Okay, WHAT?!

I had really weird dreams this morning.

First, I woke up around 5 or so, remembering that I had to make sure I was up and dressed and the carport clear for the A/C service guy at 7:30 this morning. Then a while later I remembered that it was Sunday.

So then I dreamed all this stuff I don't remember because I neglected to write this in the morning when it was all VERY fresh, but I do remember some parts.

1. I was at MJ Fredrick's house, and Trish Milburn was there at one point. MJ had a cool house, colonial in style, which I somehow doubt is the norm in San Antonio.

2. They had made TONS of food for a party and Trish kept making me sample stuff. It was really good food. Lots of dips, and a dessert thing that was like two pieces of cracker candy with some whipped creamy type stuff in the middle.

3. A bunch of people started crowding the house, just random visitors, including Fran, who was one of my mother's best friends, but who died over a decade ago. Then he wasn't Fran but some other guy.

4. MJ had a big hole in her counter top, and had covered it with a big white cutting board, and I knocked it askew and it fell into the cabinet underneath, breaking some colorful china thing. I didn't tell her.

5. I said "San Antonio" a lot.

So what the heck is up with THAT?

Weather

Today we had long, slow rain. The drippy kind. The read-a-book-all-day kind (not that I did that). It was a nice change from last week's wild storms.

But those storms produced the most perfect rainbow I've ever seen!





I don't think I've ever caught the whole arch like that. Usually it's just one side, or it fades to nothing at the top, or all the colors aren't clear. This one almost glowed!

Last Day of School

We did not start today off right.

But only, luckily, in the most minor way. You know what's very, very frustrating? Out of 180 school days, the bus arrived late oh, maybe 100 of them. On time about 76 more. Then, suddenly, last Thursday, she's four minutes early. Friday, she was so early we missed it. Yesterday, four minutes early again. Today we had to run for it because she was six freaking minutes early! It takes us less than a minute to get to the bus stop; we thought we had plenty of time. Poor Number Two had to run with her backpack and viola.

We're supposed to be giddy this morning, not grumpy and sweaty.

And thus begins the fifth of my summers "off."

Four years ago, June 8 was the first day of the first summer vacation my kids had ever had. The decade before that, they'd been in day care, which was either preschool or summer camp.

It didn't take them...okay, any of us...long to acclimate. :)

The kids are, of course, excited, even though this summer will likely mean another change. Their father just got a new job that necessitates me also getting a (steady, outside-the-house) job. I'm working on it, and will likely (hopefully!) start working part time in July.

Number Two is the age her sister was when I quit my day job and started working at home. That's kind of poetic, isn't it?

What I'm looking forward to this summer:

1. Not having to get up early every day.

2. Long days, lots of light.

3. No crazy schedules.

4. Salute to Supernatural convention in July.

What I'm not looking forward to:

1. Trying to keep the kids active, especially when I'm not here half the day.

2. Fitting in a day job, my freelance work, activities with the kids, keeping the house decent (though I can put that under "keeping the kids active"), and writing time.

3. Not going on our Cape Cod vacation, which we canceled due to the husband's new job. It was an easy decision, but now lots of my friends have already been to (or are currently at!) the beach, and I'm longing for it.

I know some people have already started their summer vacations, and some have a couple of weeks to go. What's your summer going to be like?

Good Old Days

Number Two mentioned to me yesterday about how long it's been since I blogged. Two weeks! Geez!

I blame the camera. It was never where I wanted it to be. If I was on the laptop upstairs, the camera was downstairs. If I was downstairs, it was up in the kitchen. And everything I wanted to blog about required a picture.

So I finally got my act together, and here it is.



A little anticlimactic, huh? But let me set the scene.

We were at my cousin Joey's. (everyone else calls him Joe, but to me, he's just like the little cousin I grew up with, except taller. Okay, a lot taller, but still. He's Joey.) Anyway, it was me, and my brother, and my cousins, and their mother, and her father, and we're having a lovely time on the back deck, and suddenly, I hear it. Music. But not just any music. Special music.

It was the ice cream truck.

I was the only one, sadly, who got excited by this. Maybe in Massachusetts they still have ice cream trucks every day, but here in lame-o Pennsylvania, we NEVER have them. So we HAD to run after the truck! And we did! This pic is of course the Numbers catching it. I only pretended to run. :) After I snagged my cousin's camera because I'd left mine on the deck.

Yes, the picture I wanted was not even on my camera that was never where I needed it.

So that was our fit of nostalgia. I got ice cream for the girls and for the nephews, popping Spider Man's bubble gum eyes off before handing them over. The bribery didn't really work. I didn't get hugs goodbye that night.

But now that summer vacation is here (as of 10:45 tomorrow morning), I can't help the nostalgia. There is nothing so symbolic of summer as the ice cream truck! We need to start a business here in Central PA.

Who's in?

