True to True Blood?

I have been watching True Blood and just finished season one consequently moved on to season two and watched the first episode last night.  In retrospect, I love to watch or test watch all the shows/movies in the genre I love best, of course! Research, don't you know:) Well, I will say the jury is still out on this show.  I can't seem to toss it aside as I did with Vampire Diaries--did not like that one in the least.  I will admit, in a strange way, I am hooked on TB.  At times I'm really not sure why I continue to watch but others I reflect on an episode and chuckle to myself.  The characters at times are so dumb and backwards but then that seems part of the dark charm of this series.  I find myself laughing outloud at something humorus every single episode as well as saddened by a death--by the way, if they keep killing of the regulars there won't be anyone left!

I'm not that big of a fan of Bill but I do like Sookie.  I love Lafayette--who wouldn't? Maryanne is very strange and I haven't entirely figured out what the heck she is. Tara and Sam are likeable as well.  I have to laugh at the poor Iraq vet and the waitress that surely reminds me of Flo from Mel's Diner(if anyone remembers her and "Kiss my grits!").  I did like Rene until he turned out to be the serial killer who by the way offed my most favorite character, Sookie and Jason's grandmother!  I so loved her. She reminded me of my own sweet grandmother, God Bless her soul.

Anyway, I guess you can say though I'm still not quite sold, I will keep watching--at least for now.

I am curious at what you all think. Please feel free to pipe in and voice your thoughts on this one.

D~

And time marches on...

Spring has come and gone, the dog days of summer are upon us and still my life seems to sway against my sitting down and writing.  I know you all have been through this. Been busy with an array of things lately. Day job demands are greater and grabbing overtime(these days we all need the extra dollars, don't we?).  Implicated an exercise program into my agenda for stress relief as well brain food and alertness.  Family life is always at the heart of matters, so...

Speaking of exercise, has anyone grabbed onto Zumba?  I am loving it! I love to dance so this program is right up my alley:) Like most people, I tend to become bored with diet and exercise programs but this one is fun.  I also change it up which keeps me interested. I add biking, walking, etc.  So far, it's working well for me.

Gonna head out and do some wicked weeding in a bit.  Whoa! Even my gardening has slacked.  Funny how we cycle through life.  Hot and heavy, cool off, then move full circle again. 

Writing?  It's coming in its on good time.  Festering, I am, conniving, scheming, projects in hand.

D~

Whew! Rough week but I'm still standing!

Laptop crashed and burned last Monday evening! Panic? Not yet.  Tried everything we could think of for two days to coax the machine to cooperate and come back up.  Turn it off/turn it on. F8 to start in safemode. But all it did was cycle off and on.  Okay now the panic is ebbing in.  Although I, for the most part, save my documents and back up the system on a regular basis, I hadn't saved them in several days! Okay, I told myself, you can recover them from the hard drive.  That is assuming the hard drive isn't damaged, as well. Oh but we won't go there as I am a 'glass is half full' type of gal:)

Okay, I call a friend who aids me in removing said hard drive and go get a nifty adapter/box so I can test the waters to see if it is, in fact, okay. It is! And as luck would have it I have a borrowed back up laptop because wouldn't you know, like the girl scout I used to be, I am pretty much always prepared. My particular laptop, a HP Pavillion Plug and Play, is involved in a class action law suit of which I have recently filed my claim. So onward and upwards.  But... Yes there's that incessant but.  Little by little things trickled into my mind that were most likely lost.  One such thing was my AOL filing cabinet.  All my important files regarding correspondence bit the dust--we are talking years of stuff that were necessary keeps!

Lesson here: if you do nothing else on a daily basis back up your system, your files, and your mailboxes!

I do have a happy ending, however.  Although my filing cabinet and all correspondence as of Monday are toast along with my laptop, I brought a brand new laptop yesterday, have the promise of a replacement machine from HP sometime in the near or distant future(who knows with litigation cases), and a lot more techie knowledge than I ever had:)  Next purchase: A large external hard drive that will be programmed to back up system daily!

D~

Good Morning! And a beautiful sunshining day it is:) Well, the week is over, the day job done for a bit and other projects have been wrapped up and safely set aside for the time being...

Time to roll up my sleeves and dive into more rewrites!  Actually, I am very excited about it. Big change from the procrastinator I'd become when I even thought about the chore of rewriting Dancing on the Edge.  I would love for you to join me in my venture. I've even added a comment box so you can put your two cents in along the way.  Please check out my progress by clicking the link below the header above.  I really have made some fantastic progress in only one weekend! 

Looking forward to hearing what you think.

D~

I'm back! Remember I mentioned that my dear departed friend, Joan, had helped me to break into the wonders of being a published author? Do you also remember that I'd pulled my first published title, a crime romance novel, when the contract at ePress-Online had run its course for revisions?  Well...

I am actively rewriting and revising that book! I am excited that my muse has returned, and I am once again motivated to WRITE! And more importantly, I once again have something to thank dear, dear Joan for.  I feel it necessary to get this book out there again for Her. She is my motivation, and I will be dedicating this republication to her memory.

Thank you, Joan. You are so instrumental in my career that Dancing on the Edge WILL once again see publication:)

For more information on the revision of this book, I will be creating a special page on this blog to follow the process. 

As always, thanks for stopping by.

D~

I've lost a very dear friend and colleague this last week. Joan McNulty-Pulver was a very instrumental part of my writing career.  We have a long history together.

