Why is it that every time my kids go to bed I get the following...?
"Mom, I forgot to brush my teeth..."
"But, I need a drink..."
"I can't sleep, I'm too itchy. Will you scratch my back?"
"I'm too hot..."
"I'm too cold..."
"Mom!" Whine Whine "He took my pillow!" More whining ensues...
"Can't we stay up later Mom..."
"Why do we have to go to bed now?"
"Mom, the dog just pooped in my bathroom." Crazy enough, this happens quite often. Apparently the dog thinks he's human. He will hold his poo until he is in front of the toilet. UGH! :-)
"But Mom," sniffle sniffle, "I miss you. Can you please snuggle me?" I am not one of those parents who thinks you can't snuggle your kids, but this comes after snuggling on the couch for the last hour. Hmmm
"Can't you read one more story Mom, or tell us a story?" They like stories I make up about fantastical lands and fairies.
The list could go on for days...
So what is my message here?
I can't wait until they fall asleep at night! LOL
Have a good nighty night everyone, and if you have kids, I hope they fall asleep at a decent hour. :-)
Oh yes, a reminder... To those friends of mine that read this often, please don't forget to hit the 'follow' button. That will make it easier for you to know when I write something, and also lets me know who is interested in what I am saying. Thanks guys!
Which came first, the Dream, or the Dreamer?
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Norwescon 34
This last weekend I attended Norwescon 34 and feel like such an oober! :-) I had the best time, met some of the greatest people, and learned a lot... I just never realized there were writers workshops there! I thought it would be fun to go see people dressed like Klingon's and fairies.
The first day I got there too late to go to the panels for writers, but the next day I tried to hit every one I could. Not only did I get to meet published authors, but I also got great advice and feedback from them. I have to say, I am so excited and happy I went.
Of course, all my friends, including my husband, thought I wanted to go 'for' these writing events. So when I announced to them that I found all these writing panels, they looked at me like, "is she nuts, or kidding...?" Sadly, I fit nicely into the nutty category. But oh well! :-) I got to attend, and that is the best part.
The authors offered absolute pearls of wisdom. For as long as I have been sending queries, it is only now that I have learned my story is sci fi with light romance. I thought it fit more into the paranormal genre, NOT SO MUCH! :-) I had been totally wrong. It seems the online sites for getting genre info. don't go into much detail.
For instance; I wrote about a person who can see ghosts, but because she doesn't interact with them and they are explained scientifically, the novel is sci fi. Another main part of the story is about falling in love, that is just not the main part. So romance is part of the genre, just light romance.
I am so thankful to all the authors who worked with me this past weekend, thank you all so much! :-)
The first day I got there too late to go to the panels for writers, but the next day I tried to hit every one I could. Not only did I get to meet published authors, but I also got great advice and feedback from them. I have to say, I am so excited and happy I went.
Of course, all my friends, including my husband, thought I wanted to go 'for' these writing events. So when I announced to them that I found all these writing panels, they looked at me like, "is she nuts, or kidding...?" Sadly, I fit nicely into the nutty category. But oh well! :-) I got to attend, and that is the best part.
The authors offered absolute pearls of wisdom. For as long as I have been sending queries, it is only now that I have learned my story is sci fi with light romance. I thought it fit more into the paranormal genre, NOT SO MUCH! :-) I had been totally wrong. It seems the online sites for getting genre info. don't go into much detail.
For instance; I wrote about a person who can see ghosts, but because she doesn't interact with them and they are explained scientifically, the novel is sci fi. Another main part of the story is about falling in love, that is just not the main part. So romance is part of the genre, just light romance.
I am so thankful to all the authors who worked with me this past weekend, thank you all so much! :-)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Great Minds Think Alike!
Recently, I entered a writing contest. I can not say what all that short story entailed just yet, but part of that story involved a serial killer who only kills criminals. Funny enough, I had never seen or heard of Dexter. Probably because I don't generally sign up for cable, especially Showtime, so I had no idea that there was a series about this type of character, nor was I aware there were books. I am so glad I didn't see Dexter until 'after' I wrote the story! That way I know without a doubt that I did not draw from the show in my writing. Plus, mine has a supernatural side, but the coincidence still amazes me...
