Showing posts with label IWSG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IWSG. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

IWSG - Quotes to Inspire You

Thank You to Alex J. Cavanaugh for IWSG. This month Alex's co-hosts are Sheena-Kay Graham, Julie Musil, Jamie Ayres, and Mike Swift.

A short but yet proactive IWSG post.
Maybe some author quotes will inspire some of you!

“Yes. Growing up is highly overrated. Just be an author.” – Neil Gaiman
“If I waited till I felt like writing, I’d never write at all.” – Anne Tyler
“To survive, you must tell stories.” Unberto Eco
“A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.” - Eugene Ionesco
“Writing is like a contact sport, like football. You can get hurt, but you enjoy it.” – Irwin Shaw
“Writers see the world differently. Every voice we hear, every face we see, every hand we touch could become story fabic.” – Buffy Andrews
“If a story is in you, it has got to come out.” – William Faulkner

Friday, January 10, 2014

Small Things to Celebrate, IWSG and Cover Girls

Let's start by saying VikLit rocks by giving us bloggers a outlet to brag  talk about our accomplishments each week!

I'll start by celebrating that I am back to blogging regularly. During winter break I decided to not only take a break from work but also blogging. It was a nice little vacation!

My birthday is tomorrow and a few of my friends and I are painting. My dad is watching the kids so my husband can come and hangout with us. Maybe I can con him into painting as well, even though he "hates" it.

I love Fridays at work now. They changed the policy at work and we are able to wear jeans to work on Fridays!! Woot! Business up top, party on the bottom... that just sounds bad. Oh well!



I missed IWSG. Yeah I recieved the email from Alex J. Cavanaugh, which stated it was this Wednesday but my mind was still thinking it was last Wednesday. My bad.

What I wanted to share was... I'm taking a break from writing for a good long while. So I if any one needs a Beta... I'm your gal!

Since I will not be writing, I will be bored and need to something to do with my time. I love reading and instead filling my time with reading what's on the shelf, I'd rather help you guys out. So if anyone trusts me enough with you lovelies, just let me know via email or twitter or even in the comments below. That is all.


ALSO!! Today is the last day to sign up for the GIVEAWAY Jackie and I have going on over at COVER GIRLS! The prize? A book from each of us, off our own shelves in our homes. Go on over and see!

Hope you all have an amazing Friday and weekend!!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

IWSG - Words

It's Insecure Writer's Support Group day. This happens every first Wednesday of each month, hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh!!!

So I was sitting around last night trying to figure out what I was going to say today. All I could think about was how badly my knees hurt and legs throbbed. I ran most of the 3.52 miles I accomplished and was in a tad bit of pain. Tylenol, where’s the Tylenol? And then I got to saying Tylenol so much that it started sounding absolutely ridiculous! You know how that works; you repeat a word over and over until you get to the point of slowly saying it, drawing out each vowel and syllable.  By the time you’re done with your little escapade, you have completely ruined the word till you no longer recognize it.
And that led me to saying a few more absurd words and then this led me to thinking about words in general. And the dialogue that takes place all around me.
Words can hurt. They can comfort. They bully. Manipulate. Strengthen. Sooth. Make you feel loved. Sometimes hated. Encouraged.  Empowered. Smart. Stupid. Sometimes a conversation needs to be dumbed-down. Sometimes we need a translator. We can regret them. Take them back. Apologize for them. They start arguments. Start wars. Bring peace. Make someone smile. Or cry. And often make us laugh. They can be politically correct. Opinionated. Ignorant.
Strange to think that such tiny things can do so much and make a great writing piece, poem, novel, etc. Words are pretty powerful. 26 letters really makes some fascinating things happen, don't you think?!
Fascinating
Faaaasciiiiinaaaaatiiiiing
Fas.cin.at.ing
Fascinatin’
Fascinating
Fascinating… yeah it sounds bizarre now!
Have a great Wednesday and tomorrow starts the Dream Destination Blog-Hop. Click on the links below if you are interesting in joining in on the fun! 


Thursday, November 7, 2013

Resurrection Blogfest II

Today is the Resurrection Blogfest II hosted by Mina Lobo over at Some Dark Romantic.

I really like this fest because it gives me chance to flaunt a previous post w/o looking braggy.

Back in July I posted about blogging friends for IWSG. I had a lot of comments and feed back and I really appreciated the love and response. So today I'm going to share that post with you.


Originally posted July 3 of this year here.


_________________________________________________________________________

IWSG is brought to us by our local blogging friend Alex. Its a month meme that brings us insecure folks together and gives us a chance to let our freak flags fly and air out the smells of insecurity.

My insecurity I want to talk about this month is...

Are we friends?

That is the question I’m asking you. (The only blogger I don't worry about is Jackie. She's a part of both worlds!)

