Your Friendly Neighborhood Palindrome

Eater of Donuts

2012-02-08T10:00:00.001-06:00

So Sunday, I was finally able to visit The Donut Cooperative.

The inspiration for the coop is Voodoo Donuts. I saw Voodoo Donuts on a donut history special on the Food Network. They're not as crazy as Voodoo, yet, but unusual flavors nonetheless.

What? I love donuts.

Anyglaze...

Once I heard about the Donut Coop. I befriended them on Facebook and drooled at their statuses, which always include the donut flavor of the day. Bastards.

Then Sunday arrived...

Yes. Inside delicious donuts lay in wait...

Chocolate Graham Cracker

Butterscotch Crunch

Yes, those are potato chips. Mmmmmm....
There were are are many more, but these stood out for me.

Add that to your "when I'm visiting Hannah" list.

Week 1 of Run For Your Lives training went well.

I'm in the midst of Week 2. Let's keep this going! I say bring it, zombies!

See you next week!!

Eat donuts and be merry.

The Future

2012-01-29T10:47:00.000-06:00

I met with my writing group/besties last week. It's been a while since the holidays are always crizazy cakes.

But meeting always creates a focus for me.

Write more, edit more, improve my writing and my plotting.

Also, read more and learn more about the art and craft of the written word.

Which coincide with my goals for the year anyway. Ha! Isn't it nice when that happens?

Another part of my year's goals is to get back to the healthy status which I maintained before I began a "sit-down" job.

I started this job in probably the best shape of my life, and now I'm becoming winded from stair climbing. This is not good.

I have a goal in mind: Warrior Dash. It's in September, so I have plenty of time to whip myself into shape. I've begun doing P90X a few times a week and also utilizing the gym that's part of my apartment complex. It's not much but it's a start.

I've only read 2 books so far this year and I wish it were more than that. I haven't written anything substantial this year and that is beginning to weigh on me. My mood drops when I haven't had time to put pen to paper or rather fingertips to keyboard.

Writing has always been a source of relaxation for me. It's my outlet and when I create characters and conflicts, it somehow makes me feel like myself.

I need that back. So more writing...

I'm going to try to blog at least once a week, no particular day, just when I can find the time.

I'm participating in the blogfest that Sarah, Vic and Emily are hosting in March. The Teenage Heartthrob Blogfest. It promises good memories and laughs.

But today, I compose a post while pondering what my brunch will be today.

I'm thinking pumpkin pancakes...

Tuesday Turn-On: Abandoned

2012-01-17T11:48:00.000-06:00

I haven't done a turn-on in a while and I miss it.

So here's one!

I hope these conjure up some sweet brain pictures.

The Itch

2012-01-11T05:00:00.005-06:00

So, for some reason, every January, I get a hankerin' for the library. Not sure why. Maybe it has something to do with the weather, which is usually pretty cold and snowy, but now it's warm and brown-y.

Maybe it's the number of new books that come out?? Maybe it's because I want to buy books, but know I don't have to room, so I go to the library instead??

So scratch this itch, I've reserved 6 books on my TBR list...so far.

I'm going to try and only reserve books and not let myself browse. If I let myself browse, I'll leave with 20. True story.

Here are my first 6...

- Saw this one on Lindsay Currie's blog. Looks pretty good.

2.

I found this on BN.com while searching for ways to spend an old B-day giftcard I found. But it's at the library, so yay free!!

3.

I enjoyed the first one in this series very much, but I didn't love it enough to need to own it.

4.

This was a recommended read on Goodreads. Lurve the cover.

5.

This is a recommended read on BN.com. Another great cover.

6.

Not a great cover but it comes highly recommended.

So yeah...YA is also something I read heavily in the first part of the year...not sure what that is about either.

Maybe these will help me with my new project where the MC is a teen. Hopefully, this will get me in the mindframe.

Do your reading habits ebb and flow depending on the time of year?? Are there certain genres you only read during winter??

This Day In History

2012-01-09T05:00:00.000-06:00

I decided to open up this blog and I only slightly regret it.

It does take up time, but I've met some fabulous people and writers. It, also, hold me accountable to my own fiction writing. I don't think I would've finished my first draft without all of you cheering me on and supporting me.

If I had known there was such an awesome community beforehand, I probably would've written even more.

Im not sure what's in store this year, but I know it's going to involve a lot of writing. Flash fiction and novel writing galore!! I have some special features in mind, more later.

So that's it for today. Just a thank you for your general awesomeness.

You guys rock 'em, sock 'em.

Don't Break the Rules

2012-01-04T13:26:00.000-06:00

Not many people will understand this reference, so I'll provide a brief explanation (and spoilers but the statute of limitations has LONG past) but I shake my head at thee. You know who you are...

So Gremlins is a movie that came out in 1984, about a boy who received a Mogwai for Christmas.

Adorable, right? Well, something so cute obviously has rules to follow.

1. No bright light

2. No water

3. No food after midnight

Seems pretty fair and easy, right? Especially for smooch-worthy Gizmo? Go ahead and look at him again.

Awwwwwwwwww....

Of course, said boy breaks all of the rules.

First, bright light; which causes Gizmo to shriek and hide under covers.

Second, spills a glass of water on Gizmo, causing bubbling of the back and out spawns more Mogwais.

So water caused multiplication of Mogwais, no REAL harm done but yet, you have to abide by all the rules for these new ones, as well.

You learn pretty quickly that these new pets are not good, at all. So, of course, they unplug Billy's clock and he feeds them after midnight without knowing.

Then they hibernate in these ugly cocoons

until they're ready to come out into the world as this:

Pretty nast' and evil. All traces of cuddly decency have melted away.

Why am I discussing 80s horror/comedy Gremlins?

This is how I feel about books that are trending.

A spectaculor book is written.

Then said book is exposed to bright lights and published. You shriek and read it under the covers.

Soon that's all anyone is talking about.

"Omg, have you read Cold Night, Warm Stranger?! It's the greatest thing since sliced bread!! Quinn Lassiter can give me "hot-hang-on-to-your-hat-love" any day of the week!!"

(Disclaimer: This is a real book and "hot-hang-on-to-your-hat-love" is a direct quote.)

Then, someone adds water...

Out sprout multiple replications of Cold Night...:

Hot Days, Fairly Cold Random Dude

Mediocre Afternoons, Accidental Ex-Husband

Chilly Sunsets, Foggy Guy You Met At the Bar, Who's Not At All the Creep He Started Out to Be

Producing "spank-my-ass-and-call-me-Sally-love" and "did-that-just-happen-I-think-I-pulled-my-pelvis-love."

Then someone feeds these guys after midnight and you get this:

Who thought it was a good idea for Fabio to write and star in his own romance novel? Who? I'd like to meet this person, take them on a rollercoaster and pay a bird to smash into their face, breaking their stupid nose.

(another reference you'll have to Google.)

This doesn't just apply to romance. This is pretty much how all trends are viewed by me, in every genre.

Some days, visiting the bookstore is like being surrounded by soft, cuddly Gizmos and other days...

I'm drowning in these guys.

FIN

Happy Holidaze

2011-12-22T12:05:00.000-06:00

I'm in a very stressed out, crazy busy daze right now,

but I hope you all are having/will have a great holiday!!

See you soon!!

I promise not to let work own me next year...

This is an accurate description of my job, right now.

Again, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Ha!

2011-12-06T07:54:00.001-06:00

I finally figure out the Blogger app on my phone. This might make brief updates easier!!

Later taters!

Until next time...

2011-11-26T12:01:00.001-06:00

I'm on a possibly indefinite hiatus...

Ok, not indefinite, but at least until January.

Buddies!

2011-10-29T06:34:00.000-05:00

The "Buddy" feature is finally up on the NaNoWriMo site!

I've been buddying those who left their ID.

Find me, if I haven't found you.

Let the madness begin!!

Decisions decisions

2011-10-25T10:26:00.001-05:00

So as you may have noticed, I've been MIA. Life is really busy right now and blogging (as much as I love it) has moved to the bottom of the list.

The day job is not getting any less crazy and requires bookoo overtime. The little time I have left after that is spent either keeping house or writing. I welcomed a new niece last week and my brother's getting married soon.

Lots of stuff going on.

So I've decided to do NaNoWriMo this year!

That seems like an appropriate response to insanity, doesn't it??

I have a week to prepare. I'm not nearly as ready as I was last year, but I hope I'll have a better draft than last years after I'm done preparing.

I'm writing something a little different than I'm used to. I'll call it: futuristic horror fantasy.

That being said, I'm going down to blogging once a week. Probably indefinitely. I still want to keep it going, but I would really like to focus more on writing and away from the lure of the interwebs.

I hope most of you stick around and I'm sorry for the changes of late, but it is what it is.

For random and brief updates from me, I am on the Twitter (@HannahKincade), FB and Google+.

How many of you are doing NaNoWriMo?? Buddy me!!

And because so many people chose An American Werewolf in London as one of their fave werewolf movies last week, I finally watched it! Good stuff.

See you next week!!

Tuesday Turn-On: Werewolves

2011-10-18T05:00:00.000-05:00

There aren't that many good werewolf stories out there.

I hope one of these inspires you to create one.


1


2


3


5


6


7

What's your favorite werewolf story or movie??

Later...

2011-10-12T17:37:00.001-05:00

I will see you next week. There are some things I need to catch up on and overtime to manage with the day job.

Sorry for the late notice.

Can't wait for this week to be over! Aaah!

Tuesday Turn-On: Vampires

2011-10-11T05:00:00.000-05:00

What's October without Vamps, amiright?

These are not sparkly. ;-)

Hope you like.

I'm Lame...

2011-10-06T05:00:00.004-05:00

I tend to do things con mucho gusto. That's "with much gusto" for you non-Spanish speaking folks or something.

Like writing, for instance, when I'm writing nothing can distract me. If The Man comes home and I'm in writing mode, he'll talk to me and I'll try to listen, but it's like he's talking to me from the end of a tunnel.

What?! I can't hear you!

It's so hard to drag me out of it.

Another is fiction (including books, movies, TV shows, comics), I'm extremely passionate about it and can be an extreme collector when I get on a subject that catches my eyes. Example: when I first discovered Asian Cinema, I became...a little obsessed. I went to midnight showings. I purchased many of them (and still do), scoured the internet for streaming movies and TV shows.

Just a small example of my collection...

I have over 200 journals...there's another.

Don't ask me about music...that one's a BIG ONE.

Also, food. If I'm in the mood for something, I'll eat it every day until I'm sick of it and not touch it again for many moons.

Why am I tell you all this??

Well, I haven't worked out in a while, but when I work out. I work. Out. I know I should take it easy, but I'm think to myself, "eh, an hour? I can do that and MORE!"

