Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this fine Wednesday? Things here are good. I should probably ramble about something, but I’ve decided to do a quick shameless self promotion thing instead. I have a short story coming out in an anthology from Rogue Owl Press! There will be a Kickstarter and actual details in future self promotion posts, but yay for vague publishing news!
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? It’s that time of year again. That time where I get older and everyone seems to notice for a few days, then I just go back to quietly aging every second until next year when everyone notices again. Yay! Actually, my birthday isn’t until Friday, so I seriously considered skipping this post this year. I’m lazy and coming up with 38 random things about myself is… well… it’s a lot. But I’ll try. Let’s see how far I can get.
1. Let’s just jump right in with an unpopular opinion. I don’t like fudge. If I wanted to eat a cube of sugar, I’d eat a sugar cube.
2. I’m currently obsessed with the song Afraid of the Dark by Chef’Special and have no idea way. It’s not even a very good song.
3. I’m not a big tea drinker, but I like looking at fancy tea sets.
4. It’s currently January 9th and I’ve written four days this year, not including blog posts. I’m not writing a lot, but at least it’s something.
5. In those four days, I’ve almost completed a short story. One more day should do it, plus a day to read through and flesh it out. Should be done before my birthday. It might not be good, but at least it will exist.
6. I find myself actually wanting to write the past few days. It’s weird.
7. My favorite colors are purple (heavier on the blue than red), teal, and silver.
8. I’m reading The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec for fun.
9. I’m also reading Clover Hendry’s Day Off by Beth Morrey to review at the end of the month.
10. I’m getting shepherd’s pie for my birthday dinner. Be jealous.
11. I’d rather be watching TV than doing this. Actually, I’d rather be doing just about anything else.
12. Enza sent me some stuff from MarieBelle chocolates and the brownies came in a lovely blue tin. I think I was more excited about that than the goodies. I love tins and I don’t know why.
13. I still don’t like pumpkin spice. I try it every year thinking maybe I’ll magically love it, but it’s always just meh.
14. I bought a nice sweater in November and still haven’t worn it. No reason to. But I bought it anyway.
15. I cry when I’m angry, but not really when I’m sad. It’s annoying and that just makes me cry more.
16. It has taken me over an hour just to get this far on this list. Needless to say, finding things to say about myself is not my forte.
17. I’m craving hot chocolate. I have hot chocolate. I just keep forgetting to ask Dad to make it.
18. It’s weird when people ask for my opinion like I’m supposed to know what I’m doing. I assure you, I have no idea. I’m just faking it.
19. I randomly think of the drunk chick who belted out happy birthday at me in a club bathroom then promised to slit the throat of anyone who said I was anything less than beautiful.
20. So many random drunk people stories. I don’t miss going to clubs and being surrounded by them.
21. I do miss going to anime conventions though.
22. I love pupusas.
23. My minion made me a skull and she’s sitting on my desk and her name is Hel.
24. Candy Corn is just wax with sugar in it.
25. I’m tired. All the time. Until it’s time to sleep, then I’m wide awake for the next three hours reliving something stupid I said or did five years ago.
26. I never kept a journal for more than a few days and I don’t understand how people do it. Nothing interesting enough ever happens to me on a daily basis to keep a list.
27. Sometimes, I want to pull down the tequila and sip on a shot, but then I wonder why and decide it’s not worth the trouble.
28. I sit and listen to the dogs bark then tell them I don’t believe their stories when they’re done or ask them to tell me more.
29. I haven’t watched anime or read any manga in a long time.
30. My favorite non-food smell is that smell after you cut a piece of wood.
31. My favorite food smell is probably roasting garlic.
32. I like grape soda. There’s nothing quite like that fake grape taste. Certainly not real grapes.
33. I’m thinking about rereading The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings this year. The past few years, I’ve randomly reread series, so maybe it’s time for those books again.
34. In lieu of new TV, Dad and I have watched a bunch of the old Perry Mason (can’t find all of them), all of Columbo, and the original Star Trek. We’re currently working through Star Trek: TNG, Murder She Wrote, and Monk. Plus stuff on BritBox and Acorn TV.
35. I can’t decide if I want to read The Midnight Library or Mexican Gothic as my next fun book.
36. I’m making Dad watch the new Percy Jackson show. I like it so far.
37. I also like orange soda.
38. I randomly want some flan, but it will pass.
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this first Wednesday of the year? Not much going on here. Vet trips and an upcoming doctor appointment. Things are pretty boring, which is good. I’ve failed miserably at goals the last few years, so I only have a couple this year. It’s late in the day and I’m tired, so I figured I’d share those and then go read or watch TV or whatever.
