Okinawa

This post and pictures are dedicated to a friend and fellow writer whose son is stationed in Okinawa, Japan
Okinawa is an island south of Japan.

You can't starve in Okinawa with McDonald's open 24 hours a day.

We visited a very clean, modern, and organized bazaar.

The city was destroyed during World War II and completely rebuilt, including the palace that is now a museum open to the public.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Question 3: Which city hosted the 2008 Olympic?

China--2

CHINA—2

For our second day in Beijing we joined a tour. Our guide was a lovely young woman who answered my unending questions. She explained, the government is still communist but more open to the West. Years ago, she was living in a small apartment with her father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, uncle and aunt and a cousin in a two-bedroom apartment. Notice one child per family. They all shared one kitchen and one bathroom with the rest of the building and they all had to dress the same way. Now she is engaged. Competition is encouraged. They work hard and save money. She and her fiancé were able to buy a one-bedroom apartment.



We visited the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The square is a huge place overcrowded with a million tourists every day. To cross the large avenue and reach Tiananmen Square, we had to go through a tunnel. It was here that one of the tourists in our group panicked and said she couldn’t find her mother. The poor old woman was separated from our group. We spent half an hour looking for her, while taking pictures and then the group had to continue. Two hours later, both women finally joined us.



We spent three hours touring the courtyards, pavilions, and palaces of the forbidden city. Each of the emperor and empress had their own palaces. There were pavilions for the guests, for the officials, for the empress’s family…The yellow color was reserved to the imperial family. No one else could use it in China. The various servants serving in the Forbidden City were carefully chosen. It was an honor to serve the imperial family. But once chosen, the servants could never leave the Forbidden City and the parents could not visit.














Next, we went to the Great Wall of China built in the 3rd century BC. I was surprised to find out that the Wall is in fact a stone stairs framed by two walls interrupted by tours. I walked up to the first tour, almost like climbing three stories. The steps were at least one-foot high and irregular. My husband felt challenged and kept going to the second tower as high as eight stories. Apparently, the view is breathtaking from there. People rarely walk beyond that, although the Great Wall completely surrounds China and is the only man-made artifact visible from the surface of the Moon.


As you can see it was cold on the Great Wall. This picture is taken on the first tower.







The third tower visible from far.

The statues of soldiers from the Ming Tombs.

And here, a picture at the Cloisonné factory where they manufacture gorgeous vases and plates.

Question 2: Which city in the Far East has more bycicles and motorcycles than any country in the world?

CHINA-1

To celebrate the release of my first printed book, TO LOVE A HERO, a contemporary romance set in Belarus, I will run a contest. This contest will be a little bit special. For two weeks, not necessarily every day, but almost every day... I will tell you about my adventures in China and the Far East. And I will post a question at the end of my post. Collect the questions and answer them on November 15. You will find the answer to each question in one of my posts between today and November 15. Prizes include a Chinese Cloisonné bracelet, a handmade lacqered box from Bangkok, and other prizes...

We left home on Friday, at 4:00 am to reach a 6:00 am flight, the first flight of a very long trip, two hours to Philadelphia with forty minutes transit and a flight to Chicago, two hours transit and a thirteen hours, yes THIRTEEN hours, flight to Beijing. I was blissfully tired and lucky enough to sleep during almost the whole trip. We arrived in Beijing on Saturday, at 5:00 pm. There is a twelve hours difference in time between Florida and Beijing.

Of course, we lost our luggage. While we ran down the Philadelphia airport to catch our connection to Chicago, our suitcases procrastinated and missed the connection. We met a couple from Seattle who were in the same predicament. Very nice people, so friendly, they couldn't wait to start their vaction and enjoy it. I will tell you more about this couple in my last post.

A bus took us all to the Beijing Sheraton, probably the largest and most luxurious Sheraton I have seen in my life. We were so tired we immediately collapsed on the bed and slept untill the next day.

For our first day in Beijing, we booked a tour with an adorable guide very fluent in English. She showed us the Olympic Nest, downtown Beijing, the Summer Palace, cloisonné factory where we had a delicious lunch in the adjacent restaurant.

I was agreeably surprised to discover that Beijing is a very clean, modern metropolitan capital with more high-rises than Manhattan. I am not kidding. Not at all the idea some of us have of a China.

