Too Much Rain

Image from Ekaterina Boym-Medler
@ Freeimages.com

I don't about where you live, but we've had so much rain lately in North Georgia that I feel like I'm going to float away. I've screamed in frustration and huffed in desperation several times over the last few weeks. The many acres of land we have needs to be mowed and trimmed. The chicken yard is so muddy and gross, and needs a new layer of dry leaves for the hens to enjoy, but I can't do it with all the rain. The water level in our pool is maxed out due to all the rain, and boy is it hard to keep clean when it it storms twenty minutes after I've shocked it (in hopes of swimming the next day). I've literally been in my pool ONE TIME since we opened it in May. UGH!

This past weekend I got 5 days off from the day job due to Independence Day and my hubby got 3 days off. It... Rained... Every... Freaking... Day!!!  We mowed a lot of sopping wet grass over several days. A task that usually takes us 1 day when we do it together.

And to beat it all, it'll be bright and sunny during the hours of 9am & 1-2pm, but as soon as I'm supposed to get off work at 2:30pm the skies open up and it rains the rest of the day. However, today I'm off work, but had to take my car for an oil change. I woke up to a nasty rainstorm, drove to and from my oil change in light showers, came home to spend some time with the hubby before he went to bed for the day (he's a night shifter...YUCK!), and now it's bright and sunny out there. *FacePalm*

Can you hear the frustration in my words? I certainly feel it.

Screw it... I'm going to go do some writing! That always makes me happy.

I hope you're all staying dry and enjoying your summer. :)

Plans for the week

Last week was a bust, what with Tim being off work and the kids home for summer break. Everyone was here and no one wanted to get along. There was more than one occasion where I threw my hands up in the air and declared an end to my day. Yep, it wasn't pleasant.

This week Tim goes back to work and the fighting between the children seems to have slowed down. Maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to get some actual work completed. At least I have a list showing me what all I want to complete this week.

That's not to say nothing was completed last week. Oh no, there was definitely a good bit marked off my list. However, most of that was household stuff and not book stuff. Yeah, I'm happy about the household stuff, but I'd rather have the peace, quiet and alone time to complete my book stuff. I get frustrated when my writing time is decreased.

So, here I am, typing up my plans for the week for all to see.

• Complete edits on a three book project


• Discuss the new cover of Alex & Fiona Forever with my beloved designer


• Work on Liz Baker, book 3--which is still untitled


• Remind everyone that TIME FOR DEATH (Liz Baker, book 1) is still on sale for only $0.99 on Kindle and Nook


• Continue working on the list of goodies I need to order for the Book 'Em NC event in February


• Take my children to the library on Friday


• Finish reading DEAD IF I DO by Tate Hallaway so I can take it back to the library


• And still be the perfect wife & mother with the clean house, clean laundry and three meals a day on the table.

Whew! That's a lot to do in only 7 days. Well, I guess it's technically 6 days since today's Tuesday. It's no damn wonder I never feel like there's enough hours in the day. And here I am distracted from all this proposed work with wondering what color to paint my nails next.

Aliens, Vampires & Conferences

Morning, morning.  This has been an interesting week for me.  There's the new schedule of Tim working nights to start with.  However, more than that, I've been on an "old" tv show kick.

Tuesday night I discovered that Netflix has all three seasons of Farscape in Instant Play.  Woohoo!  I love Farscape!  I used that opportunity to share my favorite aliens with the teenager.  She has such similar taste in tv, movies, and music with me that I knew she'd enjoy it.  And I was right!

Then, Wednesday I found all the Buffy the Vampire Slayer shows in Instant Play too!  Yay!  I had to share those with the teenager too.  She was ecstatic when I showed them to her.  So much so that she was begging to stay up half an hour past her bedtime to watch another episode.  I, of course, agreed.  ;-)

Now that we've covered the aliens and vampires...

This week I'm attending a publishing conference.  Luckily, it's an online conference and I don't have to worry about the cash or time away from the family for it.  One of these days I will find the time and money to go to one of the big New York conferences.  Maybe after the kids are grown...

Oh, have you noticed the new banner over there? ---->

If you're a writer and would like to join in, click on the banner and it'll take you where you need to go to lean all about it and to sign up for yourself.  We should all be proud of our writing no matter what your skill level and chosen topic.  :-)

Here at home this morning I'm ready for a few hours of writing.  There is no laundry to wash, the kitchen is already clean, the living room has been vacuumed, and the 5 year old is being quite cooperative.  Here's hoping I can knock out a few hundred words in Kill Me Next Week before she tires of being cooperative and starts wanting to play cards.  If the day is sunny I may just take the laptop outside and work while she plays with the puppies.

Well, I'm off.  Tim is about to arrive home from work and he may need to be tucked into bed after his shower.  ;-)

Character Dictionary & Twitter Backgrounds.

