Bogged Down by Illness

Hello Everyone,

Well, it seems that my days of being well again were only in the single digits. Now I have bronchitis. This wasn't exactly unexpected. I have chronic bronchitis, but it does slow me down. I'm doing my best to finish the Christmas story, but I'm going at a pretty slow pace. I'm mostly dealing with a lot of fatigue. I'm counting my blessings it wasn't pneumonia. The way the doctor mentioned that made me slightly nervous. He kept saying things like, "I don't think we need a chest x-ray..." Chest x-ray? Eek!  Anyway, I'm going to try to take it as easy as I can with two children who are also still sick. (If getting over sickness makes you stronger, we're all going to be Spartans by the end of this ordeal. My entire household has been sick for over a month now.)

I'm working on the final draft of Spine Chillers: The Firefly. We should be able to publish it next week. I'm hoping that it will come out on Monday, but That depends on a few things. This weekend is going to be a busy one. I've had a great deal on my mind lately and it's sometimes hard to keep everything together. Also, I want to make sure its perfect or as perfect as it will be before I publish. As I mentioned, the bronchitis is slowing me down. I'll do my best.

I have the first sketch of the picture for the cover of the Christmas Spine Chiller. It looks awesome! I hope you enjoy it. We're planning a giveaway event to celebrate Christmas, so I'll keep you posted on that a little closer to time.  I'm hoping to get that story finished and ready to be published by sometime within the first two weeks of December, but I have a lot of work to do. While I have energy I've been devoting a lot of time to working on the story.

Something to show you how dedicated I am to these books and those who read them, I've been working on my stories instead of getting prepped to play in an awesome Dungeons and Dragons game. I've been looking forward to that game for months. I was going to send out a detailed character history, etc., and do everything to get ready and psyched up for the game, but I've barely done anything on it at all. Luckily, I'm reworking an old character history, so hopefully it won't take long when I finally get to work on it. Again, the problem is being ill makes me have to choose how I use my time. I get through with certain things and then I just feel like collapsing and resting for hours...so I do. If I don't force myself to rest I won't get better. The doctor said that rest right now is key.

Well, speaking of rest it's getting late. I have a little more work to do before I can relax, take my medicine, and curl up in bed. I'll keep you posted on the stories, and when I start feeling better maybe I'll tell you a little bit about my character for the game. Take care! Stay warm and try to stay healthy!

Hehe...I couldn't resist. Here's a picture of my character. Brynja is her name and yes, she might be a bard but she's also a viking! Her personality is a little like "Godbrand" from the Castlevania anime. I didn't draw this, but it seemed perfect for her given that it was clearly inspired by the video game Skyrim. Anyway, that's a sneak peek of what I'm planning for the game when I'm done with the awesomely fun horror stories I write. And no worries, even while I'm gaming I won't quit writing other stories. It's what keeps my imagination strong, and my characters need a voice. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the Spine Chillers series!

Future Plans

Hey Everyone,

Halloween is over. I'll miss it, but there are some things to look forward to coming up. We had a very fun party. Joel and I went as "Team Rocket" from Pokemon. I love Team Rocket. We might have to wear those costumes again in the future. It was pretty funny. We were still a little under the weather during our party, but I was glad we at least got to do it. I'm pretty sure that everyone had fun.

On the day of Halloween our girls dressed as a bee and a ladybug. They were adorable. We dressed as Team Rocket again and we all went trick-or-treating together. They did better this year than last year. The process still scares them a little but my oldest did say "Trick or Treat" when people opened the door and my youngest eventually got a little less frightened. We didn't get to many houses, but in the end the consensus was we all had fun. Overall it was a very good month and a very good Halloween. Now the depressing process of taking down the decorations must begin.

For those who haven't gotten a copy of Spine Chillers: Empty Eyes, now is still a good time. It would be a nice way to relive a little Halloween scare while it's still fresh in your mind. After all, what's more fun than a school Halloween carnival going terribly wrong?  If you like stories about dangerous bullies, revenge of the nerds, possession, demons, other dimensions, and the fear of what you are capable of, you might be interested in this book.

There are a few things to look forward to in November. The next book of the series, Spine Chillers: The Firefly is coming out around Thanksgiving. I'm currently working on a few content edits before I send it out to fix any grammatical errors. I'll be continuing the writing process for the last book of the Spine Chillers series coming out in December.

I've also made a decision that hopefully you'll like. I think I'm going to continue the adventures of the children in the stories in a new series that will take place when they are in high school. That's right, I'm going to make a young adult series with the same characters that were in the original stories. This will be another work in progress. I'll need to start making some new notes and new scenarios.

I will probably take a brief break from writing after the last book of the Spine Chillers series, but it won't be for long. Basically, I'll be working on getting it into local libraries and school libraries and maybe even making an appearance or two for a books signing. Wish me luck. I think kids will really enjoy this series and benefit from reading it if I can just get the word out.  Also, during my break, I'll finish the first book of the Fay Bitten series for a slight change of pace. If it is well received I might publish it at a later date, but we'll have to see.

Anyway, those are my future plans. I hope that you enjoy the stories! Please let me know that you're interested by picking up a copy of what is out, preferably The Beast of Black Pond or Empty Eyes, and giving me a review. I really would love to hear some feedback. Thank you!

Keep reading and writing.

Updates

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to let you know that things in this household are slowly getting back to normal. My youngest daughter has two ear infections and I have one in my left ear that is the worst I've ever had, but we seem to be finished with the flu. Thank goodness. It was hard enough dealing with being sick myself, but seeing my other daughter with such a high fever was really rough. Being that sick makes you realize how powerless you are against things that you can't control. We did the best we could with the medicines we had and we seem to have made it out okay, at least for now. 

Please, get your flu shot! We would've gotten it sooner, but all of us were sick with various colds for two weeks previous to catching the flu and couldn't get the shot. The flu circulated earlier than usual this year too. Usually it's worse in November, but it's making its rounds early. Just a warning, please don't let your children go through what mine had to recently.

That aside, the new book should be out today or tomorrow. I'm really excited about it. Spine Chillers: Empty Eyes is one of the best ones I've written, possibly because the creatures in it terrify me. While I was writing it I felt paranoid and kept looking out my widow, which is usually a good sign. What would I have done if I saw two creepy, black eyed children looking in? My guess is probably screamed like a little girl, shut every curtain in the house, and hid in my room until I had to leave to pick up the girls from school. I probably would call my husband and the police, but as with any horror novel by the time help arrived they would be gone. I don't like to go to my door if I don't know the person knocking anyway, but two creepy children with black eyes, well that's right out.

In terms of writing goals, I have a few more content edits to make on Spine Chillers: The Firefly. I'm looking for that to come out about the twentieth of November, so I have a little time. There aren't many things I would like to change, but there are a few little things one of my test readers pointed out. Once I'm done with the content edits, I'll send it to be edited for grammatical mistakes. Once I'm done with that I'll be concentrating on the story that will come out around Christmas. I'm nearly finished with the opening chapter.  

Meanwhile, when I'm not neck deep in writing work or wallowing in illness and self-pity, I'm working on decorating the house for my yearly Halloween party. By some miracle despite our various illnesses it looks like we should all be better by Saturday, so I'm assuming we'll have our party. Therefore, I'm going to clean every inch of my house until there is no possibility of infection and finish the decorating. For those of you who don't know, decorating for this party is a month long event but it's worth it. I can't wait for everyone to see our costumes. Joel and I have a matching couples' costume that is going to be hilarious and fun. I'll post a picture when we're done. 

I guess that's all for now. I'll keep giving you updates on the next book.  I think as soon as Spine Chillers: Empty Eyes comes out I'll write the blog about the inspiration for the creature from The Beast of Black Pond. Beware, when I write that blog there will be spoilers for those who haven't read it, but I'll make that clear in the title.

