Where in the world is N. R. Williams?

I'd love to answer that question by posting fabulous pictures of exotic or historical locations, however the truth is, I've been at home.

My computer wouldn't let me post, comment or even access my email. It needed repair. I was able to get into facebook, go figure, right? So the repairs are done and I will do my best to have a post at least once a week because my life is complicated at the moment.

Some of you know my daughter was involved in domestic violence last December. I spend everyday taking her to doctor appointments and meetings. By the time I get home I'm exhausted. All my creative juices are taking a nap. I can see the end now, she and her son have received some amazing help and their future is full of hope.

My husbands employment woes seemed never ending. He got a good local job in March and lost it on April 1. We both think the company was struggling and the jobs they thought they were going to get didn't pan out.

He found a new job the third week in April and went to a training class in Washington State. I was rear ended and our van, the only car in the family, was totaled.  The Insurance Company paid it off and rented us a car but the credit union dragged on because we couldn't prove my husbands employment. At last we have been approved but we have to come up with 15% out of our pocket. Pretty hard to do when the bread winner has been unemployed for so long and has never received the unemployment checks promised by the State of Nebraska where his former employer had their office.

I know I should be able to put all this stress on the back burner, lock myself in the house and write. But frankly, it drains me.

So that is where I have been. Not very exciting. My characters keep asking me when I'm coming to their rescue. Soon my dearies, soon.

I hope your life is stable and happy.
Nancy

Update March 2013

Hi everyone. Time for an update. Above is the final version of my new book cover as seen on Amazon.com. We had an adventure with this cover. First the cover was blurry. Then I went in to fix the blurb. Then I realized thanks to a blogger buddy that there was a typo on the cover. Each time we had to upload something Amazon took the book off line. Even though all of this occurred I have 8 downloads as of yesterday for the month of February. I'd say the cover is working. No one was downloading it before.

Health wise, my efforts to eliminate the pain I have with my teeth is working. I faithfully rinse my month with a combination of hydro-peroxide and mouth wash. This kills the bacteria. I won't really get all the way better until my teeth are pulled so the occasional cold or other illness will wipe me out.

My husband has a great paying local job and today is his first paycheck. Not that it will be enough since he was unemployed for all of January and we are behind on several bills. But there is hope.

We have added me to the Insurance plans on my husbands retirement which means a couple things. One, I won't be without Insurance as I have been since the first of the year. And this includes a Dental policy. But his retirement now gives us a paycheck of $9 and change. I can buy tissue with that. LOL

My husband is taking out additional Dental Insurance with his employer so that by the end of March I will have double coverage. Now we only need to find a Dentist who will allow payments since even with double coverage to have all my teeth pulled is an expense.

Bottom line, the stress is lifted, I'm feeling much better and it's time to start writing.

Hope all of you find March a rewarding and healthy month.
Nancy

#RomanticFridayWriters, We Love Lovers

Greetings all. It's time for Romantic Friday Writers and today's challenge is to take a famous couple from any book and write a new story about them, up to 1,000 words.

Well...I've got a cold and the only thing I've been able to do this week is sleep. So I haven't been able to devote the time I wanted to this post but I will give you something unusual and I hope entertaining. I'm in the middle of this book because my daughter wanted me to read it. I must admit I know more about this couple from the movies my daughter watches over and over again.

One clue I will tell you is the situation or challenge that this couple faces is actually being created by Scientist using stem cell research. I love watching the History Channel, Discovery Channel and the Science Channel to learn new things. In short, Scientist looking for a way to reverse dementia in older people used stem cells from living donor rats and injected them into rats that had the aging disease. I should have done the research to learn the name of that disease that sadly affects a small number of young children causing them to die of old age, but like I said I've been sick and will be lucky to finish this post. What happened to the rats was remarkable, they began to grow younger and they began to regenerate damaged organs. Imagine what this will mean if it pans out?

*
 Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings among other things in this fan fiction spoof are the property of Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight series of books. The original characters and original plot are the property of author Stephanie Meyer. This author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material pertaining to the Twilight series of books or the Twilight motion pictures. No copyright infringement is intended in this fan fiction.

*

So here is my story, not a 1,000 words, written in this post. I apologize if it has glaring mistakes.

*

Edward reached long cold fingers to envelope Bella's hand. They sat in the office of Dr. Lemon, a respected scientist and brilliant research doctor. "Are you sure?" Edward asked.

"To feel warm again, the sun on my skin and I want to eat Nachos," Bella said.

"I've never had them." Edward studied his wife. After 200 years his love hadn't diminished.

"No, I suspect they weren't popular when you were human. Trust me, they are yummy."

Dr. Lemon entered. Edward sensed his thoughts. Apparently they were not the first vampires to seek his aid.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cullen," Lemon said as he put his pen into the pocket of his white clinical coat. "I've read your chart but I'd like to hear from yourselves why you wish to undertake this procedure?"

