Beyond the Veil ~ Paranormal Romance Authors: A. Catherine Noon

Showing posts with label A. Catherine Noon. Show all posts

20 November 2014

NaNoWhatMo?

It's November. That means it's National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo. This year, I decided to up the ante by volunteering as a Municipal Liaison for my region, Chicago - otherwise known as ChiWriMo. Here's what I've learned so far:

I have an awesome NaNo ML Mentor (NaNoWriMo Municpal Liaison, in case you don't speak alphabet soup). Since it's my first year ML-ing, he's my big bruddah and is showing me the ropes. BIG shout out to Owen!
When speaking to your new NaNo ML, and when deciding off-the-cuff to challenge him and his whole region to a word war, MAKE SURE THAT HIS REGION HASN'T BEEN UNDEFEATED IN EVERY WORD WAR THEY'VE WAGED. Sun-Tzu would be so disappointed in me.
On the other hand, roundly getting our asses handed to us has helped spur ChiWrimos on to greater and greater heights of wordly prestidigitation.
BTW, Google says prestidigitation means "magic tricks performed as entertainment".
There are a LOT of cats on the internet. They are cute. They are distracting. One must ignore them if one expects to make one's word count.
Facebook is evil and will eat large swaths of your day if you let it.
But, there are cats on Facebook.
And therein lies the problem: you can have cats, or you can have NaNo. Making your word count is better than lots of cats but no word count. So use the cats as a reward for word count.

What about you? Do you NaNo?

If so, what are you looking forward to, come December 1st?

If not, why not? Jump in, the water's fine!

23 October 2014

NANO!

Okay. It's no secret that I use lolcats and other copyright-free images when I do blog posts, out of respect for the artists of the image. It's also no secret, through maybe less well known, that I adore Allie of Hyperbole and a Half. If you haven't read "This Is Why I'll Never Be An Adult," you are truly missing out. Go read it and come back to finish.

NaNoWriMo is next month, which is National Novel Writing Month. For those of you that aren't familiar with it, the objective is to write 50,000 words or more during the month and end November with a completed novel draft. It's described as "30 days and nights of literary abandon." Hoo-rah, baby. I adore it.

So this brings me to today. It's the 23rd of October (!) and it's my day to post. So I go looking around for an image to use, maybe "Write all the words" or something from Allie's, now viral, meme.

Instead, I find the image above and died of teh funneez.

End of post.

I mean, srsly. How do you top that?

If you're doing NaNo this year, look me up; I'm a.catherine.noon there and I'm volunteering as a Municipal Liaison for Chicago Region. Hope to see you online or in person!

Write on!

--
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
- E.E. Cummings

**New** SEALED BY FIRE is available from LooseId LLC. An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Chicagoland Shifters series:
Book 1 BURNING BRIGHT, available from Samhain Publishing.
Book 2 TIGER TIGER, available from Samhain Publishing. An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Persis Chronicles:**Coming Soon!** Watch for EMERALD KEEP from Torquere Books, out April 2015!
Check out EMERALD FIRE, available from Torquere Books.Check out "Seeking Hearts", available from Torquere Books.

Check out COOK LIKE A WRITER , available from Barnes and Noble.
Check out "Taking a Chance", available from Torquere Books! An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

My links: Blog | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | LinkedIn | Pandora
Knoontime Knitting: Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Ravelry
Noon and Wilder links: Blog | Taurus and Taurus (NSFW) | Website | Facebook
The Writer Zen Garden: The Writers Retreat Blog | Forum | Facebook | Twitter | Meetup
National Novel Writing Month: NaNoWriMo | ChiWriMo | Blog | Facebook | Twitter
Team Blogs: Nightlight | Nightlight FB Page | Beyond the Veil | BtV FB Page | Nice Girls Writing Naughty | NGW FB | NGW Twitter
Publishers: LooseId | Samhain Publishing | Torquere Press

25 September 2014

Autumn Is Here!

Wait, what? What do you mean, Autumn is here!? We were just having Spring, weren't we?