I'll do the cover reveal for the new book as soon as publishing begins. It will be very soon. In the meantime, here are the banners for the previous books to tease you.

Primal Fears

Since I discussed a few fun facts about Spine Chillers: The Beast of Black Pond on my last blog, I thought it might be fun to discuss some of the themes from the series and particularly this story. All of the villains in my stories are based off of primal fears, especially childhood fears. Most of these are things we grow out of when we're older, but some are still part of who we are. And to make this more personal, I'll use myself as the example.

I still have a bad phobia of spiders. I have vague memories of being a child and playing with one (before I knew better) that got in my bed. Most people realize when they lift their front legs up and swipe at your finger that means they're going to bite you, but this is a very vague memory so I have to assume I was very little. Anyway, it bit me and even if I don't have a clear memory of that experience I hate spiders now because I'm afraid of them. As I've gotten older, I've slowly gotten better about the fear and can confront them with a shoe or can of raid, but if one is on the ceiling I tend to stare at it. Honestly, I don't really like to kill them, so I'm hoping one day I get over it enough to take them outside rather than destroy the ones in my house. I can appreciate their beauty from a distance in their own environment.

Another example is the fear of dark water and drowning. I have this phobia too. There is one memory in particular that sticks out in my mind. I was playing in the ocean with my alligator float and somehow, after a wave knocked me off, I got my feet and arms tangled up in the rope used to hold on to the float. I was stuck upside down. I remember thinking I was really going to drown and the burning feeling of being unable to breathe when my granddad saved me. There have also been too many times when something unknown has brushed up against me in the dark water of the ocean, so long story short I don't like going deep enough to swim in the ocean anymore.

Finally, the last fear I can think of that I have is heights. I think this might be from back when I was in high school and was stuck upside down one one of those loop rides at the fair with only a lap strap and foot bar to hold me in. I was like that for probably ten minutes and I felt like at any moment that restraint could snap and that would be the end of me.  Dangling like that also gives you a good look at just how flimsy those rides are and that doesn't help things. I don't particularly like roller coasters now and have occasional dreams of falling down the stairs of Longstreet Theater. (For those who don't live in SC Longstreet Theater has a huge, long flight of marble steps all the way down to the street. There would probably be broken bones if you were to roll down all of them.)

Those are my main primal fears, spiders, dark water, and heights. Most of these stem from lack of control over one's environment, and know one feels a lack of control more keenly than a child. In my stories, there are basic primal fears and most of the creatures that attack the children embody one of these archetypal fears. For instance, the wolf spirit is supposed to evoke a fear of large animals. Also, the fact the battle takes place in the main characters head means it also is the embodiment of nightmares and fears that are hidden. 

In Spine Chillers: The Beast of Black Pond, the obvious fear is of drowning and death, however there is a little more there. There is also the fear of the unknown. The pond is called Black Pond because the water is so murky and the shadows cast on it are so dark the water itself looks black. The creature within the pond has the impassive, cold nature of water but it also has the wrath of churned water in a storm. The scary thing about the creature is it can travel anywhere where water resides. Duane isn't even safe in his home. The opening scene when he has his "scare" in the pool is foreshadowing for what is to come. 

Other fears that are touched on in other novels are fear of the self (as in, fear of what you are capable of), fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of the dark, fear of loss, fear of strangers, etc. Look for these primal fears and tell me what you think the three books published so far embody. And since I've shared my fears with you, feel free to share yours here. It might be good inspiration and you might just find your fear in a future book...

Get Motivated!

Hey Everybody,

I just wanted to write this because I know it's been a little while. Currently, I'm trying to get motivated in general. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I've felt like being lazy for about a week now. I can't afford to be lazy with two children, but it is what it is. All I want to do is nap, play video games, play my table-top RPGs, and watch anime. Ugh. I think I really really need a vacation. I hate feeling lazy when I should be working...

The weather in SC is on its way to being a slow broil, so going outside during the summer is a battle of how much water can you drink to make up for the sweat. Needless to say, the air is a winter breeze inside of the house. For some reason I can never balance my internal temperature during this time so I end up curled up in a blanket in the house losing the sleep war, or I step outside and feel uncomfortably warm like I'm cooking a little on the inside. Don't get me wrong, I do love SC but I'm not a fan of the heat. You can only take so many clothes off in public. At least in the winter you can bundle up with as many as you can.

I've watched some very good anime lately. "Darling in the Franxx" is surprisingly good and for once I like all of the characters. (Of course, when one of them inevitably dies I'll be devastated, but I intend to find out what happens.) It's ongoing, so I'm still in the process of watching it. It's a story about mecha fighters in a post-apocalyptic setting that are teenagers. Male and female pairs have to work in sync to operate the mechs and they are fighting in a war against bio-mechanical monsters. The sexual tension is pretty thick and there are some moments where you're just thinking "Oh, Japan..." with the "Oh, You..." meme face, but it's still really, really good. It does inspire me to write something like this in the future, but that is a ways away.

"Magus Bride" was fantastic. It's a fantasy that takes place in the modern day and focuses mostly on fey magic. The story is good, the characters are awesome, and the animation is beautiful. It might be one of my new favorites, though "Darling in the Franxx" is catching up. The main character of "Magus Bride" is a rare person that can see into the supernatural world and has the ability to wield powerful fairy magic, but the problem is the more magic she uses, the less time she has to live. It doesn't have much action, but the stories are all very interesting and dramatic.

In terms of video games I'm still playing World of Warcraft. I really should pick up VR Skyrim again, but I don't have my VR legs yet and I'm worried that I'll be sick. I won't give up on it, but I am giving it a break. In terms of table-top RPGs

I'm about to run a "How to Train Your Dragon" RPG using the PDQ system (it's a system with an easy, flexible dice mechanic, so it lends itself well to player-driven stories).  I'm playing in a friends PDQ game about a society where monsters and normal people are trying to coexist. I'm playing as a fairy member of the constabulary who is trying to help withhold the accords between the humans and monsters and investigate supernatural crime. It's a fun game and I'm really, really enjoying it.

And, that's about it (for now) in terms of the things I've been up to other than writing. I haven't written in a week and I plan to get back to it this week once I feel inspired. I'm still halfway done with my fifth story in the "Spine Chillers" series and the cover art for the first book is coming along nicely. I'll keep you posted. I also intend to read "A Wrinkle in Time" soon and I'll let you know what I think about that.

Well, I'm off to lunch. Take care. Keep reading and writing.

New things, new routines, more writing...

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to give you another progress report on Blood God. If you recall, my dream was to have it finished by July 4th. I'm sorry to say my progress was delayed, but I promise it was for very good reasons.

For one thing, we got new furniture for the house. (No worries, it wasn't really "inherited," the furniture was given to us by family since they were moving into a smaller space.) I'm still in the process of unpacking and reorganizing pretty much the entire house. I love the new furniture and we've wanted new furniture for a long time, but there are still boxes of things to sort through and I was unable to write for a few weeks. Was it worth it...absolutely! Real life comes before writing and settling in and reorganizing after a big change like that is very important and honestly kind of fun.

Next came the beach trip. Directly after we got the furniture and almost got all of the unpacking finished, we went for a week and a half to Garden City Beach. Most of my time was spent going to the beach with my children and then taking them to see aquariums, alligators, and basically giving them something new to do each day. I exercised more than I have in a very long time and was very busy throughout most of my days there, to the point that I actually physically needed a nap almost everyday. However, that doesn't mean I didn't write at all.

Apparently my muse lives at the beach. While I didn't finish writing by July 4th, I finished the outline for the rest of the book. I also wrote 10,000 words and the word count is now at 82,000. I know I said I thought the book would be around 90,000 words, but after completing the outline, I think it will be closer to 100,000 so I'm going to have to spend a bit more time on it. I'm sorry, but I think the results will be well worth it. This is the last book, and I refuse to rush it.

