Spies in the Closet with Minnie

Do you have some imagination that needs a little work out? Join Minnie and the Controlled Patriots of Standard Word Abuse for an exercise in Gibberish! You have all week-end to play and Minnie will post the finished result on Monday. Just follow the crazy "Gibberish" story line in the comment box -- after the previous comment (just a line or two will do.) You can check out earlier games HERE.

Spies in the Closet

Little Lizzy found a rat pack in her neighbors closet, and was convinced they were spies from the governments underwear drawer. Stashing  her 3 cent lucky charm up her nose she slithered around the corner and waited for………..(Your turn)

Don't forget to grab one of these banners to link back to my blog if you like on your way out! 

Question for those of you who would rather not play: Do you think that as we get older, time moves faster in an unorganized fashion?

Have a great week-end!

Eye Spy more Exciting News!

There is always a party out there somewhere and always a reason to celebrate. If you don't have one of your own, than join one of my friends! Time to dance and show off your moves!

Last chance for SA Larsens Shopping Mall Giveaway Do you like to do The Raffle? Get over to Writers' Ally for some great giveaways!

Want to get started with Trick and Treating early?

 Roland Yoemans (Writing In The Crosshairs) is promoting his novel Ghost of a Chance with a giveaway.  Go here to learn the details. Roland keeps company with the greatest Ghosts. Join them by purchasing his book on Amazon  here.

We have a Bury the Hatchet Blogfest to celebrate

Author E.J. Wesley who is launching his latest title, BLOOD FUGUE. Party time, so help him celebrate! Check out his blog The Open Vein for details on how to take part, and how to enter for a chance to win some sweet prizes! I would like to bury the hatchet on telephone salesmen who always know to call you right in the middle of dinner!

What's BLOOD FUGUE about?

Armed only with an ancient family journal, her rifle, and an Apache tomahawk, Jenny must save her grandfather’s life and embrace her dangerous heritage. Or be devoured by it. Blood Fugue, by E.J. Wesley, is the first of the Moonsongs books, a series of paranormal-action novelettes.

BLOOD FUGUE is available now via Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble and most other eBook retailers. Check out the author on Goodreads!

More News: Wayman Publishing is releasing Open Doors Vol.2--an anthology where authors write their own hilarious, unique, or even tragic versions of fairy tales and nursery rhymes.  Submissions are FREE. This could be a great publication credit if your work is accepted.  If you want to find out more check out this link!

Nancy Thompson has her new book The Mistaken coming out on October 18 and here is her new Book Trailer! I can't wait to read the book!

Did I notice your book? Ciara Knight and Alex Cavanaugh are joining forces for  a BLOWUP the blogosphere with good reads party. It is a bit sneaky, kind of like a surprise party! Check it out by clicking on my banner there on the sidebar ------>
 
That's all I got for you now, but you never know when this post will change. Eye Spy is out sneaking around until Friday... So Don't forget to come back and on Friday--- Minnie is here with some more of her GibbERish FUn!

Treasures in a Box

The other day I went down in the basement with my daughter who was home from school for the week-end. The basement is a cold cement room with spider webs and copper pipes that fight for space on the ceiling. Unpacked damp boxes, junk and leftovers from my life are scattered and stacked there. Every once and awhile I end up having to go down there and search for something. This time it was an old book of fairytales that my mother had bought for my children when they were small. The particular fairytale I was looking for had the story about “Jack and the Beanstalk.”

You probably are asking yourself why I needed to find that story and I will tell you that in a minute. First I want to tell you about the treasure hunt. Oh yes, what started out as a quick trip to find a book, turned out to be an hour down memory lane with my daughter as we opened box after box containing her childhood treasures. Needless to say there were many boxes that escaped the basement that day. The Barbie dolls however, did not make it. I fear they will have to stay there until another little girl comes around to play. Do you have your children’s memories packed away in boxes somewhere because you lack space? I suggest you do as I did and introduce your children to them. It is a fun way to spend some time with these “grown-ups” of yours and to make more space for your own memories that need more storage as we get older.

Now back to the reason I needed to spend some time with “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Wayman Publishing is releasing Open Doors 2--an anthology where authors write their own hilarious, unique, or even tragic versions of fairy tales and nursery rhymes.  Submissions are FREE. This could be a great publication credit if your work is accepted.  If you want to find out more check out thislink!

If you do not see me around as much it is because I am trying to get my book finished and ready for self-publication. Yes, I have finally made the decision to get some help and publish it myself. Anyone have any comments or advice to give me on self-publication?  I would really appreciate it.

Minnie will be here on Friday with her monthly game of Gibberish so don’t forget to come back and play. Until then, have a great week!

The Gods of Norse Mythology

Yesterday I hung out by a fountain with the gods of Norse mythology. I bet you are wondering where I found them and why I decided to look for them in the first place. The answer is research, and what better place to go than the library. Now I confess that after the search engines started dominating the www my trips to the library have not been as frequent. What surprised me was the selection, or should I say lack thereof. You would think that a Norwegian library would have a large selection on the gods, on vikings and on the folklore surrounding them, but I only managed to find a few. It was a warm sunny day so I took the gods with me and sat outside in the beautiful park surrounding the library. I told them about the book I was writing and here is what the gods had to say:

“Nobody seems to read books about us anymore; they would rather go into a dark room that you humans call a movie, and watch these pretend gods making up stories of their own. How could it be that our own stories have so little interest to you humans?” Freya looked at me and waited for an answer but I was rudely interrupted by Loki.

 “I like these human stories on the wall of the movie temple! They make me handsome and even a bit loveable. Everyone knows who I am now and I am finally respected as a force to be dealt with.” Thor did not like Loki’s comment, slammed his hammer on the ground, and bellowed out in a voice that made the other Gods shutter. 

