Surprise Getaway

I'm registered for a course tomorrow on the Canadian Publishing industry. It's being taught by a former president of Penguin Books Canada at a somewhat distant university. However, naturally enough for living in Canada, the forecast is for freezing rain anywhere north of Toronto - and of course, they specifically named the city where the university is. So when Gizmo Guy and I were discussing it this morning, and since he has to be in the same city tomorrow and Wednesday, GG suggested that perhaps it would be wise to reserve a hotel room and drive up tonight.

Woohoo! A night away from the boys - the first in YEARS! So we splurged a bit and reserved a room with a king sized bed and a -- this is a first for me which is rather pathetic at my age -- a double-sized whirlpool tub. Wonder if I can claim it as a 'research' expense ;)

And on that note ... I found this over on Tempest Knight's Midnight Moon Cafe Blog:

Your Kiss is Green

Your kisses are short and sweet - at least a first. You tend to be a cautious kisser. You don't want to scare anyone off. Once you get to know someone, your kisses are daring... and even wild. No matter what the situation is, you know how to deliver the perfect kiss. Kissing Type: Varied People See Your Kisses as: Skillful You Kiss Best With: A Blue Kisser Stay away from: A Black Kisser

What Color Is Your Kiss?

Now THAT's snow ...

Update on the Mid Winter Kick in the Pants Challenge: My weekly goal was 4,000 words, and I hit over 6,000 words. Woohoo. I'm going to see if I can increase it this week even though I know I'm definitely not going to be able to write on Tuesday.

And now for a real chuckle, here's a video a friend send me. When I lived with my parents, they lived in a snowbelt area, but we never got the snow they got here (it's Colorado by the way - the comment say they got 54 inches in 48 hours.) Our dogs used to do this in the clover fields in the far back of our property - all you could see every once in a while was their ears flying as they'd jump up to figure out where they were. But I love watching this dog tunneling through the snow.

Blog Birthday

Exactly one year ago today, I posted my first blog. Exactly one year ago this month, I joined the RWA after attending the Toronto Romance Writers Romance 101 course taught by Margaret Moore earlier in the month. And realized I'd come home. I'd finally found a writers' group that could help me realize my dream of getting serious about my writing - my New Year's resolution of 2007. There I met some incredibly supportive ladies - Christine d'Abo, Wylie Kinson, Amy Ruttan and Savannah Chase among just a few of whom I consider friends. Not to mention the squee moments when I realize that other members include Kelley Armstrong, Margaret Moore, Michelle Rowen, and Eve Silver. The world of blogging and life within the RWA has introduced me to far-flung friends - Marley Delarose, and Red Garnier, and Julia, and Kim Smith and there's so many more.

Over the year I've taken courses - too many actually. Aside from the research courses I've taken, I've also taken craft courses: Mary Buckham's Sex Between the Pages - an excellent course, Margie Lawson's Deep EDITS course, another one I highly recommend and will use from now on. I've taken courses on plotting, and pacing, and beginnings. On GMC and pitching. On engaging a reader through emotions. On how to write erotica. I've taken so many I realized I needed to stop for a breather and find my own voice again.

And somewhere in amongst all those courses, I've finished three manuscripts - one a full length historical that I've left in its first draft as I decide its future; one short-novel-length erotica that I've edited, re-edited and polished 'til it shone; and a short 15K erotic novella that was equally polished that will continue to be sent out until it finds a home.

My first blog talked about how I was jumping into the deep end in taking my writing to the next level. And boy, I had no idea how prophetic that would be. I didn't just dabble my toes in the shallow end just attending the TRW meetings. No, I climbed up the high diving platform and took the jump of my life. For in July I found myself boarding a jet and flying to Dallas to attend the mother of all conferences - the RWA conference where I met authors such as Sherrilyn Kenyon and JR Ward, Cathy Maxwell, Stephanie Laurens, Kathryn Smith, and and and - oh, it was overwhelmingly fantastic. And while I was there, in the leap of a lifetime, I actually pitched one of my manuscripts to an editor and got a request - I'm still awaiting its fate. Talk about being in over my head!

