Sunday Sundries--Bling Edition

Okay, so I wasted a bunch more time this week. I think God was on to me, because he kept crashing my Jewel Quest III program on the desktop. So, I decided I'd better get to work.

Another time suck today has been Pinterest. I have a board under my "real name" and one under Julee J. Adams [http://pinterest.com/juleejadams/] and spend entirely too much time goofing on both boards. I've been obsessed with jewelry lately. It's my birthday month and I've been wearing amethyst earrings most all the time. I broke down a "Jewelry I love" board into five boards, because I had over 800 pins.

So, I thought I'd talk about some jewelry for my characters. In the first part of the first novel, Mary Margaret lends her hematite band to her sister Lizzy to keep losers away at the bar. It's one of those cheap, magnetic ones like this:

Mary Margaret got it in a gift shop on a family trip. Will jokes with Lizzy that, "It didn't work, did it?" He tosses it out the car window and offers to replace it with a wedding ring. When reminded it wasn't hers, he later buys a little diamond and emerald band for Mary Margaret to wear, "...until my brother replaces it with something more substantial." Like this:

Lizzy's engagement ring is an oval solitaire that's quite substantial. Will jokes about how she should pick out "...something that would be good in a bar fight." I got to go to the Tiffany's in The Forum Shoppes, in Las Vegas (right by the VIP entrance) where Will purchased it for her:

I found this reference online that was helpful:

At the top is a one carat diamond, the second is a two carat and the bottom is a three carat. Lizzy, who starts to go by Elizabeth, is overwhelmed by the selection, but picks what she thinks would be the simplest and thus less expensive ring. Here's a one carat oval in platinum from the Tiffany's "build your ring" site:

Here's one I found on Pinterest that is about right:

Not too shabby for someone who usually wore plain gold ball earrings before.

When her sister, Mary Margaret falls in love and gets engaged in the second series of books, her fiance', Rob (Will's brother), takes the diamond from the earring he used to wear, which was one of his mother's. Here's her ring:

On what is to be her wedding day, Mary Margaret gets another ring to wear that looks something like this:

Mary Margaret gardens and I knew this pendant was something Rob would buy for her at the first opportunity:

She also gets as gifts, later in the series, many flower brooches. Here's an example:

Let's not forget the men. Here is Rob's ruby cufflinks he inherited from his father:

And here is something his brother, Will, who is seriously geeky, would wear:

"Star Trek" delta shield cufflinks.
So, have some fun and think about what type of jewelry your characters would wear! Love to all, see you next week!

Setting as framing

I'm so fortunate that my husband and I have so many great pieces of artwork (mostly science fiction and fantasy) and needlework to adorn our walls.  I used to take everything to our local Ben Franklin's store, because my "Framing Goddesses" were there.  These two ladies understood my tastes, could pull the mat that would match perfectly and knew exactly which frame was in stock that would pull the piece together.  They've gone on to other occupations, but I think of them every once in a while, when I look at one of my pieces.  I've been going to our local Michael's recently and they've done a terrific job, but it hasn't been as much fun.

The right frame really makes the piece, doesn't it?  So, when I was writing my novel Seven Days, I knew it would have to be set in places familiar to me.  I wanted to drop in little details that would make the reader go, "She's been there" or "I know that place" or "That tells me what I need to know."  My heroine and her sisters are from Indianapolis, a place where I spent about a third of my life for work over six years.  My hero, however, lives in Las Vegas and we were fortunate enough to spend two vacations out there in 2008 and 2009. 

There were many incidents that sent shivers down my back from synchronicity, but two stand out that may make you laugh.  The first was when I first started writing the book in the last half of 2006.  I checked into one of the hotels we usually stayed at while in Indy, the Residence Inn at the Airport.  I was so excited about the story, I mentioned it to the desk clerk, asking if she knew who I could talk to in order to find out about the fanciest suite at the Marriott Downtown.  She got a funny look on her face, then said she used to work down there and got me a faxed floor plan for their two Presidential Suites.  Either can host a reception for up to 35 people, perfect for the wedding reception in the second book in my series, Seven Months.  Ask and ye shall receive. 

The other took place on our second trip to Vegas.  Chris was off playing poker and I started exploring.  My main characters in Seven Days decide to get married on a Wednesday morning.  My hero gets the heroine to pick out an engagement ring on the way to the chapel, so I went in search of the high-end jewelry stores on The Strip.  I found the Tiffany store in The Forum Shoppes, associated with Caesar's and boldly went in.  I mentioned I was researching for my novel and they couldn't have been more helpful.  The salesman showed me several rings that would be appropriate, but here's the kicker.  I asked the security guard the best way my characters would get in to the store, since it's a long walk from the main entrance.  He got a funny look on his face and told me the VIP Entrance was just out the door, complete with valet parking. 

Now, how cool is that?  I got to see exactly what my characters would see, walk exactly where they walked, feel what they were feeling.  It gave me a frame for that particular scene, to enhance it.  Fate and faith puts you where you need to be, doesn't it?