Sunday, December 15, 2013

Holly and Ivy- A Christmas Story

Holly Peters picked up her press pass at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Reporters and photographers bustled around her as if she didn’t exist. But she did and she was here in New York City at the parade. How exciting! She put the pass over her neck and retied her bright red scarf around her neck. Smiling, she stood against the wall and just watched all the excitement. She turned to find her best friend Alli. Someone grabbed her arm, she whipped around and it was a tall thin good looking man in a black woolen coat. He had hazel eyes and soft puppy dog brown hair.

"Ivy, you look so amazing. How long has it been, three years?" he asked.

Holly smiled, "I’m sorry but I am Holly Peters, you must have me confused with someone else."

He blushed, "I’m sorry. You look exactly like one of my friends from college. She’s a reporter, her name is Ivy."

"Well they say everyone has a twin so I guess maybe I do. I’m a reporter too," Holly said.

He shook her hand, "I’m Brad and I should’ve known you weren’t Ivy, you are actually smiling."

***

Ivy Anderson, picked up her press pass and slung it over her neck. The Thanksgiving Day parade? Freaking great. She was tired of happy little fluff pieces. She needed the job because she didn’t have many options. She was on probation. How was she supposed to know her source was a drug addict and a pathological liar? He was a good liar. He passed the polygraph with flying colors. So she wasn’t fired but put on happy duty. Ivy looked over at the people standing in the streets and behind the scenes. This would be a perfect time for something bad to happen and she would be here. She would get the eye witness accounts save face and save her career. And who knows a story with such atrocity would win her the Pulitzer.

"Holly, here you go I had to stand in line for a half an hour and then I got lost. So I am so sorry if it’s a little on the cold side," someone said behind her.

Ivy turned around, a woman her age with flaming red hair fiddled with her phone as she held out a large latte. Before she could speak, the woman kept talking, "I called David but he’s already at work and mom says the kids will be watching me on Tv. I told her that I don’t think they will see me on TV but I guess you never know. Hey, do you think you can take a picture of me standing in front of one of those balloons. I would love to have my picture taken with Snoopy."

"I’m sorry, I am not Holly," Ivy said when she found a break.

She looked up, "oh my god I am so sorry. You look just like my best friend Holly. I mean you really look like Holly except her hair is curly. We were up early this morning and I saw the black coat and the blonde hair. I am so sorry."

"It’s fine," Ivy snubbed. Then she saw Holly it had to be Holly because she was talking to Brad, an old college friend. What kind of best friend didn’t know what her friend looked like. Holly, if that’s who she was, wore a puffy black ski coat with a bright red scarf and red ear muffs. Red ear muffs? Who wears earmuffs an adult? And her hair, she had bouncy blonde curls in a cute little ponytail. Her hair bounced as if there were a million golden Tiggers bouncing at the same time in her hair.

"Oh there she is," Holly’s best friend said.

Ivy walked over with the red-haired woman who still fiddled with her phone.

"Ivy," Brad said.

Holly turned around and stared into her own face. Ivy stared into her own face. This couldn’t be. This had to be a doppleganger, maybe this chick was evil all dressed up like a sweet present ready to assume the other’s identity.

"I can’t believe this. I am Holly Peters. You must be Ivy. Your friend here said I looked just like you."

"Ivy Anderson. Are you a reporter or something?" Ivy asked.

"I work at the Lock Haven Maven, Lock Haven’s a small town in Pennsylvania," Holly answered with a bright and beaming smile.

"Fantastic so this must be the big time for you being in New York City and all and covering the parade," Ivy said.

"Ivy, you don’t have to be a bitch. I remember when you were a little nicer. What happened to you?" Brad asked.

"The world happened to me. Maybe I see things how they are instead of a fantasy world."

Brad kissed Holly on the cheek, "good luck with your story and I will be looking forward to your call. Happy Thanksgiving Holly. Nice seeing you Ivy, take care." He disappeared into the crowd.

Holly took the coffee from Alli, "so Ivy I am guessing you work for the Times or the Post? Maybe you are a big time columnist that is syndicated or maybe you just work at some sub par newspaper and you were told to be here."

"As a matter of fact I write for the Newark Ledger with a large circulation so I am doing okay," Ivy defended herself.

"Well good for you," Holly said.

"You know I am going to say this but you guys look exactly alike. More than just similar looking strangers but actual twins," Alli said.

"That’s not possible, Alli. I am not adopted," Holly said.

"Neither am I," Ivy said.

***

Read the rest of the story in Santa's Shorts available on Kindle. Part of Kindle Unlimited.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Nickolaus

Hello all, Here is the book cover for my new ebook Nickolaus. In a nutshell, this is a Santa story with a twist. In this book we learn about the a man named Nickolaus who would become Santa Claus. It is a short story and it shouldn't take you too much time to read.

Here's a fun fact ever since I wrote Moonswallow Gates writing all of a sudden got a hell of a lot easier. This book only took me a week from start to finish and it is about 6,000 words. The words would flow from my fingers.  In fact, I am writing another Christmas story for here and I have a bunch of the story already done and I started last night.

Nickolaus is $.99 at the time of this writing but it will go free in the next couple of days. Now I am going to beg... please please if you read this book, leave a review for this book. A good review can help me sell more books, a bad review can make me a better writer (hopefully anyway unless the bad review just says 'you suck' I highly doubt that is going to help me out). This is marked for the Amazon Prime program so if you have a Kindle device you can read it for free if you are a Prime member and I still make money off the book. If you don't have a Kindle device all you need is a free app from Kindle, they have apps for iOs, Android, Mac and PC.  Speaking of money, I make $.35  for every book I sell. So why do I publish ebooks anyway if I am not getting gobs of money (Amazon requires $10 in royalties before I get paid I think I have $.70 or so). One day I will have a traditional publisher who will want to buy a novel I wrote. 

Until I get to that point in my career, I am building a fan base of readers who like my ebooks and might actually buy a physical book from me. Self-publishing short stories to Amazon gets my work out in the world much easier than other avenues. I keep plugging forward until the buzz starts building, maybe it won't be this ebook but another one I wrote and I will sell more books and become more popular. I know everything takes time. I am a small fish in a digital ocean that is infinite but I am there and my ripples are growing everyday and then the day will come where I am a typhoon.

I am writing this while a large snow storm is ransacking north east United States, you probably are not going anywhere today. I know I am tucked inside my house and watching the snow fall and the absence of plow trucks. Why not curl up with a blanket in front of the fire, if you have one, and read Nickolaus.

Monday, December 9, 2013

The End of One Thing, The Beginning of Another

So in my last post I rambled on about how I have to finish my novel. Then I sat down and actually finished it since there wasn't that much more to go. As of now, the final word count is 64,705 which more than likely will change before I feel there is a final draft. I double spaced the manuscript and the novel is 210 pages. Which seems like a lot to some people and it is amazing to say I wrote a novel. Hot dog. As I say over and over again, I don't want this to die, I want to edit it and find either a publisher or an agent.  The world of publishing now is a lot different than when Stephen King started so I needed to find an author who was popular and current to figure out my next step so I chose Stephenie Meyer author of Twilight. According to her website, she eventually got picked up by an agent at Writer's House and the rest is history.  I am going to try that one once I get a few chapters edited. There is another agency that I might try first because they are  supposed to be experts in horror, fantasy and science fiction. I think I will fit better there.

Are you wondering why I am not editing my glorious and shocking and amazing novel? You have good reason to wonder. There is one thing that I do if I have the allotted time (sometimes freelance jobs I can't let a story sit, I have to write and edit in the same shot) is the let the story rest. I make sure I "x" out of the file and I don't look at it or read for at least a couple of days. So in that time of rest period (speaking of rest period, did you know when you cook meat you are supposed to let it rest before cutting it up? Its supposed to keep the meat juicer as it is cut up) I am working on an upcoming ebook.  The cover is already done and the story is almost finished. I do have a self-imposed deadline because it is a Christmas story so I want it on Kindle before Christmas.

The ebook is called "Nickolaus" and it is a story about Santa. I will say this because I don't want to give too much away.  This ebook is intended for young adults and older and there is a twist. Sure, there is some sentimental moments but the twist will blow your socks off. It is not a story like Silent Night, Deadly Night (killer Santa) or the other one which has some wrestler in it which I can't think of right now (It was on Netflix maybe it was called St. Nick). Since the cover is done I will be working on finishing the story and editing in the next couple of days.

Once the ebook is published I am going to start editing the novel. I figured out the best way to approach this and that is one chapter at a time. I don't use fancy shmancy writing software, I use Word Perfect which more people should us as opposed to Word because it is more superior than Word. Anyway what I am going to do is copy one chapter and edit that chapter. I already made a list of things I already know I need to fix when  it comes to story. I also know how the story ends, I know every detail so things I wrote in the beginning may have to reflect the ending. One chapter at time, one day at a time. When it comes time to put the book back together it is simple with Word Perfect. I used asterisks for chapter breaks so it didn't interfere with the word count. In the final draft I will have Chapter 1, Chapter 2 etc (no titles I don't like them and I think it gives too much of the story away.)

I love Christmas so I tend to write a Christmas story and a poem. I already wrote the poem. I hope to have a Christmas story written for here before Christmas. Suburban Vampires will return in the New Year with an exciting new chapter where I going to try something new and it has to do with POV (point of view. Don't worry I am switching between first person and third person). This is something I dabbled with in the book I wrote. Sometimes things just switch into place.

