Friendships and Blessings: #ROW80 Updates

ROW 80 is a friendly group that’s there to help writers focus on their writing goals.  Each writer decides what they would like to accomplish in the next 80 days.  We check in on Sundays and Wednesdays with their “linky tool” and are welcome to adjust our goals as we need to.  If you’re late getting started, that’s OK.  Round 1 lasts from January 2, 2012 through March 22, 2012.

This week has been more about reading than writing, though I did get some of my own words written as well.  I planned on working on Chapter Twenty this week, but I had a thought while I was driving home from work, and I ended up working on that chapter instead.  I don’t even have a number for this chapter.  I know it will go into the second book, somewhere near the beginning.  I suppose this yet another side affect of pulling apart a book and turning it into two.  I’m going to have some ramifications that will pop up in the next book, based on events that occurred in Chapter Nineteen, but that’s life.  I feel like I’m doing writing algebra…yet again!  If this happens, plus that, what’s the square root of X?  Three?  I don’t know!  I’m thinking.  I’m plotting.  I’m planning.  Yada, yada, yada!!!

I had some fun playing editor this past week.  One of my friends/coworkers has recently gone back to school and asked if I would help proof her papers.  I’m NO expert, not by a long shot, but I think I did OK.  She got an A.  I’m so happy for her!  She deserved it.  She’s an AMAZING woman.  She speaks three different languages, English being the most recent.  I couldn’t imagine being in her shoes.  I think it takes a lot of courage to do what she’s doing, to go back to college after all of these years, in a different country than she was born in, speaking and writing in a different language.  I don’t think I could do what she’s done.  She’s such an inspiration to me.

I feel blessed everyday by the AMAZING people who’ve wandered into my life.  Actually, I’ve been blessed to overflowing in the friendships and family departments.  I’m a people watcher by nature and every new friendship has been a learning experience.  Recently, I had something pop up that I wasn’t sure how to handle.  It wasn’t about me, but it concerned someone I care about.  I asked handful of my diverse group of friends what they would do.  I was shocked by the show of solidarity, especially from my female friends.  As far as they were concerned, any friend of mine is a friend of theirs, and heaven help the person who upsets me!  I was stunned.  It’s good to be loved and feel that kind of support.  I’m not sure if all of their advice was appropriate for the situation, but it’s nice to have so many different points of view, to help keep things in prospective.

In the past, I’ve had to work a LOT harder at my friendships with women than with men.  I’ve had some bad experiences with women in the past, a LOT of cattiness.  I don’t tolerate that kind of negative behavior.  A couple of years ago, I went through some changes at work, and ended up working in a town on the outskirts of Detroit.  I wasn’t sure if I would like it there or not, but it was the women in the group who made me feel the most welcome.  I’ve never met a group of women as loyal and protective as these lovely ladies of Detroit and her surrounding suburbs.  I’ve learned so much about friendships and trustworthiness in the past few years, thanks to these women.  They’ve helped me so much.  I’ve done a lot of healing, emotionally, thanks to them.  Maybe it’s a cultural thing, I’m not sure.  There’s a LOT of different cultures in this area.  If you only considered what’s on the outside, I’d often be looked at as a minority at my workplace.  Lucky for me I need glasses!  ;)  Different is beautiful.  Family doesn’t have ANYTHING to do with genetics.

Someday, I’d like to write a book that revolves around Detroit and the type of women I’ve been fortunate enough to meet.  I’m just not sure if I have the skills to do it justice…yet.  I have the idea plotted out in my head, but I think this story is too near to me to write at this time.  When I’m ready, I’ll write it.  I keep it in the back of my mind.  I think Detroit has a bad reputation, some of it is deserved, but most of it is not.  I may be a white girl from the sticks, but the people of Detroit and her surrounding cities have been good to me.  Someday, I hope I can write a story that’s true to the area, without all the negative clichés I keep encountering.  We’ll see what happens.

Have a great day and happy writing!

Juli

 

Chapter Nineteen is Finished! #ROW80 Updates

ROW 80 is a friendly group that’s there to help writers focus on their writing goals.  Each writer decides what they would like to accomplish in the next 80 days.  We check in on Sundays and Wednesdays with their “linky tool” and are welcome to adjust our goals as we need to.  If you’re late getting started, that’s OK.  Round 1 lasts from January 2, 2012 through March 22, 2012.

