Birthday, Visit from my Bestie, and Disneyland. OH MY!

I'm trying to get back on schedule from my original idea that I set up back in April. (Click here if you would like to know what I'm talking about.) I'm juggling a few other projects and ideas, but I'm determined that this blog does not go by the wayside again.

About a month ago, I left my 20's and jumped into my 30's. It's actually not as big of a deal turning 30 compared to turning 29. I had my "Holy shit, I'm old!" moment back when I turned 29. Usually people have a crisis when they hit the middle of their life, I had mine at 29.

It was good though. The crisis, I mean. It helped me put things into perspective and pushed me to actually pursue my dream of writing and creating my own publishing house. So when birthday number 30 came around, it felt like a milestone to be proud of. I got to stay home with my daughter for the past two years and really explore my nurturing and creative side. Considering how it's really difficult to live off of one paycheck, I am very grateful that I was able to have this experience. While I have decided to go back to work, I'm determined to make it a job/profession that I enjoy, rather than a job that pays the bills kind of deal.

Worn once but only with the promise of M&M's

To mark my 30th birthday I decided we were going to go to Disneyland! But not just any Disney trip, we were going to go trick or treating at Disneyland. It was pretty awesome! We all dressed up. I made Alice a little green vest so that she could be Gir. She hated the vest and instead wore a green and black tutu. Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed by that considering it took me a week to make the vest and two hours to make the tutu. What can I say? The girl likes to twirl and sparkle.

Also, to mark the special occasion, my writing buddy and future business partner, came out for the weekend as well and joined us in the shenanigans. She and I decided to do a similar themed costume and did skeleton makeup. Technically, we did a two-faced day of the dead look. I called it "Pretty Dead". ;-) While she was here, we worked on our spiritual blog connected to that book project I was talking about in the last post. If you're interested, I'll post a link to it at the end of the blog.

Jackie and I in our "Pretty Dead" look

We were also joined by my in-laws who dressed up as convicts. A costume that was actually original, until we came across the "Where's Waldo?" family. Then there were horizontal stripes everywhere. It was funny though, the various Disneyland staff kept asking them which prison they broke out of.

And Jason was Jason and wore one of his cross-genre nerd shirts. Maybe next year we'll get him an awesome costume together.

We had a great time, enjoyed all of the fall and Halloween decorations at Disneyland, and have made plans to do it again next year! Maybe even make it a tradition. So yea. Great 30th. Great company. A good time was had by all!

Oh! Here's the link to our spiritual blog. We stopped for a few years when I moved to California. We're just starting to gear up again and use it as a supplemental space for our book. The book should be finished by the end of November. That's one of my nanowrimo books this year. And yes, I said one of because I'm crazy enough to do two projects. You'll understand why in a few months. ;-)

Anyways, talk to you soon! Bask in the glory of all the pictures!
 

Un-amused f.i.l (I took a picture of both of them taking a picture of us. :D)

Jason's well timed photo bomb...

The Unworn Gir Costume

Pretty Dead Girls

she says four months later.

Hi. As you can see, I've been a bit MIA. All for good reasons which I will briefly summarize and leave the minutia for another day.

We bought a house in the Long Beach area (yay!) and moved in after the 4th of July. In between the gap of my last post and our move date, we had visitors and random trips back to the desert. Then after we moved, we experienced the chaotic life of boxes.

At first we were living out of them. Then we were living around them in their empty or flattened state. Until finally, we were able to recycle them. I am proud to say that we are mostly box free. I even have put away my crafting things in designated spots. One might actual mistake the closet in the third bedroom as being organized. *Gasp!* Be still my Virgoian heart!

Anyways, we've been adjusting to our new life. Discovering stores, restaurants, enjoying having an air conditioner again. I have to say, after living almost my whole life in a desert, adjusting to actual humidity has been the worst thing ever. Yes, I am not ashy dry after stepping out of the shower and my hair gets wavy and sometimes curly, but I am still not used to dealing with the humidity. Thank goodness I do no live in Missouri with the majority of the Flower clan. I would not survive.

And of course- staying true to my nature, I put all my stuff to the side so that I can focus on other things. I know, I know. That's not very healthy and I have to admit, I feel very stagnate and almost borderline resentful when I see others doing what they want. Especially when I feel like I can't just focus on myself for a bit.

So in the spirit of the Autumnal Equinox, this is my attempt at focusing on balance.

I know in April I had a plan on what I was going to post every Tuesday or so, but seeing as how I've already blown that plan out of the water, I'll go back to some kind of a schedule in October. For now, I just needed to write something for myself really quick. Get myself back on track.

I will do a quick review on one book that I read this past summer next week though.

Until then!

Oh! Random afterthought. I started a new writing project with one of my besties back in Phoenix. It's a spiritual book on how to think, feel, and act in ways that align with the Self. It's kind of ironic that I'm writing a book about that when I'm notorious for ignoring my Higher Self, but it's actually helped me a lot. This book sort of documents that journey that we've been traveling on. Anyways, lots of great stuff going on and I can't wait to share it all! :-)

Love ya!

Book Review- The Fast Metabolism Diet

I know I've been posting every Tuesday. For my book review though, I wanted to set it a part from my normal, everyday postings.

