April's Space

Layering

2009-06-19T20:01:00.003-04:00

While I was sitting in rush hour traffic, which I thankfully rarely have to sit in, a thought occurred to me about my wip. There has been something not clicking in the development of my hero. Something that seems incomplete. Then it hit me like ice cream on a cold slab of marble, my hero and heroine are not just meeting. They have a past!

My brain immediately slammed to a halt, stripped a few gears popping into reverse and said, "Nope, no way. That means rethinking everything and we're not going to do that." The other side of my brain, the side routing for the change declared, "Sure we can! Not THAT much is written and adjusting the story to make it BETTER is never a bad idea."

The anti-change side is pretty stubborn, but I have a feeling I can get the two to compromise. Which sounds completely bizarre and troublesome because I shouldn't have two sides of my own mind arguing with each other. Who's driving the car while righty and lefty are going at it? Apparently they can each drive with one hand on the wheel because I made it home safely.

I'm sure that this delimma is not new to me. So I'm curious, how often, once you've done the ground work if you're a plotter or once you've got words on the page if you're a pantser, have you had a major revelation that changes the entire story enough that it's an overhaul? And how often have you ground your teeth about the idea? :o)

April

A New Do...

2009-05-20T21:31:00.003-04:00

Okay, the other blog template had issues so I searched and searched and settled for this. It's a bit on the predictable side, but hey... when I sell my first book I'll work harder to make it unique.

The thing that sucks the most about changing it was that I had finally put some of my blog links back up and it removes and deletes them. Grrr! But that's okay, I'll find everyone and that's what matters most!

Speaking of selling books... I have written a full chapter plus another scene. WOO HOO! I thought of some things I need to go back and add in to the scene that foreshadow, but it's nice to have stuff on paper--or screen, which ever is more proper.

Okay, I'm off to write!

April

I Wrote Something!!!

2009-05-18T22:24:00.003-04:00

Okay, it's not going to win me a Pulitzer, but I wrote something and it felt wonderful.

In fact, I wrote the entire first chapter of my new wip. YAY, I finally have a real wip. It's a nice feeling. Of course this means I get to deal with bickering characters and Lord help me, these two people are going to put up one heck of a fight as far as the whole romance thing is involved.

But chemistry is something they can't fight and I won't either.

So now I'm off to bed where I'm sure to dream of bickering and squabbles... oh this is gonna be great!

April

PS If you don't see your blog on my blog roll, please comment me with your web addy. I've lost some!

Hmmm...

2009-05-18T14:24:00.002-04:00

That's been a commonly muttered sound in my head lately. Hmmm... My poor little abused mind has been Hmmming all over the place.

I've been reading up on craft because having been away from writing, it's so easy to let some of it go. And reading that lead me to go back and explore some of my favorite books. I read a wide variety. I like everything from contemporary comedy, to historical, paranormal, suspense... you name it, I read it.

But for some reason, I was drawn back to reading Judith McNaught. Her historials. While I love the classics as much as any other person and I still swoon at the thought of Mr. Darby, Judith McNaught's stories always manage to grasp me in a way I'm not grasped every day. Hers are not the only ones, but they are just where my mind has been recently.

It's odd for me, because I have never been drawn to writing historicals and I'm not now. But I am drawn to the turmoil and journey her stories put me through. If I could do the same with my stories, I would be a very happy writer. No kidding, you say...

I'm planning to explore some other authors whose writing pulls me in that way as well. There are well known recent authors that are almost always a guaranteed good read for me. I enjoy Susan Elizabeth Phillip's refreshing wit and I always love the way Karen Marie Moning weaves me right into her Faeland fantasies. There are many others, too many to name.

So I'm curious, whose writing have you found a particular pull from and what have you taken from their writing and used to enhance your own?

April

Finding the groove again...

2009-05-11T23:01:00.002-04:00

I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend and I pray all the other mothers out there did too. Hubby gave me a trip to a local spa for a manicure and pedicure. His brother is getting married at the end of the month and so I will put it to good use!

To be perfectly honest, I have never had a pedicure. It sort of freaks me out to think about someone working on my feet. I don't know, it seems sort of mean... "Clean my toes!" I'm probably making too much of it, but it's what has held me back.

I've had manicures. I love them! I don't get them really often because I wash my hands so much that I ruin them and they are a guilty pleasure.

So, I'm curious... Have you ever had a pedicure and did you like it?

April

PS I know that has nothing to do with writing... But it does. You just don't know it.

Cha-cha-cha-changes...

2009-05-08T21:22:00.003-04:00

Since it's been forever since I regularly blogged and since I took down the ole' website for now, I decided I'd start with a fresh look for the blog too. It's a template which goes against my DIY propensities, but it's easier than redoing it myself for now and it gives me a fresh perspective.

I thought it would be kind of fun because it looks like a well used desk. Mine looks messier, so much so that I'm using my lap for one right now. But it spurred my creative juices and that's all that really matters.

I'm excited for the weekend. This will be my first Mother's Day as a mom. It's also the first weekend in a long while that we don't have jam packed with stuff to do. So I am planning to enjoy it to the fullest. Maybe I'll even get some plotting time in!

How about you, what are you doing this weekend?

April

PS I have discovered that many of the old blog links I had were old and no longer worked. Poo. So I'm going to be working on getting my links list up-to-date. So, if you're link is missing, just know I'm working on it! :o)

Two in a row!

2009-05-06T20:02:00.003-04:00

It's a record, I'm posting two days in a row! Woo Hoo!

I'm having trouble getting my thoughts in order. I've been in survival mode for a little while which means any thoughts outside of making it through the day get lost in file 13.

So I guess this means one change to my writing habits I'm going to have to make is note taking, note taking, note taking. And I guess this means I'm going to have to accept that I may not be able to just sit down and start tappity tappity tapping on the keyboard. I may have to do a little refreshing of my memory.

Anyone else face similar challenges? Anything you can recommend to assist me with getting my head back into the story and picking up where I left off easier. It's sad that I can't sometimes remember what I did several hours ago. LOL!

April

This time I mean it...

2009-05-05T23:04:00.002-04:00

Okay, so it's well past time I get back on the horse. Or wagon... I can never remember how that saying goes. Hubby and I talked yesterday evening and I'm setting aside two evenings a week for writing.

This is a very exciting development for me and for the characters sitting around reading dusty magazines in my mind. You know those plastic chairs at the DMV, (unless your DMV isn't as truly fun as ours that is) the poor people have been sitting around reading magazines from 2007 and wondering when the heck I'm going to get back to working out their stories. Well, the time is now. WOO HOO!

I just hope the clamboring doesn't turn into a five ring circus as suspense characters try to judo chop my loveable romantic comedy characters. I have a feeling we may need some medics thrown in just to ensure safety. Maybe a few military heroes to keep the peace. They're all in there and hopefully I'll be able to get into the swing of things quickly enough to make them happy.

The best thing is that this will hopefully afford me a little time to blog hop and check in on all my wonderful buddies I haven't seen or read in forever. YAY!

So I'll be seeing you soon!
April

Keeping Blogs Straight...

2008-10-01T00:36:00.003-04:00

Okay, in an effort to avoid turning this blog into a family update blog and to avoid shocking my 87 year-old grandmother with my writing (heaven knows she'd be rethinking the decision to NOT push me to be a doctor), I decided to set up a more "personal" less "professional" blog for updates on the family. You all have become like family too, so I wanted to invite you all to stop by when you feel like it. www.mattandaprilupdates.blogspot.com. No, a shorter, appropriate name was not available. I tried. :o)

I've been keeping an idea notebook. And I even got to read recently. Dh had a conference and we tagged along to play. I read two whole books. Tara Janzen's most recent featuring her Steele Street team and a suspense which escapes my memory. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't that memorable. Although I have to give the author a break since I seem to have brain farts at least 3 times a day.

Okie dokie, that's it for now.

April

Baby Madness

2008-07-20T18:58:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone,

I know it has been a long time since I last posted. Things have been nuts to say the least. But I wanted to post an update!

We settled into our new home in Mid-May. Just in time to get started on the nursery. Then on July 2, at 10:30AM, she was born weighing 8lbs even and measuring 20 1/4 inches.

She did really well and the delivery was smooth. Her cord was wrapped around her neck, but the dr was able to get it unwrapped during delivery and an emergency c-section was not necessary. There was one minor complication because our blood types are so different there was a concern over jaundice, but her billiruben levels never went out of the normal range. YAY!

Here's a picture of our new little angel:

Hope everyone is doing well and the writing is going great! I'm hoping to just be able to READ some soon. LOL!

April

Pardon The Interruption...

2008-04-01T23:23:00.004-04:00

It's not often I get political. Not here anyway. But there's an issue my home state has been dealing with. In fact, every state has been dealing with. Which has some very serious consequences that in my very humble opinion have been kept largely out of the public domain.

Recently, the Homeland Security Administration passed a new regulation requiring states to adopt new policies regarding the issuance of IDs to residents. It's called the RealID, you may have heard of it. They did so without any real debate in congress.

Their premise for these new policies, they say, is to increase the difficulty of obtaining an state ID under false pretenses. Which is something I and I don't believe anyone else has a problem with. In some states it is all too easy to get an driver's license or ID with false information.

Most states have bent to Homeland Security's demands and agreed to implement the new measures, despite the fact that it will mean millions of dollars of increase expense to the states in order to implement the changes. Which really should be the first red flag for citizens.

I say the first, because their are several. What hasn't received much attention in the public domain is WHAT makes the implementation so expensive. Included in the "upgrades" Homeland Security is attempting to require states to implement is the placement of RFID tags in all IDs.

For those unfamiliar with RFID tags, they are tiny chips which have often been used by manufacturers to reduce loss by tracking products and where they go. An RFID tag, also known as Radio Frequency Identification tags, are a small thing which can be tracked via GPS. Which means if you have one on/in your driver's license as Homeland Security is trying to enforce, you can be tracked anytime as long as you have your ID on you.

"What's the big deal, I don't do anything wrong or go anywhere I shouldn't?" here's the big deal... Even the most secure, safe-guarded systems get hacked. The Pentagon, the CIA, the FBI... It happens. Which means some of the most unscrupulous people in the world would have access to your every single move.

What's more, when asked by opponents what measures Homeland Security plans to take in order to ensure there are no abuses of American Privacy, their only response is to basically say, "We have it handled."

I am proud say that our state governor has refused to comply with the demands of Homeland Security. And furthermore, our governor issued a letter to the head of Homeland Security making it clear he felt certain aspects of RealID were a clear violation of the privacy and security of Americans. In addition, RealIDs make it much easier for nefarious people to get your information and steal your identity.

The ACLU has been fighting the good fight against RealID, but it still shocks me to discover so few people realize just what implementing RealID would mean to each of us.

I am no expert in this area. RealNightmare.org is a website with more information on the subject. The ACLU has several articles on the subject as well.

Only a handful of states have still not bent to the will of the all-powerful Dept. of Homeland Security. Whether your state has or has not bent, I encourage you to explore the issue, pass along the awareness, and consider speaking out to those who are in a position to stop this from happening.

April
(who promises not to turn this into a political blog) :o)

Am I insane?

2008-03-27T11:38:00.003-04:00

Maybe...

Well, I'm in my 26th week. In all honesty this hasn't been the most enjoyable week so far.

My little darling's movements have grown a bit painful at times. She's definately going to want to be a trapeeze artist, I'm telling you! And my bladder has not been happy with me. I have a hard time dragging my behind out of bed to pee every 2 hours at night. I think I can sleep 10 more minutes, but then 10 turn into 45 and then I'm in serious pain. Not good, I know. And I'm trying to work on it. If only my concious-rational-self could have more control over my unconcious-sleep-deprived-self. Oh well, that's life.

I'm not complaining. No siree. Just sharing :o)

In other news, I think my darling hubby and I may have totally lost our minds. As in gone bonkers for the summer, check in with us when we are delivered home from the looney bin. We made an offer on a house this week.

