Hart Johnson's Blog, page 14

My Apocalypse Plans: A Listing Blog Hop Entry

Bish Denham is celebrating five years of blogging (Congratulations!) and so is hosting this fabulous blog hop whereby she is asking us all to make a LIST (I love lists). Check out her page for her list of participants!





My OWN List? What I plan to do when the Apocalypse Happens



1) Gather my people (family and friends who are interested)

2) Pack supplies (durable food, sleeping bags, basic tools, protective weapons--what we can carry)

3) Head WEST (population density is a problem)

4) The other side of Lake Michigan steal an all terrain vehicle

5) Seek shelter in old farmhouses (where stocks of home canned goods and practical things abound)

6) Collect people along the way who offer skills (hunting, medical skills, plant knowledge, building skills, mechanical skills)

7) Find someplace easily defensible and with a potential food supply (mix of farming land and fishing or hunting) in Idaho or Montana

8) Build defenses and set up alarm system

9) Just Survive Somehow (some of you may recognize that one)



Anybody else have their apocalypse plans in place? I will be expanding Wednesday if anyone wants more detail.



Now go look at everybody else's lists!!!

Youthful Frights vs Adult Fears: A Blogfest

So this is part of a blogfest hosted by Denise and Yolanda at Write, Edit, Publish... and I love the topic. Because we all grow up, eh? Most of us anyway. And these differences in what scares us (and whether we like it or not) are enormous.



Erm... and I failed to follow the rules... I was meant to write a piece of fiction here and instead wrote a blog post... ooops...  but it is a bad habit of mine... only reading part of it...



 *sigh*





I did this once. Wouldn't now.

Man, I was a kids who LOVED the rush of fear. Maybe it was adrenalin. Going fast, spinning, heights... that all fits in there, too, but I really loved to be frightened. I still enjoy scary movies but there is something about all of these things that has changed... About the time I became a mom (I was 28) anything life endangering (perceptively) got REAL scary, not FUN scary. Part of it was my pregnancy was the first time in my life I'd ever felt physically fragile—off balance, slow to change directions... no more darting across the street like I always had. I could honest-to-god get hit.



But it is more complicated than that. I think it may even be biological. It makes sense to me that people who become more cautious when children are born are more likely to both have children live to adulthood AND be around to raise them.





Yeah, not so much.

So what SCARE did I used to enjoy that now I don't? The PLAUSIBLE stuff. I still LOVE suspense—I prefer the unseen threat—but I hate serial killer movies—totally too scary (except from a detective of cop perspective—then I can do it--but not killer or victim PoV). I never liked the blood and guts ones much, though I can take it in certain circumstances—like the gore of The Walking Dead doesn't bug me because it is zombie gore.



But the things that truly terrify me (that always seems horrifying but never popped to mind first when I was young) are things like losing children (or horrible things happening to them) or losing my personal faculties... I mean I know I wouldn't know, but in the case of something like dementia that comes on slow, I know that would really bother me. I have had a good processor my whole life (though not nearly as great a memory) and I LIKE being smart. I think I may not take it well if that all slipped far enough I was no longer capable of at least mental independence.



So how have your fears changed? Be sure to check out the other blog hop contributors, too—they are posting between today and Friday.

Most Exhausting Vacation Ever

It started two days early, which should be a good thing, right? I was signed up to take Thursday and Friday off—nice four-day weekend halfway between Labor Day's long weekend and Thanksgiving's four days off...





But see, a week ago Saturday my husband woke up with back pain—pretty bad. Bad enough that on Sunday he went to urgent care. They prescribed something, but he is in recovery and after talking to people about it he decided it was a bad idea. And by Monday he seemed to be improving.



Then Tuesday. 5 AM... he woke up needing to get out of bed and couldn't. I had to help. And then I had to stay home because he couldn't stand on his own, so I called in sick. I found an acupuncturist who could see him, figuring that might be relief without medication. It didn't help much.



And Wednesday was worse. In fact we spent it in the ER. Six hours. They FINALLY figured out a mix of medications to address the problem without triggering addiction stuff—prednisone for the swelling, a muscle relaxant... and slowly it started to help...



He was up and down on his own Thursday (my first day of vacation) but not up to driving... so we went to the massage appointment... Friday the same... and we went to acupuncture... Friday though, he managed to make dinner, so that was something...



Oh. Did I tell you about the leaky faucet? Yes, through ALL of this our tub faucet was leaking hot water badly enough that we had to keep shutting off the water centrally except while in use. He guided my son through fixing it. Which worked for about 8 hours. Then again... another eight... then he managed it... for a day... every day we've had to re-fix the bloody faucet.



