Inspiring Minds Want to Know

I Won The Most #Inspiring Blog #Award!

I was honored today to learn authorAllison Bruning  chose to award me!  How cool is that?

Allison is the author of Calico and Reflections.

This is a new blog award, pretty cool huh?  Ironic that I am getting these now, as I’ve not been keeping up with the blog recently.    This is encouragement to get back to it.  I will admit, I’ve missed it, and the blogging seems to help me clear my head to be able to focus on my fiction writing. Has anyone out there missed me,  missed my specific brand of sarcasm and wit?  Anyone?  Beuller?

This isn’t my typical post, but then again lately – what’s typical?  Life gets busy sometimes, you know?  I’ve been prepping for a speaking engagement, which was April 27th.  It went quite well.  Last year around this time, and this same seminar – I wrenched my knee and tore the meniscus in my left knee and the interior ligament.  I was more careful this time.

I don’t think the presentation was nearly as dynamic as melting a mannequin with a blow torch but then again, there were no fire hazards.  No props, no fire, just a video clip from ‘The Incredibles’, and PowerPoint pictures of a medieval knight ( Sir Rustalot stayed home this time), a modern knight – a marine; and Ironman! I know, you’re scratching your head wondering how in the world all of that was relevant to the other  but I managed.  You know me – tie together vampires and butterflies, or did you miss that post?

Then I’ve been tackling a home DIY project – might even post some pics of my finished work.  The oldest daughter is getting ready to graduate high school and before planning a party I realized – OMG, I’ve got  to paint the bathroom.  Then upon looking around  -and the hall, oh and the bedroom needs fresh paint.  But, for now I am sticking just with the bathroom and the hallway.

Now, onto the award:  the rules are pretty simple.

1.  Display the award on my Blog.  (check)
2.  Link back to the person who nominated me. (check – link above to Allison)
3.  State seven things about myself. ( oh come on, you guys don’t really need to know this stuff – it’s boring)
4.  Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award  and link to them.  (fifteen????  scratches head bewildered.  Well

I ‘ll see what I can manage)
5.  Notify these bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements.

Seven Things About Ellie

1) I often provide comedic relief in public gatherings, and not booked as the live act on stage.  ( I know shocking – you would have never guessed would you?)

2) Ha- here’s one that half the population probably doesn’t know – my eyes are brown.   Wait for it, wait for it – yeah.

3) During Desert Storm, I was a target specialist providing geodetic coordinates for smart bombs for the armed forces of the U.S.  Now, doesn’t it build your confidence to know that I was in charge of guided missiles and Bomb Damage Assessment to report to Washington?

4) When I was 17 I was selected as a Miss Missouri contestant.  I could have taken all those skinny B’s but I was nominated Miss Congeniality instead, so I let them live.

5) One of the many stupid things I did in my youth – I chased tornadoes.  Yes, you read that right – we chased tornadoes with a storm crew out of Oklahoma city for a semester in meteorology.  We took refuge inside a culvert that ran under a driveway, three of us squeezed in there, nearly drowning by the rapid flow of water, gasping and sputtering, and promising that I would never, never , NEVER, do anything so stupid again – ever.   ( That was the last time I rode in the van out in the field.)

6) I don’t really have any phobias, not really super afraid of anything.  I mean, I  have a healthy respect for snakes and insects but not phobic about them.  Two things that absolutely freak me out though, are parasites and octopus.  *cringes*  They are gross to even think about them.

7) I am the youngest daughter of a youngest daughter of a youngest daughter of a youngest daughter. Yeah – figure that one out.

See what I mean?  I’m not a very exciting person.  I mean it’s not like I  bungee jumped – oh wait, I did do that.  Well it’s not like I was in a tornado – oh wait did that one too.   Hmm, well I guess I can’t do too many more of these or I’ll be giving away all my secrets. Can’t have that!  After all, some of the magic of womanhood is the mystery.

I Give This Award To

I know it says to pick 15 people. I’m trying here – give me a break.

1) Cody Martin

2) Vicki Locey

3) Tina Brown

4) Krystol Diggs

5) Elizabeth Delana Rosa

6) Samantha Kay

7) Penelope Price

8) Cassidy Frazee

9) Abyrne Mostyn

10) Cathy Brockman

Illogical Thinking

Ever seen a strange phenomenon and heard someone exclaim “There’s got to be a logical explanation.” ?

There are things in this world and out of them, that confound scientific explanations.  There are glowing gaseous balls that hover over the ground in rural fields.  City slickers would freak out over this but  it’s got to do with the methane gasses emitted by the cows that were in that field earlier in the day.