We've been shopping on and off for a long time, but we're picky. We found a home the beginning of March we liked and made an offer. It finished foreclosing the exact same day and the bank wouldn't look at any offers till they listed it for sale through their broker. Which was Friday. So, after redebating the house on Monday, we made an offer Tuesday. Now we're waiting on word from the bank, which can take anywhere from 2 hours to 2 years. Okay, I exaggerate, but still... banks work on THEIR time, so who knows. In the mean time, it'll take at least 30 days to get us closed which means I'm looking at moving around my 31st week of pregnancy. Now you understand the title of this blog, yes?

I figure dh and I will do the packing and we'll hire movers to do the moving. before we were married I always used movers and it was nice to just label my boxes, furniture and rooms and point. The first move went better than the last, so we'll be going back to that company. I think dh thinks he and our family and friends can do it, but I'm thinking movers are the way to go...

Of course, all of this is IF we get the house, which is yet to be determined. We have enough room for now at our home. We're squished. That's what happens when you live in a place alone, get married and another person moves in with you. But we're just waiting to see what door God opens or chooses not to open for now.

In the mean time, I'm just keeping busy with everyday work which went nuts on me a few weeks ago and trying to catch naps here and there. Oh yeah, and going potty seems to be taking up a great percentage of my time lately too. LOL!

So I'm not the only insane person out there, right?

April

Spay Day USA

2008-03-02T21:19:00.002-05:00

The National Human Society holds a Spay Day USA every year. The hold events all over that raise awareness of the need to spay and neuter pets.

They also hold a photo contest and this year we decided for the fun of it to enter our little furbaby, Buckley. He's a mess, but he's our mess :o)

If you have some spare time (don't laugh too loud, I know we're all busy) will you pop over and cast a vote for our little guy?

Here is where you go: http://www.spaydayusa.org/bin/Rate?image_id=1003134808

Thanks!
April

It's a Girl!

2008-02-15T11:15:00.007-05:00

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day. It started off bright and early with a trip to the OB's office. There we got to spend an hour or so in the ultrasound room looking out our little developing bundle. During all of her twisting, turning, and somersaults, we discovered she's a little baby girl. It was also apparent she's going to be a little chatterbox because her mouth was moving a mile a minute.

Here are some pictures:

She's laying on her back, with her hand at her forehead, palm up... So woebegon that mommy got up early. :o)

This one is marked, but note that her arm is up like she's waving at us...

Precious little hand...

This is the tech's attempt at a 3D ultrasound... Our little pea was busy moving so it was difficult to get a good shot of her, but you can see her mouth is wide open :o)

When I got to the office after our appointment, dh had had an edible arrangement sent for Valentine's Day. It looks like a bouquet, but it has fruit instead of flowers. The pineapple was cut into hearts and since I've been craving fruit it was the perfect thing to do. We went to dinner with the in-laws because they wanted to celebrate the ultrasound.

Thought I would pop by and share our news and some pictures. I hope everyone is doing well and writing tons of great stuff! I haven't written much this week, but I'm eager to get back to it... And Lis's comment about fan fiction keeps popping up in my head too. Maybe I'll have to play around with a bit of that!

How was your Valentine's Day? Do anything special?

Happy Writing,
April :o)

I Wrote Something!!!!

2008-02-02T02:37:00.000-05:00

And I posted it over at Word Flirts... Who knew, 2 posts in less than 30 days... :o)

April

Time for an Update

2008-01-21T20:32:00.001-05:00

Hi Everyone,

I thought I would pop by and update how things are going...

Overall things are going pretty well. I am 17 weeks today and we get to hear the baby's heartbeat at each appointment. Last week we had our appointment for January and my blood pressure was on the low side which is a great sign for the blood clotting issues.

I lost 7 pounds in my first trimester. I've regained 3 pounds, so I am still down over all. My dr says that's just fine with him because the baby seems to be growing just fine. And he's not kidding there. I'm already starting to show.

We go on Valentine's day to find out the sex. We're really excited. Maybe then we'll finally start to work on getting the cluttered nursery cleared. :o)

There's been time here and there I get to read. Not nearly as much as I want. And it seems when I feel like reading and have the time to do it, I can't find anything that I really want to read right at that moment. So I'm wondering if any of you have read anything really good recently you'd like to recommend... I know you all well enough to know I won't have to beg ;o)

Thanks & Happy Writing,
April

It's Time For a Break...

2007-12-17T22:03:00.000-05:00

Okay, it's officially time for a break. I've fought it for a while. But I'm now at the point of inevitablility.

Today I am 12 weeks pregnant. YAY! And I'll admit the pregnancy and recent events have been quite the distraction. There are also a couple of concerns which place me in the high risk category. Namely a blood disorder I have called factor V Leiden which causes me to be prone to clotting. Which wouldn't be such an issue if I weren't allergic to aspirin which is the easiest and most common solution for the problem during pregnancy. So my focus just hasn't been on writing.

With work and family and the baby on the way there's just been so little time to spend on writing or even writing activities. So I finally decided I need to just give myself permission to take an extended break.

I'll still be around, lurking to see what everyone is up to. And it's definately a temporary thing. It's just a long temporary thing. Lord knows the characters in my head will not permit me to live in peace for long. LOL!

Smooches and happy writing to all of my blog buddies!
April

It's Christmas Time!!!

2007-11-28T20:33:00.000-05:00

This is my favorite time of the year. I start getting Christmas tunes in my head in July or August. So when it actually comes around, I'm super duper happy about it.

To dispell the gloom this weekend, hubby and I put up the tree and it really did brighten the day. Now we just need to decorate it. LOL! And decorate everything else. I think we'll finish it off this weekend. I've been a little under the weather, so we just couldn't get it finished yet.

I tried to convince hubby we need to do something like the guy in the video below. And while he's all about working out the technical aspects, I think he's afraid of the prospect of climbing up on our roof (it's steep). So I told him we'd skip it and just do what we usually do. Of course that whole proposition could have back fired on me because he could have been all for it, then where would I be? Probably on You Tube like this guy. LOL!

What about you? Planning any "show" staging for the holidays?

April

What I'm Thankful For...

2007-11-22T18:18:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for my family and all of the friends and loved ones I have or have had in my life. I'm thankful for the time I get to spend with them. I'm thankful for those special people who enter my life and leave me a different, maybe better person.

One of those people is a friend of my husband. And yesterday he lost his battle with lung cancer. It was a relatively short battle, his having been diagnosed just this past spring with stage IV cancer. Short did not mean painless. Through treatments which nearly cut his life even shorter, he persevered and continued to pray for healing and have faith that all would happen as was meant to be.

In June we even celebrated a short remission. However, it was discovered the remission was to be short lived. News that he would be undergoing a procedure spread recently and we all began the prayers for another miracle. However, it simply was not meant to be.

Chris' life itself was a miracle. A talented musician, he's been touching lives for a very long time and when he was diagnosed with lung cancer, he made it his mission to make clubs smoke free.

You see Chris had not been a smoker for MANY years. However, as a musician, he had no choice but to be in smokey places. Thanks to him and his tenacity, we now have an organization for a smoke free SC. And he's raised awareness among local people who thought being under 40 and a non-smoker meant there was no reason to get screened for lung cancer.

So on this day of family and thankfullness, I celebrate the life of Chris Conner and the many ways he touched those around him. And I pray his son who is much too young to understand what is going on will know what an amazing person his father was and will be able to celebrate the legacy he left.

I also pray you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and you were able to cherish the time spent with family and friends for the gift that it is...

Love,
April

Does Anyone Smell Turkey?

2007-11-18T20:21:00.000-05:00

Well, I know I've been a bad Blogger AGAIN! I am dreadfully sorry for that. My reasons for being such a terrible blogger will hopefully be better explained soon.

In the meantime, Thursday is Thanksgiving for those of us in the U.S. And this will be the first year hubby and I host Thanksgiving dinner at our house. We'll be hosting both of our families and possibly my sister's MIL. So there will be 11 or 12 of us (including a precocious 8 year-old)

My mother, lovely and wonderful person that she is, is bringing the turkey. I think it's because she's scared I can't cook one, but she says it's because she wants to help. She is the helper sort, so who knows... I still think I scare her. LOL! And my MIL is bringing dressing and pumpkin pies...

So that leaves sides (which run the gamut in our family) It seems no one likes the same thing and so there's always a bevy of sides. Mashed potatoes, corn, mac and cheese (for the nephew) and then the traditional biscuits and cranberry sauce. Then, half the family likes pumpkin pie, the other half coconut cake... So baking will need to be done...

And usually there's a fruit tray for appetizers... We're going to be up to our ears in food!

So here's my question. Really two... First, what is your BEST tip for hosting Thanksgiving (large quantities of alcohol excluded) and can you think of anything I've forgotten?

April
(who will try not to have a coronary this week. LOL!)

The Life & Times...

2007-11-04T19:10:00.000-05:00

A good friend of mine got married this weekend. It was a lovely ceremony and a very enjoyable and yummy reception. I ate too much... what's new. But I had a good time and that's what matters. Ok, THE COUPLE had a good time and THAT'S what matters...

My darling hubby couldn't attend with me, but it's inevitable at a wedding you're going to start thinking about your own nuptuals, right? Or am I the only sap? Standing there in my bridesmaids dress watching them commit to loving and supporting each other for the rest of their lives I thought back two and a half years ago to when the hubster and I did the same.

We'd dated for over 11 years. I thought we were as close as we could be without living together. But I was wrong. Each year has brough hubby and I closer and the last two are no exception. We've faced our fair share of trials and tribulations, but we've faced them together and I'm thankful to have him here with me.

We found each other so early in life (I was 16 and he was 17), I think we were both fairly skeptical as to whether it was real or puppy love. We often joke that if there is a such thing as past lives, we must have been searching for each other for a long time in the last and that's why we found each other so early this time.

Whatever it was, it was a Blessing. I guess the Lord knew we'd need each other early on and so He provided. And whew, am I thankful.

So I wish Bethany and Steve the same joy and love hubby and I share and I pray they have a long and happy marriage!

Am I the only sap, say I'm not... please!!!!

April

Visit Me

2007-10-28T20:52:00.001-04:00

Visit me over at Word Flirts where my characters are costing me sleep!

April

Get Me A Straight Jacket Please...

2007-10-14T19:53:00.000-04:00

Things have been nuts! I know, I know... I've been saying that for a while now. But they just seem to stay nuts!

Last week, my best friend gave birth to a precious little baby boy. He's soooooooo sweet. On top of that we've been going to pre-wedding events for a friend who's getting married on Nov 3rd and another friend who got married yesterday.

I'm hoping after the 3rd things will slow down. Hahahahaha yeah right.

The wedding this past weekend was in the mountains, so hubby and I took off Friday and went up early to have a mini-vacation. It was great! We relaxed, did a little shopping, ate some GREAT food that is NOT on the list of approved foods I'm supposed to be eating from :o), and had an overall great time.

The wedding was outdoors at dusk and it was beautiful! It looked like a setting out of Southern Living with grapevine balls strung from ribbons in the trees and everything lit up with candles and little white lights. It was a little bit chilly, but I'd prefer that over hot and humid anytime!

What have you been up to recently?

April

And here she is....

2007-10-03T23:39:00.000-04:00

April Andretti...
That's me and my over-sized bottom in a racing suit. I wore shorts because I knew it would be warm... but Whew is it warm in that suit. And the helmets are really heavy. When I put it on I thought my neck might collapse. It made turning my head feel funny though...

After every other driver, this guy checked out the cars. He checked the engine and tires. It was funny because he rolled the cars and the guys buckling people in through the windows would stumble to go along. In the background you can see a leader car and a rookie like me. Actually, my darling hubby who is reading over my shoulder told me that IS me. LOL! So there I am whipping around the track!

I thought at first this was me crossing the finish line. But if you look closely, the little flag guy has a rolled up green flag that he's waving like a nut. He's telling me to catch up to my lead car. But I felt I was going fast enough ;o)

And this is me pulling in to the pit, thanking God I made it without wrecking and praying I don't run over the poor little guy waving me in because the breaks don't really seem to stop on a dime... LOL!

