Jump Start My Blog!

Okay so the song is Kickstart my Heart (by Motley Crue), not Jump Start, but hey it was the tune in my head as I wrote the title. *grins*

So I promised myself I’d write a blog post on Friday (Jan. 4), edit it on Monday (Jan 7) and post it on Tuesday (Jan 8), but I didn’t find much motivation. At least not until I kicked my own butt in to gear and opened the file to do it.

You see, I seem to have run out of blogging steam. Combine that with the explosion (metaphorical) at the day job to super busy,  NaNoWriMo and the Holidays and my quietness can be explained. On top of all that is the business transition that my company is going through which will likely result in the fact that I’ll have worked for three different companies before 2013 is done. The last one of those jobs I’ll be hunting for. But my resume been updated and thoroughly proofed by my hubby (after all he’s looking to maximize his ‘return on investment’ *grins*). I just need to send it out and wait for the calls to interview.

But let’s not worry about that right now shall we? Let’s worry about my blog instead. I don’t want to see it die, which is what it was doing these last three months. So after a little jump start, thinking about goals and life situation I came to a decision. I’m going to cut back to monthly.

The plan is to post something on the second Tuesday of every month, aka Microsoft Tuesday*. Why that Tuesday? Because it’s handily marked on all the calendars I get from my hubby’s work. Plus I know when it’s coming around due to the amount of work my hubby has to do for it.

*It is labeled this because this is the day Microsoft publishes its monthly patch for updating its software to all users who have it, specifically related to their programs’ security.

As to topics, well this is labeled a Diary so I’m not going to tie myself down to any one subject, though it will likely be related to reading, writing, crafting or my family in general. And speaking of such things, I do have a book review for you!

 

“No Place Like Home” by Anne R. Allen

Camilla Randall thought her life had become perfect. She works in a book store owned by her best friend’s fiancé, she even has a little cottage that’s all her own. Okay so there wasn’t a hunk of a man in her life, but that wasn’t a make or break it thing. But of course life doesn’t stay perfect, and when a cute quirky suited tourist starts flirting with her and asking about homeless guys things go up in smoke. Suddenly paychecks are bouncing and her one employee accuses her of withholding money. But it’s not her fault, her friend is going bankrupt and he has to sell the store to a posh rich woman who redecorates Camilla’s house right under her nose!

But that’s not the worst of it! Beyond the missing homeless man our suited friend seems to care about, the mansion near Camilla’s friends’ house has gone up in flames, leaving the Doria, founder of Home Magazine, under suspicion and her husband potentially deceased. And it all starts with Doria going into surgery for a tummy tuck!

Anne does a great job alternating between Camilla and Doria, pulling their threads together in just the right way. My suspicions would be arouse and then confirmed or denied just a chapter or two later. It was great, Including the reappearance of a character from the second book (Ghostwriters in the Sky). Yes, ‘No Place Like Home’ was definitely worthy being a two am book (aka the latest I stayed up to read it without noticing the passage of time). I even managed to read it shortly after it came out! I think that’s a first for me. So there you have it. It’s another fun Camilla Randal mystery added to my shelf. Hope it doesn’t mind its fantasy companions.

 

Toodles (till next month)!

:} Cathryn Leigh
P.s. this was supposed to post itself on tuesday and didn't soo sorry!

I Hate Ranting But...

I’m feeling overwhelmed. There I admitted it. But I don’t know if it’s the time of year, or the point I’m at in my menstrual cycle (and right now we’re in the post stage, though I suppose you could call it pre-pre-pre stage) *sigh*

So what is making me feel overwhelmed?

Well the first thing that comes to mind is that – my boss is leaving. An opportunity came knocking and she’s taken it. This brings up many thoughts and questions in my mind:Am I doing the wrong thing by not looking/keeping my eyes peeled? Is my loyalty to the company that hires me an out dated thing? – It does seem old fashioned, but like a guy who is courteous and respectful to a woman, it doesn’t go out of style... right?

• I’m feeling a little betrayed that she’s leaving, but it’s not like she can say, why don’t you come with me.
• I’m feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities I’m going to be taking over. Like sending out meeting minutes from management Review and making sure all the executive managers approve it.
• I’m worried I won’t make it. I’ll fail and the company will crumble.

