Setting Boundaries When Dating a Human

We covered some ground rules for if a human wants to date a vampire, but what about the other way around?  Suppose we’ve got a decent, heroic guy who just happens to be one of the undead?  Just because he drinks blood doesn’t mean he can’t have standards.

1. Don’t ask me to bite you.  I know you’ve read all those paranormal romance books where biting and sex equals the greatest experience on the planet, but trust me, it can get messy.

2. No role-playing.  You’re not Buffy, and I don’t want to see a stake hidden under your pillow.

3. Don’t try to have important conversations or talk me into stuff around dawn when I’m too tried to properly listen.

4. If you’re mad at me, don’t throw my bags of blood down the sink.  That stuff is hard to come by!

5.  I can’t introduce you to Edward, so don’t ask.

What would you add to the list?

Do You Sparkle?

Last week on Debra Kristi’s blog I was introduced to Lindsey Stirling, a dubstep violinist.  Debra wrote a lovely post about the places that call to us, whether for beauty, memories, or energy.  The location in the music video she shared sure was gorgeous, and I can’t help but to share it again here.  But what struck me most about the video was the artist herself.  When Lindsey plays that violin, you can see she loses herself in the music.  The genuine passion, love, and life in her expression is probably what touched me the most.

After I self-published my second book, was writing my third, and had just made the overall decision that this was what I would do with my life, my doctor and friend made this observation: “Your eyes sparkle.”  It didn’t matter if there were still health problems, or if I was in pain; in fact, it didn’t seem to hurt as bad as it used to.  Because I was in love with my life and my pursuits.

I love the story playing out in Lindsey’s music videos.  This sense of awe, delight, and pure joy.  It’s breathtakingly beautiful.  I hope you fall in love with it just as I did.  And even more so, I hope you live with the same unadulterated passion that makes your eyes sparkle to everyone you meet.

Setting Boundaries When Dating a Vampire

In Dry Spell, Aileen and Colin get a huge surprise when they find out Colin’s sister, Paige, is dating a vampire.  What would a vampire want dating a human anyway?  Frequent flyer meals?

But hey, not all vampires are vicious and evil.  This one’s a private investigator determined to make the world a better place.  He doesn’t sound so bad, except for the liquid diet.  Still, if you’re going to date a vampire, some ground rules should be set in place from the get-go.

1. No biting without express permission.

2. No dropping by before dawn and intentionally getting “stuck” and having to stay until nightfall.

3. Baggies of blood must be kept in a separate, small cooler, not my refrigerator next to the vegetables.

4. Use the front door.  No swinging through my window like you’re Tarzan.  (Or a sparkly, moodier version.)

5. If you’re going to be a hero and go after evil dudes, calling to tell me you haven’t been turned to a pile of ash would be greatly appreciated!

What boundaries would you set with your undead boyfriend?

Grammatical Structures in ASL

I’ve been working on expanding my expression vocabulary in my writing, particularly the staple “frown” and “grimace.”  Then I realized that I simply replaced them with another overused expression–the furrowed brow.  Lol.  (Yes, this does link to ASL, bear with me.)

I’m a grammar nut, and one of my favorite parts of interpreting is working with the linguistics of English and ASL.  Most of you probably know that sign language involves forming words with the hands.  But have you thought about how sentences are punctuated?  How do you know if the sentence in ASL is a statement or a question?  In spoken English, we have inflection and tone to convey grammar, but what about in silent languages?

In ASL, all of the grammatical signals are located on the face, from the nose up.  The key feature–the eyebrows.  (See, I had a point.)  Furrowed brows signal a Wh-Question (who, what, where, when, why).  Raised eyebrows show a Yes/No question and a Rhetorical question.  ASL uses rhetorical questions differently than English does.  They’re often used to introduce a topic, or emphasize the importance of that topic.  There’s a lot of expression that goes into ASL beyond just hand movements.

WH-question via/ lifeprint.com

Another form of punctuation and one of the hardest ones for me, is the period.  Care to take a guess?  Eye blinks.  Talk about subtle.  My research paper in my final semester of interpreter training involved looking at alternative punctuational and grammatical signals one could use if the standard ones were too difficult.  Combining a head nod with the eye blink would be more clear and obvious that the sentence is finished.

Are any of you wondering if the mouth has any function in ASL since the brows are so important?  Yep.  The nose, cheeks, and mouth give adverbial and adjectival information.

Handshape + sucked in cheeks and pursed lips = "thin" via/ lifeprint.com

If you really want to learn ASL and use it properly, you’d better get comfortable making very expressive faces.  I wasn’t when I started, but I eventually got over it.  People might think you’re over exaggerating, or they might even think you’re mad when you’re not.  But the expressions in ASL are not superfluous; they’re grammatically necessary.

