more funny pictures

You know you’re loved when your blog buddies blog about your first sale. Come say hi here at

Trish’s and at Terry’s and here at Lee’s (though I think she’s putting it up tomorrow.


And don’t forget to vote for Trish

My other muse besides JDM? Gel pens. My librarian sells them to raise money and I buy like 6 a week. They’re only good for about 6 pages, but BOY are they fun to write with. I actually bought 4 that weren’t fun, so those will go to the kids as prizes or something. The glitter ones are the best ;)

It’s RAINING!! YAY!! It hasn’t rained since August, and since my sprinkler system is broken (yes, again) I sure need this! Maybe it will rain tomorrow and I won’t have a field trip (that’s outside and includes hiking :::shudder::☺

Vote for Trish in the American Title contest!!!!

I didn’t touch Ghost Hunters at all this week. Bummer, because I wanted to write the query and start sending it out this week.

I did write every day on Small Town, and I know the next few scenes, but it’s not coming fast. Each scene takes more time than I’m used to because I’ve got more people, I’m seeing it unfold and I want to catch the details, and I’m working on building the relationship slowly. I love the book, though.

I did all my contract stuff for WRP and sent it in, and sent Susan Litman the full of DLB. I got a nice R from Kate Duffy on Surface. I don’t suck, but not for them. Fine, after I sent it, I thought maybe I’d revise to make it paranormal.

We didn’t have critique this week, so Mom and I went to a craft show and a nursery.

This week:

1) revise 70 pages of Ghost Hunters (still should be able to finish by Halloween)
2) write and send out queries
3) work on Small Town every day
4) SARA meeting
5) Field trip (same day as SARA meeting – yeah, I’ll be useless.)
6) Don’t sweat Gateway results announced this week, even though it is the last contest I entered Ghost Hunters in, or the last one I’ll hear from till December
7) Work on school website
8) Look into building a website of my own
9) Pester people to vote for TRISH in the American Title contest!
10) Call brother
11) Keep up at school
12) Keep up at home

Wow, you know, I knew it was coming, I should have planned something a little more spectacular!

The dh left at 5:30, and told me to go back to sleep. I was like, yeah, right, because I was already writing in my mind. Well, I woke at 8:30! The coolest? I had this GREAT dream that I went with Trish to the Harlequin offices, and Susan Litman recognized me and waved, and then a bunch of editors and people from the art department took me back and were planning my book. They'd bought it and I didn't even know! The funny part was, in my dream I had this website, and I had links to every story I've ever written, only instead of links, they were rocks that built a mountain, and the editors and art department were so impressed I'd written so much, and I was so embarrassed!

In my dream, the new teacher in my unit and I were also agents, only the agent we worked for knew her and not me. And Susan had cards and I didn't. Weird.

Stolen from Marianne

What's Your Writing Style?


1. Are you a "pantser" or a "plotter?"

Definitely a pantser. I try to plot, really I do. I thought I had the beginning of this new book plotted, and it took a completely different twist.

2. Detailed character sketches or "their character will be revealed to me as a I write"?

They usually come to me fully formed. I don’t go askin’. But as I write, they reveal more.

3. Do you know your characters' goals, motivations, and conflicts before you start writing or is that something else you discover only after you start writing?

Usually I know before. It can change through the course of the story.

4. Books on plotting - useful or harmful?

They tend to lock me up.

5. Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?

Both. Lately, terrible procrastinator. But there are mornings when I wake up rarin’ to go.

6. Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?

I prefer having a stretch of time, but I can do little bits.

7. Are you a morning or afternoon writer?

I’m worthless in the PM. Either early morning or late night.

8. Do you write with music/the noise of children/in a cafe or other public setting, or do you need complete silence to concentrate?

Depends on what I’m writing. Some scenes, I need to concentrate harder, so I need silence, but noise usually doesn’t bother me.

9. Computer or longhand? (or typewriter?)

Both. Some stories come easier with a gel pen and a notebook. Plus, it can go anywhere and is unobtrusive.

10. Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One?

BWAHAHAHA!!!! I don’t know the ending till I sit down to write it.