I mean, why go, if you're not going to go all out?

So, I'm lame. I worked out a little too hard and pulled a muscle. Now I'm limping.

Lame.

I'll tell you what's not lame though. My sister started a blog. It's filled with recipes, gardening stuff, and design ideas. So much good stuff.

Check it out!

Chic Pea Pod

Short and sweet

2011-10-05T05:00:00.004-05:00

Mood: Exhausted, but motivated.

iChabod: Michael Buble and New Shiny Idea #1's soundtrack

I still haven't moved to writing stage for NSI #1. I've been writing a synopsis and it's taking longer than I anticipated.

The Picard is pouting because of my lack of progress.

I did have some great character breakthroughs though and I'm super pumped to start writing...most likely this weekend as the day job is requiring overtime during the week.

I still haven't made any major decisions regarding NaNoWriMo. If I get a first draft out in 3 weeks, I will start NaNoWriMo with NSI #2.

This is all TBD.

I've started October with a fantastic run of movies so far.

One of my Korean horror favorites, The Uninvited.

I've also re-watched Halloween: H20 and watched Halloween: Resurrection for the first time (horrible movie).

Then re-watched, The Ruins and Alien.

Can we say 31 days of horror awesomeness?

How about you? Watch any scary movies? Write any books? Visit any apple orchards? It is Fall.

I loves Fall.

Tuesday Turn-On: Horror

2011-10-04T05:00:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned last week, all Tuesday Turn-Ons for October will inspired by my favorite genre, horror.

This week, most pictures were taken from deviantART. Love this website.

Click on the pictures for more by these artists:

I'm not going to lie. This picture freaks me right out.

Aren't these creeptastic?

Don't Box Your Muse

2011-09-29T05:00:00.000-05:00

One thing that frustrates me as a writer in today's industry, is the concentration on marketing.

Before a novel is even written, a lot of writers focus on how they'll market themselves when they begin approaching agents and publishers.

I think that this focus stifles our creativity.

I believe that by focusing too much on who will represent me or where my book will be shelved, how will it sell...chokes my story and forces me to put The Picard in a box.

He doesn't look very happy with that idea, does he??

By thinking about the end result and marketing, we unknowingly shape our stories into something reigned in.

When you throw away the label and the genre, what story do you want to tell? What story can you write?

Do you think that Lewis Carroll or L. Frank Baum sat down and thought, I'm going to write a middle grade fantasy novel? Did Jane Austen want her books to be labeled "romantic fiction" or did she just put her heart and soul into the best novels she could write?

I know that the market that we live in today demands the convenience of putting similar style books together, so it's easier for the reader to find books they'll like, blah blah blah, and that's never going to change.

BUT as writers, I think that that should be the very last thing we think about. The focus should be the story, tell the best story we can, categories and genres be damned.

Then when your story is the best it can be...change your focus to how you can get the book into readers hands.

So whenever you sit down to work on something and you find yourself thinking, which agent will I send this to? Or I'm going to write a High Fantasy novel. STOP...

and think about this:

I know I don't want to put my Muse in a box.

Where are you putting your muse??

The Nothing

2011-09-28T05:00:00.014-05:00

Mood: Pork chops and applesauce

iChabod: Wookiefoot, Bob Marley, Queen and Megadeth (how's that combo?)

Last week, I used a typewriter for the first time in many, many years. I want one even more now.

So I'm finally excited about 2 of my WIPs. Not sure what was the tipping point, but now I'm pumped. I'm almost done with 5 steps of the Snowflake Method for one and the other is in the works.

I think that once I'm done with the Snowflake Method for the first idea, I will start my writing, NaNoWriMo speed style.

I don't write very long first drafts, so I really REALLY want to hammer out 2 first drafts before the end of the year. *fingers crossed*

Here's a sneak peak of the first idea:

And here's a little sneak peak of my 2nd idea:

For reals, I'm pumped.

So, I figured it was time to set up my desk. Some expressed interest, so here's what it's looking like so far:

What are you working on right now?? What's got you pumped?

Tuesday Turn On: Nata Romeo ArtistaDonna

2011-09-27T05:00:00.002-05:00

I have another fantastic artist to feature today, Nata Romeo ArtistaDonna.

She has a blog and more photos for you to look at.

This is a random mix that she gave me, but most of them are in the anthropomorphization style.

I hope they inspire you.

Wind Whisperer

Cherokee Tree

Cedar Tree

Tree Goddess

Light into Darkness

Baby Tree

So what do you think??

Starting next week, all photos will be of the horror variety. Tis the season.

In which others say it better than me...

2011-09-22T08:01:00.000-05:00

There have been some great writing posts out there this week, so I'm going to compile them for your reading pleasure (and my blogging laziness).

Melissa Donovan gets me back on the right track with this post, HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR BEST NOVEL WRITING IDEAS.

Laura Marcella kicks start your Wednesdays with her WEDNESDAY'S WRITING WORKOUT. I absolutely love this series. I think prompts and writing exercises are phenomenal to stir up those creative juices.

Claudie A. gives us a few simple reminders on HOW TO BE A BETTER WRITER.

Witless Exposition over at Cerebral Lunchbox, gives you some freewriting examples in her, WEDNESDAY WRITER CLUB series.

And now, I shall play catch-up this weekend.

I'll see you soon!

I am not superwoman.

2011-09-21T05:00:00.001-05:00

Mood: Cantankerous
iChabod: Stuck on Michael Buble so far this week

You ever have those days where you feel behind on EVERYTHING?

Three weeks ago, I was on top of it all. Home was clean, laundry done (even with all clothes folded and put away!), day job manageable, etc...

Then you come to the day job and feel behind on every daily task; you leave with a giant pile of "to-do" and you can't seem to get on top of any of it.

You get home and I'm exhausted from that and can't quite get into home mode until it's late and time to go to bed. Leaving even more things undone.

Yeah, that's me right now.

I like being busy, I just don't like getting behind and I loathe being rushed. I like the freedom to do a lot of things at my own pace.

This is one of the reasons why I never join book-clubs. I hate when I'm told what to read and when to read it. If we've read the same book, sure I'd love to talk about it. But if you tell me to read X book by X time? I get annoyed and I stop. I'm stubborn like that. You can imagine how I was in school or a angsty teenager...

So occasionally, no matter how productive I am, it seems like I'm getting nowhere.

Alright, I'm done with being cranky. I will go watch many youtube videos of these two:

I will be feeling fine in no time.

Tuesday Turn-On: Bruised and Beautiful

2011-09-20T05:00:00.000-05:00


#1


#2


#3


#4


#5

#10

Enjoy!

The Loft

2011-09-15T05:00:00.001-05:00

So living in Minnesota there are a ton of landmarks for the arts. Museums, art centers, bookstores, theatres...etc. We also have a huge community of writers and there's around 383 public libraries, not to mention the specialty libraries.

One place I've always heard people mention, but I've never been, is the Loft Literary Center.

Last week, I finally went! I loved it. They had a very cute store on the main level, as well as a coffee shop and some very old texts and books all displayed behind glass.

Here's a couple of notebooks I got at the little store...I mean, I couldn't leave without buying something, right?

I also grabbed some pamphlets, literary mags...whatever was free.

Here's a little history of the center, from their website:

Incorporated in 1975, The Loft Literary Center is the nation’s largest independent literary center. The Loft supports the artistic development of writers, fosters a writing community, and builds an audience for literature. Thousands of students register for Loft creative writing courses each year; thousands more participate in Loft readings and other events. Loft competitions, grants, and honoraria help authors pursue the writing life. Loft publications and its website bring the writing life home to literature lovers everywhere. The list of acclaimed authors who have appeared at the Loft over the years reads like a Who’s Who of American letters.

And now for the more important things -- pictures!!


This is on the second floor. There's tons of little writing nooks and classrooms for writing classes.

The fireplace seating.

Complete with scrolling book news!! How's that for nerdy??

This is my favorite corner.

You may notice some patterns on those tables, well they are stone engraved with words! I so want one!

Then there was this:

That's right. It's a globe...made of books!!

Then it was time to go to dinner, but first I had to walk down this...

Yeah, super sweet staircase.

So if you're ever in the area...

I love Minnesota.

Silver Linings

2011-09-14T08:04:00.000-05:00

So I haven't done any actual writing the past week, although I have been brainstorming on a few things.

I have a notebook that I use for notes on all of my ideas.

I got the idea from an old blogger (she has retired from blogging ;( ). She kept all her current and new ideas in one notebook.

I carry it with me always and either I have one idea linked with a certain post-it flag color and tab it; or I just write an abbrevieated description of it as a "heading."

I find it super useful and when I'm watching TV or reading, an idea often pops up. My brain will jump off one line and tangent away.

Also, I like keeping everything in one place, because then I'm able to merge certain ideas, create new stories...etc. Of course, once I'm actively writing, I create a bible, of sorts, for the novel.

Where do you keep all your ideas??

In other news, the last Borders, within decent driving distance of me, closed yesterday. I HATE seeing bookstores close. It completely depresses me as a reader and even more as a writer.

I completely forgot to hit it up until I kept hearing people talk about it, so when it was on 4 days left, I finally went.

And remember the picture I posted of all the books I got rid of?? Well, I didn't make that up, BUT I did get a lot.

Looksie my new booksies!

Most of them are fiction and brand new authors for me, but I have a couple non-fiction and series books I've been reading.

I'm so excited!!! I just have to finish the book I'm reading right now and I'm attacking this pile.

So have you hit up any Border's closing sales?? Have you read any of the books I bought?

Tuesday Turn-On: Vic Caswell aka AspiringX

2011-09-13T05:00:00.006-05:00

Today's Turn-On is brought to you by the fabulous art of Vic Caswell.

She has blessed me with some pictures to post!! *squee* I pretty much have an idea for every picture.

I lurve this picture, even though eyes creep me right out.

Vic also designed Emily White's debut novel, Elemental.

She's just that awesome.

I has a schedule.

2011-09-12T08:35:00.000-05:00

So now that I'm back to blogging. I'm going to change a few things. I'm going to blog Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I'm no longer going to be doing the Supernatural Rewatch. Though I loved it, it definitely took a lot more time to write those then I thought and I would like to focus more on my novel writing.

I will still be doing the Tuesday Turn-On.

Wednesday, I'm going to post something writer or about me, whether that's a status update, a piece of flash fiction, something about my new place, pictures of my desk...LOL, what have you.

Thursdays, I'll now post something about other writers and other writing enterprises: publishers, genres, trends, and other such "thought provoking" subjects. ;-)

I just wanted to keep you posted.

See you tomorrow for an extra special Vic C. aka Aspiring X, Tuesday Turn-On!

