A Writer’s Life

Yes, this is me. And my conscience.

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Vacation Pics

This time, I got the photos to work, so I thought I’d share some vacation pics with you.

Just because.

Random Thoughts

I actually wanted to post pictures of my vacation here, but alas, I can’t seem to get it to work, so you’re getting my placeholder post. Off to random musings we go.

1. Registered the youngest for Kindergarten. He was very excited until I told him it was not Jedi School. Then he was pissy. But that’s okay. I took him to the bookstore and he had an imaginary light saber duel with a picture of a storm trooper, complete with sound effects (surprisingly good ones, too). Yes, I’ve learned to ignore the stares.

2. While at the bookstore, I read the phrase “cheese eating surrender monkeys,” and decided it would describe me pretty accurately. I’m a total pansy most of the time.  Oh, hey, you want my stuff? Sure. Just don’t take the cheese. I won’t fight you for the TV, but dammit, touch my cheese and I’ll go all Chuck Norris on your ass.

3. For my sanity, I think I’m going to refrain from making baked beans for awhile. Speaking of, I should go roll down the windows of the car. That thing is a giant dutch oven.

Lucky Seven

I got tagged again for the Lucky Seven! This time, RJ Gordon of Gemini Witching has tagged me. Go to her site to read her lucky seven.

Here are the rules of the game:

1. Go to page  7 or 77 in your current manuscript
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next seven lines as they are – no cheating
4. Tag 7 other authors.

Post the lines on your own blog.

Because I posted seven sentences from Jessie’s War, I don’t plan to do that again. So, here are seven sentences from Shanghaied, my sequel to The Marker. 

From Page 7 of Shanghaied:

James held the money just out of the old man’s reach. “How do I know I can trust you?”

The old man’s laugh was like bad whiskey, grating and harsh. “Boy, I been sailing since you were but a twinkle in your mother’s eye. Ain’t a ship around I haven’t worked on. I was a deck hand on the good Queen Vicky. Was gonna be made botswain, until I got caught drinkin’, talked too much, and they fired me. 

So there you have my lucky seven. And now I tag Brooke Moss, Elizabeth Hinds, Ann Montclair, Janna Shay, Christine Warner and Jamie Brazil. Happy lucky seven, ladies!

WTH?

So, today I was in the land of rampant consumerism, and I came across this item. (Okay, yeah, sometimes I try to avoid large chain stores, but honestly, if you’re going to buy cheap kid crap, it should be… well, cheap)

WHAT THE HELL? EDWARD AS A BARBIE DOLL???????????????

Henceforth, I dub you Edward Candyass, and may the GI Joes right next to you make fun of you for eternity.

Now, if they  made an Eric Barbie doll (life size, please), I might be first in line to make that purchase. Um, yeah, it’s my rampant consumerism mixed with giddy fangirl-dom. Blame the media (everyone else does).

Sunshine Award

So, I left for a few days, where I had only limited internet and cell service (OMG, it was like living in the Dark Ages… Or 1997) and when I return, I come home to the Sunshine Award. I was nominated by the super talented Roberta Gordon of Gemini Witching. I actually haven’t played this kind of game before, but I’m willing to give it a try, because, well, I’m game for just about anything (just once… after that, all bets are off). But this game seemed like a good idea (granted, the last time I said that, the hubs and I wound up with a second child. Totally kidding. Sort of), so I thought, Why not?

Honestly, it’s so nice to be recognized by people you hold in esteem. I’ve run across many talented bloggers out here in the blog-o-sphere. But me? I’m just a quirky girl who occasionally writes a quirky blog that (hopefully) will make at least one person laugh. So thank you so much Roberta for nominating me. You have no idea how much it means to me.

Here are the rules for the game:

1. Include the award logos in your post or in your blog

2. Answer 10 questions about yourself (any 10? Because, left to my own devices, I would ask–and answer–many dangerous questions about myself. It’s the consequence of having a poorly developed sense of shame. And yes, I did make up my own questions.)

3. Nominate 10-12 other fabulous bloggers

4. Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blog, letting them know they are nominated.

5. Share the love and link the person who nominated you.

So, to start, I guess we’ll start with the safe questions… Yeah, these are the ones I copied from other Sunshine Award winners. My own questions about myself would be… well, you’ll see.

