writing

5 Reasons It’s Great To Be A Writer

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bradbury

5. Reading. I horde books. When hubby asks me why I have SO many books, I tell him I need them for ‘research.’ I don’t think he’s caught on yet. It’ll be our little secret.

4. Time Alone. Writing gives me a great excuse to be alone. If I don’t want to do the dishes, it’s because I suddenly thought of a great scene I just have to write down. (Or I needed to check my Twitter or Instagram).

3. Murder. When there’s someone in your life that deserves to meet a particularly horrible and untimely death, but you don’t want to live the rest of your life on death row, you can just kill them over and over again in your writing. (I have a relative, or two, that has a future as multiple victims). Continue reading →

This Year, I Will Be the Storm! #NaNoWriMo2015

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This year, "I am the storm!"

This year, “I am the storm!”

Halloween is TOMORROW and that can only mean one thing. Nope, not dressing up and pounding on doors demanding candy. Not even that Thanksgiving or even Christmas are careening towards us like a meteor on a collision course. It means the morning after the sugar-induced comas, it’s NaNoWriMo season!

For anyone that isn’t sure what the heck that is (don’t worry, it took me a year before I found out – I can be a little slow from time to time), it stands for “National Novel Writing Month.” Anything and everything you want to know about the event can be found at their website: www.nanowrimo.org.

While you’re on their site, why not sign up? You don’t have to participate. Heck, the first year I signed up (2011), I was TERRIFIED to even attempt writing 50,000 words. I did, however, lurk, follow along, and cheer on the participants. It was a great learning experience. Continue reading →

Slay The Dragons!

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keep-calm-and-slay-dragons-23I’ve been asked at least a half dozen times in the last few days, “Where have you been?”

“Slaying dragons, and you?” has been my easy answer.

And in a way, it’s sorta true. The longer answer is that there were some issues with my Little Man’s school and therapist’s office. After banging my head against the wall for over six weeks, getting more and more frustrated with trying to get answers, I finally reached my breaking point and said, “Fuck it, I’m over this shit.” Yes, I have a potty mouth.

The last time I posted here (May 19th), we were headed to Casper, WY for the summer. Well, that only lasted about a month before hubby was laid off thanks to the down turn in oil prices (yeah, yeah, spare me the ‘but gas is so much cheaper now!’ blah blah). He had a job less than 30 minutes later and moved back to Watford City, North Dakota (that’s another story – oy). We spent the rest of the summer in a lovely studio room in a mancamp about five miles outside of town. I was able to secure him a very nice (I was so jealous and HATED to leave it), brand new apartment in town two weeks before we had to head back to Arizona. Continue reading →

Summer Break 2015 – Making Time to Write

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Prairie2I’ve been meaning to post an update but I’ve been a tad bit busy.

First there was the 4100+ chapter six that I sent off to the amazing editor. She said it would be a few days before she got it back to me. Which turned out to be the next day. Did I mention that she was amazing?

Then there’s the whole ‘end of the school year’ song and dance. And that means lots of meetings; teachers (for the annual IEP, goal planning for next year, and a game plan with home work for the summer to make sure there’s no regression and he’s ready for the next school year), therapists (more goal planning, homework, etc.), care coordinators, doctors, the list goes on towards the never setting sunset. Continue reading →

Oops…Sorry About That!

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Collin's face2

I forgot to write a post for this week. Oops.

This week has been such a whirlwind that I’m not even sure what all I did. I recall scheduling surgery for my eight year old son. He has to have two teeth extracted. Because he’s non-verbal and autistic, we’re seeing a dentist that specializes in special needs kiddos. She recommended, for his comfort and safety, that we schedule it at the Children’s Hospital where she can put him under and do the extractions, cleaning and x-rays. She also assured me that because he’d be in post-op, I’d have the help of the nurses to comfort him when he recovers. THAT is huge.

And my vacuum decided to kick the bucket on me. The bastard. Now I have to go shopping. I hate shopping. I know…a woman that hates to shop. Well, unless it’s for old fashion stationary, purple pens, and of course, BOOKS. I could spend days in a book store. Ebooks are great and all, but I still love the feel of a paper book. Much to my husband’s dismay. Every time he comes home, there’s a new stack of books waiting to be read. Continue reading →

Yay! For Writing

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I had expected a speedy recovery after my oral surgery on March 13th given my previous rebounds from the same procedure. I should have known better. This time, the dentist decided to do some “bone therapy.” Basically, it meant opening up my gums, ‘scratching’ the bone to induce bone growth, and then stitching it back up. He did this on both sides of my jaw as well as extract 4 teeth (two upper, 2 lower) on the right side.

I can only say that I’m thankful I opted for being sedated. I slept most of that day and the next. Except for the occasional moments where I had to get up to take more pain pills until they started to make me throw up. Which led to busting open some sutures. And more bleeding. And more pain. You might say I was a little miserable. And the last thing on my mind, besides eating, was writing. Continue reading →

A Challenge & A Teaser

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Image courtesy of Albero E Luna / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Albero E Luna / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Because my life isn’t crazy enough, I decided to challenge myself. Nothing insane like climb a mountain or drink 12 beers in one sitting. The idea is to push myself to write 2000 words a day. But they have to either be for a story to submit to a science fiction/fantasy magazine OR towards a manuscript I want to finish and annoy publishers with by the end of this year.

The first thing I’ve been working on is a short story for magazine submissions (I hope). Have a gander at the first 300 words or so and let me know (honestly – be brutal if you want – I can take it) in the comments. I really would appreciate it so I know if I’m heading in the right direction or not. I’d also love to hear what you think of the characters, story, etc. Continue reading →