Confessions of a Watery Tart

Social Networking Viagra

2012-02-01T06:56:00.000-05:00

Halo, fine peoples!

It is Insecure Writer's First Wednesday, eh? (are you impressed I remembered?) And I'm definitely going through it... (can't jump over it... can't swim under it... can't go around it... gotta go through it!) *cough*

My current worry is whether I have the freaking stamina for this thing.

Apparently THIS is the Long Haul...

Keep in mind I look at perseverance as my strongest trait, but WHAT A LONG FREAKING HAUL.

I've been blogging for nearly three years now... and I've seen blogger friends burn out... and I always thought, “I love this WAY too much for that to happen.”

And I'm not burnt out, exactly, so much as for the first time in that time, life has really bitten me in the butt (and not in a good way). And to ME, blogging has always been fun, zany insanity... but not INSANE insanity...

But of course life, over a couple years, will hit ALL of us who are... you know... living... like that.

So what is the standard? Does it bore the crap out of my readers if I post ANYWAY as a big giant whiny pants? Never mind that you all KNOW my policy about PANTS (say it with me: Pants are evil. Down with pants!) I've already taken a break for a while. How long will the good will last before I have to really buck it up and be ME again?

And when I've been flacid and ineffectual of late, where the heck is the VIAGRA to stand erect again? Anybody know of any networking viagra?

So I encourage all of you to get to as many insecure peeps as possible today... And if you FIND that Viagra (other than the LOLZ Cats, which work, but are addictive) spread it around...

Januectomy

2012-01-31T03:00:00.008-05:00

It's time for the forceful removal of this pain in our collective arses! GADS! And Good Riddance, I say!

I really love this movie.

I think it's a Michigan thing. It really used to be February I hated so vehemently... February being the month that in OREGON seemed to be holding off spring. In Michigan though, that dubious honor goes to April. January is hated for being COLD, and POOR... (Heather blogged on this yesterday—the annoying habit of employers to pay you for December BEFORE the holidays, so the check meant to sustain you in January needs to last 6 weeks, rather than 4.5)... and at our household it seems to be the ILLNESS month and the FINALS month.

And I am SO GLAD to see it go.

What did I accomplish in January? Mostly I panicked a lot... I sorted and shuffled and supported...

I am nearly done with my ABNA revision (just in time—should be getting a go ahead or NO ahead from my editor on my Begonia Bribe revisions and either way will need to jump to it as soon as I know).

February is ALSO slated for first revision of Chrysanthemum Campaign. So I will be up to my eyebrows in FLOWERS. Which is good. Should hold off my snow irritation... Not that I mind SNOW, so much as I get really tired of how long winter drags on around here... (did I mention hating Michigan winters?)

*Cough*

On the plus side, it's OVER!!!!!

You know, theoretically, January ought to be a right good time. Janus is the Roman God of beginnings... but if you read further, he was two-faced (one looking back and one forward) and intertwined with chaos. So maybe we've gotten just what we bargained for.

Say... it says he was the God of gates and doors, too.

Erm... that ringing any bells for anybody? (Door bells?)

No, me neither...

Source

But at least we are solidly into Aquarius, the sign where people are their own unique selves, unconcerned with the uptight proclamations of the masses of how people ought to be. I really LIKE Aquarius. If I could have picked my own sign, I think this would be it, even if it WOULD put me stuck with a birthday in my least favorite time of the year. It is just my favorite personality profile. And for the record, in spite of Jo giving Luna an August birthday, LUNA should have been an Aquarius. Open, accepting (a bit odd). And absolutely herself. So much so that she wins everybody over.

Do you all have a time of year you really hate? How do you cope?

Megan Bostic's Never Eighteen (Pass it On!)

2012-01-30T03:00:00.019-05:00

I have been looking forward to reading this book since I first heard about it, so when Megan asked who wanted to be a part of her promotional tour, I jumped at the chance. The theme is clever and fitting for the book, but I think I will give you more of that after a brief review:

Never Eighteen, currently resting in Ann Arbor, MI.

(from the back): Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. He probably won't even see the end of the year. But in the short time he has left, there's one thing he can do: he can try to help the people he loves live—even though he never will.

It's probably hopeless.
But he has to try.

You see, Austin has Leukemia. He was a strong, popular athlete. But now he is somewhat shrunken, tires easily. And he's on a mission. He wants to right some wrongs—only one of which really seemed his fault, but he's been watching people. There is a soft undertone of jealousy—people who HAVE life ahead of them who are wasting it. But mostly there is just a need to make a difference. To leave the world around him just a little better than it was before.

Megan says the original title was Mending Fences. I like the new title better because it carries the darkness that underlies death. But Mending Fences is very fitting for what Austin is trying to do.

I loved this book. It was a wonderful mix of sadness and hope. The characters were very real—Austin is perhaps more introspective than most boys, but I think knowing you are dying will do that.

Austin's journey to get people to engage in their own lives again hits a ton of teen (and adult) issues, but briefly enough and softly enough that they don't drain us. I think for teens this offers a wonderful chance to talk about some big stuff, and whatever their situation, see... it could be worse... and even if it IS worse, they can handle it with grace.

So I thank Megan for giving me the chance to read!

As for the Pass It On...

The marketing campaign was to SHARE this book, even as Austin is trying to share in the futures of people who will still be around. I knew when I first heard the idea that I wanted to share it with one of my teacher friends, preferably someone who keeps BOOKS in the classroom, so teens can have a chance to read it to.

I scanned the list and the first to come to mind was Chary—she is a fellow Burrower who teaches at a High School in New York City. She said she did indeed keep a library in her classroom for students to read from and it was decided.

Headed to a classroom New York City

I decided to sweeten the pot, I would add another YA book I have loved recently. I am a hoarder, but isn't it really better to share books with people who will get them read by dozens than keep them in a stack on my shelves?

So today this pair, Never Eighteen and Gae Polisner's Pull of Gravity, will be shipped to New York City to share in Chary's High School classroom.

I will have Chary post a picture when the books make it to her, and I thank Megan and Gae for writing such amazing books that I want to share them like this!

Both of these are available to buy:

(I think the paperback for Gae is coming soon—I will give you a heads up)

I ALSO wanted to throw out a HUGE congratualtions to Jessica Bell who had a FABULOUS weekend for the popularity of her books. String Bridge spent a day as MOST POPULAR on Amazon's comtemporary fiction list and Twisted Velvet Chains made the top five for poetry—What a Saturday, eh? Contrats, Jessica!

Just FYI--I am regrouping, recovering, etc. But have two books to get edited in February, so I think I may be a 3 blogs a week girl for at least another month, just so you know what to expect...

Thank you all for your patience!

Breathe

2012-01-25T03:00:00.001-05:00

And just when I thought I saw the birds circling that must mean an island was near...

Health issues, not my own, are determined to sideline me. I am trying to plug away, but I am currently spending a few hours a day being more nurturing than comes naturally, because let's face it: I am an only child in addition to being a fire horse and only children who are also fire horses do NOT nurture all that easily, no matter how badly they want to. But our household is in high crisis mode and once again, I've been nominated to be the sane one.

My ABNA project: cover by Joris Ammerlaan

I'm starting to question this decision to stay sane, but the truth of it is, somebody has to be. Story of my life. Seriously.

And THAT looks like a big whiny baby plea for sympathy. It only is a little. Mostly it is explanation for why, intentions aside, I got nowhere yesterday and can't make promises for a couple days. I am taking time off of work to get a plan established, which means when I AM at work I need to work like I am on deadline. (and when I am NOT at work, I am largely NOT online).

And I STILL have manuscripts to edit. So I may or may not blog regularly for the next couple weeks... and I probably will remain slow on getting around. I feel so guilty on the matter, but it is what it is.

On the positive side, I got my 3 chapters to my editor that were DUE. Hopefully she likes them. (I have to do the rest of the book, but am pretty sure I can have a little time there... not a lot, but a little).

Also on the positive side, I have a version of LEGACY entered in ABNA. It isn't the version I want in there, but I didn't want to lose my spot, and until it closes, I can revise, so replacing with 'best available' every few days is my plan. This is one of the MSs I am editing...

Also Also on the positive side... in fact on the SQUEEEEE side... I got book cover samples which include all the back cover copy!!!! Check it out!

And because it's hard to read:

Roanoke, Virginia, is home to some of the country's most exquisite gardens, and it's Camellia Harris's job to promote them. But when an out-of-towner turns up dead, she discovers there is no good way to spin murder.

Camellia Harris has achieved a coup in the PR world. The premiere national magazine for garden lovers has agreed to feature one of Roanoke's most spectacular gardens in its pages—and world-famous photographer Jean-Jacques Georges is going to shoot the spread. But at the welcoming party, Jean-Jacques insults several guests, complains that flowers are boring, and gooses almost every woman in the room. When a body is found the next morning, sprawled across the azaleas, it's almost no surprise that the victim is Jean-Jacques.

With Cam's brother-in-law blamed for the crime—and her reporter boyfriend, Rob, wanting the scoop—Cam decides to use her skills to solve the murder. Luckily a PR pro like Cam knows how to be nosy...

So there it is... the silver lining. No worries... I am hanging in there. I always do. Just feeling a little pouty at the moment that life refuses to fall into line with my nefarious plans...

ABNA Over at BB and B

2012-01-24T08:00:00.005-05:00

So this is a decoy post... I am really blogging at Burrowers, Books and Balderdash today about the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest because THAT is what is going on.... It's Topical Tuesday.

But if you'd like it to also be Naked Tuesday, I am not stopping you.

Dragon Speaks

2012-01-23T03:00:00.010-05:00

So I am crawling out of the crypt. I feel a little like my fingers are bloodied and I am inching my way slowly. Hubby's health stuff is not moving much, which is stressful—I feel like he's strapped to me and I am having to pull him along for each inch I move. But I have heaved past the revisions my editor needed (One polish round still needs finishing, but the big work is done). It scares me a little that I need to keep plugging through the whole book to accommodate the changes, but I can pace myself more on that. For NOW, I turn to finishing my ABNA tweaks, as ABNA is OPEN. More on that tomorrow.

Today, I wanted to give you a heads up.

He looks menacing, but I love dragons.

It starts the Lunar New Year, otherwise known as the Chinese New Year. And it is the Year of the Dragon. More specifically, it is an Earth Dragon in Water year (most stuff says Water Dragon—I can't figure out what the subtlety is about): The Black Dragon.

Happy Black Dragon New Year!

Whether that is good news or bad news for you depends on your animal and element. This site will help you figure that out.

Here are the fortunes: http://www.geomancy.net/resources/yearly-forecast/fortunes-2012.htm

If you don't know your sign and element, it is probably best to go here first: http://www.geomancy.net/reports/free-report/freerpt-element.htm

I've known for years I was a fire horse. I had had NO CLUE that I had an element besides that—it looks like it might be related to western astrology signs, as mine is 'weak water' (Cancer is also water and I am early in it). The other new information I found that I LOVE is in the Chinese calendar I was born the 5th day of the 5th month. Five has been my favorite number since I was (you guessed it) five.

But other than that vague 'it will be a good year' what does a dragon year have in store generally?

The Feng Shui forcast says this:

“this year is going to be a transformational life-changing year! Generally, there are more goodies in store for you in the year 2012 than 2011. It’s a good year to improve oneself, take calculated investment risks and to build wealth. The year 2012 holds much promise and may be a major transition in your life. Whether it turns out extremely good, or really bad, will depend on how you ride the mighty Water Dragon!

The three powerful stars present in the year’s chart are the Star of Aggressive Sword, the Star of the External Flower of Romance and the Star of Powerful Mentors.”

The rest of that site was trying to sell amulets, so I will leave their grim predictions there...

This depressing site that looks like the equivalent of the Farmer's Almanac (and helpfully explains that earth and water thing—water ON earth) predicts a bunch of earthquakes and water disasters (erm... and epidemics). But thankfully less violent fighting:
http://www.fengshuitoday.org/features/the-year-of-the-dragon (not incompatible with those pesky Mayans)

But I am going forward hopeful, as for a fire horse who is weak water, it is predicted to be a good year. And my personal horoscope gave years when things would be 'lucky' versus unlucky in terms of financial fortune and unless I live past 105, the rest of my life looks lucky (the first half looked pretty darned grim—a truism)--so I've got that going for me...

I wish you all a great year. Please pay some homage to the moon and go out and dance naked tonight, even if there will be no moonlight...

Brief Break

2012-01-13T03:00:00.001-05:00

Some of you may have noticed a big giant FAIL on my part to get around adequately. Instead of a nice big dose of blog hopping, I have been down around 10 a day—visiting new followers and a FEW comment returns, but I am having trouble with it. The writing deadline at home and a swamped workload at work. So I think the best thing for me to do is take a break until I both have more time for thoughtful posts AND am in a position to reciprocate. The break will last until I get this revision back to my editor—I suspect by mid-week next week I should be back, but it really depends on my concentration. I have done first round on 2 of the three chapters under deadline, but there is research to do to fill in a little, and then a cleaning up... So we will see.

Anyway, I apologize for my absence and I super-duper double apologize for my low rate of getting around to see all of you.

I will leave you with a little amusement:

If you end up WITH pants however, it was BAD. Very BAD.

The science cats are always my favorite.


Where is a frog like this when you need him?

Anybody suspect we've been infiltrated?

We'll call this one gallows humor...

I'll miss you guys!

Fairy Godmuther Complaints

2012-01-12T08:00:00.001-05:00

But not here... I am at Burrowers, Books and Balderdash today.

(is is bad that I kind of luuuurve him?)

What Do You MEAN High School?

2012-01-11T03:00:00.011-05:00

Does he look ready for high school to you?

Last night we went to the first of what will be three high school visits to choose where my BABY—My Youngest Child... the LITTLE ONE, will go to high school. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

And whose idea was it to give thirteen year-olds CHOICES that will impact their lives for YEARS?

And how did I get so OLD?

OK, so mine weren't this cool...

Okay, that last may be the crux of the matter. And it shouldn't. Among my high school class I know GRANDPARENTS for Pete's sake. But somehow these milestones of the younger close a chapter that was my last grasp at young hipness... erm... never mind that I've never given a fig about being hip. (except maybe that badass Doc Marten phase in my late 20s)

The school we went to is the one my daughter attends. It is one of the original magnet high schools in the US, nearly 40 years old, but housed in a hundred year old stone building that was once an elementary school. It has been a great fit for my daughter, but I think it is flexible enough to also be a great fit for my very DIFFERENT son.

OK, no pom pon, either...

Speaking of which... how is it children from the same two parents can be so completely opposite? I've got my affectionate, artistic, passionate (possibly dramatic) daughter who likes hippie beads and incense (though country music, among other things) and my sarcastic, smartass, booksmart skater child [not that he has any sarcastic, smartass parents *shifty*]. (who is looking an awful lot like Where's Waldo these days—it is the combo of the new glasses and the striped hat—and yes, the swirly hair... Though Waldo wears his pants too high (gotta make sure the girls know you are a boxers guy, after all. Briefs are lame. And binding.) Son ALSO has four fingers on each hand, not three. Um... and blond hair. And prefers hoodies.

But I digress... [and there was much rejoicing].

So that isn't much of a blog. But YOU try to think straight when you get hit with your baby going to high school! Can't be done!

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award 2012

2012-01-10T03:00:00.005-05:00

Y'all know about my FOMS, right? No? FOMS is an acronym for Fear of Missing Something. Gimme an event and I'm in. Throw a party and I HAVE to go, because if I DON'T something might happen and I will have missed it!

But see, these writing events have an additional purpose besides proving I am paranoid about what goes on in my absence... They provide structure to my writing life.

I've written 12 books, right? But the only ones I've polished adequately to SHARE have had deadlines to get them polished by... I have my writing contract, so those fit, but the others? This Amazon Contest...

So you want the Scoop?

What the Heck is it?

The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award is a novel contest whereby the winner(s) get a $15,000 writing contract with Penguin for their book! Now just to be clear, that $15K is an advance, so if you sell the heck out of the book, you get more money... and as advances to debut authors go, that is relatively generous, though it depends of course on genre. The only type of books that regularly do better than this, though, for an unproven author, are award winners and thrillers.

Who Can Enter?

I think you have to be 13... There are a handful of excluded countries and I don't KNOW why... You need to ENTER the book under the name you want it published under. You can't be an Amazon or Penguin employee... mostly though, it is first come first serve within the two week period submission is open.

WHAT Should Be Submitted?

Fiction. Novels. No non-fiction, no anthologies or collections. There are two categories, general and young adult. Each category will take 5000 entries. All entries should be between 50,000 and 150,000 words. This is a HUGE range (though I confess to having to pare mine the first time I tried). But honestly, this is more leeway than you will ever get from publishers, normally, (though some YA books, particularly 'middle grade' are shorter). There is a 'nothing offensive' rule that seems to be an 'only applied if...' but they don't include erotica, though sex and language that fit the story have never disqualified anyone that I know of. I think it is just 'genre erotica' that is out. Books can have been SELF published or NEVER published, but not published through anyone. (they ask you not to shop it while it is still in the contest, but that is shopping for PUBLISHER as I understand it--you can still query it. In fact that was how I ended up with Fabulous Agent #2--querying my semi-finalist.

When Does This Happen?

it happens when it's like this outside...

Submission this year is between January 23 and February 5, 2012. Now remember, first come first serve... that said, YA has never quite filled and general fiction takes several days (more than a week?) What I do is enter early and keep working on it—you can upload revised versions until they close, and they close when they are FULL or Feb 5. That way at least ONE version is in there, on the off chance they fill up, but they get (hopefully) better as I continue revisions.

HOW does one submit?

Go HERE and they will have the link and up to the date instructions. They don't currently have the entry links, probably because they are not yet open.

How is it Judged:

Round 1: 5000 per category becomes 1000 based on a 300 word PITCH. (hint: get a ton of feedback. The discussion boards have a spot for it. There is a facebook group for it. Ask experienced people. This is the round where your BOOK is not speaking for you—your marketing device is, and it is a different skill, so get help!)

Round 2: 1000 becomes 250 based on the excerpt. This is the FIRST 3000 – 5000 words. (hint: if your book hasn't reached the 'exciting part' yet, you will want to revise... but you would want to revise ANY book that takes that long if you are hoping for traditional publishing. Hint 2: leave it on a cliffhanger if possible. You want them craving more. So 3000 words that leave them craving is far better than getting every last word allowed in there... in fact I'd err toward the shorter end ANYWAY—the feeling of 'is it over already? Helps you.) [note: everybody who makes this round gets two reviews on their excerpt]--those who get past this round are 'quarter finalists'.

Round 3: 250 becomes 50. This is based on the whole book. Just make it as good as possible. Winners this round are semi-finalists (note, 50/5000 is top 1%, so this is a big deal)

Round 4: 50 becomes 3. This is based on Publisher's weekly editor reads of the semi-finalists (and all semi-finalists can use those reviews to help sell the book if they are good, improve it if not.) All 3 finalists—which is really 6, 3 from each category—get a trip to Seattle (or some other city they pick) for the final event where the winner is announced.

Why the Heck Would I Subject Myself to This?

It's FUN! It is actually set up to mirror the agent or publisher process well—pitch, partial, full, so it is a good experience, but when you query, you are ALONE. HERE, you do it with 9000 of your closest friends. Seriously—very supportive. It's a great bunch of people. And of course it provides the infamous deadline some of us really need.

If you have questions about rules and such, they are all here.

So who's in?! (Come on. All the cool kids are doing it!)

Helplessness: An Analysis

2012-01-09T03:00:00.002-05:00

In my coping (and not) this weekend, I've been pondering something that strikes all of us in various places in life and I thought maybe we should talk about it a little bit.

Damn if I'm not a little bit of a control freak. But never mind.

Helplessness source

This weekend has had me thinking a lot about helplessness. Saturday's blog confessed that I was useless in a crisis, but that is PHYSICALLY useless. I just don't know what to do do save somebody. I mean I've had first aid (half a lifetime ago) so if they were choaking... or possibly even if they were not breathing... (no CPR skills, though I've seen it enough that if we were REALLY alone, I'd give it a shot)... but all that in between stuff. USE. LESS.

So HWMNBMOTI is home and physically okay, but his sense of panic... of not-rightness... has not subsided. It has left me tense and worried, too. I am not worried his physical problems have not been dealt with, but rather that his stress and emotional worries are manifesting themselves physically and that this risk won't go away until we deal with the big hairy monster of anxiety.

Anxiety isn't new to us.

When our kids were small, HWMNBMOTI was a 'stay-at-home-dad' and PART of our reasoning was his earning power didn't cover childcare for two kids. But part of it was an anxiety issue that cropped up during my first pregnancy. It is related to myriad issues of self-worth (or lack thereof) and CONTROL issues that can't be controlled in work environments. The latter made jobs dissatisfying in the extreme and the former made it really hard to look for work... not feeling worthy and all.

See, though. In thinking about all of this, even my uselessness is not fully worthless if I PAUSE and think about it.

PIECES and PEACES.

Problems are not large hairy monsters. They are armies. They can be divided, and different people can conquer pieces of the problem, and most problems I am capable of handling some portion of.

1) I am so calm I've been accused of being comatose. Especially at work, I am hard to rile. I don't buy into the group panic, and I can break out my responsibility and get to it. Coworkers seem to love this. (though I have found tears useful when expectations are unreasonable)

2 )I am REALLY GOOD at breaking apart problems into pieces.

3) I am ALSO good at talking down panicking people, and at LISTENING (something 99% of men I know are singularly bad at, just FYI—men want to fix it and often will give unhelpful suggestions just to be GIVING a damn suggestion...)

4) I am also a pretty good advocate. Some people don't really see where their rights lie, and need someone to step in and say to [the professional or source of help] 'look. This is what's needed and nothing less will work.']

So I have broken down HWMNBMOTI's issues and advocacy and calm are indeed what I bring to the table. I've taken Monday off work to make the calls because at the moment he doesn't feel he 'deserves' to be a priority. He does. People count on him. Personally and professionally. But that self talk is powerful, and when there are physical issues compounding it...