Most of the pics my hubby took were of my car going around the track. But if you've seen one, you've kind of seen them all, you know? Our video camera gave out right after I got buckled in, so he switched to pics. I'm trying to figure out how to get the video off our camcorder so you guys can see them shove my big head through the window. LOL!

Happy Racing!
April (Andretti)

Just Call Me April Andretti...

2007-09-29T23:03:00.000-04:00

Racing was FABULOUS! It was the biggest fright and exhilaration all wrapped into one.

We had to leave home around 8AM and my "driving experience" started at 11AM. When we got there it was neat because we drove through the tunnel out onto the asphalt in the center of the track. It's quite an overwhelming place!

First we watched a short video, then they broke us into groups and sent us out with instructors. My group toured the track first. I got to sit shot-gun in the van and they take us out and drove us around stopping where they need to point out certain things. Which can be disturbing when you're in a loaded van on a track tilted to 24%.

They have markers for your driving line painted on the track. If you stay between them you get the most bang for the buck. Then they have cones for where you take your foot off the gas going into a turn and for where you speed back up. After pointing everything out they take the van around the track at about 85mph. Which may not have been so scary if my instructor hadn't been talking over his shoulder to everyone and turning around looking back.

Then we went for in car instruction. This is where they tell you everything to do if something goes wrong. There's a million and one releases, a fire extinguisher pointed at you, and a low oil pressure gage I'm sad to say I never even looked at during my drive.

From then on it's waiting for your turn. I was almost at the end of the list which permitted my nerves to settle a little. Well, until they called my name at least. Then they suited me up with a helmet (they put you in a driving suit first thing) and a neck brace... The ones they came out with after Dale Earnhardt's accident.

We didn't practice getting in to the car. No doors, you know. So I'm standing there fearing my big fat butt won't fit through the window, despite all assurances that it will. Surprise surprise, it wasn't my butt that got stuck, it was my head. With the neck brace on you can't turn your head to the side and I needed to. They just pushed on it and popped me in.

After scooting all the way back in the seat I look up to discover this window is nothing like the one on my car. It's plexi-glass so it's sort of warpy and it was dirty. Meanwhile I'm being strapped in with 5 seat belts, a steering wheel is being put on and my pulse has increased from it's usual 75 bpm to around 250. That's what it felt like at least.

Terrified my sweaty palms would cause the wheel to slip, I convulsively wiped them on my jump suit jerking them back to the 10 and 4 position on the wheel (easier for turning) and watch for my signal. There was no one else in the car, but an instructor drove a car in front of me. I was supposed to follow at a 3-5 car distance, but he really wanted to go really fast so that was hard.

After a little trouble with 4th gear, I set out around the track. The drive was over before I knew it. I took one turn a little faster than I meant to, and I kept getting the flag to get closer to my instructor, but I was plenty happy with my top speed of 124. It's not the 140 another student did, but he'd done it before.

When I got out I was shaking. A lot. And there was this mix of excitement and appreciation that it was over.

They have a camera in the car that records you. We gave in and ordered the dvd... It should be interesting. I think I swore twice... When I couldn't get it into 4th and when I took that turn to fast. But there shouldn't be any sound.

There ARE pictures and I promise to post some as soon as my hubby gives them to me. I knew I should have taken MY camera ;o)

Hubby turned down my offer to drive home... Which meant I got a nap.

It was the experience of a life time. I'm not sure if I'll ever do it again. One minute I think, "oh yeah..." Then the next I think, "Mmmm, maybe not." LOL!

I will say if you ever get the chance, take it!

April

Look Another Post

2007-09-21T22:39:00.000-04:00

I'm setting a new record... Two posts in ONE week!!!! Look at me go! Check out my post at Word Flirts :o)

April

Rad Racer, Here I Come....

2007-09-17T18:18:00.000-04:00

Things around here have been nuts. I turned 30 this past weekend. For my birthday, my darling husband got me a Richard Petty Driving Experience.

For those unfamiliar, the experience means I go to a race track, probably Lowe's Motor Speedway because it's close, and take a class on how to drive the cars and safety instructions. Then I'm unleashed for 8 timed laps driving a race car around the track. The student with the best time wins! My family even gets to go and watch... To my mother's relief. She's not as happy as me about this gift. :o)

I had joked some time ago that I would be REALLY GOOD at this. And hubby thought it was time I made good on that boast. And to be honest, I'm REALLY excited! This definately ranks in the top 3 best B-day presents ever.

How about you? What's your most favorite present ever?

April

So Refreshing....

2007-09-03T23:35:00.000-04:00

This labor day has been quite refreshing for me. After weeks of not getting to even crack open my wip, I not only opened it and renewed my relationship with its characters, I even added 5500 words! YAY!

It feels wonderful to get somewhere. Anywhere. And I'm sure my poor characters feel the same.

Who knows what the next week will hold. I have a ton scheduled, so I may not get much more added. But at least I have it percolating in the old noggin'.

How about you? How's your writing going?

April

It Has Started...

2007-09-03T00:48:00.000-04:00

I'm not the tomboy I used to be. And even then, I played most neighborhood sports in my plastic high heels. But the one thing I have yet managed to release from my childhood is college football.

I live south of the good ole M-D line and here, college football rules the fall. And this weekend marks the beginning of the fanatical season.

We used to have season tickets. Back when the football season actually felt like football weather because we had to take sweaters to games. But anymore it's sweltering. Which made letting our season tickets go not so bad. My dear hubby gets press passes and watches the game from the sidelines... A little too close to the action for my blood. And he's willing to give up those passes a couple of games each season so I can go and we can sit together.

But there's more to games here than three and a half hours of watching guys butt heads. College football is a culture. The week before a game, people with RVs more expensive than our house begin arriving at specially designated parking areas. They set up their 56 inch satellite TVs which show pregame shows from the side of the RV while crowds of tailgaters gather near and their TEC Bar-B-Ques in preparation for gameday.

If a game begins at 7PM, tailgating will start as early as 9 or 10AM. But the average fan starts just after noon. Yes, that's almost 7 hours before the game even starts. And we're talking HUGE spreads. You'd think people were storing up food for a famine.

Not to mention the cost of tailgating spots. Some parking spaces sell for as much as $20,000 a season. And then there are condos and special tailgating units selling anywhere from $250,000-$500,000. You at least get ownership of the units, but that's still pretty expensive for a couple of hours enjoyment each weekend. But hey, who am I to complain about the way other people spend their money?

This all occurred to me because during the pregame radio show this past weekend a lady called in to the show. She'd recently moved here from California and she was complaining. She said that when August rolled around everyone here acted as though nothing else existed other than college football. The hosts played with her for a bit, but it made me realize it isn't like this everywhere else.

College football does rule here. Team spirit is a very lively thing. But it's more than that. It's a cultural event, a social gathering. Our first two seasons with season tickets we sat next to the same couples every game. You eventually come to know the people you sit or park next to. You come to know their families, and before long, you're connecting all of the people you both know and you realize this really isn't that big of a place after all. And for a couple of hours, everyone comes together to cheer on their team.

The energy that camaraderie generates is unequalled anywhere else I've been. And so each year I look forward to the count down to gameday and I enjoy the electricity which enters the air as it comes near. It also helps that I spend the Saturday's my hubby is away watching the game muted on TV and writing.

How about where you live? Does college football rule? NFL? NHL? NBA? college basketball? Anything?

April

Song of the Times...

2007-08-24T00:00:00.001-04:00

I'm taking this idea from Emma. It's ok though. She gave permission so I'm not stealing!

Here are the rules:

1. Go to this link at Pop Culture Madness (scroll down - see the list of years on the left? And make sure you scroll down to the actual years, not just the decades, it’s kind of far down on the left.)

2. Pick the year you turned 18

3. Pick five songs from that year

4. Wax nostalgic about each song and why it’s special

5. Pass it on

Cotten Eye Joe - Rednex
What can I say about this song? I live in the south, and even here it was annoying. It sounded like a hoe down mixed with techno or something. Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from Cotton Eye Joe... I never really got the point of this song. I guess that's not very poetic, huh?

We've Got It Goin' On - Backstreet Boys
I rode the NKOTB train, so by the time the Backstreet Boys came around I was disenchanted with boy bands. But I do remember sitting on my hubby's (at that time my boyfriend) couch watching MTV and making fun of their video... You know, back when MTV had music videos on... Novel idea, I know.

I Could Fall In Love - Selena
My darling hubby and I had been dating about a year at the time this song came out. And of course, what starry eyed adolescent in the throes of puppy love could resist it? Not I. But at least we turned out to be the real thing! I also remember this song playing at our prom. Not because it was a sweet ballad but because my best friend who went with one of my hubby's friends was being dragged all around the dance floor as he did a warped version of a Tango. It was definitely a memorable moment!

This Is How We Do It - Montell Jordan
Was there ever a pep rally where this song didn't play? Not the year I turned 18. This high energy sugar pop song would pulsate through our gym several times each month in hopes of jazzing up our school spirit. I'm not really convinced it ever worked... But I got out of class to go sit in the gym and watch people do weird stuff, so I never complained!

One Sweet Day - Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men
I will admit something terrible. I thought this song was Corny and overly sentimental when it first came out. I'm not sure if it was the song so much as the artists singing it though. But then, in June my dad had a massive heart attack and spent 3 months in ICU with us thinking he wasn't going to make it and this song touched an entirely different cord with me. Thankfully, he recovered enough to spend another 2 1/2 years with us. But this song hasn't ever been so Corny since.

Now you do it and let me know when you do so I can read yours!

April

PS Thanks, Emma! That was a fun trip down memory lane!

Join me...

2007-08-22T23:51:00.001-04:00

Over at Word Flirts!

April

What Did He Say?

2007-08-17T00:12:00.000-04:00

Ok, I've been bad blogger lately. I know! I'm hoping to make the rounds this weekend because I have a LOT to catch up on.

We've been busy... Doing what you ask? Lots. Including watching tv, though not TOO much ;o). But while watching the tv, hubby and I picked up on a commercial for a new tv show coming to CBS this fall.

It's about a Cuban family who are apparently really wealthy. Other than that, I don't know what it's about. Because every time it comes on, I get distracted by one little word... The last name of the FAMILY the show is centered around. It's spelled Duque. And pronounced "Do-kay". And if you grew up in the early 80's the word bears and VERY close resemblance to a word for "poop".

Every time the guy says, "The Duque family..." Hubby and I of the five year-old mindset, break into laughter. And they say it over and over.

So I have to wonder is the usage of that word just such a bygone that it didn't occur to them? Is someone playing a terrible joke on the producers? Is my mind just so lost right now that I'm drawing lines of association where there is none?

Have you seen the previews? If not, visit here to see one. What do you think?

Special side note: I DO realize this is a real name. Please do not be offended by my post. There are also people with the name Butt... I have a good friend with it. And she laughs about it too. It's really the overly dramatic nature of the previews combined with the name :o)

April

A Change of View

2007-08-08T01:30:00.000-04:00

So I was having trouble with a scene the other night. It just wouldn't come. I even sat and stared at the computer screen, but nope. It wouldn't happen. Then a voice from some talk some time in the past came to me...

If it's not working try changing the POV.

So I did and guess what... It worked! I was shocked. I had originally been writing the scene from the hero's POV. Mainly because I felt like I had spent long enough in the heroine's. But really the scene is more complex and emotional for the heroine.

I realized in hindsight that the reason I kept getting stymied is I wanted to write something about her thoughts. But I kept having to stop of course. Obviously I was more connected to her than him in the scene and I guess that means the reader should be too.

What about you? Have you ever been stuck in a scene and switched the POV and it take off for you?

April

PS I'm now more than 30% through... Finally this sucker is moving some!

Lost Letters...

2007-08-05T03:09:00.000-04:00

First it was "E", now it's "N" and "S" is soon to follow... Slowly but surely all of the letters are disappearing from my keyboard. There are all of the usual suspects... Buckley could be sneaking into the living room and licking them off of the keyboard (he licks everything else, why not?) of course that would require him to open the laptop, which is probably too difficult a task without opposable thumbs.