What is your favorite color? Delft blue. I don’t know if that’s an actual color, but it’s the blue color all over the china I found in Delft, Netherlands. Wow, and that made me sound like a pretentious snob. In any case, it’s a color between electric blue and indigo. A little deeper than cornflower, less purple than periwinkle. So yeah, I think I just made that up. (And just the question of “What’s your favorite color” somehow turned into a dissertation on my snobbery and the parsing of the color blue. I might have issues).

What’s Your Favorite Animal? In general it’s the honey badger. In real life, it’s my dog.

Do you have a nickname, and what is it? The hubs calls me the grenade, because, um, I’m the one you toss in to eliminate the possibility of a drunken hook up. On top of being obnoxious and probably the only one wearing sensible shoes (Get your mind out of the gutter), I’m also married, and, sadly, sober. Party with me, and, sure, I’ll regret the things I said the next day, but I have to remember them. You, on the other hand, will have forgotten that you barfed on my sensible shoes (hence the reason I wear them). Don’t worry, I’ll remind you. This is why I don’t get out often.

What’s your favorite non-alcoholic drink? Coffee. I’m not sure I can survive without it.

Favorite day of the week? Saturday. Hands down.

Do you have a plan for the zombiepocalypse? Sure. Doesn’t everybody?

What is it? Run around screaming until I meet the inevitable end. And no, you can’t have my stuff.

Do you prefer Twitter or Facebook? I used to say Facebook because you can post longer stuff. But I’ve found that the more words I have to work with, the sillier I am. I’ve also discovered I can be really obnoxious with just 140 characters. Who knew?

What’s your favorite TV show? Castle, because I think Joey Buchanan–I mean, Captain Mal–I mean, Nathan Fillion is awesome. I still don’t know why he won’t follow back on the Twitter. I’m cool, right? Just because I would drool all over the Nater-tot if I met him doesn’t mean I’m not totally suave. Because I am. Totally. 

What’s your favorite book? I’m not going to be interesting with this one. My favorite book is Jane Eyre. I don’t know why I love this book so much, I just do. So, yeah, on my book shelf, I have all the classics, and Shakey-baby, and some philosophy (I own an astounding amount of Henry James. I’m not sure why)… and then some trashy romances. My bookshelf looks something like this: pretentious cover, pretentious cover, twenty covers with shirtless dudes, pretentious cover, 10 books that don’t have covers anymore because the spines are broken, random German book, pretentious cover. Next to the bookshelf is a stack of books maybe twenty high that, if they have covers still, have women in various states of undress being fondled/ogled/groped by shirtless or semi-shirtless dudes. These covers may or may not have once featured Fabio.

I think I may have taken my answers too far. My apologies. I’m both chatty and obnoxious. It’s a dangerous combination, I know.

So here are my nominees:

Brooke Moss: A fabulously funny writer, and one of the best CPs a girl could ask for.

Attorney At Large: Because she’s super funny, and an amazing woman overall. And she won’t tell you any b.s., either.

Ann Montclair: Witty and entertaining, her book made me both smile and squirm

Callie Hutton: She writes heartwarming books that just ooze romance. I love that.

Casey Wyatt: An awesome paranormal writer, her books are full of humor and are just… fun. One of the best ways to spend a Sunday, in fact. Also, her blog makes me smile.

Jamie Brazil: A really cool contemporary writer.

Jolyn Palliata: Okay, dude, I am totally in love with one of her heroes. Rhys. So, yeah, I had to nominate her, because, well, she wrote my new book boyfriend.

Christine Warner: Because she’s fantastic. Some Like it in Handcuffs … the title alone cracked me up.

Louisa Bacio: Because man, that girl knows how to make you squirm.

Have a great day, and happy Sunshine Award!

On Vacation

Hey Loyal Readers (hi, Mom),

I’m on vacation this week, with limited Internet access, so you won’t hear from me for a bit. Not that that’s terribly different from any other day, but this time, I have an excuse! (As a matter of fact, I’m writing this in the parking lot of a Safeway. See my dedication? I’m in a parking lot!)

In any case, I’ll be returning from exile shortly, and I’ll bring along pictures of my adventures.

Expect a blog about my adventures on a girls’ trip, the battle of the sexes, and my function as…the hookup grenade!

Until then, have a great week!