Good morning everyone.  How has your week been?  I've had a good one.  Tim started his new job yesterday.  He's working days this week for training(even though it's a job he's done for 16yrs, lol) and then next week he'll be on night shift--which is what he was hired for.  So this week I'm enjoying not having to keep the 5yr old quiet while he's sleeping all day.

I was asked earlier what I would do with my hours all alone today.  I've already started filling them cooking, cleaning, errands, laundry, and book work.  Not only that, but I've found an acceptable home for one of the puppies, and another couple has shown interest in one of the others.  With them eating solids, we go through a 50lb bag of dog food VERY quickly.

Nonetheless, my days are always full whether Tim is home or not.  I'll just have less distractions while he's at work and be able to get more done in the hours I'm given.  :-)

Speaking of work, last week I put the finishing touches on the Character Dictionary update on the website.  You can now see all of the characters in Time For Death at one glance.  I started it as an interesting addition to the website and people liked it.  I plan to update it for each and every future book, as well.

Speaking of Time For Death,  was approached yesterday by a podcast host who wants to do a book review on Time For Death for his show.  Woohoo!  Well, actually he wanted to do A Birth at Dawn, but didn't realize it was part of a series.  Then I suggested he do Time For Death since it's the new book and needs the publicity.  He agreed and that was that. 

I'm excited as this will be the first time any of my stuff has been on a podcast, that I know of anyway.  LOL.  I'll be sure to post the podcast link when/if it goes live.  :-)  Fingers crossed that he likes it as much as others have.

Okay, one more thing before I go.  In my time on the 'net I've met lots of super great people.  I'm always talking to talented people who are the kindest, most interesting folks.  That's the fun on socializing online!

During last week's author chat and goodie bag giveaway I met another person.  She came to chat with me and then ended up being the winner of the goodie bag the next morning.  After that I roamed around her website and discovered her talent for creating Twitter backgrounds.  I'd been meaning to have someone make me one for a while now, but never got around to it.

So I ordered one from her!  And it turned out awesome!  Stop by my Twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/christiesilvers to check it out.  And if you want one of your own, stop by Karlyn's page at http://www.karlyns.com/ .  She does great work and is more affordable that I've seen anywhere for such quality.  Oh, and she does other things aside from the Twitter backgrounds too.  She's is very talented and such a nice lady.

All right, that's it from me this morning.  I have to go get to work before the hours slip away from me.  I gotta make the best use of the few hours I have before school is over.  The days seem to fly by lately.

Have a great Wednesday and Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Wanna Know Wednesday #52: The last one.

Happy Hump Day!  We're all just a little bit closer to the weekend today.  I certainly didn't want to crawl out of bed this morning, but once I did the day start smoothly.  Hopefully it'll keep going smoothly.

I finally got to file my income tax return on Monday.  I got Federal acceptance that night & state acceptance last night.  Now the countdown to my direct deposit begins.  I'd love to be able to just put it all into the savings account, but with the van repairs and paying off the oldest daughter's braces... well, that's just not gonna happen.  But hey, at least I'll have her monthly braces payment out of the way.  Woohoo!

Okay, it has been a year of Wanna Know Wednesdays and today's the very last one.  I had no idea what the topic would be about when I started the entry, but now that I'm working on it I've decided to make it.............

My Top 10 Hopes for 2010

1. Tim finds a new job.
2. My van gets fixed.
3. The kids stay happy & healthy.
4. A new book contract. *Fingers Crossed*
5. New livingroom carpet.
6. Time alone with my honey whenever possible.
7. To lose 30 more lbs.
8. Less stress and more fun.
9. To fix my washed away driveway. Living on a hill isn't always a good thing.
10. To get more writing done. At least one more Liz Baker novel.  :-)

So there.  You see a few of my yearly goals.  Some are easier done than others, but I'm still hoping for all of them.  Once spring hits, I'm planning to visit the flea markets and yard sales in search of a simple writing desk to refinish and put in my bedroom.  That way I can lock myself away to work.  Right now our only desk is in the diningroom and occupied by the desktop computer, printer, and all other computing accessories.

My bedroom has a master bathroom, so I'd only have to unlock the door to get eats & drinks.  LOL.  I already warned Tim about my future absence, too.

Speaking of writing work, here are my newest articles.  Since it's February, they are Valentine's Day topics.

• Valentine's Day Ideas for the 'Old Married Couple'
• Valentine's Day Ideas: Staying Home with Your Valentine
• Spending Valentine's Day Alone: Make it a Good Night

All righty, it's time for me to get out of here.  See you tomorrow!

The last week of January.

Good morning everyone.  Welcome to another Monday morning.  This one leads us out of January and into a new month.  How has the month been for you?  Have you stuck to your New Year's Resolutions, or have they fallen by the wayside with the rush of everyday life?

