SOC Sunday + Writing Update + A Review of 'The Spindlers' by Lauren Oliver

This Stream of Consciousness Sunday's theme is "Pass It On:" what have we passed down to our children and what our parents have passed down to us. Jana wrote about the fear of the dentist she passed down to her youngster. I have the dental anxiety from my own bad dental experience as a 20-year-old, but my anxiety in general is a gift of dubious value from my mom, and she got it from her mom.

I'm nervous a lot. Ask my husband - it drives him crazy. I'm always imagining worst-case scenarios, and it's hard to be happy when you're always anticipating something bad being around the corner. I haven't been happy very much lately - more like just muddling through. It may have something to do with the fact that the prescription I get for my terrible PMS (I would say full-blown PMDD) ran out a little while ago and I haven't refilled it yet. It does seem to make me a slightly happier person at all times of the month.

Right now, things that are hard to tolerate are REALLY hard to tolerate.

Which brings me to a writing update. The husband/co-writer and I are putting the finishing touches on the third book in the Pagan Spirits novel series. Back in July of 2012 (that's how long it's been since I worked on this book), we wrote a really nice romantic scene that takes place at a fairy-haunted graveyard in Scotland, where Zen and Ramesh have gone for their honeymoon.

Not the final draft of the artwork, but it gives you some idea.

We wrote it on our old laptop. Said laptop is now a dead brick. The vast majority of the novel was saved elsewhere, but that one little scene that made the honeymoon chapter so much more interesting and romantic is now just a memory.

I have to rewrite it - and I HATE having to rewrite a lost scene. I know it'll never be as good as the lost one. I have had more than my fair share of anxiety and frustration (mostly frustration!!) over that stupid missing scene. I am not looking forward to the rewrite at all. We attempted to work on it today, but our collaboration devolved into an argument. It's been set aside for a few days until we can work on it without all the high drama and heartbreak.

If you're not a writer, you might not have any idea how hard it is to get your thoughts to cooperate with the scene you intend to write, and how precious the draft is once it's been written. Writing something that reads smoothly and sounds professional is nowhere near is easy as it seems.

But, God willin' and the creek don't rise, we'll have St. James's Day (Pagan Spirits Book Three) back from the proofreader's soon and ready for a late spring debut. I may be just a little burnt out at the moment, especially with erotica and writing sex scenes. I have been doing it since 2006, after all. Maybe I should try writing a children's book for a change of pace.

Which brings us to part 3 of the blog post: a review of The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver


The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lauren Oliver is famous for her books for slightly older readers, particularly Delirium and Pandemonium. There are too many good YA series for me to keep up with these days, so I haven't read those, but I picked up The Spindlers because it was a stand-alone book available for free from Amazon Vine.

The back cover of my ARC compares it to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass and Coraline, but there's really only one scene near the end that really reminded me of Coraline. (For the record, I have only seen the movie of Coraline. I did not read the book.)

It's a fairly dark story, in some ways akin to the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, if that couple were a brother and sister and the sister had to go to the Underworld (here simply called Below) to rescue the brother. Like Alice, Liza is a sensible, level-headed girl who finds herself on an adventure with talking animals, strange creatures and homicidal queen. Like Alice, she finds herself equal to the challenge - even when confronted, like Harry Potter, with a 3-headed dog.

Reading this, I had neither the sense that I was reading a wholly derivative retold Greek myth nor the sense that I was reading something wholly original - it falls somewhere in the middle. It touches on the issues of trust, friendship, honesty, the value of siblinghood and how children should treat their parents, but it's not overly didactic. I probably would have enjoyed this as a bedtime story when I was a middle-grade reader.

View all my reviews on GoodReads

Pagan Spirits novels:

Beltane (Book 1)

Midsummer Night (Book 2) 

SOC Sunday: I Don't Understand

It's been a while since I've done one of these, but I decided to join this Sunday's Stream of Consciousness Sunday at Jana's Thinking Place. Today's optional writing prompt is, "I Don't Understand..." A small sampling of the many things I don't understand:

I don't understand the whole "I didn't know I was pregnant" phenomenon - and yet a woman that I've known for years - going back to grade school - just gave birth to a baby boy without knowing she was pregnant. I know it happens with some regularity - enough that there's a TV show about it - but it's still just really strange to me.

