FOLLOW FEST

Welcome to Mellisa Maygrove's Follow Fest.

This platform building opportunity is for writers who want to meet other writers, have a few drinks, socialize, and stalk each other. If you'd like to know more about the Follow Fest (there's still time to sign up), click on the Follow Fest badge over on my left sidebar.

<======  (; 

If you don't know Melissa, (who is fabulous by the way) please check out her blog site. She's a wonderful blogging friend who's always giving back to the writing community. She shares tips about blogging and social media, and has a Monday feature called Grammar Police Monday which is really great and helpful.  

Below is my Follow Fest Answer Sheet. 

Nice to meet you.  

Now I'm off to read yours!

****

Name: Pen name is Elise Fallson 

Fiction or nonfiction? 

Fiction

What genres do you write? 

Mostly YA/ NA fantasy and paranormal. 

Are you published? 

Only in my dreams. *don't wake me up*

Do you do anything in addition to writing? 

Yes, rewriting.

But,  I also beta read when I can, and enjoy spotlighting blogging buddies, cover reveals, releases, etc.  

Where can people connect with you?

• Right here! Welcome to my humble blog Elise Fallson: elisefallson.blogspot.com
• I'm sometimes on Twitter @elisefallson, 
• And Goodreads, Google+, and YouTube all under the name Elise Fallson. 

My online avatars

Is there anything else you’d like us to know?

I'm an expat living in France and would love to join an on-line writer's group but don't know where to start. Any suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated! 

****

Thank you Melissa for hosting this Follow Fest, can't wait to check out new fellow writers!

Wip It Good Blogfest

DL Hammons over at Crusing Altitude 2.0 and I are happy to bring you a blogfest that's intended to spotlight your [W]ork [I]n [P]rogress. Our idea is to provide a forum on Friday, May 31st to allow anyone interested to give the blogosphere an avant-goût of your most recent WIP. We'll provide a few prompts to answer in your own post and give you an opportunity to solicite CP's (partners who exchange material for detailed critique--usually chapter by chapter) or Beta  Readers (test readers who read the entire manuscripts and offer broad opinions) if interested.

Here are prompts we'd like you to include:

• WIP Title
  
• Word Count (current and projected)
• Genre
• How long you've been working on manuscript
• Elevator pitch line (if you came across an agent in an elevator, what couple of lines would you use to summarize your book)
• Brief synopsis (250 words or less)
• Are you looking for a CP
• Are you looking for a Beta

Grab the badge up top, sign up on the linky tool below, and mark your calendar for May 31st while I channel a little Devo for you--and let's Wip It . . . Wip it Good . . . Wip it Real Good!

   *****

Top Ten Movie Blogfest

Welcome to Alex Cavanaugh's Top Ten Movie Countdown! Today participants list their favorite movies of all time. This was a hard list to come up with because it often changes. But right now, here are my top 10:

E.T.

This was the first movie to make me cry and the first to get me thinking about extra-terrestrial life and the cosmos.

Fantasia

This Walt Disney production came out in 1940 and required over one thousand artists and technicians to bring to life approximately five hundred characters. Aesthetically speaking, this movie is a feast for the eyes and concert for the ears. The fantastical theme and concept behind Fantasia created a motion picture event that was avant-garde at the time. It pushed the limits of animation and sound production, and was the first feature length animated movie to match animation to classical music in such an extraordinary way.  It changed the way animators applied music to their projects, but unfortunately, the movie got mixed reviews when it came out. Many critics though it pretentious and with WWII underway, along with the tense political climate, many people didn't respond favorably to the movie. 

Years later, Fantasia was re-released and I watched it for the first time in the early 80's. I was young at the time, but it instantly transported me to a world of Sugar Plum faries, dancing mushrooms, cupids, centaurs, evil spirits, pegasi and dancing hippos. I fell in love with all the characters with one exception, the part featuring Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer's apprentice. I'm not sure why, but I never really liked that segment and always wanted to skip it to see the rest of the movie. Sorry Mickey. Nonetheless, the movie has received many accolades and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." (wikipedia) 

As for me, Fantasia has left a life long impression that I cannot clearly explain, nor do I really want to.   

