Thank You Mickey Gilley for 26 Years in the Branson Area!

December 2, 2015 marked the end of a musical era of sorts. Mickey Gilley’s matinee show at Mickey Gilley Theater was the last one after 26 years. He is now going to be going and doing road shows at almost 80 years old.

You may be wondering what that has to do with me. Well my mom, my dad and I went to the last show as they worked for him. My mom worked in the gift shop for a series of years but wasn’t working there as of a few years ago when the gift shop had to close down but my dad continued to work in the parking department for 13 years. He worked there all the way up to the last day.

I remember when I was in high school and came there and did homework in the lobby after school and riding around on the cart in parking with my dad. I remember that theater and it won’t be the same without Gilley there.

So I’ve seen the show for free many times but we decided to go and support Gilley on his last show. He is a nice guy I’ve met and talked to before. The last show was great. Many of the other performers in Branson came and surprised Gilley by popping in to say how much he affected them and they thanked him for his help and years of friendship and guidance.

The Mayor and a Council Member came by as well and gave him a Plaque and the Keys to the City. They even joked and said that Yakav, another local performer ending his many years here this year will be getting the keys to the city too so everyone better dead bolt their doors with these two having keys, lol!

It was an amazing show and even though he is a performer from another era I thoroughly enjoy his music and live shows. We will miss you Mickey Gilley! Have a wonderful time on the road! I hear there are 140+ road shows booked, so not too bad. Maybe we will see Gilley on the road and I hope he has many more years of performing ahead of him!

Here are some pictures from his last performance at the Mickey Gilley Theater on December 2, 2015:

 

< Local Performers Popping in to Say Goodbye and Thank Mickey Gilley for His Many Years Here and for His Support, Friendship, and Guidance!

The Mayor and Council Member giving Plaque and Keys to the City! >

 

Is All I Learned in History Class A Lie?

I love watching the TV Shows, Mystery at the Museum, Mystery at the Castle, and Mystery at the Monument. After watching those shows I am convinced half of the History books are chock full of lies and misapplied information.

Alexander Graham Bell did not create the telephone, what? He was a thief. A man named Antonio Meucci created it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Meucci

Jackie Robinson was not the first African American pro-baseball player. A man named Moses Fleetwood Walker was. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Fleetwood_Walker

Christopher Columbus may have been about 100 years behind a Scottish clan in reaching America.

There are so many more I have seen on there that have made me do research and I am appalled that these inaccuracies aren’t told to the public or History books aren’t updated. I mean I feel like I’ve been duped by History books and History teachers.

So from now on no matter how crazy people think I am, I am going to say Antonio Muicci created the telephone and Moses Fleetwood Walker was the first African American pro-baseball player and that the Clan Gunn found America 100 years before Christopher Columbus.

So inaccuracies in History beware for I intend to find the truth and use the accurate information, lol!

End of 2015 NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)

http://nanowrimo.org/

When I first wrote about this I was a day late in adding info about this challenge for the month and now I am putting it a day before the end as I wanted to make sure I put this on before I forget.

I hope that everyone had a wonderfully great 2015 NaNoWriMo and that you all reached your 50,000 Word count by the months end, tomorrow! If you didn’t reach the goal don’t just stop, keep writing even if the months over, finish the novel. I do hope that your novel became everything you hoped it would become and that you enjoyed this challenge.

Though I didn’t do it this year I am happy to say that I did finish in November three Poems, “Beautiful Nightmare”, “Dream Lovers”, and “Violet Fields” and two Short Stories, “The Girl with the Red War Paint” and “Everly After”.  I am at present about to start two new Short Stories, “Launch: 24 Hours” and “Scarlet Archer”. I also edited and wrote on another novel as well during November.

So though I didn’t do a 50,000 Word Novel I did have a very good writing month in general!

 

So I hope that all that did NaNoWriMo will continue to write come December and that everything you write turns out as good as or better than you expected. If you care to you can share moments, thoughts, experiences from this 2015 NaNoWriMo challenge in the comment section of this post!    

Happy Writing!                                                                                                                        

2015 NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)

http://nanowrimo.org/

So November 1^st - 30^th it is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). This is day 2 of the month and I had hoped to put this up on the first but yesterday was hectic for me. I have heard of this writing challenge in the past years but have never participated in it myself. Basically you write a 50,000 Word Novel in One Month. A fun challenge indeed!

I will not be participating this year but just thought to bring some attention to this writing challenge. Although I won’t be doing NaNoWriMo I have been editing and adding on at least 25,000 words to one of my novels and will be writing a short story and some poems and writing a bit on another one of my novels. So though I won’t be writing a 50,000 word novel all my writing for November probably will amount to 50,000 words, lol.

So if anyone is participating this year then I wish you well and hope you are able to finish your novel in one month. Have fun writing!

If you care to I always love to hear about characters names chosen for novels so if you are writing a novel for NaNoWriMo or just a novel for another reason leave me a comment and tell me your characters names and if I don’t already have them on my Character Names Galore blog I might add them to my list to be added in the future.

Also if you want to share minor details about your novel, writing style, or any past experiences with NaNoWriMo or writing in general then leave a comment as well as I would love to hear from you guys. I do understand though not sharing too much about your novels online, so I understand not giving too much away should you comment.  

Happy Writing!

Novel Upload Update!

