Lost a Follower

Aww man. I was staring at my "99" followers hoping for the one to break me into 100, and I noticed today, I'm down to 98.

I know I'm not the most interesting of bloggers, and like me, maybe that person just got bored and didn't want anymore notifications. I can see that. I also kind of wish I interested more people...or that I interested people more? Yeah, that one.

I get many views but few comments even when I ask a question. In my real life, I'm used to being the one who goes unheard, so it's not particularly new, but man. I don't know. I guess for now I can only be me, and eventually, I'll catch on.

(Late post. I was at a workshop all day yesterday.)

Friday's Express Yourself

Finally. Friday.

I haven't written a THING in some weeks now. I have some ideas bubbling up in my head, and I'm thinking of going back to pencil and paper to put them down. I haven't been on my laptop as much, and when I am, I'm playing games on it. Shifting how I write has always helped, so maybe it's time to do that.

In other news, it's time for Express Yourself!

This meme was created by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests! They give us a series of questions each month, and we get to answer them and learn more about each other.

This week, they ask: If you could switch bodies with someone for 24 hours (like in Freaky Friday), who would you switch with and why?

Well, today's my little sister's birthday, so I might want to get a lot of presents today. lol And maybe be 29 again. Try to get some bucket list items checked off before 30. ;)

Who would you switch bodies with for a day?

Relax, I'm On A New Book.

I'm pretty sure I bought this book a year ago now, and I'm finally about to read it. Natalie Whipple, the awesome author of the awesome Transparent books (still waiting for a third, but you know), is also the author of this one, and I can't wait to crack it open.

But first, let's see what's in store for me in this'n. There are 205 pages in the Kindle Edition, and Random.org has chosen page 167. Because, you know, it hates me. Let's see if I even remember how to get to the proper location on my Kindle.

"Do you have any tips on how to break the news to Mom?"

He laughed. My father, the ex-Akuma, laughed. Then he shook his head. "A sleeping tigress will be angry no matter how you wake her."

I sighed. Awesome advice.

Teehee.

Reading anything new? What do you think? Have you read any of Natalie's work? I love her.

Fast Five Friday

Happy Friday! Thursday was extremely long, and I wanted to break up with it.

Visit the Cover Girls' Fast Five Friday page to participate. Don't forget to link your post in a comment to them once they post!

Last Friday, they wanted us to list 5 things we're looking forward to in the Fall. Fall's my favorite season, so this should be easy.

1. Cooler weather
2. Pretty leaves all changing color
3. Bonfires
4. S'mores
5. More reasons to drink lattes

Today, they want to know what 5 books we want to see turned into TV shows or movies.

Let me preface this by saying that the first Octavia Butler book I ever read, Dawn, is coming to TV! I'm so excited! Read about it here.

Warning: My list only contains 3 authors. lol

1. Graceling/Fire (movie)
2. Bitterblue (tv)
3. The Inheritance Trilogy (tv, so it can go on and on)
4. A Deep Green Sea (movie)
5. Mr. Spaceman (either, as long as the creators of Futurama do it lol)

What about you? I know some people get mad when Summer's gone, but do you like anything about Autumn? And how about books you'd like to see as movies or tv shows?

Accidental Wednesday Words: Foreign

I forgot to post yesterday. At least I actually had work to do.

 Yesterday, I started reading Foreign, a self-published space opera by Alitha Martinez, who I met at our local Comic-Con this past..August? I think it was August. Time is flying. Anyway, Alitha started out as a comic illustrator, and she does BEAUTIFUL art. I bought three post-card prints of her characters, and I can't wait to have the space to stand them up. You can read a sample chapter of the above here, and enjoy the tatted man candy line-up behind it. hehe

But now, let me choose a line or two from a random page in the book. There are 133 pages with words on them, so using Random.org, we will look at page.....76.

(Pause: Page 73 has one of the prints I bought, a character I haven't met yet named Ricki. Her face is the backdrop of Alitha's homepage, Welcome to Ariotstorm. She's gorgeous! Unpause.)