Chapter Nineteen is rewritten!  It’s done!  YAY!!!

When I made the decision to divide Book 1 into two separate books, I knew was making the right call, but it has also brought out some issues that I hadn’t anticipated.  It’s a good problem, in retrospect.  I had some plot threads that I’d planned on drawing out longer than I probably should have.  It was nice to have the characters confront each other, rather than allow them to wallow longer than necessary in ignorance.

I’ve been thinking of a conversation I had.  Last summer, an old friend of mine made a comment to me about some of his pet peeves concerning female writers.  He said, that he could ALWAYS tell when a woman wrote a male character.  He said it was obvious.  At first, I was annoyed with this buddy of mine, but then he went into more detail.  He claimed that women like to make male characters do things that real men would NEVER do.  For example, he claimed that men don’t “gaze longingly.”  They don’t gaze at all!  They stare.  They don’t over-analyze relationships.  They make decisions.  They react to situations.  They don’t sit around having conversations about their relationships.  Women do that, not men.  They don’t normally notice details about what a woman is wearing, etc.  They may notice a favorite body part, but that part is NOT a woman’s eyes.  ;)  LOL

I tend to agree with all of these statements, especially after talking with my hubby.  Even though I tend to think my audience will mostly be women, I’ve tried to be conscious of any men that might read my work.  I’ve tried my best to make realistic male characters.  I don’t how successful I’ve been, but most of my revisions seem to revolve around my male characters.

Chapter Nineteen was an especially difficult chapter for me, even worse than “The Lost Chapter,” for a number of reasons.  I have one character in particular, that tends to give me grief.  He’s essential to this chapter and a nice guy.  I married a really great man, so I assumed that writing a “nice guy” would be easy.  WRONG!  Every time I write a scene with this character in it, he starts out looking like a wimp.  My female characters would walk all over him if I let them.  Poor guy!  It’s actually become a running gag at Ye Old Hoffman Haus.  I write a chapter with this guy in it, and later I have to go through his scenes shouting, “Give him back his balls!”  Yup!  I have had to the sound the charge a number of times.  Gesh!

So…I’m geeked!  I think I finally was able to find the balance I was looking for in this chapter.  My male and female characters were able to talk to one another, to say what they needed to say to each other.  I actually cried a little as I finished writing this chapter.  My female character was able to stay strong.  My nice guy wasn’t a doormat or a jerk.  Yay!  I feel good!!!

Things are wrapping up.  Chapter Twenty is my next victim.  It’s going to need some major revisions, but I’m excited.  It’s a reaction chapter, but I’m working it differently than I was before.  It will be better than the original.  Another “Yay!” moment!  Woo Hoo!!!  :)

I’m SOOO close to finishing this book.  I’m so happy with the amount of support I’ve been given.  I couldn’t have gotten this far without the encouragement I’ve been receiving from my family, my friends, and the support of fellow writers and readers.

Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

Juli

Loose Ends: #ROW80 Updates

We started a new unofficial “theme” this past week at work.  February is the start of the fiscal year, so it’s the work equivalent of New Year’s resolutions.  ;)  My all-time favorite theme is still, “Don’t be a fun-sucker!”  I don’t think ANY theme can beat that year!  OMG!  I’m still using the term “fun-sucker.” Most FANTASTIC meeting…ever!  Picture a group of people, all in their nice clothes, all saying “fun-sucker” repeatedly, too fast, and it starts to sound like something VERY inappropriate for the workplace.  Good times!  ;)

This year’s theme is all about “loose ends.”  Finishing projects, not starting new projects until the old ones are complete, it’s all sane advice, but I’m starting to become “loose ends” obsessed!  My life is FILLED with “loose ends,” both at work and at home.  My hubby refers to it as “shiny object syndrome.”  We’re fine until something shiny catches our eye!

So…in the spirit of this year’s theme, I’m tweaking my ROW 80, round one goals, just a smidge.  I’m no longer as obsessed with word count, but I AM moving steadily forward.  I’m approaching the finish line of my book.  FINALLY!  It feels good to be tying up this  MAJOR loose end in my life.  I’d like to have everything set by my birthday.  I think that would be fun and somehow appropriate.  In the end, no matter what, I want my writing to be FUN!

