#CountYourTitles Book Challenge #BookTag #BookStack

Count Your Titles challenges you to go on a search and stack. Search your bookshelf (or floor, or table, or wherever your books are) and stack a book with a one-word title, then a two-word title, then a three-word, you get it… See how far you get.

Going in, I had no idea how many books I’d find or just how much fun it would be. Here we go!

I made it to… *drumroll*

TWELVE 📚🎉

1 – Atlantia by Ally Condie

2 – Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

3 – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

4 – The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan

5 – Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

6 – The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

7 – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

8 – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

9 – My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman

10 – And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman

11 – The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente 

12 – The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente 

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Saw this over at Between the Lines and it looked like so much fun. Thanks, Cathy!

Feel like doing a search and stack? How far can you get? Consider yourself tagged. Have fun! 📚

12 books! 📚🎉

My Blog is Special

 

 

Want to know my secret?

Do you want to know what makes my blog so special? Why I stand out like a fuchsia flower in a mess of dirt and weeds?

It’s the clean lines. The crisp space. The typo-free paragraphs, easy-to-read word choice, frequent fragments, awesome alliteration…

There is nothing special.

 

There is no special here. This blog is just a blog. I am just a girl. Standing in front of my readers, asking them to love me.

I like my bloggy friends. They talk to me. And listen. Which is not easy as I can go on a bit. I ramble. I freewrite and hit “publish”.

That’s bad. But, also, good.

I feel like we’re hanging out in a coffee shop, sipping a mocha latte, you know?

Better still, sitting at a bar with a bottle of wine in front of us. *pours another glass* Cheers!

If you read this, you’ve pretty much met me.

This post? This whole blog? It’s just me. Unfiltered me.

The completely awesome thing about you is that you talk to me even when the popular kids walk by.

There are far more fashionable, trendy, nichey, blogs out there yet, week after week, month after month, readers still visit and chat with me.

And that’s pretty special.

 

My Sunday (on Tuesday) thoughts in 200 words or less.

Do you have a nicheless blog? Do you feel like you’re “just another blog” in the big blogosphere? Do you care?

 

What I Did Way Back BW (Before Writing) #BlogHop

 

 

I’m going to take this super awesome, fun, interesting blog hop and make it incredibly boring. It’s a talent. You can be jealous. I’m good with that.

Just taking a stroll down my cobblestone memory lane.

What did I do before I started writing?

I didn’t.

Wait. What? Let’s rephrase. I didn’t not start writing. I didn’t do stuff before I started writing. Except learn to hold a pencil.

There’s not a year in my life that isn’t connected to writing in some way. The years have all been accounted for. ALL OF THE YEARS!

 

 

What did I do way back before writing?

Short answer: Nothing. I’ve always been writing.

Slightly longer (and more technical) answer: Learning to crawl and walk, graduating from formula and baby food… At least I’m assuming that since I’ve no recollection but I’m eating solid foods and walking on my own (most days, anyway). I’ve had odd jobs over the years (like bartending) to pay the bills but have always been writing (teaching writing, studying writing, writing writing…). You get the idea.

 

 

Marcia Meara started (perhaps unwittingly) this popular blog hop (perhaps just me) about what people did before they stared writing. In Marcia’s posts, she talks about painting. Which is what she did before turning to writing. (There are pictures… Go. Look. They are awesome.) Then she asks her readers: “What did YOU do before you started writing? I’d love to know!”

So, now, it is your turn, as these things go. What did you do before you started writing? Write a blog post about it, leave a comment, send an owl…whatever. 🙂 Happy writing!

 

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

 

 

We aren’t people anymore.

Have you noticed?

We’re the Wonderful Bloggers of OZ.

When you read an article or post or tweet, look at the language. “Bloggers”. Like some group of lost writers who crashed a hot air balloon, landing in a bizarre world: The Blogosphere.

We perform tricks to dazzle—with words and photos that aren’t quite as real as we’d make them out to be.

