Rainy Runner

2008-01-21T22:38:00.000-05:00

Don't send a lame Starring You! eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

HUCKABEE! HUCKABEE!

2008-01-10T23:10:00.000-05:00

For the love of all that is good I'm begging PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do NOT vote for Hillary Clinton! We're going to hell in a hand basket quickly enough on our own. Just say NO.

LAZE AND LEMONADE

2008-01-09T22:16:00.000-05:00

I entered a contest through WRITER'S DIGEST and was given the assignment of: In 750 words or less, write a story starting with "WHEN I FIRST TOLD MY PARENTS ABOUT _____, THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE ME" and ending with "AND THAT'S HOW I ENDED UP ______."

In keeping with rules and regulations of WD, I will not be posting the story until the contest is over. If you'd like to read my creation, LAZE AND LEMONADE, email me a request.

Quotes for Apiring Writers

2008-01-05T22:42:00.000-05:00

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
- Douglas Adams

Rejection slips, or form letters, however tactfully phrased, are lacerations of the soul, if not quite inventions of the devil - but there is no way around them.
- Isaac Asimov

If the artist does not fling himself, without reflecting, into his work, as Curtis flung himself into the yawning gulf, as the soldier flings himself into the enemy's trenches, and if, once in this crater, he does not work like a miner on whom the walls of his gallery have fallen in; if he contemplates difficulties instead of overcoming them one by one...he is simply looking on at the suicide of his own talent.
- Honore de Balzac

Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must be cantankerous and objectionable in order to be bright; that ego is paramount over skill; that one can rise to a level from which one can tell the reader to go to hell. These myths, if believed, can ruin you.
If you believe you can make a living as a writer, you already have enough ego.
- David Brin

The reason 99% of all stories written are not bought by editors is very simple. Editors never buy manuscripts that are left on the closet shelf at home.
- John Campbell

Thank your readers and the critics who praise you, and then ignore them. Write for the most intelligent, wittiest, wisest audience in the universe: Write to please yourself.
- Harlan Ellison

Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything really good.
- William Faulkner

It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does.
- William Faulkner

@ First Sight

2008-01-05T22:09:00.000-05:00

She awoke to the calling of her name just outside the door. "Beeeccaaaa. Wake up. Lunch is almost ready."

Lunch?

She hadn't yet opened her eyes, knowing the curtains were always tied open, rolled over to spare them the abuse of the morning light. Mornings were always the worst. The dull ache pulsating throughout her head was a reminder of the amount of alcohol she'd thrown back last night. This was not going to be a pleasant awakening.

Might as well get this over with.

Her eyes popped open, and for a moment, allowed her to take in the fullness of the midday sunlight blaring throughout the room.
Then it hit. Enough pain to have brought her to her knees if she'd been standing. Her head felt like a throbbing mound of flesh. Hangovers were not her specialty given the little amount of alcohol she'd consumed in her short twenty five years. She moaned in a whisper, " I'll never do that again," while fluttering her eyelids to slowly adjust her eyes to the light.
After propping herself up, swallowing a couple of aspirin she retrieved from the nightstand and sighing in anticipation of relief, she relaxed her back against the headboard and looked around the room. It was the same bedroom she had slept in for the past five years. Nothing new.
Why then did she have this nagging feeling that something was different? Not a difference with the room, but a change in her. Like her mind held a secret that it was intent on keeping, for the sheer enjoyment of teasing her with its knowledge.

What happened last night?

Nothing she could recall outside the normal Walker family Fourth of July reunion. Her family had always been very close and her mother had a hard time letting go of her and Charlie when it was time to leave the nest, so she implemented a rule of at least one reunion a year. Most years the family was able to get together more than the required one time, but if not, they were always guaranteed a gathering on Independence Day.

So what made last night any different?

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember.
She recalled arriving around six, and being greeted with a near suffocating hug from her brother. Things had surely changed between her and Charlie since they were younger. Back then he would have acknowledged her with a swift kick to the shin or a punch in the arm, before spinning around and running out of sight. She never took the time to chase after him knowing that he would always return home around dinner time. He wouldn't dream of missing a good meal. She'd wait in his room or in the upstairs bathroom, ready to pounce the second he walked into range. It was a continuous game of cat and mouse throughout their entire adolescence. But eventually everyone grows up. And with his first year of wedded bliss, and the expectancy of a baby next month, he'd by all means grown up into a fine young man.

