In with the New

I'm not ending this year's blog with the sad story of my youngest child's burn. Suffice it to say, it may be apro pos for how the rest of the year went, but you know what??



NEXT YEAR IS GOING TO ROCK!



I have my executed contract for Ulfric's Mate, already rolling on the promotion thing. Have finished over half the numbers on my "preedit" list from my editor. Will be going to Seatlle with son to burn unit, and I'm going to take advantage of my MILs navagation to go to a bookstore and get my Chicago Manual of Style so I can do the all important part~it's number one on the list LOL



I'm currently reading it out loud as instructed in my email from my awesome editor. It's SLOW GOING. Not exactly reading material for my kids lol Which reminds me, this is NOT for kids :D Someone asked me if it was good for their 13 yo. My answer was (and is) a definitive no. It's adult only. I'll be doing a huge post, probably with lots of CAPS like next week or the week after. In the mean time, here's some facts:



I'm being published (YAY!) by Breathless Press. It's a paranormal romance over 55k and rising as I'm finding stuff while reading it out loud LOL, it's my first time working with a professional editor, I'm nervous AND EXCITED, and it's due out this summer. More on that later :)



Thanks to all my writer friends, edittorent blog and its erstwhile editors, and my MIL and very specific friends who encouraged me. I did this one with very little outside opinion, only my CP got to weigh in. I did this rewrite with all the knowledge I'd learned and tried to stay true to my voice. I'm so very glad it worked. LOL



Have a good, safe, holiday, whether you celebrate or not. This year is going to be a good one. I feel it.

shall we try this again?

I had a lovely post written on Thursday. Beautiful, word perfect, and it's lost! Well I exaggerate. It wasn't word perfect, but it was from the heart. Those are usually my best ones. But sigh. It is gone to never-never-was land. And that night? I ended up taking a ride with my 3yo in an ambulance, over the pass, to the burn unit in Seattle. (I live in central/eastern Washington) Was not the best night of my life.

I was making homemade Ravioli's, I had pot of sauce on one burner, boiling water on the other. I turned to get the freshly filled ravioli's and felt this heat hit my legs about the same time my kid screamed. I picked him up, took off his shirt, calling for my 10yo to turn on the cold water in the tub as I wiped the marinara sauce of my kids face. I splashed water into his eyes and got all the sauce off and splashed water into his eyes and everywhere on his burns, until his shivering was as harsh as his screams. My poor 7 yo was crying because of the 3yo's pain. it was heart breaking. I did not have a phone. I finally was able to load FB chat & saw my husband was on way home, so I contacted my MIL & told her Nate would probably be bringing the older boys by.

Turned out she came to hospital, and their aunt came & took the boys to grandpa. Anyways,  the ER doc at the burn center said my quick action in taking off the sauce covered shirt saved his chest from getting burns, and possibly the eye as I flushed it so well, and had him underwater immediately. I'm glad because I still cannot believe he got that serving spoon. It was about six inches above his known reachability. I mean, he can figure out how to make things fall off shelves, but I've never seen him get anything that high without climbing. He's VERY short/small for his age. Part of the Down Syndrome. I'm still going over in my head how he got there so fast. When I turned, he'd been in the kitchen doorway.

Mostly, I'm relieved he didn't burn his hands!! I still can't believe how that happened! but the main glob landed on his forehead. It was a harrowing night, but the burn center let us go home the next day. Both my husband and I have been EMTs and neither one of us had any problems with wound care.

And once again, Breathless Press proved to be my silverlining while waiting. I found the contract in my email in the morning when we'd finally settled into a room, about 4 am. So grateful to them. It helped to have something to read when my mind didn't want to settle.

So, YAY!!  I have a contract! and I'll be getting my phones soon! Hope your holidays went well! Isaac's healing nicely. And we're all relieved.

Mostly I'm

Happy Christmas!!

So, how have you all been these past few weeks? I've been up and down. But last night about this time I was screaming for joy :D I had a small press offer me a contract on a submission I'd sent them. For those who follow my blog, this is the story that was originally 12k+ that I had turned in. I got a detailed rejection that I understood to mean, fix and resend (probably cuz that's pretty much what it said! ;) and so I got to work.

The notice came at the tail end of my daughter's brain surgery recovery, and I had to put it off a bit. But I was able to finish the rough draft by mid June (looking at my blogs/FB messages) sent it off to critique partner, who got it back to me about a week after I got a job. Figures, right?

Anyway, I finished it up, finally, adding a few scenes, etc., ending up over 55k+ on the word count before sending it off. Well, they liked the changes and I'm now dizzy with relief and excitement. I'd been going through one of those writing funks that makes me doubt, for a moment, my ability to write. It lasted for a week. One of my longest ever! Needless to say, the offer brought me straight out of it :D

I'm ready to tackle the other half of my Fantasy story for Splintered lands, or maybe write up a couple shorts, or maybe all of the above :) Have to get it done! lol I know I can do it, and my belief in myself is back, which is what I need to get things accomplished in a timely manner!

Happy Christmas to me! lol And to all of you, may everyone have a dream come true!

Bad News Good News

So this is kind of a good news bad news kind of post. Bad news, I've been laid off, good news more time for writing. Bad new, I've had stress related pain that presented like heart attack and spiked my blood pressure to 182/96. Good news, I've been laid off stressful job.

Bad news, I got edits back from beta and verbal slap about other books out. Good news he still wants to read it again when finished. Bad news, I pulled most of my books out of the selling market. Good news, they'll be back :) minor fixes, formatting, etc. But I'll wait until after the holiday. Bad news, I quite writing everyday during Nano cuz of stuff that came up. Good news, I did so much writing early on still finished with over 52k :)

Bad news, I haven't painted in two weeks. Good news, finished the last painting commission and it's at it's new home. Bad news, 10yo severe sass negative sarcasm session at parent (me) last night. Good news, I get extra chores done for next two weeks :)

Now that I've been laid off officially and am abel to go back to focusing on my writing and other arts, I'll be posting more again (I hope) as I won't have to choose between writing and blog time.And I'll hopefully be able to look at my writing with fresh eyes.

How've you all been while I've been roller coasting around with work, art, and writing??

Sad ballad for this year

This last year has been hard on a lot of us, personally. I have had friends like Mercedesmy (her public persona :) and Echo lose babies. I nearly lost my daughter. In fact, it was so close, that one of the doctors, when heading into surgery, gave me "the look" and said another day she would have died for sure, another hour, likely the same. They were getting it just in time to have the most hope, but the hope that was there, was slight. She lived. Miracles do happen. However, in my lifetime, I've had 2 miscarriages that I KNEW I was pregnant and 2-4 probable according to docs and symptoms that followed. My husband and I lost our first one together at the end of my 3rd month. I know the pain of losing a child. I recently learned of my friend Echo's loss. The heartache of the year spilled over. I wrote this in tribute to Mercedes and Echo, and all women who have lost their children at whatever stage the child's life was cut short. If you are prone to tears, get the hankies ready. I cried while writing it.

It's more of a song, then a poem.

Chorus:

It was this hand, I yearned to hold.

It was this hand, I made a mold.

It was this hand, so sweet so cold.

It was this hand, my heart loved untold.

It was this hand for which I cry.

It was this hand, no reason why.

It was this hand, can’t wave goodbye.

It was this hand I ached to try.

It was this hand, so still it lies

          My heart denies, it was this hand.

Deep within me lies pain I cannot bear.

No matter how my heart cries, I’ll never do her hair.

I’ll never feel her little hand or sweet kisses on my cheek.

I’ll never know if you’re wild, shy, artistic or meek. 

It was this hand, I yearned to hold.

It was this hand, I made a mold.

It was this hand, so sweet so cold.

It was this hand, my heart loved untold.

It was this hand for which I cry.

It was this hand, no reason why.

It was this hand, can’t wave goodbye.

It was this hand I ached to try.