Because, sometimes, your dog’s foot is in the background of that perfect tulip shot and needs to be cropped out. Sometimes that amazing idea gets caught in a tornado and thoughts whirl around and around until you plop down near a Technicolor yellow brick road.

You land on a witch and get her sparkly shoes (which are wicked cool). So there’s that. But there are flying monkeys to watch out for. So there’s that, too.

The Blogosphere can be a scary place.

It’s filled with dangers and strangers but also with wonderful people who rally around you and tell you how awesome you are for arriving here with your blog.

There are always a few who are on the same journey and are more than happy to skip along that brick road with you even though there are lions, and tigers, and bears. Oh my.

When we get to The Emerald City Blog, and see the “Blogger of Oz” is just a man behind a curtain, we will show compassion.

Why?

Because none of us are wizards. We are human—vulnerable and lost and busy and stressed and trying to make the Blogosphere think we have our shit together. That we are the Great and Powerful Oz.

So, as I tag this post with “bloggers”, I know that you are, indeed, fellow travelers on this blogging journey. Or writing journey. Or both. But I do know, and do keep in the forefront of my mind, that you are people.

Here’s the thing I think we sometimes forget:

We ARE people. We HAVE blogs.

We are not our blogs.

We are human beings. (Weird, introverted, writer-types, some of us, but still.)

Just remember, gentle readers, there is a person behind the screen.

 

If you need a break, just close your eyes, click your mouse 3 times, and walk away. We’ll be here when you get back–we’ve got water balloons for the Witch of the West and flaming potatoes to fight the flying monkeys. 

 

Be the Grain You Were Meant to Be

I’m at Sue Vincent’s blog today with a fun, little post about indie authors. There’s swearing and sarcasm involved as I’m ranting about how indies are perceived by some:

their point is that we indies are incapable of writing high-quality stuff. We are chaff and should be thrown away unless someone somewhere in the distant hills and valleys of La-La Land (or the Big Apple or wherever) decides we are grain. I call bullshit on that.

You can read the post here: Be the Grain You Were Meant to Be

 

Ooh, and the post is so pretty! Sue set it up beautifully. My books are there (one’s on sale…hint…hint) and Sue fought WordPress to get my book trailer up on her blog. She won. Round of applause for that one.

Thanks, Sue! ❤

Please check out my sarcastic rant-turned-cheerleading post and be grain, my friends!

 

Blue Sky Tag

 

 

1. If you lived in a house made of jello, what flavor would it be? Any particular reason?

 

I would cry. Or scream. Or both. I hate jello. It’s unnatural and wiggly and gelatinous. If I lived in a house made of sweetened slime, I’d wonder about my sanity. (More so than I already do.)

 

2. What is your first reaction when someone knocks on your door?

 

Hide.

 

3. Does a blue sky or blue ocean make you happier? Why?

 

Both. Neither. I love blues skies and blue oceans but also light, puffy clouds and rolling grey ones as well as crystal, clear turquoise water and stormy seas. I love nature in all her moods.

 

4. If you were out enjoying a beautiful day and suddenly it started raining, what would you do?

 

Dance in the rain.

 

5. Whose name makes you smile as soon as you hear it? Care to share why?

 

Spike. I envision lots of funny scenes in Buffy the Vampire Slayer every time I hear his name.

 

6. Dog, cat, fish, or rabbit?

 

Human. I’m actually human. Or do you mean to eat? Because I do like sushi (sorry, Nemo). Oh, a pet? Cat.

 

7. What’s your favorite mode of travel?

 

Transporter. “Beam me up, Scotty.” Teleportation is awesome.

 

8. If you had to stay up all night by yourself in a deserted building, what would you spend the time doing?

 

Sleeping. Oh. Crap. Never mind. Is there wine? It’s my fake all-nighter so I say, yes, there’s wine. I’m going to go ahead and let you all know just how boring I am: I’d stay up reading and writing.

 

9. Running in the rain or running in the gym? (Even if you don’t run! ha!)

 

Hmm. I don’t run. Ever. I’d probably slip and fall either way so it really doesn’t matter. Though, if I’m in the gym, I’d have to be around people so…rain.

