Life of A Writer

Last week I told you about Balderdash, a great board game for writers. After I discussed the game, I gave you a question from the Marvelous Movies category, so you could play along. Those who decided to play had to tell what they thought the movie, Mr. Peek-A-Boo, was about. Sue Glasco from Woodsong Notes was the only one who decided to play along, and her answer was a good one. In fact, if she had been playing the game with family or a group of writers, her answer may have fooled quite a few people, which would've been a good thing for her.

Sue's answer: "A bachelor somehow becomes guardian of a baby and plays peek-a-boo and other games with the little one."

Although Sue's answer was a great one, the correct answer is: "Mr. P realizes he can walk through walls and uses his talents to help a girl who is being blackmailed." Remember, Mr. Peek-A-Boo really is a movie, and that's exactly what it's about.

Once again, if you believe your family and/or writer friends would enjoy Balderdash, get it today for less than $30. It truly is a fun and hilarious game!

In my next blog post, I plan to tell you how to gain buzz through a few methods that you may not know about.

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My time on the weekends is dedicated to hubby and the kids, so my writing takes a back seat then. We enjoy fishing, camping, nature walks and croquet, but when we're having fun inside, we also gather around the dining room table to play board games. One of our favorite board games is Balderdash, and although I don't work on the weekends, I exercise my mind when we play Balderdash.

When we first bought the game and quickly learned how to play, I thought to myself, "This is an excellent game for writers!" Truly, it is. It's a game writers can enjoy with their family or even take along with them to a writer's meeting. The game can be hilarious at times, but it also allows a writer to show off their talent, and if your mind's really creative -- and I know it is -- you could become the undefeated player of Balderdash. Well, undefeated with your family, because if you play this exciting game with a group of writers, then you can bet you'll have some tough competition. Either way, I'm 99% sure you'll fall in love with Balderdash!

What makes Balderdash a great choice for writers? Without trying to go into too much detail, I'll explain a bit about how you play.

First, it's better to play with a minimum of four people. Once you have your group of players, the fun begins!

Someone rolls the dice, and the number will determine which category on the card is read. The cards have five categories: Weird Words - What is the definition of this word?; Peculiar People - Who is this Person?; Incredible Initials - What does this stand for?; Marvelous Movies - What is the movie about?; and finally, Laughable Laws - What is the law?. (One side of the card has the question, which the person who rolled the dice will read to the group, and the answer is on the other side.)

After the question is read, the group must write down what they believe the actual answer is, and then they hand their slip of paper to the person who read the question. Once that person collects everyone's answers, he or she will read all the answers aloud without revealing who wrote it (including the correct answer). Then you go around the group and each person says which answer they believe is the true answer, and believe it or not, the actual answer is a fact. Let me give you an example of a question with the correct answer:

Category: Laughable Laws

Question: "In the country of Andorra, upon discovering a corpse, the sheriff must...

Correct answer: Ask "Are you dead?" three times.

The object of the game is to try to fool as many people as you can. In other words, you want them to think you're answer is the correct answer, so you can move your game piece forward more spaces on the game board. The person who makes it to the finish line first wins.

Okay, I just can't resist. I'm going to use another one of the questions from the Marvelous Movies category, but this time, I'm not going to reveal the correct answer until next week. Instead, I'm going to let you play along, so leave a comment with your best answer to the question. Then when I reveal the true answer here next week, I'll include your response and even link to your writing-related website, blog, product or service (if you enter one).

Ready? Here's the movie: Mr. Peek-A-Boo.

Now, leave a comment and let me know what you think the movie is about. Remember, in the actual game, you'd be trying to fool the other players into thinking yours is the actual answer, so let the brainstorming session begin.

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I’ll admit that when I stumble upon Link Love posts I usually just scan through the links, and sometimes I move on to the next blog on my daily reading list of my favorite blogs. However, tonight I read a Link Love post in its entirety – from beginning to end!

