May’s Madness

Okay, so we have to have some new blogs. These are my newest top picks to share with you! Please understand that these are in no particular order!

1. Some Species Eat Their Young.
Seriously, it’s true, some do…but this father(writer, semi-pro Jedi-Master and more) doesn’t seem to find them tasty…But, they certainly are funny. Funny-tasting perhaps?

2. Fnkybee
The funky bee, oh yeah. Welcome to the brain of…we’ll call her Bee. Awww, I have a Honey and a Bee….Haha, I shall build a farm and put all the awesome people within it…and I shall name it Interwebs!
Okay, but seriously, hilarious stuff here. And come on, Survival Sarcasm is an every (I hope) Friday adventure washed down with Vodka. I heart you Bee…in a non-weird way. Just a Mom needing Vodka and funnies way…

3. Honey-Uniquely Me
A mother, a writer, a real friend of mine...writes about being a mother, a writer and a friend of mine...hmm.
4. Thypolar’s Life
A little bit of everything, this mom goes through medical problems and endures hardships like many (but) while yielding sarcasm and funnies as a sword. The struggles this Mom goes through, I have no idea how she does it, but she does it well!

5. Peddler of Dreams
She makes me think of…me? Editor, blogger, artist at heart, and she has recipes. Though I’ll admit that the orange cheesecake must be tried, I still like my recipes more…but don’t let that deter you from reading and trying her recipes and anything else you come across.

6. Southern Hospitality By Rhoda
Beautiful posts of beautiful homes, and just…beautiful. Now, the other blogs listed are also beautiful, but this one just makes my heart sing to the tune of “I want, I want, I want to remodel”! I know I’d be good at it, I’ve done projects before…I just need a place to vent my awesomeness upon! Enough about me, Rhoda also has a page (yes, a page) for other awesome blogs. I know, I love it, especially upon finding that some of my favs in this category are on this page. There is also recipes and other stuff, I'll leave it to you to find out.
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What else is there?
Oh…a challenge, in my next post…or perhaps the following one (or even the one after that)…I will tell you about my 30(or however many days) challenge for myself and hopefully you! If you have any ideas for this extensive, yet God-willing fun, and other good verbs describing awesomeness…please reply with them. Anything, hurry, you never know when theost will come…though I will push for sooner rather then later.

First Contest!!

Contest! Email me one page of your choosing or a one to three paragraph description of the work you’d like to have looked at. After going over everything I will announce the winner, the winner will receive two free chapters of substantive editing. I may end up picking a second and third place with editing prizes accordingly. Contest ends Jan. 30th, I will start going over the material Jan. 31st. anything not in the box for the contest that morning will be discounted.

Leap, and the net will appear. ~ John Burroughs

A New Year

Okay, so this was all supposed to be posted yesterday…that didn’t happen, obviously...

 

This year has been a long one, I’d like to wrap it up nice and securely, move onward into a bright and promising new one! I’m going to do my own Top “Whatever” Lists. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…:D Since I can’t do anything without music, I think we’ll start there, and it’s a good fun way to start as well.

 

Top Music for 2010, these are not songs that came out this year, these are my top songs for the year.

 

Sara Schiralli-Bang Bang

 

Bitter:Sweet-Don’t Forget to Breath

Tal M. Klein featuring Hillary Hightower-Don’t

 

Damien Rice-Delicate

 

Metisse-Boom Boom Ba

 

Danny Elfman-The Little Things

 

Vampire Weekend-Giving Up the Gun

 

Black Eyed Peas-Pump It

 

Fatboy Slim-Push the Tempo

Puretone-Addicted to Bass

 

There are many, many more, but I wanted a mix and I am definitely missing some I’d love to toss up here…but it’ll do…also worth noting that some of these are songs I’ve been listening to for little while and they just stick through time with me.

 

Memorable Moments:

• Birth of Kyle
• Isaac’s surgery for tubes
• Isaac’s 3rd birthday
• Mother/Father’s Day
• Five-year wedding anniversary
• Halloween
• Christmas (still ongoing, and the best one in 6 years, on top of being Kyle’s first, family first and Isaac’s best!)

