Photo 365 #153

January 7, 20156 Comments

2013-04-29 12.10.19 I’ve been hard at work on a couple of projects this week. It’s nice to feel that I’m being productive again, after an extended bout with the lazy bug.

Oh, who am I kidding? I needed an extended bout with the lazy bug. 🙂

Anyway, I finished rewriting chapter 16 of The Price of Mercy and got a decent start on chapter 17 this noon. I’ve been polishing my query up a little more, too. I’ve finished formatting the e-book version of my new poetry book and have moved on to working on the cover. And have I mentioned the story that Miss Tadpole commissioned? I’ve been working on that, too, and have set it in Lokana, about a thousand years before the events in The Price of Mercy. It rhymes and is rather like a fairy tale, which has been both interesting and challenging because it’s not the sort of thing I normally write.

There’s still lots to be done on all of these projects, but I’m having a lot of fun with them. What are you working on right now?

Again with the inspiration!

January 7, 20154 Comments

VeryInspiringBlogAward Several days ago, I was nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award by the lovely and talented Katrina Jack. This isn’t the first time I’ve been nominated for this particular award (you can read those posts here and here, and a list of my other blog award posts is here), but I’m just as flattered now as I was then. 🙂

I’m sure you all know how these things work – you thank your nominator, you share seven things about yourself, you nominate others. I thanked Kate for the nomination in her post, but I’d like to give her another shout-out: There’s a list of books on Goodreads that are Hugo-eligible this year, and Kate’s book Land of Midnight Days is currently at number 6. It’d be great if you’d hop over and vote for her – she’s a wonderful author and a fantastic friend, and she deserves all the recognition she can get. 🙂

And now, without further ado, the rest of it:

1. In just over three weeks, I will be the same age my mom was when she died. As my 31st birthday draws nearer, I find myself becoming more morbid. This, of course, is a continuing trend, because my 30th year has been rather morbid in and of itself. And come this time next year, I plan to have one hell of a party, assuming I survive 2015.

2. My new favorite song is…

Photo 365 #152

January 6, 2015January 7, 2015Leave a comment

I love my boys. I love that they get along so much better than my sister and I did when we were little. Cricket and Thumper are best friends, and it’s wonderful.

brothers

That said, they’re also three and four (read: they don’t always share well). So when they were playing nicely together the other morning (i.e., sharing) while watching Dungeons and Dragons, I had to take a picture. Lately there’s been too much fighting over who has whose toy car, and I relished the morning’s relative peace.

I know I’ll miss this stage one day, and I hope they can stay best friends as they get older.

Queryland revisited

January 4, 201511 Comments

Zandoor
Artwork by Hazel Butler

Hoo boy, am I ever tired! I finally finished reading the Query Shark archives last week and boy, did all that education wear me out. Two hundred and sixty-six queries, plus revisions, plus comments. Talk about a learning experience! That and the comments I received as part of Michelle Hauck’s query critique blog hop have really helped me shine up my query. And further brainstorming led to a name change for my MC.

Behold, my new and improved query:

Dear Super Agent:

Nineteen-year-old Prince Zandoor is expected to follow in his father’s corrupt footsteps. His first task: Marry a wealthy noblewoman and fill the royal coffers to the brim. But the prince has other ideas.

When he falls in love with a peasant…

Photo 365 #150

January 4, 2015Leave a comment

spiderman Cricket loves his new jammies. He’s hit the superhero worship phase, and he loves the same heroes his big brother used to love.

I was impressed I managed to get him to sit still long enough for a good picture, and even more impressed that I managed to catch this lovely smile. They come and go as quickly as Thumper does. 🙂

Photo 365 #149

January 3, 2015January 4, 20152 Comments

Well, would you look at that – they’re wearing their coats!

coats

It’s the middle of winter, so you wouldn’t think this would be so remarkable. But Monday night, Bubbles went to spend a week at his dad’s and left his coat at home. It was maybe 15°F the next day, so his stepmom drove him over to pick up his coat.

We were supposed to get a bunch of snow this weekend, but so far, we’ve only got a dusting. At any rate, Friday night his dad stopped to pick up his boots, because he hadn’t taken those with him, either. *sigh*

Apparently Bubbles is going to be one of those kids who wears shorts when it’s five below. Insisting his sweatshirt is good enough is only the beginning.

Photo 365 #148

January 2, 20155 Comments

My cousin and his wife came for a visit yesterday. We don’t get to see them very often, so it was nice to see them. We exchanged Christmas gifts; we visited; it was a good time. Cricket and Thumper enjoyed opening presents again, but I’m not sure if they had more fun with their new toys or the wrapping:

“I’m a present!”

That poor bag definitely paid for itself. First Cricket wanted to sit in it, and I think he sat in it for five minutes. As soon as he got out, then Thumper wanted in. But Thumper is a perpetual motion machine, and he was tired to boot, which meant he was going even faster than normal just to keep himself awake. He sat in the bag for a couple minutes, then he wanted out. Then he wanted back in, and then he wanted back out. I bet he was in and out of that bag seven or eight times. It was pretty entertaining.

We still have a couple Christmas celebrations to go yet, but I’m enjoying the seasonal extension. It just didn’t feel like Christmas this year since we didn’t get the tree up right away.

Are you all finished with Christmas? Or do you still have some celebrating left to do?