You wake up feeling like crap on Sunday. You somehow manage to get through Monday. You think, “I made it through Monday. I will OWN Tuesday.”  You suffer sickly through Tuesday. Now you’re tired as hell and here comes Wednesday.

WOOT!!! Halfway there! You can do this! The end is near! That’s what you tell yourself. Meanwhile by the end of Wednesday you leave work and crawl into your car. You have no memory of how you get home. You order a pizza and try in vain to doze off on the couch while IT jumps all over you while talking REALLY LOUDLY.

Thursday arrives. Now you’re in panic mode. Do I call in sick? Do I go and leave early? I’LL NEVER MAKE IT! Of course if you go in and leave early there’s no longer any point. It just means you’ll spend the three hour gap awake at home on the couch stressing that you’ll fall asleep and forget to pick IT up from school. Not exactly restful. So, in a daze, with one eye open and half a brain …you go to work and suffer through Thursday.

Thursday night.

You feel like you’re a marathoner in some kind of,  ”I’m sick and I survived!” race only the race is far from over and it seems to get strangely longer in distance the more you try to compete. Worse yet, you now realise that even if you somehow manage to fool people into thinking you’re not sleeping while ‘working’ on Friday that there will be nothing stopping the Saturday from arriving. You shudder. You KNOW what that means. It means IT will be home. It means IT will be up and prying your crusty little red eyes open at the ass crack of dawn saying “GET UP IT’S SATURDAY I WANT TO PLAY PLAY PLAY!!!!”

You shudder again. You can’t do it. You know that if you don’t get some rest before Saturday 5:30am gets here there will be nothing holding you back from bawling like a baby and screaming at IT, “FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT’S HOLY GO BACK TO BED RIGHT NOW! GIVE ME TEN MORE MINUTES AND I’LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT! ANYTHING!”

IT’s not stupid. IT happily says, “okay” and leaves.

2.5 seconds later from a range close enough to feel ITS breath on your ear…

“HAS IT BEEN TEN MINUTES YET?”

And THIS is why Friday is the perfect sick day.

Witch Hunt: Of the Blood is available in both print and eBook formats and may be found at Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords. (Smashwords provides copies compatible with almost all types of eReaders including Sony, Apple, Kobo, etc.) It is also available internationally via Amazon worldwide!

The stories by these five very different authors surprisingly managed to form a cohesive unit. Each different from the other, but not jarring in the least. Nearly all had me laughing or crying or both at times.

Ladies, I thank you for stopping by my blog today! I’m letting you all off with merely two simple questions:

1. Which witch, in TV or history, do you think most accurately represents your personality?2. If you died and came back as a companion cat what color and why?

Suzanne Campbell Hayes:

1. Without any doubt: Endora! Played by Agnes Moorehead. She was Samantha’s mother on Bewitched. Sassy, devious, powerful, and she liked to tweak that dweeb, Darren. Besides she was stylin! Don’t you think?

2. Calico—solids are boring, stripes not slimming enough. Bold orange, black and white splotches are the thing that says. “Camouflage is for sissies.” 

K.L. Schewngel:

1. That first question is a toughie. I’d have to go with Gillian Owens from Practical Magic because she was a bit of a fiery gal, yet strong. (Although, I hate to say it, I almost picked the Wicked Witch of the West from Wizard of Oz only because she had those totally awesome flying monkeys. I *loved* those monkeys.)

2. I would come back as a Russian Blue. I love their silvery-grey color, like mist, or the fog between worlds.

Krista Walsh:

1. I’d say Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Good, dedicated, but with the potential to lose myself to the dark side.

2. Fantastic question, Tammy! Totally cliché, but black. Easy to overlook and therefore sneaky, with an innate elegance. I also say that, because my own familiar would be very upset with me if I said any other colour. 

Keri Lake:

1. Hmmmm. This is a tough one for me. I actually hadn’t read or written much about witches prior to this anthology. But I liked the movie Witches of Eastwick and I think I’d probably be most aligned with Cher’s character. Haha!

2. I’d like to come back as a black cat – no one messes with a black cat. 

Devin O’Branagan:

1. Piper Halliwell of Charmed fame. She had chutzpa, boundless courage, and she didn’t take guff from anyone. I liked her style. 