Nope. No pants.

2011-09-08T05:00:00.003-05:00

Some of you might be wondering what I've been up to. Well, I'm going to lay it all out for you.

I'm also going to try and do an update every once in a while.

So last month I moved as you all know. I moved with a boy! A boy!! Boys have cooties.

Anywho, moving sucked. My new place has an elevator, but the old place did not. No, it did not. Walking up and down those stairs...with stuff? Not fun. AND it was almost 100 degrees the whole weekend. I think I sweat half my weight every time we took trips.

Many monies were spent at Target and Ikea and a few other places that I can't remember...Walmart?? I don't know, I can't remember stuff. Especially moving stuff, my brain got melted. I put a lot of things together and rearranged a lot of furniture without any pants and a beer in hand.

Personally: Things are going fantastic. I'm super happy and love the new place. It's big and quiet. I've been cooking quite a bit more, because I have some to cook for.

I haven't read much lately. I finished Robopocalypse

a couple weeks ago and I've been reading a few things from writerly friends.

So, I work for a pretty decent size local company and during a social event, I discovered that a co-worker was in the top 100 of the ABNA. So I emailed her and we've met for coffee. Now we've exchanged books and we're meeting again later this week. Her name is Tawn Anderson. You can check out her website here.

I love meeting writers! Yay!

I've discovered a new tea, that I love. It's called Lapsang Souchong. It tastes like a bonfire...in a good way.

It's a brilliant alternative to coffee.

I've also discovered a new delicious snack. Wheat Thins Flatbread Garlic and Parsley flavor with Philadelphia Cream Cheese Spinach and Artichoke....*drool* It's such a good combo. I recommend it.

Hmmm, I finally started (and finished) BBC's Being Human, all 3 seasons. I can't wait for season 4. I love the BBC!! If you haven't watched this show, you should. It's funny and sad and so so good.

On the writing front: I'm trying to decide what to work on next, as well as working on notes and ideas for revising EGS. It's slow going. I still don't feel like I'm home yet. I got a new desk and it's still "new" to me. I don't feel comfortable enough to write for long periods here, yet. I hope that by starting the blogging again, this will put me back in the mode.

I'm going to be changing my schedule here a bit. I'll lay it out when I figure it out.

Have a great weekend!!

Tuesday Turn-On: Slapping You with Surreal Images

2011-09-06T12:02:00.000-05:00

In an attempt to get back on schedule, here's a Tuesday Turn-On!

Hope this inspires you (and me) to get some writing/drawing/brainstorming done!

This one is my fave!

You've been warned...

2011-08-11T12:32:00.000-05:00

I have moved.

So I finally moved a couple of weeks ago. It was hot and exhausting, but it's done. Well...it's mostly done. I still have some things in the old place - little things - and the cleaning of the old place.

Hopefully, all will be done by next weekend. I am itching to get writing again. ITCHING!

I will return to regular blogging soon, but it will be a very slow process, as I would really like to focus on the few writing projects I have in mind.

I LOVE the new place. Love what we've done with it and love what we plan on doing with it.

How have you all been?? I miss everyone!!

Now tell me your business...

The 3-Ring Circus

2011-07-18T11:09:00.000-05:00

So it's been a while...

As you know, I'm moving soon. 12 days to be exact and I've been working on downsizing 6 years of accumulated crap and booksies.

This is just one picture of how many books I got rid of, the ones I actually sold back.

Yeeeeaaaaah...

I've come across some pretty embarrassing things while rummaging through my closet and things.

I'm not going to go into all of them, but I will tell you one.

A few months ago (I think) Summer talked about creating a world bible for her WIP. Taking a 3-ring binder and putting all sorts of story tidbits inside. I (lover of all things office supply oriented) fell in love with this idea. And I actually thought, "I need to pick up a 3-ring binder and do this!"

Through the course of the months, I got busy packing and whatnot so it went into the back of my mind.

Until...

(I'm terribly embarrassed and only slightly ashamed to be showing this...)

I found these.

Yes, that's right folks. Three ring binders!! Apparently, I once had aspirations to start my own 3-Ring Binder Circus. (please join in mocking me.)

These are only the ones I'm not currently using.

I already have, like, 6 in use.

Alright, my face is officially red and I'm sure I'm going to hear tons of crap from The Man for this...and I'm going to hide in my hiatus hole again...

12 more days!!

Is Teen Fiction Too Violent??

2011-06-20T10:06:00.000-05:00

Marbury Lens author, Andrew Smith is joining this discussion on Minnesota Public Radio, streaming in a few minutes.

What do you think??

The battle over teen fiction...

Yes, me again.

2011-06-17T08:09:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone who celebrated Captain Picard Day with me.

Twas a good time indeed.

I just wanted to let you know real quick, that I've added another page to the blog. Not only can you see what I'm reading or have read (which is a small number *sad face*), you can now see what I've watched this year!

That mostly came from me wondering just how many movies I watch in year, but I figured I'd share with you.

Also, next Friday Sarah and I are going to a writer's conference!!

Squee!!!

It is Friday through Sunday. I will take notes and pictures. And hopefully have a nice blog post to write about it.

Have a great weekend!!

**THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO CONTINUE TO VISIT ME, EVEN THOUGH I'VE BEEN ON HIATUS FOR A WHILE**

It's a whole day, just for my muse.

2011-06-16T09:20:00.000-05:00

To those of you who don't know, today is

CAPTAIN PICARD DAY!!

I bet not everyone can say there's a whole day for their muse. I'm going to celebrate by watching some TNG and more packing!

He doesn't look that excited...

So I shall thank him.

Thank you for being bald, so that I may rub your head while pondering subplots.

Thank you for being decisive and firm.

Thank you for having many layers so that I may add diversity to my fiction writing.

Thank you for encouraging me to blog and meeting so many fabulous people.

Thank you for pushing me to FINALLY complete a first draft.

Thank you for making me feel proud of said first draft and my writing. 

Thank you for being born in Yorkshire, so that when I drink Yorkshire tea, I can't help but want to write.

And finally, thank you for your milkshake...

HAPPY CAPTAIN PICARD DAY!!

Aw, now he's embarrassed.

Soon

2011-06-03T10:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone who offered birthday wishes! It was a good time.

I'm still alive!!

We're reaching the home stretch of packing and moving.

I'll have to change my profile information because I won't have as many books anymore. I'm getting rid of a ton!

I'm going through once and then going through them again. Each genre is getting two sweeps. I hope to get everything on just a few shelves...without cramming books in the nooks and crannies. Neatly packed, is the hope.

Any news anyone would like to share??

Feel free to email me if you miss me terribly. ;-)

I will see you soon!

Hap-py Birthday! Hap-py Birthday!

2011-05-18T11:02:00.000-05:00

So Monday was my birthday. Woot!!

It was good times.

We went to Osaka for dinner and it was delicious.

I almost ate all of that.

Mmmmm, I want to eat it again.

Also, apparently they make you wear this stupid mask when it's you're birthday. I did get a free dessert though.

Happy Birthday to me.

What have you guys been up to??

A plea for your help...

2011-05-09T08:31:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I put this question out on Twitter and I got ZERO responses.

So, I bring this to all your guys' attention, since you are wise and unique readers.

I am looking for SCIFI HORROR BOOKS.

I know of one.

THE SEASON OF PASSAGE by Christopher Pike.

I know there are plenty of movies but I would like to see if there are any books.

Ask your friends, your friends' friends...anyone.

Please!!

If you find some, just put it in the comments or email me directly.

Thank you for your help!!

Argh, It's a haiku contest!

2011-05-06T11:49:00.000-05:00

I'm just popping in to let those of you who don't know about Nate's Pirate Haiku contest.

It ends tomorrow!!

Here are the rules as posted:

Official Rules:

To enter, post pirate-related haiku in the comment section below. Multiple submissions are allowed, but if you submit more than five (5), you may begin to get on my nerves, and I'll get our resident witch doctor to curse you. (Oh, the profanity!)

Standard haiku rules apply. To qualify, each entry must be a three-line poem, the first line containing exactly 5 syllables, the second line 7 syllables, and the third line 5 syllables. If you miscount, I'll know I can't count on you, and both you and your entry will be sent into the briny depths.

The contest is open until Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 5:00pm, Eastern Time. If you try to sneak an entry in after the deadline, you will be caught hiding below deck and stranded on a deserted island. Like your carcass, your entries will be picked apart by scavenging birds. They will no longer have enough syllables, and be disqualified.

Entries must be in English. (i.e. Using Japanese kanji will not help you win for best traditional haiku. If I can't understand you, obviously you're plotting mutiny against me, and I'm not about to let you steal this contest which I've been captaining for years. You will finish in dead last. Because my first mate will slit your throat.)

Anonymous entries will not win. If you try to hide your identity, clearly you're running from something, and I don' t need that sort of trouble. I'll feed you to the sharks. Or to the shrieking eels. Then I'll claim any valuable writing you had on your person as my own.

Prizes will be awarded in each of two categories: Humorous/Creative and Traditional.

Two (2) first place winners will each receive a $25 Amazon gift card for which to purchase booty.

An indeterminate number of Honorable Mentions will receive bragging rights over everyone who doesn’t win. Also, honor.

I will act as sole judge, and select the winning haiku based on the aforementioned criteria, as well as other criteria I make up as I go along. All decisions are final, and will not be changed under any circumstances unless bribery is involved.

Just follow the link to his page and enter your haiku in the comments!

Have a great weekend all!

My genius is showing, come look!

2011-04-27T09:13:00.005-05:00

So in my process of getting rid of stuff around the homestead and ready for the move, I decided to get rid of the small desk that I was using and replace it with the large desk, I have hidden under some crap in my bedroom.

But the large desk was arranged in a way that I couldn't sit at it in my bedroom, so I decided to move it.

My small desk is around 50 lbs and on wheels. Easy enough to move right?

The large desk is around 100 lbs.

Here comes the genius...

I decided to move it. By myself.

At one time, I used to be known as Hannah the Burly...we won't go into the exact details as to why...

Anywho, since I now have a sit on my fat ass job, my arms are weak and girly...and by girly of course I mean, flabby.

Deflated balloons.

Now, I moved it into my bedroom on my own when I first acquired it, so I thought, no problem.

Well, turns out it was a bit of a problem.

First off, that desk is HEAVY!!

Second, it's tall and awkward.

Third, did I mention my weak arms?

At one point, I was wedged in the hallway. The desk would not, could not move.

Then a lightbulb lit in my brainpan...

I should take the top off!!

But in order to remove the top, I had to find my way to the top.

More lifting and at one point, crawling...

HUZZAH!

Top off. Desk moved (with minimal damage).

