The Latest in Frankenstein Fashion

This lovely boot could be yours. It's half-off; it's going for the price of a leg, not an arm and a leg. Heheh. I'd apologize for the bad pun, but it's really early or really late -- depends on how you look at it.

You may be wondering how I managed to snag such a great new pair of boots. I'd like to say I stole them from Frankenstein's mama, but sadly, that is not the case. I'd like to say I fought someone for a signed first edition of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven, but sadly, that is not the case either. Nope. This sick puppy is brought to yours truly courtesy of exercising. Working out is supposed to be good for your health. Yeah, right. *eye roll* The wise writer would have just given her eyes a good workout by rereading Stephen King's The Stand or attempting to slog through the entire Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Instead, I opted to work out to my favorite Jillian Michaels video, something I've done many times before, but it's never cost me my leg. I am now the proud owner of one torn left calf muscle and two weeks of excuses to not be on my feet that much. This means more writing time, if I can focus through the pain.

Oh the horrors of being injured -- getting help with the laundry, having my meals served to me, which happens most of the time anyway because I have a great husband, spending many hours in bed reading book after book. Yep, I'm really suffering. Well, my leg may be suffering, but the rest of me is just fine. *grins* Except for the part of me that doesn't like to sit still. I'll just practice my gargoyle skills, instead. Maybe, there's a building in need of a new statue. I hear stone lions are quite popular on the steps of grand local libraries. Perhaps, they'd like a stone writer?

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

The 2 B's: Blogs About Books and Being a Writer

In the interest of promoting other writers, their work, and your own writing, I spent the better part of the afternoon trolling the web for the best writing and book review blogs I could bring you, my dedicated reader. Some of these are already featured in my blog roll, but I found a lot of new ones to cure cubicle boredom, guarantee your wallet will suffer a heart attack from over-purchasing this week, your library will very happy to see you, and your fingers will be sore from typing all those stories crammed inside your kooky cranium!

A Humble List of Writing and Book Blogs (in no particular order)

Mystery Writing is Murder: Author Elizabeth Span Craig describes herself on her writing blog as, “A laptop wielding, mystery-writing, mom who metes out murder on the keyboard. She has a great blog list for writers and readers and her articles are entertaining and well written.

Brainpan Leakage: Drippings from warped mind of paranormal thriller author M.R. Sellars: A witty, conversational writing style that makes for an entertaining read. He also has a good blog list to choose from.

Mike Kimball Writes Your Life Story (on a postcard): A creative, entertaining writer with a world of experience who takes letter writing to another level.

Aobibliophile: A book review site.

William Meikle: Pulp fiction author William Meikle discusses his work, writing tips, and books.

She Never Slept.Com: Science fiction and horror genre reviews galore.

All Things Considered: “A blog by Gina Collia-Suzuki: Art historian, history nut, writer, artist, vegetarian foodie, bibliophile, child of the Enlightenment, friend of Charles Darwin, full-time rat fancier and part-time assassin.”

Red Ravine: Two writers share their craft. “We write because we are fascinated with words dancing on the page.”

Bookslut: The place for a bibliophile to be.

The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar: Hone your craft and get a few giggles.

Backstory: “Where authors share secrets, truths, logical and illogical moments that sparked their fiction or memoirs.”

Flogging the Quill: Author Ray Rhamey discusses “pursuing the art and craft of compelling storytelling.”

Slushpile.Net: Writing tips and news, book reviews and more.

SciFiGuy.Ca: Everything speculative fiction related.

YAReads: Everything young adult related in the writing industry.

Galleycat: Industry news, tips, and more.

Emerging Writers Network: A blog created to promote new writings with promise.

Literary Kicks: Exploring “the meaning and relevance of literature in modern life.”

Skulls in the Stars: Covering quirky science and vintage science fiction and classic pulp fantasy and horror.

Judge a Book by its Cover: Funny blog dedicated to judging book covers.

Jane in Progress: The former writer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, and other popular shows offers script-writing advice to newbies.

