Category: RRBC_RWISA

DAY 6, JANUARY 7,2023, A DAY IN MY LIFE: SNIPPETS OF ME By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #RWISA #RRBC #RRBC_Community #ADayinMyLife

DAY 6, JANUARY 7, 2023

It is 1:17 in the afternoon, and I’m satisfied with my morning. Groceries are in the house, water too, wood is in the wood carrier, and I even managed to get by the two pharmacies and pick up my vitamins. 

This year I’m on a new level and must reestablish my routine. Some things and people may have to go. Not because I don’t like them but because I’ve taken a turn in the bend, and we are no longer walking on the same path. 

Everything must change; nothing remains the same. That’s a song by Nina Simone, and it is one of my favorites. 

When I finished my three-year contract with the United States Army, I took a European out and decided to stay in Europe, specifically Germany. I realized I learned only about the PX and the commissaries in the different locations in Germany where the Americans lived. I wanted to know more, so I decided to get a job here. I had a Bachelor’s degree with a major and a double minor and was completing my Master’s degree and thought I could get a job with the Americans. But that was not so. My status had changed; according to NATO (North American Treaty Organization), I was a tourist traveling in the country. After four months of hearing, “Yes, we would love to hire you, but…” I knew I had to decide: either learn German and get a job in the German economy or go back to America. I made the decision and decided to stay, and that is when doors started opening. German is a complex language, but I learned it thoroughly because of a German Professor that hung over my shoulders.

I used to think the man hated me. I had all kinds of excuses for him treating me as he did; the first one was that I was Black. We had to read two weekly newspapers, in German, of course. And each week, he would single me first. He always spoke to the class in German, and we had to answer him in German. He was also an ex-soldier in the German army, and I hated that man. I had five German courses, and he was my instructor in each class. It was him against me and me against him. I tried to drop out of my fifth German course because I saw him sitting at the instructor’s desk when I walked into the class on the first evening.

I told myself, “I’m not going through this a fifth time.” I waited until our evening class ended and told him I would be dropping his course. He said, “No, you’re not. I won’t approve it.” I remember shaking my head as I asked him why. He looked at me as if he were looking through me and told me, “Pat, you are a black American woman living in a country that will be hostile toward you. I have seen this happen to other females from other countries, and they are lost. That’s why they don’t go anywhere alone. They move around in groups. I am hard on you because I want to see you go anywhere you want to go and read everything, whether it’s government policies or whatever, so that you comprehend the system and move forward. I have nothing against you being a black woman. I’m proud to be able to help you. I want you to excel; to excel means comprehending the language of the country where you live.”

This man, whom I hated, I learned to love because of his strictness. He took me under his arms, and I learned to write, speak, and read German fluently, and I am thankful.

The rest of my day:

  1. Two Zoom meetings – one at three pm and one at six pm
  2. I will eat something between those two meetings.
  3. The grocery store I went to had alcohol-free champagne. I love to pour it over frozen fruit and sit back and watch the fire.
  4. I will visit the blogs from Day 5.

Have a lovely Saturday.

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia

A DAY IN MY LIFE…SUBTITLE: SNIPPETS OF ME By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #RWISA #RRBC_Community #RRBC #ADayinMyLife

DAY 5, JANUARY 6, 2023

Good Morning,

I ended my day well yesterday. I’m always happy when I can break a mold of rigidity that has secretly formed in my life and is unknowingly keeping me from who I am. Vulnerability is a trait I desire. It is not something you acquire only once because it consists of different processes. Once you open yourself to vulnerability, you have committed to change whenever you feel stagnation in your routine. 

I smiled as I looked at my list of things to do this morning. I have two more important things to do, and I put them at the top of my list. 

  1. Get in touch with the person who donated the prize I won for my WEP win.
  2. Do my grocery shopping and go to the bakery. 
  3. I’ve changed my journal back to DAY One, and I want to transfer my journal notes from Evernote to DAY One.
  4. Bring in enough wood that will last me until Tuesday for my fireplace. 
  5. I’ve already communicated with my developmental coach and will send her the first 10K for the second novel in my series. She is a godsend because I get wild in my writing. I first met her in a class. She was instructing a writing class on Deep Point of View. My first assignment was one I’ll always remember. Oh, did I come away with hurt feelings and pained feet. She had stepped on my toes, but I forced myself to stay in the class. Little did I know that this woman would become a dear friend. Nor did I know then that she was responding to me from a bank as I stood in the middle of a river trying to find my true self in my writing. I see it now, but I didn’t see it then. She was standing there saying let me help you get to where you want to go with your writing. She’s a tough person but has a big heart, and as I look back, I’m thankful I stayed in her class. Thus, today, I’m going to pop two or three bowls of popcorn and continue writing the first draft of my second novel. 
  6. Close my day out with some gooseberries and a glass (maybe even two glasses) of dry, red wine from Southern Italy, and look at my fire as my mind roam freely, putting this past week in containers so I can close up shop Saturday evening. 

