Pure Glucose

LJ on the Fringe

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:35:37 GMT

I've lost a post I wrote on May 10 wherein I was lamenting how I'm turning 41 this summer. It no longer shows up on my 'recent entries' feed, which is too bad because without it, I look like I haven't written anything remotely interesting for weeks at a time.

Well, maybe I haven't written anything interesting anyway. But still. I wrote the damn post, people should be able to read it, right?

The link I put above seems to be going to the specific post, but it still won't show up anywhere else. Does anyone know how I can get my post(s) back? (God only knows how many else may now be gone.) I suppose I could go to one of the forums, but they get a zillion comments every day and I doubt I'd get a reply.

This has never happened before. It's so weird, and annoying.

Does anyone know if there is or will be a LJ community auction for Oklahoma?

Tue, 21 May 2013 20:28:12 GMT

Hey, Flisties! I've just donated to Global Giving for the Oklahoma tornado victims, but I was hoping I could participate in an auction as well. Do you know if there will be or is a community like help_japan for Oklahoma? I tried to find one yesterday but was unsuccessful, though it was probably too early.

Thank you!

If You Do One Thing To Procrastinate Today, Do This:

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:30:46 GMT

Read this brilliant, LOL-funny and genuinely heartwarming post on an awesome prank that ended up creating positive change in the writer's workplace.

(Please note that the illustrations are NSFW.)

At The Hawkeye Initiative, via The Mary Sue

Now go read it. Because we are free to fight. More or less.

Crowdsourcing for the Win!

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 01:47:28 GMT

View Poll: Help me title my new fantasy novel!

(The novel involves magic-users and kingdoms and blood sacrifice. In case it wasn't obvious.)

Thanks, Flisties! Your help is much appreciated. Sometimes I hate having to name novels even more than writing summaries.

I'm sharing this because it just makes me so damn happy.

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 19:57:52 GMT

This is one of the best fanvids ever, as far as I'm concerned. It's a grand, glorious and sometimes funny celebration of sci-fi fandom--and their starships. Especially their starships. Set to the music of Niki Minaj's Starships. Of course. And there's plenty of Star Wars, Star Trek: Voyager, Firefly and Stargate: Atlantis, which makes me extra-happy.

As forever, I found this via The Mary Sue. Needless to say the lyrics are NSFW.

ETA: Very belatedly let me credit bironic, who made this vid of awesome.

But if you lay waste to everything, who's going to clean it up?

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:57:48 GMT

I had the lovely experience of being able to share Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy with my son last week. I hadn't watched any of the movies since The Return of the King came out in 2003 (It's been ten years? Really? Wow), so I had almost as much fun as the Jav reacquainting myself with the story and the beautiful ~~actors~~ production design.

**Beautiful production design (Actor Karl Urban)**

But--and there always is one--watching the movies reminded me of some of the things that had confused me the first time.

Aside from my inability to understand why the Fellowship wasn't entirely made up of Elves (the Mary-Sue race of Middle Earth), or why the Dwarf Lords and Elves didn't have any problems with their rings, I also have to admit I don't really understand Sauron's motivation.

Sure, I've always loved the idea of Evil for Evil's Sake villains. Some people just want to see others suffer, and plotwise I'm totally down with that.

But, what's the point of making your enemies suffer if you're just going to kill them all? As far as I gleaned from the three movies, Sauron wanted to kill "all Men" [i.e., sexist for Humans] in Middle Earth and conquer everything. (And then share it all with his BFF Saurumon, because how could you not love a homie with such great hair and a similar name?).

**Especially when they suffer so beautifully**

Okay, sure. Except, once all the men were gone ~~leaving the women~~, who would Sauron rule with his iron fists and giant, spastic eyeball? The Elves were already blowing the Middle Earth Popsicle stand ASAP, and the Humans would be dead, so that would leave...Hobbits. Hobbits, Orcs, Uruk-hai and Trolls. And maybe Ents, until they were all chopped down or went extinct after misplacing their wives.

Personally, I love Hobbits. They're adorable, brave, love food and are actually shorter than I am. But I'm not sure how awesome they'd be as the unwilling subjects of pure evil. And Orcs and Uruk-hai are kind of stupid and they smell bad. I'm not sure Sauron had a nose after his ring finger got chopped off and he melted, but I'm sure he'd be able to tell. I guess the Ring Wraiths would be around too, but they don't seem very good with conversation.