So it's been a wild ride this year ... hopefully in the next year it'll only get better.

Rrrrroar!

Amy Ruttan very kindly roared at me today. And I loved it!

(I really needed it, this week's been tough - however I more than exceeded my goals for Christine d'Abo's Mid-Winter Kick in the Pants challenge. I set my weekly goal as 4,000 words and today I hit 6,000 and there's still a couple of days to go. Go me!)

Anyway, on to the award...

I have to name three reasons that make a book stay on my 'keeper' shelf. This was tougher than I thought ... so I actually looked at the books on my keeper shelf. All three things below combine to make a book a keeper. Take away any one, and it may not stay on the shelf.

1) World building - a place I can lose myself in, identify with. From strange worlds like the exquisitely in-depth world JRR Tolkien created with Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Silmarillion and CS Lewis's Narnia to JR Ward's vampiric world (And let's not forget to mention our own Christine's space world in her Bond series!) World building is even important in contemporary worlds like Susan Elizabeth Phillip's Heaven Texas and historical worlds like those Jo Beverly creates. They are all places I felt I could step into and become a part of.

2) Unforgettable Characters - especially heroes who I feel I could cuddle up with, especially if they're sword-wielding defenders who would protect me from those nasty villains in the fantastical worlds I love who never belittle a woman - she walks beside, not behind him. Jamie Fraser, Aragorn, Bobby Tom Denton, and Rhage. Heroines that I identify with - not wimpy but not overly kick-ass either (in fact I'm really turned off by those heroines which are becoming so over-the-top in how they shoot or kick or ... whatever. Those type make me roll my eyes and close the book.) Villains who are not smarmy or unbelievably unredeemably evil - a good villain is someone you know, someone you trust but has this deep dark hidden side who really believes in what he's doing - at any cost. (yes, I've met several of them in real life - they're the scary ones.)

3) This one is the hardest to explain. I just know it when I read it. I look for a 'Concept' that make me think "Huh, that's possible" even when it's not (or at least hopefully not). John Wyndham's post-atomic war The Chrysalids. And Arthur C. Clarke's end-of-the-world Childhood's End. Diana Gabaldon's Outlander. I began to write that it all circles back to character and what drives them. But in the books I just cited, it's more than just the characters. It's the concept that stuck in my mind. Okay, sure, Jamie Fraser is a reason all his own to read Outlander, but with all three books, something about the concept behind the stories made me think 'Wow, what would I be thinking/doing if I were in that position? What if that really happened?' And it doesn't have to be a sci-fi or a paranormal. Concept can apply to even the modern mainstream, because it has to weave through the plotline and be believable, tying the world and the characters to their ultimate end. And no, that doesn't always mean a HEA ending.

Ooops forgot to tag someone - I'd be interested in seeing what makes Marley Delarose and BlueSue and Julia put a book on their keeper shelf.

Ways to Distract you

Yesterday I wrote 1300 words on my story, and so far today I've written 1400. So I am on my way to this week's goal of 4000. (I won't think about how Gizmo Guy managed to write 5,000 words on his manuscript yesterday - grrr, show off!)

I would have written more (she says knowing it's an excuse) but Guitar Hero sat down and talked to me for a while, and being a good mother I couldn't tell him to shove off. Oh, all right, yes, I could have, but I didn't. One reason was that he showed me this site. The Face of the Future - a program by the University of St. Andrews in Scotland transforms the picture you upload into a variety of cultures. For some reason it works better with guys than women - or at least it worked better with Gizmo Guy and Guitar Hero's pictures than it did with my own.

So the picture to the left is what I uploaded - the normal picture of Guitar Hero taken last year. Then I chose what culture to transform him to - Afro-Caribbean, Asian - East, Asian-West, Baby, Child, Teenager, Young Adult, Older Adult, Boticelli, Manga, Ape man, etc. Some of the results are hilarious.

Take a look at some of the results below:

Here's a Manga version:

Here's what he'd look like as an old man:


And here's what he'd look like as an El Greco portrait:


Yes, it's a time waster, but I had fun. And I'm still writing so my day's not been completely lost.

