Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Random Wednesday Blog: What Makes Me Happy . . . . or Could We Have Possibly Chosen a Harder Topic???

Welcome to the randomness that is the Random Wednesday Blog! Today's topic is all about what makes me happy. Huh, okay, so first of all this below makes me happy:


You know, this is a fairly heavy question. I mean, happiness . . . happiness can mean different things to different people. And it can be intensely personal to talk about things that make me happy. Can you tell I'm stalling? Because, really different things make me happy at different times. Does that make sense? Sometimes something simple like an text from a friend can make me happy, but then other times it might take quite a bit to make me happy. I'm sure when Bronwyn and Jessica came up with this topic they weren't expecting me to go on a deep existential rant on the philosophy of happiness.  So, let's see if I can come up with just a few things that make me consistently happy. 

1.  Fall -- the season of Fall makes me happy. I love how the air smells and the crispness and the colors. I love how it's the signal of the coming holidays. I love pumpkin! But I saw pumpkin eggnog the other day and that totally disgusts me, but other than that I love pumpkin.


2. Music makes me happy. Okay, not all music, but there are certain songs that if I hear them I'm like ready to leap up and dance. A few blogs ago we talked about our playlists and the songs on that list are some of my very favorites. I also love holiday music!! Yes, some of you may say Christmas music, but I say holiday because I'm pagan. But I love the music. I love the songs The Most Wonderful Time of the Year and Sleigh Ride by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. There are others, but those two can make me smile no matter what. If you haven't heard Steve and Eydie go check it out and tell me if it makes you smile too. I think the reason the song sticks with me is my sister and I used to listen to it when we were kids and we'd lip sync the song and dance. It was incredible. Really . . . 

3. Traveling with my sister makes me happy. I love packing up and hitting the road with her. We have a ritual we do every time we leave home. As we're backing out of the drive she always asks, "Are we there yet?" And I always answer, "Almost." Don't know why, but we do it and it makes us laugh each time. We also play games while we drive like Marco Polo and Hide-n-Go-Seek . . . . really you'd have to be there to understand. 

4. My friends make me happy. I love getting together with them however we have to (twitter, IM, email, text, in person) because no matter what they can make me laugh.

5. Writing makes me happy. I love creating people, places, situations, dialogue and then seeing what happens. My readers make me happy too since they obviously enjoy what I create. I love sharing my imagination with people. 

6. The holidays make me happy -- all of them from Halloween (Samhain) to Thanksgiving to Yule to Christmas. 



7. My kitties make me happy, even when I want to kill them dead, they make me happy. Okay, only Warlock often makes me want to kill him dead since he sometimes acts like a real snothead. Max is my sweet boy so he's rarely if never in trouble.


 Warlock

Max

I think that might be it for now. Like I said, the things that make me happy change with the day and the situation. If anything does change I'll let you know. But right now go check out the other Blogger Girlz to see what makes them long to skip through a field singing with glee . . . or whatever.

Bronwyn Green
Jessica Jarman
Kris Norris
Kellie St. James







Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Random Wednesday Blog: If Anyone Saw My Internet History . . . or I Swear I Wasn't Going to Hurt Anyone . . . Really . . .

Hello!!  Welcome to the Randomness that is the Wednesday Blog. Today's topic, as you can see, if all about my Internet history. Oh first, let's toss out the Random Wednesday Blog Hotness. Today, you get three for the price of one.


Okay, so my Internet history. As with most author's it's probably so suspect. I mean really, if a cop or psychiatrist would look at the history I'd probably be rushed right downtown and booked. Currently, the book I'm working on is an paranormal urban fantasy suspense . . . a total mouthful I know. It's come out in November and I decided to set it in my hometown of Louisville, KY. I've never set a book here before and thought the city would work really well for this story. Louisville is really unique in that it's a fairly large city, but downtown isn't enormous but it's old. I mean the city was founded in the late 1700s and we sit right on the river, which makes it even cooler. Literally and figuratively, during the winter months. So, I needed to have some information as I write. The city/state is are currently constructing a bridge to connect Louisville to Southern Indiana. I wanted to use this in the story so needed to know where and the timeline. I also looked up what types of heavy equipment one would use to dig a hole. Additionally, I needed to know where the coroner's office is and the medical examiner's office and if they are the same thing here in the city. FYI, they are two separate entities with different addresses. See what I mean about the cops being suspicious?When

Another series I write -- Promises -- I've looked up different kinds of weapons such as a naginata, katar, and all different kinds of handguns and bullet sizes. I've also done research on spiders, most especially their legs and the details in how they grip walls and ceilings. I know, gross, but I needed to understand. I've also done research on blood and white and red cells and the jobs they do in the body.

