Oops…Where’d the Week Go?

Sorry for the unexpected blog hiatus. I thought I had posts scheduled for the week. Senior moment, I guess.

Are you ready for a new year to start?

I sure am.

It’s not that this last year has been particularly bad. I feel like it’s going out with a whimper on my part. I certainly didn’t accomplish as much as I’d hoped. Probably a lack of stick-to-it-ness on my part.

In the midst of family visiting, the wee beasties playing more video games than probably healthy, catching up on my reading, and car shopping I’ve realized I need to get back into ROW80. Yes, the visiting blogs can take a lot of time but I usually learn something and I love giving support to others. I’ve been horribly lax about blog visiting, even my reading through Google reader has been down since the EDJ, and I need to get back on that horse. Mostly, ROW80 keeps me more accountable on the writing end of things than my trying to wing it on my own.

Round One of 2013 starts on January 7th…and I’m in.

My goals for this last week were to:

1. Continue with my Flylady routines, adding a new job each day. — Mostly a success.
2. Spend an hour each day working on writing in some form or other. — Snicker. I did Morning Pages two days, I think.
3. Social Media and blog reading/commenting — Sadly, not even a blip on my radar.

I’ll aim for the same goals for this week, with a focus on that third one. Oy. I really must get back in that saddle.

To Maria and Angela and Melanie and Julie and Nicole for your amazing blog support this last month despite my failure to reciprocate — I appreciate you beyond words! To Joely for keeping me going with your D&E emails — Thank you!

What are you looking forward to in the New Year?

Tuesday Book Talk

Let’s talk books!

Just Read

Pleasure’s Edge by Eve Berlin

Why I picked it up: Someone recommended her to me and I was able to pick up this one on sale.

What I liked: This was smokin’ hot. The hero and heroine were extremely comfortable with their sexuality. Yet what started out as research for the heroine turned into an exploration toward self-discovery. Both the heroine and the hero have to make a leap of faith and Berlin does it well. Both characters felt fully developed and real. Berlin’s voice is wonderful and I’ll definitely be picking up more of her work.

What I disliked: I found it a little unbelievable that both main characters were authors, who’d quite their day jobs, and neither was a ‘starving artist.’

Reading

Earth Tones (Elemental Magic #3) by Angela Wallace

Why I picked it up: Um…elements I fell in love with this series after reading Elemental Magic. And Dry Spell (Elemental Magic #2) doesn’t disappoint as a sequel.

What I like: We finally get to see Nita and Keenan’s story after being teased with hints throughout books one and two. All three books stand alone with just enough backstory to keep the reader grounded. I really enjoyed Nita. She was dedicated without being over the top and her leap of faith felt true to the character and the situation.

What I dislike: Nothing glares at me. I think this story wraps up the trilogy nicely.

Will Read

Souled by Diana Murdock

Why I picked this up: A number of blogging friends recommended it.

What I expect to like: The premise of a 17 year-old “inviting” another soul to share his body intrigues me. And from the sample, I expect to enjoy Murdock’s voice.

What I expect to dislike: With all the rave reviews I’ve seen for this one, I expect there won’t be any.

• And I’m looking forward to Neverlove by Angela Brown

What are you reading and loving at the moment?

Rise of a Recter Reveal

A Tuesday Book Talk Special

I fell in love with this series after Angela Brown featured Heather on her blog. Now, I get to help Heather reveal her latest cover in the Channeler series…squeee!

To catch up with the series:

Prequel: Born Of Fire (A Channeler Novella)
Book One: The Secret Of Spruce Knoll: A Channeler Novel
Book Two: Channeler’s Choice (A Channeler Novel)

Without further ado…

It’s finally here, the cover reveal for Heather McCorkle’s Rise of a Rector, the final novel in her Channeler series (due out this October). To celebrate Heather is giving away two copies of her historical fantasy novel, To Ride A Púca. Before we get to that though, here is the cover:

To add it to your Goodreads lists click here. If you’d like to check out the rest of the Channeler series (her novella Born of Fire is now FREE on Amazon and B&N!) you can do so on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. To win an eBook of To Ride A Puca, all you have to do is help Heather spread the word. There will be two winners! To enter fill out the form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Not So Summary Sunday

Beastie Girl, just because she’s so stinkin’ cute.

