It's not all about me...

Nothing new to report here and so I wanted to share with you a few of my favorite blogs that have great stuff going on.

Alex J. Cavanaugh is in the midst of his Catch Fire book tour for his second book CassaFire, sequel to CassaStar. Go check out his blog to find out where he is each day promoting his book! There's interviews, and trivia questions and prizes happening everywhere you look!

I enjoy watching Sci-Fi movies and although I can't say I've ever read a book in this genre I'm certainly going to start now!

Best of luck, Alex!


Tara from Tara Tyler Talks is holding a follower celebration with a book giveaway! Go tell her about your WIP or yourself and enter the contest!


And finally, Suz from Suzi's Ice Box Art! (aka Mom) has been showing off her homework from her on-line art class. She even shared pictures of her craft area which probably doesn't look like that anymore because she moves stuff around in there more often than I bitch and moan.


Also...Happy Leap Day. I have no idea what that means but I thought I better wish you one.

What have you been up to? Any other exciting blog happenings that you want to share?

Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K...

The end of the paper edits are so close.

But, I seem to have a problem.

I mean, I was on a roll. Each day I would pick up those papers and edit, edit, edit until I could edit no further and then I would transfer all those edits into the computer and make the story shine.

Now, I have but a few pages to go and I'm at a standstill.

I look at those papers and suddenly I have something much more important to do.

Like laundry.

What I don't know is if its because I'm apprehensive about writing what comes next or if I actually don't like the last part and need to rewrite it.

At least I recognize it as something my brain is trying to tell me is wrong except this time I'm not sure WHICH thing.

Here's hoping that I figure it out before I blow a blood vessel!


Have you signed up for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge yet? They are doing a big push to get 1000 followers before March 1st. They're already at 765! It's going to be fantastic! They now have a Facebook page and they are on Twitter! Come join the fun and meet some new friends!

Proof that I'm writing...

See!

I'm alive!

And...I'm really writing/editing.

I decided to share a little excerpt of Maguire's Corner with you guys.

This scene takes place shortly after one that I already posted. If you would like to read that one first (it's Jack and Maggie's first kiss) then you can go here!

The sad thing is that I posted that scene last Valentine's Day and I'm still working on the same book.

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It was impossible in a town full of relatives to keep the news of the break-in from her mother. Before Maggie had even changed out of her pajamas Grace had arrived bright and early Monday morning bringing Maggie’s Aunt Dana and Cousin Kate to help with the clean-up.

Maggie was working in her bathroom, refolding all the towels that been had pulled out from the linen closet. She was trying to set them back on the top shelf without getting the step stool but she stretched a little too far and gasped when her rib objected.

“What was that?” Kate asked coming into the bathroom.

“I can’t wait for this stupid rib to heal,” Maggie ground out.

“Let’s have a look. Take off the sweatshirt.”

Maggie complied knowing there was no arguing with Kate while she was in doctor mode. She carefully slipped the shirt over her head and stood in front of Kate in just her black satin bra. Kate flipped on another light over the sink.

“A cracked rib takes a long time to heal but I’m surprised that it’s still so tender to the touch. Did you have new trauma to the area?” Kate asked.

Conjuring the memory of last night Maggie got a little flushed and wasn’t sure how she could explain.

Kate stopped poking long enough to look up at Maggie with a knowing smile.

“Was it a someone?”

“Sort of.”

“You know, there’s been talk right?” Kate checked the injuries on Maggie’s chest. “You have some infection in the largest wound here. Are you putting on the antibiotic ointment I gave you?”

“Yes, to the ointment. And no, talk about what?”

“You. And Chief Munro.”

“Me and Chief Munro what?”

“Don’t be dense.”

“Pretend I’m new here. Fill me in.”

“Word is that you have been spending a lot of time together.”

“Well, some, I guess. But, I was a witness to a crime. Of course it may seem we have been together a lot but it’s not like that. He’s been helping me out.”

“I think there may be a bit of metal trying to push out here that we missed. If you have alcohol and tweezers I’ll clean this up for you.”

“Sure.”