Now I'm off to make it pretty and organized.

Snow in April

2011-04-20T09:43:00.001-05:00

Just an example of what it's like to live in Minnesota. This was taken this morning and it's still snowing. Back to my hiatus hole...

Still not back...

2011-04-19T15:26:00.002-05:00

So as you can see, I'm not really ready to come back. Ha!

I have a lot to do in the next few months.

As you may or may not know, I am going to be moving in a few months.

I have 6+ years of crap to clean out of my place and get ready to move by August.

Most of that might be books...

Anywho, I have two weeks free before the insanity begins, starting with training at work in May.

So I'm officially on a hiatus.

I will be around to blogs sporadically and I will do my best to update you on my progress.

There will be some fun pictures to come because I plan on finding some pretty embarrassing things while I'm purging.

See you soon!!

Kiss Me, You Fool!

2011-04-13T05:00:00.000-05:00

As writers, we will eventually have to write a kissing scene. When you do make it short, intimate and familiar. And don't forget ALL of your senses.

Here are a few varieties of kisses:

The "I think we've ruined our friendship" kiss

The "huh, this is new" kiss

The "I love the taste of a bad boy" kiss

The "It hurts so good" kiss

The "I really don't know much about this guy but I want to kiss him" kiss

The "Holy Crap my underwear just melted" kiss

And finally,

the "We don't actually have to kiss because our souls our kissing" kiss

Whichever one you use, please remember:

with great lips, comes great responsibility...

and breath mints.

That's all folks!

2011-04-12T15:18:00.003-05:00

So some stuff has come up and I'm going to have to quit the A to Z challenge.

As you may have noticed my commenting has been minimal because of the day job insanity.

I already have tomorrow's post scheduled so that will be my last one.

I have a few deadlines for multiple items and work has been crazy.

I thought I could do all but I must recognize my time limitations.

Thank you to all my new followers and I hope to entertain you for months to come...just after Monday. :D

**UPDATE: ALSO IF YOU ARE A NEW FOLLOWER AND I HAVEN'T FOLLOWED YOU BACK, SHOOT ME AN EMAIL AND I'LL REMEDY THAT AS SOON AS I'M BACK ONLINE! THANKS GUYS!**

Tuesday Turn-On: Jerks (A to Z Edition)

2011-04-12T05:00:00.012-05:00

I've got a thing for the mouthy bad boys aka the jerks.

Eric. All I gotta say is his opening scene in Season Three.

2. Damon.

3. Spike

4. Logan

5. Lex. What can I say? I like bald men.

6. Tony.

7. House

8. Patrick

9. Barney

10. Sawyer

And of course, Jensen.

...*speechless*...

I is for Inception

2011-04-11T05:00:00.000-05:00

Some of you are familiar with the movie, Inception and those of you who aren't, well this isn't going to ruin anything for you because it's not really about the movie. Ha!

So the sole premise of Inception is implanting an idea in someone's mind.

You want to know what does that on a daily basis, informercials.

Informercials have me convinced that nothing I do is adequate enough and it's most definitely not SAFE!

Case in point:

Easy Feet

I never thought that washing my feet was so difficult or DANGEROUS. I mean, I wash my feet daily. A little lifting of the foot, a slight balancing act and it's sufficiently soapy. BOY WAS I WRONG!

After 15 Easy Feet commercials (so it took me 15 watches to get the point, DON'T JUDGE ME!), I realized how hard it is to wash feet. I have to BEND! and STRETCH! I often risk FALLING! or SLIPPING!

Never again! Because I have EASY FEET!! (I really do. It's suction-cupped to my tub right now)

Next we have the:

Wrist Pocket

I am a purse carrying girl but I never knew how hard it was until I saw this informercial. I didn't know how bulky and counter-productive (You like that little gem? I just had a performance review.) my purse is! Move over, Fanny Pack!! I got myself an extra pocket, ON MY WRIST!

Most recently I discovered:

Are your jeans bulky and restrictive? Yes!

Do they leave a button imprint on your belly? Yes!!

Do you find your jeans uncomfortable to walk, run, shop, read, sleep, ride bikes, sing, jump in? Well, not really...but okay!

Look no further! For the low price of $39.95 you can get yourself jeans that wear like pajamas. (but don't look like them) You can get...wait for it...

Pajama Jeans!!

You want them now, don't you?

INCEPTION!!

H is for...

2011-04-09T05:00:00.017-05:00

Enough about me, let's talk about...ME!!

HANNAH

meaning: graceful or grace of God.

I love reading personality descriptions and seeing how they match up. This is what Kabalarians.com had to say about Hannah:

The name of Hannah creates a friendly, sociable, charming nature, but causes you to be too easily influenced by others.

While you find it easy to meet and mix, and can appear agreeable and compromising in conversation, you can become unbending and forceful if pressed too far.

Others learn that you cannot be told what to do and you seldom change your mind once it is made up.

You prefer situations that allow a degree of independence, but are reluctant to take on a demanding work-load or responsibility.

Although the name Hannah creates the urge to understand and help others, we stress that it causes a blunt expression that alienates others.

Ha! I love this kind of stuff.

Now I open up this post to you. What do you want to know about me?? I will answer anything (within reason) ;).

I'm not offended easily so let 'er rip!!

For every question asked, I will answer and update it here to the post. Until then, giggle at the pictures.

Let's do this. I'm a cashew!

Questions!! (all questions will link you back to the blogger who asked them.)

Emily White asks: What's your favorite breakfast food? (check out the cover for her new book, Elemental designed by blogger, Vic aka aspiringx!)

I'm going to have to say donuts. I lurve donuts. I actually have some donut pjs.

TL Conway asks: A fellow Minnesotan, a Jamo drinker, a Supernatural lover, AND a Picard fan? How haven't we met before?!

I know this wasn't meant to be posted but LOL! But it made me laugh and to answer your question, I don't know. I'm a hermit??

Siv Maria asks: What would be your last meal?

ooh, that's tough because I love everything. LOL! Uh, pizza and potatoes and for dessert, Red Velvet Cake from Target.

Sarah Ahiers (aka Falen) asks: If you HAD to choose one over the other: TV or Books?

First, I hate you. Uh, I get a ton of inspiration from TV but I get more writing skill from reading. If my arm was twisted, I guess I would pick books. This is so not a fair question because even now, I want to take it back. And then change it again and again and again.

Laura Eno asks: How would you spend your day with The Picard onboard the Enterprise?

Hmmm, I'll just say holodeck and no interruptions. Engage. ;)

Damyanti asks: What will be your Z post?

probably zakuska or the zoo. Now I'm hungry and want to go to the zoo.

Summer Frey asks: What's your middle name?

Let's just say it's mystical and mysterious...okay, it's Marie.

The WordsCrafter asks: What kinds of music do you like and do you write to it? Meaning, does it ever inspire scenes?

I listen to pretty much anything. But when I write, I rarely listen to music with lyrics when I write and leave it up to soundtracks and new age or ambient music. There have been many songs that have inspired ideas or scenes. They are more wisps of ideas though, never as full-fledged as when I begin to write them out.

Shelli asks: How old are you?

Heh, the question of the hour! I am about a month shy of 32.

Rae asks: Are you the oldest, middle, youngest, only child? Does your personality fit your birth order?

I am the second oldest of five. I have no idea if my personality fits but The Man claims I have a classic middle child complex. Whatever that means. Jerk.

Nate Wilson asks: As a professed killer of zombies, what would you do if you ran into Zombie Picard?

I'd tie him up like Ed in Shaun of the Dead and make him watch TNG reruns with me. Duh.

Vic aka aspiring_x asks: Which would you prefer to ride: a hippogryph or a unicorn?

I don't think I'm allowed to ride a unicorn but I would prefer a hippogryph anyway.

Laura Marcella asks: Do you think Star Trek could be the future some day?

If people got over their greed and selfishness, sure. I doubt it will happen in our lifetime though. Sad.

nutschell asks: What your favorite books growing up were?

Let's see: Nancy Drew, The Hatchet, Anne of Green Gables, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Wheel of Time Series, Lois Duncan, Christopher Pike...to name a few.

Lucy Adams asks: What are you normally doing at 9pm on Thursday night?

Watching Mentalist. True story.

G is for...

2011-04-08T05:00:00.002-05:00

Goals.

I'm going to be less random for a bit...

I'm not very good at making goals. Wait, what I mean is, I'm not good at reaching goals.

I can make buttloads of them.

Right now, I have tons of writing goals and I know all it will take is a little focus.

I work reach my goals when I don't really think about it.

I don't write them down or tell people. I just have to do them.

Accountability with other people means nothing to me. I'm used to disappointing people so when I set my mind on something, I just do it.

When I FINALLY finished my first draft, I just did it. I didn't tell anyone. I just sat my butt in my chair for six hours and said FINISH.

How do you reach your goals? Do you have write them down??

Supernatural Rewatch: S1, Eps 7: Hook Man

2011-04-07T05:01:00.001-05:00

*A to Z-er's my F post is after this one*

WARNING: Some spoilers may occur. You've been warned.

Previously:

22 years ago: Mary Winchester was killed mysteriously above her son's crib and her husband, John Winchester, along with his two sons, begins to hunt for her killer.

22 years later: Sam is in law school and living with his girlfriend, Jess. Dean arrives on night to pull Sam into the search for their father, John, who has now disappeared. Jess is killed by the same "thing" that killed the Winchester's mother.
Sam and Dean continue to search for their father. They hope to find him as well as the thing that has tragically touched their lives twice.

In the meantime, Sam and Dean continue to save people and hunt supernatural things.

**Hook Man**

Rundown

Theta Sorority
Eastern Iowa University

A girl and her date park under a bridge for a little making out. Outside a hook glints in the moonlight and moves in the shadows. The making out begins. The figure moves closer.

The hook scratches against a couple signs, raising hairs and disturbing the two youths. The guy gets out of the car (of course) to investigate. He sees a scratch, as it happens against the the car but there's no one there. The rear windshield cracks and the guy disappears.

The girl is alone. She rolls up the window. Then when she hears scraping on the roof, she leaves the car. After running a few feet, she turns. Her date is hanging upside down, dead and bloody.

To Sam and Dean, the boys are still searching for their father. Sam is on the phone seeing if anyone has reported a missing persons that match John Winchester's description.

Dean finds an article of the murder in Iowa. The girl, Lori Sorenson, claims her date was murdered by an invisible killer.

The hunt is on...

Baddie

Hook Man

A cautionary urban legend about the dangers of second base. Ha!

A guy and girl are making out in a car until they hear on the radio that a madman has escaped from prison. The girl is frightened and says she wants to go home. The guy tries to convince her to stay. Her decision branches the story.

