Relaxing, My Way

Today I couldn’t come up with my own idea for a brain dump. Imagine that. Who can’t do a five minute brain dump after a whole week of STUFF happening? So, I’m borrowing Fadra’s prompt today about a detail describing a way I like to relax. Here I go with one of the ways–

When I want to relax, it usually involves a romantic comedy on TV. I’ve gotten into watching TV again. For many previous years I didn’t, and that’s a whole other brain dump. I must have been really relaxed over the Christmas holidays because I bombarded myself with watching the Hallmark  and Hallmark Movie channels and the Lifetime and Lifetime Movie Channels. They had so many cute Christmas themed shows and I enjoyed each and every one. I actually long for the romantic comedy now since Lifetime usually has movies along the lines of women’s fiction or drama and when I want to relax, I don’t want to have to figure out a crime or what will happen next. I only want to be entertained.

I’ll pour a glass of wine, or make some popcorn; sometimes both, or just have nothing but the movie and remote. If all else fails and I can’t find something I’m in the mood for, I can stick a DVD in the player and have at it with my own choice of movie, relax, take a deep breath, and be carried away with something that isn’t even close to my own reality. Escaping is what you might call my way of relaxing, but it helps and makes it easier to fall asleep with my heated blanket, and peaceful thoughts to chase away the nightmares.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post below.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Now…

1. Grab the button

(it’s over in the sidebar)

2. Write your post.

3. Link up here. All Things Fadra

Thirteen Things About my Novel Hero (Thursday Thirteen)

Uriah Prescot from Visions of Enchantment at his finest. (And quotes from the novel to prove it)

1. Tall– Standing as he did with his broad shoulders leaning forward it seemed he tried to hide his height.

2. Handsome –She gazed into his amber colored orbs, and out of habit pushed his long hair behind an ear. His jaw line, model-type square, called for her touch.

3. Hunky– He stood straight and tall with his legs apart and arms folded in front of him. His blond hair hung loose the way Eryn liked it. His black shirt fit loose and opened nearly to his waist and was tucked into his tight black breeches. The leather boots he wore were nearly to his knees. With the sun behind him, his hair shone like gold.

4. Sexy–“You’re luscious, woman,” he said with a leering grin. “I desire you; every part of me desires every part of you.”

5. Strong-willed–The sound of a fist against a chin rang out in the stillness. “Damn you, I told you to take your crazy brother the hell away from here. I should have killed him…and you! If I hadn’t got there when I did you’d be standing at his grave right now.”

6. Protective– Uriah fell back pulling her on top of him. He quickly rolled over her, shielding her body but they were both in the open with no protection.

7. Knowledgeable– When he felt in the mood he would sell hard wood to a hungry lumber company, but only a little at a time and he always insisted they replant, for he didn’t want his forest depleted.Yes…they would live comfortably either now, or…in the other time.

8. Secretive– Back on the street the townspeople danced in the road to a band contest. He pulled his baseball cap over his eyes and continued on.

9. Loving– He helped her kneel down while she threw water on her face. Uriah soaked a rag and cleaned the cut on her forehead.

10. Intelligent–Who would know he would be able to live quite comfortably from the never-ending, small well of black gold. Anthracite coal and iron ore were but a few of the minerals on his land that were sought after, and occasionally he would allow mining.

11. Arrogant—“Not until I can make you understand. There’s no need to try anything with me because I will surely win.” He reached for her hand and lifted her to a standing position. “I asked you to come upstairs with me.”

12. Sincere– He touched the face of the beautiful, intelligent, submissive woman he loved.

13. Weak (when it comes to Eryn)– Uriah Prescot leaned against the wall when he left her room. Thankfully, it was there to hold his quivering, lean frame. Yes, she had grown into the beautiful woman he knew she would. And he loved her as much as he did on the day she left.

Oh, I’m still swooning over my hero. You want to see what Uriah looks like? I did an interview with him right here on this blog. Click HERE and experience C.J. the way I did. He’s not only hot, he’s also a great guy.