I know I haven’t updated you guys in a while as to how it’s going with my novels and getting them uploaded to be bought in e-book format on Amazon. Well my laptop computer has been broken since June 2014, I think I told you guys that, and has been with my Brother in Law Karl since April 2015. They just came for a visit and he told me he has tried everything but it is cheaper to just buy a new one. So I will not be able to do an upload or copyright my novels right now.

I was and am really upset but what can I do, you know. I fortunately have my parent’s desktop computer I go to borrow for a few hours when ever I need for writing, editing and blog stuff but they have dial up internet and an outdated browser so I can’t do uploads and copyright from their computer. Also I can’t buy a new laptop right now because I don’t have a job right now and am saving my savings money.

So instead of staying down and sad about it I am going to keep writing and am going to start entering Short Story and Poem Contests in hopes of expanding my writing resume achievements (if I win) and maybe win some prizes or cash too! I have been researching Nationwide and International Writing Contests but if anyone knows of any coming in the end of 2015 or early 2016 and that are FREE to ENTER (No Entry Fee) then please feel free to leave me a comment and tell me about it.

Also I may start sending out Query Letters to Literary Agents again, which I am not thrilled about but I have no other choice. I will not go into it but I have not had the greatest relationship with Literary Agents in the past. The so called “Traditional Route” bums me out more than you’ll ever know. I really hoped to try Self-Publishing first and then perhaps try the traditional route again. But Oh Well!

I know this may sound like I am whining but I didn’t come into this to sound that way or try to be harsh on traditional publishing. I just wanted to update ya’ll on how it’s going. I am looking forward to where my writing will lead and I can’t wait to explore new avenues of writing.

Everything worth pursuing should be a bit hard because it makes reaching it all the more thrilling and a major accomplishment! So I hope everyone out there in everything you do that you never give up, and that you stay strong. Of course that doesn’t mean you can’t Cry, Scream, Yell, throw a Tantrum if need be at first but then pick yourselves up and keep marching toward your goal. A goal that I hope when you reach you can do your funny field goal dance for, lol!

**

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” - Confucious

**

My Characters Oh My!

I was in Wal Mart a few days ago and while looking around the craft area I saw the book that shows pictures of the sewing patterns and it was set on the costume section. I flipped through as I love to look at the costumes even though I don’t celebrate Halloween or go anywhere that requires a costume.

 I love to look though as I wish I could sew elaborate dresses and such but my skills were learned in school many, many years ago and the most elaborate thing I can make is a pillow, lol.

Anyway I saw two costumes I will put a picture of below that I thought those are cool and look like something my characters would wear. So I took a quick picture on my phone and sent it to my mom. The picture was a bit blurry so later that night I went online and found the image.

As I looked further at the models in the image I said wow they look like two of my characters. I thought that more as I am currently editing one of the novels in the series that they are in so they were fresh in my mind.

The blonde looks like a slightly older version of my character Princess Shika, a human princess, and the dark haired one looks like her friend Princess Shamar, an elf princess. Make them a bit younger and they will look like them as teenagers and the actual picture is them as adults, pretty cool! The dresses even look like something they would wear but switched, the long dress on the blonde (Shika) and the dark blue dress on the dark haired one (Shamar).

I love finding images of actual people that look like my characters and love adding them here as I find it so cool and want to share.  

The Pictures are a bit rough, as in a bit unclear, but they were the best I could find on the web.

 

Musings of a Lonely Writer! ----- Beginning, Middle, or End of a Characters Journey

On this Musings of a Lonely Writer segment I may morph a bit into a Musings of a Lonely Reader so bear with me!

In books or even movies I always tend to love the beginning of a journey so much better than the middle and end. I think the beginning is much more exciting and fun. The end is sad and final. I don’t know if it is the sadness of the ending of a journey I hate or that it isn’t as good at the end as the beginning.

 

The weird part is that in the Series and Trilogies that I write I always love the later novels way better than the first, not always but sometimes. I think that is so weird. However, I find other authors first books to be better than later novels but like I said in mine I almost always feel I like later novels better.

I think there is such unknown and beauty in the beginning but by the end nothing will ever be the same again for the character and that is often times sad. I think that is why I prefer the beginning of most novels or movies. I have however not determined why I prefer my later novels in a series or trilogy to the first book.

**

The beginning book is like the moments leading up to a first kiss, the anticipation kills you leading up to the kiss. The middle book is the kiss itself, sweet but often intense and worth the wait. The end book is the end of a kiss, breathless and leaving you wanting more. But that end makes you feel that it will never be like that first anticipation, that first rush and the intenseness that follows.

**

So maybe in a way I appreciate all parts of the books/movies but I tend to still prefer the beginning journey of a character as I still want to feel that excitement building for the character but don’t want it to end as I want to stay in the world the author or movie maker has built.

Whether you prefer the beginning, middle or end I think if the author can make you want to stay forever in someway I think that has the makings of a classic or at least a favorite on many people’s lists. I have yet to truly find a series or trilogy that really makes me want to stay in it and so as a lonely reader and lonely writer I continue to look to find a book that fills that need for me or else I try and write one!

“Journey’s end

In western lands beneath the Sun
The flowers may rise in Spring,
The trees may bud, the waters run,
The merry finches sing.
Or there maybe 'tis cloudless night,
And swaying branches bear
The Elven-stars as jewels white
Amid their branching hair.

Though here at journey's end I lie
In darkness buried deep,
Beyond all towers strong and high,
Beyond all mountains steep,
Above all shadows rides the Sun
And Stars for ever dwell:
I will not say the Day is done,
Nor bid the Stars farewell.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien

So this has been Musings of a Lonely Writer and if you would like to share what part of a characters journey you tend to like and why then leave me a comment as I would love to get others points of views about this topic. Until next time, Keep Reading! Keep Writing! And Keep Inspiring!