Bookshelves of Doom: A kid lit blog by one librarian.

More on My Snow Faery Short Story

I'm still on vacation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where there's snow. It reminded me of the snow faery short story I am revising for submissions soon. A sister and brother find a small faery in the snow outside their house. He's been wounded by a cat. The sister, Nell, wants to help him, while her older brother, Natty, wants to hold him hostage until he grants him a pot of gold. Originally, the title of the story was The Snow Faery, but that seemed to lack punch. As the plot progressed, I realized that the snow faery was going to seek revenge for the abuse he suffers at Natty's hands. In order to do that, I had to make him more than just a faery. He had to be the biggest mythological character there is -- Jack Frost. Now the story is titled: Fool's Gold because of Natty's obsession with obtaining riches from the faery. Obviously, he's uneducated about faeries in the story or he would know not to piss them off! Of course, then I wouldn't have a very interesting story, would I? *winks*

I had some time this afternoon to walk around and take some photos outdoors, one of my favorite relaxing hobbies. These photos I snapped reminded me of Jack and the story I am completing, which will be up on Critters for critique as soon I can get it there! I will post when it's up for review and then you can all read my work in progress in its entirety. Here are my photos. Maybe, they'll inspire you to write something. If not, at least they're pretty.

You can read the opening scene from Fool's Gold in my previous blog entry:

http://norabpeevy.blogspot.com/2011/02/there-are-no-snow-days-in-writing.html

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

When I Got Bit by the Writing Bug

My third grade creative writing teacher, Mrs. Krahn, was teased by many kids in school. She had graying hair. She didn't dress in the latest fashions; in fact, she wore huge glasses and had legs thicker my entire body and wore heavy polyester/wool skirts, but she had a heart of gold and I loved her. She read us James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl and then had us start working on our own stories. Until then, I'd been an avid reader, but had never really thought writing books was a real job. I'd written plays to perform at home for my family, but that year in school I decided I wanted to be a writer and I've never looked back.

You're probably wondering who this Velveteen Rabbit poser stuffed animal is, right? My husband says his creepy factor ranks up there with W.W. Jacobs's tale, The Monkey's Paw. This is my beloved childhood stuffed animal, uncreatively named, Dog. He lost his nose a number of years ago, the red lining on his ears is fading, and his fur is worn, dirty, and in some places nonexistent, but he is the catalyst that started it all for me. I wrote about Dog. Dog rescued my brother's childhood friend, Bunny, a blue blanket shaped like a rabbit. While I wasn't very creative in naming my trusty companions, I was very creative in my daring rescue of bunny by dog on a jet ski at the local marina. My story was chosen to be presented at one of the national teachers' conferences held yearly, complete with my original Crayola illustrations. I got to record my tale on tape. That tape has since disappeared, but I keep hoping to find it at my parent's house some day so I can listen to it.

That same year I also wrote and illustrated a mournful tale about my glasses left out in the rain on a garbage can. (Yes, I was a four-eyed geek in the third grade, which did not fare well for my social life at the time. However, I did get an A on my story and continued to create stories long after our creative writing segment was finished in class).

Mrs. Krahn has since passed away and I never got a chance to share my publications with her, but I am sure she would be proud of me and remember that little girl with the glasses and the stuffed dog.

Do you remember how you got started writing? If so, I'd love to hear from you.

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

See No Writing Evil, Hear No Writing Evil, Speak No Writing Evil

This is my writing take on the Asian maxim of the three wise monkeys. These principles apply to the writing world and are lessons I have learned with time and personal experience.

See no writing evil.

At some point in your writing career, you are going to receive a rejection letter. Part of the writing business is learning to take a few knocks on the chin gracefully. Editors are not evil. It's simply their job to find the best writing for their readers. Rejection letters and criticism are not a personal attack against your character, so please don't take them that way. If the editor offers you some criticism, embrace the opportunity to strengthen your piece before you resubmit somewhere else. Editors are very busy and often do not have time to offer comments and suggestions with a rejection; consider yourself lucky if you receive a personal rejection letter. It's a gift from the writing gods!

