I can honestly say I look at the glass half full. In a tough situation, I will find a positive. It drives my husband crazy sometimes, (He's a half empty glass person) but I don't want to live my life worrying about stress. I hate that feeling. I love to be happy. I admit sometimes I'll release my claws and have melt downs, but "it cleanses the soul" as my grandma would say. This video clip is a perfect example of how I make a tight situation into something positive. So in other words, if I was a mouse this would be me.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Fathers Day
I physically had to pull my eyelids down to close them. The glow of my cell phone showed one o’clock in the morning. I didn’t know it was possible to feel your eyelids scratch against the cornea when you were sleep deprived.
The campers next to us carried on with their party. The bass from the music shook our trailer windows. My little four-year-old pulled a pillow over her ears to block out the sound.
“I can’t take it anymore!” I sat up in my sleeping bag. “Earplugs don’t even block out the noise.”
“I know,” said my husband and rubbed my back. “Last night they didn’t shut off the music until four am.”
I flopped myself back down and whimpered.
“Mommy,” cried my little girl. “I can’t sleep.”
“That’s it!” My dad threw his covers off and stomped down the stairs from the fifth wheel’s bedroom. There was no light in the trailer but I swear I saw flames coming from his nostrils. He swung open the door, stuck out his head and all Hell broke loose.
“TURN THAT *Cussing* MUSIC DOWN!” My dad’s voice echoed across Glendale Lake and back.
I held my breath, waiting for the retaliation of the neighboring campers. The old school rap music quieted down.
“What?” confused voices asked back.
“TURN YOUR *cussing* MUSIC DOWN. WE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP.”
“If you don’t like it and don’t want to listen to it go to bed,” a man said back.
I knew that was the wrong thing to say and waited for my dad’s response.
“WE CAN’T. YOUR MUSIC IS KEEPING EVERYONE AWAKE. TURN IT DOWN.”
“It’s not my problem you don’t want to party old man.”
The music’s volume returned to deafening levels.
“I GAVE YOU YOUR CHANCE YOU *cuss* *cussing* *cussers* THE COPS ARE ON THE WAY!”
My dad slammed our door and flipped on the light. I’d never heard a grown man growl before until that moment. He found his cell phone and dialed a number.
“Hello, who is this?” asked me dad. “Warren, this is Lee Lewis………”
The conversation lasted a whole few seconds. My dad works with the county and I guess he knew what to say, how to say it, and who to say it to because twenty minutes later Dad’s cell phone rang.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“The police. They wanted to let me know they have the force together and are on their way here right now.”
He wasn’t lying. All of a sudden bright lights from a dozen cop cars flashed on and surrounded the neighboring camp.
Long story short. We got some sleep. Moral of the story—don’t piss off my dad. Happy Fathers Day everybody.
The campers next to us carried on with their party. The bass from the music shook our trailer windows. My little four-year-old pulled a pillow over her ears to block out the sound.
“I can’t take it anymore!” I sat up in my sleeping bag. “Earplugs don’t even block out the noise.”
“I know,” said my husband and rubbed my back. “Last night they didn’t shut off the music until four am.”
I flopped myself back down and whimpered.
“Mommy,” cried my little girl. “I can’t sleep.”
“That’s it!” My dad threw his covers off and stomped down the stairs from the fifth wheel’s bedroom. There was no light in the trailer but I swear I saw flames coming from his nostrils. He swung open the door, stuck out his head and all Hell broke loose.
“TURN THAT *Cussing* MUSIC DOWN!” My dad’s voice echoed across Glendale Lake and back.
I held my breath, waiting for the retaliation of the neighboring campers. The old school rap music quieted down.
“What?” confused voices asked back.
“TURN YOUR *cussing* MUSIC DOWN. WE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP.”
“If you don’t like it and don’t want to listen to it go to bed,” a man said back.
I knew that was the wrong thing to say and waited for my dad’s response.
“WE CAN’T. YOUR MUSIC IS KEEPING EVERYONE AWAKE. TURN IT DOWN.”
“It’s not my problem you don’t want to party old man.”