And build me a literary world I want to get lost in and want to explore and never want to leave. Make me love the end just as I love the beginning. Well at least try as I am hard to please as you can see, lol!

DIY Cell Phone Holder

My old Cell Phone Holder is in the shape of a dolphin and I got it 15 or 16 years ago. It is filled with a blue liquid and has two small dolphins floating inside it. I have used that cell phone holder for every cell phone I have ever had. Well it’s old and the plug at the bottom deteriorated over time and sprung a leak. Fortunately tape sealed the hole but I had to keep it on a piece of tissue to make sure it wouldn’t leak on my furniture. So I decided to leave it in my bathroom on the counter as that is where I charge my phone as my outlets elsewhere are being used.

So I decided to try and make a new holder for when my phone is in my bedroom at night. So I looked on the internet and I found one using blocks and I thought that is pretty and cool. When I found the blocks at the store were two expensive I creatively changed the design.

Wood Bottom- At Michaels $0.49

Set of 6 Flower Sides/ Simply Surfaces Laser cut Design- $3.99 but were 40% off

Tacky Glue- $1.19

Tiny Terra Cotta Pot- $0.49 but I used 40% off coupon

Large Pack of 3D Lady Bug Stickers- $0.99

Pack of 8 Pencil Grips- $1.00

I arranged three flower sides to fit my phone. I measured using my phone and marking with pencil where it sits comfortably. I did my design looking like a H but any arranging would do to fit different phones. I used tacky glue to put it in place and took Q-Tips with water and wiped away the excess glue that squeezed out.

I then took a blue pencil grip and cut it in two after I realized it wouldn’t glue while round so I cut it in two. The smooth flat side or inside of pencil grip I glued down a comfortable distance from the back of the one flower design. Once the glue dried it was ready to be used.

However I decided to add 3D Lady Bug stickers to the sides of my flower design sides. Then I bought a tiny terra-cotta pot and glued it to the back of the holder where there was a avoid. I took fake flowers I had and put them in a bit of foam and then placed that in the pot. I added a 3D lady bug to the outside of the pot and one to the inside of the Daisy flower in the pot. I later added a tiny dragonfly hairclip to the pink flowers in the picture below. I don’t have the dragonfly in the pics below as I added it after I took the pictures but I clipped it to the pink flowers.

I am going to change the foliage with the seasons. I already bought a teeny little scare crow for fall and I have fake fall leaves I will decorate with as well. I absolutely love it but will probably need to change it a bit if and when I get a new cell phone as my phone sits snug and another larger phone might not fit as well.

 

I hope you enjoy this and perhaps try something similar! I have so many other designs I would love to make, if I can find someone who needs a cell phone holder.

 

 

 

 

New Baby and Engagement!

My Brother-in-law Karl's oldest daughter from his previous marriage is named Shea. Shea had her second baby yesterday, it is a girl named Sophia Rose! Shea has an older child with her ex-boyfriend and that child is a boy named Gage Michael, who is nearly five years old.

One day after giving birth to their beautiful baby girl Shea's boyfriend Jake proposed marriage to her and she happily said yes!

I send my many Congratulations to Shea and Jake on the newest addition to their family!

Musings of a Lonely Writer! ----- Minimalist Intimate Scenes Between Characters Mortify Me

So I don’t read romances, well not hard core Bodice Rippers or Erotica. I read Suspenseful Romances like from authors Victoria Holt, Phyllis A. Whitney, and some by Dorothy Eden. I prefer a little light romance, nothing explicitly sexual.

These explicitly sexual kinds of novels make me squirm and I find them not to my taste. I don’t care if people read these kinds of stories if that’s what they like to read but I don’t find them appropriate and so I don’t read them nor do I write them.

 

So in my writing love stories are always subplots and as fun as they are to develop I cringe at the thought of people I know reading them, lol! I know it sounds silly but I fear either I went too far or not enough. I’m afraid they’ll be like what is going on with you for writing these scenes. The scenes aren’t explicit, just what may be deemed adolescent kissing, well maybe a bit more passionate but nothing too hot and heavy.

I even wanted to put an example here of a scene but I am beyond nervous that many I know will see it. I know when I self-publish they’ll read it but I am just mortified to imagine there’re reactions.

There was one scene I was writing how this guy was falling for a lady and what it felt like with her in his arms when he carried her to her room as she had twisted her ankle and when my mom read it I nearly freaked out. The intense description of his feelings was a bit too much; I wound up revising it by choice.

 

Other times I fear my writing of minimalist intimate scenes are juvenile like. So most of the time I worry how it will be perceived by a broad group of people versus my own feelings toward it.

There was one section of one of my novels I sent to a friend. In the scene there is one area where it is where a guy was rubbing a healing lotion on a woman’s back and I was freaking out when I knew I had sent that section. Of course my friend came back and said she liked the whole section I had sent. So I was beyond happy but I dared not ask what she thought about that particular scene. I fear I am over thinking it and freaking myself out, lol!

Even though these scenes are scarce I wonder if I do too much in a scene or too little. I wonder if people will think if too much in a scene I’m not sticking clean and Christian or if not enough in a scene I risk the scene falling flat and boring.