Hear no writing evil.

Sometimes you just have to believe in yourself and trudge on, even though the acceptance pile is slim and the rejection pile is overflowing. There's plenty of opportunity out there and the trick is to find the right market to submit your work. Maybe, you won't be taking home Stephen King's salary next year, but you can take pride in knowing that you sold a few stories for some cash and are working towards your dream.

Having a dream in working progress is more than a lot of people accomplish. Be proud of yourself! Don't let yourself get overwhelmed with those horrible phrases, "I can't" and "I'll never". You can't and won't, if you never try. There will always be people you encounter in life who tell you that your dream of writing professionally is a slim chance and that you're "not good enough to make it". Don't listen to the people who aren't cheering you on. Surround yourself with your own personal cheerleaders and write. Now granted, not everyone is going to be the next great Clive Barker or Kelly Link, but that doesn't mean you should surrender your keyboard in shame. A lot of the writing journey is simply that -- the journey of getting to where you want to be.

Speak no writing evil.

Social sites, forums, and blogs are wonderful tools for marketing your writing career, but remember, you never know who is out there reading what you write. Be professional. If you get a rejection letter from an editor that you think is horrible and are really mad about, don't post about it on your blog or Facebook page. If you get a critique from someone on a writing forum and you disagree and think the person is a *bleeping* idiot, don't post about it. Negative publicity and a bad attitude are things that will get you nowhere in the writing industry with editors, agents, possible writing contributors, etc. Be a professional and people will treat you like one.

Those are my three writing rules to live by. Respect editors and learn from their decisions, believe in your writing and tune out the naysayers, and don't speak ill in public of anyone because you never know who might be listening/reading.

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

David Wellington Came for Christmas - 2007

I racked my brain for a few good titles for this post.  I came up with the following:

1) The Best Damn Christmas Gift Ever (but this one didn't have Dave's name mentioned)

2) My David Wellington Christmas Gift (which just sounded lame and did NOT really tell the full story)

3) the one that I actually used -- Dave Wellington Came for Christmas 2007

I waited to blog about this until I got Dave's permission, which he kindly gave. For those of you who are not familiar with Dave Wellington's books he is the author of the popular Monster Island zombie trilogy, the Laura Caxton vampire series, and now, his new werewolf series, Frostbite. You can visit him at his site here:

http://www.davidwellington.net/

I haven't read Frostbite, yet, but when I do, I'll let you know what I think.

You're probably wondering how I managed to get Dave Wellington to my house for Christmas. He was there in spirit, not in person. Here's the story.

I have a wonderfully, sneaky, conniving husband, with only the best intentions who decided in 2007 to log onto my computer to get my unpublished, unedited stories so they could be sent to an author for review. He wrote to several authors asking them for permission to send my work. Kim Harrison kindly responded in a very nice handwritten card that he needed to run my stories through her agent. Other authors declined as well. However, Dave has a kind heart and took pity on my husband.

Dave read through six of my unpublished/unfinished stories, which I learned on Christmas Eve when I opened one of the best gifts. My husband had taken my stories and put together a book to show me what my name would look like in print and motivate me to get back into the publishing industry, which I had been out of since the late 90s.

Here's the book he designed. I found out he spent waaaay too much time researching how to put together a book from scratch, which if you know my husband, is a sign of true love because he doesn't even read the same books as I do, let alone know anything about the publishing industry.

I was puzzled when I opened my present from him and saw my name on the cover of a book with a shark. I flipped through it, wondering when he had stolen my unfinished work and I was going to get a little upset, until I saw this on the back cover:

*blink, blink* I couldn't believe what I was reading! "Was this for real?" I asked my husband.  He told me it was. Dave Wellington gave him this quote with permission to use it however he wanted.

Now imagine you're me -- haven't tried to publish seriously since the late 90s, have a lot of work in progress, but nothing finished, with no goals to publish any time soon, in a writing funk. You see this and flip!  Hell yeah, baby! An author whose books I can actually find in my LIBRARY likes my work. Of course, then utter humiliation ensued as I thought of all the typos that could be rearing their ugly heads in my unfinished work that he looked at, but apparently, Dave was kind enough to look past that and focus on the storytelling.

