Melani Blazer

I got this in an email today:

Apples and Wine

Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most Men don’t want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt.

Instead, they sometimes take the ; apples from the ground that aren’t as good, but easy. The apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality, there’re amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who is brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree.

Now Men….Men are like a fine wine. They begin as grapes, and it’s up to women to stomp the shit out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Okay, so it’s rather detrimental to men, but let’s consider the first part again, especially this last line…

wait for the right man to come along, the one who is brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree

Aren’t THOSE the men we write about in romance? Aren’t THOSE the ones who make up the characters that make us catch our breath, our chest tighten and give us faith in love? Even thought we might never have heard this particular analogy, I think it’s apt–and probably applies to the thinking pattern of most romance readers and writers.

The wine part? I just included it ‘cuz that’s funny right there.

Just got a notification that Cerridwen Press that they have added a nifty new button on the side bar to further help you find the kind of books you’re looking for. Already you can search by genre, author or Title/Series.
YOUNG ADULT INTEREST. These are books that have younger protagonists (for the most part) and the content would be appealing to late teen/early twenty age groups of readers. I know those books are out there, and frankly, I know myself and lots of my friends were already reading “adult” books when we were teens, for various reasons, such as they were available, the teen books weren’t all that interesting or hard to find, or we’d gone through those and were in need of other reading material…

Anyway, I’m super pleased and proud to tell you that my Cerridwen Press release, Brand Name Dates, fits this category! It’s a fun book and one I really, really love.

Brand Name Dates is available in e-book AND print. Hope you can check it out–and maybe even suggest it to a younger reader!

Mark this on the calendars, friends. I finished a book!
Writing, not reading, just to clarify.

It’s short, and it’s still missing that sex scene (or two or three….. I’ve got a night to fill). The ending is rough and there’s a few loose threads I’ve got to go back and follow through—aka, lots of editing, but omg, I completed the arcs, I satisfied the plot and gave these two characters a long awaited and well deserved happily ever after.

Knock me over with a feather.

Now, I’ll let it stew a day, or at least a night, cuz I’ve gotta go visit my Grandparents, stop at the store for meat for my contribution to tomorrow’s dinner and….I knew there was something else I wanted to do… gah! I’ll think of it, I hope.

Anyway, I’m a heck of a lot more excited than this post can convey, mainly because I’ve shifted focus SOOOOO many times lately with so many books, I was beginning to doubt my ability to hit “the end.”

I mean every one of those!

And before anyone asks…I have no idea what I’m doing with it yet. Will depend on word count and heat level after editing, I guess. I’ll let you know. But I finished, OMG, I finished!!!

or why I didn’t finish the book tonight….

Lacing those was a huge

And of course, the kidlet wanted ALL the laces flat… no crooked ones, heaven forbid.

So, now I’m off to make pepper steak (with family help) for the husband’s “potluck” tomorrow.

Maybe I’ll sneak in a page in before I pass out. Maybe.

I’ve been spending alot of free time with kidlet before she leaves us to go back to school *and* writing by hand. I’m bloghopping sporadically, ignoring yahoo loops totally and using IM to keep up almost exclusively. So I have little to comment on, sorry!

It’s been cold, snowy, but so far, 2008 has been okay. We spent New Years Eve with our neighbors, playing cards. They have the same philosophy toward life we have, so we’re able to “be” ourselves, laugh, eat and relax. There’s nothing that can compare with that!

I’ve updated side bar with MMR, the initials for my current WIP. I’m book jumping again, but I’d rather do that than write crap I’ll end up having to delete. So…. hopefully that meter will steadily increase.

See ya latah!

Christmas Eve. My boss was gracious (and perhaps fearful enough of us all) to allow an entire day off. It’s the first time I’ve had more than two days in a row off in I don’t konw how long, but never fear, there’s a zillion things to be done and they’ll have flown by me without realization.

We had all the intentions of rise and shine early this morning to get a start on things. I need to make a double batch of Snickerdoodles, as one batch is my gift to my father-in-law, who loves them like nothing else. (The rest goes into the cookie plates I think I’ve been making for the last two or three weeks, egads!)

