tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81003738394627104952024-02-19T17:38:41.444-05:00Elizabeth Poolewriter of fantasy, urban or otherwise
Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.comBlogger375125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-76032986034974838052015-01-02T10:45:00.000-05:002015-01-02T10:45:14.129-05:00Happy New Year!<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Happy New Year everyone!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm over here recovering from the plague and from the holidays, but I'll be posting regularly again soon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In the meantime, you guys relax and try to enjoy the post-holiday bliss. :D</span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-27189531231024577942014-12-05T09:25:00.001-05:002014-12-05T09:25:25.568-05:00Moving! Again!<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hi guys! Just a quick note to let you all know we're moving today, and life is crazy as usual. I'm also blogging at my website address too, in case you missed some sweet author interviews.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Somehow I can't quite give up this blog, though, nostalgia and all. I can't quit you, Blogger!</span><br />
<br />
So that's the scoop!<br />
<br />
What's up with you guys? Ready for the holidays yet? *snicker*Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-81280478914313998322014-09-11T15:40:00.001-04:002014-09-11T15:40:13.542-04:00Overcome<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">I’ve
tried to write this several times over the years, and it’s never sounded right.
This year, I just need to let the words lie on the paper and trust myself, and
you, to understand the heart of what I’m trying to say.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">I’m
going to spend very little time on the Internet today, because the 9/11
tributes are just too much. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">The
tributes have their place, and we certainly should remember the people we lost.
Continuing to flay a wound that’s been festering for over a decade and prolong
a war without clear cause and meaning anymore, not so much. I support our
troops; my husband was in the Air Force and spent most of his time overseas. My
dad was a Marine. I have no issue with the military, and for most of the soldiers,
they can’t do anything about their orders, but I don’t support this endless
war. But I’m getting off topic. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">I was
in tenth grade on September 11, 2001, and just before ten in the morning I had
to be at history class. Our school was very overcrowded so my class was in a
trailer near the bus loop. My previous class was right inside, so I was always
one of the first people to arrive. When I opened the door Mr. Harrison had the TV
on. I thought we were watching some war
film, because I saw the buildings and the smoke. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">“What’s
this?” I asked.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">He
didn’t stop looking at the TV. “It’s the news. Someone’s flown a plane into the
World Trade Center.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">I
couldn’t speak. I was born and raised in Upstate New York until I was thirteen
years old. I’d been to New York City several times, and remembered the
buildings. I sank into my seat. I could not picture, I could not fathom a plane
flying <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">into</i> the buildings. The rest
of the class filed in, and we all watched, dumbfounded, as the South Tower collapsed
on itself and crumbled away.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">We
were numb. We didn’t talk. Normally when we watched a movie in class the kids
took advantage of the teacher’s distraction and talked to each other, or passed
notes. I liked history, but even I wasn’t above writing my book during class if
it was a slow day. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">But
we couldn’t. We just watched the news, the endless loop the stations were
playing of the planes flying into the buildings, the buildings crashing, the
news about the pentagon. I wasn’t thinking about the irony of seeing something
like this in history class. I wasn’t thinking that I was literally living
through a momentous moment in history. I wasn’t thinking about the eventual
backlash the Muslim community would receive when the news broke that it was
al-Qaeda terrorists. We just watched and waited, holding our breath to see what
would happen next.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">For
people who were born after this time, who grew up hearing references about
9/11, I can’t express to you the feeling of utter loss, of innocence gone. We
were soft and assured in our Americanness that wars happened, but they didn’t
happen here. There was strife and poverty, and guns blazing in the streets, but
that all happened far away from here. This was America after all. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">By
next period, the school had instructed teachers to turn off their TVs, but that
didn’t stop the kids from panicking and worrying. This was before four year
olds had cellphones, so it wasn’t like we were all calling or texting our
parents to find out what was up. To make matters worse, Delta had a major hub
in Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, and a good chunk of students had family members working
for the airlines. Kids were frantically trying to figure out if loved ones were
affected or hurt by the airline breech, let alone kids with families in New
York City. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">This
was two years after Columbine, so the school went right to lock down. We sat
and waited, while teachers vainly attempted to resume classes, as if anyone
would be able to pay attention that day. We went home, and assessed the damage.
Living in Georgia, most of our tragedies was the shared tragedy of the nation. Little
by little, the stories came out, about the heroics on the airplanes, about
people who were supposed to be in the World Trade Center but weren’t or vice
versa. We started tallying up all that we had lost. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">We’re
still counting that cost.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">Every
year there’s an outpouring of remembering, and it’s more than I can handle. It’s
just too much, the grief is tangling up with my frustration over how events are
still playing out, the war that keeps going, the people that keep dying, using
such a horrible thing as justification to increase the invasion of our privacy. It
seems like there’s no way to just express grief over a tragedy without it
turning into a nightmare political debate about the ends justifying the means. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Schoolbook","serif";">So
today I choose the honor the dead, and the people who’ve suffered under the
banner of “freedom”, but away from Facebook and other avenues where nuance is a
lost cause.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-36150716182998806852014-09-05T15:53:00.000-04:002014-09-05T15:53:23.931-04:00Slinger Saga by Matt Wallace Review<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEsnnqbzTmqRe68OU5fksvfG7Ul5Y6AzPFPba6jXXIBN9k_2ID3h8WVfjCz2_P882tX98TcdBAjv1akdshqMO7X9odoytrvd1XnNTqkWRp1FFWUD4xDu4Ncn7dBbGv0OsNRVDxyVB_gK0/s1600/Slingers-teaser-final-682x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEsnnqbzTmqRe68OU5fksvfG7Ul5Y6AzPFPba6jXXIBN9k_2ID3h8WVfjCz2_P882tX98TcdBAjv1akdshqMO7X9odoytrvd1XnNTqkWRp1FFWUD4xDu4Ncn7dBbGv0OsNRVDxyVB_gK0/s1600/Slingers-teaser-final-682x1024.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The
SLINGERS SAGA by Matt Wallace is a story set in the distant future about gladiators
who battle to the death over a live wormhole for the amusement of the world, and uncover a dark conspiracy behind the scenes of the arena.
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">For
those of you pressed for time, and want to get to the point of this review,
here it is: SLINGERS by Matt Wallace is one of the best additions to science
fiction in the history of the genre. It will rock not only your socks, but also
your face, completely off. Go read the first chapter for free, and then buy it
off of Matt Wallace’s website <a href="http://matt-wallace.com/slingers/" target="_blank">directly</a>, or here’s the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Slingers-Saga-Vol-1-ebook/dp/B00IJQD9H8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409858089&sr=8-2&keywords=matt+wallace" target="_blank">link</a> to Amazon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">For
those of you with more time on your hands, here’s the rest of the review:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I
am notoriously picky when it comes to science fiction. I enjoy a great many of
it’s sub-genres (hello, post apocalypse and cyberpunk, you’re looking well this
evening), but most hard science fiction does nothing for me as a reader. I like to think about society and people and other Deep Thoughts, but most
hard science fiction misses the mark in favor of complex scientific jargon at the expense of plot and characters. I enjoy reading about
wormholes and spaceships as much as the next person, but that’s not the only
reason why I read science fiction.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So
I’m picky. I love science fiction, but prefer a blend of character drama and oh
cool science stuff, like the early seasons of Battlestar Galactica and Babylon
Five. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I
found Matt Wallace through Chuck Wendig’s blog at <a href="http://terribleminds.com/ramble/blog/" target="_blank">terribleminds</a> (which is
hilarious and awesome if you’ve never stumbled across him before). He linked to
one of Matt’s posts, and I started to follow him on Twitter because he says
funny/clever things. When he tweeted about his new book series, I checked it out and put
it on my wish list. Again, it’s science fiction and I wasn’t quite sure what to
make of it. A week later he gave away the first episode for free, and I
snatched it up, figuring this was a no-lose situation. I read it a few days
later, and I was immediately hooked. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Since
reading the first installment, I have jonesed for the latest installment like a crack
addict joneses for…well, crack. I’ve gone as far as gently (hopefully)
pestering Matt Wallace on Twitter to see when the next episode would be
released. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I
don’t usually get this excited over a book. I like a lot of books, but there’s
very few that I absolutely love, especially the older I get. I’ve been reading
voraciously since I was very young; one year in middle school I read the
entire library starting from A and working my way to Z. That high I get after
reading an amazing book comes less frequently, because as a writer, I can’t
help but think about what I wish happened differently. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It’s
not usually major problems (if I really don’t like the book I’ll stop reading
it. I don’t have time to waste on books I’m not enjoying), but minor details. I
wish the magic system was better explained; I wish the main character wasn’t
such a chauvinistic pig; I wish the action scenes were better explained; I wish
the writing was a little better. Nothing major, but after a while these things
add up, and the end feeling is like, not love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I
started to read Slingers and the entire world disappeared. For a little while I
was in another place, another time, and nothing made me leave that world until
it ended. Everything was perfect. The style in which it’s written is perfect.
The bardic voice gives you the POV of most of the characters without ever once
sacrificing intimacy of character. It’s even played for laughs a few times, and
that deft wit is very hard to do. Matt Wallace is a <i>very </i>talented writer on top of being a great storyteller. The
story itself is gripping, moving from exhilaration and heartbreak, and each
episode feels complete. I love the characters, and I love how Wallace makes you
fall in love with them, and then he breaks your heart by letting them mess up
or even die. It’s the very best sort of entertainment, where you get to
vicariously live inside someone’s head and feel their joy and pain as your own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I’ve
read several novella series trying to prepare for my own, and most of them
leave me wanting. It’s like the authors are holding something back because they
know there’s going to be another episode coming up, but SLINGERS never left me
feeling like it was just filler. At the end of every episode I desperately wanted
to read the next one right then and there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Wallace
held a really cool question and answer session that you can read <a href="http://matt-wallace.com/welcome-to-slingers-saga-qa-and-swag-giveaway-questions-answered-winners-revealed/" target="_blank">here</a>. Readers
got to submit questions and he answered them, picking his favorites for prizes.
