Ta Ta For Now

It's that time Imaginarians.  I have to stop posting for now as I have deadlines to meet and other obligations. I know, I'm sad, too. I miss you guys when I'm gone. But, I know you all want the sequel to Nathan's Angel as well as Maxie Briscoe: Werewolf so I've got to get writing.

Before I go, please check out the cover reveal for the amazing  Siv Ottem's book The Secret of the Ash Tree illustrated by the brilliant Michael Di Gesu.

Now, lest you think I'm completely disappearing, I'll still be lurking about and commenting, I can't quit you all cold turkey. And I'll still send up a post for special occasions like the Insecure Writers Support Group, blogfests and author spotlights like Writers 4 Writers, etc. I don't know how long I will be, but I'll try to hurry back, my friends. So, to quote my favorite resident of the Hundred Acre Woods, Tigger, "TTFN Ta Ta For Now."

Greetings From No-Man's Land

Hi there my Imaginarians! I have missed you all so very much, you don't even know. I have been stuck in No-Man's Land for what seems like forever. I am still there, in the midst of a huge grind, but for the time being I am posting again and will be trying to get around to visit all of you. I've been hard at work on a steampunk tale that's due December 1 as well as several other writing pieces all while trying to find a full time job and keep ahead of my bills. At last have my head a bit above this drowning tide. Yay!!

It hasn't been all bad. I found out that my wonderful friend Dez over at The Hollywood Spy has given me his Heart Award. He is celebrating 2 million visitors!! How awesome and incredible is that? Read this amazing post here. Thank you so much, my dear. It made my month. Check out this beautiful award...

My oldest nephew treated his aunt to Resident Evil: Retribution and I took him to dinner. We had a blast. We also went shopping for Halloween costumes. He's going to be a zombie and I am putting together a Rocky Horror Magenta outfit. I think I could rock that wild hair. I've also been doing my touchdown dance quite frequently thanks to my Bears and my fave college team, Notre Dame. And can I say that for once, my Fantasy Football team, the Army of Darkness, has been killing it, too. Usually I am sucking at this point in the season. Whoo Hoo!

So what have you all been up to? Tell me, tell me!! I'm dying to hear all of your news. I HAVE MISSED YOU!!!

Bad News

I have some bad news. I have to take a forced hiatus for about a month or so. I don't want to, but deadlines and some personal issues are pressing at me right now and I have to take a break. I hope to be around the blogosphere visiting, but I don't know if I'll be able to do even that right now. I will miss you all terribly, especially the lively conversations and interactions. I hadn't planned on this, but stuff happens. Thank you all for the awesome comments on the Guilty Pleasures Blogfest post. If I did not get a chance to return the comment, I'm really sorry, I will try at the earliest opportunity to respond in kind. Take care of yourselves, be well, happy and safe until I get back into the game.

Until soon...Peace, my Imaginarians, my friends!

I'm BAAAAACK (Well, mostly)

Whoo Hoo!!! Imaginarians, I am back. Let the chorus of Hallelujahs begin.

So what the eff happened?

Do not ever, EVER make the mistake of uninstalling Norton without their Uninstall Tool. It screws everything up. Big. Time. I could only operate in Safe Mode and I was panicked, well, freaking out, more like. Not good. I do not do well with tech. I called my friend, Dave and after he talked me down off the ledge, he picked me up, along with my PC and all its parts, then we decamped to his place. I have to say, he is truly one of the most incredible people I know.

Anyway, he set to work. A complete re-install was called for, which took like 5-6 hours, then we had to do all the updates for the system, which as it turned out, I needed like 457 of them. Thanks Windows Vista. I found out the hard way that if you have virus protection running, many of Vista's updates will fail, only it won't tell you they failed unless you are in the Window's Update screen. No, instead it'll go through the automatic updates, tell you stuff has been updated and let you move on.

We kept installing updates and 24 hours later, we were still finding them for my baby. What a nightmare! But, yesterday, after 48 hours, I finally, FINALLY, got the magical "There are no new updates." Now, it's just a matter of getting my software back and other programs as well as all the files that we copied to this external hard drive back onto my computer. It'll take some more time, but the hard stuff is done and I am operational.