Bella sighed, she glanced at Edward who smiled and said. "My wife longs for sunny beaches and Nachos."

"Nachos," Lemon said as a smile teased the corner of his mouth. He folded his arms, leaned on the desk and then spoke. "Stem cells can be harvested easily. Advances have allowed us to grow them in the lab using living donors. There isn't an issue with rejection in your case. You will simply adopt the blood type of the donor and become human. However, I must warn you, there isn't anyway to reverse the procedure."

Edward considered that Lemon had no idea how a vampire became one. He knew the process could be reversed.

"I assure you, we had a young man who changed his mind. When his 'maker', as you like to call them, tried to make him into a vampire again, he died." Lemon frowned and studied the two.

Edward wondered if he could read minds, or perhaps he was simply used to the questions."How many vampires have you treated?"

"Well over 100."

This startled Edward. Bella gazed at him so intently that he had to consider her once more. They knew each other so well that sometimes their thoughts seemed the same.

"How long does it take?" Bella asked Lemon.

"It depends on how long you've been a vampire. Approximately one week for every fifty years."

"Is it painful?" Bella asked.

"Moderate pain, nothing that will require medication. Mostly our patients complain of itching. We have special creams to help with this. It seems your skin is unusually dry."

"How long will we live as humans?" Edward asked.

"As you may know, life expectancy has increased and many people haven't even begun to age yet. We have entire families that received the stem cell injections over 100 years ago and to the human eye, they haven't aged. Neither have their organs seen any damage. Older patients grew younger, many reversing from 90 years of age bodily to 50 or even 40. It is remarkable. Some Scientist believe that natural death will occur when you reach approximately 1,000 years. However, the research is still in it's infancy and baring an accident you should be able to enjoy many, many years to come."

"And you Doctor, have you  undergone this procedure?" Edward asked.

"Yes," Lemon said. "I just celebrated my 131st Birthday."

Lemon appeared to be 30 something.

"May we have a moment?" Edward said.

"Of course." Lemon stood and left the room.

Edward turned to Bella. Her icy fingers rubbed his hand. He wasn't prepared for the excitement he found in her eyes.

"I think we should do it. I know the rest of the family will follow us," Bella said.

"They may not."

"Does it matter? A thousand years. We will still be welcome in their home, you know that."

"Yes." Edward frowned. He'd never wanted Bella to become a vampire and if not for her impending death he wouldn't have changed her. Now there was an opportunity to become human again, not just for Bella, but for himself too.

"We won't be able to climb the trees the same or run for long distances," Edward said.

"But we will be able to cuddle in bed and sleep all night long." Bella countered.

"I've forgotten what that was like."

"Edward, it's not like we are exchanging eternity for fifty years. We'll live to be 1,000 or better."

"Baring a vampire doesn't do us in."

"Do you think that will happen?"

Edward sighed, "no." He immediately stood, pulled her into an embrace and kissed her hard. "Let's do it."

*

There you have it. Sorry if it isn't good enough. My eyes are closing and my head is nodding. I'm off to bed. Hope you enjoyed it. And all the predictions in the story were in the show I watched about this research. I wonder if you get dental implants, will your teeth grow back? LOL
Nancy

Copyright 2013

Almost forgot, to read other post go here and scroll down to the linky. http://romanticfridaywriters.blogspot.com/

Reflections

Greetings.

Last week I started this series on reflections, memories that shaped me into the person I am today. I don't have a specific day of the week for this, however, I'm putting these up on Wednesday for now.

Reflections will travel through events in my life in chronological order, I hope you travel through time with me.

Reflections

Two

When I was very young in my preschool years and curious about God I asked my mother who Jesus was. She had a brilliant answer for me. "Jesus is a person who you can talk to," Mom said.

Jesus is a person. I thought about this a lot and believed her. I started to talk to Jesus all the time. He became my silent playmate when my siblings were at school. Whatever game I played, I would ask the Lord Jesus questions and pretend He played with me.

Years later as a teenager many of my friends proclaimed that they were atheist. This troubled me. Why was it so hard for me to proclaim the same? My answer...I knew that God was real and that Jesus was His Son from all the years of playing with Him. I had real, substantial experience that could not be denied.

For those of you who like to say the popular and common phrase that "you believe in a higher power," the higher power has a name. Don't be mistaken or fooled. It takes courage to say, "I believe in Jesus."

Nancy

Bad Cold

Finally, everyone is settled. The husband has a job. The children are doing their thing. I can write in peace and what happens? A bad cold. So no post on writing today. I have a post scheduled for Wednesday and I'll be posting for Romantic Friday Writers on Friday.

Take care.
Nancy