A Little Sunshine

We could all do with a little sunshine! And thanks to the lovely Siv Maria over at Been there, Done that, I've got a little extra to spread around :)

Here are the questions that go along with the award...

Favourite Number: don't really have one, but my son wore 10 in hockey so let's go with that

Favourite Colour: to wear? Blue. To have around me? Green. To enjoy? Red & purple.

Favourite animal: wolf or gorilla

Favourite non-alcoholic drink: chai tea

Facebook or Twitter: Twitter - I haven't joined FB yet :)

My passions are: my family, teaching, reading, writing, music, sports

Getting or giving presents: giving!

Favourite pattern: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25... (square numbers) (sorry, couldn't resist - plus I don't wear patterns)

Favourite Day of the Week: Saturday

Favourite Flower: Daisy

Thanks as well to the wonderful Kela McClelland over at Teardrops on My Book. Kela awarded me the Versatile Blogger award. I'm supposed to tell you 7 random things, but I've already shared enough for today. :) I hope you'll pop on over and visit Kela though!

I'm not going to follow the pass-along rules (shock, I know!), but I'd like anyone who wants to, to snag either of these awards. If you visit here, you definitely bring me some sunshine!

Choose one of the questions and give me your answer!

Oh no - I'm It!

I've been tagged by two lovely ladies: Janet Summer Johnson and Shannon O'Donnell. If you haven't met them yet, you've really got to visit - they're terrific! :)

Okay, here we go...

Are you hot?

Nope. Not a chance. I have a thyroid disorder & I'm always cold. :)
 
Upload a picture or wall paper you are using at the moment.

 Nope - he's not mine, he's the son of a family member. And he's the cutest cutie-patootie going! :)

When was the last time you ate chicken meat?
Last night. Delicious! Marinated & bbq-ed. With new potatoes, mushrooms & zucchini - awesome!

The Song(s) you listened to recently?
Beautiful by the Barenaked Ladies
California Dreamin' by Queen Latifah
Take it Easy by The Eagles
LOVE my iTunes - it's always on shuffle and you never really know what's coming up next!

What were you thinking as you were doing this?
Help! I'm terrible at these things!

Do you have nicknames?
Not really. Finnegan for some strange reason when I was a kid, but that's it.

Tag eight Blogger friends.

1. Riley Redgate
2. Laura Pauling
3. Lisa Gail Green
4. Laura Marcella
5. Julie Musil
6. Susan Fields
7. Rosalind Adams
8. Beth

Who's listed as number one?
Riley. I met Riley over at Agent Query Connect. She's an amazing teen writer who's got a great eye for detail and a very generous heart!

Say something about number 5.
Julie is one of the sweethearts of the bloggy-verse. She always makes me think and her approach to life is full of optimism.

How did you get to know number 3?
It's been such a long time, I'm not really sure. Lisa is always so much fun on Twitter! Love Lisa's twisty takes on all things paranormal over at her blog!

How about number 4?
Laura's zebra always makes me smile! I think I met Laura through her Monday quote posts - love them!

Leave a message for number 6.
Susan - I love your "about me" description on your blog. I used to think I was the only one with eclectic ideas all over the spectrum. So glad to know I'm not alone!! :)

Leave a lovey-dovey message for number 2.
Laura - you're a total sweetie! I love the way you break down plots - your analysis style totally rocks!

Do number 7 and number 8 have any similarities?
Aside from being 2 of the sweetest people in the bloggy-verse? They both have open, generous hearts and are kind and wondeful ladies!

(Please feel no pressure to complete the tag - it's all about fun, not to cause stress!)

Phew! I made it. I have the HARDEST time with these things. Hope you enjoy meeting 10 of the nicest people in the bloggy-verse (don't forget Janet & Shannon up top!).

So, what's on your computer's background right now??

Familiar Strangers

You know who I mean - those people you see all the time, but never really know.

The man in the red truck you pass at the light every morning.
The lady with the bright pink running shoes you pass on your weekend walk.
The family who shops at the grocery store at the same time you do every week.

In our family, we make up stories about some of them. Our favourite was Herb. He was an elderly gentleman who sat at the picnic table outside his apartment building when I drove the kids to the babysitter's before work. We never spoke to him, but we looked for him every morning. I don't remember which of us came up with the name Herb.

It got to the point where the kids would wave. Herb never waved back. Not sure if he ever saw them wave. One day Herb was joined by a lady friend. Then she started showing up regularly. When it became a daily thing, we dubbed her Herbette.

Then one day, Herb wasn't there. Ever again. We looked every morning. We decided not to stop and ask. Herb and Herbette had obviously taken off to enjoy a vacation somewhere and liked it so much they stayed... That's our story and we're sticking to it. The alternative is too hard.

I discovered another familiar stranger in my life passed away over the weekend. We'd dubbed her Granny on the Go because she could make her wheelchair MOVE! We saw her at Tim Horton's on a regular basis. We saw her whizzing across the parking lot to the local grocery store almost every week.

