Z is for Zero, Zip, Nada, Zilch - A to Z Challenge

HOLY CHEEZ-ITS! THE LETTER Z!!! 

(Insert corny Barry Manilow song here) 

"Looks like we made it..." 

Welcome to the last letter of the alphabet! Don't be sad. Z may be last but its important.

Don't believe me?

Try using the word gaze in your romance novel without it!

How would you be able to zig and then subsequently zag?

K. Really, I got nothin'.

Moving on.

I refuse to tell you all about my wonderful A to Z Challenge experience in this post...because I'm going to save it for the A to Z Challenge Reflections Mega Post on May 2nd.

What I will say is....THANK YOU! Thanks so much for coming. Thanks for sticking with me. Thanks for commenting. Thanks for following. Thanks!

Also...don't adjust your sets! Maybe I should have mentioned this first. I thought this might be a good time to spruce up the place. Get a little blog makeover. If I can't stand it in a day or two it will go back to the way it was until I find something else I like. Please be patient.

So. That, as they say, is that. I will say goodbye for now and see you on the morrow. Wait, that's Sunday. Hmmm. Maybe I will see you on the Monday. Yeah. That's better.

Y is for Yada, yada, yada - A to Z Challenge

Do you use catch phrases from your favorite shows and movies in your everyday life?

Do you, you know, fill in a long story with "and if she does...yada, yada, yada...she'll be up for parole in about 3 to 5."

Do you say "Shiny!" instead of "Great/Awesome/Perfect!"?

Have you ever said "It's not logical" and then raised your eyebrow?

What about "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die"?

Here are some family favorites:

"If those are my last words I can do better." F. Mulder

" Ah, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" H. Washburne 

"I'm givin' her all she's got, Captain!" M. Scott

"Who's scruffy looking?" H. Solo

"Spaceballs the flame thrower!" Yogurt

"Where am I going to get a piece of metal?... Out here in space?... At this hour?" T. Striker

"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking." S. McCroskey

"If the apocalypse comes, beep me." B. Summers 

"You're fired! Everybody's fuckin' fired!" Lt. Mac

"The Inquisition, what a show. The Inquisition, here we go. We know you're wishin' that we'd go away! But the Inquisitions here and it's here to stay!" Spanish Monk Chorus

Got any you can't live without?

See you tomorrow for the Letter Z!!!!!

Also, check this out: A to Z Challenge Reflections Mega Post on Monday May 2, 2011.

X is for The X-Files - A to Z Challenge

You just knew I was going to do this!

I have chosen 10 of my favorite episodes, only ten, and listed them in season order.

I have included a link for episode descriptions, from Red Wolf, so you can read about them, if you like.


Heather's Top Ten X-Files Episodes 

1. The X-Files: Pilot - Season 1
Reason: The beginning is a great place to start.

2. Shapes - S.1
Reason: An elderly Native American man calls Mulder Sneaky Fox for the first time in this episode about a werewolf like creature.

3. The Anasazi (part 1 of 3) - S.2
The Blessing Way (part 2 of 3) - S.3
Paper Clip (part 3 of 3) - S.3
Reason: My favorite of the mythology series.

4. Syzygy - Season.3
Reason: Completely mental.

5. Pusher - S.3
Reason: Loved watching Mulder mentally compete with the bad guy.

6. Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space' - S.3
Reason: Best. Episode. Ever. 

7. Small Potatoes - S.4
Reason: It's cute and funny and psychotic.


8. Detour - S.5 
Reason: I really enjoy when Mulder and Scully get stuck some where and they get to have great conversation.

9.How the Ghosts Stole Christmas - S.6
Reason: Lily Tomlin and Ed Asner. Awesomesauce.

10. Arcadia - S.6
Reason: Mulder and Scully go undercover as a married couple, Rob and Laura Petrie!
Mulder to Scully: "Woman, get back in here and make me a sandwich." 


Special Mention
11. Home - S.4
Reason: Cause it's disturbing and gross and disturbing.


So, there you go. If you don't own the entire collection then you can order seasons from your local library or get them from Netflix Instant Watch.

Happy viewing!

W is for Whedon! - A to Z Challenge

Joss Whedon. Coolest. Guy. Ever.

