Tag: Writing

Midnight ramblings

Leave a comment

Since my late-night rambling appears to be so popular, I thought I’d share a couple other random late-night scrawlings for your reading amusement.  These are a bit dated, but I happened to run across them late last night (or early this morning, however you want to look at it) during my bout of insomnia.  And now, my sleep-deprived thoughts on a couple of my writing projects:

2/20

It’s late, nearly midnight, and I have to work in the morning.  Everyone else is sleeping, warm and content in their beds, but not me.  I’m sitting here, alone in the living room, wrapped up in my favorite blanket and wishing I hadn’t had that second liter of Dr. Pepper earlier.  I’m wide awake, despite taking two muscle relaxers.  Usually they knock me out, but not tonight.  Tonight I feel compelled to write. I feel strangely adrift…

Someday…

Leave a comment

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.

Tuesday Daydreams is now on Amazon!

2 Comments

That’s right, folks, you now have two places to procure my dreamy poetry anthology, Tuesday Daydreams.  It’s available at CreateSpace and now it’s available at Amazon as well!  I’m working on formatting it for e-book publication as we speak and further updates will be made when, you know, I have something new to report. 🙂

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.

Related articles

Writer talk

5 Comments

Easy reading is damn hard writing. -Nathaniel Hawthorn

I hadn’t really intended to post three times today – heck, I hadn’t really intended to post twice today! – but then I read a post by S.Z. Wordsmith and I just had to share it.  She talks about her difficulty coming up with things to say in conversation, while she has no problem writing awesomely witty things.  That’s what I took away from it, anyway, and it reminded me so much of myself that it was a bit scary.  I can’t tell a story to save my soul, but I can write them like nobody’s business (or at least I like to think I can :)).  Anyway, I hope you’ll pop on over and give the post a read.  Show some blog love, guys!

Happy Friday! 🙂

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.

Save the Hobbit and other odds and ends

5 Comments

Once again, America’s overly-litigious nature has reared its ugly head.  The target this time is a small pub in Southampton called The Hobbit.

Lawyers representing the filmmakers in charge of the movie The Hobbit are suing a pub in Southampton that has been known as The Hobbit for the last two decades.  Evidently they’re concerned that said pub will infringe on their rights or something.  I think it’s ridiculous that they’re trying to force the pub to change its name.  For the full story, check out the pub’s Facebook page, Save the Hobbit, Southampton, and show your support of the pub by liking the page.

In other news, my good friend Lisa Wiedmeier wrote a guest post over at Aaron Patterson’s blog about the recent Amazon success of her novel, Cheyenne.  It’s a great article and one I highly recommend checking out if you’re interested in self-publishing.  Her next book, Promises, is due out in May and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

And finally, if you’re looking for a bit of fun on this lovely Friday afternoon, head on over to Rachelle Gardner’s blog and check out her St. Patrick’s Day haiku contest.  You can find my entry in her comments section.

That’s all for me today!  Time to call it quits and enjoy the afternoon. 🙂

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.

It’s here! It’s finally here!

5 Comments

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.

Newsy news

7 Comments

So!  News!  If you’ve liked my Facebook page (or if you follow me on Twitter), then you know that I received the proof copy of my poetry anthology, Tuesday Daydreams: A Journal in Verse, the other day.  I was disappointed to find some errors in it, but I took the opportunity to make a couple of formatting changes and now I think it looks great.  Another proof copy will soon be winging its way toward me and I can’t wait to look it over.  Tuesday Daydreams should be available for purchase by the end of the month!

I’m terribly excited, in case you couldn’t tell. 🙂

In other news, my friend Lisa just finished up a promotion for her novel, Cheyenne, in honor of a new cover design.  Even though it’s no longer free, please click through and check it out.  At $2.99, it’s still a world-class bargain and a great book to boot.  Go on, check it out!  You know you want to.

And that’s about all the news that’s fit to print today, I think.  Conferences tonight will cap off a crazy week for me; hopefully tomorrow (TGIF, y’all!) will be a nice, peaceful day with no major hassles.  I plan to spend this weekend recovering from my week and maybe working on my synopsis for The Lokana Chronicles if I can find a few spare minutes.  I’m still collecting submission possibilities; I’d like to start submitting before summer.  I’m still keeping my fingers crossed about the Dundee International Book Prize, but I’m trying not to think about it too much lest I go crazy with the hoping.

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.

Well, I’ve done it…

6 Comments

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

Leave a comment

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.

The Lokana Chronicles

3 Comments

Well, for all those who haven’t checked it out on authonomy, I’ve posted the first chapter of The Lokana Chronicles for your reading pleasure.  You can find it here.  I’ve been editing like mad lately and I’m making steady progress – I’ve just finished with Chapter 11 today.  Now to get through the next eighteen…

And that’s all I’ve got for today – my cold’s still kicking my butt.  Sorry.

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.