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Writing Wednesday: Scruff your inner editor Sexy Feet - Some Thoughts on Cover Art Writing Without Distractions Writing Wednesday: Is it really work? Marketing Monday: Code Everything You Send Finding Your Bliss...Bears? Writing Wednesday: Writer's Organizations Make A Difference Monday: Get out of the Box My March 2008 newsletter is out! New Release - Mission: Carnal (Live Action Hero 1)
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So as I clean out my closet finding new homes for clothes that are too large for me, and getting into clothes that at one time were too small, one of the things I notice is that my socks keep wearing out faster than usual. Now, I know it's not because I'm so heavy that I'm just wearing through them, so it has to be because I'm walking more. I walk more in the house. I go out to the barn and walk more. I walk with my partner after work every night. I'm constantly on the move, and being on the move means that well, I use my socks more than I used to. It's an interesting fact, one of those little things that you realize as you work through weight loss issues. Socks. I never thought I'd be wearing out socks at a faster rate than I do now. I mean, socks are socks, right? Or, maybe not...  
So the weekends here at the blog are not themed days. I still hope to post, but probably not on any given theme. But maybe... :) Today I've got news about my podcast! A new episode has been posted. Check it out at http://podcasts.marywinter.com/ or visit my pocast page at my website: http://www.marywinter.com/podcasts.htm for show notes and links. This time I interview Kensington author Bonnie Edwards where we talk about ghosts, classic cars, haunted mansions, and of course, erotic romance novels. The weather is gorgeous here in Iowa today so I'm headed outside and into the sunshine. Enjoy the day!
To get back to my themed days, and daily blogging, I bring you Fantastic Friday. What is Fantastic Friday? Well, it's the one day of the week where I will simply blog about positive things (not that I don't always try to be positive). Today is the day to smile. For happiness. For joy. For being, well...fantastic! And let me tell you, after several days of drenching rain today is pretty darn fantastic. The sun is shining. There's hardly a cloud in the sky. My purple tulips in front of my house are in full bloom, shining their deep, royal purple blossoms to the sky. The lilac bushes which are blooming for the first time this year have tossed out new flowers, so there is a plethora of purple beneath my den window. (My lilac bushes are short, haha!) It's supposed to be near 80 this weekend, and we're planning on taking full advantage of it by grilling out as much as we can. It's fantastic! And it's Friday! Enjoy your day!
If you're not sure what Second Life is, then look to my Saturday blogs. Yes, I plan to get back to my themed days... Writers are very good at procrastinating...see my list below!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
It appears that the cold snap has become nothing but a distant memory, and this means that spring is around the corner. I'm anxious to get my bike out of the shed, air up the tires, tune it up and make sure it's ready to go. Evening walks with my partner have resumed, and we've lengthened the time we're out walking. The science fiction club is "boffo sword fighting" again, which means a chance to be outside and for more activity. Trips to the barn aren't done in freezing cold weather, suffice to say, spring is here. I'm working to find more and more excuses to go outside and do something! Walking, gardening, mowing, spending time at the barn, bicycling... the get out there and go! bug has bitten me. This week on my chat list we're discussing what gets you outside. Is it the thought of turning the soil and planing seeds or seedlings? Is it a brisk walk or a morning jog? What gets you outside and moving?
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Continuing with the themes (grin!), Wednesday will be Writing Wednesday. I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk a little bit about the books I used to have at Venus Press and give you an update on them. As a writer, I want to make sure that I provide you not only with good stories, but also the best work possible. Not very many authors get the chance to "tweak" a book once it's been released, so since I've been given this chance with those novels, I'm taking it. This means, that it may be a while before these stories, in whatever form they end up, are sent back to other publishers. But, with that said... here's an update. Sexual Healing has been contracted by Loose-Id. It may be retitled, but has a tentative August release date. I've already worked on revisions, and don't think the story will change too much, but it has been expanded and additional changes have been made. Inheriting Mason will appear most likely in another form. The characters have changed identities on me, and I've gotten deeper into why "Mason" lived in the basement of that antebellum mansion. But it has been retitled and is under contract with Changeling Press. As soon as I'm done with my revisions (substantially expanded and updated), I'll have more of a clue where this story is going (LOL!!!) The others are waiting patiently on my hard drive for their turn under the knife, so to speak. I really want to get back to Juli's Choice, because I loved the character of Riley, so that may be the next one I take a look at as time permits. Just wanted to update you. The writing process is an interesting one, and I am keeping busy. Happy reading!
