tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53852830365882474512024-03-13T00:23:46.509-04:00[Something Clever I Can't Think Of Right Now]Because I need another item on my to-do list...Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-34941528002064143162014-09-03T09:00:00.000-04:002014-09-03T09:00:00.502-04:00Wednesday Randomness - A Few of My Favorite Things...Book Covers Edition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week's Wednesday blog is all about our favorite book covers. Anyone who knows me will probably not be surprised by the ones I chose to include. I love color and lots of it. I think you'll find that my favorite book covers stick to that pattern.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Divine-Bree-Despain-ebook/dp/B0034N7JGS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409670116&sr=8-1&keywords=dark+divine"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Divine-Bree-Despain-ebook/dp/B0034N7JGS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409670116&sr=8-1&keywords=dark+divine" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tt3BhhdZymk/VAXcAQQv9WI/AAAAAAAAANc/9zKPnU6H-tg/s1600/41EOQ1ASrQL__AA160_.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>The Dark Divine</em> by Bree Despain. I love all of the covers, but this one is my favorite. It's very ethereal and haunting. And purple, which is my favorite color.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Before-Wake-Soul-Screamers-Book-ebook/dp/B007UNEUGA/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1409670258&sr=8-8&keywords=soul+screamers" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/Before-Wake-Soul-Screamers-Book-ebook/dp/B007UNEUGA/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1409670258&sr=8-8&keywords=soul+screamers" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2INr2KStzGc/VAXckvHO1UI/AAAAAAAAANk/UXI2tfQ-tLE/s1600/51Jsqn-l26L__AA160_.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The two above are from the Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent. The first book is the last in the series, the second is the third omnibus. Again, I love the color. And apparently I have a thing for flowing dresses. I tend to also like covers that don't show faces directly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or in the case of the series above, show the face partially obscured. I'm still working my way through this series, but I included all of them here because they are gorgeous. And mysterious.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Again with the partial face and bright colors. I'm starting to feel reptitive. :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oTErQ0uxPG8/VAZLIziGwbI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/Lfp9qxliktA/s1600/ruby%2Bred.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oTErQ0uxPG8/VAZLIziGwbI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/Lfp9qxliktA/s1600/ruby%2Bred.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Q3zvJBWkz0/VAZLIta1a0I/AAAAAAAAAPI/VupSJ0s7nB8/s1600/sapphire%2Bblue.jpg" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lUTc6rUEDMM/VAZLI2eM5WI/AAAAAAAAAPM/tPsPpn4oW7g/s1600/emerald%2Bgreen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lUTc6rUEDMM/VAZLI2eM5WI/AAAAAAAAAPM/tPsPpn4oW7g/s1600/emerald%2Bgreen.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, one more YA series. The covers to the Ruby Red Trilogy by Kerstin Gier are just stunning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In trying to find the cover for <em>Savannah Blues</em> by Mary Kay Andrews, I discovered that they reissued it with a different cover. One that is more similar to her newest releases. Disappointing, I say! I love the original cover because the picture, combined with the title, speaks to my Southern roots. I can feel the heat and humidity in the summer with a fan blowing that does nothing more than push the hot air around. All that from a fairly bare-bones kind of picture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are just a few of my favorite book covers. Click a name below to see what covers appeal to the other Wednesday bloggers:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-few-of-my-favorite-things-book-covers.html">Bronwyn Green</a></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jessicajarman.com/blog/?p=493">Jess Jarman</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://wp.me/p106Lt-ew">Kellie St. James</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://krisnorris.blogspot.com/2014/09/and-then-i-dont-feel-so-bad.html">Kris Norris</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://gwendolyncease.blogspot.com/2014/09/random-wednesday-blog-few-of-my.html">Gwendolyn Cease</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am so pleased and excited to share something with you this morning! Today is the cover reveal for the first book in a new YA series by Chris Allen-Riley. The book is called <em>Eventide</em> and will be released in October.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have had the immense privilege of reading this book and I can't for everyone else to do the same! So, without further ado, the (beautiful) cover for <em>Eventide</em>.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PXhaub9d4jg/U-pg-kMy5PI/AAAAAAAAV3k/gaaX10vxv10/s1600/EVENTIDE%2B(Iron%2BFalls%2C%2BBook%2BOne)%2B-%2Bsmaller%2Bsize.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PXhaub9d4jg/U-pg-kMy5PI/AAAAAAAAV3k/gaaX10vxv10/s1600/EVENTIDE%2B(Iron%2BFalls%2C%2BBook%2BOne)%2B-%2Bsmaller%2Bsize.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Eventide (Iron Falls, #1)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8389838.Christine_Allen_Riley">Christine
Allen-Riley</a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Release Date: 10/2014<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Summary from Goodreads:</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The driver in a tragic
car accident that killed her best friend, Devon Greer is consumed by guilt.
When powerful hallucinations convince her that she’s seeing Rachael everywhere,
Devon thinks she’s going crazy. But her friend isn’t truly gone.</span></i></div>
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<i style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">To save Rachael from the faeries who stole her, Devon must pit herself against
the Court of the Sidhe. Once she witnesses the true form of the fey, Devon’s
life is in danger—and so are the lives of everyone she loves.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Now, Devon must not only protect herself, but also Jonah Seafort, Rachael’s
cousin and the only person Devon can trust to help her. While the Sidhe walk
among them, no one is safe…</span></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22734917-eventide" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--JkXDH_ranM/UjOiwxs5rVI/AAAAAAAAQ7I/98TLR-JzTcU/s1600/add+to+goodreads+black.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jb6uoZx4aJk/U9kJWwg0JpI/AAAAAAAAVhM/bjSjZu_D1M4/s1600/christine+allen+riley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jb6uoZx4aJk/U9kJWwg0JpI/AAAAAAAAVhM/bjSjZu_D1M4/s1600/christine+allen+riley.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">About the Author</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lover of books, nature, cats and shiny things. Active disliker of
cooking, cleaning and stress. Mom, freelance editor & YA author - also a
bit of a nerd.</span></div>
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Author Links:</div>
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<a href="http://chrisallenriley.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo iconwebsite-32x32_zps1f477f69.png" border="0" src="http://i1064.photobucket.com/albums/u367/nereyda1003/new/social%20icons/iconwebsite-32x32_zps1f477f69.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8389838.Christine_Allen_Riley" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo icongoodreads32_zps60f83491.png" border="0" src="http://i1064.photobucket.com/albums/u367/nereyda1003/new/social%20icons/icongoodreads32_zps60f83491.png" /></a> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ChrisAllenRiley" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo icontwitter-32x32_zpsae13e2b2.png" border="0" src="http://i1064.photobucket.com/albums/u367/nereyda1003/new/social%20icons/icontwitter-32x32_zpsae13e2b2.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christine-Allen-Riley/484216054955321?ref=ts&fref=ts" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo iconfacebook-32x32_zps64a79d4a.png" border="0" src="http://i1064.photobucket.com/albums/u367/nereyda1003/new/social%20icons/iconfacebook-32x32_zps64a79d4a.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Cover Reveal Organized by:<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-25045503309603684292014-08-13T09:00:00.000-04:002014-08-13T09:00:00.443-04:00Wednesday Randomness - Self-Interview with James Lipton<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good Morning fellow sentient beings! It's Wednesday again and time for another totally random blog. This week's topic is to conduct a self-interivew ala James Lipton. I decided to stick with his ten questions because I've never actually answered them before.</span><br />
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">What is your favorite word? - </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Scrumtrilescent (I had to do it, there's too many to pick one of my own)</span></span></span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is your least favorite word? – Moist *shudders*</span></span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What turns you on? – Ummmm…ummmm… It probably shouldn’t be so hard to answer this question. Something to do with glasses and curly hair, I think.</span></span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What turns you off? – So many things. I have many little idiosyncrasies and things that annoy me, it doesn’t take much.</span></span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What sound or noise do you love? – Waves crashing</span></span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What sound or noise do you hate? – A dog left outside barking his fool head off. Or a baby crying. They both grate on my nerves. And a stapler. And people chewing. I could really go on and on with this one. No, seriously. I have sensory issues related ot noise.</span></span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;">What is your favorite curse word? – The F word. Without a doubt. I can swear like a sailor when the mood strikes, but I like to try and keep it clean on my blog. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">J</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span></span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? – That’s an easy one. Writer.</span></span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What profession would you not like to do? – Anything involving something gross, like cleaning out horse stalls or septic tanks. I have a really weak stomach.</span></span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates? – Uh, didn’t expect to see you here.</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check out the other bloggers to see their interviews and maybe find out something new!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/self-interview-ala-james-lipton.html">Bronwyn Green</a></span>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/08/wednesday-randomness-self-interview.html">Jess Jarman</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://coffeeandprozac.wordpress.com/">Kellie St. James</a></span>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://krisnorris.blogspot.com/">Kris Norris</a></span>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-42867925890943382662014-07-30T09:00:00.000-04:002014-07-30T09:24:02.228-04:00Wednesday Randomness - What Motivates Me?<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This week’s Wednesday Randomness blog is on a topic I seriously need
help with.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What Motivates Me?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are any number of topics I need motivation about; exercise,
cleaning, projects around the house, writing. I could go on, but I’ll focus on
writing because, you know, I don’t want to think about the other ones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">First, here’s a motivational picture. Just a little something to put
myself in a good frame of mind. Of somewhere else I would MUCH rather be.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X8vdj9EYEZM/U9f-82EhtoI/AAAAAAAAANM/FfwfKNLeh7w/s1600/tropical-caribbean-beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X8vdj9EYEZM/U9f-82EhtoI/AAAAAAAAANM/FfwfKNLeh7w/s1600/tropical-caribbean-beach.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ok, what motivates me to write? So far, not much. It’s not my full-time job. It’s
not even my part-time job, so I have a tendency to push it aside. Even though I
would very much like it to be my full time job at some point in my life. Part of my
problem is that after spending nine hours a day in front of a computer at work,
I don’t want to spend any time in front of a computer when I get home. But that’s
just an excuse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The biggest problem though; I’m a huge procrastinator. And, I’m lazy. I’ve actually
been told that…by one of my parents. I remember it well. We had to ask a parent
to choose three words to describe us for health class. One of the words chosen
was lethargic. Isn’t that nice? Made me feel great having to say that to the
whole class. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Apparently this post is turning into free therapy, sorry about that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Back on topic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Physics. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Physics.
