Online Stalking Tips on Boom! PR Solutions for Authors

I was interviewed by the owner of the Boom! PR Solutions for Editors blog:
www.boom-pr-for-authors.blogspot.com

I recently wrote an article on how to protect yourself online from harassers, and the owner of the Boom blog was my editor for the magazine that published the article, so she invited me on to talk about how to protect yourself.

Check out the interview! I hope you learn a little something...and while you're there, show me some love in the comments section...

A Whole Inch? Gee!

Some of you may know that I'm fortunate to have a ay job that's super flexible. Since I work for the federal government, I can't work more than 80 hours every two weeks (try getting a deal like that in a law firm--HA!). And the agency that I work for is allows us to choose when those 80 hours are (I could work 13 hours a day for 6 days straight and then take the next 8 days off and only take 2 hours of vacation if I wanted).

So I work 10 hours a day Monday through Thursday and then have 3-day weekends every week. It's lovely. Perfect opportunity to get lots of writing done.

Anyway, since I don't work on Fridays, I've taken to doing my grocery shopping on Friday afternoons, so I can get it all done without dealing with the rush and chaos that is the store on a Saturday or Sunday. Only today, the aisles were packed and the lines snaked and wrapped around and around.

What the heck?

Sadly, people were out to do their run on eggs, bread, and milk that always happens whenever we get a forecast for snow. Never mind the fact that we're only expected to get an inch, if that. What if we get trapped in our house without eggs, break, or milk?! Oh no! We might not be able to dig out for days!

*shakes head*

We're supposed to get 1 inch, people! 1 inch!

DC is arguably the most powerful city on the planet, yet one loudy inch of snow throws everyone into a tizzy and panic and completely incapacitates us. Pretty darn pathetic.

Pet Peeve in romance

I recently picked up a historical romance book that had me gritting my teeth. I couldn't finish it. Why? Because it contained rape and portrayed it as, if not necessarily acceptable, something the heroine enjoyed because she found the man extremely attractive. Even though he tied her down against her will, she still managed to be excited about this.

This is a major pet peeve of mine. I do not think rape has any place in a romance novel if portrayed in a light that shows it as anything other than what it is: a heinous crime. Not in this day and age or ever. I also feel strongly that this perpetuates the myth that when a woman says, "no", she really means "yes", even giving this message to women.

Okay, so I understand that some women may fantasize about being forced and that this is fiction, after all, but I can't condone it.

I feel you can create a compelling, satisfying story that doesn't need to include such, well, crap.

So, I ask all of you, what are your thoughts on this subject?

Marci

Music?

I was having this conversation with some friends, so I thought I'd ask it here. What sort of music inspires you to write? I don't mean what do you play while you're writing, because that's different. I personally can't write with music in the background, only speech, which is weird.

But there are certain songs, certain artistes, which set my creativity going. For example that Beatles' song 'I will'.

And some others I'm too embarrassed to mention, but I will if everyone else does!

Cleaning Machine

I don't care to clean. My house is not immaculate. I do not suffer from OCD, but there are times I wish I was just a little bit. Take today, for instance. I couldn't stand my shower any longer. It was disgusting. Now, we've had a few people come in to clean in the past few months, but they just don't clean the way it should be. Our shower is not easy to clean. Let me rephrase that: the shower ceiling is not that easy to clean. It's an eight foot high ceiling (old house) and a minuscule shower. Putting two people in the shower is a tight squeeze. So to reach the shower requires one of those sponge mops, but it won't really do that good of a job because the shower is so small that you can't maneuver. Or you have to have a small step stool, which we now have.

Needless to say, the shower ceiling has been neglected for, well, months. I knocked down most of the mold (yes, mold) with one of those sponge mops. Then I brought in the step stool, a sponge, and an old toothbrush. With a concoction of castille soap (with peppermint oil), white vinegar, and oregano oil, I spent the better part of two hours later getting the upper half of the shower to a relatively clean condition. It's not perfect, but it's better than it was. And I didn't die from chemical asphyxiation. LOL

Now, all I have left to do is... too much. Man, I hate cleaning! LOL

Marci

Coffee blech.

I measured it out. Seattle's Best, 3 tablespoons to 3 6 oz. measurements of water. THAT'S WHAT THE PACKAGE SAID, I SWEAR.

WHY oh WHY does my coffee (if I make it at home) always have the strength of motor oil? WHY?

Why can't I have a decent cuppa at home? Dunkin' Donuts is permanently Out with me, after (last Saturday - Saturday before last?) my fiance went to grab a coffee for me, brought it back, and, upon taking the first sip, I realized I have never in my life had something so vile inside my mouth. NEVER. No, not even THAT was this vile. They must've used rotten coffee with rat turds, and sweetened it with rancid yeti urine, then topped it off with VERY-long expired milk. It was disgusting. Dunkin' Donuts, you're dead to me now, nevermind that I have about $20 in dunkin donuts gift certificates.

And Starbucks? I can't do their regular drip coffee. It tastes like cigarette ashes. The coffee shop at work? I can only stomach their flavored coffees. WHY has the coffee world brought me to this point, WHY?

So now I sit here, sipping the remnants of my motor oil, and reminiscing about the days of old. Just like a Duke.

If anybody has coffee tips, please share them. :(

New Year's Resolutions

When did it become trendy to decry resolutions? The whole point of starting a new year, clean slate, calendar with no marks in it and no crossed-off days, is dreaming up ways to fill in those blank calendar days. I like New Year's Resolutions. I don't come to the end of the year and kick myself for not meeting them or forgetting about them; I come to the end of the year with the intention of trying again. In fact, it kind of seems to me that foregoing the resolution aspect of the New Year is a very bitter and jaded thing to do.

I'm a writer; I don't get bitter and jaded (much). Every new day brings a new idea and a new proposal, a new "This is it!" idea.

This year, I have a few different resolutions (unfashionable though they may be). I unapologetically resolve to lose weight, to go to water aerobics more regularly, to focus on writing and knitting and my loved ones.

What about you?