Category: Obsessing

This post is chock-full of books!

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Things that gave me a good laugh this morning:

All I want is a library full of books and a prince telling me to pick one*…

*Book, that is.  Not monks.

Also:

TC: Mommy, can we go outside to play?
Me: No, it’s all mucky and gross outside.
TP: Can we sit on the porch?
Me: No, you really don’t need to be out there.

Both give me their best pout.

Me: If you really want to go outside, one of you can get the diaper bag and the other can get my computer bag and you can take them out to the van for me.
TC & TP: Okay!

Oh, kids. 🙂

Speaking of kids, Cricket’s new favorite word is book.  If all we did all day long was read Clifford’s First Halloween, I think he’d be in heaven.  I, on the other hand, have grown quite tired of reading yet again about Clifford going trick-or-treating dressed as a ghost, getting a bath after eating a candy apple, and traipsing around a haunted house stuck in a glove.  But this, too, shall pass, and I know from experience that once these days are gone, I’ll miss them terribly.  Cricket’s a boy after my own heart.  I’ve got a couple of pictures from story time a few days ago that I’ve been meaning to post on Facebook, but I haven’t done it yet.  Maybe I’ll get to it over the weekend, if I’m not buried under a mountain of laundry.  *sigh*

In other book news, you can now pre-order White Mountain, Book 1 of the Darkling Chronicles by Sophie E. Tallis.  The book is set to come out in September from Safkhet Publishing.  I predict it’ll sell faster than hot chocolate in a blizzard. 🙂

Also, I think I might have fixed a major plot problem in The Lokana Chronicles.  Some more detail was needed in one place and hopefully I’ve fixed it now.  I’ve tried twice already; I hope the third time’s the charm.  But if it’s not, well, then I’ll just have to put my stubborn nature to good use and make it bend to my will.  The Great and Powerful Seymour will yet be pleased. 🙂  I say that only because I think his crit made a lot of sense and I’m determined to tackle the problem head-on.  As it says over at der Wendighaus, “Time to load the guns, brew the ink, and get to work because I am a writer and I am done fucking around.”

I think that’s about all I’ve got this gray Friday afternoon.  Have a happy weekend!

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.

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Please, Mom? Just one more?

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My friend Tara wrote an awesome post today about her favorite childhood books after I mentioned something on Twitter about reading to my kids.  Cricket and Thumper had some lovely story time this morning while drinking their morning milk and it was so much fun.  Cricket is just beginning to get interested in books and Thumper…well, he likes to chew on them, same as his big brother. 🙂  This morning’s book of choice (and every other opportunity’s book of choice) was Clifford’s First Halloween by Norman Bridwell.  I loved the Clifford books growing up and I love the show on PBS, too.  Same with Arthur – that lovable little aardvark’s adventures with pals Binky, Muffy, and Francine entertained me through many a rainy afternoon growing up.  When I was a little older and living with my aunt, the show on PBS entertained my cousin, too.  (I, of course, was much too cool for Arthur by then – at 13, it was all about the soaps.   Eric Brady, you will forever melt my little fangirl heart.

*squee*

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The e-book version of Tuesday Daydreams is now available for Kindle!  You can find it here or by searching for it in the Kindle store.  Right now this is as far as I’ll go with the e-book version, but maybe next weekend when I will hopefully have more peace and quiet, I can get it formatted for other e-readers as well.  Gretchen, any pointers would be much appreciated!  Oh, yeah – I still have to read the Smashwords Style Guide I downloaded.  That would probably help. 🙂

Between my excitement over having finally released a title and my fatigue from driving all over two counties today and my frustration with my oldest son, I’m a bit all over the place at the moment.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I see an adult beverage and a scotcheroo with my name on them.  Happy weekend!

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.

Authors to Watch and more

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Ah, authors to watch.  There must be a jillion of them.  I, however, am referring to ten certain authors who were featured yesterday in an interview by Tricia Drammeh.  She asked the question, “Why do you write fantasy?” and received some great answers from some great authors, including yours truly (although I make no claims as to my greatness).  Check it out!  Each interviewee provided links to a variety of sites at which you can check out their work and/or learn more about them.

In other news, rumor has it that the release of Promises, the second Timeless Series novel, will be delayed.  Fans of Lisa Wiedmeier’s fantasy series will now have to wait till the end of May to continue following Cheyenne’s adventures.

I’ve almost finished the Kindle version of Tuesday Daydreams.  Learning the formatting stuff was easy enough for the most part, but I still have a couple of glitches to work out here and there.  I hope to have the Kindle version available for purchase by the end of the week (by which I mean the end of the calendar week, not tomorrow).  I had Chinese for lunch today and ate my fortune cookie on the way back to work.  I had to chuckle as I read my fortune:Channel your energy into something positive.  I’d say all this work on my writing is definitely something positive. 🙂

Last but not least, the rain has come at long last and everything is turning a lovely shade of green.  I adore spring. ♥

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.