We never learned her name. Only spoke to help her with her coffee or change at the counter. Yet we feel a loss.

Are we more likely to have these familiar strangers because as writers we tend to notice people? Do you have any familiar strangers in your world?

***
On another note ... thanks so much to the adorable Cherie over at Ready. Write. Go and the lovely Layna over at Layna Pimentel for awarding me the Irresistably Sweet Award! If you haven't met Cherie or Layna yet, do yourself a great big favour and pop on over for a visit. You won't regret it!! :)

Life is Good!

The lovely E. Elle over at The Writer's Funhouse passed along the Cherry on Top/Life is Good! Award to me recently. Thanks so much, E!

This award comes with a unique twist - I'm to share some things about my past that I would change if I could. If this were real, I don't know if I would actually change anything (except #5). I like where my life has led me, so I wouldn't want to take the chance of messing that up. :)

Here we go...

1. I wish I could go back and be braver - especially in high school. I wish I'd submitted that poem for the yearbook - it really was pretty good. I wish I'd joined the band and the drama club - despite the fact I didn't know anyone in them. I wish I'd stood up to those teachers who gave the physics & phys ed awards to people with lower marks because they were 'boy subjects'.

2. I wish I could go back and take even more photos - of people who are gone and those incredible moments and images that make life special.

3. I wish I could go back and invent the Internet. Or Google. :)

4. I wish I could go back and not splash that poor man I soaked when I was learning how to drive and didn't realize how slowly you should go through really big puddles.

5. I wish I could go back and NOT put those perms in my hair. They were BAD. And, no, you can't see the photographs!

Because of the crazy chaos that has been my life lately - instead of linking to a select few, I'm going to offer this award up to everyone. The community of online writers and readers is truly amazing - I think we all deserve a treat with a cherry on top! So please, take the award with my blessing and pass it along. Life really IS good!

In the same spirit I'd like to pass along Jules' award. Jules created this to help us all celebrate each other! So thank you to each and every one of you - please take the award and pass it along yourself! :)

So, what would you change if you had the chance to go back? Any bad hair choices we should know about? :)

Recycling or Trash?

I'm a bit of a tree hugger. I recycle everything I can and try hard to reduce the items I use in the first place. But in my writing? Not so much.

I'm not an outliner. I have a vision for my ending, a vision for my beginning and no idea how I'll get from one to the other. This generally means a messy first draft and a lot of rewrites. I go through my draft several times - each time looking for something else. First = plot holes, 2nd = scene order, ...

I keep each version under a new file: Title 1, Title 2, Title 3... That way I know which version is the most recent. In the back of my mind is the worry that if I delete, I'll want something from that previous draft.

So far, it's a worthless worry. I've never gone back. I know each draft is stronger than the previous. If I deleted something it was for a dang good reason. I haven't recycled a single scene, or even a word. But what if I've deleted something magical by mistake, something I can springboard into a shiny new idea? Yikes!

So, I'm curious, do you recycle your deleted writing from your previous drafts? Are you brave enough to trash it all or do you keep it just in case...?

***

On another note, thanks so much to Michael over at In Time... for awarding me the Stylish Blogger Award.

Thanks Michael!! I appreciate it! :) If you haven't checked out his blog, hop on over - you won't regret it!

'Fessing Up

Last time I posted my lies & truths for the Creative Liar challenge sent my way by Mari Juniper. Time to 'fess up! So, here are my 4 spooky lies with my 2 spooky truths mixed in.


(I found the awesome Steampunk Ghostbusters at Kilgore Laboratories).

1. My school is haunted. When I'm in at work on the weekend - I often hear footsteps coming down the hall. At first I thought it was the boiler. Nope. I've called out assuming it was another teacher. Nope. Footsteps stop. And nothing. True. I've heared the footsteps multiple times - but there's never anyone there. Definitely spooky. I don't go in to the school at nights alone anymore :)

2. I once lived in a haunted house. We only saw her a few times - when we came home late at night. We leave the stove light on when we're out, so we saw her (wearing an old-fashioned bonnet) silhouetted in the kitchen window and on the stairs. Not true - but true for a friend's house. I haven't seen the phenomenon myself, but 4 very down-to-earth people have and they believe it completely.

3. I had a premonition once. I dreamt my school bus would be in an accident outside of Burger King and I would lose my leg. Called my friend and told her about it. She laughed and made me feel ridiculous. So I got on the bus. We had an accident. Outside of Burger King. But I only twisted my ankle in the fall. Thankfully no one was really hurt. Not true - but true for a friend. I was the one she called on the morning of the accident. When her bus didn't show up at school, I was in a total panic until they arrived.

