May 16, 2008 | Life in General

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I met Michael in summer school, the summer before our senior year in high school.

Mr. Drama Queen

I was retaking Algebra (hurling sound inserted here) and he was taking something else, I don’t remember.

I don’t remember how were “officially” introduced but when all was said and done, he ended up calling me Sophie. He couldn’t remember my name, but he remembered—for some odd reason—that my glasses frames were Sophia Loren. And so, to him, I became known as Sophie. During that summer, we were inseparable. And I don’t mean inseparable like we couldn’t breathe without each other, but more like a Joey Potter/Dawson Leery kind of thing (before they got romantic, that is).

Me and Mike, bff

One summer day, we were so bored that we decided to put on some music and lip sync to it. It then escalated into a dance show. We were the hosts, Downtown Sophie Brown and Pepe Carrington and we decided to call the show ‘Dance Jam Productions.’

We hung out so much that both sets of parents thought we were dating. Our parents had never met, but mine thought he was a hoot and I got along pretty well with his mother (his father was a bit shy? Standoffish? Can’t come up with the right word). And for the longest time, his parents thought my name really was Sophie. He lived, like, three minutes from me and we rode to and from school together. He had the most fabulous sense of humor, he always had me laughing, and he wanted to be an actor. We had lunch together in the Drama building and his thespian friends and my two best friends (Angie and Nancy) eventually just melded into one big group. We even shared a class together: English. My favorite subject ever. He sat in front of me.

I used to call that his Quarterback Wink (l-r: Angie, Mike, Nancy)

When we had spelling tests, he would come over to my house to study and we’d practice putting the words into sentences. I remember one of the words was “prodigious.” LOL. You can imagine how he used that word in a sentence. Of course, when I came across it the next day during class, and chuckled, he knew.

Halfway through the school year, we were hanging out one night at his house. Just me and him.

“Soph, I have to tell you something. I’m gay,” he said… (more…)

Technorati Tags: Sophia Loren, Dance Jam Productions

May 14, 2008 | Random Thought, The 4-1-1 on Me

Last Thursday I went to Sprouts to get some body wash and shea body butter. I love shea butter and my skin loves it, too. I normally get my body butter from The Body Shop. Unfortunately, one has yet to open up at Metrocenter Mall and I hate driving all the way to Arrowhead or Scottsdale Fashion Square Malls to buy it. Since I’m trying to go natural, I bought the African Body Butter with Inkomfe:

Known as the “African Potato,” Inkomfe is renowned in African history as a source of stamina and strength. The great Zulu warrior Shaka Zulu gave Inkomfe to his men before battle, and legend says his men remained powerful, alert and unimpaired by illness!

When I got home and opened it, IT WAS MOLDY! Seriously. That’s never happened before when I’ve bought a non-food product. I went back the next day to exchange it (after making sure the new one was all right), but still…

My first thought: “Ew. Gross.”

My second thought: “Wow, it really is all natural.”

Technorati Tags: Sprouts, The Body Shop, Metrocenter Mall, Arrowhead, Scottsdale Fashion Square, African Body Butter, Inkomfe, African Potato, Shaka Zulu

May 12, 2008 | Book One, Book Stuff, DA Series, Draven Atreides, Family Portrait, Life in General, Movie Queue, Revision Hell, The 4-1-1 on Me, Weekend Wrap-Up, Writing Movements

I hope you all had a great Mother’s Day. Both mothers and non-mothers alike. Friday night, I went with my parents to see my niece’s 5 minute Film Shorts Festival. 100 scripts had been submitted, they’d narrowed it down to 20, and hers had won first place! I’m so proud of her and she did such a great job. As a writer, we’re constantly asked of any similarities between us and our characters. I can honestly say that when her play, “Don’t Quit Your Day Job”, was being acted out, I could picture her saying some of those lines:

“I said sip it, not inhale it.”

It was very funny and I laughed hysterically during one play titled “My Son Johnny.” And my throat got tight during another, “45th Infantry.” That one hit close to home because I’m sure there were some people in the audience that had family members over in Iraq. All of the plays were written by the students and directed by the students. During the time my niece went to this school, I made sure that I caught all of her performances and it never ceases to amaze me how talented these teens are. She’s graduating next month and plans to spend the summer in California with one of her father’s cousins, who makes commercials. Maybe something will come up and she’ll get a break. I may be biased, but my niece is super talented.

Saturday, I “stimulated” the economy by spending my half of the check we got back from the IRS. I bought a couple of sundresses on sale at Old Navy, bought Mother’s Day gifts for my Mom ($25 Bucca di Beppo GC), sister (Prosperity Pie by SARK…which it turns out she already has a copy.) and co-worker ($20 Old navy GC). Bought a birthday gift (drawing pad and colored pencils) for said co-worker’s 8 yr old daughter. She celebrated her birthday yesterday. Ate breakfast at my favorite place, The Original Pancake House, and went to see a movie (Speed Racer). I’ll get to the little movie review in a minute, but I also did some research for the DA Book One.

A local resort spa was the inspiration behind the spa in the current story and I’m at a certain point in my revisions where I needed a visual of a home that can be rented. A really pricey rental home. I called down there the day before to see if I could take a tour and was given permission. Needless to say, the pictures on the website didn’t do it justice. Seeing it in person was pretty cool. I’m so glad I was able to see it because it was just what I needed. Normally, I would’ve post the link and let you guys have a look-see, too, but that will come later. I’m going to have a website created for the series some time in August and when I give a little back story about each book, I plan to include the local places that inspired me: mostly links, but hopefully some pictures, too.

