Iron Bars ~ By: Tammy Holloway

Iron Bars

By: Tammy Holloway

 

                Day 1 –     Innocent bystanders started screaming as I pulled the gun out. “Get on the floor!” I yell as I pointed the gun at the clerk and demanded money from the register. I was scared and pumped full of adrenaline. This made for a dangerous combination. My mind is clear…Get as far away from this place as possible, and fast. I needed a car, but where to start? Ah, there’s a good place. My image was that of innocence. Women described me as tall, dark and handsome. I don’t know about all that but I am pretty average. Clean-cut and nicely dressed, I fit the stereotype image of someone people can trust. 

                I entered the lot and parked right by a 1999 cherry red Firebird. She sure is purdy. That car is mine. A slimy salesman came running out the door with a $2 grin on his face, ready to make a sale. I smiled and used my charm to win his trust. The conversation was short but effective. In minutes he handed me a set of keys and a temporary tag to give her a test drive. 

                I took back roads and headed out of town. I wasn’t sure where I was goin’ but it was far from here. I felt alive and free. The road belongs to me and I’m gonna take it as long as she’ll have me. A long stretch lies ahead and I revved the ol’ cherry red bird. It was time to see what she could do. No cars and a whole lot o’ pavement. Just what the doctor ordered! 75……85….”WOOOOOO! This feels great!” 95…..110! She was smooth as a baby’s bottom. The motor hummed a sweet love song in my ears as I pushed her to the limit. 140….150! …..Winding down I felt an emptiness in my stomach. The stretch was over and I was back to reality. “Maybe we can do this again sometime ol’ girl….Just maybe.”

                The sun set behind the mountain. The boost of adrenaline wore off and I was gettin’ kind o’ tired. This gas station had to be 100 years old. Perfect for someone like me just passin’ through. It was unlikely any story circled around about me yet. Things were slow in these parts. I wasn’t really worried about all that. I think I’ll sleep in the car for the night though…..

 to be continued

Have a sci-fi day everyone! ~ TLH

Aliens, Brains and Migraines

Aliens, Brains and Migraines

By: Tammy Holloway

                Cue the music…Theeeeere’s a pain in my brain and I call it a migraine but I think it’s an alien monster. With this pain in my brain I go hugely insane so I must get rid of this monster.

                I’m a writer. Yep, plain and simple. “Norf du spak! Norf du spak!” Oh yeah, before I forget, I have an alien in my brain and he pretty much decides everything. Norf du spak…that means “I’m your master”. I just go with it since there isn’t a whole lot I can do about him. It makes for interesting writing though I must say. I write science fiction and love the visions I get thanks to Al. Al isn’t very creative for a name but hey, I didn’t choose to have him in there.  I got tired of yelling “Shut up alien!” and “Stupid alien!” so I just shortened it. He seemed to like it because the first time I called him Al I got a nice gentle squeeze to the brain.

                Al hates most things so I generally live with a migraine almost every day at some point or another. Berkle smut almost always means a big one is coming so I make the most of my day with relaxation music and a hot bath.  Before I realized what berkle smut meant, I continued my day as normal. It wouldn’t matter if I was in the middle of writing a really great story, the pain would come with such intensity that I would have to put the pen down. I always hated trying to remember what I was going to write next and Al would laugh and access my memory bank with some really off the wall material. I don’t know how many times I started writing whole paragraphs before I realized what was going on. “Very funny Al!” I would say in a louder than normal tone. Wreek lum sten fo ler ler. Kimp san wen voc romp. Dok la.&*YOYIH NUUIY*YYYOUPIOJO.

                “AL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stop it!” Anyway, it’s time to feed Al. I can forget about getting anything hfskslend…normal written until he is happy again.

Have a sci-fi day everyone! ~ TLH

The Old Schoolhouse Short Story- Redone the “Write” Way

I was given suggestions by other writers on how to improve this story. This is it in full version. Enjoy:-)

The Old Schoolhouse – rewritten

By: Tammy Holloway

 

    “Stop that Jared! I hate when you do that! This place is scary enough without all your jokes. Where’s Kaley? I know she’s hiding too. You two are made for each other.”

Surprised, Jared looked directly at Samantha. “What do you mean ‘where’s Kaley?’ She’s with you right? Please tell ma ma me she’s with ya ya you Sam.” Jared stuttered when he got real nervous.

