I think, if you people promise not to laugh, that I will paste the first chapter of my novel here. I want some criticism from many different people, and so I think this is the best way to get it. If you find any parts of it stupid or in need of work in any way, please tell me so I can fix them. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it!!!!! (by the way, the names are strictly made up, and not based, at least not the first chapter, on any real life events.!!!!)
Well, here goes. . . (and no laughing at the mere stupidity of the content!!!!)


I rolled over in bed, unable to sleep. Whether it was the storm outside our Washington D.C. home, or the snoring of my husband sleeping next to me, I did not know, but I crawled out of bed, anyway. After all, another revision of my speech for tomorrow couldn’t hurt.
Tomorrow was inauguration day; I would become the first female United States President. My digital clock’s red numbers read 2:14am. I rubbed my eyes, and shuffled slowly through the darkened bedroom my husband and I shared. I grappled for the wall as I felt my way down the hall, towards the bedrooms of my children. At the age of 36, I was happily married, with four children. Kelly Michelle, age eight, and Audrey Elizabeth, age 6 were sleeping soundly in the lavender room they shared. I smiled when I noticed that Audrey Elizabeth had gotten down from the top bunk she usually slept on to sleep next to her sister on the bottom bunk. The storm must have scared her, I thought. They were great sisters, even if they had no biological connection at all. My husband and I had adopted Kelly Michelle about seven and a half years ago from Russia, but regardless of blood connections, our family was close and happy together. I continued to move down the hall to the nursery, where my two year old son, Caleb slept, thumb in mouth. Caleb, too, had been adopted, but he was adopted from Chile.
The shrill cry of Tracy Marie sliced through my thoughts. I rushed into the nursery to quiet her before she woke Caleb up. As I lifted her in my arms, Caleb stirred, but rolled over and fell back asleep. Whimpering, Tracy Marie, relaxed a little in my arms. At seven months old, Tracy was the latest addition to our household. We had adopted her right here in D.C., just two weeks after she was born.
I carried her downstairs and warmed a bottle in the microwave. Gently rocking her in my arms, while the microwave droned on in the dim light of the kitchen, her whimpering quieted and she looked up at me. Her blue eyes shone even in the dark night with the rain pelting down on the roof. She reached up and brushed my cheek with her little hand. Beep, beep, beep, beep. I opened the microwave door, trying to make as little noise as possible, and carried Tracy over to the rocking chair in the rec-room. Settling down into the chair, I propped her up in the crook of my left arm. Gently wedging the nipple of the bottle into her small mouth, I handed the bottle to her and let her feed herself. As she sucked contentedly on the bottle, I reached over to the coffee table and picked up one of the many copies of my speech. I had read and reread this at least a thousand times in the last week, but I was too nervous to do anything else.
This was a big step for our country, because finally after repeated tries in past elections, a woman would finally make it to the White House as someone other than First Lady, and the first person to take the step was me. Me. I grew up determined to make a difference; I just never thought that I would make such an impact in the way the political system in our country was viewed. I sighed. Just as my medical career had soared through the clouds, I got appointed to the cabinet for the president, as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. As Secretary of this department, I had made many strides in medical research. The citizens of more than one state encouraged me to run for president. “You care about the common person,” they had told me. “And besides, it’s about time we get someone in there who wasn’t a lawyer or a judge or a legislator.” At the time, I had laughed, but my laughter soon turned into hard work, and then turned to stress-filled days, and finally to triumph.
Tracy Marie finished her bottle, and closed her eyes. Her breathing became deep and her entire body relaxed in my arms. I focused my attention back on my speech. I reached over, trying not to wake the baby by moving around, and picked up a red pen. I began circling, crossing out, and rewriting bits and pieces of my speech. I worked at it for nearly two hours before standing up to un-cramp my legs, and carrying Tracy Marie gently back to the nursery. Laying her in the crib, I watched her sleep for a minute. The lives of my entire family were about to change. You can’t worry about that too much. Jonathan stuck by you through it all, like he promised to, and the kids can adapt. You have got a chance to change the world, and your family is included in that. What more do you want? I smiled. I was so blessed. I walked quietly back downstairs, where I washed out the bottle, and put my speech away. Tip-toeing back to my bedroom, I wasn’t twenty feet away before I heard Jonathan snoring. I shook my head and laughed silently to myself. I crawled back in bed next to my husband. Sighing, I pulled the covers up around my chin. I closed my eyes, wondering, Am I ready for this?