(Just for fun, here's me as a Manga character...)

What a waste

A few years ago, I got up the nerve to post some of my writing online and had a faithful reader comment that she saw the hero I'd written being played by Heath Ledger. At the time I'd never seen him so I rented A Knight's Tale and had the time of my life. Now it's not a serious movie, it's got a jousting scene with We Will Rock You as the theme song, for Pete's sake. But yes, I could see Heath as the hero of my story. And since he's been in a string of movies, including another favourite of mine - Casanova , and one that's not such a favourite but I have to admit he really deserved his Oscar-nomination for Brokeback Mountain.

So I was both shocked and saddened this afternoon to read that Heath Ledger died this afternoon at the young age of 28. All that talent, just gone.

Back in the Bog

I joined Christine's d'Abo's "Midwinter Kick in the Pants" writing challenge and today was the first day. I had to set goals both for the week and for the end of six weeks. This week's goals were to write 4,000 words (I thought I'd start off on the low end and crank it up as I got into the story.) My Big Goal was to finish the first draft. Finishing a first draft in six weeks is do-able for me. I've done it before. The first draft sucks, but at least the story's outlined and I have something to edit.

The story I've decided to work on is one I was working on for NaNO before Dad's stroke interrupted it. (By the way, Dad's still in hospital awaiting an available bed in a nursing home - and he's plotting ways to escape. Honestly!) Back to the story - I've got the characters internal and external conflicts all plotted out. I've lined up an anthropologist with a minor in linguistics to help me ensure the details are correct. I wrote a full outline the first day of NaNo. I re-wrote it on Day 6 of NaNo when I realized the starting wasn't working. And I re-wrote it again today. Mainly because my characters just aren't talking to me.

Now writing forward generally isn't a problem for me - this time last year, I was writing on average between 2,000 and 3,000 words a day. A trick I learned when I was doing Candy Haven's FastDraft the year before was to copy a paragraph from my outline and paste it to the top of a blank doc and begin expanding on it. Very quickly the characters would take over and my story would flow.

Not today.

I just kept staring at that danged blank screen.


Someone - PLEASE - give me a kick in the rear and get me moving forward again. Or at least swat my characters and give them a stiff talking to. I hate being mired in the Writers' Block bog.

A Knight's Horse

I've not posted much because there's not been much going on. But during a conversation with my sister this afternoon, she pointed me to this video over on YouTube. BigSis used to ride dressage and do jumping and is love with these horses - they're called Friesians and are a very ancient type of horse used by Teutonic knights from what I've googled. Their mane and tails are amazingly long. (the link takes you to the Friesian horse society - take a gander at their photo album.) Sorry, BlueSue, your Arabians are gorgeous too, but what a beautiful and powerful looking horse the Friesian is. If you're writing a medieval - can't you just imagine your handsome dark and devilish knight riding in on this horse?



The music is from the movie Requiem for a Dream and was used in a trailer for The Two Towers. Whoever made the video timed the horse's movements to the music (or vice versa) and it makes it that much more powerful. Turn up your speakers (or put your head phones on) and sit back and enjoy.

Good taste vs freedom of speech?

Last year, a few friends of mine had a good laugh over these:



Yup, they're truck nutz! You hang 'em from your truck's trailer hitch. They're offered by several companies online (maybe in stores, I have no idea), and come in a variety of colors and sizes and styles. You can get 'em for key chains, you can get 'em with handicapped stickers on them, or with lipstick marks. You can even get ones that light up!



Today, I read that a member of the Virginia State Assembly is attempting to ban them saying they're a 'safety issue.'

Now I can't say I've ever seen a set on a truck, and I don't find them in particularly good taste, but is it a waste of a State legislator's time to pursue a law against them?

What do you think?

Birth Month Meme from Julia

I promised Julia last week that I'd do the meme she tagged me for, so here it is. Better late than never.