I’d love to say we’ve been busy having fun but, no. I’d love to say I’ve been sucked so deep into my story I’m barely coming up for air but, no. I’d love to say we’re as ready as we can be for school but, no. I am counting down the days, though

It’s been a spinning of wheels type of week.

All that being said, I did do a first read through of the two stories sitting here patiently waiting. The authors, on the other hand, perhaps not so patiently. Profuse apologies Mel and Angela!! However, I still need to write up my notes then read through a second time to make sure the notes still apply as first reading was wee beastie interruptus.

I need my schedule back! If nothing else, this summer has proved to me how much I need a routine.

Sunday Summary & the Illuminating Blogger Award

Not much to report for the Summary this week.

On the writing front, I’ve continued to do my Morning Pages. However, the deeper I get into the revisions I’m attempting, the less patience I have in doing them. Plus side, revisions feel pretty good. I rewrote the opening scene on Friday, 1048 words, and rewrote almost three scenes Saturday, 2664 words. I know all these will need another run through but right now I’m aiming to clean up plot.

On the reading front, I have two stories to beta. Bad me, I haven’t started either. I will get them done soon, Melanie and Angela, I promise.

And I have a standing date with Doctor Who starting Saturday

~ * ~

The amazing Melanie Macek awarded me the Illuminating Blogger Award on the same day I awarded her the Sunshine Award and Fabulous Blog Ribbon. I swear we were channeling each other, LOL.

Something we seem to do a lot.

Thank you Mel!

Here are the rules for the award:

• Visit the Blog who awarded you and thank them.
• Tell everyone who nominated you, thank the blogger and include a link back to their site on your blog.
• Share a random thing about yourself.
• Select five or more nominees — and notify them on their blogs.
• Put the award on your blog somewhere.

A random factoid about moi:

I won first prize in a third grade essay contest about my hometown. Even had my picture in the local paper

My five nominees are:

Fabio from Diamonds & Rust
Stacy from Turning the Page
Jenny from More Cowbell
Angela from In a Pursuit of Publishness
Maria from Tale of Otherworlds

They are welcome to indulge in randomness if they like I hope you’ll visit these bloggers and see why they are so special!

Sunday Summary & #ROW80

1. The Writing: Blah. I think it’s time to try some of the tips from Jennifer M. Eaton’s ROW80 post — Just Say No to Writer’s Block.
2. A post by Elena Aitken lead me to Overcoming Writer Inertia Part One and Part Two by Trish Loye Elliot over on the Wordbitches blog. Wow, inertia is such a better word for what I’ve been battling. Well, that and four kids on summer break.
3. Jami Gold had another fabulous post on How to Make the Most of a Scene. She also linked to the Rule of Three, No the Other One from the amazing Janice Hardy.
4. The Reading: I’m beta reading Joely Sue Burkhart’s Her Grace’s Stable and ‘alpha’ reading Angela Brown’s Neverlove. Need to sit down and put my notes together for both these awesome ladies.
5. The Blogging: No additions to the queue, so I’m holding at about 2 weeks cushion thanks to last week’s post writing and scheduling. Commenting :sigh: I have no idea. I think I did pretty well with the sharing.
6. The Social Media: I didn’t track it this week so I’m not sure where I stand. I did have a conversation with @KristaDB1 (aka Krista D. Ball) yesterday.
7. The Health: Walking = zilch. Caffeine and sugar reduction = on track. Water = nailed it this week :tosses confetti:
8. Amy Shojai had a fabulous post on Hot Dogs and Summer Safety this week. Did you know dogs can sunburn? I didn’t until I got Beastie Girl who is so fair her skin becomes bright pink when she’s overheated.
9. I think I’ve come to the conclusion I need to take Round 3 off. Two of the wee beasties need some tutoring so they’ll be up to par for the new school year. That Man has scheduled some vacation time. I have a nephew arriving for a few weeks. Mice babies to find homes for. But mostly, I need to refocus on the basics.
10. To support the awesomeness that is ROW80 you can go HERE

