Pardon me...

Pardon the sudden step out of blogger. Upon watching the movie, "Stranger than Fiction" with CJ the other day I got hit with a unicorn of motivation. My hands couldn't keep off the computer keys and a tale unfolded in my mind. No it's not for my zombie novel, but a new piece. The zombies running around in my head will not be forgotten just put aside for a lil while.

I love new projects...The possibilities are endless. You'll be sitting writing for an hour than suddenly two hours and the page count magically racks up. It's intoxicating and I want to be drunk with it. I'll definitely tell more details soon....

I'll be back tomorrow....

Messed-up Love Triangle Zombie Novel on the Horizon…Watch out for it one day…

(One of my cherry notebooks circa last year)

Ah writing…I miss you. I know I’m writing right now but I see my blog as more of a Pg-13 diary I have that showcases my randomness each day with a few R-rated twists. What I’m really missing is writing my novel and short stories. When I began this blog I had a lil cherry notebook I wrote EVERYTHING down in, including my back-seated zombie novel. I’m not blaming CJ, my job, my last health-reason surgery or the condo ordeal but there were a lot of factors that took higher priority to me than a quirky messed up love triangle zombie novel. I even had to give up my Writers’ Group because I was just too busy and too tired.

But I found one of the cherry books the other day and brushed the dust softly off of it. It was details of the ending months dealing with the Mess, my Williams-Sonoma demo notes, my blog post ideas, my dreams, and the novel. Finding the last sentence in a chapter barely finished hit me hard. The zombies were attacking and then empty space. I have a problem finishing things and this too fell by the waist line. I can barely finish a song on the radio without changing it…but all the work that was done should not be just lines in a notebook no one will read but me.

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Later in the month I will be returning to my Writer’s Group. It has been almost a year since I stopped going. Yikes! I sound like I’m in a confession here, lol. I’ll admit that I’ve been a lil hesitate to even set foot in that library where the meetings were because I was embarrassed for ditching it. What if I ran into the director of the club and she was upset at me for leaving or the answer I gave for leaving wasn’t believable enough or what if they wouldn’t let me rejoin? But the fear was for nothing. My mom spoke to the lady and she said they would love to have me back. 

Of course there is tons of zombie/vampire/monster stories now but why not have one more with an attempt of an original twist? I’m staying away from the vampire deal tho…that has just been completely overdone. But zombies? Well, I think it’s worth a shot.  The Writer’s Club will hopefully give me a bit of a boost of motivation with small deadlines and some feedback from an array of different people. It should be an interesting experience this summer.

Any Writers Out There? Any Advice on how to Keep up with a Writer’s Group? 

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Benefits of being in a Writer's Group...

Well today I had a lil bit of sunshine in my cloudy days. For those of you who don't know I'm actually currently in a Writer's Group in a local library to help me write my stories. I always wrote small lil stories or wrote in a diary but when the opportunity to join a Writer's Group came up, I ran for it. Basically we write 5-6 pages of our stories, submit it to the group email where the members can read it before the meeting, & then in the meeting we discuss the pieces. It's been more rewarding then I can describe.

One of my problems with writing, which I sometimes fear in this blog, is that somehow I don't get my point across properly. I mean I know what I want to say in my head but making sure I say it clear enough that people can follow & understand it is what I need help on in the group. My major piece is a Zombie Novel. I'm hoping that a panel of people who don't know me personally can pick up on what I'm trying to write. So far...it's been an absolute success.


Now...Information for You Readers that might Help you out!

This week's Writer's Group meeting was a special workshop entitled: "Writing for Local Publications Workshop" staring author Tom Reily & publisher Phil Bunton. Yes, the workshop was mainly about writing articles for magazines & newspapers but I learned so much more tonight.

1.) Article writing is a good way to write a short piece that might have some financial benefits & there is tons of jobs for article writers on career builder or craigs list.

