Saturday, April 28, 2012

Pintrest

I started pinning this week. I'd like to be able to upload more of my photos, but I seem to have difficulties with that. hmm. Anyway, Pintrest seems interesting. It's strange how people discover you on these sites. I don't know about 90% of the people that repin things, but am glad they're enjoying my pins. :)
On another note, I haven't done anything with my books this week. I've been in so much pain from this stupid crown fiasco that I haven't been able to function. It's been an effort to not snap at everyone I encounter. Two more weeks until the permanent crown is set. Hopefully this one will be better and the pain will disappear.
I've been reading this week, as much as I can to distract myself. I'll post reviews on B&N, Amazon, and Goodreads probably Thursday. I want to finish the two books I'm reading now before I post. I also am working on another project for networking that I think you'll find interesting. As soon as I have it together, I'll let you know!
Anyway, I have to go attempt to paint the cover to Created now. I know what I want it to look like, but I'm really not sure if what's in my head will transpire on canvas. I'm excited to try though! :)

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Pain

I've realized this weekend that I don't handle tooth pain well at all. Not even a little bit.
Short and condensed pain killer induced Story:
Years ago I had a crown placed on a top molar. The dentist I went to said he should've done a root canal, but thought the crown would be okay. He should've done the root canal. I had a very dull pain for about 7 years from that tooth. I adapted and changed my eating habits. A few years ago my insurance changed and I switched Dentists. I absolutely love my new Dentist. He redid my crown, changed it to a root canal and then sent me to a specialist because I still had pain. The specialist told me I was "Special" I had a hidden nerve that doesn't typically show up on x-rays, but affects a small amount of people. He told me that in order to relieve the pain I was having, he'd have to go in, slice my gum open, sever the nerve ending and sew me back up. Seeing as how I typically want to gut someone when they stick a needle in my mouth, I wasn't having any of that.
My dentist ended up filing my tooth a bit so my bite was different. I was finally out of pain and SO HAPPY!!!
He then dropped a bombshell on me: I needed to replace an old, filled cavity with a crown. With my less than pleasant experience with the last crown, I basically told my Dentist where he could stick his drill. :) I wasn't having pain in that tooth so I didn't see any reason to replace the filling with a crown. He sent the pre authorization to my insurance, and God love my husband, he paid for it in advance. I now had no excuse not to get the stupid crown. I scheduled the appointment.
Thursday I went to the Dentist and he fitted me for my temporary crown and sent my tooth mould out so he could get the permanent crown made. He has a new Assistant. I hate new people. I like consistancy. I like to know what I'm going to get and what to expect, especially with the Dentist. New people make me nervous and I'm already agitated enough just going to the Dentist.
Something happened with the temporary crown and it fell off my tooth on Friday. I've felt like someone's been stabbing frozen ice picks through my entire jaw and right ear for three days. I've been nauseated, exhausted and hungry. It hurt to eat, drink and sleep. Basically my life has completely sucked for the past three days.
Today I went back and got the tooth re-cemented. The Assistant informed me that my gum under that tooth was extremely irritated and inflamed. She had the dentist give me some painkillers so I could finally get more than 3 hours of sleep. The best news is I can finally eat!!!! I'm so happy I could cry!
Bottom line: I don't deal with tooth pain well at all. I've been holed up in my bed, reading and trying not to cry since Friday afternoon. This has completely sucked.
The next time my Dentist mentions a crown I may end up showing him where to put his drill....

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Writer's Conference

I went to my first ever Writer's Conference today. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I had fun. It was interesting, informative and forced me to step outside my comfort zone and actually speak to strange people. I swear, the entire time I was there, I thought I was going to vomit; I was so nervous. I was kind of frustrated though, because the speakers that were there mostly talked about non-fiction and memoir writing and publishing. I would rather pull my toenails out with rusty pliers than relive my childhood for a memoir and the thought of writing non fiction causes my brain to become catatonic, so...
What I found interesting was that agents and publishers in today's market want you to have a following, a pre-estabilished fan base to show that you are marketable. I get that from their perspective, but here's the clincher: I met with an agent today and talked about getting represented and traditionally published. She told me that her firm, along with most agencies, will NOT pick up previously published books.
How do you build a fan base and followers if they can't read what you have to write?
I feel like I'm stuck in a cyclic cycle of frustration that will never end. I want to self-publish because I love it and my books get out faster, but I'd love to see the books on shelves and have my books marketed by professionals. I can't get with the professionals unless I've established a large fan base, but there's no point in my mind to go traditional publishing then because obviously I can do just fine without them. Sigh.
All-in-all the conference was informative and fun, but probably not something I'd do again unless I was supporting a friend or if there was someone there that I desperately wanted to talk to, like Kim Harrison or Kelly Armstrong. Now that would be an interesting Writer's Conference. :)

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

So busy!

Between working full time, writing, editing, publishing and networking with people, I have zero time to myself. My family gets really irritated with me, but I keep trying to remind them of the bigger picture. Someday, I'll only write. That will be a glorious day for me! I dream of the day when all I have on my to do list is writing and some fun stuff. I have no idea what I'll do with myself then. lol. We also had a really bad windstorm here the other day, and I've been sick as a dog since. I'm working thorough it though and starting to feel more human today.
Created is blossoming more than I could've ever imagined it would. Victoria's story holds more depth to it than even I was prepared for. This is going to be a very long book. I'm both excited and intimidated by this prospect. I'm finishing chapter 5 and still haven't gotten close to her transformation, but already so much has happened. It's exciting and challenging and everything I wanted to write in a book. I'm so excited to finish this and share it with you!
Zombie War has been poking about in my psyche for the past week, and I've been letting it percolate. The story is flowing in a different way than The Beginning did, and I've finally accepted the changes. This one is going to be more suspenseful and possibly less gory, but have no fear - the gore will be there! I'm going to work on that series this weekend and hopefully I'll gain a foothold in the plot. There's a whole lot going on in Zombie War and I'm excited to pursue it again.
All-in-all, I've been a very busy person.