Lots of News Since Last Post

Let's see, where to begin!

I have a logo for my publishing company - Green Haired Lady Publications - done by AbsolutMudd at logodesignguru.com.

I have five published works, available here: http://stores.lulu.com/bethane41

The titles are:

Tales from the Character Realm, 2010 Edition

Theft by Character

Evicted by Darkness

Death by Delusion

Papacita

The first four are from the Tales from the Character Realm series, and Papacita is from the Belkher Chronicles series.

I also have website for Green Haired Lady Publications, here: http://greenhairedladypublications.com/

which has links to lulu.com, this blog, and the CafePress store I set up, also accessible here: http://www.cafepress.com/greenhairedladypublications

And...I have my inspiration for the next Belkher Chronicles story!

Now to just get through the holidays!

Long Time, No Post

I've really got to stop doing that - going months without posting. Bad writer!

What brought me back this time? Attending an NCPA meeting this morning and hearing a wonderful discussion on chapbooks. Did you know they are not just for poetry? I didn't before today.

Now I have a way to publish and share my work as I complete it instead of waiting until I have a novel (or novella or novelette) or a large enough collection of short stories or poetry for a full-length book.

I will do my best to blog more often and share my thoughts and experiences as I move along this newly discovered potential publishing path.

Look Up - Trust #2

Trust is a sacred thing, and once lost is very hard to find again. Feeling second best is never a good feeling, especially when you know you were not someone's first choice, and you get that message repeated throughout your relationship. Life is too short to be second choice in anyone's book. Find where you are truly first choice, and live there. It's that Sheryl Crow song again about looking up and looking down. No one should look down on you, and you should look down on no one else in your life, especially if they are supposed to be your life partner.

Look Up - Trust

Okay, so I didn't blog yesterday. Life struck and I didn't get that far. So, here's one entry for today, and I'll probably post another one this evening.

Trust, like a building, is built up brick by brick. Things happen to destroy that trust - small things that may take out a window or a door, and large things that may demolish an entire floor. After repeatedly blows, trust is destroyed.

You can rebuild trust, just as you can rebuild a building, but there will always be something missing, something just not right anymore. And then you have to decide if you can live with missing that something, or if it's time to move one.

Look Up - in LA - Day 3

Mother's Day was very, very good to me! My daughter fixed pancakes, eggs, and strawberries for breakfast. Then we were off to see Iron Man 2 - better than the first one, and wait - don't leave until after the credits roll. You'll miss something important...

Then we had lunch at Fuddrucker's. Then, two bookstores, and then home to relax. Ah!!!

Tomorrow, back on the road again.

Look Up - in LA - Day 2

My daughter and I did the 21 mile route on the Cruising the Canejos today. Everyone was friendly and supportive. It was her first ride, and she did great! On the way, we passed a Habitat for Humanity project. The cacaphony of tools going was very uplifting! We are, after all, one big family - and family is what matters!

Looking Up - LA

Made it to LA in one piece with no major traffic hang-ups. First time over the Grapevine and that was easier than driving the Altamont Pass or up I-80 to Reno/Tahoe!

Spending the Mother's Day weekend withy my beautiful and talented daughter - the boys get to deal with the other moms in their lives - the "spare" mom for my youngest and the mother of my grandchildren for the eldest.

Life is good!

Looking Up - Family

I was blessed to have my son and my grandchildren over for a few hours this evening. The grandson turned 2 in March and the granddaughter is 6 months old. My generation is now the elder generation with the passing of my aunt in February. And the grandbabies are the up and coming generation. Family is a blessing and a port in the storm when you truly need one. We may harangue you and give you our strongly worded opinions, but we do love you and will stand by you when need be. That is what family is for, after all.

Looking Up - Oops!

I almost forgot to blog today! I just finished watching Iron Man with my youngest son so I can see Iron Man 2 with my daughter for Mother's Day. Family - that's what it's all about. I've got three kids, two of which have significant others, and one of which has two children. And I've got three step-kids, all currently unattached. And I've got an extended blood and chosen family as well. I have "spare" children, who add joy to my life as I watch theirs unfold along with my own chldren's lives. The circle of life - ain't it grand!

Looking Up - Becoming More

We can have more than we've got because we can become more than we are - Jim Rohn

I love Twitter. PhenomenalLife has some really great quotes, which I share here and on Facebook. This is one of three I found this evening as I roamed Twitterland.

Becoming more than we are. Wow. I could have stayed a high school drop out welfare mom, or an administrative assistant, or a budget analyst, but now, I'm a program and project manager. Why? I really don't know. Well, that's not exactly true. I was on welfare (AFDC - Aid to Families with Dependent Children) because my mother was in her last years, dying of emphysema brought on by a lifetime of smoking cigarettes. However, her philosophy was that welfare was a hand up, not a hand out, and that it was not a lifestyle, but rather a lifeline when needed.

After she passed, I went back to school through the JTPA (Jobs Training Partnership Act) and got a clerical certificate. I took the exam to get on the Federal job roles and started my career as a GS-2 military personnel clerk at one of our local air force bases. From 1988 to 1997, I worked for the Air Force, and moved up from a GS-2 to a GS-6. In 1997, I transferred to the Army Corps of Engineers as a GS-5, and have worked my way up from being an administrative assistant (GS-5/6), to a budget analyst (GS-7/9/11) to a program and project manager (GS-12).

My education beyond high school consists of that clerical certificate that got my foot in the door, two associates degrees - one in general business and one in financial accounting, and various classes provided by my employers.