My Fair Lady

This is the one movie/musical that stands apart from my usual taste in films. It has a lot of sentimental value to me and even though I doubt it would be considered PC to today's standards, I still enjoy the story, the music, and humor. And, I'm not ashamed to say I can sing along to every song and still get a kick out of lines like: 

"Come on Dover, move yer bloomin' arse!"

♫"Women are irrational, that's all there is to that. Their heads are full of cotton, hay, and rags. They're nothing but exasperating, irritating, vacillating, calculating, agitating, maddening and infuriating hags!"♫

"You oughta be stuffed with nails, you ought!"

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

I remember being blown away when I first saw this movie. What really impressed me was the cinematography and martial arts scenes. Watching Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi sword fight was simply AMAZING. Want to know what else is amazing? Watching Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi fight with lightsabers: 

Princess Bride

Make me laugh, that's all I ask.

This comedy had it all, action, humor, wit, and romance. And to think neither Cary or Mandy had ever had any prior experience sword fighting, yet with a lot of training and determination, managed to pull off some of the best sword fighting caught on screen. "Chapeau."   

IV: A New Hope (1977), 

V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), 

VI: Return of the Jedi (1983).

Three. Epic. Movies. 

The other three made after Return of the Jedi (which I refuse to even name), can be listed under Star Crap. I'm not going to drone on about this series, I'm sure they will be on several lists today. 

Avengers

Loki: "Enough! You are, all of you, beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by . . . "

The Hulk: 

*smash, smash, smash, smash, Loki like rag doll* 

"Puny god." 

I really don't need to add anything more to this either because: 

Avengers = Awesome. 

How To Train Your Dragon

I loved everything about this movie from the story, the animation, to the movie score. Normally, I don't like watching movies over and over again (I'm the same way with books) however, I've watched this film several times and never get tired of it. The movie also contains my all time favorite scene of any movie, the part where Hiccup touches Toothless for the first time. That scene was so well done, down to Hiccup's reaction just after making contact. It was perfect and gives me the warm fuzzies every single time. Plus, there were some great lines in the movie too:  

"Excuse me, barmaid! I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fish-bone!"

Thanks for hosting this fun movie blogfest Alex, off to see what everyone else has on their list! 

(:  

The Unofficial Got Green Blogfest Post

**************************************

I've been nagging my writer for weeks! Pleading with her to let me join Mark's Got Green Blogfest. I told her it didn't need to be complicated. All she'd have to do is whip me up a cute little green outfit, throw in an Irish joke, and maybe add a four-leaf clover somewhere. You know I've looked all my life, but I've never found a real four-leaf clover before. ): Sadly, the writer couldn't give two flips, she just kept mumbling stuff like, "Have to finish my edits . . . have to finish A-Z posts . . . I'm French/Italian . . ." bla, bla, bla. But whatever. I never gave up and just kept wearing her down, determined to get my four-leaf clover and green dress. 

Finally, she gave in and this is what she came up with: 

B****

Worst. St. Paddy's Drawing. Ever.

Happy Friday and an Early Happy St. Paddy's Day to all you crazy green beer chugging, Lucky Charms eating, green clothes sporting folks!  

>:D

Alex Cavanaugh Cover Reveal and She Said What Winners

I am excited and honored to be part of Alex Cavanaugh's cover reveal today for his book CassaStorm! This book marks the last in the already successful Cassa trilogy that has Alex ranked as Amazon Sci-Fi Best Selling author!  

CassaStorm by Alex J. Cavanaugh

http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/

Cover Reveal
Release date: September 17, 2013

A storm gathers across the galaxy…

Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, his only struggles are occasional rogue pirate raids and endless government bureaucracies. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.

