Welcome, Barbara Ehrentreu and Carolyn Samuels

Barbara, a retired teacher with a Masters degree in Reading and Writing K-12 and seventeen years of teaching experience, lives with her family in Stamford, Connecticut. When she received her Masters degree she began writing seriously. If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor, Barbara’s first YA novel, was inspired by Paula Danziger. Barbara is a NY Literature Examiner forExaminer.com with several articles for them. Her blog, Barbara’s Meanderings, http://barbaraehrentreu.blogspot.com/, is networked on both Facebook and Blog Catalog. She hosts Red River Writers Live Tales from the Pages on Blog Talk Radio every 4th Thursday. In addition, her children's story, “The Trouble with Follow the Leader” and an adult story, “Out on a Ledge” are published online She writes book reviews for Authorlink.com. and several of her reviews have been on Acewriters and Celebrity Café. She is a member of SCBWI. Writing is her life!

Interview with Carolyn Samuels from If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor

Today my guest is a girl who has suddenly been thrust into the media. Recently she gave a talk on Karen’s Chaise Lounge and now she is a featured guest on this blog. How is it affecting this young girl who has graciously agreed to talk about the events of her freshman year in high school.  Since Carolyn was a little nervous about her first big interview she asked the author of her story, If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor, Barbara Ehrentreu, to interview her.

Welcome to both of you. Barbara and Carolyn.

Barbara, please ask your first question.

Carolyn, would you please tell us a little about yourself?

There’s not much to tell. I live in Mill Valley, which is in Westchester, NY and I attend Mill Valley High School. My best friends are Becky and Janie and I love Math. Oh, yeah, I have a Newfoundland dog named Max and my favorite cookie is chocolate chocolate chip homemade by my mom. My mom works for an ad agency in the city. That’s what New Yorkers called New York City. My dad is a criminal lawyer. I’m an only child, but you couldn’t ask for better parents. Except they don’t pay much attention to me.

On the surface it looks like you have a great life. Why, then did you come to me one day crying and telling me you hated Jennifer Taylor and she made your life miserable? Who is Jennifer Taylor and why do you hate her?

Jennifer Taylor has made my life a living nightmare since middle school. I call her Miss Perfect, because she is a size two and her father owns half the town. She’s on the path to be an Olympic gymnast so she’s excellent in gym. Jennifer is the most popular girl in the freshman class. I think she knows everyone in the class. And to top it all off she has this hot boyfriend, Brad, who is a Junior and the quarterback for our football team. He’s so amazing and I don’t think she deserves to be with him. Okay, maybe I have a crush on Brad myself.

What happened last year on the first day of school?

I’m not sure I can talk about this, because it brings back awful memories. Do you want me to go all the way back to the rope line incident? I mean that’s what started all this.

Yes, tell us as much as you can. 

Well, I got up on the first day of school after having this incredible dream where I was popular and a cheerleader and my boyfriend fed me a piece of chocolate cake because I was thin and blonde and didn’t gain weight. Of course the truth is I am a little overweight and my hair is dark brown and hangs like shriveled spaghetti. But still this was a great dream, wouldn’t you agree? I wanted to stay in bed, because when my alarm rang I realized I might run into Jennifer Taylor.  

You see I hate her and I also want to be like her. It’s awful and here’s how it started. When I was in seventh grade we did the ropes course. One part of it , the zip line, required you to climb up to this platform and you were given a harness. When you got up there you had to clasp yourself to the line and then you could slide down. A few people went in front of me and then of course, Jennifer did it perfectly. When my turn came I froze. Then I started breathing funny, because I have this thing. I hyperventilate when I’m nervous and that day I started turning blue. If I can’t start breathing I can faint. I started feeling dizzy and couldn’t clasp myself onto the zip line. Jennifer was on the ground and saw me. The teacher saw me too and raced up the ladder to the platform. She said to me, “Breathe, Carolyn, breathe.” Then Jennifer started saying too and soon all the kids who had been on the line echoed her. As I came down the ladder I wanted a big hole to open up and swallow me. So then Jennifer started bothering me at odd times every day. She’d sneak up and say “Breathe, Carolyn, breathe.” Or she would whisper it in class when I had to go up to the board. We were in Math class together and I started to dread it. So when I was in her Math class again and the teacher put us together as partners I didn’t know how I could stand it. 

What happened?

