Friday Five for May 20, 2016

1. I managed to get a little more writing done this week, but I got sidetracked by research. A lot. I must learn to be more disciplined when reading about fascinating stuff!

2. Tomorrow is my local critique group meeting. I sent in my newest flash piece for them to rip apart. Next Tuesday, the group will be doing a panel for a class at the local university. My nervousness about it has not eased. Talking in front of people terrifies me, but that's why I do it.

3. I started reading the first Harry Potter book with my son. He's not nearly excited about it as I am! He's much more into his Greek Myth book lately. He's obsessed with minotaurs and mazes and wants a three-headed dog named Cerebus! Hey little guy, there's a three-headed dog in Harry Potter. Hehehe!

4. One week of school left. I must write like a madwoman this coming week!

5. I had a terrific time at the zoo yesterday with my son and his classmates... and forty-eight other busloads of children from various schools. What was the zoo thinking?!

Go forth and have an awesome weekend!

Friday Five for August 14, 2015

1. For those of you who missed Wednesday's post, this month is the one year anniversary of my newsletter, Geeks, Freaks, & EEKS! I'll be sending out my newsletter later today and subscribers will have a chance to win some swag including a unique Christine Rains dice. PLUS, if you subscribe, you get a free ebook. You can have your choice of The 13th Floor Complete Collection or Of Blood and Sorrow.

2. I'm getting lots of writing done with my son in school. I'm finished a novelette last week and I'm over halfway done with the second novelette in the trilogy. I hope I don't get so excited with all this writing that I burn myself out before the month is out!

3. Tomorrow is the monthly meeting of my local critique group. The flash piece I wrote this month for it was tons of fun. Funny how I keep going back to the monster under the bed, but this time, I put a horrific sci-fi twist to it.

4. I've been trying to think of an original wondrous item for Paizo's RPG Superstar contest. Every time I think of something, I look it up and it's been done! I don't get to play tabletop RPGs much any more. I'd love to game more, but it's difficult getting our friends together at one time. Maybe if I start thinking about an item now, I might have something for next year's contest!

5. The only thing on my schedule for the weekend is my critique group meeting. I do love not having anything to do. But then that sometimes leads to this conversation that can last for hours itself:
Me: "Let's go do something."
Hubby: "Okay. What do you want to do?"
Me: "I don't know. What do you want to do?"
Hubby: "I don't know. Not much is open."
Me: "Yeah, and it's raining. What can we do?"
Hubby: "I don't know. What do you feel like doing?"

Have a terrific weekend!

Friday Five for May 1, 2015

1. Congratulations to everyone who made it through the A to Z Challenge! We had a lot of fun with it over at the Untethered Realms blog. Take a break this weekend. You deserve it!

2. I had a rough day at my local critique group meeting last Saturday. It's been a while since they really tore into one of my stories. I almost forgot how rough it was to do that in person. I've been revising this week. Slowly trying to patch up the problems and make my story work.

3. I haven't done any writing on my WIP lately. Hopefully next week I'll get a chance to jump back into it. I'm also slowly making some headway with my reading. So many great books, so little time!

4. It's going to be a sunny weekend here. My son starts tee ball tomorrow. We're meeting up with friends and having a barbecue. Lots of fun!

5. May starts off with a couple of great bloghops. On Monday, Sharon Bayliss is hosting the Writer Mama (and papa!) Bloghop and it's IWSG day on Wednesday. I'll see you all then! Have a wonderful weekend.

Friday Five for April 24, 2015

1. What a busy week! I had a great visit with my mom. My son's birthday party was rained out, but he wasn't bothered by it at all. He's such a trooper! I, on the other hand, was really disappointed. Spring weather is unpredictable. We brought his cake and decorations to school on Monday and had a little party there with his school friends. It makes me so joyful that I have a happy child who goes with the flow when things like this happen.

2. Thank you to everyone who visited this week. It's my pleasure to help out my fellow writers with reviews and promos. It'll take me some time to catch back up on things, but I'll be making the rounds.

3. For those of you doing the A to Z Challenge, wow, we're nearly at the end. You're almost there! This month has been speeding by. It's been so much fun to participate with Untethered Realms. Next week, look on X day for a certain dragon slayer. *winks*

4. No writing or reading was done this week, but I squeezed in a bit of time to critique two short stories for my local writer's meeting this Saturday. I submitted my sci-fi horror tale. Hopefully I managed to pull off the terrifying twist.

5. Have a wonderful weekend, folks! Here's a smile to help you get into the happy weekend mood.

Friday Five for December 19, 2014

1. My Loose Corset blog tour with Goddess Fish Promotions is all set to go. They are super efficient and really nice. This is my first time not creating my own tour, and it's been an excellent experience so far working with a virtual book tour company. Check out my snazzy banner!

2. Now on to doing my posts for my Geeky Dice & Debauchery Tour! Hosts, I'll be contacting you soon with updated information. Oh boy, it's going to be a busy new year, but so much fun!

3. All my writing this week was for tour posts. I've also been critiquing. I'm always amazed at the talent of my critique partners and betas.

4. Today is my son's school concert and lunch. They'll sing some Christmas songs and do some dancing. It's so cute watching the wee ones perform. I spent two hours last night making sandwich pinwheels for the lunch. A chef I am not. Next time, I'll buy them already made! But they're full of color and very healthy. If the kids just don't go right for the desserts!

5. I'll be taking a blogging break until the new year. We stay home for Christmas, and I love it. Two weeks of rest and relaxation, and doing things together as a family. See you in 2015! Have a very happy Christmas and an awesome new year!

Friday Five for August 22, 2014

1. This week, my son went back to preschool and he's loving it. I'm loving the fact I get to spend my mornings writing. I promised myself only to write and not surf around on the internet. It's blissful. I missed regular writing time over the summer. I'm in a better mood and feeling more like myself again.

2. I'm still waiting for the okay to share my news, but my newsletter subscribers were let in on the secret. If you haven't signed up for my newsletter yet, just pop your email address into the little widget on the right side of my blog. My subscribers get all the good news first!

3. I have my local writers critique group meeting tomorrow. This time I sent in a contemporary flash piece that I hope to create two very different emotions with. I do wonder if I succeeded.

4. I've submitted a few horror short stories this past week. It's that time of year when venues are looking to fill up October slots. I have one that is a twist on the Sleepy Hollow tale told from the horseman's point of view. He's not really that bad of a guy. Well, okay, maybe he is, but it's fun to get his side of the story!

5. I cut my finger on the saw of my tinfoil box the other night. It bled a lot. As I was nursing it, I wondered how I managed not to do that before. I'm often lost in my head, so I tend to get bumps and cuts, but never on the tinfoil saw which seemed really weird to me in the moment. What's the strangest thing you've ever cut yourself on or bumped into?

Have a wonderful weekend!