And you know what? I made that decision on my walk with Oliver's person last night and I felt SO MUCH BETTER at just that: take the day off to advocate. Finally I had realized what I really could do to help.

The PEACE Piece

There are things really out of our control. There are things none of us can do anything about. Whether it is another person or a situation, life has a lot of stuff that just comes down, no fault or responsibility of our own. There is a SKILL to letting this go.

Once upon a time I attended AlAnon meetings for a loved one who was an addict. And I learned MANY lessons that will stick with me forever there. Say it with me:

NOT. MY. STUFF. If it is in somebody else's control, you can't let it impact you emotionally. Sure, you can feel a little sadness over someone's bad decision, but there is no guilt, no lingering anger or sadness. It is NOT YOUR STUFF. Let it go.

CAN'T CONTROL IT. Publishing is huge here. We can write the best book ever, but can't control who we are competing against for attention, how many books a company is willing to produce in a year, what readers want to read... A huge portion of this is not in our control. So don't pretend you can. It will only make you feel inept.

We need to make peace with all that stuff not in our control. It's not like it is a malicious design. It is just the setting.

One of the things I found helpful early on, especially when I was mad, was to write down what I resented or regretted, and then burn it. (add a little sage if you want to make it spiritual—sage is a spiritual cleanser). The other trick was writing it down and closing it into my AlAnon book (a Bible or other spiritual book would work here)--releasing it to 'your higher power' was the point, so if you are on speaking terms with your higher power, it will probably work well.

Some people meditate.

I've been known to power walk...

WHATEVER WORKS. But you need a system to let go of the stuff you can't change. Because there is a lot of stuff you just can't change...

Stress Response...

2012-01-07T12:52:00.000-05:00

So yesterday afternoon I got a call... HWMNBMOTI's number... not him. It was my wonderful Couch to Keg partner... she was at my house because she'd been asked to help... HWMNBMOTI was having dizzy spells... thought he needed an ambulance.

Crap.

So I said I'd meet him at the hospital (I work for the Med School, so it is just a string of buildings away).

Call 5 minutes later. Same number. PANICKED daughter... sobbing, scared... 'Dad has to go to the hospital'.

“I know sweetheart, but then they will figure out what it is and fix it.”

So I headed over and met him at the emergency room as the ambulance arrived.

His vitals were all stable and the ER was PACKED so we had to wait a fair while. I could tell he was anxious—wondering what was taking so long. But he was also worried about our upset daughter at home. He had me go call and check in, but she was even MORE upset then because he hadn't gotten in to see the doctor yet.

We finally got him in there and the nurse asked a ton of questions, measured all the things he needed to measure, but HWMNBMOTI was getting progressively MORE anxious. He insisted I go home to check on our daughter. So I called daughter (she has a car through a research project and since I walk to work and HWMNBMOTI arrived by ambulance, I was without, so I had her meet me back at my office to give me a ride home.

As it turns out, the treatable disorder is an upper respiratory infection. He was given a few rounds of breathing treatments, prescriptions, and a long list of instructions (including that he had to quit smoking from each of the 47 people who came through his cube). But the dizziness had been a confluence of 3-12 hour days without eating hardly anything, low sleep, a head cold and because of the cold an increased use of his inhaler which can CAUSE dizziness.

He will be fine. Hopefully this is the butt kicking he needed to really quit smoking. He quit two years ago for 3 months, but hadn't tried again since.

What I wanted to note though, was this:

[begin Digression] last week one of our neighbors came over—she'd just gotten home and there was a bicyclist sprawled across the road unconscious. (it was icy, and an apparent bike wreck) HWMNBMOTI went out to check. The man came to—a neighbor, but he was disoriented (and bleeding from a large head wound). He didn't know who HWMNBMOTI was or what day or year it was. He kept trying to wander off, but HMNBMOTI talked him into waiting for the ambulance.[/end digression]

The point of that was how CALM he stayed. He helped the neighbor and told the ambulance people everything he knew, called around to find out if any other neighbors knew how to contact any relatives, as he lives alone. He's really great in a crisis.

Unless it's his crisis. When it is HIM, he gets panicky, and I learned, he and my daughter feed off each other badly. He's worried about her but she's only worried because of how upset he is... but it spirals into both of them panicking.

[note: she is lifeguard and CPR trained and at school has actually helped a fellow student having a seizure and near her work called an ambulance for a person who really seemed disoriented who was hovering outside—she is good in a crisis, TOO, normally]

But that feeding off each other was HUGE.

Now me, I am hard to rattle. But I am also pretty darned useless. I don't know what to do, don't carry a cell phone, so can't call directly. I've been known to knock on doors and ask someone else to call and to stay with someone who has something happen, but I KNOW NOTHING.

Yet had I been home, I would have insisted on driving (no ambulance) and going to Urgent Care (not the ER)--I probably could have talked hubby down a little. I am a person who tends to downplay things though, so maybe that is a lot of it. I am optimistic to the point of delusional and just assume things can't be THAT bad.

So how are you? Are you good in a crisis? Bad? Does it depend on who is hurt? Do you know what you're doing?

Kitteh fanx

2012-01-05T03:00:00.001-05:00

You guys are the best. Yeh know... Yibus cheered me yesterday, so I am leaving you a little kitteh love today.

How was your New Year's Eve? Good? Was it THIS GOOD?

If you are having resolution trouble... you are not alone...


yeah. this.

We used to have a cat who did this. It is why we are solidly ROLL FROM UNDER at our house... (we also shut the lid because the same cat used to sit on the side of the toilet and scoop toilet water out of the bowl. She occasionally did it with the dog water too, but that was somewhat less disgusting, if no less slippery.

I captioned this one myself...

I wish all of you a happy Thursday and hopefully will be more coherent tomorrow!

Head in the Sand

2012-01-04T03:00:00.004-05:00

I am participating in Alex's Insecure Writer's first Wednesday (check link for details and the list of other participants) and... the ether must have known I needed some content... *sigh*

So my agent called me yesterday. Now when an agent picks up the phone, you KNOW it is either good news or bad news... they are very busy and hardly have time to just chat and see how you are...

This was the bad sort.

Not horrible. Not... canceled contract or I hate this type news. But still... “You're going to need to make some changes.”

I don't know if it's me, but I always feel like I've been called out into the hall by the principal. Like somebody ratted me out for streaking through the gym, even though I had a bag over my head. I worry that I'm not just going to be asked to fix it, but I might get suspended or expelled because... well... maybe because I'm a FRAUD... Maybe I don't measure UP.

The reality of it is I didn't have enough rounds of revision, and one of the rounds that (oops) I really skimmed was infusing this GARDENING THEMED Cozy Mystery with... duh... GARDENING.

The trouble is I don't garden in real life. And I don't live in a zone 7. So every single detail of it has to be carefully researched... And I just fell down on getting enough of it in there that it FEELS like Gardening is a theme. I mean there are gardens and flowers. But... and here we hit the other 'my failing' things... I tend to run low on description (because honestly, I don't care to read it) and THAT is where much of this would go...

But what a bonehead thing to not remember to make sure I've done, eh?

This series really spoke to me when I auditioned for it because of the Public Relations and Media stuff—I've worked in that world and really felt like I had great character insight. And my research on Roanoke has been pretty good because ACTION requires people to go places and do things, so all that research sort of has to happen pre- or during writing. So somehow in my head I thought 'okay, just clean it up' rather than marking all the places it needed an infusion of flowers or gardening.

See, I got caught up in this torrid thing... and forgot gardening.

Maybe I need a Gardening 101 course so this stuff just comes more naturally into my brain.

Whatever the case, I'm feeling like a real Dunderhead and like I'd really just feel better if I could solve it all by detention with Snape.

Anybody ELSE die a little recently? Anybody have BIG goofs like that to confess? Recurring nightmares about anything?

Nothing to do but own it. Guess I just added to my January to-do list by A LOT.

What's So Funny?

2012-01-03T03:00:00.050-05:00

Y'all know I am dark, mysterious and edgy, right? Some of you are even scared of me, yeah? No? Come on. Not even a little scared? You KNOW that is my goal in life! That and sexy and sleek... *nods*

My aspirations to be quirky and strange are... well... sort of the leftover result when I can't control myself? The result of not quite hitting that dark mysterious thing, so here I am, naked and awkward? But being me, I am practical and so thought, FINE. I will work with that. See... I don't MEAN to be funny. But the word is I am... And I guess if I can't be edgy and beautiful, funny is a pretty good alternative.

Today's blog is part of a Blog Carnival (which is like a festival, but you know... international) Christopher Allen is hosting it through the Language Place. The theme is really anything to do with humor. So I am analyzing my accidental humorousness and sharing a few places that make me laugh.

So back to the... I'm told I'm funny. And seriously, as suggested above, it wasn't really anything I tried for. Oh, sure. I suppose I'm easily amused... I do like to laugh. I particularly like to laugh WITH people... I love word play and innuendo. Misattributing is even my superpower (you know... intentionally mishearing and responding to what you HEARD that is bizarre or funny, or IDEALLY, innuendo). Silliness in its purest form is good. (I even have a number of physical things I do that are funny, ranging from an egg drop off a diving board to my cartoon face).

But...

You know I am not a mainstream comedy fan for the most part. Sketch comedy often cracks me up, as do many comedians, but in the U.S. so much humor is based on either somebody being STUPID or somebody being MEAN. And I don't happen to think stupid or mean are funny. (except in the case of stupid people really proving smarter than the others—Phoebe from friends is a good example here, or in the case of mean people being seen by the AUDIENCE as shallow and low). I ALSO think much U.S. humor is very adolescent... I hate that (I would rather stick forks in my eyeballs than watch an Adam Sandler marathon). So why do I LOVE the French Taunters in Holy Grail waving their privates at people's aunties? Well now THAT is funny.

I guess maybe it comes down to the UNEXPECTED. And perhaps the British have a huge advantage there, because stiff upper lip and insane silliness fit so unexpectedly together, even your 427th time watching the Holy Grail.

But what I LOVE is understatement ['you keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.'] I love precious humor... think Dori in Finding Nemo... what is more precious than a fish friend and traveling companion with short-term memory issues (voiced by Ellen, no less). But yes, unexpected wins [“I bought it at a muggle store! I happen to like a little air about my privates!”--Archie from the Quiddich World Cup, Goblet of Fire]

So how does all this end up with ME being funny?

I don't actually try to be (though you might see redundancy is some sort of effort at it *shifty*). Most of the intentionally funny blogs I read are done by men. I have some blogs I LOVE: Cheeseboy's blog, or the Powdered Toast Man's. And they really are hysterical--intentional silliness. But I also have a number I read that I laugh at much of the time that are more sideways:

The Middle Ages: the FUNNY stuff is the overshare on life... the shared pain we do or WILL go through...
That's Why: the life difficulties... between unemployment, parenting, political climate...
Giraffability of Digressions: observations, both life and political...
The Quiddity of Delusions: okay, sometimes Mark is just plain bizarre, but man, oh man, I love him...
Guns and Giggles: a lot of life observations...
Procrastination Princess: Alright, Tara is a dose of straight silliness. But then she's a Taff...
Tartitude: My sister tart writes on life and writing... but in a falldown funny way.
I'm not Hannah: mostly about life, and the stuff that makes me laugh and cry at the same time.

[interesting. I just realized I would invite ALL of these people to stay in my home (not at the same time, my home is very small)--but shared humor is a very serious bond--I mean I have other blogger friends I would... But ALL the ones I rank as frequently funny?... I think for me it really helps me feel like I know someone well]

But notice MOST of this is just approach to normal life stuff. It is the things we all go through observed through a humorous slant... or even a shared pain slant. Whether it is the TMI thing I share with Deb, Barbara, Heather and Lisa, or the really sideways observations of Mari and Mary...

Most of it is stuff that would be HARD if we couldn't laugh about it.

I guess I think humor is an attitude. Or maybe even a decision. And it doesn't have to be mean-spirited, though I've been known to enjoy some sarcasm or snark if the target isn't really victimly...

I have guests who, when I suggest my readers are used to something a little bit funny, say... “Oh, I can't be funny.”

And maybe that's true. I don't know if some people just have such a solid hold on reality? Or maybe they listened too carefully to what is ladylike? But I think probably it is that the IDEA of 'funny' is intimidating. TRYING to be funny usually ends in awkward (and only a few of us really embrace awkward)... Erm... some people just have a serious approach to life. It's not bad... some of these more serious folks are quite helpful, and that is... you know, more helpful than I am. Most are very nice... in fact everyone I visit is SOME variation of pleasant. Or I wouldn't bother, yeh know?

But I guess for me, what I do well is play. And maybe playing is funny. It is certainly silly. I get the most laughs when I make fun of myself or what society perceives as proper, so there is that. I think the only trick I've ever applied to it is to turn off the filter. Anything can be deleted on revision, so writing whatever comes to mind OFTEN leads to a lot of nonsense. And sometimes that nonsense is funny. So there there you have it.

Best Story Ever

2012-01-02T03:00:00.000-05:00

Or I thought so anyway. New Year's Eve Eve, HWMNBMOTI were invited to a little neighborhood party.

HWMNBMOTI knows more neighbors than I do... he walks the dog and meets people, and frankly has a bit of a Mrs. Kratitz personality—always likes to know what's going on, which requires knowing who everybody is. So he's been telling me about this man he's made friends with who is a nurse--(HWMNBMOTI has nursing goals and finding other males is a bit of a rarity).

So finally at this party I met this man... and he told me this story...

“You know, when I first met [HWMNBMOTI] I was working in my garage. I'm a gregarious guy and we were new to the neighborhood, so I called 'hello'. He and the dog came up to talk and started talking about what we did. And he told me his partner studied pain.

“So you see... I made an assumption... partner... and... well the dog is named Joel...”

[I started laughing here]

“But that's okay. I have brother who's gay who's been with his partner for a number of years. I wasn't bothered. So we kept talking when we'd run into each other. Then one day, several month later, he says something about his wife, Tami, and... well in the same conversation, he tells me how the two of you moved from Portland. I couldn't wait to get inside to tell my wife.

“[HWMNBMOTI] isn't gay! He's from Portland!”

We went on to a delighted conversation about the enlightened people of Portland who might appear gay to midwesterners... If you don't know Portland, you might not understand this story at all, but it sure amused me a lot.

I am back to the day job tomorrow... on to the resolutions... beginning a round of editing for the Amazon contest (more later this week on that). I have had a WONDERFUL long break though. I finished Chrysanthemum Campaign and RELAXED a lot. I am not eager to get back to it, but at the same time, I really love fresh starts, and since I am not a student, the new year is about as close as I get to that...

I wish you all the very best in 2012!

The Writing PLAN 2012

2011-12-31T03:00:00.001-05:00

BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I'm very content to pretend this is me.

Oh, how I love a plan... especially a writing plan. And largely, they work for me. I posted last year's plan last week and my evidence of success—which wasn't complete, but I DID get a lot done last year... And THAT is why I get so geeked about a plan...

Are you ready? (maybe a little scared?)

First... Let me explain.
No. Is too much. Let me sum up.

What Needs DOING, broadly

Polish: LEGACY
Big Rewrite: CONFLUENCE, ILLUSIONS (which also needs a new name), CONSPIRACY, WHAT ALES ME, MEDIUM WRONG.
To Write: I got Armageddon coming at me from four different directions, eh? I will write TWO of these this year. I will write a 3rd book iff I get a formal publisher request for such (a 4th on the cozy contract or if WHAT ALES ME sells as part of a series) MOSTLY, though, I am going to concentrate on rewriting and polishing some of this other stuff.

January:
Revise LEGACY one last time.
Finally hammer out a GOOD pitch for it.
Enter that baby (the book, I mean, not a real baby)
Type in rest of WHAT ALES ME.
Potentially Tweak Kahlotus (have some ideas based on publisher feedback—need agent powwow)

February:
Fill in holes and first revision CHRYSANTHEMUM CAMPAIGN.

March:
CC to peer readers for the month.
Revise WHAT ALES ME.
Plan promotional campaign for AZALEA ASSAULT

April:
WHAT ALES ME to peers.
Revise CC per feedback. Read out loud. Revise again.
Begin CONFLUENCE revision.

May:
CC to agent
Finish CONFLUENCE revision.
Revise CC per agent

June:
Turn in CC
BuNoWriMo: One of these pesky Armageddon stories...
RELEASE AZALEA ASSAULT

July:
First Revision MEDIUM WRONG

August:
MEDIUM WRONG to peers
Revise WHAT ALES ME, read out loud
WHAT ALES ME to Agent

September:
Final Revisions MEDIUM WRONG
MEDIUM WRONG to Amy

October:
Slot for specifically requested revisions for MEDIUM WRONG/WHAT ALES ME
First revision summer Armageddon book

November:
NaNoWriMo: Thenother Armageddon? (yeah, I think so... but things change)

December:
Finally polish CONFLUENCE
If time, begin revision ILLUSIONS

Ambitious? Yes. Subject to change? Absolutely. But I always do best if I have a direction and something to look to when I finish something... otherwise I can spin my wheels too long before getting back on track.

So what are your writing goals?

And Happy New Year to All of you!!!

Christine Murray Storms Through!

2011-12-30T01:00:00.003-05:00

Erm... Christine is a friend of mine through both ABNA and blogging. She is from Ireland, younger than me and participates in a great many things I admire but don't do, yet somehow I identify quite strongly with this brilliant young woman. Perhaps it is that her blog is so personal that I feel like I really know her, from writing struggles, to foster care respite, to living with pain. I think we largely have the same interests, and we just have approached them from entirely different directions so it is a little like looking at one of my other possible selves or something. Anyway, Christine delights me. And I'm thrilled to be hosting her for her release tour for her 'Chick-Lit' novel Storms In Teacups.

So without further ado... Welcome Christine!

I’d like to start by thanking Hart for letting me blather on her blog for a day. I’ve been a compulsive reader of her blog since discovering her on the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award forum. It feels quite strange to be here.

They say that your first book is autobiographical. And this one is, in a sense. True, I’ve never taught disadvantaged teens, acted in a crime series, or gone on a journalistic crusade to take down one of the best known figures in Ireland. But some of the jobs that my characters do, the less glamorous ones? They come from experience.

My character, Shannon, works in a dingy call centre doing telephone market research while she waits for her big break. I did this for a year during college and a few months after graduation. For anyone who’s either conscientious or thin-skinned, it’s an awful job to do. People hate market researchers, so you end up getting shouted at. A lot.

Waking people up at 10am on Saturday morning to ask them questions about waste disposal companies? Yep. Asking people to give up twenty minutes of their lives to talk about how they’d rate the range of food at a particular service station? A hard sell. Unfortunately, I also made some the calls that Shannon makes in the book. I did, by dint of ringing on behalf of a certain bank, inform someone who’d been bereaved in the past two weeks that their partner had a secret bank account. Probably one of the worst thing you can ever do is make someone’s grief worse, even if it is inadvertent. I also called a woman who decided that I was her husband’s mistress rather than a market researcher. That was an interesting one.

Moral of the story? Whenever you have to do something you really hate doing, take comfort from the fact you can strip it for material.

Most of my book is, however, fiction. Some of it is ambiguous. Like, did I ever go drinking with a crowd of Dublin criminals who had a reputation for breaking fingers and wanted to harness the power of social media? Now that would be telling.

Blurb:

ALEX is a journalist who has always dreamed of working for a glossy women’s magazine. Instead, she finds herself working for Dublin’s most notorious tabloid newspaper, rewriting press releases and covering for her colleague Jodie, a well-connected neurotic who still hasn’t figured out how to use an apostrophe
.
ROSE thinks that she has life sorted. She loves her job as a teacher in a disadvantaged school, and has just moved in with her gorgeous actor boyfriend, Daniel. The only clouds on her horizon are a headmaster with a passion for new-age team-building and a stack of envelopes that she refuses to open but can’t quite bring herself to throw out.

SHANNON feels like she’s stagnating. When she graduated at the top of her class from drama college everyone thought it would be just a matter of time until she got her big break. Instead, she pays the bills with parts in small plays and some low rent television shows. Now she’s in her thirties, is it time she gives up on her dreams and get a proper job?

When a scandal shakes up the lives of all three women, will they manage to stay true to their dreams? Or will the betrayal of one man change their plans for good?

Bio:

Christine Murray is a journalist and writer from Dublin, Ireland. She has a passion for both coffee and cocktails and thinks the espresso martini might be the most underrated invention of all time. She lives with her husband and chocolate Labrador in semi-organised chaos.

Networking the New Year

2011-12-29T11:17:00.001-05:00

I'm facing a VERY exciting New Year... You know why? 2012 will be my first EVER book release. That is such a huge deal to me, I can't even put it in words... But you know what ELSE it is? This stressful culmination of 'have I been doing this right?' on the social networking.

I know I've had some successes. I have over 600 blog followers (more if you count the FB set, but I don't know the formula to remove overlap, so I sort of look at that separately). I have a bizillion Facebook friends (okay, more like approaching 3000, but it's a lot). My Twitter roll keeps growing... But have I learned how to USE this stuff?

And I feel exactly like this. Slimed.

What I Know NOT to Do....

ME ME ME ME ME! *cough *

This strikes me particularly hard on Facebook, but it happens other places, too. I am a joiner. It's part of the FOMS, yeh? So I am part of MANY writing groups. And sometimes I will come on and open my notifications and see the SAME person has posted in half a dozen (or more) groups. Do I EVER go see what they have to say? No. As a matter of fact, I NEVER do. I KNOW what they have to say. SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM. They are trying to sell their damn book.

Now I am not without sympathy for wanting to sell the damn books... In fact I will want to sell MY damn books. But that is NOT the how of it.

IDEALLY, I will have generated enough good blood through helping OTHER people out that I only need to share now and then and MY NETWORK will pass it along. It carries more weight anyway, doesn't it? Somebody ELSE promoting something?

Facebook Plans

So My Facebook Resolution is to work harder helping OTHERS promote this year. I already do this for people I 'know'--and by know, I mean people I connect with through more than one system—my blog friends, my ABNA friends. But I am going to work at helping out additional people here... Build the equity, if you will. Not so much it cheapens my notifications—probably I will stick to some metric to not overdo it... three shares a day or something...

