C.K. Bryant's Blog, page 9

O . . . Organize!

THIS is NOT my office.




But I'd love it to be. I love an organized space, everything in it's place and a place for everything. Imagine writing in a space like this. 




Heaven!




Now for the cold hard truth . . . 









THIS is MY office!




And NO, I'm not a hoarder. This is the ONLY room in my house that looks like this. Embarrassing, eh? This is actually what it looks like behind me as I sit at my desk. It's a long room and I've divided it into two parts. This half is supposed to be my craft area where I do scrapbooking, painting, all kinds of fun stuff. But when my mother-in-law moved in with us last December, we had to gut the spare room (read: storage and junk room) and the closet in there and the only place to store everything in our small home was in my office. Since then, everything that didn't have a specific place in my home has been stacked on the already overloaded pile of boxes, crates, and junk. UGH!!




Talk about depressing. 

Good thing it's behind me and I don't have to look at it all day.




BUT . . . the good news is we've found a wonderful home for my mother-in-law, a place that can take care of her mental needs and a place where she's happy. So I'm not only taking back out space in the spare bedroom, organizing and revamping it, I'm getting my office back. I plan to take tiny breaks from my writing and do a little here and there until it is all done.




Wish me luck!




Do you have a space that needs organized?

What's the most embarrassing room in your house?

N . . . Not Moi

Saturday I posted a list of ten things about Moi. Only two of them were not true. I promised a free e-copy of BOUND to anyone who could guess which ones were lies. I was amazed at the answers, especially that not many picked the last one, that I was a plus size model. Pfffft  I'm just not model material folks.







So here are the answers and results.



1 - I have a dragonfly tattooed on my left shoulder. FALSE - I have no ink on this body. Never will.



2 - I hate spiders. TRUE - *shiver*



3 - My MOTHER taught me how to shoot when I was FIVE. TRUE - My father was a professional marksman and taught my mother to shoot, so she taught us kids while he was away in the military.



4 - I have a four foot wooden giraffe on my desk. TRUE - I love giraffes. My office is decorated in a jungle theme with giraffes everywhere.



5 - I used to live in Germany. TRUE - My dad was stationed in Germany and we lived there for three years.



6 - I love spinach. TRUE - Yeah, I know I'm weird.



7 - I will be 50 in July of 2012. TRUE - Such a sad fact. I feel more like thirty five.



8 - I have two sons, but have never been pregnant. TRUE - I could never have kids. Our oldest is from my husbands first marriage and our youngest was adopted.



9 - Twizzlers, NOT Red Vines. *gag* TRUE - Duh!



10 - I was a PLUS size model when I was younger. FALSE - ROFLMAO!!!  Not in this lifetime.



So there you have it.  And the winners are . . .




Lauren & Karen


And since they both already have an e-copy of BOUND, they will be the FIRST to receive an e-copy of BROKEN.  Be patient girls, it's almost done.

M . . . Moi

That's right. Today, it's all about MOI.



Below are 10 random facts about me . . . or not. See if you can figure out which one's are true and which TWO are false.











1 - I have a dragonfly tattooed on my left shoulder.



2 - I hate spiders.



3 - My MOTHER taught me how to shoot when I was FIVE.



4 - I have a four foot wooden giraffe on my desk.



5 - I used to live in Germany.



6 - I love spinach.



7 - I will be 50 in July of 2012.



8 - I have two sons, but have never been pregnant.



9 - Twizzlers, NOT Red Vines. *gag*



10 - I was a PLUS size model when I was younger.



So, what do you think? Can you guess which TWO things are NOT true about me?  Leave your choices in the comments below. Anyone who guesses right, will get a digital copy of BOUND*.



*To be eligible to win a digital copy of BOUND, you must leave your comment before midnight, MST, Sunday, April 15,2012.

L . . . Love, Love, LOVE!

That's right!  I LOVE LOVE!  All of it. Hugs. Kisses. A gentle touch. A wink from across the room.



I'm hopeless. It's true.



Oh, and romance. *closes eyes and dreams of her sweetheart*



Long walks on the beach. Candlelit dinner for two. Flowers. Love notes left around the house. Tiny, insignificant gifts, just because. *sigh*



What part of LOVE do you love the most?

K . . . Kindness

A laugh, to be joyous, must flow from a joyous heart, 

for without kindness, there can be no true joy.



Thomas Carlyle








Give someone a hug today!!



YOU probably need it worse than they do.





