My Writing

The Energy of Words and Actions

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Although this memory is dear to me, I debated whether to share it. However, the message outweighs my cringe-worthy embarrassment.

The origin of The Garden Collection has a bit of my own back history. When I was young, my family moved around a lot. Between 2nd and 5th grade, I attended five different schools usually starting in the middle of the year. As hard as it was to make friends, I started to wonder if it was worth trying, especially if we were moving again.

My clothes weren’t fashionable. My pants were a tad too short. My glasses were thick. I was shy and had an overbite … as nerdy as you can get. Surprise! I was picked on constantly.

Well, one day in 5th grade music class, our teacher told everyone to sing and sing loudly. Since I knew the song she played on the piano, I happily complied. By the chorus, not only were twenty students looking at me, the teacher stopped playing and openly mocked me with many of the students joining in. To say I was mortified is an understatement. I just gave the whole class more ammunition against me.

It was then that the popular boy spoke up. “Stop it,” he yelled. “She told us to sing loud.” All I could do was stare at him. That never happened before; the class actually stopped taunting me.

Well, it wasn’t the last time I was teased or bullied. It wasn’t even the last time that day. However, the mental snapshot has always stayed with me when I realized two things in that moment:

1) My feelings weren’t invisible like I thought; and

2) I mattered … to that one person at that particular point in time.

It changed the way I saw myself. He had given me a new confidence, and I built on that.

Well, my family stayed in that school district. He and I graduated from high school together. We didn’t really interact, but at a rural school, everyone knows everyone.

He inspired me to write a story about that moment. It’s not about him or me; it’s about the message that words of encouragement can stay with you for a lifetime. His certainly had.

I saw him with his daughter a while ago. I told him he inspired the story while his daughter listened. Surprised, he didn’t remember his kindness all those years ago. I didn’t expect him to. As awkward as that conversation was, I’m glad I shared it. His daughter left knowing her dad was my fifth grade hero.

I started to wonder if all those people who impacted my life in a positive way knew that they had. I try to share my appreciation whenever I can because the energy of words and actions affects us ─ good and bad. So, for all of the people who made a difference in your life, make sure you let them know. I guarantee you’ll feel great and it’ll make their day.

Learn more about The Garden Collection here.

 

Crazy or Passionate: You decide

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Chemical Attraction Cover Art

I enjoy the process of writing. It’s not always fun, but I embrace the challenge of researching, outlining, writing, and rewriting. My favorite part is running the different scenarios by my husband, Kraig.

When I first started writing, I struggled with a transitioning area in my story line for Chemical Attraction. Kraig suggested breakfast at our local diner to talk about it. Of course, I agreed. First, it was his idea. Second, any chance not to cook was a plus. And, third, he was a good sounding board—although less so that day.

After ordering our breakfasts, I explained my dilemma. “What do you think I should do?”

He sipped his coffee. “I think you should kill off one of your main characters.”

“What? Who?” I demanded.

“Matt Connor.” His reply was so casual as if killing a person was a common occurrence. I wondered if I married a hitman.

With my mouth open, I tried to comprehend his words. “I can’t kill Matt. He has a wife and a son. They’d be devastated.”

In the middle of the crowded restaurant, our heated discussion received wide-eyed stares from the patrons closest to us. As I thought about Matt dying, I blinked away a few tears. My bastard husband laughed while I searched my coat pocket for a tissue.

(For the record, I’m not afraid to kill off characters. I’ve done it to progress my other stories. However, Matt has more to share.)

“How could you suggest such a thing?” I asked.

Enjoying my grief, he smiled. “Have someone shoot him. Better yet, have a farm animal maul him to death…”

I blocked out his other malicious ideas. With a sympathetic look, the waitress silently refilled my mug and slid a few extra napkins toward my silverware. I blew my nose with one while she glowered at my horrible husband.

He leaned forward. “Honey, he’s just a character.”

But Matt wasn’t. He had a family. He had feelings. In my head, I knew he was a made-up person. My heart thought differently. Embarrassed by my emotional outburst, I quietly ate my breakfast. Kraig chuckled.

