Writing Prompt From #writemotivation Google+ Group

I think I may post these here as well as on my Google+ account.  It's amazing what comes to mind when you have something random placed in front of you that has nothing at all to do with the current works on your plate.

May 25 Daily Writing Prompt: "With bleary eyes she approached the machine"

With bleary eyes, she approached the machine.  While she did have her glasses on, the items still appeared to be one huge blur with distinct points making themselves visible the closer she got.  Deep in the back of her sleep riddled mind, she cursed the machine for the very things it held within its grasp.  She hated anything coming out the old vending machines.

To make things worse, it was a vending machine in the 'breakfast room' of the motel, if it could even be called that, she took refuge from the storm in the night before.  The place looked like it had seen better years before a war against time took chips out of the pain and chunks out of the brick and mortar.  It wasn't someplace she willingly wanted to stay in.  The roaches could keep it for all she cared, as long as they left her alone and didn't try to hitch a ride in the trailer she was pulling.

Now, it was barely sunrise and she needed to get back on the road before traffic got too thick to manage with her rig.  All she needed was something to eat.  Stale chips, half melted candy bars, pretzels that no one wanted to touch let alone eat.  A few packs of gum, but that wouldn't be able to do much about her hunger.

How she dreamed to have an omelette willed with ham, mushrooms, and peppers, a cup of coffee that smelled like it was ground that morning and a pile of hash browns that would make any trucker die from the grease lingering about the plate beneath it all.  Drooling, she smacked her lips then saw, with fresh eyes, the poor excuse for a meal in front of her hiding behind the plexiglass shield of the machine.

She sighed then pushed herself away from the machine.  "Maybe there's something better down the road," she said to herself as she headed back to her room and prepare to leave the nightmarish domain of the roadside motel.

Midweek Thoughts and #writemotivation Goals

It has been a while since I did a midweek post.  All sorts of things, including my mental well-being, got in the way of making my appointed posts.  Facebook is one of those things which got in the way with its shiny time consuming games.  I really should trim those back again.  A few more appeared out of the aether again to tempt me into spending more time away from writing and studying again.

You heard correctly, I said studying.  The studying I was supposed to do to earn my insurance license.  That exam was for today.  No, I did not pass.  I failed miserably, but they did do a break down so I know where to focus my studying for the next exam.  Underwriting got me the most and the rest was how they worded the questions and the lists answers.  I know the material, but sadly, my normal study habits were lacking a couple of things which help a lot.  The good news is I can keep trying until I pass and I WILL pass.  Eventually.

Once I pass the exam, I'll have a job.  So, tomorrow is a brain break to get myself back into the groove for the exam again.  Also, tomorrow is therapy day for my son so there's not a lot of time to give the attention to the eight chapters on Underwriting, life insurance, medical insurance, and the state regulations and such.  I will be bringing one of the chapters with me to read just to help pass the time instead of playing games on my smart phone.

I don't know if anyone else has seen the news release that Amazon is setting up a fanfic section of their Kindle release books.  When I first heard it, I thought... Why?  Why would someone want to make it possible for an unknown who loves to write fanfic (there are precious few who can actually write well enough to be worth publishing.  One of the girls in my NanO group is proof of that).  Then, I got a peek at the rules Amazon wants the would-be authors to follow. 

Now, anyone with a lick of sense will know that this is a bad idea if a big corporation is involved.  Amazon wants people to write in the worlds they have licenced.  To make matters worse, in the terms of use, they will screw over the person who has written the fanfic by taking ownership of the copyright, whether the characters are their own within that world or not.  Now, the would-be author would get royalties, but the original author gets a tidy percentage of that.

My thoughts on that?  A big resounding NO!  Capitol N Capitol O.  NO.  If that isn't screwing someone over just to get more stuff written in a particular world, I don't know what is.  The co-ml for my city's Nano group put it best in her post The Future of Fanfiction.  Rebekah couldn't have put it better.  Me?  I sound like I'm on a rant.

It's a good thing and it's a bad thing.  Either way, I am taking no part of it.  What fanfiction I write will either remain on my hard drive or published with proper credit on my forums, OR, if I am lucky enough to get permission to use their world and characters, I'll publish it on SmashWords or someplace similar.  I will not go for shady shenanigans like Amazon is trying to pull.

