Monthly Archives: October 2014

Who is Hermiony Vidalia Criony Fiddlestadt?

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If you are one of my readers you would know that the name Hermiony Vidalia Criony Fiddlestadt is otherwise known as Granny, and is a fictional character in my Fuchsia, Minnesota series books.

If you are one of my readers you will also know that she is over-the-top, silly, cunning, sneaky and forgetful.

I have two books in the Fuchsia, Minnesota Series published by Cozy Cat Press. They are Granny Hooks A Crook and Granny Skewers A Scoundrel. The third should be published within the next month and the name is Granny Snows A Sneak.

In Granny Hooks A Crook you are introduced to Hermiony Vidalia Criony Fiddlestadt. You will find a forgetful, cranky, slow moving older woman whose children think that perhaps it is time she moves to the wrinkle farm or in with them. What they don’t know is that Granny has many secrets and wants  them to think she is actually in her declining years. Granny is worried that they will put her in the wrinkle farm or else the police will put her in the hoosegow. You will see a woman that does things that most older senior citizens can’t do. Fuchsia, Minnesota is also a strange town, and defies everything we know about living with the rules and expectations we have to live with in our real world today.

In the first book you will see the fun and the silliness, but you don’t see much of why Granny is the way she is today. She was modeled a little after my mother, who was on her roof fixing it at 90 years old. Granny is modeled a little like the hidden parts of all of us that we don’t let the world see because of life’s circumstances, or because we have bought into the aging process that society tells us we need to believe.

In Granny Skewers a Scoundrel, you see a little more of Granny’s life. Granny does hurt when her friends die. Granny does get mad when something bad happens. Granny does have secrets. Granny can’t sit back when she see something needs to be solved. Granny cares about her friends in Fuchsia and her family. Granny cares for her animals. Yet, Granny is still crabby and crusty and is suspicious of letting anyone see what is under that crusty exterior. What has happened in Granny’s life to make her the way she is?

In the third book, Granny Snows a Sneak, coming out soon, you will see Granny’s character develop. Life happens that changes all of us and Granny is no exception. She struggles with what she was told growing up, and feels the pull to revert back to her former life when she hid her true self.

Granny doesn’t  stepping on the cracks  in the sidewalk when she walks because of the old saying, Step on a crack you break your mother’s back. Some habits are hard to break. In writing this series I hope to develop the characters so that my readers care about them. I want my readers to read between the lines and know the hidden parts that are not revealed about the characters. Readers learn more about Granny and her family in each book, and see more of her emotions than the silliness that seems to be dominant.

Read between the lines as the mysteries develop. Granny’s life is no different than ours. If people look deeper beyond the words and the persona we portray to the public, they would see the depth of who we are. Our friends and family would see what we do not say. Our friends and family would see beyond the words we speak that occasionally have no meaning, and cover the hurt and the insecurities that are there in all of our lives that we keep hidden.

I hope you enjoy the silliness, the craziness, and the foolishness of Hermiony Vidalia Criony Fiddlestadt. I hope you enjoy the satire of living in a community like Fuchsia compared to the rules and regulations that we live with today. I hope you enjoy the mystery of the hooking the crook, the skewering of the scoundrel and the snowing of the sneak.  I want to bring you silliness, fun, a little heart, and even more, a mystery that keeps you reading long into the night.

granny_hooks_a_crook_4granny scoundrelhttp://amzn.to/ZdcsAQ

 

 

A New Page In My Life!

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Of course I always want to turn over a new leaf, especially now that it’s fall but this time I am working on a new Facebook Page representing the Author part of my life. There was a confusion. I tied my Sprinkled Notes blog to my sprinkled notes facebook author page. People couldn’t find me when they wanted me, the new author. So now I am switching over to a my new page. Here is the address. Follow along with me on my journey. There will be ups and there will be downs. Perhaps at times, I will rest in the valley inbetween.

