3 marvelous years

My adorable little guy is 3!

He had a fantastic birthday. Even a little flooding at the park didn't ruin the fun.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes.

You guys are so sweet.

Have a lovely Sunday! 

Winners of The Alpha blog tour giveaway and updates

My little guy is singing a song in honor of the winners of The Alpha blog tour giveaway. Thank you so much to everyone who entered. Next month, I'll be having another giveaway with The Dragonslayer blog tour. Check the 13th Floor series page for all the stops. It's a big one this time around!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations to the winners! I've already emailed you.

I'm working hard on the next book in the 13th Floor series. My son has stopped having naps, so I've lost a good chunk of my writing time. It's frustrating, but it was inevitable. If I'm around even less on the blogs, I hope you'll forgive me. I need to write. I had hoped he'd still take naps for another year. At least I have two mornings a week while he's in school, and starting the next school year, he'll be doing three mornings a week.

I received my first rejection for the year. It was from Tor. I was aiming high! Also, another anthology I had a story in has been cancelled. The publisher has closed down. I didn't get an email or any sort of notice. I found out on a friend's blog. Now I need to start submitting stories elsewhere because I have nothing out there at the moment.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! I'll see you on Monday for the Re-Introduce Myself Blogfest.

Saturday Six for June 23rd

1. I didn't get a chance for a Friday Five yesterday, so I added one and made it a Saturday Six. I had a good reason for it, though. Cherie Reich's Women of Foxwick is an awesome collection of fantasy short stories. You can read my review here.

2. I took the plunge. I made a Facebook fan page and opened a Twitter account. Twitter is a bit overwhelming. I managed to link it to my fan page, so that a Twitter update goes on there too. My Goodreads is linked to Twitter which then goes on to Facebook. I need to find a way to link my blog, LinkedIn, and Google+ to it now too. I'm getting dizzy just thinking about this! Anyway, yes. Please like my page on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

3. I haven't done much writing at all this week. I've done a lot of networking research and creation. We'll count that as productive.

4. I edited my short story for this month and sent it to The World's Greatest Fantasy Writing Contest. My critique partners and my writing group liked it. My group agreed I needed to tighten the tension at the end. So I pulled the laces tight and cut out a bunch of words. Ouch.

5. My son is becoming more clearly introverted. I'm not surprised since my husband and I are introverts, but I had hoped that our son would have it a little easier. When we go places with a lot of people, he'll tell me there's "too many people" and ask to go home. He doesn't like share space with other people either. He'll go to the emptiest spot at the library, park or pool. I know how he feels, but it's going to be rough. I've been reading up on raising an introverted child. I hope I can do right by him. I don't want to traumatize him with any social situation as I was as a child, but I don't want him to miss out. I want him to understand there's nothing wrong with being an introvert. We're cool people too.

6. No plans for the weekend. Maybe a stop at the library and a walk in the woods. Have a good weekend, folks!

What is he thinking?

I wonder a lot what goes through my son's mind.

What do two-year-old's think about?

He's already hipper than his mommy.

I turn the radio to the 80's station.

He likes tech music, and his new love, Gotye.

I can't get that dang song out of my head now!

Relaxing on a Sunday

Here's my little guy cooling off in the creek. We went to one of the state parks nearby this morning and played in the water. We then had a picnic lunch before it got too hot for me, and the little guy needed his nap.

It's almost time to for the A to Z Challenge Reflections posts. April was so much fun. I'll be posting mine on Wednesday with my Wicked Wednesday post.

I'm having fun with the Dust It Off bloghop. I never expected anyone would get more than a giggle out of my story. The writing community is wonderfully encouraging. I thank you all so much.

As some of you might know, April was a rough month for us. We took a trip to visit my family in Canada and my son hated it. He does not like to travel or even be away from home for more than an afternoon. When we got back home, our car gave our on us. The timing belt slipped, and if you know anything about cars, you'll know how devastating that can be to the engine. It would have cost us over $5000 for a new engine. All from one little belt. It's came at a bad time. Plus, we're a one-car, one-income family. We need a car. To top it off, our lawn mower and weed whacker broke down too. Thankfully, after much searching, we have a new car, a 2009 Hyundai Elantra, and my husband managed to fix the mower and weed whacker without having to buy new ones. Here's hoping May is a much better month.

