I found myself without a material girl post for today, so I decided to go to my Amazon wishlist. Too much time spent on Halloween costumes and planning for Christmas, I suppose, has left the spotlight, and the finances, decidedly off of me. But, my trusty wishlist didn’t let me down. Behold, the external hard drive. USB connection (means it’s easy to hook up), requires no external power source (powered by your computer, one less plug for you to have to find a spot for), Google software for searching the files (who doesn’t love Google?), good for Mac or PC. If you have ever lostRead More →

I know, I know.  Lolcats are not the hallmark of an intelligent person.  I’m not proud of my lolcatz addiction.  And I do kind of worry about what it says for my sense of humor that, “Oh, hai,” never fails to make me snigger.  Blame it on ceiling cat.  Whatever. I defy you to go there, now, and not waste an hour.  Go on, I’ll wait.Read More →

Libba Bray, who has the coolest writing name ever, this amusing, and too true for comfort comparison to writing and falling in love. Thanks for meeting me here. Look, I’m just gonna come out with it. This–you, me–it’s not working. I’m sorry. It’s not you, it’s…actually it’s you. You’re stupid. And I sort of hate you. But, you know, thanks for the great line on p. 400. This?  This is me.  Right now.Read More →

Since I’ve had to move from sitting anywhere I like on my beloved, yet broken, Mac, I’ve created a, well, creative space on my sun porch for writing.  I’m a little superstitious about the writing mojo.  If by little, it could refer to bordering on paranoia.  Anyway, I’ve tried to… not pretty up, but make it more me.  I’m not the crafty type, ordinarily, but I bought a cheap lamp, hot glued some fancy fringe and beads around it, and viola: I have a writing lamp.  I’ll try to take a picture and post it. Maybe. Anyway, since this is the material girl category, IRead More →

My aunt–the teacher (well, one of my aunts who is a teacher)–sent me this link.  It seems this site* is giving one state 50,000 new books.  All you have to do is vote, once daily, for the state of your choice.  Optionally, you can also let them know what book got you hooked on reading.  Hurry, though, voting ends September 15th! *Link is no longer active.Read More →

I bought this book when it first came out because I loved Stephen King and I’d always thought about writing in a wistful sort of way.    King packs in a lot of practical advice and truth about writing in this book.  For instance, if you don’t read, forget being a writer.  Which, yes, makes sense but even so.  I wonder how many people want to write a book, be a published author, who really don’t consider diving into a book one of the true pleasures in life? I do disagree with his assessment that if you have to plan, outline–whatever, that you’re not doing itRead More →

I was reading Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire (of Wicked fame).  I don’t know what it is about these stories of his, but he manages to take a story that we know so well, it’s part of our psyche, turn it into something completely different, and yet… the same.  The stories suck you in, and it’s not Snow White you’re reading about, it’s Bianca de Nevada, and her father, and the dwarves–Heartless and Mute, Mute, Mute, to name a couple–and the Borgias (real dead people, Lucrezia being cast as the evil stepmother/witch, jealous of “Snow White’s” beauty). Anyway, all I can say is: if GregoryRead More →

Post Secret, how I love thee. So, here’s how it works. Every Sunday, Frank (of Post Secret) posts a series of post cards he received through the mail. Each one of them, each anonymous one of them, tells a secret. They’re beautifully made pieces of art that expose a corner of the sender’s soul or life. Some people find the site depressing, even disturbing. And some of the post cards can be. But I am so in love with the idea of freeing yourself from something you’re ashamed of. So ashamed, in fact, you’ve let it take over your life. Just put it out thereRead More →

I don’t care who you are, there’s some perverse pride in writing in a notebook like this. It says, loud and proud, though without actually speaking, “Yeah. I’m probably writing dirty sex scenes. You gotta problem with that?” Or something like that. Maybe that’s just me, your mileage my vary.Read More →

I want to apologize for being MIA for so long. I had some issues with my internet provider… and by issues I mean they canceled my internet and the four subsequent orders for service. I finally gave up and went with someone else. Very good. And then I lost a dear friend suddenly. She was my first reader. And I don’t mean first reader as in the first person I showed my stuff to, I mean my first reader ever. Of course, losing my reader isn’t the thing… it’s that she’s the first person I ever felt safe exposing myself that way. I said this,Read More →