There are lights in the night sky that we don’t know what they are.  Automatically our brains go “Ooh, what if that was a UFO?”
OK, well not everyone’s,  the more practical minded amongst us say “There’s a logical explanation for that.”

Carolyn Keene drew on these “mystical events” like the glowing gas balls to  confound her readers.  It added to the sense of mystery.  Creative people think of “magical” answers.  Logical analyticals think of the sensible scientific explanation.

So, being the perpetual pot stirrer that I am, I did a little scientific experiment at the last  “gathering”.   There was a recent “unexplained ” phenomenon on the news.  I wasn’t the one that brought the subject up but I was the one that perpetuated it.    At first there were sensible, logical explanations thrown out.  Government training maneuvers, top-secret aircraft, weather balloons.  (Really?  Why does everyone always say weather balloon?  Have you ever seen one?    NO, just no.)

I threw out an idea, it was off the wall ridiculous but it got things moving.  It’s amazing , when prompted how bizarre some of the explanations people can come up with.  One particular one by a very logical, rational, engineer type that  rarely  accepts anything  other than scientific proof came up with a rare species of owl that is illuminated by a chemical in its blood akin to a firefly, said chemical allowing him to hunt his prey by his own light.    Not too bad for a stoic engineer.  I could write a story around that! An owl with a glow-in-the-dark butt because lightning bugs are like chocolate to him – it could happen!

Sometimes the illogical is the logical route.  For any creative, we understand the truth in this.  The logical thinking produces the same old stuff that already exists.  But illogical thinking sparks new inventive ideas like the one I got today for a whole new story.  A mad scientist of sorts who has rather unconventional means of experimentation.  But that would be telling, so you’ll have to wait until it’s written so I can show you.

So how’s your Monday?  Who says Mondays are bad, huh?  They are new beginnings, fresh every week, a world of opportunity crammed into a 24 hour period.  What new horizons are in your Mondays?

Write on my friends, and CARPE DIEM!

Hazy Daze of Winter

There I was, minding my own business and I got waylaid by illness.  Yes, I know I’ve told you all about it.  Went over the practical applications to prevent in the future.  What I didn’t discuss is the drug induced haze I’ve been in ever since.  Prescription meds  mind you but they have the same effect.

A  friend recently was having some issues with his pain medications.  The doctors had him on morphine and it wasn’t working for him.  He ended up having a very rough reaction and went through a month of anguish trying to get back to an even keel.  In a similar fashion, though not to the extreme I have been having issues with my prescribed medications to help me get over the pneumonia.

One makes me hyper like I’m an 8-year-old  that consumed twelve redbulls.  Another messes with my hormones and I’ve been on this emotional rollercoaster that I can’t seem to get off of.  It’s like the horror ride in a Scooby Doo cartoon, only for real! One pill makes me feel hyperactive and another makes me feel like I’m in a hazy nightmare, and the third  jerks my emotions around.  *One pill makes you happy and one pill makes you sad, . . . go ask Alice*

I was watching The Help and I”m crying because Mae Mobley is such a neglected child. I mean, sobs!  This is fiction people!  Then, later I was crying with Rutledge when Tanner had opened his car door for him to feel the effects of the tear gas on Top Gear!  that was when I realized it was the medicines affecting my hormones that  are messing with my emotions.  Be glad you’re not living with me right now.

I’ve written words and when I go back over them I think – what on earth was I thinking?  I have two more days of one medication, and today is last day of another.  Hopefully, I will get back to normal soon.  Well, or at least normal for me.

Write on my friends, write on!

Setting the Stage

The beginning of the year is the perfect time for organizing.  A fresh start for the new year, right?  Well my organizing efforts are focused on my writing area. I don’t have an office.  I did for a short while then the hubs moved a tv in there and a leather love seat and it has been the man cave ever since.

I spent many hours on the family pc, but it wasn’t really work conducive, there are people to talk to in the family room. I am a social creature and if there is anyone to talk to I will talk and not work.  Which is part of why I put in earbuds with my tunes to “tune” everything else out.

This year I am setting the stage, or the staging area.  Step one is cleaning off the bookshelf.  In theory it should be easy.  I am removing my fiction books from this bookshelf making the top shelf grammar and writing which includes my thesaurus and dictionary, the second shelf is resource and history books, the third is some miscellaneous books like Writing prompts,  manuscript guidelines and coffee table books I picked up on clearance about Scotland, Celts, druids, and vikings.  I have three magazine holders for the writers magazines I can’t bear to part with.  that will leave enough space for my stack of notebooks and sketch pads.

