Thursday, July 26, 2012

Cheryl Pierson: CELEBRATING BIRTHDAYS



My birthday is July 28th. I share my special day with Jackie O., and only one other person I’ve actually met in my lifetime—my daughter’s best childhood friend, Hailey.

I always loved that my birthday came in July. The Oklahoma weather was traditionally hot. In those early years, we dressed in our best party dresses, wore white anklets and Mary Janes, and always, there were beautifully wrapped gifts (no gift bags in those days!) and a marvelous homemade cake.

My sixth birthday is one I remember vividly. We were in the process of moving, and our furniture hadn’t arrived. Mom never bought cakes, but this was an exception. She bought the only chocolate cake the store had—a German chocolate cake—forgetting that I was “the one” who didn’t like coconut. We pulled out the kitchen drawers, turned them on end and used them for makeshift chairs around our “table”—a large wardrobe box turned on its side. The same day we were moving in, another family was doing the same thing, just down the street. The best birthday gift of all? They had a little girl my age! Jane became my best friend.

Slumber parties were popular in later years. Parents endured a houseful of giggling, rambunctious elementary school-aged girls for the longest night of their lives…until the next year rolled around.

Costume parties were another fad. The pictures that my parents took of a costume party I had for my tenth birthday are unforgettable. I remember how much fun we all had, figuring out “who” or “what” we were going to be. Amidst a hippie, a leprechaun, and Indian princess, and a gypsy, I was a hula dancer. My oldest sister had just returned from a year of college studies in Hawaii, and I had a brand new grass skirt that needed to be broken in. My good friend DaNel, who’d moved just across the street, wore my kimono—another present from my sister. This was before Pizza Hut—we ate hot dogs for dinner.

And what about skating parties? Do any of you remember those? We had a skating rink with a wooden floor (yes, this definitely shows you how old I am!) and we never tired of skating around and around, couples skating, all boys, all girls, backward skate—the changeups were endless, as were the games.

freedigitalphotos.net
This month I’ll celebrate a milestone birthday—number 55. I don’t mind getting older at all—hey, I can get my discount at IHOP now!

In my book, FIRE EYES, Frank Hayes, the youngest of the deputy marshals, has made an embarrassing and potentially deadly mistake. Though Kaed Turner, the main character, survives, Frank has made the decision to give up law enforcement. Kaed seeks him out, along with Travis Morgan, another marshal, to have a talk with him about it. He shows Frank that no matter what, he’s part of a different kind of family now. Birthday reminiscing is how the difficult conversation begins.


EXCERPT FROM FIRE EYES:
“Well, Frank, I expect you’ll remember to tell someone next time, won’t you?” Kaed said quietly.

“Won’t be a next time, Mr. Turner. I don’t b’lieve I’m cut out for this.”

Travis started forward, but Kaed put a staying hand on his arm. Travis met his eyes and Kaed shook his head. He came toward Frank slowly. When he got within arm’s length, he stopped.

“How old are you, Frank?”

“Twenty. Or close enough. My birthday’s next month. My ma, she always made a cake.” He glanced around at Kaed, a flush staining his neck, making its way into his face. “Chocolate,” he mumbled, “if she could get it.”

Kaed gave him a half-smile and closed the last bit of distance between them. “You’re awful lucky, Frank. I lost my mother when I was just shy of nine. I’m not sure I even remember exactly when my birthday is. But, that’s not really important, anymore.”

Frank nodded, but didn’t look at him. He kept his eyes fixed on the gently swirling water of the creek.
Kaed went on. “When you became a marshal, you got another family. We all share the same life, the same dangers, the same loneliness of bein’ out on the trail.”

Frank shuddered, his lips compressing tightly. “I know you’re right, Mr. Turner.”

When he didn’t continue, Kaed said, “I’m not mad at you, Frank. Anybody can make a mistake. Travis, here, he was a couple of years older than you when he made his big one.”

Travis drew his breath in, and Kaed turned to give him a quelling glance. “Right, Trav?”
Travis nodded.

Kaed turned back to Frank. “You’ll have to get Trav to tell you about it.” He spoke easily, as one friend would to another, as if he thought Travis and Frank were on amicable terms.

Frank gave a short, brittle laugh. “I don’t think Travis Morgan is gonna talk to me about any mistake he ever made.”

“Trav, come on up here,” Kaed said.
 
Travis slowly stepped forward to join Frank and Kaed, swallowing tightly. “Frank, I guess I need to say—”

“You better do more than guess what you need to say, Travis,” Kaed said, his tone cool.

Travis glanced at Kaed and flushed. He nodded. When he turned back to Frank, his green eyes were apologetic. “I gave you a hell of a rough time, Frank. I’m sorry for that.” He extended his hand. “Will you accept my apology?”

Kaed looked at Frank expectantly. He felt like an older brother overseeing two younger, quarreling siblings, forcing them back to brotherhood once more. But Kaed knew he was the only one who could end this discord between them.

Hesitantly, Frank reached for Travis’s hand and shook. “Sure. Forget it.”

“All right. Now let’s hear no more of this business of you givin’ up marshaling, Frank,” Kaed said. “You trained with Lem Polk, didn’t you?”

