Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Life Swap

After reading Shel Silverstein’s autobiography for my ACL class, I would life swap with him. But only certain parts:

~ Endless travel

~Homes in different places

~ Camping out in the conference room of my publisher to take over the production of my book (if I was going the traditional route, that is) and have people be on Celise Patrol (glorified gofers that would bring me whatever I needed)

~ Worldwide adoration of YA fans

~ To have ideas come so ridiculously often that if I don’t have any paper around, I have to use what I got–whether it be my arms are the tablecloth at the restaurant where I’m eating.

~ To leave a million dollar legacy that includes: continuing royalties, books translated in 20 different languages and sold well over 20 million copies.

~ To know that I lived my life to the fullest, doing what I love most, and not have any regrets whatsoever.

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Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Mess

This is an excerpt from DANCE JAM PRODUCTIONS, avail now.

***

“If we’re still going to continue to be partners in this contest, I’m going to have to explain something to you. You have no right to judge my situation when you don’t know all the facts and you sure as hell don’t know anything about Tykota.” She pointed an accusing index finger at him.

Jarek nodded, instantly contrite. He’d overstepped his bounds. He wouldn’t be surprised if she kicked him out, never to talk to him again. He wished he could take the words back, knowing he had broken the already fragile bond between them. He would have to bust his butt to get back to where they had been before he’d opened his big mouth.

“You’re right. I don’t know anything about him and I shouldn’t have said what I did. I apologize,” he said sincerely.

Mattie searched his face for a long moment. “Apology accepted,” she said.

But he knew nothing would be the same. At least, not for a while. She was still wary, probably wondering why she had told him anything in the first place.

“So help me understand,” he pleaded, hands out in supplication.

Mattie glanced at her watch, gave Judah a warning command, stood up, and started moving to the doorway.

“I think we’ve said enough already,” she murmured softly.

Apparently that was his cue to leave, so he got up to follow her. His gaze ran over her, taking in the braid that no longer fell to her waist, but now rested between her shoulder blades.

“Mattie.”

She paused and turned to him. Suddenly she felt so old. Old and tired.

“I don’t want to argue anymore, Jarek. And I don’t want you to be mad at me, either. It’s going to be hard enough to concentrate on this contest after spilling my guts to you, and we can’t afford any mess-ups on Friday. So how ‘bout a truce?” she suggested, holding out her hand.

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Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Mantra

To be honest, I’ve never had a mantra.

However, right now it’s:

One week at a time and remember to breathe.

I went back to school. After 17-18 yrs of not being in school. I started in the Fall of 2009 and it was a HUMONGO adjustment for me. I was only taking two classes at the time and about a month into it, I was feeling the pressure. I had a little breakdown, was emailing my core faculty (aka advisor) on a weekly basis…it was crazy.

I couldn’t figure out why it was so hard. After I graduated from high school, I did the community college thing for 2 yrs, then the 4-year university thing (ASU) for about a year. Possibly less. I don’t remember it being that hard before. And then my hubby put it into perspective for me:

“You weren’t working full time back then.”

Ah. The light bulb finally clicked on.

I’m working full time now. Some of my courses are online, others will be face to face/phone call convos with my mentors. During the first semester, I made the mistake of looking ahead at the syllabi (both of my courses were online). And got immediately overwhelmed.

I had to have pep talks with my core faculty, with my husband, with another co-worker also in school before this one phrase started to sink in.

“Just take it one week at a time. Don’t look at the weeks in advance, just what’s due the following week.”

I think it’s starting to work. I’ll be starting my 3rd semester in two days. This time, I’ll be taking 3 classes (and will continue to do so if I want to graduate in Dec 2011). I’m feeling both excited and anxious. I’m hoping I’ll be able to handle 3 classes and working full time.

I just have to remember my mantra.

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Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Recipe

To be honest, in this marriage, Babendude is the cook. It didn’t start out that way. I mean, I’ve never really cooked. Let me rephrase that. I cook, mostly breakfast food. And I’m not too shabby with spaghetti. However, I pretty much lived on Hamburger Helper (the ones where you add ground beef) and TV dinners before I met him. When we started living together, we still ate TV dinners but he would mix it up a little and sometimes do stir-fry.

