Blog: Have You Ever Wished You Could? #cutemeet #lightheartedromance #MFRWauthor

Have you every wished you could do something but were too embarrassed to do so? Or to shy? Or worried about what others would think?



I grew up a shy girl. I know that might contradict with what you know about me now. I love meeting new people and doing fun things. And as for embarrassing myself? Well, the likelihood of meeting those folks again is zilch.



I have always had in the background these wishes—

I wish I could draw/paint (and I don’t mean the walls of the house. I can do that). I’ve never had an

art lesson. The closest I ever came was a wine and paint class. I didn’t do badly because the instructor gave great directions. And now, I’m happy expressing myself through stitching embroidery and needlepoint. So maybe I'm okay with not learning how right now.



I wish I could dance. All I wanted in high school was to be a member of the dance team. But there was one drawback-I’d never had a dance lesson. I tried out my sophomore year and didn’t make it. In my junior year, I decided to be a manager based on the prior year.  I worked out with the other girls and could do what they did. So why didn’t I try? The teacher agreed to let me. I high-kicked my way perfectly. But jazz dance? That’s where no training showed. The teacher must have known how much I wanted to be a dance team member. She told me I’d have to work extra hard (which I did). And as a married woman, I found Jazzercise and have been happily dancing ever since.

I wish I could write. Ever since I read Dick Francis’ mysteries, I had the urge to write. But I had no guts. I knew deep inside I couldn’t take the rejection. After a friend pushed me to try, I felt more comfortable in my writing shoes. I worked and worked and joined Romance Writers of America and the local chapter. There I made friends and honed my craft. I had the rejections, but I’d learned how to handle that and plowed on. I’m glad I did. I’ve learned so much and grown immensely.



I know many of you have had “I wishes.” Is it too late? What would you do?


Creativity abounds in this fun, light-hearted, cute-meet collection:

Find yours at: 


 Amazon    Print     Nook   Other

Handbags, Books...Whatever - Tick-Tock Clock #findingatreasure #familyheirloom #shortstories

Over the past couple of years, my sisters and I have been sorting my parents’ things. Each of us claimed jewelry, pictures, other odds and ends. From one of Dad’s boxes, I picked up an Elgin watch. I had to laugh because the band was the classic expand-o-matic kind that I remembered being advertised constantly on TV. 

Just for grins, I gave it a wind, and sure enough, it ticked. I wound some more and set the correct time. Sliding it on my arm, every now and again, I would look to see if the time was holding up and it had! I wore the watch over the next few weeks just to confirm how it ran. All was good. So I took it to the jeweler for a check.

The jeweler said the watch came from the fifties, that the band was probably the original – surprise! I asked to have it cleaned and  his initials engraved on the back. 

Not long ago, my mother-in-law passed, and as my sisters-in-laws and niece went threw her precious belongings, I picked up a small gold watch. Just for grins, I gave it a wind and set the time. This watch, too, stayed on time. The band didn’t snap properly. I thought “what the heck” and took it to the jeweler’s for his thoughts.

We didn’t guesstimate the era the watch came from. She was born in the mid-thirties; so I’m thinking she received the watch in the forties. He did listen and watch and was impressed that something so old kept good time. He said the watch repair man could fix the catch and would clean it as well. I opted to have the back engraved with all of her initials. 

I like wearing multiple things together on my left wrist-bracelets, watches. I have no problem in putting on two watches and something else. The more the merrier. I’m excited about having something that once belonged to family and now belongs to me.

Is it dessert time? I’m a chocolate a day kind of gal and rarely pass up cake. In that vein, how about delving into these dessert stories:

Love blossoms in the small town of Sommerville in these heartwarming, “cute meet” tales,

filled with fun and forever possibilities.

 ebook     print     B&N     other e vendors

Vicki Batman - It’s really Simplicity, isn’t it? @Simplicitypatterns #craftingwithmom #readromance #MFRWauthor

My sisters and I grew up with Mom making our clothes and hers as well. It made money sense to do so and back then, my parents were all about stretching every penny. There were huge fabric stores like Cloth World and Hancock’s. Sometimes, we would go with Mom to those stores and go through the pattern books, like Simplicity, McCalls, and Butterick, but never Vogue because those were more complicated and she had little time for that. 

