Image stuck in your head?

Do you ever have this image that you are trying to describe and the word combination alludes you. You write, they don't work, you delete, and you puff out your cheeks and blow out air in frustration.
Do you then question yourself and try to tell yourself that maybe you've no talent after all? I guess I do this. I start to reason that if I can't write about this image, it must be me!

Even though I try to squash it, the yearning sits quietly rising up whenever I hear about some debut author getting some 2-4 book deal.


My sister, artist Diann Izzie said that talent is a curse. People look at her creations and tell her how lucky she is, I was surprised when she told me how much work might go into some of her pieces and she doesn't always enjoy it.

Are there many times in your writing when you really aren't enjoying yourself?

Does your writing prevent you from reading?

I've heard published authors say that they don't have any time to read. Do you find that you don't have time to read?

What else do you give up so that you have time to write?

Do you do any sort of volunteer work? If so, doing what? where?

Feeding baby kittens

The mother's milk seems to be drying up some so I bought some cat food formula to supplement their diet. Here they are snuggled with my husband after a feeding.


3 of the 5
The kittens range from 10.5 ounces to 13.5 ouncees. The black and white one in the photo is about 11.5 ounces the other 2 are about 12.4 & 12.7 ounces.
Interesting that the 2 lowest weight ones are the 2 black and white ones.

Ebay fundraiser - please pass on!

Some bloggers are hosting an ebay auction to help out a woman who is battling cancer and has a 7 year old son. The 2 watercolors by Diann Izzie are just a few of the items for sale. Please post the following link and/or pass on to your friends and family: http://stores.ebay.com/bloggers-for-Jeni

Click here to check out the items and to bid.

Kitten SUCCESS!

At last, I've managed to pick up not just one, but 3 of the kittens. (not at the same time!)


They were walking around a few feet from their mother and I was able to grab one and run out the door AND return with them without being shredded! This little kitty is sitting on my hand.

Wind Follower - My thoughts

I recently plowed through Wind Follower by Carole McDonnell. Even the opening line snagged my attention:

I will tell you first how Krika died.

Often is the case that I must motivate myself to keep trying, to give the book a chance, but I didn't need to do that with Wind Follower. I'm also guilty of 'reading' over text with most everything I read and I hardly did that with Wind Follower. That's a big compliment coming from me.

It's a love story written from the first person point of view from her two main characters: Satha and Loic. Each chapter takes turns between Loic and Satha, where the scene continues, from a different point of view. When there is a minor overlap, it works well.

Although they were both born into different wealthy clans, Satha's was destroyed by the Angleni so that Satha and her family are living in poverty when she meets Loic. Loic is instantly smitten with Satha and wants to marry her.

The evil third wife hatches a devious plot to seek her revenge on Loic's father and his clan, and from there Loic and Satha's life unravel and their lives are torn apart, and from each other.

At this point the story takes a different turn and we learn what the spirits are truelly capable of doing. Satha and Loic are now battling different demons and time begins to pass leaving you wondering if they'll find each other. As I'm one of the rare ones who will read ahead, I knew what would happen. (So please, if you read a book, see a movie, tell me everything, I really do want to know.)

Carole invented an amazing labyrinth of new terms, traditions and beliefs, that truly complimented her story. At times I did use the glossary in the back as there are so many characters, traditions, clans and different names used to describe the same people. I think, in life, we encounter many people so a complex story needs many characters and it worked out nicely in Wind Follower.

My only gripe is that I didn't completely like the way it ended, other than that, I highly recommend Wind Follower by Carole McDonnell! The story doesn't bore you with needless chatter and page fillers, it moves quickly, and will keep you engaged.

My Dollhouse- The Garfield

I built this dollhouse from a kit nearly 9 years ago. We recently moved it to our basement and some of it was damaged because we had to force it through the doorway, and we had to cut some of it off. For some odd reason I didn't think to save the piece we cut off.

All the art work in this dollhouse are miniaturized photos of actual paintings by artist Diann Izzie. All the photos of people are from my family.




I put up a fence all around my dollhouse because my cats were playing in it. As it happened, the fence didn't help.

























First instruction in the kit:
1. Don't Panic.
2. Second stated the measurements of the dollhouse and to make sure it would fit through the doorway. The size of this dollhouse forced me to leave it in my dining room for 8 years. When we finished our basement, I wasted no time moving it, although it was damaged in the process.

If I ever built another dollhouse it would have to have pre-cut pieces and not the punched out die-cut in the Garfield. I wish I had known better then because I don't see myself investing another 1/2 year of my life hanging around indoors, building a dollhouse!

I've made many purchases for my dollhouse from Miniatures.com I've always been happy with their service and merchandise.

Wind Follower - a must read!

I've started reading Carole Mcdonnell's Wind Follower and I love it!

Driving home from work there was heavy traffic on the freeway, but I remembered that I had Carole's book so I whipped it out and read it each time I stopped. Made the wait go so much more quickly.

Carole's created an entire world of people, languages, traditions and naming conventions.

There's quite alot to remember while reading but a bit of thinking never hurt us!

I must get back to reading! Need to see how Satha's pre-wedding party goes!

Pissed off mother cat!

The mother cat really went balistic on me this morning. I had touched the outside of the enclosure she was sitting in and she hissed, swatted, spat and flung one of her kittens away from her in the process.
I called the Pat Brody Shelter for Cats and they told me to avoid looking her in the eyes and to give her some time.

