Wednesday Wishes

This is Wednesday leaning out of her cat tree. She may look like just your average gray tabby cat, but she has many skills. Most of these skills, she uses for The Good. Okay, 'most' might be a slight exaggeration. Wednesday is a good little kitty, though, at heart. She loves her family, loves her sisters, loves annoying those sisters and she also loves to grant wishes. Every Wednesday morning, I will rub the side of the cat house and summon our magic cat!

My Wednesday Wishes for the week:

1) RUNNING ADDICTION - Hey, if I have to be addicted something, running isn't bad. I went to the track with the hubster this week and tried to run again. I can do it. But I loathe it. I'd rather be at home writing. But it's a great workout. And I do love that runner's high. It's just so BORING. I'm in my head - oh, my knee hurts, I can't breathe, my nose is running, my pants are falling down...If I was addicted, I wouldn't be all up in my head. I would look forward to it, enjoy it. At the moment, it's twice every other week. Is it any wonder I'm not getting past the two mile mark? So a nice addiction to running, please. And you could really use that same addiction, Wednesday. You're about five pounds overweight yourself so join me.

2) Magic Cat Brush - Let's squash a myth, shall we? Long hair cats do not shed more than short hair cats. I used to love when people would come in to adopt a cat and tell me that they didn't want a long haired cat because they shed too much. Eowyn, my long haired Maine Coon, does not shed. Ever. My two short haired cats? Pip gets up and it looks like she's still laying there. I got a gallon sized ziploc bag full of hair off Wednesday today. It took me a half an hour. That bites into my writing time so Magic Cat Brush, please. All I have to do is say to it "Brush Pip!" and it will do it, depositing it in the trash bin. Then, "Brush Wednesday"...I might even say "Brush Eowyn" even though she doesn't shed just because it makes her coat shiny and she can't hide anywhere from that brush!

3) To Be Done - Really done. I have picked and picked and picked over Dark Forest. Now I understand why writer's ask "how do you know that you're done?" I want it perfect. But it will never be perfect. At what point do I listen to everyone else who tells me "it's done already! QUERY already!" Just one more pass. Probably. Then I can let it go. Probably. Most likely. No promises, though. It's almost there. Almost.

What about you - what are your wishes for our magical little blog?

FUN Friday

TGIF!
Let's have some FUN!
This is adorable. I had to share the cuteness!


Now, we're going to move into funny. I'm really enjoying The Sports Show (Norm MacDonald's new show). This skit was particularly fun. I love when sports stars are okay with making fun of themselves.

Norm/Blake: So what time is rehearsal?
DeAndre: You mean practice.

Who isn't a fan of talking dogs?



FUNNY KID STORY:
My nephew (pictured with my Lily) is 5 years old. When he watches a movie, he can get so into it that you can't distract his attention for anything. He was watching The Wizard of Oz and was in his "zone." His grandma got up to go to the bathroom. She had just reached the hallway when Dillon jumped up, raced after her, grabbed her around her knees and brought her to the floor! Then he jumped on her back (picture a 5 year old squatting surfer style) and refused to let her up. While my brother and sister-in-law raced to help, my husband stifled his laughter and I glanced up at the TV screen to see...

FLYING MONKEYS.

It's funny what possesses kids sometimes.

It's supposed to be cooler here so I'm looking forward to getting a hike and a bike ride in this weekend, interspersed with Paws and Learn business. Possibly a trip to the local nursery to start that Herb Garden!

What about you - any fun plans this weekend?

Have a GREAT weekend everyone!

Wednesday Wishes

This is Wednesday leaning out of her cat tree. She may look like just your average gray tabby cat, but she has many skills. Most of these skills, she uses for The Good. Okay, 'most' might be a slight exaggeration. Wednesday is a good little kitty, though, at heart. She loves her family, loves her sisters, loves annoying those sisters and she also loves to grant wishes. Every Wednesday morning, I will rub the side of the cat house and summon our magic cat!