I found that this year zoomed by, particularly because the weather didn't really turn into Summer here in the Chicagoland. Sure, we had heat, and we had humidity; but we also had an unseasonable amount of rain and weird days, so much so that my garden shows the results by having lots of greenery and not much fruit. Tomatoes need sun to produce tomatoes, otherwise it's just a mediocre crop with lots of leaves.

I'm excited about Autumn, though I have a hard time believing it's already upon us. The biggest news in my world is that I am one of four Municipal Liaisons for the Chicago Region of National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. As part of that team, I will help to plan the Kick Off Party, the Wrap-Up Party (called TGIO, or Thank Goodness It's Over!). I'll also be helping to host write-ins during the month of November.

What has you excited this Autumn?

--
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
- E.E. Cummings

**New** SEALED BY FIRE is available from LooseId LLC. An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Chicagoland Shifters series:
Book 1 BURNING BRIGHT, available from Samhain Publishing.
Book 2 TIGER TIGER, available from Samhain Publishing. An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Persis Chronicles:**Coming Soon!** Watch for EMERALD KEEP from Torquere Books, out April 2015!
Check out EMERALD FIRE, available from Torquere Books.Check out "Seeking Hearts", available from Torquere Books.

Check out COOK LIKE A WRITER , available from Barnes and Noble.

Check out "Taking a Chance", available from Torquere Books! An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!
My links: Blog | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | LinkedIn | Pandora
Knoontime Knitting: Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Ravelry
Noon and Wilder links: Blog | Taurus and Taurus (NSFW) | Website | Facebook
The Writer Zen Garden: The Writers Retreat Blog | Forum | Facebook | Twitter | Meetup
Team Blogs: Nightlight | Nightlight FB Page | Beyond the Veil | BtV FB Page | Nice Girls Writing Naughty | NGW FB | NGW Twitter
Publishers: LooseId | Samhain Publishing | Torquere Press

28 August 2014

Hair

So. As some of my readers know, I take public transit a lot, though less often now than in previous years. But I still do take the train weekly and the bus several times a week.

Near my office is a Veterans Center, where veterans of the United States Armed Services can go. There's a bus stop right in front of it, which just so happens to be the bus I take home in the evening.

One day, I walk over there and...

Well, you have to see it first:

Someone forgot their hair.

Huh?

Yup, you heard me. Click on the picture to enlarge it, if you don't believe me. There, on the sidewalk, nestled up next to the building, lay someone's... hair.

Huh?

Yeah, it didn't make any more sense the second time I typed it, either.

Chicago.

Who knew?

--

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
- E.E. Cummings

**New** SEALED BY FIRE is available from LooseId LLC. An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Chicagoland Shifters series:
Book 1 BURNING BRIGHT, available from Samhain Publishing.
Book 2 TIGER TIGER, available from Samhain Publishing. An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Persis Chronicles:**Coming Soon!** Watch for EMERALD KEEP from Torquere Books, out April 2015!
Check out EMERALD FIRE, available from Torquere Books.

31 July 2014

Music To My Ears

I was a musician before I was a writer. Music touches us in ways words cannot, and it transports us magically to other places.

My recent discovery is the band, Imagine Dragons, which combines some of the 80's alternative elements with choral elements that I adore.

Another one I've been enjoying is Sail, by AWOLNATION.

These songs share a very angsty element along with a kind of anger, centered around creativity. They mirror where I'm living in my mind and writing right now.

What about you? What are some of the songs on your personal soundtrack?

05 June 2014

The Crazy Chicken Dance

I'm face-down in the crazy-chicken-dance of editing. Final line-edits are due Friday. ~dances~ So. I share with you my favorite bit from Denis Leary (turn it down if you're at work, the language is a bit blue).

And here's the Super Sekrit Cover Reveal for Sealed by Fire:

08 May 2014

Happy Birthday to Meeee!

I wandered out of bed today to write my post for the blog and noticed the above image on Google. I thought, "What? Who's birthday is it?" Now, don't be silly, of course I know it's my birthday, but how does Google? So I clicked on it, and it's me. Wowsers.

