Aimee Brown's Blog, page 6

A little introduction…

Hey, guys! So… I made a little video. Don’t judge, I’m old, I have no idea how to edit, (but I did try) and script it (didn’t even attempt this) and all that fancy shit. It’s just me… being me. ��(and please ignore the cleavage… like I said, video virgin here)

I’m not sure how video ratings go but this one is likely PG-13 due to language. If you’re afraid of the F word, you might wanna walk away now…

IMG_1183 from aimee brown on Vimeo.

 

 

 

Little Gray Dress is available for Pre-Order!!

Woo-freaking-hoo!!

I honestly didn’t expect the book to be on Amazon for another month so you can imagine my excitement when I was notified that it is officially available for preorder starting today! Both the print & e-book version are available on Amazon and so far I see the print version on Barnes & Noble as well.

Add Little Gray Dress to your ‘want to read’ on GoodReads!!

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���A sparkling debut from an author to be watched.���

— USA Today Bestselling author S.E. Babin

“Delightful debut novel! This book has all the earmarks of a fabulous rom-com; a misunderstanding of epic proportions, an accidental makeover, a love triangle, and a truly delicious ending! I’m looking forward to much more from this author–don’t miss this one!”

— Whitney Dineen,��Bestselling Author of The Reinvention of Mimi Finnegan

���Wow! What a ride – heartbreak, revenge, high-octane cattiness. It’s��Dynasty��for the Chick Lit set. It’s��Mean Girls��in a little gray dress. It’s just so fun!���

–Geralyn Corcillo, Bestselling chick lit author

���Little Gray Dress by Aimee Brown is simply a fun read to escape with while spending a day at the beach or cozying up on the couch on a rainy afternoon. Filled with as much humor as heartache, Brown sends main character, Emi Harrison���s life in a tailspin through misunderstandings, miscommunications and evil manipulations.���

–Effie Kammenou, women���s fiction author & food blogger

���Little Gray Dress is a must read for any lover of Chick Lit! Clear your schedule, feed your pets, put the kids to bed, make yourself some tea or pour yourself a nice glass of wine and be prepared to spend hours sighing and laughing out loud as you divulge into Emi���s world!���

–Nikki LeClair, author of The Haunting Me series

��� Witty and full of heart… a total gem!���

–Camilla Isley, chick lit author

���Blogger turned author Aimee Brown debuts with a read that puts the romance into romantic comedy.��Little Gray Dress��covers familiar chick lit ground���overweight heroine getting over an unfaithful ex, rich prospective in-laws, and weddings, weddings, weddings. But a cleverly told tale with a few surprising twists make��Little Gray Dress��a standout winner. Brown’s narrative went exactly where I hoped it would, and finishes with a swoony, romantic ending that had me misty-eyed.���

–Karen Tomsovic, author of ��Spare Me the Drama

���Funny and heartwarming with relatable characters and an ending that’s sure to make you smile. Little Gray Dress is everything you’d expect from a well-written chick lit novel.���

–KJ Farnham, author of the Click Date Repeat series

���Little Gray Dress ��is a fabulous romantic comedy debut by Aimee Brown. She���s built well-rounded characters you can���t help but root for. She���ll have you laughing and enjoying every moment of this book.���

–Tracy Krimmer, author of Dating For Decades and Lipstick & Lattes

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I would LOVE if you would pre-order the book… as extra incentive use hashtag #LittleGrayDress on��Instagram/Facebook/Twitter��or email me a copy of your order. If you do, you’re entered into a drawing for a $25 Amazon Gift Card, AND a surprise swag/book package from me!!

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Amazon – eBook: $2.99 | paperback: $9.99 �� — �� Barnes & Noble – paperback: $9.99

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If you have been one of my lucky readers to already read Little Gray Dress, I’d love to ask you to head to Amazon, GoodReads & Barnes & Noble to leave a review!

Thank You!!!

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Little Gray Dress – Cover Revealed!

I am SO freaking excited to bring you the absolutely gorgeous cover of my upcoming debut novel – Little Gray Dress.��Seriously, I can’t wait for you all to read this book! I, of course, love it. But, that said, it’s gotten great feedback from early readers as well. ��Welcome into the world beautiful cover!

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Title: Little Gray Dress

Author: Aimee Brown

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Publisher: Crooked Cat Books

Release Date: August 2nd, 2017

Pre-Orders Available: Early July

Blurb:

Emi Harrison has avoided her ex-fiance, Jack Cabot, for nearly two years. Her twin brother Evan���s wedding is about to end that streak.