All the chores on me. All the shopping on me. All but the one meal on me. I am freaking exhausted.





And did I write? Yes. I wrote a paragraph. In five days. One paragraph. Though I did diagram my cozy mystery for NaNaWriMo, so that was good. At this point I can't wait to get back to work to get some rest *sigh*



Ah well...12 days...

Distraction Season

So for years I hardly watched TV. I had one or two shows I watched if I caught them, but I couldn't typically be bothered to catch more than my absolute favorites. But you know what? On-Demand and Netflix have been really terrible for my viewing habits. Now if I find something I like I can watch and watch and watch... and then I get hooked on these series... and then I have to wait for the new season. Which is now *sigh*



I really got more done before this happened.



Oh well... So What am I Watching?





New Season





Walking Dead (Sci-Fi-Apocalypse-Drama)



I finally decided to give it another chance this summer. I had watched two episodes before and it just hadn't actually done anything for me. I'm not a zombie fan. But the further I got in, the more it was about survival and the different sorts of people who do, and about the relationships. And the REALLY good stuff—how a crisis brings out the best in some and the worst in others so the people are often the real enemy (and how do you tell who is good and who is bad?) So now I'm glad it is back even if that gives me three shows to watch Sunday night at nine... yeah...



Doctor Who (Sci-Fi, Campy but with serious heart)



I love Doctor Who. And I love Peter Capaldi's portrayal of him. I never thought I could love another doctor like David Tennent, but I DO!



How to Get Away with Murder (Thriller-Drama)



Love this show. And it's a different flavor than a lot of my list. Viola Davis is brilliant and I love the kid who was Dean Thomas in the Harry Potter movies.





Arrow (Comic-based, Superhero)



I have loved this as my only comic book show and am slightly worried what will happen as it gets more intertwined with The Flash which does nothing for me. I sort of miss the days when it was just Oliver, Diggle and Felicity. Now everyone is a superhero. That said, this season has a couple promising details, so I will keep watching.



Homeland (Thriller-Political)



I watch this with my neighbors and LOVED the first three seasons. I'm hoping it finds its footing again—there are only so many ways Kari can go crazy or she and Saul can be mad at each other. But I will keep going, as I like the social time and it is usually pretty decent.



Honorable mentions for Castle, Bones, and Once Upon a Time, all of which I watch, but none of them urgently—I will wait until there is a whole in my schedule, possibly even post season





Just Starting





Blindspot (Thriller-Crime)



Billed as a female Jason Bourne... a woman is found naked in a duffel bag in Central Park, totally tattooed and with no memory. Turns out each tattoo is a clue for a crime that is going to be committed... It is heart pounding and I like the characters. A little worried they are going to solve each tattoo puzzle right on time with strains my disbelief but so far it has been great.



Quantico (Thriller)



This one is time jumpy, so we both began the training season with the entering cohort at Quantico AND see 8 months later as one of the women in the class is accused (framed?) for blowing up a building. I suspect as we go through the training with her, we will WITH HER spot the clues she needs about her classmates (one of whom actually did this). It's a nice set-up, actually. A book could be set up this way and work well.





Minority Report (Sci-Fi (2058 is the year, I think)-Crime)



So several years ago three children with the ability to see the future (crimes in the future—they are called Pre-Cogs) are used by the government to stop terrible crimes before they happen (and arrest people before they've done anything wrong). But the kids were prisoners, held in a milk bath because it acted as a conduit to help their visions coordinate. It is eventually learned sometimes their visions DON'T line up—two agree, one doesn't (The Minority Report). It suggests the future is not always set and some of the people may have been imprisoned who didn't need to be... The children are let go to a private place where they can't pick up visions because they are so nearly alone... and for years it's fine. Flash forward a dozen years and one of them, Dash, feels the urge to do something good—to help. So he shares some of what he sees with a cop and a sort of partnership is formed... but not without complications.



Bastard Executioner



This is historical fiction... some minor fantasy-ish elements (a woman called a witch who is a healer but gets some visions and some prophetic dreams). It is set in Wales at the time of William II. The King is weak and allows first a Baron, then an advisor, abuse the Welsh Village. During one of the Baron's raids the MC has most of his village (including his pregnant wife) murdered. The MC though, is healed by the witch and given a scar to disguise him as an executioner for the area. The executioner was cruel so his wife goes along with the story and he begins integrating with the village, befriending the Baroness... It is political intrigue and interpersonal drama... people forcing others to do things they would otherwise not through blackmail... that sort of thing...





