Iowa weather has been sucky these past seven months. Spell check informs me sucky isn’t a real word, but if you lived in Iowa – well, it’s sucky.

December – April brought mountains of snow, power outages, high winds. You might picture me snuggled all warm in my house by the fire, writing brilliant words by the thousands.

You’d be wrong.

You’d be better off picturing me huddling by the gas stove, wearing 13 layers of clothing and shivering so badly that typing on my Alphie was out of the question. Brain freeze does not inspire plotting nor characterization!

We finally moved into spring, that lasted maybe 15 minutes. Seriously. Summer waddled in and it’s basically the same weather as what we had in January, but no snow – just rain. Not freezing – just 100+ degrees out. Now we huddle around the air conditioner, hoping to stay cool.

And again, writing is a chore. We’ve been having violent electrical storms. Major lightning strikes taking out trees and power. And of course, like a good girl, when it lightnings, I turn off my computer and unplug the network cable.

Is this just all Mother Nature’s conspiracy to disrupt my writing? Could be. But she didn’t count on my Alpha Smart. Almost twenty hours of battery time, recharges in a few hours, and works pretty darn sweet.

Bring it on Mother Nature! I’m still writing!

=)

carrie

Just sent off Chapter One and my synopsis…..going to faint now. Anyone have smelling salts?

=)

carrie

I’ve been buried. Maybe you haven’t noticed, maybe you’re out surfing all of those other smart ass sites.

That hurts.

But I don’t blame ya, I’ve been busy. Not just a little busy, but overwhelmed actually. I hate that.

On the good side, the silver lining, I have a request I’m turning in today, for a synopses and partial. I hope I’m turning it in today, but since I’m already 10 min late for work and haven’t gotten near the shower yet, that could change.

On the bad side, my back and hip are out from having spent approximately 10 hours a day at the computer – on top of 10 hours a day on my feet. And yes, that does add up to 20 hours a day, and yes, I’m only getting 4 hours of sleep.

I hear the Bride of Frankenstein look is back in style.

On the good news, my cold/sinus infection is finally letting go and I’m halfway through the bridal jewelry I’m making for a friend of mine. My three simultaneous online classes end next week and then I’ll be CAUGHT UP! I’ve also starting writing a YA/MG that’s halfway through chapter two.

So I’m hoping this week, things even out. I hope we have electricity for the entire week, that the sump pump keeps going full steam (heavy rains for the past two weeks here in Iowa) and that my tiny little chapter/synopsis inspires someone to smile and think hey, we’d like to sign her.

Keep your fingers crossed and your umbrella open.

=)

carrie

I think I’m certifiable. I should probably be locked up, away from internet access. It’s for the best.

I work approximately 40+ hours a week at my day job, I work 20+ hours a week designing websites. I also design/repair jewelry in my spare time. I moderate online writing classes for a writers group, I write on three blogs, and I write.

For some reason, I’ve also decided to take three online classes this month, and for some other crazy reason, I started writing two YA novels. At the same time.

Yes, I need to be locked away.

But, can you leave me with my Blackberry please?

=)

carrie

Winner of the Bulwer Lytton contest, encouraging people to write the worst opening line since, “It was a dark and stormy night.”

”For the first month of Ricardo and Felicity’s affair, they greeted one another at every stolen rendezvous with a kiss–a lengthy, ravenous kiss, Ricardo lapping and sucking at Felicity’s mouth as if she were a giant cage-mounted water bottle and he were the world’s thirstiest gerbil.”
Molly Ringle
Seattle, WA

Augh!

Got my synopsis back, with a wonderful crit…thanks Christie! And a few wrinkles to hammer out. I don’t mean iron, I mean hammer.

With a darn big hammer.

But that’s okay. I’m dealing with it fine, and am actually excited to get back to work on the synopsis, because now I feel I have direction. I’m close, this close!!! to having a well thought out synopsis, I’m sooooooo close to having all of the arcs. In just a few well placed sentences – and well-worded! – it’s entirely possible my synopsis will not only make sense, but that it’s RIGHT.

And that’s a huge load off my mind. Huge. Bigger than Refrigerator Perry. (and yes, that’s the only football reference I’ll ever make in my entire life)

So, what’s stopping me from leaping head first into finishing off that synopsis?

Stuff.

You guys have all had stuff, I know you have. Something came up. Family. My dog, my cat. Laundry. Etc. That’s all stuff. My stuff has been work, extracurricular work, and favors owed friends this past week, but the biggest stuff of all?

