New book, new books!

Writing front…have a new project!

Queen city is having a run of bad luck, but that's nothing new to Raya. She's moved here to escape a painful past shame, disappear and start over. But someone is not willing to let her. An early morning run starts a series of disasters, and each one has the body count rising. Making things worse is Detective Blake, the only person she has to turn to. But he believes she's part of the conspiracy. It doesn't help that she's becoming more attracted to him every time they're thrown together. But will he protect her from whoever is doing this? Or is she on her own against an enemy that knows all her darkest fears, her deepest shames and the best way to use them against her?

And I’ve discovered that I’m a book whore. I can’t make logical choices when entering a bookstore, I spend too much money. Sigh. I’ll have to live with it.

Home | Sympatico / MSN News

Okay, so I've taught on a couple of reserves. Americans call them reservations. In the North, things are a little different. A power outage in the middle of winter can mean death, literally. On a reserve, the power isn't as steady as it should be. Each house on the reserves that I've worked on is equiped with a red light. Once those red lights start flashing, the heat is off and you've got four hours to get it back on or move for the rest of the winter. Pipes freeze after that and the ground is too frozen to fix them and that's it until spring, which is a long way off. Well, long story short, my roommates and I suddenly found ourselves in a red light house during a power outage. The whole reserve came by to check on us at some point during those four hours it took to get the power up and running and our furnace back up in record time. We had bannock brought to us, extra blankets, couple of camp stoves and even moose meat stew brought by, piping hot and delicious, by one of the elders. Not to mention that kids were stopping by from our classes to make sure we would be there on Monday, but they might have been there for the free flowing hot chocolate too, I'm not entirely sure. But it was still scary, as it was almost dark before the lights came back up. I will never forget that day, though.

Again, one of my fav authors. She is rather prolific. I like that. I have fits and spurts of creative 'genius' that I am working on fixing. My main problem is that I've never been a 'schedule' sort of person. I know it would fix a lot of my issues, but I've never been one to force myself to a set schedule. My inner child(?) rebels at the thought of going to bed every night at 10:30 and getting up at 6:30. It would rather I push until the last possible minute to stay awake and then snuggle under the covers for as long as I can until I HAVE to get up. I usually wake up tired and underwhelmed in the motivation department. I have no kids and no one to rely on me except the cat and she's pretty forgiving.

I don't even have the party excuse. I'm not a drinker (read pathetic light-weight here) and other than sinus meds and aspirin for sore muscles and the occasional headache, stay away from drugs. Never anything illegal. But it's like my body is stuck in 5-year-old mode.  But my day job varies things too. Sometimes there are meetings after work that have no end time, paperwork that piles up, phone calls that I have to make or emergencies that pop up and have to be taken care of. I can usually be home between 5 and 5:30 thru the week but it's never for sure. Then there are the exercise classes that my buddy and I take on Tues and Thurs. Hurry and rush there again. Gotta get my walk in sometime in the evening as well. That takes anywhere from 30-60 minutes depending on how bad the day has been. By the time I get through prep for the next day and wade through my email, I have little brain left for my characters, even though they have been snapping and grumpy in my mind all day.

I hate mornings. I love the solitude of them, though. I have to think of some reward or something for getting up and writing first thing in the morning. It will mean getting up at 5 am just to get a decent chunk of time, but hey. I need to suck it up princess and just do it. I will feel better.

LKH Blog

And have had a whopper of a day. It's a 'when will I ever learn' kinda day. Like when will I learn that I don't have to do everything all at once and anyone who expects that is even more crazy than I am? When will I learn to ask more questions up front?

I booked a Valentine's Day present for me, though. A day at the spa...gotta have something to look forward to and this will be it for me. If I can just hold on until February 14th. I don't expect the whole being single thing to have changed by then, but one can only hope.