From bad bridesmaid���s dresses, a hyperactive sister-in-law, a mean girl with even meaner secrets, and too much to drink, nothing seems to go right for Emi, except when she���s wearing her little gray dress.

When she speed-walks into Liam Jaxon���s bar, things get more complicated. He���s gorgeous, southern, and has no past with Emi. He may be exactly what she needs to prove for the last time that she doesn���t need or want Jack!

Her favorite little gray dress has made an appearance at nearly every major event in Emi���s adult life. Will it make another grand appearance when she least expects it?

Pre-Order the Book in early July.

*for a notification when the books pre-order is up, sign-up for her author newsletter.

About the Author:
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�� Author Bio:

Aimee Brown is a writer and avid reader, often blogging her thoughts on chick lit books. Little Gray Dress is her first novel published. She���s currently studying for her Bachelor���s degree in English Writing. She spends much of her time writing her next book, doing homework, raising three teenagers, binge watching shows on Netflix and obsessively cleaning and redecorating her house. She���s fluent in sarcasm and has been known to use far too many swear words.

Aimee grew up in Oregon but is now a transplant living in cold Montana with her husband of twenty years, three teenage children, and many, many pets.

She would love to hear your thoughts on Little Gray Dress! If you want to chat with her she���s very active on social media.

Author Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Sign-Up for her Newsletter

Participate in the Book Tour:

Aimee would love to have you as a part of this upcoming release day book tour!

If you’d like to sign-up to review the book during the tour or post a feature, author q&a, author guest post, excerpt, or giveaway, click the image below to sign-up.

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Or — sign-up here —>��http://authoraimeebrown.com/little-gray-dress/

 

 

OCD – yup, I have it.

Yeah, so I’m pretty laid back in 90% of life. I’ve been told I have the personality of a man. And I’m quite ok with that. I have the ability to turn my brain off and literally think about nothing. NOTHING. I only have about 1 nerve and 1 feeling (maybe…). There is hardly a time where I can say I get my feelings hurt. I’m not sure if it’s cause I’m not listening completely or if it’s because I just truly don’t care. Either way, it makes for not a lot of stress in my life, thankfully.

However… (that word, kills me) there is one thing that can really annoy the shit outta me. Well, OK, it’s likely more than 1 but it all falls under the same broad category. Perfectionism, or OCD.

I remember about 16-18 years ago being the mom of 2 toddlers and doing nothing but cleaning, cooking, playing and wiping tiny asses. The highlights of my day were things like getting the mail, crossing the days off the calendar (just to prove I survived them & so did everyone else), dinner at my parents (where someone else would take over the majority of the above-said duties) and grocery shopping alone. I was exhausted. And I had little adult interaction throughout the day.

Two events stick out in my mind that make me quite certain that this perfectionism and ‘doing it myself so it gets done right’ trait was not acquired later in life. I’ve had it all along it just seems to have ‘grown’.

Event number 1:

We had some family friends over for dinner. The house was clean, I cooked, or bought pizza, not really sure (likely the later as I’m not much of a cook). We were having a good time, chatting, watching Trading Spaces (remember that show? I hear it’s coming back!) the kids were playing and not screaming. At some point in the evening I went into the kitchen to start on dishes and when I glanced over I noticed my calendar had ALL the days for the current month crossed off in SHARPIE!! I knew for a fact that I didn’t do it, and husband wouldn’t dare touch my calendar. I don’t remember a TON after that but I’m told that I flipped a freaking nut and laid into the guy who did it who was sitting on my couch laughing.

‘WHAT THE FUCK?’ I screamed. ‘Do you NOT understand that crossing those days off one by one, every single day before I get into bed is like an award for everyone in my house continuing on for another day?!’

Needless to say, he couldn’t care less. But… I cared and I bought a whole new calendar to fix it.

Whoa, you flipped over a calendar? I hear you asking. Yes, yes I did. And if you’ve ever had toddlers 15 months apart, you’ll understand completely.

Event number 2:

It was midday, actually probably the same year as the event above. Another of my husband’s friends who spent quite a lot of time at our house in the evenings stopped by mid-day to hang out and wait for the husband to get home. No big deal, this guy is basically a brother-in-law to me so it wasn’t surprising he came by. What WAS surprising was the time he stopped by. Moments before the after lunch naptime. The kids’ nap, not mine.