Things I’ve learned:

• You can literally be sick all the way through a pregnancy.
• You truly don’t know who the sociopath is until it’s too late.
• All babies are different, and more so then they let on!
• When it rains, it pours, literally and figuratively!
• You truly can do without some people, and can’t do without others.
• Friendship can keep one sane, especially if they are as insane as you.
• I’m a genius, you just don’t know yet.
• Children are the best hobby a person can have!
• I need music, more then I ever realized.
• I’m freaking awesome.

Now I'm not much for resolutions...I think one shouldn't define an entire year by a few measly resolutions when it could be so much more. Though, there always has to be some sort of starting point. You can't end what you haven't begun.
New Year Resolutions:

• Start business
• Continue to lose weight, or stay where I am...

That's all...hahaha, for now!

Peter, Peter.

This is a short children's story, I suppose, anyway it was a prompt for October, I participated and here it is.

Peter, Peter.

Samantha had just moved to town and quickly became friends with her neighbor Ryan. Ryan walked beside Samantha on the way to her new high school, the autumn air was crisp and the wind blew cool. Samantha could not help but see the cat, the strange wild cat that sat on the porch of an abandoned home. Ryan shrugged his shoulders as he told the town’s story.

“The town calls him Peter.” Ryan settled his back pack on his shoulders and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Some even laugh, and tease him, call him ‘Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater’.”

“Well that’s just stupid, why would they do that?” Leaves traveled across them in an angry swirl, like a mini leaf tornado. Peter continued the story, he told Samantha the same way his mother told him, and his grandmother before her. A tale about Peter, and his wife named Hazel. Hazel was a most beautiful and free-spirited person, the people would say, but no one could make her stay, not even Peter. At some point, he had enough and decided if he couldn’t have his wife then no one could.

When Hazel vanished the town questioned her disappearance. Though some thought she’d run off again, others were certain it was Peter. Rumors were spread across the county but no one could prove, that Peter dug up the garden and laid down his spouse. As time went on the garden grew, and only one pumpkin came to harvest. For years and years, only one pumpkin would grow, and until Peter himself passed away, he would go out to his garden to tend to the pumpkin with care until it was ready. Every year when the pumpkin was ready, he would pull it up and cook it into a pie, every year he would sit there on his porch and eat the entire thing.

Peter grew to be very old before he died, and soon a cat began to sit on his porch. In no time the neighborhood was calling the cat “Peter” and the townspeople avoided the cat and the house. Ten years later, Samantha stood in front of her new school and was bent over laughing.


“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard.”

“It’s true, someone took one of Peter’s pumpkins about five years ago, they still haven’t woken up from their coma.”

“Well I’m going to prove that it’s not true, you people are funny.”


“Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater, had a wife.” Laughter erupted as she slopped some of the pumpkin goop into a large bowl. “Had a wife and couldn’t keep her.”

The week of Halloween came and the pumpkin sat there bold and bright, when she was done with school Samantha walked past the cat named Peter and snatched up the pumpkin. The cat’s hair rose and he howled as she laughed and ran home. The night before Halloween she sang as she cut into the pumpkin and began making a pie.

When the pie was cooked and cooled she wrapped it up and put a “Do Not Eat” note on the top. She planned to take it to the Halloween party, show them all that their rumors were dumb. The next evening when she walked into the kitchen dressed in her Halloween costume, she stumbled upon her Dad on the kitchen floor. A fork in his hand with a little pumpkin pie remaining, his eyes were open wide but there was nothing. He wouldn’t move and didn’t blink, Samantha was horrified and jumped up off the floor only to see Peter the cat sitting on the kitchen's window ledge.

To this day, Samantha's father still lays in a hospital bed, no one knows why but no one has touched Peter’s pumpkins since.

I hope enjoyed. Enjoy your pies, now, won't ya?