Blog note: This blog will now be mirrored at my myspace site, http://www.myspace.com/mary_winter, and soon to be mirrored at a LiveJournal. Another note, I'm going to try daily themes if I can... As always, let me know what you think... My pionus, Braynon, said a new phrase today. "I love you." Okay now, all together, "Awwww..." His vocabulary includes such phrases as "Baby Braynon" "Baby Braynon is a good boy." "Good birdie baby braynon" And various mixes and matches of those. But today, as I was feeding him (ha, maybe that was the trigger) he looked at me with his big eyes and said plain as day "I love you." It's a phrase he hears often. And I think it's adorable that he said it. Of course, this is the same parrot that laughs along with the Daily Show and cackles to himself occasionally with an eerie enough sounding laugh that it makes you wonder what he's doing over there in his little corner of the living room. Today was spring shot day at the barn. Fortune received her spring shots, and although she wasn't happy about it, they're good for her. She didn't put up too much of a fuss, which is good, because I hate it when my 1000 lb kid misbehaves. We're doing well on our respect and ground control, and I will try not to rattle on too much about my equine kid. As I posted yesterday about vitamins, feeding horses, or any pet, isn't an exact science. Dogs and cats probably have it the best because they've been domesticated for thousands of years. So their "dried cereal" they get every day tends to meet their nutrition requirements. Same for most livestock. However, I've found it interesting as the attention on overweight humans has grown, so too, has the attention on overweight pets. Horses in particular. (I read a lot of horse magazines). Like mother like daughter I guess when it comes to my horse. I need weight watchers. So, too, does my horse. So, she gets a feed called Litebalance from Nutrena. This diet is specifically formulated for "easy keeper" horses (you know the kind who just get fat by breathing). Since Fortune is in the pasture and gets ample hay and forage, she doesn't really need grain. I give her just a bit, maybe a few cups full along with her Vita Plus (horse vitamin). And of course, there are those treats while I'm training. She never thinks it's enough, and she's forever nosing around in pockets trying to find the treats. Yeah, that's part of the respect thing we're working on. I love to hear about people's pets. Why don't you stop on over to my chat loop or message boards and tell me all about your pets?
First off...a celebration. Way back when I started my weight loss journey one of my goals was to fit back into an XL t-shirt. The horse catalogs have the most adorable t-shirts and I wanted all of them! (haha!) Well, the State Line Tack part of the Petsmart store down on the south side was going out of business and everything is 50% off. Not only did I pick up two XL t-shirts, but also a new belt (my Wal-Mart men's belt was WAY too big on me). And not only did I get a heck of a deal, but they fit!!!!! So, a celebration for me. Now, let's talk about vitamins. One of the healthy check-offs that we're supposed to do every day for Weight Watchers is take a multi-vitamin. I'll admit, I've been kind of remiss (actually I take 1 generic weight loss one-a-day type vitamin, 2 Grand Flex Rider pills (joint supplements), and 2 eyebright pills (herbs to help my sinuses each day). But, it's important to take a multi-vitamin. Even if you're a complete health person (like all organic, no processed foods, etc.) it's still pretty impossible to get all the vitamins and minerals we need each day, every day. Well the reason why this came up is because I want to do the same for my horse. You see, I walk with her, and I'm working on a schedule so we both can get our much needed excercise. And well, since Fortune lives in the pasture and gets pasture browse and hay, it's tough to make sure she gets all she needs. And so I was doing some price comparison, whether to order online (at my favorite store... Smart Pak Equine) or buy locally. Turns out I can buy locally, and that works a little better for me. It does cost three cents more a day, but I figure those three cents are worth it to the environment not to deal with packaging, shipping, and the individual, although recyclable packaging, that it was worth it to buy locally. So, because I was thinking about horse vitamins, I thought about people vitamins. Your parents probably told you to take your vitamins. Those funny cartoon vitamins with the sweet, sugary taste worked great for kids. As an adult, while we may long for the fun-factor of Flintstone vitamins, it's best to buy an adult brand. After all, we have different nutritional needs. So don't forget, take your vitamin. It's one of the daily healthy things you're supposed to do.
