I went to a great program this weekend at the Woodford County Public Library, which is just outside of Lexington. It's called PENS on Fire (even though everyone, including the Favorite Daughter misread the title of the program).
Anyway.
There were seven romance writers there, and they shared a little about their books, and their publishing experiences, and their writing process, and then there was a book signing. It was especially cool, because I got to meet one of my very first Twitter friends in person...the most amazing Tiffany Reisz, who writes some seriously "0_0" stuff. And writes it very well, I might add.
So that was very cool. We got to sit down and chat a bit before the program started, and she was just as nice in person as she is online.
There was quite a variety of romance presented...the first writer who spoke was Hallee Bridgeman , who writes inspirational romance (though she pointed out that it's not your Amish love story...because real Come to Jesus stuff isn't usually pretty). I was interested to talk to her because something she does besides write and raise kids, is make everything her family eats from scratch. We're talking grind-the-wheat scratch.
She's the Anti-Teri Anne. When my kids were little, I wrote a recipe column called The Three Ingredient Gourmet for a small magazine (that, yes, my mother edited, but whatever. It was an outlet). I was almost syndicated as a counterpoint to the Amish Cook, but that's another post. The point is, my family is all about the processed cheese food. Although, in my defense, if the zombie apolcalypse comes and we have to start over from the basics, I can spin wool, and knit it into socks and sweaters, as my contribution to society.
I was interested to see what Hallee and Tiffany might have to say to each other, given the opposite ends of their writing spectra, but then...Halle writes "edgy" Christian romance, and Tiffany's chief kink-meister is a Catholic priest. And Halle's written some cookbooks...the first one being "Fifty Shades of Gravy." The next one is "Walking Bread." So.
THEN I met Robyn Peterman, who is also very awesome. She's just published her first book, "How Hard Can It Be?", which I just downloaded. We made plans to meet up at RT, which I'm looking forward to. She's hilarious in person, so I can't wait to read her book.
I met Robyn because my friend Marilyn knows her (and I keep forgetting to ask how they know each other, not that it matters, but still. I like to have my family tree well-organized).
AND there were four other very interesting women there, but I'll have to blog about that later, because I'm out of time.
Anyway.
It was a really fun program, and I came home highly motivated to get some more writing done, and to start thinking about branding myself. Not, you know, with hot metal on my skin. More like coming up with some sort of clever little logo kind of branding.
Okay, that is all. I have to go make science happen. What did YOU do last weekend?
Monday, February 25, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
Monday, Day Six
So, last week I had the big idea that I would do forty "things" that are good for my mind, body or spirit for lent.
1. Wednesday I gave up sugar
2. Thursday I donated blood (a double red, thank you very much)
3. Friday I drank sixty million gallons of water (or at least the requisite 8x8oz glasses)
4. Saturday I...OH! I know. I went to a charity fund raiser and spent a lot of money at the silent
Auction. I now own $150 worth of amercan flag drinking glasses, just because I NEEDED to beat that other person who was bidding.
5. Sunday I...*crickets chirping*...I guess I kind of lay around all day reading and feeling crappy and then I went out to dinner and ...Okay, so today I need to do two things, okay? Geez.
6. Monday, today, I'm giving up flour, to make up for yesterday. And I'm going to start writing 2000 words a day, how's that sound?
I think, maybe, tomorrow I'll clean off my desk. But we don't want to count that chicken before it hatches.
If you could change one habit, what would it be?
1. Wednesday I gave up sugar
2. Thursday I donated blood (a double red, thank you very much)
3. Friday I drank sixty million gallons of water (or at least the requisite 8x8oz glasses)
4. Saturday I...OH! I know. I went to a charity fund raiser and spent a lot of money at the silent
Auction. I now own $150 worth of amercan flag drinking glasses, just because I NEEDED to beat that other person who was bidding.