The weekend wasn't a total loss, though. In between all of this, I did manage to catch the football games and have some good food and beer.

All of this taught me that on my dating profile, Must Be Computer Geek has replaced Sense of Humor as my Number 1 on What I Am Looking For In A Potential Mate.

So...I'm BAAAACK! And getting my groove on in a victory dance. I may film this, I'm so happy. LOL

Okay, One more thing before I go...

THANK YOU, DAVE!!! (standing on roof, shouting)

Another Short Post

I'm having my computer worked on today and I don't know what will happen. If I'm not back send a posse...lol, *fingers crossed, sick smile in place* Hopefully it will all work out, but if you need to get in touch with me, send a line to melbwrites@gmail.com, I will be able to check email from other computers as well as Facebook and Twitter which are on my side bar. Please be patient, I don't want to leave you all, but... *heaving sobs start* Until soon, to quote my favorite authors Sharon Lee and Steve Miller and their awesome Liaden Universe.

I'm Baaaack...Insecure Writer's Support Group

I'm back, I'm back, I'm back!!!! I really hated being away from you all and missed you something fierce, but the good news is I'm DONE with my story. I'll share the pertinent details with you very soon. Lots of exciting things are planned for this month and there will be tons more news coming soon. I'm still discombobulated so bear with me.

I am very excited to be a part of Captain Ninja Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group. This is where we writers bare our souls and give a peek into our crazed craniums. We'll be talking about our struggles, insecurities, fears, hopes, breakthroughs, as well as sharing words of encouragement. There will be posts on the first Wednesday of every month for the group.

Today, I want to talk about one of my biggest fears in writing and that is my fear of my work not being good enough. I love to write, to tell stories, but when I am in the midst of working on something new, I reach this point where the words won't flow. I suddenly am overwhelmed with thoughts of "this story sucks," "what made you think you could ever write, you big loser" and I physically cannot write a word.

It's like going from finding golden nuggets in a river with a pan to having to take a pick ax to solid rock and getting nothing but rock with maybe a few flecks of gold. I hate every syllable, I get headaches, want to vomit and I feel trapped. My production level drops to the point where it will take me hours to produce a paragraph. Part of the reason I took a hiatus from the blogging was because I was having a serious breakdown over this story and I was making myself horribly ill. The day that I announced my hiatus, I had a migraine of epic proportions and could barely see to type.

Now that the thing is done, I am on pins and needles waiting to see what my editor will think. Will she hate it? Will I have to make a million revisions? This is story is different from anything I've ever written because for the first time, my main characters are gay. I wanted to write something to honor some very special friends. Did I do the characters justice? Will my friends like the story?

All these things crash around in my brain like a psychotic bowler every single time I write a story and I don't foresee it going away any time soon. How do you all deal with insecurities and fears?

Here are the other participants in the Insecure Writers Support Group and I encourage you to visit these amazing people. Pass along some blog love to them and you'll take away a lot from the experience. Thanks Alex!

News And A Short Hiatus

Remember ol' Gary Gnu from the Great Space Coaster Show? If you don't, that's okay, I'm just old and have obscure taste. LOL Anyway, his tag line was always "There's no gnews like good gnews and I have some good gnews to share. First, the awesomely cool iZombie Lover himself, Jeremy, has a wicked anthology of demented tales called Chatterbox. You should go and check it out immediately.

Second, Samantha Sotto, a really talented new author has her debut novel out entitled Before Ever After. This is a modern fairy tale about a woman who has lost her husband, yet through a stranger who claims to be his grandson, she finds that not everything is what it seems. There is a whole lot more to her husband than she had ever dreamed possible. An intriguing twist on second chances that is sure to keep you enthralled from first page to last. You can check out an exclusive interview with Samantha here at Hollywood Spy.

Finally, I am under deadline to complete a story and so I will not be posting for the next couple of weeks or so. I just don't have the time to devote to blogging right now with this story still unfinished. I will be around here and there, commenting when I can, but I really need the time to finish my baby. I'll have lots of cool things for you all when I get back. :) In the meantime, if you have something you want to share or that you'd like me to announce on here, you can always drop me a line at melbwrites@gmail.com.

Thank you so much for being the best supporters, cheerleaders and blog buddies in the world.

Hugs!