Yes that last one is a bit of an exaggeration, but for 6 to 8 weeks I will be a department of 1, because my other coworker, who deals with a lot of the daily stuff, will be on Maternity leave. While she says she’s coming back, I have to prepare for the possibility that she might not. You never know... and suddenly I find myself thankful for the shortness of Maternity leave. If I lived and worked in the UK I could be a department for six months!

Wow did that make my mind boggle and put things in a little perspective.

 

So beyond that little stressing development I’ve piled onto my life:

• POD Formatting for hire - I’ve a contract with MWiDP, thanks to Anne R Allen and her worry about getting How to be a Writer in the E-Age out in time for her conference (my paperback just arrived *grins*). So along with formatting the 10 to 15 books mark’s got me listed for I’m also helping someone else with hers. (She’s even paid me.)
• Keeping up with spending time working on writing every day, be it word count or planning or world building. This is part of my retirement plan folks. I have to keep marching forward, so that when I’m ready I can start putting books out there one after another.
• Teaching Sunday school about every other week. So far I plan the morning before... I’d like to give it more fore though, but I never seem to.
• Making Halloween Costumes (I have a drafted post on that, that I’ve not gotten up) potentially in the next two weeks, ready for an event my kids will be going to.
• Keeping up with this blog. I’ve been horrible at it since I hit the one year mark in June. Kind of like my Diaries... only better, because those never had the weekly punctualness for a whole year.
• Making sure I read, not just books to my kids (but how can I not read “STAND BACK!” cried the Elephant “I”M GOING TO SNEEZE!” – okay I haven’t read it yet, but the title was too awesome not to pick up for 50 cents from the Library book sale.) but also books related to the genres I write in.
• And all the while not ignoring the kids, hubby, dog and visitors (the In-laws are in town right now), part of which means making sure there is food in the house (totally failing at that right now) and doing laundry (failed that two weekends ago, but caught up last weekend)

Yeah – if anyone ever tells  you, or you think to yourself, I can’t wait till I’m out of school I’ll have more time – think again.  Eventually we all have to get out of the house and live on our own. With age comes responsibility, until you get so old you need someone to care for you, then you just sleep a lot.

Responsibility is just a weight on your shoulder and right now it’s making me grimace more than smile. Maybe once I have those costumes done....

 

} Cathryn Leigh is sorry this is more of a rant than anything else. She hates to rant, to anyone, even herself, which means she probably bottles up way to many thing for her own good. So she thanks you for reading. {

Toujou-ing through the ... Jungle?

So I got double duped into winning the Toujou Blog Award. As in, two people nominated me for it and as I consider them bestest friends, despite the generation gap and lack of physical connection, I shall concede to participate. And besides, when they lavish such praises on me (see below), how can I not participate? :}

From Charley: “Both on an off-line, she's one of my bestest friends-I-haven't-met-yet. We talk about everything, we laugh about everything, and even the figments of our imagination have started uniting in order to dispose of us when we're not looking. She's awesome.”

From Miriam: “She completely shredded my novel and prompted me to rewrite the whole thing, she’s always there with helpful comments when I’m going through a bunch of emotional poo, and she’s a not-at-all-calming influence on mine and Charley’s madness.”

The Rules:

1. If tagged you must tag five others, giving each a quick sentence as to why you ALWAYS read their posts, and tell them that you've tagged them.

2. If tagged you must post your five favorite words. I know, I know, most people do facts, but facts are hard to think of so...

3. If and only if you want to/can be bothered to/have time to you can put up five questions for the people you've tagged. If and only if you want to/can be bothered to/have time to you can ANSWER the five questions your tagger set. If you want to answer questions but your tagger left none, answer your own questions :)

The Famous Five

Okay, so I’m modifying this bit, since the people I’m going to make famous (wouldn’t that be a nice power to have?) are ones who mean so much to me that I don't want to bother them with this silly award. *grins*

Charley Robson – Ditto – basically what she said about me I can say about her. Someday we’ll meet, and I half expect our heads to explode and our characters to emerge from them to join forces and battle the evils that will come out after them. If this happens, I’m sorry world, because it’s likely to start Armageddon.

Miriam Joy – She talks about my shredding of her novel like a good thing, all the time. It boggles my mind, but I thank her for it. And though we don’t talk as much to each other as we talk to charley separately, when Charley goes on radio silence, we know we can talk to each other.

My Mom – She is my best friend, even when I was growing up (when she wasn’t having to be my mother, which wasn’t often because I was the best kid ever! *giggles*). When the rest of the real world doesn’t seem to be listening without judgment, I know she will.

