New Blog, New Link, Same Person...

Hey guys!
I know, it's been a loooong time! I have been working like crazy, both at work and on a new project.

Matter of fact, that is what this post is about.

First, been working, moving, helping my kids and grandkids out and just in general, busy.

Second, I'm working on a new project called Legacy Scribes Collaborative, and that has kept me extra busy!

Third, I'm moving my blog from here, over to our Legacy blog, here. I find it difficult to maintain two blogs. I've tried before and failed, even with the scheduling features. I focus better when there is one, so please, drop by and follow me there!

Legacy also has a website up now, which has a blog page, but I've decided to use the scheduling feature of Blogger and then update the website blog for those who don't use Blogger.

We're about to have another book signing event and all of those details are on the website, here.

I've also linked to Insecure Writer's Support Group and hope to get back into participating in that, because it's a resource I think all writer's should utilize! I love IWSG and have missed so much, I have to get caught up again.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday coming up, for those that celebrate, and I hope to see you on my new page!

A Bit Of Change...

Change is good, especially when things grow a little stagnant or you just have gone as far as you can go.

That's the case with me, these days. Midian Entertainment was great, got me where I needed to go and now I'm back on the writing road with Legacy Scribes Collaborative. I have one final book coming out with The Breed, hopefully to be released at the end of March.

After that, I have 3 more books planned. Those will be published through Legacy. So I should have at least two more out before the year is over. I'm excited about all of this! I've been a busy girl with all kinds of writing projects, but nothing for myself for the last few years except "Blood of My Sisters". Now that I have that out, I can get back into my usual routine.

How is your writing going? Give me some details!

Monkey Wrenches & Writing Debates...

Well. I have had every intention of getting back into blogging. I even have a Patreon page waiting to be launched.

The Monkey Wrench?

No internet at my house!!!!

::Sighs::

I'm in search of an internet provider for my new place. I barely live just outside of town, in the wrong direction. And I only can use so much data on my phone HotSpot. Dang it.

So there's that little monkey wrench thrown into the gears. But I will make it work somehow! I always do. Good thing my job can be slow sometimes. I get bored sitting around doing nothing.

I wanted to pose a question to you all. It's a writing question, too!

I am in a new writing group on Facebook. Still not sure about it, but there is still the debate going around about one or two spaces after a period.

One. That is what I've been told ever since I got back into writing. From my understanding, technology took care of having to add that extra little nuisance of a space after a period.

Lots of people still claim there should be two.

So, are you Team One Space or Team Two Space? Tell me in the comments!

Old Friends, New Posts...

Wow!

I spent Wednesday scrolling through my blog reading list and tried to visit as many of you as I could. It's been forever since I have read any IWSG posts! (Insecure Writer's Support Group). I will certainly be signing up again for that.

It was great to hear from some old friends. It was amazing to catch up and see how things have been going. I've been gone for a very long time. Longer than I expected.

It's getting easier to get back into this habit of blogging. Especially after reading posts and leaving comments. I felt MUCH more like my old self. I missed you guys!

But it is Friday! And now I will leave you with something else a little familiar:

Funnies and Favorites!

You can find this book by clicking here

So, I have certainly found some new favorites over time.

If you ever saw any of my book reviews for Jill Nojack, you'll know she's now a favorite author. I love her Bad Tom series.

And this book here

And the third one here

I have done reviews for all of them on here. But if you'd rather just take my word for it, there you go!

She's got a very clever wit, the books are pretty well paced and the story is just purrrrfect!

Sorry, totally could not help that AT ALL!

All right, now on to another favorite. I have discovered a love for (and this has nothing to do with books!) recycling in my crafts!!

I'm not kidding. I have taken making my own paper clay to a whole new level. I've been doing a lot of things lately that have been really cool!

And my final favorite thing today: my new place. We found a house last April that hubs and I just fell in love with. It had good, solid bones and structure, so we talked the owner into a sweet deal. We've been doing a lot of the remodeling on the place ourselves. We took it all the way down to the bare bones and built it back up again. I can't begin to tell you... that's a lot of damn work! But well worth it. That, of course, has been the biggest reason for me to not blog these last few months.