I hope you enjoyed this little insight into the language of ASL. 

Cetus the Sea Dragon

Cetus, derived from Ketos, is the Latin name given to multiple sea monsters that appear in Greek mythology, from a serpentine dragon to a blubbering whale monster.

There are two primary tales regarding this creature, and though they feature different characters, the stories are quite similar.  In the first, Queen Cassiopeia boasted that her daughter, Andromeda, was more beautiful than any of the Nereides, sea nymphs that made up Poseidon’s retinue.  As punishment, Poseidon sent the sea monster, Cetus, to ravage the land.  In order to appease the sea-god, Andromeda was left on the rocks as a sacrificial offering to the sea dragon.  Luckily, Perseus was returning from slaying Medusa, and he swooped in on Pegasus to save the girl, slaying the dragon by turning it to stone.

In the second, very similar tale, Poseidon had hidden in human form and helped King Laomedon build the walls of Troy.  When the king refused to pay Poseidon for his help, the sea-god sent Cetus as punishment.  Again, it was decided that the only way to get rid of the monster was to offer the king’s daughter as a sacrifice.  (It never bodes well for princesses, does it?)  This time, the hero Hercules swoops in to save the day and slays the beast.

Cetus can also be found amongst the constellations, though his form in the stars is that of the gigantic whale monster.  He lies in the region of the sky where several other water-related constellations are, such as Aquarius and Pisces.

In the movie Clash of the Titans, Cetus is interpreted as the Kraken, an even more massive whale of a monster.

Ick

~

In Elemental Magic, Cetus is more serpentine like the dragons in the first two pictures.  He’s also quite intelligent, the last of his kind tucked away under a spell until an evil alchemist releases him.

The silhouette against the backdrop of stars was tall and thin, at least compared to the width of a whale. That wasn’t to say it wasn’t incredibly large. It loomed at least seven feet over the top of the ship. Keenan swept the spotlight over it, and I caught a flash of teeth bared in a menacing sneer and bright, blue-green scales. Eyes glowered gold with the reflection of the light.

No. Freakin’. Way.

And, just as in the above tales, poor Cetus is forced to follow orders and wreak havoc along the coast.  I won’t tell you what happens to him though.  You’ll have to read the book. 

Do you have a favorite interpretation of Cetus?  If you saw the new Clash of the Titans, how’d you like the Kraken?  With the hero stories being so similar, are you for Perseus or Hercules?

A Lesson in Critiquing via The Voice

Just a note: I’m going to change my regular blogging day to Monday for at least the rest of the school year.  Wednesday is a full day of work, and I’m not around to respond to comments, which I love to do!  That’s it, now on to today’s post.

No matter what you do, at some point in everyone’s life, you will be asked to evaluate, critique, or review something.  Here’s a quick lesson on some things that do and do not make for effective, constructive criticism.  I’ll be using NBC’s The Voice to showcase.

Let’s start with ineffective.

Blake Shelton via hollywoodreporter.com

The Misdirect (perfected by Blake Shelton)

When you can’t think of anything positive to say, or perhaps you can’t be bothered to give it much thought (maybe you weren’t paying attention), but you have to say something, picking out something from the peripheral seems like a good idea, right?

“Dude, I was totally fixated on the Egyptian male strippers on stage. …  Yeah, male strippers.”

Riight.  Tip 1: Feedback of any kind should be about the work.  And since books are my field, I’ll give you another example: “The cover really captivated my attention.”  …  Yes?  And?  The actual story?

Okay, next.

Christina via cdn.sheknows.com

Bashing/Making it personal (see Christina Aguilera)

Being outright mean doesn’t help anyone work towards improvement, and making judgmental statements about the person doesn’t give them anything specific to work on.  It just says, “I hate you, so get a day job.”  Everyone can improve if they work hard, and that’s the purpose of feedback/coaching.

“I find you one-dimensional.”

Ouch.  Again, this comment doesn’t reflect on the work being evaluated, but instead focuses on the person behind it.  How is this singer, Tony Luuca, supposed to work on improving his work with a comment like that?  It doesn’t contain any direction.  In this singer’s case, Christina could have said that song felt one-dimensional, or that particular delivery didn’t vary enough for her taste.  But she made it personal and tried to make Tony feel bad.

So again, make whatever you have to say focus on the work being evaluated.