1. Mention the person who tagged you and create a link back to them.

2. Copy-paste the traits for all the twelve months (see below).

3. Pick your month of birth (see below).

4. Highlight the traits that apply to you.

5. Tag 12 people and let them know by visiting their blogs and leaving a comment for them.

6. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve done it!

I'm tagging Wylie and Red and Christine and Amy (unless Julia's tagged 'em first) and ... well, anyone who wants to do this. I don't like putting that type of pressure on people.

As for my traits? Some are pretty much spot on for me, except for a few I'm not sure about - my friends/family would have to answer some of these, plus some traits contradict each other. Anyway I was born in late July so here are my traits:

Fun to be with. Witty and sparkly. Nope. Not lately anyway. And not in high school either. So I guess that’s one others would have to answer.

Secretive. Yes, I am. Or at least I like to think I am. Sometimes I have a habit of giving you TMI. But you’d probably think the things I’m secretive about are weird things that needn’t be secret, while things you’d keep secret I blab all over the place.

Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Um, yeah, that’s a given. Even I can’t understand myself. For a writer my verbal communications suck sometimes. I know what I'm saying but I guess others don't.

Quiet unless excited or tensed. Yup. That’s true. And I’m easily excited and easily tense.

Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. I’ve been told (by a priest, so who am I to argue) that I have too much pride. As for a reputation … well, I suppose that depends on what type of reputation you’re talking about. I’ve been married for 30 years to the same man – never felt an inclination to stray, so I hope any reputation I have is for being faithful. Hopefully nothing more.

Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. I know I can’t lie so I have to be honest. Trouble is that my tact tends to fly out the window if people ask me a question I can’t lie about. Which leads to not knowing what to say because I’m afraid to hurt their feelings. Or worse, hurting their feelings because I can’t figure out how to wiggle out of the question. I really don’t think I’m very tactful – or in trying to avoid an answer, people have said “Ah, she’s trying to be tactful.” Which means I’m not tactful, or at least subtle, at all.

Friendly. Approachable. I try to be, but I think I unconsciously keep a invisible barrier around me that makes people afraid to approach me. Then again, Gizmo Guy is always commenting about how strangers will talk to me or ask me things out on the street or in a mall. I can’t tell you the number of ladies – or old men – I’ve helped to bus stops or to find help when they’re lost. Even when I’m not from their town. (Honest, that happened during my last trip to Kingston. I can’t walk past someone who needs help.)

Emotionally temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Easily hurt but takes long to recover. Easily consoled. Yes to the first three, but the last one doesn’t fit in there. Just ask Gizmo Guy who spent most of Friday evening trying to console me when I finally had a meltdown after dealing with my parents for the last two months.

Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. I don’t go out of my way to seek revenge, but I do believe in the saying “What goes around, comes around” And the ‘forgiving but never forgets’ is definitely spot on. But to be truthful I wish I could forget as holding onto all that is not healthy.

Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Not sure about this one – I have lots of unnecessary things cluttering up my house.

Guides others physically and mentally. Guides? Or pushes? Shoves? This is probably true since I started out as a nurse and became a teacher.

Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Sensitive has several interpretations and I’m not sure I form impressions carefully. I’d like to think I do, but I know I have made snap judgments before. As for caring and loving or treating others equally – I try. You’d have to ask my friends and family if that’s true.

Strong sense of sympathy. Yes – that’s one reason I had to stop nursing and teaching – I’d bring it home with me.

Wary and sharp. Wary, unfortunately yes, due to some people whom I should have been able to trust turning out to be completely untrustworthy. Sharp? Well, I would like to flatter myself and say yes to that, but in truth, those same people I thought I should be able to trust snowed me so well I wasn’t sharp enough to see what they were doing. So I'm not as sharp as I'd like to be.

Judges people through observations. Oh, yes! Ask a couple of my relatives about this trait of mine. They don’t like that I listen to what they’re saying and notice things they do and file the details away in my memory because I can catch lies that way.

Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. When I was in school, I was an A student, very focused, but hitting that half-century mark has changed that ability. As for hardworking – well, depends what type of work I'm doing. If it’s writing, yes, definitely. If it’s housework, then I’m a slacker. Big time.