4. We had a dog growing up who barked at the chimney, but only during thunderstorms. We thought it was odd, but nothing spooky. Until some of the bricks fell off during one really bad storm. During the repair process, human bones were found. The police never did figure it out, and the cold case is still on file here. Not true - totally made up :)

5. A year after my dad died, my mom & sister & I went to scatter his ashes. On the way up to the spot, 6 of his favourite songs played on the radio. Including the one he asked me to sing for him shortly before he died. These are not popular songs that you normally hear on the radio and they are not all the same style (country, easy listening, rock, jazz). True - are you happy Jan? :)

6. My mom grew up next to some woods in Scotland. Gypsies visited on a regular basis. Some of the neighbours weren't always kind to the gypsies. One neighbour tried to have his way with one of the young women and found himself the victim of the evil eye. In the next few months he lost his job, broke his arm and his wife died. Not true. The Gypsies did stay in the woods near her home, but there weren't any evil eye stories :)

So there you have it - my spooky lies and truths :) Thanks for playing along!

.. and the next thing

This...

Go Elana! If you've somehow missed the fantabulous news, Elana Johnson sold her book Control Issues. Go here to check out her story. And find out about the amazing contest she's holding in celebration!

Elana is one of those folks - you know the kind. She's fun and funny. Kind and honest. Smart with a heart of gold. Her book is going to completely rock! Congrats Elana - we'll all be in line to buy your book when it comes out!

That...

It's a long weekend up here in Canada. Happy Victoria Day to my fellow Canadians :)

Most of my family was out of the house (fishing, camping, golfing...) for most of the weekend, so I got a ton of work done on my Steampunk! I finished a really big revision round. Now I'm going to dive back in and see if I can add some of those little details I keep missing (see last post if you're confused).

And the Next Thing...

I've got more thanking to do!

The lovely Lisa Gibson awarded me the AwesomeSauce award. This is a wonderful award - and came with a really amazing message. Thanks so much Lisa!

Al over at Publish or Perish tagged me. If you want to see my answers, click here. Al has the most amazing photographs from Down Under. You've got to check out his site!

Mari Juniper over at Mari's Randomities awarded me the Creative Liar Award. With a twist. Thanks Mari :)

Here are my 4 spooky lies with my 2 spooky truths mixed in.

1. My school is haunted. When I'm in at work on the weekend - I often hear footsteps coming down the hall. At first I thought it was the boiler. Nope. I've called out assuming it was another teacher. Nope. Footsteps stop. And nothing.

2. I once lived in a haunted house. We only saw her a few times - when we came home late at night. We leave the stove light on when we're out, so we saw her (wearing an old-fashioned bonnet) silhouetted in the kitchen window and on the stairs.

3. I had a premonition once. I dreamt my school bus would be in an accident outside of Burger King and I would lose my leg. Called my friend and told her about it. She laughed and made me feel ridiculous. So I got on the bus. We had an accident. Outside of Burger King. But I only twisted my ankle in the fall. Thankfully no one was really hurt.

4. We had a dog growing up who barked at the chimney, but only during thunderstorms. We thought it was odd, but nothing spooky. Until some of the bricks fell off during one really bad storm. During the repair process, human bones were found. The police never did figure it out, and the cold case is still on file here.

5. A year after my dad died, my mom & sister & I went to scatter his ashes. On the way up to the spot, 6 of his favourite songs played on the radio. Including the one he asked me to sing for him shortly before he died. These are not popular songs that you normally hear on the radio and they are not all the same style (country, easy listening, rock, jazz).

6. My mom grew up next to some woods in Scotland. Gypsies visited on a regular basis. Some of the neighbours weren't always kind to the gypsies. One neighbour tried to have his way with one of the young women and found himself the victim of the evil eye. In the next few months he lost his job, broke his arm and his wife died.

Okay - so I'll never write horror! But it was fun :)

So any of this ... or that to add?

Big Picture or Little Details

A few things lately have me lamenting my inability to focus on the little details in life.

At a workshop recently, I met a really interesting woman. When I returned to my group of friends, I told them about her and turned to point out this terrific woman in her pink top. We searched the room. No pink top. Everyone sat. No pink top. I totally turned out the next speaker becasue I couldn't believe I couldn't find her. She`d mentioned she was looking forward to the next workshop so I knew she hadn`t left.

I finally spotted her. I'd looked at her and past her several times. Hadn't recognized her. She was wearing a black top. Black. Not pink.

After that speaker I moved closer to her and realized her glasses were pink. Black top - pink glasses. Not exactly as illustrated :)

Of course my friends thought it was hilarious. I laughed too - life is too short not to laugh it up when you have the chance! But later I wondered how I had made the mistake. I hadn`t recognized her face several times, but I could tell you all about her life, her approach to teacher and even her parenting style.

I think it's another example of my global brain. I tend to look at the big picture in everything I do. I know instinctively when someone is having a tough time, the kids at school think my ability to understand them is kind of spooky. I know who will be friends, who won't get along. I know when they haven't eaten, when they don't understand a topic and when they need to let off steam or have a shoulder to lean on. I know when they`re going to blow and can almost always stop it.

