Come Join the Party! A Choose Your Own Adventure PNR Micro-Story

 

Like me, many of you probably stayed home on New Year’s Eve and quietly observed the end of 2020. While I believe everyone is happy to see that dumpster fire end, we missed having a rousing party. So, I thought in this post, I’d give you a chance to stage a bash in your imagination.

I call this a Choose Your Own Adventure Paranormal Romance Micro-story. That’s because you get to pick the characters and decide what happens and because it’s short, only one paragraph. Even so, there are lots of possible combinations you can use to create the fete of your dreams. I hope you have fun!

Let’s get this shebang started! Pick one item from each of the six categories below and insert your choice next to the corresponding number in the story. Use the prompts or just pick the one you like best. That’s it. Easy peasy and you have your unique shindig.

    1.      Your favorite color: (Heroine/Hero)

Blue: Queen/King

Red: Billionaire

Green: Scottish Highlander

Purple: Motorcycle Gang Leader

Yellow: Pirate

Orange: Movie Star

Pink: Sports Star

Gold: War Hero

Silver: Famous Novelist

Other: Superhero

 

2.      Your Favorite Beverage: (Love Interest)

Water: Griffin

Coffee: Unicorn

Tea: Ogre

Juice: Fairy

Soda: Elf

Wine: Mermaid/Merman

Beer: Werewolf

Whiskey: Kelpie

Rum: Demon

Vodka: Witch

Tequila: Vampire

Other: Centaur

 3.       The first number on your street address. Includes postal code. If no number, use 5: (Villain)

0. A Rival

1. An Enemy

2. An Ex

3. A Jealous person

4. A False Friend

5. Your Boss

6. An Evil Twin

7. A Random Stranger

8. A Crazy Neighbor

9. A Drunken Co-worker

 

4.      Your Zodiac sign: (Conflict)

Aquarius (Jan. 20 – Feb. 18): Picking a Fight

Pisces (Feb. 19 – March 20): Telling their Secret

Aries (March 21 – April 19): Stealing their Money

Taurus (April 20 – May 20):  Poisoning their Drinks

Gemini (May 21 – June 21):  Getting them arrested

Cancer (June 22 – July 22):   Kidnapping them

Leo (July 23 – August 22):     Spreading lies about them

Virgo (August 23 – September 22): Casting a spell on them

Libra (September 23 – October 23): Shooting at them

Scorpio (October 24 – November 21): Trying to break them up

Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21): Starting a fire

Capricorn (December 22 – January 19): Challenging them to a duel

         5. The first letter of your pet’s name. (Action)

             No pet? Use a friend or family member’s pet name or select M.

A.     Escape to a land in another dimension

B.      Hide in a magic trunk

C.   Change their identities

D.   Pay a fortune for ransom

E.   Find the key to an invisible lock

F.   Tame the Minotaur

G.   Outwit a rogue A.I.

H.   Sacrifice their most treasured possession

I.    Rescue a changeling from the fey world

J.    Learn a government top secret

K.   Stop a psychic killer

L.   Prevent a war between two kingdoms

M.  Discover a cure for a terrible disease

N.   Transform a frog with a kiss

O.  Acquire a rare, magical jewel

P.   Bind a demon

Q.  Develop and Drink a magic potion

R.   Spin thread into gold

S.   Make a deal with the devil

T.   Persuade a dragon to give up his hoard

U.   Pretend to be enemies

V.   Defeat an evil overlord

W.  Find and Raise Atlantis

X.   Shoot cupid with his own arrow

Y.   Swim with crocodiles

Z.   Appease a poltergeist

 

6.      Favorite time of Day: (Resolution)

      Morning: Find the answer

Noon: Overcome the problem

Afternoon: Negotiate a compromise

Evening: Manage to get away

Night: Defeat the enemy

Here’s the template: A (1) meets a (2) at a New Year’s Eve costume party. They are instantly attracted to one another but (3) causes a problem by (4). In order to be together, they have to (5) by the stroke of midnight. When they (6), they achieve their Happily Ever After.

To kick things off, I’ll start. Here’s my story: A (Queen) meets a (Merman) at a New Year’s Eve costume party. They are instantly attracted to one another but (an enemy) causes a problem by (challenging them to a duel). In order to be together, they have to (change their identities) by the stroke of midnight. When they (negotiate a compromise), they achieve their Happily Ever After.

What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts and read your stories.You can add them in the comments below. 

Thank you so much for following the Pen Dames. We love our readers!

