Reesa Herberth's Blog, page 22
April 4, 2011
Before and After
When it's a category on Wheel of Fortune, I'm all over the Before and After. So why is it that I never remember to take before and after pictures until I've already reached the "after" part of the equation?
Never fear! My mad Photoshop skillz (they really deserve the z) can fix the problem!
The Project: Backyard Mayhem
Last year for Christmas, I gave my friend and housemate, Stanley, the gift of landscaping. No, it's not what you're thinking. Actual landscaping.
Our back yard, over the years, has gone from relatively spacious and clean, to a gradually diminishing ivy nursery. We'd lost at least 10 to 15 feet of yard to the creeping green menace, including the only spot on the entire property that gets enough direct sunlight to grow a vegetable garden. It was time to declare war, and so, armed with only our wits, our checkbooks, and the wiles of the 3 guys who actually did most of the work, we struck a blow for freedom from the English (creeper vines. Hi, Brits! We
It wasn't enough to just gain the ground back, though. We had to stake our claim! So after our reserve troops had been sent home, Stanley built me some lovely raised gardening beds, and then we both set to work filling them with the tiny mountain of topsoil that had been left behind for us.
We filled. And we filled. I'm pretty sure that Stanley thought I was going to have a heart attack, and I was relegated to "raker" rather than "shoveler". When we were done, I had learned two very important things:
1) I give awesome Christmas presents, when they get me something I want.
2) I would never make it on Supernatural, because those dudes seem to dig up a grave or two a week, and after moving approximately the same amount of dirt, I felt like I could cheerfully be put in the ground myself.
And now, courtesy of my lax grasp on sequencing, before and after pictures of my yard and new garden:
[image error]
[image error]
March 30, 2011
First!
It turns out, you can spend all the time in the world tinkering with your site, but if you don't post something to it, all the pretty is for naught.
Who knew?
On that note, welcome to the website and blog of Michelle Moore and S. Reesa Herberth, or, we tend to be called by normal(ish!) people, Michelle and Reesa. You may be familiar with us because of our science fiction works, the Ylendrian Empire series. Maybe you appreciate enchanted coffee shops, or Fin de Siecle Parisian prostitutes. (Nobody here is judging you.) Perhaps you are one of our friends, finally caving under the constant onslaught of news about our writing, and trying to figure out if you're going to have to pretend to like it or not. (You won't. Not only is it pretty fun, we'll still love you even if you don't like it.) Or you could be my Mom. Hi Mom!
In any case, we're thrilled you've expended the effort needed to click your mouse and arrive here, and we look forward to entertaining you with our shenanigans*. This is, as they say, only the beginning.
*Has anyone ever perpetrated a shenanigan, singular? Like, they tried it once, and it just wasn't their thing, so it remained a solo event? I'm not sure I'd be able to trust that sort of person.
December 31, 2010
Cover art for The Slipstream Con
I'm kind of in love with it. No, I'm REALLY in love with it.
We got a great present to finish out 2010 and welcome in 2011- our new cover art for The Slipstream Con. Kanaxa has outdone herself on this one, presenting us with Kellen, Tal, and Vanya in a way that's nothing short of arresting. And speaking of arresting, Vanya's gun isn't just for show. She and Tal are going to be thankful they're armed by the time they capture Kellen and figure out how to save him (and themselves!) from the crime lord who wants his stolen nanotechnology back. Did we mentioned that the nanotech is illegal? And that Kellen might not be able give it back?
Yeah. Vanya's pretty happy about that gun.
The book comes out in April, but I think until then, I'm just going to be staring at the cover!
December 20, 2010
Holiday Give - Winners Chosen!
The additional $25 prize has been donated to Heifer International. We bought ducks!
Thank you to everyone who participated, and watch for this to happen again next year. It was lots of fun, and I think with a longer time frame, it could be easier for people to nominate.
December 17, 2010
Pretty Good Year - Holiday Give.
I want to give out some holiday cheer, to thank the Universe for making my year absolutely magical.
What's more, I want you to feel like you can make someone's holiday brighter, so I need your help.
I will be giving out three (3) $25 gifts, either in the form of PayPal payments, or Amazon gift cards. Your part goes like this- give me the name and email of someone you know who needs it. Someone who wants to buy their kid a present, someone who needs some help with groceries, or someone who has been there for you. Give me your name, the name of a friend, the name of a family member, but make sure that I have an email address to send the gift card to. I will choose 3 winners via random name picker on Monday, December 20, 2010 around 12pm (noon) EST. Gifts will be made in US funds, but international entries are welcome.
