Express Yourself: Scary Places (Wooooooo)

Happy Tuesday. :) The Cover Girls, aka Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests provide these fun questions for us to get to know their readers a little better and vice versa. Feel free to join in and comment their posts with the link to yours.

This week, they ask: Where would be the scariest place to spend Halloween?

Anyone else live in a town or state that has an old, prominent family in it? Ours are the DuPonts, and my cousin got married in their Bellevue House (which was turned into a park by the DuPont children), which is a replica of James Madison's Montpelier. My sister saw a crawlspace in the women's bathroom. We saw a hidden door in the room where the ceremony was, and I was able to pull a piece of the fireplace's broken brick out to peek inside. I'm sure had I moved the rubble, there would've been a secret switch or something. We even took my mom up to the DuPont estate Wintherthur for her birthday last year (it's so big, it has its own zip code).

Old, scary houses, especially mansions, always bring old ghosts to mind (like the awesomely bad movie The Haunting). One day, I'm going to start writing a ghosts-in-the-mansion story, but it would need to be really original. lol

(Woooooooooooo)

Where do YOU think the scariest place to spend Halloween would be?

A Very Rainy Friday (Here Be Blog Memes)

Well, thank you, those two of you who took pity on me Wednesday! lol I now have...

Just kidding. I now have 100 Followers! I wish I had stuff to giveaway or something, but I'm a part-time casual/seasonal administrative assistant, so I don't. BUT I'm declaring that that will change soon, as one of the other admins just picked up another job! This department tends to keep its people, so the chances that I will be full time soon are HIGH!

And now for Fast Five Friday! This is created by the Cover Girls, Dani and Jax, who also do the Express Yourself Weekly meme, which is also below. You can visit their blog and participate by posting your own Fast Five answers and then commenting with the link to your post.

Today, they want us to rattle off 5 favorite classic literature novels that we adore. Some of mine are plays. I hope that's okay.

1. Death of a Salesman

2. The Glass Menagerie

3. Taming of the Shrew

4. A Christmas Carol

5. The Great Gatsby

For Express Yourself, they would also like to know what our favorite cookie/cake is.

I LOVE oatmeal raisin cookies. They're not only tasty, but you can eat them guilt-free any time of the day! Chocolate chip comes in a close second, but it has to be a really good chocolate chip cookie. I also love mousse cake and a Boston creme-style cake (though it doesn't have to have the chocolate frosting. I just love the pudding).

What are your favorite classic novels? Or cookies? Or cakes? lol

Have a great weekend!

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?

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.

Friday Hops! The Interweb & Year-End Goal

Happy Friday, friends. :)

The countdown is ON! The Mentor/Mentee reveal for Pitch Wars is in 6 days, and I'm so anxious! The Twitter feed has been the solace for both sides of the fence since before the submission window opened, and the hints and non-hints have been killing at least me! Pray for me!

This week, the ladies at Cover Girls would like to know the 5 Websites/Blogs we visit the most!

1. Google

2. Twitter

3. Facebook

4. Blogger

5. Miniclip.com

The same ladies host Express Yourself Weekly, and they would like

to know what ONE thing we would like to do before the year is up!

You know, I've been single since 2006...It would be really nice to meet someone this year...Preferably someone with red hair, but at this point...lol. Not really getting any younger, although apparently the 30s are the new 20s, and I can get down with that.

Have a great weekend!

Pitch Wars Mentee Bio + Friday Hops

This is a special edition of Friday and unfortunately (or fortunately, I guess), not the last you'll be hearing about Pitch Wars from me.

First off, hello! Many (let's be real) Some of you may be here because I tweeted something on the lines of #PitchWars #menteebio and put a link there which led you here. If so, Hello again!

I'm Deborah, Deb for short, Debra Renée for longhand authorship, Write Mage for Magic Tavern and blogger purposes. I started writing as a child in a classroom where they handed us a blank book and said, "Go!", but really, I fell in love with writing because of a little animated series called X-Men, and I've been battling my inner screenwriter ever since.

A little about me: I'm the middle child of three girls, left-handed, born under the sign of Cancer, so I live a complicated and imaginative life. I love music and have nearly perfect pitch. I pretend to play piano, but I'm not all that great. I apparently sit on the cusp of the Type B and C personalities and am known to my friends as having no filter. I'm either very chill or ready to kill. (Sounds like a movie hook.)