My advice for the week: drink plenty of fluids, piss often and remember my name.

Monday, December 2, 2013

50,000 and Beyond

I probably was supposed to write about the novel last week but more than likely I forgot or I didn't feel like it. I made it 50,000 words one week before the end of November then I marched right on over and validated the novel. But it is not done and the week between getting that word goal and now well that is a different story. I totally slacked on writing. The novel is not done but it is close at 60,000 words. Then  I went to ultimate panic mood which was not necessary, the going rate for a novel is MORE than 75,000 words. I am aiming for 65,000 because I don't think the novel needs to be boring just to fill in words. Then I did a little bit of searching...

Stephen King's first novel Carrie had around 62,000 words. This novel is special because it was rejected so many times and finally someone had the belief in this book and look at him now. The Old Man and the Sea  was really short with coming in less than 30,000 words. Of Mice and Men and The Great Gatsby were all short books coming in with word counts less than 75,000. You can look all this up on the web, sites like goodreads.com and amazon.com have information on word counts. So my blood pressure went down, some that is. I am a crux now in the writing, I am so close to finish and I want to finish but the scene I am working on his holding me up. Oh yes, I know that is an excuse and that is probably why I am writing on here right instead of finishing the novel.

Of course, if a book is a good it doesn't matter what the word count is. Speaking of word count, I always hated word counts and many times when I had to write literary essays, my teacher was a stickler for word count and didn't matter if the essay was good with a short word count she want shit filler. For a long time, I wrote what I wanted to and when the story was done it was done. I have written very short stories to novellas in my time. Of course, the anti-word count sentiment does tend to be troublesome when it comes to finding publishers because publishers have adhere to word count because of space issues. Okay that was off topic...

The title of the novel I am writing is Moonswallow Gates which is the name of the house in the book. I wasn't going to use that name as the title but oddly enough there were no other titles worthy. So my main goal now is to finish the book. Then edit the book somewhere in there I should start looking for a publisher because I don't want this to die, this book just might change my life. This might be the book that allows me to stay at home and keep writing without working in the real world. This is my book and I think it is awesome.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Sometimes Life is Moving Fast

My life is moving fast, but it's more like the novel is moving fast. I completed 18 days of Nanowrimo and I have written 40,000 words as of yesterday. This is the longest thing that I wrote thus far. Is it easy? Sometimes, it is easy. I am a short story writer, I have been writing short stories forever and a novel lets me write and write and write some more. There is a lot more exploration in a novel. Sometimes it is easy and sometimes, most times writing a novel is hard. Okay writing in general is hard.

While I'm writing or not writing, I forget how to write. Really I do. I wonder if I am doing enough showing, do I have balance between showing and telling. Is there too much dialogue? Fuck if I know and I guess that what editing is for. I am terrified to edit and I want to fix major story things that I noticed on my first read through. But I told myself no and I just keep going. If writing is like a muscle or whatever the phrase all this bull shit is supposed to start going away, the self doubt, the story malfunctions, the more you do it, the better you become. Okay maybe not the self doubt but it has to subside some, right? I never wrote a novel before so I don't know.

I started one and maybe one of my writing goals for 2014 should be to finish it. Editing this novel, the one I am working on for Nanowrimo, is daunting but at the same time. I want to do it. I want to get my novel published eventhough I wonder about my language (the book is filled Fuck, more fuck and double fuck you get the idea). The novel is demented and twisted which can be good or bad. All I know is I want to do this old fashioned way, I want to publish the novel as a real live book, one that you can sniff the pages and take in the bath tub or read on a subway without the batteries dying.

So as my mind is starting to think about the ending of the novel which still has more to go after the 50,000 words, I am also thinking of a title. The only title I came up with so far was "Sex, Magic and Murder" yes it would sell books, kind of seems clique and clichee and more like a murder mystery than anything else.  It needs a title so I can stop calling it "it." And finally I am thinking about the future of the novel. I don't want it to be half done, thrown in the corner collecting dust, I want to edit it, make the best I can be and who knows I will be more than happy to have a movie deal (you really have to think big, in my case real big). 

On the upside, I changed my thoughts, I am not better or worse than this writer or that writer, I am a writer looking for a break, just like everyone else in this business, this life path, this artistic torture.

This is going to be great and I hope 2014 will offer open doors for you and me.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Thoughts on Writing and Selling Books

Good news, I am still working on my novel but today was a rather rough day. I just finished an important scene and I was lost on where to go next. I guess this is where outlining would be helpful but screw it. I did write 2000 words and the wheels are turning for the next exciting things to happen. With that I am going to give myself a pat on the back.

The two books I have self-published through Kindle, went through some interesting changes. I raised the price up to $2.99 each and the reason is to actually sell books. Yes, I want my name out there so giving them away for free was good but I want to make money off them. Kindle introduced a new promotion but I had to have the books at the $2.99 price. It is the countdown deals and honestly I think I will actually make money or should I say compensated for my writing. What the countdown deals are for a seven day period you can discount your book at varying levels.

People love free but they also love sales. When they feel they are getting good deal, they will pay. I know I am one of those people. I would spend a $1 or $1.50 on an eBook if the listing price was more than that. With this program, I will make royalties. When I sell my book for a buck, I have no sales unless I am giving away the book for free. Also when someone gets the book for free, they are less inclined to leave any kind of feedback. When something is paid for and the book suck they will feel cheated and write a review. My books could really use reviews, good or bad. I could really use a royalty check from Amazon. Selfish? No, you all can read stuff on here for free. This blog serves two purposes: to gain clients for my freelance writing business and to gain a fan base so I can sell books.

One of my plans for the coming year is to have Amazon physically print the books and when I go to sell my jewelry at craft shows and flea markets, I going to try and sell my books.

Yeah I am in the business of writing, I make money off the one side of writing but I figure its time to try and make money off my other books.  The business of writing is more than writing it's selling books (maybe movie deals but that's later in the future.)

Okay so I am done for the day. I am going to keep working on my novel. I am going to try out countdown deals and see how that goes for me. Until the next time, keep your toes warm and your wallet closed.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Week One of Nanowrimo

Technically, it's day ten of Nanowrimo but go with me. It started on November  1st and except for two days, I wrote every single day. So I will pat myself on the back because I am working toward the goal. The goal for Nanowrimo is 50000 words, I want to finish the novel completely but even when I make it to the goal, I will finish the novel because once you reach 50,000 what's another 25,000 or more. What's another of week of dedicated writing to finish the novel?

I want to share with you some of my own personality traits, I have overcome thus far. I have a cold and at the beginning of November it was worse than it is now but I buckled down and wrote. I made the time to write. When I was done with work, instead of napping or watching the boob tube, I made an effort to write. Now some days I wrote more words than others but I wrote and right there is the most important thing. This month I discovered I am more than a web content writer, more than a freelance writer. I am a real writer living the writing dream. On the two days I didn't write physically, I wrote in my head or at least planned the next scenes out and when I would sit down to write again, the words just poured from my fingers.  I can write a novel and I don't know why I quit before.

I also learned the beauty of a first draft and the beauty of chapters. I learned editing is better done at the end, at least for me. I don't have an outline and every time I write, the story surprises me. Just like writing used to when I was younger. I might be thinking of something else but the characters seem to come alive and make the story and I am only telling it. It is a wonderful thing, it is like watching a child grow up. The novel is a discovery onto itself. 

So where does my word count stand? As of right now, I have written 21,764 words. I'm almost the halfway mark. Today was the first day I read my novel from the beginning. I think I may even discovered my voice somewhere after chapter 2. However, this is not the longest piece of fiction I wrote, at least not yet anyway.   I started a novel an couple of years ago and I quit writing it at 27,000 words. Perhaps I should go back to it.

The novel still has no title but that is the least of my worries. I want to publish it when it is done. It is not the Great American novel and I don't think it will win me a Pulitzer. But the novel is demented and twisted, sexy and steamy, sweet and tender all wrapped in interweaving stories. This is a novel I would purchase and read and this the novel I am writing.

So this is the end for now... let wind take you.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Valisa Ravensquire

Stare at that name and remember it because you might see it again somewhere... We really should start at the beginning.

Some of you may know that I was in a car accident in January. At the time, I was working at a job that I really liked and despite my temporary status at the company they moved me to a different department where they had a lot of work to do which meant that I was going to be there for a while.  Apparently, fate kicked me in the ass and I had a car accident in a vehicle that I drove many times up and down a mountain in worse conditions. I believe everything happens for a reason and I believe the reason was I am supposed to be a writer.

Okay so I started my freelance writing career and I feel I am moving toward a very satisfying career. I like writing web content, I really do and I hope to make it grow in the coming year. Those writing books and sites all say web content is fine to start with but I should be working on long articles for magazines. Not my style, there is a reason why I hated my major (journalism), I don't care for non fiction. I really can't come up with ideas and I am not much into hardcore researching. In that time, I also wrote a few ebooks some of them I got paid for and some of them I self-published. Things are looking up for me but as some of you know I have a lot of bad habits.

I have a bunch of stories that I don't finish maybe I can't figure out something or something seems hard so I just quit. Even though I get paid to write which is awesome when I have no work for the day I don't write. I waste a lot of time.  Well so I decided this was the year to participate in NaNoWriMo. Some of you already know what this is but for those who don't National Novel Writing Month.

