How Fasting Made me Sick - Day 9

Ok, so really it was my husband. But I'd prefer to blame it on my twitter/facebook fasting! So not enjoying my soar throat and stuffy nose.

Must go spend the remainder of the day reading.

Speaking of Reading! Here are the books I've read so far this year...

The Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Shiver
The Bell Jar
And I'm finishing A Wrinkle In Time right now

Plus I have The Catcher in the Rye and 13 Reasons Why sitting on my table waiting to be cracked open.

All in all I've had a pretty lame reading year so far. Well the books weren't lame, just the amount of books I've read has been lame.

So how many books have you read so far this year? Which ones?

Still on my list...

The Dark Divine
Hush Hush
Fallen

What else should I add to my list???

Oh Crap, how many days has it been again? 132?

No, only 8. FEELS like 132 though!

So just thought I would cut the suspense with my plastic knife and tell you all WHICH little fact was actually true.

Jon guessed right.

My husband and I were playing for a couple's night at the bowling alley. He begrudgingly accepted me as his partner and away we played!

During the night prizes were awarded and little games were played for extra cash.

We happened to get chosen for one game. The rule was one player would roll the ball down and the second player would have to knock down the same amount of pins. My husband decided I should go first. YAY!

I rolled a gutter ball...

We were disqualified...

He was irritate... (Did I mention my husband usually bowls about a 175 - 200?)

So the evening went on and at the end of the night they started handing out all the awards for best bowling team and so on and so forth.

The look on my husbands face when they announced our names as "The Worst Score" of the evening was priceless! But hey, we won $25 for it! He can't say I never won him anything!

Day Eight of My Crazy Fasting

What better way to get through a day of fasting than by redirecting my attention!

Thanks to Jon, I am able to write a blog post dedicated to ... um ... well ... lies. You know, like saying, "I love not using twitter!" is a HUGE lie!

BUT if I gave you 7 Possible Lies would you be able to tell me which one is true???

Well I got this "Creative Writer" award



and the rules are as follows...

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link them.
2. Add the award to your blog.
3. Tell six outrageous lies about yourself and one truth.

So Super thanks Jon! You rock!!! (I promise that isn't one of my lies...)

And you tell me, which one is the truth?

1. I hate getting a back massage

2. I can solve the Rubix Cube

3. I have 16 illegitimate kids who work in my basement making fuzzy stickers.

4. I once won $25 for having the lowest bowling score.

5. I am the best salsa dancer EVER!

6. I cheat when I play video games and I don't even feel guilty about it!

7. My favorite Kool-Aid as a kid was "The Great Bluedini"

Alright kids, have a go at it! Which one is True? I'll even give you a clue ... I REALLY can't dance!

Day Seven Twitter/Facebook Free!

Top 10 Things that are WORSE than Fasting from Social Media

(Bet you didn't think there could be 10 things worse than spending every waking hour away from the two best websites ever invented!)

10. My neighbors dog. He barks...and barks...and barks. 7am? Yep, still barking! 10pm? Why yes, that is the neighbors dog barking! Fancy that!

9. Mushrooms. AKA Fungus. Why do people eat fungus?

8. Query Wars!!! Need I say more?

7. Cleaning. (Which doubly sucks when you are fasting from twitter and facebook because it is the only thing left to do most days...so not cool!)

6. Packing. We are moving next month and I have to start packing. I hate packing.

5. Moving. Lifting heavy things should be banned. I'm little. I'm not very strong. I do not lift heavy things! Alright who wants to teach me the spell for moving my stuff without actually lifting ANYTHING? Anyone?

4. Diets! Though I do agree that Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels...I still really like ice cream and cheese fries.

3. Screaming children. ALMOST as bad as the neighbors dog barking, but the screaming usually lasts only 5 % of the time that the barking.

2. Waiting. I'm really not a huge fan of waiting. I'd like to think I'm a rather patient person, but yeah, I'm not even close! I really want to be moved into my new house, have an agent and a published book NOW!!!

1. Brain mush. My brain is complete mush right now. I want to write, but I'm not feeling the love for any of my new ideas. Thus mush. Brain mush is by far the worse thing in the world.

So there you have it. There are indeed 10 things worse than staying away from my favorite websites. (And/Or I'm really just trying to make myself feel better. It's kinda up in the air!)

Day Six of Twitter/Facebook Fasting

I had a busy weekend, so the withdrawal was minimal. Though I did come to one huge realization...

The Crackberry is Boring without social media.