Glass hulls offered a glimpse into an ideal society where there was no crime or fear; all of the citizens valued their hard-won independence too much to defile it. Every make, model, creed, code, and species lived side by side completely unconcerned with their differences.

Sounds like a utopia.

What are you currently reading? Care to share a line?

Express Yourself + Pitmad News!

Happy end of the week day! lol

So, GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE!

I got my first #Pitmad agent/editor favorites! Ack, what a difference a week makes! It's really a confidence booster, and I certainly have to thank my Pitch Warriors on Facebook. It's been a while since I've been part of a community where people are actively helping each other, and I think it's because we're not only writers, but we all needed an esteem boost after Pitch Wars. I know many of the Pitch Warriors received favorites as well!

And now, this week's and last week's Express Yourself questions, brought to you by Dani at Entertaining Interests and Jackie at Bouquet of Books.

Aug. 31- Sept. 4: What scent (candle, fragrance, etc) is your fave during Autumn?

I LOVE the smell of burning firewood in the Fall. It's so relaxing to me, and I tend not to have clear sinuses in the Winter, so I don't get to smell it as often. lol

Sept. 7-11: What is the last text you sent and/or received?

I texted my mom to see if I could borrow her car, but she had fallen asleep, so I walked over to her house lol.

20 Things

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a good Labor Day. I actually cooked. lol Nothing big, but just enough that there are leftovers. Yay.

So, this will hopefully be the last week I'm reading Cloud City, and I'm working on some #Pitmad pitches. I also joined a Facebook/Twitter group called #PitchWarriors, for those of us who didn't get picked for Pitch Wars. It's been a big mood uplifter and help.

So, to give y'all something more than an update, Heather Holden participated in "20 Things", a blog meme where you answer 20 questions about yourself. So I decided to follow suit. :)

How tall are you?

I am 5'3. Shorty!

Do you have a hidden talent? If so, what?

I like to do voice impressions. I can't do too many, but I try.

What is your biggest blog-related pet peeve?

Super long posts, especially on days like IWSG or A to Z, where they ask people to keep their posts short.

What is your biggest non-blog related pet peeve?

Ignorant people who speak before full understanding something. Or lazy dumb people. If you can help it, be smart. lol

What's your favorite song?

I have too many to name.

What is your favorite ETSY shop?

It's popular enough to have a question? lol

What's your favorite way to spend your free time when you're alone?

I try to do whatever I can because that's literally only one day in my week. But mainly, either play video games or watch movies.

What's your favorite junk food?

Chocolate! Or Pringles. I love Pringles.

Do you have pets?

Not at the moment. I'd love to get another cat or a puppy.

What are your favorite fiction and non-fiction books?

Does a medical dictionary count for non-fiction? I don't read any enough to have a favorite. Fiction, at the moment, N.K. Jemisin's The Broken Kingdoms and Kristin Cashore's Fire.

What is your favorite beauty product?

I don't have one.

When were you last embarrassed?

Oh my God, sit down for this one. So I'm in the Praise & Worship team at my church. We have a group on GroupMe to keep connected throughout the week. One day, I went to Miley Cyrus's Instagram page for some reason, and I saw this hilarious meme with Spongebob's face and a popular Big Sean song. It said UNCENSORED, "Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, You little stupid a** b****, I don't f*** with you." I copied the link to show my friends on another Groupme account. Later in the day, while on both my phone and laptop, I copied a Google Drive link on my laptop to paste for my cousin in the Praise & Worship GroupMe (I should stop here and say my mom and aunt are also on this team). Forgetting that I had copied the link on my laptop, I hit paste and send on my PHONE, which had the Spongebob Big Sean meme on the clipboard. I. Was. Mortified.

If you could drink one beverage for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Either Yoohoo or Dr. Pepper. I love those drinks.

What's your favorite movie?

Forrest Gump, The Matrix, Amelie, Serenity, The Color Purple, the list goes on.

What were you in high school? Prom queen, nerd, cheerleader, jock, valedictorian, band geek, loner, artist, etc?

