Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Blondie's Liebster Award #2



Liebster Blog Award #2
My awesome Aussie friend, Rachel Amphlett, nominated me for the Liebster Blog. Thank you so much Rachel for this distinguished honor. Mwah! Be sure to check out her website and thriller novel, White Gold, here. It looks like an amazing read! 

The purpose of the Liebster Blog Award is to recognize blogs with fewer than 200 followers that deserve a look. This is my second nom in as many months. How exciting, eh? My job is to list 11 random facts about me, answer Rachel's questions and to nominate 11 new bloggers, who should bask in the Liebster glow (by that I mean post a blog linking back here with 11 random facts about you, answer my 11 questions and nominate 11 new bloggers). Let's get right to it. 

11 Random Facts about Me

1. My mom is 5'2"and my dad is 6'2". I am thankfully somewhere in between.

2. I've been to 6 countries. Meh, not great for the rest of the world but for an ugly American, not too shabby! I've been to the UK (All of it including England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Northern Ireland), Switzerland, Bermuda, Italy, and Canada. Plus of course the USA.

Countries I've been to.
3.  I was born a poor black child. Not really, but I love that line from the Jerk. 

4. I'm a bit of an anglophile (and what ever you call someone who loves the Irish and Scots as well). If you're from the UK I would love for you to leave me a boo message stat at audioboo.fm. I've got English, Irish and a few Scots in the novel so any fodder would be greatly appreciated! 
5. I've lived in 8 different states. One of my favorites is Virginia.  Did you know that more US Presidents were born in Virginia than any other state? Now you can say you learned something today (you're welcome). Isn't their state flag lovely?

Anyone know why he's stepping on that dude?  
Oh, that's King George III! Anglophile or not don't mess with Virginia! 
6.  I've been working on my novel, Stealing Time, for 7 years. I'm working on the last 4 chapters. (I've been saying that for a month now. One of my characters has hijacked my novel. A crazy Scot, by the way, so I had to let her have her way. Sigh.)
My upcoming novel. You can read the prologue 
here. Blondie in the Hurricane

7. Through my previous job I met Al Gore twice. First time I was too shy to eke out a single word. The second time I was determined to make an impression. Let's just say Al and the secret service dudes were a bit nervous about my exuberance. Impression made.
Al Gore was scared of me!
8. Last summer I traveled to 13 states on vacation. See my blog: Blondie in the Atlantic Coast for more pics. 
Ended the vacation in Stonington, Maine,
a quaint little town outside of Bar Harbor. 

9. I love medical stuff. Favorite show a few years back was Dr. G. Medical Examiner. Don't recommend watching the autopsies during dinner although if you're trying to lose weight...
Dr. G. Medical Examiner. Yeah, she does autopsies. Yum!
10. I did some modeling in my earlier days. Strangest job was modeling for an artists painting a tarot deck. Here is one of the cards.


This is me, or at least the artist's
rendition of me.
11.  I've seen every episode of Spongebob in the last month. It's all my kids want to watch when they're sick. Let's just say we've not had a great month. Thank you stomach flu. 


Rachel's 11 Questions For Me

1.    What’s your favorite album cover and why?
The first thing that comes to mind is Michael Jackson's  Thriller. Why? Because he at that point was black, had a nose, AND was super cool. Who would ever have guessed that none of that would be true 30 years later? Rather symbolic of the moral decline of pop culture, don't you think?

Michael Jackson -- Thriller. Surprise ending for the King of Pop -- Propofol. 
2. You’ve got the chance to travel back in time and be in your favourite movie. Which movie, and which character do you choose and why?

 To be completely honest, I'd rather eat a snake than star in a movie. Do I have to pick? Hmmmm, I'd have to pick The Ugly Truth opposite Gerard Butler for obvious reasons.  Another choice would be Brigadoon with Gene Kelly to advise them to, at all costs, avoid this costume horror:
Travel back in time to prevent the atrocity of these God awful shorts in Brigadoon. Have ye nev'r heard of a kilt, lad?

3.    You’ve been offered the chance to interview a person of your choosing. Who would you  choose – and what’s your opening question?

 I would love to interview John Adams, our second President. I'm a descendant of his cousin Sam, you know of the beer fame? Opening line: So tell me about the Adams family (cue theme song...dun dun dun deh. Snap, snap.)

John Adams -- so tell me about the Adams family?
4.    You’ve been asked to speak about writing in front of a class of 12-year olds. What advice aren’t you going to give them?

Be a writer -- it's full of fame and fortune (NOT!)
5.    What’s the worst (repeatable!) joke you’ve ever heard?

 What does a mermaid wear to math class? An algae-bra. 
An Algae-bra! Get it?
Or, what my son came home with today: "Mom, someone called you an owl today.  I provided  the requisite answer: "Who?" Yeah, hook line and sinker.
"Who? Who?"