“Ha! The jokes’ on you now Jared. Kaley’s getting better at it than you. She done left ya down here to get skeert with the rest of us.”

     It was September in this small town of Mineral Bluff, GA. It was comin’ a gully washer…as folks say ‘round here. That’s a down pour like nowhere I’d ever seen before. I can understand the reason for the strange lingo. It poured buckets on this lil’ town. Jared, Kaley and Samantha were best buds. Jared and Kaley were boyfriend and girlfriend but didn’t seem to mind Sam following along from time to time. Sam didn’t mind it either. Jared was 16 and had two things the girls liked; a license and an old beat up car that took them away from home and off on adventures.

     Tonight was the same as many nights. Find an old building, explore, and scare the crap out of each other. There are so many stories goin’ ‘round about this place. Outsiders come and try to snoop around and find nothing but the occasional shotgun in their face, cocked and ready to shoot. Why we’re famous all over the internet with ghost stories and witch sighting and such.

     The old schoolhouse was new territory. The witch graveyard, the haunted church and the abandoned orphanage were old hat. The same routine was in place. Jared stayed in the back in case someone came at them from behind. He figured these places were good hideouts for druggies or homeless folks. Sam was always in front because she loved this stuff and feared nothing and Kaley stayed in the middle. She was afraid of everything.

     It was unlike Kaley to run off and play the scarin’ game. I understood completely. Heck I can’t remember any time where Kaley was trying to be bold. She was a screamer. I guess that’s the good news. No screams have been heard from her. Jared grabbed a hold of Sam’s arm and headed back the way they came in. He carefully shined the flashlight in each crevice and corner he could find. The paint was chipped off in a lot of places. It smelled like ten-year old rain and rotten concrete. A room led back around to the right. They didn’t go in there yet so maybe Kaley was a hidin’ in there. Jared felt a jolt on his arm. Sam jumped back and caught her breath. The hairs stood up on the back of her neck. In a small whisper Sam said; “what in tar nation is that thing hangin’ from the ceiling Jared?”

…They slowly backed away. Jared, shaking, raised the flashlight to see what it was. Shadowy monsters began to crawl down the walls as the light beamed off of the old school desks. The light went higher and gleaming walls dripped with moisture as the rain seeped through the cracks in the old structure. Even higher still….suddenly, Jared dropped the flashlight and ran! “Wait!” Sam yelled for Jared and chased him all the way to the car.

     “What are you guys doing?” Kaley said in her “whatever” voice. Jared was surprised but happy to see her. He was too concerned about getting the heck out of there then to take notice of her sarcasm/motherly talk.

     As they drove away, Kaley asked again what was going on.

“I ss ss saw something in th the there.”

“Wow! You never stutter anymore Jared. What did you see?”

Jared tried to gather his thoughts to try to explain what he saw. “There wa wa was a pa pa pair of sh sh shoe shoes on th th the  ssss ssss sssseil ceiling…aa aaa aannnd a a……”

Sam lost patience with Jared; “Oh nevermind! Let’s go back. I didn’t see anything too strange Jared. Besides curiosity killed the cat..not the human. I want to know for sure. It was probably just an old pair of shoes hangin’ there with some junk thrown in Jared. You know people always feel the need to throw stuff and try to get it stuck.” Sam reassured him.

“No way!” Kaley scolded. “I did not want to be there in the first place. Why do you think I came back to the car? Let’s go home Jared, please?”

O o o kay K K Kaley. I na na need to dr dry off anyway. Ma ma my clothes are ss ssoaked.”

     It was well after curfew. Anyone out now had cool parents or parents that just didn’t care much where they were as long as they were out of their hair. Jared and Sam’s parents were the cool ones. Well, Sam’s parents were divorced and she stayed with her mom full-time. Sam’s mother knew she was safe with Jared and Jared’s parents knew Sam would keep him out of trouble. Parents – so naive.   Kaley had the ‘other’ type of parents. She never spoke of ‘em much but it was understood. Unexplained bruises would show up now and again and Jared would ask if she was okay and if he needed to take care of something for her. Kaley would just smirk at him and respond with “Nothin’s wrong”. He always hated takin’ her home.

