C.J. Sullivan's Blog, page 24

Cover Reveal!

Coming in February 2013: the anticipated sequel to Wings of the Divided...



Stay tuned!

(Happy New Year!)

Descriptive Writing Activity

If you are a writer looking to develop your description-writing skills, I just contributed a guest blog to Indie Author Culture Corner. It's a fun and easy activity that anyone can do. Click -->here<-- if you're interested!

Three Thoughts on Exiting 2012

Picture taken at Trinity UniversityThe end of 2012 is upon us, and inevitably, just like the end of every year, I find myself deep in thought. It's that annual time to go deep inside of myself and come to some conclusions about life. I've decided to share three main thoughts of mine upon exiting 2012:

#1) A charming personality is not the same thing as good character. The older I get, the less I care to have relationships with alluring but fickle people who have no depth, and the more I want to get to know those quiet souls who may seem reserved on the outside but who hold a great wealth of wisdom and integrity inside of them.

#2) I don't want to write anything but what I love to write. I've toyed around with a number of different genres over the past couple of years, and one of my goals for 2012 was to figure out which one I wanted to stick with. Turns out, it's the very thing I started writing back in high school: speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, and horror) and every now and then, pen some creative non-fiction. I enjoy stories that are different, stories that are a bit fantastical, stories that may be a little dark. So that's what I need to write. And if that doesn't sell a million copies because it's not popular pulp fiction, so be it. I'm just not cut out to write just for the money, and it's good knowing that.

#3) A good diet is something I want to incorporate for the rest of my life. The benefits of eating well are astounding when they come to overall health. During 2012, I challenged myself to eat more fish and less red meat, consume more dark chocolate and less pastries, drink more green tea and coconut water and less alcohol, etc. Not only have these changes kept me at a weight which I like, I also haven't gotten sick but maybe twice the entire year--and the episodes were very short-lived. I want to continue my "healthy eating habits," as Mom calls it, and save myself from bouts of indigestion every other day.


Now, let me ask you: what thoughts do you have of 2012 as we enter into a new year? Comments always welcome.

A White Christmas for North Texas!

I hope everyone had a very nice Christmas and at the very least got to talk to someone they love, eat some favorite food, or in my case, experience the first snow of the season! It very rarely snows here in Texas on Christmas Day, so it was a real treat to watch the huge flakes floating down from the sky as we ate some excellent home-made chicken fried steak at Drew's grandmother's house.

There are still a number of friends and family I still need to see, and I'll be "making the rounds" probably through half of January because as many of you know, my day job work schedule picks up when you go on vacation, making me a busy girl.

But now that Christmas is technically over, I am looking forward to my favorite holiday, (second only to Halloween), and that is New Year's Eve. I use it as a day to celebrate and reflect on accomplishments of the past year, including what goals I may have met. I also think on mistakes I may have made, and what I have learned from the experiences. And I set goals for the next year. So expect a post soon on that.

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your break if you get one! And oh! If you got a new Kindle or Nook e-reader, please take a look at my offerings in the sidebar to the right or in the "My Books" tab at the top of this blog. I write what's called "speculative fiction," which is a blanket term for Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Horror stories. Everything I have out right now ranges from about $2.99 to $5.99, so it's a good bargain.

Happy Holidays!

Best 2012 Christmas Present *Given*

I don't know about you, but I enjoy finding the "perfect" surprise present for people almost as much as receiving such a gift. Every year, for Christmas or birthday, I usually manage to come across something that I know one of my friends or family will really enjoy, no doubts about it. Sometimes I even let my creativity soar and "make" the gift, whether it's writing someone a story or putting together a themed "survival kit"

This year, the Best Present Given went to my step-dad Stephen. Back in October, I found him this Pink Floyd jigsaw puzzle at a record store in Austin. Not only is Pink Floyd his favorite band ever, he also really digs jigsaw puzzles.


And he's usually a total Scrooge! 


Other highlights from Christmas with my family include letting my adopted sis Natalie help with the chicken spaghetti...






...and also laughing at my mother when she didn't watch the scary Joker parts on The Dark Knight:




Sometimes I wonder, having such a sweet little mother, where in the world did I get my sometimes dark and twisted imagination?



Merry Christmas, everybody!

Experiencing 'The Hobbit'

Today I went to see The Hobbit. I was more than a little excited because one of the people who watched it with me (in addition to my sweet husband and cool dad) was my brother Clark. Now, for those of you not familiar with this brother/sister tradition, Clark and I went to see The Fellowship of the Ring together when it first came out more than 10 years ago. We also saw The Two Towers and Return of the King together at the midnight showings. So naturally, we had to see The Hobbit together for old time's sake.