It could be the little elf un-helpers who come in while I'm asleep and put tons of grammatical errors in my wip (I know they exist, that's the only explanation for why my story would read, "He kissed her perched lips..." Perched on what? Her face?).

Or it could be the effects of the sugar sprinkles I dropped on the keyboard last Christmas. They put the "A" key out of commission for a day or two, so you never know... That was interesting trip to the computer repairman!

Oh the woes of a writer with disappearing key labels... If anyone sees them about somewhere, maybe struggling to escape the overly packed bag of a mischievous little elf, please let me know... They're missed and I'm willing to go to great lengths to bring them home!

April
Yes, that's correct, I write fiction. I know it's hard to tell, so I thought I should clarify.

Join Me...

2007-08-03T01:51:00.000-04:00

And Wentworth Miller over at Word Flirts!

April

What do you get...

2007-07-30T23:56:00.000-04:00

When you take a normal, hometown boy and send him through intensive police training, followed by extensive Special Ops training and then toss him into the midst of the 80's drug scene of Miami followed quickly by eight years in the jungles of Thailand? One hell of a DEA agent!

Our speaker this past weekend was terrific. We all promised to share as little of the details as possible so he isn't brought before a committee. So here's Ten things I learned:

1. No boat, sorry Sarah. But he said when he was assigned to Miami, it was actually very Miami Vice like. Large expensive boats, designer clothes and lots of drugs and money.

2. His biggest irritation with media representation is procedure issues. He said most everything you see or read has tons of procedural no-no's which may have occurred 10-20 years ago but would NOT occur now-a-days.

3. It was very easy to tell that he loved the thrill of the job. This is a man who lives for life on the edge. He'd talk about things he'd done, situations he'd been in which were to say the least unbelievable and then, as we're all gasping in horror, he'd say, "It was GREAT!"

4. He said what he didn't like most of the time was bureaucracy.

5. I didn't get the chance to ask him what goes through his mind right before he busts in to a room, but I get the impression that, "Let's Rock and Roll!" Wouldn't be too far off. I thought it'd be, "Oh s*%&" But after hearing him talk, there was apparently only one "Oh S#$%" moment and he didn't think that until AFTER he was already in deep doo.

6. Another interesting thing we learned. Scarface... not so off the mark. That was sort of scary.

7. He says the biggest problem for DEA agents is that they deal with a lot of drugs and a LOT of money and they see the lifestyle that money brings, day in and day out. They even pretend to be living it then go home to their modest little house. But often, the lure of the money is too much and they become corrupt.

8. Thailand I can't talk about much... because I don't think I'm supposed to. And you don't know how difficult that is for me, because it's the most exciting stuff! Maybe I'll put it in a book, slap the word "fiction" on there and no one will know any better :o)

9. He's not single. He got divorced in the middle of his Thailand assignment and eventually had to have his family flown home on an emergency flight when a general didn't take too kindly to the way he was wiping out his heroine business. But after leaving that assignment (no, he didn't chicken out or give it up, he was sent home because people wanted him dead in a bad way)he eventually made it back here after assignments elsewhere in the US and retired to PI work. He met his current wife at a local gym and they began dating... All together, his life seems to have taken a decidedly calmer turn.

10. I thought that while there were alpha men out there, they weren't as "alpha" as what I'd read. I was wrong.

Debby who arranged this speaker (she found him while researching a book) calls him Batman. To his face. He just smiles. Definately Batman.

April

Visit Me

2007-07-25T22:26:00.000-04:00

And the new look at Word Flirts!

April

How Did That Happen?

2007-07-24T01:48:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I've blogged until I'm blue in the face about not getting to write. But I did some writing tonight and decided to update my word count. It was at 16,250. When I went to calculate my count as of tonight it was 22,500. And I thought, HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? I guess little by little I added 6,250 words. Which makes me a VERY happy girl. So now I'm off to celebrate by going to sleep!

Keep the questions for the DEA Agent coming! I'm going to sound like the smartest attendee or like a stalker, I'm not sure which! :o)

April

It's ALMOST the weekend!!

2007-07-20T01:31:00.000-04:00

Work has been CRAZY BUSY! So writing has been crazy low. Now it's almost the weekend and hubby is dragging me out of town for baseball. One day I'll have a free weekend to write.

Not next weekend though. Next weekend is my RWA chapter meeting and we're having a DEA agent speak. He's actually killed people. And he's rather nonchalant about it. Apparently taking out an entire building full of drug manufacturers in the jungles of Asia is everyday business. I can't wait to hear the stories he has to tell, but I'm having a hard time putting together a list of questions...

So I thought I would seek your help. If you could ask a DEA agent anything, what would you ask?

April

Check me out

2007-07-12T13:38:00.000-04:00

I'm over at Word Flirts today trying to keep my mind off the fact that I'm not in Dallas!

April

Getting to Work...

2007-07-08T21:13:00.001-04:00

It's been a long week and now the weekend is ending! Where does the time go? That's what I want to know!

This weekend, hubby smoked ribs (yum!) and we spent Sat doing things that needed to be done. I ran errands with a friend while hubby mowed the grass. Quite the job considering the grass in our backyard had gotten above knee height in places. I've been begging him to do it. I try, but then I have asthma attacks and he gets mad at me for doing it. No winning I tell ya.

Now I'm bunkering down and hoping to get some more writing done. How about you? What did you do this weekend? Any writing?

April

Check out...

2007-07-04T01:42:00.000-04:00

My family's Fourth of July fun at Word Flirts!

April

Happy Weekend

2007-06-30T20:47:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you, but I am GLAD it is the weekend finally. Work kept me swamped this past week.

I did some character work in the way of free-writing autobios on my characters. It was a first for me. Writing as though I am the character and this is my story. But it definately gave me insight into who they are and where they come from and what battles they're up against.

Now I'm hoping to get a couple of pages written on the story. That's pretty wishful thinking right now. But we'll see how far I get.

How's your weekend going?

April

update: I've gotten a ton done on my wip this weekend! I'm at 20,750 words, with another 10,000 or so that need to be revised. Woo Hoo!

And...

2007-06-23T20:27:00.001-04:00

I'm back. Seriously. That break did me a world of good! And to top it off, I spent today at my local chapter's meeting getting revved up and ready to write thanks to Leanne Banks. If you ever have a chance to hear her speak, I recommend going!

I'm getting ready to delve into my wip. Hopefully I'll get a full hour of writing in tonight. I think that's what my goal is going to be for now. An hour without internet... oh the horrors... but an hour none the less.

Then I get to have a cup of ice cream! Yeah, the real stuff. I have to have a cup of milk with it to help offset the sugar. But the milk in it helps too.

I was very skeptical about this whole insulin resistance diet thing. But in the week I've been on it I lost 2 lbs. Which is good since I thought I'd gained 5. I've had cheese burgers and slim jims, all sorts of stuff and I have to eat every 3-4 hours. How could I possibly loose weight? But I did. Hopefully that will continue!

Since I skipped the hero post at Word Flirts, here's some eye candy for everyone:

How are you doing?

April (who is happy to be writing again!)

Yes, I AM Still here

2007-06-20T10:55:00.001-04:00

Well, actually today I am over at Word Flirts, so visit me there. I promise I'll be back HERE soon!!!

April

It's HOT!

2007-06-08T18:44:00.000-04:00

And I'm not talking about what I'm writing. I'm talking about the weather!

This time of year, I begin to hear an often muttered phrase around town... "It's not the heat, it's the humidity..." Sure it is. With a high today of 98 and a heat index of up to 103, I would say it's both.

When I was in college it was fun to watch all of the students who were transfers from cooler climates. You could pick them out from four blocks away because they looked like they were melting to the pavement.

Our doggie, Buckley, and I have been hiking each afternoon. We started over a month ago. He because he has anxiety with storms and it's a great way to use up his excess energy, me because I HAVE to loose weight. So we began hiking 45-60 minutes a day in a local state forest. It's beautiful and when the temps were in the 70's and 80's it was terrific.

For the past week though, we've only gotten to hike once. Most days we had brief afternoon storms. Enough of a storm to make going hiking on red dirt a bad idea, not enough to help our drought. Yesterday it was clear, so we dashed for the park. And it killed us both. Nearly.

Buckley is always full of energy. When we walk, he darts from place to place checking everything in the forest out. And if I walk ahead of him, he zooms past me. By the end of our walk, he was lagging behind me and when we stopped for water, he looked at me as if to say, "Do we HAVE to keep going?" We did. But it was a shorter walk at only about 30 minutes. And it was a WALK. No jogging or speed walking.

So today even though it isn't storming, we decided to take it easy and stick to the cool air of the house. Maybe I'll convince Buckley to get on the treadmill with me. Although he seems skeptic.

That's me, what's it like in your neck of the woods?

April

PS I did not put Buckley in clothing. Believe it or not, that was dh's doing. It's a jersey for our local university. It lasted a full ten minutes before Buckley showed his unhappiness and it came off:o)

Check out...

2007-06-06T00:16:00.001-04:00

My post at Word Flirts where I'm discussing "name" issues :o)

April

The Habitat...

2007-06-04T22:12:00.000-04:00

While I have what many might consider to be an overactive imagination, I have found when writing that it helps me to have pictures. And I don't just mean pictures of heroes ;o) But pictures of where they live and the cars they drive.

I'll probably never get so detailed as to really need the pictures, but they help me just the same. And I wanted to share with you all some sources for these items if you haven't discovered them for yourself yet.

Realtor.com will allow you to search the MLS of any area in the US and they are actually affiliated with the National Association of Realtors and the MLS services, so it's a complete listing. As far as I know. What's great about it is, as opposed to many websites for individual realtors, you don't have to enter any private info to search the database and look at info on a property. Then you can save the pics and info to a file on your hard drive and you have a REAL house in a real area and you know the price range and all! Note: the MLS changes when a home goes under contract or sells, so be sure to save the info. If you bookmark it, it may not be there when you go back to it.

For cars, one of the simple pleasures I derive out of research is building cars. Not physically, but virtually. Go to any major manufacturer and they have an area on their website where you can look at specs for a car model, pics, and even build your own custom car. And they'll even tell you the price. No point in settling your struggling-to-make-a-living heroine or hero with an $80,000 Audi.

The truth is that I just enjoy building it. Until this year, I would go and build a Ford GT each time just for the fun of it. I love this car. Sadly, they aren't building them right now. :o( Not that they built that many when they were building them. At a starting price of $150,000, only a little over 4000 were produced in the two year production run which began in 2004. Of course the first one went for over $500,000 and they routinely sold for over $300,000 despite the $150,000 base price. With a V8 and top speeds of 200+, the car was highly prized.

I saw one a few weeks ago, to my immense surprise. We were driving around downtown and hubby said, "Look, a GT!" He knows about my obsession with them.

I was shocked. We don't live in big-city-USA and so I never expected to see one. It looked a lot like the picture below.

I know it seems silly to obsess over a car. Especially one I couldn't ever own, or wouldn't know what to do with if I did own. But I still love the thing.

Not sure when this post turned into a diatribe about GTs... What was I blogging about?

Oh yeah, resources... While you can't build GTs online, you can build tons of other cars, and save the pics to your hard drive. If you find you need the info.

Really, it helps me make sure I don't give a character a Honda in one scene and a Pathfinder in the next...

What about you? Do you look up housing or cars for your characters?

April

Getting My Mind Back...

2007-05-29T22:25:00.001-04:00

Things have been NUTS lately. Between work and personal things, my brain has been beyond scrambled. I don't know if I'm coming, going, or gone already.

Where used to I could multi-task five things at once, I'm down to handling only two. Possibly as little as one at once. That's not a stellar performance for a woman, you know.

But I think I'm getting my mind back. Sort of. I at least see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think. It could be a neon sign advertising ice cold margaritas, but my mind sees it as a reassurance either way.

