Mistakes, Reviews, Edit!

Okay Everyone should know by now...I'm a sucker for my daily horoscope and today is no different, but I love how it always works to my advantage when it comes to writing a blog post. So without further ado, here is My Horoscope for today

Don't be afraid to look for (and find) mistakes in your work -- after all, isn't it better to discover something that you did wrong yourself, rather than have the big boss or teacher discover it? Sure, it might require more energy or time to proofread or double check something, but instigating a positive change is always worth the extra effort. You need to build a reputation as someone who gets it right, not just someone who gets it done on time.

Okay so I have been looking for reviews on my novelette "Kyle & Kelly" Which was free this past weekend. Now I'm not a professional reviewer myself and really hate to give negative reviews or even constructive ones, it's just not me, but if I read a book and I like it, I will leave a quick review for the author on amazon or smashwords, or wherever their book is and I will review it here on my blog. Anyway I have been searching for people to review my book but I'm sorry, I am not going to pay someone $25 to give me a review! Besides there are plenty of my copies that people have purchased out there that I shouldn't have to pay for a review.  I'm cheap! I learned that from my dad :-) But I learned from my mom that if you are going to do something, do it right!

So now on to Mistakes!

Also I am not going to pay someone $3 a page to proofread and edit my book. I'm sorry once again, but as I said, I'm cheap." BUT and that's a big word! That doesn't mean that I should just throw it together and publish it without reading through it, time and time again myself. Yes we all use spell checker, including myself, And no it doesn't find "Hi" misspelled, even though it should say "His" Or that you wrote "your" instead of "you're" or even the fact that you somehow put an extra word in like "He is was the whatever" Yes sometimes my grammar is off and my puncuation isn't in the right place, and I have fragmented sentences (Hey, that's how my character said it in my head!) But I don't want people to give me a bad review because I didn't take the time to read through my own story and find my mistakes before I put it out there for the whole world to see.

 I don't want to give you a bad review based on your mistakes. I want to give you a good review because your story intrigued me, made me laugh, or cry. I know it's hard when you have a 100,000 word novel. Print it up and read through it. Enlist the help of family and friends to see if you have mistakes. I know we all get in a hurry.

 I got the idea for "Kyle & Kelly" on the 10th of January after receiving my jury duty summons. I wrote it out and must have read it 50 times before taking the plunge to self publish it. It is only 78 pages. It would have been 113 pages if I hadn't had problems with embedded fonts and formatting, because I ended up using the Arial font instead of Times New Roman. I had it published and available by the 3rd of February (My birthday!) Yes, I was in a hurry also, but I hope that when people read it they will like it or hate it because of the story and not because of mistakes. Please and I can't say this enough.. If you are cheap like I am, read and reread your story, find your mistakes, and be proud of your work.

If anyone would like to read "Kyle & Kelly" and review it and yes look for my mistakes, let me know and I can send you a copy.  

Oh and just so you know, I have very tough skin and you can't offend me, unless you tell me I'm rude, which seems to cause little mental breakdowns on my part!

:-) Have a great day everyone! 

Should vs. Supposed to vs. Need!

Good morning and Happy Monday and Tuesday to everyone!
I, like you, have a lot of things I need to get done and my blog post is first on my list!
So I thought I'd share some of my goals for the week with you today and see if you can relate.
I have a lot of books in my kindle so I really need to get some reading done,
but here are the top four I hope to get read this week.

• "Frozen Past" is the new one out by "Richard C Hale" I read Richard's novel "Near Death" and I like his writing style. You can find "Frozen Past" here, 

http://www.amazon.com/Frozen-Past-ebook/dp/B007HETCU6/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1332169433&sr=1-4

• Next is "The Butterfly and The Bull" by Stuart Haddon and you can find it here

http://www.amazon.com/The-Butterfly-Bull-ebook/dp/B005Z4TWMS/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1332169600&sr=1-1 

• Then I have "LOL" by Charlie Nitric and you can find it here  

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/141623

• And last but not least is "Eternal Darkness" by Natalie Hancock and you guessed it, find it here!  http://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Darkness-Cursed-ebook/dp/B0076U1UT2/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1332170180&sr=1-6 

Last week I read  "Indie Authors Make Better Lovers" by Vonda Norwood And it was funny, fun, and a sexy read and you can find it here
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/140487
Okay now for the rest of my to do list!