Enough of the semi-rant, on to the goals!

Header image and thumbnail photograph by Hugh Lee and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sahlgoode/

1) Get a job or at the very least attend five interviews for a job.

Only three interviews this month, but, there's still a week to get the other two in.  But, I do have a job, sort of.  I say sort of because I need to pass the state exam for Life and Health insurance.  I'll keep retaking until I pass.

2) Edit/revise five chapters of Society of Night and Lies.

There weren't quite five chapters left before I sent the fir 11 chapters out to the beta readers.  I'm still kind of toying with chapter 11 now because a great idea has popped into my brain on how to put more tension into the plot.

3) Write two chapters of Black Friday 2.

I haven't touched this one, yet.  Too many other things took precedence.  I'll be working on this one shortly.  Might get one chapter done before the 31st.

4) Exercise twice a week.

Ummmm... not quite there, but I am working on it.  Got one day down for this week.  The rest will come soon enough.

How has your week been?

Don't forget to donate to your favorite disaster relief fund!  People in Moore, OK, and elsewhere need your help.

Weekly Update #writemotivation

I forget if this is week two or week three for the #writemotivation checks.  Which ever it may be, I am finally making.  Better late than never.  Right?

This has been one of those weeks that seemed busier than what it really was.  I had an interview Monday and got this moving to start selling insurance.  I don't plan on sticking with insurance sales.  It's something to bring money in while I look for something more stable and less stressful on my car.  There will be a lot of driving with this company.  No sitting behind a desk and making phone calls.  At least this company, American Income and Life, is legit and no pyramid scheme from what I can tell.  It also isn't like trying sell a Hyla (a vacuum system thingy) either which is a life saver.

Most I'll have to do is get a new laptop because the one I have now is getting old and I don't think anyone was to run my power cord to an outlet.  Not to mention, I'll have to clean it up and get rid of my pretty stickers and shinies on the lid.  Also, there are a few keys missing thanks to my tom cat.  Silly thing that he is.

Well, on to the checks:

1) Get a job or at the very least attend five interviews for a job.

Well, this one is coming along.  Two interviews down.  Technically, I have a job now, I'm studying for my health and life insurance license.  Not very fun.  :P

2) Edit/revise five chapters of Society of Night and Lies.

I've paused at chapter 11 to send out the willing vic... err beta readers.  Their input will help continue on with the rest and, of course, I those first pages need to be good enough to start querying.  I have done two chapters before sending out this part, so three more to go.

3) Write two chapters of Black Friday 2.

Haven't touched this one, yet.  Don't worry, I will.

4) Exercise twice a week.

Um... I have exercised once this week.  In all honesty, it was walking around three different grocery stores in one day.  It was something!

(Not So) Quiet Weekend Trip

Among the people in my Nano group, there were several of us who had plans for this weekend.  Some went to OWFI and came back with accolades worthy of a party.  Others had things to do; such as writing or doing things around the house.  Then, there are those like me who were going to take a little trip out of state for reasons in the realm of visiting with friends, family, and/or relaxation.

Most, I am sure, enjoyed their weekend no matter what they did or what happened.  I know mine was great and I have the pictures posted on Facebook as proof.  Both of my boys together, meeting for the first time, and getting along as well as a teenager and little kid can.  Amazingly, no grudges or shouting matches were heard.  But, then again, we were there only for the weekend.

But, that great weekend came with a price.  Before the worry warts jump up and go crazy or the sadists start to smile, let me say this: No one was hurt and my mom and I are glad that God gave us mud.

Don't laugh!  If it weren't for mud, this blog would either be done from a hospital or a Memorium post written by my boyfriend before passing it all into the archives.  Honestly, I should have written this Friday night after we arrived at the hotel and unpacked.  I should have, but I somehow forgot to bring the power supply for my laptop and the battery just doesn't hold a charge for very long.

To start things off, neither mom or I had a lot of sleep.  She only had two hours after getting all her stuff washed and together.  Me?  I had only four hours or so thanks to Caffeine, my neutered tom cat, wanting to get frisky with Hylie while I was sleeping.  His meowing woke me up and he, naturally, got punted onto the floor with a sleep aimed kick in the tail and a few swipes from Hylie.  Not a good start to any long drive.

