I DEMAND my procrastinating to end!

Love the cartoon!

Okay, so today I'm going to force myself to get my big culo off the couch and far away from the TV! Plant it in front of my laptop and write! For the love of God - I haven't written a word for two weeks! Longer then that actually! *Groan*

Okay...

By Sunday I will have completed revisions on at least 3 chapters! That shouldn't be so hard! Right? Yeah, too bad I only write skeleton chapters the first time around! :)

Just my b%t@#ing fest! Sorry!

Oh Amy! Once again, I can't get over it! So I have to b!%@# a little to get this off my chest.

Okay... I know a writer's voice is very important! Very important, in most (if not all) cases determining whether someone buys your book or not. Is anyone entered in a competition that specifically looks at the writer's voice?

I judge two competitions, Winter Rose and Daphne DuMaurier - neither of them says anything about the writer's voice being a perticular way. Am I missing something? Is there something I just don't understand? How can someone comment on a writer's voice - or God forbid make suggestions on changes that should happen for no good reason except that the judge would prefer it.

I can't even begin to tell you how pissed off I am about this! Contests are such a great opportunity for any author to get feedback from an audience - not to get ripped apart for being unique.

ANYONE who can't get over their jealous attitude and judge a competition fairly need not apply for the job of judge! When you become a judge you are volunteering to provide authors with feedback that will HELP them with their writing goals - NOT make them want to quit writing and hide under a rock! Shame on anyone who makes another person feel less of a writer! Shame! It's hard enough without A$$#oles like them running around to make it in this industry! Find another way to take out your frustrations - one that will be more productive!

Looking for a critique partner!

Okay, so for the past year I've had some great victims to abuse for critiquing my writing... the same writing that I haven't been doing right now! :) Can you tell I'm disappointed in myself? :( But I'm just not into it right now, and I'm not going to force it!

So now I'm looking for a CP at one of my chapters (RWAOnline) thinking that it would be great to have someone look at my stuff and tell me truthfully - not that my other reading victims weren't evil bi%#es that set me straight anytime they thought I was mad - it's just that I need to hear it from another writer! You know what I mean? By the way I love my reading victims - they always know when to challenge me... That's to make sure that if one of them is reading they don't kill me! Or write 'Reject' right across my next ms... Covering my butt. ;)

I would love to find a CP in the area... but what are the chance? Does anyone have more than on CP? And where did you guys find your CP's? Any advice would be great!

Thursday Thirteen #5

Thirteen reasons I Love Winter 1…. Well, if you have the day off today because of a snowstorm then you know what I'm talking about for number 1... Day off school or work!!! Yay! 2.... You can go out and build snowmen! 3.... Helloooo..... snow angels! 4.... Hot chocolate has no calories and no fat when you drink it because it's ssooooo cold outside. 5.... I can watch the cat try to catch snowflakes through the window all day long! ;) Six years later she still thinks that by some miracle she'll actually be able to catch one! 6.... Any excuse for an extra cup of coffee I will support any day! 7.... In the winter you can always layer. In the summer, there's only so much you can take off! 8.... If you're having problems starting your car, you can always ask a hunky neighbour for help! :) 9.... If you have kids, this is a perfect opportunity to go out and play with them. 10.... I can watch my dog play in the snow all day long! She has light coloured blonde-white fur, and she knows it's hard to find her in the snow... she loves trying to hide... and I love trying to find her. Just the thought puts a smile on my face! 11.... I don't have to wear a bathing suit in the winter - hello! That means I want dessert! 12.... I have more time to relax... because seriously who's in a rush to leave the house? 13.... Did I mention I don't have to wear a bathing suit? :) Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

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Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Oh my! It's already here... I'm not even sure how time passes by so quickly. Next thing you know it will be Christmas. Again.

I haven't been blogging... my husbands is still pretty sick so I'm paying more attention to him then anything else... like the course with that Molly is teaching! Yikes! 147 messages... and the more that pile up the more I dread looking at them!

My goals for the week have quickly gone down the toilet, but still have a chance of possibly being salvaged if I can manage to focus on my writing on the weekend.

Then there's our snowstorm! :) If you're currently burried in 11 feet of snow you might not want to read this... so move on... As for the rest... :) :) I love snow!!! It is sooooo gorgeous outside! And even though I have to go out and somehow make my way from Scarborough to Pickering in a couple of hours... I'm still happy! Could it be a more beautiful Valentine's Day? :)

So hopefully I'll get through my messages, get my crap together and get back to my writing. Hopefully. ;) No rush though, not while there's snow on the ground. :) Okay, I'll stop smiling, for fear that one of you might want to kick my ass... all the Winter haters! ;)

Tagged!

Okay, I got tagged by Amy for this meme. You have to write about 10 odd facts or habits about yourself. Then tag 10 other people to do the meme.

Okay, so here is mine... warning in advance... I have a lot of food habits, so a lot of these are based on food. :)

1. I love steak! And since I've tried it at every restaurant known to man, I have found my favourite - Ruby Tuesday's in Buffalo New York. Now every time I want a good steak I get in my car - drag someone with me of course - and go to NY! :) I'm stubborn... if I want steak then it's worth the two and a half hour drive to Ruby Tuesday's to me! Mmmmmm.... craving.

