Thursday Thirteen #3

Okay, while watching TV on Tuesday night I decided that my TT for this week was going to be about commercials! Yup! You might hate them, but we still have to watch them... 1. Jessica Simpson in the Pizza Hut commercial - I'm usually not one for being offended much by commercials, but this one I find completely disturbing. I just think it's just WRONG! The kids like 12 years old!!! 2. Mr. Sub Chicken Souvlaki - Personally I don't each chicken's (too healthy.) I do eat cows, and yes... I know that probably isn't the best way for me to word it, but it's the truth. I'm a member of PETA (which most of you already know,) but I will never be asked to be a spokesperson... I don't like tofu. Yukk! 3. Head on - Holy sh**t! There's nothing better than a commercial that tells you how annoying it is and then goes on to repeat it like 5billion times! It gives me a headache just listing - which I guess is the idea. Don't watch this one while eating lunch, you'll be sick to your stomach. 4. Stupid.ca - I love these commercials. If you're a smoker you won't, but I'm not, so every time I watch these commercials I wonder why smokers just don't get it. 5. MADD - I love these commercials. Any commercial that hopefully makes someone think twice about doing something stupid... is a commercial I love. 6. Diet Pepsi commercials - I'm a diet Pepsi fan. Only if I was desperate would I pick up a coke - and I mean desperate. Anyways, I love the P-Ditty diet Pepsi commercial. It's funny and cute. 7. Cadbury Caramilk chocolate commercial - I couldn't find a link to this one for the life of me, but I hate it! The one where the woman sits on the couch, and her man comes home, she pops the last piece of chocolate in her mouth and he's disappointed. Then there's an older version of the couple, last piece, she eats it (still sitting on the couch I might add.) Then another older version of the couple, same thing. Then so old that he needs a walker (and is still coming home from work - he probably has to work to support her chocolate eating habits,) and she has almost half of the bar left, and before the man even makes it to the couch she gobbles down the rest. Grrrrrr! I hate this commercial. If my husband didn't share a chocolate bar with me... well, we don't even have to go there, he knows better! ;) The woman is just cruel. 8. Nicoderm Patch - I love this commercial!!! One of my absolute favourites! 9. Tag Body Spray - I like the commercial for the woman's body spray. ;) 10. Condoms - This commercial was banned, because, well... it's a tad wrong. But it's also exactly why I'm allergic to kids. Whenever I think of them this is what I picture. ;) 11. MasterCard - I love MasterCard commercials, some make me laugh, others make me cry. This one is just absolutely BANNED from TV. :) 12. Hansplast condoms - This kid is just hilarious! Wow... do you ever have to be careful around kids! :) 13. Last, but not least... The German Kfee car commercial. I have received this in e-mails and seen it on funny commercial shows. But each time somehow I just forget... until the end. Then I remember. Please do not watch this one if you have any heart problems. :) Hope you enjoyed that... What are your favourite or least favourite commercials? Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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I'm addicted!

Okay, so it's official, while I should be writing (which clearly I'm not doing.) I've been searching the Blogthings website for some fun quizzes. Thanks Wylie! I only have one more chapter to go and here I am surfing the web! Grrrrr! Anyways, this is my last addition, I promise, I am going to get back to the damn book after this.

Okay, so I found a What type of writer should you be quiz... thought you guys would like it. Turns out I should be a romance novelist... Who knew? ;)

You Should Be a Romance Novelist

You see the world as it should be, and this goes double for all matters of the heart. You can find the romance in any situation, and you would make a talented romance story writer... And while you may be a traditional romantic, you're just as likely to be drawn to quirky or dark love stories. As long as it deals with infatuation, heartbreak, and soulmates - you could write it.

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

Melancholic Temperament?

Okay, so in my hurry to finish my skeleton of a book I decided to post something light today. I got this Temperament thingy thing from Wylie, who was frustrated by her outcome (Maybe you should try it again today Wylie!)Have to say though, most of mine is true. All except, being patient! Hello! I have 0% patience in my blood. 0!!! Oh yeah, it said nothing about me being loud, energized, and flat out annoying when I get excited about something... which I do! Loud! ;) You Have a Melancholic Temperament

Introspective and reflective, you think about everything and anything.You are a soft-hearted daydreamer. You long for your ideal life.You love silence and solitude. Everyday life is usually too chaotic for you. Given enough time alone, it's easy for you to find inner peace.You tend to be spiritual, having found your own meaning of life.Wise and patient, you can help people through difficult times. At your worst, you brood and sulk. Your negative thoughts can trap you.You are reserved and withdrawn. This makes it hard to connect to others.You tend to over think small things, making decisions difficult.