Cee Lo Green via hollywoodreporter.com

Out of Left Field (courtesy of Cee Lo Green) or, The Table-Turner

I can’t really explain the motive behind this one…uh, Cee Lo appeared stoned one night, so drugs are always an understandable reason.  So make that Tip 2: Be sober when giving feedback.  I also knew someone like this who did it for laughs.  But then it becomes about you, and not the artist, author, book, etc.

“You’re such a beautiful creature.”

Um, thanks?  Beautiful is a nice word; not sure how I feel about being called a creature.  Kind of sexist if you ask me.  And most of the female artists went into the blind auditions wanting to be judged on their voices, not their looks (even the pretty ones didn’t want to win because they were pretty!)  And the feedback they get?  “You’re gorgeous, baby.”  Yeah, they were probably hoping for something a little more constructive—about the work!

Not all hope is lost for these contestants, however!  Adam Levine seems to be the only coach taking his role seriously.

Adam Levine via wetpaint.com

Constructive Criticism (thank you, Adam)

Constructive criticism highlights positive and negatives.  One popular method for this is the sandwich: positive, negative, positive.  It also talks about the work specifically.

“You incorporated what I advised you to do, and that was great.  I would have liked to see this for this type of song.”

Specific, to the point, and gives the singer something tangible to work on for next time.  It doesn’t comment on the singer’s value as a person.  Sure, hearing something wasn’t successful when you tried for that isn’t fun.  But how else will you learn?  That thing didn’t work, so try something else.

So the next time you find yourself in a position to give an opinion on something, whether it be a book review or a peer’s performance in some task (school or work), think about what will be specific and relevant, and give it in good spirit.  And if you can’t think of anything to say, maybe it would just be better if you stayed silent, and didn’t try to comment on the upholstery.  The misdirect really isn’t that subtle. 

Though I won’t be on my blog on Wednesdays, I will be guest posting on Marcia Richards’s blog this Wednesday about strong, smart, and sexy women and how I write them in my books.  So head on over later this week! 

Super Sneak Peek: Elemental Magic 3

Last week I posted an excerpt from Dry Spell, Elemental Magic 2.  This week, I’m finishing up the Lucky 7 Meme with a super sneak peek of my current work in progress, the third book in my Elemental Magic series.

For a refresher, the basic rules of this meme:

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS/WIP
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next 7 lines, sentences, or paragraphs, and post them as they’re written.

4. Tag 7 authors
5. Let them know

I was tagged by  Virginia Ripple, Cassia, and Lena Corazon.  Go check out their excerpts!

Elemental Magic 3

Excerpt

He nodded, rocking back and forward like a kid chanting there’s no monster in the closet.  I stayed still, not wanting to give the wolf side any more reason to feel threatened.  Matt could do this.  I had to believe he could get it under control.

It felt like almost an hour had passed when Matt finally let out a long exhale and leaned back against the cushion.  I hadn’t realized how taut my muscles were until the tension bled out of them, leaving me feeling even more exhausted than before.

“I’m sorry,” Matt said in a low voice.

~~

Watch for it this fall.    And, for another excerpt, be sure to check out Marcy Kennedy’s blog this Friday when she’ll be interviewing me.

Want to play this game?  I think, instead of tagging specific people, that anyone who wants to should be able to post an excerpt.  Enjoy!

A Lucky 7 Sneak Peek

Over the past few weeks, I was tagged by a few blogging/writer friends with the Lucky 7 Meme.  I got quite a few tags, and I couldn’t decide which work to give you a sneak peek of, so I’ve decided to do two posts!  Which means today you get an excerpt from my newly released novel, Dry Spell, and you should come back next week for a super sneak peek at my current project: the third book in my Elemental Magic series.  Sounds good, yes?

First, the basic rules of this meme:

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS/WIP
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next 7 lines, sentences, or paragraphs, and post them as they’re written.

4. Tag 7 authors
5. Let them know

I was tagged by T.F. Walsh, Tiffany A. White, and Alina Sayre.  Go check out their excerpts from a variety of genres!  And next week I’ll post the links to the excerpts from others who tagged me.

Dry Spell

Excerpt

“She does talk to sea creatures.”  Colin quirked a smile at me.

Paige glanced at Keenan.  “So you’re one too?”

“We’re telling you this because we intend to stop Drake from trying to hurt you again, and we want you to understand that this is something we’re equipped to do.”

Paige bobbed her head along with Keenan’s explanation.

“Paige, this has to be kept secret,” Colin said, and fixed her with a serious stare.