On the flip side, I've also searched out different knitting patterns. LOL I love to knit though I'm not great at it, but if it's a pattern I really want, like perhaps a cloche (hat) then I will search for just the right one and the yarn for it. I've also done searches for fall decorations, Halloween decorations and winter decorations. My newest search was all about how to take branches and make them look as if they are ice encrusted. I've seen them in stores and they're expensive, so I wanted to make my own. I got some ideas and I'm heading out to my cousins so I can collect some branches and try it out.

Hmmm, I think that's it for right now. Of course, more odd stuff will show up since the books I write are never normal. :-) But I think that's a good thing. Oh and go check out the other Blogger Girlz and see what crazy stuff shows up on their Internet histories.

Bronwyn Green
Jessica Jarman
Jenny Trout

See you all next week! --GC


Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Random Wednesday Blog: Best School Memories . . . or the memories you think are great now that you've been out of school for a long, long time

Hello!! And welcome once again to the Randomness that is Wednesday. Today's incredible topic is all about our best school memories. Huh, yeah, ummmm hmmmm, I didn't really like school a whole lot. Stunning, since I'm a teacher, but there you have it. Oh!! First, let me share gratuitous male hotness.



Okay, so fav memories . . . yeah I went to a tiny catholic elementary school with the same 20 kids until 8th grade. It pretty much sucked! If you weren't the perfectly cool kid then you were out. And believe me I wasn't cool. So scratch those years. High School, yeah high school I went to a catholic all-girls school (sensing a theme?). Now I will admit that sophomore and junior years were pretty cool. I had a friend, Sherry, and somehow she and I ended up in every single class both years. Don't know, don't understand, but we did. We really did have a ton of fun. Senior year rolled around and it sucked. Big time!

I started college when I was about 24 or so when I started working for a local university. I loved college!!! The first class I took was a general history class and I was a 4.0 by the time I rolled out of it because I loved it so much. People kept telling me how hard the professor was, but if you studied (duh) you could pass. Because I worked full-time I could only take 2 classes a semester and it took me forever, but I loved it. I loved everything about college. I loved picking my classes, getting the books, going to class, taking notes, writing papers . . . you name it. And I was good at it. My Mom, bless her heart, was stunned, since I wasn't a stellar student in high school. In fact, I passed by the skin of my teeth, as she used to say.

I got my degree in Liberal Studies since I wanted to study everything. I took Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology, Accounting, Theology, History . . . you name it, I took it and loved it. I even took an upper level history class taught by the head of the History Department. Dr. Mahoney was amazing. The university was built around her, I'm sure since she was quite old, but damn that woman knew stuff. She didn't use notes or anything. She would just lean back against her desk, hold a cup of vanilla coffee, and talk. After the first test and let me tell you it was hard, but I kicked ass on it, I saw her at a wedding for a mutual friend. She asked me what I thought of the test so I told her it was a bit long since I couldn't finish in the allotted time. Bam! Next test was shorter. She told me that she knew I had studied and was adult so we could talk about it. Loved her!!!!

Once I finished my undergrad, I immediately went for my Master of Arts in Teaching. I eventually went back AGAIN and I got a bachelor degree in communication. Not as fun since it was all online. I love going to school and being in the classroom. That's probably why I loved being a teacher so much.

So there it is. My very favorite school memories.Now I'm going to fill you with sage advice. Go to school!! You will love it. Learning should be something we are engaged in all the time. Read and then read more. I love nonfiction books. I just finished The Wave and The Poisoners' Handbook. Excellent reads!

Go check out the other Blogger Girlz: Bronwyn, Jessica, and Kris  to find out if they have any good memories from school.

See you next week! --GC

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Totally Assface Acts Online

So, I'm sure if you are here you know I'm a romance novelist. In fact, if you want to get right down to it, I write erotic romance. BUT, in my other life I'm a certified elementary school teacher. I worked in a history museum for 5 years until I was laid off. Yeah, the museum is having issues, but that's a story for another time. Right now, I am job hunting while writing feverishly in the hopes that my writing will take off and I can do that full time. Okay, now that I have all that out of the way let me tell you why I'm really here. In the 5 weeks since I was laid off I am, of course, online a ton. I've upped my presence online with blogs and Twitter and Facebook and just generally chatting and reading while I write. I'm sure you're wondering, "Where the hell is this going?" And I will tell you. In these 5 weeks I have realized that there are a lot of people out there that are grade-A assfaces.