How? Don't have a clue. When pressed I can come up with some body language cues but that's about it. I think my brain just absorbs the big picture and translates it for me.

On the flip side, don't ask me what anyone wore today. Don't ask me to notice a new haircut... or colour. Those are the little details the more linear brains seem to notice.

In my writing I do the same thing. I work from an emotional level. Anyone reading my stuff should get a good feel for the characters - should know them, should be able to anticipate their reactions. But they might be hard pressed to describe them. Because I don't. Hardly at all.

Although I'm fairly artsy, the visual details aren't always noticed and rarely make it into my writing.

What about you? Are you a 'big picture' or 'little detail' kind of writer?

On another note, I've got a few fine folks to thank.

Two terrific ladies, Charmaine Clancy at Wagging Tales and Laurel of Laurel`s Leaves, passed the Blogger Buddy Award my way. Did they know how pretty it would look on my blog?

The lovely Lydia Kang at The Word is My Oyster awarded me the Sweet Blogger Award. 

Please do yourself a favour and check out these awesome ladies and their wonderful blogs. You'll most definitely enjoy the visits :) 

Enjoy a fabulous long weekend everyone. At least everyone in Canada. Is it a long weekend anywhere else?

To Verify or Not To Verify

I'm considering taking word verification off the blog. I don't like slowing people down. Many of you visit a LOT of blogs and every second can count.

But... (there's always a but!) I'm not home most of the time. I'm gone 9 or more hours at the job every day and then another bunch of hours on the weekend. Then there are all the times I'm at home but not on the computer.

In other words, I won't be able to patrol the blog. I'm worried about creepy comments. I don't have a problem eliminating inappropriate, nasty or creepy comments. I'm a teacher - I can shut down temper tantrums and whiners in a heart-beat. But I have to be on the computer to do that.

Our board has updated its policy. We cannot access personal sites or blogs from the school's computers any longer. So if someone leaves a yicky comment it could be quite a while before I get a chance to remove it.

Is this a big deal?

What choices have you made in regards to word verification? If you've removed it (or never used it) have you had any troubles? On the flip side, have you known people who've not bothered commenting or dropping by because of word verification? Or is it not a big deal and I should just leave it on?

Thanks - Any and all input appreciated!

On a side note, Wendy at WM Morrell's Musings from Down Under has passed the Blogger Buddie my way. It's got the sweetest graphic which is totally appropriate because Wendy is one of the sweetest people I've ever 'met'!

Jackee at Winded Words has tagged me in the 5 Questions 5 Way tag game. To see my answers click on this link. Jackee has the coolest job and her blog is definitely worth a visit!

Laura Marcella at Wavy Lines has passed the One Lovely Blog my way. She's got one of those herself and if you haven't made it over, you should. Check out the great zebra while you're there :)

Once again I'd like to pass these along to some friends I've known for a while as well as a few of my newest blog buddies. You can choose whichever you'd like - one of the awards, or the tag game. As always these are no pressure awards - do with them what you will :)

DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude
India Drummond
Kimberly Loomis at The Perpetual Writer
Lynn Simpson at Place to Create
Tamara Heiner at Chasing Dreams

5 Times the Fun

I recently got tagged by my good bloggy friend E Elle at The Writer's Funhouse. This is a fun game where I get to answer 5 questions 5 times.

Question 1 - Where were you five years ago?
1. Same house
2. Loving my day job
3. Watching my kids enter their teens
4. Writing some stories in my head
5. Not even considering attempting to publish any writing.

Question 2 - Where would you like to be five years from now?
1. Same house
2. Loving my day job
3. Watching my kids settle into their grown up jobs & lives
4. Writing stories on paper
5. Publishing those stories.

Question 3 - What is (was) on your to do list today?
1. Get students to understand surface area & volume of triangular prisms
2. Lit circle discussion in class: what makes a really good lead?
3. Hope to fit in lunch
4. Watch son play hockey
5. Revise 2 chapters

Question 4 - What 5 snacks do you enjoy?
1. Chocolate of course :)
2. Raspberries
3. Rolo ice cream
4. Strawberries
5. Popcorn

Question 5 - What would you do if you were a billionaire?
1. Give a couple million to cancer research
2. Create a really cool and fun and safe group home for kids needing foster care & pay the staff really well

3. Build a really awesome school for kids with learning differences - lots of hands on labs, workshops, kitchens, studios, computer labs...

4. Go on an African photo safari

5. Go whale watching in one of those teeny tiny boats

Thanks E for letting me dream a little! If you haven't checked out her blog, make sure you pop over. She's got a great place :) She also passed me the Blogger Buddie award when my laptop was down and out. Thanks E -- You're a great buddy to have!

I'm going to pass the tag game along to a few bloggers I've met recently. I'm looking forward to finding out more about you!