It was this hand, so still it lies
          My heart denies, it was this hand.

He will never smile at me, nor will his eyes open to the world,

To life. It will never be, like a ship’s whose sails are not unfurled.

Seas he’ll never set sail upon. Paths unfollowed that will ever so remain.

His skin, so soft,, so pale. My heart aches, the hurt, the pain.

It was this hand, I yearned to hold.

It was this hand, I made a mold.

It was this hand, so sweet so cold.

It was this hand, my heart loved untold.

It was this hand for which I cry.

It was this hand, no reason why.

It was this hand, can’t wave goodbye.

It was this hand I ached to try.

It was this hand, so still it lies

         My heart denies, it was this hand.

Oh my child, my hands, my arms, empty. In my soul, a void.

I see your face, a last stand before the grave, my heart destroyed.

The day will come, I will arise. I’ll move I’ll laugh, I’ll go out.

I’ll see the rose, and feel the skies, warmth and peace, but not right now.

It was this hand, I yearned to hold.

It was this hand, I made a mold.

It was this hand, so sweet so cold.

It was this hand, my heart loved untold.

It was this hand for which I cry.

It was this hand, no reason why.

It was this hand, can’t wave goodbye.

It was this hand I ached to try.

It was this hand, so still it lies

          My heart denies, it was this hand.

Mercedes, Echo, I love you. 

Nano is rocking :D

So much for daily blogs :) I am posting regularly on my FAcebook aruthor page though if you're wanting to watch this roller coaster ride to beat my own record :) HEre's where you can like my page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leona-Bushman/150659211663622

Anyways, to give you all an update. I'm doing pretty good here. I did have a couple of short days, then I took a break. I needed it. I was stuck on a particular aspect of it and was unable to write the "need this here" as the middle portion was dependent on the trick itself and had to be worked out.

So, we got an electric fireplace, I rearranged a few things and I've been making fun foods like torrone and cake, and I'm up to 40k on my MS yes, 40k since the 1st of November!! So excited. Trying to go higher, but we'll see what happens today :) My goal is to hit minimum of 60, but would REALLY like to hit 75k for the month! I'm on schedule to do that, but this has been the easy portion so far ;)

Any of you doing nano? If so, how are you doing? What's your goals? Are you stuck anywhere?

Nano

LOL well, days 3, 4, 5, 6 went really well! Since I'd only done 400 the first day, it took some doing to get my average over 3k!! but I did it :) Day 7 now, and I've finished 800 of the 3k I wanted, but my total word count is 22,351!! A personal best, I think! I worked today so I'm fighting brain-stuck-on-dead-tired disease. I'm losing :P

Had really good write in via twitter with some pubwrite friends!! Loads of fun. ;)

Now trying to find gumption fo finish my minimums for today. Work seems to just take it all out of me. But I won't let work win!!!

I also need to figure out how to work some art time in...getting a hankering to do more than a little...these are the kind of moods that produce three to four paintings at a time :)

I also have to find a couch or two, an electric or wood fireplace and a car...we'll have like -$400 so pbbbttt lol

So back to writing and painting.and being a parent.

nano

I forgot that I wanted to post daily ;P so here's the wrap up of day's one and two.

Day one: My son's birthday, got told to do x amount of work from home so was looking forward to a day of baking cake, writing, and throwing a little work in. What actually happened? Boss remembered meeting in tricities (Over hour from Yakima, where office is located which I had to get to. PLus getting from office to freeway is like another twenty minutes. So, guess what? Day one was shot but did manage to put in 400 words before the night was out.

Day two: Haven't seen my thyroid meds.since Halloween which is only day I'd taken them since the prior week. Searched HIGH and low. Again. Had done that day before, but now I've roped kids into helping. No dice. So I clean and start dinner and start writing. I felt the drop when my body hit the I need meds now stage, but by then had written just over 2k for the day ;) When husband got home, he helped. Half hour later, I had my meds!!! Whoop! So finished day with 3700. Have now made up NaNoWriMo minimus for days one and two, but still short on personal goals. I need to aim at hitting 3k a day (which I can do!) or more, especially now that I'm working.

Day three has just begun. I'm starting the day at 4126 and I hope it goes well. I'm fighting allergies, cleaning and school for boys. And we're supposed to build recycle bins today for class project. (I know, awesome school day for my boys!!) Wish me luck and that a bigger percentage of my words will be awesome, epic and full of wonder and not rubbish worthy of only gitting hit with thte delete button. Tata for now ;)

November Featured Writers and a special Promo

Tomorrow is a special day. First of all, it's my youngest son's birthday!! *pauses while you all sing him Happy Birthday, PS his name is Isaac* He turns three. Something that hit me today (it may have hit me last year but if so, I've forgotten) is that I did my first Nano on my son's first birthday. So as along as I do this every year, then the number of years will be the same as the year my son turns. My first year, he was one, my second year, he turned two. See where I'm going with this? lol

As I'm busier than a one legged man in a three legged race, I didn't push for new authors this month, so only found one new one at this late date. Her name is Carolyn Arnold, another author I follow on twitter. She has been promoting her upcoming release by tweeting teasers out of the new release. I asked her to tell me something quirky about herself, and she said that sometimes, she'll end up flicking a light switch repeatedly. The light goes off, but is it really out???

She is due to release a new this month, and a sequel to her first in December. So I think it's a great time to showcase her first book. Also, I'm planning on helping her with her release with a blogspot. So, if you're looking for a good book in her genre that you can soon follow up with the sequel, Carolyn's mysteries maybe just the thing!

Carolyn Arnold is the author of several novels in the mystery, thriller and suspense genres.  TIES THAT BIND, the first in a police procedural mystery series surrounding Detective Madison Knight, was her debut novel and published May 2011.

Carolyn was born in 1976 in the rural town of Picton, Ontario.  While her passion for writing dates back to her teen years, it wasn’t until 2008 that she completed her first novel.  She lives with her husband and her two beagles in Southwestern Ontario.

For more information on her books and upcoming releases, please visit her official website http://carolynarnold.net/

Ties that Bind can be found on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/146352210X/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_alp_Y3gbob159B5D4

And on Smashwords here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/62102

And if you'd like to follow the author's blog and see what she's up to, you can go here: http://sassy3421.blogspot.com/

Next up, another author from twitter, Naty Matos. She's been unfailingly kind and has shown great, ture interest in others :) a good way to catch my eye! She was ever so kind to fill in a last minute hole left from my busy schedule and lack of true planning :) She tends to listen to 80's in both English and Spanish while writing. I give you our latest featured writer:

Naty Matos was born in the city of New York, from Puerto Rican descendant parents. She grew up in the beautiful Island of Puerto Rico and now lives in the city of Atlanta.
She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Clinical Psychology with a Minor in Mass Media Communications and a Master's Degree in Mental Health Counseling.
Naty writes Christian fiction and non-fiction. 

She maintains a blog on Christian Living Topics at www.therisingmuse.com

The devotionals inside Growth Lessons are based on the life experiences of the author, questions from fellow Christians and the Word of God. They will motivate you in times of trouble and it may answer some of your questions about how to live your every day life in Christ.

It's a great way for new Christians to figure out the Christian Lifestyle, but also a great tool for seasoned believers to afirm their faith. It will serve as a reminder of the little things we sometimes miss in our journey with the Lord.   

To find her book you can go to

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/97235

And Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Growth-Lessons-ebook/dp/B005WZ1BGK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320126689&sr=8-1

And my own book, which will have it's own official Launch Party in about a month or so, is available. My first print review is being done. In the meantime, you can buy it ;) I already have a special promotion for those who buy the print version from Lulu.

HOWEVER, since the first of November is my son's birthday, I'm giving away gifts! That's right, for all of you who have read to the bottom of my featured writers post today, I'm giving you the code to recieve a Smashwords copy of Cerisa's Quest FOR FREE!!!!