But then I've never been pregnant, so I would have no idea what it's supposed to feel like.

I also don't understand people whose function in life seems to be to rain on everyone else's parade.

I don't understand transphobia. In the past week or so, I happen to have read one article and watched one YouTube video about young people who are transgendered. I don't understand all the negativity, all the people who are so certain that everyone who has a penis has to be a boy and everyone who has a vagina has to be a girl. Put yourself in the shoes of someone who has the body of one gender but the brain of another - not an easy place to be, not by a long shot. Why would you want to be on the negative, narrow-minded side, the side that contributes to bullying and the alarmingly high transgender suicide and violence rates, instead of the supportive side?

Would it really be so bad to trust people to self-report their own gender? Do you really need to be the gender police and check that everyone's anatomy matches their driver's license? Will your world really end if you admit that some people are transgendered, and you can't neatly divide all human beings into males and females?

I understand this much: some people are born one gender and become another. Some people are born intersexed (another thing I don't understand - how, in the 21st century, people still use derogatory words like "shemale" and "hermaphrodite" for intersexed individuals) - in fact, it's relatively common, not only in humans but in a variety of animal species - and some people choose to be third-gendered or non-gendered. Gender is social as much as it is biological, if not more so. Why reduce an entire human being and all of that person's social interactions down to what genitalia the person has?

I don't understand all the attempts to shame people based on their anatomy. When did things that are none of your business unless you're a urologist become more important than treating people with respect, decency and kindness?

SOC Sunday: Outside the Comfort Zone

What have you done recently or would like to do that’s outside your comfort zone?

I can't (and don't want to) give too many details, but before the end of the year I'll have to travel a considerable distance from my home within the U.S., and that travel is far outside my comfort zone. As you may know, I've already been to Kansas this year, and Kansas is far, but it isn't scary. Next I'll have to actually leave the Midwest and arrive at an urban destination. 

Yes, Chicago is equally urban, but Chicago is comfy and familiar to me. Next I'm going into foreign (so to speak) urban territory where I don't know the local transportation system - and people in Chicago are still Midwestern, so they're still pretty friendly, but I don't know about this "new" place. 

I'm not afraid to fly, but I'm afraid of the unknown. This place is completely unknown to me, although hubby has been there before - once. He'll be with me (he always is - in ten years of marriage, we've still never spent a night apart), but he's not much of a tour guide. We're nervous, but excited. 

Technically, I've been to the biggest urban area in the U.S. before - New York City - but I only ever saw Kennedy airport. I was there for about four hours total, going to and from Spain. You'd think if I could handle an international trip to a foreign country where I speak the language only at a rather elementary level,  I should be fine in a unknown U.S. city. I'll be fine. But I'm anxious. 

SOC Sunday: I Chose Psychology

Today’s (optional) prompt: How did you settle on your major/career choice?

My college major was psychology. I picked that because of all the subjects I took as a sophomore, when I had to declare, it was the one with the most interesting textbooks. Even though I pretty much always knew I was going to be a writer, I chose not to major in English, because in the back of my mind I was thinking that no one makes a living as an English major. I was trying to be practical, but not so practical that I got stuck with something boring like accounting. 

I suck at numbers anyway - although I'm pretty fascinated with social science statistics, which turns real-world behavioral data into the kind of numbers that scientists use as evidence for their theories. Deep down, I've always been a bit of a scientist as well as a writer. 

To this day, one of my major pet peeves is still inaccurate portrayals of scientific data in the popular media. I blow a gasket when someone on the evening news says a study "proves" this or that. There is no "prove" in science. There is testing and evidence, testing and evidence. 

It turns out a psychology major is actually great preparation for writing novels. You have to be able to get inside your characters' heads and make them believable to the reader, so you have to know how human beings think and why they're motivated to do the things they do. Without realistic motivations, characters fall apart, and plots fall completely apart. 

