It’s time for college football! My OSU Cowboys played last night. They won. Yay! So, to celebrate…
Brad Paisley’s new song and his video homage to college mascots is made of awesome so of course I had to share!
Who are you cheering for this season? This is a long, holiday weekend in the states. Enjoy yourselves but stay safe!
I’m a writer. Yes, I know. That’s a real d’uh moment. My job is words. But when you get down to the nitty gritty, it’s far more than words. I have to entertain. I have to pull emotion out of the story, the characters, and push that emotion into the readers. I am a storyteller. I am a wordsmith. (And I do like that word like damn and whoah!) When this popped up from the Universe, it touched a nerve.
When it comes to the words you choose, Silver, whether in your mind or amongst friends, let them be of what you like and love. What you care about and cherish. What makes you happy. What gives you wings. What makes you dream.
And very little else.
You make me happy,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®That’s why I talk so much about you, Silver.
Pretty much self-explanatory, right? Yup. Except when I get so wrapped around the axle about the BUSINESS of writing and forget about the joy, the dreams, the love of it. I forget about what makes me happy, what gives me wings and dreams. So yeah. Time to get back to my word roots.
I haven’t done #1lineWed in over a month…maybe even two. If I take the time to play, I get caught up in all the lines people post and I forget to, you know, write! 😆 Today’s theme is SENSES and I came across these two snippets, both dealing with Caleb’s sense of smell. Even in human form, my favorite werewolf (as opposed to the wolf shifters in Moonstruck), has a good nose. In the first bit, Caleb has just arrived in New Mexico to meet with a…rural pack leader. He’s staying at the TeePee Motor Court in Buhmfuch, New Mexico and is met by the Alpha’s…emissary, Buddy Johnson.
Buddy climbed into the passenger seat and Caleb was glad this was a rental instead of his car. The dude smelled ripe—not in the way that an apple or orange smelled ripe, full and sweet with a hint of musk. No, Buddy smelled ripe like week-old garbage does—or a pro wrestler who forgot his antiperspirant. Caleb hated those little cardboard evergreen trees people hung from the rearview mirrors to cover up the odors of a host of sins from cigarettes and weed to BO but he was going to have to buy one somewhere once Buddy got out of the vehicle. Despite the dust, Caleb rolled his window down and leaned toward the dribble of fresh air that wandered in.
And, later, Caleb is out in the desert when he comes across something that distrubs him.
That other scent was illusive–like a magical spell, but…not. Spells had their own aromatic signature. Plus, there was the cloying stench of magical death clinging to both bodies that overlaid everything else. That burnt-fur acrid scent of ozone, the rotten eggs of sulphur, and if you’d ever gotten a whiff of a copperhead snake’s nest, you would recognize the spoiled cucumber smell that underlies it all. Magic carried its own odor, one a discerning nose recognized immediately. Just like a wine connoisseur could tell you about the bouquet and vintage of a good bottle of wine, a magick with a good nose could tell you the same about a spell.
Layering in all the senses is something writers should do without thinking. But…yeah. I usually have to go back and add stuff in, unless I’m dealing with wolves because…well…WOLVES! LOLOL Anyone have snippets or lines to share today? Oh, and Happy Hump Day!
It’s September. *FLAIL* How did that happen?!?!?!
I’m on Pinterest. Sometimes I remember to, you know, actually pin shitstuff there. Mostly, though, it’s sexy guys and funny sayings, or the occasional erudite thought to hang out with the funny stuff. Have I mentioned that I also have a file folder on my hard drive titled “Funny Stuff”? And in that file, I have a subfiles titled things like Coffee, Funny Phrases, lol, Writing/Reading, Monday. Oh, and Sarcasm. I thought I’d share a favorite today.
I’m on a If It’s Tuesday, I Must Be Sarcastic roll. What can I say? 😀
The class LG and I are teaching started today with a welcome and introductions. I’m curious about the people who signed up to take it. It’ll be fun, and we’re getting paid. Yay.
On the project front, I added a new chapter of 2709 words to RDR#4 yesterday. THE DEVIL’S CUT is such a hot mess I spent most of the afternoon cutting, pasting, rearranging and doing a lot of this. There are some good words in the middle of all the dreck. I’ll winnow them out and yank that story into shape. Caleb is all growly/snarly at me so I have no choice. 😉
Did y’all survive Monday? Yeah, me too. I need more coffee…
What is it about Monday? It just keeps showing up every seven days whether we want it to or not. I mean, seriously? It needs to just take a long hike already.