PhysicsPhysicsPhysics. PHYSSSSSSSSICS. I hope you’re all getting this down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Can you tell I’m having a hard time writing this post? It must be a lack of motivation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">See what I did there?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Deadlines motivate me. But I don’t currently have any that are writing
related, so that’s not overly helpful. Sure, I could set my own. But my own deadlines
usually don’t work, I just ignore them. I need someone, somewhere waiting on me turn
things in. Someone that I can get in trouble with. That’s a motivator.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Even setting myself rewards doesn’t really work because if I really
want to do something, I’ll just do it anyway.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Guilt is also a big motivator, but I've yet to figure out how to guilt myself into writing. It's usually other way I around. I feel guilty spening time writing and ignoring my family and the other things I need to be doing around the house.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The post has not gone at all like I intended, but there you have it. If anyone has any good ideas about self-motivation, lay 'em on me!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Check out the other Wednesay bloggers to see what motivates them:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/what-motivates-me.html">Bronwyn Green</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/07/wednesday-randomness-what-motivates-me.html">Jess Jarman</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://wp.me/p106Lt-dF">Kellie St. James</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://krisnorris.blogspot.com/2014/07/i-cant-get-no-satisfaction.html">Kris Norris</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://jennytrout.com/">Jenny Trout</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://gwendolyncease.blogspot.com/2014/07/random-wednesday-blog-what-motivates-me.html">Gwendolyn Cease</a></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-79615516774884714092014-07-09T09:00:00.000-04:002014-07-09T11:08:54.629-04:00If I Could Have a Superpower, I'd...<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">After missing a few weeks of the Wednesday blogging, I’m back. And I’m
kind of excited about today’s topic, because I am a major nerd.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If I Could Have a Superpower, I'd... Well, I'd be awesome, obviously.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This is actually a question I've pondered quite often over the years, there are a lot of possibilities. But, ultimately, I think I would want to be telekinetic. Partially because I'm lazy. But also because it would just make so many things a million times easier!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Think about it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">No more having to practically break my wrist trying to carry in all the groceries in one trip so I don't have to go back out to my car. Instead, I could hover them into the house. And put away lots of things at once, not just one or two at a time. I'm not sure if this goes back to the lazy thing or is just really efficient.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Also, I could finally get back at people who used ot hold things over my head out of my reach. *cough cough, my brother, cough cough* I could put things like his work tools just out of reach and make them look like they are going to get closer, and then shoot them back up into the sky. Although, I hope I can levitate my self out his reach, too.</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
But, I think it would come in most handy when I want to keep my annoying neighbor off my property. I would pelt her with mulch and small rocks and things while I stayed safely inside the house. She would never even know it was me. That would be awesome because that woman is a pain in my ass.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I'm sure I could come up with a million more uses, but those are the top three that come that come to mind. I have to add, if I couldn't be telekinetic, I would totally want to be able to fly. Or somehow transport between to places instanteously. I'm tired of commuting to work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Check out what super powers my fellow Wednesday Bloggers would like to have:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/wednesday-randomness-super-power">Bronwyn Green</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/07/wednesday-randomness-if-i-had-superpower.html">Jess Jarman</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><a href="http://coffeeandprozac.wordpress.com/">Kellie St. James</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><a href="http://krisnorris.blogspot.ca/">Kris Norris</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><a href="http://jennytrout.com/?p=7812">Jenny Trout</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><a href="http://gwendolyncease.blogspot.com/2014/07/random-wednesday-if-i-could-have-super.html">Gwendolyn Cease</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-69981509538729176902014-06-18T09:00:00.000-04:002014-06-18T09:00:00.239-04:00If I Had a Million Dollars (If I Had a Million Dollars)...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please tell me someone else thought of the Barenaked Ladies, too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Anywho, today's Wednesday Randomness blog topic is...The First Five Things I'd Buy if I Had a Million Dollars.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I could go all noble on this and help others, and I would do some of that for sure, but I'm going to focus on the material aspect here, people. Just assume I also do good for others. :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">First, a new house. I don't need a huge, multi-million dollar house. Who would want to clean that? I would like more than one bathroom (preferable with a huge, free-standing, amazing tub), a fireplace, and a nice size kitchen with an island and an oven in the wall. I've always wanted an oven in the wall. I think I can get a house that has these things for a relatively reasonable price. Oh, and a two-stall attached garage. Especially if the house is still in Michigan.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">A weeks long trip to Europe for two. I'd hit all the big places and make my waty from the U.K. to Eastern Europe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Maybe a new car. My car isn't old and I like it fine, but I gave up something with 4-wheel drive and I'd kind of like to have that back. And heated seats. I REALLY missed my heated seats this past winter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">A top of the line Mac. A nice desktop to go along with my laptop so I'm not always typing on a 13" screen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Okay, that's four, but that's all I can really come up with. I'm sure there are other, smaller things, but nothing significant, so I'm sticking with four.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So, that's what I would do if I won a million dollars. Click below to see what the other Wednesday Ladies would buy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/if-i-won-million-dollars.html">Bronwyn</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/06/wednesday-randomness-if-i-had-million.html">Jess</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://krisnorris.blogspot.com/2014/06/if-i-had-million-dollars-id-buy-you_17.html">Kris</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jennytrout.com/?p=7765">Jenny</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://gwendolyncease.blogspot.com/2014/06/random-wednesday-blog-first-5-things-id.html">Gwendolyn</a></span><br />
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Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-74383155865225509092014-05-28T09:00:00.000-04:002014-05-28T09:00:01.953-04:00Wednesday Randomness...Stress, ugh.<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The topic for this week’s Wednesday blog is what I do to relax when I’m
stressed. I kind of laughed when I saw this topic because people who know me
know that I am pretty much a huge ball of stress most of the time. I do manage
to keep it bottled up quite a bit, but that doesn’t help. I have tried
different things over the years to relieve my stress and so far, none of them
have stuck. But, let’s see what I’ve at least attempted.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yoga. Yup, I tried it. I liked yoga, but I didn’t find it particularly
de-stressing. I was always worried about not being able to do the poses or
people judging me for being too overweight to wear yoga pants in public, so it
wasn’t a relaxing experience for the most part. It did help with my flexibility
though.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Meditation/relaxation techniques. This did not work at all. I seem to
have a very hard time quieting my mind; I spent most of the meditation time
worrying that I couldn’t quiet my mind, so that made the whole process even
harder.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Massages. I’ve tried getting massages a few times over the years. And I
do like them, but the relaxation I experience at the time ends as soon as I
walk out the door.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gardening. A couple of years ago, I planted my first vegetable garden.
It has gone all right, for someone who has always had a black thumb. I get a
ton of tomatoes every year, but haven’t found my stride with other veggies yet.
And, while I like trying to grow my own food, I don’t find it relaxing. I’m
always worrying about why some plants aren’t growing and not weeding enough and
are they getting enough sun/water.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In case you haven’t caught on yet, I can pretty much take anything that
should be enjoyable and/or relaxing and turn it into a stressful situation.
