I decided to clean up some of the blog and combined all of the trivia posts into one!

 

Trivia 1

Casting Cat and Regina:

Cat (Dianna Agron) Regina (Alexis Bledel)

source                    source

It was really hard figuring who would be the lucky starts but I narrowed it down!

Who’s your favorite actress and why?

Trivia 2

Caroling.

I have never done it, though I love Christmas movies that involve caroling in one way or another. I find it that people have guts to go from house to house and sing. It’s really cool and open. No one ever done that in my neighborhood….

Here’s Snoopy:

source

Have you ever been a caroler and or have gone caroling? Do you think people still do it? If not, what should people do to bring back the tradition? Share your experience!

Trivia 3

French fries. My chosen foods for making me feel better. A bar and grill just needs to have fries and they better be good!

Cat goes to a bar with a friend and orders french fries. When another friend joins her, he gets a surprise…the fries are extra salty. 😉

I also like french fries with chili. Here’s a pic (just because lol) :

 source

What do you guys like adding to your fries? Nowadays, there are a ton of options.

Trivia 4

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to snuggle under a blanket. I have several favorite blankets and one blanket I have received for last Christmas from my boss. ^_^

Cat also has a favorite blanket, a mermaid tail blanket (the one that I have ^_^)

Here’s the link:

https://www.amazon.com/LAGHCAT-Mermaid-Blanket-Sleeping-Blankets/dp/B01ESZPIOA/ref=sr_1_4?s=bedbath&ie=UTF8&qid=1503252697&sr=1-4&keywords=mermaid+tail+blanket

What’s your favorite blanket? And why?

Trivia 5

Cat’s favorite holiday movie is Holiday in Handcuffs. It’s about Judy, a girl who’s too afraid to show up single yet again for her mom’s Christmas getaway weekend. She’s so afraid that she ends up kidnapping a guy from the restaurant where she’s working. It’s a great movie with fantastic scenes, and it has one of my favorite actresses.

Holiday in Handcuffs Trailer-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I24mL7Ax1aw

What’s your favorite holiday movie?

Trivia 6

Hospitals. I visited them a few times- both as a patient and as a visitor. Last time, I was a visitor because one of my best friends gave birth to a beautiful boy.

Anyway, Cat ends up being a visitor to the hospital.

There, they have a system in the emergency room where the patient needs to fill out a card with their name and social security number. That way, when the patient gets to the nurse, he or she doesn’t need to reveal his identity out loud that unwanted ears could hear. I like that system.

Be healthy. Be happy.

What’s your favorite ‘get well’ gift did you give to a family member or friend?

Trivia 7

Most girls love dresses. Cat likes them, too…even if she had to spend a ton of money on one for a party.

Here’s her dress – Just picture it in silver and green at the shoulders

 Source

Do you dress up for holiday parties? What would be your ideal dress/outfit?

Trivia 8

So, before I had my son, I’ve been to a couple of bars. I’m no saint.

Whether it was to drink, have some greasy food, or to play pool, it was fun. I always went with the girls so we would catch up.

Cat ends up going to a bar with a friend and ends up learning an important aspect of someone’s past.

My choice of drink is rum with coke.

What’s yours? Doesn’t have to be alcoholic.

Trivia 9

Here’s where Cat and I are really different.

She has a fantastic singing voice. I like to sing, but I’m horrible. My husband always tells me to stop singing, unless I’m singing to my son. He says that I have a beautiful voice when I sing for my son because it’s filled with love. ^_^

One of my favorite singers is Cher. Here’s a scene from the movie – Burlesque.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L506pK0h61E

Can you sing? Who’s your favorite singer?

Trivia 10

My best friend, Laura, likes color art. I even sent her pencils so she could color. Couldn’t send color books because well they’re heavy! Have you tried sending a package to another country? Yikes!

Anyway, it’s her fault that novella has color art. SURPRISE!

