Break out the Umbrella, I'm having a Brain Storm!

I've hit a wall ... OUCH! (That reminds me of a good joke. A guy walks int a bar ... Ouch! ... Oh come on...my dad loves that one!)

Ok, so this wall that I've hit is made of all sorts of "You've done what you could on this book, now you must sit back and wait for what others think." Not my favorite kind of wall, I think I'd rather come into contact with a big fat brick wall.

So now what do I do?

Time to find a new idea!!!

*cowers into a corner*

But none of my ideas have sounded good enough yet!

*gets dragged out of corner*

FINE! I suppose I'll brainstorm.

*thunder*

*lightning*

So I've been looking up tactics online, as well as creating a few of my own. Still haven't come up with the next best seller though.

So you tell me, what are your best brainstorming techniques? How do you get your juices going? (Does anyone have a brain juicer? ... oh dear ... mental picture ... I take that request back!)

How did you think up your latest idea? Share your secrets with me. I'm nice, I won't spread them around! I promise!

I almost lost count...

Then I looked back and found that it is day 14. Day 14 without Twitter and Facebook ... and it's going well. The Blackberry is kinda boring, as is the internet, but I love how much I've read.

I've already added two more books. One (Thirteen Reasons Why) I read today. I could not put it down. The ending fell a little flat for me, but other than that to book was great. Over the weekend I read Stephen King's "On Writing". I didn't learn as much as I had hoped while reading it, but I really enjoyed it regardless.

And I have to thank you all for all your suggestions. I am at the library right now picking up or placing on hold at least 75% of them already. I will let you know which one I like the best :) If anyone has any to add let me know. I've only got 26 more days to go!

In other news ... I want to apologize for my sporadic posting. We are moving at the end of the month!!! Unfortunately, the thing about moving is, it takes up a LOT of time! On top of packing I've had to clean and Clean and CLEAN for all the people coming through to look at the place. UGH! So if you don't see a post you can safely assume that I am on another cleaning spree and therefore probably NOT happy! LOL

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???

Because I LOVE to read!

I've recently found myself confused. I THOUGHT I was a writer, but as of late I am better known as a reader! That's all I do. Read, read, read, read, read!

This is how my day goes..

I wake up. (Ok that was a given...)

Drive the family taxi to drop off most of my family members to an area where they can not bother me while I'm reading (AKA School and Work)

I come home (You saw that one coming too didn't you!)

I Blog (Because it IS necessary!)

I read

I feed the last lingering family member lunch, fix myself lunch....(ok ok...then I play Bejeweled while I eat lunch...but that's not important. It's like a daily action necessary to function...kinda like going to the bathroom!)

I put the lingering family member (AKA the youngest child) down for "Quiet Time"/nap time so that I can....get this....READ

I read until he wakes up and/or starts begging to get out of bed so he can go play, which ever comes last....

So then I force myself to pick up the house until I have to get back in the momobile and pick up my reading distractions (AKA the older children)

At this point I make them do their chores and homework while I do one of the three following things....help clean (rare), play Bejeweled again (because remember, it's like going pee, it's necessary to function!) or well...I read

So then I pile everyone back into the Poppins Portal Device (AKA the Family Taxi and/or the Momobile) and pick up the last reading distraction....the husband

BUT I always leave early enough so that I can bring a book and read in the car while I'm waiting for him :)

Then I come home again (Again....kinda obvious)

I feed the slave drivers...cuz I guess that's my job....sigh

I attempt to pay attention to the family...I really do, but usually I'm thinking about the book I'm reading (Shhhhh don't tell them)

Then I put all my distractions to bed and the husband and I curl up in bed with our books and proceed to ignore each other with a good book until we fall asleep.

NOW if only I could put that much time and dedication into cleaning or writing I'd be quite accomplished...BUT right now, I'd rather read :)

(So um yes, if you need my address for the "Worst Mom/Wife of the Year" award you are planning on sending me....it can be found on google...just type in "Mary Smith" and um....good luck with that!)

For a list of the books I've read in the last two months (which is quite impressive I might add) visit my Web Site

Also, don't forget to visit If You Give a Girl a Pen today!!!

I've been sucked in ... again ...

So I've been sucked in again. If you've been reading my blog for awhile you may have noticed that I kinda like the Harry Potter and Twilight series.

It's no big deal ... it's not like I am obsessed with them or anything. Reading a book series 4 or 5 times is perfectly natural. People do it all the time.

And who wouldn't want to carry around an action figure of their favorite book character?