Well the first day of school after being pushed together with her for a Math project I was put in front of her in line for gym. I don’t know what happened, but all of a sudden I didn’t want to be anywhere near Jennifer and I started hyperventilating until I fainted. I guess that’s when I got connected to Jennifer in a much more serious way.

Oh, my goodness, your story has more to it?

Oh yes, I learned way too much about Jennifer and wound up holding her secrets until the end of the year. I mean, I did meet Brad and well, I don’t think I can say anymore. This is all really painful to talk about, you know?

Yes, Carolyn and thank you for telling us a little bit about your story. I guess if you want to learn more about what happened that year you will have to read the book, If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor coming from MuseItUp Publishing in September as a cool e-book. 

Thank you, Rochelle for hosting us today. 

Yes, thank you Amy. This was my first blog interview and thank you Barbara for helping me through it.

My pleasure, Carolyn. I know talking about these things is hard for you, but you did very well. 

Barbara Ehrentreu's Favorite Christmas Memory

My Favorite Christmas Memory

When my husband and I got married we moved back to Cortland, NY where I had just graduated from SUNY Cortland. I had never really appreciated the town itself, since I was from a big city and the town had very little to offer me. When I had been a student all I knew about the town were the bars, a restaurant and the only diner.

When we moved back we didn’t really explore the town. I was teaching every day and the only trips we took to town were to go to the huge, cavernous movie theater, the supermarket and the laundromat. It would have been very lonely for both of us, but my husband had school during the day and work. My teaching took me to the neighboring town of Cincinnatus, which was so small it would have fitted into Cortland with space to spare. The weather was cold and snowy, since Cortland is right in the middle of the snowbelt. We were both feeling a little down at the holidays, because we hadn’t been able to get back to the city where all of my relatives lived.

So my husband decided we would try to have our own holiday celebration. Of course we celebrated Chanukah, but he remembered when he was a boy and had celebrated Christmas. He went out and got us a tree. It was more like the tree in “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, but it was a little fuller and half the size of a normal tree. We put it on a stand and decorated it with brand new ornaments we bought together complete with the lights. I was delighted, because I had never had a tree in my place before and this had been such a dream for me.:) Then we decided to give each other presents and allotted one day for the shopping.



We walked over to Main Street, which was a few blocks away. We couldn’t have driven there anyway, since we didn’t have a car yet! We were living in a tiny one and a half bedroom apartment and paid only $65 a month for it.:) This was back in 1965 when prices like this for rent were the usual in small towns. So when we got to the Main Street we divided and went our separate ways. We had each given the other a list of the things we might like. I explored the possibilities for shopping and found a department store where I could find everything I needed. I also found a few other specialty stores as well. Having had each gift wrapped for me, I met my husband again and we walked back home. Each of us had a secret smile on our faces. But we had to put our gifts under the tree. It wasn’t Christmas yet and we didn’t want to spoil the surprise.
Finally Christmas Eve came and we couldn’t wait any longer. Our tree was there in the middle of our living room with its pine scent and bright colored lights. We unwrapped each other’s presents and the only thing I remember from it is a beautiful dress with a design of a Mondrian painting on it. It had big squares colored red and blue and white with black lines surrounding each one. I had also knitted my husband a sweater and he loved it.:) Standing in the middle of the gift wrapping wearing my dress I finally felt like we were a family and that someday we would be surrounded by our future children. I didn’t realize that this would be the last Christmas that we had a tree, but I will never forget it and it was the best Christmas I ever spent.

Welcome, Barbara Ehrentreu

Until last February I lived in New York State except for one year in California. Now I live in Stamford, Connecticut with my family. I have over seventeen years of teaching experience and certification in Reading. When I got my Masters degree, I began to write seriously and have several stories published online. Currently I'm  still shopping my first YA novel. I've written two more YA novels. During NaNoWriMo last year I completed  my third YA novel and this year I wrote an adult romance novel. I recently became the NY Literature Examiner for Examiner.com and have written several articles for them. I also write a blog, Barbara’s Meanderings, http://barbaraehrentreu.blogspot.com/, which is networked on both Facebook and Blog Catalog. I host Red River Writers Live Tales from the Pages on Blog Talk Radio every 4th Thursday, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rrradio/2010/09/23/red-river-writers-live-tales-from-the-pages-with-h

In addition, my children's story The Trouble With Follow the Leader and an adult story, Moondance http://www.moondance.org/2002/fall02/fiction/out.html  are published online. I also write book reviews for Authorlink.com, Amazon.com and several of my reviews have been on Ace Writers and Celebrity Cafe. I guess you can say writing  is my life.