Of course I love a good swoon worthy intimate scene if placed right and is meant to be there, so I don’t see changing my writing in that regard and will just have to get used to others reactions to the scenes. I will never go too far though with characters in these scenes because of the age group I tend to gear my novels toward and even though I know those age groups know much more about intense intimate relationships than some think I prefer to stay light for my own sake, lol. I should mention though that I know how to take criticism, I am just so unsure on these particular scenes more than any other aspect of my writing.

I suppose some writers have similar areas in their novels where they are uncomfortable with others reading it, so I guess I am not alone in that aspect. And I suppose many writers have times where they start to down their own writing.

I was mentioning this with my writer friend Kendra and she was saying don't worry how others view my novels, just write what I am comfortable with and feel I like. I am trying to do just that but it's a tad difficult with some parts of my writing.

So if others have felt a bit uncomfortable or straight up mortified by minimalist intimate scenes between their characters leave a comment. Or perhaps if you feel certain stories or scenes you write you worry about how it will be perceived by friends and family let me know as well. I would love to hear of other writers experiences with this topic.

So this has been Musings of a Lonely Writer and until next time Keep Reading, Keep Writing, and Keep Inspiring!

Throw Back and Current Pictures!

I usually don’t add pictures of me or my friends, well not full pictures just images for my hair accessories on this Book Worm Blog. These are both a Then & Now Pictures of me and one of my fellow Author Friends, Kendra. Kendra is not my only writer friend but she is my oldest. We met when were teenagers, about 13 years ago.

We bonded over writing and to this day we have innovative, juicy and fun stories, both inside and outside our heads, lol! We both have stories only thought out in our heads and others we have put on the page. Both ways are fun and keep the creative juices flowing!  

So here is a picture of us then and now. The first is from July 2007 when we were 19 years old and the second from a few days ago, we are now 27 years old. We have developed wrinkles and our weight has fluctuated over the years but that is simple because we laugh a lot and love food, well I will speak for myself, and we laugh while eating, so there you go, lol.

We talked of many things on our recent lunch out together but writing was a big one so I thought to add a wonderful picture here and show off two awesome up and coming authors, well hopefully!

We have changed in both our personal and writing lives since the Then picture from 2007 which has shaped the tone of our stories, both the good, bad, and ugly elements. So in the Then we were so confident, we knew just what we wanted but the Now we are wiser and have reached a pretty good place in our lives and have created characters much more developed and wonderful. 

If you have explored my Book Worm Blog you will have seen who I am but in case you haven’t I am the dark haired one in the two pictures. I am the one in the grey shirt and jeans in the older picture and the one in the blue shirt in the newer one.

 

 

 < Then, 2007

                                   Now, 2015 >

 

Reinvent Your Characters Wardrobe: Two Particularly Wonderful Renaissance and Medieval Clothing & More Sites that are Wonderful for Characters Wardrobes!

http://www.pearsonsrenaissanceshoppe.com/

http://armstreet.com/

 

I absolutely love the two above websites, Pearsons Renaissance Shoppe and Arm Street. They have Medieval and Renaissance Costumes for those that LARP, go to Renaissance Faires, do CosPlay, etcetera.

I have found so many dresses, pants, tunics, shoes, extras on there that have inspired many of my characters wardrobes, as many of my characters live in the past or a future that has gone very medieval again. I make certain changes to how a certain outfit will look for my character versus the site but for the most part I stay true to the things on the site because I love them so much.

Of course many, many times I will just make up a dress or something from my imagination, because that is so fun and necessary to bring out that characters personal unique style.

I wanted to tell everyone about these sites though, if they haven’t already found them. It may help you to better visualize one of your characters outfits like I do, I am a very visual person. Or perhaps you go to Renaissance Faires or LARP or CosPlay and would love to find a place that has awesome attire, so these sites are it.

My Favorites on the Sites:

The Archeress

Autumn Princess

Lady of the Lake

Woolen Coat “Red Riding Hood”

Fantasy Dress “Wanderer” Linen Robe

Medieval Woolen Dress “Green Sleeves”

Elven Fantasy Wedding Dress

Forest Princess

To just name a few! I hope you enjoy exploring these sites as much as I have!

A few of the names on my other Character Names Galore Blog I have found on another site that has Fantasy, Medieval, and Renaissance Wedding Gowns which I have used for inspiration for my characters wedding dresses before. The three names on my Character Names Galore Blog are the names of three of the dresses on the site, but there are many more dresses, I just only used those three names.

I have put a link to the site on those name posts but I will now put the site link here. So maybe if your characters getting married or you are getting married and want a unique dress then you can try looking on Rivendell Bridal, it’s a UK designer BTW.

http://www.rivendellbridal.com/

If you have sites that you find interesting and have used to help with your characters wardrobe and want to let me know just leave a comment and I would love to go explore those sites.

If you find the sites I have put here of use and would love to tell me which outfit fits your characters then leave me a commit and I would love to take a look on the site of the outfit to get an idea about your characters personal style!

DIY Body Powder, Perfume, and Room Deodorizer!

I created a Jasmine Nutmeg Body Powder, Energizing Blend Perfume, and Energizing Blend Room Deodorizer from recipes I found online. I will put the link below to the sites and I will put pictures of my finished products below as well. I hope you enjoy and try these at home if you like!

I used garage sale tie on labels to write what was in each of the containers. I used a 2 oz. Finger Spritzer Spray Bottles from Wal Mart for $0.97 each. I bought a dark blue plastic one instead of glass as is suggested when putting products with Essential Oils.

