Fridays R 4 Fun

The silliest thing I ever heard was a knock, knock joke. I remember sitting in the backyard with friends on warm summer nights making up one jock after another. We laughed harder at the ones that weren't even remotely funny. Those were the days. 

Today it's cold outside and winter is setting in, so I though I'd bring you some of summer's warmth and giggles with a few knock, knock jokes. Enjoy!

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Cash.
Cash who?
No thanks, but I would like a peanut instead!

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Doris.

Doris who?

Doris locked, that's why I'm knocking!

Knock knock.

Who's there? 

Honey bee.
Honey bee who?
Honey bee a dear and get me a soda!

Knock KnockWho's there?
Acid!
Acid who?
Acid down and be quiet!

                           
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Adair!
Adair who?
Adair once but I'm bald now!

The List Grows

Saturday I was blessed by the company of two young ladies from the small group I led last year. Together we reorganized my office. They did most of the work and you should see it. Gorgeous! They are working machines. You should have seen them, shredding old manuscript copies, organizing shelves, sorting, and filing.

They came across several stacks of research or pages of story notes. With each collections of pages they'd ask me what it was. I'd say, "That's for a series I want to write." Then I'd tell them a little about it, to which they'd promptly reply, "That sounds cool." Or, "Write that one, soon." After having gone through quite a few of these collections one finally asked, "Do you plan to be writing books forever?"

My answer is, "Absolutely, positively, without a doubt, YES!" I plan to be late to my own funeral because I'm trying to finish that last manuscript. I was born a storyteller and I'll die a storyteller. I plan to spend all of the years in between writing and telling stories. And yes everyone of them will be for the 'Tween audience.

I guess you could say that story is my passion...only because I don't know a stronger word.

Fridays R 4 Fun

Do you remember the special or favorite cup you had as a kid? In my family we all had our favorite cups and if somebody else drank out of it...there was no peace in the land. If my brother or sister used my cup my wrath would pour out upon them. They would have to suffer through my constant sniping about anything they said or did for the remainder of that day. That is until Mom or Dad called an end to my barrage or corrections and complaints.

At long last my mother grew  tired of such occurrences and bought us cups with our names printed on them. There could be no confusion about which cup belonged to whom. I still have favorite cups. I keep them on the top shelf so they aren't the first mug someone grabs.

Apparently, I'm not the only person who has a preference for certain cups. Here's what I found on the internet. I must say that there are a few I would never use.

If you haven't seen one before, this is called a plug mug. You remove the plug and no one can use the cup without it leaking. I would have loved to have this growing up.

 Of course you can always try the toxic warning label, but I don't think it will scare anyone enough to get them to leave your cup alone.





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But if you're not trying to frighten people away and just want to enjoy a good hot beverage with a few cookies, how about this one. It's a good-sized mug with a handy nook for your treats.

Then again, you might like having your treat match your beverage sip for bite...then the cookie cup is for you.

This cup is for those folks it would be wise not to engage in conversation until they've have their morning cup of  whatever. It gives us a bit of warning.

This mug is for the overworked with little to no time for incidentals. It stirs the drink for you.

 

 These are for the more playful spirited drinkers. You can choose one with a surprise inside or one that comes with a building project.

I would never drink from this cup and certainly not for a brown liquid!

I've Been Wondering...

I've been wondering about a lot of thing lately. Things like: are there really such things as  wormholes in space and can we travel through them? Does the space-time continuum exist? Other things that takes up a lot of mental real estate are marketing (thinking about it always), new book ideas, the kinds of things that interest people, and things that are just plain fun.

Working on  new books is really fun, but a lot of work. It's really difficult for me to stay on point with completing daily word-counts, discovering new markets and marketing ideas, and keeping my blogs and website up to date. In short, I've not been keeping up with things and that's no good. So I'm going to try something new that I hope will help me.