Patterns allowed people to create their own clothing. The books we thumbed through were our version of stylish fashion magazines and offered a glimpse of glamor. We could imagine ourselves garbed in gorgeous outfits. Mom often made us matching dresses for Easter, like these: 

Aren't we cute? 

We would help my mom lay the printed tissue on the fabric and learned how to pin it into place. If we could cut straight (not me, Mom said), we cut along the lines. Mom pinned the pieces together and then sewed them. One time, I did try to make a dress with her help. She was a tough teacher, and mostly, I learned how to rip and sew again. And again. Since ripping was not fun, my creativity did not go into sewing.

After I graduated from college, I worked for a local department store. I desperately needed new work clothes. Who did I turn to? Mom! She made me several Chanel-styled suits in various fabrics, sometimes, dresses, and special evening wear. I loved them!

In 2018 while shopping in my favorite Joann’s, I ran across several Simplicity collectibles. Memories crowded my head and of course, I purchased a few items, like these: 

Are you into sewing clothes?

And here’s more creative fun—Just Desserts…and other stories, eleven romantic comedy short stories sure to make you feel good.

 Amazon ebook   Amazon PB     B&N      Smashwords

Book and Bag - Vicki Batman Yikes! #badbook #readromance #MFRWauthor

I just finished the January book club selection and did not like it. Not. At. All. I didn’t like it from the get-go. Our group thought the book would be a mystery, like the cover blurb said. Only it wasn’t. 

The author is quite notable in his field and has written books about his subject. The book club book was a combination of his expertise with the mystery. Only the book was predominantly the history and very little of the mystery.

I was sorely disappointed. This book was greatly reviewed and won prizes. 

We began reading for our December meeting. When that day rolled around, we were all whining and agreed to extend to January with the idea we needed the extra month because of the holidays. I used the time off to read my favorites—romance and mysteries. When January 1 came, I put on my big girl panties and finished. I gladly admit I skipped over the historical stuff to get to the mystery. 

Finished! Uh, no. There were notes, a biography, and pages more. I truly didn’t care to read that either.

However, guilt set it. Not enough to make me go back and read the skipped pages, though. I began to think what if my books were boring?

Coincidentally, I did some website maintenance and noticed I didn’t have a buy link for one site. I scooted over there and found…a two starred review. Yikes! It was hard for me to read. She didn’t like the book at all; however, she did say some nice things, too. 

I went back to my website, made the changes, and noticed all the four and five starred reviews. Overall, my books get high marks. I felt a whole lot better.

So back to the book club selection… I went to Amazon to read the reviews. There were tons (the book is that famous). I scrolled to the one stars and voila! Everything the readers had said was exactly how I felt. It wasn’t me. 

The interesting about book club books we don’t like is we have the best discussions. So next week, I’m looking forward to what my friends have to say.

So what stops you from reading?

Got the winter doldrums? Try this winter anthology, Whispers of Winter

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GVNX2LZ/

Blog: Happy Release Day for Whispers of Winter, a holiday anthology #fruitcakelovers #romanticcomedy #MFRWauthor

HAPPY RELEASE DAY!!

Whispers of Winter holiday anthology which includes my romantic comedy short story, The Great Fruitcake Bake-off.

When five-time champion Samantha Greene teams up with her new neighbor, Dixon Roberts, for The Great Fruitcake Bake-off, they discover baking a prize-winning entry is complicated, bad guys are plotting to take the crown, and first prize isn't just about a ribbon.

Blog: Quilting Magic with Ties #holidayanthology #crafting #readromance

A lot of you know I call my husband Handsome. When we first married, he gave me a card signed with Handsome Husband. I shortened it. (And Handsome is a pretty nice looking guy. )

I grew up when working men wore suits to their job and to church, to shows, etc. I like the look. Handsome’s career began at a large accounting firm and he wore the “uniform” too. He especially liked ties and for a long time, never threw any away.

