Author Archives: alexiskrystina

Weekend Breakfast Tradition

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I have made a habit, or should I say tradition, of big weekend breakfasts, and it’s great! During the week there can be so much going on that you may not always have time for a sit-down dinner (and sometimes this happens on the weekends too!), so I like to make a point of having a nice breakfast on Saturdays before the craziness of the weekend begins.IMG_1239

I love eating breakfast food (who doesn’t) and it’s really quick and easy; it only requires a bit of coordination. The biggest challenge I find with cooking bacon, hash browns, pancakes, and eggs is getting everything done at the same time so that all of the food is warm when we are ready to eat. I’d like to say that I’ve mastered this (being the queen of multi-tasking and all… ;-) ) so I’ve listed some tips that I

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Random Obsessions: III

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Oh my goodness, another month has begun! Seriously, where does the time go? May was great, and I know June is going to be just as fun–and just as busy. Many birthdays this month and many events–including the New Kids on the Block, Boys II Men, 98 Degrees concert!!

I know I’ve totally been slacking with my blogging lately–I’ve changed my post-a-day widget to a post-a-week! (*gasps dramatically*) This is because of obsession #1: Querying, Editing, Networking, and Research. Obsession #2 is my couch–it’s amazing, and #3 is getting fit and healthy for my wedding which is only 6 months away!!! (*gasps dramatically… again*)20130604-201845.jpg

So after finishing my novel, I immediately typed up a query letter and sent it out. I got a bit carried away, I think, and sent them too early. Since receiving a few rejections, I’ve improved my query letter and am Continue reading →

#PitMad

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Yesterday was #PitMad on twitter which stands for Pitch Madness. It’s basically where querying authors pitch their book in 140 characters or less with that hashtag in the hopes that an agent will notice and favorite their tweet, meaning they want to see more.

If you’ve ever written a novel, you know how hard it seems to get your entire novel, or at least the most interesting parts squished down to one line–let alone a line that is less than 140 characters. It’s definitely a challenge, but I found it to be enjoyable and I think it’s great for all authors to do, even if you’re not on twitter (though you definitely should be… and you should definitely follow me @alexiskrystina).

Here are the four pitches for my novel that I came up with. I turned to my exclusive Facebook and Instagram friends Continue reading →

Chasing Time

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May has been the craziest month of the year thus far, with two birthdays, me finishing my novel and not knowing what to do with myself, and all of the random miscellaneous things we decided to do this month–like change the laundry schedule (which didn’t work) and cleaning out our garage (which was fairly productive; phase 2 commences June 1).

I’ve noticed that since college, my life has become more crazy, and with each day comes less and less time to do everything that needs to be done. I also literally got pregnant the month of my college graduation so I’m not sure who’s the time bandit–is it ending college and starting my career, or having a baby?20130525-091736.jpg

I’m going to go with having a baby. Continue reading →

Birthday Grillin’ and Mashin’

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Yesterday was my fiance’s birthday (he turned 25–yes I’m 12 days older than him, but who’s counting). Since he’s a man and he likes to grill, and I’m a woman who likes to cook for her man (okay fine, I only cook because we need to eat), we decided to go for steak, cheesy mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob. The steak was amazing, the mashed potatoes were divine, and the corn was so good!

The steak we bought was churrasco (aka skirt steak–only the best), and Danny sprinkled it with a bit of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. With churrasco, you don’t want to over power it with too many spices since the steak itself is amazing. When you start marinating it in mojo or anything like that,

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Stuck in a Rut

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Ok so before I started writing my novel, and a while after I had graduated college, I had way too many hobbies. I would cross stitch, craft, read–I was literally always doing something.

20130519-220525.jpgNow that I’ve finished writing my novel, and have finally perfected my query letter, I don’t know what to do with the little free time that I have (and I mean really little–my perfect toddler takes up most of the hours in the day).

My novel is going to be part of a series, but I’m just not ready to delve into the second book just yet, before my first one has even been picked up (which, by the way, I anticipate will be a long, grueling process, though I hope otherwise–I am the queen of wishful thinking, after all). This past week, after I put my son to sleep, I’ve just been sitting on the couch, and watching the nothing that’s on TV. I can’t bring myself to get up and get my cross stitching, or my intricate paint by numbers, or to create something using my beloved Cricut, and I can hardly pick up my brand new Nook to read. I’m in a rut!

In order to get out of this monotonous routine I’ve created, I’m going to take the advice from Nike–Just Do It. That’s really Continue reading →

What was I Thinking?

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Songs are a great source of inspiration for me, and as I was listening to What was I Thinking? by Dierks Bently, I thought that it would be fun to write a short story about this song, incorporating all of the lyrics in the story.

Initially I was going to write it from the girl’s point of view, but then I decided to challenge myself in writing from the perspective of the opposite sex. Writing from a man’s perspective was a little more difficult because I felt like I was making him too girly, but in the end, I had a great time writing this cute little love story and I hope you enjoy it!

***

I met Becky through some mutual friends. She moved here from South Alabama, and we’ve been an item ever since I first laid eyes on this brunette beauty.

“It’s too bad you have to go so soon,” I say as we walk hand in hand towards her red pick-up truck and I open the door to let her in.

“Meet me at the front gate,” she smiles coyly, her deep-set brown eyes filled with mischief, “I’m sneaking out tonight.”

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Seven Little Reasons

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Regularly scheduled blogging will continue today! This past week has been pretty hectic to say the least, with my birthday, wedding stuff, and mother’s day. Oh, and I finished my novel last week! It’s such a huge personal accomplishment, and I am just oh so proud of myself! Now comes the nerve-wrecking part–sending queries.

I am overwhelmed and nervous to begin perfecting my query letters. I feel like there is so much pressure on this one page letter. If it’s not good enough, my amazing novel gets shunned. It has to be perfect, and I will accept nothing less.

Moving right along, I’d like to say that I had the best weekend! My birthday shenanigans were so much fun, and included going to dinners, hitting up the beach, shopping sprees and getting my brand new Nook with Glowlight from my fiance!

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Four Generations!

Mother’s day was really nice. I spent the day shopping, and then got together with my family. Of course, this Mother’s Day was bittersweet because it was the first Mother’s Day without my grandma. :( All of us had a pretty good time, though.

In honor of Mother’s Day, I’d like to dedicate this post to my beautiful and amazing mother! She’s always been there for me and has supported all of my crazy ideas (believe me, there have been very many). My childhood was pretty much perfect because she put so much effort into making sure that it was (and I vow to do the same with Diego).

Here are the lucky seven reasons (of the countless ones) of why I love my mom–which I hope become some of the many reasons that my son loves me!

  1. She took me on millions of cruises Continue reading →

Cuban Style Cooking: Chicken with Rice and Beans

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This is my go to meal whenever I’ve failed to meal plan for the week, or if we end up skipping groceries for whatever reason. I always have these ingredients in the house, and it’s fairly easy to make. Warning: … Continue reading →