Part of me is weirded out. I mean, sure, I put in my birthday on my Google+ page, but this? Another part of me is flattered, like holy cow, that's slick. Another part of me is aware that this is the new reality: marketing firms know a lot about us and the good ones, like Google, will use it to interact with us in ways that feel social. Twenty years ago it was birthday cards from friends. Now it's birthday greetings from companies (and they weren't the only ones, just the most startling to find on my search page when I went to look for a lolcat image).

What about you? What's the most startling thing you utilize regularly that a few years ago was never heard of? Or, if you feel up to predicting, what do you think will be the startling thing of the future?

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
- E.E. Cummings

The Chicagoland Shifters series:
Book 1 BURNING BRIGHT, available from Samhain Publishing.
Book 2 TIGER TIGER, available from Samhain Publishing. An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Persis Chronicles:Check out EMERALD FIRE, available from Torquere Books.

10 April 2014

Spring Cleaning!

It's Spring, and thoughts turn to Spring Cleaning.

You know, now that I'm thinking about it, I really did do that one year. I took five whole vacation days off (I had fifteen a year back in those heady days) and cleaned everything from stem to stern. I have to admit, it was bliss.

The next year, I took the days off to do it and slept for five days straight.

So it's a mixed bag, really.

If I had to distill everything I've learned about cleaning, organizing, developing new habits and pruning old ones, and maintaining stuff I'd say this:

I need a maid!

Ha! Until I am in a financial place to afford one, here's what I do that works for me:

Start small. Baby steps really do work - AND tend to get done when big giant leaps get procrastinated.
Avoid it. If you don't make a mess to begin with, you don't have to clean it up. Cultivate tidiness.
Learn how to manage the everyday accumulation of things. If you're a knitter (and who isn't??), learn how to keep your projects and stash in self-contained areas so that they aren't all over the house for the cats to massacre.
Hire a maid. No, really. Call around and see how much it costs. It's less than you think, and starting from a clean house makes it a helluva lot easier to want to maintain it.
Be reasonable. If you work outside the home or are a homemaker, and you want to write in addition to that, and you expect to eat, sleep, and occasionally have some fun, your home isn't going to look like a spread from Architectural Digest. That's just facts. Get used to what level of clutter you can live with and tell your inner Aunt Mabel the Magnificent to catch a train to Biloxi and leave you alone.

What about you? What works for your tidy space?

--
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
- E.E. Cummings

The Chicagoland Shifters series:
Book 1 BURNING BRIGHT, available from Samhain Publishing.
Book 2 TIGER TIGER, available from Samhain Publishing. An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Persis Chronicles:Check out EMERALD FIRE, available from Torquere Books.

13 March 2014

Black Widow Movie!

I heart Jeremy Renner, I'll admit it, and I think Scarlett Johannson is a stone fox.

BTW, don't try looking up "stone fox" on Google. ~shudder~

ANYway, apparently Ms. Johannson is going to have a baby, which I'm sure will be too cool for school and WAY to foxy for his or her own good. BUT, the OTHER good news is that BLACK WIDOW IS GETTING HER OWN MOVIE!

According to MovieWeb, there's a strong possibility that we will get to see Scarlett reprise her role in her very own movie. She will be playing a pivotal role in the next Avengers movie, (which shouldn't be a surprise to Avengers fans since she's, like, the Black Widow, man!), as well as the soon-to-be-released Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I'm so excited about this franchise that I can't sit still.

I do, of course, wish Ms. Johannson well and congratulate her on her expanding family, but am even more excited about the possibility of having a complex female lead in a historically male-dominated genre of action/adventure/hero movies. I'm not surprised, what with filmmaker, writer and director Joss Whedon involved, but I'm tickled that the Powers That Be are listening to Whedon and taking the franchise in some interesting directions.

What about you? If you could make any movie you wanted, who would be the hero and who would you have play the hero? (Using 'hero' in a gender-neutral sense, here, so please, don't forget the womens!)

--

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
- E.E. Cummings

The Chicagoland Shifters series:
Book 1 BURNING BRIGHT, available from Samhain Publishing.
Book 2 TIGER TIGER, available from Samhain Publishing. An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Persis Chronicles:Check out EMERALD FIRE, available from Torquere Books.
Check out "Seeking Hearts", available from Torquere Books.

