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Filed in: blog | slice of life | television Tags: celebrity apprentice | reality shows
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 Hubby and I watched every episode of the Celebrity Apprentice this season. It became our Sunday ritual and we’d discuss who should be fired and who were the strongest players. Both of us agreed that Holly and Brett were the top candidates and agreed that Brett Michaels in the course of the show really came out as a creative, hard-working, and decent fellow.
Hubby is probably mortified that I’m outing him here. He only watches reality shows when I ask for television time as is my due. He prefers the news and documentaries. And sports games. So he civilly yields an hour here and there for Top Chef, The Amazing Race, and The Apprentice.
Hubby even commented that his opinion of Brett increased after the show and that Holly really deserved it as the strongest, most professional player, but Brett’s final Snapple commercial was a great job. Other than jibber-jabbering about TV shows, my real point is that the writing for these shows is able to tap into something basic and appealing. The Apprentice was able to create storylines around these characters that succeeded in hooking my gruff and reluctant hubby into fandom.
For a bit of fun, I’ve been inspired by my guilty reality TV habit and my own random video editing skills to put together a little video on my quest to become “America’s Next Top Historical Model” in time for Nationals.
Production starts today. Stay tuned!
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Filed in: blog | friends and family | slice of life | writing
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First off, I want to confess that I’m breaking the fourth wall here. Angie Fox gave me wonderful advice about how she doesn’t want her readers to even realize the grunt work that goes into writing. She doesn’t talk about how hard it is on her blog or her facebook.
“That’s brilliant!” I exclaimed. “Never let them see you sweat.”
Guess I’m breaking that rule with this post.  I’m working on this short story/novella and thinking of how every new story feels like I’m learning everything all over again. Will this ever get easier? Will characters and conflict and just the very execution of these scenes ever come naturally?
I thought back to teaching. I’m probably feeling nostalgic because I just sent out scholarships and I’m going back to California in a month to attend the graduation ceremony for the last freshman class I taught.
When I was a newbie, veteran teachers would tell me that after a couple years, teaching would get easier. But I was working my butt off every year and feeling I would never reach that imaginary plateau. At one point I finally realized, it was easier. I just didn’t realize it.
My first year teaching, I spent a lot of energy spinning my wheels trying to figure things out and wasting time on things that didn’t turn out to be important. By my second year, the fundamentals got easier and I just moved on to fret about other things. I knew how to organize my class, lesson plan, get through administrative tasks like grading and taking attendance that used to be a huge deal. I knew what activities would give a bigger bang for the buck in terms of student involvement and learning. But then I wanted to raise the bar, teach more than I had before, push the students further from the first day to summer break.
So that’s where I am now. Everything still feels like it takes so much effort, but maybe it’s just because I’m planning harder lessons. That’s my encouraging thought for the day — It never gets easier, but it does.
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For some reason, the topic of this post made me think of “Deep Thoughts” by Jack Handey. Remember? That old Saturday Night Live skit where the music would get all sentimental and serious and Jack would spout random thoughts in that were hilariously nonsensical?
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Filed in: blog | friends and family | slice of life Tags: mother's day
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 It was hard to find pics of mum and me together. Probably because Mom is usually wielding the camera. Reminder: I’ll have to get pictures with her when I head to California for my niece’s graduation in a month.
This is us on a boat in Halong Bay during our trip to China and Vietnam. Mum’s a looker, isn’t she? Unfortunately, I got my Dad’s round face. And if I look a bit frazzled, it’s because it’s really muggy and hot in Halong Bay in the summer. Gorgeous place for pictures though.
In honor of Mother’s Day, I vacuumed. A friend is coming to visit for a night, which pulled hubby and I out of our hermit-like existence. I vacuumed and dusted and cleaned out my office and then I hit the guest bedroom with a once over. Quite a feat for me.
I could just hear mum saying, “Now try to keep it clean, so you don’t have to work so hard next time.”
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Filed in: blog | slice of life Tags: guy gavriel kay | jennifer roberson | mary jo putney | sword dancer | tbr | under heaven
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In addition to rediscovering the library during my short bout of unemployment, I also signed onto the All About Romance forum to search for a pirate/highwayman book from my youth that I wanted to read again. Between the two, it seems the reading bug has bitten me. I’m catching up on a favorite series from fantasy reading days, discovering classic Mary Jo Putney (who gave Butterfly Swords an awesome quote! *little hearts and stars*), and getting back into big epic books that hurt if you accidentally drop them on your toe.
So here’s my current bookfix list:
Guy Gavriel Kay‘s Under Heaven: MWAHAHAHAHAHA….I’ve been waiting for this one for months. I bet I can get it in before I start revisions. Maybe it will put me in a sweeping epic sort of mood.
