Tiah Beautement's Blog, page 123

Worse than Pavlov's Dog

Dum, de, dum, dum, dee. . . off to buy a book for kindle...kindle one click....ooooooh, what's that? I have an email? Hmmm.... wonder whose it from...dum, de,dum, dum, deee...Oh, it's Amazon. Fall for it Every. Damn. Time.

Somebody needs to set up a match-making service...

Writing bff sent me a very good link: A Match Made In (Critique) Heaven by Charise Olson. An excerpt: Don't forget their story is THEIRS, so it is your partner's prerogative to ignore you. However, before you ignore something, think it over and make sure you're not being defensive. You need to be open to learning. Editing is important. But there is a lot more to the writing game than just 'writer' and 'editor.' A writing bff helps close that gap. Not a cheerleader (although both editors and writing bff's sometimes do temporarily that on that role in order to...

In the trees with Rachel Zadok

Our holiday proved many things, not least that my new found fuzzy feelings for arachnids does not extend to rain spiders indoors. I know they cannot hurt me. The local establishment even provided much info on why one should be nice to rain spiders. And we were. Well, Husband was. He made creative use use of a feather duster and a french press in order to re-home the creatures. Not that I was shocked by them. I was staying in a tree house. The fact that the tree house was more cabin-wrapped-around-tent* meant I actually dealt with less indoor wildlife...

Trees produce oxygen, ya know

1. We are headed off to spend two nights in a treehouse. 2. This was Husband's doing. On the way back The Mud Run he saw a sign and said, 'I've heard good things about that.' 3. When he got home he began to describe it to me. What I heard was: 'No need to pack tent, sleeping bags, and there is indoor plumbing.' 4. When booking the accomodation Husband noted that they come with safety ratings. Recalling Thing 2's spectacular fall off a loft ladder which resulted in a cracked skull, he selected the one they recommended for insane...

Art vs Entertainment

The other day a friend and I were going through my various short stories to see what would best fit an upcoming submission. After we sorted through the pile, eliminating those that did not fit the rules (like word count), we had a mere handful remaining. 'The problem is,' I said, 'that I think they are looking for fairly high lit. That would only leave this one. The rest are more what I would call lit-lite.' 'You mean readable,' my friend said.

Guarding the arachnid

This garden thing, which is Husband's hobby, is rubbing off on me. (Oh, you noticed?) But nothing brought home how much I've gone down the gardener's path when I found myself cheering for a spider. A spider. I have a rather shameful record with these creatures. I know they are a very useful predator which help keep the nasty pests in check. But I've been known to act a wee bit crazy when discovered in my house. (Husband just calmly fetches is eco-catch-and-release thing and deals with 'em.) That said, if a spider is outside I tend to just stay...

Err yes, about those 1,000 words that are now 800ish...

This blog is all over the place. Probably scares many readers - open a post and have no idea what to bloody expect. Rather like life, isn't it? I blame my upbringing, as most people should. I grew up in an area where the word 'normal' long ago took a hike and never came back. So much so I have a set of relatives who visited my parents recently and were overjoyed because they got to attend local school board and council meetings. Found them a hoot. Growing up in an area like this is probably why my work seems...

Music to my ears

The chicken pox has impacted this blog. I know. I've spent the past week writing and rewriting the same 1,000 words in the few pockets of quality time I have found. Perhaps my time would have been best served just counting my daughter's spots. That said, the child has discovered Florence & the Machine thanks to another blogger, Po. Thing 2 can totally dance. This post has been brought to you by Thing 1, who is 6.5 years old. He is currently reading On the Same Day in March to Thing 2, which bought me another pocket of time. I'm...

My profound thoughts on chicken pox

'You know,' I said to Husband, 'if I had just discovered the blasted spots an hour earlier while D was still here I could have gone out to the library and stocked up on books.'

Sleepy piles

Yes, we are still alive. Sorry to those I alarmed with my posts on our battles against the pathagones that have plagued us for more than a week. I think we have kicked the bug(s). But not sure. Every time we think all four of us are fine something goes a wee bit backwards. Starting with the fact nobody around here is running on full throttle. Energy supplies are down and we go to bed early with the birds. Extra circular activities are nil. It is bizarre, this energy vampire. But not life threatening. And I think the worst is...