Missing Posts

Okay, I just noticed I'm missing some posts, so I'll dig the drafts back up and republish them.

Married with . . . Cats

Forget the Christmas list. Forget ever getting the entire house clean at one time. And forget ever writing undisturbed again.

About two weeks ago, unbeknownst to me, my loving DH decided in his infinite wisdom to give me very special gift this year. We were blessedly down to only one pet (German Shepherd) after our Norweigen Forest cat, Tinker, died 1-1/2 years ago. Since we also have a pre-schooler, cleaning up the mess of a small family was fine with me.

Not so with my DH. It just so happens, he works with a gal who also runs a cat rescue. And she had 2 dozen animals to find homes for. For all his masculine bravado about not missing Tinker, my DH covered his soft spot for our dearly departed pet well. Fast forward to about one week ago. A lunchtime phone call interrupted my concentration and flow of new words to the page when I heard, "I'll email you a picture of Bob."

I opened my email page to see "Bob." The cat. A very big fluffy black and white cat who was obviously part Ragdoll/Norweigen. A pretty cat. A cat with a big scowl. He apparently doesn't like having his picture taken.

"Sure, we can go see Bob," I answered my excited DH, who'd previously expounded on the benefit of getting an outdoor cat to help curb the population explosion of squirrels nesting and feasting in all our pecan trees. I saw this as a definite asset, especially since I wouldn't have to do cat-pan duty.

The next day we visited THE CAT LADY.

Even though I'd popped an allergy medication (I'm mildly allergic), my senses were assaulted when we walked into The Cat Lady's home. I've never seen so many cats in one place except in a shelter. They were all running free. They were curious and talkative (meowing like crazy). All were happy and some quite content to remain at least an arm's distance from us, especially my preschooler. I understood why my DH was so eager to adopt. He'd related horrid accounts of news reports he'd read about old people dying and not being found for a week and the cats snacking on them because the animals had no other food. EEWWW!

We had no choice. It was our humane duty to adopt.

So, we sat, and the cats came to us. They talked, rubbed on our ankles, and looked into our eyes as if to say, "pick me!"

Bob ignored us, of course. He wanted *nothing* to do with us. He wouldn't even let The Cat Lady pick him up and bring him to us.

My DH was disappointed. My son laughed and played chase up and down a hall with one cat. I calmly sat watching the whole process and dutifully petted two little domestic short-haired cats (aka, mutts) who'd curled up comfortably in my lap and didn't want to leave.

An hour later, my sinuses clogged, my nose running and my eyes swelling, we decided it was time to leave. Then my DH made the astute observation, "those little cats really like you."

Duh. They'd been in my lap almost since the moment I'd sat down.

We adopted them. Both were already neutered, thankfully, and had all their shots and leukemia tests. They get along with the dog. Merlin is black with an interesting counter-ermine pattern (tiny white hairs in a few places all over his black hair). The little cream colored cat (like light brown sugar) started life as Blondie, then became Sugar. Now he's answering to Pywacket.

So, this year instead of a new CD or Witches Almanac or a book about writing, I got cats for Christmas/Yule.

I'm still popping allergy meds and hoping to quickly rebuild my tolerance. Merlin and Pywacket like to sit in my lap purring like endless chainsaws as I write (yes, they're both there now ;-)) I'll probably still get the CD and books I asked for. I'll even accept the additional cleaning up in the house plus daily cat-pan duty because I love the cats.

But not when they jump onto the kitchen counter.

More Amusements

Okay, just a couple of sidetracks . . .



"The Captain"


Which Firefly character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla




You're Mal, the Captain of Serenity. You fought
(and lost) for the Independents in the war.
You're a natural leader, and a rebel with a
heart of gold.


Which Firefly Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla


(Do I sense a pattern emerging??) Now I'm going to go write. ;-)

~Ann JR

Maab's Not Amused . . .

Today I'm about 30 pages behind my self-imposed weekly goal, because yesterday instead of writing I re-edited the previous day's work. I really need to learn to quit doing that so I can get this story totally completed, to my CP, then out the door!

Geez, my Muse (Maab) is NOT amused. After keeping my up for the past two nights with a great unexpected plot twist, I haven't rearranged the time to actually write down the scene. That was supposed to be my 10+ pages written yesterday. :-/ I'll make up for it this afternoon. I have a whole entire hour to myself (sans my 4-yo and DH) for peace and *quiet* to write everything down as fast as I can.

So, what am I doing writing this stuff . . . ?

Bye-bye 'til later!

~Ann JR

Writing Heaven

I love it when time, productivity and creativity come together. Yesterday brought me 16 pages closer to my 100 page goal for this week.

And motivation can be found in the strangest places. I took a little sidetrack this morning and click a link that asked, "Which Pirate Of The Caribbean Are You?" Here's my answer:

Which Pirates of the Caribbean character are you?


Arrr, arrr matey! Time to go pillage the pages and plunder my Theasaurus! Arrr!

~Ann JR


PS: Don't bother leaving me stupid advertizing links as comments, because I'll delete them! Arrr!

Rants and Roasts . . .

It turns out last Saturday wasn't as smooth as it seemed. The gal who invited me to participate in the demo apparently got a nasty bee in her bonnet about a few things I won't go into. Needless to say, my spinning time will probably not include that demo next year. 'Nuf said, or I'll go into a ranting fit about unappreciative snobs, illiteracy and the fact my spinning wheel broken 5 minutes into continuing my project when I got home. (grrrrr . . .)