I haven’t talked about this novel for quite sometime. Now, I have the publishing rights back and I’m ready to re-issue it on Kindle and other eBook publishers. More information to follow as I’m working on revisions now. Visions of Enchantment is the first book in the Enchantment series.

For your own Thursday Thirteen follow these directions:

 

1. First list item starts here…

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!

Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

 

The End of the Story, Remember Red Writing Prompt

Remember Red Prompt from Write on Edge. This week is PERSONIFICATION. The dictionary defines personification as “the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.”

This week, tell a piece of your story from the point of view of an object who bore witness– 400 words or less. For  your own prompt and link up visit: Write on Edge, Remember Red.

~~

Here I sit in the cold again. I’ve seen it all –cold, heat, sun, rain, and snow. But I don’t even care. You see, I’m just an old yard pump now. Oh, in my day they depended on me for water. Really, I’m that old. After the grandma sold the farm I went with her family to the next house and they only used me for my looks. The middle son, Ernie, took care of me after awhile because his mother thought I would look nice in his flower bed. She was right, for I looked grand. Ernie painted me blue. Nice! When he pained me yellow, I felt like a ray of sunshine all year long. I sat in his flower bed for a lot of years in two different homes. The family reminisced about grandma and the farm house when they sat in the lawn chairs looking at me standing there like a yard guard.

Then came grandsons. They played with my handle, up and down till I thought that part of me would break. Boys will be boys. Ernie would toss small fireworks in my direction at least once a year. Being a hard piece of metal I guess they thought I could take it. Wrong!