Check out COOK LIKE A WRITER , available from Barnes and Noble.
Check out "Taking a Chance", available from Torquere Books!

My links: Blog | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | LinkedIn | Pandora
Knoontime Knitting: Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Ravelry
Noon and Wilder links: Blog | Website | Facebook
The Writer Zen Garden: The Writers Retreat Blog | Forum | Facebook | Twitter | Meetup
Team Blogs: Nightlight | Nightlight FB Page | Beyond the Veil | BtV FB Page
Publishers: Samhain Publishing | Torquere Press

19 December 2013

Thorin: A House Divided Cannot Stand

Our theme this month, characters in conflict with themselves, suits the recent movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug perfectly. Several of the characters have inner conflicts, but nowhere is it more visible than in Thorin's struggle to reclaim his homeland and restore his family's honor.

Tolkien wasn't just writing about fantasy characters, dragons, dwarves, and elves. While The Hobbit was, admittedly, less of an epic than The Lord of the Rings, he still saw his characters as foils for people around him and universal challenges facing humanity. In Thorin, Tolkien saw a grieving son trying to restore the honor of his family as well as his people. His grandfather had been driven mad by wealth and power and received the harshest punishment imaginable: a dragon came and destroyed his kingdom, killing hundreds and scattering his people to the winds.

At the time Tolkien wrote, the backdrop of World War I and the factors that led up to World War II informed his storytelling. He fought personally in WWI and lost comrades. More than that, he saw WWI through the lens of history and, in some ways, The Hobbitis a reflection of that – a cautionary tale for a king. Beware the lure of gold, the story says, or you may go mad and destroy your homeland.

What I find interesting about Richard Armitage’s performance is that he’s utterly at home in his character. He is Thorin, a flawed man, but a hero none-the-less – and a king. He sacrifices and does what is necessary for his peoples’ survival. But he is also grieving for his lost father, which we see more in this movie than in the first one. In the opening, he meets with Gandalf because reports of his father have surfaced and he desperately wants to find him.

In contrast, King Thranduil is an insular king, closing his borders to the outside world and refusing to aid Thorin. He is a character worth hating, a man blinded by power and prestige within his own borders and uncaring what happens outside it or how it may affect his people. He saw the ravage of the dragon, and the greed of Thorin’s father, and is unmoved to help Thorin now. He no longer has an inner conflict because he’s given up, and given in to his baser instincts where Thorin still struggles to be larger than he is.

I am looking forward to Peter Jackson and his team’s vision of the final chapter in this story. I found myself wishing that the story were longer (and the movie was nearly three hours as it was!). The portrayal of Middle Earth reflects modern life and informs it, makes it richer – and cautions us about undue greed, loyalty and power.

--
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
- E.E. Cummings

The Chicagoland Shifters series:
Book 1 BURNING BRIGHT, available from Samhain Publishing.
Book 2 TIGER TIGER, available from Samhain Publishing. An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Persis Chronicles:

Check out EMERALD FIRE, available from Torquere Books.

Check out "Seeking Hearts", available from Torquere Books.

21 November 2013

"Getting" Busy

Our theme this month is "Getting Busy: Tips for Staying on the Writing Track Through the Holidays."

What's this "getting" busy stuff about, huh? I'm already busy AND IT'S NOT EVEN THANKSGIVING YET! I went to the Dollar Tree, usually my go-to source for decorations. This year, I've been trying to get festive since we moved into a bigger Chez Noony and have, like, space.

So, I walked into my favorite neighborhood haunt, actually my second favorite, the BIGGER one up on Howard Street, and WAS ASSAULTED BY RED AND GREEN EVERYWHERE! I MEAN EVERYWHERE! THERE WAS NOTHING TURKEY-RELATED IN THE WHOLE DAMN STORE!

So, I wandered the whole.damned.store. Not a fracking turkey anywhere, nothing fall related even. No leaves, no goofy kitschy things I could put on my turkey table to festive it up a bit. It's two weeks after Halloween, Mama, and Christmas is way, way the fuck off over there! And you're telling me we've collectively had a conniption fit and forgot the fricken' turkey dinner halfway between Halloween and Christmas??? What???