Basically, at this point, we're looking at the end of the summer at the earliest. I need to proof read it for content, then give it over to my husband to proof for content and any grammatical mistakes he sees, then I'll send it to the editor. I also still need to also contact Joey about the artwork for the cover, but I'm trying to wait until the book is entirely finished so I can pick an appropriate scene.  I was sincerely hoping to be working on my young reader horror novels by the beginning of fall, but I'm not sure if I'll still be editing this novel or doing the blog tour for it, so we'll have to see. I think it depends on when I finish with the writing and how long the edits take. Either way, I'll be writing as often as I can.

In other news, my husband has a new job! I'm ecstatic. We didn't have to move away and for once it sounds like we don't have to worry too much about money.We should be able to afford pre-school for the little one next year. It sounds like our oldest will have to go to pre-school full time coming up. I'm a little concerned about that, but I think it will be okay. It seems like an awfully long day for someone who is only just now four. However, upon seeing the results of her speech therapy, it will definitely be worthwhile. This will be just as hard an adjustment for me, though. I'll miss her terribly while she's at school, but I'm sure the youngest will keep me occupied.

Well, I'd better go. This was longer than I expected and I still have more writing to do. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Weird Al is a National Treasure!

Well, in spite of all of the bad things that have been going on lately, I can say that this has been a good week, thanks mostly to Weird Al Yankovic (and to my sister and brother-in-law for getting tickets for us).  I saw his "Mandatory Fun Tour" on Wednesday here is SC and I haven't laughed that much in months.  I can definitely say I had more than mandatory fun.  As things turned out, I really needed a good laugh.  Getting out and having a good time has put me in much better spirits.  It's amazing what a little laughter can do.

I saw him the first time at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach.  He likes to make uncomfortable eye contact with people in the front rows, and then sing song lyrics directly to them.  He did this to me and my sister.  It was awesome.

As for this tour, his voice is still great, he moves like he doesn't get tired, and he is still making hilarious music.  I was surprised to find out that he's fifty-six years old.  I can't believe the amount of energy he brings to the stage.  You can really tell that he loves what he does.  I respect that in any musician and I've been listening to Weird Al since I was a child.  Don't get me wrong, I do like the songs that he parodies, but I think some of the Weird Al's lyrics will be remembered longer than those of the original song.  

I was surprised to find that we also had friends of ours that we haven't seen in a little while sitting next to us, so we got to catch up a with them little before the show.  That was nice too.  I expected we would see some of our friends there, but I didn't expect to be sitting next to anyone we knew.  It was a great night, and while people are allowed to disagree with me, Weird Al Yankovic is a national treasure in my book.  Speaking of my book, I've included a link to his song "Word Crimes" for your viewing pleasure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc

Feeling Good, but Still Sick...

Hey everyone,

Well, I'm finally getting things done again.  Between flooding, illness, and children, things have been very busy around here.  

As you probably know, the entire state of South Carolina is recovering from severe flooding.  My friends have dubbed the event "rainocalypse."  I thought it was just going to flood in a few places, but it turned out to be much, much worse than I expected.  Thankfully, we live on the top of a hill and in an area that was less affected than most.  My family did lose power and clean water for a little while, but they also live on a hill, so they were also lucky.  The amount of damage throughout the state is depressing.  For at least a week, businesses were shut down all over the state.  Even as it is, a lot of places are still closed or still suffering from lack of clean water/supplies.  Many of the roads are still closed too.  It's getting better, though.

Unrelated to the flooding, I've been sick off and on for about a month now.  I've had a constant cold and bronchitis.  Currently, I think I might be on my way to a sinus infection.  One of the problems with sending your toddler to preschool is that they bring back any illness going around in the classroom.  My poor older daughter is suffering from a constant cold as well.  For a short time she had croup cough.  The cold virus (not croup cough) also made the infant sick, but she's okay.  Honestly, she's taking it better than we are.  I can't complain too much, though.  It could've been a lot worse.  I just hope that we all feel better soon.  I'm very tired of being sick.  Also, being sick makes me exhausted, and that makes me less productive.  I get down on myself sometimes when I don't get much done, so I'll be glad to have my energy back.

I'm finally adjusting to having two children.  It is a challenge, but so far so good.  I love my little girls.  They keep me busy, but it's a good kind of busy.  We're starting to have normal routines again.  My two month old is starting to respond to picture books, so I'm starting to read to both of them.  My older child needs to stop watching as many movies, but I'm almost back to one in the evening and mostly books, toys, and learning games during the day (During my bronchitis, I sometimes had to resort to movies so that I could relax a little, so naturally that's what she expects now.).  Now that she's in preschool four days out of the week, she gets a good amount of learning games, activity, and books anyway, so getting back into that routine has been a little easier.  She's making friends as well, which is exciting to hear.

I've figured out the best times to write again, so I've been more productive lately than I've been in a long time.  I've finished reworking my "Grim of Black Pond" story (except for test reading).  It's now entitled "The Beast of Black Pond" and I know it's much better for the changes that I made.  So, thank you to my contacts at penguin random house for giving me the suggestions.  Currently, they're looking over my novella "Scarecrow" right now.  I'm hoping for the best.  I really want this to work out.  I think there's definitely a need for more young reader/middle grade horror.  It's a genre lots of children like, and a genre I love to write.  While I'm nowhere near arrogant or stupid enough to think I could compete with R. L. Stine, I would love to be even in the same section with him.  Wish me luck.

Well, that's about it for now.  I'll keep you posted as major things come up (first, the Halloween Party).  Talk to you soon.  Take care!        

Ebola Scare...

I don't usually write about things that irritate me on my blog, but this time I'm going to make an exception.  Let's talk a little bit about Ebola.  I'm sure you're tired of talking about it, but I'm tired of hearing both extremes on this topic, so I have to get something off of my chest.

First of all, I hate the media.  The media is blowing the cases that have happened in the US out of proportion.  They're making it sound as though the virus is airborne (it's not), and are trying to make people panic.  One thing about the US is that we're very good at making a crisis out of something that isn't one yet.  We tend to pretend the world is ending because deep down, people like a crisis.  I know that sounds weird, but it's true.  Here's the problem, Ebola isn't a crisis HERE yet, so we need to stop making it into one.  The political cartoons are true that the flu kills thousands of people a year and we don't worry over it, so worrying over five cases of Ebola is ridiculous.  We can't shut down our lives because we might be unlucky enough to get exposed to something that, as far as we know, only five people have in the US.  We need to pay more attention to common viruses and health problems that are dangerous before we start freaking out over something that we probably will never be exposed to in our entire lives.

HOWEVER, I am also tired of hearing the opposite extreme.  There are political cartoons and lots of people ranting and saying that Ebola isn't something we need to worry about at all.  That is just as ignorant and wrong as those that try to make this into a crisis.  This virus has killed thousands of people in Africa.  Granted, part of the problem in Africa is there are people who don't believe that it is a virus and have distributed blankets of the infected to healthy people.  Also, the established governments of some of the areas there aren't organized, etc.  But, out of respect for the thousands of people dying there, I really think those political cartoons are tasteless.  "Tacky" is a good word for it.  Don't make light of a virus that's killing thousands of people in a horrible way just because it hasn't happened here yet.  It's a nasty virus that should be respected.  And, even if only five people have Ebola in the US, I'd imagine that to them it's definitely something to worry about.  Apathy over something horrible like this is just as bad as trying to incite panic.

I think the reason that we are so fascinated and terrified over this virus is because it is truly horrific.  When the full symptoms set in, within hours the victim bleeds from every orifice and their organs practically liquefy.  You could die tasting every organ in your body.  Think about how horrible that would be and tell me, do you really want to die that way?  Does anyone?  That's why people are freaking out.  The flu usually kills the very young and very old, or those with compromised immune systems.  If you get Ebola there's around a 70% chance you won't survive.  Please, please, have respect and stop saying it isn't a big deal.