Things that Suck

I wrote a long, happy, probably unenduringly boring blog post on my way home from Massachusetts yesterday, but "Things that Suck" is, unfortunately, much more apropos to today.

Things that Suck:

1. Driving 19.5 out of 51.5 hours.

2. Getting food poisoning.

3. Having to get up every hour through the night while someone else suffers food poisoning.

4. Staying up late after a 7-hour drive to do homework, then not getting to turn it in on time anyway because you have food poisoning.

5. Having your third and last EGS picnic, and having it rain for the 3rd $%^@#$ing time.

6. Getting the astronomical lab bills for ruling out appendicitis.

Things that Do Not Suck:

1. Spending approximately half of the remaining 32 hours holding the sweetest, most wonderful, cuddly babies who ever lived.

2. Not getting food poisoning yourself.

3. Not being the one with food poisoning.

4. Having the homework done.

5. Not having to skip the "inside" picnic because you only had fries, not fries AND chicken nuggets, so your food poisoning symptoms were mild and short-lived.

6. Ruling out appendicitis.

The Whole Story:

The drive to Massachusetts was not the worst one we've ever made, but 8 hours in the car after a full day of work/school, after getting up before 6:30 a.m., is hard. And then driving up and down I-495 seemed interminable, even though it was never all that long. I hate I-495.

Our family gathering included my grandfather and his wife, my aunt and one of her and my mother's best friends, me, my brother, my two cousins, and the combined children (two older kids—mine—two toddlers, and three infants).

There was much passing of the babies. They spent all day Saturday sleeping on various family members—especially Number One, who would never give one up if she could help it—and still slept through the night! We really hated saying goodbye to them, since we only get together every few years, and obviously they won't be babies anymore.

Even without the babies, it was a great visit with family I adore. Very much worth all the driving, especially now that it's done. :)

Travel Tip: Stay away from that Wendy's. No, not that one, the other one. The one about 2 hours and 15 minutes from Grafton, MA, in NY, off I-84, across from Taco Bell and just outside a Wal-Mart Plaza. If I could be more specific than that, I'd report them.

I don't like fast food very much, and definitely not on the road. I was going to skip eating, or maybe just get some fries. I am very grateful to my husband for insisting we find the Panera Bread that had been on the exit sign but was hiding behind trees and around a corner. He and I ate there. We're fine. Number One had fries and chicken nuggets, and as mentioned, is still paying for it (poor kid). Number Two had fries and a burger and a touch of reaction last night, but is also fine. The fried stuff from Wendy's is the ONLY thing all day yesterday that they had and we didn't, and the timing was right (four-six hours after eating). I watched Kitchen Nightmares after we came home, and all those images have been running through my head since Number One first started you-know-whating. I may never eat out again.

Number Two is totally bummed, I'm sure, despite not being sick. Her EGS class has had an end-of-year "picnic" for three years. The first two it rained, and they had to be inside. I checked the weather forecast last night at 11 p.m., and it was partly cloudy for today, no rain mentioned. But guess what? It's been drizzling since we got up. Was supposed to clear by now, and isn't giving any sign of it. I know this is a small thing compared to food poisoning, but it still sucks!

I don't want to talk about the lab bills. *sigh* But hey, she didn't have appendicitis!

How was your weekend?

Best Laid Plans

In my day-to-day schedule, it's far more likely that my well-planned day will fall apart by 9:00 a.m. than not. But usually it's little things, I get derailed by circumstance or my own reshifting priorities, or work coming in from clients, etc.

Today started with this to-do list:

1. Download writing assignment from client and write it, send back to client via e-mail.

2. Download proofing job from client, proof, send back to client via e-mail.

3. Download other proofing job from client, proof, send back to client via e-mail.

4. Draft Supernatural Sisters blog post I forgot to do last night.

5. Draft list of questions for June class speakers and e-mail.

6. Do laundry.

7. Clean house, mostly vacuuming and mopping.

See a pattern there? I bet some of you might guess what happened as I launched into these tasks.

The power went out, accompanied by a giant boom from a block or two away.

It stayed out.

The "convenience" of paperless billing reverses at moments like this, because I have nothing with the electric company's number on it. Though I confess I did put the battery in my laptop, reboot it, and try to go online to get the number before going DUH, my router runs on electricity.

I found a number (it was the Choice line, about changing electric generators, though) and went outside with my cell phone to see if I could back-door in to PPL's main switchboard, but no luck. While I was out two other neighbors came out to see if my power was out, too. One guy said he'd called and reported it, and the automated recording told him it would be back up in 3 hours.

Cr**.

I almost seized the moment and spent the time reading. Because none of those things on my to-do list could be done, or not done the way I wanted to do them, without electricity. But my client work really needed to be done, so I hauled myself to B&N and their free WiFi.

An hour later, my husband called me. He'd tried the house first and the answering machine came on, sans recording, which meant the power was already back. Cr** again. I checked the outage report and sure enough, it said our account had no outage. So I guess I should have stayed home anyway.