I bought plastic as it is cheaper and I won’t reuse on anything else and I wasn’t too worried about the plastic leaching into the spray. I did however use a really dark blue bottle so it would last a bit longer as light wouldn’t penetrate it as much as a clear bottle. However if you prefer you can buy amber or blue glass as is suggested.

I bought two glass cheese jars from Dollar Tree for $1 each. Any container will work as long as it has a lid with holes but I bought the jars as they already had holes, so I wouldn’t have to punch them myself and the jars are attractive even if they are said to be cheese jars. My Jasmine Nutmeg Body Powder I leave in my bathroom and the Energizing Blend Room Deodorizer I leave in my bedroom and both turned out wonderful.

I bought Grapefruit Essential Oil, Lavender Essential Oil, and Jasmine Blended Oil at Wal Mart for $5.97 each. They are by Natures Bounty Earthly Elements. I will put a picture below of them. Though people may be skeptic about buying Essential Oils at Wal Mart I tried it and I am fully satisfied by the brand and price. Given price plus shipping and handling of online Essential and Blended oils this price is a bargain but you aren’t sacrificing quality at all. The price and product are wonderful in my opinion but I am new to using Essential and Blended Oils but I am satisfied.  

In the recipe it gives examples of Body Powders to make but they say make what ever kind you like and I did just that. I fell in love with Bodycology Enchanted Forest Body Sprays smell so I decided to mimic it in my Body Powder as the Bodycology Enchanted Forest Body Spray used Jasmine, Nutmeg, and Musk.

Mine: Jasmine Nutmeg Body Powder

½ Cup Cornstarch

¼ Cup Baking Soda

½ Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

5-6 Drops Jasmine Blended Oil (Jasmine Blended Oil was blended with Jasmine, Sweet Almond Oil and Vitamin E Oil)

I combined the Cornstarch and Baking Soda and Ground Nutmeg in the glass jars and then I slowly added 5-6 Drops of Jasmine Blended Oil and whisked it all together.

It is my favorite fragrance so far. I absolutely love it. It has a romantic exotic fragrance and I sometimes just go sniff it and it uplifts me. It is wonderful all over the body or I have even used it as a dry deodorant. The Jasmine Nutmeg Body Powder has held its fragrance and I have only broken up the clumps once so far.

Now the Energizing Blend Room Deodorizer I took the fragrance recipe from the Energizing Blend Body Spray by adding drops of Grapefruit and Lavender Essential Oils to the Baking Soda, I used about 5-7 drops Grapefruit and 3-4 drops Lavender in the Room Deodorizer.

The Energizing Blend Body Spray I found doesn’t really hold its fragrance well on the skin but is better when sprayed in the air. On the body you can’t smell it well unless you put your nose straight up to the skin and so no one would smell it unless they were right on you sniffing your skin or kissing you, so maybe would do well on date night! ;~)

I hope you enjoy and try some of this yourself! If you have any questions or comments just leave them below in the comment section and I will respond as soon as I can!

 

Websites For DIY Body Powder, Body Spray, and Air Freshener Recipes:

 

Homemade Beauty Gift Idea: Luxurious Body Dusting Powder-  http://www.crunchybetty.com/homemade-beauty-gift-idea-luxurious-body-dusting-powder 

Basic Body Spra/ Engergizing Body Spray- http://www.thankyourbody.com/natural-body-spray-recipe/

DIY Air Freshener using Essential Oils- http://doterrablog.com/diy-make-your-own-natural-air-freshener-with-essential-oils/ 

Wasp Sting! Ouch Relief!

Last year I was going outside to meet my parents and there was a wasp’s nest above the outside light by the front door. As I yelled Hi to my parents I noticed two black things dive at me. I put up my arms instinctively and realized I was being attacked by wasps. I ran back inside the house. Fortunately I had put my arms up and they got stung not my face or throat or chest. I felt the pain all the way to the bone, it hurt that bad!

I hated having to have it done but my dad sprayed the nest and killed the wasps and then knocked the nest down. We have kept them at bay since then. They are pretty defensive little creatures and I hate killing them but they are not a very welcoming presence at the front door or back yard where they are even worse, always diving at us and so we have to spray their hideaway nests when we find them.

So the pictures below, which by the way the reason I remembered to add this now was I was cleaning out old pictures from my phone and found these, are of before, during, and after my parents old fashioned treatment. They took baking soda and put a little water on it and made a paste. They spread it on the places on my wrist where I was stung. Once the paste dried and caked and chipped off I rinsed the rest of it off and added some more paste. It felt cold and relieved the pain a lot to my surprise. The redness and pain went away faster than doing nothing.

This Baking Soda and Water Paste will be my go to on stings from now on! I thought to share it, though some might already know this little old fashioned yet still effective trick!

 

 < Right After Sting!

 < Paste Treatment!

 After First Paste Treatment and Before Second Baking Soda Paste Treatment! >

 < After Final Paste Treatment! Reduced Redness!

2013, 2014, and 2015 Regional Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses!

I seemed to have run out of time and forgotten to blog about the last 3 Summer Regional Conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses which I attended in the summers of 2013, 2014, and 2015, well actually I go every year but I just wanted to blog about these as they are the most recent. I waited to blog after each so I wouldn’t spoil it for others who still hadn’t attended but then time went by and I forgot to blog about it. So I decided to blog here about the Theme of each and share pictures.