My new grandson was born on June 21, and transported a few hours later to NICU. That’s big stuff.

Good news is, he’s headed home tomorrow. We’re thrilled. He’ll be recuperating at home with his dad and mom and big sister Ava, but all looks good.

Now maybe Gramma can take a little stress break and finish that synopsis. Er…I wonder if anyone ever thought writing a synopsis would be an activity listed as “less stressful”?

I’m gonna guess no.

=)

carrie

So, tonight I’m sending out my synopsis. This is huge and this is scary. I’ve been polishing it for two weeks, and it’s time to just let it go, time to set it free and see what happens.

I’ve rewritten the first sentence probably 86 times, I’ve lengthened, I’ve shortened, I’ve tightened, I’ve loosened. I add in one arc after another, tossed in the black moment and ended up with an HEA on the side.

Fly free my little synopsis!!!

=)

carrie

Ah, bartending days….I miss them. I prefer the money I’m making now, but bartending is so much fun!

Here’s another happy drink special I made back in the day.

Large wine glass
Fill half full with Arbor Mist Blackberry Merlot
Add in a shot of pomegranate or peach schnapps (or both!)
Fill with half orange juice and half sprite

Garnish with fruit of your choice.

Sweet and delectable.

=)

carrie

Sometimes a girl can use an extra brain.

It’s not because mine isn’t sharp enough, it is. It’s not because mine isn’t creative enough, it is. It’s because sometimes it’s little wires get twisted and I can’t find a way out of that creativity and sharpness.

Eh?

I know, hard to follow. But here’s what happens. I work on this stupendous story, and it’s brilliant, if I do say so myself. Then someone, usually a crit partner or a friend (hi Jen!) will come along and say why? Why does she do that?

Because.

Because why?

Well, I just don’t know. I’ve thought up this wonderful masterpiece, this book of brilliance, until someone says Why?

Drives me buggy.

Just go with the flow, I want to say. She (the heroine) just does it.

They give me the “look”.

Crap.

What if…..

And that’s where the brainstorming starts.

When inventing a story line, my brain seizes the story idea and runs along the train tracks, thinking this! and then this! and then this! And that parts a blast, let me tell you.

And then I write….and I write this! and then whoa..this! and what happened there this!

And then, someone says….why?

And my brain train derails.

Because it was up there in party central, zooming along with happy ideas and brilliant thoughts and creative maneuvers…but the darn thing never questions – why?

Possibly there’s a brain training course I can take. Possibly I should put sticky notes all over my computer monitor that say WHY?

Or possibly I can just call upon my critique partners and friends and say hey….if this situation happened to you, what would YOU do?

Brainstormin’. It’s not done with just one brain, it’s picking the use of several other people’s brains to get yours back on the track to writing the perfect story.

Got a brain? Fire it up. I’m coming to get some ideas from you!

=)

carrie

I wake up every morning, not to an alarm clock, although I have one of those too, but to cats. Usually the orange one, Marmalade, sticking a claw into one part of my body or another.

This is closely followed by Oscar, the tuxedo cat, who mews…not meows, that isn’t a typo. He mews. Loudly. Over and over until you pet him. This is generally followed by a tussle as he sniffs at Marmalade.

This is then topped off by Spook, the gray cat, as he wanders from his nest on top of the dresser and jumps into the fray, usually landing on my full bladder.

The alarm goes off, and the parade is now in full swing.

Tygrrr (the striped one) is on the desk already waiting for breakfast. Marmalade and Oscar get into a fight every. single. morning. in the bathroom. Once everyone is fed, Bear (hairy white cat) jumps on the desk and wants treats and petting. Catzilla (mean black one) brushes back and forth by my feet until I get her treats, and then Marmalade pounds on the cat flap until I open the door and let her out. Yes, she knows how to work the cat flap, she’s just making sure I’m getting my exercise.

The little darlings.

Sylvester is usually the last to show. Sylvester is our enormous black, one-eyed cat. He’s usually good with a pet or two, a couple treats, and then back to a nap. He leads the good life.

But into the fray, someone has now dumped a fluffy orange cat at our house. He’s big, he’s very thin, and he needs a good brushing. He’s looking for a home.

As you can see from just the first 15 min of every day of my life spent with seven cats, eight might put me over the edge.

Anyone want a nice fluffy orange cat? I’ve already got an offer to send him to another farm…so if we can catch him…he can go live happily with other (hopefully normal) cats…

here kitty kitty.

=)

carrie