So are you sucked into any TV distractions this season?

I'm Not WORTHY!

Halo, fine peoples! And welcome to first Wednesday, which is the monthly meeting of the Insecure Writers Support Group.



So I've blogged a lot recently about trying to get my writing mojo back in line. And I am making progress. But there is an elephant in the room... one that knocked me off that pony to begin with. I really suck at promoting myself. Part of it is I hate it, so I have not had the discipline to make myself learn to do it.



But see a couple of my beloved writer friends have invited me into their ranks for some cross-promoting, collective projecting, building platformy, learning, doing quality stuff. But I totally feel out of my league. They a OODLES of books each. I have six and three of them are really part of one big one. I haven't published ANYTHING in 2015 because I got knocked off that pony in January and proceeded to spend the next six months with my arms over my head trying not to get kicked.







These ladies have NETWORKS and SYSTEMS and they talk about stuff that blows me away. I'm like “Wait, whut?” I've never put together a real promotion package. I don't have graphics skills so I don't all the brilliant stuff to go with promoting. I mean I have a couple buddies who've helped but I only feel like I can ask so much for free and since I've made all of about $40 with A Shot in the Light (Actually I've lost money as I paid for editing)



So where to I find the gumption to learn to do this stuff I don't really even want to know how to do but know I need to do? I really really don't want to let these ladies down but right now there is such a large pile to learn that I feel overwhelmed and can't even make myself start...



If it were you, what would you learn first? What is the single best thing you learned how to do in the pool of bizillions of things we are meant to learn?



Thanks in advance if you can help!!!



And don't forget to go visit some other insecure writers today!!!

Balance

So a video went around recently of the Portland flame bagpipe player balancing on a ball while he played and it got me to thinking about my childhood. I never managed to walk on a ball because that is like three-dimensional balance, but my dad worked at a hardware store (owned it for a while) and would bring home these spools for cable and rope, and my friends and I would race on them.





Like this, only smaller (usually--I did use one of these sometimes)

We would set up obstacle courses in my basement where we couldn't touch the floor, walking on these from sofa to fireplace mantle to chair.



Outside our driveway was lined with river rock, cemented in to form a jagged spiky barrier between cement and grass, so that too, I would walk, poised on the points—some of them with no reasonable surface, others large enough to stop and make sure my balance was in place. When I reached the fence I'd then traverse that.



One of these--simple design



So I'd climb from rocks to the fence, walking on the lower with the upper between my knees for balance, but in some spots either the upper or lower was gone so I needed to balance across. Some of the planks were pretty wobbly in there...



It's not shocking that by junior high the balance beam came naturally to me. In fact for years I prided myself on superior balance. But as I age and my muscles tighten and my weight shifts it doesn't come nearly so easily as it once did.





How Does that Apply to Writing?



I think the practice practice practice lesson is incredibly applicable. If we want to be balanced and poised and not look like a fool sprawled on the floor then we need to keep in practice. Some of us will have more natural balance than others, but we can all do it if we work at it enough. But I think the tight muscles thing applies, too. If you do the SAME THING all the time it will start to pull you out of alignment. So even if you aren't ever going to PUBLISH in another genre, maybe give yourself some fun exercises once in a while.



With that in mind, I've decided I want to, in my “non-writing months” (when I'm editing, which is usually 9 months of the year) I am going to additionally write a short story in an off genre. I may or may not submit these. Probably depends on how they come out. But I really am in need of some regular stretching. That said, after the entry for the Insecure Speculative Anthology, I saw a submission request for WITCH stories. So I think I will try one of those (I have a couple witch ideas in my idea file). The deadline is November 30 if anyone else is interested.



So back on the spool, my friends!



What do all of you do to stay nimble as writers (or whatever your preferred art)?

Trying a New Genre

So in case you haven't heard, the Insecure Authors Support Group is putting together an anthology... a contest of sorts. There is more than a month to the deadline and if you want to participate, there is still time. Ten stories will be chosen from those submitted and will go in the anthology. The TOP story will get a badge and the priviledge of naming the book...





The thing is... it's speculative fiction. Which I've never written. I've never thought I had quite the imagination for these alternative worlds sorts of stories. But I just finished an edit and had six weeks until NaNoWri Mo so it's not time to take on a BIG project, so I thought... what the heck? I can write a short(ish) story in 6 weeks... (if I ignore the fact I always say I can't write short stories at all)



And you know what? I'm having a ball. I picked my point(s) in history I wanted changed (one theme, but a series of things had to not happen) and what do you know. It lined itself up nicely with my favorite villain(s).



