It’s a Brand New May

April is over. I challenged myself to write one new poem a day, and 26 blog posts for the AtoZ challenge. I’m happy to say that now only did I succeed, I blew it out of the water. This was my most successful poetry month. Last year I had the same poetry goal. My numbers:

Blog posts: 26

poems written: 41 (last year 19)

words of poetry written: 2512 (last year 1332)

What would I do different?

I didn’t spend much time visiting other bloggers doing the A to Z challenge. Next year I’ll interact more. I did find a few new blogs to follow, and hopefully got a few friends in return.

My own favorite posts:

C is for Chiaroscuro
F is for Fairies and Fudge
I is for Imagination
Q is for Quotes
R is for Rain
U is for Unique

Fellow bloggers who participated:

Sylvia Van Bruggen: Writer, Artist, Play Instigator
Writing Off the Edge
Untethered Realms
Writing in Wonderland

Thank you to everyone who visited, left comments, and gave support. I couldn’t have done this on my own.

Now What?

My goal is to transfer that productivity to my fiction. I’m going to keep it quite doable this month, and match my poetry. So 2500 words added to my novels.

As for blogging, I’m going to blog once a week, with updates on my poetry and fiction, as well as life in general. I hope you stay with me.

April was also a great month, as my first ever poetry book was published April 23. Chiaroscuro is available directly from SynergEbooks, and on Amazon.com and B&N.com.

11 Questions and a Blog Award

*Dusts off blog so she can post shiny award*

Thank you, Heather Riffle, for the award. And the excuse to dust off my blog. Hopefully I still have some followers left after its neglect.

Now on to the fun stuff.

Rules:
-Answer the presenter’s 11 questions
-Choose 11 lucky recipients (who have fewer than 200 followers)
-Formulate 11 questions for them to answer
-Plaster the award on your blog

I’ll likely bend the second rule, but the rest I can do! Here are Heather’s questions for me:

1. Does music ever inspire your writing? Absolutely. I find Celtic music especially gets me in the mood to write fantasy. I’ve also become hooked on Radio Rivendell. Epic music for epic writing.

2. What is your favorite season? Autumn. Warm colors. Crunch of leaves. The weather is just starting to cool. The kid is back in school. The writer community comes together for The Muse Online Writers Conference, and NaNoWriMo. Fall may not be the usual time for new beginnings, but it represents MY beginning. I was born in November. So this time of year is also perfect for my blog’s revival.

3. What is your favorite holiday? Thanksgiving. I was born on Thanksgiving, and it’s a time for food and family and fun.

4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?  And why? Ooh, this is a toughie. No, actually it’s not. There’s this island I researched for one of my novels. Sylt island, the northernmost part of Germany. It never gets completely dark at night in the summer. Miles and miles of beach. The smell of the ocean. Charming villages. So very magical.

5. Cats or dogs? Why? Cats. An obvious reason, I am more allergic to dogs. They are more self-sufficient. On a more emotional level, cats are comforting, playful, always bring a smile. They tend to be cuddlers, just like me.

6. Favorite color?  What do you think it says about your personality? Purple. Purple is creativity, passion, fantasy, play, and possibility.

7. Favorite movie? Why? The Avengers. Joss Whedon + Chris Evans + great dialogue + an epic cast + action + superheroes = AWESOME

8. If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Why? What a wonderful follow up to #7. LOL I would choose flight. To fly through the air, up where it’s pure, traveling wherever I please.

9. If you could time-travel, would you? Where/When would you go? And for what reason? I would travel back to when Stonehenge was in its full glory. I want to see it whole, and learn how and why it was built.

10. Favorite food? German Chocolate Cake. If dessert doesn’t count, then homemade banana muffins.

11. Who/what is your favorite character (movie, book, TV) of all time? Hard to label just one. I must have a thing for bad boys, cause the names that pop into my head are Captain Mal Reynolds (from Firefly), Leesil (assassin from The Noble Dead Saga), Matrim (from Wheel of Time), and Raistlin (from Dragonlance). No wonder the male hero of my first book is a thief!

Not sure who to pass this on to. That may have to be a future post. I hope you enjoyed my answers.