So five of the items on the to-do list are done, but I still have two big ones, Number One will be home in half an hour, and I won't have time to get to the book again before we go to the Main Event, an intro to middle school that lasts for two and a half hours.

Check back tomorrow for the next installment of Natalie's Excuse Week! *sigh*

Stupid Dreaming Thing

So you know how I said the other day that I was still dreaming heavily, despite writing going so well?

I was going to post (and forgot) that on Sunday I woke up blissful, because while I knew I'd been dreaming vividly and intensely, I was not exhausted and I couldn't remember a single detail of the dreams. I was quite happy!

But then I came home. And I didn't write yesterday. And the last two mornings, dragging myself out of bed after the very obnoxious alarm (I need to get a new one!) interrupted REM sleep, I've been cursing my brain.

Seriously, is it too much to ask for a few nights of solid, real sleep?
On the writing front...

I've been dying to get back to my books, but have let life interfere. Workmen at the house, grocery shopping, cleaning, and other obligations needed my attention after four days away. But I'm poised and ready and will try to get some done tonight.

In the meantime, I've discovered a drawback to having three WIPs (works in progress). Taking Action needs a lot cut and redone. No problem. I had an idea and was going to start over, then realized it would make a better sequel, so back to plan A for revision, but even though I knew what to do, it's hard. So hey, book 1 is going so well, I'm just going to work on that! Until, I supposed, I decide that's hard, too.

Oh, well. That's the way it goes!

Retreat: Final Report

I apologize for not blogging every day during the retreat, but I was so determined to do well this year! I tried really hard not to let myself get distracted.

I was going to post a few pictures, but my camera battery is dead and my card doesn't fit the reader of this computer. So maybe tomorrow.

I had no idea what to work on this weekend, so I started three different books. Here's my final breakdown:

Thursday:

Entanglement: 5067
Stealing Pain: 3597
Taking Action: 0

Friday:

Entanglement: 400
Stealing Pain: 595
Taking Action: 4026

Saturday:

Entanglement: 5134
Stealing Pain: 4029
Taking Action: 2042

Sunday:

Entanglement: 0
Stealing Pain: 839
Taking Action: 0

Book Totals:

Entanglement: 10601
Stealing Pain: 8221
Taking Action: 6907

Grand Total: 25,729

I think you can tell which book has grabbed me the most. :) Entanglement's story and characters have a built-in impetus that's keeping me going. Stealing Pain hasn't gone where I expected, and it doesn't feel like I expected, and I think I need to let that one percolate a bit. Taking Action needs about half of it cut because it really sucks, but I know how to fix it (I think). So I'm going to try to keep working on all three, though Entanglement will probably get most of my attention.

The retreat was typically great. Even the ER trip led to much laughter. As always, there was tons of camaraderie and encouragement, relaxation and silliness. And, obviously, writing!

Random Thoughts on "Swan Song"

Watched the Supernatural finale after lunch. Loved it. Went back to find the comments of my friends who also loved it, but came across complaints. I hate when that happens. It's not that I think everyone should love it like me, or that no one can criticize. I just hate that I see it and it brings me down.

But that's okay, because *I* thought it was incredible. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the Impala story, which epitomized the role of Metallicar in both the show and the brothers' lives. I loved the flashbacks during the Impala story, which foreshadowed the flashbacks that gave Sam the strength to take over.

I wanted this episode to give Jared Padalecki his spotlight, and I thought he did a great job with his dual role, but I have to admit, Jensen still managed to overshadow him with just a few quick glimpses of his expression. The "oh shit" moment when Lucifer knew their plan. The tears in his eyes when his possessed brother left him. The voice when he said "I won't leave you, Sammy" even as he'd been beaten to a pulp.

Kudos to the makeup department for doing the impossible and making Jensen Ackles ugly. Kudos to Misha Collins for his attempt to lie to Sam, and the difference between his beaten, all-too-human defeat and his restored, better-than-ever serenity.

I liked Lucifer's attempt to avoid the fight and Michael's single-mindedness to make it play out. They were like what Sam and Dean COULD have been, if they hadn't broken patterns. Dean grew a mind of his own and stopped believing everything Dad did or said was right, while Sam abandoned the rebel-at-all-costs point of view, so that they could focus on their own partnership, doing things their own way.

I FINALLY get the "it always had to be you, Sam" line that has driven me nuts for, what, three seasons? It wasn't as much destiny as it was a long-term plan, tons of effort that had one acceptable outcome. (We'll ignore the little things, like Azazel accepting Jake as the winner when he'd planted all those demons through Sam's life.)

Misty was the one in our group who connected Chuck to God at the end, when he sizzled away, but it does leave us questioning if he was always God, or if he was just God at the end. Through the episode, Chuck was Chuck, with his mess and his ugly bathrobe and his geekiness. In the end, he was wearing an expensive shirt, his hair was combed, and he was drinking expensive Scotch. We could say he'd been putting it on until now, but for whom? He was alone in Chuck's living room. So that's a debate we might never actually get the answer to.