• Put the finishing touches on "The Good Dr. Grant"
• Format it
• Write the blurb for it
• And get it uploaded to createspace
• Work/decide on the cover for "Chris' Journey Turning Different Corners"
• CLEAN HOUSE!
• Give my poor dog a much needed haircut and bath

Well that's my week. How's yours shaping up?
Oh and I forgot to say, get back on my workout schedule! And I just have to share my horoscope for today. Love it!
Aquarius
March 19, 2012
The completion of a long-term goal might have you feeling enthusiastic, energetic, and happy. You're also likely to be looking to the future, Aquarius, formulating ideas for other projects and discussing them with friends. Group activities could benefit you at this time and put you in touch with new people who could possibly become close to you. In the evening, go to an exciting movie. A thriller would suit you just fine.
As for a movie, Nah, but maybe One of those books I mentioned!

Let's Talk About Sex

HaHa! I knew that would get your attention! I have questions...
I know... mother of three and I had to google, "How to write a sex scene"
Hangs head in shame. But I still have questions!

I was reading a blog post and the guy said something to the point of,
"And make sure they have safe sex. Always use a condom, unless they are procreating."
Does your hero stop and say, "Wait, let me put my condom on?"
I know with STD's and aids and unwanted pregnancies, that yes they should, but do you write about it?
When my sons first started going out, I'd give them the speech...
"No drinking, no drugs and wear a rubber."
And you'd think they'd be shocked, but normally their response,
"No problem, no problem, and always."
No wonder I don't have any grandbabies!
And if you find my little speech shocking let me point out that
here in my city we have a special class for 14 year old pregnant girls.
Maybe more parents should give my little speech...

Okay next question! And maybe it's not really a question, but I would like to hear your thoughts on it.
A publisher's submission guidelines
"No sex under 21"
I had my hero and heroine wait until they were 18 and yes, they forgot the condom, and yes she got pregnant and yes, I am breaking all the rules here, I know, but 21?

Okay last question and it's for the guys, so if you're not a guy grab the closest one and ask them...
Does a guy worry that his partner is comparing "him" to their ex while having sex?
I know we are from two different planets and that some guys do worry, "Did they satisfy them." but I'm talking on a deeper self esteem level.
Okay that's my questions :-) Hope everyone is having a great day!

Another Rejection Letter

I know the title sounds horrible, but...
Yes, I did receive another rejection email yesterday.
And at first I was actually happy because...
I have been thinking of self publishing this particular book.
It's the first book in my series "Chris' Journey Turning Different Corners"
And then I was depressed...
What's wrong with this book? It's a great story!
And then I was...Hmm...I don't know...Understanding, maybe?
I have read countless blogs about querying and they tell you,
                       "Do your homework!"
And they are right! From the beginning I have questioned my genre with this particular story.
Is it a "Romance?" Yes, basically speaking, but it has all these other variables to it.
It starts out with "Chris" being a 12 year old foster child and gets to 18, falling in love,
having sex, getting married, and then tragedy strikes crashing her world down around her,
Then there's abuse, and new friends, and turning points, acceptance, and closure at the age of 22,
but no HEA, because...That's where book two comes in...

Okay, so to sum it up, this is what the rejection letter said;
"Unfortunately, after careful consideration of your manuscript, we have determined that it does not fit our needs"
And they are right! Even though the agents and publishers I have queried are looking for romance novels and series, mine really does not fit their needs.
They aren't saying it's not a good story, just that as a romance novel,
it doesn't fit with the typical ones that they publish. I also know, from doing my homework,
that the last book in the series (Which was originally written as a stand alone) would fit,
but I want the first three books out there first and then I'll look into querying the final one.

Just remember "Rejection letters" can be a good thing!
Just keep doing your homework and don't give up on your dream.

Me? A Writer?

