I Don't Cook

Not if I can help it, and my family prefers it that way. Seriously, I suck as a domestic goddess, hate to clean, never think about decorating, and like I said before, I don't cook.

There are a few things I can manage to throw into a pan or crockpot and have turn out fairly decent, but my family gets tired of eating the same things over and over and over. My mother once made the remark that I can cook three meals a day...frozen, canned, and take out...lololol.

I tried to make black beans and rice today. I love black beans and rice at a local restaurant, so I thought I'd try my hand. Found a recipe on the Internet, got the ingredients and put them together with keen anticipation. Now I cannot even stand the smell of the mess...it went out to feed the raccoons--if they'll even deign to eat it.

I invited friends over for dinner once years and years ago. Got everything ready to go and thought I was doing pretty good, until I carried the dish to the table, pulled off the lid, and gazed in horror at a huge roach lying dead on top of the broccoli. How in the hell did I not see the stupid thing while I was cooking? It was totally gross...the kind of eeeewwwwww moment that stays with you forever. Needless to say, we got take out.

And then there was the time I grew maggots in the sink. Really, a great plate of maggots. Now, granted they didn't grow on something I cooked, they somehow appeared on a plate of cat food I left in the sink for a couple of days. The smell was horrendous. My husband was so totally not a help, he went gagging into the bathroom, not to come out for an hour. And even after grinding them all down the disposal and adding plenty of bleach, I had this reoccurring terror that one day I would go into the kitchen and see a ten foot long thing come crawling out of the drainpipe.

Is it any wonder I'm traumatized? My poor children have grown up on whatever I have managed to bring home already cooked or pre-packaged and ready to nuke. No, I'm not proud of it, but a girl's got to know her limitations. Hi, I'm Gia, and I am a take-out food addict. I admit it, and I don't think I can change.

So if I ask you over for dinner--be afraid...be very afraid.

The Fallow Time

First of all, let me apologize to my fellow authors for not being as active on the blog as I should, but then again, that is the very reason I am writing this particular post.

I have turned off my chat-loops, cut out most of my e-mail, and have done the barest minimum I could get by with for several weeks now. I have been a virtual hermit (get it), taking a very much needed break from anything that even remotely resembles writing or promotion. I have hit the fallow time, that point in any endeavor when progress is slowed to a halt, the creative fields are iced under, and the seeds to be planted in the future wait dry and lifeless until the proper time.

As with all things, even our lives have differing seasons. The trick is to know what they are, and how to honor the gift each season brings--a difficult thing to do in this modern world of go, go, go, go, go. But to fight the seasons is to fight nature herself, a thing that even our most advanced technologies have yet to master. Nature will win in the end. She always has, she always will.

I haven't written a word for nearly two months. After the first week, I quite bashing myself over the head, let go of my guilt, and looked around for something to fill the time. Then I saw my poor neglected house. Sad, doesn't begin to describe the state of my humble abode. The floor tiles were cracked, the curtains and bookcases covered with dust, the laundry baskets filled to overflowing--and I hate to admit it, but when I reached the bottom of them, I found clothes I hadn't seen in over a year. Gah!

I hauled out my entire wardrobe, sifted through the piles, and sent half of it to the yard sale to benefit the local animal shelter. I can't tell you how many items I found with the tags still on that I had never even worn...you know, the things you buy on sale, well, because they were on sale. I ordered new carpet and had it installed...which required me having to pack up everything in the living room, again, quite a few items made it into giveaway boxes. I painted my front door a hot shade of Feng Shui red and added brand new gold curtains!

I cleaned out the pantry (you do not want to know how old some of the cans of food were), and bought a new comforter for the bed. I have read wildly and madly, book after book after book, replacing the well of imagination that I have recently let shamefully run dry.

And I have come to the conclusion that I am OK. I am well, and whole, and nearly ready to start anew. My house hums with its new-found elegance, my sons smile and invite all their friends over to see, and I feel as if I have cleaned out a part of myself along with the bulging closets.