My OTHER Facebook lesson is PACE YOURSELF. I think the people who get away with the ME ME ME ME ME (who aren't really doing that—they are also promoting others, but never mind) are people who once a day or so share a review or a signing notice. They don't just keep putting the book link. They share something new that has happened related to the book each time. So we are sharing a journey, not seeing a repeated commercial.

Twitter Plans

I just need to find a tutorial to learn how to use the darned thing. I promote my blog. But I don't read feed. I even miss a lot of mentions and messages. I just get overwhelmed. I THINK what I need to do is group people so all those people I am just following for courtesy aren't clogging my feed. I really only want to see book stuff most of the time, though I can see times fitness stuff, local stuff or art stuff might interest me. But it is almost 2000 people to sort to figure out who goes where... ACK!

I know, I know... I just need to...

GoodReads

Once I have a book number, I think I can set up my author profile. Then I will beg all of you to fan me... since that's how I roll... erm...

I think I need to do the same at Amazon, which means I REALLY need to figure out how this works...

Speaking of Amazon... I will do ABNA again. As Always. And NaNoWriMo... And BuNoWriMo. These events are great places to connect with people on a deeper level.

Blogging

There is no question that this is my favorite social medium. I feel like the depth is SO MUCH greater, and I love that. But Blogging could suck up as much time as we would give it, couldn't it? Through the holidays, I've fallen down on visits. I think what I need to be is more organized. At one time I visited 30-50 blogs a day and I just can't do that very often, but if I was strategic, I could get to more people regularly, rather than the same ones all the time (though I love visiting the ones I do)--still... there has to be a system, yes?

My plan is to be more diligent to not neglect visitors and blogs I love. I am doing pretty good on the writing of blogs... I get them up and all. I plan to write most weekdays, but leave wiggle room to add a weekend or drop a weekday as stuff comes up... averaging that five days a week.

The only exceptions I plan are Blogging A to Z (see button in upper right if you want to do this fabulous April event), and NaBloWriMo in October. These are just both events near and dear to my heart, so I will continue to support and participate in them.

At some point (maybe March) I will need to make a more concerted effort to get around a little, though I think my actual blog tour will be in the few weeks following my book release.... oh, to come up with a clever event... I will have to see...

I guess that is all that's on my radar. Are there other places I should be? Any of you changing things up in the New Year?

World-End Fitness Plan 2012

2011-12-28T13:52:00.000-05:00

Is there a POINT in getting fit for the world to end? Wait... I don't believe in that... And REALLY, if there is that black hole axis tilt matter Roland blogged about (which I found totally fascinating, you should go check it out), then in fact being fit might be highly beneficial to survival... I mean we wouldn't want to be too thin—need the fat stores to survive in the scarcity mode, right? But strong is good. Flexibility adds to resistance to injury...

Every year I intend to get fit, but this year I have something going for me. It's an even year. Why does that matter? I don't know, don't ask me. But it does. I think every successful weight loss I've ever had... like approaching goal, successful, has been in an even year.

Now writing is a pretty big obstacle with this fitness thing. At least for fitting it in with day job and family life. I can be pretty darned obsessive, but it seems I only have time for one obsession in my life at a time, and for the last six years now, writing has been it. The influence of that on my butt has been disheartening.

Back to Weight Watchers

In spite of the need to not be THIN, it is also important to not be FAT... you know... for the speed in the case of the Zombie Apocalypse, but also, I have a BOOK coming out this year! If it is to be my only one before the world ends, I need to look GOOD!

I can do this if I... you know... DO this... it is a mind set thing for me. My online membership lasts until January 15, I think, and work has a real time group starting up, which I may join instead. I will decide by the first. I may need the accountability of it.

But I also know I fell apart this last time the week before Thanksgiving. I hadn't been using the diary, but I'd been following points until I was suddenly thrust into holiday mode. And NOW? The next food holiday isn't until the 4th of July, when one of the featured foods is watermelon. I think I can manage that one. Oh, sure...there are margaritas for El Cinco de Mayo, and Valentine's Day might involve some chocolate. But really, those are single day events and manageable. It is the November/December holiday stretch that is so hard.

So I can do this.

Counch to Keg

We've done a brief hiatus, it seems... but very brief. Really this has been a great exercise plan. I love exercising with a friend. We just need to get back to the RUNNING part. We've been mostly walking since the heavy coat season started. I will continue this exercise effort though. It really is something that has never disappeared and having friends to do it with helps.

The Bigger Obstacle

Flexibility and strength... you see, the problem with these is they require me to be stillish... and when I am STILL (or even stillish) what I want to be doing is WRITING. But I know as I age, these are the things that keep my balance, so I don't FALL (and falls in the agerly, are bad, yeh?) and support my bones so they don't break (see: falls). Besides that, more muscle means higher resting calorie burn which means I can EAT MORE (which is really the goal of all this, right? *shifty*). Seriously, though—this stuff counts more and more, but I just hate it. The only way to fit it in is to schedule it. And I think the best PLACE to schedule it is between dinner and heading out for couch to keg... that is about 20 minutes, five days a week, and if I alternate strengthening with stretching...

I just need to remind myself this is NOT cram in the blog or facebook session time. I mean, YES, double check we are on for exercise, but it is the perfect time slot. I CAN'T really get into some other project here. Perfect, right? So there it goes, shoved right into my schedule.

Any of you have fitness plans? Give a shout if you want to set up a little mutual support!

2011 Goal Progress

2011-12-27T12:30:00.000-05:00

So today is my day to assess how I did on my goals for 2011, and I've just copied the list from my blogs (okay, the writing one, and only a link to the other ones) and I will summarize how I did.

January
Edit and Polish one of my WriMos.
Write and test pitch for ABNA: revise test repeat until ready.
Enter Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest

Assessment: This was all done. Kahlotus Disposal Site was a semi-finalist in the ABNA contest, earned an agent (the fabulous Amy Tipton) then saw two rewrites with agent guidance and is currently on submission.

February

Polish Legacy (should be a 2 week task)
Present option to agent: if she passes, send a dozen queries
Begin writing next Garden Cozy

Assessment: I did the revision, but then sent to another reviewer who had a series of changes she suggested (and I agree). It then got set on the back burner for the required stuff, but is planned for my ABNA entry this year and Amy is reading it, so its day is coming.

March
Finish Garden Cozy
More queries if appropriate
Read Confluence and take notes

I finished the Cozy, but not until MAY (so mixed bag) and did not touch Confluence.

April

Finish reading Confluence beginning to end
Map out how to change PoV/Villains to make it a YA
Edit Confluence

I was still writing Begonia Bribe, so no.

May

REwrite that Gardening Cozy (should have been about the right about of 'set aside' time) then send to peer reviewers.

The month WAS devoted to Begonia Bribe.... Just not exactly as planned. I finally finished it.

June

Write my Microbrew themed near-Cozy (in a WriMo)

DONE. This is still in first draft--in fact has some pages that still need typing. But I succeeded here.

July

Polish 2nd Gardening Cozy/ send to agent
Revise one of WriMos (probably Kahlotus): Send to peer readers

I polished the Garden Cozy and sent to READERS and did one of my Kahlotus revisions. So I was a round late with Begonia, but did what I'd planned otherwise.

August

Polish CONFLUENCE
Open spot for catching up if something has fallen behind

No on Confluence. But DID use it to catch up--Garden Cozy and Kahlotus winding--glad I left a catch-up slot!

September
agent fixes on Garden Cozy
Rewrite MicroMystery
Query
Cozy DUE to Editor

Another mixed bag. I didn't give my agent as much time as I should have with Begonia--BAD me. And I didn't rewrite the MicroMystery. I didn't NEED to query... this really was ALL about finally getting Begonia Bribe in shape (and at the scrambling pace, that was rough)

October

Query
Polish the July Rewrite

After the scramble for Begonia Bribe, I changed my mind about how much time was necessary to do this thing, so I instead started Chrysanthemum Campaign. Only managed about 12K words, but started is started.

November

NaNoWriMo: 1st draft of 3rd Garden Cozy

And strangely, I couldn't get myself to write this at this pace and Medium Wrong had been bugging me too much, so I wrote THAT.

December

Polish Micro and pitch to agent (pretty sure this will interest her)
So FIRM: Is writing 3 books, editing 4 books and doggedly finding representation for at least one other work.

And I changed my mind HERE, too... go figure. I am madly finishing my 3rd garden cozy first draft.

Broad Assessment: I planned to write 3 books and by year end will have written 4. That is GOOD. I planned 2 polishings that didn't happen though... I still find it hard to make myself focus on the rewrites and the edit.s While I may not have adhered exactly to my plan, I think the only actual near-failure was related to how slowly I wrote Begonia Bribe, which threw my whole timeline off. Next time I have a hard deadline (heck, THIS time with my hard deadline) I am writing like a WriMo and will press until it is DONE. I think it was a good year in Writing though.

Summary of Blogging goals: I think I summed it up pretty well last year, and I think I succeeded in my plans, other than that brevity goal, on which I made progress...

The Fitness, Money and Relationship goals: Yeah, not so much... I started TWO fitness plans... both of which were short-term successful, then petered out, though the Couch to Keg program still has us walking together (I really need better clothes to run in this weather--nothing both WARM and allowing for MOVEMENT)... The money stuff, we managed a PLAN (not the exciting one that makes me cackle, but a practical if painful one) and if we stick to it, it will be a very lean... about 3 years... but then we will be DONE with it. That's all I'll say, as this gets into HWMNBMOTI and his privacy issues.

Last Week of the Year: The PLAN buwahahahahahaha

2011-12-26T11:59:00.001-05:00

I love that I get this week off. It is my week I count on every years, and I get to do what I like best... I mean sure, I will need to do some normal housekeeping and such, but mostly the week has few obligations, the kids will have plans... So I want to make it count.

Writing sprints daily = 3

(If I can do 4000 a day, I would finish this month. Whether I can or not, is another matter, mostly because while the END isn't super hard writing for the most part, that 70-90^th percent part is the hardest for me. Even 3000 a day though, would be a pretty solid first draft. That I can do... if I do it, I mean...)

One-Time Projects

Clean up Blog links for past guests/visits

Add page with helpful links and referrals

Add page with some writing samples and/or links

Marketing plan for Azalea Assault

Hammer out pitch for Legacy (for ABNA contest)

Blogs this Week

Wind-up of this week's needs: Today

Assessment of LAST year: Tuesday

Wednesday: Fitness Goals in the New Year

Thursday: Social Networking/promotion goals in the new year.

Friday: Special Guest
New Years Eve: Writing Goals in the New Year

Twelve Goals for Next Year

2011-12-24T10:22:00.001-05:00

On the twelfth day of Christmas, the Book World gave to me...

Twelve goals for next year...
Eleven days for writing...
Ten Lame excuses...
Nine procrastinations...
Eight Bloggy Squeeings...
Seven Activisms
Six Plots-a-Brewing
Five RE-JEC-TIONS
Four Steampunk Stories
Three Co-zies
Two Fabul-Agents
And the notice of a best selling book!

But the goals shall wait... I will review then by domain, because YOU know what goals are? PLANS *Buwahahahahahahahaha!*

For now, I'll leave you with this little Christmas story. I wrote it for my Secret Santa buddy over at the Daily Dodo, but ALSO for the Burrows Advent Calendar. If you want to see more drabbles, head on over there. There has been a new one every day this month, and EACH of us wrote one for Christmas (this is mine)

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas!

Eleven Days For Writing

2011-12-23T11:02:00.000-05:00

On the eleventh day of Christmas the Book World gave to me...

Eleven days for writing...
Ten Lame excuses...
Nine procrastinations...
Eight Bloggy Squeeings...
Seven Activisms
Six Plots-a-Brewing
Five RE-JEC-TIONS
Four Steampunk Stories
Three Co-zies
Two Fabul-Agents
And the notice of a best selling book!

Man, oh, man... See, the University I work for, in lieu of several 3-day weekends (I don't get the Mondays for MLKH or President's day for instance) gives us 4 seasonal days to be taken in December or January, but they SUGGEST (and I am all for) using them between Christmas and New Year—most of the U shuts down, so unlike OTHER vacations, I don't have to play catch-up after. Nobody was there creating work in my absence. I took today as an extra vacation day for good measure--that one was mostly about liking to anticipate Christmas... not wanting Christmas Eve to be too swamped. Tomorrow is holiday, today I do laundry and clean the bathroom... and make cookies... more cookies. Oh, and fudge...

My boss, the hardest working person I know, will work next week—she is an MD and the hospital still has to be covered. But I really hope she takes her family time, too. So the stuff related to what I do, will hopefully get a break.

My PLAN *buwahahahahahaha * is to do 3000 words a day up to Christmas (2 sprints a day ought to cover it) and then 3 sprints a day after until I am done with this draft. (if you are a virgin to the idea of sprints, I wrote a post about them here) I am SO EXCITED!

Once that is over, I will start my Legacy rewrite for ABNA as... it's COMING, but more on that next week as I try to entice the lot of you into participating...

So happy Christmas Eve Eve to all of you!

Ten Lame Excuses

2011-12-22T07:01:00.000-05:00

On the tenth day of Christmas, the Book World gave to me...

Ten Lame excuses...
Nine procrastinations...
Eight Bloggy Squeeings...
Seven Activisms
Six Plots-a-Brewing
Five RE-JEC-TIONS
Four Steampunk Stories
Three Co-zies
Two Fabul-Agents
And the notice of a best selling book!

ignore the gloppy red one...

1)I'm wrapping presents!
2)There are cookies to make!
3)I have shopping to do!
4)It's a Wonderful Life is on!
5)I overdid the eggnog!
6)I ate too much!
7)I can't move. There's a cat on my lap.
8)I'm tangled in tinsel!
9)My fingers are taped together.
10)But it's Christmas!

Those mulit-purpose excuses can be used to get out of housework, gatherings you'd rather avoid, tasks you don't want to do... possibly even a blog you didn't quite get to... but PLEASE do not use them to get out of writing... In fact use them so you can write instead...

Nine Procrastinations...

2011-12-21T06:47:00.001-05:00

On the ninth day of Christmas the Book World... erm... or maybe it was the Internet... gave to me...

Nine procrastinations...
Eight Bloggy Squeeings...
Seven Activisms
Six Plots-a-Brewing
Five RE-JEC-TIONS
Four Steampunk Stories
Three Co-zies
Two Fabul-Agents
And the notice of a best selling book!

I have been trying very hard to keep my nose to the grindstone, but sometimes there are just some amusements too good to pass up.

1) Go to Google Maps. Choose directions. A=The Shire. B=Mordor. Select walking directions. (thanks to Matthew McNish for this)

2) Go to Google and type in 'let it snow' then watch. (be sure to watch for a minute or so, then run your cursor over what happens).

3) Go to Google maps and get directions between ANY two places where crossing an ocean is required. (Tokyo to San Francisco is good).

Man, I love those Google boys and girls....

4) Peruse Twitter hashtags and follow a conversation upside down.

5) Open your email and commit to responding.

6) Look in your cupboards and realize you need to shop BADLY and begin a shopping list.

7) FACEBOOK. (my personal bane)

8) Get started on cleaning chores.

9) When somebody says, “Mom!” respond.

(And I didn't even GET to Procrastibaking, Procrastiknitting or Procrastinakeding) Want to break some of these and get more writing done? I am offering up my new favorite solution over at Burrowers, Books and Balderdash today. It really works, so if you ACTUALLY want to get down to some writing, come on over. I'll put you in line.

Eight Bloggy Squeeings...

2011-12-20T15:46:00.000-05:00

On the eighth day of Christmas the Book World gave to me...

Eight Bloggy Squeeings...
Seven Activisms
Six Plots-a-Brewing
Five RE-JEC-TIONS
Four Steampunk Stories
Three Co-zies
Two Fabul-Agents
And the notice of a best selling book!

See... yesterday my counter hit a QUARTER MILLION hits... and I thought it was time for a little midweek party to celebrate... In fact I've got several related notes...

1) To me a quarter million sounds pretend... like it's not a real number. Oh, sure. I realize at one point my shoebox of a house was almost valued at that (note in dollars though, that is more than four years' salary so it STILL seems pretend)... and of course that pesky detail it isn't even worth that much... see what I mean? Play money. So in terms of HITS... but still... that's a really big number!

2) They have defined this as 110,000 UNIQUE views... now I get that that doesn't necessarily translate to PEOPLE—it is computer related, I think... so the fact I log on at work and at home means I am two (not to mention the dozen other places I've logged onto over time. Now I've tested, and I think ALL University computers count as the same, still, I am thrilled...

3) Also related... my Flag counter claims people from 187 countries—do you know how happy this makes me? That is more than half the world! (in fact if only real countries were counted, I think it is more than 80%, but some of the flags are territories or something...) I wish I knew how many the program counted total.

4) The countries I've had the most visitors are the US, UK, Canada, and Australia (of course—all English speaking) but I've also had over a thousand visitors from India, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, France and Brazil.

5) My most recent new countries are: Madagascar, Andorra, Angola and Timor-Leste (all in December).

6) It appears this number includes every country in the Americas, most of Europe, most of Africa and a lot (though I wouldn't guess most) in Asia.

7) While I've been hovering in the low 600s in followers for more than a month, I feel pretty pleased with that number. Oh, I know there are friends hitting the thousands, but I love my followers! (and there are also the Facebook followers—246, though I know there is overlap there)

8) And of course I am completely proud that my number one search term REMAINS Cabana Boy. *sniff*

Any of the rest of you geek out on your stats? What is your favorite measure (mine is the flags, I think)

So have some champagne and a swim in the pudding pool! I LOVE LOVE LOVE you guys!

Seven Act-i-visms

2011-12-19T03:00:00.005-05:00

Note: The 8th day of Christmas has been delayed. it will arrive, but some 9 hours late or so...

On the seventh day of Christmas the Book World gave to me...

Seven Activisms
Six Plots-a-Brewing
Five RE-JEC-TIONS
Four Steampunk Stories
Three Co-zies
Two Fabul-Agents
And the notice of a best selling book!

Okay, so it might be a little bit of a stretch on thinking this is about books, but it IS about freedoms, specifically from censorship...

You see, quietly under the radar this fall, first the senate then the house passed a VERY UGLY bill—bi-partisan support. In which American citizens, on American soil, can be indefinitely be detained (the new piece of this is that the entire US has basically been added as a 'war zone'). The cause is 'suspicion of terrorism' but the definition is vague and even includes such things a 'stockpiling food' (defined as having more than a weeks' worth stored at home)--so any of you who have disaster supplies? Yeah... good luck with that.

A separate bill that seems to somehow be piggy backed and I find even scarier in some ways is this internet censorship thing—where the government or corporations can remove content you post. Now THIS media blackout is related to increasing the POWER of existing media. If the internet is censored, then the traditional media wins back some ground—we no longer have 'somewhere else to turn'.

Now WHY has this all passed so quietly? I will tell you. Our media has been bought at paid for by large corporations. These large corporations have provided HUGE sponsorship related to this bill.

The LAST CHANCE to stop this nonsense from passing is to convince President Obama to veto this. So I am throwing out seven things YOU can do... the FIRST one is REALLY REALLY important.

1) Call (202-456-1111) or email President Obama (online form) and ask him to PLEASE veto this atrocity!

2) TELL people. It is shocking how many people this has caught by surprise. People who only watch network news DON'T KNOW. Strangely, other than my social network, Jon Stewart seems to be the only one talking about it (the jester has always been the truth teller, eh?) But if you have friends and family who are NOT active in social networks, they may not know.

3) Look up your own legislators. Which way did they vote? Are you happy with them? There is a certain Carl Levin in Michigan who won't be getting my vote again. But I really should tell him...

4) Get involved locally. I believe the only way this police state doesn't become a done deal is if more real people ENGAGE. We need to elect people who are NOT corrupted by corporate politics or cronyism.

5) In fact... I'd like to see a PLEDGE. I would like everyone running int 2012 to sign a pledge to put people before corporations in all cases, and not to take money from Special Interests with corporate funding—a SIG of volunteers is one thing, but a SIG or PAC with corporate origins has NO BUSINESS influencing government. This PLEDGE should include a commitment to lobby reform (elimination, even) and a PLEDGE for campaign finance reform. Commit to only voting for people willing to play by the people's rules.

6) Commit to Civil disobedience. In the case of the internet censoring, commit to speaking your mind loud and often. Don't be afraid. If too many of us do, they can't silence all of us... erm... I suppose they COULD, if they shut down the internet, but if they do THAT, there is no more hiding what game it is they're playing.

7) Please don't go back to sleep. This thing is big and scary and it seems to be coming from several directions. Look at what you care about and fight for it.

Sorry to be so heavy, but this is important.

Note: Saw this morning that the house had dropped the internet thing without a vote this session, but Harry Reid intends to make it first thing in the new year--definitely time to tell your senators what you think of it.

Six Plots-a-Brewing

2011-12-18T10:50:00.000-05:00

On the Sixth Day of Christmas the Book World Gave to Me...

Six Plots-a-Brewing
Five RE-JEC-TIONS
Four Steampunk Stories
Three Co-zies
Two Fabul-Agents
And the notice of a best selling book!

So I used to get book ideas, like... well the first one was the only idea for about seven years... and then there wasn't really another one... there was, but it wasn't flowing... then there was another, and it didn't flow either, and FINALLY there was one related to the first non-flowy one that set off this... it's not a landslide, but I get ideas with some regularity now... maybe half dozen ideas a year that might merit a whole book if I ever got to them. It's not enough to pull a James Patterson with them, but it's pretty good.

I notice, strangely... that four of these six are Armageddon-related... I think I am fairly worried about this. Now... I'm not worried a God-imposed Armageddon is upon us... I don't frankly believe in that, in a literal sense. My belief about the Bible is it has always been allegory—to be taken seriously, not literally. I hope that doesn't offend anyone, but I suspect anyone offended by that was already scared off by my other antics. I can agree to disagree, and be respectful, but I'm not really one to not say what I think. All things are written in culturally bound ways, and the Bible has been translated and edited by people with agendas, even if at one point it WAS meant literally (though I see it more like the tall tales from the oral tradition—there are exaggerations to prove points, etc.) But that aside, I DO believe in self-important bastards who interpret stuff in dangerous ways and will work to bring it about... and THAT is behind much of these four:

The Adult Armageddon: I've told yibus a little about this before... it involves an evil Televangelist, a reporter and a bad batch of flu virus...

