To Review or not to Review that is the...

Lemon! No wait, sorry I had a surrealist moment and really, there is no question. I’m not reviewing a book this month because I beta read Destroying by Miriam Joy rather than something published. However, sending her my comments gave me my idea for this post – A review of the edits I made to draft seven of Watching, also by Miriam Joy (and she gave me her permission).

Now, I’m no expert editor with years of experience. Watching was the first non-self book I’ve edited, but Miriam claims it helped her a lot. So, without further ado I give you the original passage, with a word count of 208. 

     “Hi,” I said with a tight smile, and hoped that would be enough to stop myself from appearing rude. It seemed to be all that was required.     Talking to her parents was not easy. It would have been hard to talk to the parents of the girl I had just almost kissed even if I wasn’t absolutely crap at talking to humans – especially the adults – the rest of the time.     “So, Alex, you’re a friend of Jennie’s from school, right?” Her father was speaking, laying the table while Jennie and Alex bustled around, helping their mother to serve the food. I could smell pizza. I forced a smile onto my face before I replied.     “Well, we’re in the same set, yes, but we hadn’t talked that much before recently,” I said truthfully.     “So what brought you here today?”     “Well, I sort of scared Jennie earlier and I actually came over to apologise,” I said, while looking at her to check I was saying the right thing. “Besides, we hadn’t finished our conversation.” Lame excuse, but nobody noticed because at that moment Jennie and her mother brought over the large plates full of pizza and sat down. I was about to tuck in when their father started saying Grace, which surprised me. I hadn’t known that Jennie came from a Christian family.

Now here is where I requested changes and some whys; [brackets = delete] and (parenthesis = add)

• “Hi,” I said with a tight smile, [and hoped] (hoping) that [would be] (was) enough to [stop myself] (keep me) from appearing rude.
  - The first two changes are about tightening the sentence, while the last one is, I hope, using stronger words,  
• Talking to her parents was not easy. It would have been hard to talk to the parents of the girl I had just almost kissed even if I wasn’t absolutely crap at talking to humans – especially the adults – the rest of the time.
  - I didn’t change anything here, but I did make a note on how this statement related to Alex’s character and his interactions with others
• “So, Alex, [you’re] (you are) a friend of Jennie’s [from school, right] (then)?”
  -  Its hard to emphasis a contracted word, and how they are friends isn’t as important to the father clarifying that Alex is or isn’t a friend, since there’s been some waffling on this subject earlier.
• Her father was [speaking] (spoke as he ), [laying] (laid) the table(.) [while Jennie and Alex bustled around, helping their mother to serve the food.]
  - This sentence was long and the second half of it unnecessary, especialy since Alex wasn’t helping (probably should have been Alys, the little sister)
• [I could smell pizza.]
  - Not needed, we find out about the Pizza at an appropriate time later.
• I forced a smile onto my face(.) [before I replied.]
  - His dialog follows this so before I replied isn’t necessary.
• “Well, we’re in the same set, yes, but we hadn’t talked that much before recently[,](.)” I [said] (was) truthful[ly].
  - I decided that said wasn’t needed and in taking it out the adverb ‘disappeared’.
•  “Well, I sort of scared Jennie earlier and I actually came over to apologise[,](,)” I [said, while looking] (looked) at her to check I was saying the right thing.
  - notice that removing said, allows us to remove one more word and we break a long sentence into two (not always necessary)
• I was about to tuck in when their father started saying Grace[, which surprised me]. (Surprised I bowed my head;) I hadn’t known [that] Jennie(’s family was) [came from a] Christian [family].
  - Here I chose to take Alex’s reaction to the action (saying grace) into a separate sentence, while trying to tighten up the wording.

The hardest part of the editing is keeping the author’s style. You’ll not I removed said twice. It’s a word I tend to avoid, but one that Miriam likes to use. There’s no wrong or right way, it’s just a matter of preference. I’d like to think that because I wasn’t changing said to a descriptor (like yelled or whispered), I managed to keep her style. But here, you judge if the 187 word result sounds similar in style, I didn't check to see what she did with my comments.