As a writer, I believe it is so important to read. Inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes. So not everything I review will be so and so's newest book (although there will be a few of those). Yes, I read fantasy and horror because those are the genres I like to write in but sometimes I want to read Andre Agassi's biography or reread Jane Eyre (one of my favorite novels :D ). There are so many good books out there! My lament is that I don't have enough time to read all of them.

With all that being said, here's my review of The Fast Metabolism Diet: Eat More Food and Lose More Weight by Haylie Pomroy.

Basic Impressions

The one thing that caught me about this diet book was the subtitle. Eat MORE food to LOSE weight. It definitely caught my attention and my curiosity. How I actually stumbled upon this diet program was a PBS two hour fundraising program special. Sometimes they feature Celtic Women or some Opera performed at a prestigious theater in Italy. But this time it was all about the health.

So after watching the show and learning about Haylie Pomroy's program and credentials, I decided to buy it for my Kindle app. The first chapter or two reads EXACTLY like the PBS infomercial fundraising special. In fact, it's basically word for word the first two chapters. I had already seen the program and bought it so I didn't need anymore convincing as to why I should do her diet and take Pomroy at her word that this works. Even if I hadn't seen the program, the blatant sales pitch type tone throughout the majority of the book is a definite turn off

I also want to add in here that Pomroy is not a medical doctor but a nutritionist who originally started working with animals. She noticed how certain foods fed to cattle at certain times change the composition of the muscle to fat ratio in cows and thought "Hey! I bet humans would be delicious delighted to change their fat body content as well!" I might be simplifying things with that statement but I did find it a little unusual that she translated animal nutrition into a fat burning diet for humans.

Here's the break down of her diet:

The whole philosophy and goal behind the diet is to repair your metabolism so that it can properly burn foods instead of working in starvation mode and/or being too slow. In the beginning she discusses the five major players in a healthy metabolism:

1. The Liver
2. The Adrenal Glands
3. The Thyroid
4. The Pituitary Gland
5. And your actual body substance- White fat (the stuff you want to get ride of), brown fat (the good fat that helps you burn calories), and muscle

What you eat is designed to de-stress each of these players and get them working so that they do their jobs right.

The diet itself is broken down into three phases per week. The first two days- Monday and Tuesday- are Phase 1. Phase 1 is called the "Unwind" phase. Here you calm down your adrenal glands and get your body off the fight or flight stress mode. This part of the phase is high in healthy sugars and carbs. So oatmeal, brown rice, apples, oranges, and pineapple. All foods that are up there on the glycemic index*. This part of the diet also requires that you do not eat or cook with healthy fats.

Phase 2 is the Unlock Phase and is done for the next two days, Wednesday and Thursday. Here is where you get your body to start burning your fat stores while building muscles. This is the no carb, no fat, all meat and non-starchy veggies phase. Personally, I had a difficult time with these two days. Luckily, it is only two days. A very long two days but two days none-the-less.

Phase 3 is the Unleash the Burn Phase. This phase is done for three days. After forcing your body to burn it's own fats, here is where you reward it and yourself with a healthy dose of fats at almost every meal. Here you can eat a moderate amount of carbs and proteins but only fruits that rank low on the glycemic index. This was my favorite phase. It felt like I was indulging and it still made me lose weight.

Pomroy recommends doing at least four weeks of eating like this. If you still need to lose more weight or decrease high numbers like cholesterol, then continue the diet until you achieve these goals. She also has recommendations for vegetarians and vegans.

Exercise

Like any healthy diet, you need to incorporate exercise in order to get the maximum benefits. Pomroy recommends exercising at least three times a week and to correspond certain exercises with the phases. Since Phase 1 is high in carbs, she recommends doing cardio exercises like going for a walk or a run. On Phase 2, it's weight lifting. The high protein is great for building muscles. Phase 3 is all about relaxing. Here, Pomroy recommends yoga, meditating, and/or getting a massage.

Overall

I did attempt this diet and I made it for two weeks. Between traveling and high level stress stuff like moving, my will power was lacking. However, I did lose 6 lbs during those two weeks and lost a bunch of inches off my waist and thighs. I'm actually going to attempt to try this diet again next week to see if it fully works.

My only big complaint about the diet is how restrictive it is (no wheat, corn, dairy, soy, refined sugars, caffeine, alcohol, dried fruit or fruit juices, artificial sweeteners, and no fat free/diet food). I get why you can't have them and she does a good job of explaining why but it was really difficult finding foods that fit the first four "Don't Rules". My second biggest complaint was the lack of what to do after the 28 days. She did mention what some of her clients did the in the past. I found the information to be vague especially when she literally repeated the same ideas over and over again for the first two-thirds of the book. I did discover after sleuthing around her site that she mentions an afterwards plan in one of her blog articles. I'm thinking the book could use a revise with that information included.

What I loved about the diet was the yummy recipes that everyone in the family enjoyed. They were different and since the phases changed every two days, so did the menu in terms of different types of food to eat. I also loved that her diet and book was not about fat shaming or guilting people.

