an aspiring author's journey

from 1500 views between my two sites.

i would be blonde and young and not have to give a rat's ass what people think of me.
to an extent, i'm many of those things (except i'm a dark brunette), but i'd love to be what i am and even more.
i'd have sick hair like this girl's, and i'd remember not to start with a stupid tattoo at age 18 that i'll hate in the years to come. i'm getting it fixed to fit in with the rest of them, but in another life, i wouldn't have to do that.

i would have known i was truly a writer at a much younger age. i'd be working on my first book at the age this girl is...not years later like i am now.
if only i were buddhist and i believed in reincarnation. but i'd probably come back as a butterfly or something else that only lives for like two weeks.

i'd go for the 10k/day goal and i'd hit my goal every day. heck, i'd have a novel finished in a few weeks. i would so love to do that right now, but i'm beyond swamped with moving and taking care of other things that i just can't do it. my self-imposed deadline i set when starting this book might not be made because of all the nonsense that's occurred over the past few months. as i said, in another life...
heck, now i have ashlee simpson in my head.

i know who i am and i'm proud of it, but i learned too late, as most people do. at age thirty, i wish i could be like this girl, whereas in ten/fifteen years, she will *most likely* be embarrassed by such pictures of herself. of course i don't know this to be true. maybe she's one of the lucky ones.
at least i'm not so old that i can't be more open and free. i've actually gotten better about it over the past five years or so, which i suppose is quite normal. even in the past few days, i've grown to realize that i don't care what people think. except my immediate family. my chosen family. the ones i live with. my love wouldn't exactly be happy with me being a streaked blonde with a lip ring (he dislikes the scar i have from my labret stud from 6-7 yrs ago), but i'm a bit more unconventional than i had once believed. and i adore it.

so yes, this would be me. heck, it could be me if i bleached my hair and then dyed it. but i don't think i'd fare well as a blonde. i don't have the coloring for it.
it's 1 am and i'm rambling. i cannot sleep for the life of me, so i'm blogging instead. now i'm going to quit and work on that 10k/day goal. i'm not aiming quite that high, but we'll see where i end up. i know i can do 1200/hr, so maybe i can write a chapter before i crash.

nite, all
xxx -e*

I've not the chance to really write any of my stories or my novel as of late, since I'm preparing the house for the U-Haul that will arrive in a few weeks...
So I've been spending most of my time reading and watching movies. Along with taking care of a sick child. That's never fun..

Anyway, as I've been taking things off the walls and putting books in boxes, I'm dreaming of how I will set up our new place. After my post the other day on my writing spaces, I can't stop thinking of how I will create my new space.
On top of that, I've been going crazy making icons and drawing tattoos and other such nonsense... But it's fun. It's distracting. It's....procrastination. And it's me.



Everything in my life is creative. I cannot do anything the 'normal' way (whatever that may mean..). I dream until the last possible second and then I do what I must, whether it be packing, or dishes, or laundry, or anything else that's just not as much fun as what I can do within the never-ending limits of my mind...

I am thankful that my next task today is to write a blog post for giveagirlapen.com. I will be far too busy tomorrow, and it needs to post rather early Friday morning. So I shall write it today and schedule the posting. I have so much fun writing with the girls, so it's not exactly a chore. The past two weeks, I gave advice, but now I'm back to regular posts. Having an idea (sort of) in mind already, I'm excited to see what I come up with.

I hope that all of you use your creativity every day as well, and do not succumb to the boring confines of 'regular' everyday life...

So I have an actual writing desk where I prop a pillow behind my back, pull out a drawer and put another pillow on that and then I lean back and put my legs up on the drawer. A blanket goes on my lap and my keyboard on that.
Once I get settled, I'm 1) comfortable, and 2) at the perfect angle to see my insanely outdated monitor (the computer's great, but I don't feel like shelling out for a monitor when mine works perfectly fine). It was a great setup and I even have a nice view behind me.
Some of my favourite books! Plus a TV for background noise. I love putting in old '80's movies and just typing away. I've seen the films so many dang times that I don't pay any attention. But it is nice to have the noise.
Well, I connected the internet to this desktop and it is just all sorts of slow now. Seriously Ridiculous. Thankfully, I received an HP Mini for my birthday. It's just too much fun. I do still like using this computer, and I print and edit on it, but I love having everything so compact.
Have you ever used a netbook?
If not, you should! Fabulous.
Needless to say, I spend most of my time on my mini and, of course, the internet is insanely faster on the tiny, new computer that has next to nothing on the hard drive as I use all external devices for storage.
So, now I spend most of my time in the living room. I can get as comfy as can be with my loveseat and ottomans. I have a sofa table (not in the picture) that's full of books and papers. As is the end table. Heck, the end table got so cluttered that I had to bring a tray table over next to it. Yep. Just shoved the sofa on down a little bit and made room for more writing junk. ;)
After the move--once I'm all settled--I'll post my new space...
I'm rather interested to see what I'll come up with.

i'm not sure why i started this particular blog.
i truly love it---it's quite different than my other one.
it doesn't receive as many views, but so fracking what...

it's hard to come up with stuff to say on two separate blogs, plus comment on followers of both and find other random blog posts i like. oh, and it's always nice to find time to work on a WiP every day. and of course, spend time with my family and make sure my house isn't a disaster by the time my guy gets home from work.

but somehow i do it. (probably because my brain never shuts up!) but not always well, especially over this past weekend. so i just wanted to come give this blog a little love and report that i think i'm going to hit my goal of 2,500 words today! it took just under an hour to get halfway there.the problem now is that i took a break because i was proud for writing so much and an hour later, i haven't gone back to my doc.
guess i'll finish this up and go there...