The first hour or so of the trip was fine, but, when we were coming up on Fort Smith near Van Buren, things went scary.  I was dozing since I didn't need to count the change for the toll booths again until our return trip.  Mom, bless her soul, was driving and didn't want to wake me up because I was snoring.  Colin was secure in the back seat playing his Nabi (kid's tablet).  She fell asleep as we were coming to a curve in the interstate.

We safely crossed over then went into the median.  The rumble strips woke the both of us up very quickly.  While she fought to control the car, I was clamping down tightly and envisioning the car (a HHR for the curious) rolling over as we went down the steeper part of the ground through mud.  The mud slowed us down safely and brought us to a complete stop some six to eight feet before the ground level took a serious dip into a stand of trees that could have done serious harm to us and the car.

Pardon the language, but it scared the crap back into me.  I could not go until we were in the hotel later that night.  Both mom and I were about to have a coronary.  Because she was in shock, I took control and assessed the situation by making sure she was okay then checking on Colin.  The poor little guy literally had the pee scared out of him and he was upset we were going to be mad at him for it.

While I was trying to calm him down, a car that was behind us stopped to make sure we were okay.  The woman even stayed until we knew, for sure, there was help on the way and that none of us were seriously hurt.  She did give us her cell number and the number to the Highway Patrol station she worked at for in case we needed her for insurance purposes.  As of this post, I have no idea where that piece of paper went.  *flails*

Thank all that is holy that mom has AAA.  We had to wait about 30 to 45 minutes for the tow truck to get to us.  We really didn't need it according to the driver, but we did need his help getting the car out of the mud.  The only real damage the car got was a chunk of sidewall taken out of the front driver's tire, and the (already) worn shocks and struts leaking to go along with a couple of scratches in the paint.

We got off lucky.  God was definitely watching over us that day.

After getting those few things taken care of (a two and a half hour wait mind you) we took off for Searcy, AR.  After another hour, mom passed the keys to me and I took us in to see my eldest son before we settled in for the night at the hotel.  He got big over the years and quite handsome.

The rest of the weekend went by nice and slow with me finding a lot of familiar faces at the first Wal-Mart I worked in, and got the low down on what all had changed since I moved six years ago.  Other than my son, the one person I wanted to connect with the most had to work so we couldn't get together for a few laughs.  Still, it was fun.

Adam W. Cooper Class of 2013

The big event, Adam's Graduation, was the highlight, of course.  He studied his tail off so he wouldn't have to take the final exams.  Considering he took college preparatory classes, he did very well, carrying an A average.  He may not have made top honors, but he did very well in my book.  But, then again, he did inherit my intelligence and artistic ability.

I'm happy that I was able to be there.  That's one son graduated and one more to go.  Colin might make it if he settles down and controls his impulsiveness.

Right now, I'm happy to be home and back in my own bed.  While I didn't have a serious injury from the accident, I know I hurt a muscle or two in my back.  Dr. Cole will be able to take care of that when I go in to see him.  I'll also be taking Colin along, too.  Best to be sure nothing was damaged than to have something crop up later from it.

Now, for those wondering about my #writemotivation...

Header image and thumbnail photograph by Hugh Lee and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sahlgoode/

1) Get a job or at the very least attend five interviews for a job.

I had an assessment today with AT&T.  I should know more very soon

2) Edit/revise five chapters of Society of Night and Lies.

I got started, but lack of power cord prevented much from being done.

3) Write two chapters of Black Friday 2.

Need to get started on this one.

4) Exercise twice a week.

Working on this one.  Grocery shopping doesn't count, but I did do a lot of walking Thursday to start this one.

Interesting News

Those who are following me on Facebook may have seen my status update about my job interview today.  The rest of you… you now know.

As far as first interviews go, it went well.  Instead of the usual one on one, they brought in a group of us and told us all about the company (American Life Income), and their own goals before telling us what they were wanting from us.  Not a whole lot is expected of us, really, and it was a pyramid scheme like my first gut feeling said when I first saw the conference room.

It went well, and they want their people to take some initiative in getting the company out there but they provide the leads, not us writing down lists of people we may or may not know.  There’ll be training, of course, and a license to get, but nothing unexpected as far as fees.  What they do need their people to have is a laptop.  Thankfully, I have that ready and waiting even if it is four years old.