6.    Relaxing holiday or action holiday? And where?

Definitely an action holiday neck deep in some form of water. Where? First choice would be Bermuda. See my blog Blondie in Bermuda for a full picture. (Doubt me? See Blondie in the Pond or Blondie on the Reef!)

7.    You’ve got the chance to go back to your schooldays. What would you do differently?

I would have more confidence. I was awesome -- I just didn't know it yet. A few years ago I went to one of my class reunions. Over a cold beverage one of the 'popular' girls told me that  back in the day she wondered why I had so much confidence. I surely didn't feel that way at the time. My parents divorced when I was seven and it set me up for a damaged young ego. 

 That conversation changed how I thought of my younger self. That maybe despite the insecurities I felt I was a much stronger person that I realized.  One of the things I'm trying to instill in my kids is self confidence. We all make better decisions if we believe in ourselves. I want my kids to trust their instincts and stick up for themselves when it really counts. Think of what I could have done in high school if I knew then what I know now?

8.    Your house is burning down, you’ve got the family and the pets out. The flames are  making their way towards your bookshelves … and you can only save one. Which book do you rescue, and why?

I'll have to say the photo album my sister put together for me when I turned 16. I don't really have any valuable books and definitely not any I'd risk my life to save.

9.    You can be a superhero for the day (or a villain). Who are you going to be and why?  (And yes, you get to wear the costume with the cape too if that sort of thing floats your boat.)

I'm not really into super heroes but if you're gonna make me answer that it'd have to be a hot female version of Aquaman. If you've read my blog you know how I feel about the water -- how frigging cool would it be have aqua super powers?

You made me do it. If I have to pick I'll be a sexy Aquawoman 
as a super hero. No cape needed.
10.   Animal, vegetable or mineral?

Animal. I'll let you ponder on that.

11.   If you could play an instrument, what would it be and why? (And if you can already play an instrument, pick another!)

Another great question Rachel. I already play the flute, recorder, piano and guitar. None of them well anymore, but I was first flute in high school and in the marching band. I guess I'd have to pick saxophone.   
Who doesn't like sax?

Questions for My Nominees:


1.  What is your favorite line from a movie and why?

 2.  What celebrity do you think you resemble or perhaps people have told you look like? I had a guy gush over me in a store hands flapping in excitement. "Oh my Gawd, you look just like Olivia Newton John in Grease. The slutty version."  Nice, huh? He was talking about my hair -- I assure you I was dressed very demurely. 

 3.  Share a favorite line or paragraph from your novel. 

 4. Name 3 things that you love about being a writer.

 5.  What is your favorite place on the planet?

 6. What was your favorite character to write? Why? 
7.  If you were guaranteed to be safely returned unharmed what risky thrill would you try (i.e., Bungee jumping, free diving, scuba with sharks.)

 8.   Put a link to your favorite blog post here. Tell us why it's your favorite.

 9.   What is your favorite band or singer?

10.  Pop, rock, opera, classical, folk, rap... what's your favorite type of music?

11.  What author has inspired your writing the most?

My Nominees for the Liebster Blog Award

Be sure to check out these great authors and bloggers hand selected by me.

 1. Dan C. Chamberlain

 2. Kevin Hill Author/Writer ... for those lovers of travel. 

 3.  Roland Garcia The Eclectic Life

 4.  Joey Francisco Soul and Sweet Tea

 5.  R.C. Lewis Crossing the Helix

 6. G.A. Albrethsen

 7. Seumas Gallacher

 8.  Joanne Wadsworth

 9.  Joshua Stern Adventurer, dreamer, author

 10. Carol Hedges I write, I sleep, I try to resist cake

 11.  K.S. Haigwood The Dream of a Writer

 12.  Terry Tyler Terry Tyler's Blog

 13.  Brendy Caldwell The Shore

Connect With Me
When I'm not working on Stealing Time you can find me on my social media at the links below. I hope to have my novel completed by spring 2013 with book two close behind.
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Friday, February 1, 2013

Blondie in the Reef


Blondie in the Reef

KJ Waters


I just had the most amazing day at Discovery Cove in Orlando. This is a SeaWorld related water park and has to be one of my favorite places on the planet, after Bermuda and perhaps Scotland. This is not your ordinary water park. Discovery Cove is the place where you can swim with dolphins, sting rays, tropical birds and fish. No lie, get right in there and touch the critters! The fam and I did just that today.

We arrived at the beautifully landscaped park at 7:45 am and headed to the 'free' alfresco buffet breakfast. My daughter likes to call it free, but as much as we paid to get in I've got a different take on that.

Dolphin Experience

Meet Squiggy -- and she didn't even eat me!