So, the whole Speed Racer thing… (more…)

Technorati Tags: Old Navy, Bucca di Beppo, Prosperity Pie, SARK, The Original Pancake House, Speed Racer

May 12, 2008 | Book One, Book Stuff, DA Series, Draven Atreides, Life in General, Miss Snitch Mondays

A new city with big crowds. A high-class environment. A rich couple looking for validation. A mother wanting a daughter named Olivia. By that time, bitterness had become one of her best friends, but she had adapted easily to her new life and new name. She had become good at adapting. She no longer took anything for granted and was just gliding along from day to day. Until six months ago, when she discovered their dirty little secret. After that, Olivia had felt sick breathing the same air as the fake people. She felt ashamed that she was forced to share their name. She felt betrayed by the system. How could they place her with this evil couple? They should’ve dug deeper into their background.

But Olivia had become accustomed to the routine. She knew she was just another case number to the harried woman sitting behind the cluttered desk. Children slip through the cracks all the time. How unfortunate for her stressed out caseworker that it was going to happen again.

Glancing quickly to her right, Olivia felt her heart rate pick up when she recognized the man and woman coming towards her. They were dressed in plain clothes, but the man’s regulation haricut, the woman’s posture, and the sunglasses were a dead giveaway as to what they really were: undercover FBI agents. Olivia shook her head in disgust before returning her gaze to the pond.

“They really need to teach these people how to act,” she murmured under her breath.

Olivia had no regrets about she was about to do. She had seen too much and knew she’d had to tell someone. So, that’s what she was going to do. Turns out, a certain group of people were interested in her new family’s dirty secret, too.

Out of the corner of her eye, Olivia watched the man and woman approach the bench. They sat down at the other end, and the man put his arm around the woman’s shoulders. Olivia waited, saying nothing.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” the woman asked in a low, casual tone.

Olivia reached up and pulled the scarf down under her chin.

“You bet,” she replied without hesitation. “I have the info you want. Can you get what I want?”

The woman smiled, pointed at a child standing near the edge of the pond. The man smiled back in return, nodding his head. Olivia smirked and tried not to roll her eyes.

“It’s unheard of, you know. What we’re doing for you,” the woman responded.

“Yeah, well, consider yourselves lucky. What I want is small potatoes compared to what I’m giving you. Were you able to find the guy?” she asked, swinging her free leg.

TO BE CONTINUED…

REMINDER:

~ You are reading a raw, unedited version of A Royale Pain: A Draven Atreides, Teenage FBI Novel (Book One). This is pre-professional edit, pre-spell check. Expect to see grammar mistakes and misspellings.

~ Comments are welcomed, appreciated, and may be taken into consideration during the current revision process.

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May 9, 2008 | In the News

When I read this article about the Duggar family, the first thought that came to mind was: EPIDURAL! STAT!

Right around the time my older sister had her first child, I realized that I didn’t want kids. I have no patience for them, I’m too selfish with my time and all I hear about today is the high cost of childcare..and medical care. I. Don’t. Want. It. I babysat, of course. I believe it’s a requirement for young girls now, isn’t it? And I babysat my niece and nephew, of course. Because they’re family. Even though they were cute as hell (and have grown into good looking teens at 14 and 18, respectively) back then, I happily babysat with the knowledge that I could give them back. I didn’t hold them until they could hold up their own heads.

When I started going out with my hubby, and when we knew we were committed to one another, I told him straight-up that I didn’t want kids. “If you want kids, then we better end this now,” is what I said. Or something along those lines. People were always saying “Oh, you’ll change your mind” or “Oh, it’s different when you have your own” or “I felt the same way as you until I had my first child.”

I’ve heard that so many times I want to puke. “Am I talking out of my ass here?” I want to yell. “What part of ‘We don’t want kids’ don’t you understand?” There are people out there that are having 5 or 6 kids and can’t take care of them. There are people out there killing their babies because “God told them to do it” or “They wouldn’t stop crying” or “I was going thru post-partum depression” or –my personal favorite–”I was so busy I left them in the car.”

I AM NOT MATERNAL. I freely, and proudly, admit it. My Mom and my sister got the instinct. Me and my Aunt did not.

I don’t want to deal with childcare, medical care, braces, college, the constant worry, complications, early morning feedings, lack of sleep, etc. I want to travel “freely about the country” at a moments notice. I want quiet time to read. I need quiet time to write (because seriously? When I’m in Writing Mode, I don’t even see the hubby on a regular basis. If I had kids, CPS would be knockin’ on my door). I yell at my cat when she gets mouthy, I can’t imagine how I would be with an actual child.

So when I read this article, and found out that this woman has been pregnant for 11 yrs of her life, my va jay-jay seized up and shuddered. For about 5 minutes. My Mom just had the two of us and she can still look at me and start to call me by sister’s name before she corrects herself. Can you imagine what it must be like for this woman? And all her kids names start with J!

I’d be all “Ja-Ji-Jo–YOU, off to your room.”

I give her props for having all those kids and another on the way. Really, I do. Having two baseball or football teams worth of kids is great for some people.

I just can’t ever imagine having just one.

Technorati Tags: Duggar