Step two is the desk itself.  As I pulled out my drawer with hanging files I realized I’ve saved every little scrap of paper that I ever wrote a single note on.  Yes, there are napkins from restaurants in there.  Which explains the sudden urge for pizza.  This daunting task of tackling my files will take at least double the time the bookshelf takes.

Restocking my supplies will come next then finally the decor. I had maps on my office before it became the man cave, so I”m thinking my maps will soon migrate over to my nook.  I’m planning by the end of the month to move my laptop from the family room into this nook to be able to concentrate better.

Will it work?  Time will tell.  If not I’ll be posting the revised plan.  What works for you? What sort of work area do you have?

Write on my friends, write on!

 

We’re All Mental

Let’s face it we are our own worst enemy!  I know there are many of us with this affliction.  We try to hide it, keep it under lock and key but the strange thing is others can often recognize it before we can see it in ourselves.  It robs us of simple pleasures, prevents us from participating in life and hinders us from stepping outside of our box.

We play these mental games with ourselves, then either pander ourselves out of doing things or admonishing ourselves for our failings.  Sickos – all of us!  Shame, shame, shame!

What is it? Anxiety Disorders.  OK, you may not be fully diagnosed with it but we all have various stages of this budding affliction.

I am notoriously one who is daring, willing to try things.  Bungee jumping, parasailing, snorkeling, spelunking – ok won’t be doing that one again any time soon, and even rapellng are not things for the faint of heart.  Instead of giving into peer pressure, I was the kid your parents warned you about.  Yes, I did daring stupid things.  Yes, I jumped off a roof.  Yes, I took a dare more often than I gave them.  but as I’ve gotten older and become responsible for the lives of others (parenting changes you – it really does), I’ve detected a line of thinking that is akin to an anxiety disorder.

My 17 year old daughter is getting ready to begin her senior year in high school – yeah!  Go Sarah!  However today she is nearly in a panic, because of the unknown.

She stated it like this: “When you’re going to do something that you’re nervous about it, it’s best to just do it and not think about it.  Sort of like getting on a roller coaster, you don’t think about the physics of the design of the roller coater, or the g-force, or how dangerous it is.  You just look at it and think – ooh, fun!”

Yeah, if we all could remember that!  However, when we face a new challenge our brains go into high gear and we over anazlye the situation, adding the terifying what ifs.   Choosing a new hairstyle, starting a new phase like starting college, starting a new job, making a career change, gonig to a different gym, taking a different route to work, they can all be intimidating.  Personally, I don’t think it’s a matter of anxiety disorder but fear.  It’s scary to step out sometimes but as you talk yourself out of it, you convince yourself it’s scary and not worth trying, therefore next time it’s easier to stay in your box.  Before you know it, the box has shrunk and your stuff has an inch of dust on it.

Yep, you know it, I’m a box smasher!  I come in like a tornado and rearrange the furniture, move your stuff, shift things “6 inches to the right”; sometimes tearing out an entire wall to expand a wing.  For those who think I never get scared – get real!  I just do it afraid.

Fake it till you make it, or never let them see you sweat. Either one works.  I know a person however, that over the years has let themseves be overwhelmed by the smallest of things, allowing their box to close in so that it’s such a cramped little affair there’s barely room to turn around.  It’s sad, really.

Now there are individuals who really do have anxiety disorders.  I have some of the symptoms that I will list below, but I don’t let it dominate my mind.  I ain’t dead yet, and I’ve got a lot more life to live.  In fact, I intend to live mine out loud!  If you’re not so bold and brazen maybe you could start with baby steps.  Wear a different color; it can be a huge shock to the system.  Smile at someone you don’t know – I know, shocking.  Try a new food – I don’t know, that could be risky.  Read this blog – omg  – we may be moving a little too fast.  One step at a time!

My point is that as we get older we are more prone to settle into routines. Routines then become ruts and before long the rut is a grave with the ends knocked out.  We allow worries and fears to dominate our thinking and before long we accept failure because we are afraid to try.  I don’t want to be that person.  It’s humorous to watchMr. Monk, but  in reality it would be a sad existence.  I know from personal aquaintance, the above mentioned person’s box is beginning to resemble a coffin.

So here’s what WEbMD has to say about it:

What Are the Symptoms of an Anxiety Disorder?

Symptoms vary depending on the type of anxiety disorder, but general symptoms include:

• Feelings of panic, fear, and uneasiness
• Uncontrollable, obsessive thoughts
• Repeated thoughts or flashbacks of traumatic experiences
• Nightmares
• Ritualistic behaviors, such as repeated hand washing
• Problems sleeping
• Cold or sweaty hands and/or feet
• Shortness of breath
• Palpitations
• An inability to be still and calm
• Dry mouth
• Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet
• Nausea
• Muscle tension
• Dizziness

I’m sure we can all recognize some of those symptoms but it doens’t mean we need to run out and get a prescription for Xanax.  I rebel against the pharmaceutical companies need to overmedicate the world population when all we need to do is put on our big girl/ big boy pants and live life – to the fullest measure experiencing everything it can throw our way!  Just dodge the tomatoes.