What Temperament Are You?

Tag: The Name Game

A little SciFi looking for Angela our SciFiChick that tagged me for this Name Game! :)

Oooh I really like this one! Gagsta name! Stripper Name! :)

Okay so here goes...

1. YOUR REAL NAME: Victoria - but I HATE (that's right Amy - that much) the name Victoria. Please, please, please... Vicky. I always feel like I'm either going to get into trouble, or 120 years old!

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first three letters of your name, plus izzle) Vicizzle. Ah the gangsta in me thinks I'll get shot with a name like that.

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three of your last) Vcap. 10 virtual dollars if you can say that one, without looking like you coughed up a hair ball!

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal) Blue Tiger. Oooh sounds pretty.

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, Street you live on): I don't have a middle name! Greystone. Just Greystone. I'll be like Madonna!

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom’s maiden name) Capvikraj. I don't know anything about Star Wars, but to me it sounds like some disease. Ewwy!

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (favorite color, favorite drink) Blue Diet Pepsi. Just call me BDP. I will swoop down and save anyone who is crazy enough to drink Coke. ;)

8. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, any letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of your dad’s middle name, 1st letter of a sibling’s first name, last letter of your moms middle name) Iprj. Yeah, okay. No middle names for us little ole' Europeans - we got jipped!

9. YOUR STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/body spray) *Giggle* Bulgari Notte. Doesn't sound very stripperish... sounds like a high end exotic slut (can I use the word? Oh well, just did.)

10. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother & father’s middle name) Well that would be a great name! I wouldn't have a name at all! :( Would be interesting meeting new people. ;)

Who’s turn is it now? I tag Wylie, Thomma Lyn and Klaudia... if they’d like to play.

New title

Okay, so flying off the seat of my pants was a great idea. I zoomed through this WIP. Zoomed!

It was much easier for me without an outline, I didn't feel compelled to stick to only one thing.

Here's the kicker though, I started off with a police corruption story - hence Force of Corruption, and ended with a not so police corruption story. So... the title kind of didn't apply in the end.

So today, I e-mailed my wonderful sister and asked her based on what she's read from the WIP what should the new title be...

So... Mafia Blood it is. Sounds nasty I know. But it really isn't, well okay... maybe just a teensy bit.

Overall though, I gotta say I really like the direction the story had gone to, and the title is growing on me. :) So all in all I'm happy.

Got diddly squat done on Sunday, but by Wednesday I should have the entire first draft complete. Yay!

Blah! I'm even too lazy to think of a title.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up my mood.

I'm slacking off today, for many reasons. All of which stem from... I'm just plain ass lazy!

Then my husband's home and he's talking to his buddies online (don't ask.) And then there's my cat, who makes it all too easy to sneak a nap when she comes and curls up on me.

Yup. I'm an absolute write off today. Sitting here watching first Hell's Kitchen - practicing my swear words for Thomma Lyn. ;)

Then Kansas City Swat, and then Dallas Swat... 5 hours later I'm still hooked. Actually, I'm going to choose to call this lazy action - research! ;) Hey, I need to know that my day isn't a total wash.

And I would turn the TV off after Dallas Swat, but Crossing Jordan is on tonight. Can't miss that.

Tomorrow I'll be back to my old self. Today my couch has perfectly molded to my butt, wouldn't want to ruin the perfect butt mold... so I'm probably not going to move.

*Yawn* I think a nap is in order. You know, to celebrate all of today's accomplishments. :)

Giving it all you've got.

I thought this picture was appropriate for today. It's called Garden of Dreams. Ahh! How lovely.

On Monday I received a great offer to work for a company that would allow me to travel throughout the world... what else could I want right? Well... I'll tell you! I'd rather be a writer. Surprise! Surprise!