If she leaves, when she arrives home, there's a hook hanging on the outside of the car.

If the girl stays, the boyfriend ends up leaving the car to investigate a noise and never returns. He's found dead hanging from a tree, his fingernails scratching the roof of the car.

Bottom line: GET A ROOM! and you won't get killed.

Sam

Dean: Your half caf, double, vanilla latte is getting cold over hear, Francis.

Sam: Bite me.

Hannah: Okay, bend over.

Dean

Dean: Dude, sorority girls. You think we'll see a naked pillow fight?

"Hey, stay out of her underwear drawer."

"It's okay, I'm with him. He's my brother. Hey brother!"

(I don't know why but I totally heard Buster from A.D. instead of Dean.)

"I'M A MONSTER!!!"

Sam and Dean

D: Dude, you've been holding out on me, this college thing is awesome!

S: This really wasn't my experience.

D: Let me guess: libraries, studying, straight A's...ah, geek.

Tunes

Bang Your Head by Quiet Riot
Noise by Low Five
Merry Go Round by Split Habit
At Rest by Leslie Pearson
Royal Bethlehem by APM
U Do 2 Me by Paul Richards
Peace of Mind by Boston

Thoughts

This was a pretty straight forward episode. The urban legend was exactly the same in the beginning but it morphed into something appropriate for Supernatural.

The Hook Man is a spirit. Find who or what, where he's haunting, salt and burn his bones. This is the first episode where the shotguns and rock salt shells are introduced.

Not a whole lot of character building though, it does give Sam his first, possibly serious love interest. In the end Dean says, "we can stay." But Sam is far to driven and bullheaded to stop or stray from his obsessive path.

Lesson learned: When there's a spirit bent on dolling out punishment, don't ever say "I deserve to be punished," because he will punish you. Fact.

Until next week folks! Thank you to everyone who participates in these re-watches. I love reading all of your comments. Even if it's just Lola chiming in on how hot Dean is. ;)

F is for Fairies, Flowers and Francis

2011-04-07T05:00:00.002-05:00

As if...

One Writing Tip: Surround yourself with friends who'll not only encourage your writing but respect it and your writing time. Your CPs should help you improve your writing, not just shower you with compliments. Endless compliments will not improve your writing. Though they do help the sting of a rough line edit.

One Random Thought: Frell.

One Confession: I hate feet. I dreaded the time when anyone would come in to the clinic I worked at and wanted a foot massage. Ugh, sick. Don't touch my feet and I won't touch yours. And there will be no feet pictures.

One TV thought: A lot of my favorite shows have F's: Family Guy, Futurama, Fringe, Firefly, Farscape...huh, I may have to do a Firefly weekend and finish it off with Serenity. Join me?

One Movie Thought: Two movies I thoroughly enjoyed, The Fountain and Fracture. See them. Love them.

As always, follow the tap to more A to Z-ers.

E is for...

2011-04-06T05:00:00.001-05:00

One or Two Writing Tips: Editing should be ruthless. There are no lines that are perfect and if cutting something is going to improve your story and your writing, CUT IT!

Try and remember, not everyone is going to like your writing, your story, your genre. Do what you do best and don't worry about the rest.

One Random Thought: Did you know there's about a 100 different ways to make eggs?? And I love all of them.

One Confession: Being a horror lover, not many things scare or creep me out anymore. There are a few exceptions, one being eyes. Eye stuff freaks me right out. Leave them alone! Eeeeeeewwwww!

One or Two TV thoughts: I think Eastwick had a lot of potential. Who doesn't like a show with strong women??

I wish I had cable so that I could watch new episodes of Eureka. I'll have to stick with Netflixing it.

One Movie Thought: I really enjoyed Existenz, though I can't find many people who've seen it. I wonder why that is. I probably watch too many movies...and by too many, I mean not enough. ;)

One Book Thought: A friend of mine published his book a couple of years ago. Empire Dirt by Shane Lindemoen. Go here to his website for a free copy!

Also, I convinced a blogger buddy and Twitter friend the join the challenge. She's blogging about naughty things. tee-hee!! Please welcome Jodi and visit her blog!! You won't regret it.

Tuesday Turn-On: Dragons (A to Z Edition)

2011-04-05T05:00:00.000-05:00

Here's your daily dose of visual inspiration:

See you tomorrow.

C is for Crack, Snapple, Pop!

2011-04-04T05:00:00.002-05:00

One Writing Tip: When it comes to characters, no carbon copies. Make your characters creative, charismatic, convincing and original.

One Randomness: I am not a huge chocolate fan. Now caramel on the other hand, move over! And then when you blend them together, it's a whole new level of tasty.

One Confession: I do not want children. The responses from this fact are often disrespectful. I don't hate kids. I'm not afraid of anything. There's no waiting and seeing how I feel when I get older. I'm almost 32. It was a choice I made all on my own and it wasn't made lightly.

One (or two) TV thoughts: There aren't too many TV shows that I watch live, but I always watch Castle and Criminal Minds whenever they're on.

One Movie Thought: The Count of Monte Cristo is one my all time favorite movies. It's the perfect weekend afternoon movie.

P.S. all of this applies to Summer too.

Have a great day! Click the top tab for other entries.

B is for Booksies and other such B words.

2011-04-02T05:00:00.003-05:00

One Writing Tip: Surround yourself with books that inspire you and whose writing you're envious. Analyze the stories and lines that touch you and mimic them, it's the highest form of flattery. Only then will you break out of that mimicry and find your own niche, your own voice.

One Randomness: I worked at Barnes and Noble for 12 years. I love it and hated it.

One Confession: I own over 1,500 hundred books. That's as general as I'm going to get. My last count was slightly over that number and that was a couple of years ago, before my ereader. I could not tell you how many I have now. Well, I could...but I won't. See above randomness. 12 years!

This may or may not be an actual picture. ;)

One (or two) TV thoughts: Buffy the Vampire Slayer is still one of my fave TV shows of all time.

Also, Battlestar Gallactica is highly underrated and under watched, if you haven't seen it, DO IT RIGHT NOW.

One Movie Thought: I watch Better Off Dead every Christmas...I'm sorry I meant, "Quwissmass." And I still want my two dollars.

Hope you're having a great weekend! See you on Monday! Click the top tab for other entries.

Alrighty Then

2011-04-01T05:00:00.003-05:00

Let the A to Z Challenge Begin: One Writing Tip: Make your Antagonist a fully developed interesting character, he/she should compliment (whether that's positive or negative) your protagonist.

One Randomness: I am a massage therapist and during my training, I woke up with a stiff neck and couldn't turn my head. After 5 minutes of acupressure, I was pain free and had full range of motion. I became a firm believer in the power of touch from then on. One Confession: I do not like apples but I love apple products. Give me an apple donut any day. Also, I love apple lotion. One TV thought: Angel was a douche when he was on Buffy. Angelus was a psychopath but he was interesting. Not to mention he seemed like a thousand times hotter. Dangerous is sexy. ;) One Movie Thought: Avatar was a beautiful movie visually but the story was unoriginal.

Questions? Comments?

That's all for today! I'll see tomorrow! I think it'll be my first Saturday post eva!

An Introduction, my plan and some questions...

2011-03-31T05:00:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow, the madness season begins. The A to Z April Blogging Challenge is in effect tomorrow.

So here's my plan.

The Tuesday Turn-On will still be posted, hopefully I will be able to find themes that match with the letter it lands on.

The Supernatural Re-Watch will be posted on Thursdays still as well but that may be a two post day.

I know, crazy, right? I figured it will be too hard to try and match the letters with the episode titles so I'm just going to keep posting them.

My posts throughout the entire month will be very short so that you can read and comment and then move on to the next blog involved in the challenge.

I added a page with everyone participating. Thank you to Alex for sending me a link!

As of yesterday, I hit 400 followers! OMG!
This shit is bananas!!

Also, I joined Twitter a couple of weeks ago so if I haven't found you there, find me! I'm still a newb.

I have some questions for all of you. I usually don't do surveys but I would love to hear from you guys today.

1. How on earth did you find me?

2. What do you like most?

3. How often do you visit?

4. Do you comment every time you visit?

5. What keeps you coming back?

I'm going to add a top bar to welcome new followers and A to Z visitors. (Thank you to Holly for the idea.)

Game on!

And just like that, my day got a little brighter.

2011-03-30T05:00:00.000-05:00

Crappy day at work yesterday. Let me tell you. I woke up in a foul mood. You know your day is going to go the way you planned when, as soon as you dress, you spill water down your shirt.

But it ended on a high laughing note, so all is well. Laughing? Cure-all.

So anywho, after I finished my first draft, I thought I would take a little break before editing and work on something new.

My NaNo 2009 idea popped back into my head. The idea could be refreshed by changing the marketing group, possibly YA Horror.

I was excited and wrote up a few descriptions and even read through what I wrote for NaNo. It was so horrible it's not even funny. I mean, BAD! Huge rewrite and re-imagining is in order.

I'm still excited for the idea but then one morning, The Picard decided to veer from the Prime Directive and fly straight into another idea.

This other WIP is something that I've been thinking about for about 4 years. I've written snips and scenes. It's changed a lot over that time but the main idea is still present.

So here's my issue (one of many): the YA Horror idea is fully planned out (in my head), BUT The Picard is insisting on my other super secret idea.

What Would The Picard Do? or WWTPD? Well of course, he wants me to work on boldly going where no Hannah has gone before, as always. Sigh. So bossy.

Who does he think he is? The Captain? A Knight?!

oh right...

I think I should go with The Picard on this one, simply because if I don't feel that tingle, I won't be able to finish or put my all into it. And how can I say no to him? I mean, look at him!

YES, SIR!! *wink*

I heart my muse.

What would you do if faced with a similar sitch?

Tuesday Turn-On: The Final Frontier

2011-03-29T08:15:00.000-05:00

Blogger was being stupid last night and not letting me upload any pictures so I'm sorry I'm late this morning.

I hope your ideas are out of this world. *snort*

Possession

2011-03-28T05:00:00.002-05:00

So about a week ago, I was lucky enough to be chosen to be a part of the Show the Love Project.
What's that you ask?

Miss Ali Cross gave a few of us the chance to read Elana's POSSESSION.

I just about fainted when I got the email that I was chosen! Squee, indeed.

Now I don't know who was more nervous, Elana or me. But I'm pretty sure it was me. LOL!

Why? Well there's been so much buzz surrounding the release because Elana's frickin awesome. She has an insane blog presence and she never fails to support fellow writers.

To top it off, she's wicked funny and down-to-earth.

So I was nervous. When movies, TV shows or books are hyped, I'm usually disappointed.