After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, shaking Bassan to the core and threatening to destroy the boy’s mind.

Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could be on its way back. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…

Science Fiction - Space Opera/Adventure

Print ISBN 9781939844002

E-book ISBN 9781939844019

Congratulations Alex on this fantastic cover! 

CassaStar, CassaFire and CassaStorm look amazing all lined up together! 

***

AND THE WINNERS ARE . . . 

Before we get to the winners, Michelle and I want to thank you all for making this bloghop such a success. I was skeptical at first, unsure if people would want to participate, but it was Michelle's enthusiasm and encouragement that convinced me. And having 30+ people sign up for our blogfest is twice as many than we expected. Plus, you all really out did yourselves. Every single entry made us laugh, chortlesnort, giggle or chuckle in some form or fashion. And when you're sick with the flu, laughter is great medicine.  I hope you realize how creative and funny you lot are. The same comic strip with the optional bonus words yielded a wide variety of different scenarios. You had the girls tripping over rope, over feet, or just plain trippin (ahem Alex . . . (;  ). The girls were sightseeing, rushing to the mall, to the dance or running away with dragon loot! You blew us away by your creativeness and snark, so you can imagine how hard it was to choose winners. We'd like to share with you some of our favorite quotes from the fest (in no particular order):

"Who does he think he is Buzz Lightyear?"

"... hoist me up before the champagne and LSD start running out my nose."

"Did somebody say THONG?"

"... a talking dragon-dog."

"we've got stylish beach-babe hairstyles."

"don't get your panties twisted in a bunch."

"I give you Dragon GPS for Virgin Snack here."

"Vazz izt diz, Giantz Condomz!?!

"Get your ass cheek in here!"

"We look like we should be on survivor,”

"At least the blood will match my outfit!"

"There's a party at my cave tonight."

"I can't run in these heels." Clop! Clop! Clop!

"Next time remind me to stay away from hot air balloons, mischievous monsters and clumsy superheros."

"...Tetons. So distracting..."

"Hey did you just kill Brad Pitt?"

"V's buying, I took his wallet."

"I think I gave a frog a heart attack."

"Are these breasts or pockets?"

"After all we've been through, you went out and found another critique partner? Why don't I just tie this rope around my neck?!"

"We tangoed cheek-to-cheek with death and won!"

"...honour me with a kiss? And not on the cheek either. I mean, I just popped a tic-tac."

"Don't look, I'm wearing granny panties!"

"Captain V blows!"

"Oh honey...that grey thong doesn't look good on you."

"...if only I had paid more attention in airspeed momentum class instead of thinking about my tango lessons."

"...skirt's gonna flap down showing the world a set of cheeks it never expected to see..."

"and what's with the banana-yellow cape, dud? Like, vomit."

"I don't know why I travel with you. You're a train wreck waiting to happen!"

"Habz no fearz, Viagra Man'z heeeeerz!"

Speaking of knickers, I can see yours from here! Were they always grey, or do they need to be washed? 

"Hurry Elise, we need to get back behind our keyboards where it's safe."

"Virgin Boy to the rescue!!!"

"Dude, did you have to do that in the balloon? "

"This is so embarrassing. It’s almost as embarrassing as the time you–"

"Does my head look big with this seaweed on it?"

"Dudette, I know, get up in this balloon so we can getaway with her treasure!"

****

AND NOW . . .  Drum Roll . . . 

Honorable Mentions: 

Alex Cavanaugh Ninja Captain

 Cheryl Duffin at Texas Playwright Chick 

Julie from Emptynestinsider 

LG Keltner at Writing Off The Edge, 

 Melissa at 5-minute Piece Of My Mind 

Tara Tyler at Tara Tyler Talks

Winner for Most Creative entry:

Tammy Theriault at Writing one Petal at a Time

Tammy, you win a banner or badge sponsored by the wonderful Tara Tyler at Tara Tyler Talks! 