Sunday Summary & #ROW80

1. The Writing: My Margie Lawson Writer’s Academy class ended this week. I still have a few assignments to do that I haven’t been able to get my head around or just ran out of time. I have all the lessons and got some great feedback on some WIP related assignments which will definitely help with revisions/edits of one story. I think I better bake up some brownies and crack open that bottle of chocolate wine for the muse… Hope she’ll share
2. Have your characters ever surprised you? Check out Joely Sue Burkhart’s guest post about some of the surprises her characters hit her with during the writing of Yours to Take. Psst…there’s a giveaway.
3. SynTAROTis posed an interesting question this week: Can a skeptic use Tarot cards for introspection? Of course, the site’s tagline is ‘the skeptic’s tarot’ so obviously she does. What I liked about the post was I could see applying the process to writing.
4. The Reading: I just finished The Last Good Man by Kathleen Eagle. Fabulous. Savannah was completely relatable in her struggle to heal from depression to hope and finding her HEA. This story touched a cord with me. I’ve lost a grandmother and an aunt to breast cancer but, thankfully, I also have three aunts and a cousin who’ve beaten the beast.
5. Roni Loren had a fascinating post about the hard truths readers are facing in today’s new world of books. As writers, there are more options for getting our work out there to readers. Kait Nolan mentioned last year, eBooks are the new pulp fiction (not the movie, LOL) in which authors are — or should be — learning on the job. Then Maria Zannini posted about the free book paradox. As readers, that means our job of selecting books is tougher. How do you select what you read?
6. The Blogging: Ha! Built the queue back up this week. Whew! What a relief. That counts as writing, right? I think I hit my comment goal but the three-day weekend and more mice babies born Friday threw my tracking for a loop. Can’t imagine why :snicker:
7. The Social Media: I ‘think’ I did pretty well here. I had a Twitter conversation with @neostateofmind (aka Angela Brown) and some fun with Jenny Hansen on Facebook. And I even updated Goodreads, LOL.
8. The Health: Dog walking pretty much sucked this week. I need to get new shoes that’s all there is to it. I can’t deal with the blisters on top of the blisters on top of the blisters. Sugar and caffeine reduction is on track and I’m feeling really good about my progress. The water intake went well 5 of the last 7 days though I failed to reach my 8 glasses per day goal. As we’re in the triple digits, and not likely to dip below that for the next 3 to 4 months, I really need to get a handle on this.
9. Once again the fabulous August McLaughlin covered healthy eating with her 5 Steps Toward Healthy Sweets Success post. She even shared a delicious flourless cake recipe!
10. Maria Zannini also had an excellent post on pet first aid. I have a pretty well stocked general first aid cabinet in my house due to the wee beasties, which carries over nicely to the fur babies, thanks to my mum being a nurse and teaching its importance at an early age. Are you ready for an emergency?
11. To support the awesomeness that is ROW80 you can go HERE

And the Winners Are…

Source: Wendy Andrew

Blessed Beltane

Or Happy May Day, my friends.

First off, a huge thank you to everyone who played along last month and helped me celebrate!

Okay…

I won’t make you wait any longer. Using Random.org because the wee beasties fought over who’d draw names…

THURSDAYS

The winner of the Steampunk Tarot Deck is…

ANGELA BROWN

TUESDAYS

The winner of the Amazon Gift Certificate is…

CIARA KNIGHT

SUNDAYS

The winner of The Artist’s Way Workbook is…

GENE LEMPP

ALL MONTH LONG

This is a set of 12 cards with envelopes: Congrats (inside says Congratulations), Birthday, Father's Day, Thank You, Mother's Day, Thank You, Follow Your Dreams, Hello, Happy Birthday, Welcome Baby, Happy Birthday to You, and Love

And finally, the winner of the hand-made cards is…

CLAIRE HENNESSY

:throws confetti: Congratulations!