Practice random acts of kindness wherever you go.

It will lighten your day and make you smile.

J . . . Jealousy

We've all been there. Someone has something we want. A new car. A handsome boyfriend. More money. They're smarter, prettier, skinnier & their hair is always perfect. Why can't we have all those things and be better at what we do? And then there's that nagging question . . .



Why am I not good enough?



Well, guess what? You ARE good enough.



Being jealous of others' only hurts us in the long run. We spend so much time looking at what we don't have, that we forget to see what we DO have. Each of us is special in our own way and have gifts we should share with the world. So you're not Einstein. Who cares. Your talent might be that you're an awesome friend or great listener. I, for one, would rather have a loyal friend who can listen to me when I'm down, then sit in a room with a boring know-it-all.



So embrace your gifts, no matter how small you may think they are. Just being YOU is enough. Being YOU is wonderful, glorious and amazing.



And I love you just the way you are.

I . . . Imagination

A few days ago I had the privilege of speaking to a senior from the local high school. She's doing her senior project on the process of writing and being published and needed to interview a professional in the business.



Pfffft!



Professional? Not so much. But I did thoroughly enjoy the chat, and talking to a fellow writer with as much passion as she had was invigorating.



For the most part, I was ready for her well thought out questions. I'd been interviewed for blogs before and didn't think she'd have a question that would be any different from the rest. At least, that's what I thought. Then she asked why I write paranormal. Why not contemporary?



It made me think. I suppose I have a contemporary novel in me somewhere. In fact, I have one outlined. But my passion is in the paranormal. Why? Because my imagination won't let me write anything else. I have all these warped ideas flitting around in my head and if I don't provide them an outlet of some  kind, I'll go nuts.



Why do you write what you write? What makes you read the books you choose to read?

H . . . Hooper, as in Karen Hooper

I'm thrilled to have Karen Hooper on my blog today. She's one of the INDELIBLES and is an awesome author and friend. Please check out her website and book. You will not be disappointed.





[image error]
Karen's
debut YA fantasy novel, Tangled Tides,
was released by Rhemalda Publishing. Her newest book, Grasping at Eternity will be released in May of 2012.




Karen is currently sunning and
splashing around Florida with her two beloved dogs. She's addicted to coffee,
chocolate and complicated happily-ever-afters.




She co-founded a teen focused
blog with some other awesome YA authors: YA
Confidential
and is grateful to be part of another talented group of authors called the Indelibles.






Author Website: http://www.karenamandahooper.com

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/Karen_Hooper








[image error]
Tangled
Tides
is the story of a human girl turned mermaid who discovers she is the only soul
who can save a world of sea creatures. 






"Adventure, family secrets, and
sizzling romance. I couldn't put it down!"

~Rae Carson, THE GIRL OF FIRE AND
THORNS




"This novel does for mermaids what Twilight did
for vampires." ~Addison
Moore, the CELESTRA series







You can buy Tangled Tides at:

Amazon

Rhemalda Bookstore

Barnes & Noble







Learn more about the INDELIBLES by going HERE!

G . . . Gratitude

[image error] It's not always easy to see the good in things. Take a bad review, for instance. How do you react when you read negative things about a book you've written or even one you've read and loved? Do you get angry and leave a belittling comment or are you gracious and thank them for their honest opinion?

For me, as an author, it's easy. I know I'm not going to please everyone who reads my book and that's okay. I'm not writing for the ones who don't get my style or like my characters.

I'm writing for those who DO.

And for every negative review, I learn something new about how people perceive my words and gifts as a writer. It propels me forward, makes me want to be better at my craft and creates a passion in me to be sure when those reviews come in, I've done everything in my power to publish a good story and a superior product.

I'm MORE than grateful for ALL the book bloggers and reviewers out there. They've got a tough job and I appreciate their willingness to put themselves and their opinions out there for others to enjoy.

What do you think about how some people (authors and readers alike) react to negative reviews? 




 

F . . . Friendship

A sneak peak into the lives of my characters:

The friendships that have grown between Kira and Lydia, the two female characters in BOUND, are much stronger than most. They feel a sisterly connection that drives them to risk their lives and the well-being of their souls to save each other. That same friendship brings Kira strength, courage and eventually the ability to love Octavion.



BOUND is a heroic tale about a 17 year-old girl who discovers she's not the mouse her mother always claimed she was, but a strong, independent woman and a kick butt warrior who would fight to the death to save the ones she loves.