My new author Facebook page. If you have been following my sprinkled notes Facebook page please switch over. It will disappear soon, just like the stiffs in Granny’s new book. https://www.facebook.com/julie.seedorf.author

 

Coupons and Store Cards Entice Us To Spend!

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Something About Nothing by Julie Seedorf published October 2014Coupon Pile Stock Photo
I have an inquisitive mind. I also like contests and coupons that give you something free. You know what they say: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. You would not think that it would apply to coupons from your favorite places such as grocery stores, clothing stores, etc.

Each week there are coupons in the newspaper. Each week my Sunday paper comes with those colorful enticing ads. My mailbox, both snail mail and email, are full of exciting offers that tell us we can’t pass up the latest and greatest deal.

This week, as I was sorting through all the paper I have accumulated, I looked at all the receipts that I have that offer you something if you go online and take a survey about your visit. I usually toss the receipts. I decided to put my receipts in a pile and actually take their surveys.

At one store, after taking the survey, I received $5 off my next purchase of $25 or more. It has an expiration date. Another receipt gave me a free cookie on my next visit. I missed the deadline on two receipts. I decided to try it anyway. One of the receipts registered me for their drawing and another told me I was too late. The other receipts registered me for drawings for a prize of anywhere from $500 to $1,000.

As I looked in my billfold I also sifted through all the cards that I have that are reward cards. If I would carry all my reward cards I would need another wallet to carry them. Many of the cards I have, I use when I take my grandchildren to places such as Orange Leaf and Cherry Berry and more kid-friendly, fun establishments.

I have reward cards for Erbert & Gerbert’s, Lego, Ulta Beauty, Shopko, Panera, Hy-Vee Gas, Lowe’s, Caribou Coffee, Pizza Ranch, Petco and the list could go on. I sift through my cards before I leave my house if I know I am going to be going to one of these establishments. I admit, I do frequent some of these more often because of my rewards cards.

I used to be the coupon queen when I had kids at home. No grocery item was bought without a coupon. I carefully planned my shopping trips.  Now that we are empty-nesters, except for the Meow Twins that inhabit my house, I am not so careful. I do find myself looking at the coupons each week and cutting them out, thinking I should buy something. If I look at the coupons when I am hungry I cut out the coupons for things I would never buy, but look good on the coupons. That is probably the reason for coupons.

Moving on to store cards. I love birthdays because the store cards send coupons for $10 and $15 to use in their store. There is no catch, you do not have to buy anything else. If you have a lot of will power that works. You visit the store and spend only the amount that they have given you. There is one store that used to put the coupon in the paper. I would suspect there are more people that don’t have willpower and those coupons bring people into the store and they buy more than their $10.

I love the store that gives you $10 for every $50 you buy in the store. Of course, you need to come back and spend that $10. It is my version of going to the grocery store to only purchase one item and coming out with a cart full of groceries. How many times have you heard the comment in the checkout line, “I only came in to buy one thing?”

J.C. Penney a few years ago tried doing away with sales and it almost did them in. There is something about a coupon and a sale that brings the I-need-this out in people. Although for me, I loved the prices that J.C. Penney offered, but I did not like the ads so I wasn’t drawn in.

I have always been baffled by people camping out to get the sales on Black Friday. There will always be another sale. That item will be back. The hype feeds people into thinking they need something because of the price. “It’s a good deal so I better buy it now.”

I thought it was interesting that when the iPhone 6 came out there was such a frenzy to get it. I love my iPhone 5 but I also know that quirks and bugs usually come with something new.

On Sunday’s as I read through the ads I find so many things that I know I need. I am very lucky that I have to drive for miles to get that product I absolutely can’t do without. By the time I get around to driving those miles I have usually decided I don’t need it.

The key word to all of this is time. How much time do we spend trying to save money but only end up being tempted and succumbing to buying more because we have a deal? I am going to continue taking the time to register with my receipts as an experiment. Will I be a winner? Tune in for updates.