After breakfast we arrived for our appointment with our dolphin (never thought I'd write that). We gathered with a group of people and sat through the dolphin orientation. Then, and only then, were we allowed to step into the ice cold dolphin pool for a half an hour of dolphin 101.



We fed the dolphin, pet it, and had our pictures taken kissing it. The size of this gorgeous creature was impressive, much larger up close and personal than when you see it from a distance. I was the only one who scared the bejesus out of the thing when I put my hand on its belly during the photo shoot. Luckily it didn't eat me. Then a real treat -- they let us hang on to the dorsal fin and ride it about 20 yards. My son was fascinated with Squiggy, our dolphin, and all things science. He was not so thrilled about being waist deep in ice water with a 500 pound carnivore. 

Lazy River
After dolphin U we geared up with vest, mask, and snorkel and headed directly to the lazy river. The sandy beach leading up to it squished wonderfully under my feet and the water was deliciously warm. The lazy river is not your typical blue painted cement job either. It is surrounded by Florida's finest -- palm trees, flowering bushes of every possible color, and tons of gorgeous flowers and foliage.


The bed of the river is a mixture of sand and river rocks and the water varies in depth, adding to the real river feel, ranging from 3 feet to over 8 feet deep.


After five minutes of blissful floating down river a waterfall appeared drowning any hope of you loungers keeping your gorgeous locks dry. This waterfall keeps the birds from making an escape out of the aviary. Yes, I said aviary right in the middle of the lazy river. Cool, huh? Beautiful pink spoonbills welcomed us and there were birds aquatic and otherwise chirping and flitting about.

This peacock was our personal greeter for the aviary.
You can stay in the lazy river if you like or you can exit via a stairwell that leads to the rest of the aviary. We did both, having floated along the river for three or four passes. A male peacock was the greeter welcoming us and followed us around once inside.

We passed a station where they gave us a dish of various diced fruits and veggies. The kids enjoyed feeding the birds that landed right on us to eat out of the bowl. There were all sorts of winged critters I'd never seen before along with the usual parrots and parakeets. We didn't even get pooped on, which wouldn't have been too bad since you're in your bathing suit.  A half an hour of birds was plenty and we made our way back to the lazy river for a few more passes.


The Reef
The reef chock-o-block full of fish.
After the air warmed up a bit we made our way over to the reef. This was a truly magical place chock-o-block (to quote Steve Erwin) full of aquatic life. At first glance it looks like the rocky shore line of Monterey, California, minus the palm trees. Standing on shore looking into the water all I could see was a few dark shapes and expected a somewhat tame experience. I stepped into the cold water slipping on my mask and put my face in the water. The sheer beauty of what I saw took my breath away.

A huge fluorescent blue fish darted out of my reach. I looked to my left and saw a deep cavern running through the middle of the reef and in it a dozen or more sting rays of every possible size  floating through the water reminding me of birds in flight. They ranged from 2 to over 10 feet if you don't count the tail as long as me.

I was itching to explore every corner of this watery heaven, however, my children were not so keen. My son did not get the water gene and spent a whopping 5 minutes with the mask and snorkel on feet firmly planted on the ground. Shorty-girl is a water bug but at 4 years old she was not thrilled about a hundred slimy friends in the water with her.

After a torturous half hour of appeasing them, I left them (with an adult, so don't get all huffy) to explore with my underwater camera in tow. I found a shallow area where I could stand and video a coffee table sized sting ray and as it moved towards me I backed up, stepping on another 8 foot ray. Crikey! Scared the daylights out of me but the monster didn't seem to mind. They clip the stingers, like a finger nail, so there is no danger from these gentle creatures. Even with that fact firmly planted in my head Steve's fate was constantly in the back of my mind. It unnerved me to be surrounded by the huge rays, at least at first. Here is the video I took:

Swimming with Rays

There was a glass enclosed section holding a dozen or more sharks of all different shapes and sizes. It was amazing to swim right up to the glass and 'swim' with them. Black tipped, tiger, bull, and nurse, sharks all swam through the blue water just feet away from me. Never appreciated glass so much in my life! 

My family pulled me kicking and screaming out of the reef to get our 'free' hot lunch around 2:00 and then we made it back to the reef and lazy river. The kids were watered out by about 4:00. They played in the sand while I floated neck deep in the warm lagoon and slurped on sweet tea soaking up the watery loveliness.

At 5:30 the park closed. I was devastated. I couldn't believe they were going to kick me out of my new-found heaven. We packed up our gear and headed back to the condo my head full of glorious sun filled blue water splashing dreams. But I will be back! If you are in Orlando don't miss this amazing water park!


Connect With Me

When I'm not working on Stealing Time you can find me on my social media at the links below. I hope to have my novel completed by spring 2013 with book two close behind.

