Briana Vedsted's Blog, page 22
June 19, 2013
Under the Influence – Part 1
Okay everyone, brace yourselves. I’m tackling a new topic today. This topic is one I feel very strongly about. Yes, dear readers, I’m talking about alcohol. I know right off there are going to be those of you who agree with me, and those of you who might quit reading this post right about now.
Some say that money (greed) is the cause of all evil. I think its alcohol. I’m going to be making a series of posts about this topic, and today’s post is about the negative affects alcohol has on you, physically. (There are a number of things alcohol hurts and/or negatively affects, but bear with me here.) I figure if my first argument is scientifically backed, I might have a few more people see the truth in my words. But, again, science isn’t always true. Some say the dinosaurs went extinct over 200 million years ago, which is a lie (to the Christian faith, the earth’s been around about 10,000 years. But that’s a discussion for another post/rant.)
Here goes.
If you drink more than one alcoholic drink* a day:
Your chances of having arthritis/gout or dementia when you get older increases
Bigger chance of getting liver, breast, mouth, pancreas, and esophagus cancer
Heart disease and/or stroke is possible, thanks to the increased blood pressure
Possibility of your kidney failing or becoming enlarged
Probability of your liver disintegrating (yes, you heard that right)
Nervousness, insomnia, and depression
Chance of either becoming anorexic or obese
Negatively impacts nearly every organ, i.e. brain, heart, liver, stomach, kidney…
Okay, so what does that tell you? Are you doing your body a favor by drinking? Can’t you see that by drinking heavily, you’re slowly killing yourself?
Are you helping or hurting yourself and your loved ones? That will be the topic for my Under the Influence post next week. Stay tuned. You’re not going to want to miss that.
* “One drink” breakdown as follows:
12 oz of beer (one can or bottle)
10 oz wine cooler (one bottle)
¼ oz of hard liquor (rum, whiskey, vodka, etc.)
4.5 oz wine (small glass)
June 18, 2013
When the Boss got “Separated” Part 2
Here’s my Fence Post column for this month. Since the editor seems to have forgotten to add this column, you guys are getting the pre-release version! 
We heard a shot. That must be Devil trying to signal us! We headed in that direction. Dare called out to Devil, but received no answer. I got worried all over again. What if Devil hadn’t been signaling us, what if he’d been shooting at a predator? (My imagination tends to get a little out of hand sometimes.) And just when we were about to turn back, sure that we’d missed seeing him in the brush, we heard another shot! It came from a different direction! “Boy, he moves fast!” I thought to myself as we followed shots for the rest of the afternoon.
Long near evening, Dare asked, “What time is it?” I checked the GPS. It was a little after four o’clock. “Let’s head back to the truck. Maybe he’s there.” It sounded like a good plan to me.
We made it to a reservoir and met up with Sister (not her real name, of course), who was the sister-in-law to Devil’s permit partner, Cowgirl (nope, not her real name either). No, she hadn’t seen him, and after calling Cowgirl on the two-way radio, remembered that they’d seen a set of boot tracks on the trail headed towards the truck. Eureka! After helping Sister get the bunch of cows she was in charge of pushed out of the oak brush and headed in the direction of the reservoir, we took our leave and headed up the hill. I saw three different sets of Devil’s tracks: two were headed in the direction of the truck and one was headed away from it. So he had gone back to the truck! And sure enough, as soon as we were in sight of the truck, we saw the door open. “That’s a good sign.” Dare declared, urging his horse into a faster trot.
Then I saw Devil. What a relief! It was only there, in Devil’s presence, that Dare let on he’d been worried at all. After finally eating lunch, Devil said, “Well, I say today was a bust. Let’s go home.”
On the drive back to the house, Devil told his side of the story, saying that the bull had headed east, instead of towards the canyon bottom. And of course, Devil followed him. The whole time, Dare and I had been searching on the wrong side of the canyon! And come to find out, it had been Cowgirl who fired the first shot we’d heard. Coyotes had gone after her dogs and she was shooting at them. We’d thought it was Devil shooting, and Devil thought it had been Dare shooting and had been shooting in reply as he hurried in that direction. So we’d been going back and forth between each other all afternoon. It’s something of a miracle we never ran into anyone!
I teased Devil about getting lost. Stubbornly, he argued, “I wasn’t lost. I knew exactly where I was. We just got separated.” But that was the last time he got off his horse to chase anything. The second day was much more productive, I might add.
Cowgirl must have also been worried about Devil after Sister called her and told her he was missing, and Devil and I hadn’t even made it home before his cellphone rang. It was Cowgirl, wanting to know if he was alright. And the next day, she made him carry one of her two-way radios.
The moral of the story? If you get lost: stay in the same place so your party can find you. Or, don’t go chasing after bulls on foot; you should invest in a good dog to do that for you. Or, you could just give up and meet your employees at the canyon bottom, just like you said you would!
This is the picture my sister drew to illustrate that day.
Love
Reblogged from The Community Storyboard:
Love. A four Letter word.
Said so often, but often not meant.
Have you heard, this four letter word?
It makes your heart fly, it makes your heart sink.
Make you laugh and make you cry.
Can toss you a rope ladder, or push you over the brink.
Heart beating fast.
No! Not goodbye!
Too late now, the past is in the past.
My poem from the Community Storyboard.
June 17, 2013
Tragedy Strikes Again
Why is it that the days you wake up and think to yourself, “Today is going to be a really great day!” why do those days always seem to take a turn for the worse? Have you just jinxed yourself by mentally declaring the day will be just perfect?
Apparently.
That’s what happened today. And then came the sorrow. My beautiful kitty, fondly named Butter Ball, died.