Now I normally spent their naptime (which with the kids being only 1 and a half and 2 and a half, rarely led to them actually sleeping but, more of me barricading them in their rooms so mommy could regain her sanity and be able to mark that day off the calendar at bedtime) cleaning the mess made early that morning. So, when I answered the door expecting the mailman, UPS or anyone else, I was shocked to see who it was at that particular moment in time. The house was TRASHED. If you have or have had toddlers then you know what I mean. Graham crackers smashed into every visible part of the carpet, banana peels are strewn across the couch, sippy cups leaking on the tables and toys… sweet Jesus the toys, everywhere. I hadn’t had a shower yet and the kids were only wearing diapers (because I learned early in toddlerhood that if I don’t have to wash 5 sets of clothes a day and we’re only staying home, why get them dressed? They’ll just strip them off at some point anyways.)

As the said guest walked in he started laughing and said ‘Wow… so you are human.’ hinting at the fact that every other time he was there the house was spotless, the kids were dressed (mostly) and I didn’t look like I’d just done 5 back to back 24 hours shifts.

This same visitor once (at the husband’s request) moved a few decorative items out of their place by inches while I was out on my weekly alone time (aka – grocery shopping). As I walked in from getting groceries I immediately noticed and yelled ‘FIX IT you heathens & leave my shit alone!’ Laughter erupted on how quickly I noticed and he never tried it again.

That brings us to today:

While I’ll be the first to admit I’ve now lost my ability to keep track of the days even with a gazillion calendar’s in the house, I still can’t relax if things are perfect. My way, perfect. My husband gave up helping around the house years ago because the poor guy just can’t live up. I let the kids do a bit of child labor now and then but I swear, they were better at ‘helping’ when they were 7 as opposed the teenagers/young adults they are now. I can clean the entire house in just a few hours, spotless and up to my standards, whereas it would take the kids days and a lot of yelling encouragement that would likely even have the neighbors cleaning.

Sometimes, I wish I could ease up but I just can’t. I can’t get past things being left out, laundry being dropped literally an inch outside the basket onto the floor, dishes set on the corner of the counter closest to the doorway as opposed to 2 feet to the left into the sink, dishes of food put into the sink without the disposal, the curtains laying awkwardly, a lamp not positioned perfectly, the coffee table tray being uncentered, the list goes on and on. If I felt right about shaving all these damn animals to prevent the constant hair I vacuum, you’d be seeing some very weird pictures on Instagram.

But, that’s my story. So if you ever see a social media post saying I’m cleaning. Don’t picture Alice from The Brady Bunch. Picture a foul-mouthed, sweating, irritated Cinderella who won’t be happy until everything is exactly in its place. Then picture the screaming when someone messes it up 5 minutes later. Ah… hey, my kids will have stories to tell for sure.

What’s your worst trait? One you wish you could fix but for some reason just can’t?

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Mother’s Day – 2017

Mother’s Day is such fun. It’s a day all about moms! You get to sit back on the couch, watch whatever you want on TV, have your family wait on you hand and foot and if you’re lucky, you even get presents.

Right? Yeah, my Mother’s days have never been quite like that either. You still have meals to make, messes to clean and faces to wipe. It’s not like it’s a paid holiday.

My children are not really ‘children’ anymore. They’re young adults and teens. B is 19, H is 18 in July and R is 13. They don’t really need me to do much for them anymore. They know that when mom hasn’t started dinner at 7 pm that they better utilize the cereal or frozen dinners I stock up on. They’re smart kids.

I don’t necessarily feel all that ‘motherly’ anymore. Sure, I still remind them to shower, brush their teeth and clean up their own crap but otherwise, I feel more like a frat house supervisor at times.

A frat house supervisor? I hear you ask. And the answer is, yes. There’s less playing, teaching and cute ‘write it in their baby book’ moments going on in my house than there used to be. There are a lot of bodily noises, yelling, cursing, fighting, eating everything in one sitting, begging (sometimes this one is me), borrowing my car, my debit card, and hiding the remote so you can finish just one show.

I no longer get the misspelled notes, fingerpaint handprints and flowers picked from the neighbors’ yard. Do I miss that? Yes, sometimes. I do wish kids stayed kids a bit longer than they do. It truly does go by in the blink of an eye.

