Monthly Archives: February 2011

A Letter To Plot Bunnies

Posted in Letters by

Dear Plot Bunnies:

We need to stop this love-hate relationship we have.  Right now, I hate you.  The last thing I need is a bunch of ideas that I’m never going to work on, just like all of the other projects I said I would work and then never did. 

Yes, I love NCIS, and while I would love to write a fanfic involving McGee, DiNozzo and/or Fornell, I have 4 Harry Potter fanfics that I keep telling myself I’m going to work on.  I don’t need to add 3 more to that!

I also don’t need to start planning something supernatural either.  Or something mythological.  One of the aforementioned fanfics fits that description moderately well.

I like these ideas you keep springing on me, I really do, but I have enough projects that I want to work on. 

The only thing I can agree on is the idea of flash fiction.  Writing something shorter may be what I need to start working on everything else.  For that, I do commend you. 

But I’d really, really appreciate it if you could somehow figure out when I need you.  You show up at the worst possible times.  Perhaps you ought to try listening? 

It was nice talking to you, plot bunnies.  I hope we can work everything out.

10 Things I Want To Do

Posted in General by

I feel like a lot of people have a list of things they want to do before they die, so I thought I’d share my list.

  1. Go to Times Square for New Year’s Eve: I know it’s really cliché, but it always looks like so much fun.  And every year, I tell myself that I’m going to go.  One day, one day.
  2. Finish a novel: My ability to actually finish a novel is very debatable at this point, but someday I will actually finish one, instead of stopping at around 50k.  Even if it takes me the rest of my life to actually finish one, I will.
  3. Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter: It’s a must for any Harry Potter fan.  After all, what Harry Potter fan doesn’t want to make the trek over to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter?
  4. Go to England: I’ve always been fascinated by England, and I would love to go there.  Maybe I need to publish a best-selling novel, and then I can go on a writer’s retreat there.  This would require me to actually complete #2, and then publish it… 
  5. Alnwick Castle: this is the castle they used in the Harry Potter movies.  I do have a thing for castles, and this one…is the only castle on my list.  But castles are pretty awesome.
  6. Have my own personal library: I would love to have a mini-library in my house.  I doubt I could convince my grandma to let me turn the computer room into a library, but perhaps when I’m on my own…
  7. Learn to bake bread: making my own bread scares me, but I want to learn.  It doesn’t look hard, but it seems so…time-consuming, which is the thing that scares me.
  8. learn another language: my attempts at learning spanish failed, but I would like to speak another language besides english.  Spanish would probably be the best choice, as I’m at least familiar with it, and I wouldn’t have any problem with it.  French and Italian are also on my list.  French, because I’m part french.  And I’m not sure why Italian is on my list, but it does like slightly similar to spanish, so I might not have too much trouble with it.
  9. Visit the Smithsonian: I love museums, and honestly, the Smithsonian seems so cool. 
  10. Ireland: I’d love to go to Ireland, mostly because I’m also Irish.  And Ireland is also really interesting.  It looks so pretty in the pictures I’ve seen. 

It’s A Wonder I Keep Writing

Posted in Turning Point by

I don’t go back and re-read anything I’ve written very often.  I’ve been doing that recently, and they’re really not that bad.  Sure, sometimes I want to find the nearest cliff and jump off it, or bang my head against a wall repeatedly, but it still amazes me what I can actually come up with in a month. 

I have some funny stuff from Turning Point, so obviously the weird things I manage to write aren’t exclusive to November.  It is pretty interesting to me that Turning Point is the only one I’ve managed to work on.  For some reason, it’s the only one that I’m attached to.  Of course, it is the only one I’ve ever planned, which might have something to do with it. 