4 Grand Prize Winners: 

Nick Wilford at Scattergun Scribblings

PK HREZO at Fearless Fiction

Nick and PK get to chose one from the following list of books and we'll be happy to send it to you (email us for the details):

1. On Writing - Steven King

2. Bird by Bird - Ann Lamott

3. The Right To Write - Julie Cameron

&

Al Diaz at Father Dragon Writes

Mark Means at Left and Write

Al and Mark get to chose one from the list below and we'll be happy to send it to you (email us for the details):

1. The Elements of Style, 4th edition - William Strunk Jr and E.B. White

2. Save the Cat - Blake Snyder

3. 10$ Amazon Gift Card

Congratulations to the winners and a huge thank you to everyone who participated and SPECIAL HUGS to my Co-Host Sister M! 

Have a wonderful weekend 
(: 

Allow Me To Re-Introduce Myself and La Luna

                             

Today I'm participating and co-hosting the Re-Introduce Myself blogfest! This is a chance to introduce yourself all over again to readers both new and old. I did this in the form of a video, maybe not the brightest idea, especially if this doesn't work...hope this works.... 

...and so sorry Mark Koopmans for totally trashing the correct spelling of your last name, lol! 
But this IS my first video and . . . oops! 
*facepalm* 

((((&))))

Mina Lobo over at Some Dark Romantic thought of a really fun and easy bloghop. All you had to do was go out last night, snap a picture of the full moon, and post it today. Easy. That's why I signed up. (; Anyway, here are my pictures of a French full moon. 
Enjoy, and thanks Mina!

Full moon
France
January 27, 2013

Full Moon
France
January 27, 2013
This is essentially the same shot as above, I just
played around with the color balance
in photoshop.

Full Moon
France
January 28, 2013
Ok, I couldn't resist this shot while having breakfast with my kids.
I'm diggin the trees in the foreground. 

Moon
France
January 26, 2013
The forecasters predicted a high chance of rain showers on the 27th.
To be on the safe side, I decided to take pictures the night before
to at least have something to post today.
Well, the forecasters were wrong.
Surprised?
Didn't think so.
Anyway, I like the way this picture turned out with the cloud interference
so I thought I'd add it in just for fun.
(:

She Said What?!

(((****NEWS FLASH****)))

My friend and blogging buddy, the lovely Michelle Wallace over at Writer in Transit, will be celebrating her TWO year blogging anniversary! And guess what? Me too! Well, actually no. But I AM turning the big 01! 

Michelle and I met during A-Z last year and we just hit it off right away. She writes amazing flash fiction and I can't wait for her to finally tackle a larger project that I've been dying to find out more about. So if you haven't gotten the chance to read some of her work, drop on by her site, you won't regret it.

So poof, here I am one year old and wow that went fast. What the heck happened all this time? Actually, lots of great stuff happened. I bumbled out into the blogosphere, discovered an amazing community of writers and bloggers, made friends, participated in blogfests and bloghops, survived A-Z, wrote some crazy flash fiction, entered writing contests, hosted blogger/writer buddies, did cover reveals, did a guest post, co-hosted a bloghop and poured my little heart out about my insecurities. Now it's time to celebrate! And to do that, Michelle and I decided to get together and organize the: 

Now try not to groan so loud guys, I know there are a lot of bloghops popping up in February, but hear us out because this is going to be fun, easy and different. Yes, different because we don't know any better and wanted to do something a little off the wall, plus there will be prizes! So, instead of asking you all to write on a theme, we're going to put you in the screen writers chair and ask you to write some dialogue all in good fun. So here's what you do:

• On Monday the 18th of February, Michelle and I will post two comic strips with blank dialogue bubbles. 
• Drop in on one of our blogs and copy and paste the two comic strips into your post.
• Write the dialogue off to the side. 
• Post your entry on Wednesday the 20th of February and then check out some of the other entries to make fun of them. 
• Michelle and I will then pick some extra creative entries who will win prizes that will include books and other stuff. (;
• Winners will be announced on Friday the 22nd of February.
• That's it! So grab the badge, sign up at the bottom, and thanks for celebrating with us. (: 

"You know E, that's almost too easy."
"Hummm, I think you're right, M. That is too easy. What do you suggest?"
"How about I come up with a few random bonus words that the participants should try to use in the dialogue?"
"Brilliant!"