5. Sunday I...*crickets chirping*...I guess I kind of lay around all day reading and feeling crappy and then I went out to dinner and ...Okay, so today I need to do two things, okay? Geez.
6. Monday, today, I'm giving up flour, to make up for yesterday. And I'm going to start writing 2000 words a day, how's that sound?
I think, maybe, tomorrow I'll clean off my desk. But we don't want to count that chicken before it hatches.
If you could change one habit, what would it be?
Thursday, February 14, 2013
40 Days
Happy Thursday after Ash Wednesday!
Oh, yeah...there's some sort of other name for this day...something about a saint with an arrow? Anyway.
Yesterday my Favorite Daughter* had a check up, and part of the paperwork involved a questionaire with the following questions:
We didn't score so well. I figure I get at least half the blame for the low score because, you know, I'm the mom, and everything's my fault, right?
Aaaargh!
I can only nag so much. I could definitely fix a real sit-down dinner more often. And I can set a better example. So I've decided that this year for lent, I'm going to pick forty things that I can do to improve my mind/body/spirit.
Yesterday was the big one: Give up Sugar and Flour. Maybe I can count that as two things, if I get farther in to this and get stuck... I know, it sounds impossible, but it's doable, I ate that way for two whole years a while back. And might I mention that I was thin and energetic then, too? Huh.
Today I'm donating blood. I figure that's a "spirit" one. Apparently I have good blood...I'm 0+, and lack some sort of antibody that makes my blood more attractive to premature babies. That's what they tell me, anyway. It might be a ploy, but I'm nothing if not a sucker.
Tomorrow will probably be "Drink more water" day...and maybe "Eat a bunch of red meat" day, since I'll need to replenish the blood supply. But I'll let you know.
What are you going to do this spring to make your life a little better?
*I only have one daughter, I'm pretty sure.
Oh, yeah...there's some sort of other name for this day...something about a saint with an arrow? Anyway.
Yesterday my Favorite Daughter* had a check up, and part of the paperwork involved a questionaire with the following questions:
- How many servings of fruits and vegetables do you eat a day?
- How much TV/Video Game/Computer time do you engage in a day?
- How much do you exercise?
- How much sugary crap do you drink every day? And yeah, okay, that's not EXACTLY how that one was worded.
We didn't score so well. I figure I get at least half the blame for the low score because, you know, I'm the mom, and everything's my fault, right?
Aaaargh!
I can only nag so much. I could definitely fix a real sit-down dinner more often. And I can set a better example. So I've decided that this year for lent, I'm going to pick forty things that I can do to improve my mind/body/spirit.
Yesterday was the big one: Give up Sugar and Flour. Maybe I can count that as two things, if I get farther in to this and get stuck... I know, it sounds impossible, but it's doable, I ate that way for two whole years a while back. And might I mention that I was thin and energetic then, too? Huh.
Today I'm donating blood. I figure that's a "spirit" one. Apparently I have good blood...I'm 0+, and lack some sort of antibody that makes my blood more attractive to premature babies. That's what they tell me, anyway. It might be a ploy, but I'm nothing if not a sucker.
Tomorrow will probably be "Drink more water" day...and maybe "Eat a bunch of red meat" day, since I'll need to replenish the blood supply. But I'll let you know.
What are you going to do this spring to make your life a little better?
*I only have one daughter, I'm pretty sure.
Monday, February 11, 2013
The Zombies Are Back!
WOOT!
I've been suffering through Sunday night football and a lot of other unpleasantness lately, waiting for the Walking Dead to come back to AMC.
Of course, I am painfully disappointed in Darryl. Doesn't he know how much Carol loves his greasy red-necked self? Jeezo Peet.
Granted, if he just went back to the prison and fell sobbing into her arms, he would have lost some tortured hero points, but still. Rick is losing his stuff again, because Ghost Lori is up there on the balcony. The gang needs a little Darryl right now.
And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, it might be time to go to Netflix and get caught up. All the cool people are doing it.