Then a Fresh and Easy was built near our house and it was all over but the cryin’. In a good way. We’ve since ditched the TV dinners and now eat “real” food. LOL

Which he cooks.

My contribution isn’t something he created, but a recipe we use from his Chinese Herbal Remedies book when we get sick:

1 can of soup (preferably Chicken Noodle)
Fresh Ginger Root
Green Onions (1 small bundle)

Prepare soup as normal. Cut some of the ginger root into tiny chunks (FYI: this stuff is strong-smelling and strong-tasting, so don’t use the whole thing). Chop up green onions (1 or 2 stalks). Add ginger root chunks and chopped onions to hot soup. Wrap yourself in a blanket (or layers of clothes) and prepare to sweat out your cold.

This works. Babendude and I both swear by it.

I don’t like the smell or taste of ginger. Mixing it with chicken noodle soup (where there’s already tons of veggies mixed in) kind of masks the ginger flavor.

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Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Courage

Definition of courage from a writer’s point of view…

To write a story that involves one’s tears, blood (it happens), sweat, anger, joy, and send it out into the world for it to be accepted or rejected.

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Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Event

Bachelorette parties can be fun.

I went to one last Saturday.

We started out at the Maid of Honor’s house. We noshed on sweets and toasted with pink champagne (blech!). Don’t like the taste of alcohol.

We then went to Kobe Teppan and Sushi. Where we were promptly surrounded by teens dressed to the nines (prom night). There was 12 of us sitting at the table, and I’m pretty sure we were the rowdiest bunch there. It might’ve had something to do with sake being squirted into mouths on occasion by our “personal” chef.

Their mouths. Not mine. Don’t like the taste of alcohol.

Me and the designated drivers (I wasn’t one of them) get to watch everyone else make fools of themselves later. Makes for great blackmail material. Or, in my case, great story material. Hehe.

Then we danced off all the sushi appetizers and main entrees at Graham Central Station. They have several locations (mostly in Texas), but this is the place to go in my town if you want a variety of music in one place. The Country Room is the biggest side. Then you’ve got the Hip-Hop Room, the 80′s Room and the Karaoke Room smack dab in the middle.

We had one game planned for the bride-to-be. The more braver souls (I was not one of them) went around the clubs and pinned ribbons on random men. Becky, the bride to be, had to find these men and they had to do one of two things: kiss her on the cheek or buy her a drink. LOL. They then had to pin the ribbon on her back belt loop. By the end of the night, she had a nice little “ribbon” tail goin’ on.

Yes, it got interesting.

Especially when one of the ribbon holders was a Beer Girl.

Ah, bachelorette parties. I remember mine fondly.

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Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Dinner

The best–and most expensive dinner–was when we went to the The Melting Pot for dinner. It was for my birthday and I blogged about it here. It was our first experience that involved our meal being totally prepared at our table. In a pot. We thought it was pretty cool that the tabletop worked like a stove-top. And I found it interesting that all the waitstaff had to go to special training to learn how to do what they do. Because really, to explain how it all worked and how long you should cook your food, etc, I have a feeling these people were being paid more than minimum wage. And if they weren’t, they needed to.

I’d love to go there again and if there’s a Melting Pot in your area, you should seriously check it out. For any occasion.

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Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Wonder

This is an excerpt from Dance Jam Productions, available now.

…His face was just as unforgettable. A mischievous grin that started on one side of his mouth revealed straight, white teeth when the grin became a full-blown smile. Black eyebrows arched over green eyes that reminded Mattie of the waters of Maui, and his chiseled jawbone was reminiscent of a young Pierce Brosnan. The gorgeous gene was definitely swimming around in his genetic pool. He ran a casual hand through his hair, making Mattie wonder if it was as soft as it appeared. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as he slouched down on the couch and stretched his legs out before him. Sliding a section of hair behind one ear, he lazily flipped through the pages of a Dance America magazine. Mattie froze in her chair when he looked over at her for a long moment, before returning to the magazine in his hands.