The subtitle of the book was not wrong. When she said eat more to lose more she meant it. Pomroy did a good job of taking a part the calorie myth and getting people off that diet mentality of cutting and counting calories. As long as you eat all the foods to your corresponding phase, you lose weight. And not just pounds, inches. I never felt starved. I ate every three hours or so, the food was delicious, and the only thing that made me feel deprived was Phase 2. In fact, the servings recommended in the recipes are for those who are only trying to lose twenty pounds. If you want to lose more, you literally eat more per meal or snack. You finally get to enjoy food and not feel guilty.

Like I said, I'm definitely going to go for the full 28 days. I found the philosophy behind the diet to be positive. Fresh foods cooked healthy are good for you. It heals your body and eventually heals part of your soul. I recommend this diet to anyone who wants a more positive outlook on food and how it can heal your body. However, be prepared to stick to the book. This diet is not for the weak willed. You will have to exert willpower in order to achieve your health goals with this diet.**

*The glycemic index is rank of foods based on their sugar content when being digested in the body. This index is well known to diabetics as they have to balance out the amount of sugars in their body to keep from going too high or too low.

**I also recommend talking to your doctor before starting any kind of diet program like this one. It's important to get a trusted physician's opinion when your health is at risk.

Today I want to share one of the inspirations behind my fantasy novel I loving call "Teacup." Teacup is short for the longer title of "On the Other Side of the Teacup." It's the first book in a series- right now I'm thinking two or three books- and it's centered around a young twenty something who ends up being transported to another world through a potion given to her while she was at the Renaissance Festival.

I first started writing this book about five years ago when I worked 3rd shift (9pm-5am) as a proofreader for a financial printing company. It was grueling and isolating. My only solace was in co-workers who shared the turmoil and my writing.

I've been writing this book off and on for a while. I finally finished the first draft during the Nanowrimo Storm of '13. Since then, I've dusted it off, edited it for a bit, and then put it back. Even though I had finally finished my first book, I got scared and couldn't complete it. The task of editing seemed so overwhelming especially when I knew how flawed it was. The pressure I put on myself to make it perfect and to be perfect made me afraid to touch it.

In fact, I was contemplating just throwing it away and working on something else. The thought of deleting all that work, truly ending the lives of characters I had created kept me from doing that. So instead I put it away and tried to work on other ideas and stories. Only, that didn't really work. 

Every time I would start something new or pick up something I had set aside, little things kept reminding me of Teacup. I tried to brush it off and keep going but I couldn't. It wasn't until I went back to the basics of storytelling and reading books on crafting novels that I decided to work on Teacup again.

So here I am today. I've pulled out the story and dusted it off. To make sure that I really complete it this time, I've created a task time table in excel. I'm devoting thirty minutes a day to rewrites and edits. As I finish a chapter, I'm going to submit it to Critique Circle for feedback.

Until then, I wanted to put a few things up to help me get back into my Teacup writing mood.

Spandex, Turkey legs, and swords! Oh my!

Bocci Ball is for Lords only

Hmm... AZ can be green

Magic Potion Administrator!

Sunrise in the desert

Mother's Day

Happy belated Mother's Day to all! I hope you spent your day either in celebratory adulation of the mother figures in your life and/or being the object of said adoration. I certainly enjoyed my weekend. Between chasing down an overactive child in Joann's and deciding it was not worth it to try and make said overactive toddler sit down in a nice restaurant, my mother's day almost felt like a typical day for me.

We ordered Chinese take out from around the corner and snuggled on the couch afterwards and watched Mulan. We almost made it to Kung Fu Panda but the little one was tired (aka we were done placating the little one) and desperately needed a bath after dousing herself in garlicky Chinese sauce.

After our nightly ritual of bedtime, the husband and I then settled in to continue our binge watching of Helix season 2. I think we finished season 2 in about two days. Good show. It's different and some of the characters were stupid but they were consistently stupid so it worked. I'm sort of sad they cancelled it but the way they ended it felt satisfying. Unlike some cancelled ScyFy shows that shan't be mentioned here.

Sunday, the hubby made me breakfast and then later that day we grilled NY T-bone steaks on the grill. Overall, great weekend, relaxing, and none too fancy. Oh wait, we did get a bit fancy with our adult milkshakes but then a person needs their vices once and a while. Mmm... mudslide ice cream with vanilla and cinnamon bailey's. Delish!

Anyhoot, again hope Sunday was a good day for you. I know mothers can be a touchy subject. It seems like there were extreme posts of positive and negative things to say about mothers on Facebook. Then again, it is Facebook. I think people forgot what it's like to have their opinions in the middle. Either that or no one has created any meme's that fit that happy medium. Sounds like funny t-shirt possibilities if you ask me.

How was your Sunday? Do anything fun?

Here's Victoria!

Hi and I'm back. Life has been nothing short of crazy with lots of moving, trips/vacations, funerals, and house hunting. Although things are still really active in my life, I am making a concerted effort to dedicate some time to my blog and also my creative endeavors. As you can tell from my previous blog entries this year- oh wait, there aren't any!- I haven't been putting any efforts into either fronts. So I'm using this post as a way to set up my new ideas for this blog.

My virgoian spirit prevents me from feeling like a writing expert. So instead of imparting my wisdom on character development and plot progression, I'll spend one blog post talking about what's going on in my crazy, exciting life in LA LA land. The goal is to make this post on the first Tuesday of every month.

