VERY cool contest....and some Rambling

An apocryphal story - the word "apocryphal" here means "obviously untrue" - tells of two people, long ago, who were very bored, and that instead of complaining about it they sat up all night and invented the game of chess so that everyone else in the world, on evenings when there is nothing to do, can also be bored by the perplexing and tedious game they invented. ~Lemony Snicket



See that banner? Do you see what it says? Yep... The Long and the Short of It is giving away a book a day, EVERY DAY in April, in conjunction with a review on the reviews blog. Most of them will be print romances in various genres, from random publishers. There may be the occasional eBook, but by and large, you'll be getting some great books to add to your keeper shelf. So stop by every day, leave a comment and see if you're lucky... are you feeling lucky? Well, are you? *G*

Please, feel free to spread the word to the world. The more, the merrier!

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Spring has sprung, and you can't tell my DH any different.



Yes... yes that IS him in shorts on our riding mower on the "lawn". Next week, I'll post pictures of him washing the car in the driveway on Christmas.

Bet you think I'm kidding...

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I worked on my HTML book again yesterday, and got myself utterly confused (or confuzzled, as I usually say) on the "going further with hypertext". So, I've decided I'm not going to organize my website into folders. So. There. That'll solve that problem. LOL... Actually, it could partly be the fact that I'm so incredibly tired my eyes were blurring. I'll try to understand it again when I'm feeling a little perkier.

I still love the book, though.

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Tomorrow I'm interviewing an online friend about her latest release. She's a wicked talented author, folks, so you'll want to swing by!

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Your Aura is Green

You're very driven, competitive, and even a bit jealous. However, you seek out balance in your life - and you usually achieve it! The purpose of your life: inspiring others to be better Famous greens include: Tony Robbins, Donald Trump, Martha Stewart Careers for you to try: Guru, CEO, Talk Show Host

What Color Is Your Aura?

That "inspiring people to be better" thing? My friends would probably call it "nagging"...LOL...

I wouldn't mind Tony Robbins' smarts, Donald Trump's money and Martha Stewart's house. But I don't want any of their jobs.

I <3 HTML

Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study. Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life. ~Henry L. Doherty

I am truly, madly, deeply in love with my HTML book (the one I talked about yesterday). I even read the introduction because it was so amusing... and, on the first page I learned something: HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. I never knew that. I'm going to take it a chapter or so a day to make sure it really soaks in... and then, watch out world! I'm going to recreate my personal webpage in straight HTML. And THEN, when I get that down, I'm going to attack the LASR site. I admit that's a little scary, but that's the whole reason I got the book -- to be able to build websites in HTML/XHTML/CSS instead of FrontPage which Microsoft no longer sells or supports.

And, I've probably bored you to tears. I'll try not to gush too much as the days progress. But, seriously, I'm excited.

Does that make me a geek?

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I tried... I really tried to write on my mystery, but only got about fifteen words before I wanted to scream. So, I stopped.

Then, I pulled out a completed manuscript I have that needs a bit of rewriting... a novel entitled "Playing House", the novel that started this writing journey for me. I find myself returning to it again and again. And, I think I've finally figured out a believeable way for Tish to work for Derek that won't require a complete overhaul of the manuscript. This is also one that would work (I hope!) for Samhain, as it's in the same not-quite-serious vein, like "One Love For Liv" is.

Honestly, I really want to get something submitted, so editing this story may be the right choice for me right now while I mull over what's bothering me about my mystery (because I don't really know WHAT is bothering me, just that I can't seem to move forward with it the way it is, even though I have the entire rest of the book plotted out. For whatever reason, this scene isn't working for me, but I can't just cut it because then the rest of the plot crumbles. Oh the joy).

Dru asked me, in comments yesterday, if I find it difficult to write when I haven't written the day before. In a word? YES.

It's terribly easy to get out of the habit of writing, and when I do, it's terrifically HARD to get back in. I like to write everyday, even when I don't feel like it. I can usually find something to work on, even if one particular WIP doesn't call to me. I always have half a dozen irons in the fire, and this little quirk of mine is one of the reasons I do work on so many things at a time.

I recently read an interview with an author who said that when she didn't feel like writing, she didn't. The boggled my mind. I'd have to say that more than 50% of the time, I don't feel like writing. But I do it anyway, and usually once I start I get into the groove and feel like writing! If I only wrote when I felt like it, I'd never get anything done.

OTOH, I read an interview with Nora Roberts where she said that she didn't believe in writers block...that when she had trouble writing (or didn't "feel" like it) she just pushed on through. It was she who said something that stuck with me--you can't edit a blank page.

Some authors will say, if you write when you don't "feel" like it, your writing will reflect that by being stilted or awkward. I can edit stilted and awkward. I can't edit nothing. My goal is to write regularly... and I prefer to write every day. It may not work for everyone, but it seems to work for me. The more I write, the MORE I write. Yanno?

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From Judy:

You Are a Total Brainiac

You're amazingly brilliant. Some would even say genius. You're curious, thoughtful, analytical, and confident. You take on difficult subjects because you want to... not because you have to. No field of knowledge is too complicated or intimidating for you. You've got the brains to do anything you want. It's possible you end up doing everything you want.

Are You a Brainiac?