"I Autograph Lady Lumps"

I pretty much suck at pulling off April Fool's Day jokes.  They either don't work or I end up giving it away by giggling.  There are two past April Fool's jokes that stand out in my memory those as particularly brilliant ones.

First, April 1, 1996... the Taco Liberty Bell Hoax.

I remember hearing through all sorts of different media about this.  We didn't all live on the internet then, so I'm not talking about viral videos and tweets... I heard this stuff on the radio, the news and by word of mouth.  I remember figuring pretty quick that it must be a joke, but it was kind of amazing how mad people were until they heard it was a joke.

I'm pretty sure my second favorite April Fool's joke was last year, or maybe the year before.

It was the day when the comic website Funny or Die was taken over by Justin Bieber.  I love the kid, I can't help it... and the videos he made for the fake Bieber or Die site were pretty damn funny.  Unfortunately I can't seem to embed the main video that was on the page that day where the Biebs talks about how he bought Funny or Die.  So if you haven't seen it follow this link. You know you want to hear him say, "Now who's old enough, bitch?" :)

Keep on Beliebin'!

I Heart the BBC

For April Fool's Day pranks no one beats the BBC. Hands down, they're the most entertaining and creative pranksters.

For instance, there was the year that the new show, Panorama announced that because of a mild winter, Swiss spaghetti farmers had a bumper crop. Quite a few people called the BBC and asked about growing their own spaghetti tree, to which the BBC replied, "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."

Then there was the year that they reported that an upcoming planetary alignment would decrease gravity and that listeners could experience it for themselves if they jumped into the air at exactly 9:47 on the morning of April 1st, 1976. Plenty of people tried it and called in to report that they'd experienced floating and some dude even complained that he'd hit his head on the ceiling and required medical attention.

They also announced that camera crews had footage of Adélie penguins flying. According to the video they posted, that, instead of huddling together to endure the Antarctic winter, these penguins took to the air and flew thousands of miles to the rainforests of South America where they "spend the winter basking in the tropical sun." It come complete with a doctored video of the penguins flying.

Sadly, I can never think of anything funny enough or elaborate enough to pull off. So, I'll just rely on the BBC. Thanks, guys!

So what about you? What are your favorite April Fool's Day pranks?

I like them hot

It's kind of funny that I love paranormal things as much as I do.  As a kid I was so scared of anything related to horror it wasn't funny.  When the Nightmare on Elmstreet commercials came on TV I used to have to change the channel or cover my ears and close my eyes.  I once threw away our HBO guide because it had a picture of Freddy Kruger in it and it freaked me out... but I didn't just throw it away, I put it on the bottom of our Granger bin under other trash in the garage as far away as possible. :)

Vampires, werewolves and any sort of monster freaked me out.  I remember watching An American Werewolf in London as a kid and it giving me nightmares.  Poltergeist scared me so bad I had to call my mom to pick me up in the middle of the night at a sleepover after watching the movie.  I was in love with Michael Jackson but his Thriller video scared the hell out of me.  I think I was in the second grade when it came out and I can remember my older brother purposely turning off all of the lights in the house and turning the tv up really loud whenever Thriller came on just so he could scare me.  Heck, even Ghostbusters freaked me out as a kid!

Somewhere along the line though I started getting into the paranormal.  The first movie I ever saw with my bestie Shawn was Interview with a Vampire.  She was a longtime vampire lover, and I was interested in it mostly because of Brad Pitt.  I liked the movie, some of it creeped me out, but it opened my eyes to vampires.  After seeing the movie I read the book and liked that too.  Shawn roped me into watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which even as a girl in her late teens I was afraid to watch) and I sort of fell in love. 

Growing up, things like monsters, vamps, and shifter’s were supposed to be scary but somewhere in the mid 90’s that changed and suddenly the paranormal stuff was presented in a whole different way.  Angel and Spike on Buffy were hot and funny not scary.  Oz was the sweetest and cutest little short guy who also happened to turn into a wolf once a month.  It was thanks to this shift in perspective that pulled me in.

Now I love vampires, shifters, fairies, and the occasional witch when presented in the right way.  I’m still not a fan of ghosts, in fact true ghost stories scare the fuck out of me.  But ghosts in books and movies are okay as long as they’re not ultra scary.  Even zombies are okay as long as there’s some humor with it like in Zombieland.

I can’t tell you how many times I watched this scene… rawr!

