Award and Updates

Thanks to Linda for the Liebster award! This award is given to a blogger with less than 200 followers who then passes it on to five of their followers with less than 200 followers.  According to Babelfish, Liebster means Dearest.

I feel like being a rule breaker today, so I am sending you to a few blogs I follow I think you will enjoy (if you haven't found them already!)
 Aubrey at Flutey Words, Nicole at Where Fantasy and Love Take Flight,  Elizabeth at Silver's Reviews, Carol at Artzicarol Ramblings, and Ann at Inkpots n' Quills.

Monday brought the end of the hockey season for us.  Dear son had a great time and progressed so much this season. He's already looking forward to next season. In the mean time, he is going to play lacrosse this spring (if any of you can explain how the game works or send me a link to a good explanation, I'd really appreciate it!)

Now for a writing update (thanks Susan for the reminder!) I have two complete chapters written and am working on a third for DKK. My characters decided they didn't like the road map I created and refused to cooperate until I listened to them. (I hate to say it, but they were right. My first four chapters, really needed to be 2). I am a little lost at the moment, but am looking forward to some brainstorming with Trisha to toss some ideas around and see what sticks. After adjusting my chapters I ran into a plot hole-- when I was writing my outline, my thoughts made sense. Now that I've made some changes, and thought about the outline, I find I need to flesh out some motivations to be sure what I am intending is believable.

How's everything going for you?I'd love to hear about it!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanskgiving, survived Black Friday with no injuries and all the items you were hunting on your list intact, and are ready for Cyber-Monday.

Our Thanksgiving was very nice, the only Black Friday-ing I did was to the pharmacy (for some cold meds) and to Home Depot followed by the small Wal-Mart in our area for Christmas lights for the outside of the house.

Across Friday and Saturday we Christmased (yes, I know that is not a real word) the house, but without any snow it still feels like Christmas is a long way off.

Our son had his final skating lesson yesterday and was very pleased to have gone from Hockey Level 1 to Hockey Level 4 in five weeks time (we see a huge improvement in his skating, as do his coaches!)  He is looking forward to his first game this coming Sunday.

Have a great week!  I'll be back Thursday with my final NaNo count.

Happy Columbus Day!

Hope you all had a great weekend.  We sure did!  My son had early ice time for hockey this weekend (on ice at 7AM both days).  We decided Saturday would be the perfect day to go to the PA Renaissance Faire, and it was.  The weather was gorgeous, and the crowd was HUGE!

We wandered around and watched a few shows, looked at the shops, played some games (my hubby was declared a king by Queen Elizabeth after winning the test of strength).  But for me the most two most interesting things were the Royal Falconer show and the Artillery Demo.  I learned about the Trained Band (which I had never heard of) and experienced the feel of a shock wave when they fired the artillery.  And learning about the way birds were used for hunting made me thirst to know more and incorporate that into a novel (I have the perfect character and story line to put it in with!)

So, what did you do this weekend?

Happy Weekend!

Sorry, no post today.  I came back from my work conference with a miserable cold.

For those of you who commented on my post Monday with mentions of your entries, I will be getting there today or tomorrow!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

When did helping your neighbor become so difficult?

Last week our area experienced record rainfall (over 9 inches of rain in a 24 hour period) followed by record flooding.  Many families were evacuated, and still have not returned to their homes.  Having received word that one of the shelters was in need of clothing, books, games, and things to help people pass the time while the waters recede and they are allowed back to their homes, we packed up some supplies and headed out.  Upon arriving at the shelter, we were told by a Red Cross volunteer that "they couldn't take any books or games, and clothing must have tags from the store still on them."

I stood there dumbstruck.  Here we were trying to offer needed supplies and were being turned away.  Returning home, the news ran an update, stating that the Red Cross was looking for donations, specifically money.  Given what I had just found out, I can see why they are asking for money.  To me it appears they aren't willing to accept the donations that could aid someone instantly, they would rather fill their coffers and have the aid come when they are ready for it.

To say I am disappointed with the Red Cross is an understatement.  Instead of helping those people at the shelter, I will find another place who will take my donation and distribute it to those in need.

Have any of you had experience with the Red Cross like this?  Or is this just a local issue?

Busy Weekend

Happy Labor Day, everyone!

Sorry for the late post today, but it was a crazy weekend.  I spent Saturday with my mom at my niece's.  She was flooded out from Hurricane Irene last week.  Then Sunday, we had to outfit dear son for hockey, as we found out he has evaluations this week.

I will be posting more later this week for the Platform Building Campaign Challenge and the Judge and Jury blogfest.

Have a great day!

Blueberries and History

This weekend I was supposed to go blueberry picking with my mom, but she wasn't feeling well, so she sent my dad with me.  We had a great time picking and chatting.  I updated him on my querying, and he updated me on the progress of the '57 Chevy he is restoring and the stories he is working on.