It’s my personality; I’ve always been this way. There are a couple things I can
do that sort of help, but I still walk away feeling some level of stress.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Reading. I love to read, it’s really my favorite pastime. But it’s not as
relaxing as it should be. I get too caught up in things emotionally, or spend
too much time worrying about the tasks I *should* be doing while I’m reading.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Exercise. The ultimate de-stressor. All those endorphins are supposed
to make you happy. All I do is worry that I’m not doing right, that I’m being
judged for being too overweight (if I’m out in public), or that I basically
just suck if I miss a day in my schedule. It’s good for the half hour/45
minutes that I’m exercising, but then things start up again in my mind.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What it comes down to is I’m basically always stressed and worry most
of the time. I’m too tightly wound for my own good. Even writing this post made
me anxious because I can’t really answer the question posed. So, if anyone has
any other good stress relieving suggestions, let me know!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Check the blogs of the other Wednesday ladies to see how they
de-stress:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/stress-and-what-i-do-to-combat-it.html">Bronwyn Green</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/05/wednesday-randomness-go-away-stress.html">Jess Jarman</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://wp.me/p106Lt-dc">Kellie St. James</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://tessgrant.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/hiyah-take-that-stress/">Tess Grant</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://krisnorris.blogspot.com/2014/05/inininner-peace.html">Kris Norris</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://jennytrout.com/?p=7675">Jenny Trout</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://gwendolyncease.blogspot.com/">Gwendolyn Cease</a><o:p></o:p></div>
Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-28787367772187948352014-05-21T09:00:00.000-04:002014-05-21T09:00:01.913-04:00Wednesday Randomness...My Dream Yard!<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today's Wednesday Randomness blog is about our dream yards. This blog was a lot fun because I got to search for pictures (and maybe I did some of that at work...shhhhhhhh), but I seriously had to reign myself in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When I picture my backyard, I see an English garden. And let's be honest, I see myself in the cottage, too. I love the wildness of an English garden.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wI71150YOyo/U3qhk5T2fFI/AAAAAAAAAMA/7G_z6jDSNvg/s1600/English_Garden_Styles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wI71150YOyo/U3qhk5T2fFI/AAAAAAAAAMA/7G_z6jDSNvg/s1600/English_Garden_Styles.jpg" height="174" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And in that yard/garden, I would need to have an extremely comfortable place to relax, read, and drink tea. Something like the bench below, but full of big, squishy pillows.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VIQ_AaZfdCs/U3qh8hm1X5I/AAAAAAAAAMI/QgqDrV933NU/s1600/leighton-sofa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VIQ_AaZfdCs/U3qh8hm1X5I/AAAAAAAAAMI/QgqDrV933NU/s1600/leighton-sofa.jpg" height="205" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That bench would need to be nestled under an arbor covered with plants and vining flowers.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FpghJE6mqsk/U3qiL6U_vHI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/MSZbHbBdfoI/s1600/CLX0606Garden001Arbor-de.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FpghJE6mqsk/U3qiL6U_vHI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/MSZbHbBdfoI/s1600/CLX0606Garden001Arbor-de.jpg" height="250" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> Next to my arbor I would really like to have a fountain. The water sounds would just add to the relaxation aura of the whole space.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-caug4vRlRb4/U3qiiAlMu3I/AAAAAAAAAMY/1YPji3xM0nE/s1600/Formal-English-Garden+with+fountin-J032249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-caug4vRlRb4/U3qiiAlMu3I/AAAAAAAAAMY/1YPji3xM0nE/s1600/Formal-English-Garden+with+fountin-J032249.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The last item of my dream yard would be a fantastic vegetable garden. Something where I could grow all my vegetables for the whole summer.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ow1k9Q8OYSc/U3qiu9B79dI/AAAAAAAAAMg/bXsorUWodAg/s1600/beautiful-vegetable-garden-pictures-fiipylfd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ow1k9Q8OYSc/U3qiu9B79dI/AAAAAAAAAMg/bXsorUWodAg/s1600/beautiful-vegetable-garden-pictures-fiipylfd.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Of course, along with all this I would also need to have a gardener to tend to it, because while I have managed to grow tomatoes and impatiens in recent years, that's the extent of my ability. And let's be fair, those grow themselves, really. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Check the blogs of the ladies below to see their dream yards:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/sighmy-dream-yard.html">Bronwyn Green</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/05/wednesday-randomness-my-dream-yard.html">Jess Jarman</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://wp.me/p106Lt-d6">Kellie St. James</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://krisnorris.blogspot.com/2014/05/just-follow-yellow-brick-road.html">Kris Norris</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jennytrout.com/?p=7645">Jenny Trout</a></span><br />
<br />Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-12808429730953734192014-05-07T09:00:00.000-04:002014-05-07T09:00:04.392-04:00These are a Few of My Favorite Things...Books Edition!<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Time for Wednesday Randomness again and the topic this week is one dear to me. Books! It’s going to be tough to keep this from becoming a ten page blog, but I’m going to try to keep it to just my absolute faves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Little Women</i> (Louisa May Alcott) - This is probably my all time favorite book. I can't count the number of times I've read it and I'm sure I will read it again and again in the years to come.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i>Pride and Prejudice</i> (Jane Austen) - My AP English teacher in high school turned me on to this author. She was such a super fan, I remember she had an apron she would wear during class with Jane Austen's picture on it. She wore it everyday during this unit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Mummy </i>(Anne Rice) – This was a standalone book and is not like most of her other works (that I’ve read). That’s all I’m going to say, except READ IT.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Eyes of the Dragon </i>(Stephen King) – This was originally a fairytale type story he wrote for his kid(s). It has two princes, an evil magician, and a daring escape. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy</i> (Douglas Adams) – Awesome in every way possible. Enough said.
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i> (Harper Lee) - A large part of my family comes from the deep south so I always like to read books with that kind of setting, they feel familiar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Amelia Peabody Series </i>(Elizabeth Peters) – This is a series that takes place from the late 1800’s up through the early 1920’s about an English family of Egyptologists. They are mysteries and are wonderfully written. The author actually studied Egyptology and the books include real people as minor characters (i.e. Howard Carter who discovered King Tut’s tomb), so they are loaded with tons of information about Egypt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are all a bit older, but I do read current stuff, too! Here are a couple of my new favorites.
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Blackbirds </i>(it’s a series, actually) (Chuck Wendig) - These books are edgy and intriguing. If you’re not familiar with Chuck Wendig, his language is colorful and inventive. It always makes me think of that quote from A Christmas Story. It’s something like, the Old Man worked in profanity the way other artists might work in oils or clay. It was his true medium, a master. I mean this as a compliment to the author; his writing is original and turbulent.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Vampire Academy Series</i> (Richelle Mead) – Vampires, sure. Been there, done that. (Don’t get me wrong, I love vampires.) But this is a bit of a new twist with natural born vampires and made vampires and the world they inhabit. Richelle Mead’s writing is fantastic and the six book series is well paced all the way through. She has an additional series focusing on one of the somewhat minor characters introduced halfway through the first series. I haven’t read those yet but I’ve heard they are even better than the originals. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, I'm going to stop there or this list would really get out of control.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check out some of the favorite books of my fellow bloggers! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/a-few-of-my-favorite-things-books.html">Bronwyn</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/05/wednesday-randomness-these-are-few-of.html">Jess </a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://coffeeandprozac.wordpress.com/">Kellie</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://tessgrant.wordpress.com/">Tess</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://krisnorris.blogspot.com/2014/05/raindrops-on-roses-and-whiskers-on.html">Kris</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jennytrout.com/?p=7577">Jenny</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://gwendolyncease.blogspot.com/2014/05/random-wednesday-these-are-few-of-my.html">Gwendolyn</a></span>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-41594782383595094352014-05-05T08:00:00.000-04:002014-05-05T08:00:02.146-04:00If Ever I Would Leave You Cover Reveal!<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, authors <a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/">Bronwyn
Green</a>, <a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/">Jessica Jarman</a>, and <a href="http://jennytrout.com/">Jenny Trout</a> unveil the cover of their upcoming
anthology:</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If Ever I Would Leave You<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(July, 2014)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keep reading for a chance to win an Arthurian-themed DVD
prize pack or a $25 Amazon gift card!</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surfacing<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bronwyn Green<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A year after Tabby Nolan's sister
vanished from the Lake Michigan shore with her boyfriend, Liam, Tabby visits
the spot where the two were last seen-- and finds herself pulled into the
crumbling world of Avalon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since his disappearance, Liam has been
trapped in the mythical land, with no link to the world he knew. Now, their
shared memories of Tabby's missing sister are all they can cling to as Avalon
dies around them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Tabby doesn't want to be a
replacement for her sister, and her growing attachment to Liam feels like a
betrayal. As Avalon fades around them, Liam and Tabby must rely on each other--
or be lost with the ancient kingdom forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Albion’s Circle: The Deepest Cut<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jessica Jarman<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For nineteen years, Anna has been
plagued by dreams of lives lived only in legend. Finally free from the family
that believed her hopeless and worthless, she’s ready to start her life
over—alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Anna meets an enigmatic stranger
claiming to be the legendary wizard Merlin, she is forced to question the very
reality she’s struggled to accept. With the mythic figures from her dreams
intruding on her waking life, Anna learns that she’s been reborn to fight an
ancient evil alongside King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Caught in an ages old conflict, Anna is
the key to stopping a dark magic that will destroy the world—and Merlin wants
to make sure that this time, Anna isn’t alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Choice Fit For A Queen<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jenny Trout<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">writing as<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Abigail Barnette<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For perpetual
overachiever Madison Lane, a summer studying Arthurian mythology in the Welsh
countryside with professor Thomas Evans is a dream come true, and the adventure
of a lifetime. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, the
enormous crush Madison developed on the professor after a semester of his
lectures at U of M has absolutely nothing to do with her desire to learn more
about the enduring legend of Camelot. At least, that’s what she’s telling her
parents.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Madison meets
fellow student Rhys Crewe, sparks fly, throwing her plans for wild fling with
Professor Evans completely out of whack—as do her unexpectedly complicated
feelings for Thomas. With tales of Arthur and Lancelot haunting her every
waking moment, Madison has to make the most difficult choice of her life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22020125-if-ever-i-would-leave-you"><i>Add </i>If Ever I Would Leave You<i> to your GoodReads.com
shelf</i></a><!--[if !supportNestedAnchors]--><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><!--[endif]--><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Jessica Jarman </b>is an author, blogger, and rather
obsessive fangirl. Having grown up in Upper Michigan and currently living in
Minnesota, she is a Midwestern girl through and through. And wouldn’t have it
any other way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Jessica isn't
working to get words on the page, she passes the time with her amazing husband
and four children, attempting to be crafty (and failing miserably), squeeing
uncontrollably over her favorite shows or curling up with a good book. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KLKNtKuOJ-o/U166a8m-yjI/AAAAAAAABPg/QXOqyU_x_HE/s1600/Author+Photo+-+Bronwyn+Green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KLKNtKuOJ-o/U166a8m-yjI/AAAAAAAABPg/QXOqyU_x_HE/s1600/Author+Photo+-+Bronwyn+Green.jpg" height="255" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Bronwyn Green </b>is an author, blogger and compulsive crafter. She
lives Michigan with her husband, two sons and three somewhat psychotic cats.