So what do you write, No Chill Deb? Well, I have a huge love for YA contemporary stories. They held the trophy for me for several years of my adolescent writing journeys, and I still dabble with them. At the moment, though, I am trying to push a YA Fantasy novel that came to me in a dream and was inspired by my favorite gaming franchise Final Fantasy (when I woke up). I started writing it just before college, so it took about 6 years to write the first draft and another 5 or 6 when I learned all that there was about what happened after you feel your novel is ready. There may be more Fantasy works to come for me, but only time will tell. I have a short speculative story published by Cactus Heart Press under my old pen name Debra McKellan, the biggest thing to happen for me this year, and the link to the e-zine is up above this blog somewhere, where all the tabs are (there's also a sample of my short). To have been recommended to submit was such an honor, and I was even more elated to be picked!

I'm not sure what else to say here...So if you want to stick around for Express Yourself and Fast Five Friday, you can! ;D Every week, two ladies you may or may not know (Dani and Jackie, the Cover Girls) created these hops to get know those of us who follow them, and that they're able to come up with so many questions is magical.

This week for Express Yourself, they asked us what TV or book characters do we relate to?

I'm going to go with TV on this one, and I chose Rory Gilmore from Gilmore Girls. When the show came out, I believe Rory and I were both sophomores. She was a quiet bookworm with a dream of journalism; I was a quiet bookworm with a dream of being an author. We both have very animated mothers and estranged grandparents (though I think my grandmother is NOTHING compared to Emily). We both had a bit of a bad boy phase, with virtually the same scenario playing out (except Jess got his life together, and I still wish he and Rory will be together in the non-existent GG future). We both took a break, though I took one after high school, and Rory took one during college, dated a douchebag boyfriend, and then graduated successfully. What a ride!

Now, Fast Five Friday (which I always almost spell Fast Frive) is a little quicker (obvs), and the ladies asked us to name our Top 5 Apps. Here are mine in alphabetical order, so I don't lose my mind.

GroupMe
Instagram
Pinterest
Shattered Pixel Dungeon
Twitter

Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a great weekend.

Friday Hops: Movies and Music

Speaking of hops, has anyone else had the Not Your Father's Rootbeer??? Oh. My. Goodness.

Happy Friday! Today, I bring you my Fast Five, created by the Cover Girls, Dani and Jackie, and Express Yourself Weekly, also created by the Cover Girls, kind of. lol

Fast Five Friday invites you to give 5 quick answers to whatever question that have for the week. This week they ask us to name 5 action packed movies. Easy for me! I love action movies.

1. Lethal Weapon
2. Die Hard
3. Star Trek: Into Darkness
4. The Fast and the Furious
5. The Matrix

Now, I'm not sure if we still sign up for this one, but they have the questions, so I'm gonna answer them! This week, they asked, "What song makes you want to dance as soon as you hear it?"

Hm...I'd have to say any song with a salsa beat. If I hear one, I typically go, "Eyyy!" and bust a move or two.

THREE DAYS left before Pitch Wars opens up. Are you excited?? What about those questions up there? Love a good action movie? Love to dance? :)

Express Yourself, Pitch Wars, and a New Ending

Happy Tuesday!

I'm still reading Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, so pray for me. I've less than 100 pages left, and I might not pick up another Gaiman for a while. Anansi Boys was the best for me so far. I could've dealt without the rest. To supplement my Random-reading share, I'm bring you all last week's Express Yourself question!

This bloghop was created by the Cover Girls, Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie at Bouquet of Books. Not unlike Fast Five but more in depth, the ladies ask us a question each week so we can all get to know each other better. And speaking of mentors, last week, the ladies asked us to:

Name 3 people you want to learn something from.

Stevie Wonder - a musical prodigy! I would love to be able to play more instruments.

Stephen King - I need to know why so dark? lol

Joss Whedon - Because Browncoat.

Pitch Wars is now less than a week away, and I culled the mentor list last week, whittled my list down to those who wanted YA-Fantasy, then those who I felt gelled well, and then basically nit-picked until I had 5 mentors I'm ready to introduce to my baby.

