tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35066282011-09-17T09:31:45.979-04:00Gorok and Wulf Host a BlogWatch a writer blather about writing that gay Barbarian and Mage story that insisted on being finished. Anti-scam rants and ebook links inserted for free.Annenoreply@blogger.comBlogger2651100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1131048970505457932005-11-03T15:09:00.000-05:002005-11-03T15:16:10.516-05:00That Dratted Moonstone -- Thwack Twhack Thwack!No, no, that wasn't a flogging scene, but if that blasted character keeps bugging me, I might just give him a flogging scene! (Heh heh, maybe that's what I need...)I started the chapter from Moonstone's POV that started just before his death, and then included his POV as he died, ended up in Liplan's realm and met Liplan, became a ghost, etc. (not Annenoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1129401955004433042005-10-15T14:23:00.000-04:002005-10-15T14:45:55.046-04:00Back from England!I finally got to visit England -- thanks to my parents, who had been urging me to visit for so many years. Of course, I want to go back, even though at the same time, I'm glad to be back to a place where a bottle of Coke costs around a dollar or so and is a full 20 ounces. Sure, I wish I had visited earlier, but then I might not have appreciated seeing the resting places of Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1127256288271142412005-09-20T18:36:00.000-04:002005-09-20T18:44:48.276-04:00Blowing Off the CobwebsYes, I am still alive. Not all my characters are, however. But then again, isn't that my job? ;-)I stopped blogging for a while when I got stuck with what to do about the next scene in the Moonstone story. Then when I got unstuck, I concentrated on that (with occasional visits to check on my NeoPet). Maybe I was afraid that if I blogged about it, I would get stuck again. I Annenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1117112762119774532005-05-26T09:02:00.000-04:002005-05-26T09:06:02.120-04:00Moonstone and Brodin Have Met!It only took eleven chapters. Sigh. In the original novella, they met just a few pages in. Then again, it was a novella. There were no scenes in the main city, no scenes with the king and evil prince, no Zakira (!), no Rowena, etc.Because this is their first scene together (not counting the previous time they met), this is going to be harder (pun not intended, I Annenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1116940362566600372005-05-24T09:08:00.000-04:002005-05-24T09:12:42.573-04:00Cheapened by the CheckoutHere's the subhead from another article linked by Booktrade News Digest:"The mountain of discounted books at supermarkets isn't democratising publishing but dumbing it down"You can read it hereGag me. God forbid people should be able to buy books for less so that people with less money can buy more books. God forbid they actually buy books they might be interested in Annenoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1116246090089691942005-05-16T08:15:00.000-04:002005-05-16T08:21:30.096-04:00Another Article About Why E-books Are FounderingHere's an article in pdfzone.com.This guy has some weird ideas about how to succeed with e-books. For example, he thinks they're not for "recreational reading." And all e-books should be short (unless they're computer manuals). And the publishing infrastructure gets in the way.Wow. What am I going to do about all those long e-books I have? Annenoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1115815185566103262005-05-11T08:23:00.000-04:002005-05-11T08:39:45.666-04:00Revisiting the Maddox and Leona Story for a BitI had heard of someone who put her own stories on her eBookwise to make notes, so I decided to try it. You can make markups on the stories, and even insert blank pages and make notes. (The tough part is reading your own handwriting later.) It's wonderful to be able to use real handwriting instead of Palm's Graffiti symbols, but at the same time, out Annenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1115777048320422592005-05-10T22:01:00.000-04:002005-05-10T22:04:08.360-04:00One Year Anniversary of My SurgeryAnd I'm doing fine without my uterus. Nothing's going wrong here at a~!($#*#$*(#$#*$$**$#*Heh heh, kidding. ;-)I did consider going to Bob Evans for scrambled eggs tonight (rimshot), but I had things to do at home instead.Annenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1115352204288815382005-05-05T23:31:00.000-04:002005-05-06T00:05:22.070-04:00Precious Doe Case Solved!If you've followed some of the forensics TV shows, you might have remembered the case of Precious Doe -- they named her that because they didn't know her name. She was a child of less than four years old, whose body was discovered in woods near Kansas City in 2001. Authorities have tried for years to identify her body because they know that once you identify the body, youAnnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1115297932020445552005-05-05T08:56:00.000-04:002005-05-05T08:58:52.026-04:00Jim Morrison Was Right...People are strange when you're a stranger.I heard about this one on the news this morning. Some members of a church in Rancho Cucamonga got nervous about three men with shaved heads who suddenly started showing up to church services in April. They were certain these guys were skinheads and were "up to no good." Before the service ended, the men stood in the front of the Annenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1115181800821373412005-05-04T00:38:00.000-04:002005-05-04T00:43:20.830-04:00Another Gross Finger in the Food StoryI don't know why this one hasn't received as much coverage as the story about the woman who claimed she found a finger in her Wendy's chili. At least this one really happened. This time, the finger really was in the food! Good grief!You can read an article about it hgere. I love the headline "Despite finger, body parts in food rare." Well thank God for the Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1114914414529558412005-04-30T22:23:00.000-04:002005-04-30T22:26:54.530-04:00Major Publisher Does Something ShockingMacmillan (the British one I guess) has a program for new writers where writers receive no advance (although they do get higher royalties) and might even have to pay for editing costs. Oh, and Macmillan gets all rights and can publish the next book under the same "deal." Read more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1473588,00.htmlYikes! When a PODAnnenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1114882075603299242005-04-30T13:26:00.000-04:002005-04-30T13:27:55.606-04:00Big Burrito Leads to School LockdownIt's not what it sounds like! ;-) In fact, it's sillier. A concerned citizen spotted a boy walking into school carrying a large object wrapped in tinfoil, covered by a T-shirt. The school went into lockdown for four hours. Concerned parents flocked to the school. And... the object turned out to be a 30-inch burrito, which he had made to get extra credit. They Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1114820759901921122005-04-29T20:22:00.000-04:002005-04-29T20:25:59.903-04:00Finished My Latest Writing-World Column!Last night, I finished my latest segment for Writing-World and sent it off. This one is called What's My Line? -- Character Professions in the Romance. It should be up on the site soon. (Moira Allen is quick!)Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1114520539112318372005-04-26T08:55:00.000-04:002005-04-30T13:34:05.810-04:00Upsetting to Sensitive Children?On a thread a post in her newsgroup on sff.net, SF/fantasy author Jennifer Busick discussed finding a troubling excerpt in a book called "Modern Montessori at Home," in a part about introducing kids to the classics. The book mentioned books such as Heidi and Kidnapped and Sherlock Holmes, as well as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in Eighty Days. Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1114433930883152192005-04-25T08:45:00.000-04:002005-04-25T08:58:50.886-04:00More Fun with MoonstoneFinally, I finished the chapter where Moonstone and company are on the barge, and they find themselves under attack by a yacht that sidled (do yachts sidle?) near enough for a mage to attack them. I might have to change the word "yacht." The word is older than you might think, but people will read the book and write me angry letters about how dare I allow a modern term intoAnnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1113484051424602262005-04-14T08:46:00.000-04:002005-04-14T09:08:07.213-04:00Ack! Amazon Has Changed Its Layout!I looked up a couple of books, and the display was changed from the usual. The cover was on the right, and the "Add to Cart" stuff and related items were on the left. Other things probably moved around as well.Ewwww. I'm so used to having it the other way. At first I was hoping it's just a glitch, but I learned other people were seeing it, too. So it looks as ifAnnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1112978390628017032005-04-08T12:37:00.000-04:002005-04-08T12:39:50.630-04:00Cookie Monster to Learn about Healthier Eating HabitsNow the Health Police have truly gone too far!http://tinyurl.com/67kakorhttp://www.thewbalchannel.com/irresistible/4359482/detail.htmlThe Cookie Monster is going to learn about healthy eating habits. Isn't the point about the character that he doesn't have healthy eating habits? Kids know that, and that's what makes him so endearing to Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1112658031335208162005-04-04T19:17:00.000-04:002005-04-05T01:38:54.900-04:00A Bad Response to a Bad ReviewJames D. Macdonald says that one of an author's big mistakes is responding to a bad review. My guess is that this applies to others associated with the publisher as well.If you read Neil Gaiman's blog, you've probably already seen this link. Oh, well. You can go make a sandwich instead of reading this post. ;-)Here is a negative review plus responses to the review Annenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1112617829804335462005-04-04T08:19:00.000-04:002005-04-04T08:30:29.806-04:00Guiness Book of Records Legal DisputeHere is another one from the Book Trade News digest. You can read the full story here. She wrote a proposal for a "romantic novel" (hmm, I wonder if it was chick lit?) about a young woman working in the Guiness Book of Records officce (verifying claims). She had legal clearance to work on outside writing projects. However, they were upset at the way she Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1112251687776090882005-03-31T01:39:00.000-05:002005-03-31T01:48:07.776-05:00Funny Blog on Why You Shouldn't Buy Term PapersOK, you may have already read this one, but in case you haven't... Click here!A blogger was minding his own business on-line when he was IM'ed by a really bad speller who wanted to know if he would be interested in writing her college paper for money. She didn't know he was a comedy writer. ;-) He was both bored enough and annoyed enough that he Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1111585347206583662005-03-23T08:40:00.000-05:002005-03-23T08:42:27.210-05:00Cartoonist faces Greek jail for blasphemyThis is another one I learned about through Book Trade News. You can learn more about Book Trade News here. (Note: Because the site is a .info, your spam blocker might keep it from getting to your inbox. Always check your spam folder!)The full article is here.The author is not even Greek and doesn't live in Greece! The article says "Haderer's book is the Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1111541631457485062005-03-22T20:31:00.000-05:002005-03-22T20:47:25.210-05:00Happy Birthday to Marcel Marceau!Genius mime Marcel Marceau is 82 today. So let's all celebrate his birthday quietly. ;-) By the way, if you're one of those people who hates all mimes, you can draw the line at hating Marcel Marceau, OK? Hating Marcel Marceau because he's a mime is like automatically hating Shakespeare because he wrote plays, or something. (OK, my analogy is now slinking off and Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1111114394785081682005-03-17T21:38:00.000-05:002005-03-17T21:53:14.786-05:00RIP Andre NortonSigh. As she had been sick for a long time, and was under hospice care, it isn't a surprise. But it is still sad for so many fans of SF and fantasy (and cats).Fantasy/SF author Andre Norton died today of congestive heart failure at her home in a Nashville suburb at the age of 93. According to the obituary on CNN, "She asked to be cremated along with a copy of her first and last Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1110290300742220802005-03-08T08:52:00.000-05:002005-03-22T20:40:55.393-05:00There are barbarians at the gates, and they're reading books!This is an interesting article because it starts with the usual arguments along the lines of things like too many books are being