But now I'm back. I'm rambling as usual and I know you all just want to get to the funnies. So here they are! Have a super weekend and see you soon!

B Is For Bodies...

Got your attention, didn't I? Yes, yes I did.

But the Bodies I am speaking of today are actually Bodies of water and Body counts.

Before we get started though, here is a question I had when building my world:

What is the difference between an ocean and a sea?

Answer: "Many people use the terms "ocean" and "sea" interchangeably when speaking about the ocean, but there is a difference between the two terms when speaking of geography (the study of the Earth's surface).

Seas are smaller than oceans and are usually located where the land and ocean meet. Typically, seas are partially enclosed by land"

I had no idea when I first started building my world and throwing in a continent here, an island there. So I had to make sure I correctly named the oceans and seas. Your readers, if they know the difference, will look. Trust me.

And body counts... what do I mean by that?

Well, as writers, we tend to fall in love with our characters and wish them no harm. Some writers will create what I call "Cannon Fodder Characters". These are characters created specifically to kill.

While having a few of these CFC's is okay, don't just run your characters through some heavy stuff and expect them to come out at the end all shiny and new like they're still in the package. People gotta die!

So make sure you keep a good body count if you are writing stories that involve war or assassins.

C you tomorrow! (Ha! I know. I'm a dork.)

A Is For Arlee...

Ha! Thought I was going to say April or even some other... 'A' related... um... thing to do with world building.

Well, it IS April Fool's Day. I'm the biggest fool!

While it is the first day of April, it is also the first day of the April A - Z Blog Challenge and of course it was started by the Awesome, Articulate Arlee! Click the link to learn more or even join.

I couldn't think of any more 'A's.

Arlee, thanks for starting this challenge. Not only has it brought some wonderful people to my blog when I first participated, but I keep finding more and more and more! My first A-Z challenge was kind of scary, but I am so glad you invited me to participate when I was a little nobody, all scrunched in my tiny corner of the blogging world.

Made me feel all special. But it is you who are special, sir. Thank you for all you do!

Trying To Get On A Schedule...

Wow.

Since I've quit the paper route, things have been a bit hectic and I've been a bit more focused. However, not always on the things I need to focus on!

I've got to make a schedule for myself or I won't get anything done.

Here's what I've been doing:

~ Blogging, of course and reading blogs as well as trying to keep up with the comments.

~ Tweeting. I am trying to spend time on Twitter to keep up the decent presence I've worked hard to get. While this isn't exactly time consuming, I do have to do something daily or it gets overwhelming just like everything else.

~ Facebook. Well, this isn't really a big deal. I get on there, read my notifications, respond where I need to and all that. What tends to suck me in are those stupid games. So I have kept the browser open on that page specifically to keep up with responses to my posts and others.

~ Word Weavers. Even when my friend Jenna and I were working the networking of Word Weavers on MySpace, I don't think we were EVER this busy. We have the blog, the website and the group page on Facebook. We also have Twitter for WW as well. I don't get on there all that much, but it is shared time with Jenna. We have several people willing to volunteer some time, but it can be inconsistent. Plus, we're still trying to figure out where to put them.

~ Not only do I have all that going on, but I am gearing up to do some work from home. I'm getting ready to do critiques, proofreading and soon, editing. I'm learning from some very good teachers on how to edit. But I am also doing book trailers. Once I am able to provide samples of my work, I'll have a 'Services' section on my blog. Once I get up enough money to purchase PhotoShop, I'll most definitely be putting my art degree to good use and start doing book covers.

This all takes time. And it takes time away from my writing. Besides all of this, I'm still doing book reviews. Which, I love to read, so those aren't a big deal. I read every night before I go to bed and if I am lucky, I get a book done in a couple of days. Depending on the book. Some of them are so good I want to linger.

And on top of all of this, my daughter just informed me I'm going to be a Grandma. Phew!!!!

