Cliches I Have Known and Loved

During these lazy, hazy days of summer, I decided to write about what is supposed to be lazy writing—clichés.

I love a good cliché. As soon as you hear one you know exactly what the writer or person is saying. So easy. Such an economy of words. As a writer it’s verboten to use clichés. I must leave my precious cliché babies behind.

Here’s an ode to that which I must not use. Enjoy these oldies but goodies and a few new ones.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Life’s not so bad, when you consider the alternative.

All’s fair in love and war.

There are plenty more fish in the sea. (Not so much anymore).

It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. (Is it?).

Beauty is only skin deep. (Tell that to the guys lusting after supermodels).

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. (See above note).

You can’t tell a book by its cover. (Maybe not, but a good cover is essential).

I’m not ugly; I’m visually challenging. (Okay. I never heard this one but I like it).

It’s what’s on the inside that really matters. (See above re supermodels and lust).

If you can’t beat them, join them.

Nobody is perfect.

I’m only human.

The devil made me do it.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Tomorrow, no one will remember (Ya think?)

Avoid clichés like the plague. (There are many things you need to avoid like the plague).

There is truth in every cliché. (This is why I love them).

Clichés sound better in a foreign language. (Ah, that’s how I can get away with using them in my writing).

There is nothing to fear but fear itself. (Good one, but overused).

Life sucks and then you die.

When God gives you lemons, make lemonade (I prefer to wallow in self-pity).

Life is a bitch. (Ain’t that the truth). Also, Karma is a bitch.

When it rains, it pours.

No pain, no gain.

Rome wasn’t built in a day.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

I did it my way. (Or at least Sinatra did).

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Have a nice life.

Live and learn.

To be or not to be.

Live and let live.

Shit happens.

Laughter is the best medicine.

Same shit, different day.

Carpe diem. (See clichés, foreign language above)

What goes around comes around.

Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.

Life is messy.

Que sera, sera. (Ditto clichés and foreign languages)

Time will tell.

No news is good news.

There is no such thing as a free lunch.

Haste makes waste.

Cleanliness is next to godliness.

Do it right the first time. (Easy to say, hard to do)

There, I’ve done it. I’ve gotten my need for clichés out of my system. I will never again write one in a book. I promise (fingers crossed).

Feel free to add your favorites.

Chill out this summer by filling your Kindle with lots of hot romance novels. 

Check out my website: www.caramarsi.com for a list of all my mostly cliche-free books and short stories. I hope you'll find some favorites there.

STAY CALM AND READ A BOOK!

Dear Diary. Or Not.

The August theme is “Dear Diary.” I kept a diary for all of two minutes when I was a young teen. My life wasn’t interesting enough to chronicle. However, I found another outlet for my teen angst—poetry.

I wrote my first poem after a family trip out West when I was thirteen. It wasn’t my first trip there. I’d lived in northern Nevada for three months when I was an infant. My father was stationed at the Fallon, Nevada, Naval Air Station during WW2. Other than that, I’d spent my whole life on the East Coast. I fell in love with the West, especially the Southwest desert, on that trip when I was thirteen. This love has lasted all these years since. My first poem was titled, “I Came, I Saw, I Left My Heart in the Western Desertland.” I can hear you sniggering now. What can I say? I was very young. I like to think my poems got better.

I wrote close to twenty poems from my teens until my early twenties. All were angst-ridden. I poured my heart out in those poems. Some of the last ones I wrote were when I was twenty-one. I went to the Jersey Shore with friends one weekend. While dancing in one of the clubs, a group of guys openly mocked my dancing talents, or lack thereof. I have no sense of rhythm and have never been able to dance, but I tried. After being mocked, I stopped dancing altogether, but I wrote a poem about my feelings. I stopped writing poetry as my life got busier and happier. It’s painful for me now to read those poems of an unhappy young woman still trying to find her way in the world.

At the Ancient Roman Forum

The closest I’ve come to keeping a diary was keeping travel journals. I’m passionate about travel but haven’t done nearly as much as I’d like. I kept my first journal on a trip to the Southwest in 1998 with my husband and son. I kept journals for other big trips, including a multi-national family reunion in Australia in 2002. It sounds ambitious to keep a travel journal, but I wrote most of them when the trips were over and I had to rely on my memory. When we travel, we’re too busy doing things for me to find the time to journal. One diary that was especially useful was the one I kept from our Italy trip in 2006. Soon after, I wrote Murder, Mi Amore, a romantic suspense set in Italy. I consulted my travel diary to make the setting as real as possible. Every place mentioned in that book is one we visited, and every meal is one we ate while in Italy. I’ve since written a novella set in Italy, on Capri, again using my diary, and I’m planning a book set in Ravello, another place we visited on that trip.