When not frantically writing, she can be found helping in her youngest son’s
classroom or binge-watching Netflix while working on her latest craft project<b>.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Abigail Barnette (Jenny Trout) </b>is
a writer, blogger, and funny person. She has written award winning and
bestselling erotic romance as Abigail Barnette. Writing as Jennifer Armintrout,
she made the <i>USA Today</i> bestseller list with <i>Blood Ties
Book One: The Turning</i>. Her novel <i>American</i> <i>Vampire</i> was
named one of the top ten horror novels of 2011 by <i>Booklist</i> Magazine
Online. She is a proud Michigander, mother of two, and wife to the only person
alive capable of spending extended periods of time with her without wanting to
strangle her. Visit her on twitter (@Jenny_Trout) or at her blog, <a href="http://jennytrout.com/">jennytrout.com</a>.</span></div>
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Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-89384165670219313442014-04-23T09:00:00.000-04:002014-04-23T09:00:00.510-04:00Wednesday Randomness...Behind the Scenes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After missing Wednesday Randomness Blogging for a week, I’m glad to be
back and to welcome a new lady to the group. Say hi to Gwendolyn Cease!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Had I written this blog last week, it would have been completely
different. At that point I considered a different WIP my current project but
then I had lunch with the fantastical Bronwyn on Saturday and now I’m going in a
whole new direction. Or maybe it’s going back in an old direction, but with a
new twist?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">See, I wrote the first draft of this book that I thought would be the first in a series of four. Something felt off though. What I realized is...its not supposed to be a series. Its supposed to be one book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How can I go from four books to one you ask? Well, let me tell you. It is going to be one page-turning, action-packed, conflict-filled piece of YA. If I do say so myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the gist of the story. Girl is a witch, and a bad one, as in no talent. Her family has an affinity for the element of water, dating back to a spell cast centuries ago. Things are going awry because that spell is causing the natural order to be thrown out of balance. Girl meets boy who has an affinity for the element of fire and a quest begins. Originally that quest was going to be completed over the four books. Instead, its going to be one intense ride.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have to say, this decision to re-work the story feels right and I'm excited about it again. I haven't been excited about writing in quite awhile. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here are a few pictures to show you some of my inspiration for this story.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yb9OsjsE_hc/U1bxy71VwsI/AAAAAAAAALc/_VuTmtPPvDI/s1600/IMG_0352.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yb9OsjsE_hc/U1bxy71VwsI/AAAAAAAAALc/_VuTmtPPvDI/s1600/IMG_0352.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Michigan - the true inspiration</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QTysszkpAjM/U1bwuZuw4WI/AAAAAAAAALA/4kNlL8mzsMI/s1600/Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QTysszkpAjM/U1bwuZuw4WI/AAAAAAAAALA/4kNlL8mzsMI/s1600/Image.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lighthouse in Grand Haven</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xnMteVDhcn4/U1bxCRdCDEI/AAAAAAAAALM/hms7jIkiBt8/s1600/32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xnMteVDhcn4/U1bxCRdCDEI/AAAAAAAAALM/hms7jIkiBt8/s1600/32.jpg" height="318" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main Street - home to the Silver Moon</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To see behind the scenes of everyone else's projects, click on a name below.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/behind-scenes-of-my-latest-project.html">Bronwyn</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/04/wednesday-randomness-behind-scenes-of.html">Jess</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://wp.me/p106Lt-cm">Kellie</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://tessgrant.wordpress.com/2014/04/22/behind-the-sce%E2%80%A6eek-girl-alert/">Tess</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://krisnorris.blogspot.com/2014/04/ive-got-book-dueagain.html">Kris</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jennytrout.com/">Jenny</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.gwendolyncease.blogspot.com/2014/04/random-wednesday-behind-scenes-of-my.html">Gwendolyn</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alright, back to it. I have a LOT of editing to do.</span></div>
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Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-17254954038778145282014-04-09T09:00:00.000-04:002014-04-09T09:00:05.124-04:0010 Somewhat, Kind of Random Things<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday Randomness is back in full force and this week's topic is 10 random facts. To check out everyone else's blogs, click on a name below:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com//2014/04/ten-things-you-might-not-have-wanted-to.html">Bronwyn Green</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/04/wednesday-randomness-10-random-things.html">Jess Jarman</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://coffeeandprozac.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/10-random-facts">Kellie St. James</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://krisnorris.blogspot.ca/2014/04/thats-so-random.html">Kris Norris</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jennytrout.com/?p=7426">Jenny Trout</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I struggled with this for awhile, so I'm calling my list of 10 Somewhat, Kind of Random (and a couple of strange-ass) Things.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. My cat once saved me from being locked out on a balcony, no lie. Long story short, the security bar fell down across the middle of the door and after about 10 minutes of me tapping on the door and getting him to paw at the bar, he pulled it down enough that I could slide it open. This is the kitty...Noah the Genius.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. I studied Russian in college and wanted to be a Russian Studies major. I think I wanted to work for the CIA.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Speaking of government jobs, I also wanted to join the FBI. That lasted about four years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. This isn't so much about me, but includes my husband too. He doesn't remember the first time we met. It was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (we "officially" met the next July). We were in a bar with a bunch of mutual friends and we talked. He has no memory of this and thinks I'm making it up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. I once got into a car accident with a tire (bigger than a car tire, smaller than a tractor trailer). It was rolling down the road, up hill no less, and it was dark so I didn't see it in time to swerve. Plus I couldn't figure out what the hell it was. So it slammed into the front of my car.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. I wrote a short story in high school that had a silver locket in it. Because of that story, I bought myself a silver locket at a plantation outside New Orleans (that was used for some scenes in <i>Interview with the Vampire</i>) and wore it for years. I bought it in high school and I still have it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. I recently found out there is a name for my sensory/sound issues that I have. Misophonia. Basically its a condition that means I am super sensitive to every day sounds and the reaction is to get completely, irrationally angry. I thought I was just losing my mind or that I needed to just relax. Turns out it is a real thing. I'll be honest, I still wonder if its not something people are making up because it sounds so strange, but at least other people have the same issues and I'm not the only one. It got bad enough at work that I had to move into my own office because I couldn't handle my office roomie and her carrot/cereal crunching. Or her stapler. I wanted to staple her head.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. I don't like fireworks. The big, overhead, loud ones. I'm assuming this is mostly because of number 7 above, but I don't like to be under them either. I might get burned. When I was a kid, I basically used to try to dig a whole in the ground to bury myself in so I couldn't get hurt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9. I grew up in Michigan, but I was born in Gulfport, Mississippi. I spent time on the Gulf Coast every summer when I was growing up and some of my family still lives there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10. My favorite animal is the giraffe. I've fed them a couple of times at Binder Park Zoo and it was pretty much the coolest thing ever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alright, that's 10 things about me. What about you? What are some random things that people may or may not know about you?</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-82646342581880434062014-04-02T09:00:00.000-04:002014-04-02T09:00:01.550-04:00A Day in the Life...<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday Randomness is here again! This week we are welcoming a new member to our little group, everyone say hi to Jenny Trout!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today we are walking through a day in the life of...us. Check out the blogs of <a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-day-in-life-of-erotic-romance.html">Bronwyn Green,</a> <a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/04/wednesday-randomness-day-in-my-life.html">Jess Jarman</a>, <a href="http://coffeeandprozac.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/wednesday-words-a-day-in-the-life-of-moi/">Kellie St. James</a>, <a href="http://krisnorris.blogspot.com/2014/03/groundhog-dayor-what-others-are-calling.html">Kris Norris</a> and <a href="http://jennytrout.com/?p=7378">Jenny Trout</a> to find out out how we spend our days.