My Hubby – He keeps me grounded in the real world, when my mind would much rather be flying free in imagination land. Yet, despite that, he’s been very supportive of my writing and helping me ‘gain space’, even if I have yet to figure out how to take a writing vacation.

Anne R. Allen – Not only are her posts extremely informative, especially for a newbie to publishing like me, but she’s the first real, published, author I’ve actually had contact with. She’s even commented on my Blogs, particularly the ones in which I’ve reviewed her books. She connected me with my first job in the publishing industry (more on that at another time). And is just all around funny, awesome, and stuff. *grins*

 

Quiz Me!

The questions from Charley’s nomination – too fun to pass up.

1.  Which fictional character do you think you're most like?

 - I used to think I was like Menolly from DragonSong, by Anne McCaffrey, but that was wishful thinking. The fictional character that is most like me, as I am now, is Kaylee from Firefly (and Serinity). I know it’s a TV series that didn’t last long (and movie), but she’s fictional, but her seeming spaciness yet competience when it comes to keeping the ship running, is like me, trying to manage my writing family and day job.

2.  What is your guilty pleasure?

- Writing pure teenage romance... and eating sweets. I do more of the sweet eating than I should. It’s probably the one reason I’m stuck at the weight I’m at.

3.  Name your three utter essentials.

- food, air and water. I know it’s a copy from Miriam, but no one can live without them, whether they want to or not. Once I have those, then I'll take my hubby, um... a well stocked Kindle, and some way to charge them both. *grins*

4.  Which famous person would you most want to kiss?

- My hubby, because he is famous in some circles (seriously I saw it happen – random dude from his company comes up to him and starts lavishing the praises, while my hubby has no idea who the guy is). Oh, you probably mean real celebrities, that anyone might recognize... well I’m sorry, but I’m a one guy girl and very happily taken. :}

5.  What would be the best ever present?

- Ohhh... tough question. I think a writer’s cruise with Miriam and Charley for fourteen days would be super cool – or winning enough money from the lottery to make that happen. I’m not picky.

Bonus Question (Courtesy a comment on Charley’s blog):

6.  If stuck on a desert island, and given a choice of a pointy stick, an automatic rifle with only one bullet, and a talking goldfish, which of these would you choose to help you get off?
- The pointy stick because it needs no refills and I prefer the quite solitude of my own monologue. Besides, the pointy stick has multiple uses and much easier to fix or replace than the other two. :}

Now what about you? Which would you chose? *grins* 

:} Cathryn Leigh

They are Men, Manly Men!

But they aren’t men in tights*. Nope they are the men of Sherwood Ltd. and Camilla’s gotten herself all wrapped up with them. Okay, just the one, but her taste in men is slowly improving...

Last night I stayed up till midnight to finish reading the last book of the Camilla Randall Mysteries Set; Sherwood Ltd. by Anne R Allen. I loved it! But here's a more detailed review. *grin*

It starts off with Camilla being penniless, it seems to be something that plagues Camilla a lot. And of course, shortly thereafter, her ability to attract danger rears up its ugly head; again. Her ex-husband, Jonathan, has disappeared with no hope of retrieving the money that should have been hers from him. Desperate, she crashes at her friend Planet’s SF Apartment while he’s away and meets an intriguing English Man in the alley below.

But is Peter Sherwood, a Peter Pan or a Robin Hood? It’s hard to tell, but what’s clear is that Camilla starts falling for him, even though she knows how bad her luck is with guys. But, he gives her an offer she can't refuse and thus her journey to England begins. Upon landing Camilla has hopes for a bright future, until she reaches her destination.

And so begins a complex unraveling of what is truly going on at Sherwood ltd., where nothing is as it seems. But, somehow, thing are unraveled and the story ends; perfectly.

But what intrigues me most is the fact that this book and the second one, Ghost Writers in the Sky, were inspired by events in Anne’s own life. Just goes to show that if you work hard and find your creativity, you can turn what might be a mediocre event into an extraordinary story.

Which reminds me...

The first place my husband (then boyfriend) and I rented together turnout to have been the sight of a triple Murder suicide. And we’re not talking a decade earlier, we’re talking the people who lived there before us. The rental company didn’t tell us, my husband found out with his awesome internet hunting skills (back when Google was in Beta). The event explained why the front hall stairs, and front bedroom/office/closet (it was 5’ x 10’ if that) had brand new carpet and why the back bedroom’s wood floors were painted maroon.

