Slaves

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Maybe I'm the only one...
but there is a sense of slavery in the air.
It's there when I get on FB.
After an unfortunate confrontation on Facebook yesterday, I can't help but think. Think, think, think.

I don't like Facebook...
yeah, yeah. It's good for keeping up with family and posting pictures of family.
I get that, and being in the military--never close to our extended family--I appreciate it.

I went through my friend list yesterday and it hit me...more than half of my "friend" list are people who I haven't spoken to in over ten years, are people I'm acquaintances with, are people I'm in business with... don't worry, I fixed that.

But what is this need to know everyone's business? To be more concerned with a person's politics or our own politics [or morals] than with just loving people. We've become a society slaved by confrontation. By differences. It's not about people anymore. It's about what they believe.

Before FB, I met people face-to-face. I liked people because of our similarities... the fact that we both like romance, that we both like kids, and that we go to the same church.

So, why? Why are we, and people in general, so concerned with socialisms...politics.
Why do we use social networking as a way to be the loudest? To get a point across? Why can't we all be in the same "room" and talk about what makes us the same? Or, and here's something...

Quiet. Quiet is nice, too.
Life has become loud since everyone joined Facebook.
If you don't see me around on FB in the future, or maybe you'll see me more on my author page [which, btw, has no newsfeed], you know why. I'm looking for quiet, looking for the real in people again.

Word[less] Wednesday

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You know that quote about God never giving us what we can't handle? And how He must think we're a bad-ass??  Well, this fits, too. To all those I've ever offended... and had to crawl out of my hole to apologize to and ask forgiveness of. And believe me, there are PLENTY. PLEN-TEEEEE. 

This isn't me, patting myself on the back for being so wonderful in the apologizing department... it's more like a little bit of shame and seeing that face in the mirror, the one that makes a person run, screaming for the hills at the truth that is there, plain as the nose on his face.



God has blessed me with many, many, many STRONG friends, acquaintances, and even strangers.
I am thankful.

Another month at the Grindstone

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If it seems quiet, that's because I am...very quiet lately.
I've been working hard on editing a manuscript called Unwanted Vows. Nearly at the beta-read phase [where I ask regular old readers to read the story and tell me if they like it], the story has been a pleasure to work with [with which to work]. My critique partners are still making some suggestions and I'm implementing them--word usage, clarity, etc., but otherwise... I'm ready to move on.

Which is what brings me back to "the Grindstone." Or, April Bootcamp, where a bunch of writers race to get as many words written as possible in one month. The book I'm writing is a Romantic Suspense. I'd nearly given up on it and the series it comes from because I'd received no positive feedback... :P It's a series with book one written. But book one has an older couple in it. I know...like they're almost 40!! OMG. How old. Yuck. You mean old people fall in love?! Ew, gross.

I guess marketing can't sell that very well. Apparently the obsession with youth and beauty is still going strong in our society... but don't worry. I'll get that story out eventually. I merely need to LURE the readers in with a younger version of Romantic Suspense first. Hook them to the series and the characters then throw the old people at them. :D :D

No problem.

Have a great week,
Happy Easter!
With Love,
Bethanne

Holy Weekend, Batman!

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Looking forward to the weekend. Not just because of Easter, although that's a huge part of it. I want to relax. Sunday is going to come round and I am going to sit back and do nothing. Seriously nothing [except go to church, go to brunch (which I look forward to), and make dinner].

I've been editing for most of March and my brain is tired!

I might avoid the computer screen all together...

What about you? What are you looking forward to this weekend?
....besides the Reese's!

I'll be praying for peace in the next three days.
What better way to start the Easter Season?

I guess I'll go eat worms...

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New rules...
No rules.
No chores.
No obligations.
No discipline.

No yelling.
No swearing.
No caring.

I am just sick to death of being the bad guy, the yeller, the one who gets dirty looks, the one who can't control a temper. Why do I give a you-know-what? Why do I let it bother me when no one listens? When no one does what they are asked to do? 

I don't need to yell. Or swear. [or burp or sneeze or fart <--sorry, couldn't help myself. LOVE Despicable Me!] I wonder what they would do if I...like, started praying in tongues every time I usually lose my temper? Or sang Broadway Musicals? Or did a little tap dance? Or performed a dramatic reading from my current book?