By the way,  ROW 80 is a friendly group that’s there to help writers focus on their writing goals.  Each writer decides what they would like to accomplish in the next 80 days.  We check in on Sundays and Wednesdays with their “linky tool” and are welcome to adjust our goals as we need to.  If you’re late getting started, that’s OK.  Round 1 lasts from January 2, 2012 through March 22, 2012.

I did a Blogophilia post this week.  I’d skipped a couple of weeks, and I REALLY did miss doing them.  I’m so happy that my buddy Sue, figuratively gave me a kick in the tushie!  Why?  Because Blogophilia is fun!  Writing short stories are fun.  Writing, in genereal, is fun!  Did I mention this already?  Yeah, well I sometimes need to remind myself and make sure that it sticks.  It’s so easy to forget, especially when I get too caught up in the technical stuff.  Goals are great!  I’m a huge fan of goals, but I never want to forget why I got into writing again.  I NEVER want writing to feel like a job.  That’s NOT…me.  I don’t want to get into that mindset.  I HAVE a job.  It pays the bills.  Most days, I LIKE my job.  It’s not perfect, but what job is?  Writing is NOT my job.  If my life was a cup,  then I’d see my job as something that empties my cup, a little at a time.  Writing fills the cup back up again.  It keeps me in balance.  Too much obsessing over either work or writing, and I’m an unhappy Juli!  Nobody wants that.  ;)

My "life coach" agrees with the whole, "keeping balance in my life," thing. He also thinks I need more sleep!

I do a LOT of reading.  I’m on my fifth or sixth book written by a new-to-me author.  His novels aren’t the stuff that classics are made of, but they’re REALLY entertaining.  I’m sure they could be picked apart and poo-pooed on, but I like them.  When I read them, I get the impression that the author doesn’t take himself too seriously.  There’s a lot of joy and silliness in his novels.  I hope that I’m able to convey a similar vibe in my own books and short stories.  Tragic comedy seems to be my writing style.

Amy Kennedy wrote an interesting post for ROW 80, about being true to your own voice.  Make sure that you click on the link.  I’m not very good at writing dark and brooding.  I’ve tried, but I can’t do it.  I enjoy reading stories that are dark.  I think that writers who CAN do this are AMAZING, but for good or for bad, I know that my characters are NEVER going to have any bloody battle scenes of their own.  I do have a bloody microwave scene, but that’s been pushed to Book Two!  LOL

Take care everyone!

Juli

#Blogophilia 49.4 Topic: “Interruption of Destiny”

What is Blogophilia?  It’s a highly addictive blogging group where once a week, fellow writers submit topics, link their posts via Facebook or Myspace, and incorporate the weekly prompts into a blog post using whatever style or format they wish.  It’s a great way to clear out the mental cobwebs.

This week’s post is dedicated to Ms. Sassy Sue!  You need to check out her post.  It’s hilarious!!!  :)  Thanks Sue!!!!  

 

Blogophilia 49.4 Topic: ”Interruption of Destiny”

Bonus Points:

(Hard, 2pts): include a Monty Python quote

(Easy, 1pt): mention widget

 

Sabrina squinted at the laptop screen with distain.  Juli had been sitting for hours, her fingers teasing and clicking against the keyboard.  Even though it didn’t look as though Juli had accomplished much, she had done a lot of staring off into nothingness.  That was progress.  Sabrina yawned and stretched before she repositioned  herself on Juli’s lap, the prime spot for editing purposes.

“Sabrina!  Move!”  Juli said, without any respect in her voice, as if she’d forgotten to whom she was speaking to.

Sabrina didn’t want to appear as if she were acknowledging Juli, but she did stick a claw into Juli’s thigh, a subtle warning that they both could be doing other things with their time.  Editors never seemed to get the respect that they deserved.

“Who?  What?  What’s going on?  What’s going on?”  Juli’s life coach came bounding into the room and ran under her chair.

“Diesel!  Go lay down!” Juli said.  She sounded grumpy.

“Is she done yet?  Is she done yet?”  Diesel was always an optimist.

 “Of course not, you mutt!  She’s looking intently into space.  Now she’s lost her concentration, thanks to you.  She’ll have to start all over again.”  Sabrina licked her paw daintily.  It had taken her years to teach Juli how to stare in one direction for hours.  She gave Juli’s wrist a lick, to show her that she cared.