Nothing spooky happened to us, though the downstairs neighbors kept asking if we heard or saw things. Living there gave us street cred too. An important thing when you’re two young white people living in a somewhat Hispanic neighbor hood, with the projects two blocks away.

I suspect if I wanted to, I could turn that into a good story. Obviously something would have to happen, but that’d be the fun of using my imagination. Of course, now that it's out there and you want to run with it – feel free. I won’t make you pay me 50% for the idea. *wink*

 

:} Cathryn Leigh

*Robin Hood: Men In Tights – directed by Mel Brooks. Delightful film, and I got to see it twice in the movie theater.

Unearthing Magic is Like...

...the title of my NaNovel of 2012. No, really it is. *grin*

I was sitting outside, eating my lunch trying to come up with titles when, *BAM* it hit me like a punch from a Batman comic. I didn’t even have another contender on the page, and I’ve got the feeling that this will stick. After all my there will be a few things ‘unearthed’ during the course of the novel. The most symbolic of which will be the main protagonist’s digging deep into herself to find the strength to do what needs to be done.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Remember how I mentionedthe Board last week? I’ve since figured out how to make a reasonably portable one. I went to Staples this past week and I bought myself the items listed below for about $27.56 plus Tax.

• 11”x14” (expands to 33” x 14”) Grid Project Board - $4.99
• 10 Pack of Zebra #2, 0.77mm, mechanical pencils (w/eraser) - $4.29
• Pentel R.S.V.P. Colors, 8 pack, M (i.e. 8 colored pens for coding) - $6.29
• 12 pack of 3” x 3” Canary Yellow Post-it Notes (probably way more than I need) - $11.99

One I got home, I pulled out my sharpie (normally used to label my kids lunches) and created the masterpiece you see below. Acts 1 2 (in two parts) and 3 with a block for title and logline and a color code key.

(It was hard not to get a glare and those grid-lines really do disappear, a bit too easily) 

Portability wasn’t a problem. I just made sure I mended everything that I had in the purple peace bag (two skirts for my daughter) and voila! It amazingly fit (just) and of course into the bag went “Save the Cat” as well as my working notebook for Trabia (now with the immensely better name of ‘Unearthing Magic’).

Now I’m working on filling it up with post-its. The first one I put on the board – The title and logline (that’s what I dedicated the box in the top left for). A logline that’s even gone through some revision based upon feedback. Okay, so I didn’t approach strangers, but my Maryland NaNo Facebook group gave wonderful feedback (as did Charley and Miriam).

Thanks to them I’m now plotting out *cue movie trailer voice*

“Unearthing Magic”
- In a kingdom where magic is suppressed, a farm girl discovers her powers. Honing them under the protection of two foreign princes, she sets out to help defeat the vengeful magi threatening their world.

I’ll be writing from the perspective of the farm girl and the two foreign princes. It’s going to be fun! Next week, if you like, I can post up a picture of how I’ve filled it in the past week.

At some point, I should probably get some reading done, don’t you think? Miriam is waiting for my comments on Destroying and I’ve got the third Camilla Randall Mystery to tackle!

:} Cathryn Leigh

Sarah Saves the Cat! I Think...

As mentioned in my last blog post, I was going to read Save the Cat! (The Last Book OnScreenwriting that You’ll Ever Need), which is by Blake Snyder. No, I’m not writing a screen play. Just because the book is about making movies doesn’t mean there isn’t something that can be taken away and used for books.

For instance, Catherine Ryan Hyde did a guest post on Anne R. Allen’s Blog on what can happen to a book when it’s turned into a screenplay. Reading Blake Snyder’s book explains why some of that happens. I’m not sure a lot of books follow his fifteen beat plot. But, apparently that’s what makes a movie successful. After all the audience wants their entertainment in short time frame.

Not to mention I’ve seen the book pop up on other blogs, or maybe it’s just that Roni Loren (steamy romance novelist) has mentioned it, a lot. So I ordered the book, it was delivered and I’ve read through chapter four. And what all has Blake been talking about in chapters 1 through 4? I’ll tell you, using My Phoenixes for my examples. *grins*

Chapter One is about the logline – that one line that you use to get people interested in your story. He suggests walking up to strangers and pitching your idea, but, I’m not quite sure I’m up to that sort of thing, so I’ll pitch it here. Unfortunately, it’s for the trilogy and focused on Sarah. If you have suggestions to improve it, I’ll gladly take them. 