Go here, add it to your shopping cart then put in the code, WD94D! This is a limited number of copies offer. IN other words, first come first served, then I'm turning off the coupon :D So GO NOW if you want a free copy of an Epic Fantasy.

hehehe hahahaha

::giggle:: It's Halloween!!! Happy Halloween!! Tomorrow's (the first) is my son's birthday :) and you know what? He's going to be three! I'm excited!!

It's NaNo time and I think I've finally decided on my story! A horror story I wrote for Forever Nocturne's online magazine due out tonight has inspired me to write a full length story. When I get the link, I'll share it :D I also have to do some rewrites and edits that I haven't finished!! Maybe I'll get a chance to do the rewrites tonight :) If I can find the damn notes!!

I'm hoping to write 75-100k next month, with 55k at least for the NaNo story and the rest on a fantasy. That way, if I'm "not in the mood" for my horror, I can write on the one I should have been writing on all this time. :P

So gear up and get ready!! Prep your meals, finish your research, sharpen your pencils, and put away all the red pens!! Time to write your heart outs or cheer on your friends that are doing it!!

Ready, Set, GO!!!

And the cover is

AWESOME. I love it :) It's finished way faster than I could have imagined. Which is wonderful for me. I was able to revamp Winds of Fire's Print cover, and I'm going to use it on the ecover as well. My MIL is almost finished with her painstakingly accurate edits (I lost my other file and the wrong one was uploaded :( could have been worst...I could have liked the cover :P) so I can remarket it with the appropriate changes.

I'm having a hard day medially with my allergies. Learned that their was an atmospheric inversion here...no freaking wonder I can't breathe! But, I did get some organising and thought done on my shorts! Best be getting to writing. Saturday, I'm writing and painting :)

Tomorrow, I'm finding the dad-blasted benadryl. I have looked high and low, but tomorrow, I'll find it. I have to.

Anyway, back to the cover...I put it up on smashwords here and on kindle, which should show up tomorrow. Still messing with formatting on smashwords (they don't like paragraph indenting and a few other minor things, but wanted a running start at my print release, which will be the official release :) In the meantime, I'll just keep plugging away at formatting and my other writing bits :D

Well, I'm going for it. I'm going to self pub THAT book which has been known as Cerisa and the Dragon, quest for Riverhand & various & sundry other ideas. The final verdict? Cerisa's Quest. Why final? Cuz I've paid (paypal gods willing!) for my cover to be done for ebook and print versions :) This one is really clean and beyond the levels of my other works :)

I'll let everyone know about updates as they happen! But it'll be quick. I guess that's one good silver lining to my car being out. Couldn't go to work yesterday (was sorely needed) or today! (still needed ;( but what is a girl to do!) I'll keep working on my writing stuff. I got my meds on Monday thanks to friend Amanda driving me there to get them.  That'll help me get my focus for the others! Hopefully by Saturday :)

I still have that painting to do. It's driving me crazy. I hate messing up. Although, to be fair, the painting looks cool, just not what it's supposed to look like LOL So, have a larger canvas now. Maybe I'll find the energy to paint today :)

ON another note, we're getting so close to NaNo time!! Have a mentioned I'm excited? whoohooo

The last night of my car's life.

Well, if you follow my blog, you've read about my cars last day and had a glimpse into the night. But here's the REAL story...

So, with no phone, I used yahoo texting to arrange for a friend to help with trailer to take the car somewhere besides the freeway. I don't know how the staters are in other states, but the WA State Patrol is anal retentive about keeping the freeway clear of junk cars so we knew we needed to get it taken care of. You have 24 hours after they've tagged it until they impound it, or something.

With that arranged, I just had to wait for my husband to get home via Mom/Dad. When he came home, he started talking and I thought I wasn't going to go help get the car. Well, there were a few problems with that. The biggest one is there were things in the car, like the boys school boxes with the $#!+load of work they've don'e this year, minus the stuff that got thrown away. My husband hasn't grasped the concept that I need proof the boys have been taught something other than how to use an XBox 360 controller.

I mentioned in the last post the stress of walking with my kids by the freeway. It was another stress not having a phone. (due to money). I'd held up pretty well. Until my husband was saying I couldn't go. I started crying. Yes, I admit it. I started crying. I'd avoided it all day cuz I know how much it upsets the boys and just like that, I was leaking saltwater.

My 7yo came in to tell us not to fight and that he doesn't like it when we fight and we had to explain we weren't fighting that I was just stressed about the day. Gave him hugs and my husband and I went to get the car. Apparently, my husband has a weakness for tears I didn't know about before. Usually, he seems mad when I'm crying. I think it threw him for a loop. I don't cry about things like this. I'm an emergency person. I'm fine until the emergency's over. So to have me crying like that?

So, we get to the car. The day had been cold, windy, and trying to rain all day. If we'd been on the Seattle side, I'm sure it would have poured. My husband opens the trunk of the car the minute we get to it to get his coat that had been left there from the fair. If you've read the day part of this, you know what he found--nothing!

I looked at him and said, "Remember the coats I told you we had to wrap around Isaac? Yeah, that included yours." He looked sheepish and shut the trunk. He and the friend of ours who'd met us there, Virgil, checked out the engine, and then tried to turn it over. And there went the antifreeze, squirting all over the place.

Definitely not going to get it running. Virgil pulls a wench out of the truck and does all the connections etc, which he'd had ready, sets it up, and with my husband (Nathan) holding the casing, pulls the hook. Nothing but a few grunts. Not good. The electric wench didn't want to be released. After much grumbles and tries, they get out a power tester to check the wires, it lights up. Real purty too. But, when they press the button that would pull the car back up, there's not enough power to light the bulb much less pull a hook with a car attached to it!

More grumbles. Of course, we're having the man jokes floating through all of this. We've all been firefighters together out of the same station so we fell into a good rhythm of working together. (Remember the side of freeway hell I mentioned? Even they were hugging the vehicles cloes and trying to avoid being on that side. Experience is a harsh mistress.) We get a different cable that has the latch thing on it (I can't remember what it's called!) to hand crank it.

The guys decide they want to push it as far as they can first. They tell me to get in the car. I can't hear squat and there were a few misconstrued signals. One was when I was supposed to hit the brakes. They let it roll back down the tire ramps. And come explain to me how I'm supposed to hit the breaks so it won't roll back. Well, the whole damn trailer is tilted so how am I supposed to know they meant before the car was actually on it?? Really.

We take another run at it and when I feel the forward momentum stop I jam the breaks. Once in a while I'm turning the key so I get some power back in them. Nate (my husband) gets the hook on the hand wench and goes under the car looking for a good place to hook it. All of sudden he pops his head up and yells, "Don't let go of the brakes! If you do, I'll be killed!" I nodded to show him I understood but by that point, I'd misheard them like three times * I didn mention my hearing issue from allergy/winds right? * and he got this really worried look on is face.

He has life insurance.

He looked at Virgil then back at me and ducked his head under. I put both feet on the brake, worried about the power brakes failing while he was trying to latch the hook on. Then Virgil's head goes under to make sure they had it right. I'm sweating now, despite the cold. I have two men's lives under the hood dependent on brakes of a car that's off...

Virg goes over to the hand part that cranks it (it's going to drive me nuts that I can't remember what its called!) and Nate stay's under while they tighten the tension. When the tension is good he comes out from under it and had this joyful look on his face. Apparently, he's wondered if I thought I'd be better of with him dead (he's bipolar, not so unusual) and had proof I preferred him alive! Duh. Geez.

Anyway, this put him in a stellar mood, all things considered :D I guess you never know what the silver lining of a situation might be... :D

The last day of my car's life

Well, you know the cranky-arse feeling I had yesterday? It wasn't cuz I got up too early. It was cuz the fates had bad plans for me yesterday and the aura of those plans was implementing itself on me as forewarning. Yeah. Well, it could happen.

