Ciar Cullen liked my book!

Ciar Cullen read and reviewed Kiss of Blarney! Go to Ciar Cullen's blog and read what she had to say about my book!

Sad

Last night, hubby's brother passed away. He was at home--as he wanted to be, surrounded by his family. A priest came to the house the day before. We had visited hubby's brother a few weeks ago and I wrote about it here.

Although we were prepared for his death, it is still so very sad.

I hate writing the synopsis.

I truly do. I have been to many workshops on synopsis writing. Elizabeth Sinclair wrote The Dreaded Synopsis. I own that book and it is helpful. I've also seen Shirley Hailstock's presentation on synopsis writing which was clear and concise.

But I still gnash my teeth and whine whenever I have to sit down and put the synopsis together.

I Do--Again

Today at church there was a communal renewal of wedding vows. Hubby and I re-exchanged our marriage vows and received a special nuptial blessing. We held hands and looked into each other's eyes and giggled nervously. Afterwards, everyone clapped for us and all the other couples. Daughter #1 was there and clapped very enthusiastically.

The photo on the right was taken at the reception on our wedding day--eons ago. We look so young! We really did not get to dance much that day. The photographer was constantly taking pictures. We took photos with my family, his family--immediate family--extended family. Then there were photos of the cutting of the cake, the throwing of the garter, etc. The time we spent in that reception hall went by in a blur.

Then came marriage with all life's ups and downs. So it was nice to repeat the vows again today. I still love hubby, and he still loves me. It's awesome!

Finished--Sort Of

I typed "The End." Yes, my current work-in-progress is finished--sort of. Now I have to go back and fix all the mistakes, like using it's instead of its. Or using the same word too many times. In one of my books, the editor asked me to remove the word "yet." I had tons of yets all over the place. As a result, I am now paranoid about that word. Whenever I start to type it, I stop for a minute and see if there is any other word I can use--or I change the entire structure of the sentence. Oy.

Even though I still have a lot of work to do in tidying up my manuscript, I felt a wonderful sense of accomplishment today. I don't have a contract for the book--yet. :^) But I'm happy. The hero and heroine are happy, too. Everything worked out well for them in the end. It always does in romance.

Mother's Day

For the past few years, we have spent Mother's Day doing yard work at my parent's house. Today we continued the tradition, especially since our help was very much needed. Most of the lovely mountain laurel bushes in my parents' yard look dead. Evidently, they caught some disease. Hubby brought along his chainsaw and demolished the dead bushes. I was in charge of picking up the pieces. Mom and Dad were in charge of telling us to stop after we had done ten minutes of work. (They didn't want us to over exert ourselves.)

Afterwards, we went out to eat with Mom and Dad. When I returned home, I talked to Daughter #1 and Daughter #2 on the phone for a while. Daughter #3 gave me a present yesterday. Hubby gave me two boxes of chocolate candy. Of course, he will help me eat it. :^)

It would have been nice to have time to write. That would have been a great Mother's Day gift and it would not have cost a thing, but there are only so many hours in a day.

Oh well. Maybe tomorrow.

Falling Asleep at the Computer

Yesterday's weather was beautiful in the afternoon. Hubby and I decided we ought to get the Jeep inspected before the month is over so we drove to the inspection station. Hubby had gotten a new CD of stringband music and he put that in the CD player. It was lively music and I know most of the words to the songs. I sang along and tapped my foot--the left one, since I was driving. The Jeep passed inspection!

From there we went to one of our lovely county parks and walked all the way around the lake, which was a rather long hike. Hubby saw a snake sunning itself on a pier and I saw a blue heron. Too bad I did not have the camera with me.

After that, we stopped at a plant nursery to pick up a few flats of annuals--begonias and marigolds. I love marigolds, but evidently the bunnies do, too. However, I've found if I put the marigolds close to the street, the bunnies leave them alone. I'll put the begonias next to the house.

Daughter #3 showed up in time for supper with wonderful news. She has the internship she had wanted most of all! We went out for pizza to celebrate.

By the time we got home, it was getting late, but I intended to write for a few hours before I went to sleep. However, when I turned on the computer, I could barely keep my eyes open. I tried so hard, but it was impossible. I was completely exhausted. I had to give up.

I hate running out of energy. I guess I'm just a morning person. I got up this morning and added quite a few more pages to my manuscript.

What time of day do you have the most energy?

Solved!

The puzzle of the abandoned accordion has been solved. We received an email late last night which said, "In case you were wondering how that mysterious accordion got in front of your house, I dropped it off earlier today. My friend at school didn't know what he should do with it and he couldn't throw it away.....so I thought of you hahaha. I hope you like it. It could use a bit of a touch-up though, but at least it's not in the trash ."

Our godson was the culprit. I'm impressed that he can spell accordion correctly. :^)

Abandoned

Hubby went to the barber today for a haircut and returned to find an accordion abandoned on our back porch. I'm sure whoever left it there knew that the accordion would be in good hands at our house. Hubby enjoys tinkering with accordions as well as playing them. People have given him old accordions in the past, but this is the first time someone left an instrument anonymously.

It's very strange. I do wonder if someone will come forward and admit to the deed. Who cleaned out their closets recently?