Teenagers and young adults though, they’re fun. I’m not exactly the ‘child-friendly’ mom, at times. (or so I’ve been told) I have a mouth like a sailor, I still laugh at ridiculous words and I taught my kids how to make their own breakfast without waking me up very early on. Now I don’t have to censor myself. If I never want to ‘run to the store’ I have kids with a license and car they can drive. If I need the trash taken out, I can just yell a name (and hope I don’t mix it up with a pet’s name) or just yell in general, whoever shows up first, takes out the trash. It’s kind of nice, actually.

I’ve not come to these revelations easily though. I’ve had my fair share of panic attack moments, realizing that at some point they will want to leave me no matter how nice to them I am. They will one day go days, maybe even weeks, without calling me and instead of calling them relentlessly until they finally answer, I’ll need to learn to be patient and trust that they haven’t completely forgotten about me. I’m not looking forward to that.

So, I would like to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to those mothers who don’t feel as motherly as they once did. You did your job, you raised amazing kids and I’m sure they appreciate everything you’ve done for them. Make yourself a martini, put your feet up and watch whatever the hell you want today. If a child (adult child, teen child, grandchild, it doesn’t really matter) does show up to pamper you, let them. You’ve earned it.

Happy Mother’s Day, to my own mother and mother-in-law. Neither of whom we call or visit quite enough. We still love ya though.

-Aimee

I have a release date! Yay!

I’m so excited to announce that Little Gray Dress will officially be welcomed into the world on August 2nd, 2017. Yay!

Truly I was beginning to think over the years that I would never see the day. But it’s almost here!

Editing is done, proofing, formatting, cover art and pre-ordering is up next. The *image above is NOT the cover, just a teaser. Editing was so much easier and faster than I’d expected! Thank God for that. Even though there were a few times that I read through things and thought ‘holy shit, this is the worst book ever’ that never seemed to last and after much reading and chatting with other amazing authors, it seems it’s pretty normal. Like hearing your own voice on voicemail.

I’d love to have you help with my big cover reveal, though. I am expecting the cover reveal date to be on, or close to,��June the 8th (give or take 3-4 days) If this is something you’d like to support me on, fill out the form below and as SOON as I have a solid date I’ll shoot you all an email.

*If you’d like to know updates sooner than anyone else, sign up to be a part of my ‘street team’. I’ll be showing favor to members and sending swag, teasers, books and so much more for this and upcoming releases.

I’m currently working on a new manuscript but as soon as I’m done book 2 of the ‘Little Gray Dress’ will be in progress. Excited for what’s to come for all the characters within.

Talk soon!

-Aimee

Sign-Up for my Cover Reveal below- Loading…

*image used in cover reveal teaser licensed through adobe stock art.

Pretty Little Liars Episode 2 of the final 10.

Oh dear. Seriously. I watched this episode yesterday morning, right before I was struck down with a massive migraine. Maybe the fact that this episode sucked is what gave me a migraine.

Why, why, WHY would the writers introduce a new character in the last 10 episodes? I’ve read a lot of opinions on this online and it really doesn’t even matter the reason for it, it was not a popular decision. Really, I feel kind of bad for the writers at this point. They’ve let fans down time and time again and considering we all feel we’ve been a bit screwed over by the ridiculousness that is this show, no one has very high hopes that we’ll actually get any closure by the last episode.

If I remember right, I. Marlene King said ‘you’ll get revelations and answers in every one of the last 10 episodes’. Is that so? I haven’t seen one yet and there are only 8 episodes left.

Let me list the ways that this episode disappointed me, yet again.

1- Addison. I don’t give a shit about this character. I don’t care that she may have something to do with A.D. I don’t care if she’s being written into a new show by Marlene, cause I’ll never watch another of her shows. I don’t even care if they are trying to remind us what a bitch Allison was when she was younger. The girl is a terrible actor, far too unrealistic of a teenager and she’s a complete filler, waste of a show.

2- Aria, Ezra, and Nicole. Why are they spending so much time on this? Nicole is likely just a filler, who’s had no real purpose in the last 7 seasons. We don’t care about her. I think overall the fans would be happy if Ezra would just dump her ass already and fix the shit he’s screwed up by being written so terribly the last half of this show.

3- Hannah’s fashion/Mona’s manipulation. Again, don’t care. I actually like Hannah the best of all the girls normally but suddenly in these last couple episodes, she’s gone from tough, brave, kick-ass Hannah, back to insecure, helpless Hannah. Come on, she’s locked in a locker? You have a damn cell phone in your pocket and a boyfriend on the street. Use it!

