hotter than blazes out there

Seriously, summer is the season I like the least. I love fall (leaves falling, pumpkins, Halloween, world's fairs, Thanksgiving). I appreciate winter (it is so poetic, and also I enjoy a few winter sports). I like spring and the flowers that bloom, along with the gentle breezes. I do not enjoy feeling like I'm in a toaster oven. I realize this is the important part of summer, because without it, I'm not going to get those tomatoes from the garden, nor my apples off the trees. But, I do dream of other seasons. And the Dog Days of summer are on the way, still.

Whippoorwill Review at Prism Book Alliance

Leisa at Prism Book Alliance reviewed "How Sweetly the Whippoorwill Sings", and gave it a glowing 4.5 (out of 5) stars!

Best of all, she loves the title, which I have to say, is something about the story that makes me happy every time I write it. Titles don't come easily to me, and I really think this is a beautiful title.

Here's the Link to Leisa's review

summer time, and the eating is making me FULL

It finally feels like summer, and the cookouts are becoming plentiful! I was invited to one today and brought a dish to share, and then gobbled up the offerings make by everyone else. It is amazing to me how creative people are when it comes to 'salad'. Even when you might call it 'pasta salad', the two salads might be exceptionally different. I ate far too much and am sitting about now with a very full belly, and growing sleepier by the minute. (I am very grateful to be able to have such an opportunity, not everyone is as food secure.) I need to remember this. Wouldn't a summer BBQ be a lovely place to have two characters meet and get to know each other? That'd be a fun little story. Love in the Time of Lawn Darts. I even have a title! *giggles* In other news, I do have my marketing sheet for Nuts, Bolts, and Chihuahuas and I am seriously contemplating writing an additional bit of story as part of it. I have a small idea and I'm letting it percolate. (Dear brain, percolate faster, please. Pretty please.) Have a pleasant evening!

sneaking in the edits before the workman shows

I'm waiting on a workman this morning to fix something (which I should not be doing, this shouldn't have been overlooked when previously the work was originally performed, but this is apparently how life works, ba-humbug), and I received back my edits for Nuts, Bolts, and Chihuahuas, so I guess this morning I am going to wrestle with some grammar.

Set to publish in August, this was my submission for Torquere Press' Dawg Days of Summer Anthology -- a bold bundle of dog and wolf shifter stories. While not my first foray into the world of make-believe, fantasy, or magical realism, I don't believe I had actually written a shifter story before.

As the title suggests, I went another direction. ~*evil cackle*~

fragrant curry on a Monday

I'm home today with appointments happening at home that I need to be here for, so to keep me occupied, I was doing all the prep work for curry.

Here's the recipe I like to use, though I have made it enough now that I go through considerable variation on some of the ingredients, to tune it more to my liking. The biggest is that I use black beans instead of red kidney beans, just because I think they are yummier. CURRY

And here's a photo of my prep work!

I do quite like food. And I often include food in my stories. (To the point where I've received feedback: what's with all the cooking? But...story cooking is *free* calories. It also doesn't require going on long bouts of exercise to mitigate a midnight ice cream run.)

going to the park...the dog park

Today's Adventure will include a trip to the dog park for some exciting dog escapades. I've organized a combo trip -- a doggie playdate! This should be fun...if it isn't a disaster! ;P

no spoons, no knives, no forks

No writing today, either. But I did spend it catching up on grocery shopping (apparently you have to *buy* food if you want it in the house to eat when you become hungry, what a strange thing!) and it took me over 2 hours to do that. Then, I stopped at a neighborhood yard sale. They had at least 8 different households with tables set up. I saw books, clothes, sports equipment, glassware, shoes, toys, weird things I didn't know what they did, antique-type stuff like old cola bottles, exercise equipment, artwork, etc. But not a single piece of cutlery. Come to think of it, I can't ever remember coming across eating utensils at a tag sale, ever. I wanted to score an extra set to bring to work. (So I could be re-usable, and maybe grab a few extra for the lunch-room drawer for others who needed them, instead of always wasting plastic ones.) Apparently, these items are precious to us all, and are never put on offer. It is sort of bizarre, isn't it? And yet, so undeniably human.

