Small Celebrations, June 19, 2015

Today I am 'Celebrating the Small Things' in this delightful blog hop, started by VikLit and now run by Lexa Cain, our fearless leader and her two wonderful co-hosts L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and Katie @ TheCyborgMom.

Today (Friday, June 19) I am celebrating surviving a hectic week at work, the advent of the weekend, and the feeling of renewal that has come to me in the past few weeks.  It has been a time of hurry, bother, harassment (as in crazy busy), and wondering why on earth I'm doing this nonsense when I would so much rather be somewhere else doing something else.

John Denver was associated too much with 'Thank God I'm a Country Boy' to be taken seriously by many.  He had a lot of depth to him, and he died too young.  His song "Looking for Space" expresses how I sometimes feel:

What's the point of puzzling over things?  the lyrics express it well:

              On the road of experience, join in the living day.
              If there's an answer it's just that it's just that way,

That's good enough for me.  I just keep on keeping on, chipping away at projects, savoring the good moments, and trying to convey the peace.

What are you celebrating?  

That's Why I'm Here...

I was taking a break from some intense (not writing-related) work, and decided "I've got a minute, I'll check my email."

So I did.  There was a message with the title:

New Form Entry: Contact Form

The message starts:

You've just received a new submission to your Contact Form.

There is a name and an email, which I will not retain after I respond to the contact. (I promised)

And a message:

I have read the 1st two books in the Memphis cycle and enjoyed the story lines. My daughter loves studying about ancient Egypt so will pass along to her.

I looked up with the start of a smile.  How lovely to receive this!  It is funny how these seem to come when they're needed.  I'm going flat out to finish the crocodile story (see upper right of the screen), have little time to do much else, even posting and commenting.  This is like a sip of cool water.  Or perhaps a glass of red wine.

That's why I'm here.  That's what I live for, in part, knowing that someone enjoyed what I offered.

James Taylor says it beautifully. The fortune and fame will probably never find me, but still:

     Fortune and fame's such a curious game.
     Perfect strangers can call you by name.
     Pay good money to hear fire and rain
        again and again and again.
     Some are like summer coming back every year,
     got your baby got your blanket got your bucket of beer.
     I break into a grin from ear to ear
     and suddenly it's perfectly clear.
     That's why I'm here.

A Silent Soliloquy - Cover Reveal!

I am delighted to participate in the Cover Reveal blog hop for L. G. Keltner's new novella blog (address below).  L.G. Keltner is a regular contributor on her blog, and her observations and point of view are always enjoyable.

She is now preparing to release A Silent Soliloquy, a Sci Fi/Dystopian work that has me intrigued:

TIPPIE was created to be a weapon. By all appearances, she's an ordinary girl of 18, and she uses that to her advantage in her work for The Facility. What no one sees is that there's another girl buried deep inside. She can't speak or control the movements of the body she inhabits. As TIPPIE's silent passenger, she can only observe. She uses the details she learns from TIPPIE's work to reconstruct the stories of other people's lives. It helps her feel a little more connected to the world she can only watch.

When TIPPIE's work leads her to David, a young man with a haunted past and information that The Facility wants, TIPPIE uses her skills to earn his trust. The silent girl beneath the surface knows that TIPPIE is only going to hurt him, but she can't help but feel for him. Those feelings only grow, but she knows all too well that TIPPIE's work will soon come to an end.

A Silent Soliloquy is a 29,000 word novella.  If you enjoy Science Fiction/Dystopian work, this one is definitely for you.  And if you are not sure, it's a wonderful way to try the genre.

Personal information:

L.G. Keltner

L.G. Keltner spends most of her time trying to write while also cleaning up after her crazy but wonderful kids and hanging out with her husband.  Her favorite genre of all time is science fiction, and she’s been trying to write novels since the age of six.  Needless to say, those earliest attempts weren’t all that good. 

 

Her non-writing hobbies include astronomy and playing Trivial Pursuit.

You can typically find L.G. lurking around her blog, on Twitter, or on her Facebook page.

Interested?  Of course you are!

Pre-Order Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

Time's A-Wasting (IWSG June 3, 2015)

This is my monthly post for IWSG = Insecure Writers' Support Group (click for the link).  Alex J Cavanaugh (may his tribe increase) started it and it has, for me, provided wisdom, understanding, laughter, and a lot of thought.  Sign up!  Read!

I used to like a song, quite a few years back, when I was convinced that life was dire and laughter was an accident.  I think it was sung by Connie Stevens.  At any rate, it had a line in it that stayed with me:

(Tick-Tock) If time is so fleeting
(Tick-Tock) Why wait?
(Tick-Tock) Too soon we may find it's
(Tick-Tock) Too late.

I was still in my teens, was going to be around forever, and like the poet said, I  'Shined in my angel infancy'.  I was invincible (well, if my Dad was on my side) I was wise (if I didn't look too closely at what I did and said) and fabulously talented (like a whole lot of other people).

Time passed, as it will, years passed, and on my last birthday, mulling over things that had happened and would, I hope, happen, it occurred to me that, based on my genetics and my family history, I had perhaps twenty-five (that's 25) years left to me.

Hm.  That's not a lot of time to someone who has left their thirties behind.  And I could mention a lot of things that I would love to do, but speaking as a writer, I have to say that my first thought was:  Omigosh!  I have to finish...  And I ticked off, on my fingers, my actual works underway.

That last book of the trilogy I'm working on, with #2 due out soon.  The...let me see...four books that I know of in my Egyptian series.  The notes I've assembled for the paranormal mystery set in Philadelphia.  The children's fable (which, actually, will be coming out in about a month and a half... must get cracking).

And I can dawdle like anyone.  Worse than anyone, in fact.  When would these get written?  And how could I not write them?  I had no time!

No time...

Or do I?