 

What happened? Well the long and short of it is my car blew a head gasket. (I didn't know what it was until later.) ON the freeway. With all the kids in the car. With no warning. Under an over pass. Just before an on-amp (which, if you're following this, you realize, it happened right AFTER a damn off-ramp!)  Going 70 miles an hour and it's an automatic. So, no power steering, no brakes, nothing. I was able to get it over to the shoulder w/o a) hitting anybody coming on the freeway and b) not get rear-ended by the hundred people going 80 miles an hour behind me.

 

But after that, with the exception of my kids, the luck ran out. I popped the hood, and found the resevoir for the antifreeze dry which it hadn't been when I left Yakima, and steam popping out. It's a closed system and I couldn't find a way to see if the radiator was dry as well. I waited for it to cool down to close to what the engine normally runs at, then tried to start it. I was only half mile from exit which was about a quarter mile long, then a quarter mile to a gas station and a McDonald's playland. Thought if I could nurse it to there, we'd be good. But, no. So I went looking for water/antifreeze. Found a gallon of antifreeze in the car. Put that in. (probably not the best idea :P) it sucked it right up, even with the car off, which I didn't know it could do. Um, nope, not a mechanic. I've changed fuel injectors, O-rings, clutch cable, clutch, spark plugs, oil, ran a radiator flush etc on an 80 something car like 15 years ago, but I married into a family that likes to fix their own stuff so have forgotten most of everything except how to change a tire.

 

When I pulled over it was just past 10:30 am. When I put the antifreeze in it was 11:30 am. Mind you, I've had three kids in the car, from 10 down to almost three. We had grand plans. After I ran around and did stuff I needed to do, some of which involved talking to my ex re our son in NM, and getting my meds from clinic, we were going to go to the Zillah McDonald's, have lunch, then do school there. Fun morning/afternoon for them, before I ran off to work at 2ish.

 

Anyway, at 11:30 the natives were getting restless so I let them get the kiddo out of his carseat. Thankfully I had gotten them crap food and ice tea at the gas station before we left. The one with only 50/50 antifreeze for same price that I could get straight antifreeze at another gas station :P

 

A few minutes before noon, when I tried to start the car with the engine was barely warm, it sounded B-A-A-A-D. I said, there's no way this thing is restarting. I got out to check it again and the antifreeze was pooled by the tire. I sighed and said, "Okay boys, we're walking!" (I'm not goin to go into the scary double dump truck that had it's wheels over the shoulder line...) We got out, got the stroller, tied the carseat to it, wrapped up the little one in lots of coats left in the car from the fair day (thank god!)

 

Did I mention that in all the times I got out to check on the engine/resevoir and oil, that no-one stopped? Did I mention that I don't have a phone right now? Yeah.

 

So we'd walked almost halfway to the exit ramp when a lady pulled over (at seventy she was nearly to the ramp before being able to stop and walked back to meet us. She let me use her phone and the boys and I crawled in gratefully! THANK YOU LADY WHO'S NAME SOUNDS LIKE MI-CASA (my house in spanish :D) to the woman with allergy and wind filled ears.

 

She took us to the McDonald's we'd planned on being at before noon anyway (irony that we were sooooo close!) and I bought the boys lunch and a ride  home arrived. Did I mention how awesome my boys were? They were saints! Awesome awesome awesome! I don't know how to express the dread and sorrow I felt at having to get my kids out of the car to walk along the freeway. I've been married to firefighters/EMTs and I've been one. Walking along the freeway is one level of Hell as far as I'm concerned, no offense Dante. But they were troopers! We left the car at 12:10.

 

So, that evening, we had a friend w/ truck/trailer who helped us haul the car back to our house. When we arrived at the car, it was tagged by state patrol. Do you know what time it was tagged for??????????????? For a quick recap-no cops, state, county, or local had stopped/driven by going east or west during this whole thing. And my car was tagged for 12:30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH I SAW RED. I get tired of things ALMOST being okay.

 

So, instead of getting an electric fireplace for our freezing cold house with no heat since the pellet stove broke, we are getting a truck for 200 that has to have a new fuel pump put in. And god knows what else. There goes our gas bill. Triple! We were planning on getting for my husband and it would be no big deal for him to go ten miles a day in it, but as a run-around, two working people's truck?? I'm ready to cry again just thinking of it.

 

So, I paint real pretty and write real good (yes that was intentional!) Anyone have a car they want to trade for a little work? :P

 

 

I'm so not a morning person

Halloween is coming. (Psst I don't have a title yet and already that blank line is staring accusingly at me!) I love Halloween, almost as much as Christmas. OMG I just now realized I haven't taken out my decorations yet! See? That's how crazy things are. I'm really not adjusting to this whole work thing very well. I have to work. Really no choice in it. But daa-aaaamn. I'm so tired. And right now it feels a lot like working for free. I hate commission work. I'm working per item, but I still have to wait until the sale goes through.

So, yeah, insert a lot of whine and rant here. Okay. Done? I'm not, but I'll quit for now. I like getting out of the house but I don't like working so much. I don't hate this job, thank god, but I do hate not having time for my other stuff and the stress of having a job. It's hard right now.

Anyways, I'm so not a morning person. The more rarh in a post, the earlier it is I probably wrote it :D

So, I think this weekend I shall decorate for Halloween and make a special Halloween cake. I made a trial run at the recipe and the cake was delicious. I'm picking up my thyroid meds today, so that should help me find the energy. Let's hope so. I'm also taking three kids along to pick up meds at two pharmacies, see my ex to talk about the drama in our children's lives (I'd never go back to being a teenager or young twenties!) and see someone on the way home then off to work. Doesn't that just sound like a grand day?

MAYBE, I'll get to buy the canvas I need and the baking pan I need and the electric fireplace since we have no heat in the house and get to write today. Likely? No, but I can wish, can't I?

I'm feeling pretty darn negative right now. Sorry :( The things going on in my life are the kind of things that make my artistic endeavors hard/impossible and it frustrates me. But I'll pull through. I always do!

Stress is going to either keep me motivated or it's going to kill me. I vote for the former. So here's to keeping motivated!

The Muse

So, a twitter follower/ee of mine posed a question: Do you outline for NaNoWriMo or do you fly by the seat of your pants??

We all know I fly by the seat of my pants. Last year, I had an outline and although the story was interesting, which is like saying oh very nice dear to a kid's drawing) it didn't have the pizzazz my stories usually have. Why? Once the outline was finished, I was bored. Bored bored bored. You've heard me say this before, so now you're probably bored, right? LOL

You know the synopsis issue? AKA the Seagull Summary? This is this and that is that? Yep, I get it when I outline. I'm writing an outline for a fast paced zombie thriller and reading it makes me yawn! I have like a brain fart. Or something. (wonder what kind of traffice searches this post will get! seagull farts? :P)

But, I'm thinking of writing an historical horror. I've been saving this online magazine to a folder for when I became ready to do it. I could read up on it the week before and make notes (no outlining!) re historical facts, dates, etc. I have an elizabethean novel kinda floating around in there as well. (No wonder I can't remember anything. Seriously, is anyone keeping count of the books floating around in my head? Someone build a yacht, or maybe an ark! and gather them together :P) And recent events in the news have sort of reinforced this other horror story I had...

Damn damn (damn farts now for search engine? LOL) now what am I going to write? Plus I have to keep going on the fantasy I'm, uh, working on. Yes, I'm working on it.

So the first step for NaNo is deciding what to write. The next step? Research. A friend on FB and twitter posted a pic of her research for her very first NaNo. I was floored. I think I left my jaw back there somewhere. Thing is, I do research in spurts as my mind gets these ideas, then when it's time to write, I have the knowledge and just need a little brush up.