But to pick my favorites I’d have to say that I’m a shifter girl.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my vamps and they’re quite high on the list, but there’s something about a shifter that just tickles me.  Even if I’m not writing paranormal I’ve noticed that I tend to write the men in my fiction as men who are always warm just like shifters.  The idea of cozying up to a strong warm guy on a cold night just seems delicious to me.  It doesn’t hurt of course that shifter’s tend to be protective, great lovers, and just freaking sexy. 

In the Twilight series, I love Edward but I’m totally Team Jacob.  In the Anita Blake series I love the shifters SO more than the vamps (I think Jean Claude is a twit.  LOL).  I was a total Eric girl when it came to True Blood until Alcide showed up then it was back to the shifters I went (although in the books I’m still Team Eric mostly).  Kelley Armstrong’s Bitten series is one of my all time favorites because her shifters are so damn hot.  Ooh and the shifter kid in her YA series (can’t remember his name… sorry) was totally adorable as well.

I do have to say that I also love fairies too though.  I was totally hooked on Laurell K. Hamilton’s Merry Gentry series until they turned into plotless porn and were just a waste of money.  I’m a huge fan of Amy Brown’s art, and even Tinkerbell has a special place in my heart. 

So yeah, I've gone from a total wuss to a lover of paranormal who is just a wuss sometimes. :)

I feel no one will be stunned by this revelation...

...but I love faeries.

See? I bet you fell right over in utter shock.

Now don't get me wrong - I like other mythological creatures, too. Selkies for instance are fascinating to me. I love the idea of seal people.

 

In fact, one of my favorite movies is based on the mythos of the selkies - The Secret of Roan Inish.

But faeries are my first love. I'm more attracted to the darker, old world style faeries who would just as soon curse (or kill) you as look at you, as opposed to the glittery fluffy types that populate the fairy tales that have been whitewashed and homogenized. I like the dark and dangerous edge that the really old tales (and many of the newer ones by today's authors) have. They're compelling to me in a way that nothing else is. Maybe it's their deep connection to nature and the idea of magic. I'm not sure, I just know that I find myself drawn to them in both literature and art. 

I know, you're shocked right?

I have always loved Vampires. Since WAY before they were the new 'in' thing. I first read Dracula when I was six years old and I was hooked. So sexy. So romantic. I remember crying with Mina when she had to leave her count for the fiancee she'd made promises to. She loved the vampire so much, but she had an obligation to Jonathon and she went to him. And then Dracula lost his shit and it was incredible to see. Hundreds of years of love had carried him to her and she left him for an auditor? I remember how disappointed I was when Mina killed him. I wanted them to be together so bad.

From then on Vampires were the it for me. Eternal love was more of an interest the the blood sucking. But they came hand in hand and I accepted it all.

Fast forward 25 years and I'm still obsessed with them. Books, movies, television shows. I cannot get enough of vampires. I don't care who tells me they are on their way out. They will always be my favorite supernatural creatures and I will follow them wherever the genre takes them. Evil, romantic, old, young, classic or sparkly. I'm there.

XoXoXo
D

Elves, Faeries, and Dragons Oh My!!

Elves and Faeries and Dragons Oh My!!

Through the woods, along a mist covered path and across a wide, clear river --


My top three favorite 'mystical' creatures are elves, faeries, and dragons. From a scientific point of view there is no proof that they never existed, so it's completely possible that they did. Especially given their wide occurrence in the mythos of cultures that weren't in contact with each other.

I have been drawn to and loved Elves long before Orlando Bloom played Legolas in Lord Of The Rings. As elves go, he's pretty cute.





Faeries, to me are closer in tune with nature, where as Elves may make or use things from natural materials, faeries are more inclined to shape their lives to nature and depend on magic for many things.



History paints dragons as evil, I think of them more as friends - especially to elves and dragons, not hording gold and treasure but protecting their families.




My home and office are decorated with dragons, elves, and faeries in seemingly random places.

Simone.

Taking The Plunge Pt. 2:)

After you've researched and decided to submit your baby, a little bit of luck is involved.   You hope and pray that
-Whomever opens up your file 'Loves' what s/he reads in the first few pages and immediately offers the contract;
-Your baby's premise is so unique, the AE immediately contacts you for the entire MS;
-Your MS reads like a 'breath of fresh air' in a saturated market, either by the fresh twist or new concept altogether.

Newbe writers have asked me about my cover letter and synopsis.  My first four submissions were a simple 'Hi, here is my submission....followed by blurb and attached MS; a 'whine-fest' on a chat loop and someone wanting to read it and offer their advice (I NEVER expected a contract right away!); and two more 'Here is my blurb and MS...'

