Chick Lit Goddess

...because every author wants to feel like a goddess!

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Thoughts For Tuesday

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Preparing for NaNoWriMo

I spent a lot of time this weekend trying to come up with a type of outline for my book during National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo.  I jotted ideas down in my phone, but whenever I opened Word, ready to start typing, I had nothing!  I must have opened and closed the document three or four times the entire weekend, each time excited that this would be it and I’d have an outline.  No luck!

While I’m not exactly stressed about this, I am wondering if I should even be participating in NaNoWriMo, but something tells me that I can do this, so at least my confidence isn’t completely busted.  I know that it will come to me eventually, hopefully before November 1st, and when it does I’ll be ready!

For now I will be focusing on what I know I need to do to help me write a book in a month:

  • Work on creating a conflict and go from there
  • Create strong characters; a Hero and a Heroine and their character description
  • What do I want the message to the reader to be?
  • Do I need to do any research for my work?  (A destination perhaps?)
  • Make a schedule that ables me to at least write 1,633 words a day, along with two GWW classes, a girl’s only weekend with my sister, and Thanksgiving all in my favorite month!
  • De-stress!
**Any help, tips or thoughts are greatly appreciated**

How Twitter Can Help Writers

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I’ve been really into the Twitter world for about three weeks now.  I can’t say that I didn’t like it, I just didn’t quite understand why most everyone that I know “tweets.”  I’m still learning all the signs, but so far it has helped me along in my writing journey.

As an unpublished Chick Lit (not a dying genre like some think) writer, I have been graciously welcomed into a whole new way of communicating and publicizing myself and my work.

  • By tweeting about your WIP or your blogs, it can help get the word out about you.  This can create more “Likes” to your Facebook page, more hits on your website and more fans over time.
  • By “Following” people, blogs or companies, they will often tweet advice, tips or quotes that can help you along the way, no matter what stage you are at on your journey.
  • Since a lot of writers seem to be tweeting, it’s easy to communicate with people.  It’s a quick way of sharing a quick message or a to give a “congratulations.”  Often times they will reciprocate when you’ve accomplished something.  It’s also nice to have a cheerleader in your corner on your side when you need a little pick me up.
  • While only 140 characters are allowed, I think it makes the writer in all of us try to sum up what we’re saying and learn how to only use words that are necessary.  This can also make for a quick read for your reader.
I encourage you to at least give it a shot.  What’s the harm in trying something that might help your career?
Follow me on Twitter @ ILA121209

It’s Savory Saturday

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I love pizza so much that I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, all in the same day!  Most of the time my lunches consist of Lean Cuisines, Smart Ones, or something healthy.  Pizza isn’t really healthy so when I found the 200 Calorie DiGiorno pizza, I was thrilled, but had my doubts.  How can pizza that’s only 200 calories be good?  I was so wrong!  This pizza is delicious, and there are four tasty selections (Chicken with Peppers & Onions, Cheese and Tomato, Pepperoni, and Supreme).  I struggle with finding healthy meals to eat for one which is why the freezer is filled with frozen meals.  The meals range from Lean Cuisines, Smart Ones and DiGiorno pizzas!

DiGiorno Supreme Pizza
Set your oven to 400
Place it on the rack and cook 13 minutes

I highly recommend these pizzas for anyone who is trying to watch what they eat, because most of the time pizza is a splurge.  While the size of the pizza is small, I would add a salad,  (THESE Caesar salads are SO good!).

Sprinkle with crushed red pepper and enjoy!

It’s Fun Friday

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Kim Kardashian

It’s Kim Kardashian’s wedding weekend — again!  No, her marriage to Kris Humphries hasn’t ended…yet.  For a four-hour and two-day event (Sunday and Monday night) on E!, the people who weren’t invited to their more than lavish and extravagant wedding get to see it!

While most people find her to be the most annoying and spoiled celebrity, I like her, but it wasn’t always this way.  Before I began to watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians, I made it a point to pass right by them (the whole Kardashian/Jenner clan), not even giving them a second thought.  I was more interested in celebs like Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell.  One day last year I was sick in bed and wanted to watch something that I didn’t care about.  Perfect!  I couldn’t stop watching the drama that this family created and I was in luck because I stumbled upon an all-day marathon.

