The King & I ~ memorable performances and songs

I don't remember if my sister was in Junior High School or High School, but I do remember clearly the performance she gave in the school's production of "The King and I" - she played Anna, the school teacher who arrives in Siam and impacts a society with kindness. As much as Anna teaches though, she also learns.

"It's a very ancient saying

But a true and honest thought

That if you become a teacher

By your pupils you'll be taught

As a teacher I've been learning

You'll forgive me if I boast

And I've now become an expert

On the subject I like most

Getting to know you

Getting to know all about you

Getting to like you

Getting to hope you like me

Getting to know you

Putting it my way

But nicely

You are precisely

My cup of tea

Getting to know you

Getting to know all about you

Getting to like you

Getting to hope you like me

Getting to know you

Putting it my way

But nicely

You are precisely

My cup of tea

Getting to know you

Getting to feel free and easy

When I am with you

Getting to know what to say

Haven't you noticed

Suddenly I'm bright and breezy?

Because of all the beautiful and new

Things I'm learning about you

Day by day

Getting to know you

Getting to feel free and easy

When I am with you

Getting to know what to say

Haven't you noticed

Suddenly I'm bright and breezy?

Because of all the beautiful and new

Things I'm learning about you

Day by day"

The King And I - Getting To Know You 

This song is a wonderful lesson for all of us as we go through life meeting people, building relationships and growing. Every person that comes into my life teaches me and I hope I leave them with something they will value as well.

Another of my favorite songs from The King and I is I Whistle a Happy Tune - this is a song I sing to myself whenever I get into a frightening situation (like driving over a bridge or submitting a new manuscript, ssshh...). Of course I sing it loud and clear and never when others are around, not because I am embarrassed by my nervousness but because NO ONE wants to hear me sing!

"Whenever I feel afraid

I hold my head erect

And whistle a happy tune

So no one will suspect I'm afraid

While shivering in my shoes

I strike a careless pose

And whistle a happy tune

And no one ever knows I'm afraid

The result of this deception

Is very strange to tell

For when I fool the people

I fear I fool myself as well

I whistle a happy tune

And every single time

The happiness in the tune

Convinces me that I'm not afraid

Make believe you're brave

And the trick will take you far

You may be as brave

As you make believe you are

You may be as brave

As you make believe you are

While shivering in my shoes

I strike a careless pose

And whistle a happy tune

And no one ever knows I'm afraid

The result of this deception

Is very strange to tell

For when I fool the people

I fear I fool myself as well

I whistle a happy tune

And every single time

The happiness in the tune

Convinces me that I'm not afraid

Make believe you're brave

And the trick will take you far

You may be as brave

As you make believe you are"

The King And I - I Whistle A Happy Tune

I love that show, The King and I, and all of the musical numbers. Years later my husband took me to see it on Broadway when Yul Brynner revived his performance in the early 80s. At the end of the show Mr Brynner came out to take his curtain call and refused to bow until everyone in the audience was standing an applauding. Remaining in character he stared at any stubborn audience members until they felt compelled to stand and cheer - it was a well known trademark of his and it was AWESOME!     

Yul Brynner & Gertrude Lawrence

I've seen several productions of The King and I and my husband and I both agree, there has never been a better King than Yul Brynner.

...but the best Anna I have ever seen is still my sister!

The detectives are fishing ~ Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 01/26/14

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the WeWriWa blog

The detectives stormed into Sam's office for an impromptu interrogation. They summoned Ben to join them and he's just arrived. We're picking up just a few sentences in from last week's snippet - once more back to A Chaunce of Riches (with creative punctuation):

“These nice detectives were just about to tell me about some information they have; supposedly this information will help to explain why they are wasting our time,” Sam tried not to sound too snippy.

“Mr. Johnson, when did you first learn that the Chaunces were back in town?”

“When my agency sent me there on an assignment...”

“And when did you first meet Julian Chaunce?”

“I never did.”

“How did you feel when you found out that your girlfriend had run off with Chaunce?”

“It was upsetting that she left me, but I didn’t know who she had left with until recently,” Ben cocked his head to the side impatiently, “what’s this about?”

“Did you hold any animosity towards Chaunce?”

For more WeWriWa Snippets, go to: 

www.wewriwa.com

The day that Ben Johnson was hired as a bodyguard for some rich widow and her kid, he never expected to be working for the woman who had abandoned him just when he had needed her the most so many years before. Damn it all, he still wanted her.

Samantha Chaunce never thought she would see him again. She never thought she would have to explain why she married the rich man over the man she had sworn she once loved. And she certainly never expected to find out that her rich husband had been murdered and fingers were pointing to her former lover. 