All comments are screened, so that personal information doesn't escape into the wild. You can post names, or stories, or anything else you want, and only I (and my co-author, Michelle Moore) will see it. I will not choose based on merit, because frankly, I couldn't possibly decide the merit of someone else's need.
Please feel free to pass the information along in any format you care to- link, twitter, facebook, or some other social network that will eventually rise up and overthrow us. (Skynet, I SEE YOU!) You do not need my permission.
On Monday afternoon, I will notify the person who nominated, and I will send their choice of PayPal or Amazon to the winner, with a note that includes mention of the person who nominated them, unless the nominator requests anonymity.
The person who nominated a winner will be entitled to one free copy of our book, The Balance of Silence, or any story in the Shea Meier back catalogue, in the ebook format of their choice. You are not obligated to take the book if you don't want it. ;)
IF YOU FEEL LIKE DONATING A $25 GIFT OF YOUR OWN, please email me, and I will post an addendum to the contest indicating that another winner will be chosen, thanks to you. (reesah @ gmail (dot) com)
In the comment, please leave me the following information:
Your name and email address
Name and email address of the person you are nominating, if different. (Please do NOT feel shy about nominating yourself.)
Reason for nomination. (Not required, but feel free to share if you'd like.)
Ready? Set? GO!
(Totally inspired by the amazing work of The Bloggess. If you feel your needs are better served there, please don't hesitate. I figure that a little extra giving can't hurt.)
December 6, 2010
Reverb10: 12/05/10 - "Let Go"
There were no toxic friends for me, no fiercely-held dreams that didn't come true. I think if I let go of anything, it was the belief that I would never be. Never be good enough. Never be pretty. Never be wanted on my own terms. Never be smart enough. Never be ENOUGH.
It's a process you don't realize you're engaged in, until the morning you wake up without that dreadful weight on your shoulders, and realize that above everything else, you simply ARE.
December 5, 2010
Reverb10 - 12/04/10 - Wonder
I'm lucky enough that I live every day with a sense of wonder. 2010 has brought me music that filled my heart, words that filled my head, and daily glimpses of the world that filled my life with awe. I don't need to cultivate wonder, because it's there all the time, just waiting for me to see something from a better angle. There's not a single day that goes by that I don't read, see, hear, or live something that taps into a feeling that is too big to comprehend, much less express all at once.
That's wonder.
December 4, 2010
Cheap kibble burns best, Grrraaaaaavy burns blue.
Michelle: No.
Me: Don't. It smells terrible.
Michelle: Why did you light dog food on fire?
Me: I had matches and dog food. I don't understand the question.
December 3, 2010
Reverb10 - 12/03/10 - Moment
Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). (Author: Ali Edwards)
This is nearly impossible.
The most surreal moment was 12:01 EST, 09/14/2010. The release of our first book. We had sweet wine, and cookies, and to this day, I don't know if I really believe that it happened.
December 2, 2010
Reverb10 - 12/02/10 - Writing
What do you do each day that doesn't contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?
(Author: Leo Babauta)
I do a LOT of things each day that don't contribute to my writing directly. I watch tv. I spend too much time on the internet. I go to work, and waste time staring out my windows, when I could just as easily have Word open and be poking a few keys between tasks.
In the end, the only thing that directly contributes to writing is WRITING. You can have the best idea in the world for a story, and if you never sit down and actually WRITE it, it will remain an idea. But I don't believe that the only thing you can do to make your writing better is write. There's a huge world of experiences out there, things just waiting to spark ideas, and sometimes you have to take advantage of them.
And yes, okay, sometimes, you just need to sit in your living room and watch an episode of Terriers, and not feel guilty because you're depriving the world of your genius for a few minutes. Making yourself feel guilty over the words you didn't write is one of the surest ways I've found to further my avoidance techniques. Celebrate the words you do write, acknowledge that you must apply butt to seat to create more of them, and then get on with it.
Could I eliminate some of my Not Writing? Yes, and I've made active choices to do so. I record pretty much everything I want to watch now, and catch up on it when I have the time. I leave environments that don't work for me, when I'm trying to write. (I can write with music on, but I absolutely cannot concentrate with the tv on, even if it's not a show with a plot. HGTV is my writing kryptonite.) When I get to work in the morning, one of my routine tasks is to open the file for whatever story I'm working on, so that it's glaring at me from the taskbar and reminding me that I could just pop it open for a second or two.
I spend a lot of time Not Writing. What I'm getting better about is not feeling so guilty about "wasting" that time that I sabotage the time I DO spend writing.
