Take time to stop and eat the apple blossoms

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I am just like all the rest of you, I always have twice as much to do as I have time to do it in.

Honestly, it doesn’t make sense–I am unemployed, so I should be sitting around my house all day twiddling my thumbs. Or even better I should be writing up a storm, taking advantage of this boon of extra time.

If only it worked that way! For all intents and purposes, I have no more time to write than I did when I was working at a 40+ hour a week job. Where does the time go?

Why do I worry about it so much?

Last week, the sun was shining and I felt the need to lower my stress levels. I grabbed a ball, called my schnoodle, and headed out the door. It felt great, tossing the ball across the yard so that my dog could joyously chase it. Her favorite game is to bring the ball within 2 feet of me and drop it, then to snatch it up and run when I reach for it. Her own special version of keep-away.

We played for about 30 minutes, which should have relaxed me, but did not. I still had worries wiggling around my head, cluttering it to-do lists.

It was evident I wasn’t paying close enough attention when I tossed the ball a little too high and hit the apple tree. The ball struck one of the beautiful apple blossoms that are currently decorating my yard and it fell to the ground.

Immediately, Pepper lost all interest in our game as she pounced on the blossom. In a split second, her stance went from tense anticipation of play to relaxed bliss.

And then it hit me. Here I was, frantically trying to relax, when all I really had to do was stop and smell the roses.

Or if I really wanted to follow Pepper’s example, eat the apple blossoms!

You can’t please everyone

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I have google alerts set up for each of my books, so I immediately know when a new review is posted.

Viridia was just reviewed on Amazon, and the reviewer pretty much ripped it to shreds (although she did give it 3 stars). The reviewer said “it was a conclusion of sorts” and that there was “not much else to it either”  and that the last chapter was “completely not necessary.” Whoa Nellie!

Are my feelings hurt? Of course they are. But I’ll survive.

Especially since there are other reviews, ones that don’t rip Viridia to shreds. The review posted at the end of February stated that “Behold the Eye: Viridia, the final installment of this very thrilling trilogy, is just as fantastic, suspenseful and wonderful as Behold the Eye: Braumaru and Cerulea!”

I can hardly believe that both reviews are written about the same book.

There is one consolation about the ripping-to-shreds review. The reviewer must have been more interested than she wanted to admit. She did, after all, willingly read all three of the trilogy. I went back and checked the reviews for Braumaru and Cerulea.

Time slipping away

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I haven’t been writing as much as I would like, and I’ve wondered why.

Do I have writer’s block? Have I lost interest in my current book? Has the well of creativity suddenly run dry?

I was really beginning to worry, until I started to pay attention to how I spend my day.

One part of it is spent job searching, a necessary evil. I would rather be independently wealthy and not worry about getting a job, but life is what life is.

Another portion is devoted to searching out people who might agree to review one of my books, finding new marketing ideas, reading publishing blogs, researching the types of books that are selling well…and so on.

A third portion is taken up by my current volunteer project–the redesign of my church’s website.

When I really looked at the time I have been spending on the web redesign, I realized that it is quite a bit more than I orginally thought. A little tweak here, a change of color there…and time does slip away. But really, I want to make it as perfect and easy to keep up as possible. Once it is live, I will not be the one keeping it current.

What does it look like, you ask? Well, here is a screen-shot. I used the interior structure of the church as an inspiration, and tried to create a navigation that will help people find what they need.

The new site isn’t up yet, only the old one, but hopefully it will be in a few weeks. It has been very satisfying rebuilding it. I built everything from scratch using only notepad to do the CSS and HTML. Of course the graphics were created with PhotoShop.

As I said, it has been satisfying, but I will be glad to have it finished. I want to get back to writing. Websites are fun to build, but writing is my true passion.

Easter high jinks

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Easter Sunday we had a family get-together. All was well, except for those pesky Jupiterians.

I really don’t know why they adore pranks so much.

It all started with the alarm clock. Someone, and I am pretty sure I know who, changed the time on the clock. Not the alarm, mind you, but the actual clock. So instead of the ham going into the oven at 7 as planned, it was unknowingly put in at 6.

