Apr 29 2013

The Best 3 Pieces of Advice I Ever Received

When I was brand new at the day job, eons ago, my boss told me he wanted me to be “just like Sandy” (not her name but it’ll do). His advice was if I could do everything the way she did, I’d have a terrific career. Um yeah. He had me spend an hour sitting with her, watching and listening to how she handled big complex government subcontracts, dealt with scientists and negotiated with suppliers. At the end of the hour, I was seriously thinking, “Wow, dude, if you hired me to be like her, you were delusional and I am in trouble!”

Sandy, bless her heart, was an old school dame, which I say with admiration and respect. Hard drinking, hard living, smoked like a chimney, cussed everybody out, hung up on people, threw things, slammed doors….Me? Sweet little college grad with my suits and my silk blouses and pearl earrings. “Sh*t” was my strongest expletive at the time and I had to be REALLY upset to hurl that around.

Luckily for me, I was secure enough in my own skills to know that while Sandy’s way worked for her, it would be an unmitigated disaster for me to emulate. I proceeded to do things in a fashion that seemed best for me…been at the day job for a long time now, made Principal and received a NASA Exceptional Service Medal (Sandy also earned one in her time as well by the way), so I think I made the right decision for me, re that long gone boss’s well meant advice. I did the exact opposite LOL! So that was best advice in reverse. (#1)

#2 Now the actual best piece of advice I ever received was “You don’t have to catch the ball.” It wasn’t in a sports setting (I’m really bad at sports, except for archery but that’s another blog post). I received this suggestion in the workplace. That one sentence really set me free, because prior to being told that, I would earnestly and often at my own cost, try to field and respond to everything. But our consultant showed me that often the best thing to do is not rise to the bait, especially in e mails or meetings. Either ignore the remark, or say something to acknowledge that I heard it (not that I agreed necessarily), and then keep going in the direction I wanted to go. Yes! A lot of ugly or unpleasant situations were derailed just from that one piece of advice.

#3 Another good one was “You’re not the mother of the organization.” We had a lot of stressful things happening in the workplace, I was trying to keep a lid on all of it, help people with problems and issues, etc etc etc. And in my usual “people person” style, I had unknowingly put myself in a box of unbearable stress. I wasn’t their mother. I needed to watch over my assigned area, make recommendations about the bigger issue but then my job was done. What upper management chose to do was their call. Wow, talk about reduction of stress! And you know what? The whole thing worked itself out eventually. I recite that advice to myself on occasion still when I find myself trying to mother people who aren’t my offspring LOL.

The most useless advice I’ve ever received was “duck and cover.” No, not in the middle of a battle, when it might actually be useful – but in case of a nuclear attack. Right. I think we all know how much help huddling in a corner curled up into a ball will be if some hostile country ever sends nukes our way.

And I wouldn’t place much faith in the Indiana Jones method of nuclear survival – getting into a 1950’s refrigerator and being hurled to safety by the blast wave. Only in the movies, folks!

Advice I give all the time? “Just write. Every day. Get the words out of your head and onto the paper.”

Speaking of which, I need to get my thousand words or better for the day so I’ll leave you with this pithy quote:

Advice is like snow – the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

OR, if that’s too literary:

She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it).
Lewis Carroll

And my idol, Erma Bombeck gets the last word:

“When your mother asks, ‘Do you want a piece of advice?’ it is a mere formality. It doesn’t matter if you answer yes or no. You’re going to get it anyway.”

What’s the best, or worst, piece of advice you ever received?

Apr 28 2013

Weekend Writing Warriors More Shifter and Girl With A Secret

Well since everyone was so kind to me last week about this unedited WIP I’ve got sitting on the shelf, I’ll venture another excerpt! It’s my one and only shifter novel (so far, not counting “Priestess of the Nile” where the Crocodile God shifts)…Kyle is a leopard shifter and Caitlyn is the mysterious girl-with-a-secret who infiltrated the Witch Queen’s castle with his help. Now she’s been summoned to participate in a magical ceremony, at which the Queen draws upon Kyle’s powers to augment her own.

Anger burned in her, watching the shifter used as a source of power for the purposes of others.

Closing her eyes, she launched a mental search for his spirit, wanting to let him know there was one person in the room who was there for him. The torchlit chamber, the overpowering smells and the sonorous chant disappeared from her consciousness as she found herself standing in a small forest clearing. An agitated leopard paced the perimeter, tail thrashing from side to side. When the great cat saw her, it slunk in her direction, snarling, fangs bared.