Excerpt from: The Trouble with Follow the Leader - Story Station/Learning and Leisure

http://viatouch.com/learn/storystation/stories/troublefollowleader.jsp

"Move it, you flat leaver," Charlie poked Terry in the back forcing her to move faster. "Follow the line or we'll lose them."

Terry felt the sharp pain from Charlie's finger and the worse pain caused by the words he said. Flat leaver, that stupid expression they called you when you left the game too early. Gee, it was only follow the leader and she couldn't always do the stupid things the gang decided.

"See they're climbing onto the ledge and we're not there." Charlie said.
Terry hoped Charlie wouldn't poke her again. She turned to tell him not to poke her, but his size made her shiver and she kept quiet.

"Terry, follow me," Sally the girl in front of her said. Sally's hands were up in the air and she was getting ready to climb onto the ledge. In the distance Steven, the leader, was jumping down and running through the alley. Everyone else did the same thing.
"Come on, Terry, jump after me," Sally called out to her as she jumped. Terry gritted her teeth and leaped. Her feet hit the hard cement and for a second it hurt a lot, but she ran through the alley behind Sally.
"Run, Terry, or we'll miss them," Sally said panting and turning around to see Terry.
Sally ran onto the sidewalk and there in front of them was the whole gang. They had stopped in front of the scary apartment house in the middle of the street. The house had a big iron gate in front of it with sharp spikes on top of each railing. The kids played "Red Light, Green Light", and "Giant Steps" inside the gate all the time. Terry remembered the day she was walking by this place alone. An old woman who looked creepy had stuck her head out of the first floor window. She had straggly gray hair and a big sharp nose. Terry quivered and waited for her to go back inside before she walked past.
Why were they stopping at the gate? Terry hoped the game would stop so she could have lunch. Her stomach was rumbling and she wanted a tuna fish sandwich from Jake's on the corner. She looked up at the first floor window. It was closed. She let out her breath. There was an opening with a gate to let them in. But today they didn't use that gate.

"Hey, Terry, hurry up," Sally said as she ran to catch up with the rest of the line.
"What are we doing?" Terry couldn't see anything at all. She worried that her turn would come and she wouldn't be able to do what everyone else was doing. She wanted to leave, but then everyone would call after her, "Flat leaver, flat leaver," like the last time when she left before the game was over and the whole gang had yelled at her so loudly she could hear them halfway up the street. Today it had been her turn to be the leader, but the rest of the kids wouldn't let her go to the front of the line. So here she was stuck between Sally, the new girl, and Charlie, the loudest and toughest boy in the group.
"Hey, flat leaver, move it, the line is moving," Charlie was pushing her to go.
They were almost up to the gate and Terry still didn't know what they were doing. Then she saw one of the kids slide through the corner part of the iron gate. It looked easy. You slipped yourself through the little space and got into the inside of the gate where there was plenty of room for the whole gang. It was Sally's turn and Terry tried to watch, but Charlie kept poking her in the back to move and she had to turn around to tell him to stop. Again, no words came out of her mouth when she looked back at Charlie. But this time she managed to scrunch up her eyes and glare at him.

It was Terry's turn and she walked up to the corner of the gate. Almost all the kids were inside the gate except her and Charlie.

"Let's go already. " Charlie pushed her up to the gate. Terry could feel the scratchy metal on her fingers as she gripped the bars. How can I get through this little space? Terry thought in a panic.
Terry tried while everyone inside the gate yelled at her to get through.
She put her head through first and it just fit. Terry tried moving it a little more so she could get her body through too, but it wouldn't budge. She tried getting her head out of the gate, but nothing moved. Her head was stuck there.
"What's taking you so long, loser?" Charlie sounded angry and Terry was silent. The gang would never let her play with them again if she didn't do this and left.
The kids inside the gate continued to shout to her.
"Come on, you can do it. Just get your body in. You're almost there."
Terry wiggled her body as much as could, but she couldn't get through the bars. She was stuck. The iron bars were on both sides of her head and she could smell the bitter iron. Her stomach growled more. Her heart was pounding.
"No, I can't do it," Terry yelled to the crowd.
"You're just a big baby," Charlie mumbled to her and tried pushing her through to the other side.
"Leave me alone," Terry finally said to Charlie. Now that she was stuck in this gate, she wasn't as afraid of him. She had more important things to think about than Charlie.