Starting November 1 through November 30 we are supposed to write 50,000 words maybe a full novel but at least get 50,000 words written in this amount of time. I just decided this week to participate because I need to break some very bad writer habits. I need to start and finish a story. I need to stop talking about writing novel one day and sit down and WRITE.

I know I can do this. For one of my jobs I wrote 10 1,000 word stories in 4 days, that's 10,000 words in four days. I can write thousands of words in one day depending on the work I have. Suburban Vampires- most chapters are around 2,000 words and I write one those in about an hour.

So here's what I know about the novel I am going to write the main character is a female and her name is Valisa Ravensquire. It is a horror and supernatural novel that takes place in Pennsylvania in a stone house called Moonswallow Gates. I have some scenes in my head and that's about it, I don't have much of a plot yet. I'm going to write this one by the seat of my pants and see where this adventure takes me.

Lastly, I want to thank my husband for being my support and kicking me in the ass (metaphorically speaking) when I need it.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Roots

I’ve always been
running, packing, moving
changing and that wind just
keeps pushing me along
now I’m always looking,
finding those secrets
locked in the closet
memories from 20 years ago
because the growing is slowing
and my feet don’t move as fast
two divorces that weren’t my own
then I’m an orphan by design
what is a family that fades by distance
or one that just fades
graduation was just a place in
this orbiting galaxy
and 15 years later there’s
bits of home in this state and
in that state yet the wrecking ball
keeps on wrecking and 35 mm
photos disappear from losing
it’s fight with time
time never changes
only circumstance
nostalgia- movies made in 1985
that I didn’t see until I was an adult
those rule breakers, detention getter kids
they were nothing like me the quiet one
the smart one but I lived with out shooting
the school and buying drugs
there is my home, ground base
now I am flying, dreaming, living


Thinking about what's going to happen in the next chapter of Suburban Vampires but until then I hope you enjoy the poem

Saturday, September 28, 2013

The Special People

The special people... who are they?

The folks with supernatural abilities of course. What brings this about is everything that I have been watching and reading over the last months. Fringe, Haven, The 4400, Alphas and more which I am sure you know about except Heroes I never watched that show. The point is all these people have some kind enhanced ability which many people believe is a work of fiction.

I do not. Even the strangest fiction has some kind of truth kernel.  In case you haven't noticed, I love the supernatural, ghosties, mind readers, psychics, spoon benders, and all of them. Who is to say there are people in this world who can do these things? The mind is incredibly mysterious. It is said animals can see ghosties and sense supernatural happenings. We don't any more about animal brains then we do our own.

Think about it there are names for these conditions. Telekinesis, the ability to move things with your mind. Pyrokinesis, the ability to start fires. Clairvoyance and empaths. Olivia, the main character in Fringe was injected with a chemical to give her the ability to cross between dimensions. And there has been rumors or theories that the government tested stuff on soldiers back in the day (of course it could still be going on, we wouldn't know because that kind of stuff would be CLASSIFIED, stamped in red letters).

It was believed that we only use 10% of our brain, apparently that is not true that we only understand 10% of the brain. So there could be way to tap into the awesome abilities that  are tucked behind some magical neurological pathways. I really would love to tap into some supernatural ability. I could do with out seeing the future. What I would like is to move things with my brain.

Imagine, how great that would be. Someone pisses you off and poof an apple cracks them on the head. You can't reach something from the top shelf and your husband who is much taller is not around, poof the object you want is in your hands. My house would be like that part in Fantasia when Mickey Mouse has all the mops cleaning. I can have the dishes washed and dinner cooking while I am busy working on something else. There are too many positives for having telekinesis.

Hmmm, I should start figuring out how to tap into that power. Until next time, may your spoons bend as the fire grows around you.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Solar Green

Serendipity is made for the movies and
Our desires lurk from dreams into
Lukewarm blankets.
Arrows forged in steel and
Raw glass, gate the entrance

Give him the sacrifice steeped in
Ruby lips. The
Envelope comes in the mail, an
Evangelist looks for money to praise god while he stands
Nude with women quivering in the dark.


***

It has been much too long since I posted any kind of creative writing and I should post more. I say that all the time but I should follow through with it. And the first order of business is to write another chapter of Suburban Vampires. I started this blog a year ago as a place for the world to see all my writings- poetry, stories, blog posts and opinion articles. Though one goal has been accomplished, I use my blog for my freelance writing career and people actually hire to write things for them.

I hope you enjoy the poem. I just thought I should mention solar green is a type of glass color. And just in case you didn't notice, the poem is an acrostic poem.

Fall comes with a prickling breeze and you are left alone on the beach in your bikini.

Friday, September 6, 2013

So My Head is Much too Full

Ever have one of those days where you have way too many ideas? Too many things to do? Right now, I have  one of those weeks were I am filled with ideas and things I want to do. It can and does make a person go crazy.

Since I am not only a writer but I am a crafter so my mind is normally split in two. I have an online store and my mind is thinking Christmas and Halloween. Things to make for both holidays. Although I did accomplish one item on my holiday to do list. But I get all these ideas to make things and really there is not enough time in the day to do everything at once.  So yeah, I have tons of ideas for my store.

I am a freelance writer and I am working on a job, writing flash fiction stories, should be a snap because the stories are only 1000 words. My ideas suck or I don't think I can do them in a 1000 words and I would rather be working on a story I started a month or so ago because this particular story is going to be a long one. I don't know what will become of it because it is not done yet. Not only that I am trying to figure out how to get my name out there in the world that won't cost me a lot of money. My husband suggested I make a flyer and then go to places and hang it up. Made the flyer even went to Staples for printing but now I got to get out there and start hanging up the flyers.

Now I want to bring your attention to the sidebar, after all my ebooks there is new badge which my husband and I worked on together.  It looks this. My husband suggested I make something on my own for my blog. The haiku comes from the haiku project I worked on last year. In my opinion, it is one of the haiku I really like. I have over 1000 haiku to go through (and I still have three months to type yet) and I am overwhelmed.  Overwhelmed because  I have no idea how to select haiku for the final book. How do I format a book of haiku and how should I organize them? From what I gather on the web, is I should trust my own instincts on my work. And isn't it true? You may read this advice or that advice and nothing makes any sense and maybe doesn't work for you. Writing, publishing, is everything by trial and error. And of course it is a journey for yourself.  I truly believe that my time is coming but before my time comes I have to be ready. As mystical as that sounds, maybe I am not ready yet  or maybe I am. Who knows until it happens.

By the way if you really like the badge please feel free to pass it around.

So I have nothing more to write on here but I have plenty of projects that need attending so I better get working. Until next time, keep the light on because the night is  always full of shadows.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

The Wolf's Red Rose

It started with a simple writing prompt two years ago. The prompt came in an email from Writer's Digest as way to keep writing during the holiday season. The prompt was to rewrite a fairy tale in 1,000 words.  I was immediately inspired and then the story grew because I was excited by the story. So here we are 2 years later and I finished the story, I edited the story and made it into an ebook which is on sale now on Amazon.

Why make this story an ebook as opposed to trying to get the story published by a magazine? It's all about length (we are talking story length here). The Wolf's Red Rose reaches over 9000 words. Many magazines have restrictions on length and want only stories that are 4000 and below.  With Amazon, Kindle Direct Publishing, it makes it easy for me to put books for sale even if they are short stories and right now since I am beginning in my publishing career, I am getting my name out in the world. No, I don't make any money from Amazon by talking about them and sure I might get some Google hits from just mentioning them but I only mention this because there are other writers out there who are also starting out. Okay enough about business mumbo jumbo let's get to the book.

Book Cover
 
Yes, I think some of the language in this story is very beautiful. And it was that very reason why I decided to finish the story just because of the sentences I wrote. Sometimes, I really do amaze myself. The Wolf's Red Rose  is a retelling of the well known fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood" and in short it is about WHY the wolf ate Little Red Riding Hood and Grandma. Perhaps Red and her Grandma angered the wolf. There is a lot more to the story than the wolf just ate them.

This is the book cover my husband and I worked on. I drew the picture and he colored it in and did some special effects. This time I used a preloaded font, this one of my favorites and I use it a lot. The font is called "Papyrus."

Although, this is a retelling of a fairy tale, I would not think it is appropriate for very young readers. Not that I am an expert but this PG-13 type of story.  There are no bad words just one mention of making love and very little blood.  I listed this book for $.99 but if you are a prime member you can borrow it for free. 

It is a quick reading story with talking animals, poetry, lies and love so why not check out The Wolf's Red Rose on sale through Kindle bookstore. Kindle offers a free app for android, PC, and even Apple so all you really need is the Kindle app to read the story.

Until we meet again, the wolf carries his across  the frozen tundra.



Saturday, August 24, 2013

Fall is Coming

Even though my computer is only a few steps away, I just have to play with my new  toy. I got a tablet case with a keyboard. I have to get used to typing with such a small keyboard. Now the  next step is to get the word processing app for the tablet. I can get the app for $15 from Amazon. So far the keyboard is working pretty  good, my fingers other keys so my spelling is horrible. Hey at least I should have no excuse not to write on the go now.