With Australian and Italian cousins, Melbourne, Australia, 2002

One thing my travel journals have in common is they each start with me chronicling our lateness in leaving for the airport. Remember the airport scene in the first Home Alone? The family running through the airport? That’s my family. On our first trip to Vegas in 2000, we were running very, very late. Philadelphia International Airport is no more than thirty minutes from us. On this day, our lateness was exacerbated by the heavy traffic. When we finally got to the airport and had to show ID, my husband discovered, in all the stress, he’d left his wallet with his ID’s at home. We barely had time to make the plane, let alone go back for his wallet. This was before 9/11. The airline person checking us in let my husband board without ID since my son and I had our ID’s. Can you imagine that happening now? Yes, all this is documented in my journal for that trip.

Cousins from three continents enjoying lunch in Abruzzo, Italy 

http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Mi-Amore/dp/B009UEVVP0/?tag=carmaraut-20

 

Another theme this month is the gem Peridot. It’s not my birthstone, but I love Peridot because I love green. I have a Peridot ring, a necklace with Peridot nuggets, and two pairs of Peridot earrings. And lots of green clothes to wear with my Peridot.

Sadly, summer is almost over. It’s my favorite time of year. To help you hang on a little longer, I have a deal for you. The boxed set Sizzling Summer, a collection of three full-length novels from authors Lynn Reynolds, Ann Whitaker, and yours truly, is on sale for only 99 cents at Amazon and BN. The price goes up when the leaves begin to turn.

How hot do you like your romance? 

A special three-book set 
Lynn Reynolds 
Ann Whitaker 
Cara Marsi 

Love Capri Style by Lynn Reynolds 
A sexy, sun-drenched romance set on the island of Capri. Can inept journalist Amanda Jackson get an exclusive on playboy Eric Greyford, or will she wind up as just another item on the gossip pages of his newspaper? 

Dog Nanny by Ann Whitaker 
A romantic comedy set in the heart of Texas 
When vet tech Julie Shields agrees to train two delinquent poodles to save them from becoming doggies of divorce, she doesn't count on having to harness her desire for hunky pilot Nick Worthington. 

A Catered Romance by Cara Marsi 
There's more than business brewing between two old high school flames. 
Stubbornly self-reliant Mary Beth Kendrick needs financial backing to keep her catering business cooking. A looming corporate buyout forces her to accept help from Tom Sackett, the man who broke her heart and left her with no appetite for love. 

http://www.amazon.com/Sizzling-Summer/dp/B00JZCE1SG/?tag=carmaraut-20

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sizzling-summer-lynn-reynolds/1119638711?ean=2940149588060

Learn about all my books and read excerpts at www.caramarsi.com

The History of Sunglasses #CaraMarsi #RB4U

The History of Sunglasses

Sunglasses are cool. Think Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn.

 I love to wear sunglasses, not only because they’re cool, but because my eyes are sensitive to sunlight. Usually, blue eyes are more sensitive to light, but my brown eyes are, so this gives me an excuse to wear sunglasses whenever there’s even a hint of sunshine. Also, sunglasses hide a multitude of sins, like dark circles, bags, bloodshot eyes, droopy eyes.

I thought sunglasses were a modern invention and decided to do a little research. Turns out, sunglasses have been around since earliest times. The ancient Inuit people wore “glasses” made from walrus ivory. These had narrow slits to block the harmful rays of the sun. Here’s a pair below:

The Emperor Nero liked to watch gladiator games wearing glasses with polished emeralds for lenses. Sunglasses made of flat lenses of smoky quartz to protect from glare were used in China in the 12th century or maybe sooner. Judges in ancient Chinese courts wore shaded glasses to conceal their facial expressions while questioning witnesses. Clever people, those Chinese.

None of these ancient glasses were used as corrective lenses. In 1430, vision-correcting tinted glasses were introduced into China from Italy. Around 1752, James Ayscough began experimenting with blue- or green-tinted lenses, believing they could correct some forms of vision impairment. Harmful UV rays weren’t a concern.

Glasses tinted with yellow-amber and brown were prescribed for syphilis sufferers in the 19th and early 20th centuries because those with syphilis were sensitive to light. In the U.S, in the 20th century, the military was at the forefront of sunglass technology.

Movie stars helped spread the popularity of sunglasses in the early 20th century. Some said they wore the glasses to avoid recognition. Another explanation is that they had red eyes from the powerful arc lamps that were used when filming.

Sam Foster introduced inexpensive, mass-produced sunglasses in 1929. He sold them under the name Foster Grant from a Woolworth’s on the boardwalk in Atlantic City.  By the 1930’s sunglasses were all the rage.

In the 1930’s the Army Corp of Engineers commissioned Bausch and Lomb to produce lenses that would protect pilots from high-altitude glare. In 1936, Edward Land, founder of the Polaroid Corporation, patented polarized lenses. Ray-Ban produced aviator-style glasses using polarized lenses.

