Archive for 2011
Ian T. Healy: no longer a wannabe writer
…because Ian Healy is officially a published author.<----See? Awesome cover, huh?This is the best thing about hanging out with a bunch of writers, besides their unending support and fabulous charm--every once in a while one of them gets published,.
Moving on
I’ve been on fire lately. Very motivated and confident and self-sufficient. It’s a weird feeling, and I realize that in the past when I felt this way it was so uncomfortable for that that I’d squash it in some way. I’m trying not to do that this time,.
The slow connection blues
Apparently the only thing keeping me from blogging is Facebook. I suspected as much. I’ve had spotty Internet since dinnertime yesterday, and since it is an area-wide problem, all I can do is wait. I’ve been doing maintenance on my computer instead,.
Tag :
Life
Important things
Still looking for a job, but I think I might be sabotaging myself just a little bit. The days have been flying by, and I’ve gotten distracted. For instance, suddenly it’s very important to get this book edited and submitted, when years have gone by.
Tag :
Life
Adventures in gas
Several weeks ago I had a gas leak around the water heater. Of course, when the ONG technician came he couldn’t find anything wrong, and then it happened again a couple of days later. I think I figured out what was happening, after much research: the.
A tale of two jobs
The job search continues…slowly. I’m taking it slow on purpose, because my tendency is to go 24/7 on a project till I collapse, and after that collapse it takes a lot of time to get back into it. I saw the pattern emerging with the job search, too, working.
So many jobs, so little relevant experience
Whew. The resume is finito. Finally! Well, I still have to write a skills page, because I’ve gained a lot of undocumented experience from my prolonged attempt to be a writer. Or wait. Maybe I should make that an entry in my employment history…? What.
My experience with e-publishing
The past couple of days have been pretty cool. Since I put my short story on Smashwords, it’s been downloaded over 60 times. I find it unbearable not knowing how many are friends and family, and how many are strangers. So far I’ve had a review on Smashwords.
Taking the plunge
An OCD housewife falls in love with her son's toy ninja--but she does find it odd that the toy speaks French...Or possibly just dipping a toe. I took one of my old, beloved stories and published it on Smashwords. For those who've never heard of it, Smashwords.
Craziness in Blossomland
Craziness in Blossomland yesterday. I live about a quarter mile from a medium-security juvenile detention center, and every so often a kid makes a run for it. Where they think they'll go, I don't know--they aren't good at making wise choices or they.
Reborn
Hey look, I’m posting! This was my longest hiatus yet, almost three months. I don’t know if I’ll begin regular postings again, but I have some things to work out that might benefit from the attention of the world outside my house. Namely, getting a.
Independence
I wrote today. Fiction. You know how big a deal that is. Or maybe you don’t, because I’m not sure how much of that angst came through in my sporadic posting. But let me tell you, it’s a big deal. It is Independence Day weekend—could this event signal.
Better than fine
Thank you sincerely for all your declarations of support after yesterday’s confession. I want to assure you that I’m fine, even better than fine because I finally have some movement on this issue that’s been dogging me for a long time. My feeling is.
My secret
There is a secret I carry, and I’ve decided to remove this secret of its power over my life by bringing it into the light. I’ve told myself over the years that it’s not my secret to tell, and telling would be disloyal to my husband. I accepted his denial.
Authentic and true
I think if I just started typing every day, whether or not I have a topic in mind, I’d post a lot more often. Nothing seems important enough to write down, except for some stuff I can’t really talk about. But today I decided to take the plunge and just.
Ask and ye shall receive, or something like that.
Three years ago I made a list of things I wanted, things I felt would make me a more fulfilled, whole person. I’m amazed at the number of things on this list that I actually did receive. Brand-new car—My Saturn’s not brand new, but a perfectly wonderful.
Sleep would be nice
Can’t sleep. The moon is so bright, and this futon is so uncomfortable, and lately my mind just races if the tv’s not on. Last night I was up till three. The night before that, one. What I’d really like to do is go outside and talk to the moon, but.
I’m a big fat winner!
I have so much energy right now it’s hard to make myself sit still. But what am I going to do with this new energy, vacuum? I think not! Instead, I post. Over the weekend I attended a banquet at the OWFI writer’s conference. The Saturday night banquet.
Love is not a feeling—it’s housework
The hubs and I make a good team, some days. A lot of the time we are at odds, but when I’m flexible and he’s engaged I get a glimpse of the fully functional, tag-teaming couple we can be. Yesterday was one of these days. He volunteered to stop by the.
Busy and still bored
Ihate eating during the day. I resent having to interrupt my activities, however mundane they may be, to refuel. Which is why it’s all right that I don’t have much in the kitchen right now because I haven’t been to the grocery store. The car’s still.
Sherri: the now-reluctant, once-hot, always-determined mechanic
I do my own car repairs when I can, which is most of the time. My current project is replacing the water pump on my tiny Saturn. I didn’t get done yesterday, so with all my tools and parts spread over the ground, of course it decided to rain this morning..
Coming out of the cave
I’ve come here to post so many times over the past couple of weeks, but I always go blank and give up. My mental state hasn’t been the best, so maybe it’s best I keep quiet during those times. It’s not just that I let my agent go, but a lot of other.
