50 Days of Pray: Delaware

Welcome to the 50 Days of Pray! I am representing the Small Wonder: Delaware!

Thanks so much to Mark Koopmans for this idea! It's really cool how many people signed up from around the country, and even some from around the world!

This has been a weird year for me with many ups and downs, so I want to end the year on a happy note and express the things I am happy for (for which I am happy lol).

I am thankful for my family, crazy though they may be.

I am thankful for my best friends and our friends with whom we've been hanging with for what feels like 30 days straight. The bond we have is strong, and it's good to know there are people you can be yourself around completely.

I'm thankful for health. This time last year I had laryngobronchitis and couldn't speak for about 10 days. That was emotionally painful. This year, I still have a bronchitis flare up, but I can talk! Don't know what you go til it's gone.

And I'm very grateful to the reason for this season, Jesus, who came down to Earth so that we all could live again. When things aren't exactly going how I would like them to, I try to remember to be grateful for at least that, because He didn't have to do it, but that's how much He loves us.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Year, and I will see you guys in 2014. :)

Express Yourself: Books!

Good morrow!

Welcome back to Express Yourself, brought to us by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books!

As you can see, I'm doing this on a Monday, and that's because tomorrow is 50 Days of Pray! I'm one of those people who skips through blog posts when I'm looking for the bloghop theme of the day (sorry), so I didn't want to put the two together.

The question this week is: What books did you want to read this year but didn't get around to?

Well, I was supposed to read 20 books this year, and if I read through The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, I will have "read" 19, but in actuality have had only finished 17. If a book doesn't engage me enough but I want to see how it ends, it will take me FOREVER to finish it. If it's a slow read and/or just a book I don't like, I won't finish it. But then there are the books I really really wanted to read but didn't have the time or money, so hopefully that will change in 2014. Those books are:

Mindy McGinnis Not A Drop to Drink The sample I read provided a lot of suspense, and I still can't wait to read it!

More Neil Gaiman! I read Anansi Boys this year, and it was my first Gaiman read. I've been missing out! So I hope to read more of his work in the new year, too.

What about you guys?

Express Yourself: Gourmet Edition

It's time to express ourselves again! Thanks to Dani and Jackie for a great year of international convo!

This week's question revolves around what we bring to the table, literally!

So for a moment I thought I wouldn't have anything to say about this, because I don't ever bring the food to the holiday parties in my family. lol BUT, I have dreams.

This year, I would like to host a small Christmas brunch and cook the dish I wanted to last year, but my mom ignored me when I was talking and made a stratta (moms). I'll unfortunately have to look through my tweets from 2012 to remember what it was, though! It was an egg omelette, but there was havarti cheese and some kind of herb involved. So hopefully that still happens. :)

Friday Freeday: Blah blah blah

Good morning, world, and all who inhabit it!

I've decided to stop complaining so much about my life and thanking God for it and seeing the brighter side of life, which helps a lot. It at least makes everyone around me seem less annoying.

Our church's first Christmas Party is this Saturday, and I saved $66 by remembering my sister was throwing out a homecoming dress she was never going to wear again. I will look so Oscar worthy, Oscar himself will lean over on his pedestal.

I'm going through another hair transition. Right now, it is braided up with someone else's hair glued to a cap on my head. I hurt. My Transformation Tuesday would look like a Brady Bunch cover.

I suck at my query. No matter what I do with it, no one connects to it. Whose idea were these?

One more week until our annual Christmas Cantata. I'm so done with singing. Cantata time is never fun. I'm gonna look fly with all this big hair on my head, though. lol

Scandal has one more time to make me want to throw up. Then, I'm doing nothing about it but complaining and possibly actually throwing up.

I'm hoping and praying for an awesome 2014. I'll say it again next week, but I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and all the other things. :D

Express Yourself: Events

Good morrow!

Welcome back to Express Yourself, brought to us by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books!

This week, they ask what events we look forward to this holiday season.

I actually don't look forward to much in this stage of my life. When I was a kid, of course it was getting up Christmas morning, me in my pajamas, my little sister getting dressed and making us all look like hobos, to open our presents. But since I don't have kids yet and don't have much money, I can probably stay in bed for a little longer and open my presents whenever my sister wakes up. lol

As mentioned in the last EYM, I love the Christmas movies and shows.

OOH! But I do look forward to egg nog! I almost forgot. I LOVE egg nog, and I don't even need any alcohol in it (though it's nice sometimes lol). Just like pumpkin, which I don't particularly care about, egg nog only comes around in the fall season down here. I remember seeing it in the Spring somewhere else, but I can't remember where.

And cranberry sauce. I love cranberry sauce. Canned or fresh. Plain, good ol' cranberry sauce. :D hehe

Express Yourself: Christmas Movies!

Welcome to a special Saturday edition of Express Yourself! This is a meme hosted by the dynamic duo Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books.

This week they ask what Christmas films we plan on watching this year.

I plan to watch The Snowman, a classic for me that used to feel like a feature-length film but is only about 30 minutes long. I also plan on finding what channel is showing How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the cartoon version. And, the biggest tradition and chore will be searching out one of the old A Christmas Carol movies. I don't want to see Vanessa Williams's version, and I will always settle for Patrick Stewart's, BUT I want to see one of the black & whites!

Friday Freeday: Dream Destination Bloghop

Happy Friday!

Today is something fun, a Dream Destination Bloghop hosted by Lexa Cain and Julie Flanders.

If I could go anywhere in the world, honestly, I'd go back to Cayman Islands! It's a child-like love of mine, but they have this Turtle farm that I really liked, and I just want to spend a day picking up turtles, even though they hate it lol.

This is supposed to be cropped, terrible pic of me, but the turtle is flapping angrily.

I also would love to see Ireland. My sister's pictures from when she went make me want to go even more sometimes. I love the accents, too. >.<

Have a great weekend!

A Day Late! (IWSG)

I haven't forgotten a Wednesday in a long time. *eek* Hopefully this still counts.

I usually post these at work, but I had a busy day, so I didn't get around to it. Monday, I joined the Pitch Wars trenches at the last (almost literally) minute, and now I'm biting my nails hoping and praying I get picked. I'm not stalking my own e-mail, because it's linked to my phone, so I know when I get a message. Contests make me nervous.

Showing my work to people in general makes me nervous. I might think it's genius, but it could be the opposite. And I'm one of those people who has poor luck with beta readers, so I'm going off of two (one great, one obvoiusly inattentive) critiques. But through it all, I actually shaved my manuscript down to 98k words, which I didn't think possible. I think I've said that already, but it bears repeating, since my first draft was about 125k. *30-second dance break*

What worries most is my query. I've had so many drafts of that little bastard, I don't know which one I'm on now. I'd like to think it's good enough to spark interest now, and at least people tend to ask for a few pages with the query so they can gauge better. So, wishing, hoping, praying, etc.