A good sign that May will be better: Sherlock season 2 starts on PBS tonight!

Monday Mix

I can't believe there's only a week left of April. The A to Z Challenge has been so much fun. And what a response I've gotten about my story. Wow. Thank you all. I wasn't going to publish the story at all, but a lot of people have been encouraging me to do so. I think I might be a sucker for peer pressure in this.

I've been trying to design a banner for my blog. I came up with an image I like, but when I previewed it on my site, I didn't like it. It didn't seem to fit. I'll have to keep trying. I want to find something that really represents me.

Cherie Reich's Flashes of Foxwick is now available on Amazon and Smashwords. It's a great collection of fantasy pieces taking place in her marvelous world of Foxwick.

Aubrie Dionne's first fantasy romance novel, Messenger in the Mist, is on sale at Amazon for $.99! A beautifully written tale.

Alex J. Cavanaugh is having a contest to celebrate 1500 followers. Congratulations, Alex! He's giving away both his books - CassaStar and CassaFire - and the books will be donated to a school library of the winner's choice. Awesome.

My weekend was a busy one. My son turned two. He's happy, healthy, smart, creative, and beautiful. I lucked out with the little guy.

We already celebrated with my family in Canada on Easter. This past Saturday, we had a barbecue with our friends and decorated cupcakes. Good times.

The little guy looks A LOT like I did when I was his age. Here he is in a mud puddle, and there I am at two years old in a ruffly dress that does not suit a tomboy!

 

I didn't cut his hair to match mine. I like his page boy look. Mine was that bowl or mushroom cut which I hated as a child.

Finally Friday update

It's been a busy week. The Origins blogfest was so much fun. We need to start our own League of Justice Writers. I'm following a bunch of a new blogs. Welcome to my new followers too!

In case you missed the post yesterday, I'm celebrating reaching 200 followers with the Learn Your Craft Giveaway! Free books. I don't care where you live in the world. Free books because I adore you all.

I revised two and a half chapters of my current WIP this week. I'm at the point that I need to rewrite a foretelling/prophecy. I'm horrible at doing those things. Why can't mystics or oracles just bluntly say what they mean? I feel my protagonist's frustration in trying to figure out what the vague references and strange symbolism mean.

I critiqued three stories for my writers' group. We meet tomorrow. I submitted my Steampunk Cthulhu story to be critiqued. I wonder if any of them are familiar with the Cthulhu Mythos. Once I have their critiques, I will edit and revise again, send to my CPs, and then revise again before submitting it to the anthology.

I also revised a short noir story I wrote a while ago and submitted it to a site that features stories of that flavor. One extra submission for me this month!

I cut my son's bangs today. Toddlers don't sit still. You can imagine what it looks like. I think I ought to consider not cutting his bangs myself any more. At least he's happy not to have his bangs in his pretty long eyelashes any more.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Saturday Snapshot for February 11th

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books

My little dragon.

There's a great place in town where parents can take their kids to play and it's free.

It's a giant room filled with toys. There's also a box full of dress-up clothes.

Yesterday was the first day my son wanted to dress up as something.

There was another cute little boy dressed as a princess,

but I didn't think his mother would appreciate a stranger taking his photo!

200 followers!

Yay! Thank you all for your encouragement and support.

I'll be having a giveaway some time within the next week.

Stay tuned!

Saturday Snapshot for February 4th

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books

Last weekend, we went to the local lake to see the bald eagles who flock there every year

as they're migrating. We didn't see any eagles, but my son had a lot of fun throwing rocks into

the water. It will be much more fun in the summer where there's no chilly winds!

Saturday Snapshot for January 28th

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books

Bubbles are such fascinating things.

Our local children's science museum has a bubble room, and my son loves to spend

time in there because he's encouraged to get wet and messy!

Best feeling in the world

My little guy turned 21 months old yesterday.

Soon I'll have a two-year-old!

I'm afraid to blink lest he be gone off to university.

Yesterday, when I was feeling particularly awful, I had a coughing fit.

I was holding my son in one arm and rubbing my head and neck with my free hand.

He gave me a hug and said, "Is okay, mama. I love you."