     Friends of theirs gathered at the local hangout but it was still comin’ a turd flutter. That there’s another one of them slang words for heavy rain. Everyone sat in their cars and played with the radio. Not but 2 stations comes in ‘round here though. Most have iPods or some other form of device that holds a crap ton of music.

Sam decided to open her big mouth. Something she was quite good at. “Jared saw something up at the ol’ schoolhouse.” That was all she needed to say.

     The testosterone flowed freely amongst the young teenage boys. They challenged each others’ fears and then it was decided. Nothing to do but visit some old rundown schoolhouse and teen testosterone loaded guns makes for a bad combination. Sam knew this and her plan worked. Kaley’s arguments were no match for all that and she sure wasn’t going home to deal with what was waiting for her there. Anything was better than home; Even some scary thing hangin’ from the ceiling of an old schoolhouse.

     As they pulled up to the old schoolhouse again, the lights cut through the rain. Heavy drops of shimmering light fell slanted from the sky in front of them. They could barely make out the building. Mud splashed and splattered the windows of that old beat up car of Jared’s.     

Kaley took in a heavy breath “Who’s that?” She pointed toward the back-end of the building. Neither of the other two saw it.

“Maybe you should stay in the car.” Jared told her. “I know you hate this stuff but I also know you love it in some twisted kind a way. Let me and Sam go in and we’ll come back and git ya when the coast is clear.”

     Three other cars pulled up alongside Jared’s. It was Tina and Colton in one car, Heather and Brice in another and some other people she didn’t know. She knew their faces from school, but no names.

     Kaley’s view from the car was nothing but a sea of flashlights and rain coats runnin’ for the entrance. Her heart started pounded as the lights faded away. The sounds of laughter and chatter faded also. She was all alone in the dark…again.

     Kaley opened her eyes and looked around. The rain stopped and the night was still. There was no sign of anyone yet. She looked at the phone! “It’s three in the morning!” She hit 1 on speed dial to try to call Jared. It was the perfect set up for a scary movie out here. Her phone read “No service”. Living in the mountains, it tends to be touch and go with service. She figured they had to be in there for more than 3 hours. It wasn’t that big of a schoolhouse.

     Something hit the roof of the car. Kaley froze in place. Her heart was now in her throat. “Jared! This is not funny! Stop playing around!” A steady drip came from above. What was it? She knew she had an active imagination and figured she was just comin’ up with her own crazy thoughts. As she settled down, she grabbed her flashlight and began to look around outside of the car. A shadow came down over the front of the car as she looked high up through the windshield. It was a branch. Relieved, she reached for the door handle. As she went to pull on it, she looked out and saw lights coming. “Finally!” They all stopped at the doorway, looking at Kaley; looking at the car. They were looking….up.

     Kaley jumped out of the car and ran towards Jared. He backed away as she approached. “What’s going on Jared? What took you guys so long? Quit jokin’ around. Let’s go home.” Just then Kaley turned her focus on the car. It was hovering just above it. The shadow was dark and menacing. Something was dripping from its mouth. It was blood.

     It shot back into the night and disappeared. The teenagers ran in separate directions. “Where’s Sam?” Kaley screamed out and didn’t get an answer. Everyone kept their distance from Kaley. “What is going on? What is that thing?” Kaley ran as fast as she could to get as far away from it as she could.

Jared kept a close eye on her but from a distance. “Why did you g g go ba ba back to th th th the car Kaley?”

Go back? she thought. “I Never came in Jared! Why are you avoiding me? What happened in here? What is that thing out there hovering over your car?”

     Jared slowly approached Kaley. “Y y you na na never ccc cccame in?”

“No Jared, I fell asleep in the car and woke up just before I saw all of you come out. I heard a crash on top of the car and saw it was a branch…or so I thought.”

Listen K K Kaley, you were with us almost the whole time. Y y you have to believe ma ma me.” Just then, Sam came running up.

Kaley let out a sigh of relief; “Sam! Thank goodness you are alright!”

“No thanks to you Kaley. What were you thinking anyway? You just better be glad you’re my friend or I’d have to give you a good wallop on the head.”

Jared broke them up; “She dada doesn’t remememember being in here Sss sa ss Sam.”

“What? That’s crazy! Of course she remembers. Don’t you Kaley?”

Kaley looked at Sam, puzzled and shrugged her shoulders. “I was asleep in the car the whole time.”