As I made my way to Michele’s blog, I knew I was going to be reading another Link Love post before my arrival. I knew this because she left me a comment saying she gave me some love. Therefore, I had to read what she said and comment to thank her for the love. I had also planned to scan through her links, but instead of scanning I read the entire post. Why? Well, because she thought outside of the box, which in turn made her Link Love post worth reading. Not only did I find the way she chose to give her love interesting, but I thought to myself, “Hey, I would read more Link Love posts if they were all written this way.” I also thought it was a fantastic way for a writer to show creativity on her blog, and I think it would be a great writing exercise for all writers who blog. In fact, learn from this one and try to apply it to your next Link Love post.

I don’t normally do Link Love posts for the reason mentioned at the beginning of this post, but Michele has inspired me to write at least one Link Love post just the way she did. I too may have to think, so it could be a little while before you will be able to read my first Link Love post, but I will write that post and hope that Michele doesn’t mind me borrowing the idea and suggesting that other writers and bloggers give it a try.

If you want to see what I’m raving so much about, hop on over to Writing the Cyber Highway and read Bringing in 2008 with (Link) Love, by Michele Tune. Trust me, friends, it’s a MUST read!

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I hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Despite a few unexpected events, my Thanksgiving went well. On Thursday, my husband, stepson and I enjoyed the delicious Thanksgiving feast that my aunt prepared for the family. After we all chatted for a while, my husband, stepson and I walked across the yard to my cousin's house. Once there, my cousin, his wife and a couple of our friends had some Thanksgiving fun. With our bellies full and about to explode, we sit around the table and played Balderdash. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the game, but it's a hoot to say the least. Balderdash is a family game, and the more the merrier. If you love playing games with friends and family, then you should defiantly invest in Balderdash!

After Balderdash, we decided to play Pictionary. After an hour of Pictionary, we then switched to Charades. Needlesstosay, we played games until 1:00 am in the morning. We may have lost track of the time, but it was all fun! In fact, I had planned on coming home that night and working, but when everyone decided to play games, my plans changed. Oh well, I needed the holiday break.

I still was unable to return to work Friday, because I had my own Thanksgiving feast to prepare for Saturday. Since my ex had the kids on Thanksgiving, I wouldn't get them until the weekend, and the kids wanted to have Thanksgiving with me, so we agreed that I would do a small Thanksgiving get-together at my house, just for the kids, of course.

Because I had a dinner to prepare and some housecleaning left to do, I couldn't get in my hours of writing. Instead, I baked pies until 4:00 am, and then I went to bed to get a little sleep, because I had to get up to finish things at 9:30 am. My guest list consisted of my mother, my father and his girlfriend, my brother and his wife, and finally, my brother-in-law.

Saturday I woke at 9:00 am and began cooking, unaware of what would soon take place. Later, my mother called to report that she wouldn't be able to make it, because she was sick. I could tell that from talking to her, she sounded horrible. Since she had planned to cook a pumpkin cake, I didn't cook pumpkin pies. However, because she was sick, I told her not to worry about the pumpkin cakes. She said she would send the ham that she had already cooked as well as the macaroni and cheese by my brother. Because of this unexpected event, I added two pumpkin pies to my menu that morning. Next, my brother-in-law wasn't going to be able to make it, because he couldn't walk. Turns out he pulled the tendons in his foot and was couch-ridden. My dad stopped by that morning just to see the kids and said he wouldn't make it because he had to work. Therefore, our only guests were my brother and his wife. We had enough food to feed an army, and regardless of the number of guests, the kids as well as everyone else still enjoyed themselves.

All the Thanksgiving fun has ended for another year and tonight I'm back to my passion: writing. Yes, I'm aware that Christmas is just around the corner, but I'm certain I can get a lot of writing done in a month.

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you have any unexpected events at the last minute?

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Happy Columbus Day! As you know from a previous post, the weekend before last was my daughter's first homecoming. Well, this weekend we celebrated my oldest son's 13th birthday. Yes, that's right, my oldest boy became a teenager Saturday, and the weekend before last (also on a Saturday) my 14-year-old daughter attended her first homecoming dance. Boy, I really feel old now…LOL…

Aside from my growing youngins, the past few weekends were really fun and enjoyable. This weekend the family gathered at my house, and we all enjoyed the annual October wiener roast. Since JB (my oldest son) and Cyndie's (my daughter) birthday occurs during the cooler seasons, we make the wiener roasts an annual event. Of course, the kids enjoy it, so that's all that really matters, right? For my youngest son, Joe, his birthday's in March. Therefore, since March is a warmer season -- too warm for a wiener roast-- we usually visit Pounds Hollow. There we grill burgers, hot dogs and enjoy a day of swimming.