Yeah, and some call me an adrenaline junkie as well!  It doesn’t matter though, I’m having a blast.

Write on my friends, write on!

Fire Me Up

There are very few things that really set me off.  I know you’re thinking, really? You’ve vented on here more than a few times. Those were minor.
This here, this is the big enchilada.  This is the fastest way to get me from easy-going fun princess to pissed off uber psycho bitch! (CAUTION: nuclear explosion eminent)

What? What can be so bad?  Insulting my intelligence!  Now, I am well aware that I am not Einstein or Steven Hawking. I ‘m also not the dullest light on the strand.  Give me a break, ok? It’s the holidays. . . lights? strands?  Never mind.

So here’s what happened. . .  and please feel free to leave your comments.  If you think I”m just being petty, you have every right to say so. Just as aI have every right to debate your statement.  Yesterday I get a phone call from my previous boss.  He wanted to know what course I took that I passed my NMLS license with a 92% on the first try. (Trust me, there’s more to it, just keep reading.)  That was three years ago first of all, but I still had the notebook with my hundreds of notes.  I’m thinking to myself, that would be outdated material now as there have been new laws passed since all this economic collapse.  He wanted to find out what course I took that I did so well, because another lady in the office took a different online course and didn’t pass. She was a real go getter salesperson, and I was not.  Honestly, I am not pushy enough to be a top sales producer, nor do I believe in selling someone a mortgage they can’t afford.  He wanted to know which course was the easy one so his daughter could take the easy one to pass.

WHAT?  Yeah, did you catch that?  Right, it was all about the course.  I took the easy course.  It had nothing to do with the fact that I obsessed over, (I know, for those that know me – hard to believe, right?) spent every waking hour studying for, took a gazillion notes, went to the YMCA to get a wi-fi connection to take the course every night for two weeks, had nothing to do with the ginormous (it is a word if I say it is!) amount of studying I did.  NO, it was all the easy course. OW! Bitchslap!

Then, as if that wasn’t enough the vp calls.  The Mrs. to the pair, calls and uses her friend voice. Asking nearly the same exact questions and made the statement that “well because we want “insert daughter’s name here” to pass it we thought that she should take that easy course that you took to pass it.  Nobody passes it on their first try, but you did, so that must be the easy course!  SLAM!  Are you listening?

In order to get a mortgage loan officer license you have to pass the test with a 75%.  I got a 92%.  It’s at a test facility, the same place that nurses have to take their board exams. You lock everything in a locker, they frisk you before entering the testing chamber, you are issued their calculator, a white board and a marker.  If you have to go to the bathroom you have to raise your hand to have someone escort you to the bathroom to make sure you’re not cheating.  My point is, what it came down to was me in the seat answering questions about the material I had learned, fifty percent about the laws that govern the financial industry. No one was helping me, no one was feeding me answers.  There are people behind the glass wall that watch your every move, even if you need a kleenex to blow your nose.  I took the test and I aced it!  It helps that I have a photographic memory, but no one learned the material for me but me.  I don’t get test anxiety, I get pretest anxiety though. It’s called obsess and stress for the two weeks prior causing myself health issues.

But no, I took the “easy course”.  *facepalm*  Watch Ellie go from zero to ballistic in five seconds flat! Fine, I gave them the information and guess what? That course is no longer available as the material is outdated.  Duh!  The course I took this year to renew my license was all new material.  So, in fact the time they took to call me to find out the easy course for their daughter was wasted time, and the deadline is December 29th.  Hmmmm, not the brightest use of time now is it?   Did I mention that the bosses got a lower score than I did on that test? Yeah, that comment really sounded like sour grapes to me. I don’t care, I’m really pissed!  In fact the Mrs. score was a 78% and his was 82%.  Hmmm, I think a bit of sour grapes all around.

Following their logic, because I wasn’t a pushy broad that would oversell a mortgage to someone to become an indentured servant to the mortgage company for the next 30 years, or encourage them to purchase 20% more home than they needed that makes me stupid.  I don’t think so!  That means I have a moral conscience!

Oh and did you catch the part about the former bosses?  Yeah, I am an account executive for a different mortgage company, one that looks out for their customers and provides information to potential clients on the web.

