Erotic Author Nancy Adams: Timeless Escapes: A collection of Summer Stories #...

Erotic Author Nancy Adams: Timeless Escapes: A collection of Summer Stories #...: Today I'm invoking the power of the hot summer sun! I know, I know...it's only the beginning of June but come on...after the lo...

BookSkater: Timeless Escapes: A Collection of Summer Stories

BookSkater: Timeless Escapes: A Collection of Summer Stories: Timeless Escapes: A Collection of Summer Stories Ruth A. Casie, Lita Harris, Emma Kaye, Nicole S. Patrick, Julie Rowe Introduct...

SOS Aloha: Aloha to TIMELESS ESCAPE - A Collection of Summer Stories with Ruth A. Casie, Lita Harris, Emma Kaye, Nicole S. Patrick, and Julie Rowe

SOS Aloha: Aloha to TIMELESS ESCAPE - A Collection of Summer Stories with Ruth A. Casie, Lita Harris, Emma Kaye, Nicole S. Patrick, and Julie Rowe

A Silent Voice

It has been a year since Jani Lane has passed and not a day has gone by that I have not listened to one of his songs. Such a wonderful talent, lost too soon. This video sums it up.



And the Story Goes...

I have hundreds of books on writing, how to write, what not to write, why I should write, and everyone can write. I belong to various writing groups to learn the craft and keep up with the changes in the publishing world. I bounce ideas off of fellow writers for feedback and to keep myself engaged in the process. So for years I have been working on learning everything I can on the topic.

Something happened this weekend that changed everything. I attended a seminar given by Michael Hauge, titled "Story Mastery Seminar with Michael Hauge" I do not mean for this post to read like an infomercial, but in one 8 hour presentation, I learned more than I have in all the years I have been writing, studying, networking, etc. He deftly demystified plot, the inner and outer journey of the hero, and story concept in such a way that I could not believe it had not made sense to me sooner.

If you ever get the chance to attend his seminar, go, it is well worth the money. Sure, I have attended other lectures that covered plot, GMC, and character ARC, but never in the straight forward, streamlined, logical manner as at this particular seminar.

I had purchased Mr. Hauge's Writing Screenplays That Sell prior to the seminar and it is by far the best writing reference book ever. The principles in this book easily apply to novelists. I know I will be recapturing a lot of shelf space in my house as I toss out the many books on craft that I no longer need. Onto my WIP.

And So it Blows - Not

Life As I Blow It: Tales Of Love, Life & Sex . . . Not Necessarily In That Order by Sarah Colonna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Okay, so my reading tastes are all over the place, I blame that on cereal boxes being my introduction to the literary world as a kid.

I will usually pick up a light-hearted book to quiet my mind and this book did just that. I am a huge Chelsea Handler fan and therefore know of Sarah Colonna as a writer of Chelsea Lately. I enjoy her as a participant on the roundtable and like her humor, so I expected this book to display what I see on the show and it does.

It is a typical coming of age and to what she is doing now story. Nothing shocking but it was interesting following her journey from Arkansas to Los Angeles. Sarcasm runs rampant throughout the book so if you do not find sarcasm humorous, this book may not be for you. If you do embrace sarcasm then you will be nodding your head and smiling as you read to the end, wanting to know what she is doing this weekend so you can read about it and laugh while emptying a glass of wine.

View all my reviews

Unbelievable!

I am exhausted so this will be a short post. The handheld game pictured on the left is the reason for my exhaustion. For years I have bought this game as a gift every time someone I know moved into a new home. Apparently, it has been awhile since I have purchased one because I was unaware that this item has been discontinued.

Horrified, I began numerous Internet searches sure that I could find one. Oh yeah, I did. A new, never been used ranges from $145.00 to $225.00. Foolish me put money into the stock market instead of scapping these up and hoarding them until a Yahtzee addict needed a fix. Used models average $55.00. Upon learning this I gently examined the last two units in my house. There was a moment I considered putting at least one up on eBay but quickly banished the thought from my head. Sadness crept over me as I realized my beloved handheld Yahtzee games may be nearing their life expectancy and therefore extinction.

I can only hope that a retro version will be issued sometime within the next 20 years and that my two will last until then. Of course by that time, my vision will be so bad that I may not be able to see the screen but I will hoard them for the next black market opportunity.

Agh! What Happened to my Waist?

Yes, the holidays are finally over and the last cookie sits on a used once a year platter. I am waiting for someone to finish the cookie but no one wants it and I don't have the heart to throw it away. Of course all the good cookies have been gobbled up and the lone remain is an oatmeal raisin goodie and only one person in the house would eat it but for some reason has decided to leave it be.

