On the Move

Well, it's been another busy month. Computer crashes, viruses and work have kept me offline and out of the loop for a while, and now I have to move. I hate moving, but sometimes it's a necessary evil. Have been trying all day to motivate myself to sort & pack my bedroom, but the bed keeps singing its siren's song and calling me back.

On the other hand, I was slightly stoked when I saw my shall-remain-secret short story is now up on the publisher's website. :) That motivated me to want to write some more, but I also have two friend's novels that are awaiting my edits and feedback, so I'd feel guilty about working on my own when I have promises to keep. Hence, I'm still sitting here doing nothing. (In self defence, did I mention my computer crashed and it had viruses? It took almost three weeks to get all that straightened out, so I'm way behind.)

Anyhoodles... hope all is well out there in your world. I'm off to look at all the work I need to do. And sigh. What are you up to?

Family Matters

Just wanted to take a moment to show some love to my new sister-in-law (and her dog).


http://howsamseesit.blogspot.com/


Will be back later for more updates. :) Meanwhile, how's it going out there?

Magical Mondays - Real Goals

Have been thinking about goals and manifestation lately, and came across this interesting video:



You'll need to watch through the end to see the main point - how we can test whether we REALLY want something or not. I did a little self-test with this and the results were somewhat surprising. I already knew I've been hesitant about some things I've thought I wanted to have in my life, but there were others that I didn't realize I would have still hesitated for. That got me to thinking about creative visualization and why some things manifest ,while others do not. Could it be I was holding back and the universe knew it before I did? I think it's likely.

You don't even have to have a partner to do this test- just really picture yourself being able to grab whatever you want out of someone's hand as they offer it to you. Do you take it automatically, or is some little voice in the pit of your stomach going, "well, maybe..."?

Honestly, who knew I would have had second thoughts about that winning lottery ticket? I sure didn't. But it did get me to thinking about why that is, and now I think I'm a little better equipped to start manifesting the things I really do want.

Try picturing someone offering you health and happiness for your loved ones - pretty easy to take that one. Now, picture them offering you fame, fortune, 6-figure writing contracts, etc. - whatever you think should entice you. Which ones are easy takes, and which ones might make you hesitate?

I Get by with a Little Help from My Friends...

So, how is everyone out there? It's been a while, huh?

I've been under the weather for so long (and in Chicago, that's some pretty bad weather!) that I sometimes wonder if I'll ever dig out (literally and figuratively). Nevertheless, I wanted to log in and say "thank you" to those of you who've stuck with me, and get caught up on some of the good news around the blogosphere.

I'm still making the rounds, but here a few items of note:

Lana Gramlich's talent seems to grow every time I visit her blog. Her photography is incredible, as are her paintings. And her husband, Charles, (also extremely talented) has a short horror story on the (also very talented) Sidney Williams' new podcast.

Edie Ramer is in the finals of the American Title V contest - go, Edayyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here's hoping she wins that publishing contract!

Zoe Winters was a finalist in the Better Sex Erotic Fiction contest, and won a "hot new author" prize.

Cynthia Eden keeps pulling in the publishing contract. Yay, Cindy! :)

Now, those are just a few highlights. I'm still making my way through my favorite blogs, so I'm sure I'll come across many more.

On the home front, I reviewed The List I made some time ago, and found things are still coming true. I definitely needed that pick-me-up. Among other things on the list, my daughter is now happy in acting classes, and I finally got a website started to help raise money (selling folk art paintings & sculptures) for a worthy cause.

I also created a new pseudonym and finished a short story that I'll submit tonight under the new name. (Sorry to be a tease, but this came about with a little help from another friend whom I promised to not mention, so...my lips are sealed.) ;) It's the first thing I've finished in quite a while, too.

So, to those of you whose blogs I haven't gotten to yet, feel free to post all your good news. :)

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day. Hope your day (every day) is filled with laughter and love.

Inspiration

Hi out there! Is everyone surviving the transition to winter? We actually had snow here the other day - it was a bit depressing on top of the nasty cold I've got.

Anyhoodles, I came across two inspiring bits of information/quotes today and felt they were worth sharing. See, I joined the Medifast online support group (decided to give it another go - I'd done it before and I know it works, but I needed more support this time around) and I found two things on their message boards that hit home for me. What was great about them is that these things can apply to any area of our lives that we're working on, whether it's weight loss, writing or anything else. So what were they?

One, was this quote: "Talk to that person in the mirror as if he or she were a good friend going through this."

Simple, but it really got to me. I'm probably much harder on myself than anyone else is, so I taped a copy of that to my bathroom mirror where I'll see it every day.

The second thing came from a woman had been reading a book called "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink, which isn't about weight loss, but she found an activity in it called "But Out!" that she found helpful enough to share, and I'm glad she did.

