Monday Morning Post: Mash-Up Edition

Finished another short story yesterday. It's called The Loft, and I'm hoping it'll be included in an anthology of horror stories. Never tried to write a scary story before, and I have no sense of how successful I was this time. It's good to stretch, though.
                                                                       (Burnsie the dog discovers his passion for gardening.)
So spending yesterday wrestling with the laptop has me inclined towards blogs with a writing theme for today's mash-up. First, you should check out Sara W. Foster's post
Married To Her Father's Foe. It's a true story from the American Revolution, and I gotta think there's a historical fiction writer out there who'll be truly inspired by it.

Next, you should check out this post by A. Victoria Mixon: 3 Things To Know About Exposition & Telling. Victoria's an editor, writer, and blogger, and I love her posts because she's so smart and she says such intelligent things about writing. This post examines how the contemporary fascination with exposition is effecting what gets published, and in a later post she looks at some of the reasons why. Both of them are worth checking out.

Triberr introduced me to Melodie Wright, who blogs at Forever Rewriting. She's been involved in the A to Z Challenge - blogging on a different letter of the alphabet every day of the month of April, and you should look at her post K is for: keeping faith.  It includes a Vlog interview with NYT bestselling author Beth Revis and it's the most encouraging piece about failure you'll ever see.

This next one isn't exactly writing-related, but Julie Farrar wrote a thought-provoking piece about the Ashley Judd controversy in Who's the Worst Enemy of Women Julie's post contains a link to the essay Ms. Judd wrote about how women get unfairly judged by their appearance at every turn. Given that I'm turning 50 later this week, the whole kerfufle is really resonating, and Julie does a good job of expanding on the points Ms Judd makes.

Then, for something completely different, take a look at Ann Cory's Bawdy Talk - Sweet Saturday Sample . Her snippet's a tease, and I loved it. Her A to Z Challenge posts all show pics of dreamy vacation spots, and I liked this week's Six Sentence Sunday post, too, but it was a little too naughty for my PG rating. You can go there if you like. I won't tell...

;)

Peace,

Liv

Monday Morning Quarterback: Mash-up Edition

Hmm...it's Monday evening, which kind of puts an interesting slant on the blog post title. I'm looking around the living room, wondering if anyone's fed the cats and if it's time to take the white tulips that were so pretty on St Patrick's Day and lay them to rest in the compost heap (YES!). One kid is practicing her cello & the other is off with the husband at a Boy Scout meeting. I can hear the pink cat clock ticking and the G-scale, over & over again...
Kit-Kat Clock 

All of which has left me in a contemplative mood, though it's possible a severe case of sleep deprivation and the lovely glass of Hedges pinot grigio at my side is helping that along. I've read a whole lot of blogs over the last couple of weeks, and, while my evaluative faculties might be a little foggy. I thought I'd pass along a few that were worth a second look.

(You guys would totally laugh if you could see how long it's taking me to get this post done. I keep getting distracted by FB & Twitter & Pinterest. Sigh.)

Back on task. The first post I want you to check out is from blogger and writer Sidney Bristol. She and her friend Suzan are doing a series of posts in which they share their on-line dating ups & downs. And it's mostly downs, if this post is any indication. 
Be careful out there, ladies. Sidney Bristol's Flirty Fridays

Next, you should definitely check out Proudly Paranormal, Baby!, by blogger and writer Adriana Ryan. Not only did she coordinate the Proudly Paranormal Blog Hop, which was a whole lot of fun for everyone involved, she's celebrating the release of Her Heart's Desire. It's her first book, and looks like a great read.


For those of you who were paying attention, the interwebs have been buzzing with talk about employers who are demanding Facebook log-ins as a precondition of employment. Check out my friend Amanda's take on the subject, in her post Privacy? What's that?

Then here's a link for those of you who never met a four-letter-word you didn't like. The author describes what it's like to go back and take the SAT as an adult. It's killer funny, but it does make me feel kinda guilty for putting the daughter through the private-school testing rigamarole. And of course, she doesn't know any of those words....
What happens when a 35-year-old man retakes the SAT?


And finally, you'll have to indulge me a little by checking out a link to my very favorite Pinterest board, Johnny Depp & Stuff ... The common denominator is magic. Yes, it's my own board, but I gave it a tag-line that I really like, and I found some really cool pins in the last couple weeks. Give it a look, and follow along if you like it.
Peace,
Liv

Johnny Depp in Black & White

Monday Morning Quarterback - Mash-up Edition

Happy Monday! I'm trying something new this week - new for me, anyway. I've compiled a list of blog posts that I thought were particularly worthy. They made me smile, or scratched an itch, or gave me new ways to waste time on the internet; you know, the things you read blogs for. I hope you'll check these sites out, because they're a lot of fun - and kudos to the WANA112 crew for giving me so much to choose from. 

The handsomely illustrated man to the left was inspired by a link found by Jodi Lea Stewart. Because everyone needs a Regency Hero Dress-up Doll. 

Then there was the post by Ellen Gregory, giving me yet another reason to go to Australia - Vanilla Slice!

I'm turning 50 in just about a month, and have been kicking ideas around for how to celebrate. (If you've got any good ones, post them in the comments. The best ones will involve beer. I'm just sayin' ;)  This post, by Elaine Smothers, is inspiring, although I'm pretty sure I'm not as gutsy as she is. Check out A Leap Of Faith.

And finally, because all the best stories have vampires in them, I spent some time getting my pop-cultural fix with Emmie & Buffy & Angel and then even more with Freud & Kristen & Sookie (and Eric and Bill, of course).

Take a minute to hang out with my friends. It'll be worth your time. And if you've got another minute, check out the Team Sophia page. We've raised over $800 so far to send Sophia and her mother to visit Grandma in Hawaii!
Peace,
Liv