In the 1960’s a clever advertising campaign by Foster Grant made sunglasses chic. We’ve also come to realize that sunglasses do more than protect from glare and make a person seem a little mysterious and alluring. The best sunglasses are those that protect against the sun’s harmful rays.

Now you have it—the history of sunglasses.

When I sold my first book, I treated myself to a pair of high-quality Revo brand glasses. Since then, I’ve bought two more pairs of designer glasses from the discount sites Gilt Group and Rue La La. I’ve tried to score a pair of Chanel from those sites, but that’s proved elusive. The Chanel glasses are sold out within minutes of going on sale. Because I now need “corrective” lenses, I have a pair of bifocal sunglasses that I wear most of the time. Since my designer glasses aren’t prescription, I wear them when I’m wearing contacts; otherwise, I might look nice, but I won’t be able to see a darn thing.

What about you? Do you love sunglasses? Do you wear them?

Sources: Wikipedia, Ideafinder.com, www.glasseshistory.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don’t forget that Sizzling Summer, a limited edition boxed set of three full-length romance novels, is still available for 99 cents until after Labor Day.

How hot do you like your romance? 

A special three-book set
Lynn Reynolds
Ann Whitaker
Cara Marsi

Love Capri Style by Lynn Reynolds
A sexy, sun-drenched romance set on the island of Capri. Can inept journalist Amanda Jackson get an exclusive on playboy Eric Greyford, or will she wind up as just another item on the gossip pages of his newspaper?

Dog Nanny by Ann Whitaker
When vet tech Julie Shields agrees to train two delinquent poodles to save them from becoming doggies of divorce, she doesn't count on having to harness her desire for hunky pilot Nick Worthington.

A Catered Romance by Cara Marsi
There's more than business brewing between two old high school flames.
Stubbornly self-reliant Mary Beth Kendrick needs financial backing to keep her catering business cooking. A looming corporate buyout forces her to accept help from Tom Sackett, the man who broke her heart and left her with no appetite for love.

Available exclusively at Amazon and BN.

http://www.amazon.com/Sizzling-Summer/dp/B00JZCE1SG/?tag=carmaraut-20

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sizzling-summer-lynn-reynolds/1119638711?ean=2940149588060

This & That for the Merry Month of May

            My turn to blog was rapidly approaching, but I found myself devoid of ideas. Not a good thing for a writer. But there I was, high and dry of topics. Then I read a newsletter that included blog ideas for May. Eureka!

           

            The article wasn’t quite what I thought. Rather than blog topics, it listed May monthly observances. I picked out the ones I liked, then set about figuring how I could relate them to each other and to writing. So here goes:

            May is Creative Beginnings Month. That certainly relates to writing. We all need a great beginning, a hook that will reel in readers. Isn’t that what it’s all about—hooking the readers?

            May is National Salsa Month. Salsa is spicy and delicious—just like romance novels. A scrumptious opening whets our taste buds for the rest of the story.

            May is Sweet Vidalia Onion Month. Vidalia onions sweeten a salsa recipe. Sweet, tasty Vidalia onions enhance any recipe much as a passionate and sweet love story enhances any romance novel.

            May 27 is Cellophane Tape Day. Cellophane tape holds things together. Good writing, good characterization, and believable conflict will hold any story together, be it sweet or spicy, or a dash of both.

            May 30 is Hug Your Cat Day. I love cats. Most writers own cats. Every day should be Hug Your Cat Day.

            I’ll end on that note as I go off in search of Killer, my sweet black diva of a cat, to give her a big hug.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

With summer rapidly approaching, its a time to chill and read lots of books, I am happy to announce that I'm in a limited edition boxed set with two writer friends. We call ourselves 3WriterGals. We write and sometimes drink, not necessarily in that order. Our boxed set of three summer reads is called Sizzling Summer, and it's on sale for 99 cents exclusively at Amazon. That's three full-length novels for 99 cents.

How hot do you like your romance?

A special three-book set 

Lynn Reynolds

Ann Whitaker

Cara Marsi

Love Capri Style by Lynn Reynolds

A sexy, sun-drenched romance set on the island of Capri. Can inept journalist Amanda Jackson get an exclusive on playboy Eric Greyford, or will she wind up as just another item on the gossip pages of his newspaper?

Dog Nanny by Ann Whitaker

A romantic comedy set in the heart of Texas

When vet tech Julie Shields agrees to train two delinquent poodles to save them from becoming doggies of divorce, she doesn't count on having to harness her desire for hunky pilot Nick Worthington.

A Catered Romance by Cara Marsi

There's more than business brewing between two old high school flames.

Stubbornly self-reliant Mary Beth Kendrick needs financial backing to keep her catering business cooking. A looming corporate buyout forces her to accept help from Tom Sackett, the man who broke her heart and left her distrustful of men. 

http://www.amazon.com/Sizzling-Summer/dp/B00JZCE1SG/?tag=carmaraut-20

Visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/3writergals

 Enjoy the rest of May and the Memorial Day holiday!