I'm going to go look at some on time IWSG posts, and you can, too, if you follow me to Ninja Alex-Sensei's Blog. :)

Pitch Wars Mentee Bio

Good evening!

It's 10:34 as I start this, and it might have been 24 hours ago where I learned there was a contest preparing to open up for application! This is what I get for walking too far away from that rock I live under for too long. I almost missed it!

Pitch Wars (which I remember seeing last year) might be one of the biggest agent contests for burgeoning published authors. At midnight this morning, the Mentor Round began, where writers got to choose up to 4 mentors seeking their genre to help them polish their manuscript. Each mentor posted bios which included what they were looking for in a manuscript. Hence, the mentees decided to do the same thing (and I like the word mentee lol).

Also, a big thank you to Brenda Drake for hosting Pitch Wars!

So a little about me, shall we?

I'm a middle child of 3 girls, am a textbook Cancerian, and am a lefty.

I started writing when I was 7 and wanted to write stories like the "superhero action drama" X-men on TV.

I actually wanted to write horror stories but ran out of ideas early. Now, I try to stick closer to fantasy and superhero action dramas. lol (If you're wondering why I say superhero action drama, it's how the TV Rating system explained why they rated X-men. I don't even remember the rating anymore, just the reasoning.)

I love turtles. Ninja or normal.

I love babies but have very little tolerance for children...try to figure that out.

I love Final Fantasy games. I've played FFX three times.

I transferred colleges twice: University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Florida State, and Temple University. I have a BA in English.

I try not to use prepositions at the end of sentences (like I did way up at the top), but I don't like to sound too formal all the time. lol

I go to bed early according to my sister & cousin. I'm going to bed now. lol It's 10:54.

Happy Black Friday (I hope)

Hello all!

Happy Friday! Since Thanksgiving was at my house, I've been in chill mode since the last family member left. My cousin and sister had to work overnight, so I was by myself sort of but not really watching the rest of the Ravens game while catching up on Supernatural (that helmet-to-helmet hit, ouch!). I did a little exercising, because we'll all need it after yesterday, then went shopping with my cousin. We're about to take naps now. Later, I'm going up to see my godparents who I haven't seen in a year or two.

So needless to say, I've had a good Thanksgiving and Black Friday. I hope you've all had the same! :-D

Express Yourself: I Look Up To...

Allo!

Welcome back to the Express Yourself Meme brought to us by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books! This week's question is: Who do we look up to?

I've answered this before, and I can't remember where. My cousin & bestie Candyce. She's two years younger than me, but as a single mom who is back in school for her nursing degree, I'm very proud of her, and she's a great mom to a psycho child. lol Boys are hard to raise! And now he wants to be a WWE Superstar (I created a monster).

But back to Candyce, she's a sweetheart and very silly, and I'd like to be her when I grow up. :-D She is a great worship leader, too, and I'm glad to have her as my Asst. Director of the Young Adult Ministry. She knows when to take charge and has big visions while we're stepping up in our church.

Alrighty, that's it. lol Have a great Thanksgiving and Chanukah!

Friday Freeday: Album Review: Ariana Grande "Yours Truly"

By the time last night rolled around, I still had no clue what I wanted to write about. I finished revising my WIP AGAIN, and I actually got it under 98k words, which I thought was impossible, but I let some scenes RIP and kept it moving *sigh*.

So then what? Well, as I sat at my desk and turned on my beloved mp3 player (see my purse from Tuesday lol), I turned on my currently first choice: Ariana Grande's "Yours Truly." So then I thought: ALBUM REVIEW!!!

Ariana (as many with kids know) is Cat from Victorious and Sam and Cat. I didn't realize she could sing until an episode of Victorious where she and Jade (Liz Gillies, also a very talented singer) did karaoke. I was shocked speechless (and it must suck to have been the star of the show and not been as good a singer as the other two girls, buuuuut...). Ariana has a gorgeous voice and is better (yes BETTER) than Mariah Carey. As long as she takes care of her voice and has good people behind her, she'll be around for a while.

So "Yours Truly" is a true R&B album with a great mix of modern hits (The Way, Right There, Lovin' It) and throwback tunes that harken back to 50s Doo-wop (Tattooed Heart (which she'll be singing at the AMAs Sunday), Daydreamin'). She's a true Soprano, which means she doesn't have a low register (or she never sings in one at any rate) and can belt high notes without screaming them. I posted her song with Nathan Sykes "Almost is Never Enough" a little while ago, and it is one of my favorite tracks. My very favorite is the first track on the album, "Honeymoon Avenue," about a failing relationship. It's a very strong opening for an album. "Piano" is also a favorite of mine, and I also use it as a squat track for my free Zumba class. lol

If you're a fan of R&B or Ariana Grande, I recommend this album. It gets a 5/5 stars from me (if you value my opinion)!

Express Yourself: What's In Your Purse?!

Welcome back to the Express Yourself Meme! Brought to us by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books.

This week is a fun question: What's in your purse? Pictures were requested. X)

First off, this is my purse:

It's almost the size of this picture. I get a new one every few months, and I decided to go for one that I couldn't stuff my life into. That said...here are some of the more important contents.

The free food stuffs and empty hand sanitizer.

Ignore the Jack Daniels sauce on the Friday's coupon card. Also, my checkbook, my wallet a la Target that I got because I am a Cancerian, and it cost 99 cents. My label-free (they rubbed off or fell off) containers: little one is floss, blue one is some cube gum I hardly eat. And my MP3 player without which I would DIE at work.

I'd also have taken a picture of my phone, but I was taking the pictures with my phone. These are all stuffed into my tiny purse.

Thanks for stopping by!

Grammarly, anyone?

I use Grammarly for online proofreading because sometimes I just don't feel like using my English degree.

I may have Tweeted this a while ago, but I was contacted by a gentleman in San Francisco (or San Fran as I like to say, or Frisco as others like to say) requesting sponsorship of one of my blog posts! While it made me feel very special, I had never heard of Grammarly because, well, I'm an English major. Being grammarly is what I do (see what I did there?).

It's a very cool site, though. I went to the site and entered one of my paragraphs. It told me I had 4 misspellings (which were character names, so I moved on), misused words, and wordiness (which made me laugh because I am the queen of run-on sentences and parenthetics). On the good side, my punctuation was on point, and I didn't plagiarize (I wish I WOULD enter one of my paragraphs and discover there's plagiarism!).