My book was never really for sale anywhere and now sits on my bookshelf at home, but when I have a really bad writing day and want to give up, I just look at that quote and smile.

Thanks, Dave Wellington! You went out of your way for my husband and I know you heard all this already from us, but this was really a nice, wonderful gift you helped out with.

And thank you to my loving husband, who motivated me to get back to the keyboard!

Since Dave Wellington looked at my work, I've actually published some of the unfinished stories he read and had a few news one published as well.  If any of you want to check out my work, go here:

http://norabpeevy.com/

And that's my Dave Wellington story ...

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

Off topic Note: My Godzilla/Hello Kitty story I blogged about is up on the Critters writing forum for critique this week, if anyone wants to check a work in progress. It's entitled: It's About Damn Time!



Godzilla Falls in Love with Hello Kitty

In my demented writer's mind this actually happened last year! I haven't published the short story yet, but am putting it up on Critter's, the online writing forum, for peer review very soon. I saw this Beanie Baby today and just had to get it to keep Godzilla company in my writing toy collection.

The short story is currently titled:  Godzilla Falls in Love, but I am thinking about changing it. The new title is:  It's About Damn Time! To find out what it's time for, you will have to come visit me on the Critters writing forum. I promise it will all make sense, or you can choose to wait until it's been accepted by a publication. However, if you are at all curious about a work in progress and following a story to completion, you might be interested in jumping on Critters and viewing the critiquing process.

The premise of the story is that Godzilla and Hello Kitty meet at a support group for movie stars with phobias, one of the featured characters being King Kong who suffers from acrophobia, the fear of heights.  The support group meets at The Schlitz Audubon Nature Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  This is a real center connected to a wonderful nature preserve near where I used to live.  The nature preserve is 185 acres of undeveloped land with hiking trails through the woods, down to Lake Michigan's beach, through a native Wisconsin prairie, and even a pond with turtles and other wildlife. I've seen wild turkeys, deer, coyotes, and more on my hikes there. It was the perfect setting for my short story.

While I was photographing Godzilla and Hello Kitty for their world debut here online, Derrick, one of my bearded dragons, got quite upset. He decided to fight Godzilla to defend Hello Kitty's honor.

Then he asked Ms. Kitty if she would pose for a picture with him. I had no idea that Derrick had such a crush.

Ms. Kitty was flattered by Derrick's amorous advances, but assured him that she and Godzilla will be together for a long time.

I wonder what their babies would look like, if they had any.  If you're interested, you can email your artwork on the subject and I will post it on my blog.

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

The History of Pens and Writing With Quills

It's not as easy as it looks to write with a traditional quill. In fact, it's harder than I ever imagined! I had the opportunity to try one out last summer when my stepson got one as a gift. The concept is the same as the modern day pen, but writing with a quill is more difficult. Not only do you have to master the correct angle at which to hold your quill over the paper, but then you have to be able to use just the right amount of pressure or end up with a lot of ink blots and a big mess. And the ink is pretty watery and unforgiving.

After a half hour's work, I had successfully signed my name on parchment, although my signature was a little shaky. I had a newfound respect for all those monks who created such beautiful illuminations!

I Googled quill pens on the net today and came up with more than a few interesting links. One interesting fact I learned is that a quill's structure is created by letting it stand in hot sand, which allows the barrel of the feather to become less brittle and more flexible to write with. Then the nib can be shaped more easily. 
Medieval Writing was quite helpful in learning the steps for creating your own quills. Not that I'm going to be in the great outdoors scavenging giant bird feathers any time soon, but you never know. It might come in handy some day!

In my quest for information on the quill I also came across The History of Writing Implements, which tracks man's writing instruments over 6,000 years. If nothing else, you'll gain a few interesting odd facts to share with your writer friends! And learn about this nifty pen, which supposedly reduces fatigue while writing by allowing you not to have to grip your pen with three fingers. (I haven't tried one of these, but am now really curious).

