ohhhh....LOVE your Lucky Meme. VERY intriguing.

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  3. Love the Daughter one. I have three sons and a daughter whom I named Anglea because she was my little angel (still is and she's 43 this year).

    Pass on the danicng. My knees won't stand it anymore.

    I'd be happy for your to throw a letter my way.

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  4. Alright, Noni, you get "M'.
    Good luck with that, and I hope to see the results right back here.
    ;)

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  5. Don't get me wrong, Barbara, I come up with the WRONG answer more often than I do the right one.
    ;)
    It's just nice, every now and then, not to feel like I've added something else to the list of things she'll have to work on with her therapist...
    Thanks!

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  6. Thanks David! I love that you named your daughter Angela b/c she's your angel. That makes me smile. And I'll send you a letter via twitter. Looking forward to your post...
    ;)

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  7. Awesome choices for the letter D. Way to go. And I love the story about your daughter. May you always be able to help her with answers.

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  8. Thanks, Jillian. I know I'm on the phone with my own mother nearly every day. Hopefully that'll happen as my daughter gets older.
    ;)

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  9. So many things to comment on here I don't know where to start!

    First, loved your letter D choices. And you're absolutely right - you're NEVER to old to dance! :)

    Second, your Lucky 7 Meme was fascinating. Can't wait to read more someday.

    Third, how awesome that you and your daughter had that coversation and you both walked away from it feeling good.

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  10. Thanks Tami... 14 is such a tough age!

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  11. So I was going to say almost exactly what Tami said (I have to get to blogs before her b/c I often find that she says what I want to say). As you know, I love mother-daughter stories, loved yours (could hear you sigh with relief), and feel honored to be mentioned in your "D" list. I might've been more honored to be on the "A" list but your powers are limited. :)

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  12. Your post makes me a little less afraid of jr. high. And I completely agree with #2. Sometimes you just need to say "Darcy" and everything is better.

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  13. So the next time someone assigns me the letter A, Sara, you'll totally be on my list. ;)
    Thanks for checking out the post!

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  14. I'll be glad when we're out of the middle school stage, Marianne, but have to confess that now there are things about high school that make me twitchy...
    ;)

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  15. Don't know how I missed this post. What a clever idea. Is it too late to get a letter? And I loved the story of your daughter. Ah, for an age when what we say still matters.

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  16. Thanks for checking in, Julie! Just tweeted you your letter.
    ;)

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