The next morning, we all got up early and ate breakfast together. Cereal for the kids, and cranberry juice for me. I had been up since six that morning when I got up to go for a run. I had run cross country all through high school, and then in college; it was a part of my life that was drilled into my schedule and had become a way for me to relax. I wanted to take the run today, because it would be my last one without secret service around me. After a shower, I had gently awoken my children, and gotten their breakfast ready. Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries for Kelly Michelle, and Cornflakes for Audrey Elizabeth. Caleb smiled over his bowl of oatmeal, and Jonathan held Tracy Marie as she fed herself from her bottle. I did the jumbles and the crossword puzzle as I drank my juice. “Gore and Capone (3)”. . . . .Hmmmmm. Three letters. A-L-S! I wrote it down, and continued with the next clue, anything to take my mind off of what would take place in a matter of hours. “Mommy,” Kelly Michelle said to me, “Could we please be excused.”
“Yes you may,” I responded. Kelly Michelle and Audrey Elizabeth got up from the table, and raced upstairs.
Jonathan got up and began loading the dishwasher, while balancing Tracy Marie in one hand. “Mommy, mommy!” Caleb got my attention. “Look at me,” he said, picking up a spoon, making airplane sounds as he “flew” the spoon of oatmeal into his mouth. I smiled. Maybe today wouldn’t be so bad, after all, my family would be there.
“Honey,” I said to Jonathan.
“Hm,” he said, in a way that made me wonder if he was really listening.
“I am going to get the girls dressed. Can you watch Caleb while he finishes his oatmeal?”
“Sure thing,” he turned around as I brought my cup to him. He kissed me, and said, for the zillionth time, “I am so proud of you, and I will always, always, always love you.”
“Ditto,” I said, kissing him back. “Want me to take her?” I said indicating Tracy Marie.
“Here,” he laughed, handing her to me. “I won’t complain if you want her,” and he laughed again. I remember falling in love with his laugh the first time we met. I carried Tracy Marie up the stairs toward the girls’ bedroom. First, though, I went to the nursery for the infant seat. Placing Tracy Marie in it, I then carried it into the girls’ bedroom. I set down the infant seat next to the bunk beds and crossed the room to the closet. I pushed my way to the back of the rack, where the dresses we bought for them were. After finding out I would be president, Jonathan and I went to store after store trying desperately to find something for the girls to wear. I had grown up a tomboy, and would have chosen my soccer uniform over a dress any day. And it turned out that I raised two girls to be the exact same way, without meaning to, of course. Jonathan and I had finally decided on sleeveless white dresses, with embroidered designs towards the bottom to the dress. With a sash in the back, and a lacy collar, and added with them a pair of white dress shoes, with brass buckles, they were perfect. We bought three, so that the three girls would match. It was Jonathan’s idea, and I agreed because I was tired of shopping. I pulled the dresses out of the closet, and handed them to my eager girls. They hurriedly put them on, and Kelly Michelle rushed to the dresser to get out the lace socks we kept for special occasions. Handing a pair to her sister, and keeping the other one in her hands, she turned suddenly to me. Her brown eyes sparkled. “We’re going on an adventure, Mommy. All the people are going to want to meet us and we get to live in the biggest house in the world!” She was grinning from ear to ear. “I can’t wait!” Suddenly, her smile faded. “Can we take Bella and Helen and Pappy with us?” she asked, worry filling her eyes, as she realized that no one had said if our dogs and cat could come with us to our new house.
“Yes, Sweetheart, they are part of the family so they get to come too,” I told her, comfortingly, stroking her long, dark hair. “Okay, guys,” I said quickly, “finish getting ready while I dress Tracy Marie.” The girls continued dressing, and put on their new shoes and got out their sweaters. We had also purchased the light sweaters after I got neurotic about the chilly morning air and its effect on the children. Jonathan had laughed at my worrying, but then after seeing that I truly was concerned, he paid for them too.