4- Jenna… holy Moses. Can this girl just start talking truth already? Noel is gone… which means no one cares anymore. We all see he’s not A.D. and I doubt we’ll find out much more about him. There is a lot of other shit Jenna could be forcing tears about other than a blatant lie that just adds more holes in the story that will never be filled.

5- Aria and Holden. Move on! Go kick Ezra’s ass and stop wasting time with Holden. You should have some fire under your ass to solve this case but instead, Aria seems completely disconnected and uninterested.

6- Oh, Spencer. Are you really more interested in learning about your birth mother than you are about the mystery that has tormented you and your family for many, many years? Why is she asking her mom what Melissa knows? CALL YOUR SISTER!

7- Emily, Paige, and Allison. God, I hate this trio. Truly. If it wasn’t for the fact that this whole show centers around Allie, I’d say write these three out. Unfortunately, I do believe Paige will be some huge part of A.D.’s end game, if not actually A.D. themselves. Which will piss me off. Yes, she’s had a large secondary character part throughout the show but she’s not important enough to be A.D. She just doesn’t have enough motivation. If she turns out to be another daughter of Mary that will piss me off too because it’ll just be something they scrambled for last minute hoping to keep their fan base somewhat happy.

8- Anyone else notice how it seems the episodes are just thrown together? Hoping to keep our attention long enough to string us to the last episode where we’ll likely find out a pathetic, handful of ‘truths’ to a revelation that is less than worthy of what this show could have been. It truly makes me sad because the show could have been FABULOUS. It started out strong. The first few seasons were awesome. It seems like they wrote the whole show expecting to be canceled at season 4 and when they were renewed they all thought ‘SHIT! Now what? I know! Let’s go all bad writing, and confuse them with the next 3 seasons not having anything to do with the original story and clues we’ve left. Then, we’ll walk away millionaires and never look back at the millions of fans we’ve let down.’

What do you think? Any ideas who A.D. is and what their motive is with the zero reveals they’ve given us in the last 2 hours. Leave a comment below!

My thoughts on the final season of Pretty Little Liars

Ok, I admit I’m not 17 or even 27 for that matter. I’m nearly 40 and I’ve been addicted to this stupid show since the very first episode. Notice I used the word addicted as opposed to love. When the first season aired, I was in love. As seasons went on though my love turned to irritation, then to anger and now I’m just in it to see the damn thing end already.

I give Marlene King props for writing a show that’s not been canceled after season 3. That’s more than I’ve done so it’s admirable. However, that said, this show is a complete mess. Nothing has made sense for years, there are HUGE holes in the storyline and I’m finally at the point where I don’t think even Marlene knew where the hell to take it. A lot of people have been let down and even though we’re finally to the last 10 episodes I have little faith she’ll be able to ‘fix’ what’s she’s jacked up. I finally watched Tuesdays episode Season 7b episode 11 – ‘Playtime’. I wasn’t that impressed and it’s really set the tone for the loose ends to not be tied up like I had hoped. That’s truly unfortunate because this show *could* have been as fabulous as Sarah Shepard’s books made them but the writers failed. Because of this for the next 10 weeks, I’ll be doing weekly show reviews and really lay out the issues playing out in this tragic shows final days.

My thoughts on Pretty Little Liars Season 7b episode 11 – ‘Playtime‘

-If you hate spoilers, I’d stop reading right now.

Issue number 1 – the day after sex scenes… WE DON’T CARE that theses girls are having sex. They’re grown-ups now, I get it. It’s a filler and it’s not needed, especially in the last 10 episodes. So Hannah is getting back with Caleb, I really don’t give a shit. I’m tired of their storyline and am ready for the real info.

Issue number 2 – Toby is released from the hospital but his fiance (I care so little about her I don’t even remember her name at this point, she’s just another filler distraction character) is still in a coma. We see right through this, they’re killing her off to resurrect Spoby before the show ends. Again… don’t freaking care. Another filler story.

Issue number 3 – Ezra. Yeah, I started this show and LOVED Ezra, loved Ezra and Aria together and just really loved the whole storyline surrounding these two. However… with all the filler crap that’s been thrown in, Nicole, Ezra and Aria issues, him being A, then him NOT being A, his recent whiny and indecisive character… he’s been ruined and at this point I don’t give a shit if they kill him, marry him off or just lose his character all together. I no longer love Ezra or Ezria and I think the whole world is with me on this: Aria… DUMP HIS ASS. Ugh.

