Where I am right now

So far my novel "Stalked" has been edited up to about chapter 10 by the wonderful Karin Simpson who is the Head of the English Department at Sutton High School. I'm waiting anxiously for her grade eleven's to critique my first five chapters!

I had a bit of a set back last week when my MacBook decided to crash and I lost a week's worth of writing. BOO. But that's what you get for not backing up everyday! I thought every couple of days would be okay to back up my work to our home server but apparently that's not good enough. Now on the advice of my husband I am working in Google Dropbox. It saves all my work online so if my computer ever crashes it's all there.

When my manuscript is all edited and pretty looking I can't wait to start the submission process again. It's not for the faint of heart I'll tell ya. Long wait times and rejection letters are bound to come. I'm ready. Bring it.

I've been chosen!

I've been asked to attend and speak at the York Region Writer's Guild workshop in May. I'll be talking to teenagers who love to write about my experiences so far with writing/editing/submitting/agents/publishers. I'm not an expert by any means but I can tell them what I've been through and we'll go from there! Also it never hurts to try and build a fan base for my young adult novel "Stalked."

They picked me!

The grade eleven students at Sutton District High School picked my book "Stalked" over "Brave New World" as their book of choice!

I've had my first few chapters edited by the wonder Karin and can't wait to start hearing some comments from the students.

I'm so excited!

I just contacted a neighbour of mine that happens to be the head of an English Department at the Sutton District High School and she's going to help me edit my manuscript of "Stalked."

She asked if she could use it as a teaching tool for her students and that they would love to be involved in the process and at the end would I come and talk with them!

I am so psyched at this HUGE opportunity. I'm sending her the manuscript and we'll see how it goes! I'll keep you posted!

Muddy day at the dog park

Today I took all three dogs to the park to run off some steam (I'm dog sitting my parents dog Sage who's a beautiful Golden Retriever).

While there, little Ms. Hershey found a dead mouse and decided to roll in it! What is with that? It didn't stop us from having fun though. If nobody else is there I play Frisbee with her while Max (Pug) sniffs and pees on everything. She actually caught the Frisbee a couple of times! And boy, watching her run after it at warp speed is very entertaining!

So the dogs are all freshly bathed and are now sleeping soundly.

Poor Bunny

Well today at the dog park Max discovered a bunny carcass and decided it'd be a good thing to chew on! Eww, I'm so glad another gentleman took it, bagged it and chucked it in the garbage. It raises some questions though. Why was the bunny in there? What killed it? and if a dog killed it should that dog be in the park?

Max also got peed on today by another dog. Let's just say he had a good bath when he got home and extra treats to get the raw bunny smell off his breath!

Dogs people pick

At the dog park the other day we met Molly, a Cairn Terrier, now if you don't know what a Cairn Terrier looks like think Dorothy's dog Toto in the Wizard of Oz. I loved that Molly's owner was a tough looking biker dude that absolutely loved his little doggie. It's interesting to see the types of dogs people pick.

The Doggy know it all

I was at the dog park today flying solo so I was a little bit weary since Hershey has some issues with wanting to dominate everyone before she feels good. Well it turned out great we had two huge Huskies that were so nice to Hershey and Max and a mutt of some sort that was Hershey's new best friend. As I walked around the dog park the dogs would group together like a pack and it was nice to see.

But of course a new dog came in and rocked Hershey's stable condition. Hershey didn't like the new dog right off and wanted to bark at it, but was also frightful of the dog and hid under my legs. The owner of the other dog started to tell me how to handle my dog. I nicely listened to her guidance about how to handle her but soon I decided to leave after Hershey didn't want to leave my side and wasn't going to feel good anymore.

I know everyone wants to be the next dog whisperer but really if you aren't Caesar Milan I'm going to listen to your instructions with a grain of salt.

Tomorrow is a new day and we'll see what happens at the dog park.

Dog Park take two

Well we went back to the dog park with Max and Hershey and it was a lot busier today! There was a Golden retriever and a boxer to start and Hershey got a little freaked out by one man there and started barking at him but stopped after a bit, weird.

Those dogs left and then came Molly, now Molly is a Johnson American bulldog and weighs roughly ninety pounds! She was loving the puddles and would lie right down in them!

The Shitzu came again and a black lab and two other dogs I didn't know what they were.

Hershey started being a little dink and barking at one dog, we figure it was a dominance issue and after a bit I told Darryl we should leave. I'll have to work on her with that and to come when she's called. She's still a puppy and has to learn some manners. I would hate to be known at the dog park as "those people with the asshole dog."

We all came home muddy and slobber soaked but now the dogs are sleeping quietly on the couch. Good day:)

Ipad Snuggie

I'm beginning to think that I may need to design an iPad snuggie. I know how many people can't live without them and to have them far from them is devastating. Just an idea!