Happy Friday, everyone. Have a good one. 

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia

A DAY IN MY LIFE…SUBTITLE: SNIPPETS OF ME By Pat Garcia @RRBC_ORG @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #RWISA #RRBC #ADayinMyLife @pat_garcia

Day 4, January 5, 2023,

Good Morning,

One or two people (possibly more) have asked me questions. I noticed them on my blog but have yet to respond, but I will. I started the week running down the soccer field like a soccer player. It has been a long hard week because the first Wednesday of every month is my blogging cycle for my support group. We have about 140 bloggers that participate, and each member posts a blog article about how they’re doing in the writing world, and we encourage and help where we can. I have been in this group for over ten years. I started at number 179 or 180 on the list. Yesterday, I found out I’d moved up to number 49. The rules are simple. You have to post. If you miss two months of publishing an article, you’re deleted from the group, and the writers move up a step. I have only missed one month of posting in the group, and that was when my husband died. The group leader and the group itself overwhelmed me with love. 

Thus, I am juggling a ball between the Challenge and maintaining my commitment to my support group. They depend on me to be there.

I awoke this morning, lay a few minutes longer enjoying my warm bed, and daydreamed. I love my bed. When I crawl between the downy feathered comforter, it doesn’t take me long to fall asleep. 

While lying, my list floated across my mind, and I remembered that my grocery shopping and bakery still needed to be done, and I had only one egg in the house. That’s typical of me. If I am working, I don’t usually stop to go grocery shopping. Eating is the last thing on my mind. So it is common for me to have nothing in the house to eat. I cook enough three times a week to eat leftovers the next day after each day of cooking. On Sundays, my best friend and I usually go out to eat. So, I got up, washed up, went to REWE, and bought enough food for breakfast until I cross those two items off my list Saturday.

I’m going to end the article now. I need the time for other things. I visited about 12 or 15 support blogs yesterday, but I usually visit at least 25 blogs, and these people are expecting me. 

And I want to visit the blogs of the writers from yesterday who participated in the Challenge.

My list of things to do today includes the following:

  1. Taking the time to daydream and take a nap,
  2. Answering emails and text messages, and,
  3. Sitting before my fireplace.
  4. Maybe, I’ll play my piano, but I’m not sure. I’m working on some blues songs, and I like the discord that I’ve put in the songs, and I need to let this dissonance settle in my gut. 

Have a lovely day,

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia

A DAY IN MY LIFE…SUBTITLE: SNIPPETS OF ME By Pat Garcia

DAY 3, JANUARY 4, 2023

My life flows like a river; that, I believe. I had the privilege of reading a book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi entitled Flow when I attended university. This book has influenced my life ever since. He talks about discovering your flow and how time flies when you move in flow. I began using myself as a trial specimen to determine if his observations were accurate. I am happy to say that they are. I watch the river within me every day, searching for my flow. 

I don’t make a year’s plan because I don’t follow them. A month’s plan takes me out of my flow, and believe me when I say there are a lot of events, people, groups, and things that try to distract me. I usually write down a series of things I plan to do during the week, where I can add stuff as I will and put a line through things I have accomplished. 

What does this have to do with today?

 Well, I had an appointment today with the hairdresser. My hair has been screaming that it needed a hair treatment. My hairdresser is a German woman whom I met four years ago. She was going through a difficult time when I met her. We were in a group in the church study we attended. I felt her desperation and couldn’t ignore it, so I reached out to her. A year later, I chose her to be my hairdresser because I want her to discover the same peace I have and how to protect it by being true to herself.

This morning, after I entered my office, I received a text that she had to postpone the appointment because she had the flu and didn’t want to pass it on to me. I wrote back immediately, letting her know it was no problem. I didn’t mention my hair, but I wrote a prayer for her in the text message and wrote that she should drink thyme tea and peppermint tea and eat tomato soup or chicken noodle soup. 

Afterward, I didn’t regret not being able to go to her. Not because she was sick but because I saw clearly that my schedule had been arranged differently than what I had planned, and as I started moving in the way that had opened, I began moving in my flow, and time began to fly.