www.elementalelves.com A new question has been posted for our Elven bachelors. Come on over, read the questions, vote for your favorite elf and win!!!! You can win a $25 gift certificate to Changeling Press. Enjoy!
http://podcasts.marywinter.com/ An interview with Kate Hill and an interview with Iggy's Iguana Rescue. You don't want to miss this discussion of vampires, rescued pets, and peas! Enjoy!
Those of you who live in an urban area might have to just to smile and nod through this post. It's okay. I understand. One of the habits my other half and I are working to recultivate is our nightly walks. Although I don't get off work until 9 pm, we live in an area where we can take after dark walks without too much trouble. Well at least no trouble except for the olfactory kind. Rounding the corner to head back up the street for home, I smelled something. Something horrible. A few steps further and the smell changed.. .ahh, that one I recognize eu de cow One of the joys of living in Iowa, or any Midwestern state for that matter, is the farms. Not so many of them are family farms, which alas, contributes to the eu de livestock crap that permeates the air. It smells like money my great grandpa, who was a family farmer used to say, and yeah around here, it usually does. Except nowadays it smells like factory farms and big corporate money, not the small, family farmer money that we'd like to see. A trip down I-80 in the summertime (my car lacks air conditioning, so I rely on one window down and 75mph for my air conditioning) goes like this... Hay. Fresh air. Cow. Pig. Cow. Hay. Well, you get the picture.... It's an art we've cultivated here in Iowa. How to identify the species of livestock by the way they smell. Now that's not to say that Iowa stinks. Not at all. The fragrant bloom of fresh mown hay (achoo!) smells wonderful, as does a crisp, clean morning. I love the smell of horses and leather, and although I return from the barn with eu de horse, yeah, I think it smells pretty darn good. But there are a few places where you can test your mad farmhand skillz in identifying the farm animal by the odor it produces. In writing, scent is probably the least used of the five senses. We describe how something feels, how it looks, how it tastes, but hardly how it smells. And even then we have "floral" women and "musky" men. Think about a fresh orange, that sharp, citrus scent. How does it smell? How would you describe it? The rich aroma of brewing coffee, dark, decadent chocolate. Take a deep breath. Can you smell them?
I picked up a project I'd started well over a year ago, a lovely werewolf menage. For one reason or another the project got kind of pushed to the wayside. So, I do as I always do, put the plotline out on my desk and get started with the day's writing... Except Blayne, one of the werewolves, ripped the plot right out of my hands. Now about this point, I can hear all you pansters (people who don't plot as obsessively as I, okay few people plot as obsessively as I) cackling with glee. I'm in uncharted territory for me here. Yeah, usually my characters make some side trips that I don't intend. But to completely grab the steering wheel and take the story ninety million miles away from where I intended? Well, that's pretty darn new for me. So now I'm writing with this fluttery feeling in my stomach. You know the kind where you're going to go out on a date with Mr. Right and you know it's going to be perfect but there's that teeny little voice in the back of your head telling you it's going to suck? Yeah, that feeling. But I think, with my two werewolf heroes, that it's not going to suck. Or if it does, it'll suck in the good way. *evil grin* I can't tell you I'll write all my stories this way, but I'm going to finish this one. And we'll just see how it goes... And maybe, just maybe if I'm lucky, you'll get to read the results!
I started off last week with the best of intentions. Write in my online tracker for Weight Watchers. Do some sort of exercise EVERY day. In a nutshell, get back to the basics that have made me so successful with my weight-loss endeavor. Oops! Okay so oops isn't probably a strong enough word for what happened, but suffice to say, none of those things happened. Not only that, I ate like a starving child in a candy factory. And the scale gave me a much needed slap upside the ass. Yeah, I gained weight. A lot of weight. Oops! (Okay, so I think it's a lot....) But for having such high hopes for last week, this is well, kind of a let down. I've blogged before about getting back on that proverbial horse, so I won't belabor the point. I guess this week, what I'm trying to say is that yes, it's okay that you gained weight. Yes, it's okay that your plans didn't turn out like they should. Sometimes they won't. Sometimes things will look really bad. This week's weight-loss topic of the week at Weight Watchers is that weight loss isn't black and white. It's not pass/fail. After all, it's life. And what is life but not a journey?