Day Three Twitter/Facebook Fasting

I am now sending emails in 140 characters or less. #twitterfastingFAIL

I felt empty last night when I could not announce to twitter that I was eating ice cream. #twitterfastingFAIL

Not sure how to get through my #followfriday without announcing all my favorite twiends. #twitterfastingFAIL

Cannot get through a sentence without using a hash tag. #twitterfastingFAIL

Feeling the need to speak in hash tags is confusing my husband. #twitterfastingFAIL

"Hey @TobbySmith, can you help me make dinner?" #housewifeFAIL #twitterfastingFAIL

Feel lost and broken without saying #windinmyhhhaaaiiirrrr at least once a day. #twitterfastingFAIL

Feeling the INTENSE urge to check each of these sentences in twitter to make sure I don't go more than 140 characters. #twitterfastingEPICFAIL

(Ok really, I'm doing pretty good. I haven't opened up twitter once and I am barely shaking anymore. #twitterfastingWIN!!!)

Day Two of Twitter/Facebook Fasting

So the sweats have subsided, but I'm still a little shaky. I ate a giant bowl of ice cream last night to make me feel better, it helped.

The husband thinks I'm insane. Well that's obvious! He thinks I should have given up the Crackberry instead. HA! Like that could ever happen!!!

I told him I think he should give up beer!

He totally shut up after that suggestion.

So I know everyone thinks I am crazy and all, but I am going to take a moment to explain.

I've given up twitter and facebook for lent because it is my way to force myself off the computer and spend more time with my family.

So far .... Hold on, gotta tell my son to stir the mac and cheese for me ... What?!?! ... Ok so as I was saying, so far I've been able to read half of Shiver while my boys read their books, go to Church last night, and super SUPER clean my house.

Um...now what do I do? I think I'm supposed to play a board game or something, right?

So 38 days left. Let me just tell ya, you guys are going to be feeling the blog love this month! I have to keep in touch somehow ya know!

Ok so who is going to tweet my link today? Think of me while you do it, I'm going to totally live vicariously through that one tweet....sigh...

And then when you are done head over to Shannon's Blog for your chance to win the Wake Trilogy!!!!

Experiencing Withdrawal! Day One of Lent

I decided to give up Facebook and Twitter for Lent. Somebody smack me upside the head. I can already feel the symptoms of withdrawal coming on.

My fingers are all itchy wanting to click on jewels.

I can't stop shaking and rocking back and forth as I think about all the tweets about #windinmyhaaaaiiirrrr and #querypityparty that I am missing.

My palms are sweaty.

I NEED to click on something! I NEED to send a tweet!
As you can see I am giving up Twitter and Facebook for a good reason.

If Jesus can go 40 days and 40 nights without food to keep him alive, surely I can go 40 days and 40 nights without seeing my dad say, "I like wine." and "I like chocolate.". Surely I can spend that time not stalking agent tweets to see if they liked my query. Surely I can survive without discussing whether or not I am Team Peeta or Team Gale...

right? Right? RIGHT?!?!?!.

So ummmmm, who's gonna tweet and post my blog link for me??? AHHHHHHHHHH

*heads for a jar of cookies*

A Question of Intense Interest

I was not sure if I was going to write or not today, considering my mind is still in query mush mode, but then I came across some tweets from yesterday that got my mind going and I felt the need to post.

I was going to apologize for sharing this personal information with you, but in all retrospect, I don't feel sorry about it. I can't help who I am, and I rather like who I've become as a result of it. Please note however that I am not looking for sympathy, I am just looking for an answer.

That being said...

Through a series of agent posts I noticed a couple (unnamed) agents saying they wish they would see more books about children/teens with mental illnesses and psychological disorders.

This struck me as odd.

As a person with a very serious (and unfortunately misdiagnosed through most of my life) mental illness myself, I don't understand the intrigue. Growing up with bipolar disorder was difficult and depressing, especially as it went untreated until I was 17, then mistreated until I was 26. I've lived a life of making poor and irrational decisions while on highs and lows. Decisions that have left me with a world of messes to clean up as an adult.

To make matters worse, this disease is genetic, leaving me feeling incredibly guilty about my 7 year old son who was recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder as well. Watching him is heart breaking and a nightmare. It reminds me of things I felt when I was young and as a parent makes me feel terribly helpless.

So my question is, why would people want to read about any of this? What would be entertaining about reading the experiences of a child struggling with depression?

Do you understand the intrigue? Would it interest you to read a book of this nature?

Can't think...

Am querying.

Mind not working.

Must find chocolate.