I met Joan at The Writers University back in the early part of the year 2000. She invited me to help with a new digital epress they were opening up. I went on as a reader and over time began to edit. We have worked together at a ePress-Online, which handles mostly Non-Fiction, Mystery, and SciFi genres for over ten years. ePress-Online took a chance on me with my first novel a crime suspense romance, which didn't fall into any of there genre category guidelines, but that's how they are. They tested a new line with my novel but the line didn't work out for them, and I've since pulled that first novel with their blessing to place it where it might do better.

Joan will be greatly missed by many.  She was a wonderfully supportive person whose goal in life was to help writers.  I wanted to share something special Joan did for several of us just this last Christmas. My Angel is back on display in honor of my very muched loved friend, Joan McNulty-Pulver.  I think of her and all she meant each time I look at this sweet angel...

Below I've copied Joan's Obituary.  Thank you for stopping by and please do comment if you so feel moved.  Joan is very special to many people.  She will forever live on in our hearts.

McNULTY-PULVER, Joan 67, of Brandon, passed away March 7, 2011. She is survived by her children, Raymond Vidal, Alicia A. Savoie, Rodney V. McNulty, Marjorie Pulver and Frank Pulver; seven grandchildren; and an extended loving family and friends. Services will be private. Stowers Funeral Home-Brandon.
Published in the St. Petersburg Times on March 9, 2011 Email




Recipe: Roasted Potatoes with Onion

Here's a quick, yummy alternative to french fries.

Need:
4 medium red or white baking potatoes
1 large onion
Seasoning of your choice(I use Montreal Steak Seasoning or Mrs. Dash Herb and Garlic)
Olive Oil

Cut unpeeled thoroughly washed potatoes into bite size chunks. Place into a large mixing bowl along with sliced onion.  Coat potatoes and onions with olive oil and sprinkle with desired seasoning.  Toss until evenly seasoned and coated with oil.  Pour out onto a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees until done. Takes approximately 30-45 minutes.

Serves: 2-3 adults

Great side dish where ever french fries would be used also the leftovers make wonderful home fries!

Enjoy.

Another tasted recipe from Dayana's kitchen~

Working on some stuff right now but thought I'd post a humorus true adventure. This is sort of a Chicken Soup for the soul type of story I like to call Domestic Bliss.

Have you ever had one of those days you wondered why you bothered to put forth an effort to accomplish anything? This was my day of domestic bliss…


Let me start by setting the scene. We had a galley kitchen that opened into the dining room on one end and a breakfast bar with a pass through into the family room on the other end. My husband was kicked back enjoying Sunday football on television, and I decided to bake a cake.

I proceeded to get all my ingredients together for a Hot Milk Sponge Cake; something I hadn't made in a long time. It's delicious but a whole lot of work. I began measuring out the flour. By the way, what is it with flour? No matter how carefully you deal with the stuff, the kitchen always looks like the dusting in the aftermath of a small explosion.

Okay, I've got all the dry ingredients together and the bowl set aside. I got eggs, sugar and vanilla going in the mixer, then began warming the milk moving from mixer to stove careful not to scold the milk. I'm in the rhythm now; on a roll, so to speak.

I combined all ingredients into one bowl then poured the batter into a bundt pan, placed it in the oven, set the timer and began cleaning up the kitchen. It's amazing how one person can create such a mess in such a minimal amount of time!

The kitchen was small, so I crawled around the floor with the dustpan and brush in an attempt to sweep up the nuclear fallout of flour that managed to migrate everywhere. Finished, I started to get up but, stopped in a squat to dump the dustpan into the small trashcan I kept under the ledge of the breakfast bar. That done, I stood up and BANG! My head met the underside of the counter with a dull thud. The pain blackened my sight and a millions stars sprinkled across my vision. My husband swears to this day, the counter lifted several inches with the impact.

"God! Are you all right?" He asked coming into the kitchen concern written all over his face.

Meanwhile, I'm cursing and laughing at the same time, rubbing the knot on the back of my already aching head. I nod to assure him I'm not going to fall out nor did I think I had a concussion. After a quick hug and a small stint with the ice pack, we both went about our business. By that time, the cake was ready to come out of the oven.
I took it out and placed it on the rack to cool for about ten to fifteen minutes. You wouldn't believe what happened next…
I got the cake plate and set it on top of the cake pan so I could turn the still hot cake out onto the plate. Well… the plate somehow went AWOL and the next thing I knew the cake had taken flight. I watched mesmerized as it passed over the breakfast bar and into the family room. My husband looked as if he were watching a tennis match; his eyes traveled between my face and the airborn cake. But, he was quick to recover. He jumped up and after one-bounce rescued the hot cake from the floor on the rebound, flipped it from hand to hand and finally, landed it upright on the cake plate. I still stood in the kitchen grasping the cake pan laughing so hard tears were streaming down my cheeks and my stomach muscles ached.
To this day, we get a gut-busting laugh over that episode. I guess you can say, without a doubt, that sponge cake had bounce.

Writing...

is exactly what I've been doing this weekend!

D~

Writing Sensibility

Ever hear that if you don't use something you lose it? Or a writer should write every day to keep the muse active?
Well... I have to tell you though I never was a writer who wrote every day, I did have my own system. Problem is I let the muse lay for far too long. And I let the branding and visibility slide right along with it. Life sometimes gets in the way. Time slips ever faster. Don't let it take your writing to the wayside.

Words of advise:
Don't do as I did.
Keep actively writing.
Keep something going whether jotting down an idea, a scene, a cluster writing episode even a journal.
Keep in touch with your muse.
And most of all, keep your name out there.

Otherwise, like mine, you muse may just take an extended vacation.
And all the PR work you've done will have been for naught.
Now I'm off to trick my muse into coming back from the islands. We've got work to do!
And yes, I will rebuild.
From the ashes we can build another day...
Moody Blues