I follow tons of blogs I read weekly and maybe half of those I read daily. And a few dozen, I mention daily and a couple dozen I call friends.
Let’s see if I can explain this as fluently as possible… I try not to throw the term “friends” around lightly in my everyday life (I have my reasons) but in the blogging world it seems kind of “weird” to use the term friends to those who do not blog. Just like talking to non-writers about writing.

But I DO consider you friends. There I said.

And those outside of the blogging biosphere think I’m crazy calling for you friends. “Oh, you mean your virtual blogging folks?” *pursed face*

See, to them, you guys are SIMS characters or something similar. Like, I turn my computer on, play with you, turn my computer off, and it ends there. But it doesn’t. I take what I’ve read and think about it/you throughout my day(s).

     In a convo about movies I say, “My friend Suzi saw that! She said it was really good!”

     When talking about Juicing with a couple I know. They said they threw away their left over pulp. I shared with them what they could do with it from Mark's and Jackie's posts. “Oh my friend has this great page for this type of stuff!”

     I will share a funny post from Mina or a funny convo from Facebook we had.

     “Oh my gosh! My friend Jaybird posted the funniest thing about being at the store and…”

     “Sheena-kay likes skirts over… and she lives in Jamaica so she knows all about hot weather and clothes, I'm sure.”

     “DL is your age mom and he…”

     “Lexa doesn’t wear dresses anymore cause she used to work…”

     “Laura is so lucky, she is going on holiday to Spain and…” (My mistake was using the word holiday. I used it cause that's the word Laura used. Here we say vacation. But where I work, I'm used to talking to our sister-company in Ireland and they say holiday all the time. So for me it's not a big deal.)

     “Morgan totally agrees and anyone who calls me cool knows…” (I've only used this line once and it was to win my arguement against the Hubby.)

     “Bushman says to grow tomatoes in their own greenhouse you need too…”

I can’t help it, you guys just come up in my conversations. You are more a part of my everyday life then most of the people I hang out with. I “see” you more – almost every day.

But most conversations tend to lead to:

"Her/his name is Jaybird/Bushman?" *sigh*

"How do you know someone in Jamaica/Egypt/Germany/England/Hawaii/Australia?" *sigh*

"You know someone married to a Gold Medalist?!" *sigh*

"Wow, so you know someone who has a book out there?" *sigh*

And my answer usually begins, "Well technically I don't KNOW them, know them..." My point here is, they missed the info I was giving them and concentrated on the silly stuff.

And I know even more about you than I do people I work with or hang out with. Not necessarily linked to the people above…
  • I know that someone’s son shares his name with a president.
  • Someone’s son is on a trip in another country.
  • Another has three daughters all starting with F’s and wants a pant-less summer.
  • Another has 4 “ankle biters”.
  • Some don’t want kids. Some do but it hasn’t happened yet. Some can’t.
  • He has two dogs, chickens, a duck, and endless amount of yard work but also works 10hr days.
  • She lives in Germany but would love to move back to the states and start a ranch!
  • He takes care of his loving wife and still has enough time for his blogging community and his wife loves to help him.
  • Even dragon’s, who are tough as nails, get sick and need a community to lean on. 
The list can go on and on.

So my question is: Are we friends? Should I be insecure about calling you friends like I’m insecure about my writing? Or should I just ignore my “non-virtual”friends and family critics and continue calling you my friends?

So what I'm really asking is, do I need a life; cause I really feel like I have one. I just like to talk about you.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

IWSG - Inspirational Posters

It's Insecure Writer's Support Group day. This happens every first Wednesday of each month, hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh!!!

IWSG is THE place to get whatever is bugging us or helping us along in our writing endeavors off our chests. It's an awesome group! And you can count on everybody being very supportive.

You can also check out the IWSG website HERE that has loads of helpful info.

Today my post is strictly inspirational posters. Enjoy!







Thursday, October 3, 2013

IWSG & Thirty-One Loves of October

Geez Louise! I've been a day late on two post so far this week. It's a theme, what can I say.

So I haven't been feeling INSECURE lately. No, I'm not bragging... I just haven't been writing so there is nothing to feel insecure about I guess. Oh, but don't think I have been away from my writing or anything, I've been deeply involved in fact. But I haven't been writing in the "writing" sense.

I haven't added words to my manuscript, I have been adding inspiration. And no, that isn't a euphemism. I haven't added a single word. I can't. I can't find my muse... so I'm finding her in the glimpses of pictures - still frames.

In the place of letters and symbols that make up words and sentences, I am finding pictures which express the way I want to feel in a scene - what I'm picturing in my movie-reel-head.