Now if you'll excuse me I am going to go eat 9 Hersey's kisses (one serving size. I have started a new regime where I can eat whatever I want but only one serving of it and I must be willing to write it down on paper that I ate it...you'd be surprised what that does for your resolve). Possibly just go with a chocolate frosted pop tart instead, who knows, but I'm going crazy!

I suck at games. The ones I played growing up were mostly by myself. And no, don't go there, that wasn't what I meant. It was like when my cousin and I played Barbies. She would spend hours setting up her house, finding ash trays to turn into decorative pools in the salon of her doll's house and making chairs and tables out of jewellery boxes and ornaments, covering them with 'table clothes' made out of tissues, linens and scraps of materials.

I, on the other hand, had to wait hours for her. So my Barbie often went on adventures into the Green Tub sea or flying through space and time on the vacuum starship. She's an interior designer, I'm a writer, go figure.

And I suck at games, which is what brings me to the topic of my post, my newest obsession. Scrabble blast. Being a writer, I should rock at this, right? Nope, sorry to dash your hopes but this is laughable with me there. Still, every expert started as a beginner, right?

Finnegan begin again. Here I go...

SCRABBLE® Blast - Sympatico / MSN Games - Free Online Games

Okay, so I admit. I am a movie hound. I love the whole thing, going to the theatre, the big screen, the magic of the mass mind that makes everything bigger, faster, more exciting, more romantic. I miss it. Horribly.

The theatre up here is about 2-3 months behind the cities. Or even my hometown of 4000 people. And it isn't in the best of places either. I'm afraid to go there alone when I used to go to the movies all by myself all the time. I guess them's the breaks.

But I'm excited to see this movie. The truck is exactly as I pictured it. Bella is exactly who I pictured her to be. I didn't really see Edward clearly, but he moves exactly as I saw in my head. And now here's the confession. I haven't been able to get through the book. I've tried several times and I love vampire books. I love the thought of soul mates. I love the concept of this story. But I can't see the book in my head.

So I really REALLY want to see this movie. Hope it comes North soon.

TWILIGHT - The Official Movie Site - IN THEATERS 11.21.08

I'm not dead...just hibernating. I have no excuses. I just disappear from cyberworld every once in a while. I'm not an overly social person. This is something I wish to change...but it takes time.

For those of you concern, When All Else Fails has morphed into Hell Cat. The title seems more fitting, especially in light of certain aspects hitting the Havens family at the end of book 2. Yes, we have Jackson's siblings making an appearance. Twin sibs and non identical. They have their own issues to deal with and their own file to delve into when it comes time.

For those of you who read this, do you nano? I'll be there as Blenky. Look me up! I can't wait to meet you all. Ta for now.

iB::Topic::NaNo User Names

Any of my Canadian compatriots remember that old show? I fought with my brother for the remote at my parents house to flip the channel away from this one, but I find myself missing it today. Weird. Just thought that I would check in. School has started up again and I am on the sub list here so I can earn and write at the same time. Life is weird, but fun.

For those of you wondering, Hellcat, Aislyn's latest adventure, is progressing. slowly progressing.

37,423 / 80,000 (46.8%)

I love this woman's blog. She is just so damned honest and blunt. I like it. I'm stuck. I'm blocked, I can't write about Aislyn any more right now. So I should take a break from it but I can't because I have to get the damn thing DONE!

Stuck in a rut.

The rut being fear that this time, it won't be good enough. This time, I will be told no. This time, someone will call me as the poser that I am, that I feel like. It stems from this whole notion I have of work. If I don't have sweat to show for it, if i'm not going balls-to-the-wall full-out, make-it-or-break-it physical or totally exhausted at the end of the day, then I'm not working. Sitting in a chair all day and just writing is damned near lazy for me! I don't know what to think half the time. I'm wonky in the head. I know that everyone doesn't do that everyday. Oh my giddy Aunt, what am I going to do with myself?

Yasmine Galenorn: Life on the Fringe

My new reading obsession. I have all 4 sisters of the moon books. I have gotten to go through one. I am halfway finished my novel's 3rd draft. I hope I have fixed the majority of the plot problems.

