Author's Notes

Hey Girls--How do You Compete?
I'll tell you right now, I hate competing, especially if the competition is against a friend I wouldn't want to hurt. And that's not to say I'd win any competition. Some, of course, are a no-brainer. I could eat my weight in maraschino cherries, and Mel can't stand them, so I'd win that contest without even a showdown.

My mother has a caretaker, Bonnie, who comes to our home every day to help us with Mom. I discovered a sad part of her character the other day--she loves sour balls, sour suckers, sour teas. That's not so bad, I don't suppose. We all have our weaknesses. I'm champion maraschino cherry eater (and cherry seed spitter, but that's a more romantic story about how I won Mel over during our courtship.) But when my husband AND Mom's caretaker compete against one another to see who can suck on a sour sucker the longest without making a face, I can't help wondering what this world has come to.

My favorite source of food competition is hot stuff. Not only hot Mexican sauces of some kind, but horseradish or wasabi sauce that can take the skull right off the top of your head and set it back in place backward.

You can take your ball games and your races and your speed writing. Give me a good ol' eating contest any day until the smoke is catching your hair on fire or your jaw is splitting from the tartness of a cherry sucker.

What's your pleasure when it comes to food competition?
Labels: Competition, men or women?, photos by Eugene Arthur Patterson, Who's better

Hannah Alexander

Posted to the blog: A Girls Write Out on Friday, January 20, 2012

 

Hey Girls--Don't Laugh, This is ME!
Look more closely. This little cutie isn't a bear. At least, I don't think it is. I think this is a sloth, and that's what I've been this month.

Typically, I rush around buying presents, buying the bags to shove them into--I haven't wrapped packages in twenty years--and even sent cards to those who sent cards to me. Due to social expectations, I made dinner, set the table, had Mel put up the tree, starting late so our company could help him finish it. So he's a sloth, too. Sue him.

Then one year we had deep snow on Christmas day. Christmas, of course, wasn't called off. In fact, the silence and peace of that day, when everyone stayed home to ponder Christ's birth in a new way, was a huge blessing to me. No one to complain because I didn't get all the meat off the turkey bone, didn't make the dressing moist enough, forgot to take the giblets out of the turkey before I placed it all, totally frozen, into the oven to bake. No one snooping through drawers in the kitchen and finding private-very private-notes I sent with Mel's lunches. Ahhh...it was pure peace.

I realize it may have been considered an insult for the innkeeper to send Joseph and Mary out to the barn, but I can imagine having the warm body of my own donkey and no noise besides a sheep bleating every so often must have been more relaxing than an inn full of people complaining about their taxes. But who am I to say? I wasn't there. I do believe it started a precedent, though, because Jesus often retreated to the wilderness when the crowds pressed too closely, wise Savior that He was. I've followed His example as often as I could. It's my favorite.

The Mexicans have a special day, January 6, when they believe the wise men visited Jesus with gifts. Since my stepson's wife, a beautiful and intelligent Mexican woman, is due to have her baby any time, they are hoping the little boy will be born on January 6 to receive a special blessing. I do know seeing that little darling--as well as my stepson, Jason, his wife Kenia, and Jason's mother, Linda--will be a special blessing for me this year.

Until I can get out there, however, I will be hiding out here at home, not attending parties or dinners or exchanging gifts, just spending special time with Mel and my mother and writing and being thankful for the special peace God has given us this Christmas.

If you had your druthers, what would your perfect Christmas be next year--what is peace to you?
Labels: next year's Christmas peace, peaceful barn. Being slothful., Perfect peace, photos by Eugene Arthur Patterson

Hannah Alexander

Posted to the blog: A Girls Write Out on Friday, December 30, 2011
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Hey Girls--How About That Baby Seal?
It seems that nearly half the world was recently charmed by the photo of a baby seal in New Zealand who slipped in through the cat door and took a nap on someone's sofa. I suppose it's against the law to attempt to keep such an animal for a pet, but I'd be tempted. I wonder if they can be housebroken. Litterbox trained, perhaps? I figure if a seal at the zoo can be trained to balance a stemware glass on her nose, she can be trained to use proper facilities.

Animals fascinate me, sometimes too much for my fellow GWO bloggers. I distinctly remember Kristin's reaction when I posted a picture of a darling little armadillo snuggling against my hiking boot. And Colleen refused to even read one of my posts until I removed the picture of the spider and replaced it with something more innocuous. In fact, she screamed at me online. Honestly, Colleen, I didn't know you were terrified of spiders!

