I've been gnome to write a blog post!

It's me! Stormy!

I'm taking over HER blog today. She's completely useless while editing. She's got some weird need to edit each day until her brain begins to bleed.


I've got some great stuff to show you so get ready for some laughs!

I love when others are thinking about me, and really, why wouldn't they? I'm awesome!

Here's some recent photos I've been sent!

She looks...friendly.

Nothing says roast chicken like a gnome butt in the face!

How did HE get his own product line?

It's me! In chalk!

Also...go see Gary/klahanie if you want to see someone even more obsessed with gnomes than ... well ... me.

Here's some great pics I stole from Facebook!

And finally...here's a little Stormy tip that I'd like to share with all of you.

Don't let Bear play your X-Box. He will beat all your high scores and he gets sticky honey on your controller!

Feel free to send me gnome pics!
Hope you guys have a nice weekend!

Dreaded Red Pen

It's been so long!
I haven't been here since last Wednesday. 
I completely missed Friday!
What the hell happened?

Oh, yeah, right. Now I remember.
I've been in...

THE EDIT ZONE

I've been working on my edits
All the live long day
I've been working on my edits
And I'm really tired today

I'm gonna finish editing this first draft if it kills me.

It just might kill me.

But, it's okay. It's good. I've received some written (covered in evil red pen) and verbal edits from one of my peeps and I've been working diligently on them.

I'm pleased with the changes I'm making.

I just really, really, really want to make this one work.

If I can't make this one work...I don't know what to do.

I'm hoping to catch up on some of your blogs today. I miss you guys!

Everyone have a nice weekend? 

My gnome could kick your troll's ass.

I'm not going to dwell on this topic but I felt the need to bring it up.

I was on Cassie Mae's blog, Reading, Writing and Lovin' It, and read her recent post Blogger vs. Author.

She talks about a comment that someone left her (you can read the comment under the post I Inspire Someone??) that says, among other things, that she is too open and unprofessional to ever be taken seriously as an author.

You can tell, it hurt her feelings.

After reading her post I went back to read the comment and noticed it was anonymous. That smelled troll-y to me right there. There were also two other anonymous comments.

Personally I think they, although it may actually be only one entity, were spammers.

I left Cassie my own comment but then I also personally emailed her to let her know my opinion.

Professionals, that's what they were purporting to be, don't leave anonymous nasty comments on blog posts.

Too make a long story short, too late ... I believe they were purposely trying to start a fight with Cassie and/or with her followers. I think that's what they do. They crave controversy and try to get it by trolling and spamming wherever they can.

The amount of support that Cassie received telling her not to change a thing about herself or her blog was staggering and wonderful. You can tell how well liked she really is. Hopefully the trolls will go away but will likely just move on to another blog.

My point? Well, my point is just this...don't engage.

If they find you and leave nasty comments on your blog, remember this, we have the power to completely ignore them. That is really the only and best defense. Deleting the comments or responding to them will only give them exactly what they want.

Just my two cents.



So, it's noon in NY and it just hit 90 degrees.

How's it in your neck of the woods?

Monday awesomeness!

Yep, I thought it was just going to be a normal Monday, too.

In fact, I would have bet on it!

But, exciting things are happening!

I got an email from Under the Tiki Hut's Carol Kilgore this morning notifying me that I won a copy of her BRAND NEW book In Name Only which officially releases on July 10th!

Yeah! Thank you so much Carol! I can't wait to read it!

She's has another contest up for this week so head over there and answer this question to win your own copy!

I love firefighters because...


ANNNNNND....

Did you know there is a Breakthrough Breakout FREE Kindle Download Party going on?
 
Today and tomorrow you can download Stephen Tremp's release Breakthrough for FREE!!

ANNNNND....

If you feel the need to look at crafty stuff, Suzanne at Suzi's Ice Box Art! (aka MOM) joined an online art class and she will be sharing her creations with all of us.

I always said she was crafty.

***

Thanks for all of your help and advice last week. Still working on what the term 'layering' means to me but I'm sure it will all come together!

And thanks for all the Stormy love. I'm trying not to be jealous of his success. He is one lucky gnome!

Did y'all have a nice Father's Day? Do anything fun?

Layers. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers.

*squee!