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Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Deadline

Deadline.

That’s a word we writers use a lot.

Most of us don’t like it. *raises hand*

The rest of us think it’s easy-peasy. *sticks out tongue and blows raspberry* Yeah. That’s how I feel about those people.

Whether you’re a self-pubbed writer–*raises hand again*–or a traditional writer, we’re all besieged by deadlines. As a self-pubbed author, however, you’re pretty much accountable for setting and meeting your own deadlines. There’s no one there hovering behind you (well, unless you’re part of an accountability group) or send you little reminders that it’s coming up or you’re way past it.

For the longest time, I was on the fence about going traditional. I would wobble back and forth so much, you’d think I was Humpty Dumpty. My first two books are self-pubbed and I was thinking about going traditional for the DA series. I’ve since decided to stick with the self-pubbed route and one of the reasons is deadlines.

Seriously.

That may sound lame to some, but not to me. And I’ll tell you why.

I know my limitations as a writer. I write slow and my Creative Mojo doesn’t work on a consistent basis. And by that, I mean one day I can make page goal and the next, I’m struggling to pull words from my noggin. A deadline dictated by someone else reminds me of those timed essays we had to take in English. I hated those. I can feel myself getting stressed out by just writing that.

I like writing under my own time, my own steam, not someone else’s. I like the idea of writing at my own pace and not having to worry about rushing. Because at that point, the writing feels forced. And when it feels forced, it’s no longer fun. It becomes a “have to” not a “want to.”

As a self-pubbed author, I do set deadlines for myself. They may be farther out than other writers, but again, I know me. And the only person accountable for those deadlines is me.

I’m not part of an accountability group.

I don’t have a crit partner.

And I’m not part of a crit group.

Like Beyonce says, it’s “me, myself and I”.

And for now, that works for me.

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Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Mentor

Last year, I had the immense pleasure of being a mentor. From Sept to Dec I was a mentor through Free Arts AZ. For 14 weeks, another girl and I were placed at an all-girls group home. Every Saturday morning, for an hour, we drew, painted, wrote, cut and pasted, made bracelets…whatever. Basically, we played. These girls started to get used to us being there every week and couldn’t believe we were taking the time out of our lives to spend time with them. For free.

It was the best, most life-changing experience of my life.

I’ve been wanting to volunteer for a youth-based organization for a long time, but I was looking for a specific organization. And I found it with Free Arts AZ. They fit with the business I plan to open and I was able to utilize my writing skills there. I still volunteer for them when they have events on the weekends. If you ever get a chance to be a mentor for youth, do it. It will so change your life. I promise.

Currently, as I’ve mentioned numerous times before, I’m attending Prescott College to get my degree in Nonprofit Management. That business I mentioned above? I want to open a nonprofit writing center for teens. Actually, when starting out, it’ll probably just be different writing workshops, and not so much a building to conduct them in. I want to focus on putting these programs into public schools and youth-based nonprofit organizations.

But I digress.

The students who attend Prescott College create their own degree plan and then find mentors within their community—or nationally—to “mentor” the courses. They offer some online courses, but the majority of your degree plan is created by you. I’m actually looking for mentors for my classes right now, so if you’re interested, read all about it here. Since I know nothing about the nonprofit sector, I’m learning from the ground up and I created courses that, I hope, will prepare me for opening my own nonprofit. The Spring semester is almost over and the mentor for my Nonprofit Explorations course, Kristi, has been amazing. She’s also going to be the mentor for my Fundraising course. The difference between this college and other 4 yr colleges is that you’re learning by doing. You’re working side by side with a professional in the field and you’re getting hands-on experience. I think I learn best this way because I’m applying it as I learn it. And I’ll have all this knowledge for later.

The only thing that sucks for an introvert like me is going out and asking complete strangers to be my mentor. There’s a lot of stepping-outside-my-comfort-zone goin’ on, but I’m meeting some great people. And hopefully, I’ll be working with them in the future. On a professional level.

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