Activity...

I took my two youngest kids and the dogs for a walk in the foothills across town from my house. Quite delightful! There is no end to how entertaining the dogs are to me. They barrel through the snow, race down the trail and bound happily back to me as if they've just accomplished the most amazing feats. Love them!

The kids are entertaining, but they take a lot more work......there's a lot more falling and not enough bounding. But they still managed to have some fun. :)

I am grumpy.

I should not be allowed near other human beings.

There should be a sign around my neck reading, "Approach at Your Own Risk".

Other than that, things are good. I managed to work on my WiP for about ten minutes today, plus five yesterday. So, yeah, things are good.

My Killer Dog

Yes, he killed another rat. This one was much more heart wrenching since we had the rat for almost a whole year. And she didn't die right away. AND Katie was holding her when she DID die. Needless to say, it was a morning of drama in my house.


I stayed up till after midnight writing last night. It's still coming along great. So, yay!

Manuscript Report

I'm happy to report that I'm getting into the writing of the idea I've alluded to. It's not going as fast as I'd like, but it is coming along. I'll post when I hit the halfway mark (coming up in a few weeks, cross my fingers). I want this, my first real manuscript, to be finished in time for Writing For Young Readers in June 2010. I hear a lot of good things about that particular conference and I hope I'll be able to talk to some veterans in the national market while I'm there. I know my chances of getting published with this one are slim to none, but a girl can hope. :)

I Love Writing

In the midst of my crazy life, I sometimes forget this detail. Then I put my priorities in order, come up with a great new idea and it comes to me--I love writing. I can't go into details about my story because that would ruin the thrill I get from actually writing, but I can say that this one is pure fun for me. I put my kids in bed at night, I veg with my other half and then, when everyone is asleep, I lie awake thinking about my characters. So, now instead of thinking about them, I just write about them until midnight. Good times!

In other news, I did my first review of a manuscript for Valor Publishing last week. It was a lot of fun and really helped me to be more critical of my own work. Of course, what I'm working on is a rough draft so I know there are major changes that might happen before I'm done, but I'm more aware about the points in my story that are important and the ones that are not. Hopefully, those will come through in the end.

Happy Writing. :)

Good Halloween

My Halloween wasn't nearly as exciting as Graham's, but it had it's moments. First, I got to stay in bed till almost 10 a.m. Therefore I started the day in a very good mood. (Bonus for my kids). I made doughnuts while watching Scott carve the most awesome jack-o-lantern ever. (Yes, that's it to the side there). Then I watched Scott eat a five scoop ice cream cone. I don't know why. Its like we didn't think the kids were going to get enough sugar in the next couple of weeks. They had to have ice cream, too. Then, of course, there was the actual getting into costumes and trick-or-treating. I was on duty this year, while Scott stayed home to hand out candy. It was quite entertaining watching my four kids race from house to house. After every door, my littlest would come to me and say things like, "I got lots of candy, Mom! I better eat my candy at my house." And, "I have to hurry to my friends, Mom." Her friends are her brothers and sister. I find it hilarious that she calls them her friends. Kind of like how she calls Scott 'her daddy friend'. She's just cute like that. So that was it. We trick-or-treated till they couldn't hold their pillowcases anymore. Then we went home and the gorging began.

Stupid People...

Has anyone else seen the nonsense in pop news about Taylor Lautner? How there's a double standard in Hollywood when it comes to what is or isn't appropriate to take off (clothing wise) for underage actors? The whole thing is really ridiculous. I spent, easily, twenty minutes reading an article about it and then reading the comments afterward and the whole thing made me disgusted (time I will never get back). Some people pointed fingers saying that anyone looking at underage persons sexually were pervs. Others thought Hollywood was in the dark ages by not allowing girls and boys the same amount of skin in the tabloids and on the big screen. And the whole time I just want to scream, YOU PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS! Doesn't anyone out there remember that the only reason we have underage anything is because someone in the past thought it might be prudent to make that distinction for the protection of said minors? Not that I'm for the ogling of teenagers, but those laws don't take away a teenager's innate sexuality. What I am saying is that its not about equal skin time, its about teaching young people that its not about the skin at all. Someone needs to tell young people to leave something to the imagination and to remember that what is in your head makes you much more appealing than finding out how much of your body you can show off without walking around naked.