Kourtney, Khloe & Kim

It’s sad, I know, but I do keep up with the Kardashians.  The show is my favorite guilty pleasure and I’m not afraid to admit it.  (If you haven’t watched it and like reality TV, I guarantee you’ll like it).

Kim & Kris

Anyway, back to Kim and Kris…

This weekend she’s guaranteed to be making a lot of money and why shouldn’t she?  After all, her wedding to Kris is the United States’ Royal Wedding, that’s at least what I heard.  I understand the point of making money by promoting herself, but I think her wedding should be something that she shouldn’t be making money on.  It seems like just another show that she’s on, which kind of makes me think that celebs really do get engaged/married/divorced to promote something; I find this very sad.

In conclusion, I do wish Kim and Kris a lifetime of love and happiness.

Bartlett’s Roget’s Thesaurus

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A few months ago I was at the library and asked for a thesaurus.  The librarian said that she didn’t know if they had one because everyone uses the internet, but that she would look.  Minutes later she came back with their “only” thesaurus that they had.  How can a library only have one?  While I understood how and why this could be true in my generation, especially with the growth and advances in technology.

As a writer, this really bugged me.  How can one of the most beloved type of resource for writers be not in use (print) anymore?  Aren’t libraries supposed to have books in print?  (I know that they are now carrying audio books now, but would you really listen to a resource book like that?)  Most of the time when I flip through a thesaurus or even a dictionary, it can give me inspiration and help me learn more new words.  Anyway, HERE is the thesaurus that I was handed.  At first I was confused at the layout of this book, but once I got that down, I was in love with such a brilliant book.  While I was there that day I was so amazed with this book that I didn’t want to leave, but I couldn’t check it out (you can’t check out resources).  Weeks later I was still thinking about that book and couldn’t find it at my local library, so I bought it online.  Below are some pictures that I took to show you how much I love this book:

Bartlett's Roget's Thesaurus

Index 1
Index 2

 

Categories

Definitions

Extra tidbits

Back cover

Sunday Reflections

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Mistakes can be erased...

Each Monday many people try to start things off right, maybe trying to erase their mistakes from the previous week and/or have had a burst of inspiration, or a talk with themselves.  Monday’s are for making things better, whether it’s emotional, physical or accomplishing tasks that need to be done.

Make A List!

Sunday’s are great days for making a list of what you want to do, goals to make and  a way to start fresh.  If I have several types of things that I need to get done, make lists for each category.  (Ex.: Writing, Family, Bills).  Now reflect back on what you didn’t do last week that you should have and make that top priority and write it all down.  No matter how little or how long the list is don’t worry, take it one step at a time.  It’s even okay to have a list to make time for yourself and put yourself on the list!  As you reflect, also think about your personal goals.  (Ex.: Walk every single day, drink eight cups of water, write blog entry before bed).

As you cross stuff off your list, you’ll notice that with each task completed, you will feel less stressed.  In doing so, for each three things you do, reward yourself.  I’m not saying go by yourself anything expensive, but you could go get your nails done, go out to dinner, buy yourself a bottle of wine, take a bubble bath…the rewards are endless!

It’s Savory Saturday

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Green Tea. My favorite!

 Since yesterday was the first day of my favorite season, I anticipate that I will be upping my intake of the savory drink, tea, green tea specifically!

I first started drinking green tea when I would have sushi, and I couldn’t get enough of it.  When my husband and I received our wonderful Keurig machine as a wedding present, green tea was at the top of my list!  HERE is the link to the Keurig machine and Keurig cups.

(**Note: Some of you might have seen that earlier this week my Keurig machine died.  I will hopefully be getting a new one tomorrow).

If you do not have a Keurig cup, that is okay.  As long as you have green tea bags, you can still have and enjoy the drink.