Rayna at Coffee Rings Everywhere

B. Miller at B. Miller Fiction

Melody Green at Melody's Musings

Laura Marcella at Wavy Lines

Lydia Kang at The Word is My Oyster

I've got a few more awards to accept. Susan Fields was kind enough to pass me the Sugar Doll award - most appropriate because she is a sweetie! Check out her blog for lots of great stuff!

Mary at the appropriately named Mary McDonald Has the Write Stuff passed the Most Excellent Blogger Award my way. This is an award Mary created with some help from her talented daughter. Thanks Mary! She's a true fan of Friday Night Lights and a lot of fun - make sure you look her blog up too!


Hope everyone enjoys a wonderul weekend - I do believe we've earned it :) Anyone have exciting plans?

Celebrate Good Times - Come On!

Kool & the Gang's song isn't even on my iTunes, but it's perfectly appropriate right now. My laptop is back!!!! (Definitely !!!! worthy news I think)

Apparently the problem was the "RAM was broken". Surprised me (with my zero tech-knowledge). I thought RAM was memory and am surprised RAM being broken could prevent my laptop from powering up. But it's fixed now and I didn't lose any data at all! :)

The first thing I did was check my writing files and then email them to my multiple accounts. Next on the list is to buy an external hard-drive and figure out mozy backups.

I'm so glad I got an iPod Touch for Christmas. It may have been small and really, really hard on the eyes, but my kids were so busy with their assignments and studying it was a life-saver. Otherwise I think I'd have been able to get online twice. Yikes! Talk about stress :)

So - back to business...

I received several blog awards while I was out of touch. Linking on the iTouch was way beyond my capabilities, so I put it all of until now. Today I'd like to thank a few of those people.

Talli Roland passed the Blogger Buddy award my way. I love the graphic of this award. It's appropriate because that's the way I feel when I pop by Talli's. You've got to check her out if you haven't done so already.

Stephanie Thornton at Hatshepsut: The Writing of a Novel and Tara at Feel of Something New both passed the Prolific Blogger Award my way. I promise to be much better in this department now that the laptop is back. Both of these blogs are fun and informative. You won't regret visiting either one of these great ladies!

Lisa Gibson at Random Thoughts to String Together sent the Sweet Blog My Way. Lisa's another AQ buddy - her pretty in purple blog is another one I love to visit. Check it out!

That's all for now! I apologize for not passing any along today - it's too crazy of a day getting everything reorganized and catching up! I hope to do better when I pass along the rest :) In the meantime, check out these awesome bloggers and have a great weekend!

Time and Watched Pots

This has been a weird week! Trying to squeeze some computer time in between my kids' studying and assignment schedules is nuts. They're both busy & organized & hard-working - which is great, but it does mean I can't borrow their computer very often. It's only been a week since mine was sent to the laptop homeworld for repair, but it seems much longer :)

Time is elusive. The old adage about the watched pot taking longer to boil is so true. This week has flown by, but it's also been forever since I had my own computer!

Time can also be elusive in our writing. We decide how to make time pass for our characters. We obviously don't want to follow them each and every moment of their day, so we pick and choose which moments to highlight.

We want to have a few of those watched pots moments - building anticipation. We also want unwatched pot moments - where time flies by and the characters are taken by surprise by a sudden event.

Writing both of these types of scenes takes different kinds of skills. I like writing both. I love to slam a surprise into my characters when they least expect it, but I also like to build that tension - to make the waiting unbearable.

Do you have a favourite way of handling time? Do you prefer watching the pot boil or letting it surprise you?

(On another note, I've received a few blog awards from some great people. I'm going to hang on to them for a bit (another time issue!). I just can't hang on to a computer long enough to do the linking required. I'm doing a lot of my blogging on my iPod Touch. I'm glad to have it, but it takes me forever to do anything and my eyes just can't work on the small screen for very long! But I do appreciate the awards and I will do a proper thank you when the computer's back!)

Catching Up

I'm going to catch up today! You folks really are awesome out there - it always amazes me when you think of me when you're passing along your awards :)

Lola Sharp passed the Quillfeather award my way. If you need your spirits lifted, drop on by Lola's blog - it always works!

Lorel Clayton passed the Beautiful Blogger to me. Lorel has great advice on all aspects of the writing process. Make sure you click on over!

The lovely Mary Brebner awarded me the Sunshine Award. It's always nice to have more Sunshine! Mary's got a new address for her blog, if you don't have yours updated yet, this link will take you there!

Nicole Ducleroir and Medeia Sharif both awarded me the Super Comments award. Thanks so much! Both of these ladies are wonderful, bright people. You'll definitely enjoy stopping by their blogs too.

I've been avoiding (yes, like the plague) posting more "interesting" things about myself. But I feel guilty every time I see someone else has actually done it. So, here we go ...