Made it through 30 Days

Today is the last day of November’s NaBloPoMo. With this post I have successfully blogged every day this month! It’s not a pace I can keep up regularly, but it did inspire me to attend to my blog again. I will be sure to post something on a weekly basis. I hope you’ve enjoyed my diverse entries this month, and that you will stick around.

My Expression Elsewhere

For today’s post, I direct you to Poetic Muselings. As a member of this talented poetry group, I’ll be posting regularly over there on alternating Mondays. Today I wrote about My Expression.

My Publisher talks Lifelines

Not tired of saying that: My Publisher.

Betty Dobson, of InkSpotter Publishing, blogged today of her experience acquiring Lifelines and working with the Poetic Muselings. It’s been great working with Betty.

So go check out Betty’s side of the story.

November Happenings

I’m not doing NaNoWriMo this year, but I am participating in some challenges.

November Poem-A-Day:

Every November, in the same spirit as NaNoWriMo, Robert Lee Brewer (editor for Writer's Digest) hosts a Every November, in the same spirit as NaNoWriMo, Robert Lee Brewer (editor for Writer's Digest) hosts a Poem-A-Day Challenge. Each day he’ll post a prompt on his Poetic Asides blog, and the task is to write a poem based on that prompt.

NaBloPoMo:

National Blog Posting Month helps set the habit of blogging by posting every day for one month. If you’re interested, you can sign up through November 5th. There are even prizes! I figure if I write posts in advance, then my weekends are still free—just hit publish and I’m good to go.