So, have any of you every used Grammarly, and what do you think about it? I might slip over there more often so my betas don't correct me on things I should already know. lol

Friday Freeday: Word Count

Good afternoon!

This will be a short one, but since most people post an uplifting post on Fridays, I thought I'd share some good news, and that is that I have dropped my WIP's word count to 98k! I still have about 90 pages to review, so I might even see 97k. I didn't think it was possible, but I cut some scenes that weren't very important and cleaned up my characters' speech to make it more tailored to their individual personalities. I hope this also makes for a more concrete narrative. :D

Have a good weekend!

Two for Tuesday: Seven Deadly Sins

Hello! Bonus Post!

So, Dani over at Entertaining Interests tagged me in this little challenge, and I feel like it's going to be a big project for me to think about. lol So let's give this a try: The Seven Deadly Sins!

Pride
Seven great things in your life:
1. My Mom
2. My sisters
3. My cousin
4. My cousin's son
5. My music prowess *breathes on knuckles, rubs on shirt*
6. My sense of humor
7. My ability to cook eggs. I cook an awesome egg.

Envy
Seven things you lack and covet:
1. Money (Lord, forgive me.)
2. A husband (Jesus, please, work it out. lol)
3. Babies (I can't apologize for that one.)
4. My novel published. (I'm gonna go ahead and keep this one here, Dani.)
5. The ability to dance and look good doing it.
6. A CAR.
7. A job that doesn't feel like a job.

Wrath
Seven things that make you angry:
1. Stupid people.
2. Ignorance.
3. Fake people.
4. Stupid questions.
5. Chit-chat/Small talk.
6. Morning people.
7. Repeating myself.

Sloth
Seven things that you neglect to do:
1. Hang up my laundry. I'm sleeping on my clothes right now.
2. Respond to people if I have nothing significant to say.
3. Dishes.
4. ...Stay awake. lol
5. Finish number requirements.
6. ...
7. ...Seriously, I couldn't think of any more.

Greed
Seven worldly material desires:
1. A pop album
2. Clothes
3. My own island sounds nice. lol
4. To have no loans.
5. Channing Tatum >.>
6. A red-headed baby...judge me. I dare you.
7. 2013 Mustang GT

Gluttony
Seven guilty pleasures:
1. Food
2. Vodka (Seriously, sorry, Lord.)
3. Video games
4. Computer games
5. Internet
6. TV
7. Soda

Lust
Seven things you love about love:
1. That first date feeling (I actually wrote a song about that).
2. When you think about the person and your day is instantly better.
3. Feeling that comfortable with another human.
4. Little things you get to do for each other.
5. Having someone understand (or at least tolerate) every weird thing about you.
6. The reciprocation.
7. The product of working at something for something bigger than yourself.

Seven bloggers I'm dying to know their answers to the Seven Sins survey...

This is probably one of my sloths because it requires thinking and looking at blogs...and usually people who I'd tag have done it already...So, do it if you want, and just let me know you did it. lol

Express Yourself: Top 5 TV Shows

I think I've scheduled the last 4 posts, and it feels weird, but if I know what I want to say now, I might as well, right?

Welcome back to Express Yourself!

This meme is brought to you by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books.

This might be one of the easiest questions for me, because I'm a TV geek. What are my Top 5 TV Shows?

5. Supernatural - I love Sam & Dean and Castiel. I do wish they stopped at Season 5 like the creator wanted, but they're still doing well. Better than Smallville after Season 5. lol

4. Grey's Anatomy - What a roller coaster. Drama, comedy, romance. McDreamy, McSteamy (RIP), and Major Hottie, eek!

3. Parenthood - Just give in and cry. It's okay. A great show, and so relatable (<--is that really not a word?).

2. Once Upon A Time - Who doesn't love twists on fairytales? From Snow White to Peter Pan, everything is twisted and weaved so well. Just remember: all magic comes with a price, deary.

1. Scandal - Talk about a tangled web! And the chemistry between Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn. *faints*

How about you?

Friday Freeday: Oh, How I Miss You

Happy Friday! OH, HAPPY FRIDAY!

Today begins a special blogfest. Whose blogs would you miss if you were gone, and who used to blog that you miss? Name 1 to 3 of each.

I haven't been reading blogs that long, so I don't have anyone who I miss yet. So I might cheat a little bit.

I would definitely miss SC Author and his blue self. lol He talks about J.K. Rowling a lot, but that's the title of his blog. He has very inspirational and thought-provoking posts.

This is kind of a cheat, but these two ladies are two sides of the same coin, and they are my Express Yourself ladies, Dani & Jackie. They're best friends and bloggers, so they come up with fun things for us to do each week while sharing personal parts of their lives with us. My weeks would not be the same without them.

I feel like a lot of people will say Alex, lol, so I'm going to go with another great lady, and that's Cassie Mae! She's hilarious, and I love to see what she's up to. I would definitely miss her!

Thanks for stopping by, and a big thanks to our hosts for this blogfest! See you around the blogosphere. ;)

http://strangepegs.blogspot.com/ Andrew Leon

http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/ Alex J. Cavanaugh

http://theqqqe.blogspot.com/ Matthew MacNish

Thank You Thursday: My Followers

Hello!

SO I realized I have a lot of followers, but I never stop to see if any of you have a blog of your own. I want to take a moment to thank you for coming to read what I have or don't have to say every week (I know I ramble a lot), and if you have your own blog, please comment and let me know. I want to start coming around to see what you guys are up to each week. :)

IWSG: Sinking

Welcome to another Insecure Writers Support Group Meeting!

I'd apologize for bringing the mood down, but do I need to in this circle? Not sure. But anyway, I believe I'm starting to fall into depression, which 1) is hard to say and 2) I wouldn't tell my family, who think I'm a hypochondriac. Over the weekend (and another time last week) my sister told me that our niece and our cousin both said that I'm no fun. That really upset me (and confused me because it's not like both go out partying with my little sister or something).

On one end, I don't go out unless it's with my family or choir members, I don't do wild, spontaneous things like get pierced or dye my hair (in fact, the only thing I've really done with my hair is chop it off every few years, and that's not happening again), and I'm shy around guys, even though I'm almost 30. Something my sister also pointed out: I either act really old or really young and need to find my age.

But maybe they also see that I'm not happy. I'm not ANYwhere I thought I would be at 29, not with my career, personal life, living arrangement, NONE of them. I'm still living at home (even though it's with my sister and other cousin, but I've been there 14 years) with a terrible temp job with terrible benefits where I can't even afford medical, unable to get a real job because I'm over-qualified for most of the ones in town, and you have to be a fricking magician to get a state job, and still fricking revising this story I started ten years ago that I had hoped would be done and published by now.