I thought it was a big twist when Sam pulled Michael into the cage with him. I definitely wasn't expecting that. Opens up tons of possibilities for the Big Bad next year.

I was thrilled that God brought Cas back, and that he in turn fixed Dean and brought back Bobby. I cover my ears and go "lalalalala" when anyone says that was too pat and easy. Come ON! After everything they all went through? After everything WE went through? I am SO not in favor of killing characters just for narrative. Entertainment is about entertaining, and I want my beloveds to live.

(Yeah, not happy with you, JK Rowling, re: Fred)

So that brings me to final shot. Sam, looking in at Dean at Lisa's with Ben. Is it Sam, somehow out of the cage by his or God's hand, infused with demonic power by virtue of the demon blood plus Lucifer's ride? Is it Lucifer, somehow escaped already? Or maybe Michael, who took over Sam's body to exact revenge on Dean for ruining the plan and being responsible for him going into the pit? I have a lot more to say on that, but I'll save it for my post next Wednesday at Supernatural Sisters.

So? What did you like about it?

Retreat Report, Day One Down

Got 8,638 words yesterday, interrupted by lunch, dinner, new people arriving, and general silliness. Talked about conflict issues with three different people. That must be this year's struggle theme!

My words were split between two manuscripts. First chapter of one, most of first chapter of the other. Today I'll finish the second first chapter and start the first chapter of the third book, then cycle between them with a goal of 10k.

BUT that will be interrupted by lunch and dinner and Supernatural. I have been studiously avoiding anywhere that could mention it, but still got word that it was awesome. I am DYING. The download is huge and therefore slow, and idiot me forgot to turn off my power saver so it stopped while we were at breakfast.

*jitters and bounces and tries to focus*

So I have this dreaming thing. I've mentioned it before, I'm sure. When I'm not writing for long stretches, my dreams get more and more vivid and detailed and I wake up exhausted, as if I've lived them. (I keep thinking, "There's a story there," and then I think, "Yeah, it's called Exit Light by Megan Hart, and it's available the week of June 7 at Carina Press. Also, a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio.")

So yesterday I wrote. A lot. And it's good stuff. I'm really proud of it. So you'd think my creative conscious would settle down a little and let me have a quiet night, or at least quiet dreams.

But no. Most of the night I dreamed about work, woke up, realized they weren't real projects and I could relax, and went back to sleep. That would be "normal" if, again, they weren't so detailed and vivid.

But then came the later dreams, the ones in the last few hours of sleep. I can't describe all of it, but man. I can instantly call up images and details. If you've seen Iron Man 2, you remember the scene with the car, how it got sliced? There was a car like that in my dream. Gabriel Tigerman (Andy from Supernatural, and the guy ordering the cowboy burger in that current restaurant commercial) was in the car, and fell out, while it was on an overhead rail hundreds of feet above the city. I didn't see what happened. I apparently had TiVo in my head, because, shocked, I stopped, rewound, noticed he hit an antenna of a vehicle, apparently decided that saved him, and moved on.

There were gangs, and I was house-sitting or working in someone's house or something. My husband was in the dream for a while—apparently, I miss him. Then, at the end of the dream, everything was about to fall apart. Someone was making a speech that, at the end, would set the world on fire. The gang lord was helping people, and I was a cop, running through the streets in size 12 steel-toed boots (not easy, especially when you're short), abandoning my post with my only goal getting to my teenage daughter. I ripped off my gun and badge because they were hindering my running (but I kept them because they'd be needed). It was a great movie ending, with the bad guy doing good and the good guy turning her back on need. But as the speech was coming to an end, my alarm went off. And I woke up exhausted.

So now I'm all WTF? Writing is supposed to ease this stuff! Hopefully, my brain just needs a couple of days to catch up. Which means I'd better get to writing, stat!

Luckily, Supernatural still needs three hours to download. *sigh*

We're Here!

Well, four six of us are, anyway. The other 13 seven will trickle in today, with a couple coming tomorrow. But retreat has BEGUN!

All of the welcome items are organized and ready to hand out. I squee'd over my *-***** and my ***** *** from Misty and my **** and **** [all redacted to protect the late arrivals] and the super-secret gift made by retreat chair Vicki Smith and CPRW president Misty Simon (no links, I'm on retreat, too lazy!).

We have a full house this year, and a different conference room, which is farther away but super-big and actually away from the rooms so our Saturday night game, which is always raucous, will not disturb. Not that we disturb anyone, anyway. The other group that's always here, a quilting gang, stays up even later than we do, some of them. :) And we give them free books, so they love us.

So.

I am unpacked and put away and ready to go!

My laptop is set up and plugged in!

*taps fingers*

*trims nails*

*checks empty e-mail inbox*

*smooths wrinkle in super-secret gift*

*ponders opening book file*

Is it lunchtime yet?