I want to have faith that the CDC and our government will keep track of those exposed to the virus and keep the situation under control.  I have noticed, though, that many hospitals are not prepared and some of the things that happened could've been handled in a better way.  What I don't understand it is why there isn't a travel ban to and from the most affected areas.  Most US citizens that are in Liberia exposed to that virus don't want to bring it back and infect their loved ones if they do have it.  Those that want to administer aid to those areas could be an exception.  Most of the cases, so far, that have made it to the US have been people coming directly from Liberia.  But, I have to assume there's a reason that there hasn't been a travel ban yet, but it seems the first logical step.

I do, however, have plenty of nurses who are friends.  I have faith in them and believe that with the help of highly trained nurses, we will get this thing under control somehow.  Time will tell, but in the meantime, the best advice I can give is don't buy into the media propaganda and don't panic.  Still, don't hide your head in the sand and pretend it isn't a problem either.  Be vigilant, watch the news, stay away from sickly people, and use your common sense.  And, get your damn flu shot.

And, that's my 2 cents.        

Weddings and Walt Disney World

Hello Again,

Wow, two blogs in one day.  I'm going to go for three, but let's talk a little about weddings and Walt Disney World.

First of all, I got to attend my friend Bob's wedding recently.  Since this is personal to him, I won't spent too much time talking about it.  It was a nice ceremony up in North Carolina.  My husband was the best man and it actually brought together a lot of old friends that we hadn't seen in a long time as well.  Bob is also our roomate, so now he has recently moved out.  He seems very happy and I'm happy for him.  He and Lynn are a nice couple.

A week after the wedding, Joel and I, along with our daughter, my sister and her boyfriend, and my Mom and Step-dad went to Disney World.  It was Eva's first trip to Disney, and I wasn't sure how she was going to do, but she did great.  She was wide-eyed on all the rides she could go on (she is only one and a half years old...), and she adapted well to seeing so many people.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  It's good to see that she's open to new experiences now.  For a little while, she was going through a fear of strangers phase that I thought would  never end.  Even though she's still antsy about people coming over to the house, it seems she's more accepting of people in a public setting.  Thank goodness.

We stayed at the "Art of Animation" resort.  The rooms were very small, but we made good use of the space.  The decorations were awesome.  Our suite was done in a "Finding Nemo" theme.  The entire resort was comprised of three different sections, Cars, Finding Nemo, and the Lion King.  The main lobby was decorated in storyboard art for Disney Movies.  I felt right at home.  I love Disney World and Disney movies.

There's not much to say about Disney World that hasn't already been said.  It is still the happiest place on earth.  I had the best trip this time that I've ever had there.  We got on almost all of the rides that we wanted to, and also somehow budgeted our time well enough that there weren't many long lines.  It also really helped that we went on weekdays in October.  If you want to go to Disney World, I highly recommend going in October because it's off season.  We also got to go to two different restaurants that we had always wanted to try (the Crystal Palace and the VERY nice Hibachi restaurant in "Japan").  And, for once, I went on every thrill ride in each park.  I decided that I wanted to go with Eva and Joel on thrill rides in the future, and I need to learn to be brave for my child (Though, some roller coasters I still can't do.  Being brave has nothing to do with motion sickness...).  Eva had the best time ever.  I have so many good memories of her experiencing the park for the first time.  My Mom also got to spend a lot of time with Eva when we occasionally split up the group, which was nice for her too.  

The best part of all was that John proposed to Holly (my sister).  It was very sweet.  He gave her a rose and a bracelet at the "Crystal Palace" with a note that said to make a special wish at Cinderella's wishing well.  Then, when we got to the wishing well, he proposed.  I'm very happy for them and very excited about the upcoming wedding.

Anyway, it was a great trip, but we brought something back that we didn't intend...a very nasty cold.  Eva had it first, then gave it to me, and then I accidentally gave it to Joel.  So, the past week, we've been mostly sleeping and trying to recuperate.  I haven't written anything in over two weeks, and it's driving me crazy.  I'm hoping now that I have time again to change that.  Anyway, I figured it would probably happen.  There were just too many people there for us to be lucky enough not to catch anything.  All things considered, a nasty cold is better than the flu, so I'm at least grateful for that.

Dragoncon Shenanigans...

Hey Everyone,

Sorry that I've been pretty inactive on the blog lately.  This  has been a really busy time for me.  I went to Dragoncon, my friend's wedding, and Disneyworld.  (I also just recently recovered from a nasty cold.)  So, needless to say, I've had an eventful couple of months, but I'm going to try to catch up on the blog.

Let's start with Dragoncon.  What I remember most about it was that it was more crowded than it has ever been before.  I attribute that mostly to the fact that Patrick Stewart was there.  Before you ask, no I didn't go to that panel or get to have his autograph.  He was untouchable.  We waited in line for his panel and then were told the place was filled up after we waited for thirty minutes in a line that stretched around the building.  There were other actors there, but mostly the same ones who come every year.  I think that we've decided that the next time someone like Patrick Stewart is there, we're just not going to go.  There were so many people there, that there were actually lines to get into vendors.  Most of the panels were hard to get into unless you lined up two hours early.

I did, however, get into two very helpful writing panels and got to see and talk to Todd McCaffrey again.  One was about Young Adult Fantasy and the other was about World Building in Young Adult Literature.  I learned quite a bit that I intend to incorporate into my own writing, and I have a few books that I'll probably be buying to read in the near future by the authors participating in the panel.  So, I felt Dragoncon was worth my time, but I hope they handle the crowds better next time we go.

Also, one last note on Dragoncon.  It is well known that Dragoncon is a party con, but I was very disappointed in the behavior of certain people there.  At around 8:00pm, things get kind of crazy and people start dressing in very little clothing, etc.  This is just a well known fact about the con.  I don't have a problem with that, because after eight most small children are not present.  However, at two in the afternoon, you don't expect people dressed as scantily clad "My Little Ponies" to start posing in suggestive ways for pictures in the most populated areas.  It was a train wreck, one of those things where you really want to look away, but you just can't do it.  They also probably were about eighteen, so not even old to drink, though they were clearly drinking as well.

I realize now that being a parent has changed me.  Normally, I don't care about that sort of thing, not anymore, but I was downright offended by the whole display because it was done in front of children dressed as characters in a children's show.  The parents of the children present were trying to steer them away, but the thing was taking place in the middle of the hotel thoroughfare.  Unfortunately, there was no one really moderating the con, so they probably did this for about an hour.  People with "daddy issues" are kind of sad.

Long story short, it was an exhausting weekend.  I enjoyed the writing panels and shopping (I got a plush Umbreon which is kind of awesome), but I probably won't go back next year.  I might actually be having another baby next year.  We'll have to wait and see.  Who knows?

Anyway, I've rambled enough about the con.  I'll talk to you again soon.  I'll probably be posting another entry about Disneyworld today.  Bye!          

Medical Issues, a Happy Birthday, and Writing

Hey Everyone,

Sorry that it's been a little while.  I've been kind of busy lately.  I'll catch you up with everything that's been going on through this blog, and hopefully I'll do a little better on blogging more often.

First of all, medically speaking I've had a few "issues" lately.  About a month ago, I ended up going to the hospital for heart attack like conditions.  Basically, I had every symptom of a heart attack without actually having one.  They still don't know what happened.  I did panic a little, but I know it wasn't a panic attack due to the fact my symptoms were what caused me to worry (plus, I don't have a history of panic or anxiety attacks, and I was perfectly calm when this happened).  The current guesses are that it could be gall bladder problem or a mitral valve prolapse.  I got an echocardiogram, but so far no results.  The last time I had an irregular heart rate and a bit of difficulty breathing, the guess was that I had a prolapse.  Now, hopefully, I'll find out one way or another.  Long story short, I'm just very glad to be alive and glad that whatever happened wasn't the worse case scenario.