published, there's a lot of trash out there, reading has become chic instead of respected, and there are no more classics.Then he tears the argument into tiny little shreds. Heck, if the argument were printedAnnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1109634459291581262005-02-28T18:36:00.000-05:002005-02-28T18:47:39.363-05:00Moonstone Was a Baaad BoyIt shouldn't be much of a surprise that sometimes, scenes don't turn out the way you expect. Many of my best (and funniest and most outlandish) scenes have come about because I was writing a scene, and somehow thought "Well why doesn't he do this here?" Sometimes writers get the impression that their characters are grabbing them and saying, "Ahem! We have a better idea, Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1108517616545378562005-02-15T20:22:00.000-05:002005-02-15T20:33:36.546-05:00Ghost Fiction Editor Hits It Big with Victorian ThrillerThis is such a cool story. The author (Michael Cox) in this case might have been best known for editing several acclaimed ghost fiction anthologies (such as The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories, which I have somewhere around here). For years, he had an idea for a Victorian thriller. When cancer threatened his vision, he decided to Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1108262006725677242005-02-12T21:21:00.000-05:002005-02-12T21:35:57.360-05:00Yay, I Got My Russell Oberlin DVD!It came on Thursday. Of course, I watched it that night. It's a good thing it didn't come on Friday, or I might have had to miss the Think Tank. Also, I watched a lot of it again this weekend, while visiting my parents.The DVD includes a detailed interview from 2004, made just for the new DVD, as well as pieces recorded for Canadian TV in the early 1960s. There Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1107784033394789972005-02-07T08:31:00.000-05:002005-02-07T08:47:13.393-05:00More on the Phantom
I have now seen the new Phantom of the Opera movie three times. Sure, I wish they'd made it years ago with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. Sigh. But this was great, too. I saw it the first time (before it went national) by myself, the second time with my mother, and the third time (this weekend) with Mum and my brother's fiancee.
I also finished my Phantom-inspired Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1107413034969631722005-02-03T01:39:00.000-05:002005-02-07T08:48:59.046-05:00Russell Oberlin DVD
There's a DVD out there now (released this week) called (drumroll please)... "Russell Oberlin: America's Legendary Countertenor"! It includes material from television recitals in the early 1960s, as well as a new interview. And it's available via:
www.vaimusic.com/VIDEO/DVD_4305_Oberlin.shtml/.
I'm expecting my copy soon. :-)
By the way, even if you don't like Russell Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1106969821183418172005-01-28T22:18:00.000-05:002005-01-28T22:37:01.183-05:00The Publish America Sting
Because they were annoyed with the authorsmarket.net site (put up by PA), some SFWA writers got together and decided to prove that PA doesn't review manuscripts before accepting them. Each one was assigned to write a chapter. They didn't know where their chapter went in the book, and they didn't know what other authors had decided as the gender, race, etc. of their Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1106709097146734862005-01-25T22:08:00.000-05:002005-01-25T22:11:37.146-05:00Another Publish America Link
This page on Preditors & Editors is a convenient way to get links to recent press coverage about PA. It also includes questions about skeazy Publish America claims, questions for the Maryland Attorney General, questions for PA authors (both happy and unhappy ones), etc.Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1106707044927656812005-01-25T20:58:00.000-05:002005-01-25T21:37:24.926-05:00More Proof That Publish America Is Bad News for Writers
People who have seen me natter on in chat know that I am no fan of Publish America. While authors don't have to pay a fee to get published with Publish America, I think that in many cases, they would be better served by self-publishing, or yes, even going with a reputable vanity publisher, as that would give them more control over their Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1106183230230103972005-01-19T19:15:00.000-05:002005-01-19T20:07:10.233-05:00No, the Cleaning Didn't Kill Me...
It made me stronger! :-) I did end up with some sinus and allergic responses, but what else is new? That'll teach me to clean!
The Return of the Phantom!
Yay! The Phantom of the Opera movie finally came out, and I finally got to see it. I've seen it twice, once by myself and once with Mum. I'm still a Michael Crawford fan, but I like Gerard Butler, too. NotAnnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1105286213495514142005-01-09T10:21:00.000-05:002005-01-09T10:56:53.496-05:00Ewww, Cleaning
I spent much of yesterday cleaning/organizing stuff in my apartment. As usual for my apartment, much of this involves putting books into boxes or taking them out of boxes and putting them on shelves, or finally giving up on a book and putting it in a pile for trading in or giving away. Eventually, I gave up, escaped the apartment and spent the Blockbuster gift card my nephew gave Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1105020244005955692005-01-06T09:02:00.000-05:002005-01-06T09:04:04.006-05:00See, I Knew Vacuum Cleaners Were Evil
The accursed contraptions can overheat and catch fire! Read more about the recall
here.Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1104934031057776992005-01-05T08:51:00.000-05:002005-01-05T09:07:11.056-05:00R.I.P. Indurai
One of the strongest elements of my original draft of the Moonstone story was the threat that Prince Ashe was trying to castrate the mages. It was a combination of the fact that his country used Indurai (mages who had been castrated before puberty to give them a different sort of power, sort of like the mage equivalent of castrati) and the fact that he was frightened by the fact Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1104847601032968752005-01-04T08:55:00.000-05:002005-01-04T09:06:41.033-05:00Reality Show Outrage
I must admit that I have watched some horrid and tacky reality shows. Often, I tried to avoid them, but I had to see "how it all turned out" after seeing the previews or hearing about it.