So now you see the need for a schedule. Lol! I've got my work cut out for me. Wish me luck!

How do you schedule your week? Do you work outside the home as well?

Late To The Party...

Yesterday was Wednesday! (Yes, Mel, that was very good but we all know that. The calendar told us.) It was also the first posting from Alex's Insecure Writing Group.

First, let me just say, Alex. Pure Genius.

I'm finding that I want to leave a comment on everyone's post! But I was a bit late to the party.

I had plans for Wednesday, plans to get up, visit everyone's blog for the big event. But I was met with, "Need to get up early, I have plane reservations to make." That was from my mom. I don't want to see her visit end, but I dragged my butt out of bed after a bout of insomnia and went to the travel agency. I was so flipping tired, I took a nap. But it didn't end there. I've been promising her we'd go play Bingo before she left. So we went.

I won $7.50 because I had to split a $15 pot. But better than nothing at all!

By the time I got home, settled things for the night and fired up the laptop... I made it to 8 other blogs. Out of 125 people!

But that is okay, my plan got pushed back a day. So I will be visiting, commenting and following.

Now I just want to say: Awww! You guys are so cool. Thanks for the comments left by all of you wonderful, insecure writers! I haven't gotten around to leaving my own personal comment, but thanks everyone for dropping by!

I'll be seeing you soon unless of course I've already left you a comment.

Have an awesome rest of the week!

Harry Potter And A Touch Of Sarcasm...

Okay, so I have to wait 'til Monday to see the new Harry Potter movie because that's payday. Bummer. I'm so excited I could spit! Just kidding, if I do I will make sure it is not on your shoes.

So this past week, posts have had to be scheduled, probably next week as well. I hate doing that because I feel a little disconnected with everyone when I am not on here daily. Then I filter quickly through all the other blogs and rarely have time to comment, only on a few.

So where's the sarcasm come in? I've been reading posts about sarcasm, people working customer service and getting their sarcasm and snarkiness from their years dealing with ignorant (just a nice way to say stupid) people.

I have certainly had MY share of that particular piece of pie. Customer service was, if nothing else, entertaining at best. Irritating at worse. I have to say, my favorite people were the ones who would call me while I worked tech support. Now... mind you. I worked for an internet company and later on, tech support for a tax program.

Rule number one... don't piss off the person who is in control of resetting your password. Don't scream and yell at dozens of people because your kid got busted doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing per terms of service. Or your husband for that matter. I would have liked to have dealt with the husband in one case because the wife was an absolute train wreck of a witch. Before hanging up, (after changing her password and telling her what it was...) she told me, "F -- you very much." She almost had the phone on the cradle and her husband was in the background telling her "Wait, wait! What is... blah blah blah?" So I answered her question as politely as I could. And she said it AGAIN! Twice! "F-- you very much." *click* THAT time was doubly uncalled for. So I changed her password and put in the customer service notes: "Cannot be nice, swearing the entire time and just downright rude. If she calls back, yeah, I did reset her password because she was being a b--."

My all time favorites when I worked tech support for the tax software was the "Any key" situation. After installation, it would usually tell you to press 'any key to continue'.
"Well, where IS the 'Any Key'?"
"Just press ANY key on your keyboard."
"But I can't find it."
"It's the space bar. Press the space bar."
"Ooooh! Good to know!"

Then there was, I kid you not, the classic disc drive person who thought it was a cup holder. I ACTUALLY got that call, but no, I didn't start the joke.

I also got people who couldn't install it because the disc wasn't working. The amazement in their voices when I told them to wash it in warm water with a tiny drop of dish soap and then pat dry was priceless. They would always call back just to say, "It WORKED!"

And last but not least... there was always one poor guy I relentlessly picked on while working a convenience store. The one who would come in and ask if I could break his 50 dollar or 20 dollar bill. I couldn't get enough of the look on their faces when I said, "Sure!" and tore it in half.

Hope this gives you a good laugh on this wonderful Saturday! See you on Monday!