End of March This ‘n That
Have you ever wondered where intellectuals go for common sense? I opened my bag of medicines from the pharmacy and had to phone to let them know that a prescription was missing.
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Me: Everything is in the bag except for the blood pressure medicine.*
Pharmacist: Let me check. (She comes back in a few seconds.) I don’t show that we sent you that one.*
Me: Right.*
Pharmacist: What’s the problem?*
Me: I don’t have my blood pressure medicines.*
Pharmacist: Did you check your bag?*
Me: You’ve already told me that you didn’t send the pills.*
Pharmacist: Right. We can’t send them.*
Me: Why?*
Pharmacist: We don’t have any mailers.*
Me: You have envelopes, right? *
Pharmacist: We can’t mail any prescriptions without a self-addressed and stamped mailer from you.*
Me: (thinking – How friggin’ difficult is this? – You can WRITE, can’t you? FIND AN ENVELOPE.) I sent that – you returned it with everything in it except the blood pressure medicines.*
Pharmacist: Do you need them?*
Me: (thinking: Now, more than I did five minutes ago.) My doctor seems to think so.*
Pharmacist: Let me talk to the pharmacy manager, and I’ll call you back.* * * * *
* * * * *
Pharmacy Manager: I’m very sorry, but we don’t have any mailers.*
Me: Do you have envelopes?*
Pharmacy Manager: Yes, but we can’t send pills in envelopes. Can you get to a local pharmacy if we transfer the prescription?*
Me: Sure. Don’t have access to a car, but I can walk to the Walgreen’s on 75th.*
Pharmacy Manager: What’s their address?*
Me: I don’t have it – I’ve never used them, but surely they’re listed in the phone book. Do you have a phone book?*
Pharmacy Manager: We just don’t have mailers.*
Me: (exasperated) Forget the mailer. Do you need me to look up the address?*
Pharmacy Manager: No, we’ll just call them.*
*thud*
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My friend Mary Ellen wrote and said: Just read about a new book coming out. The title is: BREWED, CRUDE AND TATTOOED by Sandy Balzo. It may be noir, but the title alone got my attention!
*
Anybody read that one? Sounds kitschy. I like kitschy.
-------------------------------------------The photo of the twisters was taken in Oklahoma a couple of weeks or so ago - my friend Wendy in Yukon sent it to me. Bet those people in the cars were soiling their clothes driving into that. *shudder*
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Gretchen has a friend who is trying to raise money to replace her son’s upright bass that was stolen in December. If you take a look on her website (www.gretchenjones. com) you’ll see a post with the details and photos of a bunch of silver earrings that Retta is making and selling to raise money to replace the child’s instrument.
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And a final word about how important things like 7th grade grammar can become.
*
On his 74th birthday, a man got a gift certificate from his wife. The certificate paid for a visit to a medicine man living on a nearby reservation who was rumored to have a wonderful cure for erectile dysfunction.
*
After being persuaded, he drove to the reservation, handed his ticket to the medicine man and wondered what he was in for.
*
The old man slowly, methodically produced a potion, handed it to him, and with a grip on his shoulder, warned, "This is powerful medicine and it must be respected. You take only a teaspoonful and then say '1-2-3'. When you do that, you will become more manly than you have ever been in your life and you can perform as long as you want."
*
The man was encouraged. As he walked away, he turned and asked, "How do I stop the medicine from working?"
*
"Your partner must say '1-2-3-4,'" he responded. "But when she does, the medicine will not work again until the next full moon."
*
He was very eager to see if it worked so he went home, showered, shaved, took a spoonful of the medicine, and then invited his wife to join him in the bedroom. When she came in, he took off his clothes and said, "1-2-3!"
*
Immediately, he was the manliest of men. His wife was excited and began throwing off her clothes. And then she asked, "What was the 1-2-3 for?"
*
And that, boys and girls, is why we should never end our sentences with a preposition.
*
OR ONE COULD END UP WITH A DANGLING PARTICIPLE!!
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If you’re like me, you probably don't clean your computer screen very often and it’s difficult to do the inside, so click here.
Have a great week.~ Sunny Lyn
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Midwestern Snow In Spring
I know I can't compete with the book covers posted on the last blog post, but I thought I'd share what's been going on in the Midwest the past few hours. Mind you, it's SPRING in the States, but...tell that to Old Man Winter, who apparently wanted to take a last bite out of us.
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Stay warm, the rest of you who have this storm headed your way. It doesn't last long, if that makes you feel any better - lol. Just about 8 hours or so. *thud*
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Oh, and we got about 8" of snow, but only 2-3 of it stuck.
The last photo is just something The Girl took - she doesn't get to see Mom with styled hair and makeup very often, so we played 'girly girls' the other night, and she took a photo as a reminder.
