R.E. Mullins's Blog, page 2

The Writing Process of one Frances Evesham

Each author tackles writing in their own fashion.
See how Frances goes about it and I'll post my process next week.

http://wp.me/p3SDuy-9Y
Author of An Independent Woman. Northanger Abbey meets Downton in Victorian England. Coming soon.
Victorian trivia blog at www.francesevesham.com
I tweet at www.twitter.com/francesevesham and post on Facebook at www.facebook.com/frances.evesham.writer

http://fevesham.files.wordpress.com/2...

vampire

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It's hard to immerse myself in the world of perpetual night when spring is right outside the window. Instead of dealing with vampires and witches - I want to go outside and play in the sun.
Unfortunately, books don't get written that way.

Spring

Redbuds, Bradford Pears, and Tulip Magnolias are now in bloom. Henbit and Johnny Jump-ups carpet the ground. I love spring.
Everything about the rebirth of the world lifts both spirit and heart. From the sunshine yellow of daffodils and forsythia to the green grass shoots and budding leaves, two of my favorite colors.
You can't help but be drawn outside to enjoy the warm breeze caressing your winter pale skin.
While walking my dog along the creek, I see these wonderful signs of warmer weather everywhere. The scent of someone breaking out their grill makes my mouth water.
Maybe soon we'll be cursing the heat as we did last winter's cold. But for now? I can only feel the bliss of spring.

Time

Time can fly or drag annoyingly slow. We either have too much or pray for more. We praise it, resent it, long for it, remember it. Our lives are measured and broken into increments of it.

My daughter is a busy woman. She teaches upper level math and runs her school's math club. She chaperone's her students on trips while attending math league.
She enjoys a busy social life, a close circle of friends, the dating scene. She finds time to help her best friend raising an adorable little boy. The only bad part is she lives so far away from me.

It's easy to understand how, with all these varied responsiblities, her life is controlled by the clock. Of all people, my daughter understands time.

Therefore I was blown away by her birthday gift to me this year. She arranged for an airline ticket for me to visit during her summer vacation.

More than the airfare, she's blocked off those days for me.

The most valuable present of all - she's giving me the gift of her time.

Murphy's Law

Murphy's Law
Murphy's laws

If anything can go wrong, it will
1. MacGillicuddy's Corollary: At the most inopportune time
2. Extension sent by Dean A. Izett
If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong
Extreme version:
If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the FIRST to go wrong
3.Extreme version sent by Neal Miller
If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway
If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which something can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop
4. Corollary sent by Sean Cheshire
Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse
If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something
Nature always sides with the hidden flaw
5. Corollary sent by Dave M.
Mother nature is a bitch
6. Addendum sent by Paul Kekanovich
Murphy's Law of Thermodynamics
Things get worse under pressure.
The Murphy Philosophy
Smile . . . tomorrow will be worse.
7. Quantization Revision of Murphy's Laws
Everything goes wrong all at once.
8. Murphy's Constant
Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value
9.Murphy's Law of Research
Enough research will tend to support whatever theory.
10. Research supports a specific theory depending on the amount of funds dedicated to it.
11. Sent by Tony '68
Addition to Murphy's Laws
In nature, nothing is ever right. Therefore, if everything is going right ... something is wrong.

More Laws
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.
Rule of Accuracy: When working toward the solution of a problem, it always helps if you know the answer.
Corollary: Provided, of course, that you know there is a problem.
Nothing is as easy as it looks.
Everything takes longer than you think.
Everything takes longer than it takes.
Sent by Jon Carpenter
If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.
Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first.
Every solution breeds new problems.
The legibility of a copy is inversely proportional to its importance.
no matter how perfect things are made to appear, Murphy's law will take effect and screw it up.
Sent by Paul Breen
The chance of the bread falling with the buttered side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet.


That is Murphy's Law and I am now quite well acquainted it. This heinous phenomenon dogged my footsteps two weeks before my recent move back to Missouri.

Colorado, which had been going through a dry and relatively nice patch, decided to return to snow and frigid temperatures. The news reported that snowstorms and ice had decided to descend throughout the midwest. My son seemed drawn to the computer for hourly updates on highway conditions.
Tempers flared and harsh words were exchanged. But after the discord a wonderful thing happened. My sons and I seemed to draw closer. The last few week was spent huddled on the couch together reminiscing over the fun and funny things we'd shared during our sojourn together in Colorado. We remembered beautiful vistas on various hikes and hilarious (to us) quips that had made us laugh until our faces were red. We realized we'd shared many new experiences and they were locked in our memories.
M-day arrived with a tempering of the icy cold. The truck was loaded and we watched in amazement as the two movers I'd hired loaded the U-haul. They actually managed to squeeze everything inside the 26 foot truck. I now wish we'd bet on it as my sons were sure it couldn't be done.
The drive was tedious high up in the truck cab. However, the sight of half a dozen roadrunners along the Kansas' highway thrilled me.
Then we reached Missouri...it was after midnight. Icy cold and snowy. Miserable. We found the house I'd rented sight unseen over the internet. The outside looked neat and tidy. I was pleased. Right across the road was the walking trail that had enticed me to rent the house.
Things went downhill quickly. Of course we all had to use the facilities and the bathrooms were quickly in use only to find out both sinks leaked. Water poured from the pipes spilling out onto the floor. And it was icy cold. No hot water was to be found. We located the hotwater tank but it wouldn't stay lit. That meant no showers for weary muscles. My spirits plunged. It was actually warmer in Colorado and I fleetingly thought of turning back around and returning.
The worst part came the next day when my sons left. They headed to their new places and for the first time in 30 years I wouldn't be living in the same town with at least one of my children.
I was heartbroken.
Yet my mother's happiness and gratitude that I'm now nearby has gone a long way to ease that pain. Robin's hip-hop across my lawn and the dog and I saw a red-shouldered hawk on one of our walks.
In one week the temperatures have gone from below freezing to mild and spring-like. It reminds me that I always loved spring in Missouri.
And hopefully Murphy's Law will take a vacation from my life.