-Writer
-Director
-Producer
-Creator
-Actor
-Composer
-Singer

Is there anything he can't do?

Actually I'm sure there are lots of things he can't do.

And, to be completely honest, not everything he has done has met with rave reviews, hence, his shows getting canceled a lot.

But, I think we are truly lucky to have him because he is different. He is not willing or even able to make the same'ol stuff that we see in the movies and on TV.

He breaks the molds.

He makes us think. He makes us cry. He makes us laugh...out...loud.

What's that? Anyone can do that?

Who could have predicted that Buffy and Angel would never find their 'Happily-Ever-After' together?

Or, what he would do to Tara?

Who could have predicted the ending to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog?

Who could have predicted what he would do to Wash in Serenity?

(Mr. Whedon, you're killing me!)

He is truly an evil genius in that he knows what you want and he gives it to you and when you are feeling all warm and fuzzy because of it he will literally flay the skin off your body and then incinerate you.

Ah...good times.

I am certainly looking forward to seeing Captain America: The First Avenger that comes out this year and The Avengers that he is currently shooting right this moment.

One day MGM just might release The Cabin in the Woods for our enjoyment as well.

As usual, these are just my opinions. It is, after all, my blog.

Thanks for the visit.

Come back tomorrow for the Letter X!

V is for Victim - A to Z Challenge

Pardon our appearance. We are experiencing technical difficulties...

Okay, I had an excerpt from my Maguire's Corner story on here. I quickly looked through it last night and posted it for today.

This morning it looked pretty fucking sad and I just deleted it. 

It was lacking, well, everything.

No use scaring all my new friends away.

So, V is now for Vehement. 

I should be vehemently against putting crap from my stories on my blog before they have been rigorously read and edited.

Thanks for stopping in and I apologize that this isn't more exciting.


Come back tomorrow for the Letter W. I'll give you a hint...it rhymes with Eden!


UPDATE: A to Z Challenge Reflections Mega Post!

U is for Uninhibited - A to Z Challenge

My life has taken many strange turns. Many.

One of them was becoming the woman on the back of a Harley.

Many would say they would want to be the driver, and part of me says that too, but I also know my limitations.

It didn't take me as long to get on as I thought it would. I trust my husband. It's everyone else that I have a problem with.

But, once I hopped on I was in love.

Riding down the road on the bike clears my head. De-stresses me. Calms me. Makes me feel better.

I love riding in mid-summer when the air is warm against my skin and I can smell BBQ's cooking and hear kids playing outside.

I love going on poker runs and to dealership events with other Harley riders. The parking lots become a sea of bikes and we just wander around looking at paint jobs and accessories.

My husband has made some beautiful additions and changes to our bike removing over half the chrome and replacing them in black. It looks awesome and evil.

I highly recommend giving motorcycle riding a chance and I hope to see you all out on the open road. I'll be waving from the back of this...

Hoppy Holiday!

It's a split day for us. Half day with the husband's parents, half day with mine. Luckily the travel time between them is only 20 minutes.

1 week left for this challenge. So far this has been very interesting and gratifying. I have seen and read so many new things and met so many great new people.

I'm less than 30 people from hitting 200 followers and less than 20 days until my 1 year anniversary. All very exciting.


I would say I'm a very lucky gal.


Have a great Easter holiday, for those of you that celebrate with or without the bunny, and I will see you on Monday for the Letter U!

T is for Ted - A to Z Challenge

And now...for the biggest... the baddest... the scaredy-catiest.... TED!

Ted is our big lump. He looks tough, he acts tough but there isn't a tough bone in his body.

He is another stray (yep, all 4 of them) and when we got him he had a huge scratch down his face. We joked about him having Cat Scratch Fever. You know, by Ted Nugent? No? OK. Shows you how old I am.

Ted is happiest when he is lying on top of another cat stealing all their warmth or in a sun beam.

He spends about an hour each morning trying to wake me up so that I will feed him. He's not very nice about it either.

Ted hates loud noises, a thunder and lightning storm or fireworks going off send him right to the back of a closet or under the covers.


So, now you have met the four beasts.

S is for Squishy! - A to Z Challenge

This is Squishy...

Yep. She's a cutie.

When we got her we named her Sydney. (We may have been watching the show Alias at the time.)