Each family member has a choice of what type of treat they want and then we try one new cookie just to have something different on the table. The cookie democracy has worked well except next year poses a problem because the newly chosen shortbread was a huge hit and everyone wants it added to the cookie list and no one wants to give up their long-standing favorites.

I know Christmas is a year away but I have been mulling over this dilemma until I stepped on the scale, wept, and then tossed the scale out with the petrified Christmas tree. So what decision did I come to? No cookies next year--well except for the lone oatmeal raisin because I am sure it will still be around.

Resolutions -- Not!

Saturday brings us to New Year's Eve. This holiday excites me the most because there is no shopping for others involved, I am tired of eating and so is the rest of the family so I do not have to cook, and the tree can finally come down and stop dropping its prickly needles on my carpet.

New Year's Eve is a time of reflection while New Year's Day is a time for resolutions. I do not make resolutions because I believe it puts too much pressure on a person when they are trying to embrace change.

So take it easy. Reflect and reward yourself for what you have accomplished this past year and open your arms to welcome the winds of change. I am not a superstitious person but have always believed that the frame of mind I am in when the new year rolls in will follow me throughout the rest of the year. So here is to positive thinking and may 2012 make me smile everyday.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Winding Down

And so it begins. The shopping is finished and the gifts are wrapped. This year I did something  I never do, I shopped during Christmas week. Yes, I actually went into the malls and a few stores without so much as giving thought to what I would encounter. I was pleasantly surprised to find a convenient parking spot wherever I went and the crowds were not too bad. It felt good to get out amongst others and embrace some holiday cheer.

What I also realized is how close the end of 2011 is and how I must hunker down and bang out a manuscript worthy of submission. I know I have been slacking but it is considered research when one is not writing. Isn't it? I am not one for making resolutions...but wait a minute...I am getting ahead of myself. I am that excited to begin work on a new story, the problem is which one. I will use the remainder of 2011 to help me sort that out.

So, this week I will have cleaned the house only to mess it up again on Christmas morn as gift wrapping paper covers the carpet and cookie crumbs find their way into every nook and cranny of the living room set.

I wish you peace, love, and light as you embrace your respective holiday. And may your time be well spent with family and friends.

Music in the Air

Christmas is approaching fast and my family is frantic because I refuse to tell them what I want for a gift. For some reason they do not believe that I do not want anything. The house is barely decorated. A naked tree stands in a crowded corner as lights and ornaments collect dust in the basement. It's not that I am a Scrooge but the fanfare of the holiday has lost its luster as the years go by. There is something about becoming an adult that diminished the magic of Christmas.

So this week I made a determined attempt to banish the scrooginess and give it my best to create a little magick. I vacuumed up the fallen pine needles and mentally switched gears. I lugged up the lights and tree top, all tested well except for one strand of lights so this year the tree will have to do with a little less brilliance.

As I wound the ancient strands of lights around the tree I began to hum, Celine Dion's, "The Magic of Christmas Day," thank you Dee Snider for writing such a beautiful song. I love that song (it is just slightly behind the Waitress's Christmas Wrapping, which is my all-time favorite Christmas song, even if only by seniority.) Hearing Celine's voice in my head made my heart a bit lighter and was getting me in the mood for the holiday. I checked the weather and Thursday promised to be warm enough to provide a pleasant day to hang some lights on the house.

It being too late in the night for an all out assault of decking the halls, I decided to hold off on dragging up the ornaments to save that feat for the next day. Not one to waste a moment, I decide to load my iPod with Christmas music. Thanks to numerous hard drive crashes, backups, and reinstalls, I find that I have umpteen copies of the same songs. No biggie, I choose display duplicates and discover over 2700 duplicates. I sit there staring at files and it comes to me. Yes, I do want something for Christmas after all. I want someone else to sit at my computer, go through my entire music library and delete all the duplicates--well, except for Celine and The Waitress's. Those two songs no matter how many dups there are can remain on my hard drive.

What is your favorite Christmas song?

'Tis the Season

My family keeps asking me what I want for Christmas and my answer has been the same--nothing. Seriously, I do not need or want a thing. I have reached a point in my life were simplicity is key. My daughter is relentless and keeps bugging me for a clue. While I was in my neighborhood Barnes & Noble it suddenly came to me as I held open the door for someone who rushed through without so much as a nod.

Yes, I want someone to thank me when I do something nice as holding a door open so you can push in front of every customer in the store to be the first in line at the register. I quite think that we are all pressed for time. If you thank me, I promise to say, "Thank you" to you when you hold the door open for me. If you unable to hold a door open for me, at least do not swing it back because it no longer serves your purpose other than to smack me in the face.