SOC Sunday: Fill in the Blanks About Me

This week's prompt for the 5-minute free write is "I am..." (fill in the blank). I'm kinda cheating and using Jana's structure, filling in my own answers.

I am Erin.

I’m a wife, a daughter, a sister, an aunt and a great-aunt.

I’m naturally quite anxious, but thanks to my PMS meds, it’s pretty hard to get me upset these days.

I’m just like my mother, but nothing at all like my brother.

I’m a cat person. My cat’s name is James, and I sing to him. 

I hate running. I walk instead.

I take a while to get to know, but once I get to know you, I’ve very loyal.

I need my thinking time. I need to just stare off into space and imagine sometimes.

I’m a writer, a reader and a big ol’ book nerd. 

SOC Sunday: Wouldn't It Be Awesome If...

Today's Stream of Consciousness (SOC) Sunday theme is, "Wouldn't it be awesome if..."

...we could get paid to clean the house, take naps and read our favorite books?

...especially to read our favorite books?

...True Blood season was longer than 12 weeks a year?

...my Jeopardy! audition was already over so I could go back to reading for fun instead of memorizing the U.S. presidents in order?

...the dishes would wash themselves and put themselves away?

...pizza made us lose weight?

...Batman was real?

...all of the boots I pinned on Pinterest would get in my closet?

...vacations were free? Notre Dame's football team was in Dublin yesterday (defeating Navy 50-10 in their season opener), and oh, how I wish I were there with them. Not because I love football so much (it's one of my least favorite sports, actually), but because I want to go to Dublin.

SOC Sunday - No Theme, Just a Free Write

Today's Stream of Consciousness Sunday is themeless, so free-write on any subject for five minutes (no editing) to link up with Jana's Thinking Place.

8:24 In preparation for my Jeopardy! tryout in early September, I read about American history last night. I think the Portuguese got into my dreams a little bit. The book I read confirmed what I already believed - that Portugal was the nation that actually instigated the slave trade, even though Spain and England quickly piled on.

8:26 My head is so filled with facts that I feel like my creativity been's pushed to the side lately. I did complete an essay yesterday.

Thanks to my studies, I can tell you that Michel de Montaigne is the individual who popularized the essay as an art form. There's a shout-out to de Montaigne in "Bitches in Bookshops."

8:28 My husband is making me laugh. I'm so grateful for him and his sense of humor. I was pretty sad yesterday, thanks to a combination of hormones and the ongoing drama with my brother.

8:29 Ugh - don't get me started on the drama with my brother. I will say this, though: according to the Geek Zodiac, my nieces are Spy and Ninja. These zodiac signs fit them perfectly.

I got Pirate - but I don't wanna be a pirate! I like the ocean and rum, but I detest thieves.

SOC Sunday: For in Dreams, We Enter a World That is Entirely Our Own

Yesterday I spent five or six hours playing with my brother's kids, my eight- and six-year-old nieces Eira and Lydia. Consequently, I just woke up from a dream in which Eira drew a picture of me. I thought she made the nose look a little funny, so I took a crayon and tried to make myself look a little more normal.

A nice, tame dream, featuring a person I actually know doing something that actually could happen. A little self-conscious, perhaps - but this is not a typical dream for me. I'm usually dreaming something like my  "Jesus fighting with Godzilla in downtown Tokyo" dream. It's usually bizarre, and often there's a famous person or two thrown in.

Is weird dreaming hereditary? My dad tells me about wacky dreams all the time. I'll meet him for Sunday breakfast in another hour, and I vividly remember a Sunday breakfast in July in which he entertained the family with his dream about going with his dad to some imaginary red light district of Green Bay, Wisconsin (where my grandparents lived for several years when I was a kid). Perhaps his most memorable dream-tale was the one in which Germans were forcing him to build a bridge made of Lego blocks over the river. (I say "the" river because my parents and I live on the same river that goes through their city and mine.)

Sometimes my dreams inspire a short story or a scene in one of my books - see, for example, Crazy Dream Inspiration.

This is what that other O'Riordan gal thinks about dreams.