I also think that constant death and destruction would get boring after a while, but that may just be me. There's also the issue of the economy crashing without anyone to sustain it. Maybe Sauron was going to rule over the people from the Southern and Eastern lands he forced (in my mind he totally forced) to serve him. But that still leaves the economy problem because once the shadow of Mordor expanded to encompass everything, agriculture would become problematic. And all-male subjects can't really have babies.

**Giant, spastic eyeball**

Not that I'm planning this anytime soon, but if I were to take over a continent out of pure malice, I'd probably want to keep some of the Humans alive so I'd always have someone to gibber in terror or be sent to the mines (at some point they always get sent to the mines). Otherwise it'd be like singing in the shower: sure, your voice might be fantastic, but who else will ever know?

Maybe Sauron didn't entirely think things through, when he realized the Ring was still available and he could pull the greatest comeback in history before being upstaged by a returning king. Or maybe he just really likes Orcs. He had Saurumon make enough of them.

**(Actor Sala Baker)**

Of course, they do clean up rather nicely.

I can't draw, but I can type!

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 02:18:38 GMT

Dreamspinner Press is looking for new cover artists. And since I know a few of my FListies can draw, I wanted to pass this on. (DSP is also very aware of and sympathetic to fandom and fanfic, so I'm sure that the cover art could include covers for fanfiction stories.)

CALL FOR COVER ARTISTS
Issued by Associate Art Director Paul Richmond on 3/8/13

Dreamspinner Press is expanding cover art production. We are now accepting expressions of interest from experienced artists, specifically those with skills in drawn art as opposed to photo manipulation.

Dreamspinner publishes gay romance stories in lengths of 5,000 to 150,000+ words in a wide variety of genres, including fantasy/paranormal, mystery/suspense, science fiction, steampunk, and other specialty genres. Please visit Dreamspinnerpress.com.

to see examples of our published cover art. Priority consideration will be given to artists with experience creating cover art for M/M fiction in these genres.

A resume/CV and portfolio or link to a portfolio is required. References may be requested upon review of your submitted materials.

For more information, e-mail Associate Art Director Paul Richmond at paul @ dreamspinnerpress . com. Please include "CONTRACTOR" in the subject line of your e-mail for proper consideration.

Expressions of interest will be accepted for a limited time, depending upon response.

A sad truth about writing the bad guys

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:36:07 GMT

I was all set to make my villains torch-and-pitchfork-because-of-fear villagers, because I liked the idea of my novel having antagonists but not any conventional villains. (This would be my next novel; the one I'm working on does have conventional tear-your-entrails-out-because-it's-fun villains. I'm trying to change things up, yo.)

Great idea, right? Of course! Awesome! Bring on the unconventionality! And then I realized that if I do that I have two problems. Two fairly big problems:

1) Unless I have the protagonist kill them all, they have no reason to stop coming after him*, and this isn't the kind of story where the actually-friendly protagonist will have time or opportunity to convince anyone of his good intentions. Which makes the happy ending problematic.

2) If I have the protagonist kill them all, he won't be the protagonist so much as a mass murderer. Which makes a happy ending impossible.

Oops.

Luckily, I have another idea! Sort of! I just wanted to share my ~~useless~~ doubtlessly fascinating insight. Now I need to motivate the bad guys.

*(my plan is to send this one to Dreamspinner Press, and they only take books with male protagonists. The novel I'm currently revising stars a woman. Yes, I felt the need to mention that.)

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPad.

Voices Bouncing off the Moon

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 21:57:36 GMT

Anybody out there want to hear a wonderful song co-written by a Canadian astronaut and Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies? Of course you would.

Commander Chris Hadfield: 52, prize-winning military test pilot, driver of the Canadarm, veteran Astronaut and very soon to be commander of the International Space Station. He was also born on a farm in rural Ontario, plays guitar and sings in two all-astronaut rock bands, and has had Twitter conversations with Starfleet. From space.

**Not to mention that he totally rocks that mustache**

You might notice that his mission crest is in the shape of a guitar pick because, awesome (as well as the mission's emphasis on science and art).

Obviously it would be harder for this guy to get much cooler, and yet he manages it, with the help of the Barenaked Ladies, a school choir and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. How? By preforming with them from the International Space Station, singing a song he co-wrote with Ed Robertson.

Yes, O best-beloveds, Commander Chris Hadfield also writes his own music. When he's not commanding a space mission, driving the Canadarm or tweeting. From space.

The song is called I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing?), and premiered February 8 on the CBC. It's a sweetly geeky mashup of science and art like the mission itself, with lines like If you could see our nation; from the International Space Station; You'd know why I want to get back soon, which is perfect in it's typically quiet Canadian patriotism. (If you Commonwealthers out there are wondering why Hatfield uses Imperial instead of Metric measurements in the song, I'm fairly sure it comes down to his having likely been in high school when Canada changed to the Metric system, as well as his years working with Americans.)

It's also a beautiful piece of music in its own right, which makes me tear up every time I listen to it. Because I'm Canadian and we're all giant saps when it comes to our homeland.

Here's the song on YouTube, and a link to the music and lyrics.

This song makes me especially happy because I'm getting home as soon as Friday, visiting my family over the March break. And you can bet I'll get teary-eyed every time I hear it, doubtless to my dear sister's great amusement.

Disney might own the Muppets, but it's still not easy being green

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 21:48:14 GMT

This week's Entertainment Weekly (it's my husband's subscription, I swear!) had an article about the Wizard of Oz movie prequel, which I didn't really care about but read part of anyway because ~~procrastination is my friend~~ I was bored. I didn't actually finish the article (TL;Not going to watch the movie), but I did come across something that made me go O_O.

According to the article (which I can't link to, so you'll have to take my word for it), even though it was legal for Disney to create Oz the Great and Powerful, because the original novel by L. Frank Baum was published in 1900 and therefore is in the public domain, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer owns the copyright for the 1939 The Wizard of Oz film based on the book and apparently sent lawyers to the prequel movie set to make sure that Disney didn't actually copy anything from the film. Okay, sure. Not unreasonable. Except that one of the things MGM's lawyers wanted to make certain Disney didn't copy was the shade of green of the Wicked Witch's skin. [Emphasis mine because WTF?]

Roughly four and a half shades darker than Kermit.

That particular fact was so WTF-ish for me that I've been thinking about it for several days. And while yes, I can sort of vaguely understand the concept behind why MGM would worry about something like that, what I still can't understand is the point.

I mean, is there anyone on the entire planet aside from MGM's lawyers who would give a dingo's kidney about whether the prequel witch's skin was Mantis green or Asparagus? (yes, these are actual colors.) Would anyone even notice? I'll admit I haven't seen The Wizard of Oz recently, but I didn't look at the EW cover and think, 'hey--that actresses' boobs are four shades lighter than the witch's face in the original.' (I was actually thinking that the witch was showing an exceptional amount of cleavage for someone whose sole method of transportation involved constant headwind.) Hell, I'd just assumed that it was the same green anyway, because who wouldn't? It's a prequel to a movie with a green witch in it--of course everyone's going to assume it's the same green. And in all honesty, the fact that it isn't due to MGM's lawyers just makes MGM look silly.

Got you, my pretty! And your ancillary rights, too!

But leaving that aside, what MGM and I would also dare say most of the large media companies don't get, is that fanworks only add to the original, not diminish it. To my mind, Disney's prequel is arguably a fanwork, because it wouldn't exist without the original movie. And therefore, I figure MGM should have seen how cool that would be for them and just let Disney use whatever damn green they wanted. Disney wants that same cyclic-hued Horse of a Different Color too? Awesome. The more continuity the better.

Why? For the one simple reason that a lot of media companies are still struggling with: Because fanworks enhance the enjoyment of the original work among the fans, and even bring new fans to the original work. How many of us have bought a song because we heard it on a fanvid? How many of us watched a TV show or movie after reading the fanfic? And how many of us have lamented that we would have stopped watching a given TV show except for wanting to keep up with the fanfiction?

People are going to watch Oz the Great and Powerful because it's a prequel to MGM's The Wizard of Oz. MGM knows that, which means they also have to know that because of the prequel, more people will be drawn to watch or re-watch their original movie. Even if the prequel is terrible--maybe especially if the prequel is terrible--people will still want to watch the better original movie. For Disney, Oz the Great and Powerful is a risk; for MGM it's win/win.

But God forbid MGM help enhance the connection between the prequel and the original by letting Disney use the same color green. It seems so nearsighted and petty.

Personally, I prefer Disney's green anyway. But man, she's going to need a shawl or something.