Caitlyn backed away as the leopard stalked her. She whispered Kyle’s name, trying to master her fear. “The Witch Queen takes too much from you – no spell is worth your death,” she said.

I love and appreciate your comments and feedback! Go here to find all the other Weekend Writing Warriors and read an amazing variety of terrific excerpts…

Apr 24 2013

I Have Seen Return of the Killer Shrews!

You may recall that one of my favorite old time-y science fiction movies was 1959’s “The Killer Shrews”, staring James Best as Thorne Sherman, fearless boat captain who fought off the shrews, rescued the girl and lived to sail another day.

Well, Mr. Best has revisited Thorne after fifty years, along with a new cast of characters who find themselves on that ominous island, filming a reality show (what else in this day and age?). Steve Latshaw and Coal Train Productions were kind enough to send me a screener dvd last week. I’d interviewed Steve on the blog last year and he knew of my fascination with this long-time-in-coming sequel. I’m not normally a movie reviewer but I’ll share my thoughts with you – no spoilers, I promise!

First of all kudos to Mr. Best for presenting us with the man Thorne has become, and showing how the loss of his best friend during the original adventure has stayed with, and affected him ever since. I loved the parts of the movie where Thorne was relaying events from the original “Shrews” and the screen would subtly fade into black and white and replay scenes from that 1959 movie. I think those were really the most effective special effects. Mr. Best’s performance was excellent – it was interesting to see Thorne again, through the filter of 50 more years of living.

All the sly references to “Dukes of Hazzard” were highly entertaining, because of course Mr. Best and John Schneider (“Johnny Reno” reality TV star), plus Rick Hurst (who plays “Harold Rook”) worked together on that series. Mr. Schneider brought terrific energy to his role and even has a song on the soundtrack. (I always loved his single “What’s A Memory Like You…” so I’m a fan.) When he was on screen, you didn’t even want to blink because he did such a great job with Johnny Reno.

The secondary characters were interesting, each in their own way, some stereotypical (The Director, The Agent) but as usual in a movie like this, most of them are there to be shrew breakfast, lunch and dinner so we didn’t get to know them in any depth.

Sam the Unit Production Manager character, however, was a standout. As portrayed by Jason-Shane Scott, he was everything you’d want in a hero – brave, handsome, cool headed in a crisis… Fortunately the movie gives him a lot of screen time and heroic action, although I don’t think he got to kiss the girl at the end, which is a bummer in the eyes of a romance writer like myself. Mr. Scott treated the events of the movie with appropriate gravity and captured the audience’s attention (well the audience was me) whenever he was in the scene.

I would have liked to have seen a lot more of The Camerawoman, Jennifer Lyons portraying “Mickey.” I think she was the closest we get to a heroine and I resonated with her take no guff character. The script didn’t give her enough to do, but she made the most of her scenes.

We can’t forget Bruce Davison, Golden Globe winner and Academy Award nominee. You could tell he was thoroughly enjoying every moment of his scenery chewing role, which I can’t say too much about or there will be spoilers LOL. He was so into his character you’d had to love him, despite the VERY unsavory goings-on. He and James Best had several effective scenes together, where they “discussed” old times on the shrew infested island.

I was certainly entertained but somewhat puzzled by the movie as a whole at first, because it’s not a straight forward scifi movie like the original (although I grant you “Shrews” was very much of its time in the late 1950’s, doing the best it could with a low budget, at $123,000). Nor is “Return” played as pure camp, which would have bothered me, since I loved the classic original film. I woke up the next morning with one thing in my head – “Lost in Space” – the TV series not the more recent big budget movie remake. That’s the vibe inagoodway of the plot, the special effects and parts of the action. Not having a blockbuster size budget, it was a good call to trend toward the end of the science fiction spectrum where the drama mixes with hints of comedy. The viewer is free to enjoy the in jokes that harken back to the original, relish the references to “Dukes”, laugh at the sillier parts of the action, while always remembering they’re watching a science fiction movie, with the characters doing their best to stay alive. Well done!

And of course, you wait for the shrews to dine on someone else….

I was genuinely touched by the scene where James Best delivers a deeply emotional, heart felt performance, centering around the loss of his friend, the original Mr. Rook, in the 1959 Shrew incident.