Reading Goals: read 35 books in 2024. I’ve had good luck with this number, so I’m sticking with it. Somehow, I made it through 45 books in 2023. I still don’t know how I did it. But it’s hard for me to even get through 3 books a month, so 35 it is.
Writing Goals: write something. I’m not even going to pretend to make a good goal for this. I don’t care what I write as long as I start writing again. Short stories. A book. Whatever. I don’t even care if I finish anything as long as I write more often than not this year.
It’s not much. They aren’t even good goals. But it’s all I can come up with that doesn’t feel useless or overwhelming. What are your goals for 2024?
Howdy, howdy! What’s everyone up to this wonderful Wednesday? Dad and I are going to Garland. There’s a place out there that does leatherwork on vehicles, so we’re getting some work done on the van. I’m sure I’ll share pictures whenever everything is finished. But that’s for another day. Today, I figured I’ll ramble about the few writerly/readerly things going on. It’s really nothing much, so this will probably be a short post.
Writerly things:
1. I’ve slowly been working on the new Untitled Cozy Mystery novel. When I do write, the words come easy enough, but actually making myself open the file and write is the hard part. Right now, I’m using slushing for PseudoPod as an excuse to avoid writing, but that’ll be done soon enough. I tried writing on my phone the other night. It worked a little. I’ve never done it before, so I’m trying to figure out the app as I go. It was only 224 words and they need fleshed out, but at least it was something.
2. I read through the part of the UCM novel written thus far and I actually like it. It was very much one of those “what happens next… oh shit, I have to write it” moments. I don’t get that feeling, so it was weird and creepy. It also makes it more daunting because what if I screw it up or no one else likes it? But yeah. I like it so far.
Readerly things:
1. I got a free book. I didn’t even have to ask for it. Someone from Books Forward (a marketing/publicity firm for authors) reached out to me asking if I would be interested in reviewing a book. This sometimes happens through NetGalley, but apparently she just randomly came across my blog, liked it enough to get in touch, and I guess she read enough to see that the book she’s flogging is in genres that I like. So, yay free book! It’s called Magic by Any Other Name by Alison Levy and the review will go up on November 8th. But also yay for people actually looking at my blog!
2. My desire to read for fun is currently waning. I finished Carrie and haven’t even started my next fun book. Granted, I’m reading two review books at the moment (completely different genres so I won’t get anything confused). I just don’t feel like throwing in a third book again. Oh well.
That’s about it. Nothing exciting. Any updates from you? As always, feel free to share your thoughts or questions here or on my social media pages!
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things finally seem to be cooling down a bit, so yay for that. I don’t have anything writerly or readerly to ramble about, so I thought I would share some random life updates. It’s nothing exciting or profound. Just mundane life crap. Annoyances. All of the stuff that I tend to overlook as topics of conversation because no one really wants to know, right? The “nothing much” that drifts through my mind when people ask what’s up. Proceed at your own risk (of boredom).
1. Annoying thing 1: Resolved. Dad gets paid to take care of me via a Medicaid program. Medicaid decided to go with a new clock in/out system this year and we have to switch over on Oct. 1st. The new company requires training to use their system and sent a notice to the people who handle payments and stuff (basically the middleman between me as the employer and Medicaid so that I don’t touch the money) that the employer (me) has to participate in a webinar or in-person training (just no to people). The latest webinar they offer is at noon. I’m not up and in my chair by noon and I didn’t want to break my sleep schedule for them to tell me how to use a program that’s pretty self-explanatory. Anyway, I did some digging and found online training videos and asked the middleman if I could just do that. She said they didn’t exist, so I emailed her the link. Two days later she emailed back that I could use them. Why didn’t they just send her those in the first place? So, that’s on my list of things to do this week.
2. Annoying thing 2: Resolved but requires monitoring. Medicare/Medicaid got hit by hackers and some of my information was among the stuff accessed. That’s always fun, right? They gave me free fraud monitoring through Experian, because they’ve proven to be unhackable… oh, wait. Anyway, I tried signing up for everything the day I got the letter, but the Experian website kept saying they couldn’t load the page. Got signed up the next day though, which is good because their customer service people went off on a tangent that had nothing to do with the question I emailed them, then acted like that fixed everything. They did not get a good review. Ugh.