Maybe it is age, or maybe the hectic stressful existence we are forced to live in. I hear many people complain how hard their lives are. Being third in line at a Starbucks does not seem to be a major life interruption to me. I guess I have low standards.

I do not like to write blog rants but the rudeness I have been encountering on my daily jaunts goes against how I was raised. It's a good thing my grandmother is not around to use the web as a sounding board.

I know that one cannot expect people to behave in the manner they want them to, but I refuse to buy into the negative lack of common courtesy. So I will continue to hold open a door and say "you're welcome" hoping you say "thank you." I will not cut in front of you on line to pay for an item, that I probably don't even need, because I do not think I am more important than you.

So what I want for Christmas is for people to be kinder, gentler, understanding, and patient. Trust me--someone has it worse off than you do. This may be a tall order but there is one thing I will accept from my family as a Christmas present; an enjoyable dinner prepared by all, lounging around the dining room table long after we have taken the last bite of food, and the dishes to be washed, dried, and put away because I am too cheap to buy a dishwasher.

Happy Holidays to all!

Day 3 and what?

So I hit the ground running with NaNo 2011. Two days proved more than the minimum words needed to finish the challenge in time. I was so ahead that according to the convenient stat counter, I would be done with my novella in time to throw the turkey in the oven on Thanksgiving day (this would be greatly appreciated by my family) if I kept producing my two day average. And then day 3 arrived but the words didn't, well that is not entirely true 272 words were added to my NaNo count. I type this as day 4 breaks and I am obsessing over that fact that my writing buddies will peek at my stats (hey I peek at theirs) and smile as their numbers surpass mine. That's fine. That's what NaNo is all about. You have an off day and your buddies send words of encouragement to keep you going. You return the favor when their word count if off.

The problem with my story is the two whiny women my characters have become. I don't like whiny so I have to make something happen to them to toughen them up.

Hmm, I think the word count of this post has surpassed my 3rd day NaNo production. Oh, well priorities.

As Time Ticks By...

For us writers, November brings us National Novel Writing Month, or as it is better known as NaNoWriMo to save a few keystrokes, or NaNo to save even more. I sit at my keyboard playing around with my blog theme, not the content theme but how unusual I can make the home page or land on a design that I like. This my friends is typical procrastination. I am beginning to believe that writer's block does not exist, an excuse I have used for years, but it is truly procrastination that keeps one from getting words on the screen. Sure I have ideas, plenty of them, maybe too many and that is the problem. So what does NaNo have to do with my blog and procrastination?

This year I am approaching NaNo in the manner it was intended for. Sit down November first and start typing away and do not stop until I have produced 50,000 words. They may not be logical or even consist of a single story but there will be words to review.

I have attempted NaNo before and never made the 50K but this year I have a master plan and that's it. I actually have a plan, a thin outline if there ever was one but one none the less. I think this is what had been lacking. Taking too long a break in between manuscripts makes it very hard to get back on track. So NaNo, I will give you the month of November to jump start this writing slump. See you at the finish line.

Is anyone else participating in Nano?

Keeping in Spirit with my Music Biography Critiques

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS BOOK! I read this book in 6 hours and most of the time my jaw was hanging open, first because of what these 4 guys did but mainly that they lived to tell about it. I thought that Walk This Way from Aerosmith was an incredible read--the boys from Boston have nothing on the guys from the Crue.

View all my reviews

I found this one in my draft file also. I really have to get better at this blogging thing.

It's 3:32 a.m. - So What

Yep, it's 3:30 a.m. and by the look of my blog one could tell that this is not a good time of the day to redesign, the template, theme (not that I ever had one, though it does seem to focus on music lately), pick colors... Basically, I should have left it alone 4 hours ago when I first attempted to go the sleep for the night. The truth is I do my best writing in the wee hours of the morn. Okay, maybe NOT my best writing but I am at my most productive when all is asleep except me and--well apparently only me. Even the pugs are snoring away, which helps drown out the tapping of the keyboard so the DH does not hear me.

Insomnia can be a very useful tool if managed properly. Hmm, I'll see how that works out for me when I reread this post and revisit my revamped blog design after a few winks of sleep.

P.S. A post is not a post if it is saved as a draft. Sheessh

Love Thy Neighbor

First, I need to get some things out of the way. I am not religious so the title of this post may confuse people who know me, keep reading and it will make sense. Secondly, you may notice that I rarely post, mainly because I have never settled on a theme for this blog and don't know what to say. Thirdly, we Jerseyans are a hardy bunch yet we run to the stores and empty the grocery shelves at the first sign of a snowflake or idea of a hurricane, and then we complain how roads were closed for no reason when we find that our immediate area was not impacted by whatever storm was to come our way.

