Yes, I’m going to talk about PMS, so if you’re a dude and don’t want to hear about it, here’s your fair warning.
Halloween chocolate – sooooo much candy everywhere! In every store, nook and cranny, in every house! And I have PMS. The “I want to eat everything on the planet” kind of PMS. Yesterday I took a short nap, woke up and ate five Butterfinger minis. Sigh…
Fortunately I made treat bags for my neighborhood kids so the chocolate (well most of it) is tied up in those bags. I made 25, but only have 15 kids… what happens to the other 10? OMG – please save me from this Halloween chocolate. Is it not tortuous enough to have PMS and be trying to lose the 20 pounds I gained back since last year?
I know I said send chocolate, but please no more, no more! For the love of Pete, keep it away!
I also ate baked macaroni and cheese for winner (my absolute favorite) to stave off the PMS demons. Probably shouldn’t have done that, but it’s done.
PMS ramblings of a writer… I’m off to get more coffee and try to keep away from the buckets of chocolate decorating my work! Gah! :shock:

I love the Sunday paper. Don’t know what it is that’s different about it, except for the ads, but I love it. No one in my house is allowed to even crack that sucker until I do.
Ah, the damp plastic bag (this morning it was freezing cold) as it slides off. The snap of the rubber band as it’s discarded.
Then the paper. Carefully remove all the ads and sort them into what order I want to look at them. Get a cup of hot coffee and a Luna bar and sit in the sun in the kitchen nook.
Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. I read the ads first, slowly. Page by page.
I set the coupons aside for later (yes, i cut coupons, so I’m a typical mom).
Then after the ads, I read the comics. By now I probably refilled my coffee cup.
After the comics, I read the paper itself. Okay, well I sorta skim it and read all the headlines. My fun is in the rest of the paper.
Any favorite Sunday rituals out there?

Doesn’t happen often enough, but tonight is date night.
Me and DH are going to a matinee (okay, so we’re frugal when we have fun) and then to dinner (where we can spend more with the money we saved on the matinee).
We’re going to see Serenity (woohoo!) – which I’ve been waiting a month to see!
Dinner? Hmmmm…. not sure yet. I like Ted’s Montana Grill – if you haven’t been there, they serve bison meat. They also serve beef so no worries that you have to eat a buffalo! I’ve never been brave enough to try the bison, but DH has. He says it tastes like beef but a little tougher to chew.
Anyhoo, I’m off to run my errands and then write, write, write. I did get some written last night (500 words) so it wasn’t a total loss like Thursday.
Hope everyone has a faboo Saturday!

Yes, I was grumpy.
Yesterday I was an absolutely bitch all day. Yelled at the kids, yelled at my computer, yelled at the tv, yelled at the fool in front of me that cut me off… sigh… I was a bitch.
PMS? Maybe, or maybe it was just life’s stresses catching up with me. Probably a combination of both.
I wrote about 20 words yesterday so that was a bust. Fortunately I can say that it’s Friday and the end of daylight savings time this weekend. An extra hour of sleep, thank Gawd.
I put my flannel sheets on the bed last night and slept like a dead person so I’m not as grumpy today as I was yesterday. I want to get a smack down, shitload of writing done on Madeline before Sunday when my challenge starts with Sasha and JJ.
Wish me luck and send me chocolate.

Yup, I dug my way out of the hole. After a walk with myself and some brainstorming, I’ve got the thread of the story again. Madeline is moving on the highway of words! Yipee!
And I just got this fabulous review from Lynn Lowe at eCataromance. 4 1/2 Stars:
“The passion between the hero and heroine will light you on fire, the danger from the bad guys is palpable, and the emotional rollercoaster the characters traverse isn’t ridden alone….”The Reward” is a love story and thriller rolled into one glorious tale!”

I am so excited to see the impact of my book be the impact that I intended. Ya know, you want it to be exciting, thrilling, sexy, and emotional. It’s hard to shoehorn all that into a book.
Anyhoo, I had a race last night with Sasha and Nix. The three of us and JJ like to have timed writing races to help us get scenes written and a kick in the ass to keep going. I got about 1000 words written. Out of the slump, folks and up to bat!!

Um, yeah, I’ve been away from writing The Education of Madeline for almost two weeks. In between a new release, and final edits on The Treasure, and life in general, I haven’t gotten back to it.
So, I sat down last night to work on it and guess what? Total blank. I reread the last 20 pages and guess what? Total blank.
Damn, I knew it would happen, but setting it aside was unavoidable. And now, dang it all, my brilliant idea of not using my normal number list o’ plot (being a panster as it were), is coming back to bite me in the ass.
Sigh… I’m going to have to do it. I don’t want to, but I’m going to have to read it again from the beginning. If I don’t, I’ll be floundering a bit. I know I’ll edit as I go (which is a compulsive habit for writers BTW).
Wish me luck, and then kick me in the ass if I don’t get back into Madeline soon. Next week is challenge week so I need to get my groove on! :shock:

It’s true – I’m still so excited about the release of The Reward. It means I have three books published, with two more coming out in the next three months. Makes me feel like a real author.
You know, my 9 YO tells people that his mom is an author. I can’t tell you how wonderful that makes me feel. It’s like he sees deep down past the mom, taxi driver, housekeeper, wife, and technical writer and sees my soul. In my soul I am an author – characters are constantly clanging inside my head trying to get my attention. So if I don’t write, the cacophony gets deafening.
I did finish the changes to The Treasure, so it’s ready to roll whenever I get a response from the publisher I subbed it to.
Tonight it’s back to Madeline. I made a goal to get 34 pages written this week before Sunday and then a week long challenge begins with my peeps Sasha and JJ. We’re all Scorpios with our birthdays less than 2 weeks apart so look for a triple chat coming up on November 7 (JJ’s birthday).

Oh, yeah, baby! Mondays usually suck, right? But today is going to be a good Monday because it’s my release day. Woohoo!
The Reward is about to hit the airwaves – well in about 11 hours anyway. It feels like I’ve been waiting months (oh, wait, I have been waiting months!) for this release to come out. I finished this book back at the end of June. Patience, Grasshopper!
Nah! I don’t want to be patient today. I want to dance around like Snoopy and grin like the Cheshire cat!
I’ll be sending out an announcement when it’s officially available and wait for the firestorm to hit. Okay, I’m exaggerating a bit, but I can’t help it. Hermano gets me, er, hot about him.

I know I need to finish it. I swear I know. There’s a few details to add – I have my research I just need to dig through to find it, then put it in the story.
So what’s my problem? I can’t bring myself to finish The Treasure. I’m going to have to kick my own ass this weekend, because I really want to get back to The Education of Madeline. The last 10% of the icky spackle work must be complete first.
Sigh… Okay, I’ll do it. I swear. You have permission to assist in the ass-kicking if I don’t.
Onward!

Yes, it’s come around again.
This weekend promises to be prime writing time. Polish up The Treasure a bit, and get a boatload done on Madeline. DH has his rocket launch and I have to wait around for my refrigerator delivery.
I also plan on going to test drive the Prius, so it should be a fun weekend.
As the feature muse, I have a new contest on the Behind the Muses Yahoo group, so be sure to join or stop by so you can participate. It involves a picture of a cowboy and a missing name.
What’s on tap for everyone else this weekend?