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?