Good thing my DH's cooking dinner.

On a better note, I've pledged to write 40 new pages and edit 60 pages for my online chapter's BIAW this week. Okay, those blank pages are waiting, and my Muse is babbling!

~Ann JR

Dead Tired

Wow, yesterday's demo was *interesting.* I spun, I talked, and I even warped uo my Inkle look and did a little weaving for one gal. Amidst all the activity (it was also the library's yearly Craft show), there was the usual beginner questions and distractions. Hopefully all the folks had fun.

~Ann JR

Spinning Yarns . . .

Once upon a time, storytellers told stories verbally, or "spun their yarns" to those who would listen. I haven't personally researched it, however logically I think this practice can probably date back to an earlier time when spinning and weaving were common daily activities in a household. A spinner could both fascinate their audience by the art of making yarns and threads from fibers, and at the same time expound a tale to the captive audience.

Spinning and weaving are other hobbies I enjoy because they're relaxing and productive. And that's why I agreed to participate in a demo this coming weekend. I'll probably not "spin" and yearn tales, just get started on a new Christmas project, meet new people, and gather more interesting ideas to write about.

~Ann JR

Dragons, Dragons Everywhere

Well, I've been doing more creating this week then writing. One hobby is dragons, unicorns and other fantasy creatures, which I've been making a lot of lately for this coming weekend's local Celtic Heritage Festival. After this weekend, things'll calm back to normal again. (hahaha!!)

~Ann JR

No Power In The 'Verse Can Stop Me!

From writing, that is. :-)

Last night SERENITY was AWSOME!!! Great plot, believeable characters, ambitous goals with strong motivations, fantastic conflicts and a hellova 'Black Moment.'

Did they survive?

I'm not telling. But you can be sure, Captn Mal and the FireFly crew are wiser and will fly again into new adventures. And in the mean time, I'm going to see that movie at least a few more times.

VIVA SERENITY!

(I'm definitely inspired to go write . . .)

~Ann JR

Peace and Serenity

I've sat on my hands all week (not good for productive writing, LOL), because I'm excited about going to the SERENITY opening this friday night. We're even planning on attending in costume and are going to meet up with about a dozen other FireFly fans. Ooo, great SF stories can be such a distraction! (thanks, Joss ;-))

I'll tell you how it turns out.

~Ann JR

Flying High

I just found out my DH has a fear of flying, especially in small commuter crafts. My first memory of flying is when I was 8-years old, and my family visited Colorado, Washington state and then up to British Columbia Canada in June. I remember the flight attendants (known as stewardess' back then) in their pink and metallic silver uniforms with go-go boots, their perfectly coordinated movements in flight and thinking "what an interesting job!" And when I first stepped off the Boeing-747 at the Denver airport, it was cold! No one but me seemed to notice.

Even after all these years (not going there, so don't ask), those little visual details are still with me. For me, details are what flesh-out a picture, or in a writer's case, a scene. It's those nuances that play in the mind to create an expectation. Like excitement, joy, and fear of could happen next.

I'm in for a long week of (hopefully) productive writing before my DH returns from his business trip. And maybe I can get him to relate the details of his journey for my future reference so I can visualize what it's like in a small commuter plane.

~Ann JR

Still rearranging

I do have time to write . . . I do have time to write . . .

Still working on those new pages, 'cuz I really need to finish the edit on this story. (sigh) So far, all small tweaks and no big rewrites. Life is getting better.

~Ann JR

To Write . . . or not . . .

Ever wonder where all the crazy ideas come from that float around in your head and keep you from doing what you want to do (like writing)? Too many things going on causes my lack of focus. I have time to write. I always have time. Whether or not I rearrange the time to write is up to me.

So, I'm going to do some housecleaning and rearranging now.

And write a few pages. ;-)

~Ann JR

Welcome To My Jungle

Good morning! Time to suck up some coffee and write! Lucas Brunelle's vid of the NY drag race set to G&R's Welcome To The Jungle has got me pumped. These guys are extreme, adrenaline junkie every one, and I love it. Every time I watch it, I'm reminded of a bunch of Alpha males vieing for superiority, it revvs up my creativity and I channel that go-getter attitude into my stories' hunks. Yummy, all of them. Daring, courageous and gung-ho with an attitude, that's these guys. I wouldn't have it any other way. And my heroines love every one of them and their soft scorching touches . . . Oh, geez, I gotta ago write! Have a great day.

Ann JR

Taking the plunge . . .

Yesterday there was a wonderful lecture by a local designer at my local writer's meeting about creating and maintaining websites. Since every minute of time is precious to a writer, I'm always up for learning new tips and tricks to help to make life easier. That's why I started this blog, to get all (or hopefully at least most) of those little things and ideas floating around in my head written down so I can concentrate more on getting my current work-in-progress, a paranormal romance novel, finished. I'm also hoping to work on updating my website next week and add this link.

So, okay, a little about my Muse named Maab (yes, like the Irish Faery Queen ;-)) She's fickle, a major Diva, flighty (and hated it when I say that), and very inspiring. She leads my usually in several directions at once, which means I'm ususally plotting out or working on at least 2 writing projects at the same time. Maab is a wonderful chatterbox of information and eloquence. When the words flow, they stream like a rushing river I sometimes have to type for dear life to get them all written down.

And when Maab shuts up and won't talk to me, I feed her yummy chocolate, usually dark. ;-)

'Nuf for now, and I'll post more when I take another break from writing about my sexy vampire hunk.

Ann JR