2.)www.publishamerica.com is a website where you can self-publish your novel. They will bind it for you, make copies, let you pick cover art & have deals on selling you copies of it. It's an easy way to make your novel official.

3.)Find something you know a lil about, research it, then write about it. This way you already have an interest so it might motivate you to keep at it.

4.)Keep writing...Even if its a laundry list. Write as much as you can so you are always writing.

5.)Be prepared for negative criticism & rejection. He couldn't stress more how important it is to keep on going...

Keep on writing...Keep on going each day. That's what I'm doing. I'm going to keep writing & keep going. One day at a time. I recommend finding a Writer's Group if you can in your local library if you have the interest. It has helped me & I can't wait for next's months meeting. =)

I'm trying to keep myself busy & this week is just what the doctor ordered. Thank you everyone for your comments. I need the support & I thank all of you.

And then the writing begins...

Firstly I got to say that back in high school I was the kid who just wrote one final paper, did spell check, and then handed in the paper. I really didn’t edit much. Not even college. I did the assignment, counted my blessings and gave it to the teacher. Well that doesn’t work when you’re writing a novel. It doesn’t work at all.

I bit the bullet and started writing. Ironically I snuck into my old college computer lab with some Princess & the Frog fruit snacks to work on it today. It’s a quiet space to work and there’s a working printer. I fought the waves of randomness and tried not to go off tangent and just sit and write enough for my next week Writer’s Workshop deadline. Omg, if I sent in my first draft of my first few pages I would have been laughed back to grade school. Spell check is NOT what it used to be!!!! However “geez” is apparently a real word. Lol. Next thing we know, “lol” will be a real word too. Now I have a Math degree and an Engineering degree, and that totally does not equal English + Grammar Extraordinaire. So I had to do a lot of editing.


For all you bloggers who are writers and have gotten pieces published and have gone through editing a whole novel I have to give you a round of applause. It took me 3 hours to basically edit 3 pages. It looks like my old English teachers had a field day with this!! But I’m a beginner. This is my real first big writing project. However when I began to write new stuff after the editing was done I felt as tho I completed something. It was tangible, I could feel it, I could touch it, and I could read it. It brightened up my spirits. Also what’s so cool about writing is there is a beautiful creation called the backspace & the insert key. You can add or take away parts. I’m loving it.

Ohhh what a tangled web I weave. I am complex. I strive for simplicity but it always seems that I'm playing chess with everything. One right move, one pawn gone, one wrong move, and then one queen takes the king. There are so many things on my plate but it is making me grow as a person. I’m still 5’5” but my mind is an elephant that could fill a room.


This week I've been trying to show you guys a lil more about me than my ridicolous relationships. The writing, learning the computer programming, making a doll, and there's one more thing that I'm trying to learn as well. This was one of my New Years Resolutions. Learn French. My first language is English and yes I have a very New York/New Jersey accent. How you doin? lol. But in the job world and just for my own pleasure I want to know how to speak to the lovely people I plan on meeting one day. I took Latin for 6 years in high school so hopefully it'll help me here.

Do any of you speak any other languages?? Was it hard to learn?
One thing...its really hard not to sound like a New Yorker while your speaking French. I love the Sex & the City ladies but they don't talk like New Yorkers at all. =P. Practice makes perfect tho.

I'm going to leave you all with a French phrase that I've grown very fond of: "La guerre e finir." Translation: "The War is Over". I'm going to get back to my writing. I'm almost done for next week's deadline!! Wish me luck! =)

Oh Cherry Notebook...What am I going to do with you??

In my blog I've used my lil cherry notebook to symbolize the posts where I talk about writing. The writing I do besides blogging. Writing with a pen not hitting buttons. Writing a story that I hope maybe someday will find a lil spot on someone's bookshelf somewhere out there. Woa that sentence has a lot of "Some's". lol. Someday....hmmm...why don't I try to make that someday actually today?