Loves to be alone. *Hand waves in the air* Yes, definitely. One advantage of living in the country when I was growing up was being able to wander the forests in behind my parents’ place and finding a huge tree I could climb so no one could find me. And now I’m all grown up and too old for tree climbing? There are days I’m ready to lock myself in a closet and tell everyone to go away. (I’m starting to sound really mentally ill here, aren’t I?)

Always broods about the past and the old friends. Not so much anymore – I think in my twenties I had a hard time getting over things that happened in my childhood, but then I realized that by dwelling on things, I was giving the people who used to have power over me still more power. So I work very hard to not look back. It’s tough, and sometimes you need to remember the past in order to move forward, but you can’t let it rule you.

Likes to be quiet. Oh, yes! I like things around to be quiet too – if no one’s in the house, the television’s never on, and rarely is the radio. Probably because of the way I was raised – children are to be seen and not heard was very literally interpreted by my parents.

Homely person. Um, homely to me means ugly so I’d like to say no. But hopefully in this case they mean ‘a homebody’? In which case that’s true.

Waits for friends. And waits. And waits. And waits. But there is a point where I draw a line and say enough. It took me a long time to figure out where that line should be drawn, but I did.

Never looks for friends. I’m not so sure about this. I don’t go out of my way, but I’ve met too many people in lineups and at groups and kept in touch with them to say I don’t look for them.

Not aggressive unless provoked. Definitely true – I’d rather walk away. I’ve had too much aggression shoved in my face for me to want to do that to someone else.

Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Yup. Probably from dwelling on the past, eating all that aggression, and having sympathy for people I really shouldn’t have sympathy for.

Loves to be loved. Who doesn’t?

Birth Month Traits:

JANUARY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious. Loves to teach and be taught. Always looking at people’s flaws and weaknesses. Likes to criticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitive and has deep thoughts. Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Rather reserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds. Romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loves children. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Very stubborn and money cautious.

FEBRUARY: Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

MARCH: Attractive personality. Sexy. Affectionate. Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assesses others. Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Loves attention. Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Loves home decors. Musically talented. Loves special things. Moody.

APRIL: Active and dynamic. Decisive and hasty but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people’s problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Emotional. Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory. Moving. Motivates oneself and others. Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their lover can see.

MAY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.

JUNE: Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn.

JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

AUGUST: Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.

SEPTEMBER: Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people’s mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

OCTOBER: Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to take things at the center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn’t pretend. Gets angry often. Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care of what others think. Emotional. Decisive. Strong clairvoyance. Loves to travel, the arts and literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Just and fair. Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loves children.

NOVEMBER: Has a lot of ideas. Difficult to fathom. Thinks forward. Unique and brilliant. Extraordinary ideas. Sharp thinking. Fine and strong clairvoyance. Can become good doctors. Dynamic in personality. Secretive. Inquisitive. Knows how to dig secrets. Always thinking. Less talkative but amiable. Brave and generous. Patient. Stubborn and hard-hearted. If there is a will, there is a way. Determined. Never give up. Hardly becomes angry unless provoked. Loves to be alone. Thinks differently from others. Sharp-minded. Motivates oneself. Does not appreciate praises. High-spirited. Well-built and tough. Deep love and emotions. Romantic. Uncertain in relationships. Homely. Hardworking. High abilities. Trustworthy. Honest and keeps secrets. Not able to control emotions. Unpredictable.

DECEMBER: Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changing personality. Not egotistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

Bitten and Smitten by Birds

(Apologies to Michelle Rowen for perverting her title.) Anyway, here's my latest feathered visitor. This big fella settled in our backyard this afternoon, scaring off all the small birds he was hoping to feast on. If anyone knows exactly what type of hawk he is, let me know. I know we have sharp-shinned and redtails and coopers in the area, and in the winter rough legged as well as a few others, but I've never figured out which type this is - and he's a regular in my backyard. I don't think it's a sharp-shinned - they're a fairly small hawk and this guy is huge!