Did you guys catch that? Great. But just in case, I've put together an example of what we're talking about.

Panel 1: "Hi guys! We're so happy you're going to celebrate our blog birthday with us! It's going to be fun so sign up below on the linky list and get excited!"


Panel 2: "That's right E, this is going to be fun and all you guys have to do is copy the comic strip that we'll reveal on the 18th of February into your post. Then write your dialogue above or on the side of the comic strip." 

Panel 3: "Oh, and don't forget to write down the panel number in front of your dialogue."

Panel 4: "And one more thing, remember I'll have a list of bonus words for you guys to add into your dialogue for a little extra challenge and kiss up points!" 

Who let the cat out of the bag?!
The cockroachgirl.

****
"She Said What?!" Blogoversary Giveaway Bash

Please Re-Introduce Yourself

When I first started blogging, I knew nothing about the on-line writing community but I did know everything about the six people that visited my blog. (; Now almost a year later and having met so many amazing people, I realize many don't know much about me and vice versa. 

Luckily, published author and blogger Steve Tremp, came up with the idea of this Blogfest and I'm happy to be co-hosting the event along with two other amazing authors, Carolyn Brown and Mark Koopmans. I think it's a wonderful opportunity to re-introduce ourselves to our readers both new and old as well as to the ever-expanding blogging community. So on January 28th, feel free to take a moment and tell us something interesting about yourself. It doesn't have to be very long, just something you haven't shared with your readers in a while. It can be anything. It can be about writing. Or blogging. Or that time you rode an ostrich when you visited Oudtshoorn, South Africa...oh wait, that was me... ;D  

This is going to be fun guys, so grab a badge, sign up and I can't wait to re-meet you!

DEJA VU Blogfest

DL Hammons over at Crusing Altitude is hosting Write Club the Déjà Vu Blogfest! The idea is simple, re-post one of your favorite posts from 2012, or one that never received the exposure it should have. 

I never know what to post for these kinds of blogfests because it feels like only yesterday I started blogging. And technically, I've only been here since February, so yeah my blog is still in diapers. However, I did come across this post that I wrote after a good solid month of blogging under my belt. Some of you may remember this one (my apologies in advance, you may run now while you still can :p ).  The rest of you better hold on, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

(;

******
Scarier than a Steven King Novel: Driving in Paris, France (it’s Misery)

When I moved to France almost 10 years ago, I had never driven outside the US. I was accustomed to clearly visible street signs, the grid system, stop and go traffic, 4 way stop signs, big bulky automatic cars, defensive driving, and bumper stickers.

But when I got to Paris, I had to forget everything I thought I knew about driving, because it would only get me killed. In a nut shell, driving in Paris was like being trapped in a huge pinball machine with multiple balls flying at me from every direction.  Quick, TILT!

At the time, my job was 70% field work which required extensive driving in Paris, intra-muros (the city within the beltway). The first day driving, I followed a colleague and tailgated her so closely, I could have changed her radio station. Not a safe way to drive, but I was a stressed out wreck, afraid of getting lost, and I was driving a Twingo which is nothing but a glorified tuna can on wheels. Meep, Meep. When I got home that night, I cried. But, got up the next day and gave it another go. And over the next few months I began adjusting to a new country, a new job, a clutch, a new language, etc, and I also learned to get used to insane things like:

 “Priorité à droite” (priority to the right).