2. An orange tabby with amber eyes in honor of Isis, the sweetest cat I ever had.

My responses?   I’m most fond of  Nymphadora Tonks from Harry Potter. She always had bold hair, bold temper, and an affinity for trouble. Nothing like me at all… eh hem. As for cat color, hmm well I’ve often thought that being a Tuxedo cat would be lovely, much like my Chester cat was, but I’m far too clutzy to carry off such a regal casting…so I’d settle for white. White cats look so soft and cuddly,  until you try to pet them.

Thank-you to all who’ve taken the time to stop by today, I am most grateful.

I will note that two of the stories in this anthology are bridges to the upcoming sequel, Witch Hunt: Resistance, which will be released in 2013. I highly recommend you check each of the authors out via the links I’ve attached to each of their names. You won’t be disappointed you did. I’d also like to note that Sue Campbell did the amazing cover art for Witch Hunt – Of the Blood.

In as much as I tweet, blog, write and post stories I’ve written, all of that has been online. I hadn’t realised how much I valued this lack of ‘personal’ interaction until I had a telephone interview with a local reporter recently. Turns out I’m much more articulate in print than in person. Typing something means I have plenty of time to edit my thoughts, but talking . . . not so much.

For example, I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting local author Kelley Armstrong several times now and have yet to manage to say anything remotely articulate to her. Thankfully she is far too kind and generous to ever point that out to me.

As writers the more we are published the more attention our work receives. This is the goal, yes? However at the same time this can put us into a situation we might find ourselves unprepared for. I’ve spent all my spare time learning to write and writing that I never gave any thought as to how I’d respond to being put on the spot in regards to my work. Turns out it was a real eye-opener for me! I can talk about other people’s work until the cows come home, but talk about my own work? Pfft!

So help a newbie out folks, what types of things do you do to prepare/help you get through things like live interviews, panels, etc? Have you taken any courses etc?

If you find yourself bored you can click this link to hear me babbling in person at a podcast on Following The Nerd Radio; http://www.followingthenerd.com/podcast/its-episode-31-of-our-podcast-world-domination-the-same-old-dream-our-asylums-are-full-of-people-who-think-theyre-napoleon-or-god/  (interview at 00:45 min – 00:62 min)

My latest news: My puppy Max made his ‘writing’ debut at Tails Pet Magazine. http://www.tailsinc.com/2012/11/devins-tails-guest-post-puppy-max/

One interesting thing did happen recently; I attended yet another Brian Henry writing workshop. I always come away with something and it’s a great way to network and meet other writers. Of course it didn’t hurt that my friends Dianne and Tricia were with me, or that my idol Kelley Armstrong was in attendance.  

Why is Kelley my idol? She was developing strong female supernatural characters long before they were the ‘in’ thing. Her writing is exciting, deep, well paced and her plots and characters are rich in layers. Stumbling across her books was a life changing gig for me. I was already writing, but I thought to myself that if this local rural girl could accomplish so many amazing things then maybe I could learn too. I joined her online writing forum and I’ve never felt more at home now that I’ve found people with the same interest and passion. It’s very inspiring to be surrounded by talented writers. They have all, in their own way, driven me to continue in my attempts. That being said, while I’ve had small things published here and there, I’ve been working on the same MS for over 4yrs now and I just can’t seem to get through it. I keep getting distracted by other things I want to write. 

At the workshop I asked Brian about that exact problem of mine. He said, very kindly, “Well, you’re a story flirt that’s what you are.” 

Once the laughter died down he went on to say, and no I won’t quote him as I’ll screw it up, but the gist was this: You need to outline. If you follow your outline you won’t get stalled out. You’re problem is you’re bored of the story you’re working on, you’re three quarters the way through it and in your head it’s already done, it’s all figured out and over and now you’re just putting it to paper so you get bored. Distracted. 

So in my own head I hear: If you followed an outline it would be easier to stay on task and, I dunno, actually get something finished.

I’m going to give it a try. I love writing flash and short pieces as they allow me to move onto my next concept quicker, but my MS needs some time and loving so I can get the thing done and over. I owe it to myself to finish it and move on. If Kelley could take 8yrs to get Bitten finished surely there’s some hope left out there in the world for the rest of us “Story-Flirts” too. Right? 