  • “Let me change your mind,” kiora said.  “I will.” (Is there a wall I can bang my head against?  Besides, why would Blake agree to let Kiora change his mind?)
  • “You can bever tread too much harry poiterr.  (there are no words)
  • “I thought it had to be dry to dit.”  (Dit is the contraction of do it.  In case anyone was wondering.)
  • “Why do you have to do it befoe your hair dries?” (I love inventing new words, and befoe is one of my favorites!)
  • “What’s with your hair?” asked kyle.  “It’s not fizzy.”  (I should hope not, that sounds terrible.  And by the way, it’s not frizzy either.  Which is what I think Kyle meant to say.)

I do know that with writing, stuff like fizzy hair is going to just…come out.  It’s also the reason why I do one reread (if that).  But…it does make me smile, which is becoming more rare for me.  Anyway, I’m still surprised at what I manage to write.

When I Can’t Sleep

Posted in Writing Prompts by

Writing Prompt: What do you think about when you can’t fall asleep?

I have a lot of trouble sleeping, so there’s a lot I think about when I can’t sleep.  Mostly I worry and stress out about stuff when I can’t sleep.  Sometimes I think about why I can’t sleep and when I will fall asleep.  I think about why I can’t have a normal sleeping pattern.

I also think about things I need to do and things I should do.  Like go to the gym, or work on my novels.  Lately it’s been about how I’m ever going to read 100 books this year, and also how I’ve been putting off finding places to volunteer.

And like I said before, I tend to do most of my worrying at night.  I do worry/feel anxious throughout the day, but for whatever reason, it’s just terrible at night, and while journaling helps to a certain degree, it doesn’t completely make it go away, so I’ll still be awake at 1 or 2 in the morning, worrying about how I can’t go to sleep.  Perhaps I need to journal before I go to sleep instead of the middle of the night when I can’t sleep.  Knowing me, I probably need to change my getting-ready-for-bed routine.

We all know sleep is important, and when you’re writing, or in my case, attempting to write, getting a good nights sleep is a really good idea.  This is especially evidenced in this post I wrote back in November.  While it makes rereading my writing entertaining, it makes writing a bit harder.  I’m more distracted than normal, and it’s harder to focus on writing when I’m trying not to fall asleep.  It’s definitely a lot easier for me to get my thoughts onto paper if I’m well-rested.

Can’t Stop The (Wizard) Rock

Posted in Music by

I love wizard rock.  It’s totally awesome!

I’m still pretty new to wizard rock (some people call it wrock!), so I only know of a few bands- Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys, The Whomping Willows and Gred and Forge are currently the bands I have.  But there are so many more bands out there that I don’t know if I can ever keep up!

Wrock is pretty creative, considering everything is based off of Harry Potter.  Plus, some songs (like those by Harry and the Potters,  Draco and the Malfoys and Gred and Forge) are told from the perspective of a character- usually the character mentioned in the band name.

The song titles alone are great (and often hilarious):

  • My Ear Is Not Here
  • Our Fireworks Say Poo
  • It Sucked When Dad Was Bitten By Nagini 
  • Hermione Screws Up The Polyjuice Potion
  • Never Going To The Bathroom Again
  • Save Ginny Weasley From Dean Thomas 
  • 99 Death Eaters
  • Party Like You’re Evil
  • Mother, Stop Being Ridiculous

And I could keep going with the great song titles, but that list is long enough as it is, so I’ll probably end up doing individual posts on the different wrock bands.  And anything that involves harry potter is awesome in my book. 

 The songs are really creative as well, like The House of Awesome by The Whomping Willows.  Or Potions Yesterday by Draco and the Malfoys.  Bertie Botts by Harry and the Potters is absolutely hysterical, as is The #1 Reason To Be Nice To House Elves by Gred and Forge. 

Wrock is pretty good background music for when I actually write because I tend to not be distracted by it.  I don’t feel the need to start singing or dancing, like I tend to do with everything else.  It really is a shame I don’t listen to it as often as I should.

3 Things I Can’t Live Without

Posted in Writing Prompts by

Today’s Prompt: Three things you can’t go without.

