“When everything has lost meaning, when the human perception is that hopelessness prevails and there is no redemption, THAT is when you trot out the storytellers and the poets.”
~Michael Meade
Announcing… July 22, 2008
My piece, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” printed in the newest edition of Reiman Publications’ Country Plus magazine!!
I am so excited! This is my first paid article. 
Shelfari 50 Book Challenge July 13, 2008
I found this group and challenge on Shelfari (which, btw, is a very cool website I just discovered today). Basically, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that Americans don’t read anymore, blah blah blah. Whatever. It’s probably true, sadly. Anyway, the challenge was to read 50 books in one year. I think I probably do that, but we’ll see. I didn’t join the Shelfari group, but I thought it’d be interesting to see how many books I actually read in a year. So here’s what I can think of so far. I haven’t kept the best record of it, but my library keeps a record of the books I’ve checked out ever since I had an account with them (!). So here we go, and I’ll update as I read. 
I’m counting re-reads (notated by bold), and organizing by author.
- The Hollow – Agatha Christie
- Murder is Easy – A. C.
- Murder on the Links – A. C.
- By the Pricking of My Thumbs – A. C.
- The Man in the Brown Suit – A.C. – my favorite Agatha Christie book thus far
- The A.B.C. Murders – A. C.
- The Body in the Library – A. C.
- Evil Under the Sun – A. C.
- A Murder is Announced – A. C.
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – A. C.
- Merlin – Stephen R. Lawhead
- Eyes at the Window – Evie Yoder Miller – so far the most boring book I’ve read this year
- King’s Ransom – Jan Beazley and Thom Lemmons
- The Dante Club – Matthew Pearl
- The Poe Shadow – M. P.
- Violet Dawn – Brandilynn Collins
- The Shadow Within – Karen Hancock – I love all the books I’ve read by her so far, enough to buy them all. I’m waiting to read the rest in the Guardian King series until I can buy them, and eagerly awaiting her next book.
- Laddie – ?
- White Fang - Jack London
- The Call of the Wild – J. L.
- Scars and Stripes – Lt.Col. (ret) Red McDaniel – awesome book, should be required reading for high school American history
- The Dog Who Would Be King – John C. Wright
- James Herriot’s Dog Stories – James Herriot
- The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield – very intriguing, I’m hoping she writes more books
That’s all I had recorded in my “What I Read” journal and from memory…eep. I ‘ve read a lot more than that. I’ll go through my library record soon. 
The End is in Sight!! July 12, 2008
One Guild lesson stands between me and the fiction section of the Apprentice course. One! One, only one! I am so happy and excited. This lesson is, of course, the lesson that has hung over my head for months, the one I requested permission to skip for a time (granted). But. ONE LESSON! And then 12 lessons on fiction. I will be in heaven.
On a more practical note, our hot water heater is on the fritz. Which meant no shower after my workout tonight. Ew. I just can’t quite bring myself to stand under freezing water (I thought ground water in Texas would be warm, but it’s not) long enough to wash my waist-length hair. Brrrr.
Also, it never occured to me that there might be some difficulties in the way of carrying out this article assignment I have. Like the interviewee not responding to my e-mails. Agh.
Still Plugging Away July 8, 2008
Still working on the Guild lessons and novel, but in more exciting news…
I landed a job as a writer for an online newsletter! A paying job. Yes, I’m jumping up and down. While it’s not huge, it’s not tiny, either, with a circulation of about 6,000 homes. Woot woot! I’m very happy. I have an assignment for an article that will be put out in October. I am so excited! This is non-fiction, not fiction like I prefer, but oddly enough I have more experience/success with non-fiction. Sigh and go figure.
On a different note, does anyone have an Amazon Kindle? I’ve been watching this gadget’s progress with interest, and tonight sat down and really looked over the selections, etc. Though the initial price has a bit of a *gasp* factor ($359 at present), if the technology sticks and continues to be popular, having one and using it to build a library would actually save a lot of money. As appealing as that is – plus being able to carry a sizeable selection of books with you – I still can’t imagine giving up a real book library. Anyway…someday when I have an extra $359 lying around. Maybe I’ll give it to myself as a graduation present.