This crazy little law states that while driving along a road, anyone joining from your right hand side has priority over the main road on which you are driving. Come again? That means they do not have to stop. Hun? Instead, you have to slow down and let them merge no matter what road they were on!? It’s a pretty dangerous law imo especially for foreigners, but don’t worry, this driving rule is not widely used anymore! Nope, you just have to guess if the French driver up ahead is going to yield or shoot out in front of you. No sweat :/

Itty, bitty, confusing as heck street signs.

Street signs: means to give drivers invaluable information, like what street I’m driving on! It’s the best method to help you get from point A to point B without having to go through the North Pole first. I believe

French street signs are actually a national inside joke, made to confuse and infuriate foreign drivers. The signs in the city are small, often located far off the street and nailed to the side of a building usually behind a bus stop.  Brilliant.  And don’t think these babies are lit up at night either. In short, Parisian street signs are more useful on a hook as decoration in your kitchen.

Traffic circles / roundabouts

Another thing I had to get used to, traffic circles. Though I must admit, I now prefer traffic circles that maintain a certain flow, over traffic lights that bring cars to a halt. You just have to make sure it’s a real traffic circle (where you yield to those already in the circle) as opposed to the fake traffic circles where you have priority, but must yield to on coming traffic on your right! Luckily, I didn’t have to deal with too many of the latter.

So really, traffic circles weren't that bad, with one exception: Driving around Surviving Place de l'Étoile. You know, the big traffic circle with the Arc de Triomphe stuck on top. First, don’t let the name fool you. It’s not a traffic circle, it’s a Sphere of Hell. It has at least 12 different streets dumping into it and the only way you find yourself there is through unfortunate circumstances (you couldn't read the tiny street sign and took another wrong turn) and voilà, welcome to driving hell. Now, you find yourself having to cross over 6, unmarked lanes of spastic, high-speed traffic or be condemned in spending the rest of your life driving around in circles. How did I survive Place de l’Etoile? Two words: Aggressive driving. 

Aggressive Driving

This is the only way to drive safely in Paris imo. Ignore what the cars are doing or want to do beside you, or behind you. Now, don’t confuse aggressive with reckless. French drivers may be aggressive but they are not necessarily reckless and they will avoid hitting you if you are in front. Therefore, keep your eyes only on what’s in front of you and GO! Learn to use the gas peddle, accelerate hard or get run over. This is where knowing how to use a stick shift is so important!

After several months of driving in the city, I still hadn’t gotten used to it and it remained a stressful exercise until the day I finally purchased a PalmPilot with GPS! Do they even make PalmPilots anymore? Anyway, GPS saved what was left of my sanity and removed most of the stress of driving in the city. I no longer worried about missing the sign for a street that I wouldn't be able to read anyway. Getting lost was no longer an issue, GPS would recalculate. And I could now successfully avoid the Sphere of Hell. YEAH!

After two years living in Paris, I finally moved to the countryside where driving is much more reasonable and nothing like Paris. But sometimes, I do miss the excitement. Ha, just kidding!

*****

Thanks DL for hosting DEJA VU! Today is a crazy day for me and it'll be an even crazier weekend (gotta practice my prancing) so I want to apologize in advance if I have trouble visiting blogs today but I'll get to them over the course of the next few days. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
(:

ALEXFEST

Alex Cavanaugh is not just a successful writer, he's also a blogger who devotes an amazing amount of time helping other writers promote their work and overcome many insecurities about their writing. He is a true positive force in the writing community and it's with great pleasure that I participate in the 

 “Cheers, Cavanaugh BlogFest.”

AKA: Alexfest 

Hosted by these awesome folks: Mark Koopmans, Morgan Shamy,David Powers King and Stephen Tremp.

*****

In +/- 20 words, what does Alex look like?

Like this: 

Mini Alex Ninja Captain and guitar made of plywood.