That said, last night, Fox hit the bottom of the barrel. And I watched another network instead. Because it happened again. Just when I'm sure they've scraped the bottom of the barrel, theyAnnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1104508686462906552004-12-31T10:24:00.000-05:002004-12-31T10:58:06.463-05:00A Dragon Named after a Road?!
Sometime in November, I was struck with a great idea. I would write a fantasy story for my nephew, who's a huge Lord of the Rings fan. He was going to get my old computer for Christmas as well, so if the story turned out to suck, he still wouldn't lose out. :-) Somewhere along the line, I also got the idea of naming the characters and locales after streets and townsAnnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1104329613423299412004-12-29T09:07:00.000-05:002004-12-29T09:13:33.423-05:00Boy, Was My Face Red
While I was visiting my parents over the Christmas holiday, I tried to Hot Synch my Palm. (That's when you connect it to the computer with a little USB thingie so that files that were updated on the Palm are placed on the computer, and vice versa.) No matter how many times I tried, the connection simply didn't work. Now sometimes when I use the Hot Synch cradle I have at Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1103867248030352272004-12-24T01:32:00.000-05:002004-12-24T00:56:05.850-05:00An Annoying Commercial
Have you seen those commercials for Jared's jewelers with women saying "He went to Jared's" over and over again?
They're all annoying, but one really takes the cake. One of them is set at a party. All the other women are showing off what they got and saying "He went to Jared's." One woman is getting more and more angry. At the end, her significant other sees her and says Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1103592726561927662004-12-20T20:17:00.000-05:002004-12-20T20:32:06.560-05:00Is Publishing in Danger? Part Deux
The blogger who said that publishing will be "vaporized" by IntarWeb 2.0 has posted a followup, which can be viewed at www.bubblegeneration.com/2004/12/more-publishing-2.cfm.
In this one, he explains how publishing will die. His reasons are: push-button publishing; open-source/massively distributed content; on-demand printing and distribution; Advertising 2.0 Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1103505235090537412004-12-19T20:00:00.000-05:002004-12-19T20:13:55.090-05:00Another Scam to Look Out For
I moderate a romance reader list, AARlist2 (it's called AARlist2 because YahooGroups "broke" the original list, AARlist, so we had to move). To keep out spammers, we have it set so that new members have to be approved by me. If they join through the YahooGroups web site, they have to enter a comment in order to be allowed in. If they join through e-mail, there is no Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1103293137164370482004-12-17T08:45:00.000-05:002004-12-17T09:18:57.163-05:00Is Publishing in Danger?
The Book Trade News Digest linked to this article on Umair Haque's Bubblegeneration.
He thinks the next industry to be killed by the Web is publishing. He talks about the impact of technological changes on publishing, and argues that the current strategies publishers are using on the Internet don't work because they're not innovative. They're the same strategies as whatAnnenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1103172711183404202004-12-15T23:41:00.000-05:002004-12-15T23:51:51.183-05:00Surprised to Find Myself Really Enjoying...
Rereading Terry Brooks' The Sword of Shannara after many many years. I read it in high school, about the time it first came out. (I checked the trade paperback out from the library.) The reason I'm reading it again is convoluted. While I didn't loathe Shannara or Terry Brooks, as some fantasy fans do, I couldn't get into the first sequel, The ElfstonesAnnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1103169321607749902004-12-15T22:33:00.000-05:002004-12-16T00:53:25.253-05:00Another Publisher to Avoid?
The question raised on the Absolute Write Water Cooler message board was "scammer or gormless"? Most agreed that the publisher was merely gormless. I really do think the owner is sincere. That doesn't make this publisher a great choice, however. OK, I guess it's a better choice than a scammer. But the end result to your career if you try to published this way can suckAnnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1103085865463098292004-12-14T23:16:00.000-05:002004-12-14T23:44:25.463-05:00More PublishAmerica Horror Stories
You can read a press release called "PublishAmerica -- An Author's Nightmare" here. This was written by an author from the UK who found soon found himself disgusted and disappointed in his PA experience.
Also, be sure to read "Publish Anything: The Saga of a PublishAmerica Author" at www.articlecity.com/articles/writing/article_314.shtml. I think the saddest Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1103081621481019862004-12-14T22:06:00.000-05:002004-12-14T22:33:41.480-05:00Author Selling Rights to Her Books on Ebay
There's an author trying to auction off the rights to her books on Ebay. You can view the auction at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=377&item=4511768382&r.
There have been 1179 views on that page in just a few days, but not a single bid. OK, that could be because she is asking a minimum of $250,000 for those rights, and she is anAnnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1102792769897356502004-12-11T14:16:00.000-05:002004-12-11T14:19:29.896-05:00Comments May Finally Work...ish
Now that Blogger has its own commenting thingie, I got rid of the third-party commenting system I been using. (It never worked right anyway.)
I think I have the Blogger comments almost workingish.Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1102394542313844872004-12-06T23:41:00.000-05:002004-12-06T23:46:23.620-05:00You know it's time to get new glasses when
... You go to the eye doctor, and first, he looks at your old glasses and says "These have been through a lot." Then, later, he starts showing them to his staff members and saying, "Look at this!!!"