I'm sleepy every day; even when I get to sleep at a decent hour, I wake up in the middle of the night. Loan companies are hounding my cell, e-mail, AND somehow got a hold of my job placement's number (not even my personal line or the temp agency's number). I don't want to be at this job anymore but really have no choice, and I just want to crawl back into bed and sleep away my life.

So, that's where I am at this moment.

Express Yourself: Favorite Subject

Welcome back to the Weekly Express Yourself Meme, brought to us by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books!

This week's question is: What was your favorite subject in High School and/or College?

The only reason I didn't drop out of school in High School was because of Chorus. I LOVED my chorus teacher. He was so scary when you were a Freshman, but by Senior year, he was your dad. Your crazy dad, but your dad. lol If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be as disciplined as I am now when it comes to music.

I didn't really have a favorite class in college. Maybe my History of Film class, since we really just watched movies all semester, but I fell asleep often. lol

Thanks for stopping by, and here is Dani's page to the Express Yourself Meme if you would like to join in!
http://danibertrand.blogspot.com/p/express-yourself-meme.html

Friday Freeday: 1 Week until the Oh, How I Miss You Blogfest!

Happy November! Today I thought I would promote a blogfest that begins NEXT Friday, and that is the 2nd Annual Oh, How I Miss You Blogfest.

This blogfest is hosted by Andrew Leon, Alex J. Cavanaugh, and Matthew MacNish. Here is the tagline: The bloggers we really miss…and the ones we would really miss! Do you have a couple blogger buddies who aren’t posting as often? Those who’ve pulled back and seem absent from the blogging world? Do you have blogger buddies you are grateful they are still around and would miss if they vanished? Now is your chance to show your appreciation and spotlight them! On November 8, list one to three bloggers you really miss and one to three bloggers you would miss if they stopped blogging. Then go leave a comment on those blogs.

Here is a link to where you can sign up.

Enjoy, and happy November!

Favorite Halloween TV Episodes

Happy Halloween (almost)!

I thought I would do this since I don't have an EYM to do. As you probably know by now, I love TV shows and movies, and if I had the money, I'd go back to UArts and finish my Writing for Film/TV Major because I'm a screenwriter at heart (which is terrible as someone trying to be an author!). And as you know, there are many TV shows who pull out a Halloween episode around this time of year, so what are some of my favorites?Well, my first two aren't even TV series, but I love to watch them (even though I haven't seen them in a few years now. *sniff*)

Disney's Hocus Pocus. Now, this is a cult 80s kid classic starring a kid whose name I never learned, Bette Midler, some girl that kind of looks like Hilary Swank but isn't, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Nijimy, and a young (and annoying) Thora Birch. Also, if you watch NCIS, a young McGee as Thackery Binx. lol For those who live under a rock, it's the tale of the Sanderson Sisters resurrected by a virgin who lit the Black Flame Candle, and they need the essence of a child to become immortal. It's cheesy, and I love it. It comes on every year on ABC Family, and I just missed it on Sunday. Grrr.

Michael Jackson's "Ghosts". Yes, MJJ actually made another Halloween short film. I like "Thriller," but "Ghosts" is scary in a creep-you-out way. It's about some townspeople trying to throw the local weirdo out of town for scaring their kids, and what ensues is a bunch of dancing ghosts with some awesome music. Then some really freaky crap and it ends. lol

Martin: "The Night He Came Home". Martin was one of the shows I was allowed to watch as a child for some reason. I couldn't listen to Janet Jackson, but I could watch Martin...Anyway, in the first season, they had a ghost story episode where they tried to scare Martin with the tale of Old Man Ackerman. They tried to Ouija him into the apartment, and for a while, you think they did, with things flying through the air, Tommy getting possessed, then everyone disappearing, all to find out, Martin's friends pranked him...Then, as it's just him and Gina relaxing, Old Man Ackerman walks through the house and turns off the lights. Scary stuff!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Halloween" I vow to finish this series one day, but in the early years, there was the episode of Buffy where everyone became their costumes during Halloween (Oddly enough, Fairly Oddparents did a similar episode). I don't remember much about it (I remember Xander was a soldier, but had to wiki that Buffy was a noblewoman. I just remember she was funny) but I do remember Willow being a ghost because of the awesome scene where Giles is reading, and she walks through the wall and scares the crap out of him.

Those are just a few of my faves, but I don't want to bore you guys. Share some of your favorite Halloweeny episodes with me!

45 Things!

Happy Friday!

I'm posting this Wednesday because I found this questionnaire on my sister's friend's Facebook (I hear myself saying that with upturns every few words like a teenager). If you were on Myspace like I was in the mid 2000s, you did these all of the time. Let's go back. Way back. Back into time. ;)

And if you would like to do this, go ahead!

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE:
I was named after Deborah, the judge in the Bible. Coincidentally, my aunt Deborah thinks I was named after her, but I can see how that's confusing...especially since she was named after her aunt Deborah...

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
The Thursday before last when I watched Glee, "The Quarterback." I'll never be the same again, and I'll probably watch it again. Greatest episode since the finale where Quinn went into labor at Regionals.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
It's serial killer writing sometimes. I try to adjust it, but it's bad.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT?
Pastrami, thanks to Carnival.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
*sigh*

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
I'd probably try, but I'm such a hermit that I'd never see me.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
Too much.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
No. I'm afraid of falling.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Hm....Chocolate Cheerios.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
No.

12. DO YOU STILL TALK TO YOUR HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART?
I don't even know where he is.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Tin Roof Sundae or Moose Tracks

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Their eyes. Though this cute red-head in Wawa who had a beard and a bun the other day, I noticed his whole being. lol

15. RED OR PINK?
PINK!

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
My ability to not care, and oddly enough my over-empathy.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My college friends.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
Only if they're bored and so inclined.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Blue plaid pajama bottoms, no shoes.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
American Dad

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Burnt Sienna. lol It's confusing and almost like Raw Sienna, but it must've been out in the sun too long.

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Lit fireplaces. Fabric softener.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My older sister.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
No one sent it; I stole it off of Facebook.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Technically, I watch sports entertainment, WWE.

27. (Natural) HAIR COLOR?
Dark brown

28. EYE COLOR?
Dark brown

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
No.

30. FAVORITE FOOD?
I love seafood!!

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
It depends on my mood.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
I feel like it was that movie with the characters who were all personalities of a serial killer...If so, I need to watch another movie.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Pink!

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer for pool time, Winter for looking at the snow...when it snows in Delaware. >.>

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
Kisses.

36. FAVORITE DESSERT?
Chocolate mousse

37. IF YOU COULD MAKE A WISH, WHAT WOULD YOU WISH FOR?
That I'd have this book published, that's for sure. And world peace. I'm serious.