An employee at his company makes quilts. After a chat, he decided to have one made into a quilt. Take a look:

CUT! Costumes in Movies, part 4 #historicalromance #moviecostumes #readromance

From the CUT! Costumes in Movies exhibit, I'm focusing on evening gowns. And are there some doozies:

Who loved to play dress up? Me! Once, I went to a tag sale when I was about ten and for a very small fee, I bought a dark blue evening gown. I just loved it. Today is our last look at CUT!! and I'm featuring evening gowns. 

From Phantom of the Opera, we have this lovely pink creation worn by Emily Rossum as Christine:

Isn't it gorgeous? Love the shade of pink, how the train is gathered and embellished with flowers and ribbons.

Have I said how much I LOVE red? This stunning red dress was worn by Laura Flynn Boyle:

A little art deco flavor, slimmer silhouette:

And lastly, a slinky dress and suit:

Plotting Princesses: Vicki Batman - You know what’s really annoying? #MFRWorg #readromance #householdchores

I try not to be a gripey person. I take on tasks I dislike and finish them. There is one household chore I really dislike, and I think you’ll be surprised when I say... 

Changing out the toilet paper tube for a fresh roll.

Yep, the springy thing bouncing all over the room, getting on hands and knees and finding it, and pushing all just so to get it back in the holder drives me crazy. I wish I had installed the kind where the roll slips over the rod.

Silly, isn’t it?

Vicki Batman : A Writer’s Good Life #MFRWorg #readromance #RWA2018

The best part of being a writer is meeting writers. Sharing, collaborating, buying books. And that’s what I’m doing. I’m at the Romance Writer’s of American convention attending workshops, classes, dinners and lunches, and signing books at the Indie Signing. 

Last year was a huge one for me. I signed at the Indie Signing and my mystery at the Signing for Literacy. I had so much fun. Many writer friends I’ve made over fourteen years stopped by and picked up books. There were strangers who came looking for me! A friend who made the call to notify me I’d finalled in her chapter’s contest.

I think I broke my smile that day.

I’m not a fast writer lately. Life has pushed me around and I do what I do. Though, when I have looked back, I have been amazed at what I’ve done:

35 short stories and essays

2 romantic comedy mysteries

So I’m absorbing new information, hanging with old and new friends, and soon shall be flexing my fingers and hitting the keyboard. 

Author Vicki Batman on Handbag and Book - My Observations about Dogs #gettingapet #catsanddogs #romanticcomedy

Some of you may be laughing hysterically just from the title of my blog because you know I grew up with cats, not dogs. My mom didn’t want to fence the yard for a dog. Our first cat was a huge gray guy named appropriately Smokey. He was born between our wooden and the neighbor’s chain link fences. 

Over the years, there were others, like Mischief, Fuzzy, Snuffer. Our last two were farm cats from Kansas named Romper, aka Roo, Roo-roo, Romp, and her sister, Scooter, aka Scoo. 

Handsome, however, grew up with dogs. He loves to tell the story of their sheepdog who ate the Thanksgiving turkey (Christmas Story, anyone?). So when #1son was about three, he adopted Baxter, a sheep dog who grew VERY LARGE. Baxter was too big for little kids and no one could walk him well.

After Baxter and Snuffer passed, we adopted the farm girls. They were little and squirmy and perfect for boys’ love. Both had a long shy streak and would hide behind furniture when people came over.

Many years passed and Handsome began to yearn for another dog.

Vicki Batman - Thirty-four #readromance #RLFblog #MFRWorg

34          I counted just the other day because I kinda had thirty in my head. So why the number?

I’ve written thirty-four short stories.

I began by writing my romantic comedy mystery, Temporarily Employed. Then I critiqued six very short stories for a friend, and all of the sudden, the rhythm of writing these fell into my head. Then an idea came, and I was off. I churned out a lot of short stories, many of which were pubbed by magazines and other publishers, some have been in anthologies.