I submitted some questions, and was shocked and overjoyed when I got the
first prize of having my name in the last volume. It’s not every day you get to
step inside your fandom, and I’m still walking on clouds at the thought. Given
the body count so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if the character named after me
dies a bloody and glorious death. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This
is where I reveal my selfish motives for reviewing this series. If I tell more
people about this series, and they discover a new book they love, more people
will buy the books. Then Wallace gets to keep writing SLINGERS books, and I get
to keep going back to the deadway, living moments of glory above a live
wormhole in front of a crowd of billions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So
if this series sounds vaguely interesting to you, go read the first chapter. You can download the first and second episode at an incredible deal for 2
dollars if you download directly from Matt, or you can download the first
episode from Amazon for a dollar. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">People
bandy about the .99 price point saying it’s less than a cup of coffee, and
that’s true. But reading takes precious time out of your day; the time I’ve
spent reading these books was worth way more than what Matt’s charging for
them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rating: </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I
haven’t gone into depth yet about my particular review policy, but basically,
I’m not a book blogger and I’m not going to review books I didn’t like. I’m not out to nit-pick every book I read, since a lot of
that stuff is subjective anyway.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I
just want to talk about books I really love in hopes that maybe some of you
will find a wonderful new book, because there’s no better feeling in the world.
So there’s no rating system here, but if there were, I’d give SLINGERS Eleventy
Billion Slinger stars. </span></div>
Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-65107287546189492892014-09-04T15:43:00.002-04:002014-09-04T15:43:30.965-04:00My Website<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It's been a long time coming, guys, but I finally have the bare bones of my website up.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm not going to stop posting here until I've got it more fleshed out, and for a while I will cross-post to make sure you see the updates. I've got some really exciting interviews lined up, some wonderful news, and book reviews galore. There is so much awesome to come I can hardly stand it. Currently I'm working on getting the email sign up stuff taken care of, but it's been a little more annoying than I suspected. I think I have it all in place, so if you want to sign up for updates and freebies, it's there. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here's the link: <a href="http://elizabethjpoole.com/" target="_blank">http://elizabethjpoole.com/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Bookmark the page, sign up for the email list, do whatever you'd like to stay in touch. The biggest reason why it took me so long to switch was I didn't want to loose you guys, but I need to be able to do things with my website that Blogger won't do. So it's time for a change, but I will still be here, posting and letting you know about all the wonderful stuff to come. </span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-7877013452520288722014-08-06T07:28:00.000-04:002014-08-06T07:28:25.386-04:00Interview with Stephen Blackmoore<div class="im">
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hi
everyone! Today we welcome Stephen Blackmoore to the blog today, to
talk about writing, zombies, and his latest book, BROKEN SOULS. BROKEN
SOULS, the sequel to one of my all time favorite books, DEAD THINGS,
released to a store, virtual or brick, near you yesterday. Blackmoore's
also written some other amazing books. You really can't go wrong. Check
it out on <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=broken%20souls&sprefix=broken+souls%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Abroken%20souls&ajr=2" href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=broken%20souls&sprefix=broken+souls%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Abroken%20souls&ajr=2" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a data-mce-href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/broken-souls-stephen-blackmoore/1118164888?ean=9780756409425" href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/broken-souls-stephen-blackmoore/1118164888?ean=9780756409425" target="_blank">Barnes and Nobles</a>, and other places of your choosing. </span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Without further ado, I give you the interview! <b> </b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Describe yourself in one tweet:</b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>I AM SPARTACUS! If Spartacus were a slightly doughy, over 40 writer who walks into walls a lot.</i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Where did you get the idea for DEAD THINGS, the first book in the series? </b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>It
really came from a couple of things. I had a snippet of dialog I wrote
years ago about a guy infested by ghosts. I sat on it for a long time
and nothing came of it. Years later I was going through a folder on my
hard drive and ran into it and I had just rewatched MEMENTO with Guy
Pearce. The two of those came together in my head and that's where the
character of Eric Carter came from. From there I re-read a piece from my
novel CITY OF THE LOST, which is a stand-alone that takes place in the
same world before DEAD THINGS occurs that cemented the whole thing for
me and things sort of unfolded from there. </i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>On
a scale of one to ten, with one being the sound of soft rain on your
windshield, and ten being cage match with an angry grizzly bear covered
in bees, how difficult was it for you to write the sequel?</b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Mmm.
Six-ish? I knew pretty much what I wanted to do with it after I wrote
DEAD THINGS. The trick for me was figuring out how much to call back to
DEAD THINGS in BROKEN SOULS. It drives me nuts when I accidentally pick
up a book later in a series and realize too late that I haven't read the
first one and then I'm lost. If there's enough detail in it to let me
move forward it's fine, but if there isn't and I can't figure out what's
going on it drive me nuts. </i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>So
I wanted to make sure I had enough to let a reader get into the story
quickly without having to depend too much on having read DEAD THINGS. No
idea if I pulled it off, of course. Guess we'll see.</i></span><br />
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;"><b>For anyone out there about to write a sequel, do you have any advice?</b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Reread your previous book. I know that sounds like a no-brainer, but it can really help a lot.</i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>There
were quite a few times while writing BROKEN SOULS where I got stuck and
found the solution was something I had already laid the groundwork for
in DEAD THINGS. In fact there are some things I found that I set up in
CITY OF THE LOST. Going through those can not only help solve problems
but it can also help you keep from screwing yourself. I had a scene in
BROKEN SOULS at one point that I got quite a ways through and realized
almost too late that if I kept going it would contradict something I had
said in DEAD THINGS. </i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>I know some people who swear by a series bible, and I think that's useful, but it won't help solve all of those problems. </i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>This
is actually a brilliant idea. A series bible helps, but there's lots of
little things you throw out into a novel that can sometimes trip you
up. </b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>What is your favorite paragraph in BROKEN SOULS? </b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>That's
a tough one. I don't know that there's a single paragraph, but I do
have a favorite scene. I don't want to spoil things, but there's a scene
at the La Brea Tar Pits where Eric finally gets the truth of what's
going on and it really screws with his head. I particularly enjoyed
writing that one.</i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>One
of my favorite things about the series is the wonderful gritty L.A.
vibe. I started reading DEAD THINGS expecting the neutral urban fantasy
setting, but was quickly blown away at how you mashed up horror and
noir. Was this intentional at all? Did you go into the book wanting to
write something different, or did it come out organically as you were
writing the story?</b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>It
was intentional. Noir and horror are pretty closely related, I think
and I wanted to write something that really brought in Los Angeles as a
setting. I really didn't want this to be a generic UF, but still wanted
to play with the tropes. As much as I knew how I tried to tilt them all
to one side to, hopefully, keep them interesting and put a different
spin on them.</i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>It
makes me really happy, for some reason, to hear it was intentional. I
love urban fantasy as a genre, but the settings can be generic, and
setting to me is very important. DEAD THINGS really did take the
standard tropes and twist them on the head, so the stuff I love about
the genre is there, but still felt fresh and new.</b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Your
main character, Eric Carter, is a necromancer. I’ve read tons of books
about death magic that gloss over what someone with those sorts of
powers would actually experience. Which is why when I read DEAD THINGS,
and saw how you focused on Eric’s grief and isolation, I was pumping my
fist into the air shouting, “Yessss!”. Was it hard to write from this
perspective? </b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>It
was easy in that I think I understand the character well enough to be
able to express how he's feeling, which isn't always a straightforward
thing, but hard in that, well, writing about grief is always hard. We
don't like to look at it and it's certainly brought up some things for
me that I wasn't expecting.</i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>I
think as a character Carter's not done grieving, particularly because
so much of what's gone wrong for him is his own fault. That's something I
hope to explore more in the next book. I see him as having a
perspective on death that actually makes it harder for him to grieve.