The music’s volume returned to deafening levels.
“I GAVE YOU YOUR CHANCE YOU *cuss* *cussing* *cussers* THE COPS ARE ON THE WAY!”
My dad slammed our door and flipped on the light. I’d never heard a grown man growl before until that moment. He found his cell phone and dialed a number.
“Hello, who is this?” asked me dad. “Warren, this is Lee Lewis………”
The conversation lasted a whole few seconds. My dad works with the county and I guess he knew what to say, how to say it, and who to say it to because twenty minutes later Dad’s cell phone rang.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“The police. They wanted to let me know they have the force together and are on their way here right now.”
He wasn’t lying. All of a sudden bright lights from a dozen cop cars flashed on and surrounded the neighboring camp.
Long story short. We got some sleep. Moral of the story—don’t piss off my dad. Happy Fathers Day everybody.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Cogitate Author Contest
Henry, the former managing editor of Beyond Words (the publisher behind The Secret, The Truth About Beauty, and Elemental Love Styles) and current ghost writer and editor, will be providing feedback and review on a NONFICTION proposal or first 50 pages of a manuscript.
Gretchen, former agent/editorial director for Baker’s Mark Literary Agency (the literary agency behind Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel, Never After, and Comics 101) and current ghost writer and editor, will be providing feedback and review on the first 50 pages or first 5 chapters of a FICTION manuscript project.
By “feedback and review,” we mean that if you win, we will copyedit your proposal or the first 50 pages/5 chapters of your manuscript and give developmental notes and feedback on the work absolutely free. We’ll also give you tips on the overall approach you will want to take when pitching to agents and publishers.
Why are we asking you to fill out a weird questionnaire to win? Because compatibility between a writer and editor is imperative. (Take a look at our blog post on creativity with punctuation and our post on loving the people you work with.) The same principle extends to pitching your work to agents and publishers. Not only that, but you’ll also have to answer questions about your book that every author should know the answer to and you’ll also get to answer some fun and ridiculous questions about yourself—because everyone should know what weapon they would chose in a zombie attack.
Besides, there are perks. In addition to a free copyedit and comments from a pro, just by entering your completed survey:
• You have the chance to win 3 free books from our title list. (One winner will have his/her choice of two from our fiction and nonfiction title lists [as long as it’s already out, of course] and will also receive a collectible issue of The Grove Review that we worked on.)
• You may be pimped on our site even if you don’t win. Awesome answers from the review will be posted and credited on CogitateStudios.com, Cogitate on Facebook, and our respective Twitter feeds, @editorStet and @cogitweeter. We’ll post your twitter or your blog. Heck, we’ll post both if you want.
• You can come back and visit the Cogitate Studios website to see some stats, responses, and analyses of other authors’ entries (i.e., how many people submitted in what genres, average length of manuscript, what commonalities showed up, what stuck out, who would most likely survive a zombie raid, and so on).
What have you got to lose? You will not be entered on any email lists, annoyingly spammed, or sold out for cash. It’s a few minutes out of your day with a lot you may win. Who knows, it might kick-start that book idea that’s been collecting dust in the corner of your brain. Go ahead and try it. We dare you.
The specifics:
• ONE entry per person
• Deadline is this SUNDAY, June 13th, 11:59 pm PDT.
• We’ll choose TWO winners, based on our interests in reading the work, as well as how well your survey answers show compatibility with our editorial style.
• Winners will be announced the following Monday, June 21th on CogitateStudios.com.
• One winner will be picked out of FIRST 50 SURVEYS for the free book prize, and the winner can then chose which titles they want—winning the free books is random and does not affect your chances of winning the manuscript review.
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.
THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ENTERED.
Here is another link to Cogitate Studios web page:
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Ink: In All Forms Kick-off contest-giveaway!
Seriously guys there is a really cool contest Ink In All Forms is holding. I mean an amazing giveaway! One lucky winner will win 12 (did you catch that? TWELVE) books! All you have to do is click on the link HERE and enter. EASY. SIMPLE as THAT! Now, what are you waiting for?
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