So what is new in my life? Well August is filled with lots of appointments and getting ready for school. I have my wisdom teeth coming in and now I have to have them removed. I had one removed years ago. According to the dentist, I am super freaky because I have 2 wisdom teeth in the top. So yeah lucky me. I also published "The Wolf's Red Rose" it is available on Kindle. I promise the next post will be all about it. You should see the book cover, I think it is fucking awesome. My husband and I worked on it together.

I got a reject and I get rejects plenty of times but this one annoyed me. The editor said there were too many errors and not ready for publication. Here's the kicker, he didn't tell me what the errors were. Why say it if you're not going to expand upon it?

Okay enough about me, take care of yourself and each other. See you next time (that's what's Jerry Springer says at the end of each show. I used to love watching the Jerry Springer Show)

Sunday, August 4, 2013

August for the Future

So now it is August, this summer has flown by at incredible speed. July- well that was month that was filled with non-stop action. From hanging out at the Bryce Jordan, to shooting off fireworks at home while drinking beer, to hot sultry days filled with swimming, sun poisoning, bee stings, yard work, my birthday and my daughter had to have an appendectomy. I am glad to say I am glad to see July go. With the end of July, the weather changed dramatically. It feels like September and not the dog days of summer. According to the weather channel, the highest temperature my area will see this week is 77 and I am not complaining.  I was supposed to finish my latest ebook and publish it in July but that did not happen because not only was July an exciting month- I am my own worst enemy.

I am a slacker. There is no question about that. When I sit down to write, I actually write very fast and get stuff done. I hate editing and I pretty much dread editing. So another round of slacking. There are no good excuses because I am poor at time management and I am slacker. Case in point, I know there is work I want to do but I find myself washing dishes. When dishes need to be done I am doing something else. I have been like this forever and I really don't think that is ever going to change. I do get this done though. I finished writing my latest ebook and now it is time to edit which for some reason even though I hate it, I will work on editing quicker because of how I edit. I will read through it and make minor corrections. I will do this several times and then I will do the big edit where I read it out loud and make more corrections. All the while the story is fresh in my brain and I will think of things to make the story better. One last edit and that is the grammar check. Okay I am on the fence with grammar check, it is one of those nice things that point out those stupid mistakes that your brain fixes when you read something (especially me since I will start memorize everything). I finished the story last night so I won't be looking at it until tomorrow at the earliest but preferably Tuesday. And this paragraph is unbearably long....

I hate exclamation points.  I just read a book it is written for younger people anyway the author uses a lot of exclamation points.  Something about exclamation points which makes me think of this overinflated excitement.  I don't know but I really hate exclamation points! See how that is just so bizarre.

For today that is enough let the sun swallow you and the crows carry you home.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Free Meme About Being an Individual



Feel free to use this wherever you want just do not change anything on it. Easy to do just right click and hit save then you can upload to any other site you want.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Sizzling Summer

And it's hot. Today not so bad as others but it still hot. I was so looking forward to yesterday because we were supposed to have thunderstorms some of them severe. I really wanted to use my new LED lantern but the storms never came and my tomatoes can use the rain. The haze is thick like someone plastered a fine coat of white all over the world and I live in the mountains. Down by Philly in Lancaster County was a lot worse.

Last Monday was my birthday. After much discussion I decided on going to eat at the Good and Plenty Restaurant. Honestly, I would have eaten at the Plain and Fancy but I got a free meal at the Good and Plenty (which saved like 20 bucks). We left after my husband got done work and slept over night at the Sleep Inn in Mountville because I had a coupon and it had an indoor pool open till 10. With traffic we didn't get there until 9:30 so we had  half hour for swimming. We threw on our swimsuits and into a heated pool. Afterwards we drove down to Lancaster and stopped at Jennie's diner. It was open 24 hours it was posted on the sign but I didn't see the sign and I asked the crazy waitress anyway. She was a little nuts and according to my husband she was going to stab out his eye with a fork because he wasn't paying attention when she brought coffee. Besides her, the food is cheap and good. Hell unlimited coffee was only $1.35 and my pancakes were huge. Our bill came to 20 bucks you can't find places like that too much anymore.

On Monday, I got a free game of mini golf from the place right next to the hotel we stayed in. We made sure to wake up early so we can enjoy more swimming and take more showers. We checked out about 10 am and played golf. It was already sweltering. I knew I should've  bought a case of water at Sam's. I brought the cooler along because we wanted Amish baked goods. By the time we left golf, I looked like I was just in the shower- with my clothes on.  We had a brief reprieve driving on 30 toward places like Bird-In-Hand and Intercourse. Our next stop was a buggy ride.

I have been to Lancaster many times. My grandmother on my dad's side has lived there forever so the Amish are always interesting but we didn't do the tourist stuff when I was growing up. I always wanted to go on a buggy ride. I chose Aaron and Jessicas at the Plain and Fancy because I had a coupon to save $2. Our driver wasn't Amish which would be okay but he didn't really talk about the Amish. In fact, he said about three things. It was nice to ride through Amish farmlands, it was quiet and beautiful. Corn stretched high into the sky. The driver's horse was plain tired but he kept tapping on her hind quarters to keep her going. It was over 90 and the sun was hot. He tried to say his horse was fine but we thought otherwise. Even the other family said about the horse being tired. I may not have lived on a farm but I know when an animal was tired. If I was a horse, I wouldn't want to be outside pulling a buggy full of people. On the ride, we didn't see any of the Amish working the fields maybe it was too hot for man and beast.  The highlight was stopping at a home and we bought homemade rootbeer and cookies.

After the buggy ride, we drove to Intercourse for Kitchen Kettle for jams and such. I really love jams and jellies.  After that we went to the Amish Village where the guide who is not Amish but actually had Amish friends growing up offered a lot of information and knew a lot of stuff. Finally it was dinner time.  Thank god for air conditioning. I am not a big fan of air conditioning but there are days where AC is heaven. Since it was Monday, it wasn't busy. We were seated with folks from New York and New Jersey. The folks from Jersey must be close to New York City because they had the accent where as the folks from New York didn't have the city accent. I felt like a stranger in my own state since most of the people at the restaurant were from another state.  We found another motel for the night that didn't have a pool but had a deal with another place up the road to use their indoor pool. After swimming, a stop at WAWA for coffee. MMMMM WAWA coffee.

It looked like it was going to storm in Lancaster, the sky grew dark and fearsome but soon the fading sun shone again. It was a great birthday adventure!

Speaking of heat, if I had a damn pool at my house, I would be in it all the time. I have three neighbors who have pools.  And no one is in it. Maybe you will see the kids in the one pool for like an hour and that is it. The rest of the time they are running the streets. Why spend money on chemicals if you aren't going to use it. I want to a pool to be in it, not for a status symbol.

Oh yeah, I just got over a 24 hour virus which made me nap all freaking day long and my tonsils swelled and I had a fever. It was just so much fun.


Monday, July 1, 2013

July Thoughts

Yeah, it is July! Okay, I know its been two weeks since I wrote. Honestly, I have no idea where the time went. Really I don't believe how this summer is flying by and I still did not get my pool put up. With the weather anymore, I probably won't ever get the damn thing up.

So I've had some random thoughts lately of things I wanted to write about so why not just shove them all in one blog post because I know everyone loves my random thoughts, it makes me special.

Thursday is July 4th which is one of my favorite holidays right up there with Christmas, Halloween and my birthday. I am really looking forward to drinking beer and setting off fireworks. Unfortunately, PA doesn't allow the fireworks that go into the sky so we get shoot off fountains and sparklers and things like that. Of course July 4th is much more than beer and fireworks, it is the day America celebrates it's Independence from England. Now as many of you know that are American, England was BAD. America didn't want to be ruled by England but wanted to rule themselves. Now I wonder, when British children start to learn about the war in America in 1770's what is learned? Who are the heroes? Maybe it is taught with a slant that the colonists were NAUGHTY because they started it, threw tea in the harbor and just bad children that should be spanked. I would love to know how British teaches the American revolution. If you are British tell me all about the American Revolution from your point of view.  There are always two points of view to everything.

It is also 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War. I am not interested in the Civil War as much as the American Revolution but we went to Old Bedford Village and there was a Civil War re-enactment and that was cool because they shot guns and canons. I wouldn't mind going to Gettysburg because it is supposed to be incredibly haunted and I am still looking for evidence that ghosts are real. Oh yeah and I want to hear more canons. Even though I piss my pants (I jump thirty feet in the air when the canons fire) every time, I think they are pretty aweseome.

I've been thinking a lot about my grandparents lately and I miss them. One of the highlights of my summer was spending a week or two at my grandparent's house.  I don't know how to explain those good times because maybe to someone else it might seem boring but for me, it was different. No matter how far away I lived my grandparents were always there in my life some way or another. I was very lucky to have grandparents like that and it sucks for kids who don't get to have that kind of relationship with their grandparents. One of the last emails, I got from my grandmother before she passed away, she told me to keep writing, no matter what. I know one thing is for sure when my child has children in the future, I am going to be the kind of grandma I had. I will remember their birthdays and I won't favor one grandchild over another one. And when they are old enough for email, I will write them often (or I guess Facebook them often since that seems to be the way of the world.)

I am working on my ebook. Thanks a lot to my husband who says he needs a new project to work on (he works on the book cover) and that I should get writing. I don't know if I mentioned this before but maybe I did, who cares anyway. The story is called "The Wolf's Red Rose" and it is a retelling of the old fairy tale, "Little Red Riding Hood." Now we will all know WHY the wolf ate Grandma and Little Red Riding Hood. Although this is a retelling of a fairy tale not made for children but more teens and adults.