It’s windy and cold and the best place to be at 7am is curled up next to the one you love, with the cats scattered at the edges of the bed. So we relaxed and finally stretched after one of the dear felines broke the picture perfect moment with the upheaval of a nice food encrusted hairball. Gee, thanks.

But it didn’t turn out to be a bad thing. I put on coffee (don’t drink it, but figured hubby would want it) and did the dishes that didn’t get done last night. If you read my blog last summer, you’ll know we have a tendancy to spoil the local squirrels, and they’ve come to tell their friends and expect their peanuts on the porch each morning. Of course, this morning we were late and they were running around the driveway, checking and rechecking for their breakfast. The husband tosses a double handful of nuts onto the bottom step and then heads off to check out the tv.

I see the cat, now perched (groan) on the edge of the kitchen table, staring outside. He crouches and the tail starts whipping. He doesn’t do that for squirrels, he’s used to them and accepts them. So I pick up the cat and take him to the window to “see”.
What we find was a rare treat, and totally unexpected. I call husband, then go get up daughter so we could stand in the window and watch two squirrels, four blue jays and a red headed woodpecker dance around on the porch, vying for the peanuts. Yes, we put out even more, not having expected to provide Christmas dinner for so many, but unwilling to turn away such beautiful creatures. They stayed for nearly 40 minutes, often all of them sitting on the edge of the garage roof or dashing across the steps at once. While they were benefitting, we felt the most blessed by their trust, after all, we were fully visible in the window less than three feet from them–and holding the cats so they could watch as well.

Hope your Christmas finds you a moment you cherish as much, and touches your heart in a way nothing else can.

Just wanted to pop in to let you know I was still here… really, I am. My mind, not so much.

The holiday season is nutty enough, but egads, it seems to get more hectic each year. I’m still baking cookies like a mad-woman and they seem to disappear so quickly, what the heck? Ignore the growing size of my thighs, please, I’ll deny even taste-testing one of them!

With that, my oven beeped and I’ve gotta pack up this batch of goodies for a run to yet another person. I’ll be back.. I hope!

I’ve come to the crazy conclusion that part of my…apathy, depression and dark outlook had much to do with my current WIP. After all, I’m writing a very difficult portion of story where not only has everything familiar been ripped away from protagonist, destroyed and forgotten by everyone else, she’s trapped in a world where her control is fleeting and frankly, there’s not a dim hope of light at the end of the tunnel. In other words, it eerily mirrors the outlook I’ve been living.

Now, yes, there are factors in my life that have affected my way of thinking, some bad news, some ugly situations and a come and go sense of helplessness that would likely be there regardless of what I’m writing. I’ve just made a huge decision to set the current WIP aside, because I know “escaping” to write, and then writing of something so dark, barren and empty is not what I need.

In case anyone’s concerned, I’m fine, health-wise, as is my family. My issues are fixable and I’ve done what I can to get the ball rolling. So no worries.

In fact, the purpose of this blog is not to whine and complain, but to acknowledge how reading AND writing something upbeat, fun and sprited can truly affect a whole person. I’ve switched to a story I’ve tinkered with on several occasions but haven’t seriously focused on. I’ve laughed, I’ve smiled and enjoyed the interplay between characters and am definitely looking forward to more.

Moral of the story? If you’re down, find yourself a funny, FUN book… and read!

I just learned ANIMAL PLANET is working with WWF (World Wildlife Fund, Inc.) to make an effort to save the endangered animals.

With our help, Animal Planet will donate up to $100,000 to WWF.

What do you say???

Head on over HERE and cast your vote. You don’t have to pay anything, subscribe to anything or linger on a page for more than a moment. Click your favorite animal or pick one randomly. Be sure to go back, as you can vote once per day. If any of you have kids, have them pick, and make sure they know what good they’re doing for those beautiful animals.

