A smile. An encouraging word. A thoughtful gesture. Each day people interact with us, help, and make our day a bit brighter and full. This is especially true in the Writing Community.
Take a second to think about writers you know, like the critique partner who works with you to improve your manuscript. The writing friend who listens, supports and keeps you strong when times are tough. The author who generously offers council, advice and inspiration when asked.
So many people take the time to make us feel special, don’t they? They comment on our blogs, re-tweet our posts, chat with us on forums and wish us Happy Birthday on Facebook.
Kindness ROCKS!
To commemorate the release of their book The Emotion Thesaurus, Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse are hosting a TITANIC Random Act Of Kindness BLITZ. And because I think KINDNESS is contagious, I’m participating too!
A couple of months ago I met an angel of a lady, Lani Rhea. Not only does she love books, but she’s a talented writer as well. I’d already been to her site a few times when our paths crossed, which reminded me how small our world really is.
She’s an angel to me in many ways. Not only does she listen to my bazillion questions, but she’s helping me on my writing journey. One question after the other and before long it was clear: we are kindred spirits.
By talking to her about my writing it became a little more real to me, not just something I do behind the walls I’ve erected. With her encouragement I found the will power and sent her the first several pages of my WIP and she sent me back a critique. The experience was tremendously exciting for me. Not only because it was my first critique, but I got to see all kinds of ways to improve my writing. I also got to see that my writing isn’t complete crap. I’ve been writing more, participating in writing workshops, and I’ve got serious honest to goodness plans for my writing.
So when they came up with the ROAK idea, I knew for certain I had to do a post about Lani. But what could I do for her?
In an email string one day I discovered her love for coffee. She drinks way too much, but I can’t really blame her. Yes, we’re kindred spirits all right. My hometown has several mom and pop coffee joints who roast their own beans…off to the roaster I went, bagged some beans and I’ve shipped them off to Lani to feed her addiction.
Someday I hope to meet Lani in person and give her the biggest dang hug you’ve ever seen. Until our stars align, please help me in giving Lani a virtual hug: FacebookTwitterAmazonLinked in
Do you know someone special that you’d like to randomly acknowledge? Don’t be shy–come join us and celebrate! Send them an email, give them a shout out, or show your appreciation in another way. Kindness makes the world go round. 🙂
Becca and Angela have a specialRAOK giftwaiting for you as well, so hop on over to The Bookshelf Muse to pick it up.
Have you ever participated in or been the recipient of a Random Act Of Kindness? Let me know in the comments!
Love you, Lani. (((BigBigHugs))) I hope you enjoyed the RAOK.
Happy Six Sunday. Thanks for visiting and I’d love to know what you think!! I’m continuing this week with another 6 from my Novella WIP. Last week I left Jake claiming he wouldn’t let go if Lydia poked him in the chest again. In today’s 6: Lydia has just escaped to the bathroom to wash her hands and to examine her latest thought of seducing Jake. Now for 6 from Jake’s POV.
The dom in him was aching to get out and not simply because he found her attractive. Something in her demeanor pulled on him and commanded him to push her limits. His fist hit the table, frustration swept through his body. It was hard to ignore his instincts. Even now he wanted to go to her and help. God help him, he wanted to touch her again.
Thank you so much for stopping by today!! I’d like to know what you really think of my 6. I need the advice, I’m a newbie and have much to learn. Don’t forget to check out the other Six Sunday authors. Lots of good stuff at Six Sunday. Try to find a new favorite today. happy hunting!
Happy Mother’s Day. Thank you, Ann Jarvis & Anna Jarvis for all you did in your days. According to Wikipedia, during the American Civil War Ann organized women to tend to the needs of the wounded of both sides of the war conflict. Ann went on to organize Mothers’ Day Work Clubs in five cities near their home in what is now West Virginia to improve sanitary and health conditions.
Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis died in Philadelphia in 1905. In 1907, Jarvis’ daughter, Anna Marie Jarvis, passed out 500 white carnations at her mother’s church, one for each mother in the congregation. The following year, she held a memorial to her mother and then embarked upon a campaign to make Mother’s Day a recognized holiday, a goal which was achieved when President Woodrow Wilson declared it so in 1914.
