Guess What?

What? That's what. No seriously. It's NaNoWriMo time! Almost. But I'm gearing up :) I know what it means this year. I am so stocking up. Donuts, apples, pepsi, pears, pepsi, premade dinners, donuts, apples, pepsi, bread, mayonaaise, speed dial deliveries... WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO ONE WILL DELIVER OUT HERE? DON'T THEY KNOW IT'S NANOWRIMO?

Breathe, breathe, deep breath, in, out. Okay. I'm okay. Really. I am. Seriously. You can quit laughing now :\/\ Fine. I'll admit it. I'm crazy as a loon, but that's only because I'm the mother of five. It would send anyone into the loony atmosphere...

I am so jazzed about NaNoWriMo I can hardly stand it. I have spent way too much time playing on the computer today because of it. But you know what? During NaNoWriMo I managed to:

1) blog nearly every day

2) WRITE every day, even if it was 300 words

3) network every day

4) learn something new, nearly every day

5) took care of 1 yr old with Down Syndrome (this means more dr type appts) and dealt with
my own issue that I had no meds for (thyroidism with no meds=disaster. Trust me.)

6) was in strange city and friendless for most part (no last minute sitter for me! so no write-ins to help with word count)

7) son and I in a play for husbands college, OLLU, and had to pick him up

8) husband worked/went to school for 14 hours day (no help there)

9) Feed family of six on $100 wk/or less (things were rough!)

10) Write a good story in a brand new genre I'd never writeen in. Granted it needed more words. I've spent about 4 months editing it. I'm putting it through another edit as first edit destroyed my voice and world building (it was a fantasy).

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. 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. Last year was 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?

You can follow me on twitter by looking up Leona Bushman. I'm futzing with my twitter handle until I find the right one. Right now it's @writemyart Come follow me on my crazy journey with my fellow writers :)

oh my lord

Yes, I know the pics didn't work. sigh. nothing has worked for me on blogger until yesterday. My internet has been overworked. We live in a no-fly zone. Not for airplanes, but for cells and other things that take some sort of communication between things like cell towers, satellites, you know, all the modern ways of talking. Plus, nearly impossible for ham radio signals. I say nearly, but who knows, maybe it is. So far as I know, it's impossible. Even Search and Rescue have hard time communicating in this particualr area. Means it works off and on. Mostly off when I want it. Works fine for the stinks playing games. But when I want to do actual work/research, NOOOOO why would it work?

Anyways, for those of you who also follow me on twitter. I am no longer @pizaseven. I am @writemyart I'm not some scary stalker that's newly arrived on the scene. I'm the same one!

I'm starting a new short story. I have a very short time limit (
PS. Back in the saddle I hope :) Thinking I'm going to try doing the blog 2x week+ That way, if I have problems on blogger, I won't be absent so long. Plus, I may have discovered how to do those "preblogs" ahead of time! Sounds like a freaking plan to me!

Picture test

If all goes well, You will see a lovely picture of a bridge in the fall. It's near the falls in OR along the Interstate. A lovely peaceful picture to show the mood I'm currently looking for and trying to attain in my household :) We are all doing much better than we have been in a long time.

Back to School

My kids go back to school Wednesday. It's so late compared to the rest of the valley. A week later than almost everyone. Weird. Anyway, this past week has seen me grow a year older. Has wisdom come with that? We shall see. I'm having problems with my 19 year old daughter who seems to think she can be a disrespectful bully and then come and go as she pleases.

When I sent a box of things with grandma she was staying with a got a lot of cuss words with the obligatory, "I appreciate the gesture" thrown in so she can say she said it. But, when its interspersed with WTF and S*&&& and so on about how I'm just going to piss her off if I rush her in getting her stuff out, it loses it's impact of being grateful.

She left calling me names and being disrespectful. She walked out because she didn't want to stop her tantrum that I wasn't doing things her way. Fine, just not going to be here and act that way. So, rather than get herself under control, she hit things and screamed and walked out. (She has bipolar, and needs help. Alas, since she was over 18 before anyone took me seriously about it, I can do nothing about it.) She has since talked to me after disowning two of her brothers and me.

But it's been a falseness. A, "I'm the martyr because I'm still talking to you," attitude. When in reality, she should be asking for forgiveness. She also seems to think I have to leave her room the way it is until she decides to come get her stuff. Um, no. You left. I have stuff coming out of storage and a refriderator and freezer that I need to make room for.

Oh, but she has a plan. And I'm just going to piss her off if I try to rush her. Those were her exact words. Why does she think it matters to me? Nearly all of our fights are becasue I don't bow down to her bullying me to do something the way she wants me to or let her do something the way she wants. I realized last week that was exactly what she was doing--being a bully. Sigh. It's hard having a child with bipolar.

The good news is that since she's left, the level of stress in my household has dropped exponetionally. Now, instead of boys constantly fighting each other and me, I have "normal levels" of grumpy and "I don't want to" when faced with boredom or chores.

They are saying please again, excuse me, etc. I was able to take a nap with no yelling and fighting (something I haven't been able to do all summer). I hadn't realized how much violence was bred into her bipolar problem.