She [picture of girl] walking through [picture of woods] looking for [picture of creature or boy]. But without the words. Do you get what I'm meaning? A storyboard but for a novel. My mind always works more like a movie than a book.

Example:

 And this is just a small snippet of the WIP I am working on. Have I piqued your curiosity? I posted a while back a Flash Fiction piece about Rena, her sister, and the Baquarat. Here you see Rena holding her spear trying to summon her "spirits", The Dark Forest with her "spirits" approaching, and the Baquarat.



Thirty-One Loves of October:
Day 3: Pumpkin Patches

Who doesn't love to rummage through a Pumpkin Patch to find the perfect orange, white, or multi-colored gourd? I'm not talking about the Smashing Pumpkins... I've seen them in concert and loved every minute it! - in 1996. Though watching someone actually smash a pumpkin would be right up my alley but unfortunately I'm young enough to have missed out on Gallagher but old enough to know who he is. My favorite part now is the looks on my kids' faces when they get the perfect "fit" for them. Large to small, mean looking to adorable and sweet. All so different and fun.

What's your favorite kind of gourd?

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

IWSG and Express Yourself

It's Insecure Writers Support Group today! And it's turning 2 Years Old! Alex J. Cavanaugh and his co-hosts Chemist Ken, SL Hennessey, Michelle Wallace, and Joylene Nowell Butler.


My IWSG is gonna be pretty quick here... I only have a question really...

When writing I tend to use real people and their names in my WIP's to make it more personal. So I can connect with it more. I find it brings out more emotions within me. Then, when the first draft is done I go back and change my characters names to what I really want them to be.

Does anyone else do this or am I completely nuts?



Also, today I'm posting my Express Yourself Sept request for this week so I don't have to post tomorrow and Friday... that would make a post every day this week and I want to take tomorrow off.

Share some of your favorite photos. It can be of anything you want.

I usually take my own kids yearly photos and every year they get better and better. Here are some on my faves from over the weekend.





I love them all but I really love the one in the upper left corner.

She is the most difficult person to take pictures of so I'm pretty happy with the ones I shot.

These two are the best of friends! My favorite one in the serious portrait. He looks so intense.

She's a ham so these were fun to take. The older she gets the more animated she becomes.
Here are some oldies...

Top left: 2012 Halloween - it's hard to get him to wear a costume.
Top center: At my cousins wedding
Top right: old pic at the lake but I love it.
Center left: the last picture of my dad and brother together. He put his rope on at basic.
Center: My grandpa and me. I love old pics.
Center right: My mom and me. Love her shirt
Bottom row: Our wedding day. I love how adorable my kids looked!



Two pics I love from the web...

The power of unity

The power of books
 Have any pictures that grab you attention?! Seen any on the web that you absolutely love?! Care to share?!

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

IWSG - Are We Friends

IWSG is brought to us by our local blogging friend Alex. Its a month meme that brings us insecure folks together and gives us a chance to let our freak flags fly and air out the smells of insecurity.

My insecurity I want to talk about this month is...

Are we friends?

That is the question I’m asking you. (The only blogger I don't worry about is Jackie. She's a part of both worlds!)

I follow tons of blogs I read weekly and maybe half of those I read daily. And a few dozen, I mention daily and a couple dozen I call friends.
Let’s see if I can explain this as fluently as possible… I try not to throw the term “friends” around lightly in my everyday life (I have my reasons) but in the blogging world it seems kind of “weird” to use the term friends to those who do not blog. Just like talking to non-writers about writing.

But I DO consider you friends. There I said.

And those outside of the blogging biosphere think I’m crazy calling for you friends. “Oh, you mean your virtual blogging folks?” *pursed face*

See, to them, you guys are SIMS characters or something similar. Like, I turn my computer on, play with you, turn my computer off, and it ends there. But it doesn’t. I take what I’ve read and think about it/you throughout my day(s).

     In a convo about movies I say, “My friend Suzi saw that! She said it was really good!”

     When talking about Juicing with a couple I know. They said they threw away their left over pulp. I shared with them what they could do with it from Mark's and Jackie's posts. “Oh my friend has this great page for this type of stuff!”

     I will share a funny post from Mina or a funny convo from Facebook we had.

     “Oh my gosh! My friend Jaybird posted the funniest thing about being at the store and…”

     “Sheena-kay likes skirts over… and she lives in Jamaica so she knows all about hot weather and clothes, I'm sure.”

     “DL is your age mom and he…”

     “Lexa doesn’t wear dresses anymore cause she used to work…”

     “Laura is so lucky, she is going on holiday to Spain and…” (My mistake was using the word holiday. I used it cause that's the word Laura used. Here we say vacation. But where I work, I'm used to talking to our sister-company in Ireland and they say holiday all the time. So for me it's not a big deal.)