I know, I know, I've said that before and I'm still in the same boat...falling behind. it leaves me wondering if my problem is a point of discipline or that maybe it's not interesting enough. Wow, that's something to think about. I really don't lack discipline, when I set my mind on a goal, there's nothing that keeps me from accomplishing it. After all, I earned a doctorate in psychology, so I must be pretty disciplined.

That leaves the problem in the interest area. I wouldn't say that I'm bored, everything I write about is pretty interesting to me. So then what's the problem? Hmm...I think the issue lies in (oops, the psychologist in me is showing) my internal rules around what I blog about. So reason I came to the conclusion that I could only blog about writing and whatever that is must be new and fresh to the writing scene. I think that limits me and I end up not having much to blog about.

So here's what I'm going to do. I am officially reinstating Fun Fridays. There were some fun and cool things I found to blog about, not to mention the crazy pictures I ran across. So I'm going back to blogging about the strange things I discover on the internet and elsewhere. But I won't stop there. This time I might even include the more fun things of writing or a silly tale or two.

So what do you think?

The Deregulation of Book Events

Oh my goodness! I've been home for almost two weeks and I'm still struggling to get back into my routine. From October 24th to the 28th I was in Houston, Texas at the National Black Book Festival selling books 1 and 2 of the PRINCESS KANDAKE series. Then after I got home I had to get ready for the Arizona Reading Association, another venue where I sold my books.

Both were awesome opportunities to introduce my books to new audiences. Now I have to get back to work and it's very slow going. I can't seem to get back into the swing of things. I keep getting distracted with first one thing and then another. I am about to lose patience with myself.

You would think that I'd have figured this all out by now, but it happens every time. I go to a venue, work hard, meet lots of great people, and sell some books. On the return trip home I'm all hyped up on what I want to do next time and how much writing I want to get done. I even had a few ideas about new projects rolling around in the old noggin.

But what happens when I get home? First, I'm so tired that I sleep most of the following day. Then the next day I unpack, do laundry, reorganize books, notes, and receipts. Spend some time with my husband the day after that. The next day I go to the gym, read a book, watch a movie. By now I can't remember any of those wonderful ideas I had, so I'm frantically looking through my notebook to see if I remembered to write them down.

So here I sit, in front of my computer, wondering what it is I usually do at this time of day.

Writing is Not for the Timid...BUT It May Be For Kids

I recently returned home from a weekend book festival. With the economy the way it is, sales weren't the best but I learned an invaluable lesson. I met other authors like myself. Some of them even write for Teens and 'Tweens. We talked about each others' books and writing process. We bought and sold our wares from and to each other. We even compared out displays and marketing strategies. But this is not the lesson I'm talking about.

As I was setting up my table, a woman entered the room with several children and went about stacking books and putting up upright banners. One of the banners was double sided displaying a picture of two of her children - one of each side. At first my assumption was that this woman had written a couple of books and placed their pictures on the covers. But after watching her for a while I realized my assumptions were totally incorrect.

What I learned was that the children were the authors - ages 10 and 15. They started writing for different reasons and their books are written for the child and 'Tween audience. Oh my gosh...and you should have seen them working the attendees. They were inviting the passersby to the booth, pitching their books, and doing a fantabulous (one of their words) job of it, too.

Later that day one of their siblings came to my table to purchase a book. We were having a very serious discussion about book marketing, promotions, and the importance of having a 'clean' manuscript. Some of her responses confused me. For clarification I asked her which of her siblings' books she was referring to. Stacie (not her real name) said, "I'm talking about my own book. My mommie says I'm not old enough, yet. She says that I can't publish until after my birthday next month. Then I'll be 8."

Needless to say, I just about fell off my chair. Stacie told me the premise of the book and I must say it's a really good one. But I can't share it. I've been sworn to secrecy. Honestly, watching these kids pitch and more than hold their own inviting the attendees to purchase their books was mind blowing. They have taught me a thing or four. And trust me, it wasn't about their being cute! I think my days of whining about how difficult things are have come to an end.

Take a look at their books, very serious authors.

I have definitely learned quite a bit this weekend thanks to the Eneli family. What about you?