Words written today: 465
What I’m listening to this at this very moment: Lee Ann Rimes “Nothin’ Better to do”
Evanescence, “You never call me when you’re sober”
What I read last week: Patricia Briggs’ Mercedes Thompson series
Moon Called
Blood Bound
Iron kissed
You’re probably wondering what the title to this weeks installment is about. The truth is I’m not even sure I know.
I’ve become a writing class junkie, I take every class I can, because, I want to be the best writer I can be. (Sounds like that old Army commercial doesn’t it) Most recently I signed up for Kelley St. Johns class “Power Pitching and promoting”. Why you ask? well the truth is that I have no idea how to promote myself. Added to that my confidence is some what battered, and now you’re thinking how can a woman who has a blog have confidence issues.
I have been a stay at home mom for four years for two of those years and for the most part I’ve had the dog and four walls for company. Not that I don’t love my dog, but she’s a little short on human conversation. In addition most of my friends are usually several hours or states away, if not on a completely different continent.
So it just takes a lot more now for me to put myself forward, and the thought of actually having to pitch my book made me sweat. Let me just say I was really happy and excited when I saw this class pop up on writersonlineclasses.com, there another site that I take classes from as well writeruniv.com. I’m half way through the class and this time I’ve done my homework, and now I’m beginning to feel more confident about it.
Though if someone asked me right now what my writing style is I couldn’t tell you.
I know, that I like Amy Tan, Nora Roberts, Beverly Barton, Lora Leigh, Linnea Sinclair and the list goes on. But who do I write like I have absolutely no clue.
to my writer friends out there : Who do you write like?(not that it’s fair to compare, but I’m asking out of curiosity)
Words written today: 794
What I’m listening to at this very moment: Big and Rich’s “Save a Horse Ride Cowboy”
Rihanna ” Please Don’t Stop the music”
What I read this week:
Stephanie Laurens “Where the Heart Leads”
Elizabeth Lowell ” Moving Target “
Genita Low “The Protector”
Okay, so I mentioned that I’m a member of the Local RWA Chapter (http://www.cfrwa.com/) and I told you that I was taking the 100 words for 100 days challenge, but I never explained what that meant. So here it is I have to write at least 100 words everyday for 100 days straight. If I slack off and don’t write then I have to start all over again. Now some people would cheat but, those of you who know me, know that i will procrastinate all day and then write into the wee hours of the night just to meet my quota. But thats okay because thanks to this challenge I’m getting tons of work done on my WIP. So thanks again Julie for issuing the challenge.
Now all I want to do is lose myself on a dance floor its been so long since I went dancing. The problem is that guys no longer understand the concept of hands off. Now I know I’m only 28 but really when some 20 year old decides its okay to put his hands on me . I have a serious urge to put my stilettos through his feet. Which is why I don’t go out anymore, I have a low tolerance for anyone who doesn’t understand I’m taken and even if I wasn’t I wouldn’t be interested.Not quite sure why I brought that up but oh well it is my blog.
Any who, I was talking to my friend Tracy the other day, and we got to talking about where we get ideas from, and sometimes like now I have a historical running around in my head , with an empath standing on the bridge of a starship staring at me. I know it sounds crazy but , I have to finish this book so i can start on the others and when i start working on those I’m sure I’ll have a bunch of other characters running riot in my head waiting to be written. oh well thanks for letting me rant.
Today my sister in law turns 29, and soon I will follow. Which made me think, of what has she accomplished so far since her move to Maui. From what I can see she has revived her interest in Art , her love of the outdoors, and most recently she started writing again. In addition she seems a much stronger person than when she left, and that’s saying something, because she was strong to begin with. ( Our in entire family is made up of alpha’s. ) I think she has come into her own . So today a salute someone who I’m proud to call sister to my husband, Aunt to my children and sister of my heart. By the way I couldn’t choose just one photo of Dani, so I hope the two I picked out do her justice. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTY DANI!!!!!!! (that was from the girls)
I’m Home Sick, as if you couldn’t tell. Actually I’m also at home, sick, my Two year old had a 103° temp at 6am, fortunately I’ve been able to bring in down. She’s currently gluing shapes on paper and making a big happy mess as she is doing her craft for the day, Oh to be 2 again and have no worries.Now me, I feel like my throat is filled with sand and in general like crap. And when I feel like crap I want to go home. So here are my gratuitous pictures of SVG (Saint Vincent and The Grenadines) . For those who don’t know I grew up on a tiny island in the Caribbean, and though I was born in the US I still consider myself vincentian, though I also consider myself American. Well Heck it’s my prerogative, I’m both. The picture on the left was taken from my Aunt Suzanne’s veranda, the island is Young Island , its actually a hotel. And the picture below was taken entering Port Elizabeth, on the island of Bequia, ( my favorite place to go for the weekend) . I just want to sit on a porch and read a book. Okay enough wallowing in self pity I’m off to put Alex down for a nap and write. Oh and Happy anniversary To Kevin and Yamilca, and Melissa and Damian. Five years Woo Whoo! There I was happy for a whole minute, just kidding.