I don't make resolutions, but I do make yearly goals.  I seem to be right on track for my yearly goals, so I call the month a success.  Of course, that's "business" goals I'm talking about.  I don't consider Tim being in the hospital any kind of success.  However, it has brought him over to my healthy eating side.  Bwahaha!  Welcome to the dark side, my dear!  LOL!  I still can't get him to even consider tasting my veggie sausage though.  All in time, honey.  All in time...  *wink*

Since I'm talking about business goals, I've been asked by many if I've heard from the New York editor who has Time For Death in her hands.  I have not, but she did say that it would get read in January, and there's still a week left in January.  LOL.  There's no telling when I'll hear back, but I will be moving forward with my plans in a couple of weeks whether I hear back from her, or not.  I'm sure I'll hear back before that day comes though.  Fingers crossed for good things.  Think happy thoughts for your lovely friend, Christie!  ;-)

This week is a week of no appointments at all.  I'm relieved after all the appointments we've had this month already.  Next week, on February 1st, the kids have their dental cleaning, and then that's it!  No more check-ups for anything until the next orthodontist appointment. 

Oh, did I mention that the girls had their yearly pediatrician check-up last week?  All the kids are perfectly healthy, with no problems whatsoever.  Yay!  The youngest ended up getting 3 shots in the legs and a skin test on her arm.  Unfortunately, they were out of the MMR vaccine and since it has to be given with the chicken pox vaccine or a month after, I have to take her back next month to get it.  We had to hold her down for the 3 she got last week, and I'm sure we'll have to do that again for the next one too. 

All in all, everyone is happy, healthy and immunized against the bad stuff out there.  :-)

All right, that's it for today.  I'm going to attempt to get some work done.  Easier said than done with Tim constantly wanting my attention.  He's worse that the kids these days with wanting my undivided attention.  The man definitely needs a new job soon.  Boy, I hope this economy picks up soon.  LOL.

Have a great Monday!

Thursday Thoughts #15: Once a year.

Good morning everyone.  It's Thursday; almost time for the weekend!  It's been a busy week, but at least everyone is healthy this time.  It was last Thursday that I rushed Tim to the emergency room.  Eek!  This week is definitely better than last. 

It's just after 8am here and I've already gotten the older kids up and off to school, fed the youngest breakfast, did my workout, and cleared out my morning e-mails.  I'm going to attempt to get some writing work done over the next couple of hours and then it's appointment time.

Today's the day that the kids have their yearly pediatrician check-up.  Every year I call to make the appointment and every year the receptionist tries to make three different appointments on three different days.  And every year I refuse and request all three at one time, on the same day.  There's really no reason to have three different appointments for this.  I'd have to go three different times, waste gas on three different days, and interrupt all of our schedules for three different appointments.

I suppose it would be different if I had a boy thrown into the mix, but it's all girls.  And it's only once a year.  I'm so glad the girls are healthy.  Most years go by with nothing more than a head cold or stomach bug, without ever bothering with visiting the pediatrician.  Therefore, we only go once a year for an over all check-up, finger prick, vaccinations, etc.

This year, our youngest will have to get her 5 year old, neccessary for school entry, vaccinations.  She's so excited about being 5, and being old enough for kindergarten (we don't believe in pre-k) that she's not even complaining about having to get shots.  She's actually announcing to everyone that Thursday is her doctor's appointment.  LOL!  I'm sure that tune will change once we get there.

Thankfully this only happens once a year.  A lot of things only happen once a year, but we tend to dread them more than unpleasant events that occur on a regular basis.  Why do we put off those check-ups, dental cleanings, tax time (not me, but people I know), and numerous other events?  Why not just do it, get it over with, and move on to something more enjoyable?

Well?  Oh, you want me to answer that?  No, really, I'm asking you.  Seriously, I have no idea either.  LOL!  Oh well, maybe someone else will know the answer.  *Shrug*

Okay then, my stomach is growling like a grizzly bear, so it must be time for my breakfast.  Afterwards I'll get some writing work done, spend some time with Tim, play with the youngest, and get ready for the pedi appointment.  Wish me luck!  Hopefully there will be less tears crying than I'm expecting... and that's just from the 13 year old.  LOL!

Have a great day.  :-)

Wanna Know Wednesday #49: Reading is Writing!

Good morning to all you wonderful people! It's Hump Day, so get out there and do some Hum.... um, yeah, nevermind.

Anyway, as I was saying, it's the middle of the week.  Time to look at what you've accomplished so far and decide if you're right on the mark, or if you need to push a bit harder to reach your goals before the week ends.  Did you waste the poor pointless Tuesday like I did, and now need to make up for it by playing catch up today?

Today will be spent writing and roasting.  I've decided to roast a turkey for dinner and I have two articles left to write for the week.  Oh, and it's a payday for me, as well.  I love paydays!  Of course most of this payday will go toward my youngest daughter's birthday on Friday.  A big girl bed and bike don't come cheap, but they only turn 5 once. :-)

Okay, here's my Wanna Know Wednesday for this week.  Reading is something that definitely helps me get into the writing mood.