 

10. To stand alone on a mountain peak or dance in a crowded club?

 

I think I just covered that. (Psst…I’m a hermit.) Alone on a Mountain Peak might be the name of my next book…

 

11. Who do you write for?

 

Me. (And I have at least two posts about this.)

 

It’s been a bit since I joined in a blog hop. Thanks to Rachael Ritchey for tagging me and making me answer these questions she made up. Yes, she made them up. That’s in the rules. Yes, there are rules. I broke them. And had fun.

There’s a thing about 11 for this tag: 11 rules…no. 11 cups of coffee…hmm. Ah. 11 tags, 11 answers, 11 questions… Something like that.

For me, I’m going with this…

Consider yourself tagged.

Join in, have a bit of bloggy fun, use the awesome Blue Sky Tag banner (that Rachael designed).

 

Okay, if you’re going to play, here are your questions:

 

1. Do you judge a book by its cover?
2. What’s your favorite color? (Specific shade would be awesome…just saying.)
3. Which animal is smarter: chimpanzees or dolphins? (Except if Geoff Le Pard plays because he will say “mice”.)
4. What’s your least favorite part about writing: editing, revising, or proofreading?
5. Are there any mythological creatures you believe are real? (Or wish they were?)
6. Which ridiculously popular book did you not enjoy?

Do You Prefer / Which Would You Rather questions:

7. Pen or pencil
8. Wine or beer
   
9. Bean bags or straight-back chairs
10. A pile of proofreading or a stack of math worksheets
11. Monty Python or Three Stooges
    

 

Tag. You’re it. Have fun, gentle readers. 🙂 Let me know if you play…I’d love to see your answers to my questions! Yup, I made up these questions just for you. You get to make up your own for the bloggers you tag. 🙂

 

The Blogging Snow Globe

 

 

Lemon Shark’s Blog Tip (for WordPress).

Let’s have a bit of silliness. ‘Tis the season to be silly.

 

The Blogging Snow Globe:

My blog started snowing a little over a week ago. I was way too excited about the whole thing.

I realized I had never turned the Blogging Snow Globe off and it announced December in the most delightful way. (Please don’t search for “Blogging Snow Globe”—I made it up.)

If you find these blog flakes hideous and annoying, swim away…

For those of you who are seeing other blogs with bits of snow and are jealous bitter curious, keep reading.

Okay, bloggers, hold on to your winter hats. We’re gonna make it snow. It’s really difficult so try to keep up. Ready?

 

Go to your Dashboard (through WP Admin).

Dashboard > Settings > General

If you see Title, Tagline, Timezone, Date…you’re in the right place. (FYI: Your site icon is there so, if you’ve been looking for that, boom! There it is.) Scroll down until you see “Snow”. Seriously. It actually says “Snow”. And, next to that, it says: “Show falling snow on my blog until January 4^th.”

Click the box.

 

Your blog is now snowing. ❄️ And will automatically stop on January 4^th. You are like a frickin’ weather wizard. (You know you want to do this in real life.)

 

Go to your Dashboard (through The-Powers-That-Be Admin).

Dashboard > Life > Weather

Scroll down until you see “Show falling snow for the weekend that melts by my Monday morning commute.”

Click the box.

 

 

❄️ Happy blogging days, my friends. ❄️

 

Guest Author – Sarah Brentyn

I’m super excited to be the featured author over at D. G. Kaye’s blog. Debby (an ENFJ, by the way), has interviewed me on a number of subjects including my personality status (INFJ), time management (an oxymoron), and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (influence on my writing or fantastic cult classic)… Hmm…
Oh, yes, and my upcoming books. 🙂

You can read the post here: Guest Author Feature – Sarah Brentyn

The post is so pretty, with covers and book trailers. And here’s Debby’s fantabulous intro:

 

I was thrilled when Sarah accepted my invitation to visit here because she reminds me of those reclusive movie stars who’d rather stay hidden behind her words, only I’ve noticed she’s stepped out and done a few interviews this year, and I’m glad that I’ve managed to snag her over here too.