Business has been... well, busy. And then early in May I was diagnosed with a... disorder? It's not a disease, it's called a type of "syndrome". Gee, all those words make me sound contagious. It's nothing like that and it's certainly not fatal. Although I won't go into all of the details here, it's something I was apparently born with, just never diagnosed and I promise not to get on my soap box about that. But thanks to my wonderful CURRENT doctor, I now know what's going on. Problem is it means I have to go on meds. For now at least. And they aren't doing much for the "lost mind" problem. But in the end, we're hopeful they will bring about wonderful things, so it's worth the temporary issues.

What I'm getting at... Yes, I do have a point, I promise... Is that the reason I haven't been around as much lately is because outside stuff has been keeping me away. And while that outside stuff isn't over yet, I am still around and I'm doing well--despite the lost mind issue--and I promise I'm popping in every once in a while, even if I don't have time to leave comments.

I'm also writing still. YAY! And one day, maybe even this year I will have my poor cp's ms back to her. Cole is such a sweetie to not bop me in the head for not getting it wrapped up sooner. My wip is doing well, I'm revising what I've written because thanks to Julie's post at Word Flirts, I realized EXACTLY what was bothering me about it. Thanks, Julie!

So that's me, what's up with you?

April

PS the picture is from a trip hubby and I took to Gatlinburg, TN recently. It was taken at Clingman's dome, the highest point in TN and in it you can see Mtn peaks 70 miles away!

I'm Dishing...

2007-05-23T11:53:00.000-04:00

Out some rather delicious Nachos at Word Flirts, so visit me there!

Finding Time...

2007-05-15T21:42:00.000-04:00

Well, much like everyone else, things have been nuts for me lately. Business got busy, life got busy, hubby and I are celebrating our two year anniversary and of course, my writing suffers.

I'm at 18,250 words on my wip. Which isn't bad. But it isn't great either for as long as I've been working on it. But something really funny happened last night. Hubby used to groan when I would skip watching tv with him to go write. But last night as we sat eating dinner on the second anniversary of our wedding, he asked, "So where are you at with the book?"

I replied, "I'm at 18,000 words."

He rolled his eyes, "I mean where as in what part of the story."

"Oh, they're on the date from hell."

His forehead wrinkled with confusion. "That's where you were over a week ago when I asked."

I sipped on my margarita before replying. "I know. I asked you how I can totally ruin the date and you said you'd get back to me, but you didn't, so I'm still there." Okay, that wasn't totally truthful. I did ask, he did say that, but I have worked on it since then. I just haven't made it through the scene. I have thankfully gotten them to quit acting like they're in heat. Well, sort of. But hubby didn't need to know that.

He of course rolled his eyes again. Men are so predictable sometimes. "Well, why didn't you ask again?"

"You were busy... And so was I. Can we go to Barnes and Noble after dinner?" I have a triple track mind and we're going away for the weekend, so it wasn't a real anniversary celebration.

He grunted. His usual reply to going to Barnes and Noble.

"Thanks!"

"Why don't you work on writing when we get home, so you can finish that book and buy it at Barnes and Noble?"

"Oh, I'd never do that. Do you know what sort of mark up they have? I could get my own book much cheaper."

Exasperated over my attempt at humor, he replied, "Not if you don't finish it."

He had me there. So here I am tonight typing away and working on finishing my wip. I doubt hubby would be taking such an interest in my finishing the story if he hadn't helped with the plotting. But whatever gets me excused from the couch is fine by me!

How about you? Anyone ever get exasperated with how much time you spend writing?

April

I Got Tagged...

2007-05-11T00:42:00.000-04:00

Several fellow bloggers tagged me recently, so here it is:

8 Random Things About Me:

1. After several miscarriages between having my sister and me, I was considered the "miracle" baby. I'm now considered simply stubborn.

2. I'm married to my high school sweetheart, but we hated each other's guts when we were 11. Isn't puppy love grand?

3. I'm distantly related to: Marla Maples, June Carter Cash, and Ronald Regan. But not so distant that it's in the "we're-all-related-someway" way.

4. I have a bad habit of breaking into random song when I "think" I'm alone. Wouldn't be a problem if I was really alone each time.

5. I get hiccups. But they're not over and over. It's just one really loud, really painful hiccup. Poor hubby thinks I'm costing him his hearing. I think it has more to do with the rock and roll.

6. I did TERRIBLE on my SAT's. As in: I couldn't get into the university I attended according to their current requirements... Which aren't all THAT stringent. But I've tested with an IQ of 147.

7. I have a hard time with these things because each time I think about writing something about myself I think... That's terribly self-centered. Then I realize that's the point. But I still feel weird.

8. My mom is my biggest hero.

In case I tag you, here are the rules:
1) Each player starts with 8 random facts or habits about themselves.
2) People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their 8 things with a copy of these rules.
3) At the end of your blog you need to choose 8 people to get tagged and list their names.
4) Don't forget to leave them a note saying they've been tagged.

Ok, I don't think I know anyone who hasn't been tagged. If you read this and you haven't been, consider yourself now tagged! If you want :o)

April

Help me...

2007-05-09T01:49:00.000-04:00

with some problem characters over at Word Flirts!

April

Show and Tell...

2007-05-04T00:47:00.000-04:00

We all remember show and tell at school right? You'd take some object from home, or maybe a picture to school and then you'd show it to the class and then you'd tell them about it and why it was special enough to you to be brought to school.

I remember taking my "Little Pillow" once. It's this pillow measuring maybe 11X11 made out of the silky blue fabric of my mother's maternity night gown, with practically no stuffing in it. So it's sort of a pillow/blanket/cloth scrap. I enjoyed a very friendly kindergarten class and we were all pretty close.

The day I took it to school I had my mother place it in a sealed plastic jumbo bag before placing it safely into my backpack. Then I guarded it all day until it was time to take out show and tell. Even then, I kept it in the bag until the very last moment. Relunctantly, I withdrew it from the bag. When I held it up, a look of fascination came across the faces of most of my classmates... Some were nose pickers and couldn't get fascinated with anything further than three inches from their face.

I shook a little. It's difficult to expose a weakness for an object to other people. But I held the pillow close and rubbed it between my fingers as I explained to the class what it was and how I had come about getting it.

Later on during the day when I was at the building block station a little boy got irritated with me because I wouldn't hang my backpack on the rack and he felt it was in his way. Boys. He was one of the nose pickers. When he went to reach for it, a friend of mine pushed him. An inevitable argument broke out with my friend yelling at him that I had something special in there.

I read the recent article in the RWR about showing, not telling. And for some odd reason it brought this memory to mind. After thinking about it for a while, I realize the words I said about the pillow that day were pretty remote. It's fabric and my mom sewed it for me. What kid doesn't have something their mom made for them?

But the reason my friend reacted so strongly was because she had SEEN what the object was to me. My inability to let it go for fear it would disappear (obviously there were other issues at play which wouldn't come to light until much later), the way I had subconsciously used it for comfort when I started my showing and telling. All of these non-verbal cues told my classmates a lot more than what I said. Maybe that's why booger boy made the mistake he made. He hadn't been paying attention to anything other than what I said well and the obvious.

In my writing I find I often do a LOT of telling in the first draft. It's just faster. I can say. "She was nervous." in 3 words. But showing can sometimes take a bit more thought and writing. So this go round my word goal is shorter than my ultimate goal so I have plenty of room to erase all of those 3 word telling sentences.

Oh yeah... Booger boy got sent to the corner for touching something that wasn't his. And thankfully my friend didn't get in trouble. I still have "Little Pillow" actually, it's "Little Pillow II". The first one got ragged from my rubbing it and sleeping with it. The second one had been made at the same time but had too much stuffing for my small hands. So my mom just took stuffing out of it. But it's tucked in a drawer where it's safe and sound. My hubby thinks it's an abomination. But he's too sweet to suggest I get rid of it.

What about you? Any trouble showing or telling? Or have you found a way it relates to everyday life?

April

Let's Talk About....

2007-04-30T01:11:00.000-04:00

The beast with two backs?

Whatever happened to the use of the good old word... Sex? And how in the world did "the beast with two backs" become a euphemism for sex? Can anyone explain that one?

I've seen a lot of creative words for sex and for different body parts. At times they've been so ridiculous they're hilarious. I won't use any examples out of books because this isn't about knocking anyone's writing. It's a simple discussion of a simple matter.

I needed to find a saying earlier. A cliche if you will. Because... well, we've discussed my cliche issues in prior posts. And I couldn't think of the word ciche so I googled euphemism. I know, cliche is much simpler, but sometimes my brain doesn't work that way. What I found were several websites with euphemisms for sex. And I thought... I write about that, let's see what they have.

I found the typical stuff we've all heard countless times. "Doing it" "Bumping uglies" which still confuses me. Guys use this phrase, but heaven help someone if they something disparaging about said guy's "little guy".

But then I found phrases I had never heard of. Some I couldn't even figure out. If I had heard them in conversation I would have no clue the person was referring to sex. Phrases like, "Waxing the giraffe" I get it, but I wouldn't have without thought. And "The beast with two backs" I have no clue. Maybe I'm naive, but it completely escapes me.

Then there was "Coitus" which I see where it relates, but it sounds more like an STD than something pleasurable. Maybe in a historical? Though I can't say I've seen it.

Here's the website where I found these little gems so you know I didn't make them up. I'm creative, but no that creative!

I also found this funny story about a guy who couldn't apparently say the word sex to his wife. I'm sure it's fiction, but funny none the less.

What's the funniest euphemism for sex you've ever heard?

April

PS I'm sure this post should garner some interesting google search returns! :o)

It's

2007-04-25T15:52:00.000-04:00

Hunk O'Hero day over at Word Flirts. Join me there!

April

Working for the weekend...

2007-04-16T00:33:00.000-04:00

or not. So it's Sunday, well Monday morning now I guess. And I have only now gotten any work done on my wip. But I got 2000 words done tonight, so I guess I won't complain too much.

We got a new bed on Friday. It's a king size where our old bed was a queen and to be frank, while it's beautiful, it's also hilarious. Our bedroom was not made for a king size bed, that much I'm fairly sure of. But it fits. Just. And while our new mattress is very comfortable, it's a little more than hip high off the ground. We even ordered the low profile box springs so it wouldn't be so high, but when they got it set up I just burst out laughing. Maybe I'll loose weight faster since I have to literally 'climb' into bed now.

I'll try to post a picture this week. I would tonight, but it seems the batteries in the camera are dead and the little fairies who steal away with the matches to my socks when I'm not looking have also gotten into the AA batteries. Bad fairies.

But I had a good weekend even without the writing. Friday night we went to see a good friend of ours play (music) and Saturday I spent time with my friend who is pregnant. It's the first time she's felt like actually doing anything, so we goofed off. Then I spent time with my sweet brother-in-law and his girlfriend, whom I love to death, while we hid out from the violent storms which swept through town.

What was your weekend like?

April

Come Visit Me

2007-04-10T23:48:00.000-04:00

at Word Flirts where we're discussing creative flow.

April

Husbandly Advice...

2007-04-02T01:23:00.000-04:00

I hope you all had a delightful weekend.

Saturday I helped out my friend and then shared a nice evening with the hubby. Sunday proved quiet too. Until dinner that is.

Hubby and I had a casual dinner and I was thinking of my hero's motivations for going along with the scheme that is going to bring he and the heroine together. So I decided to do something I haven't ever done before... Ask my hubby what he thought. My hero is an athlete and I wanted his opinion on if it made sense from a man's sporting stand point.

He listened-actually first he got a glazed look in his eyes, but then I assured him it was a quick question and then he listened-and asked questions and we ended up discussing the whole plot despite my assurances otherwise.

THEN, he dropped the bomb. He said he thought my hero's motivation to get involved wasn't very strong or realistic. I of course got defensive. I said it's romantic FICTION, it doesn't have to be perfectly realistic! Then, he did something I will admit still has my head spinning. He said, "What about this instead..." And he proceeded to not completely rip my plot to shreds, but to twist it into a similar, but altered story.

I sat there, asking questions, wishing his words would sound like dribble, refusing to admit that my HUSBAND had just come up with a stronger plot than me. Then, I finally gave in and smiled.