“Yes, sir. I think that might be my problem.”

Kaed nodded, sure that it was. “You ride with Travis for the next few months, see if he can’t teach you what you need to know.”

Both Travis and Frank started to speak, but Kaed held up a hand, giving them both a hard, cutting look. “Make your peace, boys. Travis, I expect you to teach him everything I taught you.”


FIRE EYES 
 A gritty, sensual western novel not meant for the faint of heart...

Renegades...
Lawmen...
Love's healing power...

Wounded by sadistic renegades who rule the borderlands, U.S. Marshal Kaed Turner understands he faces certain death. Then Fate and a war party of Choctaw Indians intervene, delivering him instead to an angel with the skill to heal him.

Jessica Monroe has already lost a husband and a brother to the outlaws who tortured Marshal Turner. As the rugged lawman lies bleeding on her bed, she faces a difficult decision. Can she afford to gamble with her heart one last time? For when Kaed recovers, he is sworn to join in the battle to wipe out the renegade gang—once, and for all.

When vengeance is done, will Kaed keep riding? Or will he return to claim his future with the beautiful woman the Choctaw call Fire Eyes?


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I’ll be giving away a copy of FIRE EYES today to one lucky commenter. Just leave a comment about one of your own birthday celebrations and your email address to be entered in the drawing. 

Thanks so much for coming by today, and thanks again to Cheryl for having “Cheryl #2” as her guest!

All my works are available at Amazon here:


34 comments:

  1. My birthday celebration on September, when i'm 6 years old, i and my sister (we both have a birthday in the same month), my mom celebration for our birthday.. its nice and i'll remember until now.. also she made a cake for the two of us.

    sisilia83atHotmaildotcom

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    1. Hi Cecilia!
      Both of my children were born in September. In fact my son was due on my daughter's birthday! My sister's two children were also born in September! (must be because Christmas is such a romantic time, eh?)LOL Thanks so much for coming by today!
      Cheryl

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  2. i celebrated my birthday with my coworker, they will buy a cake for me and then we will go to dinner :)

    happy earlier birthday wish, Cheryl, hope you have a wonderful birthday :)

    eli_y83@yahoo.com

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    1. That sounds like a lovely celebration, Eli! I am really glad my birthday was in the summer. I remember my mom telling me that when she was a young girl, she always hated having a January birthday, because it was usually cold and snowy. Thanks for coming by!
      Cheryl

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  3. One of my favorite birthdays was when I turned 13. My mother didn't have much to give as she was a single mother haven't left my abusive stepfather. She gave me my first tube of lipstick--a beautiful light shade of pink; but I felt so grown up and happy :)
    prism2318@gmail.com

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    1. Aw, Candle! What a lovely memory! I can imagine how special that was to you and to her--the mark of leaving childhood behind and going into your young womanhood. That gift was special in so many ways. Thanks for sharing that memory with us.
      Cheryl

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  4. Happy Birthday.

    My birthday is next month and I'll be 53. When I was young, we had a swimming pool in our backyard so some of my birthdays were pool parties. One year, my aunt gave me a bag of balloons and we filled them with water and threw them at each other. When we began throwing them at my mother, she got the hose and turned it on all of us. That was a lot of fun.

    lmyost@roadrunner.com

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    1. HA! BW, that's a great memory! Thanks so much for sharing that with us. My kids' birthdays are in September, and here in Oklahoma, the early (very early) part of Sept. is warm enough to swim, but by the second week, the nights are cooling off enough to where the water has a nip in the day. We got to where we'd let them have pool parties in August just so they could HAVE a party. LOL
      Cheryl

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    1. Me, too, Cheryl. I got teary reading that and just imagining it. Very touching.
      C

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  6. my mom always said I would get parties for my 13 & 16 birthdays because those were the important ones. So for my 13th birthday my mom took me to wal.mart & let me pick out some streamers then we went to our church fellowship hall where me & my friends decorated (we had to send her after balloons). after doing the decorating ourselves, because my mother has no idea what parties are about, we ate then everyone was so board they called their mom's to come get them. learned a hard lesson about giving parties for my own kids...

    Amanda Williams
    dallasandalaina@yahoo.com

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    1. Oh, Amanda! How sad for you. But your mom tried--I can imagine that our parents just really didn't know much about giving parties because the time they grew up in was so different. And at least you learned how to do parties the right way!
      Cheryl

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  7. Happy Birthday, Cheryl!!
    Amanda

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    1. Thanks Amanda! It's the "double nickel birthday!" LOL
      Cheryl

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  8. Happy Birthday, Cheryl! FIRE EYES sounds really good. My birthday is August 11. I'll be 49. I celebrate from the 1st through the 31st. *g* I get a lot of books that way. Hope you have a great birthday.
    HI, CHERYL!!

    Mel K.
    Meljprincess AT aol DOT com

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    1. Oh, Mel that is a wonderful idea! I said I would celebrate the week before and the week after, but I like your idea better. LOL Happy early birthday!
      Cheryl

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    2. lol! Yes, Cheryl, the entire month! Thank you for the birthday wishes. :-)

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  9. Happy birthday, Cheryl. Mine's coming up in a week or so, too, and I swear I just had one last week! The book sounds wonderful!