The YA Armageddon: This is more a survival story.

Undoing: This is one of those fuzzy, is it YA is it adult, but about a young man from a powerful family whose disillusioned grandfather teaches him what he needs to know to undo the power structure from within... inspired by, of all things, an episode of Veronica Mars.

??? The final Armageddon one is from the perspective of a friend of a political figure who knows by revealing some secrets that he is going to be assassinated, but he manages to get information to a collection of people who must find each other and work together to stop what is happening.

In all four of those, there is a great deal of evil in the powers that be. It is also of note that none of these is Sci-Fi or fantasy... and they aren't dystopian, though they are the events that would lead to the dystopia... The funny thing is two of these ideas have been on my plate for a couple years, well before things were so clearly as bad as they are.

The other two ideas are not so related... (and I know myself well enough to know the Armageddon ones may collapse and combine)... but the final two are:

The Pleiades: I've mentioned this one before, too... a group of geeky middle school kids 'pretending' superhero qualities in order to survive their real life troubles.

And finally a twisted fairy tale about a genie who has been imprisoned for four centuries who is finally released by an arrogant, silver-spooned ninny who doesn't know how to word a wish.

So there...

Now if I can just get some of these books written before any of them come true...

Any of you have thoughts on Armageddon? Any ideas that keep manifesting themselves in new forms?

Five RE-JEC-TIONS!

2011-12-17T03:00:00.002-05:00

On the fifth day of Christmas the Book World gave to me...

Five RE-JEC-TIONS
Four Steampunk Stories
Three Co-zies
Two Fabul-Agents
And the notice of a best selling book!

You heard me... this is about my subbing process. I think last I reported, I'd gotten four back, so this isn't a tsunami of news... but the number still out there is dwindling...

This fifth rejection was fairly nice... liked the premise and the voice, but just thought it wasn't the pageturner she was looking for. I need to speed things up...

Speed it up, huh? This is something I struggle to control. When I write, some is too fast, some too slow. Slowing it down, though, is a lot easier than speeding it up. My THINKING, (and PLEASE, give me a reality check if this is delusion) is that it ISN'T necessarily that I need to cut fluff, but that I need to make people CARE MORE so they are pageturning to find out... I think I could add more specifics of Helen's story... give some insight into why she is frantic in the here and now to make sure history doesn't repeat itself.)

I would LOVE to hear how you speed things up...

Four Steampunk Stories (with Stacy Gail)

2011-12-16T03:00:00.011-05:00

On the fourth Day of Christmas the Book World gave to me....

Four Steampunk Stories

Three Co-zies
Two Fabul-Agents
And the notice of a best selling book!

I have a guest today, and if you've been around here any length of time, you know her. Stacy is one of my very favorite people and long time writer friend. We may have met online, but we ended up real life friends several years ago—soul sisters of sorts, intent on causing the world a little more mischief and laughter because... you know... people don't just play enough.

Stacy has had a STELLAR year as a debut author. She's been writing a long time, but was timid on sending things out until she discovered a TRICK... There are publishers who look for something specific now and again and post calls for submission. She has responded to several of these BRILLIANTLY, and because she is willing to stretch and grow, she has also learned to write in some different genres.

This fall (since August) she has had three novellas published, all romance, but the first was Sci-Fi, the second traditional and this one (I've read them all and love them all, but THIS is my favorite) Steampunk.

This one is part of an anthology with three other stories and I will let Stacy tell you a little more about it all! Welcome Stacy!!!

First off, I would like to thank Hart Johnson for allowing me to invade her space so I can gab about my latest project, a Christmas steampunk romance called CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET, published by Harlequin’s digital-first imprint, Carina Press. Just so you know, I think Hart might have a vested interest in this project, since she did a wonderful job in beta-reading it. Thank for everything you do, Your Tartness! *tacklehugs*

How CRIME WAVE was Born:
Well, first you take a daddy, then you take a mommy… (Do you all remember that talk? I’m still traumatized. *shudder*)

As to how this particular project finally got itself written, the answer is pretty straightforward. Last March the executive editor of Carina Press, Angela James, sent out an innocuous Tweet: Open call for submissions for Christmas Steampunk antho—deadline May 15th.

At this point, I had no idea who Angela was, or that Carina Press was Harlequin, a publishing house I had long given up on. All I cared about were those two luscious little words—OPEN CALL.

Did you know I’m somewhat notorious for being an open-call whore? Yeah. I’m not too proud to admit it.
As luck would have it, I’d been having trouble stifling a random character for quite some time. This character had no home or any real story behind her; all I knew was that she was a thief. No, wait. Not just a thief. She was a brilliant, gadget-making, ice-water-in-the-veins kind of thief who made the Mission: Impossible crew look like ham-handed amateurs. But she didn’t have a frame. The chick was totally out of context, so no matter how much of a pain she was trying to get my attention, I kept kicking her to the curb where she belonged.

Then I read the call for steampunk submissions, and in a heartbeat Cornelia Peabody finally had a home. She was a loner, on the prowl for the next big score. But I couldn’t make her a total meanie, so she targeted faceless institutions and their goodies, rather than individuals who had prized possessions they couldn’t live without. But ultimately her life of crime had to bite her in the bum, and that was where the vengeful love interest, Roderick, suddenly appeared. He’s on a mission to make Cornelia steal back what she took from him, and he’s got a few tricks up his own sleeve to make sure she does it.

The Antho Sisters

We don’t sing, or dance, or perform for the troops (well, at least I don’t… though I want to, now that I’m talking about it). The one thing we do is promote. I’m squeaky-new to the publishing business, but JK Coi, PG Forte and Jenny Schwartz have been at this business for years. Almost from the time we found out the name of our Christmas steampunk anthology—A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS—Jenny was emailing everyone on how we needed to coordinate. By the end of that first week, PG had set up a private author’s loop on Yahoo, and promos/interviews were lined up with several online review sites, because JK seems to know everyone.

I did my part by being the comic relief. :P

Carina Press knows how to do the splashy promos as well. They introduced A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS this past summer at New York ComicCon, and its various holiday anthology authors (all 12 of them) were highlighted at Books On Board with our very own Carina Press/Harlequin web page. (FYI… if you take a quick peek at the FAQs, you’ll see a couple of familiar names under my “Recommended Read” section—I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to mention Hart Johnson/Alyse Carlson and Riley Adams/Elizabeth Spann Craig, because they are all sorts of AWESOME). It’s been great, this whirlwind of activity, and through every step I’ve had JK, PG and Jenny helping me along.

But Enough About Me…
Let talk about CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET!

Blurb:
Roderick Coddington is on a mission to make Cornelia Peabody pay. After identifying her as the thief who stole a priceless Faberge egg from his dying sister, he finds her and shackles a deadly timepiece to her arm. If she doesn’t return the egg by Christmas morning, she will die.

Normally seven days is more than enough time for Cornelia to carry out the perfect crime, but Roderick’s intrusion into her life is beyond distracting. He challenges her mind, and ignites her body with desire she’s never felt before. But worst of all, he threatens the independence she values above all else…

As Roderick spends time with Cornelia, he realizes there’s a lonely soul hidden beneath her beautiful but criminal veneer. Falling for a thief wasn’t part of Roderick’s plan, but plans can change and he has no intention of letting another priceless treasure get away from him.

(Now, don’t you want to read that? Of course you do! :D)

Okay, Let’s Talk About Me Some More…

Come to find out, reviews are scary. Whenever I get a Google Alert that CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET has popped up somewhere on the web, I can’t look. Then I can’t not look (insanity, thy name is WRITER). Thankfully though, the reviews have been pretty darned spiffy. And I can prove it!

Reviews:
Library Journal—“ Gail’s Crime Wave stands out”
Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer—“ My favorite tale is Stacy Gail’s Crime Wave in a Corset. I adore the spunky, intelligent wit of Cornelia. The chemistry between her and Roderick is delightful. The plot was exciting and I would love to read a full length version of this story.”

Kiki Howell for SUSPENSE MAGAZINE—“With any anthology—and this one was a great one on the whole because I liked each story for different reasons—you still have one tale that just sweeps you away more than the others. For me, it was the first story, Crime Wave in a Corset by Stacy Gail.”

NYT Best-selling author, Shannon Stacey—“ I got to read an advance copy of this story and it’s one of my favorite reads of 2011. Top three, I’d say off-hand, without looking at everything I read this year… Once I got about ¾ through, my house could have been on fire and the firefighters would have had to carry me out still reading because I never looked up from the Kindle.” Goodreads review ( way happy about this one. I happy-danced until I threw my back out, but it was soooooo worth it.)

So, in Closing…
Um… well, that’s pretty much it. CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET is now out in all its steampunk glory, both as an ebook and as an audiobook at Audible.com. And who knows? If everything goes right (and I can arm-twist Hart Johnson into beta-reading once again), this is just my first step into a Victorian-era world with a gritty, vaguely sci-fi twist. A perfect world for the likes of the ingenious Cornelia Peabody, as well as a few other characters who have nudged their way to the fore. Like I mentioned earlier, some characters are pushy like that. ;)

P.S. Am I the only one who has pushy people in her head? Or are you like that as well?

Buy Links for CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET (because I have to sell this, yo):
Amazon
Carina Press
Barnes and Noble
AReBooks

Look at those reviews! I'm not even remotely surprised. Have you noticed that Crime Wave and Clock Work have the same letters? (yeah, okay, so that's arbitrary...) Anyway, I wish you and your sisters the best of luck with this and definitely recommend this to all of you!!!

Three Co-zies

2011-12-15T03:00:00.006-05:00

On the third day of Christmas, the Book World gave to me...

Three Co-zies
Two Fabul-Agents
And the notice of a best selling book!

You know... I didn't even know what a Cozy Mystery was when I started this writing venture, let alone think I could write one.

Elizabeth Spann Craig introduced me to this genre... she described it very well and I'm sure I can't do it justice, but I'll give it a shot. They are the light, funny murder mysteries. Think Miss Marple, because Agatha Christie really led this genre into being. The victim is disliked. The sleuth is an amateur. And the READER is a stickler for the writer being FAIR. The clues have to be there so the reader COULD figure it out (or at least can spot the real keys when they go back over it.) These readers don't like the gore of a lot of mystery and don't really want the deep forensic detail (or perhaps just have a distaste to the cop personality so often portrayed—I fall here—I have read sympathetic detectives, but most of them are either bland or stereotypical).

The amateur sleuth as a WRITER is incredibly freeing. I mean I need to make sure the details are accurate, but I can have a lot of stuff I don't know because my sleuth wouldn't know. The things SHE notices are of a different sort. She is a Public Relations Manager and so tends to really spot the details of where something is going wrong... these are usually social interactions and I happen to have a master's degree in social psychology, so this stuff is FUN FUN FUN.

In addition to needing to be introduced to the sub-genre, I was also intimidated as heck with just the IDEA of mysteries... you know... leaving clues, dropping a few red herrings, pacing it right, dealing with suspects and hitting the right note between impossible to solve and obvious (solvable, but bendy). But in fact there are tons of resources, an reading a lot of mysteries gives a feel. Elizabeth again, plus my fellow Burrower Leanne, were amazing help when I first gave it a try.

And you know what? Going through this process... writing stories that have to be tightly plotted, has improved my other writing. It's cut down a lot on my tangent impulses. I adore it.

So I am currently writing my 3rd Cozy Mystery (I also wrote What Ales Me which is just a little too sassy), and I really really love the genre. I think you should all give it a try. Elizabeth has released several this fall—a few back titles for a series that got canceled when Midnight Ink changed directions, plus her third Memphis Barbeque (and Lulu is fabulous—I've read the other two), so if you don't have any in mind, I think you should look her up. As Leanne says, “she's the queen of little old lady mysteries.”

Two Fabul-Agents

2011-12-14T03:00:00.000-05:00

On the second day of Christmas (less that Zombie incident, so really the 3rd day, but never mind) the Book World gave to me...

Two Fabul-Agents
And the notice of a best selling book!

I have a very unusual agent story; I came through a bit of a side door. But what I really want to do here is to throw out a GIANT thank you to Ellen Pepus and Amy Tipton of Signature Literary Agency. They are opposite on many levels, and strangely, that makes them perfectly suited to the very different genres they represent for me.

Ellen is my agent for the Cozy Mystery, where I get license to act like a bit of a nut. My first, due out in June, includes a cross dressing incident, a boxers versus briefs debate, and the exclamation, “I'm naked!” I have a lot of fun writing this series—people who know my online persona think the MC's BFF Annie channels me, and in a lot of ways she does. What is less obvious to those who don't know me in real life is Cam (the MC who is a public relations specialist) and her journalist boyfriend ALSO draw on real life experiences. When I read the description for this series (which they were soliciting author auditions for) it really spoke to me. My first degree was journalism and I know this world. That said, it was a HUGE chance to help me (a green, unknown author) go through the process of auditioning.

Ellen is a lawyer, covering a HUGE part of what I am afraid of in publishing—doing something stupid because of my legalese-aphobia. You see... when I look at anything legal, my mind starts to wander and my eyes cross and I can't absorb ANYTHING—which is pretty darned bad when the consequences can be so huge. She is also calm and meticulous, something that is amazing for me as intermediary between me and my editor (my editor is amazing too, by the way and I luuuurve her... but that doesn't mean I don't want what I send her to be professional). And it is a nice balance for this series that encourages me to be a little nutty, as too nutty might not fly.

Amy is, in many ways, a total opposite. She is moving through the social media with energy and fire and she inspires and pushes at a conceptual level. She read Kahlotus Disposal Site because when I was an Amazon Semi-finalist last year I hoped maybe I'd get agent interest and I wanted to see if Signature was interested first. I felt an immediate connection. She pushed with her ideas on what would fit better in the genre, and sell better with the publishers, and each idea pushed me to use my creativity to problem solve. I feel like I have a lot better book for her insight. She and I communicate in similar ways. She is encouraging and regularly in touch. This submission thing could be terrifying if I got left out of the loop.

And see this fun, energetic, encouraging presence balances the angsty dark part of my work. I know it seems almost counter intuitive, but each of them being them, allows ME to be that side of ME.

So I want to thank them for helping me navigate this strange and changing world!

Why Zombies, with Patrick Freivald

2011-12-13T03:00:00.021-05:00

We interrupt these twelve days of Christmas for a wee Zombie Apocalypse.... teehee

So Patrick is a buddy of mine from the ABNA boards... Patrick and I began arguing with some regularity last spring... see... Patrick and I don't agree on much outside the writing world... Funny thing is, we both get some learning, growing and perspective out of it and we DO agree on a great many writerly things, and THAT makes for a fine friendship.

So without further ado, Patrick is going to explain to you... Why Zombies...

Patrick with zom Bees... er.... (we agree on bees)

Why Zombies?

A fellow author asked me this question recently, in the form of a backhanded compliment: "Why do you waste such talent on such drivel?" It's a good question. Zombies are disgusting, pestilent, cannibalistic monsters without a single inkling of that sparkly sexiness that made Edward such a hit. They've got no mojo, no verve, no flaws to exploit for dramatic tension. For those who don't "get it", a love of zombies can be hard to explain.

Gore is part of it, though for the aficionado it's quite secondary. As vivid as a pile of half-chewed intestines spilling out into the crosswalk can be, it's no more compelling when caused by a walking corpse than, say, frisky velociraptors getting their urban amok on, and it's much less interesting than the same scene caused by a knife-wielding ex-GI suffering post-traumatic stress. Blood and guts sells, but it doesn't explain the phenomenon.

The key to understanding your fellow zombie lover is to recognize that zombies aren't characters. Your head tells you they are, because they are human beings who walk and groan and occasionally talk (if only to lament for a lack of delicious braaaiiins), but your head is wrong.

Zombies are setting. The inevitable horde of mindless corpses constricts the world to a tiny place: a mall, an apartment tower, an army base, a town, somewhere that the rural audience suffocates with claustrophobia, the urban audience with crippling isolation. The collapse of order leaves the protagonists without resources, outside contact, or even hope. They are Ralph and Piggy's island, Dante's oubliette in the Chateau D'If, the very antithesis of the plugged-in modern society.

Zombies are conflict. From the thriller rush of a daring escape to the bitter arguments over dwindling resources, a good zombie apocalypse is a fight for survival that lends itself well to action as well as horror. Sacrifice is a well-loved trope in most fiction, and doubly so in a zombie yarn -- be it holding off the horde so that others might escape, or sneaking off to die of his secret bite, the hero rarely lives to see the last page.

See, Patrick knows bees AND birds.

Zombies are messy. Moral ambiguity pervades the zombie genre. To survive, zombies must be dehumanized and destroyed. The living-but-bitten must be dealt with, one way or another. So, too, must those too weak or too slow to escape with the group. The question of what tipping point makes the protagonists worse than the monsters they seek to defeat is relevant to many real-life struggles, from war to eugenic medicine to dealing with your high-school bully.

Zombies are character. A good zombie apocalypse forces disparate characters together, people who might not otherwise ever come into contact, and subjects them to the crippling stress of imminent danger and the loss of everything and everyone they had. Stripped of everything and faced with hopeless death, the survivors struggle to hold on to those things that make them human.

Zombies are monsters. In an age where Bram Stoker's vision of soulless, hideous, blood-sucking beasts have been supplanted by sparkly-skinned, chiseled-chested swoon factories, somebody's got to step up and do some good old fashioned inhuman slaughter.

So next time you see that half-rotten face peering at you from the cover of a book, don't shudder and walk away; shudder and pick it up. You might just like what you find.

Blurb for Love Bites

An unexpected pregnancy. A slightly less unexpected zombie apocalypse. Dr. Jennifer Picknett's research into the zombie virus leads her down a dark path of inhuman experiments and government conspiracy. As the truth crawls its way from the grave, she struggles to come to grips with the evil she must do to save mankind. Love Bites is the second novella offered by The Uninvited Presents... from Pterotype Digital.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Patrick Freivald is an author, teacher, beekeeper, and coach of an award-winning high school robotics team. He lives in rural Western New York with his lovely wife and far too many animals. His tongue-in-cheek flash fiction A Taste for Life led to an as-yet unpublished novel of zombies and high school, to which Love Bites is a prequel.

Recovery, a crime thriller written with his twin brother Phil, is forthcoming from the Cogito Media Group in 2012.

You can find him on Facebook and Twitter. He won't bite. [blogger note: much *rubs ankles*]

And so... now we understand! Good luck with Love Bites! What do Yibus think? Zombie love out there? (I know there is some)

On the First Day Of Christmas...

2011-12-12T03:00:00.004-05:00

Oh, I know... I shouldn't start until tomorrow, but I have a guest tomorrow, and I have never really been a stickler when it came to counting anyway.... so we will start today and call it good...

On the first day of Christmas the Book World gave to me...

The Notice for my Bestselling Book...

That's what I hope for... yearn for... best sellers... I would love it if I made oodles of money because I could quit my day job and just write, so that's part of it. I'd love a coinciding movie contract, though honestly, the integrity of a movie is something I may or may not be a stickler about. If I ever write something on par with say... The Hunger Games... then MAN OH MAN will I care. That is such an amazing story (and I'm thrilled the movie looks so promising) so the movie really needs to fit. But for me, MOSTLY, the book is the part that really matters.

And sure... I don't want to stop at ONE bestseller... I want to have oodles of them... but that first one will be SO AMAZING... so I can plan it into my Christmas list even though nothing is actually published yet, yes?

If you could ask for JUST ONE HUGE DREAM for Christmas, what would it be?

Pondering Tart

2011-12-08T03:00:00.007-05:00

At least some of you know I went to a funeral on Monday, and it got me thinking as only these life and death things can. For starters, I think it was the most beautiful, rich and meaningful funeral I've ever been to and I've been to a fair few. So part of my ponderances are about why that is... you know... in case any of you are planning a funeral or something. And part of it is... I don't know... how we congregate... families big and small and close and estranged, and all that stuff that we don't think about much of the year that suddenly comes home to roost for the holidays.

The Service

Without giving too much personal detail, this woman was very involved in church and community, and had been her whole life. There were four 'clerics' (since to say Minister, Reverend, Priest, Rabbi, etc. gives away a bit too much) involved—two from the church she attended most of her adult life, one from, a nearby one where she had been involved, and one from the church in my community where she came to live near her family who could care for her when she got sick. ALL of them wanted to be involved. She had touched their lives—they, the people meant to touch all of OUR lives with their teachings had felt taught.

And they all really knew her—this made an amazing difference in the quality of the service. There were stories to make us laugh. There were heart-touching stories. But I think the most telling one was this: She was a woman who could really see what somebody was capable of and pushed them to achieve it, but not so they could be their own best self. It was so they, in turn, could serve and make other peoples lives better.

I think that gets lost on us, anymore. I'm not sure if it has to do with scattering? When we move away from people we 'come from' and 'care about' and no longer feel compelled to give to our communities? Or we give, but only with a goal of glory? Or we (and I am guilty of this) plan to give when finally we are in a better position to do so?

But think about how much more fulfilling life is to pay it forward in whatever way we can. Think about thinking of your OWN GOALS in those terms—I want to be better so I can give more. It's big, isn't it?

random high school choir image

Back to the Service

The other really fantastic feature was the music. And you know what the music was? This woman had been involved in a private high school (one affiliated with her church) in a community where the public schools are pretty darned lousy. Her family had created a scholarship fund because in a poor community, many people need HELP to think about a private education, but where the public schools are lousy, that private school may be their best hope. So this choir of high school kids (who had so much talent it made me CRY) sang... and sang... and sang. A lot of singing—BEAUTIFUL singing. 'Near God' singing, and I don't say that easily. My own religious beliefs are less religion and more spirit and the way I think of God probably isn't one most of you would recognize, so I just don't throw out the word.

