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jeneet: If victory is certain then even a coward can fight, But the real brave is the one who still dares to fight when his defeat is certain.
tami: i LOVED 'beg for mercy" i just started and finished it today, i totally enjoyed it!
Acacia Koa: Oned of my clients set me up with a neighbor last Saturday. I'd call him the day before to set up the meeting and he talked non-stop without taking a breath. I thought, "Okay, he's nervous. I'll give him a chance." We met the next day at a local restaurant. He saw me and judged me not up to his expectations in 1/2 second. We went in for tea and dessert. He never asked one question about me, but continued to talk non-stop about himself. It stung to be rejected so sumarily, but in the end
Acacia Koa: Hi. Was in the middle of your "Snow Blind" from "A Red Hot New Year" when I came to the second paragraph on page 220. "The line of fur (FIR) trees -- Aspen..." Somebody wasn't paying attention during editing. Fir are evergreen and Aspen are deciduous. Sorry to be so picky, but it stopped me in my cross-country ski tracks. Other than that, lovin' the story.
Vivianight: Hello Toni, I like your style. Would you like to exchange links? Cheers
Toni Andrews: Just wanted to say hi, and well, it's kinda wierd talking to someone who has the same name as me :) and just for the record: Toni's rule! LOL
ames: Hi Toni, just wanted to say hello and thanks for stopping by my blog. I got back from my trip-the place I went to was called Falcon Trails Resort, in Manitoba.
Dana: Hey! Thanks for commenting on my blog today. It was nice to meet you.
sparkle: Hello, hope you are having a good weekend
Mary Stella: Hi, Toni. I just tagged you at my blog.
Roxanne Swiatkowski: Thank you for the interesting blog. I came upon it on accident. I was looking for interior decorating for using brave colors and I came across a brave color! Thank you for making me laugh just through your blog. I can relate to you quite a bit. Good luck. I enjoyed this site truelly and look foward to see how things turn out for you.Roxanne
Ney-Ney: This is my first time visiting your site, and I've really enjoyed it! Have a great day.
Trista Bane: I just love your blog! You have a way with words.
Lisa Manuel: Have a very Merry Christmas in your new home!!
Nienke: Well??? I guess you don't have your computer set up yet. I'm wondering how it's going in the new place.
Lisa Manuel: Hey Toni, two thumbs up for WITCH'S KNIGHT!! Thanks for a lusty, lovable, rip-roaring Medieval tale!!
Beth Ciotta: Have a great holiday weekend with lots of pie!
Nathalie: Okay, I'm a woman on a mission here. I am trying to get everybody who blogs on bravenet to sign my "Bravenet Bloggers" map. You know bring us all together as a group :) So if I have tagged you already please disregard this one but if I haven't ....wua ha ha can you PLEASE come tag it? There's a link to it on my journal. Also you should leave your URL in your tag so people can come visit ya. Thanks Alot
Marrah Mae: Hi Toni got your link from Nienke, I love this site and the color. I wish to read one of your novels.. Good day
Nienke: Well? Day 2 of Nanowrimo - how's it going?
Nienke: Hello Toni! This is my first visit to your site and I LOVE it! I can't wait to be at the writing stage you're at (which means writing of course, but that is what my blog is for). Do you mind if I add you to my links? I'll be back!
Anne: just popping by to say hi and hope you had a nice weekend
Sami: Hi! Was out bloghopping. Nice journal!!
Eric: hi, poppin to say hello & hope u’re doing well !
JUDY D: SAD FOR ALL OF THE GULF.SAD FOR YOU, TOO. JUDY D.
Lisa Manuel: Hey Toni, I'm bloggin', I'm bloggin'! Stop by and visit me!

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Monday, January 7th 2008

9:13 AM

It's none of my business, but...

  • Mood: Got the flu. Waah!

Writers are nosy.  We eavesdrop on conversations at the next table in the restaurant.  We watch couples argue at the hardware store.  We listen to mothers yell at their kids. 

And we get caught, or at least I do.  But the occasional nasty look (or comment) is worth some of the crazy-ass shit I have overheard.

I write a lot of this stuff down, because it may eventually end up in a book.  Some already has.  In Beg for Mercy, on page 13, when Rocko says, “Fighting gives me a hard-on,” I’m quoting a (thankfully) complete stranger I observed flexing his muscles and showing off for his cronies in a bar in South Miami, Florida. 

I sometimes note these overheard snippets in a small notebook I carry in my purse.  I was looking through it recently, and found one I thought I’d share.

I was sitting at an extremely crowded West Hartford restaurant bar, and a man and woman are having a conversation behind me.  They have obviously just met for the first time, and they are just as obviously trying to impress one another.  She has an annoying, shrill laugh.  They’re not all that interesting, and I’m about to shift my interest to another object, when her mobile phone rings and my attention is firmly captured.

            “Hello.  What, you mean she’s dying right now?”

             (An alarming statement, but the tone is conversational.)

“How do you know she’s dying?”

(Shrill girl sounds annoyed.  My alarm rises.)

“Oh, well, she’s been like that all day.  I did hourly breathing treatments, and she’s on the Prednisone…”

(Truth begins to dawn.  Shrill girl is some kind of health care professional and does NOT want to go back to work…)

“No, no, she’ll be fine.  Really.”

(The message I’m hearing is “I’m at a bar and this guy is trying to pick me up.  I don’t want to be interrupted.”)

 “So, any chance you can come out for a drink later?”

(We’ve spent enough time discussing the boring dying woman.  Let’s concentrate on what’s important…happy hour!)

            “No?  Okay, I’ll see you Monday…”

 

At this point I had to turn around in order to put faces to the voices.  She was 40ish, bleached blond, painfully thin, and had had a nose job. Pretty in a very carefully “done” way.  He was reasonably handsome, with a shaved head and a fake Rolex.  (Don’t ask how I can spot a fake Rolex in a two-second glance.  I did, after all, live in Newport Beach, California for twelve years.  It was pretty funny, considering that in the earlier, boring portion of the conversation, he had been describing a party he recently attended, where everyone was “fake” and “status conscious.”)

I also wanted to see if the guy would be turned off by what seemed to me like a huge, blinking red warning light: Callous Bitch!  Callous Bitch! Callous Bitch!.  Nope.  He seemed relieved she hadn’t taken the caller seriously and would therefore remain in the bar where he could continue his onslaught.  

I remember thinking that they deserved each other, although this comment isn’t included in my notes.

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