• Logline: A war weary independent young woman finds herself in a medieval world helping her future husband save it from a warmongering General

Chapter Two is about Movie types – not necessarily genres, because each type can be made into any genre. What Blake is talking about are story lines. In a condensed format like a movie, you’re pretty much going to have one (I’m beginning to see how I could apply this to a short story). In a novel I suspect you might have more than one of his 10 types. I pined my trilogy down to three

• Phoenixes Blake Types: Dude with a Problem (there’s a war to avert), Buddy Love (the romance), and Institutionalized (the sacrifice of one for many, military mind set).

Chapter Three is whom the story is about and the Primal urges that connect it with the audience. In addition, there is an emphasis on growth of the protagonist. Someone once told me that Hasón was too perfect. They might be right. He has no growing to do, while Sarah has loads.

• It’s about a Guy Who:  Sarah’s a war weary, independent young woman. Hasón’s a staunch commander who follows his gut. Wholwaski is a conniving war mongering General.
• It’s Primal Elements Are:  Survival, Protection of Loved Ones, and Fear of Death

Chapter Four is about Blake Snyder’s beats. One story, split into Three Acts, that are broken down into a total of fifteen “beats”. Each one to be placed in the script at specific point for maximum effect. Let me summarize them in my words, as best I can.

1. Opening Image: Shows us where the hero begins, his life before the story happens
2. Theme Stated:  Someone states something that clues us into what the story’s theme is
3. Set-Up:  Where we meet everyone in the A Story, showing what needs fixing in the hero’s life
4. Catalyst:  The thing that turns the Hero’s world upside down and starts him on his journey
5. Debate:  The answer to the question of – can the hero handle what he’s been tasked with and how?
6. Break Into Two:  The hero takes the action that leads from his life onto the path of his new life
7. B Story:  It’s a break from what’s been going on and introduces new people to the hero
8. Fun and Games:  Slightly lighter in tone than the rest, it’s the fun part – the part that trailers take their clips from...
9. Midpoint:  Halfway through, the hero gets a small, or false full, victory though sometimes it can be a down as well as an up
10. Bad Guys Close In:  Everything begins to align against the hero as the bad guys close in for a win
11. All is Lost:  There is a whiff of death, be it metaphorical or actual, where it seems the hero has lost
12. Dark Night of the Soul:  This is how the losing affects the hero, how it manifests itself
13. Break Into Three:  But now the Hero has a solution taken from both the A story and B story
14. Finale:  The hero wins and his old world has  now completely transformed into his new world
15. Final Image:  A mirror image of the opening image, showing us how far the character has come

Art by Gabriel Morrison

I tried beating out Sarah’s Phoenix and found myself mixing it with Phoenix Rising – clearly a novel can have a lot more going on in it than a movie can – that’s why books are so often better. It’s also helped me realize that the story revolves very much around Sarah – after all it’s all from her viewpoint right now. But, I’m going to change that and Hasón is going to become less than perfect so the two of them can grow together.

At least that’s what I’m hoping.

But, for NaNo2012, I’ve decided to pick on ‘Lori and her Boys’. You’ll be hearing more about them as the march towards November continues!

:} Cathryn Leigh

Two Books in One Week? It’s a Mystery!

I had the rare opportunity this month to read two books. Even stranger I got to read them both in the span of a week. And each one only took two days. Yes, I can be a fast reader when I have the chance.

The first book was “Dragons in the Water” by Madeleine L’Engle. The opportunity to read this book came as bitter sweet. Fiona was sick, and I read while snuggling her and watching her sleep in case she threw up. She only did once, but I read until 1 am that night just to be on the safe side.

The book was a nice return to the world of Madeleine L’Engle. I haven’t read all of her books, but certainly more than most non biliblophiles. “Dragons in the Water” was about a boy, just into his teen years, having set to sail to South America with his newly acquainted middle-aged cousin. They travel by freighter and Simon meets Mr. O’Keefe and his two eldest children, Poly and Charles.

The children amuse themselves upon the boat as only children with vivid imaginations can, until things begin to happen, including the murder of Simon’s cousin. The incident snowballs them all into a loop lies, deceit and corrupt policemen when they arrive at the Port of Dragons, Venezuela.

