Monthly Archives: May 2012

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Reality check ;)

Greetings all!

I’m set up – notes by my side – ready to tackle some edits and CHALLENGES! I love that those who are reading this for me come back and say things like; “wouldn’t they have…” “what about…”

But I love even more, “…and when you get amazing characters (who I love by the way) you have to get them out of your head, by putting their story on paper!! So very glad you’ve done that :)”

(I LOVE YOU AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!)

So, my work prepped and ready, I have to make a slight diversion before I start…

I received notice of my first Kindle royalty payment and as exciting as it is – I won’t be quitting my day job anytime soon! ha ha!  REALITY CHECK – my friend “Nurse Pink” challenged me to figure out my “pay” based on what I put into Sweet Surrender and the pay back (so far). I put it on paper – it’s about $2.23/per hour. Not bad, but…. you won’t find me sitting on the deck at my beach house with a Mai Tai typing, while the sun sets over the Caribbean, with my golden retriever at my feet as the staff prepares our meals any time soon! ha ha!

In the next week or so I’ll be exploring NOOK availability with SS. I’ll post here, FB and Twitter when I figure it out.

OK peeps, I gotta get busy!

Thank you, again, for sharing this AMAZING JOURNEY with me! I hope you’re ready for the next leg of our travels together ‘cuz it’s coming SOONER than later (and since I started R&R in 2003 I don’t think I’ll figure out my hourly rate on that one anytime soon! ha ha ha!)

I have to share this before I go, because it makes me smile! It’s my background on my phone to keep ME in check! Thanks MGN!

Hi ho… hi ho… it’s off to write I go!

Love, Barbara

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Happy as a clam…

OK, so first I have to admit that as I started typing this my mind drifted to; WTH does that mean and WHY do we say it?

google… I love google! You can find anything! So…

The original phrase was “happy as a clam at high tide.” Clams live in the sand beneath the ocean. When the tide goes out, they are left without any water, and have to survive on what they store in their holes. So when the tide is high, a clam is happy and has plenty of water for food and oxygen.

I looked it up so you don’t have to, but here’s why I wondered…

Happy because my FAVORITE IDOL WON! P2!

It’s FRIDAY EVE! And…

One more ‘work wake-up’ and then Monday is a holiday – NO JOB (I’ll be working on R&R though…)

I was thinking about Rock and Roll… I have ten more chapters ready for another once over. I love my beta-readers for taking the time to look this over and say – wait for it… ‘REALLY?’ ha! THANK YOU for helping me see things in a different light.

I AM SO HAPPY! And…….

I have  someone special pondering what a cover for my book would look like! (I can’t see it in my head, yet,so I need some guidance with that ‘vision’!) I’m excited to see what comes from the thoughts! PROGRESS…  I’m a happy girl!

Oh, but wait… there’s more!

Over 11,000 copies of Sweet Surrender are in circulation! It’s my best selling book so far! ha ha! I never imagined this was even a remote possibility! I am happy as a clam! ha!

Life is good…

I am blessed…

Love, Barbara

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and again…. it’s Moanday…

Good morning world!

I’m looking at today differently… it might be the spots on my glasses that I keep adjusting my line of sight to avoid but I am looking at this as a NEW, GOOD DAY before it really gets started. (maybe that will help it feel that way!) I have quote that is in the footer of all my work emails:

“I can not control the wind, but I can adjust my sails.” Anonymous

I see it every day, but I don’t live it… so.. in the words of ‘Brad’ from Fast Times at Ridgemont High….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2NaHBVVYzY

Learn it… know it… live it!

I’m almost a third of the way through what I’ve committed to on Rock and Roll and it’s exciting! I may get the proof uploaded by my birthday after all! I’ve also been filling in on the next segment – I told you that R&R is a trilogy – the second story is essentially done, now it’s tweaking and refining it to get it to a place where all the “i’s” are dotted and the “t’s” are crossed and all the blanks filled it.

OK… I’ve gotta get a move on, work today beckons and off I go…

Be well friends!

Love, Barbara

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“Really?”

What power that word holds!

It’s funny, someone responds to a thing you said; “Really?” and you kinda want to say, “No, I’m friggin’ lying!” But you don’t… you refrain and say something polite, instead; “Yes, it really happened that way.”

Sometimes it’s to question something like a compliment – “I love that dress!” “Really, I wasn’t sure, it really looks OK?”

Sometimes is pure, sheer SARCASM! Someone walks by in an inappropriate outfit and we whisper to ourselves, “Really? Did she look in the mirror before she left the house?!”