Inspiration. Writing #3

This blog, as indicated in the title is about inspiration. Inspiration can come in many forms, and often many places for writers…if I were asked where mine comes from I’d probably have to shrug my shoulders! My stories are just somewhere with in me, how could I explain that I knew about Scaeras’ and their abilities, where they come from and why. If you are wondering about them as well…I’ll give you some clues at a later time. As a good friend of mine asked:
“Are you laying in bed when your character comes to life or are you inspired by seeing a cloud in the shape of a dick?”
I work on fantasy, urban fantasy for the most part. Have done other genres as well, however urban fantasy is in my heart and knocking around my marbles. I can’t ignore this compulsion. The only way I can explain:
When I started to write Dead Moons, it started off with a male main character, I thought he was it, the main deal. Until, someone stomped on a marble and demanded to be introduced, and there she was. The main character of all main characters, the one that holds all the cards, and she’s a bitch! No, maybe bitch is too harsh.
I can’t say that I’m inspired by things I see, though I admit that music helps in writing, though it’s more for setting the mood for a scene more then anything. If I’m going to write about the death of my main character, which happened by the way, I can’t be listening to “Don’t worry, be happy” or some random pop or new dance music. No I went to (I would like to note, that if you change your audio device (the Equalizer) to “Powerful” it’s more effective)

So for me, music has an impact on my writing process, but not inspiration. In the end, the inspiration ultimately comes from somewhere within me. No I’m not psychotic, but the people in my head want their stories to be told, and I’m happy to oblige. Though it’s not always easy, and I have often wished I could sit and write an outline, and know ahead of time, therefore it can finish in better timing. But to be honest, I think it would be crap in the end. My muse, Ilaria Sophia…has been quite helpful in the past but she’s only a motivator and helps me find the “right words” when I’m fighting the fog.
I would like to add, that I do sometimes, though rarely get inspiration from things around me, or find out about stories at the oddest moments…like while I had been changing my first son’s diaper last year. Bam, there was another…I know, odd.
Where does your inspiration come from? What are your thoughts on inspiration and what do you wish could be different about yours?

Summability, another Writing Post

I read a person's blog recently, something about sum-up your work in one sentence. It was interesting and had wonderful reasoning. I’m not going to get into the why, but I figured I’d try it out. Given the fact that none of my work is completed, the following sentences are based as things currently are.

Dead Moons: She is a high level grim reaper, he is her stalker, they will try to kill each other, save another planet and maybe find their way back to love.

27: Derik has a mission to kill 27, what happens when he finds out the woman he shot is an angel?

Natalie: Two sisters and The Company that wants control of their powers battle it out while they try to find their place in the world.

Okay, well that’s the best I could do at the moment. I suppose if a sentence were compelling enough it would be effective. Why overwhelm a potential with too much information and maybe so much that they decide they don’t want to read it because they “see where it’s going”. Maybe I am viewing this the wrong way, I wish I could find the other person’s blog so I can put it here as a point of reference. So the following questions, if you wish to answer. Would you read the above stories based off the single sentence provided for each? Why (or why not)? What would be your single sentence?

Less is…less? (Writing)

I’m working on my newest WIP, 27, trying to find “the balance”. There are many different things that need to be balanced in writing, but what plagues me most is descriptive writing. In Dead Moons I was quite descriptive but some say that it can actually hurt being too descriptive. It’s hard to know if I am too descriptive. In 27, I’ve been trying to be overly descriptive but I’ve found that I don’t care for it as much. Less description leads to, well, less on many elements. One, I’m thinking that it’s not enough to place a reader in the situation and story. Two, I am starting to hate it, even I can’t place myself in the story. One thing I realized is that my son Isaac is a big help! I sit here with him in my lap and read the story to him, this gives me a clarity for the story that I don’t get from merely reading it in silence. As I do this I realize the points that don’t abode well for the story and what needs more description or change. I still need to find a balance with my new useful tool, surely I could read it aloud to myself, but that just sucks! Plain in simple, sucks.
Maybe I shouldn’t be too concerned with some of these aspects when I’ve barely begun this book, but finding this balance as fast as possible I think is crucial. If I can find the balance then the rest will be a breeze and I won’t waste time concentrating on such things, it will also make editing later better…