I pretty much overcame my fear of them the day a spider dropped down from the ceiling via web over the bed when Mel and I were retiring for the evening. I screamed at Mel that if that thing made it into the bedding we'd be sleeping on the floor that night, so I jumped up onto the bed and grabbed at the web far above the spider, and started pulling it back up. Mel, meanwhile, panicking as usual when it comes to spiders, ran toward the door--I thought to grab some paper towels to catch the thing. Instead, he turned out all the lights. With me standing on the bed with a spider hanging somewhere between my bare fingers and the bed. Mel, deafened by my screams, turned the lights back on and raced back to the bed with his handy dandy bug zapper. We searched half the night for that spider and never did find it. The next night, when Mel was getting comfortable in bed, I picked up a piece of black, spider-shaped lint and tossed it at him. I'm a mean, vindictive wife.

So, now that we've discussed cute, unusual pets, and even though I'm almost positive we've discussed them before but have forgotten, care to share about any unusual pets you've enjoyed, or funny, maybe even scary, stories about them?

Labels: Baby seal, Cute animals, Eugene Patterson photos, trained seals

Hannah Alexander

Posted to the blog: A Girls Write Out on Thursday, December 15, 2011
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Hey Girls--Do You Have the Gift of Giving?
I have two words for you today. Love offering. I'd like to explore the meaning of that phrase--not just those two words separately, but what those two words mean when they're put together.

First of all, I apologize if, being Southern Baptist, I'm talking about a phrase some of you may not recognize. Perhaps in your church you use a different name for it.

In my church I have always been led to believe that a love offering is something that is given in secret through the church to someone else in the church who is in financial need. That's supposed to be secret. I mean, as in--you never tell that person you gave that money to them, and no one else is supposed to tell them, either. It's a gift of love, of compassion, something from the heart that only God--and a trusted person from the church--ever sees coming from your hand. Then when the giver arrives in heaven, God Himself will reward the giver openly.

I've seen so many people crave praise from the masses and never consider the passages in the Bible that tell us to give in secret. To me, that's what a love offering is all about. Give privately, in secret, without expectation of praise or recognition or repayment of any kind. Do good to others NOT so they will return that goodness, but simply for the joy of doing good. Let God do the rewarding later, when it will mean so much more than any praise here on earth. Don't keep score. Let God keep score.

Am I preaching today? Hmm. Maybe a little. Because this is the season for gift giving, and often there are so many hidden meanings hidden inside the gifts given. Some people give expensive gifts out of pure love, while others give the largest gifts in order to seek approval from the receiver. Others go into debt to give gifts because they feel they have to keep up with the other set of grandparents or friends. Perhaps giving a gift, for some, is simply seeking love instead of sharing it.

I remember many years ago a man in a former church went blind. Another member, out of love for that man, purchased a Bible on audio tape and trusted another member to pass it on to the blind man, making the member promise to never tell who it came from. Unfortunately, the compassionate member chose the wrong person to keep the secret, and the blind man found out who gave him the gift. He told everyone in the church, and everyone in the church praised this compassionate member who had wanted to badly to remain anonymous. Some of the joy was taken from the giving member.

A love offering is not a loan. It isn't a loud, magnanimous act for public display. In my opinion it's meant to be an act of simple love, spoken privately into your ear by God. It isn't a way to hold sway over the person who receives the gift because, remember, that person should never know who has given the gift. You know why? Because that money was never ours to begin with. It all belongs to God. When God speaks to us and tells us to give a love offering to another church member--a brother or sister in Christ, or a family in need--God is directing you, His steward, where to deliver a portion of His money. So let go of something that belongs to God in the first place. Don't expect it to return to you. Then someday when you're facing God in heaven, you may hear Him say to you, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Some of us are gifted with the spiritual gift of giving. Others have different gifts. I'm curious about how easy it is for those of you gifted with the gift of giving to keep that giving secret even from the recipient. If you haven't done that yet, I urge you to try it this year, and see what a reward you will have simply with the act of anonymous giving.

Labels: Giving, keeping secrets, love offerings, secrets

Hannah Alexander

Posted to the blog: A Girls Write Out on Friday, December 1, 2011
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Hey Girls--Help Me Decorate
No one who walks into our home can say I'm a master decorator. I don't have an eye for color. For instance, to me, light sky blue is light sky blue. But my friend tells me it isn't that at all, it has hints of soft gray that are actually more relaxing than the blue I was considering.