In other words, I skipped over the traditional cover letter and synopsis and got lucky.  That doesn't count the years (and postage!) I spent on mailing queries to NY for ten years, or the phone bill I ran up talking to my (now fraudulent) agent.

I also believe in Divine Timing.  From 2009-2010, I had two published books.  In 2011, three more were released.  This year, I've already had two released, with three more expected by the end of the year.  To quote Dakota waaaayyy back in 2008, this will be My Year:)  And I've enough wips to keep me going until at least 2017.

How about you?

Making Your Own Luck

Publishing is a strange, strange business. We've all heard stories of people being in the right place at the right time and who ended up not only getting their book picked up to be published but also getting an amazing advance in the process.

But 99 times out of 100, that's not how this business works. Certainly, luck helps, but it's more about skill and perseverance. I'm with Charlotte on this one. We make our own luck through hard freaking work, research and honing our skills.

We also need to put ourselves out there. And that's a tough one. I think most writers are basically introverts. It can be exhausting to put yourself out there at conferences and sometimes on Twitter or Facebook - but making connections with people - particularly industry professionals is crucial.

I realize this is kind of a repeat of my blog last week, but I really believe that for the most part, we make our own luck. So...what are you going to do to get lucky with your writing career?

Luck of the Draw

Of course, first and foremost talent and professionalism play the biggest part in getting your work published. For the most part, if you're book is terrible it doesn't matter who you know, where you've been, or the mood of the intern reading through a slush pile, you're not going to get your big break.

That being said, if you've written the best book that has ever been written, have followed the publisher's guidelines to the T, crafted an amazing cover letter, and happen to be the second cousin once removed of the head of the mail department at Putnam...that doesn't guarantee publication either.

There really is a bit of luck needed to break in. So many factors come in to play with being published it's hard to pinpoint what you need to 'make it.' For me, an amazing editor at a newer publisher discovered my blog and when I submitted my book to said publisher she asked for it. And it was a rough, rough MS. But she believed in me as a person and saw the potential in my work. She was willing to work with me to craft my skill. She accepted my book and has been my editor for years. I've learned so much from her. My books get less and less 'rough' with every submission because she has taught me the tools I need to have to write clean the first time though.

This was complete and total luck. Sure, I like to think Sweet Dreams was a good book and that played a big part in getting a publisher. But if my editor hadn't known me from Eve, hadn't stumbled over my blog, I don't know that she would have been as willing to walk me through the editing chasm to get the MS where it needed to be.

Don't ever, ever give up though. Luck can strike at any moment. If you have the talent, the drive, the story and the nerve to keep going, it can happen for you. Just focus on telling the story you want to tell and when you're ready submit, submit, submit. You're bound to find that stroke of luck out there somewhere.

XoXoXo
Dakota

Sometimes My Eyeballs Cry Blood

I'm going to find talking about needing luck to get published hard, because I don't believe in luck. Well - I do believe in luck. It does happen that sometimes you're in just the right place at just the right time.

But more often than not, you were in that right place at the right time because you did your due diligence. You:

1. Researched the market.

2. Honed your craft to a point so fine and sharp you could cut a tin can in two with it.

3. Honed it some more until the honing starts to make you cry.

4. Honed it some more after that, so that the honing becomes one bleak, unending tunnel of madness, and all your life and all your hopes and dreams are compressed down into a square of light and an oblong of letters.

5. Researched the publishers, the agents, the industry, to the point where you can confidently give advice at places like Romance Divas, sure and certain in the knowledge that you're right.

6. Discovered the correct formatting for your manuscript in every tiny aspect, from font size to dialogue punctuation to page numbering.

7. Joined Twitter. For the love of God, join Twitter. Yes, it's lucky if an editor approaches you on Twitter and asks you to submit. But none of that can actually happen unless you've joined Twitter and conversed with like-minded people in the first place.

And that's it. That's my advice. Don't rely on luck to get you there. Make your own luck, as much as it is humanly possible to do so.


P.S. My book, Sheltered, released on Friday! Hurrah! Here's the blurb for it:

Evie has lived her entire life under her abusive father’s thumb. He controls everything. Where she goes to college, who she sees, what she does. But when she meets Van—a punk who shows her how different life could be—she realizes how much she’s been missing.