If you're adventurous and up for a challenge, there are several sites where you can purchase quills. Most quills appear to range from the traditional, without a metal nib, at around $20 to the fancier quills with calligraphy nibs at around $60. Of course, neither will be making an appearance in my house, since my cat, Toshio would steal them all, anyway.

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all! And watch out for those quills! Don't poke your eye out!

Own Your Writing!

If you don't introduce yourself as a writer, who's going to do it for you, if you're not Kim Harrison or Anne Rice?  No one!  I came to this realization while stranded at the Atlanta airport in December during a bad snowstorm.  I was hungry, frustrated after the whole T.S.A. experience, and sore from lugging around my appropriately named "luggage".  I went in search of sustenance hoping for a food genie, but instead, I got stuck in a long line of disgruntled travelers all waiting for a table at the only restaurant with seating. 

Fortunately, the lady in line in front of me did not have a fear of strangers and was kind enough to let me share her table.  After we ordered, we found ourselves making the proverbial chitchat and that question reared its ugly head -- the question I always dreaded answering:  What do you do?  Now, I've always hated this question because the reality is that I am a small press author in a big press world trying to get my next break and an agent, but at the same time I am also a housewife/crazy pet zookeeper.  While aspiring to be the next female Stephen King, my dilemma is which option to share with strangers I will probably never see again, unless, I meet them at a future book signing.

That fateful day I chose option one.  I decided there was no time like the present -- being stranded in an airport with a complete stranger, to take charge of my dream job and own it!  So I did!  I told her I was a writer.  I could tell she was skeptical, until I started giving her all the gory details of my submissions in progress, my publications, my web site address, and all that jazz.  By the end of the conversation she seemed curious to verify my tale, and I was hoping she'd look me up on the net and there'd be another sale in it for me.  If not, at least I wasn't hungry any more.

My point in sharing this story with you, is that you have to own your writing.  Nobody is going to think of you as a writer, if you don't think of yourself as one first.  So the next time you are at a party and someone asks you what you do for a living, take the opportunity to do a little free advertising for your budding career.  You never know where it may take you.  Fat little angel dudes may not start serenading you accordingly while everyone rushes to offer you the last cheese pastry, but at least you will have gained a sense of pride.  And that's worth it all right there!

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

Less Stress, Equals Success!

In the past couple of weeks it's been hard for me to focus on my writing, which doesn't happen that often to me.  Years ago I kicked that nasty writer's block in the butt and just said I was going to write no matter how I felt about what I was writing, but sometimes, life gets in the way of you being able to focus.

We all need a little downtime when we get stressed.  That's why it's important to have hobbies to keep you -- the writer, sane!  I have four hobbies that are guaranteed to de-stress me.

1)  I love to create art.  I do watercolor, decoupage, and crochet, but mostly I like photography.  I recently picked up scrapbooking at the urging of a close friend.  In the past two years I've learned how calming cutting paper can be.  This past week with a death in the family was hairy for me, so I broke out the scrapbooking supplies and created these cards for friends and family throughout this year.

2)  My second hobby and first love, is really reading.  When I read I can escape to wherever I want to without breaking my budget or having to pay for a pet sitter!  And I can stay in my pajamas and slipper socks!  Who can beat that?

3) My third hobby, of course, is the zoo I have at home.  I currently have 3 hermit crabs in a 20 gallon tank, two bearded dragons, one in a custom 6 foot long tank and one in a 40 gallon tank, three cats, a 3-toed box turtle that is native to Texas and in a 40 gallon tank, and a Cuban Anole in a 20 gallon tank.  Here's the collective zoo photo.  From left to right starting at the top, you have Houdini, Derrick the Beardie, Toshio, Tiggyr, Fizzy the Cuban Anole, Mike the Beardie, Brad the Turtle, and Spot, the largest of the three hermit crabs.  They keep me busy every day!