Summer Tastes and Smells Like Lake Michigan in My Hair

Stream of Consciousness (SOC) Sunday has migrated from AllThingsFadra (which you should still follow by e-mail, because it's a great blog) to Jana's Thinking Place. Find the prompt there, blog your 5-minute stream of consciousness, then link up! Today's prompt is, "What does summer smell or taste like to you, and why?"

Summer smells like Lake Michigan in my hair. I just got back from an anniversary trip to Silver Beach (St. Joseph, Michigan) with my husband, Tit Elingtin. We've been married ten years now. I wanted to try paddleboarding, and there's a sporting goods shop on the beach that rents paddleboards. They're also called sups, short for stand-ups.

You know what the worst thing about paddleboarding is? That, at some point, you have to stop paddleboarding. Otherwise, it's pretty awesome. They're wider than a standard surfboard, pretty stable, and the paddle helps you keep your balance when you're standing up. I only wiped out once. Well, I fell off twice, but the first time was on purpose. I got too close to the swim buoys and couldn't turn myself around fast enough. Fast turns will take a little more practice.

Now I'm a surfer wannabe, and I wish I could be a beach bum and just paddleboard, lay on the beach and read books the rest of the summer. If I can stand up on a sup, I can totally stand up on an actual longboard, right? I think I could.

I'd like to go to Hawaii and find out. Of course, since I'm obsessed with From Here to Eternity right now, I wanted to go to Hawaii anyway. Y'know, more than I usually want to go to Hawaii, which is already a lot.
__________________________

On another note, for the next few hours, I am caught up on watching Season 5 of True Blood. Last night I tweeted:

Finally caught up on 'True Blood,' and I would like to smack the shit out of Pam for being a racist bitch to Tara.
— Erin O'Riordan (@ErinORiordan) July 14, 2012

...and Pam answered me:

@ErinORiordan Bring it on cupcake.
— Pam De Beaufort (@KillerPumps) July 14, 2012

Gawd, I love Twitter. Y'all know I stalk the living shit out of TheDorkMistress on Tumblr, and this morning the fabulous Kala L. (via EyesOfWitt, another chick whose fictional boyfriend is Pvt. Bob Witt) reblogged this gem:

Highlight of the day. Jim Caviezel doing a dead on Homer Simpson impersonation after seeing my Simpson's t-shirt. Michael Emerson laughed!
— WFB Supernatural (@WinFamBusiness) July 15, 2012

Jim Caviezel does an impression of Homer Simpson...and I die. As if I didn't already have a ridiculous Catholic schoolgirl crush on him. (Jim Caviezel surfs, but then, he was born on the West Coast and not near a Great Lake that makes a rather poor excuse for an ocean. Whatever. I love being Midwestern.) 

[2024 Update: The video is no longer available on YouTube.]

I wonder if he knows about the episode wherein Homer dresses as Jesus and gets struck by lightning? 

Source: eyesofwitt.tumblr.com via Erin on Pinterest

SOC Sunday ~ I Need the Internet and the Internet Needs Me

Today’s Writing Prompt: How has the internet changed your life – professionally and/or personally?


The writing prompt comes from Stream of Consciousness Sunday, hosted by AllThingsFadra. It's a 5-minute free write. Publish your stream of consciousness, then link up at Fadra's website for an SOC Sunday blog hop. 

Are you kidding me? Without the Internet, I have no career. 


My "day" writing/editing job is a telecommuting position. I live in the Great Lakes region, but the company I freelance for is in California. Obviously, I would have major commuting problems if it weren't for the Internet. I work from home, doing all my work online. 


As for my creative writing - well, I know writers accomplished their craft for thousands of years before the Internet was invented, but that doesn't mean I want to return to the traditional route. Sure, Ernest Hemingway never Tweeted about his latest work in progress - but I'm glad I can. 


I remember the typewriter ; my parents got me an electric typewriter as an eighth grade graduation gift. But I don't want to go back to the days of Wite-Out and hand-written corrections. Give me the ability to blog and live-Tweet any time. It helps me connect with other writers and potential readers. 


The Internet is an awesome research tool, too. Sure, I remember how to go to the library and use the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. I still do, sometimes. Rachel's blog title is accurate: You Just Can't Google Everything. Libraries are still an awesome resource - and fun, too. 