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll do my very best not to bore you with this description of my daily activities, but most days I feel like a hamster on a wheel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, you know, one of those flesh eating hamsters that kicks ass.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, my day starts with me pulling my zombified self out of bed. A morning person I am not. Usually there is a bit of tripping over my cat while I get ready and that's the excitement in my morning, followed by a half hour drive to work. A nice drive in the summer, a horrific drive up the lakeshore in the winter that makes me feel like I live north of The Wall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I then proceed to spend the next 9 1/2 (sometimes less an hour for lunch) in front of my computer manipulating Excel spreadsheets. Now don't get jealous everyone, I know you would all rather be in my place. Admit it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I suppose I may be exaggerating a bit, but I do spend the vast majority of my day playing with Excel in my duties as a senior financial analyst. And that folks, is all I'm going to say about my job. We don't want to go down that rabbit hole.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's after my half hour drive back home that the fun really starts. That's when I get to do the stuff I love. Sometimes I cook, depending on my mood. I actually like cooking, I think it's fun in a weird way. There is something satisfying about taking raw ingredients and turning them into a meal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I usually spend some time reading or writing, depending on my mood. Sometimes I binge on a new favorite tv show (Supernatural is the current obsession). Every once in a while I tackle a home project. And I try to exercise a few times a week, at least a walk on the treadmill. Oh, and I can't forget practicing the piano for my weekly lessons.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then it's bed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are my days during the week, pretty boring and fairly repetitive. Things change some depending on the season. In the summer, I spend time in the garden.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My weekends tend to be all over the place. My husband and I have a lot of freedom since it's just the two of us, but that will change soon when our puppy finally comes home (yay!). And, I'm starting an online fiction writing class this week that will, if nothing else, force me to write on a daily basis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, that's a day in my life. For better or worse.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What about you? What's a day like in your life?</span>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-87774807242248040682014-03-26T09:00:00.000-04:002014-03-26T10:14:31.331-04:00Phobias and Fears and Scary Things Oh My!<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week's random topic is phobias and fears, so I'm probably going to freak myself out just writing this. I'll keep not too scary though, no nightmares here!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To check out what the other Wednesday Bloggers are afraid of, click on a name below:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/fears-and-phobias-boy-howdy-ive-got-em.html" target="_blank">Bronwyn</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/03/wednesday-randomness-things-i-fear.html" target="_blank">Jess</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://coffeeandprozac.wordpress.com/2014/03/26/wednesday-words-fears-phobias" target="_blank">Kellie</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://tessgrant.wordpress.com/2014/03/26/phobias-that-arent-but-should-be/" target="_blank">Tess</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://krisnorris.blogspot.com/2014/03/be-afraidbe-very-afraid.html" target="_blank">Kris</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, fear number one. And this is probably one of my biggest fears if not the biggest. Tornadoes. I am terrified of them. When I was a kid and there was any sort of tornado warning four counties away, I immediately hightailed it to the basement and sat there until it was over. The street I grew up on was a dividing line for two counties and whenever there was a tornado watch or warning in the county that was the other side of the street, my dad would tell me "It's fine, we don't live in that county." But I was on to him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fear number two...snakes. I hate them and everything they stand for. I once ran across a little garter snake (is that even what they're called?) while hiking with my parents and some other people. I can honestly say I totally lost my head and screamed bloody murder until somebody made it go away. That is the only time I have ever run across one in the wild and I hope it stays that way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next would have to be things that jump, like frogs and grasshoppers. You never know which way they are going to jump and suddenly they are attached to you. No sir, I don't like it. Bunnies are okay though. Even with their hoppy legs and twitchy little noses.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One more animal one and then I'll move on. Bats. We had a bat in our house once and one appeared in my husband's family's cabin, and I think you could safely say I also lost my head both of those times. I'm not good in a crisis. At least not animal related crises.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fear of looking stupid. I don't know if this quite fits with the theme, but I have an extraordinary fear of looking stupid to others. So much so that I almost never speak up in meetings or classes unless I absolutely have to. I've overcome it some in recent years, but sometimes I still revert back to that person I was in college where I could go a whole semester without uttering a word in class. It's hard to have this kind of fear when you work in a professional environment because you are expected to contribute in meetings, but I'm always afraid of what people will say about my ideas. Or that I'll say something backwards and everyone will know I'm a fraud and that I don't belong there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One last one and then I'm going to try to find something fun to do to dispel these evil thoughts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lightning. I am terrified of lightning. And really thunderstorms, in general. I like rain, I find it soothing. But the noise of thunder and the power of lightning (and the fact that it could fry me where I stand) scare the stuffing out of me. To the point where I can't sleep and usually make my husband stay up with me for awhile. And I hate being home alone during storms. Its panic-inducing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, I'm done. I need to find some happy thoughts now. But feel free to share your phobias in the comments.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-87498589081830646622014-03-19T09:00:00.000-04:002014-03-19T09:00:01.809-04:00OMG Pet Peeves!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s time for Wednesday Blog Randomness and we have another
new person joining! Say hi to Kris Norris and check out her blog!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click on a name below to visit the blogs of everyone involved:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/things-that-make-me-stabby-aka-pet.html" target="_blank">Bronwyn</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/03/wednesday-randomness-pet-peeves.html" target="_blank">Jess</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://coffeeandprozac.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Kellie</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://tessgrant.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Tess</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://krisnorris.blogspot.com/2014/03/pet-peevesor-what-turns-me-into-hulk.html" target="_blank">Kris</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week we are talking about our pet peeves. I thought this would be
an easy topic for me considering how often I’m irritated (just about every day
it seems), but I had to think long and hard to come up with some specific pet
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First and foremost are people who don’t use their turn signals. I know
that’s probably a common one, but I get so road ragey anyway, when I come up
against someone who is turning (and taking their sweet ever-loving time about
it) without a turn signal on, what comes out of my mouth would make a sailor
blush. It’s not healthy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bending the covers or pages of books. It makes me want to stab someone
with an ice pick. Most of my books like they’ve never been read, even though many
have been read more than once. I refuse to let my husband read any of “my”
books because he rips covers or dust covers, he cracks the spines. He has
learned not to dog-ear pages because that means instant death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don’t know if this qualifies as a pet peeve, but it’s something I
deal with regularly. I’m not quite sure how to word this succinctly… People who
behave one way part of the time and then change their behavior 180 degrees the
rest of the time. I’m not talking about anything as serious as bi-polar. I’m
talking about someone who is a witch to you most of the time and then every
once in a while will be super nice so that you are constantly on your guard
waiting for the other shoe to drop. It’s exhausting to be constantly vigilant.
It sounds dramatic, but those “nice” periods make me think something is being
plotted behind my back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, this one tends to be mostly work related for me, but people who
don’t read past the first line of an email. I mean, I went through the trouble
of typing it for a reason and if I type a longer email it’s on purpose. It’s
because whatever I’m trying to convey is easier to get across in writing than
on the phone or in a voicemail. Read it! Don’t then come back and ask me a
question answered in the third line of the email!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Deep breaths, deep breaths.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One more and then I’m going to stop, both for the sake of my blood
pressure and for the fact that if I don’t cut myself off I might go on forever.
