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 |   One writer's journey |
 She sat down at her old wooden desk, pen at the ready. Her thoughts raced. What shall I write today? Tilting her head to the side, a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth before enveloping her delicate face. The purple ink began to fill the once blank sheet, each stroke a labor of pure joy as the words flowed from her mind, her heart, her very soul.  My Dreams... to write of romance and endless love to love without boundaries to learn from past mistakes to laugh with all my heart to be the woman I am meant to be  TODAY... I will reach for the stars Will not give up Will give all that I have Dare to dream the impossible dream For anything in this life is possible   <---I am blown away by this    |
Can't wait to see how well we did in Game of Thrones! The speculation is torture  . I managed to get both my stories in for "I Write in August-September-October"  by Aennaytte: Free & Wild in GoT 
and "I Write Romantic in Winter" by Aennaytte: Free & Wild in GoT
I am reading "Bride 2 Be" by Purple is House Florent  so I can refresh my memory, tweak things as I get close to where I left off so I can finish writing this one. It's strange to me that each book in this series seems to be a little bit better/stronger than the last one. I still  A Perfect Fit best. And I did pretty well with sales on Amazon so I cannot complain.I heard from Smexy today!! So nice to see my old gang of crazy chatties making a return to wdc. Welcome back Sciwriter   . My son is getting married! It's totally surreal at this point. His bride to be is in Lebanon, so wedding planning is strange. I mean I'm in the US, so we are spending all of our time on whatsapp, sending voice clips, and photos as things move forward for a December wedding overseas. There's so much to do. We've been looking forward to this for a few years, but now that's it's really happening, is HUGE. I have a check list of things I need to do before all of that happens. Getting my body in shape is one of those items. I still have good and bad days since surgery. I tire so easily. Makes me nuts most days when I have no energy to do much of anything. Last week I decided I was cleaning out my truck. Spent all morning Tuesday cleaning the carpet, and getting out stains from work boots, winter, etc and cigarette ash. It gets so filthy. And then of course my thumb reacted in protest. It's still sore, so I don't think I'm going to make that 20 years post hand surgery where it's not supposed to be a problem. I knew I'd never get my strength back in my thumb, but damn can that digit hurt like a beast when I over use it. It's a work day. Must rush off to get myself presentable. Need to figure out which contests I'll be writing for this week. Way too early in the "I Write" contests to be slacking off already. Happy Crappy Monday all  |
| Wow, it's been 5 1/2 years since I wrote in my blog. That is a very long time. I just spent July battling it out for the Throne in "Game of Thrones" by Gaby ~ Keeper Of The Realm  . That was quite an intense ride, but I had a lot of fun. Win or lose, it is worth it. I made some new friends, that is the ultimate bonus as far as I'm concerned.Team Greyjoy did not disappoint, and I am so grateful for my team that stepped in and worked out to complete in review battles and did a really good job of placing in some of the writing competitions. Thanks to all of you who joined me in this endeavor. I cannot thank you all enough. So here's a shout out to all who gave their time in the month of July to take on this challenge with me. No matter how big or small your contribution was, it do appreciate it. Kit of House Lannister  dblameck (David)  Cadie Laine Christine Vixey Todd Tsa~House Greyjoy Joey's Spring has Sprung  Starling 🌷 Carol St.Ann 🌷  abcoachnz-Sometimes around ShadowHawke    to ALL of you!!Now I'm back to working on my Endurance Series. A Perfect Fit, and Megan's Man are now published! That makes me happy. Bride 2 Be is halfway to completion, and with any luck, I'll have it finished by the end of September. At least that's the reasonable goal I've set for myself. This month I joined "I Write in August-September-October" by Aennaytte: Free & Wild in GoT and "I Write Romantic in Winter" by Aennaytte: Free & Wild in GoT . All day I've been searching for contests to write for. I'm kind of bummed I haven't had any luck just yet. But, I'm hoping by tomorrow some contests that I enjoy will update and post their August Prompts.And I really need to jump back into the "Cross Timbers Groups" by 🌷 Carol St.Ann 🌷 . I always get great help when I'm working on one of my novels, and this will be good for me. I can use the interaction and reading other stories to help get my own creativity flowing.Guess that's my little update for now. ~Sweet dreams of and all things romantic! |
| I've been behind in running my school and contest on wdc. Some of it for lack of participation, some because life has just been crazy out of control. But, I feel up for the challenge and getting back into the things that I love. HSP is set to re-open for session 5 on February 14th.
And my contest is open again just in time for Valentine's Day.