999 words on a page

(It makes me think of the bottles of beer on a wall song....) Anyway, I experimented this morning with getting up early to write. I ended up getting 20 minutes in, and wrote just under 300 words, to give me a solid 999 words on the current work in progress. I just couldn't manage to eke out one more word! Once I got out of bed (that is the *hardest* part), I did okay. And it was nice to have that mug of coffee, too. I don't know if I can manage this every morning (it would require going to bed on time, who does that?!?) but for a sample size of 1, it was a success. :)

evening might be too late, and morning too early

I've been mulling over the possibility that I need to shift my writing time to pre-work. I'm usually an afternoon writer, an early evening writer. I don't do late nights very well. And honestly, I probably say afternoon/evening only because during the main portion of the day I'm at my Daily Grind. (I suspect I would probably be an 11 o'clock writer if given the choice. That's usually when my best ideas jumble along, and I have to set them aside to do other work.) But lately, I can't write in the evening. By the time I get home, take care of things, etc., I'm too sleepy and tired. I've tried to take naps, but (oh, do I love a nap) I really need to admit, they aren't naps. They are mini-night-sleeps. I already have so much packed into my mornings (often a work-out!) that I hesitate to try to put my writing there. But maybe next week I'll give it a go, and try it for 5 days and see what happens.

Guest Post: Pink is Perfection

I did a guest post on the wonderful Lex Chase's blog, and wrote about my relationship with the color pink.

Go see: Pink is Perfection at Lex Chase's Blog

7-7-7 meme

Suki Fleet tagged me for this meme, and it seemed like a fun thing. I'm no good at picking people to tag, so if you feel like joining in, please do!

The meme: Post 7 lines from a WIP, from page 7 or 77, starting on the 7th line down. (You can fudge if you have to so it makes sense.)

Excerpt from Pyresnake:

A small part of his brain whispered the suggestion that having wild creatures in the basement might be a useful bit of knowledge for the investigation. He didn't know enough about snakes to guess if they could have been a reason for the fire, but he certainly knew that rodents often chewed into wires. Where there were snakes, there might be other creepy-crawly things. Deciding that he would try smaller retreating movements, Brandon slid one foot back carefully, lightly. Then he did the same with his other foot, until he'd a better cushion of safety between himself and the snakes.

Whippoorwill Reviews!!

I've gotten two very nice reviews for How Sweetly the Whippoorwill Sings, and I'm super excited about them.

Go here for a Hearts on Fire review, where the story gets a solid 3 hearts (of pretty rainbow-ness).

And go here for a Boys in Our Books review , which also gets a solid 3 stars (though not in rainbow coloration).

Both reviews wished the story was longer (that perhaps being their main consideration), which as a critique is actually music to a writer's heart. I translate that into: write more! I want to read more!

My strength is definitely to writing shorter pieces, and I need to keep working on writing longer stories!

when you can't talk fast enough

Sometimes you just have to curse the limitations of a physical body. Like when a friend comes to visit that you haven't seen in three years and you realize that even though you've kept in touch by phone, text, e-mail, and web sites, that it doesn't make up for being in person and talking. And that you have a limited amount of time, and your mouth just won't move any faster!

sleepy-eyed check in

It's late and I'm up paying bills (I#*&!!*#$) in anticipation of a friend visiting tomorrow. This way, things are set-up and I don't have to fret, and can focus on doing fun things. I'm *so* looking forward to this. I've been thinking I'm a little burned out lately. Okay, then! Back to the ledger. I thought I'd pop up and wave, and then quietly sink below again....

weekend, why do you leave me so soon?

I had a lovely, busy weekend. I did a 5k charity run (coming in somewhere in the upper 600's, yeah, I'm not really fast), and got in some very long bike rides, and went to a chicken BBQ, and went to a concert for a family member. (I do admit to spending some time perusing the pamphlet looking at names and considering them for use in stories when some of the songs weren't quite my favorites.) In past years I've really been keen on pushing myself and training hard (for personal bests, as I said before, I'm not actually all that fast), but I think this year I may have hit the wall on that. I enjoy the ambiance on race day, but the mental fortitude needed to push myself forward to go faster has lapsed. I'm content to lope along and do well, but not brilliantly. I think I will consider this a 'win', however, as if I'm not out training all the time, I will be inside writing more.

Tragedy!

Tragedy! I planted 3 ground cherry plants in the garden and saved the other 3 from the pack for my mom. Yeah, due to a moment of inattention when the puppy was out on the lead for a morning break, those ground cherries sproutlings are no more. :(

they only flower for two weeks each year

They only flower for two weeks each year, and we are just at the tail-end of the flowering season, but when they are in full bloom, they are gorgeous. The sweet scent fills the air, and the lightest of winds causes the luscious blooms to drift through the air like gossamer rain. I took a few photos. It is too hard to decide which color is prettiest -- there are dark pinks, bright pinks, and whites. I suppose I would have said white, but lately I feel like I need to be partial to pink, so I'm going to cast my vote for the vibrant pink blooms.