Speaking of Writing, an amazing thing happened after I added this new scene that became a whole new chapter for my manuscript...A new ending! I'll admit, I had a lackluster "And they all lived happily ever after" going and didn't like it but wasn't sure what to do with it. But when I added the new opener, it was like a chain reaction happened, and I knew exactly how to end my story! Totally crazy thing to do when I'm talking about submitting to a contest in a week, but the beginning and the end tie in and compliment each other perfectly. They're like bookends in their parallelism, and I'm more than glad they're there now.

What 3 people would you like to learn something from? Are you entering Pitch Wars? Let me know!

Express Yourself: Eating While Writing?

Happy Tuesday!

Today is the day I answer the questions given to us by the ladies who created Express Yourself: Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests. This week, they would like us to:

Name a few things we like to eat while writing.

Well, to be honest, I don't have any writing snacks. Is it just me? If I get hungry, I usually just eat whatever is available. I don't have a particular food I crave in my time of writing.

Well, that was anti-climactic. See you tomorrow!

Express Yourself Weekly: My Weird BFF

Throwback...on a Tuesday! lol It's time for Express Yourself, created by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests. These ladies bring us fun questions to answer weekly, and we're happy to oblige.

This week, they would like to know what quirks our best friends have that we adore.

Hm...trying to think if I like their quirks. lol

My best friend/cousin Candyce must know what happens at the end of books and movies. lol I'm not the kind of person who doesn't tell you if you ask, so I always answer her if we're watching a movie I've seen.

My best friend/sister Andréa likes to make random noises out of the blue. Just chilling, and then suddenly, high note for no reason.

They're both very silly.

Thursday Thoughts: Express Yourself Weekly

Hello again!

I am doing another Thursday Thoughts to catch up on the Express Yourself bloghop that is back in action! Visit the creators, Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books to see their answers, join the hop, and visit others who participate.

Last week, the ladies said: Tell us about something you haven't tried yet, but would like to.

I have yet to skinny dip. I'd like to. lol

This week, they said: We are 1/3 of the way through the year. Name something you have achieved thus far.

Well, I was published. So there's that. *dances* I will be mentioning that until my next publication happens. lol I also started querying again after a long bout of doubt and revisions. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for me. :)

Express Yourself Weekly: Changes

Welcome back to Express Yourself Weekly, brought to us by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books to get to know us all a little better.

This week, they ask us: In the past year, what has been the biggest change for you?

Well, one year and two weeks ago, I finally escape temp work and was hired by the state for this casual/seasonal position. It was a big relief, as I was bored to death and barely making ends meet.

Unfortunately, I'm kind of in the same rut, but things are looking up. I need to be more positive and goal oriented in myself to get things going, and I think I can do it before next year hits.

Express Yourself Weekly: Life Advice

Welcome to Tuesday! Today is the day I answer the Express Yourself question given to us in the bloghop by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books. You can join anytime you like from either of their pages!

This week, they ask a very good question: If someone asked your for a piece of advice about life, what would you say?

I would simply say, "Follow your instincts and go for it."

There were so many times I look back on and think, "I should've done this." Obviously, it wasn't meant to be if it didn't happen, and I am one of those "What-if" people. If you feel in your heart you're supposed to be doing something, and it eats at you each day that you don't do it, DO IT. No one knows you better than you, so make it happen.

Express Yourself Weekly: "I'm an expert!"

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

But it's also Tuesday, so it's time for...

This hop was created by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books. You can join in on the weekly fun questions through their blogs.

This week they say: Everyone has at least one subject matter they are self-acclaimed experts in (Ex: pop culture, monsters, robots, etc). What is yours?

As most of you all know, I proclaim myself an expert of all things Final Fantasy! Unfortunately, I'm aware that that's not true, as I haven't been able to play all of the games yet. But I'm an expert at the ones that I say matter. lol FF6 through XIII, I am quite knowledgeable about, but I know the most about 7 through X-2.

My nephew-cousin (no hillbilly happenings; his mom is my cousin, and we are like sisters. lol) would have you believe I'm an expert in all things WWE, and I regret daily introducing him to it, because he's OBSESSED.