Next time you find yourself looking for a birthday party idea, consider a day of swimming if your child's birthday takes place on a warm month, and if your child's birthday falls on a cooler month, then have a wiener roast instead. It's fun for everyone and affordable as well. Since I'm giving out birthday party suggestions, I might as well take this time to invite you to read one of my articles, which relates to the subject. Go ahead and check out Planning a Fall Birthday Party for Your Child -- Sure to Be a Success, and then leave me your comments.

I suppose I'd better get back to my writing life now that the fun has ended… as least for another month anyway.

Next time I blog, I plan to reveal some news for all you writers out there, so stay tuned or subscribe to be notified as soon as the post is live.

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Both Michele and Kathy Kehrli tagged me for the Random 8 Meme. First, I must post the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. List eight random facts about yourself.
3. Tag eight people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving them a comment on their blogs.

Now, here are eight facts that you may or may not know about me:

1. I despise driving, and thanks to Michele, I now know I'm not the only one out there who prefers to ride. ;)
2. I have a terrible fear of spiders. Eeek! I shiver just mentioning it.
3. My favorite food is Mexican. Yum!
4. Unlike most women, I don't like shopping, and I have always hated grocery stores.
5. I've been writing every since I was eight, and I wrote my first short story using only a pencil and paper when I was 10. The main character in that story was a boy I had a crush on in school…LOL… My writing has improved a lot since then, but it's always fun to dig out the stories I wrote back then.
6. I owned my own wholesale business, which I ran for six years.
7. I use to teach Sunday school; I love teaching children about God.
8. In person, I'm shy until I get to know you better.

According to the rules, I'm supposed to tag eight others for this meme. With that said, I tag April Aragam, Jenna Glatzer, Lillie Ammann, Lonnie Cruse, Chris Bibey, Michael Kwan, Writer Mama and Jenny Rough.

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Happy September, friends! I hope your Labor Day weekend was a fun one. My husband, step-son, my three kids and I all went to a local festival in my hometown. We attended the Liberty Fest in Harrisburg, Illinois, hosted by Little Chapel Church. Both my brother and mother go to this church.

Liberty Fest is an annual festival and everything is free… well everything except for the helicopter rides, but the money paid to ride the helicopter goes to a charity for kids. Personally, I'm not much for heights so I chose not to ride in the helicopter. My husband does his best to try and get me in one, but I tell him, "God planted my feet on the ground and that's where I intend for them to stay." Besides, there was much more fun to be had other than riding in the helicopter. There was plenty of good food (funnel cakes, hamburgers, barbeque, homemade donuts and much more). In addition to the good food, we walked around the grounds and admired the old cars, the kids enjoyed a horse and buggy ride and the list could go on and on. To make a long story short, I'll just say we all had a great time, and I needed the day off.

Now that the fun has ended, I'm re-energized and ready to write again! As a matter of fact, tonight I will respond to two writing gigs, write two articles, and I hope after all of that is completed, I'll have time left to send off a query letter or two. Boy, do I have a long night ahead of me! Depending on how my research fares, the two articles shouldn't take no more than an hour or maybe an hour and a half, and the writing gigs mainly require me to send information and a few writing samples, which I have already created. I just need to tweak the information a little to fit the writing jobs I'm responding to. Hmm… it appears as if I just may have time to send the query letters after all.

I guess I'd better go. If I keep blogging, I won’t get anything done. Until next time, enjoy the pictures of Liberty Fest. My 14-year-old daughter took the pictures, and I must say she did a great job!


My oldest son by one of the old trucks in the car show



Horse and buggy ride


My youngest son on the mechanical bull


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Mommy's little angels :)

Well, I went in search of a MEME to do on my blog today, and surprisingly I discovered that with most Memes it seems you have to be tagged. Since I don't do Memes often, I've never been tagged. I thought a MEME would be fun, and that's why I searched. I did manage to find a MEME that didn't require tagging. This meme I got from Another day in the life of… Amanda. Thanks, Amanda! Oh, by the way, Amanda, I love the music on your blog. :)

1. What kind of soap is in your bathtub right now?
Actually, we have a shower, but I'm looking forward to the day we put in our bathtub; there's nothing like soaking in a nice warm bath. With that said, there's Dove in my shower.

2. Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator?
Sure don't, but now I wish I did.

3. Is there anything moldy in your refrigerator?
Can't say that there is.

4. Are there any dirty dishes in your sink?
From supper, yes. I can't seem to talk the children into loading them into the dishwasher.

5. What would you change about your living room?
Well, we're in the process of remodeling right now, so I'd say… hmmm… to finish cleaning the walls with bleach, and then add the paint.

6. Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty?
Clean.

7. Do you have a can of mushrooms in your pantry?
Nope.

8. White or wheat bread?
White.

9. What is on top of your refrigerator?
Dust… LOL… I bet you weren't expecting that. Aside from the dust, paper towels and a soup pot.

10. What color is your sofa?
I have two. One is black and the other is a dark blue.

11. What color or design is on your shower curtain?
A white plastic panel (I guess that's what you'd call it), and a white fabric panel.

12. How many plants are in your home?
None.

13. How many candles are in your home?
Oh dear, I couldn't even begin to count. I collect the scented candles so there are several of them.

14. Is your bed made right now?
Nope, Hubby's in it sleeping.

15. If you have a coffee pot, what color is it?
White.

16. Electric or standard can opener?
Electric.

27. Comet or Soft Scrub?
Neither. I use Mean Green on just about everything. Not only do I use Mean Green, but I highly recommend it. This stuff cleans well!

28. Is your closet organized?
Ha! This is on my to-do list…

29. What color is the flashlight that you use the most?
Black.

30. What kinds of things are in your junk drawer?
Don't have one of those anymore. I finally cleaned it out.

31. Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home?
Glass.

32. Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now?
Yep, two gallon pitchers to be exact. Usually we have three gallon pictures, but one needs re-made at the present. Trust me, with three kids and three adults in the house, it's easier this way.

33. If you have a garage, is it cluttered?
Don't have one… yet.

34. Curtains or blinds?
Curtains, but as soon as we get to the windows in our remodeling process, I'll have blinds.

35. How many pillows do you sleep with?
Three.

36. Do you sleep with any lights on at night?
Yes, two.

37. How many ceiling fans are in your home?
Three.

38. How often do you vacuum?
Twice a month. That's a writer's life, but the floors don't really get too bad either.

39. Standard toothbrush or electric?
Standard

40. What color is your toothbrush?
Yellow, my favorite.

41. Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch?
Don't have a front porch… yet.

42. What is in your oven right now?
Nothing.

43. Is your microwave clean or dirty?
Clean.

44. Is there anything under your bed?
Toliet paper… LOL. Now, let me explain. We have two ferrets, and when they're out one of them likes to steal the toliet paper and put it under the bed, so we leave it and know where it is when we run out.

45. Chore you hate doing the most?
Cleaning the ferret cage.

46. What retro items are in your home?
Don't have any retro items.

47. Do you have a separate room that you use as an office?
Not yet, but it is in our remodeling plans. I can't wait!

48. If you have a yard, who mows it?
Step-son most of the time, and when he doesn't, my 14-year-old daughter likes to mow.

49. Is there anything on your kitchen floor right now?
Aside from carpet, chairs and a kitchen table, nothing.

50. How many mirrors are in your home?
One in the bathroom, two in the master bedroom and two in my daughter's room.

51. Do you have any hidden emergency money around your home?
Can't say that I do.

52. What color are your walls?
An off white.

53. Which rooms in your house have wallpaper?
None.

54. Do you have a peephole in your front door?
No.

55. Do you keep any kind of protection weapons in your home?
Yes, Hubby is a member of the NRA (National Rifle Association) and a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. They're locked up in a cabinet, though, because of the kids.

56. What does your home smell like right now?
Nothing at the moment, but tomorrow it will smell like one of my Glade Scented Oil Candles (Spiced Roses and Vanilla scent).

