Archive for the 'A Royale Pain' Category

July 13, 2009 | A Royale Pain,Book One,Book Stuff,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Life in General,Movie Queue,Revision Heaven,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up,Writing Movements

Seriously. A whole lotta nothin’. Mr. Maul and I went to see PUBLIC ENEMIES on Saturday. Really liked it. Here I was all excited to see Channing Tatum and SPOILER AHEAD he bites it within the first 20 mins of the friggin’ movie! Gah! I was highly disappointed. OT: Congratz on your recent nuptials, Channing. Hope you and Jenna are happy. Billy Crudup (THE WATCHMEN) played J. Edgar Hoover and I don’t know if it was the make-up or how he was carrying himself, but his face looked really weird. Like he had no neck or something. Mr. Maul and I liked the movie, though. The previews were unimpressive, though. Which is surprising. I like to get there early for the previews and the ones they showed were ones I’ve already seen.

Sunday, we ate Ron’s Place (aka The Original Pancake House) as kind of a last minute thing. They serve breakfast until 2pm on Saturdays and Sundays, and we got there a little after 1, I think. And the place was nearly packed. But if you’ve ever eaten there, then you know that the food is ALWAYS worth the wait. Then we checked out Luci’s Healthy Marketplace on the way home. We went just to check it out and ended up buying stuff because we were given a $10 off $50 or more coupon. We plan to go back to try out the omelette bar…and possibly to get cat food. Sweet Pea seemed to like the sample of dry kibble and the canned food we got her. We even met one of the owner’s (Luci is his wife) and talked to him for a few minutes. I think it’s so cool to be able to interact with the owner of a business and know that they’re actually there, running the business, and not leaving it to someone else. He was very nice and thanked us–several times, LOl–for coming in.

Writing Movement – Last week was a good revision week. I started incorporating the sections I wrote into Book One. It’s a good thing I’m reading through the whole thing again because I’m finding typos and having to write additional content. Which is good. The word count was close to 40,000. I’m thinking this might be a little bit over by the time I’m done integrating everything.

THERE’S STILL TIME TO VOTE! Enter for a chance to win a $25 gift card or a $50 gift card to either Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com by voting on whether or not I should change Draven’s last name. Deadline is July 31st, MST. Only teens, ages 13-18, can vote, so hop on over to my FUN STUFF page and give your two cents.

I’ve been kicking around the idea of continuing the series after Draven, by way of using the name of the program she was recruited into; Only because I had planned for 6 books in this series and think that it would be hard to try to write standalones after doing a series for so long. Maybe once the 6 books are done, and I see what the reception has been like for Draven, I’ll pull the idea to the surface again. I also have another idea for a series, but I’m not going to speak on that yet. I dunno.

So, how was your weekend?

Technorati Tags: PUBLIC ENEMIES, Channing Tatum, Billy Crudup, THE WATCHMEN, J. Edgar Hoover, The Original Pancake House, Luci’s Healthy Marketplace

July 6, 2009 | A Royale Pain,Book One,Book Stuff,Book Two,contests,Draven Atreides,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Life in General,Movie Queue,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up,Writing Movements

It’s Monday and I’m sooooo tired. Three days off was not long enough. Mr. Maul and I went to a DSG 4th of July party. The theme was South Pacific. As in the musical. He downloaded it last Friday so we could get ideas on what to wear. Needless to say, it was really, really, really, hard to get past the first cheesy song: something about dames. LOL. And the crazy-ass Technicolor themed scenes. Sometimes it appeared as though whole one whole scene was filmed in fuschia. Or yellow-gold. Yeah. crazy. So, Mr. Maul and I ended up going for the more “military” theme and wore camo shorts and tanks. We had fun. I didn’t hear or see any fireworks, though. Mr. Maul had too much fun and I ended up driving home (I don’t drink so I’m always the designated driver) and we didn’t get home until around 3-something. We were supposed to go see PUBLIC ENEMIES over the weekend.

That didn’t happen. At all. Not even on Friday and we had that day off. Didn’t feel like doing anything on Sunday, that’s for sure, and I don’t know why we didn’t see it Friday or Saturday. If anyone saw it, please give your review. I’d be interested to hear what you thought about it.

And I did laundry. Nothing more I can say about that because, well, it’s laundry.

Writing Movements – no writing last week. I know, I’m such a bad authoress. I should be diving back into revisions for Book Two, but I have yet to incorporate those other sections I wrote into Book One. I need to do that. I’ve been procrastinating. Over the weekend, I talked to a fellow DSGer about podcasting. I’ve been on the fence about this series in regards to the publishing route I should take and this dude gave me something to think about. Speaking of the series…

You still have plenty of time to vote on whether or not I should change Draven’s last name. Go over to my FUN STUFF page and vote. There are two chances to win. The deadline is July 31st. Remember, only teens can vote

Tomorrow night, Mr. Maul and I are going to see Beyonce (aka Sasha Fierce) in concert. Section B, Row 8. Not close enough to see her pores, but close enough to see her sweat. Close enough to see a wardrobe malfunction. Close enough to see her trip and hope she doesn’t fall into our area (if that were the case, I’m sure Mr. Maul—and a bunch of other guys—would lunge to catch her). LOL. This should be interesting.

So, how was your holiday weekend?