4) My last hobby, guaranteed to get you de-stressed and out of a writing funk, is to just walk or participate in some other form of exercise.  Not only is it good for your physical health, but it is excellent for your mental health as well.

I hope you found these tips helpful. 

As always, happy writing and happy reading!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I hear Wendy Wench screaming something about plot development.  And it's time for lunch.

What Are You Reading Between the Covers? - #2

I finished the last book I blogged about and sunk my teeth hungrily into a collection of short stories by Ron Rash called Burning Bright. 

This collection is close to my heart because of the service work I did repairing homes for the needy in the Appalachian Mountains in high school and college.  It opened my eyes to a brand new culture, steeped in rich traditions.

Ron Rash's stories took me back to that area of the country as soon as I read the first story.  The stories span a period of time from the Civil War, The Great Depression, all the way to present day Appalachia.  There is a theme throughout the book of hardship, loss, perseverance, pride, and a sense of family and community.  These are all lessons I learned while working in the mountains of Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia myself.

I have three favorites from the collection.  The first story is Dead Confederates, which is about two men who decide to dig up Confederate graves in a cemetery for profit.  The second is The Corpse Bird, which addresses the folklore of the owl being a harbinger of death in Appalachia.  This instantly brought to mind the folk song I Wish My Baby Was Born performed by Tim Eriksen, Riley Baugus, and Tim O'Brien on the Cold Mountain soundtrack -- a chilling accompaniment to this tale, and the third and final favorite of mine from this collection was Lincolnites which featured the Union supporters living down south during the Civil War. 

If you're interested in picking up a copy for your personal library, here is the link:

http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Burning-Bright-Ron-Rash/?isbn=9780061804113?AA=index_authorIntro_33503

Otherwise, you might pay a visit to your local library as I did.

As always, happy reading and happy writing to all!

FYI:  This is now an ongoing series where I will discuss the books I devour like candy.  Check back for more entries such as these, if you like what you read.  They will always be titled as above, so there will be no confusion.

My Room With a View

I had to borrow liberally from Virginia Woolf for this title -- one of my favorite authors.  People have asked me where I write and it's not very glamorous, really.  A writing office is on my wish list in the next few years.  Currently, I work downstairs in my open concept townhome, which is nice, but sometimes distracting when others are watching T.V., etc.  Thankfully, I own an iPod which helps filter out noise and am not easily distracted.  I write at my dining room table -- the black hole for mail, books, and ongoing art/crafting projects in the house.  If there isn't clutter there, it doesn't feel like home. 

This is my view outside as I write:

It looks kind of barren now, but its winter.  What can I do?  I wish I had a lush, green pic to share with you, but when I moved in it was winter as well and shortly thereafter my tree was struck by lightning.  The tree promised to be amazing in spring when we moved in on New Year's Eve 2007.  It had a gorgeous structure and towered over the three story building in front of my townhouse.  Its limbs covered the entire balcony from view until calamity hit about two months later.  It was struck by lightning in the middle of a tornado!  I hadn't even been in Dallas but a few months when this giant tree limb fell on top of my car.  Gone was the promise of a shady, regal tree and left was the smaller version you now see in the previous picture above.

I am glad the tree was salvaged, though.  I like to watch the birds and squirrels while I write.

I have various writing toys that hopefully, will find their way to my dream writing office, when I move and have room for one.  My two favorites to bring out are the 1985 Godzilla action figure and the Creature from the Black Lagoon that I acquired used at a comic book shop in New Mexico.  You can see them looming tall in the background.

The following picture shows what I have to contend with on a daily basis while writing. 

This is my breditor, Toshio.  Now I realize this nickname warrants some explaining, so here goes:  I got Toshio, my adopted Bombay, from this wonderful no-kill cat shelter, Texas Cares.  He was already eight months old and responded to his name, so I thought it would be confusing to rename him, but if I had, it would have been Bradbury after Ray Bradbury, one of my all-time favorite authors, who has also owned a black cat.  Toshio quickly took an interest in my writing, as you can see from the pic above.  He seems to think my laptop case is his office.  One day my husband and I were joking around about Toshio being my editor -- thus, the nickname "Breditor", a combination of Bradbury and editor.  So really, I don't have an editor at the moment, but a "Breditor".