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    1. Thanks, Liz! And I'll go ahead and wish you a very happy birthday while we're at it. They sure do come around fast the older we get, don't they?
      Cheryl

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  10. Hi Mel! I've missed you. I see you on FB. I like your birthday philosophy - celebrate the whole month.

    Loved the excerpt, Cheryl.

    Liz, since so many of our pals are off in Anaheim living it up, I treated myself to a spa pedicure and nails today. :-)

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    1. Cheryl, I didn't get to go to Anaheim either. I like what you did for yourself. Maybe I'll do the same, since it could be my bd present to me, and it is a WHOLE lot cheaper than going to Nationals!LOL
      Cheryl

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    2. I've missed you too, Cheryl! How come I didn't get a e-mail inviting me to your blog party? ;-))

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    3. Are you not on my newsletter list? Or did I forget to send a newsletter? lol

      Probably the latter. It's been a crazy summer. Sorry.

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  11. Happy birthday! I like to celebrate with family and friends and a nice dinner.

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  12. Hi bn100! That's what I like to do now, too--I always go somewhere I want --usually out for Mexican, or to Outback, depending on my mood. LOL Just found a wonderful new Mexican place and I'll probably opt for that this year.
    Cheryl

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  13. I am looking forward to that senior discount too. I fondly remember my mary janes.

    Coolestmommy2000 at gmail dot com

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    1. Hi Robyn,
      I remember wearing white gloves to church on Easter, too--what a shopping trip that was--some kind of hat, our gloves and usually a new dress and shoes.
      Cheryl

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  14. Happy Birthday Cheryl! Growing up I had one birthday party and I shared it with my fourth older brother. Both of our birthdays are in November. I don't remember to much of it but I do know mom baked our cake and she invited a couple neighbor kids. I did have a surprise birthday party from the ladies I worked with once. I turn 50 and when I walked out in the warehouse where I worked there it was. Over the hill, black table cloth, black candles which they couldn't be lit, a coffin and black ballons. It sure was a surprise because all them years nobody ever did anything like that before.
    You mention the roller skating rink with the wooden floor, well I know I'm getting old and yes I skated on the wooden floor. Oh such memories, couple skates, fox trot, two-step, backwards, the hokie-pokie, the good old days.
    I hope you have a wonder birthday. Donna Harris

    donna_squaw_1952@yahoo.com

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    1. Oh, yes, Donna! How could I forget the dances, and the hokey pokey at the skating rink! Those were so much fun, weren't they? And what a neat party for your 50th birthday. I remember one year when I worked at the museum here in Oklahoma, my supervisor's birthday rolled around and I took up money to get him a cake, then went on my lunch hour and bought it and brought it back to the office. He was just amazed. He had never had a birthday party before. No one had ever made him a cake (not even his wife!) so I was really really glad I did that for him. He died before his next birthday--so it meant a lot to me-- you just never know about the things you do for others and what it means to them. Thanks for coming by! And thanks for the birthday wishes--I plan to lay around and do nothing on Saturday! LOL
      Cheryl

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  15. Happy Birthday Cheryl! I always celebrate my birthday with my niece, ours is in April. I hit 55 a couple of years ago and I feel like I am falling apart now. This years birthday I spent having back issues. I have been having problems since Jan. So about three weeks ago I had surgery. Not sure how its going to be now but at least I can stand up straight now. I have been walking bent over since Jan. I start pool physical therpy this next week so its a wait and see thing right now to see how things are going to come out.

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    1. Aw, Quilt Lady, I sure hope the pool physical therapy will help you! I know nothing is worse than back pain/problems. I'm thinking of you and hoping that the water therapy really works wonders for you!
      Hugs,
      Cheryl

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  16. Y'all, I've had a wonderful time here at Cheryl's blog today talking about birthday celebrations, and I'm really looking forward to mine on Saturday for no particular reason--maybe it's the 55 and over discount at IHOP. LOL

    MY WINNER IS....LIZ FLAHERTY!!!!!!! Liz I need your e-mail to send you your copy of FIRE EYES! You can either list it here in a comment or e-mail me at fabkat_edit@yahoo.com CONGRATULATIONS!

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  17. Have to share my birthday! I was born 4-4-44 and weighed 4-10 on my 40th birthday my neice was born 4-4-84 wighing 10-4. But wait there is more. I have twin neices born 7-9-79 wighing 7-9 and 9-7.I love numbers!

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    1. Hi Lilsis!
      My sister's SS # is all 4's except for 2 numbers. My son was born on 9-8-89 weighted 9 pounds and spoiled it by being born at 8:07. I remember one of the nurses saying, "Is there any way we could wait 2 minutes to make it 8:09?" LOLOL I love numbers, too, Lilsis, thought I'm TERRIBLE in math. But phone numbers? I am like a savant with those, and always have been. My husband marvels that I can remember ANY kind of number (He's a math whiz but has no memory for numbers.) LOL
      Cheryl

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