PubSub3rdFri

This is more a year round commitment than a challenge. PubSub3rdFri means submitting something every month, on the third Friday, and was started by Joan Y. Edwards. I definitely need to get back into regular submitting, for both poetry and fiction, and this should give me the encouragement and support I need.

~~~

In addition to these challenges, my poetry group is staring a group blog in anticipation of the publication of our anthology. More on that later.

Busy can be good. Hopefully this birthday month will be a good one. What are your plans this month? Good luck to everyone who is doing NaNoWriMo or any of the other creative challenges.

Irresistibly Sweet

Yesterday I received the sweetest blog award from Saronai:

She said: “Looks alone make this site irresistible to me.  Even if the posts were uninteresting, I could just admire the eye-grabbing layout cradling the finer, more fanciful header.  I also enjoy her muse theory.”

Aww, thanks so much! I’m glad someone enjoys my layout as much as I do.

I am to share seven random facts about myself, and then pass the award along to five blogging friends.

Randomness About Me

1. I love keys. Ever since reading The Golden Key, I have been fascinated by them. Especially key necklaces. I used to have a simple key on a chain with a Yin-Yan pendant. One of my favorite necklaces  now is a Steampunk key (gift from my awesome husband) from Keyper’s Cove, seen here.
2. I am a plotter. I usually have to have at least a vague idea of a scene before I start writing it. I have one chapter written of a book that isn’t plotted AT ALL. And it scares me and fascinates me at the same time.
3. I currently have 300 Friends on Facebook. Most of them are fellow Dragon, a secret society in The Secret World, an upcoming MMO which I am super excited for. We are preparing for The Secret War which should be coming to Facebook soon. (Choose your faction now!)
4. Thanks to Netflix streaming on Xbox Live, I have watched 50 episodes of Charmed in seven weeks.
5. I started writing poetry in fifth grade. I have written well over 200 poems.
6. I have seven different email accounts.
7. I have a phone phobia. My mind goes blank whenever I’m on the phone. I can never remember the things I was supposed to ask, or info to pass along. Yay for an era of email, blogs, Facebook, and texts!

And This Award Goes To…

The top five sites I find irresistible (in no particular order):

1. Liana Brooks – I’m always learning something fascinating about science and how things work. LOVED her series on The Truth behind Lust (and Love!).
2. Nikki – Always amazed at how much she manages to get done with 7 kids and a husband in the military! She shares her challenges and provides helpful household tips.
3. The Steampunk Home – I love Steampunk, the aesthetics, the genre, the clothes. This blog feeds my appetite with pictures and links of household items that fit that Steampunk vibe.
4. Epbot – Jen is always sharing wonderfully geeky things. Her skills at do-it-yourself projects are envious!
5. Alina – Love, love her whimsical header. And her posts are totally relatable as a fellow introvert writer and mom.

New Look

Shabby Blogs retired some of their old backgrounds, so I updated my look. New background, a post divider/signature. Hope you like. I know I do.

Summer Break

I haven’t been posting much lately, and I think I’m going to officially take a break from blogging for the rest of Summer Break. I may post something of interest now and then, but nothing planned. I have a few things to work out. If you want something more from me to read, you can catch up on old posts or read some of my poems. I’ll still be reading blogs, so you’ll see me around!

New Look

I’ve got my new blog look up. May do a little tweaking, add another tab or two, but nothing major. Thank you to everyone who gave feedback. Background, Twitter button, and header image came from ShabbyBlogs.com. All the coding and editing was done by me. Headache, but I learned a lot. And I’m really happy with the result. It’s more me, rather than going with a premade layout.

Possible Makeover

With the new tab options integrated into Blogger, I’m considering giving a makeover to my blog. Fits well with my Spring Cleaning theme this month. Anything I should consider regarding font size, colors? Anything you hate to see? Preference over two or three columns? Are flowers a turn off for the guys? In the end, I’ll be going with something that works for me, but I don’t want to turn you away!

Reviewing 2009

This year I went a bit overboard with my goals, using 50 as my marker for, well, everything. Here’s what really happened.

Books read: 18

I could easily have read more if I stuck to YA and romance, but I had some fantasy to immerse myself in. Those aren’t quick reads, and I don’t want them to be. I learned that I do not read as much as I did back in school years. It’s not that I can’t read fast, it’s that too many activities interest me now. Scrapbooking, video games, parenting. I no longer have a desire to read every moment I have spare time. Which is fine. I can make more time to read though. My reading goal this year is 2 books a month.

 

Chapters written: 15

over various projects: Rt100D, TC, FwM, SS

could have done better. will do better.

 

Poems written: 20

14 color poems

at least they’re quality poems, if not quantity

 

Poems submitted: 51

1 published this year

7 submitted just today. cutting it close, I know.

Yay! One goal met!

 

Next year I’ll shoot for the moon rather than the stars. Next Tuesday Tally I’ll do a progress report on my projects and post my full list of new goals.

 

In January I started querying EotF. Did a couple revisions in between batches of queries. No bites yet, but not giving up. I think I finally have a strong query (not just a decent one), which I’ll start sending out next month.

 

Non-writing happenings in 2009: We bought a house. My son started kindergarten. Bought a kitten, who died six months later. Had many house problems and lots of adjusting as house owners. Lots of being sick, with kid in school full time and living in (now less so) cold house. I joined Twitter and Facebook. Got addicted to Zoo World. And got some wonderful new blog followers. Thank you to all of you that make this blog community so wonderful. See you next year!

Tuesday Tally and The Best Blog Award

A little belated, but thank you to Courtney for the beautiful new award:

Here are the rules for the BBA:

1. To accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his/her blog link.