And I loved the HUMOR of the service. The cleric, after telling us this woman wanted us to be our best, then said if we weren't, she would haunt us. Which was EXACTLY her. She was spunk personified. I think that is how she touched so many—her approach was so APPROACHABLE. She never acted BETTER THAN anybody. She just inspired people to be BETTER. I wore a pair of reindeer antlers she gave me when we decorated our tree this year. I love a message that inspires us both to be better, and to play more... (you might know that playing thing is important to me.)

My Thoughts on Scattered Families

This particular family is NOT scattered. They've been scattered. They were a military family for many years, but they came back to their roots. Perhaps that makes the understanding of the core more precious.

MY family NEVER would have made us dress alike

My own family was always NEAR when I was growing up. My grandparents (both sets) were in my hometown and my maternal ones were only 3 blocks. I spent a LOT of time visiting my grandma. My extended family got together for every birthday and holiday. We walked into each others' houses with just a 'hello!' or in my aunt's case a 'yoohoo!'

My cousins aren't brothers, but they are most certainly closer than cousins normally are.

And I married a family I have met exactly three times. My husband's mom's funeral. His uncle's funeral. And our wedding.

He feels my family is stifling. I feel like his is... erm... not family. They are the blood relations like I know I have a big family in Iowa (my grandma's family)--I've MET many. I LIKE them. But they are relations, not family... you see what I mean? It is not the kind of thing you talk about before you merge... 'how do you like to be with extended family?'--who has that discussion?

And OTHER people build a family. My lifetime BFF always has a housefull, some 20-30% of whom are ACTUALLY related. But she adopts people. It's just how she is.

In our situation now, we are 2000 miles from my family, so while I'd love to see my family, especially those cousins, as I don't talk to them often enough, we will spend our small Christmas for four. To my husband it is the familiar way. To me it is always just a little bit sad.

Welcoming Ian Healy...

2011-12-07T03:00:00.016-05:00

Oh... excuse me. Ian THOMAS Healy. That's what you get for inviting your friends around... you mess up their name because they don't always use all of it. Erm.

[And INSPIRING to the Insecure Writer-eh? Look at the perseverence here...]

So Ian is one of my long-time ABNA friends with a story which may interest some of you. He decided at some point to self publish several of his works... and was doing fine... not quittin' the day job, but getting good reviews and selling some books... and then he managed to land a BIG book deal (several books—8 comes to mind, though I am known for making stuff up).

I've read one of his novels and one of his shorts and can tell you his style is fantastic. He is funny and whimsical, but still has a great plot and realistic characters woven in—there is a fair trick to that. (the book I read was about a troop of Vampires trying to take over the Canadian Hockey League... seriously—and it was GREAT—Blood on the Ice for those of you interested)

So I am welcoming Ian today to give a little promo for his latest book and share a little of his wisdom with you. Without further ado, Welcome Ian!

The Book of Firsts

It’s been a long time coming. I wrote the first draft of JUST CAUSE between February and October of 2004. It was the first serious novel I wrote featuring my own original characters and universe (compared to a Star Wars fanfic which was a 2003 project). JUST CAUSE was quite different than it is now. It was about 25% longer and much more epic in scope, covering a time period from World War II all the way up to the present-day Mustang Sally storyline. It was the first book I ever submitted to agents (earning a staggering 140 rejections). It was also the first book I ever shelved, and went on to write other things. It was the first book I ever did a serious, major revision that entailed cutting out approximately forty thousand words of story and replacing it with twenty thousand new. The parts cut out have since become seed plots for future Just Cause Universe novels that you will get to see eventually. It was the first book for which I learned to write a query letter and a synopsis. It was the first book that I made into a hard copy galley proof (through Lulu.com, and no, you can’t buy it there), which was given to beta readers as a gift. It was the first novel I turned into an ebook, and the first book that I sold to a publisher. And now, it’s the first one that you can buy in both print and ebook editions, and I am very proud of it.

About Ian
Ian Thomas Healy's goal is to be to superhero fiction what Anne Rice is to urban fantasy and William Gibson is to cyberpunk. When not writing, which is rare, he enjoys watching hockey, reading comic books (and serious books, too), and living in the great state of Colorado, which he shares with his wife Richelle, his children Patrick, Caitlin, and Zachary, house-pets Smokey, Samwise, Morrigan, Isis, and approximately five million other people. Connect with Ian online at www.ianthealy.com and follow him on Twitter as @ianthealy. Get JUST CAUSE in print and ebook editions from www.newbabelbooks.com. His backlist is available in ebook format on Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all other ebook retailers.

JUST CAUSE back cover copy
Some superheroes can fly, or lift great weights, or shoot lightning bolts.

Mustang Sally runs.

A third-generation superhero, Sally's life changes forever when she fights and loses to the notorious villain Destroyer, who killed her father just before she was born. She dedicates herself to tracking him down so she can even the score.

When all you can do is run, you'd better be fast, but can even the fastest girl in the world run quick enough to save her teammates' lives from Destroyer and his growing parahuman army?

Get JUST CAUSE from New Babel Books
Author website http://www.ianthealy.com/
Write Better Action Using Cinematic Techniques http://www.writebetteraction.com/
Visit my online bookstore! www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ianthealy

Love the way you put that... doing for Superheroes what Anne Rice did for Urban Fantasy... very nice. Thank you, Ian!

Wishing a Very Local Christmas to You

2011-12-06T03:00:00.001-05:00

I have very limited means. The gifts I give will largely be small, and not a ton of them at that. So probably I am not going to change the economy single-handedly. But I gotz minions, yeah? All of YOU could make this a real voice, right? (please?)

The idea is simple. Big business has forgotten us. They have mistreated us and ruined the economy. Now if everyone just put their money under a mattress we could spiral into a depression and we don't want THAT. But what if instead, we spend the same amount of money, but we spend it in businesses where we KNOW the people who are running it? What if we buy gifts from artists—where the money directly pays for their supplies and then provides their families with income—no loop through the banks—no hefty overhead. Money just doing what it's meant to do—providing desired goods to US for gifts, and needed income to the people who have actually done the work.

If you don't have a great local selection, may I suggest shopping via Etsy? Or at least investigating craftspeople who are selling their wares online.

Now I do plan to give some items that can't really be purchased this way—books, movies and the like. But the primary gifts for at least half of my people will be centered around artistry.

It's easy, really. I mean sure, it requires some thought about what your loved ones like, but limiting to a domain where you can find something home made that perfectly suits them—there is something liberating about it. I know for my parents and boss I am much happier with the ideas I've got than I have been with gifts I've found browsing stores.

I hope I'm not too late with this message—surely many of you still have gifts left to buy. As for me, I know some talented jewelry makers, knitters, quilters, crafters, photographers.

So I just thought I'd give you a sampling of some pictures I really love. The photographer is a high school friend of mine, Mike Hudson...

I love the variety of subject matter he has, and that the things he chooses are local to where I grew up, and therefore meaningful to people from the area.

So that was my little holiday political plea... but it's not really politics at all. It is community, and close to home. Or that's how I see it.

The Plan BUWAHAHAHAHAHA!

2011-12-05T03:00:00.036-05:00

If you've been around awhile, you know I can't say PLAN without a cackle. *cough* So I was suffering from NaNoLag for a few days there, even though the book wasn't done. (in fact I think I am still suffering from it to a lesser degree) I just couldn't make myself keep going. It was compounded with a sick daughter, the death of the loved one of someone I care about, and just general holiday chaos, but for a few days there, I just couldn't reengage my mojo.

This weekend I managed to do a little on the BOOK end. I took the first and second off, but Saturday did a sprint in the midst of what was legitimately a very busy day, so even one was good, and Sunday managed THREE sprints, thereby finishing my first draft of Medium Wrong except for that tie-up chapter, which I've made some progress on. It has several spots along the way that need holes filled in, though less than former WriMos. It is over 76K now, so may be 90K before DONE DONE, and then I will need to pare it. 70K is really closer to right, but I know how these things go.

I STILL though, need a push to get back on track on the other stuff, as I have a book to finish this month for my Cozy contract. Some of you may not get my panic about it... it isn't due until June 30, but the fact of the matter is my revision method requires some down time. So I thought I'd share my PLAN—BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Starting today:

Write on Chrysanthemum Campaign (CC) like a WriMo—an hour sprint each evening. An hour in the tub later. Three sprints on weekends. No exceptions. At that rate I should manage 2000 word a day weekdays and 5000 weekend days up to the slowdown point (the ¾ mark). That is 20K a week for the next two, then I will slow to maybe 15K... possibly ten, but it is enough I can finish this month.

January: CC will SIT for a month (except some typing of what was already written). I will revise LEGACY for ABNA. LEGACY is relatively clean, but I have had a few recommendations and need a lot of work on pitch and such.

February: Revise CC on my own. Immerse in ABNA--February is the biggest month for this. Finish typing What Ales Me.

March: Send CC to peers with strict one-month deadline. Revise 'What Ales Me'. Work on promotional plan for AZALEA ASSAULT.

April: Peer recommended revisions for CC. Send What Ales Me to peers.

May: Beta read carefully CC. Execute promo stuff.

JUNE: Azalea Assault release. CC to agent. WRITE YA Armageddon. This is a twist on one I've been planning a long time--the ideas for what it's about are definitely filling in.

So at least there is a path again. I feel some relief about that. I am in a bit of a blog funk, too. Should be better soon, as I have 12 days of Christmas plans. But at the moment, I feel like I'm spinning my wheels just a little.

Today I largely won't be here—I have a funeral to attend. But hopefully that, too, will be getting back on track (the blog visiting, I mean).

And... so we get a little holiday stuff going, my buddy Laura over at the Daily Dodo, along with Lorelei, are hosting a SECRET SANTA event for bloggers. No money involved. Just a little time and creativity. So if you'd like to pass along a gift to a blogger friend for the holidays, go over and check it out!

DON'T FORGET!!!

2011-12-02T03:00:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day!

It is perfect timing, yes? Time to pick up a few Christmas gifts?

Sorry for mini-posts two days in a row, but I am crazy busy.

Not Here

2011-12-01T07:00:00.006-05:00

I am over at Burrowers, Books and Balderdash today proving I'm insane. If you don't believe me, go see. If you believe me but it amuses you, go see. If you are frightened by my insanity, it's possible somebody pushed you down a well and you landed here by accident. If so, BOO! (did that push you over the edge? People like me better when they are nuts, too)

Twenty Years

2011-11-30T03:00:00.014-05:00

That's a long time, eh? Today is my (our—but since HWMNOMOTI must not be mentioned on the internet, I will stick with 'my') 20th wedding anniversary.

It is a little strange... HWMNBMOTI had to work yesterday. Today. Tomorrow. When he works, it is 12 hour days (three this week, occasionally he picks up a 4th) so... no romantic dinner. Heck, we will barely pass each other in the hallway. Our money situation is meager... depressing even... so there are no gifts. I did find a perfect card, but having no scanner at home, I can't share it.

HA! (but I sort of found it) This is the image—Bad to the Bun... when I met him he was all badass—leather jacket, dangling cigarette, sort of tough... but a softie... he was nursing his mom who was dying of cancer, for Pete's sake. So the thumbs up on the bad boy (who doesn't love that?), but I knew there was a good heart in there, no matter how much posturing he did.

And that is what I've got today, other than an addendum to my ineptitude: That accepting changes? NOT what I was supposed to do... was supposed to leave them as changes. *dies* in process of merging the two versions and will end up two days late. MAN, there is a learning curve.

ALSO had some bad news in the last few days on publisher interest... before Thanksgiving I'd gotten one no, then Monday another and Tuesday two more. I am still at 4 more and Amy was wonderful—if we get narrower on our list, we will send to more. Not the end... not remotely. But it is still sort of pout-worthy.

BUT I am doing well on NaNoWriMo. I technically won a week ago. I am at 66.5K. I can finish this week. I wish I could finish today, but my ending is more complicated that I'd thought, initially. I t just may take a little longer. I SHOULD be done in maybe 5000 words.

So I will leave you with my favorite thought for the day and call it good.

Happy Hing Day!!!

The Bounds of My Ineptitude

2011-11-29T03:00:00.017-05:00

Strike that. My ineptitude knows no bounds...

So while I have spent much of the last month giving a careful read to Azalea Assault (as had Helena Soister—THANK YOU!), which had arrived back with copyeditor markings every which way, I only began Friday (and then proceeded to spend all day FOR THREE FREAKING DAYS) carefully accepting, barely tweaking and occasionally adding, explaining or changing things in my manuscript. A slow process... like 10 pages an hour slow. And I've reached a conclusion.

Say it with me (five times fast) Bumbling Bunch of Belligerent Baboons.

That is obviously who wrote this... or what I am... or something. I lack competence on every level.

Just to share some of the many things I don't know...

Further: I know you use farther for distance, but apparently am unclear on the other distinctions. I seem to call it wrong every time.

Awhile. One word. Who knew?

The FREAKING TOBACCO MUSEUM SHUT DOWN! I was looking for a tacky tourist site and SWEAR I found one. Some time between my first draft (and research) and now: Poof. Bye-bye. All gone.

Peg board: A TRADEMARKED ITEM. Tell me friends. What would YOU call a board with pegs in it? You know... to hang keys or something? Apparently Peggy has trademarked it because I can't think of any other reason they'd allow simple descriptor words to be trademarked. Xerox? Sure. Kleenex? Fine. These words mean nothing but the brands have taken over the items of 'copy' and 'tissue'. But peg board? Come on... I'm pretty sure Peggy was sleeping with somebody in the patent office.

Am I the only one giggling helplessly?

Erica and Christy helped me not feel so alone on the musical hyphen issue:

The book was well written (no hyphen)
It was a well-written book (hyphen)

But what I really feel down on was all the compound words... backyards and backseats and setups. Have I just been padding my word count all this time? Apparently.

I think it may be a disadvantage that I talk slowly and enunciate carefully. I SAY all those as two words. There is a clear break in them when I say them. Back yard. (where the hot tub was) back seat (where the virginity disappeared... erm) Maybe it's just that these words have the IMPORT of two... *cough* [yeah yeah, excuses excuses]

Commas. Okay. I might as well have just taken a box and tossed 'em up for all the accuracy I had in placing these puppies. I mean, I'm aware I have a comma fetish, and as I said, I speak slowly—so some of my characters speak slowly... and pause now and again... and what the FREAK is wrong with a comma to note a pause!? But then I must over compensate along the way, because I had a lot of missing commas, too. Just for the record, Penguin LIKES the Oxford comma, location-of-Oxford-be-damned.

The Em-Dash-Ellipse Kerfuffle: Oi. Nuff said.

So have any of you had one of these reality checks that passing the grammar test to get into J-school (J for journalism) was NOT adequate knowledge of the English Language for publishing a book?

*sigh *

RaShelle Workman and Exiled!

2011-11-28T03:00:00.035-05:00

I'm thrilled to be welcoming RaShelle Workman today. She is one of my long-time blogger buddies, and someone I identify with on a lot of levels—maybe it is being at similar life-stages, or balancing multiple rolls, or liking a lot of the same things. Or most likely, it is wishful thinking on my part. You see, RaShelle seems to have it all together (and she's so pretty! not that I'm shallow... *shifty*). I've gotten along with her well right from the start, but the funny thing about this blogosphere is you can get to know somebody without really having any clue what their writing is like.

Well I got a chance to READ Exiled, and I'll tell you what. I was impressed as all get out. I think the questions I ask RaShelle will make clear the whats and whys of that, so I think without further ado, I will just let you read the interview! (RaShelle in Blue, me in Purple)

Welcome RaShelle!

Hi Hart – Thanks so much for having me today. These questions are AWESOME!

I think one of the tricky parts in Sci Fi is beings who have enough differences from humans that they feel foreign, but enough similarities that we still identify. Your main character, Venus, is a brilliant example of this. Did you have to take special care to achieve this, or did it come fairly naturally? If naturally, why, do you think (reading you've done?)? And if it was planning, what were some of the things you kept in mind?

You’re so sweet. Thank you. When the idea for EXILED happened, I knew I wanted her to appear human even though she wouldn’t be. That was planned, but I had to write the first draft, get into the world and the characters before I discovered exactly what her differences would be. Then, of course, there’s THE BOOTS. That idea was literally a lightning bolt. I knew I wanted something relatable and attainable, something that readers (which are mainly female) could connect with, visualize, and understand. SHOES popped into my mind! And the rest, that her weaknesses are “captive” in the heels of the boots, fell into place.

I loved your trick to explicitly explore teen emotion. Venus, a princess from another planet, has been trained to be rational and put her people before her own emotions, yet on earth, she takes on several human teen features, including the influx of hormones and emotion. This is genius for letting her address them explicitly without seeming too daft (as a human girl might in the same territory). What I want to know is where this idea came from—was there an actual plan to allow for this exploration? I’m a big fan of romance. Love to read it, watch it, experience it… And there’s something special about that first time you feel those feelings of love. When you go from thinking the opposite sex is disgusting to heart-pumpingly fantastic. I knew I wanted that aspect in the story. So I did plan with those thoughts in mind.

I really loved the atmosphere on earth poisoning Venus slowly (is that mean?)--the reason is it gave a huge urgency to her task, but I also read it as a pollution warning—that maybe we need to clean up our act here. Was this green message intentional? Or just a device for writing tension? It’s like you’re inside my head, girl. It was both. I wanted the urgency, for sure, but I also wanted to send a small message. Green is good. ;D

This was probably the most original collection of ideas I've seen in a story—I'm impressed as heck with your ability to pull together such a strange and fantastical mix into such a smooth story. What do you credit for this? Where do your ideas usually come from? Thank you! A lot of my aha moments came during rewrites. Inspiration for the story came from The Count of Monte Cristo (his being framed for crimes he didn’t commit) and the poem, Venus and Adonis (her great love for a human and his dismissal of it).

(Two parter) (as if any of my questions are one-parters) Venus had to be rescued a few times, largely because of the Earth's atmosphere making her weak. But it's explicit she's much stronger, better trained, and more coordinated at home. In future books do you have plans to let HER be the hero? And finally, this is part of a series—the first few pages of the next book were included at the end of Exiled. How long a series do you have planned? And was the longer story your original idea, or did you build on? And how many of said series are already written and in the pipeline? As a matter of fact, yes. In book 2, BEGUILED, Venus is the hero. I’m very excited to let the readers see the tough side of her.

The Connected Series will consist of three novels. In the beginning, I set out with the intention of writing one, but as I wrote the story, I realized it’d be way too long. When I ended EXILED where I ended it, I knew it was the perfect place to stop. It felt right. And it made knowing where to end book 2 much easier as well. EXILED is the first. BEGUILED is the second, and then DOVETAILED is the final installment.

As for what’s “in the pipeline”, the entire series has been mapped out and planned to “the end.” Book 2 is being written and will be out May 2012 and book 3 will be out November 2012.

Book blurb: (from Goodreads): Stubborn, sixteen-year-old Princess Venus of Kelari wants one thing, to become immortal, that is, until someone exiles her to Earth, kills her irrihunter, and takes her family.

Now she wants revenge.

First she’s got to get home. But before she can return to Kelari, the Gods have commanded her to help an arrogant boy named Michael find his soul mate. Only she doesn't know the first thing about love.

Rather quickly, her inexperience with human emotion is obscured by other matters—alien-controlled psychotic teens that are out to kill her, and a government group that is set on capturing and dissecting her.

Worst of all, Venus will suffer a painful death-by-poisoning, thanks to Earth’s atmosphere, if she remains on the planet longer than one week. Still, Venus is a Princess and she's got a plan. Surely, with her help, Michael will fall in love with a human.

But time is running out and Michael is falling for the wrong girl—her.

Author Bio: RaShelle Workman lives with her husband, three children, and three dogs. When she gets a quiet moment alone, she enjoys reading about faraway places. And, in case you were wondering, yes, she does believe there is other life out in the Universe.

Links to buy Exiled:

amazon:
barnesandnoble:

smashwords:

Thanks so much, RaShelle! And good luck with your series! You've got a great start here!

Gratitude

2011-11-21T03:00:00.012-05:00

Just so you know, I am going to take a few days off this week. Between company coming (and my need to clean) and NaNoWriMo (and my need to write) and my need to finish editing Azalea Assault, I just have enough to do that I thought taking a brief blog break would be a good idea. I will get one in next weekend (Friday or Saturday) and then be back to normal (meaning normal schedule, not actually BEING normal—as that would be abnormal) next Monday.

Today, though, I thought I'd reflect a little on some of the MANY MANY things I'm grateful for.

Health

I have some back pain and am overweight, but all in all, I am pretty darned healthy. I haven't been so sick I had to take off from work since maybe 2004 (only twice in the last decade). I don't get regular headaches or stomach trouble or heartburn. I take no prescriptions. I try to eat some good stuff most days (fresh fruits and veggies) and I get a lot of exercise, but mostly I just feel very fortunate, because a lot of people who work a lot harder have more health trouble than I do.

My Immediate Family

I know I grumble sometimes, but it really is more in humor than anything else. In reality, I have a thoughtful husband who is nurturing and handsome, and two gorgeous kids. My daughter is creative, sweet, beautiful and funny. She is also sensitive, particularly where her soft spot for animals is concerned. My son is smart, hysterical, and embraces my own need to be just a little odd. They are all healthy, they are usually fairly happy, and for the most part, we get along pretty well. I love them (animals included, of course).

My Extended Family

This one is a little bittersweet because they are just too far away. As most people do, I have two branches to my family, and they are pretty darned opposite. The one scattered a little when my grandma died, so they don't get together. At all. Thankfully, I have reconnected with parts of it. The other side was always close... geographically close enough when I was growing up that we got together for every birthday and holiday. The kind of family who walks in with just a 'yoohoo' instead of knocking, who pitch in to help clean up even when it isn't their house. I miss them badly. My generation has scattered a little, but these are still some of my favorite people.

My Job

I know I'd like to make enough writing to not have one, but considering I really NEED one, I am glad to have one I feel does important work, focused on bettering lives. It's interesting and my boss is FABULOUS.