This is a more regal photo of the laptop bandit:

So there you have it -- my crazy room with a view!  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some more writing to do.

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!  (And if you happen to enjoy what you're reading, feel free to become a follower below).

Where Do They Come From?

My father-in-law is always asking, “Nora, where do you get your ideas from?”  This seems to be a common question that all writers field at one point or another in their career. 

The answer is simple.  I have a tiny muse that I hold hostage and feed stale bread crumbs soaked in water.  Sometimes when Wendy Wench is nice I let her out to play, but only if she promises not to run with sharp, pointy objects like scissors and to leave my idea nest of Post-it notes, the occasional odd restaurant napkin, and old grocery receipt scribbles alone.  (I have a system, you know, however unorganized it may look to an outsider). 

To be truthful, I don't know where Wendy Wench actually came from, but she plays the Irish tin whistle in the key of C and likes to read Charles de Lint.  She also claims to have had amorous relations with at least half of the characters Charles Vess has illustrated for various authors.  Neither factoid have I been able to prove or disprove, but I am sure I will get to the bottom of the matter in due time!

Anyway, I do have a serious three-part answer to my father-in-law's question: 

1) My own twisted imagination runs wild when I am lying in bed and thinking about things that have happened to me during the day or that I've overheard while in line at the grocery store.

2) Inspiration often strikes while reading other people's writing.  (Anyone who knows me knows I exist solely on pizza, music, and plenty of visits to the library).

3) And last, but not least -- my husband.  My husband is a fountain of inspiration.  Many a story has started because he imagined a character that would be good, but he didn't know in what story, etc.  We have laughed together over many late night conversations, dreaming up a whole slew of characters for novels and short stories and putting them in amusing,compromising situations.

In closing, I would like to say that no muses were harmed or will be harmed in the creation of my stories.  And for those of you, who are concerned about Wendy Wench's welfare, don't worry.  I heard her humming The Flash Girl's A Girl Needs a Knife last night while I was trying to sleep and I think she can take care of herself.  In fact, at the moment, I am quite afraid to let her out of her desk drawer.  There’s no telling what that little hellion on wheels will come up with next!

Until next time, happy writing to all!

Bringing in the New Year

After much prompting, pleading, and repeated jabbing with sharp, pointy objects while being held hostage in a dark closet with no water or books, I have wisely decided to enter the wonderful world of blogging. 

You may be wondering about my title:  The Demon Stole My Pencil.  Well, it's simple, really.  I purchased my writing muse at a used store online and She's not very good at giving me ideas that haven't been served, reheated, and then frozen as leftovers for later consumption.  So, I found myself having to come up with something catchy that hadn't been snatched up already by the online writing gods.  This is what I came up with late at night while normal people were sleeping and I was up reading and daydreaming of an acceptance into The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror #22 this year.

In the past, I had blogged mainly about my wild zoo at home, which includes a few different lizard species, some cats, and other beasties with claws and shells, but this blog is different.  This blog is for you, the reader, to follow my journey online through the hairy, hell hound world of publishing.  You may even get inside my head and find out what makes me tick.  So grab onto my shirttails and off we go!  It's a wild and bumpy ride.  Please don't feed any animals along the way.  They might bite or offer you three wishes if you just come with them into this really, really, dark deserted alley.  That's never a good thing.

Instead, you can check back here for all the updates on my site, what I'm reading, what's going on in the life of a non-native Texan transplanted from the Midwest, and find out what's inspiring my writing at the moment or almost anything else you want to know that I can share before my keepers lock me up in my cell for the night.

Happy musings ...

And to the other writers out there, may you have a productive 2011!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some writing to do and I think I heard my muse calling me.  I shut Her up in a dark, cramped drawer of my writing desk for stealing my wallet at lunchtime and now She claims She has something important to tell me.  We'll see how that works out.