However -yet again - I have found a new series that I have been unable to put down. The characters are fantastic and the story is wonderful. Now I realize that this story is meant for a slightly younger audience (middle grade) I am absolutely in love with it.

Let me introduce to you Percy Jackson and the Olympians.


The story is about a young boy who discovers he is half god half mortal. He battles all sorts of mythical creatures (Greek Mythology types) and has to prove himself as a hero.

So I'm going to have to cut this post short so I can go finish reading.

Tour de Chateau Poppins

Welcome to Poppins Palace. Come on in, let me give you a tour! I hope the motes didn't give you too much trouble...we've been working on them all week!

(Don't worry about taking your shoes off at the door, my carpet magically cleans itself every four hours.)

As you walk into the foyer you will see a big winding stair case to your right, a long hallway straight ahead and a den off to your left. Let's start with the den shall we? Great!

In the Poppins den you will see a vast array of bookshelves filled to the brim. You will see one bookshelf dedicated to Harry Potter and the Twilight  *Update* Hunger Games Series. This bookshelf is off limits. Do not touch or remove these books from the shelf or there will be penalties! However...do feel free to peruse the remaining bookshelves, especially the one directly to your left that holds all my published works. I'm so excited that Penguin Books *Update* Harper Teen decided to sign me! (Big Dreams)

As you can see, although it was sunny and warm before you entered my palace, the windows clearly state that it is raining. The weather did not change that quickly. Instead the windows in the den rain on a 24/7 basis to instill a calm and soothing atmosphere perfect for relaxation and reading. This room even smells spring fresh. Breath in a wiff....ahhhhhh....smell the fresh cut wet grass!

Moving along....Yes, I know...I find it hard to leave this room as well.

We will walk directly upstairs now to see the next relaxation room. The stairs were built centuries ago, but don't be nervous, they are very sturdy! I've tripped on them a few times myself through the years. These are unbreakable these stairs are!!!

You are now entering a large studio like room with one small room branching off to the right. As you can see the canopy bed holds at the very minimum 284 pillows (each is ALWAYS cold on both sides...) and has 3 down comforters covering it. For maximum sleeping potential the room becomes a steady 55 degrees every evening and white noise automatically sounds from the speakers above. The room darkens the minute you make contact with the pillows and the sunny windows again turn to rain. Its ingenious I tell you!

To the right you will see the bathroom. Feel free to stop in and take a moment to look around and if you need to use the facilities go ahead. Notice the LARGE whirlpool in the center of the room, complete with waterproof Kindle and surrounding candles. The speaker system has a large library of all music and at least 2494 different play lists to fit each mood. This bathroom is especially spectacular because like the carpets...it cleans itself.

If you would follow me down...hey you...don't you even thinking about stopping on my bed!!! Come now...follow the rest of us. You can grimace all you want, but this is MY palace!

Down the long hallway you will find 3 doors. One leads to a small boring but self cleaning bathroom. It would be ridiculous to walk upstairs every time you needed to go! Plus then you'd be tempted to take another bath and seriously....who needs like 4 baths a day! Talk about the wrinkled fingers!

So to your right is my kitchen. This room is not self cleaning, however it comes with 3 chefs and one maid that cleans up after them. Notice the 32 cupboards which house all my dishes, wine glasses, margarita glasses, martini glasses, etc. as well as the 10 by 10 walk in pantry where I can actually store all my food! Please don't pester the chefs, they are making my lunch!

(Did I mention that not only are they absolutely gorgeous, but they all speak with Brittish Accents as well?)

You'll see the dining area attached to your left here. This dark cherry red wood table is from 17th century and is scratch and stain resistant. Feel free to sit down if you are getting thirsty or hungry. I'm sure my 2nd chef can whip us up some quick cheesecake.

Well now that our bellies are full (who requested the cheese fries again....oh...*blushing* that was me wasn't it) Let us continue to the living room across the hall. OH I know it looks like a movie theater...but look, my computer desk is over there in the corner next to the big comfy couch, so I prefer to call this my living room. I've got connections so I have every movie imaginable, even the ones that just came out in the theater. Here put on these 3D glasses. Let's watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!

Thank you for visiting my happy place. I hope you enjoyed your tour. Please come back for dinner sometime. I taught my chef how to make my Alfredo sauce and I have a vintage 1940's bottle of Merlot in the cellar I've been dying to share! Maybe I can even show you the gardens or the tennis courts out side next time. There just isn't enough time in the day to do the outside AND inside of my happy place :) (Did I mention the pool boys have British accents to go with those rock hard abs too?)