KSM - The Second Quote of Christmas

Why is complaining so much easier than complimenting?

Christmas lists sparked this second quote. My kids get what they want and need throughout the year. Then they get spoiled more on their birthdays & at Christmas. We have a hard time making lists of what people can get them because they HAVE everything!

I think kids have heightened expectations of what might be under the tree. What fabulous gift will I be surprised with? And when they open the gifts, they are happy, but many times disappointed. That wasn't on my list, why didn't I get that other thing? I like his better. Wah wah wah.

I really need to take my kids to see where our donations go. They need to see exactly how fortunate they are. They need a good kick in the pants of appreciation.

One of my favorite gifts is homemade coupons. All I want for Christmas from my kids is a book of "No complaining" coupons. (PS - Dear Santa, put an agent in my stocking?) Ah, well.

And so, I leave you with a couple of bonus quotes.

Slather on the compliments and sprinkle sparingly complaints.

See the complaint department - through the exit door.

And don't forget, coming up this Wednesday (12/7) is the Insecure Writer's Support Group sponsored by our distinguished host, Alex.

There is also a grand 12 days of Christmas giveaway blog hop - an incredible conglomeration of bloggers donating their services and prizes coordinated by Sara. Enter as many as you want by 12/13.

I love Secret Santa! I'm so glad Laura came up with this! You can join until 12/12 =)

And I wanted to thank Nicki again for guest posting yesterday - I also met some new folks and appreciate all the comments and will be getting around to visit today. Thanks!

Three Cheers for Three Daves!

I recently finished THREE DAVES by my lovely friend and author, Nicki Elson! Before I let her take over with a revealing guest post, here is my short review!

One Word: TOTALLY!

THREE DAVES is the tale of a spunky 80s college girl who blossoms into a wise 80s woman. It's funny, unpredictable (except the end, I knew it!) and full of real emotions. Jen (not Jenny) gets herself into embarrassing, exciting, and enticing situations with surprising twists, 80s memories and a satisfying wrap up.

Nicki does an excellent job making us feel for Jen. We grow to understand the true meaning of love right along with her! I totally recommend THREE DAVES!

Now for a glimpse into how THREE DAVES came about, here's NICKI!

When you write realistic fiction, particularly realistic fiction that mirrors your own life in any way, the inevitable question is---how much of this is true? I had more than one college roomie nervous to turn the pages of my 80s era collegiate story. But as I've assured everyone I know many, many times, Three Daves is fiction...with bits of truth mixed in.

I think pieces of us find their way into everything we write, don't you? And since Tara asked so nicely, I'll let you in on some of the ways I worked truth into my fiction.

Places:  The fictional Central Illinois University is heavily influenced by my real life alma mater, Eastern Illinois University. Everything's been renamed, but anyone who went to EIU will be able to pick out the dorms, the campus buildings, the bars.  As a matter of fact, the bars frequented in Three Daves were even a trivia question in the EIU alumni newsletter last fall!     

Paraphernalia: In my acknowledgements, I thank my friend Ed for driving the silver Sapporo---missing passenger sidedoor and all---that David eventually drives in the story. Crappy cars were such a staple of college existence that I couldn't resist. My real life roomate's ginormous Oldsmobile also makes a showing. Of course bomber jackets, oversized sweatshirts, assymetric "do"s, and Ansel Adams black & whites were all present in my real 80's life.  And let us not forget the poor, dead ficus tree we dressed up in Christmas lights.

Plot: The overall plot is the product of my imagination, but I mixed in nuggets of reality. For example, there may have been a balcony arrest during spring break in Daytona Beach following a wet T-shirt contest (yes, I was the good girl standing in the middle), and I did see Wang Chung at the Clarendon.  A shoe went flying from a balcony one night at E. L. Krackers (a/k/a The Ritz), but it wasn't mine.  And I once participated in the invention of a game called Dial-a-Drink.

People: Except for one character---Aunt Lou, based on my real life Godmother---no one is wholly patterned after anyone I know.  I'm sure there's an element of every guy I ever knew melded into the Daves, and there were about a thousand guys named Dave on campus in the 80s, but I never actually dated one.  If I ever write a book about my real dating experiences, it'll be called something more like:

Two Ricks, a Couple Marks, One Len, a Craig, a Sean, a Steve, at Least One Brian, and a Darren...I'm Pretty Sure His Name was Darren. 

Not nearly as catchy as Three Daves, is it?  Now it's your turn---what bits of reality have made it into your fiction?

Thanks for having me over, Tara!

You are more than welcome =) Thanks for all that inside info! Those were the days.

The First Quote of Christmas

Stupidity is thirsty work.

 

Happy December! (it feels weird not to have a poem topic today) And to jump on the 12 days band wagon, I am giving you all "The 12 Quotes of Christmas!" - finding reason in the season.

 

Does anyone else love to see neighborhoods compete to have the brightest, most outrageous lights & decor? It gets crazier every year! Well, I have been fighting with my Christmas lights for several days. I like to conserve extension cords so I try to link as many lights as possible. Here are my deck the house in twinkle lights woes:

• this isn't going to reach, redo
• this plug doesn't fit into this one, redo
• repeat first problem
• new lights dead out of the box! replace teeny tiny fuses (it worked!)
• didn't test lights, 1/2 the set is out - test more, 1/2 the set is out on 3 sets!
• hands frozen, get gloves
• toss some, keep some, note to self for next year, test lights before going outside...

So my stupidity of not planning ahead and not checking the lights created extra work which, combined with the drying heat inside, made me thirsty. Tis the season for cocoa and coffee. Yum! At least I don't have to deal with tangled wires =) And the satisfaction when the timer turns the lights on is well worth all the silly struggles - until it rains and shorts them out...but I fixed that too. Don't you love the holidays!