1. I have a love/hate relationship with my house plants. They look great, I enjoy them, but they just keep growing! I don't have unlimited space in my house where plants can thrive, and I can't have big pots. So instead of repotting them, or slicing off some roots and putting them back in the same pot (which never works), I keep them until they're too big, toss them and start again.

2. We couldn't have pets when the kids were little - we were never home with all of their sports/activities and our jobs. We finally bought fish. The only thing the kids learned about was death. *sigh*

3. In spite of that we're all huge animal lovers. One of these days I plan to go on a photography safari in Africa & then a whale watching expedition.

4. I have nightmares every night. Vivid ones. I still remember some of them from when I was a kid.

5. The Shining was the first/last horror book I read. I read it in highschool and didn't sleep well for a very, very long time. (see #4)

6. At just over 5 feet tall, many of my students are taller than me - and I currently teach 10 & 11 year olds. I don't mind it at all. I've always liked being short. At home, I just call "Tall Person needed" and someone comes to help. :)

7. Despite #6, I won the VIP award for volleyball in highschool. :)

Today, I'll pass these awards along to the following great people. As always, these are 'no pressure' awards. Choose your favourite and do with it as you will. I hope everyone will check out these links - if not, you're missing out on some very fine bloggers & friends!

Jackee at Winded Words

Julie Dao at Silver Lining

Michele Emrath at Southern City Mysteries

CJ Redwine at The Last Word

Dawn Simone at Plotting & Scheming

Elana Johnson

Karen Denise at I'm Always Write

Mary McDonald at The Write Stuff

Okay, I'm caught up!! Now if only my To Be Read pile could be handled so easily. Or the house cleaning. Or the laundry. Or...

So what are you trying to catch up on?

A Little Bit of This...

First off a huge CONGRATULATIONS to blog buddy Caroline Starr Rose who has recently announced a book deal! Woohoo! Her novel May B. will be published in the fall of 2011 by Tricycle Press - an imprint of Random House. Wow!! Congrats Caroline -- It's so exciting to have news like this to spread. :)

Second, I'm playing around with a few blog templates. When I started trying out this and that on the weekend, it didn't go well. To say the least. The laptop sort of/almost/kinda/maybe cried. At the very least it got weak-kneed and wobbly. Several times.

Then it got worse. *sigh*

For a while there I wondered if I could possibly crash the entire www. *double sigh*

Anyway, the laptop will accept some new templates, but only if I download them. And then I have to battle a bit to change them. Some of the widgets disappear completely - some change formats. Others, well I'm not quite sure yet.

So, you'll possibly be seeing several new templates over the next little while. I'm looking for one that will actually let me make all the promised format changes. For instance on this one (assuming it's the same as when I typed this...) I can't do anything with the links/buttons on the top row. They're completely useless. With other ones my comments don't link, the widgets show up on top of each other, I can't log out...

So, I may go back to the old one just to save the hassle, but it's spring - time to do a little sprucing up :) In the meantime, I hope you enjoy variety!

Third, I've received a few awards over the last few days. I'll spread them out over the next few posts. I'd like to thank Tara over at Feel of Something New and Talli Roland. Both these ladies passed the Sugar Doll award along my way. Totally appropriate because they are both so very sweet! If you haven't made their acquaintance, hurry on over to their blogs :)

I'm going to pass this one along to a few of the sweetest people out there. If you haven't visited their blogs yet, you're sure missing out!!

Jenny Martin at Book Binge
Wendy Morrell aka Quillfeather at Wendy Morrell's Musings from Down Under
Cat Woods at Words from the Woods
L. Diane Wolfe at Spunk on a Stick
Mason Canyon at Thoughts in Progress
Roz Morris at Nail Your Novel
Tamika at the Write Worship

That's it for today. I'm off to play with my templates again. Have you had any luck changing templates? Please tell me I'm not the only one who has difficulty with what should be a simple task!

Blogging Buddy News!

There's a great new blog popping up in the blogosphere! 4 amazing writers have put together The Secret Archives of the Alliterati. These are great folks and the blog looks like a lot of fun. They've put together a unique prize package too. Let me know if you follow them from here :) Check out their initial post to see why!


Another blog buddy, Karen Denise over at I'm Always Write... But Often Wrong tagged me for the following game. Karen has a great sense of humour and she's a lot of fun to follow!

• I like spring break! I can do bloggy things during the day :)
• I like my teaching job & "my" kids
• I like animals and considered becoming a biologist to study animals. My first choices were whales, wolves and gorillas
• I like teddy bears of all kinds
• I like the Space Channel
• I like sunshine
• I like so many kinds of music
• I like baking

• I love my family - I have the best kids & hubby ever!
• Today is a glorious, sunshin day - seriously it's the middle of March and the snow is almost gone!! In Canada - Northern Ontario no less!