Once I have the spare cash, I’ll be getting a newer laptop and/or a tablet or netbook for work.  That is, of course, I get a second interview and they like me well enough to take the risk.  I know I can do the job and become a good leader.  It’s are they willing to take the chance.

I’m ready to take the chance, so I‘m 50% there already.  Cross your fingers.  I need all the prayers, hope, and luck I can get.

Frantic Friday!

Instead of a Black Friday post, which, in another meaning of the phrase, this is definitely a Frantic Friday.  Well, I can honestly say, by the time of this post, this post can be classified as a Saturday post.  It has been one of those days all around and it started much the same as any other day.  Then... suddenly... BOOM!  Not in the good way, either.

What I'll be writing is more to keep things straight in my mind for future reference should I need to go to court over what has happened.  I'm sure I will, but knowing my son, he is as much at fault here, too.  He doesn't seem to understand that what his father and I tell him is good advice.

The day started normal with the usual yelling match to get him to get ready for school.  He's still grounded from watching his shows so he was upset, but he was still happy and willing to get off to school.  The day is good.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  No phone calls from the school.  ect, ect, ect... Ad nauseum.

I note the time at 2:23PM that we should expect him to come through the door from school and be ready to go play with his friends.  I was planning to have him help me clean out the car so we can get his grandmother too and from the place she's getting an oil change, new tires, wipers, and a few other things to prepare for our big trip to Arkansas for Adam's graduation. (He has grown up way to fast.)

About the time I was getting ready to gather things to clean the car, we get a phone call.  Someone named Mary Love.  I don't know who, but it could be about a job and it is local.  Instead, the call is about my son.  He was bitten by a dog and was bleeding badly.  She had already called 911 for an ambulance.  The fire truck arrived first for in case the dog was loose and trying to attack again.  I arrive on the scene when the fire truck was pulling in.  From there, it becomes chaos.

Colin is screaming, his foot hurt really bad.  While I tried to calm him down so the first responders can assess the damage and prepare for the ambulance, I learn who saved him.  A sweet older woman who lives in the duplexes near by and she happened to be close enough to yank him out of the dog's mouth before the animal could pull him through the hole in the fence.  Another of the dog's neighbors witnessed the saving, but didn't see what caused it to attack a child going by.

Let me state right here that my son is insanely curious and a lover of all animals.  He has been raised around cats and ferrets and has been around dogs under controlled circumstances.  He knows any of them could hurt him if he wasn't careful.  Considering we do have two cats, the dog could have smelled them on him.  Or, another child could have aggravated the dog and Colin was the one it saw.  Or, and I wouldn't put it pass him, Colin might have accidentally put the dog on guard and it attacked because of something he did.  All three fit the scenario.  But the kids who were gathered are all within the same grade level (3rd grade) and live either in our apartment complex or in the houses nearby.

Colin is ADHD and is impulsive as well as problems with defiance which is being treated through his therapy and the medication he's taking.  Who knows what is going through his mind at any particular moment unless he's sleeping or playing a game on the computer or his tablet.  The last he wanted to do was to make any animal mad enough to attack.

Until today, I had no idea this dog was there.  All I could see of it through the fence was a decent sized dog.  When it poked its head through the hole it tried to drag my son through, I could see that it had to be a Shephard mix.  The muzzle and shape of the face was that of a German Shepard.  Beautiful creature.  Still, it tasted blood and it could be even more dangerous now as a result.

Back to the subject:

When I saw his foot, there was a large section of skin pulled back on the top of his foot.  You could see the tendons clearly, ligaments, and muscle.  Of course, lots of blood, but not as much as I first feared.  He is very lucky that the major artery that runs across the top of the foot wasn't cut or nicked by those sharp teeth.  There are other lacerations across the top where his shoe gave way to the jaws but they weren't near as bad.  What I could see, there was still good color in his toes so no huge blood loss.  The rest we wouldn't know until later.  At the hospital. /cringe and shudder

No one can say Colin was difficult.  He knew what the medics were doing.  He answered their questions between shouts of pain.  He hurt very bad but kept his wits about him, even when they asked him about his favorite games and other questions to help distract him.  He is a little trooper and handled himself better than most adults in similar situations.

