Babies

These precious sleepers are my sweet grandbabies.  Kira Grace, on the left, and her new baby sister Molly May.  I vow to write more for these two if not for myself.

Months, and Months

Disclaimer:  All of this was written over the course of several months and promptly not posted.  I mention a few times about being busy and such....it is true.  Things have been nuts.  I shall post more (hopefully) soon.  I am still struggling to get back into that wonderful routine that I had in August.  (August is sounding good right now for many reasons....not the least of which is my cold hands.)  Hoping all is well with everyone reading this.  Please, leave a comment to say "Hi", even if you don't read all of this craziness.

Maybe I Am A Writer

Writing.  That was my subject last time, and guess what?  I have been doing pretty well.  I started getting up early and writing, only on weekdays though.  Weekends and evenings are for my family.  Early mornings are for writing.  And lo, the book is progressing.  I'm SO excited!  I have my "beta readers" and a critique partner, and I just got a volunteer (whom I trust) to edit for grammar and such.....I think I may just finish in the timeline that I hoped.  I haven't been blogging, but things will hopefully balance out.  I did attend a conference that I still want to blog about....

Oh, and I entered a short story contest over at Figment.  You can read it here.  It is much different than my WIP, and took me away for a little bit, but it was also refreshing, and a big step putting myself out there for potential rejection, even if it is "just" a contest.  *deep breath*

Writing (again)

Yesterday I took a huge step.  I sent off the first part of my WIP to someone I barely know for a critique.  I'm excited, nervous, scared, embarrassed, and a bit sick.  *deep breath*  It will be fine.  This is why we do this.  Get other perspectives and try to polish our stories up before sending them off again to an agent or editor, or wherever we intend to send them.  (at which time I will be feeling all of the above emotions even stronger)  I think that this fear of having others read your (less than perfect) work is why many wanna be writers will never be published.  I have read statements from absolutely amazing authors who still have this fear, so I'm just going to bite my lip and go for it.  It will never be perfect anyway.

"Guilty Pleasures"

I’ve been thinking.  (maybe I’m an owl since “all owls think a lot”*)  There are so many sources for my line of thinking this morning that I couldn’t begin to write them all out and not lose my train of thought.  Let’s just get right to it.  First, the term ‘guilty pleasures’, I see this used a lot in terms of books, music, tv, movies and such.  These are forms of entertainment.  Are they not supposed to be pleasurable?  Everyone has their own tastes, their own ideas of what is fun.  Why should I have to classify a book I enjoy as a ‘guilty pleasure’ simply because someone out there may not find it of value?

Quickie

Oh, this is why I don't type on my phone. Aside from a very strange dream I just had, I've been thinking about my WIP (work in progress). This is a stretch to call it that sometimes, but it isn't a finished draft yet. The thing is I worked on it! I actually delved back in and I realized that I hadn't since October.

New Post! : )

Lately I have found myself distracted.  Distracted by technology is much to blame.  Twitter, facebook, Words With Friends, imdb, all from the comfort of a small handheld device. Not to mention tv.  I just realized.  This is not recent. 

I’ve also been reading more than I’ve been writing.  This is a frustrating truth, but books are great.  I love books.  I just need balance.  That is what I need, balance.  Balance between the day job, my family, reading writing, and sleep.  And life.  I follow enough authors on their blogs, facebook, and Twitter to know that this is a pretty common thing.  I think that we, as a society have become so busy, so inundated with sights and sounds, that we respond by thinking that we have to do it all.  It is all too much.