Your question #1: Which city in the Far East is considered a shoppers' world?










1. The 2008 Olympic Nest

2. One of many highrises in Beijing. Notice the TV screen.

3. The Summer Palace

4- An imperial boat on the lake

5- In the Summer Palace gardens

6- A Jade sculpture

7- In the Cloisonné factory, an artist working on a frame.

The answer to your question #1 will be in a coming post.

IN PRINT

My first book, TO LOVE A HERO, is now IN PRINT available at Cerridwen Press.

Link: http://www.jasminejade.com/p-6651-to-love-a-hero.aspx?skinid=13

Categories: Contemporary Romance

Series: None

Book Length: 290 pages

Book Type: Trade Paperback

Publisher: Cerridwen PressISBN: 9781419958106

In Stock: YES

Price: $14.99

Blurb:

Dr. Cecile Lornier is an ambitious chemist who fought hard to win and keep her first international contract. She travels to Belarus to coordinate the environmental cleanup and literally starts her contract on the wrong foot as she stumbles on the broken escalator at the airport. When a muscular chest cushions her fall, she finds more chemistry than she bargains for in the arms of the handsome Major General of Belarus.

The widowed Sergei has pledged to clean his country of the pollution left by the Chernobyl disaster. With a glass of vodka in his hand and the lovely Cecile nestled in his arms, Sergei has more on his mind now than nuclear pollution, and Cecile soon learns that chemicals are not the only things that generate heat.The general doubts he can fulfill his mission if he surrenders his heart while Cecile fights his chauvinistic officers to perform her contract. Soon she will have to choose between betraying Sergei's trust or abandoning him to the evil plot of his hateful ex-father-in-law.

Reviews:

TWO LIPS REVIEW: 4.5 lips

Mona Risk tells a poignant yet beautiful and sweet story of two people falling in love… TO LOVE A HERO is a first for Ms. Risk, this is a story readers will enjoy.

REVIEW YOUR BOOK REVIEW: 4 stars

TO LOVE A HERO has a complex plot. There are twists and turns that the reader will not expect. Mona Risk is a talented author. She knows how to weave intrigue and romance into her story… Fans of romance and suspense will enjoy To Love a Hero.

SIMPLY ROMANCE REVIEW: Outstanding Read.

Mona Risk's TO LOVE A HERO is a wonderful love story complete with deception, conceit, stubbornness and the love of a lifetime for two people who couldn't be more different. Ms. Risk hits a homerun with this story. Her characters are strong. Cecile is the epitome of a woman who has had to bust her butt to get to where she is in her career, too often losing the chance at a relationship. Sergei is a totally alpha male - strong willed, determined and totally chauvinistic! Obviously the two are bound to create plenty of sparks between them.

TO LOVE A HERO is heartwarming. I loved this story, and how Cecile and Sergei fell for each other and all the difficulties they faced. I loved the descriptive passages of Belarus and could easily picture the characters walking through the streets. I definitely recommend TO LOVE A HERO , and while you're at it pick up a bottle of vodka! Nazhtrovia!!

SOMEWHERE MY LOVE by Beth Trissel

I am delighted to introduce you to the first book of my friend, Beth Trissel, 2008 Golden Heart finalist in Historical Romances. Beth is on the left with me. She is wearing the corsage of the Golden Heart finalists. The photo was taken a few minutes before the GH reception.


Somewhere My Love is a contemporaray romance, a murder mystery/ghost story with flashbacks to early nineteenth century Virginia and an intriguing paranormal connection between the two.

Somewhere My Love is out at the Wild Rose Press: http://www.thewildrosepress.com/


Star-crossed lovers have a rare chance to reclaim the love cruelly denied them in the past, but can they grasp this brief window in time before it is too late?

Newly arrived at Foxleigh, the gracious old Wentworth home in Virginia, British born Julia Morrow is excited at the prospect of a summer working as a guide in the stately house and herb garden. She quickly discovers the historic plantation holds far more. Cole Wentworth’s handsome portrait grabs her the instant she lays eyes on the magnetic young man, killed in a quarrel over the lovely English lady, Julia Maury, two hundred years ago. Then she meets his double, William, the only remaining Wentworth heir. Somehow, Julia must persuade Will that their fates are entwined with those of Cole Wentworth and Julia Maury, and that the man who killed Cole has returned to enact the deadly cycle again, or she will lose him twice.

