Wanting To Raise Awareness

I'm falling behind on my challenge by a couple of days.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do for W until I came across a story about Avery, a five month old baby recently diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, a rare genetic, incurable disorder. Since her parents know they only have a short time (the doctors give little Avery only 18 months), they've created a blog, Avery's Bucket List, to raise awareness for the disorder and also to chronicle each milestone Avery achieves, such as sitting up, first tooth, etc. Here is their story: Parents' Bucket List

I want to help raise awareness for Avery and others with her condition. So, if you don't mind, please pass along the site or simply visit it and comment. I couldn't imagine my grandson who is also 5 months being sick in any way. Thank you.


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Victory

Well, it's a part of a victory. Secrets of Jenkins Bridge is officially completed. No more edits. My editor and I went back and forth on this one for the last four months. And I wanted to rip my hair out at times (as I'm sure she did too, lol), but I'm very happy with the finished story. It was well worth it all.

Now, I'm waiting on a release date. I'm wicked excited about this one.

For anyone out there getting discouraged in their editing process: you will finish. It never seems like you will, but it'll happen and you'll be thankful for being put through it all. I've learned a lot about myself and my writing, including my weaknesses.

This toast is to me and my editor Dawn!! To us!!

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Unforgettable

I thought I would do a simple one today.

I've posted up Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole's Unforgettable. The song is a classic. I love this rendition how they incorporated father and daughter together.

Enjoy :)

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Thesaurus

One of my very best books. And I'm sure most other writers' as well. We can transform simple words into robust actions or description words to bring our scene to life.

For example, let's take mad.

I could mean as in someone is insane or foolish. Both of these are different from one another.
I could mean angry. But I could also use irate, furious, livid, fuming. Or how about beside oneself?
Or I could mean absurd, ridiculous, or ludicrous.

That's what I love about the thesaurus. There are so many different words to 'dress up' my writing.

Anyone have that favorite colorful word??

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R=Reading and S=She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy :

I missed yesterday, so I'm combining R and S together.

R is for Reading. I love to read as much as I love to write. The story really has to grab my attention and keep me throughout the entire story. My current read, Locked On by Tom Clancy which is well over 800 pages has kept me riveted from the get go. I'm almost done with it. I think I have 6 pages to go. And I tried to stay up last night but my eyes were closing at midnight. I couldn't do it.

S is for one of my fave songs from one of my hunky favorite country boys: She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy. Here is the video :)

Have a great weekend!!!!!!!!!!!


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Quotes on Writing

Today's a simple one. Quotes from authors, journalists, etc

 

The work never matches the dream of perfection the artist has to start with.  

William Faulkner

 

Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you're doomed.
Ray Bradbury

To be a writer is to sit down at one's desk in the chill portion of every day, and to write; not waiting for the little jet of the blue flame of genius to start from the breastbone – just plain going at it, in pain and delight. To be a writer is to throw away a great deal, not to be satisfied, to type again, and then again, and once more, and over and over....
John Hersey

 Sometimes you have to go on when you don't feel like it, and sometimes you're doing good work when it feels like all you're managing is to shovel shit from a sitting position.
Stephen King

When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen.

Samuel Lover

Detail makes the difference between boring and terrific writing. It’s the difference between a pencil sketch and a lush oil painting. As a writer, words are your paint. Use all the colors.
Rhys Alexander

Got any favorite quotes you'd like to share?

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Photo Beaming

My husband loves inventing new ways of saying things. He's a creative little critter at times. His latest is photo beaming.

We were talking about Facebook. He said, 'No more technological advancement for me. No Facebook, no twitter, no smartphones. No photo beaming.'

And that cracked me up. 'Photo beaming, really?'

'Yeah, whatever you want to call posting pictures up and sending them off across Facebook.'

I told him I absolutely had to use photo beaming for my P post. That's what I'll call it from now on. Lol.


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I have another O post! One hundred followers.

It was almost perfectly timed. I have been hovering at 99 for a few days and finally I have hit 100! Thank you Mina Lobo from Some Dark Romantic for following me.

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opsomania

Here's a new word: opsomania.  It's even strange enough not to be recognized by the usual word spelling check. It's the abnormal love for one kind of food.

I guess everyone's definition of 'abnormal' is different. I love chocolate. Would I obsess over it? Other than once a month, maybe not quite so much.

I can't think of anyone who has an 'abnormal' love of a particular food.

Other strange words I found had to do with divination starting with the letter O. For example:

ololygmancy: fortune telling by the howling of dogs
oinomancy: divination using wine
omoplatoscopy divination by observing cracks in burning scapulae
omphalomancy divination from the knots in the umbilical cord

onomancy	divination using a donkey or ass
onomancy	divination using proper names

Simply strange.

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Notebook

Yeah, I know. Weird selection for N. But, I've just recently discovered something to do with curing my writer's block.