(Note: Misty, if you're reading this, I wish you could have also been there. We missed you!)


Here we are again, bro & sis, a decade after seeing Fellowship together.

I remember right after watching The Fellowship of the Ring those 11 or so years ago, the high-school versions of Clark and myself had to walk home from the mall because my Buick wouldn't start. All the way home in the cold and rain, we played make-believe like we were kids in order to entertain ourselves. He was Gandalf, and I was Frodo.

"Gandalf!" I'd say with chattering teeth as my feet went numb from the miles of walking. (Literally miles--we didn't have cell phones then to call anyone to come get us because not everyone carried them at that time.) "Are we ever going to make it back to The Shire? My toes ache!"

"Stop your belly-aching, you fool," he'd reply in a perfect Ian McKellen voice. "Just follow me and keep up. Don't dawdle now!"

Thus began the spark of creativity we'd use to make our parodies...

I eventually acquired the soundtrack to Fellowship, and one night, he and I were listening to it, and he started reciting lines from the movie. I got the idea to grab the tape recorder because his impressions were good. He continued doing all the voices, but in a sort of Saturday Night Live spoof version of the scenes, to all the tracks on the CD, and I recorded him, trying and failing to hold back my laughter. I still have the cassette tapes, though what shape they're in I'm not sure... Those parodies were funny as heck!!

Anyway, so fast-forwarding back to 2012. Today, we have gone from being high school students living with our dad, to being "grown-ups" with kids (in his case) and a husband and dog (in my case) and having our own separate homes and jobs and lives. My how time flies. But experiencing the movie was still just as fun...

So what did I think of the movie, you're probably wondering?

Well, I found myself wanting to play make-believe at the end of the film just as much as ever. It was an amazing adaptation, more than I could have dreamed. The world was so perfectly created, a visual feast. I enjoyed seeing familiar characters as well as new, and the same went for the music: some familiar melodies mixed in with lovely new themes. Bilbo was charming (I really want to live in his house and have some of his cheese and wine). I loved the Dwarves--if there are any people I'd love to party with, it's those guys! It was great seeing Gandalf again, almost like he was an old friend. The story is basically Fantasy at its finest. No predictability. No hokey romance to help it sell. Just a pure, honest adventure and beautifully done.

The Hobbit was one of the first real novels I ever remember reading as a child. It's probably the first that I ever got "sucked into" like a magical, mental vortex. Clark told me tonight that he remembers listening to me read the book to him when we were kids, though I can't recall doing that. I might have done it though. Funny the different things our individual memories hang onto.

But back to the movie: the good thing about a movie like this is it truly does transport me to another world and makes me feel like an excited kid again. It ignites my creativity in a way that makes me itch to write. It makes me want to go play in a forest and pretend I'm a Hobbit or a Dwarf or an Elf and have an adventure of my own. It brings back good memories with my brother, whom I don't get to see very much these days because our lives have taken us in separate directions.

The downside of a movie like this is that it has to end... I have to return to mundane, disappointing, frustrating "real life." And as much as it inspires my creativity, it also throws me into despair because I start to wonder what is the point of writing anything when it'd be impossible to even come close to creating a masterpiece like that?

**SIGH**

Oh, who cares about the downside.

I'm ready to go see it again.

You Shouldn't Own a Dog If...

Hey, you all know about my little guy, Kaiser, right?




He's the first dog that I've owned outside of having a family dog. That's right. Before I got married, it was just Kaiser and I. As a present for graduating from college and moving into my very own little rent house, my mother let me pick him out of her mini-dachshund's litter. I chose Kasier. He was freakishly big compared to the others, but he was also the one who was the biggest wimp. I felt sorry for him. He was so awkward but so cute.
Anyway, after owning Kaiser for 5 years (and during that time, working for a vet and later for a pet resort,) I have come to the conclusion that many dog owners shouldn't own dogs. A reminder of this hit me this morning when I was out taking Kaiser for a walk and saw our neighbor's dog tethered to a tree. Oh, and by the way, the owners were nowhere in sight. UGH! Irresponsible much? Not only could that dog strangle itself and die, it could also break free and hurt someone, including itself. It was annoyingly trying to attack us but couldn't reach, and we still had to go to the other side of the street to get away from it. 
So that brings me to the title of my blog. Let me know if you agree with these. 