Sometimes it’s a challenge (I know where I’m going here and if you read the blog on Tuesday you do too….) I’m editing, getting closer and am loving the challenges that word brings! It makes me check my thoughts to assure that what I’m saying is accurate and that I describe it so. It excites me to SEE what you may see later when YOU GET TO READ ROCK AND ROLL NEVER FORGETS!

My heart and head are happy that this is happening – REALLY! ha ha!

Now the sarcastic ‘really’…  REALLY? it’s only THURSDAY! Really???

OK, since it REALLY is only Thursday and I must go to work… I’ll be movin’ on…  (BUT WAIT! There’s still hope – Gene just got up and MAYBE we won the LOTTERY!!!)

Have a beautiful day, I hope it’s REALLY good! ha ha ha!

Love, Barbara

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You’ve got me thinkin’…

… thoughts in my head!

OK – I needed a Casey James ‘fix’ and it worked with my thoughts…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt7dT2X75r4

Shoulda could woulda…

I SHOULDA done editing… I COULDA, really…. I’m tired, brain on overload and if I WOULDA I might be doing it again later… so…. passing tonight!

I want a CLEAR head so I’ll do it in the AM, but I gotta tell ya…

I’m soooooooooooooo BLESSED by the people in my life….

One of my Beta readers (don’t ask… I’m NOT telling!) has my brain going… ‘how the heck do I miss that! How did that happen?!!’ She’s got me ‘thinkin’ thoughts in my head!’ ha ha! She CHALLENGES ME!

And I AM SOOOOOOO GLAD I asked her to do this! Everyone looks for, and FINDS, something different! This is just gonna make it GOODER and I can’t wait!

(don’t correct me – I like GOODER bettah then BETTER!!!)

So, though… I am not living Casey’s lyrics… I’ll soon be calling it a night so I can get up a lil’earlier in the AM and EDIT!!!!

Good night peeps! I LOVE YOU FOR SHARING THIS WITH ME!

Blessed beyond words…

Love, Barbara

 

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Thinking about Mom…

It’s something I wish I could know the answer to…

The question?

Why sometimes my Mom not being here hurts more than others. This is one of those times. I’ve thought of so many things I wish I could tell her recently; my visit with her sister, my beautiful Aunt Mary, and how well the book has done in spite of its imperfections, and how proud she would be of her grand children.

If you read Sweet Surrender you will learn that Delaney is named after my Mom. When you read anything coming out going forward you will find her in the pages, some will see her on the page because they knew her, some will just feel the presence of a Mother’s love…

Today I say that I miss you, Alis Faye Bevins Seaman

 

Happy Mother’s Day to all my friends who are Mothers…

Love, Barbara

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Today…

I feel my AADD kicking in… it’s that thing where I start something and in the middle of that I think of something else and drift away, only to start something completely different. Later, I find myself back at the starting point of my tasks and say to myself, ‘WHO THE HELL LEFT THIS MESS HERE?!’ I’ve accomplished one thing I set out to do but the aftermath remains and here I sit! HA!!!

I had a personal note today that someone else just finished Sweet Surrender and I did a screen shot so I will add it here later, hoping for an Amazon review (hint hint). And FYI, Geno, cuz I know you read this, ‘LATER’ only means ‘NOT NOW’, no specific timeframe! ha ha!

It still makes me smile (and I LOVE THAT) when people point out things in the book that hits home for them and it’s different for everyone (and I LOVE THAT)! If you’ve read it and haven’t shared your thoughts with me – the good, the bad and the ugly – I CAN TAKE IT) I would love to hear from you, what ‘jumped off a page’ for you?

I don’t know why, but this year Mother’s Day has my ‘rememberer’ working, drifting…

‘Anyway, what was I sayin’… I seem to have lost my place again…’ (my Perry peeps will get that!)

I was looking for another way to say something – a different word to use for something I’m writing. My goodness, there are so many things you can find on google and in my search I found this site (not sharing, so that y’all can wonder where I came up with words in my writing and think ‘wow, she’s good!’) and I found this word that I LOVE – it’s my new favorite word…

Scriptitation – ‘continual writing’…

So TODAY, I will move on to the next task, which is cleaning up from the first one (HA!!!) and accomplish a few more things here and get back to my scriptitation. (I LIKE THAT WORD!)

Y’all have a BEAUTIFUL day – accomplish something!

Love, Barbara

(p.s…. if you are still blessed enough to have your mommy, give them an extra hug for me…)