Maggie turned to the medicine cabinet and began to pull the items Kate needed.

“I thought you hated him?” Kate asked.

“Jack? I don’t hate him. I just didn’t like him.”

“And now?” 

Kate cleaned the tweezers with soap and water and then poured alcohol over them.

“And nothing.”

“I’m less than convinced. Keep still, please.”

Kate managed to pick out the piece of metal and clean up the infected area. Then she put more ointment on the wound and put a new bandage over it.

“There, all done. Now, spill. Why did you get all pink when I asked about your ribs?” Kate asked.

Maggie took a moment while she slipped her sweatshirt back on.

“No matter how I say it in my head, it sounds like more than it is.”

“You’re killing me.”

Maggie checked the doorway and then whispered, “Jack kissed me.”

“What!”

“Shh!”

“And you let him?”

“Well, it was kind of - mutual.”

“How mutual?”

Maggie described the brief moment with Jack and Kate fanned herself with her hand.

“Gosh. Who knew?”

“But then he got a call and left.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want him to kiss you again?”

“I don’t know.”

“You might want to figure some of this out before you see him again.”

“I’m not sure it’s appropriate. He’s Bobby’s boss and Emily’s. He’s the Police Chief.”

“So? He’s not a reverend.”

Maggie shook her head. “I have to think about it.”

     “Of course you do. Just don’t over think it, like you do. You know this manual labor and free medical care requires lunch compensation, right?”

     “Indeed. The Maguire Beef Stew is in the slow cooker.”

     “That will be thanks enough,” Kate said grinning. “I’m going back to the living room.”

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I am mere moments away from finishing the paper edits and then I can start writing the last chapters and FINISH THIS BOOK!

Sorry, didn't mean to yell.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Friday!

 

What the hell day is it????

What's going on here? I step away from the laptop for five minutes and it's Monday? What the...?

Okay. I'm sorry. I'm a bad blogger these last few weeks.

I do miss you. Does that mean anything at all?

I'm fine. Just busy and a little distracted. I am editing but not writing. Which I would like to reverse very soon.

On a completely unrelated note...I was tagged by SherryE from Mama Diaries this weekend. Thank you Sherry!

The rules are below but I think most of you know me by now and are aware that...well...I hate rules.

But...I will at least answer these questions.

11 Questions "Getting To Know You" tag.

THE RULES ARE: Answer 11 questions and then make up 11 new questions. Tag and link to 11 other bloggers.

1. What is your favorite holiday? - Halloween. I'm even thinking of having a Halloween themed blood drive this year.
2. If you could visit any place in the world, where would you go? - Ireland
3. What is your favorite genre? - I don't really have a favorite. I'll read just about anything.
4. What or who has inspired your writing the most? - I have wonderful 'editors' that spur me on but certainly reading great authors inspires me to write.
5. What's your favorite food? - Chocolate. It is too a food!
6. Who's your favorite author? - What's that? A trick question? I have to have one favorite? Craziness. Nora Roberts. Janet Evanovich. Michael Crichton. Preston/Child. Laurell K. Hamilton. Karen Marie Moning. Jeffrey Deaver. Patricia Briggs. Robert Jordan. John Grisham.
7. What's your favorite TV show? - Favorite again? I just can't pin these things down. I watch too much TV. Castle. Bones. House. H5O. Survivor. Big Bang Theory. Fringe. The Closer. Psych. Rizzoli & Isles. Sons of Anarchy. 
8. If you could time travel, where in time would you go? - I am so not screwing around with the space-time continuum.
9. Do you have a pet? - 4 cats own me.
10. What's your favorite type of music? - Huh. Favorite. Annoying word. I listen to all types of music from heavy metal to classical.
11. Where do you write? Usually in my living room but I'll move the laptop to wherever.

So...now that you know all that superfluous information about me I'm sure your day is complete. 

What are you up to? 

Maybe if I ignore it...

Maybe if I ignore Valentine's Day I won't have to write anything about it.

Guess not.

You would think someone who LOVES romance as much as I do, enough to write about it anyway, would also love Valentine's Day but, sadly, not me.