The Chance to Write

I am very aware not everybody is in a place in their life where they have the time. I think people who have to work full time and have younger families have it especially rough. I know this because I was there for a while—a long time, in fact. I am very glad to have reached a place where stealing that time doesn't have drastic consequences, because honestly, the writing is how I most feel like me.

Facebook

Silly as this one sounds, I have reconnected with SO MANY people I thought I'd lost forever (including some of that family)—it is a powerful tool that way. I've also met a number of new friends... meeting friends of friends—engaging in conversations and finding like minds—it really is just a pretty great thing to do!

And Last But Not Least

Our Blogosphere!!!

I am grateful for ALL of you! For those of you who teach me. For those who entertain me. But most especially for the support system we've managed to create. We all have each others backs and lift each other up. We help each other feel less isolated, and help navigate waters we haven't been in before. We share the pain and the victory, the former made less by sharing, the latter made sweeter by lifting other peoples' hopes, that they will get there too.

Speaking of... my buddy Liz is giving away some books as she leads up to the release of Specific Gravity, so if you'd like some great books about sex and beer, head over to her place and enter! http://www.brewingpassion.com/

I know it is only Thanksgiving in the US this week, but I am thankful for all of you! Have an amazing week!

Happy Birthday Babaloo!

2011-11-18T03:00:00.003-05:00

No scanner, so I just took pics of pics...

My son turns 13 today. This means all my kids are teens (yes, all two of them). The other one has been a teen since she was 4, so the formal turning wasn't such a big deal. My son, though... has taken on the obnoxious teen boy things very recently.

He was a tidy child. When I would get out a pair of socks and put them on my shoes to put on later, the socks would disappear... he'd put them in the laundry... we're talking age two.

Clean no more... now I can't get him to bring his snack dishes up from the basement for anything. And he's gotten more disagreeable...

But as children go.... he is definitely mine.

He has been making word jokes and using deep sarcasm since he was very small. He is a number guy and can be logicked through most things (like me: the other half of our family, not so much—they are more emotional). He and I have common book tastes.

You know... he was a difficult very small child. He didn't like to be away from home, so he would periodically melt down... badly enough strangers would ask if they could help. He liked things predictable and was anxious and misbehaved if they weren't. He is a lot more flexible now, but in spite of how cute he was, I never worried ANYBODY would be tempted to take him. (Unlike my daughter—I was paranoid about her).

Whatever the case, once he got into school, he calmed down a lot and was extremely pleasant until about 6 months ago. I suppose this just means he is doing that thing that teens do. Hopefully that logic thing holds... at least for the most part. All that sounds sort of negative, looking at it now... not meant to. I adore him. I love his humor in particular--it makes him fun to spend time with.

So I spent last night baking a birthday cake instead of blogging... so this is what I got...

Samadoo, I wish you a very happy birthday!!!

Meeeeee!

2011-11-17T03:00:00.010-05:00

Erm.... what I mean by that is, I haven't really given a status update for a while, so I thought maybe I would.

My Absence...

First, deep apology for my day job keeping me too swamped to check blogs during the day and NaNoWriMo keeping me too busy to make up for it in the evening. Normally I do a little of both, but this week I've gotten to a very pathetic few. My work deadline is Monday, so things should then improve.

Couch to Keg

The exercise plan is ROCKING! Monday was a personal (pairsonal?) best. Jackie and I, out 58 minutes, ran 30 of it, with our longest interval at 11 minutes. There are still three of us participating, but our third is not quite so keen on the running, so sometimes we loop back. She is working a second job for the holidays, though, so we also are trying to do our running days when she can't be there. Our practice has been running/walking intervals 3 days a week, then power walking 2-3 more, each time 45-60 minutes. And we really ARE doing great. I'm very proud of all of us (I can say that, yes?) and I am incredibly grateful for having wonderful neighbors who have kept me going when I probably would have given it up as too much effort otherwise.

Weight Watchers

Yesterday was month 2. It was not nearly as big as month 1. In month 1 I lost 12 pounds. In month 2 I love 4.5. So it is the right direction, but I know for a fact I've petered off in effort. I've been REALLY hungry. I think this is the winter compulsion to pack on some body fat. What my body seems to be missing is I already HAVE body fat. I don't NEED to pack it on. I haven't kept my food diary in 2 weeks either (and I definitely need a spanking). I am not giving up—I am still making a point of good choices, and avoiding BAD choices. I just have not been as diligent on volume control.

Edits for Azalea Assault

I am 1/3 through, which I think is pretty good. I feel pretty good. I still like it. I feel proud of much of it. It's not as clumsy as I have sometimes feared in the in-between. So that's good. I am able to edit about 40 pages a day, so I should be in good shape. I ALSO had help offered from three amazing, fabulous friends who I LOVE! And should be in good shape to incorporate their feedback when I get it the 21st.

NaNoWriMo

Last weekend I had an AMAZING run. I wrote 14000 words in 3 days. Do you know what I learned? I really LOVE writing sprints. I had been struggling for a few days (this work deadline was leaving me lackluster when I got home) but the idea of a sprint allowed me to set aside the time and totally BLOCK everything else. Heck, Saturday, all on its own, was almost a 6000 word day (something I've only done twice before). Yet I did that ALL in three one-hour writing sprints. (I hope to hit 40K tonight)

I really like the story so far, though I suspect it will be 70K before done, so while I have no doubts I will win NaNoWriMo, I will probably not be done with the book at that point. Given the rest of the month's challenges, I think I can hit 60K, but that's about it.

Thanksgiving

We're looking at a weird year. Hubby is our cook. I've never made thanksgiving dinner. In fact the only regular Thanksgiving fare I've ever made is pie. Hubby has to work that day. He is a home health aid and his client needs care every day. I tried to convince him to do Thanksgiving another day that weekend but he got really weird about it. I'd about decided the kids and I would have a Harry Potter marathon and eat baked brie, summer sausage, and crackers (these would be our splurge foods). But then I talked to my mom.

My uncle was in the peace corp in Botswana MANY years ago and ended up marrying a woman from there. They've lived back and forth—they are now in the states. But my aunt has a cousin with a daughter who is now on exchange in Kalamazoo—two hours from me and THOUSANDS of miles from anyone she knows. So we are having this distant cousin to our house. I'm excited to meet her—I think it will be a great cultural experience for my kids, and she is indeed family. But it means putting together a Thanksgiving dinner.

Hubby will make the stuffing and cranberry the day before. We will just make a turkey breast. And then I will do the beans and mashed potatoes. (my daughter wants to make the pies). I'm excited, but a little nervous. I don't want to muck up her only US Thanksgiving!

So now you know all about ME! Tell me something about YOU!!!

Wordplay

2011-11-16T03:00:00.020-05:00

Words are funny things, aren't they? I mean... literally that's true... I love a good word joke... but there is also sort of an enigma factor. I mean REALLY, all they are is a series of letters... sounds... and we give them meaning. They hold individual meaning, and they can be put in a sentence that either reinforces or CHANGES the meaning.

I had a couple word thoughts recently...

We'll start with my Twin Leslie. She said she needed words yesterday...

from Little Britain

Being me... I gave her some: Cacophony. Moist. Kerfuffle.

IMMEDIATELY there were protests. Words sitting by themselves and two of these words people love and one they hate. They wanted me to banish it. I bet you know which it is. I bet you hate it a little, too.

Poor, sad Moist.

What IS THAT that makes a word with no context so repugnant? I mean I understand words with horrible connotations... racial slurs are abhorrent. (any in-group/out-group division, really).

But what did moist ever do to anybody besides communicate that the cake was superior? And how is that bad?

Still, I know people I can say it to who physically shiver in response.

This pleases me. I do have my moments of evil.

I would totally call this mauve

One of my FB friends recently asked about puce... why it was underused... This made me giggle. There was a fair few of us with a wrong impression of what color this actually is, strictly because of the name... it just is too close to puke (aka: an unpleasant shade of greenish brown).

And of course my buddy Stacy challenged us to pick a word... any word... and repeat it about 500 times... you will barely make about the thirtieth repetition before said word no longer sounds like an actual word, but gibberish (which is harder to speak than Dumbledore would lead you to believe--but worse than speaking it, is understanding it.)

sex and violence source

And then we get to the lecture by Hugh Laurie on Sex and Violence.

[this image has so much wrong it is almost right again, eh? Maybe it's just me... normally I don't condone chainsaws. I think the fishnets save it. You might have to magnify it to see them...]

Why is it we can say the following in polite company: war, torture, kill, murder, assault, pummel.

But the word for human coupling, the most intimate act we have, we refer to as the 'f-word'?

We really are a very odd batch of people.

I'd wish you all a moist Wednesday, but I am a little worried about being on the receiving end of a curse...

Jessica Bell Rocks!

2011-11-15T01:00:00.055-05:00

Ha! (I'm serious... literally AND figuratively. I win for double meaning)

So Jessica and I seem to have started the blog circuit at very similar times. She was among my earlyish friends and I've always thought she was wonderful. Perhaps the fact that I have been dubbed an honorary Aussie and HWMNBMOTI and I adopted Greek culture for our marriage table (both being American mutts from places with bad food) contributed, but honestly, my first visit to her blog and her alternative definitions for words had me hooked (arsenic=a cut on the bum).

Jessica is deeply genuine. She is passionate and her emotions run the gamut and always ring true and I love that about her: that there is never any doubt about exactly who she is. Sometimes she is laugh out loud funny, and sometimes she has be crying at my desk. But I never have any doubt that it is truly her spirit coming through her words.

I had the honor of getting an advanced copy of her debut novel Sting Bridge, and I believe that my review will be largely shown in my framing of my questions, though I will sum it up a bit at the end... (well not a bit... a good Aussie knows a BIT is a bit naughty... we won't be doing any rooting either--if you are confused, find an Aussie dictionary, Sheila.)...

So here is how it goes. I am in purple with questions (which are often multi-part) and Jessica is in blue with answers...

WELCOME JESSICA!

1.I found Melody extremely identifiable, in spite of having no musical ability whatsoever (me, I mean). I think the spot she won me was when she spotted herself being quirky, but what she REALLY wanted to be was mysterious (I think you know this about me: I'm a deeply sexy, mysterious woman trapped in a quirky, humorous shell)--YOU, on the other hand, seem truly arty, sexy and sometimes angsty, so I'd love to hear where this concept arose—craving darkness...

Ha! Yes, I am quite angsty, and seem to become over-emotional on occasion, and love to use that as a tool to create, but I’m not always in a dark place. Seeing as you’ve asked, I’m going to let you in on a little secret … I’m a cartoon. :) Ha! If you were to live with me for a long period of time, I would grow very comfortable around you and totally let loose. I love to misbehave, and that sometimes turns me into a clown. I do the most stupid and annoying things to my partner that he sometimes has to swat me away like a fly. Basically, I get quirky when I get comfortable.

I will never forget what the father of a very good friend of mine said when we were graduating from high school: “You’ll know you have matured when you can act like a child.” I was a very self-conscious girl in high school and tried to hide that by becoming a Goth. Yes, a Goth. I was one of the freaks. But that was okay, because I sort of felt like one inside. It seemed okay to feel abnormal if I looked abnormal. But when my friend’s father said that to us, something clicked, and I thought, “He’s right. Who gives a toss what anyone else thinks of me. Just be yourself.” From that day on I let my inner child loose.

2.I see a lot of you in Melody, but situationally, I also see a lot of your life in Tessa, who is only four. How much of the novel had autobiographical roots, and if you look at those two roles, how much each, for Melody and Tessa.

To be honest, it’s hard to say. I think every writer puts themselves into every character, but the similarities come through in waves which depend on various factors, such as mood, while writing. I could try and give you a percentage, but I think I would always change my mind. Overall, I’m not Melody. I want to primarily write, not have a career in music. I don’t have a daughter. I’m not married. I’m happy with what has become of me in life. I have no regrets. Yes, I live in an apartment in Athens and I work as a writer/editor for English Language Teaching materials, and my parents live on a Greek island, but I used those aspects of my life because I needed to really ‘know’ what I was writing about. Being my first novel, I didn’t want to get caught up in a mist of research, so I figured if the basic details, such as setting and occupation were the same as my own, I wouldn’t stumble into any mind-numbing obstacles along the way. I needed to write what I knew to get that first book out of me.

I think it’s amazing that you see me in Tessa, because there were a few times as I was writing when I thought about a home video my grandmother took of me singing in her garden when I was four or five. You have extraordinary instincts, Hart! *blushes*

On another note, I find it interesting that many readers think that because I live in Greece and it’s set in Greece, that the novel is autobiographical, because I can’t imagine the same reaction if I were living in America and the book was set in America. It becomes pretty far-fetched when you think about it like that, doesn’t it?

3.I think you hit on some very common feelings of disillusionment that occur in a marriage, and you hit them with such painful accuracy, yet, you haven't been married, or a mom (at least so far as I know)—was this all intuitive, or did you talk to friends? There was honestly a stretch in here I felt like I was reading my own journal, it was so freaky-accurate, and it just amazes me you could hit it so spot on without having survived it.

Yep, you’re right. I’m not married (though I am in a long-term relationship) and I’m not a mother. I don’t have any friends who are married with kids who feel disillusioned, so no, I didn’t talk to anyone either. It was all instinctual. There were times though, when I was writing, where I felt my instincts might be wrong. There were so many times I wondered whether what I was writing was too melodramatic. I didn’t want the book to become a soap opera. I really had to sit back during those moments and close my eyes and put myself in Melody’s shoes, and ask myself, “How would you react if your husband did this to you? How would it make you feel? Does this reaction suit Melody’s character?” Sometimes my possible reactions didn’t suit her character and I had to alter them accordingly, but trying to live it in my mind certainly helped. Personally, if I were in Melody’s situation, I wouldn’t have put up with as much as she did. And I’ll let you in on another secret, I think I may have sub-consciously picked a few fights with my partner while I was writing this book. Yikes!

4.I know you have also written a soundtrack to go with this book—this is so conceptually BRILLIANT—I love the combination of your skills you are using. So here is the chicken and egg question—did all the songs come AFTER writing the book? Or did some of the songs inspire the book? Or was this process more circular?

Most definitely circular. The songs that appear in the book started off as poems. Then it occurred to me that I could create and produce an album for Melody. That’s when the idea for my book trailer came about after listening to a few of my mothers songs on YouTube. The poems then turned into lyrics. When I finished the final revisions I sat down and wrote music to the four songs that appear in the book. Once those were done, I wrote six more songs to create Melody’s album.

5.And finally, I'd love to hear where you are in process on your next couple of projects—I know you are WRITING your third... has the second been sold? And can you tell us a little bit about each of them?

My second, Bitter Like Orange Peel, hasn’t yet been sold, but I’m in the process of doing that right now. I was going to look for an agent, but I’ve sort of given up on that. I think my writing is a little too different for the commercial market, so I’m quite happy to stick with Independent Presses for the time being.

Bitter Like Orange Peel, is about a twenty-five year old Australian archaeology undergraduate named Kit, who doesn’t like to get her hands dirty. She feels misplaced and comes to the conclusion that meeting her father, Roger, will make some sense of her life, despite him being worth the rotting orange rind in her backyard. Well, at least that’s what she’s been conditioned to think of him by the three women in her life: Ailish, her mother—an English literature professor who communicates in quotes and clichés, and who still hasn’t learned how to express emotion on her face; Ivy, her half-sister—a depressed professional archaeologist, with a slight case of nymphomania, who fled to America after a divorce to become a waitress; and Eleanor, Ivy’s mother—a pediatric surgeon who embellishes her feelings with medical jargon, and who named her daughter after intravenous. Against all three women’s wishes, Kit decides to find Roger, but in doing so, discovers he is not the only rotten fruit.

For my third, Muted, I’m applying for a writing fellowship in order to fund all the research I want to do for it. So fingers crossed for that!

Muted is set in Arles, France, in a totalitarian society where it is illegal to wear clothes. In some streets, it's also illegal to sing without accompanying instruments. Concetta, a famous Italian a cappella singer from before “the change,” breaks these laws. As punishment, her vocal chords are brutally slashed and her eardrums surgically perforated. Unable to cope with living a life without song, she resolves to drown herself in the river, clothed in a dress stained with performance memories from her hometown, Milan. But Concetta's suicide attempt is cut short as someone grabs her by the throat and pulls her to the surface. Is it the busking harpist, who encouraged her to feel music through vibration, acting as saviour? Or a street warden on the prowl for another offender to detain? From this moment, the reader will discover how Concetta came to be in this position, and what will happen to her after the suicide attempt.

Muted will explore a variety of themes such as overcoming loss, coping with mental illness and disability, dealing with discrimination, loss of freedom, inhibited self-expression, motivation to succeed, escaping oppression, expression through art and music, self-sacrifice, channelling the thoughts of the deceased, and challenging moral views and values.

Thank you so much for having me, Hart!

*bows * No, thank YOU!!! I'm very excited about your new stuff, though you know me... I have a very hard time thinking nudity would be repressive... still, it sounds fascinating!

I guess my final summary of the book is it was moving and real. I loved living a life in Greece that was unfamiliar in the head of a person who still felt so entirely real. She went through some very hard emotions and events, but her actions and reactions all were palpable--I felt for her and identified with her. I really enjoyed the read.

Here's a little more about Jessica: Jessica Bell is a literary women's fiction author, poet and singer/songwriter who grew up in Melbourne, Australia, to two gothic rock musicians who had successful independent careers during the '80s and early '90s.

She spent much of her childhood traveling to and from Australia to Europe, experiencing two entirely different worlds, yet feeling equally at home in both environments. She currently lives in Athens, Greece and works as a freelance writer/editor for English Language Teaching publishers worldwide, such as HarperCollins, Pearson Education and Macmillan Education.

In addition to String Bridge, Jessica has published a book of poetry called Twisted Velvet Chains. A full list of poems and short stories published in various anthologies and literary magazines can be found under Published Works & Awards, on her website.

From September 2012 Jessica will be hosting the Homeric Writers' Retreat & Workshop on the Greek island of Ithaca, home of Odysseus.

Now if you want to find Jessica's book, soundtrack, or Jessica herself, these are the places you ought to look:

Purchase links:
eBook
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/String-Bridge-ebook/dp/B005Y48DF6/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319369262&sr=1-1
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/String-Bridge-ebook/dp/B005Y48DF6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319370801&sr=8-1

Paperback:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/String-Bridge-Jessica-Bell/dp/0984631747/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/String-Bridge-Jessica-Bell/dp/0984631747/
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/string-bridge-jessica-bell/1030101696

Soundtrack:
iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=465313522
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Melody-Hill-Other-Side/dp/B005P7ARNS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317118328&sr=8-1
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Melody-Hill-Other-Side/dp/B005P7G02A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317118484&sr=8-1

My links: (Meaning Jessica's)
String Bridge Website: http://www.stringbridge.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11502954-string-bridge
String Bridge Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv-hRMA0kqQ
String Bridge Merchandise: http://www.cafepress.com/janicephelps/8155170
website: http://www.jessicacbell.com/
blog: http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/author.jessica.bell
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MsBessieBell
retreat & workshop site: http://hwrw.blogspot.com/

So what are you waiting for!? Go take a peek, have a listen... you will be glad you did!

Monsters Made and Born

2011-11-14T03:00:00.004-05:00

[and an oops! Totally forgot about Dave's noughties blogfest! I'm very sorry and hope you will stay... I just had a big reaction to some weekend news and forgot former commitments].

So the tawdry sports news in the US this weekend has got me thinking... we are really SICK people.

To give you some perspective, I have a couple degrees in psychology. This is not just uninformed opinion, though neither is it my specialization (that would be where psychology and health behaviors interact). But there is some required content for any psych degree, and a lot of it applies here.

The Pedophile Rapist

Yuck. (that isn't a psychology term). I think people drawn to kids have a deep sickness. I think a person with this sickness raised in a healthy way recognizes it and addresses it and works against it. But I think historically, these people were channeled... I think this is the plight of the Catholic Church—men who KNEW what they felt was wrong, so they tried to hide from it by entering the clergy.

This is NOT meant to claim all people who enter the clergy have a problem. Most people are sincere and devout. It is saying an environment that lacks means to help sick people will draw them into places like this... they are TRYING to fight it. But this is not going to help somebody get better. In fact a learning environment where they are surrounded by a lot of young men is likely to make it worse.

Now I don't know how this translates to a sports environment, except maybe the machismo testosterone infused spot made Sandusky feel like he was going to be a real man and not need all that anymore... but then it became a shield. A curtain to hide behind.

I have a high school friend who played football in college, and he says this behavior would have led to a 'to the pulp pounding' in the environment he was in. I'd like to believe that's true. And maybe it is. But he was also at a smallish school in a small league, so the stakes weren't quite the same. I don't know enough about the Penn State system to understand the power structure... I don't know who Sandusky might have hurt. Though it seems to me getting caught at this cancels anybody's clout.. but who knows what goes into the mental processing?

And in all these cases, though, once protected behind the veil, the illness accelerates. Their behavior is enabled.

Pedophilia, as I understand it, it a result of biological or very early trauma... The brain is BAD and it needs to have active treatment to keep the actions from following suit. This isn't something just anybody can fall into. It isn't that a normal person finds this appealing. It is psychopathology. Path meaning SICK.

The Blind Eye

THIS, on the other hand, has been shown to be quite a 'normal', if abhorrent reaction. Bystander effect is well documented.

The first case taught in psychology classes is from 1964, a woman named Kitty Genovese in Queens, New York was killed in an alley, stabbed multiple times, screaming 'help me'. The police later determined more than a dozen neighbors had heard but nobody so much as called the police. All of them figured somebody else would call. Their responsibility was diffused (in their minds) by their numbers.

Now in a crowded city, this is a little understandable. There ARE other people who could call. But in fact... if everybody thinks that, nobody calls. There is a natural impulse we have to actively fight to do the right thing.

The same response is responsible for much greater atrocities... the holocaust comes to mind. But what we don't want to think about is this particular effect occurs among normal people. This could be US. In fact, absent awareness and effort, this WOULD be us.

That isn't to say we shouldn't be better. We should. But it IS to say perhaps we need a heavy hand to MAKE us be better.