And being a writer is not as demanding a job, therefore requiring less intelligence than  being a mortgage broker. ( Yes, all my writer friends just got it!  An enormous percussion bomb is about to detonate.)  If that doesn’t express their idiocy I don’t know what does!

Just for the record, I’ve had my IQ tested when I worked for the federal government.  It’s a respectable score.

So, does their opinion really matter?  Not at all.  Once I calmed down over the initial emotional shock, and ok vented here about it, the bottom line is it doesn’t change what I do or how I do it.  It doesn’t change one thing about me, unless I allow it to steal more of my time and prevent me from moving forward. Does it matter if you think I’m stupid? Not really, not anymore than their opinion matters.

Even though it got me temporarily fired up, the bottom line is it doesn’t matter.  I know my abilities.  I know that I am not meant to be a sales person in the mortgage industry.  I couldn’t live with myself with selling some of the people a lifelong bondage that I know they can’t afford. Since I can’t separate that from business, that’s not the job for me.  I’m ok with that.  In fact I still appreciate the time I was employed for those people as it opened the door to the job I have now.  You should appreciate them also because my present job allows me to work from home where I can blog!  LUCKY YOU!!!!!

LIfe is what we make it.  You don’t always get to pilot the ship but when you do, make sure you know what direction you want to go.   I’m not looking back, I’m heading to the bright future ahead. Second star to the right, straight on ’till morning.

Write On My Friends, Write ON!

 

 

 

I’m Plotting

Yes I am plotting.  I’m not plotting a new novel, I have plenty of thsoe to work on.  I”m not plotting a cemetary into individual graves for the dead horse – that’s just futile.  What I am plotting however is a Grand Mayan end of the World Party!

Yes that’s right!  Prince was a little premature in his “Party like it’s 1999″ song.  The purple years have passeed without incident.  Now, however even the national weather bureau is talking of the mayan calender ending summarily on December 21st.  Perhaps my zombie horse was a predictor, it does say in the Bible that the dead shall rise  in the end times.  Hmmmm.

Regardless, we’ve decided that a grand festive Mayan party is in order. Hot chocolate will be served, as will a giant chocolate fountain to cover whatever you will, even the cute guy in the corner! (That’s right I’m talking to you!)   Chocolate coins will be plentiful as the Mayans were rich with gold, and er,  chocolate.  Tortilla chips and salsa will be upon every table, and a tequila fountain flowing in the front corner. Other refreshments will be made available I am just undecided at the moment.

One of those “yule logs” will be burning on the computer screen where the great effigy sacrifice will be made to the jaguar god.  A paper effigy pattern will be made available, so that the guests may attach whoever’s picture on it that they are going to offfer in sacrifice.  At a specified time, effigies will be offered in mass burning on the yule log to appease the great jauguar god and hopefully delay the end of the the world. If that doesn’t work we will offer 10% of the Twinkie stash that was hidden for post apocolyptic survival.

I’m sure some hackers out there somewhere will come up with a Mayan trojan or some other virus to destroy laptops and tablets.  I have no such deviousness planned. Simply a last chance party.  Last chance to live it up if it truly is the end.  Last change to believe that perhaps the Mayans really knew what they were doing an they didn’t die off  becausee some other tribe killed them. I always thought perhaps the calendar maker died and no one else knew how to finish, then of course the Spaniards came in and took over.

Whatever reason, I’m really tired of this whole end of the world thing.  Here’s a news flash – none of us get out of here alive!  I know sounds like a pessimistic view but it’s not.  Everyone has to die eventually.  It’s all just part of the great circle of life. (cue the Lion King music) While everyone is refusing to attend a myriad of holiday parties for religious reasons, my party will be the smash hit of all time – becasue it’s the LAST party of all time!   ROFL  The end of the world does not discriminate for race, creed, color, sex, sexual preference, religious views, or age.

Tribal dancing, effigy sacrifices, mass consumption of chocolate – what can possibly go wrong with that?  Let the tequila fountain flow!

Write on while you can my friends, write on!

 

 

 

 

Spawn of the Zombie Horse

  The Thestral - yes, borrowed from Harry Potter world is being used for your visual reference.  It is the closest thing to what is inside my mind at the moment.  Scary indeed, be happy I am not a phenomenon artist and this creature will stand in.