You Shouldn't Own a Dog If...

#1) You tether your dog to a tree, pole, or anything other than YOURSELF (and that should only be during a walk).

#2) You don't bother to get your dogs vaccinated with the basic shots, such as the parvo preventative and rabies preventative. (Speaking from experience, treating puppies who get parvo doesn't always work, and administering all the fluids with that giant needle through the belly is especially traumatic on the little baby dogs. But the illness can be avoided so easily.)

#3) You don't use flea and tick prevention on your dog. (Umm...yuck.)

#4) You don't give your dog a heartworm preventative. (When your dog gets heartworm via a mosquito bite, the no-guarantee treatment is super expensive. Plus, how would you like your heart to be eaten through with worms?)

#5) You underfeed or way overfeed your dog. (You don't want your dog to starve. On the flip side, dog obesity puts your pet at risk for the same diseases as obese people, for instance, diabetes.)

#6) You feed your dog a dangerous amount of table scraps that are toxic for canines. (If you're curious about what food is dangerous to give your dog, click -->here<--.)

#7) You have no extra time in your day to give to your dog and end up depriving it of any attention. (They get lonely just like people do.)

#8) You physically abuse your dog. (That one's a major "Duh.")

#9) You don't fix your fence, and your dog repeatedly gets out of the yard and runs wild. (We see a lot of this in our neighborhood, unfortunately.)


Those are the things that come directly to mind. What do you think? Have any to add to the list?

Dad's Hall Closet (Before and After)

Check out this decluttering masterpiece...


BEFORE:


It stored everything from old vinyl records to obsolete camcorders.


(3 hours of sorting things, moving things, reorganizing things, and taking multiple trips to the dumpster to trash things later...)

AFTER:


It went from Catch-All Closet to Cleaning Supplies closet. Very Nice!

Creating Compelling Characters

Mystery author Joyce Strand was kind enough to host me as a guest-blogger over at her blog this weekend. I'm offering a little of my advice to other writers on how to make their characters more compelling. If you're interested, please click to be transported to her site -->here<--.

Hope everyone's having a good weekend!

Trying Too Hard

This year has been a tough year.

I have chosen to let go of some bad habits (certain relationships, obsessive modes of thinking, etc.) that were only serving to bring me down.

I have also had to admit to myself that it's time to let go of certain unmet goals I've held onto for too long.

All of this soul-cleansing, as good for me as it may be, has left me feeling weightless, wandering through a void I have found increasingly more difficult to ignore.

With all this space opening up, I've been really worried I won't do the "right" thing next...follow the "right" path...write the "right" next book...develop the "right" new goals...find the "right" new hobbies...meet the "right" new friends...strengthen the "right" existing relationships, and so on.

Today I nearly had to breathe into a paper bag I got so anxious about it.

And then, just when I felt on the verge of an emotional collapse, I had an epiphany. It was like a light-bulb came on over my head.

I realized that at just about every turning point in my life I can recall, I reached a moment where I...

#1) let go of the things that were no longer serving me, including the very thought of them

and

#2) I just stopped trying so hard to choose a direction.

And almost every time I did this, a perfect new phase of my life blossomed right around the corner. I was provided with new opportunities to live and learn and grow, many opportunities that literally came to me; I didn't have to madly pursue them. All I had to do was live each day as its own, in the present moment, and follow my intuition.

A silly but apt example of this is a time when I was in the 10th grade: I had to write a poem for an English assignment, and I didn't really want to do it, but I did it anyway, barely giving it 30 minutes of my time. I turned it in, and the teacher of my class submitted these poems to a contest. A few months later, I got word that I'd won first place out of all the high schools in the state. First Place! And I had barely even tried! I just wrote it, just spontaneously created what came to me in the moment.

When I was in college, I was taking a news writing class for my English major, and one day the professor approached me to ask if I wanted to be editor-in-chief of the college newspaper. I hadn't even known there was an opening. I didn't even know what the job entailed. But I was in the class, and the professor saw something in me he thought worth cultivating, so voila. I took the job, and it was one of the most fun and enlightening jobs I've had to date.

After breaking up with the guy I thought I was going to marry, I threw myself into the dating world. I stopped focusing on finding lasting love and instead chose to take each day and date as they came and simply get out there and meet guys and have fun. It wasn't too long after that I started dating someone I was so very comfortable with, someone who wanted to commit even before I did, and who eventually married me.

So I think I'm going to let go of the need to figure out my next step, and I'm going to let my next step come to me.