After the research, do you outline? If you've never writtern before, this can be a hard question. As I've said, I've tried it both ways. The outline kills my muse. But for others, it keeps them on track and makes sure they have all the plot points. In my opinion, there is no ONE right way. I can't really work in total silence, but I know people who need it. I can't work with constant music, but know people who have whole saved tracks for the particular book they're writing.  Do what works for you and if you're not sure, experiment. This isn't just true for NaNo, but for any craft. Learn the basics (in this case, spelling, grammar) then find your own style.

So after you've gotten that far, you have to wait for the big day. In the meantime do all the preps I've mentioned before, not forgetting your favorite treats, and stock up on caffeine, roll your sleeves up and get ready!

There are plenty of us peeps working together on twitter for cheering each other on. I know I'm going to need it with the DAY JOB. My poor Muse needs the extra encouragement. I'm so tired that I don't want to look at a screen anymore when I get home, and my creative juices are burned out from all the exacting knowledge I've had to use all day (and it's only going to get worst. My work load is increasing!) and the creative side is screaming in pain in the corner. I have to soothe her, for I need her for my sanity.

And with that gruesome that, I'm going to finish this post before it turns into something dark!

Let your muse roll with the punches, encourage, feed, and exercise it. Then, let her/him loose on November first! NANOWRIMO FTW!!!

Monday, Monday

Monday, Monday. I sometimes think the writer of that song (which I'm sure lots of people on the planet know, but I don't! :P) was having a morning like today. Rainy weather setting off my allergies, little annoying things taking up time (forgetting my keys in the house AFTER making sure I had them) and the stress of providing for my family.

I'm at a day job. I like my job. I've had worst. I'm not paid per hour, but more per project. That frees me up to do stuff like, say, BLOG, or twitter without the guilt. Although, I will be moving to put stuff on craigslist for my work after this. But I miss my kids. Even though there's not a lot of time out of the house for the job, I now have to spend larger blocks of time to do things like grocery shopping etc, or I can take them with me. Yeah, um, shopping with three kids? Actually, yesterday they were great. It was the other stuff that got in the way. Mostly, I'm having MAJOR behavioral issues anytime I make them do a chore, and some minor issues when doing school work.

Because of my job, which I also do stuff for at home, I'm tired. And not getting a lot of fun time with them. Most of it is checking to see if they did their work, their chores, etc. When our money situation levels out (probably six months) maybe it'll be less stressful cuz I can reward them with tangible things and buy more time saving foods. For now, it's frustrating.

And more, I miss the writing time. I'm not doing as much as I need to, but I'm getting back in shape! It's almost NaNoWriMo time! I need to be in shape! I love that time of year. It's the time where my writing becomes my focus whether anyone likes it or not!! Sometimes, being a wife and mother gets in the way of being a writer. Sometimes, it's the other way around. I've learned better how to find the balance, but the day job through that balance out of wack.

I'm a good way through edits, but I'm having trouble writing new stuff on my fantasy. That creative energy is sucked up by the stresses of the rest of my life. I learned my lesson on it before, so I'm fighting back, but it is a fight. My husband is just glad I'm working and since I'm working, his attitude seems to be I don't NEED ot try to write anymore. It's back to being my little hobby, I think. I'd finally gotten him to take me seriously, so this is a major set back for me.

And the timing is so not good with NaNoWriMo coming up! That's alright. I'll show him. I don't have to have a best seller to prove it to him. I just need to have one that sells well. Problem is, I don't have the time or energy for self promotion. I am doing a little bit, but I'm more comfortable helping others promote their work. Why? Because I like helping others. I believe in myself (or I would have given in long ago!) but it seems weird to toot my own horn that way. Oh well, I'll keep writing, putting out books, some for self-pubbing and some off to agents. There are some I'm writing specifically to self publish because of the publishing arena. I might be shooting myself in the foot so to speak, but I'm a writer and I want people to read what I write.

So, there it is. Especially now that I have to work a day job, I don't have the time I used to have to read every agent's blog to keep up on the trends and learn where what needs to be sent and to who. I just don't. So, I guess I made a choice. One forced on me by the economy, but that's life. I have to provide for my kids the best way I can without losing my dreams for myself.  Has anyone else made these kind of choices regarding their art and their need to pay bills? Sure. The starving artist went out of vogue ages ago. Then again, if I could find a patron of my art and writing, maybe I wouldn't have to make that choice! :D

time for some sample writing

One of many books I'm considering writing a sequel to is Gal Friday Noir: Mayhem in Mexico (and yes, if you're wondering, I'm looking for a new title. I think the title is a little misleading. It's more action packed than noir suggests to me. Still, sigh.) I'm editing it while I'm on the home computer. This is the one driving me crazy making changes from first person present tense to first person past tense. I thought I was nearly finished and was doing a final run through... and the answer to that is no, not. Forgot I was interrupted :D

Anyways, here's a passage after Serena and her FBI agent partner, Joseph, has rescued her kids. She stays behind to ensure their escape and is now waiting for her own rescue once the kids are safe. We start with her talking:

"Another drug?" Oh just peachy keeno. Another drug. Another thing to worry about in the fight against these zombie monsters in human clothing.

"Yes. This one works to make the person more malleable to specific commands."

"Sounds dangerous. What if the wrong person gives them a command? Then what're you going to do? Give them counter commands until steam comes out their ears? I'm more impressed with your knock out drug," I said sarcastically.

"You're such a spitfire. Breaking the strong ones is so much more riveting for me. This drug works a lot like hypnosis works on the masses," she continued as if she hadn't just said she's going to break me. "While under the influence of this new drug, I can train the mind of whomever I want to do what I want, when I want."

"That's a lot of I wants. Hasn't anyone told you the old saying? Want in one, shit in the other and see which fills up faster? Because that's where I see this going." No way she'd developed mind control drugs for the Infected. Right?

I finally saw a frown cross her face. Good. My mother always said I could try the patience of a saint. She didn't find it funny when I told her that suffering was what made a person a saint and maybe I was put on Earth for making saints. I was a bit of a snot. Who was I kidding? I still qualified.

"You're a real smart ass. But you'll see. It takes a few doses to become effective but we'll get there. In the meantime, my friends and I are going to make sure you remember your stay here."

No doubt they would. I knew her old pals would be more than happy to stick the screws in and turn them. "The sourness in my disposition isn't due to the wonderfulness of my position. I'm quite confident you'll make my stay here memorable. Just remember, I'll be paying you back." If I lived through this ordeal.

"Bravado will get you nowhere but hurt. My men aren't as tolerant or forgiving of sarcastic humor as I am. But, the talking is over. I'm sure your cheek is feeling better compared to how it felt when you first got it. It seems to be healing at an alarming rate for a human. You're infected with the virus, I believe. How have you convinced the military otherwise?" She narrowed her eyes at me. "You can't cheat those tests. They don't leave you alone for a minute after they've verified  your identity. Fascinating."

She slapped my injured cheek. Hard.

My head snapped to the side in the aftermath of the blow. My eyesight was swimming. Shit. That hurt. While I was blinking to bring my eyes in focus, she slapped the other cheek. Now I was dizzy and sick. Fuck. She'd barely started and I was this sick? It was going to be a long day. God help me if I was here a week.

My head wass lolling around like a drunk in his favorite bar. I tried to speak, but couldn't at first. I finally regained the use of my tongue. "Is that all you got?"

She grabbed a fistful of my hair and jerked strait up. I swear stars were flying around her head after she cuffed my ears with her other hand. She yanked my head back so my neck was exposed. She took a knife from under her skirt which looked impressive when you were in my position. She scraped the knife down my neck.

The pain of the knife slicing burned against my skin. The blood ran down my neck to my shirt. I knew she planned on keeping me alive, but I wasn't looking forward to finding out how much torture my self-healing body could take without dying.

She let my head go and it bobbed like a buoy on water. My headache was exploding in little colored fireworks behind my eyes. Great. A stinking migraine to add to the list of pains. Thank you super virus, for making me so awesome.

