Some Like It Hot

I have entered my first writing contest.  Yesterday, I entered my first chapter of Sacred Mates into Tawny Taylor's Some Like It Hot contest. I was able to submit it in time for the first round, so I will only have to wait until Monday to see if I make it to the next round. I like the first chapter, so we'll see what happens.

I didn't do a lot of writing yesterday.  The husband decorated his friend's grave for Halloween.It was their favorite holiday. I have never been a fan of Halloween. Even as a child, I have been weary of "what's behind the mask". I'm a freak, I know.  Don't even ask me about clowns! So last night, he wanted to go see how it looked. Yes, I did say night.  He had placed some solar powered decorations. So I took a trek into the cemetery after dark. This presented a problem for me on two levels. One, I have an overactive imagination (Imagine that!). So I can totally find it believable that bad things could happen to you in a cemetery at night. Two, it's a cemetery at night, enough said! So I drove him. I wanted to be in control of the vehicle, just in case a zombie decided to come around a corner.

"Are you going to get out of the car and see it close up," he asked.
"Hell, no!" Does he think that I am that stupid, I could be the woman at the beginning of the horror movie that does a totally stupid thing (like going to a cemetery at night) and gets killed before the opening credits.
"Just so you know, you better have your sneakers on because if something comes out of the dark at you, you are totally on your own. I'm flooring it and leaving your ass behind."

Needless to say, he was not amused.

Have a great Saturday,
MRD

Saddle Up

Saddle Up is the working title of a new story that I am writing. It is a cowboy story because who doesn't love cowboys?  There is just something about a man in cowboy boots, tight jeans, and on a horse that makes the blood pump. The story is about Tasha and Dev. Her brother is working on his ranch in Colorado when he gets hurt. Tasha goes out there to make sure that he is going to fine and she meets the incredibly sexy owner of the ranch. He is 8 years her junior but that is not going to stop him from getting what he wants and that is Tasha.

I got a good start on it last night.  It was the first night all week that I felt like writing. Things at the house seem to be finally settle down and I got the itch to write. I don't think that it ever went away. In my head, I am always thinking about writing. I was able to write over 1,000 words down, which is not a lot but it is a start. Today, I am out of work at 10:30. It is a pd day at school, so I am taking a two hour workshop and then I'll be done. I am thinking of taking the laptop to the library for some quiet time but we will see.  It feels good to be back.

Peace out,
MRD

Drama, drama, drama

I have decided to take a mental heath day from the day job which is sorely needed.  I hate drama.  My family calls my husband "the Drama Queen".  It is almost like it looks and finds him.  I am going through somethings right now that studies show that stress could have a negative impact on the outcome.  So, I really didn't need what happened last night to have happened.

It all started innocently enough.  I had just gotten into the bath which I do nightly as a relaxation ritual, when the doorbell rang.  No one comes to my house without calling first.  I don't like it.  I like to be prepared before I let anyone in.  I am the type of person to let dishes sit in the sink if I am involved in my writing or some other type of project.  (I vow that some day, I will get a dishwasher!)

It was one of my husband's cousin, the crazy one.  Once I realized that she was going to stay a while, I got dressed again and went to be sociable.  It was the weirdest frigging conversation.  We haven't seen her since my MIL's passing and even then I can't remember if we talked.  She talked about how she bought a house in Illinois and is leaving her husband of 28 years.  She also talked about her children, grandchildren, and the son in jail.  If that wasn't bad enough, then things got really weird.  She started talking about the deaths of both of my husbands parents.  Then she dropped the bomb.

"Do yo know that your father was married before your mother?  He brought home a bride from Germany after WWII but the family didn't approve."

To say that my husband looked like he had been run over by a truck would have been an understatement.  Do you mean to tell me that in 40 years, the subject never came up anywhere in the family?  REALLY???

The ironic thing is that she didn't realize how upset he really was.  A good clue was the soup can he was holding was slowly being crushed in his hand, STUPID!  I honestly couldn't get her out of the house fast enough.  It took until midnight for my husband to stop pacing around the house.  I know the minute he gets up he will be on the phone to relatives.