Fallow times happen as the wheel turns round its axis. But there is beauty waiting, if one can slow down enough to find it.

Gia

WRITING WITH INTENT

I am a self-help nut. Give me a good how to book and I can get lost for days. Some of my favorite inspirational authors and speakers include Julia Cameron, Rick Jarrow, and Caroline Myss. I like nothing better than discovering new ways to make my intents known to all the powers that be, and see if anything wonderful happens.

OK, the truth is that wonderful things don’t always happen, but I still believe whole-heartedly in the process. I keep a daily journal (mostly daily…lolol) as Julia Cameron urges in her The Artist’s Way. My sons call it my bitch book. And I will admit that some days that is all that goes in it, my daily whines and rails against the banality of my life. A writer’s life is far from glamorous, especially for those of us just starting our careers, consisting of long long hours spent alone, punctuated with short bursts of either despair or elation when reviews come out, or the occasional personal appearance when necessary.

I have to find a way to meet my daily goals as best I can, and keep myself motivated during those times it seems like far too much work for the results. So I write down my intents.

We’ve all heard this story, how Jim Carey wrote a check to himself for one million dollars, and actually cashed it ten years or so later. He intended to make that much money, and the check was a promise to himself that he would eventually achieve the wealth and fame he craved.

Now I am not saying that I intend to make millions (but if that is your goal, I urge you to go for it) but I do intend to write x-amount of words per day, edit such and such scene, or re-read and revise. A daily list of intentions is a great way to get going.

Here’s how to start. First of all, I write down my emotional intentions for the day. Hug my children in the morning, tell my husband I love him, send my mother an e-mail. Do I need to be calmer because I will be waiting in line at the BMV, or dealing with a friend that can try my patience on the best of days? Do I need to offer blessings and healing for the planet (a big one for me always) and take another step in my attempts to green-up my life? Buy a new florescent lightbulb…turn my thermostat to a more energy efficient setting?

Now, how much do I need to write today? What do I need to accomplish in the next week, month, or year to achieve my goals? Write it all down. In fact, take out a sheet of paper and write down as many goals as you can think of. No matter how big, no matter how small. What do you want for your life? Do you even know? Kind of like the new movie The Bucket List…what things do you want to do before you kick the bucket?

You might be surprised at your answers, at the least, you will learn a great deal about yourself as you see your needs and desires in a tangible and readable form. Tuck this big list away and look at it every few months or so, crossing off those things you have achieved. Trust me, you will be surprised at how much you actually do, whether you realize it or not.

Ready…set…write, write, write.

January 29 New Releases

This week, we have 3 paranormal or fantasy releases with a trio of *amazing* covers, so I uploaded them all! You may see some familiar names in this mix:

"A Spell for Susannah" by Jody Wallace
Genre: Fantasy Romance
ISBN: 1-59998-872-0
Length: Plus Novel
Price: 6.50
Publication Date: January 29, 2008
Cover art by Christine Clavel

A not-ready-for-Disney fairy tale.

***
"In the Shadow of the Selkie" by M. A. duBarry
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Red Hots!
ISBN: 1-59998-874-7
Length: Novella
Price: 3.50
Publication Date: January 29, 2008
Cover art by Vanessa Hawthorne

In the dangerous world of the selkie underground, a selkie vampire king and a mortal woman join forces to fight the queen of darkness that would destroy them all.

***
"Princess of Thieves" by Gia Dawn
Genre: Fantasy Romance, Red Hots!
ISBN: 1-59998-018-5
Length: Novel
Price: 5.50
Publication Date: January 29, 2008
Cover art by Anne Cain

Cross a lawyer with a tale-spinning thief and throw in three meddling fairy godmothers. Result? Magical mayhem, hidden evils and dangerous desire! Demons of Dunmore, Book 3

***

Jody W.
A SPELL FOR SUSANNAH--Available now from Samhain Publishing
http://www.jodywallace.com/ * http://meankittybox.blogspot.com/