I do want to be healthy again, though.  These allergies are awful this year and have caused fluid to build up in my inner ear, so every now and again I feel dizzy or that my body is pulling in one direction or another.  I'm on allergy pills and special nose drops to fix this problem, but I'm guessing it'll be something I'll have to live with for awhile.  I'm still just so grateful that it isn't something worse.  It would be awful to have heart trouble, and it does run in my family a bit.  So, long story short, becoming dizzy and almost falling down shortly after the hospital trip didn't make me feel much better, but it did still make me even more grateful to be alive.

On March 22nd, I turned thirty two.  I was reflecting on the fact that this has been a very good year.  Despite health scares, I've had a baby (who is about to turn one soon), lost some of the baby weight, have many fun vacations to look forward to (including DragonCon and going to Disney World) and have gotten to be in the top five finalists of a writing competition that, if I won, would change my life for the better and would be my dream job.

I really, really want to win the competition.  I don't know how to describe how bad I want it.  It's rough having a one in five chance of having all of your dreams come true, but knowing that even if you're working as hard as you can, you still might not reach it.  I feel like I have a lot of good ideas to contribute to both Penguin and the Jim Henson Company, but the only way that I can is by winning.  Well, that settles it, I just have to win. (If only it were that easy...)  Either way, I don't regret entering the contest.  It's been a great experience.  Having my work edited by a real editor, learning what the revision process is like, and improving a story that I enjoyed writing in the first place makes me feel like I'm finally not "spinning my wheels."  Also, even if I don't win, I've still won a spot in an e-book with the other finalists, so that is an achievement in and of itself.  

I must be a very strange writer.  Even though I like my characters and I like my story, I don't feel like I'm "murdering my darlings."  People compare editing their work to killing/hurting their children, but I'm looking at it as an opportunity to make my work better.  I have a child, and the thought of hurting her or anything bad happening to her is the most horrific thing in the world, but when I'm working on my story it feels almost liberating to make changes on it.  It feels like I'm making my story better, that I have a challenge to outdo myself from last time and make my characters even more interesting.  I've actually mostly enjoyed making the edits, even if a few of them did make things a little more difficult.  Also, I feel it would be arrogant of me to think that my work can't stand to be improved.  Even though I thought this was one of my better stories, I didn't expect to be part of the top five finalists (I was hoping and praying for it, but I didn't expect it).  

I've worked very hard on the outline this week.  The first draft of it is almost done and things seem to be falling into place.  I've finished the minor edits in the manuscript and have started on the major edits, including changing the gender of one of my characters from male to female.  I've found that I like this character much more as a female, and she's somehow become just as interesting (if not more so) than the main character due to the change.  I think, if I win, she might be the main character of a second book, if it becomes a series.  Oh please, please Jesus let me win...

Oh, things I've learned...don't double space after the end of a sentence.  I'm not sure why, but I think it's an industry thing.  Avoid passive tense (I knew about this one, but it's something I need to improve).  And, in this case, make it more "Gelfling."

I need to try to make sure that I can't just make the characters human and have the plot be the same.  From what I've observed, Gelfling are more gentle than humans and in some ways more naive.  They're much more in tune with their planet in an almost religious way.  (I kind of think of Augra as the avatar of the planet.)  And, they also have a mystical connection to one another.  Making it more "Gelfling" will probably be the most difficult improvement, but I know that I can do it.  Over the years, I've practically memorized the movie, I have access to the website, and I have a vivid imagination.  When I turn in this outline and manuscript, it'll be the best I can do on my own, and if/when I get to do more edits, I'll make it even better.

Well, please wish me luck and pray for me.  I'm going to do my best.  Keep reading and writing!    

Labor and Motherhood

Sorry I've been absent, but the last several weeks have been a roller coaster for me.  First of all, my beautiful daughter, Evangeline, was born on April 22nd.  It was a few days before I expected to have her, but I was more than ready to have the labor be over with by that point anyway.  I accidentally/purposely induced my labor...I guess I'll start at the beginning and tell you what I mean.

April 21st was a beautiful day, and for once I finally had energy.  I decided that I wanted to go to the zoo and walk around for a little bit.  Ironically, several people warned me that if I walked around too much it could cause me to induce labor.  In a way, I wanted that to happen because I was tired of the swollen ankles, lack of energy, back pain, etc., and I was so close to the due date of the baby (April 25th).  I basically wanted the comfort of having it over with.  Still, I never dreamed that it would actually work.  So, I decided to risk it.  The walk was great and when I got home I had a nice long nap.  However, I was awoken from my nap with some mild abdominal pain which I thought was Braxton Hicks contractions.  I was wrong.

To anyone who is going to have a baby and has heard that contractions tend to start out many minutes apart and get more intense and closer together as they progress, that is only SOMETIMES the case.  My contractions came about four minutes apart and just got more intense, but the timing didn't change.  When they got more painful I called one of my friends in the medical profession to find out if what I was feeling was real.  Long story short, it was.  I ended up at the hospital at 11:30 at night.

It was rough.  When I got to the hospital there was a lot of waiting and filling out paperwork, then when the nurse took a look at me it turned out that I was only dilated by one centimeter.  The doctor on call had me walk around the birthing center floor at the hospital for one hour.  By the time that hour was up my contractions were becoming painful enough that I was gasping for breath (trying to remember how to stay calm and breathe) and occasionally screaming.  However, they checked again and I still was only a centimeter, so they had me walk around for another two hours using a wheelchair to lean up against whenever I had a contraction.  It was getting to the point that walking felt like a form of torture.  When they checked--you guessed it--I was still only a centimeter, so they had me walk around for another forty minutes.  By about five in the morning they decided to give me some morphine and let me rest to see if that would help me dilate.

Something if you are a new mother that you should know is that when it comes time for the delivery, all of your well made plans will more than likely fall out the window.  I didn't intend to use pain medication until it became time for an epidural, but I was more than ready for the morphine.  And, it seemed that was what I needed in the first place.  After a nice, hour long, mostly pain-free nap, I dilated nearly four centimeters.  After another short nap, it turned out that I dilated another four and was moved to the delivery room to push.

When it was time to start going into labor, I remember that one of my friends said, "If you get the epidural there's still pressure but not pain."  In my case, pressure was pain--bad lower back and upper abdominal pain.  I took my epidural when the nurse recommended it, but the contractions slowed down to ten minutes apart, so they gave me Pitocin to speed up the process.  I think the Pitocin was what did me in.  It made the contractions hurt more in the two places that the epidural didn't affect, and given that I only could try to give birth in one position afterwards that involved crunching down on my upper abdomen while my legs were being pulled by my mom and my husband nearly behind my head, and I could feel the contractions badly in my lower back, it was agony.  I tried to push, but lack of sleep, pain, and physical exhaustion were collapsing in on me like a demolished building and I just couldn't seem to do it.  I would fall asleep in the two minute intervals between contractions and was practically begging to just skip pushing during one of them.  When you're that tired and in that much pain, holding your breath for ten seconds while hunching over and pushing feels like trying to puzzle out a question way beyond your capacity to solve.

I tried to push for over an hour before the doctor on call came into the room.  Ironically, it was the same doctor who helped me through my miscarriage.  He was wearing a camouflage medical cap and made a funny comment about "hunting for babies."  He told them to "break down the room" and it was like the whole place transformed.  There was suddenly blue medical cloth around me, the bed started changing shape, and medical utensils were literally coming out of the walls as the entourage of nurses around him worked.  (The room was a freaking transformer...I would've thought that it was the medication but I have witnesses.)  Then, doctor simply told me that I was going to have the baby in ten minutes.