First let me wish you a Happy Monday. Good morning everyone! I'm afraid this is going to be a long post so grab a cup of coffee and get comfortable. :-) I got up and found 99 new emails this morning.
I follow a lot of blogs. 99 isn't too bad though as long as I tackle them all today. Last week there were over 2000 unread emails and let's just say I was a little slow at checking my emails.
But...My post today is about me being a writer. I have been reading a lot of author interviews on blogs and usually the first question is;
"When did you know you wanted to be a writer?" And you will usually find answers like;
"When I was 9. I started writing short stories or describing my grandma's sugar cookies or, when I was 5, I wrote everything."

Personally, when I was 5, I was having imaginary tea with Elvis while sitting at my little table and chairs in my bedroom. I wasn't thinking of becoming a writer, but I had a great imagination! My "When I grow up, I want to be..." Was usually a teacher, or a secretary working in an office keeping everything organized for a business.

I, like all of you, have worn many different hats from wife, to mother, or father, to animal lover, and have had different jobs. Some interesting, fun, and exciting, others not so much so, but they all taught me valuable things. I was the cleaning lady for the YWCA, I worked in one of those little photo booths that they used to stick in parking lots where people would drive up and turn in their film and a couple of days later they'd drive back up and pick up their pictures. I even got robbed there during my first 3 weeks! Now that was scary, but I hung in there until the owner closed the place down about a year later.
 I worked for the school district off and on for 17 years. I was a noon aid, a food service worker, and even a reader for the blind in those 17 years. During my last year I decided to go to college.
Wow, me starting college at 40. I decided I wanted to change my age group and open a board and care for the elderly. I retired from the school district, rolled over my retirement to a traditional IRA and it was off to school. I lost my mom at the end of my first year to colon cancer and lost my brother at the beginning of my last semester a year and a half later to congestive heart failure, but I went on to graduate and got my A.A. degree. A few months after losing my brother I got a job working for a rental car company and my goal to open a board and care got pushed to the wayside.

 A few years later, while still working there, I decided I wanted to be a gift basket designer and was doing well enough at it that a few years later, I even opened a gift shop designing custom gift baskets and party sets. I decided to close my gift shop after 3 years due to the economy and a business partner who was going through a nasty divorce and failed to tell me he hadn't paid the rent in 7 months. My landlord was a great guy and I could have stayed open, but decided it was time to move on. And that was in February 2011. So here I sat wondering what to do. Throughout all these years I have had fantasies running through my head and the one at that time was so strong that in May I decided to sit down and write it out. In fact I was on the third chapter and decided I better google how to write a story. I didn't know what POV or HEA was. Heck I had to google how to write a sex scene! So here I am, not quite into a year and I'm a writer. Who would have thought that all those fantasies and my imagination would lead me to here.

Description Exercises

Have you ever had a conversation and then walk away thinking, "I should have said that!" You know... hindsight! Don't we all wish we had that! Well that's what I love about blogs. I can say "hey I should of said that or added that" and here I am editing! A comment from IntricateKnot and you can find her blog here  http://intricateknot.blogspot.com/ triggered an AHA moment for me. So with much ado I have to add to this blog post :-))
I was reading a blurb a couple of weeks ago for this one book and the description in the paragraph was mind blowing and not in a good way. They way overdid their description to the point that 12 words out of 20, I didn't know if they were actual words that I could find in the dictionary or if they were made up words, but this got me to thinking about my own writing and I realized I don't describe enough. I tend to rely heavily on dialogue between my characters and make my readers use their imagination, maybe sometimes too much!
So I'm thinking there has got to be a fine line there somewhere. Where do you find it? Or do you? Do you rely too much on the dialogue or too much on the description? I'd love to hear how you balance out the two.


Good Morning and Happy Friday! It is VERY WINDY in my area this morning and it has triggered my blog post for today.
How do you describe the wind? What if it's a blustery wind? Exactly what is a blustery wind? Well according to my dictionary Blustery is

3.

vi blow loudly in gusts: to blow in sudden loud gusts (refers to winds) What is wind? According to the dictionary 1. moving air: air moving across the surface of the planet or through the atmosphere at a speed fast enough to be noticed  So how do you describe it? What if you needed to describe wind to someone who has never felt it? What about water? Or try explaining a lush green lawn to someone who can't see it. Sometimes it's easier to describe solid objects. A person, a house, things we can touch or hold. But explaining thoughts, feelings, actions, and emotions can be difficult at times. Take the time to look around you today and work on describing things you see and can't see. .Picture yourself describing these thing to someone who can't see or feel  them. Have fun with it! Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Are you stuck in your comfort zone?