I'm still figuring out what I'm going to post for the second week of every month (probably second Tuesdays). I'm thinking a passion and inspiration post. Like if I was going to post something today on that, it would be this awesome chimichurri recipe I discovered and made yesterday for dinner. It is the serious bee's knees and I have been using it on everything I've eaten today from scrabbled eggs, to my steak wrap, to just dipping my rice crackers. It's amazing!

I am seriously sitting here thinking about  how to incorporate it into tonight's dinner. That's how obsessed I am with this recipe. I want to throw a party just so I can make it for everyone and they can also bask in it's amazing awesomeness. So yea. Chimichurri... you gotta try it. Here's the recipe.

For the third Tuesday of the month, I'll just drop in with something writing inspirational. After all, this is my blog for and about my writing. I may not be a full time creative writer with an agent and a contract under my belt but at least I can share thoughts, experiences, and anything related to me accomplishing that goal and dream.

Every fourth Friday I'll do a book review of whatever it is I am reading. And I mean everything that I am reading. From nonfiction to my guilty pleasure free and $0.99 romance novels I pick up from amazon.com. Yea it should be interesting. This Friday's post is on the Fast Metabolism Diet by Haylie Pomroy. (Hey! I said whatever I was reading. :D)

That's the current idea for the blog. I'll see how it goes though. Nothing is set in stone. When and if it does, I'll be sure to give a heads up.

Okay, so that's it for now. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow when I put up my first book review ever.

Bai for now!

Back to Basics

Today marked the official day of rest after thirty days of unfiltered and (hopefully) uninhibited writing. Today is the day that most writers, whether they finished their objective or not, take a breath and ask what the hell just happened?

As you're re-assimilating back into the "real world", let me extend out a congratulatory round of applause for those of you who made their goal target of 50,000 words or more! Woohoo! I too know that thrill of finally sitting down and writing out that damned illusive novel. There's nothing like that high of accomplishment that makes you feel like you can take on a grizzly bear Wyatt Earp style and win. So whether it's a complete novel or a good chunk of something larger, bravo my fellow writers! Bravo!

While I sported my participation badges on my facebook accounts, I alas could not jump on the novel writing bandwagon. My original zombie apocalypse story idea that I've been sitting on for a while just wasn't ready to hatch yet. While I did get a good portion of the world and the characters fleshed out, mostly it felt like I was beating my head against a cement wall. I finally walked away when all of my writer's block symptoms matched my "put it back in the oven" checklist.

I was sort of bummed and depressed by the whole situation. I thought writing my [Zombies!] story would be a great way to sort of test out self-publishing and make an extra dollar or two. I now realize I was pushing myself to write it for all the wrong reasons. That and every time I sat down to think, plot, and create for my nano project my science fiction story would some how emerge into my thought patterns. Which was ironic considering I had told myself that it wasn't ready, that I wasn't ready, and that we needed more time to sit on it.

Instead of fighting with it, I let it flow. For weeks I felt blocked and stunted with my [Zombies!] story. Almost to the point where I started even questioning my own ability to write. Had I lost it to episodes of "My Little Ponies" and little girl giggles? Maybe I should go back to work and sink back into the world of technical writing... These self-defeating thoughts plagued me until I finally stopped and just went with these little nudges from my [Space!] story.

I'm so glad I did! Instead of running, I'm addressing the reasons why I thought the story was too big for my writing capabilities. I've researched story structure and dissected I don't know how many books, movies, and television shows. I'm going back through the snowflake outline I did for my story and editing it. I finally found my spark again and my reason for writing. :-)

Got to love those crises of faith. ;-)

I'm SO Sorry!

Dear blog,

I hope the title of the blog says it all. I truly and most sincerely sorry that I have neglected you so! I've been so focused on my novels and jump starting my freelance clientele that I have left your pages unwritten. Like a sorely neglected friend, I have left you behind in our special place on the interwebs. If you will have me back, I would so love to resume our friendship.

The Saddest Blogger in the World,

~Me

Dear Meatbag,

Get bent.

Signed, 

~An Angry, Neglected Blog

Dear blog,

:( :( :( I'm so SOOOOOORY! Please find in your heart (do blogs have hearts?) to move past my horribleness. I am a horrible person for under utilizing you and not helping you live up to your fullest potential. Can we ever be friends again?

The Most Horrible Blogger on the Interwebs,

~ Me

Dear Flesh Puppet,

I sincerely doubt that our friendship will ever be the same again. You should just move on and create some other blog to abuse. I'm tried of your shit. Also, YES WE HAVE HEARTS! And they happen to be a reflection of the owner's. So if you find me crappy, you only have yourself to blame.

Signed,

~Screw you, I'm going home.

P.S. There aren't enough sad faces in the world to earn you enough pity. Please stop at three. KTHXBAI.

Dear Blog,

Are you breaking up with me??? Ok. Fine. Yea. I deserve it. I guess I will just make another blog on wordpress. Something that looks professional and an actual website. Not google's horrible attempt to be "cool" and "relevant" on the web. Yea, I said it. G+ suxs!

Screw you too!

~Me

Dear Two Timing Blogger,

I cannot believe you would give up so easily on our relationship. Have I meant nothing to you? Do I still mean nothing to you? Why? Why would you say something this horrible to me?