38. WHAT (in general) BOTHERS YOU THE MOST?
People who pretend to be something they aren't.

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
Some tiny bumps so my finger grease doesn't wear it out, I think.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
Nothing, had choir rehearsal.

42. FAVORITE SOUND(s):
(This is weird, don't judge me) The sound of your tires running through a puddle of water.

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
The Beatles! GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE!

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Mexico

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
I do voice impressions. I've done them since I was a little kid. Why I never thought of being a voice-over artist is beyond me.

Express Yourself: It's Like Cand-ay!

Welcome back to the weekly Express Yourself meme, brought to you by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests.

This week, they ask us about what candy we couldn't wait to get on Halloween.

I loved (and still love) the Hershey's Special Dark and Krackel chocolate bars.

My next favorite would probably be the singular Twizzlers and the Smarties, which (inappropriately) we pretended like we were popping pills. Sheesh.

I hope everyone has a happy Halloween, and don't eat too much sugar! You'll rot your teeth out. ;)

Friday Freeday: On the Bright Side

Good morning.

I'm pretty sure I'm still asleep, but I have to make the little money that I do. But some good things did happen since last Friday, so I thought I'd share them.

I DO have two hard copies of the collection with my short story "El Celular Roto", so yay.

After they posted the Admin Assistant job that is in my building, then took it down with no explanation, they finally put it back up last Friday, and I re-applied. Everyone's rooting for me, which is nice. This might be this company's last chance with me, though. While I love playing Hexatron Rogue all day, sometimes I want to work, and with two school loan agencies on my neck, I need more money!

I picked up a beta reader! Hopefully he's enjoying the story. I haven't had much luck with CPs and Betas, so I'm glad I reached out for more.

I wrote a few lines down in one of my fantasy prequellettes (yes, I'm totally creating that word), and that was hard because it was the first time I just WROTE. I'm one of those people who struggles with not writing exactly what I want to write, so that I made myself shows progress. :)

I hope everyone's had a good week, and here's to a good weekend!

Express Yourself: Halloween Costumes!

Welcome back to Express Yourself, the weekly meme brought to us by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @Bouquet of Books.

This week is a fun question: What was our favorite Halloween costume?

My favorite costume was a Snow White costume I wore in the 1st grade, but everyone thought I was Little Red Riding Hood...EVEN THOUGH I had the Disney Snow White dress on. >.>

Another favorite costume of mine was a makeshift pixie costume I made when I was at FSU. I wanted to dress up for the kids that never came to the door to get candy. -_-

The makeup on my face was ALL eye shadow, and let me tell you, don't do that. lol It was MURDER trying to scrub that off of my face.

Friday Freeday: The Idea Pool

Guten morgen!

So as I've said a few times, some of my stories hit me through dreams I have. My fantasy WIP was a major example of that: one scary chase with more visuals than I can ever remember having in a dream turned into a novel.

I had a short dream the night before, and if you follow me on Twitter, you know that my sister and Richard Gere were there and nothing fun happened! >:( It was a sad dream, and before I could conclude it--because I knew what my next move was going to be--I woke up. It will be a great flash fiction if I execute it correctly, but I think writing it as a play would be better, and that's because (the weird part of the dream, as there always is one) my sister and I, while we were both there, were definitely one person. I need a dream analyst for that one.

That said, I wanted to know how some of you guys come up with ideas for your WIPs. How does your muse manifest? Feel free to tell me in the comments!

Express Yourself: First Lines

Happy Tuesday (technically)! It's time for another Express Yourself question!

A big thanks for Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests for bringing this meme to the blogosphere. This week, they ask us to share some of our favorite first lines.

The first I want to share is actually the chapter title, which reminds me of a Friends episode title. lol (Also, if you ever want to know why the Friends episode titles are so plain, I actually know the answer!) This is the title to the first chapter of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys:

Chapter One Which is Mostly About Names and Family Relationships.

It's so cynical to me, and it's kind of Fat Charlie's attitude through the story, especially since his dad embarrassed him his entire life.

Another is from Vanessa Diffenbaugh's The Language of Flowers, and if you haven't read this book, dear God, do!

For eight years I dreamed of fire.Trees ignited as I passed them; oceans burned.

First off, awesome imagery. Secondly, the TURMOIL! Clearly there's something behind that, and what a ride to learn what it is! Wonderful.

I've read like a million books, and I was sleepy an hour ago, so I'll do one more. Christopher Pike began my love for young adult horror which I never followed up on in writing. lol Matter of fact, I'm pretty sure he just wrote YA paranormal, but I didn't know the difference when I was a kid. But Remember Me was one of the first books of his I read, and with openings like this, it wasn't the last.

Most people would probably call me a ghost. I am, after all, dead.

Thanks for stopping by. What are some of your favorite first lines?

Friday Freeday Question

Hello. Extremely short entry today.

So, I went to click one of my links that showed my college publication "El Celular Roto" and learned that portion of Temple's site no longer works. What do I do now, since that was pretty much the only real publication I had so far? =/

Bonus IWSG: There is now a website!

As if the Insecure Writers Support Group couldn't get any better, there is now a website that will have encouraging posts and info on publishers, agents, queries, marketing, et cetera! So stop by the page and *looks for the follow button, clicks to join* join the 62 people already following!

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

Insecure Writers' Support Group

Welcome!

Once upon a time...in a galaxy far far away...the voyages of the starship Enterprise...brought us Alex J. Cavanaugh!

If you wondered where I was going with that, it's okay, I did, too. lol

Every month, a bunch of us crazy writers get together and pour our hearts out onto this here thing we call a computer. It's my bedtime, so I'm doing it loopily.

My 10-year high school reunion is at the end of this month, and I've been watching my classmates get married and have children and all but save the world since we graduated, and I feel like Brian Griffin.



At any rate, I know now to not set goals in stone. I can at least say some interesting things like, "I'm the Music Coordinator for my Praise & Worship team," or "I'm the President-in-name-only of our Young Adult Ministry." That's better than "I'm a single 29-year-old temp barely making it every week." That's a little depressing. Blah.

So in a nutshell, this is going to be an interesting month for me, and I hope it will be for all of you!

Express Yourself Birthday!!

Happy First Birthday to the Express Yourself Weekly Meme!! Brought to us by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests, writers get together each week to answer the questions these ladies have for us.

In honor of the birthday, the question this week is: What has our favorite EYWM Question been?

My favorite question was the Soundtrack to our life question. It was great to see the type of music other people put to their lives while sharing my own. :)

Friday Freeday: Feedspot

Good morning!

