Monday, April 30, 2012

May Day...

Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough briar,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire,
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon's sphere;
And I serve the fairy queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be;
In their gold coats, spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In their freckles live our savours.
I must go seek some dew-drops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.
Farewell, thou lob of spirits, I'll be gone;
My queen and all her elves come here anon!


Happy May Day! Make sure you keep your shiny things in check, lest the fairies seize upon them and drive you to madness in your search.

I take it that everyone has survived the A-Z challenge? Everyone has gone unscathed? Well, for the most part anyway. As long as not too many hair follicles are missing and no one needs a wig, right?

I'll be posting on May 2nd, an update about my book. I just wanted to touch base with everyone. I've added some more to my pages up above such as links, quotes, characters and pronunciation. I will be taking down my website once I have everything transferred over to Blogger and use this for my website. Feedback, as usual, is always appreciated.

Have a great day!

What A Feeling...

So I shared a pic on Facebook and it got me to thinking...

I know, scary, right?

It said this:

"The moment when you finish a book, look around and realize that everyone is just carrying on with their lives as though you didn't just experience emotional trauma at the hands of a paperback."

I can't tell you how many times I have gotten so sucked into a story and when it is over and I close the book, I look around like, "Wow, why isn't everyone else FEELING this!?" So often have I been moved and inspired by what someone has written. I hope that someday, maybe, someone will feel that way about something I have written. I want to affect people like that. Even if it is just a tiny stirring, a bare flicker of movement, a minute tug of the heart strings.

I. Want. That.

Have you ever read something that has moved you like this?

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Takes Getting Used To...

So I have had a couple of post scheduled these days, only to come home, expecting comments and find that the stupid thing hadn't been posted.

So I think I figured out the problem. I don't mind when things like Blogger and Facebook have updates and change things around, but when something used to work just fine and now you have to add an extra step, it gets frustrating. Makes me feel kinda stupid.

On the plus side of things, I did hear back from my publisher and my tentative date may be missed. I'll let you all know when I know!

I'm also trying to get back into doing my Friday posts. You can find the latest one (yesterday) here.

I'm also re-reading my book before my edits. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things and now that I have taken such a long hiatus from it, I can see things more clearly that, once I get the edits, I would like to add to or change. So wish me luck!

Also, if anyone who has done beta reading for me would be so kind as to drop me a line, I'm looking to see what may have been a favorite quote from the book. If you have read my excerpts and saw one, let me know that as well! I'm working on some marketing stuff for when the book is out. Putting my "degree" to use, for once.

Sorry for the rant at the beginning, hope you all have an awesome weekend!

Friday, April 27, 2012

Friday Favorites, Fantasy Art & A Funny...

It's back! I miss doing these and I figure, if nothing else, I at least post something once a week, right? Right! So without further ado, let's get on with Friday! If I end up repeating myself, just ignore me, I'll eventually go away. ::winks::

Favorite Movie:  Becoming Jane. Yes, I said it, "Becoming Jane" is by far one of my all time faves. I love me some James McAvoy!

Favorite Authors/Books:  I actually liked the "Night World" series of books by L. J. Smith. I have 3 of the books on my shelf. After a little while, though, I sort of got tired of the redundancy. They were still well written, don't get me wrong!

Favorite Music/Band:  Of the many bands and artists I like, I'm going to say The Cars this time around. It is one band I have never tired of listening to in all my years of an avid music lover.

Fantasy Art: I wish I had been this clever in art school when they told us to draw our own hand for a class assignment!



Aaaaand here's the funny!


Have a great weekend!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Hmmm...

I had apost scheduled for yesterday and it didn't show up, so I have posted it today. If you missed it, drop on by and see. Nothing major, mind you, but it is a post!!

Have great day!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

When To Quit...

Quitting, for me, can either be super easy or super hard. Like right now, with work and trying to pay all these bills that keep crawling out of the woodwork, quitting is not an option. So when I slept on my shoulder wrong and it got sore, then worse, it was all my fault for not stopping to take it easy.

But when it comes to writing something I don't like or just don't "feel", quitting is easy.

What brought on this topic? Something Stephanie said in my last post. (You can read the post and comment here.) I do give it the old "College Try" before I drop it, though. I try to find a way to get into the story, the characters and all that. However, if I just don't feel the chemistry, it's over.


So when do you drop a story you just don't love? Do you work and re-work it or do you just move on if you don't feel the vibe?

Friday, April 20, 2012

Why Didn't I Write That?...

Ever have a really cool idea for a story and just didn't write it, only to find a similar story out there on the shelves?

Yeah.