Presuming the worst of me, he said, "Let me guess... You think I'm an idiot and you're going to do it your way. That's fine. You asked, I shared that's all I can do."

So I called him a Turkey and said, very begrudgingly, "actually, I really like it."

He then of course demanded 50% of the profit if I sell it. I reminded him we're married and what's mine is his and his mine.

I have no idea how that happened. But I'll tell you what. I'm really impressed.

Who would have guessed?

I would say he even surprised himself, but he's too busy thinking he's "da bomb" so it would be a lie.

Either way, he didn't act like he was going to collapse due to boredom from listening to me talk about my story and he actually took the time to hear what I said and do something way beyond my expectations.

Of course, the last thing he said was, "This doesn't mean you're going to tell me EVERY idea you get does it?"

Men.

So I'm wondering... Was this an aberration or do other hubbies help out on the writing front?

April

PS Thanks to my hubby's insight, I erased 1200 words, but added another 3500 or so. Now I'm at 5750! Woo Hoo!!

Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah

2007-03-30T22:38:00.000-04:00

That's how I feel about the past two days. They've been full of people who seem to know just enough about a subject that they don't know how much they don't know. Does that sentence make sense to anyone but me?

At least it's Friday! Tomorrow I am helping my best friend who is now in her second trimester clean out the room that will be the nursery. She's had a really rough time starting a week after she found out she's pregnant up till now. She hasn't kept anything down and has actually lost seven pounds, but the second drug the doctor tried seems to be working and she's had two days of normal food. Woo Hoo! Hopefully she'll get a little of her energy back now that she's getting some actual nutrition. Since this is the first weekend in three months she's felt half decent we figured we should grab the opportunity.

Other than that, it should be quiet and I should get to do some reading, critiquing, and writing! WOO HOO! I've added another thousand words to my wip. Which makes me terribly pleased. It's moving at a snail's pace, but it's moving.

What are your plans for the weekend?

April

Join Me...

2007-03-28T00:03:00.000-04:00

Over at Word Flirts where I'm discussing the hero for my newest WIP!

April

I'm Writing I Promise...

2007-03-26T00:07:00.000-04:00

Well, it happened just as I knew it would. My cp cracked the whip and got me writing again! Thanks, Cole!

Since she got home from her vacation, I was able to procrastinate another day or two, but by the third she had my number and was laying down the law.

Cole: What are you doing today?

Me: Oh, I'm extraordinarily busy.

Cole: With what?

Me: Oh, I have work... and then I've been SO tired so I need to go to bed early and... well, just all sorts of stuff. (Obviously I'm not very good at fudging)

Cole: Wow, that sounds really busy (she's not that gret at fudging either)

Me: Oh, it is! (Yeah, I'm not quick on the uptake either)

Cole: Just a quick question. Have you thought maybe, just maybe you're... procrastinating?

Me: What!?! No way! I'm just SO busy. Really! But I'm not procrastinating. I've been "thinking" about the story and working on "plot problems."

Cole: Why don't we discuss them and maybe that will help.

Me: *grumble grumble grumle* Sure, that would be great!

And then something great happened. I realized... *gasp* I HAD been procrastinating. I know, who would have thought that? But more importantly I figured out WHY I had been doing it. There *gasp again* really was a plot problem which was holding me back and being the wonderful cp she is, Cole helped me to straighten out my issues. Well, not MY issues... That's a job no sane person would take on, but she helped me steer my way through my plot issues and I'm back on track! Woo Hoo!!!

Now I'm going to go reward myself by critiquing the next chapter she sent me.

So has your cp ever had to get your butt in gear?

April

Minding Your P's & Q's

2007-03-20T20:54:00.000-04:00

Thought I would share a wonderful online course my RWA chapter is putting on in April.

Lowcountry RWA presents their April Online Course:

April 2007 — Minding Your P’s & Q’s. Writing Queries and Pitches
Presented by: Robin Matheson
Dates: April 5-26
Deadline: April 1

Course description: Build pitches and query letters from the ground up!
Discover the 4 components that keep you focused on the big picture and save you time when it comes to writing a pitch or query letter. Learn the 4 pre-writing exercises to presenting characters; the 3 pre-writing exercises to synthesizing your plot; and the 3 story issues that will help you identify the unique features of your story. Review a fail-proof method for creating pitches that sell. Finally master the “ABC Formula” that allows you to compose any business letter in 3 easy steps. Honest! This is an intense workshop composed of a series of lectures and hands on exercises. “In class” critiques of the exercises will be made available by the instructor. In addition to the course material, students will also have an opportunity to receive a critique of either a pitch or a query letter.

Instructor bio: Robin Matheson’s debut release became a 2005 EPPIE Award Finalist. She since sold five more books. Robin holds a B.A.H. in Civilization and English from McMaster University and a Master of Education from the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. She’s taught Marketing, Business Writing, and English as a Second Language at college, overseas and, more recently, online courses on writing. One of Robin’s greatest passions is traveling. In addition to their home base, she and her family have also lived in South East Asia and South Africa.

For more information or to sign up, visit LRWA online at www.lowcountryrwa.com.

Help me!

2007-03-14T16:27:00.000-04:00

Check me out over at Word Flirts where I am begging for your advice!

April

It's Been Forever...

2007-03-07T11:42:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been forever since I posted. Except for my brief PSA at Word Flirts. You know what they say... When the cp is away, the writer will play. Well, I haven't been playing per se... But I haven't been writing either. And now Nicole is back and I have to get on the ball!

In my defense things were nuts while she was gone. Really! But one really great thing did happen, Nicole and family made a pit stop on their trip and we got to go to dinner together. We had a terrific time and it was really wonderful to finally see in person, the person who has helped bring my writing further than I could have imagined. Plus she has the sweetest most adorable family around! :-)

So now I need to get back at it. I'm working on shifting over some of the online class duties I do for my chapter. That will be a BIG load off. And I'm so thankful for the volunteers we have to help! This month is a transition month, so I've had a bit more to do there. But hopefully once our new volunteer has everything figured out, I will have a bit more time to write.

I did come up with a name for my heroine. I know that seems trivial, but I wasn't happy with it and her name just struck me one night. So see, I have been THINKING about writing :-D.

How about you? How much writing have you gotten done?

April

Check Me Out...

2007-02-28T00:03:00.000-05:00

Over at Word Flirts for a very important message.

April

Spreading the love

2007-02-14T00:05:00.000-05:00

at Word Flirts today!

April

Can I Get A Cliche Please?

2007-02-06T01:56:00.000-05:00

I have a cliche problem. And maybe this isn't the first time I've written about it. I'm too lazy to check the archives. But if it's not, then that tells you just how serious the problem is.

You hear it over and over again. Don't write cliches. But you know sometimes you need a metaphor. People say cliches. So if you have realistic characters, they're going to speak like real people. So I've always been told to change the cliche, make it that character's own.

The problem is... you have to know a blooming cliche before you can change it or alter it or make it your own. And I DO NOT have a good grasp of cliches. Really. The funny thing is that I already make up my own cliches, I just don't know it. And if I say them fast enough, most people don't know it either. Well, a few minutes later, I can tell they're computing what I said because they get this funny confused look on their face.

Worse yet is that I can rationalize why my versions are perfectly reasonable cliches regardless of if they are "correct".

Once while a friend of my hubby's was trapped in my car on a trip, I told him that he "shouldn't put all his apples in one basket." After about ten minutes he said, "Uh... It's not apples." He couldn't think of what it is because... well I have that effect on people too. But I promptly started arguing that you wouldn't want to loose all your apples because then where would you be? Appleless. And he agreed and said he supposed you could say that about anything... Even carburetors. I thought that was taking it a bit far. I mean at least I stayed within the food category (the right word is a food isn't it?) but I didn't push it because I had him seeing my way. And you never argue with someone who agrees with you. Even if they're being ridiculous.

I have gotten way off course. My point is that you can't very well change a cliche you don't know in the first place! And that's a problem for me. When my hubby is around I ask him if something is a cliche. Most times he says, "Only in your world, sweetie." And I get that he means I'm not saying it the "popular" way. But for all of my "creative" cliches, I can't purposefully be creative with one. I mean it's not that I try to make them up. They just come up wrong in my head.

So I'm having problems with knowing the "popular" version of cliches and then making up a new "creative" version. Argh. Am I the only one with this problem?????

Oh yeah, and the friend who feels his carburetors are so important... When hubby and I got married, we had a videographer and our guests left us personal messages. After rambling on a bit about some imaginary Dick who threw an imaginary Jane into an imaginary pool(we have creative friends), he looked into the camera and said, "And it's ok to put all of your carburetors into this basket. You've got a good, strong basket there and you won't have to worry about them in there!"

And to this day my hubby wonders what in the world it is about carburetors that makes me cry.

April

All Talk...

2007-02-01T22:21:00.000-05:00

I went to my local RWA chapter meeting this past Saturday. Sophia Nash was our speaker. And she was terrific. I learned quite a bit and it has really spurred me to work on my new story.

One word of advice Sophia shared with us was a recommendation she received from... I believe Jayne Krentz. She said when pacing is really slow, try writing the story as a screen play first. So there's just dialogue and a tiny bit of stage direction. Then go back and revise in the other stuff. But be careful not to add too much. It will keep the story moving at a faster pace.

I decided to try an altered version of this. I didn't write only dialogue, but I really tried to minimize the extra stuff and I found that I was pickier about the filler I used. While the setting was neat in my head, the reader could care less about how dark wood stain is when my heroine is asking the hero to take off his pants. Really.

Don't get me wrong, there are stories in which rich detail and setting are invaluable. But I don't think that's the case with where I am here and I have a tendancy to get really bogged down in all of these little details that I think give the story wealth, but when I get bogged down so does the story. So I decided to keep using this new approach and see how it works for me.

What about you? Ever get bogged down in the details?

April

PS The picture is just because I'm always looking for inspiration when I'm starting something new. Ok, I'm just always looking for inspiration :-) Enjoy and have a good weekend!

Visit Me

2007-01-31T11:14:00.000-05:00

Over at Word Flirts today where we're discussing the pros and cons of putting aside a wip.

I'm So Excited...

2007-01-23T21:12:00.000-05:00

I am finally back in the swing of things with my writing and it feels great. I've been doing a little preliminary work on my website and stuff, so some changes should be coming soon.

Thanks to Cole's encouragement I signed on to commit to writing a minimum of 100 words per day. That way, on days where I have plenty of time and creative energy I can write more, but on days where I don't, writing that 100 words will at least keep me in the story.

It's also time for our new classes at LRWA. February has 2 terrific courses. Here's the details:

February 2007 — Happy Hookers: Engaging the Reader from Start to Finish
Presented by: Terry Spear
Deadline: February 1

Course description:
Slow starts and sleepy endings to scenes and chapters can ruin a manuscript’s chance of being published. Conversely, solid hooks can make the sale - as workshop instructor Terry Spear demonstrates, with six publishers currently hooked for six manuscripts. Setting such practical matters aside, what author wouldn’t be thrilled to hear someone say, “I couldn’t put the book down”? Strong hooks are a vital ingredient in strong writing. In this online class, which features lectures, discussion, practical exercises, and handouts, she’ll teach students how to captivate readers with great openings, scene hooks, chapter cliff hangers, and intriguing back cover blurbs. Participants will master the hook in all its environments, from the query letter through the novel.

AND

February 2007 — Plotting Strategy – Put your Characters in the Driver’s Seat
Presented by: Sharon Mignerey
Deadline: February 1

Course description:
This is a 4 week workshop with 2 classes per week.
Characters, not plot, drive a story forward. If you’ve ever received a rejection to the effect of “this story seems contrived” or “your characters don’t seem real” you may have events rather than character motivation propelling your plot forward. This workshop includes the following modules, each with exercises designed to practice the skills and facilitate sharing among the participants.

If either peak your interest, you can check them out at LRWA's website.

edited to add: Well, looks like my OCD kicked in and I went ahead and started to work on the blog changes. It's a WIP and so is the new website. You can check it out here. Let me know what you think!

