Life Happens

Hello Friends.  I'm not going to apologize for being gone for so long.  I'm simply going to tell you that life happened to me and has given me a gift.  I'm four months pregnant!  I'm due in September and I can honestly say that come September, I'll have everything that I ever wanted in life.  So until recently, I was too tired to type, finding something to eat for dinner was dreadful, and doing the minutest of tasks like empty the dishwasher or throw a load of laundry in the washer became impossible feats. 

Now I have more energy and I'm starting to prepare my house and my life for a baby-crazy!  My house has a serious lack of storage space so I'm cleaning out crap I don't need.  Unfortunately, my plan to push my book as much as possible this year went quickly out the window.  So that's where I've been.

Okay-so let's get real for a moment...I am not one of those crazy ladies that loves being pregnant.  Life has enough issues without constantly feeling sick, hungry, or overly-emotional.  Baby Z (I don't know the gender yet) doesn't like oranges or anything orange like.  I love oranges and the fact that I can't one for another five months is driving me mad.  Therefore, I requested OJ has my celebratory drink after labor. 
Furthermore, I read thebump.com about the size of the baby each week and what to expect.  They recommend taking pictures of my stomach to commenorate this moment.  Not sure how I feel about this.  People can take this to a very creepy level-getting professional pictures done and being all artsy.  Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't intend on posting my belly pictures for all to see. 
Alright, so it sounds like I'm complaining.  One awesome thing about being pregnant-maternity pants.  Hands down, most comfortable thing I'll ever wear.  Remember when you were little and you had pants that didn't have zippers or buttons?  I didn't either and then I tried on maternity pants and God Bless elastic! 
So that is my big news.  I'm really excited.  Also, I'm nervous because a chapter of my life is coming to a close, but a new one is beginning.  Stay tuned, I will try to write more. 

Music that inspires...

I love finding songs that make me think of a scene from a book I've read or something that I want to write.  I find that it helps me drop myself in the scene like an invisible party and I'm feeling the emotions with the characters.  This makes sense of course because there are so many songs associated with movies.  And let's face it, most books are movies now.  Except mine and I'm working to fix that.

Would Rose's heart really have gone on without the amazing soundtrack?  Would Kermit have connected with the world without the Rainbow Connection?  Would Baby and Johnny had the time of their life without that great duet?  The answer no to all of the above.  Can you tell what kind of movies I like? 

No seriously, music is awesome and totally inspires.  Recently, I have fallen in love with The Civil Wars.  For me it sounds like country infused with peaceful beats and poetic words.  Their song Poison and Wine would fit so beautifully with Andy and his love interest Tess. 

Anyway, I'm going to immerse myself more in the music because I've been dealing with punks at work all day and I need to wind down from it. 

Forming a Plan-then sticking to it

So the plan to promote my book for the next few weeks is as follows:
1. Go to small privately owned bookstore and try to sell book
2. Call new coffee shop in area to set up a reading
3. Re-call all the libraries in the area in hopes that they can set up a reading for me
4. Make friends and family that haven't purchased book- purchase book
5. Make friends and family that have purchased book- purchase book for other friends and family as gift

How does that sound for a start? 

My other new year's resolution this year is to exercise more.  I know this is something that gets thrown out the window rather quickly, but I've reconnected with doing yoga.  The cool thing about this is that when I'm doing yoga, my mind clears up, and I have more focus on all things novel related.  I believe this is what some refer to as a win-win situation. 

Anyway, I hope that if you made a resolution you are sticking to it because I'm trying to keep mine.  I'm feeling good about them so far.  Keep going-you can do it!!!

Off with a bang

Well, I sent my book off to Ellen yesterday evening.  I don't think anything will come of it, but you never know.  I also sold a book to a co-worker and I was pleasantly surprised that somebody purchased my book on-line.  Woohoo! 

I got to keep the momentum going so I think I'm going to scour little bookstores in this area as well as where some of my friends live.  I'm very excited about this momentum!

Happy New Year!

I hope the first few days of 2012 are treating you well.  My New Year's resolution for 2012 is a rather simple one...sell my book.  I have way too many copies in my attic and Mike and I are talking about renovating it so they need to leave!  I'm thinking my summer project will be to try and find an agent.  In the meantime, I'm doing something kind of crazy-I'm writing Ellen Degeneres and sending her a copy of my book in hopes that she will let me come to the Riff-Raff room and sell the book at the store.  Finally, one of my co-workers is heavily involved with his local library so I'm going to see if he can hook me up. 

There are a couple new little coffee shops in my area and a small independently owned bookstore that I want to check out.  I have to be honest with myself, I think if I'm not successful this year with pushing my book, I'm going to move on.  I still enjoy writing for fun and I may continue that, but from day one, I felt satisfied that I became published. 

I'm open to any other ideas that you may have or know of any little bookstores that I can tackle.  Thanks and have a Happy and Blessed New Year!

Writing sex scenes

Writing sex scenes- a scandalous and tricky business, don'tcha think?  On one hand, you don't want to sound like a prude, but on the other you don't want to make it seem like it's a porno.  I confess that the first time I wrote a sex scene in Rules of Vegas, it sounded like a prude.  It was so boring.  Then, I said to myself, "if you are going to write a sex scene, write a freakin' sex scene!"  Granted, I'm sure I could do it better.  The wholesome Roman Catholic girl inside me still monitors the writing. 

I'm all for tasteful sex scenes so I guess I'll never write a porn script.  Good thing it's not on my bucket list. 

Anyway, all this chat about sex scenes came about because I wrote a few with Andy's story aka Going All In.  Naturally, he's the playboy of characters.  I am approaching writing one with Mark's story ( I need a title for this one) and I find it challenging writing something tasteful from a guy's point of view.  Andy doesn't need as much as a filter as Mark does.  This may sound like I think guys are pigs and I don't believe this, but I think-No, I KNOW they are wired differently. 

Well, I'm almost to 13K words and counting...I'll keep you posted when I find that perfect filter for Mark. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in the meantime!

Christmas Cheer

I got kind of depressed the other day because I heard someone say that they are just trying to survive the holidays.  I was at a Christmas party no less when this comment was made.
 ::Warning: I'm going to sound like a Christmas movie::
What do people stress over?  Even last year, I spaced out my time to bake and wrap presents.  It seems that everyone gets surprised about Christmas arriving when it's the same day each year.  This is the time of year where people need to chill out since everyone gets a few days off (hopefully) and you get spend time with family and friends. 
I hope you aren't surviving the holidays, and that you find a moment of peace if you are just trying to hang in there.  I suggest Christmas carols and cookies to get you in the holiday spirit.  Maybe watch a Christmas movie too (I suggest the Polar Express).