IWSG: Writing and Motherhood

It is that time of month again. and sence at the moment my little James is sleeping I thought I would take the time to write a blog post for the first time in several months. I think it is interesting that my first blog post coming back form Maturnity leave is near the same subject matter as that which was my last.

I think with that amount of information can tell you what my current insecurities are. I heard it once said "when a women has a child she loses four books." The concept behind that statement is that the time it takes to care for a child takes up the time that a women would normally spend writing. It is a sad thought that I am afraid to believe. it does take time to take care of a child.

Add to that the disappointing statements from friends who are parents who love to tell a new parent that they will never have time to do anything that they enjoyed before they became parenthood. as if now that I have a child my only identity is that I am now a mom. Being a mom has somehow superseded all the things that made up my identify before now.

Now I know from my observation that this is not true. women who are mothers are also bakers, artists, writers, students and successful in business. things will not be done as often as before maybe sacrifices will be made but I've seen and known so many mothers who are so much more then just mothers. So why are parents so discouraging to new parents?

I'll close with this quote from one of my favorite books "Homeless Bird" :

"'I will make time,' I promised, 'the home will not always be so clean, the cooking may be a little hasty, and the whining children will sit on my lap and I'll sing to them while I work'"

you can read more IWSG posts at: http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html

till next time God Speed and Open Roads

IWSG: December '13

For more Insecure Writer's Support Group blog posts visit Alex J. Cavanaugh's Site.

I suck. that is how I feel when it comes to my writing. quite the change from the last on of these I wrote. you see I had high hopes of editing my novel in a single month. I mean really several of my writery friends have run through second and third drafts no problem. Me? well editing is really hard. I need to figure out a new way of doing this. but you know it's not working so well. maybe I am still too close to the manuscript, maybe I'm not disciplining myself well enough. maybe I just have start-ites and I really just want to start something new. I don't know what is wrong or how to fix it.

If you have a practice of editing please share below in the comments section.  or you know if you are willing to be a beta reader for me, or you know if you need a beta reader. I had hoped to take on a few MS to read for other writers.

anyway this is the last post for the year. I hope that 2013 has been a great year for you all and look forward to seeing you all again in the 2014.

till after the new year, God Speed and Open roads.

maternity leave

This will be my last post till after mog comes. actually it will probably be my last post for the year.  So here is a minor update of a little bit of everything.

Mog: I'm so tired,  heartburn, nausea, and what i think might be pre labor contractions. (they don't hurt all that much, just uncomfortable.) yeah I'm ready to have this baby on the outside of my body. my mom will be here soon to start off the long line of family that will be coming to visit us in light of our new little child, the first child, the first grandchild, and the first niece or nephew.

Reading: if you follow me on goodreads or facebook you know i've been on a bit of a bing reading kick. I've read Catching Fire (dystopia), White Oleander (fiction), Blood Ties (urban Fantasy), and Evade (paranormal romance).   Each of these books I pretty much read in a single sitting. It is nice to be reading like this again. my next couple of books are The Republic of Thieves (heroic fantasy), which I am over halfway done with, and Chimes at Midnight (urban fantasy). I look forward to finishing both these books, of course once i'm done reading them I have to wait for the authors to publish the next book. luckily I have a long list of books to be read.

writing: well I think I will write up a post for ISWG, so this may not be the last post. for now I'll just say that Nanowrimo is almost over, those of you dear readers who are participating in this endeavor you can do it! just keep writing!

knitting: I'm behind. I'll probably finish the blanket today or tomorrow, but my socks won't be done, neither will my shawl. it makes me fairly sad but that is what happens when i don't knit except at knit night.

I think that is everything, till next time God Speed and Open Roads.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today I am doing something different. I am going to give you a recipe to make chocolate chocolate cookies. I love making cookies and baking and last night I took some of my cookies to knit night. I was told I should just put the recipe out there for everyone. so here it is:

3/4 a cup brown sugar
3/4 a cup white sugar
1 cup butter
     (cream the butter and sugar together before moving on.)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1~1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla (I don't ever measure vanilla I just pour a bit in and call it good.)
6 Tablespoons of cocoa.
     (optional a dash of ancho chili powder)
     (mix everything together)
2 3/4 cups of flour (stir in one cup at a time)
add about half a bag of chocolate chips (or butterscotch were pretty well too)
bake for 10 min at 350 let cool on cookie sheet

there you go that is my chocolate Chocolate chip

week 37

Mog is growing, that is pretty much all there is to this update. we are getting close to the end which is good. but everything is looking average. I'm am going to admit that I'm really sorry I haven't been keeping up here on the blog. I mean I missed IWSG again. I didn't mean to but as we get closer to the coming of baby, there are things that are taking precedence over other things. I mean there are several things I want to get done before the baby comes. four of them are knitting projects. and the other is editing my story but hopefully I will talk about all those things latter this week.

the good news is that we have now gone a week without  throwing up. Which it is pretty nice. however it seems like there is still so much to do. get the car seats in the cars, wash the liners of everything, make sure I have all the parts, pack the bag for the hospital, refill the first aid kit, get nursing gear all set up. it is a never ending list that always seems to be missing something.

oh well it will all work out eventually.

Week 36

Now we are coming down to the end of this thing called pregnancy, and a lot of people talk about how this time takes forever to get to the actual labor. right now I feel like this baby might be coming a little quicker than I'm ready for. yes I'm ready to be done with the heartburn, the spewing, the pain in the abdomen, and the alien independent movements in my belly. But I'm not sure if I'm ready to have a baby in the house. It's kinda scary to think that very soon, in as little as three weeks, there will be a little human larva in need of a place to sleep, something to eat, a safe place to be in the car, a pediatrician... yeah I woke yesterday terrified about the coming changes in the house.

However it is exciting. a little boy or girl is about to enter the world. I'm going to be a mom, exciting and terrifying.

till next time God Speed and Open Roads.

Evade (Ever book 2)

I received the advanced reader copy of Evade from Jessa. 

Last year when I read Ever I was pleasantly surprised by what I read. Here was a YA book that was Paranormal Romance that I enjoyed. The heroine is likeable and relatable. The romantic triangle is well managed and the supernatural elements intrigued me. All that is to say that when I finished Ever I was truly looking forward to Evade. 

Jessa Russo did not disappoint. There are two big things I enjoyed about this book, the way she handled the romantic tension and the way she opened up her world to her readers. I am generally fairly critical of Romances, particularly the trend where readers choose teams for the two guys that the heroine can't decide on. I don't want to go into too much detail about how this is worked out but I found it refreshing. 

As for the way she opened up her world she makes use of the classic fish out of water. Ever has been through into a world that she doesn't understand and is forced to learn the rules of or she is going to get herself killed a lot sooner than her ticking clock predicted. It of course doesn't help that like most girls caught up in the supernatural world everyone is too busy protecting her to tell tell her what's going on, at least until everything hits too close for comfort. 

perhaps my only critic of the book is that there is not enough Jessica. yeah she is my favorite character in these books, But really is that much of a critic? 

Author bio: An unashamed super fan of all things paranormal romance, Jessa Russo reads, writes and breathes paranormal YA, rarely straying from her comfort zone. When not writing or reading--or raising the coolest kid ever--Jessa enjoys making memories with her amazingly supportive family and friends, while secretly planning her next trip to New Orleans. She will always call Southern California home, where she lives with her husband and daughter, and a Great Dane who thinks he's the same size as his cranky sister, the Chihuahua.

Evade Links: GoodReads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo

Jessa Russo's links: Website, Twitter, Facebook: To Friend, To Like/ Follow

So till next time God Speed and Open Roads.