10 Books I Read in 2009

1. Twilight
2. Grave Surprise
3. New Moon
4. Sunlight
5. Librarian by Day
6. Eclipse
7. An Ice Cold Grave
8. Breaking Dawn
9. Doomsday Can Wait
10. Dead and Gone

Reading is definitely a gateway into the writing mood for many writers.  You must be a reader of the genre you write in order to understand how to write your own stories.  I think every author should read at least one book a month in their chosen venue.  But maybe that's just me.  ;-)  You can check my website for a list of all the books I read in 2009, and the ones I'm reading in 2010.  http://www.christiesilvers.com/

It's too darn early for me to think, so I'm off to drink some caffeine and wait for Tim to get home from taking the kids to school.  Then I'll have to make breakfast, start some laundry, and hopefully be awake enough to get some actual work done.  Have a great day and don't forget about the hum....  yeah, that...

Tuesday! It'll be a good day.

Good morning!  We have been blessed with the ability to wake up to yet another Tuesday.  Be happy!

It's cloudy and rainy here in north Georgia, but I'm feeling frisky and energetic this morning.  It's just past 8 am and I've washed two loads of laundry, fed the youngest and took a shower.  I still need to eat something myself, but not sure what I want yet.  Tim took the big girls to school for me, so that was nice.  :-)

Yesterday turned out to be a good writing day, even though it felt like I was running the roads all day.  So many things to do in one little day just make it feel rushed and overwhelming.  Luckily I'm a stubborn Capricorn that knows how to get things done.  ;-)

Today will be a smoother day, with less running around.  I'll be able to have another good writing day.  The story is finally picking up speed for me.  Took three chapters, but hey, that's what edits and rewrites are for AFTER the story is on my virtual paper.  LOL.  Right now it's all about just getting the story, from beginning to end, written down and out of my head.  Later I'll come back to add scenes, change scenes, delete scenes, rewrite those things Liz said to Chad when they were rolling around on the ground, delete what Cole said about Hamish, and numerous/millions of other things that'll need to be done and un-done.

Yeah, edits will be a bitch on this one, but it'll be well worth it in the end.  I hate edits!  Nonetheless, they improve any story one hundred fold from its first daft state.  No one but the writer should ever, EVER lay eyes on a first draft of anything... much less a story.  Nooooo!!  Never do that!  It's death to any story when you show the first draft to someone.  You know it's bad, all first drafts are bad, there can be no exception to this rule.  Just don't do it.  And certainly don't ask to see mine 'cause I'll adamantly refuse your request.

Well, I guess I better change out of my shorts and tank top and into something appropriate for November.  Tim wants to go buy Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 when the game store opens.  He's been talking about it for a couple of weeks, so it has been planned. 

I doubted he'd get it since it's $60, but he made some extra cash helping his dad and I always make him trade in an old game when he wants a new one.  So he should have plenty of money to get it without asking me for more.  LOL.  Gotta train those husbands like you do the kids sometimes.  We'll hit our 16th anniversary after the first of the year, so no, the training never ends.

But at least that'll keep him busy while I'm working today.  Woohoo!!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!  Make the best of it and you'll be a happier person.

On your mark, get set, WRITE!!!

Welcome to Sunday, and November 1st!  Today is the day that the National Novel Writing Month begins.  Woohoo!  I'm super excited about this month and hope to have the first draft of the next Liz Baker story completed by November 30th (preferably sooner).

I won't be able to get started on my word count until we return from visiting the in-laws today.  However, I do have loads of notes, ideas, and thoughts on paper, in the computer file, and stored away in my head.  I have the book's computer file all set and ready for the story to begin.  It's open and sitting here on my desktop so that I'll be able to jump right in when we get home.  Woohoo!

Okay, so last night was Halloween.  We took the kids and Rex the Super Pup out to forage for sweet things to eat. It was sooooo crowded in the neighborhood that we go to (my grandmother's), and we got rained on.  Blah!  Therefore, I was thoroughly thrilled that their candy buckets ended up full to the tippy top after only 8 houses.   Yay! 

After that we loaded them back into the van and partook in the 50 cent corndog deal at Sonic for their late dinner.  It's not everyday that you can feed three children for only $7 (including fries).  Tim & I had Subway.  Yum!

Rex the Super Pup had a decent time.  He freaked out when he met my mom's chihuahua, but that only lasted a moment and then he was intrigued by this other dog so close in size.  LOL.  However, he was happy when we returned home and he was back on his own turf.

Well, I'm off.  We need to get ready for Tim's parents and the back home for me to get started on NaNoWriMo. Once I get the word count widget on here (on the left), you'll probably notice that some days will be low in word count and others will be extremely high.  My ideas come in spurts--some are small and some are gigantic.  :-)

Have a great Sunday and try not to get a tummy ache from all the candy you collected last night.