Technorati Tags: South Pacific, PUBLIC ENEMIES, podcasting, Beyonce, Sasha Fierce

June 22, 2009 | A Royale Pain,Book One,Book Stuff,contests,Draven Atreides,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Life in General,Movie Queue,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up,Writing Movements

I wish I had something more exciting to talk about, but really, this weekend was pretty uneventful. Mr. Maul and I went to The Original Pancake House for breakast yesterday. We forgot that it was Father’s Day (yes, I sent my Daddy a card), so the wait was a bit long (30 mins) but that place is worth it. Should you ever visit Scottsdale, AZ, eat at The Original Pancake House on Camelback Rd, next to the Motel 6; it’s also walking distance to Scottsdale Fashion Square so if you eat too much, you can always walk it off over there. Every weekend that place is hoppin’, but like I said, the food is worth it. We get the same thing every time: I get a bacon waffle (crispy) and one scrambled egg, Mr. Maul gets the spinach omelet (it somes with a short stack of buttermilk pancakes).

Saturday, while Mr. Maul was doing the male bonding thing with his BF, I went to see THE PROPOSAL. Loved. It. I’m buying this when it comes out. Seriously. If only to see the outtakes. It was a nearly full theater, too. Three reasons you should go see this movie:

1) Ryan Reynolds naked. The man has got the most awesome physique.

2) Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock singing “It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ EZ-Rock. Hi-larious.

3) Sandra Bullock singing and dancing to “The Walls” by Lil’ John. You know what song I’m talking about, right? Hi-larious times 3. Especially Ryan’s comment afterwards.

On a major side note here: I have to come up with a new nickname for when I talk about my husband. I was using Mr. Maul because he’s part of this very special group and dresses up like Darth Maul. However, he’s grown out his hair a little and hasn’t done Darth Maul since the Fiesta Bowl Parade in January. So, I’m going to start referring to him as Mr. MMA, because he LOVES mixed martial arts (his favorite fighter is Wanderlay Silva) and he does a little martial arts himself.

Did some laundry on Sunday, too. Only 4 baskets this time. Not so bad, but man, I hate doing laundry. I guess it wouldn’t suck so much if the appliances were inside the house, instead of outside in the shed. Yeah, don’t ask.

Writing Movements – I had good writing movement last week. 12 handwritten pages. Don’t know what that adds up to in typed pages, because I haven’t done that yet, but it felt good to me. I finished The Lesson today on break. Now, I have to go through the hard copy of the story and put it all in. Oh, and as a reminder:

I’m running a Character Last-Name Change Contest and need your opinion on whether I should change Draven’s last name. The general consensus so far is that I should and people have been suggesting some good replacements. Check out my FUN STUFF page for more deets.

So, how was your weekend?

Technorati Tags: The Original Pancake House, Scottsdale, AZ, Camelback Rd, Motel 6, Scottsdale Fashion Square, THE PROPOSAL, Ryan Reynolds, “It Takes Two”, Rob Base and DJ EZ-Rock, Sandra Bullock, Darth Maul, Fiesta Bowl Parade, Wanderlay Silva, Character Last-Name Change Contest

June 16, 2009 | A Royale Pain,Book One,Book Stuff,Draven Atreides,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Revision Heaven,Writing Movements

Had good writing movement today. I got 4 handwritten pages of “The Lesson” done today. That doesn’t sound like a lot, I know. I probably would’ve gotten farther if I’d had lunch by myself today. I’m actually enjoying this 3rd–4th?–revision process because I’m adding more words, but I’m writing them in sections. Draven has a nickname for everyone–and everything–in her life and I’m currently describing the agents assigned to her (something I didn’t do originally).

And it’s making me smile.

I like writing movements like this.

June 15, 2009 | A Royale Pain,Book One,Book Stuff,Draven Atreides,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Life in General,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up,Writing Movements

I can honestly say that this weekend was no fun. I’ve been sick since last Wednesday. I didn’t go to work Wednesday or Thursday….and felt totally exhausted on Friday when I went back.

I’ve blown my nose so much that it’s raw.

Still sick, by the way. It’s slowly going away, but it gets worse at night. How I got sick, I’ll never know. It started out with a sore throat and then segued into a stopped up nose.

DayQuil, NyQuil, Vitamin C pills, Golden Seal pills and water are my best friends right now. I really hate being sick.

Saturday, I went to David’s Bridal to try on my bridesmaid dress. Yes, it’s black. That’s because I’m standing up with my best friend. I’m his Best Woman. So to speak. Anyhow, I’m adding a Lapis-colored (read: dark purple) sash as a color accent, so it won’t look totally plain. And since his fiancee got all her dresses there, too, I’ll get a 15% discount. Sweet!

Writing Movements - Ummmmm…there’s been none since last Tuesday. But they were good, I swear. I finally finished The Psyche Eval section. It’s definitely going to be a whole chapter. Of nothing but dialogue. Should be interesting. I’m going to work on The Lesson portion next. Once I lose the fuzzy-headedness, that is. Being sick really sucks for us creative types.

Speaking of Draven…enter for a chance to win either a $50 gift card or a $25 gift ard to Barnes and Noble.com or Amazon.com (your choice) by helping me decide if I should change Draven’s last name. Unfortunately, only teens ages 13-18 can vote. Sorry. People are usually more inclined to state their opinion if there’s a bribe prize involved. Head on over to my Fun Stuff page and vote.

Ugh! I would kill for some Mentholatum and a vaporizer right now. How was your weekend?

Technorati Tags: DayQuil, NyQuil, Vitamin C, Golden Seal, David’s Bridal