%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |   A glimspse into my musings ... as rambling, twisted & demented as they may be |
|
~ A glimspse into to the musings of my mind ... as rambling, twisted & demented as they may be at times. ~  ~"Your acting, or your writing, is not yours to judge. So saying "I'm not very good at this" is some sort of protective mechanism, and it will keep you from sharing it with people. You have to be willing to fearlessly expose yourself." -- Lee Tergesen ~   ![Merit Badge in Nano Participant
[Click For More Info]
Call it inspiration. Call it motivation. Call it whatever you want, just get it done! I think it is awesome you are taking such a huge step and learning some things along the way. Not to mention the blast I am having doing it all alongside you. Thanks for the memories and the swift kick in the rear! *^*Heart*^* Hang in there. You can dooo it TT!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Nano_Participant-2180.gif)  |
If anyone is looking for a good read to curl up with as the weather turns, check out author, Chevy Stevens. I had purchased her debut novel,"Still Missing," this summer on a shopping trip and never got around to it. I read it last week and it was amazing! I picked her 2nd book, "Never Knowing," up from the library yesterday afternoon and finished it today. It was that good!  |
Tough times ... we all have them. Why is it that it seems when you are down the problems pile on? The past year and a half my husband and I have worked hard to turn things around. Bills were being paid on time, no credit card bills, and we even managed to have a tiny cushion in the bank. They say most of us are an unexpected expense away from financial hardship. They aren't wrong. My hubby had to have knee surgery. Suddenly we had to come up with $1500 upfront. There went the cushion. He was off work for 2 1/2 weeks and we still haven't seen a disability check. We get his check today from his first week back and it is $90 light because they took out 3 weeks of insurance deductions instead of the normal one.  I have a stack of medical bills and 1/2 of this months regular bills left and it's the 30th. I had to let the landlord know that they won't have rent on the 1st. That hurt. Living paycheck to paycheck catches up with you when there is no paycheck. The stress builds until I just feel like I am crawling out of my skin. Lord, but I miss the days that I could lose myself in my writing and just escape. What changed? When I write the stress is still there. I find myself agonizing over every word and piece of punctuation. ( THE DAMN COMMAS!!!  ) When did writing stop just being fun? Am I treating it like a job because I dream of having a novel published? Is it the stress from life bleeding over? I'm not sure. All I can say is I miss the days when I couldn't wait to get to the computer, when I gobbled dinner after work and ran for my desk. I've never been a fast writer, but I could churn out 4-5 pages in an evening without problem. Lately I've failed to even make one. What's changed? I wish I knew. |
Ever have one of those stories where the title just eludes you?? I would love reviews on my newest piece to get some opinions and if anyone has any suggestions for a better title I would be grateful. If I use your idea I will send a little reward your way for creative input! 
|
It was a bittersweet day ... bitter for my 14 year old son who went back to school today and SWEET for me who had the whole house to myself for a productive day of writing!  |
The Erotica Quarterly that contains "The Kiss of Leather"  and "Blind Need" is out and available on Amazon!
|
||||||
| You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke.~~Arthur Polotnik |
It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop. ~Vita Sackville-West.   White Ribbon Winner & Proud Member of "Invalid Item" by A Guest Visitor |
Writing fiction is a solitary occupation but not really a lonely one. The writer's head is mobbed with characters, images and language. ~ Hilma Wolitzer ~ White Ribbon Winner & Proud Member of "Invalid Item" by A Guest Visitor |
Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to hide the bodies of those people I had to kill because they pissed me off!  White Ribbon Winner & Proud Member of "Invalid Item" by A Guest Visitor |
I love the cover and how cheeky to have the Irish Hussy placed so perfectly on the cover.  |
||||||
"Promise of Tomorrow" and "On the Chance" along with a slew of other fabulous authors and short stories are now available on Amazon!
|
||||||
| It has been a strange week for writing. I have Wednesday and Friday off and I have to thank God for previously unheard of production this Wednesday. I ended up with 3026 words. That's A new high for me. In comparison, Friday's word count was a paltry 973. This wouldn't be such an issue, I have my 5000 weekly goal broke into 833 words a day 6 days a week with a day off, BUT I didn't write a word Mon., Tue., or Thurs. *winces* I'm not sure what the problem has been this week. I'm confident I will meet my goal with today and tomorrow yet to churn out a mere 1000 words, but it bothers me that really slacked off this week. I could have had 7-8 k this week if I had followed my normal schedule the other days. Onto good news, two of my short stories, On the Chance and Promise of Tomorrow, were accepted to the Static Movement Anthology, Something from the Attic 2! The editor, the fabulous Chris Bartholomew had such kind words to say about my writing. It is amazing how a couple words of praise can inspire a writer's confidence.  Lotsa Love and Creativity! ~ MM |
I had a bit of wonderful news the other day...the anthology Literary Foray is now available on Amazon for purchase and they used an excerpt from one of my stories in the description!  It really was unexpected and an honor not to mention a great little bit of exposure for me.