Once I opened the dam it doesn’t seem to want to close.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This one I get a lot from one particular person. I’ll get a text
message that says, “Call me as soon as you can.” The person never tried to call
me. Just sent a text. And then, I call and the reason for the request was
either something totally not important or can’t be remembered by the person who
wanted me to call. Those always give me the urge to chuck my phone across the
room.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those are some of my pet peeves, just a taste. How about you? Everybody
has them. What are some of your pet peeves?</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-84610699936677959392014-03-12T09:00:00.000-04:002014-03-18T19:34:51.050-04:00What Can't I Live Without?<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week the Wednesday blog group is looking at the top five things we can't live without. We have some new people joining us this week, welcome to Kellie St. James and Tess Grant! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click one of the names below to read the other posts:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/five-things-i-cant-live-without-welli.html" target="_blank">Bronwyn</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/03/wednesday-randomness-i-cant-live-without.html" target="_blank">Jess</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://coffeeandprozac.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Kellie</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://tessgrant.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/five-things-i-%E2%80%A6t-live-without/" target="_blank">Tess</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, so five things I can’t live without. I’m going to stay
away from the serious things, family members, friends, pets, etc.... I think
those are kind of a given.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, here we go:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 1. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Books. I can’t imagine a life lived without
books and hopefully I’ll never have to.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 2. Unfortunately…my phone. I never wanted to be a
person that relied on their phone, but apparently I do. I text mostly (talking
on the phone is practically a phobia for me) but I also check my email and
social apps obsessively. I’m not sure if it’s out of boredom most of the time
or if it’s really a desire to know what’s going on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 3. My Converse. I love Converse shoes; the classic,
old school Chucks. For some reason I always feel more like myself when I put
them on. I wear them year round, except for when we have four feet of snow on
the ground because they aren’t very good cold weather shoes. I have a few
pairs, but I always seem to stick with black or purple. My two signature
colors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 4. Ponytail holders or anything I can use to get my
hair out of the way. Occasionally, I try cutting my hair short and it bugs me
because I can’t pull it back. However, the minute it gets long enough, I rarely
wear it down for a whole day. I think I look more like myself with my hair
pulled back, if that makes sense.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 5. My purple, crocheted afghan that my husband’s
grandmother made for me for Christmas the year before she passed away. Purple
is my favorite color and the blanket is soft and big enough to wrap around me and
I just love it. I rarely let my husband use it, which he says isn’t fair because
his grandma made it. Too bad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> So, those are the five things I can’t live without. What
about you? What do you have in your life that you can’t imagine being without?</span></div>
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Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-90430593055043220792014-03-05T09:00:00.000-05:002014-03-18T19:35:00.193-04:00Whatcha Listening To?<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's time for another Wednesday blog and Bronwyn, Jess and I are exploring our musical loves. We've hit shuffle on our music collections and we're seeing what comes up in the first ten songs. Read Bronwyn's post <a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/what-happens-when-bron-puts-her-music.html" target="_blank">here</a> and Jess' <a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/03/shuffle-shuffle-shuffle.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm very interested to see what comes up for me in this little experiment. I have a lot of different music playlists depending on my mood or task at hand, but for this I've hit shuffle on the whole collection on my iPod. Here we go...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Working My Way Back to You - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons: I love so called "Oldies" and my favorite group is Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. Listening to them never fails to cheer me up. And of course I try to hit those high notes, it's not pretty.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Careless Whisper - Seether: Yes this is a remake of a cheesy 80's song by George Michael but I don't care. I really like the vibe to this version, I'm not even sure why.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Electrical Storm - U2: While not one of their more well known songs, I enjoy the way this starts out quiet and builds...like a storm. U2 is one of my all time favorite bands, if not my favorite band. I never get tired of listening to them and almost every song brings me back to a specific place or time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Pray Your Gods - Toad the Wet Sprocket: Another one of my favorite bands. They fall under what I call "Mellow Dude Rock." It's a genre. This song is off the Fear album which I recently realized has been out for 22 years. God, that's depressing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. She is Love - Parachute: I'm not sure I know any other songs by this band but I heard this on the radio once and really liked it. Also very mellow...which seems to be a lot of my musical tastes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes: Awesome 80's awesomeness. What more can I say?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. Hate Your Way - Nina Gordon: She was the singer from the 90's band, Veruca Salt. She has a very distinctive voice (although that never stops my husband from asking if she's that girl from that band). I've been listening to this album regularly since it came out in 2000 or so.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. Canto Alla Vita - Josh Groban: I'm honestly surprised only one of his songs same up in this little exercise, I have all of his CD's. I find his voice very soothing and inspiring at the same time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9. Gentleman Who Fell - Milla: Another song from the 90's (this is a trend, I tell you). This is the only song of hers I've heard, but you may recognize her as the woman in all of the Resident Evil movies, Milla Jovovich.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10. Read My Mind - The Killers: This song always reminds me of a book I read once. For some reason it's very thought provoking.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There a couple of things/groups that I'm surprised didn't come up. The Counting Crows, for one. They make up a large part of my musical collection. Also, no Broadway songs. I'm not even sure the number of Broadway soundtracks I have on my iPod, but oh well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, this is what I'm listening to. How about you?</span>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-32883415922566817232014-02-26T09:00:00.000-05:002014-03-18T19:35:13.693-04:00What Do You Keep In There?<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week's Wednesday blog takes us on a different kind of adventure. Bronwyn Green, Jess Jarman and I are sharing a bit of ourselves on the topic of what we keep in our bags/purses. Check out Bronwyn's post <a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/whats-in-my-purse-welllet-me-tell-you.html" target="_blank">here</a> and Jess' <a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/02/my-sad-purse-post-pout.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I admit I don't usually carry a lot in my purse, but I have a few essentials. And the most important starting point is, of course, the bag itself. This is my "I hate winter so I'm going to buy this purse to cheer myself up" purse. I love it. Isn't it such a fun, springy color?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, what do I keep in there? The essentials to start with, of course...wallet, sunglasses.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, because I'm a good little writer, I always carry a notebook and pen. And these are the only pens I use. I'm a pen snob.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next items are my awesome Bronwyn promo/swag. If you see her at a book signing, hit her up...they are both fantastic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm obsessed with chapstick, I have some everywhere so of course I have a tube in my purse. I always use Burt's Bees, I swear by it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, two items left. Below is the most useful thing I carry. It was a gift from my dad years ago and it is in my absolute favorite color. It's not a very good picture color wise, but it's purple.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And last but not least, my keys (on top of my winter hat). I'm including them here even though they don't always make into my bag because, yes, that's a TARDIS. It is actually an LED flashlight and it's dead helpful. And I love it when I have my keys out somewhere and people notice the TARDIS and comment on it. Fellow Whovians. :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So that's what you might find in my bag. What about you? Anything you can't leave home without?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-73645111270311135732014-02-19T09:00:00.000-05:002014-03-18T19:35:25.313-04:00Take Me Away!<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week, the blogging adventure with Bronwyn Green and Jess Jarman is taking us elsewhere. We're looking at five places we want to visit during our lifetime. I don't know about these ladies, but I'm so beyond tired of winter and snow that I find myself constantly wishing I were someplace else, so this is a very timely post. Check out Bronwyn's post <a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/places-to-go-things-to-do.html" target="_blank">here </a>and Jess' <a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/02/take-me-away.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are in no particular order for me, but here goes...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first place on my list is somewhere I have always wanted to go...Egypt. I want to see the pyramids and the temples that are still standing. I have been fascinated by the ancient Egyptians and their mythology since I was a kid, I would love to see pieces of it in person. Truth be told, I wish I could have lived in the early 1900's when Egyptology was all the rage and people vacationed there in the winter. But, I'll take what I can get.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second place on my list is Rio de Janeiro, it seems like such a vibrant, exciting city. I think it would be great place to experience. But maybe not during Carnival, that might be a bit much for me. I don't know that I can party that hard.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next on my tour of the world is London...and also Ireland. I think these qualify as one place since I can easily visit them in one trip. And it's my list so I can do what I want. The British Isles have always been a source of fascination and imagination for me. I love the various cultures, the history. While I am not English or Irish (or Scottish or Welsh for that matter), I feel like a part of my soul might be. There is something about those places that just calls to me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next two places on my list bring to mind sunny beaches and relaxation. The first is the Bahamas. I never thought I was a beach person until I went to a resort a couple of years ago and loved it, so the Bahamas are now high on my list. And with the way the weather has been in the Mitten this year, the beach sounds like a little slice of heaven. I mean, check out the pictures.