Issue number 4 – For the love of God… enough with the new ‘A’. You fucked up by making it Charlotte/Charles anyways so stop with trying to find someone new. Just explain why they are doing what they are doing already. I have a feeling ‘Uber A’ will be another unknown character that no one cares about anyways.

Issue number 5 – We don’t care about the ‘extra filler/distraction characters’, Paige, Andrew, Sara, Hayden, Nicole, Wren, Noel, Yvonne, etc, the list goes on and on. None of them matter in the story because they haven’t played a big enough part unless the writers needed someone to distract us with.

Issue number 6 – The first of the last 10 episodes aired and we STILL know nothing more than we knew 6 months ago. Come on! Seriously? So you’re telling me one completely wasted episode is going to help explain all the shit that has yet to be explained. Another clue that maybe they just write episodes on the fly without a real ‘bigger’ plan of cleaning up this plot mess.

Issue number 7 – UGH… the lesbian stereotypes. I’m disappointed in this. I would think since the writer herself is gay that she would have written a more interesting character story than ‘gym teacher’ and ‘swim coach’. Isn’t that one of those lesbian stereotype faux-paus?

Issue number 8 – Alison and Emily… MOVE ON. Dear God, it’s been years of ‘is or isn’t Ali gay’. Honestly, at this point, I hope she’s pregnant with psycho fake doctor’s baby just to end the whole Emily and Ali storyline.

Issue number 9 – Paige. We all see Paige was brought back, with a little more of an ‘evil’ attitude than she’s had before and she’ll be part of Uber A, somehow. Even though whatever her reason is it can’t possibly be enough to trigger the psycho of Uber A.

Issue number 10 – Jenna. Insert paragraph from Paige’s problem here. I mean seriously, I LOVE Jenna but her character is SO badly written. She’s blind, she’s not blind, she’s blind again, she’s part of A team, she’s not part of A team, she disappears for entire seasons and now she’s all the sudden part of Uber A?! If she really doesn’t know this person’s motive then she herself doesn’t have a motive to go this far.

Issue number 11 – Mary Drake is Spencer’s mom. Spencer’s father was a whore. That’s a motive, however, considering he’s hardly even been in a full season I find it hardly believable that Uber A is stemming his or her crazy off this particular storyline. Even THIS storyline isn’t enough for a psycho to torment these five girls. Come on! If that’s the case shouldn’t A be tormenting the parents? Not the teenagers?! Seriously.

Unresolved issues that I doubt we’ll ever know anything more about, but that they’ll probably try to make Uber A:

-Wren- If Wren turns out to be Uber A I’ll be pissed. He’s played a MINOR part in a few seasons. He’s got zero motives. We don’t care about him. There is nothing big enough to make him torment a town full of people.

-Melissa- Same. Yeah, she’s bitchy and mysterious but nothing could have spurred this behavior from her. She’s been favored by her parents (if indeed they are her parents) her whole life. Her being behind this will make NO sense.

-Toby- It’s absolutely impossible he’s Uber A considering he’s been in love with Spencer. He’s got no motive. He knows as little as the girls most of the time so finding out he’s been the mastermind will really piss me off.

-Andrew- Again, no motive as he’s not an important enough character. Andrew drove me nuts. If he really knew something he’d be in EVERY episode. He’s just a distraction and a filler plot.

-Jason- Eh… maybe he’s crazy but why would he give a shit enough about these girls to waste this many years of his life? If they make him A because he was once in love with a 14-year-old Aria I’ll be pissed. Move on from her, no one cares.

-Mary Drake- yes she’s a nut but wasn’t the fact that she screwed her twin sisters ‘lover’ and had his baby enough of a crazy pay back? Why would she need to take it this far and torment the daughter she supposedly loves AND her friends?

-Charlotte- Come on, that storyline was absolutely ridiculous anyways.

-Board Shorts- Where the hell is this guy? How have the girls not figured him out?

-Maya, Shauna, Nicole, Lucas, Mona, Archer, Paige, the Parents, Andrew, Sara, all the other filler characters- NONE of them have enough motive weaved in throughout the show to have ANY motive of being Uber A. None of them. Which means they’ll either be making up a whole new ‘motive’ or choosing a brand new character. Which will ruin this show completely.