I decided to at least buy some more Thanksgiving cards, since we're not going to be visiting our family this year for dinner. I started a new day job that I love and haven't accumulated enough vacay to go. ~sob~ They did have cards, but then it hit me: when the frack am I gonna have time to fill these puppies out? And holy shit, did you realize Christmas is coming?

On the radio in the car on the way back home the lady said we need a new holiday, Hallow Thanksmasbowl. I damn near drove into a tree, though I'd be hard-pressed to say if I was crying or laughing or both. How pitiful is it that we have all our holidays mashed into this one eight week span of time where we run ourselves ragged, trying to get everything done and spend all this money on credit that come February, we're gonna hate ourselves for?

So, here's my decision. I'm rebelling. I'm not going to get all excited and hot-and-bothered about the holidays and I sure as shit am not going to focus on Christmas until its due time, thankyouverymuch. THANKSGIVING is up next, and I'm celebrating. Not because I think it's fun that my ancestors massacred millions of indigenous people. (Actually, half my ancestors. The other half were still in Ireland getting shit on by the English, but that's a different story.) (Which, incidentally, probably explains my push-pull relationship with myself, because half of me is the oppressor class and the other half is the oppressed. "Help, help! I'm being oppressed!" "Shut up, you." "See? Come see the violence inherent in the system." Is it sad that I suddenly understand Monty Python in a very personal way?) Now, where was I? Lack of turkey. Ah, yes.

So, be thankful, my friends. We have much abundance in our lives, particularly since we're reading and writing together on this great interweb of ours. The folks in the Philippines have seen first-hand what can happen in the blink of an eye and so can my fellow Illinoisans (if you're not aware of our home-grown hardships, 16 serious tornados decided to eat half our state and our neighbor, Indiana). Take a step back from the melee and focus on what's important.

Which, come to think of it, is pretty damned effective for keeping on the writing track, too. See? I can too stay on topic.

SQUIRREL!

Come check out our new release! This week, Torquere Press re-releases "Taking a Chance," our short contemporary M/M romance about Jay and Chance.

Doctor Jacob Davison has outgrown the hookups of his younger days and wants to settle down. When he’s abandoned by the side of the road, a leather-clad stranger stops and offers him a ride. Chance Renton is different from anyone Jay’s ever met. He’s caring and helpful, yet cynical and world-weary.

From the first moment of their shared motorcycle ride, an attraction begins to simmer between them. Between Jay’s ex-boyfriend showing up and the misconceptions they have about each other, does this relationship have a chance?

24 October 2013

Ghosts of the Past

Anonymous
Retrieved 10/24/13 from URL:
http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc36660.php

The ghosts of the past can haunt us in ways we don't even understand, coloring our reactions to current events with shades of decades gone by.

I don't often talk about Quincy, the town where I lived during middle- and high-school. When I left that place, I left and never looked back. Well, that's not entirely true; I did go back once and was sharply reminded of why I'd left in the first place. I haven't attended my reunions and no longer receive calls asking if I'm interested.

One of the memories I have is of the kitchen in the house where we lived on a seven acre horse farm. The story has always been, and I've always parroted it, that my mother was a phenomenal cook and could prepare any meal to perfection. Recently, my husband and I moved our family into a three-bedroom apartment, more than doubling our prior space and giving us a sumptuously large kitchen in which to cook. I had forgotten how much I like to cook.

The ghosts came back to haunt me after my best friend left, having come to help me move and settle us into the new place. I stared at the kitchen in shock, because it was mine, and because I could cook anything I wanted in it. But who was I to cook? Wasn't that my mother's purview?

Then it hit me. My father is the one that tells the story of my mother, elevated now to the status of legend in the kitchen. But I lived with my mother too, for eighteen long years, and there's nothing wrong with my memory that a little "listening to" wouldn't fix.

See, here's the thing: the stories that are told about us, haunt us. Good, bad, ugly, beautiful, heart-rending - it doesn't matter. If the story isn't our own, then it's not our truth. I'm not saying my father would deliberately lie about my mother, though there would be plenty of reason. She suffered from mental illness most of her life and the two of us were isolated on that ranch after my father left. We spent eight long years together in that house, and five bedrooms on seven acres isn't nearly enough room to run if you need to.