So I emptied my head and this is where we part for the time being. May the fireworks boom and your heart flutter

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

My Writing Sucess

I can sit around all day and write, I can post things on here, I can write eBooks until the cows come home but really when it is all said and done my success really depends on you. Right now, since I am  what the magazines call an early career author (this is just a term that means I am not very published, well you got to start somewhere) anyway who cares what I am called. I would like to offer other authors a trade. A trade of reviews that is. Considering, I am only technically making royalty monies off of one eBook I am not looking to sell books. Hell "Heart of a Goddess" is FREE every 90 days. What I want now is to be read and reviewed. I want to be a better writer and I want to get my name out in the world. Both of these are rather large goals but I know I can do it. So here is the nuts and bolts. I have 4 ebooks for sale on Amazon (two of them are also on Smashwords) and I would like to someone to read one of my books and in return I will do the same for you (I would read novels but I don't have a lot of money to spend, the most expensive book I have is $2.99). I want an honest review and I will do the same for you.  I would never say the book sucks but I will offer what I think would improve your book. Writing is skill that has to be honed much like any other skills. I know this first hand.

I have been writing for well over 20 years and I know one thing to be true, I am much better writer and poet and today than I was 5 years ago or even a year ago. And when it comes to my jewelry, my stuff is much better today than it was two years ago.

Another thing I would like to offer is a link exchange for other writers. So leave a comment anywhere, the comments are under moderation and I will not post sensitive information. If you want a link exchange,  I want to exchange with writers or writer type websites. I guess when it comes to writing we all have to help each other out. I am not looking to bring this blog to huge Google PR, I don't even care about that, what I care about is getting my name and my books out in the world because if I start building a fan base now, it might be easier to convince a publisher to publish my book. Of course selling more books is an extra bonus for me.

Speaking of eBooks, I plan on self-publishing another one in July. It is called "The Wolf's Red Rose" which is a retelling of the classic fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood." My story explores why the wolf ate Grandma and Little Red Riding Hood. Keep your eyes peeled for that book to hit Amazon.

So I leave you today may the moon kiss you sweetly as the sun burns your flesh.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Her Brother, Buddy

Daylee ran through the pouring rain, calling Buddy’s name. The Christmas lights shimmered in pools of water on the sidewalk. Buddy was her older brother but he needed constant care. Their parents couldn’t bare to put him in a home.

Buddy used to be just fine and dandy. Actually, he was better than that. He was the star and well Daylee never measured up. He was smart, popular and according to her friends a hottie. Two years ago when he reigned supreme and Daylee was in his shadow, Buddy got high on some bad stuff and jumped from a window. He landed in some bushes but he cracked his head in several places against the brick house. And now Buddy was normal one minute and who knows about the next perhaps a 5 year old trapped in a 19 year old’s body.

The wind blew and Daylee pulled her coat around her. Caddy, her best friend, drove up beside her.

“Hey girl, any sign of Buddy?” she asked.

“No. Mom and Dad will love this,” Daylee replied.

“What happened?”

“I was on the phone with Doug. He wanted to see me, he said it was important. I said I couldn’t because I had to babysit stupid Buddy. Then I heard the door slam.”

“So he heard you?”

“I guess. Probably didn’t even take his coat and its getting colder,” Daylee said.

“It’s supposed to snow.”

“Thanks for the news flash."

“Any idea where he would go?” Caddy asked shivering.

Daylee shook her head.

“Well you stay on the streets and I’ll drive around looking for him.”

“Thanks,” Daylee said. Caddy rolled up the window and sped off into the night.

The night of Buddy’s accident, Buddy convinced Daylee to come to a party. She had a crush on his friend, Andy. Buddy always tried to include her but she didn’t want his help or to be a pity case. He liked to rub her nose in everything he had. It was Christmas time. Daylee dressed up and left with Buddy to the party. As soon as they got there, he disappeared with a blonde up the stairs. Daylee didn’t know anyone and plopped on the couch. The whole night sucked, why did she even go?

Hours later, she got up and went looking for Buddy upstairs. Opening the door, she found him wrapped in a sheet snorting a line.

“What are you doing?” she yelled.

“Just having some fun, sis. Try some maybe you wouldn’t have a stick up your ass.”

“How do you consider this fun?” Daylee asked.

“Live a little, Day. Damn you act like you know everything and you want to be on the top of the world but you’re too much of a tight ass to have fun. It’s a wonder you have friends,” he snarled and snorted another line.

Who was this person, Buddy never said horrible things to her.

“What are you talking about? Give me the keys and I’ll drive. We should go.”

“You are a bitch Day. You are mean and condescending. You’re jealous of me. You are nothing.”

Tears welled in her eyes, “I want to go Buddy, give me the keys.”

He grabbed his pants and tossed her the keys. He stood at the window, dropped his sheet and said “go. I think it is a nice night for flying.”

He jumped. Daylee ran to the window but only watched him fall like a clumsy snowflake.

A car drove by, splashing water on her. Daylee returned to the present. Maybe everything was her fault. She turned and looked into the playground. A large shape hunkered in of the huts of the play set. Daylee snuck up on him, “hey.”

Buddy didn’t answer her.

“I don’t know what you hear but I’m sorry.” She wondered who he was at this moment.

“You’re right about being mad. I fucked up back then.” He was normal but how long would that last.

“We should go home, Buddy,” Daylee said.

“Yup. Maybe I should’ve listened to you that night because maybe everything would be different.”

“Maybe it may not have happened that night but it could’ve happened another night, no one knows.”

“Are you alone?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Good because I just my pissed my pants.”

She took off her coat and put it around his shoulders. They started home. The rain changed to snow. Her cell went off, it was a text from Doug.

“It’s over Day. I wanted to do it in person but it couldn’t wait any longer. Sorry hope we can be friends.”

Mother fucker,” Daylee snapped.

“What’s wrong?” Buddy asked.

“Dough just dumped me through a text message. How lame is that? Asshole.”

“Sorry.”

“You didn’t do it Buddy.”

She called Caddy and left her a message.

“Day, are we almost home?” Buddy asked.

“Yeah, Buddy, we are.”

They took a shortcut through Doug’s yard and Caddy’s car was parked out front.

“What the fuck,” Daylee muttered. “We’re making a pit stop. It won’t take long.”

“Day, we really should go home.”

“Don’t worry, no one will pay attention to you, just stand behind me.”

Daylee pounded on the door. Doug answered.

“Is Caddy here?”

“Look we wanted to tell you.” Caddy appeared at his side.

“What the hell, Caddy? You are my best friend. I thought you were helping me find Buddy.”

“Well you found him. Sometimes things just happen.”

“Whatever. Come on Buddy.” They left the porch and she didn’t look back nor did she want to. Daylee shivered in the cold. She unlocked the front door of their house. Buddy rushed passed her and started jumping on the sofa.

“Come on Buddy, stop jumping on the furniture. You have to change your pants.”

He jumped off the couch and ran upstairs. She locked the door when someone knocked on it. It was a delivery man with flowers and a pizza. It was Andy.

“Hey what do I owe the pleasure, Andy?”

“I was in the neighborhood,” Andy replied.

Buddy bounded down the steps chanting, “Andy loves Daylee. Andy loves Daylee.”

After the accident, all of Buddy’s friends ditched him except Andy. Instead Andy and Daylee became close.

“Come in Andy,” she said while Buddy still chanted his song.

“I can’t, I’m on the clock. I had a delivery but they couldn’t pay so I thought you and Buddy could eat the pizza. The flowers are for you.” He shoved the pizza and flowers in her hands. He bent down and kissed her on the cheek. “Call me later after you check the messages.”

Her heart fluttered. She closed the door. Her bad day suddenly forgotten, Daylee pressed the PLAY button on the answering machine.



Just a little side note about this story.... I found this story in one of my journals and I decided to post it on here. It's not a bady story and it's been awhile since I posted a story on here and I thought it was about time. Have a wonderful night.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

She Lays With the Lilies

And drum roll please, this is my fourth ebook that has been published a few weeks ago. One of the things I really liked about this publisher was the incredibly fast turn around time. I sent all the work in and whatever links I wanted to and next morning I have an email with a link for the book.

She Lays With the Lilies is a bit of a different book for me. Actually, that is not fair of me to say. I like to stand by that I write stories regardless of genre because I want to tell the story. And this story is no different. The only difference is there is a lot of love and happy sex scenes (now we are talking a sizzling Harlequin here). When I was approached to write for this publisher they asked for romance and I said I can do romance but can there be a supernatural element with bit of mystery. I got the green light and thus the story was born.

She Lays With the Lilies is a romance/mystery short story. And this is what it is about in a little bit of a nutshell. Carter Masterson meets Alora Dune in freshman year at college and it is love at first sight. Right before their junoir year in college, she disappears with out a trace and Carter tries everything he can to find her but never does. Three years later, she returns and she needs his help. But Alora is a lot different than she used to be- because she is dead.

The publisher gave me this coupon code ER93L and this allows you to get this book FREE.  This coupon code is good for Smashwords. It is available on all formats such as Kindle, Nook, Ipod/phone/pad and even PDF. Here is the link for the book on Smashwords: She Lays With the Lilies. If you decide to buy this book, please, please leave feedback. I don't care if it is mean or nice as long is it honest. I want to be a better writer and the only way I can do this is if my readers take a few minutes of their time and write an honest review. I really appreciate it if you do.