“Eww!!!  Don’t lick!  That’s so gross.  I don’t need cat spit on me.”  Juli rubbed her hand against the knee of her jeans.  Not to be left out, Diesel used this opportunity to give her his own wet kisses on her hand.

“Guys!  Enough!”  Juli got up from her chair, sending Sabrina to the floor.  “It’s like Monty Python’s Flying Circus in here,” she grumbled under her breath.  She collected her empty coffee bowl, and headed towards the kitchen for a refill.

Diesel vacillated between his options.  Sabrina WAS down on the floor, always a good thing, but how could Juli retrieve her coffee without his personal supervision?  Decisions!  Decisions!  He gave Sabrina a quick kiss on the ear before racing towards Juli’s feet.

“Diesel!  Go lay down!”

Diesel’s heart was crushed.  Didn’t Juli understand how much he loved her?  He only wanted to help!  He hung his head down low.  There was a rumbling sound outside.  “Hey!  What’s that noise?” Diesel called out.  His hurt feelings were soon forgotten.  Did anyone else notice how noisy that truck was outside?  Thank goodness Juli had Diesel there to announce it!  What would she do without him?  He was sure that she hadn’t noticed it go by.  He wiggled all over, happy that he had been so observant when it came to important life events!  Nothing got by him.

“Must you be so loud?”  Sabrina hopped onto the still warm chair that Juli had abandoned.

Diesel skidded across the kitchen floor.  “Did you hear it?  Did you hear it?”  Diesel called out as he ran towards Sabrina’s perch.

“Of course, I heard it!”  Sabrina snapped.

“Sorry.”  Diesel hung his head down again.  He really did feel bad.  He didn’t like anyone to ever be upset with him, but then he noticed the “big, big, bone” he’d hidden under Juli’s desk.  He sure did love his treasures.

Sabrina gave him a look of disgust.  “It’s always ‘sorry this’ and ‘forgive me that’ and ‘I’m not worthy’,” Sabrina sneered.  “You’re supposed to be Juli’s life coach, not an interruption of destiny!”

Diesel felt terrible, though he had no idea what she was talking about.  He was doing the best that he could, but being a life coach wasn’t always easy.

Juli sighed as she came back to her desk.  “That’s my chair,” she reminded Sabrina, though they both knew differently.  She picked Sabrina up by one hand, sat back down on her chair, and positioned Sabrina so that she could sit in her usual spot on Juli’s lap.  After all, what was a writer without their editor?  Somebody needed to make sure that the “whats-it’s,” and “widgets,” and “who-ha’s” were in the right place!  Juli reached down and rubbed Diesel’s belly.  He grunted with pleasure.

Juli had always heard that writing was a solitary thing, but thank goodness, that wasn’t the case for her.  She had an entire staff at her disposal, day or night, and even on holidays.  What more could a writer want or need?  For a few moments, all was well at the Hoffman Haus.  Juli gave a slight stretch, and then got back to her novel.  She still had lots of work to do.

 

Wild Wednesday: #ROW80 Midweek Check In

I started out my day by getting lost in Detroit and ended my day at a fundraiser.  My Wednesdays are usually not this exciting!  Ah well!  I did make it to my meeting for work.  That actually went well.  Thank goodness for the little stuff of life!

Hubby, kiddo, and I went to an “Empty Bowl” fundraiser tonight, sponsored by Active Faith.  Soup and bread were donated by restaurants and bakeries in the area, and students from the local schools made the cutest bowls to give away.  Fantastic food!  My belly is still sloshing!  He! He!  I think the stuffed baked potato soup was my favorite, but only by a tiny margin.  :)

I don't know whose kid made this, but I think this bowl is awesome! This was the bowl that I picked out to take home.

Kiddo picked out this one. Lots of detail work. Made by a local 5th grader.

Hubby picked out this one!

This is the first time I’ve been to this particular fundraiser, but it won’t be the last.  I love encouraging creativity.  Every child in the community made a bowl from grades 5-12, for this event.  How cool is that?!?!  Huge turn out!  Hopefully, they were able to raise a LOT of money.

*We did NOT eat our soup from the handmade bowls!  LOL

Now for my writing updates:

ROW 80 is a friendly group that’s there to help writers focus on their writing goals.  Each writer decides what they would like to accomplish in the next 80 days.  We check in on Sundays and Wednesdays with their “linky tool” and are welcome to adjust our goals as we need to.  If you’re late getting started, that’s OK.  Round 1 lasts from January 2, 2012 through March 22, 2012.