11. Does what's selling in the market influence how and what you write?

Usually not, though I have written my first paranormal and have another planned, as well as revising another book into a paranormal.

12. Editing - love it or hate it?

☹ Do not want.

I know not a lot of you think Denny/John Winchester is hot, but MAN, is he a great muse. This is the second book I've written with him as the hero and I always know what I'm writing next!

Was Supernatural AMAZING last night or WHAT? Yeah, the is-he-or-isn't-he thing was a little heavy handed, but the dh pointed out it would have to be for Dean to figure it out. Loved Sam's storyline, loved the reveal, loved the Gumby conversation.

I messd with my school's website yesterday, but it's not as easy as Blogger. Need to figure out how to add a calendar to the front page - a calendar I made.

I have new jeans to wear today - yay!

Elizabeth tagged me.

Total number of books?

Err, at least 200 in my TBR, no telling how many on my keeper! And then my classroom…

Last book read?

Whispering Rock by Robyn Carr

Last book bought?

Um, Cynthia Reese’s new Superromance, I think. Where Love Grows? I don’t remember the title, and it’s in the bedroom where my dh is sleeping.

Five meaningful books?

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume. This book was our BIBLE in 5th grade!

To Kill a Mockingbird – a book I was made to read but actually loved!

Harry Potter – who knew a 30-something would love a kid’s book so much?

Dark of the Moon by Karen Robards – my first romance

Through a Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen – gave me impetus to start writing

I tag: Trish, Natalie, Michele, Mary Beth and Tawny!

It's not really JDM's bday - that's the day after mine, actually - but I told you, I'm running low on pictures! Can't wait to get home and write this evening!

Still haven't picked a name. The dh really loves MJ Fredrick because of WHY I picked it. And he's been so supportive for so long. Feels like the least I can do for him.

Maybe Evan Fredrick.....or Mary Evans Fredrick.

GAH!!

Apparently I hadn't told Cindi I made my decision (I don't see her much at school, and I was out Friday and off campus Monday) and I think her feelings were hurt. I feel bad.

Supernatural tonight!!!! I watched last week's again, was still disappointed in the conclusion jumping at the beginning. I watched the first two episodes of last season last night, liked Everybody Loves a Clown more than I remembered, mostly because of the beginning and the end, instead of the urban legend itself.

You know I like to make schedules. But I was wondering, with my still unnamed WIP (though I'm thinking of calling the town Winchester Something) if pushing myself to meet so many pages a day is a good idea. This story, not being a suspense, will need to be more organic. I need to explore the characters more, their reactions, the secondary characters, and I think that's more important than trying to finish half this month and half in December (Nano between, remember?) I think as long as I write every day, the story will come, and will be better for it. I'll still keep my revision schedule, and if I don't start on my redo of Surface on January 1, it's no big deal.

Do you make/keep a writing schedule? Does it help you, or strangle you?

Wow, what a week this has been!!!! Okay, I accepted the offer on Thursday, I announced here on Saturday. I’ve gotten TONS of supportive, celebratory emails! Monday I wore a first sale shirt, like the one I bought Trish, and the teachers, many of whom I’ve worked with for YEARS, were very excited. Candy sent me an awesome e-card.

I couldn’t get over the feeling, though, that this is just a tear in the fabric, so I spent the weekend submitting Hot Shot everywhere it hasn’t been, as well as the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.

I got my contract yesterday, AND a request for Don’t Look Back from Susan Litman. (I’d also sent her Breaking Daylight, and she rejected that in the same letter. Hmm.) Sooooo…printed out DLB and will mail today. Printed out the contract, and I need your help!!!!

I need a name!!!! I would LOVE to use my own name, but being a teacher and all…

I would like my last name to be Evans, since that was my grandmother’s name and she supported my writing so much. But my maiden name is Barclay, and I wouldn’t mind using that.

I don’t want to be Mary. My middle name is Helen, but I’m not wild about that.

As of bedtime last night, I was leaning toward MJ Fredricks, my name, my son’s and my dh’s. But this morning Chris suggested naming myself after my boys.

Dare I be Mary WINCHESTER???