3. Our dog is a sadistic murderer. A few nights ago, she got hold of a small possum (maybe a large rat) and shook it into pieces. Of course she had to bring it in the house to play with it too. Dad found it’s liver in the kitchen despite the fact that she didn’t take it in there. Her doggy door is a little ways into the living room. She just whipped the poor thing around so much that bits flew, I guess. It was a traumatic event for everyone except Mardi. She tried to get another one (a little bigger) Monday night, but Dad was able to mostly keep her away from it. She’s a demon dog and once she fixates on something, it’s impossible to get her attention away from it.
4. Had a doctor appointment on Tuesday because I have a stubborn sinus infection. I took the antibiotic she called in a couple of weeks ago, but it came right back, so I went to see her. Got an allergy shot. Fingers crossed it works. She said to give it some time to work, then we can go get our flu shots and the new Covid vaccine.
5. I think I figured out how to fix my screenplay after all these years.
6. Carrie by Stephen King is so much worse than I remember. I guess when you’re 14 and devouring books one after the other everything seems better. It’s slow going this time.
I’m sure there’s more, but I can’t think of anything else. How’s life going for you? As always, feel free to share your thoughts or questions or whatever here or on my social media pages!
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are okay. I’ve been procrastinating like usual, despite having an outline and basically knowing how the first couple of chapters should go. I blame Dad and TV, but I just can’t find the motivation to actually write. I don’t know why. So, I’m procrastinating even more by trying to find a faster way to type. I use the onscreen keyboard with the cursor, which is great, but slow compared to how I used to type. Anyway, I don’t type anymore because the laptop keyboards sit too far back for me to reach. I don’t know if I lost some range of motion or if touchpads got bigger or what, but I haven’t been able to actually type since two computers ago. So, I’ve been looking for alternatives to the onscreen keyboard. Fun, no? No.
I figured since I couldn’t reach the keyboard, I’d try getting a cheap plugin one that I can pull right up to me or into my lap to see if that would help. It’s the one pictured above. A Snpurdiri 60% wired keyboard. I got it on sale for less than $20, so I won’t feel too bad if it doesn’t work for me. It comes in different colors and it’s backlit, so that’s neat. The keys are easy to press and it’s small enough that I can pull it to me and into my lap, then get it back onto my computer and push it out of the way. But it’s too tall for me to use at the moment. I’ll try again when Dad’s not busy. Maybe a towel or something to prop my arm on will help. But it’s cheap and cute enough. If it works, huzzah! It’ll give me a better idea of what I actually need in a decent one when it dies. If not, meh. I’ll try something else.
The other option I’m considering is dictation. I tried Dragon Naturally Speaking when it first became a thing (yes, I’m old), but it was horrid and turned me off of that kind of program before I even started hating my voice. But Windows actually comes with dictation software now (it’s under the ease of access settings) and my camera has a microphone, so I don’t have to buy anything just to try it. However, I don’t like this option. Talking is not my favorite thing. People can’t hear me. I’ve been accused of mumbling. I’ve been told I have a slur (which I don’t believe I do, so wtf?). I use a ventilator, so I usually have a tube in my mouth. Even when I remove it to speak, I still have to repeat myself all the time. And I speak softly, which seems to create more issues. Talking is just not something I enjoy. At all. Plus, I run out of breath easily. So, this would be my last ditch effort to speed up the word flow and strictly used when writing.
I’m sure if I looked harder for adaptive typing aids, I could find other things to try, but I won’t. I’m not really that worried about it. Sure, I hate taking an hour and 45 minutes to type 1,000 words with the onscreen keyboard, but I’ll keep doing it. It’s not really a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I’m just procrastinating and I know it. At least I’m being semi-productive about it.
Do you use any special typing equipment? What about dictation software? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts or comments or questions here or on my social media pages!
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are okay. I finally have the desire to write again, but I can’t decide what I want to work on. Short stories have been going nowhere for me, so something novel length. But do I want to start something completely new? Edit something that’s been sitting in the metaphorical drawer for years because it needs a complete rewrite and I’m lazy? Or untrunk Bailey now that I’ve got some distance from her and see if I can rework her using some new techniques? So, I thought I would list some descriptions here and let you all vote for what I should attempt next.
1. Garnets and Guardians (this one has been shopped to agents, so it actually has a blurb, but I’ve learned new editing and plotting techniques that might help improve it/make it marketable)
Sometimes, the voices in your head really are out to get you.
