Lemon Yellow and Rose Pink by DiAnn Mills
Yesterday afternoon, my five-year-old granddaughter asked to paint my toes and nails. We’d had an exciting afternoon playing Princess Memory, chatting about her preschool, her friends, and exchanged lots of hugs. The pedis and manicures were to be our finale before dinner.
She’s so organized. Before I had time to think about what I’d agreed to, she had magazines spread out on her bathroom floor and twelve bottles of nail polish lined up according to color. And oh, the colors—from lemon yellow to lime green to rose pink. I think she’d done this before. Because I’d lost at Princess Memory, I got to have my toes and nails done first. I glanced down at my perfect toes, for which my pedicure was a week old, and persuaded her to paint a flower on each big toe. Huge yellow petals with green centers gave my big toes a flair all their own. My nails were another issue. She used “magic” liquid to remove my color, and soon my nails became an artist’s palette. Flowers, and zebras and leopards and butterflies and polka-dots glistened like gems. Beautiful. Breathtaking. She decided to paint her own nails and toes, and we were a matched pair. Her daddy took pictures, so we’d never forget.
The adventure was fun, and I wondered if the heroine from my romantic suspense novel, The Chase, would have sat on the bathroom floor with us. I think she’d have been right there. We’d have scooted over and giggled about her choice of colors. Even let her get in the picture.
I love writing about a heroine who knows how to have fun. She can laugh when the bad guy thinks he won—or when she turns over a bottle of candy-apple red nail polish. She has courage and a sense of humor, displays a bit of stubbornness, and has a knack for getting into trouble. My FBI agent hero can’t resist her. When he’s not trying to keep her out of trouble, he’s trying to convince himself that she doesn’t have a place in his heart. It doesn’t work.
They banter and argue, share ice cream and a motorcycle ride. Now, how much fun is that?
My point is to have a little fun. Pretend you’re a kid again and forget about the messiness of life. With a little “magic” liquid, even the worst of stains are gone. What have you done to put a little fun in your life?
Since my new book, The Chase, was based on a real news story that haunted me, I want to know what news story has had a profound impact on you, good or bad news? 9/11? Hurricane Katrina? JFK’s assassination? Head over to my Facebook page to tell me the story that has stuck with you or “like” the others posted there. Or leave a comment here for a chance to win an autographed copy of The Chase.
BAM – http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Chase/DiAnn-Mills/9780310333173?id=5321883306738
IndieBound – http://www.indiebound.org/search/apachesolr_search/diann%20mills
ChristianBook.com – http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntt=diann+mills&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCN&nav_search=1&cms=1&search= Lifeway – http://www.lifeway.com/Keyword/diann+mills?Ntk=Author
Mardel – http://www.mardel.com/store/item.aspx?ItemId=464922
April 6th, 2012 at 9:31 am
I enjoyed reading the comments, and your book sounds really good. I think the story that first alerted me to the changes in America was the JFK assignation. it forever changed our outlooks.
April 6th, 2012 at 11:01 am
A story that has really struck me happened very close to home. Literally. A few years ago, several tornadoes ripped through my hometown, killing several people and rearranging the landscape of a community that hasn’t changed since I was a child. It was very devastating to see. You could be driving down a road and everything look completely normal and then top a hill and see trees twisted in half, houses missing a roof, a porch, or rooms – or worse, trees that used to stand tall and provide shade to the house, now lay in the house itself. My heart broke for a childhood friend who had to bury her baby, a student that had to bury his sister. I felt lucky because the tornado passed over my house but touched down less than a mile away. I had just gotten home when it hit. That’s a day I will never forget.
I look forward to reading your book.
April 6th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
So many things have impacted my life but I think the towers falling were the worse. I can tell you where I was when the first one fell and than the second one went down while I was helping a senior who had moved here thirty years ago. All she keep saying is “why”. “This is a great country and it has been so good to me I became a citizen. The one good thing that I did see at that time was the compassion people had for others but like time that has gone away. It makes me very sad to know that we need something to happen so bad before we are kind to each other.
Your book sounds very good and I would love to read it!
April 10th, 2012 at 4:02 am
Love the nailpolish story! I think we need more heroines who find fun in everything.
April 10th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
I love reading these responses!