Van offers her excitement, protection, love…and most of all, sex—even if he’s at first reluctant to give her all the things she’s been craving. She wants to explore this new world of arousal and desire, but Van is only too aware of how fragile she is, how innocent…

And how much is at stake, when their love is forbidden


And the buy links, if it strikes your fancy:

http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9969-sheltered.aspx#

http://www.amazon.com/Sheltered-ebook/dp/B007ITF0LA/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1331690199&sr=1-2

Taking The Plunge

Bron hit the high points:  Read the submission guidelines; network with other authors in your genre; hone your manuscript.  And yes, sometimes it's just dumb luck.

I self-published my first two books, and threw myself into learning the art of self-promotion and marketing.  Of course, the first book was before I found out about the e-publishing world.  The second was when I was still trying to wrap my head around the idea of e-books.  As a person who enjoyed hand selling her books, how do you market a virtual book, one you can't hold in your hand?

I've learned some valuable lessons in the past five years.
-If another author sends you the 'call out' email, don't take it on blind faith.  Double-check the publisher's submission guidelines?  I'm sure there was an editor who treated my rookie submissions (yes, there were two!) as a good laugh or at least a workshop on Not-What-To-Do.  In fact, one of my stories was rejected TWICE.  Either they left it in the slush pile for a good laugh before someone deleted my file or they were on the fence about that particular story and had someone else take a look at it.

-Even if a trusted author asks you to send your manuscript, then wants to sign you immediately to a publisher you've never heard of, do your homework.  Talk to others who publish with that company, and NOT on the loop.  Do it privately.  And don't be so thrilled your 'baby' has finally found a home....take a step back and thoroughly check out the company.  I found out a month too late I'd made a bad decision and am now trying to work up the courage to ask for my rights back.  I have to be careful, because of barely-legal/ethical issues.  And that's all I'm going to say.  Want to know more?  Email me privately.

-If you believe, heart and soul, that you've written the best work of your life, but your baby is still rejected, get a critique partner, preferably someone with an editing background, and ask them for an honest opinion.  Then try to alter your MS in order to take their advice, yet stay true to your story.  In my case, it was adding a single line of dialogue to a secondary character.  Seriously, that's all it took.

-If you're still unsure about a publisher, read a few books pubbed by them.  Do you like their covers?  Are you finding editing mistakes?  Is their website user-friendly?

-And finally, connect with other authors.  Are they supportive?  Cliquey?  Friendly?  Willing to offer advice if your stuck on a scene?  Pull your name out of their hats during contests for free books?  (LOL...Just kidding on that last point.  Or am I?)

Of course, you can disregard everything I've said and simply take the plunge.  After all, if you're a loyal reader of this blog, you'll notice the following publishers are represented:  Total-E-Bound; Resplendence; Ellora's Cave, and Secret Cravings.  See there?  Your search as already been shortened to four.  What are you waiting for?

We'll be here to help you celebrate your success or encourage you to keep trying:)

Splash.........

Lucky

Lucky to have been where I have been,  Lucky to be coming home again...

Being the newbie around these parts as well as The Non-Published One, I really don't have anything brilliant to share this week about finding a publisher.  I can say however that I went to an awesome writer's group today that I've been trying to get to since January and I LOVED it.  

I’m not the biggest fan of writer’s groups because it seems like so many of them are crap.  You might have one or two people who are serious about writing and then a few others who either really suck ass at writing and think they’re awesome, or they use the group for bashing the writing of the other group members.  I also struggle with groups because of my anxiety problems as well as a bad case of What If They Don't Like Me-Itis that likes to show up at the worst times.

This group however was all kinds of awesome.  Everyone was nice and very welcoming.  Plus, if I recall correctly, it seemed like almost everyone who was there had been published.  So there I am sitting in this room full of awesome people who not only love to write, but are serious about writing AND are published.  Not to mention they’re all just normal Michiganders like me.  Pretty damn cool if I say so myself!  Once I officially join (which I do plan to do once I have the money) they'll even set me up with a mentor.  How cool is that?

So yeah… if I had to give advice on finding a publisher, I’d tell you to start hanging around people who have been published and who want to share their knowledge with you.  Do NOT however be a scary stalker person and force yourself on a writer… that’s not okay.  Ever.  :)

I do feel pretty lucky to have found these awesome people who are willing to share their awesomeness with me.  Finding people who like the things you like and who are super cool on top of it, is a really spectacular thing. <3

Oh and because I now have Jason Mraz in my head... you can too!

Have a great week!  

Getting Lucky

What does it take to find the right fit in terms of a publishing house or agent?