He also gets to rather chastely kiss a girl in the movie…had to smile at the way the script worked that moment in!

Don’t let me forget the shrews themselves! In the 1959 movie the fearsome creatures were portrayed by coonhounds with rugs over them, as I understand it. Although in “Return” I did like the shrew “puppets” in the close-ups – think giant, bloody, slavering teeth! – the cgi shrews kind of left me longing for the dogs of yesteryear, which could do more seamless interacting with the humans. But that’s just me…

Apparently there will be a sequel…I can’t imagine and I can’t wait! Stay tuned for details about the dvd release schedule.

(Disclaimer: Coal Train Productions provided me a free screener copy of the movie with no expectations for anything other than my honest opinion, favorable or unfavorable.)

You might also enjoy the interview I did with Steve Latslaw and my original post about “The Killer Shrews.”

Apr 22 2013

If the Play’s the Thing, You Still Need Fabulous Costumes

“Costumes are the first impression that you have of the character before they open their mouth – it really does establish who they are.” Colleen Atwood, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design ten times and won for the movies Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha and Alice in Wonderland .

One of the perks of living in this part of southern California is that each year my daughter and I can visit the Fashion Institute of Design Museum (FIDM) and see the costumes nominated for the Emmy Awards and then later in the year, the ones nominated for Academy Awards. Yesterday we traveled into the heart of Los Angeles to see the latter, as well as some other selected movie costumes that were lent to the exhibit.

As the FIDM website says in describing the exhibit: “Including costumes from A Royal Affair, Anna Karenina, Argo, Django Unchained, Hitchcock, Les Misérables, Lincoln, Mirror Mirror, Skyfall, Snow White and the Huntsman, and other films, the exhibition will offer visitors a close-up view of the costumer’s art.” Does it ever! There’s nothing between you and the costumes, although the very friendly but vigilant guards will prevent you from touching the items or taking photographs. It’s amazing to be an inch away from the wonderful details of fabric, buttons and findings that you’ll never see even on the biggest screen and marvel at the intricacies and thought that went into the design.

There were also outfits from “Hunger Games,” “Avengers,” John Carter of Mars” and others.

Part of the fun is being in the presence of clothing worn by so many famous people and visualizing the actors in the costumes. I’m here to tell you most of these leading ladies are tiny. But Chris Helmsworth and Daniel Craig – definitely big, buff guys, judging by the costumes LOL. And Ben Affleck has really broad shoulders, going by his Argo jacket. It was awe inspiring to stand in front of Daniel Day Lewis’s “Lincoln” costume and imagine not so much the actor (wonderful as he is) but Lincoln himself.

The Katniss everyday costumes from Hunger Games were interesting for the tiny touches that said these are real clothes, worn by a real girl in the hardscrabble District 12. There are tiny holes at the knee of the pants and in the worn shirt, and the dress has ground in dirt you’d never be able to wash out, just as you might expect in a place where the coal dust would be ever present.

My daughter and I walked through the exhibit three times. Her favorite was the amazing wedding dress from Snow White and the Huntsman, maybe tied with the Julia Roberts dress from “Mirror Mirror.”

Surprisingly, because it was a dud movie (IMHO), the costumes from “John Carter of Mars” were my favorites. The detail was amazing and we both fell in love with the golden dress Dejah Thoris wore at some point in that interminable movie. The costume I kept going back to was a warrior from the same film – the uniform had elements that reminded me of the Elves from Lord of the Rings and I thought it would work well for my Ancient Egyptian warriors. (This exhibit really makes an author wish they could see the clothing that embodies characters from their books, let me tell you!)

But I also spent a lot of time gazing at the feather cloak from Huntsman and an amazing turquoise and green dress Charlize Theron must have worn in the movie, although I didn’t recall it. Decorated with shiny faux beetle wings!

There was also a FIDM exhibit of cotton dresses from the early 1800s to the early 1900s, so we admired Regency day dresses and reticules, and clothing that could have been worn on the Titanic….

And a selection of items from the “costume designers” of the animated film ParaNorman, including their idea boards with bits and pieces and a set of dolls of each character, with the most incredible tiny details, which again won’t show up on any screen, but which flow into creating the wholeness and believability of the character.