As I re-learn how to cook now, as an adult, I am startled by the realization that my mother wasn't a really good cook - for me. She was famous for her New York Cheese Cake, but I never tasted it, not once in my life, because she refused to make it as being "too fattening." I spent all of fifth grade eating frozen dinners because she was out in the evening at the bar. I grew fond of Lean Cuisine, though I wrote them when one of the dinners didn't come out very well and was a little burnt. I received eight fifty-cent coupons in the mail from the company, apologizing and begging me to try them again - eight! That was a fortune to my young eyes, all mine, and all to be spent on Lean Cuisine. I didn't like Chicken Cordon Bleu, and have never once eaten it since I left home at eighteen. But fancy meals? My mother stopped cooking holiday meals when I was eighteen because she didn't want to make fattening food. I knew how to make ramen and cups-o-lentils, but couldn't boil water for an egg or make bread.

I don't think that the Story of Mom vs. my memory of her are necessarily at odds. They're simply memories my father has and the way he tells the story to himself of his life. The way to vanquish those ghosts, I've found, is to learn to tell our own stories. By doing so, they cease to become ghosts and become our own bright memories that tell us the story of ourselves. In doing so, the irony is my mother becomes more real, more three-dimensional, in my mind. She becomes a person, and no longer a ghost.

But I still won't eat Chicken Cordon Bleu.

--
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
- E.E. Cummings

The Chicagoland Shifters series:
Book 1 BURNING BRIGHT, available from Samhain Publishing.
Book 2 TIGER TIGER, available from Samhain Publishing. An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Persis Chronicles:

Check out EMERALD FIRE, available from Torquere Books.

Check out "Seeking Hearts", available from Torquere Books.

26 September 2013

‘Dem Bones, ‘Dem Bones…

I started to type the title for my post and the theme to “Bad Boys” came into my head. ‘Dem bones, ‘dem bones, whatchoo gonna do? Whatchoo gonna do when dey come fo’ you… Our theme next month is releasing our ghosts through writing and I couldn’t resist posting to that a little early. It feels Octoberish in my part of the States right now anyway, so here we go.

Many, many words have been penned about memoir, personal writing, journaling, keeping a diary, and a host of other ways to say the same thing: meeting ourselves on the page. I read once that journaling is the closest we come to being in the moment, except that it’s still at one remove because we’re talking about the moment and not literally being in it. (Sit with that thought a moment, it’s rather Zen but I think is a good point to ponder.) So how the hell do we do that?

One of my favorite books for getting into the moment on the page is by Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones. In it, she gives a series of essays and exercises to guide us in getting in touch with ourselves on the page and for getting into the moment. It amounts to getting out of our own way and quieting the censor, that voice that says, “That’s not how you spell censor!”

Rather than worrying about how we’re writing, we write and let the words flow out of us like the breath. When we breathe, we don’t worry about how we’re breathing, it just happens automatically. When we start to speak to someone, we open our mouths and the words flow out of us – we don’t think about how to breath to form speech, how to shape our mouths, where to put our tongue, or any of that. For most of us it’s simply an automatic process. We speak, simple as that.

I remember the first time I picked up Ms. Goldberg’s book. I was living in Mount Shasta at the time. I worked in a bookstore/coffee house and my official story was, “I was on sabbatical to write books.” That’s also the literal truth, though I wouldn’t have put such fancy language around it. I wanted to write books with every fiber of my being but, unfortunately, there’s not a book-writing tree from which we can go pick fruit and BAM! a book results. It’s a lot of hard work and there’s a lot of “stuff” in the way: chiefly, that censor I talked about above. Ms. Goldberg’s words practically floated off the page and hit me between the eyes: try filling one notebook a month.

One notebook a month? Is she nuts? Crazy? Cracked? Wrong?

Nope. She’s pretty much on the ball with that one, as I discovered over the months after reading her book and fighting with the exercises and learning, word by word, page by page, to get over myself and just write.

What about you? What’s your favorite tool for getting onto the page?