And if you like the story or any of my other stories share the links with your friends and tell them about it.

Gratitude is never seen but always felt.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

And Some Random Thoughts

Yes, I know it's been two weeks or more since I posted. I wanted to the other day but who knows what I did instead.  I have all these random thoughts I want to put to rest from my head and mosey on.

Random Thought #1 (More like bitching I guess)

I just had my fourth ebook published (more details on the next post, I promise) and while I was working with the publisher, they wanted a picture but I didn't give them one because I am not ready for pictures. I was told by them that is was okay but if I want to make a name for myself, that I should have a picture. What? Who the hell looks to see what the author looks like to see if they want to read a book. That should only work for celebrities because that is why people buy the book anyway. I don't understand why a picture should matter. What matters is if the story is good or not. Anyway this is a short story even though it is an ebook. I know one thing I don't care what the author looks like. I had no idea what JK Rowling looked like until way after I bought the Harry Potter books. My opinion is- it shouldn't matter.

Random Thought #2

I am becoming more frustrated with myself and my lack of editing skills. One of the biggest complaints I am getting from people I am working with is, lack of editing even though I am editing. I am missing words. My damn brain reads too fast and I fill in the missing words with out even knowing it.  The sad part is, I really do have good editing skills, that is when I am working on someone else's work that is.  I want to pull hair out but I don't. I wish I knew how other people fixed this problem. When I am as famous as Stephen King, someone else will do it for me.

Random Thought #3

Am I writing? Not really. Should I be? Most definitely. I make a lot of excuses but the truth is I am holding myself back. I should give myself a whipping and refocus on what my dreams are and how I have an amazing opportunity right now because I have the time to write and there is still money coming in.

Random Thought  #4

Facebook is pretty useless for me. I write about this or that and all the only sound is crickets. I need to find other avenues to tell people about my work (all of  my work)

Random Thought #5

Where oh where are the thunderstorms? It has been a long time since we had a hell of a thunderstorm, where the power goes out and all that jazz.  We had a little bit ago when I was doing some grocery shopping. The lights actually flickered off and then came back on. There was hail but when I came out it was just pouring and of course I had to put the stuff in the cooler so my ass got soaked.

And that is about all today.  When we meet again, the moon will have married Io and the asteroids rain on the ocean.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

The Butterfly Effect

I am not talking about the movie, The Butterfly Effect, but the theory. The Butterfly Effect is based on chaos theory and I will try to explain it as simple as possible. It is the effect of one object having a profound impact on an unrelated object. According to the wiki page, Lorenz (the theorist) describes the effect as a formation of a hurricane due to a butterfly flapping it's wings weeks before. This is a thoery that is important in time travel and it brings us to the topic of the day.

I just finished reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King. In the book, the main character Jake is guided to a small hole in his universe that takes him back in time to 1958. His friend, who is dying of cancer, wants Jake to go back to 1958 and live there to stop the Kennedy assisination. At first, he is apprehenisve but agrees to do it.  Along the way, he changes small bits of history and discovers that nothing has really changed. He does stop the assisination and when he comes back to the present, the world is very different. So he goes back through the hole and resets time again.

And I draw the conclusion, that things happen for a reason. In the novel, Jake is met with obstacle after obstacle to stop the assassination and he even knows the past does not want to be changed. Many of us wonder, what would our lives be like if I made this choice? In the science fiction show, Fringe, meddling with time is just that. A watcher interferes with someone in an alternate universe thus everything changes for both universes.  Eureka is another, the main group of characters go back to 1948 and don't really seem to change anything but when they come back they are on an alternate time line. It is the Butterfly Effect.

In my own life, I had a choice of three colleges. If I would have the one in Connecticut or the one in Florida, I would have never meant my husband or had my daughter so I am glad I made that choice. And we all have big choices like that but the butterfly effect works on the small things as well. Look at the movie, The Chosen One, where Rob Schneider is chosen to bring snow back to a mountain in South America. How does he does this is  by saving a bird in New York City.

There are signs all around, I really believe this, that show us we are on the right path. Perhaps dreams or deja vu or a combination of all of them. If there is a god or destiny or whatever it is that pulls the puppet strings, there is a reason things happen. I believe you make your own destiny but I don't know because it seems like something is already forged for you. Like the teacher who wants to be this or that but finds themselves teaching, touching a student's life who then changes the world for the good. The Butterfly Effect.

But why, if there is free will and things happen for a reason then is there really free will? Who controls this? Maybe we do create our own destiny. What is about, The Secret, where you ask the universe something and it will give it to you (positive thinking)? Do we as young people form our own destinies as children and the universe ensures that happens. In both Fringe and 11/22/63 there are people who know and understand the time of the universe. In Fringe they are called Watchers in the 11/22/63 they are just known as the "green card man" but their job is pretty much the same keep control of time. What makes those people special, I will never know.

So if things happen for a reason, are we supposed to sit back and do nothing? I think that would be the worst thing. Since forging your own way in the world, shows you where you should be. You need to fall back to rise further right.

May a sunny, warm, summer Sunday be with you.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Finishing Line

Empty streets,
void of cars, voices, and people
end of the world

but a bomb did go off
that lull of security
pulled from under their feet

a broken finish line
detour
down the alley

run
under the bed and find the rosary
throw it to the street

dusty carnage
cries at dusk
where was the joy

gone into dreams
safety in moth eaten blankets.
 
 
This is a brand new poem that I wrote today in fact. Normally, I would save this poem to send away but I really wanted to share it with the world. I guess we all know what this is about.
 
Have a great weekend. 

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Finding Writing

Oh I know, I am getting even worse at posting. In fact all my writing has been coming to a screeching halt. Why? I am sitting right here just trying to figure it out. The thing is I want to write at least some everyday but I don't. My head bursts with ideas but then I find myself doing something else. I used to revel in my chaos but it has become my worst enemy. I am not one for schedules or daily times of anything. I tried that before but that doesn't work for me.  But when I sit down with the full intention of writing, I do and I produce a lot of words.

Last week, I started working on that new story for odesk and I spent a couple of hours writing and wrote 3000 words. The last time I wrote Suburban Vampires I wrote the entire chapter in about an hour. The chapter reached a little over 2000 words, which is my goal for each chapter. Anyway, I can write fast when I want to anyway.

When I first got unemployed, I was writing like a fiend. This was the most opportune time to write without worrying about having a job since I was getting unemployment. And I am not spending my time writing. Or when I am writing, I spend very little time writing. 

One theory I have is I am holding myself back. Those old feelings of not good enough keep popping up. When I was younger, writing stories and poems came so simply to me. Now it is hard as hell to write things. Maybe I am setting standards that I should be like this writer or that writer. That joy of writing seems to be fleeting once again and I am not sure why. As much as I try to push back those thoughts they keep coming back. I know one thing being a writer is to have thick skin.

Sometimes, I tell myself, the world is not ready for me and my writing. Maybe I am still searching for my voice because sometimes, I have a voice and other times my work is missing something. I tried planning out stories but that only works for certain types of work now I am back to writing on the seat of my pants which seems to be better.

Maybe, I am just going about everything wrong... or maybe I am not. So many other writers write about writing. This one outlines (which I really like and hate at the same time). This one doesn't. This magazine tells you to do this. This one wants literary fiction but what the hell is literary fiction. This one wants horror but what is horror anymore. I get frustrated about my work because I don't how to label it so I don't know where to send it. It is so easy to post stories on here because of course I will post my own work.

I gave up following most guidelines for magazines except for formatting. I don't know where  to send stuff to and I get a lot rejects. I have been sending the same batch of poems out and I don't read the magazines because they don't help me out. I don't want to keep self-publishing all the time because I want someone else to tell me my work is good enough to sell.

Right about now I want to rip up paper with my teeth and spit it out.



Friday, April 5, 2013

And a Sunny Friday

Well I know its been sometime since I wrote. The good news is I'm finally sitting outside. I got a new tablet and this one is a littlea lot bbetter typing with the onboard keyboard. I picked up another eBook job   this one is writing a romance but don't worry there will be a supernatural element to it all. I hope this goes well
because I've been in a slump lately.

 I got three rejects in the last two weeks. Okay I will write more later my fingers are getting cold...

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Murder Mystery Party Games

I know I mentioned several times, one of my freelance clients hired me to write murder mystery party games. And I know I said in the last post that the next post will be dedicated to these games. You can find the games at mysterpartyfever.com

In the beginning, I had no idea what I was doing. First thing I did was hit the web and all I found were games and no help. Lucky for me, Toys R Us was having a sale on murder mystery party games so I bought one. And really that didn't help. Here I thought I had to write a play, and it is sort of like that but I don't write the actual dialogue but only provide the things to say.

Writing these games actually helped me be a more organized writer. Since when I start the game, I have a very basic idea and then I create the characters. Once the characters are done I create the backstory. Before even heading to the computer I write down who the victim is, who the killer is and why. And the game does not stray from this. I write all the clues on my computer once I have the characters all typed up. If you know, I rarely every plan anything out but since I have to with the games it kind as flowed to other parts of my writing world.