The first time your child says "I love you" to you uncoached is the best feeling in the world.

Mutant immune system

There's my little guy intensely concentrating on a Curious George counting game. He can count to twenty and that's his favorite number right now. He's occupied most of my week because he's sick again. I swear, I think he's going for a record for most viruses caught in one winter. I've been puked on every day for two weeks. I must have a mutant immune system, because I don't even have a sniffle. *knocks on wood* Took him to the doctor today and the prognosis: ear infection and possible chest cold. My son is very particular about his ears and has not been a happy boy these past few days. He hasn't been taking any naps and he's been waking up in the middle of the night. That's something that hasn't happened since he was an infant. So no writing time for Mama. I did manage to get the stories for today's writers' group meeting critiqued, though. At least I did something productive.

Excitement and Remembrance

Yesterday I pushed myself and managed to get over 4500 words written. What a rush! I came to a point in the story where I was happy to leave it for the night even though I was a few hundred words short of my 25000 goal. I had about three and a half hours to write yesterday. It helps that I killed a character. Always lots of meat to add to a story from a death.

Right now, I'm just over 25000 words. I hope to get another 1000 written today, but I'm a little behind on everything. Yet hopefully I can make up for it on the weekend.

Even though I was excited about reaching the halfway point with NaNoWriMo, it didn't top the big event with my son. He used the toilet successfully and I haven't even begun toilet training him yet! Woo-hoo! It was likely a fluke. He's only 18 months old, after all. Yet with how excited I was, I think that's great motivation for him. We'll be getting him his own training seat this weekend.

To celebrate, we made a big mess painting with paints I made from Kool-Aid. My fingers are still purple. Who knew Kool-Aid stains that much.

I hope all of you who are participating in NaNoWriMo are grooving right along. My buddies look to be doing amazingly! Keep writing. We're one-third of the way there.

Finally, for my Granddad. I miss him.

Lest we forget.

Saturday Snapshot for October 29th

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce over at At Home With Books.

There's my adorable little bat.

You can only imagine how many times it took to get a decent picture!

Posed pictures are great, but I like random in-the-moment shots best.

He likes autumn as much as I do.

Any pile of leaves I make gets immediately destroyed!

Saturday Snapshot

My son is sixteen months old today. We went down to the lake this morning

and he plopped himself right down in the water, clothes and all!

Saturday Snapshot is hosted @ At Home With Books

My adventures at Gen Con 2011

First lesson of being a parent of a toddler and attending a convention: Never make a definite schedule.

We started out late on Thursday. I scheduled myself for a 9:00 seminar, but we didn't even leave until 8:40. It takes an hour to drive to Indianapolis from our house. That's one seminar I missed.

We found a good parking spot and got inside. The line for SWAG bags was short. Not a terribly good bag of stuff this year. Not even a die. I had to go pick up my tickets at Will Call. I've done Will Call the past few years. Last year, it took me two minutes to get my tickets. This year, I waited in line for three hours. My feet still hurt. I couldn't do anything without my event tickets. Another writing seminar was missed.

We managed to get into our hotel early and get my son down for his nap. The hotel staff was great all weekend. Some of the ladies snatched food from the kitchen to give to my son because he was blowing them kisses! He even got a free milkshake from Steak & Shake for being so cute. He knows how to work people.

I made it for "Stealing One Hour of Anton Strout's Life." It was a lot of fun. He was hilarious and Elizabeth Vaughan did a fantastic job of going James Lipton on him!

We had dinner at Scotty's and then I had the boy for the rest of the night. I discovered it's very different to take photos and wrangle a toddler in a crowded convention center. He's quick like a ninja! I didn't get very many pictures.

My son was tuckered out the first night. I took him to visit the Beholder in the largest of the D&D rooms. He crawled up under the Beholder and looked like he was going to fall asleep right there. Several people took pictures.

We had a better start on Friday. I made it to two morning seminars.

"Urban Fantasy" - The people on the panel were good, but it didn't get into anything more than what was the definition of Urban Fantasy and what wasn't. I was hoping more for tips on the market.

"Villains as Heroes" - Great panel. They were hilarious and made a lot of jokes. They talked about how to make villains sympathetic and ones that are just bad. 