Writing: As most of you know, the proposal for RDR#4 (working title of LAST COWGIRL STANDING) headed off to Mr. HQEd last week. Now to get started on my next two projects–THE DEVIL’S CUT and MOONSTRUCK: LIES. I need to start multi-tasking ASAP. Plus, I need to work on LCS periodically too because once the proposal is accepted, I have a short trigger deadline on it as well. So, not much time on social media in my immediate future. I think I’m supposed to be sad but I’m not really. I know, my bad.
Reading: I’ve been doing my fair share since Insomnia is visiting. I’d like to kick it’s @$$ to the curb but that’s not happening. Ah well. I burned through Roxie Rivera’s Her Russian Protector series. They’re sexy and despite the fact the Russian mob was operating in Houston, which may or may not be a real thing but it made me go, “Huh?”, they were fun reading. A little gritty, very sexy, and dang those alpha men. *fans face* I also read and thoroughly enjoyed (5 BIG stars worth!) our own B.E. Sanderson’s new UF novel, WISH IN ONE HAND. I got to beta read this book way back when. Enjoyed the heck out of it then and loved it when I got to read the final version. If you’re a fan of Larissa Ione’s Demonica series, I highly recommend HADES, which is part of the 1001 Dark Nights anthology series. I always enjoy touching base in Larissa’s world.
TV: Saw DRACULA UNTOLD Saturday night. OMG! I love this take on the Dracula legend and OMG Luke Evans (who plays Vlad) is yummy awesomesauce. Someone PLEASE tell me there’s a sequel set in modern times in the works because the ending…REINCARNATION, people! And true love!!!! And a very bad guy!!!! So yeah. I really liked it, in case you couldn’t tell.
Stuffs: Lawyer Guy and I are co-teaching an on-line class, Letters of the Law, for the Kiss of Death RWA chapter. It’s open to anyone to take. You can get info HERE if you are interested. The course lasts through the month of September, starting tomorrow, September 1st.
We went shopping for Stormageddon on Saturday. Baseball Boy is coaching a 14 and Under baseball team and LG wanted a batting helmet with a face cage for Stormy. The kid is 17 months old. He has his own glove, balls, batting tee, helmet, and also a deal that blows up with like a basket ball net in the middle of it to catch balls when he throws them. Not that we’re expecting him to play baseball or anything, because The Only was just an NAIA All-American catcher and BB was a conference team first baseman. 
And that’s been my life of late. What about y’all? What did you do that was fun this weekend? Read any good books? Seen any good movies?
This made me laugh. And since Wednesday was National Dog Day…
The proposal for RDR#4 has been sent to Mr. HQEd. Today, I’m diving into a critique of my CP’s final book in her YA/NA paranormal trilogy. What are y’all up to today? Whatever it is, have a great weekend!
I got nuthin’. I have a recipe but I haven’t tried it yet so I don’t want to post it. I have pictures of the 9-11 Memorial but I don’t want to post them until have had time to actually talk about the feelings being their evoked. I’ve finished the first three chapters of LAST COWGIRL STANDING (working title of RDR#4) and have to write the detailed synopsis today so I can get it off to Mr. HQEd. Have I mentioned I hate writing a synopsis before the book is written? I had to include a one-age synopis with the proposal for RDR#3, in order to get the two-book offer. Yeah, about that. This book isn’t anything like that synopsis. The characters are throwing curve balls, the plot decided to climb the left-field wall to snag that home run, and I’m sitting here scratching my head and wondering if I could recognize the truck that ran over me. The answer to that would be, “Uhm…no.”
It’s okay, though. I like the direction the characters are taking this story. There’s more internal conflict for each of them which leads to a better character arc. But just because I think the plot is going this direction, it doesn’t mean it will be on the same path when I type THE END. Yeah… 😦 So…that’s on the agenda today. Along with grocery store, cleaners, and…Hrm. I think there’s some other errand I need to run. Hopefully, I’ll remember. If not, ah well. Now I have to decide whether to work on MOONSTRUCK: LIES or THE DEVIL’S CUT next. I think I’ll take a day to read through them and see which one whacks me upside the head. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.
In the meantime, here. Have a funny. 😀
I posted a meme on my Facebook author page yesterday, a screen capture from A LEAGUE OF OUR OWN, with the caption “Weekends? There are no weekends in publishing!” It made me laugh, even if it’s true. ‘Cause yeah, that’s pretty much what I did this weekend. I worked on RDR#4 and I did some flash fiction, including a scene from THE DEVIL’S CUT. I’m 2 1/3 chapters into #4. Chase isn’t cooperating. Who knew the womaninzing twerp would turn out to be a closet romantic? And Savannah? Yeah, that cowgirl has a mouth on her. But it’s all good, if not going the direction I expected. If I pay attention to my characters, they usually tell the story far better than I can. That’s a good thing. It’s also a good thing that this story, while emotional, is still lighter than RDR#3.
