Wednesday, December 31, 2014

A Look Forward

Every year authors end with a look back with resolutions and wishes for bright new year; I'm no different.

2014 was a year of highs and lows in my personal life. I lost a very dear cousin this year, younger than me and a wonderful friend and confidant, and like the rest of the family I miss her.

2014 was also the year that our son, our youngest, took a bride. The wedding was magnificent (the kids did it themselves), our new daughter-in-law is beautiful, and both of them are very happy with each other. Our oldest child, a daughter, was married in 2007. As parents it is a blessing to look at your precious children and know that they have partners who will love them, care for them and stand by their side.

So 2014 is also the year that my husband and I — with 39 years of marriage under our belts — are now back to being "just a couple"... although honestly once you are parents you never stop.

Mark and I are now in a position to look seriously at our future, we're not as young as we were the last time we were "just a couple". We're looking at our home, it's a beautiful home and one where we raised our family, and we are talking about downsizing and living in a home that will allow us to grow old (in 30 or 40 years...) comfortably. It's a fascinating study to examine your own life and see how your priorities change through the years.

Looking forward to 2015 I plan to do a lot more writing. I had a holiday themed short story published in 2014 but most of my published writing was in the non-fiction journalistic world instead of the novels I so love penning. I'm good at the articles though, please forgive my ego, and I would love to hear if you come across any of my articles the next time you thumb through your local paper. Since I often write for a company that sells supplements to various North American publications, you might actually get to read my non-fiction work now and then, and I would love to hear about it; I write under the my name as Chelle Cordero.

The 17th Annual Preditors and Editors Readers' Poll is open for voting through January 14 and I'd like to ask for your support and votes for me and my fellow Vanilla Heart Publishing authors - I would love to see a strong VHP showing this year. Please take a look at my recommended list here.

Another important goal belongs to my family. My brother-in-law, Del, needs a kidney and we've been reaching out for potential living donors; a living donor is really the best chance for a recipient. As my sister explains, "Many years ago Del was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) a genetic disorder characterized by the growth of numerous cysts in the kidneys. In 1968 Del lost a kidney to PKD and has been managing for the past 46 years with his remaining kidney."  If you know of someone, or yourself, who would consider donating a kidney (the average person has 2 but you only need 1), please consider getting tested: please contact Robert Wood Johnson Transplant Center, New Brunswick, NJ at (732) 253-3699 or 1-877-NUKIDNEY and follow the prompts for the living donor program. Tell them you are calling on behalf of Del Du-Bois.. Even if you are not a compatible match, there are "Paired Donations", you can give a kidney to a stranger and in turn save a loved one's life. Please help spread the word about our need — hang a note on your church/synagogue/temple bulletin board, notify folks at work, talk it up at your social club — we appreciate anything you can do to help us. For more info about Paired Donations http://www.paireddonation.org/index.htm

My wish for all of you in the coming year is peace, happiness, good health, the love and warmth of family and friends, shelter and security, success in your endeavors, and as many good things that can possibly come your way. I hope your celebration is fun, memorably pleasant and safe.


Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life.

~Chelle



Monday, December 29, 2014

Happy Anniversary to My Loving Husband — #MondayBlogs


My husband and I celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary yesterday… time flies. Thirty-nine wonderful years. I admit, there are times we had to work at it — work hard — but it has been worth it.

We went to the same high school (High School of Art & Design in NYC) but the only memory I have of him was a confrontation in the school halls when he, as an anal hall monitor, tried to stop me from going down to the auditorium between class periods. (I was a Theatre Arts student and we had a show to prepare for). It wasn’t until years later when we were both volunteers with the NYC Auxiliary Police that we really had a chance to talk with each other… and we instantly disliked each other. Thanks to the meddling of our superior officers (my own dad was our Auxiliary Captain) we finally went out on a date. Two weeks later we were engaged; our wedding date was set for December 28, 1975.

I was late to the wedding!

In my defense I had a valid excuse, my sister (my MOH) fell down a flight of stairs and in the age before cell phones I couldn’t reach Mark to let him know. Luckily he waited for me. Yes we were married with all four of our parents standing under the chuppa with us, and my sister was a real trooper and hobbled down the aisle in her everyday flat shoes instead of the dressy heels that went with her dress. It was so sweet when I spoke the words “Ani l’dodi, v’dodi li” (I am to my beloved as my beloved is to me). Mark had our wedding rings engraved “plus qu'hier, moins que demain"(More than yesterday, less than tomorrow).