WOW!!!  I’m having a great start to my writing week!  So…I had an ephiphany last week.  I’m splitting up Book One into two books.  So far, that’s been going really well.  It just wasn’t practical to allow the first book to grow as large as it had.  It would have been between 40-50 chapters long!  Yikes!  That’s WAY longer than I wanted!!!  :)  Two books is much saner.

Microsoft Sam and I went through the first 18 chapters.  I found a couple of typos, but so far, those chapters are going to remain just the way they are in Book One.  That’s 82,892 words.  Not too shabby!  The next few chapters are going to be my  ”Pull apart chapters.”  I’ll have to go over what’s what, and figure out which book they’re going into, but I’m optimistic.  Dare I say it?  I’m FINALLY seeing light at the end of my wordy tunnel!  :)

I started using a new bit of FREE software this week.  I like it a lot!  Kait Nolan, from Row 80, had some really helpful links on her personal blog.   There was a program called yWriter5 that she recommended.  Why couldn’t I have heard about this program sooner?  Now, it’s not going to replace Microsoft Word, but if you’re dealing with an ensemble cast of characters, it sure does it do a nice  job of organizing them!  Organizational skills are NOT a strong skill of mine, neither is technology, but I actually understand this program!  Woo hoo!

Have a great week!

Juli

 

#ROW80 1/29/12 Recap: An “Oh Boy!” Kind Of Week

ROW 80 is a friendly group that’s there to help writers focus on their writing goals.  Each writer decides what they would like to accomplish in the next 80 days.  We check in on Sundays and Wednesdays with their “linky tool” and are welcome to adjust our goals as we need to.  If you’re late getting started, that’s OK.  Round 1 lasts from January 2, 2012 through March 22, 2012.

I haven’t written anything valuable on my work in progress in two weeks!  There, I said it!!!

I had a MAJOR epiphany concerning my first book on Thursday.  It had me VERY excited in the moment.  Lots of “Oh Sh*t!!!”  Unfortunately, the initial buzz is gone, and now I see it as, “Wow!  That’s going to make a LOT MORE work for me.”  I have mixed feelings about the “work” part.  Sometimes I wish I had more hours for my writing.  Sometimes I wish I knew how to be more productive with the hours I have.  Ah well!  It is, what it is!

My Editor

Recap of my week:

 1) Thanks to the before mentioned epiphany, I no longer have a working title.  This is actually causing me severe anxiety, more anxiety than the writing of said book.  I have had the same working title, for ALL the years I’ve been playing with this series.  My working title now belongs to book two.  Bully for it!!!  Book One is now orphaned.  It HAS to have a title, and so far, nothing seems right.

Why can’t I give it back its old title?  Why can’t I leave well enough alone?  Because this is a “tough love” moment and its previous title no longer fits Book One.  It just doesn’t!  A major part of my epiphany involved splitting up Book One into two books.  I don’t know why I didn’t see the need to do this before.  Book one had grown and evolved into something different from what it had previously started out to be.  Its title needs to reflect these changes.

 2) I need to go back over the chapters that I think are staying with a firm hand.  I need to keep asking myself, “Juli, what’s this book about?”  My plot changed and morphed on me over time.  My story was supposed to be for adults.  I NEVER had any intentions of getting into the young adult category.  I’m not sure what made me make the switch, but it was gradual.  It snuck up on me.  Now I see my story for what it is.  There is crossover potential.  I edited out the naughty scenes a LONG time ago, so part of me must have known even back then.  They were fun to write, but they have no place inside this book, maybe later in the series, but not right away.  There’s a lot of stuff that got edited out.  What was left is the story I never knew I wanted to write.  It’s the backbone of the story I have right now.

No matter what I do, I find that I love to write about everyday relationships more than anything else.  Friendships that develop between coworkers, the dynamics that go on inside families, I find that I love to explore these themes.  I can’t just write vampire stories.  I have to get inside their heads and bring them down to my level.  I have to give them jobs and crappy cars.  I have to give them “family members” that mean well, but cause drama from time to time.