A Friend emailed this to me this morning. It says it was written by an anonymous author, but It fit's every one of us that have stepped out of our comfort zone and realized we were brave enough to try new things, learn new skills, and to have more confidence in ourselves.  For all of you and me!

The Comfort Zone
by Anonymous

I used to have a comfort zone
where I knew I couldn't fail,
The same four walls of busy work
were really more like a jail


I longed so much to do the things
I'd never done before,
But I stayed inside my comfort zone
and paced the same old floor


I said it didn't matter
that I wasn't doing much,
I said I didn't care for things
like diamonds or furs and such


I claimed to be so busy
with the things inside my zone,
But deep inside I longed for
something special of my own


I couldn't let my life go by
just watching others win,
I held my breath and stepped outside
to let the change begin


I took a step and with new strength
I'd never felt before,
I kissed my comfort zone good bye
and closed and locked the door


If you are in a comfort zone
afraid to venture out,
Remember that all winners
were at one time filled with doubt


A step or two and words of praise
can make your dreams come true
Greet your future with a smile,
success is there for you!

Meet Sandi!

I have never been a fan of pitbulls and when my son took a picture of her with his phone and sent it to my phone...No it wasn't love at first site...It was, "Please tell me that's not a pitbull."

But Sandi is sweet, shy, and always smiling and has worked her way into my heart. My son will tell you that  she's a sissy. Since my son lives about 120 miles away, we try to get together at least once a month so she knows who we are and my little dog Duggy and her, simply adore each other. Sandi will be on the cover of my next book, (Tentatively titled "The Good Dr. Grant") and I know there will be lovers and haters, so I want to introduce her and let everyone get to know her before the book comes out. So here she is! Hi Sandi, grandma loves you!

Platforms

My life used to be simple, well not really, but it was organized.
When I had my gift shop, I'd get up at 6 a.m. get on the computer,
check emails and catch up with friends and family on facebook,
 go open up the shop at 9 a.m. come home for lunch at noon and
 check in back in on the computer, back to work and
then check back in after dinner. Simple, right?
Well now that I am at home all the time and writing...
There are blogs to maintain, twitterers to tweet, websites, groups, profiles...
Well you get the idea. With Facebook and all the changes they have been making
I have a hard time trying to keep up with everyone, With family and friends and groups and pages liked and subscribed to, I'm just about at the 5,000 limit. 99 new notification notices every morning.
I do like the changes Twitter has made though, especially making it easy to keep up with
conversations without have to go back through 200 tweets just to find out why someone laughed at whatever you said...
How does everyone keep up with everything going on and not go completely insane! Much less have time to write and clean house? Yep, life was simpler when I ran my own business :-))

How's your platform holding up? Tweet, tweet!

I wasn't going to post today...

But... I'm so excited! I sold my first book today! I am doing back flips and cartwheels, and jumping for joy! Well not literary, not sure if I could do a backflip or even a cartwheel anymore.
I want to go shake my son awake and tell him, because he asks me every day, "So did you sell any yet?"
I was reading on another blog that you shouldn't say you self published your book, but I can't help it, "I am proud of me." I wrote it, went through all the... ahem...fun steps of publishing it and now have sold my first one!
No not rich yet, I made $1.70 but hey! I sold my first book. I sent out an email to all my family and friends telling them and gave them the link to get the e-book for free,  because I am having a giveaway on the 14th and 15th of February and I forgot to put a comment in the subject line of the email, so half of them probably deleted it without even reading it :-(  My old email address was hacked into last month and was spamming everyone in my address book and there was no comment in the subject line, so everyone is probably saying, "Karen's email has been hacked again and sending out spam. Delete." I know, I'm goofy, but to me it's exciting.
How did you feel when your first book sold?