They're Gone

Hubby and I drove his parents to the airport. They are on their way back to Florida.

Gathering

Yesterday, we drove north to see hubby's brother, FB, who is now at home with hospice care. The entire family gathered together for the day. We brought hubby's parents. We were blessed with beautiful weather--it could not have been nicer. There was plenty of kielbasi, rye bread, and babka for all.

Hubby's mother cried at first when she saw her oldest son. She had not seen him in two years. (Hint: Don't move to Florida when your family lives up north and you are getting old.) However, FB's wife told her that the day was one of celebration and mom put on a brave smile afterwards until it was time to leave.

Little Cabin in the Woods

This little cabin is in a nearby park. I wish I could sit inside and write--without any distractions. Of course, I would like some electricity so I could use my computer. :^) I know Thoreau did not have any electricity at Walden, but computers had not been invented yet.

I really feel I need a hideaway where I will not be disturbed. Right now, the in-laws are visiting so I had no time to write. I'm lucky I had the chance to sneak away for a few moments and blog. Of course, the in-laws went to the Polish butcher shop and I now have lots of kielbasi, kishka, babka, and rye bread. There's a few rings of kielbasi in the freezer. I know my mother-in-law will probably take it home with her on the plane.

A Nice Review

I was happy to get another nice review for Kiss of Blarney today. Cherokee, a reviewer for Coffee Time Romance, said,"Kiss of Blarney is filled with twists and turns that takes the reader on a lovely magical spin. Shay and Ula are likeable characters and their story holds the readers attention. Ms. Marzec pens an enchanting story with characters that exhibit chemistry through the pages. She allows it to slow build then gradually increase. This is a sweet entertaining read."

There's more to the review and you can read it all right here.

Anyhow, Cherokee liked it and that's nice to know. :^)

Discipline

Aside from being a writer, I am also an early childhood educator. That's my day job. I have been teaching for twenty years and I love it. Today I went to an early childhood conference where the keynote speaker was Madelyn Swift. She gave a terrific talk on discipline so I bought her book Discipline for Life: Getting it Right with Children. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a parent or a teacher.

In Happier Times...

This is a photo taken many years ago of hubby, his father, his nephew, and his brother. Hubby is on the left, his brother is on the right. His brother is very ill. We went to visit his brother in Vassar hospital yesterday in Poughkeepsie, NY. It took us three hours to get there. Maybe it would have taken two and a half hours, but we did stop for coffee on the way.

His brother was happy to see us and didn't want us to leave. Hubby reminisced about old times with his brother and I talked about our daughters. We left after his brother's wife arrived. Stopped to eat supper on the way home, and then listened to hubby's Frankie Yankowic Polka music while driving to keep alert.

I did some writing on the way to Poughkeepsie in the car, but on the way back it was dark.

A New Catholic

Our nephew's wife is now a Catholic! Check out the wonderful story about her experience at Welcoming a new Catholic.

I was an RCIA sponsor for a candidate in our own church a few years ago. RCIA is a terrific program!

I'm doing the right thing!

You Should Be a Romance Novelist

You see the world as it should be, and this goes double for all matters of the heart. You can find the romance in any situation, and you would make a talented romance story writer... And while you may be a traditional romantic, you're just as likely to be drawn to quirky or dark love stories. As long as it deals with infatuation, heartbreak, and soulmates - you could write it.

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

Our Easter

We were blessed with beautiful weather, the company of our daughters, my parents, and Daughter #2's boyfriend. We dyed eggs, ate a huge dinner, and talked. We laughed a lot, too. I get a lot of ideas from my daughters for stories. :^)I keep thinking I should try my hand at a chick-lit novel because all I would have to do for research is call up one of my daughters and ask them the right questions.I made more than enough food and begged everyone to take some home with them.The Easter bunny had also stopped by and left chocolate, jelly beans, and several other goodies. Oh, and the Easter bunny left everyone some nifty new flashlights that don't need batteries, too. You simply shake them and the magnet inside generates power. Hubby and I were sad to see everyone leave.

New Jersey

I like it here. I was born here, grew up here, worked here, and raised children here. I have visited other places, but I always love to come home.

An article in today's Asbury Park Press, There's Something About New Jersey, listed 100 reasons to love or hate my home state. I do not agree with some of the negative comments.

For instance, I think the refineries can be a beautiful sight when seen at night from the NJ Turnpike. With all the lights twinkling, even in July it looks like Christmas.

Anyone else love NJ?

The Sofa

For several months, Daughter #1 has been looking for a sofa. Her apartment is currently furnished in donations and second hand furniture purchased from a coworker who moved away.

I have traveled to every furniture store in the area with Daughter #1. We sat on many sofas. My daughter did not want the overstuffed, multiple-pillow style sofa that seems to be very popular right now. She did not want anything in green (I agreed with her on that). She did not want something too large for her small apartment. She needed something to go with her neutral light brown carpet.

We went to four furniture stores this weekend. Finally, Daughter #1 found the sofa of her dreams. It is a Thomasville Maribel sofa. She ordered one in a solid burgundy with off-white accent pillows in a burgundy floral.

She has good taste.

Of course, looking at all that furniture made me want to redo my entire house, but it would be way too expensive. However, I've got lots of ideas now for decorating my heroine's house. :^)