Let me tell you what I have, and maybe you could help. We have a rather large house, with a basement that is as large as the upstairs. We've left it pretty much a storage area until recently, when we hired someone to care for Mom eight hours a day. She does wonderfully, but Mom always wants to know where I am, and so there we all end up in the same room together, the four of us, even, when Mel's home, because he wants to spend time with me, too. But a crowd of people in our cluttered unfinished office is not conducive to focused writing--we moved everything in there from the front room so Mom's familiar furniture could surround her and make her feel more at home. We realized we were in desperate need of another place where I could write in silence and isolation.

But for me it has to be pretty. Years ago we went to a local paint store and purchased a mural that would fit on one of the walls in our selected room. It's also our tornado shelter, meaning no windows. I need light. The room is huge, about 18 x 15, and we'll place the mural on the far wall. It's a mural of a lake scene in the woods, so we'll need to paint the rest of the walls the sort of blue that's in the mural. That much I've figured out. I'd like to take the hideous ceiling panels out and paint them blue, then sponge white for clouds, then paint the holders a sort of wooden brown or dark silver to make it look like the skylights are supported by wood or strong bars. Mel said something about curtains on either side of the mural. Since the whole room is concrete and dark paneling, we would need to paint the concrete floor and the paneling the right color of blue.

I have no idea how to go about any of this. You girls are a special group of very creative people. If you have any idea what I'm talking about and can give me some suggestions, hints, or even a dire warning not to do what I'm planning to do, please let me know? This will be my place for writing, relaxing, maybe even a place for Mel and me to share alone time without waking Mom when she's trying to rest. Any help? If you can come up with something that will really make this underground room shine, I'd be forever grateful!

Remember, I'm waiting for some answers. I'll even take pictures after it's all finished and hope it turns out to be as beautiful as I dream for it to be.

Much Love,
Cheryl
(aka Hannah Alexander)
Labels: colors and murals, decorating, lack of decorating skills

Hannah Alexander

Posted to the blog: A Girls Write Out on Friday, November 25, 2011
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Hey Girls--Do You Need a Lift?
I love sunrises. Unfortunately, one reason for this is because they're so rare for me. I see sunsets much more often.

For me, a sunrise is a fresh beginning on a new opportunity to do things right that I may have missed the day before. It's funny that New Years Day doesn't do the same for me, but sunrises are rarer, even, than New Years. I get up at about ten, go to bed well after midnight, often as late as 2:00, because that is the best time to focus on writing. That, plus my poor mother having trouble sleeping at night, keeps me going into the early morning hours. That is why I love a sunset.

They can lift me in ways nothing else can. They hold promise, and such beauty. Recently I discovered a way to give myself a lift despite the lack of sunrises in my life. I surprise myself by recalling something I actually like about myself. Most of us have a bad habit of putting ourselves down and counting our faults. We can so easily keep track of our mistakes during the day. I have that tendency. But what if we were to focus on something we've done right recently?Did you allow someone to pull in front of you in traffic without muttering or honking the horn?

Have you ever smiled at someone and cheered them up? Have you helped someone out of a tough spot? Have you felt your heart go tender for someone whose heart was breaking? Think about it. Are you a kind person, do you have qualities that you appreciate in others? Do you have a creative personality?

Give yourself a sunrise today, lift yourself up. Look for the good in yourself, and not those things that the devil seems to love to whisper into your ear at every opportunity. Focus on the good in yourself, and that is the direction your heart will lean.

And then share here. I'd love to know what good things you are thinking about yourself today.

Labels: Eugene Arthur Patterson photography, helping others, losing ourselves in helping, Sunrise, relaxing

Hannah Alexander

Posted to the blog: A Girls Write Out on Friday, November 04, 2011

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Hey Girls--Share Your Memories
I'm sure you can tell by the facial hair on these three people that there aren't children in this picture. I hope you can see from the bubbles that Mel and Rich and I were having fun like children when Lissa took the shot. I'm here to remind you, once again, to take time to have fun and play no matter your age or circumstances. Laughter relieves stress. I particularly love laughing at myself, but today I'd love to laugh along with you.

Let me give you some examples:
When I was about three or four years old my cousins came to see me. Their mother was there, too, but I mostly played with my cousins. They were boys. I had a little fire engine with pedals. In an effort to impress my cousins, I jumped into my fire engine and pedaled hard down the sidewalk, mouth open wide as I screamed the siren song. Unfortunately, I choked on a fly.