There's so many novels, stories, articles, periodicals, & photos with quotes...It's been done. My goal is to try to be original. I know that's hard. But think of this way. Just changing your routine in one small way can open a whole new life of possibilities. I'm writing a zombie novel. Zombies have been done. Yeah, I know. But what if you made them act like a tinker toy that is low on its batteries instead of a raving lunatic?? What if you made the main character not a big-boobed running teenage girl who is just trying to start her film career?? What if she was a girl who just happened to be going to her car with the Christmas presents & when she saw people roaming in the parking lot she dashed into her Honda so she was safe from the attack? Or it's the world after the invasion...What really would happen?? How would you go back to your lives if you survived?????

Brainstorming. It's so UNDER-rated. It's possible but I imagine its pretty hard to just sit down with a deadline staring at you & a blank word document smirking. You gotta think it out. You gotta take the time to write & put your effort into it. You gotta make it your own. Give it your brand. Make your stamp like your blogs. =)

However even after brainstorming it can be a bit of bitch to sit & write. Things start popping up that make your brain fuzzy. That's why I made the above picture of me blurry. I'm a little stuck on the names of the characters. Names. It should be easy to come up with a name right? I looked at a baby name book for ideas but hmmm...I want a punchy name for my main character that flows...that when someone one day is telling another person to read it the name of the character will roll off their tongue. Also I think my problem is I read too many romance novels. lol. I'm picking extravagant names like Cole, Gabriel, Xavier, Rhett, Copper, Jack, Bartholmeu. Or like Chastity, Roberta, Katrina, Victoria...lol. I think I need to start a lil smaller. I think I'll figure this out tomorrow. See there's so much that goes into writing...But I'm enjoying every minute of it. =)

I'm looking forward to the snow tomorrow because I want a day off. lol. I live in Southern NY state near New York City & we are supposed to get about a 12" of snow tomorrow. If I have the day off Pretty please) I want to clean, then write. It's my turn next Writer's Group in 2 weeks to showcase some of my zombie novel project. You can't just keep saying your going to write it. It has to come alive. lol. Kinda like a zombie. =P

Thank you everyone for your comments on my last post. I will make the day special. =) I have to go prepare for tomorrow's snow. I'll have to put my cherry notebook on my desk & pick it up again tomorrow. Ohh the possibilities of when that someday will come...the possibilities....

Dreary Day = Zombie Novel Worktime.

What a more appropriate time to work on my novel then a day where the sun just can't seem to shine through the clouds. For those of you who don't know I'm working on writing a novel. I even attend a Writer's Group that meets every two weeks. It's a process that is still in its beginning stages but it's something I am thoroughly looking forward to doing in this new year.

so this important question came to my mindless thoughts today as a typed away at work. How does one suddenly just find the time to write a novel when they are not a professional writer & have a full-time job?? Well it's not exactly simple. I almost panicked a lil bit the other day that I had bitten off too much that I can chew by joining this writing group & setting deadlines for myself to get things done. Yeah I will freak out from time to time about things. But then I realized something that might seem to be staring me right in the face. This blog. I'm actually writing right now. Writing to tell you my thoughts, my adventures, & my randomness. I'm doing it. I don't have to change myself to become the writer I want to be, I just have to continue writing.

I'm starting to view blogging as a test to help my writing process. A test I'm glad to take every single day. So from the comments I love to receive I'm seeing if I Was I able to write clearly enough so everyone could understand what I was trying to say? I do re-read my posts a few time & backspace a whole lot to make sure they make sense. I have to now transfer this to my notepad & of course add in a few zombies here and there.

You always need to add a lil zombie here and there. hehe. Ironically some of my inspiration for the novel is watching the non-morning people that walk into my office building everyday. Also the drunken streets at 3am of a neighboring town where there is about 10 bars in one long strip. (Yeah, I know thats a lil ridicolous, I'm glad I'm not a heavy drinker.) Watching the people twitch awake or fight back the drunkness have engendered a different type of zombie to me thats not so, "Roar I need flesh now, Roar" that almost every single zombie story has. I want to try and do something different.

