Quirky Imaginary People - Er Characters!

The other day, I was in a meeting - invisible things always seem to happen in a meeting! It was a very serious discussion of which I was actively a part of. I wasn't day dreaming.

And Kat just plops in, sitting beside Boss and starts shoving potatoe chips in the middle of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich!

*hand-flip shrug* Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over!

What quirky things do your characters do at the most inappropriate of times?

A Funny Mis-Understanding!!!

Okay, as a writer, it's important to listen to dialogue, REAL dialogue. Here's an example of how BAD real dialogue can be.

So, the other day at work, we get this change to the building adding Bird Control to the exterior. It's a little complicated and it takes some coordination and discussion and it's taking more time than we'd expected. BossMan (Boss' Boss) calls so we can put him into a meeting that's supposed to be going on right now.

There are three of my subcontractors there, my superintendent (aka Superman), a foreman, a subcontractor's sub and Boss. Boss and Superman are discussing Bird Control and the meeting has been delayed.

BossMan (on phone): Where's Boss?

Me: He's with SuperMan.

BossMan: You did remind him he has a meeting.

Me: Yes (with lots of "duh" dripping from my tone)

BossMan: What's so important that he has to hold up the entire meeting?

Me: Bird Control.

BossMan: *pause* What?

Me: Bird Control. We just received this huge change and we've got to get it installed right away.

BossMan: What?

Me: The skin is going up and the Bird Control has to be installed now.

BossMan: Who told you you had to have Bird Control?

Me: Uh, the architect? That's how these things work.

BossMan: What do you have to do?

Me: We have to prepare the conduit for insertion.

BossMan: And you're doing this at WORK?!

Me: Where else would I do it?

BossMan: Who does Architect think he is to tell you you have to be on Bird Control?

Me: I'm not on--Now, wait. What do you think I just said?

BossMan: Architect told you you had to be on Bird Control.

Me: I don't think we're hearing the same thing here. We are talking about Bird Control right?

*the guys waiting for the meeting are by now in TEARS*

BossMan: Maybe you should spell this for me.

Me: You know, like Bambi.

BossMan: I don't remember Bambi being on Bird control.

Me: No, I mean Bird. BIRD. Bir-D. You know, bird.

BossMan: Ooooooooohohhhhhh! *he's laughing his ass off now too* I thought you said BIRTH control and you were having it inserted and Architect told you you had to go on it! I was about to ask you why Architect thought it was necessary.

I nearly DIED!

And then...I found out he had me on speaker phone the ENTIRE TIME!

Another Great ARC Giveaway!

Carol over at Carol's Prints has the best giveaways and this one is extraordinary! You seriously need to go check it out, all of my faithful followers! Although, I just have to say, I'm seriously hoping to get one this time!

Check out her Extraordinary Give-away!

What's In My Handbag?

I am SUCH a bore! I don't carry a handbag! LOL! I carry a wallet. It has my JW license, my driver's license, my OSHA license, my CRP thingy, my first aide thing, my debit card and two business cards (both mine). There's my B&N card and my Starbucks card (which is empty....hmmmm.) I also carry this week's budget taped to my debit card to remind myself to stay on target.

I do, however, carry a backpack,.

• (2) LEED study manuals
• (1) phone
• (2) chapsticks
• (1) package of gum
• (2) hair clips
• (1) spare baseball cap
• (11) paper clips (whoops)
• (1) bottle of lotion
• (1) stick of glue (what's that doing in there?!)
• several wrinkled pieces of paper
• (5) large, manilla envelopes
• (1) package of stamps
• (this thing is really heavy, just so you know)
• (7) #10 envelopes already stamped and ready
• (3) medium sized yellow sticky pads
• (1) green highlighter
• (1) blue highlighter
• (1) pink highlighter
• (2) yellow highlighters
• (1) red pen, fine tipped
• (2) blue pens, medium tipped
• (1) mechanical pencil
• (1) music book for piano

Now, then...who to tag? Hmmm....

I hereby tag the following people!

1. Vicky
2. Jay (backpack, not purse)
3. Dawn
4. Ralene
5. Annie

Thanks to Mireyah, you now know what's in my backpack! LOL!

Just Not Good Enough

I have found myself in a weird, weird place. I've sent Demonic Alliance to my list of agents (basically ANYONE interested in urban fantasy who's open for submissions and accepts emails) and I've hit a wall.

It's good, just not good enough.

Now, granted, there are those that don't accept email submissions and I SHALL be hitting those up, but what do you do when you're not good enough? ACK! That's frightening and hugely depressing.

I asked an agent who was tentatively interested in it for awhile, but who eventually passed saying that was good, but just not the right fit for her. (and that's fine. She's still awesome!) I said, "This is where I am. What do I do?"

She said, "Keep writing. You never know what book someone will eventually pick up [for representation]."

My problem lies in the fact that I've invested pretty heavily on two series of books; my adult paranormal (which isn't a romance and happens to fall into a tight, small market) and my YA which is currently being revamped because apparently I kinda suck at writing a book the first time. You'd think after eight years of writing-for-publication-practice, I'd have a good handle on that.

Not so much.

So, I've got the YA which I might be able to put back out there in a month or two. With Dad, family, Roomie, finances and work, the writing is a lot slower than I'm used to. If I could wrangle in one or two of those to free up a little of this "worry energy", I'd have more energy to write.

