Forced to take a break...

Hi Guys,

So, I feel super bad cause I'm signed up for a blog-hop today and Alex's cover reveal in a couple days but, for a variety of reasons that are much too long and complicated to explain, I have to take a break from blogging for the next couple weeks.

I'll still come and visit everyone whenever I'm able. And I want to reiterate, I'm really sorry about missing some things I signed up for!!

I will definitely be back in about two weeks or so--by then a lot of the stuff that is currently happening will have calmed down.

Thanks so much for understanding!! Hope everyone has a great week. :)

Thursdays Children...Love

It's time for Thursday's Children, a weekly bloghop where writers can share their sources of inspiration. It's hosted by Rhiann Wynn-Nolet at A Nest of Words   and Kristina Perez

So, my topic for today is love. What is more inspiring than love, in all its many forms? And, since today is Valentines Day, it seems even more fitting. So, here is a poem I wanted to share with you guys. I can't take credit for this one. It was written by my son, Chance.

A QUESTION OF LOVE...

What is love?

Is it something we buy?

Is it a potion? An antidote?

Is it a drug? A hallucinogenic?

A lie we tell ourselves?

Maybe a lie other’s tell us.

Sometimes it’s only a dream.

A hope of a different life. A better world.  

We search, never knowing where we’ll find it.

Maybe hiding behind that girl’s eyes

or waiting in that boy’s arms.

Its comfort can rest in your mothers and fathers.

Sisters and brothers. Sons and daughters.

 But sometimes it dances--a sprite just out of reach--tempting you to leap forward.

Will you fly? Or fall?

 Is that a chance you’re willing take?

Love can be deadly or brilliant.

Love can drive you to the edge of insanity

Or be the one thing yanks you back.

You can chase it--try to hold it.

 I dare you and I warn you,

Because it’s a wild fire that can burn your world away,

Or warm it in the years to come.

 Never has there been and never will there be such a dangerous light as love.

So what is love?

Love is chaotic perfection.

Thursdays children is a weekly bloghop, so feel free to jump in anytime! I'll be damned if I can make the linky list work even with the code Rhiann so kindly provided. I feel like an idiot, but I'm always trying to put up posts when it's super late at night and my brain is too fried to mess with anything. haha. So, if you're interested in joining, click HERE

Also, quick writer question! The third to last line of the poem is: "Never has there been and never will there by such a dangerous light as love"  Can someone tell me if that line needs a comma somewhere? For a writer, my punctuation skills can be sadly lacking. 

And, I wanted to end this post by asking you guys for some of your favorite love stories.  They can be in the form of a book, movie, song...whatever. What love inspires you?

Flash Fiction...

So, Shannon Lawrence at The Warrior Muse posted some really great links with her IWSG post last week. One was to Flash Fiction Chronicles, which I hadn't heard of before. I got in on the last day of a contest they'd been running for a couple weeks. Thanks for posting the links, Sharon!! It's always fun hearing about contests/bloghops/giveaways I'm not aware of.

Since this is a writing blog and I rarely share any stories I've written, I figured I'd post what I wrote  for the challenge.  I was hoping some more experienced flash writers would tell me what they thought of this. Honest opinions! Please don't worry about hurting my feelings, I really would like the truth!! I was worried that it was a little cliche maybe? Or too heavy on sensationalism? What do you guys think?

Okay--so this was called the String-of-10 Five Prompt: We had to use at least four words out of the ten in our stories and, if we could, also integrate the prompt. The word-count could be no higher than 250.

PROMPT WORDS:

EVENING-QUARRY-ACCENT-ROSE-TEAR-MINUTE-GRAVE-CLOSE-ENTRANCE-BOW 

 I want to put a ding in the universe. –Steve Jobs 

Beautiful Stranger

The first time I saw him I was at the florist, buying daisies to leave on my mama's grave. He was buying roses. Our eyes met and his held something strange--like a warning. It left me shivering for a full minute after he left. 

I noticed him again at the hardware store, where I bought rope and he bought duck-tape. Then at the liquor store where I paid eighteen dollars for some Bud and he paid eighty dollars for some scotch. 

