Sabrina's Blog

Just wanted to let those who were wondering know that I placed... 14th out of 110 entries for the 2nd Challenge in Rachael Harries' Platform Building Campaign. This campaign was so fun and I cannot wait to do another one. Thanks to everyone who read and liked my entry. If you missed it and want to know what I am talking about. Here is the link to the  2nd Campaign Challenge  details for what I had to do and here is the link to my  2nd campaign challenge entry . Check it out and tell me what you think. Right now, I am going to go  by taking my son to his Kung Fu class, which he is super excited about.

***SPOILER ALERT-If you have not read the last book in Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games Trilogy and do not want the end ruined for you, STOP*** As a reader, when I pick up a book I embark on a journey. I am sure my fellow readers can identify. I get to know the characters, love them, cry for them when they face seemingly insurmountable odds, and cheer for them when they overcome those odds. So when a book, or series, ends in a dissatisfying way...I want to violently rip the book to shreds.  Don't hate. I never actually do worse than throw the book across the room, but oh how I long to obliterate it and then go after the author. *evil grin* As you can guess, I recently finished reading a very popular trilogy. There I sat enjoying a glass of my favorite cheap wine*grin* and a hot bubble bath as I read the end of Mockingjay , book 3 in The Hunger Games trilogy. It was a divinely fabulous moment until I finished the end.  I hated it. If I wanted to experience the d...

My 5 year old is obsessed with pirates, Star Wars, fighting, guns, knives, and all things that include beating up the bad guys. A few days ago while snuggling on the couch, he began to quiz me on other alternatives to being an American soldier. "Mom?" Aidan tugged on my sleeve. "Mom." I pushed his hand down in annoyance as my favorite show played on the television. "Quiet baby, mommy is trying to hear her show." The silence lasted a whole minute before his little hand reached over and physically turned my face until I was looking directly at him. "Mom. This is important. Really." I focused in on his serious little face and sighed in regret as I muted the t.v. and gave him my full attention. "Important, huh? Lay it on me, baby my love." His little forehead scrunched up as he relaxed back against the couch pillows and snuggled his feet into my lap. His eyes met mine and he said, "Mom, is there a job that doesn't have to fol...

I have had a blast during my first campaign with Rachael Harrie . I never imagined how much fun it would be or how it would help me grow so much as a writer. To top it off, I received a post yesterday saying that my 2nd blog challenge entry has been shortlisted to move onto Stage Two. Now while I am not sure what that means, Lori M. Lee said congrats so I assume this is a very good thing. *grin* Thank all of you who commented and voted. Your praise warms my heart. Yesterday, I enjoyed a fabulous session with my critique group. Unfortunately, I am still working on the 'show don't tell' concept. It irks me to no end each time I see a sentence where I have failed in this. Granted, it isn't nearly as bad as when I first started writing. I just wish I could get it completely out of my system. On a positive note, they liked what they read and aside from that irritating technical issue, I have a fabulous dark fantasy just aching to be published and read. Today, along w...

I had such a good time with Rachael Harrie's campaign challenge and the way it helped me move out of my comfort zone as a writer that I decided to try another challenge. So I am doing the Blogging from A to Z April 2012 Challenge.  This one is a bit different from the last. Rather than random prompts, we are to post once everyday in April, except Sundays. (Since April 1st is a Sunday, it will be the only one we post on.) We are encouraged to choose a theme and then post based on the letters of the alphabet. So the first day is A and the last Z.  I am already mulling over theme ideas in my mind, even as I sit here and type this blog. What do you think, dear blog followers? Shout out! Do these blog challenges add a little extra spice to my blogging? Do you enjoy reading the posts I create in answer to them? I hope so, because I am having a lot of fun. Gives me a nice little break from my WIP for a short period of each week.

This 2nd challenge in Rach's campaign is tough, and I am determined to give it my best. I have decided to do numbers 1 and 2. I have used all of the prompts. I will leave the theme for you to figure out. Using a different genre than my own: Post Apocalyptic I am something of a masochist, so bring on the critiques. Here goes... Do one or more of the following: Write a pitch/logline for a book based on the prompts (less than 100 words) Write a short story/flash fiction piece of less than 200 words based on the prompts Write a poem with a twist using the prompts as inspiration (in less than 200 words) Write a story/poem in five sentences, each sentence based on one of the prompts Write a poem/flash fiction piece (in less than 200 words) about the water pear *without* using the words “pear”, “spoon”, or “droplet”. For added difficulty/challenge: Complete at least three of the above activities and tie them all together with a  common theme  (feel free to either stat...

There I was snoozing, as comfortable as possible after my 5 year old climbs into my bed and presses his too hot body up against mine and totally hogs my pillow, when BAM! my brain came up with an idea for my WIP and my eyes snapped open. I ignored it. I wanted more sleep. I pushed my son a little closer to his father so I could have at least half of my pillow and shut my wide open eyes. I would just write it down in the morning. Did my brain go along with this reasonable argument? Heck, no! The idea circled round and round in my brain. I continued to ignore it. I tossed and turned for a good 20 minutes, but what choice was there really. Especially when my main character began to speak to me. Ruark never raised his voice, but chastised me in his own stoic way. "You do realize my world is dying, do you not? It is bad enough that I am having a hard time coming to terms with this. Now you are letting laziness put the entire world you created in jeopardy? For shame, dear crea...

A friend and fellow blogger messaged me today to ask about writer's groups for bloggers. My group is open to any kind of writer, so I invited her to join us at our next meeting. The reason I am blogging about this is because as president of my writing group I am always looking for new speakers and speaker topic ideas for our meetings. Light Bulb! Why not have a speaker come talk about blogging, how it can help writers, and how to be successful at it? I read all kinds of posts filled with blogging do's and don'ts, how to grow your following, and how to get Google to pull up your blog during a search. The problem is, none of these great bloggers live in Oklahoma City. So my question to all of you fabulous fellow bloggers is: How in the world do I find someone with tons of experience as a successful blogger, who likes to speak in front of people, speaks well before a group, and who is close enough to OKC that the $50 VISA gift card we pay our speakers won't make t...