Tag :
Life
Hope for my quirky baby
Sometimes it feels like agent Rachelle Gardner is direct-wired to my life, and posts just for me. Get out of my head, Rachelle! No, on second thought I need you to keep me on track, however accidentally. Today her guest poster Catherine West talks about.
Tag :
Life
Disappointing relief
I’ve been trying to think of a way to describe the way I feel about parting ways with my agent of four years. It’s always hard to admit failure, but there is a relief in having an answer to a festering problem, even if it’s a disappointing answer.So.
Tag :
Life
Facebook withdrawals
OOkay, so I've been (almost) completely Facebook-free for two days now. I did sneak back to see if anyone commented on my post that I was leaving. No one did. Not that I care, you know, I was just wondering. I don't care that nobody cares.*Anyhoo, there.
Tag :
Life
Thwarted Facebook Posts
You know I’ve been staying away from Facebook, and my life is simpler for it. Still, there’s a certain urge to post that I might never get over. Here are some status updates I wanted to post but didn’t. Gosh, my computer is so dusty! Called my.
Tag :
Life
TTFN, Facebook
It’s that time of year, the time where I delete most of the blogs from my reader and turn off Facebook notifications. I thought about doing it the other way and deleting this blog and making FB my main place, but I realized how very tired I am of the.
Tag :
Life
Freedom!
Remember when life sucked because the van died and the hubs had to take my car to work, leaving me stuck at home all day and forcing me to run errands in the evening’s cold darkness? Remember? Well thanks to that truck you see up there, I have my.
No, I did not burst into flames
It was a beautiful weekend here in Blossomland. Perfect church-going weather. That’s right, CHURCH. My brother Wopsle, in a move to be closer to home, took a job as youth pastor at Westmoore Community Church, and I went to check out his new digs and.
Updatey type things
Much stuff happened this weekend, but none of it involved getting a new vehicle. Looks like I’m homebound for another week. If you haven’t been over to my new blog lately, you should go by and check it out. The latest post is a guest article from.
The good and the bad
I’ve been feeling a bit disconnected the past few days. I think it’s because things have been weird in my real life, and when I’m dealing with real life stuff I sort of shut down until I process it all. Nothing life-shattering has happened, some of.
A new blog
My little experiment with You Are the Muse on Thursdays hasn’t really worked. Originally I thought YAtM needed its own space, but I was too afraid to give that level of commitment when I didn’t even know if I could sustain it for a long period of time,.
Crazy, I tells ya
I sit in a quiet house for the first time in a week. A crazy blizzard plus several atypical days of subzero temperatures kept the entire family huddling in a thankfully barely-warm-enough house, but today, finally, our routine is back to normal. Finally,.
Defining your muse
Some think of the muse as a pet who will come if you train it with treats, while others see it as a lover you must coax with candlelight and soft words. I have a friend (though I can’t for the life of me remember which) who calls the muse “that elusive.
Snowpocalypse, Oklahoma style
I know we don't get as much snow as some places, but come on. Misery is misery. It's eight degrees with snow like tiny ice pellets. Winds 30-40 mph, pelting any foolishly exposed skin raw within seconds. I don't even know what the wind chill factor is,.
The hopelessness of raising children
I wonder if I'm a good parent. I worry my kids feel they can't talk to me. I fear I'm too strict lenient strict.I know how my childhood affected my behavior as an adult. I've seen the same path in others who were raised in very similar circumstances,.
What does your creativity hide behind?
My creativity quietly began to assert itself this week. Several things happened to facilitate that, starting with the list from last Thursday’s post. Listing the possible stumbling blocks brought them to my attention, forced them out of the recesses.
Tag :
Life,
You Are the Muse
A question of aging
I guess I’ve been in a kind of shock over the past few months, but as I was looking in the mirror today, it struck me: I’m 40. How the hell did that happen? How in the world did I become a creature that a man in his 30s (always my benchmark for solid.
What's holding you back?
I've really been avoiding writing this post. I came up with several different topics, wrote some on each, and decided to write about quitting. How you might decide whether it's worth your while to discard what you've worked toward and start fresh. But.
Tag :
Life,
You Are the Muse
What would make you change course?
I tried to blog yesterday, I really did. But the kids were home for MLK day, and… Well, that’s all I have. And that’s not even a real excuse, but if you see what I wrote yesterday, you’d be glad I didn’t post it. Borrring.Or maybe you haven’t noticed.
You Are the Muse—Take #2
I often don’t start ambitious projects because I’m afraid to fail, as many of us are, but also because I know how likely it is that I will lose interest in the project before it really takes off. I have huge temporary ambitions every day. Usually, if.
Tag :
Life,
You Are the Muse
Looking for an experience
I’ve had this feeling lately. You know, a feeling. A feeling that the world is going through a major shift in consciousness, but maybe it’s just me. I feel the need to be part of a group, working for something bigger than what I could do alone.Also,.
Just an unfocused hausfrau
The kids and husband are firmly back in the outside world, post-holidays, and I am still ensconced at home, relieved to have my quiet days back, but missing the family at the same time. I’m learning just how hard it is to pick up a long-abandoned manuscript.
That one unflattering photo
We all try to hide our ugliness on the web, where it will undoubtedly linger for thousands, if not millions, of years. One errant photo will come back to haunt us, or perhaps our mainframe-dwelling descendants.We pose:We laugh:We ham it up:And then fate.
