#WW: Passover Plagues

#MM: April 6, Happy Birthday to My Favorite Son

Today, my son Daniel turns 27 years old, 

which means I had him at age two!

He was such a cute baby. 
Please watch his Bar Mitzvah video that is 
filled with songs and memories.

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava’s Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.




PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

I'm April A-Z Free

For the past three years, I've jumped into the A-Z Challenge with both feet on the ground running. I'd organize myself by listing possible ideas for letters and would spend every Sunday completing a week's worth of posts. I'd stretched my funny bones throughout the alphabet and had fun, but visiting all of the other blogs got to be a bit much. I'd never have enough time, and April blogging would take over my life. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Gifted-And-Talented-Materials-By-Joyce-Lansky

I am glad I decided to skip it this year. My focus has been geared toward projects that pay, such as Teacher Pay Teacher. I have a store with 329 products, and if I do what's planned, I'll have 331 products by tonight. Business -- that starts with the letter B -- has been great. I've also gotten into using Pinterest to advertise my products. I now have 135 followers, which is pretty good for a social media outlet that I ignored for years. All of this takes time, as well as the day job. 

I also like to work on my novels, which unfortunately take the back burner all too often. But, I'll be able to dump the day job in another two years. Perhaps then, I'll go back to the A-Z Challenge. Maybe once I retire, I'll get the books published. Maybe I'll make so much from my creative products on TPT that I won't need my teacher's salary. Don't laugh. Deanna Jump has made over $2,000,000. I plan to join her.

#WW: April Fools

#MM: Songs From When I Was Sixteen

Although this is a great topic, it does open me up to show just how old I really am. I was sixteen at a time of some of the best songs ever written. "Grease" came out that year, and many of those musical numbers climbed the billboard charts. When looking for these songs, I "Youtubed" the year and scribbled ideas on the back of a Back Yard Burgers receipt that I was supposed to use for a survey. I took the survey and submitted only to realize I was scoring with the great Firehouse Subs in mind. Oops. They'll really be surprised when they learn that the restaurant gave us free cookies. I don't think they have chocolate chip cookies on the menu.

As for the songs, I don't like to post more than three songs a week because I know we are all busy; however, it's going to be tough to narrow my list down to just three.

They don't make them like they used to, so enjoy some "Old Time Music" by Bob Seger.

And of course, who could forget the Village People? It was tough knowing whether to post Macho Man or YMCA, since they both came out in the same year. YMCA got a higher ranking, but being Jewish, we don't go to the Young Man's Christain Association. So, here's to those Macho Men. And to think, back in high school, it didn't even dawn on me that these guys were gay.

Now the last post is a tough decision. Do I go with Rolling Stones, "Miss You" or maybe The Jacksons singing "Shake Your Body Down to the Ground"? How about a little Cheap Trick? I originally saw this one as a 1978 hit, but then someone posted it as a 1979 favorite. Research tells me it was released on Halloween, 1977. Which just goes to show, I was listening to it at age 16.

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava’s Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.




PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

No More Time to Think or Work on my WIP

I'm writing this post for Thursday, which means I'll be back in the trenches with no more time to think. That may not be a bad thing after the last two Thursday posts. I had a wonderful and relaxing Spring Break, spending much of my time either at the dog park with my best friends or writing. 

Although I've written five novels, there is one that is dearest to my heart, and I keep coming back to her after seven years. That baby has seen more rejection than Rodney Dangerfield; she's been around the block more times that Miley Cyrus, and she's received the reception of a president during a depression.  However, I think I've finally tweaked her to a new level . . . or I'm setting myself up for a huge disappointment. 

Last fall, I attended the SCBWI conference in Nashville. At the conference, I met a book editor who had a way of ticking everyone off with her quick NOs to our first pages. By the end of the conference, I was so angry that I didn't even bother to write down her submission requirements. But now that I've had time to cool and think, I realize that she gave me some of the most valuable information I'd ever gotten. I'd like to thank her.

I attended her session on dialogue. I always felt like dialogue was my strength, and maybe it is, but perhaps I have looked at dialogue all wrong. This editor told us that dialogue should not be what's moving the story. In fact, one should be able to remove the dialogue completely and still have a solid plot in place that the reader can follow. So, dialogue's job is to enhance what is already on the page. With that in mind, I revisited my baby looking for ways to tell Ben's story without too much dialogue. What I've noticed is a much deeper voice with a true insight as to what's in his head.

I believe this has taken my book to a new level and has given me the confidence to fork

over $30 to the Claymore Award competition. As a rule, I typically only enter free contests, so that when I lose, I chip away at my pride and not my pocketbook. However, I've taken a leap of faith. What makes this contest so appealing is knowing that those reading my first fifty pages are junkies of my genre. Furthermore, one does not have to win to win with Claymore. Any manuscript deemed ready for publication, winner or not, will be suggested to an appropriate editor. So, I hope someone sees what I see in my work. 

Now that I've passed my manuscript on, I've gone back to revising book two. Yes, I have a completed sequel to my book that's never been published and half of a third book. I quit working on these after someone suggested that writers not work on sequels to unpublished books.

For those who are interested, here is my first paragraph to that book that will one day become a best seller and a major motion picture. Oh, how I wish.

            I tried to focus on Ms. Link’s history review, but it was pointless once I’d spotted the fat guy outside my classroom window. He had stood under a tree less than twenty feet away for the past half-hour with his bug eyes aimed straight at me. I rubbed my hand over my stiff neck and noticed that my shoulders had inched upwards. Knowing I had to stop this stare down, I got out of my chair and headed toward the window. Maybe if I closed the smudged thing, he wouldn’t be able to see inside.

#WW : Worn Out

I watched her repeatedly drift to sleep, start to fall over, 

and then snap herself back awake.

#MM: The Week After Funny Songs at Catch My Words

I know last week's theme was to post songs that are funny; however, every week is funny at Catch My Words. So, to keep up with MY theme, here are two fun little jewels.

Here's one more for the fun of it.

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava’s Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.




PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

More Thoughts

Vacation has given me more time to think, dangerous I know, and here are my thoughts for this week. Have you ever watched a spider spin its web? And if so, just what part of its anatomy does the silk come from? With that in mind, comes Spiderman spinning webs from his fingers. I DON'T THINK

Sweet cheeks with or without the web.

SO! My daughter says it's because he got bitten on the arm, but I don't see the threads coming out of his spider bite, either. I guess they'd have to have a hotter Spiderman than Toby Maguire if the webs came from the correct spot. Plus, it might be hard to fight criminals if Spiderman had to pull his pants down every time he wanted to take a weave.

I agree. Andrew Garfield is better looking than Toby Maguire, but then again, Garfield is a cat. He just might squish his character with his cat-like charm. I think I've spoken enough on this topic.

Next topic.

I was flipping through the channels and noticed we have Showtime this week. Personally, I didn't see much on Showtime that I wanted to watch, but I was entertained by the titles of the listed movies. Check this out.

Hmm. What to watch? Since the only kind of breasts I like are the ones you eat from a chicken, I think I'll skip Breast Friends and Father Knows Breast. I like men, so an Erotic Ms Dracula isn't going to do anything for me, nor are Nude Monsters in Colorado. Aren't most monsters usually nude anyway? So it's between Sex Door Neighbors and Sexpresso. You'll be proud to know, I snapped the picture and moved on without watching any of these flicks with the great titles.

And these are my vacation thoughts. Tune in on Sunday night for more fun with music!

LOL! I love cracking myself up. I hope this was good for you, too.