What an Awesome Week!

This promises to be an awesome week! Two blogger buddies have books coming out this week. I finally came up with an entry for Rachael Harrie’s Campaign challenge. Wednesday is the next post for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. And, I have big news about my book that will just have to wait until Friday!!

Ciara Knight has a new book this week, Love’s Long Shadow. Congratulations, Ciara! She’s a very gracious, generous, and beautiful person, so visit her site and say way to go, Ciara.

Fellow science fiction writer and astronomy master, M. Pax, has a book coming out on Tuesday - Semper Audacia. She has several short story eBooks available (all excellent, by the way) and this will be her first novel. Congratulations, Mary!!! Visit the Wistful Nebulae for more information and to congratulate her.

And I missed the Platform Building Campaign’s first challenge, but I managed to come up with something for the second one. May it amuse you…

Must use the words miasma, lacuna, oscitate, and synchronicity. Bonus for using the word mirror, Imago in the title, and hitting two hundred words exactly. (I managed to do it all!)

I-M-A-G-O

“Miasma. M-I-A-S-M-A. Miasma.”


I glanced at the TV screen. Earlier, the sportscaster had dubbed these spelling bee kids ‘twitching little freaks.’ So far, I had to agree.


“The word is lacuna.”


That’s an easy word, I thought, returning to my report. I tapped at the keyboard, determined to finish tonight.


After a few minutes, I leaned away from my laptop. Reaching for a drink, my gaze returned to the TV screen.


“Oscitate. Can you use it in a sentence, please?”


That’s the key, isn’t it? Finding the word for a sentence that mirrors our intent.


Setting my drink on the coffee table, I continued with the report. I typed the final word and saved the document. Scrolling back to the first page, I read through my work. The content appeared solid and the report flowed well.


However, a red line appeared under at least one word in every sentence. I ran Spellcheck, allowing the program to correct my mistakes. Many were the result of typing too fast. It was the words I’d slaughtered out of ignorance that bothered me. Where the heck did I learn to spell, anyway?


Annoyed, I glanced at the screen.


“Synchronicity. S-Y-N-C-H-R-O-N-I-C-I-T-Y. Synchronicity.”


Twitching little freaks.


What do you think? Clever? Dumb? Cheating? I think can live with that last one…
Any other exciting news this week?
Oh, and DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude is posting the answers today to his "You Sure Do Talk Funny" challenge. Go see if you guessed which one was mine!

Trolls, Campaigns, Hurricanes, and Movies

So much stuff and so little time…

Thanks to everyone who joined the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! It’s so awesome how writers pull together. Looking forward to everyone’s post on September 7. And a special thanks to those who plugged the group – Michelle, Karen, Heather, Tessa, MJ, and Hart.

Today is Fantastic Friday Writers and the topic is creatures.

After seeing the movie The Trollhunter, I decided to go with trolls. Doing a little research online, I discovered most of the facts presented in the film were true. (Well, as true as they’re going to get!) Trolls originated from Norse mythology. They are portrayed as old, strong, slow, man eaters, and repulsed by happiness. And yes, they do turn to stone when exposed to sunlight. They are also featured in D&D, which is where I first learned of trolls. (Big surprise, huh?)

Anyone have a troll story to tell?

I also succumbed to the pressure and joined The Writers' Platform-Building Campaign. Apparently, the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, numerous upcoming guest posts, writing my next book, and preparation for my next book release just wasn’t enough!

The Writers' Platform-Building Campaign is a way to link those of us in the writing community together with the aim of helping to build our online platforms. The Campaigners are all bloggers in a similar position, who genuinely want to pay it forward, make connections and friends within the writing community, and help build each others' online platforms while at the same time building theirs.

Anyone else part of the Campaign?

Meanwhile, in addition to the earthquake on Tuesday, we have a hurricane bearing down on us this weekend. I live far enough inland that we’ll just see wind and rain, but the coast is going to get hammered.

And at some point, I intend to hit the movie theater.

Any thoughts on trolls? Part of the Campaign? Ever been through a hurricane? And would anyone care to join me for a movie? Hot Tamales will be involved.