When I lived in Oregon I was a state employee for a while. I had to sign a form committing to being a 'mandatory reporter' for crimes I witnessed, first and foremost, if I witnessed anything where a child was at risk. This was not only for when I was on the job. This was in my day-to-day life. I was criminally responsible if I saw something and didn't report it. If my neighbor was beating her child in their own home, I had to call. (not that my neighbors were abusive—this was hypothetical)

Now I wasn't a social worker or a care provider, or even a teacher. I was a researcher. But the state of Oregon felt this level of 'eyes' in the community would protect children. I believe that's true.

Joe Paterno didn't directly witness these crimes (that we know) but he DID have them reported, and in turn reported them... but to his supervisor. NOT the police. Somewhere buried in the MUCK of policy, there was a decision that PR was more important than not only ethics, but safety and humanity. How many lives were ruined forever because some uppity University officials didn't want to deal with the dirt? I'm sure this was all in the name of avoiding a scandal, but holy SHEESH did they call it wrong. An abuse quickly caught and rectified dies quickly. Something like this, allowed to go on for over a decade? Not so much.

And then the BIZARRO World Fan Reaction, which I hear isn't so uncommon...

Fans are distressed on Joe's behalf... Are you kidding me? Rather than these CHILDREN? But not so unusual... apparently in Ancient Rome there was a Charioteer who sodomized a young boy. He was sacked by the (governor?--old titles are unclear to me). The 'fans' were so angry they MURDERED the governor over the matter. People will be STUPID about their sports. But it doesn't mean we should settle for that. We should strive for better.

I urge ALL OF YOU to seek out the regulations governing the institutions you care about. Find out what the LAW is and what the RULES are, and URGE THEM to deputize their employees. Make everybody responsible. Because sadly, I have my doubts anything else will force good behavior in some environments, but policy just may.

Eleven

2011-11-11T03:00:00.009-05:00

So FIRST on 11-11-11, I want to thank the veterans... All veterans. All wars. I have disagreed with our foreign policy more often than not, but that never takes away from the valiance, courage, and love of country these men and women have and THEM, I will always honor. THANK YOU!

And now for my blog...

What does one CALL a collection of Elevens? If a group of geese is a flock, and a group of crows is a murder, and a group of buffalo is an Obstinancy (I'm serious)... A memory of elephants? (nice!) What is a group of Elevens?

Because I have one.

Stay with me here... we are getting deep into the most amateur of numerology... erm.

My birthday is 6-23. 6+2+3=11.
HWMNBMOYI was born 9-2. 9+2=11.

Well and good. Nice coincidence. (the middle two numbers of our social security cards are the same, too, even though all the stuff on the ends is different).

But no...

DAUGHTER was born 4-25. 4+2+5=11.

By the time son was coming, I had an inkling what might happen, though I don't think it put me into labor...

11-18. 1+1+1+8=11.

Wanna know something wacky? My mom's birthday? 8-21. 8+2+1=11.

I had a friend find some prophecy about the evil number eleven, but somehow I am having a hard time believing my little... what should we call them... a FAMILY of Elevens... is so bad. I mean SURE, we are all NAUGHTY in our own way, but evil? Not so much.

Though there IS the megalomania that goes into my Naked World Domination Tour... but you know.. I DESERVE to rule the world on THAT one!

Any of you keep track of number coincidences? Do you BELIEVE they are coincidences?

Take Your Child To A Bookstore Day!!!

2011-11-09T03:00:00.021-05:00

So one of my good friends has started a NATIONAL event that is coming up on its third year... a GREAT event—designed to keep the magic of brick and mortar bookstores alive... to share it with our kids and pass it down. To instill the love that makes so many of us GIDDY faced with wall upon wall of books.

When Jenny Milchman began this quest, I loved the idea. Independent bookstores were dying and with them, the personality infused stores that felt like home to so many of us. Her idea grew to include all bookstores—because heck—what's not to love about a day immersed in books with the people we love.

The landscape has changed since last year. Borders gasped its last breath, which is a sad thing. But there is a glimmer of hope to be had—the Indie stores may be in a position to take on some of that business. I'm not saying don't participate at a Barnes and Noble—by all means, books are wonderful wherever we find them, but IF you have a local Indie, I encourage you to take your child.

Here is a cool, interactive site showing some of the past (and future) participants and there are flyers, posters and such, so if you want to encourage your local bookstore to participate, you can take them some tools! And take the time to look at the bookstores page—I wish I was more savvy and could share the map—I can't believe how hard Jenny has worked at this. YES she's had help, but she also blogged her cross country trip last summer to enlist bookstores from coast to coast, so she really had worked her butt off. (I requested she work MY butt off, but apparently there was a line, as my butt is still there)

Here is the scoop:

DATE:    December 3rd, 2011

WHERE:    You can enlist whatever bookstore you want, but take a look at the stores already involved-- 150 of them.

WHAT TO DO:    If you want to invite a bookstore to do this, DO IT. But plan to do it before Thanksgiving, as they are likely to get swamped (plus, it will be more successful if they have a chance to publicize).

Nicola's is home of the one of the book fairy families.

WHAT ELSE to DO: Take your child to the bookstore on December 3rd—if they've planned, there may be an event—but if not, Christmas shop, read, browse.

My own plan: I have a visit to make to Nicola's, our last Ann Arbor Indie. I want to build a relationship ANYWAY (heck, I have a book release next summer) so what a great place to begin a dialog with Nicola herself.

I encourage you all to spread the word—both in your communities and on the web! Because a love of reading is definitely a legacy we want to pass on!

NOTE: No Thursday blog... I have a class and can't visit, plus was behind on WriMo... Back Friday...

Dogs and BEES!

2011-11-08T03:00:00.009-05:00

So just before Halloween, my friend Tina posted a link to a website that was cuter than cute...

http://www.beedogs.com/

Doesn't Joel make a good bee?

You need to go look at them. They are cuter than cute. And Tina, in her enthusiasm, said she wanted the dogs in her life to have bee costumes... and look who got one!!!

When it arrived, my daughter called me at work and said, “Mom? There's a package here for Joel...” teehee. Love that...

So in celebration of dogs and bees and dogs who dress like bees, I thought I'd suggest to any of you doing any fall planting to choose some flowers and shrubs that BEES like. After all, they are what keep us all eating. They are the major pollinators of the foods we buy and without them, we'd have to go through a lot of very complicated fake stuff or our food supply would not form fruit. Also, along those lines, avoid pesticides... Our bee population is actual in danger, and then we'll be in trouble.

When I was a kid, I was terrified of bees. I think it is because people use the term bee for a number of pesky stinging evil things that don't do ANY of the good stuff, and do a whole bunch of mean, rotten things, like stinging small children. Wasps, hornets, yellow jackets... let's make a pact and NOT call any of those things bees anymore. Bees are the good guys.

Glad this was empty before I noticed it.

THIS thing, is NOT from a good guy... Best as I can tell, it is a hornet's nest. It is huge—about the size of a basketball. It was hanging from a tree about halfway down our block and my husband asked them if he could have it after they died (the first frost kills them) so he brought it home last week. Pretty freaky, in my opinion. My neighbor has yellow jackets in the rock wall around the base of some trees. Poor Joel has been stung in the lip a few times... here is some useful advice—you probably shouldn't eat yellow jackets. But it is the wasps that cling their paper mache homes on the side of our house that really bug me.

Yet... NONE OF THESE is bees... repeat after me, we LIKE BEES. It's those poser, bee-wannabes we don't like.

Side note: It is elections in the US today, but odd years tend to not have much important on the ballot. I am debating voting, as I know none of the names one way or the other for such jobs as 'school board' and to my knowledge, there aren't big bonds or levies... should probably look into that before the day is out. If you DO live in a district with anything important going on, though, be sure to get out there and vote!

Real Deal

2011-11-07T03:00:00.004-05:00

So I got the email Friday with the 'copy edited' version of Azalea Assault attached. This is my last chance to reasonably make sure it is CLEAN. The professionals have had a go, but I get another chance. And I've seen enough typos in books to take this seriously. EVERYBODY misses stuff... the professionals will have missed stuff (not a lot—it is what they do after all, but a thing here and there). The professionals MAY have made some decisions I don't care for. I mean, they are the pros, so I don't want to second guess them on 99% of stuff, but I also don't want to MISS it if they changed something I feel strongly about.

This feels real. There is a book that I WROTE that is going to be on shelves one day soon. And I feel a strong responsibility to make it the best I can. At the same time... THE PRESSURE!!!

My plan is to read it out loud. It takes a while, but my experience is it is harder for the eye to overlook errors if you are SAYING them. And it is easier to spot 'not said like I'd say' that way. I am also debating asking one of my friends who is so GREAT at this to give it a read... I wish I were in a position to pay. Whatever the case, I am a little intimidated, but I will give it my best.

NaNoWriMo Update

On this front, I am coming along pretty well. I have perhaps taken a little to long to get to it, but I like what I have so far, and tightening is always part of the revision process in my world. As of this writing (last night) I was at 14,867 with my bathtub stretch still in front of me, so hopefully past 15K.

I work ahead like this intentionally. I frequently run up against a wall at about the 2/3 mark where I can have several days of forcing a mere 200-500 words before I get my footing again. I am best off if I plan for it.

Additionally, if I am reading Azalea Assault early in the month, I need to enter any changes later in the month, so I need to have time to do so.

For the last few days in this story, I've been in Grants Pass Oregon running a con. It's been great fun. I have a college friend from Grants Pass and Lisa gave me a primer on where people hang out and what the hip things are to do. I've been there, but not since I was 18, so this was very helpful. It actually sounds like a pretty great community. “On the verge of hip” is how she put it—a river community with lots of rafting and water recreation that has recently added wineries to the local commerce mix. It is still hung back in time a little bit—not so unusual for cities under 40K people, but with lots of great stuff. It's actually really fun to add some of these details--a fun excuse to have a chat with an old friend and find out more about where she's from. I think I may try to do this in other places my characters plan to visit.

So how is everybody else doing with writing goals? Are you making progress? Conflicts arising you need to work around?

HPANA

2011-11-04T03:00:00.033-04:00

Otherwise known as the Harry Potter Automatic News Aggregator

I'm not sure if I am mourning, or waiting for a resurrection, but a website that literally changed my life, seems to at the very least have lapsed into a coma. It's not there. It isn't clear whether it might return or not.

So I'm going to tell you its amazing tale, or rather, the amazing way it changed my life.

In 2005, while eagerly waiting for Half Blood Prince to come out, I came up with a couple theories about what might come next. See... I'd read the first five books several times... alone, and with each child... and then all those AGAIN as Order of the Phoenix came out... (so six times...) In fact I think I was started on a seventh run with my son...

So these ideas kept flying around... you know... those MIRRORS... the matched set... that one of them broke when Harry found the package and was so mad at himself he hadn't used it...

Well... I think I thought Sirius had taken the other with him through the veil... or something. And it was bugging me enough that I ventured out to find someone to TALK TO about it.

Now there were a bunch of websites with Harry Potter stuff, but THAT one was more user friendly to get onto, and FAR easier to find conversations than the sites that have a lot more stuff going on (HPANA had a news page, but is completely member generated stuff otherwise)

Anyway, when I started browsing topics, one really struck me as having the most potential... The Wizard War... it was anticipating... you know... the WAR that was started, whether Fudge wanted to admit it or not.

Joris, of book cover fame, and I on the London Eye 2008

And THERE, I made lifetime friends. Seriously. MANY. We had some courtesy rules... greeting new people. No name calling... politeness in arguing. Honestly, it was mostly a bunch of teenage boys and middle age women. But the conversations were FABULOUS. There were deep, thought out theories. There were a ton of laughs. There was even delusional Thursday (my own baby) where we tried to use canon to support joke theories (thus things like cross-dressing death eaters)

I've had the honor of MEETING several in person... JelE (NY, yes, I know someone named Jel E. Bean), Stacy (TX, twice), Holly (DC), Holly (MO) (yes, two Hollys), Courtney (PA), Colette (IL, twice), BrioNI (AUST), Andrea (AUST), Bill (PA), Leanne (MA), Mari (NORW, twice), Jessica (UT), Tara (WALES), Joris (Netherlands), Sarah (DC), Marissa (FL), Sally (FL)... I'm lucky work sends me places, and most places I go, someone I want to meet up with is near. Colette is the only one within driving distance, though both BrioNI and Mari came to visit me HERE (from Australia and Norway, respectively—man, I want so bad to return the favor!) (WW friends in RED, writing friends in blue—purple is both--Marissa's purple is more red than the others because she doesn't believe me yet, that she needs to write, but she does and Tara's blue is a little less blue because she occasionally dropped in on the WW) but I digress (see, the site even changed my religion. I didn't KNOW about Digressionism until I met Mari!)

And lo and behold... several of these theories in... was the formation of a bigger idea that encompassed several of these, and I wrote my first long work of fiction—about 180 pages, completed in six months... a writer was born.

I tried a few styles. I made more friends, several of them OTHER writers... in fact that WRITING set, was the origins of the Burrow.

It was where first my Thursday Twin, Natasha, then my Spazdik friend Stacy said not only 'I love your writing' but, 'you need to write real books'.

I've been a bad HPANA member of late. I've been too deeply immersed in all the other things I do. But I will be so sad if HPANA is gone for good. It's like the burning down of a family home. I still am in touch with the vast majority of the friends I made there—facebook is great that way. But really... I just feel sad.

In its heyday it was easily supported by advertisements. Members could donate. I only did a couple times because you KNOW how my money situation is. I think with dropping participation and REALLY dropped ad revenue, Cheeser just couldn't keep up.

So anyway... even though I don't know if it's a Rest in Peace, or a 'Get Well Soon', I am feeling pretty sad about it.

I love you HPANA! You really DID change my life!

And so you know. I've got a computer-free obligation that may very well take all day. I'm sorry I can't get around to visit and it may be late before I can respond. Believe me. I'd rather be here.

This just in: Jeff (Cheeser) came across this this morning and thanked me and updated me. If the site can come up with the money it owes (about $2400) it will go back up. In case anyone sees who loves the place. I don't know how to get to the donation spot at the moment, but if you are able, you can reach Jeff at cheeser@mugglepost.com.

AND: The Paypal Link (thanks, Tara!)

STOP RESPONDING!!!

2011-11-03T03:00:00.007-04:00

Hallo, my friends. I'm annoyed. Know why?

It bugs the heck out of me that people who are famous for NO REASON except being born to someone who is rich or famous, or because they are willing to go on some reality TV show and be an ass keep being talked about.

IGNORE THEM!!!

Reality TV Parody (which is acceptable)

They are not worth your energy, attention, or interest. If we stop looking, they will go away! Leave them to their stupid-ass selves. Never speak of them. Never watch them. Never bother to know who they are. They are NOT WORTH YOUR BRAIN CELLS!

I don't watch Dancing with Stars or … what's that singing one... American Idol, but at LEAST those are TALENT contests. It may not interest me, but have atter... what we should NOT be attending to is ANY reality TV that is just peeping, or eaves dropping, or encouraging bad behavior. If there is no skill involved besides social manipulation, those people DO NOT merit your time.

THIS IS NOT INTERESTING! THIS IS NOT REALITY, NO MATTER WHAT THEY CALL IT! YOUR BRAIN DIES A LITTLE EVERY TIME YOU WATCH!

And more importantly, MY brain dies a little every time I hear the name of one of these people.

I'M NOT INTERESTED!!!

and for PETE'S SAKE! If someone has them write a book, they are NOT PART OF WHAT WE DO!

Never call what they wrote a 'book' (you KNOW they probably didn't even WRITE it).
Never buy it.
Don't borrow it from the library.
But DO go to book stores and stick notes in that say things like 'don't you feel dirty now?' or 'I wiped poo in this book somewhere.' (you don't really have to wipe the poo... this is just a joke.)

Sorry. Just had to get that off my chest.

And because it's Thursday...

Reading Myself Insecure

2011-11-02T06:59:00.001-04:00

I am also over at Burrowers, Books and Balderdash today, talking about writing at NaNo-Speed.

But here...

Know when you read a REALLY GREAT BOOK? You sit in AWWWWW... I used to love that... I would rejoice at the beauty of it... or the elegance... or the perfection.

Now? I'M NOT WORTHY!!!

How DARE I try to classify myself with THIS... What kind of poser am I that I think I can write books? Now THIS... THIS is a book!!!

And you know how when you read a sort of embarrassingly bad book... a book that uses words like embarrassingly and starts with pages of description or pulls a deus ex machina ending? You know how you used to wonder 'how the heck did this get published?'

NOW I fear, WHAT IF MY BOOK MAKES PEOPLE THINK THIS?

I've become a far more critical reader since I really got my writing legs under me, which in a lot of ways is too bad. I still enjoy books, but anymore there is such a pile of FEELINGS with it.

*sigh*

Do you ever read things that make you feel insecure?

(and don't forget to give some love to some OTHER insecure people--the link to the write for insecure writers has the list)

I Survived! Here I Go Again! And AGAIN (this time capitalized)

2011-11-01T03:00:00.024-04:00

Only that second AGAIN isn't AGAIN, but the first time... but youknowwhatImean...

So NaBloWriMo is over... and I succeeded in blogging daily, but probably only get about a C- on getting to my fellow bloggers' blogs. I tried to get around... I really did. But my list of regulars is big enough now that just getting to THAT group is about all the time I have.

Before I dive into NaNoWriMo (because I am writing this last night), I thought I would give a few shout outs...

Elizabeth Mueller's Darkspell came out yesterday! Congratulations Elizabeth!

Jessica Bell's String Bridge comes out today! Congratulations, Jessica! (and Jessica is going to be a guest on the 15th, so you will get to see an interview and review)

Roland Yeomans is having a GREAT giveaway in relation to his book release The Legend of Victor Standish, which I just finished—a very fun read. Roland combines such a creative set of forces, it's like nothing I've read. I really enjoyed it! So go check out MORE and figure out how to win some great stuff!

So What is this Again?

NaNoWriMo, of Course!

I made my layered outline. I have my notes. I have a fair few details for the first few chapters. And I am READY! (so ready, I will probably start at 6:30 in the morning and try to get a few hundred words in before work!)

My Story? Gads, I almost don't want to jinx it. It is high concept... probably my first of those since Kahlotus... I figure a writer only gets a handful of these. Like I feel confident it will be easy to sell once it is written and cleaned up.

But here goes:

Amanda Harden is biding her time, trying to stay under her volatile father’s radar. She is going to school, getting good grades, working a little. But all she really wants is for her brother to get home from college and balance out the tension in the house.

Unfortunately, his return coincides with the arrival of the letter expelling him from college and he is unceremoniously kicked out of the house.

Amanda decides to leave with him. They’ve learned from a master and figure they can get by running cons. Asher’s idea seems cruel at first—research the recently deceased and bring messages to their loved ones, but Amanda justifies it by thinking they can bring peace in addition to a little income.

The plan works pretty well for the most part, until the dead realize Amanda is open for business and the messages they bid her to carry are not the kind that will bring anyone peace.

Reactions? I'm really excited.

And the AGAIN!!!! (that isn't actually an again, but a first?)

It's official. Kahlotus Disposal Site is in the hands of six REAL Publishers... (big names—like panicky, heart-racing names). Harper Collins. Delecourt. FREAKING DISNEY. *falls over* Sorry. That just awakens dreams of 'movie deal'. I KNOW they are pipe dreams... long shots... but SO BAD, I would love to just be able to WRITE!

You don't think Disney gives you demerits for calling them FREAKING DISNEY do you? Because ohmygawd, they are FREAKING DISNEY! Seriously... I know some of these are bigger names in publishing. I will be THRILLED if any of them love it (though not as thrilled as if they go to battle and have an auction about me *sigh* (a girl can dream, yes?)) That was just the name that I hear 'cha ching' with...

Oh, man... I am possibly punch drunk and giddy thinking about this, but I will be panicking again soon. Stick around. It should be amusing.... for you.

The Psychopath

2011-10-31T03:00:00.001-04:00

I find, far more frightening than the monsters, whether humanoid or furry, are the PEOPLE with... erm... sometimes no conscience... sometimes it is an alternative consciousness... I will include, for the sake of this, people with psychic power—mind control, telekinesis... the scariest villain I ever ran across was able to look at someone and turn them to a puddle of slime... yeah. Good skill.

Now I prefer my psychopaths of a 'non-natural' form... that is to say, I don't want someone just born with a bad brain, even though this is the more common form. What is better in a BOOK, though, is justified psychopathology... a person who is MADE... who is really rotten because of experiences they had. And I am NOT talking about Jason from Halloween, though Freddie Krueger has some appeal because how he kills is so scary.

Those psychic powers though, are best if they run in the family... it is a nice opportunity to set up dark backstory and 'fate'... to pit the story hero against a villain who is FAMILY—sort of a making right.

Sickos of the best sort?

Hannibal Lecter comes to mind. I think his charm and intelligence are what makes him so compelling that you can sort of love (but definitely fear) a cannibal. I love that he is a bad guy helping the good side... in fact, in Silence of the Lambs, he is not actually the villain... but MAN, is he spooky!?

How about Norman Bates? Man, talk about a psychopath with a good reason!? Man, you'd be a psycho too with a mother like that! But I find he is all the scarier because he has that sort of nerdy charm I love... he is awkward and self-deprecating... and I am torn between wanting to helping him and knowing he is terrifying.

There is all variety of sicko out there. There are serial killers. There are people who just like to hurt... people and even animals (you KNOW the people who hurt animals are even worse, yes? Don't they pull the heart strings bigger?)

But HERE, again, I prefer villains where it's personal. I want to understand their motivation, even as they scare me. If they are horrible for no reason, I frankly can't stomach it.

I also love to hate villains who aren't particularly 'sick' but rather are power drunk or self righteous in thinking they are 'doing the right thing' when in fact they are either following unfair laws or are using unjust means. They can be the worst of all—think about Dolores Umbridge and her 'Order at any cost' regime.

I think the idea that there are really frightening people walking around among us, unidentified... terrifying... though I also like the idea that SOME people can see them... I plan to watch Grimm, even though I didn't see it while it was on... that is the idea... it brings to life the idea of the monsters among us that only a few can identify...