     A noise came from the darkness. They held hands and faced the source of the sound. Each of them raised their flashlights at the same time. The sizzling sounds of water hitting a hot surface filled the air. Steam came from the shadowy figure. It was in pain. In an instant, it was gone. The creature feared the light so they now knew they could get away. They had to get out of there.

     Jared called out for the rest of the crew. “Ba Ba Brice! He Heather! Ddd Dd Da Devon! Ch Chase!” No answer. They had to go look for them since they were the ones to get them to come. Well, Sam was the one but Jared drove so he felt an obligation to make sure they were alright. They stayed close together as they searched the small rooms in the schoolhouse; each room scarier than the last. The shadows crept as they walked slowly along the back wall. The ground was flooded from the heavy rain that just passed. The sound of splashing footsteps was the only thing they could hear.

     Something moved in the back of the room. It was hiding behind some old furniture. They stopped and held their flashlights on it. None of them wanted to move for fear it would come where light didn’t shine. It slowly rose from behind the furniture and stood there. 

“Jared? Is that you buddy?” Brice and the others came out from hiding. “Boy are we glad to see you guys. It’s afraid of light you know.”

“Yeah, we figured that out too.” Kaley spoke but the others hesitated in listening to her words. “Let’s get out of here.” She continued.

They all kept close together along the wall with flashlights shining at the darkness. As they moved toward the doorway, they came upon the room where Jared saw something the first time they went in.

“Watch my back.” Sam said and started her way into that room.

“Ss Sa Sam! Wh wh what are y y you doing?” Jared was in a panic.

Her flashlight rose up to the ceiling where the shoes had been. Jared fell to his knees and began to vomit. The others followed suit. Sam screamed, “NOOO!” Kaley was dead. Her crumpled body was full of blood and entrails drooped toward the ground with a shimmering wetness. That thing killed Kaley. Our friend was gone.

     They stood in shock until they heard a loud crash from the back of the room. Their feet began to move before they knew what was happening. They had to get out of that place and fast. Things were happening that they couldn’t explain and there was something lurking in the darkness that was evil. They made a run for it. The cars were running and tired were spinning before the car doors were all shut. Jared and Sam were numb with silence.

     …From the back seat; “What’s going on Jared? What took you guys so long?”

THE END

Can You Leave Us Breathless? Blogfest Contest Entry

     

      Section from The Old Schoolhouse

By: Tammy Holloway

      Jared slowly approached Kaley. “Y y you na na never ccc cccame in?” “No Jared, I fell asleep in the car and woke up just before I saw you come out. I heard a noise and decided to join you.” Listen K K Kaley, you were with us almost the whole time. Y y you have to believe ma ma me.” Just then, Sam came running up. “Sam! Thank goodness you are alright!” “No thanks to you Kaley. What were you thinking anyway? You just better be glad you’re my friend or I’d have to give you a good wallop on the head.” Jared broke them up; “She dada doesn’t remememember being in here Sss sa ss Sam.” “What? That’s crazy! Of course she remembers. Don’t you Kaley?” Kaley looked at Sam, puzzled and shrugged her shoulders. “I was asleep in the car the whole time.”

      Jared decided it was best they make their way to the exit. Sam stumbled upon the room where Jared swore he saw something earlier. “Watch my back;” Sam said and started her way into the room. “Ss Sa Sam! Wh wh what are y y you doing?”Her flashlight slowly rose up to the ceiling. Jared fell to his knees and began to vomit. Sam screamed, “NOOO!” Kaley was dead. There was a gripping fear that surrounded them as they stood in shock over what they saw. A loud crash came from inside the building and they snapped out of it.

     Puzzled and ill over what they just witnessed, Sam and Jared faced the reality that they had to get out of that place and fast. Things were happening that they couldn’t explain and it was definitely evil. They made a run for it. Jared and Sam jumped in the car.

 …From the back seat; “What’s going on Jared? What took you guys so long?”

All “Write”! Cool Blog Things That Help My Readers

Whenever I search and read other people’s blogs, I am always interested in what they have on their page. These were 3 ideas I retrieved from one site this time, but others have contributed in the past as well. Some of the additions I found while surfing were the Live Feed, where I get to see the city and state or country where someone visited form during the day…Too cool!