So today, one of the two groups I have been with for ten years or more has our blogging day. I enjoy this group because they are so different from me, and almost ninety-five percent of the participants are not Romance Novelists. I learned so much by visiting their blogs and leaving comments.

I plan to visit the blogs for the Challenge, leave comments wherever I can, and send out tweets too. 

Answer my emails and text messages,

Check on my last story with my editor at 4Wills,

Get in touch with my developmental editor, and

Pick up some fruits.

Until tomorrow, take care.

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia

A DAY IN MY LIFE… SUBTITLE: SNIPPETS OF ME By Pat Garcia

Day 2, January 3, 2023

This morning, I awoke. Around 6:30 a.m. I looked at the sky and noticed it was getting brighter. It was no longer the same dark tone hanging over my village, and I said thank you. The days are getting longer second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour. 

As it was getting closer to me moving more into my day, my telephone rang at 11:00. I hadn’t reached my cut-off time of 11:30 a.m. so I didn’t answer my phone. I suspected twenty minutes after my phone had rung that it was someone who knew my habits and knew that I would return her call. 

I did. This person lost her best friend two weeks before Christmas and needed to talk. Over a year, she has lost her two besties. The first died in 2021; now, her second best friend has left her. I listened. It’s hard to cut someone off when they need something I can give. Even though I am protective of my time, I willingly give it when someone needs help. 

This morning has been stressful. Since I have been in my office, I have lost my internet connection four times on my computer and three times upstairs while listening to my ebook during breakfast. In other words, interference is taking place. Most of the time, we get a note written on our screen that the internet connections are unstable. That our Communication Networks have not been stable since May of 2021 bothers me. It used to upset me so much more until I learned how to flow with it. 

I’m learning to be more appreciative of all those computer and internet specialists that are walking on this earth.

By the way, the sun is shining here, and I mean brightly shining. It is soooo good to see the sun. We have had some freezing days in Germany. If someone had told me that I would learn to shower and get dressed in a cold bathroom, I would have said no way. But I’ve learned, and it has made me wiser about myself. 

I have a lot to do today.

a. Prepare for two writing classes I am taking,

b. Begin a new short story that will complete one I have already written but have yet to be published,

c. Finish up my novel,

d. Answer emails and text messages,

e. Go to the bakery and

f. Write in my diary.

It will probably be 11 p.m. when I have finished, and then I will be ready to crawl into my bed and sleep. So, until tomorrow, I say thank you and good morning or good night in whatever part of the world you’re in. 

Shalom aleichem,

Pat Garcia

 

A DAY IN MY LIFE … SUBTITLE: SNIPPETS OF ME by Pat Garcia

A DAY IN MY LIFE…
SNIPPETS OF ME By Pat Garcia,
2023 #RRBC 30-Day blogging Challenge

JANUARY 2, 2023

I don’t usually blog about my life. It’s too personal, so I’ve added a subtitle, Snippets of Me, to give you some idea of who I am. As I said on the first page of this website, I’m still discovering myself, and therefore find it presumptuous to talk about who I am when I am unsure. 

My day usually starts at 5:30 in the morning. Normally, I’m awake at 5 a.m. and sometimes earlier when I receive parts of a story and start writing at 1 or 2 a.m. 

However, sometimes I struggle with unexpected circumstances like crises in the world, and my mind gets bogged. Like a roadblock, these situations hinder me. I start getting up later and have to fight my way back to my routine. 

I write and read every single day except Sundays. I have belonged to two organizations since 2012 and 2014, respectively, and I blog with one group once a month and with the other once every two months. That’s enough blogging for me. 

For me, it is crucial to start my day off in quietness. I don’t run to WhatsApp, Messenger, or my emails. I answer my phone at 11:30 a.m. Out of respect, I look at my WordPress app to see if a visitor has left a comment on one of my blogs and approve it. But I draw the line after doing that. 

Shalom aleichem,

Pat Garcia

JANIE B WINS THE FIRST EVER MICRO-READ CONTEST HELD BY THE RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB

JANIE B WINS FIRST EVER MICRO READ CONTEST HELD BY RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB

Hello, Everyone,

This has been a tough year for me. Writers are often affected by what is going on around them. As a writer and an Expatriate living in Europe, the war in Ukraine affected me greatly. Then, the floods came in Ahrtal, and I was devastated by what happened to many Germans. It was heartbreaking.
Along with COVID, which had become a household word since 2020, I watched crisis after crisis, sometimes lamed my ability to get words on paper. Yet the creative spirit within me wanted to write, and I kept writing, regardless of the hour. So, I thank you for buying my books and reading what I write. Some of you have left reviews on Amazon and, since November 10th, on other online bookstores where JANIE B is profiled. Your support is much appreciated. Most of all, I praise God, who shows his faithfulness to me as a person He has called to be a writer/author. Without His Spirit, the things that have been accomplished in 2022 would not have happened

So, take care, and I wish all of you a safe crossover into 2023. I personally hope to see you there.

