Friday Five for July 31, 2015

1. On Tuesday, my son will start kindergarten. I'm still in shock a little. Giddy, nervous, fearful, excited, anxious. Really, a frazzled mess. Will I cry that first day? No, I don't think so. I'm not one for tears, but my heart will be pounding as loud as or louder than his.

2. This means on Tuesday, I get to give it a go as a full time writer! All day to write. With no interruptions. In a quiet house. I need to stock up on the chocolate. I have the same mash of emotions about this as I do with my little guy starting elementary school.

3. It's been a bit of a rough week, but I got some good news. My steampunk Lovecraftian horror tale, "What Lay Below" was accepted by Dragon's Roost Press for their anthology, Eldritch Embraces. It's due to come out spring of next year. They're still accepting submissions if you have a dark little story with a bit of romance in it!

4. Our last big fun day before school starts will be attending Family Day at Gen Con this Sunday. My son is almost old enough to participate in more programming. He's already a gamer through and through! Also at Gen Con, they have an excellent Writer's Symposium. Tons of great seminars and workshops spanning the entire four days.

5. Yesterday, I took my son and a friend to a small water park. They had fun, and one of the last events of the day was a Dangling Donut contest. Donuts were tied up by string and the kids had to eat them without using their hands. My little guy got really angry that he couldn't bite it. Afterward, when he had a moment to calm down, he told me that Anger took over his mind's console. He is a little obsessed with Inside Out!

Have a great weekend!

Friday Five for August 9, 2013

1. This week is the one year anniversary of the release of FEARLESS. I haven't had much time to do anything in the way of a celebration, but I'm happy to report that it still receives wonderful reviews and has had over 12,000 downloads. The biggest critique is it's too short. I'm taking that as the readers want more, and thus it's a compliment! You can get your FREE e-copy of the novella on Amazon and Smashwords.

2. I haven't had a chance to do as much writing this week as I wanted. I think I'm over-thinking my short story. I tend to do that with short pieces. Hopefully I'll have it done by the end of the weekend. Knock on wood.

3. I've decided to push back my release date for the 13th Floor collection. There's no way I can have it ready for September 13th. Plus, my critique partners are immensely busy this month. I don't want to add to their loads. I'm doing the cover reveal on September 13th and the official release on October 13th. Yet I want to make October a 13th Floor month. Lots of guest posts, excerpts, tidbits, and giveaways. I'll do an official announcement next week. It was difficult for me to push the date back, but I feel relieved now that I've finally decided to do it.

4. Next week will be a busy week for me. I have my son's preschool orientation, and my husband will be gone for Gen Con Indy. So I'll be a con widow for three days. My son and I will be going with my husband to the convention on Sunday for Family Day. If anyone out there is going and you want to say hi, please let me know! They have a great four day program for writers called the Writer's Symposium. Most of the seminars are free with the purchase of the badge. I highly recommend it. I've learned a lot from years of attending the Symposium.

5. I took my son for his first pony ride yesterday. He was very excited, but then didn't want to ride the pony. His reason: it wasn't "proper." I couldn't get any definite explanation out of him, but he refused to ride. He talked, pet, fed, hugged, and examined the horses. He wasn't afraid. He almost went under a male horse curious as to what was dangling there! I told him what it was, and he nodded, curiosity sated. I had to explain what it was in front of the lone stablehand. A quite handsome stablehand.

Have a great weekend!