--
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
- E.E. Cummings

The Chicagoland Shifters series:
Book 1 BURNING BRIGHT, available from Samhain Publishing.
Book 2 TIGER TIGER, available from Samhain Publishing. An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Persis Chronicles:Check out EMERALD FIRE, available from Torquere Books.
Check out "Seeking Hearts", available from Torquere Books.

Check out COOK LIKE A WRITER , available from Barnes and Noble.

My links: Blog | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | LinkedIn | Pandora
Knoontime Knitting: Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Ravelry
Noon and Wilder links: Blog | Website | Facebook
The Writer Zen Garden: The Writers Retreat Blog | Forum | Facebook | Twitter
Team Blogs: Nightlight | Nightlight FB Page | Beyond the Veil | BtV FB Page | LGBT Fantasy Fans and Writers | LGBTFFW FB Page
Publishers: Samhain Publishing | Torquere Press

29 August 2013

Moving and Other Swearwords

We called the moving company and moved the bulk of our stuff last Friday.

We still are not moved in. Here's a taste:

13 windows need to be replaced because the prior tenant, the owner's son, let them rot and didn't say anything
1 of the 2 air conditioners is missing because said son took it with him despite it belonging to the landlord (i.e. his parents)
2 of the 2 air conditioners was "totally fine" with a filthy filter. We went to FOUR different stores to try and replace it, but a) it's not made anymore, b) it's not a model that should be washed out and re-used, and c) the frame is broken in 3 places and held together with duct tape. (Is this where I point out the air conditioner having ducts is not the same thing as using duct tape to repair a broken plastic filter frame? No? Spoilsport.)
We ran said air conditioner. It made a loud rattle and stopped working. Horrified, we turned it off immediately and waited. After all, we'd been assured it's "perfectly fine".
We turned it on again, only to have it fall silent, except for a high pitched whine, and started blowing hot air.
The next day, there was a heat wave and the apartment's temperature didn't fall below 96. My oldest cat started laying around, panting. I seriously considered re-traumatizing him and stuffing him back in the carrier to take him downstairs to the old place so he could at least live in air conditioning.
Today, the new air conditioner arrived.
The installer threatened not to install it because the window frame is rotted (surprise).
He figured out a way around it and then went to install it. Oops. The landlady told him the wrong amperage for the outlet. She tried to get him to set it up anyway but he (rightly) refused as a safety issue and will get the correct one.
Oh, and the old unit? It had a bird's nest in it. AND it's sitting in my dining room on the drop cloth we put there while we're painting. He'll remove it. After the new one comes. And tomorrow starts the holiday weekend.

Next time somebody suggests we move to a bigger place? Shoot me. Even if it's me saying it. KTHXBI.

01 August 2013

Freedom and Hope

Joyous Lughnasad to you! As we head from July into August, I know the theme of freedom was last month's but felt compelled to talk about it again, as well as its companion, hope. I am in the midst of extricating myself from a toxic work situation and am struggling with the idea of freedom. "Do I have to put up with this?" "Is this harassment?" These questions make us doubt our sanity and wonder if we're being drama queens, or if the situation we're in is really that crazy.

What worked for me today was to take a long walk. I brought my camera with me and took some shots of my walk, until my battery died and I just walked and existed with the trail. There is a Latin phrase, "Solvitur ambulando," which means "It is solved by walking." Many writers before me belonged to the peripatetic school, as Julia Cameron so poetically calls it. Today, I put that to the test and, to my surprise, it worked.

Take a look (you can click on the picture to see it in a larger view):

This is deadly nightshade, Atropa belladonna, which is a commonly-growing weed in the Chicagoland area. It can cause contact dermatitis and is poisonous. It is a relative of the tomato family.
©2013 A. Catherine Noon, All Rights Reserved

I love the appearance of nightshade, but I'm allergic to it. I get contact dermatitis, which is a fancy way of saying my skin turns red and is itchy and burns. Yuck. But they're sure pretty, huh? All sorts of colors that look yummy. DON'T. They aren't yummy at all.

Hmm. Metaphor, anyone?

This one caught my eye and I have no idea what it is. I love the textures and want to create them in yarn.