**Edited: According to one of my mother's friends - and a former teacher/principal at my old grade school - this is indeed a sharp-shinned hawk. If he's the smallest of the accipiters, I wonder how huge a Coopers Hawk must be.

I had a really nice day yesterday - I confess I skipped the Romance 101 course with Barbara Kyle in the morning - I decided to indulge myself with some much needed sleep. But I dragged myself out of bed finally and drove into TO (That's Toronto for all you non-Torontonians) to have lunch with Amy, Christine and Wylie before the monthly TRW meeting.

In the afternoon, Michelle Rowen of Bitten and Smitten and Fanged and Fabulous, along with Bonnie Staring talked about 'Schmoozing for Writers.' Bonnie in her usual upbeat and self-deprecating manner had us all in stitches - together they made a great team. And surprise surprise, during a segment about elevator pitches, I managed to remember my 25 word pitch I used in Dallas.

And best of all I found 'a source'! An anthropologist with a minor in linguistics - just what I need as I write the story I started for NaNo. Now if I can just get my creative juices flowing again.

The Candy Battle

I'm in a real funk today. Somehow - I don't know how - Sue knew and sent me a link to cheer me up. Now Sue and I are huge Tolkien fans but these boys take the cake - literally



They made an entire Gondor out of candy. Including the battlefields and even the ships. Gizmo Guy would want to eat Grond but my mouth is watering looking at Gondor itself. Yum.

Go here if you want to see pictures of the entire project with an explanation. Now I used to make gingerbread houses, but they had four walls and a roof, nothing to the scope of this epic battle. These guys really outdid themselves (and probably their wallets - can you imagine how much candy that must have taken?)

Can I blame Solar Flares?

Hmm. It doesn't look like 2008 is going to be any better for my appliances than 2007 was. Last year both the fridge and the oven gave up the ghost, now my dishwasher has gone on the fritz.

This dishwasher is only 5 years old - we bought it brand new and installed it when we bought the house. The water's going in, the little doors to the soap container are opening, but something's not happening properly as the dishes aren't getting clean. Gizmo Guy has promised to look at it on the weekend but memories of him taking the stove apart and not being able to get it back together are hard to forget. So I am not holding out much hope - I guess I'm going to have to call in a repairman. If I think that will be cheaper than buying a new machine, anyway.


For those who wash their dishes by hand, I am not and never have been among your number. In fact Gizmo Guy's and my first fight when we were married was over dishes - and him not helping me do them. I went on strike and said I was not going to wash dishes that he'd helped make dirty. He bought me a dishwasher a couple of days later when he realized I was serious and the sink was filling up. My mother-in-law used to have a dishwasher - she'd wash her dishes in the sink first and then run them through the dishwasher. I never did understand that. But for me? With a houseful of men who take a new glass each time they want a drink - and they go through dozens a day - a dishwasher - especially with a sanitize option is the only way to go. I don't mind doing laundry - in fact I enjoy it, vacuuming is mindless enough, but washing dirty dishes? Yuck!

What chores do you abhor? Or are you one of those people that drive me nuts because they love housework?

It's all in your head

Here's an interesting little video someone's done - if you like the Count from Sesame Street, be warned, you may not see him quite the same after this.



See, you KNOW what the count is REALLY saying, but your brain just has to fill in a different word during the beeps, doesn't it?

Editing an erotica ...

The weather sure has changed up here! Last week I blogged that it was really cold. Well today it's 11C (nearly 52F) and I'm looking at clumps of green grass poking up through what's left of the melting snow.

But I've been enjoying the strange weather while editing my erotica Delving Deep. (By the way, Gizmo Guy has been playing with a new toy and made the picture to the right for me to use as a background on my laptop. Cool, huh? Now I just have to sell it and get a REAL cover!)

Anyway, back to the purpose of the post - when I first wrote the manuscript, I made a mental note that I thought it needed an extra scene between the heroine and one of the heroes (yes, there are two - one a macho Texan, the other an almost anti-hero shapeshifter). So after I'd let the manuscript rest for a while, I took it out and thought, yup, I was right. So I added what turned out to be a couple of scenes adding conflict between the three characters. But (you knew there was a 'but' coming, didn't you?) one of my critique partners made a comment that perhaps there was too much character development for an erotica.