-Pink haired Aria- Why oh why do they keep writing this in? This implies that the whole motive behind this surrounds the girls or Aria when they were 14ish. What possibly could a bunch of 14-year-olds done besides tell some lies that would trigger a reaction in someone like the one we have. Let it go.

Seriously, I could go on and on.

They’ve had 7 seasons to fix all of this and they haven’t yet so why did I think it would change in the last 10 episodes? This last episode showed NO new evidence to any Uber A that we didn’t already know and consisted mostly of filler stories. I doubt they’ll be able to tie it all up and answer all the millions of questions that dedicated viewers have had. Instead, they’ll create a whole new list of questions that will NEVER be answered after the show is over and that’s unfortunate.

Tune in next week to read about my list of issues with that episode. Will we learn even 1 NEW detail about Uber A & their original motive or will we be left in the dark until the last 10 minutes of the last episode, only to find out it’s a character we never knew anyways and about a storyline we didn’t hear of in 6 years, like ever other finale in this series?

What are your thoughts?
Do you think you know who Uber A is and what their motive is?
Comment below!

-Aimee

Edits. Round 1.

I just finished my very first round of editing. I gotta say, I LOVED it! In fact I think I loved it more than even writing the book. I was a little worried that I would read through the manuscript after a couple months of not looking at it and discover that it was complete crap. Or that my editor would send it back with few sentences untouched, and she would think it was crap. LOL. It wasn’t that terrible though. Yeah, there were some spots I’ve worked on to improve them but overall I was impressed with myself. It’s not total shit.

I loved reading the comments from my editor, suggestions and questions were so helpful into showing me things I hadn’t thought of or that I forgot to write. Isn’t it amazing that our brains can fill in spots and even through countless rereads after the fact, we still don’t see them?! Amazing! Thank God for beta readers and editors! I’ve learned SO much from everyone who’s given me feedback thus far. I hope it will make me a better writer not only with my edits for Little Gray Dress but also for my future and in progress books. Already in the manuscript I’m working on right now, I feel like my story-line is a bit more down to earth and my characters are much more real.

Am I looking forward to continuing the editing process? Yes. I love having another opinion triggering ideas for improvement. This first edit I added 6000+ words. I expected to add words, yes, but never 6000+! Even after writing my second draft of the story before I submitted I couldn’t seem to get to 60k words but I now have! I’ve even exceeded it.

One thing I’ve noticed in myself since writing the book is that I’ve done so much research on writing techniques and advice, that I’m finding it easier to show rather than tell. Being a new writer (and one that doesn’t have the most imaginative of brains more often than not) I found it hard to show everything that needed showing. But, I’ve done a ton of research and while it’s still a challenge for me, I’m improving.

Being a newbie to the author side of publishing, I have no idea how many rounds of editing go on. I’m assuming a few. I can’t wait to see what I end up with. It’s so exciting seeing a story be born. Now that I know more of what to look for in a manuscript I feel like the next few rounds will make the book even better.

This weekend I did a little cover design dreaming. I have no idea what my cover will be like yet. I can’t even tell you how freaking excited I am to see it, even in idea form. I know my books genre is more romantic comedy than chick lit so, if it’s not illustrated, I’m OK with that. I just want the cover to capture the vibe of the story. As an avid reader I feel that is the most important part of a cover. If the cover doesn’t portray the story inside it affects how I feel about the overall book when I go to review. Because, let’s face it, even though people say ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’ we do. Especially when we buy. There is only so much you can get from a 2 or 3 paragraph blurb and if I’m being honest, I’ve never been wrong about a cover I’ve judged. I’m sure I’m not the only one too.

So, give me your best editing advice – I want to know as much as possible. What do you do before submission, editing wise? Do you run repeated word checks? Or something more elaborate?

-Aimee

I’m a tattooed woman.

I was recently involved in a conversation about tattoos. I am a tattooed mother/woman. I chose to start tattooing when I became 30 (which was far too long ago). I started with a simple band with my 3 kids names and a heart. It’s mid forearm and it’s not a fancy font or cutesy design. It’s simple and not at all impressive. Actually, I got the tattoo at about 1 a.m. on my 30th birthday and I wasn’t completely sober when writing out the kids names so I’m honestly just glad they are all spelled right. I won’t ever have it redone or covered up because it’s a part of my history and it represents a time in my life that made me who I am today, even though that time was a struggle. 

