Kodilynn Calhoun's Blog, page 3

R is for Randomosity…and Reese’s Puffs

So. Tonight I was going to make chicken parm. I gathered a pan to bake the chicken and a pot to make the pasta…

And then I decided I was too lazy. And it would be like, 11pm before I got to eat.

I look over.

:0

The box of Reese’s Puffs is staring at me…

I decided they would be tasty.

They were.

But now the roof of my mouth is sore LOL

/end story.

Q is for Queer/LBGTQ Themes

I don’t know if this post is proper, or whatever, but when it came to Q, I immediately knew what to blog about. I’ve always been a very open person, probably because my mom was so accepting of everything. I support gay rights/marriage, though I’m not an activist or anything. It’s just something I agree with.

Love is love is love; gender, race, and color shouldn’t matter. Everyone has their opinions and beliefs–and that’s mine.

Some of my favorite books deal with LBGTQ characters/themes: Julie Ann Peters’s books are fantastic, my favorite being Keeping You A Secret with Luna being a close second. Then of course there’s Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green and David Levithan, which is amazing and beautiful and made me laugh out loud and almost cry.

Likewise, I tend to write similar themes in my own novels; it happens during the writing process–the characters decide for themselves and no amount of straining will change their minds. Greyson from Wolfsong burst into that first scene, loud and clear, and there was no doubt he was gay. My upcoming science-fantasy novel, Souljacker, also has LBGTQ side characters. I have a couple of future novellas that star gay and lesbian leads.

The way I see it: I haven’t read or heard of many YA fantasy/paranormal books with gay leads. Every book I’ve read with gay leads has been contemporary YA with coming-out as a plot device. Doesn’t anyone think LBGTQ teens want to read fantasy with characters and couples like them?

The Nightshade trilogy by Andrea Cremer, one of her side-couples is gay and just adorable. I’ve heard that Malinda Lo’s novels, Ash and Huntress, are YA LBGTQ fantasy (though I’ve yet to read them, they’re on my to-read list!).

But yeah I understand that my books with queer characters/themes might not be as well-received as my straight novels, but that’s okay. I love them and write them in hopes they’ll reach who they need to reach, gay or straight.

Any favorite YA LBGTQ books? Indie or traditionally published works!

 

P is for Plotter

When it comes to the question: Plotter or Pantser, I’ve always plotted, in a sense. When I was younger, I’d play-act out the scenes of a book before bed, sometimes multiple times in different characters’ eyes, so I got it right. Most of these stories never got written LOL but that’s okay. I feel every story, even unwritten, helped build me into the writer I am today.

Not to say I’ve never pantsed (aka: writing by the seat of my pants, for all you non-writers out there ) a novel; I have. Well…somewhat. Most of my NaNoWroMo novels have been pantsed (and failed!). With me, instead of freeing me up? I get anxious when I don’t know what happens next; I bite my nails, I squirm in my seat. I get blocked. I -need- to know what happens at least one scene ahead of where I am. Right. Now.

With Spellbound, I was frustrated and needed something -new- to write. Wylde came to my mind, fiery and free, and she and Kascien took turns painting scenes. I pantsed 20-25k. Panicked. Calmed down. Plotted it out, scene by scene for the next 10 scenes. Ended up giving up at 40k. Picked it back up a year later and decided I was going to finish it!

My saving grace were those plotted scenes, the crucial next steps in the story, because I’d forgotten most of it. Of course, I never plotted the ending, but my previous outline was enough to help me plot the rest of it. And voila! A book was born.

So for me, I guess I prefer to pants the first few scenes, get a feel for the characters, and then plot the rest of it out according to what I’ve learned. The first part of the book is both scary and exhilarating. The second half I have to be dedicated because, I’ll admit, once I know the story, it’s hard for me to want to finish it. xD But I do.

Writers: Are you plotters or pantsers or a little of both?

N + O = NO!