Signed,

~A Crushed and Lonely Blog

Dear Blog,

*Sighs* I'm sorry. I seem to be saying that a lot lately. I said those things out of anger. I truly do like your platform and ease of use. It's why I chose you instead of that other site. Please, let's just forget about all of this and let's be friends again. I truly am sorry.

~Me

Dear Human Face,

<(^_^<) <(^_^)> (>^_^)>

Signed,

~A Forgiving Blog

Dear Blog,

Yay! I promise to stay more active on your site and post twice a month. I won't neglect you again!

Love,

~Me

How to Keep Sane with Tribal Survival Food

Happy February! I do not know how that happened but it did. Seems my crazy life of 2013 has decided to make 2014 it's sequel. I totally meant to make at least one other blog posting in January- something catchy and would keep me motivated to post a blog at least twice a month maybe once a week. However, life swept me away and had other plans for me.

So if you've been following me along so far, I made mention of a list of things I would like to achieve/accomplish in 2014. One of those things is to travel more. Well, I literally just got back from an impromptu trip to Hawaii a couple of weeks ago. Now before you roll your eyes and sarcastically mutter "poor girl", it was not for the best of reasons.

Have you ever heard that saying about how God or the Universe laughs at any plans that you make? I know I am paraphrasing it horribly but it still holds sway here.

So the original plan was for us to take a family vacation to Kauai and visit my family for my grandfather's 90th birthday in May of this year. The universe looked at that, liked part of the plan and said, "Sure, why not?" What the Universe failed to read was the whole going home under good circumstances and making it so that we could all go.

Instead, the Universe laughed and said, "Go now! Because your grandmother fell, broke her hip, had a heart attack, and is in the hospital."

Now, I'm not saying that the Universe took it's mighty pointer finger and pushed my grandmother over causing her to fall while scarring the crap out of her which then caused her heart attack. All I know is that any plans we had made were moved up quite a bit due to this incident.

So my mother, me, and baby Alice flew to Hawaii and helped the family take care of grandma during her homestay hospice care. It was a great trip in that we spent a lot of quality time with family.

Mom and Alice reading on the plane

Now when I say that we spent lots of quality time together it was usually at the dinner table over a bowl of what my Uncles like to call "Survival Tribal Food." I guess that's what my family does. We cook, we eat, we talk stories while we eat, and we heal.

I don't know how many times my uncles came over and cooked something for my grandma and us and we spent the evening talking and having a good time. It just made it easier to deal.

Alice hanging out with TuTu G.G.

The food, the company, it took away the awkwardness and tragic state my grandma was in. Even if my Uncle Butchie made jokes about her looking dead (nothing is sacred when it comes to his sense of humor and wit), it helped. It was easier to sit in the living room while my grandma lay delirious in bed or was moaning in pain. We could all lean each other in serious times, fun times, and sobering times.

The mung bean soup, chicken adobo, chicken shoyu, Hawaiian lobster, Samoan crab, Niihau fish, chicken papaya, and all sorts of goodies kept all of our spirits up. Especially my grandma. It was like tribal food for the soul exploded all up in my grandma's house.

Chicken Papaya

Hawaiian Lobster

The trip was great overall. We did tourist stuff during the day and took care of my grandma at night. I had fun getting to know my family and introducing them to my awesome baby and I also got to eat some amazing Hawaiian and Filipino grub. Surprisingly enough, I actually lost weight. Who knew tribal survival food was healthy? That and all the walking and bicycle riding at the beach we did.

Alice and I cycling the coastline in Kapaa

All that to say, yes, I went to Hawaii. No, it wasn't the best of circumstances but we made the best of it. I'm just sad I had to go home. If this whole writing thing pans out in a way that I end up like J.K. Rowling or even do half as well as she did, I am totally opening up a writer's retreat in Kauai. I will live there 6 months out of the year and write like I have never written before. :D Maybe I'll even invite my writing friends and we can have writing parties or something. :-) Definitely something to think about.





Either way, I would be happy with a shack of a house next to Hanalei Bay.

Until then, I shall keep writing to you from my desk in sunny Southern California.

~V.M. Flower

Our feet enjoying the sands of Hanalei

Alice in her adorable sun hat. :-)

Another Year Past, a New Year Begins

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2014! I greet you with much enthusiasm and optimism. Not that 2013 was a bad year for me- it was actually pretty great. More like, I can't believe it's already complete! A lot happened for me, both personally and professionally.

Spacex!

J- captured his dream job working on space rockets. We sold our house in AZ. Moved to Los Angeles.

Newly birthed epic pout baby!

Had a baby.

MMM.... Red Velvet Bday cake!

 Turned 28.

Us at the Giant Bean!

Traveled with said baby via airplane to Chicago. Had a blast.

Yeah buddy!

 Buckled down for Nanowrimo. Won Nanowrimo! (Woo!) Had the winner's shirt misdelivered twice. (Still haven't gotten it lol)

Tyr with his bandage :-(

Had one of my corgis almost die. (Tyr was diagnosed with diabetes and is doing better)

Alice waiting patiently by the tree

And somewhere between those last four things, the holidays hit. Man oh man! Last year was a whirlwind of personal growth, achievement, and just plain and sleepless craziness. I am still recovering!

So welcome 2014! I get the feeling that the flurry of crazy life events is not even close to completion. In fact I know it's not. (More on that later.)