I really do like writing short. My life has been upside down and concentrating on a book is hard for me. I can pop in and out of a short story and feel as if I’ve accomplished a lot.

As for very shorts…

I’ve collected eleven, two of which have never been pubbed before. Here’s a bit about them:

Vicki Batman on What's inspiring you? #readromance #springishere #RLFblog

Nature is!

I have always liked the beautiful colors of flowers; however, my obsession really began about three years ago when Handsome and I traveled the Rhine on a river cruise. We began our journey in Lucerne, Switzerland in late June. The weather was perfect, in fact, almost like spring compared to the heat my area experiences in the summer. Many variety of flowers bloomed everywhere. I became captivated and took many photos. Some flowers resembled those grown at home. I also spotted new plants. Even the tiny orange weed in the crack next to a white-washed building captured my fancy. 

This year, the spring flowers are bountiful, most likely due to the abundance of rain and cool temperatures. The antique climbing roses is loaded with tiny pale yellow bouquets. (These are the same plants I nearly chopped down, too.) Every day, I see new things—a snowball viburnum bursting with large blossoms. Many colors of Iris. Hot pink Gerbera daises. Green roses.

The air is fresh, perfumed by the budding flowers. The breeze lifts my hair and brushes across my mouth only to stick on my lip balm (no flavor). On dog walks, Champ, our white malti-poo, toddles along, stopping to pee every ten feet. His smoky gray brother, Jones, has long straight legs and walks like he knows what he is doing, only he doesn’t most of the time. Kids handling super-hero kites which are struggling to find lift. My neighbor is dead-heading the yellow and purple pansies with their fanciful smiles along her front walkway garden.

So how is all this loveliness inspiring?

I’ve been working harder at effective descriptions by adding how I feel and what I see. Hopefully by doing so, you--the reader--are experiencing a better mind picture.

What makes a good Ending? #readromance #RLFblog #writing

Hi, everyone! It's Princess Vicki and I want to chat about THE END. You just finished the book,  close it, and sometimes, sigh. The last line sets the tone for how the book ends, a resolution, and is a counterpoint to the opening line which sets the story in motion.

Sometimes, there are lines that stay with us forever. For example:

“Tomorrow is another day.” From Gone With the Wind

“Thank you, God, she thought. Thank you.” From A Knight in Shining Armor (When I reached the end of this one, I sat for about a minute with the book in my hands, then started it again instantly.)

When I finish a story or book, I think a lot about the last line. I have been accused of writing a cliffhanger and maybe so.

.@VickiBatman - What Makes me Stop Writing? #readromance #RomanceLivesForever #MFRWauthor

I remember the first time my brain didn’t want to write. I’d been working on my first romantic comedy mystery for a few months when Handsome was diagnosed with throat cancer. My whole world stopped. (FMI see Romance Lives Forever at: Romance Lives Forever .)

But how to keep the creativity going? I did develop a game plan—I took writing classes (didn’t comment much but worked on all lessons), played my favorite Word Search no Vowels, I critiqued with friends, journaled, attended my local romance writing chapter meetings. Most importantly, I set a deadline for after when his treatment would end and our lives would be back on track.

On the designated date, I booted up my computer and found my book. It had been haunting me, and when thoughts popped in my head, boom! I wrote them down and saved them. I had decided if I could only write twenty words, that was what I would do. I started with chapter one and worked. I was so nervous because I thought what if I can’t get back in my groove? The next day, I did better, and after that, better, till finally, my fingers were flying again.

Handbag and Book: Oldies but Goodies. @VickiBatman #readromance #RLFblog #MFRWauthors

At age fourteen, my mom introduced me to romance books. On our summer breaks, she took us to the library. Our reads had to last two weeks and then she would take us back. I was such a fast reader. I read mine, sometimes twice, and sometimes, my sisters’ books too.

