Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 144
November 24, 2013
The Detailed Universe
This is pretty dang cool.
November 21, 2013
At Last People Can Sit Down
My furniture is fixed! My furniture is fixed!
For those of you who haven't heard the story, I moved out of my house in MN in July and into a house in GA. I made it with just a few strained nerves and some stress. My furniture wasn't so lucky.
The most painful damage was the couch. It had two legs broken from it and that left one comfortable chair. When my parents are visiting, that's not cool.
I also had the movers smash the corner on my dining room table and they did more damage than that. Now that's fixed and so are the nicks and scrapes that they inflicted.
The broken hinge on my jewelry amoire and the giant scrape where they took off the stain and finish? Fixed!
Broken coffee table drawer, dings and nicks on my entertainment center, damage to my stereo cabinet. Fixed, fixed, fixed!
I'm so excited that my furniture looks the way it's supposed to again. :-)
Sorry about this post being late today. I forgot it was blogging day last night.
For those of you who haven't heard the story, I moved out of my house in MN in July and into a house in GA. I made it with just a few strained nerves and some stress. My furniture wasn't so lucky.
The most painful damage was the couch. It had two legs broken from it and that left one comfortable chair. When my parents are visiting, that's not cool.
I also had the movers smash the corner on my dining room table and they did more damage than that. Now that's fixed and so are the nicks and scrapes that they inflicted.
The broken hinge on my jewelry amoire and the giant scrape where they took off the stain and finish? Fixed!
Broken coffee table drawer, dings and nicks on my entertainment center, damage to my stereo cabinet. Fixed, fixed, fixed!
I'm so excited that my furniture looks the way it's supposed to again. :-)
Sorry about this post being late today. I forgot it was blogging day last night.
November 19, 2013
Done!
Once upon a time, I used to post dancing Hobbes every time I finished a story. I forgot that, though, on the last few projects. I had a November 15 deadline, though, and finished my second story for Nocturne Cravings.
This one is tentatively titled Games of Desire and the hero, Marax, is a demon. The heroine, Chloe, is a wizard. They meet because they're both looking for her younger half-sister, but they find they have more in common than a common goal. There's instant, overwhelming attracting, too.
No release date yet, but you can find my first Nocturne Cravings on January 1, 2014. That one is titled Phoenix Burning.
This one is tentatively titled Games of Desire and the hero, Marax, is a demon. The heroine, Chloe, is a wizard. They meet because they're both looking for her younger half-sister, but they find they have more in common than a common goal. There's instant, overwhelming attracting, too.
No release date yet, but you can find my first Nocturne Cravings on January 1, 2014. That one is titled Phoenix Burning.
November 17, 2013
Should You Use the Snooze Button
Give my my snooze button? Gah!
November 14, 2013
99 Cent Sale on Ravyn's Flight!
For a limited time, Ravyn's Flight is on sale for 99 Cents almost anywhere ebooks are sold! This is science fiction romance originally published in 2002.
Alone on a strange planet. Their teammates murdered by an unknown enemy. Help weeks away. Could there be a worse time to fall in love?
Buy from AmazonBuy from Apple Buy from Barnes & NobleBuy from KoboBuy from Smashwords
Alone on a strange planet. Their teammates murdered by an unknown enemy. Help weeks away. Could there be a worse time to fall in love?
Buy from AmazonBuy from Apple Buy from Barnes & NobleBuy from KoboBuy from Smashwords
November 12, 2013
A Little Vicarious Living
One of the fun things about writing is that if I see something cool, something that's out of my price range for instance, I can let my characters use it or have it.
Recently, my h/h needed to go to a hotel to hide out. I could have sent them to any chain motel, but instead I checked them into the most expensive suite in a five-star luxury hotel in Bel Air. I found pictures and had them checking out various parts of the room. Most of that will be cut from the story, but while I was writing it, it allowed me to stroll around the room.
I also tend to give my heroes or heroines expensive vehicles. Not because I'm into status cars. As long as my vehicle gets me reliably from point A to point B I'm happy. But it's kind of fun to imagine driving something like that.
And clothes. I love those little booties, but I can't wear them because they always make my feet look like aircraft carriers. I haven't had a heroine yet that's gone to a red-carpet event that calls for designer evening gowns, but if someday I do get a heroine like this, I have a bazillion dresses pinned on Pinterest that she can choose from.
Of course, the bottom line is always my characters. If they won't drive it, wear it, or think of going to a hotel that expensive, I don't write it no matter how much I want to. A writer should always be true to her characters.
Recently, my h/h needed to go to a hotel to hide out. I could have sent them to any chain motel, but instead I checked them into the most expensive suite in a five-star luxury hotel in Bel Air. I found pictures and had them checking out various parts of the room. Most of that will be cut from the story, but while I was writing it, it allowed me to stroll around the room.
I also tend to give my heroes or heroines expensive vehicles. Not because I'm into status cars. As long as my vehicle gets me reliably from point A to point B I'm happy. But it's kind of fun to imagine driving something like that.
