I love being “in the zone.” Totally concentrated on what I’m doing. Especially when I’m writing. People talk to me and I know somewhere on the edge of consciousness they’re asking me a question. Once, twice, and then maybe the third time they ask, I’ll answer with a completely inappropriate word.
Son: Have you fed the dog?
Me: Cupboard.
Son: Mom?
Me: Uh … the food’s in the cupboard.
Son: I know where it is. Has he eaten yet?
Me: Okay, thanks.
That sort of thing. And they think I’m zoned out, but I’m zoned in, man. Like, totally zoned IN. (Sorry, Cheech and Chong were on Stephen Colbert last week and I seem to be channeling Tommy Chong.) It’s all a matter of perspective. I’m guessing nobody would want to be in my zone with me anyhow. At least not farther into my zone than the filtered version that my writing offers. This zone’s deep and scary, man. Deep and scary.
Why do so many of us find it hard to say no? Saying yes seems to be what overextends me. Sure, I can do that. Let me help you. Gah! I never get my own stuff done.
And I have stuff. I have loads of stuff. Tons of it. And all of it needs to be done. I am getting little bits of stuff done here and there. I managed to get some rewriting done on the beginning of my upcoming book. Looks now like it’ll be published in June. I’ll try for the 27th – one year from the date the last one came out. So much for six months between releases.
Hey, a heads-up. I have a book blog tour for The Magician’s Curse running for ten days starting April 30th, so you’ll probably be sick of hearing about it by the 9th of May. But I do plan to put it on sale, so there’s that.
OH, one thing I did manage to get done was I phoned the company who manufactured my smoke alarms. They’re going to replace them for free. Now I just have to not start a fire in my house between now and the time they show up in the mail. I can do that, right? I can say no to fire.
Hey there! It’s Friday again and time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. I’m a little late today since Alex has the day off school and I managed to sleep in. Yay for me! And it’s so hard to believe we’re at the end of the A to Z Challenge already! It’s like I didn’t even participate …
Here’s your prompt:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “Why/Y.” Theme your post on a word that starts with “Y” – bonus points if you start or end your post with “Why.” Have fun!
After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!
To make your post more visible, use our new SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
Friday is here, which means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. I just had a look at the poll I created the other day (“just” being April 20th, 9am EST) and it looks like the new month for a prompt will be August, should I go ahead with it. I might even kick it off with a badge contest before it even starts. Details to follow. In the meantime, here’s your prompt for tomorrow’s SoCS:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “spoke.” Use it somewhere, in some form, in your post. Bonus points if you don’t use it in the first sentence. Enjoy!
After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!
To make your post more visible, use our new SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
Pretend you didn’t notice all the “p”s in the title. This is absolutely not part of the A to Z Challenge, where the letter of the day just happens to be “p.”
The masochist I am, I’m thinking about doing another month-long prompt. Because let’s face it, I can’t seem to stay away from them. …unless you count … umm … Just Jot it January! Yeah, that’s the ticket.
So I’m going to put up a poll–a poll for potentially perpetuating participation in a prompt. (It’s a coincidence!!) What I’d like you to vote for is which month you could see yourself doing a prompt. This prompt would be totally random writing assignments. You know, like actual prompts, unlike Stream of Consciousness Saturday where you only have a hint at what to write.
I’m only adding months that I know I can manage myself. Not January (JusJoJan), not February as Bee’s “Love is in Da Blog” prompt is that month, not April (because #atozchallenge, which has absolutely nothing to do with this post), and not October, November, nor December (Halloween and Alex’s birthday, NaNoWriMo, and Christmas, in that order). So what do we have left?
I’m so happy to announce my new review on NetGalley. Not only is it a five-star review, it’s from the incredibly talented author, Carrie Rubin!
Here’s what she says about The Magician’s Curse on Amazon, Goodreads, and NetGalley:
A magician with special powers struggles with a curse that’s been in his family for generations. The main character, an almost 18-year-old girl who falls in love with him, has her own life turned upside down as she navigates his strange world.
It’s more romance-heavy than I typically read, but the unveiling of the mysterious magician’s story kept me turning the pages. The plot is well-paced and the characters are engaging. The book comes to a satisfying conclusion but also sets up the stage for book two. All in all an enjoyable read.
Thanks to NetGalley and the author for a free copy.
Thank you so much, Carrie for your enthusiastic review.
If you’d like to pick up my *award-winning novel, The Magician’s Curse, for free, it’s available until the end of the month on NetGalley. Please enjoy it!
I can’t believe it’s Friday already! But there you go: it is, so that means I’m here with your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. Well, the good news is Alex is back at school today. So with enough coffee, I should be good to go. Other than a niggling headache, I seem to have escaped his cold. (Touch wood.) Here’s your prompt:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “mon.” Use the letters “mon” in a word, or use it as a word by itself. Have fun!
After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!
To make your post more visible, use our new SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
Aggression isn’t natural for me, but I find myself acting aggressively towards my keyboard. Why? Because the spacebar isn’t working properly. I have to hit it so hard every time I press it that typing is somewhat akin to playing drums in a death metal band.
Meanwhile, it’s probably due to a crumb that passively made it’s way under the key.
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