 I wasn't even trying to focus my eyes on her. I didn't want to.

"You'll be left here while we make our arrangements with our traitor within the FBI. When I come back, I'll take you to your first bathroom run. You're our guest here. If there's anything you want, you just have to ask."

"Let me go?" I said sarcastically.

"You're being unreasonable," she replied mildly.

"Fine. How about Pizza Delivery? Or is that against hostage etiquette too?" My world was still spinning and my head still bobbed up and down.

She stepped forward and slapped me again with a quick snap of the wrist. My head jerked so far to the right, I was surprised when my neck didn't snap.

And hence starts the beginning of our captured heroines torture. Sigh. It was hard to write the whole bits. Especially in first person. Anywas, off to write some more. TATA for now.

IT'S NANOWRIMO PREP TIME

And you know it is!! I'm a little late in starting up the Nano prep this year, but here are the ten things I think you should do to prep for Nano and remember when doing NaNoWriMo.

*note this is form Sept 30 post last year* I will add more.

All in all NANOWRIMO was very good for me. I highly recommend it. It helps get a MS off the ground. A few rules to remember though.

1) Turn off your inner editor. I know. sucks. Make notes. Word commenter system worked wonders for me (one of the things I learned last year:)

2) Breathe. This may seem obvious, but think of the stress you get under pressure. This is the worst kind of pressure-the pressure to create. An intimate act that you are doing that you hope will eventually be printed by strangers and loved the world over. Or at least by enough people to keep you in ink and pepsi. (Uh, no Pepsi doesn't pay me for product placement. I live on the rez. Some stereotypes hold true.)

3) Find a rythym. A pattern. Whatever your pattern is. It helps me to twitter/blog and get my brain going. It gives my kids a chance to remember all that, oh yeah mom, I forgot to tell you stuff, and I'm hungry whines, and get it all out of the way. Then, when writing is underway, I can say with total assurance, I took care of this or that. That was my pattern. It helped. YOu may need to stay off the internet and use it as a reward. You know yourself. If you don't, you have a month to figure it out.

4) Quit freaking out about the word goal. It's not really that high. You may need to push yourself out of that comfort zone you've been in, but just do it. (Nike's not paying me either. Maybe I should apply?)

5) Make your daily word count based on weekdays/5 day week. That does two things. One, you have two days off if you succeed and you can look forward to that. It allows for birthday parties, school functions, what ever you need those two days for. Two, it gives you those days to make up something you missed because you got a flat tire on the way to a write-in or your kids' teacher calls and wanted to know why they thought Duct tape was an awesome disciplinary tool.

6) Prep meals and TREATS ahead of time as much as possible. Freeze cookie dough, muffins, whatever it is that you and your family like. They will feel less like you've abandoned them. I wasn't prepared last year, so the first week sucked, but I'm a quick learner. I spent one day prepping as many meals as I could for the next week. That included grocery shopping, and portioning out things in preperation. My first year was a real challenge because I had no oven or microwave-stove top only. A gas stove top. I'd never used a gas stove top before.

7) If you are having problems with the plot, or a chapter, write what you want to happen. I did this and before I knew it, I was writing again to the story. Granted, I had to edit out things later, but it kept my word count going and my stress level stopping. (Can you keep something stopping??? LOL)

8) Let no bad happen. If you can help it. I don't mean in your story. If you are writing horror. Write things as bad as you like. I mean, don't over stress the little things. Further, farther? OMG which is it? My story will suck now cuz I can't remember. Worst, worse? Everyone will think I'm an idiot. Okay, get the picture? QUIT IT. When this is over, I will steal a few wonderful language sites from edittorrent's grammar site and post them here so that you can fix it-LATER.

9) Keep networking. Keep talking to those people who have been your support all this time. It will relieve stress, give you companionship, and keep it all in good fun, which leads to my last rule.

10) Have fun. We're writers. Writing is fun. Yes it's hard work. Yes, it can tear us apart emotionally when things aren't loved by everybody and their dog PB. But over the top, it's fun. Why else would we do it? Half the time we are fighting sterotyping (that's not a REAL job & You're not Published? then you're not a REAL writer) and our families to buy the time we need. Not to mention jobs, illness, life's foibles. Why not have fun?

Believe me, the better you prepare, the more seamless it will seem. This year, I have the DAY JOB to contend with. And I'm painting, doing etsy. I had to toss a painting last night cuz it didn't work. Now I have to start over. I want it finished before NaNoWriMo! one less issue to worry about!

My time is always crazy. Just when I think we have this all figured out and might find a routine, something happens to screw it up. I'm of the mind now, "if I can do it, you can do it!" so no excuses. Either do, or do not. No just kidding. Do it no matter what. Focus for 30 days on your writing and see what happens. You may decide writing isn't your ball of wax, or you may find out you have a gazillion words written. I'll post more tips on how to make that happen!

Happy Day

Happy Day! I'm having a day off of the day job! not even working from home :D yeah! so today is cleaning, painting, writing, editing day. And planning for NaNoWriMo. Yep, it's that time of year again!

I'll be pushing my post from last year regarding Nano and ways to prepare. This year, with no fudge room cuz of my day job, I'm going to have to really do as I say! No slacking for this girl. I've got a couple of ideas now. One is a sequel, but problem is, I've lost my mojo for that one. Part of it's the romance. See what happened, when I planned the series, one of the characters were supposed to fall in love with x, then y came along and screwed everything up! I haven't adjusted for it yet.

Then there's this sci-fi sequel I need to do for Piza Seven, then there's these 2 other sci-fi books I've started/written down based on dreams of mine (that's how Rebellion on Piza 7 started! Which, incidently, you can get here at Barnes and Noble in hardback.)

Then there's this other story creeping around in my mind, in the dark, the cold, that wants to see the light. Even though all those other stories are more thought out with definitive boundries and goals in mind, I know me. I'll be willing to bet it's this creepy one running through my head that gets written. I've never written a full length true horror before. I've written horrific elements, mostly ones that I delete out of my books, but, not a horror story. Although, I did write a short that's available on my website. I started a full length novel, lost it, and now this other one is brushing at my consciousness. Maybe it'll take form, maybe it won't. But needless to say, I have plenty of ideas going into NaNoWriMo!

and in other news, we were able to go to the fair. I think it's the first fun tangible thing we've been able to do as a direct result of the extra income I've brought in. We got away with 10 hours of fun and food for five people for under 200! With the prices of the fair food, I find this nothing short of amazing. :P

I missed the demotion derby because my 2yo was cranky. So I put him back in the stroller and left. We went to the building with all the quilts and crossstitch and crochet and he fell asleep. I then went to the ag building which is where they have the art and photos. Next year, I'm getting my arse of the ground and getting my pics in. Biggest problem is the artwork has to be framed. In the amateur category I fall in, I have a really good chance of winning AND it gives us free tickets into the fair. So over the next year I'm going to take advantage of any huge framing sales if the stuff at work pans out.

In the meantime, I have to get back to my painting, writing, cleaning :D

I don't know

LOL I've gotten so that thinking of a title for my posts is most annoying. Sometimes, it's easy, like the featured writers, and sometimes, well, yeah. So, instead of letting the lack of title stare at me accusingly, I'm writing I DON'T KNOW. I feel a little like Doctor Who in the Sicerats(sp?) Christmas episode.

Yes, I want to blog today. Wanted to blog lots of days. But what, exactly, am I blogging about? A little while ago, I decided to make my blog more focused on life and less focused on my writing. Well, I do have a job, kids, etc, but it all revolves around how I see the world as a writer and painter. It's an interesting influx. See, I see the world in pictures and emotions and feelings that I want to write about. I was told once that usually, that people who see things in pictures are slower (*I* am not, even with my meltdown after losing my thyroid. I FEEL slow compared to how I used to be, but I'm not slow.)