He seemed smooth. Polished. Sophisticated. The kind of guy who’d have women chasing him. I didn’t envy him. I didn’t want women chasing me. My mama had only been dead for five years. I was mourning. 

Still, he fascinated me. I seemed to see him everywhere. Whenever he caught me watching, he’d respond with a mocking smile that filled me with both longing and revulsion. I became so caught up in him that I barely noticed the murders tearing apart my town.

At least until they arrested me.

He was there my whole trial. At night, he’d come in my cell and whisper the details of his killings. When they found me guilty, he bragged about how he’d made me honor mama’s wishes. He’d forced me to leave my mark.

Slowly, the days passed. Slowly, I learned to close my eyes and become one with him. 

He’s no longer everything I’m not. Together, we’re charming. Cultured. Smart. Together, we planned our escape. We’re gonna make our mama proud.  

P.S.  Both pics were found through Google Images. Since the second is someone's artwork, I'm including the link to the page  HERE if anyone wants to check it out. 

EXPRESS YOURSELF--FAVORITE COUPLES...

Hey guys,

I've been meaning to participate in Express Yourself for awhile now, but I kept getting sidetracked. Anyway, I finally managed to get my act together and remember this week! haha. If you guys are interested Express Yourself is a weekly meme hosted by Jackie Felger at Bouquet of Books and Dani at Entertaining Interests. 

As you can see by the picture, each week they ask a different fun and interesting question.

This weeks question is: Who is your favorite couple? They can be fictional, historical or even present day.

Being a bit of a romance junkie, I think this is an awesome question. Since I read mostly YA, the first couples to come to mind were both from my favorite YA books: The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices, by Cassandra Clare.

Let me start by saying I absolutely adore Jace and Clary from The Mortal Instruments. They are just so damn in love, but nothing is ever easy for them. Every time they start to catch a break, fate chucks another monkey-wrench right at their heads. It's always a blast to read about their struggle to remain true to each other while fighting the forces of evil. :) Plus, Jace is your classic bad boy saved by the love of a good woman, and I can never seem to resist that.
“There is no pretending,” Jace said with absolute clarity. “I love you, and I will love you until I die and if there’s a life after that, I’ll love you then.”

Tied with them for my favorite couple are Will and Tessa from Infernal Devices. Or do I mean Jem and Tessa? Crap! I can never choose!!

Although I normally don't really enjoy love triangles, this particular one is so well done I'm totally captivated. The fact that Will and Jem love each other just as much as they love Tessa gives this "love triangle" an added dimension that I haven't seen done before--or at least not done anywhere near this well.

Plus, normally, in these situations, it's disgustingly clear who the girl will choose. This isn't like a Twilight thing where everyone always knew that Bella would choose creepy-ass sparkly-icicle Edward over  fun-loving, hot-as-hell Jacob.  hehe...sorry...I digress...

I can't believe I found a Game of Thrones/Infernal Devices
reference. I couldn't resist!!!

In this particular triangle, it's impossible to see what choice Tessa will make. I honestly believe she's in love with both these boys. (And I'm highly impressed that Cassandra Clare somehow made a situation I wouldn't normally believe possible seem perfectly feasible.) Plus, no matter who Tessa chooses, nobody is walking away in one piece. The whole tragedy of it all makes for irresistible reading.

Honestly, now that I've been forced to really think about this...I've decided my second choice for favorite "couple" is Jem and Will. I'm fully aware that these two are not romantically in love. But the friendship and brotherhood between them is just as compelling as any love story I've ever read. In fact, it's Jem and Will's friendship, even more than their love for Tessa, that keeps me fully invested in these books.

“But—but...” Will sputtered.
“Oh, leave it,” said Jem, kicking Will, not without affection, lightly on the ankle.
“She annexed my plan!”
“Will,” Tessa said firmly. “Do you care more about the plan being enacted or about getting credit for it?”
Will pointed a finger at her. “That,” he said. “The second one.” 
― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince

So, what about you guys? Who are some other great couples you love?

Celebrate and Spunk on a Stick...