I'm looking forward to both. Now I must head out and see how much snow we really got over night and try to clear the driveway. I'm so glad the snowblower is up and running. I hate shoveling, |
| I've cruised my way to chapter 11 of APF, and now I'm trying to figure out just where Grant should make his entrance, where he can have the most collateral damage, that is. Backstory: Ten years prior, Anna was dating Nolan for a month. Grant sweeps into town, has the hots for her and lies about having connections in the fashion industry back in New York. Being young and naive, Anna runs off to New York without a word to her friends and family. Once in NY, Anna quickly learns of Grant's lies, but is too ashamed to go back home and spends the next decade alone in NY going nowhere. Now: Anna and Nolan are fighting the attraction, but losing and resigning themselves to try again. Anna just got a new job at a boutique and her boss likes her designs. Dilemma: Should Grant a) Come into the Boutique and sell himself to Lisa, Anna's boss? or b) have a public entrance where both Nolan and Anna are? I can't decide which would be worse for Anna. Just Grant's reappearance will cause trouble for her. Since Nolan already believes she'll never stick around is having trouble trusting her, option B would work. Her new career is just taking off, and having him try to manipulate her boss would definitely have a major impact on her as well, so option A could work. Sigh, I just can't decide. I'm open to suggestions!  |
| I sent the first 10k, 5 chapters off to my editor, so now I wait for word on what she finds so I can make the appropriate changes. I'm working on the next 5 chapters, and an entry for Paradise Cove. Deadline is tomorrow night, so I need to get my booty in gear. It's already been a long and cold winter. At this point I'd welcome some sunshine and warmth. I'm contemplating doing MarNoWriMo, but haven't made up my mind as of yet. Guess it will all boil down to time, and if I get through APF before March 1st. Other than that, I can't complain. How shocking is that? |
| To blog, or not to blog, that is the question rambling through my brain. I do miss it, so here goes. Let's see. I took the psych class and passed. Yeah!!! I took a romance writing class and did well there too. From that class, I found a good editor, and now I'm working on a major revision of A Perfect Fit. I like where the story is going, and am excited as I comb through it, chapter by chapter. It's my favorite of all the stories I've written. Always a good thing. I was going to take another college course on the way to my degree this semester, but changed my mind days before classes began. I really want to write, to get this story as good as it possibly can be, and try to submit it by spring. Between work, the kids and house, there just wasn't enough time to take the English class. So writing is what I'm focusing on at the moment. I know I made the right decision. There is never anything wrong with choosing a path and sticking to it. My follow through usually sucks, but this time, I know it's the right path for me, so I move forward. Tales of Seduction is put on hold do to lack of entries. I'm trying to figure out what to do with HSP as well. I guess my plate is full |
| RIP Irish. I miss you like crazy. Seems you were the one that held us altogether, and without, well, it's just not the same. And seriously, I need to take something with me to the cemetery next time to cut away all the grass that is trying it's damnedest to grow over the stone. |
| So, I'm in Lebanon, a place I visit almost every summer for the past 15 years. This is the first time I am driving here. It's insanity at its finest. I confess I've adapted quickly, better than I thought I would. Had a few close calls with smashing the Mercedes. Parking is the most difficult in Beirut. Good luck finding a place without circling around the block three and four times. Hey, I even got a parking ticket! Yep, that's right. I saw other cars parked next to the University, figured I was safe. Nope. An hour later, head off for some shopping and yep, yellow ticket on the windshield. I know the way up and down the mountain, to the freeway, and where to get off and head into the city. But what I never expected, was the freeway to close for 15 days so they could work on it. I was already in Beirut where I heard the freeway going up to Bchamoun was closed. I had to go up since I was going to the beach today. So ok, I get directions from 4 different people, think I can manage this, going to the old road Ouzai. Right? WRONG! Well, I missed the original turn, but managed to get myself to Ouzai, and made it home. Took an hour, but I did it. So this morning, I am feeling good, know that the freeway down to Beirut is open, and guess what? IT'S CLOSED!. I took this little short cut that I always take, and see all the cars on the entrance ramp backing up and turning around. UGH. Son of BEACH. Do I know the way to Ouzai. Nope. I have Z call his Aunt, tell her the freeway is closed, and she can't help me. Doesn't know the way to the old road. When I tell her I'm in Chofait, she freaks out, says she'll call her husband and he will direct me. Good plan right? Well here's the thing, my SIL speaks English, my BIL, not so much. He can say, I love you, yes I do, yes and no. How is this helpful?  