Kreativ Blogger!

I owe a big thank you to my fellow Guppy and critique buddy VR Barkowski (I know what the "V" stands for, but I'm not allowed to tell) for honoring me with a nomination for the Kreativ Blogger award. VR's blog chronicles her journey toward publication, from the manuscript onward and entertains its readers in the process. VR is also participating in Nanowrimo this month. You go, girl!

Now comes the fun part. I get to nominate seven other worthy bloggers (who must nominate seven other... and so on and so forth). Here are the rules:
1) Copy the pretty picture and post it on your blog.
2) Thank the person that gave it to you and link to their blog.

3) Write 7 things about yourself we don't know.
4) Choose 7 other bloggers to pass the award to.
5) Link to those 7 other bloggers.
6) Notify your 7 bloggers.

Let's see... Number one done. Number two done (thanks again, VR!). On to number three. Seven things about me that you don't know. And probably don't care.

1) One of my many past jobs included working in a kiosk where I pierced ears. I hated it.

2) I'm allergic to wooly caterpillers. Do NOT put one down my shirt. If you don't believe me, ask my husband.

3) When I was a little kid, I had an invisible pretend collie dog named Lassie. Yeah, I know. Not very original.

4) I'm a pretty good quilter.

5) I'm also pretty good at basketball.

6) I can't hammer a nail to save my life.

7) I can't swim. I can't even float. I sink really well.

Thank goodness THAT is over. Is anyone still awake out there? Good. Here comes my list of nominees.

We Love It, Don't We? My friend and neighbor Sara Bedillion may not be a professional writer, but should be. Her blog follows her farm family's adventures in life, running a farm market complete with bees, and raising three fantastic kids. There are also horses, cattle, chickens, dogs, cats, and pigs. What's not to love???

Bird Photography, Bird-watching, and Bird Gardening Doris Dumrauf is a friend and fellow Pennwriter who writes historical fiction as well as articles for Pennsylvania Magazine. AND she's a fantastic photographer. Her blog includes photos she's taken and tales of nature and wildlife. If you're looking for a peaceful quiet escape into the wild without leaving your computer, give this blog a try.

Sasscer Hill I didn't mention in my seven things about my love of horses and horse racing because EVERYBODY already knows that. Lynda Sasscer Hill is a fellow Guppy who is seriously into the sport of kings. Her blog follows that passion. If you love horses (and animals in general) you must check this one out.

A Million Blogging Monkeys Confession time. I've only recenty discovered Alan Orloff's wonderful blog, but it's quickly become one of my "must reads." Alan's book Diamonds for the Dead is coming out in April 2010 from Midnight Ink and his blog is a ton of fun. One might say as fun as a barrel of blogging monkeys.

The Blotter My friend, Sister in Crime, and travel buddy Joyce Tremel is a fantastic writer in search of an agent. I've been fortunate enough to have read one of her manuscripts and I have no idea why it hasn't been published. Anyhow, Joyce is also one of the group bloggers at Working Stiffs and has her own blog, which she doesn't post to nearly often enough (hint, hint, Joyce!) It's a bit eclectic, subjectwise, but always interesting.

Write First, Clean Later The name of the blog is my words to live by. Author and editor LJ Sellers (who I met in an elevator at Bouchercon last year!) has two fabulous books out: The Sex Club and Secrets to Die For. Her blog includes wonderfully informative pieces on the craft of writing.

Mystery Writing is Murder Elizabeth Spann Craig's wonderful blog on writing and life is another one that is new to my radar, but has become an anticipated part of my day. Elizabeth has written two cozy mysteries for Midnight Ink titled A Dyeing Shame, Death at the Beauty Box and Pretty is as Pretty Dies (to be released August 1) and is working on a three-book series for Penguin/Berkley Prime Crime under her pseudonym Riley Adams.

And that makes seven. I strongly advise you to check them all out. You'll be glad you did.

Working Stiffs Wednesday

I'm at Working Stiffs today talking about bringing back the dead. Not really. But I do included my grandparents' old house and bring a few of my deceased pets back to life in my fiction. Come over and join in the discussion of Sentimental Settings.

My First Editors

My “finished” first draft has been sitting quietly in its computer folder. I’ve been told to leave it alone for a couple of weeks. Of course, I’m itching to get back into it, and I really haven’t completely kept my hands off it.

I’m not sure what your definition of a first draft is. I think we all have different ideas on the topic. For me, just because it’s a first draft doesn’t mean it hasn’t been retouched a bit. I tinker with chapters as I go. And that’s why I put “finished” first draft in quotes. It isn’t. Finished, that is. I’ve typed “The End” but I’m not satisfied with it, even as a “shitty first draft.”

