Clearing out the clutter

Imagine this: your office is clean, no clutter to be found anywhere (okay, just don't open the desk drawers). You've given away a ton of junk (well, it's piled by the driveway, awaiting the arrival of the junk man). Your once impossible-to-walk-through carport is nearly empty, your cluttered porches are clean and hold only patio furniture, the storage shed holds only gardening supplies...

For most of my life, I've lived with other people's junk. I inherited some stuff from my grandparents, some from my parents, some was left by the kids when they left home, some was thrust upon me by my flea-market-loving husband, and some I managed to inflict upon myself.

My garage, closet, and upstairs bedroom are still overflowing, but I'm tackling those next.

Why do we hold onto old stuff we don't need or want? As I look up at my newly-cleaned bookshelves, I still see a dozen books I could get rid of, old RWR's I'll probably never read, 6 telephone books (yes, they're for different cities, but honestly!), 22 bottles of vitamins (If I were to take a dose of each, it would probably kill me), and a stack of old manuscripts that have since been revised. Obviously, I still have a lot of work to do.

But the upside is, I've written more pages since I cleaned my office than I have in months. It's like the clutter around me clutters my mind, as well, and staunches the flow of creativity. Feng Shui will tell you that clutters also blocks opportunities. I don't know about that, but I did get a phone interview the day after I cleared the clutter out of my office, so maybe it's true.

I just cleaned off the shelves above my washer and dryer. Does that mean the laundry will start doing itself? Hmmm. Somehow, I doubt it. But I have found cleaning one thing leads to the desire to clean something else, so now I'm off to tackle the closet. If you don't hear from me within a week, send the rescue dogs!

Check out this new release

A man who thought he had life figured out...just met a woman who proved him wrong!

Kindergarten teacher Grace Adams wants to turn over a new leaf. She's hoping a new school and a new apartment will de-magnetize the loser magnet she seems to possess. According to a student's mother, she's cursed. All it would take is a simple ceremony, some friends and a teeny-tiny bonfire in a coffee can to shake it...

Within a few moments her apartment is engulfed in smoke, her fire alarm is blaring, and she can't stop laughing because she really should have known better. The next thing she knows someone is busting through her door to "save the day".

That someone is firefighter Eddie Mancilla. He has one thing on his mind—fire chief. It's been a family tradition for generations. He’s not about to jeopardize it for his former high-school crush. Eddie doesn't believe in curses or have time to rekindle a relationship with Grace. But as the reunion combusts, Eddie has to douse a lot more than structure fires, now he has to quench the fire he has blazing for Grace.

Once they unite it’s going to be a four-alarm situation. Grace is under his skin and unfortunately her bad luck seems to have spread.... to him!

http://www.samhainpublishing.com/thelastthingiexpected.shtml

4 Cups "…Ms. Scott has written a cute love story about good friends carrying secret torches. Grace can only be described as self conscious, always second guessing her decisions, until she is forced to assert herself. Eddie is a fat kid in a thin suit, at least in his mind he is, achieving a lot in his life while failing to recognize the hole in his heart. Their interactions are both sweet and shy, and bold and aggressive, plainly showing their hidden passion for each other. I got caught up in their story and finished it in one sitting. I enjoyed it and recommend it to any reader who needs a change." ~ Kathy, Coffee Time Romance

Heather Scott moonlights from her writing job to play hostess on eHarlequin, where she's known as Hostie Rae. Go grab your copy now. Print version should be available in August, but I gotta get mine today.

Anthology or book?

The 4 ladies who participated in the latest RR are working on their stories--I'm doing Josie's story, Nancy's doing LaWanda's (she's renaming her Rhonda), Grace is doing Donna's, I think, and I guess Barbara is going to do Midge's? Anyway, wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts on the best way to do this. Right now we're thinking of our RR start as the Prologue or first chapter, then follow that with Josie's story, then Rhonda's, etc. each written by a different author. Kind of an anthology with a prologue.

Or would it be better to do a continuity series? This, of course, means longer stories for each member of the group, but that's still do-able.

So which would you choose?

Say that again, please? In English, this time.

I received this email on one of my loops. Thank God it wasn't one of my writing loops, but a flea market one. But still...Would you hire this person to fix your resume?