The new position would require me to work 70 hours in a week! 70 hours! When would I see my husband? When would I write? But I was still considering it. My husband said "Honey whatever makes you happy."

Sheesh! I need helping making decisions. I was given until next Monday to decide whether I wanted it or not.

You know what made my decision for me? Amy's request for a full manuscript. I am soooo excited for her... this is a huge thing! Then I thought of Christine, of course I had to add you in! :) Between the two of them I'm starting to believe more and more that the dream can be reached. As long as you work hard, never give up, and have great friends who support you throughout your journey.

So I turned down the offer. Yup. Figured, I have time. Writing is my dream... if I fail at it, that the job I turned down or something else like it will still be out there for me. Hopefully by then they will figure out a solution to 70 hour work weeks... jeez!

So Christine, Amy, and all other writer's out there that are striving and achieving their dreams, I propose a toast to all of you. May you not only achieve your goals and aspirations, may you also exceed them!

Whoopsies!

Yeah... it's exactly what it looks like! :) I have a problem that I'm hoping you guys can help me with...

My characters didn't use a condom. They were both distraught over the shooting of a friend and one thing led to the other... *insert the little happy face guy that wiggles his eyebrows here.* I think that part is understandable. Right?

Anyways my question to you is... How long do you think is a reasonable amount of time for them before they realize the mistake that they had made?

My hero realizes in 2 days. My sister edits my work, and for about an hour yelled at me about how irresponsible my characters looked if they didn't notice it sooner. I kind of see her point, which is why I'm asking...

Passion? Irresponsibility? 2 days? 2 minutes? Help!

Thursday Thirteen #2

I'm working on a bar seen right now where the heroine (the mob boss' daughter) is being picked up by men - who clearly don't know who she is... because if they did, I would assume they wouldn't be talking to her. :) Now I gotta warn you... some can be offensive... I tried to keep them all at least half decent... well, we still need to laugh!

Oh, and I would love to hear some good one's that you know of. :) Always in the mood for a good laugh! ;)

Thirteen pick up lines Pick up lines for men to use... 1. You're so hot I could roast my meat on you, baby. 2. Are you a lumberjack? Because you just gave me wood! 3. I think I'm in heaven because you look like an angel. Can you take off your shirt so that I can check for wings? 4. If I were Peter Pan, you'd be my happy thought. 5. Let's do breakfast tomorrow. Should I call you or nudge you? Pick up lines for women to use... 6. Hi. (trust me, it doesn't take much to pick up the average guy) 7. If you're naughty go to your room. If you wanna be naughty go to my room! 8. Can I have a picture of you so I can show Santa what I want for Christmas? 9. Do these look real? These are just super cheesy... 10. We both know you're beautiful, but only one of us knows your phone number! 11. Excuse me, but does my tongue taste funny to you? 12. Do you believe in love at first sight? If not, I'll walk by again. 13. You're gonna have to apologize to your neighbors tomorrow. Why? 'Cause we're gonna keep them up all night!' Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

The letter E

So this letter meme came from Angela, a.k.a. SciFiChick :) She picked the letter E for me. And even though just about every word has the letter in it - it was extremely challenging for me to come up with a list of 10 things I like beginning with this letter... but I did! So... on with the show...









1. Emergency Task Force Unit - *sigh* I don't know when it all started. I always loved my law enforcement in romance novels, but the first time I saw the ETF men tear up the streets of Toronto in their trucks, I stopped breathing. Wow! There's just something about the power and control they exude - Yummy!

2. Europe, Slovakia - another *sigh* Outside of my mom, dad and sister, my entire family is spread all over Europe - Slovakia, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy. You name it, I have someone that I dearly love living there. :( It wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't born there and didn't know anyone...but no. I lived there for eight years and love and miss everyone every single day.
Okay...so that was a little boo hoo for me.... so here's a mini story. My parent's just came back from Slovakia last week - they always go for New Years. Anyways, my wonderful 49 year old mom (16 on her birthday cakes - every year!) came home with a tattoo! :) My little cutesy short mom. A tattoo! Apparently we have some bad influences back home! :)