Today I have something to say as I sit on my deck with the sun blinding me as I write this post.

We prepared for hurricane Irene yet were quick to deny how powerful the storm would be. People were annoyed as they waited in line for a cup of coffee, the day after the storm, at the only open Dunkin Donuts for a 10 mile radius, oblivious to the fact that the other Dunkin Donuts were closed because my town has not had power for 3 days.

Losing power is an inconvenience as is having to replace the second floor bathroom ceiling that is no longer gushing water. But that is all that is is--an inconvenience, a minor one at that. It is not life changing. No one was injured and I was forced to clean out my refrigerator that should have been cleaned out a year ago, to that I thank you Irene. What is life changing is the damage to the lives of people in Cranford, NJ whose sanctuaries have been destroyed by 14 feet of water and has also ruined irreplaceable items. My heart bleeds for my best friend who cannot get into her home because the water is still too high. I pray for another friend that she will be strong enough to deal with the reality that her home has been deemed condemned because a wall caved in from the storm that most of us believed would be nothing more than a strong summer rainfall.

Last night I drove through the streets of Cranford to see if I could get to my friend's house and see if I could be of some help. Her street was blocked because the homes beyond the barricade are unihabitable. Today my husband replaced my 80 year old neighbor's failed sump pump so the foot of water in her basement could be released.

My point of this post? I am glad to have electricty so I can check my email, Facebook account, and type this post BUT I needed to take this time to encourage people to check on your neighbor who may not have visable damage to their property but within the confines of their home. So, even if you don't want to Love Thy Neighbor at least Help Thy Neighbor, one day you may be the 80 year old widow who does not have the strength or knowledge to unflood your basement before mold sets in. Or you may be the 65 year old, with high blood pressure, pulling up soaked carpet so you can bring your house back to some kind of order in time to serve your family a holiday dinner.

Wonderful Tonight

Wonderful Tonight: An Autobiography by Pattie Boyd

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved this book. The first chapter did not catch my interest but I wanted to know more about this person, mainly because of the time period the story covered, so I pushed on and I am glad I did. Here is a woman who had it all, money, status, not one but two iconic husbands, musical royalty frequented her dinner table, she had three songs written about her that have become classics, yet my heart broke for Pattie Boyd as I turned each page. I could feel the love she had for the men in her life. I cried as she did when she relived betrayals of both spouses. Reading this confirmed something I always believed, it does not matter how much money you have in the bank, what kind of car you drive, or how big your house is; if love is not true the rest is empty.



View all my reviews

Guitar Legend

Clapton: The Autobiography by Eric Clapton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had no intention of reading this book but I came across the companion CD which I did want. I had just finished reading Pattie Boyd's (ex-wife of Eric Clapton and George Harrison)"Wonderful Tonight" and I had enjoyed it very much. What better way to see if her story matched that of Clapton, so I bought his book and the CD. Clapton's arrogance is bold and rampant throughout the book, yet as much as his arrogance frustrated me, I believed that insecurity and shyness lay beneath the surface. I found that everytime Clapton reached major success as a solo artist, he sought safety within a band.

His early life is heartbreaking, interesting, and fascinating, the later years not so much. The lack of interest for the latter part of the book could be due to the lack of arrogance that drew me in initially. To his credit, he was true to his opinion of life with Pattie. So kudos to him for being honest and supporting her version of life with Eric.

View all my reviews

I Think We're Alone Now

Me, the Mob, and the Music: One Helluva Ride with Tommy James & The Shondells by Tommy James

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have always enjoyed the music of Tommy James and have recently found myself listening to his music more than usual, so when I came across this book I just had to pick it up. If you are looking for an in depth insight to the man behind the music - you will not find it here. The book focuses on his love/hate relationship with Morris Levy, the head of Roulette Records. You get a little bit of Tommy's life in Niles, Michigan and the events that brought him into the world of music but the story is about the mob and the music, mainly the mob's control over Tommy's music and ultimately his personal life.

I found myself wanting to know more about the person and a few tidbits are sprinkled throughout but never given any focus of their own. I could not help but wonder why he as an artist tolerated the manipulation and control the record company had over him. I guess it is one of those things that as an outsider looking in, it is easy to have an opinion but only understood by the person in the situation.

In spite of the lack of a larger story, I did like the book and finished it in two days. However, my question was never answered. What does the title Crimson and Clover mean, and what is the song about?

View all my reviews