Lucky 7 Meme: WIP Sneak Peak

Crossposted from It's A Writer's Life For Me.

Like other writers, I was tagged in the Lucky 7 Meme.  I think people just want to see what I’m working on, you sneaky people! There’s actually 8 paragraphs here, but it’s mostly dialogue so you get it all. This is from my WIP House of Dolls (working title). You can give feedback if you want, but remember this is just a rough draft. J

I was tagged by Angie over at Write Me Happy. I thought calling her a brat twice was too much. ;)

“Do you like the doll Andy? Isn’t Cornelia beautiful?” Andrea looked the doll up and down. She shuddered.
“Looks rather creepy to me. Those eyes seem like they’re staring into my soul or something. Keep it away from me, I hate creepy dolls.” Andrea looked away and hunched over her breakfast. Dresden looked puzzled and a bit upset.
“Cornelia is beautiful Andy. Not creepy!” She looked down at the doll. “Don’t mind Andy Cornelia, she’s just mean in the morning. I’m sure she meant nothing by it. You aren’t creepy, you’re absolutely darling.” She hugged the doll, then started eating her breakfast. Andrea looked at her sideways.
“Aren’t you a little old to be playing with dolls anyway? And really Dres, talking to dolls is the first step to insanity. The doll is creepy, and the fact that you’re talking to it makes it even creepier. Seriously Dres, what the hell?”
“Andrea, language!” Diana scowled at her daughter. “If she wants to play with a doll, she can. And you talked to plenty of dolls in your time my dear. So leave your sister alone.” Dresden looked up from her food.
“Thanks Mom. Cornelia thanks you too.” Steve looked over the top of his newspaper.
“Where did you say you found that doll Dresden? It might belong to someone else.”
“Cornelia was sitting in the corner of my room Dad, all covered with dust and looking unloved.” Dresden clutched the doll closer to her. “She needs my love Dad. She belongs to no one else but me!”

I’d tag someone, but everyone has already been tagged! If you want to take part, go right ahead! Leave a link in comments so I can read your excerpt.

22 Things For April

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my next 22 Things list. Most of the items on my first one weren’t goals per se, but instead more like wants. Hell, some were just plain wishful thinking! If you have no clue what I’m talking about, you can find my original 22 Things list here.

This time the prompt is 22 Things that will make you feel better about yourself. And I highly doubt a bullet to the brain counts. You’d have to ask Angie about that, but I’m pretty sure she would concur. So I’m going to take the prompts and write them out as goals, sort of. Cause that’s how I roll, and these are just for April, because thinking too far ahead hurts my brain.

1. Self-publish one short story.

2. Continue working on current WIPs. #Wordmongering would be wonderfully helpful in this!

3. Attend to my girly needs – like showers, manicures, pedicures etc. I hate feeling like I look trashy.

4. Meal planning! This has made my life easier over the past week, so I need to do more of it.

5. Write 10 non-fiction articles (not including blog posts). Small enough goal, shouldn’t interfere too much with my darling fiction writing.

6. Remove the clutter from my home, a little bit every day. I hate clutter, hate, hate, hate it. But it has infested my living space, therefore, it has to go!

7. Start 3 short stories. It’s not like I’m lacking in ideas.

8. Journal and do my Morning Pages daily. I really notice a difference when I use these tools, but for whatever reason I find myself dropping them when stressed.

9. Get my heart rate up every day. Exercise is good for you, even if all you want to do is curl up in a ball and sleep afterwards <note to self>.

10. Keep better notes throughout the day. If I had written down all the thoughts I was thinking about this blog post, I wouldn’t be stumbling through it now.

11. Clear out area that I want my compost pile in. It’s a mess and I’m not sure what is buried under the leaves. Probably don’t want to know.

12. Use up what I already have on hand before I go grocery shopping. Seems so simple, yet somehow it’s not.

13. Save money any way I can. Clipping coupons, trading points for gift cards, buying less – I’m not picky. Every little bit of money I don’t spend works in my favor.

14. Make a shopping list and stick to it! See above, it’s all about saving money. And I have a bit of an impulse buyer issue.

15. Write down my dreams. Been having some really odd ones, and I’d like to remember them. There could be patterns, or it could become story fodder.

16. Get a decent night’s sleep. 10pm bedtime, but no later than 11pm. And Twitter is not a viable excuse to stay up late.

17. Stop avoiding my to do list. I put those items on there because they need to get done, not because they look shiny on the page.

18. 6am wake up call. My alarm is already set for 6, but I’m not doing so great in the listening to it department. This one might just never happen, but it’s worth a try.

19. Write something for at least one writing contest. Can be a poem, short story, and flash fiction, whatever. Just do it.

20. Spend more time with my daughter. She needs her Mommy.

21. No smoking! I hate that nasty stuff. I’ll just have to find something else to self-medicate with.

22. Catch up on my reading and reviewing. Currently have 10 books that have been read already, that are just waiting for the re-read and review. This number will just keep climbing if I don’t start taking care of this.