To blog or not to blog!

As I look back through my sparse and sporadic blog postings, I see I failed to make my 10 posts last year. :-( Oh well. Life happens. Lol. This year I can't promise will be any different but I know I will definitely try harder. The more my resolve and determination grows to go after my dream of becoming not only a published author but making writing my life long career, the more important it is for me to stay in touch with the blogging sphere. Yes, it markets my "brand" but I see it as more than that. This blog is an outlet. Not a total and complete outlet as I should keep some kind of semblance of professionalism. (As best I can at least. ;-) ) But it definitely is a place that helps to give me perspective and motivated. With that said, let's move on to that!

A list of my goals this year! Woo! Here goes!

Personal Goals

• Run (jog/walk is more like it) a half marathon- Yep, I'm going for it again! This time laziness or being pregnant will not get in the way of this goal. I will accomplish it this year and if I like it, will probably try to tackle another one or at least a mini triathlon next year.
• Travel!- I've always wanted to travel and so I'm gonna! As to where? You and I both will have to see this year. :-)
• Mommy/Special Interest Groups- Now that Alice is no longer a newborn, we both need to mingle and grow roots in our new community.

Professional Goals

• Publish some short stories- Definitely lacking on recent publishing credits. I've already started the search for an editor to help polish and get my stories ready for submission. :-)
• Get into the Scifi/Fantasy Writers Guild of America- This is more to help with potential legal issues and networking more than anything else. Plus, it doesn't hurt in building up my writer credentials.
• Find an agent for my fantasy novel if I decide not to epublish- Still on the fence about tranditional/independent publishing vs. epublishing. I'm definitely thinking this needs to be a blog post since I've come across other budding novelists who are facing the same question.

So that was last year for me in brief bursts of sentences and pictures. I'm hoping to accomplish these goals and more. I've broken them down into easier steps but that's the general idea I have going.

What are you wanting to accomplish this year?

Inspiration Thursday

Every Thursday I have decided to share a picture, idea, song, artist that have been the inspiration for my current fantasy novel "On the Other Side of the Teacup." A lot of my stories and ideas are grown from the most random moment of clarity and also a spark of intrigue from my fellow human beings.

This song that I am sharing with you today is one of the original sparks that started the creation of this book. I love the imagery found in the lyrics. It created this forlorn longing based on selfish love which moved me and made my muse take notice. The moment occurred back when I was working night's as a proofreader. It was one of the main motivators/philosophies used to create my main character Rigby and the inspiration for one of the opening scenes. Well this song and one another which I will share next week.

This song is Heart's "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You." See the 80's in all it's epic glory below.

The Year of Completion

So I have decided that after the last three years of attempting various NaNoWriMo and CampNaNoWriMo events that I still hate myself and have little regard for my sanity. This year feels different though and not for obvious reasons.

When I first heard about NaNo, I was in college and overheard a couple of the writing tutors that I worked with talking about it. (Yes, I was eavesdropping and yes, I am aware that is rude. BUT being a writer means that I have express permission to such things in the name of research, boredom, and procrastination!) I could not even contemplate writing more than a twenty page paper let alone a 50,000 word novel. I knew it was possible considering I had read books longer than that but for me to partake in that adventure seemed impossible. Now I feel totally removed from that feeling.

The last few years have been a trial of pushing myself to make that goal of 50k. Of the many attempts that I've made I succeeded every time I tried. I only made it to 50k once though. I call every attempt successful in that I sat my butt down in a chair, avoided the internet hole like the plague, and made time to write for me. I wasn't writing some horribly boring document on failed letters or an article about trying to gain weight. I wrote about the worlds that only existed in my mind. Worlds that are trying to get out of my conscious and into the mainstream collective.

This year feels different because I've already proven to myself that I can do it. This year's competition will be more about finishing my novel and less about making the word goal. And I am completely okay with that. I've proven myself and I've achieved self belief. Now it's time to challenge myself and get that novel finished. So this year I've set a minimum goal of 25k with the caveat that the next month will be 25k and the month after that and the month after that until it's finished. This will be the Year of Completion!


So are you guys doing NaNo this year? What are your goals?




~Here's some tuneage for your own epic training and motivational sequence~




~V.M. Flower

I'm Back!

Hello hello hello! I believe the title says it all. Sorry for the long delay. I have been a bit busy what with settling into our new home in California and having a baby. Oh yea, did I mention we had the baby? *grin*

On July 10, in the wee hours of the morning, our little Alice was born. She was a little itty bitty thing weighing in at 6lbs 12oz and 19inches.

Baby Alice just a couple of days old.

Alice is now two months old weighing in at a whopping 10lbs 13oz and 21.09inches. Both J- and I are super proud parents of our adorable little girl and Tyr and Campbell are super proud big Corgi brothers.

An Angry Alice at 2 months

Anyways, so now that Alice let's me get more than three hours of sleep at night, I feel like I can string together coherent sentences again so here I am!

My goal of the rest of the year is to do at least one blog post per month. What I would like to do is to make one post every other week until I can get into the habit of making a blog post every week. But for now, it's once a month!

Until then,

V.M. Flower

Woohoo! Another post!

