Looking Forward

The countdown is on.  2012 draws nigh and with it, new resolutions and a new start.  However, this New Year’s Eve isn’t just about a shiny new 2012; it’s about bidding adieu to tired, old 2011.

Not that I don’t have a million things to be thankful for in the last 365 days.  I do, and I am.  However, have you ever had one of those years that kicked you square in the a**?   Yes?  Well that was 2011 for me.  There was no major loss or anything tragic (though I’ve had those years too), but this year was like dealing with a cantankerous old man.  Everything was an uphill battle.  There was either lots of cajoling, militant convincing, or arguing to make a point.  Whether it was buying a refrigerator, finding child care, or making dinner plans – nothing was easy.  I’ve decided the planets were out of alignment for my sign or something.  I don’t necessarily follow the zodiacs, but I do know something funky was up with this year.

Rather than bemoan it though, I look forward to new opportunities, changes, and hope for a better year.  My blog partner feels the same, so we’re welcoming the New Year in style.  Maybe we’ll even post some pictures so we can look back and say, “That was the start of a darn good year.”

It’s hello 2012, buh-bye twenty aught eleven!   Don’t let the door hit ya!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL & BEST WISHES FOR AN AWESOME 2012!!!

I've Lost My Voice

As many of you may know from my twitter feed on game days, I’m a huge Clemson Football fan.  I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve gone to a game, cheered my Tigers to victory only to wake the next day without a voice.  I’ve croaked for two days on occasion—usually after a particularly troublesome game.  The problem is: within the whirl of excitement while touchdowns are being made and quarterbacks are being sacked, I get lost in the moment.  It’s hard to think of the phone calls I need to make when I get home and the subsequent need to have a voice when it’s the 4^th quarter and we’re down by 3 points. 

I’ve recently found the same theory holds true after enduring emotional turmoil in real life.  Only it’s not my voice that is scratchy this time—it’s my writing.  Writers often talk about their voice meaning the aura of the written words they produce.  I’ve heard people refer to a strong voice, visual voice and even voice bleed, but no one ever talks about a lost voice.  So, in the interest of bloggyness I’m going to lay it out on the table.   

Just as I am prone to get lost in the excitement of a football game, I have spent this week lost in emotion over the passing of my mother.  After 2 years of illness, she finally couldn’t take any more and collapsed on the floor last week—her heart having stopped.  I had convinced myself she was recovering; we were making plans.  She was going to get well and I was going to help her regain her strength.  But, none of that was to be. Since the morning I got the phone call, I’ve been mired in a pit of despair.  There have been many tears and errant thoughts of wanting to ask her a question, or tell her how I feel.  I wrote her obituary for the newspaper.  I huddled close to family while funeral arrangements were made and carried out.  I cleaned up the medical equipment that surrounded her the last 2 years of her life and disposed of piles of medications... 

But now I’m home.  Life goes on.  Bills still arrive in the mailbox.  Supper needs to be cooked each day.  Laundry must be washed.  And, I need to get back to work writing.  The question is how to do that when the only thoughts filling my mind are memories of my mom and worry for my dad?  Mr. Alpha Male told me I had a dam of words built up in my mind and I had to break through it.  So this blog post is my first experiment in the process of breaking down that dam.  I’m talking about this under the assumption that writing begets more writing.  As someone who has the standard output of 2,000 words a day—every day—it’s difficult to see the word counter at the bottom of this post and know that I have struggled for 2 days to write 486 words.  And yet all I can do is keep writing.  After all, time doesn’t heal all wounds.  It’s what you do with that time that heals wounds.  And, the time in my life will be spent writing.

Have you ever lost your voice?  What did you do to get it back?

A Vacation for the Vacation Impaired

As I was cleaning the small wisps of dust bunnies collected in the corner under my desk this morning, I began to think, I’m not normal.  After all, most people vacation at the beach or the mountains.  Even if they only lay on their sofa eating Cheetos while watching Lifetime movies—they relax.  Unwind.  Decompress.  Yet, here I was after months of unceasing hard work; scrubbing the corners of my house only I see.  This alone may not be so unusual, but let me tell you how it all began.