My zombies will be the final result of a drug gone wrong. No, not like movie "I am Legend". This drug wasn't trying to cure cancer but just the common cold. Immunity is my key word that drove the world to experiment & engineer new drugs which turns the living into these kinda wind-up toy dead-like people that when their brain decides to work they will seem to twitch & appear to be trapped in whatever memory their mind decided to throw at them. Therefore I am left with an infinite of possibilities of what to do. Also being in a real hospital for gall bladder surgery showed me how an emergency room worked. That will be definitely a highlight too.

Oh how I wish I could write about bouncing bears & a time-less love story that will capture everyone's hearts. However my mind just doesn't work that way. Oh well. "I myself am strange and unusual." - Beetlejuice. lol. So after posting this I will be finally starting to actually put the words on paper. It has begun....

You and me could write a bad romance...

Well here I am writing in my own lil world with my lil tiger writing buddy. Remind me to change my calendar to December? I usually forget to do that til at least half way through the month.

So here's a question for you. When was the last time any of you sat and wrote something out with a pen or pencil that wasn't a check or a school assignment? If you asked me this about 3 months ago I'd have to really think about my answer.

I love to write still in notebooks, especially in script. I remember doing worksheets after worksheets of penmanship back in school years ago. I guess now it's a dying art. It's so easy to just write an email, talk on aim, or Facebook. But I think how people write shows you some of their inner character. No two people write things the same way, making it a unique quality that everybody has inside themselves. That's why I've paid a lot of money for famous people's autographs. hehe. Many of the best novels & stories of the world were written without computers. Charles Dickens wrote allllllll his books out by hand, AND didn't have a ball-point pen. I honesty can't imagine.


What brought on this question was my Writers's Group. It is going to be a sorta Workshop for writers who need feedback. I've mentioned it before & this was my second meeting. I can't wait to read one of my stories to them to get feedback. This group is also helping me write my zombie novel. From my last post about this I've organized a lot about it. I have a few key scenes written out that I just can't wait to piece together. The group's people are very friendly, very appropriately opinionated, & give such sound advice. It's giving me a push, that I so need in several things in my life right now. You gotta hold a baby up to teach them how to walk. The mama bird has to push the baby bird out of the nest one day or it'll never fly.

On the back covers of novels there is usually a clip of the book to give you an idea of the novel. Well here's my opening lines for my back cover about a girl after the zombie war. What do you think?

"Photos..money...rolaids..pennies...post-its...loose staples...stamps...one earring...cds...ugh, useless junk. Bills never to be paid...check books...credit cards. Ah...that's what I was looking for. She said that was my job; to clean up the mess. All these cards, all these names, and all the cancelling I'm going to have to do. Sigh. I think it's starting to really hit home what has truly happened. The reality of it. The truth of what those extra footsteps has done to this world. My side hurts & it probably always will to remind me of that day. The day when they could not be controlled anymore & everything just fell apart."
To do this novel, I'm basically drawing from life experiences. No, I've never been in a zombie attack BUT I've worked in an office that was going out of business where each day there'd be fewer and fewer people working there...and people just left their belongings in their desks after they left. The reason? I will never know. Drawing on memories & making up a story is something I've been looking forward to, so I'm going to working on it, lil by lil. I dreamt of being a writer one day...well now I'm going to try.

All you creative minds out there...remember to pick up a pen one day. It may feel weird at first cuz your used to typing, but do it. You might re-find an enjoyable art.

Title is from Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance".

"Even though you're the only one I see
If you ask, I'll cut you free..."
- Grizzly Bear, "Slow Life"

And then I wrote...

I mentioned in my last post that I joined a Writer's group. Maybe it will be my motivation to get the ball rolling and actually write down some of my ideas. A friend told me one day, "Write everything down even if it's bad or good, just make sure you write it somewhere." I think just maybe I'm going to start listening to that advice.