I keep staring at my laptop screen unable to write. Frozen. Ugh, I hate that more than anything. Right in the middle of a good romantic scene! I can't figure out why I'd go blank, but alas it happened. I tried all my usual tricks (going for a ride, cleaning the house, weeding my rose garden, running on the treadmill). Nothing worked.

So, I pulled out my handy dandy (can you tell I've been subject to Blue's Clues?) notebook. I shut down the laptop, turned off the television. Complete silence. And suddenly, I could write again. With a pen and paper, I was able to finish creating that scene and then some.

Maybe, it's because in order to go back through this, I'd have to read my own scribble or there's no squiggly green or red lines pointing out my obvious mistakes. The story just seems to flow from the pen to the paper much easier than the computer. I may just continue to finish the remainder of the book this way.


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Musical Motivation

Certain songs motivate my writing particularly my goals as a writer. Sometimes, I need to be reminded to keep nudging forward, to continue in creating and weaving my stories. I'd like to share one with y'all.

It's Garth Brooks - The River. Unfortunately I couldn't find one with him performing it. But I did find one who sounds amazingly close to the original.

 It speaks to me and reminds me of my driven nature to continue reaching for my goals.

Feel free to share yours with me :)

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Lucky or Unlucky?

L fell on the perfect day - Friday the 13th

Personally, I don't have a huge hang-up on superstitions. Do I go out of my way to walk under a ladder? Ummm....no. And I will take notice of a black cat crossing my path.

So I did a little research to find what superstitions are out there. Here are just a few:

1) If 13 people sit and dine together, one of them will die.
2) Never open an umbrella indoors as it will bring you bad luck.
3) If you break a mirror, you'll have bad luck for seven years
4) Make a wish on that turkey's wishbone. Supposedly it will come true.
5) 'Step on a crack, break your mother's back'
6) Bad things happen in threes.
7) The famous rabbit's foot
8) If you change your bed on a Friday, you will have bad dreams.

Feel free to add any superstitions below in the comments area. Happy Friday the 13th!

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Kiss

Do you remember your first kiss?

I do. Our playground at the elementary school had 9 truck tires varying in size and painted green, all lined in a row and set into the ground. It was supposed to be a dragon. At any rate, us little ones could fit inside the largest ones set in the middle. I was hiding in one and a friend (a boy) found me. He announced, "Tag, you're it" and just before he ran off to hide, he kissed me on the cheek and smiled. Alas, we were only friends (and eight years old, lol.), and we've stayed that way ever since.

And of course there is my favorite chocolate: Hershey's Kisses :) All I can say is YUM!

Last, but certainly not least, is the lengandary rock band, KISS. They'd come to Greenville a couple of years ago, and my hubby took our son to see them. How the child fell asleep during the concert and STAYED that way is beyond me, lol.

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J is for my son JOSHUA

I did probably cheat just a bit on this one. But, my 12 year old is too cool! He's just like me in respect that he loves to read and write. And he's my little geek! And there's nothing wrong with being one. He's so creative and smart.

So, I dedicate J day to him :)

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Imagine

I love the world of imagination. In my case, I can create any type of story I want. And I'm only limited to my imagination. It's so much fun to let my mind wander and see where it might lead to. I still think I haven't quite exercised my imagination to its full potential. Unlike say Stephen King. Now there's one vast imagination. To
just let the mind go with no boundaries.

And then there's the master: Walt Disney. He's created the most colorful characters in their beautiful worlds. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Bambi, Peter Pan, and the list goes on.

Imagining is just like being a kid all over again. The possibilities are endless and I get write my stories pretty much my own way.

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A side step from the A-Z challenge: 777 Game

 I found this on one of my fellow sister authors' website, Jamie Brazil, and thought it would be a little fun. Mine's kind of blah as it's in the rough draft stage.


Here are the rules:
Go to page 77 of your current work in progress.
Scroll down 7 lines.
Paste the next 7 sentences into your blog.
Then tag 7 more authors to carry forth the 7’s game (add their links, and don’t forget to link to the person who tagged you… also let everyone know)

**As far as the tag 7 more authors, I'm not going to do that. It's for everyone who wants to play along and share a little tidbit from their WIP!

Here's mine: (It still hasn't sunk into my hero's head that he's been cursed using Voodoo. The symptoms are beginning to appear.)

 

For such a tiny frame, she had some strength behind her to be able to hold up his six-two frame.

The single hallway blurred becoming two as Trent lost his focus. He stopped short. “What’s wrong with me?”

Ciarra held him firm as he lowered himself onto the edge of the queen-sized bed. “I’m calling a doctor.” She reached for the phone.

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Habromania

I couldn't figure out what I wanted to write about using the letter H today. So, I did a google search and came across this website  http://phrontistery.info which contains lists of unusual words. I clicked on H and began to read.

And what struck my funny bone? Habromania: insanity featuring cheerful delusions. Well, my thought was if you had to be insane, I'd go for this one. Be happy and not realize it's all a delusion!