2013 Theme: God’s Word is Truth Location: Springfield, Missouri

2014 Theme: Keep Seeking First God’s Kingdom Location: St. Charles, Missouri, ours was in Kansas City, Missouri but we went to my sisters in St. Charles, Missouri

2015 Theme: Imitate Jesus! Location: Springfield, Missouri

They were wonderful conventions which lasted three days, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. They were chock full of wonderful information. I greatly enjoyed them. I can’t say much about this year as some still haven’t attended and I don’t want them to stumble on this blog and it spoil it but this years convention had so many wonderful visuals and so many wonderful ways to Imitate Jesus and how that will impact for the good our lives.

EDIT Sept. 07, 2015: I just now realized I did post about the 2013 Convention and added the below pictures under that post back in July 2013, LOL, I can't believe I forgot I posted it! But since I already added the 2013 conventions pictures and theme already here I will just go ahead and leave it below and at the original post. If you wish you can go to the July 2013 posts to find the orginal post about that convention.

                                              2013 Convention Theme: God’s Word is Truth

2014 Convention Theme: Keep Seeking First God’s Kingdom

 

 

 < My Brother-in-law Karl is in the Picture, he worked on the Audio-Vidio-Information Technology Commitee at that Convention.

2015 Convention Theme: Imitate Jesus!

When it Rains it Pours, When it Pours the Roof Caves In

Man when it rains it pours, when it pours the roof caves in, when the roof caves in you get swept upstream without a paddle and boat. I am so tired of all the bad news that seems unending. When we think things are going well something comes and crashes down on us. 

I know there are people in worse shape in the world but when we get hit we feel like it can’t get any worse.

I know though that Jehovah God won’t let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. 1 Corinthians 10:13- 13 No temptation has come upon you except what is common to men. But God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but along with the temptation he will also make the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

I pray that good news comes to my family soon!

Musings of a Lonely Writer! ----- My Characters Love Lives are Better than Mine

So this time in my Musings of a Lonely Writer segment I will be writing about my characters having way better love lives than I, I know I am probably going to regret admitting this, lol!

Okay so I write primarily Young Adult Novels and what is a Young Adult Novel without even just a hint of romance, even just a teeny tiny love sub-plot works. Romances are sub-plots in all my novels as the adventure, the goal of the characters or the dangerous intrigue are the main-plots.

So when I write about my characters often times a romantic element will pop up for said character, which some of those scenes are fun to write but often leave me mortified as I want no one I know to read them, lol, but I will leave this to my next Musings of a Lonely Writer segment entitled, Musings of a Lonely Writer! ----- Minimalist Intimate Scenes Between Characters Mortify Me.

Any how so some of my favorite characters have had some amazing romances, I mean the kind to make you swoon, even if a bit unrealistic, cause who wants a totally realistic relationship in fiction all the time. I love a far too perfect relationship than the ones that make it so real I hate the characters for it, lol, as you can see I am not only complicated but picky about what I like in a novel relationship.

Now we get to the real nitty-gritty center of things. So I have had some amazing characters fall in love and though I do throw in some troubles I tend to keep them perfectly in love and so maybe that has made me dysfunctional in my thoughts of real relationships and love.

As part of my religion we don’t date until we are ready for marriage. I always thought I would marry young and have kids young. As time went by I didn’t find a man I wanted to date, I’ve been asked out but I was young and wasn’t looking for anything serious and the guys were not of my religion so I said no. So I will admit I have never been on a date and I am 27 years old.

Now my thoughts and views have changed on real relationships and I am not sure I want one but at times I do, so way complicated I know, lol. I know if I get in a relationship the guy will be nothing like my male heroes in my novels and it sort of freaks me out. I mean I know guys in real life are real, not fictional so I know they will have faults, foibles, issues of all kinds but I mean who wouldn’t want to have a guy be like the kind of guy in a novel!

My characters seem to not only be more out going they are better in the way they live, love, raise families, ect. It’s a bit infuriating but then again I do write about them so maybe I give them everything I don’t have. In some ways I don’t want what they have but in other ways I kind of do. I feel right now that I can’t handle dating a guy that is liable to be so real I can’t stand it, lol.

Plus no guy I know even makes me want to think of dating them and I gather they feel the same about me because it’s been ages since I was last asked out. I started to even question if something was wrong with my looks, personality ect. But who needs those worries in their life so I quickly put it out of my head, well maybe not completely, lol!

***

So anyway I thought I would share a bit about my Favorite Couple-

Princess Jadzia Elizabeth Van ton and Jedrek. These two are two of my youngest couples and they are in, “The Green Haven Series”. They I call my Romeo and Juliet couple without all the dying.

Though I have had many wonderful couples in my novels Jadzia and Jedrek take the top spot because of the time and way their relationship blooms. It is a tumultuous time where the kingdom they reside in is on the brink or war. Jadzia is a Princess of a race that Jedrek’s race hates with a passion.

So when Jadzia and Jedrek’s races try to band together it is a very tricky and dangerous thing. Jadzia is young and helps Jedrek who feels older than his young age to finally be able to be young and enjoy his youth. It starts as a friendship and then progresses to more.

Jadzia and Jedrek made me laugh and cry and feel as if I were really along with them on the dangerous trip as Star Crossed Lovers who get a better ending than the couple they copy, Romeo and Juliet. Jadzia and Jedrek get a seemingly content happily ever after.

***

I used to be a hopeless romantic *see definition below* but I’ve seen so many friends and family members relationships end so badly it makes me realize how real and hurtful it can be. Maybe that has damaged me or my view of relationships and love. They tell me don’t let what happened to them stop me but in a way it does because I don’t trust easily and I would hate to put trust where it doesn’t belong or with someone who shatters my trust in them. So maybe that is why my characters relationships are so good even when they lean a bit toward realistic, because I don’t want my characters to suffer bad romances.