I'm surprised he didn't ask me if my frames had been designed by Ben Franklin. :-)Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1102393414838089162004-12-06T23:19:00.000-05:002004-12-06T23:23:34.836-05:00Spongebob Thefts and Free Whoppers
Have you heard about the rash of thefts of giant inflated Spongebob Squarepants thingies from the roofs of Burger Kings? So far, more than 50 of them have been taken. On tonight's news, they did another story on this. They also interviewed a mother who was upset because she had to figure out how to explain to her little kid why the Burger King no longer had a Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1101967387956049282004-12-02T01:16:00.000-05:002004-12-02T01:03:07.956-05:00My Latest Toy -- the eBookwise 1150
If you're a fan of ebooks (or e-books, I use both spellings depending on my mood), you may remember the Rocket ebook reader. Or the later devices, such as the RCA Gemstar 1150. A lot of people still love their Rockets. They sounded like great devices, with a much larger screen than any Palm. However, the device looked like a thing of the past after RCA GemstarAnnenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1101868410102468282004-11-30T21:11:00.000-05:002004-11-30T21:33:30.103-05:00Amazon's Top 10 Editors' Picks: Romance
The list is at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/546915/ref%3Ded%5Fbb%5Fbb%5Feditors%5From/002-0687423-3002451.
After reading this list, I'm beginning to see that the Waldenbooks list was a veritable treasure trove of innovation. Well, not really, but at least the Waldenbooks list had more variety than this one. Don't get me wrong, some of Annenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1101823997181232052004-11-30T08:27:00.000-05:002004-11-30T09:13:17.183-05:00Waldenbooks Best of Romances 2004
You can read the list at www.bordersstores.com/walden/list.jsp?list=best2004wromance.
There are some interesting titles here. For example, I'm not surprised to see Nora Roberts' "Blue Dahlia" as so many people liked it and thought she was back in form. There are also some controversial titles here. For example, feelings were extremely mixed on Rachel Gibson's "Annenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1100611728464778902004-11-16T08:28:00.000-05:002004-11-16T08:28:48.463-05:00My ATBF (At the Back Fence) column on paranormal romances is up. Click here to read At the Back Fence #191. I think this is the first time I do a whole column!Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1100266004333264142004-11-12T08:22:00.000-05:002004-11-12T08:46:55.020-05:00Evil Writer Strikes Again
I finally got to the scene where Brodin, Sutton, and Guy are on a barge, heading toward the capital. They think they are going to retrieve the body of Moonstone, but in reality, he is alive, and they will learn this in the next chapter or so when they see him on a barge going in the other direction. :-)
But for this chapter, I needed something interesting to happen. I Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1099933070854615972004-11-08T11:47:00.000-05:002004-11-08T11:57:50.853-05:00Yet Another Belated Moonstone Update
I got all the way to the scene where the ghost of King Blackwood brings the palace ghosts to Brodin's castle and asks him to put his loyalty on the line and fight for the kingdom. I did struggle a bit about the timeline between the Brodin chapters and the Moonstone chapters. If Brodin was supposed to help Moonstone, the king would ask him to go to the palace Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1098023937073987512004-10-17T10:26:00.000-04:002004-10-17T11:46:23.963-04:00Moonstone and Rowena Update
Although I had outlined the scenes where Moonstone and Rowena escaped through the forest, I had never really gotten a "handle" on them. Then, the other day, I was thinking, "Wait a minute. They're leaving a major city -- the capital! They're going to a castle in the same land. There must be a better way to get to Brodin's castle than to go through a forest. Otherwise,Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1097499923171326562004-10-11T08:31:00.000-04:002004-10-17T11:43:42.070-04:00Lots of Things
I have been neglecting my poor Blog.
Before I say anything, I'd better mention that I attended my nephew's wedding this weekend. It was a very nice ceremony. It was hard to believe that little boy who used to read my Conan comic books was up there in a tux, getting married.
Also, I wrote a letter to Russell Oberlin (forwarded through his college), thanking him for his music Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1095610553433991752004-09-19T11:58:00.000-04:002004-09-19T12:15:53.433-04:00Yet Another Vanity Publisher Trick
I learned about a new one today. Or maybe it's an old one, I've lost track. There's a vanity publisher out there that claims they charge a fee to (get this!!!) discourage the less talented writers from submitting! And the fee is $4,000! Isn't that the most ridiculous thing you've ever read?
The sad thing is that a lot of aspiring writers don't realize it's Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1095425059172482622004-09-17T08:36:00.000-04:002004-09-17T08:44:19.173-04:00Progress!
I replaced the chapter where Brodin's brother dies in an ambush by bandits with one where Brodin spends the day mourning the anniversary of the Battle of Fern Hollow. It ended up saying something about the way he chose to mourn. This chapter also included the sad sexual encounter with Guy. Guy is an ambitious git -- but I hope to make him a teensy bit more sympathetic. (He'll be a Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1095029028930314702004-09-12T18:35:00.000-04:002004-09-12T18:45:20.303-04:00Thwack thwack thwack
Pardon me while I hit my head against the monitor.
I had been having a hard time getting back into writing the Moonstone story. At first, I thought it was because I was thrown off my writing patterns by my vacation at the beach.
Recently, I finally managed to start the next chapter -- the next chapter from Brodin's point of view. This is the one where Brodin leads his Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1094479212067505942004-09-06T09:52:00.000-04:002004-09-06T10:00:12.066-04:00Happy Labor Day!