After awhile I didn’t see Ernie much. His kids were grown and the grandkids didn’t play with my handle anymore. One day a big black car pulled into his driveway and I never saw him again. His daughter, Mary, pulled me out of the ground and I landed in her yard right beside the garage. Often she’d sit on her porch and look at me. She cried sometimes. Without warning a few years later, I didn’t see her anymore, and I was pulled out of the ground and laid on my side for a long time. One day she appeared again and took me on a long ride. Lo and behold I was stuck in another yard. Mary had a gigantic dog at that house. Whew, I’m glad it was a female! Then Mary disappeared and something bad must have happened in the house because everything got moved out. What would become of me? Almost a year later she came back for me. Happy! I’m with Mary and somehow I know she is a part of Ernie, and I know that Ernie is a part of Grandma who started it all.

~~~

Thanks for stopping by to read this. This is not the same writing I started out with. My first one was not the correct prompt for the correct day. If you notice some of the comments don’t match this topic, that’s why. Hope it’s not too confusing. The title is for the other piece I wrote, but it sort of fits. And yes, the photo is the same pump now painted white. I feel like it’s a part of me.

Healthy Eating or Bust

Eating healthy is expensive. For the past few weeks I’ve been following the Weight Watcher’s Points Plan Online. It’s not a resolution, but more of a goal to get back to feeling better, getting in shape, and losing weight which means eating healthy. The Food and Drug Administration says we need to:

• Balance calories with physical activity to manage weight
• Consume more of certain foods and nutrients such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy products, and seafood
• Consume fewer foods with sodium (salt), saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, added sugars, and refined grains. Taken from the Food and Drug Administration’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010.

While on the Food and Drug Administration website I came across Nutritional Information for Raw Fruits, Vegetables, and Fish. These are printable posters created for restaurants, retailers, and consumers. “FDA also encourages consumers to view the posters. A text (html) version is also available for online viewing.” I’ll be printing my own.

Eating good food grows on you, or I should say grows on me. The more I eat it, the more I want to make good choices. Again, it goes back to the high cost of eating healthy. I knew going in I would have to spend more at the grocery store, but I had to ask myself if I could put a price on my health. No, I’ve decided to put myself first since it’s really only me I have to worry about.

I’m trying to do the right things and follow the plan guidelines, get activity points in, and plan ahead. Being retired, there is no excuse for not getting my butt in the kitchen and cooking a healthy meal. I find it fun trying new recipes now. Yesterday I made baked eggplant. I’ve eaten it out but never cooked it myself. It turned out to be delizioso. Even my son ate some after spicing it up to suit his taste. (Usually hot and spicy.)

I’ve been tracking my food daily and look forward to doing it after each meal. It sure helps when you become accountable for everything you pop in your mouth. Today I didn’t get any exercise points. Shame on me. Maybe I can blame watching Downton Abby, but that was only for an hour and a half. I could blame it on writing and revising, but I haven’t opened any documents today. I’m not perfect, and I have to accept this will happen on some days. It’s okay though. As long as I stay in the right mindset, I know I can do this. And yes, even though it is expensive to eat healthy, I’m worth it. How long will it take you to realize you’re worth it?

Tech Support Representatives are Human Beings

Someone very close to me works for a major communications company. He does tech support so his job is to help people who call with problems. You have no idea what he goes through sometimes. There are good days and there are bad days. The bad days, unfortunately, stand out and ruin his whole day. I see no reason for someone calling for help and think they have to take it out on whomever answers the phone. He has no control over your account, but he CAN fix your problem. All you have to do is stop yelling and stop calling him a Mother Fuc### He has a very gentle soul and he is good at his job. When someone has a tech issue, they aren’t going to get it fixed by calling him every other name in the book, yelling at the top of their lungs, threatening his job, and even his life. People, please treat these tech support or customer service representatives like they’re human beings. If you saw them on the street, face to face you wouldn’t call them the horrible names they get called. Trust me, you can get your issue fixed a lot faster by being nice and LISTENING and FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS. If it can’t be dealt with he will send you to someone who can help with what you need. I’m sorry for dwelling on the negative side of his job, but these days they outweigh the positive days. Later one day after having three awful, rude, threatening calls, and not even the same person, he learned from his employer they are now allowed to tell the person on the phone if they don’t stop their belligerence they will disconnect the call, and if it doesn’t stop, they can hang up. Remember, these people are there to help you get your problem fixed. And, they’re human beings with a life outside of your phone call. This is my five minute brain dump for today, and keep in mind no matter how old your kids are, the MOTHER BEAR will always come out. Grrr . . .

#SOCSunday

 

If you want to do your own Stream of Consciousness Sunday– unedited, five minutes of just writing what’s on your mind, a brain dump, do this:

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post below.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Now…

1. Grab the button

(it’s over in the sidebar)

2. Write your post.

3. Link up here.  ALL THINGS FADRA

A Belated Christmas Surprise, SOC Sunday (Meme)

First five minute brain dump of the year.

My oldest son is always on time for everything, but this year he was way behind in buying Christmas presents for his brother and I. Keep in mind they have to be shipped from California so he’s always early. This year, he fell short of time. He’s been running half marathons and training in his running, so I forgive him! But, guess what? When the package did get here, he went overboard for his mommy. I got a Kindle Fire. I can’t tell you how excited I was. Ask my youngest son, I almost cried. Okay, I did a little. I fell in love with it before bedtime and I still didn’t know much about it. It’s an amazing device and I’m beginning to think everyone needs one. The Kindle Fire is a tablet, whereas the other Kindles are readers. I can read, buy movies, music, apps (some are free of course) and surf the web, plus more. The 7 inch screen is just the right size for reading. Today I read while walking on the treadmill. Perfect distraction! I’m still learning things I can do with this thing. I love, love, love it. Getting a Kindle Fire was the farthest thing from my mind, the biggest surprise I have had in a long time. I did look at them for my youngest son and might have made the comment to my oldest son, “I want one!” I guess he remembered, even though when I said it I never thought I’d get one unless I started a fund for it. It’s so much fun to play with when you don’t want to turn on the laptop. Now I can save my laptop for my writing and keep it cleaned out from all the stuff I can accumulate. I’m so excited to be a Kindle Fire owner. Thank you, Chris! This doesn’t take away from Christmas gifts from my youngest son because he gave me everything I wanted and things I didn’t know I wanted!

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post below.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Now…

1. Grab the button

(it’s over in the sidebar)

2. Write your post.

3. Link up here. All Things Fadra

The Resolution/ Goal– NOT! Thursday 13

My first Thursday 13 for 2012.   Happy New Year!

1. Not going to back down on what I want. I am Woman, Hear me Roar…

2. Not going to let myself get out of shape. (Once I get back into shape, of course.)

3. Not going to let my body become lazy. (The treadmill has been seeing nothing but dust.)

4. Not going into self-pity parties. Nope, not gonna do it. Laugh, laugh–

5. Not going to neglect my friends. Hi FRIENDS—you’re all special to me.

6. Not going to neglect my family. I lived too far from my family for seven years and I’ll never do it again. I love you, family.

7. Not going to let half done manuscripts sit in my computer. I repeat- I’m not going to let half done manuscripts sit in my computer.

8. Not going to get comfortable until a manuscript is finished.

9. Not going to give up on Visions of Enchantment now that I have my publishing rights back.

10. Not giving up on getting the rights back to Enchantment’s Embrace.

11. Not going to keep putting off publishing to Kindle.

12. Not going to settle with my own editing skills. Get real! We all need an editor in our life.

13. Not going to eat a lot of junk food. Notice I said a lot. I can’t deprive myself or I’ll feel cheated. This does not include chocolate!

To do your own Thursday 13, follow these rules.

1. First list item starts here…

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!

Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Rejection Letters

I just read a post from a blog I subscribe to about sending out her ships. Her blog post reminded me of an article I wrote a while ago. It starts like this:
If you’re a writer, you might as well face it – You’re going to get a rejection letter sometime in your writing career. Would you give up on writing if you received one? Better not.

Read more: http://writinghood.com/writing/on-literary-rejection-letters/#ixzz1iM62RPAx

I hope you read it.

To read the post by Sue Healy about sending out her ships, go to her website HERE. She can explain better what she means when she sends out her ships.

My Year in Song

Have you ever made a playlist for 12 months of your life? I came across the idea somewhere and I started compiling ideas. I came up with songs that in one way or another, fit my last year. Please accept the invitation to listen to any of your favorite songs on my list of songs for a year in my life. If you ever made one for yourself I’d love to listen. Farewell 2011. Thanks, but I don’t want a replay.

January  My Immortal  Evanescence

February  Hallelujah K.D. Lang

March  Haven’t Seen the Last of Me  Cher (from Burlesque)

April  Here Comes the Sun  George Harrison

May  Reflections of Passion  Yanni

June  Schools out for Summer  Alice Cooper ( Retirement)

July   Exhale Whitney Houston (Ignore the intro commercial if you can)

August  Change in my Life Leap of Faith (Praise God!)

September  Peace Train  Cat Stevens

October November Rain Guns N’ Roses — I have to repeat a song here for October. My Immortal

November  The Climb  Miley Cyrus

December  Gonna Fly Now  Bill Conti

Today’s Excitement

Today I’m excited! I’m about to get my publishing rights back to Visions of Enchantment. When it’s finalized I plan on revising the first edition to make it shorter. My goal is to become a Kindle author and eventually get the publishing rights to the second book. In the meantime, I’ve let the 3rd book in the Enchantment series sit until I knew what would become of the first two in the series. I hope my readers will enjoy having all three books in one place. Which means, of course, I need to get busy and finish the third and final book.

When I first started this series I intended to write four books. The chance of this happening is slim, but not impossible. For now, I’m planning on book three being last. With my previous plan for the fourth book, it can still be completed with radical changes to the story line. For one thing, when my characters met in 1882, they fell madly in love and of course their relationship turned sexual. One problem. My heroine was only seventeen years old. None of this is actually in the first book because it picked up way after any of this happened, but if you read the Prologue you’ll understand. My plan for the fourth book is a prequel. How can I do a prequel which of course will lead up to my heroine and hero meeting. No publisher will allow underage sex. (under age 18) If I publish it myself, I don’t know if it matters; probably not. I’ll use a cliche’ when I say, “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.” Either way, I’m happy to be getting control over my own book. It’s always been the most special book to me that I’ve written and to be able to see it start over again overwhelms me with gladness. I can’t wait!