2. Pass the award to other bloggers that you recently discovered and think are great! Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I don’t always play along with these, but here are some more recently discovered blogs I have been enjoying.

• Tamlyn Leigh’s blog write between the lines.  I met her at the Muse Online Writers Conference, and have been following her blog since.
• Improv Everywhere is a fun group that stages scenes in public places. Much enjoyment to read and watch. I’d heard of them before, but recently discovered their missions page, which is quite a list of their past performances.
• Who is Kai?, a science fiction story by elucian. I haven’t read much yet, but it is so far poetic, deep, symbolic. And I’m not one usually into SciFi.
• Shooting Stars, a blog by some talented and entertaining sisters, Suzette Saxton and Bethany Wiggins, who are both newly agented writers.
• Laurelyn Estes over on Romantic Musings, where she blogs about writing speculative fiction romance.

 

I’ve been making some progress on TC these last two weeks. We should be getting insulation before Christmas, and a couple new windows hopefully soon after. So I should be ready for some productivity in a warmer house come the new year.

In the meantime, I’m focusing more on submissions. I may not complete any of my other way out there goals for the year, but I’m so close on my poetry submitting!

 

Goals:

• submit a minimum six poems before Dec 31
• prepare more queries for EotF, to send after Christmas

 

Ten days until Christmas! My favorite things about the season:

The decorated Christmas tree (looking at it, not so much the process), and watching my son's excitement over every little thing: the tree, snow, presents, the countdown. Do you know what he says when asked what he wants for Christmas? “Presents.” So easy to please.

Commenting fixed

Turned out pretty simple. Template didn’t like embedded comments. Switched to pop-up and it works fine. At least for me. Let me know if it works for you. (As it would be hard to let me know if it doesn’t, seeing as you couldn’t comment… you’d have to email or twitter.)

Template trouble?

I have just been informed that the comment feature on my blog is no longer working. I may have to switch to a different template, or figure out the problem with this one. In the meantime, feel free to email me any comments (feywriter at hotmail dot com) or say hi through twitter.

Warning: Changes ahead

I’m going to try out a new template. Be patient with me. If you see something you like, or don’t, feel free to speak up. I want something my readers enjoy as well. :-)

*Waves Hello*

Hi everyone! Miss me? I’m feeling much better today. Ready to get writing and blogging again. I need to get a camera again so I can show off Rayna, our kitty.

 

How come every time we buy something for the house, I discover two more things that we either need or want for it? House = Never-ending project. Enjoying the space though. :-)

 

P.S. Thanks to Little Scribbler for the blog award while I was gone. I’ll pass it on later this week.

First Bling!

My very first blog award! Thank you, Jenn.

 

So here are the rules of the blingage.

 

Premio-Dardas: "This award 'acknowledges the values that every Blogger displays in their effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values with each message they write. Awards like this have been created with the intention of promoting community among Bloggers. It's a way to show appreciation and gratitude for work that adds value to the Web."

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who granted it to you, along with his/her blog link.

2. Pass the award to (15) other blogs that you feel are worthy of this recognition. Remember to contact each of them to let them know they have been chosen as recipients.

 

So, in no particular order, I present this award to...

 

1. Inkygirl - her comics remind me of the humor and universal truths in our profession

 

2. Liana - for an motivating blog, and reminding me that randomness can be a good thing

 

3. Authoress - for encouraging participation and communication between writers, creating a community within her blog, and all the wonderful challenges and contests.

 

4. Nikki - for always managing to write an entertaining blog, and sharing her wealth of household tips, despite the craziness that is her life

 

5. Alan Campbell - for sharing his writing life, and Scottish wit

 

6. Writer Unboxed - for a great group of writers, at all stages of publication,

sharing their journey

 

7. Poetic Asides - for celebrating and motivating poets

 

8. Lynn - for sharing her query process, complete with successes and failures. it makes me want to get busy sending my own out.

 

9. Cake Wrecks - for making me laugh during the week, and ooh in awe on Sundays, at the unbelievable cakes out there. my preschooler and I enjoy looking at the blog together.

 

10. Fantasy Book Critic - for a wealth of knowledge about new SFF books, and providing an opportunity to win some!

 

11. Shrinking Violets - for celebrating the introverts!

 

12. Patrick Rothfuss - for being the most generous writer I know

 

13. Diana - for proving that writers can genre hop, just write a book that you love, whether it's secret societies or killer unicorns

 

14. Justine - for taking the time to answer questions on her view of the writing and publishing world

 

15. Fangs, Fur, & Fey - for an amazing community of fantasy authors, of which I hope to be a part of someday.

Display name

To further identify myself from all the other Mary's out there, I am changing my display name to Feywriter. So, if you start seeing comments from Feywriter, you'll know who that is. It's not some imposter pretending to be me. ;-)

Dr. Horrible is Awesomeness

If you are a Joss Whedon, Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, or Felicia Day fan, and haven't yet seen "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog", you are missing out! Even if you're not (yet) a fan, check out the awesomeness of this three act online musical in all its comedic goodness (and evilness). Hulu has it on their free streaming again (reportedly for the next four months). We will be buying the DVD when it becomes available. Go! Watch! Enjoy! I myself will have it playing in the background so I can listen to the awesomeness of the songs until I can sing along. If streaming doesn't go so well for you, it is available on iTunes as well.

 

Here be preview: