Honestly, who needs to create horror tales when we have this, the chilling reality of horror. Sick.

I don’t know about you, but I love rainy days. The smell of the rain, when I can smell, the moisture in the air, the pitter-patter of raindrops, and the soothing thunder in the clouds. Moon, the not-so-mute malamute, hates the thunder and becomes glued to my hip every time it roars, but I find the sound quite relaxing. It gets me in the mood to write. I wish to do nothing else on days like these, and I’m thankful that the recent pass of thunderstorms were before and after my Friday to Sunday work shift. I’m sure the girls I work with were also thankful. I actually get cranky when I can’t write during a thunderstorm. It rained so much here yesterday that Ahwatukee flooded, as well as the Superstition Freeway. Wow! I haven’t seen that happen in some time.

Even though I love writing on rainy days, I found myself reading instead. I like to do that as well. I have one novel out to my beta reader, and I have been reading the novel I just finished. Tonight, I had dinner with the girls from my previous place of employment at the school. We went to Macaroni Grill. It was fun, and I was asked if I’d been working on anything new. Of course! So, I had to give a brief synopsis of Dusk of Death, which I have sent to the Query Shark, by the way. One friend, who loves my stories, asked if she could read it. I’ll have to send it to her soon. I enjoy her feedback.

And while I may not be writing a story right now, I am writing, and that is what’s important, right? I have a few ideas in the works, but nothing solid and motivating just yet. It has to spring to mind and make me not want to sleep in order to write it. It’ll happen soon. I can feel it. Of course, it’ll most likely happen when I need to write a paper—oh yeah, I still need to finish that thesis paper on Edgar Allan Poe. I’ve got a couple of weeks, I think. I intend to work on that one this week, as well as the literary critique I need to finish on The Lottery.

I’m considering rewriting my obituary for the Halloween issue of Forever Nocturne. It needs to be more entertaining than the last one, although one of my professors did enjoy the last one. We have several submissions to wade through, but I’m excited about it. I’ve read a few already. Not bad, though one person didn’t follow submission guidelines and sent attachments in the email, so I had to delete that one. I have to wonder if people even read submission guidelines.

The rain has stopped, but the scent is still in the air… and so is the moisture. It’s getting a bit muggy now, I noticed when I picked my grandmother up from the hospital today. I had to take her into the ER on Thursday. She was having an asthma attack and just couldn’t shake the damn thing. Of course, she hadn’t been breathing well since June 1^st, and the crazy woman waited until Thursday to call me! I love you G-ma! You are NOT a bother! Stop thinking you are.

So, I have written, and having writ, I am now going to either go to bed (which is highly unlikely since I woke up 12 hours ago), or I am going to make an attempt at one of my ideas. I heard a great line today and I just have to find a place to put it!

Holy Jeebus, I’m logging in to post a new blog and fireworks go off. What a grand entrance! And no, it wasn’t lightening from the 5-minute thunderstorm that decided to pass through.

Well, it has been a busy, busy week, but a good week at work, and I have much to write about. So, first we will start with a new fortune from last week that I didn’t get the chance to post. Yes, it’s a Panda Express fortune, so you can add “in bed” to the ending. Fortune: You have a charming way with words. Yeah, it’s not so great, is it, but perhaps it is due to my charming words that I am in bed. Hmm? We’ll have to ask the hubby about that one. Oh, he received a good one this week: A surprise treat awaits you. hehehe

Ok, enough about my sex life…

I have finished my edit of Wolf’s Bane: Moon Cycles and I am in the process of printing it for my beta reader. Here’s my challenge (I don’t like to say “problem” because it’s too negative): I keep changing things or coming up with new ideas for things (the perfectionist in me). I’m just going to print what I have of the last change (since I’ve already begun the process) and let Deni read it. Then I’ll discuss my ideas with her (and I just swallowed an ice cube–ouch!). I also started reading Dusk of Death to work on those edits. Too many adverbs and too much passive voice. That’s what comes directly out of my head, and I fill in the details and fix it all later. It’s in first draft mode right now, but I’ve noticed something about it. Though Armen’s character is quite different from Nadira’s, there are some similarities in their emotions and the things they do. This is a HUGE challenge! I’ll have to rework Armen so she’s nothing like Nadira, aside from the fact that she was once a demon. If I hadn’t just read someone’s blog about it (I can’t find the damn thing now to post the link), I probably wouldn’t have noticed. It’s just a few minor glitches–shouldn’t be too difficult. Maybe I’ll post the first chapter for some feedback. I’m pleased with the first chapter, though it still needs editing, even though it starts out with Armen waking up–not as bad as you might think. It’s all in how she does so and the dialogue that follows.

OWW–Ok, so I paid to be a member of this site, and the reviews I’m getting are not the best I’ve seen. I’ve received better reviews from free sites, and it has nothing to do with my writing. What I mean is that the people reviewing either don’t read the entire chapter and make assumptions, or they want to know the answers to things that shouldn’t be revealed in the first chapter (because it’s a chapter, not a short story!), and half of them can’t spell. I’m sorry, spelling, punctuation and grammar are major pet peeves of mine, whether it’s in a story or a review. If I’m to take the review seriously, that is to say if I’m to take the advice seriously, one should know these basic functions. Your review of my work is just as important as my writing or yours. And the chapter in question was a simple prologue. I suppose I’ll have to go review someone’s piece just to show them how it’s done. A friend of mine is having the same problem. In fact, one reviewer read and reviewed both of us, although I had to give my friend a hard time because the reviewer gave her crap about the same long-a$$ sentence that I did a year ago. Don’t get me wrong, I have thick skin and am not wholly upset by the reviews. They just annoy me, mostly for the fact that time was not taken to put forth the effort of a decent review, whether good or bad. I can handle a negative review any day of the week. They don’t bother me. It’s just someone’s opinion. But really, if one can’t take the time to write a decent review, don’t bother with it. If you show a command of the language within your review, then I’ll take your advice into consideration. It’s all about points, I’ve discovered, because the more review points you get, the more you can post. That’s a sad little way to work it. Let’s hope the next 11 months of my $49 is worth some sort of decent feedback. Hey, I’m a dreamer!

It’s 1am–Happy 4th of July! (see fireworks above)

Films of the week:

WALL-E: Absolutely brilliant and I found a way to use it as a life skill! I so rock! What a discussion that was with the three teenage girls I worked with this week. They picked up on the messages within the film and came up with some wonderful solutions. I’m so proud!

HANCOCK: I have to say that Wil Smith was damn funny in this film. I enjoyed the film immensely, laughed my a$$ off throughout, and was surprised by the nice little twist of it (don’t worry, I won’t spoil it for you… yet). I do recall at one point saying, “I knew it!” quite loud, though. And I think it might be possible that Charlize Theron wore her Aeon Flux outfit in this film. Hey, recycling is good, right? And yes, I readily admit to watching Aeon Flux. Horrible flick, but I’m a big fan of the animation. No, it’s not a cartoon.

Last week’s film:

LOVE GURU: It’s a typical Mike Meyers flick. ‘Nuff said.

This weekend I will be watching Smoke Signals, loaned to me by one of my Native American girls. I’m excited about it, since I’ve never seen this one. I’ll have to find Hidalgo for her, and get her to sit down and watch The Last of the Mohicans that she has wanted to see for some time. Daniel Day Lewis is quite yummy in this film, and I probably spelled his name wrong.

So, that’s it for the night. I am now off to sleep for 12 hours. =) You’re jealous, I know. Just admit it.