Happy Birthday Happy Earth Day

Well, today is my birthday, and it's also Earth Day, and it's also my father's birthday. Yes, I was born on my Dad's birthday and it was also Easter Sunday back in 1962. So here we are.

Usually I have a plan as to what I'm going to do on my "BIG DAY" but this year, I got nothing. I have to go to Staples and pick up a presentation board -- doing a presentation at my daughter's school on Thursday. Have to cut the grass at the old house. Have to run to the grocery store for milk.

Unfortunately, Monster is sick again today. A Spring cold hit her at 500 miles an hour. I didn't see this one coming at all. So I think we're staying home from school today. And I've been up since 3am listening to her try to breathe, so I'm thinking a little mid-morning nap might do me some good.

Have had a few more revelations about "Kate" (the character for my next book.) I can tell I'm getting itchy to write again, because I keep talking about her. My biggest problem right now is the ending.

I usually have to have the end before I can start to write the beginning. So far I have one of two possible endings --

1) Kate gets the guy

2) Kate walks away from the guy and the ending is one of those frustrating ones where the author leaves the reader to figure out the end.

And no, that really wasn't a spoiler, because once you read the book, you'll see there's more than one guy. Kate has to make a whole lot of choices so we'll see where she ends up won't we.

Okay, that's all I've got. Time to call the school. Have a great day!

It's Book Fair Day!

Remembering You - a novel

           Robynne Rand
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When Genna comes home to Rhode Island over the 4th of July holiday, she finds that her family is falling apart and she has only twenty-one days to put them back together.

Her vacation is far from relaxing. Two men are vying for her attention, her aunt is clearly showing signs of old age, and her grandmother is pushing Genna to accept an inheritance she does not want.

When tragedy strikes, Genna steps in to keep her uncle’s diner open and she questions what’s more important – returning to her job to break the glass ceiling or her family.

The clock runs out and Genna finds she is needed at her job, needed by her family, and she is needed by lovers old and new. Now Genna must search her soul to find out what she needs.
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Excerpt

Genna took a deep breath of the salty, humid air, pulled her ponytail tighter, and turned the handle. The door tinkled as she walked into her uncle’s little diner, a mainstay in the neighborhood for more than thirty years. The knot in her stomach tightened a little. Would this long awaited trip be all that she imagined? Finally home for three weeks, all that she wanted to do was relax, and enjoy the time she spent with her family.

She walked to the low counter and sat on one of the stools in front of the cash register. She looked around at the white washed walls, noticing not one thing had changed since her childhood. The same picture of Pope John Paul II still hung over the door to the kitchen. The flag of Italy under glass, displayed over the map of Salerno where the ancestors originated. Did anyone even bother to look at the decrepit bulletin board anymore? Still by the front door with so many cards stuck to it, the thing was an eyesore and should have been taken down. The little café curtains that hung along the wall of windows were the only thing to mark a discernable difference. Blue checkered now, instead of red.

As her eyes flitted from booth to booth looking for people she might know, she spied a lone man in the corner. Holy shit! It couldn’t be! But, it was. Her breath caught in her throat. Even in her wildest fantasies about seeing him again, she never imagined running into Tony just five minutes off the road. But there he was, larger than life, sitting in her Uncle Sally’s diner.

He noticed her at the exact same moment. Half rising from his seat, he stared back as if she were a ghost. Genna met his shocked expression before turning away, giving him, what her historical romance novels called ‘the cut direct’. She hoped he got the hint, because she couldn’t talk to him now, if ever.

“Rosa Linda Fortuna Genovase, is it really you?” A large voice boomed through the pass-through window next to the coffee maker. A moment later her uncle burst through the swinging door, arms extended for a hug.

“Uncle Sally!” Genna jumped from her seat and rushed into his arms.

Salvatore “Sally” Genovase, her father’s brother, pulled her close then pushed her away from his huge body, grasping her hands in his.

“Your Aunt Fortuna is gonna’ have you on a spit you know. You shoulda’ called.” He hugged her again, and her back cracked in two places.