Right now, it has a total of twenty-nine chapters. My tinkering is taking place back in chapters 17, 18, and 19. Here’s why:

My critique groups.

I love my critique groups. I belong to three. Well, two and a half.

The first eyes, beyond my own, to see a chapter is my face-to-face group. Four or five of us get together and present a chapter. The author reads their own work out loud while the others follow along on their copy and mark it up with thoughts, suggestions, and observations. The feedback is immediate. Plus there’s the added benefit of reading it out loud. All sorts of boo-boos jump out at me when I hear my own words coming out of my mouth.

I should mention this group is multi-genre.

I bring my chapter home from the group and make the fixes needed.

The next eyes to see the chapter is my online mystery writers group. I post a chapter there and receive at least three critiques of it. Here’s where it gets interesting, because what one person loves about a scene, another person might hate.

The “half” part of the critique group is also online. It started out with four members and now there’s only two. But we have a nice back-and-forth commentary on our chapters.

At the moment, I’m receiving feedback from my online group on chapter 17. I’m meeting with my face-to-face group this morning to present chapter 19. They’ve already seen chapter 18, which happens to be my least favorite of the entire manuscript. I’m struggling to fix the problems sufficiently to submit it next to my online group. And to my online half-group/critique buddy.

If you’re writing a novel and don’t belong to at least one critique group, I strongly advise you to look into finding one. They’re my first editors.

Photo Friday: Too Cute

My pick for my favorite picture of those I shot this week was easy. This portrait of my youngest grandniece is just too cute.

Working Stiffs Wednesday

After last week's big announcement of reaching "The End" of my first draft, the days that have followed have been rather low key. Which is my excuse for not having posted anything here yet this week. My brain has shifted into neutral. Or gone into hybernation for the winter, even though it's not at all cold. Yet.

So after staring at a blank screen for most of yesterday afternoon, I finally decided to dust off one of my favorite rants and update it, courtesy of those two Northwest Airlines pilots. The result is posted over at Working Stiffs, because it is my day to blog there.

Photo Friday: Reflections

Since the best way to learn how to use a new camera is to get it out and USE it, I've been shooting a lot of "stuff," lately. And as an enticement to continue practicing, I've decided to post my favorite photo of the week here each Friday.

This week's photo is the result of my attempt to play with reflections and was taken along the Montour Trail while I was out walking earlier this week.

Lady Bug, Lady Bug, Fly Away Home

I thought I was looking forward to Indian Summer. Those last few days of sunshine and warm temperatures before we plunge into those cold, gray, wet, and snowy days of late fall and winter.

But I was not alone.

Lady bugs (or Asian beetles or whatever the heck they are) were also anticipating the burst of sunshine to make their last ditch search for a winter home.

Thousands of lady bugs. Hundreds of thousands. Gazillions of lad bugs.

Apparently, they especially like log houses for all the nooks and crannies in which they can hide.

The swarm began Tuesday afternoon. The bugs looked like snow flurries outside, except they weren’t white and they didn’t simply fall down. They buzzed up, down and sideways. They started ticking against the windows of my office, which face south and receive all that sunshine. Then they started finding their way through the window frames, through cracks and gaps that I can’t see.

Obviously, my house is not airtight. Note to self: MUST CAULK BEFORE WINTER.

At first there were a few between the window panes. Then there were a few inside, on the glass. Then there were several dozen. On the curtains, on the walls, on the ceiling.

Flying into my head as I worked on my computer. Time to call it a day, I decided.

But Wednesday was worse. As soon as the sun came up, the swarm went into high gear. If we stepped outside, we had to squint and keep ours mouths shut tight. They got in my hair. They covered my clothes and had to swiped off before I could come inside.

And inside? Those several dozen turned into hundreds. Not just in my office, but in the living room and the bedroom, too. I spent the day armed with my vacuum cleaner. Xena the Warrior of the Lady Bug Battle armed with a sweeper hose and a crevice tool. I moved from room to room sucking those little speckled monsters up. But they poured in as fast as I vacuumed them up.

I filled up my vacuum cleaner TWICE. I dare say there had to be thousands of them. Gazillions of them. I’m amazed I didn’t have lady bug nightmares.

Today, I had the vacuum out again. But the numbers were much lower. Possibly due to a few clouds. Possibly because I’d wiped out a large part of the lady bug population.

Nah.

Now a little lady bug FYI. They stink like rancid peanut butter. Don’t squash them. The stench is why there are so many of them. Nothing eats them. They probably taste the same as they smell. They also bite. While they won’t aggressively come after you, if you happen to have one land on you and you accidentally pinch it, it will pinch back. OUCH!

Thankfully, the forecast is for cold and rain for the next few days. (Can you believe I just said that??? I can’t!) I’ll have a chance to get ahead of the game.

I hate lady bugs.