The ad:

Have you noticed that your resume needs to be updated and am not sure how to do it? Do you need to write a letter and am not sure of the proper words to use? I can help. The website listed below lists provided services. Please browse and see is you are interested in having me so a project for you.

Then she signs her name, and under that her title: Senior Technical Advisor.

And I'm finding it difficult to find a job?????????

Good Lord.

Update on Paddy

The calf we very nearly lost back in March is doing great. You can read the previous post in the archives, but basically his mama's bag was so engorged, he never figured out how to nurse. We found him unable to stand (at 2 days old), nothing but skin and bones, and the vet didn't hold out much hope. But thanks to colostrum and milk from a local dairy and a bit of patience on his mama's part while I showed him how to latch on, he finally started nursing about at about 5 days old. (The vet stills says it's impossible.) :) Here's a pic taken yesterday.

Another Round Robin anyone?

I'm bored and the long holiday weekend stretches before me, tempting me to go outside and do things like paint the house or clean the cobwebs off the front porch or--heaven forbid--clean my office. (I've already cleaned out one corner, quite enough for today). So how about another round robin? Anybody? Bueller?

The beginning:

"This meeting will now come to order." Josie Davenport banged the gavel on the kitchen table and did her best to look dignified and "official." Watching Midge Sinclair stuff a brownie in her mouth—whole—fixed that. She grinned and shook her head.

"Sarah, will you give the treasury report?"

Sarah Lemmons stood and nervously cleared her throat. "The kitty has twelve dollars and thirty-eight cents. I know we didn't make as much on the bake sale as we'd hoped, but that was because everyone kept sampling the goodies. There wasn't much left to sell."

Guilty looks crossed most of the well-rounded faces at the table.

"Okay. Next time we'll wrap things better so they're harder to get into. Donna, do you have our resolution ready to present to the group for a vote?" Josie gave Donna an encouraging smile. By far the shyest of the group, she tried to make herself invisible by slouching in her chair and staring at the table.

Donna Mitchell lifted her head with a neck-jarring jerk, then slowly pushed herself upright. She pulled a sheet of paper out of a folder and smoothed it carefully on the table. Her voice trembled as she read.

Be it henceforth known that the members of
the XXX club resolve to rid the world of prejudice
toward women who are weight challenged, to bolster
the self-esteem of said women, and to resist society's
determination to heap loads of guilt upon our heads
for not conforming to its ideal of the perfect woman.
We resolve not to diet for any reason other than
our health, or because WE want to. We will not diet
for anyone but ourselves.
We resolve to lobby for wider airplane and
theater seats, attractive clothes in sizes eighteen
and up, and real people of size in movies and television.
We resolve to develop effective put-downs for
people who stare at us in disgust when we eat, who
make hurtful remarks about our size, or who counsel
us to lose weight "for our own good."
We resolve to boycott all gyms, health clubs, fat farms, and diet centers.
Last, but not least, we resolve to kick the ass of anyone who treats us as less than human because we're big.

With her cheeks flushed and a bead of sweat trickling across her brow, Donna slumped back down in her chair to a round of applause.
Josie stood up and banged the gavel on the table for order. "Is there any discussion about the resolution?" No one spoke. "Would someone like to make a motion to accept the resolution as read?"

Midge lifted her hand. "I make a motion to accept the resolution as read."

"The motion has been made. Will someone second the motion?"

Lawanda Jackson spoke for the first time since the meeting was called to order. "I'll second it, godammit. It's about friggin' time someone did."

Josie grinned and gave her a high five. "The motion has been made and seconded. All in favor raise your right hand." Five hands went up.

"The motion has passed unanimously. Ladies, our group is now officially on the warpath. Congratulations. And please, help yourselves to the cookies."

Featured Noodler of the Month!

Tomorrow, July 1st, the 2nd anniversary edition of the Wet Noodle Posse e-zine goes up, and I'm the featured Noodler of the Month. Be sure to stop by http://www.wetnoodleposse.com and read the great features. Here's the announcement for this month's issue:

Boom! (Ooooh!) POW! (Aaaaah!) We know July is the anniversary of U.S. independence, but we hope you're also oohing and ahing as each Wet Noodle Posse article bursts into view, bathing you in the sparkly gold light of cheer and helpfulness, but hopefully not burning you with the falling cinders of typos or choking you with the smoke of broken links. There. That metaphor has been tortured to our satisfaction. Bang! On with the articles.