First, the eyeball woes are those of my daughter. Reoccuring pink eye is BAAAAAAAAAAAD and the doctor is getting seriously worried. She’s on high dose antibiotics, but is going apeshit crazy b/c she can’t look at computer or tv for any length of time, can’t read and has zero tolerance to light. Today was day three. The part that scares me is that a kid in her band class was diagnosed with MRSA, and while he/she’s been out of the class, I hate to think she had contact with this person before diagnosis OR that others there are contagious without being diagnosed yet. A few good cast thoughts would be appreciated. She’s learned how sucky it would be to be blind. (She’s been walking around with sunglasses, we’ve kept lights out/low for her, but she’s in misery). Doc follow up is Thursday. Hopefully these antibiotics do the trick this time.

As for my dream, it was one of those real-time, real-life full color dreams that left me startled and feeling out of place when I woke up. Like as in “I was there, I know I was, so how’d I end up here.”

My memory of the dream starts when I’d landed at the airport somewhere in England. I don’t recall the purpose of my trip, but it was only a three day/two night stay. I was staying with Angie (yes Angie, I know you don’t live in England or talk with a natty accent, but in my dream you did. bwahahaha), so she met me at the airport.

First thing was that I had to buy a bond in order to be there. Or in order to board the plane to get back, I guess. I wanted to buy it while I was still in the airport so I knew it was out of the way and could enjoy my stay. (The more preparation, the better I feel). The bond was 95 pounds, which I thought was fair, and I secured it. Angie was a little impatient, but only because we didn’t have much time and she wanted to do as much as possible before I left.

We went to this neat little pub and had a bite to eat. It was like an Applebee’s or TGIFridays, but with a British twist (or at least my imaginations version of one). I can still remember the smell of it–fried chicken, steak and a fruity pie-like dessert were the scents I remember, but again, to me it was wholly English and not Americanized at all. I wish I could describe it better, but a lot of the details have faded since this morning. I remember the ramp like twist that led into the dining area, the hum of people around us (I loved to listen to their accent) and the pale yellow tinge of the lights. I don’t remember what we ate, or talked about, but I can recall soaking it all in–the pictures and paintings and paraphenalia on the walls were such novelties to me.

After eating, we walked down town, passed office fronts and store fronts, some were open, some were closed. It was dark, and must have rained, because I remember how odd I found it to see the headlights glimmering off the road on the WRONG side of the street.

We went to her house, where Brianna and Angie’s husband were waiting. Brianna had gotten to stay up late to “meet” me, but went to be almost immediately after. I don’t recall talking much to her husband, but it was late and I was exhausted from the airports and plane ride and the whole excitement of being in another country.

I slept on the couch–and was happy to. I think it was a pull-out couch and Angie wanted to make it up, but I was tired (as were they) so I just curled up and fell asleep.

I woke up at 11 the next morning. 11 GMT, which was about 5am MY time. ugh. I was still groggy. I asked if I could shower and Angie’s husband told me I could and showed me to the larger bathroom with the stand up shower.

Their house was the most unusual thing and what really stuck out most in my mind. First off, I think the house was round. It was one story and sprawling, but the living room/kitchen area, while not quite round, were the center of the home with hallways shooting off in at least four different directions and various rooms at the end of those hallways. There were two bathrooms, on opposite ends of the living room. At those “corners” two hallways jutted off and created a “V” shape….
sorta of like >o< where the < and> are hallways and the “o” is the living room/ktichen. The bathroom was integrated into that “V” shape with a door off one of the two hallways–AND a door right at the tip of the “V” (it’s a dream, things are FUNKY). Anyway, I realized I hadn’t brought in my suitcases, so I retrieved them from Angie’s car and then promptly got all turned around in the house and couldn’t figure out which bathroom was which. Yeah, that’s me. Lost in her house. DUH!
In her defense, her bathroom was awesome. It was all jungle-like with hanging ferns and potted plants. The walls were dark green and white tile, the bathtub and sink were all a slate gray marble. Incredible.

I think I finally got my shower and it was off again. Sadly, that’s when the alarm went off, so I can’t say how things went after that. I had to share. Figured Angie would get a kick out of now being a Brit with an unusual house. I’ve had the visual of the dream lingering in my head all day. Gotta love those rich dreams like that, even if they have little meaning.