One more fun quote to close the subject. Although Once upon A Time is television, not movies, we did see the OAUT costumes during the FIDM exhibit of the Emmy-nominated costume designers. “The costumes are insane on ‘Once Upon a Time.’ It did influence my taking the job, the fact that not only would I be horseback riding and sword fighting and traipsing through the woods but I would be doing all those things in insane, medieval garb.” Ginnifer Goodwin

And let a Costume Designer have the final word…Jill Ohanneson, Costume Designer for HBO’s Six Feet Under describes the difference between Costume Design Vs. Dress (Fashion) Designs:

“When you’re dress designing, you’re dressing bodies with typical aspects—curves and hips and shoulders. But in costume design you’re designing for a character. You don’t have to just design pants and a shirt and a tie. You’re also designing sadness and droopiness and wiltiness. There are so many emotional ways that we play with—color and texture and patterns and the way things hang that contribute to what the character is really about.”

And we, the Audience, thank you!

Read my account of the FIDM Emmy-nominated costumes here.

Apr 21 2013

Weekend Writing Warriors Why Share the Magic?

Changing gears completely from my science fiction novel, here’s an excerpt from my first (and only, so far) paranormal novel with shifters. Unpublished, unedited, don’t know if I’ll get back to it anytime soon although I liked it, it needs a lot of work!

Caitlyn has applied for a place in the Witch Queen’s court, which requires a demonstration of magic power. She’s nearly failed the test when a mysterious boost of power comes to her surreptitiously from a watching shapeshifter guard. The Queen accepts her as an apprentice and Caitlyn is dismissed from the chamber so another woman can be tested. We start with the last of Caitlyn’s POV, then move to the shifter’s as the next scene starts in the novel.

Why had he chosen to help her eke past the test? It worried her to be beholden to anyone in this castle, which didn’t strike her as a place where people took action to help one another.

Why did I do that? What does it matter to me if she succeeded or failed? Although it was pleasant to give someone assistance without it being demanded or commanded. The girl had captured his attention from the first moment yesterday, at the welcoming ceremony. She was definitely hiding something, which intrigued his cat. Having a beautiful woman with mystery wrapped about her made the boredom of his servitude recede and he was grateful.

I love and appreciate your comments and feedback! Go here to find all the other Weekend Writing Warriors and read an amazing variety of terrific excerpts…

Apr 15 2013

Life After Titanic Plus My Giveaway Winners

The randomly selected Grand Prize winner of my Titanic Giveaway was Carrie-Anne so I’ll be sending her the autographed copy of WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM, gift card, mug and nugget of coal. Second and third place were Amy S and Laurie , who will each receive a $10 Amazon gift card. Thanks to everyone for visiting the blog and commenting!

I thought today I’d wrap up my Titanic themed blogging for this year with a look into what happened to five survivors after they were rescued from the cold Atlantic by the Carpathia.

The Unsinkable Molly Brown: Margaret Brown’s fame as a well-known Titanic survivor helped her promote the issues she felt strongly about in the years after 1912. Even on board the Carpathia she created a Survivors Committee and had raised $10,000 to assist the destitute survivors before the ship ever reached New York. In later years she worked hard to establish a Titanic memorial. She supported many causes from women’s rights to workers’ rights to education and literacy for children and historic preservation. During World War I in France, she worked with the American Committee for Devastated France to rebuild areas behind the front line and helped wounded French and American soldiers. She was awarded the French Legion of Honor for her good citizenship including her activism and philanthropy in America. During the last years of her life, she was an actress (but apparently only in private performances 0r small venues, NOT the movies or Broadway). She died in 1932. Ironically, the nickname she’s so well known for was created in the 1930’s by a newspaper reporter and immortalized by Hollywood.

(Photo Caption: Mrs. J. J. Brown, Date Unknown, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, George Grantham Bain Collection. Call number: LC-B2- 1405-8[P&P] Digital id:ggbain 07754, Bain News Service, Public Domain)

J. Bruce Ismay: After the disaster, White Star Managing Director Ismay was castigated by newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic for deserting the ship while women and children were still on board. He stayed in the ship doctor’s cabin on the Carpathia under heavy sedation, seeing no one. After reaching land, he kept out of the public eye for most of the remainder of his life. He died in 1937.