 

Time Management – I swear it is my arch nemesis. I sometimes wonder if the T virus isn’t somehow connected to Skynet, and the Terminator cyborgs  via time management tools.  The zombie horse has not only risen again, but produced spawn.  In version 3.0 I dropped a cultural awareness class I was taking.  It was an informal small group setting, not an academic thing.  What was promoted as an hour and a half class – figure two hours for travel – turned into a four or five-hour time vacuum. Hmmm, perhaps Skynet and the Umbrella Corporation are really one and the same.  *taps chin –  intrigued*

In evaluating my priorities, I determined that I couldn’t afford to give up four to five hours every week to the class, so I quit.  Tentacle Number one snaked out and wrapped around my wrist.  The facilitator called to let me know my absence was missed.  I was honest and up front about my reasons for dropping.   “Well, how much time does your ‘part time’ job require each week? And how much time does the writing require?   Can’t you just write in the evenings instead of watch tv?”

Excuse me?  Is that really any of her business?  NO!   However, I answered.  Why do we feel compelled to answer nosy questions that aren’t their business?

Tentacle two popped out, encircling and compressing my chest.  Now I’m getting miffed!  “How much time does  it take to write anyway?”  You know, if I decided to sit on my butt and pick my nose all day it’s not really anyone elses business but my own, and my nose’s! A third tentacle tried to snake out, I lopped it off right away!  Between my roles as parent, wife, employee and writer there just aren’t enough hours in the day!

Here’s the thing:  people always want you to do their projects.  I’ve spent way too much time expending my efforts for someone else’s projects.   If Donald Trump said “I don’t have time in my schedule for that.” Would anyone question him?  No, they would not!  Now, I know I’m not Donald Trump, but why should my time be any less valuable?

Making the call to pursue my dreams is not a popular decision. Ever notice how all the people you helped never offer to help you with your goals? Yeah, not a popular decision but sometimes you have to be selfish. I knew there would be resistance.  The whole point in hiring my coach Tasha is to be more productive with the time I have.  To make a concerted effort towards my own goals and to undo the years of bad habits that I’ve acquired.  It took me many years to be comfortable with myself, to accept my own unique talents and gifts.  There is much I want to change or improve in my life, but the essential part of me I’ve made peace with.

Evan Sanders has touched on something similar in his blog The Better Man Project.  He talks about authenticity.  He also mentions about being comfortable with himself.  At the end of the day I want to have a clear conscious, and a sense of accomplishment.  That’s never going to happen by doing other people’s projects and ignoring my own dreams.  This is such a simple thing, but I find I am surrounded by a whole generation that was never encouraged to pursue our own dreams.  We were told to be practical, sensible, and responsible.  It’s only through pursuing my own dreams that I discover that those three things can indeed overlap with pursuing the dreams that are within myself and give the sense of satisfaction that even a high paying professional career did not provide.

Self confidence is a powerful drug!  It also seems to be the antivirus for the dead horse strain of the T virus.  I have to admit, five years ago I would have folded, and given in to the “pressure”   – oh we need you, it’s a good thing,  whatever the catch phrase was that was essentially emotional blackmail to manipulate me into giving up my time for someone else’s cause.    They are often good things, not going to argue with that.  At some point though we have to evaluate is it the best thing for us?

Have you given your time up for someone else’s cause?  For their pet project while shelving your own plans?  Is this just a mom thing or is it deeper than that?  What is it about the Donald Trump’s of the world that never struggle with these things and how do I get it?

Please share your thoughts, your struggles, or any advice you may have on this.  Meanwhile steer clear of the zombies!

Write on my friends, write on!

 

 

The Same Dead Horse

You’ve heard it before.  You’ve heard it here before.  You’re looking over at the categories thinking: ‘It says here on writing, life, and random madness so why are we beating the dead horse again?”

Easy!   It won’t stay dead!  Time management that  bane of my existence; that impossible task that I just can’t seem to conquer – yes that dead horse.  It’s the Zombie horse of Biblical proportions that even Resident Evil didn’t try to conquer.   Yeah, don’t get me started on that point, I’ve already gone around and around on the Biblical reference of the dead rising in the last days.  This horse is worse than a cat, a cat only has nine lives.  This time management horse apparently has infinite lives.

I’ve been building my schedule for my coach, to see where I can carve out more time for writing, where I can balance time to actually clean my house, and even manage to have some quality time with the family.  If there are many more nights like last night the family time will be removed but that’s another horse.  Sounds simple enough right?  Make an excel spreadsheet with  time blocks for my daily/weekly schedule; in theory it is a simple task.

I was so proud of myself when I sent my first  schedule via email, then crushed when moments later I got a response – um, no.  Then came the phone call where we discussed the lack of entire subjects such as no time scheduled for housework.  Yeah? I’m not having a problem with that until she pointed out to me that although I don’t allocate time for it, I am probably doing it anyway.

“Laundry? Babe, there’s not one place where you do laundry.”

“Well I wear clothes, it’s not like I spend every day nude.”

“Where’s that in the schedule?  They don’t wash themselves do they?”