He's constantly surrounded by reminders of what's on the other side and
it isn't pretty. Every day he sees tragedy after tragedy and he never
gets a break from it. It wears on him. </i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>One
of the things about grief, and we've all run into this at some point in
our lives, is that it requires a certain amount of stillness. You have
to be able to think about it and face it. And Carter doesn't get that
chance. </i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>That
is a wonderful point, and one that I hadn't considered yet. *makes
notes* And there is something wonderfully awful reading about a
character making bad decisions and then trying to climb out of that mess
by making worse decisions. </b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>What does your typical writing schedule look like?</b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Weekends
and evenings. I have a full time day job and so I have to wedge
writing in wherever I can. It's easy to get overextended and I'm running
into that right now, actually.</i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>While writing, what do you struggle with the most? </b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Time more than anything. Even full time writers struggle
with this, so I'm nobody special. And I don't know that having more
time would necessarily help. I'd probably just piss it away on
videogames. </i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Is there any one book or author you feel inspires you the most?</b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>I
think there's a group of writers who really do that for me. Chuck
Wendig, Kevin Hearne, Jaye Wells, Karina Cooper, Richard Kadrey, Tobias
Buckell, Kat Richardson, and that's just who I can think of right off
the top of my head. For some of them it's their prose, some of them it's
their plotting, all of them it's their work ethic. I feel like a
slacker next to these people.</i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>If someone asked me to make a list of my favorite authors, that would be a good start to that list. </b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Is there a third book in the series planned? Please say yes. </b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>There
is! I'm working on it now, actually. I'm playing with about half a
dozen different titles at the moment, so I'm not sure which one's going
to stick. After that, who knows? Hopefully my publisher will want more
books. I have at least two more planned and would love to keep writing
them.</i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>You hear that? Everyone go out and buy ten copies each so he gets a contract for more books. </b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>You’re rather hilarious on Twitter with your fake horoscopes. How do you divine such wisdom? Pig’s blood? Aeromancy?</b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>I dance naked in the moonlight and am showered by divine wisdom. That may actually just be the sprinklers in the backyard.</i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>And most importantly, during the inevitable zombie apocalypse, what is your survival plan?</b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Who says I'm going to survive? If we're being swarmed by the undead I'm switching sides.</i></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Or Plan B, since I plan on learning the ancient art of necromancy, is I'll keep you as a pet zombie writer. Mwhahaha!</b></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Thanks so much for stopping by! </b></span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-2786918173481570992014-08-05T15:46:00.000-04:002014-08-05T21:40:10.619-04:00Interview with Delilah S. Dawson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1OK7V_78yZCj3f1unhemqtmP46fsluONDCe62RK-6RO-4DALUA044D_cnqZCW0FW3TnNd4RO8QmJKTG7qMDtKAUwciLHswMtIuuUmu3z2QZ4zcFTw6QF0AE3dpjC1KOsFBjpz7c0tGjD/s1600/static.squarespace.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1OK7V_78yZCj3f1unhemqtmP46fsluONDCe62RK-6RO-4DALUA044D_cnqZCW0FW3TnNd4RO8QmJKTG7qMDtKAUwciLHswMtIuuUmu3z2QZ4zcFTw6QF0AE3dpjC1KOsFBjpz7c0tGjD/s1600/static.squarespace.com.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hi everyone! I'm really excited to welcome Delilah to my website to
talk about her newest release, SERVANTS OF THE STORM. Ever since I read
the blurb and saw the cover for this book, I've been excited to get my
hands on this book. I'm already halfway through it, and it's so so so so
so so good.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br data-mce-bogus="1" /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">You can buy it at <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Servants-Storm-Delilah-S-Dawson-ebook/dp/B00FNVSTD6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407267105&sr=8-1&keywords=Servants+of+the+storm" href="http://www.amazon.com/Servants-Storm-Delilah-S-Dawson-ebook/dp/B00FNVSTD6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407267105&sr=8-1&keywords=Servants+of+the+storm" target="_blank" title="Amazon">Amazon</a>, <a data-mce-href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/servants-of-the-storm-delilah-s-dawson/1117053504?ean=9781442483781" href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/servants-of-the-storm-delilah-s-dawson/1117053504?ean=9781442483781" target="_blank" title="Barnes and Noble">Barnes and Nobles</a>, and other book stores of your choosing.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Without further ado, here's Delilah.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br data-mce-bogus="1" /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">*Edited
to add: I am so sorry this didn't post first thing this morning like I
had it scheduled. I have no idea what went wrong, and I didn't get to my
computer until just now because basically everything from leaky faucets
to toddlers refusing to nap happened today.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br data-mce-bogus="1" /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>Describe yourself in one tweet:</b><b> </b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="color: #292f33; line-height: 20px;" style="color: #292f33; line-height: 20px;">Author,
geek, centaur. Takes writing srsly. Does not take self srsly. Likes
cake & boots. Corybantic, fierce, introverted. Butt= won't quit.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>What is your favorite paragraph in SERVANTS OF THE STORM? </b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">Honestly?
I have no idea. I gave away my last ARC and am waiting for my author
copies to be delivered. ;) I really love the creepy dream scene, which
was the first scene I wrote in the book.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>Where did the idea for SERVANTS OF THE STORM come from</b>? </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">This: <a data-mce-href="http://www.lovethesepics.com/2011/05/creepy-crusty-crumbling-illegal-tour-of-abandoned-six-flags-new-orleans-75-pics/" href="http://www.lovethesepics.com/2011/05/creepy-crusty-crumbling-illegal-tour-of-abandoned-six-flags-new-orleans-75-pics/" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr></wbr>lovethesepics.com/2011/05/<wbr></wbr>creepy-crusty-crumbling-<wbr></wbr>illegal-tour-of-abandoned-six-<wbr></wbr>flags-new-orleans-75-pics/</a>
I saw these pics of Six Flags New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and
had to write about it. Dovey herself came from an ad flier from Ulta.
Add in my husband's stories about growing up in Savannah plus demons,
and you've got it.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>SERVANTS
OF THE STORM has a dark tone to it—demons, dead best friends,
hurricanes—than even your Blud series, which has an occasional
satisfying dark bent to it. Was it difficult to separate yourself from
the grief and loss (I assume) Dovey feels? How did you juggle writing an
emotionally heavy book with real life? </b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">Experience.
;) I had an emotionally rough childhood and learned to lock those
memories up and focus on the good parts. I also have a very dark
playlist that I used every time I was writing or editing Servants, and I
conditioned myself to be in that world when I heard the music. Once the
music was off, the darkness lifted. Of course, now, when I hear
Saturnalia by The Gutter Twins, I immediately feel precarious and
vulnerable and bleak.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>I have since listening to this entire album and guys, it's moody dark goodness.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>Did
you do anything different to prepare for writing a YA Southern Gothic
(read certain books, watch certain movies) since your other books are
romance/steampunk? </b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">I
write whatever idea obsesses me and completely immerse myself in that
world. I did take a few research trips, including visits to Savannah
cemeteries and some great horse-drawn carriage tours with my
brother-in-law, The Dread Pirate Robert. I don't actually use movies to
help me get into book worlds, although I do watch Pride and Prejudice a
lot when writing Blud and Firefly when trying to make characters more
complex.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>Do you have any tips for people writing Southern Gothic/Gothic horror? </b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">If
you're not intimately familiar with the setting, go there and *feel*
it. I originally wanted to write about New Orleans and Katrina, but I'd
never been to New Orleans and didn't want to dishonor anyone who'd lived
through a real hurricane. So I moved the story to Savannah, where my
husband is from, and mined him (and our visits there) for setting
details. The alley where Dovey takes her trash is the alley behind the
house where he grew up. Paper Moon Cafe was a real coffee shop that my
husband took me to in the 90s. The smell and feel of Savannah, the way
the heat sits on you and the trees go skeletal with moss like a scarf--
that's very real, and you can't write those details unless you've
experienced them. Picking a dark place like Savannah helps. :)</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>Did you find it difficult to get into that creepy, atmospheric mind set while writing or did it come naturally? </b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">Very naturally. I'm a creepy girl, and Savannah is a creepy place. I feel quite at home in cemeteries.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>I’ve read that you enjoy reading horror, one of my favorite genres. Any horror recommendations? </b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">I
need to read current horror books more widely, but I started reading
Stephen King when I was 11 or so, and it influenced me heavily. I did
blurb ASK ME by Kimberly Pauley, which is a fun YA that has forever
scared me away from Florida forests. And I recently bought ROT AND RUIN
by Jonathan Maberry, so I need to get on that.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>I
know you occasionally post your Spotify playlist for your novels. Are
there any specific bands or songs that you feel encompasses SERVANTS
best</b>? </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">There
is a playlist for SERVANTS, but the core of it is the Saturnalia album
by The Gutter Twins. I have never listened to music so bleak and dark
and powerful. It feels like walls crumbling, to me.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>(Whenever
I hear Florence and the Machine’s What the Water Gave Me, I get the
same sort of feels the cover for SERVANTS OF THE STORM gives me:
drowning, watery graves, swampy isolation, unquiet spirits.) </b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">Aw, yay! That's so cool! I need to listen...</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>You
are extremely good at world building, both in creating worlds and
rendering them without going too short or too long. Did you read books
on world building, or was it all trial and error? If you were to give
aspiring writers three pieces of advice for efficient world building,
what would it be? </b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">I've
always been an avid reader, and world building came relatively
naturally to me. My first books were actually flawed in that the worlds
were rich and specific, while the characters were flat and almost
cardboard cut-outs. I teach a class on world building for LitReactor (<a data-mce-href="http://litreactor.com/classes/become-a-god-with-delilah-s-dawson" href="http://litreactor.com/classes/become-a-god-with-delilah-s-dawson" target="_blank">http://litreactor.com/<wbr></wbr>classes/become-a-god-with-<wbr></wbr>delilah-s-dawson</a>) that includes lots of tips and a first chapter critique. But if I had to choose only three pieces of advice, I would say:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">1.
Your world must be internally consistent, which means environment must
gel with religion, science, society. It has to make sense.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"> 2. Your world must challenge your characters; it can't be too easy.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">3.
Maximize details to draw your world in text instead of purple prose.
When I see a big paragraph that starts with, "The hills were…" I tune
out. If you're bored writing or reading it, your readers will be bored. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>(Delilah also teaches a kick-ass class on world building<a data-mce-href="http://litreactor.com/classes/become-a-god-with-delilah-s-dawson?utm_source=LR&utm_medium=site&utm_content=front_class&utm_campaign=track_front" href="http://litreactor.com/classes/become-a-god-with-delilah-s-dawson?utm_source=LR&utm_medium=site&utm_content=front_class&utm_campaign=track_front" target="_blank" title="here"> here</a>, if you want to find out more) </b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">Ha! Thanks!</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>When
you have a new idea, is there a certain process you use to tease the
idea into a novel, or do you just let it simmer until you feel like you
have enough to start writing?</b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b> </b>I
don't start writing until I know the world and main character, the
beginning of the story, the instigating factor that changes things, the
climax, and the ending. So when I have an idea, I write it down in my
notebook and cogitate on it. If it obsesses me, I start building a
playlist. Once I have all those things and can't wait a single second
longer, that's when I start writing.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">I
think most beginners start writing before they know enough about their
character and world, and that's how you end up with a first chapter
that's a solid info dump, where the character wakes up, looks in a
mirror to describe their physicality, meditates on what's wrong with
their life, stares out the window and describes what they see, etc. Your
story should have plot from page one, and that plot should raise
questions that draw the reader along.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>What does your typical writing schedule look like? </b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">First
draft = manic, sleepless, write as fast as possible, straight through.