I hustled both girls down the hall toward the master bathroom. Carrying Tracy Marie in one hand and hurrying the girls along with the other, we finally reached the bathroom. Kelly Michelle sat down on the ocean-colored tile floor and I let her hold the baby. Keeping an eye on them, I focused a portion of my attention to fixing Audrey Elizabeth’s red hair. I French-braided it and tied a ribbon at the end. Kelly Michelle and Audrey Elizabeth traded places, and I placed the baby in the arms of an eager six-year-old. I fixed Kelly Michelle’s hair the same way. Then I picked Tracy Marie up and put a small white bow in what little hair she had. All three girls sat quietly watching me put on my make-up and fix my hair. Their eyes were wide, and as I applied mascara to my eye lashes, Audrey Elizabeth spoke up, “Mommy do you have to talk to a lot of people today?”
“Yes, ma’am, I do,” I told her. “People voted for me and they want me to tell them what I am going to do to make their lives better.”
“Oh,” she said, and I knew I had lost her interest. “Do we have to take lots of pictures today?” Audrey Elizabeth hated pictures, while her brother and older sister thrived on them.
“Probably,” I said, knowing she wouldn’t like that answer. Jonathan came in the door at that moment, with Caleb, dressed in a white suit with brass buttons. His hair was lying flat on his head, and he was grinning like never before. “Hey sweetie,” I said to Caleb.
“Hi,” Jonathan responded, and laughed.
“Daddy,” Caleb said seriously, “Mommy talking to me, no you.” My husband and I laughed.
“C’mon Caleb and Audrey Elizabeth, let’s go play with a puzzle,” Kelly Michelle said to her siblings. She turned, to me, smiling, “Is that okay, Mommy?”
“Sure thing,” I said to her. As she ran out of the room, I handed the baby to my husband and we walked into our room together.
“We need to go in a few,” he said. Sighing, I smiled and took his hand. We went downstairs to pack the car with snacks and diapers, all the necessities.
The ride to the White House seemed especially long that day. It seemed like we got stopped at all the stop lights, and there was an insane amount of traffic on the road that day. Of course, there were police escorts all around us, trying to ward off any danger that lay between our house and the White House. The military was outside the White House, on the lawn, with cannons and guns. “Oh, no, Mommy. Look, those men have guns. Can we go home?” pleaded a very uncomfortable Audrey Elizabeth.
“It’s okay, sweetie. Those men are good guys. The guns are to protect us. It’s kind of like when people carry guns in a parade back home in North Carolina, remember? Don’t worry. The guns are just there, and they probably won’t even use them.” I told her, attempting to comfort her.
“Okay, Mommy.” She leaned back against the car seat, and sighed. “As long as they’re good guys, then I won’t be scared.”

After being sworn in, I was ready to make my speech, but I was nervous. I had millions of people to serve, who had voted for ME, to represent their interests. I took a deep breath, stepped up to the podium, and exhaled. “Good morning. I grew up dreaming of one day standing before my country and becoming their leader, and I always hoped that one day I would be able to make a speech such as this one. We have a long four years ahead of us. Our economy is declining; the environment is in the worst state it has been in the past decade; and crime is up an astounding thirteen percent. I want to change all of that, but I am going to need your help. . .” as I continued my speech, my mind began to wander; my thoughts turned to the days of my childhood, and of the years I spent learning and growing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .




The idea from here is to go into a flashback of the end of eighth grade, the entire ninth grade year, and maybe some of sophmore year. I will post more later.
Ideas or constructive critisism can be immed to me (you should know my sn) or placed in the chatterbox.


Well, I will not talk about my day because it was rather horrible, and it would just sound like I was being a whiny kid, and that is not the impression I want to give anyone of who I am. But I hope all of you had wonderful days.
God bless.