Guy Gavriel Kay‘s Ysobel: I’m so behind. Am I the last fantasy reader on Earth to read this book?
Mary Jo Putney‘s Bartered Bride: I just finished China Bride and can’t wait to see what happens with Gavin in this one.
Jennifer Roberson‘s Sword-Born & Sword Sworn: The readers at AAR brought this up in a thread and I was tickled pink. I read book 1-4 before I became a romance reader and even recalled swapping Sword Dancer with my BFF for Gift of Gold by Jayne Ann Krentz when we decided we’d see what the other liked to read. I stopped reading the series after book 4 probably due to heading off to college or discovering boys or something like that….
The Sword Dancer series and Tiger and Del are a HUGE influence on my stories. I’m getting warm fuzzies at the thought of revisiting them and finishing the series.
Hmmm…It must have been a fantasy bug that bit me. What’s on your list?
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Filed in: blog | slice of life Tags: RWA conference | working out
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“Let’s talk about your goals,” my physical trainer says. “What do you want to achieve?”
“I need to look good by July.”
I know this is very shallow. I should be trying to stay healthy all year round and I should be more concerned with having a strong heart than a firm middle. *Hangs head in shame*
“What’s in July?” he asks.
“I have to look good in front of hundreds of women,” I say, shame forgotten. “Everyone goes shopping for cute clothes and shoes. It’s the gathering of the year.”
I tried to explain the historical fashion show I’m a part of and how I’m presenting a workshop…let’s just say I don’t want to suck it in for four days.
I should have been warned by the gleam in his eyes.
“Oh, we can do July,” Mr. Strange says. (That’s my trainer’s name. Strange. I wish I wrote contemporaries so I could write him into something.)
So I woke up this morning barely able to walk after jump roping. I popped two Advil and dragged myself to the gym anyway. At one point in the workout he laughed diabolically when I was limping from the exercise bike to the mat. I swear, there was diabolicalness to it.
Then I ended the workout doing a fitness drink taste test because he insisted these were the ones that “tasted good”. I nodded politely and tried not to make a face. The grape one was better than the fruit punch.
“Take the whole bottle with you,” he offers.
“No, no.” I force a smile. “You can have it.”
He wants to start looking at a food journal starting next week to which I agreed. It’s really hard to trim down when you’re 5’1. There’s very little wiggle room. But I’m going to look good in July, darn it.
Maybe I should add a daily fitness goal to the Fast Draft goal?
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Filed in: blog | slice of life
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I attended an agent/editor panel at Nationals where one of the agents said she’d request a particular manuscript because it had a Special Ops hero even though there were issues with the query letter. She said it just goes to show you how subjective some of this stuff is. Makes sense, agents and editors are readers too.
So I was trying to think of storylines and situations I particularly like as a reader.
1) Geek comes into his/her own
Hello 80s! John Cusack, hold up that stereo in the rain and cue the musical montage.
I just finished Under His Spell, a Harlequin Blaze by Kathy Lyons. I just can’t tell you how satisfying it was to see the hero Jimmy Ray, the quintessential shy geek, meet his old high school crush again as an ultra-ripped, successful, yet still endearingly vulnerable grown man. The book was pure fantasy. Late night sundaes at the greasy spoon. Finding out the guy next door is now a hottie and he’s been in love with you all this time. *sigh*
2) Teacher finds love
I just adore it when the heroine has to grade a stack of papers or stay late to work on school stuff. It is hard dating while teaching. Practically impossible.
I recently read Kristan Higgins’ Too Good to be True and loved how the history geek of a school teacher with the hair that won’t behave finds love. I used to marvel at the women who still looked good after a day of work, because at the end of a day, my suit was wrinkled, my hair was a mess, and I probably had dry-erase marker smudges on my face. It’s awfully nice to find a guy who can still look at you and find you attractive after a day in the teaching trenches. On top of that, this is one of the few books where I kept on busting out laughing. My husband had to ask me if I was okay.
For me, these are very real situations and characters with concerns and insecurities that don’t have to be larger than life and over-dramatic to make me care. Not all conflicts are life and death and not all goals have to revolve around saving the world.
And fine. Since I was both a high school nerd and a science teacher, they’re Mary Sue-type situations for me. *sticks tongue out*
What scenarios really speak to you and why?
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Filed in: blog | slice of life Tags: cyberspace | dreams
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I’ve been having a lot of dreams lately. Nothing interesting — I dreamt about working out at the gym and there was one about me going into an office. I even had the dreaded going back to school dream, teacher version. (Most definitely tied to my upcoming workshop at the NECRWA conference)
But I’m actually very happy to be dreaming once again about PEOPLE and PLACES. Shortly before leaving the dreaded day job, I was having awful nightmares that consisted entirely of computer screens. I dreamt of e-mail and of me typing out messages. Twisted.