Halloween

Well it's Halloween party day at the boys school tomorrow and I'm excited for them! Kal is dressing up as a Ghostbuster and Ty a pro baseball player. This is the first year they've been able to wear costumes to school since somewhere along the line someone had banned it and instead made it an 'Orange and Black Day.' But it's back to the way it should always be with a fun Halloween dance and costumes for all.
I'm sending in some Halloween pencils with the boys to hand out to their classmates since we're not allowed to send in any treats because of allergies (BOO, but I totally understand)
Happy Halloween to all and here's to a spooky good weekend.

What a Sweetheart

Kaleb wraps his arms around me and says "Mommy this is why I like you so much, you're always there when I don't feel good."
Me - I hug him right back and say that's what Mommy's do, but when he's not watching I disinfect every damn surface he's touched.

Dog Park

Well Darryl and I just got back from taking Hershey (our Boston Terrier) and Max (our Pug/Terrier) to the leash free dog park here in Keswick. 

I'll have to say it's amazing how quickly dog owners bond in these places. We met a nice older couple (who totally reminded me of my parents) who had a gorgeous Golden Retriever who was loving the puddles and getting very dirty. 

There were two guys with a brown German short haired pointer that was only three months old and she was loving Max and Hershey.

And of course there was a Shitzu there, I swear they're everywhere! 

At first I was hesitant to let Hershey off her leash because she can be a little dominant with other dogs but after all the dogs sniffed her I let her off and boy did she have fun! I didn't know how fast she could run, I don't think her front paws even touched the ground. 

The forty five minutes we spent there sped by with lots of chatter about our dogs and their habits and of course all the mischief they get into at home. 

With the dog park only minutes from our house I'm sure I'll be back there often to let the dogs run their little tails off. 

Should've

I really should've turned on the lights, put my packages down and turned on the damn lights, but I ignored the voice in my head and kept descending down into the basement. I felt the warm squish under my socking-clad foot before the smell hit my nose...shit...literally.

The occasional rant

If you feel the need to hork up giant phlegm balls and spit them out somewhere, do it in your house in the bathroom with the fan on to cover up the noise. DO NOT do it in your backyard for ten minutes where your neighbours can hear and see you. It's disgusting and I swear I've read somewhere it can get you arrested in some countries.

Tea-aholic

It's that time of year again, the warm days of summer have been replaced with the chill-inducing dewy mornings of Autumn. I've since traded in my frosty beer mug for my permanently tea-stained "Mom" mug.

I blame the weather for my teaholism, getting up while it's still dark outside should really be against the law.

With the kids safely off to school I cuddle up on the couch with my two dogs, laptop, and my fourth steaming cup of tea of the day and get ready to write.

I'm having fun

Playing around with the different templates is pretty cool. Can you tell I like the girly stuff? It must be because I live in a house full of boys, except my little girl dog.

Do you own a personalized licence plate? I do, and guess what it says. WENDEROO, haha, yep, it was a present from my mom when I was still in high schoool. Yeah I was a little embarrassed by it but after a while it grew on me. I'd see people behind me in traffic mouthing the word Wenderoo, and once I saw one lady get excited and say to her young daughter "I bet her name is Wendy!"

I no longer use the plate but I did keep it, it's hidden away in my cold cellar and every time I go in there I see it hanging from a rusted nail and I think maybe one day I'll reactivate the Wenderoo. Who knows what it may bring?

How fast can you move from a seated position? Well I found out that I am truly a remarkably fast person when my little puppy Hershey almost barfed on me and my laptop this morning. I even managed to get her outside on the deck.

I just have to share this with anyone who may stumble across my blog.

First day of school is over, my two boys are sitting eating a snack on the couch.

Me - "So Ty who was that boy standing beside you in your line this morning?"

Ty - "I don't remember."

Kaleb - "Why did you ask that Mommy?"

Me - "I was just curious that's all."

Kaleb - "You know what they say Mommy, curiosity killed the cow!"

Well, I'm back at it. The kids are in school again and I'm back to working on my novel. I'm excited that in one day I've revamped my query letter and have arranged to have my work critiqued by Ted Staunton. I've also sent my query into the dreaded land of the "Query Shark" so we'll see how that goes.

I've also sent off my new query to some agents just to see what may come about. Hey, if I don't try then I'll never know.

Where are all the young adult writers!

Do you write books for the young adult market? What genre do you write? Who are some of your favourite authors?

New blurb for Deathbed Gift

After a bizarre, unexplained, gift from her grandmother, seventeen-year old Mya Teeters welcomes a cottage getaway with friends, but when she discovers a bag of jewels and her friend is kidnapped it catapults her deep into a tragic local tale of love, betrayal, and one man’s quest for power that is now within his reach.

After managing the terrifying but successful recovery of her friend without surrendering the jewels, a shocking secret is revealed…Mya is related to the kidnappers, and the gift from her grandmother is the key to unleashing a power that could change her life forever, but can she protect it from the one man who’ll do anything to get it?

I think I'm in the land of query hell. Just doing my due diligence and wow its crazy how many different ways you can create THE perfect query to an agent/publisher.

I'm almost to the finish line...my first novel. That alone is an amazing feat, but now the hard part. Letting it go out into the world. Only my writing tutor has read it but she claims that it's a page turner and a wonderful young adult mystery. I'm hoping she's right. We'll see.