Apparently it isn’t just Hallmark commercials that make me cry this time of year. I linked up their current tear jerker below, just in case you missed it. Jenny Hansen explained in a post this past week why I have so many problems with mom, but I still love her with ALL my heart. I’ll see my mom today during our weekly Skype session and then I plan to spend my mother’s day reading and writing. We’ll see how the hubs does in wrangling those kids all day.
Okay, enough procrastinating 😉
The Goals – week-6 results
Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters- done
Write 2,000 words each week– I added 2,046 words, plus I deleted a ton (unneeded words/notes for scenes that I no longer need, because they’re written…plus check out the next line.
Spend time editing at least 2-times each week– I edited 3-days this week
Finish reading current craft book and start another– made no progress again, WK 7 PRIORITY<–I’m serious this time. My fingers are crossed for week 7, because I’ll be editing a lot this week and doing a good bit of plot review. My current craft book is James Scott Bell’s Plot & Structure.
Participate in Before You Hit Send Self-Editing Workshop in April– the workshop is over and I put more of my new skills to work this week…still more to review here.
Turn 2nd-draft chapters to my writer friend for her critique– getting closer, no prediction yet though
Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit– Got only 135 minutes again this week and everything else was good. Somehow in the last week I got back to 0.5 pounds to goal. I think we can all agree that our bodies work in strange and mysterious ways.
Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week (the 52-moves is like the ballet bar for Nia lovers): Lateral Traveling. Begin in Closed Stance. 3-Steps: side, together, side. Keep your knees spring-loaded, shoulders relaxed, and your spine vertical. Place your foot directly down on the earth. Plant your foot firmly. Sink & rise. Work with various speeds to develop power and agility. Benefits: improves your ability to move from left to right in a relaxed way.
Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)– Last week I mentioned that I quit my old route to getting this task done. This week I started creating enlarged simplified notes of each song and I taped them up on the ginormous mirrors in my workout room. Now as I’m going along I can see my notes and I keep going. So simple, but effective. Yeah, for moving forward on this goal.
Listen to the Nia sound track for the Sanjana routine each week and add Opal when I get to their bars– done
Plan out and start participating in the last of my needed continuing education credits for PMP certification– no progress and I’m ok with that…as long as I start participating by the end of the round.
This week I’m going to focus on for realsies finishing the first draft of my WIP…then I’ll give it one more read through and I will send it to my friend.
Did this commercial make you cry too, or is it just me?
All kinds of good stuff this week, a whole truck full. I even got some funny at the end. Lastly, please, oh please, don’t forget about Mother’s Day tomorrow.
When Margie Lawson is at Writers in the Storm I get excited and yesterday is a perfect example of why: Smart Writers Expand Time – From Margie Lawson! Power words, visceral responses and time. Oh, my! Fantastic post.
Laura Drake posted at Writers in The Story this week regarding 10 Tips for a DIY Author Website. If you haven’t created your site yet check out this post and get to it. If you have a site I still suggest checking it out. You might pick-up something new.
Thanks for stopping. Another picture…another 100 words
“I’ll give you all one more reason why she’s perfect for our new ad campaign.”
“Dillon, we all agree she’s beautiful.”
His ex-wife hadn’t talked to him in six-months. He didn’t care if he bored them to death. He would get her hired.
“Do you see right here? In this shot her eyes express longing and that’s exactly what—”
“What, Dillon? What do you think she’s longing for now?”
Dillon had no words. His brain couldn’t wrap around the idea popping in his head. She longed for someone else… not him. His heart cracked open.
He’d already lost her.
Hope you enjoyed my flash today!! Don’t forget to follow the link to get to the other FFF posts. Flasher Fiction Friday. Or click away on the links below.
I’m excited to have the beautiful Leslie C. Ferdinand at my blog today. Check out that cover, so sensual. Clicking on the cover will take you to her page on Amazon. Below you’ll find the blurb, her picture, bio, and the trailer. You can find Wicked Allure at Amazon, Smashwords and Lulu, however one lucky commenter is going to win an ecopy of Wicked Allure! AND WE HAVE A WINNER…SEE THE COMMENTS BELOW…THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ENTERED!!!
