Jenyfer Matthews

Welcome to my new home! I’ve been in the mood for a new look and I finally have it. Please feel free to have a good look around – and do let me know what you think of the place. All suggestions are taken seriously by the management

The water delivery saga goes on and on and on…

At first it was kind of funny but now it’s just absurd. I haven’t called the water company in a week because they call me every day – Has the water come yet? No? Okay, tonight inshah allah.

I get the same phone call. Every. Day.

Today there was a new twist. I still don’t have water, but they sent out a letter announcing that due to rises in fuel costs, etc, there will be an increase in their prices – starting today. So if they had delivered my water last week as I had requested, my coupon book would have been fine. But they’ve been dragging their feet so now what? My coupons are no good anymore?

Need I say that once I do get someone on the phone I’m canceling the service (what service!?) and sending their bottles back. And when I get my water from the grocery store it won’t be THAT brand.

Harumph.

By the way, the funniest (and most alarming) search phrase that has brought anyone to my blog recently is guilt free way of getting pregnant without husband’s knowing. I never have and never will be dispensing any advice on this topic – nor is it something I would advise trying…

I went swimming yesterday and on my way out of the door I grabbed a notebook and a pen. My mind will often start to compose paragraphs while I’m walking but by the time I get home again they have either vanished into the ether or I’ve lost my mood.

I arrived at the pool a few minutes early so I got out my notebook and started to jot down the first part of the synopsis for my current WIP. And once I started, I kept going. I wrote about half of it, went for my swim, then came out and wrote the rest. It’s rough, but I’m thrilled. I typed it up when I got home and it’s nearly three pages single spaced. With some polishing I think it might just work.

I’m in the process of planning my summer vacation. Only my vacation isn’t really an escape into a world of relaxation and pleasure. There is a lot of planning and aggravation that comes before I get to the good part – seeing family and friends. I’ve got my ticket purchased and now I have to book a couple of nights in a hotel near JFK on either end of my stay.

It’s not going well.

I don’t need anything fancy. Just a safe, clean place to take the children for a night, preferably some place with a restaurant on site or next door. Every time I think I’ve found something I see some review horror story. Does anyone have any recommendations for me? I’m all ears!

Don’t forget to drop by over the weekend. Historical romance author and writing instructor Barbara Miller is going to be here talking about the art of mastering POV (point of view).

I’m guest blogging on Shelley Munro’s blog today. Stop by and say hello!

Another great review for ALL THE WAY HOME:

Along with a taut and compelling plotline and dealing with a life like situation, ALL THE WAY HOME has the quality of a real life fairy tale. Ms. Matthews has tackled the difficult issue of love, marriage and relationships with ease. The result is a story filled with rich and full characters you can really care about, a little twist at the end, and a very happy ending to satisfy the romance bug in the brain.

In my opinion, a book as beautifully written, heartfelt and sweet as ALL THE WAY HOME truly deserves the Golden Blush Recommended Read award. It just makes you hope that Ms. Matthews keeps writing with the tenderness, understanding, and compassion that she showed here. Brilliant!

Literary Nymphs

On the heels of the review I got from Romance Junkies last week, imagine how high I’m floating right now? And if validation like that doesn’t help me get my butt in the chair to write, nothing will!

So sometimes you have plans for your day and then things just…happen. My day was like that today – but in the best possible way.

I started out making a planned trip up to the school to watch a swim meet. Darling daughter did well in her events and seemed pleased that I was able to hitch a ride to see her. I was home by 10am and had plans to spend the rest of the day writing.

But instead of sitting down and opening up a Word document and just getting to work, I first dropped an email to a local quilter regarding a pesky problem I’ve been experiencing with my sewing machine. She happened to be online at the time and offered to come over and check it out – and all for the cost of a cup of coffee and some quilt chat. Since she is a world-class quilt teacher, I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to have her come over. And I upped the ante and made a chocolate cake besides.

Of course, once she got here the machine was absolutely FINE. Apparently it was just user error.

Ahem.

Though I didn’t do any writing, I wouldn’t call the day a total loss. I had a lovely visit with my quilt friend (how excited was I when she complimented me on my quilt shapes??) And did I mention the chocolate cake? Sometimes the unexpected detours can be quite pleasant.

As for the writing, tomorrow is another day…

I spent much of yesterday reading and cooking. Not such a bad way to spend a day really.

I’ve been reading Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert – another book I’d heard too much about to think that I’d actually like it. Again, I was pleasantly surprised. I didn’t just like it – I loved it. I’m biased though – not only is it written in first person but it’s about travel and has a happy ending besides – all things I love in a book. I finished it last night and promptly ordered my own copy. It’s a keeper.