Maybe I'll celebrate by writing a short story about Gorok and Wulf. Or a short story with Moonstone. I had some ideas, but they're swimming around in a giant idea pool. I had an idea for a creepy fantasy story with horror elements where Gorok and Wulf are only secondary characters. Maybe I'll go for it.
Hmmm, now that I've written the Moonstone story and made ghosts such a Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1093869049272791952004-08-30T08:18:00.000-04:002004-08-30T08:30:49.273-04:00Yes, I know it's been a while. :) Part of my excuse is that I didn't have a dial tone between Tuesday evening and Saturday afternoon. Trying to get it fixed was like a something out of a Poe story at times. OK, not that bad...
Oh, and my Palm is working much better. I replaced the SD card. I have to thank tech support at Fictionwise.com for pointing out that the problem I had with one of my Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1092834447103918752004-08-18T08:59:00.000-04:002004-08-18T09:07:27.103-04:00Palm Still Acting Flakey
It was behaving for a while. Over several days, I managed to read Horatio Alger's "Ragged Dick" on it plus a couple of short stories by E. F. Benson (and a tiny story by Anonymous), as well as play the trial version of "Bike or Die" and the freeware SolPoker (a lot. And the battery was draining at a normal speed. It was around 79% at the last time I checked.
Then, last Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1092488801812878412004-08-14T09:04:00.000-04:002004-08-14T09:06:41.813-04:00The Comments Feature
... is being flakey.
Even if you leave a comment, the page will still say that there are "0 comments." So I have received comments and not realized it. :-(
Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1091538659339464672004-08-03T09:04:00.000-04:002004-08-05T22:39:24.140-04:00Oberon and Titania Again
I finally got to see some episodes of Disney's Gargoyles I had wanted to see since I first read about them in rec.arts.sf.written. (People still remember the episodes today and comment on them when the appropriate thread comes up.) These are the episodes with Oberon and Titania. There are only three where they actuall appeared (if you count the two-parter as one), and I Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1091537100800635332004-08-03T08:25:00.000-04:002004-08-03T08:45:00.800-04:00In the words of Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd...
"By the sea .. .
With the fishies splashing..."
Last week, I spent a few days at the beach with some of the family (parents, one brother, his girlfriend, and his kids). Even though I didn't spend much time on the actual beach, I didn't want to risk dragging the Palm and keyboard around and exposing them to the elements. That might have been a good Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1090501614583531082004-07-22T08:54:00.000-04:002004-07-22T09:06:54.583-04:00And now for something completely different...
I finally wrote the first scene where Moonstone and the princess make love. He was no longer wearing the hideous pink dress at the time. But he was wearing a pink nightgown. Luckily, she did make him take off the nightgown, as well as the other ... uhm ... accouterments. I was going to have her really get turned on by Moonstone being in drag, but Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1089897158669224422004-07-15T09:05:00.000-04:002004-07-15T09:12:38.670-04:00Moonstone in Drag!
Poor Moonstone. He was unjustly imprisoned in the dungeons for poisoning King Blackwood -- of course, the evil Prince Ashe did it. As if that weren't bad enough, his rescuer made him dress in drag in order to get away. (He was going to be disguised as Princess Rowena's new lady's maid, Amaris.) No, maybe the worst part is that the strawberry blond Moonstone was forced to wear Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1089117663815166882004-07-06T08:06:00.000-04:002004-07-06T08:41:03.816-04:00Be Cautious!
When I posted a recent entry, I checked my blog to make sure it all came out OK, check the counter, etc. I noticed that there was an ad at the top that said "Science Fiction Publisher." Plus something about avoiding the shame of paying for to be published.
I was suspicious enough already -- look, legit publishers don't advertise because they get enough manuscripts already. Also, Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1089115038207956232004-07-06T07:46:00.000-04:002004-07-06T07:57:18.213-04:00Back to Moonstone
Emily and Kalten need some rest. (If you read the last scene I gave them, you'd know why!) I've been working on the Moonstone expansion again. Besides, I got a great idea on how to rescue the end of Moonstone's latest chapter. This is the one where the king dies after betrothing Moonstone and Rowena and then telling them he is disinheriting Prince Ashe. After King Blackwood Annenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1088306837338559752004-06-26T23:23:00.000-04:002004-06-26T23:27:17.336-04:00Sigh. Never fails. I guess I simply can't write a short story. To be fair, the "Emily and Kalten" story (working title: Killer Performance) stands on its own. It is truly a short story. Woot! OTOH I have started to write... a sequel! Well, what can I say? The characters were too interesting to leave them behind like that. Besides, there is so much the short story wasn't able to explore, like why Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1087051965258727012004-06-12T10:39:00.000-04:002004-06-12T10:52:45.256-04:00Good News from the Doctor!
Now that I have the official news from the doctor, I can mention it in this blog. First, some background. In April, I learned from my gynecologist that they found cancer in my uterus. :-O In May, I had a hysterectomy. (That's why I wasn't posting much in May.) Near the end of May, I returned to the surgeon's office for a follow-up visit, and he told me that the cancer Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1085193491189584902004-05-21T22:33:00.000-04:002004-05-21T22:45:48.470-04:00Counter Tenor Update
After finishing the first typed draft (except for the very last scen, still working that out), and expanding it, I printed it out and did some minor edits on it. (Mostly the printout was there to keep me distracted from some thingies going on.)
