Can We Twalk?

I love a good pun as much as the next person (okay… that’s not actually true. I love them wildly more than most folks, but that’s neither here nor there) but this whole twitter-speak practice of adding a “TW” into pretty much any word is getting on my nerves.
Don’t get me wrong… some of them [...]

If I Were Scripting the DVD Commentary for Half-Blood Prince…

So, I saw Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince shortly after it came out. I have mixed feelings about the film, as I found plenty to both love and hate about it.
I figure the movie has been out long enough now to safely post details, but if you haven’t seen it and are spoilerphobic, [...]

Well… That’s a Little Freaky, Frankly.

So, I had to coordinate a series of interviews today for a new doctor in my department. I offered to take her to lunch afterward, but she needed to leave for an afternoon shift. Which left me all ready to go to lunch, but completely on my own.
This doesn’t happen often. Due to the nature [...]

Who Doesn’t Enjoy a Makeover Once in a While?

I heart my wordpress blog. Seriously.
I love the post editor here. I love that I can have as many pages as I want and keep everything neat and organized. I love the threaded comments and the stat reports.
I love WordPress more than the other blog sites, and I can say that fairly objectively. You may [...]

Under Cover

Kate Schafer Testerman posted this little activity over on KT Literary. You can read the full rules on her site, but in a nutshell: the task was to design a book cover using a randomly generated author name, book title, and cover image.
So I decided to play along (It’s the least I can do after [...]

A Zoological Discovery: Animal Kingdom Celebrations!

So today seemed to be a fairly ordinary day until I left my house.
Then things got a little weird. I couldn’t explain them at first, but I think I’ve finally hit upon the reason.
Today is a day of celebration in the animal kingdom. Today the fauna are honoring… The Chicken.
And how DO you honor the [...]

Another Mystery Solved!

My husband, affectionately known around these parts as “Mr. Kiddoc,” has baffled me for years.
He can make things disappear without a trace. Give him a set of keys or a remote control or a scrap of paper with a phone number on it and– in under a minute– it will be gone. He won’t even [...]

Shh… It’s Vewy Vewy Quiet. And CakeWrecks Rocks.

If you’re a regular reader here, you may have noticed I’ve been uncharacteristically quiet lately. There are a number of reasons for that, some of which I hope to share soon.
But in the meanwhile, one of my favorite non-publishing blogs, Cake Wrecks, had done a special Sunday Sweets Edition on books!
You must check it out [...]

Today, In a Nutshell… or Pages and Pages

Today has been an uberwacky sort of day. Here’s a little rundown of the highlights:

Woke up. Late. (cuz I was up late coughing. It’s the end of a stinky virus)
Scuzzled around like a madwoman and lead-footed it to work.
Arrived to big banner announcing that the hospital is switching pager service providers, which means the stinging [...]

U Got the Look: Novel Marketing and Prom Ensembles

Well, Prom season is upon us. You may wonder what the heck that has to do with marketing a novel. Well, I’ll tell you.
But first, I’d like to introduce this into evidence:

That’s me (with my sister) on my way to the prom circa 1992.
Now, if you’re like me, after looking at this picture, you’re rubbing [...]

This one time… at band camp…

Okay, I never actually went to band camp.
But I was in a band.
No, not that sort of band. A supercool 80’s rock band, circa 1987.
Of course, we had no musical training whatsoever, unless you count forcing my 7-year-old cousin to show me what she’d learned in piano lessons for the previous 2 years. One of [...]

When Query Met Sadly: Can Agents and Aspiring Authors Really Be Friends?

This something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, in the wake of Agentfail fallout regarding agents making themselves (as people, not just as agents) accessible online.
Because in the course of “establishing an online presence,” I’ve encountered quite a few agents who are funny and fabulous. People whom I enjoy interacting with as much as [...]

Back on the Chain Gang: Heart to Heart

This round of the blog chain has gone all creative-writing-assignment.
The topic, chosen by Jessica Verday:
I’ve chosen to put all of you writers to the test and am throwing down the challenge to…WRITE! I want a short story. (Mine is 250 words. Feel free to write one hundred, three hundred, five hundred…whatever! words)
Mary Lindsey was before [...]

Gather ’round, Peeps! Tis the season…

The season to enjoy one of my all-time favorite websites, that is.
The Peeps Research site is deliciously entertaining evidence of what happens when awesomely funny medical students meet extreme boredom (with tasty marshmallow chickens).

The effects of smoking and drinking on Peeps cracks me up.
But my heart will always belong to the attempt to separate the [...]

An Open Market: Back on the Chain Gang

So someone needs to start off the next round for the blog chain gang.

So all of us on this blog chain gang have worked feverishly on what needs to be done before a novel gets published. Some of us are quite close to publication, including the next link in our chain, Jessica Verday whose debut [...]