Well, who publishes books similar to what you write? Who agents authors similar (but not too similar) to you? Those are the first places you should target. If you're targeting a house that doesn't publish what you write, you're pretty much wasting everyone's time. For instance, when I finish my young adult novel, I won't be sending it to Ellora's Cave or to my editor at Resplendence. Why? They don't publish YA.

I know, I know. It seems super obvious, doesn't it? But the obvious seems to escape many - particularly when said authors are doing blanket submissions. I once had to reject a children's book - submitted to an erotic romance publishing house.

Always read the publishing house's guidelines. Find out what they accept and what they don't. See if there are any specific calls out. Maybe they're looking for holiday stories...or zombies. Sometimes it's easier for a new writer to get into a publishing house if you're submitting a story for a specific project.

After you've done your homework in terms of researching publishing houses or agents, the most important thing you can do is make sure the story you wrote is in the very best shape possible before submitting it. Make sure your story is as error-free as you can possibly make it. The same goes for your synopsis and query letters. I once received a query letter that had seven grammar and spelling errors in the first eleven word sentence. Not. Cool.

Present yourself and your story as professionally as possible. Note: professional doesn't mean terse or abrupt. You can be friendly and approachable without being unprofessional. Make sure that your web presence says the same thing. Publishing professionals will google potential acquisitions. Make sure you have an active web presence - blog, twitter, website. Make sure you're also not bitching about rejection letters, beta readers or anything else that may give an industry professional the idea that you'd be more trouble than you're worth.

Again, I bet all of these things seem really obvious, but you'd be surprised at how often they're overlooked or straight-up ignored.

Where the hell have I been?

So, it's been way too long since I've posted. I don't have any good excuses. Mostly I've been crazy busy at work, going to the gym 5 days a week, and getting ready for Vegas. But the biggest problem I have is that I made Pinterest my homepage.

I know. What the f@ck was I thinking? I don't know. I thought it would be neat to open my browser and see all the new pins. But when I do this all I want to do is scroll and repin. Scroll and repin. Scroll and repin. It eats my internet time.

A logical person would change their homepage to avoid this. But I really don't want to do that. I freakin' love Pinterest. I have found so many awesome recipes, many of them actually healthy. I've lost 32 pounds thanks to the great diet and exercise tips. And I track my gym miles on my I Love the Gym board. It's very handy. Just super time consuming.

I know I should be jumping back in with the topic at hand. But I thought I would just continue being useless on the blog and let you know all of the things that I have been up to in my absence.

I've edited two upcoming releases. To Hate and To Hold is being rereleased...TODAY!!! It has been revamped, so to speak. I have a shiny ass new cover that is beautiful. You can pick up a new copy at www.resplendencepublishing.com. You won't be sorry. The boys are just as awesome as before and I promise you will still love them. If you've never read it (shame on you) take this opportunity to pick up the book. You won't be disappointed. It is my best selling book to date and my friends say it's the best thing I've ever written. I'd love to know what you think.

Also, Best Buds will coming out in April, so watch for that one as well. And I've submitted a new story that will be out in May called Pickup and Leave.

So I don't feel as bad about my Pinterest time since I've got three books coming out in the next three months.

Currently I have a WIP almost done. I have the next two WIPS I want to focus on started. (One of which is the sequel to To Hate and To Hold. I know, those of you who are big Ethan and Jamie fans will be salivating over this one.)

I do plan on working on other WIPS too. But the next three take priority. Then I can start going down the list of ideas that have been accumulating in my brain.

On the 14th (less than week! Holy crow!) my husband and I leave for Las Vegas. We are going for a week and I cannot wait to take a vacation. I will have my laptop with me but I don't plan to use it much. We will be too busy watching NCAA basketball, partying our asses off on St. Patricks Day, and gambling irresponsibly. I'm so excited I can't stand it. I haven't had a vacation since our honeymoon. And with the craziness of the day job, working my ass off in the gym constantly, and chasing after two kids I need the break.

So that's been my month or so. What have you all been up to? Any exciting news I've missed?

I've missed you all like crazy.
XoXoxo
D

Creativity On Strike This Week....

Come back next week.  I've had one of the most unmotivated, non-writerly (is that even a word?) weeks in history.  I just stare at the blank page and go 'duuuuuhhhhh....'

I'm hoping this simply means Kenzie needs a vacation.  So come back next week when I detail the rocky road to publication!

Fine as a Frog's Hair

What a crazy couple of weeks it’s been! 