Officer Charles Lightoller: He testified at official inquiries in America and England after the disaster, and as the senior surviving officer, did his best to present White Star in a favorable light. Despite defending the company, his career with White Star came to a dead end and he eventually resigned, working thereafter as an innkeeper, chicken farmer and property speculator. He wrote his autobiography in the 1930’s, which did quite well, although the Marconi Company sued to have it taken off store shelves over a remark he made about their employees on board Titanic. He owned a small private ship and participated in the rescue operation at Dunkirk. After World War II ended, he managed a boatyard. Lightoller died in 1952.

Winnifred Vera Quick : She was 8 years and 3 months old when the Titanic sailed. She and her 3 year old sister were placed in Lifeboat No. 11 but her mother was denied entry until she said she wouldn’t let the girls go if she couldn’t go. Her mother was the last person allowed in the boat. Winnifred and her sister were put into a sack to be hauled up to the Carpathia’s deck. her In later life she left school after the 8th grade, worked at a chocolate factory, a bakery and various retail stores, married a man she had first met at age 14, and had five children. She passed away in 2002.

Annie Katherine Kelly: Along with thirteen other young people from her village in Ireland, known as the Addergoole Fourteen, Ms. Kelly embarked on Titanic at the age of 20. She was one of the few Third Class passengers who survived the disaster, and only two other women from their small group survived. A steward who had taken special notice of her earlier in the voyage on “the nicest ship in the world”, as she’d called it in a letter to a relative, made sure she got into Lifeboat No. 16. She was hospitalized in New York for six weeks, then released with literally only her hospital nightgown and a donated coat and shoes, along with fellow survivor Anna McGowan. They were given train tickets to Chicago, where she had relatives, and once she arrived there, funds were raised for her from generous donors in the city. For the rest of her life, Ms. Kelly refused to discuss her experiences on Titanic or even to write them down. At the age of 29 she entered a religious order and became Sister Patrick Joseph Kelly. She died in 1969, after spending many years as a much beloved teacher in Chicago.

So there you have it, a sampling of what kind of lives people went on to have after surviving the sinking. What do you think you would have done in 1912 if you’d been a survivor?

Apr 14 2013

Weekend Writing Warriors WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM Afterward

Since today April 14th is the 101st anniversary of the Titanic striking the ice berg (the ship actually sank early on the 15th), I’m finishing off the excerpts from WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM, my SFR loosely based on the Titanic tragedy. My thanks to all of you for hanging in there with me as I’ve been excerpting the book for awhile and my special thanks to everyone who’s read the novel!

I’m giving you the first five sentences from the novel, as Nick is taking the shuttle up to the Nebula Dream, and then the final three at the very end of the book, where the survivors have gathered for one final farewell at a famous restaurant overlooking the ocean (I HAD to get the ocean into a book based on Titanic)…of course a whole heck of a lot happened in between the two excerpts LOL:

Two hours ago, Nick Jameson hadn’t cared when they would leave, or even whether they got space borne in time to join the cruise ship. He was in no rush to get to Sector Hub. Most likely his military career was going to be ending there, after that last disaster of a mission. So why should I worry about reaching the Nebula Dream before she leaves orbit? The next ship would suit me fine. Or even the ship after that.

*************************************************(VS: And disaster happens for about 200 pages)

Nick took one last glance at the peaceful ocean under the three moons as he slid the door to the balcony shut.

Moving on, moving forward, surviving.

Not forgetting, because that would be impossible, but taking the life that was given back to me, to Mara, that night on the Nebula Dream, and making the most of it, for ourselves and for those who weren’t so lucky, on that ill-fated voyage into Sector Seventeen.

I love and appreciate your comments and feedback! Go here to find all the other Weekend Writing Warriors and read an amazing variety of terrific excerpts…Next week I’ll start sharing excerpts from something else, no idea what as yet!

WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM, a 2013 SFR Galaxy Award winner, is available for kindle, as an audio book or a paperback at Amazon. The audio sample is here.

Apr 8 2013

Titanic Giveaway:Grand Prize Includes Coal Salvaged from Wreck

In order to commemorate the 101^st anniversary of the tragic sinking of the Titanic, I’ve put together what I think is an unusual Giveaway.