Does anyone really LIKE being a parent? I see photos on FB. Status updates from other families. And they all look so happy. And it used to be okay. I mean, when the kids were littler and still loved me, it was wonderful! Now, I don't know.

I used to be fun. I smiled a lot. Laughed a few times a day. I knew how to relax, enjoy stuff. Now it seems like I'm always looking for the next 'me time' or the next out. Always looking for an exit, a chance to get away. The kids know it... I suppose maybe they feel as unloved as I do.

I think tomorrow I will start by getting out of the car at school and hugging the kids goodbye...
Win me any points??? I don't think so, but you know what? [see New Rules above] No caring.

I don't care.

Change

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Our household is going through some growing pains, and this week people are feeling the change more than they did last week...

We're finally running out of the crap food. All the good, sugar coated cereal is gone... the cookies are gone and the crackers are gone. Does this mean we'll never have cookies again? Not really. It just means I'll be making whatever cookies we do eat. Because I got tired of all the crap!

We have maybe a week until we've rid ourselves completely of all the extra stuff...for example, this morning Darla was asking for marshmellows. Do I have a problem saying no to her? No, I don't...but life sure is easier when I don't have to say "no." If it's not there, I can't cave.

Besides, I'm tired of not having more of the good stuff and less of the crap.

We needed more fruit, more vegetables, more variety! That's really what made me rethink things. Every two weeks, grocery shopping. Every two weeks, the same old stuff. The same staples...no variety!! Even my dinners were getting horribly boring, predictable and redundant!

For me, it was getting pointless to even consider that diet and losing those unwanted pounds. convenience had taken over better judgment. Need a snack? Grab a handful of crackers or cookies or, worse yet, sweet cereals [of which I never used to buy at all, but somewhere along the line, I started buying regularly].

So, new plan:
No sweet cereals! This week I bought corn flakes, raisin bran, plain-old cheerios [no honeynut!]...although, i'm on the fence about cereal, even the unsweetened kind. The second ingredient in those plain cheerios is sugar, but I guess that's better than high fructose corn syrup. :P

I thought my son was going to have a cow this morning. He doesn't remember the old days when this was all I ever bought.

More fruit, veggies, beans, cheese, yogurts...more of the good stuff. Ants on a log, anyone???

The Happiest Day of my Life--Morning Sickness Included

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Lucky me, Titles are not copyrighted. :D
This title popped up in my FB newsfeed and it comes from an article in Redbook Magazine.


14 years ago this week, on our way south to Myrtle Beach for our honeymoon, we had to stop at a gas station for saltine crackers...that was about 5 minutes after we got on the road.



Isn't it funny to look back, knowing there were so many insecurities and so many fears, but to still be able to say, "Best day of my life. I knew we would make it."



I can't imagine life without him. And I don't intend to either. He brings the life to my life.




The Mondays

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Monday gets such a bad rap, ya know?
But I woke up this morning and we all got ready to head out...school drop offs and such.
My son says, this year is going so fast!

And he's right. Man, where are the months going?

All that aside... I think i need a little fun on this blog. I'm bored off my gourd! So, I'm going to tell you about the creepiest movie. Ever. Identity, with John Cusack. Watched it this weekend with Matt. Scary stuff. And twisted, too. Nothing like all these visuals to portray a very sad, debilitating disease. Multiple personality disorder. Have you seen the movie? Do you know what I'm talking about?

And this didn't even have a Happily Ever After. LOL My word. It was a good bit heart-pounding. I guess we need that every once in a while, though... maybe? Get the blood pumping a little. Can't hurt, I guess. Keeps things in perspective, too.

We live in what often seems a messed up world. The news is filled with sadness and horror. Just this morning, Matt heard of a kid who died from injuries sustained during a bully attack at school. What?! Seriously? Kids are killing kids...by mistake? by accident? by pure meanness? is this what our world is coming to? And we're worried about guns? I don't know... this is proof that guns AREN'T the problem, if you ask me.

But to avoid getting too political.
Maybe it's the creepy, scary, violent movies we should be concerned about. It's the lack of respect for life.

