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Posted on August 15, 2011 - by

I Would Hate to Live With a Writer

Living With a Writer

Living With a WriterHave you ever thought about what it must be like to live with a writer? I mean, it can’t be easy, can it?

  • Writer’s for the most part, tend to be very solitary people. A little on the reclusive side. Obviously not always, but as a general rule. We’d rather talk to our characters, than those around us.
  • And about those characters, nobody understands the agonizing decisions we have to make for them. It can stress us out. To a normal, non-writer, this looks like we’re going crazy.
  • Your house probably borders on chaos a lot of the time. Probably not immediately ready for guests at any given point. Dishes pile up in the sink, dust bunnies hide under the couch, piles of items need to be put away.
  • And what do they think of us when we are sitting at our computer or laptop, furiously pounding away at the keys, or scribbling in a notebook? Arguing with the screen, talking about plot holes and bunnies, crying when your favorite character does something you didn’t see coming. I’m sure the men in white coats are on speed dial.
  • The editing, oh the editing. The editing that goes on in my head as I listen to someone elses conversation, or when I hear them say something like “all intensive purposes” or about laundry and “warshing” their clothing. I cringe, do you cringe? Friends tell me they are afraid to send me typos. I get so many emails from people saying, “don’t mind the spelling, I’m not a writer like you.” They think I’m constantly editing them. They must think that’s all I do. Except it is.
  • And dinner around our house, scarce on nights when I’m in a writing mode. Kids have to fend for themselves, my son is brewing coffee for me at all times of day, as I score a hot cup of my liquid sustenance to keep me going just a few more hours.
  • Oh, and about that coffee, we can’t keep it stocked in the house. And for writers who drink tea or soda, the cost is ridiculous because we can’t get enough. It helps, doesn’t it? I mean, without it, I might not get much done. At least that’s what I tell myself.
  • Imagine the rude awakening those that live with writer’s must have, when in the middle of the night, the light turns on and they roll over to find their spouse writing furiously in a notebook at 3 o’clock in the morning, because we just had an amazing dream that would totally work for our current book.
  • When a female writer asks her husband to hold her purse, he must cringe. It usually weighs twice as much as normal peoples do, especially if we have it full of notebooks and pens. And don’t even mention the netbook I purchased just so I could carry a laptop with me everywhere that fits in my purse.
I know there is probably tons more I could add, but I don’t need to. I already know, I would really hate to live with a writer.
Feel free to add additional quirks below in the comments field. I’d love to see what others think it would be like living with a writer. haha

Popularity: 12% [?]


Posted on August 12, 2011 - by

Shh! It’s a Secret Writing Project

Secret Writing

Secret WritingWhere in the world did the time go? I have been away for a few weeks and it seems like a lifetime. I always think I’ll find time, I even open it up and open a new post and then I get sidetracked. I mean, I guess it wasn’t all my fault, I have 5 kids right? So it’s difficult to find time sometimes. That isn’t really an excuse.

School started Monday, so I started to organize my time and get back on track on my writing. I’m not completely there yet, but I’m on my way. In my spare time (what’s that?) I have been working on a Super Secret Writing Project. I don’t know how far I’ll get with it, but I’m not giving up. The problem is, it’s requiring me to hone my photography skills, so I’ve had to do a lot of practicing there. This is not bad, because I actually enjoy taking photos, but it’s just a lot of work.

I also tried participating in CampNaNoWriMo in July, but gave up about a week before the end, when I knew it wasn’t going to work. I did however more than double my words on a story that I already had half written, so that’s a huge perk. Plus lots of editing got done.

Other than that, my focus has been a little more on my food blog and a little less over here, but I promise that is all changing.

I promise to release details of my super secret writing project soon! In the meantime, tell me what you all are up to? What are you working on?

Please let me know I didn’t lose all my followers/readers. lol

P.S. Did you notice the redesign of my blog? I am loving it!

Popularity: 6% [?]


Posted on July 18, 2011 - by

Camp NaNoWriMo #Fail

Camp NaNoWriMo

Camp NaNoWriMoI joined. And I joined silently. I didn’t make a big deal about it because I was worried about time constraints in the month of July. I’m glad there’s an August one too, because yeah.. uhm. Not going so well. I took on an abundance of projects in the middle of June, not really thinking about how they might affect my July commitment to Camp NaNoWriMo.