Book One was ALWAYS supposed to contain vampires.  It was always going to contain friendships and family drama, but the “love story” is what changed on me the most.  Book One is a parent/child story.  Anything that doesn’t support this has and will be going bye-bye out the window!  I don’t know how this will all play out, nor do I care.   I doubt there’s a vampire market of readers out there that are looking for a story like this anyways.  I’m the first to admit that any attempts I’ve had at writing a “traditional vampire story,” have all been crappity-crap-crap.  While I LOVE to read these stories, I just can’t write them.

I have a couple of days off and a meeting to go to this week.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to use this time away from work productively.  I can visualize how Book One will now end.  Chapter 26, the one that I’ve been hot and cold on, is the beginning of Book Two.  Some of the characters that I’ve used in my Blogophia posts, are going to have to sit tight just a little longer, another “problem” I’ve discovered, thanks to this week’s epiphany.  I had between seven and nine books plotted out in this series.  Now I don’t know how many I’m going to have.  A LOT more by the look of things.  It’s exciting and daunting at the same time.  I have an ensemble cast of characters, but I just don’t have room for everyone right away.  They’ll have to wait their turns, which means…more books.

Oh boy!  Just breathe!

Blog Tag: 48 Questions

48 Questions

I got this from Joleene’s blog, who got this from Ange’s blog, who probably got this from Kevin Bacon.  OK, so maybe I made the Kevin Bacon part up.    It’s a blog tag and I think these are fun.  So here goes!

 

1. What time did you get up this morning?  I slept in until 8am this morning.  No matter what time I go to bed, I usually have to get up early to do the “mom thing.”

2. How do you like your steak?  Cooked.  I finally have accepted that good tasting steak sometimes has a tiny bit of pink, but it took me ages to get to this point.  My hubby grills the best steak!  He can make a well-done steak still taste tender.  I don’t know how he does it.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?  The new Underworld movie.  I want to be on Team Selene!  LOL

4. What is your favorite TV show?  Right now, I’m on a Once Upon a Time kick.  I don’t have cable or a satellite dish, so the only TV watching I do is on the Internet or through Netflix.  We bought a converter box, but we can only pick up one channel and it’s a kid’s station.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? I love living in Michigan, but my hubby’s family is originally from Pennsylvania.  It’s so pretty out there!  Sometimes I think about moving out towards that direction, but I wouldn’t like living so far away from my sisters.

6. What did you have for breakfast? Coffee, coffee, coffee, yummy roasted potato concoction/recipe that the hubby wanted to try out, pork chops, oh…and more coffee.

7. What is your favorite food? I don’t think I can pick just one!  I LOVE to eat but I’m kind of picky too.  Life is too short to eat just whatever is convenient.  I like food that was thoughtfully prepared, comfort food.  I like food that has real ingredients.

8. Foods you dislike?  I’m not a fan of fast food.  I don’t like eggs or mushrooms.  I can’t eat anything with red food dye in it or I’ll have a severe allergic reaction.

9. Favorite place to eat?  That’s a tough one!  My hubby does most of the cooking.  It’s hard to go out to eat anymore, because his food is usually better than most restaurants.  There’s a Mexican restaurant down the street from us that makes AMAZING food.  I love Chinese and I know a few good places for that.   I have a couple of favorite places out in Ann Arbor.  Last night, the hubby and I tried out a “new to us” grill.  They had yummy food that was ALMOST too pretty to eat.  I guess my favorite restaurants tend to be small and locally owned.

10. Favorite dressing? Poppyseed

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? A blue POS.  The body looks like it was in MANY fender benders, but the engine was clean and well taken care of.  I bought it like that and I paid cash for it.   I drive around in areas that don’t have the greatest reputation and I don’t want to drive a car that I have to worry about getting stolen.  Hubby had a car stolen years ago while he was at work.  They took it right out of the parking lot.  What a nightmare!  We got it back, and it was OK, but I don’t want to go through that again.  My car is usually the junkiest looking one in the parking lot and I’m fine with that.  Pretty cars are not a priority for me.

12. What are your favorite clothes?  I love wearing clothing that is classic and timeless when I’m NOT at work.  It’s taken me years to pick up the right pieces.  I’m about 5’6”.  I have a really short torso and extra long arms, so it’s hard to find jackets and long sleeves that fit.  I’ve got long legs, but again, because of my short waist, women’s pants generally don’t fit me right.  Most of my dress pants are actually from the men’s department.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?  I would take a tour of Europe.  I’d start in England and end my tour in Italy, and make sure I visited ALL the countries in between.  I WILL do this…someday

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?  Who has a cup?  I get a cup?  COOL!!!!