“I know, Unc, I know, but it was kind of a spur of the moment thing. I had some time coming to me, so I decided to come home. Surprise!” She held his hand as she sank back down onto the stool.

He sat on the next stool in line and asked in a low voice, “You okay? You don’t owe nobody nothing, do ya’?” He glanced over his shoulder around the small café.

Genna laughed. “No, I don’t owe anyone, anything.” Ingrained throughout her childhood was the Genovase family creed:  Mind Your Business – Mind Your Family –Mind Your Money.

“You sure?” he asked.

“I’m sure, now stop.” She squeezed his hand. “I just wanted to come home, that’s all. I missed you. Once a week phone calls just weren’t cutting it anymore. Now, what’s going on here?” She looked at the white dry-erase board hanging over the coffee machine and smiled. “Same old Tuesday specials I see. When are you going to change this menu?”

A waitress she remembered from her last visit stepped up to them. Genna asked for a glass of water.

“Ha, just like a woman, not even here for two minutes and already giving me grief. Your Aunt Fortuna trained you well.” Salvatore chuckled, patting her face with his calloused hand.

“I’m not giving you grief. I’m just not crazy about stuffed eggplant.” Genna giggled and gratefully sipped from the glass the waitress, Heidi, put down. She grabbed a napkin to wipe up the condensation before it dripped all over her shirt.

“Hello, Genna.”

Tony! She didn’t want to turn around, didn’t want to see him up close, and certainly didn’t want to talk to him. Especially now. What she wanted was to melt under the floor, or better yet, have him melt under the floor so she could walk all over him the way he had done to her.

“Hello, Tony,” she mumbled over her shoulder. She was only being half-impolite. At least she said hello.

“How’s it goin’? Back in town?” He stood waiting to pay his tab.

“Yeah,” she said. Although she hated to tell him anything, family etiquette demanded it.

“Well, maybe we can catch up later.”

Not in this lifetime. Heidi cashed him out and Genna heard his footfalls receding. She turned her attention back to her uncle who wore a pensive expression, watching Tony walk out the door.

“I don’t know why you’ve come home, Bella, but I hope it wasn’t to reunite with that culo.”

Genna shot her uncle a puzzled look. “I didn’t come here to see Tony. I came here to see you and Aunt Fortuna.” Changing the subject, she asked, “Where is she by the way?” Her aunt had always been a fixture at the restaurant, from nine to two, every day.

“She had to baby-sit the boys. Your cousin’s got a doctor’s appointment.” Salvatore made the sign of the cross.

"What’s the matter with Angie?”

Salvatore leaned forward and whispered, “Girly problems.”

Knowing Uncle Sally that could mean a thousand different things, nine-hundred and ninety-nine of them not being serious. “I’ll ask Auntie when I see her. Where’s Robby? Down at the shop?”

“I would imagine.” Salvatore glanced up at the big clock over the pass-through. “It’s only eleven, you gonna’ go by there now, or you want some breakfast first?” He rose from his stool without waiting for her answer and moved behind the long counter.

“No, I couldn’t eat. I’ll just go down to the garage. I figure he’ll be mad because I didn’t stop to see him first, but…” Genna finished her water and stood.

“But you love your uncle more, right?” Salvatore poured two large to-go cups of coffee, added sugar, milk, and ice, and put them in a bag. He filled another bag with doughnuts and muffins. He placed both in front of Genna. “Here. Give him these. Maybe he won’t be so mad, eh?”

Genna hugged her uncle, kissed him on both cheeks, and picked up the bags.

“I’m assuming you’ll be home for dinner,” Salvatore said as she walked toward the door.

“As if I wouldn’t.” She turned to face him, her hand on the door handle. “You think I’d want Aunt Fortuna hunting me down? What time?”

“Six, I’d imagine. Soon as she finds out you’re home she’s gonna’ be cooking like its Christmas. Remember to bring your appetite. Ciao, Bella.” He waved her off with a kiss on his fingertips.
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REMEMBERING YOU is available only for the Kindle at this time.

Spring Fever Part Deux

Well, I did what I said I was going to do -- clean everything, and then do yard work. Truthfully, the next house I buy is going to be an apartment. I refuse to be a slave to the lawn mower/weed-wacker any longer. Quite frankly, I'm getting too old for this crap.