I can only come to this conclusion, great minds must think alike! :-)
I can only come to this conclusion, great minds must think alike! :-)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Character Books
One thing I absolutely love about writing is that I get to live in the world of all my characters. I have to say, it is better than reading. :-) My only problem is having so many characters I want to put on paper, and so little time for them all! Thus, I started the 'character book.'
This is actually kind of amusing, but I recently read a blog about what editors/publishers would like to see. Funny enough, one thing on the list was that we should have a notebook of characters. What they look like, personality traits, where they work, who they date, live with and where, who they are related to and where they come up in the story. After reading the blog, I reached under my desk and pulled out my character book.
I'm not sure if any of you fellow writers have done this, but it really helps to keep things clear. Especially if I change something, I just put it in the character notebook and then can follow up in the novel. This has really helped me when I did major revisions and changed appearances and relations of some of the characters. I found my mind kept seeing them the way I originally wrote about them, so I pull out the notebook occasionally to remind myself.
Now all I need is more hours in the day... :-) Then I will be able to bring more of these characters into reality. Oh the power of the pen!
This is actually kind of amusing, but I recently read a blog about what editors/publishers would like to see. Funny enough, one thing on the list was that we should have a notebook of characters. What they look like, personality traits, where they work, who they date, live with and where, who they are related to and where they come up in the story. After reading the blog, I reached under my desk and pulled out my character book.
I'm not sure if any of you fellow writers have done this, but it really helps to keep things clear. Especially if I change something, I just put it in the character notebook and then can follow up in the novel. This has really helped me when I did major revisions and changed appearances and relations of some of the characters. I found my mind kept seeing them the way I originally wrote about them, so I pull out the notebook occasionally to remind myself.
Now all I need is more hours in the day... :-) Then I will be able to bring more of these characters into reality. Oh the power of the pen!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The Cost of Truth $1500.00
Over the weekend, I finally got my van back. And thank goodness too! Thankfully I have wonderful people in my life who were very gracious in lending me their cars, which I appreciate greatly. :-) But my husband and I were also faced with a decision in regards to the vehicles, and it has cost us for telling the truth...
My van, though it broke down, wasn't what cost so much. That was my husband's car. Unfortunately, it came to just over $1500. So here's what happened...
After my van began acting up, my husband took his car in to have his brakes tightened. He had gotten new ones a few weeks earlier, and they were not working properly. But when he took the car in, he found out the problem was not the new brakes, but the fact that there was a contaminant in the brake fluid. They quoted us $3000 roughly to fix it. We, of course, were shocked. The last ones to touch the brakes were the guys who put the new brakes on, so we figured they were the culprits...
That night however, we found out that it wasn't the company at all, it was, in fact, our neighbor. Granted, he didn't know that would cause the problem, he said he had done it all the time in his old vehicle. But it did cause a problem, and we were stuck with what to do.
We knew our neighbor had done it without realizing that would happen, and also that he didn't have the money to fix it (though he did not offer to help financially in any way), but we also knew the mechanic didn't do it. They should have caught the problem, and warned us before releasing the car, but they had missed it too.
The problem was power steering fluid, which is petroleum based, had been put in the brake lines and damaged anything rubber. All of which needed to be replaced. So what should we have done?
One family member felt we should just blame the mechanic and demand they pay for it for not catching it, another felt that we should say the mechanic did it themselves, but here was the problem, we KNEW who had done it. Yes, maybe telling a fib would have saved us a lot of money, but it would have been a lie. So we chose to tell the truth.
Amazingly, the mechanic offered to cover half the labor and a third of the parts, while also salvaging some others. Which pretty much cut our cost in half. He said, "I should have caught this, and I'm sorry... But I did not put the wrong fluids in." We told him we knew, and to start the work. He honored his word, and only charged half, and we had our car back in a week.
Looking back, yes, that money had been meant for something else... I am upset at what happened, and that we had to spend so much to fix something that should not have happened in the first place. However, I do not regret telling the truth...
This lesson has been an expensive one, we will not allow any neighbors to work on vehicles for us anymore! LOL :-) But is has also been a good lesson. So often people want to save a buck by being deceitful, in the end though, honesty is so much more important. We may have paid out the money, and I know some of you who feel that was foolish, but I know many more people who feel we made the right choice. Because selling your integrity, at any price, is just not worth it. :-)
So, our cost for telling the truth... $1500.00 A price far worth knowing we did not lie.