AKA I fail again, but since I’ve blogged and had a lot of fun so far doing this A-Z Challenge…I’ll give myself credit and pat myself on the back, even if I’m tired and lazy tonight -patpat-

Unfortunately, real life is a pain in the butt and gave me money-and-family drama (NO!) yesterday, I ended up hanging with a family friend and watching episodes of Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy On Demand. LOL And I’m not a TV-person, at all. I’ve fallen behind so far on the few shows I do watch (Fringe? Yum. Way behind, but I own the first two seasons. I need to have a Fringe-marathon! True Blood? Can’t wait for season 4 to come out on DVD. Contemplating buying a couple months of HBO just to see season 5 LOL)

On a good note, however, I am nearly 8k into a new project I started Stay tuned for details, because I’m loving it!

Anyway. No O post…because what I came up with for O: Orangutans (Why?) or Ostriches (no thanks…) …or something naughty LOL Couldn’t figure out a darn thing for O, but I promise, P will be better (…and I promise it’s not naughty! Haha)

But while you’re at it, go over to my pal Val’s place. Her post for O is inspiring and wonderful enough for both of us

M is for Music

I love music! Almost as much as I love my cats.

I grew up on early 90′s country–Travis Tritt, Randy Travis, Reba, Garth Brooks, to name a few–because both my parents loved it. My dad would blare it over the surround system we had and me and my little siblings would dance. Especially to this song:

Then it grew into 90′s pop. Backstreet Boys was my first-ever CD (I was like 9-10-ish) and I listened to it on repeat…for months. N’sync. Savage Garden’s still a favorite, even now. I started listening to the remixes late at night on a pop radio station that’s long-since gone under. (Still freakin’ love remixes.)

Then I had a Weird Al Yankovic phase (it lasted way too long -winces- My dad wanted to skin me!) which I’m thankful to say has FULLY passed, haha.

When I’m angry or angsty, I love My Chemical Romance. I’ve yet to find another band that screams that I like though LOL

I still love anime soundtracks, despite having not watched anime in a looong time. Faves? Escaflowne, Wolf’s Rain, Fullmetal Alchemist.

Lately, I’ve kind of developed a boyish-voice pop/punk/rock sort of love: Adam Lambert, Cartel, The Rocket Summer, Relient K, All American Rejects, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco. Way more, but I’m tired so. XD

But all time favorites…would be the CDs my mom and I would listen to whenever we were sad, whenever we were happy. The music that we’d return to, despite my dad loathing it. John Mayer, Maroon 5, Keith Urban, and Jason Mraz.

And one more: My current obsession. I’ve yet to see The Hunger Games, but my bro introduced me to this song and, come on. It’s Maroon 5. Enjoy!

L is for Lily

Immy, Chloe, Tobias and Lily

Summer of 2001, our doxie Chloe gave birth to five little female pups. One of those pups was my heartdog, Lily. We had two pups that were nearly identical and my brother named them Phil and Lil after the Rugrats. Lil was a bouncy, jovial little girl who pranced nicely at the end of a leash (where her sisters balked LOL) We found her a home…but a few months later we got a call back. The woman had allergies and although she tried to keep Lil, the doctor recommended she give her away. We went and picked her up and we just…clicked. She started sleeping with me and I began to train her and she became a member of our doxie family (Chloe, her mom, as well as our male, Tobias, and the runt of the litter that my mom kept, Immy)

We set up a date to get her spayed…only to have her go into heat and then a false pregnancy, becoming hormonal and even getting milk in. The vets didn’t want to do surgery until she dried up and recommended we wait. Only every time we’d get her in, she’d be in a false pregnancy. This went on for two years; we worked around her hormones (she was very…bitchy to put it nicely lol) and we joined 4-H…only to have her go after my dog leader with teeth. Fiiiinally we were able to get her in and get her spayed and she calmed down majorly. She even showed in a year of 4-H and loved it

We grew closer. She was the dog that put up with everything I put her through (once, after watching a Westminster show, I decided I was going to someday be a handler…and poor Lily was my guinea pig LOL) I battled with severe anxiety; the only way my parents could get me out of the house was if I could bring Lily. She became my security blanket in a way…and my best friend in another. She goes trick-or-treating with us every year (she dresses up as a hotdog xD!)

