The Seventh Question

November 30, 2015Leave a comment

Today was definitely a Monday. Luckily, the good outweighed the bad, and on balance, I’d have to say today was a good day, despite the rocky start this morning. I got to celebrate my niece’s birthday with pizza and brownies, and when I got home tonight, I found a package of pogs waiting for me in my mailbox, and I was featured on Simon Goodson’s blog! Pretty fantastico, don’t you think? 🙂

Simon has a new interview feature called The Seventh Question, and I’m thrilled to have been asked to take part. Head on over and check it out, and then catch up on the rest of the series to learn more about Mark R. Hunter and Joleene Naylor. You’ll be glad you did. 🙂

I’m neat!

November 29, 2015November 30, 20152 Comments

real-neat-blog-award It’s the season of giving, and once again, someone has given me a pretty, pretty blog award! 🙂

Mama Monkey from the Monkeys’ Jungle nominated me for the Real Neat Blog Award. This is one I hadn’t seen before, and I’m happy to take part! 🙂

Ze rules (because there are always rules, aren’t there?):

Thank and link the blogger who nominated you.
Answer the questions the person who nominated you provided.
Nominate other bloggers. Try to nominate 7 if possible.
Create new questions for the people you nominate
Display the logo somewhere on your blog – only if you want to. It’s an award!

As for the questions I was asked? You’ll find them behind the cut!

Today I…

November 28, 2015November 29, 20154 Comments

…ate an omelet for breakfast, courtesy of Seymour, who is home. (Yay!)

…worked on revising The Lokana Chronicles some more.

…watched a little Dual Survival with the fam.

…played my flute for the first time in a long time. Played for a good two hours.

…paid bills. Ugh.

…reconciled my checking account. Double ugh.

…fixed supper.

…brushed up on my Spanish.

…unloaded most of the pictures on my phone to make room for new pictures.

…organized my iTunes playlists.

…loaded up my Christmas playlist on my iPod.

…scanned manuscript pages for easier transcription.

…caught up on reading blogs.

…cleaned up my email inbox.

…messed around on Facebook.

…hung out on Twitter.

…drank way too much pop.

…finally recovered from a week-long headache.

…felt very productive. 🙂

How did you spend the day?

In December, I plan to…

November 27, 20154 Comments

…read at my friend’s wedding. Hooray! 🙂

…have a night out with Seymour. Minus the kids. Double hooray! 😀

…finish this round of revisions on The Lokana Chronicles, take a break from it, and then dive back in with notes from my awesome CP.

…savor my children’s glee on Christmas morning.

…spend lots of time with family.

cheers

…dance.

…take lots of pictures. One can never have too many pictures.

…cook. A lot.

…crank up the Christmas music to eleven.

…try not to lose any more of my marbles. 😀

What about you? What do you plan to do in December?

Collaboration station

November 26, 2015November 27, 20152 Comments

So today we were supposed to share a collaborative post for Writing 101. And I did reach out to someone, but then life happened, as it does so often. That post will go up at some point, but for now, here are some of the posts I’ve enjoyed reading lately:

To begin with, everyone is important. You may never know how important you are to another person, but rest assured that you are.
I love reading Chuck Wendig’s blog, and his recent posts concerning the midpoint of a novel were of great interest to me since I’ve been slogging through a mushy middle for months. The second post, in particular, helped me figure out the answer to a question that’s been bothering me for quite a while now. Also, you can’t go wrong including Darth Vader in a post. 😉
How can you not love a post revolving around The Princess Bride? If you, like me, have a deep and abiding love for sportsmanlike giants and swashbuckling Spaniards, then check out this post by rarasaur.

What about you? What have you enjoyed reading lately?

Adventures in garage saling

November 25, 2015November 27, 20153 Comments

Score one for the savvy garage saler!

It’s amazing what brings people out on the town. There’s an apartment complex next door to our house and one of the tenants came over to see what we had for sale. “Whoa, it’s like a little store!” she exclaimed upon entering, holding a glass of questionable contents. “Oh, I love your lamp! I want this lamp. I’ll be back for it. You guys have exactly what I need, I swear. You really do. You have everything I need. I’ll be back. Oh, I love this lamp! I want your lamp.”

After several painful minutes of rambling, she left, only to return about a half hour later with her dog in tow. She wasn’t quite as high when she came back, thankfully, but still, when she went digging through the box of miscellaneous knives, my mother-in-law and I got a little nervous. Seymour’s mom looked at me and said, “No offense, but if she goes nuts and starts attacking, you’re on your own.”

I couldn’t help laughing at that.

Finally, the neighbor lady picked up one…

How I got (back) to the Brook

November 24, 2015November 24, 20155 Comments

These are very, very, VERY general directions, you understand. Also, this trip will take years. Decades, even. But it’s totally worth it – even the bad parts. And oddly enough, this is something I’d been thinking a little bit about already, as one of the many people I spoke with last night at my book signing asked if I’d been anywhere else, aside from my hometown and my adopted hometown.

So, kind woman, if you’re reading this, I hope you enjoy the book you bought from me and I hope this answers your question. 🙂

1. Start at the Grundy Hospital. Cry, scream, bawl, but also be cute enough to make those two big people take you home with them. They look nice.

2. Follow the big people to Reinbeck. Grow up a little, gain a sister, make some friends.

3. Refuse to leave home when the rest of the family wants you to go with them after the woman dies. Insist on staying with the man who brought you home from the hospital. Make more friends, who help you out when things get tough (and they get tough a lot). Never give up.

map

4. Go
Continue reading →

Blargh

November 22, 2015November 22, 20159 Comments

I’ve spent the weekend trying to kick a terrible cold to the curb. It doesn’t help that it’s been terribly cold outside as well. We had our first snow of the season on Friday, and I really could have done without it. The kitties seem to agree with me:

George is not amused. Mr. Fluffy demands a return to warmer times.

On the other hand, it was very pretty to look at from my blanket cocoon…

Have you encountered any of the vile whiteness yet? Are you ready for it?

Trio

November 21, 2015November 22, 20152 Comments

Now that’s what I call a cat tree(o)…

Deep thoughts

November 20, 201510 Comments

Our truest life is when we are in our dreams awake. -Unknown source, from a fortune cookie

Is this real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality… -Freddie Mercury, “Bohemian Rhapsody”

The first quote sparked my interest. The second is what popped into my head as I sat thinking about the first. 🙂

Yes, I’m a dork. I know it. It’s okay.

But in all seriousness – how do we know what’s real? Is real life just a dream? Is fiction truth? Is the truth a lie? Are we actually living our true lives in our dreams while we’re sleeping, making what we think is the waking world one great big fantastic communal dream?

I’d say that would make for an interesting story, but wasn’t that the basic plot of The Matrix? Aw, the heck with it – it would still make a pretty good story. Maybe that’s what I’ll work on next…

What about you – what kinds of deep thoughts do you think when nothing else is occupying your gray matter?