Paige snorted.  “I know that, Colin.  I wouldn’t tell Sean’s secret; of course I won’t tell Aileen’s either.”  She looked at me again and smiled.  “That was cool, just now, by the way.”  Then she laughed and gave Colin a playful punch on the arm.  “Do we know how to pick ‘em or what?”

Dry Spell is available on Amazon.

Want to play this game?  I think, instead of tagging specific people, that anyone who wants to should be able to post an excerpt.  Enjoy!

New Book, New Look

It’s not Wednesday, my normal posting day, but excitement got the best of me.  Remember how I said I was going to take a vacation?  Well, I got caught up in something quite different than I intended, if you can’t tell.  How do you like the blog’s new look? 

I must give a HUGE THANKS to Jillian Dodd for that beautiful banner above.  And see those Follow-Me buttons on the side?  I did those.    I spent all weekend fiddling with photo software before those lovelies came out of it.  But it was fun, and I’m quite proud considering how awful my first attempts looked.  Lol.

Also, Dry Spell is now on Amazon and Smashwords!  I’m still waiting for the book to go through Smashwords’ approval process so it can be distributed to B&N, iBooks, etc.  If you’re waiting for one of those mediums, I will be sending out a newsletter once everything’s in place (including a paperback version!).  You can sign up by clicking the link in the side bar or here.

As you can see, lots has been happening.  I’m still trying to take that vacation, but maybe it will come easier now with these projects done and no longer bouncing around inside my head.  But then, I’ve got lots more begging for attention. 

Where’s the Fire?

As a native of California, I’m quite familiar with disaster preparedness.  If the “Big One” hits, and half our apartment caves in and we’re sleeping under the stars for a while, we’ve got it covered.  Those of you in other areas with your own unique natural disasters probably also have an idea of what you would do in the case of those emergencies.

Here’s the thing…having a vague concept isn’t enough.  You know what to do in theory, but when you’re in the moment, it’s amazing how all rational thought can go out the window.

Two weeks ago, I was sitting at home, working on my novel, when I saw smoke start spewing from the house across from my apartment.  I didn’t have a clear view with the tall fence between us, but it pinged my internal warning system.  Still, I didn’t see any flames; surely there were lots of reasons for there to be random smoke, right?  Well, I’ve seen enough TV shows to know that a lot of people don’t call 911, whether because they’re in a haze of denial/disbelief, or they assume someone else already did.  I didn’t want to be that kind of person, so I called.  Turns out, I wasn’t the first; the operator knew the address already and that it was a fire.

So I stood there in my bedroom, watching out my window while I waited for the sound of sirens.  Then the flames broke loose.  One minute it’s just smoke, the next the entire roof is engulfed in huge flames.  I could feel the heat through the glass.  And, I’m ashamed to say, I just stood there, watching.  Perhaps it was shock.  Perhaps it was due to a firm belief that the fire department would arrive and save the day.  But the winds were already going 30+mph and I still couldn’t hear any sirens.  Finally, it’s like, maybe I should get the hell out of there.

We’ve probably all thought about what we would grab in the case of an emergency, but I’m going to tell you that it won’t mean anything unless you make a list and tack it to your refrigerator or somewhere else you’ll be able to see it.  I scrambled about for a couple pairs of clothes (though somehow missed the shirts), medical supplies, and of course, the cat.  Now, we already have her carrier plus a go-bag with leash, body harness, and blanket ready for an earthquake, but it was just as well for this situation.  Thankfully, I got her in before the police started banging on the door ordering an evacuation, because that’s when she freaked.

Though I had the presence of mind to grab some important things, I missed some other crucial stuff.

* Credit cards  (I don’t happen to carry these on me, and you can’t get a hotel without one.)

* Phone charger  (If your house is gone, that phone is your only connection to the world to get things done.)

* All your medication  (I remembered to grab my diabetic supplies, but forgot other important pills.)

I know it sounds like a lot to grab, but in my case, I had time.  I just didn’t use it.  Trust me, it’s less of a hassle to unpack everything for a false alarm than it is to be without important items and barred from your place.

All in all, my apartment was safe and we were allowed back several hours later.  The house in the back was destroyed.  I am so thankful because it could have been so much worse.  I’m making a list for next time.  Will you?

Do you have a go-bag for your pets?  For yourself?  Do you know what you’d grab, and is it within easy reach?

On a side note, ever since that day, my stress level has been steadily increasing.  Some of you may have noticed I haven’t been as present lately, on other blogs or my own.  With working full time and getting my next book released, I’m starting to feel like a puddle of mush.  I’m thinking of taking a vacation, unplugging and focusing on recharging myself before my head explodes.  That would be messy, and I’m sure cleaning it up would cause me more stress.