Mondays can be fun days.

Yes, really, they can...  Well, if you try really hard to make them fun days.  LOL.  Good morning all.  Welcome to another brand new week.  Each one really is full of all sorts of potential.  You never know what'll happen or where you'll end up when Friday rolls around.  You can choose to make the best of it, or you can choose to grumble and find disappointment in the world.  Me, well I'm normally a very optimistic kind of gal, so I like to see the best in the world around me.  So, YAY, it's a new week!  ;-)

It's just after 8 a.m. here right now and I've already taken the kids to school, started the dishwasher, washed two loads of laundry, fixed the 4 year old a bowl of strawberries, and ate a banana myself.  Oh, and I also applied online for a new job for Tim.  And yes, even though he's still in bed, he knew I was going to do it for him.  LOL. 

Next week will mark him being without a job for three months.  And, well, it seems that three months is my limit for him being home 24/7, underfoot all the time, and interrupting my daily work routine.  He's slowly "getting" it, and realizing that my day life doesn't revolve around him.  I have much too much to do each day to worry about him--a grown man--and whether or not he's bored or hungry or anything.  LOL.  He's learning, but I'd still like to get him back to work... or at least outside for a while each day. 

So anyway, it's the last week of October!  I have this last week before starting the first draft of my next book.  I'm super excited about this next story and can't wait to jump into it.  I've been mentally trying out opening scenes and trying to decide where I'd like to begin the story.  I think I've decided that Liz will open the story in Atlanta.  Should be a nice spot to start book two (beta readers of book one will agree).

Once November is over--and I have book 2's first draft complete--I'll go back to book 1, make a few changes, go over it a few more times, and then finally work on getting the proposal written up and sent off to agents.  Once that's out of the way, I can go back to book 2 or revisions, rewrites, and all that jazz.  Hopefully by the time I'm done with book 2 the first one will be accepted and I'll have acquired a lovely new agent.  *Fingers Crossed*

Then it'll be time for book 3.  LOL!  It never stops...  But then again, why would I want it to?  It's so much fun!  :-D

Okay, before I go for today, I want to ask my lovely readers to do one little thing for me.  Would you be so kind as to stop by and become a member of the website?  It only takes a moment, and it'll be well worth the trouble in the future when I get everything (including the blog) moved over to the website.  I'll eventually only be posting everything--news, contests, blog entries, etc.--over there and would hate for anyone to miss out.

So come on by and become a member of ChristieSilvers.com.  Just click the link & click the button "Join Site" on the members page.

Tomorrow I'll be sharing photos of the girls carving their Halloween pumpkin yesterday.  It turned out very good!

Have a great Monday.  *Smooches*

Time to start a new week.

Morning all.  *Yawn*  I'm tired this morning; would have definitely preferred a few more hours when that alarm clock went off.

Well, we made it back from Charlotte yesterday afternoon.  It was soooooo cold up there this year.  Usually when  go it's warm in the day and cool once the sun goes down and the race begins.  Not this year.  It was downright COLD during the daylight hours and freezing when the sun went down and the race began.

I was a frozen Christie-Pop!

I was shivering so hard and for so long that my entire body hurt when we left (which was before the race ended cause Tim couldn't take the cold anymore either).  We went back to the hotel and I took a 20 minute scalding hot shower... took that long for my legs to not feel cold to the touch.  When we got up the next morning both of us just ached.  We're both super sore.

Today I'm working on cleaning house and getting things in order for when November 1st rolls around and I need to focus all of my attention to NaNoWriMo.  I do this every year; lots of marathon cleaning, decluttering, holiday preparations, Christmas shopping, etc. just so that I don't have to worry about it in November.

I haven't uploaded our trip pictures just yet, but when I do I'll post them for you to see.  There aren't many since the camera battery died and the camera on my phone sucks on zoom.  Oh, and there's only one of me and it won't be seen.  I was freezing, pale, and it's an all around unflattering photo.  LOL.  Nope, it'll be deleted as soon as I get around to messing with the camera.  ;-)

Okay, I'm out for now.  More cleaning to do.  I started Christmas shopping a few weeks ago, but I still have lots to do.  Thank goodness for online shopping!  It's the only way to go.  :-)

Have a great week!

Just don't...

Good morning ladies & gents.  It's Sunday once again.  We're going down to visit Tim's parents in about an hour since we're going to be out of town next weekend.  Other than that, I have no other plans aside from book work once we return.  I did all that terrible laundry yesterday, and the house is nicely clean.  Yay!

Over the years that I've been a writer, I've discovered that there's a code of conduct that many people don't understand when they contact a writer.  I receive large amounts of emails on a daily basis from people who like my work or want something from me because they know I'm a writer.  This morning, one finally struck a nerve with me.