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Location: Discovery Cove Way, Orlando, FL 32821, USA

Thursday, January 17, 2013

The Next Big Thing... Stealing Time


The Next Big Thing . . .

Welcome to the next big thing blog hop! Join the fun blog hopping our way through some new reads, including works in progress and new and upcoming releases. For those who haven't been part of a blog hop before, you read my blog and hop on over to the next blog link for more entertainment. Bloggers hand picked by yours truly!


Thank you to Richard Weatherly for tagging me in this blog hop. Richard is a successful writer and social media icon, at least in my little world on twitter and facebook. Check out his site here.

Part of the Blog Hop is to introduce you to my work in progress by answering ten interview questions. This was originally posted in October of 2012.

I hope you'll take some time to follow the links to my author friends' blogs as well. They have some truly impressive books in print and a few in the works as well. See the end of the post to see who I've tagged.

Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing


What is the working title of your book?

Stealing Time

Cover art for Stealing Time

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I've always been fascinated by time travel stories, especially ones that take you to the past. After a harrowing summer in Florida with four major hurricanes, the first striking only three days after I moved into the state, the idea to combine hurricanes and time travel into Stealing Time began brewing in my head. It wasn't until the following summer that I began working on it.

What genre does your book fall under?

Time Travel Thriller (Hey that's T cubed).


Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Gerard Butler as Mike Walsh

The only actor I've pictured in the movie version of Stealing Time is a character in book two, Mike Walsh, who would be played by Gerard Butler. Sigh. I'm not sure it's helpful to put anyone else in the reader's minds. I want them to imagine Ronnie, Jeffrey, Jack, Steph and Mathias on their own.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Wow, that's a toughie. Ronnie Andrews has a bad day or two? No, surely I can do better than that.  Let me try again: Ronnie Andrews finds herself inexplicably thrown back in time during the worst hurricane to hit Central Florida in more than forty years.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I will self publish this first one and maybe try for traditional publishing after I see how this one goes.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Ahem, you had to ask. OK, confession time. I've been working on this for 7 years. But . . . I will have 3 books completed by year 8ish. I've decided to split the story into 3 separate books and then I'll release them as a compilation at a later date. 

Why? I realized last spring that e-books were running a lot shorter than traditional pubs, at least in my genre. It occurred to me that people may not want a tome, even if it is amazing, er, really good. So Stealing Time will be a trilogy.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I like to compare my story to Michael Crichton's Timeline, in that it is science fiction that is more reality based than spaceships and weird creatures from the future. Timeline also has a healthy dose of historical fiction thrown in along with the sci-fi aspect, like Stealing Time. 

Other works that are similar, although I don't think anyone has tackled the material in the way that I have, are perhaps Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. This series is technically a fantasy set up as opposed to science fiction since the character is sent back in time via druid standing stones in the hills of Scotland instead of a time travel device. My series is less romance type and is not any where as long or detailed as Diana's works.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 
http://www.amazon.com/Outlander-Diana-Gabaldon/dp/0440212561

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I first decided to write a novel after becoming enamored (some may say obsessed) with Outlander. Diana has a book called the Outlandish Companion that describes the characters and tapestries of her vast novels. She also talks about her writing process and one section in particular describes how she writes a scene without knowing how it fits in to the rest of the story and then makes the connections afterwards.

I was very inspired by that, being similarly challenged with structure while having an abundance of creative ideas. The thought of a successful author having a creative rather than structured approach to the novel seemed a heck of a lot more plausible strategy for me. I've used some very helpful tools to give me the structure, which you can read about on my guest blog here that involves a book called The Marshall Plan, by Evan Marshall. A thank you to Kirkus MacGowan for allowing me to guest blog on his site.

My son has been my biggest supporter on this journey and has contributed some great ideas to the book. I think I may have a budding writer in the family. 

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I rather like extreme weather!

If you are fascinated with weather, as I am, I've included a healthy dose of bad scary weather, written from actual experience. I've been in about 15 hurricanes and tropical storms in my lifetime and can easily convey the power and awe I felt during those storms.

I've also tackled the time travel component in a very original way, without spoiling it, I can only say as the story develops the method of time travel and the intricacies of how one is placed back in time is revealed and it is very complex.

If that's not enough, I've got a sexy blonde heroine as the main character and a tall, dark, and handsome accomplice to throw another curve ball in her unsettled world. Oh, I forgot to mention there is a mad scientist and a sadistic captor. Interested? I hope so!

Watch for posts on January 24, 2013 from these authors:

Ron Chapman and his debut blog 

Elisha Chirchir

Charles Dougherty

Jessica Stank -- A Writer's Journey


Check them out now and learn about their current novels and works in progress.


Connect With Me

When I'm not working on Stealing Time you can find me on my social media at the links below. I hope to have my novel completed by late summer 2013 with book two close behind.

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