He made me very proud of him for his behavior and willingness to let strangers take care of his big owie.  :D  Even better, he gave Miss Love our number so we'd know what had happened.  We would have noticed within a few minutes regardless because he is very punctual coming home from school.

At the hospital, we learn the extent and it is decided quickly to operate.  Not just to sew up the skin, but to piece together the torn ligaments and tendons they could see.  That's when we learned how close the dog's teeth came to slicing open a major artery.  Hearing that didn't help me much at all.  I was shaking already.  That news made it worse.

Thankfully Dave and mom were there.  Robin had just gotten off her shift and was heading home when the news got to her.  She got me home through the rush hour traffic to get Dave so Colin had both of us there.  He had his three most important people on hand when he went into surgery and I was there when he came out in recovery.  As soon as they could, they got mom and Dave up to his room to help him settle in and talk to the doctor.  He was so happy his daddy brought his tablet to help distract him from the pain in his foot.

I'll be camping out in his room until he's released.  May be Monday from what the nurses said.  The doctor who did the surgery wants to let the swelling go down some more so they can see if any further damage was done.  The pediatric surgeons will decide if more is needed and how we'll progress from there for his healing.  The way it sounds right now, he'll make a full recovery and be able to become a marathon runner when he's older.

Right now, he's in a pain-free sleep.  So angelic looking and peaceful.  David, mom, and I didn't leave until he fell asleep due to the lortab elixir he was given to help the pain.  By then, the adrenaline I was running on was dissipating and my stomach was realizing I hadn't eaten since around noon.  Dinner was close to midnight and I was feeling the effects of blood sugar getting too low.

The last of the tension has run its course now.  I'm tired, but mom-mode never stops until the child is safe and feeling better.  I may get some sleep here in the room.  Who knows.  Just keep my boy in your thoughts for a speedy recovery.

March #writemotivation Roundup

Well, the month ended quietly with a beautiful day and a well cooked meal in my house.  My son was well behaved and ate everything we put on his plate.  On top of that, he loved his Easter gifts and new clothes.  That was all that went well during the month.

It had been a hectic month with long hours and tough days at work which took away a lot of my writing and revising time. Most nights I was too tired to even focus on my emails and other messages let alone try to figure out how to revise one chapter without losing too much of the content.  I did, however, manage to get some done.  Not a lot, but some.

Just a few days before Easter, I lost my job at Wal-Mart.  Which meant I needed to get a few things done before I could focus on anything.  But, I used the extra spare time working on SoNL.  I also spent some extra time with my son, too.  Something he really enjoyed.

So, for now, I am searching for a new job and getting things set up with unemployment and food stamps.  My big priority for now is figuring out what to do with my 401K money.  Other than using some to get this month's bills took care of, I need to invest the rest.  Thankfully, I do have a few good places to talk that over until I make a decision.

1) Finally do the edits and revisions to chapters 8 through 15 on SoNL.

I got to chapter 11 before the month ended.  Saturday saw nothing done due to a lot of shopping both for me, my boyfriend, and my son.  Sunday was spent paying attention to family and food instead of writing.  Family IS more important than any craft.  They are our first inspirations for doing what we do.  At least work was done on it.  Amazingly, I kept almost half of the content of the original chapter.  Chapter ten was so long, I decided to split it up into two chapters, so technically, I did get to chapter 11.

2) Try to come up with a good name for the book itself while I edit.

Sorry, no decent names have popped into my head, yet.  Past Through Shadows as the book name remains and still sounds lame and clunky.

3) Try to write at least one more chapter to Black Friday 2.

I didn't write a thing on this one.  I probably would have gotten some done over the weekend if I wasn't shopping.

4) Brain willing, come up with names for Black Friday 2.

I have a tentative idea for a name, but nothing I'm willing to note, yet.  So, no, incomplete again.  :(

5) Revise the beginning to Test of Ascension

Didn't even touch it.  >.<

6) Pre-write the ABC challenge posts.

I got to the letter M and I am so happy!  Half the alphabet to buffer.  I'll knock out the rest during this week between applications.  So... I guess I can cross this one off.  I got farther than I expected.