The weather is crazy. August is normally our hottest month but yesterday, the high was only 83. And we’re looking at only 2 maybe 3 days with a high of 90 or above for the rest of the month. My utility bills are very happy about that.
Today is Lawyer Guy’s birthday. Happy Birthday, big guy! We had dinner with the kids last night to celebrate. Stormageddon was on a roll. Somebody beat that kid with the cute stick, which will probably keep him from being in deep kimchi for life. He flirts with the waitresses. And when we were out in the parking lot, he was watching the waitress out on the patio of the Twin Peaks restaurant next door. She turned around and walked off and he twisted in his dad’s arm and leaned over to watch her. Then he glanced at his dad and his grandfather and grinned. Only and I lost it. This was in addition to his “head-banger rocker” routine in Pub W, where we had dinner. The kid’s a natural.
Reading. I’ve been doing a lot of it because insomnia. The best book I’ve read this week is our own B.E. Sanderson’s WISH IN ONE HAND. LOVE this book. A lot. Y’all need to read it. The rest of the reading I’ve been doing is dark. Russian mob, bikers, and an anti-hero. I was surprised at how emotional the anti-hero book was. It’s KING by T.M. Frazier. It ends on a cliffhanger and the second book is TYRANT. I haven’t been able to pick up TYRANT yet, though I did read the epilogue just to “make sure.” The Russian books are…okay. Very sexy and the Russian mobsters live in Houston and most end up with Hispanic women. The stories have mostly been interesting and I keep buying the next book though I really wish they were available for Kindle Unlimited. To take a break from them, I ended up downloading a bundle of three MC books. I…I don’t quite know what to say. The books could have been written by a high school girl on Wattpad except they are dirty. The editing totally sucks and the next time I read “take the reigns” I may do damage to my Kindle. What am I still reading you ask? Because its sort of like a train wreck. And I paid for this $h!+. Anyway…
Not doing much watching of TV but for baseball. My Cards had a dismal record this weekend so no comment. They did finally come back yesterday afternoon to resoundingly beat the Padres but they’re only 3 1/2 games ahead of the Pirates in the NL Central. There’s still a lot of baseball to be played before we hit the playoffs. 😦
And that’s my life at the moment. What’s going on in your life?
When I first read this, I wasn’t sure whether it applied to my life or to my writing. So often the two are tied up together. I leave little bits and pieces of myself in my characters. I relive experiences as my characters go through the motions. But it also applies to life. I’ve always said if I ever win the lottery, I would set up the Just Because Foundation. I’d be writing those checks. As for the fountain of youth? I sip from that puppy every time I’m with Only, Baseball Boy and Stormageddon, individually or collectively. Still, the Universe has a point. Each of us, and each of my characters and books, must discover our own truth. I’ve always broken rules when it comes to my writing. I plead the fifth when it comes to living my life. 😉 And I’ve never been logical.
What good does it do knowing approximately where the treasure lies, Silver, yet never digging? Having a bank account with millions in it, but never writing a check? Or discovering the fountain of youth, but never drinking a drop?
You must live the truths you discover, break your old rules, defy logic, be the change. Dig, write the check, and drink eternally, one little step after another.
There’s no other way,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®Of course, Silver, you can ask for help.
Not sure I need help, but I sure like havin’ y’all around while I’m taking each one of those little steps. Now and forever. Y’all with me?
I had a migraine Monday night/Tuesday morning. The lay-in-the-dark-and-watch-the-lightning-streaks-keep-time-with-the-throbbing-in-my-head kind. I finally fell asleep about 6 a.m., was awakened at 8:30 with a text, dealt with the problem that prompted the text, and crashed until 2:30 yesterday afternoon. I still felt draggy and hungover and generally ugh so I didn’t get much of anything done and I didn’t get on the computer. Well, I didn’t until after dinner. We had weather moving in and I needed to clean out Cooper’s swimming pool before it did. As I was bailing water and scrubbing the algae, a character popped into my head. I don’t know what her name is. I’m not sure who her hero is, though it’ll be one of the Nightriders. She started her story, I cut her off. I have other books to write before I get back to the Nightriders. She was insistent.
So I did what any smart writer does. I sat down at the computer, closed my eyes against the screen glare, and let her begin her story. Today’s #1lineWed is Visceral Response. I’m never sure just what constitutes a Visceral Response so I probably won’t be playing on Twitter today. But I thought I’d let this new character introduce herself.