On a separate note: I recently read a book and highly recommend it if you enjoy YA. Though it started a bit iffy for me, the moment was brief and soon I found I couldn’t put it down. It’s called Angelfall and it’s written by Susan Ee and it’s her debut novel. This link will take you to her site where you can read the first 5 chapters of this book for FREE so you can decide if it’s worth spending your own money or not.   

Blurby section from her site: It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Until we meet again I wish you peace, plotmares, and all kinds of happy haunting!

Reblogged from Writer J. A. Campbell:

I have two stories in this collection of dark tales. Caution, this does contain adult content, so it's not suitable for a younger audience, and to view it you must have the adult content filter turned off at Smashwords. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/178855

From the Description: This compilation of paranormal, supernatural, dark and twisted works will have you looking over your shoulder and sleeping with the light on!

Read more… 341 more words

Reblogged from Writer J. A. Campbell:

I wanted to do something to help out after the devastating fires in Colorado. For any of you who don't know, Colorado is my home and I know people and animals who've been impacted by all the major fires we had in May and June. I live close but was never in any danger to the High Park fire, second largest and second most destructive in Colorado history - well, since we've been keeping track anyway.

Read more… 374 more words

PRESS RELEASE DAY FOR BLEEDING INK!

Here’s how it works; The recipient is supposed to answer the sender’s 11 questions, then come up with 11 questions to send to 11 bloggers.  They in turn answer the questions and link back to this original post.

Here’s Keri’s witty questions and my responses.  I had SO much fun with this and I hope you enjoy reading them. And most of all don’t forget to check the end to see who I’ve tagged and what my questions are.

1.  Your day has been riddled with one crappy event after the next, starting with the mounds of laundry your lazy-ass stepmom & sisters left for you, and ending with a phone call from prince charming that he’s canceling dinner plans…for the fifth time in a row.  It’s enough to make you cry.  In the thick of your pity party, a petite woman, looking like she’s had one too many face lifts, appears claiming to be your fairy godmother.  Figuring you’ve had a day from hell, she offers to let you have 1 day as the MC in any book of your choice.  What character and book would you choose to cast yourself in for a day?

Hermione from Harry Potter. Smart, brave, and a magic wand. Can’t get any better than that.

2.  You decide to have a little fun and enter yourself in the Paranormal Dating Game show coming to town.  Here are the three bachelors you have to choose from:

Bachelor #1 is a brawny guy who loves the outdoors.  His favorite pastime is snuggling beside a campfire and running naked through the woods on a full-moon.  He’s looking for an adventurous girl who doesn’t mind a bit of shedding from time to time.  An incredibly loyal companion who loves a good petting.

Bachelor #2 is a lean and charming guy who lives for the night life.  You’ll never have to slave over a hot stove for this one, his diet is simple.  He volunteers regularly at the local Red Cross and is looking for a woman who won’t blow a gasket when it comes to sleeping in a casket.

Bachelor #3 is smokin’ hot and will show you one hell of a good time on the town. One night with him and you’ll sell your soul for more!  He bakes a sinfully good lasagna and is looking for a sexy little angel who’s not opposed to relocating to a warm climate.

Who’s it gonna be??

The hot blooded wolf EVERYtime. Noms.

3.  As an added bonus, the game show offers you an all-expense paid date to anywhere you’d like (I did say all-expense paid…feel free to book a flight).  Where will you go with your smexy bachelor and what will you do?

The ice hotel. It’s on my bucket list. Do? Um, ya know….stuff.

4.  You take a once-in-a-lifetime cruise across the globe.  And wouldn’t ya know it?  The damn boat sinks and you’re left stranded on a deserted island.  An enormous travel chest washes up on shore and you recognize it as the one that belonged to the old rich lady with the yapping Pomeranian who boarded in front of you at the port.  You open it and gasp.  What’s inside? 

The damn dog of course. If it wasn’t for bad luck I’d have none at all.  

5.  You’re given the opportunity to go back in time and redo any embarrassing moment in your life (without the consequence of affecting major events like marriage and birth).  What moment would you go back and change?  

Just one? Hmm, when I was 17 working as a travelling groom at a thorougbred farm I was once locked in a tack room at the Kentucky Horse sales. There was this guy I’d been thinking was cute for a few days but I was far to shy to EVER ask him out, well he opened the door and asked me to dinner. I’d been set up by my crewmates. I went to dinner and a movie with him, but omigod I was mortified.