Yes I know it’s early, but I’ll be busy then. I’m volunteering at my youngest daughters school for the morning and then its me and the hubby. But wait there’s more its my in-laws wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary Johnie and Gail !
Now that’s out of the way, I’ve signed up for my local RWA chapter’s (http://cfrwa.com) 100 words for 100 days challenge . Which for my procrastinating self is torture. I did this because it will help me reach my goal of submitting a completed manuscript this year.
So my question to you is what have you done to challenge yourself today?
Well first things first happy New Year! yes I know I’m horribly late but honestly I’ve trying to limit the time I spend on the internet. You know the time stealing monster. Which is now worse because I had to get a new laptop, since my old “monster” and yes I do mean monster (It had a 17 inch screen and weighed about 10-15lbs, would just keep freezing on me when I was writing. Thank God for Best Buy having deals every week. Anyway enough gushing about having a laptop that actually works now.
So here are the exciting things that have happened to me so far, my current WIP ( Work in Progress) has been completely torn apart and now I’m in the process of rewriting it. Why? You ask would I do this, well here it is. I attended Robin Perini and Laura Bakers, day long Discovering Story Magic Class, which I had already taken previously online, but because I’m a skulker it didn’t quite have the same impact on me that it did in person. Needless to say, I took a good long hard at my book (which by the way I thought I had already done) with the help of a friend and came to the conclusion that I needed to change a few things.
Ok so the other exciting thing to happen is I signed up for my first conference, so I’ll be attending the Southern lights conference writers conference in March. I’m nervous as hell. And my eight year-old just came home with all A’s whoo-hoo, meanwhile my 2 year-old has been signing the drunken sailor song in school. Did I mention she goes to a Lutheran preschool, Grampa’s in trouble now( Just kidding).
Well Let me know what’s been going on in the world out there.
This weekend, went by in a blur.First was my hubby’s commencement ceremony for his Masters, which at one point early this year I thought I was going to have to force him to attend. Wooo hooo, I forget just how many years, but he did it! After which we all needed sustenance and a nap, and Trust me after 2 1/2 hours and Sonny’s barbeque, we really needed the nap. Then came Sunday and along with it the Christmas card photos. We couldn’t figure out the flash on my camera. Then we couldn’t get our act together to pose for the actual pictures. There are a lot of photos of one of us running into the frame.But I’m seriously considering sending out the outtakes as the Christmas cards though my mother in law isn’t in favor of it. Just in case your wondering we usually send out around 200 cards so she hits her family and I do mine that way every one gets one and no-one is missed. 
So I leave you with Alexandra doing her imperial best , to get me to stop taking pictures of her. So here’s my question for you just how many pictures did you have to take to get the right one? We’re at 20 plus and counting.
Thank heavens! Someone has finally come up with a way to show people how to behave while traveling, ( yes , I know that’s what common sense is for, but really do people use that part of their brain anymore? ). Delta air lines has come up with animated sketches showing customers in delicate situations. So here’s the link to their blog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsmGJdLYyYI
let me know what you think.
So the baking didn’t happen on Tuesday as planned. It’s just hard to coordinate with someone who lives in a completely different country and is six hours ahead of you. Though honestly I just need a better speaker phone, and more time. my cousin is guilty however of eating most of her maraschino Cherries,( Which were soaked in rum and red wine) so we’ll have to give her a couple of days.
So, what did I do instead you ask; well I had tea with a new friend, whom I had invited over to view the baking process. ( For all the info you ever wanted on tea start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea ) Don’t you just love Wikipedia? I grew up in a former British colony were tea is major part of life, and memories of Sunday tea at my aunt Patsy’s house, where her mahogany table had been polished to a shine and a tea cloth put on it while, cookies and scones and fresh baked bread, shared the spotlight with a large fruit cake and the Earl Grey tea . For us it was a time to gather as a family and to slowdown at least enough to enjoy if not a meal then a break. Which brings me back to yesterday it was good to sit down and talk and enjoy a cup of tea, poured from my mother’s tea pot, with someone who enjoyed it as much as I did.
Here’s my question to you:
When was the last time you took time out for something you really enjoyed? and What was it?
I finally made the decision to set up a blog last night, so here I am ready to let everyone into my head. It Christmas Time and when I should be singing Deck the halls, I have yet to Deck the halls but the good news is at least I have the floors down, the walls painted and the tree is up. Funny enough my cousin in France and I have a date to make Black Cake over the phone. I know sounds crazy right? But you’re probably asking;What is Black cake? Traditional Christmas fare from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, its also used as wedding cake. It’s a heavy fruit cake made with red wine, brandy and rum. For those of you who are curious and would like to try it out, here is my Aunty Patsy’s recipe:
So Merry Christmas, I’ll let you know how the baking goes.