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia

Congratulations to the #RRBC 2022 KCT International Literary Award Winners! @RRBC_Org @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #RWISA @NonnieJules

Author, Kathryn C. Treat was the very first MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR of RRBC, serving from December 2013, until September 2014.  Kathryn valued good/great…

Congratulations to the #RRBC 2022 KCT International Literary Award Winners! @RRBC_Org @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA #RWISA @NonnieJules

2022 RRBC BOOKS &BUDZ HOLIDAY POP-UP BOOKSHOP #RRBC #BooksBudzPopUp22

Still, looking for an engaging book for a friend or family member? Please drop into the 2022 RRBC BOOKS &BUDZ HOLIDAY POP-UP BOOKSHOP and check out some of the books for their authors. 

Check out FIGS, VINES, and ROSES by Joy M. Lilley, or start reading the Carl Prescott series by Karl J. Morgan. 

Or you would like a meaningful story that will teach young people to be careful with the people they trust. In that case, check out Yvette Calleiro and her book, Hype.

What about a book that lifts you or gives you a swift kick to keep going? Check out UNTITLED BY NONNIE JULES.

I hear someone saying they would like to read a good Memoir. Then you’re in the right place, Shirley Harris Slaughter’s new release JOYCE WINIFRED HARRIS BURKES: HOW I REMEMBER MY MAMA or Marian Beamen’s MENNONITE DAUGHTER. 

And there are more, Lisa Kirazian, Maura Beth Brennen, Karen Black, John Podlaski, Linnea Tanner, Wanda Fisher, Bette A Stevens, Susanne Leist, Phil Stephens, Patty Perrin, Harriet Hodgson, Gregory Doering, Pamela Schloesser Canepa, and Pat Garcia.

There is a book at this excellent Holiday Pop-UP Bookshop for everyone, and the only thing you have to do is pull up your internet and drop in at 5th ANNUAL HOLIDAY POP-UP.

When you buy a book, remember to mention that you found out about this beautiful Holiday Pop-Up Bookshop on Pat Garcia’s blog posting. Even I might win a prize. 

Have a great day, everyone!

Shalom aleichem,

Pat Garcia 

Welcome to Day 6 of the REIMAGINING NEON Blog Tour featuring Author, Linda C. Mims! @boom_lyn @Pat_Garcia @RRBC_Org @RRBC_RWISA @4WillsPub @4WP11 #TheNeonHouses

GIVEAWAYS:  (3) $10 Amazon gift cardsPlease leave Linda a comment below or anywhere along the tour, for your chance to win one of her awesome giveaways!

BOOK BLURB

What would you do if you were the daughter of a cult hero who boasted a past life full of exciting, colorful exploits?
Suppose the thing that made your mother a cult hero was also inside you.
Now, imagine spending your whole life trying to hide it—until you shared the heart stopping death of someone close to you.
Supposed that death brought you face to face with the gift of the neon houses.

New Chicago and its neighboring town, The Southland, are vastly different worlds in circa 2087, but Dr. Noel Kennedy is an expert at navigating both worlds. As the Deputy Chief of Schools in The Southland, Noel has perfected being a solid, middle-class citizen. Not even her husband, Fredrick Kennedy, truly understands what she is.

When Zarah Fisher, Noel’s young protégé, is murdered on a deserted street in The Southland, Noel knows the exact moment Zarah takes her last breath. Though miles away, Noel feels the girl’s terror, and hears her anguished screams inside her own head because of an inheritance that has left her with extraordinary gifts.

Can Noel find justice for Zarah without risking it all? Murder, mayhem, and suspense abound in this action-packed page-turner. More than a mystery, The Neon Houses thrills the reader with scenes of a futuristic 2087. Autoplanes, body planes, and flying buses are the norm. Robots and androids cook, clean, and serve the affluent, while dystopia lurks just around the corner.

How My Bad Guy Stole the Show 

Beta-readers wanted more of my bad guy. These crazy people even suggested that my heroine fall for him in a sick triangle where he’d take her away from her husband. I had to explain romance formula rules. The heroine always, always remains faithful.