57. Fave candle scent?
Spiced Roses and Vanilla.

58. What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now?
Dill.

59. Who are in the pictures you displayed?
My daughter and two sons.

61. Do you have plenty of cabinet space in your kitchen?
Nope, but this is in our remodeling plans as well. :)

62. Ever been on your roof?
Yes, but I didn't like it! I'm not much for heights, but someone had to hang the Christmas lights.

62. Do you own a stereo?
Yes.

63. How many TVs do you have?
Four.

64. How many house phones?
None, we use cell phones; it's cheaper.

65. Do you have a housekeeper?
Nope, just me, myself and I.

66. What style do you decorate in?
Don't really have a style.

67. Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints?
Solid.

68. Is there a smoke detector in your home?
Of course.

68. In case of fire, what are the items you would grab if you only could make one quick trip?
Other than my family, I would grab my CDs, because they have all my writing data on them.

69. Do you know how to work your electrical box?
No, I leave that to Hubby, because I don't like to mess with electricity.

70. What temperature in your home is most comfortable to you?
Around 70 no matter what the season. I like things to be cool.

That completes the MEME. I hope you enjoyed my answers. For future reference, friends: If you create Memes and tag other bloggers, please feel free to tag me anytime. It'll give me something to blog about when my mind's blank from all the writing, and I think they're fun. In fact, if I happen to come up with any of my own, I'll post them here for you to do. I won't tag anyone; I'll just post it here like Amanda did. I would love some writing-related Memes.

Finally, feel free to do this meme on your blog, and if you do, comment and let me know the URL so I can read yours too.

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I thought this would be fun so here it goes:

1) "Oh, she's just a hitchhiker I picked up on the side of the road."
2) "Honey, have you put on a little weight?"
3) "Did you see the size of that woman's breasts!?" (This one may even earn you a slap upside the head … LOL.)
4) "Do you plan on wearing that out tonight?"
5) "Not meatloaf again!"
6) "I'm going to Hooters with the guys tonight, dear."
7) Her: "Our anniversary's coming up."
Him: "When is that again?" (Note, I can't scold my hubby for not remembering anymore, but that's another story that I'll definitely have to tell you about in a few more days.)
8) "You're mother's coming over again!"

How about some more fun? I would like to challenge you to make your own list of things a man might say to his woman that could land him in the doghouse. Once you've created your list, post it on your blog then come back here and leave a comment with the link to your list. I'd love to read your list too, and I'm sure the men may want to make a mental note of these things as well. ;) Go ahead and try it. It really is fun!

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The spring weather has finally arrived! I'm so happy it's more like spring now. For the past few weeks here in Southern Illinois, it has felt more like winter than spring. Well, this weekend the long-awaited spring temperatures decided to shine, and my husband, kids and I took advantage of the beautiful weather. Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, we played croquet in the yard. We all had a ball! In fact, it was so nice to play games outdoors rather than indoors. During the winter months, we usually spend our weekends at the kitchen table playing board games, but in the spring and summer, we try to do more yard games. We are getting ready to fix the camper up so we can do more fishing and camping as well. The kids already said they're ready to go fishing and I am too.

It's a shame y'all couldn't have joined us this weekend for the fun, but since you couldn't be here, I'll just share a few pictures with you instead. Oh yes, and the pictures with the kids on the ground… they're searching the grass for four-leaf clovers. :) I guess you could say this is another game my husband cooked up for them. Once my husband beat us in a game of croquet, I had to go start supper so we decided to quit for the day. However, the kids began complaining there was nothing to do so my husband told them he'd give them a quarter for every four-leaf clover they could find. Well, that quarter put them searching for the four-leaf clovers in no time. While we were inside, my husband told me that game keeps kids busy for hours, and on top of keeping them busy, you know where they are. It wasn't five minutes and my youngest son earned his first quarter. He was so happy he went back to the same spot and searched again so he could earn another quarter. About 10 minutes later, he returned and earned his second quarter. Needlesstosay, he nor the other two found any more four-leaf clovers after that. I was beginning to wonder and actually hoping they'd find a lot just to see how many quarters hubby could give out before the well ran dry…LOL…

Enjoy the pictures! I have to go now to write an article that is due tomorrow.


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