Of course, with all that said, I’m cheating anyway. I’m taking the start of a story I had already written several chapters on. I started out with 12,673 words on that story. I spent the first week trying to iron out the kinks that made the story stick in an area. In other words, I wrote myself into a plot hole and had to dig myself out with more words and taking a few things out.
I did NOT include those 12,673 words in my Camp NaNoWriMo specifically. What I did was, keep track of all words I have added during revision work and now I’m in the middle of the first chapter I am writing from scratch. I’m wayyyyy behind if I hope to type out 50,000 brand new words before the end of July. As of right now, I have 13,949 NEW words. I should have 29,034. I’m 15,000 words behind. Uhm. Sure.

So at this point, if I write 3004 words/day, I might actually catch up. Not likely, but I’m not giving up hope. I sometimes get weird spurts late at night and have been known to churn out several thousand words in an hour. * Hey, I didn’t say they were GOOD words, necessarily*

I know I will need to work on this same story during August too, and my goal will once again be 50,000 new words, but with no revision done until the very end.

I know what you’re thinking. Nicole, you still have 12 days left, you can totally do this. Yes, yes I realize I can. And I have been known in past years to get to this point during NaNoWriMo and freak out, and yet still win. I’m just saying – this summer thing is a little harder than I imagined it would be.

So how are you doing on your Camp NaNoWriMo?

Popularity: 8% [?]


Posted on June 12, 2011 - by

Day 3 with the Kittens

nellie

Today was all about getting the kittens used to one of the most traffic heavy areas of our home. The living room. We brought their cage out into the middle of the floor and allowed the dogs to sniff it, the kittens to sniff them, and our cat Maple to check it all out from her perch on the back of the couch.

We wound up putting the dogs in the yard for a bit, to allow the kittens to come out of their cage at their own pace. They did rather quickly and have been running around the living room ever since. Maple still has not warmed up to them just yet, however she did get really curious about their pen. She sniffed it for about twenty minutes cautiously before putting a paw inside and then her entire body inside. So funny. Don’t laugh at my attempt to photoshop the images all together. I’ve never done this before and since its my first time ever doing it, I’m rather pleased with my end result (even though I kinda wish I had thought to figure out how to blend the photos a bit better so they wouldn’t have the edges showing as much – but that’s for another time.)

And, since I’m showing off pet photos… here’s the rest of the clan. I’m really just missing photos of our aquatic turtle, our mouse, and our fish. lol

and our two new babies:

Popularity: 7% [?]


Posted on June 10, 2011 - by

As If There Weren’t Enough…

baby2

That’s the best way to put it. As if there weren’t enough animals and kids in our home, we have added two more sweet babies to our mix.

This is Cheeto. He’s 8 weeks old.

This is Nellie. She’s 8 weeks old. (I wanted to name her licorice but the kids wouldn’t budge)

They are still very much adjusting to the noise and chaos that is our home, but they are sweet as can be and we finally got them to play this afternoon for a little bit from the safety of their pen. Here’s hoping this transition goes smoothly, but they sure are sweet!

Popularity: 7% [?]


Posted on June 10, 2011 - by

Favorite Tweets for Writers – Week Ending 6/10/2011

Favorite Tweets for Writers – Week Ending 6/10/2011

Best Tweets for Writers on TwitterEvery week I scour Twitter for the best articles and posts that are shared. These are just a few of the best tweets for writers I have seen this week.

Some of these links I may have re-tweeted throughout the week, but I will tell you that most I have not (yet).

On Agents/Editors:

On Character Development & Dialog:

On Genre Specifics:

On Publishing:

On Revision/Editing:

On Outlining & Plotting:

On Social Networking/Blogging & Other Online Stuffs:

On Writing in General:

On Everything Else (including cool things, free things and funny stuff):

 

Did I miss anything? I’m sure I did. Please leave a comment with a link so others can find it!

If you missed last weeks Favorite Tweets for Writers, find it here.

Added this week: If you are interested in getting your own posts included, the best way to get me to notice you is to follow my blog. I visit those sites daily looking for new articles to post on twitter. I primarily use Google Friend Connect but I’m looking for new methods, added soon. (send ideas my way, LOL)

Popularity: 11% [?]


Posted on June 9, 2011 - by

Pinterest Addict

pinterest

It’s official…I am an addict. I have made the move into Pinterest and I have unpacked my bags. I’m not leaving anytime soon. Absolutely in love with that website. It’s so much better than book mark apps, etc. I can just save a photo, which reminds me of whatever it was I wanted and voila – a beautiful photo board of visual goodness.

These are just a few of my boards on Pinterest. Every topic under the sun is covered on Pinterest too. And you can add your own things complete with comments. I have found some amazing stuff on there.  Are you on Pinterest?

Popularity: 10% [?]