But First, we have a Q & A from the stars of Wicked Allure. Please help me welcome Zachary Steele and Madigan DeLeon.
Zach, Madi, tell me a little about yourselves.
Zach: I’ve led a very privileged life as one of the sons of a well-known businessman. My mother was the glue that kept the family together. When she died, our world fell apart.
Madi: I have also led a very privileged lifestyle. I’m the youngest daughter of a socialite mother and a businessman father. I have two older sisters and we’ve been labeled everything by the media.
Zach: Most of which isn’t good. They need to get their stories straight before it is reported.
Madi: You’ve said yourself that, before you met me, you believed a lot of what was being circulated.
Zach: And I learned my lesson.
Zach, watching your father grieve must have been difficult. How did that affect you?
Madi: It nearly wrecked his life.
Zach: After watching my father suffer after my mother’s death, I equated love with pain and heartache. I didn’t want a family and I didn’t want children. I decided to live for the moment and to lose myself in any type of pleasure I could find.
Do you think your well-documented past affects people’s perception of you?
Zach: Certainly. I’ve made mistakes in my life but I make no apologies for who I am.
It is well known that Zach was addicted to sex, drugs, parties, excessive luxury, fast cars, adventurous vacations…
Madi: Zach lived on the edge for a very long time. His reputation as a bad boy is well-earned.
So you’re saying he’s tamed now?
Madi: He’s domesticated but never tamed.
Zach: You wouldn’t want me any other way, love.
Madi: Not at all.
Does it ever concern you that Zach might return to that lifestyle?
Madi: Not any more. And, after what we’ve been through, I have complete faith in him.
Why did you start using drugs in the first place, Zach?
Zach: It was there and available to me.
As were women.
Zach: Yes. I love beautiful women. I’ve been blessed with one of the most beautiful.
Did you give up using and women because of Madigan?
Zach: Women, yes. I refuse to disrespect Madigan and all that we have by sleeping with another woman. As for drugs, no. I’d stopped using long before I met Madigan. I had to straighten up after my father’s death. I had to step up to the plate and run the family company.
Madigan, your mother asked you to run her sex club. What kind of a mother would ask that of her own daughter?
Madi: A woman with very little motherly instincts. I don’t recognize her anymore. She isn’t the woman who raised me.
You didn’t have to agree to run Wicked Allure. Why did you? Was it because of Zach?
Zach: Of course.
Madi: He’s so full of himself, isn’t he? He was only part of the reason. My mother threw down a challenge and I wanted to prove myself to her.
You did use again recently. Why?
Zach: To exorcise thoughts of Madigan. I regret the use that night. I’ve made a pact to myself to never do that again.
You two have agreed to a no-holds barred interview. So let’s turn to one of your favorite subjects, Zach.
Madi and Zach: Sex
Madi: Subject? I think you mean activity.
Zach: I don’t recall any complaints from you, Madi.
Madigan, Zach is twelve years older than you. You hinted that he wants control in every aspect of his life. Does he dominate you in the bedroom?
Madi: That is one part of our lives that I don’t mind him controlling. He’s an expert lover. He has tutored my body for his pleasure.
Does the age difference bother you?
Madi: It never bothered me.
Zach: It was a big concern of mine. I didn’t want to corrupt Madigan.
Madi: You corrupted me the moment I met you.
Did he now? Was it his bad boy reputation that first attracted you to him?
Madi: A lot of women love bad boys, thinking we can somehow reform them but there was a connection between Zach and I from the moment we met.
Why was it so hard for the two of you two overcome one another?
Zach: Madigan has never been afraid to express her opinions to me or about me. I admired her determination and spirit.
Madi: Zach can be extremely ruthless. He wants what he wants when he wants it and no one will stop him from getting it. Beneath everything, he has a very vulnerable, tender side and he loves his family.
Do you think you and your mother will ever reconcile, Madigan?
Madi: One can only hope.
You’re a grown woman with a life of your own and yet you returned to reconcile with your mother. Some may see that as a weakness.
Madi: Family is very important to me. I don’t let my mother dictate my life. Not in the least. But, yes, I would like to have an amicable relationship with my mother. I think a lot of people will understand that.
