Combining Women's Fiction with Romance, Cozy Noir Mystery and Suspense.
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Book Signings & Author Events
Me with authors Matt Coyle and Marjorie McCown at Sisters in Crime meeting Book Carnival in Orange, Ca.
A Book Reading at Coalesce Bookstore
Chrysteen Braun at Morro Rock, Morro Bay.
Chrysteen Braun at Timberline in the Glen, Lake Arrowhead, Memorial Weekend 2024
Chrysteen Braun at Timberline in the Glen, Lake Arrowhead, Memorial Weekend 2024
Chrysteen Braun at Timberline in the Glen, Lake Arrowhead, Memorial Weekend 2024
Chrysteen Braun with Authors Lian Dolan and Kaira Rouda, Literary Guild of Orange County May 23-2024
Chrysteen dropping off an Author's Book Basket
Author's Book Basket for Moms, the region's largest nonprofit dedicated solely to newborn and pregnancy health
California Writer's Club of Long Beach, March 2024
Mission Viejo Farmer's Market with my writer friend Jan Murphy. She just released her first book, The Art of Seeing Truth.
Anaheim Central Library Indie Author's Event
Anaheim Central Library Indie Author's Event
Porsche Semper Fi Christmas Party book box donation
Los Alamitos Museum
Los Alamitos Museum
Timberline in The Glen book signing, Lake Arrowhead
Friends, Fur and Fun!
Just back from our Alaskan cruise with our daughter Wendy and her husband Brad. I've just proven I'm old and can't keep up with youngsters! We did so much walking, I only gained a half pound!!!
I'm including the trip in Dear Noah, when Annie and Noah take a cruise for their 20th.
Me with hair and my new book group, OCWriters
This is my high school BFF with her copy of my book! She read it even before it was edited!
Peregrine Book Co., which is mentioned in Book One, when Annie and Noah visit Prescott Az.
Cooper
Demi (short for Demitria, not Demi Moore!)
Granddogs Cooper on the left, and Honey on the right.
Granddog Karma, graduating obedience school
So here’s a peek at where I’ve lived
My career was in Interior Design and Kitchen and Bath Remodeling, so it was only natural my main character for my first three books is an Interior Designer (mirrors life, right?) I’ve always felt everyone deserves a beautiful home, even on a small budget. I love to talk to people about decorating, and have always wondered what other writer’s homes looked like.
Our First Cabin in Lake Arrowhead
I absolutely fell in love with this cabin when I saw photos of it. And I loved decorating it. It’s Noah’s cabin in book 2, and I had a friend draw illustrations for the book.
We bought our first Lake Arrowhead cabin, also Noah’s Cabin, from John and Laurette McCook. John has played Eric Forrester in the Bold and the Beautiful for years, and Laurette played opposite Ron Howard in Happy Days!
They had remodeled the kitchen and painted the floor, which I loved! In Book 1, Annie gives Noah this same idea.
When Laurette found out I’d published the first of the Triology, she bought a book and sent over this selfie! How exciting is that!
Laurette McCook played opposite Ron Howard in Happy Days
John and Laurette McCook
Bold and the Beautiful Erric Forrester and John McCook
Laurette Cook and Ron Howard
The kitchen with the painted wood floor
My Writing Desk - I’d never seen a desk quite like this one, and I loved sitting at it and looking out the front window of the sunroom.
A Reading Nook - A perfect place to either just sit and rock, or quietly read a favorite book.
The Living Room - I found a wonderful old red canoe and Larry hung it from the ceiling
Downstairs Guest Bedroom - The McCooks left us the bed and the wonderful bird print, which has since moved with us to two other houses!
Our upstairs bedroom - I found these pinecones and hung them from the woven wood blinds.
Canoes and fishing lures on woven woods in master bathroom
Our master bathroom - Of course, we decorated with a lake theme, and I had a raw edge piece of wood cut as a shelf for the claw-foot tub.