I also added these things:

(You can click on them and that will take you to these sites)

This has only been on my page for one day! Look at the visitors and flags of their countries. Wow!

Thanks so much for visiting:-)

This site allows you to copy your links into their site and check for plagiarism. It is a way to keep people honest I suppose, but from what I’ve researched, people do not typically steal work. They sure the heck aren’t going to steal mine! HAHA! It’s still cool. I’m weird like that.

This has to be the most awesome feature of all! See that flags up above? They can all read my blog in any language they choose! How reader friendly is that??? Well, I had to share and hope you all find this useful. As for my readers – Thank you so much! You are awesome! You make me feel special:-) I just hope I deliver the same for you!

Oh yeah! I almost forgot! I retrieved these from http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/ It is a very helpful site for bloggers:-)

Was this helpful to you?

Have a sci-fi day everyone! TLH

It’s All “Write” If You Are New to Writing

Nervous, worried, scared someone might make fun of your work? When I started this journey not so long ago, I had these fears. My first was how others might feel about my writing. After getting up the courage to finally show some of my material to others, I then felt worried about it being stolen. After getting past that I finally realized I really wanted to write….and be good at it too. I decided to get involved in a writers association. That led me to writers conferences, which led me to an old English professor of mine, which directed me to a writing coach. This is where the nervous part comes in. I actually paid a professional to look over my work.

(I’m sorry but I have a spaghetti noodle jammed up in my thumb nail and it is THROBBING like crazy!)

Anyway, She did exactly what I thought she would do and I was humbled. However, that did not stop me. I knew it was going to need work. Heck the only writing skills I have are from college essays and simple English courses. I never actually studied writing like many of you have. What I did keep in my mind was that I had creativity in my mind. Story after story flows through me and I just needed the writing skills in order to present the material in an exciting way. Needless to say, I’ve learned so much from many people like you and I thank all of you.

I plan to repay you. I want to give back what had been given to me and then some. How? By Inspiring, researching, sharing, teaching and guiding those who are new to writing like all of us were at one time. Imagine your very first day of writing; the day you decided you wanted to “be” a writer. What was it like? How did you feel? These are the things that will inspire new writers. It is not about how you succeeded or how you wrote a best seller; but how you got up and fell down a million times before finally getting to a point of success.

People fear. That’s what we do. Fear gets in the way of so many wonderful things in our lives and we must conquer it. You are all wonderful people. Every person is unique. Your words mean something to others. Not just some of you…”All” of you. Maybe the words help get you through the day. What if they help someone else get through the day too? You are amazing and deserve only the best! Stand up to your fear and face it!

New writers reading this, hear me out – Write! WRITE! WRITE!!!..and share it so we can marvel in your world and you can grow into an amazing writer as you hope to do! Take fear out back and kick its ass! I believe in you. Fight for what you want and ignore what others want “for” you. This is about you and you are special. Listen to only those who mean to help you improve; those who have experience. Take it in and learn from it. Smile at those who criticize you because they could never be capable of growing as you will. They will look back one day and regret. Forgive them and move on. Become stronger by pushing through all the twists and turns along the way. Never throw away any of your work! It is what may become one of your best sellers one day. Become a leader for new writers as you follow those you admire. Grow, achieve, become, inspire! Pass on this great form of expression! and of course, GOOD LUCK!!!!

(I am going to soak my thumb in peroxide again….I am seriously stupid. How does one injure themself while doing dishes? By the way, don’t scrape dried spaghetti noodles off the pot with your nails OUCH! Guess that’s why people call me goofy:-p)

Have a wonderful sci-fi day everyone! TLH

Not “Write” Video – Powerful Message – Not for the Weak

On the “Write” Path

 “On Writing is both a textbook for writers and a memoir of Stephen’s life and will.”

Read more at Stephen King’s website

The more I find out about Stephen King, the more I see myself. The only differences are the fact that I am a woman of course, and that I do not have good discipline to write every day. I do have other obligations such as college but that is a choice. I am going to purchase this book and get even deeper into the world of Stephen King since I am heading in that general direction. This could be interesting to say the least but I feel it will really help give me perspective on my direction. I also feel motivated and inspired by such a wonderful science fiction author. My writing improves by the day and I feel great about that. It is true, the more you write, the better you become. I guess it is the same for anything. I have a gift but it is not going to happen without some work involved. Writing is fun…but it also has its challenges. Who motivates and inspires you?