Okay, so I want to post about a couple things today. One is the Celebrate the Small Things Bloghop hosted by VikLit and the other is a book promotion for Diane Wolfe at Spunk on a Stick which I signed up for and then somehow stupidly missed. I'm sorry Diane!!

So, I'll start out with the Celebrate  bloghop. For anyone interested in joining, we post every Friday about whatever we want to celebrate that week.

I have some awesome stuff to celebrate!! The first and absolutely biggest, most important thing is that my youngest daughter, Kassidy Rose, won first place in a young adult playwright competition. The contest was open to all eighth graders in our county, including homeschoolers like Kass. She will receive $500.00 and on top of that, get to cast, direct and put on the play at our local community theater. This is the second year in a row Kassidy has won first place and I'm so proud of her!! And yes, I felt the need to post two pictures of my beautiful girl, cause I couldn't decide which one to use to show her off. :)

My other things are much smaller--but they still made me happy. One is a beautiful dragon shield my daughter, Meggie, got me for my birthday. I wish I could've captured the sheen of light on the silver parts, but my iPhone wouldn't pick that up. Still, I managed to get a pretty good shot of it. :)

The other is this adorable dragon incense burner my husband bought me. I named him Rhaegal after one of the dragon babies on Game of Thrones. Please note the smoke coming out of Rhaegal's nose. I think this is one of my favorite b'day presents ever!

And, sticking with the theme of dragon's, Al Diaz at Father Dragon Writes awarded me the Cutie Pie award. Yay! I was very honored, cause Al has one of my all time favorite blogs. For anyone who hasn't checked it out, I highly suggest you stop by Father Dragon's blog to hear the wisdom and humor he dispenses on a daily basis. 

 And, to make it even better, I get to pass the award on to five other people! So, I nominate: Jaybird at The Birds Nest, Sus at Book Reviews by Sus, Chris Allen-Riley, David Powers King and Ella at Ella's Edge. These are all excellent blogs and I really hope you guys take a minute to check them out if you aren't already following. :)

And, even though I'm late posting for Diane, here is the information on her awesome book, you guys should definitely check it out!!

HOW TO PUBLISH AND PROMOTE YOUR BOOK NOW!

By L. Diane Wolfe

Publishing and promoting made simple!

Have you always dreamed of publishing a book but didn’t know where to begin? This book walks you through the steps of identifying markets, budgeting, building an online presence, and generating publicity. Get the whole story on:

• Traditional publishing

• Self-publishing

• Print and e-book setup, formatting, and distribution

• Finding your target audience

• Generating reviews and media interest

• Networking and developing an online presence

• Promotional materials and appearances

Uncover your ideal publishing path and numerous marketing options before you begin. Writing is your dream. Give it the best chance for success!

$14.95 Trade paperback ISBN 978-0-9827139-5-2
$4.99 Ebook ISBN 978-0-9827139-9-0
Publishing/Marketing, 210 pages, Dancing Lemur Press LLC

Purchase at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Amazon Kindle UK, and Powell’s.

“She gives an unbiased take on the advantages and disadvantages of traditional publishing and self-publishing and publishing paths that combine the two… It's the perfect book for those who want an overview to begin the decision-making process.” 
- Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning series of how-to books for writers 

“A must-read for writers planning on self-publishing or any writer who wants the ultimate how-to on promoting. Tons of links, advice, and how-to, whether you're going for print or e-publication.” 
- Helen Ginger, author of Angel Sometimes 


May it help you on your journey!

IWSG

So, it's Insecure Writer's Support Group, and I almost missed it!! I'm posting a twinge late, but I'm getting it done. :)

For those of you who don't know IWSG is hosted by the awesome Alex Cavanaugh. It's a place where, on the first Wed. of every month, insecure writers everywhere come together to cheer each other on or just commiserate about our trials. If you haven't signed up, make sure to add your name to the list!!

Also, be sure to visit this month's co-hosts, Stephen Tremp and Julie Flanders!


Since I'm posting a bit late and, since my last post before this was pretty heavy, I decided to go with the path of cheering up anyone who  might be feeling a little down/insecure today. Just remember, at one point, JK Rowling, Stephanie Meyer and Suzanne Collins were all just beginner writers--the same as you and me!