Edits = driven, grouchy, eats trash, stays up late. Line edits =
studious, thoughtful, measured. Basically, when I'm obsessed, I'm
obsessed. I have two small children and a husband who works at home, so I
write whenever I can.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>While writing, what do you struggle with the most? </b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">Honestly,
I struggle more with promo than writing. Writing is my escape, and I
tend to ignore real life in favor of immersing myself in the next shiny.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>Is there any one book or author you feel inspires you the most? </b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">Stephen
King's ON WRITING was the book that took me from "I'd like to write a
book" to I CAN DO THIS. The way that he tears down his own first and
second draft to smooth out the prose is fascinating. It was my game
changer.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>I
was super-duper over the moon excited to see you announce a fourth Blud
book. Can you give us any details about that or would you have to kill
us?</b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b> </b>Look
at the last paragraph of Wicked as They Come and extrapolate. ;)
Loooooots of Criminy. And thanks! I can't wait to write it!</span></span></span><br />
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<div class="im">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>More Criminy! I am over the moon with joy!</b></span></span></div>
<div class="im">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br data-mce-bogus="1" /></span></span></div>
<div class="im">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><b>And most importantly, during the inevitable zombie apocalypse, what is your survival plan?</b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="im">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br data-mce-bogus="1" /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">Find
the nearest drugstore and stockpile all the Synthroid. I have thyroid
disease and am more worried about that than hordes of undead.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;" style="font-size: small;">Thanks so much for having me!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br data-mce-bogus="1" /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Thanks for coming and chatting with us, Delilah! I'm going back to reading SERVANTS OF THE STORM.</b></span></span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-88876847933793351282014-07-31T15:16:00.002-04:002014-07-31T15:16:31.188-04:00Slingers Saga Super Deep Discount <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">One of my favorite series of all time is ridiculously discounted today because the author, <a href="http://matt-wallace.com/?p=305" target="_blank">Matt Wallace</a>, is trying to raise money for a good cause.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I have ranted and raved about how amazing this series is. Guys, I cannot even. Words fail me as a reader and a writer. It's near future science fiction, about gladiators who battle to the death over a wormhole for worldwide entertainment. If the premise alone wasn't enough, the writing is superb, and the style of voice is original and entertaining. Download a sample from Amazon if you want to check it out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Or you know, you could buy the first two volumes for a DOLLAR! Seriously people. I would pay a lot more money for this series, and right now the sale is mind-boggling. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-11811473872933836682014-06-18T15:21:00.001-04:002014-06-18T15:21:17.292-04:00Website Stuff<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I know it's been awhile since I've posted, but I am super duper busy trying to get my website up and running, as well as working on an exciting project I'll tell you guys about in just a little bit. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I finally bought hosting, renewed my domain name, and attached a Wordpress theme to said domain name. Now I'm writing copy in between the normal writing stuff. Once I get the bare bones up, I'll post the link here and you guys can tell me what's awesome and what sucks. ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Until then, I toil away in the word mines!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">What have you guys been up to? Anything exciting planned for the summer? </span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-85099975674508993332014-04-30T11:52:00.000-04:002014-04-30T11:52:39.101-04:00The Quick and Dirty Guide to Book Covers<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Book covers are important. It's like a greeting card for your novel. It draws your reader in, and tells him at a glance what sort of story to expect.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">While looking at tons of covers in the bookstore/Amazon, I noticed a trend in covers, a trend I thought would help you. So here you go: a quick and dirty guide to covers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>Science Fiction</b>: Spaceships!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Space Opera: MOAR spaceships! Preferably near a planet or asteroid. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Cyberpunk: Dude in front of six computer monitors, wearing a blu tooth headset.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Dystopian: Picture of a charred wasteland.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Steampunk: ALL the dirigibles. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>Fantasy</b>: Dragons! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> High Fantasy: Dragons over a pseudo-European forest *If your high fantasy is the one or two books that takes place outside Fake Europe, it will be appropriately ethnic.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Urban fantasy: badass chick or dude leaning against something. If your book features more than one sex scene, the chick will be wearing all leather and displaying <a href="http://thebrokebackpose.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">brokeback</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>Romance</b>: Sexy people time!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Contemporary: Sexy dude with abs and sexy woman with boobs half naked about to jump each other.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Paranormal: Same as contemporary, only dude will have fangs and/or yellow eyes to indicate he's NOT HUMAN</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>YA</b>: Teenagers! Dressed in teen clothes!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Contemporary: Pictures of lakes, boats, schools, and food. Lots of food. Teens like food, right? Put food on the cover and they'll buy the book.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Paranormal Romance: Same as above except everything is DARK and BROODING</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>Literary</b>: Landscapes and pretty scenary!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Old White Dudes Having Existential Crisis: Artistic watercolor rendition of a city</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Middle Aged Woman Fighting for Her Place in Society: Garden Scenery with Birds</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>Horror</b>: All the dark colors! Houses! Desolate woods!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>Historical</b>: Female in period-appropriate clothing standing in front of famous landmark </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Clearly this is not an exhaustive list, but hopefully it will point you in the right direction when it comes time to chose or offer imput on your book cover.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Do you have any other suggestions for genres? Plop them in the comments section! </span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-44050577074533026002014-04-28T13:15:00.000-04:002014-04-28T13:15:50.164-04:00The Pain in the Heart<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I've been pondering this post for a long time, trying to get the words right. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Ironic, considering my chosen profession. Sometimes I think we become writers because we see great beauty and sorrow, and need to find words for it. Even if those words aren't always easy to come by. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This idea of mine is something I've long felt about writing, since I was a teenager and just starting to think about writing as a craft, and not just the stories I told myself at night, but not something I had words for.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A few weeks ago, I was reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Set-Novel-Richard-Kadrey-ebook/dp/B00BATNQOM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398477887&sr=8-1&keywords=dead+set+richard+kadrey" target="_blank">DEAD SET</a> by Richard Kadrey (so good!), and the feelings I've been trying to articulate came into sharper focus. The story is about a teenage girl dealing with the death of her father. She and her mother have to move into a shabby apartment, and she's struggling in a new school. She wanders into a record store one day, and finds a special room. The room is filled with records made from people's souls, her dad's among them. She travels to the Underworld, battles dying souls, and copes with the death of her father.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Kadrey has a light hand throughout the book--thank goodness. It would be easy to make Zoe mopey and depressed all the time. It would be easy to harp on how much she misses her father, and how she wishes she could be with him again. It would be easy, but the book would suffer for it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Instead, Zoe's grief rises and falls like the tide. Sometimes, like when she discovers her father's soul at the record store, it rises. Other times, it's way underneath the surface. Not just as subtext, but as something hinted at in the spaces in between. In the words, and the scenes, and what's there, and what's not there. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Kadrey is a good writer. So good, I'm going to assume he knows the chestnut about showing and not telling. He's very good at showing. Light on the telling. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The obvious emotion running throughout the book is grief. Zoe's loss of her father. Her strained relationship with her mother. But in order for Kadrey to be able to sustain that sort of undercurrent all the time, he had to have been feeling grief himself. Not just emotion forced on the page, but a feeling that wells up inside you and pours out onto the page.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You feel sexy when writing a sex scene. You feel witty and clever when writing humor. These emotions are part of the larger book, but for me, the best books come from a place of pain. Of disquiet. Unrest. The main character needs something. Something desperately. Whether it's a sandwhich or true love, told well, we feel this yearning through the entire story, as something even deeper than subtext.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />I believe that is where the words come from. The inspiration. The pain we feel in our hearts. The unrest. The easier we can tap into this feeling and just let it flow, let is simmer, the better our writing will be for it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I'm not just talking about the subtext or surface emotions. I can think of a happy memory and feel happiness, but it doesn't last. For this other, more elusive feeling, it simply is. It just bubbles up from you--whether it's grief, or lust, or sadness, this is a state of being. Curiosity, a sense of justice. It's like a secret heart, beating inside the novel.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It then occurs to me that many writers were famous for being tortured. Hemingway. Fitzgerald. Plath. It's not that you can only be a good writer if you're borderline suicidal, but that these people have obviously had horrible things happen to them, and this infused their work. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I think you can be perfectly well adjusted and still feel disquiet. Or curious. Or rail against the injustice you see. And these feelings will then lend themselves to words, because it burns inside you to tell it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I still don't know if I'm explaining myself properly, but it's the best I can do for now. In the meantime, I hope you all mine your own emotions, if only to exorcise them on the page.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*I totally stole this title from the name of a Bones episode, because it fit so well.</span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-23798665315647165472014-04-19T11:40:00.002-04:002014-04-19T11:40:43.244-04:00Vacation<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Just a heads up, I flew back to Georgia with the toddler to visit friends and family for an extended vacation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So I've been focusing on having fun or writing, hence the blog silence. :D I've had some ideas for posts, though, so I'll get back to blogging soon. I'm just trying to use every available spare moment to finish this rough draft. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Hugs and kisses! </span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-27652253816960828812014-03-03T07:43:00.000-05:002014-03-03T07:43:38.543-05:00Recommended Reading<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It's been a little while since I did a post like this and I have been reading A TON of books lately. So I figured I'd drop another post detailing my exploits into fiction.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Disclaimer: My mind is a sieve, so forgive me if I've mentioned these before in a blog post. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ashadow+unit&keywords=shadow+unit&ie=UTF8&qid=1393792466" target="_blank">Shadow Unit:</a> This bit of brilliance is a serial that reads like Criminal Minds meets X Files. It's a collaboration between Emma Bull, Elizabeth Bear, Will Shetterly, and Sarah Monette. The first episode is free, and every one afterward is only three dollars, but these are addictive. Be warned. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sandman-Slim-Novel-Richard-Kadrey/dp/0061714356/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393792781&sr=8-1&keywords=sandman+slim" target="_blank">Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey</a>: Angel noir at it's finest. It's gritty urban fantasy with a fast pace and a brooding anti-hero. What's more to love? The series keeps getting better and better as each book launches, instead of fizzling like so many do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Things-Stephen-Blackmoore/dp/0756407745/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393793212&sr=1-1&keywords=dead+things" target="_blank">Dead Things by Stephan Blackmore</a>: This book! So good. It has everything I think a book about a necromancer should have--their struggle with life and death, what happens to people when they die. Our anti-hero is a perfect mixture of broken and brave, and I loved how gritty it felt without feeling tired. I eagerly await the sequel this summer. Also, Stephan Blackmore is a wonderful human being and hilarious on Twitter. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ocean-End-Lane-Novel/dp/0062255657/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393792941&sr=1-1&keywords=the+ocean+at+the+end+of+the+lane" target="_blank">The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman</a>: It's gorgeous and heartbreaking, made even more poignant to me because I was reading it this summer when I went to visit my childhood home for the first time in over a decade. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Joe-Hill/e/B001IGSNRW/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1393793080&sr=1-2-ent" target="_blank">Horns and NOS4A2 by Joe Hill</a>: Both of these books were beautiful stories about love and loss with horror at it's center. NOS4A2 felt closer to a traditional horror novel, while HORNS was more Kafka-esque. Loved both of them to pieces.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Siren-Original-Sinners-Tiffany-Reisz/dp/0778313530/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393793447&sr=1-2&keywords=the+siren" target="_blank">The Siren by Tiffany Reisz: </a>This is a wonderfully well written book with rich, flawed characters. I want to feel like I'm living in someone's skin when I read, that I'm getting into a person's head. This book did that and more. It's in the erotica genre, but the sex, though somewhat naughty, only served to highlight who the characters were. If BDSM turns you off, I would suggest checking out Goodreads or downloading a sample to see where it falls in your comfort zone, because the bondage stuff really wasn't bad. It wasn't in your face, and it wasn't there to just make things spicy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vicious-V-E-Schwab/dp/0765335344/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393793636&sr=1-1&keywords=vicious" target="_blank">Vicious by V.E. Schwab</a>: OMG OMG OMG! I wanted to use more than one exclamation point, but barely restrained myself. A wonderful book and a wonderful look at superheros and the nature of evil, and OMG I wish she would write a sequel. /squee</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Also, the latest novel in Seanan McGuire's Incryptid series comes out this Tuesday so I am rabidly awaiting it's arrival via my kindle. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Alright my lovelies, that's enough book awesomeness for one post. I have exciting books in the queue that I will soon tell you about. In the meantime, someone tell me about an amazing book they've read. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And...go! </span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-11803626851369902892014-02-03T08:27:00.000-05:002014-02-03T08:27:43.250-05:00THIS<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://patrickat.tumblr.com/post/75219476788/the-writing-process-in-pictures" target="_blank">The Writing Process in Pictures</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In case you're wondering where I'm at with the whole writing a book thing, THIS is the answer. Somewhere in the middle, between Jack wandering around aimlessly and the guy banging his head against the wall for the second time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But in the immortal words of Joey Tribianni, "How YOU doin'?" </span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-84102111446772619112014-01-21T07:00:00.000-05:002014-01-21T07:00:49.948-05:00Uplifting Links<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Reporting from the daily slog here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Life is setting into a semblance of a routine, although there's a lot of unpacking left to be done, and the floors need to be mopped again. But still. The weather is gorgeous here, with an average low of 75, and a high of 85. I take Connor outside to look at the nature and play on the playground and enjoy life in the Caribbean. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But the writing is a slog right now, so I needed a pick me up. Happily, I found some posts I found helpful, so I thought I would share them with you, because who doesn't need a pick me up? No one, that's who.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://whatever.scalzi.com/2014/01/20/a-season-in-the-show/" target="_blank">A Season in the Show</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And this one: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/01/20/it-takes-the-time-it-takes/" target="_blank">It Takes the Time It Takes</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So there's some wisdom for the beginning of your week. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Anyone up to anything new? How's the new year treating you so far?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If you'll excuse me, I have some words to write. </span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-91863434991852652092013-12-31T15:21:00.004-05:002013-12-31T15:21:34.289-05:00Milestones and Setback for 2013, Goals for 2014<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here's a really fun experiment. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This was my post last year, <a href="http://writerelizabethpoole.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=50" target="_blank">Milestones and Setbacks for 2012, Goals for 2013</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">All I can think of it wow. Wow wow. The places I am now, the places I thought I would be...looking back on the year and figuring out what you could have done better, different, and what you want to never changed. It's a strange feeling, like the room is spinning even though you're standing still. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I thought I would make a comment on my goals for this year and see what happened. I'm not going to say failed, because that's just too negative and I put enough stress on myself as it is. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My goals for this year, and how I stacked up:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*F</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">inish writing Zombie Road Trip before the end of January </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I did it! By the skin of my teeth, but I finished sometime around the second week of January *is too lazy to look up the exact date*</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Edit the pants off Zombie Road Trip</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This sort of happened. I edited the crap out Zombie Road Trip. And then some more. And it's still off and wrong, and I can't figure out what direction to take the book it. It's just so personal and hard to read that I wind up needing long breaks away to get the distance I need to be able to actually edit it. Which sounds like bullshit, but it's the truth I am having a hard time admitting to. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Query Zombie Road Trip</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This so did not happen, and I need another good edit before it's ready for the betas. So yeah. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Get website attached to blog soon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I didn't do that, but I did revamp my blog and add the pages I wanted. It's not nearly what I wanted it to be, but in the midst of moving and packing, something had to slide.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Do more active things with blog--contests, give aways, guest posts etc </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">See above.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Learn how to manage time better for everything--writing, life, friends and family</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This actually happened. I manged to get into a routinue of when to do the dishes, to sweep and mop, to write and spend time with my husband. It's not perfect, and it falls apart when something happens, but it's there.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Exercise regularly </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Not quite as regular as I want, but for awhile before we moved I was doing a really good job of going out for a walk after dinner with the kid, and stretching in the morning. It's harder to do here, since we're inside an apartment complex, not a neighborhood, but there's places for it and I need to make the effort.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Attend James Scott Bell's <a href="http://www.jamesscottbell.com/styled-12/index.html">Next Level</a> fiction writing seminar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Didn't happened; no money for it.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Attend RWA that's being held in<a href="http://www.rwa.org/cs/conferences_and_events"> Atlanta </a>next year (2013)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Also didn't happen.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Attend Dragon*Con and spend lots of time with <a href="http://drfaeriegodmother.blogspot.com/">Rena</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Happened and it was so much fun!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Make more time for reading</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Done! I am reading like a mofo! Go me!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Attend cousin's wedding in hometown of upstate New York</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I went with Connor and my family. It was...surreal returning to my childhood home I'd hadn't seen in over a decade. I had a lot of fun. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Plan meals better, and experiment more</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dinner is also happening, and I feel more in control. Not that I wasn't cooking before, but I only knew how to make a handful of meals that turned out well. Out of desperation and boredom, I'm trying recipes and making things yummy. I cooked Thanksgiving by myself this year after all!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Maybe start a bento blog? Or post on here about bento adventures?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Not happening in the near future. Just, no.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Finish ripping giant collection of cds into iTunes and finish music library once and for all</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I also made some progress on this, hoping to not have to pack the hundreds of jewel cases I have, and made half way progress before we moved. So I compromised, and bought a giant CD holder where my CDs now live.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Okay so. That was last year.</span></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Milestones, Events, Accomplishments:</span></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Moved to Puerto Rico</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Finished rewriting Zombie Road Trip </span></span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Kept self and family alive (this counts! Don't laugh!)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Read a lot of books this year</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Went to several author events </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Went to Dragon Con and it was AMAZING!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Wrote 50K and 20K on two different manuscripts only to have my hard drive wipe and cut that in half. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></span>
