Merry Christmas from the Johnsons

We wish you all a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The Third Amigo

For those of you who haven't heard, we welcomed our third boy this morning. Rowan weighs 9lbs 3oz and is 21 inches tall. He looks a bit like his brothers but has much less hair that is blonde. The boys were convinced they were getting a sister, but they were really excited to come meet their new little brother. Things are going well. You can see more pictures from today on our blog.

Makenna

UPDATE

Thought is was time for a little update - nothing big, just a couple of picture so you know where you can find me (for the moment at least):
I moved to Kitzbuehel, Austria in November 2010 to work at a 5* Ski & Golf resort (it's called Grand Tirolia Kitzbühel and a really awesome hotel - check out the webpage if you like www.grand-tirolia.com). I'm in charge of all the convention sales and we have had quite some interesting groups and events since I started: Annually we hold the Laureus Media Award, which is the little brother of the big Laureus Award (where athletes are awarded that support and promote social projects that use the power of sport to educate and coach kids in deprived environments); last month the Greek soccer national team held their training camp at our hotel to prepare for the European championship; we have a great number of returning companies with their meeting and golf tournaments (the hotel is surrounded by its own golf course)...
Sometimes I do get to enjoy some freetime and in this beautiful surrounding I couldn't be more happy to live here - for now ;-)

Enjoying the Kitzbühel Alps in the winter of 2010/2011.

After hiking for about an hour and a bit I found this:

A little tour to a small lake nearby (called Lake Piller):

Some friends got married at the Wolfgangsee. I'm so glad I went to their wedding otherwise I would have never fould following breathtaking view (its even more beautiful when you see it in person, and yes - that would be me in a typical Austrian dress calles Dirndl):

View at the Kitzbuehel Alps (after a tiring 3 hour hike only to get UP there):

Since Kitzbuehle is only 1.5 hours north of Italy, I took a trip to Lake Garda last fall - but that might be something for my next post.....
Love and miss you all (I really need to come back to see you all!!!)
Mareike (your German sister, daughter, cousin, niece, granddaughter and aunt ;-))

I hope all you fabulous mothers, grandmothers and soon-to-be mothers had an AMAZING mother's day. Hop you were pampered like crazy!

So...I only have one person being entered for a FREE book so far. All you familia, head over to GIVEAWAY. All you have to do is answer the question in the post. Who is your favorite author or what is your favorite book? That's all you have to do. I will randomly pick someone from the comments and you will get a free book - I will even ship it to you! Now, I know it isn't a million dollars, but I'd really like to have a bigger pool of possible winners than just one!!! So head on over there and comment. Loves! (Yeah, I'm a pest, but I really want to give away a book. And if you don't want it...give it to a friend!)

Another update!

Hey familia! So I know I am a bit of a nuisance when it comes to updating you on my writing. I am creating a new BLOG that is public specifically for my upcoming book projects (I have a compilation of short stories that will be ready for print this weekend) and my fantasy novel (which I recently did a little revision) which will be made public to all this coming fall and hopefully the sequel will be finished by Christmas or next spring. My new page is: http://facebook.com/RKRbooks. My blog is still in the works as I just started on it tonight. http://www.RKRbooks.blogspot.com. I will be doing some book giveaways, so make sure you are checking out my facebook page and blog for this information. In June I will be doing a giveaway for the short story collection and this coming late fall I will be doing a giveaway for my fantasy novel (just in time for Christmas). I am also looking into getting my books set up as Ebooks and so there will be some Ebook giveaways for those of you that have high-tech reading devices :) Loves to you all.

Good Reviews

The last few reviews I have gotten from my instructor have been awesome. I have been on a bit of a high and feeling confident again. Getting rejected 65 times tends to dampen your spirits and strip you of confidence. So it has been a great few weeks, especially during workshops. The workshop last nights was of my short fiction (that I can't think of a name for) story that ended up being 18 pages. A little long, but those that critiqued it had nothing but great things to say about it. They all even said it should be made into a movie.

It is a chic-lit type of feel with a love story (something that I felt discouraged from writing as I didn't think I could write chic-lit), with a bit of humor. One of the guys said, "I really don't like chic-lit books or romance - in fact I hate them - but this was awesome. All I can say is how good your writing is and that when I got to the last page I was bummed it was finished. I wanted to keep reading!" What a great compliment. Anyhoo...sometimes I just need a little boost to keep going and doing what I love, despite the rejections.

My instructor talked to me before class about submitting multiple pieces that I have done this semester for the college's collection of stories they publish each spring. They have already completed this years, but I am going to submit my stories in the fall to the college and then I will at least be able to say I am more than self-published. She feels pretty strongly that I will have no problem getting my work into the collection. One step at a time.

Happy Birthday Mareike

Happy Birthday Mareike! We miss you! Hope you have a great day! Love ya!

Exercise 4

For those of you who can't see my blog here is one assignment from my creative writing course

Using a first 'given' line to being a story. One page in length. You don't need to worry about my mental stability, I assure you. This one may seem a bit grim, but hey...I have one page to capture your attention so I gotta 'go big or go home', right?
The given line is: If I went there a second time (dot, dot, dot)

If I went there a second time, Michael would not have noticed Jenny in the white lace western dress, hair swaying with each flirtatious giggle. Instead I left in a hurry, tripping over my boots while explaining to Michael why my girlfriend's hair dying disaster needed my immediate intervention. I left, promising to return in time to learn the 2-step, and glanced back only to notice Michael's disappointed stare. I never returned.

If I had gone there a second time, Jenny would not have sauntered towards lonely and partner-less Michael offering her hand and country-swing skills. She wouldn't have coddled up so closely to him.

If I had gone there a second time, I would have realized that fifteen years of friendship was more than just discussing classic cars while scarfing down junk food; it was consoling him after the abandonment of his mother and abuse of his father; it was sneaking in his window in the middle of night to laugh about the tack we conspiratorially stuck on Mr. Flemson's chair.

As I bit my lip, I watched Michael caress the back of Jenny's neck during the rehearsal dinner. Her eyes fluttered in response to his touch - my heart sunk. Stabbing a sautéed mushroom I took a bite. Each time I pierced a piece of food my breathing increased in speed. I repeatedly sawed my teeth over the wound in my lip, felt the blood slide down my throat. Ignoring the congratulatory toasts and 'oohing and aahing', I formulated a plan, devious, deceptive and cleverly insane. Later I would scribble the details out on paper, then burn them. One can't be too careful when plotting murder, especially when it's your sister.