“Am I crazy?” I finally asked.

“Just passionate.” He tried to put a pleasant spin on it, but his wife was a nut job.

Later, I rationally considered his ideas and quickly dismissed them. Matt was safe in that story. We’ll see what happens in the rest of the series though. Wahaha!

I hope I’m not the only “passionate” writer out there with a crazy story like this. Care to share yours?

6 Things To Know About Christina Thompson

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1)  I’m a planner. To say I’m goal oriented would be an understatement. Having battled depression my whole life, I consider working toward my goals my coping mechanism. It gets me up in the morning, helps me focus on the task at hand, and makes me learn something new to accomplish it. Because of my goals, I became a massage therapist, an acupuncturist, and now a published author of five novels with another due out soon.

2)  Every weekend from 1999 to 2001, I commuted from Michigan to Racine, Wisconsin to get my diploma in Acupuncture. The four-hour drive during winter through Chicago traffic scarred me. Now, I don’t like to drive unless I absolutely have to. My husband, Kraig, is my chauffeur. I prefer the navigator role. As much as I push myself out of my comfort zone, I still like to hide. Luckily, I can work from home. We all have quirks, and this is one of mine.

3)  My ideas for stories have come from a variety of places. In Their Rigid Rules, I made the hero Stuart Morgan a history professor as an ode to Kraig, who’s a history buff. Kraig even helped me with the history references. For Chemical Attraction, I became fascinated in nanotechnology after reading an article by Carol Ekarius in Alternative Medicine called, “Welcome to Nano World.” The plot for The Trucker’s Cat was hatched in our local truck stop diner. The Garden Collection came about from my childhood experience with a bully.

4)  My favorite website is IMDb.com. The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is “the definitive collection of movie and television information and content.” Watching TV, I’m constantly asking Kraig if we’ve seen a particular actress in a different show. I’d look her up on the site. Somehow, I get lost in the site when I check the actress which takes me to her leading man in a different movie to what he’s working on now. After playing my own version of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” with the actress, I’ve missed half of the TV show. However, I consider this therapy to keeping my memory sharp. It beats playing Sudoku.

5)  I have a silly side. To amuse myself, I like to hide the used dryer sheets. After I fold our clothes, I take the leftover dryer sheets and hide them in places for Kraig to find later. He’s found them in his jean’s pocket, his wallet, his lunch cooler, and his book next to his bookmark. I once put one in his travel mug. He didn’t find it until after he poured his coffee. Oops. I recently put one in his DVD case of The Avengers. He’ll find that one when he watches all the Marvel movies in order … again.

6)  In December, I’ll turn fifty. One of the things I’d like to do is travel … as the navigator of course. We want to see Mount Rushmore and the Grand Canyon. I want to learn another language. Our bucket list has changed over the years. We’ve crossed some things off while adding a few others. I’d also like to see one of my novels on the big screen. I’m sure I’m not the only writer that dreams about their story concocted from their brains made into a movie. I mean, that’s how we see it when we write, right? The movie in our head plays and we write it down. I’m writing the script for Chemical Attraction to make that goal happen. Challenge accepted! I believe in myself and in miracles.

Care to share your quirk or silly side? Do you get lost in the maze of IMDb? Where do you get your story ideas? Do you see your books as movies in your head as you write?

History with a Twist

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Griswold Auditorium side view

It’s no secret that The Chemical Attraction Series is based on Allegan, Michigan. That’s three books and a fourth to be published later this year. Although my husband and I have only lived here for four years, I’ve worked here for over twenty and claim it as my hometown.

So when the city manager with ten years of notes on the history of Allegan asked if I’d write a story using it, I was thrilled … and honored. Then I thought, holy moly, how was I going to do that? Where do I start? Well, Google has become my new best friend.

I found a great article by Dave Hood about creative nonfiction history, which “presents facts and cause and effects but also adds narrative including storytelling, dialogue, setting, and character development.”

At first, I thought the genre I’d write in would be creative historical nonfiction, but now I think it’s still fiction, specifically historical fiction. This genre, in which the story is made up, is set in the past and borrows characteristics of the time period, basically fictional characters in documented situations and/or fictional characters in fictional situations but in the context of a real historical period. BINGO!

