Socks

Today's Tuesday Tip: Don't leave socks around the Bulldog.

When the Bulldog gets bored he likes to get into cloth things. He doesn't really "get" toys yet, unless they have food in them, and he's pretty good at getting the food out. So far he's destroyed a dish rag and two of my scarves, and he keeps stealing The Husband's hat.

Yesterday he broke into a cardboard box of Christmas presents we'd received that I hadn't put away yet. He ripped my newest scarf and ate two socks. We weren't sure about the socks because I hadn't looked at them closely when I'd received them and I had two socks left after we picked up the mess.

Fortunately The Husband's insomnia kicked off last night, and he was still awake when The Bulldog started showing signs of bloat. He rushed him off to the vet, where they induced vomited and reunited me with my lost two socks. Sigh.

Christmas Eve 2010

I had the day off, and the snow trickled down.
Lights and garlands adorning the streets of my town,
I ventured outside for a new coffee pot
and to walk my white doggie, who has one brown spot
that covers his eye like a pirate's eyepatch
and charms all the ladies and little kids, natch.
I sang Christmas songs as we walked in the snow
with just one day more, and some hours, to go
before the end of my favoritist time of the year.
How best could I share this last holiday cheer
with my loyal blog readers? I strove to devise
a new way with which I could open their eyes
to the joys of this season, the one I love most.
But others have tried, countless year without end
to share Christmas spirit with loved one or friend.
The true gift of Christmas is found in your heart
and if Dickens can't help you, then where would I start?
So instead I'll just wish you much health, joy, and love,
and hope too much snow doesn't fall from above
and hinder the guests that are driving tonight
to my house for dinner, to my dog's delight.
(If he hopes for a gift of the rabbit sweetmeats,
he shouldn't have used my new book as a treat.)
Our holiday move, "The Ref," is a joy,
and good food will be had by each girl and boy.
So I wish you the best, as my guests ring the bell;
Merry Christmas to all, and much love as well!

New Short Story Just in Time for Christmas!

From Ravenous Romance comes a stocking stuffer of a different kind: Sex Toy Stories: Erotic Tales of Naughty Play. This anthology contains my short story, "Geargirl," an action-packed cyberpunk piece about a rigger and her very special van.

This is one of the first short stories I wrote last year, and I'm glad it finally found a home. (You can imagine that cyberpunk erotica is kinda hard to sell.) Briony had a great voice, and the whole thing was just a lot of fun.

Random Writing Prompt

I'm kinda emotionally drained at the moment (but I got my 500 words done!) so today I give you a random writing prompt.

Pick a confidence trick from this wonderful list (and you should read these anyway, can't be too careful!), and then write a short story or brainstorm a story idea wherein someone uses the con with unexpected results. And if that's not enough of a prompt for you, throw in a toaster.

Happy Solstice Everybody!

Tuesday Tip: Write It Down

I've had several good ideas for blog posts lately: this wasn't one of them.

When you get a good idea, write it down.

I always used to think that I'd remember my great idea, but I never did. I started writing them down – when I was near something to write on. (Email works best for me. I tend to throw out bits of paper.) Those of you with smart phones will have less of a problem than I do, as you always have a note-taking device handy. I don't have a smart phone, and I haven't quite developed the habit of making notes on my cell phone.

The other time where I don't write stuff down is when I'm lying in bed. See, I used to have terrible insomnia as a kid, so I would tell myself stories. That way, if I had to be awake at least I was entertained. Somehow, this morphed as I started writing seriously. They tell you not to think about things when you're trying to get to sleep, but my brain has a hard time shutting off. However, if I start trying to work on my current project (usually outlining or world-building) then BOOM, brain turns off.

For the most part that's great, but unfortunately sometimes I have a breakthrough right before I fall asleep, and for whatever reason I still don't keep a notepad by the bed.

Take heed, my fellow writers. Find ways to get those ideas down where they'll be safe. Because if your brain works anything like mine, that fabulous idea is only going to be around until the next one—and that one almost certainly won't be as good as the one that got away.

Image: luigi diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

100 Words About: Dogs and Snow

It snowed again yesterday. The Bulldog loves snow. It's a little odd, since he has such thin fur—I mean, yes, he's a bulldog and they're tough, but you'd think he'd be cold! But he just wants to galumph around and play.

At this point it seems that his neurological issues are due to excessive confinement, and he's shown several other signs of that as well. One of those signs is the fact that he really has no idea what to do with toys. He's started using some of the ones you put treats in, but mostly just to get to the food, not to play with. But outside yesterday The Husband was able to get across to him that we wanted to play out in the snow, and then look out! That was one excited bulldog! (His play calibration is going to need some work, oof!)

Image: Maggie Smith / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

'Tis the Season Not to Overload

It's December, and I was nowhere near completing NaNoWriMo. I'm good with that. Outside of my vacation I've been sticking to my 500 words a day on Project Toadstool, the new novel. Well, except for weekends. And you know, so what? I've made writing a part of my daily schedule and I'm pretty happy with that. There's no magical ruleset that you have to follow to be a writer other than you have to write. I'm writing. That's good enough for me. December is too insane to add more stuff to do.

On the less whiny side, I've discovered the fun of pantsing it again. I really have no idea of how I'm getting from the beginning of my novel to the end I have in mind, and I'm having a lot of fun finding out. So far I've come up with a whole bunch of new characters (I started with two) and a huge subplot. In fact, I'm not sure you can even call it a subplot, it's so big. Fun! And so much less stressful than trying to force myself to outline.

I've also got a few short story ideas to work on, and I'm re-energized to finish my rewrite of 1794. I get to work on those as much as I want – after my 500 words are done. So far, so good.

Now if only I had more vacation time so I could get some extra writing done…

100 Words About: Disney World

I'm back from the family trip to Disney World, and I'm pretty fried. I enjoyed it more overall than I did Island of Adventure at Universal Studios, but I enjoyed The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (which is at Island of Adventure) more than I enjoyed Disney World overall. Probably because a) we had no kids with us and b) I felt like I could have just hung out at HP Land all day and done nothing and been happy, whereas Disney is just crowded and full of grumpy children.

Of course, I've been to Disney before and not to Universal Studios, so that could have something to do with it.

I'm apparently getting old - I can't take the rides like I used to. I only went on Space Mountain once because it hurt my neck too much. Sigh. There's something immeasurably sad about that, but I'm too tired to put it into words right now.

I'm also really bummed that they updated the Carousel of Progress. I was looking forward to a time-capsule of the 1960's vision of the future that is now. Oh well.