How far would you go for the person you loved?

Smashwords

NOOK

Kindle

Paperback

iBook/iTunes
KOBO

.

Gotta' Love the Business

Like many authors, I have “another job” – however my other job is also as a writer going by the name of Chelle Cordero. I’m a freelance journalist and I have a few regular clients. Aside from having more income opportunities in a career I love, working on a variety of projects in any given week is also a terrific way to beat writer’s block; when I am stuck on what word to write next I merely switch projects and the creative juices start flowing freely again. Such is the writer’s life.

As a novelist I write romantic suspense, a few novels centered around EMS mystery and most recently paranormal suspense. As a journalist I write about little black dresses, home furnishings and repairs, gardening, auto dealerships and finances – and a few more topics. I also write a monthly column about New York State Emergency Medical Services issues for a trade paper. These are my fairly regular gigs. On occasion when I get lucky I manage to get an assignment for a random publication as well. All these topics can get pretty confusing when I jump between topics, but it also presents lots of strange events which get written into my fiction.

I won’t deny that I love seeing my byline, it’s an ego thing. I also love to see my name on the spine of a book or at least listed next to a title at an online book retailer. Every so often I get a random phone call from a distant friend or an email from a reader asking if it’s the same Chelle Cordero that writes spicy novels and articles about senior dating and green living; I write for a syndicated service that provides special supplements to newspapers throughout North America so I never know where my articles will pop up.

In addition to the myriad of topics that I enjoy researching, I have the privilege to work with some pretty great editors and the chance to hone my style for each publication. By now I am sure you have heard the heaps of praise I have for my managing editor at Vanilla Heart Publishing where most of my fiction comes from; I also have huge respect for the other editors I’ve been lucky enough to work with. It’s no wonder I love my career.

I would love to hear from you whenever you read something I’ve written - like I said, it’s an ego thing. For a complete list of my books, take a look here, for a complete list of my writing credits go here. And to see samples of my books or some samples of my articles. 

(P.S.: I sure won’t mind if you let my editors know how terrific a writer you think I am...) 

The Plot Thickens - a snippet from A Chaunce of Riches #WeWriWa #8Sunday 01/19/14

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the WeWriWa blog

 Sam was devastated after making love with Ben and finding the distance between them widening. They're being drawn together again, but this time it's by the detectives who just barged into her office investigating her husband's murder. While we wait for Ben to arrive, here is another snippet from A Chaunce of Riches (creative punctuation and all):

Sam sighed, “it’s okay Lloyd, would you please tell Betsy to hold my calls?” She nodded at her friend and confidant; as soon as he left her office, closing the door behind him, she stood, “is there something I can get for you gentlemen?” She was acting like a perfect hostess just the way Julian had taught her.

“We appreciate it Mrs. Chaunce, but all we want is the truth.”

“About what Detective?”

“Tell us about your marriage.”

Sam sat and carefully placed her elbows on her desk, she tented her fingers together under her chin, “what exactly would you like to know?”

“Let’s start with the obvious, were you in love with your husband?”

For more WeWriWa Snippets, go to: 

www.wewriwa.com

The day that Ben Johnson was hired as a bodyguard for some rich widow and her kid, he never expected to be working for the woman who had abandoned him just when he had needed her the most so many years before. Damn it all, he still wanted her.

Samantha Chaunce never thought she would see him again. She never thought she would have to explain why she married the rich man over the man she had sworn she once loved. And she certainly never expected to find out that her rich husband had been murdered and fingers were pointing to her former lover. 

How far would you go for the person you loved?

Smashwords

NOOK

Kindle

Paperback

iBook/iTunes
KOBO

FREE Preview of The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero in Audio

Download the audio story NOT ALONE 

from this short story collection [FREE]

http://store.payloadz.com/go?id=1901660

(narrated by Wendy Tremont King)

After the lovemaking - a snippet from A Chaunce of Riches #WeWriWa #8Sunday 01/12/14

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the WeWriWa blog

Back to A Chaunce of Riches ~ As several of you mentioned in the comments last week, there will be regrets, but there is also more damage to be done. Ben has been holding on to his hurt and anger to try to protect himself from further hurt, but it is a battle he's losing. We're jumping ahead and Sam and Ben have finally given in and made love - it's far from a HEA... (as usual, creative punctuation and all that...)

“I love you Ben,” she whispered those words to him.

          He hung his head and couldn't bring himself to answer her; she was just as special as he always remembered.

