The Slow Cooker: A writer's best friend Blog Hop!!!

I totally just signed up for this awesome blog hop that will take place on March 2nd! I'm so excited!!! I love cooking in my crock pot (hands free, low maintenance and all...) and I just yesterday bought a cook book of slow cooker Indian food recipes!

I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with and to try some new dishes! If you want to join in, you can go to Rebekah Loper's blog and sign up!

In other news, I have now TWO exciting announcements that I'm on the cusp of being able to reveal to you. I know, I know, the wait is killing me, too! Just a few more things to finalize before I can spring my good news on you. I'm so excited!!! (Hints are in the post tags, if you want to take a guess or two.)

Can I get past the first page?

Seriously, though?

I'm awesome at editing for other people. I dive right in and get to the core issues almost immediately... I can do a manuscript in 2 weeks, even!

But when it comes to my own writing, I freeze. I am trying to do a rewrite of Lilith, my NaNoWriMo novel from 2011... but I can't seem to get past the first page yet...

I was hoping a year would have been sufficient distance from the 'script so that I could look at it more objectively, but alas.

Well... I AM going to get past the first page. I CAN! I WILL... and it will be amazing.

Insecure Writer's Support Group is hosted by Alex Cavanaugh. You can feel free to sign up and join us on the first Wednesday of every month. It's a great way to meet other writers who can help you through the bumps in the road to publication.

Personal announcement: Little Kitty needs a home.

Hi everyone! I just added a page to my blog. I need to find a home for this cute little kitty cat. Please visit this page for more information. I'm happy to drive her to the right home... so even if you don't live near me, if you know someone who might want her, please let them know. Help me re-home this sweet kitty.

Blogging events in my future (and possibly yours, too!)

There are a couple of cool events coming up that you may have heard of, or you may not have heard of. Anyhow, I wanted to let you know about them!

FIRST!!! IndieReCon (February 19-21)

"A small group of indie writers has pulled together and is hosting this FREE online conference on everything INDIE in Feb 2013! The goal? To make indie publishing a mission possible.

Are you curious about Indie publishing, but don't know where to start?  Or are you already a published Indie author looking to boost your sales or expand your reach?  Then you'll want to attend this exciting online conference happening in 2013 - INDIE Revolution Conference.  Or as we like to call it, IndieReCon."

and SECOND!!! AtoZ Challenge (The month of April)

Can you post every day except Sundays during this month?  And to up the bar, can you blog thematically from A to Z?

Also, coming soon... I have an exciting announcement... but you'll have to wait for it! The next couple of months are going to be busy! Life is always on the move, though... and so I'm determined to make space for the creative. I know I'll need it. What about you?

Breakthroughs

You know that moment? The one where you suddenly come up with an idea that will solve a major plot problem in that manuscript that you shelved a year ago... yeah... it's like a great big bolt of lightning!

And then you realize how much actual work it's going to take to rewrite and fix the plot problem. Sigh...

BUT! Having a solution is better than not having a solution... especially for a story you care about.

It's one of those days where I'm looking up at the mountain I have to climb and wishing for a cable car ride to the top.

Time to go take the first step up the trail.

A creative distraction

Today's sketch

Knights of Microfiction!

It's time for a little flash fiction exercise. I'm excited to participate in Kathy and Jessica McKendry's monthly meme "Knights of Microfiction!"

For those of you who don't HATE flash fiction with a passion (you know who you are), anyone can join us to stretch your fingers and get the creative juices flowing. You can sign up on Kathy's page. Post your entry before 11:59pm on Wednesday Jan, 16th and then go around to read as many other entries as you can.

Here's this month's prompt:

In 400 words or less your character(could also be more than one) has a chance meeting with someone who will change their life.

And here's my entry, the intro from last year's NaNo project (hope that's not cheating):


Mermaids don’t just happen to exist, they’re made. No one knows exactly where the first one came from, she won’t tell. But after she arrived in Orkney waters, people began to "mysteriously" disappear.

Tides along that cursed coast are murderously swift and subtle, taking the unsuspecting wanderer off guard disturbingly often. No warning waves crash out the threat of violence that the water brings with it. Linger too long among the tidal pools, and before you realize it, water seeps in around your ankles and then, with a woosh, past your waist, up to your shoulders and carries you out to sea.

That's how it happened to Lilith in her 15th year of life. Despite her mother's warning, Lilith crept down one twilight to crawl amongst the tide pools, fascinated by the myriad creatures that made their home in that transient strip of land and sea. She laid herself down to get a better look at a giant anemone clinging to the porous rock. His swirling tentacles and pulsing colors, magenta, umber, canary, held her in a hypnotic spell while the waters crept in closer and closer until she was trapped with no way back to the shore. Dark water enveloped the jagged rocks as the tide rushed in, filling the empty spaces in the pock marked shore, and then it was too late.

If anyone had been watching, they would have seen a swirl of black water, green sea grass, and auburn hair as Lilith gasped and grasped at nothing and slipped away. But they would have missed what really happened.