• I hate when my kids are hurt
• I hate watching people I love suffer with illness
• I hate racism and prejudice
• I hate meanness and small-mindedness
• I hate child abuse in all its many forms
• I hate rotten celebrity role models
• I hate when money is more important than people

• I (secretly) like brussel sprouts!
• I love writing. Creating new people and forcing them to suffer through all kinds of torture is so much fun! :)

On another happy note, I've received a few more awards from even more great blogging buddies.  Shelley over at Stories in the Ordinary awarded me the Creative Writer Award. Shelley's fun perspective on life makes her a great bloggy friend.

Susan Gourley/Kelley over at Susan Says awarded me the Sunshine Award. Susan has published some great books and her blog is full of fun advice.

Helen Ginger over at Straight From Hel awarded me the Prolific Blogger Award. Helen's blog is chock-full of great industry tips.

The delightful Suzette & Bethany over at Shooting Stars awarded me the Butterfly Award. You have to meet these ladies is you haven't already done so!

Thanks to all! I'm going to pass along these awards to a few more bloggers who are new to me. Once again, these are no pressure awards. Choose whichever award you like - or play the tag game at the top. Have fun!

Tiana Lei at Spilled Ink
Rosalind Adam at Rosalind Adam is Writing in the Rain
Shelley at Stories in the Ordinary
Kathi Oram Peterson at Kathi's Writing Nook
Erica at write.laugh.play
E. Elle at The Writer's Funhouse
Marisa Birns at Out of Order Alice
Shawna Weeks at The Forever Blog

Have a great day everyone - I'm going outside to walk in the sunshine. And maybe rake a little too - I can see grass!

Treats!

Thanks so much again for all your kind words and thoughts in the last post. Everyone's moving forward, but it's obviously going to be a long road for his family.

Back to business...

Way back in February, Patricia Stotley was kind enough to award me the Prolific Blogger Award. Love the image! If you haven't met Patricia yet, you have to pop on over - she's a great lady!

Dawn Simon over at Plotting and Scheming awarded me the Kreativ Blogger Award. Dawn is lots of fun and you'll enjoy visiting with her and her ideas.

VR Barkowski and Laurel at Laurel's Leaves both awarded me the Sugar Doll award. You guys are so SWEET. Sorry. Couldn't resist. Plus, it's true.

Sorry it took me so long to thank you ladies! I definitely appreciate your kindness :)

I`m going to reserve the right to pass these along later - it`s report card season & I`m a little squirrelly at the moment.

So, going along with the direction of my thoughts when I hear "Sugar Doll", I`m going to ask you what your favourite sugar-filled treat is. And do your characters like the same treat?

I like chocolate and caramel together - even though I rarely buy a chocolate bar, I could eat a Caramilk at any point of any day. :)

My characters on the other hand live in Steampunk England and rarely think much about food. Their favourite treat is not having to cook and getting to buy hot food fresh from the market.

So, how about you? Any Caramilk fans out there?

Out of Character Celebrations!

Wow! The Olympics are officially done and they were fabulous!!

We Canadians are mushy messes right now. Starting with Alexander Bilodeau, through so many terrific moments, to Joannie Rochette and finally to the Men's Hockey Team. It would have been a great Olympics if they'd won silver, but winning gold was icing on the cake. I think it was giddy relief that sent Candians in all cities into the streets to toot their car/truck horns and celebrate with their neighbours. Streets in at least 3 Canadian streets were closed due to celebrations! And then the humour of the opening ceremony - having the mime pull up the malfunctioning torch? Priceless :)

Some very unCanadian-like behaviour! And a lot of fun.

It's always interesting to see what pushes people/characters into uncharacteristic behaviour. In real life it doesn't have to work - it doesn't even have to make sense.

In our writing though, behaviour must always make sense. Our characters better have a good reason for doing something out of character. And it better be set up well! If it's not believable, our readers are going to give up on us and our story. We'd better be more believable than reality.

How do you handle it when one of your characters tries to act out of character? In the ms I've got marinating, the female MC has a major blow up moment that is totally out of character. She's under an enormous amount of stress at the time, and there's an event that triggers the blow. I think it's believable. I HOPE it's believable! Have you ever encountered a similar problem with your characters?

But, I've so enjoyed these out-of-character Canadian moments! The overload of red & white (including those mitts!) has filled us with joy & pride.

Congrats to the athletes, the organizations & the blue-suited volunteers! Thank you for so many moments to treasure. :)

Wonky Connections

It has been a frustrating few days. On Wednesday night, our Internet connection went down late at night. We figured it was just one of those things.

When I returned home from work on Thursday, still no Internet. Called the company, they couldn't do it from their end. Someone would come Friday after I got home from work. He came, but couldn't fix it properly because of the time frame. He's coming back Sunday. If it takes too long, he'll come again on Monday. He's put in a temporary fix, but it's sporadic.

Really hard. Really, really hard. I hadn't realized it would be this hard. But the guilt!! I check a lot of blogs. I couldn't read and respond to all of my regulars - so I apologize if I missed you. I was able to do a few at work after the kids left, but the filters block a LOT of blogs. There's no access to email there either.

