Friday, May 30, 2008

Va-Ca-CHUN! WOOT!

I'm not going to be available much for the next two weeks, because I'm going to be chasing a nine year old, a four year old, and a thirty-seven year old around WDW. Or, hell, maybe they'll be chasing me.

Yes, my inner twelve-year-old is freaking out. House of Mouse, here I come!

Ten days in Orlando, followed by four days in West Palm Beach... how cool is that? We leave tomorrow (a four year old on a plane for two hours... this should be fun) bright and early (because we're hoping they'll sleep on the plane. Yes, we're optimists. You can stop laughing now.). Today we finish packing, scrambling to get the dog and cats to their respective vacation baby sitters, make sure we pack medications, suntan lotion and aloe vera, etc., etc.

I'm going to be pooped before I even get there.

And, no, the menage story isn't quite done yet. I can tell, because I'm still hearing Enya's Boadecia in my head, and that appears to be Loki's song. It's mostly done. I'm going to try (and I mean try) to work on that today, but I virtually guarantee that, given the behavior of my boys over the last few days, I'm going to be too busy scraping bouncy, excited kids off the ceiling to hop into bed with those hotties for very long.

Sigh.

I promise I'll finish it when I get back. I sent it out to the betas who liked it, but agreed with me that it lacked... something. So I might take it past the 40k mark, maybe try to parlay it into novel length, and see if that works better.

On a brighter note, I'm a little ahead on the outline for Dogs and Cats, so hopefully this week won't set me back too far on my schedule. And since I'm bringing my laptop... you think Dusty's going to listen for the tippety-tap of keys?

Yeah. I think so too.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Memorial Day, Our Style

Imagine a group of twenty to twenty five people, ages seventy-two to eight months, all getting together for a barbecue in the back yard, and you've got my family's version of Memorial Day. (By the way, those twenty to twenty-five people? All of them are immediate family. My extended family is much larger. A get-together with everyone in my family requires a hall rental.)

So, in light of the facts that a) my mom has a pool and b) everyone is getting over a head cold (except Dusty, you bastard you; do you ever get sick? I swear, he's Borg or something) I told both my boys no swimming. I don't want them sick for the trip to WDW. They agreed.

Of course, I think what I agreed to and what they agreed to were two different things.

Everything was going along fine (despite the lack of hamburgers... you had to be there) right up until I had to go to the bathroom. Dusty was in the house, chatting with someone over the computer, which left me outside, watching the kids and chatting with my relatives. I asked my relatives to watch the kids while I went to "answer the call of nature".

While I was gone, my little stinkers told my dad they weren't sick, they were just having an allergy attack. So, of course Pop let them on the Slip N' Slide!

Then I get told by my Dad that I'm a "meanie". See what happens when you take your eyes off my kids for five minutes? They totally sucker Pop. One big set of brown eyes and one big set of hazel and suddenly I'm in trouble. And, oh, are they smart! They waited until I was gone before falling on my father, pathetic little Oliver "Please, sir, may I have some more?" faces on, so I didn't even get a chance to defend myself!

He was firmly on their side, right up until the words "head cold" popped out of my mouth. By that time, however, it was too late; they were soaked. The oldest then tried to parlay that into, "Well, I'm already wet; can I go in the pool now?"

No. No, you cannot.

And when will he learn big brown eyes don't work on me nearly as well as they work on Pop?

Other than that, everyone had a blast. The kids played on the trampoline and the Slip 'N Slide, the adults talked and watched children, and Dusty even managed to socialize (because someone else was on the computer, I think; otherwise I wouldn't have seen him except at feeding time). Two year old Sydney Rose even got on the trampoline, her pretty hair all fuzzed up with static electricity, giggling like mad. And seventeen year old Justin showed his face twice! That's probably a record!

Okay, at least one of those appearances was because his mother and uncle kept throwing bottle caps at his window, but, still! He showed up!

My mom got her group photo of tired, dirty grandkids after much maneuvering, yelling, and threatening of bodily harm, before it was off for home and bed.

Memorial Day was sort of our Pajama Sunday (a family ritual that involves being total slugs, followed by a ravioli dinner made by yours truly). The Great Yugi-Oh DuelMonsters game was a draw between Daddy and the oldest, although the oldest firmly believes that he would have taken the prize if they'd just had one more hour before shower and bed. Daddy respectfully disagreed.

I hope everyone else had as good a Memorial Day as we did.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Still Sick, But Better

I'm still feeling sniffly and icky, but I feel better than I did a few days ago. So I'm taking the rest of the week off (unless the urge to write really strikes... thank you, new laptop!), so just in case I get too busy to post before Monday, have a good weekend!

Monday, May 19, 2008

I Thought It Was Allergies!

I have good news, good news, and bad news.

The good news? Sweet Dreams is back with Angie, the first round of edits done! Yay!

The good news? The character chat seemed to be a real hit. I'm hoping that the other authors had as good a time as I did, and it seemed like the readers had a good time, too.

The bad news? I did the character chat with a stuffed nose, fever, body aches, etc., thinking I was having an allergy attack.