Will return when sanity comes back.

Anyone seen a butterfly net?

A little Reprise about Coffee

I wrote this post about a year ago, but am in the reconsidering stages of my decision to, "Just Say No." So I decided to repost and see if I could get any new tips and/or arguments!

Enjoy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I read a post this morning called "Why I Drink". Well if you are a mother, there is not need to inquire further upon that statement. If we have children, if we have husbands, if we have pets....it's impossible to make it through the duties of wife and mother without a LARGE glass of wine from time to time. (Can I get an Amen!!!)

Then I began to think about my own mother. Although I do remember there being a box of White Zin, (Why yes, I did just say a box. My mama was classy!)I don't recall seeing her drink NEARLY as often as I've witnessed most mothers to do these days. Granted my mother was practically a saint....or so I believed and chose to continue believing... So I questioned this. Since current day mothers now get by with our wine, how did my mom do it? EPIPHANY!!!! She drank coffee! Sigh........

I have, for many years now, been REFUSING to become a coffee drinker. Although my nose perks up and I and savor the scent every time I come in contact with that evil enticing liquid, the moment it makes contact with my mouth I have a natural reaction to spit out the entire sip. (Serious question here! Why does coffee not taste as wonderful as it smells? That's deceiving!) But in addition to the sludge flavor, I refuse to evoke a new addiction. I've had friends, family and co-workers try to convert me. My response being, "I will NOT give in to your peer pressure!!!" (Way to sound like a seasoned teenager eh!)

But back to thinking about my mother, and all these mothers...and heck, let's take it a step further, all my new found internet friends, blog writers, blog readers, mothers, aspiring authors, etc.. There is one thing in common with each and every one of you. Yes, you guessed it! You are ALL evil coffee drinkers! *GASP* I mean seriously, one of my favorite blogs, Pajama's and Coffee, even has the damn word in her title!!!!

Am I truly that naive? Have you all been trying to convert me for better reasons than just peer pressure? Have I been failing to answer the call to the best little bean to hit the earth? (Seriously...It hits the earth, it grows...ok bad joke!) Why have I been fighting so hard? **Bows her head in shame**

So here is the real question kids...answer truthfully...is Coffee really the secret to success? Does it truly make you a better writer, mother, wife, etc....? Tell me....Tell Me...TELL ME!!!

New Ideas

As I am rounding the corner and preparing to query I find myself coming into unfamiliar territory...

I've got my book ready.

I'm waiting for one more critique.

I've got a pretty almost perfectly polished query.

There is absolutely NOTHING more I can do on my book...at the moment...

So now what do I do?

Well of course, I send out my queries. Then I wait.

But what do I do while I wait?

I felt absolutely lost yesterday without a manuscript to work on. It was almost torture! And thus, I know it's time to come up with a new idea. I can't just sit and wait for answers. I MUST write. I MUST work on something. I am incapable of just sitting around and doing nothing. (Ask any old co-worker. I hate being bored. I love working! I'm a strange strange person, but you already knew that!)

So.....new ideas....

Why is this harder than it sounds. I did have a few ideas that got lost in the big "Virus Extravaganza 2010", but I'm not really feeling those ideas. I came up with a really good idea this weekend, but it's slightly cliche' and I can't figure out a good twist. I want to be original. I don't want to write about vampires and ghosts and all that other hot stuff right now. I want to write something NEW! Yeah...that's kinda hard to come up with.

Does anyone else have moments of empty brain? Lack of brain juices? Momentary loss of creativity? OR is it just me?

Maybe I should ask my 4yr old what to write about...but I'm not so sure I can come up with a good plot involving trees and butter....

Life Changes

My life has gone through some abrupt and large changes lately. Unfortunately not the kind of changes I would prefer. (AKA Getting "The Call" and becoming a widely known author) but I am now forced to adjust.

Adjusting can be difficult. Even when it is adjusting to the changes that we DO prefer.

So then the question swarmed through my mind, "How will I adjust to the changes that come with publishing?"

Wow! Big question!

I'm used to being a writer. I'm used to writing my novels for me. I'm used to agonizing over query letters. I'm used to my heart breaking over rejection.

But...

How will I get used to having an agent? How will I get used to finding a publisher? How will I get used to finally fulfilling my dream!?!?

These are going to be some pretty big life changes. And don't get me wrong, I am SOOOOO ready for them. If they want to pile up on me tomorrow, it's all good!

But do you ever ask yourself these questions? Do you ever wonder HOW your life will changes when you finally reach success?

Are you ready?