I've been suffering through Sunday night football and a lot of other unpleasantness lately, waiting for the Walking Dead to come back to AMC.
Of course, I am painfully disappointed in Darryl. Doesn't he know how much Carol loves his greasy red-necked self? Jeezo Peet.
Granted, if he just went back to the prison and fell sobbing into her arms, he would have lost some tortured hero points, but still. Rick is losing his stuff again, because Ghost Lori is up there on the balcony. The gang needs a little Darryl right now.
And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, it might be time to go to Netflix and get caught up. All the cool people are doing it.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Bad Ass Heroines
I'm on a quest to find the movies with the most baddest assed heroines...and of course, as soon as I start trying to make a list, my Mental Pause starts acting up, and I draw a blank.
I'm thinking, Sigourney Weaver in Alien/s and Demi Moore in GI Jane. But that kind of dates me, doesn't it?
Anybody got anything else for me?
I'm thinking, Sigourney Weaver in Alien/s and Demi Moore in GI Jane. But that kind of dates me, doesn't it?
Anybody got anything else for me?
Monday, February 4, 2013
Crying through the Super Bowl
Good Monday, Everyone!
Here we are, everyone trying to pretend we didn't overeat or overdrink or both yesterday, during Commercial Fest. There was even kind of an interesting football game during breaks between commercials. And that woman with the booty pop and whippy hair thing was kind of cool.
What was your favorite commercial? The one that got me tearing up was the Clydesdale...nothing like the song Landslide to make me cry in the first place...then throw in a baby horse and a cute farmer (or trainer, or whatever his job title was)? Fuggeddaboutit. And I wasn't even full of Budweiser!
My favorite was the commercial for Time Warner Cable, with Darryl from Walking Dead. I love Darryl.
Not quite sure I "got" the first commercials for the new Bud brand. I suspect I'm not the demographic they're aiming for (you know, middle aged, ex-drinker)...
I also didn't quite "get" the Doritos goat (bwah hah ha--get it? Get your goat? ) until I'd seen it a couple of times, but the dress up dad one was cool.
I liked the Paul Harvey farmer one, too, but shhh....don't tell Mr. Stanley....he's a Ford truck guy.
I would post links here, but frankly, I'm sure you've seen them all six times already.
My kids are big fans of the E Trade baby...Mr. Stanley has them convinced that the guy who does the voice of the baby is a friend of his, who he only identifies as Shankapotamus. And my kids are teenagers. I think they'd have better bullshit detectors, but whatever!
Okay, so tell me what you liked!
Here we are, everyone trying to pretend we didn't overeat or overdrink or both yesterday, during Commercial Fest. There was even kind of an interesting football game during breaks between commercials. And that woman with the booty pop and whippy hair thing was kind of cool.
What was your favorite commercial? The one that got me tearing up was the Clydesdale...nothing like the song Landslide to make me cry in the first place...then throw in a baby horse and a cute farmer (or trainer, or whatever his job title was)? Fuggeddaboutit. And I wasn't even full of Budweiser!
My favorite was the commercial for Time Warner Cable, with Darryl from Walking Dead. I love Darryl.
Not quite sure I "got" the first commercials for the new Bud brand. I suspect I'm not the demographic they're aiming for (you know, middle aged, ex-drinker)...
I also didn't quite "get" the Doritos goat (bwah hah ha--get it? Get your goat? ) until I'd seen it a couple of times, but the dress up dad one was cool.
I liked the Paul Harvey farmer one, too, but shhh....don't tell Mr. Stanley....he's a Ford truck guy.
I would post links here, but frankly, I'm sure you've seen them all six times already.
My kids are big fans of the E Trade baby...Mr. Stanley has them convinced that the guy who does the voice of the baby is a friend of his, who he only identifies as Shankapotamus. And my kids are teenagers. I think they'd have better bullshit detectors, but whatever!
Okay, so tell me what you liked!
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