The exercise was this: Compile a list of some of the important changes you'd like to make in your life and what's keeping you from realizing them, such as:

I'd like to spend more time with my family, but I travel a lot for my job.
I'd like to eat better, but I'm surrounded at work by sugary snacks.
I'd like to read more, but I rarely have time when I can sit down with a book.

Now go back to each item and replace the word "but" with the word "and":

I'd like to spend more time with my family and I travel a lot for my job. I need to find ways to bring my family along during some of my travels.
I'd like to eat better, and I'm surrounded at work by sugary snacks. So I need to pack my own supply of healthful snacks to reduce the temptation to eat the bad stuff.
I'd like to read more, and I rarely have time when I can sit down with a book. So I need to get books on tape that I can listen to in the car or at the gym.

Exchanging "and" for "but" can move you out of excuse-making mode and into problem-solving mode.

Isn't that great? Simple, but effective. (Or, simple AND effective) :)

Now I'm off to get my butt back to bed so I can shake this cold. How are things going for you?

Books Like Crack

I remember reading a quote by Jason Isaacs (the actor who, among other roles, plays Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies) and he mentioned how he finally understood the HP phenomenon when he read the first book to study for the movie - he said the books were "like crack."

I have to agree about their addictive quality. And I'm pleased to share some other series (YA and adult) that I've discovered in the past year that had (have) me hooked as well.

The first discovery was Jennifer Armintrout's "Blood Ties" series starting with "The Turning". Great stuff.

Then in the YA section I discovered Terry Pratchett for the first time with the Tiffany Aching adventures. (This led me to his "Discworld" series and I can't believe I only found him in the past year.)

Next up in the YA section was The Bartimaeus Trilogy. I found the first book on sale and thought it looked interesting so I took it home. I went back the next day and got the rest.

Not so long ago, I found another book on sale, Dark Lover - book one of the "Black Dagger Brotherhood" series by JR Ward. Again, thought, "why not?" Well, I have to say that I have a love/hate relationship with these books. There are many things that bug me about them, but like any disfunctional loving relationship, I keep going back again and again. And I have no intention of leaving. :) In fact, I own all six that are out now, and will buy the next one that will come out in hard back next year.

So, there I was a few weeks ago back in my local Borders, and a book caught my eye. "Working for the Devil" book one in the "Dante Valentine" series by Lilith Saintcrow. I hadn't heard anything about her or the books, but decided to give it a try. Let me warn you: if you read the first one, make sure you bought the second one at the same time. Otherwise, you may end up like me and throw the first book across the room screaming and crying how, how, HOW could she end it that way?! :)

After that bit of hysteria, I decided to check out Charlaine Harris's "Sookie Stackhouse" series. Yeah, I'd heard about it for ages, but for some reason just never tried it. Well, Sookie and are good friends now.

Then just a few days ago, I gave into another series I'd heard good things about, but hadn't tried yet. The YA Twilight series. Oh. My. God. Stephenie Meyer is a genius at keeping you turning the pages. I talked my daughter into reading it, and she's hooked too. We've read the first two in as many days. The only reason why I haven't gone to get the last two is because I've had a bad virus the past few days and haven't been able to get out of bed. We also discovered they turned it into a movie that's coming out November 12. Woohoo! We're both really stoked. :)

So, what about you? Any books that got you so hooked you couldn't wait for the next one? I need another fix. :)

Magical Mondays - Three Wishes

Ah, my friends, I am tired. So tired. My crazy schedule on top of some health issues lately has just been kicking my butt. As I lay stewing in my own misery the other evening, I asked myself what did I need to focus on, visualize, wish for, in order to feel better. My mind did its usual kickstart of "money" but I knew that while it would certainly help, by itself, it isn't enough.

I started digging deeper and realized that there are only three things I need, and if I had them on a consistent basis, I could accomplish anything. They are: wisdom, courage and good health.

You see, sometimes, I just don't know what is the right thing to do - that's where wisdom comes in. Sometimes, I know the right thing to do, but lack the courage to follow through. And sometimes, I might know what to do, have the courage to do it, but lack the stamina - that's where I need good health and energy. If I had all three in abundance, life could be grand. :)

So, now I wish those things not only for me, but for all of you as well. I'll be signing petitions with my heart, tucking wishes into my bra, focusing my mind, and hoping all of us are blessed with an abundance of all three. (And that we come about that wisdom as painlessly as possible, lol)

~~~~~~~

And now, because I told her I would, I'm going to show some love to an ebay artmate: http://punkindoodleboo.blogspot.com/2008/04/punkin-doodle-boos-big-pfatt-giveaway.html. And if you comment on her blog, you'll be entered in a drawing to win one of her cute sculptures on May 10. :)