However, one thing I do know is that, besides the exercise and cardio workout, my thoughts are centered on my writing. More so than when I'm actually writing.

I like this about me. I do something physical and it excites my mental. And I know this is not a new phenomenon, other people assuredly have this trait as well, but I'd like to think I'm special. *snort*

While doing all this physical labor, it has generated a new plot for "Kate", the main character in my next novel. Well, I shouldn't say new. I should say I've worked out the bugs with the old one. I've had the story in my head for a couple of years, and wrote the first chapter, and I've always known how it ends, but more importantly, how I get there.

Now, I see where I made my mistake. Too much going on that doesn't center totally around Kate. And it is her story. So I've had to cut way back on what I thought would be good secondary lines, and just keep one or two of them in there. Maybe that will give me the impetus to start writing other stories, maybe not.

I'm still in "not writing" mode. My attention span is still short, and it still revolves around Kate. I have another story I want to write, but I need to go back to Rhode Island to finish it. And it's very touch and go if we'll get there this summer. *sad face*

Anyway, some people have said that it's good to take a writing break, it cleanses the coffers of imagination. Other people have said you need to write every day. Yeah, I hear them, but I'm just not one of those people.

The gist of this post is that I hope I'll get all my yard work finished before the heavy weather moves in (meaning hot sultry North Carolina heat) and then I'll be able to sit in my air conditioning and finish Kate by the end of May. Yeah, it gets hot down here sooner rather than later.

Wish me luck.

Robynne Rand (c) 2013

Spring Fever

Well, it's been another month since I last posted. I don't think it's because I have nothing to say, I think it has more to do with the fact I stopped writing.

Yeah, I took a break. The one thing EVERYONE says NOT to do. But hey, I'm me and I can do what I want.

But I needed it. After trying to cram as many books out to the market as I could before summer hits, (which was only 2 but that was more than enough) I just couldn't face sitting at the computer for 8 hours a day anymore. And every single time I looked at my TBF (to be finished) manuscripts, they were just downright depressing. I lost my "groove".

So I've stopped writing. For now.

The Monster is off from school this week and we're just being lazy. Which is nice. Sleeping until 6:30 has been a pleasure. (Usually I'm up at 5:15.) I don't have to go anywhere, or have the uniforms ironed, or make lunch, or make sure homework is done.

But that doesn't mean I'm not busy. Yesterday was running around day...you know, market, pay bills, bank. post office, Target. Saturday and Sunday I worked at getting my plants in pots and outside on the front porch for all the *ahem* glorious weather we're supposed to be having this week. My cousins are coming next Sunday so I need to clean the house. (I'm taking that one day at a time because I still haven't put stuff away from last summer when we moved -- although you can finally sit in the living room if you've a mind.)

And then there's the Yard Sale stuff that needs to be sorted and tagged. (Another hold over from last summer.) As I've been cleaning, I've found more stuff. When I look at it all, I keep thinking I should just open up a thrift store. And don't get me started on the clothes issue. I have 8 bins upstairs with stuff I've kept over the years that I keep hoping I'll eventually wear again. *snort* I suppose you could call me a hoarder, but I think I'm just cheap. Some of those clothes still have tags on them. I want to wear them at least once. You know.

And then the lawn needs mowing, the vines need to be cut down, trees need to be felled for the fence I'm going to build for the dogs. I'll get to it eventually. At least before the snakes come out in full force. Let's not forget the roto-tiller for the new gardens I'm also going to build.

So suffice it to say, I've got plenty to keep me busy. As for writing, I need a break. I'm also trying to come up with the nerve to get back to doing "social media". (I just hate H-A-T-E promotion.) And there's the uploading the revised editions of all my work, and going to KOBO for direct purchase. Something I've been meaning to do for awhile now.

I think this Spring will be a blur, especially if I want to get everything I've mentioned above done in these next 6 days. But I have faith I will get at least half of it done. Okay, I'll admit, I'll be lucky if I get the lawn mowed. But it's nice to dream.

What are you doing to combat Spring Fever?