For me, my tattoos don’t have any fancy meanings or symbolism to my life. I just like them. I look at tattoos as if they are a photo album into my life. Each one represents a moment in my past. If I for some reason no longer love the design in 10 years, that’s OK. Because I once did, and I like to remember where I’ve been in this life that has helped me become who I am today.

Never once have I had a hard time getting a job because of my tattoos (and I’ve worked in healthcare for years). I know when they need to be covered but generally I forget they’re even there. I’ve heard all the lectures about women and tattoos and let me tell you, I’ve never taken them to heart. I know who I am so I don’t really need to know who you think some ink will turn me into. I understand tattoos are a trend to some but not to me.

A lot of people ask me why I’d get such visible and/or large tattoos. Don’t I know it makes me look like ‘less’ of a responsible adult? No. I get them because I love them. I love being able to have any design, any colors on my body and being unique to myself. I’m girly, I’m in no way a punk or less of an adult than others, I’ve never used a drug in my life, I pay my bills, love my kids & have been married 20 years, I curse like a sailor and racy jokes/talk makes me blush. In my own experience I have found that people with visible tattoos are more vocal, bold and accepting of those not just like them. I love that and I love being a part of that crowd. I’d never tell someone else how they should live their life or present themselves, what fun is that? I only worry about me.
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Yes, that’s me and a great photo of my favorite tattoo thus far is the one across my chest. I didn’t plan for it to be as big as it was but when my tattoos artist drew it out, I fell in love. Today, 7 years later, I wish I’d have gone bigger and more elaborate and one day I may do just that. But for now, I love it as it is. I get a lot of compliments on it, I also get a lot of ‘stares’ and that’s OK. It’s expected when you have a giant tattoo just under your face. I expected that. Sometimes I forget it’s there (I can’t really see it like others can) and I wonder if I’ve got eyeliner in places it shouldn’t be or if a chunk of my hair has fallen out. But then I remember, oh yeah, the tattoo is not normal for some. Thank God… I don’t ever want to be ‘normal’. I should add, that yes, I lived in Portland Oregon for many years and I ‘put a bird on it’ BEFORE Portlandia made it cool… lol
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I have 3/4 of a sleeve on my left arm completed. One day it will be beautiful, chrysanthemums, water and wind. I can’t wait for it to be complete. Right now it is 3 giant outlined chrysanthemums. You can see a bit of one of the chrysanthemums on my photo above. Next, I’ll add the color to those then add a few small flowers and last the wind and water in the blank spots. The flowers will be blues and purples, maybe a pink, the water (waves) will be blues and the air design will be much like my inspiration photo to the left (not me) in grays and blacks. 

I love the design of this and I love that it will cover my entire arm. It’s girly and beautiful. There is nothing offensive about it and I feel it’s a great representation of myself and the ‘look’ I’m going for.



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There are a few tattoos I’d like to add in the future as well. I do have a rule of nothing below the belt so I won’t be totally covered and scare the children I cross paths with (not that it would matter). On my right forearm I plan to a tattoo similar to the photo on the left. The flowers will go on the top of my right forearm and on the inside going up my arm, from wrist to elbow, in a script font will be a quote by Margaret Atwood – ‘in the end, we will all become stories‘. I LOVE the quote, I can’t wait to do this one as it will represent me, flowers & stories (writing). This photo is not me, I’m just using it as an example for the tattoo. I will do the roses in a purplish color as opposed to red (I hate red).

On my upper right arm I have a water color design I love (to the left-not mine) but I’d like the quote to be – ‘strength is what we gain from the  madness we survive‘. Isn’t that the truth? Everyone in life has such unique experiences and stories that have sculpted them into who they are. I love that and even though the stories are not always good ones, we become stronger because of them.


I just love this design, to me it screams madness and mess which fits the quote I want. It would be much bigger than that and who knows what colors until I get there.

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And, last but not least. My left arm is practically full but I would like the image to the left on my inner wrist. I’ve spent years of my life writing so I want to honor that. It won’t be more than a couple inches big at most but I just love the elegant look of this. 

I imagine once I’ve completed these tattoos I’ll be finished (and likely pushing 50). I don’t feel you need to be a certain age to do anything you love. Fulfilling dreams can be done while you’re a child or a grandparent. Sometimes dreams take a lifetime and that is OK. No one is there to tell you no except yourself.

Do you have tattoos? Tell me about them below.

-Aimee