It's an interesting way to see the world. I've found a few writers/painters who are the same way. I don't know (ahha! I can let my title stand! :D) if they've ever thought about it quite this way. *shrug* However, try it. Do you remember things in Black and White visually and/or emotionally? I tend to remember the emotional stuff better now. It's like the extra adrenalin that runs through me during an extreme emotion helps my short term memory to temporarily work the way it's supposed to and send it to long term memory. Something that doesn't happen as well as it should since I had thyroid cancer.

Anyway, I grabbed the camera and found some beautiful after rain pictures: Here's a sample (you may use them for your desktop or something, but please do not market/sell, reproduce them! Thanks!)

I love the lighting! (Pssst, I'm not putting my very best ones. Thinking of selling prints on Etsy of those ones!)

I love this picture :)

I realized I could steal a few minutes on the way to/from work and get some grea summer to fall pictures for my painting and that's what I've done!

And I'll give you one more (it's really hard not to post my favorites :)

Okay, that's enough for now :)

I have a painting commission for a friend I'm starting tonight. Should have started last week! NO more procrastination! GRRR LOL

How's everyone doing on there personal hobbies/careers/goals?

October Featured Writers

This month's Featured Writer's are a lot of fun! I met them through pubwrite hashtag on twitter. And it's been one party after another. When I could attend!

First up is AJ Aalto, twitter @AJAalto who has discerning tastes in literature (liked my zombie erotica comedy :D) and is a hoot to follow even if you're not a part of the conversation! LOL helps to follow lots of our friendly peeps on pubwrite. The things you overhear O.O!

Something about our dear writer of gore you might find surprising, and I find endearing is that she is one of those candle fiends. She says she rarely goes a night go by where she hasn't lit a dozen or so. Everything looks better by candlelight and that they help her relax.

BIO


"AJ Aalto is an unrepentant liar and a writer of blathering nonsense offset by factual gore. When not working on her horror novels, you can find her singing old Monty Python songs in the shower, eavesdropping on perfect strangers, stalking her eye doctor, or failing at one of her many fruitless hobbies. Generally a fan of anyone with a passion for the ridiculous, she has a particular weak spot for smug, pseudointellectual assholes and narcissistic jerks; readers will find her work littered with dark, imperfect creatures and flawed monsters. AJ cannot say no to a Snickers bar, and has been known to swallow her gum."



Something about me that's different:





My first book (and only, so far):



TOUCHED (Book 1 of the Marnie Baranuik Files)

"The media has nicknames for Marnie Baranuik, though she’d rather they didn’t; twice-Touched by the Blue Sense, a rare dual-talented psychic with a doctorate in preternatural biology and a working knowledge of the dark arts, she was considered without peer in the psychic community.

Her first big FBI case ended with a bullet in one shoulder and a chip on the other, a queasy heart and a serial killer in the wind, leaving her a public flop and a private wreck. When the FBI’s preternatural crimes unit tracks her down at her remote mountain lodge in Ten Springs, Colorado for her insight on a local case, she isn’t particularly eager to stick her neck out again, but her quiet retirement is promptly besieged by a stab-happy starlet, a rampaging ghoul, and a vampire hunting jackass in tight Wranglers. Marnie figures the only real mystery is which one will kill her first.

Too mean to die young, backed up by friends in cold places, and running with a mouth as demure as a cannon’s blast, Marnie Baranuik is about to discover that there’s no such thing as quitting time when you’re Touched."



Her current work in progress is DEATH REJOICES (Book 2 of the Marnie Baranuik Files)



Here's the shortened link to the ebook on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Touched-Marnie-Baranuik-Files-ebook/dp/B005NXLJK4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1316526168&sr=1-1



Here's the link to the launch blog: http://www.ajaalto.com/?p=1205
 
 
Next up is eatthepen on twitter and also a lot of fun and a bit tongue in cheek. (There are reasons I don't dare say that in connection with AJ Aalto :D! LOL she'd get me good!) His wit and dare I say charm? are just small reasons to want to follow his twitter account. And no, in case you're wondering, his twits are not all goodness and light, but they are a lot of fun!
 
And how many of you are aware of his secret? After reading Dan Simmons' 'Hyperion' sequence, he became obsessed with the poetry of Keats, and can still quote large chunks of the major odes! One of his ambitions is to recite Keats for an appreciative audience someday. Well Richard, I hope you get your chance! Without further introduction, I give you his "official" bio.


Bio: R.J. Davnall has been telling stories all his life, and thus probably shouldn't be trusted to write his own bio. 'Heaven Can Wait' was written when he should have been reading for his PhD in philosophy at the University of Liverpool. He lives on *the* Penny Lane, in an attempt to channel any of the inspirational genius that might still be lingering there. When not writing or messing around on Twitter, he can usually be found playing piano or obsessing dangerously about videogames.





 'Heaven Can Wait' (YA Fantasy). Blurb:

When the Non-Agency tells Tom he's dead, he doesn't see much reason to believe them. But he is, and it's their job to convince him. When he falls for Mary, the still-living daughter of his murderer, Tom knows the Non-Agency will try to keep him from her. They'll stop at nothing to send him towards the light, and he's about to learn there are worse things than dying...


Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Can-Wait-Non-Agency-ebook/dp/B005P208W8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317077139&sr=8-1


Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/86000

And It's ON!

So, the game is on! The two stories have posted here for your reading pleasure! Please no trying to guess who wrote what. LOL really vote for the one you like the most! So far, from what I hear, it's a close thing! It was fun and I wrote a lot and edited a lot and threw out more :P

Also, go here to catch up on Dangerous Lands. From here on out, I'll be writing the episodes by myself. It's a bit nervewracking :D I'm sending my newest installment as soon as I finsh the last edit run-through. It's so much fun to have writing events happening! I miss being able to write everyday. I'm going to try to go back to everyday, even if it's only half an hour. I've been so overwhelmed, but I'm adjusting.

Now go! shoo! you have reading to do!

The cage match!

Today is the day. I get to write 2000 words of brilliance to be posted on @threecifer's blog tomorrow. Today, I get the prompt, in little over an hour...then all's fair in love and war :D

To catch the prompt, go here today, and to catch the match and vote go there tomorrow :D Wish me luck!!

PS I'm extremely tired...been up since 430 this am...but that's when I do my best writing, so watch out Anne-Mhairi!!

PSS Featured writers will be back for October with some awesome peeps!! Stay tuned!

Cage Match

It's on!!! Fantasy in the Cage Match sponsored by Al Boudreau is on! It's myself and my CP partner, Anne-Mhairi, better known for her pink mice :P she's @AMhairiSimpson on Twitter! I'm @L_Bushman in case you don't already follow me :D


So what's up? He gives a writing prompt--basically sets up a scenario, and us writers write a 2k word story in 24 hrs (or less, since I believe he's putting this on EDT and I'm Pacific :) He then posts our stories up with a chance for you to vote!!

Have Mercy

That title makes me think of a song. I just realized how long it has been since I blogged. Someone needs to whip me. I have lots of good excuses (two day jobs, writing deadlines, painting commissions and closing week of husband's play) but the real problem has been my internet. I've been paying 70.m for an aircard that works like crap and now after YEARS and YEARS of using this, they started charging roaming. This card was grandfathered in to the free unlimited everything. Well, I didn't mind the slow internet before cuz it was what it was. But they're going to charge roaming for a netflix movie that we can't watch half of cuz the playback time is too slow? Get real. So I've cancelled that card (not officially because I want more time to pay the bill which I'm afraid to look at) and it quit working lik 75% of the time. Found new bundle thingy, but have to do it in steps cuz of money. So, should have internet at home by middle to end of October, depending on installation stuff.

We're getting Satellite internet :D yay! Will be good and fast all the time. NO more crap from towers down and stuff. Although, sounds funny to me that we're getting satellite internet when there's a satellite due to fall out of the sky, yanno?