I'm a Reader too!

I think this is going to be a continuation about my other posts on "Self Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing" I was also going to go off on a tangent about the economy but decided against it.
There are a great many self publishers out there, including myself now, but we need to remember that it's not always  about the money, but about keeping our readers happy and giving them quality books.
I love to read! And even though I'm a devoted Stephen King fan, I decided last year that I would support new authors by buying their books and reading them. But...
If I am going to spend money on a book,
 (which I rarely do,I normally tell everyone, I want this book or that book, for my birthday or Christmas, including the Stephen King ones.)
 I want the book to be worth the money I put out!
Since I am new to all the writing, self publishing thing, I have no right to hand out advice, but as a reader, now that's a different story...
I know you wrote the book, I know you want to get it out there and let others read it, but stop for a moment and read it yourself!
I know I am nit picky, but I don't want to spend money on a book and in the first chapter find 6 mistakes. I don't like to have to read a sentence over and over, trying to figure out what the writer is trying to say, because they have a word in there, that shouldn't even be in there.
I make the mistakes also when I write, hear becomes here, and know sometimes ends up as no, and my biggest mistake is HIS which always seems to be HI, I mean I will read back through mine and it will say "Hi green car was really blue" Huh? Yeah I do that all the time, but I am my biggest critic and will read back through what I wrote at least 10 times to make sure it makes sense and sometimes I will have someone else read through it too and that's all I'm asking. Before you upload it and hit publish, read through it and make sure it makes sense. As self publishers we don't have the luxury of agents and editors and proofreaders, so we need to do that ourselves or have a friend or family member do it.
Take pride in your work, make people want to buy more. Be your worst critic and your biggest fan!


You can find my other rants about self publishing vs. traditional publishing here;
http://karensdifferentcorners.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/now-i-know/#comment-37 
And here;
http://differentcornersinmylife.blogspot.com/2012/02/am-i-cheating.html

Things Your Mother told You

My mom was a troubled soul. She had low self esteem, which caused depression, which eventually turned into alcoholism, because back when she was depressed, people told you, "Just get over it" there wasn't medications for depression then, they didn't send you off to counselors for being "sad", (which is how family and friends looked at it. No they said, here have a drink it will make you feel better). Depression had a stigma attached to it then and in some ways it still does. But through it all my mom was a kind, sweet, loving person for the most part and she taught me many things. My parents divorced when I was little and when my dad remarried, my stepmom wanted him to get custody of me, but my dad said little girls belong with their moms.
Thank you dad. To me, even though things weren't like they should be, I'm glad that he left me with her, I think it helped shape me into the person I am today.

Anyway my mom taught me to be patient. We would be standing in the line at grocery store if I moved up to close to the person in front of me she'd say,
 "Right now, it's their turn, don't crowd them, just be patient and your turn will come."
She taught me to never say anything bad about people. I can guess that most of you have heard,
"If you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all" 
And
 "Treat everyone as you would like to be treated"
She also told me to never hate anyone, you might not like their ways, but you should never hate them.
My mom actually did have one person she hated, who it was, I don't recall, but every time that person came around she'd say,
 "I'm sorry Lord, please forgive me, I can't help it, but I just hate him/her."
See I can't even remember if it was a guy or girl. I also have one of those people that has been in my life, you know the ones, the one that makes you cringe, with just the mention of the name, the one that sets off red flag warnings to stay away, and makes your skin crawl. grrr...
Being raised by my mom taught me to be kind and helpful, to care about others and to be respectful of their feelings. My mom did quit drinking 2 years before she passed away, It was like getting her back. I miss you mom, you taught me well.

What are some of the things your mother taught you? Things that you will carry throughout your life and pass down to your children?

How Low Will you go?

Some of you might remember about a year ago, a story on facebook about this scam to sell more books.
A girl had someone else post for her that she had been in this terrible accident and that her little 5 year old brother had been killed and that she was in a coma. Someone else, a kindhearted soul, not knowing this to be a lie, created a fb prayer page for this girl and shared with everyone. I shared the page with my family and friends asking for their prayers and put the link to her page on my page. All book sales were to go towards her brother's funeral. Well luckily someone (A friend of hers) found out what she was doing and within  2 days it was all out in the open, it was just a ruse and the girl was banned from fb.