Trolls. These people are called trolls. Which is kind of sad since these people totally besmirch real trolls and I'm sure they will be filing some kind of lawsuit soon.
Real troll that is angry because of assfaces on line.

I've heard of Internet trolls before since I've been using a computer for . . . a very long time. But I didn't have time to even think about them, much less write a blog about the phenomenon. But my friend Jenny Trout has a huge Internet presence and since she appeared online in her cutie cute bikini she has been inundated by these "incredible" individuals. Notice that I use quotes around incredible, that denotes sarcasm. 

Now, I'm not the smartest person in the world. I will admit I have 2 undergraduate degrees and 1 master degree, but that still doesn't make me Stephen Hawking. Hell that doesn't even make me Dr. Sheldon Cooper, but I just don't get it. I don't understand the reason why someone would go online to purposefully be a jerk to someone. And, what's even more ridiculous, is the assface person doesn't even know the person they are being a jerk to. How does this make sense??

What drives someone to find an article or blog or what-have-you online and purposefully say something to make others angry? Once again, I'm not a genius, but to me there is some kind of mental disorder going on here for anyone who does this. What kind of satisfaction does this person get by sowing discord? Is the individual so lacking in confidence in his or her own life that he or she feels as though going online to tear down people (you don't know) somehow makes you a better person? 

Now, my mama always told me that if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all. And I try to abide by this rule. So I wonder if these assface individuals weren't raised correctly. Do they not have good southern mamas to tell them how to act when you get out someplace? I'm guessing no by the ridiculous posts I see day after day.

So, I have some advice to give. If you are one of those people who go online and enjoy saying stuff to make others mad, you need help. First, get off the computer. Unhook your Internet and get into therapy and figure out what is so wrong with your life that makes you act like a jerk. Once you've figured out the issues, work on them and fix stuff. After that, I bet you will have loads of friends and won't need to use the Internet in the passive/aggressive manner you have been.

For everyone else who must deal with these "incredible" individuals my advice is ignore them. I know, it's going to be hard. But I have found that if you ignore some behavior the behavior stops because there is no audience. Another thing my mama always said was, "If it's not going to matter in a week, a month, a year then let it roll off your back like water off a duck's back." Which means, if the assface doesn't have an audience they finally give up and go away. Like I said, I know it's difficult, but as a friend of mine once said, "Somebody has to be the big person in a relationship." And, online, that "big person" or adult, if you will, is the person who ignores the ridiculous behavior of the assface.

Thank for listening. Oh and if you have something to say to me that is constructive and thoughtful please leave a message. I will answer. If, on the other hand, you're an assface don't bother commenting. I won't answer. I will read what you have to say, roll my eyes and sigh at how sad you are. But I won't comment.

Thanks --GC

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Random Wednesday Blog: A Few Of My Favorite Things . . . . Book Covers

Hello!! And welcome to the randomness that is the Wednesday Blog. Since I was such a big loser last week and I totally forgot about the blog I will give you two pics of awesomeness to make up for last weeks derp moment.



And .. .. you're welcome!!! So, this weeks post is all about our favorite books. I wasn't clear on whether it was supposed to be my own covers or just covers in general so I'm going to do both, cause that is the way I roll.

1. The Secret Garden


I loved this book as a child and the cover is just so beautiful. Tasha Tudor is an amazing artist and I think she totally captured what the story was about in just one image. 

2. To Ride A Silver Broomstick

I'm pagan and have a lot of different books that I love so much. But this cover pulled me in as nothing else did. The information inside is good, but the cover is really awesome.

3. Archangel's Legion


If I didn't already read the series, this cover would have totally pulled me in. Talk about awesome artwork! Elena looks so tough and gorgeous, just as she's portrayed in the books.

4. Dark Promise


I love the cover for my book Dark Promise and I'll tell you why. I really don't want their faces to show so the designer did a good job. Also, it's just damn sexy, but even more I like the next cover better.

5. A Hunter's Promise

Wow! As soon as I saw this cover I was hooked! Had to have it for my book. 

6. Caught Dead Handed


I am a huge fan of paranormal cozy mysteries. I read tons and they are so much fun. This one I fell in love with just from the cover alone. And, yes, the book was awesome too. 

7. If Ever I Would Leave You Anthology

I love this cover! It's so beautiful. Yes it contains stories from some of my favorite people, but the cover is amazing!

So there you have it, some of my very favorite covers from books. I could go on and on and on, because I am drawn to book covers first, but this has to end somewhere. If you still want to look at beautiful coves go check out the other Blogger Girlz -- Bronwyn, Jessica, KrisLeigh, and Kellie to see what kind of pretties they have up.

See you all next week! -- GC