Mageela's Rules to Coloring

As a child I had my favorites. I loved strawberries and still do. I couldn't go to the beach without running right into the water. I stuffed my mouth with M &Ms until the candy coated shells melted in my mouth and dripped out the corners.  One another one of my loves was my Crayola crayons.

My Artist Tool and Obsession

For me, they were magic. I had the 64 box with the built-in sharpener in the side. I spent hours coloring, especially since I was a sick child and couldn't play outside a lot of times.  One childhood memory from my Florida days was when for some crazy child idea, I decided that my crayons needed some "color." I placed them on the windowsill in summer Florida light. Hours later, I returned to color and found them a blob of wax and paper. I wept as if they had died. As an adult, I imagined the screamed "I'm melting" in that wicked witch voice.

I loved my crayons. I loved them so much that I had rules when it came to coloring with me.

Rule #1 - you can't press hard.
   I never liked the perfect point rub down into that flat round tip that couldn't get into those little sections of the art.
   At my age, I keep my pencil tip sharp like a rapier and never let it to dull. Yeah, a little crazy (ssshhh, don't tell anyone)

 Rule #2
   Do not sharpen the crayon. I didn't care that a sharpener was built in. It never worked right, getting that point that when it was brand new. The crayon was never the same. As daddy's little girl, I forced my father to purchase me new ones.
   Thankfully, I lost that. Is that age, having to work for my own money or maybe because I no longer color.

Rule#3
   Don't rip the paper off.
   See rule #2. It ruined the crayon. And dad had to get me new ones.

Rule#4
  Don't press hard.
  The perfect point would be ruined. And then dad had to get me new ones.

Rule#5
  Stay in the lines.
 In my life from my name to my dorkiness, I've never been cool and I'm open to new experiences. I love beauty. And there was nothing beautiful about coloring outside the lines. Since it was my coloring box - because I never used anyone's tools but my own - you had to follow my rules.
  I can still be controlling. And I'm NOT changing.

What was your favorite toy from your childhood? Please share.  I can't be the only one confessing...I mean SHARING!

New York Magic

Sheep's Meadow in Central Park

 I'm the first person to complain about the city's noise, dirt and crowding. But there is one thing I love about this city. It has a magic about it.  The only way to experience it by stopping.

See you can't be racing here to there, making sure you get to the cleaners or make the train or catching your bus. To feel the magic you must sit somewhere quiet - those places exist besides Central Park - and sit there. Do nothing but let the city spin around you.

I swear you can actually feel a force, your heartbeat matching the city's steady thump. Then the view shifts and you sense the sweet smells you didn't think existed, the brush of the city breeze, the low hum of the city that exist off in the distance. Then you realize sights and details you never noticed before.

For me, it's more than watching the world going around. It feels like a merry-go-round in a snow globe but without the snow.

Hating Facebook

I admit it. I hate Facebook..

I was never a fan. Before the public was able to log on, my niece had signed on thanks to her being a college student. When she showed me her latest obsession, I felt as if this site was looking at someone's vacation photos and listening to the boring details.

I joined because my best friend demanded me to and I like that I can connect with family and friends that I hadn't sen in years and have missed. Lately though, it has been leaving cold and very disconnect to life and the world. That happens to be one of the reasons I've been hating my cell phone.

Am I the only one who feels this way? (Sheesh, I hope I don't sound crazy. But please, keep on reading my blog. Thanks!)

I know the remedy is to reconnect with the world, get outside and look around, talk to be people face to face. Not in a crazy way.

Do you need the same? Let's talk then.

Wednesday Review

Lily Ivory is not your average witch. Her spell-casting powers tend to draw mischievous spirits while keeping normal humans at a distance. But now her vintage store could give her a chance to make friends in San Francisco.

Lily hopes for a normal life when she opens Aunt Cora's Closet. With her magical knack vintage fashion--she can sense vibrations of the past from clothing and jewelry--her store becomes a big hit.

But when a client is murdered and children start disappearing from the Bay Area, Lily may be the only one who can unravel the crime. She tries to keep her identity a secret while investigating, but it's not easy--especially under the spells of sexy "myth buster" Max Carmichael and powerful witch Aidan Rhodes. Will Lily's witchy ways be forced out of the closet?

Lily is a character that I identified with, a caring "witch" (not that I'm a witch--too bad) who is trying to fit into the "normal" world, a world where she had no personal connections. However, she's trying to change that and it's not easy when she's still learning about her self and her magic.

As the story unfolds with La Llorona, the death of Mrs. Potts and a child missing, Lily knows that magic is involved however, she needs the assistance of Aidan, Bronwyn, the Wiccan, Maya--the vintage clothe finder--and Max Carmichael, the skeptic--and Oscar, her pressed upon familiar who covers his scaly self as a potbellied pig.

This first novel in the Witchcraft Mystery series is a fun read that had me flipping pages to learn everything. I've never been one of those readers who try to solve the mystery instead I allow myself to be taken on the journey. And this book is a perfect example of a cozy mystery.