She was only about the size of a soda can when we brought her home.


She hasn't really grown much since then.

After a while her nickname, Lil'Bit (like Lil'Bit'o'Kitty), became her primary handle. It just seemed to fit.

But then, while watching the movie Finding Nemo, Dory calls a tiny jellyfish Squishy. She touches it with her fin and it zaps her and she yells, "Bad Squishy!".

I turned to Sydney/Lil'Bit at that very moment, who was doing something bad as usual, and renamed her Squishy.

She is our weirdest cat. She would rather be under the covers than over; she doesn't like her butt touched; she meeps instead of meows and she loves people food. She will remove your fingertips stealing chicken right out of your hand. She loves french fries and popcorn but I think her absolute favorite food is peanut butter. 


Got me! I don't get her either.

But, I do love the Squishy!


Come back tomorrow to meet kitty #4 - The Ted!

R is for Review - A to Z Challenge

Warning: possible spoilers ahead.


Warning: possible opinions that may differ from yours ahead.

Warning: ...ah, screw it. You get the point.

I gave myself permission to read a book. YEAH! 

First, I saw the movie trailer for Something Borrowed. Yikes. The guy who plays Dex is hot! I don't even know who that is but I really don't care.

Moving on.

During the trailer it says 'From the best selling novel by Emily Giffin'.

Really? I like best selling novels!

So, I purchased the e-book (Thank You Wendy Tyler Ryan!) from Amazon and I finished reading it yesterday.

I won't really go into detail, for those of you who want to read it and/or watch the movie, but I can easily tell by the trailer that this movie does not follow the book...at all.

As for the story, I liked it. The romance was sweet, the characters were realistic and it had a good sense of humor.

So many of the main character's realizations and childhood memories hit home with me.

There were quite a few moral and ethical dilemmas in the book but I'm not opening that can of worms in this post. 

But...I wasn't fond of the ending. I thought it was missing something. Something big. It left me with a lot of questions. I checked twice to see if the last chapter even downloaded.

It was just strange.

It makes you wonder though, what about her book caused an agent/publisher to sit up and take notice? What about her book made someone say, this would make a great movie?

I do think the movie will be good. It's got an excellent cast. But, I'm not sure they should call it by the same name when the screenwriters took such liberties with it.

I'd go watch it just to ogle the hot guy and to see how they end the movie compared to the book.

Well, that's my review. I don't do 'stars' so I will just say that I'm glad, for a number of reasons, that I read it.

Q is for Questionable Query

Today's post was going to be about the QWERTY keyboard.

Yeah.


Bored now!

So, instead, I'm going to post my crappy query letter and let you guys take pot shots at it!

Since I trust you, my strange unfathomable followers, with everything else why not let you tell me all the things that are wrong with my letter!

---

Dear Agent,

Do you remember the night of your high school graduation?

Riley Kincaid can remember every moment in startling detail.

Colin Campbell’s memory of that night has more holes than the PGA tour.

While Colin is home, taking a break from his band’s chaotic schedule to attend his twin sister’s wedding, his own world is rocked when he confronts Riley to learn why she has scorned him for almost ten years.

Riley has vowed to be the perfect bridesmaid to her best friend, Kerry, even when she is forced to spend three days with the man that literally loved her and left her.

After Colin and Riley begin to practice full disclosure about their past they agree to take a chance on their future. But, will their new tenuous relationship survive the launch of his band’s rock tour and domineering manager and her formerly absent but currently intrusive parents?

Setting the Record Straight is my contemporary romance of approximately 55,000 words in length.

---

Have at it! What do you like? What do you hate? What do you get? What don't you get? What did I forget? Why doesn't anyone want it? Does it suck? Have you already read this book? Should I put it away? Should I hang up my QWERTY keyboard?

Let me know. 

Just for fun:

Have you guys checked out the Jousting Peeps yet? Go see Erin at Something Else to Distract Me!

P is for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month - A to Z Challenge

April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month. 

The ASPCA, and numerous other local animal shelters, encourage the public to show their awareness by wearing or displaying orange for their 'Go Orange for Animals' campaign. 

Animal abuse and neglect includes failure to provide sustenance of food, water, grooming and veterinary care, adequate and proper clean shelter, abandonment whether on the street, in a public or private place! 