I swear, I want to put my house in a bubble, right after I disconnect the doorbell.

Drama, drama, drama

A child in the '70s

Yesterday as I was waiting in the pharmacy, I caught myself bopping around to the Bee Gee's tune on the radio.  So it got me thinking, how do you know if you were were a true child of the the '70s?
1.  You wore a plaid polyester jumpsuit.
2.  You wore a shirt that said "Roller Boogie" on it in big sparkly letters.
3.  There was no cable tv.  In fact, there were only three major channels.
4.  Sid and Marty Krofft were the geniouses behind most of the best Saturday morning shows.
5.  Mom gave you a Dorothy Hamel haircut despite wanting it or not.
6.  Your Donnie and Marie dolls had holes in their hands where you stuck in their microphones.
7.  Davy Jones was the cute Monkey.
8.  You got to sit in the "way back" of a station wagon with your friends and no one worried about the safety of it.
9.  Your parents forced you to watch Lawrence Welk and you still can sing the goodbye song by heart.
10.  Your crushes were Shawn Cassidy, Andy Gibb, and  Robin (from Batman and Robin)
 And my ultimate...If you thought that by spinning around fast enough, you could turn into Wonder Woman, you were truly a child in the '70s!

Peace out,
MRD

My first query letter

I have finally sent out my first query letter to a publisher just now.  I actually got light headed as I hit the send button.  I know that this is part of the process but all of a sudden, I am terrified.  I actually think that my first three chapters are pretty good but I am a little biased.  I spend all morning long researching query letters on-line because I am really into research.  So once I was satisfied with the information that I gathered, I wrote one and submitted it along with the first three chapters.

Now I wait.

I will leave you as I lift a shot to celebrate this part of my journey.  Cheers!!

Peace out,
MRD

Branded

Where has the week gone?  I have been so busy that I neglected this blog and most writing.  I am not proud of this!  But it has been one hell of a crazy week.  On Tuesday, I had a doctor's appointment, so I decided that I better do some additional leg shaving.  While shaving the back of my left thigh, I nicked a mole.  A river was flowing down my leg (not the good kind either).  For some unknown reason (I blame the husband), there was not a band-aid to be found.  The only thing that we had were huge CVS bandages.  So I slapped one on and went to bed.  In the morning, I took it off only to start bleeding again!  So again, I put on the huge bandage.  I'm surprise that during my appointment, it was not brought up.  The entire day and into the evening, it hurt and burned but since I wasn't going to home until late, I sucked it up.

When I finally got home, I asked my husband to remove the bandage and take a look at what was happening back there.  Well, when he ripped off of the bandage, all of my skin came with it.  I must be allergic to the glue.  So now, I have a wound and around it is a perfect 3x4 rectangular outline.  I have been branded.  I go to the doctor's again in the morning.  I am not getting out of a question this time.  All I have to say is,only me!!!

To Keep or Not to Keep

Before starting on weekend errands yesterday, I was able to do some jotting on my final sex/love scene between my characters.  By the time I got home, I wasn't in the most "creative" mood, so I did some editing thanks to the wonderful advice of the talented Amber Skyze.  I am still floored that she would take valuable writing time to give someone like me advice. Back to editing!  Everything was going along fine until I started editing Chapter Three.  In the chapter, I go into Dragon's back story.  It talks about his military career, being a POW, and how he lost his eye and gained the eye patch.  (I have a thing about patches.  Its has nothing to do with pirates but more with the character of Patch on Day of Our Lives in the '80's!)  I actually had a dream about this chapter last night. The back story is good but I also think that it could be trimmed to one paragraph to keep the story moving.  Other than how he got the eye patch, the chapter really didn't move the story forward.  So today between meeting my sister, brother-in-law and the kids for breakfast, housework, scheduling for the week, getting a presentation ready, and correcting quizzes for a college course that I am teaching, I will be "trimming the fat" from Chapter Three.  I wish it was as easy to do it to the waistline as well.

Peace Out,
MRD

P.S. I probably still will be muddle over To Keep or Not to Keep long after the decision is made.