Posted on June 3, 2011 - by

Favorite Tweets for Writers – Week Ending 6/3/2011

Favorite Tweets for Writers – Week Ending 6/3/2011

Best Tweets for Writers on TwitterEvery week I scour Twitter for the best articles and posts that are shared. These are just a few of the best tweets for writers I have seen this week.

Some of these links I may have re-tweeted throughout the week, but I will tell you that most I have not (yet).

On Agents/Editors:

On Character Development and Dialogue:

On Genre Specifics:

On Publishing:

On Revision/Editing:

On Outlining & Plotting:

On Social Networking/Blogging & Other Online Stuffs:

On Writing in General:

On Everything Else (including cool things, free things and funny stuff):

 

Did I miss anything? I’m sure I did. Please leave a comment with a link so others can find it!

If you missed last weeks Favorite Tweets for Writers, find it here.

Added this week: If you are interested in getting your own posts included, the best way to get me to notice you is to follow my blog. I visit those sites daily looking for new articles to post on twitter. I primarily use Google Friend Connect but I’m looking for new methods, added soon. (send ideas my way. LOL)

Popularity: 5% [?]


Posted on June 1, 2011 - by

Day 1 – Write an Elevator Pitch

Day 1 – Write an Elevator Pitch

How to BlogA couple of days ago I mentioned that I am participating in a month long challenge to build a better blog. I have the workbook, I joined the group and now I’m taking off with the first days challenge.

I have to write an elevator pitch about my blog. It has to be 140 characters or less. Well, that’s cool, I’m a Twitter Pro. LOL Right?

I spent the past few days trying to think about what I wanted to say, and I came up with four. I have no clue which one to use, but I’m probably going to have to resort to playing eenie, meenie, miney, moe so I can choose.

  1. Humor - YA & Romance Author and busy mom of five, shares her life and the road to publishing, while hooked up to a continuous coffee IV.
  2. Lots of Info – Personal – YA & Romance Author. Mom to 5. Love books & photography. Addicted to sushi, coffee & chocolate. Writing about life & the road to publishing.
  3. Straight Forward & Simple – Author and mom of 5 serves her crazy life up one blog post at a time, while helping other writers on their road to publishing.
  4. Simple Non Sentences – Mom of 5. Author. Writer. Photographer. Sushi Addict. Drinks too much coffee. Writes Too Many Words. Shares her crazy life.

I realize they are all similar, mostly because I want to keep the same elements. But there are things about each one I love.

Here are my thoughts.

  1. I like # 1 because it has a twist of humor at the end, while still explaining what the blog is about. It’s simple, yet has a twist which shows my funny side. (yes, I realize I’m probably the only one who thinks I’m funny)
  2. I like this one a lot, because I think I was able to cram more info in it, while keeping it fun and light and still direct about what it is.
  3. This might  be my least favorite, but the reason for this is because I feel like it is lacking personality at all. It’s cute, simple and kinda boring. I don’t know.
  4. I do this a lot. Write with the stops. So I am drawn to this one too, but it reads too much like a Twitter blurb (hahaa it reads a lot like my twitter blurb) than I’m comfortable having on my blog. That doesn’t mean I don’t still love it though.

Arghhhhh!!!!  Glad you people aren’t at my end to laugh at me actually getting irritated. hahaha If I had time to put a poll up (plan ahead Nicole, it works better!) I would ask you guys to vote. Instead, just leave me a comment and let me know what your favorite one is, what your thoughts are or if you came up with a better one.

Why does all of this matter anyway? Because I am hoping to make it the description/tagline to my blog. That is all.

Popularity: 5% [?]


Posted on May 29, 2011 - by

Blog Facelift

newpage

In honor of my pledge to build a better blog in 31 days, I have given my blog a few small, minor tweaks – a face lift if you will.

What do you think?

  • I created a new header, and since its a rotating header, I removed all other headers and only included this one and then one that matches it. One  has a subtle pink middle on the daisies and one does not. That’s the only difference. Probably not noticeable to most and I’m okay with that.
  • I removed a ton of widgets off my blog. Some of them were annoying, they seemed too cluttery and it just looks neater. I felt overwhelmed by how much info I was providing or sticking in my sidebars, so I cannot imagine how it felt to others visiting my blog. I also removed the “welcome” text box that welcomed visitors to my blog. That info can now be found on my about page which is something else I plan to “facelife” sooner rather than later.
  • I moved my left sidebar over to become an additional right sidebar. I didn’t used to like this look, but for some reason its working much better for me now. I don’t know why I like the look, but I do.

So please, be gentle but be honest – I’d love to know if this looks better to you and seems less cluttered and more clean?

Popularity: 4% [?]


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