When I came home this evening she wasn't so angry anymore.

It's killing me having these darling kittens around and not being able to touch them.

When she flung one of her young away, it wasn't the fear of being sliced and diced that stopped me from reaching out for the baby, it was a concern that the mother would not only take her anger out on the kitten when I returned her, but that she'd continue moving around and walking on her other kittens. I quickly exited the room!

WARNING TO ALL BLOGGERS

Someone with user name Kazilar left a hyperlink on my blog to a ajrsc dot com which appears to be a virus. DO NOT CLICK On this. Please warn everyone NOT to click on anything from kazilar. I'm trying to jump through the hoops to request that blogger remove this person from their system.

PLEASE warn people and do NOT make the link a hyper link, do NOT click or go to the link.

FOSTER MOM AGAIN!

I'm fostering a mom and her 5 11-13 day old kittens for the Pat Brody Shelter for Cats. The mom seems semi-feral. Prior to her giving birth, an elderly woman was feeding her but the mom cat wouldn't come in the woman's home. One day the woman opened her door and the mom cat ran into the house and gave birth! The woman called the Pat Brody Shelter for Cats.

So far the Mom cat has allowed only one person to pet her from the shelter.
If she continues to be anti-social they'll need to seperate the kittens from her.

I tried to put her food bowl within a few feet of her and she hissed and swatted at me.

For anyone who is interested in adopting the kittens, you'll need to contact the Pat Brody Shelter for Cats.

Right now I'm sitting in the room with the mom and kittens hoping that she'll get used to me and allow me to pet her and her kittens. If you have advice that's worked for you, please share!

Just Stop!

Do you ever try to talk yourself out of writing? Tell yourself that it's beautiful outside, better to go out and play in the Sun? Better to socialize with friends, and increase your skills in your paying profession?

Do you stop and wonder why you keep plugging away, hours on end, on something that might only sit in a box, or should I say, sit on your hard drive.

When you hear about some debut author getting some lovely two or four book deals with a big publishing house, do you feel like you have your nose pressed up against the window, looking in. You can see the action, but you can't hear the music, then someone comes and drags you away. On the same token, the news is encouraging, at least invitations are still being sent out.

Do you ever try to convince yourself to stop? Try to give yourself reasons why you should, but then a yearning wells up inside and for as much as you want to stop and quench the agony of defeat that deeply embedded need to release the stories that fill your head clammer to the surface demanding to be told. You want to cry because you want to hurry and write it all down, but daily life latches on. As you charge ahead, it pushes back, and sometimes it knocks you over. When you get up, you realize that you've been knocked several feet back. If it isn't knocking your over, it stands before you, its cold steal hands pressed against your forward, laughing, while you run in place. You try to skirt past on the left, but the pressure against your head is still there for barrier easily moves with you.

You stop, look around, and you're crowded in with a sea of other stumbling, running in place hopeful authors who are also trying plod forward to that one open doorway that is rumored to be miles ahead.

Are you a blog junkie?

How much time do you spend writing your blogs?

How much time do you spend reading other peoples blogs?

How much time do you spend writing on other peoples blogs?
Can you go a day without blogging - sure sign of being a blog junkie!

I think I'm turning into a blog junkie! I started from Tia's Fantasy Review and have been making my way around.
I do find what strangers have to say interesting and I'll go back to their blog for follow up. Like when Kristophenia said she was going to post photos of her DC trip. I don't know her, but yet I kept going back to see her photos and even asked, after a week, when she'd post the photos. Speaking of which - Happy Birthday to her.

I wonder, could this willingness to read strangers blog be similiar to the thirst to read in general. I do enjoy reading nonfiction, and blogs, I assume, are usually nonfiction.

Time for my dance class!
(Tia, thanks for mentioning google reader - as it happens, my husband has been using it for a long while and even told me about it before.)

Kindness of bloggers!

When was the last time a near stranger did something to touch your heart leaving you staring at the screen in disbelief and dabbing your eyes?
Yesterday, I was following the links provided when I googled myself. Imagine my surprise when Carole McDonnell, a fellow blogger and one that I've exchange a handful of emails with, took it upon herself to post not only information about my book, Into This Mind, not only did she upload the image for the full wrap around custom cover art supplied by Diann Izzie, AND provided links to review blurbs, she also provided a link to my home page on her Dark Parables blog!

As I've enjoyed many of Carole's comments on other blogs that I've read, I added Carole's personal blog to my blogroll, however, I didn't check Dark Parables. I didn't ask or hint for such a spotlight.
How very kind and thoughtful!
Thank you!

When you read for enjoyment, do you?

When you read for enjoyment, (providing you still do), do you find yourself
critiquing like a writer, or do you just enjoy the story?

Do you find yourself feeling 'guilty' reading, in that you feel like you
should be writing?

Do you worry you might 'internalize' what you read and some how use it in
your own writing?

What books would you publish or represent?

Tia posted a thoughtful question on her writing blog (see blogroll on the right) questioning if it were up to you, of the books you read, which would you elect to represent if you were an agent. And add a step, publish if you were a publisher.

It's difficult when you're in the throws of admiring your own story to try to look at it the way a stranger might. Not just a stranger, but someone who will be investing their time and money for you. Seems an obvious thing to think about it, but yet I never really put myself in their seat.




I ordered Carol's McDonnell's book last night. I get such a kick out of some of her posts I decided that I must read her book, Wind Follower! I'm waiting for it to arrive.