Unintelligle Screaming

6,348

Not bad for 24 hours. Who am I kidding? That's damn good for me, more than I normally get to write in a week. So, I took a teeny weeny break.

Spaghetti settled the stomach. But, I realized that I had ants in my pants. So, I took the kids to the roller rink (gf is the manager) and knitted while we were there. Refreshed, I sat back down in front of my HP.

. . .



. . .

See the above inch between the ellipses? That the sum total of my work since I sat back down. What the hell? I know what I want to put there. It. Just. Won't. Come. Out.

Do they make Beano for brain farts?

Sabbatical

This girly is going to get 10k or die trying. Hope to see you soon.

Another Good Idea

It definitely wasn't my idea. Ronn has another insightful post. He's hit on a great idea that I wish publishers would listen to. In fact, I think that it would make everyone concerned a lot more money.

There is one basic truth for those of us readers who also have a busy life. There is not enough time in the day.

For most people, life is positively busy. We have to prioritize what and when we do everything. Gone is the era when Sundays were a day of rest. Mow the lawn, walk the dogs, do the laundry, spend quality time with the kids, write, answer email. The list doesn't end. Multi-tasking is the trend.

Now, we watch CSI while folding the laundry or knitting. Solitaire is dealt by the computer and played while stewing over changes in that last WIP. Reading is done five minutes at a time while waiting at the doctor's office, to fall asleep, for your break to be over. Pleasure must become hands-free event.

How many of you have a longer To Be Read list now than you did five years ago? In order to compete, fiction must follow current trends. Granted, there is nothing like curling up with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa. But, loyal readers are going to become the only buyers if something isn't done.

Audiobooks and e-books should be solving this dilemma. They aren't. There just isn't enough variety in the current audiobook/e-book selections. Bestsellers tend to have those editions fairly soon, but midlisters? Forget about it. Find S. L. Viehl or Wen Spencer in audiobook. It's a little easier to find them in e-book, but it is generally only once the print run has fled the coop. By that time, most people won't pay that much for the books.

Audiobooks tend to be prohibitively expensive. Why should people buy one audiobook when they could use that same money to buy thirteen or fourteen paperback books? It doesn't matter that they can listen to them while knitting or mowing the lawn. More audiobooks published would drop the price making it more affordable for the average worker.

For example, publish audiobooks/e-books for the same price as the paperback edition. CDs and digital downloads must be less expensive than the printing process. That would increase the profit on each book. Lower price would make audiobooks/e-books more popular. Do you see the sales rising, too? Especially, to the multi-tasking majority of today's workers.

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

See the title? That's how I'm feeling right now. {insert evil grin here}

Ratings

Ronn had a wonderful post about the ESRB board. I left a comment, but I have to expand. I just must.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board, ESRB, has a rating system that has two parts. The first, a symbol, is much like the MPAA's system for movies. Movies/video games that are deemed appropriate for only those aged over 17 require a license to watch/buy. Addtionally, the ESRB adds descriptors so that parents have an easier time deciding if a game is appropriate.

Let me say right up front that I endorse having a rating system for movies, television, video games, etc. Also, I do not believe that video games are inherently destroying our nation's youth. Both my sons have learned to read, at least in part, from video games. Zelda is reading intensive, promotes forethought, and motor skills. Does it have violence? Yes, and my kids enjoy beating up the bad guys.

Face it. Violence and sex is part of the world. It is up to us, the parents, to guide our kids and teach them acceptable values. There are times when I let my sons, 10 and 11, watch an R rated movie or play an adults only video game. The choice is mine. Ratings are a guideline.

Some games, like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas were given a stronger warning because of lost content. It wasn't given based on the game as sold, but because someone figured out how to hack the game. Lost content isn't new. It is information that was simpler to block from the sold version than to delete, causing bugs. In fact, DVD makers are taking advantage of it with easter eggs. With video games, a hacker delves into lines of coding and pieces together lost missions, characters, etc. just to find it. This new way of applying ratings scares me.

It is taking into consideration not what the publishers inteded, but what someone with too much time on their hands figured out. That steps far out of rating territory and into the censorship zone. If I were a more paranoid person, I'd think that there was a censorship conspiracy. RWA, video games, gay authors. What's next?

Extra! Extra!

Since I am not so eloquent as some, I am going to be lazy. The best review I've seen of Last Girl Dancing by Holly Lisle is here. (Hiya, Carter!)

I just want to say that yet again, Holly has exceeded my expectations. Trust me. If a dyke can love a "straight" suspense romance, and I do, it is a great read.

On to A Brother's Price by Wen Spencer. Wow.

Wen takes you on a ride so fast and ferocious that you just can't get out of the story. A great read and thought provoking satire. Each time you read it, you will fall more in love with this world.

Angst

Something I Can Never Have by Nine Inch Nails

I still recall the taste of your tears.
Echoing your voice just like the ringing in my ears.
My favorite dreams of you still wash ashore.
Scraping through my head 'till I don't wanna sleep anymore.

You make this all go away.
You make this all go away.
I'm down to just one thing.
And I'm starting to scare myself.
You make this all go away.
You make this all go way.
I just want something.
I just want something I can never have.

You always were the one to show me how.
Back then I couldn't do the things that I can do now.
This thing is slowly taking me apart.
Grey would be the color if I had a heart.

Come on and tell me.

You make this all go away.
You make this all go away.
I'm down to just one thing.
And I'm starting to scare myself.
You make this all go away.
You make this all go way.
I just want something.
I just want something I can never have.