In my Series, I’ve used real places in Allegan (aka Allenton) and fictional people. In this next story, main characters will still be fiction even though I’m using the real history of Allegan.

My plan is to create people to observe and participate on the periphery of the town’s history but still have lives and adventures of their own. How boring would this story be if they didn’t? I love the idea of connecting this story with my series, so I’m going to use Matt Connor’s family tree since his family has lived in the town since it became a town. (Okay, I just made up that last part, but see, I’ve already gotten the creative juices flowing.)

With the basic ideas set, my next step is to outline Allegan’s history focusing on major events peppering in a few minor ones. I’ve gotten off to a great start with notes from the city manager, Allegan: Images of America by Nancy J Ingalsbee and Carol B. Garofalo, and Allegan’s History by Joe Armstrong and John Pahl.

Then, I’ll outline my people and plot. I have a feeling I’ll be camping out at the Allegan District Library for the summer. What do you think? Is this the best way to take on this huge undertaking? Please, comments are appreciated. I’ll keep you posted.

 

Inset picture is the Griswold Auditorium (aka the Hartford Auditorium from the Series)

Meet the Strong Sexy Women from The Chemical Attraction Series

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* In the prequel, Their Rigid Rules, TAYLOR VALENTINE, a natural beauty, embraces her vanilla tendencies. Her plan for her life reinforces those traits. Kindhearted, she doesn’t apologize for giving people the benefit of the doubt.

* In Their Rigid Rules and Chemical Attraction, EVA O’SULLIVAN, a petite Irish spitfire with auburn spiral curls, has big opinions, and you know them whether you want to or not. Masking her vulnerability, she wears her willfulness like armor.

* Akin to Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, MADELINE PIERCE, a dedicated scientist, has pain in her heart from an abusive relationship. With her Ice Queen persona set, she hides within the realm of her research in Chemical Attraction and Chemical Reaction.

Find these women here

What Inspires You?

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Dad's Medal

My inspiration for writing has come in many forms: the loving connection I have with my husband, the vitality I see in my adult children, and the trust I have in knowing my family has my back. One particular moving memory has stayed with me for years. It’s still fresh in my mind.

As part of the Honor Our Veterans program at school, my daughter asked her grandfather to speak to her fourth grade class about his experiences during the Korean War. He agreed. With his folder of transparency pictures for his presentation, he and I arrived at Steeby Elementary. My dad rarely spoke about that time in his life, so I was eager to hear what he had to say.

In the First Marine Division of George Company, he had served as a hospital corpsman and medic in an M.A.S.H. unit. He had assisted the doctors and nurses in prepping wounded soldiers for surgery. As he talked about his duties, he showed various pictures of him and his buddies in front of their army tents. My mind flashed to Klinger, Rizzo, and Radar.

A boy asked if he had killed anyone. He hadn’t. The closest he had gotten to battle was when he had volunteered to go to the front lines to bring back injured soldiers.

“Weren’t you scared?” one of the girls asked.

“No,” he replied, “even though I volunteered, I felt I didn’t have a choice. Those injured men needed my help.” He shared a picture of him receiving a commendation medal.

I never saw that picture. I never knew about the medal. I never even heard the story. My siblings and our mother hadn’t either. When I asked him why he never shared it, he shrugged and said someone stole the medal the next day.

Medals for BlogHoping to get him a replacement, my mom contacted the American Legion. A year later, a package arrived with his commendation medal and four others he had been awarded.

That phrase stayed in my head. He did have a choice; he chose not to have one. It’s a quality my protagonists have in many of my stories—to put someone else’s life ahead of themselves. Following a long line of servicemen in my family, my son continues to inspire me by also dedicating his service to his country.

Thank you again for allowing me to share this memory. What has inspired you lately?

 

Past Lives & Writing

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Some holistic practitioners believe the history of the soul’s journey is recorded and stored in the unconscious mind, available for retrieval at any time.  Looking at your past lives is thought to bring insights to your present life. All we need to do is put aside our analytical minds for a time and open our hearts. Years ago, my first past life regression (PLR) experience broke my heart.