When I was little I wanted to be a writer. I'm not sure where the idea came from, I can't remember, but I used to write lil stories. Perhaps it sprouted from my addiction to reading when I was little, ya know the "Goosebumps" series, The "R.L. Stine" stories, and the "Sweet Valley High series. I once wrote a story about a "Homework Man" who would get you if you didn't finish your homework. It was cheesy but I still have it somewhere in my clutter. Writing in this blog has made me remember how much fun it is to write; To build a story, fill in the characters & plot, and enjoy the result. I've never had a writing deadline, but I can imagine it would drain out a bit of the fun & creativity because your no longer writing for yourself & future fans, but your writing for your editor and that must suck. For now, it'll just be for me & whoever would want to read it.

Here are some ideas I've been batting around:

I have written one short story about a girl who finds herself mesmerized with a man she sees in an elevator one New Year's night, and had no idea who this stranger was & how much he was to affect her life. All she knew was she had to deliver the box to a man named James...and she did deliver that box and he changed her life forever. I think I might post it here at a later time.

My big project that has been slowly unraveling in my head is actually a zombie novel. It's more of a Post-zombie war book, through the eyes of girl who is the head of the "Reconstruction Committee" at the first day back of a real job. In almost every zombie movie & book there is absolute chaos, but statistics show that at least 1% of the human population will be unaffected by natural disaster so there will be hope and someone has to clean up this mess. Of course nothing is that simple. It will have some crazy lil quirks like if you find a zombie and turn it into the government you will receive a tax refund because the government isn't allowed more than a certain number of zombies to study per given month. It is a work in progress...and I'm hoping the writers group will push me to get it on paper.


In this spare time of mine before I go back to work on Monday I'm going to try and write some stuff down. My cherry lil notebook I write in for my Williams Somona demos, that I look forward to starting up again, is going to be my new best friend.

I told people this blog is random. =) I have alot of different things up my sleeves and like a magician I can't wait to pull another rabbit out of my hat.

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I wanted to take another minute of your time and thank Jennifer over at I know, right? for giving me my second award!!


Your such a doll!! I love it. It's actually motivated me to write more too!! Now I have to pass it on to 5 other bloggers. I'm not sure has been given this award in the past but I hope you don't mind getting it again.

A Walk in My Shoes
Childen of the 90's
The Constant Chill
The Diary of Self-Taught Visual Designer
Ocean Dreamers
I love reading your blogs each day & they bring a smile to my face. I hope everyone has a good night, and enjoy your writing. =)

Sneaky lil Enemies...

Now one would think that sitting home, doing nothing, and pretty much lying on your back would be fun? Right? Hell no! I'm bored very bored. However, a few sneaky lil enemies have surprisingly snuck up on me that, Omg I had to get out of the house!!!!

Here are my new found enemies:

1.) Fun-Sized Snack treats for future Halloween Trick or Treaters. Um yeah, I might have to go out and get MORE candy because you can't just eat one of those damn lil bagged treats of goodness. I'm addicted to the M&M Peanut ones. Who decided to call them, "Fun Sized" anyway?? It's not fun when I'm going to be on the treadmill when I'm better & spending more money to get more. lol.

2.) Lucky Charms Cereal. I ate a big box in 2 days. I have a bad habit of eating all the marshmallows in these sugary cereals and then kinda leaving the oat cereal behind. It just is too yummy.

3.) T.V. is a new found enemy of mine. I'm used to working from 9am-5pm Monday-Friday, so the amount of T.V. I do watch is minimal except for a few favorite shows. Well, to let you guys know I just have basic cable, so there is no HBO & all the millions of channels to chose from, ergo I'm stuck. THERE IS NOTHING ON DAY-TIME TV!!! Thank God for AMC, showing some horror movies or I would have been climbing the walls 4 days ago. I find it funny that talk shows try to be original as well as soap operas but let's face it, it's been done already and yes the guy will wind up being your long lost brother or that girl will have a brain tumor even tho she is having your husband's ex's kid's baby. lol.