School is almost ready to start. I can't wait. Writing time. I hope. LOL We are the most ready for school than we've been in five years :) I haven't got new backpacks because they were on sale for 18. I have a first grader and fourth grader who drop their packs and run to the nearest playground. NOT spending 20 bucks on their book bags. I also have to buy a ruler cuz I stepped on the only 12 inch ruler we have and it broke. Big surprise there.

Although, I didn't buy ALL their supplies. I refuse. Four big boxes of Kleenex AND four boxes of wipes???? My child wouldn't use that in a year at home. Hello. So, I'm sending two boxes of each. One for my child, one for someone who can't afford it. I can always send more after Christmas.

The other extravagance that I see is the dry erase markers. 5?? really? of the same color??? Yeah, I don't think so. Plus, I know my child. Having five will cause him to lose more and not keep track of the one he's using. I'm sending two. Again, I can send more later if the marker is actually for his use. (They don't ask for a board, just the markers and erasers??? Maybe school has boards??) Anyway, except for a few refusals on my part, and binders that I'm getting next weekend when I see how many my teenager needs, we're ready. I love it.

Feels so good to be ready. Now that the bulk of canning is done, just need to do a bit more toms, pears and apples, I'm going to have more free time. I'm going to use some of that time posting pics here and on my friends crochet blog. Plus my writing. I'm so excited. I will have time to myself. And, with my husbands new work schedule, time with him :) Yeah US!

hello again

Well, one week later and a year older, I'm back :) I've been busy since the last time I was on. Two of my kids became violently ill, if only for the short term. One was the baby :( I prettymuch held him all day Thursday. Since I still had a low grade fever, it was probably a good thing.

The bad thing was all the lost fruit from all the illness :( Well, also all the backed up housework!

I entered a "So You Think You Can Write" contest and made the first cut :) I've been so busy canning and cleaning that I didn't even get on to ask you all to vote for me! Next week I will that's for sure :) It's a line by line contest. You build on each line and people vote for their favorite. Last week, the bottom 3 were cut. OUCH> Three at a time! Harsh.

We shall see what next week holds...

bits & pieces

Here's the opening to new paranormal I started. What do you think?

His black fur rippled in the wind, gleaming under the blue rays of the full moon. He lifted his nose in the air, sniffing for hunters. Getting caught in wolf form was not on his list of things to do before he died. In fact, being caged might kill him.

He put his nose down to the ground. He had her scent. At first, she had been hard to follow, but her scent had grown stronger the deeper into the evergreens they were. As soon as he realized it, he slowed down his hunt. His instincts told him it was a trap. He still had to track her down. She had killed three pregnant women in his pack.


Here's an excerpt from the thriller Winds of Fire:

"Who would want to hurt either them or Eagle Claw? Perhaps they, whoever ‘they’ are, are trying to bring down all of us." Definitely something she planned to look at more closely. "I don’t like this." She repeated.

"Don’t like what?" a male voice intoned.

Victoria whirled around at the sound of his voice and was unprepared for his impact on her. She felt like someone punched her in the gut. It was Mario da Vinci. The one who got away. He had lost much of his accent, but none of his deep timbre. His golden brown eyes were harder than she remembered, and his short-cropped hair had grown out long enough for his natural wave to be noticeable and for the wind to have ruffled it out of place.

Not now, she thought. Out loud she said, "What are you doing here?"

"Hello to you too, Victoria. See you haven’t lost any of your cold shoulder since we last talked." His brown eyes were laughing, although the edge in his voice belied the joke.


Feel free to comment on likes/dislikes and any and all grammatical errors you might find. I'm seeking perfection. Haven't hit it yet.

Yep, again already

I am bouncing up and down as I came to a realization. I have written three COMPLETE Novels in two and a half years. I'm still editing on a couple, but I've done it. Word count is something like this:
Rebellion on Piza 7: 71k+
Quest for Riverhand: 85,721 so far (this is one adding back in my adjectives, and world building and--you get the idea)
Winds of Fire: 59,800

Plus I've written a couple of shorts and had a few fals starts on a short I need to turn into a novel. Plus, I have about 15k on the sequel to Rebellion on Piza 7

Last night, I told my husband, "I finished a novel!" He was sorely underappreciative of what an accomplishment that was. He apparently can't decide whether he wants me to succeed sooner or later. See, I have a a few advantages.

One, I type, tested, at 69 words per minute. That's copying some unknown, usually foreign subject/names out with 1 or fewer mistakes while being timed. When it's the words coming out of my head? Wowzers. Believe me, being able to type fast is a HUGE deal for getting writing done.

Two, I have a vast array of general knowledge. This cuts down on research time for two reasons--I may already know, and if not, I have a good starting point for getting that knowledge.

Three, I have a good grasp on the English language and know most of the general rules. Some of the tricky ones I've learned from networking. I'm always learning more, but it helps to have a good grasp of grammar from the beginning.

And four, I have so many story ideas, they are fighting for supremacy. I can't quit writing. It's like once I decided to open that damn, it flooded. Not a trickle or controlled flow, it just goes. If I don't get it written down, I may not get it back.

Anyways, he seems to think it should take me years and years, yet doesn't want to wait that long for success. *Sigh* I'm simply going to keep on going and trying the way I've been doing. Learning, over learning, learning, making mistakes, learning, networking, and most of all, writing to my heart's content.