One of the things I really like about writing seminars is listening to the panelists talk about their own experiences. I've attended seminars more than once various years and I still had a good time. I don't get to talk about writing often at home, so it's fantastic to be immersed in an environment where everyone is talking about it.

I had my son again that afternoon. I took him with me to Anton's book signing. After, we had to go play with the troll.

There's the boy showing the troll how strong he is. Every time we passed the troll, we had to stop so he could honk its nose. Later on, he added giving it five. A bidding war for my son started amongst other attendees after seeing him flex his muscles for the troll. We got up to $100. So tempting!

I did the "Write & Critique" on Friday evening. It was fun, but I felt I flopped. Hey, we all have our off days, right? To top it off, I was the last person to read. (Tickets were chosen at random.) We were given a topic and we had fifteen minutes to write something. The topic was: a ride in the country. Totally not what I expected. I played around with a few ideas in my head and then I went with something urban fantasy. Two monsters in a Bonnie & Clyde situation, having just eluded the cops, and are driving down a country road as they're talking. I didn't have enough time to explain the setting of the world or what sort of monsters they were. A few other writers did urban fantasy, too, and they were hilarious. It added to the feeling that mine flopped. The panelists were confused as to what my two characters were, but they got the basic premise of it. They liked the subtle juxtaposition of what seemed like an ordinary outlaw couple with the supernatural weird bits. I didn't go overboard with it. I wanted the focus to be more on the characters and their situation rather than the fact they were monsters. The panelists said that subtle isn't always good, though. In a short story, you have to plainly say such things and say them up front. They said nice things about my clean style, but that was it. Since my story didn't impress me, I don't think it made a big impression on anyone else. The best thing to come out of this workshop for me was listening to the panel critique all the stories. I've been learning a lot about critiquing this year. I hope it's making me a better critique partner.

I missed two more seminars on Saturday morning because I was sick. Something I ate for breakfast didn't sit well with me. Yet after my stomach was emptied, I felt better.

I attended one seminar with a bit of a headache. "Make it Steamy: a look at the steampunk genre." This one was a lot of fun. They talked about the definition of steampunk and its history. There was a new author on the panel who recently published a short story called "Pimp My Airship." He's writing a novel in a new sub-genre called Steamfunk!

My headache cleared in time for me to do the True Dungeon in the afternoon. This was my first time playing through with a group I didn't know. Usually my husband and I do it together. Thankfully, I got a wonderful and experienced group. The girl who played our rogue was dressed as Sailor Moon! I played the cleric. We survived the Lair of the Sea Lich and acquired the amulet to fight the Draco Lich next year. (Unfortunately, my husband didn't get a good group when he went through later that night and didn't survive. AND he was forced to play the bard. Poor guy.)

I had two seminars scheduled for Sunday morning. It was a rough morning as we were packing up. Once again, I missed them. Yet we managed to get down to the exhibit hall and I got some more books signed. I talked for a little bit with a couple of authors about proper book signing etiquette. When you're doing a signing for an anthology, the author is suppose to sign the page where their short story starts. Only the editor is suppose to sign in the front. Yet, of course, it all depends on what the customer wants.

The weekend was a blur. I wish I had gotten more time to do writing stuff, but being a parent must come first. It will be even more fun when the boy is older too.

Thank you, Gen Con. It wasn't my best year, but it was fun.

One of those weeks

It's been one of those weeks. My husband burned himself on the lawnmower and I was stung by a wasp. The horrible topper was when my 14 month old son touched the hot grill. He has second degree burns on both his hands. Only his left thumb remained free of blisters. Poor little guy. His hands are wrapped up like mittens. He's been very good considering, but he gets frustrated he can't do anything. Tomorrow morning we'll go in to see the doctor to find out how he's healing. We have to change the bandages twice a day and keep them on for at least a week. Torture for a little boy who wants to get into everything and torture for his mom who has to watch him suffer with it.

I managed to get some time yesterday to start a dark fantasy short story. I'm not sure if it started with enough of a bang, though. I might rewrite the beginning, but we'll see what my critique partners have to say first. I'm my own worst critic sometimes. I know what I want to do with the story and I'll push myself to it. I just have to find the right path to get there. That's the tricky part.