As you can see from the side bar, I’ve added word meters to show my progress on the projects I’m working on. I currently have 3. Two short stories and 1 novel, all of them urban fantasy or speculative fiction. It’s time to get serious. Time to stop procrastinating on writing by reading billions of writing, agent, editor, and general blogs. As Nike says, “just do it!”

Since I’ve been spending a lot of time reading blogs I wrote to Egue Foster tonight. I’ve seen her at DragonCon. She writes short stories, mostly fairy tales. The reason I mention this is that I went to her profile page on LJ just to see which lj communities she belongs to. If she’s getting published then obviously she knows things I don’t. You will imagine my surprise and complete and utter amazement when I looked at her list of syndicated sites she read. “I” am listed among them. Along with Laurell K Hamilton, my little blog is read by her! I’m like seriously flattered. I really respect her, and though we haven’t ever talked I planned on her picking her brain even before I saw she read me. Might not make much sense but…like wow!! I feel one step closer to the “in crowd”. So…thanks Eugie!

I joined RWA last week and am waiting for my RWA card. I plan on going to at least the NYC RWA chapter’s meeting in April and maybe the one in NJ depending on where it is. That’s another reason why I put my butt in gear to write. I would like to be able to take something to read. So, techniquely I should be working on “In the Blood” but…hey one thing at a time.

Right now the goal is to get “Caged” in Aeon or the like. I’m hoping to find a critique partner soon as well.

Tonight I gathered up my ipod, the laptop, a snack and a bottle of water along with my cell (cause Daddy might need me) and set up shop in the bedroom. It really helped me focus on writing. No email, no ims, no twitter, no rss feeds, no easy access to my passwords to get distracted by. I put one earbud in my ear and put my music on “scramble” and a very low volume so I have enough of the beat to give me a mood but not enough to make me really sing to it. Being on the laptop also made me feel more like a writer. I tend to procastinate on some things when I’m at my desk in the other room. It’s like trying to write while you are at your office. Something about it feels off. But I did start my work in Google docs so that I don’t have to worry about moving files. This will also let me make it available to someone to critique easily.

*gonna take a second and bemoan the fact that Jesse McCartney is untouchable as I listen to him croon in my ear*

Anyway, here’s a quick hook of my projects.

Caged – Can a feline shape-shifting spy get herself out of a tight-spot when she uncovers more then she planned for? Only if she can gain the trust of the man who took her in to begin with.

The Light – Amanda’s been helping people walk into the light for years…until she found out the light isn’t where they should be going.

In the Blood – Ricky is on a leave of absence after an alley shoot out goes wrong and leaves her dealing with more then just psychological effects. Thrust into the world of the supernatural as one of the monsters is leaving a bad taste in her mouth but a serial killer won’t let her hide from it for long. Not if she wants to keep her friend alive.

You probably don’t need 20, but here is a list of reasons why sex is good for you and your partner, married or otherwise….

Source: sex is good (lifehacker.org)

I’ve been reading Lifehacker, LifeHack, and of course the Happiness Project. I love the concept of Hacking your life to make things easier. This little gem came from a post written today.

I was so absorbed in my conversations that I only absent-mindedly noticed the inconvenience — even when, at one point, I had to walk backwards and pull the stroller because I couldn’t push it across the snow.

It was only when I got home that I realized how difficult the walk had been.

There’s a Lesson for Life here, I think, about why it’s important to make the time and effort to have fun.

Source: The Happiness Project

So I know allot of YOU knew this…but when I was watching a Sean Paul video today I realized that I’m not entirely too old to fulfill some of my dreams and goals. Yay!!!

Lots of you will be happy to know I’m getting serious about writing again. You might have seen this coming. You probably are going “yeah you said this last Nov when you were going to do NaNo and didn’t.” Yeah ok…so I said it once before. But I’ve put alot of thought into what I would like to do and some of the goals I want to accomplish. Writing a book is among them. When I look at my list of goals almost all of them tie into writing. I’ll give you an example:

• Look good/ loose some weight- so when my picture is taken for my book cover I look hot and when I attend conferences to talk about my book I look good.
• Be an amateur model – see above – they don’t call it self-marketing for nothing
• Write a book – self explanatory
• Be a speaker at conferences – talking about my book

See…they almost all tie into the book. I also realized today while I was doing some researching that when my mind was engaged in doing that…I wasn’t tired and I didn’t have a headache nor was I depressed. I also really like getting feedback on my work so I think getting one or two people whom I trust to comment on what I’m writing will help motivation.