"How's it flowing, Sprinkle?"

Okay, so he hadn't matured in all aspects.

"Stop calling me that," she replied with a swift punch in the arm.
"I can't help it. Am I wrong or wasn't it you who almost peed their pants in public?" he teased.
"That was a long time ago, not to mention the fact that I was drunk at the time, so drop it already. Anyway, I'm doing just fine, thanks for asking. Where's Sharon?"
"Bed rest. The doctor thinks it's best that she take it easy. Besides, she's miserable anyway, the heat's really getting to her."
He leaned in close, "Personally, I love this time of year."

"Yeah well, you might feel differently if you were carrying around a baby in this kind of heat."
She tapped him on the belly and laughed. "Although, it does appear that you've sprouted quite a pooch of your own since I last saw you."

Her eyes fluttered open, pausing the memory. The conversation between her and Charlie last night had flowed as easily as ever.....

2008 Roll Call

2008-01-05T09:50:00.000-05:00

My goal of reading 50 books this year, which is a decrease from my normal goal of 75, has started with the completion of book one. Seventy-five books was just too much to handle when added to my already full plate. And though I started this book at the end of 2007, it's going in the records for 2008, the year of it's completion. Cheating? Perhaps, but it's my list and my rules! :)

1. One Mississippi-Mark Childress Rating: 8

9 to 5

2008-01-04T21:06:00.000-05:00

Era of peril and of fortune's wage
Lack of substance on a neutral plane

Eye View

2008-01-01T17:48:00.000-05:00

A sparrow drifts upon the wind
Exhaustion coffins its final descent
It seeks beyond the weeping tree
A nestled haven upon the peek

Ocean of Emotion

2008-01-01T17:45:00.000-05:00

A sea of incessant guilt
A rampant squall of fear
Winds of merciless regret
Though it's not as it appears

Waves of implausible anguish
That rupture upon my shore
Now recede into the depths
To later settle the score

All I've Left Behind

2008-01-01T17:44:00.000-05:00

I'll expunge my past
Liberate its keep
Renounce its embrace
With you sustaining me

Breakdown

2008-01-01T17:40:00.000-05:00

Damned by society
Cursed by prestige
Confined with restraints
A rebellious refugee

Exhausted face of acceptance
A step into the cage
Adopting the death of conformity
Banished to live upon the stage

Sweet Surrender With a brand new meaning

2008-01-01T17:30:00.000-05:00

Drowning in a sea of tears
Drifting blindly upon my fears
A coasting ship set western bound
Fatefully, it turned around

A winded sail in search of me
His face I've seen in all my dreams
Extended hand, without a sound
Pulled my soul to solid ground

A standing void without embrace
Instinctively he sought to fill his space
His eyes, a light, whose reach is far
My beacon, my guide, my northern star

A fantasy isle I seek no more
His anchor fell, I'm now ashore
A grateful sigh, my home at last
Burying the trail to a tainted past

My awaited life now lies in reach
A sacred vow I dare not breach
My heart, my soul, body and mind
An oath of love to out last all time

To my love, I pledge, it's set in stone
All I am, you'll forever own

Pierce

2008-01-01T17:17:00.000-05:00

I've been waiting for completion
For you to come and claim your keep
To have the one I'll call my own
Break beyond skin deep

Goals For Upcoming 2008

2007-12-30T18:56:00.000-05:00

In No Particular Order:

1. Be a saver, not a spender for the first time ever.
2. Develop a stronger tolerance to other people's personalities.
3. Find ways to desensitize, even on a small scale.
4. Build stronger trust with the people closest to me.
5. Spend more quality time with my pets and my family.
6. Gain a stronger faith and more intimate relationship with God.
7. Force the discipline needed to get a published article by the end of the year.
8. Read more, at least 50 books.
9. Cut out all sodas by January 15th.
10. Learn to cook at least 7 different meals.
11. Marry and start working on a family.