Three weeks ago tomorrow everything around here sort of fell apart when my Grandfather woke up at 4:45 in the morning and was really sick.  Several hours later we decided that he was definitely not acting like himself and we called the paramedics to take him to the ER.  Eight hours after that, he was finally moved from the ER to a hospital room and about half an hour after that he was being rushed to ICU and the doctors were talking to us about full codes versus DNR’s. 

Gramps has Congestive Heart Failure which we’ve maintained with diet and meds for the past few years.  However the pneumonia that they found as well as the infection that he had caused his already weak heart to basically work at about 20%.  So in the ICU they put in a central line so that they could pumps meds directly into his jugular and right to his heart.  That helped tremendously but he was in the ICU for a little while longer until the meds regulated his blood pressure (when they moved him to the ICU it was like 62 over 30). 

He eventually did get sprung from ICU and put into a regular room.  If you follow me on Twitter you know what a total clusterfuck that was and I won’t even bother going into it again here.   He ended up having pneumonia, sepsis, a infection in his urine, and also developed shingles while he was there.  But… fifteen days after going to the ER the Gramps Man came home and then the next day he turned 97. :) We celebrated with his favorite dinner (Filet O’ Fish, fries, and a chocolate shake) and for the most part he’s doing okay.  He’s definitely regressed… a 97 year old without Alzheimer’s would regress after a fifteen day hospital stay, but unfortunately he does have it, so yeah, he’s regressed. 

Instead of his cane he uses a walker now and he hates it.  LOL  He sleeps a lot more too, and he’s definitely confused more than he used to be.  But he’s still the crazy old man that we love.  Still cracking jokes and when you ask him how he is he often says, “Fine as a frog’s hair.” 

Oh and then in the middle of all of the hospital bullshit I had Bronchitis from hell (I'm still hacking three weeks later) AND we had a snow storm and I went in a ditch.  I was not hurt, but my Grandpa’s car (which is pretty much my car) was.  Over $2,000 in repairs later, the car is back to normal.  Thankfully insurance paid for $1,800 of that! :)

So yeah, it’s been a crazy time around here.  Unlike some people my muse doesn’t like to play when I’m over stressed.  Some people thrive on drama for their motivation to write but all I want to do when I’m stressed is sleep or read.  The only time that stress helps my creativity is when I’m not medicated and I don’t sleep… but yeah, that’s a Kelsey we don’t really want to see.  :) 

I managed to write a teeny tiny chapter yesterday but that’s about it.  Oh and I wrote a blog post for my blog about how much Dementia sucks.   There’s also a couple of happy little book reviews over there too including one on our very own Bronwyn Green’s most awesome book Guardian’s Challenge.

For now though, I’m about 20 pages away from finishing reading Jennifer Armintrout’s American Vampire so it’s reading time!  Hope you all have a great week!

P.S. I created a Facebook for this pen name.  So friend me! 

A Virtual Tour of Bronwyn Green's Office

 Blogger's choice, huh?

This is sad, but I'm not sure I can think of a single thing to blog about.

Welcome to my office, or as someone recently called it, The Cave of Wonders. It's busy and cluttered, but I love it. This is my desk - books, rocks, tarot cards, drafts of old manuscripts, art, candles - everything a busy writer needs. Oh yeah...and a computer, too.

My office doubles as my sewing room. I have an serious addiction to fabric. In fact, some would call me fabric whore. Unfortunately, I can't deny it.

This is one of the three bookcases in my office. I have more books than I have room for. (I'm also a book whore) I'd like to tell you I was organised...and neat...but clearly this isn't the case. Also pictured is my sewing dummy, Thelma who's wearing my favourite hand knit shawl.

This is the wall by the door. I'm particularly fond of the wall sculptures. My kids call them "The Butt People." The unframed print is by a very talented local artist named Gary Elderidge and the print is called The Muse of Art and Literature. It's absolutely beautiful up close - I wish I could get a better picture of it.

I've ended up with a lot of instruments in my office - some are mine, some not so much. The three hand drums, harp, dulcimer, recorder, trumpet and bamboo flute are mine. The two guitars, concert flute and violin are not. And yet...here they are in my office.

This is a gorgeous Victorian chemise that I rescued from a house that was scheduled to be destroyed back when I was in college. I wish I'd had the foresight to pry out the fireplace mantles and take the old glass doorknobs and other fixtures. Unfortunately, I didn't.

Anyway, this is my little chaos corner. Here's the really pathetic part, mostly I sit on the couch in the living room. Hope you enjoyed the tour. :)