Z - Zed

Or the French letter ‘Z’- which I won’t have to explain to another student again for (at least) the next five months because I am DONE!  My contract is up -Today is my last day of work.  I’m officially on vacation/ unemployed/ a full time writer! J

And the A-Z is officially at an end! It was a great month, you guys. The blog and I are definitely making googley eyes at each other again after all this time together.

Back to my regular Mon/Wed/Fri schedule this week!

How did you guys do on the A-Z?  Was there a letter that had you scratching your head more than others? (For me, it was my lame 'L' post)  But to be honest, pretty much all of my posts were on the wrong side of random this month. Oh well. T'is the risks and hazards of the A-Z.

Y - You Callin' Me Yell'er?

Well, good. ’Cause that’s what I am.

I might be brave when it comes to learning to drive in France or climbing into a thicket of unidentified greenery in order to get back a toy for one of my darling children. But when it comes to what direction I should take with my writing, the truth is I’ve been standing like a deer in the headlights for the last few months.

To self-publish or not to self-publish? (and all the introspection that comes with that)

Keep querying the romantic comedy or let it go?

What should I work on next? I haven’t written anything new in months and I can’t seem to decide what should take priority. Should I write a sequel to the maybe-self-published urban fantasy?  Start the other romantic comedy I have outlined?

I don’t know what to do!  What if just end up wasting my time!?  What if I go to write something new and it flops a few chapters in? 

What if I find I’m incapable of writing another book!!? Gah! 
*cue screaming and hair pulling*

The fear has had me paralyzed for months. But then something happened.  I had a dream (yeah, I know –original, huh?) that gave me an incredible, incredible idea for a book.  An idea that has me thinking I might just be in a little over my head but it’s worth trying.

And it seems I don’t have much of a choice in the matter.  This morning I sat down and wrote a three-page outline – more than I’ve written for either of the above projects.  This thing just kind of came fully formed.

And I wondered, why now?  Why do I finally feel ready to jump into a brand-new project?  I guess it’s because the pressure is off and the fear is gone.  I might show this project to someone once it’s done. 

But then again I might not. 

For right now, it’s mine and only mine.  I can write however/whatever I want and the only person I need to please is myself. It’s amazing the difference that makes.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

*CQG*

X - X Marks the Spot

In search of treasure:

Hope you all have a great weekend!

W - Wild Thang

It seems there’s a moment for most people in their lives where they're more apt to do wild, crazy, things like hitch-hike or bungee jump (ha! I just accidently wrote ‘bungee hump’  *snicker*.)

For me, (and for many others, I presume) my time was in college.

Wild & Crazy things I will (probably) never do again:

Decide on the spur of the moment  to drive to Time Square and party New York style on a Friday night. 

Drunk-walk from a Paris pub to my apartment using the tour Montparnasse as a focal point at 3 a.m.

Go travelling through Italy with a total stranger.

Tag along to a concert in Switzerland and camp out in my car in a parking lot overrun with hostile German squatters.

Elope with a Frenchman;)

That’s all I can think of I’m willing to share;)

What’s the craziest thing you ever did while in your ‘Wild Thang’ stage? 

V - Vacuum War

Most of you already know how I feel about house cleaning. I do it because if I don’t, nobody else will.  Doesn’t mean I enjoy it. Although there is something to be said about opening all the windows and deep-cleaning the house on a bright sunny day when everything smells like spring. Unfortunately, bright sunny days are few and far between in the Parisian suburbs.

If I’m going to clean, it’s going to be on my terms.  Alas, this has lead to a vacuum war between myself and my French husband.

You’ll notice, if you type ‘vacuum’ into google images- about 95 percent of the pictures shown are like the above- an all-in-one model, with the sack and sucking mechanism included along the handle.  It’s easy to use- sure, maybe a little bottom-heavy, but also easy to store in a broom closet so you don’t have to look at the damn thing all day long. Perfect for the doll-houses with minimum storage space that pass for apartments in these parts.

If you type ‘aspirateur’ (French word for vacuum) into google images- you’ll find 95 percent resemble big hulking jet packs with a tube that leads to the long pipe with a handle and vacuum head.  Anything less is gawked at by my French counterparts as ‘inadequate’.

I hate these kinds of vacuums. 

Hate them, hate them, hate them. 