What’s next for the two of you?
Madi: Everlasting love. A lavish wedding and a very bright future.
Zach: Spoiling Madigan. Planning a very extravagant honeymoon and untold happiness as long as Madigan is at my side.
I want to thank both of you for sitting down for this very enlightening conversation. We wish you much happiness in the future.
How much fun was that! Now for the Trailer, blurb, bio and Leslie’s pretty picture. Thank you so much Leslie for stopping by today. Thanks to Medi and Zach too 🙂 Now don’t forget to comment for your chance to win an ecopy of Wicked Allure.
Blurb:
What Does A Man Say to the Woman He Betrayed But Never Stopped Loving?
Three years ago, Zachary Steele refused to entertain thoughts of permanency with any woman. A hedonist at heart, he didn’t want to corrupt the much younger, Madigan DeLeon, by continuing his affair with her. With the hidden scars of his past, he didn’t believe in happily-ever-after. By the time he realized how much Madigan meant to him, he’d driven her away. Then, one night, after being clean for a number of years, Zach briefly falls off the bandwagon. He believes his lovemaking to Madi is a drug-induced hallucination. The resulting consequences tell another story.
What Does A Woman Do When the Only Man She’s Ever Loved Hurt Her So Deeply She Feared She’d Never Recover?
Three years after her affair with Zach so abruptly ended, celebutante, Madigan DeLeon, is thrust back into Zach’s life by her mother’s machinations. Brought home under the false pretenses of repairing her damaged relationship with her mother, Madi instead finds herself running a private sex club called Wicked Allure. Forced to confront her anger at his betrayal and grief at the loss of what might’ve been, Madi faces the realization that she’s never stopped loving Zach.
Can Two Broken Hearts Set Aside Anger and Betrayal to Find True Love Once and For All?
Searching the deepest recesses of their hearts, in a place where pride and pain has no room, Madi and Zach must decide if their bond is strong enough to take a second chance at love. Or if resuming their sexual relationship is an irresistible wicked allure and the ghosts of their former relationship will finally, and forever, sever all ties between them.
Author Bio:
Leslie C. Megahey and Shirley H. Ferdinand have been writing together since 1991. Under their Christine Holden pen name, five books were released by Berkley/Jove between 1998 and 2001. Their last book, Dearest Beloved, had a foreign edition in Dutch. They’ve appeared in New Orleans Magazine, the Times Picayune, RT Book Reviews, the Fort Bend Herald, Fort Bend Lifestyles, and the Natchez Sun. They were also included in Kathryn Falk’s 1998 How To Write A Romance For The New Markets and Get it Published and May McGoldrick’s Marriage of Minds: Collaborative Fiction Writing in 2000. They’ve made appearances on television stations in New Orleans, Lake Charles, Lafayette, Beaumont and Toronto. Leslie has also made an appearance on the Rachel Ray Show and is founder of Inside Rose Rich Magazine. They currently have literary representation with D4EO Literary Agency. This is the team’s first erotic romance.
Happy Six Sunday. Thanks for visiting and I’d love to know what you think!! I’m continuing this week with another 6 from my Novella WIP. Last week I left Jake watching Lydia lick the bbq lunch from her fingers. Today: the two have been talking about several things and it lead to Lydia poking Jake in the chest from some comment he has made.
Her smile disappeared when he took hold of her finger. It must have been contagious, because his face lit up. She tried to yank her finger from his grasp, but it seemed to only encourage him to increase his hold.
“Hey, you let go,” she said laughing and continued struggling to regain control over her finger. His amused expression made her giggle.
“Okay, sorry, but don’t poke me, next time I might not be willing to let go.”
Thank you so much for stopping by today!! I’d like to know what you really think of my 6. I need the advice, I’m a newbie and have much to learn. Don’t forget to check out the other Six Sunday authors. Lots of good stuff at Six Sunday. Try to find a new favorite today. happy hunting!