We have spoken about this before, so I won't bore you. (2011).


Just as an update, I did purchase, for my six year old, a box of cards with lollipops to hand out to his classmates.

No scarring of the young son this year. (Thanks DL!)


Sorry I've been neglecting the blog lately. Lots of fun stuff going on and I wasn't able to sit down and write.

Are you buying any of that? Me neither.

The bad news is that it's going to be another few days before I get my life back under control.

The good news is that I've still been editing Maguire's Corner. I've almost finished going through the printed pages. Then I need to re-read through the whole thing. Then I can continue.


As you know, it feels good to work on a story. It feels really good to make progress.

Writing was always my escape. My go to when things got rough. My stories were always more interesting than my actual life and I wanted...no needed...to live in those worlds instead of my own crappy life.


Reality must now take precedence over fiction. Whether I like it or not. But, as long as I keep thinking about it and finding small bits of time to get back to it, it will have to do for right now.


Thanks to all of you for listening.


I hope you have/had a nice Valentine's Day.

Stormy has had his first photo shoot for the A to Z Challenge! Are you working on your alphabet?

So, I get this note...

So, I get this note home from school today.

Factoid: I have a son. He's six. He's in First Grade.

The note is from the First Grade Teachers (three classes) to all the First Grade Families.

It says: Here is a class list to use when making Valentine's Day cards. Please make sure that you have a card for every child in the class. We will be celebrating Valentine's Day on Tuesday, February 14th.

Question: When did the word 'when' replace the word 'if'?

Question: Why is it okay to celebrate SAINT Valentine's Day in school but so many other holidays are taboo?

Question: What other day might you celebrate Valentine's Day on besides February 14th?

Now, really, I'm not knockin' the teachers. This is fun for the kids.

They will laugh and giggle and get all red in the face. The boys will punch the girls or pull their hair to show their affection and the girls will secretly plot their early demise. It's all in good fun.

But, I guess I'll have to either make *shiver* or buy 24 little Valentines with my son so he won't be the only kid who didn't give them out.

Honestly, I'm still cracking the whip on him to finish his thank you cards from Christmas.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Anyone else
Have to do this too?

Jokes on me.

The following is a mishmash of interesting and funny stuff that's been circulating on Facebook. 
 
To see the Super Bowl made out of *LEGOS* (so amazing) click here!


I knew it!

Little Free Libraries are awesome. Check them out here!

This is awesome!

This fits my personality more than I'd like to admit.

Too funny!

And I'll be off to the store to pick up some of this shortly!

It's therapy! Says so right on the package!

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend.

I will be resting on Saturday to save all my energy for Sunday for the Super Bowl!

Go Giants!

And, hopefully, continuing with my editing. I have diligently been doing a little each day.

What are y'all up to this weekend?

IWSG - Got Guts?

The following post is brought to you by the Insecure Writer's Support Group hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. 

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Guts: fortitude and stamina in coping with what alarms, repels, or discourages.

Gut check.

Gut feeling.

A gut reaction.

Gut response.

Gut instinct.

Go with your gut.

"Gentlemen, I don't find it easy to talk at a time like this, but I got to say something about that guy up there, and I can sum it all up in just one word: courage...dedication, daring, pride, pluck, spirit, grit, mettle, and G-U-T-S, *guts*. Why, Ted Striker's got more guts in his little finger than most of us have in our large intestine, including the colon." Steve McCroskey

So. Are you pickin' up what I'm puttin' down?

When our gut is talking we should be listening.

Our gut helps us write. It helps to steer the ship.

When we don't listen to our gut our story can sometimes fall apart or go off course.

Recently I didn't listen to my gut and I couldn't write for a few months. Forcing myself to sit back down I finally deleted a whole section of crap and was finally able to continue.

Something was wrong with the story and I thought something was wrong with me.

How do we tell the difference?

It ain't easy.

There is a level of trust, conviction and confidence that we need to attain in ourselves and our work in order to push through the insecurity and sit our asses in the chair and do what we do best.

Write.