So tonight, I caught up on allot of my writing blog feeds I got away from. I looked into joining RWA again and finding out about the local RWA chapter and when they meet. I looked up several of theauthorss and their websites I liked for inspiration and I desperately want to be listed here! I watched a new TV series that is urban fantasy to delve into my genre. And I thought about the plot line of the book I have in mind that I’ve already started on.

(Kimi fact 243 – I won 2nd place in a RWA contest when I was 17. I should have kept the “award” so I could list it in my credits)

Now…on a similar note check out what my friend Lexa pointed me out and I’ve joined. Feel free to friend me. My nick is KimiDrms.

PaperBackSwap.com – How does this club work?

When another member requests one of your books, you mail it to them.   Yes, you pay for the postage.  But then another member returns the favor when you request a book from them and they mail it to you.  And that way the books are always free because we are all trading books with club members!  

Once you have registered, simply list your paperback books that you would like to share with other Club Members.  Once you have listed at least 9 of your books, we will give you 3 book credits to get you started trading books with other club members.   However, the more books you post, the more likely you are to receive requests.   And that means more books for you.  So post as many books as you can!

Source: PaperBackSwap.com – How does this club work?

 How many times have you wished there was an easier way to send a picture or text message to a friend’s cell phone number but you don’t really know the right “email address” of their phone. You can send them email from your computer if you know the extension to send it to. I stumbled upon the perfect page for anyone who needs to know the last part of the address. Just find the cell phone company they are with then find them on the list and it will tell you what you need to know. Check the link below.

Source: Send a Text Message

So I know I’ve been really quiet of late. Partly because I’ve been either really sick or my thyroid is seriously out of wack. Maybe a mix of both. I’ve slept so much in the last few days and I’m astounded that I feel like I could lay down and sleep more. It’s crazy.

So since I know all of you are dying to know what I’m doing when I’m not updating my blog there’s Twitter! Now you can know my every move (as long as I update twitter). I can even know yours if you join. It’s free and kind of addictive. Daddy joined and it’s helping me keep track of his food intake so I can update it easily at SparkPeople.

We are both trying to eat more healty as well as workout. I’ve been downloading lots of tv series I like so I can watch it from my ipod while I work out. America’s Next Top Model is good for that.

And now…cause they are so darn cute!! 

Source: Cute Overload

Killer Yapp: Miss Snark! Miss Snark!
MS: what? I’m busy. I only need three more rows to finish.
KY: Doorbell Guest!
MS: KY, I’m not paying you to announce guests. Go deal with whomever it is.
(some time passes)
MS: KY! Where are you? I need a new pen!
(silence)

Source: Miss Snark, the literary agent

After having read Daddy’s blog dealing with the issues in the house, I’ve had alot to think about (I plan on writing a post about it but I might not get around to it as I’m not sure how important it is to me to write it up). After having talked to a friend about it, I’ve again restated my desire to write a book as one of my goals. Ok…rephrase…my goal isn’t to write a book…my goal is to be a published author with books in Barnes and Noble and guest speaking spots at places like Dragon Con.

My friend is encouraging to go after my goal. Daddy’s always encouraged me to go after this particular goal. It’s my motivation that falls to the wayside on this. But I’ve had a story brewing around in my head after the last Dragon Con and I think I’m going to start trying to do something about it. I already have a working title, called “In the Blood”.

To get myself in the right frame of mind, I headed over to Miss Snark as I love her blog and her snarkiness. I ran across the above post and laughed my ass off in a way you only can if you understand the background of Miss Snark, her faithful companion Killer Yapp, and her obsession with George Clooney!

So…while I doubt she’ll read it…thank you for the jump start Miss Snark.

Link to

They look as sad as I feel. I had to take Mynx to the vet today. She had a tumor in her ear and it was time to take her. It sucks….but it’s life.

Sometimes I have to give in….this isn’t a bad one to give in on.

March is “question” month. Ask me a question and I’ll answer each in a seperate post.

Circumstances being what they are I’m much more aware of the problems that I COULD be facing should my life be different. With that being said I am very thankful that I have a home, family, friends, food, money, and ways to keep myself entertained and occupied.

It is getting below freezing tonight and this week. Walking from the door of karate to the car was COLD. We should all take an extra second and do something nice for someone who might not have it as good as we do, just to show our appreication for the things we have in our lives.