#FirstFriday Photo

Jumping into this blog hop. I kept seeing it around and kept saying, “Self, I should join this” and here I am.

Basically, you share a photo on the first Friday of every month.

And since I am making a better effort toward taking more pictures (and regularly), this will work nicely.

So onto the picture!

This is our dog, Butch. He is a mini-schnauzer and he’s an older dog. He sleeps a lot. And I love this position he sleeps in. It is too cute.

 

 

To see more photos in this blog hop, go here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#ROW80 Check-in the Twentieth – busy busy busy

I can’t believe I have no new words to report! Well, exactly I have new words, just not on Grave Touched. I worked on a short story for the Turtleduck Press Freebie Rotation. Short stories used to be almost impossible for me to write. I’m such a longwinded writer! So for a very, very long time, I avoided it at all costs. So I wrote poetry for the TDP Freebies and all was well.

Then I was required to write a short story for one of our TDP Anthologies. Yikes! Luckily, I’d come up with an idea and was able to write pretty much to the correct wordcount (the story in question is Stasis, in our Seasons Eternal Anthology, BTW. It’s about a world with seasons that don’t ever change). And I realized, hey, maybe it’s not impossible!

Then I took Holly Lisle’s Flash Fiction class. What a challenge. Writing flash felt like writing haiku! But I worked on it and was able to write 7 flash stories. Seven! And I ended up self-pubbing In Flames, my own flash anthology, last August (and it’s freeeeeeee).

So, over the past two days, I’ve written a grand total of 2,600 words. I had a bit of trouble with the ending, the how of it, but I believe I’ve worked it out. It just needs to be edited and/or tweaked, but it’s done. I’m pretty happy with it.

So how come I’m not writing poetry? Well…my poetry muse has kinda been in hiding. I get flashes of stuff occasionally, but haven’t found anything strong enough to sit down and develop. According to my Year of No Fear Manifesto, I’m supposed to be writing poetry. But the year is still young and I’m sure something will come to me. (I did look over some drafts of poems I wrote for the various TDP freebies, some of which I’d abandoned, so looking at them again may spark some ideas).

I’ve also been really, really busy this weekend. Some of my weekends are, unfortunately. I spent most of yesterday reformatting both my poetry chapbooks because I realized I’d forgotten to include a copyright page! Granted, I was just starting out then, so it’s an easy mistake to make. So I have proofs coming soon. And our internet was a bit touchy so every time I made some progress, it’d hang up somewhere. And then came the backups. I have a backup program that does it automatically, but I am severely paranoid (or is it OCD?) about having multiple backups everywhere: on CD, on a thumb drive (this stays in my purse at all times), backup drive, Dropbox, email…yeah, kinda wacky but let me tell you, I’ve had computers die suddenly on me with 10+ years of writing on them, and I haven’t *knock on cyberwood* lost a SINGLE thing yet. So it’s working!

Today alone has been nuts, too. Went to watch the hubby bowl, took a nap (because I was up at 8am on a weekend day! Yikes!), came home, did some housework, cleaned the fish tank, and now I’m here typing this up. I’m not even sure if I’ll get to writing today. I hope so!

Not doing stats as they are identical to the last check-in.

Getting down to the wire now!

Nominated for the Liebster Award

Siri Paulson, a great friend and great writer, nominated me for the Liebster Award, and I’m thrilled.  (Hush.  I’ve never been nominated for anything, much less an award.)

So, here are the rules:

1. Each nominee must link back the person who nominated them.

2. Answer the 10 questions which are given to you by the nominator.

3. Nominate 10 other bloggers for this award who have less than 400 followers.

4. Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer.

5. Let the nominees know that they have been nominated by going to their blog and notifying them.

Okay, so here are Siri’s 10 questions for me to answer:

1. Star Wars or Star Trek?

Star Trek all the way, baby!

2. What’s your favourite item of clothing? Why?

My hoodie.  Because it keeps me warm when the office is really, really cold.

3. What do you like best about blogging?

I love being able to just be myself, write about what comes to mind.  And it’s fun.

4. If you could live in another country, which one would it be?

Ireland for sure.  (I’m Irish.  It’s been my dream to visit Ireland someday).

5. Tea or coffee?

Neither!  I’m a Coke Zero girl.

6. Oceans or mountains?

Oceans!

7. What are you reading right now?

Gates of Rapture by Caris Roane and Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione.

8. Tell us a memory from when you were a kid.

My grandparents lived in a house that was three doors away from the corner, and the corner ice cream shop.  And across the street was an empty field where a school used to be.  I have so many memories of playing in that field with my sister and cousins and going to get ice cream from the shop.  And that shop is still there (we’re talking at least 30 years).  Our family was together, my grandparents were still alive…nothing really mattered, you know?  It was jut us being kids, living and loving life.  I would love to be as carefree as I was back then, but I grew up.  😉 Things are different now.

9. Who’s your favourite superhero (or supervillain)?

Spiderman.  Even though I’m terrified of spiders.  He’s just that cool.

10. Vampires, werewolves, or zombies?

Vampires will always be #1 for me, followed by werewolves and zombies.

Okay! Nominees!  I don’t know anything about their blogs, so I’m just gonna choose some cool people:

1. Ana Ramsey

2. Kendall Gray

3. K.A. Rundell

4. Page in Training

Annnd…that’s all I can think of at the moment.  (It’s 12:30am.  Me tired).

10 questions for you guys to answer:

1. What is your favorite book of all the books you’ve written?

2. Plotter or pantser?  Or both?

3. Have you ever participated in NanoWriMo?

4. Have you always been a writer, or did it just fall into your lap?

5. Do you have any unusual hobbies?

6. Do you believe in ghosts?  Why or why not?

7. What piece of jewelry do you always wear?

8. Do you speak any foreign languages?  What are they?

9. Are you a java lover or a cola lover?

10.  Do you have any pets?  If so, what are they and what are their names?

Okay, time for me to hit the hay.  Thanks Siri for nominating me.  I feel special.