But Julia has little time to figure out what’s happening, a ghost haunts Foxleigh, and danger lurks beneath the seeming charm. The blade is about to fall...again.

Somewhere My Love was released on Friday and the next day Beth received her first fan letter:
I really enjoyed this book. It was a fast and easy read. It had a mixture of romance and mystery. I would recommend this book to everyone. I cannot wait to read more from Beth Trissel.

A Writer's World

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~Anton Chekhov

Doesn’t this quote define the essence of a good writer? Show me.

Do you remember the classical movie, My Fair Lady, and Audrey Hepburn’s singing with Julie Andrews’s voice? Show Me.

Before we immersed ourselves in workshops about show vs tell, we instinctively knew the difference between a boring book with paragraphs of descriptions and a fast-paced story that takes us on a ride where we experience the characters’ feelings.

Obviously while sitting in our chair, fingers hopping on the keyboard we try hard to show our characters’ actions and feelings. We often become a character to better experience their emotions, live their lives.

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

No kidding? Are we writers schizophrenics in denial? Maybe.

My husband would agree with that quote as he repeats for the third time, “I’m talking to you. Come back. Live with us.” Too often, while I am concentrating on the story I am creating on my monitor screen I live in my little world.

Am I missing on life while I withdraw in my stories?

My friends threw a big party to celebrate my first book, TO LOVE A HERO, and advised me to start enjoying life now that I reached my goal and published a book.

But one book published wasn't my goal. I didn't stop writing and I didn't socialize more. My second book, FRENCH PERIL, came out but few of my friends bothered to congratulate me. They think I am pushing it too much.

Will I wake up one day and wish I hadn’t spent so much time on my own?

Writing is my life. I can't stop.

A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket. ~Charles Peguy

Writers do you feel isolated?
Readers do you realize how much work goes into a book creation?

Do you believe in miracles?

I do and I believe harder now after my daughter’s accident.

It happened at eight in the morning on her way to work on Rt 95, a four-lane highway. She was on the second lane from the left. A truck dragging a trailer with sandbags drove on lane one on the extreme right.

He lost control of the trailer. The sandbags flew. The trailer twisted and overturned. The truck skidded at high speed, crossed over the next two lanes, spun, and hit her at full speed on the right front side. Her car spun in the lane on her right.

Thank God, she was in her husband's Jeep and not her little car. Thank God, he hit her on the passenger side. Thank God, there were no cars passing her on her left at that very second. And thank God she wasn't hurt although the car is totaled. She was very scared and unable to talk for five minutes. She just sat in the car in shock. She can't remember if she lost consciousness. She can't remember if she saw him coming.

Someone called 911. It's only when the police knocked on her door that she got out of her shock and called her husband. The truck driver was not hurt also. But the highway was blocked for two hours around the accident area because of the overturned trailer and sandbags.

Being a doctor herself, she managed to go to her hospital and work, but she stayed home the next day, hugging and kissing her children. Her back hurt badly and she still has to see a doctor. She told us late at night when she came home. She is still in shock and had nightmares for the last two nights. I am in shock.

But I do believe in miracles. Have you ever experienced real miracles?

Now to take my mind off the nightmare I play along with my friends.
I have been tagged by Kelly Kirch.

Tag rules:

1) Link to the person that tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog.
3) List six unspectacular quirks you have.
4) Tag six bloggers by linking them.
5) Leave a comment on each person's blog to let them know they've been tagged.

My six quirks are:

1. I braid one strand of my hair on and off and undo it, while I think and type.
2. I snack on nuts, pistachios and pumpkin seeds. The cracking noise to open them relaxes me but annoys the hell out of my husband.
3. My birthday is January 19, my son’s January 17 and my husband January 21.
4. My eyes are different colors. One green and one hazel.
5. I am terrified of height. It took me years to be able to drive on a bridge. I always stay in the middle lane.
6. My dreams come true. My family and friends believe in them.

I'm tagging six more authors: Kelly Kirch, Anny Cook, Sandra Cox, Jenyfer Mattews, Regina Carlysle, Molly Daniels.