April

Getting Something Done?

2007-01-21T16:19:00.000-05:00

Well, I've actually gotten some writing done. It's nice to FINALLY update my work ticker for Killer Design with an additional 2,750 words! And it's even better that I'm finally writing again.

I followed Emma's advice and I refused to allow myself to do any of the things I usually do to avoid doing what I should be doing. And I'm writing and it feels spectacular. One more scene and I'll be able to send my lovely cp a chapter. That's if she can still remember what happened preceeding this chapter. :-)

In the meantime, hubby and I ran away this weekend. We went to a local coastal town and just played. No agenda, no one else to worry about. Just us and whatever we felt like doing when we felt like doing it. It's been forever since we've been on a trip like that. And we decided we needed to do it more. But I'm feeling refreshed, rejuvinated, and ready to write!

How's your writing energy?

April

My Brain Is Functioning...

2007-01-17T11:58:00.000-05:00

And I remembered my day to post at Word Flirts. So join me there today!

April

Where Was I?

2007-01-08T20:59:00.000-05:00

Since it's been THREE WEEKS since I have written anything in my wip, I've been trying to get back into the story. It hasn't been smooth going.

Sure, I've worked out some plot issues in my head thanks to some light bulb moments, but I'm just having trouble getting into that groove. You know, the one where you're on a roll and you don't realize an hour has gone by. That one.

I guess I'm having trouble remembering the mood I was in, if that makes any sense at all. I wish I had made notes about where I was headed before my screen went out. That's what I usually do when I know I won't be writing for a bit. I write a brief outline of what's next and when I come back it's all ready. Argh.

How's your writing going? And tricks for getting back into the groove? Have I asked that question before? Probably.

April

Back Ordered...

2007-01-02T14:29:00.000-05:00

We made our way home from bowling this weekend. It was a great trip, made even better by a big win! After getting home, we crashed as a result of the time change and 11 hour drive. I'm not sure I'm really back to normal... although normal is all together relative, right?

As New Year's day wore on, I grew more and more eager for today. The day I was supposed to get my handy dandy laptop back so I could WRITE. It's killing me really it is. Then at 2:00 today, as I'm thinking about calling hubby and telling him I'll drop by his office and pick it up because I can't wait till 7PM to have it, he calls me. And tells me he has bad news. My first thought of course is that something happened to the hard drive and all is lost. No, he says, "The part is on back order. He's not sure when it'll be in." And I say, "Noooooo!!!!" Even though this isn't as bad as my first thoughts. It still crushed me.

So here I am sitting at my desk at work blogging when I should be handling all of the work that piled up while I was gone. Pooo...

In the mean time, Jenna Petersen is giving her course: The Great Agent Search for our online courses this month. The class starts on the 4th and there's still time to sign up if anyone is interested. Just go to Lowcountry RWA's Online Courses.

How about you all? Starting the New Year off with a bang and lots of writing?

*Edited to add: Late this evening, the computer guy received my part and now I have a working computer again! WOO HOO!!!!!!!
April

I'm Late!

2006-12-21T09:50:00.001-05:00

Visit me and my LATE post over at Word Flirts!

April

This computer is for an adult...

2006-12-19T21:36:00.000-05:00

That's what my hubby said to me tonight. Actually, he said, "You only click once, remember, this computer was made for an adult." He was talking about his spiffy Mac Powerbook which to his despair I'm using at the moment to compose this post and happily double click away. :-)

I'm using hubby's single click Mac... Which I explained was set up for just single click because the owner was too simple minded to understand the concept of double click on a pc (all in good fun, of course)... because my poor little Toshiba's ballast/backlight has gone out. It could be due in part to my puppy dog who has been pretty determined to prevent me from writing lately. So determined, he paws my computer. And funny thing... all of a sudden a gliche arises. Argh!

So it's heading to Mr. Fix-It. Tomorrow hopefully. I read that it wasn't too costly and the symptoms are exactly what I'm experiencing. So let's pray it's easy and chea... oh yeah, and fast. That's what hubby is pryaing... that it's fast. I think he thinks I'm cursed and anything technical I touch won't work. I did ask him how to turn it on just to tease him and I looked at his wireless mouse like it was a foreign object brought back from Mars. That probably didn't raise his confidence in me too much, but it sure was entertaining to watch his reaction. Hmmm... I'm gonna go see what other fun I can get into.

If I don't get to check back in, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Year! We're heading out of town the day after Christmas. We're going bowling! For those not into college football, it means we're headed to a bowl game. But I'll be back by the 1st!

April

The Number Four

2006-12-14T20:21:00.000-05:00

Marybeth tagged me with this so here goes:

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. Toy Store Clerk
2. Ad Sales Rep.
3. Waitress
4. Real estate

Four Places I’ve lived:
1. Hmmm... my hubby is looking over my shoulder and shaking his head at this one because I've never moved more than 15 miles away and he says I can't say where I live on the internet. As though it's that hard to find out anyway. I knew I never should have told him about an author I know getting stalked by a prison inmate!
2.
3.
4.

Four favorite foods:
1. Chocolate candy
2. Chocolate ice cream
3. Chocolate milk shake
4. Chocolate cake

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. Dirty Dancing
2. Sixteen Candles
3. Ever After
4. The Saint

Four TV shows I enjoy:
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Ghost Hunters
3. Studio 60
4. The Office

Four places I’ve traveled:
1. New York
2. Jamaica
3. Grand Cayman
4. Mexico

Four places I’d like to visit:
1. Ireland
2. France (southern)
3. Germany
4. Italy

Four websites I go to (almost) daily:
1. Yahoo.com :-)
2. truthorfiction.com (I'm trying to cut down on my rumor spreading)
3. colereising.com/blog
4. eHarlequin.com

Four people I’m tagging to do this too:
1. Cole
2. Karen
3. Sarah
4. Julie
And anyone else who wants to :-)

April

It's Christmas Time...

2006-12-12T23:12:00.000-05:00

As we speak, a cinnamon spice cake is cooling on top of our stove and the smell is making me crazy! I was working on a ginger bread house, but while it was "setting" the dog decided the icing mortar needed some work, so it had to be trashed. He never gets on the table. But I guess that icing was just too tempting.

The cake is for our office party tomorrow, so I won't get to eat it all by myself. But that's a good thing... For my diet.

I've put aside the wip temporarily to deal with the idea in my head. There's some issues I want to work out with the plot of the wip and I plan to work on that too, so I'm not putting it aside completely. And I'm not a habitual putter-asider, so hopefully I'm not starting a trend. But the other story is calling calling calling, and I can't ignore it any more.

Christmas shopping is ALMOST done. Woo Hoo!!

We decorate each year. I love Christmas decorating. But there's a limit to how much decorating I'll do. Last year a friend shared this with me and although I posted it last year, I thought I should share it again. It definately goes beyond my limit!

Wizards of Winter

Anyone know someone who decorates like that?

April

Headless Heroes?

2006-12-06T00:02:00.000-05:00

Check out the debate over at Word Flirts!

April

Who Are These People??????

2006-11-30T23:32:00.000-05:00

So I'm buzzing away on my wip. Well, maybe not buzzing away. More like slugging along at the pace of a snail. But that's more work than I've done lately, so I will NOT complain. And I start listening to the radio.

I like music while I write and I was stuck, so I turned on the radio for a few minutes. Of course commercials start playing, so I realize that was a stupid idea and turn off the radio. But not before one of those commercials plants an idea for a story in my head.

So I figure I'll put that on the back burner and save it for later. But all of a sudden characters start popping up. And I think, who are these people? Then I start having details pop up about them, like their names and hang-ups. I'm busy here on my current story. Shoot, I'm only around 20,000 words. I can't think about other characters right now. I have several people in a the makings of a real mess and it's up to me to get them out of it.

Only now there's these other characters and they're loud. Really loud. So I open a blank document and write a concept about them to satisfy their haranguing. And it worked. For a full ten minutes I was able to go back to writing. Then they came back. They want me to work on their conflict apparently. But I can't!! What to do??

In the mean time, I'm now at 20,250 and the wip is working out well. If only I can stay focused on it. What do you do when a new idea invades?

April

Just Happy to Blog...

2006-11-27T21:49:00.001-05:00

I tried to come up with a thought provoking post about writing. But that's pretty much not gonna happen. One, I'm too excited by the fact that I'm writing again. I finally updated my word count at the side. It's nearly 20,000 words! And two, the holidays are upon us and I'm too excited.

I didn't get hardly any writing done this past week. It's been really depressing. And on top of that I have been absent from the blogosphere and that has been extra depressing.

But now I am happy because I'm back! I'm here and I'm writing, even though it's Christmas time. I'm so happy I thought I'd share this:

You Are Prancer

You are the perfect reindeer, with perfect hooves and perfect flying form.

Why You're Naughty: Because you're Santa's pet, and you won't let anyone show you up.

Why You're Nice: You have the softest fur and the sweetest carrot breath.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

April

Look A-Likes?

2006-11-24T23:42:00.000-05:00

Buzzing around the internet, trying to get motivated to write, I found a fun little exercise. It's a website where you can upload your picture and they'll find celebrities you look like and they'll give you the percentage of how much your face contours and features match the celebrity.

Here's what I got:

I have no idea how accurate any of those results are. I don't see a real resemblance with some. But there are others that I was surprised to see a resemblence in. It was fun and surprising to see who came up. Florence Henderson? Actually, I got Opera Winfrey too, which was a real surprise, but you can only include 8 of the results and it was one of the two lowest results, so I nixed it. I did another pic too and got some fun results. The really neat thing was to see who came up in both. Aishwariya Rai, Kelly Hu, and Selma Hayek all three showed up with each photo I did. So hmmm... They're all beautiful, so I will take it as a compliment and go on my merry way!

Try it and tell me who you got!

April

Visit Me...

2006-11-22T16:37:00.000-05:00

At Word Flirts today!

April

All By Myself...

2006-11-19T21:30:00.000-05:00

Things haven't slowed down a lot, but they seem to be heading in that direction. Which is really wonderful. And just in time for the craziness of the holidays. Which I happen to enjoy, so I say "craziness" with great affection.

I haven't gotten much in the way of writing, but my cp... has skipped town and left me here to work alone... *grumble grumble* At least she left me with some chapters to enjoy before abandoning me. And that has certainly brightened matters.

For whatever reason, I work a lot better when she's around. Maybe it's because she IMs me and says, "Are you writing?" And honest person that I am, I have to IM back and say, "No." And then she tells me how naughty I am for that. Which in turn causes me to jump on the writing. Hmmm... Maybe I need to find a surrogate cp to IM me while she's gone.

At least I have her chapters to work on while she's gone. What about you? Do you have someone who spurs you on, or are you totally self-motivated?

April

Still Here...

2006-11-14T22:09:00.000-05:00

For all those worried about me, no my last post at Word Flirts did not give me a stroke. I'm here. Barely.

Life has just been nuts and I feel like I've been walking around in a fog. I have no idea what's going on. Maybe my writer's brain has decided to take a holiday. Business has been busy too, so that hasn't helped at all.

But rest assured I'm still here and my heroes refuse to permit me to ignore them completely. They've been hanging out bugging me, and being all around nuisances. But I can't complain about them too much.

Hopefully I'll be back in full force within 2 weeks. Let's hope. I've been so nuts, I forgot where I was going when I was headed home and needed to stop at the store. Then when I got there it took me a full 10 minutes to remember what the heck I had stopped for. Argh! How early can Alzhimer's set in?

How are things going for you? Are you focused, or finding it hard to do lately?

April

Visit Me!

2006-11-08T09:59:00.000-05:00

Over at Wordflirts where I'll be posting about one of my favorite Hero Flirts!

April

Goblins and Ghosts and Ghouls...

2006-10-31T20:57:00.000-05:00

Oh my, it's that day, folks. Good old Halloween. I used to live in a historic neighborhood and we only had one or two trick or treaters each year. But three years ago, we moved to a newer neighborhood and we have TONS of kids. I mean TONS. And we really enjoy handing out candy. So we've been having a ball tonight.