During my session, the practitioner put me in a relaxed trance. Then she had me visualize my feet. What I saw was the tan, dirty feet of a young Hispanic woman. I was observing her surroundings through her eyes. In the mid-1800s, she lived on a poor dirt farm with her elderly father. At this particular moment in time, she watched her beloved disappear over the top of a dry grassy hill in the distance.

During my session, I sobbed at the deep sorrow I felt coming from her. She had spent hours watching the hill, her emotions fluctuating between the desperate hope that he would come back for her and the consuming grief that he had moved on without her. Every day for the rest of her lonely life, she awaited the return of this man. With no friends and no love in her life, she had only her father, who worked her to the bone. Every day was the same. As an old woman, she died not knowing if the man had ever loved her at all.

After the session, I felt a profound sadness. My body trembled in pain for this person. The only thing she wanted in her simple life was to be loved. Her story still haunts me, and I cry every time I tell her story. Was this woman made up from my imagination or was she a true past life? I don’t know. Real or not, it affects my writing.

I strive to write about those emotions that transcend all lives—to love and be loved. I’m compelled to write characters with deep backstories. I want readers to step into these lives and feel the power of their emotions as I did during my PLR session. I’d like to think the experience has made me a better writer.

Have you ever had a Past Life Regression (PLR) session? How did it affect you?

 

A Typical Day in My Writing Life

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My day of writing starts at night just before I go to bed. During that time, I plan the next day’s writing schedule. Will it be new projects, edits, blogs, or research? It’s also the best time for my storylines to reveal themselves. In the morning, I must have my coffee with Cinnabon creamer while I tend to the social media aspect of writing. I’m still learning how to promote.

Then, in between laundry, menu prep, and other chores, I tackle my agenda set from the night before. This process keeps me focused, so I don’t get caught up in Supernatural rerun.

Most of the time, I’m a step behind on the learning curve, but I’m all right with that. There’s less stress and frustration. However, I continually have to remind myself that I’m not in competition with anyone. Instead, I strive to make my best better.

I’m not sure how other authors do it, but it seems to work for me. I’m happy. Are you a writer? What’s your day look like?

The Weirdo, the Dork, and the Nerd

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Many refer to me as a weirdo, a dork, and a nerd. After many years of introspection, I’ve learned to embrace it and take it as a compliment on my creativity. My life in a nutshell:

In second grade, I wrote the short story, “Miss Pat’s Salad.” When Pat makes a salad then accidentally drops it on the floor, her family reacts divisively. This start to my writing career won the coveted place on the center of our refrigerator door.

After three weeks, my younger sister Tricia’s Chartreuse and Tangerine drawing of a cow knocked my story out of the spotlight. Seriously, who could compete with that? A few weeks later, I upended the Crayola cow with my short story, “The Card Family” about the King and Queen of Clubs, who introduce the newest addition to their family.

It was on. Trish won many more times. Deservedly so, she had colored between the lines. My younger brothers, James and Jefrey, added their kiddy crafts of Thanksgiving hand turkeys and macaroni art to the mix, and the competition became fierce.

With a few fridge awards under my belt, I expanded my genius to writing, directing, and producing our basement plays with my siblings. The most talked about play in the neighborhood was The Bionic Family starring our shaggy mutt, Arfie, as the bionic dog. If YouTube was around back then, we would have been a sensation … or mortified beyond belief.

As a tall, gangly, band geek, my creativity took a backseat in junior high and high school. Fitting in and avoiding embarrassment took precedence. Neither worked out, but it gave me cringe-worthy material for later stories.

In college, I met my now husband, Kraig, who inspired my world. He encouraged my writing even if it was research term papers. Later, I dabbled and focused on our children. With them grown, I took on the creative writing challenge once more. And Ta-Da! Here I am! That’s not the end though. I’ll share my eclectic world on my new blog.

What weird, dorky, and nerdy story do you remember growing up?

I’d love to know I’m not alone. Thanks for stopping by.