The week of Thanksgiving arrived and I’ve never been so thankful.  My manuscript was sent off.  My Golden Heart entry was in the mail and finally I could enjoy the vacation I had been dreaming of—for months.  I had plans.  I was going to read books, take naps and enjoy spending the holiday with my little monkey and Mr. Alpha Male…

That was when I got the call that my mom had gone back into the hospital—again.  Now, let me pause and explain for those of you who don’t know me very well.  I have an unhealthy obsession involving adhering to traditions at the holidays.  And hospital or no hospital we were going to have a giant Thanksgiving dinner.  If you question my resolve on this issue, I will have to tell you the story of the Christmas ice storm when I cooked a huge ham dinner with no electricity and no running water using a miner’s hat for light and a barbeque grill.  But for now, take my word for it. 

So, by the next day I had traveled to South Carolina with my little monkey in tow, bought the last turkey at the grocery store and started cooking.  I cooked all afternoon in between trips to the hospital and then I cooked all night.  Soon, food started to pile high on the countertops filling the house with the spicy scent of cinnamon and nutmeg.  By the next morning, my parent’s house was bursting with laughter and chatter as Mr. Alpha Male’s parents arrived for lunch.  Even with my family not there, it was beginning to feel more like the holiday I love.  That afternoon we packed coolers with another Thanksgiving to be served picnic style in the hospital.  (Yes, you counted that right—I cooked 2 Thanksgiving dinners from scratch.)  We got some funny looks from the hospital staff, but we managed to save Thanksgiving for my parents and for that I am very thankful.

When I got back home on day 3 of vacation I should have picked up a bag of the previously mentioned Cheetos and flopped on my sofa.  But instead, I decided my kitchen could use a coat of paint.  I grabbed some paint at the store and went to work.  Then, I wrapped the last of the Christmas presents, completed the final touches of my holiday decorations, and took the Monkey to see Santa.   That brings us to today, day 6 of vacation.  It was just after cleaning dust bunnies, while considering the organization of my pantry when I decided to end this vacation for the vacation impaired and go back to writing.  Vacation smacation.  Who needs them? Not me.  Am I the only one out there who’s vacation impaired?  

Two Is Better Than One

We're at the tail end of NaNoWriMo and EMichels is at the five yard line of finishing her manuscript, SO that means two things: 
1)  One more week of pic spam blog posting before we get serious and actually write something. :)

2)  Mimosas will be forthcoming.

First, the pic spam.  The contemporary I'm working on features a few characters in law enforcement.  As I write (and research) their scenes, it has me thinking about all the law enforcement characters I've watched or read about over the years.  There are A LOT.  Once I took a moment to quantify how many crime/police/procedural shows and books I've consumed over the years, it surprised me.  No thanks on the hospital dramas, but obviously I have no issue with crime shows.  What appeals to me most is the crime fighting or case solving duo or team.  Something about the camaraderie and joint goal, along with all the drama and suspense. 

You know I play favorites, so here's a gallery of some faves.  Some are good, some are bad, some are serious, others are funny.  Some are hilarious in the way only the 80s can be.  Enjoy!

Law & Order - old school

Law & Order SVU

Bones

Kay Scarpetta & Pete Marino

SouthLAnd

Rush Hour

Hot Fuzz

Miami Vice

Needs no caption ;o)

My Goodness, My Ireland!

Since EMichels is diligently working on a full for submission and I'm currently knee deep in Nano, the blog posts this month will be predominantly pictorial and purely for fun. 

This week's is gratuitous.  My Nano project is a contemporary and it's taken me away from my paranormal series featuring Celtic themes and some Irish hotties.  Hence, I miss them!  In honor of them (and Irish hotties everywhere), I present Eire's finest:

Actor, Peter O'Toole.  A classic.  And few have baby blues like him.

Actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers.  He made me love to hate Henry the VIII.

Actor, Stuart Townsend.  Ooooozes Vampire Lestat.  Just sayin.

Actor, Colin Farrell.  Love him or hate him, he is the epitome of an Irish rogue.

Michael Fassbender.  Okay, okay so he was born in Germany, but he was RAISED in Killarney!  AND he got to say, "Then we shall fight in the shade."