Anyways, I have had trouble with my borrowed laptop. Fixed for most part, but I lost my notes on the fantasy story I'm doing for Splintered Lands, which is worst than losing the story that I'd already written (except for one glorious scene. I think the original word descriptions and pacing was better than my rewrite, but ce la vie. Anyhoo, I've re-written over 6k already. only 90k more to go :P Also need to rework part of a short, but I figured out how I can do it without changing the flavor when I reread their information. I'm excited! I keep forgetting to download the ongoing to a jumpdrive, so should be getting on that as well. ON top of that, I've had another painting commissioned!

We've had a few spider bites, the worst on my husband recently again, a bit of asthma trouble, but otherwise, we've been doing alright. My kids are now excited about the internet stuff even though it's a little ways away. We'll be able to have more than one computer on the internet at a time!! yes!

So, after you've whipped me and scolded me, you going to forgive me for taking too long to blog?? Please?? I did do a short update on my website, http://www.leonajbushman.com/ so does that count? lol It feels good to be back in the writing mode even if I can't share my triumph's and angst with the social world while doing it. I sure miss twitter...trying to do it on phone, but that stinks :P

How've you all been??? Anyone getting any wonderful writing or painting done??

Hello!!

So, it's been another crazy week. Shows opened, I had an interesting time with the sound a few times!! LOL Turns out my asthma decided I neeeded to pay attention to it. I've been seriously fighting it lately. I had a visit to the hospital. They decided to let me go home because, a) I wasn't panicking, b) I had good vitals, and c) I'm not an idiot :D LOL Pretty much was the long and short of it. I was given meds for my machine, combivent to take 4x a day, prednisone for 5 days, and a different daily allergen med. It's making me feel like I have an angry lioness under my skin ready to claw its way out. I keep reminding myself (and everone around me!) that I'm on prednisone. :P But at least I have these things to help me through it!!

I am looking forward to a weekend of painting and sewing. It'll help offset all the cleaning we need to do!! Show times always end up putting us behind. I didn't think it was going to be so bad this year since only Nate is in the show, but...painting set and running sound have put me in that position! LOLOL

I'm also writing. Started the novel that's due Oct 1... yeah, cutting it close, but this novel has a much involved synopsis with lots of the twists and turns already written out (making it harder for me to start!) so once I get through the "why write it, I already know everything that's happening" issue I always get if I do that, I'll be  cracking! Anyone who's wanting to help with the whip, is more than welcome. :P Plus, I've gotten CP Edits back on my paranormal and started on that a bit. Now that I'm feeling better, and will hopefully continue to improve on that, I'm thinking I'm going to rock the house down this next month!!


AAAAND---it's my birthday and I've had a blessed amount of wishes on my facebook and I'm grinning from ear to ear! What a blessing the writing community is! So thank you to all my friends and family who've wished me glad tidings so far!! It's made me feel good :D

'Til next time...

HA TWICE IN ONE DAY

LOL I'm so tired that my editing efforts have been useless so I've been reading some back blogs to try and catch up. As a result, I'm full of information, doubt, righteous anger and what ifs.

I decided to post a couple of those to you. What if you're writing a multiple POV book? I can here the dreaded word "headhopping" hopping around in your heads already. But really, if you're writing a book form omniscient or multiple POV you must have some transitions. I've heard everything from, "Make sure you put space here so reader knows it's a change of POV" (heard it from multiple writer friends) to you can't do that. You have to have new chapter, scene change, whatever.

I've also heard from some editing friends. Mostly, they say the key is transition, like dialogue. But then, you have all the writer wannabe's (including myself) reading books going "hey that's headhopping, how come they got away with it! or I can't read this book cuz I'm now in the 7th person's POV for the book.

What do you do if you're reading an Omnscient storyteller type book? If you have an all knowing narrator, you're going to know everyone's thoughts and feelings. Have we gotten so stuck on holding everyone in the craft to a list of rules, that we've forgotten how to enjoy a well crafted story? I took one such person's supposedly educated wisdom to heart that, I, who was in AP classes growing up, have a hard time staying in one tense because I radically and frantically worked too hard at taking "was" out of my vocabulary because someone's creative writing teacher told her was was passive voice.

I was new at the writing thing and enoungh years out of school to believe said person. They were wrong. Anyways, I'm working on it. Of course, it's not helping that I've spent months changing my mind about tenses in a particualr book I wrote (went from third person past tense to first person present to first person past. You try it. Change a completed 85k word MS from one tense to the other and see what happens!)

Then there's the self pubbed stuff going around about poorly written etc. Well, to my deep horror, I have published a version of Winds of Fire that wasn't the final draft and can't seem to find the final draft (after beta readers & final changes.) so I dropped the price on my books and offered a major coupon to the twitter followers. I may have to pull it for a bit since I started a job and I'm having MAJOR formatting issues with everything. I got to thinking. Everyone is saying, you have to pay for editors, etc. Well, most of the writers I know are not rich enough to pay the 2-5 cent PER WORD cost of a professional editor. We are all trying to help ourselves. In doing that though, a lot of, "you absolutely have to do it this way" is happening and when I ask my editor friends (which I got through following their blogs and participating in discussions!) will tell me the right way and I have to follow my heart on it.

Then there are people who say don't cuz you might get poor sales. Well, maybe. I've backed off on advertising when I found the errors (after a fit of crying) so I can fix them. But also, I'm selling the fun ones through indie means. Not that the ones I'm holding back are dull and boring (quite the opposite, in fact!) but the ones I'm self publishing are the ones that I wanted out there, but have decided that I no longer want to pursue traditional publishing routes with those particular books. I wonder how that will bear on things later? But since I'm querying a project that is not of the same genre, will it be a mute point whether the sales turn out good when I go back to hitting the advertising hard, or if I pull it from the market? They're not the same genre, just some books I've written.

And maybe I'm too tired to really see any of this clearly LOL Oh, and by the way, I don't LOL in my books or use much in the way of parenthesis, or say cuz. Those are cheats here as I'm lazy on the blog :D (Oh, and I don't put smiley faces in either, even though it's tempting since I'm self pubbing LOL)

If you've self pubbed, share why. If you now read books looking for errors instead of enjoyment, even if it's subconsciously done, fess up here!

SORRY

I'm so sorry, my peeps!! I seriously forgot about my blog after the last post. Not, oh, I'll worry about my blog later, but a complete, my blog is out of my head kind of thing!! As a result, I've had HALF the visitors in this last month. I started working, then I started helping with this summers community theatre set build, then I started another job, and I'm still a mom and wife. I can't believe how I had just blogged how hard it was to find a job that will work around my family's needs and now I have two jobs that will do it. I'm logging a lot of hours for little pay/per hour, but, that's cuz of the learning curve and getting everything organized.

Also, the more I help my bosses, the more I'll get paid. So, at the end of this month, between the two jobs and the bits and pieces for writing and painting that I'll be getting, I'll probably be able to be off public assistance! :D And I'll still be able to be home with my boys, home school and take them to parks/other fun places. Yeah! So starting next month, I'm hoping to have enough money to not be out of food before payday and pay of fsome bills :) I'm not getting paid a lot, but I'll get enough to make up for the garnishment that's been killing us, and that's an important amount of money. It was our food money. I can't believe what a relief this is.

As for writing, I've not done a lot of new writing, but I've managed to do some formatting on Winds of Fire's paperback version (I got my proof copy and OUCH!) and some more editing on other stories. I've also started working around in my head how to do a couple of rewrites. One is for the fantasy anthology. I've got to get moving hardcore on my book that I'm doing for Splintered lands as well! I'm going to be busy!! Wait, I'm already busy! LOL Oh, and I got a small commission for a painting that I"m excited to do!!

Sorry I forgot my blog!! I'm going to have to set an alarm or something to remind me to make sure I get one out at least once a week!! So, I'll talk to you soon! Don't let me forget :D