Those that know me well know I am an incredibly slow writer. Those that don't know me ... now you know too. LOL So with the success of my short stories the last two months of 2010 I wanted to build on that in 2011 with my WIP novel. I have a horrible track record of setting novels aside and never picking them back up. I did not want that to happen to Club Justice. I knew I needed goals to keep me moving, but really struggled with what type of goals to set for it. I finally settled on 5000 words a week. Many of you can blow that out in a day, I know, but not me and I figured it was another step in the right direction and a way to keep the words flowing. I started December 27th with 18589 words and when I closed up Word last night I was at 30965. It is humbling to mark the progress and it gives me great hope. I've added a word count widget to my BLOG to publicly track my progress. Maybe it will help keep me on track. Another thing that I did for the first time is I created an outline for my WIP. How professional of an outline I can't say, however it is something for me to jot down ideas and high points for the story and refer back to when I hit those blank moments at the beginning of a new chapter. Is there anything as terrifying as a blank page? UGH! I know it has only been two weeks, but as I am getting fond of saying ... it is another step in the right direction. Wish me luck and the same to you my friends. ~ Love ~ MM |
||||||
Thank you to my beloved hubby, N.D Man  for being UBER supportive of my writing and the gorgeous drama trophy he gifted my "PUBLISHED!" folder!! *squeeees like a little girl*and ... "The Library Lady" will be joining my two previously accepted stories in the Literary Foray anthology! The last two months of 2010 have been amazing for my short stories. I hope 2011 will be the year of the novel. ~ MM |
 Great news tonight ... I just found out that I've had 3 short stories accepted to an Erotica quarterly anthology called Daily Flashes of Erotica. These 4 books offer an erotic tale for each day of the year. Talk about starting your day with a tingle. LOL Just to increase my bookshelf, or decrease my cash , ... "Voyeur" is slated to be in the Apr-Jun, "Kiss of Leather" in Jul-Sep, and "Solace" in Oct-Dec! Here is a link to the first in the series that while it doesn't have any Mara smut, is currently available from Pill Hill Press / DFE. |
 My sister-in-law, Connie, passed away Saturday morning. She was only 40. Her life has been full of medical maladies ... Juvenile diabetes, a car accident that left her in a coma for a month ... she was never the same, Dialysis, kidney and pancreas transplants, then the kidney being unknowingly nicked in a "routine" biopsy ... she nearly died from the internal bleeding before they figured out they had screwed up, and then this past July she had a stroke. She has spent the last 5 1/2 months bouncing back and forth between the hospital and a physical therapy center. For every step forward there were three steps back. She continued to have strokes. Finally the doctors told us that the anti-rejection medicine she has been on for years because of her transplants, had weakened the walls of her blood vessels. This meant the strokes would continue. There was nothing we could do, but wait for "the big one." I felt like we were at Talladega. *small smile* Those of you who aren't NASCAR fans might not get that, but it would have amused Connie. Her passing was without question a blessing. She is in a better place. She is no longer suffering. So why then are we? Perhaps we are selfish wishing her here with us. Regardless, she will be missed. I pray she is happy and the pain is gone. I know that one day I will think of her and smile again. It has been a lot of years since I could say that. Rest in peace little sister. |
I am proud to announce, okay down right giddy, that my first short story to hit print is now available in an anthology, Something from the Attic, through Static Movement Press and on sale at the Pill Hill Press store! The name of the story is MUSE!  Available at .... http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html |
Found a deal on a new HP Laptop with an awesome 17.3 inch screen that I just couldn't pass up. The plan was to replace my laptop at Christmas and hand mine down to my son, but like I said ... too good to pass up. The good news is I am ALMOST done with shopping for the holiday season, just the hubby to buy for and the family pictures that will hopefully be this weekend. Lets hope the new LT gives me lots of inspiration and I will just have to remember to cuddle it Christmas morning when everyone else is opening presents! LOL ~ MM |
What an awesome day it has been!!! I logged on this morning to find out that my beloved friend, NickiD89  has had a short story accepted to a print anthology!!!  I was so stoked for her!!! Then in typical Nicki fashion she decided to think of someone besides herself and suggested I submit a story as well. Can you say scared shitless?? So with a lot of encouragement from Nicki ... a step by step email on how to make an RTF file ... AND a panicked phone call from me because I failed to scroll down to find the RTF option ...  ... I submitted my short story, "In a Moment's Breath."When that went fairly well ... I thought 'what the heck, I will double my chances' and I submitted "Old Glory." Thennn after several hours of sitting around wondering about those two ... I started looking at the other anthologies that were looking for submissions and wellll submitted "Muse" to one. THEY ACCEPTED ALL THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am in heaven! I am beyond over the moon! Here I am with a grin that just won't quit and everyone is sleeping or not answering their phones!!! Sooooo there ... I shared it with the cyber world! I want to thank NickiD89 for her encouragement, assistance, and awesome friendship. It was great to talk to her on the phone today and put a voice to that beautiful smiling face. AND I want to thank Adriana Noir who is not only my Terror Twin, but my proof reader and biggest fan as well. She sat on the other end of the phone most the afternoon and listened to me refresh my email every 5 minutes. It is amazing to be in a community of writers and to have such great friends. |
 Log in to Leave Feedback |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
) 
I don't know why it's so hysterical though as we have some pretty weird town names in Bavaria, too, like Pups (=fart) or Lederhose (=leather pants). No, I didn't imagine those. 