After the ceremony my mom, with all the stress of planning and then worry over my sister’s accident, had a diabetic reaction and spent most of the afternoon lying in the bridal suite — she refused to let us call an ambulance. By the end of the reception she was feeling better and soon it was time to leave.

We planned to spend the first night of our married life in our own apartment in Rockland County so we drove IN A BLIZZARD from Queens over the Tappan Zee Bridge. By the time we reached the garden apartment complex I was in tears from worry about my mom and my sister. Since we didn’t  have a phone installed in the apartment Mark found a pay phone (in 1975 that was all we had). The snow drift was piled so high and Mark in his tuxedo carried me in my bridal gown over the snow. All was well back in the Bronx and we were able to relax back in our own apartment. The next morning we traversed semi-plowed snow covered roads to the Poconos for our honeymoon and we enjoyed the holidays and our first New Year’s Eve as Mr. and Mrs.

Through the years we suffered the loss of all four parents in a relatively short time period. We also celebrated the birth of two fantastic children [a daughter and a son], job and career changes, a house with a yard for the kids to play, and watching them as they grew and experienced life and the world. There were money problems and health issues, arguments and making up, laughter and tears, friendships that came and went, public accolades in our respective careers, family births, and the loss of some dear relatives. We’ve celebrated holidays with our sisters and their families, got to witness graduations, bar and bat mitzvahs and weddings for the next generation. Both of our children are married now, and our in-law children are wonderful, and we’re at the empty-nester stage and talking about eventual retirement. It’s definitely been a “ride”.

Sometimes our plans went astray, but we’ve adapted TOGETHER. Our marriage has been a lot of work and it definitely has worked for us.

The biggest constant throughout our married life has always been that I have woken every single morning having fallen more in love than I was the day before — and he has always shown me that it goes both ways.

I love you, Mark. Happy anniversary, Sweetheart.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Jerry is also in mourning - Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 12/28/14

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 introducing snippets from More Than a Friend, a part of The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero, a short-story collection which exemplifies (I hope) the diversity of my writing.

More Than a Friend is a short story based on a manuscript of the same name (which has never been published) This manuscript was co-authored by my sister, Barbara Cordero Du-Bois, and me. I re-wrote it as a short story because I wanted my characters to LIVE.

I'm continuing immediately after last week. NYPD Officer Janis Phelan in mourning the loss of her police officer husband - her best friend and PO partner Jerry Stein just brought her home.


I… I think I need to be alone,” she noticed the hurt look that he tried to hide. “Jerry I’m sorry. Thank you so much for being here for me, I would never have survived the last few days without you. I haven’t been fair to you.”
“No, I-“
“Ssh,” she put her fingertips on his lips. “You lost him too, he was your cousin.” She continued speaking through her tears, “all you’ve done is take care of me since it happened.”


 For more WeWriWa snippets, go to www.wewriwa.com


More Than a Friend
Can best friends become lovers
and share a lifetime together?

 AUDIO 

PRINT 

Kindle 

 AllRomance Ebooks 

 iBooks 

 Smashwords 

The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero is a single author collection of short stories featuring Introduction, Pussycat Tails, Holiday Happiness, Not Alone, I Swear That Raccoon Just Knocked on the Door, Stormy Weather, A Mother’s Love, More Than a Friend, The Meeting, The Vacation and a special bonus section.

I am in a VERY ROMANTIC and nostalgic mood today - 39 years ago I married my best friend and lover, Mark. While Mark and I had attended the same high school it wasn't until a few years later that we actually connected - we were both NYC Auxiliary Police Officers and patrol partners when we finally gave in to our attraction and went out on our first date. We were engaged two weeks later; the engagement lasted a year and a half. We were married on December 28, 1975.

