This week we have been asked to write a short flash fiction story containing the words, house, umbrella, and ice cream. Here goes:

Mary’s mood matched the weather. Gray and depressing. She’d finally gotten a day off from work, and she was stuck inside with her four-year-old son, Noah, watching the rain pour down. He wasn’t in a much better mood than she was. Last night, she’d promised him a day at the park. That was before she’d seen the weather forecast. “Mom, I want to go get ice cream.” “It’s too cold for ice cream.” “Why?” (His favorite question these days). “Because ice cream is for warm, sunny days.” “But I want to walk to the ice cream store,” his voice reached a high-pitched whine. “It’s raining.” “I like rain.” Mary sighed. Logic never worked with a four-year-old. She glanced out the window. The rain had not let up. “Pleeeease,” His small voice said. Oh, what the heck. Her day couldn’t get any worse. “Go get your rain boots on.” Yay!” She stepped into her own boots and grabbed their raincoats and a large umbrella out of the closet. “It’s an adventure,” her son yelled. As they stepped out of the house, the rain pelted down on the umbrella. She struggled to keep it over both of their heads. That lasted about halfway down the driveway. “Look, Mom a puddle.” Before she could stop him, her son ran ahead and jumped with both feet into a huge puddle at the end of the driveway. He giggled, and it was contagious. She couldn’t help laughing with him. They walked the four blocks to the ice cream shop, with Noah hitting every puddle along the way. Once inside, he spent several minutes pretending to consider all thirty flavors before ordering strawberry, like always. She smiled as they sat dripping at a small table and enjoyed their treats. The walk back was much the same as the one there. Noah found even more puddles to jump in, and when they reached their block, he even convinced her to jump in some with him. By the time they walked back in the house, they were both soaked to their knees. “Did you have fun?” she asked, taking off their wet boots in the mudroom. “So much fun!” She had to admit, she was in a much better mood now. Sometimes you just needed to think like a toddler. Now hop on over to Jenna Da Sie’s blog and see what she wrote at https://jennadasie.com.

The week we’ve been asked to answer the question– If one of your books could be made into a movie, which one would you pick and what actors would you like to play your characters? This is a hard question for an author. I’d love to see all 30 of my books made into a movie. I can see them play out in my head 🙂 I’ve gone over and over each of them to try to decide. I guess if I can only pick one, then I’d have to go with the second book in my Peakview Series, Breakfast for Two. The reason I chose this one is that this is Violet Crandall’s love story. For those of you who haven’t read my books. Violet Crandall is the owner and operator of Violet’s Cafe in the tiny town of Peakview, Colorado. But more importantly she is unofficially the county’s match-maker and gossip. Many residents have been known to say “Who needs a newspaper where we have Violet!” Violet credits herself for almost 100% of the town’s marriages. Because she is so sweet, she is by far my reader’s favorite character, and she appears in every book that takes place in Peakview County, that’s three series and 26 books! As far as who I’d want to play her since she’s in her 60″s, I’d have to say someone like Andie McDowell or Annette O’Toole. Feisty yet loveable. As for her love interest, Howard Crandall, I’d pick Harrison Ford or Richard Gere. Hey, if you’re going to dream, dream big.

Now hop on over to Jennifer Da Sie’s blog at https://jennadasie.com and see what book and actors she’d pick 🙂

My new Christmas Novella, Christmas in the Montana Pines, is now available for pre-order. Click this link to get your copy ordered today https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CH5KP3TP

This week we have been asked to answer this question. What is one article of clothing that someone could wear that would make you walk out on a date with them? This one made me pause. I could get political here. There are many articles of clothing I’ve seen recently that would cause me to run, not walk, out. But I won’t. I try not to mix politics with my writing. You are all entitled to your own views and opinions. So absent that, I would say a guy wearing a tanktop, what we used to sarcastically call a wife-beater shirt back in the day. I’ve never seen a guy who looks good in a tanktop, not even the most fit, young, in-shape ones and men my age, well, let’s just say it’s a very bad look. They always remind me of my dad back in the 1950’s. He worked in an office that had no air-conditioning, so he wore “undershirts” what we would today call a tanktop, under his dress shirts and ties, but never alone. Anyway, that would be a deal breaker for me. How about you? Anything that you can’t stand? Now hop on over to Jenna Da Sie’s page and see what she has to say. Happy Reading, Jill