3. Eva - My aunt and Godmother - Sorry... *sigh* I love this woman like a second mom. When I was a kid, every day when my mom got off work we would go to see my aunt, who lived on the other side of town. One day, when I was four, my little sister got really sick, and my mom said "Not today honey. We have to stay home." So what does four year old me do? I decide I can go by myself. Somehow I managed to sneak out of the house and down the street, until guess what I had no idea where to go. So I started asking strangers "Do you know where my Aunt is?" Yup! That's what I did! Thank God we lived in a small town! So one of the strangers recognized me and new my family, he took me to my aunts house and she called my very upset parents. They still tell this story ALL the time when we're all together. :)

4. Espresso (two shots) mixed with skim milk :) - yeah that makes a latte, but I couldn't put latte - L is Christine's letter.... so I had to be creative!

5.Ernesto (Hurricane Ernesto to be exact) So last year Hurricane Ernesto hit, guess where I was? Cuba. Guess what I was doing? Getting married! Yup! I sure can pick a date. All my friends and family flew down to Cuba for the wedding. The weather was gorgeous, then two days before the event they start to board off all the windows and anything made from glass. They sent out warning letters and told us if the hurricane hit that the safest place for us is the bathtub! The bathtub! And they brought us all candles for when the power went out. So Ernesto hit - big whoop! It rained for a day! My best friend and I actually begged the guards to let us walk the beach - which they did after some serious begging and promising that we would not under any circumstances go into the water, or near it. We took these pictures - Aren't we creative? Don't laugh too hard! Anyways... the reason I love Ernesto is because well for one it was quite entertaining and two we had the most beautiful day on our wedding - there was even an actual breeze! In all the time I've been in Cuba I've never felt a breeze.

6. Erotica Romances. Enough said.

7. Eating. I had to find a way to say Chocolate with only using an E! :) But truthfully I'll eat anything! Ohh, except celery of course!

8. Easy Bake Oven *sigh* I love baking! My grandfather owned a bakery and when we left Slovakia I always dreamed of owning my own. When I was ten my parents bought me an Easy Bake Oven for my birthday. I was SO excited. My dad set it up for me and then something on the box caught his eye. "400 watts of power!" He yelled (I don't remember exactly how many watts but you get where I'm going here.) "This could kill you" he yelled, and then cut off the cord! Yup, I had an Oven that you couldn't bake in! It really isn't as much fun. I'm happy to say I have my own oven now... and I'm adding inches to everyones waist. Muhahhhaaaahhhaahhhaa!

9. Eyelash curlers. If I were stranded on a desert island I would take... most people say lipstick and mascara (as makeup choices). I would take lipstick and eye lash curlers. I don't need mascara if I don't have the curlers! Plus, how do you take off mascara on a desert island? Salt water - I don't think so!

10. E-mails! Has there been a greater invention? (Besides the Internet I mean) Could you imagine if we still wrote letters? Yes, letters have something whimsical about them, but they don't have spell check! And they don't get there instantly!

So there is my list. It was actually a lot of fun! Thanks Angela! And if you guys want a letter let me know, and I will pick one for you.

Okay this one's going to be short and sweet... well... short.

My wrist is killing me (probably because I've been sitting in all the no-no positions - you know how there's pictures of how you shouldn't be sitting at the computer - yeah, well those!)

I'm at a place in my WIP where my characters need some serious therapy and attention... so I'm going straight back to them. I figure I should write until my brain is empty and then I can take a break - which is probably another no-no, but hey.

I know you're all excited about writing a meme about your chosen letter from Angela, because heck, so am I! I'm really interested to see what everyone comes up with so until then.

Ooh... and another thing... I'm going to just say this because I haven't really been leaving this in any of the comments I leave. Lately everyone has been posting pictures of their kids... Can I just say... I have never in all my life seen kids this adorable. And you have to take my word for it because I'm severely allergic to kids! :) So when I say this I mean it. Oh my gosh... writer's have beautiful children - must be something in the genes! :)

Meep! Meep!

I don't want to jinx it... but I have to say it!

I am zooming through this ms! I don't know if it's because for the first time I'm not using an outline, or if it's just that I love the story... whatever it is I hope it happens with every ms after this one.

