A Good Friend is like...

Friends are a gift from God.

A Good Friend Is Like a Four Leaf Clover, Hard To Find But Lucky To Have

A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.

I was blessed with wonderful long-lasting friendships in my life.

After graduating from the private nun’s school I attended from the age of six to seventeen, my classmates scattered all over the country and even all over the world, but we still hold class or school reunions every few years. It’s funny and touching to see these women who are now mothers and grandmothers hugging, laughing and screaming like high school girls again.

From college, I kept contact with my two closest friends for many years but lost track of them ten years ago.

As a married woman, I made new friendships that dwindled as we moved several times.

What about work? Is it possible to built friendship at work? I did. Although I took an early retirement ten years ago, I am always happy to hear from my former employees, colleagues and company executives. They were kind enough to invite me to be the keynote speaker when I attended our company’s thirtieth anniversary. During my motivational presentation to three hundred employees, my book covers were projected on huge screens, but many couldn’t hide their incredulity and shock. “Who could have guessed Dr. Risk who ran the lab with an iron fist was hiding a romance writer under her serious appearance!” And the president of the company--who bought all my books--declared that I made him blush. It was wonderful to still feel part of the ‘gang’.

When I decided to quit the day job to write full-time, people warned me that I would miss the daily social contact that had become an integral part of my life.

Honestly I didn’t miss anything. In the writing world, I met writers and authors who became wonderful friends. We started our writing career at the same time, learned and struggled together, read and critiqued each others' chapters, cheered every little progress, cried and supported each other after every burning rejection, and finally celebrated together our publishing and successes.

I have many BFFs or bestest friends as my granddaughters say in my writing groups and loops. We have so much in common now. We spend hours organizing our combined books into boxes, scheduling, editing, publishing and promoting. If this is not friendship, I don’t know what is!

How do you keep your BFF?

 


A USA Today Bestselling Author, Mona Risk won an Outstanding Achiever 2013 Award at Affaire de Coeur Magazine and a Best Romance Novel winner at Preditors & Editors Readers Poll. Her latest Contemporary romance is:

 Wedding Surprise-Holiday Babies book 4

http://amzn.com/B00T24CULM

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/wedding-surprise

iTunes: http://indi.uno/16YpUf1

B&N: http://indi.uno/1CZOgTr

Out of Shape

When I say I’m out of shape I’m not talking about fitness and exercising. I’m talking about parenting the second time around.

I did my part years ago and my children are now grownups with families of their own. But it seems that I am starting all over again. No, my friends, don’t roll your eyes. I’m not expecting. LOL. But my daughter works thirty-hour-long shifts at the hospital NICU as a neonatologist. 

During these long shifts guess who takes over picking up the kids from school, driving them to gymnastic lessons and other after-school activities, helping with home work and cooking dinner, controlling what they watch on TV or their iPad? I’m even supposed to control who they call on their

iPhone. What a joke. I just got my own iPhone and I’m still faltering through the icons. Heck, the ten year old set it up for me and the eight year old downloaded her apps!

After dinner, I have to remind them to take their shower and brush their teeth. When they are finally ready to sleep, the eight year old invariably asks, “Can you lie with me?” Of course I do and I try not to fall asleep myself. 

The next morning, the alarm wakes us at 6:30 am. Have pity, I retired a few years ago and was delighted to turn off all the alarms in my house. But duty calls again. After I get dressed in a record time, I gently--very gently--wake two sleepy girls with a kiss on the forehead. And another, and another, until they finally get out of bed. Then we have a race against time, while they rush to the bathroom, dress up, comb their hair. They shriek and and claim that I pull it if I help. 

Super fast breakfast of a few coco puffs swimming in a lot of milk that I end up throwing because “we don’t have time”. Of course I have to remind them to take their vitamins, their jackets, while I prepare the snack bag and fix a quick lunch to take to school.

Ready to go and brave the early traffic, the 15 mile school zone, and morning cold temperature.

Why? Why? Because I love them to death. 

Young mothers, if you need advice from an expert on how to raise your little monsters, come to Nonna. Many of my romance novels include babies, toddlers or small children as secondary characters. 

WEDDING SURPRISE, (Holiday Babies Series Book 4), an emotional romance novel sprinkled with humor, is available at Amazon, Kobo Books, iTunes and B&N

 

 “Mona Risk knows how to pull a reader into the minds of her well-crafted characters. Her work takes us on a journey be it local or overseas.”~Night Owl Reviews.

A USA Today Bestselling Author, Mona Risk, has garnered an Outstanding Achiever 2013 Award at Affaire de Coeur Magazine. She’s also a Best Romance Novel winner at Preditors & Editors Readers Poll; Two-Time winner of Best Contemporary Romance Novel at Readers Favorite, EPIC’s Ebook Award Finalist, and is in the Kindle Top 100 Bestselling Author.