The Heroes of Elm Grove

Around 9:30 AM, Monday, Monica Ensley-Partenfelder was headed to the annual Elm Grove Memorial Day parade with her 2-year-old son when her worst nightmare became a reality. Traffic was bumper-to-bumper with everyone headed to the parade grounds. Ensley-Partenfelder stopped on the railroad tracks and tried to react when she saw a 94-car freight train headed directly for her mini-van. Her wheels turned, but were stuck on the track. When the van finally did move, it flipped and faced the train.

A police officer, John Krahn, originally assigned to parade duty, witnessed the event. He sprinted to the scene and pulled the woman from the van just as her husband, who had been following in another vehicle, tried to undo the straps to the car seat. The train struck the mini-van before Scott Partenfelder could remove the toddler.

The force of the impact created an explosive effect, tossing the crushed mini-van onto the grass like a crumpled paper. The two men were thrown aside by the force of the collision. The car seat kept the 2-year-old boy safe from any injury. Krahn and Partenfelder underwent surgery. By Monday night, the officer was listed in satisfactory condition, but the heroic father was in critical condition.

I haven’t heard an update on either men’s status. If you have, please share. My thoughts go out to their families.

Held Up Part 2

Here’s a continuation of yesterday’s adventure. This is a true story.


He pulled a knife from his jacket and pointed it at me.

Only a few feet separated my flesh from the tip of the knife. My heart raced. I couldn’t believe these nice boys were the robbers. What could I do? How was I going to get out of this situation without getting hurt and without handing over my hard-earned money?

I stood there, frozen.

“We don’t want to hurt you. Just get us the money.” The young guy’s voice trembled almost as much as his hands.

He was just as scared as I was.

The punks were stationed near the door we’d used to enter the cooler, which made sense considering the register was on the other side of that door. However, I had no intention of getting any closer to the knife.

“There’s more money in the office,” I said as I rushed through the other door to our back room, knowing my employee was there.

I slammed the door. “Call the police! We’re being robbed!”

She dropped her snips, her eyes like a deer meeting its fate.

I peeked through the cooler window just as the guys tore out of the store. Without hesitation, we called the cops and reported the attempted robbery.

The punks didn’t give up. They returned another time with an empty cup, probably realizing they’d had better results the first time around. They looked at our new security camera, exchanged glances, and asked the employee to toss their garbage as they left.

Police officers eventually caught the guys. Apparently, I had misjudged them. They’d seemed so nervous and harmless. Yet, these were BAD kids. They’d caused all kinds of trouble in the neighborhood, anything from burning cars and churches, to assault. Thank goodness I had a second door to allow my escape. I don’t want to consider what could’ve happened. AND I certainly never wanted to experience anything like that again, which is why I wouldn’t display the knives and forks at my garage sale. Still sound paranoid? Maybe, but I feel safer for it.

Have you had a life-threatening experience?

Held Up Part 1

This past weekend, we had our second garage sale. A friend of the family wanted to add some of their things to the batch and we agreed. However, once I saw one of those things included a tray filled with forks and sharp knives, I changed my mind. There was no way I would put those weapons on display inviting a possible assault. Yes, I know. I sound a little paranoid, but it’s all because of my past.

Back in my early twenties, I managed our family owned florist shop. Seems like a perfectly safe environment, right? I thought so, even after I snipped my forearm instead of the rose stems and needed my first batch of stitches. What I never imagined was that a couple of teenage boys would come into my store and change my life forever. They handed an empty coffee cup to the employee at the front counter and told her they were armed. Although, they never displayed a weapon, she took their word for it. I can’t say I blame her. Unfortunately, the punks must’ve figured this was an easy target because they returned a month later with another empty cup. The store was loaded with customers, so they left, but the employee recognized them.

Considering the teens botched their last attempt at robbing our place, they had to come up with a better plan. This time, they entered the store wearing hats and scarves to conceal their identity. It was the middle of winter, so I didn’t think anything of it. In fact, they had already been there once that day and said they’d be back later. When they returned, I went into promotion mode and had them follow me into our large walk-in cooler. They hesitated, but joined me. I showed them our rose bouquets and other flowers. The guys wouldn’t make eye contact with me and seemed preoccupied or nervous. Maybe they were uncomfortable buying flowers. One of them mumbled something to me, but I didn’t catch it.

He pulled a knife from his jacket and pointed it at me.

To be continued...