The nurse told me that I was not pushing properly.  I was starting to feel hopeless, like I couldn't do it, but his upbeat attitude gave me a renewed motivation and made me feel like maybe, just maybe, I could.  I tried pushing unaided for another hour and then he gave me some more pain medication, and I found myself chanting "I can do this...I can do it."  Still, the going was slow and I was still so weak that I wasn't making much progress, so I finally gave him permission to help me.  Even though I didn't want to use suction to get the baby out initially, again, our good intentions are sometimes not practical when it's time to have the baby.

She was six pounds and the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.  When I saw her, the entire pregnancy, the labor pain, and the exhaustion was worth every second.  I know that sounds corny, but it's true.  It really is true that when you see your child for the first time you forget about the pain and the any frustration you felt during the pregnancy.  That's why when people talk about the labor they say it wasn't that bad.  It's not that it wasn't bad, it was that the result was so good you can't focus on the bad anymore.  Having that baby was the most fulfilling thing I've ever done in my life.  It's put a lot of things into perspective for me as well.    

And, now, I have a baby.  Breastfeeding isn't working out well, but she's healthy and strong even with mostly formula feeding.  The cats are adjusting nicely as well.  Some of them even seem very protective over the baby.  Ironically, the meanest one of the bunch is actually the one that seems to care about her the most.

Recovery from labor is coming slowly.  I'm a little frustrated because I did get an infection recently that caused me a fever for three days and it seems that not one day has gone by where I feel like there isn't some new pain or discomfort from recovering.  Still, all things considered I'm adjusting very well.  I can't believe that I went from being afraid of holding the baby to changing diapers, feeding her, bathing her, rocking her to sleep, and even starting to interpret what her crying means in only two weeks time.  I'm functioning fairly well on very little sleep, but I've had a lot of help from friends, family, and especially my mom and my husband, with the chores and with the cooking.  I've been focusing on learning how to care for Eva and learning her schedule so that hopefully I can adapt to it and learn how to work within it.  (I'm writing this blog while she's sleeping after her afternoon feeding...it's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it.)  I'm also starting to have friends over again and have even made a little extra time to write.

Still, this baby is the most important thing to me now.  I'll do my best to protect her, teach her, and above all make sure that she knows how much her mommy and daddy love her.  As for the writing, I'm going to work it in.  I feel like this new perspective is something that can help improve my work in the long run.  This phase in my life is a wonderful new adventure, and my daughter is a miracle.

My husband said to me after we got home, "It's funny, I never knew I could love someone this much.  It takes me time to get to close to people, but I loved her the moment I saw her."  I know exactly how he feels.

Very Soon

This is just a general update since I've been kind of quiet lately.  Things over here are pretty good right now. I don't have gestational diabetes...HOORAY!  The baby is getting very big, but I'm not getting too big which is nice.  I've only gained eighteen pounds so far, which is right in between the weight gain goal that the doctors set for me.  Joel has really been working hard and has the nursery looking great.  The painting is done, now the only thing left to do is cleaning the carpet very thoroughly and moving the furniture into the room.  I'm getting excited about actually decorating it with the things we got from the first baby shower.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but the first baby shower with my guy and girl friends went very well and couldn't have been any better.  I really enjoyed it and we have a great start on supplies for the baby.  The group was a little smaller than expected, but I think that worked out just fine.  We had plenty of food and I think it was a lot of fun for everyone there.  It was more like a cookout/party than a traditional baby shower, and I liked that better since there were men there as well as women.

The second baby shower is coming up.  This one is for "girls only" and is more traditional.  It sounds like I'm going to get to see a lot of people that I haven't seen in a very long time, and I'm very excited about that.  There are a lot of good things coming up in the next two months including, my mother-in-law's birthday, the baby shower, my birthday (I'll be thirty-one), my anniversary, and, of course, the baby's first birthday ever.  I can't wait to meet her and to see what she's going to look like and what features she's going to get from both of us.

The writing is going a little bit better.  I've decided to switch projects back to my horror novel concept that I wrote about previously.  (I'm pretty sure that there's an excerpt from it on this site, if anyone is interested.)  I've come up with some new ideas and I think if I keep writing up ideas and adding to it little by little each day, I should be able to finish it and hopefully overcome my writer's block.  It would be very nice to have another book to submit to agents before the baby is born.

I looked through a lot of my old work and found that I have a great deal of novels that I'd like to finish.  The horror novel I'm referring to is one of them (I'm calling it "Immersion" as a placeholder, but that isn't what the title is going to be...).  The other is my steampunk romance, "The Guildsmen."

Even though I didn't originally write that to be a romance, I've determined from reading through it again that it seems to have a romance oriented plot, despite the corporate espionage, action/adventure, and danger within it.  After all, she's doing what she has to in order to save the person she loves.  Still, I'm not sure if there are enough erotic scenes to market it as such, so we'll have to wait and see.  The point it, I want to finish it and I plan to do so in the near future as well.  I was all the way up to nearly forty-thousand words when I stopped and a hundred and twenty pages.  I was halfway there and I feel like the writing style and concept were well worth revisiting.

So, that's been about it lately.  There's a lot coming up and I'll try to keep you posted and write on this blog more often.  Keep reading and writing!

Good News, Everyone!

This has been a good week.  The dog issue is resolved, my chores are nearly done, I'm looking forward to two D&D style games this weekend.  Also, from what I can tell, the baby is developing well.  I can feel her kicking and moving a lot more, and I'm pretty healthy.  I found out from a recent blood test that I'm not anemic and that my blood levels were fairly normal.  (Though, wish me luck since I'll be having a blood sugar test in February that will give me more details about that...)

It turns out that I didn't have to use animal control to resolve the issue with the dogs.  (Thank goodness, because they were useless anyway.)  I walked around my neighborhood, keeping my eyes open and found out that the dogs in question weren't wild.  They're owned by someone in the neighborhood.  I knocked on the door and had a friendly conversation with them.

Apparently the cat they killed was one of the stray cats that the family was feeding.  They didn't want the cat to be killed and were surprised that their dogs were the culprits, saying that generally speaking they get along with other animals.  They suspect that the dogs might've gotten carried away chasing the cat out of the yard.  They've never attacked a person and were rescue dogs from Pets Incorporated.  One of them was abused, but they're adjusting to living in a normal home nicely.  Even though I was concerned that they were approaching me, their intent was more than likely friendly.  The blood on the muzzles, however, gave them a more sinister appearance that day...

Anyway, the family is thinking of having the male pit bull fixed to make him less aggressive and they're going to try harder to keep them in the fence.  When other dogs in the neighborhood come and run along the fence, it riles their dogs up and they charge the fence, slipping under it.  We've often been irritated that the other neighborhood dogs can't seem to stay in their own yards, so this is just another problem caused by that issue.

Long story short, the dogs aren't wild, they don't have to be put down, and hopefully this won't happen again.  I do feel a little bad about initially calling animal control on the neighbor's dogs, but they weren't wearing collars and were attacking another animal, so it was only logical for me to think they were wild.  If I do see the dogs in my yard or in the neighborhood I've been told to please let the owners know, and I will.  All's well that ends well.

As for writing, I haven't had much time.  I've been running errands and going to doctor's appointments lately. I only have a few more months and I'll be having a baby, so my mind hasn't really been on it.  I've written some more notes for the changeling story, but I'm a little stuck on the idea for the third book of the "Blood Rain" trilogy.  I'm also struggling through the plot summary for the changeling story because I've hit a small road block trying to figure out where to go next.  Still, I'll be writing again soon.  My hopes are to start up again next week.

I've picked out a theme for the baby's room.  Joel and I will be shopping around this weekend to register for a baby shower.  It's going to have the theme "jungle animals," and we're going to paint the room a cheerful color of light yellow.  We also think that the baby's first name will be "Evangeline" and the middle name will be "Melissa."  Even though there are a lot of syllables in our last name, we think that if we call her "Eva" for short it should balance out nicely.