There is no other kind of tea that is better than Green Tea!  While some might think that this Chinese tea is bland, I disagree.  When served hot this soothing tea it has a woodsy flavor and a hint of tang, but when served cold its natural flavors mixed with a lemon exude a refreshing summery taste.

As a writer I think it’s important to have a warming or refreshing drink, green tea is my choice.  On a good day (meaning without having writer’s block), I can drink up to seven or eight cups.  I also must tell you something that every writer needs if drinking a hot drink, a Mr. Coffee mug warmer.  This can help keep your tea nice and warm while you write.  I also bought another one and placed a glass candle (Yankee Candles, for an example) on top of it and let it melt, for a nice aroma while you write.

Below is a recipe for creating my perfect cup of tea.

Pick your favorite coffee mug
Put the tea in the Keurig maker!
Patiently wait for it to brew
Drink up!

One note about drinking green tea is that it’s good for you.  Without going into too many details, green tea can help fight cancer and heart disease.  It can assist in lowering cholesterol, burning fat, preventing diabetes and strokes and can also help wart off dementia, says the following link.  (Please see THIS site if you would like more information on the benefits of green tea).

Now that this blog has been written, I’m off to make yet another cup of green tea!  You should too!  Happy Sipping!

Fun Friday

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When I was a kid I loved to play games, especially board games.  Now when you think of board games, you would usually think of Monopoly, Sorry, Scrabble, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Mouse Trap, right?  But it’s 2011 and since late last year, my husband and I have started to have games nights and quite often.  I have refound my love for playing board games!

Of all the games we’ve played, Settlers of Catan is my absolute favorite game, even over Scrabble, the famous word game.  When the guys suggested that I play this game with them, I thought they were crazy.  I looked through the instruction manual and was shocked to see that it was over ten pages!  Ten pages of instructions for a game?  No thank you!  Why on earth would I play this game?  The first night I played with my husband, brother and our friend Wade.  The game is about trading and having a good hand, consisting of resources (bricks, sheep, stone and wood), in order to build roads, settlements and cities.  I know some people don’t find any of this interesting, but I once felt the same way.  I was soon obsessed with this game and begged my husband to play it with me, even the boring two player version.  He laughed and staggered himself to the bookshelf, pulled out the game and began to set it up.  (I was one happy wife).  A few nights later, we played this with another friend who hasn’t yet played this game, “Oh yay, we get to play Catan!”  That night the friend became so obsessed with this game, that we played five games that night.  Finally, someone was loving the game as much as I did.  After playing about twenty, yes twenty games, I still hadn’t won and was beginning to get very frustrated.  Evan the first time we taught my brother, he won that night!  Really?  Now I was really getting mad.  Finally after playing for about four months, I finally won, though it was only against my husband who knows strategies and has really good luck, I felt that it was still damn awesome!

Weeks later, I’m still in love with the game and have even had dreams about bricks, sheep, stone and wood; it’s obvious that I play the game a lot.  There are expansion packages you can get to add to the game.  HERE they are.

 

Fun Friday

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...Heaven...

My two favorite things: jeans and boots.  These are more than favorites, these are my loves.  Thanks to the chill in the air (82 degrees), it was the first thing I thought of when I picked out what to wear today.  On any other day this would have  been a simple choice, but due to the record high temperatures we have had in Dallas, jeans and boots haven’t been a thought in my mind, until now.  When I reached for my jeans, a smile crossed my face, and when I pulled on my elephant boots, the most comfortable shoes I have, I felt normal for the first time in a long time.  Jeans and boots are my normal and it’s just not because I live in Texas, the Lone Start state!  (I’d also like to clarify that we don’t all drive trucks and wear cowboy hats).

With all the different kind of jeans that are sold these days, it’s hard to find that one pair that you love — and of course, the right fit — but when you do, it’s like a breath of fresh air.  Right?

Like jeans, boots are so versatile.  You can wear them with jeans, dresses, skirts and slacks, depending on what kind of boots you have.  I even wore my boots under my dress when I got married and it was definitely one of he smartest I made during that process!

Like many I’m excited that the cooler weather is right around the corner, for many reasons!, but especially because that means that it’s jean and boot season!