~Photo Friday~ Big Catch

Here's something a little different. OK, not really. It's fun anyway. :O) 

My cousin caught this in the lake near my parents' house. Impressive, no? 

Falling Down

The last few weeks have been rather hard. Many of you heard that I lost 6 cats in less than two days (momma cat and five kittens). Even before that, my blogging took a downturn. I apologize for falling down on the job and promise to make it up to you. Regency Wednesday will return as will Photo Friday. I'm considering taking part in Teaser Tuesday as well but haven't quite decided yet. 

While I've been ignoring my online responsibilities, I've been working on my household and writing responsibilities. My children and husband enjoy clean clothes and The Dragon's Birth is this close (can you see my fingers about a half inch apart?) to being ready for upload to Smashwords. I just figured out the Table of Contents (WOO-HOO!) and that was the last step. YAY!! 

Meanwhile, I've been having a blast with the Clever Fiction website, using the short story prompts to further my work on Sable's highly unromantic novel. For those of you who write or always wanted to, I highly recommend this site. Even if you choose not to submit your stories, the practice is worthwhile.

My new story is up. Crossing the Channel is another "chapter" in Sable's story. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story, but even if you don't like to comment, please read it anyway. It's less than 1000 words so it won't take much of your time.

Do you have any short stories out there? Please leave a link in the comments section here so we can pop over and check it out.

Happy reading, writing, and blogging!!

New Short Story Site ~ And a new short story by yours truly!

There's a new short story site out there in web-world and everyone can submit stories. It's called Clever Fiction, run by the talented Pat Sipperly, and there's a new prompt every week. 

I participated in this week's story prompt (a key, noon, falling leaves) and my short story Unwilling Protector is up for your reading enjoyment. It's part of Sable's story. (You'll know who that is if you've read my short story Assassin's Keeper in the anthology UNLOCKED. If you haven't, pop by the UNLOCKED website and download the anthology for free.)

There are other stories there as well, in a variety of genres by a variety of authors. You can leave comments on each story, if you are inclined to do so. Go, read, enjoy!

~Photo Friday~ RIP

Yesterday was arguably the worst day of my life. In less than 36 hours I lost 6 cats. My beautiful Stinkerbell ate something toxic and passed it on to five of her kittens. By the time we realized anything was wrong, it was already too late to save them. The poison had made its way through their tiny little systems.

Today's Photo Friday is for them. I miss them. 

Pictured here are (from the top) Big Red, Ticky, Nermal, Buttercream, Sable, and Nibbles. Of these six precious darlings, Nibbles lives on, having gone to his forever home over a week ago. 

This picture was taken September 9, 2011. 

Stinkerbell, back when she wasn't pregnant and just a silly little kitten herself. 

~Giveaway~ Woo-hoo! 100 Posts! (OK, 101.)

I've reached a milestone (in my opinion) on this narcissistic little blog of mine. 100 posts this year. (Honestly, this particular post, this one right here that you're reading right now, is 101. But hey, why quibble over semantics?) 

That said, we need to celebrate. OK, I need to celebrate. Let's do this right. 

Comment on this post (the actual blogger post, not any of the feeds) and you'll get a download code for my fantasy short story when it's released. I'm not selecting one winner. EVERYONE who comments gets to download the story for free. 

What fantasy short story, you ask? Well, once upon a time, I wrote this little story, sort of as a prequel to my fantasy novel series...my UNPUBLISHED fantasy novel series. Weird, right? To be even more honest, it was a short story I wrote specifically for the UNLOCKED anthology way back when. It was one of fours stories I'd submitted to the anthology editors and it was one of the rejects. (Haha! Really makes you want it, huh?)

Want more info before you commit yourself? You can go to my website, where I've posted a sample of the short story. Oh, it's called The Dragon's Birth, just in case you were wondering. 

There are a few caveats. You must be 18+ or have a parent's permission to comment. There's nothing totally awful in the story, I'm just trying to cover my butt here. You must include an email address; how else can I contact you with the download code? You have to be a follower of this blog. Fair's fair, right? And I will enforce these rules (I've been known not to in the past) so DO NOT FORGET: 18+, email address, blog follower. Easy peasy. Oh, and you have to wait patiently for the story's release. It's not out there yet, but it will be soon. After its release, each commenter (Chrome says this is not a word. Weird. Should it be commentator?) who remembers to include their email address will get a little message in their inbox with that precious little Smashwords code. Exciting! :OP

This offer officially ends September 16.

I'll leave you with a question. Did I use SEMANTICS (first paragraph of this post) correctly?

Happy reading, writing, and winning!!

*Image © Aleksandra Belikova and can be downloaded for FREE from Dreamstime.com. (Registration is required, also free.) 

~Photo Friday~ View

What a view!! 
Lake Michigan, USA
August 29, 2011