So, last night, I got a pleasant e-mail mistaken for spam, so I'm glad I check that folder often. I have received 29 followers through Feedspot.com, and because I am generating such activity, I also received a full free year of premium services.

It's apparently an alternative to Google Reader, and I've already followed some of my favorite comics to keep up with them. I think you should too. :)

In other news, my sister turned 27 on Wednesday, and we are in a 4-Day celebration mode, so I will see y'all on Tuesday. ;)

Falling for Fiction Query Critique

Hi guys!

On Monday, my query was hanging out with Jessica at Falling for Fiction getting critiqued! *eep* Stop by to see what she said. :) Spoiler alert: Still working on my query. lol

http://falling4fiction.blogspot.com/2013/09/query-critique-debra-mckellan.html

Express Yourself: Author Luncheon!

Good morning!

Welcome back to the weekly meme Express Yourself, brought to us by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests. This week's question is What author would you want to share lunch with.

This question KILLS me because I HAD THE CHANCE!!! to eat dinner with my favorite author and couldn't because of the stupid bus schedule! D:<  I started reading Robert Olen Butler because of a short story anthology we were reading at FSU. I hadn't thought much of the story when I read it, but then we watched him read it (because he wrote it live!) on Inside Creative Writing. And I fell in total and utter fangirl love, reading everything he wrote. He is actually a professor AT FSU, and had I stayed one more semester, I probably would have had him as a teacher and stalked him, so there but for the grace of God go I. lol

So, anyway, I built up the courage to ask if I could stop by his office so he could sign Had a Good Time for me. That was when he said he has dinner with his students before class and invited me to come! BUT I lived on the other side of town, so I wasn't able to make it. *sob* So I had to settle for getting there to wait for him to get to his office. Oh my God, when he stepped out of the elevator, I almost screamed like he was Michael Jackson. lol But I kept my cool and went to his office, said something stupid about his afghan on the wall (called it a rug) and smiled happily as he signed it. One of the best days ever.

If you have a chance, read some of his work. He was in 'Nam, so he has many stories written in the eyes of soldiers or Vietnamese citizens, and they're just so beautifully written. He's also put out his first thriller The Hot Country, and I couldn't put that down!

So he is for whom I would turn back time to go have lunch with. :) That's an awkward sentence. Ah well.

Saturday 'Stalgia

Yes, I countrified nostalgia to make my title alliterate. lol

I was in my poems folder on my thumb drive and forgot about the gems I wrote for Poetry a Day. If you're ever bored, you can go ahead and scroll through my April Dailies. If not, that's cool, too, but here are the first and second day poems I wrote in 2012.

"Communication"

Hello? Are you there?

Nah, of course you're not.
You don't even know I exist.
And I have no clue where you are.

So when are we meeting?
Will it be that fateful Summer day
Where I finally decide to leave this house?
Be a beach crab, not a hermit?

Did you like that?
I bet you're laughing right now
And aren't sure why.
Tell those people to stop staring at you.

You're beautiful.
Whoever you are.
I'm cute, so I think you'll notice me.
Was that conceited?

But I bet you like that.

"Visitor"

I'm just passing through
No need to look at me
I'd actually
Appreciate it
If you didn't even talk to me

I'm trying to hide behind this tree
It's a little taller than I expected
How the hell'm I supposed to
No, I can't climb it
I came up short

Some dude at the top
Right hand side
Is smiling down at me, though
He waved
I feel better

Well, it's okay if he sees me

Friday Freeday: WIP It!

Happy Friday!!

I am combusting spontaneously as I type (just ate a hot sausage/egg/cheese biscuit, so my body temperature shot up), but it's Friday, so I am obligated to bother y'all before I burst into flames.

This week on the WIP circuit, I decided to tackle revamping my first writing project which focused on the lives of young mutant students. As this has been done before (especially since as a 7-year-old writing it, I was copying X-men), I had to figure out new reasons as to why these people are mutated, and what kind of story I was going to tell here. SO, I decided for this go-round to tell the story of how the main students I plan to focus on came to the shelter where they live or how they overcame an obstacle in the past while already at the shelter. Again, having had written the original story well over 15 years ago now, I don't remember half of the first cast. But, the good thing about writing is that you can start from scratch and not mess up the final product.

Another thing I decided to do was to absorb two projects I had started based on dreams I'd had because the characters pretty much lived in the same world as this major WIP, so I have "new" characters to mesh with the "old" ones, and I'm excited to see how they will interact. I've even decided to tell the story of the owner of the shelter, which in all the incarnations of this story I'd never done before, so I'm really excited to make her an organic character with her own past.

So that is what I'm doing. I hope everyone has a good weekend, and happy writing! I'm cold now. Time for coffee.

Express Yourself: Character Personality

Happy Tuesday!

I'm back as always with the weekly Express Yourself topic provided by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests. This week's question is "What movie character's personality it yours to a tee?"

I think I've talked about this a few times now, but Amelie Poulain's character fits me frighteningly well. She's a very imaginative young woman who lives a fairly mundane life with a mix of people she likes or dislikes. She's kind of lonely and enjoys simple pleasures like sticking her hands in a bag of lentils and roaming gnomes. And when Nino Quimcampoix comes into her life, she's determined to be in love with him without confronting him.

It's a wonderful movie that everyone should watch and fall in love with. Do it. DO IT. ;)

Anyway, I related to Amelie so much that I wrote a poem in Spanish (I can't speak French, so Spanish was the next best option in my mind).

Friday Freeday: Thursday Thoughts

I'm making this a habit, aren't I? lol

But seriously, I was trying to figure out since last night what to write about, but being sick since Monday night, my head's been on the foggy can't-breathe-through-my-nose kick. Fortunately, a random thought from Mindy McGinnis made me think of the weird dreams I used to have as a kid.

I lived in a townhouse complex in a small not-even-on-the-map town in Southeastern PA (Yardley) where many of the buildings were connected by breezeways. As kids, my sister and our friends used to hang out in them because they echoed and were, slightly breezy. As I said on Mindy's page, I think they sucked all the breezes into themselves somehow.

That being said, I always had a love for the fantastical, and I'm honestly just now realizing it. This one was definitely because of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and the idea of getting into another world through something as simple as your closet. When I was a kid, I used to dream about being able to go to another world or even to Delaware where my mom's family lives through one of the breezeways in the complex. I'd know which one it was because it would have lasers criss-crossing through it if you looked at it from a particular angle, and I'd always have to reach it before the lasers disappeared.

So, thanks, Mindy! Pleasant memories. :)

Query for #PitMad

Guten morgen!

