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March 13, 2017

Mar14

 I don’t have anything especially interesting or profound to say tonight (except that I still have tickets for Book Obsessed Babes on April 8 in Jacksonville, FL and For Love of Books and Florida in Sarasota on July 15).

On the “So are you actually writing?” front, I have written 2708 words on a short story that is funny and sexy. I want to have that ready for the author signings this year. And perhaps write a couple more short stories, the idea being an eventual bound collection.

I moved last November from North Florida to South Florida to be closer to friends. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. My life had been solitary and isolated up to that point: mostly living on my own or among people who weren’t all that friendly when the chips were down, at a distance from the office where I was working (when I was working) or, in the case of test driving, spending 8 hours driving 300 miles around Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties then going home to a house sit. The center of my group of friends was 20 some miles away in the San Fernando Valley. I discussed this with a friend (who is 1800 miles from me): the scariest thought was that if I had decided to end my life, I would succeed because there would be no one around to stop me except myself. Yeah. Unsettling.

 I’m not trying to be the most popular person (and I am who I am. I bite my tongue a lot, but still…) and I know there are people who I like a lot and respect to the utmost who think I’m a loudmouth and a fool and tolerate me, rather than enjoy my company. That’s okay. I still like and respect them. I know that my words are better received than myself. That’s cool (buy my books. Trust me, you’ll love them). I do not suffer fools well. Nevertheless, I need human contact.

Since my move, I am part of a group of 7 people who get together on Saturday nights for dinner and some of us go for a walk at night at the local park. It’s wonderful.

I’ve reconnected with a friend from 25 years ago and she is still as warm and wonderful as she was then. My friend, Catalina Egan, known to you bookworms as M.C.V. Egan, is close enough that we can get together and do stuff. Author stuff, metaphysical stuff, just plain stuff. It’s excellent.

My soul, which had been withering a bit, is blossoming. I am grateful to be in this location, in this circle, in this situation. I am at peace in my life. And that’s where we all should go.

Peace and love and all that jazz

Peace and love and all that jazz

Somebody: free tickets! C’mon!

Ya Gotta Roll With the Punches

Mar10

First off, I found this in the spam comments:

“Hi, I think your blog might be having browser compatibility
issues. When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but when opening
in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping.”

Simple solution: join the 21st century and ditch Internet Explorer.

I’ve had some interesting days this week, including yesterday. Especially yesterday. I attended a presentation by the Women’s National Book Association (WNBA. No skills with hoops required. I have none). I get home, it’s late (10 PM. My day starts early), I’m getting ready for bed and Facebook Messenger pops up.

“Are you ready?”

For…?

Turns out, I’d forgotten that I had a slot in the For Love of Books and Florida 2017 author takeover and my turn was up in 3 minutes. Trust me: you’ve never seen a middle-aged fat woman move faster.

Thank God for modern technology. I did the whole half-hour in my jammies and nobody knew until now.

 

Anyway, that’s the story. I still have general admission tickets for Book Obsessed Babes (Jacksonville) on April 8 and For Love of Books and Florida (Sarasota) on July 15. Hit me up.

Bobase Jax 17 For Love of Books July 2017 Sarasota

 

Spam Spam Spam Spam

Feb27

With a blog, you get comments. Actually, ANYTHING you do on the Internet is bound to get comments these days. Inevitably, they include spam.

john cleese spam

Monty Python Spam

No, not the fun kind of spam as seen above. I’m talking computer-generated “what the hell does this mean” kind of spam. As such, I dedicate tonight’s post to a cross-section of what has to be cleaned out weekly:

free amateur porn gallery porn milf group mathilda porn hd porn thums free sign up for porn

(I can probably write better stuff. And spell it correctly).

What a pleasant YouTube video it is! Remarkable, I loved it, and I am sharing this YouTube record with all my friends.

(Dude, this isn’t Youtube)

 

find girl for dating italy free dating site transexual dating free phone number cape town sex dating

(What, exactly are you saying?)

I am cheap Charles Clay jerseys supplier online,

(Sounds like an identity crisis)

I just could not go away your site prior to suggesting that I really loved the usual information a person provide to your visitors? Is gonna be back incessantly in order to check up on new posts

(Maybe let’s cut back the caffeine, shall we?)

The root logs me, I get news

(Ernest Hemingway, is that you?)

Home Depot Garden Hoses

(No explanation needed)

I see your page needs some unique content. Writing manually is time consuming,
but there is solution for this.

(Ain’t it the truth)

And finally, my all-time favorite, see it most often (says it all, really):

 

??????????,??????????, ??? ????? ????? ??????? ????? ? ????????????.
????? ????? ????, ???????????? 

Taking on a Life of Their Own

Feb23

I’m writing again and not just this blog and tweets hurled at the current occupant of the White House (Secret Service hasn’t been by to visit). In order to have new material, I have to sit down and actually create it (no chip in my head to translate to the Internet for your viewing pleasure. It’s a crazy, scary, jumbled mess up there anyway with calculations, mortgage guidelines, cat videos/memes/memories, and visualization of myself with the winning Powerball ticket. And stories, fragments, and “what ifs.” If my brain was a TV show, it would be an episode of “Hoarders” subtitled “The Craziest Pile of Shit We’ve Found Yet.”)

Looks about right

Looks about right

But I digress.

So, I’ve started work on a short story (whopping 802 words over 3 nights. Woo). I start out with pen and notebook (leopard print) writing narrative. It’s like jump-starting a standard transmission; hold in the clutch, get your friends to push it, when you get to around 10 MPH, pop it in first. My throwing it into first is moving the words from ink and paper to pixels on a screen.

And, that’s where the craziness happens.

Ask any author (and any author who reads this blog is invited to comment): At some point, your characters stop obeying your wishes and start doing things on their own. For instance, my current story (it’s a short story, so if I post spoilers, there won’t be anything left for you to read). I had an idea for what I wanted Patti and Ed to do. Their own words started coming out of their mouths. And then they started moving and doing “stuff” faster than I could keep up.

Time to turn off the motor, i.e., go back to the pen and paper to take notes.  (Please note: that is the proper use of i.e. Merriam-Webster wouldn’t lie)

This is really my notebook

This is really my notebook

So, I started scribbling. (I’m afraid to try to read my own handwriting) Dialogue fragments, questions to myself about the direction, various storylines (my initial one wasn’t necessarily going to remain). I almost wish I smoked (Never have). Just seems like a cigarette would be a useful prop for thinking. Cross-outs, margin notes, more questions…

All because two imaginary people decided to take on a life of their own.

My goal is to have this story complete (edited, printed, bound) in time for Book Obsessed Babes 2017 in Jacksonville on April 8 (Should my local friends read this, bring back a bagel and coffee from Einstein’s for me on Sunday, please).

After I finish writing this post, finding amusing photos to insert (or half naked men. They can be amusing, too), I will see where Patti and Ed lead me.

Half naked

Half naked