15. Where would you want to retire?  I’ve heard of this strange thing, “retirement,” but I haven’t seen it in action.  I come from a family who’s always busy doing something.  It’s not uncommon for people to live to be in their 90s on both my mother and father’s side of the family.  Retirement is another word for dead!

16. Favorite time of day?  I used to prefer evenings, but I’m slowly becoming a morning person.

17. Where were you born?  Livonia, Michigan

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?  Since we can’t watch regular TV, I don’t usually watch sports.  If I were to go to a game, it would be hockey!

19. What is your favorite fragrance? I’m allergic to most perfumes, so I buy a lot of products that are unscented.  I sometimes use essential oils if I want to smell nice.  My favorite scent is lavender.

20. What is your favorite face cream?  I don’t usually wear face cream.

21. Favorite baby/kids products? Baby wipes!  They are great for everything from taking off makeup to getting out stains.

22. People watcher?  I people watch daily!

23. Are you a morning or night person? I get more done in the morning than any other time of the day.

24. Do you have any pets? We’re down to two, a cat and a dog.

25. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share? I’m a wife, a mother, and a full-time manager.  I deal with NEW stuff on a daily basis.  In general, I wouldn’t say that my life is exciting, but it’s usually VERY hectic.  There isn’t enough hours in the day.  In my world, exciting usually means lots of stress!

26. What did you want to be when you were little? A ballerina.  Of course, never haven taken lessons and having zero coordination nipped that dream in a hurry!

27. What is your favorite memory?  I have two, the day my hubby “officially” proposed to me and the day my son was born.

28. Are you a cat or dog person?  I’m more of a cat person.  Dogs are like toddlers.  Cats are like teenagers.

29. Are you married?  My hubby and I celebrated 11 years of marriage at the end of October.

30. Always wear your seat belt?  Always!

31. Been in a car accident?  Two.  A fender bender when I was a teenager and I was t-boned once.  That was scary!

32. Any pet peeves?  1) I can’t stand it when people play the blame game!  If you screw up, own your mistake.  Everyone makes mistakes.  Don’t blame them on other people.  2) I hate being lied to.  3) I hate it when people rip other people apart, trying to make themselves look better.  Usual these people are also major culprits of both 1) and 2).

33. Favorite pizza toppings?  Ham & pineapple.  I like lots of veggies on my pizza too, but no mushrooms or hot peppers.

34. Favorite flower?  Roses and daisies

35. Favorite ice cream? Chocolate and Mint Chocolate Chip

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?  The only fast food I really like is pizza.  Wendy’s makes good chili.
37. How many times did you fail your driver’s test? I passed, but barely.

38. From whom did you get your last email? Email?  I’m supposed to check that once in awhile, right?  LOL  I’m TERRIBLE about checking my emails.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?  Hmm…Old Navy or maybe Linen and Things.  I don’t usually do a lot of shopping at either one anymore.  I’ve got too much stuff!

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?  Hubby and I went out on a date last night.  That was fun.

41. Like your job? Most days I do!

42. Broccoli?  YUM!

43. What was your favorite vacation?   My vacations are the stuff of legends.  Terrible things tend to happen when I try to go on vacation!  The last REALLY good vacation I had, was visiting my hubby’s grandmother in Pennsylvania.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?  My hubby.

45. What are you listening to right now?  I’ve been listening to some of my sister’s music.  She amazes me.

46. What is your favorite color? Red.

47. How many tattoos do you have?  I don’t have any tattoos, but I have two wicked looking scars on my arm and two titanium plates underneath said scars.  They’re souvenirs from the days when I owned my own horse.  Good times!

48. Coffee drinker? We have a motto in our family, if you’re old enough to sit up and drink from a cup, you’re old enough for your first cup of coffee.  I think I was two or three when I started, so was my dad, and so was my son.  I taught my hubby about the wonders of coffee when when we got married!  :)

Have a great day!

Juli

Photos of The Markham/Wilcox House and “I thought I Scheduled this!” Revelations thanks to #ROW80 Updates

I tried scheduling a few posts earlier in the week, but something got messed up.  It seems like my brain still isn’t quite on straight.  Very frustrating, but whatever!  I’m just going to roll with it because that’s what I do!  I’m combining the now belated Wednesday Check In post with this one.  It’s like a two-for one sale!  Woo hoo!