When I started talking to my folks about my writing, my dad told me he had a story idea he was working on.  I encouraged him to pursue it (as I would any writer) and he let me look at the first rough draft.  And it was rough, just like any writer's first draft.  There were no quotations for dialogue, no tags, no new paragraphs.  I was stunned-- my dad is very good at grammar and usage, so this surprised me.  He also fell into the early writer's telling me what happened instead of showing me.  I gave him some ideas of things to try, and he worked on it for a bit, but has let it go recently as he works on his car.

In the meantime, he started jotting down memories of things from his childhood.  He let me read through it one day, and I was amazed.  My dad has various stories he tells from growing up (the one that always comes to mind is Rabbit Berries, but that's a post for another day.), but here were things I had never known about, or heard about.  Like the ration coupons, and how farmers were given more of them for gas and would trade those coupons with others for things they needed.

I also learned about some of his antics during school.  See, my dad grew up during the Second World War with a German surname.  In school we learned about the internment camps for the Japanese, but I never heard about the treatment of Americans whose families were from Germany, until I read this.  My dad went through horrible bullying, and all because of his name.  He made it through, but it made an impression on him.

As we picked berries, I asked about his memoirs, and he said he hadn't really done anything with them, and asked me why I was asking about it.  I told him I really enjoyed reading them as it brought the past to life for me, giving me a connection I hadn't had before.  I also thought it was cool the things I learned about my dad that he's never really talked about much.

I hope that he really does keep jotting down things as he remembers them, giving at least the rest of my family a glimpse into the past.

What have you learned from your parents history?

Condolences

I'm not sure if it was because of the number of casualties, or because I have family and friends in the military, or a combination of the two, but hearing of the deaths of 30 soldiers this weekend really struck me.

I offer my condolences to their families in this time of deep sorrow.  May you find comfort in the memories of your loved ones.

Goals

I've been neglecting my blog lately because life has become quite busy, and as much as I like sharing things with all of you, I've been taking that time to spend with family and friends or write.

With that in mind, I've decided to set some goals for myself, and I thought I would share them with you so you can help keep me on track!  So, here they are:

1) Finish current WIP by the end of August.  I am in the revision stage, so this shouldn't be too difficult, or at least I hope not!

2) Reach 50 followers on my blog and on Twitter.  My question to those of you with many followers is this: How'd you do it???  I would love some advice on how to get to more people as followers.

Hope you all had a great weekend.  I'll be posting some recipes later this week (have a few I wanted to share).  Have a great day!

The Case of the Sticky Hand

Remember those sticky hand things you could get at the store?  You fling it on things and it sticks until you peel it off?  No?  Does this help jog the memory?

My son came home from visiting Grandma with a blue one of these. (Note to those of you with kids-- don't leave them on white walls for extended periods of time-- they will leave color on the wall.  At least his did.) Tonight as I was surfing the net, I reached over to drink my cooling cup of coffee, only to discover something was floating in the cup.  The sticky hand.  No one knows how it came to be in the cup I had been drinking from for about 30 minutes, but there it was.  Three adults and one child had no idea where it had come from. I figured my son set it in the cup instead of on the table, and dear hubby wondered if it had been a gift from my cat.  Either way, it wasn't what I had wanted in my drink.  My son graciously took care of it and got me a fresh cup of coffee (after dumping and rinsing out the other.)

What strange gifts have your kids or pets left you that you?

Changes

Life has been crazy busy these last few weeks, with school winding down for my son and things picking up at work.  We've been busy around the house celebrating Father's Day and birthdays and getting together with family and friends.

Needless to say, I am behind in where I want to be with my WIP.  My CP's took a look at my new chapters this week and pointed out what I already knew-- while there is a lot of action, there is little dialogue in the first chapter (2 lines to be exact), which makes it harder to read.  I also added some scenes for the sake of having them, not because the did anything to move the story along.  So, it is back to the drawing board for my beginning again (I actually have a plan in mind-- Thanks Trisha for being my sounding board for it!)

So, with that in mind, I will be taking the next week or so off from blogging to write and spend time with my family.  Have a great couple weeks!

Congratulations!!!!

I love hockey.  Fortunately for me, I live in an area that has an AHL team- The Binghamton Senators.

Tuesday night the Senators did something the other hockey teams from this area hadn't been able to do in 38 years.  They won the Calder Cup, after winning 4 games to the Houston Aeros 2 in a best of 7 series.

We went to the parade for them last night.  It was great seeing the support from all the locals and really cool to see the cup (very neat looking trophy).

So, Congratulations, B-Sens!!! And here's to a great season next year!

What's Your Fortune?

I love Chinese food.  Even more I love Fortune Cookies.  I have my own ritual for eating them, and recently discovered my husband and friends are quite different than mine.

I was told by a friend, growing up, that you break open the cookie, read the fortune, and if it is a good one, you eat the cookie.  Yow never eat a cookie with a bad fortune.  My husband and one of our friends break open the cookie, eat half, then read the fortune and finish the cookie. 

Of course we read the fortunes to ourselves and then share out loud. My husband usually starts with, "Sorry, wrong cookie."  Sometimes we think the fortunes went to the wrong people, as they fit others in the group so much better.