2,500 may not be a lot, but i'm not on a publisher's deadline or anything... if i was getting paid for this, i wouldn't be spending my time watching 'judge alex' and wandering around the house & the internet.
heck, last week i was only writing 250wrds/day. it sucked.
so i'm grateful that my kid is with my mom right now. she's having fun playing outside and spending time with nana, and i'm actually able to write. a rather decent amount, i believe...
so i'm off to do that.

So, my child likes to color. What 4yr old doesn't? Well this one likes to color on walls. As I'm sure other 4yr olds do.
Hence, this blog post.

Last night, my boyfriend/sorta-husband/mate/whateveryouwannacallhim came in while said child was cleaning the brightly colored wall and in his hand was a bottle of something from the garage. I could smell it from fifteen feet away. Hesitantly, I *allowed* him to test it out on the wall. Oh. My. God! It worked like a frackin' miracle.
Now, the baking soda and ammonia mix I'd made worked really well also, but it doesn't even compare to this magical mechanic's elixir.

Liquid Wrench's Silicone Spray.
Masterful.

If you ever need to get anything off of your walls, be it crayon, dirt, food, whatever (I know because I proceeded to clean elsewhere with it), this is the stuff you should use. Without a doubt. Phenomenal. Did I already say masterful? Well, I'm saying it again. Try it. You won't believe it.

Maybe I'm coming across this discovery late, but for some reason I doubt most mom's bring in the silicone spray their mechanic-ish man uses in the garage on engine parts and such. I know I like to keep what belongs in the garage out there.

Anyway, no reason to make this post super long, but I do want to get across to you how superb this product is.

The only caveat---open every single window and door in your entire house. This stuff stinks to high heaven and will get you high, I'm sure. Or, if that's your thing, well then, keep the doors shut. Depends on how many brain cells you need to function in your daily life. I'd like to keep the ones that I have....

Buy some of this stuff. And use it. Seriously.
If a rockstar could morph into liquid form, this is what s/he would be.

At giveagirlapen.com, I recently posted about the importance of the first five pages of one's book. It turned into a few more posts about the first five sentences. Because, let's face it, if a reader (agent, namely) cannot get past the opening, there's not much chance s/he will read any further.

After all of these posts and critical feedback from other writers, I have come up with two sets of my first five sentences.
One set is the beginning of my prologue.
The other is the beginning of Chapter One, which occurs twenty years later...and the book continues from that point.

Here they are::
- I added a few more sentences to include the full two beginning paragraphs of each.
It's my blog. I'm allowed ;)

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Prologue First Five(ish)::

Ankou enjoyed delaying pleasure--stretching out the game until he couldn’t stand it any longer. Killing a faery was a rare occasion and so when the opportunity presented itself, he made sure to savor it.

The blonde lovely had given birth to a darling girl. Her unexpected pain satisfied Ankou immensely. He had thought the mother would be stronger--it was odd to encounter any weak fae, but it was to Ankou’s benefit she fell in the minority that morning. Such suffering gratified him. Next to consuming an entire soul, fear and pain came second best. He was incensed, though, that she recovered so quickly.

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Chapter One First Five(ish)::

Sitting straight up in bed, Alexis looked all around her. Patting the sheets to feel they were real, she pulled them close to herself and attempted to gather her bearings.

A second ago, she was deep in the forest with beautiful creatures. She’d smelled fresh air and bathed in the sun’s rays that filtered through the trees. Some of the beings were winged and flew above her head as she watched in awe. Others were like penguins in that they couldn’t fly, but that didn’t take away from their magic. Alexis found them all to be wonderful. Not a single one was as boring and simple as the pale, yellow walls and dark, matching furniture that Mrs. Hodge had chosen for her daughter’s bedroom.


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So there you have it :D

Not sure if I've posted my blurb on this blog or not, but even if I have, here it is again. This is the super condensed version::

**Intense visions transport twenty-year-old Alexis to the unseen world of faeries. She soon discovers she was born into this world, and it’s where she truly belongs--it is Avalon.
Two friends guide her home after a nightmare reveals that one of her kind is attacking mortals. History has never seen such evil, and Alexis alone must stop it.
The unexpected help of a Depraved faery makes this quest easier. But, when Alexis becomes attached to him and starts seeing the world differently, will she have the strength to choose the right path? Or, will she succumb to her innermost demons at the expense of innocence?


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