Speaking of bright things that shoot across the sky and then fizzle, Jenna Ness gives you the Top Ten Reasons to Be Glad You're Not a Celebrity. Can you say divorce? How about middle age = death? Jenna can, only she says it much funnier. If you're looking to beat the heat, we recommend staying indoors for a couple hours with not one but two craft projects! (Oooh!)

First, Colleen Gleason shows writers how to gain inspiration from another kind of art - collage. Who knew looking at colorful images could be more inspiring than staring at a blank computer screen. Of course, you don't have to be a writer to enjoy this inexpensive and thought-provoking art form. We're not going to come to your house and check.

However, Kiki Clark knows that everyone wants their name on the spine of a book, and now you don't have to write one to accomplish that - just buy a papier-mâché book form and decorate it! Actually, the point of this project is to have a cool place to hide things in plain sight, on your bookshelf, but Kiki can't seem to stop stroking hers.

Bonnie Vanak gets her inspiration from helping others. In addition to writing romances, she also crafts promotional materials for a not-for-profit organization that helps some of the world's most disadvantaged people. Photographer in tow, Bonnie travels to disaster sites, which explains why her books are set in places like Jamaica and Haiti. Norah Wilson tells how happily-ever-after endings help this SuperHeroine cope.

It is unquestionably summer, and we know the last thing you want to do is spend a lot of time slaving over a hot stove. But you have to eat, and what could be quicker than pasta? We're talking nine yummy meals, including Chicken Primavera, Pesto Pepper, Alfredo Supreme, and one with tomatoes, olives and fennel. Pow! Save any leftover noodles and gently lash a friend. You'll be glad you did.

July is the Noodlers' anniversary, and many of us will be reuniting at this year's RWA conference, held in Atlanta, Georgia. If you'd like to meet published Noodlers (and hundreds of other published authors) while supporting literacy, come to the Readers for Life signing and book mart, where sales of autographed books support literacy programs across the U.S. It's open to the public and it's a bunch of fun!

Georgia is just a hop, skip and jump away from the most visited national park in the United States - Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Because this cool, green oasis is so rich in flora and fauna, it's been designated an International Biosphere reserve, not to mention one of the last known habitats of the elusive Stuckey's. Trish Milburn takes you on a tour.

Vacation fun continues with the Noodler's Top Ten Vacation Spots. Fishing, Broadway shows, cathedrals, mojitos. Hey, can we get all those in one place?

Pam Payne is July's Noodler of the Month, and she wants to know when someone will come up with a waterproof laptop. Pam's career started with a bang when an editor asked to see her full manuscript when Pam had only written 63 pages. Since then, she's written a lot more.

This month, Dr. Debra answers the difficult question, What can you do when a good friend's death makes you question your faith in God?

Come join the celebration!

When all else fails, start over

Got another rejection on Satin and Steel, which I had retitled Winner Takes All. But they want to see something fresh and new from me, so that's okay, I guess.

How can a book that came so close to being bought at one house, got a contract offer (that I turned down) at another, get rejected at others? I get the same comments. Writing is good, characters and dialogue are great, but they just didn't fall in love with the story. Geez, I'm not asking them to marry it, just buy it.

Okay, that book is done. It's been filed under the bed and I've moved on. Started a new story that I like so far, but my confidence level is pretty much in the toilet. I've decided not to share this story with anyone until it's done. I'm going to try to write it like I did my first one, the Golden Heart finalist. Just write and write and write until it's done, no second guessing, no fiddling with the first chapters over and over. Just write. We'll see how it goes.

Some new pics, just because I want to look at them myself. :)

This is our youngest daughter when she was about a year old. The rest of the family was in the living room watching TV or something when we realized she wasn't with us. I found her sitting on the floor of the kitchen, dipping powdered formula out of the can and pouring it over her head. She had to have climbed the shelves in the pantry to get to it. Did I mention she's always been precocious? Or maybe she was just hungry.

Well, our sucky wireless connection isn't cooperating, so I'll post more pics tomorrow.

The last job?

We took pictures of the concrete job we did this week, because we're really hoping it's the last one. We both managed to hurt ourselves (not major, but flare-ups of old repetitive-motion injuries.) So now I either have to start selling my books , dh needs to learn how to make money with his pictures, we need to learn how to write and sell magazine articles with photos, or I have to find a job. Pics are below.