Here are more pics I took on Sunday while in Plymouth, Michigan.  I just like the grandness of this old girl!  They call this the Wilcox House, but it was built by William Markham, co-founder of the Daisy Air Rifle Co.  Yup!  This is the same company who made the Red Ryder BB Gun as in the movie, A Christmas Story.  :)

Now, for part two, my Wednesday check in!

ROW 80 is a friendly group that’s there to help writers focus on their writing goals.  Each writer decides what they would like to accomplish in the next 80 days.  We check in on Sundays and Wednesdays with their “linky tool” and are welcome to adjust our goals as we need to.  If you’re late getting started, that’s OK.  Round 1 lasts from January 2, 2012 through March 22, 2012.

Sunday:

Went out with my family, took lots of pics!

I tried working on Chapter 26, but I don’t know where to go with it.  I think I need to scrap those 3600+ words and try again.  Grr!  I don’t know.  I hate it when I do this!  This chapter is seriously blocking my progress and it shouldn’t be.  I keep asking myself, “Hey, umm…Juli?  So…what’s this story ‘supposed’ to be about again?”  The answer is, “Not where this tangent is leading me,” and that’s why my gut says that I should be pitching out all those words from this particular chapter, and start writing this chapter over again.  It’s just so hard!  Chapter 26 seemed fine at first.  I thought it fell right in with the rest of the story line.  Sure it needed a little tweaking, but nothing major.  But now…well…I think if I want to make progress on my story, then this version of Chapter 26 needs to go bye-bye.  I keep a “junk file” for all these bits and pieces.  It’s WAY fuller than I wish it was.

Sometimes story writing feels like an algebra equation.  If this happens plus this, then the situation is multiplied by this, then how is the outcome going to be affected?  Grrrrrrr!

Monday:

Still blocked by “Stupid Chapter 26.”  I think this chapter must be contagious.   I’m debating on scrapping my entire original ending.  Not good!  Not good!    I’m not slicing up anything until I know where I’m going with this line of reasoning.   I keep ruminating on the SAME path of self-questioning:

What IS my story about?

I KNOW what my story is about!

Does the current ending support this?  

Ummm…no?  RATS!!!  

Tuesday:

Still debating  about butchering up my WIP.  Oh boy!  I can’t seem to write ANYTHING until I do.  I should just get it over with.  I’m in a holding pattern until I do.  What’s stopping me?  Oh…about ten chapters that would need to be pitched.  Why?  They DON’T support the story I want to tell.  The more I think about it, the more I see the truth.  Unless I change the ending, I’m NOT going to be happy with this book.  I KNOW this, but I’m dragging my feet over here!

Wednesday/Thursday:

What the best thing about the Row 80 check ins?  I feel as though I’m being forced to stay productive.  I want to finish my book.  That is my goal.  My situation is out there.  I am acknowledging it.

“My name is Juli, and the current ending of my book is crappity-crap-crap!  It doesn’t support the story I want to tell.”  

Taking in a deep breath…and…Yup…I just shoved ALL of the chapters that DON’T support my plot into their own folder.   It’s done!  I feel strangely more relived than sad.  I’m not even going to look at the word count for those chapters.  It’s irrelevant.  Chapters One through Twenty-five are still there.  They support my story.  It’s going to be all right.  Now…I feel like I have a fresh chance to get this book finished.  Time to get some writing done!

Have a great day!

Juli

Snow Pics From Sunday

There’s a little creek within walking distance of my home.  I’ve been wanting to get some winter pics of it, but until Sunday, the weather wasn’t cooperating at all!  Less than twenty-four hours later, all the snow was melted again!  Crazy Michigan weather!  :)

Deer Tracks

Deer tracks leading to the creek.

More Pics Tomorrow!

Juli

Ice Sculpture Pics Part Two

Here are more pics of the Plymouth Ice Spectacular 2012 in Plymouth, Michigan.  I took this pics on Sunday.

If you look carefully, this sculpture is Gothic style cross with wings and a sword.

I’ve took some snowy pics of the creek near my home on Sunday.  So happy I got out there with my camera!  The next day it rained and ALL the snow melted.  I’ll post those up on Thursday.

Have a great day!

Juli