Who doesn't love giveaways???

One of my blogging friends, J.L. Jackson is having a Welcoming the Fall Giveaway. If you haven't already been there, then go there and sign up and you could possibly walk away with some more books to add to your TBR (to be read) pile. She has a spectacular blog and is very entertaining. Like I said, if you haven't been there, go there now and check it out! Thank you friends for all of your support.

Hello crazy lady…

Needless to say that I think that is what the peanut football team is labeling me lately.  As I sit watching…ok sometimes looking up to watch practice between checking my iPhone for email, scribbling notes in my notebook for story ideas and reading a book…I sometimes have thoughts out loud.

Yes, thoughts out loud. No, thank fully I don’t answer myself during the conversation and most times my husband could be sitting beside me in the next chair but he will be napping so I am having a one sided conversation with my trusty self.

Self…here is another great idea for a story. Yes! That’s perfect…I would say satisfactorily loud—or no…no…no! and the little players would just look at me crazy like hey lady we didn’t even make a play yet—shake their little heads at me and continue on. I know that they are very thankful that I am not the coach. Lol J

Have you ever caught yourself talking out loud for story ideas or just in general over something or nothing in your life? I do it all the time so if you do…just know you are not alone.

My Ground Hog’s Day Spectacular…with 50 First Dates!

Have you ever felt like you are trapped in the same day – everyday and that there is no escaping it?  I have. It is not always the same day everyday…most of it is the same—just small variations make adjustments of the outcome.

If you have every watched Bill Murray in “Ground Hog’s Day”, you may have been amused…even laughed a couple times or through the entire movie. I wish that it were that simple to laugh about.

*DEEP BREATH*

For those of you who are not familiar with my life, let me explain to you that my husband was injured three years ago in a construction accident. He was hit in the head (while wearing a hard hat – thank goodness!) with a 9 foot steel beam that fell 12 feet.

They diagnosed him with TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). He suffers from continuous pain that is sort of like a migraine, short term memory issues, behavior issues, and blanks out to where he sort of spaces out and walks around and ends up in places that he does not remember going. This has resulted in him not being able to hold a job or drive. Plus they just told us this is all permanent and he is unfixable.

So when I say Ground Hog’s Day that relates to his short term memory. If you have ever watched “50 First Dates” with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler…then understand that he is my Drew. Once he goes to bed, the slate wipes clean and we start over. He is supposed to keep a journal so that he knows what happened, but doesn’t always do that. So for those of you who have had a marital spat…try having the same one three days in a row because your husband forgot that you told him something or forgot that you already had that fight.

Things have been hard on us for awhile now with this work related injury alone…but I must keep going because we have five children. Two are his, two are mine and one if ours together. His daughter lives with her mother and the other four live with us. Well that was up until two months ago. My 16 year old daughter moved out and moved in with her father because she couldn’t be in the same house with my husband’s behavior issues or lack of good behavior. This broke my heart but I am dealing thinking that the medications that they are giving my husband will eventually help him and we will get him in a good place. In the mean time…I miss my daughter terribly.

One minute he is supportive of my writing, the next he is tearing the internet satellite out of the ground with the tractor…so for those of you that I was beta reading for—it is not that I was trying to slack—I love the work you are doing and it is all brilliant and hope that you send me more. I just had to start trying to squeeze things in on my lunch hours and at breaks at work. I even got an iPhone with internet…

I can come home and if he is bored from staying home he will rip a room apart to be remodeled and then I am stuck with cleaning up a mess and spending all of my free time redoing a room. So he is a box of chocolates because you never know what you are going to get when you go home. He could be nice, sweet, loveable, bitter, jealous, rude…basically my own Jekyll and Hyde.  So if there are any of you out there that have a loved one that is suffering with a traumatic brain injury, you are not alone. I know how you feel and may know what you go through.

So when I say I am muddling through…that is what I am trying to do. So tell me my wonderful faithfuls that keep me motivated and that I adore very much…have you ever had anything that you would call your groundhog’s day or even have the same dream over and over again?

Of course you know this is why I have so many raw emotions to use in my writing and so many ideas. Writing is my escape and it has saved me more times than I can count. It keeps me sane.