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Someday…

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I can’t sleep and it’s driving me bonkers. Also, the pen I’ve been using doesn’t glide very well; it makes my writing look stilted and amateur. The nib keeps digging into the paper, which I find quite annoying because I don’t think I press that hard. Grip, yes. But then I always grip pens hard, so that’s nothing new.

Hmm.

Well, I guess I should try to get some sleep now as it’s after midnight and I do have to work in the morning. *sigh* If only I could pack the kids off to daycare so I could stay home and write. But then, that’s the dream.

Someday…

(c) 2012. All rights reserved.

It’s here! It’s finally here!

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Aaand…everything checked out with proof copy number two!  Tuesday Daydreams is now available for purchase.  Head on over to CreateSpace today (or just click on the picture to the left) to pick up your copy.  It will also be available on Amazon as soon as they update whatever it is they need to update.  In the meantime, you can read more about it here!

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.

Well, I’ve done it…

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I entered The Lokana Chronicles in the Dundee International Book Prize last night.  Hitting ‘send’ on that email was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but I did it in the end and now all I have to do is sit back and wait.  And not hold my breath.

Thus begins my (presumably) soul-sucking journey toward publication because, let’s face it, I’m not sure I really want to go to all the effort it will take to do the self-publishing thing.  I know several people who have done it and are doing so successfully, but I’m not sure that I’m cut out for it.  I’d love to sell my book to a Big 6 publisher, but I’m not holding my breath on it.  I hope I’m prepared for all the rejections I know will come, but I’m also hoping that the stars will miraculously align in my favor and my journey will be a relatively quick and painless one.

No, I’m not on drugs.  Unless sleep deprivation counts as a drug and if that’s the case, then I’ve been stoned out of my gourd for the last two years.  But I’m pretty sure that’s not the case, no matter how much it feels like it is some days.

In other news, after much time spent beating my head against a cyber-wall while trying to format with a nasty cold, my poetry anthology is coming along quite nicely.  Now I just need to get the proof copy ordered and make sure it looks okay.  Here’s hoping!

Also?  Tax season – and Monday – totally kicked my butt today.  Way to go, Monday.

And now, I think it’s time for bed.  Assuming, that is, that I can sleep.  I’ve been having trouble with that lately.  Maybe I’ll just stay up a little while longer and look up people to query…

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.

Friends don’t let friends eat literary puffer butt

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Yes, you read that right: Friends don’t let friends eat literary puffer butt.  I’ve been reading Kristen Lamb’s lovely blog the last couple of days and have found quite a few useful tidbits there, not to mention a couple of laughs that nearly caused me to snort my milk.  I had planned this awesome, thought-provoking post about things from her blog that I agreed with, as well as things I disagreed with, but this stupid cold I have is kicking the crap out of me.  I feel like I’m stuck in a never-ending cage match with…um…well, anyone who’s in better shape than me, to be honest.  The Rock.  Yeah, he’ll do.  He could probably beat the crap out of me with his pinky.  I mean, naturally I hope he doesn’t hit women, but my brain isn’t functioning so well right now, so just take whatever I say with a grain of salt.  Except for that first sentence.  And the second one.  And the next paragraph.  It should be funny.  Seriously, just keep reading, okay?  Okay.

I also enjoy reading Chuck “Writing is when I make the words.  Editing is when I make them not shitty.” Wendig’s blog, especially his “25 Things…” series and his “Transmissions from Baby-Town” series.  The latest transmission from Baby-Town was seriously funny.  Parts of it reminded me of my own kids.  Go.  Check it out.  Unless you are vehemently opposed to creative combinations of profane words, you will probably find it laugh-out-loud funny (yes, I’m old-school like that).

Okay, I should probably get back to editing now.  I’ve been throwing myself upon the Word altar and begging the gods of Microsoft to save my work with obsessive abandon over the last couple of weeks as I try to finish my massive revision project by the end of the month.  I’d love to be done by the end of the week, but I’m not holding my breath.  Anyway, why the rush when I’ve been trying to edit the beast for the last year?  (God, I can’t believe I’ve been editing (or rather, not editing but procrastinating) for a year already.)  Because entries for the Dundee International Book Prize close March 1 and I’ve decided to enter.  Apparently it was just the thing I needed to get my lazy butt motivated because I’ve gotten 24 of my 30 chapters edited since the first of the month.  Now if only I can get the last few chapters done by the weekend, I think I’ll be all set.  I’m not holding my breath on winning, but I’ll never know if I don’t try, and I’m determined to prove the hubby wrong (he who believes I can make a career of writing but probably won’t because I fear failure).  I’m a stubborn one, after all.