Other than that, there's really nothing new to report.  I'll let you know if I can get some of my writing work started.  In the meantime, while I'm a little bit writer's blocked, I'm working on an idea for an RPG.  I'm thinking of running a PDQ system game based off of the film and television series "How to Train Your Dragon."  I think it could be different and a lot of fun.  Still, we'll wait and see.  After all, I have a lot of games coming up.  I at least am going to flesh out the world and I can keep it ready for if and when I do decide to run it.

Well, that's all for now.  Keep reading and writing.  I'm serious, pick up "Cold Days" or start reading the "Dresden Files" series if you haven't already.

Wild Dogs

I guess it's been awhile since I've written anything on this blog, so I won't skip over one of the more interesting stories that has happened to be lately, even though it's a sad story and it makes me a little sad to write it.  Once again, I found myself at the wrong place at the wrong time (or maybe, in this case, the right place at the right time...we'll have to see).

A few days ago when I was heading home from errands, I witnessed something horrific that I've been trying to get out of my mind.  While I was about to drive by, three wild dogs were killing one of the neighbors cats in their yard. The neighbors weren't home, so I knew I had to try to do something.  I stopped the car and tried to help, but I think the cat was already dead when I got there.

I got out of the car and screamed at the dogs, waved my arms, ran towards them, and did everything I could think of to get them to run--they didn't run away, in fact, they just sort of looked at me.  One was a pit bull and one of the others was a pit bull mix.  The two bulls started to approach me.  They didn't get close enough to touch, but it was clear by their body language that they weren't going to let me separate them from their kill.  When I realized I was in danger (and, thus, my baby was in danger as well), I got back in the car and drove up the road to my house.

There was a man and his little boy walking in the direction.  Thankfully, I was able to get them to turn around so that the boy wouldn't see the bloody mess and so that the dogs wouldn't try to hurt them for interfering like they nearly did to me.

I immediately called animal control, but as usual, they've been totally worthless.  They said they would send a patrol later in the day or the next day and asked me if I could do something to catch one of them.  Apparently, they don't "catch dogs" anymore, so they'll just leave it to the horrified, scared, pregnant lady that saw the attack.  (Incidentally, they didn't send the patrol, so I have to call them again on Monday.)  I drove back down to see if they had finally left the cat alone, but all of them gone when I got back and there was no sign of the cat.  I'm fairly certain that they dragged it away to eat it.

Let me set the record straight, I like dogs very much.  I also really like cats.  And, I really don't like the thought of any animal getting put down, but there is such a thing as being socially responsible.  I've seen them around for months now.  I was hoping that I could just leave them alone.  Still, I've recently heard that this isn't the only cat they've nearly killed and they aren't friendly towards any other animals.  One of my neighbors' dogs has also gone missing recently, and I suspect the incident might be related.  Because of the large amount of pets that have been mauled or killed by these dogs, as far as I'm concerned they're officially wild, feral animals and they no longer have my sympathy.  I can't ignore this problem any longer.

The point is, they were desperate enough to be hunting their own food and they aren't afraid of people.  It makes me wonder how long it'll be before they attack a person or a child.  Thankfully, all of my animals are indoor animals, but I don't feel safe walking around my neighborhood anymore.  This isn't the first time that those dogs have scared me into walking back to my house.  There are lots of children and pets in this neighborhood and I don't want anymore of them to get hurt.

So far they're in a pack of three, but something needs to be done before their pack gets bigger and they get even bolder.  I've decided to call animal control again.  If they won't help, I'll try the police, if they won't help, I'll try the news.  I might ask animal control to give me three large cages in the hopes of trapping the dogs, but I'm making this my business to fix this problem before I have my baby.  I don't want some kid to be traumatized by losing a much loved pet, or for anyone to get hurt.  I don't want to go to the news, but I really need animal control to do their job, because this isn't a problem I can fix by myself.  I'll keep you posted.  Hopefully, I won't have to do this again and in the long run I'll be saving more animals by putting down these three.

Happy New Year

I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Things have been very busy for me.  I spend a good amount of time with my family and some quality time with my husband.  In terms of actual work, I've mostly just been writing notes for my changeling urban fantasy novel, but I haven't been working very hard on writing at all.  I'm taking a little break until I feel up for more writing again.  Even though the holidays are over, I've got a lot on my mind.

Usually around this time I write about New Year resolutions.  Still, oddly this time I don't really have any.  I've noticed that I usually end up breaking my resolutions, so I didn't really see the point.  Still, there are a few things I'm in the process of doing and things that I plan to do this year.  I'm calling them "goals" rather than resolutions, and most of them HAVE to be done.  Therefore, they will get done and that's that.  

Currently, we're cleaning out the office to make it into the baby's room.  The baby is due on April 25th, so I will have to have the room ready by then.  I will be having the baby this year (no resolution about that...).  I'll try to lose the baby weight after I have the baby, but I don't know how much strenuous exercise I'll be able to do.  I think that depends on how complicated the birth is and how long it takes me to recover from it.  Still, thus far I haven't gained too much, so that's at least something, and as far as I know, the baby is healthy.  We've pretty much decided on the name "Evangeline" ("Eva" for short), and "Melissa" is definitely going to be the middle name.  We might change our mind on the first name closer to time, but we're pretty sure Evangeline is the name we'll finally choose.  

The theme of the room will be "jungle animals" mostly, but if I have the time I might still make a Chronicles of Narnia mural on the wall.  I'm thinking that's an ambitious goal, though, especially since the room isn't even cleaned out yet.  I'd like to have the walls repainted in a light yellow color.  That's something I think we'll definitely do.  We know that the baby is a girl now, but pastel pink is a bit much.  We just want a cheerful color that will make the room seem a little brighter, so yellow sounded good to both of us.

I'm basically taking everything at a day by day basis this year.  I would like to finish my profile for odesk.com to see if I can make a little extra money sometime before the baby is born.  I would also like to get started on that changeling story and possibly get the notes nearly finished for the third book of the "Blood Rain" trilogy.  Still, I also need to register for a baby shower, find a way to catch some dangerous wild dogs in the neighborhood (they've been killing off other pets and aren't afraid of people...kind of a long story), get the house ready for the baby, and possibly read some baby books.  If the writing has to wait, it can wait.  Family always comes first and I'm getting ready to add a new member to this family.  I need to be as ready as I can be and be sure that my neighborhood is as safe as possible.

Speaking of writing, I got "Cold Days" the latest novel of the Dresden Files for Christmas and am currently reading it.  If you like the Dresden Files, you'll like this book.  I'm only a hundred pages into it, but I already know it will be good.  

I also went to see "Les Miserables."  It was very good.  Some people are disappointed because they don't like movie adaptations of musicals.  I thought the acting was good, the singing was great, and it managed to move me emotionally.  I would suggest that if you like Les Miserables or musicals in general you go and see the movie while it's in theaters.  I intend to buy it when it comes out.    

Other than that, that's about everything that's new.  I'm hoping to play in a Pathfinder game, a D&D game, and a Dresden Files game soon.  (I might have less time coming up, so I'm trying to game as much as I can right now, but I'm hoping to stay in a few of them.  They're on weekends, so Joel will be here to help me with the baby.)  I've been putting a lot of thought into my characters, and that's a good exercise in coming up with story ideas and keeping a keen edge on my imagination.    

So Much in so Little Time...

This has been the busiest two weeks in quite a long time.  I had my ultrasound and found out the gender of my baby, went to see the Hobbit, threw a Christmas Party, and celebrated my stepdad's birthday as well.

First of all, the ultrasound went very well.  So far the baby is developing perfectly and seems very healthy.  It's a girl!  I didn't have a preference in gender, but for some reason I was surprised.  I thought it would be a boy.  Still, it's nice to know and now I can start narrowing down the names.  I think that we're probably going to make the middle name "Melissa" but nothing is written in stone yet.  I have a feeling it's going to be hard to pick the first name.