Any thoughts????

Some of the best 2007 conference workshops I’ve listened to so far:

Karen Rose’s Writing the Romantic Suspense

Publishing Myths with Kate Duffy

Creating Your Story’s Backbone with Robin Perini, who is just a great speaker

No Plotters Allowed with Allison Brennan

When Bad Covers Happen to Good Books with Raelene Gorlinsky – she was just a really cool speaker

From the Trenches with Kathryn Lye

Standing Out from the Slush Pile with Tawny Weber, JoAnn Rock, Jamie Sobrato and Brenda Chin

Making Every Minute Count with April Kihlstrom

Unstick Yourself with Todd Stone

So, I’m through the Friday workshops – still have the Saturday workshops to go! Which ones have you enjoyed?

WHERE did that weekend go? I spent about an hour yesterday preparing submissions and entering the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest, watched some TV and wrote longhand till after 11 (I wouldn't let myself go to bed till I used up my gel pen - those only go about 6-8 pages). Inservice today - yawn.

This week:

1) finish submission blitz on Hot Shot
2) query letter for Ghost Hunters
3) revise 70 pages of Ghost Hunters
4) 35 new pages on small town story (I remain optimistic that it will kick in ANY TIME now, though the stuff I wrote last night in no way resembles my original plan)
5) get ready for critique this weekend
6) keep up house
7) keep up at school (grades due tomorrow)

Must find more JDM pics!!!

Tawny tagged me

Eight random things about me…

1) I love calendars. I make them, buy them, keep track for a little while, then forget to use them.
2) I have 4 Adirondack chairs (the plastic kind) because one of my teacher friends said her dh made her one and she sat in it to relax and write.
3) I only buy stuff for my house in early summer or in fall. Those are the homey times for me.
4) The barbecue we went to last night was in the town where my first book was set. The very last scene in that book was set at that barbecue. I love the very last scene in that book. Probably because the book took me almost 2 years to write.
5) I don’t like barbecue.
6) I don’t hear well in places with lots of ambient noise.
7) My house smells like skunk – so bad my eyes are watering. My cats didn’t get sprayed, though. No telling why it smells so strongly.
8) I bought myself a Dillon Panthers t-shirt. Yes, obsessed.

I think everyone's done this one....if you haven't, feel free!

This was my bed yesterday when I went to take a nap.

I slept till EIGHT this morning!!!

Okay, that’s not the announcement.

The announcement is, this week I accepted an offer from The Wild Rose Press to publish my little city fireman book, Where There’s Smoke. This is a best friends-turned-lovers story that I wrote, well, I don’t remember, but after the fireman band played at my old school. The Incredibly Handsome guitar player actually turned out to be the son of my uncle’s best friend, so I wrote a story about him ending up with my cousin. I loved writing that story, and it was my very first revision request for SSE, who eventually rejected it twice. So I’m very happy it’s getting a shot! No idea when…or what name…I would so love to keep my own name, but you know, the whole teacher thing.

So…I’m going to be published. I wish my grandmother was around.

So, what did y’all think of Supernatural last night? I thought it could have been two episodes, easy.

Now, my new obsession.



Here is why you need to be watching Friday Night Lights.


Matt Saracen, the sophomore quarterback, used to riding the bench, thrust into the limelight of a championship season when the QB is injured. No one thinks he can perform under pressure, when the fact is that he’s under pressure all the time. His dad is in Iraq and Matt is the sole caretaker of his grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s. He’s so gentle with her, he’ll just break your heart. In one of the first episodes of season one, she wanders away, and his relief at finding her, and hers at being found…And when his dad returned from Iraq and Matt thought he’d finally get a break, only to find he was the man in the middle…I want to adopt this kid. He’s dating the coach’s daughter, which only makes him more nervous under the coach’s scrutiny.



Landry…no idea what his last name is, Matt’s best friend. Big guy, but not on the team. Still, he goes to every game, helps Matt however he can, including watching Matt’s grandmother while Matt works, sitting in the stands with her, driving her to playoff games in his old station wagon. He loves town beauty Tyra from afar and is a brain, tutoring player Tim Riggins and plays guitar in a Christian speed metal band. He’s the voice of Everyman in the story, seeing the whole culture as those of us outside see it, which I guess is why I relate to him.