You know how when you’re children and you lose a pet, and your parents tell you it ran away? Then you have a hope, a very vain hope, that it will return? Maybe you even had your parents ‘mail’ it a letter, begging it to come back. But it never did. I’m not sure when you graduate from the ‘Fluffy ran away’ stage to the ‘your dog died’ stage, but it is a very painful graduation.
I’ve had lots of animals who really did run away. (I’m serious.) I was sad, but there was still a part of me who believed it was alive and might return to me one day. But then there are the times that you know your beloved pet is gone forever. Standing above Butter Ball’s grave, that was the feeling I had today.
It was about two months ago when one of my lambs died. It was a horrible time for my siblings and I, and I just didn’t have the heart to write about dear little Molasses. I wasn’t sure what to say about the little black creature I’d owned for less than two weeks. But I feel I own it to Butter Ball to dedicate this post to her lasting memory, for I was present at her birthing two years ago, and was only yards away when she met her untimely death this afternoon.
Butter Ball was a sweet little brown and black tabby cat. She had a soft little beseeching meow I could recognize instantly. She was timid and light as a feather, and had a purr that could warm you to your heart. When she was a kitten, we’d planned to give her to my grandmother, but the day before she was to leave, I broke down in tears, begging to be allowed to keep her. I wonder now, was that a mistake? Would she still be alive and safe had Grandma taken her? I don’t know.
I do believe she is in Heaven right now with her mother, Cleo, and countless other cats and dogs I’ve given my love to.
So to all you parents out there, if you’re daughter’s hamster dies, or your son’s puppy, tell them that the animal ran away. I know some people feel bad about lying to their kids, but in this instance, you really are doing them a favor. I promise.
Self Promotion: Is it bragging?
Okay, here comes another book contest post. This one does come with some advice though, which I’m sure someone will appreciate.
Self Promotion seems somewhat selfish and pushy. But if you don’t promote your book, NO ONE IS GOING TO KNOW ABOUT IT OR BUY IT!
I found this out the hard way. Truly I did.
No self promotion = no book sales = depressed author.
I feel sort of bad about making all these posts trying to get people to buy my book, but it seems like after I’ve made one of these posts, I get 3 or 4 sales that week, which is awesome. And it is thanks to all my friends who reblog my posts, tweet about my book, post reviews, and do guest blogs about me and my work. Thank you everyone! You’re the best!
And of course, for those of you who might have missed my other posts, I’m trying to sell 100 eBooks by July. If I can do that, (I’m going to need 75 more sales for this to work, mind you!) I’ll be passing out some prizes. Three, to be exact: a PDF pre-release copy of my book Me and Billy the Kid, an Amazon e-gift card, and a Kindle e-gift card.
I’ve got two books for sale:
Ghost/mystery/western/YA (or MG) The Night I Walked off of Boot Hill: http://www.amazon.com/Night-walked-Boot-Hill-ebook/dp/B00BC1H1XA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363896321&sr=8-2&keywords=the+night+i+walked+off+of+boot+hill
Romance/western/YA The Untold Story of Margaret Hearst alias Maugrim Valletta: http://www.amazon.com/Untold-Margaret-Maugrim-Valletta-ebook/dp/B00BBY3LLE/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kstore_4
Blogger Spotlight
I’m starting a new category of posts. I’m calling it my Blogger Spotlight. The blogger I’m doing this week always has phenomenal advice for authors. Swing by her site, if you’re not already following her, and see what this talented author has to say!
Here she is: Victoria Grefer at: http://crimsonleague.com/
A few helpful posts:
June 16, 2013
Awards
How sweet! My award found its way back to me! The very thoughtful Franny at http://frannychallenge.wordpress.com/ sent back my Always Here If You Need Me blog award! Yah! 
And from Marie at http://1writeway.com/ comes The Loyal Reader award! Thank you!
Rules for this award:
1. Display the award on your blog.
2. Thank the person who sent it to you.
3. Answer a rhetorical question of the authors choosing.
4. Send on the award to everyone you consider a loyal reader.*
Rhetorical question:
If you were on a deserted island, how would you survive?
Always an island. *sigh* And I can’t swim and don’t like fish. I guess I’d be eating a lot of coconuts, mangos, bananas, and baked clams.
* All my fans (yes, you! The one who is sitting in front of your computer reading these very words!) deserve this award, so help yourself to it! There’s is too many of you to name here as my nominees, but I want you to know I appreciate each and every one of you loyal followers of my humble blog!
Middle Grade
I have a question for all you authors and readers alike: what is Middle Grade?
I’ve interviewed a few authors who said they wrote Middle Grade fiction. I know what children’s books are, and YA, but what is the age range for Middle Grade books? I’m thinking of doing a series of western/fantasy books, but the theme I’m going with seems too childish for YA or New Adult, but too advanced for youngsters. So that would only leave MG as an option. I’m thinking my books would be suitable for 12-15 year olds. And does anyone know if there is a good market for MG fiction? Any advice you guys have, I’ll gladly accept!
Father’s Day
Happy Father’s Day!
For all you dads out there with daughters, I’ve got the perfect movie for you! (Even a dad with a rebellious son could appreciate this family-friendly show.)
Ice Age: Continental Drift
June 15, 2013
Beginning of a Hero for .99 Cents
Reblogged from Legends of Windemere:
Yesterday, I decided to put Beginning of a Hero back at .99 cents. The higher royalty was nice, but it wasn't selling. With this price, I can continue creating the foundation that I need for the other books. After doing research I came to three conclusions:
There will always be people that think a book is wrongly priced. It will either be too high for the quality or too low.
Looking for a fast-paced fantasy book to lose yourself in? Try "Beginning of a Hero" You won't be disappointed!