We as writers want our stories out there. We want people to buy our books, but...How low would you go to sell your books? Would you make up these horrible stories? I mean that is just shameful. How could you even think of something so horrible as that? That is something I would never wish on anyone, much less myself.

So how low would you go? Would you sell your soul to the devil?

Leukemia

I have blogged here on my blog about my son's leukemia

http://differentcornersinmylife.blogspot.com/2011/10/our-journey-with-leukemia.html 

And a guest post about my son's journey with Leukemia here on Brian's blog
http://brha99.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/you-never-know-what-tomorrow-might-bring/

Today I want to bring to your attention another writer whose son is in his own fight against leukemia.
http://the-underground-press.blogspot.com/
And here is another blog where you can read about Joshua
http://maxwellcynn.blogspot.com/2012/02/indies-unite-for-joshua-heroes-all.html?showComment=1328562441237#c4060497163346345842
If you would like to help you can go here...
http://www.indiegogo.com/indiesuniteforjoshua

Am I cheating?

This is my Tarot for today. Hi Karen! Here is your Daily Tarot Card for Sunday, February 5

"The World card suggests that my alter ego is The Conqueror, whose superpower lies in graduation to the next level. Today I am free. I have accomplished my mission and feel on top of the world. I will enjoy the experience to its fullest. I have come full circle on my path to success. My job is done, my dream fulfilled, and I have them eating out of my hands. Accept and embrace the journey taken. It has served great purpose in my growing wiser and stronger, and has provided a sense of relief in that now it's complete."

As some of you know, I self published my first book this past week. For me it was an experiment to see if I could do it. Don't get me wrong, it's a good story. A novelette though, not a novel. It is a classic traditional romance, like the ones I used to read all the time and Romance is what I write. And I am happy, but why do I feel like I've cut in the lunch line? There are so many great writers that are sitting waiting for a publisher to pick them up and here I cut in front of them and self publish, shouldn't I be waiting in the line behind them?
And I'm not picking on others that are self publishing, I have read books from a couple of self publishers and they are awesome. You wouldn't know they were self pubbed, unless they told you. Great stories, well written, awesome covers, and I support them 100%
I am working on another book, this time a novel, or so I hope, that I will self publish also, but I will continue querying my series to agents and publishers for the time being, so I don't feel like I'm cheating? No, I don't think that's the reason. I know everyone has their reasons for choosing self publishing over traditional and I believe that we all have to make the choice that works best for us, just like we do with all the choices we have  to make in our lives.
As for my Tarot, I can't agree with it totally because, I don't believe, "I have come full circle on my path to success. My job is done, my dream fulfilled, and I have them eating out of my hands." Nope don't agree at all,
I know that I still have a long way to go!

Testing The Waters

Instead of jumping in feet first and being in up to my neck,
I decided to just dip in my toes,
wanting to know if the water is warm and inviting,
or so cold that it makes me shudder.
Everything we do in life can be scary...From that first kiss, to saying "I Do"
Bringing a child into world. Loving and nurturing, praying they won't be led astray.
Writing and publishing a book is a lot like that.
From the moment we put that first word on the paper,
 we love and nurture our characters, our dialogue and our story line,
wanting it to grow, hoping it will head in the right direction, and not be led astray.
And then it's grown, matured, and ready to face the world on it's own, but wait, it still needs you!
There's still work to be done.
I wrote a novella to see what self publishing was about and how it works.
I went to createspace, and found I had to create an account, and then I had to have a book title, okay...
What I wanted to find out was about the formatting and was also curious about the cover creator and the options they had. I am still learning, but so far I am happy with my progress. Still trying to figure out the pricing, but right now the paperback is $3.99 and the e-book is $2.99 and if you are a Prime Member you can borrow it at no cost to you! Even if you don't have a kindle you can find the kindle app on Amazon here and it's free!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_355960802_3?ie=UTF8&docId=1000426311&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=auto-sparkle&pf_rd_r=197E888C11B44A53BEB5&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_p=1314162402&pf_rd_i=kindle%20for%20pc
You can find "Kyle & Kelly, The Perfect Party Planner" on Amazon.
It is available in paperback and for your Kindle.