That’s a big reason to buy it in print (hint hint). Not only will you guys enjoy Cat’s story but you also get to color 10 beautifully crafted illustrations. I’ll be setting up the print version on Amazon at the end of the week. ^_^

Here’s a cool coloring books set –

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MXNA1AU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T1_fy8Dzb1J93VC5

Do you color? Share a link to your favorite coloring book.

Trivia 11

How to kick off a holiday party?

At first, Cat fails. I mean why would someone start playing notes to – Highway to Hell, during a holiday party? One may never know. Though, it was a bad attempt for getting the people into the mood, it sure grabbed their attention and what else grabbed their attention was her singing.

Cat sings – All I want for Christmas is you, for the party. What type of a chick-lit Christmas story would this be without this song???

Everyone likes the movie – Love Actually, so here’s a scene with the song. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ghkHlthIqM

What’s your favorite holiday song? Share ^_^

Trivia 12

I already mentioned Barbies and Transformers so I guess I have to mention DragonBall Z. Besides watching Sailor Moon when I was a kid, I watched Dragonball Z. If one checks out lists of popular anime to watch, those two are always listed.

Cat had also seen the anime and uses it to her advantage when communicating with the little boy that’s part of the story.

My favorite character was Trunks. He got to travel through time!-

http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Future_Trunks

If you watched the show, who was your favorite character? If you hadn’t seen the show then name a favorite character from a different anime. If you don’t like anime, then name a character from your favorite book. We’re all ears.

Trivia 13

Cat is a character that I created so obviously, she’s going to have a trait or two that belongs to me. Hehe. ^_^ I adore ornaments. I think that it’s fun to make them yourselves or to buy them. Every year, I buy a new ornament. Ornaments tend to break every year so I replenish one by one. There’s no theme, just whatever little ornament catches my eye.

The store that I go to buy my ornaments (usually) is World Market-https://www.worldmarket.com/

Do you have a tradition that has to do with tree ornaments? Or a tradition that you created to celebrate your own holiday? What is it?

Trivia 14

Diaries. We all had them at one point or another. At least the girls had.

Let’s see if I remember correctly, I went through notebooks when I was a kid. Where I would doodle and write down my thoughts. After notebooks, I had voice activated diaries. After that, with the internet booming, I tried xanga…though after two posts, it totally failed as a diary. I returned to notebooks in high school and taped in foreign money or pictures of things when writing down my memories.

Anyway, Cat has a diary. She actually started keeping on when her story begins. You guys will get to read her inner thoughts that hopefully will make you feel more connected to the character.

My diary of when I was a kid-

diary

Do you keep a diary? What does it look like?

Trivia 15

Decorating! I love decorating. I have boxes and boxes filled with decorations. I have Halloween decorations and Christmas decorations. Some for St. Patrick’s and some for Valentine’s.

I hang lights not just on the tree or the windows but also on the ceilings! It’s a lot of work just to hang the lights but the feelings it creates is just amazing. When I look up at the lights and snow globes, Christmas tree, fake snow, little house village collection, Nutcrackers, and other things really brings out the holiday spirit.

Cat wants her work party to have a holiday spirit and is thrilled when she gets to decorate the rented space for the party. Does she succeed? Does something go wrong? I don’t remember, but she gets that spirit and that’s what matters.

Back to Solvang, except this time not for pastries but for decorations. The last time that I visited Solvang, I visited their very own year-round Christmas store. I bought little red  mushrooms to hang on the tree and my tree looked exquisite if I say so myself. 😉

Here’s the store –

http://www.solvangschristmashouse.com/

What’s your favorite part of decorating? Is it the process or the end result? Please share.

Trivia 16

There are two cars that make an appearance in the novella. Cat owns a Toyota Matrixwhile the stranger owns a Nissan Titan.

Here’s the biggest tip that any writer and author would give someone about writing –

Write what you know.

Well, I don’t know much about Nissans, but I do know about a Toyota Matrix. My mother loves her Matrix and I like it. They don’t produce them anymore but if they did, my mom would buy a new one.