     “Morgan totally agrees and anyone who calls me cool knows…” (I've only used this line once and it was to win my arguement against the Hubby.)

     “Bushman says to grow tomatoes in their own greenhouse you need too…”

I can’t help it, you guys just come up in my conversations. You are more a part of my everyday life then most of the people I hang out with. I “see” you more – almost every day.

But most conversations tend to lead to:

"Her/his name is Jaybird/Bushman?" *sigh*

"How do you know someone in Jamaica/Egypt/Germany/England/Hawaii/Australia?" *sigh*

"You know someone married to a Gold Medalist?!" *sigh*

"Wow, so you know someone who has a book out there?" *sigh*

And my answer usually begins, "Well technically I don't KNOW them, know them..." My point here is, they missed the info I was giving them and concentrated on the silly stuff.

And I know even more about you than I do people I work with or hang out with. Not necessarily linked to the people above…
  • I know that someone’s son shares his name with a president.
  • Someone’s son is on a trip in another country.
  • Another has three daughters all starting with F’s and wants a pant-less summer.
  • Another has 4 “ankle biters”.
  • Some don’t want kids. Some do but it hasn’t happened yet. Some can’t.
  • He has two dogs, chickens, a duck, and endless amount of yard work but also works 10hr days.
  • She lives in Germany but would love to move back to the states and start a ranch!
  • He takes care of his loving wife and still has enough time for his blogging community and his wife loves to help him.
  • Even dragon’s, who are tough as nails, get sick and need a community to lean on. 
The list can go on and on.

So my question is: Are we friends? Should I be insecure about calling you friends like I’m insecure about my writing? Or should I just ignore my “non-virtual”friends and family critics and continue calling you my friends?

So what I'm really asking is, do I need a life; cause I really feel like I have one. I just like to talk about you.


************************************************************************************What's Up Wednesday is hosted by the lovely Erin and Jaime.

What I'm Reading
Triangles by Kimberly Ann Miller. It was gifted to me by my soultwin Jackie!

What I'm Writing
This blog post currently... nothing else at the moment *sad face*

What Else I've Been Up To
Started with my Personal Trainer yesterday... I want to die today.

What Inspires Me Right Now
Still anything outside and in the sun. Besides that - you guys.

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday!

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

IWSG not IWSGG


Yay! It’s that time of the month again! Indiana’s Wild Slingin’ Gun’s Group!
No… I’m at the wrong place.
But the door said…
Oh, right… IWSGG is on the first Wednesday of every month during a Leap Year. My bad. Sorry. *secures pistol in holster at hip* *slides rifle in sheath at back*
Ok, YAY for Insecure Writer's Support Group! Hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh and co-hosted by Sheena-kay Graham, Suzanne Furness and Laura Eno this month.
So this month let’s talk about how I haven’t written in months. MONTHS! And it’s ok, I’m not mad. Apparently I don’t have it in me right now. Don’t get me wrong, my mind never stops thinking about it. How my MC is going to get from one point to another. How I can sharpen a scene to sound clearer, more accurate – defined.
My current mind is on life. My four day weekend coming up. How my cousin’s wedding is going to go on Saturday. How I get to see a friend at said wedding and hopefully get to take some great pics. How my kids are going to end their school year this week. How my kids' summer is going to change now that my husband and I both work first shift. Should I finish my angels/demons wip or my Norse Mythology wip? Maybe I should finish the wip about the four kids, ages ranging 3 to 14, who have to survive in an apocalyptic world.
See my mind is an awful web I’ve weaved. Plus I’m reading this brilliant novel, The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle and I can’t put it down. Like is so crazy that I’m totally rocking 80’s hair cause I didn't want to straighten it. No joke people, no joke. It’s curly, it’s big and I have half of it pulled up. The only thing missing is a scrunchy and some biker shorts.
Don’t forget tomorrow…


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

IWSG & AtoZ Recap - Shel Silverstein Poems

So I made it through AtoZ and now my normal schedule will presume which means today is IWSG hosted by Alex Cavanaugh. Yay! This is the second year I have participated in the challenge and just like last year, it was a blast. I learned so much about the one thing I struggle with -- writing. I struggle with time, with writing prompts, and I have a hard time figuring out key components which will help make my writing smoother and simpler.

There were a TON of blogs which had tips for writing (and I bookmarked my favorites of course). However, there was one blog that literally touched base on the few problems I have and much, much more. In April her theme was Wordworking...

You guys really need to check out her blog if you haven't already!

**********************************************************************************
Today and tomorrow I will be giving you all 26 AtoZ posts in one day.
Tomorrow I'll share all 27 book covers.

Today I'm featuring all 26 Shel Silverstein poems.
ENJOY!


























And there you have it. Shel Silverstein in 26 days.