I had a really cool story back when I was about nineteen and I did write it up. No one ever saw it, because since it was one of my first works, ever, I thought, "Oh hell, this is crap." And I never did a thing with it. So just the other day, I'm looking over some new books (well, new to me... we get everything about a decade late up here in Alaska...) and come across a book with an eerily similar plot line/story.

That's about the time I said, "Ah hell" to myself and made the person walking by me towards the liquor section of the store give me an odd look. Pssh... yeah, I'm talking to myself and you're going to go buy alcohol and drink yourself to sleep and you give ME the odd look?

Anyway, I've had this happen to me on more than one occasion. The similar story, not the odd look. Ok. Well. The odd look, too. I get those a lot more often than you would think.

Just think, if you HAD written that story all those years ago or just last month and had done something with it, it would be your name on the cover and not ... well whoever did write it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

A Kick In The Pants...

So, not only have I not had much time to get online these days and post, but then I had to go and get a pinched nerve in my shoulder.

Good thing it is my left shoulder and I'm right handed.

And the drugs are good...

Ha! Just kidding. Well, no not really.

...

Anyway! I hope you are all doing well with the Blogging A-Z challenge! Have a great rest of the week and I will see you when I don't have to take my nerve meds that knock me out.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Talk Me Down, Scoob...


Well, I think I have been putting too much pressure on myself trying to keep up with posts. I have very few ideas these days, so I think if I just try to manage at least one post a week, I can be good with that.

I'm also going to try and write down some topics and if I happen to write more than one blog post a week, right on. If not, no worries. Right?

Absolutely!

I've been hanging out on the sidelines, silently cheering you all on for the April A-Z Blog challenge. I'm liking the posts! But wow, what a reading list! It grew, just like Alex's Insecure Writer's Support Group.

Which I missed... doh!

So I suppose this will be my little make-up post. Talking about the pressures we put upon ourselves as writers. It doesn't help, it hinders. It saps the creativity right outta you and then you feel more pressure because you can't come up with a good topic and start to panic and fear that if you don't get something up on the website for the love of GOD! you'll lose followers!!!! GAH!!!

::breathes slowly::

So yeah, that's how it's been on my side of the computer screen most of the time.

It's all good, though. I know everyone understands how life gets in the way and I am certainly NOT Organized Girl. I do live with Captain Obvious, though...

I am more like Its All A Mess, But An Organized Mess Girl. Sort of. My sidekick is Gamer Chick or something...

All right, hope you all have a great week and I'll see you all soon!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Welcome To The Weekend...

I know a lot of you are participating in the A-Z Blog Challenge at this time. But I do want to remind you that May is just around the corner and that also means...

So is my book release!!!

Possibly.

I still have a tentative date of the 20th. On the off chance that doesn't happen, I am gearing up for my virtual blog/book tour/launch for June anyway. Lots of slashes there, huh?

And since I'm particularly close to my Chesley family, my sister in law, Cheri, will be touring with me. She will be releasing her latest book, The Tyrant King. Here is a little about her book and Cheri herself:

The kingdom of Fayterra has enjoyed four years of peace since Jareth was crowned King and married Krystal. But, on the eve of Alana’s wedding, a stranger arrives with a link to the family that threatens to change everything. An enemy is revealed. Their people are under attack. War is declared. And not everyone will survive.
As the future becomes bleaker and the mystery continues to unravel, Krystal’s enemies will learn just how far she will go to defend the people she loves.


Cheri Chesley enjoys a good story, and hopes to share equally good writing. She currently resides in Waurika, OK with her husband and children. You can visit her website at http://www.cheri-chesley.com/ to learn more about her print novels and e-books.


At this point, I would love to share my book cover, but I don't have it yet. You all will be the first to see it. Well, after me of course!

In the meantime, Cheri and I are gathering up a list of everyone who has decided to help/host this tour. Once that list is compiled, we will be sending an email to all participants with available dates. We'll work out a schedule according to what is best for you and when all is said and done, we'll have a drawing for those who helped us. We will be giving away a $10 Amazon gift card and swag. What's the swag? So far, it is copies of Watched by Cindy Hogan, Ireland's Pirate Queen, Variant by Robison Wells, Michael Vey by Richard Paul Evans, and a beautiful leather bound journal. Cheri will also throw in a copy of The Wild Queen, which is the prequel to The Peasant Queen.Of course there is still more to come!

So what do you have to do now? Simple! Leave a comment with your e-mail address or some way of contacting you. Also, let us know which book you wish to spotlight or review, or if you want to do an interview and who you want to pick on. You can choose both of us and we'll do our best to make sure this is as simple as possible for you. We know how busy you all are and don't want to take up too much of your time. Launch/tour starts in June. If my release date changes, we'll shift the schedule to match, but I figure June would be a safe bet.

Have an awesome weekend, everyone. And great job on the A-Z Challenge!! Woot!