Friday, December 26, 2014

Please vote for VHP

PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTES FOR VHP AUTHORS IN THE

We are honored to have the following entries
in this year’s P&E Readers’ Poll:
Vanilla Heart Publishing in Print/Electronic Books Publisher
Romance Category
Angela Kay Austin‘s Rumer;
Charmaine Gordon‘s Housebroken;
Lauren Shiro‘s Pianissimo;
Neva Squires-Rodriguez‘s In Too Deep;
Tamara Philip‘s The Trouble with Playing Cupid
Mystery Novel
Malcolm R. Campbell‘s Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire;
Young Adult
Malcolm R. Campbell
‘s Emily’s Stories
Romance Short Stories
Charmaine Gordon‘s River’s Edge Trio
Chelle Cordero
's Holiday Happiness
Non-Fiction Article
Chelle Cordero‘s Can We Talk?
Book Cover Art
Chelle Cordero‘s Within the Law;
Neva Squires-Rodriguez
’s In Too Deep
Author’s Page
Chelle Cordero
Writer’s Workshop
Living, Breathing, Writing

Promotional Sites
The Potpourri Parlor

Anthology
Your Game Plan for Seamless Holiday Decorating

You can vote ONCE in EACH CATEGORY.You will need to add your name & email for verification.
Remember to check your email for the verification code —
click on the link to make sure your vote is counted. 
Thanks for your support!

Monday, December 22, 2014

Positivity ~ #MondayBlogs

It seems like the world is "going to hell in a hand-basket"

It is frightening, mind-boggling, despairing and frustrating to hear of tragedy upon tragedy in our country and abroad. Just about every news report contains scenes of grieving families, funerals, anger,and so much more negativity.

Whatever feelings you have about alleged perpetrators or police officers - who is right or who is wrong - it cannot be denied that when ANY parent/family is left to mourn a loss, it is a tragedy.

When a local legislator receives a threatening picture where his head is superimposed over an ISIS beheading... it's unbelievable. And when we hear of journalists and aid workers being kidnapped and beheaded, it's appalling.

What kind of world are our children growing up in? They worry about terrorism, disturbed individuals with weapons (guns, knives,cars,etc.) causing massive damage. Of course there are the natural (and unnatural) disasters such as weather/storms,fires, floods, quakes and sinkholes to add more uncertainty to our daily existence.

Where is the innocence that a child should be able to enjoy?

Have we reached a point where we should just throw our hands up in surrender? I don't plan to.

Too often we've seen strangers pulling together in times of despair, Even young adults have formed organizations to offer help for worthy causes. Professional first responders, police, fire, and EMS (both paid and volunteer) are heroes who answer our calls for help. Medical science has made advances to treat many conditions that once were considered death sentences and research continues in other serious conditions.

I once heard someone say that every morning the sun rises is a sign of hope. It is. Every day we begin with a fresh start, and new chance to get something positive done. Make it your daily focus to offer a hand, make someone smile, feed a soul, pray or wish for something good to happen for those around you, to offer a compliment...

Make every day you have count - make your life a reason to do something good for our world.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Introducing More Than a Friend - Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 12/21/14

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 introducing snippets from More Than a Friend, a part of The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero, a short-story collection which exemplifies (I hope) the diversity of my writing.

More Than a Friend is a short story based on a manuscript of the same name (which has never been published) This manuscript was co-authored by my sister, Barbara Cordero Du-Bois, and me. I re-wrote it as a short story because I wanted my characters to LIVE.

The following is from the opening scene:


“Are you doing okay?”
Janis couldn’t answer through the lump in her throat. She looked up at Jerry and nodded hesitantly.
He stifled a frustrated sigh, frustrated because he wanted to do something, anything, to take her pain away. It tore him open inside to see her tears and that angered him. Jerry felt guilty for the jealousy he felt knowing that she was crying over her loss of another man.

Janis stood in the center of her living room and remembered the last time she had been in that room with her husband… and wishing she could forget. There would never be another chance to make things right. 

 For more WeWriWa snippets, go to www.wewriwa.com


More Than a Friend
Can best friends become lovers
and share a lifetime together?

 AUDIO 

PRINT 

Kindle 

 AllRomance Ebooks 

 iBooks 

 Smashwords 

The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero is a single author collection of short stories featuring Introduction, Pussycat Tails, Holiday Happiness, Not Alone, I Swear That Raccoon Just Knocked on the Door, Stormy Weather, A Mother’s Love, More Than a Friend, The Meeting, The Vacation and a special bonus section.