“Ha! I wish”

After several little things bantered about like that, I realized that in fact, more times than not I am in fact doing things throughout the day like washing the dishes left out from breakfast; starting the dishwasher; cleaning the grease splatter off of the stove; sweeping the sugar up that the kids have spilled.  Yes, I do it.   It’s just part of the “mom” job that  I take for granted.

Then, she said the golden words to me:  Any time I ask a client to give me their schedule you can bet your boots that if it’s a guy and he has to do any housework at all, it’s allocated generously.  If it’s a woman – she tends to leave off huge blocks of time.    Well if the guys can count it then why am I leaving it off?  Why do we sell ourselves short?

OK, back to the drawing board; revision 2 finished.  “Where is the time for editing, writing, reading in your  genre, research?”

Hangs head, and returns to the desk, working on Revision 3.  OK, I didn’t include bathroom breaks even though I take them.  I didn’t include the interruptions I get because they are not on the schedule, although in reality they should be. You can almost count on at least two hours of interruptions minimum in a week.   I still have a giant box at the bottom that lists the occasional items:  seminars, webinars, articles I should read, blogs I’d like to read, or working on a synopsis or submission package.

I have a couple open slots on Saturday, and a two-hour slot on Sunday.  I can see the horse trying to get up already.  I’m ready for Revision 4, with a big club in my hand.  I’ve already told my coach – just because I schedule housework doesn’t mean I’m actually going to do it.   (Look – I like it clean I just don’t like to clean.  I never wanted to be  a maid, I wanted to hire a maid.) Likewise, not scheduling in the ‘mom’s taxi service’ time throws a wrench into the works every single time.

On the bright side, this is helping me to utilize my time better.  Well, not this week but in theory it will, I hope.  If not I could revert to the government plans for dealing with  dead horses:

1. Buy a stronger whip.
2. Change riders. (Well that’s not really an option for a writer now is it?)
3. Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses. (This is going to require deviation form the schedule thsu modifying the dead horseeven more, hmmmm)
4. Increase the standards to ride dead horses.
5. Appointing a tiger team to revive the dead horse.
6. Create a training session to increase my riding ability.
7. Compare the state of other dead horses in today’s environment.
8. Pass legislation declaring that “This horse is not dead.”
9. Blame the horse’s parents. (NO wait, that would mean it’s my fault, can’t have that!)
10. Harness several dead horses together for increased speed.
11. Declare that “No horse is too dead to beat.”
12. Provide additional funding to increase the horse’s performance.
13. Do a Cost Analysis to see if contractors can ride it cheaper or faster.
14. Procure a commercial design dead horse.
15. Declare the horse is “better, faster and cheaper” dead.
16. Form a quality circle to find uses for dead horses.
17. Revisit the performance requirements for horses.
18. Say this horse was procured with cost as an independent variable.
19. BRAC the horse farm on which it was born.
20. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position.

Well, those don’t seem to work either.  Stand back everyone zombie horse version 4.0 is standing on its legs.  Maybe if I get some cool clothes like Alice, the zombie horse will recognize my superiority and die of its own accord. Maybe?  Anyone?

*Sigh*  Well while I go back to my desk and struggle with Versions 5 thru infinity of a ‘simple spreadsheet’, you can name your own apocalypse horses. At least they aren’t Zombie Alligators. Maybe I should re-examine the clone idea, then there will be more of me to beat the horse.

Have any undead monsters in your own life?

Write on my friends, write on.

My Favorite Author

I honestly can’t believe that people don’t know this about me, I’ve not kept it a secret at all!  Have any of you been paying attention at all?

Seriously I think I ‘ve mentioned it about a gazillion times. But, for the sake of arguing and since Karen ‘s latest book is released I’m going to go there.  So, here it is, the latest addition to her Fever series:

ICED: Dani’s story.   Karen’s books are the only ones I have preordered for quite some time.  I think they have been worth it.  I haven’t finished this one yet, but so far it is not disappointing at all.

Prologue:

Dublin, you had me at “Hello”

Imagine a world that doesn’t know its own rules. No cell phones. No Internet. No stock market. No money. No legal system. A third of the world’s population wiped out in a single night and the count rising by millions every day. The human race is an endangered
species.

A long time ago the Fae destroyed their world and decided to take ours. History says they moved in on us between 10,000 and 6,000 B.C., but historians get a lot wrong. Jericho Barrons says they’ve been here since the dawn of time. He should know, because I’m pretty sure he has, too.

For a long time there was a wall between our worlds. With the exception of a few cracks, it was a solid barricade, especially the prison that held the Unseelie.