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Passionate Peridot *now in print*
(Told ya it was a fun cover! *SMILE*)
Mellika’s lusted after Zeb for some time now, mostly because of his exotic good looks. So when he pauses to admire her peridot ring at an Arabian Nights-themed party, she can’t wait to find out what’s under his genie costume. She’s about to get more than she bargained for, though—Zeb is an actual djinni. As in the magic-making kind.
Luckily for Mellika, her ring isn’t the only thing holding Zeb’s interest. The peridot may give them a special connection, but true passion can’t be conjured by magic. Zeb is about to make all her wishes come true, and then she’ll be a believer for good.
Lex is the fantasy writer of the two of us, and when she'd brought this one up, I was like 'oh, I dunno - I read it, but I'm not sure I can write fantasy' - and now, of course, it's all I've been actively working on. (Have a Native American shape-shifter series I'm on right now.)
Lex is an absolute HOOT to write with - we get so carried away that our neighbors at conferences periodically drop by to see if we've gone to bed yet (Kate Duffy = a case in point, at the Houston RT, 2007..."Don't you two EVER go to sleep?")
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Other covers I may have neglected to post - sheesh.
This one is now kinda old, but I had a blast writing it with Summer and Kris. And the next one is even older, but...I'll be signing all three books at the RT conference in Orlando in about a month.
I'm "Cash Cole" in Wicked Winter.
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new print book & other stuff
What a weird week. Sad - I truly admired Natasha Richardson.
Got home from Las Vegas, almost immediately went with daughter-in-law to a funeral in Oklahoma. The Kids and I are all recovering from the cold from hell. Spring is here, but winter is hanging on with a fierce grip.
Tomorrow is "big trash day" - every couple of years the city sends around trucks to pick up everything from old appliances to broken furniture, whatever is "big" and can't go into the regular pick-up days' schedules. And it's bizarre, at least to me, how many new trucks have buzzed by, stopping to go through what bits I've placed at the curb. It's just strange, almost like they're looking up my skirt or down my shirt or something. Guess it's "big business" to some folks to collect old computer monitors and outdated furniture.
All of that said, PASSIONATE PERIDOT should be in print any day now (Ellora's Cave) - yaaaaay. I can't blog anything until it's up on their website, though. Want to - it has a killer cover, ya'll.
And I'll end with a photo of 'things to come' at the Romantic Times convention...part of one of my costumes - lol. (Blame Lex - I do - she's really big on the parties.)
Till next time...
Sunny Lyn
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Serendipity Writing #105 – Developing Characters
I’ve never been at the “what do I write now” stage – I always have something begging to be written that slacker here just never gets around to writing. One thing I’ve noticed, however, is that fact is more interesting than fiction to me many times.
I read a ton of biographies and autobiographies – even have the books on tape. People are fascinating to me, as are animals. I don’t get a buzz out of disastrous news – I get my charge out of weird news. Wondering “now what would I do in that situation” or “WTF? HOW are they gonna handle THAT?”
I also don’t have a problem assigning attributes to a character, fleshing him/her out. If anything, I have too much information, even on my secondary characters. Can’t tell you how often a crit partner has told me (even had an editor say the same thing) that the secondary character(s) took over my story. Of course, the logical remedy is to give them their own book later, but at the time, in the middle of the story I’m on at that time, it’s difficult to pare them back, because they’re so life-like to me.
Regarding news stories, I don’t go for the sensational, like the young mother who just gave birth to umpteen babies. She’s not interesting to me – I don’t CARE why she did it, because I’ve already decided in my head that regardless of her motives, all I can see is another generation on welfare cropping up, which I KNOW is prejudicial, but there it is, already ingrained in my pea brain. All I can see are thousands of babies in our own country who still don’t have families. I see an Einstein or a Pearlman or a cardiac specialist, I see an inventor, a songwriter, someone who cures diabetes…all waiting for someone to plop the right toy and later the right tool into their hands. I don’t see the possibilities for the babies that Super Womb just bore, because IMO, her story focuses more on her than it does her children. Orphans have their own stories, which tug at my heartstrings.
No, it’s the secretary who out of frustration invents White Out who interests me (it was former Monkees band member Mike, the sock hat dude, whose mother invented that one, by the way). It’s the guy who couldn’t breathe well who invents the nasal strip, the child who has autism and overcomes something, it’s the grandmother who has raised her kids and wants to learn how to waltz – these call out to me, for some reason. I loved Dave Thomas, the Wendy’s guy, because of his story. But then, hell, I also loved reading about Al Capone, so go figure.
Interesting people with interesting things to do. It’s that simple for me. Hope my writing reflects that philosophy, because that’s the one I embrace.
More later.
~ Sunny Lyn
<~~~ Lake Mead photo, taken by friend Michael last week while we were in Las Vegas
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BY THE WAY...one of the hunks in the top photo is Michael and one isn't. I'll leave you to figure out which.
