Photo 365 #157

January 11, 2015January 10, 20154 Comments

Yesterday Miss Tadpole decided to take the boys outside to play in the snow. Thumper was all excited to bundle up, head outside, and build a snowman.

That lasted all of about five minutes. Then the cold got to him and the screaming began. At least I got some nice cuddle time while he warmed up under a pile of blankets.

Cricket, on the other hand, didn’t start screaming till he was forced to come inside. He wasn’t ready to be done playing, but he wasn’t listening, either, so in he came.

This weekend has given us the warmest temps we’ve had in quite a while – mid-twenties above zero! – but there’s a breeze, and it’s knocked the wind chill down well below zero. Still, at least it’s better than the last week.

Photo 365 #156

January 10, 20154 Comments

It’s been a long day already, and it’s not even noon yet.

“But Mom, I just wanna watch Dungeons and Dragons!”

Thumper was up bright and early at 6:30 a.m., which was shortly after Seymour woke up for work. Naturally, then, I was also awake bright and early, first chatting with Seymour before he left for the day, and then snuggling with my favorite little bunny.

The rest of the morning has been spent supervising a grumpy Bubbles, who’s doing penance for letting a shed door get torn off by the wind the other night. If things keep on this way, I’m gonna need a stiff drink by the end of the day.

How are you spending your weekend?

Photo 365 #155

January 9, 2015January 9, 20154 Comments

Looky what I found in my mail the other night!

This picture doesn’t do justice to the vibrant colors of what will soon be in a frame gracing my office wall. It’s a signed print I won from Aädenian Ink, and it’s signed by the artist, Myka Jelina! I was pretty dang excited to finally get my hands on it, and now I can’t wait for my office to be done so that I can hang this beauty up.

After all, every fantasy author should have a little bit of fantasy in their writing space, right? Right. 😀

Photo Friday returns!

January 9, 2015January 9, 2015Leave a comment

I had actually planned for Photo Fridays to return last week, but since last Friday was my first day back to work and generally insane, I decided to push it back a week.

This week’s Photo Friday post (and next week’s, and probably at least the week after that) is a throwback. You know, like Throwback Thursday, but on Friday. I have a huge archive of old photos, and I thought it would be fun to share a few.

100_1668

This one, clearly, is from 2010. We traveled south to see Seymour’s cousin get hitched, and as always, had a heck of a great time. Her wedding was the day before our first wedding anniversary, so we made a fun weekend of it.

Don’t Bubbles and Miss Tadpole look little? It’s hard to believe how much they’ve grown in the last four and a half years.

Have a great weekend, everybody, and don’t forget to check out Charnele’s blog to see what she’s got going on!

Photo 365 #154

January 8, 20158 Comments

Some people complain about working lunch breaks, but really, I don’t mind them. In fact, I think they’re a heck of a lot of fun.

lunchbreak

Maybe that’s only because my idea of a working lunch break involves taking off to parts unknown and spending time with all sorts of crazy characters. 😀

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. 🙂