I wrote a few of the games on mysterypartyfever.com and they are Vampire Reunion a game where a group of high school friends are at a party and one of them dies and it looks like a vampire did it. Murder at the Chartalan is a 1920's gangster themed type of thing feautring Sal Scapone (and we all know who he is modeled after). The Emperor's Murder is a sci-fi theme murder mystery game that takes place on another planet. I also helped with The Birthday Killer which is about a killer who only kills on someone's birthday.

These are games that you print right from your home computer after you buy them. They come with everything you would need to have a good party.  I think it would be cool to throw one of these. So why not check out mysterypartyfever.com and throw a hell of a party!

Friday, March 22, 2013

Just Wanted to Share This

Stephen King is my idol. Okay I don't know if idol is right word but he is the one that inspired me to be a writer.  I know now that I can never be him but I can be me and well I am pretty damn interesting. So this is a little infographic that I got here. I want to share this because well it's Stephen King quotes about writing.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Heart of a Goddess

Hello all, I know it has been days since I wrote but remember I am working on that project through oDesk (it is called mocksa) and I finished up another murder mystery game (the next post will be about the website I am writing the games for so keep your eyes peeled.) But today is about my third eBook to be offered through Amazon Kindle. Just a quick thing, I know I am not going to make gobs of money I do it because I want to put my name out there, building fame from the ground up. Okay so let's get to it.

Heart of a Goddess is not for the faint of heart it is a horror story with graphic violence. Here is the article I wrote for the company that rejected the story all about Heart of a Goddess:

Heart of a Goddess starts with a very lonely man, Leonard Alba, who in the middle of a snow storm finds the woman of his dreams. The story begins with an incredible whirlwind love story, fast love, passionate and hungry. But when Leonard discovers who the woman of his dreams really is, he will do anything to keep her because she is everything he could ever want in a woman.

The woman of his dreams turns out to be Morrigan. She is the Celtic goddess of the underworld, the queen of demons and shape shifters. At first Leonard does not believe her so she summons the demons from the underworld in their bedroom. And there is no question she is a goddess. Morrigan tells Leonard, there is only way that she can live and that is to eat a beating human heart.

At first, Leonard does not want to do this task but cunning Morrigan promises him something. Something he always wanted and that is to have someone forever. Morrigan says after she eats the heart, she can do a spell. A spell that she can only do once ever to make a mortal man immortal and this mortal man will reign the underworld with her. He is uneasy about finding a human but relents.

His first victim is a homeless man, Bill. Leonard knows Bill from the park where Bill hangs out quite a bit. Since it is a cold night, it takes Leonard no time to convince Bill to come back to his place for some food. Once Bill is there, Morrigan takes over and takes his heart.

Afterward Morrigan tells Leonard the heart he brought was old and she wasn’t strong enough to do the spell and she needs a younger heart. But something wonderful happens to Leonard. A big time movie director discovers Leonard’s unpublished novel and wants to make it a movie. Leonard attributes this good fortune to Morrigan and agrees to get her another heart.

He makes a huge mistake with his next sacrifice. He goes to the bar and seduces a woman, Kelcey. Unfortunately Kelcey is the mayor’s daughter and when she doesn’t return home and the last person anyone saw her with is Leonard, he now is in a world of trouble. Because she is important. The police first question Leonard then arrest him for the murder.

He claims he didn’t do it and he waits for his love Morrigan to come rescue him. Even though he took a lot of pictures of her, there are none at his apartment and she is no where to be found. Leonard knows he is innocent but no one else believes him. The evidence all points to Leonard.

Eventually, Leonard is sent to a maximum security mental institution where he meets another man who was also involved with Morrigan years before. The question becomes is Morrigan real and did she really do it or did Leonard really go insane and create the entire story because he was desperately lonely.

The story will make you wonder what is real and what is not.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Popped the Self-Publishing Cherry

Well I did it, my husband and I made the book cover, I formatted the entire book and now my latest ebook, Heart of a Goddess  is live and for sale now on Amazon Kindle. I will talk more about the book on another day. Today I want to talk about the process of creating an ebook.

You may or may not remember, I originally wrote the story as an ebook. It was a freelance writing job I picked up. They rejected the story because they said I violated the contract by having adult content. The sex scenes( there are a few) are sparse and really just give a quick overview of the scene, most of them are just one sentence long. Really, way less steamy then any Harlequin. So I am thinking it was all about the gore factor. So now I had a story, I wrote specifically for an ebook so now what was I going to do.

I did some research and discovered Amazon Kindle Publishing is free to upload your book. You even get royalty payments. I had to put in my tax information last night. Amazon offers a free ebook to learn how to publish on Kindle. I followed the steps to the letter. But here is the problem I faced: Amazon recommends using Microsoft Word and I am all  about using  Corel Word Perfect. In Word Perfect you can use the MS Word workspace. Which works but there are some differences and it drove me crazy but eventually after a lot of yelling and vulgar threats to my computer I figured everything out, made sure I made a cheat- cheat and now I was ready to upload the book.

The one nice feature (and a bitch) at the same time is you can view your ebook before publishing on different platforms. The first three uploads were horrible, everything was off. So that means I had to go back to the original document and try to fix the problem. At one point, the entire format of the text was fucked beyond belief. Lucky I had the original in Word Perfect file. And that meant back to the formatting for Kindle. At least this time it worked out a lot faster. And on the fourth upload the book looked just like I wanted to. On the Apple platforms (either iPhone or Ipad, there are  white pages but it is the front of the book).

Once that was done, I had to choose my royalty. I am not going to go into this but if you decide to go this route read it for yourself and make your own decision. I enabled any feature for people to read my book and then submitted my book. You wait for about 12-18 hours and your book is ready to be sold.

I am not going to stop looking for publishers though. I still want to be published traditionally. Kindle offers me a place to put really long stories. Many magazines have a word limit and sometimes I go way over that word limit and with Kindle I can make it into a book.  For instance, I do have a full length poetry that I am looking for a print publisher. Because I want people to read my poetry book in the tub, at the beach, spill coffee on it, hell spill their dinner on it. Here are a couple of other perks for self-publishing on Amazon: if my book is sold, I make the money. I own the rights to story so just in case someone wants to make a movie, they have to pay me.

The positives of selling a story to third party: they do the formatting and create the book cover, they pay a flat fee outright (I made $20 for the one story and $25 for the other story.)

So with my chickadees may the sun smile and not let you freeze.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

What's It Been a Week?

Has it been a week or more since I wrote? Yeah probably I've been busy with other things. And tomorrow I will be working on a pretty large project for freelancing which is going to pay pretty nicely, so I probably won't be writing on here too much. Just to let you know.

So what have I been doing?

Researching polymer clay techniques. I am addicted to clay now and I am working on complex canes. I made my first one today. Tommorrow I will slice them down and bake. I will probably will make one into a real necklace and the others I am going to sell on just a peice of hemp. I made some the other day which turned out okay.

Still working on my third ebook as in still working on the cover. My husband is helping out with the photoshop. All I'm supposed to do is create a drawing which I finally got around tonight and tell him how I want the cover. He found some pretty nifty fonts on the web that will fit nicely with the story.

Preparing poetry to sell on my store. Most of it is done but I still have to scan some sheets of paper in and print some sample poems and scan them in as well.

I went to visit my parents on Sunday they live in eastern Pennsylvania. Sunday morning came around and guess what there was snow on the roads so we waited until 11 am to leave and it is about a 4 hour trip there. Someone want to tell me why gas on the other end of the state is 20 cents cheaper. Anyway, once in the area, we stopped for WaWa coffee. MMMM I love WaWa coffee. Then we drove to see my mom. Then turned around and saw my dad.

Let me tell you about the crazy dog my dad has. He really is nuts but I wouldn't mind taking him home. His name is Rocky and he is a pug. Dad set up an air matteress for my husband and I. My daughter slept on the recliner couch. At this time Rocky is napping peacefully. My dad shuts off the light and dog runs wild. We are lying there then he pounces on the matteress. Rolls up and down the matteress and hops off. Then he comes back and chews on himself then leaves. Once more he rolls around the bed. Now he is really getting naughty. He crawls up my side and lays down for thirty seconds then jumps back off. He snorts in my face and runs off and brings a toy.

And now he is hopping to where my daughter is and hopping back down on our bed. I let him outside. When he comes back in, I give him a treat and he is much calmer and goes to sleep. Thank god. I think he was crazy for a good half hour if not more.

On Monday, we started back to home. First we took a lovely tour of Allentown because I didn't know how to get back on a road I knew. Lucky for us we found another WaWa and got more coffee and found a road I knew. We decided to stop at Roadside America, a really nifty roadside attraction off Interstate 78 at the Shartlesville exit. Inside is a huge miniature village with a lot of movng parts and of course many model trains.  It is really reasonable to visit. I have some pictures but they are still on my tablet and I didn't get around to putting them on my computer but I will post them forthright.

And that my friends is all there is to it. Until we meet each other again at the cow's funeral in Toronto.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

When Will God Damn Winter End?

Like most people, I am looking forward to spring. I am done with winter but sadly, I don't think winter is done with us. If winter was a person, it is revengful, nasty and well pretty much a snotty bitch. Yes, I have been watching a little too much teen drama. Lately, it's been The Lying Game and Pretty Little Liars. If this is what teen life is now, then I am so glad I was a teen in the 90's. It was a much simpler time.

We had to use real phones to call people. No one really had a cell phone. Hell not many people had internet access so we had to write notes you know with pen and paper. I may have hated high school with a passion but I stayed under the radar and kept a couple friends from that time. Anyway enough digression on that subject.

I have been slowing get other work done. I have sent away the same  batch of poems to several publishers. I fuck off quite a bit so I don't do as much I as I can since I don't have a 9-5 job to go right at this point. Currently, all my freelance assignments are completed and I waiting to hear back when I can write another game. I completed the formatting for the ebook I will be self-publishing and now I need to go through the book a few more times. I am also waiting on the cover as well. I also took care of some other things that I needed to get except for filing taxes. Still need to do my state and local return but I will get that done. I still have a month and half before they are due.

All in all I am doing good. I maybe moving slower than a two legged dog hit by a bicycle but at least I am moving in a good direction.

Oh yeah, I also figured out my writing dedication for the year. I do have some catching up to do. I want to write a poem (not a haiku) every week. So lucky for me today is Tuesday. I miss writing poetry, I used to write poetry a lot more than I do. It is a sad thing that when it comes it to what poems to send away I started with a list of about 10 or 12 and wittled it down to 5. The 10 or 12 well that's not that great. I know my haiku really improved when I wrote more everyday. So, that is it one poem every week for the whole year. Goal is to have 52 by next year. Like I said, I have some catching up to do.

The world is blue, green and a lot of gray and I am there in the clouds.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Playing for the Devil

Hey all. I am still pretty stoked about my ebooks and this is my second one that is on Amazon Kindle. It is called Playing for the Devil this is less of a mystery book then the other one. I always have a hard time coming up with genre for my stories but the publishers of this book has it labeled as "horror/ occult" so we will go with it.

I am a shitty article spinner so this why descriptions suck ass when I write about them on here. For both books, I wrote the description, the books and promotional articles. Playing for the Devil is about a former punk rocker who turns in a reverend and lives a happy life in Kansas but all this changes when another punk rocker who miracously escapes a night club fire seeks out the godo reverend. And now both their worlds are turned upside down because all these weird people tell them to go to Jersey City, NJ. It is in Jersey City we get the answers we need. And that is pretty much it.

The description on Amazon is way better.  So this book costs $2.99 as of today anyway. I don't know if this will change as time goes on. If you have some extra money and free time, buy it and let me know what you think.

One other thing, I will be having a third ebook coming out. This will be a self-published ebook as I wrote the story for an ebook and it was rejected because of adult content. I am not exactly sure what was the adult content, either way since the story was made to be an ebook I will continue with the process on my own. Someone is making a cover for me and I still have the formatting to do before I can publish it through Kindle so keep your eyes open for the next ebook.

I am very happy about having the ebooks published but it is not enough at least not for me. I am going to keep writing and keep trying to get published on paper. Being a writer is my destiny and now I see that it is true. I can do something pretty awesome, and my dreams are coming true. I have to keep climbing those mountains. I have poetry being published, I have ebooks for sale and it is a very good thing. Very good thing.

Sometimes I feel like I am in living in a dream world and I can't believe all this is happening.

Until the next time let champagne fall over diamonds and sleep on a bed of crytal shards.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Serving Justice with a Slice of Revenge

This is one of two ebooks I wrote and is now available on Amazon  Kindle.  Just a litte note if you don't have Kindle you get a Kindle app for free and you can put it on your smart phone, tablet, iPhone, iPad, you get the idea.

I am on the other end now because normally when I write about something that you can buy, it is a review. Since I wrote this story, I'm not going to review it. We already know it's awesome simply because I wrote it.

Serving Justice with a Slice of Revenge  is a mystery thriller short story. According to Amazon it is about 21 pages long, so it shoudn't take you long to read.  This is what it's about in a nutshell:

Zelda Anderson is a talented sculptor who creates horrific sculptures. She has a past which she likes to keep secret and finds home in New Hope, PA. Then her ex-boyfriend is pushed out of an window and dies and another artist dies just like Zelda's latest sculpture. The cops believe there is only person who could have done this  and that is Zelda. But she knows she didn't do this but soon she begins to doubt herself.  Maybe Zelda did it, maybe not but if she didn't do it then who did?

If you really like a mystery that has a lot of action, twist and turns and a surprise ending then you will like this. I don't want to brag but I am a bit proud of this one because there is a rank for paid books in the Kindle store. It is ranked somewhere around 776,000 out of the millions of ebooks for sale on Kindle.

At the time of this posting, you can buy this ebook for .99 which is a price I would pay for a short story. Check it out let me know what you think....

Where the road ends, in unforgiving sunlight, a book falls open to wormhole to another world.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

So One More Wednesday

Ah Wednesday, half way in the work week. Anyway, I was laid off from my job so Wednesday really means nothing to me. I do think this is a sign that I should be working on writing or my jewelry either way I should be following my passions.

Speaking of writing. Yes, I am writing. I am still working on the murder mystery games and I am finishing up another story that will be an ebook. I know I have 2 of them that are already supposed to be ebooks but I have not heard when they will be on Amazon yet. Maybe I should find out. Anyway, I just scored a job to write a zombie short story. And the job description actually said make it rated r, bad language encouraged and of course lots of gore. Really this is my dream job or at least one of them. 

As far as sending away stuff, here is where I need a kick in the ass with a lead foot. I have't done any of that. I really should. My husband said I should spend at least some time working on my own work and trying to get it published. I really should follow his advice but for some reason, I find myself doing something else. I always wonder why I don't work as hard as I should for myself. I know I am looney. Sometimes, though I do feel really determined to send stuff away.

I bought polymer clay the other day so I can learn to make my own beads and pendants. Today I decided to try my hand at it. I watched some videos on the web so I kind of had an idea of what to do. I made a whole bunch in a variety of colors. I think they turned out pretty nice. I learned some things though... when working with red WASH YOUR HANDS AND CHANGE THE WAX PAPER. Wouldn't you know the very first color I decided to work with was red and I had red fingers and the it turned the wax paper red.

I found this project actually to be very relaxing and a lot of fun so I want to do more and I want to learn how to make pendants in the near future.

So that's it at least for right, until the next time when the moon crashes into the ocean.

Friday, February 8, 2013

The Joys of Facebook

Ahh Facebook, for a blogger looking for something to write about, you sure offer a lot of good stuff. It is true isn't? Depending on how many friends you have on facebook, you always seem to know who done some else wrong, how someone hates their life, how someone loves their life, what they are making for dinner,  and of course political views and other interesting conspiracy theories that are always taken out of context.

And this is what I think...

Secretly, I do want to know if your life is full of roses or full of shit because that is gossip. Plus, I don't think everyone is honest, so if you are making up stories (this is what I believe is called an attention whore) and then at least I can talk about you and you wouldn't even know it. Who doesn't like a bit of Jerry Springer here and there, most of us will watch the show if we are flipping through channels. People love gossip.

When you blame the president for something that you don't agree with that only shows me you DON'T know how this country works. I am not saying this president is the best but here is a little civics lesson. The president really doesn't write the laws. He can sign a bill and make it into a law or he can veto. If he vetoes it, it goes back to the congress where only 2/3 of the congress can overturn the bill and make into a law. The president can suggest a law to a congress person but then it falls back to congress. When you vote for the folks in either the senate or house, your vote really does matter because their elections are won by popular vote. The congress makes the laws. You don't like something that you find out who your representatives are, find out how they voted and state your opinion. Oh yeah and vote.

A interesting conspiracy theory that people love posting is the so called implant of a microchip to receive health care. Already other more intelligent people are posting stories that say it is a lie. True or not, you have the ability to say no to injections.

Speaking of microchips, years ago I was a witness to a robbery. In one of the trials, the perp said the state of Pennsylvania implanted a chip in his head to make him do bad things. He even had evidence which I am sure he got from the internet, about others who had chips implanted in their heads. They all seemed to suffer the same predicament, guilty but it was the microchip that made me do it. No one believed that garbage, he went to jail anyway. Maybe he should sue the microchip company for making a damn fine product that no one can find it.

And lastly about suing. This country sure likes to sue. The latest thing I saw was some kind of anti gun activist wants to hold gun makers liable for the injuries sustained by their guns. This is a great idea!! Think about it, let's sue the gun makers. I am sure the people who were killed by so called friendly fire in the any of the wars since guns were used in wars would love to have a huge chunk of change. Think about it, now the enemy can sue the American gun makers because  someone in their ranks were killed by Americans. So of course with all their extra money, they can use it do more damage.

Think about great it would be for the families who lost someone to a bullet. Kids, mothers, fathers and everyone in between.  And while we are it, I think we should sue any farmer who cultivates fruit because fruit can be made into wine and of course the vintners for producing wine. Because someone could drink too much wine get in a car and kill someone. Of course the barley and hops farmers better watch out because their products can be made into beer which someone could kill another person just by drinking too much. Don't forget pig farmers, why do you raise pigs that make delicious bacon which can cause a heart attack.

Do you see the ridiculous chain of events? Suing gun makers will do absolutely nothing. I highly doubt gunsmiths stand over someone with a gun pointed to their head saying, "use this gun and kill people or I will kill you."  No wonder there is no such thing as a  speedy trial because the court dockets are filled with civil lawsuits because this person has to sue this person.

Well enough for one day may the snow melt quick and the sun shine soon because winter is nothing but nasty treadmarks.