My Fitness Trainer is Kicking My...

Before I forget! I'm guest blogger at Tracy Madison's blog today, about why I write paranormal romance. Go over, skim the post, and comment for a chance to win cool stuff! :)

A few weeks ago, while shopping for Number Two's birthday, I picked up My Fitness Trainer 2 for the Wii. The kids were maxed out on Wii Fit Plus, and something only works as long as you'll use it. Number One wanted kickboxing, Number Two step, and this seemed to have both. (I'm taking suggestions if anyone has tried another kickboxing or step aerobics Wii "game.")

So about 2 weeks ago we finally had time to break it out. It's a pretty cool setup. You input your data and select goals (mine are weight loss and looking good, the latter of which translates into overall improvement). It structures a daily workout for you, and adjusts it depending on how you do.

Both kids are more active than I am, with soccer and PE at school, even though I try to work out fairly regularly. So their workouts are longer and more intense. By "longer" I mean maybe 20 minutes instead of my 11-15. The sensitivity of the system is frustrating. It always tells me I didn't march in place or do the plank the full number of seconds, and occasionally doesn't register a squat. Number Two got VERY frustrated with the jogging for three minutes because she can't jog as slowly as it wants her to, and it therefore keeps thinking it's losing her, when she's losing it.

So we've all decided to ignore the stats it gives us for each exercise, because the important thing is that we're actually doing it, not that we're not doing it perfectly a machine's standards.

Anyway, I've been surprised by its effectiveness. Eleven minutes is too short, and the Wii Fit scale is more accurate (you get to subtract your clothes, and it does fractions, not just whole pounds), so I often end up doing some Wii Fit in addition to my MFT2 workout. But the other stuff isn't as intense, so I give full credit for my entire week of pain to MFT2.

I work out at the club occasionally, and I always felt like weight training was more effective than basic exercise, but OMG was I wrong! Leg pressing 190+ pounds SOUNDS like it would do more than a 20-second floor bridge, but my glutes were screaming by Friday. I ached from my shoulders to my ankles (partly because I have some weird Achilles/calf problem, but mostly from the workout).

I took a break over the weekend, trying to stop cramping with every step I took. Then I went back to it on Monday, and I'm not sore anymore. Plus, today, I actually noticed a difference! I didn't have the full-body shakes during the plank until I'd hit 23 seconds. My legs feel stronger. So now I'm motivated to keep going.

Of course, that motivation comes as I get ready to leave for four days! But I think I'll do some of it on my own. Locked in my room, of course. :) We also walk a lot on retreat, and eat healthy meals. So hopefully I won't regress and be in pain again next week! LOL

Circle of Bunnitude

Number One and her father—and, to a lesser extent, Number Two—are obsessed with "boonies." That's bunnies with an oon sound instead of an un sound. They search for them every time we pull onto our street, and squeal when one is spotted in our yard.

Several weeks ago, we saw a boonie preparing a nest smack in the middle of the back yard.



She packed dry grass and fur into it and went to the other side of the yard. A few days later, the grass and fur had been scattered. We haven't seen much activity since, but in the interest of being on the safe side, they created the Circle of Bunnitude (pronounced "Boon-i-tood").



That was taken a couple of weeks ago. The grass is taller now. Around that time, the neighbor's old dog came exploring and I caught her nosing in the nest. I think her owner got her before she really did more than nose, and we haven't seen any signs of trauma. Nor have we seen baby boonies. Though we didn't know we had them before, not until Dolly started playing with one.

A younger-looking but full-grown boonie was hopping the perimeter of the Circle of Bunnitude last night, but I have no idea how long it takes boonies to grow to full size (probably longer than it's been) and the neighborhood is rife with them, so it could have been any boonie.

So now we have to decide: let the Circle of Bunnitude get out of control, or risk running over something with the lawn mower? Number One usually does the mowing nowadays, and last year she almost ran over a nest in a different part of the yard, so I know what her vote is going to be.

I guess I should invest in a machete.

Mother's Day and My Week

I'm too late to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day, but I hope it was for all of you. Mine was, as usual. I have a fantastic husband and kids who totally adhere to my philosophy that on "our" days, we are in full control.

This year, that meant pancakes and bacon for a late breakfast, then I just hung out while they cleaned the house, after which we played Scrabble and I scraped a win. J and I went to see Iron Man 2 and came back in time to meet up with his parents and sister for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. After the kids were in bed, I topped off the whole lovely day with a private screening of The Losers.