I think the title says it all. My goal this year is to make at least 10 posts and beat out last year's record of probably about 5. LOL :D

Not a lot has happened since I dropped my last blog. The house is up for sale and has been for about a week and a half. J started his new job in California last Tuesday. The baby is super squirmy and has crazy hours as babies tend to do. Oh and we found out that "it" or "the thing" as I affectionately called "it" is a girl. We are super excited about that. I want to call her the "infant inconvenience" but that is an Alexia Tarabotti thing and I don't live in Victorian England.

As for the writing, it moves slowly. I thought with J being in another state that my major distraction would be gone and I could let my muse run wild. Turns out he was an excuse that my procrastinating side used to not write. Now that he's not here, I'm still not writing! :(

I need to kick my lazy side to the curb and restart some kind of writing habit.

So to coincide with the start of the new month, I am starting a new word goal challenge for the month of March. Even though I don't follow college basketball, I too this month will be participating in my own version of March Madness.

My goal this month is to write 30,000 words and to finish my novel "On the Other Side of the Teacup." It's half way finished and I think only needs about that many words to complete this story. I need to get Rigby, my main character, and my muse off of my back so that I can focus on my new snowflake for the Consortium series that JakJak, Smokey, and I are writing.

My novel kicks off the series and the mystery that happens in the Consortium. I need to nail down the world and get this thing written!

If all goes according to plan, I will have one novel written and another one plotted out and (extreme optimism prompts me to say this) and half written if not all the way written by the time that the baby is born. Which if it's my kid gives me time past the July 22nd due date or if it's Jason will probably arrive on time or even a bit early. Either way, time is a ticking and I need to scratch off "writing a novel" on my Before Kids (BK) list.

What do you guys do stay motivated to complete a project?

Goodbye Arizona!

Well not quite yet but soon.

My husband has accepted a new job in California doing the same thing he did here (inspection) but with pieces of a space rocket. To be more specific, he's working with one of his dream companies SpaceX and is just one step closer to putting himself as well as the rest of us in space and possibly living on Mars. Check out the video below to see who and what he'll be working with.



So yea. We are leaving the Grand Canyon State. Despite the fact that I have just taken that tech job I wrote about back in August and the fact that I'm pregnant. Oh yea. I forgot to mention. I'm 4 months pregnant. Gender still unknown for at least another week and a half. Pictures of the alien spawn will be posted soon, I promise. So the future grandparents are not very happy that we are leaving, all of whom actually live in the Valley.

Between the guilt induced comments of our parents, the stress of moving, and the future little one, we are also trying to sell the house that we just bought last March. Somewhere along the way we were headed towards the standard American dream but decided "Nope! Not for us!" Which I'm actually okay with, once I think about the whole situation minus the stress factor.

Moving to California could open up a lot of doors for me creatively and career wise. Plus, I'll finally get to live in a place that's not by a man-made body of water.

So yea. That is the last five or so months. Quitting newly acquired job. Selling our house. Moving to L.A. Having a baby. And dealing with pouty depressed parents.Life is grand, right? My consolation? Disneyland and the beach. :D

Quick Update

Hi all,

Just a quick update. My summer wasn't too busy, I guess blogging really isn't my thing or I guess I'm just really lazy when it comes to writing my blog and reading others' blogs. It's really not that difficult and I actually enjoy it when I do it. I guess I just have difficulty committing myself to writing something at least once a week if not twice a week. I do plan on making that better. What do you guys do to stay consistent on writing your blog?

This Wednesday sees me starting a new contract job as a technical writer. Woo! My first "official" job in which I can call myself a technical writer. :D It feels awesome and for the first time I'm getting paid way more than I feel I deserve to be. Hopefully this is good bye to crap minimum wage jobs. *fingers crossed*

Other than my cousin's wedding back in mid-July, I've basically stayed in state. However, we are taking a late vacation to Florida to visit Kevin, a long time friend from high school, and I'm definitely going to Harry-Freakin-Potter Land. I have made it my mission.

As for writing, "On the Other Side of the Teapot" is taking longer than foreseen. I did not complete or even start June's Camp Nanowrimo. I am however doing August's. I'm not in very deep but I'm hoping that doing the competition while starting a new job will allow me to create habits in which I write every single day again despite what is going on in my life.

So yea. That's the last few months in a nutshell. I have a couple of blogs planned in which I will wax poetic details of a certain cousin's religious nuptials and my exploration of family roots in Springfield, MO. Also, the always inspirational Neil Gaiman's college graduation speech will get it's own spotlight in this month's blogs.

Happy Writing!

~V

Summer Camp Time!

Well CampNaNoWriMo that is. What's that you say? It's a sadistic ritual that I previously have only been practicing once a year that has now become a twice maybe even three times a year event. Basically, it's a fun (for the masochistic) writing encouragement program that provides excellent support to people who are writing a novel or 50k words in one month.

Sounds good right? Until you reread the part that states writing a novel and/or 50,000 words in a month.

That's my plan for the next thirty days or so. Writing 2,000 words a day (basically a chapter) until I finish my half done novel from 2010. I'm excited and motivated to "git 'er done!"

Wish me luck and here's a quick blurb of my novel, "On the Other Side of the Teacup."

Synopsis:

Eleanor, "Rigby" to her friends, finds herself in a magical world after taking the advice and tea mixture from a friendly gypsy working at the Renaissance Festival.