Hold It to Save Your Life

If you’ve ever flown on a commercial airline before, you’re aware of all the safety regulations put into place to protect the passengers. Before the plane takes off, the flight attendants go through the motions of explaining the emergency exits, how to fasten the seatbelt, and the importance of the seatbelt sign. For many of us, who’ve been on a few trips requiring air travel, this important bit of information is ignored. We’ve heard it before and are now safety experts, right? After hearing what happened to a passenger on a Continental flight a few days ago, I’ll make a point listening to the flight attendant’s presentation every time and obeying the rules of flight, even if I really, really have to go to the bathroom.

Apparently, the 47-year-old woman on Continental Flight 511 decided she couldn’t hold it any longer. Even though the “fasten your seatbelts” sign was illuminated and the plane was experiencing turbulence, the woman rose from her seat and made her way to the lavatory. While she was inside the small space, the plane suddenly dropped during turbulence throwing the woman against the ceiling. She fractured her neck and back rendering her paralyzed from the chest down. After undergoing 2 surgeries totaling 11 hours, the woman has developed some motion in her toes and regained some sensation, but the doctor isn’t sure she’ll ever walk again.

Pretty scary. I have to admit, I’ve been a little ignorant while flying. I haven’t disobeyed the rules, but I have questioned them. I now realize any turbulence I may have experience in flight was nothing compared to what Continental Flight 511 flew through. I guess I was living in the teenage world of “it can’t happen to me”. Time to revise that way of thinking.

Have you flown through some rough turbulence? Do you have a flight story you’d like to share?

Are You your Character?

Do you ever get the feeling you’re becoming too much like your characters? I did last fall during our first garage sale. We’d been warned that certain groups of people cluttered together in an attempt to hide the fact that one of more of them were shoplifting. These groups had been circulating in the garage sale scene and when I saw them approach my things, I made my presence VERY obvious.

Unfortunately, that experience put me on edge all day. I watched people like a hawk. I’m not sure everyone noticed, but anyone trying to get something for nothing would’ve. I was confident nobody had stolen anything from me, until a girl walked off with one of our toys sans payment. Adrenalin kicked my heart into full gear. I jumped from my seat, ran to the edge of the table-filled drive-way and called out to her. She ignored me, which sent another gush of blood through my veins. I backed up, took a run at a heap of toys and leaped over them like I was in high school jumping hurdles. I rushed over to the girl, who was surprised to see me. I asked if she planned on paying for the item. She said no and handed the toy to me. As I made my way back to my seat beside my husband, witness to the whole event, I felt a little embarrassed. I never meant to make such a spectacle of myself. I was following an impulse. Then, I got to thinking… Maybe I had reacted that way because I’d been working on my bodyguard series and that’s what my hero would’ve done (on a much larger scale… not a garage sale setting). Was I behaving like him?

Have you ever had an experience like this where you behaved more like your character than yourself?

Awards

I’m very happy to announce I’ve received my second blog award. Thanks, Casey! I was actually nominated for the Lemonade Stand Award and the One Lovely Blog Award, but since I already have the first one, I chose to only accept the second.


The One Lovely Blog Award Rules:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 5 other bloggers that you’ve newly discovered.

3) Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.


I award the One Lovely Blog Award to:

1) Keli Gwyn
2) Sarah Tormey
3) Shelli
4) Bekah
5) Enid Wilson

If you have a chance, check out these blogs. Are there any new bloggers you’ve recently discovered? I’d love to check them out.

Sooooo Sorry

American Idol results are tonight and I’m pretty sure I know who’s going to win. How could I possibly know? Well, there seems to be some sort of pattern developing with any reality TV show I watch. Whenever I really want a certain contestant to win, America votes them off. I think maybe I jinx them or something. Come to think of it, the same thing happens to my favorite food items at my local grocery store. Apparently, my family is the only one who likes Real Peanut Butter, Invisible Grape Kool-Aid, and Regina balsamic vinegar. Go figure.

As for American Idol contestants for this season, I was a fan of Alexis, Allison, Danny, and Adam. Unfortunately, Alexis was kicked off early. Of these four, Allison was the next to go, which left Danny, Adam, and Kris (the guy who contorts his face when he sings… really strange). Here’s my opinion of these boys.

Danny: handsome (sexy/husky voice)
Kris: cute when he’s not singing (pop-type voice)
Adam: hot (amazing voice)

Okay, so I’m biased toward Adam. He’s been my favorite all along, which is really unfortunate for him. Poor guy. He didn’t have a fair chance. As soon as I took to him (which was immediately), his fate was determined.