Bailey Donovan is a thirteen-year-old who has recently been diagnosed with a life-changing disease: Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy. On top of that, she is forced to move to a small north Texas town to be close to a hospital that specializes in these types of diseases.
Despite all the changes being thrown her way, Bailey remains stoic. A little too stoic for her mother who encourages her to express emotions Bailey would rather keep to herself.
After a series of increasingly strange events including a psychic waiter, her grandmother’s fairytales, and a psychotic dentist, Bailey finds herself stuck in therapy with the headache-inducing psychologist, Alice Parker.
As if all of this isn’t bad enough, Bailey stumbles upon the hospital’s dirty little secret: it’s built on a doorway to Hell and many of the town’s residents are actually demons. This throws her further into chaos and raises questions about her origins and a possible intruder in her head that only her grandmother can seem to answer. Follow Bailey into the abyss as she juggles family life, new emotions, physical challenges, and dark secrets.
2. The Last Rider (this one needs a complete rewrite because the plotting is off, so it’s got a first draft but has never seen the light of day)
Ky Reinholdt is an average, if somewhat of a loner, teen in a small town in far west Texas. He’s a klutz, with no friends, who works in his dad’s diner and rebuilds things in a small shack out back when he’s not blowing up the chem. lab at school (it was an accident!). Life is quiet and mostly peaceful until someone tries to kill him. From that day on, he’s dragged into a world of secrets and war where everyone seems to know his name. To top it all off, a creepy dude Ky meets in the school basement refuses to leave his side and doesn’t know the meaning of personal space. Can Ky survive until his 18th birthday? And what happens then?
3. Unnamed Cozy Mystery (this one is brand new and not completely plotted, but has a solid enough premise that it excites me and I could probably plot it out enough to start writing soon)
Cozy mystery about an older woman who drops everything to move to the country and open a small hotel. Twist, she sees/interacts with ghosts. She can’t open the hotel until she finds out what happened to a young girl on the property. But I haven’t decided on the reason for the big life change. And I’m not sure when I want it set. Modern day would be easiest research wise, but something older might be fun. I know the killer, but I don’t know the why yet.
So, what should I work on next? Vote below. And feel free to comment here or on my social media pages with your thoughts and ideas!
Howdy, howdy! How’s everything going this lovely Wednesday? Did you have a good week? Things here are okay. I’m currently trapped in my room with Mardi. She thinks it’s cruel and unusual punishment and is making her indignation known through alternating bouts of high pitched yelping, whining like she’s all alone in the world, and silent sulking punctuated with deep angsty sighs. Why is she locked up with me? Because there are people doing things in the house and we don’t want her underfoot, bothering them. No biggie. But she’s not a happy puppers and my presence means absolutely nothing in this situation. Ah well. Anyway, I spent all day Monday trying to come up with a blog post idea. Nothing. So, I put out a plea for ideas on Facebook and Jen (lil sis) sent me a bunch of ideas! The first thing she wanted to know was what type of story I would write my friends into. So, I’ll ramble about that today.
To be honest, if we’re friends, you’re probably already in a story. At least partially. I’ve used your nicknames or personality traits or quirks or some part of your looks. I’ve probably mashed your bits together with those of other people I know. Kinky. But, anyway. I’ve most likely trapped a piece of you inside a story. Creepy, right?
As far as the type of story goes, it’s my usual fare. Horror, dark fantasy, mysteries. Sometimes you live and sometimes you die. I don’t actively decide which bits of who go into which characters. It’s not until after the fact that I notice stuff like that. And by then, the character is its own entity with only a vague resemblance to the people I know. I will say that you all usually end up in characters that I like, so if they die, I’m sad. But I love my villains, so I don’t know how comforting that really is. Probably not at all. Sorry!
Now, if I actively chose a story to put a friend into, I’d have to think about where they would fit and what kind of story would make them happy. Unless I’m mad at them, then it would be what kind of story makes me happy. But I digress. Let’s take Jen for example. Most likely a novel or even a series. A main character, because she deserves some attention, and definitely a happy ending. No horror or psychological thriller. Some kind of action fantasy, probably. A found family type of subplot. Also a romance thread, but not something super important to the story. Some kind of magical powers that take time to manifest and grow along with her emotional growth throughout the story. And, since it’s Jen, I would include her in building the story and world and characters. So basically, if I actively built stories for friends, they’d end up being personalized. That’s fun.