Excerpt:

It was an unusually cloudy and rainy in Arizona the day Eleanor Ashby stumbled upon the chance to find life and magic in a world that had gone stagnant and stale. Like most stories where extraordinary circumstances prey upon seemingly ordinary people, the journey started in the most mundane of ways. Before Eleanor’s, Rigby her preferred nickname, meeting with the Sisters of Fate or at least one particularly meddlesome cousin of the Sisters Three, she must first journey back in time to a place far, far away.

Dear Lord it's the Middle of February Already?!

I think the title explains it all. Where did January go? Between searching for a house and all the variety of social and family engagements, there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day or days during the weekend to get the things I had planned on done. I even had three or four different blog topics planned out for my blog. Topics started but never finished. Kind of like all my WIP. :-/ Which leads me into my first planned blog topic: Yearly goals.

Some call them New Year Resolutions. I call them my short and long term goals. Keeps them away from the stigma of well meaning intentions that are quickly forgot soon as March or April rolls around. Here goes-

Writing:

1. Finish my Nano 2011 WIP!!!
2. Edit my Nano 2011 until it glitters and shines. (I might need critique partners, if anyone is interested.)
3. Consider it for publication.(Thinking this will require beta readers for anyone interested.)
4. Polish and write short stories for contests and submissions.
5. Get more freelance jobs.
6. Post a blog once a week. :D

Personal:

1. Get to goal weight. (Cliche, I know but always true)
2. Stay at goal weight. (So I don't have to keep having the above goal!)
3. Run one race a month working to the point where I can do a half marathon. Ultimate goal run the Honolulu Marathon.
4. Find a job that actual gains me skills in areas that I need in order to be a writer.

Writing Group:

1. Find at least one, if not two, serious writers willing to make a commitment to critique and writing stories every other month.
2. Try and create a network of writers in the Phoenix Valley.

So far I've taken small steps to getting these accomplished. I'll do small blog posts on them throughout the year as I complete different parts of the goal and hopefully finish them come December 1st!

That's it for this post. I definitely have more goals/objectives than these but for now, these are things that I really want to accomplish in 2012.

~V

Shiny Brand New Blog

Here marks the official post of writing/reading blog that I originally began with livejournal. I've decided to move my blog over here in hopes of finding an awesome writing and book reading community. To read about why I started to blog my writing challenges read my very first blog here. Now that is out of the way...

Let me introduce myself. Hi! I'm Victoria. Although when I try to publish items and stories I'll probably go by the initial V or V.M. I love my name- Victoria Flower. It has a nice ring to it. A name that one would see on a romance or fantasy novel and not on a science fiction or horror story. I don't mean the whole issue of losing credibility by being female writing in a primarily male dominated genre, even though that is part of the case, but my name doesn't exactly illicit images of pirates in space shooting laser beams (pechew! pechew!) or creepy pseudo-demon serial killers back from the graves to exact their pound of flesh from humanity. I see my name and think meadows in Britain where the fey dance and play or some ancient female warrior defending her clan from invading armies that are wrapped in metals and wielding sharp, pointy things.

So for now I'll keep my blog under my name but in reverse. (The 'M' standing for my husbands last name.) I've been toying with the idea of keeping Flower or changing it to another family name, 'Reynolds.' Still haven't decided though. Names are tricky. Every writer knows that. Names carry connotations of who the character is or might become, what kind of town or world or planet the story takes place in, and what dangerous things they know and wield. And unlike our given names, a pen name or a stage name is entirely in that person's control. I could be anyone I want to be with a change of name. It's tempting and a little intoxicating knowing you hold the power of your destiny in your hands with a name change. Anyways, all that to say, "Hi! I'm Victoria. Nice to meet you. :-)"

If you're reading my blog, I hope that you are like me in that you wish to pursue the daunting life of a published author. Or at least enjoy reading the same books or maybe discussing the books that I've read. If like me, you are an insane person, highly imaginative, easily captivated by amazing stories, or all of the above, then you've come to the right place!

As I might have mentioned before, I'm an aspiring published author. I used to say writer but I feel like I've gotten past the point of dreaming about writing to actually doing it, therefore qualifying me as a writer. Recently married, no children except of the four legged corgi variety, unemployed (working on that) except for the occasional freelance job that floats my way (also working on increasing that as well). I'm an avid reader of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and recently some young adult fantasy novels. Another recent phenomenon of reading and love interest: steampunk.

I <3 everything about steampunk. From the Victorian style of dress and architecture to the incorporation of "what if" technologies. I'm actually in the early stages of working on my own mystery steampunk novel that I'm hoping will turn into a series. It's kind of like Agatha Christie meets Sherlock Holmes but in steampunk technicolor glory. I'm super excited about it and can't wait to start it! After I finish my current science fiction W.I.P. leftover from Nanowrimo. Which, by the way, I did complete the challenge but 50,000 words did not bring me close to finishing the novel. :-/ I'm thinking it needs another 30k- 50k. Intimidating to say for sure but I wrote one third of it in a month so I can definitely finish it in another month. :-)

So follow me as I blog about my travails of completing my current desert scifi novel, plan for the steampunk story, all while herding corgis and reading/writing reviews on old, current, and new books. :-) Welcome! Welcome to my world.