Chapter breaks and new beginnings.

Today I am curious to know how many people know when to make the right break in a chapter and when their chapters seem to run on and on. Do you know when to transition to a new chapter?

I myself get lost in my story and continuously write without knowing when to break the chapter at the right time. It is not until either a brilliant beta or editing for the sixth time do I realize that I need to break a chapter up into several chapters. Sometimes my chapters can get lengthy and now that I am in the editing process for the millionth time, I am finding it easier to pace the chapters and break them into places where they transition better than they did before.

This is something that I did not even realize before being an amateur writer but am learning as I go. Without the assistance of beta readers and critique partners then I would be in a world of hurt trying to submit something that would surely be put into a slush pile and immediately be rejected.

How easy to chapter breaks come to you? Did it come naturally or was it something that you learned over time with the help of others? Lord knows I need all the help I can get and am greatly appreciative of those who help and support me in venture towards a writing career. Please share your secrets with us to help many of us struggling with this issue out! Thank you for your thoughts and suggestions.

Sorting through the sludge

Do you ever have so much going on that you have to sort through all the things around you and prioritize?  That is what I have been working on for the past two weeks. Hectic sports schedules and being away from home make writing a challenge…but even more challenging is not having internet.

I have been without internet for over two months and it is making things difficult. I have to wait until I am somewhere that I can download files in order to do my beta reading and some of my other networking things. I did get myself an IPhone with internet, but it is not always easy to read on there nor do some of the documents that I would love to be doing instead of sitting through an hour and half football practice.

Don’t get me wrong, I love to watch my son practice…but, it is very time consuming to be away from the computer.  I really haven’t worked on the projects that I have been promising myself that I would work on…but I am getting to that.

I admire those who are more organized and structured than I am. I used to be very controlled and structured, but I think that for me I fell off the organization wagon after my husband was injured. He can be very time consuming also when we have to travel an hour and half to go to his therapy sessions and other doctors treating him.

So tell me…do you need a little more organization in your life?  Are there things that take over from time to time and leave you stranded like sports or other activities? How late do you stay up to get things done?

Deadly Sin # 7…PRIDE

Pride is considered the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins, and indeed the ultimate source from which the others arise. Identified as a desire to be more important or attractive than others, failing to acknowledge the good work of others, and excessive love of self.

I have self pride (I like me and am proud to call myself author), but cannot say that I want to be better or thought differently about than anyone else. I would also be displeased with myself if I failed to acknowledge others for their hard work or achievements.

This reminds me of the phrase ‘Keeping up with the Jones’. People like that tend to be annoying at times, but I usually just let them be. They are who they are and I am me. I cannot better myself by belittling anyone else, so I try not to be a hater.

Some days I win and some days I lose. I am not perfect. So tell me dearest readers, friends and random passers by who secretly want to start following my blog *wink*wink*, have you run across a sin suffer of Pride? Or perhaps you have suffered this curse yourself. I am not here to judge. I love you for who you are. And who you are is what makes you special to me. Don’t change!

Besides, who the hell are the Jones’ anyway and where did they get all their money? lol

Holiday and Holland...who would have thought??

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Since this is a long weekend for me because my office is going to be closed on Monday, I am going to take advantage of the time off and spend time with some family that is coming over from Holland.

My husband's family are coming over for a visit. It is his Aunt Gusta. I can't wait to meet her, I am so excited. I really want to get the chance to go there and visit with her in Amsterdam as well some day.

I am also hoping to get some writing done and editing. I have another book idea floating around in my head but have a lot of unfinished business to take care of as well.

Also has anyone heard from our wonderful friend Laura Kaponer?? I haven't heard from her for some time and am missing her. So if anyone is in communico with her please tell her hello and that I miss her. Thank you.

Also, I did splurge and buy myself the purdiest little gadget...the iphone 4. I love it so. I am obsessed with it already and I have never owned one before. Please, no negative comments...let me enjoy my high. Now I can be internet friendly from my phone. Yeah.

Alright my precious friends. Please be careful and enjoy your holiday and weekend.