 

“The keys on your keyboard are the controls to your bulldozer. Take the keys and drive until you are finished. Everything else will kindly move out of your way or be forced to become a part of your path to success.”

 

“Dozer” Have a sci-fi day everyone! TLH

FREE COLLEGE COURSES! “SHUT”….”UP”….”WRITE”…..”NOW”!

Stanford University is Offering Computer Science Courses Online, Free to Anyone

Go here to read about it:

http://www.geekosystem.com/free-stanford-courses/

Deadline is today!….October 9th….Register. I did.

Sorry it is so short but I wanted to post this as fast as I could! Awesome!

 

The “Write”chus Blogger Award!

right·eous – Adjective/ˈrīCHəs/ – Morally right or justifiable; virtuous. Perfectly wonderful; fine and genuine

That’s a good word to describe this prestigious award that I found out I was nominated for. Thanks to a group of wonderful bloggers, this award came to be and people like you and me get recognition for all of our hard work;-) Never in a million years did I intend to receive such high recognition, yet Kimberly of Kimberly Inspired felt I deserved it. How wonderful to think I made someone feel that good to nominate me! I inspired the inspirer! How cool is that?

Just type Versatile Blogger Award in your google bar and hit search. There are countless numbers of bloggers being recognized across the internet and the comments are all so positive and happy! What a great way to show other bloggers just how wonderful their stories, poems, life, photos, art, etc. actually are!!

The Rules of the Versatile Blogger Award:

1.  Thank the person(s) who shared the award with you by linking back to them in your post. 

2.  Pass this award to 15 recently discovered blogs and let them know that you included them in your blog post. 

3.  List 7 things about yourself. 

Now for my part in this endeavour:

#1 – Great big hugs to Kimberly Inspired for nominating me for this award! How wonderful to find out how much someone appreciates my blog! Thanks Kimberly!!

#2 – This was the hard part. I did not take this award lightly. I wanted to make it as special as Kimberly did for me. That meant I had to sacrifice some of my writing time and homework time to get it done.  After researching the award on the internet and finding out just how many people were honored by receiving it, I knew I couldn’t just put together some half-hearted list. After 2 days and several hours of research and reading blog after blog, these were my picks for this award:

http://kimberlyinspired.wordpress.com/ Yeah sure, this is the blog that nominated me, but she too has something to say that should be recognized. Her happiness gleams through her posts which pours over into the world of bloggers. I love reading about how happy someone is and her blog should not go unnoticed. She is amazing. She also loves photography and is very good at it. Pictured above is one of her beautiful shots.

http://laughteriscatching.com/   Aka: Tinkerbell I am impressed when I read her blogs. She is young, smart and to the point. Great blog!

http://astoryeveryday.com/ This blog shares our work, if we so choose. They have a great amount of followers that read these stories and it is a wonderful way to share a variety of stories to the public.

http://belchdini.wordpress.com/ Aka: Stabs in the Dark A great blog for reviewing horror with a side of humor. Love it!

http://mdweigand.wordpress.com/ Aka: Tales of a Fairy Lantern  His stories and poetry and absolutely wonderful. Every word draws you in more and more.

http://www.homesteadersheart.blogspot.com/  What can I say, this blog inspired me to start blogging a couple of years ago. She is sweet, funny and makes you feel the comfort and laughter that is shared in her own home. Her latest challenge….to join her in giving up the one thing we all love so much….SUGAR:-)

http://riverunderwater.wordpress.com/ Aka: Colleen Ponce The art work on this blog has to be seen not described. Stunning! I love horses and this drawing touched my soul.

http://diaryoflifeloveandme.wordpress.com/  I just love this blog. She shares her every day through a diary. Very cool!

http://nmichaelhawe.wordpress.com/ Aka: The Realms Between  From beautifully written stories and hand crafted metal sculpting to sharing recipes on how to brew root beer…This blog is a must see!

http://whileitwasfallingapart.wordpress.com/ What can I say, her blog brought back some wonderful memories for me. She also reminds me of myself and how I fell into writing. Oh how I hated those term papers:-) One of her latest posts made me smile – “Carrot Love”

http://suehealy.wordpress.com/ She helps writers! That’s right…She has some really awesome information on her blog to help us out from competition websites to making her own “write a novel in 6 months” competition. The contest started October 1^st but I am sure she would let you in on it!