I know all the writer's are laughing at me because they know that it's rare, but I can hope! I can dream! And I can cross my fingers! Surely that has to count for something! :)

It could also have been that crayon thing. I don't sit around looking for the perfect word. Going through my bazillion page Writer's Thesaurus (If you have one, you know exactly what I'm talking about!) I just write. I'll fix my terribly chosen words later.

It's not perfect. I know that. Heck... I still don't know what to write in my synopsis because I still don't know how it's going to end. I've killed off character's I hadn't planned on killing. I made bad guys into good guys and vice versa. I pretty much have no idea what's going to happen - which is a first for me. But at least it's going, and will get done. Maybe even in the next month! :)

So just wanted to shout out to the writing god's - whoever you are - whatever I did to deserve this wonderful ms - I love you! :) Now if you could only get someone to buy it that would be great... you know... if you're not too busy and get a chance. :)

I have to add this too... it could be that I've been blogging. Maybe it's opened my mind or a creative worm hole that has been blocked by the nonsense that I clearly need to say daily. So on that note... thank you to all my blogging buddies. :)

Okay... so this has nothing to do with my writing. That was a good first sentence dontcha think?

Wylie after reading your post today I had sooooo much pent up anger and energy that I had to continue my ranting. Could you tell from the book length comment I left?

Anyways, once again, I'm going to say this.... It astounds me when I hear people say...What is the world coming to? And where do our children learn this behaviour!

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

I'm going to tell everyone a little story...

When I was younger, my sister, dad and I loved playing Nintendo. Loved it! My dad would play Super Mario Bros. with us until the wee hours of the morning. Whenever he died on a level he would toss the controller half way across the room and swear. :) He hated dying.

Anyways, we did this for... umm... I don't know, like two years. Almost every night we would all stay up (Yes - even on school nights) playing until we passed the level or game. Then one night I was at the last level in something or the other and died trying to kill the final bad guy. I threw the controller on the ground leaped out of my seat and swore out loud.

My dad turned to me and said. "Where the *bleep* did you learn that kind of language?"

I smiled.

"It must have been from mom." I told him. (For the record to this day, and I'm almost 27, I have never heard my mother utter so much as half of a swear word. Never!)

Get it? WE influence everything that happens around us. WE are our own bad teachers and leaders. WE picked the unattainable expectations that greet us on the cover of every magazine. WE decide whether a terrible show is aired on TV. WE are the ones who pick those magazines and buy them and we are the ones who watch those shows! It's not the media's fault. If we didn't support everything that they did they wouldn't exist.

Now I know... It's not WE like us, it's WE our society.

Wylie I'm glad you're boycotting American Idol. Your right - like they care. But what message are you sending to the people around you? Well... let me tell you... cuz this is my post... :) Your telling everyone that this behaviour is unacceptable and you are a wonderful person, who cares about other peoples feelings and you do not condone that type of behaviour. Guess what...American Idol might not care. But everyone around you will look at you in a different light. Kudos to you Wylie!

Sorry about my bit**ing guys... but I had to do it. I thought it would make me feel better, clearly this is a touchy subject for me. :) And for the record to this day, I have a terrible potty mouth. :)

Amy - I know I wrote WE in capitals... but Amy I had to! :)

Oh Amy!

Oh Amy, Amy, Amy! :) I know you like the title of my post! ;)

This sounds so much like a chain letter. But, I'm game! The only thing is that I feel so sorry for the people that I'd have to tag ... If you look at my list of the people I read blogs from or chat with you'll notice that I only have three other people on my list that you didn't choose yourself Amy! Unless you count Margaret Moore or Molly O'Keefe, do you think they would mind? :)

So, obviously those people know who they are. -Christine, Angela and Klaudia :) - Sorry guys!

It's actually quite fun. Everything except for tagging the next group of people. So here are the rules, and below it are my 3 (okay - 5) sentences...

1. Grab the book closest to you.

2. Open to page 123, look down to the 5th sentence.

3. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog.

4. Include the title and the author's name.

5. Tag 3 people

With her bracketed in his arms, flush against him, all thoughts fled, replaced by a sizzling heat and a pounding of desire.

"You went to a lot of trouble for us, Gracie." He let his hands sweep into her hair, freeing the strands from confinement and luxuriating in their silken feel.

She smiled. "I'm glad you noticed."

