Music Monday! American Authors- Best Day of my Life

Our trip to the Winter Park Art Festival.

Last Friday was the beginning of the kids spring break and so I took the day off. First off I'd originally thought of the beach, but then I decided to take them down to the Orlando Museum of Art. Only, we never made it there.  See if I'm going to head into Winter Park then I have to eat at one of the lovely restaurants and since my favorite meal is brunch, this time it was the Briar Patch.

The little kidlet's face after spotting here sister's blueberry pancakes.  Never mind she had chocolate chip pancakes

Blueberry Pancakes!

Someone's happy about pancakes.

We spotted this fierce Dragon in one of the tents. I forgot to grab a card :(

And this handcrafted bowl Kira wanted for her room. Which led to a conversation with the little kidlet about why art cost so much. Breaking it down to an eight year old means telling her that it takes a lot of time and work to create a piece of art.

Both kidlets wanted to walk through the rose garden. we discovered this rose, which brought back memories of my mother and her garden.

In the Rose Garden. It was too crowded to take a picture with the garden in the background.

If I didn't have to worry about things breaking and price I would totally get these colorfu l pieces.

This lovely lady answered all of our questions and showed us her beautiful pieces of woven metal jewelery.

We wandered around some more and discovered artwork that both the girls wanted to own. So here they are with the artist Leslie Peebles.

Cause mommy needed a picture with her babies, and no I didn't give them Beer or Wine.

The kidlets had to go check out the wildlife before we left.

Giant Koi!

Music Monday! Jagged Edge- Where the Party at ft Nelly

I'm back at SmartGirls Love SciFi and Paranormal Romance!

Since I visited Las Vegas with the hubby I figured I'd research stories set in Las Vegas. Come by and check it out.

Guest Post: T. Elliott Brown

Hi! T. Elliott Brown guest-blogging today so Chudney can take the day off to celebrate her birthday.

We wouldn't want her to think we forgot. A forgotten birthday is a traumatic thing. I know.

When I was about eight, everyone forgot my birthday, including me. I know it sounds impossible to forget your own birthday, but I did, and so did my mom. She was pregnant and life was busy. Birthdays were never big parties in our family. Usually we had a cake and a special family dinner. That year my birthday didn't seem to matter very much, though I always remember that we forgot it.

In my novel, Bombshells, Melanie’s forgotten birthday is the opening scene, and begins a string of coming of age incidents which culminate during the thirteen terrifying days known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, when John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev faced off over Russian missiles in Cuba in 1962.

Often things that are simply life events become great tools in fiction. A birthday, a lost necklace or a fender-bender may be bothersome details in real-life, but can become a catalyst or a turning point in the story.

Bombshells: T. Elliott Brown Amazon.com: Books

How would a forgotten birthday change your story? 

But, just to make sure Chudney knows we didn't forget her birthday, take a minute to sing-along with the Bartles' cover of the Beatles’ tune “Birthday.”

T. Elliott Brown can be found on Facebook, @telliottbrown on Twitter, and www.bombshellsbook.com