     “Hi,” I said with a tight smile, hoping that was enough to keep me from appearing rude.
     Talking to her parents was not easy. It would have been hard to talk to the parents of the girl I had just almost kissed even if I wasn’t absolutely crap at talking to humans – especially the adults – the rest of the time.     “So, Alex, you are a friend of Jennie’s, then?” Her father spoke as he laid the table.
     I forced a smile onto my face. “Well, we’re in the same set, yes, but we hadn’t talked that much before recently.” I was truthful.     “So what brought you here today?”     “Well, I sort of scared Jennie earlier and I actually came over to apologise.” I looked at her to check I was saying the right thing. “Besides, we hadn’t finished our conversation.”
     Lame excuse, but nobody noticed because at that moment Jennie and her mother brought over large plates full of pizza and sat down. I was about to tuck in when their father started saying Grace. Surprised I bowed my head; I hadn’t known Jennie’s family was Christian.

Now what do you think? Is it better or worse than the original passage? Are there additional things you might change if you were editing it?

:} Cathryn Leigh

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

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

This Delinquent Blog Brought to you by...

THE MAP!

So even though I had this post already to go my brain wanted to do some coloring. But now on to our regularly scheduled programing... No wait Look it’s another random blog award!

The Kreativ Blogger Award has given to me by Miriam Joy. She claims it’s because I’m creative, but I secretly suspect it’s also because of my occasional kreativ spellings. And what tasks have been assigned to me via this award? Hm...

• Answer 9 questions – That doesn’t sound too hard.
• Provide 10 facts – I think I can manage that.
• Pass it on to 7 people – No, I’m not going to. Sorry, but I’m playing dead end.

Okay, now on to the questions and facts.

THE QUESTIONS:

1. What is your favorite song?  - Step-by-Step by John McCutcheon has a lot songs I love, but Step-by-step is my anthem. It reminds me that things will get done, one step at a time and to ask for help when needed, because you can’t always do it alone. *grin*
2. What is your favorite dessert? – That’s a tough question, but I’m going to go with an ooey gooy hot fudge brownie topped with mint chocolate chip ice cream, whip cream and a cherry. *drools*
3. What ticks you off? – When my kids don’t listen to me or do what I ask them to do (really anyone who doesn’t listen when I’m trying to tell them to stop doing something). Sadly it’s tears before anger so when Daddy asks, “And why should you listen to Mommy?”, Fiona answers “So that she doesn’t cry.” *sigh*
4. When you’re upset, what do you do? – I tend to hide and cry. I’ve got a lot of tears and it seems to be the best way to let out my upset... crying coupled with chocolate and a good book to escape into, works wonders. Though more often,  it’s sleep that I really need. *zzzz*
5. What is your favorite pet? – My husband... he counts right? If not then, currently I have to say my kitty Dusteen (RIP). She was a rescue kitten we adopted shortly after my mother kicked her mental x-bf out of the house. Dusteen may have been prone to wobbling, flopping and thunding on stairs, but she was full of purrs for me. I miss falling asleep to her lullabies. *sniffles*.
6. Which do you prefer: black or white? – I consider them equal, though white tends to show a lot more of my life with kids and the black puppy. *grin*
7. What is your attitude? – I can be sarcastic or serious, but in general I prefer to be lighthearted. *giggles*
8. What is perfection? – I don’t know. I’ll tell you when I find out. *grin*
9. What is your guilty pleasure? – Writing pure teenage romance. The kind that plays out my dream of what I wish high school might have ended as if my outcast self met the cool, secretly geeky, jock. Reading romances makes me feel a little guilty, too.

THE FACTS:

1. I seriously dislike making random lists. Unless it has a direction (like a grocery list, or to do list) I find it very hard, therefore the remainder of this list will be facts from my university days.
2. I applied to two universities, one in Kansas (near my grandparents) and one near home (that my boyfriend went to). I got into both, but choose to go to the latter.
3. The day I went to my orientation was the day I decided to go from Liberal Arts Undecided to a Bachelor of Science in Textile Chemistry; however, they wouldn’t let me switch my major until a week after school started.
4. The boyfriend mentioned above and I broke up on my mom’s birthday my first semester at the university.
5. About four months later I started hanging out with a new guy, whom I haven’t been able to get rid of (as if I’d want to *giggles and grins*).
6. I found out I could have tested out of Physics, after I’d taken the second semester.
7. My chemistry teacher (whom I had for five semesters plus) was always telling me I should be a straight Chemistry major
8. I tutored Chemistry five hours a week in my last two years University, and loved it (especially when I had students to tutor).
9. There was only one Textile Chemistry major who graduated with me, yet I knew the Chemistry Majors in my year better.
10. I have two diplomas, one says magna cum laude, the other summa cum laude. The later was sent as a correction to the former after the graduation ceremony. 