I had a great time on Wednesday. Wait, I mean, Stormy had a great time on Wednesday. He just loved reading all the wonderful and witty comments from everyone. He's a lucky gnome. 

If you didn't get to read the Stormy interview with the amazing and talented Alex J. Cavanaugh then please click here!

*** 

Two out of three reviews have come back from my 'editor' peeps regarding Maguire's Corner. 

Both were favorable with room for improvement! Yeah!

I haven't heard back from the third and I'm starting to think that she has some bad news she doesn't want to share. :)

But, that's okay. It's all constructive criticism, right?

I have thicker skin now. I can take it.

I haven't started on any edits from the first two yet. I only have a little to work with at the moment and I'm still contemplating.

Here's the thing.

One of you guys mentioned 'layering' in the comments the other day. I didn't think anything of it until one of my peeps mentioned 'layering' too. 

Layering. 

I hadn't really thought of writing in those terms. I don't see it...dimensional.

In fact, I don't really see it before I write it at all. I have no clear path. I just write.

It's certainly something to think about and try to figure out a 'Heather' way to come up with a solution. Whether it's layering or polishing or re-writing or fixing or whatever.

So, here I sit, like an ogre, with my layers.

What do you guys think? Do you write in layers? Is your writing dimensional?

A Stormy is brewing...

Thanks to the brilliant mind of Alex J. Cavanaugh, Stormy the Weather Gnome is about to embark on a brand new adventure...


The Interview.

You may think you gnome him.

Well, you can keep thinking that.

But...

Alex gets down in the dirt with some hard hitting questions that will shake the very foundation of what you think is truth and what's just plain nuts.

Follow me to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge blog for all the answers.

It will blow you away!








*Special, special awesome thanks to Alex for inviting Stormy to participate. It was beyond cool.*

Couldn't drag me away...

I'm obsessed.

It's one of my greatest talents and biggest flaws.

My current obsession is Bush.

Hey...stop that.

I mean the band, Bush.

Really. I don't know what came over me. I have always enjoyed listening to their music but I was never a rabid fan. Their music is very good, but it's really Mr. Gavin Rossdale's voice that grabs me and won't let go.

So, I was trolling YouTube when I ran across their cover of The Rolling Stones song Wild Horses.

The cover is incredibly awesome but as I was watching Mr. Gavin Rossdale sing I noticed that he was very focused on something off stage.

I don't know if he was singing to someone specific, but if I had to guess it was someone he knew.

If I had to guess, he wanted to kill them...or he wanted to claim them.

Watch the video and you tell me.

That video of course led to one of my all time favorite Bush songs...Letting the Cables Sleep.

But...I don't get a lot of writing done when I'm listening to music. I tend to just sing the songs and not type.

It's counter-productive! :)

***

In a surprise treat on Saturday, my Muse decided to share an idea for a book. One that would take place after Maguire's Corner. One that forces supporting characters from M.C. to take on a starring role. One that would cause M.C. to become ... wait for it ... the first book in a series.

Well, a series of two.

I didn't leave the door open, so to speak, but I didn't really need to either. I did create M.C. with a very large family in a very large town. So large, in fact, I had to use a family tree program to keep them all straight.


I'm not going to get ahead of myself but I'm very pleased to have new story thoughts banging around in my head. It's also nice to be familiar with the people and places already and not have make it all up from scratch.

Now I know why writing series is so popular.

***

Anyone feel the same way about series? Will your book be a series or a stand-alone?

Anyone watch the Bush videos?


Anyone coming back on Wednesday to see Stormy's first interview with Alex J. Cavanaugh for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge blog?

Do you know? I know!!!!

What do I know?

What don't I know!

I feel like Alex J. Cavanaugh I know so much today!

I'm in the know zone!

And stuff I know...I'm sharing with you!

Author Stephen Tremp has an upcoming book giveaway for his title Breakthrough! Details are here!

Author Michael Pierce's book Provex City is free to download on Amazon...right now! Details are here!

Author Nancy Thompson (sounds good doesn't it?) made up a new word!

Instead of saying...so if you...she made up a much easier version...sndvifvuou!

I like it! It's got a great ring to it!

Like in the movie Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs...The FLDSMDFR (Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator). 