Cat’s car is a mess while the Stranger doesn’t have a coat in there. Total opposites. Why do I mention cars? Well, since Cat meets the stranger through a car accident, just thought to add this small bit of trivia. ^_^

Toyota Matrix –

car

Are you like Cat or like the Stranger? Messy or tidy?

Trivia 17

Baths. My favorite past time. I get so little of them now that I have my son so I really enjoy them.

Cat gets plenty of them though it’s not really mentioned in the story line. There’s a scene where she’s taking a bath with candles and incense. All she’s missing were flower petals and wine. What’s worse is that her bath got ruined by one phone call. Not fun.

You gotta love buzzfeed. Here’s a list of ways to improve your bath time!

https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolinekee/bath-wine-say-no-more?utm_term=.ikr3m569l#.qvM6EeLy5

Do you add anything special for your bath? What is it?

Trivia 18

Snowflakes. Man, I miss snow. When I was little, I used to love waking up and running up to the frozen windows. Each window had a story to tell and it was absolutely gorgeous. Now, I only see them in movies. That’s one minus of living in California, I don’t get to see snow or enjoy the dancing snowflakes. Though little, snowflakes play a role in the story.

One time, when I was in high school, my teacher brought a box filled with snow to school. She lived in the mountains and it actually snowed there. She brought some to show a student who had never seen snow before. It was really cool of her to do that. Didn’t I say that yet? Have respect for your teachers, they may just surprise you.

Here’s a pretty window:

Pretty window

Have you ever seen frosted windows? Got a winter story to share? Please do.

Trivia 19

Coffee. It’s my Achilles heel… well before I got pregnant. I haven’t had coffee in more than a year. My son is nine months old and I still don’t drink it. So I ask you. What type of story doesn’t have coffee involved? Have you seen any?

Hehe. Here’s my coffee story.

It was when I was in college. My friend invited me to a coffee shop that just opened near campus. How could I say no? So, I followed him there and met my future husband. Yep! I met my husband in a coffee shop! He was the guy with the camera. The annoying type of guy that keeps on taking photos without asking permission. We didn’t hit it off right of the bat, but we did later.

We met at Philz Coffee. Here’s their site –

http://www.philzcoffee.com/

Got a coffee story? Share yours now. ^_^

Trivia 20

One of locations that Cat visits is a bakery. I just love bakeries. Once you enter one, all worries disappear thanks to the enchanting aroma of bread, pastries, and coffee. Unlike with me failing to see Chicago in winter time, I had seen one of my favorite bakeries in winter. They had a huge gingerbread house and everything!

One of my favorite bakeries is located in Solvang, California. Here’s the website –

http://www.olsensdanishvillagebakery.com/

Do you like going to bakeries? What’s your favorite in town?

Trivia 21

If you’re a kid of late 1980s or early 1990s, you probably still played with Barbies, Kens, cars, and Transformers. I know that I have. My first Barbie house was a cut up cardboard box. My sister cut it up, decorated it, and it was only one floor. Nowadays, kids don’t know how lucky they are to have plastic home’s, plastic cars, and a bunch of other things that are needed for Malibu Barbie. Like seriously.

Anyway, in my novella, there’s a little boy who plays with transformers. His transformer is the one that I had when I was a kid. I have no idea what happened to my toy, but it disappeared sometime during the times when I moved around with my parents.

His transformer:

Transformer

What was your favorite toy? Is it still on the market? Has it been improved?

Trivia 22

Cat’s best friend is Regina. Regina is a teacher and is very feisty. She’s complete opposite of Cat and yet they are best friends. She’s also the one to tell Cat about a ‘Dear Santa’ letter.

I have huge respect for teachers! For several reasons. First, my mother was a teacher in her first profession. Two, in high school, I was a mathematics teacher’s assistant and had to grade a ton of homework and tests! And finally, in college, I was a professor’s assistant so I know how hard teachers work so I made Cat’s friend be a teacher. ^_^

What was the moment that made you respect your teachers? Please share ^_^

Trivia 23

The story happens someplace unnamed close to Chicago, Illinois. Why it is left unnamed? Easy. Because, a story like this can happen anywhere…well as long as there’s snow. ^_^

I live in California, but I have friends living in Chicago. Over the years, we had road trips and or Amtrak trips to see them. I have never been there during winter, only summer, but I really liked my experiences there. Our friends showed us many places and actually one of my first malls in United States was in Illinois.