6.  In an effort to reduce obesity in the country, the government has decided to ban all junk food and candy from being sold in stores except for ONE single item to be voted on.  What junk food would you vote to keep?

Cheese in a can. It’d be the only way I could eat all the remaining healthy crap.

7.  Your spaceship, that’s been wandering black holes for God knows how long, finally lands on a strange planet in the middle of some undiscovered galaxy.  It’s a gorgeous landscape that makes Earth’s paradises look like post-apocalyptic disasters.  Waterfalls, tropical breezes and sexy alien clones that think you’re their long-awaited gift from the gods.  Funny, they all look strangely like a famous actor you’ve seen before…who?

Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson. I’m a sucker for a great smile.

8.  If you could sit and collaborate with any famous author from any time period, who would you pick?

Kelley Armstrong because I’ve met her and she’s the nicest, most humble, down to earth, wickedly talented, person I’ve ever met.

9.  The world is struck by some unseen force that manages to wipe out the internet for the day.  What would you do to keep yourself from going insane?

Pick up the phone and actually call people. Read. Take the dog to the park. Paint. Blow bubbles with my son…

10.  Your slave-driving boss just claimed your last weekend off with a Monday deadline for a major project.  Because you’re a writer, you decide to vent the only way you know how…you type up a nasty email to your BFF about all the twenty ways you hope he kicks the bucket over the weekend.  But instead of selecting ‘Frannie’ from your list of contacts, you accidentally select ‘Frank’…your boss.  Do you fess up right away and chalk it up to a brief moment of insanity?  Or do you pack up your desktop pictures and decide not to come in on Monday?

I bluff, I send a follow up email and say, “LOL,  gotchya! See ya monday big guy.” then pray the door opens for me on monday.

11.  If you were paid big money to do nothing but follow your favorite band around on tour, what band would you follow?

Hedly. Just love that guys freaking voice.

˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜

So, here’s my 11 questions for the people I’ve tagged back. The list of tagged suckers, I mean people can be found below the questions. If you decide to participate (and no I won’t be offended if you don’t) please make sure you leave a link back to where you answered my questions.

1. You’re dead. What’s the one accomplishment you wished you’d achieved before you died?

2. You find out you’re a witch, what’s the first spell you want to cast?

3. You’re the next contestant on Survivior. You can only take one material item with you (aside from pictures of loved ones etc), what item can you not live without?

4. You’re stranded on a desert island with someone of the same sex. You’re lonely, they’re hot. Do you consider experimenting?

5. You could pick one of your favourite foods to be non fattening, what would it be?

6. Your fairy godmother show up, she says she can give you one special skill to help you succeed in life, what do you ask for?

7. If you could choose to be immortal, would you?

8. The devil appears to you. Says he’ll give you anything you ask for at all in exchange for your soul. Would you do it? If so what would you ask for?

9. You’re told you’re being shipped off to antoher planet to populate it because your genes are just that outstanding. You can only take a famous person with you to be your mate, who do you request?

10. Your spouse cheats on you. There are no kids involved. What do you do to get some revenge on the cheating spouse?

11. You are caught up in the middle of a bank robbery. During the robbery some cash falls and lands close to you. Do you slide it into your pocket, or leave it?

Pat Hollett

Darke Conteur

Lisa Forget

Angela Addams

Anne Michaud

Julie Campbell

Steve Mchugh

Beas Book Nook

Fran Terminiello

Danielle La Paglia

Gareth – Falcata Times/Tattys Treasures

Have fun gang!!!!

Blurb from Amazon:  Los Angeles D.A. Rachel Knight is a tenacious, wise-cracking, and fiercely intelligent prosecutor in the city’s most elite division. When her colleague, Jake, is found dead at a grisly crime scene, Rachel is shaken to the core. She must take over his toughest case: the assault of a young woman from a prominent family.

But she can’t stop herself from digging deeper into Jake’s death, a decision that exposes a world of power and violence and will have her risking her reputation–and her life–to find the truth.

With her tremendous expertise in the nuances of L.A. courts and crime, and with a vibrant ensemble cast of characters, Marcia Clark combines intimate detail, riotous humor, and visceral action in a debut thriller that marks the launch of a major new figure on the crime-writing scene.

Author Marcia Clark is a former Los Angeles deputy district attorney. You may have heard her name a time or two *cough, cough* during the O.J. Simpson trial.