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Set Backs:</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Moved to Puerto Rico. Don't get me wrong, it's gorgeous here. But it was so not part of our five year plan. Sold my car, traded in my husband's Jeep and wound up having to get a more expensive one, sold most of our big furniture. Moved to a new country and had to start over with a lot of things we already had taken care of.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Realized Zombie Road Trip still needs lots of edits. *weeps quietly*</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Hard drive wiped itself and took the knees out of both of my rough drafts. Much pitying and weeping and gnashing of the teeth happened.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>Goals:</b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>*FINISH UNPACKING THE HOUSE OH GOD THE BOXES</b> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Self publish a novella. Details to come</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Really seriously get this closer to what I want out of website. It's coming. I've got things in the works.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Edit! Edit! Edit! Lots of editing in my future!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Query. I'm thinking about revising Ghosts Between Us before tackling ZRT again, so we're leaving this open ended. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*Finish the two rough drafts I have started. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b> </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I feel like this list should be a lot longer, but I'm drawing blanks here. This is a good at-a-glance in any case. It's not like I don't have several major projects on the to-do list here.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So what are your plans? Any goals? Do you make lists like these, or do you prefer to live in bliss?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span> </span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-69873212330936431272013-12-23T08:21:00.000-05:002013-12-23T08:21:15.654-05:00Our Stuff Came<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Our stuff came on Saturday at ten o'clock. I am so very happy to finally have our stuff. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Some of the boxes are nearly broken, but mostly everything is okay. And it's here, thank goodness. I've been unpacking like a fiend, put up the Christmas tree, and doing ungodly amounts of laundry.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We're all done Christmas shopping and the presents are mostly wrapped. So progress is being made.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">What about you? How are your holidays shaping up? </span><br />
<br />
Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-69285778699592786182013-12-12T07:22:00.003-05:002013-12-12T07:22:51.566-05:00So Very Angry<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8MpYIqy_9B0Su5cPsZnN-nbyx4tX7d1O2lx0f-YV8ZZBAND9oZVeaAwXzqalk9K1v9A_P42wdAcjZN52LVTOx0tUIpd4cDD7L1Iigua32-fOk80HOulNHw3z6Cjna3_A7TNyVGNz7hIm9/s1600/and-not-a-single-fuck-was-given-that-day-because-honey-badger-dont-give-a-shit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8MpYIqy_9B0Su5cPsZnN-nbyx4tX7d1O2lx0f-YV8ZZBAND9oZVeaAwXzqalk9K1v9A_P42wdAcjZN52LVTOx0tUIpd4cDD7L1Iigua32-fOk80HOulNHw3z6Cjna3_A7TNyVGNz7hIm9/s1600/and-not-a-single-fuck-was-given-that-day-because-honey-badger-dont-give-a-shit.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://www.troll.me</td></tr>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Right now, I am so angry I could set something on fire. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Rather than commit a felony, I'm going to blog instead. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Most of you know my husband, toddler, and I moved to Puerto Rico at the end of September, beginning of October (my husband went first, hence the range of dates). We decided that it was worth the cost of shipping some of the big stuff across the ocean to Puerto Rico rather than buy all new stuff. So we decided to ship our bed, mattress, my son's crib and dresser, the kitchen table. My son's toys. You know, the big, important stuff.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We hired a well reviewed moving company to do this, but it's been nothing but a nightmare since. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The first came when they called to resheduled the moving date. I had very carefully planned on when we would move our stuff out, and stay with my in laws so I could get the last bit of business taken care of. The walk through for the house we rented. Shutting off utilities. Stuff like that.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The movers called the day they were supposed to come and get our stuff--ie, EVERYTHING in the house was packed--to reschedule to Monday. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Skip ahead to six weeks later, when they said our stuff should arrive. I called and they it's still not here, check back in two weeks. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This is the pattern of the next two months. I call every two weeks, and am told to call back in two weeks. They blow past their eight week maximum time stated, and move into three months. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />The week before Thanksgiving, we get told our stuff is caught in customs. So we call customs, with our lot number, to find out what the hell. Customs has no idea what we're talking about--they don't deal with household goods. We raise cane, talk to two different managers who say two different things. One office tells us the cargo isn't even in Puerto Rico. The other office says the boat is sailing and it will be there in two weeks. He assures us it will be there in two weeks. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So we wait. I called them last week and they said someone will call us on Tuesday or Wednesday to schedule a delivery date. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Guess what? Yesterday was Wednesday and no one called. I called them, and once again, the manager in Puerto Rico says it's not here, and the office in Florida tells us that they will call us on Friday or Monday for a delivery date. I'm currently waiting on the manager to call me back. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And I'm livid. I am so angry I am spitting angry hornets, who are also spitting angry hornets.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And the worst part, aside from them CONSTANTLY lying to us about where our stuff is and when it will get there, is the anger. I was nice and polite and understanding and that did nothing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Nothing. Just more lies.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I get angry and tell them this is unacceptable and I need to talk to a manager, and suddenly we're getting answers. Still the run around apparently, but they're making an effort to call us back and appease us.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Why?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I just don't get it. Why? Why is it only when I get angry and yell when things get done? I hate yelling. I know most people are just trying to do their job, and it's not their fault. But when it <i>is</i> their fault? When they are just lazy or incompetent, and don't give a crap about your or what you need? They won't lift a finger until you show them you're not a push-over and that only happens when you become the "angry customer". You can hear the sigh and annoyance in their voice.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">How simple would it be, just to, I don't know, <i>do their job</i>? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I had the same thing happen to me when we were renting apartments and our air conditioner broke. My son was four months old, and this was the heat of Georgia and it was 85 degrees in our apartment at night. We tried to get them to fix it, but for three weeks they did nothing. It wasn't until we were in the front office, in their face and angry, did they bother to fix it. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I say again, WHY?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This makes no sense and just makes me angrier because I don't like being the angry customer. I hate it when I'm forced to be rude and mean to get something to happen, and then <i>I'm the asshole</i>. I'm the jerky, bitchy customer just ruining people's day. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">They lie and jerk me around, and I'm supposed to be okay with that. I'm supposed to be okay that they've had our stuff a whole month longer than their maximum time stated, a month and a half longer than they said it would take, and have to sleep on an air mattress with a hole it in and type on a lap top that's on it's way out, and have no TV, or DVDs, or any of my books, or my cookware, or kitchen table, or any of my son's toys, and I'm supposed to just accept it when they put me off two weeks at a time. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I'm not supposed to get upset and angry and want to talk to people who know what the hell is going on. I'm supposed to smile while they screw me over.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Because the minute I yell? The minute I tell them I want my stuff and I want it now, and I've been more than understanding, I'm the jerk. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And I just don't get it. I really don't. I don't like people who go right to angry in stores. You know the ones. They ring you up twice for something at the check out, and this person goes straight to screaming and yelling. You watch in horror, thinking "What a crazy person!". </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But I'm starting to think there would be a lot less crazy people in the world if people would just do their jobs. If they just did what they were supposed to, to the best of their ability, the first time. Without needing the extra incentive of Angry Customer. </span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-45371014947133271882013-12-10T10:28:00.001-05:002013-12-10T10:28:10.355-05:00Back Up Your Stuff--Right Now!<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Yesterday I suffered a devastating loss.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I've been using my lap top's hard drive to save my work because my desk top is on the boat with the rest of our stuff (still not here) and the casing on my external hard drive has popped open, and I was worried it would stop working. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But when I booted up the lap top yesterday, the computer had reset itself to it's settings from almost two years ago. I knew it right away when I saw the wallpaper I was using at the time. I've run scans and rebooted it in hopes that all of my hard work would come back, but I don't think that's going to happen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Luckily, I saved my work on my husband's computer about two weeks ago, so I'm only a little behind. And by a little, I mean I lost 20K words on both of the manuscripts I've been working on. Not to mention the notes, the brainstorming, the novels I've been critiquing. It's all gone. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm getting a new external hard drive for Christmas, and I'm looking into a <a href="http://www.carbonite.com/index2?ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com.pr%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3D%26esrc%3Ds%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D1%26ved%3D0CCwQFjAA%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.carbonite.com%252F%26ei%3D7C-nUsGtGsirkQeMpoCwDw%26usg%3DAFQjCNGiu4HA5pqzQb1rSnmU3bsRAfhXZA%26sig2%3D6aU46lTKFK3DWG0kIinccw%26bvm%3Dbv.57799294%2Cd.eW0" target="_blank">Carbonite</a> subscription. If not for Christmas, then definitely after. I cannot think of how much worse I would feel if I lost EVERYTHING instead of just two weeks worth of stuff. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">There's also services like DropBox and the iCloud, depending on what you want to pay (or not) and how much space you need. I want more space because I have family photos to save in addition to writing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The point is, you need to save your stuff. Right now. If you're broke, sign up for DropBox and use the free space for the most important stuff. Email yourself your manuscripts. Print everything out and put them in a safe deposit box. Make sure that if God forbid, your computer gets stolen by a pack of rabid chimps, sets itself on fire, or disappears into an alternate universe, you don't lose everything.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I've lost work before. When I was in high school and we were still using floppy disks (the hard kind, not the actual floppy ones) I lost some disks of poetry and stories. It was just gone. No idea where it is. It always feels like a sucker punch to the gut, like something deep and important is gone and there's nothing you can do but mourn. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">There's a lot of so called negatives to living in the computer era we do. We're growing up with completely different experiences than our parents and parent's parents. One of the best things, though, is the ability to inexpensively store information. So take advantage of that, and make sure your work is safe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">If anyone needs me in the meantime, I'm going to be laying on the couch eating chocolate for breakfast. </span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-36565469334293856742013-12-02T08:39:00.000-05:002013-12-02T08:39:50.114-05:00The Winner is...!