The sense of sight

I'm really trying to do this blog and Facebook stuff, but I'm really, really untechy so bear with me. During the month of March, or well, the rest of March, I'm going to blog about using the 5 senses in writing. Drop in and tell me your take on this important writing topic.

The sense of sight.

Amy opened the door onto velvet blackness. No stars to twinkle down at her. No moon to light the steps to the street. No porch light. She'd replace the bulb tomorrow.

A single taillight shone red halfway down the block. What was Zeke doing here at this time of night? He should be home, getting ready for work. She stepped onto the small porch to see if he would turn right toward home or left toward the highway and her toe hit something stiff. She knelt down, searching by touch for what she couldn't see in the dark. A small tongue licked her hand. A puppy? Had Zeke brought her a replacement for Trouble? Lifting the soft, furry animal out of the box, she carried it inside to the light. Black curls covered the small body. Dark eyes stared at her and the pink tongue reached out to give her a kiss. "I'll call you Black Velvet, Black for short."

She opened the door wider and the light revealed a box with a pink blanket, a can of dog food and a bottle of water. "I don't know how Zeke thought you could get at that food and water, but his heart was in the right place."

Amy could see the puppy mouth open wide showing white teeth and red tongue.

"I suppose you're barking. That won't do you any good around here, but we'll learn to communicate."

Black licked Amy's nose and she laughed.

"We're communicating already."

February--the romance month

Where have I been, you ask? Writing, traveling, thinking about what to talk about. Now, I'm back.

Since this is February and I write romance, I've decided to talk about hero, heroines and happy endings.

Do you remember your first real boyfriend? Maybe you met him in college or on the job. Maybe you ended up marrying him. This is my story.

I was a senior in high school and I'd only had an occasional date when I met Dick at a church social. We hit it off immediately. I mean, what's not to like about a guy who was a foot taller than my 5'6 with broad shoulders, dark hair that flopped onto his brow and dark eyes that sent messages just for me. Soon we were going steady. He went to school in a town about fifteen minutes away from my home, so we had a great excuse to practice our driving. We went to parties at both of our schools, hockey games (where I had a shoulder to lean on and big strong arms to protect me when the fights got too intense) and we spent a lot of time on the couch in my living room. I guess I should tell you about that couch.

When I entered my junior year, my mom bought a new sofa, a sectional. Each piece was about four feet long. After the delivery men had positioned it to her liking and departed, she smiled at me. "Isn't it great?" she asked me. "It's okay." "Did you notice the length?" I nodded. "It's not an accident that it's too short to lie down on." I gulped. "Now you can have your boyfriends over, and I won't have to worry about them going too far."

She didn't have to worry about Dick. He was a gentleman. Me, on the other hand, well, I guess that's why I grew up to write romance novels where every hero is wonderful, every heroine is someone you can identify with and everything comes out right in the end.

Nina's Niche

In 1869 people found gold in Julian, California.

Today they find treasures of the heart.

That’s the setting for my new trilogy. NINA’S NICHE, the first book, will debut November first. So I want to welcome you to the world of Julian, California, or at least the Julian where my stories take place. I’ve changed the main street a little so Carol and Nina can run the Julian Junque Shoppe the way I want them to. That’s one reason being an author is so much fun. If I want Carol to sell Double Dutch Chocolate ice cream, she sells it alongside the antiques Carol views as treasures and the flowers Nina loves to arrange.

Every town’s flavor really depends on the people who live there Julian is no exception. The daughter and nephew of the Julian Hotel’s proprietor were raising money for a trip to Washington, D. C. Two walkers took pity on a lowlander and helped me find the elementary school after I mistook the library for a school.

In my Julian, the people shape the town, too. Nina’s father, the pastor of a church I’ve placed in the middle of the town, starts out more concerned for his flock than his family, but learns to bend like we all do in real life. That’s what I like to do in my stories—combine fiction and real life. I hope you will enjoy learning about the hidden gem of Julian where the snow piles up in winter, the daffodils burst with color in spring, the sun brings lazy days in summer and the apples ripen in the fall.

Let me know what you’d like to learn about the hidden gem of Julian. JACKIE