Juliet blends the magic theme effortless and seamlessly as it touches every characters lives and helps in the characters development that will be expanded and explored in coming series, which is three books in.

Until Next Season

Well, Clay Matthews until next season.  I must wait until the end of summer to see your blonde Viking locks sticking out of your helmet. I must wait till then to watch you sack a quarterback. I must wait to see you thick arms, thick with muscle, against the Packer green jersey.  I must wait to watch you burst off the line at the snap of the ball.

Until next season when I get to see this:

Time Travel without Leaving the Here and Now

Much like other romance readers out there in cyberspace, I love Regencies. I love the era, the romantic notions of the past however, I’m a modern gal. From various authors, I heard how the Regency era was like the 60s. That may have been true however for me, I wasn’t born in the sixties.

For me, I believe that the world events are more similar to the Regency era.  Check out the list below.

Luddites: In 1811, stockingers broke into small hosiery workshops and smashed the frames used to construct the stocking, a highly skilled job while the manufacturers sold lesser qualities hosiery and putting their professions and families at danger.  These protest spread throughout England. Military forces were brought in to quell the violence however, the group only went underground. 

Occupy Wall Street: In 2011 with the economy in the sewer and a generation of twenty-somethings with thousands in debt and believing a college degree would get them the American dream gathered on Wall Street to protest the 1% of the population that held the wealth. The occupation spread from coast to coast. Police arrested them, pepper sprayed them and destroyed their tents. Even Time magazine named the Protestor the person of the year.

Economy: In description of  the Regency era's economy, Carolly Erickson wrote in Our Tempestuous Day, "Despite the drastic decline in trade, the wave of bankruptcies, the falling wages and rising prices that hurt workers so cruelly and the bare lives of the country poor, there were riches adundant, and with them a sense of comfort in everyday life that ought to be the envy of other countries. "

The city, the term for the financial district of England and original boundaries of the town faced financial ruin. The English Pound note depreciated.

In my opinion, that could be written about our state of a nation now and just switch a few terms and you have America now.

War: In 1800s, England fought Napoleon Bonaparte as well as a country called America. They were a nation at war. Red coats were abound. Canon exploded over Fort McHenry in Baltimore.  

Today, we've been a country at war since 2001 and recently pulled out of Iraq. This time England is our ally. 

King, Regent, Father and Son:  Since the king went mad, Parliament introduced the Regency Bill. And England was saddled with a prince unlike his father.  Us Regency readers and writers know his ruling style.

King George III

In America, the closest we came to this was father and son presidents--George W. Bush Sr and Jr. And enough said on that.







Fairy Tale Wedding, Everyone Loves That: In 1816, Princess Charlotte married Prince Leopold. They married in Carlton House. Perhaps not a love match in the beginning, it evolved into one until Charlotte tragically died in childbirth.

This year, Prince William, third from the throne, married his love Katherine Middleton. A love match and hopefully one that does not end in such sad terms.  I don't know about anyone else but I was up to watch Katherine come down Westminster Abbey in her beautiful gown that had the press talking about it for months much as Princess Charlotte's had.

And the Regency wouldn't be the Regency without:  JANE AUSTEN

 Jane Austen, her novels still live.  Recently, her works have been reworked, smashed up, with sequels rewritten even comics.

My Proust Questionnaire

If you're fan of Vanity Fair as I am then you've seen the Proust Questionnaire on the last page. I can't wait for the day when I'm asked but until then I'll answer the questions. Though I won't have the Risko illustration of myself.


What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Listening to a summer breeze blowing through the trees

What is your greatest fear?
Having to stick my hand in poo

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Marie Antoinette

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
My defensiveness

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Snobbery

What is your greatest extravagance?
Buying books

On what occasion do you lie?
To spare someone's feelings when the truth can't be said in a constructive way.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
My nose. I'll love to shave off some of it.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Anyway or like or but, well anyway...

What's your greatest regret?
That I didn't risk all when I had the chance.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
In one word, Jose.

When and where were you happiest?
Childhood and I never knew it.

Which talent would you most like to have?
Drawing. To create something that's why I love writing.

What is your current state of mind?
That's an answer you don't want to know. A scary place.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
To redo life with what I know now but then I would be different, I guess.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
My father would still be alive.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
Me.

What is your most treasured possession?
My mac.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Doctor's appointments especially the GYN.

Where would you like to live?
Los Angeles. I've always loved LA.

What is your favorite occupation?
Writing, baby!

What is the quality you most like in a man?
A good heart.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Smarts.

What do you most value in your friends?
Humor

Who are your favorite writers?
Oh the list is long but her is a few--Edith Wharton, Rachel Gibson, Susan Elizabeth Philips, Jane Austen, Christina Dodd, Oscar Wilde, Julia Quinn, Suzanne Brockman, Sandra Brown, Bernard Cornwell, Heidi Betts, Karen Hawkins--the list continues but I think that's enough.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Joe Morelli, from Plum Series

Who are your heroes in in real life?
My mother, my niece and my brother.

What is it that you most dislike?
any -ism, racism, sexism and so forth

How would you like to die?
after long and fulfilled life.

What is your motto?
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.