Simply Sensual - by Carly Phillips.

For the record, I read this book a long time ago (and loved it)...but you said the one closest to me. :)

Emotional Gemini

My super duper late post.

I spent the entire day completely engrossed in my characters. The story I'm working on right now is a suspense romance, in it my heroine's father dies. Today was his funeral.

So many things happen at the funeral I couldn't pull myself away. I got so into it I actually cried at one point. Not like boo hoo hoo! Just a couple of shed tears. But still. Maybe it's just me - I'm a Gemini - we get a little emotional. But does anyone else get so engrossed in their characters that they feel their pain? Or am I just crazy?

Thursday Thirteen #1

Ooh, My first Thursday Thirteen! I'm so excited! And since it's my first one, I thought I would tell you more about myself.

Thirteen Things about me you won't find in my profile... 1. This had to be number 1... I hate celery!!! Can't stand it in anything you can think of that would contain it. Yuck! Just thinking about it, kind of makes me feel icky. 2. I love Ranger! If you ever read any of the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich you know who I'm talking about. Well, for the longest time I couldn't make up my mind. Morelli or Ranger? But for some reason over the years I fell in love with Ranger. Now every time I pick up a new Plum novel... I scream at Stephanie... Pick Ranger!!! 3. I'm a member of PETA, but I can eat a cow with the best of them. :) I hope nobody gets upset with me about this comment. 4. I have the worst memory. Worst. I forget people's names almost instantaneously, and I forget their faces just as quickly. Oops, my bad. But what can I do? 5. I have an absolutely sinful weakness for the caramel and chocolate covered pretzels at Starbucks. Mmm... just thinking about it makes me want to go out and get one. (Or two, or three - you know... for later.) 6. I CAN'T STAND IT WHEN PEOPLE TYPE IN CAPS LOCKS!!! IT DRIVES ME NUTS! 7. I hate cliff hanger endings in movies and in books. Why? I ask you. If there's going to be a part two, if I liked part one I'll probably read/see it. I don't need to be plagued for a year(s) because that's how long it takes for the next one to come out. 8. One of my best friends has up and left me to move to South Korea for over a year. Jerk! I miss you! And you better come back with some wicked-ass stories that I can write in a book and get published. No pressure! 9. I love Police Officers! Maybe not always in real life - but always in a romance novel. If it has a cop, I'll read it. You probably already new that about me, but I don't think I stressed the fact enough in my previous blog. My husband thinks it's about the power they have over normal civilians. Nope! He's wrong, I'm female. I don't care how much power they hold over someone. I just love how a heroine can make any huge alpha male cop - who doesn't put up with any bull**it from anyone - fall to his knees and fall in love with her. Yay for Heroines! 10. I say dude way too much. 11. Umm... I think every blog I write has the word Yay in it. If it doesn't it's because I removed it after catching it. So clearly, I say Yay way too much. I'm working on it, but to be honest I didn't even realize this was a problem until I started writing blogs. 12. Without coffee I am only a shell of a human. I not only get cranky, but my brain is foggy, and I can't think straight. My sentences are barely strung together, and sometimes I'm saying something but can't remember the word to use. It could be as simple as "I got out of... umm. what is that thing that you sleep on again?" I know you all think I'm joking, but it really is that scary. Good thing there's a Tim Horton's on every corner! :) 13. Ooh, I feel bad about writing this one... but it's the truth, so here goes... I have a dog and a cat. I love them both, but I love my dog a smidgen more. Does that make me a bad person? I hope not, and I hope my cat doesn't learn how to read because she has some mighty sharp claws. :) Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Leaping without a web! Or in this case a net. :)

Any excuse to post a picture of Spider-Man! :)

During our TRW meeting on Saturday I learned some interesting things - and yes, I'm talking about the meeting again! Anyways, one of those things was that not having a complete outline in front of me as I tap away at the keyboard isn't necessarily going to kill me or my books.

I am notorious for writing 20-30 page outlines, detailing all the important facts and actions that I need to make happen. Pro: I always know what's going to happen next. Con: I change it all the time as I'm writing and feel as if all my hard work on the outline was a waste. Then I get all sad...Boo hoo! :(

So when Margaret told us at the meeting that she really doesn't write an outline - I thought - hey, I'm going to try that. Not that I didn't think I could write a book without one, it's just that I've read so many books that have said you should.