My point of telling you all this is that I think it can be good for us to push out of our comfort zone. Write something you've never written and even if it isn't any good, you've STILL had a good exercise. I'm hoping my story will be good. Even if it doesn't make it into the anthology, I may try it out in another publication. I only have very few short stories out there, so even THAT is new for me.



Do you try new things now and then? What's the next think you're going to try?

Sexy Monday

I know. Not normally the first think you think of, but I have two good friends with book releases today, both of them pretty sexy... all four of them? Both authors and both books? A whole bunch of sexy going on in any case.



These two ladies are family, in that way writers that help each other out a lot are family, and so if you like a sexy read, I hope you'll give em a look.



I will throw out an R-language rating, since I usually stick to PG around here. If you don't want to see it, look at the pictures and read MY words.







Vagabond: On the Road by Jade Jamison

(book 2 of series, best read in order)



All that glitters isn’t gold. Sometimes it’s plastic.



Kyle Summers hits the road with her band the Vagabonds, living the dream. Five young women are tossed into the limelight with little supervision, seemingly left to the wolves. Kyle is driven and headstrong, and—while she enjoys the temptations of sex and drugs on the road—music always comes first. In spite of her friends crumbling under the pressure and lack of support, the Vagabonds become a household name and enjoy success not experienced by people far beyond their years.



But Kyle realizes two things—one is that her relationships are hollow without love, but she and CJ, her main love interest, are only on-again, off-again at best, leaving her feeling unfulfilled. The second is that Kyle quickly grows weary of dealing with egos and prima donnas, and she feels helpless while watching her band fall apart.



Can she save her band—and her relationship with CJ—or will she end up alone and forgotten?



Vagabonds follows one young woman’s rise to fame past the pitfalls of sex, drugs, and easy money, through fortune and success to heartbreak and betrayal. Five girls build their band the Vagabonds from nothing but a hunger to create and quickly find that they are nothing but pawns in a larger game played by managers, agents, the press, the music industry, and all manner of unscrupulous, greedy people who want to feed on their triumphs. Friendships and lives hang in the balance. Who will survive?



Amazon: http://amzn.to/1huiVzU

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1Vtgr3v 













House of Payne: Rude (book 4) by Stacy Gail



(confirmed in spite of being book 4, these can be read out of order and only 99 cents!)





The Last Thing She Wanted…

From the moment Sass Stone overheard her social worker call her “broken,” she’s been hell-bent on proving her wrong. A broken woman doesn't have a posse of kickass friends, a foodie lover’s dream job and a string of pretty boys she enjoys playing with. Sure, she has scars, but they’re buried so far down no one even knows they’re there. Certainly her former foster brother, Rudolfo Panuzzi doesn’t know about them. The man she’d dubbed “Rude” could sniff around all he wanted, but it wasn’t going to get him anywhere. He’d never get inside—her pants, or her heart.



…Was The One Thing She Needed

A dozen years and several combat tours in the Marines has a way of maturing a man, and Rude is no exception. His last mission killed his closest friends and almost killed him, leaving him with wounds on both body and soul. When he looks in the mirror, the haunted eyes staring back remind him far too much of his sexy little foster sister, Sass. That’s when he knows there’s more to her than he ever imagined… and he’s imagined one hell of a lot.



When Want And Need Collide

One by one, Rude destroys the defenses that have kept Sass locked inside herself. But even as she reluctantly allows him to coax her out of her shell, a dark cloud casts its shadow on their world. Is it something from his past… or hers? 







Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/StacyGailRomanceAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stacy_Gail_

Instagram: https://instagram.com/stacygailsworld/

Blog: http://stacygail.blogspot.com

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/stacygailauthor/

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/RmNxH







****Stacy is doing a Release Day Blitz with Give Me Books on the 24th, and I'll have a giveaway that starts then and goes through the 30th.****



GIVEAWAY: Rafflecopter giveaway of a $20 Amazon GC, a $10 Amazon GC and a $5 Amazon GC. From 9/24/15 to 9/30/15.

CODE FOR RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Your Daily Digression: Self Help at its Zaniest

Need a little help being sillier? Is life a bunch of stern looks and red tape? Well I have the book for YOU! Or I will, a year from Christmas...





