Let’s Talk with Terry Odell
Birthday Presents in Reverse
By Terry Odell
It was my birthday last week – one of those milestone “ends in a zero” years. However, as is the case with every birthday, I’m only one day older than the day before, so I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to the number. As far as celebrations go, we keep it low key. A nice dinner, but somewhere nearby because in the Colorado Rockies in February, one can’t count on good driving weather. This year it was something different – a six-course, beer-pairing dinner at a local brewery. (Want to see the menu? It’s here.) Hey, we might live out in the boonies, but we do have our local creature comforts!
One thing I remember about birthdays as a child was wearing a party dress and posing in front of the birthday table for the annual photo. Another memory was the way my dad decorated the walls with balloons. I thought it was magic. He’d rub a balloon on his slacks, and it would stick to the wall! Back then, parties were simple. Friends came to your house, you had ice cream and cake, played pin the tail on the donkey, and opened the presents. It wasn’t until you hit your early teen years that you might celebrate at a bowling alley or going horseback riding. No event planners back in those days.
Usually, when you talk about birthdays, people think about presents, so I have one for you. First, a sneak listen to a snip from Deadly Bones, book 2 in my Mapleton Mystery series. The audiobook is in ACX’s hands while they run their own quality control checks, and there’s no exact release date set, so you’re getting an exclusive. Click here to listen.
Next, I’ve got a free download of Deadly Secrets, Book 1 in my Mapleton Mystery series. You can find it here at Smashwords where you can download the format to fit your reading style. Use coupon code ZV43G at checkout. Coupon good through March 15th, so don’t wait.
Want to give me a birthday present? How about a review for any of my—or any of the Booklover’s Bench authors’—books? Those are the best gifts readers can give authors. Of course, buying a book means a lot, too. Doing both? Priceless.
So, what are some of your birthday memories? Good or not-so-good? Let us know in the comments.
Also, don’t forget our monthly contest for a $25 gift card. The contest runs March 1-18. Enter by clicking here
Posted in Let's Talk, with Terry Odell, zed: Former Authors • Tags: Birthdaysm Deadly Bones, BLB Discussion, Let's Talk, Terry Odell | 19 Comments
Happy Birthday, Terry!
Thanks, Karla!
Your e-mail shows you posted at 2 a.m. Just couldn’t let this birthday party end, right? Happy birthday, Terry, and many more.
Thanks, Sharon. Nothing wrong with an extended celebration. After all, not sure how many I’ll have left.
Happy Birthday! Like you, I appreciate the days when birthday celebrations were simple. Now even one-year-olds get parties that are more for the parents. Simpler is better. A beer fest sounds like fun.
The dinner was amazing. I’ll have pictures of all the food on my blog Friday (March 3rd)
Happy Happy B-day!
Thanks, Colleen. It was a good one!
Birthdays weren’t a big deal when I was growing up, especially for a child with a December birthday. My siblings with summer birthdays usually received several gifts. I got one, the reason given was that it was too close to Christmas for them to do more. Being a kid, I knew that wasn’t quite fair, but being a kid I had no idea of the seasonal nature of my father’s shrimping business. I just took it for granted that we had a steady income. We did not, and just before Christmas the shrimp were offshore and more difficult to harvest efficiently. Looking back, I wish someone had explained the feast or famine nature of shrimping better to me. But you can’t fix the past, and lucky for my kids they were both born in summer and have always had fun gatherings for their celebrations. The only birthday gift that stuck in my memory was when a body gave me dusting powder for my 11th birthday. I thought he liked me! Turned out his mother bought the gift for me and he was clueless. Oh, well, happy belated birthday to Terry!
Thanks, Maggie. My grandson has a December birthday, as does my brother. When my grandson was born, my brother wrote him a very touching letter explaining what he was in for.
How funny. I meant to type “boy” above and I wrote body. It would’ve been startling indeed if a body gave me a birthday present. Gotta love typos.
To Maggie Toussaint. My birthday is Dec. 15th. One year all I got was a hair net. My sister and mom were born three days apart in June, my dad May. June was definitely a party month. One year my sister’s birthday was over six weeks long! Nancy
I feel your pain, Nancy Jessich! I was also lucky if there was a party…
Happy birthday! I can think of nothing better than a beer tasting menu to celebrate. And thank you for the presents!
Thanks, Tina. And you’re welcome. I’m happy to share.
Happy Birthday to you and thank you for all the good writing. Been reading you since Jana Deleon recommended you as an author on her website site. You just had the short stories and let think 5 or 6 books at that point. The pine hills stories. I lapped up everything you had at that point, and it killed me when you had one of your deadly books in print only. Had to wait for it yourself come in. Please God, in our life time, may bookstores not go out of business, because we can’t get authors like you in Target, Walmart, Krogers. Your meal sounded scrumpdillious as we would say in our family, and I enjoyed the extras especially the cover art story and pictures. That’s how I started on Jana Deleon, the picture of an alligator in a swimming pool-Rumble on the Bayou, and Kristen Britain’s Green Rider. That’s the hard part about digital. Sometimes you don’t get the cover, and YOU NEVER GET THE BACK OF THE BOOK! Half the time you don’t get a synopsis, and if you get something from Harriot Klausner (may she rest in peace), you get the idiot posters who whine about plot spoilers!!!!!! If they aren’t smart enough to figure out something that is paragraphs long is going to have “telling ” information, and maybe they should not read those paragraphs, I’ve got no sympathy for them. I don’t buy a book, or go to a movie without knowing what it is about. I enjoy all your works, short and long, Pine Hills, Mapleton, Seeing Red, Blackthorne, and now your latest- In- series Hot Water, Deep Trouble, and the latest Dire Straighs. Combining good stories AND GOOD FOOD! A blog and a half almost just to wish you a Happy Birthday -many more and keep writing. Nancy
Thanks so much for your kind words, Nancy. I’m thrilled you’ve enjoyed my books.
Happy Birthday!
Thanks, Gladys. And thanks for visiting “The Bench”