Facebook, Blogs and MySpace, Oh My!

I am trying hard to keep up with today's technology, but I have to tell you, my granddaughter can type circles around me! And texting! I took two years of typing in high school. Now you just have to use your two thumbs! She can fly! With practice, I got pretty good at it. Nothing like her, though.

I still have trouble understanding the difference between Ipods, MP3's and Zune. I don't know the difference between Facebook and MySpace. But I am moving forward! I have this blog now and I have a page on Facebook. I can access UTube and download music and videos. So, I guess you CAN teach an old dog new tricks! lol.

Don't think I'll get to write on my book today. Spent time at Mom's and now it's getting late. I have two stories I need to critique anyway. Guess I'd better get started! Persevere!

Movies Galore

I am a member of Netflix. What I like best about it is the foreign films. These are films I never would have seen otherwise. One of my favorites is "Shower." I like it so much I purchased a copy. I loaned it to a guy I work with, but he said it was a "chick flick." Maybe because there isn't a lot of action in it.

My husband refuses to go to the theater any more because it costs so much, compared to what it used to. I don't see how the teenagers today can afford a date! Just movie and a dinner would cost $25, at least! Most of these kids don't work, so who pays? Right - Mom and Dad.

Fast food has taken its toll on me, and I am pretty much ready to give it up. Convenient, yes. That's what makes it so enticing! Eating healthy takes more effort, more time and, sometimes, more money! We are all so busy we think we don't have time for that, but I am trying my best.

Listened to a seminar led by Terri Blackstock on "How to Write "Up-All-Night" Fiction. Very good. Got some good tips from it. Hope to implement them soon.

It has rained so much this last week that our front yard is a swamp. Had to put the dog on the front porch so she could dry her paws out! More coming this week. Everyone is getting tired of rain. I like the rain myself. Gives you a feeling of a blanket wrapped around you that separates you from the rest of the world. But even I have my limits!

See ya! Persevere!

PenPals

Ever since I was a kid I've wanted a pen pal. In school I was connected with a girl in England. We exchanged two letters, then the price of stamps went up and I never heard from her again.

I was happily surprised to discover a site for adults wanting pen pals. Nothing sexual or crazy. Just people who like to hear from people in other parts of the country or world.

I have two pen pals so far. One in Kentucky, and the other in Chile. Any writer knows it is a lonely job, so having several people to write to at any hour of the day or night is fun.

I just finished reading all the way through my book, Thicker Than Water, and I am basically happy with it. I do want to change some parts where I can probably do more "showing" instead of "telling." I recently sent in my query letter for a critique. That is the hardest thing for me to write. Keep your fingers crossed!

No Time Like the Present!

It has been a while since I last posted. Sorry about that. I am trying to do too many things at one time. I just set up a facebook page, my granddaughter pulling me kicking and screaming in to another technological marvel of our age. I was just getting accustomed to this blog. I am not sure what goes where anymore!

My writing is coming along pretty well. I entered a contest today on Writing.com. You had to send the ending of a story. No beginning or middle, just ending. It will be judged in January. I sent them the end of my first book, Tried and True. My local writing group will be critquing the first ten pages of my second book, Thicker Than Water, on the 21st. I hope they don't have to rip it to shreds! Last week I was just about ready to give up, but I always remember Donald Maas saying "you don't get published by talent, but by perseverence." So I am persevering!

Hello readers! Today I attempted to update my Microsoft Word, but I kept getting internal errors. The internet has all kinds of suggestions to help me, but some were way too technical, and others did not work. Some wanted me to install their fix, which is hard to do when installing is your problem! I am so frustrated!

I am working on my second book, even though I haven't finished editing my first one. That is because I am attending a conference in Denver in February and my second book is more the kind of genre they are looking for. I am praying that I will find an agent there. Wish me luck!

It has been difficult for me to concentrate on my writing lately, because I live in a small house and my husband is hard-of-hearing, and the TV is always blasting. Sometimes I actually get up from the computer and go into the living room to see what is going to happen next, or what they are talking about. Then I beat myself up for not "immersing" myself in the story I am writing. Some days I feel like I'll never make it as a writer. I have to work on that. I attended a Donald Maas workshop where he said "talent isn't as important as perseverance." So I am going to hang in there. I'm learning that talent improves with practice.