  1. Lip gloss/lip balm: I always have it with me,  Always.  I think I have around 5 or 6 different things of lipgloss.  It’s a bit of a problem actually, because I always feel the need to buy more, even though I have more than enough.  And sometimes, they go missing, but because I also have a slight addiction to Sephora, and therefore pay around $10 or so for lip gloss, I tend to make sure it doesn’t go missing.  There’s no way I’m going to lose a $10 lip gloss.  I did once, and it was terrible, because it was one of my favorites.
  2. Nail polish: I love nail polish as much as I love lip gloss, although nail polish is a lot hard to lose than lip gloss.  Nail polish is so fun!  You can coordinate it to whatever’s going on; and I will admit to wearing red and green at Christmas, red and blue for 4th of july/memorial day/labor day, and orange at halloween.  And again, I always feel the need to at least see the new shades at Sephora, and test them out.  Which is why I only go when I actually need something and when I have money.  Because otherwise I’ll get sucked into the vortex that is known as Sephora-land.
  3. this is a hard choice: it’s a tie between my iPod and my flash drive.  My life is on my flashdrive, although I tend to be rather obsessive about backing things up, so if i were to lose it, I think I’d be okay.  Most of my novels are password protected…not that they’re any good, although I suppose someone could figure out the password and edit them and such, although I don’t know why they’d want to.  And with some of the songs/artists on my iPod *cough*MileyCyrusHannahMontanaHanson*cough* they might want to return it.  But that is a post for another day.

I would like to point out that while 2 of my choices are beauty products, I’m not really into make-up.  Mostly because I’m not only too lazy to actually take the time to put it on, but also because I’ll forget to wash it off.  I do have a weakness for lip gloss and nail polish, and I feel weird without either one.

I Have A Thing For Cookies

Posted in Crafts, Food by

Cookies are always my default dessert. I don’t know what it is about cookies, but they’re generally awesome, easy to make, and as far as writing goes, they make an excellent snack. Plus, there’s a ton of different cookie recipes because everyone has their own take on cookies.  Chocolate chip tends to be my default, but once in a while I’ll make peanut butter cookies or sugar cookies. 

I definitely need to branch out more as far as cookies go, and make something different. 

Cake Mix Cookies

Cake Mix Cookies!  These were by far the easiest cookies I’ve ever made in my life.  Cake mix, eggs and oil.  And I couldn’t help but eat them all.  They are definitely a keeper. 

Taco Casserole

In other cooking news, I made taco casserole, pictured above.  It was quite delicious, if I do say so myself.  Also another keeper. 

And speaking of branching out, I did make a marble cake for my grandma’s birthday.  I pretty much never make cake (unless you count cupcakes), so this was definitely a challenge.  Especially since the recipe I used was very precise.  And I used a bundt pan, which was fine…until I had to get the cake out of it, as you can see below. 

Marble Cake

Part of it stuck to the pan, and so it came it lopsided.  Cutting cake isn’t really my strong point, in fact, I’m not the best at cutting cake.  So I tend to make stuff that I don’t have to cut, except for the rare batch of brownies.  But other than the cake being lopsided, it turned out okay, and my grandma liked it.  Of course, she likes most everything, so I don’t think it means very much, but she did like it, which is all that matters.

Hurricane Vase

So I also made this vase for my grandma’s birthday.  Granted, all I did was paint it, and that was Plan B, after I broke the candlestick holder that was supposed to be glued to the bottom of the vase.  And then I filled it with potpourri, as seen below. 

Hurricane Vase With Potpourri

It’s been a busy couple weeks, what with the reading and the cooking and the being craftsy.  I’ll admit, my painting skills also need some work, but my grandma liked it, so all is good.

The Olympics!

Posted in Writing Prompts by

Writing Prompt: If you could participate in an Olympic event, which one would you choose and why?

That’s a hard question to answer, mostly because there’s a few answers.