“You… IGNORANT little flea!  If it were not for your constant bag of tricks, no one would pay attention to you! I am the real hero. I only refrain from squashing you off the face of this earth because I find you at times amusing! You are not even my brother!”

Sif looked at the content smile on Thor’s face and sighed before she said, “These movie people would have you betray my love dear husband, and they seem to believe we all come from an alien planet. Not only do they think that, they also believe me to be a warrior. You know how I hate to fight, Freya is much better suited for weapons than I.”

Freya turned towards me and drew a large sword from her belt. “It is true; these humans have forgotten that I am a warrior, as well as a lover. I hope when you finish your book, you will have told the other humans that!” She then kissed her sword and disappeared into the pages beside me, along with the other gods.

These are some of the gods you will get to know better in my series of books called, Gods and Fairytales. A sneak preview from the first book, Secrets of the Ash Tree, is available in the anthology Open Doors which you can buy  HERE.

So have you been to the library lately? Which one of the gods is your favorite?

My Favorite Things

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Our favorite Ninja, Alex Cavanaugh always holds the best parties. This time he wants us to bring our favorite things to the party. More specifically, our 4 favorite genres of Movies, Music, Books and a guilty pleasure from any of those three. First it should be said that I basically love all kinds of movies, music and books depending on the mood I am in at the time. Usually I tend to base my decision on things like actor, director, producer, writer and musician rather than genre. I will give you my best shot anyways.

Movies: The Classics (OK, maybe this is not a genre. It should be!)---Big Alfred Hitchcock Fan. Nothing is better then sitting at the edge of your seat in suspense and then getting a twist at the end of the movie that you never saw coming!

Music: Roub. I love reading at night under the covers.

As for my guilty pleasure I focus my attention on movies and give you MUSICALS, especially vintage ones like My Fair Lady, South Pacific, Singing in the Rain and the following which always cheers me up! Come back on Wednesday when Eye Spy takes a look at The Gods of Norse Mythology.

So tell me, what are some of your favorite things?

Shopping Cure

Do you ever feel like this?

For days now my brain has not been functioning properly and my moods are lethal. If anyone looks at me so much as sideways I am bound to snap their head off.  I don’t know if it is menopause, quitting smoking or just an accumulation of being fed up all the time. It is also that time of year when cold replaces warm and darkness slowly strangles light. If your temperament suffers from light sickness as mine does, living in a winter dark country such as Norway is challenging. We have the midnight sun during summer, but winter is just as dark as the summer is light.

To make matters worse, October is just around the corner. My birthday and the birthday of my two children in the states are approaching fast.  Unlike last year I will not be able to spend this time with them. If you have children that live very far away then you know how difficult birthdays and holidays can be. Slapping myself in the face, I need to fight this brain malfunction and diffuse this mood bomb before I hit the self-destruct button and end up blowing myself to pieces. Shopping helps, especially when you get to shop for presents! I love giving presents, but figuring out what to give is challenging when you have to deal with the International postal service. Ewww…Most times it costs more to send the package than what is inside! Well this year I have gotten tricky and have ordered something over the internet which is going to be shipped directly to them, I have also discovered Blurb. I cannot tell you what I have done with that discovery because I never know when one of these children decides to take a peek at my blog. Internet has truly made the world one big shopping center!

So now that my shopping has made me feel a bit better, it is time to be creative and design a happy meal for the family that has had to put up with me these past few days.

How do you deal with depression, does shopping help? Have you checked out Blub or have any other great ideas for gift shopping the international way? Have a great week-end and come back on Monday for some of my favorite things.

Eye Spy is on the RUN!

Eye Spy for today has my little pink panther running in another game of tag. I don’t care much for these games but since Yolanda Renee at Defending the Pen was such a good sport, I can at least do the same. 

First though I would like to mention that my friend Roland Yeomans has another great read out there for your enjoyment. Ghost of a Chance is on my bedside table now and although I have just started reading it, I can tell this is going to be another great one by Roland. Who does not love a great ghost story, especially when it involves some of the great legends of all time and a most unusual murder? You can pick it up Here. 

So here are the questions from this game of tag.

—What is the working title of your book?

Actually I am still undecided but I am going under the working title Gods and Fairy Tales. I believe that this is going to be a series of three books. The first one entitled Secrets of the Ash Tree.

—Where did the idea come from for the book?

My fascination for the culture of the country I am living in.  Norse Gods are evident through old Viking relics which surround the landscape. Folklore is also a big part of Norwegian tradition so I decided to combine the two. Also I think Trolls are misrepresented and they have a different story to tell.

—What genre does your book fall under?

Young Adult/Fantasy

—Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Ones that could act, actually I have not given it a thought.

—What is the one sentence short synopsis of your book?

A young woman discovers her father’s secrets which cast her into a world full of dangerous creatures, mighty Norse warriors and perils beyond her belief.

—Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I am considering both options.

—How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Been working on it for a year and it is still a work in progress.

—What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Besides the Mythology and Folk lore this is a story about self-discovery, sacrifice and survival. The story is based on two different worlds, and what happens to one person when these two worlds collide. Sometimes turning everything upside down is the only way anything makes sense and this story does so by questioning what is real and what is not.

And Tag! You’re It! Why did I pick you? Because I want to hear more about your writing. This is the game and I’m just following the rules! Link back to my blog, answer the questions, tag three more and let them know.

Gwen Gardner

Susan at Susan Says

Cecilia Roberts

Have a great hump day and come back on Friday to see what I have in store for you.

If you have something you want to share on my Eye Spy posts each Wednesday let me know!