So, to recap: Must find more caffeine.  Must edit.  Y’all must read.  Go.  Read.  Report back here.  Or don’t.  Actually, don’t.  Then I won’t be tempted to further procrastinate my editing.  Or do.  Yes, do report back here.  Be my enablers.  Who needs sleep, anyway?  I can edit after the kids are asleep, right?  Right?  Zzzzz…

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.

Upon further reflection…

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…I’ve decided that some details on the books I posted about the other day would probably be a good thing.  So, I’ve got the scoop on all five books right here!

Cheyenne, a Timeless Series novel, by Lisa Wiedmeier
Murder, romance, secrets, and hidden pasts.  Deception from every angle – who’s telling the truth?  Cheyenne Wilson’s life is thrown into turmoil after her adoptive parents are killed in an accident.  With only her best friend Colt to comfort her, she scours through the family archives, hoping to quell her grief.  Instead she begins to unravel the mystery behind her birth parents, and her secret heritage.  She is a Timeless – a being that ages one year for every hundred human years when they reach their twenties – and of the royal line, destined to gain great power.  But Cheyenne has other problems.  The ones who killed her parents want her, too, and Colt is hiding something of his own.  Surrounded by danger and with few she can trust, Cheyenne must face the dark truth of her past and choose between a forbidden love that will forever hold her heart, or her destiny…

Toonopolis Short: Anchihiiroo, by Jeremy Rodden
In Toonopolis: Gemini, Anchihiiroo (aka Han’Eiyuu) is the former hero of Animetown who turns rogue after meeting the devious Shadowy Figure, forcing his creator to change him into a villain instead of the anti-hero he once was.  Yuki, the albino inventor of Wan-Wan, described Anchihiiroo’s background:

“He had a terrible childhood.  He was orphaned at an early age when his parents were killed in a war.  Then his orphanage burned down, and then a flood wiped out the town his orphanage was in.  He was the only survivor.”

Learn the full origin of Anchihiiroo, from his tragic childhood as Yoshi of Higeki to the warrior training that allowed him to put a stop to the Ninja-Pirate War that plagued Animetown.  Witness his relationship with the phoenix Suzaku and his inevitable rogue turn after meeting the mysterious Shadowy Figure.  It is a story about destiny and a young man’s desire to make his own path in the world.

The Myth of Mr. Mom, edited by Jeremy Rodden
The Myth of Mr. Mom is a collaborative non-fiction essay anthology written by stay-at-home dads that shares the personal stories of eight men from around the world.  Filled with humorous anecdotes and eye-opening personal experiences, The Myth of Mr. Mom is simultaneously inspiring and entertaining.

Toonopolis: Gemini, by Jeremy Rodden
Toonopolis is a cartoon city that is home to the thoughts and ideas of all sentient beings in the universe.  As the center of the Tooniverse, it acts as an other-worldly rest stop for these creations.  Gemini is a teenage human boy who is thrust into Toonopolis through his father’s scientific research program.  He loses part of himself in the process and immediately begins a quest to regain his lost memories with the help of his Tooniverse guide, Jimbob the Talking Eggplant.

After an altercation with a mysterious Shadowy Figure, Gemini’s mission is changed and he begins a new quest to defeat Shadowy Figure and protect Toonopolis from his nefarious destruction.  Along the way, he meets new friends, discovers just how diverse and strange Toonopolis is, and learns lessons about compassion, forgiveness, redemption, and being true to oneself.

The Banned Underground, by Will Macmillan Jones
What could be worse?  Having to take a holiday in the (rainy) Lake District in the North West of England with an aunt who turns people into frogs for a hobby?  Or battling the local dark lord, whose attempt at world domination starts with the nearby underground dwarf mansion and its enormous collection of used pizza boxes?  Or getting involved with a jazz-loving bog troll and his dwarfish R&B band?  Or is it being miles from a McDonald’s?  Join the teenagers and find out in this comical adventure where jazz and magic make a tongue-in-cheek laugh riot!

Whew!  I suppose that’s enough book pimpage for one day.  Stay tuned for news on other books!  After all, 2012 is the Year of the Alliance.  The Dark Lord said so.

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.

Odds and ends

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First, I think this cartoon accurately describes the weather we’ve been suffering through lately:

Last night we had a lovely thunderstorm.  Greg and I sat out on the front porch and watched it rain for about half an hour.  It had cooled off so much that I actually got goosebumps!  It was all lovely and romantic and wonderful.

And that’s all I have to say about that. For other topics, follow me!