In this place it seems like such a shame.
Though it all looks different now, I know it's still the same
Everywhere I look you're all I see.
Just a fading fucking reminder of who I used to be.

Come on and tell me.

You make this all go away.
You make this all go away.
I'm down to just one thing.
And I'm starting to scare myself.
You make this all go away.
You make this all go way.
I just want something.
I just want something I can never have.

I just want something I can never have.

*Lyrics from Lyrics.com

Meme Me

Am I a sucker or what?

A is for Age: 26

B is for Booze: Rarely, but when I do it's Tequila, Parrot Bay Coconut Rum, or Miller Lite. I do enjoy a glass of Merlot once in a while.

C is for Career: CNA and hopeful writer

D is for Dad’s Name: Robert (biological)

E is for Essential Item to Bring to a Party: Munchies

F is for Favorite Songs at the Moment:
Cyndi Lauper's "Ballad of Cleo and Joe" and "Sisters of Avalon"
Aerosmith's "Janie's Got a Gun"
Ultra Nate's "Found a Cure"
Kim English's "Unspeakable Joy"
Days of the New's "Enemy"
Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" and "Something I Can Never Have"

G is for Goof-off Thing to Do: Read

H is for Hometown: Pick one of many in Illinois and/or Texas

I is for Instrument You Play: Music Match Media Player

J is for Jam or Jelly You Like: Stawberry

K is for Kids: Two boys, 10 and 11

L is for Living Arrangement: Significant Other

M is for Mom’s Name: Kathleen

N is for Names of Good Friends: Frannie, Angie, Linda, Denny

O is for Overnight Hospital Stays: Tonsilectomy/adenoidectomy, Tonsilectomy (twice more), a few that I will not speak about on here.

P is for Phobias: Bugs, Being Unprepared

Q is for Quotes You Like:
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul" - Inviticus by William Ernest Henley

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt

R is for Relationship That Lasted Longest: My girlfriend, five going on six years

S is for Siblings: Kevin and Chris

T is for Texas: Y'all know that I'm a southern gal dontcha?

U is for Unique Trait: The ability to remember tons of useless information, but not what I went to the store for.

V is for Vegetables You Love: All of 'em

W is for Worst Traits: I'm a stubborn southern gal.

X is for X-rays You’ve Had: Every part of my body at one time or another.

Y is for Yummy Food You Make: Cheesy Taters and No-Bake Cheesecake

Z is for Zodiac Sign: Aries

Please leave a comment if you decide to play, so I can make sure I don’t miss it.

Is Anyone Truly Surprised?

Thanks to Tambo for the link.





Take the What High School
Stereotype Are You? quiz.

Poppin' In

Just a quick Hi to let ya'll know that I have not gone over the edge. Well. At least not completely.

{wink}

Hopes:
Carter come through.
PBW gets moved okay.
MJ's cause keeps on trucking.

Desires:
Let's not go there. {evil grin}

Hello World

Are you still there? Hel-lo?

:commence pouting:

I just peeked out from my orgy and noone's here. Damn, and I wanted to talk about queens, strippers, fantasies, and romance.

:End pouting:

I guess you will have to wait for reviews of Last Girl Dancing by Holly Lisle and A Brother's Price by Wen Spencer. I've read them, have you?

You thought my book quiz was accurate, didn't you?

I Can See

Well, it didn't happen over the weekend. But, at least part of the sidebar is updated. (With bigger pics)

Best news for the weekend? See the "Just Bought" additions. Happy reading to all!

Lolita?

Can you see me rolling about laughing so hard that I am about to pee my pants? Oh, I will have to come back to this in the near future.

At least the quiz was not quite accurate. Ask my gf!

You're Lolita!

by Vladimir Nabokov

Considered by most to be depraved and immoral, you are obsessed with
sex. What really tantalizes you is that which deviates from societal standards in every way, though you admit that this probably isn't the best and you're not sure what causes this desire. Nonetheless, you've done some pretty nefarious things in your life, and probably gotten caught for them. The names have been changed, but the problems are real. Please stay away from children.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Link From Carter

Quote of the Day

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid across the line broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, leaking oil, shouting GERONIMOoooo!!!!!"

Unknown

New Additions

There are going to be some new additions to the sidebar starting now, continuing thru this weekend.

M. J. Rose has started "Good Book/Good Cause Blog-A-Thon." The box for that is already up.

Also, I will be changing up my To Buy list. We'll have to see what else I may change.

That's IT

I am going to undergo an overhaul. Thanks, Holly, for giving me a kick in the ass! No longer do I want to be a pontificator. Per Webster Online:

1 a: to officiate as a pontiff b: to celebrate pontifical mass
2: to speak or express opinions in a pompous or dogmatic way

Yes, I had to look up the word. Since I am in no way Catholic, I must assume she means the second.

I almost made a list of upcoming changes, but decided that was getting dogmatic. ( insert snicker:) Anywhosits, I've been letting Real Life interrupt too much in my writing. Getting published is still on the agenda. To that end, feel free to go ahead and critique away in comments.

I gotta get to work...

Happy Fourth!

Hope y'all have a wonderful, happy, and safe Fourth of July!

Late Again

PBW had a contest. Of course, I missed it again by about an hour. Sniff Sniff. My consolation prize, the holiday pay I will get for working on the 4th will give me enough extra to go and buy it.

Still, damn my luck.

Illusions

Sometimes, my life feels like and optical illusion. Almost never are things as they first appear to be.



Other times, things which at first appear complex, actually are quite straight forward.



*Both the above pictures are from an email sent by my gf.