I couldn’t have him be more popular than my heroine’s beloved. So, I purposely made the bad guy unattractive. I gave him a large forehead that protruded well over his cosmetically changed, blue eyes—eyes that appeared almost neon against his dark skin color. Even his muscled physique was medically enhanced by body sculpting and not actually working out. Despite that, they loved him.

How did I make him so popular 

Before the readers even met him, I had other characters talk about him, setting the stage with ominous anticipation of what he’d be. Characters described him as obnoxious, but not forthright. They neither sympathized nor admired him. He was a heartless, manipulative guy who always acted in his best interest.

I gave him conflicting character traits. He wasn’t honest, but he wasn’t dishonest. He wasn’t murderous, yet he’d kill when he had to or was provoked. He had reasons for who he was, which I buried in a scene that allowed the readers to glimpse his troubled childhood and reveal that childhood to the heroine.

I Had to Become a Bad Guy 

Though I patterned my bad guy after actual criminals I’d read about or seen on television, that wasn’t enough. I really got inside his head. I wrote as if I had not been raised by decent parents who’d taught me better.  

I asked myself, if I were a criminal, how would I do it? I let my mind go there and the process was interesting. It helped me create a bad guy who was multi-faceted, and I put him right out front because I understood what drove him.

When creating your own bad guy, make sure:

  • He’s a worthy adversary and smart enough to make your protagonist work 
  • He’s worthy of every scene he’s in. In fact, make him a scene-stealer.
  • Readers empathize with him, even if they can’t sympathize or condone.
  • There’s a motivating factor for his bad actions? Revenge and restitution are powerful reasons for taking the law into your own hands.

Excerpt: It was too late for Noel to do anything except fight, and the two men coming toward her were about to get stunned to hell. She knew from practice to wait until she saw the whites of their eyes, but as they approached, she recognized one of them. It was Warren Simpson, and he was smiling.

“Hey, Boss Lady,” he shouted and waved. “I just saved your tail. Now I need you to return the favor.”

Things were getting weird. Noel wanted to aim her stunner at Warren Simpson, but her cousin Charlize was in her head saying, It’s okay, Auntie Joy. He’s safe.

Okay, Charlize, she thought, use your new superpowers, because I’m a little worried.

Noel wasn’t getting out of her car, and she was also keeping her stunner right where it was—inside her pocket, with her finger on the trigger.

“You gonna make me stand out here in this stiff wind?” Warren asked.

He walked around to the passenger side and motioned for Noel to unlock the door. “You’re not scared I’m gonna hurt you, are you?” Warren said as he climbed in beside her.

“I’ve lived a pretty full life,” she said.

Warren laughed. “That’s why I like you, Boss Lady.”

Despite her fear, Noel rolled her eyes at him.

“Noel, Noel, Noel,” Warren said with a shake of his head. “We”—he pointed between the two of them—“are in some serious trouble.”

“What do you mean we?” Noel asked.

“Somebody wants to pin Earl Gibbs’s murder on me, and you put yourself in it when you brought him to my home.”

She could see why he thought she had a part in this, but he did too. “For all I know, you sent your nephew to me. Maybe you had him provoke Earl into declaring his candidacy too soon so you could find out his intentions and kill him,” she said.

They sat in silence for a minute.

Finally, he asked, “Why are you riding around like this is well-to-do Sheridan Road? Gang Territory is dangerous after hours. This isn’t your Reading Night at the Park with all your New Chicago cops to protect you.”

“My kids know me,” she said.

“In the daytime, but not at night. Go home, Noel. You don’t belong here. I’ll leave my guys on you until you’re safe. If anybody trails you tomorrow, I’ll take care of ’em and you won’t even know it.” He flashed a row of gleaming, square white teeth and rolled his genetically modified blue eyes. “Now relax and take your hand off your stunner.”

Noel smiled because she couldn’t think of anything to say.

Simpson chuckled as he opened the car door and climbed from her transpo. His coat flapped in the wind as he saluted her and sauntered away.

AUTHOR BIO

Linda Mims is a writer, a dreamer, and an educator, who hails from a quiet village just south of Chicago. Her stories are mainly about urban characters who are engaged in mystery and mysticism. Her hope is that while entertaining and informing, she’s also sending the message that humans aren’t that different and all each of us want is a better world. 

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Blog

Twitter

To follow along with the rest of the tour, please visit the AUTHOR’S TOUR PAGE on the 4WillsPublishing site.  If you’d like to book your own blog tour and have your book promoted in similar grand fashion, please click HERE. Thanks for supporting this author and her work!

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