I was not one of those kids who had a grand plan. My parents divorced when I was 10, my dad died of lung cancer when I was 13, I'm a high school dropout with a GED. My mom died when I was 22 and my older two children were 2 1/2 and six months old. They are now 26 and 23. I had one more child, who is now getting ready to embark on college. I've been through three divorces, and am finally content in my fourth marriage.

What I've been blessed by in my life is people who see my potential and continue to encourage me (and at times push me) even when I don't see it for myself. And I've been blessed with supervisors who allow and encourage their employees to grow, even when that means they may lose them to higher level jobs.

I truly believe if I can do it, so can others. I never said easy. I said it can be done. And I'm proof of that.

Looking Up - Can't Never Did Nothing

"Can't never did nothing" was perhaps the only grammatically incorrect phrase I ever heard from my mother's mouth. We went rounds when I was in junior high/middle school and started using the word "ain't." She'd say, "Ain't ain't a word" and I'd counter that it was in the dictionary and that made it a word. I guess that's why I think there is nothing a person cannot do if they are willing to work for it. Now, there may be other limitations, however, even most of those can be conquered with patience and perseverance. Note I said most, not all. One also has to realize when to give up and move on. Sometimes you have to do that. You have to recognize that one door has closed, but many are still open. You just have to walk through them.

Looking Up - Day 2

For some reason as I pondered on the theme today, a Sheryl Crow song came to mind - Soak Up the Sun (lyrics to be found here: http://new.music.yahoo.com/sheryl-crow/tracks/soak-up-the-sun-radio-edit--2009357).

The line that always gets me is the one about buying the things it takes to get her some of his love. And then there is the one about when she's looking up, he's looking down. But then she counters with "I'm still the king of me."

That's the message, I think, that we are each "the king of me" and no one can take that away from us. No one can take away your dignity or your honor without your permission. Every one of us is a human being, first and foremost, and therefore precious and part of a large family that spans the globe.

So, go forth, practice random acts of kindness, pay it forward, look for the good in first yourself and then in others. For you cannot love others if you do not love yourself.

Namaste and Peace be with You.

Ok, Interesting Ads

I posted my last post, checked my blog site, and there were these ads for WalMart in my stream. Wow! Yes, I put in/allowed ads in this blog, just to see if they really were passive revenue makers. Haven't seen a dime yet, but it is interesting to see the process.

Daily Posting Target for May 2010

So, ScriptFrenzy ended with my accomplishing 82 pages - 18 short of the goal. Now, what to turn my attention to for May? A friend suggested this website: http://www.nablopomo.com/, so I joined it. The theme for May is "Look Up." Interesting, since the quotes I've been pulling off Twitter are in the same theme. Here is the latest quote I pulled from Twitter, submitted by PhenomenalLife:

High expectations are the key to everything - Sam Walton

This guy founded WalMart and Sam's Club, which spread across the country before he died. They were open in Europe for a short time as well (we saw at least one there in 2005), but Europe has similar style stores (Carrefour comes to mind in France), so WalMart pulled back to the States.

So, my thought for the 1st of May (May Day, Beltane in the older pagan religions) is this: What do you want to grow in life and/or art this year? See it, taste it, touch it, go for it! You cannot win if you do not play!

Belkher Chronicles Update

I am still working away on Papacita - and if you look to the right side of this blog, you will see a link to the blog specifically dedicated to the Belkher Chronicles.

Papacita Revisted

Well, to make good on my goals for 2010, it's time for me to get butt in chair and work on using the Snowflake Method to help me work the kinks out of several stories in the Belkher Chronicles line-up. I decided to start with Papacita, since it is the most nearly complete story of the series.

I don't like my one-sentence summary at this point, but it sounds better than the other one I came up with today. Here they both are:

The current one: The murder of a grandpa gone a-courting sends familial threads unraveling through three generations.

The one I came up with today: A boy's loss is no-one's gain when the man kills his grandfather over his father's death.

The second one better fits what happens in the story, but I guess I'll have to work on the story itself and let the summary cogitate from there.

Ah, 2010 - A New Year Begins Again

And of course most of us tend to make resolutions at this time of year. Here are mine, couched as goals rather than resolutions...

Use the Snowflake Method on any new stories I embark upon (am already doing this...)

Use the Snowflake Method on existing stories to help see where the gaps are

Enter contests - starting with The First Line, a quarterly contest that costs nothing to enter

Join the California Writers' Club (CWC)

Attend at least two writers' conferences - NCPA (Northern California Publishers and Authors) in April and the Redwood Writers (a branch of CWC) in October. Did both last year and gained a lot of knowledge and ideas!

Edit and submit two short stories written in the last year

Branch out into poetry

Participate in NaNoWriMo again

Since I now have two grandbabies, and I believe Kipling's Just So Stories are public domain, put together a book of these as told by me with photos to go along with the stories (and exercise my other artistic bent) - perhaps even create a video to go with them!

Create a book trailer for Theft by Character to put on YouTube

Purchase some ISBNs so I can self-publish (beyond the short story I have on lulu.com)

Sort out previous writings - grist for the mill or for refinement

And then, at the end of 2010, look over this list and see what I really accomplished!

(BTW, I already have my first submission written for The First Line contest...I' m letting it rest until the end of the month before I give it the final looksee/tweaks and send it in - submissions are due by 1 Feb 10 for the first quarter)

AND - Yes I do tend to dream big!!!