My Digressionista is a giraffe

See, I've had this idea for quite a while... know those calendars with a little inspirational quote every day? Something like THAT, but digressions... thinks or acts to make life a little more random, though not random in the mathematical sense, because all said, in a year of randomness, you are likely to end up with the same thing several times if it were truly random... random including some repetition and all... but I digress! (see how I did that)



*cough*



ANYWAY... with my other writing and my LIFE interferences (gads, I hate that) I've decided the only way I'm really going to get this written is if I write ONE digression each day. Then I will finish in a year, just in time to format and get it ready for Christmas (which means it needs to be a 2017 calendar, yes?





Giraffe-necked weevil. Not nearly so cute as a giraffe.

BUT... (this is the part where some of you might be able to help me) it's be really cool if there were some art, yes? Photos or drawings or ink blots or some combination of the above? And IS THERE anywhere to produce something like this Indie, or should I start bundling this as a proposal for some publishing company? Who does this sort of thing? (and if I'm going that way, should I be thinking about a 2020 calendar #commentaryonthespeedofpublishing



Anything anybody knows about anything like this would be amazingly helpful.





And the OTHER One.



So I should finish the final (of this round) spit polish of Also Appearing tomorrow...



Here's the pitch at its draftiest:



Leia Clarence feels like an extra in her own life. A bystander. A bit part. An “Also Appearing”. Her friends and older sister have social skills she can barely understand, let alone display. To compound matters, her parents are relegating her to a summer at the lake, away from her friends, with poor internet and cell phone connections and no way to keep track of the social scene back home. It's going to be the worst summer ever.



Until she meets a cute guy who lives at the lake year-round. Trey is mischievous, charming and hot. And the crazy thing is he seems to like her, too. Not her friends. Not her sister. Her. She isn't a shadow, but the focus of his attention and affections. For the first time ever she has a starring role in her own life. At least until something goes wrong.



Back at home she tries to recapture that feeling of mattering, of being somebody, but it seems easier to just numb the fact that she doesn't. Alcohol, drug experimentation, and a different sort of boy all fail. Is there anything Leia can do to grab back that leading role, or better yet, write the script for her own life?



Also Appearing, at 59,000 words, is a contemporary young adult novel about a girl's struggle to break expectations that her friends have and to find an identity that not only fits, but allows her to soar.





I would LOVE LOVE LOVE feedback on this, especially if this is a genre you read or write in. And IFF anyone is honestly interested, I am looking for a couple second round readers.

And So It Begins

I normally like beginnings, and historically the start of the school year is one of my favorites, but I am feeling a bit melancholy this time around. Thing 2 is a senior in high school, so it is my LAST start of school for one of my kids... and it is the start of the University school year, too, and my day job is so much busier when the students are present.



But in the spirit of having a better attitude, I am hoping to approach all this like it's a good thing. A chance to start fresh, reset my goals that thus far this year have been sorely missed...







Also Appearing



I think this is the only thing I've actually managed this year. I finished my edit Saturday. I am going to give it ONE MORE read to make sure there aren't any editing scars and then it is ready for my 2nd reader(s).



What That MEANS



It means I have 8 weeks until NaNoWriMo which is time to do TWO things:



1)  Edit one fairly done story

2)  And PLOT my NaNoProject



But What To Edit...



I think I am going to take a stab at Medium Wrong . I could do Kahlotus Disposal Site, but that has a different sort of problem than I feel currently equipped to deal with. Medium Wrong I think I can do... My goal is perhaps a “more or less” one... There is a paranormal element that I tried to keep very light, but I think I need to commit or tamp it down or it ends up deus ex machina. Committing would mean more clues or evidence Amanda has some sort of visions thing that she is capable of, the tamping would give her real ways of knowing stuff... I think the former works better.





As for My NaNo Project, I think I am going with a mystery. I still need to find my niche here. I want SO BADLY to walk the line BETWEEN cozy and actual dark mystery. I don't want humorless or just typical whodunnits. I want dark crime that affects real characters, but I want some of those characters to have tics and snark. I WILL do it!!! But I think I need to flesh out my characters better before I start and then I think I want to diagram the main murder plot. It is what I did for my cozy series and it helps me to not sort of get off pace or give too much away right up front.



So that is the rest of 2015 for me...





As for NON-Writing Goals for the rest of the year...



Um... wait, what? I really should have some fitness goals. I know I should... I think what I can commit to is some strength training and stretching stuff (I already walk a ton). And I should make some eating attempts, but I'm not convinced I will do a lot... Life is too full...





What about you? Do you have things you are trying to wind up in the four months left in 2015?