How was yours?

~~~~~~
Iron Man 2 was very good. Not as awesome as the first one was, but that's always the case. When the first movie surprises you, the sequel(s) can't have the same impact. Even the Lord of the Rings suffered from that infliction.

Regardless, Robert Downey Jr. was awesome, and that's really all the movie needed. :) I totally disagree with everything the Entertainment Weekly review said, and frankly, I had to wonder if they actually saw it. Complaining about the protracted and frequent battle sequences? There were, like, 3. I was half expecting Transformers level chaos and hammering, but they were very short, as battle sequences go. In any case, it was worth the matinee price.

I really liked The Losers, too. There was a je ne sais quois missing, but I loved every character, every performance, especially Chris Evans as Jensen. He was really different than he was in the Fantastic Four movies. Some will disagree, because the characters have the same happy-go-lucky charm, but Jensen had an edge, a hardness, that wasn't present in FF. I don't know that I'd have recognized him if I hadn't known who he was.

IM2 had a ton of trailers before it, and most were movies I can't wait to see. They teased a movie for 2011 from Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams called Super 8 that had me drooling. The Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz and the Ashton Kutcher/Katherine Heigl movies look amusingly fun, albeit similar, and the latter reminds me too much of True Lies. It's okay, I loved True Lies. :)

This week will be prep week, culminating in the CPRW Annual Retreat from Thursday to Sunday! I can't believe it's almost here!

Now I just have to figure out what to write...

Guest Blogger Susan Kelley

I know I said Saturday, but it's going to be a full day, and I don't have time for my thoughts on Supernatural today, so you get Sue early!

Thank you so much for allowing me to make a guest appearance on your blog, Natalie. You’ve featured so many great authors in the past, I’m thrilled to be in such company.

Most readers know me best for my fantasy series, The Futhark Chronicles. The first book in that series, The Keepers of Sulbreth, is available in many bookstores and all the major online retailers. I write fantasy under my real name, Susan Gourley.

But today I’d like to talk about what I write under my pen name, Susan Kelley. Earlier this year I wrapped up my four-book futuristic romance series, The Chronicles of Solonia. Today I’m venturing into a new romance area with a fantasy romance, To Tame a Tiger.

To Tame a Tiger, from The Wild Rose Press, is the start of a three-book series centering on a legendary race of warriors called Tigers and the courageous sorceresses who love them and hope to save them from the curse placed upon their race generations before.

Luke Aron is the leader of the cursed warriors and the center of a power struggle between a powerful witch and the free people who resist her takeover of their kingdom. Lady Violet Hylan is the young sorceress who first rescues Luke and then fights to keep him at her side.

You can read an excerpt here, and here is another short one. I think you’ll enjoy this fantasy adventure with its touches of humor mixed with suspense and thrilling action.

Read this short excerpt when Violet understands exactly what type of man she’s allowed into her life:

Excerpt:
Violet moved up a few steps. Someone screamed. The shrill sound ended all of a sudden with a choked, gurgling sound. Then complete silence.

She dragged herself up another step to a small landing. A blood-soaked arm lay on the floor near the tightly curving wall. She forced herself to move onward. The body connected to the arm came into her view. She took another small step, but her stare would not leave the grisly sight of the dead man. She edged forward and bumped into a live body. A hand covered her mouth and smothered her scream.

“You were to wait.”

Violet sagged against Luke. She wrapped her arms around his waist to support her weak knees. She buried her face in his shirt and inhaled his scent. It comforted her more than she expected on short acquaintance. He backed away from her and put his hands on her shoulders.

“You must follow my orders, or we’ll both die behind these walls. Or worse. We could be recaptured.” Luke shook her gently, and he spoke in a cold tone she hadn’t heard before.

What kind of bond was this? Wasn’t he supposed to serve her?

“I think you’re confused about who’s in charge here, Luke Aron.”

“I’m in charge, Lady Violet, until we’re out of danger.” He spun away and began taking weapons from the dead soldiers.

For the first time, Violet took in the entire grim scene on the landing. There had been four guards. Now there were none. None alive. She looked at Luke with a new, disturbing understanding of what a Tiger was. Magic linked her to this man who could kill four armed, trained soldiers, with no weapon beyond a spoon.

Luke stopped his search among the dead and walked to a small table set along one moss-covered wall. The landing was actually a small guard room with cots on one wall and chairs and a fireplace along the other.

Violet scurried after Luke. She stepped over a man with the spoon impaled in his throat and fought back the gorge rising from her stomach.

Luke held a long knife in his hand. The blade, etched with an intricate drawing of a hawk, caught the lamplight on its sharp edge. A matching pair of swords shared the table.

“Are they yours?” Violet knew the answer even as she asked.

