Friday, July 4, 2014

A kid, some chocolate and a life lesson learned

Tonight, on my way home from work I stopped by the grocery to pick up something for dinner. Upon entering the store I spied a kid, probably around eleven, hawking chocolate bars. He fidgeted in a casual way, targeting people who came out of the store, probably figuring if they had money to spend on groceries a few dollars more might find its way into his hands as well.

Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, when I left the store, he chose me as his target. "Hello ma'am I'm selling chocolate bars for X organization would you like to buy some? They're one for three dollars or two for five."

Now normally I feel bad for the kids, either giving in because I feel sorry or I breeze by with some kind of mumbling explanation revolving around only having a debit card and no cash. Tonight I had the money and quite honestly felt sorry for the guy. Standing in front of a grocery store, getting turned down by strangers was never something I could stomach, no matter how many fundraising activities I had to participate in for school.  To be honest I don't know if those kids selling the chocolate are part of a bigger scam or genuine young entrepreneurs, too young to get a job without mountains of paperwork and connections that a young person needs nowadays.

The kid smiled at me and I rolled my eyes. He reminded me of the actor who plays Manny on Modern Family. Same type of cute swagger.

"Okay, I'll take one," I said  digging into my pocket for three dollars.

"How about buying two? It's only five dollars," he replied with a wink.

Having eaten my share of these bars, not to mention I needed chocolate in the house like a hole in the head, I declined, reiterating that I only wanted one.

"Come on, I only have six more to sell and I have to stay here until I sell them all. How about two?"
"One."
"Two?"
"One." I replied with some amount of finality meant to convince both him and me. My groceries were starting to melt and the kid bantered with such charm that my resolve was fading...fast.

After a few more seconds of negotiation, I walked away with one chocolate bar and an admiration for this spunky kid. I didn't doubt with his charm he would sell those six chocolate bars but more importantly his tenacity, drive and courage will be the keys to get him farther in life than selling chocolate bars in front of a grocery store.

So, kid, if I see you again I probably will buy two chocolate bars from you because the one thing I admire is the courage to try, try and try again...and if you ever read a future book of mine, you'll probably find a character in it. Just like you.

On another note, meet some more of my fellow authors...

Meet Ryan Jo Summers!

      Ryan Jo Summers is a North Carolina writer who pens romances with a twist, mixing contemporary love stores with threads of Christian messages, time travel, paranormal and mystery. She began writing at the age of ten and never really stopped, always having to give voice to the characters and scenes in her mind. When not writing, she enjoys spending time with her menageries of pets, time out with friends, getting with nature, cooking and reading or painting just about anything.  Shimmers of Stardust is her first book out with Soul Mate Publishing, expected September of 2014, followed by a mystery romance in November. 
  
www.ryanjosummers.com 
blog: http:summersrye.wordpress.com 
www.facebook.com/pages/Ryan-Jo-Summers-suthor-page/312875648810797 
WHISPERS IN HER HEART--November 2012 Black Lyon Publishing 
SHIMMERS OF STARDUST--September 2014 Soul Mate Publishing 
WHEN CLOUDS GATHER--November 2014 Soul Mate Publishing

Shimmers of Stardust

Logan Riley is a Civil War hero turned renegade outlaw and hanged for his crimes in 1869. Except he survives, traveling through time. Fast forward 140 years and anthropologist Dr. McKenzie Lynne is hired by team of physicists to find a time traveling treasure. Kenzie finds Logan and soon learns the real fate they have in mind for him. Horrified, she runs, taking their living treasure. Now, pursued by obsessed physicists and the military, they race across the deserts and mountains of AZ and NM. If they get caught, it’s a lifetime of imprisonment and tests for him and certainly worse for her. But staying free means forever on the run, hunted and homeless.
        Running and hiding, hunted like criminals, they also discover attraction and love blooming like wild desert flowers. Logan knows how to survive on nothing, how to outwit the pursuers, when to run and when to hole up. What he doesn't know is how to keep himself safe from Kenzie's power. Kenzie's strong Christian faith works to convict him of his past crimes better then the hangman’s noose had. As their affections continue to grow and their pursuers close in, their love will face the harshest test of all—Kenzie's Christian morals and Logan's bad boy nineteenth century outlaw justice against the twenty-first century US Military and the insane physicists who will stop at nothing to get them back. 

Meet Larynn Ford !

I was born and raised in the South, lived in the country all my life, and love my animals. I have two goats, a potbelly pig, a kitty, and lots of fish. I love being outdoors, spending time with my animals, and gardening, but writing is my true love. I write paranormal romance set in the South. While my renewed interest in reading and the idea I’d like to try my hand at writing began with a bunch of teenage vampires, the characters pushing forward from my imagination to my computer screen lately have been cats. Big cats. Rescued, my book about werecougars, will be released July 16.

Rescued

Fiercely independent and determined to be taken seriously in a man’s world, PI Rose Baxter will do whatever it takes to find the kids who are disappearing from the streets and bring them home safe, even teaming up with PI Marty Brown, a man hot enough to burn whatever part of her gets too close – her fingers, her sheets, her life, and her other nature’s whiskers.
But her other nature knows whiskers grow back and will accept nothing less than this man as her mate for life, a plan Marty’s all in on. Sparks fly when she refuses to be the little woman. Besides, those kids need her and their time’s running out. But, thrown together 24/7 can she fight it?



 


2 comments:

  1. Thanks for having me Christine! Your website is beautiful:)

    www.larynnford.com

    @LarynnFord

    www.facebook.com/larynnfordauthor

    IN MY WILDEST DREAMS
    http://www.amazon.com/My-Wildest-Dreams-Larynn-Ford-ebook/dp/B00CE3B11I

    CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS, a short story in "All I Want For Christmas Is A Soul Mate"
    http://www.amazon.com/All-I-Want-Christmas-Soulmate-ebook/dp/B00GH2I458

    RESCUED,
    Coming soon.

    DREAMS DO COME TRUE,
    Coming soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for having both myself and Larynn over, Christine. Wishing us all great success and chocolates!

    ReplyDelete