Express Yourself Weekly and News

Happy Tuesday! Welcome back to Express Yourself Weekly, brought to us by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests! Each week they have a question for us to answer, and this week's is:

If you could try out one occupation for a week, what would you choose?

I would love to be a WWE Diva for a week. It's always been a dream of mine to wrestle, but I think I'm even shorter than the average Diva and have no flexibility. I think I'd be a hard-hitter, though, and could do some good submissions.

In other news: TODAY IS THE DAY! Cactus Heart Press Issue #11, The Speculative Fiction Issue, is out today! My short story "Origin" is now a published piece of work! I'm so excited. This can only be the start of big things for me, so I can't wait to see what else happens. :-D

Express Yourself: Your Life's Narrator

Welcome back to Express Yourself! This meme was created by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books to get to know us all You can join us through either of their blogs.

Last year, Dani & Jackie opened the Express Yourself question query to us members of the hop, and as I was reading the guest questions so far this year, I thought, "Man, why didn't I ask a question?"

Apparently I did. haha It's the question this week, and it is: "Who would narrate your life in a movie?"

I feel like either Aubrey Plaza, who has that lazed, Delawarean disinterested voice I think I have in my head, or one of my icons, Zoe Saldana, who has that great husky, deep voice I think I have in real life but don't would be two great choices for my biopic.

What about you?

Express Yourself Weekly: Characters who should Stand Alone

Welcome back to Express Yourself! This bloghop was created by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests to get to know us all a little better.

This week they would like us to name a secondary character who you think deserves their own series/stand-alone (now you see what I did up there).

Everyone loves a good trickster. Neil Gaiman gave Anansi's son(s) a stand-alone novel after American Gods, and it was quite a treat. If I remember correctly, Hermes was a bit of a trickster, stealing Apollo's sheep just after birth (edit: It was Eros. Thanks, Dolorah!).

This season I finished N.K. Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy, which basically changed my life. She actually allowed her trickster, Sieh, to have his own book in this trilogy, rounding out the series. I won't give away the ending, but it was everything, and fairly trickster-like.

Jemisin, however, also created a novella: The Awakened Kingdom, which continues the trilogy. The main character Shill and her friend Eino. It was just a novella, but I want a series, darn it! Shill was just so cute, being the first godling born in thousands of years. The heart of a child and power of a god...Can you imagine! 

Express Yourself: Apocalypse Now?

Happy Tuesday!

Welcome back to Express Yourself, a bloghop created by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books to share things about ourselves with each other. You can join the fun at either of their pages.

This week, they ask us: What is your favorite kind of apocalyptic scenario (natural disaster, zombie, alien invasion, etc.)?

This is an interesting question for me. Back before I turned 18 (had I known about the show I'm about to mention), I would have said the one where kids were left to rule the world. Being an adult now, that means I, too, would have died, soooo. The Tribe is no longer an ideal apocalyptic scenario for me.

I don't do anybody's zombie, so I suppose natural disaster would be the next best bet for me. I could survive at least a flood, I'd like to think.

Express Yourself: Book Pairs

Happy Tuesday! Time for another question for the Express Yourself bloghop created by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books! You can join the weekly fun at either of their blogs.

This week, they ask us about some of our favorite book pairs, romantic, bffs, nemeses, etc.! That's not hard at all (sarcasm). lol

The first that comes to mind is Irene and Jonah from Terri Bruce's Hereafter and Thereafter.

Then, there is Victoria and Grant in Vanessa Diffenbaugh's The Language of Flowers.

Jake and Talulla in The Last Werewolf. (I would fan myself if it weren't so cold.)

Ed and Winry in The Fullmetal Alchemist series! They might be my favorite.

I could go on forever, so I won't. lol

Express Yourself Weekly: How to Say Thanks!

Welcome back to Express Yourself! This bloghop was created by Dani @ Entertaining Interests and Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and is filled with interesting questions each week that we can all answer. You can find this month's questions on Dani's page: aquí.

This week's question was submitted by J. Lenni Dorner, and she asked: What's the most creative way you can come up with to send a Thank You note?

As Dani said, it depends on the person. Most of my thank you's are done by reciprocating whatever the person did for me in some way. I think if I knew the person had a favorite radio station, I would try to send them one that way, so the world could hear their name. hehe