The heavy reverse-jetpack on wheels needs to be tugged along behind you as you desperately try to avoid the tubing (which often gets caught between my legs) and try not to trip over the mile-long wire that trails behind the whole as you vacuum away. And lifting the jetpack is damn near impossible. I don’t understand why there’s even a handle.  The thing weighs as much as I do. Maybe I’m just a wimp- but I find these machines more trouble than they’re worth.  And don’t even get me started on trying to find a storage space willing to accommodate the monstrosity.

That’s why I’ve stuck by my Red Dirt Devil all-in-one for the last few years- that was, until my husband and mother in law (and a store clerk) ganged up on me and made me buy a ‘real’ vacuum by their standards.

Needless to say, I remain loyal to Little Red, even if he might not have the same sucking capacity.  The ‘Heffalump’ my husband made me buy remains up against a wall in our hallway (just like I said it would because there’s no damn place to put it!)

I hate to admit it, but the Heffalump does work better. But that’s beside the point - I never needed a vacuum that could suck the paint off the walls.

Sometimes...you just have to fight for what you believe in.

I think this is my lamest post to date but the question must be asked- Do you have a preference in the war of the vacuums?

U - Unsuspecting and Naked

Yup, that’s what I was when my four-year-old informed me there was ‘a man at the door’ this morning. My husband was already at work, kids parked in front of the t.v. and I was in the shower and had just started conditioning my hair.

Now, we’ve told our daughters a million times that they aren’t to open the door for anyone.  They’re always convinced it’s their grandmother dropping by for a visit- and often times it is (she lives only a few buildings down). But you can never be too careful.

Unfortunately my four-year-old (almost five) has never held verbal warnings in much esteem.

“I can’t believe you opened the door!!!? You have got to be KIDDING ME!!!” I screeched while wiping water from my eyes. I cut the water, jumped out of the shower and threw on a towel. –Then peeked around the wall so I could see the front door.  Sure enough, there was a delivery guy standing outside the threshold, looking amused. 

“I’m sorry,” he said with a  shrug when he caught my eyes peeking out from behind the wall.

Yeah- sure you are, pal.

I pulled my wet head out of the hallway with a squeak and called “I’ll be right there!”  while scrambling to the bedroom and grabbing whatever clothes were at hand…which happened to be a pair of my husband’s sweatpants. They fell down to my ankles while I frantically tried to zip up a hooded sweatshirt of which the zipper was broken. 

I growled in frustration but finally found an over-sized sweatshirt with no zipper and my own sweatpants that were on the floor of the bathroom. I threw my half-conditioned hair into a towel and met the delivery man at the door.

“I’m really sorry,” he said again, chuckling. 

He didn’t look sorry.

“It’s not your fault. My daughter is going to be sorry, though,” I assured him with a tight smile.

Needless to say, my four-year-old got a stern *ahem* talking to and I’m taking away her sugar privileges for two days. No candy, dessert, or sugary snacks. (her personal four-year-old version of hell.)

On the bright side, her antics helped me come up with a blogpost for today- even if my hair is starting to do that clumpy-dry thing it does when the conditioner doesn’t get washed out all the way…

Have you ever been caught ‘unsuspectingly naked’?

T - Tattle Tale

There is nothing more frustrating to me than when a main character has a piece of information that would solve everything if he/she just TOLD someone!!!

They know their best friend is cheating/on drugs/running away but loyalty keeps them from telling.

They know the bad guy is up to no good but can’t tell someone because ‘tattling’ could result in harm for someone they love.

They’re being blackmailed or they’re afraid people will turn against them if they tell.

Maybe it’s just the simple fact that no one likes a tattle tale.

I know it’s a commonly-used plot device but it drives me nuts – Mostly because just as much bad comes from withholding information than good.  It’s the moral of every story and yet…it doesn’t seem to stop us from using the scenario over and over again.

Even though it builds tension and ups the stakes, I find it refreshing when books bypass the ‘tattle-tale’ scenario altogether and take the road less traveled.

The girl TELLS the boyfriend she has feelings for someone else instead of denying them for chapters upon chapters.

The boy TELLS the authorities when scary notes start showing up on his windshield instead of investigating on his own.

When the bad guy threatens to hurt the MC’s girl if he doesn’t go along with his plan to start war between two races- he TELLS the important people and they bring the bad guy down together instead of spending lonely months turning away from those he loves in order to protect them.

Maybe it’s just me. 

Do you enjoy a good ol’ fashioned ‘I COULD TELL YOU BUT I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU’ scenario or do you prefer tension to be amplified in other ways?