As a young adult mystery, I found “Dragons in the Waters” very enjoyable. Not to mention it’s renewed my vow to purchase, or at least read, more of Madeleine L’Engle’s tales. Especially since my favorite odd ball couple, Megan and Calvin O;Keefe and their family feature is a few of them (like this one)!

Next up on my reading list was Anne R. Allen’s second* Camilla Randell adult mystery, “Ghost Writers in the Sky”. I started this one under happier circumstances. I began it while waiting outside for my husband to pick me up from work. I finished it sitting in my backyard on our half day Fridays**.

Poor Camilla is having a rough time of it again, as we move twenty years forward in her life (she’s now older than me *giggles*). A marriage gone to hell, an alienated best friend, and once more not a penny to her name. Oh, and slander about her in the papers (again). Camilla just seems to be a trouble magnet, poor thing. But, like in the last book, she faces her problems with aplomb, drawing upon her ‘inner great aunt’ for strength.

In the hope of escaping the paparazzi, Camilla travels to California to attend a writers conference, and do a talk, for a no show celebrity. I’m not going to go into all that happens, though. Suffice to say, it’s a whirl wind of craziness on a dude ranch gone wine, with a rising body count. Is it one murderer or two? It couldn’t be her friend Plant, could it? Or the sexy widower cowboy Camilla has the hots for? And what is with the Camilla doppelganger, she keeps seeing?

Don’t worry the mystery gets solved by then end, though it seems impossible given the sheer number of loose ends. Anne does it, and does it well. I definitelyy enjoyed this read. I even remembered that the end would be at 66% of the way through the trilogy. *grin*

How did she manage to write them so similar in length?

*Second chronologically, but I think it was the first one she wrote. (Hoping Anne will stop by and correct me if I’m wrong.) :}

**My day has given us a very nice summer perk of letting us leave the office at 12:30 pm every Friday from June 1 to August 31. So far, I’m loving it.

:} Cathryn Leigh

P.S. I'll be moving my posting date to Thursday or Friday, due to the fact that, at least for the summer, Wednesday night is mine and I'm dedicating it to my writing tasks.

A Dog, a Pageant and a Play?

Oh, my word, this week has felt crazy!

• I finished reading this months novel
• I had a short story published
• I spent the day at the Zoo with my daughter’s kindergarten class
• I’ve participated in an afternoon of dance rehearsal
• We’ve adopted a puppy

And that’s on top of taking care of the kids, the husband, the house, going to work and all that. Yeah, I’m feeling a bit exhausted. Somehow, I will survive. I have before. It’s just one of those deep breath nights. Now, let me expand on the first two topics. *grins*

Review:  The Best Revenge by Anne R. Allen

I purchased this book on my Kindle as part of the Camilla Randall Mystery Box Set. Having just gotten used to figuring out how to judge where I was in a book, reading a book in a set threw me off. Somewhere around 25% of the way through I had to put the book down because I wasn’t certain I could handle it if Camilla’s life got any lower. Once I started it again, I quickly finished The Best Revenge (at 33% through the set).

What a relief.

Anne's writing pulled me in so deep that every time I came out of the book I’d be shaking from the emotional ride. Poor Camilla, debutant of the high society, thrust from her innocent world into one of sex and drama. Is she a darling in need of protection as playwright Plantagenet Smith believes? Or is she a spit fire young woman who can take on the world as reporter Jonathan Kahn believes? Oh and did I mention there’s the mystery of who killed the rocks star and some other sneaky mysteries lurking in the background ? Like I said, Camilla is put through a lot, but I’ll let you read to find out how she gets through it all.

I’m PUBLISHED! SQUEEEEEEEEE

Okay, so this is the last topic for the night. (I need some sleep before I have to wake up and tend to the potty needs of puppy and son.) That’s right, I’m an officially published author! After submitting a short story to Mark Williams, a few months ago, he took it and ran... Okay not quite. He did surprise me with an e-mail that included this link. And there is was, “The Harvest Pageant” by Cathryn Leigh a MWiDP single! (Can I also squee because they are the same people who published that box set above? *giggles*) It’s up on Amazon UK too.