For those of you who don't know what POSSESSION is about, here's a quick description from GoodReads:

Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

Well I don't do book reviews so this is going to be short and sweet. Here's what I thought.

From the end of chapter one, I was smiling. I love Vi.

Then Jag showed up.

The grin was nearly removable from my face from that point on.

I can't wait until the book is released because I want to by my own copy.

So hype? Justified.

That is all.

You're my obsession

2011-03-25T07:47:00.004-05:00

I remember when I was kid and I would watch...I'm just gonna throw something random out there...My Little Pony. And I wanted everything that had to do with My Little Pony or MLP.

I became obsessed. I wanted the T-shirts,

the underwears,

the bedding,

the hairbrush,

the toothbrush,

the socks,

the shoes,

the coat,

the banana clip,

the dolls,

their friends,

the folders,

the trapper keeper,

the pencils,

the movies on VHS,

the stickers...EVERYTHING.

When did we stop becoming so obsessed about everything...or did we?

I remember a few years ago, when I was working at the Barne, there was this woman who came it periodically. And I kid you not, she was covered in head to toe NKOTB gear. Yes, New Kids on the Block!

Oh yeah, she was "Hangin' Tough" with "the Right Stuff."

She had to be in her 20s or 30s and pushing around a baby in a stroller. I would say hands down, that she was/is their number one fan. Because it's one thing to buy and wear that stuff when they were hitting the Billboard charts. But she was/is still wearing that! She is still representing her love of NKOTB...daily!

I don't know if I'm filled with respect or a deep sadness because I was once obsessed. And somewhere between my tween years and now, I think I lost my ability to obsess.There are things I love and I feel I might be obsessing over.

But there are very few things now that drive me to the point of covering myself in them and showing them off to the world.

So, then I started think about all the things that do make me SQUEE!

And I came up with quite a few...

1. anything Asian...and I mean ANYTHING. I love the books, the art, the culture, the food, the music, the movies, the tea, the teacups, the mugs, the chopsticks, the candy, the furniture, those little balls you spin around in your hand (that sounds oh...so...wrong, but you know what I mean)...The Man. The order of this is coming out wrong.

2. anything Native American...books, movies, music, I recently procured a Kachina Doll in a Duluth store (I squeed out loud and the Man said, okay.), dreamcatchers...

3. anything Egyptian...books, history, mythology, art, the King Tut incense holder I got at the State Fair...

4. books. Books literally cover almost every surface of my home. Literally. I don't have furniture so much as stacks of books.

5. journals. not any or every journal but when I find just the right one...and I'll search for hours...I feel my hands tingle when I stroke it lovingly.

6. pens. I have so many pens I could write for months and not run out. Wait, I do that already. Yet, I still find a reason to buy more. I'm very clever.

7. Tea. I have five linear feet of different types of tea.

8. Food. I don't care how much money I don't have in the bank, there's always money to spend on food.

9. Italy. *sigh* my dream home.

I find myself very unmotivated to do anything but surround myself with all of those things now.

What were/are your obsessions?

(repost from 2010)

Supernatural Rewatch: S1, Eps6: Skin

2011-03-24T05:00:00.000-05:00

WARNING: Some spoilers may occur. You've been warned.

Previously:

22 years ago: Mary Winchester was killed mysteriously above her son's crib and her husband, John Winchester, along with his two sons, begins to hunt for her killer.

22 years later: Sam is in law school and living with his girlfriend, Jess. Dean arrives on night to pull Sam into the search for their father, John, who has now disappeared. Jess is killed by the same "thing" that killed the Winchester's mother.
Sam and Dean continue to search for their father. They hope to find him as well as the thing that has tragically touched their lives twice.

In the meantime, Sam and Dean continue to save people and hunt supernatural things.

**Skin**

Rundown

St. Louis, MO

A bloody girl is tied to a chair. A figure stands in the shadows, his knife glinting under the lights of the police swarming the house. They stealthily make their way inside.
The girl gestures to the other room to the officers who surround her. A man is attempting to leave via the window. The officers order him to stop. He turns. He's covered in blood. He's hold the knife. He's Dean Winchester.

Whaaaa??

One Week Earlier

One of Sam's college friends, Rebecca Warren, emails him about her brother. He's been accused of a murder but she knows he didn't do it. Sam convinces Dean to drive to St. Louis to help.

Off they go!

Baddie

Shapeshifters

Where do I start? I've been sitting on a shifter idea for a long time and there's a lot of lore.

You've got the rakshasa: a race of demons from Hindu mythology. They are magicians, shapechangers.

The Yenaldooshi is Navajo for skin-walker and one of several varieties of a Navajo witch.

You've got the Bearwalker of Chippewa legend. Leszy is a Slavic forest spirit. In Aztec and early Mexican mythologies you have many different shapeshifters, one being: nahuales. You've got selkies, swan maidens, kitsune, puca and don't forget lycanthropy. Then there's hamrammr, boudas, kanima, aswang, ilimu, bruxsa...believe me when I say there's a TON OF LORE.

Sam

S: You're kind of anti-social, you know that?
D: Yeah, whatever.

D: Oh, the thought of him driving my car...
S: Come on.
D: It's killing me.
S: Let it go.

Dean

"Sam wears women's underwear."

Rebecca: What do you think this is, Hooters?
Dean: I wish.

S: He's downloading your memories.
D: You mean, like a Vulcan mind meld?

"We gotta find that handsome devil and kick the crap out of him!"

Sam and Dean

D: You still keep in touch with your college buddies? What exactly do you tell them? You know, where you've been?
S: I tell them, I'm on a road trip with my big brother. I tell them, I needed some time off after Jess.
D: Oh, so you lie to them?
S: No. I just don't tell them...everything.
D: Yeah, that's called lying.

Tunes

Hey Man Nice Shot by Filter

All Right Now by Free
Poison Whiskey by Lynard Skynard
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly

Thoughts

Oh man, it was too much fun to watch the brother kick the crap out of each other and you know Jensen and Jared had a blast. Man, they're hot...
I was so, so impressed with the shifter changing scene in this episode, with Filter playing in the background. Awesome the Max! Way gross. Love it.
Is it wrong that every time I watch this show, I crave whiskey and beer? No? Good. I'm off to find some whiskey and beer.

Laters!

I bite my thumb at thee! (repost from 2010)

2011-03-23T05:00:00.000-05:00

So on my way home on the P.T. (that's public transportation to you un-cool folks) and a fight almost breaks out. A fight?! You say. Yes, a fight. Apparently, I'm back in high school.

Any who...this fight almost breaks out over, and I'm not completely sure because iChabod was on a particularly good shuffle, one girl was looking at the other girl. Yes, you heard me or rather read me correctly. One girl was LOOKING at the other girl. LOOKING!

How dare she?! I mean, I know when someone looks at me in public, I am ready to throw...down. I want to pull off my black leather gloves and slap them in the face. I want to put on some dusty pink boxing gloves (they're pink cuz they're old and used a lot!) and go all crazy, like Mr. T on Sly in Rocky III...when he gets trained by Apollo so he can learn to box with rhythm.

I totally get where this chick was coming from. Fisticuffs must be declared if someone looks at you when you didn't give them verbal permission.

Back to the story, so I think that's how it started and then it progressed to the girl, who was so wronged by the other girl's eyes, talking "smack" to the other girl who just sat there smiling and was all, "bring it." In those exact words. Then the "offended" girl at first threatened to stand up...then proceeded to stand up, but one of her friends held her back. Because you know, they're on the bus...one can't be thrown off the bus when you're on your way to buy a jacket...because in case you haven't noticed, it's cold out there.

So this went on for about 20 minutes...the entire ride. One girl yelling, the other smiling. Then as Miss Smiley got off the bus, Miss Offended threw some water on her.

That's ironic. Wouldn't it make more sense for Miss Offended to have water spilled on her, since she was the one who was so obviously heated?

Oh well. Justice was served...I guess.

Tuesday Turn-On: Sunrise

2011-03-22T05:00:00.004-05:00

Good Morning!

Have a great day!!

Being trapped in space is scary...Being trapped in space with monsters...scarier! (repost from Jan. 2010)

2011-03-21T05:00:00.001-05:00

There are few things that drive me to a fear so great I literally want to scream, pee my pants, throw things, and hide under my covers...(you can't mess that order up though, you'll be screwed.)

Being trapped in space is one of those things. You don't know which way is up or down. You may run out of oxygen at any moment. The heat always breaks and there's never enough water!! Oh, yeah and you're trapped with flesh eating monsters!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

As scary as that all is, I love horror movies. I especially love space horror movies. I also love horror books but I wish there were more space horror books (recommend some if you know of any)...

So anyways, I SQUEED in excitement when they announced on the news that "Pandorum" was released yesterday on the DVD. I have been aching to see this movie ever since I first spotted the trailer. But the Man just looked at me and rolled his eyes so hard I could hear the stretch on the tendons that hold those babies in place. Jerkasaurus.

Anywho, I watched "Pandorum" last night and let me tell you...so worth my excitement!! It was no "Sunshine" (that movie was really one of a kind and awesome) but it was definitely extremely entertaining!

I'm not going to give away anything to ruin the movie but the creatures are utterly terrifying. They have this completely creepy roar before they show up and skitter about on the walls and such. Dennis Quaid was awesomely stoic as usual. Why isn't he in more movies?!

Oh and this guy...He looks like this kid I went to high school with, Josh Blue.

The movie had great atmosphere, it was dark and dirty. I was expecting a plot twist and I didn't have to wait long...but then they threw in another twist that I wasn't expecting but was thrilled by. All in all, it was delightful and I was not displeased.

You wanna know what really flogs my molly?

2011-03-18T05:00:00.001-05:00

So Monday, I discussed one misconception about outlining. A great conversation ensued.

Wednesday, I informed you on the Snowflake Method. Most people seem to follow the steps involved, whether they knew it as the Snowflake Method or not.

So after I followed steps 1-5 of the Snowflake, I made a list of scenes. The list was very brief.

Examples:

1. James finds out her father has been murdered.

2. James meets Adam.

Those are two actual examples. I listed probably about 20-25. In the end, I think I wrote a total of 43.

Now there's one thing that is absolutely essential for me when I'm writing.

As you may or may not have noticed, I'm a big TV and movie fan. Love them.

When someone mentions either a favorite movie or TV show, there's one thing that I remember before plots, characters, dialogue...

...and that's the MUSIC.

Just imagine your favorite TV show or movie without the soundtrack that is has.

You can't. Without the powerful notes pulling the strings of tension, tighter and tighter, most movies will fall flat. (With the exception of No Country for Old Men, which was barren of music and brilliant for it.)

So I can't write without it. I need a soundtrack for writing. I always have and I always will.

I linked a few of the songs on my most recent WIP playlist.

