In Honor of Halloween--A Creepy Excerpt!

I'm a big fan of all things Creep-tastic. Thus, I love Halloween. So far this year, I've attended three Halloween parties--one as a pirate, one as a beverage, and one as a football player...like I said, I love Halloween. Also, I love today. It's a big day for me. Momentous even. Why? Because my lower right side of my lip is starting to move again!

HUZZAH!

For those of you who don't know, I've spent the last two weeks with the right half of my face paralyzed. It's a temporary thing called Bell's Palsy, but still pretty freaky. So, I'm VERY happy to see a little of my movement starting to return.

In honor of all this, I've decided to post the first page of a project that has been on my mind lately. It's extremely rough, but I love it in all it's creepiness. So, enjoy! And--

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The city surrounds me. Shiny rectangles so tall I can barely make out where they end and the sky begins. They wrap me in shadow. Hiding me. Holding me. I feel safe here, and I don’t remember the last time I felt safe anywhere. The sun sets against an unseen horizon, but I don’t head home. Why should I sleep in a city that doesn’t?

            The sounds and smells of this place are like a different world. It smells like people. The park around me fills the air, green and vibrant. I’m surrounded by millions of breaths taken at once—by life. The best thing the parents ever did for me was to die without giving me much trouble. Everything I’ve ever known is death and pain, being drenched in life feels good.

            Closing my eyes, I extend my arms and feel the warmth of the city flow around me, flow through me. No more pain. No more clawing fingers dying to break another bone, to raise another bruise on my pale skin. No more cruel eyes and words twisting my world. Now they are just dying—just dead.

And I don’t regret what I’ve done.

To Russia With Love OR Hooray for Kasie West!!

Alright, a person who is totally and absolutely uneducated on Russia...is about to educate you on Russia. Take copious notes:

~ Royal families get cursed.
~ It is very cold and you get many chances to wear extremely fashionable scarves.
~ Princesses tend to wander off, but don't worry, they are soon saved by dashing rogues who sound surprisingly like John Cusack.
~ Little talking bats may seem bad at first, but they are really good.
~ Never trust a guy who lives at the bottom of the ocean/river, especially if his head occasionally falls off.
~ Russian people LOVE to dance, but mostly only in ballrooms at palaces, or at the Moulin Rouge...which seems like a long way to travel to dance. Their options appear limited.

This is all that I learned from Anastasia, but by looking at the above map, I can also tell that:
~ they like yellow
~ they like their space.
~ Also, any book printed in that language = uber cool.

Go ahead. You can say it--I am a virtual Sherlock Holmes.

Which leads me to my absolute new favorite fact about Russia...

They are the first foreign country to pick up rights to Kasie West's PIVOT POINT.

From this, I deduce they are considerably above average intelligence. Well done, Russia.

Oh, and also, *~*~*~CONGRATULATIONS KASIE!!~*~*~* I'm SO excited for you!!

See?! Don't you feel all educated now? Go check out Kasie's post on this very subject and congratulate her!

Sometimes It Is Written On Your Face

This industry can be amazing when the roller coaster is in full swing. The highs are so high, the lows so low. In the past year, I've experienced both. My life outside of writing has been quite theme-park-ride-esque as well. While I certainly do my best to handle it all with patience and grace, sometimes I fail.

Sometimes, I'm just not that strong.

A week ago Sunday, I woke up with dry lips and tried to rub them together. I couldn't. It was a nearly impossible task. I'm prone to occasional random allergies, and assumed I had a fat lip because of it. When I looked in the mirror to check it out though, I realized that my lip was normal size, but the right side of my face was paralyzed.

Total panic ensued. It may or may not have involved weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth--I admit nothing. The only thing I knew that caused paralysis like this was a stroke, so I rushed to the E.R. and learned about something called Bell's Palsy. It is (thankfully) a temporary paralysis of one side of the face brought on by a special cocktail of illness (just getting over strep) and stress (Dad is home from the hospital now).

So while life has improved on both counts, my face somehow missed the memo. It's the most bizarre thing I've ever experienced. It's like the Universe has decided I cannot be trusted to recognize relaxation when I see it, so it has stamped it across one side of my head to make sure I have a good example for my reference.

Thanks, Universe...appreciate you.

So, as I've asked around, it appears many people are more educated about Bell's Palsy than I am. Do you know someone who had it? How long did it last? etc. Don't mind me. I'll just be chillin' in this hammock and trying my best to regain some symmetry in my life--and my countenance.

Not to be a downer...

But I just wanted to give a quick explanation of why I didn't post when I got back on Monday and probably won't be posting for the next week or so. I came back from my (amazing, incredible & wonderful) vacation with a horrible case of strep throat. I've been sick in bed for the last three days.

Then yesterday, my dad had surgery and when he came out, his body was septic, his kidney's shut down and his lungs weren't working right. They kept him on a ventilator and put him in a drug-induced coma while they hope that his body sorts through the toxins in his blood. With my sickness, they won't let me come see him.

It's kind of been a rough week so far. If any of you don't mind throwing a prayer or two my dad's way or just crossing your fingers for him. I would really appreciate it. And please have patience with my absence. I promise to be back to regular blogging soon.

~*~*~*UPDATE*~*~*~

Thank you all SO much for your kind words, thoughts, and prayers. I'm happy to say that my Dad is improving. His kidneys are functioning much  better and they were able to take him off the ventilator last night. Today they moved him out of the ICU and into a regular recovery room. I can't express how much I appreciate all of your support. You guys are the best. :)

And I'm Off

So, I'm unplugging for the rest of this week and all of next week. My reasons are threefold.

1 - I'm running around like mad and am starting to forget what my laptop looks like.
2 - My birthday is on Sunday. *huzzah! Confetti and all that*
3 - We're taking the fam to Orlando for 8 days.

While I'm gone, you, my wonderful friends, have two assignments to choose from.
1 - build me a stasis pod. (I'd give you instructions, but there aren't any online. I checked. Just wing it.)
2 - leave me a comment saying what kind of Giveaway, Q&A, Contest, Writing Tips, whatever you'd like me to do when I get back.

Have a great week! I miss you already. ;-)

Are You Here Or Were You There?

Every book I've written so far has been in past tense. However, my shiny new project really screams to be written in present.

I'm going with it so far, but it's really been an interesting change. On one hand, it is very immersing. Everything is so, well...present. (Oh dear, I'm so so sorry for that.) I'm kind of loving it at the moment.

However, I've read books in present that I just couldn't get into. In some ways, it pulled me out of the story and actually had the opposite effect. I think it's hard to do it well, and I'm still working to figure out what went wrong with those stories.

So, here is my question for you, my brilliant friendlies: Which tense have you written in? Do you prefer one over the other? What strengths do you think each brings to the table? Do you prefer homestyle or curly fries? Chocolate Chip or Sugar Cookies? Do tell!

In Which I May Or May Not Rant

Lately I've noticed so many people telling everyone else what to do. I try to remain separate. Take my own path. And most of the time I do. But when I notice a growing trend with people in positions of authority or influence continually trying to convince newer writers that they don't have options, it drives me crazy. 

Now, of all times, writers have options. Yet all that I hear lately is:

~ Traditional publishing is the only way.

~ Traditional publishing is dead.

~ Self-publishing is the right path for everyone.

~ Self-publishing is always a mistake.

Here is the truth: No one should be able to tell you how to run your career. The only person who can make the right decision for you--is you. Take all the advice, then filter it out to the truth that makes sense for you. 

This is the only one that matters.

[end soapbox] 

Ahem...how about you? Any soapboxes you'd like to take a stand on today?