Saffina Desforges wrote the intro (which is also posted on the Amazon page) I like the last paragraph best:

“Traditional fairy tales can sometimes be dark and brooding, and overly-stretched, while modern day fairy tales are often written in a modern style that ill-fits the setting. In The Harvest Pageant Cathryn Leigh achieves a delightful balance, with exotic settings and names, classic fairy tale themes, and a sound moral base, all told in a single short story that’s just right for bed-time reading.”

Wow, I would have never have thought about that story as kids bedtime story. After all, it’s the same setting as my Phoenix Trilogy, which isn’t a children’s book at all. Maybe I can write kids tales. I don’t know, but I’ll be trying my hand at more short stories. Now that my name is out there, I feel the need to write and polish more!

*GINORMOUS HUGGLES* Saffina and Mark – You made my day! (and potentially my week, maybe month, not likely year though, that’ll come when I finally get a novel out *giggles*)

:} Cathryn Leigh

You Don’t Need Money to be a God...

...You just need to be (no not a doctor, it costs a lot of money to earn that degree); a writer. You read me right. It doesn’t take any money at all to start writing. A walk to the local library, plop yourself down at the public computers and start typing. There are free writing sites out there (my favorite is Protagonize, of course). Or you could sign up for free e-mail and send the story out to the ones you love. But, either way, it’s totally free to dish out agony and pain on the characters you create.

Of course being a writer comes with its own pit falls. If you’re doing it like I do, your characters start to live inside your head and you’ll find yourself talking to them at odd moments. Worse yet they could take over you words and you might blurt something out. I’m serious. Charley’s characters took over her blog once to plead for help.

I haven’t had anything so drastic happen. I prefer to be a benevolent Goddess and love dishing out happy endings. Not ever afters mind you, those are simply unrealistic, but what they call in the Romance industry ‘happily for now’ – my life is full of those moments so I share with my characters, the good guys at least. They in turn protect me from the evil nasties I’ve begun to create.

It’s quite fun, actually, to see my character come to life and grow into their own persons. Plus, it’s a lot less stressful than raising my kids.  No one will accuse me of child abuse if I stuff a character into a bunker only to fill it with rotting vegetable stew. Not to mention those great character conversations that happen between me and Charley.

Of course, she’s like me so she doesn’t think I’m crazy for it. In fact I blame her for my characters becoming so vocal and active. Now I find them watching through my eyes and making observations about the world I live in. Sometimes keeping those thoughts to myself hard because... well, here’re two examples from Rachael.

Example 1

My hubby and I were watching Firefly, I can’t remember the episode now, but Rachel grins at me from inside my skull.

“I like him,” she comments as Captain Reynolds kicks the bad guy into the running engine because he won’t take the Captain’s message back to his nefarious boss.

Of course, she would like Mal. Though I created her before I ever say Firefly or Serenity, Rachael is a female version of him. She runs her ship without a crew, though... Or, she did until I decided to reunite her with her hodge podge family. Don’t let her grumbling fool you, she loves them and woe to anyone who tries to mess with them.

Example 2 (links in this example are 'not safe for work')

My hubby and I got cozy and started watching Diary of a Nymphomaniac and Rachael saunters into my brain.

“That’s what I am,” she states, indicating the main character with a smirk.

I think my jaw must have dropped, even if I didn’t say what I wanted to. I mean,

I’d known she was an adrenal junkie. And sure, she was a saucy minx and liked sex, but a nymphomaniac? That threw a wrench into the works on the loving romance I was hoping to write in there. Michael might never get over his depression now!

Yes, us writers may be the Gods of our creations, but our characters will assert their individuality. Of course if they annoy us too much we can alter their stories to add more physical or mental anguish. However, these are probably thoughts best not said out loud because, as Miriam so nicely blogged about, you might have to tell the police: “I’m Not a Psychopath. Honest!”

Have you had any moments like that? I told my hubby about a couple and decided not to tell him anymore. I love the dear man and don’t want him to think I‘m crazier than he already does. Not to mention he’s currently my best editor... when I can get him to edit my stuff!

*Giggles and Grins*

:} Elo / Cathryn

P.S. I’d like to thank Tammy J. Patton, whose comment on Anne’s blog about Writer Myths for the inspiration of this post – even if it took me a month to write and post it. {:

“...gonna use a nom de plume...”

If you don’t start singing the song from Disney’s Aladdin, then watch the video and maybe you will. :}

Okay back to the subject of Nom de Plums, or Pen Names. As I was perusing writing and publishing related blogs I came across this one from The Passive Voice, Pen Names – Everything You Need to Know, and it got me thinking about how I could use various pen names for all the different categories of stories I have on my hard drive and the names I could use.