I'm still glad I can Google almost everything. 

SOC Sunday: I Am Curious About You

It's Sunday, which means it's time to link up with AllThingsFadra for Stream of Consciousness Sunday. This is a 5-minute free-write, mistakes and all. This week's optional prompt:

Are you a people person? Do you feel energized or drained around people? What are some of your favorite types of encounters or tell me a story of one!

I'm not anti-people, but I am a little shy. I suppose I must be the stereotypical writer; I communicate best behind my keyboard, not face-to-face. I guess that's why I get so easily addicted to social media - a way to communicate and interact without actually putting myself out there!

Because I want to meet other people. I really do. I'm interested in whta other people are doing. I want to know what kind of music you're listening to. Tell me about the last great movie you say, or what your grandchildren are doing. My curiousity is genuine.

I don't care that much about American football, though. I'm not that curious how your favorite team or player is doing.

Five minutes is up, so I'll just say this: who saw the supermoon last night?

SOC Sunday: Of Domestic Violence and Islam-Bashing

Ruh-roh, Raggy - I feel a rant coming on. On Sundays I typically link up with Stream of Consciousness Sunday at All Things Fadra, but rather than waiting for the prompt this time, I'm going to brain-dump on what's been on my mind this weekend.

Friday night I fell asleep in front of the TV watching the local news. When I woke up, Mel Gibson was talking to Jay Leno on The Tonight Show. Who let Mel Gibson on the Tonight Show? Who lets Mel Gibson around decent people?

Recap: Mel Gibson was working with screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, who apparently has not yet produced the screenplay Gibson was hoping for. Gibson called Eszerthas to rant about it in a profane tirade; the conversation was recorded by Eszerthas' son. Joe Eszterhas released the tape.

Ranting at a screenwriter? Not so bad. No worse than the Christian Bale meltdown, perhaps. Reminiscent, however, of earlier, and uglier, incidents, including 2010 recordings of Gibson verbally abusing Oksana Grigorieva, the mother of his youngest child, the beautifully-named Lucia.

In 2011, he was convicted of domestic violence against Grigorieva and sentenced to 36 months of probation.

If I were a producer of The Tonight Show, I would have a strict policy that no one with a domestic violence conviction would be a guest, period. I would want to message sent that we don't explicitly or implicitly condone relationship violence. The men who don't have the sense to walk away from stressful situations, but instead choose to use violence against the people they supposedly love, don't deserve public adulation. They deserve to be personally and professionally shunned. It's a decision that we as a society can make to show that we don't tolerate unacceptable relationship behavior. It's a decision we can make to show that we value the lives and rights of women and children.

I use a legal conviction and/or a guilty or no-contest plea as the standard for who belongs on my permanent shit list. Charlie Sheen, Chris Brown, and Eric Roberts are some of the men I include with Gibson. Do you have a different standard? Let me know.

The son of Joe Eszterhas violated your privacy? Boo hoo. It's perfectly within your rights to sue him, but don't expect me to feel sympathy.

Yes, I am still upset about Gibson's past antiSemitic remarks. Recently I've read more and more anti-Muslim posts in social media. Let me be clear: prejudice against a group of people because of their Middle Eastern ethnicity or cultural identity is antiSemitism, whether those people are Jews, Arabs or non-Arab Muslims. We (I do have the one Eastern European Jewish grandmother) have a common cultural ancestry, which our folklore traces to Abraham. Abraham settled what is now Israel/Palestine after leaving Mesopotamia. Ancient Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, is modern Iraq.

I was galled yesterday (before I fell asleep and woke up to Gibson) to read an article titled "The Immorality of Sexuality" by an author who goes by "The 5 Elements Quest." According to this blog, the author's name is Abdoulaye N'Gom. He states, "Any diversity of sexuality beside one male and one female is immoral, period." In the same paragraph, he writes, "Take Islam for example, where men are permitted to have multiple wives. When you trace the roots of this religious polygamy, with a spiritual understanding you will see that evil was the cause."