When I was four we lived in a duplex on a busy street in Ventura, California. It was a long time ago, back when people didn't lock their doors as often as they do now. I overheard my parents talking about a poor little baby who lived next door. My imagination took over, even that long ago, and I decided that little baby needed to be rescued from his mean parents, and I was going to be the rescuer. So I waited outside on the front porch and peered through their screen door until I saw the baby crawling alone on the floor. I pulled open the screen door, raced into our neighbor's front room, grabbed the baby, turned back to run with the baby, and fell on him. He wasn't hurt, but can you imagine how my parents must have felt when I explained to the neighbors why I did what I did?

When I was in fourth grade I was still impulsive, and there were times when that impulsivity earned me public humiliation. I liked a guy in my class named Willy. I wasn't madly in love with him or anything, I just liked him. I was walking past his desk one day when, for no reason I could afterwards fathom, I leaned over, patted him on the cheek, asked how he was doing, and kissed him on the cheek. Willy turned red and ducked. The whole class, including the teacher, burst into laughter.

How about you? Have you ever done anything that your friends will never let you live down? Did you ever do anything so crazy and impulsive that you wonder if some UFO took over your mind for a few minutes one day? What's your most embarrassing moment? Think about your childhood today, and even if you don't come up with anything wildly memorable, I bet you'll have some fun reliving times from the past.

Labels: blowing bubbles, Childhood memories, girls having fun, Playing, relaxing

Hannah Alexander

Posted to the blog: A Girls Write Out on Friday, October 28, 2011

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Hey Girls--Let's Herd Those Details!
What on earth can this cat be thinking? Cats eat small animals. They are carnivores. My cats would have been fighting over these little darlings and had them swallowed in one gulp. Do you suppose this cat has already had a full meal?

Do you ever feel like this poor, patient cat? Do the tiny, often appealing, details distract you from your plans for the day? You need to get a couple of loads of laundry washed and dried and ready for three different people tomorrow, but first you need to eat breakfast, but first you see a dustball in the corner and even though no one else in the family will ever notice it, someone may stop by, and then what would they say? But then of course the window in the front door needs to be washed, as well, and you need to check the porch to make sure the neighbor's little boy didn't leave his skateboard on the steps again, or dear hubby could end up back in the ER.

So you but-first your way through the day until that laundry never got done, you didn't get to the pharmacy to pick up the refill before they closed, and you have nothing in mind for dinner tonight. Your front window looks great, and the dustballs are gone, but nobody ever comes to your house to visit, anyway. What were you thinking?

Please tell me I'm not the only one with the but-first syndrome. Please? I know the distractions are appealing, but really, I don't need them. I need to NOT have them. Girls, what do you do about them? Any thoughts? Or can you commiserate?

Labels: cat and mice, funny picture, patience, scattered thoughts

Hannah Alexander

Posted to the blog: A Girls Write Out on Friday, October 14, 2011

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Hey Girls--News from Emily Rodmell
Good morning everyone. I’m Emily Rodmell, an associate editor with Love Inspired. I want to thank Cheryl for inviting me to come and share a great writing opportunity with you all. Cheryl was one of the first authors that I worked with 7 years ago when I started my career at Love Inspired as an assistant to her editor. Now I work with over 30 authors of my own, and I’m so glad that she and her husband Mel are now going to be writing for Love Inspired Historical. Love Inspired Historical is an inspirational historical romance line of books at Harlequin. We recently expanded our offerings from 2 books a month to 4 books a month. This expansion is good news for historical romance fans because it’s allowed us to take on new time periods and settings that we didn’t have room for before. It’s also great news for writers because we need double the amount of books than we did before.

So I’m here today to get the word out. If you’ve got a historical romance novel you’ve been dying to write, we’d love to see it. While some publishers are cutting back, we’re actively looking for both published and unpublished historical romance authors to join the ranks. We’re open to any setting or any time period prior to World War II. I especially enjoy out of the ordinary stories and settings. When I read the first chapter of Lacy Williams’ Marrying Miss Marshal in the Genesis contest and saw that the heroine was a town marshal in the Old West, I was hooked. It offered an unusual story with a woman in a unique job, and we’re happy to have it in the lineup. Some of my colleagues have bought books with female pilots in the war, missionaries in Africa and even a French Revolution story. And we still love the classics such as Westerns and Regencies, as well. Submitting is easy. Check out our guidelines at http://www.harlequin.com/articlepage.html?articleId=1186&chapter=0 , and send something my way at 233 Broadway, Ste. 1001 NY, NY 10279. Or have your agent email me your submission. For published authors, we only require a proposal (synopsis and three chapters). For unpublished authors, we ask that you submit a query or proposal, but have a full manuscript ready to send in should we request it. If you have any questions at all about writing for Love Inspired Historical, feel free to ask. If you miss me today, you can also find me on Twitter @EmilyRodmell or on the Harlequin message boards, where I regularly answer questions: http://community.harlequin.com/forums/love-inspired/editors-corner-chat-emily-rodmell.

Labels: growth in market, Love Inspired Historical, writing ops

Hannah Alexander

Posted to the blog: A Girls Write Out on Thursday, October 06, 2011
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Hey Girls--Try Something New!
I'm sure I've said this before, but I love to color my hair. It began when I wanted to go blond with all the other girls in my high school freshman class, but I get bored easily, so after I tired of blond I went red, then green--yes, that was an accident by a hair stylist. My hair is accidentally red in the picture here, but I kind of like it.

I found out, however, that since I'm going silver now, I might as well follow that natural change, so my hair stylist really hit the light blond. Yeah, really natural, huh? Then she went on maternity leave. Because I learned the hard way that I should never cut my own hair ever, ever again, I'm actually waiting until she returns before I get a cut, so now it's grown past my shoulders. The other day I was walking down the sidewalk in town and turned to see some young punk hanging out his window gawking at me. He probably wet himself after he saw my fifty-something face, but I was too busy laughing to notice. What is it about men and blond hair? Brother.

Mel is accustomed to my changes, but I knew I'd taken things a little too far one day when I went to meet him for lunch immediately after my stylist appointment, and he walked right past me in his search for me. Didn't even look my way. And I thought I looked pretty good. So I keep trying. Maybe someday I'll catch his attention.

So that's what I like to change a lot, as well as style of glasses, clothes, makeup, as most of you probably already know. But I'd love to know about you. How many colors and styles has your hair been in, say, the past five years? What's your clothing style? How do you dress up for a night on the town? Have you ever thought about making a quick change? Getting a new kind of trim? Cutting your hair short or letting grow out longer than usual? Getting a mohawk or a bowl cut? Have you ever gone to a hair studio where they actually match your bone structure and hair type to the right hair cut?

And speaking of changing hair styles, our Diann wins the award for changes and bravery. Please continue to pray for her.

Labels: Hair change, Having fun, trying new things

Hannah Alexander

Posted to the blog: A Girls Write Out on Thursday, September 23, 2011
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YOU NEED A BREAK

Hannah Alexander

How long has it been since you had a vacation? How often have you worked through your vacation instead of taking a break? Have you felt guilty about taking the time off? I know I do. Why is it we feel guilty for doing anything for ourselves? Do we think God disapproves?

I have to admit, I’m not good at taking breaks. Few of us are. A couple of years ago,however, I went on a forced Sabbatical that lasted for two years, and though I continued to write on different projects during that time, I also did a lot more reading than I’d been able to do previously. Mel–my husband, and the other half of our Hannah Alexander writing team–just happened to find a few days off from work, and we took a quick trip to Tahoe, where we hiked around deep forest lakes, explored small towns, took pictures of bears and huge bear tracks while trying not to wet ourselves, and wet our feet, instead, by wading in the cold waters of Lake Tahoe.

As we learned to relax for those few days, we battled guilt by reminding ourselves that Jesus, Himself, took time away from the crowds in the wilderness, where He communed with His Father in silence and peace.

That’s why I love hiking. I feel the sun on my face and know that little bit of warmth was meant for me. I hear the rustle of the leaves in the trees and hear music of angels. I catch the scent of clover and see deer or wild turkey skittering at the edge of the woods, and feel that God meant those moments for me. No one else is there but His creation and me. What a beautiful experience.

You may love walking along the beach, as I do, playing in the waves. You may love skiing, or snorkeling, or taking a cruise. What is it you most love to do? I urge you to find time soon to do it. Relax and enjoy. Push work and deadlines and stress from you for a time of peace and communion with God. For me, that’ss what it’s all about.

Originally posted on http://christiansread.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/you-need-a-break/

September 20, 2011, By Hannah Alexander