I got a little carried away, but thankfully a post by Anne R. Allen, Part IIIof her How to Blog series reeled me in. She recommends, for the second or third time, that you should use your name as your blog title so your readers can find you.

I commented how I have name confusion, between Elorithryn and Cathryn. Okay I have name confusion on more than those two, but Anne commented that she’d seen Elorithryn, but hadn’t realized it was me. That gave me pause.

Isn’t the sun avatar clue enough? I suppose if you don’t know me, or the fact that it’s my tattoo, perhaps it is confusing. The thing is I consider the sun my Brand more than my name. Names change, that tattoo is quite permanent. Not to mention it is the source of my sunny disposition. *grin* It’s also a unique design, born of my own drawing and the tattoo artist’s flare for color.

But perhaps the sun isn’t enough. Perhaps this ought to be Cathryn Leigh’s Diary, not Elorithryn’s, though the web address might have to stay http://elorithryn.blogspot.com/, though maybe I could get CathrynLeighsDiary.blogspot.com. I don’t know what that will do to my net presence though. You see, if you Google Elorithryn, I pop up immediately (this blog, Protagonize, NaNo...). Google Cathryn Leigh and you don’t find me (the woman I was named after pops up though; she’s the only one who spells her name like I do). *sigh*

So, if anyone has any advice for me on this quandary, please share it. I’m beginning to wonder if I should have stayed Elorithryn when I started posting comments on writing blogs... But I want to be published as Cathryn Leigh.... *sob, sigh, breath and grin*

:} Cathryn Leigh

Squealing Until the Cows Come Home

What IS that Noise?

This week has certainly very squeal-tastic for me. Gosh I’m not sure what order to put them all in. I think it all started with Anne’s blog last Sunday, snowballed over to Mark’s announcement (which I read twice once on MWi and once on Sapphicscribe), and tumbled into a snowman with Saffina’s Musings and The Stone Church News.

·         Two Sunday’s ago I entered a contest on Anne R.Allen’s Blog to win a sighed copy of “Walter’s Purple Heart” or a signed copy of “Pay it Forward” both by Catherine Ryan Hyde. This weekend I discovered that I’d won “Walter’s Purple Heart”. OMG SQUEE! This squeal lasted the longest as I not only did so in my responding e-mail to Catherine, but also in instant messaging to Charley, on Charlie’s post to my facebook wall, in an e-mail to Charley (I hope her eardrums are okay) and finally on Anne’s Blog where she announced the winner.

·         Both Mark’s Blog and Saffina’s Author Blog announced what’s going on with MWiDP. I was so excited I wrote a poem for a comment, because, OMG their publishing venture looks super sweet. So sweet that I’m tempted to ditch the whole query process and just go Indie with them. But that’s not the only thing that made be squeal. I’m also squealing because I can’t wait until “St. Malroy’s Forever!” is published by MWiDP . Which my favorite peeps Miriam and Charley are helping to write!

·         A couple weeks ago Saffina stated she was “Banningthe Bull” on her personal blog. I took a deep breath and offered to give her an excerpt from what, I hope, will be my premier novel. In her most recent blog post she mentioned me as being “adorably excitable”, along with the fact that I’ll be first of her Illuminating Indies series, January 28th, 2012! SQUEEEEE I’m chewing my nails right now as I await my hubby’s review of what it going to be posted.

·         On the smaller scale, I wrote an episode for my church’s newsletter, but hadn’t hear a word as to wither or not it would be included. Lo and behold I received my copy of The Stone Church News,January/February 2012 issue and found it; one whole glorious page (no. 14) dedicated to my story! *giggles* On Sunday, one of the parishioner said he liked it and asked if I was a writer. I very proudly stated – Yes, though I’m not published yet, but I’m working on it. I also got two thumbs up from our priest as passed by my Sunday School class, though that could have been about anything!

So there you have it. I’m squealing yet again just writing and posting this list. It’s been an exciting week! Gosh if you could just see the jitters in my hands. Yup, I’m totally feeling adorably excitable now, even if my hubby might not like the phrase so much. (But you know what, sometimes it fits him too. *wink*)

:} Cathryn Leigh

P.S. You may also have noticed I've tweeked my look and started to add pages. Exciting huh! :}