Next week I’ll try to be a bit more serious. Any suggestions for topics? I’ve been thinking about starting that world building. I’ve already done a post on Maps. (See look I’ve sort of completed mine.) *grins*

:} 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. {:

Anca in Auschwitz

Tuesday I was wondering what I was going to blog about. I thought about seeing if I couldn’t outline how I was going about my edit process for Watching by Miriam Joy. Then I thought about posting up some responses to Beautiful People. But, after I got home and had the kids in bed there was only one thing I wanted to do...

Finish reading Anca’s Story by Saffina Desforges (Amazon US). And now, I’m going to relay it to you as I fight back the tears.

The cover, and of course my post title gives away the fact that this is a Holocaust story. The author’s don’t hide that fact from, nor the fact that it’s about three children who smuggle themselves into Auschwitz, that concentration camp that anyone who has paid attention to history class should know the name of. And from my recollection it was touted as the worst of all of them.

The story doesn’t start there of course, but rather in mundane classroom of the modern age, supped up with high tech gadgets, and a frail old lady asked to come in a relate her tale to slumped teens who probably all think Vampires should sparkle *scoff*. That is until Anca asks them if they have lost a parent and then tells them that she lost hers at the age of 12. Her father was executed in front of her and her mother... well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out.

Make sure you bring tissues. I suspect if I hadn’t taken three separate occasions to read the whole book I’d have been bawling by the end.

The Holocaust isn’t a pretty time in our history. But it is something that must be remembered. I’ve been horrified and fascinated by it since my Fourth Grade teacher read Devil’s Arithmatic by Jane Yolen. I followed that up by reading, and then watching, The Diary of Anne Frank in middle school.  In high school two busloads of kids, including me and my friend, the Rabbi’s daughter, were shipped to the theater to view Schindler’s List.

Now I add Anca’s Story (Amazon UK) to my list. I am glad I did and I hope they get a movie deal with a director who knows what they are doing. That way those who won’t read can be exposed to the tale. A tale I feel worth every tear I cried, and all the ones I didn’t.

:} Cathryn Leigh

Tag! No Backsies! Please...

Well I’m out here in sunny Florida, enjoying the warm weather and recuperating from a friend’s wedding (three nights of parting – I can’t do it as easily as I used to). Anyway, earlier in the week/last week maybe, Miriam decided to tagged me with a blog chain letter. Normally I ignore chain letters, but I’ll go with this one as it makes my life a little easier. AS I said I’m on vacation at the in-laws with the kids. So, here are...

The Rules

1. You must post the rules – check
2. Post eleven facts about yourself on the blog post – Do I have to?
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged. – Really? I make no guarantees on the quality of the questions.
4. Tag eleven bloggers, however, you can break the rules and tag fewer  people if you want. Make sure you hyperlink their names/blogs. – I’m going to do less, that’s for sure.
5. Let them know you’ve tagged them! – Right. I’ll do my best.
6. Have fun! – Um okay. But isn’t that what my vacation is for?

Now for the ...

Eleven Facts

1. I got braces the summer before Fifth grade (year 6), right before I participated as a Dragon in a mummers play, at Pinewoods Dance Camp (Family Week).
2. The year before that I got bifocals due to a stigmatism in one eye that made it hard for me to refocus from near to far and back again (I refused to wear them and didn’t start wearing glasses full time until college).
3. I married my third boyfriend, whom I also consider my first.
4. I think my kids handpicked the genes they got because there’s no way randomness would have created two such adorable kids from my hubby and I.
5. I believe in Unicorns.
6. All the surgeries I’ve had were related to my mouth – a gum graph, removal of six teeth (including two baby teeth that hadn’t fallen out yet), a root canal, and wisdom teeth removal.
7. I’m having a hard time thinking of eleven facts.
8. I had to be dragged from my laptop to go take a walk with my daughter this afternoon, as I’m still trying to recover my ‘quiet time’ I could use a day by myself.
9. TV is a major distraction for me. I have a very hard time ignoring it, even when the volume is off, the images will still attract my eye. There is no way I can go to sleep in front of it like many people I know.
10. I’ve sewn my thumb with my sewing machine once, but I didn’t have to go to the emergency room.
11. I stepped on a rusty nail two weeks after I’d gotten my tetanus shot, which was also two days before I went to Summer camp for two weeks.

And now I must...