DH has a photo blog!

Finally pulled the hubby into the 21st century. He now has his own photo blog. http://pcsphoto.blogspot.com/ Check out his very, very cool hummingbird pic.

Can you take a vacation from your life?

Sometimes my life seems like a never-ending drama. It's always one thing or another. Someone sick, someone broke, someone doing something really dumb--like one of the kids running into another one of the kids' garage door with their truck. Ora kid getting off the bus at the wrong stop and sending the entire family into a panic as they try to figure out where the kid is and how to get them back to where they belong. Or we're dealing with a drought and hungry cows, overheated dogs, and parched trees.

So, how do you take a vacation from your life? Just pack up and take off for a week or two and don't tell anyone where you are? Would that really work, or would you just end up worrying about what's happening to everyone while you're out of touch? I'd end up worrying. So I guess I'll grab a good book and head for the claw-foot tub. That's as close to a vacation from life as I'm likely to get.

Father's Day & Hummingbirds

It was a bittersweet day. A good day, because two of the four kids were here. A tough day because my father and father-in-law are both gone. I thought a lot about them today, but for once it was without tears, just missing them and regretting not doing more for them and with them while I had them with me.

We spent the afternoon trying to capture pictures of the many hummingbirds in our back yard. Those are tough little suckers to catch on film. But we did get a couple of good pics. I took this first one, my first time to use the DH's Nikon D70 with it's big old lens.
There is a hummingbird right in the middle of the tree in this next picture. You just have to look close to see him. My oldest daughter took the next picture. The hummingbird is playing hide and seek. The nextt one the dh took. Looks like a silhouette. And I saved the best for last.

It's a Beautiful Morning

Heavy clouds hang low in the sky, the wind is blowing, there's a feel of impending rain in the air...

What's beautiful about that, you ask? We live in an area of Texas that's suffering a severe drought right now. The cows come up to the pen every morning begging for food because there's not much in the pasture besides weeds. My trees and plants are sagging from lack of water. We don't dare use up too much of the pond to water them, and the city water costs an arm, and a leg, and a first born to use. So bring on the rain! I'll even take the tornado risk that goes along with a good drenching thunderstorm.

Sent a partial (actually, a first half) of a book off yesterday, made some contracts changes on another and sent that off, played on a couple of blogs, then settled in and wrote some pages. Maybe not great pages, but at least they're done. I can fix them later. I'm having a hard time settling back into writing. We have a big concrete job starting Monday that's really too big for the dh and I to handle by ourselves, even if we hire day laborers. But we're going to do it, one way or another. So I'll spend today and tomorrow worrying about that, and all next week trying to get it done.

But I'll take my Alphasmart with me this week, I think, and write during the drive to town and back each day. I'll be too tired at night. And we'll be leaving too early each morning to get any early morning pages in. Sometimes it sucks when my real life crowds out my dream life.

At least the drought has slowed down the grass-growing process so I don't have to mow!

More pics, part Two

Pics of the calf I saved and raised on a bottle a couple of years ago, who follows me around like a pet, another view of the pond behind my house, a dragonfly, and our grandson (check out the basketball in the hoop).

More Pics

I'll list what they are up here, then post the pics. Otherwise, they get all screwy on the page. First pic is of our male Great Pyrenees, Willie (named for Willie Nelson), relaxing in the pond. The second is a butterfly on our mimosa tree. The third is of my new bush in the backyard. No, wait. The dh shut off his computer and I can't access his pics anymore. So the bush and anything else has to wait until tomorrow. Shoot.

Sunrise over Southfork

This morning, we woke up to a beautiful sunrise, though it's kind of hard to see here. But there was mist rising from the pond, fog over the pasture, and a gorgeous deep-red sun, but before dh could get the camera, the sun had risen a bit and turned yellow.

Anybody want to play?

I'm bored. I've already mowed the lawn, bought a locking mailbox and helped the dh put it up, bought groceries, cooked 2 meals, cleaned the house, did the laundry--and I'm avoiding the WIP like the proverbial plague. So, anyone want to do a Round Robin? I'll start off with a paragraph or two, or three, you jump in and add as much as you want, then someone else jumps in for the next bit. We'll keep it going as long as there's interest.

