The new website is up!

The new website is up and "running". Don't anyone get excited, it is a very simple site as of right now. Things need to be added and changed.  For some reason, it comes up as marierosedufour.com.marierosedufour.com. I don't understand why. I am going to have to call godaddy over the weekend to get it fixed. Check it out to see the wonderful banner that Linda Kage created for me. She has really been in an inspiration to me during this process.

Peace Out,
MRD

Productive weekend

I had a very writerly productive weekend this weekend. On Saturday, I worked all day on construction of my website. When I say all day, I mean all day. It was a long process. I had a lot of help from the very talented Linda Kage. So I thank her from the bottom of my heart. Not being an IT person, I have to admit it was hard. There were many times during the day that I wanted to quit or call Linda and give her anything just to take over the task from me. Unfortunately, that is not my personality. I am the type of person that will work on a task no matter what until it's done. Sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes it isn't. The site isn't up yet. It could take 24-48 hours to be active on the web. It is not perfect by all means and will probably be a constant work in progress. Someone, and I won't say who, might regret giving me their phone number!

On another note, I sat down and wrote for a long time yesterday and it felt wonderful. There seems to be a backlog of characters building up in my head trying to get out. They really want their stories told, so I need to finish my current WIP before starting on something new.

Still no word from the publisher though, sigh...

Peace Out,
MRD

Happy Release Day

I would like to wish a happy release day to two people who inspire me as a writer. So HAPPY RELEASE DAY to Amber Skyze and Miranda Stowe. If you don't know these wonderful writers, check them out. I know what I will be doing later after work! Thank you both for enriching my weekend!

I also want to give a shout out the grand webmaster Linda Kage who is not only a wonderful writer but knows a lot about creating web pages. Thank you so much Linda. Be on the lookout. My web page should be up and running soon.  Hopefully now I will start to hear from publishers, so I can fill my "book" page on the site. Kind of like, "if you build it, they will come"!

Peace Out,
MRD

Where is Spring?

I woke up this morning and it was snowing outside. I know that I live in New England but where is spring? I am totally ready for some warm weather. I want to put my body into shorts and feel the sun on my Casper-like skin. I want to open my windows and see my white curtains fluttering in the warm spring breezes. I even want the constant sneezing that I go through every spring. Spring, I am ready. Where are you?

Speaking of warm weather, most of my family is going on a trip to Disney World in May. Disney and my sister are tempting me with 40% off deals. My husband and I missed the birthday celebration last year because of medical reasons. There is no reason why we shouldn't go this year. Of course, technically, I am still terminated. So there is the uncertainty of next year at this moment. I could also use new appliances in the kitchen. I think that if I had a dishwasher, I would be a much happier woman. It would also be lovely not to have to defrost my freezer with a hair dryer every couple of weeks. I bet I also would be a more efficient cook if all of the burners on my stove actually worked. The rational part of me knows the answer to this question but... It still doesn't stop me from checking out the Disney site every few days. It really wouldn't be in my head if I didn't have a credit with Delta. I cancelled my business trip in February but they are making me pay for the plane ticket, which was a surprise.

So what do you think? What should I do?

Peace Out,
MRD

To website or not to website

My question today is how useful would a website be to an aspiring writing. Just like anything that I do, I have been doing research. I have read on many publishers' blog that they google writers who have submitted manuscripts to get a broader range of their writing talents. One of the things that they look for is blogs. I have that one covered but another thing is websites. So do you get a site before you are published or after? Is getting it before incredibly presumptuous that people would be interested in following it? As an unpublished and increasingly frustrated author, what would I put on it?

Then comes the big question, how the "beep" to do construct a website? I am not the most computer illiterate around but I can't even imagine how to go about it so that it looks professional. Also I would assume that it costs money. Nothing in this world is free. So putting up money before getting published seems like throwing money out the window. But then a little part of me says that if I do have a site, it will be ready when I do get published to help with promoting my story. I am really torn on this an any advice would be greatly appreciated.

On a good note, the college that I teach at is on Spring Break this week. So I don't have a long day today. After staying up late (for me) to watch Dancing with the Stars, I am tired! Go Ralph! He was such a teenage crush. I fell in love with him in The Outsiders, along with about half of the rest of the cast!

Wish me luck, the husband goes to see the tool at 9:45. I am expecting an annoyed phone call by 10:30.

Peace out,
MRD

Don't like snarkiness

On a whole, I don't like snarkiness. I don't like it especially when it comes from doctors. The doctor my husband sees for his panic disorder is the king of snarkiness. I personally think that he can't keep office staff because he is a great big tool! Every time my husband goes there, he leaves more agitated than he arrived. Normally, I would blame my husband. He can be very difficult to take at times but I have seen this first hand. Years ago, when my husband's best friend died to cancer, he increased his appointments to get through the stress. The doctor invited me to sit in on the session. I agreed because I wanted to be supportive. The doctor then  turned around and billed my insurance for "family therapy".  Don't get me wrong, I am a firm supporter of family therapy. We were just not in it!

Another reason why I feel that this doctor is a big tool and my husband should seek another is that because he can't keep office staff, he makes his patients contact him via e-mail to make an appointment. Last week, I contacted as the husband requesting an appointment because of a medication refill. I received no response. So thinking that I got the e-mail wrong, I sent another follow up. Still no response, so on Friday, I sent a last ditch e-mail still hoping to get him in for his medication refill. Here is where the snarkiness came out. I received a very curt e-mail saying that he was away for the week which he had already told me in response to the other e-mail. There was no need for my repeated e-mails. I could have responded in a variety of ways. Anyone who knows me and has e-mailed me before knows that I respond to e-mail right away. Unless I am working where I can't get my home e-mail but once I am at home, I respond immediately. If he had sent a response, I would have seen it. I went with the nice angel on the shoulder, instead of the little devil whispering me to send a snarky e-mail back. What really bothers me about the whole situation is that this is how the man treats his patients. He doesn't know that he is dealing with me. Isn't he in the business of helping people? He doesn't seem like he helps to me. All weekend, I was annoyed with his treatment. So I can just imagine how he treats his patients face to face.

In my eyes, it's time to get another doctor!

Peace Out,
MRD

Oh no you did not!

A few years ago, my husband was taking a Filipino martial art called Kali. They practiced in the backyard. Or I should say that my husband was beaten with wooden sticks twice a week in the backyard. So now every time we have aches and pains, we ask each other, if we were beaten with some sticks.  Last night, my whole body hurt. I still think it is a combination between an extremely old mattress and new pillows. My neck pain is still not totally gone. I was trying to be funny so I asked the husband if he beat me with some sticks during the night. He told me no, it was only old age. OLD AGE? Did he really just say that? What worries me more, does he really mean it? Oh no you DID NOT!!! I am stating for the record that I am not old. I don't feel old. I don't even think that my age categorizing me as middle age! WTF. Talk about taking the jam out of my donut! He knows that the "old" thing pushes my buttons. Not a great way to start off the day! I might need an actual donut on the way to work!