So those of you in the Twitter-Writer-know are aware of Pitch Madness happening until 8pm today. You get to pitch your story in 140 (including the genre and category help), and a PARTICIPATING agent just may favorite your tweet, which is generally a request for more (it may vary).

Since I decided to throw my hat in the ring and saw that some agents come to the blogs to look at more, I thought it would be wise to post my query which I worked on live a few weeks back! So: SAVE THE QUEEN!

***

As far as Ghuli knows, she is the sole heir to the throne of a race massacred by the metal army the world calls the Contagion. She will learn her home was destroyed once before.

 Raised by a team of handmaids and watchmen who keep her from the army’s reach, Ghuli grows up swinging from willow trees and learning fairytales from lands near and far, but the ever present Contagion scours the world, destroys villages, and kills thousands searching for her. Sometimes it finds her. Forced to flee for safety, Ghuli tries to dream of the fairytales that once soothed her to sleep. She dreams instead of dark places and abandoned castles, of ghosts and worlds she’s never seen.

 At least, she doesn’t remember seeing them. She meets a wraith who controls the Contagion and seeks to punish Ghuli for betraying her in a time Ghuli can’t recall. She runs from this new threat and into her consciousness, lurching through time to help protect her body until she can reach a relic hidden among a land forgotten by most. The relic will not only mend Ghuli but show her what it was that destroyed her home the first time around. Once made whole, Ghuli can stop the wraith before the Contagion leaves nowhere else for her to hide.

SAVE THE QUEEN is a YA fantasy complete at 102,000 words.

Express Yourself: Crafty (And my final sketches)

Welcome back! Express Yourself is a weekly meme by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests to get to know their followers better! This week's question is about the handy/crafty things we wish we did.

I not only wish I drew better, but had a more consistent will to draw like I used to when I was a kid. I wanted to be a writer/illustrator. That fell away by the time I graduated college, but this past week, as you've seen, I had a drawing streak on which I didn't expect to follow through. As it turned out, I finished my secondary characters today at work, so here they are!

This is Ghuli's 2nd Lt. Watchman Laris, a quiet and cheery baysprite. When I first drew these characters years ago, I never got to him, even though he was the first character whose face I knew clearly in my mind (he looks like a red-headed Anderson Dornelles). I did get lazy and didn't draw his crossbow or swords, but his quivers are on his back.

Then, I did Avalegna, a werebeast who appears later in the story. I initially had her eyes open, but I didn't like that. She's another cheery character, and she likes to climb things.

And since I had finally finished the group, I decided to put them in paint and adjust them to relative heights to see what they look like beside each other, and I'm very happy with the result!

Have a good week, and stop by Jackie & Dani's pages for the other participants. :)

More character sketches!?

Happy Saturday!

So I actually did draw two of my three male characters. I took care to get them as close to how I picture them in Save the Queen as possible. Then, I actually used Paint to place the characters together for the first time!

First, I did Andyrsn, the Junior-Grade Lieutenant whom Ghuli meets. He lives on Viveno Island, popular for  its baobab trees (really cool looking trees that are actually from Africa) & fruit. He's a really nice guy, so whenever I draw him, I make him wave. 

Then, I took on Cyan, Ghuli's surrogate brother and 1st Lt. watchman. His face constantly changes in my head, and I think this is as close as I'll get to how I would like him to look. The tattoo along his arm and neck is from a Trollic Marking ritual after a Trollic watchman suffers his first injury protecting his watch.

When I say Trollic, I speak of a race of giants in my WIP. Cyan is from the shorter breed, hulktrolls. That being said...

...he's 7'5, and he was Ghuli's full-grown height (5'3) probably around 8 years old. I decided to see what they would look like standing beside each other, and I keep looking at it in awe. This is the first time I've had a chance to draw them in dimensions that I could actually manipulate to do this.

Okay, let me stop staring at it. After putting these two together, I decided to stand Andyrsn (5'11-1/2) beside Brodie (5'9). They're my gunslingers and grew up together. I didn't mean for them both to wear plaid, but that's my story speaking to me: it's the local in-style.

So now, I have two characters and one sheet of this work paper left, so we'll see how that pans out.

Friday Freeday: More sketches

So I actually did TWO people yesterday, and I'm surprised. I guess I'm in the mood to draw this season.

This is Princess Ghuli the Crystal Bearer, my MC, standing in front of a weeping willow. She's more ornery than she looks, but she means well. This is what she's wearing (and where she is actually, the Willow Forest on the Island Continent, which is more wintry than its name (like Greenland)) when the story opens, undyed wool and boots to keep her feet warm when she doesn't take them off to swing on the willow switches. Her hands are also wrapped with linen to hide the crystals in her hands.

This is 1st Lt. Brodie (not the second person we see in the story, but the easiest to draw, so...), the Scholar. Ghuli learns she needs to find her through a dream, and they're more connected than she knows initially. She's a hot-head and really smart, which is sometimes a bad combination, but she and Ghuli become close friends. I have to make a choice as to who I will draw next. I tend to have trouble drawing boys, and the last girl is going to be tricky, so it might take another week.

Why I'm Glad Computers Became Accessible to Mere Mortals

Drawing for 2 hours really flares up the carpel tunnel. Or is it tarsal tunnel when it's your knuckles? Or just arthritis? =\

Anyway, I was one of those kids who did nothing by type the moment a computer entered my house in like 1996, so the giant pillowy callus I developed on my ring finger from the weird way I hold my pencil diminished greatly once I was able to save stories onto a computer.

Yesterday, if you follow me on Twitter, you saw that somewhere around 2pm, I decided to sketch (yes, I do that sometimes lol) some of the essential characters in my fantasy WIP Save the Queen, this time the beasts of the Contagion, the metal army hunting my MC. I finished a little before work got out, so here they are. Each machine has a trait modeled after Boccioni's "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space", a piece I fell in love with my Freshman year of college. Also, the loops on each around the arms and back are tubes. They are magic-infused and water-powered machines.

The Helichimera, who I knew as I drew it that I described them as having 4 heads in my story, but I realized I didn't know what a 4th head would do, so I nixed it thanks to brainstorming this sketch. This is also the first time I took on drawing a ram and a lion. I'm almost sure I've drawn snakes before but can't remember.

The first one I set out to draw and the first seen in my story, the Iron Giant with an armless profile to show the back detail. It's cuter than I meant it to be, but in all-black cast iron and at 12 feet high, I imagine it would be scarier in person. I eliminated the description of the faceless shield somewhere between drafts, but the giants have no hands.

And the one that took 2 takes, lol, the Mythril Eagle. It kind of looks more like a hawk, but I don't draw birds. They're 3x bigger than vultures, and the wings pretend to flap. All of the machines run on jet engines. The detail on the talons are also plates so the talons can bend for grabbing people.