Grand Prize is a reproduction of a Titanic Third Class Coffee Mug plus a pea-sized piece of coal salvaged from the actual wreck more than two miles below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean (Certificate of Authenticity included for the coal), an autographed copy of my award winning novel science fiction novel WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM (which is loosely based on the Titanic) and a $10 Amazon gift card. The coal is presented with a miniature reproduction of the New York Times front page reporting the catastrophe. (See photos)

(I should note that the coal is the only item the RMS Titanic, Inc. company is allowed to salvage from the site of the shipwreck and sell to the general public. And, very important, this is a tiny piece of coal. The closeup photo below is much larger than the actual nugget, which is mounted at the bottom of the miniature NYT reproduction.)

I’ll also will award one $10 Amazon gift card each to the 2^nd and 3^rd place winners.

Please leave a comment below to be entered for the drawing, all winners randomly selected. Giveaway is open April 8^th through the 14^th. I’ll announce the winners on April 15th.

Comments can relate to Titanic, movie/TV shows/books about the disaster…some other disaster at sea…a disaster you’ve experienced…anything relating to the theme in some way!

The mug does have a normal style handle on the opposite side from the White Star insignia but it’s completely boring to photograph…

Apr 7 2013

Weekend Writing Warriors DELETED Scene from WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM

Only this week and next week to continue with excerpts from my SFR novel WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM, loosely based on the Titanic sinking in 1912. In deference to the WeWrWa peeps who’ve read my book and are still kindly commenting, I’m doing my #8Sunday sentences today from a deleted scene so you’ll have something NEW to read. (Since I always do a Happily Ever After ending, it’s not too much of a spoiler to say they do get rescued….eventually….is it?) This scene takes place on the Sectors battleship Andromeda, after Nick has given his formal report to the Admiral and has been released to seek medical attention. He goes to sickbay but refuses treatment until he’s seen Mara.

She lay sound asleep on the hospital bed, hair tousled on the pillow, silken strands drying after a recent shampooing. He felt three times as grimy and in need of a shower as he had before, standing here with her. She slept easily, her face calm, peaceful, which he was relieved to see. I’m going to have enough nightmares for both of us, at least I’ve been trained for dealing with the horrors we saw. She’s pretty tough though.

Standing beside the bed, he murmured her name, not wanting to wake her, but hoping she would know on some subconscious level that he’d come as promised, as soon as possible.

Stirring just a little at the sound of his quiet voice, Mara didn’t open her eyes.

Bending over, he kissed her cheek, acutely conscious that he was going to be interrupted any second by the impatient doctor.

I love and appreciate your comments and feedback! Go here to find all the other Weekend Writing Warriors and read an amazing variety of terrific excerpts…

WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM, a 2013 SFR Galaxy Award winner, is available for kindle, as an audio book or a paperback at Amazon. The audio sample is here.

Apr 6 2013

Expanding My Blogging Horizons

I’m very excited to share the news that I’ve been invited to join the Word Whores group blog!

An excellent group of bloggers I’ve been following for quite some time, who write about all aspects of this craft and profession that we authors love so dearly…and now I’ve been invited to join in the fun, which made me VERY happy. I was honored! My first official post for them is today, combining an introduction (who am I? existential question LOL) and my take on the group’s topic of the week, which happened to be self publishing. Since I have self published one book, I was able to weigh in. (Whew, new kid in school, first week jitters averted!) You can go here to read the post I did.

(Despite the somewhat racy name, the group blog doesn’t have or need the Over 18 disclaimer, by the way.)

I’ll be holding down the Saturday spot over there from now on but I’ll absolutely still be writing posts all the time here on my own blog about whatever takes my fancy.

The current Word Whores are:

Allison Pang, Jeffe Kennedy, Kristine Krantz, Marcella Burnard, Linda Robertson and James Moore. Carolyn Crane is moving on, so I’m honored to be selected for the vacancy.

I wasn’t there when the blog first started obviously, but I know each of the original members at the time blogged about what the title meant to them and why they felt it was appropriate. (Personally I like minx but there’s a wonderful group in Australia that already has that title!) My late mother wouldn’t have approved of the name, I know that LOL! I think to me it boils down to the fact that I have to write. Writing is like breathing to me and I’ll do anything to make time to write, to give my Muse room to express all the stories bottled up inside. And, I really REALLY like being paid for writing! I can and do write for free but it’s wonderful to have books published, not only so I can share my characters and their adventures with readers, but also so I can maybe work toward being a fulltime writer someday (the dream). Yay day job for paying the bills but writing, now there’s the thing, as Shakespeare (almost) said.