But, I think of the down side to this. If you never feel disappointment, upset, pain, sorrow, etc how could you ever understand another's person's plight? Donate time or money to a worthy cause? Feel any empathy?

I may just research this further as I'm curious of how this works and what if anything the world of psychiatry does for it. It would be a challenge to write a character who is like this. Almost make for a villain who you could almost feel sorry for.


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Grateful

Today's a simple one. What I'm grateful for:

-For healthy children and grandbabies

-For my husband who puts up with a lot from me, but is still there by my side.

-For my critique partners. Without them, I wouldn't have come as far as I have.

-For Debbie at Soul Mate Publishing who gave this girl the chance and has cheered her on every since.

-For all my friends and family who continue to be my cheerleaders and believe in me even when I don't believe in myself at times.

-For all of you, my blogger buddies, who read my posts and continue to follow me, even after a long hiatus.

-For my writing sisters over at Soul Mate Publishing for all their continued support.

Have a great Easter weekend!

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Fairy Tale

Who doesn't love a good fairy tale? One that transports you to another world, and you actually feel like you're right there in the middle of it all?

I love these stories. My favorite is Cinderella. (I'm still a little girl at heart). I love the whole being swept off your feet by the prince. *Sigh*

What's your favorite fairy tale?



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Encourage

I think that's what we all need on a beautiful Thursday (since it's just not quite Friday yet!)

Encouragement to write. To create. To dream. To live a happy life.

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Daffodils, Dahlias and Daisies

To brighten up everyone's DAY:

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Chaos

For the fact that my life is chaos. The list is as follows:

Home:
Dishes, laundry, vacuum, sweep, mop, dust, yell about various socks, dishes, etc not being picked up, dump run, prep and cook supper, and of course all in between.

Shop: Because I hadn't been down there taking care of the office in a while, I'm slightly behind (ha). Quickbooks, inventory (just downloaded a new inventory program-which means every part has to be re-entered), customer accounts, the website, craigslist, etc on the advertising, phone calls, orders, answer the phone, my husband walking in every 5-10 minute for various reasons (UGH). And of course the list goes on here too.

Then, there's all the six children with various things going on in their lives at all different times.

Writing: Promo The Swan Cove Murders, my website, my blog, facebook, twitter, etc on the social media, finish final read through on Secrets of Jenkins Bridge, my critique group, Savvy Authors, SMP, etc.

And of course, the grandbaby takes priority over all this.

And we're considering setting up a local auction site. Did I say UGH?

But, of course, I grew up in a chaotic house of sorts. Four of the nine children, me included, lived at home together. Plus the other five visiting, spending the weekend, etc. Holidays were a trip!!

Not to mention this has continued for many many years as our kids ages are 23, 22, 22, 21, 20, 12. How crazy is that, lol?

I should be used to the chaos. I guess having the grandbaby to take care of (since I haven't had one in 12 years) is taking up a lot of the spare time I had for my writing. I don't regret taking care of him, but I think I need to rearrange my life a bit to accommodate my writing.




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Blogging

Okay I guess that wasn't really all that hard to come up with. So, I'll give you five ways to unstick your brain to find something to blog about:

1) Write about what you know. Cooking, sewing, raising babies, pet lovers, etc. That's what will make your blog your own.

2) Read others blog. (Not steal their posts) Just get a sense of what everyone is blogging about. You'd be surprised what might spark your mind.

3) I'll take the dictionary and randomly open a page to see what words are there. 9 times out of 10, I'll find something to write about.

4) Lots of bloggers do the 'Six Sentence Sunday' or 'Fun Facts Friday' or there are a host of others out there. Try something like this.

5) And when all else fails, do whatever you would for writers' block. Mine? I'll do something totally unrelated to writing and an idea will pop into my mind.

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Artist

Not everyone see writing as a form of art, but it is. In its simplest definition, art is 'the conscious use of skill and creative imagination...' Well, that's exactly what we Authors do.

The painter uses a paintbrush and some paint, and with his/her skill and creativity paints the subject's world on canvas.

The sculptor uses clay (or other material) and turns it into something beautiful by molding it with his/her hands using that skill and creativity.

A musician who writes his/her own music uses their knowledge and creates a great piece.

And we authors take our knowledge and tap into our vast creative minds to give birth to our wonderful stories.

We are artists also :) Have a great Monday


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Pre-Blog to the A-Z Blogging Challenge

Just as the title implies, I'm blogging today about the A-Z Blogging Challenge before it's start tomorrow morning, and I'm wicked excited!!

This is my second year taking the challenge. And it's really simple. For the month of April, we blog about anything A-Z. More specifically, each day is assigned a letter (in order) and you blog about something that begins with that letter. Sundays are days off!

Here is the link to the A-Z Blogging Challenge

Below is the sign up list. It's going strong at 1661. You'll meet some great bloggers and challenge yourself at the same time.

So, what are you waiting for? 



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