For the sake of my kids' sensibilities, we'll keep it PG-13. If a post gets out of hand, I'll delete it and ban the poster, so keep it clean.

So...to start it off...

"Karen, would you hurry up? We're going to be late. You know how angry Mr. Skiles gets when we're late." Jessica Winters checked her reflection in the mirror and adjusted her Little Red Riding Hood costume. She tied the cape around her shoulders and pulled the hood over her head. She was ready for the masquerade party, right on time.She wished she could say the same for her roommate.

She loved Karen Chantal dearly, and she was grateful to her friend for helping her get a job and giving her a place to live, but her constant tardiness was irritating.Jessica didn't want to go tonight. She was tired from being on her feet all day, waiting on grumpy customers who couldn't find the right size blouse or skirt or pants. Well, it was no wonder, when they insisted they were a size twelve when they were actually a size sixteen.

To make matters worse, one of the customers complained to Mr. Skiles when Jessica continued to bring size sixteens to the dressing room. Of course, Mr. Skiles had issued his standard 'the customer is always right' lecture, right in the middle of the store in front of other customers and employees. Now she had to go to his stupid party.

She hated Halloween, she hated costume parties, and she hated Mr. Skiles. It was going to be a totally boring evening. What she really wanted was some excitement in her life. Something different. A challenge.

An adventure.

Some new pics

Tony's been playing with his camera again. I'm his not-quite-willing subject matter.

He's also playing with Photoshop. He took a prom picture of me from 1971 and Photoshopped out my date (it wasn't him. )

But my oldest got him back by getting a picture of him.

He got this pretty cool picture of a mama Emu with her chicks while we were on a garage sale outing.

Life on the Farm

I usually write late at night, often not going to bed until 1:30 or 2 a.m. I don't do this when we have concrete work to do the next day, but I do it pretty often. Last night was one of those nights. I'm working on a romantic suspense/thriller and I was in the groove, so I finally hit the sack around 2. Woke up at 6. Not sure why, but it might have been those dang cows bawling outside my window. They were bawling yesterday, too, but we thought it was because they wanted something to eat. But when they're hungry, they don't usually come up to the fence until around 8 or so.

I figured something must be wrong, especially since I heard echoing bawls coming from way across the pasture. So I drug my tired ass out of bed and went outside. There was my mama cow, staring at the back door and bawling her head off. And no calf to be seen.

Shoot. Paddy was missing. But from the bawls I could hear, he wasn't too far away. Just over in the neighbor's pasture. So by 7 I was dressed, had my shoes on (I never put shoes on until I absolutely have to, was armed with wire cutters, pliers, and extra barbed wire, and the dh and I went out to risk life and limb by cutting the fence and going into the neighbor's pasture at dawn. In earlier times, we could have been shot. Shoot, considering that all our neighbors are heavily armed, we could have been shot this morning. But we got him back, patched the fence, and laughed while his mama gave him what for. I'm pretty sure Paddy is grounded indefinitely.

Have a job, anyone?

I need a job. I mean, I really, really need a job. It's too freaking hot out there now to pour concrete. Just walking outside makes me want to run screaming for the air conditioner. Facing a full day in the sun is almost more than I can bear.

I'm one of those women who got caught in the middle between career and family. I'd decided early on to try to put my kids first. So instead of embarking on a real career, I worked at the daycare so they could be with me. I taught in a small private Christian school. I even went so far as to start my own school, then started two very successful daycares for churches. Once the youngest was in elementary school, I tried my hand at selling cars. I was good at it. Made salesman of the month and salesman of the quarter more than once. Then the economy tanked, my boss went off the deep end, and my husband moved us to the country.

There are no jobs here unless I want to work at Subway for $5.50 an hour. Or the bank for $7 an hour. Not enough. We can make more money than that in concrete working one day a month. But how do I explain the long years of not working (my "writing" years). I was anything but idle during those years. I built websites, I wrote books, I networked, I even helped coordinate a full-day tour for 100 members of the KOD chapter during the Dallas convention.
I read, I got a short story published. And I learned the concrete business and worked hard labor, bid on jobs, bought materials, hired workers, collected payments, did the taxes. Why don't those things count with HR managers?

Anyone have advice on how to translate skills to the current job market? I think I'm worth at least $36000 a year, not $7 an hour.