          There was no real conversation between them as Ben drove Sam to her office, there was no acknowledgment of what had happened between them. Ben kept changing the topic whenever Sam tried to broach it. That evening, Dave came to her office to pick her up, he said Ben was at the house with Philip, Ben avoided her there, too.

          The next morning, Ben stayed at the school with Philip and left it to Dave to drive Sam to work, he hadn't allowed her any chance to talk with him and to ask how he felt. She was convinced that he had used her only to bury their history and to move on without her, that was what she had offered him. She was devastated.

For more WeWriWa Snippets, go to: 

www.wewriwa.com

The day that Ben Johnson was hired as a bodyguard for some rich widow and her kid, he never expected to be working for the woman who had abandoned him just when he had needed her the most so many years before. Damn it all, he still wanted her. Samantha Chaunce never thought she would see him again. She never thought she would have to explain why she married the rich man over the man she had sworn she once loved. And she certainly never expected to find out that her rich husband had been murdered and fingers were pointing to her former lover. 

How far would you go for the person you loved?

Smashwords

NOOK

Kindle

Paperback

iBook/iTunes
KOBO

http://ChelleCordero.com

An Interview With Chelle Cordero (courtesy of a few friends)

A short while ago while in a deliriously good mood about my husband and I reaching 38 romantic years of wedded bliss, I asked friends to send me questions for an interview. Thanks so much to both those who submitted questions and those who sent congratulations. So here goes, you asked…

1) Gladys asked, Should there always be a happy ending to a novel?

Some genres require happy ever after endings, like romance genres, but even if the chosen genre doesn’t require the HEA, I believe it should still be a fulfilling ending. Take a book like The Diary of Anne Frank, definitely not a happy ending, but by returning Anne’s diary to her father, the only survivor of the family, the story ending has something significant and the story itself has a “purpose”.

As a writer, whether I am writing a non-fiction article or a novel, it is my job to provide something for the reader to take away from my work – a thought, a value, inspiration… The average reader wants something final from a story, some type of solution. The solution doesn’t necessarily need to be outright happy, but no one should be left with haunting unanswered questions. Cliffhangers in a series will leave enough open to make the reader want to come back for more, but there have been answers and solutions along the way making the reader feel they’ve gained something along the way.

2) Cindy asked, How many of the settings in your books have you actually visited?

I really have to count this one out. I’ve never been to Vegas (used liberally in His Lucky Charm), Colorado (from Karma Visited), or Louisiana and Arkansas (from Hostage Heart). I think I’ve been every other place I’ve used as a backdrop, or at least to the general vicinity. I tend to soak up stories from others about places and experiences they’ve been through; I certainly live vicariously. It doesn’t matter whether I have been someplace myself or not though, I do extensive research on each location and try to include enough reality to make the place real – and yet not so much description that I get tripped up for “faking it”. 

Several of my stories have had NYC and Hudson Valley settings, places I am very familiar with, but how often have we heard stories of folks who grew up in NYC and yet never visited the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building? I like to check my facts instead of relying on simple memory. Amusingly I once had someone who has been to Las Vegas talk to me about where I had been and stuff – when I told her I never was she told me I “had to have been there” because I described something so well in my book. Travel guides and Chamber of Commerce or Tourism sites are so rich with knowledge and often include pictures, maps and even videos and allow for virtual visits.

3) Marshall asked, Do you think that your early education gave you "food for thought" in developing plots, concepts or characters for your novels?

Both my early education and experiences undeniably have provided me with a lot of fodder for my stories. I was extremely lucky to meet a lot of very interesting and colorful people. My parents were involved in the community which opened my eyes to different perspectives. 

Each school I attended from grade school through college allowed me to meet and socialize with people of varying backgrounds, faiths, economic status, and interests. I went to high school and college with artistic and creative types, and I worked a part-time job through college that allowed me to fulfill my sense of adventure (undercover retail investigation). All in all I grew up believing everything was possible and even the unexpected could happen.

4) Teresa asked, Where do you get inspiration for a story?

I people watch, I listen, I read EVERYTHING, and I play the game of “What if?” I love to exercise (writing) and I rewrite nursery rhymes, newspaper articles, TV shows and things that happened in my own life that I would do differently now with my vast experience, lol.

 My husband is part of a federal medical team; he spent six weeks in southern Louisiana after Katrina and Rita devastated New Orleans. When Mark came home he was filled with stories about the strength and resiliency of the people he helped treat, as well as tear-filled recollections of the destruction and loss in the area. The more he spoke the more I pictured a family who had to put their lives back together and Deanna Blair and her parents (Hostage Heart) were “born”. Tidbits from other stories (news items mostly) and memories of folks from my past filled in the rest.

