Inspy

Got your attention with that title didn't I? How could one of the MA girls possibly have anything to do with inspy? HA! never said what *kind* of inspy.

So I was out hunting...a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. And I came across some tasty tidbits. The tidbits more than got the brain working. Hee hee. I'm so bad. So I thought I'd share a tidbit or two with you. You won't be displeased. **enter evil laugh***

So the pants could go a tick lower... I'm waiting....


Stop thinking...start doing!!!


Turn just a little towards the camera...the girls on the street have seen their fill...it's my turn--but the tat does earn you points. Turn!

Nosey McNoserton

Yup, that's me! I'm so freaking nosey! Have you ever really stopped to ponder how truly nosey we as writers are? How we watch the world around us and file our observations away to be pulled out later?

Why is this on my mind? Well, two experiences this past week have really brought my attention once again to how insanely nosey I really am!

The first was when my friend showed up on my doorstep and announced she was kidnapping me: "I know you don't feel good, but you need to get out of the house!" This has become a rather familiar refrain, and my argument that I'm tired and my chest hurts and I just don't want to go anywhere falls on deaf ears more often than not with her... so I relented and we went for a drive since I refused to change from my yoga pants and t-shirt (those of you who know me know that I HATE leaving my house any less than presentable... and yoga pants aren't presentable!). Going for a drive is one of our favorite activities, because we are both NOSEY!

The area we live in has a wide range of economic circumstances from government housing to rental apartments to multi-million dollar homes within a couple miles of each other. One of our fave past-times is to drive by the huge homes and try to imagine what the inside looks like... and see if we can possibly peek in the windows as we go by. Told you NOSEY!

Imagine our surprise when we drove down one street to find an Open House sign in front of one of the more elaborate (read gaudy) homes we'd been speculating on. We gleefully parked the car and trotted up the slate driveway. Me in my yoga pants and her in her jeans and sweater... at least she looked more presentable than I did. Hey, you never know if someone wearing yoga pants can afford 1.9 million dollars. Just saying.

Unfortunately... or fortunately depending on your outlook... the inside of the house lived up to the absolutely... colorful... exterior. We both quickly came to the conclusion that if we were to live there we'd have to whitewash everything and start over. BUT, my writer's brain went into overdrive: What kind of person lived there before the bank took it back? Had they been happy with the way it turned out or had they simply marked time there? What circumstances brought about the bank foreclosure?

I'll explain the other incident next week, but I wanted to know if everyone else has the same... neuroses?

Inspiration Anyone?

*sigh* Instead of writing, I've been playing. Not that I haven't gotten some writing done... just not as much as the voices screaming in my head would like. I have two that are particularly eager for me to get to a certain scene... anyway. I thought since I am drawing a bit of a blank I thought maybe y'all would like to see a couple of my inspiration collages.

I like to do these collages at the start of each story then print them out and stick them up on the wall and/or in my writing portfolio. Helps me to remember who is who and what they look like... and their personalities ... because if I don't keep them straight you end up with muddied waters... characters... whatever. LOL

So, here is the collage of the main characters for my Alpha story:



and here is the collage for one of my heroes in Alpha:



If you click on the actual photos you can get a closer look... if you so desire. LOL

So, what do you think? Inspirational?

Thus Quoth...

... Nope, not the Raven, but a whole bunch of other people! LOL... Today, I thought I'd share some of my favorite quotes. They're about persistence, creativity, motivation... all the things we need to keep on keeping on.

I hope you enjoy them.

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."

— W. W. Ziege

"Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek."

— Mario Andretti

"The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas."

— Dr. Linus Pauling

"Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."

— Mark Twain

"We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit."

— Aristotle

Feel like writing now? I know I do!!!

Feeling A Little Bit Country

So, no meme... no procrastination... LOL. Just me, and what's on my mind right now.

I was sitting here listening to my music as I contemplated what I wanted to blog about today when one of my favorite songs came on. One I hadn't listened to in a long time. Now, I will warn y'all... I have some serious country roots... I mean, Mom is from Montana, Father from Louisiana... it's inevitable some days.

Anyway, the song is by Little Big Town and it's called "Bring It On Home", and every single time I hear it I smile and sing along (and some days I get a bit weepy... don't laugh). The chorus goes, "When your long day is over, And you can barely drag your feet, The weight of the world is on your shoulders, I know what you need, Bring it on home to me". Here, you can see all the lyrics here. The harmony is amazing between these two men and two women. It has a slow and steady beat that never fails to inspire me to go find my hubby to just... love on him. :-)

It gets me thinking, isn't that what we all want? Someone to come home to, someone that we can lay our head in their lap at the end of a vicious day and have them soothe away the ache. Someone who is our "safe harbor" in the crazy world. I know there are people out there who will deny it (I used to be one of them... they can't lie to me), but every single one of us wants acceptance. That one person who understands us, even when we aren't making much sense to ourselves, much less to everyone else.

As writers and readers of Romance, no matter what genre, that is what we are looking for isn't it? That connection to what is intangible for those who are still searching and yet open to the possibilities. That reminder to those of us who have it to not forget how precious it is. So, that was my inspiration for the day. Just thought I'd share with y'all. ;-p

Yeah, yeah, I know... very nostalgic of me. You'll soon learn, if you haven't already, I really love music and how it compares to my life or the lives of those around me. (You ever want to know more about me and my Southern roots just listen to this same group's song "Boondocks"...)