Hard to believe she’ll be 11 this year. She’s gotten grey and has lost some teeth. Her sister, Immy, we had to have put down last month due to declining health. Their mom Chloe is going downhill fast; my dad’s struggling with the right decision. Lil is the last remaining puppy from the litter of five that we know of. She still loves to go for car rides; all I have to say is “car” and her eyes light up like Christmas lights and she dashes out the door with the spirit of a pup. Even though she’s getting up there in years, I have hope that she’ll stick around awhile longer. She’s still moving around great and doesn’t seem to have any pain, or even aging signs beyond the grey muzzle.

My old girl in her hotdog outfit last Halloween A face only a mother could love xDD

She’s also the basis for Lil Summers, a teenage doxie shifter from my up-and-coming YA book, Hunger. Which I really need to finish LOL

I love my girl

K is for Killer

Too bad this isn’t “C” day…because I’d use Careful…or Caution. (But somehow, I don’t think K is for Kaution would go over so well. LOL I can spel gud!) So I settled with killer. As in, be careful, vaccines can be a killer.

We got a puppy two Saturdays ago, to help ease my stepdad’s pain of losing our elderly girl, Immy. Zoey is a beautiful, sweet-as-honey 4-month-old longhaired dapple mini doxie. She’s our first-ever longhair (and after having both smooth and wirehair, we’re really fond of the longhaired!) and she’s somehow wormed her way into the hearts of everyone she’s met. Including me. I was against getting another dog, but Zoey… She’s really wonderful.

Zoeybean

So all’s going well. She’s fitting into the family like she’s been here for years. Took her in Monday to get her shots. We told them we wanted her vaccines (the puppy shots / the rabies) split apart by a few weeks…instead we get some…newbie nurse who comes in and vaccinates her…and only after we get the paperwork do we realize she’s been given the 5 (or7, idk which) way, the lepto, and rabies…all at once x.x

Tuesday she became lethargic and went off her food. Tuesday night she began to shake. She shook violently all night long and the only vet open was the Emergency clinic which we’d called back when Pan had Pyometra…and it would be 1,000 just to walk in the door… 1k that we just don’t have. Mom called our vet Wednesday morning and Zoey started having seizures. They took her in, gave her Valium, but it didn’t help. They told Mom and Greg that she probably had a liver stint or a brain tumor. UH you JUST saw her Monday and she was happy, bouncy, HEALTHY. Until she got her shots. Mom argued and they sent her home and told us to go to the Emergency vet to run tests… Mom told them that if the puppy wouldn’t have a quality of life, and if it got too expensive…she needed to look into putting her down.

Mom came home and while Greg held the puppy while her poor body shook and twitched, she looked up everything she could online. Only to find that several doxie breeders recommend NOT giving lepto to small dogs, especially the easily-reactive doxie, unless we’re having an epidemic…which we’re not. She found that maybe giving steroids through IV would help the immune system fight off the poison…but it had already hit neuromuscular… We went back to the vet, not sure of what to think, besides the fact that we knew in our hearts the shots did this.

They made us sign something that said that we were diagnosing her as a vacc reaction, not the vet, and that we wouldn’t be able to sue if she died. LOL. Really? Then one of the nurses had the gall to tell us that “If we found it was too expensive, one of their employees has been through this with her doxie…and she’d take the dog off our hands vs. us putting her down”. Uh, our puppy. Back off.