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Goodbye From Las Vegas
The awards banquet was...not bad. The food was great (prime rib, a chocolate cake with a cheesecake centered - mmm. Anyway...
CHERRIES & CHEESECAKE to...
Master of Cermonies...Daniel Reitz, Sr.
Alessia Brio - for all her charity work with the Coming Together anthologies
the Monte Lago hotel staff who served at the banquet
RASPBERRIES & VINEGAR to...
Any writer who has the audacity to say "You write what? I don't read or write _____ (fill in the blank) OR any writer who snubs anyone who writes what they find distasteful. Snobbery will not win EPIC any new members or friends for long. Be NICE.
That said...a special thanks to Carol Lynne, my hostess with the absolute mostess class, style, smile, charm, and generous heart. Special thanks to Angelo for squiring us around Las Vegas, Henderson, and Hoover Dam. Special thanks to Michael for the magnificent haircut. I feel (AND LOOK) about 10 years younger. I LOVE it.
In a few hours, we'll all be headed home. See you on the net once I'm back in the Midwest and catch up on hugs and conversation with The Kids and The Pups.
hugs,
Sunny Lyn
Labels: LLLLLL
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greetings from las vegas
Long nails, small laptop, so don't grouch, ya'll. Am enjoying some sun and fun with friend Carol who has a book up for an EPPIE award at EPICon tonight, and with a couple of new friends, Michael and Angelo (and yes...those are their real names, and no they didn't plan it that way). We've been here since Wednesday, and I didn't get around to blogging prior to leaving home.
In a nutshell, Nevada is still lovely - Hoover Dam area in particular. Carol, Michael, Angelo, and I took a day trip today. I'll show photos once I'm back home. Promise.
Got to meet JP Bowie and partner this week - Jim made dinner for us Friday night at his place (he lives near here). Marvelous meal - good company, good conversation. Told them I'm putting myself up for adoption next week if they're interested in taking me. *g* And this was before the red wine with dinner and the margaritas later at the casino. I don't get toasted often, but Friday night was a toasted night for Sunny Lyn.
Mr. Bowie gave me one of the few remaining copies in print of MY VAMPIRE AND I, and it's a hoot, I'm loving it.
I honestly can't say much about the conference itself, because I attend the 1st morning meeting that seemed like a bitchfest about members (I'm not one - I'm a guest of one) who didn't volunteer enough, and...frankly, I never went back. We somehow managed to miss the breakfast, and the lunch was late in getting set up that same day. That was 2 days ago. I'm going to the banquet tonight, but I wasn't interested in any of the seminars or other meals after that. I hope they're wonderful and well-worth the money for the rest of them, though - sincerely. I just wasn't feelin' it.
I applaud any organization who is all about the writers, one that encourages its people to become better at their craft, to submit, to meet up with publishers and other writers. I just don't have a stong affection for 8am sour attitudes. God bless all those who do volunteer, and God bless those who would if they could. And for those who wear themselves out volunteering, take a break, force someone else to step up to the plate, or let the organization do like the businesses who can't come up to scratch - let 'em fall on their asses until they can reorganize.
And no I'm not a republican. I just don't believe in feeding those who mismanage. I believe in feeding those willing to fix themselves. Call me what you will, but emotional bankruptcy is there for a reason, just like the other sort. Regroup. Recover. Reconsider. And reorganize once you've done the other three. *shrug* Just my 2 cents.
I may wish to Heaven that I'd never said those words, because I've been on both sides of the handout. Emotional and otherwise. I know what it's like to burn out, to lose hope, to lose strength, and to lose period. But once I took my own pulse and started being kind, nice, etc to others, even the pricks, life became not only more bearable, but more enjoyable.
And I have no idea why that one meeting set me off on this tangent. Probably because I lost some good friends when I quit volunteering, when I shoved the responsibilities back onto them and told them I'd had it. I still think they were wrong in demanding so much of me, but I think I was worse when I forced myself to do more than I was capable of handling at the time.
Hugs to all.
~Sunny Lyn
p.,s. If you were looking for a more writer-professional blog from me, I blogged over at Total eBound last night around midnight.
http://www.totalebound.blogspot.com/
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6 Comments:
but do you have mailers?
*snort*
It's been that kind of week here too.
So, did you get your medicine?
yes - got my meds :)
Hey Suns,
For April Fools I activated that screen cleaner on my co-worker's computer. When he came in, I told him it'd gotten the PugLicker Virus. He bought it! LOL.
aaaaaahahaha - funny
that little dog is just adorable, isn't he? jess wants to get josh one.
had to read what you posted twice (should wear my glass more often) - thought you'd told him PUD licker and wouldn't have put it past you - LOL
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