The weapons carried a lethalness as deadly looking as she now knew this man to be. The hands that slid the swords and knife into the worn leather baldric were long-fingered, slim and beautifully graceful. At least she would have described them as such when they stroked her body not long before. Now she saw they were extensions of the finely crafted weapons of destruction he handled with such familiarity. He fixed the baldric over his shoulders with quick adjustments of laces. He put his hands on her shoulders and startled her.

“You must promise to listen to me, Violet. When we’re safe, you can order me to kiss your feet. You can have me beg forgiveness for this moment. I’ll do so gladly. Please let me lead you now, my lady.”

Violet didn’t believe the gladly part one bit. But he’d spoken the truth about everything so far. The patient lover was gone. Now she faced the Tiger.

Stay Tuned

Pretty swamped at the moment, so don't have the energy or the time for a real post. :(

But I wanted to remind everyone about the Nothing But Nets contest Rosemary Clement-Moore is holding:

Donate a little, help a lot. End Malaria, win books! http://bit.ly/bi34bw

And on Saturday, I have a guest blogger! Susan Gourley/Kelley will be here talking about her newest (really cool) release. So stay tuned!

A Breath of Magic

Release Day!

One of my closest friends, Tracy Madison, is celebrating the release of her third book today. I had the huge honor of critiquing A Breath of Magic and it's definitely the best of the three. But the fourth (out in December) is even better, and I'm pretty sure the fifth will be my favorite. But I digress.

To celebrate her release, Tracy is doing a Month of Mysticism, with a stupendously amazing month-long contest, of which I am a part, should I ever get off the stick and get my stuff to her. :)

Tracy did an interview for The Examiner about this book and the rest in the series. (FYI, the books all stand alone, but the first two in the series are still available!)

Congratulations, Tracy!

My Personal May Sweeps

I don't know why I always say October is my favorite month. I mean, it is, until the end of April, when I become giddy about May and all it will bring.

Besides the obvious (hopefully good weather, the best TV of the season, and the start of the summer blockbusters), I always have a series of events that allow me guilt-free selfishness. We have something awesome every weekend this year!

May 2 is my local chapter meeting, and it starts half an hour late than it used to, which means I don't have to miss the early soccer game or the meeting, or any parts thereof.

May 9 is Mother's Day.

May 13–16 is our annual writers retreat, and Number Two's last soccer game is the 16th, after the retreat ends, hallelujah.

May 21/22 we get to see my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew, as well as my cousins and their new babies (and the adorable toddler brother) and my aunt and hopefully uncle and grandfather.

May 29 is a City Islanders game. The season started this past Saturday, but the next home game isn't until the third week in May (which we'll miss, but that's fine, more important stuff going on!). That is also Memorial Day Weekend, so there's that day off of work/school.

The not-so-great part of May? Well, May sweeps means the best TV (ideally), but it also means finales. Supernatural only has 3 episodes left, and by the end of the month, LOST will be done forever. :(

But that's a small thing in the grand scheme of awesome. What are you looking forward to this May?

The Point of No Return

Number Two, you can't read this, it talks about Supernatural and stuff you don't want to read. Also, maybe some (mildly) bad words.

Add me to the ranks of fans who hated Dean in "Point of No Return" last week. And of course, by "hate" I mean "want to kick in the balls until he comes to his senses." The kind of hate you feel for someone you love who is acting like an idiot.

Actually...really, there was only one thing worth hating. I got that he felt abandoned by Sam, and that all the events of recent episodes fed his despair. But to say he had no faith in Sam, that he couldn't trust him, was not well motivated to me. Sam has done nothing in months to undermine Dean's trust. In fact, when he was high on demon blood, he fought the addiction to defeat Famine while Dean stood there like a numbskull, staring, and the nerd angel was gorging himself on hamburger. Sam didn't deserve what Dean said to him.

So okay, we can rationalize it. Dean was defeated. He was done with everything, ready to end it and hope more people wound up okay than not. The only way he could really justify giving in, though, was to convince himself he couldn't count on Sam, even though it wasn't true. So he was lying to himself, telling himself that hey, Sam was led by the demon chick, he was an addict, and an addict can never fully be trusted, and after all, he'd always let Dean down, running away from him when all Dean ever wanted to do was protect him.

Huh. I might have talked myself out of it. Maybe I need to watch the episode again...

Castiel, holy cow. His rage over Dean's betrayal, when he'd given up everything for him...his sacrifice--because you know he went to the same place his attackers went. I'm not real clear on what happens. Do the bodies go with them, or are they disintegrated and have to be recreated? If they're in angel form, is fighting easier or harder? If Castiel banishes himself, does that make it harder to get back?

I was so happy that Dean put an end to Zachariah, but I'll admit to being sad, too, because Kurt Fuller did such a freaking amazing job. I'll miss him. The ash angel wings were incredible, beautifully rendered (whether CGI or real, though I hope they were real--I don't know why, exactly). But some of us were discussing the manner of death. Uriel said only an angel could kill another angel. I also thought that sword was one of a kind, but of course, since the first episode of this season, all the angels seem to have them. So, is being angel made enough? Or is it something to do with the power that gave Dean the ability to kill the Whore of Babylon?