I wish I could be more coherent right now, but I just got back from the gym. 1/2 an hour on the bike, 15-20 minutes on the weights (arms and upper body focus today) then 9 laps in the pool. And I still have my ab work to do.

On a plus, today I get my cards read by Tarot by Arwen! I'm excited. I will let you know how it all goes tomorrow! And I got my word count in today! I might even get brave and try to push it, if the thunder and lightning stay away.

Yasmine Galenorn and Galenorn En/Visions

Okay, HUGE fan of this!*Does Snoopy Dance of Joy!!!!!!!*

Glad it's coming out again! I've already ordered the tv series.

That is all.

Witchblade: Coming to Theatres

I've decided, for reasons unknown, that I want one of theses little cars, should I ever have the opportunity to own a car again. They are small (which I like, less to clean) and they are environmentally friendly. Also, as they cannot go above 25 miles per hour, I would be unable to get a speeding ticket. This makes me happy, though there is a plan in the works for a highway car here in the Canadian market (if they don't want people to speed, don't make a car that can go 125km an hour...but that's just my thought).

I also like the 'skipping the gas station' idea. Just plug in your car overnight. Of course it wouldn't work where I currently live, because here you have to plug in your REGULAR car for 6 months of the year to ensure that it will function for the 30minute warm up it requires. Also, I would need to live in a bigger city. All of these signs point south.

Had a fabulous birthday. Spent a couple of hours on the Raven Reader's bash loops and gave away a few prizes. Kaye Chambers was there with me and we had fun. And one of my favourite gifts was the game Boggle. I'm horrible at it (mostly because of the time factor, if molasses and I were racing up hill in January, molasses would win), but I can only improve! 

ZENN Motor Company

I am a Joss Whedon fan. I sometimes think it is a good thing that I live far up in the north and not down in California or somewhere actually accessible to some of my favs cause then I'd just be at their place all the time (Nathan Fillion, how I love thee, especially in this. Can I borrow your hammer?).

So I read about this in my loops and decided to spread the word, as limited as that may be, but here it goes. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! It makes a nice change from the last two rants I put up.

This is ridiculous! I'm sorry, but I have this thing about Canadians being apologetic about being Canadians. I know, there are issues and facts that I do not know about because it wouldn't make good news or isn't relevant to the current story, but come on people. It's a flag. It's the Canadian flag in Canada. Why can't he show it?

The reason given, that it does not conform to a uniform look, is bogus. It's foolish. It's not a Jolly Roger (pirate flag), nor does it promote drug use or sport a flashy marijuana leaf. ITS THE CANADIAN FLAG. It shows pride in our country, something this man fought for, risked his life for, and is not afraid to proclaim. Why should he take down the flag? Why do we have to hide our pride?

Not everything in Canada is wonderful, but of all the countries out there, we're pretty well off. I am proud to be a Canadian. I was proud when I lived in the States to be Canadian. Cases like this frustrate me. Mr. Harper, let the flag fly.

Ex-serviceman risks eviction by flying Canadian flag on balcony

Amazin how shy people are about lovin these days, isn't it? Sex, hunkachunka, knocking boots, there I said! It's like we're still all in sixth grade and giggle over 'the cock crows' jokes. Come on, people, we're adults! It you put this title on an article, it's obviously there to titilate people.

What's really sad is that the same news agency wouldn't hide too many details about a gruesome murder or violent crime. Westerners are more squeamish about what goes on between the sheets (or against the wall, on the floor, under the table, whatever you prefer) than they are about blowing someone's brains out. Love seems to make us uncomfortable and yet hate seems to rev us up. Go figure.

I'm one to talk about the violence, it's there in my stories. But what is also there is the sex. I don't hide from it, even if it might make me a bit blushy. Both sides of the equation. At least I'm offending everybody, instead of only one side.