My thoughts:  The story follows two cases at the same time and this fact alone keeps you on your toes as you try to keep them sorted. Marcia does a wonderful job of shaking up the stereotype tree quite a bit along the way and I found that particularly refreshing.

There were a few times when the story did tend to wander a bit. Getting into minute clothing details and the like, things that neither impacted the character nor progressed the story. This made for a few dry spots but I easily skipped over them and left them behind.  

Rachel is gal who works hard, drinks, doesn’t cry at the drop of a hat yet never tries to lose nor hide her femininity. She’s compassionate, tough, smart and most importantly, very relatable. Marcia manages to get this balance exactly right with her entire cast of characters.

The book is marketed suspense/mystery but I personally found that it read more like a Chick Lit style of novel (but without the sex). It wasn’t a raw, edge of your seat, gripping kind of suspense but rather a very clever, engaging, well paced adventure. You won’t get all of the guesses right when the loose ends are tied up but you won’t be too far off.

More and more these days we are seeing ’celeb’ types get published for their name rather than their skills so this book pleasantly surprised me in that regard. While Marcia may not be all the way there yet as a ‘writer’ (is anyone ever?) what she does have is a unique and confident style of writing that is all her own. A style I quite enjoyed. If book two can cut back on the dry spots and get a bit more raw (and yes please God is a kiss too much to ask for?) there’ll be nowhere to go but up for Miss Marcia Clark.

Where will Rachel’s brain and bravery take us next? I’ve no idea. But I’m going to find out. Book 2 Guilt by Degrees releases in May. 

My rating: 3 pink handguns out of 5  (1 = I didn’t get more than a few chapters before dumping it, 5 = I read it in one night cause it was THAT good)

At a loss for a topic this week I’m going to bore you with….wait for it….me. Total yawner I know right? Feel free to stop reading right now promise I won’t look.

I’ve recently begun attending a womens Bootcamp. What and why?

Why: Because it was a great deal I found on offer.  $20 for 20 classes (and yes I had to call and ensure it wasn’t a scam) Lol But it’s the REAL deal alright. Just ask my body anywhere from below my eyebrows.  It all hurts, but the GOOD hurt.

What: It’s circuit training essentially, but with a twist. We get to drag tires, flip tires, climb ladders, and all kinds of ‘fun’ stuff. The one thing I’ve noticed about this particular camp that is different from anything else I’ve done is that there is no curve to the training. Most places start easy, build up, and slow down. His just gets harder. Did you do sprints with squats at every station for 30secs? Now it’s a minute. Did you do it for a minute? Now it’s a minute with 10lbs of weight. That sort of thing.

After 3 classes I still look alot like this (not really me but easily could be);

But I FEEL like this (definitely not me);

The most valuable thing of all is that I’m learning good things I do later on my own at home.  That is always the best part of any class. Next week I’m taking a hot yoga class (hot cause they crank the heat to add misery) Personally I’ve never been a fan of yoga, I’m a hockey girl dammit! I always thought of yoga as sissy new-age crap. Um, ya, I’m a freaking idiot. You can say it. This is an 83 year old woman I would never want to try and steal a purse from…just sayin’. *runs to yoga class* 

I have two new addicions to share with you!

One is motivational fitness pictures with quotes. I post at least one a day on my FB page. It REALLY works to do this. Start the habit yourselves. If you post it, you must do it, right? It adds accountability and keeps me going. Here’s a couple of my favs.  

The second one is Pinterest. Omigod I love this site! (once I figured out how to use it, TY Shannon!). It’s free, and so awesome! Now whenever I’m surfing and see things I like, books, clothes, paint and décor, I just click the ‘pin it’ button and add it to a board. I’m planning on finishing our basement, I have a whole board full of things that inspire me, and it’s also where I keep all these cool fitness posters that I find. Find something on Etsy you like? Pin it. Check this site out, you’ll love it I swear! 

HOT TIP: Join lots of deal sites like Groupon, Dealfind, Kijiji deals, Social Network etc, you just never know what you’ll find! Just be sure to call the ACTUAL companies/stores to verify, and don’t forget to read the fine print!

I hope you found something here today to take away with you, thank you for stopping in!  

Where you see a couch, I see a life sucking vampire. #tammyism