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last place is one I had probably never heard of until I read the Harry Potter books, but I feel like they mentioned it a couple of times. And I've since learned that Majorca is a popular vacation spot for Europeans. Doesn't it look glorious?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, those are my top five places I want to visit. For now. I'm sure it will change again. I love to imagine myself in different places, its one of my favorite pastimes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What about you? Where do you want to go? What places are on your list?</span>Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-78470805385733228772014-02-12T09:00:00.000-05:002014-03-18T19:35:38.341-04:00Three Things I Want to Learn<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As is obvious by the date of my last post, I have been absolutely horrible about blogging. I thought about giving up on it, but after some consideration, I decided instead of giving up I was going to try to dive back in with, well maybe not gusto, but at least with a concerted effort. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, because they are both so awesome, Bronwyn Green and Jess Jarman are letting me tag along on their tandem blogging adventure. This week the topic is Three Things I Want to Learn; you can read Bronwyn’s post <a href="http://bronwyngreenblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/three-things-id-like-to-learn-to-do-in.html" target="_blank">here</a> and Jess’ <a href="http://jessicajarman.blogspot.com/2014/02/i-wanna-do-that.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->The first thing I want to learn is to make my own pasta. I’ve seen people make it on cooking shows and it looks like something I could do, but I have yet to get up the courage to try it. I have a feeling its one of those things that looks deceptively easy, but will be a real bugger to actually do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Learn to speak Italian. I’ve been fortunate to be able to visit Italy twice over the years, and I think the Italian language is just beautiful. It’s amazing how much one year of high school Latin can help you get around, but it’s nothing like being fluent in Italian.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->I would love to learn how to re-finish/paint furniture so that it doesn’t look like a five year old did it. In particular, I have this old hutch that is currently stained dark brown and I would like to re-finish it in a light blue, sort of distressed look. Very shabby chic, I think. It would be one less piece of oppressive furniture in my house, that's for sure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What about you? Anything new you're dying to learn? </span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-10617530280951576182013-05-31T10:21:00.000-04:002013-05-31T10:21:37.378-04:00It makes me sad...It makes me sad that today's society functions in such a way that I feel nervous being home by myself when two guys come to install a new front door. <br />
<br />
The thought of being in the house with these two guys I don't know has been freaking me out to the point that I pretty much told a friend of mine I would be IM'ing her while they were here in case they tried to attack me or something.<br />
<br />
To be honest, the likelihood of something like that happening is not high, but it COULD happen. I mean, they work for a reputable company so I assume they have had background checks and all that. But, the possibility is there so that's all I've been able to think about.<br />
<br />
And I kind of hate myself a little bit for being nervous, because I'm treating these (so far perfectly nice and professional) men like criminals. Or potential criminals, anyway.<br />
<br />
But, and this conversation has been had so many times recently because of the cases making the news, our society teaches women to do what they can to not be attacked. So, here I am sitting in the comfort of my own home trying to take precautions against something bad happening to me. Instead of being able to trust that the strangers I've met have been taught that it's just wrong to attack someone. <br />
<br />
The more I write about this, the more ashamed I am about having these feelings and thoughts. And that's just another sign of what's wrong! I shouldn't be ashamed of wanting to protect myself. But, as a female, I'm supposed to be nice to everyone and welcoming to people.<br />
<br />
Ugh, I don't even know where I'm going with this. Nowhere I guess. It's a frustrating sign of the way society currently functions. But, I will be online with my friend until they leave, just in case.<br />
<br />
<br />Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-89205588900361565862013-05-29T20:00:00.002-04:002013-05-29T20:12:07.235-04:00Thursday's Children - Inspired by Benedict Cumberbatch<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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This post could go in a few directions, but I’m going to stick to a
direction that’s 1) clean and appropriate for all ages and 2) actually has to
do with writing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ve been a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch (I’m sorry, you can’t just call
him Benedict – it’s all or nothing) since I first saw Sherlock on Netflix. I’m a bit of a Sherlock purist, so I was
skeptical. Set in modern times? Pffft.
But, I loved it. It’s so true to
the original stories and he is the perfect Sherlock. Arrogant enough that you want to punch him,
but still with a quality that makes you like him. I’m digressing; this is not supposed to be a
post about Sherlock.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ll be honest, while I consider myself a fan, Sherlock was the only
thing I had seen him in until about a week ago when I saw Star Trek Into
Darkness. I was pretty geeked about his
movie in general – Star Trek, JJ Abrams, B.C. (I guess I can abbreviate) and a
whole bunch of other actors I really like.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I loved the movie, I thought it was great. But, I was really blown away by the villain
played by B.C. (I think
the fact that he is the villain is pretty much common knowledge so I hope
that’s not a spoiler.) He was intelligent,
he kept you guessing at times, he used a psychological approach, and he was
absolutely brutal. Surprisingly so, in
some regards. <o:p></o:p></div>
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That’s not something that he had really done before, from what I
understand, but he mastered it in my opinion.
If it's possible to be poetic and brutal in the same action, his character
was. He also has one of the best lines in the
whole movie… <o:p></o:p></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/9Mu07BaOx9c?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Chills, I tell you.</div>
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I feel like my villain worship might be starting to sound a little
disturbing, but this has a point.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Watching this movie got me thinking about boundaries, and pushing
boundaries; about villains that are terrible beyond anything you could imagine. There is a story I am working on that has a
true villain in it. However, I tend to
have a hard time putting my characters through too much, I want to protect
them. This bad guy has potential
though. He has goons, there are physical
confrontations, a kidnapping, even a bit of torture for information. But I don’t just want the physical aspect, I
want to get into the psychological side, too.
This is nothing I’ve ever tried before, but I’m inspired to try it
now. Because I think, if you have a
villain that is the stuff of nightmares, it only makes the triumph at the end
that much more meaningful.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
So, I guess you could say Benedict Cumberbatch has inspired me to explore my inner villain...I'm off to see what kind of evil I can conjure up.</div>
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To visit other blogs participating in the Thursday’s Children blog hop, click below:</div>
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Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-67122628678378542102013-05-03T18:08:00.000-04:002013-05-03T18:08:42.096-04:00Very Inspiring Blogger Award<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F9JTXCZUPwg/UYQv3icxK2I/AAAAAAAAAGY/kPaoNVQ_pyE/s1600/Very+Inspirational+Blogger+Award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F9JTXCZUPwg/UYQv3icxK2I/AAAAAAAAAGY/kPaoNVQ_pyE/s1600/Very+Inspirational+Blogger+Award.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
So, I was nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award by the very inspiring <a href="http://chrisallenriley.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Chris Allen-Riley</a>.<br />
<br />
Chris is not only a fantastic writer, but super talented at all sorts of creative, crafty awesomeness. Check out her blog at the link above for a sneak peek at some of her cross stitch (and to learn more about her). Also, she's going to help me build a fort with a moat and long bow archers. How can you not love her?<br />
<br />
As part of the blog award, we're supposed to reveal seven interesting things about ourselves and then nominate 15 other bloggers. I'll be honest, it took me a little while to come up with the seven things (hence the time lapse since her blog post), but once I did, I got a little long winded. Oops.<br />
<br />
Also, when it comes to nominating people, I don't think I'm going to. It's not that I don't find others inspiring, I absolutely do. But instead of nominating people, I'm going to direct you to the links on the right side of the page to blogs I read/follow. I find each one of these people inspiring for different reasons, I think you might, too.<br />
<br />
Okay, so seven things about me. Here I go...<br />
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</span><!--[endif]-->I am terrified of fireworks. Not the little ones you can light in your
driveway, but the big overhead 4<sup>th</sup> of July celebration kind of
fireworks. Terrified to the point where
when I was a kid, I used to try to bury myself in the ground. Now I just avoid them. Instead, I watch Pops Goes the Fourth or A
Capital Fourth on TV and see the fireworks from the safety of my living room.<o:p></o:p></div>
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</span><!--[endif]-->One of my dreams is to live in a house with a
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can't see me but I'm there at the top being clever and creative. :)</td></tr>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->I rarely (very rarely) swim in natural bodies of
water. Because…I was once caught in a
jellyfish migration off the Gulf Coast in rough waters. I was stung repeatedly by the jellyfish as
well as detached tentacles that broke off in the waves. I don’t recommend it. However, side note, if you are ever stung by
a jellyfish put meat tenderizer on it.
It helps with the pain but I have no idea why. My aunt used to keep a spice jar of it in her
beach bag. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->I love anything related to Ancient Egypt. One my of my life goals (I refuse to create
an actual ‘bucket list’) is to learn Hieroglyphics.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->My cat, Noah, once saved me from being locked
out on my balcony. The balcony door had
a security bar in the middle of it (as opposed to on the floor) and while I was
outside, the bar fell and I wasn’t able to slide the door open. My ever-curious kitty decided to see what was
going on and started batting at the security bar. I tapped on the other side of the door near
the bar trying to get him to play with it.