I went to the RPX showing of the Hobbit on opening night, and as difficult as this is for me to admit, it was worth the extra money.  The seats of the theater were very comfortable and leather like those of an expensive sports car.  Even though I'm not a huge fan of 3-D usually, the 3-D was so smooth that it felt natural.  The action scenes were easier to see for the effect, instead of blurry like I was expecting.  Also, the increased frame rate made everything seem smoother.

Normally, I would write a long review for any new movie that I went to see, but I really can't find anything wrong with this movie.  It stuck close enough to the plot while adding scenes from notes within Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion, etc., that I feel it did Tolkien's work justice.  There is a little more comedy within this movie than in Lord of the Rings, but there's also some dark themes and even some fairly scary scenes that set off the comic relief nicely.  (Also, keep in mind while watching this film that the Hobbit was written as a children's book.)  The acting was great, the effects were beautiful, and if you haven't gone to see it yet, then you should go.  

I'm also pleased to say that the annual pot luck Christmas Party went very well.  The food was great, there was plenty of it, and we had a pretty good turnout of about twenty people in all.  I got to see some of my old friends that I don't get to see often enough, and spend some time with a few of my new friends from the writing group.  I think it was the best one yet.  We played Rock Band, watched and heckled old Christmas films, and talked until 4:00am.  (I also learned a valuable lesson; I can't stay up that late anymore if I don't want to be a zombie until about 9:00pm of the next day.  At least, the rest of my family was exhausted for various reasons as well, so Joe's party was mostly relaxing and quiet and I didn't feel too bad for my sleepiness.)

I'm looking forward to another busy weekend coming up.  I have a steak night this week, a romantic Christmas date with my husband on the weekend, a family Christmas Party on Sunday, Christmas Eve with my parents, and then Christmas Day with Joel's parents.  I'm looking very forward to spending more time with my whole family.

I haven't been writing or reading as much as I usually do.  I think sometimes it's important to slow down and enjoy the holidays.  After all (though I know I've said this before, I will say it again), living life, making memories, and having new experiences is how you become a well rounded person, which will benefit your writing in the long run anyway.  Plus, I haven't made it any secret that other than Jesus (and to me Christmas is a religious holiday), my family and friends are most important.

Still, I'm hoping this week to make a few notes on "Blood God," book three of the Blood Rain series, and the urban fantasy changeling story that I mentioned a while ago.  I'm actually getting pretty excited about the changeling project because I have some new ideas that I think will make it a better book.  I've fleshed out the main character, come up with some interesting ideas about Arcadia, and have an idea for a unique twist for the ending.  Still, I have a long way to go before I can start actually writing it.  Wish me luck, and the ability to somehow manage my time well enough to write at all.  (After all, I'm having a baby in April.  There's quite a bit on my mind...)   

In the meantime, I'll try to do better about keeping up this blog.  Keep reading and writing!

Surprise! I'm pregnant.

Well, I promised to blog about the "surprise" so here it goes.  I'm pregnant and am almost done with my first trimester. 

After the unfortunate incident with my first pregnancy, I was trying to wait to tell anyone the news.  That was incredibly difficult.  Still, I can spread the news now, so I will.  We're not out of the woods yet, but I still think the chances are better that this one will work out, especially now that the first trimester is nearly over.  Even if it doesn't, I'm not going to give up, but I'm hoping and praying that everything will go smoothly this time.  We don't know the gender of the baby yet, but from what we saw on the ultrasound he or she certainly is active. 

Currently, we have a few names that we like for girls and boys, but we may end up changing our mind when the time comes.  Disclaimer: none of these names are after something/someone in particular.  They're just names that we've always liked.  Many of them were on the list years and years ago.  Any family names will probably be middle names and we have a few ideas for those, but that will be a surprise if we decide to do it.  Our current favorite first names for boys are, "Christian", "Nicholas," "Roman," "Skylar," "Caleb," and "Abel."  The current favorite girl names are, "Evangeline," "Lydia," "Ariel," "Gabrielle," and "Alyssa." 

Truthfully, we've had more trouble thinking of names for girls than boys for some reason.  Evangeline and Lydia are my two top choices for a girl for now.  As for the boys, I like all of those names, but we have some time to think about it since we won't know the gender until another ten weeks.

Anyway, that's the big news.  Please be praying for me.  I'm allowing myself to be excited now.  Seeing that baby move was amazing and he/she is beautiful.  I'm very, very happy, and truthfully a little bit nervous.  Still, I think I'm ready for this now.

Half a Year of Hard Knocks...It Got Better.

Sorry it's been so long since I've written, but a lot has happened in a short amount of time. My life became complicated and depressing and I wasn't blogging. In fact, I wasn't even thinking about it. I also wasn't writing and got into a boring routine. I guess I'll start with the bad things that happened so that I can end on the good.

I mentioned that  my Grandmom died a few posts ago, but I didn't mention that a few months after my she died, I got pregnant. I was very excited, but it wasn't meant to be because I miscarried about a month later. I basically had just enough time to start feeling an attachment only to have it just sort of go away. From what the doctors said, it probably wouldn't have been a healthy baby since the pregnancy didn't take. I think that everything happens for a reason, so I have to know that it was probably for the best, but I still was depressed for several months. Incidentally, I haven't given up on having a baby one day, but I need to get on medication to do so. (On a side note, during this time my salamander that had lived fourteen years also died, so it just sort of felt like icing on the cake.)

At the beginning of this year, my Mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Still, I'm very proud of how well she handled it. She was very brave and did what she needed to do to get better. Thankfully, my prayers were also answered. She had a lumpectomy and they were able to treat the cancer with radiation and without chemo. There were no complications and she didn't react baldy to the radiation. So, she was very lucky and she's better now. This cause has become important to me now that it touched me in a personal way, and I'm going to try to keep all those suffering from breast cancer in my prayers.

So, long story short, as you can see, things have been special the last part of last year and the first part of this year. But, things have gotten much better as they always do. Always remember to hang on during difficult times because there's always hope and always a reason to persevere. Now to count the blessings.

First of all, my husband and I are on an aggressive program to get out of debt, and it's working. We've started listening to the Dave Ramsey "Financial Peace University" program and it actually works. I'm not being paid to say this, I'm being serious when I tell you that we've managed to get an emergency fund saved up which has saved us from car trouble, a hole being blown in the house during a storm, and other disasters that happened (that weren't listed above) during this time. Also, if we continue to stick to our budget, we'll have all of our debt paid off by next year. For those drowning in debt, I highly recommend this program. Just paying off bills really makes a person have a better outlook on life.

Also, I've become inspired to write again. I've got a fantasy novel nearly completed that I'm going to post a sample from very soon. This is the first book in a trilogy and I have a very good feeling about it. I also recently went to a publishing class at the SC Book Festival and I'm buckling down and becoming serious about getting my novels published. I've created a logo for myself and am working on a website this weekend. I'll post a link once it's finished.

I'm also going to Dragoncon in August. It'll be a lot of fun and a great opportunity to meet other writers who have been successful in the genres that I prefer. The goal is to have business cards ready by then to hand out. I also hope to attend the writer's workshop. It'll be a great time to network and to get to talk to many writers that I respect. I'm going to take lots of pictures. I might post one or two of those as well.

And, finally, this might be a small thing, but I'm starting to take better care of myself. I'm eating better and have gotten back on my exercise routine and have already lost seven pounds. I had a birthday recently and turned thirty years old, and I've determined I like the age thirty. I'm looking at this birthday as a new start in life, and I'm excited about the future. My goals for the coming year are to get an agent, to move into a bigger house (with our debt paid off, we can actually do that), have a baby, and keep reading and getting in shape. There's a lot to look forward to, and this time I'm keeping up the blog to keep you posted. Sorry for so many months of silence and solitude, but I needed it.

 To new beginnings. Cheers.