So when Zoey was done with her IV, Mom asked for the paperwork…and I flat-out asked the tech which vaccine did it to her. They were backpedaling saying “We can’t be sure one of the vaccs did it! You just chose to treat as if it was a reaction”. Then, a few minutes later, Mom asked if we should skip her boosters and the woman was like “No need, we’ll just not give the Lepto.”

UH HUH. So they suspected, gave the vaccines despite our request of spacing them out. Gave us the runaround. LOL wow. Just…wow. You can bet your tail feathers that I will not take my pets back to that vet. The one we took Pan to for her Pyometra surgery may be a little more expensive? But they listen to the demands of their patients.

Now it’s Thursday, and so far so good. Zoey’s still really weak and a little wobbly, but she ate some boiled chicken and actually ran around the yard for a tiny bit. The shaking/jerking has stopped and she hasn’t had an episode for almost 24 hours. I have high hopes that she’ll be able to have a normal life.

Still, it’s scary. I plan on a puppy when I move out…and one of my possible-breeds is a longhaired doxie. Obviously you have to vaccinate…but I never want to live through this again; it’s been scary enough when I’m only a little bit attached–had this been my Lily who went through this…I’d be a total mess.

So just take this story as a warning, I guess, to what could happen. I’m definitely going to be reading up and researching for months before I ever get my future-pup. I’ll keep everyone updated on Z.

J is for “Just Kidding!”

LOL. So. I’ve spent all day today in a time warp, truly believing it was MONDAY. When Monday actually punched me in the face, knocked me out cold, and passed me by. I’m slightly alarmed and slightly amused at the same time.

I was all proud of myself for being “ahead of the game” by posting I’s blog post (you know, before ten PM lol!)…and then they were like: Shouldn’t you be on J? It’s Tuesday. Me: WHAT? NO IT’S NOT. Mom: -nods solemnly- It really is.  Me: Crap.

So. Just kidding? I’m with it now, folks. I swear.

Looking back, I guess I spent all day Monday going through my proof copy of Wolfsong, weeding out errors and re-uploading everything So I was productive…just not…in the blog sense. But in good news, I REALLY REALLY hope the proof copy they send me is the FINAL proof copy I’ll have to go through before releasing Wolfsong in print Woot!

J is for "Just Kidding!"

LOL. So. I've spent all day today in a time warp, truly believing it was MONDAY. When Monday actually punched me in the face, knocked me out cold, and passed me by. I'm slightly alarmed and slightly amused at the same time.

I was all proud of myself for being "ahead of the game" by posting I's blog post (you know, before ten PM lol!)…and then they were like: Shouldn't you be on J? It's Tuesday. Me: WHAT? NO IT'S NOT. Mom: -nods solemnly- It really is.  Me: Crap.

So. Just kidding? I'm with it now, folks. I swear.

Looking back, I guess I spent all day Monday going through my proof copy of Wolfsong, weeding out errors and re-uploading everything So I was productive…just not…in the blog sense. But in good news, I REALLY REALLY hope the proof copy they send me is the FINAL proof copy I'll have to go through before releasing Wolfsong in print Woot!

I is for Ice Cubes

I don't even know when it started…but I love ice cubes.I would come out of my bedroom as a kid and get a cup full of ice cubes from the freezer. I'd crunch away until I got tired and then I'd sleep.

Then when we moved into town, the water was city water and I didn't like the taste of it. So now? I'm addicted to the 'good' kind: ie, the kind you buy at the store, perfectly crystal clear and smooth. Yumm. I will get a glass of ice just to chew on. Helps, for me, to relieve stress and the need to chew on pencils/straws. Of course, it always sucks because then my teeth get sensitive. Oh well!

As for Music Monday: The band that my cousin-dearest introduced me to, my first real taste of more rock-music, and it became my love of Incubus. They used to be allllllll that I listened to xDD I'm not hugely into their new stuff (or their oldest stuff, which was…trippy? xD But the 3 CDs inbetween I do love! Now I only listen to them when I'm in the mood, but here ya go, two favorites!