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Diary of a Gamer

Part of the retooling of the blog is to talk about more of how I spend my time (minus the boring stuff).  Every other Saturday, friends come over and we play a table top Role Playing Game or RPG.  Right now, we are playing Pathfinder. Continue reading “Diary of a Gamer” →

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State of the Elle

I attended a writer’s conference last week and I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about my writing career, such as it is.  With my full time job, full time family, and full time school, it’s been really hard to find time to be writerly.

Continue reading “State of the Elle” →

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April Round Up!

So, I’ve missed a few months of updates.  Oops.  I’ve been busy with school and personal issues.  So much so that I have made some changes to my schedule to accommodate all the fun adulting I have to do now.

Continue reading “April Round Up!” →

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Five Movie Favorites from the 80’s

My early years were spent in the 80’s and like most kids I had some favorite movies.  These movies catered to my love of fantasy and magic.  Even today, I watch them with my kids on DVD in hopes they feel inspired by the stories.  These are in no particular order.

Continue reading “Five Movie Favorites from the 80’s” →

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Life & Writing

IMG_0396I am spending the weekend with family.  My mother in law is now under the care of hospice so I am dedicating time to visit.  My writing projects are on hold for now except items under contract.

I’ll return to Rocker Next Door soon.  I won’t be able to win NaNoWriMo but that doesn’t mean I’ll abandon the story.  I’ll be back at it as soon as I can.

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Plans for December

So with November done and my latest novel rough draft on ice, I’ve decided to write a to do list for December.  It will help me stay focused and no, it’ s not all going to be writing related.

  • Finish Christmas Knitting:  I am making my boys an Adorkable Monster.  I have two different color yarn for each. One is almost completely done, I just need to sew on the arms and horns.  The other I started tonight and I got one leg done.
  • Finish writing “Unrequited”:  I am working on a short story called Unrequited.  It’s specifically for a submission call to Science Fiction Romance Quarterly but the call is for something steampunk.  If they don’t select it, I might find another publisher for it or just self publish it.  We shall see.  I’m only 500 words in.
  • Edit “Stealing the Wolf Prince”:  I’ve gotten some very helpful comments about my manuscript and it’s going back into editing.  I agree with the comments made and will improve my manuscript accordingly.  Some of them I wanted to work in anyway and some I was worried about from the get go.  Vague I know but I’m not about to reveal spoilers.
  • Take online course Creating WordPress Websites II:  Already signed up.  I start December 11.  SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS.  I’ve always wanted to learn more about web coding and design and I can apply that to my own writing website.

I think I’ll leave it at that for now.  I have plans for as far out as January but my to do lists can get rather fluid.  Lists help keep me on the right path.  I can get a little distracted and way ahead of myself otherwise.  Do lists help you?

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Tell Me My Fortune

IMG_0794[1]My husband and I enjoy Thai take out almost every Friday night.  They always throw in fortune cookies along side the napkins and forks.  I very rarely eat fortune cookies.  The few that I even bothered to crack open normally have some silly phrase that we jokingly add ‘in bed’ to the end.  Now I suppose that could be said about the fortunes I have pictured to the left but they mean a tad more to me.

The fortune on the top reads ‘You will obtain your goal if you maintain your course’ and I received this right about the time I decided to seriously consider publication for my novel.  I was in full edit mode and getting frustrated and questioning everything I was doing. This came at just the right time to seal my conviction.  I thought that it was very fitting so I kept it at my desk and I refer to it when I’m frustrated.

Just this past weekend, I cracked open another cookie and received the fortune on the bottom which reads ‘Your fondest dream will come true within the year’.  That’s rather specific and again right on target with what I am trying to do.  I am trying to get my novel published and I guess you could categorize it as my fondest dream.  I used to think that I was a patient person but I’ve never had to wait to hear from publishers before.  It’s almost torture.  So this fortune came at just the right time to soothe my nerves and reassure me.  It now keeps my first fortune company at my desk.

I hope that it’s true, although I know that they are random.  They arrived right when I needed them, lets hope that they are correct.  I look forward to seeing my novel in print.

Or winning big in the lottery.  That’s my fondest dream too.

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My 3 All Time Favorite Books

So I need to bolster my online presence and someone suggested blogging more.  Well, duh.  The problem is that I am not the best at coming up with topics.  So I Googled it.  It’s what I do, when in doubt, Google.  It suggest some things and I decided to share with you my three most favorite books and why.

  • “Alanna: The First Adventure” by Tamera Pierce.  I’d actually recommend the entire quartet but I said book so we’ll go with the first one.  This book was the first fantasy novel I ever picked up and finished.  It’s young adult with magic and action, a little bit of mystery…  It’s about a young woman who wants to be a knight but society says she can’t, so she does it anyway.  A woman after my own heart.  I view this novel as one of the big reasons I write now.  I want to write a story so compelling that the reader can’t put the book down until it’s done.
  • “The Last Unicorn” by Peter S. Beagle.  This book is beautiful.  And it has unicorns.  I LOVE unicorns.  I actually saw the movie first in the 80’s but I loved it so much I eventually got a copy of the book.  I like to consider it the last great fairy tale ever written.  It’s the story of a unicorn who searches for the other unicorns that disappeared.  I loved this book so much that I wrote a paper about it in college.  I aspire for my fantasy fiction to have such lovely imagery, like watching a tapestry tell a tale.
  • “A Hunger Like No Other” by Kresley Cole.  This was the first paranormal romance novel that I picked up and the cover, of all things, kept drawing me back to it in the book store.  Once I finally had the balls to buy it I was hooked on all of Kresley’s books.  Her prose actually helped me with my POV usage and gave me ideas on how to handle sequels in romance novels.  This book follows a werewolf clan leader who finally finds his fated mate but she is a vampire and his enemy.

Now this is a very short list.  There are a lot of books that I loved and liked and recommend to others.  These three, however, have somehow changed my life.

What are some books that you hold dear to your heart and why?

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So Worth It

As some of you may know, I used to dabble in fan fiction.  It’s actually how I got into writing in the first place.  I even have some fan fiction out there on the old inter-web from years ago.  It is mostly gathering dust but every once in a while I get a review.  The other day, someone sent me a private message about a fiction I had started and only posted one chapter.

This is the PM, posted with permission from the sender:

Hello, my name is Sataria. I read your blog and share in your desire to become a published author. I have three books I’m working on at the same time and one is just about ready for me to find an agent. But enough of that. . .I am begging you to write more of Legacy of Darkness. I reviewed it asking for you to continue and I know you started it a very, very, long time ago. You killed me with just leaving it hanging. I just adore it and need more, anyone who reads it will also say so. I know how it is to be busy with original works, and if you can’t write more then you can’t. Just know how much the Legend fanfic readers love it and want more.

It just really grabbed my attention. You’re on my favorite stories list and I check it all the time in the faint hope that there will be more. Anyway! Thank you for the single chapter all the same. Take care. (Do you get pm’s asking
for this alot?)

Some days I wonder why I beat myself up so much to keep writing and to keep editing and then I receive a review or a comment and it’s all worth it.  I’m not here to make a fortune (although it would be nice), I’m here to tell a captivating story of love conquering all odds.  It’s encouragement like this that makes me feel like I just might be able to do it.  Thanks Sataria.  Thanks to everyone who has ever supported me.  It means the world to me.

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