1. -- Don't ask an author if they're making money from their books.  It's rude.  Would you walk up to a random person and ask, "So, how much do you make a year?"  There are some things that are none of your business, no matter how well you know someone--or don't.  Do you really expect them to tell you?

2. -- Don't contact a writer to ask them if they'd like to read your manuscript and offer advice.  We don't.  We have our own work to read & edit.  We have our own lives to live and most of us barely have as much time with our friends and family as we'd like to have.  Do your own work; we do.

3. -- Don't contact a writer to say that you have this awesome idea and thought they'd like to write it for you.  No, we don't.  We have enough of our own ideas, and not enough time to work on them like we want.  Again, do your own work.

4. -- If you haven't seen the writer review products on their blog, don't ask them to review yours.  This is what set me off this morning.  I received an email from a "company" wanting me to review their photo software on my blog.  Does this look like a review blog?  Have I ever reviewed a product like that?  If they've read the blog they'd know the answers are NO.

Now keep in mind that this list is my personal preference, but many writers have shared the same thoughts on this subject.  Some actually do editing work on the side, so ghost write (writing a book for someone else to claim as their own), and some don't mind telling you how much they make a year.  However, if you don't know the writer, haven't seen them advertise their editing and/or ghost writing service, then please, don't ask them this kind of stuff.  It's annoying and it takes our time away from our own work and family just to respond to your emails and questions.

Anyway, there are my rants for today.  Now I have to go get dressed for the day.  I'm looking forward to getting back home and finishing off my book edit inputting.  Watch out test readers, it'll be on the way soon!  Woohoo!

Sunday Morning

Morning everyone.  How has your weekend been?  It's been gorgeous here in north Georgia, but it's cloudy this morning.

Yesterday Tim & I got to sleep late since the kids went to Mom's Friday night.  We got up at 9:30, but I probably could've gone back to sleep for at least another hour.  I really needed the rest it seems.  I did wake up quite refreshed though.  :-)

When the girls came home we spent several hours outside cleaning up around the house and enjoying the sunshine.  We cleared out the pool and put it away.  Straightened up the outside furniture and focused them around the rock firepit Tim & I built a few years ago.  We don't use it much during the summer but it gets used a lot in the autumn.  Then we confisgated the dog's stick collection.  That dog picks them up all over the year and piles them in one spot.  It gets bad if we don't clear them out from time to time.  LOL.

After that we spent the evening just hanging out and enjoying our time.  Tim watched some Nascar and football.  The kids played games together.  I watched some missed shows on the dvr & Hulu.  Just stuff like that.

Ooohh, I did find out that I finally reached 1 million pageviews on Associated Content on Friday.  Woohoo!!  It was actually 1,000,006 pageviews.  ;-)  A big thank you to all of you who have read my articles from time to time!  It makes me happy.  :-)

In about an hour we'll be going to visit the in-laws.  After that we'll come home, I'll do laundry, Tim'll watch Nascar, the kids will play outside, and then I'll lock myself away to finish up my chapter writing.  It has to be done today as tomorrow and Tuesday will be dedicated to article writing.  I'm planning to make enough $$$ from the article writing over the next 2 weeks to cover all the expenses for our race trip on the 17th.  It won't be too difficult, but it does take 2 full days per week of article writing focus.

It'll be a fun trip though.  And it makes my man happy.  That's what matters in the end.  :-)

Okay, time for me to get going.  I need to go change clothes and make sure the kids are dressed.  Have a fabulous Sunday.  Go out and enjoy the sunshine, if you have some. 


*Image: Another lovely tag from my friend Mis*

Sunny Sunday

Yay! It's sunny again here in north Georgia!  The rain was bad yesterday, but at least it's gone now.  I love sunshine.  :-)

We had a terrible disaster ocurr here in Chatsworth yesterday.  The old rock building--built in 1933--that housed Murray County High School all those years ago was apparently struck by lightning and destroyed by fire yesterday.  The picture above was taken by my sister with her husband's cell phone and she then sent it to me.  Such a horrible fire and a terrible loss for the community.
The rain was so bad yesterday that we had numerous flooded roads, basements, car wrecks, and the fire in the county.  Such destruction all around.  Makes me glad we stayed sequestered at home all day.

Today we're at home again, but at least the day is lovely.  I'm feeling a bit better.  I think the head cold has nearly run its course, thankfully.  I did however wake up with a headache this morning, but Tim doped me upith Excedrin and Pepsi as caffeine usually helps me get over them much faster.  Unfortunately that backfired and I ended up with caffeine jitters because all I'd eaten was a banana.  LOL.  I hate to eat a full meal to get my system back in order.  Now I'm feeling better though.

I had planned to get book work done this weekend, but with coming down with the cold and feeling badly, I didn't get a bit of writing work done.  I didn't even manage to claim any new articles for the new week until today.  It's going to be one busy week for me.  But then again, when isn't it busy around here?  LOL.