This actually did worry me a bit. What was happening to my mind that my subconscious could only dream about screens and applications? My world had narrowed down to this rectangle in front of me. Of course, I extrapolated this into thinking about what sorts of visions and fantasies will people imagine when their input is coming primarily from the window of their computer?
I usually try to shake these thoughts away. Children today are learning how to process information differently from when we were learning. I just have to have faith that the brain will adapt, the same way it’s had to adapt in each generation. Kids these days with their loud rock ‘n roll music…
For me, I’m very happy to be dreaming in color again. It lets me know I’m getting better.
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Filed in: blog | promotion | slice of life Tags: amanda berry | kimberly killion | promotion | time sucks | writer's resources
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I’ve been a little bit skittish since my agent told me she occasionally reads my blog. I’m afraid she’s going to wonder why I’m not spending more time writing. *looks left* *looks right*
I’ve been multi-tasking and trying to plan promotion activities and materials as well as get ready for my first workshop at the New England conference in two weeks. I’m waiting for the “back to school” nightmares to start because I’m already getting the lesson planning jitters.
But I do want to take a moment to say, it’s nice to have friends who have done this before. Reason #104 why I’m glad I joined RWA.
Kimberly Killion’s website has been heaven sent. I have to give her a shout out. I’d really suggest any aspiring authors or soon to be pubbed authors go there. She’s gathered so much good information. Plus she writes some pretty sexy Scottish medievals if you’re in the mood!
Kimberly Killion’s website
Also my Little Sis comes through again. I’m trying to format excerpt booklets for printing to use as handouts at NECRWA. With her background in print production, she’s been able to de-mystify all these formatting issues for me and help me lay everything out. I really owe her a scone or two, with clotted cream and everything. (Though I did make about 50 delicious crab cakes for her 30th birthday party. I’m sure it all balances out.)
And then of course there’s my CP and writing buddy Amanda Berry. I was gushing about all the promotional materials I’ve been creating and her response was a dry, “And you’ve been avoiding writing.”
But, but…It’s just been slow going, that’s all. 
I did make a banner for her upcoming June debut. Time suck #310. I loved that they got the Hollywood sign and the building in back that looks so L.A.
Alright Amanda, I’ll get back to work now.
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Filed in: blog | friends and family | slice of life Tags: chinese new year | red envelopes | year of the tiger
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 Not a great picture, but I wanted to show the actual envelopes I’ll be giving out this year.
2010 is the Year of the Tiger. Last year, hubby and I spent New Year’s in California at Mum’s. She always reads us our horoscope or fortunes for the year. For 2009, she said I was supposed to get good news in July. Mum was hoping that would mean baby news, but I’m counting The Call and the Golden Heart win as that happy news. She’s quite disappointed.
Unfortunately, she told hubby he’d have money troubles and to watch out for health issues. Those predictions came true as well. He insists that we never go to Mum’s again for New Year’s. Or, if he does go, he won’t get his fortune read. To that, Mum sniffed and insisted this stuff is going to happen anyway. Knowing it helps you prepare.
I’m not superstitious, but I do like when good predictions come true. No fortunes this year. Just a brunch date with my cousin Kimmy and her husband who happen to be in town. I’ll get to hand out some more red envelopes. I do believe karmically that your year will be better if you are open and giving from the start. I chalk it up to psychology and personal outlook and not to cosmic forces.
Oh, and is anyone else quite delighted that Valentine’s and New Year’s are on the same day this year? Both have traditions of handing out red envelopes. What’s better than receiving valentines with money inside?
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Filed in: blog | miscellaneous | slice of life Tags: bolt | random visits | rhino
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 I’ve been a lot less avid about checking my website stats since my webmistress Liz took the site of StatCounter. (Thank you Liz. I might not have gotten those two manuscripts whipped into shape if it weren’t for you!)
But I still check the new SiteMeter stats once in a while to see what’s bringing people to the site. So far, the most referrals come from queries for “Jeannie Lin” or “Butterfly Swords” which, frankly, still makes me giddy every time. But the second most frequent referral comes from a link on Google images to Rhino.
I just saw the cartoon again last night and I do love the little creature. His wild, frenetic enthusiasm is unstoppable. So should I use this conincidence of events? Cross-promotion opportunity? Rhino the Kung Fu Hamster. Hi-ya!
There is definitely one part of me that is channeling Rhino right now. The part when he’s anticipating finally getting out of the trailer park to become a superhero alongside Bolt: “Let it begin! Let it begin!”
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