When I could tear myself away from reading, I got busy cooking. Earlier in the week I’d purchases a bunch of celery because my daughter mentioned that she liked to eat celery sticks. I’m not such a big fan of celery myself but when a child asks for celery, how can I to say no? However, there is a limit to how many celery sticks a child will eat (1) so I was left with a bunch of celery.

Celery is cheap enough, but here I will admit to being neurotic about wasting food. Who knows? Maybe I lived a former life in the Depression. But I was determined not to let that celery go to waste. So I made cream of celery soup. All those leafy tops looked like seaweed in the pot as they cooked but it wasn’t half bad when it was all pureed. I won’t go so far as to say I loved it – it is still celery after all.

Today, I’m getting back to work. I have a self-imposed deadline to finish my WIP. I want to be done by the beginning of June. It’s a doable deadline and I’m sure that I’ll make that. Part of that deadline includes writing a synopsis though and that part I dread. What is it about writing a synopsis? Having already written an entire novel, you’d think writing up a few page summary would be a cake walk. All I can say is that it’s not.

But once again my character Aurora – who insisted on dictating her story through me is also now making noises about writing her own synopsis. I think I’m going to let her have a go. If she can do it, more power to her.

Look what I found on Google today – a glowing review of All the Way Home from Romance Junkies!

Ms. Jenyfer Matthews’ novel ALL THE WAY HOME is a touching and poignant tale of healing and rediscovery. [...] Well written and riddled with emotions, sisterly bonds and a deeply moving romance, ALL THE WAY HOME has secured a permanent place in my heart and on my keeper shelf. Bravo Ms. Matthews, you have delivered a novel well worth the time invested and I can’t recommend it enough.

What a great way to start the weekend!

Starting a post this way is going to make me feel and sound really old, but…

Since when did Legos go from being a toy consisting of a bag / box of various sizes of bricks limited only by the imagination of the person playing with them to being an elaborate puzzle that results in the same object each time? A puzzle that requires a map?

I remember having a flat base to which we could stick the Lego, and various other brick sizes. I would most often make houses, but I *could* make other things as the whim struck me. Modern day Lego kids seem fairly limited – and frustrating – to me. What do you do if one of the million of tiny pieces goes astray? (most often to be found in your instep as you are walking innocently past to the kitchen for a snack)

Okay. Here it is. Now what?

Another dimension of modern Lego is Lego Digital Design, a computer program in which children can design what they want to make on the computer and then send the plans in to Lego. Lego will then send the child a kit to make the toy they designed. For a price.

I have done what I can to keep my own children ignorant of this scheme. I don’t feel guilting in the least. They seem perfectly happy with the sticks and rocks in the backyard…

Wishing you all a good weekend. Author Sam Cheever will be here this weekend with an interview of the heroine of her ‘Tween series. Stop by and say hello!

As you might expect, we don’t drink the tap water in Cairo. Apparently there have been studies to show that it’s safe enough, but why take chances? And frankly it just doesn’t taste that good.

Ordering in cases of bottled water soon became tiresome. We were always running out and I didn’t like all the trash we were creating. So we signed up for a water service. We have three 5 gallon bottles and they come weekly to replace them.

Until recently.

It’s been about a month since the water company has come on a regular basis. The first week I didn’t think much about it. There are times when they get behind or public holidays that I’m not aware of. After a second week went by, I called them.

Apparently the government was giving them trouble about driving their trucks into our neighborhood so they were unable to deliver water. The stated reason is for security. The word on the street is that the government wants to charge them a high tax.

Whatever the reason, I still need water. They told me that they would come…soon. They did not. I called them back a few days later. They told me that they had drivers parked at various gas stations around and that I could send my driver to come and get the water. I informed them that I didn’t have a car or a driver – which is why I subscribed to their service. It wasn’t until I told them to come and collect their bottles and return my deposit that they promised to send someone with water.

But he couldn’t come until after dark.

Absurdly enough, these guys are actually delivering water in unmarked passenger cars, after dark. Smuggling water into the neighborhood.

I called again yesterday because once again we had run out of water. I got the answering machine – a tactic they use when they are simply tired of answering the phone to irate customers. I left a message saying that I needed more water and when could they come. They hadn’t come by 9pm but before I went to bed, I put the bottles out just in case because I really didn’t want them to wake me up.

The water guys showed up at 11:30pm. I know this because the building guard called us to find out if we needed water.

I really hope they get the truck situation sorted out soon…