My apologies for not getting to many of your snippets last week. My son's wedding was magnificent and exhausting (in a good way). I posted a video of photos from the ceremony that a friend put together. theirs is a true love story of which I am certainly a fan.


Tonight (Sunday) is the 6th night of Hanukkah and just a few days before Christmas. It's a joyous time celebrating commitment, victory and faith. Just in time for the holidays is a Kindle book ~

Holiday Happiness: A Short Story


I hope y'all are having a wonderful time and have completed your shopping without the maniac fervor that that always seems to be highly publicized this time of year. Enjoy your family get-together's and the neighbors' contagious happy spirits.

...and now I am going to get myself a Latka (potato pancake) - my husband makes the most delicious pancakes!

Monday, December 15, 2014

Hello Young Lovers ~ #MondayBlogs

A couple in love beginning life together as Mr & Mrs...


This past weekend on December 13, 2014 (12/13/14) our son Marc married the love of his life Patricia (Trish) during a wonderful ceremony surrounded by several loving family members and friends. The evening was filled with wonderful expressions of devotion and commitment between these two soul mates and from everyone present ~ and in these modern times, thanks to the magic of cellphones, even some relatives who were unable to make the ceremony joined in via SKYPE and speakerphones!

Seven+ years ago our daughter Jenni married the love of her life Jason...

So now both of our precious children are married to wonderful people who will always love and take care of them. This fact is such a joy for a parent, knowing that your child will always have someone by their side to support them, hold them, laugh with them and be there.

Mark & I began our life together 39 years ago. Together we've faced challenges and joys and most importantly we raised two incredible children who are now adults that we very much admire and respect. To say that I am proud of who they have become is an understatement.

Once again in our life it is Mark and me because, although you never stop being a parent once you've been there, our children have a nuclear family of their own, someone to share their decisions with, someone to confide in and depend on. There is a wonderful order to this natural cycle of life and I couldn't be happier for both of my offspring.

Hello young lovers, whoever you are 
I hope your troubles are few 
All my good wishes go with you tonight
I've been in love like you



thanks to Teri Hamilton for producing this video


Saturday, December 13, 2014

He wears her down ~ Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 12/14/14

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 snippets from The Meeting, a part of The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero, a short-story collection which exemplifies (I hope) the diversity of my writing.

Last week the handsome soldier was being rather... forward and making the gentle southern girl quite uncomfortable. She was raised to be polite and she politely tried to get rid of him, but he didn't seem to be listening.

This will be the last snippet from The Meeting, next week we'll move on to another story from The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero. BTW by the time this post goes live, I'll be partying at my son's wedding so I will start making the rounds of #WeWriWa snippets during the week.



“Hey, come on, I‘m just a lonely soldier, can‘t you take pity on me? Just your name, please?”
She paused, he was infuriating, “My name is Jeannette.
“Hi Jeannette, glad to meet you.” He extended his hand which she, as politely as possible, ignored. “My name is Marc, do you live here in Charleston?”
“I thought you only wanted to know my name.
“Maybe I was hoping to get to know you too. 

 For more WeWriWa snippets, go to www.wewriwa.com


The Meeting
From a random meeting in the south during WW2 to a
marriage and love that lasts for an eternity.

 AUDIO 

PRINT 

Kindle 

 AllRomance Ebooks 

 iBooks 

 Smashwords 

The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero is a single author collection of short stories featuring Introduction, Pussycat Tails, Holiday Happiness, Not Alone, I Swear That Raccoon Just Knocked on the Door, Stormy Weather, A Mother’s Love, More Than a Friend, The Meeting, The Vacation and a special bonus section.

Chanukah begins next Tuesday evening, so in the interest of giving...

PEOPLE DEAL WITH EMERGENCIES DIFFERENTLY, BUT NO MATTER HOW SERIOUS OR MINOR THE EVENT MAY SEEM TO SOMEONE ELSE, EACH PERSON WHO EXPERIENCES PAIN, FEAR OR LOSS FOR THEMSELVES OR A LOVED ONE IS DEALING WITH A TRUE CRISIS. IT IS MY HOPE THAT THIS BOOKLET WILL GIVE A LITTLE COMFORT WHEN IT COMES TO DEALING WITH AN EMERGENCY.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

He's very insistent ~ Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 12/07/14

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 snippets from The Meeting, a part of The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero, a short-story collection which exemplifies (I hope) the diversity of my writing.