http://bardicblogger.wordpress.com/  Yet another helpful blog for writers. This blog is incredibly informative and I strongly recommend visiting it.

http://brenleedrake.blogspot.com/  Her site offers writers a chance to win a contest! It is from October 21-23 and all you have to do is visit her site, read the requirements and sign up! Too cool! Thanks Brenda:-)

http://ronsrants.wordpress.com/  Survivor of a lightning strike, his sadness of life with illness and his fight with COPD brought tears to my eyes as I read some of his experiences with depression and encroachment on an unknown fate. His blog deserves recognition as he brings to light some of the “real-life” trauma from all of his medical conditions.  

http://neekswrite.wordpress.com/ Monique has a very clever way of writing, which she picked up from the movie “Out of Africa”. She has bloggers give her 3 random words, then writes a story with those 3 words in it. She gets quite a response from it and I love the stories she makes from the words! Great blog!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU! YOUR BLOGS ARE CHANGING THE WORLD:-)

#3 – Now it’s my turn

Hmm, 7 things about me…. If you really want to know:

FEW – A FEW…things about me

Family – Education – Writing – Adventures – Fun – Emotions – Working

Family:

“A”- number-one in my book! I love my husband with every inch of my being and we share a special bond. Nothing pleases me more than putting a smile on his face every day. He lights up a room with his beautiful personality and I am one lucky woman to have him in my life.  

Buster is one of three dogs we have. He is 12 years old and still going strong. He has been a great dog through the years and we take the best care to cater to his elderly status. His fame brought him more friends than either of us lol! His silly tail trick landed him a space on The Planet’s Funniest Animals and managed to win $100 and an exclusive T-Shirt.

Daisy was a second edition and turned out to be a very compassionate, loving, nurturing dog. You wouldn’t know it if you pulled up in our driveway though. She sounds like she is going to eat your face off. However, that said, at six months of age, she helped us raise two baby groundhogs we found stranded on the side of the road. They were successfully released into the wild which was sad but rewarding all at the same time. We bought her because of my depression after four miscarriage and our plans were to breed her in the future.

Rush is the newest edition and the smartest of the bunch! Border Collies are typically smart dogs anyway, but Rush tops them all. He amazes us with the amount of words and sentences he can understand at less than 6 months old. He is also very agile with strong herding instincts. He crouches and waits for Daisy as she runs back and forth in the yard and it is quite the attraction lol! In the evenings, Nathan kicks the soccer ball high in the air for the dogs. It only took a couple of turns before Rush figured out where the ball went and actually looks up for it to return. Buster and Daisy never really picked that up for some reason. The ball would just land and they ran for it. Rush jumps high in the air to catch the ball and usually falls short or jumps way too high and that is hilarious to see! He is our stud dog for Daisy. I think we will wait a couple of years for breeding though. It is a lot of work and time. Just having them all around us is a great feeling. We love our four-legged kids.

 

Education:

Important, necessary and I feel very accomplished with a Bachelor’s Degree on my wall and a certificate showing I graduated with honors (Magna Cum Laude). I always wondered what that meant. Now I am proud to know and have the honor written on my degree.

I am well into my Master’s Degree now and keep pushing forward. The classes are much harder but understandably. It is my master’s after all. I am studying Accounting of all things. I actually love math and enjoyed tutoring for several years. I like to work numbers and have a meticulous way of doing things. Accounting is much more than numbers though but it makes the idea even more challenging. I just hope to become the best CPA I can be!

Writing:

This has to be third on the list for obvious reasons. I have to put my education first in order to get the grades required in the master’s program. They are much higher than undergraduate studies.

I love to write. When I was in high school, I wrote poetry and did not realize it was an outlet for me then. I loved to draw and paint with oil also. I must have painted dozens of pictures. One picture made 2^nd place at the fair. I painted a picture of Hank Williams Jr. lol! I guess they thought it was good enough to place.