If I take on drawing the actual people again (I did years ago), it will be a slow, slow process. Like 1 a month. lol

Express Yourself Photos

Vintage Pic!

Express Yourself is a weekly meme brought to us by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books.

This week they ask us to post some of our favorite pictures! So here we go. =D

This is a picture I took when I lived in Florida for school. I call it Hand of God.

I love jackets, and I love flashy jackets, and I also love snapping photos in them. lol The first picture I took 5 years and 10 lbs ago. I lost the middle one to a chocolate fountain, but I wore it to X-3. I'm about to pull the third out for the cold months!

My sister and I spent a couple of years going to various WWE shows. This is a Live Raw/Recorded Main Event two-for-one deal where I successfully snapped Batista during his awesome pyrotechnic entrance.

Thanks for stopping by! :)

HAPPY 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO IWSG!!

I really hoped to do this at home so I wouldn't have to HTML lol. Forgot to.

Today is the first Wednesday of the month, which means writer-bloggers all across the world come together to post their deepest writing insecurities, and for the past 2 years it has been all thanks for the Ninja, the Guru, the Guitar Hero Alex J. Cavanaugh! =D

Today I thought I would share a lot of things because I had a lot on my mind about writing in regards to editing & proofreading. For instance, the editing/proofreading business I started up. It's always been very low in clientele, which is because I'm not very good at advertising. At the same time, I only started up the business because other people told me to. Do I like editing/proofreading for money? It's nice, but I like to do it more for fun. So will I continue trying to push myself to advertise? Not particularly sure. We'll see what happens.

On the other side of writing, being on the receiving end of critiques. I've always hated hearing bad stuff about my work or things that confused people, but I had to learn that most people were trying to help me make my work better. So having the pleasure of helping someone else out and seeing them make the same mistakes I made when I decided to take the step in wanting to publish, it made me both sad I didn't have anyone when I first sent my story out to contests that I had no one to look over my work but me (because honestly my family doesn't really care and Delaware is bigger on nature and contemporary stuff) and glad that having that experience, I had a chance to try to steer the person in the right direction, despite the excuses they made for why everything they wrote was necessary (That's exactly how I was).

The moral of the story is, lol, to know what you want to do when it comes to your writing goals, build on it, and do your best!

I keep forgetting to thank the co-hosts! Chemist Ken, SL Hennessy, Michelle Wallace, and Joylene Nowell Butler. Thank you!

Confessions Blogfest

So my first confession is going to be that I almost forgot about this blogfest. >.<

Blogfests are a fun way to meet other bloggers in our writing community, and this is an even more fun one, because it pushes us to confess some things about ourselves. *cue Usher music*

Speaking of Usher, I used to try to pop-lock because of his "You've Got It Bad" video. I think I did it well, but who knows? lol I always felt a little silly. I love to dance, even though I'm not totally coordinated and have ZERO flexibility, but when I was little, I wanted to do ballet but was too shy to say anything about it. But every now and then, I put on some music and contemporary my heart out.

And now another confession that will hopefully never get me killed: I sometimes zone out while driving. I'm better at catching myself doing it now, so I don't do it as often as I used to. ;)

A big thanks to Dani and Jackie for hosting this! I'm going to go look at other people's confessions now. *puts on sunglasses and big hat*

Friday Freeday: ???

I'm starting to not having anything to say on Friday...Sheesh.

So I guess rambling about writing is better than nothing.

I won't say why, but I'm so glad I'm old enough now to realize that how I used to write was so immature. College and revising really have molded me into a better writer to a point where I can tell when I'm not doing my best.

I do miss how I used to be able to write in multiple stories at a time. That's kind of slowed down.

I want to revive a lot of the stuff I used to write with my current knowledge, but I think it would involve *gasp* plotting.

I'm very happy for the people I've met through the internet who have agents! Hope that will be me one day before I'm thirty-five. Thirty is now too short a goal.

Not about writing, but there are a lot of TV shows I need to catch up on before they start up again, so maybe that will be my Saturday between reading and beta-reading.

City of Bones is available for pick-up at my library now, but I just started this other book, so I might just let it sit there and try again later.

My 30-day Sugary Free Drink ban ends on Tuesday. Had I started when I said I was going to, I'd be able to have soda on Labor Day, but as it goes, I'm bad at resolution-type deals.

It's 11PM (scheduled blog), so I'm going to turn to Family Guy and go to bed. Shalom.

Express Yourself: Childhood Movie and/or Book

Welcome back to Express Yourself!

This weekly meme is brought to us by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books. This week's question is about our favorite childhood movie and/or book.

I had a huge exposure to both mediums as a child, which is probably why I loved my Writing for Film/TV classes. So, this is an easy one for me.

My favorite childhood movie is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, for obvious reasons.

My favorite childhood book is a book of poems called Something Big Has Been Here by Jack Prelutsky. They were quirky and fun to learn.

Thanks for stopping by! Visit the other participants through Dani and Jackie's blogs. :)

Friday Freeday - Music Feature: Ariana Grande ft. Nathan Sykes

I don't have anything special to say today, so to commemorate a book I just learned was a book when its movie is coming out, here is Ariana Grande featuring The Wanted's Nathan Sykes singing "Almost is Never Enough" for the soundtrack of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.

Thereafter Update

Hello!

I normally don't post on Thursdays, but I thought I'd throw a little support and promotion out to the wonderful author of Hereafter, Terri Bruce, who has had a nightmare of a time with her publisher regarding edits and publication of her sequel Thereafter. If you have been following her story, please visit her page here for an update and to support her if you are able.

Two for Tuesday: Tunes for Tuesday

So, I'm listening to my mp3 player and thought of all the great first lines in songs. Some are so gripping that you have to listen to the rest of the song. Here are a few of my favorites:

"Close your eyes, make a wish. This could last forever." Backstreet Boys - Climbing the Walls

"Waste all your time writing love songs, but you don't love me." Lianne La Havas - Forget

"Come upstairs and I'll show you where all my...where my demons hide from you." Lianne again - Lost & Found

"You took your coat off and stood in the rain. You were always crazy like that." Jewel - Foolish Games

Express Yourself: Comforting

Welcome back to Express Yourself, hosted by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books.

This week's question is about comfort books and comfort movies (I suppose somewhere along the lines of comfort food but no calories?).

I don't think I have any comfort books, to be honest. I have a short attention span, so I rarely read books more than once.

My comfort movie is probably Enchanted, just a feel good fairy tale come to life. Who doesn't love Patrick Dempsey? Add a little bit of singing, and I'm happy for the rest of the day. :)