Okay...enough joking around.

One of my peeps called me last night. She said she finished the book and although she saw some things that needed work she did like it.

And...I didn't forget to add in the plot!

Whew and/or Phew!

That does make one feel better.

This will be my face for the rest of the weekend.

Here's to you having a great weekend! 
Got any plans?

p.s. Did I mention that Stormy the Weather Gnome got his first interview? Stay tuned next week to hear more about it!

IWSG - Breathe in, breathe out.

One month ago I was floating on a fluffy cloud of fairy dust.

Today...I'm slogging through the dirty sludge of my mushy spongy brain.

Still feeling pretty good...but now...I'm also feeling...DUH DUH DUHHHHH...insecure.

About what you ask?

I'll tell you. I finished my book and then my first round of edits.

Some of you might be surprised at that but my book is probably shorter than most of yours, only about 50,000 words. And, I tend to edit the entire time I write so I have a head start.

Any-hoo...I sent my book to my two favorite 'editor' peeps yesterday and this is when I start freakin' out!

Will they like it?
Will they think it sucks?
Will they rip it to shreds like Wolverine? Will it come back with more red than black? Will they come back and say I forgot to add the plot?

It's so hard, the waiting.

After I emailed it I decided to go back to the notes I took from the editing class with Angela James.

Ugh.

So, after spending countless more hours finding and replacing words that suck, the book is basically completely different anyway and the peeps are reading the old draft.
 
Keep my chin up. Shoulders back. Remember to breathe.

Breathe in, breathe out.

If they don't like it...well...I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

What keeps you up at night when someone else is reading your work?


How many of you thought of the Bush song Machinehead when you read the post title?

Brain. Soggy.

Workin' hard or hardly workin'? Eh, Bub?

Yep. That's me. Editing and more editing.

I will finish this week.

I will.

Even if my fingers start to bleed and my brain turns to mush!

Damn you, I will finish!

Sorry...that was more for me than for you.

I am over half done and need to get back to it so this will be short and sweet.


Had a nice weekend. Convinced myself I needed, no NEEDED with a capital Hulk, to go see The Avengers again.

Even better the second time around. A whole lot of fantastic dialogue. Not just the funny, witty, sarcastic parts, though there were many. Lots of excellent explanations without boring hunks of info.

I do love me some superhero manliness but I did fall in 'heavy like' with Loki. 

He's so wonderfully evil. Dumb as a rock but so smug about it. His anger at his treatment at the hands of others is tangible. Okay, maybe it was a little Stockholm Syndrome but I liked hearing him rant!

Always had a thing for bad boys.
];)

Other than that...not much else to tell you. 

Don't forget the Insecure Writer's Support Group will be this Wednesday!

What are you going to write about?

And so it begins...

I took out a few books from the library. I told myself after I read them I would have to start editing my book.

I finished them.

That went quicker than I planned.

So, I started editing this morning!!!!!

Of course the day went to shit just after that and I have been in and out of the house the rest of the day.

But, I did edit a few pages. It's a start.

Thanks for all the formatting advice from the other day. It's all going to come in handy shortly.



Check out the brand new cover for Nancy Thompson's first book that will be released in October...stolen from her blog!

All Tyler Karras wants is to enjoy life with his expectant bride; what he gets instead is a graveside seat at her funeral.  With the woman who killed her uncharged and still free, all Ty wants now is revenge.  His brother, Nick, has dangerous connections and suggests a sadistic plan: grab the woman responsible and hand her over to his associates—sex-traffickers in San Francisco’s Russian Mafia.  They offer Ty more than he dreamed possible. In exchange for the woman, they’ll finally let his brother leave the business for good—with his debt wiped clean and his heart still beating.

There’s just one problem: Ty kidnaps the wrong woman. 

Now he must protect her from the very enemy he’s unleashed, but the Russians are holding Nick as leverage to force Ty to complete their deal.  Caught in a no-win situation, Ty must find a way to save himself, his brother, and the woman, but with the Russian Mafia, even two out of three makes for very long odds. 

I'm so excited for her! I'll keep you posted on her book release tour!


And...please keep all your fingers and toes crossed for Tara from Tara Tyler Talks! She's going to a pitch session to pitch her book!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend! Anyone got big plans?