My van, though it broke down, wasn't what cost so much. That was my husband's car. Unfortunately, it came to just over $1500. So here's what happened...
After my van began acting up, my husband took his car in to have his brakes tightened. He had gotten new ones a few weeks earlier, and they were not working properly. But when he took the car in, he found out the problem was not the new brakes, but the fact that there was a contaminant in the brake fluid. They quoted us $3000 roughly to fix it. We, of course, were shocked. The last ones to touch the brakes were the guys who put the new brakes on, so we figured they were the culprits...
That night however, we found out that it wasn't the company at all, it was, in fact, our neighbor. Granted, he didn't know that would cause the problem, he said he had done it all the time in his old vehicle. But it did cause a problem, and we were stuck with what to do.
We knew our neighbor had done it without realizing that would happen, and also that he didn't have the money to fix it (though he did not offer to help financially in any way), but we also knew the mechanic didn't do it. They should have caught the problem, and warned us before releasing the car, but they had missed it too.
The problem was power steering fluid, which is petroleum based, had been put in the brake lines and damaged anything rubber. All of which needed to be replaced. So what should we have done?
One family member felt we should just blame the mechanic and demand they pay for it for not catching it, another felt that we should say the mechanic did it themselves, but here was the problem, we KNEW who had done it. Yes, maybe telling a fib would have saved us a lot of money, but it would have been a lie. So we chose to tell the truth.
Amazingly, the mechanic offered to cover half the labor and a third of the parts, while also salvaging some others. Which pretty much cut our cost in half. He said, "I should have caught this, and I'm sorry... But I did not put the wrong fluids in." We told him we knew, and to start the work. He honored his word, and only charged half, and we had our car back in a week.
Looking back, yes, that money had been meant for something else... I am upset at what happened, and that we had to spend so much to fix something that should not have happened in the first place. However, I do not regret telling the truth...
This lesson has been an expensive one, we will not allow any neighbors to work on vehicles for us anymore! LOL :-) But is has also been a good lesson. So often people want to save a buck by being deceitful, in the end though, honesty is so much more important. We may have paid out the money, and I know some of you who feel that was foolish, but I know many more people who feel we made the right choice. Because selling your integrity, at any price, is just not worth it. :-)
So, our cost for telling the truth... $1500.00 A price far worth knowing we did not lie.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Dead or Alive?
I watched a movie through Netflix called, "Paul McCartney Really is Dead," and it amazed me. I had never heard the rumors of his alleged death before, and seeing all the backmasking in their songs, the hidden messages in album covers and photos, it does make me wonder.
The movie plays along with the voice (if it is really him) of George Harrison in the hospital after being stabbed by an intruder. Something he was told would happen if he went public about Paul (aka Faul for fake Paul), and what happened back in November of 1966.
Basically the story is this, the real Paul was in a fatal car accident around 5am. and was replaced by the man who won the McCartney look alike contest in Canada. This was all done very secretively with the excuse that if the young women of the world found out Paul was dead, they would all kill themselves. Allegedly, William Campbell, went through numerous surgeries to look more like Paul even having to learn to be left handed like the real Paul. Of course, another theory says that an impostor took Paul's place for only 3 years, so he could take a break from fame. Who knows...
Honestly, the movie was pretty convincing, though it is hard to believe anything nowadays... When I think about all the people who seem to die suddenly, like Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson, it becomes very intoxicating trying to make sense of everything. It seems Elvis, Michael, and Paul all had/have connections, and all have left clues as to the truth. Numerology plays a key role in a lot of these alleged deaths, and though so many feel that one day Elvis and Michael will show up again, my thoughts are... if they took all the time to fake their deaths, why on Earth would they want to come back?
Not saying I am not a believer, I have seen enough proof to show me that something is not quite right about any of these singers' deaths or absences. But following the white rabbit can lead down some very surprising paths, so any of you who decide to take a trip down the road of hidden messages and symbolism, I wish you a safe and exciting journey! :-)
The movie plays along with the voice (if it is really him) of George Harrison in the hospital after being stabbed by an intruder. Something he was told would happen if he went public about Paul (aka Faul for fake Paul), and what happened back in November of 1966.