I swear I'm getting to my point... I started a new ms (Forces of Corruption) that has been playing out in my mind for quite a while. I decided that I was going to try it without an outline, and lo and behold - it's as if the character's speak louder and clearer. It's like allowing them to do what they would do without having their everything analyzed. Their actions flow naturally, seamlessly and are more believable.

So I'm loving this method! Then today I started to think about the synopsis... see where I'm going here? I haven't got the slightest clue as to what is going to happen, I really don't. So what do I do next? Do I try to figure out the end now? I wanted to submit it to a contest at the end of this month, but there's NO WAY I'll be close to the end. And, if I do make up an ending, what if it's not anything like the ending that I end up with? Can anyone help? Any suggestions?

I'm sort of in a panic - Hey, maybe the ending will come to me as I devour a box of chocolates!

I love good cops!

Yay! - I spent my morning in court today, and as much as most people hate the police, I find myself extremely fascinated. Anyone that has been forced :) to read one of
my manuscripts knows I absolutely love them!

When I go to court for tickets I have received (at one time in my life I had a speeding problem - I have recovered since then) my police officer is ALWAYS a female with, apparently, a goal to achieve a record of most fines issued. Anyways, today I didn't go to court because I had a ticket. I went to court because my husband had 2.

The cop that pulled him over showed up and I got to meet him... he wasn't a traffic cop, but rather a cop-cop. He was so nice to my husband that I was tempted to ask him for an interview. This is the kind of cop that I love in books - the type that is tough on people who deserve it and nice to the people that don't. Not that I'm saying Danny didn't deserve to get the ticket, but it was nice that the cop recognized that it was clearly his first time in court and helped him understand what was going on (he sat behind us).

While I'm writing this I'm listening to the news about how the police shot someone driving in a car (I could be way off). I'm not quite sure what or why it happened, and I'm not saying anything about guilt in this case, but it does make me wonder who's good and bad, which is why I believe that there needs to be bad cops in books too. To this day, outside of the stories that I've written I have never read a romance book with bad cops - cops that are not the hero's - but I would absolutely love to! Does anyone have any suggestions?

Shh!!!

I'm at home going crazy right now. My loving husband is off of work until Wednesday, and until then he's probably going to be slumming around the house making me crazy. He gets bored, watches tv. Gets antsy, walks around. Gets sick of that and goes and talks to some friends.

AHHHHHH!!!! I want to scream! I can't get anything done because I'm one of those - needs perfect silence kind of people. If there is so much as a peep I come out of my writing zone and have to start all over!

So now, here I am with great ideas and I can't even get them down because I can't think with all the noise. Where can I go? Starbucks? No. Starbucks is louder than my house. Plus, it always astounds me that people get any work done at all with all the noise.

Okay, so that's what I'm like. My sister is a nurse and is working on becoming a doctor, so school and studying are her middle name. She studies with the tv on mute, her headphones or cd player on her favourite station, while she not only types out notes, but also looks through her textbook. How? I can't answer that. She says it's because she's great at multi-tasking. Hey - I can walk and chew gum at the same time - that's multi-tasking! What she is is not normal.

I'm so tempted to grab my laptop and go write in the car... but apparently it's going to get cold tonight, so instead I'm going to watch tv with him. What else can I do? I'm going crazy!

Counting down the minutes till Wednesday morning.

Margaret Moore and two crayons - who knew I could learn so much?

Today I attended my first TRW meeting and had a wonderful time. It was great to see the successes and - as I like to call them - opportunities celebrated, especially when they are celebrated with chocolate! How can you go wrong?

Not only was everyone amazing, but I was inspired to do things that I haven't tried before - like joining the Thursday Thirteen. Yup, I'm committing to it right now. Thursday I'm in!

Margaret Moore conducted our meeting - she did an amazing job and was just funny as hell. :) During our meeting I had a huge eye opener when we were asked to colour in a picture - yeah - that's right, we had to colour!