I think my toes are happy!

http://www.amazon.com/Kyle-Kelly-ebook/dp/B0075GI3QU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1328396979&sr=1-1

After You Die

M.G. Miller did a guest post on Debra's blog today
http://debrakristi.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/m-g-miller-talkin-audrey-rose-and-bayou-jesus-guest-post/#comment-1990

and it was very interesting. They were talking about reincarnation and his new book "Bayou Jesus"
Which you can find on Amazon here
http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Jesus-M-G-Miller/dp/097598960X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315216515&sr=1-1 

My thoughts on what happens after you die tend to go back and forth.
I believe the spirit leaves you on the third day, and yet when my brother passed away, I could swear I seen his spirit standing there with us as the paramedics put him on the gurney right there in my hallway before rolling him out.

I think my nephew is on to something when he told me that maybe what happens when you die is exactly what you believe.

If you believe that as soon as you stop breathing that the heavens open and welcome you, then that's how it is for you.
If you believe that you will lie in a sleep state in the ground until the second coming of Jesus, then that will be your fate.

And then there are the ones that believe that there is nothing after death.

We all have our own beliefs in what happens, and I tend to believe in reincarnation.

I picture a beautiful stairway leading to Heaven with each step representing a new life.
Standing at the bottom looking up at the illusion that the steps are getting smaller, but maybe it's not an illusion, but they are actually getting smaller. Each one representing a shorter and happier life, leading to the top and closer to Heaven.
The bottom step signifies that your are closer to the devil, which in turn would make that bottom step the longest and hardest to go through, but the next steps are shorter and become easier to maneuver as you go up.
People who have had near death experiences have often commented on a bright light and my explanation for that is the lights in the delivery room as you are being reborn. If you come back from the light, to me that signifies a stillbirth on the other side. And yes it is sad for the family at that point, but it means that that person has crossed their last step into Heaven.

Maybe my philosophy is flawed. Maybe you are asking why kids suffer pain and sickness only to live a short life, when their short life should be a better one. I can't answer these questions.
I just believe we have to go with our own faith and beliefs, and the hope that there is something good when we finally reach that last step.

I got the Versatile Blogger Award!

I was informed that I received the Versatile Blogger award the other day and have been procrastinating, in between writing, but have finally told myself, Karen you really need to post this" So here it is...

BECAUSE IT IS AWESOME! And I am very honored to have received it.

First The Rules

Everything in life has rules, and the Versatile Blogger award is no different. So here goes.
(Actually this is probably the easiest part!)

1. Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.
Thank you Debra. I am honored and surprised, because I wasn't expecting this. :-)
I love following Debra's Blog. She has been very supportive and helpful and always has a kind word and puts up with all my dumb questions. I hope you will follow her also and don't forget to follow her on twitter too!
http://debrakristi.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/reapers-and-dvrs-at-the-row80-check-in-1-29/

@DebraKristi

2. Share 7 things about yourself. Now this is hard! No Laughing!
* When I was little, I would make believe every day that I was sitting at my little table, having tea with Elvis.
* Even though I probably know all of the words to most of the songs, "I'm NOT a Beatles fan" Sorry...
* I'm a big fan of Ozzy and 80's hair bands and Matchbox 20
* I hate clutter
* I love everything vanilla and white chocolate
* I'm open minded and a positive person, who loves to help others
* I love creating things and I custom design gift baskets and party sets

3. Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs you enjoy reading. Okay...I knew this would be hard, but didn't expect it to be this hard. I love finding and following so many awesome blogs, how do I only pick 15, oh well here goes...