Also, I noticed that immediately when Zach was gone, Adam and Sam stopped hemorrhaging. So...does that mean that Bobby will be healed? They're a little different, as hemorrhaging is a process and Zachariah was presumably keeping it going, because it wasn't natural, whereas spinal cord injury is a trauma and once done is done. But it would be super awesome if Bobby could walk again.

Speaking of Adam...Jake Abel did a great job, too. I loved the subtle differences between the real Adam and the ghoul's presentation of him. I had two theories about Michael's plans, and the second one held true, which shored up another theory of mine, one that will probably never be articulated by Kripke and Co. but that can be inferred by everything that has been said on the show. Adam was of John's bloodline. John was able to be a vessel for Michael, so Adam would be able to, as well. Number One said he didn't have Mary in him, so he wouldn't be as strong a vessel (since the angels orchestrated getting them together). But I think it's more than that. I think what makes Sam a better vessel than Nick and Dean better than Adam is who they are. Not just their bodies, but their souls. Who they've become, shaped by their experiences, strengthened and honed. Their will and fortitude and strength are unique, and that's why they can withstand the strain of possession. But it's also why Sam wouldn't make a suitable vessel if Sam isn't actually in there.

I was a little afraid when Dean said yes, because even if he didn't mean it by the time he said it, he'd said it. But he didn't say it to Michael, and I assume that's part of the deal. It can't be by proxy.

Man, this show provides a deceptive amount to think about, doesn't it?

So this week is "Hammer of the Gods," and I don't know, despite the gross promo, I have a feeling it will wind up being one of my favorites. The title, premise, and guest star give me probably way-too-high expectations. I can't wait to see it! Unfortunately, I have to wait longer than normal, because baseball is preempting it and it won't be on until 11:30 at the earliest. Yes, I'm staying up to watch! I have to monitor the recording, after all. :)

Boiler Room Treasures

J and the kids have been slowly cleaning out our monster dump of a boiler room. Today they found two treasures.

The first is a book Number One wrote in first grade. I don't have a scanner, so instead of taking pictures of every page and really slowing down your browser, I'll just post the text. Commentary is in italics.

Chapter One: My Mommy
My mommy is a great great writer. She's the best writer I ever knew.

Yeah, cuz she knew a lot of them when she was six.

Chapter Two: My Daddy
He plays Chase the Monkey. Daddy is the lion and we are the monkeys and the lion chases the monkeys.

Daddy is obviously the fun parent.

Chapter Three: My Little Sister
My little sister named [Number Two] is very, very, very funny. "One movie that both of you like," said Mommy. "Okay, but we watch my movie first?" asked [Number Two]. "No, we're only going to get one movie," said Mommy. "Okay, but we watch my movie first?" asked [Number Two]. "Yes," said mommy.

Number Two would have been 20 months old at the time. She's much smarter now.

Chapter Four: My Grandma Tee
Grandma Tee is a very, very, very, very, very, very good sewer. She sewed our dresses for Uncle Andy's wedding.

Chapter Five: My Uncle Andy
My Uncle Andy just got married to a girl named Nikki.

Chapter Six: My Aunt Nikki
She is very beautiful. She has dark brown hair.

Chapter Seven: My Grandpa Chip
When we went to the tower that we can see all of Dallas, Grandpa Chip spit on my glasses and I spit on his glasses and we wiped our glasses off. He also is a good kicker.

Yes, ew, and yes, this is totally my dad. I have no idea what he was kicking that so impressed Number One.

Chapter Eight: My Grandma Patt
Grandpa Chip and here were fighting to kiss me once, so I crawled away without giving them a kiss.

Typos are exactly what was in the book, which was typed by her teacher. Number One think they were typed exactly as she wrote them, but despite our general satisfaction with this school district, I have never been impressed with their typing ability. I'm sorry, teachers should NOT be fluent in Typotic.

Chapter Nine: Miy Aunt Cindy
She babysits sometimes

Poor Aunt Cindy, that's all she got. Since there's no period, I have a feeling the typer got interrupted and missed some stuff. Though Number One did draw a picture on the page afterward and didn't add any more text.

Chapter Ten: My Uncle Kenny
He's just like my daddy. He tickles me a lot just like daddy.

Chapter Eleven: My Uncle Bob
Uncle Bob spoils us rotten. He took us to the pool once. That's spoiling us rotten. He and us were fighting and he threw me and Alex up in the air and we landed in the water.

Good thing my kids don't get to spend a lot of time with Uncle Bob, what with that spoiling rotten thing!

Author Page
Hi my name
[Number One] and I'm
six years old.
I have a lit-
tle sister nam-
ed [Number Two] an-
d she's two ye-
ars old.

This page was hand-written, and I thought the hyphenation quite creative.

They also found a box full of old racetrack. Number Two and J spent, like, an hour setting up an elaborate track, and then it wouldn't work. I cleaned the contacts on the cars and the track itself, but it wasn't working, so they took it all apart and did a simple oval. Once that worked okay, they added some switches and a loop. They weren't the only ones who had fun:




The two kitties who are allowed downstairs were alternately attracted, confounded, scared, and then excited by the little zippy things flying around. Fun was had by all.

Until they got bored.