Last week my friend got a fortune I loved.  "Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny."

I have to admit- my first thought was Darth Vadar, then I realized this was a great quote for authors.  We need to watch our characters, for we form their destiny.  If we make a character do something out of character, (without a good reason) it can cause problems in our story.

What advice have you taken from fortune cookies?

Time Flies

I can't believe it is almost June-- seems like just a few weeks ago it was Christmas!!!  Is time going just as fast for you?

I had hoped to be further along in my WIP at this time, but am pleased with where I am.  I had also hoped to be back to a regular exercise schedule, but that hasn't happened.  I find I have a hard time getting up earlier in the morning to do it then, and when I come home from work I feel I am missing time with my family if I do it then.  Maybe now that the sun has decided to make an appearance I can do the morning thing-- they say if you do it for 28 days it becomes a habit!

I read some interesting posts in the last week.  Lindsey Roth Culli (A Pinch of Panache) has a great post on Beta's, and Margo Berensden (Writing at High Altitude) has a post on extreme writing with a link at the end to suggestions for writing your synopsis.  Hop over here to check it out!

Contest!

For those of you who haven't heard, QueryTracker.net is having a contest that begins today.  What is the contest?  Roseanne Wells, of Marianne Strong & Associates, is judging first pages of completed YA novels.

The information can be found here.  Just follow the directions.

If you are entering, good luck!

The weekend was crazy here, with an unexpected water heater change, and scattered showers that kept us from finishing staining the deck (I'm beginning to think it will never be done!).  But it ended nicely with an extended family gathering for Mother's Day.  Hope all of you had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to an exciting week!

Catching up!

It was so nice to see the sun again on Saturday.  We even managed to get a bit of our deck stained.  We had hoped to do more yesterday, but with rain threatening, we decided to wait.  I did get my new rosebush planted, though.

I spent time working on my agent to query list and tweaking the synopsis so I am ready to go once I hear some feedback on my ending.

So, how was your weekend?  Hope this is the start of a great week for everyone!

Excuses!

Sorry I'm late with this one today, but I didn't write it up last night, and this morning when I meant to be writing it, I got sucked into watching the Royal Wedding.

I qualified it as research-- a couple of my WIP's involve royalty and weddings (albeit in a fantasy world), so watching the wedding gave me an insight into the moarchy.  But, in reality, I got sucked in by the romance.  And it was so nice to see something so lovely after all the destruction and sadness in the news of late.

What have you qualified as research when it wasn't completely for research?

Hope you all have a wonderful (dry-- fingers crossed we can get the deck stained this weekend!) weekend!

Hodge Podge

Thanks for all the suggestions and encouragement for my agent search.  I really appreciate it!

I think I have my query where it needs to be, and am working on a Synopsis (not as difficult as I thought it would be!)-- I hope to share more on this with you later this week or early next week.  And my agent to query list is growing.

We've been having thunderstorms roll through at night, and the ones two nights ago reminded me of my childhood, where the thunder echoed around the valley.  The lightning was bright and vivid, lighting up the sky with quick flashes.  Last night, as another storm rolled in, I started thinking this was the perfect thing I needed for a WIP I am outlining in my thoughts (before putting it on paper).

So, today I ask--what weather have you seen that you've said, "Oh, that would be perfect for here!"?

We have new patio furniture! Well, almost

At the end of last summer we built a deck off the back of our house (well, actually we paid someone to build it for us :-) ).  Since then we've been looking at patio furniture, wanting just the right set for the new space.  We found two tables we loved, but didn't like the chairs that came with them, and you couldn't swap them around (note to all stores--customers should be able to mix and match tables and chairs).

Finally, we found a set that we liked both the table and chairs on.  It arrived Wednesday (during the pouring rain) and last night dear hubby and our neighbor started opening it up to put it together.  The chair parts were all fine, but the table was another story.  It has four stone pieces that set into the rectangular frame.  Unfortunately for us, three of the four pieces were broken.  The store we ordered from was very nice about the problem and will be sending replacement pieces, but it will take time.

So, we're on our way there.  Now to get the deck stained, but first we need more sunny days like today.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Happy April!  Thankfully we didn't get the snow they were calling for on April Fool's Day.

I spent some time over the weekend making changes to the blog layout.  Hope you like them.  Special thanks to Nancy for telling me how to get the tabs!

My muse has been quite busy this week.  I've made great progress on my WIP and Saturday night, my muse forced me to think about an old WIP I've had sitting on the shelf for a while now as I couldn't figure out the plot.  I had awesome characters, and a cool magic item (hmmm- I'm sensing a theme here-- that sounds like how my current WIP started!!!) but no story line to go with.  I've written probably 3-4 hodge podged stories, but there was always something missing.  The plot.  Well, my muse tossed one to me, and I found myself scribbling it down so I didn't forget it.  I will play with it in my mind the next few days to see where it takes me.  If I get a road map from it, I'll write up a quick plot summary for it.

Check back later this week for more on plot summaries, and some thoughts on Beta reading.