Winners, please email me at BuriedNWords [at] gmail [dot] com. I will need a snail mail addy for all but the Gift Certificate.

Cheers!

Sunday Summary & #ROW80

Happy Earth Day

1. The Writing: Not so much. It wasn’t that I didn’t get the butt in the chair, though I did have a few days where that was a struggle. I don’t fully buy into the muse but nothing spoke to me this week.
2. I think I’ll print 25 Lies Writers Tell from Chuck Wendig and stick it on my wall!
3. The Reading: Two more fiction stories read plus a couple of short beta reads came in, which I need to get back to the authors, hopefully today I haven’t started the next craft book yet. I’m still trying to decide which way I want to go.
4. Speaking of reading, I have been thoroughly enjoying Angela Brown’s fabulous A to Z Challenge posts. She has created wonderful characters and each post (each letter) is logically building on the one before, creating an amazing story. I encourage you to hop over and read Abby & Basil’s story. I hope she develops this an actual published book
5. The Blogging: Check. I’m still maintaining about 2 weeks worth of scheduled posts. I’d love to have a month’s worth scheduled. I’m changing this goal from just posting 3 times a week (1 being these ROW80 check-ins) to scheduling 1 post per week until I have a month of posts. Once I have that cushion I’ll revisit what I need to do to maintain that cushion. Commenting: Check.
6. The Social Media: I had a couple short conversations on Twitter and managed one update on Facebook above and beyond blog posts. Not great but a step in the right direction.
7. I’m still trying to navigate the Twitter waters. Some days are awesome, I connect with someone and share info in a nice ratio. Others, I feel like spam, LOL. After my blog clean up between rounds, I realized I needed to do something similar with Twitter and my lists. Thanks to Roni Loren’s post about how to avoid being clique-y I think I have a plan. Just need to find the time, LOL
8. The Health: Woot. I got out with Beastie Girl four of the last seven days. Each walk only lasted about 20 minutes…baby steps Averaged 4 glasses of water each day. I did cave to the chocolate eclairs That Man bought into the house…yum, chocolate.
9. I love Tiny Buddha and it is a daily must read for me. Kate Britt wrote about how Forming a Healthy Habit Starts From Within. What’s is your exercising obstacle?
10. To support the awesomeness that is ROW80 you can go HERE

Group 2: Birthday, Welcome Baby, Mother's Day, and Father's Day cards.

Here’s a look at more of the cards up for grabs in the blogiversary giveaway…

All the cards are blank inside for your personal message and come with envelops. (Cards like the Mother’s Day card may cost extra to mail due to bulk.)

Kreativ Blogger Award & Top 10 Sexy Men

The lovely Claire Hennessy nominated me for this award. Thanks so much Claire

The rules are to share ten facts about oneself and pass the award on to six fab bloggers. It is hard to come up with interesting facts about yourself. And if you’re really curious I’ll point you to my Versatile Blogger posts here and here plus the 7 X 7 Link post.

Instead, I offer up to you, my Top 10 Sexy Men

(alphabetically so no one feels slighted of course)

1. Adrian Paul
   
2. Christopher Eccleston
   
3. Clive Owen
   
4. Eric Etebari
   
5. Gerard Butler
   
6. Hugh Jackman
   
7. Mark Dacascos
   
8. Oded Fehr
   
9. Sendhil Ramamurthy
   
10. Shemar Moore
    
11. Will Smith
    

Oops. Miscounted.

Who is in your top 10?

Okay, on with the nominations…

So many of you have been beyond awesome, especially over the last few weeks when I haven’t been as good about getting to your blogs, and I’d love to name you all. In the end, I looked at my stats and picked the top visitors without this award.

1. Angela Brown
2. Ciara Knight
3. Erin Brambilla
4. Gina Carey
5. Marcia Richards
6. Natalie Hartford