Anyway, I head off, following the rest of the traffic, and there's a sign that says "Beyrouth". Yes, I take that turn, and it's OUZAI! Go me. Now here's the fun part,where do I go once Ouzai ends? No idea. Take the bridge up, go down beside the bridge? I cringe at the thought, get to the end of that road and call my SIL. She doesn't remember the way back. I turn to Z, "This is the exact reason I shouldn't be driving in a foreign country." And damn it, I shouldn't be. Anyway, I take the road beside the bridge, recognize it as my wrong turn from the night before, and then I get to do the fun part.Those damn European turns. OMG. What torture, Multiple cars fighting to cross, go up and to the left, go around. Don't ask me how, but somehow I managed to survive the freakin turn, hit the right road, and get to my SILs. Only, no parking.  NOT. I had her come down to take my car and find a place to park. It's one thing to drive, another to shove your car into the smallest space possible on narrow roads with constant traffic. Luckily, a neighbor saw her having trouble parking, and had his son come down and move his car so she could park mine there. Now I ask you, does that kind of thing happen in America? I think not! Going back up after the beach and massive sun burn, I was smart. My SILs brother was at her house, and lives in the same mountain I do. Me no fool. I ask him to show me the right way to go home, and yes, traffic wasn't so bad tonight. Let's just hope I can keep my cool for the next ten days until hubby arrives, and I can happily hand over the car key! T is out... |
| My Zak graduated on Saturday! Woots! ~ T does happy dance for her son~ The place was packed, and even being there a half hour early wasn't good enough. We ended up sitting on the lawn beside the bleachers that belong to the new football field, the one the ceremony wasn't held on. I cannot get over how rude people were. We could barely hear anything, since the hordes of people decided it was better to talk through the entire ceremony, to chat and catch up with people they hadn't seen in awhile. So damn irritating I tell ya. But my favorite part was the person standing on the fence behind me. After the rain started I moved back to sit on the sliver of cement the fence was posted into. The person behind me picked the prime opportunity to stick their foot up my ass. And yes I mean literally. I leaned my back further into the fence, hoping it would hit them enough for them to remove said foot, but nope. It remained. What a scum sucking pig! Seriously. It did rain during the ceremony, but not enough to make people leave. After that, we rushed home for some pictures, and then Zak and I had to be back at the school for the Senior party, with the theme of "New York Nights." The party was fun, until the storm hit around 11, and tornado warnings started going off. They shuffled all of the kids into the gym, and most of the parent volunteers as well. That went on for a good half hour. By 3am, R was texting that we had a swimming pool in our backyard. I flipped out. The roads were flooded as well. So all night I was working 'coat check'. Every time one of the 300 graduates won something, we had to put it into their bag. Running up and down the hallway was oh so much fun. I saw Zak a few times, kept waiting for him to bring me something he won, but nope. Nada. Not a thing. At 2am they were entertained by the hypnotist. They brought the 2am prizes and still nothing. There was only one drawing left, 3am. The party ends, the fun begins with giving all of the seniors their gift bags. And I am running, and waiting for Zak. No Zak, no Zak, no Zak. Finally after 250 kids take off, I see him. I ask, "Tell me you won something." The brat says, "Well, actually..." and places a nice white box on the table. I turn it..OMG OMG OMG. My son won the top raffle prize. A brand new Mac book. He told me how he was putting his tickets into other prizes, trying to win a flat screen tv for the living room, an ipod for his cousin. He put only 1 ticket into the laptop. ONE. I still can't even believe it Zak drives us home at 5am. I get to the house, look outside and want to cry. Most of the backyard was under water, and the tent, table and chairs were right in the middle of it. What a mess. I tried to go to bed, my mind was a mess, trying to figure out what to do, where to put all of the guests, if the water would go down. By 8am, I had to get out of bed instead of trying to sleep. R heads out back, disappears into the treeline, and is able to unclog the top of the sewer so the water could go the hell away. It wouldn't be enough to use that portion of the yard though. The recent heat wave was gone, replaced by a cool 70. No way the sun would come out long enough to dry the yard. I called the company and they came out and moved the tent to higher ground. We got the decorations up just in time. The place was packed, but we had a great time. R and I were so busy we didn't even have a chance to eat. The lack of sleep didn't help either. By 8pm we made the mad dash to Target to get last minute items before our Monday flight overseas. Not sure if it was the bright lights, but I wound up dizzy, quick headache and almost passed out. Not a good combo. R had to finish shopping and Danny took me to the car. All in a weekends insanity.  I'm off. Got to finish packing and head to the airport. Will check back in. |
Classes start Monday, so if anyone's interested:
Tf |
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