Eventually (after less than 10 minutes), he wrapped his paws around the
bar and pulled on it. He moved it enough
I was able to slide the door open and get inside. He got a catnip reward for that one.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rddst3bFD8E/UYQz2H3VqvI/AAAAAAAAAGo/fnHviq1rrDA/s1600/10-31-09_(Halloween)_002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rddst3bFD8E/UYQz2H3VqvI/AAAAAAAAAGo/fnHviq1rrDA/s200/10-31-09_(Halloween)_002.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Noah in his Halloween costume, its a rooster hat. Can you tell how happy he is? </td></tr>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->6.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->I have this…thing, for lack of a better word,
where I have intense reactions to certain sounds. Usually it’s something like another person
coughing or chewing, but basically I get incredibly angry and I have to bite my
tongue to keep from yelling at the person. I have learned that this is a real condition and there is a name
for it, but I can never remember it (it has to do with sensory overload). Instead, my husband has taken to calling it
my “climacaphobia.” (And if anyone knows
where that is from, I’ll send you chocolate.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->7.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->When I was little, I had a killer goldfish named
Charlie. He lived well beyond the normal
lifespan of a goldfish and killed every other fish we put in the bowl with
him. He either ate them (we found the
leftovers) or would somehow convince them to commit suicide and jump out of the
bowl. I think we went through three or
four fish before we decided Charlie should probably just be a loner.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--EndFragment--><br />
This blog post got totally out of control, but there you have a few things about me. I encourage you to check out Chris' blog and the others I follow. You will be inspired by them just as I am.<br />
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Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-6844076078597228212013-04-10T10:27:00.000-04:002013-04-10T10:28:43.127-04:00Thursday's Children - Inspired by Roald Dahl<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had a conversation with a co-worker on Monday that lead to this post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just a bit of background…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My co-worker (we’ll call her Katherine) has three small children, but this specifically centered around her eight year old daughter (we’ll call her Fiona).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were having a conversation about something else and it made me think of a scene from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Matilda</i>, one of my favorite Roald Dahl books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told Katherine this and explained the scene, and was met with a blank stare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Have you ever read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Matilda</i>?” I asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“No.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Have you ever seen the movie?” I asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“No.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“What about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Witches</i>?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another of my favorite Roald Dahl books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“No.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Okay, so, no reading of any Roald Dahl books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was shocked but I persevered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided to ask if Fiona had read any of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s eight but I know that she reads at a fifth grade level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I figured her teacher might have suggested one of those books (or even her own dad who teaches fifth grade).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing, Fiona had never read any of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, maybe she’s a little young; but with her reading level, I don't think so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The conversation then turned into my co-worker asking me what other Roald Dahl books Fiona should read and a list was made. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What surprised me about all of this was the fact that she was so unfamiliar with his books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(This story is taking a while, but I have a point, I promise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hang in there.) It did make me glad to see that while my co-worker might not be a big reader, she encourages her daughter who loves it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then, I started thinking about this in terms of other conversations I’ve had with this person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was one in particular that involved her sister’s wish list on Amazon and a birthday present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“She has three seasons of Doctor Who on here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am NOT buying her those.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I won’t even go into how mortally offended I was by her dismissal of Doctor Who.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realized the bigger issue; there seems to be a lack of imagination here - no whimsy, no make believe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now, I’m not trying to be mean, I’m really not (although I’m sure it sounds like it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is a very nice person and I like working with her; we just couldn't be more different in many ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s more like I’m just now coming to the realization that not everyone grew up in a house like I did where we read books by Roald Dahl and Tolkien and with a mom obsessed with dragons and fairies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagination was encouraged and was just…sort of…taken for granted I suppose.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, what does all of this have to do with inspiration?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It inspires me to use my imagination even more than I currently do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel like imagination is slipping away from society in a lot of ways and I find that scary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing is spontaneous anymore; everything is planned to within an inch of its life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You don’t see kids just running around outside making up stories, wearing bath towels as capes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least, not in my little sphere of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone is so obsessed with succeeding or being the best, they ignore being creative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As my husband would say, “No one’s fun anymore!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, I’m inspired by Roald Dahl who had a wonderful imagination and built worlds where kids saved the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m inspired to be more creative and try new things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m inspired to find ways to get others to use their imagination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And mostly, I’m inspired to never let my own imagination die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To live without it would be, well, unimaginable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!-- start LinkyTools script --><script src="http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=191373" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- end LinkyTools script -->Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5385283036588247451.post-20577964610448025712013-03-27T15:55:00.000-04:002013-03-27T21:15:06.411-04:00Thursday’s Children – Inspired by…well…What I Don’t Like<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Thursday’s Children blog hop is about what inspires us as writers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This week I’m turning it around a little bit and looking at trends in current YA literature that I don’t like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trends that are helping me figure out what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> to do in my own manuscript.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">These aren’t new observations; I’ve heard/read some of them before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I’m looking at them in terms of how I want to do things differently in my own work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And not just do things differently, but do my very best to push against the tide of troubling trends I’m seeing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alliteration got a little out of control there, but I stand by it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ll preface this by saying that I read a lot of YA that has some sort of paranormal aspect to it, so many of these observations are in that context.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, these trends are prevalent in non-paranormal works as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, quite a few of these trends are intertwined and feed off of each other.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m pretty sure we can all think of examples of these trends/characteristics, so I’m not going to point any out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, after I get through the bad, I’m going to give some examples of characters that I feel go against these trends or are good examples of strong characters.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The whiny/selfish female:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything that comes out of her mouth or runs through her head is negative in some way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t like this, this wronged me, I didn’t get my way on this, and it’s just not fair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life ain’t fair, suck it up and deal with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I struggled with what to call this one (not wanting to betray the sisterhood), but I settled on “the stupid female”: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one is more prevalent in the paranormal genre. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the character who thinks, “I don’t have any powers but others do, but I can’t possibly let them help me so I’m going to put myself in danger and make things worse.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know there has to be conflict and drama, but this is nothing but frustrating to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The female who has nothing else in her life but the guy:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has no hobbies, no other friends, nothing to do but think about him and how wonderful he is. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, if the guy goes away or they break up for a while, the world ends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, I know there has to be conflict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if someone is that dependent on another person, I think there are larger issues here.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The overprotective/stalker-ish male:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all know this character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">His</i> girl can’t go anywhere without him, can’t be trusted to stay out of trouble unless he’s there to protect her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He watches her when she doesn’t know it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While she’s sleeping maybe?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sorry – couldn’t resist that one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he gets angry at her when he thinks she puts herself in danger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which leads us to…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The angry male:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This often goes hand in hand with the overprotective male.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The female character has to watch what she does so she doesn’t make him angry, often resorting to lying about her actions or whereabouts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which always leads to more trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, he often blames her for his anger; if she wouldn’t do certain things, he wouldn’t be so angry.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The male that treats the female like a small child:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This could be carrying her around like a piece of luggage (again, happens more in the paranormal genre) or essentially patting her on the head and telling her to be quiet any time she tries to speak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know… “It’s time for the grown-ups to talk now,” in the most patronizing voice you can imagine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
There are a number of reasons these traits bother me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it comes down to it, would I want my daughter using these characters as role models?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay, I don’t actually have a daughter, but I have some close friends who do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do I want their daughters using these characters as role models?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Absolutely not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want them to grow up as strong, independent girls whose lives don’t revolve around a boy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I want them to look for boys who treat them well, treat them as equals, and respect them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m getting a little feminist here, so I’ll flip it around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t want the little boys I know to grow up thinking girls are helpless and the proper way to treat them is to lock them in the tower and tell them “Don’t worry your pretty little head, I’m a boy, I’ll take of everything.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want the boys I know to grow up and treat girls, or whomever their significant other may happen to be, as equal partners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Partners that help each other and help make each other better.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As promised, here are a few examples of strong characters (in my opinion) within YA fiction:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Kaylee Cavanaugh in the Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent – she does what she needs to do to protect those around her and everyone else can either help or get out of her way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, on the other side, she’s not a bitch about it either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She just knows what she has to do, she is protective of those around her and will do what needs to be done no matter the cost to herself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has strength and integrity.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Grace Divine and Daniel Kalbi in the Dark Divine series by Bree Despain – she is powerful in her own right and Daniel accepts that (although it does take him a little bit to get there).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the end, they are true partners and he trusts her to make the right decisions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rose Hathaway and Dmitri Belikov in the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead – this is another example of a relationship where they are true partners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They make each other better, work well together, and treat each other like equals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is still drama, and yes they are apart for a while (which seems to be a necessity in all YA series'), but it’s not what you expect and Rose does what she needs to do to try to fix it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dru Anderson in the Strange Angels series by Lili St. Crow – she gets thrown into a situation almost immediately that is way over her head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, she uses what she knows, takes help where she needs it, and fights like hell to keep herself and others safe.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Apparently, I like main female characters who take on the difficult tasks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This may seem like it conflicts with my point above about the female who puts herself in danger unnecessarily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, these characters have the skills they need to pull off the tasks at hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They know their own power and use it, they don’t put others in danger because of an inherently flawed idea that people who care about each other can’t work together and help each other.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What it comes down to is this…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that I know what I don’t like, I know what types of traits to avoid in my characters and their relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My goal is to write books that contain characters who are role models and who help to reverse this troubling trend.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
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<!-- start LinkyTools script --><script src="http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=190621" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- end LinkyTools script -->Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597919348351009552noreply@blogger.com10