Basically the story is this, the real Paul was in a fatal car accident around 5am. and was replaced by the man who won the McCartney look alike contest in Canada. This was all done very secretively with the excuse that if the young women of the world found out Paul was dead, they would all kill themselves. Allegedly, William Campbell, went through numerous surgeries to look more like Paul even having to learn to be left handed like the real Paul. Of course, another theory says that an impostor took Paul's place for only 3 years, so he could take a break from fame. Who knows...
Honestly, the movie was pretty convincing, though it is hard to believe anything nowadays... When I think about all the people who seem to die suddenly, like Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson, it becomes very intoxicating trying to make sense of everything. It seems Elvis, Michael, and Paul all had/have connections, and all have left clues as to the truth. Numerology plays a key role in a lot of these alleged deaths, and though so many feel that one day Elvis and Michael will show up again, my thoughts are... if they took all the time to fake their deaths, why on Earth would they want to come back?
Not saying I am not a believer, I have seen enough proof to show me that something is not quite right about any of these singers' deaths or absences. But following the white rabbit can lead down some very surprising paths, so any of you who decide to take a trip down the road of hidden messages and symbolism, I wish you a safe and exciting journey! :-)
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Afraid of a Paper Face
This morning I had the most bizarre dream... Normally when these things happen, I intentionally fall back asleep and re-dream the parts that bothered me. This morning, however, offered no such convenience and has therefore been on my mind all day.
What's this odd dream you might be thinking? It's rather silly, but here it goes...
I was at my parents' place, standing in their front yard while a woman I did not recognize picked flowers with me to make a bracelet. But the wind picked up very fast, and before we knew it, we could hardly stand. I could hear trees breaking, and though I could not see them, they sounded like they were going to land on us.
We ran toward the garage to get out of the way, but as I turned to close the door behind me, I saw a woman with a dark blueish cloak and a piece of paper for her face. I do not mean she had a blank expression, or a face without eyes or mouth, it was seriously a sheet of paper where her face would have been.
Doesn't seem scary right?
WRONG! :-)
I have no idea why, but the woman with the paper face terrified me. In the dream, I tried to shut the door on her, but there were two doors (not in the actual house, just the dream) so when I hit the button to close the door, it began to open the second set of doors. I quickly hit lock again and shut the woman out.
So here's my conclusion...
I feel this woman had something to do with me, maybe an aspect of myself that I am unaware of, or afraid of facing, but immediately upon waking, I felt irritated with myself for not letter in this paper lady. What if she had been there to help? Now, I will never know.
Either way, this serves to remind me that sometimes the thing we fear the most, is the unknown. I know what the traditional types of dream symbols mean, but this felt different. Any opinions or interpretations? I gladly welcome them. :-)
What's this odd dream you might be thinking? It's rather silly, but here it goes...
I was at my parents' place, standing in their front yard while a woman I did not recognize picked flowers with me to make a bracelet. But the wind picked up very fast, and before we knew it, we could hardly stand. I could hear trees breaking, and though I could not see them, they sounded like they were going to land on us.
We ran toward the garage to get out of the way, but as I turned to close the door behind me, I saw a woman with a dark blueish cloak and a piece of paper for her face. I do not mean she had a blank expression, or a face without eyes or mouth, it was seriously a sheet of paper where her face would have been.
Doesn't seem scary right?
WRONG! :-)
I have no idea why, but the woman with the paper face terrified me. In the dream, I tried to shut the door on her, but there were two doors (not in the actual house, just the dream) so when I hit the button to close the door, it began to open the second set of doors. I quickly hit lock again and shut the woman out.
So here's my conclusion...
I feel this woman had something to do with me, maybe an aspect of myself that I am unaware of, or afraid of facing, but immediately upon waking, I felt irritated with myself for not letter in this paper lady. What if she had been there to help? Now, I will never know.
Either way, this serves to remind me that sometimes the thing we fear the most, is the unknown. I know what the traditional types of dream symbols mean, but this felt different. Any opinions or interpretations? I gladly welcome them. :-)
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