I wish all of you a very happy Halloween!!!

Stacy's Novellas!!!

2011-10-30T14:56:00.001-04:00

So one of my good buddies had two big markers this last week—the release of her second novella, Best Man, Worst Man, and the availability of the anthology she is part of for Steam Punk Christmas Romance. So today I am going to tell you about these two great works—both of which I had the honor of beta reading.

Best Man, Worst Man

Here is the description from Samhain:

He’s the one problem she can’t solve.

From hysterical bridezillas to grooms with sub-zero feet, renowned wedding planner Claire Pomeroy has never met a disaster she couldn’t handle. Then she runs afoul of her client’s not-so-best man, a devilishly flirtatious rogue with a killer smile and a chest as solid as a concrete roadblock. Yet their sparks of attraction only highlight his obvious quest—to make sure this wedding knot never gets tied.

Confirmed bachelor Ryder Price knows one unshakable truth: marriage is nothing but a fairy tale. No way is he going to stand idly by while his wingman face-plants into the dreaded marital trap. But there’s a problem. A dark-eyed, dangerously curvaceous problem who’s bound and determined to pull this wedding off.

As her suddenly skittish clients teeter on the edge of cancellation, Claire challenges her nemesis to imagine long-term as something more than a quickie and a vague promise to call. Ryder counters with a challenge of his own. Let him give her a taste of just how fulfilling a little no-strings-attached passion can be.

Product Warnings
This product contains cold feet, heavy petting, heavier breathing, and chocolate-covered fingers. To avoid a sweet-tooth side-effect, the author recommends having a chocolate-covered man nearby.

Stacy wrote a great blog about this--'too spicy to be sweet' story. And I loved it. You know me—sweet isn't really my thing. But what I love most about Stacy's books is 1) respect to the heroine—they are always SMART and independent. And I love her humor. And did you SEE that product warning? *snort * Yeah... my kind of book. You definitely want to check it out!

Links:
Samhain: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/best-worst-p-6494.html
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Man-Worst-ebook/dp/B005FSIQJO/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

Crime Wave in a Corset

This novella is part of an anthology, Clockwork Christmas, that has four novellas that are steam punk romance with Christmas settings. Stacy's is the only I've read, but I saw a review that said this quartet was a great intro to the genre because the four stories were really varied, so it gave a nice view of the range of the genre.

The story I read from Stacy, in which Cornelia Peabody, a street kid who manages to make a life for herself as a thief, has stolen a Faberge Egg... She thought she was stealing from a wealthy university, but in fact it is the prized possession of a very sick girl. Unfortunately, she has sold it. To collect vengeance and right the wrong, our hero attaches a device to Cornelia that, by Midnight Christmas Eve will kill her by electrocution if she cannot manage to re-steal the egg and return it.

This is the first Steampunk I read, and I loved the devices, but ALSO that the devices, while clever, weren't contrived—they flowed nicely as part of the story, moving it forward. I LOVED both hero and heroine—both flawed, both stubborn, but often in romance, one or the other annoys me, and here, Stacy did a wonderful job of keeping them both sympathetic. It was adventure as well as romance... high stakes (hello, death), and brilliantly woven. I think this set looks like a great Christmas gift if anyone has loved ones who like Steampunk (or are interested in trying).

Link:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Clockwork-Christmas-Corset%5CWanted-Scoundrel%5CThis-ebook/dp/B005Z1C47Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1319997977&sr=1-1

So there we have it!

Can We Panic NOW?

2011-10-29T07:00:00.009-04:00

Strangely... not a Halloween blog... exactly... But sort of it is because you know what has to be done by Halloween? ALL THE NANOWRIMO PREP!!!!

Holy COW, am I behind!?

I'm behind because I'm trying to get ahead of course... lemme e'splain...

Chrysanthemum Campaign (CC)

I'm writing... But I am NOT writing at the pace I hoped... I'm writing maybe 5000 words a week, which is about half what I intended... You see... I think I need to draw some pictures. *shifty *

Oh, don't look at me that way. Mystery plotting has a bunch of pieces that are needed, and it's NICE if all the clues connect to EACH OTHER in a few coherent strands, too... two dozen disconnected clues found one at a time is sort of dull... But if there are three clues... only you don't know they all go together until you find the LAST of them... you see what I mean? Well for ME, drawing the picture helps me envision how it will all come out.

So I got that to do this weekend.

Personal Business

Because HWMNBMOTI is insanely private, I won't tell you what this is, but I have a bunch of paperwork to pull together... Not needed until Friday, but I definitely don't want to be stuck with it in my to-do pile when I'm allowed to be WRITING.

NaNoWriMo PREP

I have a little of this done, but because I've been writing CC, I have lost my train of thought... it all needs to be reread so I can remember where I was going with all of it. I ALSO want to do a layered timeline... Stay with me here... it will work something like this:

Layer one: Broadest plotlines in order
Layer two: break each of those into crucial events (this is the timeline I normally work from)
Layer three: Plug in the couple details I already have noted.

I also need to finish my 'stops' notes. My heroine and her brother have a road trip with several stops, each a part of the main plot... so I wanted a sentence or two about each stop...

MY GRAPHS AND CHARTS!!!

Do you remember what a geek I am about graphs and charts? I LUUUUURVE THEM!!!!

Three days. *sigh *

In other news:

Couch to keg going well. On Wednesday we hit 18 minutes of running for our interval stuff. Weight Watchers is progressing... I've lost 15 pound in 6 weeks. I'm pretty happy with that rate. Would love love love to hit 20 pounds by the 2 month mark.

I'm feeling some anxiety about this WriMo for the first time ever... Cooking dinner 4 nights a week sucks rocks. I hate cooking, but I ALSO hate not having that time to write—it was formerly my blogging time, so I had typing time later... now stuff isn't getting typed.

And the BIGGEST 'in other news' which I am terrified to put up high or bolder, because I don't want to jinx it... Amy said she will start subbing Kahlotus by Wednesday. Officially. To publishers. I am actually very glad I will spend November immersed in a WriMo, because I think my nerves couldn't otherwise handle this... but busy, I will be okay.

I wish you all a fabulous weekend!!!

Monster Round-up

2011-10-28T03:00:00.006-04:00

When I was a kid, my idea of monsters was probably off the beaten path of what a lot of people think. My first exposure to vampires (other than Seseme Street's Count) was Salem's Lot (the movie) which I saw when I was about 10. I'd seen the cartoon versions of Frankenstein... Oh, and there was Frankenberry, Booberry and Count Chocula... you see, Vampires, Werewolves, Mummies... not so scary when your primary exposure is Scooby Doo.

The monsters in my closet were... you know... MONSTERS! Entirely of my imagination, but consistent with... the Abominable Snowman (I was terrified of the Bumble from the Rudolph movie!) Ir Sasquatch! Or... you know.. MONSTERS! (not former humans or almost humans). They were FURRY. They had the wrong number of EYES or ARMS... or they were SLIMY! So I thought I'd review of couple now-beloved monsters...

The Monsters who lived in my closet were of the sort in Monsters, inc. I mean... I didn't know at the TIME they were just doing their jobs... I was REALLY scared... but that was the variety and sort...

Randall still scares me... he was there... under the bed. Sully was in the closet, but I didn't know he was nice... I would have hugged Mike... even then. Note this movie came out DECADES after my childhood, but they sure captured the Monster types.

I think the earliest identifiable monster I remember is The BLOB!!!

I remember watching this movie with my mom... we still had the black and white TV, so I was under 7. And the OOZING, could get EVERYWHEREness of it... And... YUCK FACTOR!

But then for YEARS I didn't encounter any real monsters that scared me... what scared me was more the stuff I will get into on the next couple days... Only in adulthood did really FRIGHTENING monsters come back...

Hello, Quintaped and Acromantula!!!

I recognize Shelob predates Aragog, but NOT in my experience. I read Harry Potter before Lord of the Rings, and I read both before seeing any movies (movie Shelob is the scariest of the lot... but book Aragog came first)--note the Basilisk is ALSO pretty darned frightening... but not nearly as bad as those multi-legged things who have little brothers living in my basement...

My late-day Favorite Monsters, though?

HP Lovecraft was someone I arrived at through Peter Straub (my favorite scary author). He is a huge fan and sometimes actively uses Lovecraft in his writing. So I decided to actively investigate... READ some from the father of the genre...

And while his writing style is sadly representative of the first decade of the 20th century (which is to say he TELLS instead of SHOWS and read a lot like a journal), his MONSTERS are HOLY FREAKING COW scary... he has aliens who have burrowed under the mountains and transmit crazy to the people who live nearby... he has necromancers (people who raise the dead)... And he has Cthulu...

Oh, look! You can make your own!

Most of Lovecrafts creatures 'came from other worlds' but they aren't the cuddly little aliens most later stuff brings... AT ALL.

Or if you are less skilled, you can just order one..

Do you have any beloved monsters?

And... HERRRRRE'S HELENA!

2011-10-27T03:00:00.010-04:00

On Sunday I did a brief promo for Helena Soister's book The Compass Master, dibbed by one reviewer 'Like the DiVinci Code, only it doesn't need to resort to gimmicks'--High praise. I am super excited to read this book. If you want more on THAT, here is Sunday's blog.

Now Helena is one of my buddies—I've known her nearly two years—I've loved reading her blog, and she is a fabulous generous soul. So TODAY, Helena is going to tell us about some of her Experiences (and I capitalized that on purpose—some of them are BIG), both with learning to be a super spy (seriously—look at the pics!) and with self publishing. (she had an ALMOST series of experiences with agent and publisher, and finally decided to go for it)

So without further ado, WELCOME HELENA!

*****

First I’m giving a big hug to Hart for hosting me today. It’s a thrill to be here.

Her Tartness asked me to talk about my Becoming Layla plan. Layla Daltry, you see, is the heroine of my thriller The Compass Master, and she’s many things I’m not, such as under 30 (I’m so past 50), financially well-off (I’m so not), an antiquities hunter and scholar of ancient manuscripts who lives in a Dublin penthouse and has adventures in exotic places and… you get the picture.

Anyway, a couple years ago I had an agent who came this close to finding a publisher for my novel. When that fell through I was very discouraged and planned to self-publish, then started rewriting my manuscript. But I was also going crazy. I found that I really needed to DO exciting things and not just write about Layla’s adventure. For some of us writers there can be the temptation to live vicariously through our imaginations instead of being real. So I thought, what about using my main character as a role model? Why not develop skills she has that I’ve always wanted but never pursued because daily life and lack of funds kept holding me back?

The thing is, most of us have done crazy and outrageous or daring action hero stuff. For myself, I’ve traveled around the world and have a bad habit of going to dangerous places like Bosnia, which is the setting for my first chapter. I’m an epee fencer and used to fly trapeze. But being an action hero is something else, and silly as it sounds I wanted to see if I could get closer to my character’s level. I also needed to confirm that what Layla does in the plot or during her life is realistic and not mere literary bull.

I tackled her toughest skill first – Parkour/ freerunning. It’s climbing jumping bouncing off walls flying leaping tumbles and OMG I was DEAD after each sadistic class in the course. I was also the only female and by far the oldest. But working out with teenaged and twenty-something guys showed me how to make realistic changes to Layla’s action scenes. BONUS: one guy was a lock picking whiz who gave me great pointers. I’m now picking away.

My WORST Layla experience was Aikido. Years ago I studied taekwando, so I’m used to martial arts discipline. But in my fifth beginner Aikido class an idiot black belt threw me to the floor and cracked five of my ribs and my left lung half collapsed. Then the emergency room doctor failed to diagnose these injuries and I walked around for a week before another doctor freaked and sent me to a hospital. The one bright element to this grim episode was my realizing how Layla should also sustain injuries, but because she’s on a desperate hunt she must keep going. Talk about writing from experience. I added this angle and love how it gives the story more tension and reality.

Ready... get set...

I did paragliding and skydiving (but only tandem so far). Brushed up on French and some Arabic but have to get more serious about studying. (Layla is fluent in French, Latin, ancient Greek, and some Italian). I took billiards classes. Worked at stretching and strengthening my body. I’ve gotten pretty adept at wall climbing and bouldering, but haven’t yet climbed and rappelled off buildings. Still, I learned exactly how Layla could get into and out of places when everything is locked up, what her body is capable of, what techniques and tools she uses. That meant more tweaking to my story, and let me tell you, it felt good truly knowing what I was writing about.

GO!

Logically, my plan should end with my novel’s publication, but I want to keep it going. It makes me take on the kind of physical and mental challenges I ultimately want to do in real life and not only in novels. Then again, Layla can be too independent and self-reliant, and maybe that’s what I’ve been by choosing self-publishing. Anyway, The Compass Master is now out and I’m receiving very good feedback from readers, which means so much to me.

Here’s a shortened blurb for my book. The longer blurb is on the Amazon page for The Compass Master and here on Hart’s Sunday (10/23) piece.

As an antiquities hunter and scholar, Layla Daltry balances on the edge of the law and takes too many risks. Yet even she isn’t prepared for the unseen enemy who traps her in a deadly endgame and forces her to search for extraordinary lost biblical epistles. If she fails, the epistles will disappear forever and her life and those of people she loves may come to a swift end.

Thank you, Hart, for your support and naked enthusiasm. And happy writing to all you readers here today.

And Thank YOU, Helena! I really wish you a ton of luck with your book!

Now what are you all waiting for?! (this is a CHRISTMAS gift type of book... seriously—look how pretty it is)

My, What Big Eyes You Have!

2011-10-26T03:00:00.016-04:00

Or is that the evil eye? Deathly eyes? Maybe it's just a LOT of eyes...

They say eyes are the window to the soul, so when EVIL is around, those eyes can be SCARY!

Medusa: www.annstokes.com

Some are so scary they can kill or petrify you!!!

MEDUSA!
The Basilisk!
What are those things with the laser beam eyes? Am I making this up? I could swear there is such a thing.

We've all heard it... 'Don't look it in the eyes!' There are SOME TIMES this advice can save your life!

Evil Eye: Andreas Stridsberg

So What About This Evil Eye?

I totally thought this was just an expression until my best friend married a Greek man. Her mother-in-law used to do protections on her because she was so convinced her AMAZING SON was the desire of every woman, so surely his promised gal NEEDED protecting from all those evil eyes! Now don't get me wrong, Nick is totally a catch—NICE NICE guy, fairly handsome, super supportive... not Johnny Depp though... I'm not sure every woman everywhere was after him... Still, it DID teach us about that evil eye. This would be why everyone in My Big Fat Greek Wedding is spitting on the bride—to protect her.

Theoretically, this is just the beginning of the spells a person could cast by looking at someone... So BEWARE!

What About EYE COLOR?

Did you know if you google evil eyes, the vast majority are RED? I think that is a Satanic symbolism at work. That, and the fact it isn't a natural color... albino pets aside. And unnatural always causes a physical aversion, though some things more than others...

Even though there are other unnatural shades for eyes, though... red is the farthest from natural. Purple or turquoise could be seen as tweaks of blue, making someone special. I've known people with eyes such a pale brown (hazel?) that they are gold... or nearly yellow or orange... Brown eyes can be so dark as to appear almost black (though true black is pretty scary... WHITE oddly, in addition to blindness, seems to carry a 'vision' ability—lose one sight for another) Red, though, is the only stand out as 'what the freak is WRONG? That has to be EVIL!'

Cyclops: KaijuSamarai(deviantart)

Finally... Just How Many Eyes Do You Have?

Anything but two and fright is the normal response, friendly Cyclops notwithstanding...

I think what it comes down to is UNNATURAL is what bothers us... it's SCARY...

Are you in the mood to be REALLY scared about eyes? Go here (scarier still? It's a PHOTO): http://www.flickr.com/photos/opoterser/2685369371/

Did you have the nerve to look? *shivers* Any freaky eyes you can think of, specifically?

Any eyes in books that really creeped you out? You know... besides Voldemort...

Scared of the Dark

2011-10-25T03:00:00.001-04:00

I thought maybe I'd do a week of scary or fright related stuff leading up the Halloween. So there.

I have a confession. I slept with a nightlight far later than a normal kid. I was terrified of the dark... the thing under the bed... the thing in the closet. I'm not sure this was strictly an overactive imagination. In fact I've never thought of myself as particularly imaginative... even now... writing books... I think my creativity is more a puzzle-master thing—pulling odd stuff together and mixing it up originally. I could never be a world-builder.

But that DARK. What is it about the DARK? Why is the scariest thing for many people actually an ABSENCE of something.

I mean rationally, there is nothing in the dark that isn't also there in the light...

The answer: BUT YOU DON'T KNOW!!! Anything COULD be there... something could be there that would be ten TIMES as scary if the light was on... it might be just out of reach. Right there in front of you!

As an older kid, I was one of those who liked to sit around with a couple friends working ourselves into frights with 'what ifs'. It was a thrill to be scared. Ghost stories tended to be my favorite, I think because of the paranormal entities, ghosts are the only one I actually mostly believe in. Speculation on werewolves and vampires didn't scare me much because I don't buy it, and stories about escaped murderers were TOO scary. Ghosts were just right... still are.

So how do we carry this into writing... how might we SCARE our readers?

(is my rotten streak showing?)

I think this ABSENCE of information... the working up the possibilities... is far more tense... can carry the reader on adrenaline for a lot longer than REALLY showing it. Maybe there is a story the MC hears... just rumors... Maybe pair the rumor with an ordinary event... a branch tapping or a faucet dripping... pair the ideas a second time, then DROP the story... you don't need it anymore. You just increase the frequency of noticing the ordinary event. (repetition is SCARY—think about The Shining, with both 'Redrum' or 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'.)

Repetition of SIGHTS can do it too. You see the squirrel. You see it again. Is that squirrel watching me? Then suddenly you have an evil squirrel idea planted. Erm. (okay, maybe it works better with a crow)

The idea is, you aren't telling the reader much. You are planting ideas in an absence of what they mean and THEIR mind is filling in the blanks with scary stuff.

Scariest three quarters of a book I ever read was IT... that book has kid's imaginations killing them. It is a boggart of sorts... changes form to whatever is scariest and it looks like natural causes... King happened to ruin the end of this one by giving Pennywise a form (and a form I find less frightening than that scary-ass clown). I think he should have left it UNKNOWN... Unidentified... because then we might imagine it right outside our window at any time... at least if it was dark.

So next time YOU want to scare somebody... maybe think about how you can plant the idea and then leave your reader in the dark.

BOO! (did I scare you?)

Collective Grief

2011-10-24T03:00:00.013-04:00

I feel a little like I don't have a right to address this topic... inadequate, a step removed. But it is a hard one to get past or around. I think I need to write through it.

You see, a woman one class ahead of me in high school was shot in the head by her husband on Friday. My personal profile Facebook page is full of it. Grief. Disbelief. The ones that make me cry are the wishes for peace. I really hope she has found it.

I didn't know her well—maybe two or three conversations ever, which is a sort of low number considering she was close to one of my close friends. But she was a larger than life personality. Loud—she laughed loud, she shouted across rooms and parking lots and fields. There was never any doubt she was there. But, as she was a year older, I found that intimidating, even though in the few direct interactions I had, she was always nice.

But she was a tough girl. In my generation, very few girls physically fought, but I remember hearing about a few with her. You see, she developed early, and so I think was subject to a level of peer speculation, rumors, attention, that can be hard for a young girl to cope with. I admire that she got tough instead of letting people talk crap behind her back, especially as I'm sure much of it was untrue.

I guess the thing I keep thinking now is... did that level of abuse continue into her adulthood? Did her peers talk crap even later? I didn't hear anything even by high school... teens have short attention spans and I'm sure had moved onto other fodder. On Facebook I wasn't friends with her—I just didn't feel I knew her well enough to ask. But we shared a lot of friends so I 'saw' her a lot. She seemed happy—pictures looked happy, comments seemed happy. I had thought 'good for her'. I don't want to think now that that happiness was an illusion. I want to believe she really found it.

According to the newspaper, it happened like this: he shot her in the head, they together tried to make it to a neighbor's, she collapsed in the driveway and he got to the door begging them to call 9-1-1. This was a man clearly devastated by what he'd done. He put his hands up when the police arrived. He didn't try to argue. But that doesn't mean it didn't happen. Regret doesn't reverse anything.

How does a relationship go this wrong? The liberal in me wants to say this is a hell of an argument against keeping firearms in the home. But there HAD to be other disfunction besides just owning guns. A lot of people own guns without shooting family members. Heck, I grew up in a house with guns and the biggest accident was when some boys (friends of mine) dumped shot pellets down the garbage disposal.--that led to the lock on the gun room (yes, we had a gun room—the GUNS had been locked in a cabinet... apparently the ammo had not).

I know for a fact domestic violence is everywhere. I know people who live in it usually come from a history of it—both abuser and abused. I DON'T know if that was the situation here. The neighbors said they fought a lot, but the image in my head is she probably gave as good as she got most of the time. I don't see her being a scared, cowed woman. I think her husband would have shown a lot less remorse if he felt he was superior or tougher. I might be completely wrong, but I think rather than a stereo-typical domestic violence situation, they were people who had trouble reining it in when they fought... people who maybe could have benefited from some skills in discussion--behavioral therapy.

I don't know what can be done. I mean for a more traditional situation, I feel like offering help—getting the victims to shelters, making sure they know they aren't alone—all those are great steps. But how much do we know about our neighbors?

A house around the corner had a bunch of furniture on the lawn a few weeks back... I suspect a cheating spouse, only because that is what would cause ME to put all HWMNBMOTI's stuff out in the yard. I have no clue if their immediate neighbors knew there was trouble... I have no clue if THEY knew there was trouble. A drastic move like that seems like a sudden discovery.

Anyway, I just want to throw out some love and healing karma to my friends and to Bobbi's family. This is so sad, and I really wish there were a way to speed the healing. And I wish there were a way to help all the families going through this.

If you are, or if you know somebody who is... find someone you can trust. Tell someone. If it is the case of fights that just get out of control, take this as evidence you really need to learn to cool off the situations, because in the heat of the moment, it could really get THIS BAD.