So how much should there be? I know the emphasis should be on the sexual journey - but how do you know how much you need and when you should stop? As a reader of erotica, what do you want to see in the story you're reading, as an author, how do you know when you've given the reader enough?

Acts of Catharsis

At this time of year, most blogs have been about the goals or resolutions people have made for the coming year. My goal is to stay sane. Seriously! After running around to appointments with Alzheimers' counsellors and Community Access contacts, geriatric psychiatrists, lawyers, accountants, not to mention the numerous phone calls from my mother (who hadn't spoken to me in seven years and is now calling a minimum of three times a day for ninety minutes a time) as she begs me to help her make life-altering decisions for my father, and daily calls from my sister (we would contact each other maybe once a month to keep in touch), I'm at the stage where I don't remember November or December.

I'm amazed that I managed to write and polish a story for submission to EC's Jewel of the Nile series as well as outlining the story I'd started on NaNo and get back to that, along with continuing to edit my Delving Deep erotica story. I think writing has kept me sane. Late at night when I can't sleep, it's nice to be able to listen to the little story-telling voices in my head instead of the constant babble of voices nagging me to make decisions, or questioning those I've made. Writing has always been an act of catharsis for me - it's WHY I wrote when I was a kid - a way to avoid real life. Maybe that in itself is an act of insanity, but all I know is it keeps me balanced.

Anyway, I thought I'd leave you with another thing I grew up with - and it's amazing how much of these songs come back to you after all these years. See if you don't start singing along with it ...

Feed the Birds ... and other habits of nature

It's been freezing here the last few days. And I mean REALLY COLD! This morning it was minus 20 Celsius with a windchill of minus 29. For those who think in Fahrenheit we're talking -4 and -20 Fahrenheit respectively. Or as Guitar Hero said when he came home from work this morning: "It's like every single atom has stopped movement."

I put the bird feeder out for the wee beasties so they can at least get food and keep their metabolism working. We've had house finches in huge droves, as well as chickadees and the ubiquitous mourning doves who puff themselves up in the lower branches of the lilac. We also have juncos and nuthatches and the winter-dulled goldfinches, a bright red male cardinal and his duller olive mate, raucous blue jays, along with varieties of sparrows - house and field and chipping. Even a woodpecker visits the suet feeder. And I'm afraid to say, the occasional hawk swoops in to feast on nice warm meat. One caught an unwary mourning dove this morning.

My mother feeds the birds - she's got 5 feeders. She had to laugh this morning when she opened the drapes of her living room windows, startling a flock of wild turkeys who were scratching in her front garden. We were talking about the various birds we have at our feeders (she gets a lot more variety since she's out in the country) when she lowered her voice and mentioned how if the mourning doves aren't feeding, they're 'doing it.'

"Oh, yes," she said shyly, "they do it all the time! They're ceaseless." Oookay, I'll have to watch those silly birds more carefully from now on.

And speaking of mating habits, I was reading this news report. A Scientist has been studying the coital habits of Macaques for the last twenty months. He's determined that:

On average, females had sex 1.5 times per hour.

But this rate jumped to 3.5 times per hour immediately after the female had been groomed by a male -- and her partner of choice was likely to be the hunky monkey that did the grooming.

It took him nearly two YEARS to figure out that women like a little attention before they'll put out? Sheesh, talk about slow! But a hearty 'way to go' for that 'hunky monkey' who manages to perform his services 3.5 times in an hour!

And then they said:

If there were several females in the area, the cost of buying sex would drop dramatically -- a male could "buy" a female for just eight minutes of nit-picking.

But if there were no females around, he would have to groom for up to 16 minutes before sex was offered.

The work supports the theory that biological market forces can explain social behaviour, the British weekly says.

So what do you think? Does a little competition makes us easier to seduce? Yeah, probably. But guys take note - a little foreplay gets you a LOT farther!