Anyways, we got two crayons to colour with, I got brown a blue. What can you do with brown and blue you ask? Well, sorry. I can't help you - I wondered the exact same thing! I sat there waiting. Ohhhkkkkay what's the catch? Do we get up and ask to borrow other members crayons? No, we colour in the picture with what we have.

Umm... brown and blue? I swear to you - as sad as this may be - I broke out in a cold sweat. Surely, Margaret did not want me to colour my moon in brown! Let me just set this up for you, I majored in art. It went against every single instinct in my body to colour that moon brown! But guess what? I survived! I won't lie to you, I still cringe at the thought of my brown moon, but I'll get over it. Clearly I need to practice stepping outside of my teeny, tiny box, and I need to relax. No kidding, right?

So, in the end I learned two things from my colouring project:

1. I think I need to stop taking things so seriously. Nothing needs to be perfect, and

2. Maybe I need to start seeing a therapist! :)

I'm buying a colouring book tomorrow.

Are you kidding me?

On Tuesday Christie Ridgway wrote a blog about how she reads men's magazines before she begins a new book just so that she can understand the way men think.

You can click on the image to read her blog.

Anyways, today I went to go get an oil change. To my surprise my husband decided that he would go with me. Oookay. Weird, but whatever - it really doesn't take both of us waiting to get an oil change, but I smile and force the thought from my brain.

So we both head down to the dealership and wait... and wait... and wait. Of course I brought my laptop and notes for the revisions I'm making. Only problem is he didn't bring anything... and boredom slowly got the best of him, making him cranky and antsy. Yay! Just what I needed.

Obviously I couldn't get any work done. So I ask him to help me out a little, and start running off an outline for a mystery that I'm still in the thinking process of. He says - "You've done stalking crimes think of something else." So I throw it back to him. "You know what honey, since we have to wait anyways why don't you think of a good crime that I can put into my book."

He didn't even blink. "Murder and suicide - that's romance."

What the hell? Are you kidding me? Obviously I need him to clarify, because clearly I must be confused.

"It's like Romeo and Juliet." he said. "Even Grisom (From CSI) said it's the most romantic crime."

I have no idea if that's even true - the part about Grisom saying it... but I was still (and am still) stuck on the fact that he thinks that murder and suicide are a passionate crime. Seriously is he nuts?

I came to two conclusions from this conversation...

1. I will never ask my husband for advice again... well maybe if I want to kill off my characters.

2. And if this is how a guys mind works - I don't want a part of it. Seriously - their (or at least mine is) nuts!

It also got me wondering... as much as I love my fantasy men in books - they say all the right things because women create them. I would love to read a romance a man writes just to compare notes... oh... and it would have to be an honest guy who writes it... I don't want the character's to say what they do just because that's what would win the women over. I wonder if that would even sell? Would women want to read about a REAL average man? Or is it that we need the fantasy?

Pencil Please!

I go to school full time and I just finished the last of my exams. Yay!

Something I noticed while writing the essays is that I can no longer write them... I mean I absolutely suck! Doesn't make sense right? You would think that the more writing you do - the better you get. Not so! At least with me and essays. I have to write all my essay questions in pencil so that I can erase the extra side notes that I'm so used to adding in. In essays everything is soooo formal. When I'm writing about one of the characters their often silly and speak their minds. It's hard to remember that my teachers really don't care about my opinion. They only want facts. I'll admit that I can probably talk my way out of any essay or paper... but I do slip occasionally and throw in a question to the reader - which my profs hate. Oh well. Hopefully I won't have to write an essay for a really, really long time. Yup - that would be great. I wonder if my profs thought I was crazy though...split personality or something.

And by the way...did I already say... YAY! I'm done my exams!

My First Blog

Yay! My first blog.

I have finally decided to join my writer friends in the Blog craze. I'm not sure how often I will write - but I'm going to strive for at least once a week. There are so many wonderful people that I have met in some of the Romance Writers of America Chapters and it absolutely astounds me when I hear how often they write, while juggling kids, pets and their careers. If you're one of those people... Where do you find the time? No... seriously... I'll do anything. Okay not ANYTHING. No exercise... Please don't tell me you get energy from exercise! If I can still breathe in my jeans that I'm still driving to the corner store. Anyways... here's hoping that I can actually manage this Blogging thing and that there are many more to come.

Cheers!