Five articles, one chapter to write, and another twelve chapters to edit... yep, that's a lot of work.  At least the laundry is done until Tuesday.  LOL!

Okay, I'm off to do some research.  Maybe I can get 1 or 2 articles written today, and then I won't have so many to do tomorrow and Tuesday.  The girls are playing quietly and Tim's playing Xbox.  Wish me luck!

Have a great Sunday.  :-)

Saturday around here.

Good morning/almost afternoon to you all.  How was your Friday?  So very sorry that I missed a post yesterday, but Thursday night I went to bed feeling on the verge of sickness.  You know that feeling you get in the back of your throat when you know something is about to hit?  Well, I had it. 

Friday morning I woke up with a full blown head cold.  Ugh!  The girls brought it home from school and it has gone through all of us--first the middle, then the oldest, then the youngest, then Tim, and now me.  I'm glad it hit me last though.  LOL. 

I felt rough yesterday and didn't get a stitch of work done.  That's why there was no blog entry. 
This morning I'm feeling a bit better.  Still a bit of a stuffy nose, but the throat feels better.  However, the rain has moved back in on us and it's one dark, dreary, wet day around here.  At least I don't have to worry about going anywhere in this mess.

I mentioned the other week that I'd be going through all the blogs that I follow to see which ones are being updated regularly.  I did that this morning and ended up unfollowing 10 blogs that hadn't been updated in the last month.  That's one more thing knocked off my 'to-do' list.  :-)

That's it for today.  I have resting, reading, and laundry to do today.  Might as well get to it.  :-)

Have a great Saturday, and I hope yours day is a dry, comfortable one. 

Tuesday. More rain?

Morning all!  So how did you enjoy the snippet of Time For Death yesterday?  The comments I did receive were all great, and I appreciate them tremendously.  I didn't get any editing done on it yesterday because I discovered a place where I want to add an entirely new chapter. Therefore, editing is on hold until I get that chapter written and can adjust the storyline accordingly.  It'll work out though, as I always do this.  I always write the story, go through edits and discover a new chapter (or two), and then have to work on that before edits can proceed.  That's okay though.

I did however get two articles written and off to DS, even though the 4 year old wanted to talk my ears off most of the day.  I now know more about dental implants than I ever wanted to know.  LOL! 

Before I forget again... my oldest made it onto the Quiz Bowl team last week.  Yay!  She's so excited.  We don't know anything yet about after school practices or meetings, but we do know she's on the team.  I hope she has a great time with it.

Today I have 1 more DS article to work on for this week, and then I'll start outlining the new Time For Death chapter.  The sooner I get it written, the sooner I can get back to editing, and ultimately finish it!  Go me!  Oh, and I was asked if it is erotica.  Nope, it's not.  I don't even consider it paranormal romance (though some classify it as that).  There is definitely some sex scenes in all of my books, but the storyline isn't focused solely on the romance/love/sex of the story.  I simply classify my work as paranormal fiction and leave it at that.

As for erotica, well, I'll show you some true erotica (in my mind) when I'm finished with Promise of Darkness.  ;-)

Okay, the picture above is of my driveway trying to run away with the rain we had yesterday.  It was soooo messy, and looks like today'll be the same way.  Thank goodness I live up on a hill.  LOL!  Click here to see the full size image.

Have a great day!

I know what you're waiting for!

Good morning everyone!  Welcome to a brand new week.  Time to make the best of the day that we have.

I swear I never get use to waking up in the dark.  I've never been a morning person unless my morning comes after 9am.  LOL.  We slept fairly late yesterday, considering the kids were home.  I drug myself out of bed at 8:30 and Tim came crawling behind me.

I got a lot of writing work done over the weekend, but not as much as I wanted to do.  I wrote two articles on Saturday and was planning to get two done on Sunday.  However, when we ot home from visiting the in-laws the kids went wild.  They were screaming and fighting, my phone was ringing, Tim wanted to tell me everything about the Nascar race he was watching (knowing I don't give a damn, lol), and I just couldn't concentrate long enough to be creative and get those articles done.

I decided to just do the research and data collecting for three articles instead of writing the two I wanted.  That'll help when I sit down to write them today.  At least all the reasearch is finished and waiting on me to use it.  :-)

As a little reminder, September ends next week and with it so does my September giveaway.  Here's the original entry telling you all about how to enter for your chance to win an e-book copy of A Midnight Infatuation.  Click Here.  It's almost over, so don't miss out.

Today I'll be waiting to see if my new goodie (pictured above) arrives in the mail.  It's coming from the China supplier that I always use, and she's very fast at shipping out.  I've already received a pair of lacy, red, elbow-length gloves to go with it, and the corset should be here any day now.  It'll go great with my red high heels.  Click here if you've forgotten what the shoes look like.  And here's the link to Rouge Roses eBay page if you want one of your own.  ;-)

Oh, on a completely different subject... Heroes comes back on tonight!  Yay!  It's a 2 hour season premiere.  Woohoo!  If you're a Heroes fan, don't miss it, and lets hope that this season is better than the last.