My Wednesday Wishes for the week:

1) Closure for anyone who lost a friend or loved one on September 11th. I don't think I really need elaborate on this wish.

2) An Herb Garden. Not just any herb garden, though. THE Herb Garden of all Herb Gardens. At the moment, I've only got Basil. Yes, I'm lame. My biggest problem is never being able to make up my mind on HOW I want to do something so I end up with nothing because I procrastinate. I've cracked open a new Vegan cookbook and the recipes are expanding my herbal horizon. I need a garden to match it. I hate planning ahead what I'm making for the entire week during the hot days of spring and summer here. I don't want to buy everything at the Farmer's Market on a Saturday. I want to GROW! Perhaps, that will be the project for this weekend...making the decision and growing those herbs.

3) The Ability to Write a Query Letter and a Synopsis. To perfection. In less than a week. You know that I always aim high on my Wednesday wishes - from magic kitchens to neverending coffee bags...now I'm aiming for a writery type wish! I say less than a week because I don't want to be too greedy. I want it to be easy! No? Okay, easyish? Pshaw, you say? Fine. Easier. And still to perfection. In five days.

What about you - what are your wishes for our magical cat this Wednesday?

CREEP Review

As you all know, last Monday I received my ARC of CREEP.











I have been waiting to read this FOREVER! Okay, not really that long. It just feels like forever.


Here is the synopsis from her site:

Colleague. Lover. Killer.

If he can't have her...

Dr. Sheila Tao is a professor of psychology. An expert in human behaviour. And when she began an affair with sexy, charming graduate student Ethan Wolfe, she knew she was playing with fire. Consumed by lust when they were together, desolate and depressed when they weren't, she realizes the three-month fling with her teaching assistant has to end. After all, she's engaged to a kind and loving investment banker who adores her, and her life is about to change for the better. But when she attempts to cut the affair dead in its tracks, Ethan Wolfe won't let her walk away.

...nobody else can, either.

Ethan has plans for Sheila, plans that involve posting a sex tape that would surely get her fired and destroy her prestigious career. Plans to make her pay for rejecting him. And as she attempts to counter his every threatening move without her colleagues or her fiancé discovering her most intimate secrets, a shattering crime rocks Puget Sound State University: a female student, a star athlete, is found stabbed to death. Someone is raising the stakes of violence, sex, and blackmail . . . and before she knows it, Sheila is caught in a terrifying cat-and-mouse game with the lover she couldn't resist — who is now the monster who won't let her go.

I got this late Monday afternoon.

I finished it Wednesday morning.

I did not want to put it down, but I was finishing my rewrites so I had to. I obsessed over it when I was away from it. I was up until 2am two nights in a row reading it.

When I was young, I devoured Mysteries like most people do chocolate. I couldn't get enough starting with my grandma's Nancy Drew. As an adult, I started reading YA.

This made me remember why I loved Mystery so much. It kept me on the edge of my seat. It kept me guessing - it had a twist that I wasn't expecting and she doesn't even let you know which way that twist turns until the very. last. minute.

I wanted to cheat - to flip to the end to see if Sheila was okay, if her relationship was still intact. I didn't. But I wanted to so badly because I just could not read fast enough. I made up excuses to squeeze in a page or two during the day.

CREEP grabs you, pulls you in and takes you on a wild ride with twists, turns and dips. It does not let you go until the period at the end of the last sentence on the final page. It is THAT good.

And when it ended, I wanted MORE. The good news - there will be MORE! Jennifer Hillier announced that she has a deal for book number two! We only have to wait until July of 2012.

The hubster picked up CREEP this afternoon. He was so into it that he got snarky if I tried to talk to him. That's a ringing endorsement because the man is Picky. That's right - with a capital P! He just put down a novel by a bestselling author because he was less than impressed. He's over halfway done with CREEP now. So you're going to love it whether you're male or female! It's just good writing!

Pre-order your copy today here!