I woke up with a crushing headache and the sad realization that I would never be the heroine of my own romance story. It hurt. A lot. But I didn’t have time to lie there rolling in my pity party. My last girl was getting married in a couple of hours and I had beaucoup stuff to do. Later, after the wedding and the reception and an after party of one, because my life sucked, I could contemplate my fate.
I was the epitome of the sidekick, the slightly overweight and klutzy BFF. Drunk at three in the morning? Yeah, I was the designated driver. Breakup with your man? I’d be there to help you pack and move. Need a good cry because your boyfriend is being a dick? See me raising my hand and offering my shoulder and tequila shots. I was the perpetual wingman—or wingwoman—or whatever the heck the female version of that was called. Perpetual bridesmaid? Oh yeah. I had the ten dresses to show for it. Ten years. Ten girls. Ten awful dresses. And me. I was number eleven in our posse, the odd girl out. Yeah, my life totally sucked.
I glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand. I needed to shower and get on my maid of honor duties. I had this down to a science. First, though, I needed coffee. A whole pot, except I’d have to run to the ladies room all day. I loved coffee. My bladder did not. One cup. I could handle one cup.
~*~*~
Alyssa freaked. This was not unusual. I calmed her down. Calmed down Brian, her groom. Got Lyssie’s mother out of the bride’s room, got her father in. Threatened the best man over the rings, Brian’s hangover, and the toast he hadn’t written yet.I got everyone down the aisle to the strains of Pachebel’s Canon in D. Lyss looked stunning. Brian just looked stunned. They each said “I do.” They kissed. The background of St. Luke’s Chapel was perfect. The Grand Ballroom at the Elms was perfect. Everything was perfect.
Except all the bridesmaids were married to the groomsmen. Except Doug, Brian’s best man. But he brought his significant other, and she was significant. Supermodel tall, legs that went from here to there, magnificent hair, magnificent face, magnificent boobs. Yeah, she had it all going on and despite the wedding protocol, when the dancing started, Brian led Lyss to the floor and she melted into his arms. Her parents and his joined them and there was some trading around of partners—Lyss with her dad, Brian with her mom and then vice versa with Brian’s folks. Then the wedding party was to join but Doug led his SO to the floor and there I stood—the last BFF standing, the overweight and klutzy sidekick, the designated driver and healer of broken hearts with tequila shots.
I didn’t miss the looks. Would have been hard. Pity. Embarrassment. Humor. There I stood in my fushia—what the heck color was fushia anyway but bright freaking ugly pink—dress with ruffles and lace and gussetts and bows. All the other bridesmaids wore champagne pink that looked more the color of taupe, sleek and frou-frou free. My dress was meant to compliment the bride’s. Yeah, right.
My place card on the head table had been moved to accommodate Ms. Significant. Not that I cared. Much. My dress was hideous. I wouldn’t want me in the wedding pictures either. Snagging a flute of champagne as a waiter walked by ignoring me, I faded back to the edges. My job was done. This was a destination wedding. Everyone was staying at the hotel. There would be a farewell brunch in the morning before Lyss and Brian headed to the airport to start their Aruba honeymoon. I just needed to stick here long enough to make the toast and then I could fade into the woodwork.
Yeah, about that.Four hours later, I was still in the stupid dress, with the freaking bridal bouquet that Ms. Significant Other stepped aside from so I had to catch it or look like a complete idiot instead of just idiotic. Then I found people in my room, my bags packed and at the bell captain’s desk because Brian’s Aunt Ramona from Minneapolis was having gastro-intestinal problems and couldn’t drive to her hotel across town.
I pulled into a convenience store and debated whether to actually get out. I wanted a Diet Coke in the worst way. A big one. With chipped ice. And a whole box of donuts. Or a bag of Cheetos. Heck. Why not live recklessly. I’d get both and eat myself into a sugar carb coma.
Gathering my full skirt, I managed to get out of my Tornado Red VW Beetle convertible. He had all the bells and whistles except for the iconic vase attached to the dash. I’d wanted that but would have had to go used. My boy was brand new. And sporty. And was my first step toward the new me. I hoped.
I didn’t pay much attention to my surroundings. I vaguely remember seeing an exit sign for Mission Springs and I’d gotten off. Because I wanted a Diet Coke. And donuts. And Cheetos. And saw this place from the interstate. I pushed through the door and walked into a nightmare.
I think I’m going to like her. Hopefully, she’ll tell me her name. And her Wolf will step up to claim her. In the meantime, back to work on RDR#4, tentatively titled LAST COWGIRL STANDING. Happy Hump Day!
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