My life in United States started there, for the first two weeks, we lived with our friends until we moved to California. Well, my father left ahead to get settled while we enjoyed the greenery and a big trampoline at their house. So, Chicago will always be close to my heart.

One of my favorite places is Millennium Park. Check it out here: https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/millennium_park.html

Have you been to Illinois? Where did you visit?

Trivia 24

My main character Catherine (Cat) works as a manager at a bank. She deals with customer relations and event planning. Since the story starts on December 16th, 2017, she’s all about event planning and not customer relations.

Anyway, I’m getting off topic. When one walks into a branch (at least in California), it’s all about the look. The tellers, the bankers, the managers are dressed in suits…you can forget to see casual. But, have you noticed the shoes? I believe that shoes is a way for the workers to speak their individuality and I like it… though Cat doesn’t understand that and hates high heels!

Here’s a pair that I would love to have:

source

They don’t have it in my size!!! But I so would love that pair. I wouldn’t be able to wear them to work!

What is your dream pair? Would be able to wear it to your workplace?

Trivia 25

I just love the holidays and one of my favorite holiday drinks is not eggnog, it’s Glintwein. It’s a mulled wine drink for adults. The idea goes back all the way to ancient Rome!

Glintwein is a Russian name for it, and other cultures call it Glühwein (Germany), Glögg, gløgg, glögi (Nordic countries), vinho quente (Brazil), greyano vino (Bulgaria), and karštas vynas (Lithuania) to name a few.

Here’s a German/Australian recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/20538/gluehwein/

Have you ever tried mulled wine? What did you think? What’s your favorite holiday drink?

Congrats to Acacia! Today is a big day! The Party starts in less than 2 hours!

The Party will have a ton of visiting authors, filled with games and giveaways. Please visit this link to join – https://www.facebook.com/events/2515398041824070/ 

I have reviewed one of her books on my blog – Book Review: Delightfully Witchy (Witches of the Lazuli Birthrights Book 1).

The Embers We Seek

Publication Date: May 30

Genre: Fantasy/Myth Folklore / fairytale retelling / romance

Publisher: Acacia Parker

A fairytale retelling in a land of magic and war, see Cinderella like you’ve never seen her before.

As Captain, Wren is sworn to protect the soldiers she leads into battle, which includes preventing a potential massacre in an upcoming campaign that could mean the end of the war in Heros. But defying orders from her Lord could mean a noose around her neck…

If she gets caught, of course.

Accompanied by men and women willing to accept the risk, Wren knows they need a miracle to overpower the sorceress who controls the magical creatures surrounding the city of Eius—one grand enough to win Sortis the victory they’ve been after since the War of Giants began.

There’s always a price to be had where magic is involved, though. A price she doesn’t realize until it’s too late.

One that might just cost Wren her life.

The Embers We Seek is a serial series, meaning a new episode of 8 – 15,000 words will be published in the last full week of every month. Cinderella’s tale will be completed in ten episodes.  

About the Author

Acacia K. Parker has never been the shy one. With her father having served in the Air Force for twenty years, she’s enjoyed homes in many different states, as well as an eight year stint in Germany (and no, she doesn’t speak German, even though she really wishes she did). The odd encounters with various strangers and places morphed her brain from normal to quite unnatural, and what better way to tame the voices in her head than to become a writer?

Oh, and she’s an artist, too, although getting their faces down on paper only shuts them up for so long (but it certainly helps).

When she isn’t falling prey to the voices, Acacia enjoys jamming out to her favorite Spotify playlists, spending time with her husband, drinking wine, and hanging out with her two writing buddies, Boomer and Sookie (think eighty-pound Golden Retrievers).

You can check out more on Acacia’s website, or proceed to stalk her on all her social media platforms (the choice is yours).

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