I can't hear any of those songs without being immediately transported to my WIP. It's almost like I conditioned myself.

I would press play and I was instantly in my story and the Muse would be kicking.

What are your favorite writing tunes??

Next week is the third week of the month and as you know, I unplug.

There will be 2 scheduled posts: Tuesday and Thursday. I may repost some older posts the other days, I haven't decided yet.

When I come back, I will have to tell you about something I now have in my POSSESSION (for a short time.)

I'm so excited and glad that it has fallen during my unplugged week.

Can you guess what it is?? (Don't ruin it for others if you can...) ;)

See you in a week!!

Supernatural Rewatch: S1, Eps5: Bloody Mary

2011-03-17T05:00:00.002-05:00

Some say she's a ghost, others a witch and that she will appear in the mirror; depending on the version.

In some versions, you have to say "Bloody Mary, I killed your baby,"and she would appear.

The summoning of Bloody Mary is similar to summoning the Bell Witch, with a mirror at midnight.

I found this really interesting Blue Baby Urban Legend:

To execute this legend, you need to go into the bathroom, close the door and shut off the lights. This could possibly be enough to start the creepy factor, depending on how small your bathroom is and whether you are claustrophobic or not. The next step is to pretend that you are rocking a baby, while you chant the phrase “Blue Baby” thirteen times. They say a baby will appear and scratch you. When this happens you must drop it and run, because if you don’t a women will appear and scream loud enough to break the glass, “Give me back my baby!” If you are still found to be holding the baby, she will kill you. Are you brave enough to rock the baby?

Aren't urban legends and folklore fun?

Sam

"You're my brother and I'd die for you but there are some things I need to keep to myself."

D: Dude, I earned that money.
S: You won it in a poker game.
D: yeeeah

Dean

"Do I look like Paris Hilton?"

"Smash anything that moves"

"This has got to be like 600 years bad luck."

S: We got to search local newspapers, public records, as far back as they go.
D: Well, that sounds annoying.

Sam and Dean

D: This is about Jess, isn't? I know all about it.
S: No, you don't.
D: I don't what?
S: Know all about it, because I haven't told you everything
D: Like what?
S: If I told you, then it wouldn't be a secret now, would it?

Tunes

Laugh, I nearly died by Rolling Stones
Sugar, We're Going Down by Fall Out Boy
Rock of Ages by Def Leppard

Thoughts

Mirror stuff always kind of freaks me out. True reflection of your soul and all that junk. I actually prefer mirror legend and folklore over Bloody Mary lore.

This was a heavy guilt-ridden episode. It finally comes up that Sam has been having nightmares of Jess's death even before she actually died. He's still keeping this hidden from Dean, which is driving more of wedge between them, as if their relationship needs more strain. But tension makes good fiction!

Happy Saint Patrick's to my fellow Irishman!

Wishing you a rainbow
For sunlight after showers—
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours—
Shamrocks at your doorway
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends
Each day your whole life through!

And to those of you who are simply Irish for the day, drink and be merry but most importantly, be safe!

Tune in next week!

Yes, we're all unique little snowflakes...

2011-03-16T05:00:00.001-05:00

...but we're going to talk about a different snowflake.

Thank you to everyone who joined in on the outlining discussion on Monday! I was blown away by the comments. I'm still working my way through responding to you all but now we are to discuss the (cue dramatic music):

The Snowflake Method created by Randy Ingermanson

I can't remember where I heard about the Snowflake Method, probably Sarah. The first time I actually went through some of the steps was for NaNo2010. I am so glad that I did. Not only did it prepare me for my first draft, but it gave me the practice I need to summarize my story.

We all know what step requires summarizing: loglines, queries, synopsis.

I don't know about you but I always need the practice.

There are 10 steps total in the method, I only do 5. I just don't need to go any further.

I'll give you the first 5 and you can check out the website for the other steps.

Step One: You cut a hole in a box.

Step Two: You put your...

No, no, no...THAT won't get your novel written...or will it?

Okay, seriously now.

Step One: Write a one-sentence summary of your novel. It's encouraged to keep it under 15 words.

*I wrote probably about 10 sentences. I'm really bad at summing things up into a few sentences much less, one. Once I got that part down, the next one seemed like moving from one room to a four room apartment. SO MUCH SPACE!

It filled up fast...

Step Two: Take that sentence and expand it into a paragraph. Basically, split your novel into 4 sentences.

Thinking in the Three-Act method, helps a lot with this one. If you're a fan of breaking down movies or story structures, this one will be a breeze for you. I had to stop myself from filling up a whole page in my notebook...In my defense, I write really big.

Step Three: Break down your main characters. Name, motivation, goal, conflict, epiphany...each with one sentence. Then write a paragraph summary of the character's storyline.

I had some problems with my protagonist on this one for Spectre. It eluded me for several days and then BAM!
Step Four: Expand all of your story summary into a full length paragraph (or if you write like me, a full page...and a half.)

The step taps into what we're good at, writing. Expand your beginning, middle and end; and Randy suggests you end each with a disaster.

Step Five: Write a full page (and a half) description of every character and include a half a page for minor characters. This will help give everyone perspective, depending on your POV and settings.

I did a pretty good job with the main characters but I didn't have all of my minor characters in mind. Most of them appeared on the fly...as in the flew right into my head.

Then I did something that's not a part of the snowflake method but I'll talk about that on Friday!

If you have a method that works, stick with it.

If this one piques your interest, here's another link!

The Snowflake Method

So have you tried this or any other methods??

I really want to know.

Tuesday Turn-On: Somewhere

2011-03-15T05:00:00.002-05:00

Jonathan Carroll featuring a quote by Henry Rollins inspired today's picks. He finds the most beautiful things.

If you're not following his blog, you should be. He's my literary lover.

"Somewhere someone is thinking of you. Someone is calling you an angel. This person is using celestial colors to paint your image. Someone is making you into a vision so beautiful that it can only live in the mind. Someone is thinking of the way your breath escapes your lips when you are touched. How your eyes close and your jaw tightens with concentration as you give pleasure a home. These thoughts are saving a life somewhere right now. In some airless apartment on a dark, urine stained, whore lined street, someone is calling out to you silently and you are answering without even being there. So crystalline. So pure. Such life saving power when you smile. You will never know how you have cauterized my wounds. So sad that we will never touch. How it hurts me to know that I will never be able to give you everything I have."
Henry Rollins

Create something fantastic!

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

2011-03-14T07:44:00.003-05:00

That's right, folks. I'm talking about outlining.

I have nothing against pantsing or discovery writing but there are many misconceptions regarding those of us who choose to outline our novels.

I'm going to address one of these misconceptions:

Outlines are too restrictive.

Some people think that by outlining or planning your story, you stifle the creative process. You keep yourself from discovering anything new and fail to surprise yourself.

Let me tell you right now, that is just plain wrong.

I'll say it again, outlining does NOT mean predictable.

OUTLINING DOES NOT STIFLE CREATIVITY. IT DOES NOT SILENCE YOUR MUSE.

But don't take it just from me, here are a few examples from some fellow bloggers and friends who outline their stories.

In their own words:

Teebore said:

In Fate Lost, two characters who, according to my outline, weren't going to become romantically involved (in fact, I made a point of noting they wouldn't) ending up getting romantically involved as I wrote the story, as it just made sense for the characters as I was writing them.

Summer said:

Well, actually yesterday I veered from my outline because what I'd planned for the chapter was fairly dull and I really wanted to move the story a great jump forward into the Act 2 climax, so I winged it by taking the final bit of the chapter's outline and starting there. Then I followed the logical conclusion and spent the rest of the chapter building up character conflicts and setting them up for the end-of-chapter reveal, plus another little peg in an anti-character corkboard (don't ask me to explain what that means). It turned out far, far better than the original would have, for sure.

Sarah said:

In Glimpse of Another Shore, I have a scene with Pier where I needed another character to make a comment to him regarding an important piece of his character/plot, to build believability.
So I made up a character on the spot, Captain Kinney. He had a conversation with Pier, and I got what I needed from him. I thought that was the last time I'd see Captain Kinney.
But nope, he showed up again to offer Pier a job. Then he showed up later when Pier confronted him about a secret. Later he has Pier's back in a fight.
By the end of the novel, We find out Captain Kinney is actually an important man and he helps hold the plot together.
He's an important, and entertaining, character, and the only reason he showed up at all was because I just needed a filler character. Not only was he not written into my outline, without him, the plot wouldn't function well.
It sure as hell surprised me when, not only did he stick around, he ends up being super important in this book, but also the plans I have for the sequel.

My most recent example is:

At one point, I created a completely new character. It wasn't planned, she just showed up in mid-type but she is now extremely important to the torturing of my main character.

Also, one of my main characters revealed a secret he knew about another. He had kept this secret even from me.

There are so many different types of outlining, as well.

Fiction matters boils it down to three types. They are not all extremely detailed and as long as books themselves.

I utilized the Snowflake Method for my last MS. I'll talk about that more on Wednesday.

ProWriting Tips gives 5 reasons why some of us choose to outline.

1. Establish clear motives.
2. Separate major plot from minor plot
3. Spot plot consistencies before they pop up
4. Enhance foreshadowing
5. Keep your story on track.

Of course, that doesn't mean if you outline, you will have none of these problems but like all things writing related, it takes practice.

Again this does not mean that discovery writing or pantsing is ineffective; always do what works for you.

But please, don't think that by choosing to outline, you're killing your Muse or stuffing him in a box and telling him what he can or cannot eat.

You can never force your story to do anything and if you are, shame on you. ;)

Wednesday, I'll talk about the Snowflake Method and how I utilized it.

I know you can't wait. ;)

So what about you? What are your feelings towards outlining? If you had negative feelings, does this open your eyes??

Supernatural Rewatch: S1, Eps4: Phantom Traveler

2011-03-10T05:00:00.002-06:00

In religion and mythology, occultism and folklore, a demon or daemon, daimon; from Greek δαίμων daimôn,^[1] is a supernatural being described as something that is not human and in ordinary usage malevolent. The original neutral Greek word "daimon" does not carry the negative connotation initially understood by implementation of the Koine (Hellenistic and New Testament Greek) δαίμονιον (daimonion),^[2] and later ascribed to any cognate words sharing the root, originally intended to denote a spirit or spiritual being.

In Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the derived Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism. In Western occultism and Renaissance magic, which grew out of an amalgamation of Greco-Roman magic, Jewish demonology and Christian tradition^[3], a demon is a spiritual entity that may be conjured and controlled. Many of the demons in literature were once fallen angels.

You see? The world is thick with history on demons.

In the Supernatural universe, there are signs that someone is possessed.