Hundred Million Bottles

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 20:00:41 GMT

Google, as I was probably the last to know, is introducing a new fangle called 'Google Glass', which isn't glass of any kind so much as a headband that includes a little box over your right eye and can record whatever you're doing at any given moment. It also can send (but not receive) messages, use Google Maps (of course) and stream live video chats with your amazed buddies while you're doing all that other stuff. Here's a picture:

Happiness is as close as your eyeballs.

The generous techies at Google say they invented Google Glass because they want to free the world from the tyranny of looking down at their phones. With this device humans will once again be able to walk around with their heads held high, interacting with other humans and seeing the world around them. When they're not talking to their buddies online via video chat, sending voice messages, texting via voice, checking their email or playing the latest version of The Simms. (Texting, email, and games aren't available yet, but you know it'll happen.)

Aside from the inevitable privacy issues (do I really want my kind of creepy coworker recording our awkward conversation in the elevator?) and the car accidents, I have to say I'm not going to be the first one to buy this thing when it's available with free shipping at Amazon.com.

Why not? Well maybe it's just me, but when I see the pictures for these things, all I can think about are the hover chairs from Wall-e.

Luckily only the robot has to watch where he's going.

I remember back in the day (that day being the 80s) when the big thing was a Sony Walkman, which was a portable radio and cassette player you wore on your belt and listened to via the dorkiest earphones in existence at the time.

You kids these days just think you're cool. And get off my lawn.

They were eventually replaced by the Diskman for CDs, and eventually the iEverything. But even when the height of portable technology pulled your pants down on one side, there were already people who wore them everywhere, all the time. I even had a friend who told me he did it expressly so he wouldn't have to talk to anyone. And nowadays it's even easier.

Now, I'm far from the first person to ever lament how new technology leads to less face-to-face interaction. William Langland had a few things to say about it around 1362:

Wretched is the Hall...each day in the week /There the lord and lady liketh not to sit. / Now have the rich a rule to eat by themselves /In a privy parlour...for poor men's sake, /Or in a chamber with a chimney, and leave /the chief hall that was made for meals,/ for men to eat in.

He probably would have found the idea of Google Glass horrifying, and not just because it'd be worn by some guy in silver spandex stepping out of a time machine.

Langland was upset because the invention of fireplaces meant that the one percenters of the middle ages could go to their private rooms and ignore their employees. But these days, if you can afford the tech, it's possible to ignore everyone.

In this brave new century, you can choose not to interact with anyone in real life in favor of the one inside your phone, tablet, eBook reader or laptop. You can communicate with someone half way around the globe as easily as someone two feet in front of you--as long as they're not wearing earbuds. And soon Google will give us a newer and even better way to ignore the world, while convincing ourselves that we're still a part of it because we're not looking down. But the truth is we'll just be talking to ourselves, and looking at a spot a few inches in front of our faces.

Writing is awesome, except for how it sucks.

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 02:49:26 GMT

Don't get me wrong--I love writing. Mostly. Black Hawk Tattoo (Woot; there it is) is now in it's second month of being available, and hasn't quite fallen off ~~the face of the earth~~ the sort-of reasonable rankings on Amazon.com, but I figure it's going to happen ~~any second~~ pretty soon, so I'm trying to prepare myself for it. One of the ways I'm doing that is by more writing, because the more books you have, the more books people might buy from you, yo. The other way is to try not to worry about it (because I'm so good at not worrying).

What I've come to realize about this writing gig is that even when you succeed, there's anxiety. The difference is that now I'm worried about my next novel. Will anyone want to publish it? Will anyone want to buy it if it's published? Will anyone like it if they buy it? And how long will it stay anywhere reasonable on the Amazon rankings?

Yep. Yet more fun and excitement for me! And to think I actually somehow didn't anticipate this happening. Yeah, I'm awesome.

I do realize that in the grand scheme of things I have absolutely nothing to complain about. I know I've done well and I'm lucky and I'm definitely happy with and grateful for what I've accomplished. I'd just love to be able to relax, you know? Just a little. Slightly. Sometimes.

Second Call for Contest Winners!

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 02:30:36 GMT

Damn it--this is the second time LJ has eaten all the content I put in the post except for the link! >: How about I give missing information:

Last week I announced the winners of my Joke contest, but some of you lovely FListies haven't contacted me yet. So please click on the link and let me know if you won. :D

The other thing I posted that LJ erased (sigh) is that as of today Black Hawk Tattoo has been out for an entire month, and it's still in the Amazon.com Kindle top 100 for its genre, which is just awesome. :D It's number 9 on the Dreamspinner.com bestseller list, too.

The novel has also received some excellent reviews from Goodreads (and some not-so excellent reviews, but such is life).

So, I'm a happy camper! But I'd be an even happier camper if I could give all the contest winners their prizes. :D So please let me know if one of the winners is you!

Interesting Stuff: Top 10 myths surrounding NASA's Columbia space shuttle disaster - Science

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:05:19 GMT

On the tenth anniversary of the death of the Columbia crew, this is a fascinating article and a good reminder that we can't properly commemorate an event unless it's with the knowledge of what actually happened.

Top 10 myths surrounding NASA's Columbia space shuttle disaster - Science

And Now (Finally), The Winners!

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:04:24 GMT

Hey, Flisties. Here are the winners of the contest I ran last week to win a paperback or eBook copy of Black Hawk Tattoo. I would have had the results sooner, but certain Trusted Family Members(TM) were a little slower in getting back to me with their choices than I'd anticipated. I apologize for the wait.

If you're a winner, please either PM me via Live Journal, or email me at simple.carbohydrates AT gmail DOT com (replacing the capitalized words with the correct symbols). I'll need a mailing address for the paperback winners, and what format the eBook winners would prefer. Dreamspinner Press seems to have all digital formats available, including Kindle.

(Please scroll to the bottom of the page to see the comment.)

The First Paperback Goes To: Army versus Airforce. This one made me howl. It's awesome.

The Second Paperback Goes To: The Little Girl's Birthday Request. Another great one, with bonus cuteness.

(If either of the paperback winners would prefer an eBook copy, please just let me know.)

The eBooks Go To:

1) Deer Hunting with the Scientists. My dear husband--who is actually a statistician--didn't get the joke, which made it that much more funny to me. :)

2) The Fine and Upstanding Members of the RCMP. I chose this one partially because of how very, very Canadian it is. Nostalgia for the win!

3) How a Man is Like a Snowstorm. Simple, yet effective.

4) Cats and Dogs Have Different Views of the World. This one made me smile, but my husband loved it.

Thank you very, very much to everyone who participated! I really hope you enjoy the book. :)

And here's where I ~~timidly~~ ask if you'd be so kind as to please (please, please) leave a review on Amazon.com if you like it. That would be enormously appreciated.

My Novel is on Sale, Because Dreamspinner Press is Awesome. \o/

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 00:21:19 GMT

Specifically, it's awesome like this:

You may want to check out the 'Bestsellers' scroll on the lower right of the home page too. Just sayin'. :D

Congrats, DSP! :) I love my publisher.

(Black Hawk Tattoo is on sale, but if you want a chance to win a copy for FREE, come on over to my blog and take part in the contest!)

Black Hawk Tattoo is a Bestseller! Would Anyone Like to win a FREE Paperback (or eBook) Copy?

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 20:57:53 GMT

Black Hawk Tattoo is currently ranked at #9 and #11 out of the top 100 in its genres of kindle books. (It hit #4 and #5 last week, which is amazing, but unfortunately I was too sick at the time to post about it.)

Edit the Second: Okay, it's not ranked that high anymore, but it was! And it's still in the top 20 50, at least for the moment. :) So I'm happy. :)

It's also gotten some excellent reviews on Goodreads, and is ranted #91 out of the top 177 'Best Gay Soldiers' books and #58 out of the top 105 'Best Gay Romance Books with Tattooed Characters' (I can't help but smile at how specific that category is).

Obviously, I have a few reasons to celebrate! And by awesome serendipity, I also received my paperback copies of the novel this week. And that means it's contest time!

I thought that since Black Hawk Tattoo can be grim at times, it would be cool to have a contest that's the complete opposite of grim. So how about telling a joke?

Just comment anonymously with a favorite joke. You can comment as many times as you like, but please just leave one joke per comment. At the end of the week (Saturday or Sunday, depending on how much interest there is), I'll have some Trusted Family Members(TM) read the jokes with me and choose the winners!

The two first place winners will each receive one paperback copy of Black Hawk Tattoo. The four runner-ups will each receive one eBook copy of BHT in whatever format they prefer (including Kindle).

ETA: I'll unscreen and link to the winning comments, then have the winners email or PM me with their names and addresses.