Sure, blame Islam for polygamy! Never mind that it was a common Middle Eastern practice that included the ancient Hebrews. Never mind that Biblical patriarchs like Jacob had multiple wives. Solomon was said to have 700 wives and 300 concubines! Clearly, the ancient Hebrews were comfortable with non-monogamy - at least male heterosexual non-monogamy.

I'm no big fan of polygamy for the non-religious reason N'Gom mentions - that it can be a way for women to be exploited and treated as property. But I don't condemn people for non-monogamy; as adults, we all make our choices.

I do have a problem with Islam-bashing. It's antiSemitism, plain and simple. Don't be afraid of us because are roots are non-European. So we're Asiatics - most of the world's people are Asians. Embrace it.

It's like this: hold all the world's cultures, religious and otherwise, to the same standards. That, and recognize that all the world's cultures are interconnected, both by our cultural artifacts and by our DNA. People are like the ocean. We call the oceans Atlantic, Pacific, et al., but they all touch each other - there's really only one big ocean. There's really only one ethnic group - human.

And for the love of all that is good and holy, when you're angry with your domestic partner, walk away from him or her. Being drunk or on drugs is no excuse. You're an adult - you know how to NOT assault people.

Highly Susceptible to Fiction - SOC Sunday

Today’s (Optional) Writing Prompt: Have you ever gotten so engrossed in a book that is seemed to spill over into your real life? Tell me about it.

Hooking up with AllThingsFadra for Stream of Consciousness (SOC) Sunday. (Fadra baked bread after listening to the Hunger Games audiobook.)

I am highly susceptible to fiction, whether I'm reading it, watching it or writing it. I did just read The Hunger Games, and I really enjoyed it, but I can't think of anything that it influenced me to do. I can tell you that when I'm writing fiction, I'll go miles out of my way to experience something firsthand.

Once I stopped into a gas station for a cup of coffee and I thought the clerk would make a really interesting character. After mulling him over for a few days, I kinda started to stalk that gas station - not a  usual stop for me - to see if he would be there again. I wanted my inspiration fix. After the story was written, I just went back to my usual coffee spot.

True Blood makes me want to drink red wine.

And yes, it's true that for weeks after I saw the Daniel Radcliffe film The Woman in Black, I was a little worried that the closet adjacent to my master bath was haunted. I got into the habit of flicking on the hallway lights to drive away the ghosts before I got to the bathroom.



There you go...exactly five minutes.

SOC Sunday: Is there anything an erotica writer can't write about?

It's Sunday, which means another prompt from AllThingsFadra. This is a 5-minute free-write, so set a timer, publish your free write on your blog and link up there.

Today’s (Optional) Writing Prompt: What are some things you wish you could blog about but can’t?

I write in a variety of genres, but my primary published genre is erotica. Erotica writers - at least when we're hiding behind our keyboards - are not exactly known for being timid with words. Of course I can write about sex - it's the bulk of my reputation on the Internet. I'm well-paid to write humorous and intelligent sex pieces for SexIs magazine, where I've tackled everything from the world's great spring fertility festivals to the alleged relationship between women's genitals and fishy smells. Surely there's nothing I can't write about?

Two things come to mind, though: politics and a certain other type of blogs. You may imagine that a woman who calls her blog Pagan Spirits and has a rather Unitarian view of the world might be rather liberal, but I don't like to step on any toes. I know how to agree to disagree amiably. I'll support human rights causes, but I rarely make a political statement.

Okay, a couple of times I slipped and called Rick Santorum "Boy Palin" on Facebook.

There are a certain type of blogs I just can't relate to and don't particularly care for, unrelated to politics. But I can't say that a risk offending potential readers - you know, the ones who aren't already chased off by the adult content warning and the lingerie ads. Let's just say that if you mostly blog about your desire to organize various closets within your home, we probably won't have a lot in common.

SOC Sunday: Home Is Where I Want to Be

Here are the rules…

*Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
*Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
*Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
*Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
*Link up your post at AllThingsFadra.
*Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Today’s (Optional) Writing Prompt: How do you feel about where you live?