-Black eyes

-Traces of sulfur

-Flinching at the name of God

-Pain via holy water

Sam

Sam: What is that?
Dean: It's an EMF meter, reads electromagnetic frequencies
Sam: Yeah, I know what an EMF meter is but why does that one look like a busted up walkman?
Dean: Because that's what I made it out of. It's homemade *smiles*
Sam: Yeah, I can see that.
(the looks tell it all)

Dean

Sam: You humming Metallica?
Dean: It calms me down.

"Dude, this whole touchy freaky yoga crap is not helping."

"This plane is going to crash, Sam, so stop treating me like I'm frickin four."

Sam and Dean

Sam: Are you okay?
Dean: No, not really
Sam: Why? What's wrong?
Dean: Well, I kind of have this problem uh...
Sam: Flying?
Dean: It's never really been an issue til now
Sam: You're joking, right?
Dean: Do I look like I'm joking? Why do you think I drive everywhere, Sam?
San: Alright, I'll go.
Dean: What?
Sam: I'll do this one on my own.
Dean: What are you, nuts? You said it yourself the plane's gonna crash
Sam: Look, Dean, we can do this together or I can do this one myself. I'm not seeing a third option.
Dean: Come on! Really? Man!

Delete Scene

Dean de-weaponizing himself before entering the airport.
"I feel naked."

Ha! If only...

Tunes

Paranoid by Black Sabbath
Working Man by Rush
Wherever I May Roam by Metallica
Road Rage by Blue Sarenco
Some Kind of Monster by Metallica (the song Dean's humming)

Thoughts

This is probably one episode that really creeps me out and the one that's ripe with foreshadowing. Planes, enclosed spaces, demons...
There's no reasoning behind the destruction, demons just love the disorder and death.

Later in the episode, Dean asks Jerry how he got his cellphone number. Jerry says from his dad's voicemail. So Sam and Dean call their father's phone and hear that he's changed his message to give people Dean's number for help. Which means that John is not only alive but he's been getting all of Sam's and Dean's messages.

Tune in next week!

The End, Suckas!

2011-03-09T08:06:00.006-06:00

I had a post planned for today but something happened that is far more important to discuss.

I finished Every Ghost's Spectre!!!

That's right, folks! I've finally finished my first draft!

We won't talk about how shitty a first draft it is but it's done! I did it and I can do it again!

I'm just going to bask...

The Picard was demanding me to make it so and finally around midnight last night, I did.

I'm going to plan a celebration. Details to come but for right now, I think a happy dance and donuts are in order!

Tuesday Turn-On: Trees

2011-03-08T05:00:00.001-06:00

I love trees. I was a big tree climber when I was younger and more spry. These were so hard to narrow down...

Enjoy!

Happy Tuesday, y'all!

The Book Ninja Strikes Again

2011-03-07T05:00:00.000-06:00

So last month I told you how I surreptitiously creep through libraries and check out books.

They have no idea what joy I sustain when I leave with several books clutched under my arm.

Well, the book ninja struck again...

Here's what I stole, only to return, again.

What have you stolen lately? If only to bring it back three weeks later when it's due.

If you noticed, I added a couple of new tabs to the blog. I added one for the Supernatural Rewatch and one if you're curious to know what I'm reading or watching. I'll keep things there to keep the first blog page clear of so many images.

Also, my blogroll does exactly that, it rolls and rotates. You're all on there because you're all fabulous!

To the books!

Gone But Not Forgotten Blogfest

2011-03-04T05:00:00.001-06:00

You all know how much I love me some TV, so I couldn't turn down this blogfest.

Thank you to Erinn, Alicia, Holly, Pam and Quinta for throwing this blogfest.

I am to feature my five TV shows that are not airing any new episodes.

Since I've done a Top Ten fave TV shows blogfest before, I've decided to pick my favorite shows that were prematurely canceled. And to answer your question, yes. I love scifi shows. LOVE THEM.

There are in no particular order:

1. VR-5

There seemed to be a rash of scifi shows during the 90s and of course, I loved them all.

Young woman Sidney works in a telephone company and she is sure that her father, doctor Bloom, and sister died after an accident. Sidney's hobby is to play with virtual reality. She has found an ability in herself to enter into the human mind by using VR - Virtual Reality 5. Sidney is no ordinary person and an influential mysterious organization tries to use her. (from IMDB.com)

2. Harsh Realm

Another virtual reality scifi show. Awesome.

Lt. Hobbes is sent into a VR wargame simulation where he is to terminate a renegade General who has taken control of the program. (from IMDB.com)

3. Jeremiah

A delightful post-apocalyptic series featuring Luke Perry and Malcolm Jamal Warner. It's 90210 meets the Cosby Show...I'm kidding. It's nothing like either. LOL! Oh yeah and Samwise is in it.

In a post-apocalyptic future, a deadly virus has wiped out most of humanity. The only ones who survived, were those who hadn't yet reached puberty. Now a decade has gone by, and a man called Jeremiah is set on a quest to find a mysterious place his father spoke of, a place called Valhalla. (from IMDB.com)

4. Total Recall 2070

It's like Total Recall vs. Blade Runner...Set in the future with androids swarming the earth.

In the year 2070, police detective David Hume and his partner Ian Farve attempt to track down a group of murderous androids with ties to a corrupt corporation, named Recall, which are based on the planet Mars in this pilot for the sci-fi TV series. (from IMDB.com)

5. Surface

I thought this show had a lot of promise and who doesn't like a show about sea monsters? Who??

A marine biologist, an insurance salesman and a teen-aged boy find their lives fundamentally changed by the emergence of a new, and often dangerous, species of sea life, while government agents work to keep the affair under wraps. (from IMDB.com)

And two raging bonus picks...

Threshold

It has one of my most favorite actors, Peter Dinklage...also, Data.

A team of experts are assembled after the U.S. Navy discovers an extra-terrestrial object briefly appeared near a ship in the Atlantic Ocean. (from IMDB.com)

Glory Days

I thought this was a great mystery TV show but as always, ratings. And I love anything featuring writers.

The author of a tell-all book gets writer's block and decides to return home for inspiration only to find that the town locals aren't too happy with his last book. (from IMDB.com)

Now I'm off to check out the others and you should to!

Go here to read other entries.

Have a great weekend!!

Supernatural Rewatch: S1, Eps3: Dead in the Water

2011-03-03T05:00:00.001-06:00

WARNING: Some spoilers may occur. You've been warned.

Previously:

22 years ago: Mary Winchester was killed mysteriously above her son's crib and her husband, John Winchester, along with his two sons, begins to hunt for her killer.

22 years later: Sam is in law school and living with his girlfriend, Jess. Dean arrives on night to pull Sam into the search for their father, John, who has now disappeared. Jess is killed by the same "thing" that killed the Winchester's mother.
Sam and Dean continue to search for their father. They hope to find him as well as the thing that has tragically touched their lives twice.

In the meantime, Sam and Dean continue to save people and hunt supernatural things.

**Dead in the Water**

Rundown

Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin

A girl goes swimming in a lake and hears whispers while she swims. Suddenly, she's pulled under water.

Now you get to see a bit of how they hunt. Dean is looking through newspapers circling obits and articles. One catches his eye, the drowning. There have been three drownings and none of the bodies have been found. Sam argues that the trail for their father is growing cold. Dean reiterates that they are going to kill everything bad from here til there.

Baddie

Water Spirits

"Come play with me"

There are many varieties of water spirits. Vodyanoy and the rusalka are two Russian water spirits. The Vodyanoy are mostly male spirits, who drown people to make them slaves. Rusalka are mostly women who die by suicide or are murdered in water. Sometimes children who were drowned by their mothers, similar to a woman in white. There's the German Lorelei and Nix. The Native Americans have the Mannegishi, which enjoys playing jokes on humans. The Chinese have the nisigui or water ghost.

Some are simply people who have been killed in or near water and can't move until they are avenged.

Sam

Sam: Kids are the best? You don't even like kids.
Dean: I love kids.
Sam: Name three kids that you even know.

Dean

"Oh god, we're not going to have to hug or anything?"

Sam and Dean

Dean: I just don't want to leave town until I know the kid's okay.
Sam: Who are you and what have you done to my brother?
Dean: Shut up.

Tunes

Round and Round by Ratt
Movin' On by Bad Company

Thoughts

Another familiar face shows up in this episode, Fred from Angel. I love spotting actors I've come to enjoy pop up unexpectedly.

This episode is pretty tame. The show is settling into it's rhythm. Someone dies, the brothers investigate... It does start the trend that though Dean is the wilder brother, he's honorable. Sam continues to show his impatient, impulsive side, though he has good intentions. We all know where those lead...
There is a second mention on how to dispel a spirit, salt and burn the bones.
The mythos is there but it's coming out little by little. A great way to tell a story. No huge info dumps.

Tune in next week!

Next episode: Phantom Traveler

Me Thinks I Have a Few Issues

2011-03-02T05:00:00.001-06:00

You know that feeling you get when you start reading a book and with every page you read, it blows your mind?

Or when you're writing and the muse is practically shouting? The writing is flowing so fast and you can't wait to finish your piece?

Or when you're watching an awesome TV show and you can't wait to get to see how it all ends? To see if all loose ends are tied up?

Do you?

Because I don't.

I do the exact opposite.

When I start reading a book that I LOVE, I stop. I put the book aside. Do I read something else? No. I just avoid finishing that book.

I recently rewatched Farscape (sweeeet!) and I got about halfway through the last season and you know what I did? Yup. I stopped. I didn't watch another episode for a couple of weeks.

But hey, didn't you say "rewatch," Hannah? Why yes I did! Even when rewatching and I know how it's going to end but I'm enjoying it so much I stop.

Another example: my WIP, Every Ghost's Spectre. I heart it so so much. I had loads of fun writing 50k of it for NaNoWriMo yet it is still unfinished. I don't want it to be over.

Now I'm sure if I psychoanalyzed myself, I could come up with all sorts of reasons why I don't want anything to end. Too much death in my life, I'm growing older...etc.

But I think it really comes down to that feeling you get when you are enjoying something so immensely, you never want it to end.

When you're in the middle of a mind-blowing book, it's still blowing your mind. Then when you finish it, it blew...your mind and it's over. You can't get back to it.

The End.

I don't like "The End." I just want to bask in the moment of awesomeness.

I know I can re-read and re-watch but it's not the same.

You will never get back at that pure state of enjoyment.

You will only have nostalgia. Bah!

Although, nostalgia is sometimes nice...

To sum up, I wish winter was over.

Tuesday Turn-On: Egypt: Real and Imagined

2011-03-01T05:00:00.000-06:00

I'm all hyped up on Egypt right now. Go figure.

Catch you later.