2. I only eat the middle of perogies. Filling, yum... dough, not so much! Just for those of you who don't know me... no I am not six years old, but yes I don't like my food touching! Not unless it's gravy on my mashed potatoes.

3. Whenever I'm craving a chocolate bar, instead of going out to buy one, I reproduce it in my handy dandy kitchen! Yeah! My latest creations... turtles and when I had that done, turtles brownies! Mmmmm!!! Up side, they were great! Down side, usually I have to avoid the scale!

4. Whenever eating Russell Stover Mint Dreams (they only sell these in the U.S.) it's like a big chocolate ball that's hollow and filled in with the lightest fluffiest mint cream stuff, (Wylie - that's the chocolate!) Anyways... I dig a small hole a scoop out the mint cream, eat it first and then eat the chocolate. If I didn't drive down for the steak, I would drive down only for the mint dreams! Oh soooooo worth it!

5. I love eating dinner for breakfast! I'm not an eggs and bacon girl. Actually I'm not big on breakfast foods. But give me mashed potatoes and steak or whatever else I made for dinner the night before and I can eat at 6am! Yum! Sometimes I get excited about what I'm going to have for breakfast! Did I mention I love food?

6. I don't drink any alcohol! None. I can't stand the smell, it makes me sick! Never had a beer, never had a drink, just tasted them (well, I guess that can be argued here.) My Tiramisu has to have rum though, no fake imitation tasking crap! I mean mind numbing yum, yum good rum, that all Tiramisu's should taste of! :) Alcoholic at heart right?

7. Okay, not a foodie.... I hate watching reruns! There are only three movies that I can stand watching over and over again... Spider Man 1, Spider Man 2, and Dirty Dancing. That's it! If it's a horror movie I feel even more strongly, and tend to get slightly upset when someone suggests it. I do not need to watch Saw again... I know what happens! And Sixth Sense... great movie! The one film that actually surprised me at the end! Loved it! Will I sit down to watch it again? Hell no!

8. I love talking in crowds! I managed a high volume retail store, where I had over two-hundred fifty staff during the holidays... I love the attention! I love having a good time! I love talking to them all! The interaction, the conversation, just over all the crowd! Loved it all! But put me in a room of ten people that I don't know... hell, make it five! And all I want to do is sink into my chair or stick my head in the sand! I'm sooooo shy when I have to talk to groups of people that don't know me! Weird huh?

9. Oooooh... these are getting harder! I bite my lip when I get nervous, or watching a scary movie. Yeah, yeah, I know a lot of people in books do it. But I don't actually know anyone else who does it. After talking about food for so long, I'm sorry I'm talking about this, but sometimes (okay, I won't lie - a lot of times) I end up picking at my lip to blood! Ewwwwwe! I know! But I've been doing it my entire life and can't stop! My mom and husband always slap my hand away when they see me doing it! :)

10. I'm absolutely terrified of downtown! I will never go by myself! Ever! I will never get a job downtown and I sure as hell will never go for an interview there. No idea why! Well, okay I have some idea... but it's not perfectly clear to even me. I've probably been to Eaton Center a whopping 4 times in my entire life! And the only time I ever force myself to go is for charity... like the aids walks and all that stuff, and I always go in groups of people. I won't go to restaurants, won't go ice skating, won't go anywhere! No thanks! The only thing I miss is street meat! :) But you can get that in the Yorkdale area, so not much to miss! Wait till the TRW March meeting... Dundas sounds downtownie to me! Shaking in my boots! :)

Okay so I don't even have 10 people I can tag... so whoever wants to play along please do! :)

My Red Lobster

What? I'm posting pictures of a lobster now? ;)

Okay, so I haven't written anything since Thursday. First I wasn't feeling well, then my husband got sick. We ended up going to the doctor's together, and both got some medicine.

On Saturday, we had a great Toronto Romance Writer's Meeting. I got to meet Wylie! Which was fabulous because now I can put a face to the name! :) I also got to see Amy again, and to meet a couple of other new member of TRW.

It was a great meeting. Molly O'Keefe spoke about Great beginnings, rules that we've heard, and things we (as readers) didn't like seeing in other author's books. Molly was hillarious! She made me think about a lot of rules that I have heard about writing over the years, and I'm so glad she stomped all over them, because I'm breaking a lot! ;) What do you mean a book can't open at a funeral and with your characters in conversation?

So all was well, a wonderful meeting with lots of take aways. I came home giddy and excited to get back to my writing and accentuate how my WIP begins... I want everyone to know their at a funeral! :) Screw the rules! And I'm thinking all of this as I open my door....

To my poor red lobster! My husband had an allergic reaction to the medication he was on and is completely red, like a sunburn, and sick out of his mind. :(

My sister, who is a nurse, came over to help me with him, and after some Benadryl, Tylenol and serious recoup he looks a little better today. :) He actually made a joke... "You think it will turn into a tan?"

I can laugh a little bit about the lobster thing today... a little, but I have a feeling a year from now it will be a much funnier moment. :)