It didn't rain on me, either. My walk today has a quality of magic to it, a soft and Zen kind of magic that is subtle yet profound.

In closing, I'll leave you with a Zen Koan (a teaching story):

Chou-Chu fell down in the snow and yelled, "Help me up! Help me up!" A Zen monk came and laid down beside him. Chou-Chu got up and went away.

--
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
- E.E. Cummings

The Chicagoland Shifters series:
Book 1 BURNING BRIGHT, available from Samhain Publishing.
Book 2 TIGER TIGER, available from Samhain Publishing. An All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Persis Cycle:Check out EMERALD FIRE, available from Torquere Books.

Watch for "Seeking Hearts", coming soon from Torquere Books.

Check out "Taking a Chance", available from Torquere Books.

01 July 2013

Catch a Tiger by the Tale

Catch a Tiger by the Tale Blog Tour

TT | 07 | 2K13 | 01

Welcome to the first blog post of the Catch a Tiger by the Tale Blog Tour, celebrating the release on Tuesday, July 23rd, of our second book the Chicagoland Shifters series, TIGER TIGER. We're excited about the chance to continue the series and we wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of our readers and writing friends for the support and guidance during the process of brining this book to completion.

One of the hardest things about writing a novel, I've found, is sustaining the creative output for the long haul. It's a little like weight loss or, I've heard, training for a marathon (I've participated in weight loss efforts but haven't run a marathon). Each day brings its challenges in the form of one's day job, family responsibilities, and plain and simple exhaustion. Time management skills that one learned in school suddenly become all-important because without it, we can lose entire weeks watching television or farting around on the internet with no word count to show for it.

If I were to pick one of my favorite tools, it would be the "30/30" method. Here's how it works:

You need a digital timer, ideally. If you don't have one, you can purchase one at retailers like Target in the kitchen section. If you have a smart phone, you can use the alarm function on it.

Set the timer for 30 minutes and, during that time, brainstorm all the things that you want to get done - whether or not they'll fit into your day, regardless of whether you want to do them - just get everything in one place to start. And don't worry - you can add and delete stuff on this master task list as you need to.

When the timer dings, or rings, or sings at you, or buzzes, or any of a hundred other alerts, stop. Step back and get yourself some coffee, tea, or ice water and relax. Set the timer for another 30 minutes and this is your "Off" time - time for you to fart around online or play video games or whatever other relaxing task you enjoy (try knitting).

When the timer dings, focus on one thing on your list. The idea here is to pick the most important - "important" as in, time-sensitive or something you don't get to focus on or, worse, procrastinate over (i.e., your writing). Don't worry about doing more than 30 minutes. All we're after right now is a focused 30 minutes - that's easy, right? You don't have to write the whole novel in one sitting; just write what will fit in 30 minutes.

Ding! Turn the timer off and relax for 30. Have a snack. Read a book. Do something rewarding. In this way, you can while away an entire weekend day and at the end of it, have a lot to show for it!

What's your favorite productivity tool?

And, so you're not dying with suspense, here is the blurb for TIGER TIGER for you to enjoy. We hope you like reading it as much as we did writing it!

Chicagoland Shifters, Book 2

Veterinary trauma surgeon and animal empath Sasha Soskoff has found everything he ever wanted with his new partners Neal, Steve and Carlos. Life feels as safe and secure as it can be among a group of ex-Marine tiger shifters. Until a homeless man is found, gruesomely mauled and murdered, near Neal’s BDSM club.

When it’s determined a rogue tiger did the deed, the jaguars’ accusing eyes turn toward Sasha’s lovers. The precarious balance of peace tips dangerously toward war.

Neal knows damned well none of his tigers committed the crime. Someone must be in Chicago without his knowledge or permission, and they’d better find him fast before uncertainty and conflict rip the tight-knit band apart from the inside.

As Sasha struggles to heal the stress fractures forming among his tiger family, he begins to wonder if his dreams of a home, and love, were too good to be true. And it’s precisely that moment the killer strikes at the heart of the tiger clan—Sasha himself.

TIGER TIGER, available from Samhain Publishing July 23rd.