Maybe I am just so confused about what I want and don’t want for myself but know fully what I want and don’t want for my characters because with them its not real so no damage done but in real life damage can be done.

** Here is the best definition of a Hopeless Romantic: This person is in love with love. They believe in fairy tales and love. They're not to be confused as stalkers or creepy because that's not what a hopeless romantic is. All hopeless romantics are idealists, the sentimental dreamers, the imaginative and the fanciful when you get to know them. They often live with rose colored glasses on. They make love look like an art form with all the romantic things they do for their special someone.

My View Years Ago about being a Hopeless Romantic is: I liked to believe and hear love stories, I loved to see people in love. I believed in fairy tales and hoped some day to have a love story of my own to tell. I hoped, I dreamed and I thought being a writer and avid reader led to me being more of a Hopeless Romantic.

My Views now: I still tend to believe in fairy tales and true love as I know these kinds of relationships are a gift from Jehovah God and should be viewed as a gift. I have just never really seen or experienced the kind of love that would make me view myself any longer as a Hopeless Romantic.

I don’t have rose colored glasses on, I view things the way they are and sometimes that takes a toll on my stories. When I was younger the sweet sentimental love played out in my novels and now my stories tend to go darker in all aspects and the love is portrayed differently now. I often times wish I could see the world and relationships as I did when I was 17 verses 27, and that I could bring that to my stories again. **

Maybe these quotes which I love can have more meaning for me and others.

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance. -- Oscar Wilde *Maybe for now being okay and loving myself and what I have should be where I start before I look for another to love me and for me to love them.*

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined. - Henry David Thoreau *Maybe I don’t want romance yet because there are still things or dreams  I want to accomplish on my own before I start a journey with another person. Things change and so maybe what I always imagined having changed when I didn’t realize it. Maybe what the future holds will be better then what I imagined at first.*

So maybe for now I am slightly alright flying solo until I find some who makes me see reality is better than fiction. A guy who makes me see how great real can be and who could make my male heroes feel like they can’t hold a candle to him, lol! Someone to start a journey with that will far outshine any journey my characters have taken.

Or maybe I find out a solo journey through life is all I will get and I should make the best of it. Maybe exploring the world alone and embracing singleness is what I am to do. I will just have to see where this life leads me. Being 27 years old is not the end. I have many wonderful years ahead of me, and hopefully many wonderful stories, characters, and characters journeys.

This has been Musings of a Lonely Writer and until next time if you feel as I do about feeling your characters have better love lives than you drop me a comment in the comment section of this post, or if you simply have anything to say leave a comment and I would be glad to read it. Remember to Keep Reading, Keep Writing, Keep Inspiring, and above all Love Yourself no matter your relationship status, love yourself the way you are now and don’t feel bad if your characters have way better love lives, or at least come to accept it as I have, lol!

Musings of a Lonely Writer! ----- Living Vicariously Through My Characters

I’ve wanted to write a section like this for a while but have put it off, until now!

So today I am going to talk about living vicariously through my characters. I admit as sad as it is that I do tend to live vicariously through my characters in many ways. They are everything that I am not. They tend to be extroverts, vocal, strong, sassy, bold, say it as it is kind of characters. They have many flaws but for the most part they are exciting, adventurous, fun people. I’ve seen the dangers though of living through a character full time so I obviously know the line between reality and my characters lives (I call- characteralities) but I always think theirs lives are so much more fun.

I am the total opposite of them. I am an introvert and people tend to call me shy. Sometimes I don’t like to talk and other times I do. I will talk a lot to people I know well but they also know sometimes I just want to listen but not put much into the conversation. Sometimes around people in large group settings I like to just be ignored, be a viewer but not a participator, but then I am sad when I am ignored, I know crazy right, lol!

I hate social situations, don’t get me wrong I have friends and always have but I hate social situations such as parties. At parties I don’t spend all my time with my friends, I usually wind up sitting alone bored out of my mind and just wanting to go home.

Also I am way better at talking to people online. I can put myself out there a bit more because I am not in front of them. When I am talking to people face to face I get nervous, my face reddens, I get sweaty a bit and am at a loss for what to say but afterwards I think of a ton of things I should have said and want to kick myself for not saying it and being more open and sassy as my comments I think of afterwards would be just as sassy as some of my characters can be.

I didn’t start this post out to make it sound depressing! I just want to make a point that as a writer we often tend to be lonesome people because writing is usually a lonesome task. I talk to my writer friends about my stories but for the most part it is a solitary endeavor, which often times that solitary part of writing goes into our day to day lives. However the majority of writers are extroverted, talkative people and don’t have the same problems as some writers do.

I think maybe my overactive imagination and writing has been an escape from problems and things going on in my life in the real world. Going into a fantastical setting or just simply somewhere else in a normal setting on earth has been a way to explore other ways to live, through those characters adventures. It has been a hindrance in a way though because I think of my characters and their stories far too much, even in social situations and it leaves me completely unaware when some guy shows an interest in me too, lol! My friends will tell me of some guy that was checking me out or clearly flirting and I am totally at a loss because I didn’t realize it.

I know it is sad but my characters are more real to me than real people sometimes. I know that is probably not healthy but like I’ve said I know where the line is to reality and I don’t live too much in a fantasy world. Though I’ll admit I love to daydream and regular dream about my characters sometimes. In my dreams I am my characters and I love it.