  • gymnastics: gymnastics has fascinated me for a really long time, and I would totally love to be able to do that!  Unfortunately, I’m nowhere near coordinated enough to do balance beam or the uneven bars.  But for the sake of the question, let’s pretend I am that coordinated.  It’s definitely one of my favorite sports, so it’s one of my top choices.
  • ice-skating: again, it’s another sport that I’ve been fascinated with since I was little.  And like gymnastics, I’m nowhere near coordinated enough to be able to do all the jumps.  Half the time, I can barely walk without tripping or running into something.  But it’s also one of my favorite sports, and they’re definitely graceful.
  • softball: I used to play softball when I was little, so that’s why I’d want to be on the Olympic softball team.  Although since softball’s not in the olympics anymore (or at least for the 2012 olympics, I can’t remember if it’s going to be in the 2016 olympics or not), I guess softball would be out.
  • swimming/diving: swimming doesn’t get enough tv time, except during the olympics.  It’s sad, but what else can I do?  I did group swimming and diving together, because they’re both water sports, and for some reason, I always associate the two together.  I love water, and even though I grew up in San Diego, I never spent enough time swimming or at the beach. 

So those are my four choices- or 3 if you count out softball.  But if softball were to be magically included in the Olympics again, it would be 4 choices.

Dicey’s Song

Posted in Books by

Title: Dicey’s Song

Author: Cynthia Voight

Pages: 211

What I Thought: This is the 2nd book in the Tillerman series by Cynthia Voight.  It picks up where Homecoming ended, with the Tillerman kids being adopted by their grandma, and their life in Crisfield. 

They make some new friends along the ways- Mina, who goes to school with Dicey; Mr. Lingerle, who teaches music at Maybeth and Sammy’s school; and Jeff, who plays the guitar.

I didn’t like it nearly is much as Homecoming, mostly because Homecoming was good as a stand-alone novel.  I wasn’t invested in the characters enough to like Dicey’s Song. 

Dicey still has trouble letting go of her siblings, and letting their grandma be the parent.  The family still has some financial issues, as Dicey takes on an after-school job at the local grocery store, and their grandmother (Abigail) gets Social Security to help care for the 4 children. 

I wasn’t even moved when Liza, Dicey’s mom, died.  It was sad, of course, but it was expected.  Besides, from the few recollections in the book, it sounded like she wasn’t the best mom, and as said by James, she had truly died during the summer, when she had abandoned them. 

Rating: 2 out of 5.  I felt like everything I had liked about Homecoming was gone in Dicey’s Song.

Mike Adams

Posted in Character Spotlight, Wildflower by

It’s been a while since I’ve talked about one of my characters, so this post has been long overdue.

Mike Adams is from Wildflower, and made his 1st appearance in my 2006 NaNo.

He’s 31, and has brown hair and brown eyes. He plays 3rd base for the Ashton Bears, and is an only child. He has a daughter (cassie, I still don’t have an age for her, but I feel like she’s around 4 or 5). He used to be married, but his wife died while they were in the process of getting divorced. In fact, the only reason why they got married was because of Cassie.

Everything he does is for Cassie, and he, at times, wishes that he had never pressured Cassie’s mom into getting married. He does want to get married again, but he’s going to be more cautious about it because of his 1st wife, and because of Cassie.

My favorite thing about him is that he’s very giving, thoughtful and generous, but he’s also a little too giving.  He wasn’t afraid to help Chloe out when she needed it, and would do anything for her.

I definitely set things up so that they’d end up together in the end, which is cliché.  He comes in and saves her, and after a while, they realize that the person they were looking for was in front of them all along.  Although, why not use clichés in November?  It’s not like I have the time to come up with something original or different.

But his concern for Chloe, and his appreciation for Chloe helping out with Cassie is sweet.  Anyone who dates him is going to have to be okay with his job (and not care about his money, despite what my handwritten notes say).  Liking kids is a must, and furthermore, if Cassie doesn’t like who he’s with, she’s probably not going to be in the picture for long.  And of course, all of the baggage from his 1st marriage.  She’s going to have to be okay with the fact that he has some regrets about that.