I now write with all of my physical and mental self. I write as if the whole world is reading, but I write without thoughts of what will make me money or not. I just…write. I do have a novel well underway and that is what got me started on this blog. I knew I needed improving before I could finish The Deep Freeze and I wanted it to be my absolute best before finishing and publishing it. I have since attended several writers workshops, joined a writers association and chamber of commerce, and try to write something every day (pending homework of course). I entered two writing contests and placed in the top ten of one. My piece “About My Mother” is published on Amazon! I was so excited about that. I realize how important it is to build a platform as a writer so I was off to a good start! I now have a second story submitted in a contest. I will hear the results one way or another by the end of this month (October).

Adventures:

This one is best left to pictures, so here are a few…..

 

Fun:

Nathan and I are always goofing off, wrestling, chasing each other or the dogs and creating affordable ways to have a good time. Last year, we had a good snow and couldn’t leave for a week. We made a seven-foot snowman and sled down the driveway on huge trash bags….seriously. We’re nuts! Two peas in a pod. Anyway, the list goes on and on and would be wayyyy too long to write so instead I will share a few of our funny pictures with you.

Emotions:

Boy do I ever have them! My feelings (no pun intended) on the matter are simple. They make me who I am! If I went to a shrink there is no doubt in my mind they would diagnose depression but duh! Of course I have some sad moments in life. Who doesn’t? I suffered loss and so have many other people in the world. At my worst, I went through mourning over the loss of my spouse at the time. It was sudden (car accident) and I was immediately traumatized to such an extent I had to make myself live. I didn’t want to eat, I didn’t want to move…heck I didn’t want to breathe! I took something for about a week and it just numbed me. I didn’t feel like myself. I couldn’t shed a tear…which I normally do on command. I decided to do my own therapy. Whether that was the right thing to do, I don’t know, but I wasn’t taking zombie pills anymore, that’s for sure! I watched comedy and laughed and laughed all day long. I must have seen Dumb and Dumber a thousand times! I love that movie. Every so often I would take every picture out, watch the wedding video and cry so loud people could hear me in other countries. Buster was always right there by my side licking my tears away.

Through determination, I managed to come out of the slump and push forward with my favorite metaphor – A bulldozer. I now have Nathan in my life and we cherish everything about our relationship. Our time together is well spent and our friendship is incredible. I still have bouts of depression and he is always right there by my side. That comfort gets me through anything every time. I guess I could say he drives my bulldozer!

I am empathetic and genuinely “feel” for others when I find out about their pain. I have to be careful with it because I get too caught up and have to refocus on myself. I truly want to change the world and make it a better place. I want others to have happiness and comfort as well. My “giving” personality made some people take advantage and I have to pick and choose the direction I take now. I do not regret the countless places I volunteered at though. They are a part of my life….my adventures…and they fill the part of me that yearns to be filled…..to give of myself without asking for anything in return.

Working:

Every once in a while, I get the chance to help my husband put up garage doors. It is our dream come true. We enjoy every waking minute together and had hoped to run a business for ourselves one day but for now, this works! About once a week or more, Nathan comes home with the work truck and we make an evening of putting up garage doors and openers. It sounds boring but, believe me, far from it. I’ve learned so much that a lot of the grunt work is left to me while Nathan magically puts together a working garage door. It feels great for me to be able to help and we get to spend that much more time together. It is uninterrupted, quality time. Nathan is very good with his hands. He has experience in construction from building a house from the ground up to rock-work. Every now and then he is requested to do a side job (usually family) and we also go together on those jobs. His sister has a farm and once in a while we help out. It has been fun learning about farming. We’ve loaded hundreds of bales of hay, planted thousands (yes thousands) of collards and cut and loaded them when they were ready, chased down calves and herded cows. We really enjoy helping them out.

Re-roofing the Farm House after a Bad Hail Storm

Planting Collards

 

 

Other than that, I stay home for the most part. I take care of the home and the dogs while spending as much time as I can on homework. From time to time, I travel to thrift stores and try to save us money wherever possible.

Well, that wraps things up for the Versatile Blogger Award requirements folks! I hope you enjoyed the ride! Again I would like to thank Kimberly for my nomination! You truly inspired me to pass on this prestigious award:-)

 

“The keys on your keyboard are the controls to your bulldozer. Take the keys and drive until you are finished. Everything else will kindly move out of your way or be forced to become a part of your path to success.”

Tammy Holloway

 

“Dozer” 

Have a sci-fi day everyone! TLH