I was the quiet writing chorus geek.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

Definitely the Grand Cayman Islands. Turtle farms!

PC or Mac?

PC. Mac's okay, but eh.

Last romantic gesture from a crush, date, boyfriend/girlfriend?

An ex-boyfriend recorded a Backstreet Boys performance that happened during a football game for me.

Favorite celeb?

I don't know if I have one, really.

Which blogger do you secretly want to be best friends with?

Heather seems an interesting person, lol. And definitely Mark the Koop man.

We're apparently supposed to tag people, but I'm a rebel, so if you want to answer the questions, you may do so, and let me know that you did, so I can read your answers! =D

7 More Lines and Fast Five Friday

Thank you guys for your encouragement Wednesday as well as your interest Monday! It really made me feel better. I was asked to post more from my WIP, so I thought, "I shall!" I decided to show secondary character Andyrsn breaking up an argument between Cyan and Ghuli, who was disobediently not present in Monday's 7x7x7x7 snippet.

“You’re both stressed. Just calm down.” Cyan paced the floor as Ghuli folded her arms. “Ghuli, I’m sorry, but I have to side with Cyan here.” The look she gave him conveyed a slight betrayal, but he stood firm. “We’re watchmen. I know you want to find this scroll thing, but your safety is more important.”

Ghuli’s scowl melted away, but she drew her knees up and hugged them. “What if finding the Great Scroll is the key to my safety?”

“Have we not been enough so far?” Cyan asked, the strength in his voice making Andyrsn jump, but Ghuli yelled right back.

“You’re not invincible, Cyan. I could lose you, too!” Cyan’s jaw hardened, and a pained look came across his reddening face before he stormed toward the door. “I’m not having this fight with you anymore.”

This week, the Cover Girls would like us to list the 5 books that had us bawling or near tears. These I can put in order from hardest sobs to mistiness. lol

Stephen King's The Green Mile (bawling uncontrollably!)

S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders (bawling)

N.K. Jemisin's The Broken Kingdoms (crying)

Terri Bruce's Thereafter (near tears/inconsolable)

Robert Olen Butler's The Deep Green Sea (near tears)

Any books have you dying of the feels?

IWSG: In Need of A Good Day

Happy Wednesday, and Happy September!

As you may know by now, this is the Insecure Writer's Support Group, created by the awesome ninja Alex J. Cavanaugh. You can visit him and also sign on at the group's very own website, Insecure Writer's Support Group dot com. And a big thank you to the ninjas who are visiting us all, as we are in the HUNDREDS.

I'm writing this the night before so I can get it out and read other people's posts today, and while also hoping Wednesday is a better day than Tuesday. First but not first-first. I didn't make the Pitch Wars list. It's a surreal movie feeling as you hear the mentors you picked pick other people and you're counting down thinking, "Okay, four more...Three more...Two..." By the 4th mentor, I'd pretty much lost hope because they had moved onto the mentors who were looking for YA OR NA, but now I guess I'm in that phase of total depression before I pick up my things and keep moving. The least I can hope for is that I'll get feedback in 2 to 4 weeks.

I said it was first but not first-first because by 9am Tuesday, I knew that I no longer wanted to Tuesday. I'm in a job that doesn't challenge me and that I don't want to do anymore, but I'm either over- or under- qualified for every other job out there right now, so I'm basically just sitting at my desk feeling so ADHD that I don't know what to do anymore. I'm also an insomniac, but it only seems to be on weekdays (probably because I hate my job), and by 10am, I'm ready to go to sleep and just don't want to be bothered. That certainly doesn't help.

There was a familial issue that happened actually just before the Pitch Wars video went up that upset me, too, and while I was straining to hear the first 30 minutes of the video because of noisy family members (not related to the aforementioned familial issue), I was kind of hoping just a little bit, that I would be picked. And I slightly blame myself because I said I wasn't doing anymore contests, and I probably shouldn't have because I'm not emotionally built for them in any capacity.

So anyway, here's to a good day.