Luckily, the clock change was discovered in time and the ham was not allowed to burn to a crisp. Take that, you jokey Jupiterians. Your plan was foiled!

Unfortunately, the clock stunt was not all the Jupiterians had planned. Each step of the baking process was hindered by practical jokes. I dealt with missing measuring cups and spoons, rearranged spices, misplaced mixing bowls, broken eggs in the carton, spilled flour all over the kitchen, and an oven that kept mysteriously changing temperatures.

Yet, I am happy to report, everything turned out just fine. We had a wonderful, relaxing, fun day.

Maybe, just maybe, one of these days the Jupiterians will tire of their silly jokes. I look forward to the day.

Or do I? The Jupiterians do have a tendency to create chaos, but they also keep boredom at bay.

You just never know what might happen next.

Braumaru – the movie

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I cannot believe it! I got a phone call this morning from a movie studio (I am not yet allowed to say which one.)

Recently, one of the producer’s kids read the Behold the Eye trilogy, and liked them. He or she (I don’t know which) told the producer that it would make a great movie. The producer read the books and agreed!

So…and here is the most amazing news…the studio wants to make Behold the Eye: Braumaru into a movie. If it does well, they will make the other two into movies also.

I think I feel tears forming.

Oh, for whatever reason, they don’t want to call the movie Behold the Eye: Braumaru. Something about it not being catchy enough. So after a lot of debate we have agreed to another title. When it comes out as a movie, it will be called “Watch out for People Who Play April Fool’s Day Tricks.”

Take care!

In search of a diamond

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I spent hours on my hands and knees, carefully dusting every square inch of my floor for my missing diamond. I then used my finger to feel the interior and lid of the jewelry box in case the diamond was somehow just stuck in some corner of the box or the lid.

Nothing.

Fearful that the diamond had become caught in something I had already moved, I sifted through the recycle I had collected that day, shook out all my clothing, and up-ended my dresser drawers so that I could be sure the diamond hadn’t fallen into them.

Nothing.

I was upset. The diamond had a lot of sentimental value for me because it represented my marriage. It also had provided hours of entertainment to cranky and bored children (and sometimes to me, I love the way it sparkles).

But now, I had to admit that it was gone. I gathered my courage and called my husband to break the news.

He was a darling. He consoled me saying, “Don’t worry, when I get home I’ll help you find it.”

And he was right. My superhero husband walked in the door, went into our room, and almost immediately found the diamond. I was very impressed!

It seems that the naughty little diamond was hiding in the one place I had neglected to search. The hinge of the box.

Go figure!

The missing diamond

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Today, I decided to take on the monumental task of cleaning off my dresser. I have a horrible habit of putting clothes on top of the dresser instead of in it, so that over time the mountain of clothes grows until there is a real danger of an avalanche.

All was going well, until I discovered my heart-shaped jewelry box open, and turned over.

A few weeks ago, I hit my engagement ring on the kitchen table, and out popped the diamond. I scrambled to find the diamond before the dog did, and very carefully placed the rescued ring and diamond in a conveniently empty heart-shaped jewelry box.

Why, oh why did I ever do anything so dumb? The box I chose for my precious diamond has a lid that opens entirely too easily. And then, to compound my stupidity, I chose to leave the box on my dresser, the least organized spot in the entire house, and the last place I should ever place any item I want to be able to find later.

So now, my only hope is to conduct an archaeological type search of my bedroom floor. I will section the room into grids and collect every dust bunny, every random scrap of paper, every paper clip and safety pin, and especially every hard little stone that might have its shine disguised by a layer of dirt.

Wish me luck. I’ll tell my husband about my mistake any way around, but I would rather do it AFTER I find the diamond, instead of before.

What a nightmare! My husband is always nagging me about that dresser, and now I have to tell him he is right. There is no hope for it. I will have to confess all, unless…

Could the diamond just be playing hide-and-seek with me?

Diamond, oh, diamond. Can you hear me? Remember all the good times we’ve had, mesmerizing babies and shining rainbows on the walls. If you keep hiding from me, I may not find you and we won’t be able to do those things any more. You don’t want to hide any more, do you? I promise, I’ll take you right away and get you reset in the ring. I’ll even get you cleaned.