I hope you all have a really terrific Halloween too.

Things have been so nuts, I haven't been able to blog post or more importantly blog hop :(. Talk about sad. So I'm hoping to catch up on my blog reading by the weekend. I feel isolated without it. I also haven't written a single word on my ms. Argh!

What do you all do for Halloween? Anything?

April

Today I'm Flirting...

2006-10-25T12:09:00.000-04:00

Join me over at Wordflirts today!

April

Collecting People

2006-10-24T00:45:00.000-04:00

Suetagged me with a new phenomenon... collecting people. The idea is that you tag five people and they list some of their life experiences and then you keep that info on file so that when/if you need it for your writing later on, you have the resource. Sounds like a great idea, right?

So here's my list of five things everyone may or may not know about me:

1. I have a degree in Advertising and Public Relations.

2. I've been a real estate broker for eleven years.

3. I'm an avid do-it-myselfer. In case you couldn't tell from the hole in the bathroom wall story a few posts ago. The hole has now been fixed and a new fixture is up by the way...

4. For three years, I toured part time with a regional rock band (I didn't play, I did publicity and sales for them). Lots of really interesting experiences there. Even better, got to meet a lot of really great people.

5. My mother used to build and install radar systems from scratch in military planes. That's not me, but pretty neat considering most people see her as a little five foot, two inch grandma type :-).

Now I'm tagging Cole, Mary Beth, Bosey, Julie, & Sarah.

Message from Sharon:

"PLEASE LEAVE THE FOLLOWING IN ALL "PEOPLE COLLECTION" POSTS:

Remember that it isn't always the sensational stuff that writers are looking for, it can just as easily be something that you take for granted like having raised twins or knowing how to grow beetroot. Mind you, if you know how to fly a helicopter or have worked as a film extra, do feel free to let the rest of us know about it :-)"

Blogger Bogs...

2006-10-22T22:17:00.000-04:00

The last couple of days I have had a really hard time accessing blogger. Which sucked even more than usual because I haven't been a really active blogger and I really wanted to blog FINALLY and couldn't.

But now I can and I have no clue what to say... So maybe you should take this as a warning that this will probably be a VERY boring blog post.

I have gotten 4500 words done recently. Which surprised me, because I thought I hadn't gotten much of anything done. And by some measures, that still isn't a ton, but for me it's A LOT!

This time of year is supposed to mean my day-work is slow. But it hasn't been cooperating. And I shouldn't complain because the money is a welcome addition. But I was so hoping to have more time to write.

So I guess I'll do some juggling and see what happens. In the mean time, my cp is flying on her wip and I'm the one benefiting because I have some excellent reading. So I'm off to read...

How about you? Too many things getting in the way of your writing or are you cruising along?

April

Targeting Target...

2006-10-18T22:41:00.000-04:00

A fellow writer just sent me an email stating that Target has decided to stop carrying Harlequin and Silhoutte books in their stores. I have no idea for their reasoning. I would find it hard to believe the sales are low, since the stores account for a good deal of HQ sales.

You can click here to send them an email if you would like. Maybe if enough people send emails, they will reconsider their decision.

Edited to add: I was given the news by Nina Bruhns, Intimate Moments & Nocturn author. She's a member of my local chapter and passed along the news...

April

Surprise Makeover...

2006-10-15T21:42:00.000-04:00

This weekend I knew I would be busy. Hubby had warned me that he wanted to clean on Saturday. But he didn't get around to starting until late and ended up just cleaning out all of our kitchen cabinets. Forget all of the vacuuming, dusting, and moping that needed to get done!

Friday night I did some necessary shopping. And I picked up some new towel bars for our master bath. So I decided to install of them on Saturday. There were three towel holders and the toilet paper holder. Not a really BIG project, but a little work.

Then last night we decided to go to Lowe's and look for new light fixtures for our bathroom. It's been in SERIOUS need of new fixtures for a while. This was the hundredth time we looked at bathroom light fixtures. We have textured walls, but the light over the mirror is one of those bars with the bulbs sticking out like movie makeup tables. We had hoped to find a light that would fit the space, so we wouldn't have to patch the texture on the walls, but we gave in and decided we would just get the light we wanted and patch the wall, because we couldn't find anything that had a 3ft wide base.

So we brought them home and then today after we got through with church and family, I installed the ceiling light in the middle of the bath and began work on installing the one over the sink.

Only I discovered there's no junction box. Just a whole in the sheet rock with wires sticking out. Which means I didn't have anything other than sheet rock to anchor my light to. And it's HEAVY. Which means I would get it hung and it would just fall out of the wall. Which would NOT be good.

So now, we have a big gaping spot above the mirror in our bathroom and their are wires sticking out (not live). And it'll stay like this until I get to Lowe's to get the supplies I need to put a junction box in and the patch stuff. Argh!

But just with the changes we made, the bathroom looks totally different and I'm happy about that! Even if I hadn't planned to do any of that this weekend. It seems most of our home renovation plans work out like that. We just decide to go to the home improvement store and do it. That's with smaller projects usually, at least.

What about you? Do you have to plan way ahead for home improvement projects, or do they catch you at the spur of the moment?

April

Check Me Out

2006-10-12T00:31:00.000-04:00

Wednesday was my day at The Word Flirts So come on over and check out the steamy post...

April

Eeeeeeeee...

2006-10-09T20:00:00.000-04:00

My hubby had to use my computer the other day and I was sitting by watching tv while he did. I noticed he had stopped typing and I looked over and saw he was searching my keyboard.

I asked, "What ya looking for?"

"The E," he responded.

I leaned over and noticed that the little letter on my E key had worn nearly completely off. "It's the only missing letter."

"There are a couple getting close," he responded as he went back to work.

I looked over again and noticed he was right. Then the next day at work, I noticed that the E key on that keyboard is nearly gone too.

I guess I use E's a lot. But you would think those little letters would hold up better. Apparently I use S and N a lot too, because those look like the next to go. Which is ok, because I type from feel most of the time anyway. But still... It was really funny to see him searching my keyboard. His Mac isn't THAT different. I guess he just doesn't type as much when he's doing his graphic designing :-)

What letters are the most worn off on your keyboard?

April

Moving On...

2006-10-06T00:03:00.000-04:00

I'm now 8,000 words into my rewrite of my wip. Not as impressive as the 25,000 I had, but not too bad for just under a week's worth of writing. I decided to call it rewrite, so it didn't feel so much like I was just tossing it out :-).

I decided to let the ms(Picture Me) that was rejected by ModX just sit. Maybe forever, but I'm not making any commitments. Since it's only around 60,000 words, it's not really the right length for any other publishers I know of. So I'd need to do some major work to make it right for somewhere else. And it's just not what I want to do right now. This story is the one calling, so I'm answering :-).

It feels like a waste to not at least try subbing Picture Me more, but I guess I don't see the use right now. So oh well...

I've decided I'm moving on and I'm terribly happy with the decision so I suppose it's the right one.

How's your writing going?

April

Shameless Promotion

2006-10-02T23:53:00.000-04:00

I try not to shamelessly promote stuff. Really, I do. Since taking over as co-coordinator of my RWA chapter's online classes, I've added a section on my sidebar with a listing of our upcoming courses. But for the most part, that has been it.

Until now. In November we're having two classes and both of them are going to be terrific! First up is an 8-day class headed up by Intimate Moments and Nocturne author, Nina Bruhns, along with several of her Harlequin cohorts. It focuses on the differences in the lines, and the nuances which aren't really relayed by the "guidelines" you see on the site. Along with secrets to breaking into the lines, including secrets of MIRA.

We're also having Amy Knupp's husband, Justin Knupp as a guest instructor. He's giving a class on websites. He'll be talking about EVERYTHING you need to know. From design, to planning, to hosting. He'll also talk about programs for you to do your own design and what to look for in a designer. It's a class not to be missed.

And since they're two really stellar classes, I couldn't resist blogging about them. If you want more info, you can visit the Lowcountry RWA online classes web page or email our coordinators (yes, that would be me and my pal Dorothy).

I've asked before, but I'll ask again... Are there any online classes you've taken or someone you know has that was just great?

April

Lost My Mind...

2006-09-30T12:44:00.000-04:00

It's official. I have lost my mind. Obviously given my last several posts, I have been feeling a bit "off" with my wip. Which as we've determined is not unique to me. I had determined some changes I needed to make in order to strengthen the story. And I've been away, in my cave trying to work through those changes.

Finally, I have them all flushed out. And I think I may have lost my mind. Because I am scrapping all 25,000 or so words I have written so far. Yeah, I've erased words before. But not 25,000! I didn't actually erase them, I just started a new document.

The most basic plot is still the same. But some pretty significant changes occurred. My hero has a different career and they traded a sibling, the inciting event has been altered and the conflict between them altered. I think it was the conflict between them... You know that "thing" keeping them apart... That was bugging me most.

There was a conflict in the previous version. A decent one at that. And technically, it's still there. But it's just not strong enough. And that was bugging me. So now it's a new one and that's great.

I don't regret all the writing I did earlier. If I hadn't written all of that, I wouldn't have realized what the real conflict is. So it was productive.

Now I've done a complete outline... something else new for me. And I'm taking it scene by scene. As much as I feel like I should be overwhelmed at scrapping the first version, really I'm just excited to have worked it out and be getting started. I might have made it to this point sooner if I had been more willing to just scrap the first. But that thought was a little scary!

What's the most you've ever scraped? Did you have a hard time doing it?

April

Slowing Down...

2006-09-23T18:14:00.000-04:00

Fall is finally here. And everyone has been talking about change. One change I am experiencing is slowing down to really think. When I first started writing, I kept hearing that the "average" writer completes seven manuscripts before getting published and I thought... holy mackerel, I better get writing. And I wrote like a nut.

Despite my push, it took me a year to complete my first manuscript of around 75,000 words. And then I began the second that fall (last fall). I was preparing to attend my first national convention in August of this year and my goal was to have it done and ready to pitch, so I pushed and pushed and finished it in time.

A lot has happened since then. I've narrowed and directed my focus of where I want to go and what I want to do with my writing, I've learned a lot from other writers, and I think I'm a lot different as a writer overall. Even if I do still want to use commas too much. Love those commas.

But a big change I've felt is that I don't feel like I'm in a hurry. I mean I want to be done with it. I want to have it complete, and I've been writing at a decent clip. 25,000 words in a month is pretty good for me. It's a much faster pace than my first story. But I don't feel like I'm writing fast. I feel comfortable as though I'm just plodding along and getting it done as it happens.

With my first two stories, when people asked about the stories, I was always stumped for a moment. I had a really hard time breaking the stories down into a small nut to explain in a few sentences, but I'm also not having that problem here. It's pretty easy to explain. It may not be EVERYTHING that happens in the story, but if it were, I'd just be reading the book aloud, right?

Moments of complete abject self-confidence failure aside (see previous post), I've really enjoyed feeling different with this story. I don't know if it's a sign that I've matured as a writer or that my abilities have improved, but it's nice and while I'm feeling good about it, I thought I should share that.

So my question is this: Has there been a turning point for you? Where your writing took a turn, hopefully a good one, but a turn none-the-less?

April

Giving Yourself Permission

2006-09-20T00:36:00.000-04:00

I've been busy with all sorts of activities and writing hasn't gotten the time it deserves. In a way, I think I may have been procrastinating. Maybe I even got bit by the self-doubt bug. Don't you just hate that little sucker. Or maybe it's just me.

Despite having a sketch of the upcoming scenes, I hadn't gotten any further on my wip. All of a sudden all sorts of questions started popping up. Is there enough conflict? Is there too much? Is the story too complicated? Is it too simple? Is it just a really stupid story idea all together? Self doubt.

While sharing emails with a friend, I revealed my quandary and she said, "It's ok. You're ok. Keep going." She pointed out that it's ok if it's crap. It's ok if I have to go back and edit or even erase. That's all part of the journey. And I know I've heard that a million times. And this may sound silly, but her giving me permission to keep going allowed me to do so.

Do you face self-doubt with your writing? How do you get beyond it?

April