4.) The phone. Every time your just about drifting off to sleep, Bam. You get that text or that call from someone trying to sell you a mortgage. I give up.

5.) Last but not least. Me. I've been kinda trapped in my house with my mind. It's basically been a marathon of "Oh I could have done this instead", "Omg I can't believe I've done that", "Woa that mess didn't even ask me if I needed anything?", "What if I tried this, maybe that'll work???" In all truth I've just given myself a big headache with no solutions, except things cannot go on as are & I need to use these last few days home to get my act in gear.

From all the above stuff, my mom thought it best that I joined her Writer's Group. There is a small group of very talented authors who come to a local library to get their work critiqued by a real audience. You can write a story but if you fail to execute it properly to readers and your message doesn't come out right, unfortunately a great story might be lost. We met tonight, and thankfully there was an elevator in the place so I didn't have to make the stairs. The incredibly nice host made me some tea, and it did make me feel better. It was nice to see completely different people in different periods of their lives commenting on each other's work. I can't wait til the next meeting where I'll maybe read something I've written myself.

What's odd about the Writer's Group is that it's in the library I used to go to as a little girl for story-time. Remember those days?? When the lady read the book to a group of kids and then showed us the picture before she turned the page? I remember being read, "James & the Giant Peach". hehe. It's just funny to me that I'm in the same place but now doing adult things. It's lil things that make you see how much you have grown up.

I over did it a little today, so I'm looking forward to step stooling my way into bed. I want to get better as quick as possible, but I have to wait and not push it. Til Tomorrow

Ohh & a word of advice for today. Keep the Halloween candy OUT OF REACH! BEWARE OF THE FUN-SIZED TREATS!!!

Just kidding. A serving size is actually 2 lil baggies so that's not too too bad. =P

Help I'm alive, my heart keeps beating like a hammer...

So I found this book that one of my mom's friend's gave me for my college graduation. It is Dr. Seuss's "Oh, the places you'll go." I had never read it. "The Cat in the Hat" was the big one when I was younger not this one. Well, I forgot to remember the message. I will go places, I will succeed, I will have motivation, and the sun will shine. And I can't let some fool bring me down. I'm sick of being just a faded memory and being treated like a secretary.


Today was one of those get up, drink a pot of coffee, go to work, come home, eat dinner, watch tv, and then go to bed days. But I added a dash of spice. I actually sat down and did a mini collage. I got out my lil book of latin phrases, my stamps, an old book I got from the library for a quarter and then some clipboard stamps. I originally had many ideas for this but I thought I would leave it small and simple. I might go back and add something else, but maybe later.


It's just a little girl lost in her thoughts.


Here's a closer look. I really like the blue hearts for some odd reason.


I love the big "AND" symbol.

It's simple, but it's a start. I actually feel good that I did something. =)

The phrases are in latin. I used to translate Latin very well back in high school. While doing this I was like Oh yeah I remember that maybe I should pick it up again. But then I thought oh if I know Latin the only one I could talk to would be the pope. That'd be akward as hell. lol.


Oh and I was telling a friend yesterday about a story idea I had about a diary of zombie who came back. I don't think that's ever been done. I told him about it and he actually told me that I should write it and he'd read it for me. His words struck a cord in me and I'm going to really start planning this out. People throw you curveballs that I just don't understand. But I'm going to get out my little cherry notebook and start writing down my ideas.

I'm starting to feel like a phoenix. I keep coming back from the ashes. I've died a hundred times...But you have to come back...some way.

I'm exhausted. I've been reading "The Time Traveler's Wife" non-stop. I can't wait to finish it and write about it. I'm going to go read some more and wait for the glue to dry on my collage.


"We'll put them all to sleep, until Rose awakens." - Flora