And now they are big enough that the whole world knows what this means....

And this:

This:

Haha...you guys know I had to include extra Harry Potter stuff, right? Hope this made you smile. Have a great day!! 

Overcoming Adversity...

Today is the Adversity Bloghop, hosted by Nick Wilford at Scattergun Scribblings. This bloghop is to raise money for college for Nick's stepson, Andrew, who has cerebral palsy. I think it's an excellent cause and would highly encourage anyone reading this to check out Nick's blog to learn more about it. 

P.S. As a quick addendum, I've been looking around at other people's stuff and realized I did this wrong. My apologies. I guess it was supposed to be a short story--more like a fiction kind of piece. I thought we were supposed to talk about actual adversities we'd overcome. So, I guess I messed up the rules a bit, but I'm still leaving this up cause I wrote it and I tried but, fair warning for anyone reading, that this is not like the other stories on this bloghop. 

I thought a lot about what to write for this. We all have our things in life to overcome and I've definitely had my share of adversity. There are a lot of things that would've been much easier to talk about than what I ended up choosing.

But, in the end, I decided to write the story you're about to read. I wanted to write about this because, at the time that it happened, there were days I didn't think I'd get through it. There were days when all I wanted was to never wake up again. But, after a long, long time, I came out the other side of it and maybe somebody will read this and will know that, no matter how horrible something is, there can still be a life beyond it--just maybe not the life you thought you'd have.

I was only eighteen when I married my husband. Twenty-one when I gave birth to our first daughter, Caitlyn. Twenty-two when our second little girl, Meggie, was born. Twenty-four when I had our first son, little Marc--dubbed Quick at some point during the pregnancy and known to everyone as such.

 Looking back, it's so crazy. We were little more than kids ourselves. We were still young enough to believe we were indestructible and, by extension, so were our babies. And yeah, other people had bad things happen to them--but me and Marc had both already lived tough lives. We'd already overcome so much adversity that it never occurred to me how much worse there could be on the horizon...We were young and  in love and  life seemed kinda like one of those country songs--the one where the washing machine breaks and the bills don't get paid, but you know it's all gonna work out in the end. We had these beautiful kids and we had each other and we had our whole lives stretched out in front of us like an endless summer.

And then, when Quick was three and a half months old, he died on Christmas day. We all laid down for a nap, only our little boy never woke back up. I won't ever forget the sound of my husband's screams when he found him. It took a really long time for me to hear any music in my life again, because all I could hear for a lot of years were those screams.

There are probably people reading this who are wondering why I would write about something as horrific as a baby dying. But I'm writing about it because it happened. We lost our son and, in losing him, lost our hope and our faith and our youth and ourselves. And it took a long time to find those things again.

And during that time, we wanted to give up. We both wanted to  die...but we didn't. Because we still had two little girls to live for. We still had each other. And those things are worth fighting for.

It's been nineteen years now. Long enough to look back and know that, if Quick had never died, our whole lives would have been different. I wouldn't have ever had any more kids, which means Chance and Kassidy would've never been born. The person I was before I lost my son would've never considered something like homeschooling--a choice that radically changed the people all four of my children grew into.

Looking back, the person I was before Quick is almost a stranger to me.  I have to believe that he came along to touch my heart and touch my life and force me--through the heartbreaking loss of him--to become the person I was meant to be.

 Sometimes I look at Chance (that's where we got the name, he was our second Chance) and I wonder if he looks like his brother. I wonder if  Quick would've liked to write? Or would he have been more into sports? Would he have had the same sense of humor as Chance or would he have been more serious? Those are questions I'll never be able to answer. But I was meant to have Chance. I cannot regret having him. Having Kassidy. I cannot regret having the life the loss of Quick lead to.

But I will always regret that I didn't get to watch my first little boy grow up. I will always miss him. I will always love him. And I will always hope that someday, somehow, I get to hold him in my arms again. 

Until then, I will tell him thank you for coming into my life for as long as he did. For making me a better person and a better parent. For giving me his little brother and sister. For all of it.

Thank you, son.