So, yeah. I do include people in my stories, all genres. Kind of. But I can’t do it knowingly unless I tailor a story to a person. What about you? What kind of stories do you write the people you know into? Are you aware when you do it or does it just kind of happen? As always, feel free to share your thoughts and comments here or on my social media pages!
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are okay. There’s some old lady neighbor drama going on, but things will eventually work out. Other than that, there’s not much going on. It’s late as I’m writing this because I procrastinated, so it’ll probably be a short post again. I haven’t made a goals post in a while, so I think I’m going to do that. These are just March goals. I’m not planning too far ahead because I’ve been really bad about keeping goals anyway, so what’s the point? Fingers crossed I can at least keep up with this stuff.
1. Write 4,000 words a week. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve met this goal five weeks out of eight. I need to buckle down and stick with it, but I’m lazy and haven’t really found the desire to keep up with it. It’s a me thing. I know. I’m enjoying the story and know where it’s going. When I do force myself to write, it’s not particularly hard and the distractions are minimal. So, it’s not that I need to switch projects. I just need to focus and find the reason I write again.
2. Read at least two books. I’ve already read seven this year, so I don’t foresee any problems meeting this goal. And only one of those was a book of poetry, so no… I’m not reading super short things and counting them. Though I do have a couple of novellas lined up for this year. But I also have a couple of 500+ page novels on my shelf. My reading varies. A lot.
3. Submit DS1 to another publisher. It’s been a couple of months since my last kindly worded rejection, so I should probably get it back out there. I still have a couple of places I want to try before I decide whether or not to trunk this one too.
4. Keep up with my miscellaneous stuff. Write blog posts. Post on my author profiles. Order groceries as needed. Try not to forget little things that pop up. Text people. The usual stuff that I do between mindless games and crossword puzzles.
That’s all, really. I was going to include socializing more, but I honestly just don’t want to. I’d rather listen to loud music. Don’t get me wrong. I love my peoples. But I prefer hermitting right now. Anyway, what are your goals for March? As always, feel free to share your comments and questions here or on my social media pages!
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this chilly first of February? I’m okay. I broke my writing streak on the 30th because who wants to write when it’s freezing and gloomy and you could be watching TV instead? I don’t even want to be writing this, but I am. But I proved to myself I could stick to a writing schedule if I wanted, so I’ll probably go back to my usual schedule next week (4 days of 1,000+ words, the blog day, and two days off a week). I haven’t decided about the rest of this week yet. But we’re here to finish off the number thing. This week’s prompt was chosen by Scotty, who sometimes stalks the blog. We’ve covered 13 (you can find the prompt list there), 7, 2, 8, 3, 10, 6, 14, and 11. And today, the prompt is “Tell me which book has made you cry more than any other book has.” This is a weirdly hard question.
I don’t remember being super emotional about books (or anything) when I was younger, mostly because I didn’t like explaining why I was crying if I got caught and would usually piss off whoever caught me because I would be like “it’s nothing” and apparently that was the worst possible answer. It was weird. I was weird. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become a sympathetic crier, especially if it’s a dude. TV, books, movies, whatever. If a character cries, I get misty. If a character I really like cries, I flat out cry too. I hate it. It was much more preferable when nothing affected me. I’m basically growing up to be a girl and nobody wants that (yes, I know that joke was sexist and I’m all for healthy emotional responses in both men and women, just not myself). Anyway, all this is to say that it was probably a book I read in the last ten years, but I’ll be damned if I can remember which one.
I’ve spent far too much time thinking about this one since it was chosen and I’m still coming up blank. Even with manga. The closest I can come to an answer is a Facebook post from August 13, 2017: “Might’ve spent three hours finishing reading a book today. There were probably tears. Strong, manly tears. Definitely not an ugly cry. Okay, maybe a little ugly.” It was about The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. I don’t even remember why it made me ugly cry. But apparently it did. That’s probably why it still ranks among my favorites. So, since it was Facebook worthy, I’m just going to make believe this is the answer.
And this is going to be a short post because I can’t think of any other books to ramble about. Anime, though. Definitely Fullmetal Alchemist. There are two particularly traumatic scenes that get me every time. If you’ve seen it, you know what they are. Anyway, what books made you cry? As always, feel free to leave your comments or questions here or on my social media pages!
Bonus pic of our icy backyard:
Shawna's Blog of Doom 