This post is for Adam. Sorry about that.

All kidding aside, who do you think will win tonight, Kris or Adam?

Coming to Terms

What does the term “pre-published” mean? Some writers who are in the process of completing a manuscript or querying agents have come to call themselves pre-published, but is that really the case? Several published authors I’ve talked to over the years wouldn’t agree. Apparently, the publishing industry calls an author pre-published during the period where the author sold his/her book to a publisher and is awaiting his/her release date. This is the time where edits are done, a book cover is designed, and ARCs (advanced reader’s copy) have been distributed.

Now, that’s what I’ve heard. Do you have more information that could shed some light on the term “pre-published”?

What about the term “author”? Can we call ourselves authors if we are not yet published? I believe we can. Although, I usually forget to go by that title myself. I’m still stuck on “writer”, nothing wrong with that. As far as I’m concerned, if you’ve completed a piece of literary work, you’re an author. How long should that work be? Well, that’s up for discussion. I’ve always thought of it as a full manuscript, even if it’s only the first draft. Not everyone can write a book end-to-end. For me, a writer would possibly attempt to write a book, but an author has completed one. And once you’re published, then you’re a published author.


I really should force myself to use “author”. It sounds better, doesn’t it? What do you think about using “author” over “writer”?

Win a Website Design

Query Tracker is celebrating their 2 year anniversary. As a result, they're having several contests running May 18-June 5. If you're interested, hop over to their site for more details.

If you want a chance at winning a website design by Purple Squirrel Web Design, you have to check out Mindless Musings and look for this post. There's a little secret you must know if you want to win... Also posting a blurb like this on your blog with the cute, little carnival design gives you an extra entry. Good luck!

While we're on the subject... Any thoughts on whether you'd design your own website of have it done for you? Thanks to this contest, I had a chance to check out Purple Squirrel Web Design. I'd never heard of them before. These guys charge between $400-$700 for an average author's site. That's better than what I've seen and their work looks great, too. What do you think?

A Multiple-Genre Success Story?

I’ve been reading a lot lately about how we, as authors, should brand ourselves. This means writing in one genre and one genre only. That’s the way to become successful. Oh, yeah? Well, check out this interview at Query Tracker. Author Lauren Baratz Logsted has done very well for herself as a multiple-genre writer.

Here’s a quote taken from yesterday’s post at Query Tracker. Author Lauren Baratz Logsted said: “My first novel was published in July 2003. By the end of 2009, I will have seen 15 books published with my name on the spine: five contemporary comedies for adults, The Thin Pink Line, Crossing the Line, A Little Change of Face, How Nancy Drew Saved My Life, Baby Needs a New Pair of Choos; one literary Victorian suspense novel, Vertigo; one anthology I edited and contributed to, This Is Chick-Lit; two serious YA novels, Angel’s Choice and Crazy Beautiful; one more humorous YA novel, Secrets of My Suburban Life; one tween novel, Me, In Between; and four books for younger readers, the first four in a projected nine-book series called The Sisters Eight, co-written with my husband Greg Logsted and our daughter Jackie. Plus assorted short stories, essays, blogging and guestblogging.”

That kind of goes against anything I’ve ever been told and makes me feel a lot better about my situation. I write light and dark romantic suspense as well as light paranormal (non-creature type stories). When I was told I would have to choose between these, I was disappointed. Now, I feel like there’s hope. Heck, maybe I’ll even go back and finish that YA series I stared a few years ago… Hummm….


What do you think? Are you going to play it safe and stick to one genre or not?

Choosing a Character's Career

Imagine you’re at a party. People are drinking, laughing, and chatting all around. You walk over to the punch table and serve yourself, when someone approaches you.

“Hi. I’m Derek. How are you?” The tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed man facing you is grinning.

“I’m Amy. Nice to meet you.” Now that the preliminaries are over with, what else can be said?

The hunk touches your arm. “So, Amy, what do you do?”

Isn’t that always the way it is? Well, maybe not EXACTLY like that, but as people we tend to judge a person by their career. Wouldn’t it then stand to reason that as readers we do the same?