Rap Game

2007-12-20T17:39:00.000-05:00

"I'm Van But Nut!"

2007-12-09T20:51:00.000-05:00

TOP 10 COMIC RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. Y: The Last Man
2. Fables
3. Four Women
4. The Walking Dead
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
6. Fell
7. Strangers in Paradise
8. The Exterminators
9. Dark Tower
10. Pieces for Mom (single issue)

2007-12-09T20:37:00.000-05:00

TOP 15 BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. Pride and Prejudice-Jane Austen
2. A Painted House-John Grisham
3. Eragon-Christopher Paolini
4. Grapes of Wrath-John Steinbeck
5. Wicked-Gregory Maguire
6. Water for Elephants-Sara Gruen
7. The Color Purple-Alice Walker
8. The Pact-Jodi Picoult
9. The Loch-Steve Alten
10. White Oleander-Janet Fitch
11. The Icewind Dale Trilogy-R.A. Salvatore
12. Monster-Frank Peretti
13. This Present Darkness-Frank Peretti
14. Bride Most Begrudging-Deanne Gist
15. The Secret Life of Bees-Sue Monk Kidd

Comics Continued

2007-08-20T21:37:00.000-04:00

Hero Street #1*****Speak of the Devil #1*****Action Philosophers #4 World Domination Handbook*****Fell. #6*****Fell. #6*****Simpsons Comics #132*****Texas Chainsaw Massacre: About a Boy #1

Comics I've Read So Far

2007-08-18T20:34:00.000-04:00

*****Futurama-o-rama*****Concrete 6-Strange Armor*****Y: The Last Man-Unmanned*****Invincible: Family Matters*****Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror #12*****Betty #166*****Buffy: The Long Way Home, Part 1*****Buffy: The Long Way Home, Part 2*****Buffy: The Long Way Home, Part 3*****Buffy: The Long Way Home, Part 4*****Dork #11*****Fables: Legends in Exile*****Fables: Animal Farm*****Fables: Storybook Love*****Fables: The Mean Seasons*****Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers*****Fables: Homelands*****Fables: Arabian Nights (and Days)*****Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 1*****Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 2

FABLES are fantastic

2007-08-12T19:10:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the most wonderful man I've ever known, I am now addicted to the FABLES comic series. Wonderful tales to rival any and all novels I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

I find myself finishing one and already craving the next addition. I'm at the very end of number 5 and will then lie in wait for the next batch to be placed inside my mailbox in the days to come.

Had I known comics like this could exist, I would have entered this world a long time ago. Thank you Soon for sharing this with me and for exposing me to such a wonderful series.

MEG: Hell's Aquarium

2007-08-05T11:58:00.000-04:00

It has finally happened. After weeks of waiting for a response, I found out Friday that I was picked to be a character in the upcoming Steve Alten book, MEG: Hell's Aquarium! Mere words could not begin to express how excited and happy I am.

Steve Alten is one of my favorite authors and the MEG series is the best series I've read by far. So to be picked as a character in the fourth installment of this series is an honor indeed.

And an even greater honor is potentially in store as I wait to see if my character will be used as nutrition for the fascinating Megalodon simply known as Meg. I want to be eaten! Keep your fingers crossed...and pick up the book when it hits bookshelves next summer!

When Words Are Not Enough...

2007-07-13T21:08:00.000-04:00

Natural fragrance

2007-07-12T23:27:00.000-04:00

Flowers may have a short life span, but they pack an incredible punch to the heart when they're delivered by surprise. Eight hours in a room of estrogen enhanced envy as the smell from such a beautiful boutique lingered for the nose to savor.

Lillies, of all colors, are the perfect addition to any arrangement. Stargazers, the ultimate topper. Boutiques of variety are preferred as it brings such a mixture of color, shape and smell.

Flowers...nature's way to say, "I'm thinking about you."

Shakespeare 116

2007-06-28T22:20:00.000-04:00

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

All In One

2007-06-22T17:56:00.000-04:00

Pedestal of perfection
The standard of your perch
Assured of soul completion
Now surrendering the search

Standing still as darkness falls
Amid the thunder's roar
Your open arms, a thought away
My soul has been restored