 :( ...well, dang. It's hard to enjoy the thrill of a movie like that after hearing the news this morning about that poor child...and the mother and baby who were hit by a drunk driver...and any number of other awful things on the news these days.

OMG! I need to quit blogging! This was supposed to be a FUN episode. No wonder I'm having trouble writing this week...trouble grasping the conflict in the story. Who wants it?! Sorry 'bout the downers, everyone. I need a quick visit with my good friend Debora Dennis and her 52 Ways to Joy. That's a much better idea...

This post is Procrastination

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How do you handle CONFLICT?

and yes, this is for all my writer friends out there. I'm not really talking about how you duked it out with your buddy at the bar last weekend. Or, how you gave your bestest girlfriend in the whole world the silent treatment for an entire month one time.

I'm editing.
So, tell me how to do it!

1) break it down first and go through the ms one issue at a time
for example...bulk up on sensory items, first adding stuff for smelling, then for touching. In this way, I could go through for each element of conflict. Ex. Morgan left his girlfriend after high school to join the Army. He was escaping. Are those feelings clear. Does his girlfriend treat him like a woman scorned would?
Through each scene with one item.

Or

2) Go through a ms with a list of items and change everything as you go...
i'm sure this is possible, it just seems a little overwhelming to me.

How do you do your editing?

getting your butt in gear

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I mean my butt. Getting my butt in gear.

I don't know why I have so much trouble maintaining conflict in a story. I mean, my life is full of conflict. Over the last few weeks, it's been my laptop and Best Buy stealing it from me. It was phone, dying on me. It was my camera finally taking its last picture...

Am I the only one who sees a pattern here?
Thank God my children aren't robots!

A new lap top... yes, it has Windows 8. Hello?! Conflict, anyone? What were they thinking? That we're all a much of shithead kids who can't read anymore? We need blocks and pictures?? hmmm? And no, my laptop does not have a touch screen, so what good does a start menu that I have to scroll sideways do for me? Hmmm? What? And now that we're in the system, there are elements that have been "made" for it.

My poor husband who hates our reliance on technology in general, almost had a hard attack when MSN didn't come up as it usually does. Nope. It had the big blocks for all those young, fat-fingered screen touchers. We didn't get the touch screen...I mean, can you imagine?! 5 kids?! three under the age of ten! Do you know what is on their fingers?!?!?! Sheesh. Gross.

So, some small adjustments, but I admit...I'm getting used to it. I can actually still work from Desktop for the most part, but...mind you, it does make about 45% of MS's new system pretty much useless and a waste of money. Is anyone listening to me? Microsoft? You out there??? A WASTE OF MONEY!

:D Anyhoo...
still writing. did some this morning. editing and trying to figure out how to get the conflict in my real life into the book. Have a great week.
With Love,
Bethanne

Another one bites the dust?!

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Never going to buy from Best Buy again.
That's all I have to say... I take that back, I'm too much of a talker for that to be all I have to say. LOL

I sent my laptop in because the drawer was broke...yes, again.
They email me to tell my my motherboard is bad and they're going to replace the whole damn thing. [yes, I just swore.] Part of me wants my computer back. I mean, seriously...it was working just fine when I handed it over! Give it back! Prove that it's bad...

I'm having a hard time trusting these Geeks. I haven't spoken to my husband yet, so I don't know if we'll take their replacement Toshiba or the money they deem my laptop is worth for something to replace my laptop. I'm a little ticked over the whole process. If I do insist on my computer and it's bad, I don't even get the replacement. Then i'm out a computer all together. That's not good at all.

...and don't start with me about Apples! I don't care if Apple has in-store fixes! I like my Windows! I just need to get a PC company to do what Apple does. That's the resolution I'm looking for!

Editing

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I like to think of Life as one big Edit.
Right? Everyday we get a chance to fix what happened the day before, the year before, or the ten years before. It's a constant writing of something new only to be edited the following day. Or maybe for once we have that perfect day...no editing needed.

RIGHT! Ha. It's just not that likely.

And when we get the final product [when our days are over] there are still edits that could have happened. Typos... even huge plot holes. In any case, the lesson this week is to just get your stuff out there. Make it happen.

Edit! Then move on. Write something new. Create.

Enjoy your weekend, friends.
With Love,
Bethanne