But...maybe...maybe I should think about writing a stand alone book that's just different. You know, just for fun. I--*blink, blowing out air, blink* I don't know what I'd write, though. For the past two years, I've focused solely on these two series. So...huh...I wonder what I could write about? A romance? BLECK! No. Another adult paranormal? Hmmm...I don't know. A YA? That sounds fun. But what? Or a good steam punk because I love those!! I just don't know if I could pull one off, but it would be soooooooo much fun!

So, here's me trying to come up with a plan B.

The Mid-Life Crisis...at Any Age

You know, I don't get the mid-life crisis thing. I don't. I like the fact that, as my kids say, "I'm ooooooold." I love it. I'm even starting to get wrinkles. Okay, not a lot, but I'm noticing a little wrinklege around the eyes.

When I asked Roomie about it, she said, "I'm that much closer to being dead and I haven't done what I wanted to with my life."

Huh. Well, I've done some pretty incredible stuff with my life. There are definitely certain parts of my life that SUCK (in all capital letters, as you saw), but for the most part, I'm good. I set out to do something and I picked two somethings and did great at one (work) and I'm struggling with the other (Agents, yes, I'm still here).

But I didn't realize the magnitude of getting old without meeting certain goals until this weekend. DemonChild is turning 10 and hasn't learned how to ride her bicycle yet.

Now, when I call her DemonChild, please know that she's incredibly sweet (when she wants to be) and she incredibly bright (in a ornery way most times) and she's got a great smile (when she's not throwing daggers from her eyes). She's a great kid. I love her.

She's turning 10 this week and she made the decision that she was going to learn how to ride her bike before the ill-fated day of her 10th B-day! *look of determination in her big blue eyes*

Well, Grandpa isn't quite as spry as he used to be, and Grandma isn't either. They're grandparents. Go figure. So I was asked to take her and run beside her and try this thing without training wheels. I was excited! FINALLY, I get to see one of my girls' Firsts.

So we try it. We're fighting it for the first 1/2 hour or so. I'm gripping the bike too tight. I'm not holding on tight enough. I'm holding the bike all wrong. No, Mom, stop holding me. Hold the bike. She's scared, isn't confident and she's decided to give the bike a personality. I try telling her that giving an inanimate object a personality isn't always the best thing to do. After all, I gave numbers personalities and now I can't do general math because at the age of almost 40, 7 still HATES 3...and 4 and 5 and 6 and 8 and 9! 7 only socializes with 1's and 2's and other 7's. That's it!

So we get over that hurdle and we get her going fast...er and she's doing great. I'm running, not holding on. We get her around curves. She's turning. She's remembering how to use the brakes (which is something that even MissThink forgets to do sometimes).

And then she takes a break. It was hot and those helmets might save a head when you crash, but for the love of PETE, they make your brainpan so hot, it boils and then you're FORCED to crash! What happened to the good old days when riding your bike wasn't a death defying experience?

Well, she gets back on the bike and she's going and I'm pooped, so I'm walking, not running.

And then her mind just goes blank! You know what I'm talking about. You're going along and then, BLIP. There are no brainwaves anymore.

She crashes into the light pole.

She's fine. She kept everything upright. No scrapes, no road rash. Her back tire went up and bounced back down. That was it.

But the tears started flowing and that's when the meltdown occurred.

"I'm 10 years old and I can't even ride a bike without running into a light pole."

"Sweetie, you're doing great. Look, you've got all your skin in the right parts. You didn't leave any behind on the pavement. You're doing awesome!"

"I don't want to be old if I can't learn how to ride my bike!"

And that's when I saw it. A mid-Life crisis can happen at any age. It happens not when you've suddenly realized that you're old because how old is 10? It happens when you set goals for yourself and then don't figure out a way to meet it before your turn old.

So! Life lesson from a 10-year-old. Go ahead and set your goals.

But then go out and figure out how to meet them, BEFORE you get ooooooooold.

A Spludge Rambling

It would appear that I'm on my own with my Deal with the Universe. Unfortunately, I'm a little boring. But! You know what? Maybe my deal with the universe will be "doing something fun for a change" because I never seem to take the time to do that. I'm always writing and I'm always working or editing or putting together workshops or helping other writers or...I'm never having fun.

So...I think my Deal with the Universe might be something like:

1. Hike a 14'er and share the pictures.

2. Find a waterfall and have a picnic lunch - leaving the Netbook BEHIND!!

3. Take the bike (bicycle) out for a mountain trail ride and share pictures of all my injuries.

4. Go bowling - in a bodice! That would hurt though, so I'm thinking not. My ribs just aren't as young as they used to be. But that might be fun AND I could probably get SisterPainIntheButt to tag along with me. LOL! Though her bf might find it a little tooooo weird. LOL!


That's what I'm thinking. Something just FUN! Universe, if you're willing to help me out, I'm willing to let my hair down a little and enjoy this mess we all call life.

There's another thing that's kinda hit recently and that's requests for partials. What's really cool is that in this whole request for partial process (the emails back and forth, the tweaks, the thoughts, the reminders, the NAGGGING) is that it opens up some dialogue and you can actually see these poor agents as people. That's cool and I just thought I'd throw that out there.

So, anyway, I have a fixture PO that's kicking my BLEEEP and calling my name. It's my nag today. I HATE FIXTURES!!!!

People! Use candles!

*cheesy grin*