I don’t think it is all that bad to live a little in a characters shoes as long as you come back to reality in the end, lol!

 I think it would be fun too when ordering coffee or drinks or something to give a characters name instead of yours or introduce yourself to a total stranger you won’t ever meet again and give them your characters name, though if you do meet again and tell them the truth they may think your crazy or a liar. Then again it may be the start to a fun new friendship, who knows and I am not responsible for any outcome should you do so, lol! Though I will say never pretend to be a character when the stakes are high and you have to tell the truth, don’t pretend then!

 I often think too it would be fun for one day to dress, talk, and act like one of my characters as a sort of experiment into how others view me and how I feel afterwards about that character. Though I’m afraid I will end up viewed as crazy or eccentric, I have been called eccentric before. I wonder if pretending to be one of my characters would give me the courage to be bolder when I am just me, hmm, I might try it and I will definitely fill you all in about it and may show a few pictures of what I will look like as one of my character, lol! :~)

I am hoping what I have written maybe helps others who feel similar in even a small way. I hope what I wrote makes since as I was kind of all over the place, lol. I hope too that I don’t regret writing this but I try not to regret any posts I blog about.

If anyone has any similar experiences with living vicariously through your characters or have times where you are lonely and think it is because of being a writer or an introvert or simply want to just tell me anything leave a comment in the comment section of this post. I would love to hear from anyone!

This has been Musings of a Lonely Writer and until next time I send my best regards and say Keep Writing, Keep Inspiring and don’t forget I don’t think it’s all that bad to live in your characters shoes for just a little while as long as you come back to reality in the end, lol!

Edit: June 14, 2015

I think in a way that readers get to explore and sometimes get drawn into and live vicariously through a fictitious character as well but they have the advantage of talking to others about the wonderful or scary or fun or adventurous characters they read about. Since writers are privy to worlds, realities and characters that others haven’t gotten to really explore yet is what also makes us writers feel different, lonely, and often a little odd for living in that reality too much. Others don’t want to hear often about characters that the rest of the world hasn’t gotten to read about yet. 

 

But being privy to worlds others haven’t explored yet is what I think makes writers lives even more special. We get more than a readers glimpse into these characters realities. They tell us their tale and we tell others what they have to say. I know they are not real but when I tell others about them I often say they tell me their story and I get a weird reaction but I laugh because it does feel as if the characters are letting me tell others about them. I don’t think that is unhealthy because doing it that way allows us to go at a story in a unique way.

Dark and Light Blue Flower Ribbon Head Band

I had wanted to make a headband to go with my new blue and white maxi dress so when I was looking at Michaels I saw a pack of light and dark blue felt flowers with little blue gems in the center of the flowers. The colors of the flowers match the colors of my dress so I bought them. A while later I bought the ribbon as I realized white would look better than the other color ribbons I have at home.

It took some thinking to decide on the design I chose but any design will work. I attached the flowers to each other and the ribbon with hot glue. I attached each center flower to the ribbon first and then I attached the edges of the other flowers carefully to each center flower. Then I quickly hot glued the attached flowers that needed to be glued to the ribbon.

I really liked the out come and have already worn it. I am still a tad nervous the flowers will pop off as it was a bit difficult to hot glue them without making a mess to the top of the flowers. Felt flowers are hard to work with, easy to hot glue but hard to get excess glue off when you mess up.

Oh and by the way the picture of how I put the pony tales at the end to make it more maneuverable is the way I did on the other ribbon head bands as well.

 

Michaels- One Pack of Light and Dark Blue Felt Flowers- $1.50

Dollar Tree- White Sheer Ribbon- $1.00

 

Jergens Natural Glow Turned Me Orange and Streaky

I bought a small trial size bottle of Jergens Natural Glow sunless tanner moisturizing lotion just to see if it would work on me. I tried it on my arms, neck, and by mistake my face, it was a doh! stupid moment for me, lol! The second day after streaking and becoming orange on day one I tried it on my belly to see what it did there. On both days it turned certain areas orange and streaky and others nothing happened.

On my face around the forehead and by the eyes it looks like foundation that isn’t smoothed out. Between the eyes it looks like an orange dot that makes me look like I have a uni-brow, lol. My neck got really orange and streaky. I didn’t take a picture of my stomach but it made really dirty orange spots like I had dirt on me but I obviously didn’t as I put the Jergens Natural Glow lotion on after a shower. Oh yeah I applied it just like a lotion as it said to do but it had a weird reaction on me, obviously.

I don’t know if my skin is too light or I applied it wrong or it just doesn’t work for everyone. My sister who is as light skinned as I am had the same reaction before. She didn’t tell me about her reaction to it until I had bought the small trial size and tried it on myself. I am glad I didn’t buy a huge bottle or I would have gotten in contact with Jergen’s for a refund because it didn’t work on me but fortunately I only paid $1.97 for a trial size. I still feel it was a waste because I don’t know what to do with the trial size bottle now; I don’t want to just throw it away.

The orange spots have gone away now after a few face washes and showers. My mom keeps pointing out she can see orange around my neck but I don’t see it.

So I don’t know how well it works on some other people but I warn anyone who tries it to try it on their stomach or a place on their body that is covered by clothing just in case it turns them orange or streaks. Don’t put it on your face like I did, I am just glad it didn’t turn my whole face orange or streaky.

Oh and by the way the pictures don’t look half as bad as they did in person! Oh and enjoy the picture that shows the bags under my eyes, lol! And the popped eyes look, lol!