· In +/- 20 words, who could play Alex in a documentary? (Living or dead)

Nathan Fillion. Played novelist Richard Castle on tv and Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the movie, Serenity.

In +/- 20 words, who does Alex remind you of?

He doesn't remind me of anyone because there is only ONE Ninja Captain.

In +/- 100 words, (excluding the title) write flash fiction using all these prompts: Cavanaugh, Ninja,  IWSG, Cosbolt, Guitar

The Last Space Ninja

Captain Shamy’s spaceship was under attack. She only had minutes before Madman Koopmans reached the bridge. She ordered First Lieutenant Tremp to activate the ship’s droid, David Powers.

“I hope this works, Captain.”

“Me too," she said.

“The silver droid lifted his head as it came online. His computerize voice filled the room, “I’m David your ship’s droid. What are my orders, Captain?”

“Send a message to Alex Cavanaugh the Ninja Captain. Tell him my ship has fallen under attack. Every Cosbolt pilot has been infected with the Infectious Wiggles and Singing Giggles. They’re hula dancing uncontrollably and singing off key. I’ve never seen anything so hideous. In a matter of minutes, the MadMan will reach the bridge with his IWSG frequency gun. I’m afraid my mission to bring back the CassaStar Guitar has failed. This is our most desperate hour, help us Ninja Captain, you’re our only hope.”

For Bonus Points: In +/- 40 words, leave a comment for Mrs. Cavanaugh - thanking her for sharing Alex

Mrs. Cavanaugh, behind every successful Ninja Captain is his kick-butt wife. Thank you for sharing him with the blogging world.  

(:

Ressurrection and IWSG

Happy first blogging anniversary Mina Lobo!  To celebrate this milestone, Goth Mom Mina at Some Dark Romantic is hosting her first blog party called Resurrection Blogfest! 
(Don't fret, IWSG post is just a few paragraphs below....)

The idea behind this blogfest is to highlight a post during your first year of  blogging. There's also a bunch of prizes and stuff, but I'm not posting for prizes. And as much as I love this chica, when Mina announced the details of her blogfest, I though to myself, Oh, hell no. No way am I resurrecting one of my crappy ass, have-no-idea-what-the-hell-I'm-writing about posts. These old posts should be lucky to still be live on my blog. You have no idea how tempted I've been to delete the crap out of my first few months of blogging. Problem is, I've only been blogging for about 9 months and if I start deleting now, I'd end up with nothing but yesterdays post, a cartoon. But I'm lucky to have awesome readers that leave equally awesome comments to the point that I just can't delete the post. But, fate has it that I did eventually find a post to use. It was the third post I had ever written. EVER. It's about Flamenco dancing and men's buns. :P

Needless to say, I didn't know much about blogging, (not that I know a whole lot more now, mind you) and I was brand spanking new to the writing community. And I may or may not have passed out from extreme anxiety after hitting the publish button. * collapses to the floor *


*********
Flamenco Dancing is to a Man's Buns as Water is to a Cup of Tea – HOT*

************

So as you can see it wasn't easy for me to find a post for this blogfest and the reason for that is simple-I'm an insecure writer. 

BANG!   ̿'\̵͇̿̿\з=(•̪●)=ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿   BANG! 

vvv Segue to my IWSG Post vvv

My latest insecurity this month stems from not being taken seriously as an aspiring writer thanks to beloved friends/family members. How can I be successful if the people closest to me don't take me seriously?

This is one of many examples:

"Can you watch the kids for me for just an hour?"
"What for?"
Cringing internally because I know where this is leading, "Because I'd like to get some writing done."
"Oh, right. Your book..." insert condescending tone and eye roll for good measure here.

Yes! That's right, I'm STILL writing my book. And no, I still haven't gotten it published, no I don't have an agent and yes, there is a great chance this book will never see the light of day or generate a single dime. But can't you just love and support me anyway?


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On a happier note, at least the US elections are finally over. (: