Good Deeds... Not so Simple...

Now I'm not the kind of person who spends endless hours figuring out ways to help out my fellow man. I'm more than willing to lend a hand, or just about anything else, to someone in need, and I donate to causes and organizations that touch my heart. I've given money to strangers on the street and thrown food into the food bank bins at the store... but I don't go looking for it. I just help when a chance arises.

Which brings me to my dilemma. For the past few weeks, we've been considering adopting a kitten, or even a pair of them. Now if you know me you're aware that while I might be spontaneous about some decisions, adding a family member requires a great deal of thought and investigation. So for weeks I've scoured the internet, learning all I can about the different breeds and which one might fit best with my family. With kids and a dog, the choice is important. Having decided on a breed like the Maine Coon, I've been searching for available kittens. I don't care about pedigree so much as the personality of the cat. We found a darling kitten at the SPCA close to us, but unfortunately by the time we got home from Toronto, it was already adopted. Then a great friend of mine told me a friend had 2 cats, each of which had given birth to 5 kittens. So last night we ventured over to the house to look at these darlings.

My first opinion... OH MY GOD. They are gorgeous and completely irresistible. And to top it off, it looks like the mom (who is a kitten herself at only 9 months) is a Maine Coon. So we sit with the little tykes and know we have a hard choice ahead of us.

Well, today I find out the man who owns all these cats and kittens, is thinking of surrendering the mom and the kittens to the SPCA so he can "START FRESH" with two new kittens, most likely males he won't think about. With these tiny babes only 5 weeks old, they are too small to go to homes and I couldn't bear thinking they'd spend the foreseeable future in a cage.

(ok, here's the point I'm getting to.)

I call said SPCA (which I donate to monthly) and ask if I come in with this man if I could foster the litter for however long is necessary on the premise I'd love to keep the mom and one of her kittens. This is me thinking I'm doing them a favour. I'm not asking for money or supplies, offer my loving home to these darling animals, with the only catch being, if I can't find homes for them they can be put up for adoption through the SPCA. I'm even willing to keep them long past the usual age just because I know the shelter is bogged down.

So what do you think they say....

We'd love you to foster some kittens, but we won't guarantee you get those kittens and quite frankly, we prefer to give them to a stranger so the previous owner won't bother you!!!!

Who knew trying to do a good deed would be so complicated.

Frustration hardly tells you how I'm feeling. So now I'm forced to downshift to another plan... here's hoping it turns out ok.

Kris Norris

Romancing life...one adventure at a time.

Wonders of the World

I'm not sure if it's just me, but it seems as I get older, I forget what it's like to see the world through the eyes of my children. We've been making yearly pilgrimages to Toronto to visit the grand-parents for over a decade, and have done our share of the tourist stuff. Though I realized it's been mostly 'adventure' type attractions. We've gone to Canada's Wonderland (more times than I can count) we've done the Toronto Zoo and Chuck E Cheese. They've walked around the parks by my parent's house and seen Lake Ontario. But until yesterday, they'd never gone downtown.

Now for those of you not familiar with downtown Toronto, it's not the most fun place to drive around. Like any big city, the streets are packed, full of one-way roads and drivers who should be nominated for Canada's Worst Driver. (Here's hoping I'm not one of them, lol) You can never turn left and there's always someone illegally parked. But it's also full of history. The sky dome... where the Blue Jays play major league baseball, the Air Canada centre... where the Toronto Maple Leafs play hockey... there's the convention centre the hockey hall of fame, and of course... the all mighty CN Tower.

I've been up the Tower once... when I was quite young and it was Canada's Prime attraction. But over the years, I suppose I've just got used to seeing the World Renown monument gracing the skyline. I didn't think that the kids would be interested in something as uneventful as a tower... I was wrong.

After a full-fledged bout of begging, I agreed to take them downtown... and we had the best time. Who knew being 147 stories up could be so much fun... And if you only could have seen their faces. Dear eyed they stared out at the city, seeing it from a whole new perspective. They read all the facts plastered around the site and watched the documentary on how it was made. We even got to go on a thrill ride in the basement that had us laughing. It was truly one of the best days I've spent with them since we arrived... and it was all in the name of history.

After three decades, the CN Tower is still the world's tallest building standing 1518 feet high and over 150 stories. We got a 3-D puzzle to take home and build together and another puzzle of the Toronto Skyline... Who knew history could be so much fun.

It's times like these I remember why having children is such a gift. They help me see the world in a way I thought I'd forgotten. Thanks Kyle, Jared and Sydney. You guys rock and I'm the luckiest mom to have been blessed with three awesome kids... now if I can only get you to stop jumping on the furniture...

Have a great week, and I'll post again once we're back in the land of west... Courtenay here we come....

Kris

Romancing life...one adventure at a time.

Life...Short Version

Well, I'm still in Toronto. Yes, it's the vacation that never ends. Unfortunately, some family matters have prevented my kids and I from leaving, but we're making the most of it. And in the end, as long as everything turns out good, I'm not one to complain.

Just thought I'd write a quick post to celebrate finishing my second short story. I polished it off and sent it in Sunday, along with a blurb and a synopsis. My editor, Chris, who is the best editor ever, read it that night. Luckily for me she loved it, so there's just a bit of waiting to see if it will be included in their Halloween series. Here's keeping everything crossed. On the positive side, she'd like to contract it either way, but I'd love to be part of the series. I'll try not to be too disappointed, though, if it turns into a stand alone novella.

Also, I'm blogging over on Hitting the Hot Spot. After writing this story, I decided to do a piece on the difference between log and short books and what your preference is. So drop on over and let me know. (here's praying there are still some long book lovers out there, 'cause three of my books under contract are long ones :) Oh, I'm also waiting on my second round of edits for Checkmate. I'm hoping these will be fairly painless.

Okay, going to make this one short, no pun intended. But will post as soon as I hear about the story. Have a great few last days of July and see you in August.

cheers,

Kris

Romancing life...one adventure at a time.

Inalienable Rights...

As I sit here in Toronto, I realize this statement not only applies to folks fighting for their independence, but also to kids and their right to be just that...kids.

I think I take for granted that my children will behave in a civilized manner. That they'll listen when I ask them the first time and display all the appropriate pleasantries when addressing others. What I've come to realize is, that when push comes to shove, kids are just kids.

So here are a few truths I've learnt over the course of our imprisonment with the grandparents. Sorry, that should be visit with the grandparents.

1. Kids can last about two weeks without their friends and toys before cabin fever sets in and they change into loud, indistinguishable creatures who will argue over who gets to argue.

2. Kids never tire of riding the same roller coaster or watching the same movie. This is why you always rent the movie for seven days and why amusement parks have season passes. They only hand out adult ones so the kids have someone to buy them lunch at fifty bucks a pop.

3. Piggy-backing on my last comment...whenever a place has you locked inside their gates with no reasonable means of escape, they'll charge you ten dollars for a slice of pizza and you'll gladly pay for it if only to stop the whining.

4. Kids can swim for hours a day and still have enough energy to bounce off the walls until midnight because they're not bouncing off your walls, but your parent's. And apparently they make more noise than yours do.

and

5. No matter how much you shout, how many threats you make or how much you bribe them, kids will always revert back to being kids.

Here's smiling at the inevitable and hoping they can refrain from killing each other as I finish the last 2000 words of my book.

Have a great day and I'll post again as soon as this monkey's off my back,

Kris,

Romancing life...one adventure at a time.

Trapped Under Heavy Furniture...

Well, that sounds better than saying I'm bogged down by my own deadlines. I'm trying to finish a short story by Wednesday, and it seems the world is conspiring against me. At least my family. My kids seem to need something of life threatening proportions the minute I plant my butt down and trying to write while visiting my parents is next to impossible. As great as they are—and I'm sure not many adults could spend four weeks with their parents and still be able to mumble more than single syllable words—I'm just not used to having to conform to someone else's schedule. At our house dinner is when you're hungry, not at five because, well, it's five and that's when dinner is. I do the laundry when my kids complain they've got only one pair of underwear left, not because it's Thursday. And I certainly don't schedule my day around when the game shows grace the screen.

But I guess in the end, I'm just using them all as excuses. I'm getting close... over half way, and I'm on a roll so the word count is increasing nicely. I think it's just the fact I've got a real, hard deadline, and I'm not used to that. And wouldn't you know it, I seem to write quicker when I've got all the time in the world.

So forgive me for not posting more often. Between trips to Wonderland, and yeah, I forgot my camera 'cause I'm smart like that so the pics will have to wait until the end of this week, mowing yards, shopping, watching the kids swim and writing my other blogs, I don't have much time. And then there's the whole finishing the story thing.

Hope everyone's summer is going along nicely. I'll be heading back home in another ten days, so hopefully things will get back to some semblance of normal. Though I have a disturbing thought that "normal" won't return to my house until the kids return to school. Did I actually say I wanted them home?

Here's to loving every moment of summer break:)

Kris

Romancing life...one adventure at a time.

I Need a Vacation From My Vacation...

Truer words have not been spoken. Every year I take the kids to Toronto to visit with the grandparents, and this year has been no exception. We usually stay around four weeks, to make the long trek and outrageous amount of money to fly here well worth it. The kids love it here... pool in the backyard and season passes to Canada's Wonderland... makes for some fun times. Not to mention being spoiled by doting grandparents, lol.

Now for those of you not familiar to Canada's Wonderland, it's Canada's premier amusement park, boasting the biggest roller coaster in Canada... the dreaded Behemoth. Yes, just the name of it instills fear into the hearts of mere mortals. Of course my oldest son doesn't yet know he's mortal, so I'm obligated to ride the darn thing with him. Two hundred and fifty feet up... who needs a coaster that high? I swear I spent more time out of my seat than in.

But like I always say... if you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.

We'll be heading back again in a few days. But for now, I'm glued to my computer finishing the last of my first round of edits for Checkmate, my first novel with Resplendence Publishing. Who knew it was such a long book, lol. Though I have to say, my editor is awesome. She's got great insight, good ideas and is more than willing to discuss any of her opinions with me. I'm not sure how I've gotten so lucky, twice, but I'm not complaining. Of course this means my lotto tickets are probably duds, but hey, I've already won my fortune.

Other news, that has me dancing. I've officially renamed my last contracted novel to Total-e-Bound to Deadly Obsession (it was Fictional Desire) and have made it and my first novel, Deadly Vision, part of a series entitled 'Til Death. Now I have two series on the go, and I couldn't be happier. It was my editor's idea to make them a series revolving around stalkers and I just loved the idea. Of course this means I need to write another in the series, but hey, writing stalkers is my absolute favourite. I just love being able to get inside the head of a creepy villain. You can get so creative with them. And of course a creepy villain means the hero is going to get all pumped up in an effort to keep his lady safe... another thing I love writing about.

Oh, and before I forget. My other editor from Resplendence asked if I'd write a sequel to Checkmate. I could've died because I already had one started, but didn't think that would be something they would be interested in. I sent her my idea and she loved it... so be on the lookout. Part two will be coming this way in the future :D

I've also revamped my website just a bit. I went a bit crazy with some new programs I got and have added a bunch of images. It's a bit slow loading the first time, but worth it in my opinion. I just love playing around with all the fonts and pictures. Let me know what you think?

All right. I have to get back to my edits. And don't forget, I'm up on the Resplendence Blog on the 17th. I'm considering writing about editors and edits, the unslung heros of publishing. So drop on by and check it out. I'll try to post some pictures of Wonderland later this week.

Please have a great week and I'll try to blog more often.

Another Step

Today I'm celebrating a few things. First, it's Canada Day! If I'm correct, the country is 142 years old today, and with any luck, I'll be taking the kids off to fireworks tonight. One of the few drawbacks of living in a small town. You don't always get the big festivals associated with certain holidays. Cut backs...who knew.

My second reason, and one a bit closer to my heart, is celebrating my new book contract with Total-e-Bound. Yes, I have an awesome editor... Chris you truly do rock and I'm so lucky my first manuscript landed on your desk... I am a true believer in fate now. This marks my fourth novel with TEB and my fifth overall. This book is a long one (currently a bit over 100K) and is currently entitled Fictional Desire. I haven't been asked to change it yet, but as one of my previous posts chatted about, it wouldn't be the first time. About the only difference is I've changed the name of this one at least three or four times myself... so who knows.

It's another Erotic Thriller novel... and if I can say, the hero "Gage" is probably my favourite. There's just something about him that I absolutely love and I'm very excited to see it travel along the publishing road. And extremely happy Chris will be sharing it with me. Honestly folks, she's the absolute best :D

Fictional Desire is scheduled for release next April, just in time to promote it at the Romantic Times Convention in Columbus, Ohio. I plan on attending (and will get to meet Chris in person, yeah!!!!) along with a number of other authors from TEB and other houses. It should be a grand time.

I'll be putting up a blurb and an excerpt on my website for the new novel, so feel free to visit and check it out. I've got one other novel out on prospect and will hopefully be hearing back about it over the next couple of weeks... here's keeping fingers and toes crossed. Funny how you never lose that gut-wrenching feeling when you see an email regarding a proposal or submission. I've had some good ones now, but I still feel my heart clamour up to my throat as I click on the post. Guess that's all part of the business.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday week. I realize it's Friday for folks down in the states, so Happy 4th of July for those of you south of the border. And another Happy Birthday to Canada for those of us to the north.

Cheers,

Kris

Romancing life... one adventure at a time.