One day, I was totally bored. Nothing new to read. So I asked Mom if we could go to the library, a day off from our regular schedule. She firmed her lips and gave me an interesting look. Then she reached for her handbag, stashed on a shelf in a built-in bookcase. She pushed a small paperback in my hands and said, “Read this.”

On the front was a picture of a couple, a dark-headed girl turned away from a man with brown hair wearing a suit. The author’s name was Emilie Loring. I flipped the book over and read the back cover blurb. Hmmm, I thought, and went to my room where I plopped on my bed and began.

Do I write 24/7? No way. #crafting #writinglife #hobbies

Would it surprise you to know, I don't write all day, every day. I'm a 9:30 to 4:30 writer. I have tons of stuff to do around my house and have to squeeze it in-today is fix the washer day; tomorrow is a new plumber coming to fix the dripping pipes under my master sink; somewhere in there is the a/c man to figure out why there is weird programming on my Nest thermostat.

I have other things to do too, like reading!! And I'm embroidering on a needlepoint pillow and a 12 days of Christmas lap blanket. I adore watching a good movie and stitching. I like stitching so much, I'd stitch in church if I could.

So I thought I'd share what I completed last year:

The Holiday Dupe #Christmas #presents #holidayboxedset

Recently, I conversed with someone who shared his hilarious Christmas remembrance. Every December, presents were piled around his family’s tree in the living room, but no one dared to enter unless there was company or on Christmas. On Christmas Eve, the kids opened one present. Afterwards, off to bed because Santa was coming. On Christmas morning, they opened the rest.

One year, he realized the packages under the tree hadn’t changed from the night before. Nothing new had been added. Nothing from Santa. And then he had this realization: his parents had lied. He’d been duped.

Off he went to confront his mother who danced around the subject and finally explained how all things Santa worked.

When I was younger, my family went to Grandmother’s for Christmas Eve celebration with my mom’s family. It was a joyous event with good food and a gift from Grandmother.

After my family returned home and we were sent to bed with the admonition “better go to sleep so Santa can come,” my sister and I decided to watch for Santa. The hallway to the bedrooms had a small jog to our room where we hid. Lo and behold, we saw Mom and Dad emerging from the bathroom which opened to the hallway. They were carrying dolls and plastic musical instruments. After a while, no more parents. So we watched longer for Santa. Finally, sleep took over and we plopped in bed.

Imagine our surprise the next morning when we went to the tree and saw the gifts Mom and Dad had carried, but nothing different. That was when we figured out they were Santa.

We’d been duped – in a not-so bad way. LOL

At what age did you discover all things Santa?

So what is new? Why Season of Magic, a holiday boxed set, is now FREE at Amazon and other e-retailers. My romantic comedy story is Holiday Disaster (Christmas + Bad Plumbing = Holiday Disaster). Here’s a bit about our stories:

Noel Noel Noel by Merry Holly ~ Dumped and lonely, is it possible to find love at the local mall? Noelle thinks not, but a chance encounter with Chase Clayborne while Christmas shopping has her rethinking her rigid set of rules.

A Cinderella Christmas by Cara Marsi ~ Jessica Gallo no longer believed in fairy tales or happy endings. And she certainly didn’t believe she’d find her Prince Charming at Saks Fifth Avenue. Her Fairy Godmother thought differently.

Matchmaker Matchmaker by Bobbi Lerman ~ With Chanukah around the corner, is there enough magic left for a matchmaker to bring Molly's cynical heart back to life?

Yuletide Bride by Gerri Brousseau ~ The Dowager Duchess’s decree that her grandson must marry before Twelfth Night or relinquish his title and fortune sends him into a tail spin. Without any prospects and with only two weeks until Christmas will Stuart Nelson find himself destitute or will he find The Yuletide Bride?

Holiday Disaster by Vicki Batman: The week before Christmas and all is in disarray when a librarian experiences horrible plumbing issues and a Mr. Maintenance Man who isn’t nearly as jolly as Santa Claus.

 

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