Have you put much thought into what your characters do for a living? Does their job have much to do with who they are? Is their career important to the story? These are some questions you should think about before you write because you need to understand who your characters are and what made them chose their line of work. Maybe they followed their parents’ path. Maybe they allowed their parents to choose their career for them, in which case they might hold a lot of resentment deep down. Or maybe they picked this particular career because it’s their passion. Whatever the case may be, you need to understand the whole situation. It’s not enough to know Shar’s a home stager. I had to figure out what compelled her to become self-employed. Why wasn’t she happy as a realtor? Not only that, but I needed to do a little research so I could understand what exactly a home stager does. To put it simply, they help sellers stage their home in the best way possible to attract the most buyers and the highest bids.

While doing my research, I came across a very useful resource. Raymond Obstfeld and Franz Neumann wrote “Careers for your Characters: A Writer’s Guide to 101 Professions from Architect to Zookeeper”. The book includes professional jargon and buzz words, educational requirements, salaries, benefits, perks, expenses, a daily schedule, and the difference between the public’s perception of the job and the actual job itself. This book is a great tool if your character’s career doesn’t jump out at you.

How do you choose a career for your main character? Have you worked in that environment and therefore are an expert in the field? If not, how do you ensure your character comes across as authentic?

Laugh at Them, With Them, and Everything in Between

Do your characters make you laugh? Mine do. It’s funny (don’t mind the pun). I’ll write the scene and get carried away by the story, wherever the characters take me. Then, out of nowhere, they say or do something that makes me laugh out loud. My children and husband rush over asking why I’m giggling.

I smile. “Oh, Davyn just said something that cracked me up.”

All six eyes stare at me.

“Mommy, there’s nobody here, but you.” The youngest twin looks at her sister, shakes her head, and leaves the room, her sibling in tow.

“Don’t you mean you crack yourself up?” My husband kisses my forehead and closes the door behind him.

I suppose he’s right, but I don’t think of it that way. My characters are real people, sort of. I feel what they feel. I love them, hate them, and want them to fail or succeed just like real people. Is that so wrong? My husband might think it’s a little nuts, but I believe there are other writers who go through the same sort of thing. Right?

Have you had this kind of experience?

When the Muse Hits

When do your story ideas hit you? Inspiration might strike as I’m working out at the gym, grocery shopping, or perusing a book store. If I don’t write my thoughts down, they’ll be forever lost. However, WRITING isn’t always possible, like when I’m driving or running. I needed to find a way to preserve my ideas without pulling over to the side of the road or carrying a notebook with me wherever I went. That’s when I invested in my handy, dandy digital voice recorder. What a wonderful gadget. As long as I remember to purge the information onto my computer and maintain battery life, I’m set.

The only time I don’t rely on my digital voice recorder is when I first wake up. I often have dreams that will eventually become stories. These vivid images are huge scenes and sometimes entire “movies” in my mind. Rather than recite these ideas, I prefer to jot down a few notes and then plot out the story. If ever I come to a point in my writing career where my editor is expecting another book and I’m at a loss for ideas, I’ll take out my list of plots or sort through my voice recorded message.

What do you do when you have a story idea?

The End of the Beginnings Series

Thanks to everyone who commented on the two possible beginnings for my light romantic suspense novel. If you haven’t already, please let me know which option you preferred and why. Since many of you have already left comments in this regard, I’ve been able to get a good feel for what is and isn’t working.

This weekend, I took the time to browse the romance aisle in a new Indigo branch. I discovered romantic suspense novels start in two basic ways: action packed or character based. If the book is high in suspense and/or a dark romantic suspense (see previous post for definition), it usually starts with a prologue. This is often written in the victim’s or killer’s POV. If there isn’t a prologue, the story begins with the POV of the MC who’s a cop, sheriff, FBI agent, or some sort of legal authority. This person has just discovered the crime scene or is going over the details with other law enforcement officers.

According to my recent findings, light romantic suspense novels all start slowly in the hero or heroine’s “normal” life. This means, option #1 would make more sense in my novel. However, I think I’m going to cut the first paragraph because I have yet to see another light r/s that begins with introspection rather than narration.

Any comments or questions before we move on to something else tomorrow?

Beginning: Option #2

This post has been deleted by the author.

Beginning: Option #1

This post has been deleted by the author.

Light or Dark Romantic Suspense: Which Is Which?

What’s the difference between light and dark romantic suspense? The dark side tends to have a lot of blood and gore. The reader is often able to see the victim brutalized, tortured, and murdered. Many times, the author will start with a scene involving the crime, usually rape and/or murder, so the reader’s pulled right into the story. This is either written in the killer’s POV or the victim’s.