And then what happens? I think of yet another way to expand the bloody story. Why not start it out with the major events going on Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1083721577985649522004-05-04T21:46:00.000-04:002004-05-04T21:49:29.140-04:00I'm almost done typing up the counter tenor story. However, I stopped my progress on that when I decided to try expanding the story as it already existed. (Expanding the story before I'm actually done typing it, oh my!) I made an extra copy of the story just in case I decided my ideas sucked. In this version, Moonstone makes it to the castle a couple of days earlier but is wounded and exhausted (Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1083411437727723172004-05-01T07:37:00.000-04:002004-05-01T07:40:25.560-04:00Once I finished the handwritten version of the counter tenor story, I started typing it into the computer (and Palm, now and then). It's almost done. When I left poor Brodin, he was facing off against one mad king, seven Enforcers, and twenty-four elite fighters belonging to the royal bodyguard. And a partridge in a pear tree. ;-)
Yesterday, during lunch, I also worked on sprucing up Wulf's Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1082750297747470902004-04-23T15:58:00.000-04:002004-04-23T16:01:17.466-04:00Thanks to some screw-ups involving various doctors' offices, the insurance company, etc., I spent a lot of time in waiting rooms this week. (Also, I had a 90-minute wait sipping a lovely barium with Tang delicacy before a CAT scan --- meow!) On the plus side, that gave me time to work on my counter tenor story. It's written by hand, and some parts of it ironically look like doctor's handwriting.
Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1082378298847305922004-04-19T08:38:00.000-04:002004-04-19T08:41:14.670-04:00Over the past week, I "spruced up" some of Wulf's journal entries -- I realized that he didn't describe some really important events to which he was almost the only witness. For example, the part where Sovil was trying to strangle him. I've added dialogue, descriptions of how it feels like to be nearly strangled to death (now that I would know, although I know a lot about wheezing), details of Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1081697440710534892004-04-11T11:30:00.000-04:002004-04-19T08:25:21.013-04:00I wrote a couple different versions of the beginning of the counter tenor story. Then I wondered if I wanted to write it as a typical ghost story after all. The counter tenor is such an interesting character (or at least I hope he is) that I am no longer sure I want to start the story after he is dead. Siiigh. I know there are some characters who are fascinating and yet make better fiction after Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1081317118922780322004-04-07T01:51:00.000-04:002004-04-07T01:54:42.090-04:00I have done a little more Gorok and Wulf editing. I also decided to try writing a ghost story about a Renaissance lord who murders a counter tenor, and then is haunted by his spirit. I was tempted to give the counter tenor red hair of course. ;-)Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1080510211133589422004-03-28T16:43:00.000-05:002004-03-28T16:50:30.170-05:00Another Thing about That Bloody Salon Article
A former romance author has generated some flak for her comments in the letters section. Go to this page and then scroll down to the letter from Jennifer Horsman. She's a former writer of
historical romances who identifies herself as a midlist writer. I never read her books, but from what I hear, she wrote during the era of true "bodice rippers." (Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1080508535981549222004-03-28T16:15:00.000-05:002004-03-28T17:37:09.140-05:00Fun with Gorok and Wulf
I had the sudden urge to look at some of the chapters, particularly Wulf's journal entries. Of course, I had the usual writerly reaction of looking at those passages and shrieking in distress "Oh my God! That needs more dialogue... Speed that up... More detail there..." Sigh.
The Infamous Salon Article
If you read blogs by writers or editors, you've probably heard of Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1080047895788488122004-03-23T08:18:00.000-05:002004-03-23T08:20:44.686-05:00I typed the outline down in Word. That gave me a chance to add a couple of few ideas for scenes, even if it was just something like "Insert a scene with his wife here." I also changed the ending. Originally, the prince faked his death so he could lay in state and then sit up in the coffin when the guilty party walked by the coffin. Instead, I used an idea someone gave me, and it ended up like Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1079703905777970682004-03-19T08:45:00.000-05:002004-03-19T08:47:30.496-05:00Finished the Outline!
I'm not crazy about the conclusion I ended up with, but I can always throw something else in at the end. It's an outline, after all, it's not carved in stone, bwah hah hah.
It will be fun to write this story. I had an urge to start writing it last night, but I realized I should work on the Gorok and Wulf stuff now -- outline for sequel, plus (ugh ugh ugh) cover letter, Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1079358578407573132004-03-15T08:49:00.000-05:002004-03-15T08:51:58.920-05:00Progress on the Scarlet Pimpernel Outline
I found something odd while writing the Scarlet Pimpernel idea. An approaching conclusion! I looked back and realized I had written pages and pages of the bloody thing, without really realizing it. (All right, they were small pages because it's a small notebook, but still...)
The basic plot is this. Drake is a member of the palace guard, and Shade is Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1078926690342552962004-03-10T08:51:00.000-05:002004-03-10T08:53:46.640-05:00Palmie Is Back Home!
Right where he belongs! It came home earlier this week. They replaced the capacitors (I knew there had to be something wrong with them) and the stuck power button, and according to the paperwork, they also repaired the system board. Wow. They did include documentation asserting that they wouldn't fix the cosmetic changes, such as the minor scratches on the glass, the broken Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1078267807709801772004-03-02T17:50:00.000-05:002004-03-02T17:52:16.356-05:00Yay, Started!
