Savvy Authors

Blogging today at Savvy Authors (scroll down) and teaching my workshop there next month! Check it out (link is in the right sidebar), sign up, learn stuff!

~R

Marathon Saturday

We have TRON from NetFlix! I usually do one day a month where I watch 2-3 movies (a 'Marathon Monday'), eat nachos and chocolate and popcorn and gummy worms, whatever, and thoroughly enjoy myself. This always refills the creative reservoir and makes my Muse (Maab) happy. Sometimes it's all pirate movies, sometimes it's all historicals, sometimes fantasy, sometimes spy. Whatever I'm in the mood to watch, all the movies have a common theme.

If I don't get my "play" day, Queen Maab gets cranky and uncooperative, and I have a difficult time writing.

Well, this isn't a full "day," but I love TRON and haven't seen it in years. My kiddo's never seen it. This is where all the artistic movie CGI began, and for at least a few hours I'm going to enjoy a creative refill.

~R

Graduation Day

The last six weeks of physical therapy went fast. I was determined and still have a little more to go, however I'm very satisfied with the progress of my left arm and wrist. I can do almost everything I used to and almost pain free. Because of the severity of the breaks and the non-existent range of motion in 80% of my wrist and lower arm the Dr.'s were doubtful, and I was told "it will NEVER be the same," and "don't expect too much."

As if today I have 95% ability, motion, and range back.

They don't know me very well. :-)

~R

Mean People Suck :-(

To whoever hacked into my email: GET A LIFE YOU STUPID IDIOT.

You may think it's fun to spam my friends and colleagues, but it's vicious and mean. You now have ultimate BAD KARMA, and you deserve it!

To everyone who got the crap email and junk attachment, this was NOT SENT by me. Ignore, disregard, and otherwise trash it.

Thanks,

~Raquel

Wintery Wonderland

This morning I took more snow pictures to add to my collection from yesterday.


12 Feb 2010, 7:01 am - Snowy morning greetings from my front porch.

12 Feb 2010, 7 am - Gnomes buried under 6-inches of snow.

12 Feb 2010, 7:05 am - Butterfly Garden.

12 Feb 2010, 7:10 am - Lots of thick whiteness on everything - check out the bird bath in the background.


I wanted to document the cold beauty of nature and how much snow we got. This probably won't happen again for a long time.


12 Feb 2010, 7:15 am - Land ho, 6-inches of snow! Butterfly Garden ahead!

12 Feb 2010, 7:16 am - The cold didn't phase my huddling pink Flamingos.


Yesterday I measured three places in the open yard and figured we ended up with about 5 inches. Yesterday mid-afternoon we were at 3 to 4 inches. As of now we've got 6+ inches on the ground. I have hot tea and coffee, brownies and yogurt, and I'm staying inside cuddled up at my computer to edit.

Wisely, school was canceled today. Pretty and white, the powdery snow's piled carefully high on the bare tree branches and the ground and snowman-ready for my kiddo. I'll watch from inside and sip my tea as I contemplate how to get my heroine out of her man-trouble. :-)

~R

Let It Snow

Wow. I woke up this morning and looked out the window and ... wow.

Yesterday I knew snow was in the forecast, so I expected some.


11 Feb 2010, 6:45am - It's been snowing all night.

11 Feb 2010, 6:50 am - My garden Gnomes are digging for cover under the Maple tree.

11 Feb 2010, 8 am - My front yard Butterfly Garden.

And we got some more snow, plus some MORE snow. It been snowing all day!

11 Feb 2010, 8:05 am - Merlin sneaked into the middle of some clean laundry I was putting away and made himself quite at home.


And the white flakes are still falling. A snow "event" as it's called. In north Texas we get maybe 1 or 2 days of snow every other year, and it's over. Only once every ten to fifteen years we see snow "events" that last days and cripple traffic and throw silly people into panic. We get ice storms, and that story's best left for another post.


11 Feb 2010, 12 noon - Butterfly Garden again. Accumulation is 3-1/2 inches, and it's still snowing.

11 Feb 2010, 12:15 pm - Pretty Holly and berries in the snow.

11 Feb 2010, 12:30 pm - Front yard. It's really coming down now.

11 Feb 2010, 3pm - Lexie (dog) & Alex in the back yard after school.


Anyway, yeah, panic. Native Texans know how to deal with a little snow and ice under the snow. Transplanted Texans don't, at least the vast majority I've deal with or seen. And yep, I'm one of the very few natives left here. There's a way to drive on ice if it's necessary, and it's NOT the normal way you drive. Innocents and idiots alike know this and so do their insurance companies.

I don't drive in severe weather of any kind if I don't have to. Sliding on the street in my car to go somewhere or ending up in a ditch by the side of the road is not my idea of a safe journey. You get out, do what you absolutely must, then then get home and stay off the roads until they're again clear. That may sound weird to those living up in the north USA. Not in central north Texas.

Last night, all night, power transformers blow out around our neighborhood continually. The explosive "BANG"'s were disconcerting, and hopefully everyone got their power back on quickly. (shiver!) That's a creepy sound, hearing one of those big electric boxes blow up. Ice and accumulating snow causes it. Yeah, we're not equipped here to deal with lots of snow, but the experience is great background for my stories.

Stay warm and safe.

~R

Need Inspiration

Watching Van Helsing today. Besides being a mega-hunk I'd love to meet, Hugh Jackman's my favorite action hero! Maybe Wolverine next. Hmm ...

~R

Tying up Loose Ends

Today's been long, and it's only half over. I've edited, done some laundry, written, pet my cat and talked to my dog, and got about half of my To-Do list accomplished and just picked up my kiddo for school. In the Rain. And cold. I'm reeeeaaally hoping all this nasty cold will kill the mosquito and bug eggs so next summer will at least be tolerable. Enough of that.

Little by little my WIP is getting whipped into shape. I don't have a word count today, don't ask. I'll have something official next Monday, hopefully. Hey, at least I'm trying to keep up this blog more than once every, say, 3-4 months, lol. I'm doing more editing than writing right now, actually, and I feel like I'm going at this story back-asswards. Usually I go at it head-on then sideways. If you don't understand, don't try, 'cuz it'll give you a headache. The process works for me, and I love it.

Anyway, keeping wayward characters in check is ... interesting. Yeah. I'm seeing lots of attitude from one and snark from his ex- (she's got the hots for someone else, of course!). But that's what makes reading fun, all the conflicts of interest. More about this in a future blog report. :-)

~R