Pine cones hanging from woven woods in master bedroom
Our second Lake Arrowhead House where I did a lot of writing
Living Room - I saw this setting in a Traditional Home magazine and had everything I needed to create my own version of it!
Inspiration from Traditional Home Magazine
Guest Bedroom - I incorporated a lot of our first cabin into this bedroom – notice the bird print from the old guest bedroom, and the bamboo night stands from the upstairs bedroom.
Living Room
A lot of writing was done in this house too, at the dining room table, looking out at the trees.
Master Bedroom - I pictured Ralph Lauren living here…the smaller bolster pillow is made from an old hunt scene tapestry
This is our home in Long Beach where I actually wrote my books.
My ideas and inspiration came from the mountains but I wanted to show you where I actually wrote most of my books. My office is off the Dining Room in our home in Long Beach. My office faced our backyard where I could look out at our fountain. Quite inspiring since my main character for my first three books is an Interior Designer (mirrors life right?) I've always felt everyone deserves a beautiful home, even on a small budget. I love to talk to people about decorating, and have always wondered what other writer's homes looked like.
My office was off the Dining Room in our home in Long Beach. It faced our backyard where I could look out and watch birds sunbathe in our fountain.
I loved our old original kitchen, but we added a marble counter top when we had to replace our stove. (My daughter gave me a sign that said, “I only have a kitchen because it came with the house” and to prove it, my stove was five years old and had never been used. To me, it was a beautiful piece of furniture! haha)
Larry’s Study This was where we watched TV and it was one of my favorite rooms. As you can see, we’re collectors of things!
The Entry Hall
The Living Room - I love old books! And armoires!
The Dining Room - I also love Asian Infusion.
Master Bedroom - Built in 1939, I think this was one of the few homes with an en-suite bathroom. And there’s another armoire.
Our New Home in Coto de Caza
We combined our Long Beach Traditional home with our Lake Arrowhead "lodge" home and we love it!
Living Room - This painted ceiling sold the house. I could picture all our old living room furniture filling it up. The pheasants and painting came from the mountains
Family Room - A combination of the mountains and our Long Beach home again. This is where we live. The draperies were already up, and we added the blinds.
Stairway - More mountains, including the English riding boots
My Office - This is where I write.
My Office - This is what my office really looks like. Haha
Library - Who needs a formal dining room when you don’t cook? Now I have a library—notice the combination of mountains and our more traditional home?
Kitchen - I still have a kitchen…so I left enough room for us to eat breakfast. Larry built a frame around my hood and my friend faux painted it to look like a copper hood!
Guest Bedroom We call this our European Bedroom. I love the antique needlepoint and paintings on the back wall.
Guest Bedroom - This is our Nautical or Captain’s Bedroom. We originally put these twin beds together to make our king-size bed, and I was anxious to give them a new look. Everything else is from the mountains.
Larry’s Trophy Room We figured out how to combine the mountain taxidermy with the African mounts Larry has collected. No, he didn’t shoot and kill anything. And we still collect a lot of things!
Who says you can’t decorate a closet? All the décor came from the mountains, and would you believe I only use about a third of the wall that’s not showing? I filled the shelves with shoes from Ebay.
Master Bedroom - We brought the armoire from our Long Beach Home, and the rest of the furniture is from the mountains. I still think it reminds me of Ralph Lauren.
Interior design has always been one of my passions and it’s followed me even after retiring.
We’re in Paul’s Pantry 3-4 mornings a week for breakfast, and we were strong supporters during Covid-19. I knew redecorating wasn’t high on their list but I asked I I could help by changing a few things out to bring in a new look. When Michelle gave me the thumbs up, I was in seventh heaven looking for curtains and new artwork, and here’s what we came up with.
You can’t eliminate all the working parts of a busy restaurant, but there was a lot going on on this wall.
I moved some things around and added the large “P”, the Welcome sign, and to the left, a “Let’s Eat”sign, some utensils and a cute sign I found that said “Would Eat Here Again!” Now your eye travels up to the “P” and away from everything else going on.
Restroom
Before, and After adding colorful valances and new artwork
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