Now, before I get yelled at ("That's a head cold, dummy!") let it be known that a LOT of my allergy attacks will cause me to have a fever. A nurse tried to explain to me once why that happens, but right now I can't remember the explanation. She said if the allergy meds make me feel better, then it's an allergy attack. If they don't, it's a cold.

Guess what? It's a cold.

Now the youngest is starting to sniffle and get "snoodely". The oldest has been sick for about three days (no fever, so, again, I though allergy attack since the pollen in our area has been anywhere from High to "Why is that cloud yellow, Mama?" "It's not a cloud. It's pollen, sweetie.") Now I'm thinking it was a cold all along. Luckily, he's getting better. Not so luckily, I'm not.

So I may be a bit out of touch for a day or two while I kick this out of my system. Don't worry, I'll do my best to answer e-mails, but my elves are on hold until I feel better. I actually did try to write today, but... I hit the delete key. A LOT.

Juice and some rest (as much as my kids will let me have, at least), and plenty of cold medicine, and I should be fine in a few days.

In the meantime, Tuesday is release day over at Samhain, so go check out the new books, maybe look at some of the older releases, and have a good couple of days!

Sunday, May 11, 2008

I Have Seen The Future, And It Is Vista


"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated."

Every machine in my house runs Windows XP. All of them, that is, except my shiny new laptop.

Installing a new OS is never fun, since you have to go and make sure you have drivers for your hardware. Otherwise you have a lovely, if rather large, and expensive, coaster. Or a planter, if you're using a small desktop. If you're using a full size case, it can become a Barbie Brownstone!

Changing OS's from Vista to XP, however... yikes. It takes difficult and puts it in the realm of pulling someone, mind intact, from the Borg Collective. Pretty soon you'll be hearing Mac users screaming, "Windows VISTA? Oh noes! We've been assimilated!"

And trying to find those drivers? Most laptops no longer even offer drivers for XP, only for Vista, since Microsoft has decided to no longer support XP in favor of Vista. So in order to find drivers, I had to search the Internet. Y'know, ride the Information Highway down Route 404 Error to Driver Hell.

Google this: Dell Inspiron 1721 XP drivers. See what comes up. A lot of people complaining that they can't find drivers to switch back to XP!

I finally, after much searching and pulling of hair, learned that there ARE work-around's for this driverless sea I find myself in. It involves lying to your computer, and telling it it really isn't what it thinks it is, but something else that DOES have drivers for XP.

Thank you, God, for my live-in tech support, who's probably going to be screaming in no time at my poor, helpless, Borg-infested laptop.

Remind me to make him brownies when he's done. He'll deserve them.

Monday, May 5, 2008

I Now Have A Newsletter!

I know a lot of people have waited patiently for me to set up a newsletter: Well, here it is! I even have the first installment set up!

So go over, sign up, and get the latest news on what's going on! I may even give a sneak-peak excerpt into Sweet Dreams in the June issue!

Friday, May 2, 2008

CONTEST!

Yup, you heard right, I'm having a contest.

Sunday, May 18th, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., the characters are coming out to play on the Samhain Cafe! Meet some of your favorite characters from some of your favorite books, like Gabe and Lucas Bennet from Claiming Their Mate. (Max and Simon are currently arguing over who gets to attend, but something tells me Emma will win that argument! Although, Becky is a sleeper... hmmm...)

So let me know which character you'd like to chat with! Whoever wins the vote will
appear on the Cafe. Voting closes May 16th, so the character has a chance to set up his (or her!) account.

So go to my website, click on your choice, and hit "Submit"! I'll announce the winner on May 17th!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Chatting at Fallen Angels Tonight!

Ack!

Okay, my bad; I didn't know about the Samhain Author's monthly chat on Fallen Angels once a month. I got the notice in my e-mail this morning, and you know me. Can't resist the urge to chat with all of you.

So I'll be there tonight, gossiping about The Wallflower and a little bit about Sweet Dreams or whatever else anyone wants to talk to me about. Hope to see you there!

Favorite Quotes

"I had the right to remain silent, but I didn't have the ability." Ron White

"So let me get this straight. You want me to kill the little guys, kill the big guys, crowd control those I can't, buff the team, debuff the boss, keep myself alive, AND keep you alive, all while waving a stick and dressed in a towel?" - Anonymous Role Playing Gamer

"I think that statue over there is a statement on modern life. The statement is, "Well, shit." - Varric, Dragon Age II

"Why is it all claws and guns? Can't we piss off a fuzzy planet? Still dangerous, but hey. Bunnies." - Joker, Mass Effect

"Last night, I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and thought to myself, "Where the heck is the ceiling?" - Dilbert


"Aim at the high mark and you will hit it. No, not the first time, not the second time and maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make you perfect. Finally you'll hit the bull's-eye of success." - Annie Oakley

"It is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly." - Flemeth, aka The Witch of the Wilds, Dragon Age 2

"The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, 'You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.'” - George Carlin

"I hear there's a wild bridge tournament down the street. And you know Bridge. It's a lot like sex. If you don't have a great partner, you'd better have a good hand." Barry Weiss, Storage Wars

"You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe." - Marcus Cole, Babylon 5, "A Late Delivery From Avalon"

"I aim to misbehave." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." - Albert Einstein

“If you think you can or think you cannot, you are correct.” - Henry Ford
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