Sound good? I hope so! :) Comment with the funnies, guys!

If you can't be a good example, you can at least be a cautionary tale, right?

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 02:35:38 GMT

Yeah, so, if everyone's saying you need to get the flu shot? Don't wait until January to do it. Because chances are it'll be too late by then. Like it was with me! It turns out that my poor little boy had already caught the flu a few days before we got the vaccine, and my husband and I caught it from him. Which was well-deserved, considering how much we suck as parents for not getting him the vaccine earlier.

Having the flu sucks, by the way. In case any of you were wondering. ::whines::

Don't let this happen to you, kids! Get the flu vaccine!

Preaching Kindness to the Choir

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 19:39:30 GMT

I was reading this essay by Becky Chambers on teaching her mother to play computer games. The essay itself is fascinating and rather sweet, but I was more interested in an anecdote Ms. Chambers included, about playing the Star Wars: The Old Republic online RPG with a group of strangers. During the game one player revealed that s/he was new and didn't understand part of the game, and the immediate response of the other group members was an angry demand to to kick that person out. No second chances, no patience, no kindness to a newbie whatsoever. Just kick kick kick.

So I was thinking about that, and how often people react to problems (especially problems with other people) with anger or even nastiness. I've seen my son do it--I sure as hell know I've done it--and I've read LJ posts where the bloggers lament co-workers who apparently went out of their way to be vindictive or just mean. And I've been many, many places where being indifferent or rude is so common that it's a memorable surprise when someone's friendly.

The thing is, I've noticed as I get older (and some days I feel very, very old indeed) that most of the time it's more of an effort to be nasty than to just take a breath and carry on. I've seen how much energy people I love put into resenting indifferent store clerks or seething at their neighbors, and it just seems exhausting. Who has time for that much negativity?

I've come to understand that this is why forgiveness is such a big thing--it's not actually for the person you forgive, it's for you. When you forgive someone, you don't have to deal with that hot ball of rage you have because of them anymore, and hot balls or rage are a bitch to carry around. I know because I still have a few of them, but I'm working on it.

I'm also working on forgiving the indifferent store clerks or the implacably inefficient receptionists or the downright rude food servers or the guy in front of me at the grocery store who used a cheque to pay for a bag of beef jerky and a pack of gum. Life is too short to be pissed-off so much of the time, and depending on how you choose to react, you can get pissed-off at everything.

One of the nicest things about being kind is that it doesn't even have to mean going out of your way; it can just mean taking a deep breath and carrying on. And that's actually pretty easy most of the time.

This is so completely, incredibly true.

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 19:15:32 GMT

More awesomeness, this time via the Mary Sue. I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard.

If Cats And Dogs Were People [VIDEO] | The Mary Sue

Still an Impaled Leaf on the Wind. Alas.

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:17:46 GMT

Saving Lives in Serenity: Can a Fanboy and Physics Change a Movie? | Guest Blog, Scientific American Blog Network

This is cool--Black Hawk Tattoo got it's first review on Amazon.com!

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:07:32 GMT

I promised myself I wouldn't read reviews because any negative ones would probably make me mope for days, but this morning my husband told me about this one.

5/5 stars!

Thank you, kind reviewer! :D You totally made my day.

ETA: Didn't this have a full title when I posted it yesterday?

Obligatory WHOOP Post

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 15:16:17 GMT

My novel, Black Hawk Tattoo, is out today at Dreamspinner Press!

Click on the banner to go to their New Releases page.

I'm going to have a few paperback copies and several ebook copies to give away, so I'll post something about that soon. In the meantime, I'm just going to sit here being excited. :)

No boundaries; no brakes

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:34:58 GMT

Yeah, I was mostly fine the whole weekend after learning about the school shooting on Friday, but today it seems I can't stop seeing things about it and I keep crying. Maybe because Jav's in school. I keep putting myself in the place of all those parents who lost their precious little boy or girl on Friday. And all those kids who were only five and six and who died frightened and wanting their mommies and daddies.

Obviously, I shouldn't do that. It's not doing me any good and it's not like it helps anyone, least of all me. But I can't not. I don't have very strong boundaries at the best of times and things like this tend to throw me. A lot.

I'll probably be fine tomorrow. But maybe I'll get my kid early today.

My Son Being Elfy (Elfish?) in an Appropriate Setting

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 03:37:25 GMT

At Lowe's, in front of the Christmas tree display. Because, where else?