* This is Brian's Blog. He was the first person I did a guest blog post for. It is a health related blog about his book "Death: Living to talk about it."
http://brha99.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/this-weeks-journal-jan-20th-through-jan-26th/

* This is one of Cecilia's Blogs
http://thestupidappraiser.info/LaVitaNuova/

* Genreality Always has some great advice for writers
http://www.genreality.net/stranger-than-fiction

* And this one I just started following today!
http://amloki.blogspot.com/2012/01/sign-up-for-some-atozchallenge-blogging.html

*Looking for awesome, recipes, pictures and fun/ I highly recommend
http://www.theredheadriter.com/

* I've read and loved  Richard's book "Near Death" Even reviewed it here on my blog, check out his blog!
http://richardchaleauthor.com/

*This is Caddy's blog. She interviewed T.M. Souders today :-)
http://caddyrowlandblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/interview-with-fabulous-author-t-m.html

* This is Patti's
http://theangelsarehere.wordpress.com/readers-questions-answered/

* There's only one word to describe DC's AWESOME!
http://dcmcmillen.com/2012/01/31/2118/

* This is John? Paul? :-) I never know, but he is one of the most versatile bloggers on my list! Wonder where George and Ringo are? :-)
http://blog.pauldorset.com/

*Karen's Blog. I love Karen's blog because she's got an awesome name! :-))
http://kptoz.blogspot.com/

*And Charlie's is a must see!
http://curiousstories.blogspot.com/

*Mish Who is always an inspiration
http://writer-in-transit.co.za/drabble-challenge-relief/

*Peter's blog will leave you rolling on the floor in laughter! And I love his nemesis!
http://peterhobbs1.wordpress.com/

*Zen was one of my NaNoWriMo Buddies who kept me on track!
http://zencherry.wordpress.com/

I Love All my blogging friends that I follow and that follow me. Sometimes they make me laugh and sometimes they make me cry, but they are the best!






4. Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know about the award.

Live Life to Write Better

Someone posted this saying on facebook this morning and I thought,
"That should be every writer's motto." We need to take the time to enjoy our lives and the people around us. We all have memories, thoughts, feelings, and wonderful and not so wonderful people in our lives that should inspire us in our writing.
Stop for a moment, feel your heart beating? place your fingers on your wrist. Now you feel it, don't you. Think about how it would feel if you were happy, scared, or excited. Now go out and feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. Close your eyes and hear the birds singing, a dog barking, or even a neighbor mowing the lawn. Revel in the joy of a child's first word, a lover's touch, or a kind word. Talk to people, no better yet, listen to people. Listen to their thoughts, their feelings. We have all felt happiness and sorrow it's part of life and the more we experience life, the better writers we become.

I went and visited my dad this morning. He's a character. I did use some
of his personality traits in one of my novels. He's someone I love and respect

very much. He will be 88 in April and still going strong and he's a big part of my life.

Well to sum this up, enjoy your day today and set aside your writing for just a little while and go live life. It holds some great inspirations for some great writing!

Dilemmas

Good morning! I think... Today I'm just thinking out loud, so bear with me and maybe you can relate.
I get up this morning and I feel...yuck. Not sick or anything like that, but just...
I've been sitting too much, and eating too much, and can't stand wearing my sweats or flannels for too long once I get up and yet my favorite jeans are dirty, so I put on my next faves. They don't fit like my favorite ones, but they have to do.And then to top it off, I cut my hair last week, not bad, but...It's too short to get up in the morning, run the brush threw it and put it in a ponytail and too long to get out of bed and run the brush threw, it has to washed and blow dried! UGH! And then to top it off...my dog is being annoying this morning every time I get up from the chair he's dogging me and attacking my shoes.  But these are just minor annoyances, what has got me feeling yuck? WRITING! Yes, writing.

I started a new story this week. In my head it was basically all cut and dried, BUT
I made the mistake at the very beginning of introducing a guy (not the intended hero, But he'll make your heart flutter) A crush that she has had since day one, that she grew up with. And then I have a part where she's thinking back to her past true love, and then I introduce the hero, but now I'm not sure which one should be victorious! Oh how the plot thickens...
I haven't even thought about the happily ever after, so I have no idea how the story will end, BUT
after pouring my heart and thoughts out to you, I just came up with a new plot twist! So I am off to write!
Thanks for listening and I hope all your plots go in all the right directions!
Have a great day!