5) Vicki asked, How did you start writing?

I volunteered with the NYC Auxiliary Police Department and worked under the auspices of our precinct’s public relations officer. Hank (the detective in charge) asked me to do a favor for him – a young man from our community was killed while trying to help a mugging victim and the weekly newspaper editor asked for an article about the incident. Hank knew I had taken creative writing in school and assigned the task to me. A week later, at the age of 18, I had my first professional byline.

Nine years later, married and pregnant with our daughter, I decided to build a business that I could work from home and I returned to writing professionally. I got a few assignments with local magazines and newspapers. Several years later I realized that I wanted to write fiction, something I had always dabbled with privately, and I kept writing until I found a publisher.

6) Daisy asked, What started you into writing? I know that it is just a matter of time before your books turns into a screen movie.

My parents always encouraged self-expression; however I was always very private with anything I wrote. I was shy and worried about exposing myself to ridicule or worse, vulnerability. No joke, putting something as personal as your written thoughts out there is tantamount to stripping naked and inviting a critique on every body flaw.

In high school I had a class in creative writing taught by the renowned poet Daisy Aldan. Ms. Aldan encouraged me to write and deal with the vulnerabilities. I will never forget one writing assignment, we had to write a serious love letter to an inanimate object – I wrote a Love Letter to a Guitar which later appeared in my school’s yearbook – we all chuckled under our breath when the assignment was given, but the exercise proved to be life-altering. I learned to write with much more than pen and paper, I learned to write with my heart and all of my senses.

Thanks for the kind words, I would absolutely love to see some of my stories on the screen and I often play around with casting the characters. Alex O'Loughlin would definitely have to play Jake in Final Sin! (Yum)

7) Jayne asked, How do you envision your hero in each book?

My heroes tend to be a compilation of people I know, have heard about, or dream of. I’ve been asked several times if the hero in a book is really my husband, there are qualities that each one shares with Mark, but they aren’t him. While I admit to falling in love with each and every one of them, they are all different and each one has a bit of “bad boy” in him. I think my heroes fit the stories that they are in.

One thing that I do in every story is gift each hero with a habit or trait that has my husband, Mark, all over it, even a few frustrating habits. In Courage of the Heart there is a humorous scene where Davie files Adam’s computer disks on his desk – only NONE of the disks are labeled and it winds up irritating him because he has to now go through them to make sense of the information. Back when we had diskettes Mark never, ever labeled them and it totally perplexed me.

8) From my publisher Kimberlee, Does your significant other read your stuff?

No, not at all. Mark likes action adventure books; his favorite books are probably Ludlum and that sort. He “claims” he doesn’t like reading romance – even suspense.

But a few years ago I heard another author talk about her husband not reading her books – she asked him if he felt self-conscious about reading the love scenes and that he might fear seeing himself on the pages. His answer to her was surprising, he was afraid he WOULDN’T see himself. I stopped trying to guilt Mark into reading my books after I heard that.

He is very supportive of my writing endeavors though and cheers me on with each accomplishment.

9) From my publisher Kimberlee, What is the hardest part of writing your books?

Writing “The End” and saying goodbye. I’ve created the characters and raised them to function and after all the time I’ve invested on them I now have to let them go off on their own. It really is an empty nest feeling.

10) From my publisher Kimberlee, Tell us about your recent release.

I love my novel Karma Visited – it was really a stretch for me to write, it was different from the others. 

Karma Visited is a Paranormal Suspense with a strong romantic edge. Annie Furman died on the operating table after an accident that took her parents’ lives – the doctors revive her but she has an unexpected ability to travel in her sleep to disasters and people in need. No one believes that her nightmares are real and her guardians put her into therapy, she eventually learns to pretend that she is “normal”. She gets married only to find that her husband, Scott, isn’t the man she thought he was. When she makes the mistake of confiding in him he uses the information to control her and threatens to commit her if she rebels. Annie meets Dave Turner in one of her dreams; surprisingly he can see and hear her. Dave and Annie grow closer and… 

Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out the rest.

http://ChelleCordero.com

Ben is fighting his need - Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 01/05/14

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the WeWriWa blog

I'm continuing with A Chaunce of Riches - there have been attempts made on Sam's life and Ben has done his job protecting her. He's tried to comfort her and there have been a few tender moments - but he's scared of letting his defenses down and getting hurt again. Besides, she still refuses to tell him why she left...