Sarah is known for her micro-fiction. She can tell a story using minimal words that have a tendency to linger long after you’ve read them.

 

Thank you, Debby! ❤

Please go check out my off-the-cuff responses and have yourself a chuckle. Or throw tomatoes. Either way.

 

Is It Really Self-Doubt?

 

 

What is doubt?

When we say we’re experiencing self-doubt, what are we talking about? Self-doubt is, well, doubting yourself. Pretty simple. But I think it’s become a catch-all phrase for beating ourselves up. (And writers tend to do that a lot. Just saying.)

Let’s dissect this, shall we?

 

verb: doubt

• 1. feel uncertain about.

disbelieve…have misgivings about…question…feel uncertain or unsure…hesitate;

 

Basically, you’re unsure. You’re questioning something (yourself, in this case).

We’d say something like, “I’m not sure this is a good idea.” Or, “I’m not certain I’m up to this.” Or even a flat-out, “I don’t think I can do this.”

Does that sound familiar?

 

Or does this?

“I’m not submitting my story. I’d never win.”

“This chapter is crap. Forget editing…I’m deleting it.”

“I can’t believe I ever thought I could write.”

“What was I thinking, calling myself an ‘author’? What a joke.”

“Everyone else is so much better.”

“No one will like this.”

“I’m a fraud.”

“I can’t write.”

“I suck.”

Does that sound doubtful? Because it sounds pretty UN-doubtful to me. It sounds certain. Which is the opposite of doubt.

It sounds like…judgment.

 

verb: judge

• 1. form an opinion or conclusion about.
  

form the opinion, conclude, decide…believe, think, deem…regard as, rate as;

 

When you form an opinion (whether you think it or voice it), you are judging. Judging yourself, your work, your worth.

When you say these things, with certainty and conviction, you, my friend, do not have self-doubt, you have self-judgment. We need to differentiate between the two, call it what it is, and do something about it.

 

My Sunday thoughts in (slightly over) 200 words.

Do you really have self-doubt? Or are you judging yourself? (I know what I’m doing… And I intend to stop. Easier said than done, but I’m damn sure going to try.)

 

Living in the Light, Writing in the Dark

 

 

I’m thrilled to be over at Myths of the Mirror today where the talented, gracious, lovely author D. Wallace Peach has allowed me to pants my way through a guest post about the light and darkness of life and writing:

 

I’ve been asked how it is (or why it is) that I write a light-hearted, pseudo-humorous blog then turn around and pen some seriously dark fiction. I’m here to answer that question.

I am Dr. Jekyll.

Okay, I’m not. Or I could be. You don’t know.

Buckle your seat belts. We’re in for a bumpy ride. I’ve no idea where I’m going with this.

Here’s the thing about me. I’m a conversational writer. People often say I write in a stream of consciousness narrative. That’s fair. I do. It’s why I like pantsing. (In the writing sense, that is. I’d never pull your trousers down to humiliate you. No, I would not.)

Continue reading here: Living in the Light, Writing in the Dark

 

She has also included a gorgeous review of Hinting at Shadows:

 

A string of story pearls

I just finished Hinting at Shadows and had to rave a little about this book of short fiction. When Brentyn says short, she means short. Most of the stories are about 100 words, what I refer to as flash fiction. I enjoy flash fiction, but wasn’t sure about reading a whole book of it. I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.

Every story is a pearl. The writing is exquisite and full of pathos with a focus on the poignancy of the human condition. Hinting at Shadows is the perfect title as each story is a tiny hint at a larger human story, one that is characterized by shadows – sometimes secrets, but more often complex feelings of loneliness, regret, longing, disappointment, and hope.

It would be possible to whip through this book in a couple hours, but I think it’s meant to be savored, just as one might read poetry. So that’s what I did. It’s perfect for someone who enjoys filling their free moments with words or someone who just loves beautiful writing.

 

Thank you, Diana! ❤

Hinting at Shadows is on sale for .99 for a limited time.
Click here to purchase a copy. 🙂