This may sound like a cliche, but it's really true: When I got back from Europe and went through customs in New York, I thought, "I'm home."

But I don't live in New York.

Another flight took me from JFK airport to Chicago's O'Hare. As soon as I saw the Chicago skyline, I thought, "Now I'm really home."

Source: carolineandfredsmithwick.blogspot.com via Erin on Pinterest

But I don't live in Chicago, either.

Home is a moving target. The USA is my home, the Midwest is my home, my home state is my home, and so is my county, my city, my neighborhood.

Source: gather.com via Erin on Pinterest

I love where I live (even if I don't like to share publicly my home city and state. Chicago-ish area, suffice it to say). My 99-year-old house is on a curve of the river, so we have river views from just about every room. If we're quiet enough, we can hear the waterfall.

(The above photo was taken in the park in which my hubby and I got married. The rock garden was built by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s.)

I heard on the local news this morning that the city where I was born is celebrating a sad anniversary today. Ten years ago, a man who'd been fired from a factory went on a shooting rampage in the factory, killing several people before ultimately killing himself. My dad was a police sergeant at the time. Sadly, there had been a similar shooting in a nearby town earlier in that same year. The officers in that earlier shooting had waiting before entering, but my dad and his colleagues decided they wouldn't let that happen again. My dad was the actual first one in the building. He started to triage the wounded even though he didn't know if the shooter was still in the building or not. (He wasn't. He'd started to lead the county police on a high speed chase.) The decision to go in and start performing CPR on the wounded and clear the building for EMS to come in saved several lives.

I thought then, and I still think, that what my dad and the other officers did that day is the very definition of bravery. I'm not always brave, but I like to think there's some of that DNA in me somewhere, and if I ever need it, I hope it will rise to the surface.

SOC Sunday: Age Ain't Nothing But a Number

Stream of Consciousness (SOC) Sunday is the brainchild of Fadra N. at All Things Fadra. Post your 5-minute brain dump and link up there.

Today’s (Optional) Writing Prompt: Have you reached the prime of your life? What do you want to be your legacy?

I've been writing as far back as I can remember, but I didn't start writing for publication until 2005. I was 28. I had my first short story published for pay, making me a professional writer in my own mind, around my 29th birthday. Do I wish I had started earlier? Sure. I was still happy to be able to say I got started writing in my 20s.

Writers, it's said, hit their stride in their 40s and 50s. I've published five novels now, but I'm just getting started. By no means do I feel as if I've already made my major contribution to world art and literature. This is just the appetizer. The main course is still on its way.

Some writers start even later in life. Anne Patchett's mom has written several successful novels now, and she spent most of her professional life as a RN. She was in her 60s before she decided to follow in her daughter's footsteps.

I still hope my mom will follow in my footsteps and write her vampire late-life romance novel. I want her to call it You Can Have My Vampire When You Pry Me From His Cold, Dead Hands.

Remember what Aaliyah said: "Age Ain't Nothing But a Number."

Anne Patchett's mom is Jeanne Ray. I couldn't remember it during my free write, but I looked it up afterward. I should be ashamed, because I met Ray at a literary event at my local library.

SOC Sunday: Thoughts on Fate and Tikkun Olam

Today’s (Optional) Writing Prompt: What’s your take on fate? Does everything happen for a reason? Are we in control of our own destiny?

Find the rules and the link-up on this writing prompt/5-minute brain dump at AllThingFadra.

I don't tend to believe that "everything happens for a reason," because some really, really horrible things happen. I do believe in a supreme being (which I call by various names and conceptualize in a variety of forms), and I have a tough time with the concept of that being willing human beings to suffer terribly.

I know some people believe that suffering is necessary to somehow "purify" a soul (I remember this from Catholic school) - sort of the "whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger" theory, although in some cases suffering does physically kill you, and it's the soul that's supposed to get stronger.

I believe we have more free will than that. I believe from moment to moment, we're called to choose the actions that will cause other human beings to suffer less. I believe in the Jewish concept of tikkun olam, "heal the world." I believe we have a choice between compassion and indifference, and to "be good" and "do right" we have to constantly choose compassion.