I’ll do my part by looking, and you do your part by showing your sparkle.

Come out, come out wherever you are!

Pre-Easter Easter get-together

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Eeeeek!

Scheduling a get-together with my family has become excrutiatingly difficult lately, mainly because 3 of my 4 daughters have jobs that require them to work Saturdays and Sundays.

Not that that makes planning impossible, we just have to be sure to give the girls plenty of time to request the appropriate time off.

Well, Easter is in a week and a half, the first Sunday of April. Every year, our extended family gets together at my mother-in-law’s house. It is one of those times we see family members we haven’t seen for a while.

The girls know–and look forward to–this traditional get-together, so each of them pulled strings, called in favors, and got Easter off.

Sounds good, right?

Well, we got a phone call last night, letting us know that the Easter get-together is off this year, and we are instead getting together THIS Sunday.

Which means that 3 of my 4 daughters will not be able to be there. They are working, and the 4 days notice we were given is not long enough for them to scramble around, pull in favors, beg and plead for the day off.

I have to wonder why no one mentioned to us earlier that a get-together at an earlier date was being considered. I mean, if only someone…

What was that? Was that giggling I just heard?

Jupiterians, is that you?

Why are you giggling so much? What have you done now?

What! You have been blocking all the emails and phone calls from my family for the last few weeks! Why would you do such a thing? Now everything is messed up, and my daughters…

Well I don’t think it is funny. My daughters…

Okay, fine. Maybe you are right. It is a little funny that our communication could be so easily blocked. And yes, now we can have a more intimate get-together at my house.

Yes. We’ll have lots of candy.

Yes, there will be…

Wait a minute! Did you do all this because…

You have got to be kidding. Really, Jupiterians? You could have just asked, you know. I would have saved you a few Cadbury Eggs. You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.

Jupiterians. They love Cadbury Eggs like…like…well, like a monkeys like bananas!

As slow as molasses

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Sigh.

The Jupiterians are hard at work again. And by hard at work, I mean that they are having a blast playing tricks on me.

I don’t know why the Jupiterians have such a fascination with my computer. They slow it down to the point that I feel that every program has to swim through an ocean of molasses in order to just open. They make that silly message from Vista–the one asking if I want to allow this to happen, or that to happen–to pop up over and over. They make it so that updates and scans happen only when I most need to use every ounce of my computer’s memory.

We all know how slow computers get during updates and scans!

Many of you probably think it is my fault, but it isn’t. I have configured my computer to run scans and process updates in the middle of the night, while I am dreaming dreams of adventure.

Besides, I know without a shadow of a doubt that all my computer troubles are caused by the Jupiterians. Every time they play a prank, they giggle.

Giggle, giggle, giggle. See, there they go again! I wonder what they have done this time?

Cerulean tears

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“Cerulea, why are you crying?”

“What? You want to know what I am going to wear tonight when we go to Third Place Books. Well, I don’t yet know.”

“No…I am not going to wear the same outfit I wore yesterday, or the one I wore the day before. You’ve known me long enough to know that I usually change my clothes every day.”

“Cerulea! Shame on you for blubbering in this way. What has come over you? If you keep this up for much longer I don’t know what will happen. You might smear your ink, or–even worse–make your pages all wet and crinkly. I detest crinkly pages. So come on, tell me what is wrong.”

“You have got to be kidding. You want to change the way you look for tonight? But why? You look beautiful just as you are.”

“I see. You feel that if I get to change my clothes, you should be able to change your cover. But Cerulea, I have to tell you, it is not going to happen.”

“You want to know why, okay, I’ll tell you why. I have a closet full of clothes, so it is easy for me to change my clothes. You only have one cover.”

“What do you mean, it isn’t fair. Don’t you understand that your cover is a part of what makes you, you? Where would you be, without your big, mysterious blue eye–or that door, the one that makes every person who sees it wonder what might be on the other side?”

“Of course I’m right! You are wonderful just as you are. I would not want you to change a thing.”

“Of course I mean it!”

“I love you too Cerulea, I love you too. Now go get cleaned up. The event starts at 6:30. We don’t want to be late.”