So that’s my 22 Things for April. Admittedly it was way harder to write them out like this, I had the hardest time coming up with 22 Things. But I did it! How well I do with them, well, that’s another blog post. J

Six Sentence Sunday - Atlantis Falls

Okay, so I'm a slacker blogger. Bite me. Hard, soft, you choose. But since it is Sunday, for a few more hours at any rate, I figured I'd mosey on down to my blog here and give you today's excerpt. Today's excerpt is from Forever Mine, a paranormal romance/fantasy - aww, I'm not sure what genre it is just yet. Like many of my WIPs, I actually need to finish said project before classing it.

Soon it was no longer safe within walls or outside of them, as entire buildings crashed into the heaving ground. Surrounded by ocean on three sides and a large mountain chain on the other, they essentially had nowhere to go, no escape. They were trapped. Thousands were killed, mates severed in the flesh, children ripped away from their mother’s arms. Finally the shuddering and heaving stopped. The Atlantians breathed a short lived sigh of relief.

So there you have it! This one is based off a short story that I may or may not be publishing. It's not ready yet! Alright, you caught me, I have a hard time letting my babies go. Happy now?

My Declaration Of Independence

Credits: sxc.hu user mrtechc

There are many things I want out of life and not just material goods…though there are plenty of those too! But I seem to be stuck in this never ending cycle of negativity and basically chasing my tail. If there is one thing I cannot stand, it’s being stuck in one place for too long. Have a bit of Gypsy blood in me or something. This happens to me a lot, especially after life changing events. I have so many dreams and directions that I want to head in that I get overwhelmed…and then I’m like a car stuck in the mud. Annoying, but it is what it is.

One thing that I tend to forget while in overwhelm mode is that life is just a strategy game. My favorite board game as a child was Risk. I loved it whether I was playing against another person or even a computer. Do they still make Risk for computers? Anywhohow, the moral of the story is that I need to work on some strategy to my life, instead of succumbing to the overwhelm.

I will – compost old food instead of throwing it away.

I will – focus on what I really want, not just want I think I want.

I will – stop spending money on cheap junk instead of the nice stuff that I love.

I will – make more from scratch, instead of being annoyed by the quality and price of food.

I will – use the timer on my phone. It is a friend, not an enemy.

I will – utilize the power of 15 minutes.

I will – write 200 words a day on any project. And no, Twitter does not count.

I will – maximize my freebies. They make my dollar stretch farther.

I will – not fill my house with useless junk that just pisses me off.

I will – push myself further, while listening to my body.

I will – stretch my dollar as far as possible, without sacrificing quality.

I will – finish projects that I have started.

I will – support more local businesses.

I will – journal and do my morning pages daily. They really help with unblocking and keeping me positive.

I will – strive to kick perfectionism to the curb. Every little bit counts!

Six Sentence Sunday: House Of Dolls

Decided to play along, as part of my 22 things of getting more involved in the writing community. So I'm going to snatch six sentences from my current (okay one of many) WIPs, House Of Dolls.

The house had stood empty for decades. The locals of Belle Hollow, West Virginia called it the House of Dolls. It was rumored that Belle Taylor, who once owned all the land in Belle Hollow, had an extensive doll collection. There wasn’t a room in the house that wasn’t filled with dolls, the old-timers said. The house was set back amongst the trees at the end of the road, with cornfields on either side. It harkened back to an older time, a mix of Victorian and Southern manor styles, it was almost a symbol of country life.

Probably not the best, or worst, six sentences I could have chosen, but I'm limited. It's fairly new, and I haven't dedicated enough writing time to anything lately. Either way, it's up and here for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy! :)

Making Life A Little Smaller - 22 Things Challenge

So I've spent the last few days hemming and hawing over this challenge. What were 22 things I could do right now to make my life better? Then I got stuck in the over-thinking mind loop. Which gets me no where very, very fast. So I'm going to be imperfect, incomplete and just do it.


If you're interested in signing up, here is the original post by Angie at Write Me Happy.




My 22 Things


1. Stop Over-Thinking
2. Just Do It
3. Write More
4. Read More 
5. Cook More
6. Stretch Out My Income
7. Plan Better
8. Start Planning My Garden
9. Start Picking Up Gardening Supplies
10. Spring Clean
11. Actually Complete What Is On My Lists
12. Get More Involved With My Fellow Writers
13. Take Part In #Wordmongering
14. Ask For Help When Needed
15. Get More Exercise
16. Go Out With Friends More Often
17. Realize That I'm Not Superwoman
18. Blog More
19. Continue My Quest For Knowledge
20. Support Other Writers As I Can
21. Be More Productive
22. Allow Myself More "Girly" Time


These were the first things that popped into my head. We'll have to see how it goes, even though looking at some of these is really making me want to edit them for "achieveablity." But the point isn't to be perfect, thank goodness!


Even if you don't want to sign up, the original post has links to other 22 Things participants! So check them out as well. :)