And clothes. I love those little booties, but I can't wear them because they always make my feet look like aircraft carriers. I haven't had a heroine yet that's gone to a red-carpet event that calls for designer evening gowns, but if someday I do get a heroine like this, I have a bazillion dresses pinned on Pinterest that she can choose from.
Of course, the bottom line is always my characters. If they won't drive it, wear it, or think of going to a hotel that expensive, I don't write it no matter how much I want to. A writer should always be true to her characters.
November 10, 2013
Fresh versus Frozen
Are fresh vegetables more nutritious than frozen? Also, the end of this video has an ad for their sponsor. I almost didn't post it because of that, but I thought the question (and answer) were worthwhile enough to put it up anyway.
November 7, 2013
Sometimes You Have to Ignore Advice
Today, I saw someone who recommended that authors create a page on Facebook for each of their books. No! I might have yelled this at the computer. The man making the recommendation said that this way the cover for the book will show up on people's pages when they like it.
In theory, this is good. In practice? Not so cool for those of us receiving dozens of Like My Page requests every week (sometimes every day). Seriously, it's obnoxious enough to get Like My Author Page requests constantly, but now one for each book? Way to totally aggravate your friends, followers, whomever interacts with you on Facebook.
Just No. Don't do this unless you plan on simply creating the book page and leaving them out there without spamming your followers with a Like Request. If you plan on letting readers find the page on their own, you're golden.
If you think you're someone who will see a low Like number and be tempted to start spamming people, don't create a book page.
Sometimes it's best to ignore the experts.
In theory, this is good. In practice? Not so cool for those of us receiving dozens of Like My Page requests every week (sometimes every day). Seriously, it's obnoxious enough to get Like My Author Page requests constantly, but now one for each book? Way to totally aggravate your friends, followers, whomever interacts with you on Facebook.
Just No. Don't do this unless you plan on simply creating the book page and leaving them out there without spamming your followers with a Like Request. If you plan on letting readers find the page on their own, you're golden.
If you think you're someone who will see a low Like number and be tempted to start spamming people, don't create a book page.
Sometimes it's best to ignore the experts.
November 5, 2013
Adventures In Home Ownership
To paraphrase a poster I saw online recently:
I've been feeling overwhelmed with things I need to do since June. Maybe earlier than June, but that's when the stress kicked into high gear with all the house and moving stuff. I tell people that I'm living my life in triage mode--I take care of whatever's bleeding hardest and let the rest slide. It hasn't been fun and then toss in more than a month of insomnia. Just for some extra challenge.
Last Friday, though, I thought things were maybe taking a turn for the better. I'd filed the damage claim for the mess the movers made of my furniture and Friday afternoon, someone came out to assess what could be fixed. As I closed the door behind the man, I thought, That's the biggest item on the To Do List. It's just going to get better from here.
My upbeat mood lasted about half an hour. That's when I opened my water bill and saw the total: $352.00. That's $300.00 more than it was last month, and since I didn't sprinkle the lawn or wash my car, either they made a mistake or I have a leak somewhere.
But life wasn't done with me yet. Saturday afternoon I hear a thud in the yard and go to the window. I thought maybe the neighbors behind me were taking down a tree between our properties. I wasn't that lucky.
There, lying in the middle of my backyard, is a fallen tree.
It could have been worse. It didn't hit the house and that's what I've been telling myself in order to feel better. It could have been worse. Small comfort.
So now I have to get someone to come out and remove the tree. My optimism on getting a handle on my To Do List faded amid the sarcastic laughter of Life.
Me: I finally have a handle on my To Do List.
Life: LOL. Wait a sec.
I've been feeling overwhelmed with things I need to do since June. Maybe earlier than June, but that's when the stress kicked into high gear with all the house and moving stuff. I tell people that I'm living my life in triage mode--I take care of whatever's bleeding hardest and let the rest slide. It hasn't been fun and then toss in more than a month of insomnia. Just for some extra challenge.
Last Friday, though, I thought things were maybe taking a turn for the better. I'd filed the damage claim for the mess the movers made of my furniture and Friday afternoon, someone came out to assess what could be fixed. As I closed the door behind the man, I thought, That's the biggest item on the To Do List. It's just going to get better from here.
My upbeat mood lasted about half an hour. That's when I opened my water bill and saw the total: $352.00. That's $300.00 more than it was last month, and since I didn't sprinkle the lawn or wash my car, either they made a mistake or I have a leak somewhere.
But life wasn't done with me yet. Saturday afternoon I hear a thud in the yard and go to the window. I thought maybe the neighbors behind me were taking down a tree between our properties. I wasn't that lucky.
There, lying in the middle of my backyard, is a fallen tree.
It could have been worse. It didn't hit the house and that's what I've been telling myself in order to feel better. It could have been worse. Small comfort.
So now I have to get someone to come out and remove the tree. My optimism on getting a handle on my To Do List faded amid the sarcastic laughter of Life.
November 3, 2013
Safety Video Musical
I shared the awesome Air New Zealand safety video here a while back. Here's Virgin America's safety video. No hobbits and in my opinion, Air New Zealand still holds the title of best safety video ever, but this one is still entertaining.