The story begins at a Charleston SC train station in 1942. America, still reeling from the Pearl Harbor attack, entered the war and soldiers in uniform were going off to Europe and the Pacific to fight. Life continued on the home-front.

Last week the young MP steps onto the platform and is instantly attracted to the young woman seeing her friend off. His scrutiny causes her some discomfort but her genteel southern upbringing keeps her polite, besides she promised to see her friend off and is waiting for her to wave from the window. He's persistent and much more forward than the local southern boys.


“Imagine how I felt when I stepped onto the platform and saw this gorgeous woman standing there.”
He was definitely making her feel uneasy, she wished she had one of her little brothers with her.
“I‘d love to have a name to go with the dreams I‘m going to have of you tonight.”
Her momma taught her manners and her poppa taught her to stand up for herself. Jeannette mustered her courage and finally looked the handsome soldier in the eyes, “Sir, I find your manners appalling, I would greatly appreciate it if you would kindly leave me be.”
 “So you aren‘t going to tell me your name?

“No sir, I am not.” 

 For more WeWriWa snippets, go to www.wewriwa.com


The Meeting
From a random meeting in the south during WW2 to a
marriage and love that lasts for an eternity.

 AUDIO 

PRINT 

Kindle 

 AllRomance Ebooks 

 iBooks 

 Smashwords 

The Many Faces of Chelle Cordero is a single author collection of short stories featuring Introduction, Pussycat Tails, Holiday Happiness, Not Alone, I Swear That Raccoon Just Knocked on the Door, Stormy Weather, A Mother’s Love, More Than a Friend, The Meeting, The Vacation and a special bonus section.


My son's wedding is next Saturday and there are a lot of last minute things to do this week, I'll try to get to comments and all as early as I can.

This story is based on the tales both of my parents told me as I was growing up about their first meeting - this story is a fictionalized version of their romance; my uncle told me a slightly different story. Whatever the truth was, and all versions mentioned my dad's northern "roughness" and my mom's southern manners, I am very glad my dad was so persistent!


Monday, December 1, 2014

Wish I had recorded that! ~ #MondayBlogs

Oh for those moments in our lives when we wish someone was filming us so we could submit the video to America's Funniest Home Videos and make some money! Alas most of these things happen too fast and we don't have the time to set up a camera ourselves...

Two of my three curious felines decided to investigate floor tile glue downstairs during a DIY remodeling. Needless to say after leaving a trail of paw prints through the tacky gunk they came back upstairs to the carpeted living room where walking on the carpet was getting frustrated as they STUCK to the fibers.

First chasing them down (both my husband and I) and then locking the two in the bathroom with me to start cleaning. So while I was in the little room with two frightened, angry and hissing cats using alcohol, soapy water and baby oil - and getting as drenched as their fur - hubby was still chasing the third cat to make sure he hadn't played follow the leader; thank goodness there was no evidence of dumbness with him.

I called out to my husband, through the closed door of course to prevent escape, to get the name and content label and call for veterinarian advice. Oh by the way, this was after 10:00 PM already. He called and got an answering service, was told the location of the nearest 24-hour emergency office and also was given the phone number to the ASPCA Poison Control Hotline.

While there is a fee for the hotline (which goes to the support of the ASPCA programs), it was invaluable for our nerves. We were told what had to be done and reassured that this case of curiosity would not kill the cats. Also the fee (per incident so covered the three cats, we still weren't sure about the third) was still less than a vet visit for just one stuck-up pussycat. If you have a furbaby, post this number by your phone:  (888) 426-4435.   Info can be found here   https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control.

As I finally reached to open the bathroom door (singing Who Let The Dogs Out?) and stood aside for the great escape of two very bedraggled and upset felines, I started to laugh. Once I changed into my own dry clothing once again, I returned to the living room as hubby was coming back upstairs - he had finished doubling the height of the barricades around the tacky downstairs floor.

We both sat and laughed, yes cruelly, of the site of the two cats hopping across the living room carpet and then we sighed over the loss of ten-thousand dollars we could have made if only someone had been there to film the whole tacky event.

all 3 - safe, sound and unglued
Mario ~ Luigi ~ Tigger
Luigi & Tigger were the culprits!