Happy New Year!

Since this is my holiday to work I will be spending the New Year with a bunch of babies. No really, there's about 56 babies in the NICU right now.











Hoping everyone has a wonderful time ringing in the New Year!!!



The ultimate downside of working for the holiday = no drinking :(

Zombie Friday: We're back!

Now that we are done worrying about the predictions of the indigenous people of Southeastern Mexico and Central America. 

Let us get back to business.

One Writer's Inspiration: What's on your nightstand?

What's on your nightstand?

Mine has been known to hold a retainer, an alarm clock, a few toys, a box of tissues, a glass of water, an inch of dust, books, books and more books.

Yes, that is a true story right there to the left...

I sleep next to them, hoping their greatness will seep into me as I sleep, filling my brain with wonderful ideas. Each night I open and re-read parts from at least two of these books.

There's my current read, The Hobbit, two books on edible plants and yes, The Hunger Games Trilogy (stop judging me! I love them!)








And stop looking at all the electrical cords. I know, electrical fire hazard and paper right next to each other are not a good idea.

And yes, those are two textbooks.

I am a true geek. I sleep with Hole's Human Anatomy and Physiology and Brock's Biology of Microorganisms next to me. There was a Biochemistry textbook there at one time, but, it resides in my library now.

No no no, I cannot show you THE library, it's quite a mess..

What's that box? You ask.

My childhood treasure chest.

My mother and father had these ornately carved cedar boxes. 

That one was my Father's, he passed away when I was nine. It holds little bits of my childhood, pictures, rocks, tiny toys, memories and magical things. If I remember correctly, there may actually be a unicorn in there. A real live one. These are some of the things that bring me inspiration.

What's on your nightstand?

Zombie Friday: But it's the Mayan Apocalypse?

 






The world was supposed to end today. 

 





 I think the world was supposed to end at least five times since I've been on this earth...

Speaking of the Apocalypse, it's a little warm today. I'm sweating a little... 

Oh, wait, that's because I just opened my credit card bill only to see I haven't paid of the gifts from last year. Ouch.

There is no worse time to schedule an Apocalypse than during the Holiday Season. 
Or better time!

At least my credit card statement will be much less than usual in January.

Enjoy the Apocalypse.

I still think we should be worrying a little more about falling off the fiscal cliff like a bunch of lemmings.

See you on the flip side... 

I hope...

And now you're thinking:

But I'm so confused... 

I thought the Zombie Apocalypse was coming??... 

Oh, it is my friends. 
Come back next week

Zombie Friday: The day before

I know, it's not Friday yet.

I just had to post a little tid-bit of Supernatural excellence!

 

...

One Writer's Dilemma: Inspiration and the weather

This winter, I was counting on curling up next to my fire, with a big mug of coffee, and typing away as I watched the snow pile up outside. 

There's only one problem...

NO snow!

 




I live on the shores of Lake Ontario 

in the North of Northern Upstate New York

It's December 17th, and still, nothing.

I miss snowmen, 

and sledding, 

and fearing for my life while driving in a white-out! 

This has been going on for four years, no snow for Christmas, or Thanksgiving, or New Year's

When I was in school, heck, when I was in college I could count on at least one snow day by now, but now, there's nothing, my daughter's school was closed for one day, because the sewer main backed up.

If you can't feel it in your most human of human bones 

that something is changing with our earth,

and we've caused it,

perhaps you're not truly as human as you think you are...






Now, where's my snow?

Yesterday we went to the movies for the first time in months.

What did we see?

I thought about all the things I could write about this movie. What I enjoyed, what I didn't enjoy, what could have been better. But after reading about the tragedies which occurred yesterday, I looked to my six year old daughter sitting next to me, smiling, enjoying the movie (which was really good). And I though about how I couldn't live without her, and how thankful I was that she was there with me. 

I decided to skip the review. And still, I didn't want to write anything, but I felt a tiny bit compelled to say something about what happened Friday.

So, here it goes...

The movie Rise of the Guardians is more than fairy tales and legends and beautiful Dreamworks imagery, it's a message to parents, to children of all ages, that we are responsible for keeping the children of the world safe.

And thank you to those who risked their lives to do so.

Zombie Friday: Seven Days left?

So our government has assured us there will be no Apocalypse occurring next week. 

And since I believe everything they tell us...

 I guess we have to believe them.

 ______________

However!

They have said nothing about the Zombie Apocalypse!

So what does this mean? 

There's still hope for Zombies!!

So stock up on supplies and find your Zombie killing partner

Maybe I'll start preparing my underground bunker...

What would you do if there were only 7 days left?

One Writer's Dilemma: Writer's guilt

Just like a good little writer, I've been writing all year long, almost every night. 

But this month has been hard. 

With the holidays, work, and family illnesses, I've struggled to write each day. 

This has left me with an extreme case of writer's guilt. 

Since the start of December the blog-o-sphere seems to be slowing down. 

And even my beta readers are having trouble getting started amid all the distractions.

So I guess it's going around

While I'm looking forward to things getting back to normal, I'm also looking forward to spending the time with my family over the holidays.

Here's hoping Dec 31st brings good news

we all survive the apocalypse

 and the rest from writing re-invigorates my brain 

and the new year brings some new ideas.