Sooooo, are you waiting for something special?  Could you be stopping by to see the snippet I promised of Time For Death?  Hmmm?  Maybe I should just wait until next week.  No?  You don't wanna wait?  You want it now?  Oh, okay, I'll post it today.  Here you go!

*Disclaimer: This is copyrighted material and may NOT be used, copied, shared, or altered in any way, shape or form under penalty of law.*
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Snippet removed...  Time's up!  Too bad you missed it while I had it available.  :-)

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Keep in mind that this has only been edited once, and it may be changed, added to, completely deleted, etc.  And I make no promises that it'll be in the finished book once released into the world.  However, at this moment in time, it's in Chapter 8 of Time For Death.  This is a scene between the main character, Liz, and her vampire lover, Marcus.  :-)

Okey dokey, that's it from me today.  I have work to do, and all that jazz.  If you enjoyed the snippet let me know, and if you didn't, well, I don't wanna know.  LOL!  Have a great day!



*Photo Credit: Rouge-Rose*

Not so lazy after all.

Boy, for yesterday to be a lazy Saturday I sure did get a lot done.  LOL.  I ended up doing two loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and wrote two articles.  Oh, and I watched a dvd that's been sitting here for a week from Netflix.  I even did some research for another article before I went to bed last night.  What else was there to do?  Tim was yelling at a football game on television.  Might as well work while he's busy.  LOL.

Today we're going to visit Tim's parents for a couple of hours.  We decided last weekend to cut our weekly visits down to every other Sunday.  Today's when he gets to break it to them.  Better him than me.  LOL!  It doesn't matter, we're reclaiming OUR Sunday mornings.  We want to be able to sleep in, get up and make breakfast with the girls, maybe go for a drive in the mountains, and just enjoy the day. 

I refuse to be locked into this routine for another 15 years of my life.  I have plans and will not wait around on them.  If that makes me a bitch, well so be it.  I've been called that, an much worse, over the years and it doesn't bother me in the least.  It means I'm doing something RIGHT in obtaining my life goals and happiness.  Go me!
Anyway, we'll be heading down there in a bit, and then Tim wants to run out for a new handle and lock latch for the door he's been working on.  It's a new door for our crawl space under the house.  However, those of you who've been here know that our crawl space is fairly high and the door is larger than most.  Our old door was warped from the weather, so Tim made a new one, painted it to help prevent warping, put brand new hinges on, and now wants the new handle and latch "So it'll look right and match".  LOL!

After that we'll be home so he can watch the Nascar race.  I'll probably work on another article or two, and do all the other stuff I do on Sunday evenings.  Thinking I'll even make breakfast for dinner today.  Hmmm, yeah, that's it!

Okay, I'm off for the day.  Wish me luck!  Be sure to stop by tomorrow for the snippet of Time For Death... yeah that's something else I need to do today since I haven't chosen the snippet yet.  I hope you enjoy it!
Havea great Sunday.  :-)




*Photo Credit: Christie Silvers - Taken in my backyard.*

A stormy Saturday.

Morning all.  It's a nasty, stormy day here.  Tim and I didn't even wake up until nearly 10 a.m. because of it.  That was nice.

Mom had the girls last night, so we spent some "quality" time together, grilled out dinner, did some marathon drinking, and had loads of conversation in the process.  It's always so peaceful when we get to just sit outside and talk without interruptions.  It was about 10 p.m. when we fell into bed and passed out.  LOL.  I woke up at 3 in the morning stilling quite tipsy.  Luckily I just needed to turn over and not actually get out of bed.  LOL!  We had a lot of fun.

This morning a storm rolled in right after we woke up.  Just in time for Tim to bring in a door he'd painted yesterday.  Mom brought the kids home at 11; in the midst of a downpour.  They were soaked.  LOL.

Now we're all just hanging out.  The younger two are watching Peter Pan in my room, the oldest is in her room, I did a little kitchen cleaning before this entry, and Tim is watching some car building show.  It'll be a lazy day in the Silvers household.

I'll do some laundry (always, since it never ends) and research for a new batch of articles.  Oh, and I need to pick the snippet of Time For Death that I'll be sharing on Monday.  From my Facebook friends, the consensus is that they'd like to read a sex scene, so I guess that's what I'll share.  Of course I did here some saying they wanted both storyline and sex, but I'm just sharing one.  ;-)

Okay, so I'm off for the day.  Guess I'll start that laundry and get a little work done.  I did manage to edit my goal of 10 chapters in Time For Death this week.  Plus I wrote three articles for DS and claimed six more for the new week.  I better get busy! 

Have a great day.



*Photo taken by Christie Silvers. I took this to go with an AC article a few months back.  These were our original set of wedding bands.  We don't wear them anymore (upgrades since then), but I still love them.*