Rob Kearney, Rugby player.  No cauliflower ear, lots of Forearms & Kneeeeeeeees!

Finally, the entire sport of hurling!  Recently, in a movie with Jason Statham, it was compared to a cross between hockey and murder.  A vicious predecessor to lacrosse.  Only the Irish.  They've been playing it for centuries and the counties take it as seriously as Southerners take their football.

Happy Halloween!

I was going to do a post about the history and etymology of Halloween and Samhain (snore, right?), but because I have sinusitis and I feel like I have a pumpkin for a head, I thought I'd blog about Halloween costumes and pic spam you instead.

First let me say, I LOVE Halloween.  Love, love, love!  The time of year (minus the allergies, thx), the color of the trees, the cooler weather, the candy, the crazy decorations, the mystical feel, the candy.  It all adds up to make Halloween my favorite holiday (unless it's December and then Christmas is my favorite :)).  The best part of October 31st? Costumes!  It probably comes as no surprise that I love to play dress up. Here's a rundown of who I've been over the last few years:

This costume was b.a.  Did the full makeup and everything.

Everyone at work was a character from Oz.  I still have my ruby slippers!

Did this in a pinch & every kid knew exactly who I was.

Wingardium Leviosa!

And who I'd like to dress up as in the future:

They don't get more dramatic than Lucretia.  <3 her!

I'll run around saying "Fiddle dee dee" and "I'll think about that tomorrow."

Boopittidoo!



Does anyone else detect the underlying theme here? Because I just noticed.  Maybe our Halloween character choices tell us something about ourselves.  What about you?  Who have you been for All Hallow's?  WHAT have you been?  Share, share!

The Big Black Moment

Any excuse for gratuitous Sam & Dean displays, but seriously, the topic today is "The Big Black Moment." 

Why?  Because in few months, Elizabeth and I (along with Darcy Drake) get to teach this little gem of a lesson in a workshop.  Given the topic, the three of us stared at each other in bewilderment.  (That is to say we typed big bug-eyed symbols via text and email O_O).

The Big Black Moment (or BBM for short) is something we all know and feel when we read or see it, but none of us defined it exactly the same.   I began to poll the other writers I know.  Most people described it as that moment in a romance novel when "all is lost."  There seems to be no hope that the hero and heroine will ever find love and happiness together.  Some also tossed in the idea that it's the moment when "it seems like the bad guys are going to win."  Others added in that it's the time when external and internal conflict collide to snowball into one huge, freezing mass of emotional, downhill bull- well, you get the idea.

We all write in different genres.  We write in different styles, with different voices.  Our BBMs are not going to be identical. However, as we began to talk it out, explore our own moments with more attention to detail, we found that a lot of the core truths are the same.

I hate to be a tease, but we're not going to get into those truths right now.  That's for another blog post when we've really done our homework and can dazzle you with our knowledge and skill(z).  Right now we want to know:  What Big Black Moments really grabbed you and wrung your heart dry?  What Black Moments did you love, even if they weren't that dark?  It doesn't necessarily have to be romance either...

For me, some of the most memorable are:

Romancing the Stone: It wasn't too dark (in keeping w/ the movie's tone), but when he went after that crocodile, I just knew that couldn't be the end!  Even as a child, I felt despair! However, I also felt that HEA around the corner.  Showing up with the croc boots was an excellent end too. :)

One of my all time faves:  The Shawshank Redemption.  Stephen King is a genius and I particularly love his non-horror books, but the movie is what really got me.  I felt real despair for Andy Dupree when those cell bars slammed closed on a blatantly innocent man.  I knew he'd be in that prison forever if the warden didn't have him killed.  I had NO idea what Andy was up to!  It caught me completely by surprise and after the lowest of low moments, I was elated.  I get chills even thinking about that movie now!  Then, another BBM right around the corner with Red.  Would Morgan Freeman's character get busy living or get busy dying?  I was an emotional mess all over again.  Then, the final scene on the beach?  I felt like I could run a marathon after watching it.  Now THAT is how you do a Big Black Moment.

What are some of your faves?