Tim Riggins, the hottie, abandoned by his parents, left to grow up under the dubious supervision of his older brother. He’s an alcoholic, a man-slut, and started out in love with his best friend’s girlfriend. In the episodes I’m watching now, he’s gravitating back toward Tyra, who was his girl at the beginning of the show. He’s been devastated by his relationship with his dad, something he wants so bad, and she’s the only one who gets him. Or the only one he’ll open up to. He’s another heartbreaking character, one you just want to see succeed, but you just don’t know how he can.



Lyla Garrity is the cheerleader who, for all her positive thinking, can’t heal her quadriplegic quarterback boyfriend. She makes bad choices and pays the price. She’s so human, not stereotypical at all.

Tyra Collette (isn’t that the greatest name?) is the town beauty, trying so hard not to become her mother. Some of the episodes I just watched struck me a little off on her character, because she’s tough but not bad. And when she talks she sounds JUST LIKE my cousin Jennifer.

Jason Street is the quadriplegic quarterback, trying so hard to redefine who he is. He’s probably the most stereotypical character, but still heartrending.

Coach Eric Taylor and his wife, guidance counselor Tammy (though it was several episodes before I knew her name!!) They are married and they are equal and in the episode I saw yesterday, he had a decision to make and went to her in the guidance counselor’s office. He told her he wanted to talk to her as guidance counselor. When he didn’t like what she said, he asked to talk to her as his wife. When he didn’t like that, he asked if there was anyone else he could talk to, so she said his friend. Then he said the three of them scared him.

That was an uncharacteristic show of humor from him. He’s very businesslike. There are times when I see the characters need him that I wish he would be more touchy feely, but he’s much more realistic this way. When he helps them out, it’s very subtle, but the boys understand it.

Eric and Tammy are dealing with daughter Julie’s sexuality, and it’s a little hard to watch, but sometimes humorous, because Eric is surrounded by estrogen at home.

Then there’s the exciting football. Even if you’re not a fan (I’m not) you still root for the Panthers because you care about the boys. And like a good love scene, every game adds to the story.

15 more hours till the Supernatural premiere!!! The program went VERY well last night - if only I'd remembered my camera!

TOP TEN SUPERNATURAL EPISODES

10) Hell House
9) Shadow
8) In My Time of Dying
7) Skin
6) Pilot
5) Hookman
4) Crossroads
3) Faith
2) Scarecrow
1) Croatoan



TOP TEN SUPERNATURAL QUOTES

10) “I hope your apple pie is freaking worth it!”
9) “If someone tells you a place is haunted, don’t go in!”
8) “Demons I get – people are crazy.”
7) “Cristo?”
6) “Your half-caff double vanilla latte is getting cold over here, Francis.”
5) “Vampires. It gets funnier every time I hear it.”
4) “What kind of house doesn’t have salt? Low sodium freaks.”
3) “That little fabric softener teddy bear? Ooh, I want to hunt that little bitch down!”
2) “Your girlfriend is past her expiration date and we’re crazy?”
1) “When I told Dad I was afraid of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45.”



TOP TEN SUPERNATURAL MOMENTS

10) Crossroads – Dean kicks in the front door of the stalked guy’s house. He’s getting ready to kick in the library door and Sam stops him by grabbing his leg. Sam gives him a look, and opens the unlocked door.

9) Bugs – The welcoming committee makes it clear they accept homeowners of every race, creed…and sexual orientation.

8) Provenance – Dean’s trying to bust the glass with the butt of the gun, it’s not working, so he goes out to get something else, looks at the gun in his hand, then shoots the glass out.

7) Home – Dean tells Sam he was the one who carried him out of their burning house when Dean was only 4, and how Sam unknowingly echoes his father’s words when sending Jenny’s kids outside.

6) Shadow – After all season of looking for John, they find him, but Dean sends him away, because being around his sons makes him too vulnerable. I love how John wants to stay because the boys are beat to hell, and how Sam wants John to stay so they can stick together.