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqVHBRKCCN_IM1x1ljWdg1huptVSiU9-mQc64p7GYCSe1Edqg0DdOIrYrm1uk3LgIF4Lq3INCh51p4v8oHO4bsis3OOJZF03ZgolLaqcD6wd4V1tD18ZUZLbIJ6S_cYT-MWyF1_8blXACK/s1600/2013-Winner-Facebook-Cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqVHBRKCCN_IM1x1ljWdg1huptVSiU9-mQc64p7GYCSe1Edqg0DdOIrYrm1uk3LgIF4Lq3INCh51p4v8oHO4bsis3OOJZF03ZgolLaqcD6wd4V1tD18ZUZLbIJ6S_cYT-MWyF1_8blXACK/s1600/2013-Winner-Facebook-Cover.png" height="118" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Me!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And you, for supporting me. With your pageviews and comments, and allowing me to quack into the void that is the Internet.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As I do every year, I'm going to keep writing until this draft is DONE. DONE DONE DONE.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I feel a little bit like a failure because I only won by the skin on my teeth. My final word count was 50,005. I know that's still winning, but my greedy brain was used to almost having an entire full length novel finished by now. Such is life and the things that happen to your word count when you move and your new apartment floods and you have to cook Thanksgiving by yourself so you spend two whole days in the kitchen. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In other news, my husband and I lost our minds temporarily and went shopping on Black Friday. Yeah, I know. I know. It was CRAZY. We did get some awesome deals and some Christmas shopping for the kiddo done, so it was not all in vain. Amazon has a lot of books on sale and it's really tempting just to go in an click "BUY" on all the books. Because books. I'll restrain myself, but only just barely. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">How was your Thanksgiving? Did you venture forth on Black Friday or did you stay home like a sane person?</span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-56875374444448725142013-11-28T07:43:00.001-05:002013-11-28T07:43:04.087-05:00Happy Thankgiving!<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Happy Thanksgiving!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I am thankful for all my blog followers this year, for sticking through moving and babies and all kinds of life stuff. You guys are seriously awesome. *wipes a tear*</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm going to be wrist deep in turkey for the rest of the day (don't ask), so I'll leave this post short and sweet. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Enjoy your holidays and we'll talk next week!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">*kisses*</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">*eats some pie for breakfast*</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">*stick hand inside turkey* </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-49604261240471568972013-11-21T08:57:00.000-05:002013-11-21T08:57:08.475-05:00Hooray for the Internet! Also, NaNo Updates.<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Gather round children, as I tell you a tale of woe.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The house we were renting blew up. Not literally, but figuratively. The hot water heater stopped working and the circuit breaker was so old the electrician couldn't find replacement fuses in the three weeks between it stopping and us moving out. The dishwasher was broken before we moved in, so hand washing dishes in cold water was fun, let me tell you.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The fridge stopped working, the electricity bill was atrocious due to the aforementioned old circuit breakers, and none of the windows sealed up (very common for old houses in Puerto Rico, I must mention) so while we ran the AC at night the cold air went out the cracks and cervices. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It was also a much longer commute than my husband was expecting and gas is way more expensive than in the States.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We decided it was time to move and gave notice. Our stuff STILL hasn't arrived from the States, so we tried to hurry up before it arrived, so we wouldn't have to move it twice. We found a place, signed the paperwork and called the electricity and water companies to get things switched over to the new town.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This took all day of being on hold. We had to enlist the help of one of my husband's coworkers because most of the people we talked to over the phone aren't fluent in English. </span><br />
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<![endif]--></span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Side note: you really should be fluent in
Spanish to live in Puerto Rico. A lot of
people made it out like we would have no issues speaking only basic Spanish,
but that is so not true. Most people speak some English. You can go out to eat,
go to public buildings, go to the grocery store, and get by. But there will be
a time when you need to be fluent in Spanish, like say the security guard who
opens the gate to your neighborhood, or the realtor who is showing the apartment
you want, and you'll be completely screwed. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">This is not to say that the entire island
has to cater to English speakers. They don't. It's our job to be able to
communicate in the dominate language of the country we're living in, and that
language is Spanish. English is more ubiquitous than in other foreign
countries, but it's still an issue. An issue I hope won’t exist too much
longer, as I am studying Spanish diligently, but unfortunately the people I’ve
run into need me to understand what they’re saying beyond greetings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
Anyway, back to the horror story that has been the last few weeks. We get the
utilities switched over and are told it will be 3-5 business days to turn them
on, and Monday was a holiday. This was a Friday. We find a cute little vacation
home to stay in for a few days while we wait for them to turn the stuff on.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Tuesday night we drive to the new place to
check. We open the door only to step in a two inch puddle of water. The lights
are on, and so is the water. In fact, the former tenant left the beday running
in the upstairs master bathroom, and it’s flooded the top floor, and flowing
over the balcony to the entire downstairs. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Two hours later, we managed to squeegee
all the water from the upstairs, to the downstairs, onto our balcony where it’s
draining. Thank God this was Puerto Rico, and
everything is tile floors. The next few days we spend cleaning the condo from
top to bottom. It’s laid out like a townhouse, with the bedrooms upstairs and
the living room, kitchen, and sunroom downstairs. We also have a penthouse
level on the roof. It’s more spacious than the townhouses I’ve seen in the
States though, hence it being more like a condo. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">After we finished cleaning all the things,
including the kitchen from top to bottom, we went shopping for food, and
necessary items we had been using at the other house. We also set up to have
the Internet installed on Tuesday.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">On top of that, I’ve been fielding calls
to the moving company, trying to figure out where the heck our stuff is. It’s
been a month and a half longer than they said it would be, and they told us it
was “customs” holding things up. Every time I call for an update, they say it
will be another week or two. We called customs and they have no idea what the
moving company is talking about, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>since
they don’t deal with household goods. Let’s remember, Puerto Rico is a
territory of the United
States. They have customs, but it’s not as
rigorous as if we were moving to Germany. So I asked for the landing
number and the cargo company they were using. I am currently waiting for them
to get back to me on that.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">It’s been good times, I tell you what.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Somehow, despite missing many days of
writing, I’m about on track with NaNo. The good news was I managed to get
really, really ahead in the first week, and that managed to make a nice buffer
for me. Adding to that, when I have a writing session I can usually blow the
bare minimum daily word count out of the park. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Of course, the “this book totally sucks
and I am a sucky, sucky loser” feeling hasn’t gone away. That’s a special part
of the process that just keeps giving. :D</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">It’s a weird balance though…when real life
is blowing up around me, I crave the escape that writing provides. The extra
stress and anxiety makes drafting harder, but it’s also a welcome retreat. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I’m not going to blow the NaNo word count
out of the water like I have in the past, finishing with ridiculously high word
counts like 70, 90, or even 150K like I did that first year, but I feel
confident that I will win NaNo this year, and then keep going. This draft
shouldn’t take as long to write as ZOMBIE ROAD TRIP did, mostly thanks to a)
regular naptimes for the toddler, and b) said toddler sleeping through the
night, so I am not in turn, exhausted every day.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">There’s the updates and why this NaNo have
been distinctly lacking in me frantically posting about how it’s all going
sideways, and DOOM!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">But don’t worry. Now that I have Internet
again, I should be able to fill your days with regular updates of terror and
distress. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">How’s your NaNo coming along? How’s your
Turkey day plans?</span><br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-37535329130237285472013-10-22T14:26:00.002-04:002013-10-22T14:26:40.804-04:00The Obligatory NaNo Prep Post<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I feel the need to post some helpful ideas and links for the coming NaNo season, so here's a bunch of links. I'm posting some pictures of Puerto Rico in between things, just to give you something pretty to look at while you're reading. :D</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhHDNKJ3Y59DhXvT8PY7GpZMVlNfuUtYlWdz3VZUp2tURTqMIGgjFwDHvtBCQBIkgQizBpmLJFHAEAthLL3ZnSRtdqBQlMARwyYCkhB-X3m6c7-VHlrPVzlbhhNQEGNadiIUBX94DnK5Q/s1600/1376601_554591301274258_909231855_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhHDNKJ3Y59DhXvT8PY7GpZMVlNfuUtYlWdz3VZUp2tURTqMIGgjFwDHvtBCQBIkgQizBpmLJFHAEAthLL3ZnSRtdqBQlMARwyYCkhB-X3m6c7-VHlrPVzlbhhNQEGNadiIUBX94DnK5Q/s320/1376601_554591301274258_909231855_n.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I swear I didn't crib this from a travel website, I honest to goodness took this picture at the beach!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">James Scott Bell has a great post about supercharging your novel with one exercise. The bonus here is it's about big picture stuff, so it's for plotters and pantsers alike. <a href="http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2013/10/supercharge-your-nanowrimo-novel-with.html#.UmQebFM1n-8" target="_blank">Super Charge your NaNoWriMo Novel With One Exercise</a></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvTVC-XUwYDt3PH2lMpc74SPsvQ7-eUk0HSQvY9q6iCaxe8Tjb7EtW_w4AtnRHitZ0dQOP7pUvApTJGqFm_1AVI5TCmZPqrh199OENJEWvtxGjqt_51ZcsSEIfTebfF7w4sHwnavgPaYL/s1600/1395925_554593414607380_1343162091_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvTVC-XUwYDt3PH2lMpc74SPsvQ7-eUk0HSQvY9q6iCaxe8Tjb7EtW_w4AtnRHitZ0dQOP7pUvApTJGqFm_1AVI5TCmZPqrh199OENJEWvtxGjqt_51ZcsSEIfTebfF7w4sHwnavgPaYL/s320/1395925_554593414607380_1343162091_n.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Bell also links to a fantastic article in that post, and I'm going to relink (that's a word, right? If not, IT IS NOW) it here:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Lisa Cron's wonderful article: <a href="http://writerunboxed.com/2013/10/10/story-first-writing-second-especially-come-november/" target="_blank">Story First Writing Second</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Chuck Wendig has a really great post on some quick tips for prepping: <a href="http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/10/08/welcome-to-nanowrimo-prep-school-word-nerds/" target="_blank">Welcome to NaNoWriMo Prep School, Word Nerds</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Janice Hardy has a great post on <a href="http://blog.janicehardy.com/2013/10/plotting-with-michael-hagues-six-stage.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+janicehardy%2FPUtE+%28The+Other+Side+of+the+Story%29" target="_blank">Plotting with Michael Hague's Six Stage Plot Structure</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And finally, what good NaNo Prep post would be complete without a random generator?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I enjoy this one at <a href="http://www.fmwriters.com/community/dc/Random_Zettercise.php" target="_blank">Forward Motion</a>. It's interesting and plot oriented without being so vague it's useless.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So there go you, some posts to get you ready!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">How is everyone's prep work coming along? Are we all set? Panicking? </span><br />
<br />
Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-10966644813459073212013-10-11T08:50:00.001-04:002013-10-11T08:50:34.400-04:00The Silly, Completely Inconsequental Contest that Changed My Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-JiLm1Eiorq3kgo00rv4SktOvzF8qS4uKT1QBEt2kiMbQ6C6pk3yArqOD-tr5oF9N_k8diIgg5-JMjhDMeVwYm7fNwBdVlU72LHidCyBHQ2deQaPZJVsH1TIhyphenhyphen4MAfAIVJz5UCUNafVm/s1600/Rinjani_1994.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-JiLm1Eiorq3kgo00rv4SktOvzF8qS4uKT1QBEt2kiMbQ6C6pk3yArqOD-tr5oF9N_k8diIgg5-JMjhDMeVwYm7fNwBdVlU72LHidCyBHQ2deQaPZJVsH1TIhyphenhyphen4MAfAIVJz5UCUNafVm/s320/Rinjani_1994.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: wikimedia commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">If you listen closely, you can hear the frantic typing of thousands of writers gearing up for November, when they will embark on a month long trip into Insanity, Population: You. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Some choose to outline their novel ahead of time (ahem). Some choose to completely wing it with notes, but have their novel premise and characters completely thought out. Others have put several ideas into a hat and when the clock strikes twelve on October 31st, they will choose the novel to write.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Yes, that's right: I'm talking about <a href="http://nanowrimo.org/" target="_blank">National Novel Writer's Month</a>. Or NaNo for short.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In other parts of the Internet, writers are complaining about NaNoers, not because they're opposed to arbitrary goals with no consequences, but because they feel it makes the querying climate harsh for people who know not to polish their novel for two days before deciding it's good enough and sending it to unsuspecting agents everywhere. There's some truth to that, but honestly A) December was going to be a harsh month to query anyway and, B) these same inexperienced people are also your year round competition which really aren't competition because no agent is going to say yes to someone in the slush pile who clearly hasn't edited their novel.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Whatever your personal feelings for NaNo, I will always hold it in a special place in my heart, because the year I did NaNo for the first time was the year I really got "serious" about writing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Let me explain. I was always serious about writing. I was always writing stories, and even attempting novels in high school. I started and stopped many novels since I was fourteen or so, with the notable mention going to the novel I wrote when I was 17 that was 15oK and still nowhere close to the middle. I honestly didn't know how long a book needed to be, because I'd never researched it before. This was before being a writer was ubiquitous with being on the Internet, blogging and maybe self publishing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I read Stephan King's <b>On Writing,</b> and Orson Scott Card's <b>Character and Viewpoint</b>. I subscribed to Writer's Digest. I still didn't seem to be able to translate the pictures in my head to the page in front of me. Then I read an article in WD about NaNo and I thought it sounded fun. I still remember sitting in my old apartment and taking the magazine over to my computer so I could properly enter the website address into Google. Lately, I had been feeling depressed. Down. Like writing was just a dream I would always have, but never achieve. For the last few years my writing had taken a back seat to going to Massage Therapy school and working long hours. I was trying to build a business from scratch with other entrepreneurs, and it was grueling, heartbreaking work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But I'd see my copy of <b>On Writing</b>, and feel a pang a sorrow. I'd get my issue of Writer's Digest in the mail, and devour all the articles like they would be my salvation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And in a way, they were. Because when I went to the NaNo forums, I found a community of writers. Just like me. Beginners, completely new to everything about writing, and people who had been writing for years. Pros. Hobbyists. Amateurs. Amateurs to amateurs like I was that first year, who didn't know what my average daily word count was, or even what conflict was to a novel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">From there I furiously Googled things like creating characters and building conflict. I found <a href="http://hollylisle.com/my-articles/" target="_blank">Holly Lisle</a>'s website and promptly used half the free articles there to develop the idea I had for my book. Because I signed up for that year, and even though I had absolutely NO IDEA if I could even write 50K in a month, I knew I had to try. I knew time was passing, and if I was really serious about being a writer, of being the person who had books in a store instead of just being someone who talked about it, I knew that I needed to take writing more seriously. Instead of thinking "I'll write a book and then edit it" and letting that be this vague statement, I needed to figure out how one actually goes about doing that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I started that first novel, called Seeing Red, about a modern day take on Little Red Riding Hood, and learned through the course of the month that I could type fast. Only having a day job to worry about, and my then boyfriend/future husband, I could ignore everyone for a month to work on my novel. And you know what? I wrote 150k words that month. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">More importantly? I finished that novel, something I had never done before. I'd written novels before, novels that long even, but I had never, ever managed to type "The End" without jumping from the middle straight to the end and writing one last scene.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It was invigorating. Exhilarating. I knew this was something I wanted to do the rest of my life, and I haven't looked back since. I wrote another book in February. I tried to edit the first book I wrote. Then I tried to edit the second. I bought and read LOTS of novels about writing. James Scott Bell's Plot and Structure was one of the first, recommended by just about everyone on the Internet, and it's still one of my favorites. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I started this blog, to talk to other writers and blog about my thoughts on writing. You'll see those early posts, where I thought I had my process all figured out. I still cringe when I read them sometimes, but there's a lot of information there, and people still say they get some use out of them, so I leave them up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Almost seven years later, and I feel like I know less in some ways than I did then. Writing is harder with all that knowledge in my head. All the dos and don'ts and rules and opinions and trends and what to write about and what not to write about and omg you're going to die in a broken heap if you put vampires in your novel. But you know what? I've written--and completed--at least seven novels (I think it's more, but I'm too tired to count right now). I've started countless more in those seven years, and I've lost count of how many books and articles on writing I've read. All but one of my best friends I found through the Internet, through our writing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">There's a dark voice inside me, one I think we all have, that wants to point out it's been seven years and I'm not published yet. That I still have issues starting and finishing novels. That I should be further along in my writing career by now. That I should at least be moaning about all the rejections I've stacked up over the years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But right now, reflecting back on all the good that's happened to me, it's easy to push that voice aside. Cathy Yardly, in her phenomenal book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/WRITE-EVERY-DAY-Writing-ebook/dp/B00DIIQ95G/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1381456333&sr=1-1&keywords=write+every+day+yardley" target="_blank">Write Every Day: How to Write Faster and Write More</a> talks about our fears, and points out that the things you fear are parts of yourself. Crushing your self doubt, smashing your internal editor to smithereens...these are all pieces of yourself. You doubt things because you're afraid. Of failure, of success, of mediocrity. This is a part of you. You can embrace and attempt to work through it, or let it consume you. I have not found another option; if you have, please tell me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So in the spirit of celebration of how far I've come--how far we've all come, because every person that views my blog, that writes their own blog, that toils away at their novel when the whole world sometimes feels like it's against them--I'm going to do NaNo this year with the same bright eyed innocence and steely determination as I did that first year. I don't know what project I'm going to write yet--I keep jumping from project to project as one fear or another rears it's ugly head, but come October 31st at 11:59 my butt is going to be in front of the computer and I'll be ready to start a new book. I'm going to write it until I can type "The End". And then I'm going to celebrate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I invite you to write along with me. I plan to post this month what I'm doing to prep myself (most of it will be of the "try not to freak out" variety since that's where my issues currently are), and then during November I'll blog about my progress. You can come and leave comments or links to your own update posts and we can cheer ourselves on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">What do you plan to do this November? Write a novel? Are you already in the middle of one? How do you shut out the voices about marketing and trends? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8100373839462710495.post-76259616408234744812013-10-07T09:06:00.000-04:002013-10-07T09:06:24.743-04:00Puerto Rico!<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Thursday. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I can't say that I've been here long enough to really get an accurate picture of what my life is going to be like, especially since most of our worldly possessions are on a boat. It will be a couple more weeks before they arrive, but in the mean time we're making the best of the few things we have. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I didn't think I would have as much culture shock as an "average" person, but I was wrong. I vacillate between terrified and elated. My husband and I will be out shopping for beach stuff with our son, and I'll fall back into my normal "out shopping with husband" mode, when something completely new and different strikes me, and it hits me all over again we're essentially living in a foreign country.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Because despite English being one of the two official languages of Puerto Rico, despite not needing a passport and everything being in dollars, this is still another culture. I've experienced culture shock before, in many small ways, moving from Upstate New York to Atlanta, Georgia. I thought I was ready; prepared. I was wrong.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">All of the signs are in Spanish. The street signs, the Interstate exit signs, the signs at the Wal*mart. Everyone speaks mostly Spanish, although we haven't had issues checking out at stores and eating between the little Spanish I know, and the little English the person on the other side knows.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I feel bad for writing this. I feel like I'm complaining. All I thought about before we moved was what a fun adventure it was going to be. And it is. And will continue to be fun, and I'm far from miserable. I just didn't realize how emotionally draining it can be to constantly be assaulted with new things. It's not like we can hole up in our house until we feel ready to face the world either. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The neighborhood we live in, known for it's dominance of people from the United States, is still 99% native Puerto Ricans. Despite the temperature staying around 80 degrees year round, most houses don't have central AC. The houses are older, and don't seal up properly, so if you choose to run the AC units in the wall, you're essentially cooling the outside. Not to mention electric is more expensive than in the States. There's Walgreens and CVS and Mcdonald's and Walmart, and Burger King, and even a Firehouse subs. But despite how familiar those places are, it is still very different experiencing it on the other side of the language barrier.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">All in all, I've having fun. I like practicing my Spanish on unsuspecting people, and we live a block away from one of the most gorgeous beaches in the world. I can eat all the mangoes I want, and outside the Walmarts, they have a Frutera place you can get fresh fruit smoothies for super cheap. I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of all the cool food we can get here. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I'm enjoying this part of my life, but change is always scary in a way. I think it's good for us to figure out why we feel what we do, and how to fix that. For me, I'm going to get better at Spanish and spend lots of time at the beach. </span>Elizabeth Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com5