Tell your family, friends and neighbors to become part of this campaign to improve the lives of animals everywhere and 'if you see something, say something' to prevent animal abuse and neglect.

Go Orange for Animals!
---

If you are still reading you can help me wish a Happy Birthday to my nephew, Andrew!

O is for Obfuscate - A to Z Challenge

"Deceive, Inveigle, Obfuscate."

It's a tagline from The X-Files.

Less than 20 of the episodes contained a tagline that wasn't "The Truth is Out There."

I had to look up Inveigle and Obfuscate.

My point? You thought I had one? Well, I sort of do.

Sometimes its easier to deceive myself than to admit the awful truth. Convince myself that the awful truth isn't true. Cover up the awful truth instead of believing it.

Even when it's staring me right in the face.

I'll let Scully wrap this up...

"But what science may never be able to explain is our ineffable fear of the alien among us; a fear which often drives us not to search for understanding, but to deceive, inveigle, and obfuscate. To obscure the truth not only from others, but from ourselves."  DS

Sentimental

Feeling pretty weird today. A little sad, a little frustrated. Feeling some anxiety, some stress.

I feel like I'm doing all this stuff, all this blogging, all this writing and I'm still exactly where I have always been...absolutely fucking nowhere. 

I'm sure you guys get tired of hearing me bitch and moan but technically that is what this blog was created for.

I wanted to spare my family from having to hear me complain so they didn't lynch me.

I'm sentimental because I wanted to post an excerpt of my book for one of the letters during the challenge and while going back through my book to find just the right part I was, of course, reading.

I shouldn't be like this but I LOVE my story. It ain't perfect, I get that, but I still love it.

Well, to be honest, I was going to rant and bitch some more but I just don't have my heart in it today.


Instead I will tell you that I received a blog award from Tara Tyler at Tara Tyler Talks! She has handed out the Versatile Blogger Award to myself and 14 other very cool blogs!
If you want to read the 'oh so exciting 7 facts about me' feel free to click here!


So, thank you for the award, Tara. It's appreciated.

N is for Notch - A to Z Challenge

This is an excerpt from Setting the Record Straight.
 

Riley’s breath caught in her chest when she looked up at him and then her heart sent her a painful reminder. She was being careless. How many times would she let her guard down with this man?

He was leaving tomorrow. Nothing was ever going to change between them and she shouldn’t want it to. She needed distance. She wanted things to go back the way they were before she opened her big mouth.

“I know what you’re trying to do,” she blurted out.

“What’s that?” Colin asked.

“You’re being nice to me so that I will have to be nice back.”

“You think so?”

“See, cause if I’m nice to you then no one is mad at you.”

“And you think that matters to me? That everyone has to like me?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Really? You think you’re the only person in the world that is pissed at me right now?”

His words were laced with anger and even in this light, she could tell, the look he was giving her wasn’t friendly.

“Well -”

“You’re not.”

“I have a good reason.”

“They all have good reasons.”

Trying not to disturb the other guests on the deck Colin pulled her further away from the doors to the railing.

“How come you never said anything to me?”

Colin had wanted to ask her this question ever since she had told him about the night of their graduation.

“What should I have said?”

“Anything. Something.”

“What, I should have called you in the city and asked you why you left poor little me back home? Or maybe the first time you came back I should have offered you another go?”

“Stop that. Why do you say things like that?”

“Like what? I’m just another notch, right?”

“No.”

“No? I hear I’m not the only girl you forgot about.”

“Don’t,” Colin warned.

“What was her name again? Valerie something, right?”

“Stop, Riley.”

“Seems you left her high and dry in a hotel room and then sent your groupies to go clean up your mess.”

Riley was trying to get around him but he had her blocked in the corner of the railing.

“That’s not what happened,” Colin said. “You don’t know the whole story.

“I don’t need her story, Colin, I have my own.”

“So, I make a mistake and you think you get to pass judgment on me? And you think I’m a snob?” he asked her hotly, his eyes hard black. “Don’t talk about things you don’t know about, Riley. It’s not good enough for you to read a story in the tabloids and think you know a fucking thing about who I am. You know what? I’m done. You make it too hard, which I guess was your intention all along.”