Make Love the Green Way - Sympatico / MSN Green

Tried, in the spirit of feeling better from the inside out, this new lotion from Mary Kay. It's called Lotus and Bamboo and smells fresh. I like it, mostly because it feels like I've been outdoors when I've really been stuck at my computer for the past few days, when I wasn't in bed from a bug of some kind. It smells like a fresh rain in the garden, if that makes any sense. It was nice to pamper myself and since it was an early b-day gift, I thought why not?

You know those movies that have a comfortable amount of time between one infectious outbreak in the east coast and outbreak that starts in the west coast or midwest? That never seems to happen, at least not in my family. My folks are still back east and when I get sit here in Manitoba, they get sick or are just getting over getting sick on the coast. There's a story in them thar hills, I says. Not quite sure what, but it'll come.

In other news, have a chat with Kaye Chambers on my birthday, July 22nd, from 12 (noon) est until 5 pm est. I hope to see you all there (www.ravenhappyhour.com/raven.htm)!!!

Okay, first radio interview done. Can cross that off my list of to-do-before-I-die lists. First off, wheew, was I nervous.  you can tell by the grammatically incorrect sentences dispersed throughout. I was better than the usual umms and ahhhs but only just. I can speak English, just not listen to others. Well, anyways, just go to web link below and listen to me ramble and cut people off. I hope you enjoy it. It was FUN!!

I loved it when we talked about other things than my book, but of course that's what I was there to promo, not just chat. I had some many stories I could have added but I was being good.

This is real, I am a writer. Oh my giddy aunt, somebody pinch me!

Raven Radio

So I have the weekend off every weekend as a teacher. This may sound like a great idea, but in fact, most teachers spend their spare time at work or thinking about work. This is usually me, but for the past two days I've been doing everything but school work...and writing.

On Friday a group of friends and I get together and play board games. This doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun in the summer (and by God, it's actually warm enough up here now to call it summer, though we had snow falling and melting on cars week before last) but it is absolutely essential for winter. Before Games Night, as we call it, we had a family birthday party. And before that I'd been to the gym to work out. So, run home, shower, pick up candles (big 5 for the little one), present bag and rush off to the party. Friday is always my longest day of the week.

Yesterday, I drove a friend's car to supper, after trying to write all day. I ripped up or erased just about everything that came out, it was so frustrating. But driving the Mustang was worth it. Yep, you read that right. She's got a Mustang (or rather the Significant Other has a Mustang, but he was out for the weekend). She also has a problem with stick, so I got to try it. Oh man...she liked to run!

Today, I swam, helped with a kid's birthday party (same kid got a kid party on a different day. It always interests me how people celebrate their various traditions, but 20 five year-olds in one basement is not as fun as it sounds...) and then came home to clean my house. Much to the cat's joy. I am dead tired. At least I'll be sleeping well tonight.

LKH Blog

Here we go. Tomorrow is the first day back after a week of being sick from both jobs. This is where I don't like my life. I've been in hibernation for a week. On the plus side, I've got a new story brewing...in the middle of the work that I've got to do on my current projects.

I need a life. Or at least real people in my life. I have my friends. Dreamfilled and I go to the gym, Chipboy and I rent movies and hang out, Cleopatra and I have fun playing with her kids. I guess I just want someone who's with me. Everyone has significant others and I don't. Whoas me. Should see me around Valentines Day, what a bitter bitch I am.

I have to stop expecting the bad. Cause when you expected, you wind up with this self-fulling prophecy thingie happening and then where are you?

Google

So this is the link to another review. Been absent from work, from writing, and from my life for the past few days due to a stomach flu/virus thingie that hell itself hath invented.

My life is not designed to be comfortable. So be it. I bought a computer instead of a bed, my cat nips as a sign of affection and I wear scars and tattoos on my body to mark where I've lived and people I've met. My life is weird. Wonder if anyone but me would find it interesting?

But thank you Kathy for your input into my writing. I always look at reviews at ways that I can improve (with a grain of salt, mind you). I'm in a point of change here, people, which always hurts.

Kathy4