5) In My Time of Dying – the Ouija board scene

4) Route 666 – the love scene

3) The psychic boy who locks Sam in a closet and Sam punches his way out when he has a vision of Dean dying – only he punches his way out with his mind.

2) In the beginning of one of the shows this season, they put together all the fake identities the boys have had, all one after the other. It was great!



1) Croatoan – from the Impala trick to the time Sam is infected, to him asking for a gun, to Dean staying with him, even giving away the Impala, all the way to the cliffhanger – THAT part I didn’t like!




TEN LEAST FAVORITE SUPERNATURAL MOMENTS

10) Sam telling the two fake ghostbusters they had a movie deal in LA – that was just mean

9) Linda Blair episode – she believed Dean way too easy

8) Something Wicked – they jumped to conclusions too quickly, based on an empty playground

7) The clown episode

6) Any time John speaks in exposition

5) The wreck of the Impala

4) John saying the Colt was made in 1835, the same night those men died at the Alamo – The battle of the Alamo was in 1836.

3) Jo teaming up with the boys

2) John’s remark to Dean about taking better care of the Impala – sounded WAYYYYY too familiar. And jerky.

1) John dying



TOP TEN THINGS I’VE LEARNED FROM SUPERNATURAL

10) Don’t stop for a body in the road – it could be a vampire.
9) No matter how good the apple pie is, don’t linger in Burkitsville with your significant other.
8) There is such a thing as too many Deans.
7) Check out the history of a house for strange fires, demonic possession and Indian curses before moving in.
6) People believe anything they read on the web, and with the right graphics, it can come true!
5) Lock your windows, especially if your brother or sister is recently ill enough to be at the hospital.
4) Don’t pick up hitchhikers, especially ones who carry silver goblets around.
3) Believe in your nightmares.
2) It’s not nice to marry your sister.
1) Family is stronger together than apart.

You have 3 shirts, 6 stickers, 2 totebags, a poster and notebook.

You NEED a 1967 Impala. $32,000 for a 40 year old car on eBay! You might settle for a keychain, or maybe not.

You start listening to classic rock because Dean does.

You make your own Supernatural calendar.

You have an overwhelming desire to make your own You Tube video.

You visit Cafe Press weekly to see if anyone used this week's quotes on a new shirt.

You've seen every episode at least 3 times.

You know whether or not you'll like an episode by who wrote it, and you rank your favorite writers. (John Shiban!)

You watch Ghost Hunters and wonder what Sam and Dean would make of them.

You celebrate every time someone admits they started watching the show because of you ;)

You've gotten hooked on Gilmore Girls and Dark Angel because of the boys.

Program tonight!!!! In 17 hours, my life will be my own again - I got phone calls during dinner last night, parents asking what the kids should wear. Duh, I sent the note home LAST MONDAY.

I REALLY wanted to make this into a You Tube, but I don’t know how to get the video onto my computer and Mr. Emmy Award Winning Editor wouldn’t help because of the whole copyright thing, so we’re doing this with stills. Just imagine it’s a fabulous You Tube video.

A = Action – lots and lots and lots of it!



B = Beer – okay, it could have been brothers, but they do drink a lot of beer!



C = Colt – the only thing to kill the demon



D = Devil’s Trap – to keep demons out – if I were a Winchester, these would be EVERYWHERE!



E = EMF – how the boys identify spirits and possessions





F = Family



G = Ghosts (duh)



H = Heroes







I = Identities



J = John’s Journal – with everything he’s learned about evil the past 22 years



K = Killer Clowns



L = Lawrence, Kansas – where it all started



M = Metallicar



N = Nightmares



O = Old Sins – as in, paying for them!

P = Psychic Power



Q = Quick Thinking – what the boys have to do when they’re caught by the law

R = Rock Salt – keeps demons and spirits away



S = Shovels



T = Trust (or Towels)





U = Urban Legends



V = Vampires



W = Winchester



X = Xtra Lives (Hey, that was HARD!) Dean has had a couple!

Y = Yellow Eyed Demon





Z = Zepplin