Paranormal Romance Sell for a Worthy Cause

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=a9_sc_1?r...

Hey hey, romance junkies.

Not long ago a talented author came with a special request, and I simply couldn't turn her down. Now I'm coming to you. Read on and you'll see why. Her name is Juli D Revezzo and she writes fabulously rich paranormal romance. I'll let her explain her worthy request in her own words.

(Clicking on the link above will take you to the Antique Magic page on Amazon)

Take it away, Juli...

Some of you may've read about this already so please forgive the repeat. You know my little brother died in 2012 from (I always have to look this up!) Fibrolomellar type Hepatocellular carcinoma? It is a cancer that hits young people and has a really high death rate. Joe fought it for four years before it killed him. Well, sometime last year I found this foundation for research for the blasted disease and I've been thinking about doing some sort of special sale on my Antique Magic series with an eye to donating some of the proceeds to the foundation.
http://www.fibrofoundation.org/
Why the Antique Magic books? Because the whole feel of them, my heroine's ghost contact, her ghost hunting and all that she does with the ghosts she helps was inspired by Joe's interest in the paranormal and love of horror movies and all. Now I'm gearing up to release Drawing Down The Shades, the next in the series, out on Amazon/B&N etc. by January 5th, and I thought I'd take whatever piddly royalties I get from the sales of her series books (The Artist's Inheritance, CAITLIN'S BOOK OF SHADOWS, and Drawing Down The Shades on January 6-8th (his birthdate) and donating it to the FCF -.
So please -
If you like paranormal romance give these books a try for a very worthy cause.

Helen Hunt Jackson - September Poem

Recently I did a blog on my father's favorite poem and decided to give my mother's most quoted poem a run. Her favorite lines are
'And asters by the brookside - make asters in the brook.

She would often wake my sibs and me up for school with a hearty recitation. Which, I must admit, I didn't always appreciate. Now I can see it was more gentle than a blaring alarm clock.

To this day I can't see a reflection in a body of water, or see goldenrod without hearing her reciting this poem.

Soon I'm moving back to my old hometown. I will be closer to her and she'll be welcome to recite to me whenever she wants...anytime, that is, in the afternoon.

September Poem

The goldenrod is yellow,
The corn is turning brown,
The trees in apple orchards
With fruit are bending down;

The gentian’s bluest fringes
Are curling in the sun;
In dusty pods the milkweed
Its hidden silk has spun;

The sedges flaunt their harvest
In every meadow nook,
And asters by the brookside
Make asters in the brook;

From dewy lanes at morning
The grapes’ sweet odors rise;
At noon the roads all flutter
With yellow butterflies–

By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer’s best of weather
And autumn’s best of cheer.

Christmas is over - was it worth it?

This Christmas was unlike any I've ever experienced before. My daughter couldn't make the trip so it was just my two grown sons and me. Since we're moving soon, each to a new location, we agreed there wouldn't be a gift exchange this year. After all any gifts would just turn into more to pack.

For the first time there wasn't the frenzied shopping, no wrapping, no hiding of gifts. No sneaking about.

Christmas morning I made B & G's. For those not from the south that means biscuits and sausage gravy. (For my English friends-a biscuit is a bread-type roll and not a cookie).
We watched basketball together (go Thunder) and took a walk. After the food gluttony of Thanksgiving, we kept the evening meal simple. I fixed ham, roasted potatoes and crudites. Afterwards we cleaned the kitchen together. It was a quiet day where we talked and laughed and just spent time together - very pleasant.

All in all a very good Christmas and it got me thinking...Maybe, just maybe, my Grinch's heart thought even without all the hoopla

Christmas CAME Just The Same

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling:
How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes, or bags!

And he puzzled and puzzed, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more."

And what happened then...? Well...in Who-ville they say That the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day!

Nah, just kidding. We'll be back to rank commercialism next year!

Red Rock Canyon

My time in the beautiful state of Colorado is coming to an end. Taking advantage of unseasonably warm temperatures, I've been hiking in Red Rock Canyon overlooking Garden of the Gods.
Today we ventured out onto Contemplative Trail. I'd warily agreed as it is rated black and I usually stick to easy green pathways. We climbed through the old quarry and through the spearing mountains of red rocks. Every so often there was a break in the distance mountain range and I could see the snow covered tip of Pike's Peak.
It truly is a spot in which to contemplate the majesty of nature's beauty.

The Children's Hour by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

My wonderful father passed almost twenty years ago. I've been thinking a lot about him. One sweet memory is this poem. It was was one of his favorites and he would recite it to my sisters and me. As the third daughter, I envisioned myself as Edith with golden hair.
So here's to you dad - in loving memory. I miss you. I miss sitting on your lap, wrapped in your comforting arms, while your chest rumbles next to my ear and you recite...

The Children's Hour

Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
That is known as the Children's Hour.

I hear in the chamber above me
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.

From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.

A whisper, and then a silence:
Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
To take me by surprise.

A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret
O'er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.

They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, o blue-eyed banditi,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!

I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.

And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away!!