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A Treasured Memory and a Recipe

 

Though today is December 28^th, I’d like to share one of my favorite Christmas memories. I didn’t get to celebrate with my children or grandchildren this year, and I have been thinking of them a lot. This story always makes me smile. I hope you’ll enjoy it too.

One year, our son Dan brought his girlfriend to dinner. We knew they were serious and likely to become engaged soon, but we hadn’t shared a holiday with her.

Festive meals in our house are extravagant and cooking them takes days. One person likes a certain kind of meat. Another wants a fancy potato dish. Someone else loves fresh bread with Irish butter. Everyone expects a great dessert.

Several family members love my method of cooking eye of the round and request it for every family event. (I’ll include the recipe below.)

That night, the menu included the roast, Lyonnaise potatoes with lots of cheese, spinach salad with hot bacon dressing, crescent rolls, and flambé chocolate steamed pudding with cherry brandy sauce.

When everyone arrived dressed in their ugly sweaters and roomy stretch pants, I welcomed them and served Hors d’oeuvres.

They settled down in the living room with their drinks and snacks while I worked on the rest of the spread.

Amanda, my son’s girlfriend, came from a family where food was cooked extra-well-done, and I worried about serving this entree because we eat it rare. However, I planned to give her an outside slice cooked enough to suit her.

I poured Burgundy wine over the beef, baked it a while, turned it over, doused it with more vino, and cooked it a bit longer.

When removed from the oven, the eye of the round was still as red as a Poinsettia.

After the beef rested for 20 minutes, my husband turned his back to the doorway, placed the slab on a tiny carving board, fired up the electric knife, and started cutting.

The blade whirred and whined as it sawed through the meat. Scarlet juices ran from the thin wood plank to the counter and dripped down the cabinets.

I grabbed paper towels and caught some of the drips, but a pool had already formed on the floor. Bending over, I sopped up as much as the wad would hold.

At that moment, Dan walked into the kitchen and yelled, “Amanda, come look at the blood!”

She peeked through the door, her eyes went wide, and all the color drained from her face. She took a deep breath. “Oh my God.”

 “This isn’t blood. It’s Burgundy wine!” I held up the lump of dripping, crimson paper.

Amanda narrowed her eyes and glared at Dan. “You’re not funny.”

He laughed until tears streamed. “You should see your face.”

My husband shrugged, finished slicing, turned off the serrated cutter, hoisted up the platter, and headed to the dining room. “Let’s eat.”

Though Amanda requested the end part of the roast, which was mostly white, and picked at her food, she returned for the next big family get-together.

Fast forward: Dan and Amanda have been married over a decade. They have two awesome daughters, and Amanda asks for my eye of the round every year for Christmas. She even eats some of the pink parts.

 

                                  Dan, Amanda, Amelia, and Abby Smits

Eye of the Round Roast

 Warning: This recipe is for those who like rare meat!

5-6 lb. Eye of Round Roast

¾ C. Flour

Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder to taste

6-8 strips Bacon

1 C. Burgundy Wine

Preheat oven to 450º

Season flour with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder and mix well.

Rinse roast and pat dry with paper towels.

Roll in seasoned flour to coat.

Place roast in baking pan, layer strips of bacon across top.

Pour ½ C. Burgundy wine over roast.

Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.

Remove from oven, slide bacon to the side, turn roast over, and replace bacon on top.

Pour ½ C. Burgundy wine over roast.

Bake uncovered another 20-25 minutes.

Remove from oven. Meat will be brown outside and red inside.

Cover with aluminum foil and allow to rest 20 minutes.

Meat will continue to cook as it rests, but you may need to adjust cooking time depending on how rare you want it. Eye of the round loses tenderness with increased cooking, however, and is best served rare.

 

 

Season's Greetings from the Pen Dames

 

 

Today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year. It is also a few days before Christmas and the start of Kwanzaa as well as a few days after the end of Chanukah. However you celebrate, I send everyone wishes for love and light. 

 

Honestly, it’s hard to enjoy the holidays this year. We’ve all faced hardship and/or tragedy. 

Nevertheless, I believe we need to find joy wherever we can, and though the events of this year made me feel befuddled like the poor guy in the picture below, I’m ready for some fun. So, I hope I can bring you a smile with a whimsical little game.

Play along with me. Find your reindeer name from the chart and tell me in a reply to this post.

As a way of saying thank you for participating, I’ll pick one person by random drawing for a $5.00 gift card. Contest closes at midnight on Sunday, December 27.

I’m Kind Caribou. I swear I didn’t set it up that way!

Thank you for joining me here today! We truly appreciate everyone who follows the Pen Dames blog. If you would like more info about me and my books, my website is:  http://katherineeddingersmits.weebly.com/