SOC Sunday: It is really, really hard to love someone with an addiction

Stopping by from Reading-Romances.com's Romancing the Valentine Giveaway Hop? Please find the giveaway post HERE.

The Vampires for Valentines giveaway post is HERE.

Today’s (Optional) Writing Prompt: Celebrities and drugs – do you judge harshly, have mercy, or fit somewhere in between?

If you blogged this writing prompt, please link up at AllThingsFadra.

Let me begin by saying that one of hte matriarchs of my family had multiple drug and alcohol addictions. When I was a child, she was largely in recovery, and this was not apparent to me. I was aware of it, but it didn't affect me until she got older. After a bout with cancer, she began drinking heavily again and starting using codeine.

I know it's possible to love, truly love, a person with an addiction. It's also necessary to put up very strict - loving, but firm - boundaries around that person. Addicts are very manipulative. They'll do anything to keep using. It's not only destructive to themselves, it's destructive to everyone and everything around them. It's not wrong to protect ourselves and those we value from their downward spiral. It's not cruel or unloving. Enabling is far more cruel, even though it may seem like the kinder option at times.

My family member died of an unrelated accident just as she was beginning to enter recovery - very sad. I do not judge people harshly for using addictive drugs, although I do mourn the circumstances that may have led them to that decision.

However, I am optimistic about the possibility of recovery. Case in point: Robert Downey, Jr. In the '90s, he seemed certain to be doomed to a life of prison and early death. Now he's freaking IRON MAN. It's such a joy that this beautiful and talented actor lived to see his own success. It's wonderful that his kids got their father back.



I was a bit surprised this morning to learn of Whitney Houston's death at the age of 48. I don't judge her harshly. I do choose to remember her for her beautiful music.

It took me longer than 5 minutes to write that. I cheated, but only because it was a topic I felt passionate about. 

SOC Sunday: Saying Goodbye

Stream of Consciousness Sunday is hosted by All.Things.Fadra. Post your 5-minute "brain dump," then link up at Fadra's website.

Today’s (Optional) Writing Prompt: Write about something that you unexpectedly had a hard time saying goodbye to.

When my husband and I first moved into our current house, in 2002, few of the rooms were the way we wanted them. One of the first things that m needed major surgery was the upstairs bathroom. It was so tiny, your knees touched the tub when you sat on the toilet. Obviously, we had to knock down the walls to make it bigger - but to do so, we had to sacrifice the prettiest little linen closet. I had a strange fondness for that closet, and I was sad to see it go. I still have nostalgia for it sometimes, even though I'm really glad we made room for a heart-shaped whirlpool tub.

To a lesser extent, I feel that way about the butler's pantry on the first floor - a;ll those cute little cupboards and drawers. Now demolished to make the first-floor bathroom bigger.

But the person/thing I really had the hardest time saying goodbye to unexpectedly was my parents' 6-year-old Akita-yellow lab mix, Amy. She was one of the sweetest dogs you'd ever meet. She died suddenly about three years ago of a heart condition, which no one knew she had.

SOC Sunday: Relaxation Time

Today’s Writing Prompt (via All.Things.Fadra): Describe, in detail, the way you like to relax. 5-minute free write.

My #1 favorite way to destress after a long day of writing, editing or publishing, which can be very brain-draining and frustrating, is with a game of Combine. Combine can be found at MindJolt Games on Facebook. Even though it's a video game, ot's not like the mindless video games I used to destress with after homework when I was a kid. It involces strategfy: different colors of balls fall, two at a time (at a pace you control, unlike Tetris) and you have to cmbine three of one color to make them all disappear. At first it seems really easy, but as they pile up, you have to be quite stratefic or you'll end the game.

My husband doesn't really like thta my destressing thing keeps me in front of the computer scroeen. Someimes I read a fun book (not one that I habe to review) instead. I've been really into Sherlock Holmes for fun lately. The most relazing place to read is our pontoon, which doesn't have a motor, so we use it as dock. It's winter, though, so the pntoon is frozen to the bank quite firmly now.

That's five minutes. As you can see, I clearly did not cheat and use spellcheck or do any editing.