Answer the Questions Posed for Me

1. What is the largest object to the right of the computer or other device on which you are writing this? – A restaurant sized red wine glass. Hey I’m on vacation. At home It’d be a china hutch.
2. What was the last book you read? (Not finished. Just read.) – Anca’s Story, which is very emotional (I’ve cried nearly continually since chapter 3), and very awesome.
3. Do you name inanimate objects? Yes, I mean who hasn’t named a stuffed animal!
4. What was your response to receiving the message that you’d been tagged? (Be honest.) – Not again! / Do I have to? Or something along those lines.
5. Do you have any pets? – Not yet, but there is a dog in our future, and  maybe a cat.
6. How many projects do you have going at the moment? – Do I really have to count, because it will probably depress me? I’ve got at least three writing/revising projects. One critiquing project and then there’s the sewing projects that are progressing even slower.
7. What are you supposed to be doing instead of writing this post? – Nothing, as far as I know, maybe socializing, but I’ve no interest in watching TV. I hate TV, it always takes up more time that you want it to.
8. How long have you been blogging? – Good question, I’ll look that up as soon as I go to post this, but definitely less than a year. Yup, it will be a year come mid June.
9. Do you play any musical instruments? (Vocals count.) – Not officially, but I do sing to my children every night, using songs I learned from chorus.
10. What is the last piece of orchestral music you listened to? – I have no idea, but it was last week on the XM radio.
11. What is the oddest objects you can see right now? – A cookie tin being used to hold my nana-in-laws medication (it’s a big cookie tin and a long medication list). Though I suppose the bear rug/wall hanging that’s ‘sitting’ on the antique couch might be weirder.

Now I need to write my own...

Questions

1. What was the last drink you had, or may be drinking right now?
2. What is your favorite food topping?
3. Do you prefer dogs or cats, and if neither, then what?
4. How far are you living from where you were born?
5. How many places have you lived for more than one year?
6. When you write these questions, will you tailor them to the recipient(s)?
7. What would you do if you found a bear rug in your living room?
8. If you could ‘live’ one book (or movie) what would it be?
9. What’s the best gift you’ve received so far?
10. Pick one location that you would love to drop everything and go visit?
11. What do you think should be everyone’s top priority?

Whew and now I must find some people to pass this off to. I can’t do Miriam, since she tagged me. Out of fun I’ll do Charley so she can be double posted and then... Naw, I won’t bother anyone else.

Just an FYI, I think this may be the last ‘chain blog’ I do.

:} Cathryn Leigh

Pocketful of Sunshine

Pocketful of Sunshine clip from “Easy A“, a great flick about thinking before speaking and the power of the rumor mill. I can get that song suck in my head without hearing it though, but I don’t mind. It’s a great song, very catchy. Someday I ought to fully listen to the lyrics just to make sure I agree with them (for the most part) there are a lot of songs out there I start singing to an then go blech.

Oh well. Today’s post is dedicated to an award I got nominated for by my good friend Miriam. She may want to take it back when I return her novel, Watching, at the end of the month. I’m currently sinking my editing teeth into it and I’m being ruthless! Seriously I’m amazed at all the red I’ve put on it and I’m not even paying attention to grammar or spelling (they are not my forte).

Anyway before I procrastinate too long, here are my answers from the Comfy Chair of the Spanish Inquisition. :}

The Sunshine Award 

• Thank Miriam, whonominated me: So thank you Miriam, may your blog resound with the words of a thousand viewers... or something like that.
• Favorite colors: Purple, royal purple that is, the kind they used to make from snails shells.
• Favorite animal: Unicorn, which in my mind, is not an imaginary beast, but that’s another story all together.
• Favorite number: 42, seriously that has to be obvious!
• Favorite drink: Hot chocolate, the rich creamy kind with whipped cream and chocolate shavings... nom nom nom
• Facebook or Twitter: Facebook: Twitter is too fast for me. I tried and gave up. No time for it right now.
• Your passion: Writing is the first thought that comes to mind, then reading, dancing and creating.
• Giving or Receiving: Well now it depends on the situation. Giving a well thought out gift gives just as much joy as receiving the well thought out gift. And seeing kids faces light up at Christmas time is seriously awesome...
• Favorite pattern: A natural one... Twills are kind of nice though, simple yet elegant, erm... *shrug*
• Favorite day of the week: Tough one and it’s a toss-up between Monday and Friday. Hey I look forward to the week and Weekend! *grin*
• Favorite flower: Crocus, they are a symbol that spring is coming (despite the snow flurry on Monday).

So there you have it, and I suppose I’m supposed to send this out again... Any volunteers? :}

If not I pass it on to Charley R, because she never fails to make me smile at least once a day in one of our many conversations... And To Marc / Eloosive because he’s slowly but surely making his way through my Phoenix trilogy and I love his Daily Writing Practice Blog. :}

:} 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! :}