 

Happy Holidays!

One Writer's Dilemma: What genre does my book fit in?

I'm sure you've read it too, for each submission to an editor or agent: 

"specify the genre of your work."

Wait, what?

But my work combines the awesomest tidbits of each genre.

 How can I specify just one?

Then you read in red, bold font: 

If submission guidelines are not followed we will toss your submission into the burning flames of hell and blacklist your name...

Well, maybe it doesn't quite say that. 

But that's what it feels like!

I mean, there are some books which fall right into a specific genre. 

Cut and dry, mystery, thriller, romance, action/adventure, etc, etc, etc. 

But my favorites, 

they always seem to mix genres.

You know what I mean. 

"The Hunger Games": sci-fi, action/adventure, romance.

"The Night Circus": mystery, suspense, fantasy.

"The DaVinci Code": mystery, thriller, suspense, a little SF, religious, historical

 

And don't judge me for loving The Hunger Games...

  

______________

Moving on:

Maybe it's the science geek in me, but I like to view a book in terms of it's genetic variation, that is, its mixing of genres...

Now you may ask: What the....?

Let me explain. 

What does genetic variation give us? 

Strength in our genetic code. 

It's the reason why we don't procreate with our first cousins (yuck) 

or closer family members (double yuck)

Because we wind up with creatures like this:

Like the genetic code ideas become short when we limit ourselves

They take on a boorishness that we can expect, that we can predict

and as a reader, that's not fun.

For example, 

take the Pug dog

Super cute, short snouted puppy

But the truth is, it's inbred, and any purebred breed hosts a variety of genetic diseases and disorders, leading to a short life and an untimely death.

The same goes for strict genre barriers. 

Yes it's a mystery, yes it's good, but that's it, I'm going to forget about it not long after I've read it. 

Now, let's look at the mutt.

Some are cute, some are ugly.

Take Stevie... 

she's a mutt, well, actually she's a shepadoodle, 

and she's one of the best dogs I've had the pleasure of knowing

  

(PS I love you Stevie!!)

You know what's great about a mutt? They have great genes, nature remixes all those phenotypes, cuts out all those mutations from years of retarded variation... and what do you get? 

Great Health and longevity

 

The words on those pages will grow old and wrinkle up in the depths of your brain so you can enjoy the memories of having read that awesome book forever.

Much like the skin on an old man...

 

Truth be told, I'm over it, I'm all for blending genres..

I'm all for genetic diversity.
 

So why limit yourself.
 

Buy a mutt, buy a genre blending novel, you'll be happy, it wont suffer from the downfalls of inbreeding. It will be smart and funny and linger in your life for years to come.

Crossbreeding works well in nature, so why not in book genres?

Oh wait, it does...

 

Therefore, 

I defy you submission guidelines!

Does this make sense? 

Because I'm sure it's mostly wine talking...

Zombie Friday: The countdown

Warning: 

Only 14 days left until the Apocalypse!
 

What scares me the most?

I work in a hospital... hospitals are always the epicenter.

Of all that is awesome... unicorn warriors

So a few weeks back I was perusing Tor.com, and came across this fabulous artwork. I just assumed it was for an upcoming book and make a mental note to look for it in the book store. Then I visit the site today and see the same awesome artwork, for one of their featured short stories. 

So I read the story:

Heads Will Roll

Lish McBride

illustration by Hannah Christenson

And your life will not be compete unless you read it too.

 I mean, what's more awesome than an animal trainer who trains freaking unicorns...

 and fights it? 

What's more awesome than a unicorn named Steve? 

(I'm partial to the name, since my own dog is named Stevie) 

What's more awesome than telepathic communication between said trainer and unicorn? 

The unicorn has it's own voice, and it's sarcastically hilarious. 

I want to print it out, bind it in hardcover and read it over and over and over again. 

Just read it. 

I bow to you Lish McBride and your original and entertaining writing.

It's times like these, when I look back at my own writing and think, holy shitsnacks this blows, I wish I could write like THAT.

Amaze-balls.

Now, I'm going to put dinner in the crock pot and I'm going to rearrange the fish tanks. However, I am not going to clean the shower. Because, I can only hope one of McBride's mystical creatures may grow from the pre-embryonic goo that currently grows there.

One Writer's Dilemma: I just killed off my protagonists parents...

 I just killed off my protagonists parents...

Yeah, I just did that.

And now I'm feeling...

way guilty.

Just like a few months ago when I killed off a main character in another novel.

__________________

Seriously, though, they were nice people, they were great people.

They took my little protagonist in, raised her as their own,
moved from town to town when things got hairy.

Now they're gone.

_____________________________________________

You see, while novel dos is out to the beta's, I decided to start an entirely new project.

Part deux took a lot out of me, and I still feel like I rushed the last third of the novel
and I need to go back and do some edits.

But I'm wiped. 

Those characters have exhausted me with all their drama.

Now, here I sit, new project, new story.

typing my fingers to the bone

staying up late

not cleaning

making boboli for dinner

Still, I killed off those sweet people.

Hopefully I can live with myself, enough to finish this.

May you rest in peace

Fiona and Jon

Your 'adopted' daughter is about to do something awesome.