However, the light side of romantic suspense usually starts with the hero or heroine’s “normal” life. This type of r/s doesn’t have to include the villain’s POV at all. In fact, the reader may not even know who the stalker/killer is until the end. Another difference is the way the gore is depicted in a light r/s. While the reader may see the dead body and blood everywhere, they won’t witness the murder.

I read and write both types of r/s and what I prefer really depends on my mood and the story itself. My current WIP (work in progress) is a light romantic suspense novel and my problem lies in the first chapter. I have three possible places to start the story and have had all kinds of opinions as to which works better. So, I thought I’d through the question out to you. Where should I start? Your answer, I’m assuming, will have something to do with the type of reader you are. Do you prefer:

1)to have the setting set-up and get an idea who the character is before the action starts? (I’m not talking about a setting dump here, where the author goes on and on about the weather or the character’s surroundings.)

2)to start with a hint of the suspense-type conflict?

3)to have the hero and heroine meet immediately?

I’ll post more tomorrow on this topic with examples of each beginning. Then, you can choose which works best with my writing style.

Searching for Answers

Tomorrow, I'm going to post something that romantic suspense fans might be able to answer. However, that shouldn't stop the rest of you from leaving a comment. For now, I'll leave you with this...

Do you prefer light or dark romantic suspense and why?

New Writers' Support Group

Have you noticed there are an awful lot of writers who blog? Well, I have. Then, I got to thinking… Wouldn’t it be neat if we all got together in one spot? We could share our wisdom and experiences; give cyber hugs after rejections; celebrate the victories; encourage each other; and talk about agents, publishing, and writing. Imagine the networking… The platform building… Isn’t this what we’re looking for?

Guess what! There is such a place. It’s a Yahoo group called: Writers_on_Writing. This is NOT a critique group, but a SUPPORT group for writers. There’s no obligation to comment, so there’s no pressure. Lurk, chat, and get to know other writers at your leisure. We’re looking to grow the group both in content and membership, so please invite your fellow writer friends. We accept writers of all levels, in all genres. After all, we’re all writers in the end, right? The only exception is that all members must be 18 years of age or older.

Interested? You can either leave your e-mail address in my comments section or e-mail me at: lynnette_labelle@hotmail.com . Please put “Invitation Request” in the subject line, so I know it’s safe to open. Then, I’ll send you an invitation. It’s that simple.

Any questions?

The Big Secret

Since you asked, I thought I’d blog today about my wonderful surprise yesterday. My husband told me to pack up the kids because he was taking us somewhere for supper. We live in a small town, so we’re very limited as to where we can actually eat.

When he pulled into Dairy Queen’s parking lot, I said: “Oh! We’re going to DQ for supper.”

“Yep. G’s going to buy us supper.”

Although the thought was nice, I couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t much of a surprise because G had offered to take us to DQ on Monday. “Are we doing anything else after this?”

He smiled. “Yes. This isn’t the surprise. It just worked out this way.”

Okay, so I still didn’t know where we were going for this surprise, but I knew it didn’t have anything to do with supper. He’d said we’d have to drive a while to get there, so that ruled out whatever might be going on in town. Whatever it was, there was some kind of a time frame, like it was going to start soon because my husband kept watching the clock.

“We have to go now,” he said, grabbing one of the twins by the hand.

So, we loaded the girls into the car and drove toward the center of town. As we passed the school, I noticed quite a few cars parked on the street. I figured there was some sort of game going on. I don’t really follow school sports. Then, it hit me, just as my husband turned the car and parked along the side of the school. I had seen some girls in tutus the other day. Was there a dance recital at the school?

Yep. That’s what it was. My husband knew I was considering enrolling the twins in a dance class, but I wasn’t sure if they would really get much out of it at their age (almost 4). Apparently, a few weeks ago, he’d contacted the dance instructor and asked her all about her classes. She then invited him to bring the family to this recital. He’s kept this secret for quite some time. The little sneak. How can I not love him?

“I thought we had to drive a while to get there.” I raised my right eyebrow.

“A while can mean many things.” He laughed. “I thought that might throw you off.”

It had, but I’m glad. This way, I wasn’t able to guess the surprise before it happened, and the girls loved it. They now want to be ballerinas and tap dancers, too. Most of all, they want to dance with the prince (the male dancer).

This surprise might not have been anything all that big, but it was special to my family. My husband’s thoughtfulness doesn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated. I’m a lucky woman.

What’s one of your favorite surprises?