Check out Jennifer's blog here!

We Interrupt This Break to Bring You

We've been waiting patiently for a week now...watching for the mailman, getting disappointed when no package came...






BUT TODAY...
It came!! It came, it came, it came!
My ARC of CREEP by Jennifer Hillier!
(No pic of the cover because I can't remember now if Jenny had released it yet, but it's the COOLEST cover!)





So forgive this picture,
but I'm GEEKING out.
And I SUUUCK at taking pictures of myself. Otherwise, you would have a picture of me doing a cheer.






Even the dogs are excited...
Okay, not really. But they should be!








This is really what Lily is doing right now...
That was our new sofa bought as a sleeper for guests. It hasn't been a sofa since Lily discovered it was a bed.







Anyway...

CREEP!!!!

I'm five pages away from being done with my rewrite so my reward to myself is going to be a bowl of popcorn, a glass of iced green tea and some CREEP!

Thanks, Jenny.

And if you're not following her, jump on over and do so. She's one of the funniest people you will EVER read. Her blog will quickly become a FAVE.

Click here to pre-order CREEP on Amazon.

Back to writing so that I can get my CREEP on tonight!

FUN Friday

Happy Friday everyone! Just popping in to keep everyone on their toes. Alex was kind enough to feature me as his 'G' for the blogfest! How COOL is that?!? I'm very flattered and super excited to welcome new people to my blog!

Did you know that dogs can snore?



Lily snores REALLY loud!
Here's what she looks like when she's snoring:









And when she's snoring with a friend:









And when she's sleeping with her sister
(they both snore, only she really drowns out Wednesday):










I heart Stephen Colbert. He and his BFF (for six months), Jimmy Fallon, had a bet. Colbert lost so he had to perform Rebecca Black's Friday on Late Night. Here it is (especially for Abby Minard, who introduced me to the song in the first place):



KID FUNNY:
I was teaching a 3rd Grade Class City Wildlife. When I finished, I opened it up for questions. The first question?

Boy: Are you married?
Me: Yes.
Boy: (pause) How married?
Me: Very, very married.
Boy: (complete with an aw shucks expression and arm movement) Aw, man!

I couldn't bring myself to ask 'why'. I turned my back to take another question, but he continued.

Boy: Because my dad really likes blondes. A lot. And you seem super cool.
Me: Thank you.
Boy: You're his type. Blonde and he likes his women curvy. (he stands up and waves his arms for curvy - curvier than I am)
Teacher: Miguel! We have had this conversation about inappropriate questions and gestures before.
Boy: (whiney) I'm just looking for a new stepmom.
Teacher: ENOUGH!



I leave you with this adorable video of a cat grooming a puppy:



We'll be spending the weekend indoors with the rain that is coming - this means I just might finish this round of rewrites! I've got Saturday afternoon Skype Crit Group and then we're hosting Game Night at our place with about 11 guests!

What about you - any fun weekend plans?

A is for April and Adoption

I was really looking forward to the A to Z Challenge this month, but I'm going to have back out of it. With over 900 bloggers, I know that I won't be missed. I've got rewrites that have to be finished and a query that has to be polished by the end of the month.


Add to that - we're going through the long process of trying to adopt. After not being able to have kids of our, we've made the decision to forgo fertility and just give a home to kids who need one. I want children to love, nurture and raise. They want a mom. Seems like a good fit. The process for county adoptions is long and drawn out - they want to make the right match so the children are home permanently. This means lots of trips to San Diego this month for interviews, parenting classes, etc. I felt that took precedent over the blogfest, no offense to the hosts. It's been a heartbreaking decade and this house is desperate for the sound of children's laughter. So are The Hubster and I. The adoption was the pebble that tipped the scales in favor of the month off.

I wish everyone luck with the challenge - have FUN! After all, that's why we do this. We love to write and it's so much fun! I'll be popping in to read everyone's blogs and comment here and there.

I will see you all in MAY!