My word count from last week did not stay with me this week, but this week was totally different. I actually got to the point in the book where I had to go back and reread everything to ensure my scene and character arc charts were up to date. Good News: I was able to write the scene in the middle that I had trouble with the first time through. Bad News: I found an important scene that had a bad case of the head hops. It took me most of Saturday, but I was able to fix it. Yeah. Okay, enough procrastinating and trying to convince you I was productive this week…
The Goals – week-5 results
Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters- done
Write 2,000 words each week– I added 1,640 words, but check out the next line.
Spend time editing at least 2-times each week– I edited 5-days this week! Oh yeah!!
Finish reading current craft book and start another– made no progress again, WK 6 PRIORITY
Participate in Before You Hit Send Self-Editing Workshop in April– the workshop is over and I put some of my new skills to work this week during my read through. Nice!
Turn 2nd-draft chapters to my writer friend for her critique– I can sense it is going to happen this round…that counts for something, no?
Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit– I slipped down to 135 minutes this week, not terrible, not going to get me to goal weight though either.
Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week (the 52-moves is like the ballet bar for Nia lovers): Traveling in Directions. Move through the room and consciously change directions every few paces. As you change direction, move the position of your entire body at once. Think about the move before you make it, to heighten your brain-body hook-up. Lead each change of direction with your eyes. Benefits: Practicing traveling in directions keeps your body agile for moving through space with ease.
Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)– I’ve been struggling on this one lately. Basically, I’m trying to remember an hours worth of choreography with movement cues and such. Instead of trying to make it work…I’m quitting…once that decision was made an interesting idea came to mind. I’m going to try it out this week and I’ll let you know how it goes.
Listen to the Nia sound track for the Sanjana routine each week and add Opal when I get to their bars– done
Plan out and start participating in the last of my needed continuing education credits for PMP certification– no progress and I’m ok with that…as long as I start participating by the end of the round.
Okay, that wasn’t so hard. Tomorrow I am going to get right back into it. Oh, and since yesterday I forgot to pimp my own blog in my links of the week post I’m going to do it here…
Yeah, yeah, it’s May, hooray. Okay, I get it. I’m working on my sourpuss, do you see it? Oh! I know what will help: some good writing links and some music from Jeff. Say no more…
“Death of Communication” by Company of Thieves from the album, “Running From a Gamble”.
Company of Thieves is a band from Chicago. My sound man is pals with them and we went and saw a bit of their set at the metro last month. I also heard one of their tunes during the credits of “Entourage.” I immediately searched the net to find out the name of the artist and song and have been hooked ever since.
The creative nucleus of the band seems to be the singer and guitarist. The singer has a fairly clear bjork influence in terms of her sound. I think her voice may be one of those, you either love or hate it, scenarios. Sometimes it sounds a bit “put on” for me but the music overall more than makes up for it. I like her lyrics as well…sometimes a bit melodramatic but I enjoy a little melodrama every now and again. For instance, the chorus of this tune speaks to me as an artist:
Almost fooled me when you said to
Sell your soul for someone’s gold
Maybe then you’ll have a friend
Go on, sell your soul to be controlled
Maybe then you’ll have a friend
The guitarist makes some interesting choices with the types of chords he uses. This enables the singer more room for interesting melodic ideas. Their songs don’t really have the typical “hooks” of pop/rock outfit but I think that’s why I like it. It’s not too crazy but not too “easy” at the same time…somewhere in the middle. After having seen them live, it’s clear that they can really play. Seems silly to even have to mention this but, in this day and age, it’s rare.
This is a band who creates an overall “sound”. As I think of further artists for this little project of ours, I can already see that “sound” is going to be a somewhat constant factor in my picks.
She was running out of time. The last thing she wanted was another day on this assignment. Working in her knickers for this dominate guy was rubbing her the wrong way. Each reason surprised her.
The agency expected her to find proof of illegal dealings. She was finding nothing except feelings of desire and respect. None of the things the agency or she wanted.
She didn’t want to be found searching his couch. He may stop trusting her and that would…hurt. She tripped over a section and fell.
“Shit”
His footsteps whispered across the carpet by the door.
“Double shit”
Hope you enjoyed my flash today!! Don’t forget to follow the link to get to the other FFF posts. Flasher Fiction Friday. Or click away on the links below.
S.J. Maylee 