So, if I don't respond to comments in a timely manner, sorry! I'll pick it up when it works again.

On another note, I've got a few more awards to accept :) You folks are truly the best!!

Helen Ginger over at Straight from Hel (which may be the best blog name ever!) awarded me the Circle of Friends Award. Love this award and the message it conveys - I've made so many friends through this forum :) Thanks so much Helen! Helen's blog is chock full of helpful and fun information for us writers. Pop on over to meet her.

Carolina Valdez Miller over at Carol's Prints awarded me the Quillfeather Award - isn't he cute! Carol's blog is hilarious and fun - if you haven't met her yet - pop on over quickly!! This award requires me to share the way I prefer my eggs (cheese & mushroom omelette thank you very much!) and to pass it along to seven Cool Chicks. I'm also to remind you to keep his hutch clean & tidy and to ensure he has enough grain and water! :) Thanks so much, Carol!

I'll save the rest for next time. So, without further ado, I'd like to pass these awards on to...

Anne Spollen at Anne Spollen Author's Blog
Nicole at One Significant Moment at a Time
Arlee Bird at Tossing it Out (I'm not calling you a Chick, Lee!!)
Laurel Gaver at Laurel's Leaves
Michelle Dennis Evans
Roxy at A Woman's Write
DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude (I know you're not a Chick either!!)
Lisa Gibson at Random Thoughts to String Together

As per usual, these are No Pressure Awards. Choose whichever you prefer, and pass along (or not) as you see fit! Just know that I appreciate you & your blogs.

Enjoy checking out these blogs everyone. You'll meet some really fabulous folks :)

Seriously?

I'm human. I don't even mind having to prove it. But when the word verifications start insulting me, it's all a little too much.

Today, as I checked through my blog roll, the word verification on one of the blogs was "hyper". Hmmm. Okay, mildy insulted, but I can live with it. Several blogs later, I get "unredy". One letter off from "unready". I'm getting close to finishing up my wip. Unready? Darn.

Move along a few blogs and a few nonsensical words, and I get "vizzelize". Normally I'd probably skip right over this, but now I'm looking for it. So, am I not visualizing enough in my wip? Should I be visualizing my success? What in the world am I supposed to be visualizing? Hoping for a hint in another blog, I trek onwards...

... I get nothing sensible for a few blogs. I'm lulled - it's been my vivid imagination at work again. Nothing to worry about. 

Right. Final blog I visit tonight? The word is... "unhot". Thanks. A bunch. Just what I needed.

So, have your word verifications been haunting you???

On another note (a much less insulting one), I've been blessed again with a few blog awards! You folks are the absolute greatest :)

L. Diane Wolfe at Spunk on a Stick and Arlee Bird at Tossing it Out both awarded me the springy Sunshine Award. We all need a little sunshine in our lives & this is just the ticket! Thank you :)

Roxy Haynie over at A Woman's Write also awarded my the Honest Scrap Award. Thank you Roxy!

I'll save the others for another post!

Today, I'll pass these along to some bloggers I've met recently. Select whichever award you prefer. Remember these are always No Pressure awards - do with them as you will! I hope you get time to check out some of these links. I know you'll feel welcome :)

Wayne over at Bo's Cafe Life - great cartoons!!
Julie over at The Climb
Karen Musings over at Musings of a Novelista
Lisa Rusczyk
Layinda at Layinda's Blog
Lindsey Brooks at Dangerous With a Pen

More next time. Enjoy the blogs that are new to you. And watch out for those insulting word verifications!!!

Thursday Thoughts

Um... how did it get to be Thursday? When I woke up, I'm pretty sure it was Monday. This week has whipped by me!

It's been crazy. Work didn't just demand my attention, it sucked me into some kind of scary vortex. It hasn't been negative - in fact it's been a really fun week - but it's been constant motion and constant craziness.

And then there's the Olympics. Sports crazy family here, so we're flipping between anywhere from 3 to 5 Canadian channels depending on the events. Because we have so many networks covering the Games, I haven't even flipped to see the US coverage. It's usually fun to see how commentators from different countries view the same event :)

On another note: A big thank you to the lovely Lorel Clayton over at I'm Blogging Drowning Here for presenting me the Over the Top Award. Click here to see the questions and my answers for this award.

Another big thank you to Cassandra over at Cassandra Jade in the Realm for giving me the From Me to You/Picasso Award.

These are both fabulous ladies with really interesting blogs. If they're not already on your list, check them out!

I'd like to send these awards along to a few more great bloggers! Once Again, select the award you'd like and enjoy it as you wish. These are no pressure awards :)




Medeia Sharif
Elizabeth Bradley at Elizabeth Bradley Fiction Bits & Bytes
Julie Nelson at Literary Jules
Elaine Smith at Still Writing

Okay - off to enjoy some figure skating, hockey, curling, half-pipe & skeleton  :) Have a great evening/day everyone!