He sighed and fought to keep control, “I just…”, if he showed her how much he still wanted her then he would be lost forever. He had to stay above it all, he had to hold on to his anger and his bitterness or he would be destroyed, “I keep telling myself that the only reason my memory of making love to you is so special is because you were the first woman I was ever with, but now I’ve been with other women and they all have been good.” He ignored the slight flicker of pain he saw in her eyes, he regretted hurting her, but that was good; he needed to keep that wall up between them. “I’m sure that if I made love with you now, you would be nothing more than just another vessel.”

          She tried to sound indignant to hide the hurt he had just inflicted, “you won’t get the chance to find out.”

          He snickered cruelly, “why not, I know I probably couldn’t afford you but can’t you just pretend, I want you, I need you, nobody even needs to know.”

          Samantha Chaunce was doing her best not to cry in front of him, “why are you being such a bastard?”

          He laughed out loud, “you know that I am a bastard better than anyone else.”

...a long time ago she promised never to call him that.

For more WeWriWa Snippets, go to: 

www.wewriwa.com

The day that Ben Johnson was hired as a bodyguard for some rich widow and her kid, he never expected to be working for the woman who had abandoned him just when he had needed her the most so many years before. Damn it all, he still wanted her. Samantha Chaunce never thought she would see him again. She never thought she would have to explain why she married the rich man over the man she had sworn she once loved. And she certainly never expected to find out that her rich husband had been murdered and fingers were pointing to her former lover. 

Smashwords

NOOK

Kindle

Paperback

iBook/iTunes
KOBO

Author Bio:

Chelle Cordero writes stories of Passion and Suspense. Vanilla Heart Publishing has published nine Cordero novels: Bartlett’s Rule; His Lucky Charm; Within the Law; Courage of the Heart; Final Sin; Hostage Heart; A Chaunce of Riches; Common Bond, Tangled Hearts; Hyphema; and Karma Visited. She is currently working on her next novel, a paranormal romantic suspense (much requested) sequel to Karma Visited. Vanilla Heart Publishing has also produced a print and e-book version of writing lessons and exercises based on her successful Amazon blog Living, Breathing, Writing. Chelle has been writing both fiction and non-fiction for the bulk of her adult life and has been with Vanilla Heart Publishing since early 2008.

Her books have earned many plaudits which includes: Bartlett's Rule was named one of Carolyn Howard-Johnson's Top Ten Reads for 2009; Final Sin was an Honorable Mention in the Fiction Category of the 2010 NY Book Festival and a 2009 Pushcart Prize nominee.; Hyphema won the Dec 9, 2011 Friday Book Cover Vote on the Shades of Love website; A Chaunce of Riches was Winner of D. Renee Bagby’s readers’ choice for The Best Overall First Chapter, April 2010; and Hostage Heart, Final Sin and A Chaunce of Riches had top ten finishes in the 2009 Preditors’ and Readers’ poll. Chelle was also featured in "50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading" published by The Author’s Show in 2010.

Chelle Cordero maintains an author’s blog at http://chellecordero.blogspot.com/, a promotional blog at http://ccepotourri.wordpress.com/, and offers a weekly writing workshop for Kindle Blog subscribers at http://bit.ly/pILcG. Her website http://ChelleCordero.com offers information on all of her books and her appearances. Bloggers and the media are welcome to visit Chelle’s media room at http://chellecordero.com/media/ with downloadable photos and other information.

Be sure to LIKE Chelle’s FaceBook page at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorChelleCordero and follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ChelleCordero. You can email Chelle at ChelleCordero(at)gmail.com.

Last Chance- Enter My Anniversary Celebration Giveaway

Dec.28, 1975

My husband and I celebrated our 38^th wedding anniversary on Saturday December 28! That put me in a real good mood so I’m going to celebrate by giving YOU presents.

…I want to ask you for a favor; my publisher wants us to give interviews and I need questions. Please think of a writing related question you want me, Author Chelle Cordero, to answer and then post it on my Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/AuthorChelleCordero (if you haven’t already you will have to “LIKE” the page)

I’ll choose up to 10 questions to answer in a blog on Wednesday, January 8. I will give each person whose question I choose a gift – either a FREE downloadable audio book or an e-book from Smashwords (randomly chosen). Last day to submit a question is Sunday, January 5, 2014.

Here’s a list of prizes: (1 each) audio books of Bartlett’s Rule; Hostage Heart; & Courage of the Heart; and e-books of A Chaunce of Riches; CommonBond, Tangled Hearts; His Lucky Charm; & (4) The Many Faces of ChelleCordero.

It’s simple – LIKE my Facebook Author page, post an author interview question, and read my responses on January 8 on The Potpourri Parlor , my Facebook page, my blog  and my website.