That barricade is gone now and the prison walls are dust.

All of the Fae are free: the deadly Dark Court and the imperious Light Court, who are every bit as deadly, just prettier. A Fae is a Fae. Never
trust one. We’re being hunted by voracious monsters that are nearly impossible to kill. Their favorite food? People.

As if that’s not bad enough, there are fragments of Faery reality drifting around that swallow up anything in their path. They’re tricky to spot; you can drive right into one, if you’re not careful. The night the walls fell, Faery itself was fractured. Some say even the inimical Hall of All Days was changed, and opened new portals onto our world. The drifting is the part that really gets me. You can go to sleep in your own
bed and wake up in a completely different reality. If you’re lucky, the climate won’t kill you instantly and the inhabitants won’t eat you. If you’re really really lucky, you’ll find your way home. Eventually. If you’re superlucky, time will pass at a normal rate while you’re gone. Nobody’s that lucky. Folks vanish all the time. They just disappear and are never seen again.

Then there are the amorphous Shades that lurk in the dark and consume every living thing in their path, right down to the nutrients in the soil. When they’re done, all that’s left is dirt that an earthworm couldn’t live in—not that they leave those either. It’s a minefield outside that door. Walk lightly. Your parents’ rules don’t apply. Do be afraid of the dark. And if you’re thinking there might be a monster under your bed or in your closet, there probably is. Get up and check.
Welcome to Planet Earth.

This is our world now—one that doesn’t know its own rules. And when you’ve got a world that doesn’t know its own rules, everything dark and nasty that was once held in check comes slithering out of the cracks to try to take a shot at whatever it wants. It’s a free-for-all. We’re back to being cavemen. Might is right. Possession is nine-tenths of the law. The bigger and badder you are, the better your odds of surviving. Get a gun
or learn to run. Fast. Preferably both.

Welcome to Dublin, AWC—After the Wall Crash—where we’re all fighting for possession of what’s left of the planet.

The Fae have no king, no queen, no one in charge. Two psychotic, immortal Unseelie princes battle for dominion over both races. Humans have no government. Even if we did, I doubt we’d listen to them. It’s complete chaos.

I’m Dani “Mega” O’Malley.

I’m fourteen. The year was just officially declared 1 AWC, and the streets of Dublin are my home. It’s a war zone out there. No two days are alike.

And there’s no place else I’d rather be.

If you haven’t read the rest of the series, I’m not sure if it will make sense or not.  I highly recommend the whole series!

Now, for my little bit on my favorite author.  This originally was posted for the Tasha Turner Virtual Blog  Tour.  I thought I’d share it with the timing of Ms. Moning’s new release.

My current favorite author is Karen Marie Moning. I’ve read every book in Karen’s Highland series as well as the Fever series. As much as I enjoyed her well written romances, the Fever Series was phenomenal.  The Fever series consists of five books, which should be read in order: Darkfever, Bloodfever, Faefever, Dreamfever, and Shadowfever.  These are dark gritty urban fantasy that got me to read outside the box of my preferred genre.

I have never been so completely transported into a fictional world as I was with the Fever series.  Mackayla Lane or Mac for short takes a journey to Dublin, Ireland in search for answers about her sister’s murder.  What she finds is the greatest challenge of her life, and two mysterious men that are vying for her attention.  Jericho Z. Barrons, a mysterious, wealthy, powerful man that evades questions and Fae prince V’lane, a ‘death by sex’ Fae, use every weapon in their arsenal to win Mac to their side. Her true mission becomes clear, to obtain the elusive all-powerful Dark Book, the Sinsar Dubh.

The first line in Darkfever, the first book in the series is:  My philosophy is pretty simple, any day nobody’s trying to kill me is a good day in my book.

Later in the series, Mac states:  Although it may not seem like it, this isn’t a story about darkness. It’s about light. Khalil Gibran says, “Your joy can fill you only as deeply as your sorrow has carved you.” If you’ve never tasted bitterness, sweet is just another pleasant flavor on your tongue.  One day I’m going to hold a lot of joy.

Karen’s ability to draw me completely into her character’s world has caused me to examine my own writing, digging deeper, tapping into the dark places to eventually produce the joy.  I’ve survived a few darknesses in my own life, and if I can use that to produce a better story for my readers, it makes my scars a badge of honor.  It’s the victors that tell history, not the defeated.  What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I think on some level I could relate to the character of Mac, realizing that I was made of stronger stuff than I thought I was.

Have you ever read a book that made you really think?  Made you examine yourself in ways that you wouldn’t if you had not read the book?   Who is your favorite author or book?  Why? Was it simply a great story, or something more? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Write on my friends, write on!