 There's a ritual I go through every spring. I open the shed, pull out the lawn mower, say a few prayers to dad, and then fire it up. Sometimes, like today, it takes a lot of prayers, a lot of priming, and a lot of pulls before the motor fires. But, fire it does, and then I mow. This year, as I pushed the lawn mower around in 30 degree weather (the lawn was still lush and green and in need of mowing in spite of our recent cold spell), I figure dad was up there, looking down on me, and laughing at his daughter who so very much hated the push mower mowing her lawn in 30 degree weather. Dad ran a lawn service for as long as I can remember. When my age was measured in single digits, I remember pushing the lawn mower around trees, flower beds, wherever he needed trimming so he could use the riding lawn mower for his clients. Eventually, I graduated to the riding mower, though I never lost my dislike of pine trees and push mowers. Dad's been gone a few springs now, but each year, it's the same. I look up to the sky, say some prayers, and know he's looking down at me, mowing the lawn. And knowing dad, he's probably laughing. For those of Christian faith, Easter holds a special meaning. I want to wish everyone a happy holiday regardless of what, if anything, you celebrate. And if you're somewhere where it's warm, enjoy the warmth, and then send some of it in my direction.
Well it's that time of year again. Mother Nature keeps me on the edge of my seat and wakes me up in the middle of the night with an impressive display of light and sound. Thunderstorms rolled through here. Northern Iowa saw more of them than we did here in Central Iowa (nothing against Fort Dodge, but there must be some bad storm-convergence mojo there, because ANYTIME there's a warning, it's always hitting Ft. Dodge. Lucky for me I don't live there.). And most of the Midwest saw or will be seeing storms today. There's such a thing as too much information (like the Duran Duran song). I'm all for keeping an alert out, but between the Weather Channel, local news, and NOAA, I pretty much can tell you when, and where, thunderstorms are hitting anywhere in the Midwest. It's an idiosyncrasy of mine, for good or bad. A trait, with which my other half has to put up with. And let me tell you, when it's 3 in the morning and your county is under a severe thunderstorm warning, I'm so wishing for Svein, or Te, or Clint, or any one of the men in my head to wrap their big, strong arms around me and tell me that everything is going to be all right. I'd wish for Charles & Derek, but alas, they'd probably be so into each other they'd forget about little ol' female me. (grin!) But, we're lucky enough to be on the edge of town that usually misses it, so while things may be close, and sound scary, they're usually scarier in my mind than in reality. Mother Nature. I'm alternately fascinated and terrified by her. It's spring. Let the thunder roll...
While the scale gods have continued to smile on me (I lost another 1.8 lbs this week), I've found that my habits have grown sloppy. I no longer measure and portion control the way I should. It happens to everyone. The "yeah, that's what a cup looks like" or in the case of my morning coffee "that's 1 TB of creamer." But it probably isn't. And it's an eye-opener when once again we go back to doing what we should do. And it's okay that this happens. I mean, we all need to go back to the basics once in a while. There's no harm in that. So this week's lesson is if you feel like you're stuck in a rut, or just want to make a good, solid start to your weight-loss plans this week - go back to the basics. Measure. Write things down (another place where I've slipped lately). Pretend like it's your first week and you want to do things "just right." And who knows where we will find ourselves in a week. For an update on the shoes, I did go to Payless and found a very nice, simple pair of wedge sandals. (I also ordered the cute pair with the flowers on them online). Reward, reward, reward. That's the key, and not all rewards have to be food related. Hope you have an excellent week!
The April issue of my newsletter is up! Visit it by using the "newsletter" link above. Or, if you go to the Yahoo Group (box to the left) you can be entered in whatever subscriber contest I have going on each month and receive freebies like free reads! Speaking of contests, April is National Have Sex with an Elf Month. Visit my Elemental Elves website at http://www.elementalelves.com/ for full details!
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