I started to write the Gorok and Wulf sequel outline during lunch today. Sheesh, I already thought of something naughty to involve them in. Talk about staying in character! ;-)Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1078149159026870062004-03-01T08:52:00.000-05:002004-03-01T16:22:55.873-05:00Gorok and Wulf Update
I asked a very vague and general question about what to do with the G&W sequel at the Forward Motion Think Tank (the Sunday one, I knew this was one Beard would like to help with). Though the question was very vague, I got some great ideas. It also reminded me of some of the thingies I'd wanted to add to the sequel.
Maybe I'll have to outline this one instead of trying toAnnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1077804047670233392004-02-26T09:00:00.000-05:002004-02-26T09:02:50.860-05:00Honed My Synopsis!
I finally got back to looking at my synopsis. Strange, although it sucked, it wasn't as bad as I remembered. Also, I realized that it can be made into a single-page synopsis. I had it double-spaced, that might explain why it was two pages long. Blush blush blush. All it will take to make it a single-paged synopsis is a teensy bit of honing. That will remind me to read articlesAnnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1077419902820849692004-02-21T22:18:00.000-05:002004-02-21T22:20:21.390-05:00Well Wouldn't You Know It...
I got another bloody idea for the bloody Scarlet Pimpernel story outline. Something completely different from the one I was working on. Something ... slashy. :-D
Well that's all right. The outline I was working on didn't seem suited to the Scarlet Pimpernel type idea. Ner Jivan was acting more like a cop or official and less like a layabout noble. And the idea of a Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1076909007167613862004-02-16T00:23:00.000-05:002004-02-16T00:25:19.793-05:00I got what I hope is a nifty idea for the Scarlet Pimpernel fantasy story. I decided the backstory would be an outcast group that had been involved in a failed rebellion (at least some of the group had been involved), and I needed an idea for why the heroine's group was outcast. I decided to make them werewolves. But not typical werewolves who are cursed and hate turning into wolves. They are theAnnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1076421106619114612004-02-10T08:51:00.000-05:002004-02-10T08:53:33.030-05:00Finally, we have a week with decent temperatures during the day time. I hate ice. I know Marylanders are supposed to be deathly afraid of snow, but it's ice what does me in. ;) Snow has more traction -- well, compared to ice, that is.
I resurrected another story idea. I have to stop doing that. ;) This one is the fantasy story about the hero who pretends to be a cowardly (maybe even foppish) cadAnnenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1075385458271812342004-01-29T09:10:00.000-05:002004-01-29T09:12:33.233-05:00Wow, this is an up-to-date blog, isn't it? :( Yesterday, I wrote the beginning of an upcoming At the Back Fence segment for All About Romance. This one will be about antiquated ideas about romance novels. It was fun thinking of examples of snobs acting like twits about romance novels. Sad to say, in this day and age, people actually think they can smirk and mock, and even try to "preach" to the Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1074486718593335072004-01-18T23:31:00.000-05:002004-01-18T23:33:22.920-05:00Last week, I bought a book called Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, & Literary Agents." It looks very useful. I've started going through the agent listings. This one is better than a lot of the on-line listing because most of the authors are AAR (Association of Authors' Representatives) agents.
I also found one of my old notebooks with ideas, etc. Damn if some of them didn't look Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1073751153681859522004-01-10T11:12:00.000-05:002004-01-10T11:14:30.936-05:00Anne's Last Nerve
Note: This was also posted on FM, in slightly different form. (Translation: I remembered something else I wanted to say when I blogged it.)
It happened again today. Another author joined my romance reader list, AARlist, just to promote her book, a title published by 1stBooks. Yup, a known vanity publisher.
AARlist allows authors to post promos on the list. (Not all lists do.)Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1073746900224378852004-01-10T10:01:00.000-05:002004-01-10T10:02:52.326-05:00OK, I wrote the synopsis and decided to let it sit. I hate writing those bloody things, by the way. And the cover letter will be even worse. I also have to decide what comes next -- probably looking for agents. Siiigh. At least I got good tips on useful listings of agents after asking for help on FM. Even Victoria Strauss posted!
Besides the stuff I've already written, I have ideas for the G&W Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1073193185805951472004-01-04T00:13:00.000-05:002004-01-04T00:14:15.560-05:00The Edits Are Done!
I seriously considered starting with a heading that said "Holy shit!!! I'm done!!!" But then I decided that might be offensive to some readers. ;->
The next step... Write a synopsis, cover letter, etc. Yikes. Somehow, all those problems with the Palm seem paltry compared to the idea of writing a synopsis and cover letter trying to explain this bloody novel! :)Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1073022480524862842004-01-02T00:48:00.000-05:002004-01-02T00:49:07.873-05:00Phew, I caught up with myself -- I've finished doing the edits for all the pages I had edited before the Palm screwed me over. Doing the edits for the paddling chapter was fun. First, Kensin is paddled in front of all the mages as a punishment for betraying them. Then, Wulf ties Gorok to the bed for the first time. :)
And tonight, I finished most of the edits for the chapter where Gorok, Wulf, Annenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3506628.post-1072931832996198622003-12-31T23:37:00.000-05:002003-12-31T23:38:19.436-05:00Yesterday and today, I did more Gorok and Wulf edits. I found the folded page where I marked my original stopping off point, before the Great Palm Battery Crisis of 2003. I'm almost up to the point I labored to reach earlier! On the plus side, I think my edits on the paddling scene were better this time around. :)
Oh, yeah. Happy New Year. :)Annenoreply@blogger.com0